Day 121

Monday April 30

Mum made her excellent 'festival rice' for dinner. Full of good stuff - mushrooms, celery, egg, onion, capsicum, corn. And yes it is no meat Monday so to celebrate we had a pork chop too. We are hopeless!

Day 120

Sunday the 29th April

Shepherds pie with the leftovers. Oh my it was good and not too much fuss after the initial chopping. Thom loved it, Hope hated it, Alan ate too much of it and mum and I enjoyed it with a glass of red wine. Good Sunday dinner. Hope at age 17 seems to be getting fussier about food. As she's in year 12 I accommodate for this as much as possible, I think it's stress induced.

Day 119

Saturday the 28th April

Alan and Thomas braved the market without me as I was feeling poorly and took to my bed. They brought home this giant leg of lamb ($23!- 1/3 of our meat budget) so I went the whole nine yards and did a big roast. The kipfler potatoes were amazing and there is plenty of meat left over for a second meal.

Day 118

Friday April 27

Oh delicious! A paella is my favorite one pot wonder. This one was stuffed full of chorizo and fish and chicken and many many mussels. We could only afford 12 prawns so they were rationed.

Day 117

Thursday April 26

It tasted better than it looked. There was all enough meat for lunch pies the next day. This was Thom's favorite meal of the week.

Day 116

Wednesday April 25 - Anzac day

Curry again? Well yes. It's the cold weather. Well no it's also the fact that we are poor this month so gravy beef must be had in some form or another. But dang it's yum.

Day 115

Tuesday the 24th April

I have discovered that my local butcher stocks rolls of pork rind for 45c a sheet! This will be the death of us all. As everyone relished their pork chop with ratatouille pasta and flourish of perfectly cooked crackling I told them that this would only be served once a quarter for health reasons.

Day 114

April 23

Everyone loves risotto, except me. But really if you roast a chook the day before you are obliged to make stock, strip the bird of meat and make something. Everyone loves this meal, total winters comfort food

Day 113

Sunday April 22

Roast chook, creamy polenta, maple carrots, broccoli, gravy, bread stuffing. Thom surprised us all by consuming more broccoli than all of us put together. Sunday night around the table was full of laughter and warmth. Sad the weekend is over!

Day 112

Saturday April 21

Heston Blumenthal steak again by request. Smashed potatoes were a smash, said was ubiquitous and pedestrian, sautéed whole baby mushrooms were divine. Forgot to take photo, but. Clearly it was lovely!

Day 111

Friday April 20

Vietnamese takeaway for all post Finder Keepers Market. Mum and I were exhausted from seeking out interesting things to buy that didn't have owls on it and Alan and Hope were exhausted from wrangling a very cranky Thom who has a freakin man cold from hell. Zzzz

Day 110

Thursday April 19

Sorry about the out of focus pic. Everyone was ravenous so I cooked up a storm. Balsamic glazed pumpkin, smashed potatoes with sautéed bacon and leek, green beans and broccoli with parmesan and BBQd marinated lamb forequarter chops. We cleaned the vege platter but the chops were a bit tough. I've not had much luck with meat from the market and am considering returning to my local butcher despite the added expense.

Day 109

Wednesday 18th April

Bad spag. We were going out to the comedy festival and got a little distracted. No pic.

Day 108

Tuesday 17th April

Yup there they are, the crumbed chicken tenderloins. That's it. Next week no more crumbs. Crumb free zone.

Day 107

Monday 16th April

I've got this curry thing totally sorted now. I found the cauliflower more unctuous with the addition of cumin to the tumeric then cooked in ghee rather than butter. I used chuck steak instead of gravy beef and it was far more flavorful. Everyone happy. I've found with these TV dinners it's best to set it all up on the kitchen bench and let everyone serve themselves. Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol is an appalling film and perfect tv dinner chat and pappadum crunch noise tv viewing.

Day 106

Sunday 15th April

A smallish simple meal after a very busy Sunday. BBQ lamb chop (marinated first in garlic and lemon, fresh marjoram too). Little corn and little salad. We were all too Weary to make much effort. It was fine. I did notice cereal bowls in the sink later that evening, so perhaps too smallish for man and teen.

Day 105

Saturday 14th April

After watching Jamie Oliver cook a roast dinner in under 30 minutes, Alan and I thought we'd put the timer on and give it a crack. Maple carrots, mixed lettuces lightly dressed in lemony oil, Yorkshire puddings, mushroom gravy, smashed potatoes and Heston steak replace Jamie beef. It took us 40 minutes but that included cleaning up. So well done us and well done Jamie. He copped some flack that no one could cook his 30 minute meals in under and hour, and granted there were two of us in the kitchen. But it was really like having a roast dinner without the protracted work. So I loved it. It's also really nice cooking together, al is a great sous chef x

Day 104

April 13

This was a crazy 'use up everything in the fridge' dinner before going to market tomorrow. Broccoli and beans with parmesan shavings over the top, ratatouille, sautéed mushrooms, and some sautéed chicken thighs in garlic and butter. Man it was good!

Day 103

Thursday April 12

Schnitzel unworthy of photo

Day 102

April 11 Wed

Tv dinner to watch hong kong crime triple bill of Infernal Affairs 1,2,3 on World Movies. The hottest pepper and garlic beef ever. My mouth is still on fire. A whole bottle of fanta consumed. Burp

Day 101

Tuesday April 10

We had spag Bol on the run as we had won tickets to see a string quartet and had to rush into town. I forgot to take a photo.

Day 100

April 9 Monday

We've all become a wee bit obsessed with Heston Blumenthal of late, me more than most. I received one of his mega books for valentines day and have been enjoying reading his opinions on food in the home. I watched his show last week on beef and was really surprised to see how he cooked steak.
Leave it in the fridge on a tray to air dry for two days
Bring it to room temp at least two hours before cooking
Cook in searingly hot pan
Flip every 20 seconds to maintain heat and form a good crust
Get an internal temp reading of 55deg
Let it rest for at least 5 minutes out of the pan.

We have never had better fillet steak. Ever.

Day 99

Easter Sunday

Well I may never eat again I'm so full. There is no photo of the roast lamb, baby potatoes and heirloom carrots - not so photogenic. The star of Easter lunch, as is so often the case, was mums pavlova. Maggie has pretty much perfected this recipe and today's was quite sensational. Mind you Margaret Fulton's recipe says it serves 12. There are four adults and one 3 year old. And no more pavlova. I need a cup of tea...

Day 98

Holy Saturday

Well the fish pie went by the wayside as I ran out of time this afternoon to prepare it. I went for an old standby of wrapping the fish in prosciutto and wacking it in the oven for 10 minutes. The kids still didn't eat it. Some days they will, some days they won't. Hence the pile of salad and potato gems to try and compensate.
I'm now putting Thomas's Easter basket together while mum makes the pavlova for lunch tomorrow. Hope is working on Plato while listening to Korean pop music (her new weird obsession). Alan has reached playstation hero status and Thom is asleep clutching a bright yellow truck and a bedraggled stuffed cat with the imaginative moniker of Mr Cat. All's right in the world.

Day 97

Good Friday

Well the fish had be bought, but the chef (ie me) could not be arsed cooking it. I woke from a nanna nap cranky and uninspired and mum swooped into the kitchen to announce Vietnamese takeaway was in order. What a relief. Sometimes my mother just gets it right. I've promised to make everyone a super fish pie tomorrow night. And funnily enough I am not cranky anymore. Braised seafood over crispy noodles can cheer me up every time. Bless us all.

Day 96

Thursday April 4

A gorgeous chicken korma curry with turmeric tossed cauliflower, chopped cucumber and sour cream, basmati rice and pappadums. Lots of fresh coriander, mushroom, lemon zest in the curry made it a big hit. Mind you it took me mor than an hour together dinner on the table by which time Thom was exhausted and an emotional wreck. Must start curry making earlier than 6pm.

Day 95

Wednesday April 4

It looks god awful doesn't it? Truth be told these rissoles were a flashback to my 1980's adolescence. Very tasty retro meal. With yummy left overs for the next day.

Day 94

April 3 Tuesday

Buttermilk panko crusted chicken legs with pesto fettuccine and broccoli tossed with garlic olive oil and bacon bits. Hope hates chicken so opted just for pasta. A delicious dinner for all followed a trip to the cinema to see the Hunger Games. We were not hungry.

Day 93

April 2 Monday.

There was pizza, there was no camera. Oh well

Day 92

Sunday

Well Hope has thrown a tantrum because we were all enjoying New Girl - a show she finds particularly objectionable. The evening had been going well with my lamb shank tangine dinner with creamy polenta and green beans. Even princess sparkle pants enjoyed it! We'll let her take charge of the remote.