sunday suppers.

another (mostly) successful week of meal planning AND another one planned.


this week:
sunday - delicious roast chicken, yes, the one we were supposed to have on friday night, still good though :D
monday - a long day at work for me, followed by a staff meeting. a quick and easy pasta bake is definitely on the cards, lots of protein, lots of carbs, lots of cheese, nom!
tuesday - i treated myself to a new cookbook on friday, a cookbook full of curries! going to try out a thai green curry from it on tuesday, can't wait!
wednesday - ncb night. brianna will be over for dinner and i'm working all day! something quick and easy, chicken pad thai should do the job.
thursday - heading off to a little soiree and will probably catch up with some crafty peeps for dinner. no cooking for me :D
friday - bb has requested fish and chips, so i'll bake both in the oven :D oven baked chippies and some crumbed and oven baked fish fillets.
saturday - another long saturday at work for me, hoping that bb will whip us up something delicious, maybe some steak sandwiches? fingers crossed!

ps. do you like the picture? it was the first thing that popped up when i searched 'dinner' in pinterest. picture originally from here

sunday suppers.

yep so i missed posting yesterday. saturday is a big black mark on my blogtoberfest record. but i'm cool with it. i was sick and was super tired from working all day, and anything i wrote probably would've been a total snooze-fest! i've decided instead to post twice today, and well i bet it's still saturday somewhere in the world :D

anywho, back to blogging! meal planning worked quite well for us last week, i even fancied things up a bit on monday night, cutting up the pork fillet, marinating it and serving it with salad in some tortillas i had hanging around :D flexibility in the planning is nice ha ha!



so this week:
sunday - my mum is coming down to stay the night and i think we'll head to the pub for dinner. gotta love a pub meal :D
monday - i have the whole day off work (to spend with my mum, naturally) so i'll have a bit of time to rustle up something nice. roasted rack of lamb. yum!
tuesday - working til 5.30 means a quick and easy dinner. pork chops and steamed vegies will do the trick i think.
wednesday - working again! chicken pad thai will be nice and quick, oh and super delicious!
thursday - more work, ho hum. steak sandwiches with heaps of salad. i even bought some new olive oil so maybe i'll attempt a mayonnaise :D
friday - a day off but a big day of op-shopping planned. i think i might spoil us and cook up another roast! chicken this time. yep!
saturday - i'm going to leave in bb's capable hands. i'm working all day and he's at home. definiteley his job ha ha!

hrmm that all sounds pretty yummy!
do you have meal plans for the week?

i'll be back a bit later with some flea market finds!

sunday suppers.

i'm taking a leaf out of the lovely ppmj and committing my meal planning to writing this week.
do you plan your meals for the week? i've found that it's a great idea for bb and i! we do a big shop once a week, that way we have all the ingredients ready to go when we get home from work or wherever!
we've been planning quite well the past couple of weeks however we fell off the bandwagon last week and had ridiculous amount of take away, i think i only cooked one night! not great for our health or the health of our budget!



this week:
sunday - we originally had a bbq planned but the weather has put a dampener on those plans, good old sunday roast of lamb instead.
monday - i've got training in the city and bb is working. a nice and easy dinner of pork fillets and salad planned.
tuesday - a day off from work for me but tutoring in the evening. another quick and easy dinner, steak and salad sandwiches.
wednesday - bb is on his own tonight as i'm off to ncb to craft and celebrate a birthday.
thursday - another day off from work for me, chicken and noodle stirfry, i'm going to try and 'wing' a delicious sauce to go with everything, wish me luck!
friday - another quick and easy dinner as i'm working until the evening, tortellini with a spicy tomato sauce.
and saturday - out for a celebratory dinner with a friend who will hand her honours thesis in the day before, good luck anna!

hopefully it'll be easy to stick to, now that i've committed it to paper (er, screen?). well surely it couldn't be too hard, i'm out for dinner two nights out of seven!
what are you up to this week?

july.

another month has flown by, it's july already. and not just the first, it's already the third!
so having a quick look back on june, i got one out of two of those baby gifts done (still waiting on the baby though ha ha!), i got a small amount of decluttering done (my 'crap' box is a little emptier and my kitchen table is a bit more functional) and my ripple? well tune in tomorrow for some news on that!
i also got lea's blankie done! which i and she were both very happy about! it even got to her safe and sound!

and what're the plans for july?
well i need to actually start (and finish) the project that i was planning on thursday as the baby is due early august (though my cousin is convinced it will be earlier...)
i also have a couple of birthday presents that i need to get done which should be easier as i think i'll actually have days off from work this month! huzzah!
definitely more de-cluttering is needed and i also want to work on a hanging feature for above our bed.

i also have grand intentions to get back in the habit. the habit of taking my lunch to work that is... the amount of money bb and i have been spending buying our lunches recently is honestly embarrassing.
though i didn't take my lunch on friday (well i didn't actually eat lunch, but i did buy a handbag... definitely not saving any money there...), i have had a very productive weekend to prepare for the next couple of weeks.




this is saturdays effort, a tandoori chicken and a malaysian curry, portioned up and in the freezer, ready to be popped in bags and taken to work.
i've been busy today too, adding spaghetti bolognaise and beef chow mein to the freezer as well. my poor little freezer is beyond full but there's more than 2 weeks worth of lunches in there for the two of us!

what're your plans for july? are you getting back in the habit?

my creative space.

in my space today, i'll be getting to some painting and hopefully finishing off the project i started on the easter long weekend.


i'm also hoping to get some cooking done! slow roasted lamb shanks for dinner tonight and some burgers in preparation for dinner saturday night (i'm working all day and probably won't have the energy to organise it afterwards...)



and a bit more knitting. the cushion cover i started lea's blankie and spotlight have decided to discontinue the colour, lucky i have a magical wool hunter as a friend!)


more creative spaces over with kirsty

2 years.

on this day 2 years ago, i thought to myself, you should start writing a blog. so i did.
i'd been reading other peoples blogs for a little while (thanks to brianna, who introduced me to blog-reading) and thought i had some thoughts to share with the world too.
and boy i'm glad i did. i've met some wonderful people and had some great times and oh the crafty and arty inspiration!!!



so here's to the last 2 years!
oh and in case you were wondering, i'm not cracking a bottle of (very classy) sparkling before lunch for drinking purposes... i'm making scones with it! a work friend professed an idea to me a while ago about using sparkling wine in scones instead of lemonade and today i'm going to give it a try!



they're nestled away in the oven at the moment. can't wait to try them!
i'm taking them over to the magnificent heidi's where we are going to spend the afternoon drinking tea and eating scones and painting to our heart's content! can't wait!

a very happy blogiversary to the lovely pink patent mary janes as well!

my creative space.

i spent the large majority of the day at work, so have only got up to mischief creating this evening, hence the late-ish blog post :D



a spot of kitchen-y time... and these lovely looking shanks are now cooking away slowly in the oven.
and what to do in the meantime... 2 and a half hours of oven time and i think i'll be able to get a few of these cutout and ready to get sewing. i do love to make pretty christmas decorations... especially ones that are a little less traditional. thanks for the pattern clare! and thanks for keeping the store open for me to get the fabric brianna!




check out other creative spaces over with kirsty

also don't forget to follow along to be in the running for my giveaway. only 2 followers to go!!!

what are you having for dinner tonight?

my favourite meal at the moment is chicken, feta and spinach risotto.
i took the recipe from 'cook with jamie' by jamie oliver but i've tweaked it a little to make it my own and i must say, it's delicious!

pop 2 chicken breasts in the oven, sprinkled with some salt and pepper and, if you like, thyme. i normally put them in before i start preparing anything, that way they're normally done by the time they need to go in. i'm normally a bit slow and doddery though so keep an eye on them ha ha!


in a large pan, slowly cook 1 large, finely chopped onion and 4 or so stalks of finely chopped celery in some melted butter and a splash of olive oil until they're lovely and soft.


then tip in 500g risotto rice and turn up the heat.
pour in a cup of dry white wine and give it a bit of a shake. when the wine starts to smell fragrant and delicious you can start adding the stock, a ladleful at a time, until the rice is cooked (usually about a litre and a half). make sure you turn the heat down again so the rice doesn't cook too quickly.


while you're doing this, in a deep saucepan, pop in a little butter, a grating of nutmeg and a clove of chopped garlic and swish together a bit until the butter is melted and a little foamy. then chuck in about 200g of fresh spinach and wilt it down. when it's all wilted down (about 5 minutes), whiz it up in a food processor, or give it a fine chop. don't throw out any liquid that comes out of the pan, it'll make the risotto delicious, so tip it in!


when the rice is all cooked, stir in the spinach and the chicken (flaked up/diced) and then take off the heat. stir through about 150g of crumbled feta (or any goat's cheese really) and grate in about a cupful of parmesan.


and voila! it's done and delicious. serve with some crumbly feta on top and some more parmesan.
yummo!!!


thanks to my lovely boyfriend for taking most of the pictures, even if it did mean i had to sift through multiple pictures of close ups of various parts of my body, ahem.

apron ta-da!

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaand it's done!
well it may have been done a little while ago... i'm very lazy at the moment ok? hibernating for winter ha ha!


now i just have to get un-lazy so i can get into the kitchen and actually use the silly apron. masterchef style!