New Husband, New Home, New Kitchen~!

I am finally making my way on the journey to domestic housewife and I am finding joy in cooking at home (most of the time!) My husband and I had the luxury of living with his parents for our first 4 months of marriage. In which time, I worked through supper time and he came home from his day job to a plate of steaming goodness. Now that we are out in our own apartment the nourishing responsibility has fallen into my lap.

We got married overseas in a small family wedding and didn't have a wedding registry in either of our home countries. So I have enjoyed taking the time to shop for each of our kitchen appliances and each piece of cookware. We bought a Gourmet 6 piece stainless steel cookware set on Boxing Day for $200 off the retail price of $599.99. We took it home to the in-laws and let it sit in our mound of wrapped items for our soon to be kitchen. Fast forward two months and it's christmas day in our new naked kitchen! I'm ripping open our boxes of appliances and cookware like there's no tomorrow.. and then I get to the Stevens 6 piece set and am mortified. As I skim my fingers over the smooth lip of the steel pot I realize.. it isn't smooth is rough and scratchy... Upon closer examination I see there are little cracks eating through the steel with rusty veins. We re-pack it as best as possible and take it back to the orginal store. We learn (along with the sales women) that all of the sets are faulty as well as the individual pots! So we used our refund to skip to the next store and purchase a 4 piece Cuisinart cookware set.

Today I finished watching Julie & Julia! Fabulous. I was so excited I decided to reinvent my cooking blog as break my new kitchen in as well as my role as domestic housewife. I cannot promise to write everyday as Julie Powell did.. you can see that turned into a disaster for her marriage. But, I will be posting regularly!

My first delivery at our new home! Culinary lavender from a local NZ farm. $9.90 + $4 shipping.

Order now at:
http://millcreeklavender.co.nz/

Savoring September one bite at a time..

Hello September~! It's been a lonely summer on this blog~! In the past months a lot has happened.. I got engaged~! As well as slimmed down a few sizes. Since I have been busy wedding planning and spending time with my fiance I have minimal time in the kitchen. I've stopped making smoothies and started snacking on whole fruit and other easy snacks.

Here's two of my favorite hunger busters:

Cottage cheese with sliced avocado on top, sprinkle with pepper~! enjoy.
-&-
Cinnamon raisin english muffin with cream cheese and honey~! mmm sweet.

I'm a big advocate of eating fat and protein together in meals. I try to eat meat once a day and eat small meals when I get hungry (about every 3 hours.) I have a huge sweet tooth so I try to eat fruit and add honey to dishes to help me from binging on desserts~! I can't wait to share some delicious things to eat in the next few weeks up until my wedding. ;-)

A sweet treat to start the day..

Well it's been awhile since I last posted.. Don't worry I have eaten in the past few months.  I just haven't had the time to post anything delicious! So to start making up for that, I am starting this year's posts with a sweet breakfast surprise.

Strawberries and Oats

1/2 c old fashioned oats

3/4 c water

2 T chopped dates

heavy sprinkling of pumpkin spice (or just cinnamon)

2 t ground flaxseed

1 1/2 t brown sugar

fresh sliced strawberries

fresh whipped cream made with vanilla bean

~ 1 serving per recipe

If you are just making a single serving I would opt for the microwave method.  Combine the first four ingredients in a large bowl and zap it (as my Grandma says) for 3 minutes.  Let it cool in the microwave for 1-2 minutes before removing.  Then top with the ground flaxseed, brown sugar, strawberries and last but not least some delicious strawberries! Mmm you will be surprised at how much this tastes like dessert.  If you use vanilla bean in the whipped cream it makes all the difference! Enjoy~ ;-)

Double the pleasure

So I've been beaten with the sick stick repeatedly the last week and finally lost the fight last night. I decided to make a healthy, fruity smoothie for breakfast to soothe my sore throat.  And then later I was feeling a little perkier and made one the tastes more like dessert!  I have a new bullet like blender that is perfect for making smoothies for one person and quite quickly too!

Feeling green smoothie

1/2 a small avocado

1 kiwifruit peeled

1/2 a large banana

1/3 cup frozen strawberries

1 T flaxseed oil

1/2 c - 3/4 c hempmilk

Blend and sip.

The smoothie is naturally sweet and refreshing yet still creamy with the avocado and hempmilk.

Holiday smoothie

1/2 c eggnog*

1 1/2 bananas

1 heaping T peanut butter

1/4 rice krispies cereal

1 scoop chocolate protein powder

ice cubes

Blend and sip slowly.

*Use soy eggnog if you are lactose-intolerant.

The smoothie is delicious, sweet and creamy.  You get hints of banana, peanut butter and eggnog under the chocolate flavor; like a holiday surprise! ;-)

Sipping Sweetness

Mmmm.. just one last sip! This morning I woke up and decided it was time to make another smoothie. I went into the kitchen and pulled out frozen grapes, pineapple, peaches, cherries, blueberries, raspberries, persimmons,  bananas, and apples.  Looking at the chilled assortment I picked off the counter sweet cherries, peaches and apples.  I then grabbed some cool hemp milk, ice cubes, tahini, rose water and some lavender sugar to make one delightfully sweet smoothie.

Delightfully Sweet smoothie

1 cup frozen yellow peaches

1/4 c frozen sweet cherries

1/4 c apples

handful ice cubes

2 tsp tahini

2 capfuls rose water

1 tsp lavender sugar

1 c hempmilk

Combine all ingredients in blender. Enjoy! ;-)

*Sorry no picture; camera charger is missing*

My lips remember New Zealand..

So..New Zealand. Just saying it, makes me yearn to be there again! I was there a month ago for a short jaunt to see a kiwi boy and eat some good food.  A good balance ay? Unfortunately, my camera battery died soon after and I had to resort to taking food pix on a camera phone.  I failed to plan ahead for power outlet differences between american and kiwi power sources.. I now know it is wise to invest in one at the airport for about $17.

I was greeted by cold weather and hearty food when I arrived.  I had several delicious, flaky yet also juicy mince pies.  It's basically like a pot pie but heaps better!  You can get them everywhere from the gas station to Border's cafe.  A simple mince and cheese with some tomato sauce (pretty close to our Heinz ketchup but sweeter) warms the body and soothes the tummy.  When we were grocery shopping I found a bottle of Tuimato sauce which was a hit.  Tui Brewery makes the tomato sauce with a little (2%) of their famous beer.  It's worth passing the ketchup and reaching for it instead.

 

Kiwi families are very health conscience.  Two of the families homes I got to visit each had an extensive garden with everything from fresh herbs, vegetables and fruit trees.  In the kitchen there was a huge platter filled with different fruits that the family nibbled on.  I tried the yellow kiwifruit that has been engineered to be more sweet and less bitter.  It was divine. It's so good cold and juicy.  I am now in love with kiwifruit. I didn't eat them growing up and I remember being confused in the lunch line as to how to eat them; all those seeds were intimidating!

We had a fancy dinner out or maybe I should say "up" in the Auckland Sky Tower above the city.  I chose lamb for my main entree but the duck souffle appetizer was so much more succulent.  The prices were reasonable though and the view was spectacular!

A lovely lassi

So sickness suppressed my ravenous appetite this week. Fortunately,  I was still lively enough to whip up a Lovely Lassi smoothie to share with you.  I am happy it's mango season and there is an abundance of mangoes on the neighbor's tree!  I hear them drop from the branches at night with a crash and then a juicy plop!  You really can't beat fresh mango in the summer. Try this refreshing mango chiller with sweet hints of raspberry and rose...

A Lovely Lassi

1 1/2 c frozen cubed mango

1/2 c frozen raspberries

1/2 c lite coconut milk

3/4 c rice milk

2 t rosewater

1 T agave nectar

a few ice cubes

Blend until smooth. Add more liquid if needed, and more agave nectar to your preferred sweetness. Enjoy!