Hello! How was your holiday season? Hopefully you had some fun!
One of our new neighbours seems quite keen on Xmas
So it’s been a bit longer than I planned between posts, but we’ve been pretty busy. Let’s just say moving house not long before Xmas was a LOT more of a drama than we had anticipated. If something could go wrong it did. But it’s done now, and the house is slowly getting there. There’s still a lot to do, though the unpacking is almost complete. Otherwise were enjoying our new neighbourhood so far, the neighbours seem to be pretty friendly, and being a dead-end street, it’s really quiet.
For quite a few weeks not much cooking was getting done, and of course having most of your kitchen stuff packed up and distributed between two houses doesn’t help. However being short on time and energy doesn’t mean you have to eat badly, not all the time anyway. Though ready-made (or nearly ready-made) meals are generally more expensive than making it yourself, it’s still cheaper, and I hope healthier than buying takeaway all the time.
After a day at work and then the evening spent moving, cleaning, patching, sanding or painting, easy options include things like pasta with a bought sauce or pesto and a few vegies added, rice and heat ’n’ eat curry, vegie patties, and salad, antipasto, tinned Mexi-beans with rice wrapped in a tortilla – you get the idea. They’re things that involve minimal time and preparation but are still satisfying.
Dinner of dips, bread, salad and vegies
One night for a quick dinner we feasted on dips, mashed avocado, bread, oven wedges, carrot sticks and salad. Other than mashing the avocado, cooking the chips and slicing the bread, no effort was required. For dips that night we had a pack of four (Italian Bruschetta, Beetroot, Smooth White Hommus and Chunky Moroccan Harissa) from The Pure Produce Company, which are really delicious. They also do an amazing Eggplant and Parsley dip, which you must try if you get the chance!
During November and then December we still tried to experiment where we could, and the focus was on Sub-Saharan African food, so countries such as Ethiopia, Nigeria, Ghana, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Kenya. While we did eat some fabulous food, and were particularly taken with Ethiopian food, I didn’t take many photos, and don’t feel we really did it justice. So while the adventures of 2015 are over I will still be doing plenty of experimenting as the mood takes me, and look forward to revisiting lots of different cuisines.
I make no promises but hope to get back into the habit of posting more regularly during January, especially to try to provide some yummy recipes and tips for Veganuary.
Until next time …
