Friday, October 28, 2011

"Not-blogging" or yes there are giant pink strawberries on my pyjamas





  • When I am "not-blogging" I'm usually at work. Four days of the week are spent at the day job, hanging with the kids and the books. This week I spent time drying out and destroying books damaged by last weekends crazy storm. I will never be someone who can blog everyday, and really, I'm not that interesting most of the time.




  • This week a lot of my "not-blogging" has involved spending time in the garden with Finnigan (Dog of Wonder) and also spending an inordinate amount of time mopping! How such a small dog can turn one bowl of water into 25,000 litres of piddle is beyond me. Does he have a super-power?




  • Some "not-blogging" also needs to be blamed on the newly vegetarianised Master Connor. I have had to put a LOT more effort into meals, and we are all eating vegetarian every second night to make it easier. The worst thing is spending hours making something that looks great and is full of great ingredients...only to find it tastes like crap. (If you have a go-to , fail safe vege recipe that you would be happy to share, please email).




  • Yesterdays "not-blogging" involved visiting Granny Boo in hospital - and all the awfulness of a very deaf very old fragile person in the medical system. Mr Ric Rac's dad is also in hospital at the moment, in the next town from Granny, so there is all kinds of family-crazy going on , as you can imagine.




  • A tiny bit of "non-blogging" has been spent sewing.




  • Some "non-blogging" has involved donating to this Auction over on the book of faces.




  • Todays "non-blogging" has involved me swearing at bloggers inability to upload photos. I tried approximately 30,000 times but some weird internal error is preventing photos...and I realise this probably makes the title of this post redundant - but I don't care. Blogger can disapear up its own backside today for al I care.




  • I'm going to boil the kettle and get on with a bit more "not-blogging'.

31 comments:

  1. hi there jodes :: there certainly is more worthwhile things to do than blog..and its great to hear you're doing them. a tofu scheszwan stirfry is easy , hot and super good. i love your doggy. and i do love your words. its so irksome when someone apologizes for 'notblogging' - and vain. like we're all just sitting waiting for a stupid post by someone.
    love to you. xxxx

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  2. My daughter is vege - it's just the two of us when she is home from uni so we eat vege all the time. Who can be bothered making two meals at a time? I recommend getting friendly with your slow cooker, if you have one, for making chick pea type stews (if they are your scene). Always improved by eating with fresh bread and butter (eliminating the need to cook rice or potatoes too!). And salads. Salads with lots of yummy ingredients. One of our favs is roast some pumpkin, adding some pinenuts near the end to toast them, and while it is still hot add some chopped up feta, spinach and red capsicum. Dress with an olive oil and balsamic vinegar dressing and eat (again with fresh bread). Get hold of a really good salad book, you won't regret it.

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  3. Zucchini Slice is a winner here.
    http://www.bestrecipes.com.au/recipe/Easy-Zucchini-Slice-L539.html
    You would have to skip the bacon (bugger) and i also put in a can of creamed corn and not so much oil and use shallots instead of onion. Really good for lunch the next day!

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  4. Vegetarian but not vegan

    1 lb pasta - cooked
    6 eggs scrambled
    4 oz grated Parmesan cheese
    3 T chopped parsley
    freshly ground pepper to taste
    1/2 t salt

    This is a lot of Parmesan, but it is my favorite, reduce if it is too strong or add more is you want more. I quite often mix half in the eggs and use half as a garnish. Boil the Pasta, while it is cooking scramble the eggs, mix in the cheese, parsley, salt and pepper, add 1/2 C boiling pasta water to the egg mixture stirring as you add to prevent curdling. When the pasta is cooked drain well return to the hot pot add the egg mixture and stir furiously so that the eggs cook with the retained heat. If the eggs are not done, put on low heat until the eggs cook.

    If he is vegan I really cannot help, I have 3 other pasta dishes that I will share if you are interested.

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  5. How about thanksgiving dinner w/o the turkey?
    potatoes
    corn
    greenbeans
    sweet potaotes
    gravy
    dressing (stuffing)
    jello salad
    green salad
    pumpkin pie
    This is a great meal even w/o the turkey.

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  6. Jody - go to www.taste.com for a huge collection of ideas and recipes from the best cooking magazines in Australia. Members can comment/make suggestions and rate recipes, so you generally have an idea of what works before you've even got to the 'looking through the fridge' stage of cooking!! You can also 'search' for what you're looking for ('freezer friendly' is my favourite), so I'm sure if you just type in vegetarian you'll receive a hundred great ideas and recipes!!

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  7. Yep - that Taste.com.au website is a Food Techology teacher's best friend! Hmmm - a bet you were wondering about what to do about the Thanksgiving dinner!! Take care luv!

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  8. Hey Jode!
    Hope all the family ills are sorted out in the healthiest of ways.
    Here's a great site with loads of vege (and non-vege) recipes:
    http://120dollarsfoodchallenge.com/category/vegetarian/
    Love to you and yours.
    xx

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  9. Hmm, get Connor to cook his vegetarian food. He'll need the skills and they'll make him imaginative too.

    Pasta with courgettes / zucchini, mushrooms and either almonds or walnuts is good.

    But let him cook a vegetarian meal for the family and discover his inner cook!

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  10. Life is all about balance Jodie and sometimes blogging just doesn't fit into that balance. I hope Granny is comfortable.
    Hugs ~ Kerryanne

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  11. They all sound like very good non-blogging reasons Jodie - hope things get easier and less Piddly! Locket xxx

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  12. Jodie have you tried qorn? Its a mince substitute made from mushrooms, and it's hard to tell its not actually meat! It's in the frozen section of the supermarket with the vegetarian foods. Just use it where you'd usually use mince - spaghetti bolognaise made with it is delicious :o).

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  14. I so get it, Jodie, having just had my own little period of not-blogging. Good luck with having to redraw the family menu at this late stage. I'm so into a routine with my cooking that to have to come up with a new dish every second night would make my head explode!

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  15. You've got lots to do in your nonblogging time. I have too, but at a certain point, I have a little thought and then the words and pics just have to escape from me..hence another post is born. I must say you're a talented nonblogger though!

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  16. sounds like you need some more non-blogging time. I am a vegan and enjoy recipes by Collen Patrick-Goudreau http://www.vegantable.com/index.html and Isa Chandra Moskowitz http://www.theppk.com/. I also get recipes from Vegetarian Times website or magazine. Good luck!

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  17. Gee I thought it was only me that had the "non-blogging" disease. I feel like I've been out of action for Months! xx

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  18. No photos pah ! I'm just using my imagination and don't you look gorgeous!

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  19. My go to recipe is a quinoa pilaf.
    cook the quinoa to the instructions on the pack (I usually use chicken stock, but you can use veggie stock)
    fry up some onions and whatever vegies you like with whatever spices you like, then mix in the cooked quinoa. (or brown rice if you can't find the quinoa). You can then add in some chopped nuts/ dried cranberries/chopped grapes if you like.
    I have got my 4 kids and reluctant non meat in a meal husband loving this, and it really is simple and doesn't take more than 1/2 hour and you can tweak it however you like. And the good thing with quinoa is that it is high in protein and thus filling.

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  20. Yep all for kids learning to cook dinner...but cooking together might be a better and safer (taste and mess wise) option to begin with. Spinach and ricotta cannelloni (google Taste website or recipe on back of San remo cannelloni packet) was my go to vego recipe (until I became lactose intolerant) but it was so sucessful my carnavore dedicated brother started cooking it (admittedly with slabs on bacon on top) and my vego friend adopted it as her favorite dinner party dish. Stuffing shells is slow, but I am sure you could make it in layers with lasagna sheets instead. My Indian vego friend tells me that there is a vego version of butter chicken, using chickpeas, sorry dont know the name, but google is your friend! Heres hoping he doesnt start reading ingrediant lists on boxes, as its way to scary to worry about when your young and indestructable...and still living at home expecting Mum to cook!
    Sorry to hear that Granny Boo and your FIL are in hospital, hope it all works out for the best.
    Hope you get some sewing sanity time, Sue SA.

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  21. Three of my favorite vegetarian recipes:

    Dal Nirvana: http://budgetbytes.blogspot.com/2010/09/dal-nirvana-314-recipe-052.html (serve with basmati rice and naan, also I use red lentils)

    Vegetarian Lime Orzo: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/vegetarian-lime-orzo/detail.aspx

    Easy zucchini parmesan: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/easy-zucchini-parmesan/detail.aspx

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  22. Now Finn, even if you are a puppy you have to stop piddling in the house! ;0

    Yes, I have wonderful veggie recipe to share. Will email you. ;0

    Dr. Finn, if you are going to continue to be my therapist then you need to piddle outside like all the other canine doctors. Don't make me call the mean Dr. Phil...don't make me! ;0

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  23. I want to commend you on taking so much time to support your child's food choices! My daughter wanted to try vegetarianism but it didn't last, BUT while she was trying, I spent so much time trying to make it work. If you're not cooking vegan, then here are my ideas: baked potatoes with vegetarian chili and cheese, veggie omelettes with fruit salad, lettuce tomato and avocado sandwiches on whole grain bread, marinated tofu and veggie kebabs on the grill, sheperd's pie minus the meat, add white beans instead. Hope those help, and bless you! ;O)

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  24. He's not called "dog of wonder" for nothing!

    I use Blogger's oldeditor to add my photos then switch back to "updated" (read "really?!") to edit before posting! It's a pain but at least I can put photos on there!

    Lebanese salad (fatoush) has a delicious dressing which is easy to make. Ranch dressing turns a boring salad into a wonder meal: look for recipes like Chicken Ranch Salad (as served in H*g's Br**th) and omit the chicken for Mr Newly V!

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  25. We eat vegi several nights a week. Corn pone is a favorite. Baked beans in a baking pan, corn bread batter on top, bake for about half an hour -yummy! If you'd like a more detailed recipe let me know and I'll send it. Sweet potatoes for the main dish with a side dish of green peas is a delicious and very easy after work dinner. A tasty roll or muffin on the side is all you need. Knitting is an acceptable way to pass the time at the hospital. You can still talk to the relatives, but it gives you something to do besides worry. I do it a lot.

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  26. Wow. Not blogging sure sounds busy. Hope you catch a breather soon!

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  27. There is nothing more worthwhile than blogging - so I can read it ;-)

    Hugs to you and the Mister for hospital stuff. Special good wishes for Granny Boo, I hope they treat her well and kindly.

    Recipes? er... not my thing. Food in general, not my thing.

    Blogger - see email ;-)

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  28. the easiest vegan recipe we have in this house as there are two vegans and two aniaml flesh eaters is a roast, tons of roast vegies and it just tastes like a roast with meat, it's filling, easy and soooo tasty, quite often the two animal flesh eaters don't have meat but we had roast tonight and they had meat which is fine, it's their choice and instead of roast meat contaminating anything in the oven they cooked steak in a pan, I have gluten free gravy on my vegies and it really is heaven!!!!

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  29. This is my favourite recipe, but make sure you use a good quality liquid stock because it makes all the difference. It really is delicious, even though it may not sound that fabulous.
    http://www.healthyfood.co.nz/recipes/2009/april/carrot-and-red-lentil-dhal

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  30. If you're looking for a vegan cookbook to sort of flip through and figure out what works in your home, I'd suggest La Dolce Vegan by Sarah Kramer. There are lots of vegan recipes there that taste great without that nagging sense that something's missing.

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  31. If I had to live with only two cookbooks they'd be Alison Holst's
    Meals without Meat and Very Easy Vegetarian:
    http://judyoz.com/ccp0-catshow/simon-alison-holst-cookbooks.html

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Hellloooooo !!!!