Month: October 2011

  • Jamie’s 30 Minute Meals #32: Tomato Soup

    This was our 32nd cooking/blogging experiment from Jamie’s 30 Minute Meals. (HA! I just noticed that on the Amazon.com page, it’s actually called “Meals in Minutes” in the USA. I guess they’ve given up on the whole 30 minute aspect over there!) For this one, we chose “Tomato Soup with Chunky Croutons, Crunchy Veg and Guacamole, and Sticky Prune Sponge Puddings.” We actually picked this one simply so we could justify buying a fresh ciabatta loaf and using the excess to make French toast. Lucky for us, it turned out to be one of the best meals in the book! I was on chef’s duty, and I finished this one in a blistering 28:27. (I should clarify for my fellow Americans that “pudding” in this case doesn’t refer to a custard like we tend to think. This is an English “pudding,” which is more like a sweet, steamed cake.)

    Tomato Soup

    Substitutions: We did half-recipes of the entire meal to avoid leftovers. We used “mini-Roma” tomatoes rather than cherry tomatoes on the vine. We had fresh green beans instead of fennel and left out the breadsticks. Instead of pitted prunes, we had dried ones that we rehydrated in syrup. We used yoghurt instead of creme fraiche. Other than that, everything was as written in the recipe.

    Quick verdict: I fully expected this one to boring. I mean, tomato soup? Veggie sticks and dip? Microwave puddings?? And instead it totally blew me away. The soup was way better than anything from a can, and it was very simple to make. The Snook liked that he could taste the flavour of the red chilli without having the heat. The guacamole was so good I went back to the greengrocer to get another avocado to make more today. And the prune puddings were terrific! We both rated it a 9 out of 10. This would be an excellent dinner to make for your vegetarian friends.

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  • Shared today on Twitter

    @goldfishgeorge Pretty good! I won’t need to buy cat food or toilet paper for the next 6 months, that’s for sure. 🙂


    @DebTeakle Ooh, I didn’t see the choc chips! Will have to look next time…


    Hoping that @mrs_sockvictim is having a good time at camp!


    @danivv DM me your email address and I’ll send it tomorrow. 🙂


    New Arrested Development series AND movie? Best news ever. http://t.co/eXVj9AVr


  • Shared today on Twitter

    RT @redditflipboard: Don’t judge me, lamp! [r/pics] http://t.co/RZAcz43N #reddit #flipboard


    I found Jiffy mix at Broadway Reject Shop and FREAKED OUT. Never seen it in Oz before! http://t.co/LAn44Wew


    @danivv Nah, we didn’t see any cornbread. Cornbread is pretty easy though! I can email you a recipe if you like. 🙂


    @bezthomas Probably the same section where Snook claims to have seen Marshmallow Fluff before. Not there anymore! 🙁


    @bezthomas Haha. Bostonians like @eileenDCoE would be horrified: It’s Fluffer Nutters! NutterFluffers somehow sound *ruder*. 🙂


    Buy our stuff! Wii drum set: http://t.co/ZnSkOmTU BBQ + gas bottle: http://t.co/l05bMlTU


    Retail therapy on a rainy day! (@ Costco) http://t.co/OtYIsw8m


  • Shared today on Facebook

    Buy our stuff! Wii drum set: http://bit.ly/mWoBJ2 BBQ + gas bottle: http://bit.ly/qwNotO


  • RunningBlog: Week 39

    I felt weird this week. I had bad sleep, but I’m not sure if that’s a cause or a symptom. Maybe it was the crappy weather and the changing daylight. Maybe it was some added stress at work. Maybe it was just the inevitable comedown after a goal race. At any rate, it was hard to get motivated. On Sunday the Snook and I did our three mile “long run” through Newtown at night. Monday night I went to Spudds where I became the FIRST GIRL EVER to score three back-to-back 100m+/20s on the rower! I did a short walk afterwards to cool down. Tuesday I walked to and from work. Wednesday I did my scheduled 25 minute run and then walked to work afterwards. And on Friday I did speed intervals at lunchtime with my friend Raj.

    Sep. 25: 4.85km
    Sep. 26: 1.07km (walking)
    Sep. 27: 5.01km (walking)
    Sep. 28: 3.82km
    Sep. 28: 2.51km (walking)
    Sep. 30: 4.89km
    Total this week: 13.57km (8.5mi)
    Total in 2011: 866.86km (541.8mi)

    My Galloway class is going well and we’ve now completed the first two weeks. I was a little worried about my ability to do the speed workout this week: SIX 400m repeats at race pace with 250m walk breaks in between. (We only had to do four last week.) It was difficult, but I made it! I keep trying to focus on running more smoothly and efficiently in these intervals rather than making it an all-out sprint. I think it’s working. I can’t wait to do a time trial and test my progress…

  • Photo Post

    I found Jiffy mix at Broadway Reject Shop and FREAKED OUT. Never seen it in Oz before!

    I found Jiffy mix at Broadway Reject Shop and FREAKED OUT. Never seen it in Oz before!