Fingers Crossed

We have just sent an application to Animal Rescue, to adopt a 10 year old, blind Maltese terrier who has had a hard life.. we would love to enrich his life, as he would ours.. soooo prayers and crossed fingers please,  so that if Kedron is our new doggie, it will come to pass.

A little nourishment

Recently, I have noticed my body has not been to happy when I eat red meat and last week I was feeling lethargic and a little seedy, nothing I put in seem to agree with me, and funny enough I started to crave kefir, be it milk or water kefir - I really believe now my body is now acquainted with kefir, it knows what it needed so that was close to all I consumed.  The natural healthy bacteria in Kefir, cling to the lining of the stomach and colon and stay there, this is a good thing.. I was given some water kefir from Narelle over at Just Like My Nan Made  it has been a wonderful gift, one which I have already been able to pay forward, here is some of it in apple juice, one of my two favourites, I love kefir blueberry juice as well.. *laughing* I think this though, is turning into cider, might need to get a hydrometer to check the alcohol content.

Yesterday, I strained and bottled it for a second ferment.. I had some of this juice this morning with some rice pudding for breakfast.. for lunch I made some lovely mushroom soup.. it is so easy and quick..
the recipe needs
Mushroom Soup
500 grams of mushrooms
1 onion
2 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons of flour
1 cup chicken stock or vege if you prefer
2 cups milk
salt and pepper
a little lemon juice
Melt the butter and fry finely chopped onion until just transparent, add finely chopped, peeled mushrooms, cook 2 or 3 minutes, add the flour and stir.. add milk and stock and cook until thick about 6 minutes, now I like it a bit smooth so I take out a cup of the soup, then blend the rest a little with a stick blender, pop the missing cup of soup back and stir.. now if your like me, I do not like it to thick so I add about 3/4 cup of water, bring to the near boiling, add about a tablespoon of lemon juice and serve.

It is a nourishing and quick meal, we had it with a slice of fresh sour dough bread.

Mind the fence..

The things you can see when you are hanging out the washing...

Zooming past the house

In the sky over HMAS Cerberus married quarters

Oiii - watch out for me fence!

Playing nicely together

Game on!

Umm.. I think this one is upside down

I could see the pilot - could he see me?

bypass the trees please

Out with the old

Yaaaaaaaaay.. after two weeks with no oven..I finally have a new one..

oh trust me, you do not know how much you miss an oven till you do not have one... As we are in a Navy house, it is basic..

but bless my bread, it goes. My first loaf in two weeks..  I cant wait to have a baking day :-)

It Flashed "HELP"

Hauling my sorry butt through the second week of another sinus infection, I thought the easiest meal would be pizza's - a few toppings on top of pita bread.. yes store bought *sigh*
Tom paste, basil, some mushrooms, capsicum and a bit of mozzarella and into the oven it went - it smelt reaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaally hot, so I stayed to watch, came out looking awesome, and tasted as good as pizza can when your head feels like a busted hockey puck..
During the dishes there was an awful lot of giggling, went to check the feral's who were watching the oven.. and it was flashing "help help help help help" gee's the pizza wasn't that bad... we wiggled some switches and it settled back down... but it really did need help.. it hasn't worked since.. I may never make pizza again..
Well, maybe when the new oven arrives ;-)

Hairy Bikers and a bit of chicken

I am huge fan of  hairy bikers. Not just any hairy biker...two in particular,  you know Dave and Si those two lover-able rough around the edges blokes who travel around the UK and other far off places on a couple of Triumph motorbikes.. The Hairy Bikers It is a treat for me to sit and watch these guys show off great local produce in often unorthodox ways.. I have seen many do-able recipes of these and recently, I took one to our table and oh my goodness it was sooooo good. It was rustic, comforting and easy.. Now I did miss some steps in the photo taking but you will get the idea..
Somerset Chicken
It serves six, but I used 4 chicken breasts and the same amount of everything else. Now this recipe calls from some Somerset Cider, you could use apple juice but I was happy having a bit of a boozy twist to this. You can also do this recipe using pork.

6 boneless chicken breasts, skin on
3tbsp olive oil
75g butter
2 onions, sliced
4tbsp plain flour
2tbsp grain mustard
2 dessert apples, peeled and sliced into batons
110g button mushrooms, sliced
250ml chicken stock
300ml cider
250ml double cream - I used fresh cream without any of those additives they tend to put in these days
1tbsp finely chopped sage leaves
300g Cheddar cheese, grated - I used Mainland Tasty
6 baked potatoes
Preheat the oven to 200°C (gas mark 6).
Season the chicken breasts with salt and black pepper. Heat a large saute pan and add 2tbsp of the oil and 50g of the butter.
Fry the chicken breasts in batches for 1-2 mins on each side until golden. Put them into a deep-sided oven tray and roast for 25 mins until the chicken is cooked through.

Add the remaining butter and oil to the pan and cook the onions for 4-5 mins until softened but not coloured. Add the flour and mustard to the pan and cook for another 2 mins.

Add the apples and button mushrooms and cook for 1 min. Pour in the chicken stock and bring to the boil, then pour in the cider. Bring back to the boil and cook for 5 mins.

Add the cream and sage, cook for another 5 mins, then season with salt and black pepper. Take the chicken out of the oven and pour the sauce into the dish to cover the chicken completely. Preheat the grill to high. Sprinkle the cheese over the chicken and place under the grill for 5 mins until the cheese is melted, golden and bubbling. Serve with jacket potatoes topped with a knob of butter.

This photo doesn't show this dish in all it's wonderfully, scrumptious glory, my camera work not the recipe. My husbands tummy was growling, so I never got a photo of it plated up.. it is well worth a try, a great winter warmer, or a tasty dinner when our souls need a little nourishing too.
We really enjoyed it, and I am looking forward to making it with pork..

A Matter of percetption

My article this month over on Pagan Pages... A Matter of Perception