Office Smoothie

I find it a real challenge to eat fruit. Despite living in Melbourne where we have a wealth of fresh fruit, I am not someone who has a habit of having fruit in my diet. Also, getting braces in my teeth and other attachments, I decided to make it easier for myself and make smoothies in my afternoon tea break.
1. To give me a boost to get me through the afternoon
2. To incorporate fruit in my diet

I know the last two smoothies in my instagram account included yoghurt, however most of the time I only have the fruit and some water to keep it all natural and raw.

So how do I do this in the office?

On my visit through a local department store, I saw a blender with a sports drink attachement for $15. It was cheaper than other types of smoothie blenders so I decided to give it a try. I store it in my bottom drawer in my workstation and every day at 3pm I take it into the kitchen where I have frozen berries in the freezer and pineapple that I cut up in portions and place in a bag in the freezer. I then bring a banana, kiwi fruit or get any other piece of fruit from the supermarket and those are my ingredients.

It takes minutes to cut up and place in the blender and since you are using the same bottle to drink out of there is minimal washing up. The blender is still going after a year and others have jumped on the wagon - the more the merrier.

So if you want more fruit in your diet and you cannot find the time elsewhere, especially if you are a busy mum like myself, try the smoothie at 3pm. It works for me.

Steamed Fish with Brocolli and Jasmine Rice in 20 minutes

Today was one of those days where I hadn't prepared anything for dinner. All I knew was that I wanted some fish fillets and some greens on rice. It was my turn to pick up the boys and they will be hungry.

So on my lunch break, I grabbed some skinless blue grenadier fillets from the supermarket and some fresh spring onions. I had some ginger at home so I decided to make some soy and ginger steamed fish and some veggies on the side, I was pretty sure we had some brocolli in the fridge.

When I arrived home, here is what I did:

1. Cook 3 cups of rice in the ricecooker. Turn it on and leave. It will take around 20 minutes to cook.

2. Mix 1 tsp of caster sugar, 1/4 cup of soy sauce (light), chopped up ginger and sliced spring onions (white part) in a bowl

3. Cut up the fish fillets into 4 parts each and spread around a pie dish or any flat dish that can hold liquid and fits into the steamer.

4. Pour the sauce on the fillets and place the whole dish in the steamer. Set for 15 minutes.

5. Cut brocolli into florets and wash in cold water. Place in a separate steamer for 2 minutes.

6. Once brocolli is steamed, stir fry in olive oil with garlic and chicken stock powder with 5 tablespoon of water.

7. Place a pan with 3 tablespoons of sesame oil until heated and once the fish is cooked, pour oil onto the steamed fish (watch out for splaterring)

8. Leave the fish steaming for another minute then take out of steamer. Garnish with green parts of the spring onion.

9. Get a bowl and fill with a cup of steamed jasmine rice, a cup of stir fry brocolli and a portion of fish. Pour some sauce over the fish and rice.

10. Serve and enjoy

Healthy Snacking

I met a lady once who had a 5 year old daughter and we were talking about kids and food. She told me that she got sick of having to go to the pantry to get her daughter snacks that she decided to fill a drawer full of snacks for her daughter to help herself to anytime of the day. That drawer is filled with chocolate bars, potato chips, lollies, basically junk.

This lady was overweight and she was telling everyone that her daughter was heavy for her age group and had to wear size 12 kids clothes which was 7 sizes bigger than the average 5 year old clothing size.

I was pregnant with my first child during this conversation and I made a mental note never to have such a snack drawer for my children.

I don't forbid them from the food mentioned above however when they do ask for a snack, I always offer them fruit or carrots or something that doesn't come packaged. I also try to bake them biscuits and cake myself so I know what ingredients have been used.

Today, we are having a slow day at home. They are playing dress-ups and since they have been well behaved, they get to watch one of their favourite movies. With that, I made them a fruit platter of sliced apple, pear and dried apricot on a bed of sultanas. They are enjoying it as I type and I am glad that they don't have a habit of expecting chocolate, chips or lollies when they ask for a snack.

Vietnamese Vermicelli Inspired Late Meal

The kids were in bed and I was watching my favourite TV show after my daily workout. As usual, I was hungry and had a very strong craving for a bowl of Vietnamese Vermicelli which usually consists of thin rice noodles, grilled pork, pickled vegies and fresh lettuce and beanshoots.

Usually this craving would take a 5 minute trip to Footscray to satisfy however it was midnight so I didn't have that luxury. I started to think about what ingredients I have available to put together a similar dish and here is the result.

I had left over pork, prawn and shitake mushroom stir-fry and although I didn't have vermicelli, I did have glass noodles. So all that is left to do was to drown some carrots and onions in a mirin, fish sauce and sugar concoction for around 15 minutes and thinly slice some cos lettuce I had in the fridge.

It was absolutely delicious and did not take that much time at all.

BanCondensAdo - Healthy Snack with a side of Condensed Milk

I am not the snacking type, no packet of chips or popcorn in front of a movie. I am more of a wholesome meal person but sometimes I do like to indulge in the quick snack but mine is probably a little weird or 'different' for some.

I call this snack the BANCONDENSADO...you'll see why.

Take a banana and split it in half longways as you would a banana split. Scoop out an avocado using a tablespoon, take a can of condensed milk and pour some onto the mix like syrup, then add some shaved dark chocolate.

I know the avocado may have put some of you off but it is actually delicious as a dessert. This dish is so filling, it's like having a meal.

Try it out and let me know.

Katsu-Don Inspired Dinner in Patent Mary-Janes

When I think of Japanese food, more often than not, Sushi rolls would come to mind. However, the Sushi place at the local shopping centre I usually visit at lunch times is now offering some hot dishes that they cook up on order. One of my favourites is the Katsu-don which is crumbed pork fillets with eggs on rice. The combination is just delicious and I love the nori sprinkled on top and a few pieces of pickled ginger on the side. It is a very satisfying meal, especially in winter.

Tonight, I have decided to make something similar for dinner however I will use chicken instead of pork. Last night I have sliced some chicken breast very thinly and coated it in bread crumbs. They are in the fridge ready for me to shallow fry when I get home. So all I have to do is quickly make the omelette and assemble with some steamed rice and top with nori.

It's winter in Melbourne but for some reason my legs don't really get cold. Today, I decided to wear my red dress that makes me look like a flight attendant and my white blazer finished off with my favourite black, patent, mary-janes. They are comfortable and I have had them for a while now but they are a classic and it would take a very nice pair to make me part with them.

First thing to do when I arrive home is to get the rice going in the rice cooker then shallow fry the crumbed chicken fillets. Whilst that is going, I start stir-frying the thinly sliced onions and cabbage until nearly see-through. Then I pour in three beaten eggs and swirl them around the pan to get an even layer and leave on medium flame to cook through. By the time the chicken is done, the rice has clicked to the 'Warm' setting indicating that it is cooked.

To assemble the dish, use a deep bowl and scoop some rice, topped with a quarter of the omellette, a chicken fillet sliced into finger width pieces, kecap manis and pieces of nori.