RIP blender

The blender that I've been using for the last 10 or so years is truly a relic. It was given to my parents as a wedding present. They are celebrating their 40th wedding anniversary this year.



Ugly it may be, but for the last decade this blender has served me mighty fine smoothies, soups and cocktails. I've had no complaints.

However all good things must eventually come to an end. Although the blades still rotate, not much blending has been happening lately. My smoothies have been far from smooth, so finally I have bitten the bullet and decided to farewell ye olde ugly blender.

A parcel arrived on my doorstep not long ago.



Inside, a shiny new blender. Of course its red.



Now its no longer smoothie weather, but I've made 2 soups alone this week. Let's see if this one lasts 40 years. Somehow I doubt it!!

Rhubarb Jam

Last weekend I went to the St Kilda Farmers' market. This groovy little market is only a hop, skip and a jump from our house, so I don't know why it took me well over 6 months of living here before I checked it out for the first time. It's only on once a month, so miss it and you miss out for another 4 weeks. Ouch! (Although I've just noticed there is an Albert Park market on the 3rd week of the month which is still nice and closeby. I might try and make it there this Saturday!)

Even though I've only been about 4 times, I've already got myself a little routine. Must buy items are baby cos lettuce, tomatoes, blue cheese and a piece of brownie. Other items are negotiable, depending on what's in season.

One of the suprise items this time was a lovely looking bunch of rhubarb. I made part of it into a galette, and the other 2/3 I used to make my first ever jam.

I was going to say it was as easy as pie, but truthfully it's even easier. I adapted this recipe from taste.com.au to use part of the bunch of rhubarb, and a heap less sugar. I'm not really a jammy person, and would prefer mine on the tart, rather than the sweet side. I had no idea if these adjustments would effect the setting, but it didn't seem to make any difference. I love the way there are only 4 ingredients, and no fancy setting or gelling agents (is that normal for jam? I have no idea!)

Rhubarb Jam recipe

Preparation Time

10 minutes

Cooking Time

30 minutes

Ingredients

• 2/3 bunch trimmed rhubarb, washed, coarsely chopped
• 300g caster sugar (I used a combination of raw sugar and caster sugar, since I was running low)
• Juice of 1/2-1 fresh lemon
• 1 tsp vanilla essence

Method

1. Combine the rhubarb, sugar, lemon juice and vanilla in a large glass bowl. Cover and set aside to infuse for a few hours or overnight, depending on how patient you are.
2. Transfer the rhubarb mixture to a large saucepan. Place over medium-high heat. Bring to the boil. Use a large metal spoon to skim any froth from the surface. Cook, stirring, for 25-30 minutes or until the jam jells when tested (see note).
3. Spoon the hot jam mixture into clean, dry jars. Seal and invert for 2 minutes. Turn upright and set aside to cool.

Tips

• To test if the jam is ready, place 1 teaspoon of the jam on a chilled saucer and place in the freezer for 1-2 minutes or until cooled to room temperature. Lightly push the jam with your finger. If the surface wrinkles, it's ready.
• To sterilise glass jars, wash the jar and lid in warm soapy water and rinse. Transfer to a baking tray lined with baking paper and place in oven preheated to 100°C until dry. Use straight from the oven.

There you go, easy as!!! Next time I would try replacing the lemon juice with orange juice and reducing the sugar even more.

Here's how I enjoyed my first tasting: for breakfast on pancakes with yoghurt and coffee. Mmmmmm.



I've never made scones before, but I'm tempted to learn just so I can taste this jam on a warm scone with cream. Yum!

43things: do a triathlon

Unfortunately I’ve been without internet access for the last month (and yes I did feel like I was missing a limb). Life did not end, nor did it stand still. In fact for the last 6 weeks I’ve been training for a mini-triathlon and finally did it yesterday.

And since I’m sitting here typing this, that means I lived to tell the tale. What’s more, I even enjoyed it!!

Six weeks ago I made a big decision. Despite it nearing the end of summer and triathlon season, I wanted to achieve this goal. Its been on my list for over a year now, and if I ever wanted to make this happen, I just had to get in there and do it.

There were 2 main things that helped my motivation. Getting back to the pool and swimming laps, and realising my other goal of swimming 1km without stopping. Sure I’m not fast, but I can swim and I do feel safe and confident in the water. Whilst I was at the pool doing laps one day, one lane was closed for a group called Tri-alliance. I picked up one of their brochures and that got the ball rolling…

Another thing that helped move that ball along was a friend of mine talking about doing a triathlon as well. We live on opposite sides of the city, so couldn’t train together, but we decided to both sign up for a mini-triathlon – The Gatorade ActiveFeet race at Elwood Beach which involved a 300m swim, 10km cycle, 3km run.

Just before Christmas we both made the decision to sign up for the March race, giving us adequate training time after Christmas and New Year’s festivities were over. It also gave me time to sign up for Tri-alliance’s Try the Tri 6 week program. Not having done anything more competeitive than the Sydney City 2 Surf (and that was many years ago now!), joining this program was one of the best decisions I ever made.

It wasn’t all smooth sailing. I missed over 2 weeks of sessions due to illness, and couldn’t make every session due to work commitments. But I made enough to learn the basics of transitions, to improve my running (although I still have a long way to go), to experience open water swimming, and I even had fun in the process.

After the first session I was a bit intimidated. We literally spent 1.5 hours learning how to get on and off a bike. It was hard! And I was sore for days afterwards. And I’m still not very good at it!

I was suprised to discover that comparatively speaking, swimming was my strongest leg. I know it’s an indiviual sport, but I couldn’t help but noticing that whenever we practised transitions, or did running training, I was always dead last. By a long shot. Never the case swimming though. I have to admit that gave me a mental boost, for if I was consistently coming last in everything, I think my competitive side would find that difficult to cope with.

But enough about the training, how about the race itself!!

I was a bit panicked waking at at 5:30am yesterday and realising it was still pitch black. I had planned on carrying my gear in my bike basket and riding to the race, however I can’t attach both my basket and my light to my bike. A last minute repacking ensued, and I rode down to Elwood beach, still with plenty of time to spare.

After checking in my bike and setting up for transition, I made my way to the Tri-alliance tent to wait there with the other people I’d been training with. It was lovely to be around other first-timers in the same boat along with more experienced athletes and coaches. At 6am it was a chilly 12 degrees. We had to leave our shoes in the transition area and I hadn't thought to bring a spare pair. As a result my feet were in agony from the icy grass.

During Saturday’s training session I was dismayed to find that the water temperature had dropped signficantly. I am a wuss when it comes to cold water at the best of times. Also being one of the few people without a wetsuit, I was even more freaked out. Since we were only doing a small pre-race swim, I couldn’t even force myself to get in the water. I was worried that if it didn’t warm up overnight I’d be too wussy to do it for the actual race the next day! But luckily the water temperature had warmed up (and was warmer than the 12 degree air!).

The race itself was amazing. The swim was both my favourite part, and the most stressfull. Being accidentally kicked and having people pulling and swarming around you can be stressfull. Luckily the ocean was flat as a tack, so currents and waves didn’t add to this stress.

Image from supersprint.com.au

As always my transition time was slow. I think I am the slowest person alive to put on shoes! It didn’t help that my feet were deadened by cold. In fact I didn’t get back full sensation in my feet until halfway through the run.

The cycle leg was fine, I think I could have pushed it harder than I did though. I hadn’t done enough 10km length cycles to properly gauge how long and how hard I had to work for. I was also conscious of saving my legs for what I knew would be my toughest leg: the run.

I’m not a natural, nor a fast runner. But I can get myself into a slow rhythm and just plug away. And plug away I did. My legs sure felt it from the riding, but I was just happy not to have to stop and walk. Towards the end, I even got a comment from someone on the sidelines about how I was still smiling. With 100m to go, my deadened legs made a final sprint for it. At the finish line, I didn’t even see the clock, so I had no idea what my time was.

I got my results in the mail today, and here they are:

• Swim – 08:55, 26/68 in my age category, 368/599 overall
• Transition 1 – 02:23
• Cycle – 23:25, 40/68 in my age category, 396/599 overall
• Transition 2 – 01:15
• Run – 18:04, 48/68 in my age category, 482/599 overall

Overall stats: 54:01, 42/68 in my age category, 142/239 females, 428/599 overall competitors

Not bad, but definite room for improvement!

Things I would do differently next time:

• Swim – Ideally wear a wetsuit. Yes this would involve buying one.
• Transition 1 – need to be at least 1 minute faster. Shouldn’t have worried about socks (most of the sand had come off anyway). Do more training in shoes only to make sure this would work. Also shouldn’t have bothered putting on a dry singlet, it only got wet!
• Cycle – could have pushed harder, especially the first half. Also getting a proper road racing bike might help too!
• Transition 2 – don’t bother drinking my own water this time. Plently of water stations along the running route.
• Run – faster faster. More practice!!

Despite the room for improvements, I’m happy with my race, and more than happy that I got off my butt and did something I’d wanted to do for ages. It didn’t cost a lot of money, and the only new equipment that I bought were elasticated shoe laces ($10) and tri shorts ($30 from the 2XU factory outlet). Of course the gadget-geek in me is already plotting away at future purchase ideas - a wetsuit and maybe even a new bike too!

Speaking of room for improvement, the St Kilda race is on in only 2 weeks. Whilst part of me wants time to recover, another part of me wants to give it another go. Another part of me is also afraid of how much colder the water will be in 2 weeks. Another part of me thinks that part of me is a wuss. Which part will win is yet to be determined!

Regardless, my new goal is now to to a full-length Triathlon when the season starts again at the end of the year!

See more progress on: do a triathlon

43things: Get a bike and start bike riding

I'm finally marking this goal as done! I’ve had my bike for over a year now. I’m by no means an expert cyclist and in that time I wouldn’t say its gotten the biggest workout ever, but I am using it!

The day I bought my bike!

In the last week alone I have ridden to:

• Port Melbourneto meet friends for dinner & drinks
  
• Step into Life class
• Sandringham beach and back with friends for a swim

I don’t know if I’ll ever be an everyday communter. That will probably depend more on proximity to work and shifts, but I’m enjoying what I’m doing for now. I already have dreams of other bikes I’d like to get – cruiser, racer, vintage road bike…..but that’s a story for another time and place!

Me on a recent ride taking a cheesy self-portrait

See more progress on: Get a bike and start bike riding

Decisions

Hurrah! Some of the uncertainty that hovered around during my last post has now been resolved.



I finally bit the bullet and made some long awaited decisions regarding 2011. I'm staying in Melbourne and just doing casual work. No specialisation. No exams. No contracts. No job security. Actually I'm hoping the casual work will find me not only in Melbourne, but country Victoria, the Gong and maybe even country NSW too.

Lest I celebrate too soon, there's still lots of things I need to do to make this a workable reality. My current work contract runs out in 4 weeks. In that time I need to solidify some of the nebulous options that hover in the wings. I need to sign up with at least one locum agency. Most importantly I need to line up some definite work for February. Bills to pay baby.

A big wide open horizon can be scary. But amazing possibilities!

Intentions

I've been meaning to post here since November, really I have. December hasn't been easy though. There's been a lot of harking back to "this time lat year", mixed in with a healthy dose of "what am I doing next year?", and even more "and what after that?" It's kind of stressful to realise that even now, on December 27th I still don't have any of these questions answered.

It's not like I necessarily want them all answered, either. One last minute job offer (whilst I was enquiring about casual postions) could have resolved all the instability, for one year at least. But that would have meant an interstate move within the next 4 weeks. Back to where I was. Where part of me wants to be, but another (bigger?) part of me is scared of being. I don't think I am ready for that yet.

What I am ready for, I am just not sure.

Stolen moments

I've been working night shift all weekend. So when I got home at 10am this morning, all I wanted to do was sleep the day away. Which I did quite successfully up until 6pm.

When I woke up, the sky was semi-clear, sunshine was occasionally peeking through the clouds, and for one of the first days all week, it wasn't raining. I decided to get ready quickly, and go for a walk along my usual beach path route before it became dark. I'm now officially on holidays for 3 weeks, so why not get it off to a good start?

By the time I had walked along the path and back, the sun was nearly, but not quite setting. What to do? Continue home and miss the first sunset I've seen in a week? I chose plan B and ducked into a suprisingly near-empty bar along the beach, bought myself a riesling, plonked down at my own beachfront table and watched the sun set with only the music of my iPod to accompany me.



I felt a little self-conscious walking into a bar and ordering a drink by myself. But you know what, the sunset was worth it. Some moments are too precious not to sit still and savour.

Two clubs

Yesterday I joined not one, but two clubs. Now these are metaphorical clubs; they aren't the kind of clubs that demand membership fees, a uniform and a sworn allegiance towards lifelong memberships, but they are clubs that I am proud to be a part of nevertheless.

Club # 1: the sore bum club

On Sunday I took myself off for a long overdue bike ride along the Bay Path to Beaurmaris and back, retracing a route I took earlier in the year.



The day was gloriously clear and perfect riding weather. Lovely and sunny, but not too warm to overheat and get all sweaty. It felt good to be out on the bike again, after a way-too-long break over winter.



Beforehand I was worried that I'd have forgotten how to ride with my fancypants shoes. Instead I should have worried about how my bum would fare. The last 15km or so were not pleasant indeed. Why oh why didn't I wear my padded shorts?

After a day or so, I thought I'd recovered as I was able to sit down without too much discomfort. Then last night, 4 days after the initial ride, I attended my first ever spin class at a local bike shop (cool idea hey!!). Getting up on the bike at the start of the class proved that my bum had not yet recovered. Ouch! My bum needs to toughen up, that's for sure!

Club # 2: the sandal booties club

Yesterday I received a package from Urban Outfitters containing my first summer shoe purchase: sandal booties.



After a fruitless winter-long search for over-the-knee boots I decided to give up and focus on building up my sandals wardrobe. Despite living in sandals for many months of the year, I only own a few different pairs. This is a vast improvement on a few seasons ago when I basically livied in Birkenstocks for 6 months of the year. Thanks to youlookfab my sandal wardrobe has expanded a bit, but still has a long way to go.

Enter the latest addition: a cross between a sandal and a bootie. Talk about the best of both worlds!



It's too cold to wear them out at the moment without my toes getting frostbite and dropping off, but I'm looking forward to the weather warming up soon (please Melbourne?), and these coming out to play.

---

One non-metaphorical club I am thinking of joining is some kind of bike riding group. Although I love heading out by myself, it's also great to ride with a group. To find new routes, to get encouraged as you go up hills, to chat as you ride down them, and then to stop for coffee at the end. My bike buddies are one thing I miss about Wollongong a lot!

I've searched on the internet and found a few prospects. My varied schedule makes it a bit tricky, but really it's just me being a big scardycat that's prevented me from actually trying out a ride somewhere. If I don't post that I've done so soon, can someone please keep me accountable and nag me about this?

Where does the time go?

Yet again it's been an inordinate amount of time between posts. My excuse is that for the last 3 months I've been back on the Monday to Friday grind of ward work. With a good helping of weekend cover shifts thrown in as well.

But as of this Friday afternoon I'll be back on shift work. Is it strange that I can't wait? I love having random days off during the week even if it does mean working a lot of weekends. I'm also looking forward to working 40, rather than 70 hours per week.

And who knows, maybe as well as giving me more time for blogging, it will also give me more time for doing something to blog ABOUT!

Depending on what (if any) job I end up getting for next year, I may never have another ward job again. We shall see!

I shouldn't complain too much though. I've just had a lovely weekend off. I was technically on-call all weekend, but didn't have to go in at all. Instead I went and saw the Tim Burton exhibtion, then went out and drank waaaaay too many cocktails, then slept in and caught up with a friend visiting from Sydney at my favourite cafe. So it's not all work and no play.

Today when I got home after 11 hours at work, I was tempted to kick back and bludge around the apartment (yet again). Instead I dragged myself out for a walk along the beach. Wandering along, I ran into 2 seperate people I know and stopped to say hello. While I still don't feel exactly "at home" here, it is nice to see familiar faces and feel like I have some connections here.

Next challenge is to go for a run after work, or maybe actually make it to a yoga class or the pool. I'm working 15 hours tomorrow though, so it certainly won't be then!!

One small step for man

I know the quality of this photo is crap. I lost my camera several weeks ago and this was taken on my iPhone. Eventually I'll get around to getting a new camera. Until then, it's this or nothing!



This may look like a badly photoographed, and inherently unphotogenetic bowl of risotto. And whilst it is that, it's also a lot more. For one, it crosses off one of the items on my Things to Do In Melbourne list I've got stuck up on the fridge; namely "Learn how to make risotto".

Believe it ir not, I've never made risotto before. Whilst I've eaten plenty, they were always made by the now-ex-boyfriend (who from henceforth shall be known as Neb on this blog). Risotto was always one of his special dishes to make, and to be fair he was pretty damn good at it. So learning how to make it myself was something I never had to think about.

Most restaurant risottos are awful - they are either lukewarm, too watery, don't have enough tasty filling bits, or have at least one ingredient that I don't like in them (hello Pumpkin!!!). Unless I have reason to believe a restaurant's risotto is going to be amazing, it's not something I would risk ordering off the menu. Too much of a gamble!

Given that it's now over 6 months since Neb and I have been together, that means that's its been over 6 months since I've eaten risotto. In summertime I didn't even notice the lack of risotto from my diet, but now that we are well and truly in the midst of a freezing cold winter, there are some nights when a warm bowl full of creamy rice and veggies would just hit the spot perfectly.

So I finally decided that the lack of risotto in my diet had gone on far too seriously long enough by half. The only thing for it was to give it a go and just see what happens. I spent some time googling around, and finally came up with a few candidate first-timer risotto recipes from taste.com.au, finally settling on this recipe for Spinach and Sweet Potato Risotto.

The verdict? Yum. I might try a few other recipes before considering making this exact one again, but now that I've gotten over my initial risotto fear, there's no stopping me! Just one more thing I don't need a man in my life for, right?

A fine Autumn day

Ever since I've come back down south from The Gong, I've been moaning about how cold it is, and how worried am I about how I'm going to survive winter. Yesterday was gorgeous, and I had a great day out on the bike.

Now I know today is Monday, but given that I'm doing shift work, I had the day off. Since it was another beautiful day, I decided I really should make the most of it and get out in the sunshine while I can.



Today I took a stroll along the bay in the opposite direction than I went riding yesterday.



I know a lot of people disparage St Kilda as being touristy, and to some extent I agree. On weekends especially you have to dodge around people to walk along the esplanade, and finding a seat at a cafe along Acland st can be a bit traumatic. However on weekdays? Quite a different story.



I love being home during the week to take advantage of days like this.



And after the walk? What better than a tasty burger at one of my favourite cafes?



Normally chockablock full on weekends, often with a waiting list taped to the front door. Today it was half-empty, and I had a whole table to myself, no hassle. Bliss!

Things I love about Melbourne #2: Bay Ride

I know, I know it's been about a bazillion years since I posted here. In my defence, I've been away, I've been sick, and it's been cold. Any more excuses required?

Despite my slackness and sickness, I've been trying to do some stuff. Today I got out on my bike and explored part of the Bay Trail that extends from the west side of Port Melbourne to Carrum (wherever that is).



Here's the small part of it that I did today: 35km there & back according to googlemaps.



It was a perfect day for riding. Sunny, but not too hot. A bit of breeze in the air which I thought was lovely on the way down, but had to struggle against all the way back.



I am far from an expert cyclist, however I have recently made one important cycling purchase: clip-on shoes. I took my bike up to Wollongong on my recent jaunt home, and after lagging behind on hills, friends assured me these clip-on shoes were the way to go.



They look pretty groovy don't they? Tell you what though, it was like learning to ride a bike all over again, falling off the bike included. In fact 2 weeks later the bruises on my thigh are still healing! Ah well, no pain no gain!



To be honest, I have no idea how much a difference these shoes make. I haven't gone up any of the same hills since I've been wearing them that I struggled with earlier. I do like the security of having my feet always on the pedal though.

Who knows if it's all psyhcological, but anything that helps to get out and enjoy a beautiful day like today is worth it, isn't it?

Pot pie

There aren't many things in life that are more comforting than a pot pie. The most delicious one I've ever had was a sweet potato and chickpea pot pie that I had at a pub at Mount Victoria, whilst driving back from The OC to Sydney one weekend.

I've never seen it on any other menu, and never seen a recipe for such a pie, but I have craved it often. So much in fact that I've searched around on the internet to find something similar. This recipe for Moroccan lamb & chickpea pot pies at Taste is the closest I've seen.

A sudden cold snap hit Melbourne a few days ago. Also, I'm starting night shift tonight for 4 nights in a row. So what better time to fill the fridge with a hearty and nourishing pot pie.



I've adapted the taste recipe to take out the lamb. Still not quite at the level of the Mount Victoria pub, but I'm willing to keep working on it over winter!

Morroccan sweet potato & chickpea pot pies

Ingredients

• Olive oil spray
• 1 brown onion, finely chopped
• Half a leek (I happened to have it in the fridge. I wouldn't buy it just for the sake of this recipe if I didn't have it already though)
  
• 3 garlic cloves, crushed
• 2 tsp ground coriander
• 1 tsp ground cumin (I added this because I always seem to use coriander and cumin together)
  
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 x 400g can no-added-salt tomatoes
• 500g orange sweet potato (kumara), peeled, cut into 1.5cm-pieces (I increased the amount to compensate for the lack of lamb)
  
• 60ml (1/4 cup) water
• 1 x 400g can chickpeas, rinsed, drained
• 1 tsp honey
• 4 sheets filo
• 1 tsp sesame seeds

Method

1. Heat a large non-stick frying pan and then spray with olive oil spray. Add the onion +/- leek to the pan. Cook, stirring often, for 5 minutes or until soft. Stir in the garlic, coriander, cumin and cinnamon. Cook for 1 minute or until aromatic.
2. Add the tomato, sweet potato and water to the pan. Bring to a simmer. Cook for 10 minutes. Add the lamb and chickpeas, and simmer 5 minutes. Stir in the honey. Season with pepper.
3. Preheat oven to 200°C. Divide the pie mixture among four 250ml (1-cup) capacity ovenproof dishes. Spray 1 filo sheet with olive oil spray. Fold in half 4 times to make a square. Place on top of 1 pie. Scrunch the edges. Sprinkle with sesame seeds. Repeat with remaining filo sheets and sesame seeds. Bake for 15 minutes or until golden. Serve.

I'm not very good at working with filo, so I kinda mucked this bit up. Still tasted good though. I'm going to have to get some filo lessons from my friend who uses it to make yummy spinach and cheese triangles.

Also I really need to buy some ramekins. I have the small baking tin pictured above, but the rest of the mix just went in a loaf pan since I don't even have any ovenproof bowels. On the todo list!

First cold night

In a few months time I might be regretting ever saying this, but Saturday night I was a bit excited that it had finally cooled down enough to wear both boots and a jacket out to dinner.

I'm officially in love with this Boden dress, after having some initial doubts when I first received it. I love its breeziness. And the light material worked well with the leather jacket and boots.



The only thing I had to think twice about was tights/boots combination. It's hard to tell from the picture as it's so dark, but I'm wearing dark blue tights, which I think looked good continuing on from the blue pattern in the dress. However when I tried adding grey boots into the mix, the blue and grey together just didn't look right to my eye. I don't know if my instincts were right, or if I'd have gotten used to it over the course of the evening. Maybe I'll have to try it again some other time.



Doesn't my hair look all over the place? I think 6 months is officially too long to be without a haircut, so I'll have to remedy that soon.

And here's a bonus outfit from a few weeks ago featuring another light and breezy clothing item: a tunic top from H&M in Beijing. It kind of hurts my eyes looking at the pattern in this picture. Hope it doesn't have the same effect on others when I'm actually wearing it!

Things I love about Melbourne #1: TramTracker

Ok, so I kinda love the actual trams too, but so far my favourite thing about Melbourne's public transport network is the TramTracker application for the iPhone.

Image courtesy of iTunes store

It automatically detects which stops are closest to you right now, so if you're using it from home, it tells you how far the next tram is from home. No more faffing about looking up timeables, or waiting at a tram stop for 15 minutes. Heaven!

I just jumped on the iPhone bandwagon last week. So far this is handsdown the best application I have found for the iPhone.

Now if only my myki card would work more than 50% of this time, this whole tram-catching caper would be perfect!

Chicken & corn chowder

Yesterday I finally cooked one of my favourite soups of all time: Chicken & Corn Chowder.

During some cooler weather, I'd bought leeks from the South Melbourne Markets nearly 2 weeks ago, with the express intention of making this soup. Of course now it's warmed back up, and soup doesn't feel entirely appropriate, but I'm starting working nights again tonight, and sometimes at 4am in the morning you need something nourishing, warm and hearty to remind you that you are human despite being awake at an ungodly hour.

I was planning on cooking this on Monday night, so went to the fruit and veg shop, and the supermarket to pick up the few other bits and bobs apart from leeks that I needed to complete the recipe. Sadly I forgot to buy corn!

Chicken & corn chowder just wouldn't be the same without one of it's eponymous ingredients, so I had to hold off on making it until I had managed to procure that final, but vital ingredient.

Worth the wait though!



Here's the recipe I used. I stumbled across the original at allrecipes.com, and have fiddled with it just a teeny bit.

Zippy Chicken Corn Chowder

Ingredients

• 2-3 chicken breast fillets, cubed
  
• olive oil, small amt for frying
  
• 1 large red capsicum, chopped
• 2 medium leeks, chopped
• 3 tablespoons plain flour
• 1 tablespoon paprika
• 4 cups chicken stock
• 2 medium potatoes, cubed
• 4 cups frozen corn
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2-1 teaspoon hot pepper sauce
• 1 tin light evaporated milk
  

Directions

1. Saute chicken in olive oil in a big soup pot, until lightly browned; set aside and keep warm.
   
2. In the same pan, saute the red pepper until tender. Add the leeks; cook for 1 minute. Stir in the flour and paprika until blended. Gradually stir in the broth. Add the potatoes; bring to a boil.
3. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 15 minutes or until the potatoes are tender.
4. Stir in corn, Worcestershire sauce, salt, hot pepper sauce and reserved chicken; bring to a boil. Reduce heat. Cook, uncovered, for 5-8 minutes or until corn is tender, stirring occasionally.
   
5. Stir in cream and heat through (do not boil).

Easy huh? And so yum!

exercise program day 1 (again)!

I can’t believe I missed out on exercising yesterday. And I was going so well too!!

Instead I did the following:

• Went to physio – neck is close to being all sorted.
• Traipsed around a shopping centre for 2 hours. Quite productive actually as I got both a new swimsuit and a brand new swimming cap!
• Went out for St Pats. I’m living with an Irish lass – I had to!!
  

And of course I wore green!!

But really, I could easily have squeezed in a 30 minute walk if I really wanted to, so it’s my own fault for not meeting this goal yet again. That just means more exercise for me coming up, doesn’t it?

Today was a good first day back though. I roadtested the new swimming gear and it passed with flying colours. No wardrobe malfunctions, I could see where I was going and I was able to leave the house just as soon as I’d put on sneakers, shorts and a bike helmet. No fuss.

Here’s the course I did today.

Notice there’s a bit of to-and-fro’ing at the start. I got halfway there before realising I’d forgotten my goggles, so rode back for them. Can you believe the lazy beastie inside of me seriously considered just buying a new pair there to solve the problem instead. I’m glad I talked myself out of that one!!

Then I swam 1.1km. Go me!

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Body woes

Today's exercise:

• 8km walk
• 800m swim

Good exercise right? But I’m not feeling good.

When I awoke Thursday afternoon (I’m working nights this week, so I’ve been sleeping during the day) something was very wrong.

My neck and shoulders on both sides, but mainly the right were all locked up and sore. Panadol, Neurofen and a heatpack made no difference. Driving is painful, and to turn and look at something I basically have to turn my whole body, since I can’t rotate my neck.

I’d made a physio appt for Monday, because I thought the SI joint injury that plagued me throughout December was starting to return. Yesterday I called up and was lucky enough to be able to nab a Friday afternoon appointment slot someone had cancelled.

Physio dude was nice enough, but not as wonderful as my Wollongong physio. Or maybe I’m just grumpy to get the bad news. C2 joint is screwed up (thus the neck pain), my thoracic spine is tight due to bad posture causing shoulder pain. And my SI joint is out of alignment again, causing the hip flexor and knee pain I’ve been experiencing when walking.

I forced myself to go walking last night, and I don’t know if that was a good idea. By the end of the walk both hips were hurting and my knee was throbbing. And of course my neck felt no better. It’s probably the worst my body has ever felt.

Today it’s still all locked up despite painkillers and heat. I hope I magically wake up better tomorrow. I have another physio appointment on Wednesday, but I don’t know if I can wait until then.

I hope the walk today and the swim have loosened things up a bit. The walk was less painful than yesterday so I’m hoping that’s a good sign. The swimming was sore on the neck/right shoulder, but not unbearable.

As for the neck? If it’s still causing me grief tomorrow I’m going to treat myself to a massage. Boo!

See more progress on: exercise every day for 30 days

day 1 (again) - 9/3/10

Well I’m starting up the exercise for 30 days challenge (again)!

To make it fair to myself, I’m only doing this on days where I work less than 13.5 hours, otherwise there just isn’t time to do this and keep my sanity. Days like today where I’m doing a 10 hour shift it is manageable.

So this is only the second time I’ve gone jogging in Melbourne, but it’s a start, right?

My right knee is still not 100%, so I really need to get myself to see a physio. I’m hoping this isn’t a lingering symptom of the SI joint problems I was having in December, but there’s only one way to find out. That’s on tomorrow’s todo list.

Only 3km so far, but the only way is up right!

See more progress on: exercise every day for 30 days

RIP emerald shoes

Well it's been a long time between blog posts. I'm not going to make too many apologies, and I don't have too much time right now to update on everything that has happened in the last month (I'll try and do that soon).

I have officially moved to Melbourne, just so you know that all forthcoming posts are coming from the deep South :)

What has prompted today's post is the death of my beloved green pointy toed flats. I got these custom made in Vietnam and have worn them to bits. They're not real leather, but they are as comfy as a pair of slippers (although a bit sweatier).



Unfortunately their lack of quality is truly showing as they are not withstanding the test of time to the point at which I fear a wardrobe malfunction every time I put them on. The toes are scuffed, and the stitching on the heel is fraying apart. I fear they are now officially unwearable, so I'm turfing them.

The dilemna now, is how am I going to replace them? An online search of like.com, zappos and endless have all failed to find me anything approximating these beauties. The closest thing I have found is these Mia Hepburn flats, but they are turquoise rather than emerald, and lack the fun detail my current pair sport on the front.

Do you know of anything closer to what I'm after? Should I settle for the Mias or keep on looking for my perfect emerald pair?

p.s. the photo above highlights how well my current pair match the dining chairs that I bought at an Op Shop last week. I loooooove Melbourne Op Shops!!