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Friday 7 October 2011

Best Mushrooms Ever!



We just finished an overly yummy dinner and the starring feature was mushrooms. Not just mushrooms but flavour packed little bundles - "sensational" declared LA.

"Write this one down. Have you taken a photo for your blog?" he asked. Looks like he's getting the hang of this blogging gig. Hang on, who's getting the hang of this?

Anyway, I have to share my home-devised recipe for stuffed mushrooms, which I tried to keep pretty healthy with feta and just a touch of tasty cheese. Then at least I'll have a record of what I did for next time LA is in the mood for "sensational"...

Sensational Stuffed Mushrooms

-Remove stalks from 6 flat Portobello style mushrooms, brush with oil and bake at 180 for 10 mins.

-Saute 1 chopped red onion and 4 cloves chopped garlic. When soft add sprinkles of Worcester Sauce, Oregano, Thyme, Chilli flakes, Garlic Powder, Onion Powder.

-Add 2 big handfuls of spinach to pan and continue to saute until wilted. Empty spinach onion mix into bowl and allow to cool a little.

-Mix feta, panko bread crumbs and a dollup of hummous into cooled spinach mixture. Season with salt and pepper.

-Heap mixture onto mushrooms, top with a sprinkle of tasty cheese and bake at 180 for about 7 mins until cheese is bubbling.

I didn't use exact measurements in this recipe, when I'm creating new things I often do things by eye. This recipe is one to tweak and put more or less of things depending on your taste and how healthy you'd like to make it!

Made a delicious dinner served with a little piece of steak, salad and guacamole. Would be enough just to have as a vegetarian dish with salad though, it was definitely the star of the plate!

Christie.

Thursday 6 October 2011

The Beginning of a Beautiful Greenthumb...

After a trip home to Christchurch this past week I returned to Melbourne with a new goal to complete by the end of the school holidays.  And today I completed it... TICK!
I have some pictures and news about Christchurch and how it is looking these days, six months on from the huge earthquake that rocked it in February this year.  But that stuff, albeit interesting, is also kinda depressing, and i'm not in the mood for depressing today!  So I will share that stuff later.  Back to my goal...
As I went to visit various friends in Christchurch I noticed a few things about their homes that I took away with me.  They were all lucky enough to enjoy living in spacious properties with huge back yards and miles of storage space.  Now I don't know about you, but since the day I turned 30 storage has meant everything to me... I'm kinda in love with the stuff. 
Some of my friends owned their houses and others were renting, but the difference between living in a huge metropolis like Melbourne, and in a smaller city like Christchurch is certainly evident.  Don't get me wrong, I love our little townhouse 4kms from the centre of Melbourne, but we just don't have the space that is available in Christchurch. 
Now for my goal.  Along with the large backyards I soon discovered that every single one of my friends was partaking in... Gardening!  Shock horror.  It's not that weird, I know, but they were all so into their wee veggie gardens - toiling away, tending with care, drinking less (or more?) beer.  I got jealous. 
So today I did my research, visited Bunnings (with two trollies and a lot of muscle needed) and created my Wine Barrel Garden.  LA had been talking about building some containers for veggies for a while now, he also mentioned attaching them to the fence, or on a pulley system....   when I realised that wasn't going to happen this century but Spring surely is going to creep by us, I had to act.


   My three half wine barrels, filled with some gravel in the bottom for drainage.

The loot.

My attempt at planting garlic - some cloves bunged in a pot - we'll see!?

My master plan!  I researched long and hard to ensure my veggies were

I used these little gems to power-up the potting mix that I put into the barrels.

The little green beauties waiting to go in.

The finished product. 
Left barrel:  White Zucchini, Silverbeet and Beetroots.
Middle barrel:  Tomatoes, Basil, Capsicum (seeds) and Rocket.
Right barrel:  Lettuce, Tomatoes, Cucumber, Spring Onion (seeds).
Tub at front:  Mint and Coriander. 
Plus random Marigold that didn't fit, bought to ward off bugs. 

I checked several websites so that I kind of knew what I was doing...sort of....  It was a chunk of money to spend and I want to get it right!  The best walk through I found was here - Thanks Kim. 

I will keep you all updated on my wee garden's progress!  Now just to remember the watering...
Christie.