You have to try this recipe......

My husband gave it a big thumbs up and I have to agree with him.  It was very delicious. I do up a meal plan every Tuesday before I shop groceries on Wednesday.  Last week I added Miso Salmon to Monday's meal plan and as I watched My Kitchen Rules on Sunday night I was surprised to see the two contestants were also cooking Miso Salmon.  My recipe is served with Bok Choy and Mushrooms and the contestants served there's with a black rice salad that looked really delicious so I decided I would add it to my plate.  I used my own Miso Salmon recipe but I think the one the contestants used was very similar.  You could go to the website to check it out HERE. Remember to have all your ingredients prepped and ready before you start and it will come together very quickly.

So here is my recipe.

Maple and Miso Salmon with Asian Greens

(Serves 2)

INGREDIENTS:

2 x 160g salmon fillets, skin removed

2 tbsp miso paste

1 tbsp maple syrup

2 tbsp hot water

2 tsp sesame oil

100g shiitake mushrooms sliced (I used oyster mushrooms)

3 cups roughly chopped bok choy

1 tsp sesame seeds

DIRECTIONS:

Pre-heat oven to 180 degrees C.

Score top of each salmon filet about 5mm deep.

In a bowl, stir miso paste, maple syrup and water into a smooth sauce.  Pour over fish.  Heat an ovenproof grill pan and line with a sheet of baking paper.  Cook salmon for 2 minutes on each side.  Transfer the grill pan to the oven and place in the oven for another 10 minutes.

Meanwhile heat a wok to hot.  Add sesame oil and mushrooms, and cook for 2 minutes.  Wash bok choy and toss into wok with mushrooms.  Remove wok from heat while greens are still crisp.

Black Rice Salad

(Serves 2)

(This is my version of MKR's Stacey & Ash's Black Rice Salad)

INGREDIENTS:

1 packet Microwave Black Rice

1 Tsp Grated fresh ginger

Juice and zest of 1/2 lime

1 tsp sesame oil

1/2 Avocado diced into 2cm pieces

2 spring onions thinly sliced

1 tbsp sunflower seeds, toasted

1 tbsp pepitas, toasted

1/4 cup pickled cucumbers (Baby Mac's recipe is HERE)

DIRECTIONS:

Cook rice in your microwave for 90 secs.  Add to bowl with ginger, lime zest and juice and sesame oil.  Season and toss to mix.  Just before serving toss through pickled cucumber, avocado and seeds.

Divide the Black Rice Salad between two plates and place the salmon on top.  Place Asian Green mix on top of Salmon and sprinkle with sesame seeds.  Serve with a wedge of lime. 

I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we did.  Remember to give yourself and pat on the back and congratulate yourself on preparing a meal that is packed full of delicious healthy food that will keep you satiated for hours!

Rain, Rain and yet more Rain.......

Let me say straight up that I have all the sympathy in the world for those that are currently in drought.  I lived it and breathed it for more than thirty years and it is one of the reasons that we chose Julatten as our retirement place.  Here, we have a proper wet season with rain falling out of the sky with every cloud that passes over us from December to March and sometimes beyond.  There is nothing in the world I enjoy more than falling asleep to the sound of rain on the roof.  We have certainly had our far share lately though.  We have recorded more than 600ml in the past week and as I write this blog, propped up in bed, the rain has just begun to fall again.

The birds have all been taking shelter on our veranda 

So what's been happening in our world this past week.
As I said in my last post, all my scrapbooking supplies have found another home and I have been working on cleaning my office/craft room.  I didn't realise it was such a big space until everything was removed.  We had thoughts of turning it into a fourth ensuite bedroom but I think we will leave it to the next owners to decide whether they need or want that.

I was given a bag of figs this week that were very soft so I decided to make fig jam.  Not only is this delicious on toast but it is a wonderful addition to a cheese platter with some crispy lavosh bread.

We are continuing with healthy lifestyle choices and exercising daily - weather permitting.  I am continuing with yoga twice a week and Philip and I have also started Tai Chi again on Tuesday mornings.  We only have an alcoholic drink if we are eating out and we keep it to one only.  I am still forging ahead with my 8 hour eating programme and the weight is very slowly dropping off - the best way to do it.  Fast weight loss = fast weight return!  My last meal for the day at around 4pm is usually a smoothie and check out the colours of this one.

Of course we had to celebrate Australia Day with the traditional Meat Pie.  I always make my own pies using Donna Hay's Beef and Ale Pie recipe.  The pies are very easy to make but it does take time as I cook the meat the day before to give it time to develop the flavour.  The end result is amazing!  To keep these pies gluten free I use Fodmap friendly plain flour.

We had a trip to Cairns on Friday to have the Toyota serviced and my eight week visit to the Audiologist to have my Lyric's changed.  And also......tadaa.....to pick up my new camera.....

Of course we enjoyed eating out while we were in Cairns and today it was back to one of our favourite restaurants Noa at Edge Hill.  Gosh this place is good.  The food comes out super fast to the table and it is always delicious.  Today my brunch choice was the smoked salmon hash with poached eggs and avocado and Philip chose Eggs Benny.

The rain continued to tumble while we were in Cairns so we were relieved when Toyota rang us at 11am to tell us the vehicle was ready to be picked up.  Driving around Cairns in pouring rain is not pleasant and nor was the drive home along the normally beautiful Great Barrier Reef Drive.  We had to call into Port to pick up the mail so we decided to head to Rattle and Hum for lunch.  We virtually had the place to ourselves but that is to be expected for the next couple of months as the tourists all head home.  I love Port Douglas at this time of the year when we can reclaim our town...

With all the rain it has been impossible to go outside and do anything at home so we have planted ourselves in front of the TV to watch the Australian Open and when that hasn't been interesting Philip has watched Netflix movies on his iPad and I have been practising with my new camera.  

Here are some of my practice shots with the Olympus Pen F and the Olympus M Zuiko 12-40mm 2.8f lens (for those that are interested).  I'm very impressed with the camera and lens so far and I am getting as much practice as possible before our big trip overseas in March when I hope to be able to keep you all updated with our travels.

Until the next time.  Namaste.

(“The divine light in me bows to the divine light within you.”)

Birthday Boy

My Sweetheart is 63 today.  We meet when he was 20 so we are now 43 years down the track and married for almost 41 of those years.  It has been one hellava ride and so enjoyable...........most of the time 🙂.
We enjoyed breakfast together and I cooked Philips favourite - Kylie Kwong Eggs.  I also presented Philip with an electric shaver for his birthday present.  It was no surprise for him as we chose it together!

I forgot to buy a card but found this one in my stash.  Goodness knows how old the card is and  which three year old boy I bought it for.  A six in front of the three turned it into a 63 card!

After breakfast we got stuck into our various chores and we were in the shower by 11am to drive down to Port Douglas. We had an appointment with our travel agent at Flight Centre who was able to help us with our numerous travel visas for our upcoming trip and then it was a short drive to the Tin Shed for lunch.
We like eating here, right on the waters edge, and the meals are always spot on.  We broke our detox today by having a beer and glass of bubbly.  We have gone 22 days alcohol free and intend to get straight back into the detox tomorrow but for today - who cares!  Birthdays are for celebrating.

Philip chose the Salt n Pepper Calamari and I chose the house special - Coconut Beef
Curry.  Of course we had fries on the side!

We stopped at the Post Office before heading home and there was a large parcel waiting for us.  How great is this present for Philip from Marco and Suzie. It is now sitting proudly on the wall beside the front door.  Thanks guys!

I am now sitting in front of the TV and "vegging out".  I really want to watch Ash Barty's game tonight that starts around 7pm.  I'm feeling rather tired so hope the game doesn't go too long.  I hope she wins in two straight sets.  Fingers crossed.

Weekends = Fun!

After a relatively quiet Saturday, we welcomed having our friends come to visit us on Sunday for a bit of R & R.  Our friends Kate and Mike and their kids and grandkids really feel like our own extended family and we always enjoy a visit from them.  They all arrived around 10ish and after a delicious smoko of goodies from the bakery the women went downstairs where all my scrapbooking gear was packed up and taken home by Jodie.  It's taken me awhile to sort our my feelings about scrapbooking.  Did I want to continue - maybe, but not enough to justify keeping the boxes and boxes of scrapbooking materials.  So I packed into one storage box what I want to keep in case I took up a "watered down" version of scrapbooking and the rest went to Mareeba.

While the women were doing this Philip took Mike for a ride around Julatten on their mountain bikes.  Mike wanted some lessons in gear changing and who better to teach him than my experienced cyclist husband...... 

Christian kept the kids occupied by taking them for a ride in the buggy and then a scary ride on the bicycle with his daughter riding on this shoulders!

After we had all finished our respective jobs it was into the pool with the kids for a cool down - or splash around in the kids case.  There were five adults, four kids and six noodles in our small pool and we were pleased that we all fitted in quite well.  It was a perfect lead up to lunch as the kids by this time were STARVING!

We had decided earlier in the week that we would have a finger food lunch.  I had some pre-prepared pizzas in the freezer and I took some rump steak out of the freezer to make up some Shish Kebabs with a variety of ingredients including capsicum, onion, pineapple, chorizo, cherry tomatoes, bacon and haloumi.  Kate brought along two cooked chooks and zucchini slice (yummy!!) and Christian made a delicious cobb loaf.  So we really had quite a feast for lunch.

After lunch had dissolved in our tummies, Jodie presented Philip with a birthday cake for his upcoming (Tuesday) 63rd birthday.  Jode makes THE BEST mud cake and as always it was beautifully presented.  The girl is talented.  Little Knox has just had his 2nd birthday and he was very put out that Philip had the cake and not him!

If looks could kill!!!

I had made a peach tart and we placed that on a plate with lots of berries, dates and dried apricots that Kate had provided.  Dessert was REALLY good!

I had left a few clothes on the spare bed that I am sending to Lifeline but I suggested the girls go through them and see if they like anything.  It was a perfect time for the little ones to get "dressed up"......

Knox and Maddie (brother and sister)

The day went very fast, as it always does when you have good company, and we are already looking forward to the next visit.

Time to replace the camera......

I took my Olympus camera out of mothballs today and walked around the place this afternoon to take a few photos.  I must say it felt good to have a real camera in my hands again. The majority of my photos these days are taken with my IphoneX.  The camera on this phone is very good and you would have to be fairly picky to find fault.  However, the resolution is not great if I want to crop a photo and the end result becomes very lossy.
Our holidays are drawing closer and I want to make sure that I have the perfect camera kit to take with me.  I still love my Olympus OMD-EM5 but sadly it is becoming unreliable.  I purchased it in 2012 when it was first released and I have taken thousands of photos from the numerous trips we have made overseas and locally since then.  I will advertise it for sale on Gumtree but it probably won't bring many $$$'s.
I have been doing my research and I have decided to replace the OMD with the Olympus Pen-F.  It meets all my requirements plus a lot more.  The reviews are great and combined with an M Zuiko 17mm f1.8 lens it will be the perfect travel camera.  I also own an M Zuiko 12-42mm lens that  will also be in my camera kit but I will purchase the 17mm lens and it will stay on the camera.
I might add that I still own a Canon 7D with a 24-70mm f2.8 lens on board that I will NEVER sell.  This camera is more than 10 years old I love it to bits.  It is however a heavy camera so I only use it when I don't have to carry it very far.  It more than often travels with me when we go camping and sits on my lap as we drive along always ready for that important random shot.  The Olympus is my hiking camera.
Here are a few black and white photos that I took this afternoon with the OMD-EM5 with an M Zuiko 17mm f2.8 lens that will be sold with the camera.

Social Butterflies

We were invited to a birthday party on the weekend.  We didn't know the birthday girl but are friends of her brother who hosted the party.  About thirty of us gathered together on the verandah of our friends lovely home here at Julatten and enjoyed a hot roast pork meal with all the trimmings and afterwards there was plum pudding, custard, pavlova, trifle and rum balls.  Yes......it felt like Christmas again!

Steffi (my cleaner) helping with the Pavlova

First to arrive (as always!)

 We have been living here at Julatten for 12 years now and we are somewhat reclusive.  When I say reclusive I mean that we don't get involved in any of the community organisations.  After living in Julia Creek, and being involved in SO MANY committees, we were somewhat burnout when we moved to Julatten. However, doing Yoga and Tai Chi each week meant that we have made many friends and fortunately for us they invite us to most of their celebrations.  Of course we always reciprocate!

We had to go to Port on Friday to pick up mail and decided we would go to the Tin Shed for lunch.  We have quite a few credits on our membership cards and Philip had a birthday meal voucher to use so it made sense.  I'm so pleased we did because our meals were very good.  

I ordered the Salt n Pepper Calamari with Orange Sesame Glaze on Green Tea Noodles and green paw paw sprout Salad and Philip settled on the Seafood Basket that included Calamari, Prawns, Scallops, Mackerel, Prawn Twister and housemate Tartare.

We sat on the large deck and took in the spectacular view whilst sipping our cold non-alcoholic drinks.  Fishing boats came and went as did the showers of rain that cooled the air. If this isn't perfection I don't know what is!

Back home again I got stuck into de-cluttering my wardrobe.  It's something I like to do once a year but for some reason or another it hasn't been done for awhile.  I have a rule where if one new item comes into my wardrobe, one has to leave. This works well most of the time but sometimes it's hard to find the one item to send to Lifeline!  Hence the need to de-clutter. All up I had two garbage bags to send to Lifeline that is less than previous times and one of those bags was old and worn linen.

My wardrobe is not large but just re-arranging my clothes and rolling rather than folding has given the appearance of a much larger space.  I'm pleased with the result.  Now, if only Philip would do the same with his side.......

It's been hot....

Just as I sat down to write this blog, the power went out.  This is not an unusual occurrence as we have, so far this summer, had more than a dozen outages.  Thank goodness we have a generator as it is an absolute necessity.  The sky has been building for the last few days with increasing humidity so it had to break eventually.  Unfortunately though it always seems to break with a vicious thunderstorm.

The lull before the storm

This was me just two days ago enjoying the pool after my walk.  It is a great way to cool down enough to enjoy my breakfast and it is where you will find me most mornings and evenings.

The detox has been going well for Philip and I.  So far I've dropped a kilo since the Christmas and New Year indulgences.  It has been relatively easy.  The naturopathic drops that I take before each meal work well and suppress the appetite.  I'm still only eating within an eight hour period and fasting for 16 hours.  This works well for me as I can eat whatever I want in that eight hour period (within reason of course!) so I just don't have any cravings. Surprisingly, or maybe not so surprising is the alcohol detox.  I am not a big drinker as anymore than a few drinks makes me very ill but I do enjoy a glass of wine or G & T while I'm in the pool.  However, I've found that the Gin and Tonic without the Gin works a treat.  We have been invited to a friends birthday party this coming Saturday and I found a recipe for Mocktail Virgin Margaritas so I will make a jug of this to take along.  Philip has found Ginger Beer to be his "go to" drink.
I have also been getting back my exercise mojo and walk most mornings and also attended two yoga classes this week - one in Port and one in Julatten. I really enjoy the classes and when we eventually move to Port I intend doing a lot more.
After yoga in Port on Tuesday I made the decision to go back to my natural nails.  I have had SNS Nails for as long as I can remember - certainly since Chemo when my nails deteriorated very badly.  I really had no choice with the decision though because we will be away on holidays for almost two months with no-one able to re-do the nails.  Anyway, they look okay at the moment but they are extremely soft and brittle so I will have to be patient and just grow out the brittle.  I think I will get a professional manicure weekly until they are back to a decent condition.

We planted a dragonfruit two years ago and I have been waiting patiently for it to fruit.  Finally I could see a fruit bud and Trudi said to watch for the flower as it is magnificent.  Of course I missed it.  So the second fruit bud appeared and I was determined to photograph it but I missed it AGAIN!  In my defence, it only opens for a few hours in the evening so it's hard to pick when that will be.

This a photo I downloaded from the internet

Oh dear.....too late..

Can't wait for this to ripen.  I love Dragonfruit

We finally got around to placing the beautiful bird bath that our gardener gave us for Christmas.  She took an old disc plough blade and had a friend mosaic our property name, "KUR-A-MAR", across it.  It really is magnificent and we are just waiting now for the birds to find it.

And just to wrap up and to get you all drooling, here is the lemon slice I made today.  It was delicious with a steaming cup of tea.