Bircher Muesli

I've decided I need to be healthier - lately I've been having way too many 'easy' snacks and justifying it as a way of coping with stress. Which is silly, because I know that I need to stay healthy, especially in times of stress, so I've loaded up the pantry and fridge with healthy ingredients and have a big pile of recipes all set to try.

First cab off the rank was this yummy bircher muesli. I got the recipe a few years ago from R, a former colleague, who had it in a hand-written recipe book. (As such I'm not sure if she developed it or if she copied out the recipe from elsewhere - in my reproducing the recipe below, no copyright infringements are intended, and I give full credit where it is due.)

This was totally delicious and a special way to start the day, considering my usual breakfast is a slapped together peanut butter sandwich. (Not that I'm in any way knocking peanut butter.)  ;-)

Here's the recipe, if you'd like to make it yourself:

Initial ingredients:
1 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup unsweetened apple juice
1/2 cup yogurt 
1/8 cup sultanas/currants
1/8 - 1/4 cup slivered almonds (I like to use the bigger amount, for more crunch)
sprinkle of nutmeg and cinnamon
Combine ingredients in a large bowl and stir until combined. Refrigerate overnight.

Secondary ingredients - use some or all:
1/2 apple, grated with skin
1/2 banana, sliced
handful fresh/frozen berries
passionfruit pulp
dried fruit roughly chopped
chopped nuts
more yogurt, if required
Add a combination of any or all of the secondary ingredients and enjoy.

I added the 1/2 apple, a whole banana and some (defrosted) frozen blueberries. Tomorrow morning I plan to use some raspberries and cherries. Yum! Healthy and delicious.

Baby Surprise Jacket and I'm back:

I've been meaning to write more blog posts for the past several months but just haven't gotten around to it, as all the busy-ness of life has gotten in the way. I have, however, been getting a bit of knitting done, as well as buying a lot of pretty yarn on-line. As such, I've got some fodder for more posts so hopefully I will be able to get them uploaded (after we move house, which is happening next week).

Last week it was the first birthday of the little baby for whom I made the big purple baby blanket:

http://red-shoe-sushi.blogspot.com.au/2011/03/knitting-big-bad-purple-baby-blanket.html

In all my knitting blog reading of late, I've heard mention of Elizabeth Zimmerman's Baby Surprise Jacket quite a few times, so I thought this would be a good occasion to make one. (Pattern available from http://www.schoolhousepress.com/patterns.htm )

This pattern was so much fun to knit - it's all knit in one piece and at first it looks like some weird manta ray shape:

Then using some knitterly origami, you just fold the bottom up, sew the shoulder seams and voila, it becomes a jacket:

It really is very clever and a great project. Given I am not very interested in sewing seams, this part of the project really appealed to me, and I loved how I could just keep knitting along and not make pieces - it uses decreases and increases to make the shape. The fact that it is in garter stitch is also great as it's the kind of knitting that you can do without concentrating too much.

The placement of the second colour determines where the stripes end up:

I have a strong urge to make another one of these but I have too many other projects I want to work on at the moment. I do, however, have two cousins who's babies both turn one later this year, so I will aim to get some made up for them as well.

For St Patrick's Day tomorrow - some Irish green yarn loveliness:

http://www.bluemoonfiberarts.com/newmoon/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=19_21_526

Foodie adventures, out and about:

I haven't posted anything in so long, so I've got lots of shots banked up waiting to be viewed.

A few months back I had one of our semi-regular breakfast meet-ups with A, and this time we went to Milk & Honey in Northbridge.

I ordered the vegetarian plate (not the actual name - can't remember it now, it's been that long) and it was really tasty but HUGE - I couldn't finish it. I hate wasting food, but I just couldn't fit any more in.

I loved the decor - transparent honey-coloured chairs:

Bee wallpaper:

Another new(ish) spot I tried recently is Cantina 663 in Mt Lawley. It's a Spanish-inspired place that I'd love to go back to and try some of the savoury dishes.

I ordered the gingerbread parfait with rhubarb, which ended up being very different to what I expected. It was still tasty, though a bit too much honey flavour for my liking. (I just don't really like honey-flavoured things though - I'm sure the flavours were balanced correctly for those who like honey.)

S got the potato soup. I had a spoonful and it was very tasty:

We spend most of the afternoon looking at knitting books.

The big pile of books that arrived in time for a long weekend. All hail Book Depository.

Knitting & supplies:

My big bag of bargains that I picked up at Spotlight - only a couple of dollars each.

Knitting up a swatch to check the gauge for my cardigan. (I've actually made huge progress on the cardigan since this was taken - shows how long it's been since I posted anything.)
A spot of public knitting in Mt Lawley with S. This is the start of a seed stitch scarf that I have now finished and will be donating to charity.
My pink scarf and S's knitted t-shirt.

Spices:

I made a chickpea curry from scratch a few weeks ago. I always love using my mortar & pestle and grinding up spices. It feels nicely old-worldy and traditional.

Breakfast at Tiger, Tiger:

A former work colleague and I have taken to catching up over breakfast. (See previous blog on The Greenhouse for our prior catch-up.)

This time round we went to Tiger,Tiger on Murray Street. It definitely paid to get there at about 7:15 and place our order as soon after that there was a steady queue of people for take-away coffees.

We both ordered 'The Tiger' which consisted of two poached eggs on sourdough with avocado and rosamond sauce (which I think was chutney mixed with mayo). It was pretty good and the coffee was great.

One thing that put me off was that the menu states "No variations please. Why? For many, many reasons." What the? Why a chef can't make slight changes to an order when they are making it fresh is beyond me.

Sushi at home:

One of the munchkins' favourite meals they often ask me to make is home-made sushi (norimaki). One of them likes tuna, the other likes chicken, so I always do about six or seven rolls, mixing the two.

Given that I would choose sushi as my last meal were I ever in such a situation, I love that the munchkins love sushi too, so I'm always more than happy to make some up. I also love washing the rice before I cook it - it seems like such an old-worldy thing to do, and I love the tradition of it. (And I collect all the water to put on the garden, so there is no waste either.)

Sushi with sakura cherry blossom decorations for Spring (even though it's Autumn):

The tuna ones:Kewpie mayo and wasabi (as arranged by one of the munchkins):

Red pretty things:

A few weeks back I was visiting William Topp with a friend, but due to the extreme heat that day, I think I had mild heat stroke when I was in there. As such I wasn't focusing too well, but my subconscious obviously took note, as just the other day I remembered that they sold bangles made out of knitting needles. As fate would have it, they had one red one left, which I promptly had put on hold for collection.

I heart it muchly and it's even better in that there is a llama on the back of the head of the needle.

While I was in the shop, I was taken in by all the other pretty things they sell and had to also have this ampersand brooch:

Ampersands have a special meaning for me, due to it being the name of a monkey in the graphic novel Y the Last Man, and the fact that I have a special Monkey too. (But in my case it's a person, not an actual monkey.)

It's a Kyoto coffee kind of morning.

(White Chocolate) Tim Tam Tarts:

I've already made these tarts once before, but this time I experimented and used white chocolate tim tams for the base and white chocolate buds for the filling. Aside from the fact they got stuck in the tins and came out looking rather squashed, they were very, very tasty indeed.

While overtly sweet, they were lighter (if that word can be used in the context of such things) than the dark chocolate ones. So while you certainly couldn't eat more than one at a time, these weren't quite so sickly. But they were close.

Next time I will round off the hat trick and try them with milk chocolate.