The photo blog.

Thursday, October 01, 2009

Argh

I think this will be one of the few times in my life when I let an unphotoshopped, no make up photo out into the world.

But yes, the point being that my left side of my face is noticeably more swollen than my right.

I look like I've got cotton wool stuffed into my cheek!!

At least it's the holidays...veging on the couch for the win!!

Wednesday, September 30, 2009

The Wisdom of the Tooth Fairy

Warning: this looks freaky. If you can't stomach bodily parts then stop reading now.

Yes these are my missing wisdom teeth. Now just the right side to go...

Brings back memories of when my parents tried to make me believe that there was a tooth fairy.

Saturday, August 29, 2009

Feed Your Family for Under $10? I can...

Advertorial

THROW A PARTY!!!

*cue streamers*

So just in case you didn't know, Coles is having this campaign at the moment:

They've teamed up with Curtis Stone (celebrity chef) and they've come up with recipes that you can feed your family with for under $10.

I thought, you know what, I think I can throw a party for that much.

So the theme is...

Mexican Night!!!

Just a disclaimer, since I'm Singaporean, I have an idea of what Mexican food is, but it's not going to be THAT authentic.

I had a look at all the recipes for Nachos, Fajitas and Tacos, and they all seem to have one thing in common: the meat sauce. I figure then, that it would be a good starting point.

Mexican Meat Sauce

What you need:

500 mince meat $3.67

I used pork mince because I happened to have it on hand, but you could use beef mince too.

1 420g can of beans $1.00

Since I forgot how much the bean mix cost, I'm going to overestimate and peg it at a dollar.

2 400g can diced tomatoes $1.50

Pantry items:

1 Medium Brown Onion
3 Cloves Garlic
2 tsps Paprika
2 tsps Cayenne Chilli Powder
1 tbsp Oil
1 cup Stock
Handfful of Oregano (this is here because I've actually got a herb garden out the back!) =)

Subtotal: $6.17

Instructions:

First, dice the onion and the garlic and saute them in the olive oil in a medium to large pot.

Next, add the mince and brown. I added the chilli powder at this stage too.

You can carry on in the same pot if you wish, but I transfered the mixture to a slow cooker, then added the diced tomatoes.

Followed by the beans

And one way to "cheat" is to have a lot of sauce. The way you do that is to add stock!

As you can see, after the stock I stirred in the oregano.

Just in case you were wondering, I transferred the mixture into the slow cooker because I wanted to be able to do other stuff like go to the shops without having to worry about the sauce on the stove. You can do it on the stove if you want.

So what else would you have at a Mexican themed party? Tortillas!!!

Tasty Tortillas

What you need (from the pantry):

600g plain flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup vegetable shortening
Water

First, rub the shortening into the flour until it resembles course breadcrumbs. Those of you who make scones would know what this looks like, but if you don't, here's a picture.

Then slowly add water until the mixture comes together. i.e. It shouldn't stick to your fingers, but it shouldn't be falling apart either.

You can use your hands, but since I've got a mixer, why not use it? =)

It should end up looking like this

The dough should be smooth and elastic. I still had to knead it a bit after the mixer was done with it.

Rest the dough for 10-20 minutes.

Then comes the fun part. Section the dough into ping-pong ball size pieces (I'm making mini tortillas. Golf ball size pieces for the regular sized ones) and roll it into a thin, flat disc.

My choice of roller?

Like I said, if I have it, I'll use it.

Then fry the tortillas in a frypan over medium heat.

It'll have little "bubbles" pop up, and the time to flip it is when little brown spots start to appear on the bottom.

Then you'll end up with a stack like this!!

Just to show you how worth it it is to make your own tortillas, here's a picture of the stack I made versus a stack bought from the shops.

I counted. I made 35 tortillas, and there were 10 in a pack in the store bought ones, which cost over $3 a packet.

Since I've got the two main components, I thought I'd make a delectable side dish.

Basic Guacamole

What you need:

1 Avocado $2.48

I say one avocado only cause these are massive!

From the pantry:

Salt to taste
Pepper to taste
1/2 small red onion
Sugar
Splash of lime juice
Coriander (Optional. I've also got these in my garden)

Running cost:
Meat Sauce $6.17
Tortillas $0
Guacamole $2.48
Subtotal: $8.65

All you have to do is dice/mash the avocado up.

Then mix in the finely diced red onion, salt, pepper, splash of lime juice, sugar, and finely chopped coriander. There! Basic Guacamole!

It may not look like much when you're putting it together, but all the food makes out to be a spread.

There were some things I added cause I had them in my fridge.

Lettuce, shredded cheese, tomatoe salsa (just follow the recipe for Guacamole and replace the avocados with diced fresh tomatoes) sour cream and a half eaten packet of Doritos I had in my cupboard.

It was hard to calculate because I had 1/5 of a lettuce head and 1/2 tub of sour cream and so on.

Still,

Meat Sauce $6.17
Tortillas $0
Guacamole $2.48
Other stuff $1.35
Total $10.00 !!!!

After the food is ready, just add guests and sombreros and you've got yourself a party!!

Needless to say you've gotta add some festive music too. I had some tracks that featured a mariachy band =)

After dinner, Lisa, Sean and myself got all dressed up and went into the city.

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

New Apartment

Just in case you guys haven't heard, I've just moved into a new apartment. =)

I haven't actually taken any proper pictures, but here are some just to keep you occupied for the moment.

We've had some very pretty visitors lately. I took some pictures that I took just before I hung the laundry out to dry.

Over the Easter holiday, we also had some visitors over. Me being me, I just had to decorate the table. Give me more time and I would've had an Easter wonderland.

Oh, and while we were moving in, Sean decided to take some candid shots of me. Not the most glam, but it does represent the process of moving in - frazzled, but fun. =)

Sunday, March 29, 2009

Plants 2

Just for those who are interested, my basil has been growing great.

It's still growing out of the egg cartons, and it's proving to be pretty resilient.

The garlic is not just growing well, it's taking over the apartment!

It's quite scary how tall it's gotten, but it's still pretty stable and not falling over.

Hopefully it'll last through the winter.

Saturday, March 07, 2009

Plants

So after trying to delude myself and vehemently denying that I'm becoming my mother, I've decided that I can't hide from the truth any longer.

I decided that I'd like to include some basil in my diet, but I'm tired of buying basil in huge bunches from the supermarket and never finishing them before they spoil.

So...

Tada!

I bought a pot of basil and started moving the plants. Yes, that is a plastic egg carton that you see the basil in. These shoots started off as leaveless stems and look at my babies now!! =)

Pesto here I come.

And in the face of that success, I've decided to try some garlic shoots as well. =)

I've read somewhere that the cloves are supposed to be slightly deeper in the soil. I need to get the advice of my personal gardener first though.

Yep, Jamie Oliver has Brian and I've got my mom! =)

Hopefully the basil and garlic will grow fast enough for me to post a pesto recipe up here soon.