Waste not, want not

When there are so many people starving around the world I HATE wasting food.. grrr.. so when i discovered some eggs on the verge of chuck away material in my fridge tonight, with erin already having planned a beautiful vegetable stir fry with brown rice for dinner, i used them in my hair and on my face instead.
Helpful hint: If you want to know if your eggs are out of date fill up a tall glass of water and drop the egg in - if it floats chuck it, if it sinks your safe.

Hair Mask

I -

• 1 egg yolk
• 2 tbsp of olive oil
• 1 tsp honey

M -

Whisk all this together, put it through your hair, cover with a shower cap or cling wrap for half an hour, then wash as per usual.  It leaves your hair feeling really nourished and gives it a nice healthy shine.  

NOTE:  For long/thick hair i'd recommend doubling the ingredients

Face Mask 

I -

• 1 egg white

M - 

Whisk it up, put it on your face, wait until its dry and hard, rinse with warm water.

NOTE:  This was totally awesome, my face felt amazing afterwards, if you dont like the smell of egg this one's probably not for you was pretty intense - and id cleanse your face before applying the egg as it works to reduce pore size and tightens your skin.

Beautiful.

Carnivores and meatscapes

So anyone with half a brain knows the health and ethical implications of having a diet that has a high meat content.  I wanted to do my body and the planet a favour by becoming vegetarian but at this point in time couldn't stand the thought of never eating meat again, ESPECIALLY seafood.  When I came across this video by Graham Hill on TED i was pretty damn excited about the idea of becoming a weekday vegetarian, check it out its pretty awesome.

Another thing that freaks me out is the idea of this "meat glue" stuff that current affairs shows have been raving on about of late. And i know these shows lack a lot of creditability so i briefly looked into it myself. Pretty much "meat glue" or "transgluyaminase" is a natural occurring protein that is made into a powder, its used to glue scrap pieces of meat (beef, lamb, chicken, fish, pork - so pretty much everything) together where they then roll it all up in cling wrap, let it set for 20 minutes, cut it up into say, a rib-eye sized shape, and sell it off as premium cuts.  It has no taste or smell and you can't tell its there once this whole process is over, and apparently its used all the time in Australia purely for greedy butchers, and i'm sure big companies like Coles and Woolworths, to rip everyone off.  And they dont tell you its there.  So lots of people say that this stuff has no negative effects on the human body but I wanna know why it's banned in the EU!!!  You wouldn't wanna sniff any of this powder either or you'll end up with severe respiratory problems.  So next time your sitting down to enjoy a rib-eye steak picture a masked butcher sprinkling what looks like talcum powder over scraps of meat, sticking it all together and creating what you think is the natural occurring piece of meat your about to eat - definitely doesnt sit well with me

 Photos: Nicolas Lampert - http://www.machineanimalcollages.com/

Squid

Squid has gotta be up there as the most ultimate foods of all time (and its pretty cheap), so one summer evening i cooked some for rhiany B and erin.


Recipe:


(Serves 4)


I -

• 4 cleaned squid bodies
• 60g vermicelli noodles
• 6 shitake mushrooms
• 4 tbsp fresh chopped mint
• 8 prawns, chopped finely
• 2 shallots, finely grated
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tbsp fresh chopped coriander
• 3 tsp palm sugar
• 3 tbsp fish sauce
• 2 tsp vegetable oil
• 3 tsp lime juice
• 1 red chilli, finely sliced

M -

Cover noodles with boiling water, soak for 20 minutes then drain and roughly chop. At the same time soak themushrooms in hot water for the same time, then drain and mince, chucking the stalks. I didn't have any sort of mincing machine so tried to use a garlic crusher instead, this didnt work so i finely chopped them and it worked fine

Then finely chop 2 tablespoons mint and mix with prawns, one-third of the noodles, mushrooms, shallots, garlic, coriander, 1 teaspoon sugar, 1 tablespoon fish sauce, salt and pepper, until well combined. Stuff each squid body full and close the end with strong toothpicks, and when i say strong i mean strong - otherwise when the squid cooks it will push the ends open and all the stuffing will be spilling out.

Heat oil and fry squid over gentle heat for 10 minutes, turning occasionally until filling is cooked through and squid is golden.

Use a skewer to prick the squid to release any excess water. Then whisk remaining fish sauce and sugar with lime juice, remaining whole mint leaves and chilli. Toss remaining noodles with some lettuce and serve with the dressing.

Thickly slice the squid and serve on top.

Yum!!!

Photos: swanandpaedo - swanandpaedo.blogspot.com

Eating Erin

For erin's 21st birthday we all ventured back over the bridge to attend her bash at the family home. Sue and Craig put on a massive feast, provided numerous different types of alcohol for our enjoyment - beer, wine, champagne, vodka and this awesome massive jug full of a Mount Gay Rum based cocktail that was magically refilled on numerous occasions.  Thanks to Erin and her amazing family for such a great day and night and early morning.  


Listened to - 
* numerous 80s rock classics thanks to erin's uncle
* rach's new favourite rhianna song - over and over
* enough hop-hop to piss most of the non-lovers off

Photos: swanandpaedo - swanandpaedo.blogspot.com

There were 2 girls who swallowed a horse...

The best thing about travelling is eating the local food and Tokyo didn't disappoint.  One night in Tokyo Erin and I met some friendly Japanese people in some sort of "Ultimate Gaming World" (as you do) and went out to dinner.  We insisted they pick what to order (mainly because we can't read Japanese and nothing was ever in English) and ended up with a slab of raw horse meat on our table and something warm and salty made from soybeans.


Listened to - 
* Yeah Yeah Yeahs new album at the time "It's Blitz" - i really think thats all we listened to

We ordered these Gyoza through a vending machine and handed our little ticket to the lady behind the counter who in turn screamed out the order to the chef, i dont get the point of the vending machine

McDonald's cheese burgers in Tokyo are dope, so much better than here.  They also get crazy with variations of the classics, including erin's favourite the "McPork"