Just a normal Tuesday night

Tofu Satay Kebabs!

Husbands creation

Tuesday - in mid flight

Just cos I love this photo of my little girl

Byron Bay Beauty

We spent this particularly hot (33 degree) day with my brother - who has recently decided to live in Bryon Bay. He took us to a fairly secluded swimming hole that was extremely difficult to find. My brother did bring a list of directions that he had written down the last time he was taken there but involved such instructions as 'turn left at large rock' and 'vear right at smaller road'.  We spent close to an hour winding through back streets of small hippie beachside towns - passing many an establishment with goods and honesty boxes out the front. Needless to say we did purchase - accumulating the following: 3 limes, 4 grapefruits, a bunch of garlic, a bottle of homemade lemonade and a jar of guava jam.

This week

Sunflowers Husband bought from an old lady by the side of the road

Adorable record bowl made by mum that was filled with mentos

That's her little note to let me know 'Vegan Mints'

Husband's mess

He made banana pancakes

Raw Beetroot salad etc

Raw beetroot, green apple, walnut and chive salad with a lemon vinaigrette. 

Potato salad made with soy mayonnaise, lemon juice, pinenuts and pesto cream 

(photo makes dish look very unappealing)

Garam Masala chickpeas with zucchini, tomato and coriander sauce. 

Long weekend (thanks Queen)

Thank you your Majesty for this lovely long weekend in Queensland - much appreciated. We are meeting some friends for lunch today and taxi-ing it into the city tonight to partake in the 'River Fire' celebrations but aside from these events - the below photos display predominantly what we will be doing this long weekend in percentage form (please don't judge us).

85% will be spent laying here: ordering take-away and watching movies

5% wil be spent finishing laundry

0% will be spent finishing the progress we made on our garden

10% will be spent organising what jewellery to take to Hamilton Island next week

Good news

We had some pretty devastating news about Rainbow on Thursday. He had a lump on his chin that needed surgery, we were initially told that it was just cat acne however halfway through the surgery the surgeon thought it looked a little odd so pre-emptively took away a lot more of the affected area (pretty much the whole area from his mouth down). We were told that the mass might be malignant. We were devastated and spent Thursday night in tears. Rainbow is such an integral part of our family and we just couldn't face the possibility that he might be extremely sick. We begged the Vet to get us the biopsy results by Friday so that we were't waiting through the weekend and (thank God) they pushed it forward and we were told at 3pm on Friday that the mass was benign. Rainbow came home on Friday and we have spent a wonderful weekend with him and Tuesday - taking care of our little patient and just enjoying having him back with us.

The patient

Siblings reunited

Tuesday attacking our records

Useful storage idea

Vintage suitcase housing our massive DVD collection

Uh oh. We bought more furniture

This has a bit of a background story. Here we go - many months ago we hired a removalist company to send all our much loved goods interstate. Upon entering our new home for the first time we found all our newly deposited property strewn about the house in the most horrendous fashion. It was so terrible that I initially thought we had been robbed and simply broke into tears immediately. I was inconsolable. Our record player (which we had purchased only 6 months previously and driven 2 days to collect) was laying on its side. Boxes were ripped open and almost all our vintage furniture had been scuffed, gouged or sliced. What was meant to be a happy and exciting moment had been utterly ruined by this company. 

Our 1963 record player was such a great find that we were devastated to think we wouldn't be able to get it fixed however after much searching we finally found someone to restore it (which I will take a photo of once its been delivered back to us in 2 days- yay!). The man we found is literally one of a kind and managed to fix our record player for a quarter of the price we were initially quoted in Melbourne (before the incident above and further damage was inflicted). In celebration of our returning record player we have found a matching piece of furniture to compliment it - this wicked record cabinet. And look how much more room there is to fill - yes we will now focus all our time (and money) on growing our record collection and believe me - this fills us with immense joy!

By the way the removalist company was called 'The removalist Professionals'. Avoid this organisation like its the plague!

Our new record cabinet

Records!

Saturday night lanterns

Found it very difficult to sleep in on Saturday morning so we rose at a time that only old people, children and clubbers see - 6am. We finally tried out 'Fundies' in Paddington - a well-known organic supermarket and cafe. We got there quite early (obviously) and it was already quite busy (filled with old people, people with children and clubbers). I had scrambled tofu on rye and a broccoli and beetroot juice. I couldn't work out how or what they put in the scrambled tofu to replicate at home (it was a reddy colour and full of spicy flavours) so I focused on the juice and promptly decided that we should purchase a juice maker and start experimenting with fruits and veggies. Anyway we strolled through Paddington and had a look at some op-shops and vintage stores (and bought nothing but three handles for our newly restored dresser). Later on in the evening we went to Tibetan Kitchen for dinner in West End then made our way to Southbank to see the hundred hanging lanterns for the 'Brisbane Festval'. We saw, we took photos, we went home. Meanwhile unbeknown to us - Tuesday had destroyed another plant in our house. The joys of having children.

What to cook, what to cook....

I am so excited about this 'sweet treat' recipe book that I have it permanently sitting in my flower napkin holder on the window sill.  Not only are dishes old school and easy to make (and can easily be converted to vegan) but the pictures inside are adorable. 

Home made musk sticks, candy toffees....

Y

U

M

Salad days

Made with spinach, spring onions, black carrot, zucchini, cucumber, pine nuts, goji berries, corn and coriander with a lime chilli dressing

The lime cost $2.50

Really

Art: Thailand style

My husband found this painting in a little store in Phi Phi Island and we have finally had it framed. The chimp is pensive.

New Dining Room

Restored cabinet donated by parents 

New (vintage) couch 

View from doorway

Vegetable Pilaf

Made with carrot, celery, capsicum, beans, basil, pine nuts and olives with a tomato and onion sauce with wholemeal rice. Extremely filling after an hour at the gym.

Loved the pilaf.

Hated the gym.

Best Burgers in Brisbane

My absolute favourite cafe in Brisbane is called The Green Edge in Annerley. It is a completely vegan cafe and grocery store. In fact, I think I am becoming addicted to all the great ingredients they stock - popping in at least 4 times a week. Because they only serve and stock vegan and are vegan themselves, they are extremely knowledgable and happy to answer all my new-vegan questions like 'how do I make parmesan cheese?' and 'what's the best soy cheese to choose for biscuits and dips?'

From a cafe perspective, it is such a relief to be able to order a dish without asking, 'does this contain dairy? egg?'. They make incredible smoothies, sundaes and (our new addiction) burgers. Last night husband recreated one of their burgers and I literally died. It was so delicious, I made him make them again tonight for dinner. Lightly toasted buns, avocado, chilli mayonnaise, caramelised onion, grilled eggplant, cucumber, carrot, fresh spinach, chutney, soy cheese and an organic veggie pattie. My husband is so clever. I love him.

I just think this photo is so cute

Yes they are both eating scraps of carrot off the floor while husband cooks

Vegan cats?

Bath time for Tuesday

Good Morning Noosa

Yesterday husband I took the SIL's ute to Noosa for the day to pick up another vintage find (go gumtree!!). Normally we head to the Gold Coast for the weekend as that it where a lot of family/friends live but it was nice heading in the other direction for a change. I had heard a lot about Noosa as it is a well known holiday spot for Melbournians. Noosa coastline was absolutely incredible. The resorts that are lined along the coast have incredible ocean views and pools that look like they merge into the sea. We also found an organic grocery store/cafe called Organika. We will definitely be returning in summer to stay at said resorts and eat at said cafe. Noosa = winner.

Homemade newspaper carry bag from Lamington shop

Organic seeds from Organika for our vegetable garden

Cute vintage porcelain cat from Lamington

Daffodil Day

Friday 28th was Brisbane's Daffodil Day - all proceeds went to cancer. It was really cute seeing everyone in Brisbane CBD carrying around a little bunch of Daffodil's.

And my canister collection is growing

Vintage floral canisters to add to my collection (husband is being very tolerant)

New love: gumtree.com

We found this vintage piece of furniture on gumtree.com. It now belongs in our kitchen. I think its adorable. I especially love the cupboard that opens out with a mirror backing as it reminds of one my grandma had. You can see Rainbow hiding underneath it - someone knocked at the door and he hid. He is hopeless.

Vegan Kofta and bean salad

So on our vegan voyage we found a particularly delicious vegan/vegetarian restaurant called Tibetan Kitchen in West End. They do two things extremely well 1) tofu in a coconut and lime curry and 2) delicious Kofta's in a tomato based sauce. Tonight I attempted to recreate the Dal Kofta and I think it turned out quite well (well husband ate about 6, so that's always an indication). I filled my Kofta's with cashews, lentils, onion and spices. I just made a simple tomato and capsicum sauce to dribble over the top. To accompany these balls of yuminess I made a string bean, tomato, avocado and cucumber salad with a honey and mustard dressing.

Bean salad

Naked Kofta's

Saucy Kofta's

Dinner!

(minus the tomatos as I cannot eat them raw, but use them often in salads as husband loves them and they brighten the dish)