August 30 - Fun In The Kitchen

  I ran a bit late for work this morning, about 15 minutes, thanks to my new book.  There it was, sitting there all "read me, read me" on my bedside table.  I'll admit it, I'm hooked, I want to know what happens next.  I will just have to be more strict with myself from now on.  No morning reading!
  Fortunately I was still at work in plenty of time for a meeting with my Ops Manager and the supplier who takes care of our grease waste.  I'm pretty lucky where I work.  Most office workers don't really get their curiosity indulged by operational staff, but my Ops Manager is happy for me to tag along and be as involved as my curiosity dictates.  I really appreciate that about him.
  Apart from that bright spot, work was pretty lack lustre.  I got a fair bit done but none of it was particularly thrilling.  With all deadlines done for the month I usually have a couple of slow days so they are where I do the boring housekeeping tasks.
  Tomorrow is my right-hand gal's last day so even though it is my day off I will be going in to join the team for her farewell lunch.  She is pretty much catering her own lunch (to be sure she gets what she wants according to her) but I said I would make Broccoli Salad (not as healthy as it sounds) and Chocolate & Pretzel Slice (exactly as healthy as it sounds ie. not very).
  So after exercise and dinner I cleaned up my kitchen, put on a load of dishes, wiped down benches and assembled ingredients!  First up, Broccoli Salad!  I got the recipe for this salad from a girl I used to work with who now runs Thread Den in Fitzroy.  A very crafty lass.  She made the salad for the team Christmas lunch one year and we've all been making it ever since!

  The recipe turns this:
2 to 3 heads of broccoli, raw
1 cup of fried bacon pieces
1 cup of grated cheese
1 cup of craisin
1 cup of whole egg mayo
  You can add pine nuts to the top too if you like but I chose to garnish with broccoli stars this time!

  Into this!
  The broccoli is not cooked.  You just cut it into little pieces and small florets then mix through the fried bacon, craisins and cheese, then add the mayo and keep mixing until it's all got a bit of a coating.  Then refrigerate overnight.  You can eat it on the day if you like but it does gain something from being in the fridge a while.

  Next up I took 800g of dark chocolate (two blocks of Old Gold Original and two blocks of Old Gold 70%), 400ml pouring cream, 6 egg yolks, 60g of pretzels and a sprinkling of sea salt flakes and turned it into:

  Chocolate & Pretzel Slice!
  The recipe is a little tricky in that it involves boiling cream without burning it and mixing egg with hot liquid without cooking it but I'm pleased to say I did it successfully!
  I even managed to get through all stages of cooking it without tasting the chocolate.  I only allowed myself a small taste test while I was cleaning up the cooking implements. 

   My cooking escapades finished around 11pm and then I cleaned up and laid away the dishes from earlier and put the new ones from cooking on.  Then I remembered in time that it was bin night so I emptied all the bins and dragged the relevant two to the curb (must remember to add that to Thursdays in my weekly planner).  And then, and only then, I was able to come and start tonight's blog!

Food and exercise for the day was:

• Breakfast was yoghurt, berries and fibre toppers.  I switched to the Coles brand mixed berries today.  They were a lot cheaper than the other lot and they have redcurrants to boot!
• Lunch was almost the same as the rest of the week, but I'd run out of cucumber! A Mission wholegrain wrap spread with a heaped tablespoon of Yumi Hummus and topped with three slices of Aldinga Turkeys 97% Fat Free Smoked Turkey Breast Roll (about 42g) and a big handful of rainbow salad.  I also had a kiwi fruit with skin on, a tamarillo and an Afourer mandarin.
• Exercise was 42 minutes on the cross trainer (Buffy S3E13).
  
• Dinner was homemade bolognase sauce with wholegrain & veggie coloured pasta spirals (55g dry weight, still needs reducing but nearly there) and a sprinkling of Mainland Finely Grated Light Tasty cheese mixed through.
• For dessert, I tasted the chocolate off the beater and bowl as I cleaned up!

How on earth did I get through this section without tasting!?

  It's another big day for me tomorrow and it's already past my bedtime.  I have exercise to do tomorrow morning before cutting up delicious chocolate slice and heading off for lunch, an accountant visit and dinner with a friend!  Here's hoping I get through it all!
  Jess