Chicken Rice Paper Rolls

I made rice paper rolls for dinner last night. I love these. They are so simple, taste so fresh, and even though they don't look it, they are very filling. 


I use chicken, because I don't eat seafood, but I imagine they would also taste pretty rad with prawns. As for the rest of the fillings, anything you like really! I like to keep it simple, some lettuce, carrot, coriander or mint, bean sprouts. These ones only have chicken and lettuce. Why? you make ask...well, I couldn't find any fresh coriander, and mine isn't ready yet, and the boy doesn't eat carrot. But they were still just as tasty. There are also no set quantities, it depends on how many you're making, and what you're using. I grabbed a roast chicken from the shops, and pulled all the meat off (i usually do this with the roast chickens, it's easier to remove the meat when it's still hot. I pull it all off and store it in an airtight container in the fridge. Doing it this way, also means it all gets used) and a lettuce, which I shredded.


Ingredients


Cooked chicken, shredded
Iceberg lettuce, shredded
1 x packet of rice paper, or spring roll sheets
Sweet chilli sauce


Method


Count out how many sheets of rice paper you need, and remove these from the packet

Then soak them one at a time, in a bowl of warm water. Don't over soak them, just until they are soft, but not floppy. So you can still pick them up and they retain their shape. Soak up the excess water with some paper towel, and lay them out on your board. Place the chicken in the centre of the roll

Then top with your lettuce

Then fold in the sides

Then, fold the end closest to you, in to the middle, then tightly roll. 

They are so fresh tasting, and so easy to make. I like to serve mine with sweet chilli sauce for dipping. Yum!

Purple Basil, Uni & Burgers...Oh My!

So, I couldn't get my hair light enough to dye pink. But I'm not giving up hope yet. I didn't want to bleach it anymore, for fear of losing all my hair. So, I've settled for a nice reddy/plum colour to tide me over. I'm going to actually visit a hair salon (shock! horror!) and get it lightened gradually, so as not to ruin my hair. But, the black is gone. I miss it. I tend to do this. I get fed up with black, go through the process of removing it, then instantly want it back again. 

I've had a few days off from work, and all the things that I had planned to do, didn't happen. (oh well) I did plant the few plants that the boy and I bought last weekend. We got purple basil (I'm thinking purple pesto), Coriander, Chives, Shallots, lots of varieties of Chilli's, and a passionfruit vine. Hopefully, I manage to keep these alive (I'm terribly good and not keeping plants alive)

I also started the task of sorting everything out. I bought a new file (yay!) and started with the pile of papers that have been building up. It's not much, but it's a start, I also sprayed weed killer over the entire back garden, so everything is dying, and it nearly ready for Super-Dad to come round and help me pull it all out. 

It was the boy's first day at Uni yesterday, and seeing as I had the day off, our friend and I drove him in and walked him to class. After having to park on the other side of campus, and had a nice wander over to his lecture room. Luckily, my little brother is on the same campus, and so we met up with him at the Uni Tav to have a drink. 

It's such a lovely fun atmosphere on campus, and I don't doubt that the boy is going to have fun there. To celebrate (and because I was starving) we stopped in at our local pub on the way home, and I ate this delicious burger

While I have been focusing on 'The List of Goodness' I have been neglecting my cooking and baking, and while I did make a delicious chicken Caesar Salad on the weekend, that's about all I did. I promise, promise, promise I will do some baking soon, and get some more of those posts underway.

So Long Black Hair...

I have officially lost 5kg as of Monday! Yay, go me!I'm starting to notice it in my clothes, which is a great feeling. I am also really loving this exercise thing. I missed my walk yesterday morning, and felt fuzzy all day. 

So, operation 'Remove Black Hair Dye' is underway. At the moment I have light orange hair (with bright blonde roots!) Here is a picture. 

I will have to wear it like this for a few days, bleaching it 2 days in a row has left me with a giant fuzz ball, and lots of broken hair (which I'm not overly upset about because I decided to get a chop anyway) today and tomorrow will be full of deep conditioning treatments and hot oil treatments to bring some of the moisture back, and get the frizz down (seriously, afro city) but, I'm happy with the progress so far. Hopefully by this time next week I'll be sporting cupcake pink hair :)

Also, also, also, my amazing new teefury t-shirt arrived yesterday. I found this design on another site, and hoped and prayed that it would come up on teefury, and it did, so I bought it! ahhhh Coop....

Anyway, just a short update. I have some time off in the next few days, and I'm planning on gardening, and baking.

List of Goodness - Update!

So, it's been over a week since I created the List of Goodness, and here is an update. Not too much has happened yet, but the ball is in motion for certain things to start happening. 


1. Lose Weight. This is going well. I'm nearly at the 5kg mark. I'm happy. I'm doing well, and not rushing it. And I've lost cm's off my stomach, butt, and legs, which I'm more happy about. 


2. Get Fit. I can now officially do a HIIT 15 work out in my sleep. I'm building up to the HIIT 30. I've also started the C25K running program (Thanks DrBlythe!) I managed to do the first week, following the program, without trouble or injury. My legs are a little sore, but not so much that it is painful or prevents me from doing more. I'm pushing myself and I feel good. 


3. Do something with my hair. It's boring. I've had the same style since I was about 24. It's official. The black is coming out. I've started the long, slow process of removing it. I'm doing it the long way, so I don't ruin my hair. I'm going to go pink for a little while. I'm contemplating a cut, but I've spent so long growing it, and making it healthy, I'm not sure if I'm ready to part with it just yet. 

14. Learn to crochet. A task both me and my sister in law to to achieve. We will prevail!I have started learning! I sat down on Friday night and taught myself how to do the first row. I came in to trouble trying to do the second row, tried 3 or 4 times, got frustrated, and put it down. Then, on Saturday, I watched a YouTube video no less than 7 times, and it finally clicked.I'm well on my way to producing a dish towel (according to the video). In no time I'll be whipping up cute little crochet things :)

So that's it so far. I know it's only 4 things out of a list of 16, but it's a start. And I'm happy. I have some time off over the coming weeks, so I plan to do the house stuff!

Cheesy Toast & Brain Training

I didn't actually get a weekend this weekend. I was busy being Certified as a NeurOptimal Neurofeedback trainer. I've been working as a trainer a little since December, and now I'm certified, I will hopefully be doing much more of it. But, because of this, I didn't get any time to cook or bake. I did, however, make some of my cheese on toast. This is one of my favourite fast, easy recipes. And it tastes so good. 


I also managed to get to see my newly married friends, back from their honeymoon. We did our favourite thing to do, went to the amazing food court in Wembley for dinner, came home, drank some bubbles (beer for the boys) and watched TV. We watched a film called Tucker and Dale vs Evil. It was absolutely hilarious. A different take on the hillbilly's slashing college kids horror films. Check it out. You won't regret it. 


Ingredients


1 tin of Persian feta (or another soft cheese of your choice
2 cups grated cheddar of your choice
6-8 slices of bread of your choice
Seeded mustard


Method


I like to use this bread

because it's already partly baked, it has herbs and oil on it, and it goes super crunchy. But of course, you can use any bread you like. 


Spread a generous helping of seeded mustard over the bread

then squidge on your Persian feta. I like to use this, because it's marinated in herbs and olive oil, and it's nice to get a bit of the oil onto the bread. I usually use an entire tin. Spread it on nice and thick, don't be shy of it. 

Once the feta is all on, and, if you are anything like me, you've got oil everywhere, it's time to top with the cheddar. Now, you can use absolutely any cheddar you like. I tend to use the stronger ones, like a Pyengana. You can also use a Gruyere instead of a cheddar. My favourite is the Marcel Petit Gruyere de Compte. 


Heap the cheese on top of the bread until all the feta is covered. 

Then just place the under the grill, or in the oven, until the cheese is melted and bubbling. 

This week brings with it much quieter times. I will be able to actually spend some time at home, baking and maybe even crafting!