Easy and oh so tasty recipes

I haven't been working much for the past few weeks -quit my full time job due to the fact that I was never home and never had weekends off. Instead of working, I've been cooking A LOT! Here are the best recipes I have found so far. They are all ridiculously tasty and basic- I like to keep my cooking as simple as possible.

Veggie shepherd's pie with sweet potato mash

http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/4382/veggie-shepherds-pie-with-sweet-potato-mash

Potato and leek soup (I didn't puree, I just mashed)

http://www.bestrecipes.com.au/recipe/potato-and-leek-soup-L4.html

Thai fish cakes

*A few things I changed: I used more eggs and added about half a cup of flour to the mixture. I also ditched the coconut milk (didn't have any in the cupboard) and used coconut oil to cook in instead. It still gave a great flavour to the cakes. For the onion I did a combination of spring onion and one whole regular onion. These were the best fish cakes I've ever tasted!!

 

Ingredients

• 1kg boneless skinless fish fillets
• 5 green onions, chopped finely
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• ¼ cup coarsely chopped fresh coriander
• 2 tablespoons red curry paste
• 1 egg
• ¼ cup (60ml) coconut milk
• 100g green beans, sliced thinly
• peanut oil (I used coconut oil), for shallow frying
• 1/3 cup (60ml) soy sauce

Method

• Blend/ process (I just cut into small chunks) fish, add the onion, garlic, coriander, paste, egg and coconut milk until just combined. Stir beans into mixture.
• Shape level tablespoons of the fish mixture into cakes, cover: refrigerate for 30 minutes.
• Heat oil in large frying pan; shallow-fry fish cakes, in batches, about 3 minutes or until browned slightly both sides and cooked through. Drain on absorbent paper.

Spring Veggie Pie

(quick and easy meal)

Ingredients

• 1 carrot, peeled and grated
• 1 courgette, grated
• 330 grams can corn kernels
• A handful of baby spinach leaves
• ¼ red capsicum, finely chopped
• 1 medium onion, finely chopped
• 3 teaspoons oil
• 3 eggs, beaten
• 1 teaspoon sweet chilli sauce (optional, delish)
• ¾ cup self raising flour
• 40 grams Edam cheese, grated (I use what ever I have)
• salt and pepper to season

Method

• Preheat oven to 200ºC and grease a 25cm x 5+cm dish
• Prepare the vegetables
• Mix all ingredients (except flour and cheese) together
• Add flour, be sure not to over mix.
• Place into dish, sprinkle with cheese, bake for 15 to 20 minutes.

You can add/remove veggies as you please, remember to adjust ratios (add extra egg/ flour)

My latest obsession

1001 uses for coconut oil. Love love love.

http://www.coconutresearchcenter.org/hwnl_9-4.htm

I had always wanted to travel for a living...

Having finally found what I consider a 'proper job' after being in Australia for 4 months, I am now on the road. I am a contract photographer for a mobile photography studio. So yes, technically I suppose I'm doing the job I had always wanted. However, that is not quite the case. The towns/ cities are not the types of places I would choose to visit- they're very industrial. The one moment where I thought this may not actually be that bad was short lived. We were driving from Mackay to Rockhampton and as soon as i saw the sea i turned in towards it. My colleague and I decided "swim time"! As we drove towards the perfect spot to swim out, we saw the signs- 'danger, 'no swimming', 'crocodiles', 'box jellyfish'. My heart sank.
So besides the locations we travel to, the accommodation we're put up in is also generally horrific. Now I'm no princess but I refuse to share a room with cockroaches. Moreover, having a partner who I have to leave at home for the duration of my trips and having to cook for myself every night gets a bit much.
So traveling for a living as an idea, is great, but when it actually comes to be, it's not always. I may need to train my partner up to be a makeup artist but I'm having my doubts about how keen he will be.
The job is rather interesting though. And I don't mean that photography-wise. The types of people we meet and the outfits they want to wear certainly keep us entertained (and sometimes scare me).
Nevertheless,  I am gaining experience and growing as a person and for however long I manage to handle this all, it won't be time wasted.

28km of pure Eastern Cape beauty

Having said all year “we will walk from Bushmans to Port Alfred”, on my last weekend in the Eastern Cape, before heading to Australia, we did it.

28km.

We officially decided to do this beach hike the very day we left. Having set off at about 6pm, we only walked a few kilometres (and swam across the Bushmans River) in order to camp at one of the best beaches in South Africa- Shelley Beach.

With no one mad enough to be at this beach at that hour – which is quite a walk to get to – we set up out tent and went for a early evening skinny dip. Feeling as free as we were we continued to set up camp and make a fire in the nick, under the full moon.

Waking up in the middle of the night all I could hear was the sound of waves extremely close by. Peaking out of the tent, I realised the waves were indeed extremely close by – spring tides! Thank goodness we set up camp in a cave quite high up and the waves wouldn’t have reached us, however, we were stuck there. Luckily we got our timing right and by the time we woke up and were ready to tackle the remaining 26km, the tide had started going out.

High in spirits, and backpacks heavy in weight, we set off!

With the Kasouga River mouth being closed, we only had one more river to cross on the hike- the Kariega- which was roughly half an hour from where we had camped. Putting our backpacks into two layers of black bags, we swam across hurriedly as the tide was rushing out. Out of breath and only a fraction of the way, we put our game faces on - along with our hiking shoes - and carried on.


Walking along the Eastern Cape coastline, you can go for kilometres without seeing anyone else. On our route we came across a shipwreck, a baby shark (which we rescued), and a few fishermen up until about halfway between Bushmans River and Port Alfred.



Our legs aching and water supply running low (we brought 6 litres with), we could feel that Port Alfred was near. However, only after about five false calls did we venture around the bend that opened up to the sight of Port Alfred’s Kelley’s Beach. Not our final destination, but one we were very pleased to see because we knew the distance we had to walk from there. From Kelley’s Beach to Ocean Basket for some well deserved beer and sushi!




When setting off we knew it was quite a distance from Bushmans River to Port Alfred, however, we had no idea it would be 28km. We walked for eight hours, purely on sand, from our camping spot to our final destination with few breaks – totalling about an hour - between. An achievement? Yes, I think so. Would I do it again? For sure!

Now what?

As you walk out of the examination room after writing your last ever exam at university, your status immediately changes from ‘student’ to ‘unemployed’.

After a few days grace the folks are on your case: ‘what job are you going to look for?’, ‘I don’t see any adverts asking for people with the subjects you have studied’, ‘why did I spend all this money if you're not even going to get employed’. And the next few weeks change from what I believed was going to be a well deserved holiday to a nightmare of confusion and anxiety.

From always being focused on becoming a nature conservationist, to taking two gap years and deciding to study photography, to getting absorbed with anthropology and getting by by writing relatively well, to going into a political diploma in International Studies and becoming increasingly enthused by the idea of fighting climate change and other environmental issues. How university has changed my initial focus and lead me on a path I had previously never considered. Now I’m left with a degree and a diploma that does not leave me with a title such as ‘accountant’ or ‘lawyer’.

You’d think that after studying for four years your confusion would have subsided, instead it seems that this is only where it really begins.

Marilyn shoot with Charotte Rose Walker

bits and bobs from 2010

One of the artists in the alleyway in Melbourne, which is dedicated to spray painters

Prettiness in Wilderness

Richard Poulter ripping at Victoria Bay

A tortoise I found while doing a walk to a “Geocache” in the Garden Route

The redeemer of the Eastern Cape - Richard Poulter at the toposcope in Bathurst, EC

My sister, Jenna getting comfortable on the now unused railway tracks in the Garden Route