Apple and Oats Crumble Recipe

I'm a bit of a fad eater. I like to try new things and if I find something I like, I eat it to exhaustion. I think I have a highly addictive nature. Hence I stay away from anything really nasty like drugs and One Direction. However food-wise, sashimi was last Summer's addiction.

And now that the weather is getting cooler, it's oats. Now you can just cook oats in a saucepan with some milk, add a bit of honey and sliced banana and you have a pretty awesome breakfast right there. I've been having that for breakfast every single morning. Just ask my work colleagues (I use the instant stuff in that case).

But, I also made this super yummy crumble after dinner the other night. It's so easy and only requires one bowl, a baking dish and a chopping board. 

Ingredients

• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 cup rolled oats
• 1 cup plain flour
• 1/2 cup butter, melted
• 3 cups apples - peeled, cored and chopped - I used granny smith apples
• 1/4 cup white sugar

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon


Method

1. Preheat oven to 175 degrees C. Lightly grease a medium sized baking dish.
2. In a large bowl, combine brown sugar, oats, flour and butter. Mix until crumbly. Place half of crumb mixture in pan. 
3. Spread the apples evenly over crumb mixture. Sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon and top with remaining crumb mixture.
4. Bake in the preheated oven for 40 to 45 minutes, or until golden brown.

So crispy on the outside and a bit tart and very gooey on the inside. Perfect with a bit of tea on a sunny but chilly morning sitting on the balcony and contemplating the mysteries with of life. Can't do that with just plain cereal!

Amelie's Perpetual Diet

So it's pretty bad when your clinic cat, the supposed  mascot for animal well being is a bit on the pudgy side. Now to me (I know this sounds like an excuse), I think it's just excessive skin paunch. You know like on the Biggest Loser when they lose weight too quickly and get that flabby stretch of skin.

My reasons are:

a) It's not solid tissue and fat, when you grab it (which I am often compelled to do just for fun) it's very stretchy and soft.

b) She is on a constant diet of Hills R/D (prescription weight loss diet) and only gets fed twice a day.

c) She does have a disproportionately small head compared to her body. 

BUT (and there is a big but) she must be part vulture because she is such a scavenger. If there is even a speck of food hidden under a cupboard or someone may have left the liver treat jar open, Amelie WILL be there. She even has the audacity to use her paw to reach in and scoop biscuits out of a food bowl in a hospital cage whilst the poor sick animal watches on helplessly.

Her day is broken up into morning meal time and evening meal time. I think she may be able to tell the time because at 5pm on the dot she will wake from her afternoon nap and start hassling everyone in sight for food. You walk into the room 'MEOW!'  is what you'll be greeted with. And if she thinks you're going anywhere near her cage (where her food is placed at night) she will come running towards her cage just so you get the point.

We've currently got her down to 4.8kg, which to me is average for a cat. You be the judge. But don't judge too harshly, she has feelings too.

Roast Pumpkin and Baby Carrot Soup

My meal plan for the week always revolves around what's on sale at the supermarket. So this week both butternut pumpkin and baby carrots were on sale at Coles which to me equates to a yummy warm soup for lunch tomorrow. Something really thick and hearty to balance out this rainy miserable weather. And why not make it a vegetarian meal as well! Mix it up a bit. 

Also, I love savoury dishes that have a tinge of sweetness to them and the honey in this recipe really tickled my fancy. I read somewhere on the internet (as a Vet I hear this at least once a day in the consult room) that roasting the vegetables gives the soup an extra lift, I tried it and I don't think it warrants the effort. Next time I'll just boil everything straight from the bat.

Recipe
Half a medium sized butternut pumpkin
6 baby carrots
1 large potato
1 tablespoon of honey
2 tablespoons of olive oil
1 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
500ml vegetable stock
1/4 cup of thickened cream

Method
1. Roast vegetables for 45 minutes at 200 degrees C mixed with 1 tablespoon of olive oil and the honey.
2. Move to a stockpot and add the vegetable stock and spices, salt and pepper and boil for a further 30 minutes or until vegetables are soft. 

3. Blend (I have a little rocket blender so this took ages as I had to do it in 5 separate batches) with the cream.
4. Enjoy with some fresh coriander or crusty bread. 

Wardrobe Historian

I'll be leaving my life in Sydney in a year and will be travelling for a year. I'm committing to the nomadic lifestyle and that involves getting rid of all my material possessions. Now I must admit, I have a lot of clothes. And almost all of them completely impractical for a wandering traveller, unless Mongolia has suddenly developed dry cleaning.

But they've given me so much joy over the years and to just pass them on makes me a little sad. I'm a bit of a sentimentalist. So I've decided to document everything before they go to new homes. Here we go...

'Karen Walker' Floral
Bow Dress

'Ralph Lauren' Cream Leather
 Crystal Bow Belt

'Kagui' Patent Leather
Red Bow Flats

'Fleur Wood' Silk Wrap Skirt 
+ mum's vintage shirt

One of my favourite blouses.

'Forever New' floral necklace 
worn as a headband

It truly is vintage, thanks mum!

Flutter Sleeve 'White Suede' Silk Dress +
 'Tony Bianco' Tan Leather Wedges

'Valleygirl' Flower dress +
'Top End' Canvas 
and Leather Flats

'Woodford & Co' Belt +
'Coo Co Ca Choo' Bird 
Necklace

'Saba' Pleat Silk Blouse

'Review' Pleat Silk Floral Skirt +
 'Alannh Hill' Bolero

Herb alert!

Having no children or pets I've placed all my nurturing instincts into my little balcony herb garden. And like children, they have grown a bit wild and I've had to move them around so some of them don't kill their brothers and sisters. 

OK, my analogy has gone awry but basically my mint plant is going insane in its big pot and I've had to move it to a separate one to control it a bit better. My basil is going nuts too and I've got an over supply. 

There's only so much spaghetti I could make!

I've also added to my family with a trip to Bunnings (or as I like to think of it as, the herb adoption centre) and bought some coriander, sage and parsley. As usual I watered them in with some seaweed concentrate after I moved them to reduce 'transplantation stress'. Grow little ones, grow!

My mint is a monster of a plant - it just keeps wanting to overrun its chive brother. 

Friday Feature Feline - Puppet and Puff

So the cutest thing in the whole world is when two animals of completely different DNA make up decide that they will over come this trans-special barrier and become good friends. A great show to watch is Unlikely Friends on the Discovery channel where you've got cats with birds, dogs with monkeys and all sorts of unique friendships that will warm even the hardest of hearts.

Well this belated Friday Feature goes to Puppet, a domestic long hair cat that likes to cuddle his scaly lizard friend. It's not his fault he's cold blooded so he'll give him a helping hand and share some of his warmth. The lizard doesn't seem to mind one bit and if they had a wider range of facial expressions I'm sure he's happy as Larry in the video. Check it out: