I’m back! V Series Kew, Fritz Gelato and Gelato Messina

Oh hello (queue tumbleweed)

That seems as good a way as any to start the post after the impromptu hiatus I have been on. It was never intended, but after having a post-MoFo breather, a couple of short holidays and just general life happenings, suddenly it is three months later. And helllloooo 2016.

To be honest, I also lost a bit of my blogging enthusiasm. It’s not that I’ve got nothing to post, on the contrary there’s still recipes that I didn’t get around to posting during MoFo as well as a million other eateries. Yes, a million. But the longer I went without posting, the harder it seemed to make the time to sit down and come back to it. I’ve also been battling with technology a bit – I’m no photo editing pro – I just make it up as I go. However I’ve had some photos that I wanted to share that got drowned in a coloured light and I’ve been trying, failing, cussing at my computer and trying again to fix them but I’m just not getting anywhere. Unfortunately these photos, chronologically speaking, should be posted first as they were from my trip to Perth back in October, but as I haven’t been able to get them right I’ve just been really stuck instead of moving on and coming back to it later. Anyway, I’ve finally moved on and I’ll come back and tinker with them and hopefully share them with you all later. At least I’m back tap tap tapping away at these here keys again – it’s a start.

So today I’m going to share a bit of a riff-raff account of a few things that I have eaten around the place. Starting with an impromptu brekkie at V Series in Kew the other day.

V Series is the evolution of A Caterpillar’s Dream (which I visited once previously) – the place has had a makeover with some noticeable improvements on decor and dining ware. I particularly liked the little pots of fresh herbs decorating the tables. The menu we were given on the day had a breakfast page, drinks page as well as a 3-course lunch deal with a selection of dishes to choose from, however this differs to that available on their website where it appears you can order an individual item from the lunch menu and there are more items on offer.

The bear and I both ordered the same dish – the crispy tofu benedict, although he added an optional egg to his. I had not been feeling particularly hungry before spontaneously deciding to stop by for breakfast, so I probably could have done with just one of these stacks. That’s not to say I didn’t finish them both of course…

I was pleased with the generous amounts of mushroom, spinach and avocado layered atop the english muffins, the crispiness of the tofu was also satisfying although most likely deep fried. I appreciated the effort of the hollandaise but this was not quite on point – it tasted too sweet and heavily reliant on mustard for flavour, I had to add plenty of salt and pepper to combat the sweetness. If V Series could perfect the sauce it would take this to the next level.

I also ordered an iced coffee to share because you know, iced coffee is delicious, albeit filling alongside the massive brekkie.

As if we could walk out without taking some cupcakes from the cabinet – all of which are vegan. After far too much deliberation, we selected the classic cheesecake and the salted caramel cupcakes. Both were delicious – I’m a sucker for cheesecake so this went down well, but the salted caramel sauce and toffee flake were also impressive. I’m pleased with the evolution of V Series, and will definitely be back again, particularly after realising that our energy company had sent out a card giving discounts at certain eateries with V Series included. Excellent.

I was on Bridge Road recently on a hot summer’s day and stopped in to Fritz Gelato. Fritz have a sign on the wall indicating that all their sorbets are vegan.

The entire bottom row here, aside from the yoghurt flavour on the far left, are sorbets. Unfortunately I forgot to actually get a photo of the gelato I ordered, but I got strawberry and bounty – delicious!

Speaking of gelato, I stopped by Gelato Messina on Smith Street a while back and was pleased to find this vegan coffee sorbet with hazelnut praline, which I paired with the classic chocolate sorbet. I need to go back and see if they are still serving it, as this was divine – the crunchy praline just made it next level goodness.

When I started this post, I thought I would share some Smith & Deli treats I have enjoyed, but after sifting through my photos I think there is enough for a post of it’s own so I will just end this now before I have any more reasons to put this post off. Yeeehah!

V Series
Shop 4/26 Princess St, Kew
Mon – Fri – 8am – 4.30pm
Sat – Sun – 9am – 4.30pm

Fritz Gelato
334 Bridge Rd, Richmond
Open 7 days – noon until late

Gelato Messina
237 Smith St, Fitzroy
Sun – Thurs – 12pm – 11pm
Fri – Sat – 12pm – 11.30pm

Oven Roasted Ratatouille Beans with Toasted Breadcrumbs & Basil Oil

A bit of a mouthful, but a totally delicious one.

Re-create a restaurant meal.

Today I am recreating a dish that I have only eaten once from a cafe that I have only been to once, however my experience there was so memorable that I have talked about it several times since. The cafe is Mixed Business in Clifton Hill, and I went with a group of about 15-20 people from work for a group brunch on a weekday. The service was outstanding and friendly, and I was just awed by the fact that they were able to bring out all of our dishes at the same time with so many of us there. Not only that, they were freaking delicious.

I had avocado on toast with a side of slow roasted ratatouille beans. The beans were topped with toasted crumbs and a drizzle of basil oil. Outrageously good. Unfortunately I did not take a photo of the dish on the day, nor do I have a photographic memory, so I was trying to recreate the idea in my head here. It worked out great, and this will definitely be a rotation in our weekend breakfasts.

Note, I started out using fresh tomatoes and then added crushed tomatoes to make the beans more saucy. I’m sure if you wanted to use a whole can of crushed tomatoes and omit the fresh ones it will be much the same.

Slow Roasted Ratatouille Beans with Toasted Crumbs and Basil Oil
(serves 3-4 as a side)

1 medium eggplant, diced (roughly 3 cups) skin on or off
1 red capsicum, diced
2 tomatoes, roughly chopped
1 onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 Tbsp oil
1½ cups cooked butter beans
3 Tbsp tomato paste + ¼ cup water
200g crushed tomatoes
2 Tbsp fresh basil, chopped
Salt and pepper to taste

Breadcrumbs:
2 slices of stale bread, crusts removed

Basil oil:
1 cup tightly packed basil leaves
½ cup olive oil
Pinch of salt

Preheat oven to 220C. Place onion, garlic, eggplant, capsicum, chopped tomatoes in a large baking dish and toss with olive oil. Cook for 20 minutes, stirring once or twice. Remove from heat.

In a small bowl, whisk together tomato paste and water. Add tomato paste mix, crushed tomatoes, fresh basil and salt and pepper and stir to combine. Return to oven for 40-50 minutes, stirring occasionally. Check that the eggplant is tender, and the sauce is nice and thick. If it needs a little longer, you may want to add a little more liquid to keep it at the right consistency.

While the beans are cooking, prepare the basil oil. Bring a pot of water to the boil and blanch the basil leaves for no more than a minute. Transfer to icy water to cool. Blend basil, oil and salt as best as possible, then strain through a fine mesh strainer or cheese cloth.

To prepare the breadcrumbs, tear up the pieces of bread and place in a food processor. Process until crumbs are formed. Spread crumbs out onto a baking tray and pop in the oven, bake until crumbs are golden – 5 – 10 minutes. Make sure you stir them regularly to ensure they don’t burn. Remove from oven and put aside.

To prepare, serve up some beans, sprinkle on some breadcrumbs and top with a drizzle of basil oil. Serve with a side of avo on toast, of course.

Vegan MoFo 2015 – Buckwheat Pancakes with Blueberry Coulis

Good morning lovely readers, old and new! Welcome to the very first day of the vegan month of food! Who can believe it has already been a year since the last one? Goodness gracious me..

This year, things are going down a little differently. Rather than each participant choosing their own theme to stick to throughout the month, the MoFo team have posted a list of prompts for each day so that everybody participating is chatting about the same thing. I think this has definitely simplified things and perhaps made it easier for more folks to get on board. So without further adieu, today’s prompt:

Rise and Shine! It’s MoFo time! Tell us about your breakfast.

Now unless you closed your eyes for the title of this post or even skipped it entirely in a mad rush to get to the rest of this quality post, you’ll see that I’ve gone with a classic – pancakes. I don’t eat a hell of a lot of pancakes, as they have always seemed like a special occasion food because they always appeared for mother’s day or father’s day or christmas or birthdays. But seeing as though it is day one of MoFo, what the hell! 
 

Hello sweet goodness! If only every day started like this…

If you’re like me and have some serious troubles with flipping pancakes, think about making smaller pikelet sized ones like this! I’ve never made such perfect looking pancakes in my life.

Buckwheat Pancakes with Blueberry Coulis
(makes 10-12 smaller pancakes)

1 ½ cups buckwheat flour
1 ½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
¼ cup mashed banana
2 Tbsp coconut sugar
1 ½ cups non dairy milk
1 tsp vanilla
Coconut oil for frying

Coulis:
1 ½ cups blueberries
1 Tbsp lemon juice
2-3 Tbsp agave
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp chia seeds (optional, for thickening)

For the pancakes, mix together flour, baking powder and salt in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together the remaining ingredients (except for the oil). Make a well in the centre of the dry mix and pour the wet mix into it, stirring to combine.

Heat a fry pan over medium heat and melt a small amount of coconut oil in it. Scoop pancake batter into the pan – for these smaller pancakes I used a ¼ cup to measure it out. Allow to cook until bubbles have started to form and pop all over each pancake. Carefully flip them using a thin metal spatula and cook for a further couple of minutes, until golden. Continue with the remaining batter.

For the coulis, place blueberries, lemon juice and agave in a small pot and heat over medium low heat. Gently simmer for about 10 minutes, until the blueberries start to break apart. Mash some with a spoon so that they separate. I like to keep some chunk in mine, but if you prefer you can blend and strain the mix later.

Turn off the heat and stir in vanilla. Taste for sweetness and add more agave if necessary. For a thicker sauce, add 1 teaspoon of chia seeds, stir through and allow to sit for a couple of minutes.

Serve pancakes with coulis, fresh fruit, yoghurt, ice cream, or whatever you damn want.

Soul Foods, Newcastle NSW

A couple of weekends back, we took a quick weekend trip up to Newcastle to visit the Bear’s new baby nephew. Our efforts to arrive super early were apparently in vain – when we got to the airport, there were no shuttle buses for over an hour. We sat at the airport drinking big old mugs of coffee wondering why exactly we had taken the 6am flight.

The shuttle bus took us into Newcastle, where we desperately needed some breakfast after already being up without food for over five hours. Harnessing the power of the internet, we found our target – Natural Tucker Health Food and Cafe on Darby St. We started making our way there, when we stumbled upon this sign:

Vegan options? Count us in!

Soul Foods was closer than our destination, and conveniently right across from the train station we needed to get to to scoot out to Cardiff afterwards.

The cafe had high ceilings and a quirky interior – lots of mismatched coloured chairs and pretty teacups. I liked it. I was a bit jealous of two ladies to my left who had what looked like the most royal thrones of the room, but I stopped giving them greasies to look at the menu.

The bubbly lady explained the vegan options – I went with the zucchini fritters/pancakes? Usually served with haloumi, but could be replaced with tofu to be made vegan. Sounded great.

When my meal came out, I was impressed by the vibrant colours – I like to eat with my eyes and I like rainbow plates. However unfortunately this dish just didn’t quite come together. The zucchini fritters were semi-sweet pancakes with blueberries in them, but then topped with savouries. It was great that they could substitute the haloumi instead of just take it away, however the tofu was raw and I could not taste any marinade. Tomato and avo are always good brekkie additions, and everybody knows I am a dip fanatic, however the hommus tasted distinctly of one I have bought at the supermarket, as did the pesto – which tasted very cheesy (like those little oily cashew ‘chunky’ dips you can buy). When I asked afterwards, the lady assured me that it was vegan and house-made, but I was still a little skeptical. It tasted EXACTLY how I remember that non-vegan store bought dip to taste. But hey, if they tell me so I gotta believe it.

The bear went with a bean dish, though he had it with feta so I didn’t snap it. He really enjoyed it and I tried some of the beans which were tasty. I think they came with some pumpkin toast.

Soul Foods had a bunch of tasty looking vegan sweets, but I wasn’t really feeling it on the day. I was a little disappointed with the breakfast, but wouldn’t discount them entirely without having another go. Maybe next time!

Afterwards, we bumbled with buying train tickets (confusing machines), missed our train (and also forced an innocent man to miss the train too with our inability to navigate the ticket machine) and ultimately had to wait another hour and a half for the next one. When we complained of our plight, we were told “but it’s Saturday” as if that explained the lack of transport options. Oh us Melbourners with our frequent departing Saturday trains, what were we thinking? We arrived at Billy’s sister’s place at about 2pm. Good thing we got that 6am flight! Ha!

Soul Foods
227 Hunter st, Newcastle NSW
Tues – Fri – 7.30am – 5pm
Sat – Sun – 8am – 3.30pm

Banana Chai Spice Smoothie

It is well and truly smoothie season. Over the past weeks I have shifted from eating mainly porridge brekkies to total smoothie town. I alternate flavours regularly, but lately this one has made been amongst the reruns.

Banana Chai Spice Smoothie

1 frozen banana
1 1/2 cups almond milk
1 date
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground cardamom
Pinch of black pepper
1 tsp maca
1 tsp chia seeds

Place all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. Enjoy!

The Resident, Ashburton

Since moving to Tassie, a number of new little cafes have popped up in the suburbs around my parents’ house. The cool vibes of the inner suburbs are definitely making their way further out.

The Resident is a cute little cafe located in the Ashburton shopping strip of High st. It has a nice sunny courtyard out the back, giving the cafe more space than you first expect. It’s right near the train station and on a bike/walking path, making it the perfect stop after a morning stroll.

My mum, aunty and I popped in for brunch one morning, and managed to nab a table out in the sunshine. While there were not a lot of vegan options on the menu (well, none without slight alteration), the staff were very friendly and helpful in explaining what I could and couldn’t have (and checking with the chef when unsure). I ended up doing a mix and match breakfast, picking most of the available vegan options.

It was far better than I expected! I loved the addition of microgreens, and the mushrooms were beautiful. I’m not often in the mood for a ‘big breakfast’, but I really enjoyed all of this – though was pretty stuffed by the end.

They also do a mean coffee (and have Bonsoy on offer – yay!)

A few weeks later Mum and I went back for lunch. This time I selected from the lunch menu, as last time the person serving us mentioned that the wild rice salad could be made vegan. There is vegetarian bahn mi on the menu, but unfortunately (for me, anyway) they use a brioche bun…sad, because I loooove bahn mis!

Anyway, upon confirming that they could leave out the pomegranate labne, I ordered the wild rice salad with pumpkin, sun dried tomato, king brown mushroom, preserved lemon and fennel seed.

This was okay, but not amazing. I enjoyed the components, but I guess it was lacking without the pomegranate labne…it really needed just a bit more flavour. A dash of a replacement dressing or something would have been great. Instead I settled for some salt.

In saying that – it wasn’t bad, and I understand that I was the one who made adjustments to the dish so won’t be holding it against them. Until the menu changes though, I think I’ll stick with the brekkie items. I’m just glad there’s a go-to cafe with a bit of charisma in Ashburton now!

The Resident
246 High St, Ashburton
Sat – Thurs – 7am – 5pm
Fri – 7am – 4pm, then 6pm – late

A few more W.A. eats

I am fairly certain that this is the last in the backlog of Western Australia posts that I’ve got to catch up on (then it’s on to the Melbourne backlog…). This won’t be highly detailed as it’s been a while now, but I just wanted to give a quick mention to these two places that we ate at while over that side.

Firstly, we headed down to Dunsborough for a day trip with the hopes of heading to Samudra for breakfast. I’d been to Samudra the previous time I was down and was so impressed by the quality of food, not to mention the amazing range of vegan, raw and gluten-free options that were available. On top of that, Samudra contains a yoga studio, eco-clothing store and wellness centre, all nestled in a beautiful gardened area.

Unfortunately it was not meant to be, as we arrived to find it closed for renovations. This was the second time we were turned away, as last time I had tried to share the joys of the place with Billy, we were turned away due to a private function. Sighhhh. Oh well.

We wandered around until we found a little cafe called Rabbits Surf Cafe. While there was nothing vegan on the menu, the staff there advised us that we could mix and match a few things to make up a suitable breakfast, so we decided to do that. We both went with a cooked brekkie of toast, tomatoes, mushrooms, spinach and avocado.

Billy really enjoyed this, and demolished it in no time at all. I have to admit that I was still a little disheartened by not getting to have breakfast at Samudra and that probably affected my enjoyment of the meal. Nothing about this was bad, but I had been prepping myself for some delightful buckwheat pancakes or raw muesli or something of the sort. This was pretty much the standard breakfast you get from a place that doesn’t have vegan options.

I shouldn’t be down on it though – we were accommodated really well and it was certainly a decent and filling breakfast. Billy had a coffee on the side, and I went with a green smoothie.

This was tasty, but I wish places wouldn’t serve drinks in plastic cups when you are eating in – it seems wasteful. A glass would have been much preferable.

While in Mandurah we also went out to dinner to a place called Catch 22, which is on one of the wharfs. It has a little bit of a ‘fancier’ vibe to it, and prices to match.

We had a really friendly girl serving us, who was very helpful, cheerful and patient with us, and explained to me what could be altered on the menu to suit my requirements (I believe she was vegan as well). It even said at the bottom of the menu in fine print to advise staff of any dietary requirements so that they could assist us to the best of their ability, which was nice. For me, the best option seemed to be the vegetable stack. It sounded pretty delicious, so I was sold easily. Here is a terrible photo of it.

Okay, so the good…I loved the texture of the creamy potato, and the juicy flavour of the mushrooms topped with chives. I freaking love chives.

However, firstly, the dish was brought to me with feta cheese on top (as it is listed on the menu). I advised the waitress who apologised profusely and took it away. The dish came back with one mushroom removed from the top (the one with all the cheese on it). It was not replaced with another one, and there were still a few smidgens of cheese on the dish. I am not one to make a big deal, so I continued with my meal, however, if I was actually allergic…this may have been a problem.

I was one bite away from finishing what was a fairly tasty meal. I put the last mouthful in, only to chew down on a sharp piece of plastic, about 2cm long. Not the most pleasant surprise…it could have at least been a gold coin or something. This was really quite disappointing – I’ve never before found a plastic shard in a meal at a restaurant. I understand how easily this could have broken off a container, but still…not enjoyable.

Again, I advised the waitress who was even more apologetic, and came back with complimentary coffee. It was a nice gesture, and quite a decent meal, but I have to say I would probably not return. This is more to do with the fact that there was not much else suitable that appealed to me on the menu than the mistakes that were made (everybody makes mistakes!), but they definitely did impact on the experience.

Rabbits Surf Cafe
9/28 Dunn Bay Rd, Dunsborough W.A
Mon – Sun – 8am – 8.30pm

Catch 22 Restaurant
Unit 1/4 Zephyr Mews, Mandurah W.A
Mon – 10.30am – 5pm
Tues – Sat – 10.30am – 9pm
Sun – 8am – 9pm

Playing catch-ups: Ravens Coffee and around Denmark, W.A

I have a bunch of food slash places that I want to share with you that we ate at back in Western Australia. I know, that was sooooo last year. But I’m going to start working my way through the backlog so that I can start being in the present again.

After our van troubles and our decision to NOT drive across the Nullabor, I was a bit sad at not getting to explore the bottom part of W.A, something I was so looking forward to. Luckily for me, when we sourced a new engine for the van, it happened to be located in Albany, which I reckon is close to being one of the most southern parts of W.A.

This meant a trip down there, a short stay, and a meandering journey back. It was really cool, because we got to drive through the town my mum was born in (Mt. Barker) and also spend a little bit of time in one of the towns my dad lived in as a child (Denmark). South Western Australia is so freaking beautiful, and while I’m bummed at the lack of time we got to spend there, I know I’ll be back.

We arrived in Denmark first thing in the morning, and I’d heard rumours of a great cafe called Ravens Coffee, who specialise in raw food as well as, well, coffee. I was so excited to eat some delicious food, and let me tell you, I was not let down.

Ravens Coffee has a really great vibe, with plenty of indoor and limited outdoor seating. It was a beeeaauutiful morning, so we jumped at the chance to sit out in the sunshine.

First up, coffees. There are a variety of non-dairy milks on offer here, so we decided to try something a little different from the regular soy and settled on hazelnut milk. I love the combination of hazelnut and coffee…what an aroma.

While not exclusively vegan or even vegetarian, the majority of the menu is vegan (hoorah!) and we had a hard time choosing as there were so many tempting things on offer. In the end settled on two dishes to share.

First up, the buckies – an organic superfood cereal mix of activated buckwheat, pepitas and almonds, maca, mesquite,cinnamon, cacao, white mulberries, and dried fruit, with fruit compote on top and doused in hazelnut milk.

I loved the presentation of this dish, it looked so beautiful with the swirl of compote and the sprig of mint that I almost didn’t want to spoil it by eating it. Almost.

The different textures in this were amazing, the chewiness of the fruits and the crunch of the nuts and seeds were a perfect combination. Textures, flavour, aesthetics…it was all there! The mint garnish tasted so good with it all that we ripped it into tiny pieces and spread it throughout.

Next up the ‘fruit and sprinkles’ – a combination of seasonal fruits topped with organic spirulina crunchies, raw organic chocolate sauce and cacao crunchies.

Oh. My. God. That chocolate sauce….you have no idea.

Billy and I were raving about it the whole time we were eating it. It was quite possibly the best thing I’ve ever tasted.

I loved the idea of the spirulina crunchies – I’m not sure what the deal was there – potentially dehydrated? Whatever the case, they were great, and I’m such a fan of eating with my hands that I loved grabbing and dipping the fruit chunks.

I honestly could have stayed here all day, as there was a cabinet full of delicious treats like raw pizza, wraps, desserts, etc., but alas, we had to move on. We wandered around the gorgeous little town for a while before heading up the road to Greens Pool which is a must see when visiting Denmark.

The water was crystal clear and stunning. Again, we could have spent the day here, although this time it was the weather that sent us on our way. Hard to believe from these pictures, but not long after a windy stormlet (I say stormlet as it wasn’t quite big enough to be a full blown STORM) cruised in and sent everyone on the beach running.

We wanted to do the Valley of the Giants Treetop walk, but it was too wet by the time we got there so again, we resigned to doing it some other time. We still had a look around the area while we were there.

After heading through Walpole, we went north towards Manjimup. While we didn’t get a chance to visit THE big tree in Pemberton, we found many others along the way.

Ooh it’s getting late so I think I’ll leave it there for today, but I’ve got some more yumminess to share with you hopefully tomorrow. Until then! X

Ravens Coffee
1/7 South Coast Highway, Denmark W.A
Open 7 days – 8am – 6pm

Banana Breakfast Crumble

For the last week or so, we have been being extra frugal in preparation for our trip across to the Northern Territory. Petrol is not cheap and we have a long way to go in a short period of time. What this has meant for us is eating very basic food, and using what we have in our little stores. We’ve been having noodle and pasta dishes, stir fries, salads, and the odd soup. So far we’ve been doing pretty well.

The other day we stopped at a bakery in Innisfail to check out what they had. It was late in the arvo and they were starting to prepare to close. Before we’d even purchased anything, the man there asked us if we’d like some bananas – apparently one of the local growers drops bananas to them to make banana bread but they had plenty left over. He didn’t want to waste any, and so filled up a bag with them for us. How generous was that?

We had to use them pretty quickly as they don’t really do very well in the heat of the van. So the next two mornings, we had this breakfast that I invented from our cupboard stocks. It’s kind of reminiscent of a crumble, and was so yummy.

Banana Breakfast Crumble
(serves 2)

2 bananas, sliced
1 tsp raw sugar or stevia
1 Tbsp coconut oil

Topping:

¾ cup oats
1 Tbsp coconut oil
1 Tbsp chia seeds
¼ cup almonds, roughly chopped
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp stevia (or agave/maple syrup/sugar)
Pinch of salt

To make the topping, heat the coconut oil in a pan over medium-low heat. Add the rest of the ingredients and stir to combine. Continue to cook for 3-5 minutes, until the oats are slightly toasted. Remove from heat and allow to cool a little (it will become a bit crisp and crunchy!)

For the bananas, heat the oil in a pan over medium-high heat. Sprinkle sweetener over the bananas, and add to the pan when hot. Cook for a couple of minutes on either side, until they start to get golden.

Serve bananas in a bowl and top with oat mixture. This would probably be nice with a dollop of yoghurt too!

Hope you enjoy this one – we did!

The next few days we are going to be making our way up to Cape Tribulation. I’m pretty sure we won’t have reception up there, unless we find some wifi, so I’m not really sure how I’m going to go for the last few days of MoFo. Hopefully I’ll get a couple more posts in…we’ll see!

More Strawberries!

We were supposed to work all day today, but it was so quiet that we got let off at 1pm, which was a bit of a bummer. Hopefully tomorrow is busy enough to keep us on all day, same for Sunday.

We are staying in the showgrounds, which is where the expo we are working at is held which is super convenient. These showgrounds don’t normally permit camping for some reason, but they do for workers when there are events on. They have ultra new showers/toilet blocks which is like luxury after the mosquito cesspool bathrooms of the last place we paid to stay at.

Also, there is possibly a farmers market here tomorrow morning, which is AWESOME! When we got work I was pleased, but also kind of bummed that we wouldn’t be able to look for a farmers market for the second weekend in a row. Now maybe they will come to us! I say maybe, because no one seems to be 100% sure whether they are on due to the expo being on. Fingers crossed!

Anyway, today’s food related business comes to you courtesy of Emma over at Coconuts and Berries. Her theme for vegan MoFo is awesome – she’s doing an A-Z of ingredients, featuring a different one every day. This was way back at C for chia seeds!

I love chia pudding. I also love overnight oats with chia seeds. I am also up to my ears in strawberries in Queensland! And while I have topped my brekkies with strawberries, I’d never thought to blend them into the milk. This was something I had to try!

Unfortunately, upon opening our strawberries we discovered they had begun to grow mould from the inside out, so I salvaged what I could but it definitely could have done with a few more. In saying that, this was a delicious change to my usual vanilla or chocolate version. Emma calls it ‘strawberries and cream’ and that’s exactly what it’s like – super creamy and sweet.

I recommend checking out this recipe (and all her other wonderful ones) here on her blog!