Heat Eat Manifesto

I never thought that I'd be the one to say this being that I'm a summer lover but....  CAN THIS WEATHER GET ANY HOTTER!?  And the crazy thing at the moment is, that it's not actually all that hot (well, as far as summer in Australia goes).  Like today, it's along the lines of 32 degrees celcius, which equates to approx 89 degrees farenheit.  In summer we can hit anyway up to 38 (100) degrees in the Adelaide area.  And in fact, growing up in the outback of Southern Australia, we would regularly swelter through 45 (113) days without blinking an eyelid.  However, I think what has really done me and many others in, is the consistencyof this heat, with barely a break, and the dripping humidity.  Even in the evenings, we're lucky if it dips below 25 (77) degrees.  And what with everything soaking up the heat during the day, especially the upstairs of The Yurt gets oppressively hot.  Miss Michelle has her tapestry and weaving studio in that part of the The Yurt, and without any air conditioning she is bravely sweltering through the days as she weaves.  I do think that we are going to have consider some sort of long-term cooling option... but hopefully one that is as sustainable as possible!

What with this heat over the past few weeks, it has left me with precious little time to work in the garden.  Instead I've started utilising the time to plan the new and improved veggie patch!  I had a very tidy little package arrive during the week from my beloved Diggers Club.  There was a Babaco Tree, Buddleja (Butterfly Bush) and a few packs of seeds.  The Babaco and Buddleja have taken up residence in the front yard this morning (before the heat really set in!).  I'll put photos up later today on these.  The seed package consisted of :

• 'Long Island' Brussels Sprouts which I will plant up into punnets to get ready for autumnal planting shortly (I hope!)
• Heirloom 'Aquadulce' Broand Beans - direct planting
• Heirloom 'Bloomsdale' Spinach - direct planting

They'll be my first veggie bed which I hope to have in within the next few weeks.  Just have to order in the sleepers and do a bit of soil conditioning.  Oh, and remove the raised bed which is currently in the way...  And why not use that one I hear you ask?  Two reasons, it is rather 'old' (and not in a good way'.  And it's sitting horizontal to the fenceline, when I want the new beds vertical.  So, it's time to go and make way for new  beds!  If I can get the raised bed removed in the next 2 weeks I can also bundle up the timber for hard rubbish removal.

So what with this, what some people would say 'cray cray' weather, I have been enjoying a few other 'indoor' pursuits.  Namely, my other passion, cooking!  I am the proverbial nutjob when it comes to food, and keeping it as unprocessed as possible.  Oh don't get me wrong!  There are some days where this YurtGirl just cannot be arsed cooking, and we end up doing some form of pre-made purchased meal...  our favourite haunt is often our local cafe Rimini or Vietnam Bay (which is really just a general Asian takeaway, not specifically Vietnamese).  However, nothing beats cooking up your own meals.  They just taste better, and once you get the basics of cooking down and learn the few rules that exist, you can really get carried away with variations.  You'll no doubt develop your own flair and swap things around in recipes to suit you (and whatever is in season, if you're using fresh produce!).  So I've been whipping up a few bits and pieces this week that have had a few people asking for recipes.  I'm working with Miss Michelle to get a recipes tab for my blog, therefore I can list everything there for your perusal.  This one garnered quite a bit of attention though:

Kale, red onion and cherry tomato quiche.  Not only a great way to use up kale (which always seems to run away a bit in the garden!), but also a great way to get the wee ones to eat their veggies!  Good protein hit too with eggs and cheese.  And so easy, (no pastry making!) it should be a culinare crime!  As well though, we've had Couscous, chickpea and beetroot salad for lunch boxes and cheese scones along with raw almond and cacao protein balls for snacks.  Goes to show that you don't need to buy up on too much on the pre-packaged snacks to keep everyone happy.  Takes a bit of prep, but really if you have the chance to crank up the tunes and get lost in the foodie-moment, you can pretend you're running your own cooking show.  Or is that just me??  (Could explain why we had the kitchen island installed so I could 'perform' in front of everyone...)

And just before I finish my 'EAT GOOD FOOD OR I'LL KNEECAP YOU' rant, I just want to point out this piece of absolute tripe I saw in The Weekend Australian on Saturday morning:

I won't go on too much about this, because I get scary when I do.  HOWEVER there are a few points I want to make here:

1. Be Natural is actually owned by Kellogs, who have recently released liquid Cocoa Pops and Nutrigrain (both highly sugared, processed cereals) here in Australia.
2. The Pink Lady Apple & Flame Raisin cereal in this ad DOES have 51% wholegrains and 12% fruit listed as the first two ingredients on the box.  However, sugar (although they cleverly use the word raw), brown rice syrup (again, clever use of brown rice) here and barley malt extract are cose behind.  All three are sweetners and prove again that obviously consumers won't eat something unless it is laden in the sweet stuff.  I would've included the natural honey flavour but it appears to be just that... a flavour.  
3. The box is all very nicely brown and wholesome looking, so of course it must be good for you.  In fact, it's likely the brown wholesome box probably would be more nutritional.
4. Woolworths.  One half of the evil supermarket duopoly that exists here in Australia.  They, along with Coles, control a majority of Australian's food diets and food habits.  They also squeeze out the locally owned and operated grocery stores.  Hopefully though, that changes over time.

**BREATHE**

How about to bring us back to a 'happy place', I show you this lovely sunset we witnessed not far from our house last night....

Very beautiful.  Very real.  Very much the reason why we choose to live where we live, in South Australia.  Stunning sunsets, and (most of the time!) stunning weather.  Also, great eating (yes, back on that old chestnut again...  I think I've just realised just how much food rules my life! 0_o)  And speaking of great eating we're at it again tonight - off to Carme's Bar & Grill in McLaren Vale.  I'll save that for my 'restaurant review' post, being as we've been a little extravagent and eaten out a bit this week.

And on that note, food again, I have to go and rustle up some lunch for the hungry hoards.  You have no idea how ravenously dangerous a 5 year old and 38 year old get!!!  I fear for my life sometimes....

PS - You can follow me on instagram under yurtgirlworld for a running photolog of my week.