In my Kitchen September 2015

Welcome to Spring! And the first day of September certainly didn’t disappoint! Woke up to beautiful sunshine, no frost on the windows, hot air balloons landing near the lake (the #balcony view from our kitchen window) and a spring in our step as we know the warmer weather is upon us.Everything about Spring makes me smile, knowing the Winter body will soon disappear as we start eating more salads and lighter meals and getting in exercise mode – the use of the lake never looked better. I love Winter for the amazing slow cooked, hearty meals we all enjoy but I love Spring more when we start experimenting with fresh, new produce.

In my Kitchen is . . .

. . . some fresh rice noodles that we bought when my husband took me on a tour of the world for my birthday. First stop was Little Saigon in Footscray, where we felt we stepped straight off the plane in Vietnam! Love this place & I’ll keep coming back for sure, especially for these noodles – they are amazing!

In my Kitchen is . . .

. . . three bags of dried chillies grace my benchtop. (Clockwise starting at the top) Chilli silk – slivered dried chillies; Dried chilli flakes and Red chilli powder. I’m looking forward to making some great chilli oils with these goodies.

In my Kitchen is . . .

. . . Malaysian curry paste – I feel a seafood laksa coming on! I’ve never seen this before so it had to come home with us. If this paste saves me time in the kitchen but creates an amazing tasting Malaysian laksa, I’m all for it!

In my Kitchen is . . .

. . . Pho (pronounced ferr) soup mix. There were plenty of little sachets to make all sorts of different soups. I will definitely be using the fresh rice noodles for this soup!

In my Kitchen is . . .

. . . three ham hocks, which I got the butcher to cut up for me, ready to go for making pork stock. I made a delicious pork and bok choy soup with rice noodles – yumm!

In my Kitchen is . . .

. . . Parampara Indian spice blends – anyone tried these spice blends yet? The Biryani I received to trial and the Rogan josh was in the ‘specials’ basket at the supermarket. Will hopefully try them soon as we’re on a it of a health kick at the moment!

In my Kitchen is . . .

. . . dried sweet potato vermicelli noodles. These were actually in Coles supermarkets, of all places! My husband loves vermicelli noodles and I thought these would be great to try as we’re trying to eat more whole wheat, whole grains and vegetables for a while.

In my Kitchen is . . .

. . . a sachet of dry white wine, made especially for cooking. It’s the perfect size of 250mls (1 cup), which can easily fit anywhere in the fridge. The only sad thing about this sachet is it doesn’t last as long as a bottle!

And last but not least, out our Kitchen window is . . .

. . . a surprise visitor from Mr Cockatoo, who just came to say hello, or maybe he wanted to taunt Kojiro! Have a wonderful month everyone 🙂

Oh, and in case you missed it, I share with you how easy it is to make your own tomato paste, at home. It’s easy to make and it’s super tasty – you’ll never buy store bought again!

Every month, foodies from around the world share all the goodies in and around their kitchens. Celia at Fig Jam & Lime Cordial hosts this wonderful party – we love finding new inspiration from all over the world. Come join us by the 10th of every month – we’d love to see the goodies in your kitchen! See you all soon x