It's Tuesday

Tuesday is a hard day to get through. The weekend is truly over and there are still four more days until the next weekend rolls around. Monday is easy.. straight after the weekend and usually I am eager to get stuck in to the pile of work I have. Wednesdays are easy too...It's hump day and the rest of the week flies.

But Tuesdays? They're hard.

So today, I will share with you all the things that currently make me happy. The little things I look forward to, to get me through the week and the little things that make me grateful.

I am looking forward to:

- A relaxing weekend. One of those weekends where the biggest decision I have to make is which film to put on next.

- Going for dinner with Steve tonight. At one of the best Japanese places in Sydney.

- Seeing my sweet pup at the end of the working day.
-Seeing my new blog layout in action.

I am thankful for:

- Steve. Words cannot describe what he means to me. He has a great soul and he works hard for our future.

Even when he tries to be taller :-P

- A little Pup that loves me endlessly. He is so excited to see me at the end of every day and that little wiggling bottom is just so cute.

At his happy place, the farm.

- My lovely Family that I think of every day.

- My little Nephew who is still in Utero. I can't wait to meet you, little button. Your parents will be amazing, I can see how happy they are already.

Life is full of wonderful things that we often miss. So today, tell me one thing big or small that you are thankful for or looking forward to.

A French Party

D (Steve's sister) turned 21 recently and her French themed 21st was over the weekend.

There are no better parties than those that include food, family, friends and fun (and maybe a little alcohol!). We stayed up until 3am and the night ended with us all trying to talk like chipmunks using the helium balloons! 

 I wore this dress that I made, with a red belt.

 Money Balloons (more on that later!)

 A dark photo; the cake was amazing!

 Birthday Girl and I

S's brother and I. This photo sums up our friendship...always teasing each other and being silly

S's cousin and I. She has become a very close friend of mine, love this lady! 

So much delicious food!

S and I - S was dressed as a Le Tour De France rider.

Busy Busy Weekend

This past weekend was so busy that I am ready for weekend number two. Such a shame that I have to work all week..sigh..

Friday night was spent volunteering for Down Syndrome NSW. We went to the Three Weeds pub in Rozelle where we had dinner and drinks and spent the evening chatting away. I love volunteering with such a great bunch of friendly people and most of the time I am laughing away at another joke that's been told.

Afterwards, Steve, his Sister and her boyfriend met me where a drink before we went for a drive to the city to try and get in to Baxter's Inn. As usual, the line was out the door and with a waiting time of about an hour, we canned that idea and went to Grasshopper instead; a cute little bar at the end of a very dodgy looking laneway. I actually spent most of the previous Friday night there too. I love their cute decor and the fun cocktails offered on the menu. A very relaxing venue for a Friday evening drink.

Via

Saturday was spent at a park for little M's (my Cousin's Daughter) 1st Birthday celebrations. Being the big kid I am, I was playing on equipment with the kiddies and also cuddled little M for about an hour and a half while she slept. I don't know if I have ever said this, but I love babies 11/10. Any excuse to cuddle a little one and I'm there! It's a shame for me though, that little M passed on her cold which I am now battling today.

Sunday I spent the day being a Domestic Goddess (ha!). I cleaned, cooked, washed clothes and did some Uni work before S and I went out to buy a new flash for our DSLR. Apart from that little outing and all that cleaning, I didn't do much else on Sunday.

And that's that. My busy weekend!

How was your weekend? 

Did you do anything exciting?

Sesame Pork

I am forever trying to find new recipes that I can make on weeknights to break up my usual dinners. I like something that isn’t too involved, doesn’t have too many ingredients and doesn’t take too long to make. On weeknights, time is scarce and to be able to fit in Uni work, going to the gym and making dinner, my meals can’t take longer than about 40 minutes to make.

I was searching the other day and came across this recipe which I subsequently tried (and altered a touch).

This was so delicious! The marinade for this pork is simple to put together and the result was really good. I thought I would share it as I know a lot of people have little time in the evenings to cook and also because it is a really simple recipe, so you don’t have to be a wonder-cook to re-create it.

I should also add, that I only used my pan to brown the meat and then cooked it in the oven.

Sesame Pork

Ingredients

4 pork cutlets (I don’t know what mine were called but they didn’t have bones on them)

2 tbs honey

2 tbs tamari (I used normal soy-sauce)

1 tbs tomato paste (I used pizza sauce since I forgot to get tomato paste)

1 tsp finely grated ginger

1 clove garlic, crushed

1 tbs fresh chopped coriander

1 tbs sesame seeds

Oil (to cook)

Method

1.    Preheat oven to 180 degrees celcius

2.    Combine honey, soy sauce, tomato paste, ginger, garlic, coriander and sesame seeds and mix well.

3.    Place your pork in an oven proof dish where they can sit flat (i.e. don’t pile them up)

Marinating

4.    Pour your marinade over the pork and let sit for about ten minutes (or longer if you have the time)

5.    Brown your meat in your pan (but leave some of the marinade in the oven proof dish). I used sesame oil here for added flavour.

6.    Place your pork back in the oven proof dish and spoon the left over marinade over it. I also sprinkled more sesame seeds over the pork at this point.

7.    Pop it in the oven and cook for about 20 minutes or until cooked. Remember to turn the pork about halfway so one side doesn’t dry out

8.    Serve over some Asian greens or rice. I used Bok Choy and some capsicum which I cooked in the pan with some soy sauce and sesame seeds.

And there you have it. All up it took me about 40 minutes to prepare and cook and it is certainly something I will make again! I altered the recipe a little bit, but I am sure everyone will have their own alterations.

Done