Day 37 - Fried Rice

Take leftover rice (day old rice is better. I have no idea why)
Dice an onion and a carrot or two, dependent on how many you're feeding and how much rice you have.
Finely chop a clove of garlic and grate some ginger (although for this batch I didn't have any. This batch was seriously a case of - I can make fried rice or vegetarian tacos with a large tin of Four Bean Mix, which I will one day explain for being in our cupboard.)
Get a cup or so of frozen corn kernels and baby peas from the freezer. (You can run these under cold water for a second to defrost or just do so in frypan)
If you have it, I throw in some dehydrated Chinese mushrooms that I've reconstituted, a tin of bamboo shoots, water chestnuts, champignons, baby corn - you name it. As I have already implied, this was a mean, lean, cupboard is bare fried rice.

Heat a little oil in a wok
Lightly beat eggs, pour into wok and swirl around so it forms a thin pancake. Fold over on itself and remove, slice into strips
Stir fry onion and carrot in a little oil
Add garlic and onion
Add peas and corn
Add rice
Add egg back into the mix and some soy to taste. Grown-ups and big kids might like some sweet chilli over it.

(I also added some chopped up honey soy chicken and left over sauce from this as well.)

Day 36 - the day before payday lunch

Take $2.20.
Go to the canneen (that would be a staff canteen at an office across the street from us - but come on, no one calls the canteen the canTeen, it's a canneen).
Purchase steamed rice and veggies.
For a whole $2.20.
Return to desk.
Open can of Sirena Puttanesca Tuna - tip over rice and veggies.

I'm not sure if it's because I'd scoffed a can of baked beans for breakfast a few minutes before a meeting at 9.15, but my GOD it tasted good.

Day 35 - Honey soy chicken wings

Take about 8 wings.

If you've got a good Chinese mallet knife (you know, the one with the super wide blade and the whole thing is made from one piece of metal) chop them up into bits along the joints.
(I like cooking the little pointy ends as well because they go nice and crisy and blackened. I also just love chewing on chicken bones, crushing them up in my mouth and sucking the marrowy goodness from their tiny little wings. Sorry...where was I?)
If you don't, cook the wings whole and then, when cooked, use kitchen shears to cut up - they're much easier to cut up once cooked.

In a bowl combine:
a good few glugs of soy sauce
a few tablespoons honey
1-2 smooshed cloves garlic
1 tsp or so of crushed ginger, or powdered ginger
1 good sprinkle of Chinese five spice powder

Add the wings and marinate for as long as you have.

Preheat oven to 220C
Tip everything into a baking dish and bake until chicken is browned and cooked through.
Make up a runny cornflour paste - 1tblsp or so with some water.
Pour into tray and cook for a few more minutes until the sauce thickens and goes glossy.

Cook rice, steam broccoli.
Serve the wings.

Day 34 - a mixed bag

Lara came over and played today - delightful. So there were bacon and egg rolls on toasted Turkish bread, roasted tomatoes and a delightful Clare Valley Reisling. Not to mention the best ciabatta bread I've had in quite some time.

I put the left over tomatoes back in the oven after we'd eaten and cooked them down even more. They were even better than the best.

Dinner tonight was toasted sandwiches and potato gems because you know, sometimes there just isn't enough carbohydrate in one meal.
Felix: plain toasted cheese
Oscar: cheese and baked beans
Me and Chef: cheese, finely diced Spanish onion and dill pickles

Dessert - Chocolate custard cups I'd bought as a treat for the family bbq thingy that didn't get eaten because when you're tearing all over your school like an idiot, who needs food?