[2010] Christmas in Melbourne

Merry Xmas to meeeeeee! Yup, I bought myself a box of Guylian for Xmas this year. The familia knows how much I obsessed over this chocolate back in the day. And since I didn't receive any presents (don't care 'cause I'm not materialistic anyway), a $5 box of chocolates was the perfect gift for thyself.



Prior to opening up my box of Guylian, I awoke on Xmas Day a happy lady. Though thousands and thousands of kms away from "home," I didn't feel like an orphan one bit. As soon as I got my groggy arse outta bed, I stumbled into the kitchen only to be greeted with multiple hugs and madd people cheering "Haaappppy Chrrrisstttmasssss!!!" Hahaha, thanks a bunches, guys!!! After I had cooked up a mean mushroom omlette for breakfast, I braced myself. For I. Was going to try a Tim Tam. For the very. First. Time. Popular amongst Aussies, a Tim Tam is composed of chocolate cream filling layered between two chocolate biscuits and coated in a thin layer of chocolate. Taryn and I still prefer Twix.

―Christmas BBQ―

Tip: Stock up on veggies at the Queen Vic Market on Xmas Eve! I bought a sh.t ton of mushrooms, multi-coloured capsicums and two massive zucchini for about $5! Only on Xmas Eve, man. Guess 'cause the market stays closed from 25 Dec - 29 Dec. On Xmas Day, I cut up all these damn veggies and skewered 'em up. So cheap, so easy to prepare and so helllaaa gooooood. See 'em grillin' up a storm on the barbie in the photo above? Much ♥♥♥ to Zoe and Lindsay for welcoming us into their beautiful home and hosting our Xmas BBQ! Surrounded by good food (Tomo made rice rolls, Hayley made tuna pasta salad, Nirit made the uber-flavourful beef patties, Zoe & Lindsay provided the roast beef & sausages), yummy drinks (goon + red wine + beer + beer + beer) and most importantly, good PEOPLE, I couldn't have asked for more this Xmas.







Cheers to a Happy Christmas in 2010! Thanks to all who made it special! Can't wait for 2011...!

[Top 3] Healthy Hostel Meals

It is now Day 40 of Shelley in Oz. Too too toooooo many times, I have seen backpackers resort to eating that gawd-aweful nutrient-lacking, dried noodle-y shyte for dinner. I understand that when one's tired and hungry after a long day's work, one may not feel like cooking... and that's why the following 3 dishes make me proud of the people who made 'em. By far, they're the healthiest hostel meals I've seen come outta our cramped kitchen at Bev & Mick's Backpackers (the koolest hostel EVER, might I add). It's hella NOT impossible to eat healthy as a backpacker on a budget. Trust.

―1―
Lisa's Andijviestammpot [Dutch Endive Potato Mash]

Waa waa waa backpackers are always complaning about how expensive vegetables are. In actuality, they ain't thaaaat expensive. All Lisa bought were a couple potatoes, the cheapest bacon and cheese she could find at Coles, a bunch of endive and voila! For under $10 she prepared a meal for 6 people! First, boil some potatoes & mash 'em. Then, chop up some endive & cook until tender in a little oil over the stove. Add some chopped bacon into the pan with the endive and let it cook. Mix the endive & bacon with the mashed potatoes. Mix it well, dammit! Chop up chunks of cheese (feta, cheddar, goat, you name it!) and scatter atop the Andijviestammpot. Bon appetito!

―2―
The Boys Make Schnitzel + Steamed Veg + Boiled Potatoes, gasP!

The trick is to hit up the Queen Victoria Market around closing time... which is easy for me 'cuz I live 5 minutes away from it, muahahaha! But seriously now, around closing time, the prices of produce, meat, seafood & so forth get slashed!!! So the boys bought cheapass schnitzel this night, apparently. All they had to do was pan-fry 'em up. Easy as p-i-e, I tells ya! I rarely everrrrr see guys at my hostel cookin' up a storm in our hole-in-the-wall-y kitchen. The mere sight of guys cooking fresh vegetables is too rare to be true! Thus, I felt absolutely COMPELLED to snap photos of this once in a lifetime sighting. Hey dried noodles enthusiasts, it's time to get on board, k???!

―3―
Shelley's Pancit [Filipino Noodles]

All I gotta say is...... THANKS MOMMY! You are my #1 inspiration always!!! Yup, I got a hankering for Mom's infamous Pancit after not being home now for... hmmm... almost 2 months-ish? And so I made din-din for the kiddies one day! The veggies weren't expensive, but the shrimps kinda were! $3.20 for a small pack of frozen ones. Wompskis. The secret ingredient in this dish? Oyster sauce, baby! Can't live without it! Perfect for any stirfry, and that's what's up! I used dried "Philippine-Style" Canton Noodles in this dish, but next time, I know to purchase Hokkien Noodles (the fat & yellow juicy ones) from any Asian grocery story (of which there is one at every corner here in downtown Melbourne). Love you Momskis ♥♥♥

[DAY 32] SHELLEY IN OZ

Today = my first day off in 6 days. As such, 'stead of scarfing down cereal or toast, I opted to prepare something simple yet satisfying... a typical breakfast I'd eat at home, if you will. 2 scrambled eggs ($0.60/egg in a 6-pack carton) + 1/2 tomato ($0.25) + instant brown rice ($1.50/half-pack). All about the cheap eats, baby! I sure as hellz have to be. Errything's nearly double (sometimes triple) the price of what they'd cost back home. Am I a sucker for choosing to come here? oh me oh me oh myyy.



Life has been cah-razy bizzy! Hence, my blog posts have declined in frequency... sorry folks :\ My main priority was to find a job here in Melbourne (gawd knows I can't afford to live here without a job)... and once I finally found work (I'm currently juggling a whopping FIVE jobs) I simply haven't had time for anything in the past two weeks!!! To top it all off, I do not have regular access to Internet. When I'm not working, I am..............

―running from Aldi to Woolworth's to Coles, comparing grocery prices (I kidd you not)
―cooking healthy meals at home (moms taught me well)
―plotting my next travel move (shall I head to Sydney in Jan-Feb 2011?)
―brainstorming food article ideas (i.e. How to Eat Cheap as a Backpacker in Melbourne)
―zzz-ing or napping, only to muster up energy to part-ay whenever possible (shhh, don't tell)
―ideating ways to make money while travelling (determined as hell to fulfill this dream)

[shnacks] pandesal + portobello + provolone

This was but one of the many snacks I had today. Sick of eating my pandesal (a sweet, airy bread eaten by many Filipinos) with butter or cream cheese all the darn time, suddenly, I was inspired. Here's what happened:

—One pandesal was toasted in the mini-oven until browned and crispy.
—Thick slices of portobello mushrooms were sautéed in a wad of butter.
—The pandesal was taken out of the toaster and sliced open.
—A slice of Santa Lucia sweet provolone was placed inside the pandesal.
—Portobello slices were slipped inside the sandwich and the concoction was pressed down.
—All 3 ingredients squished together and the cheese softened, melting all oo-ily and goo-ily.
—Gobbling gobbled gone.

Three seconds after biting into this sandwich-y conction, I started to enjoy it. Something about the juicy, aldente portobello mushrooms sandwiched between warm, sweet pandesal and sweet provolone made me happy about life. Please note: any kind of bread would suffice for this snack idea, but if you haven't tried pandesal, now's the time folks! The airiest and most authentic-tasting pandesal in the GTA can be found at Baker's Best Bakery.

Peanut Butter Spelt Pancakes

I ♥ breakfast. Who doesn't? Adapted from one of Sab's original recipes, I've put my own spin on these flapjacks. Untraditional in the sense that they aren't very fluffy, they're actually quite thin, light and crepe-like. And when they're cookin', damn. The whole house smelled of roasted peanuts. I whimsically added blueberries to half the batch [see below]... JUICY :)



Mix 3/4 cup spelt flour, 1 1/2 tsp baking powder & 1 tsp brown sugar in a medium-sized bowl. In another bowl, whisk 1/3 cup milk, 1 egg and 1/2 tsp vanilla. Make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients and pour the wet ingredients in. Whisk. Add 1/8 cup all-natural peanut butter. Whisk until all lumps are gone. On medium heat, scoop 1/4 cup batter into non-stick pan. Cook 2-3 minutes. Flip over and cook the other side for 1 minute. Makes 10 pancakes.

Shelley vs. Saveur: Spring Salad Platter

I frequently borrow back issues of Saveur Magazine from the local library, and stumbled upon one of their old recipes for a Spring Salad (photo on the right). Opting for a vegetarian platter instead, I nixed the chicken altogether when I prepared this dish for cousin Lisa's swanky b-day dinner partay. My photo (photo on the left) is hardly food-styled, but I must say the radish-cucumber salad and the sauteed mushrooms turned out lovely! Don't you love when salads are so hearty and satisfying, they're almost capable of replacing meals?

[shnacks] Mr. Smugface :| Sandwich

This fantab foodie idea was conceived by my dear cousin, the lovely Lisa. Toast 2 slices of your favourite bread. I like Mr. Smugface on Pita Break's Multigrain Sandwich Buns. Then, smear slabby slices of ripe avocado on one piece of toast, and scoop spoonfuls of Clover Leaf's Spicy Thai Chili Tuna onto the other piece of toast. Prepare to experience heavenly creaminess, zestiness, crispness & heartiness. Yaow-za!

Lumpia: The Mac Diddy of All Comfort Foods

You say spring rolls, I say lumpia. Poh-tay-toe, poh-tah-toe. In Filipino, lumpia translates as "spring roll." Mom's version of Lumpiang Prito, "fried spring roll," is the BOMB DIGGITY DAWG! Filipinos love dipping these fried little crunchy suckers into vinegar and eating them with white rice. I usually ditch the rice and gobble-mangia on these lumpia fresh from frying pan, still standing up in front of the stove. cRuNcHhhhhhHH cRRUUNNCH CRuNNNCH crunch.crun.cru.cr.c. WATCH OUT, T.O. STREET FOOD SCENE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

            Mom's Lumpiang Prito

• Moms prepares the lumpia filling by choppin' up small pieces of green beans
  and sliverin' up small pieces of carrots. Add bean sprouts if you like.
• Moms sautees the green beans and carrots with small, whole shrimps. 
• When the veggies and shrimps are cooked, she spoons this lumpia filling
  onto thin sheets of rice paper, around 3-4 tbsps per sheet. These spring roll rice
  paper sheets can be bought at Chinese grocery stores like T & T Supermarket.
• FUN PART = Fold each rice paper like a present, tucking the edges in first.
  Each lumpia roll should now resemble a phat, yummy, irregular cigar.
• Moms pours a generous amount of canola oil in her frying pan. With the stove
  on medium heat, she carefully places no more than 4 lumpias into the pan.
  SSSSSSSSSSSSSIIIIIIIIIIZZZZZZZZZLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLEEEE
• Fry, oh glorious lumpia, fry. Turn each lumpia over and over again until evenly
  browned on all sides. Want 'em crispier? Fry 'em for longer. Then enjoy enjoy :)

kitchen-sink lunch

Healthy, delish food to-go. A foreign concept in the GTA. Y oh Y must supermarkets here underwhelm me so? Whole Foods does a decent job of offering us healthy food choices on-the-go with their hot & cold tables. But lo and behold, finally, a Canadian company has made the attempt. GOOOOOO newest Longo's location @ Bathurst & Rutherford!!!

In a starvin' fury, I grab a take-out container in the cold salad bar section of Longo's and scoop up wheatberry salad with cranberries & pumpkin seeds, creamy, lime-green avocado slices, hunks & chunks of hard, spicy tofu, and juicy, pillow-y pieces of button mushrooms. Soon as I get home, I hastily hard-boil 1 egg (10 minutes max), squash it into irregular pieces with a fork, throw it into the take-out container, and voila! Kitchen-sink lunch is good to go.