HAPPY TUESDAY!!

I’m sitting here eating the most amazing raw curry soup dish which has been lovingly prepared by Susan for Takeaway Tuesday! Last week I enjoyed delicious vege wraps, and this week I’ve been blessed again!

“the main is water, coconut, olive oil, Tamarin, ginger, onion, salt, pepper, Cayenne pepper, chili, cumin, turmeric, zucchini, cucumber, capsicum tomato, chives”

…and I tell you it’s an absolute explosion of flavour and warmth and tingles, but without the ‘burn‘ of hot chili sauce, and without garlic.

I was so pleasantly surprised by the entire dish. I was SO excited picking it up! And the DESSERT!! It’s an incredible raw apple crumble

“it’s just apples, oats, sultanas, cinnamon  and dates. topped with cashew cream which is just cashews, water, vanilla and agava”

JUST! … yeah right! That’s absolute abundance of food in my books! I can’t wait to eat it!

OH MY HEAVENLY GODDESS!! This desert is absolutely out of this world! I don’t know where to start… the crumble is rich and soft and chewy; I love sultanas!, the date adds a sweet edge and there’s just a hint of cinnamon, very subtle, which is good cause I’ve never been a fan of too much cinnamon. The apples are sweet and crunchy and so fresh; and the cashew cream, it’s just glorious!! Vanilla sweet and very smooth!!! YUMMO!!!!

I went to pick this up this afternoon with Kris and I had been telling him about my ‘take-aways’ and the veg boxes I buy. When he saw it, he practically jumped out of his skin asking if Susan happened to have any spares. She said she had ONE! YAY! Kris can try all the raw organic goodness and learn a new way of preparing foods too! RAW PARTIES!! 

I’m probably skipping ahead of myself a little on that one! Suffice to say, my latest little food journey has turned out to be quite a lot of fun! I’m exploring so much of what Cairns and the surrounds have to offer. Not only the incredible natural beauty and stunning landscapes, but oh my gosh we can eat so much of it!!! And I am definitely eating this absolutely awesome apple crumble a bit too quick!!!

Now speaking of local produce I do have  one confession to make. Now I’ve been eating vegan for the last 2 and a half weeks. Minus one little hiccup in biting off the very tip of a cheesy pizza…. but today when I spent the day completing an online course for work I had an urge for some kind of food, I had no idea what, and when I spotted haloumi on the fridge door my heart stopped. I’ve eaten no animal product for nearly 3 weeks. Not as any kind of proclamation to changing my food religion, but just because I’ve wanted to. Really that’s it. I find it inspiring and so tasty, my body feels more alive, it is surprisingly SO much easier than I would’ve thought, I have more energy, and the super bonus is the more that I eat from this smorgasboard of local, fresh organic produce,the more my body actually wants what I’m giving it!! Super bonus points there body!

But back to the dairy cabinet. Of all the cheese to go for thankfully it was Gallo. Local. I actually drove up to their dairy in the Tablelands and bought the cheese myself. It bought ‘Silk‘, and was it ever! I’ve tried a lot of haloumi’s in my time and I have to admit, whole-heartedly, I think it was one of, if not THE BEST haloumi I’ve ever tried!!! (and conveniently lactose-free)….

I LOVE HALOUMI! It was one of my favourite foods for a long time. My favourite weekend (and sometimes weekday) breakfasts would be turkish toast with layered with avocado, peanut butter (trust me), baby spinach leaves, grilled haloumi, scrambled eggs, sauteed mushrooms and spring onion, and drizzled with a most intuitive, perfectly balanced japanese sesame sauce that just turned everything on full-flavour. I’ll find the name and get back to you.. truly worth seeking out…

Anyway, I grilled the haloumi in pieces and put some of them on top of a crunchy, tangy, juicy salad I made for lunch! I was curious to see how if body would react to the cheese. (Aside from just wanting to taste the cheese!!) And I feel fine. I’m not about to re-create my personally stocked fridge fromagerie, but I do really enjoy the texture of haloumi. It’s the whole experience for me.

Smelling it grill, getting it just right so the outside is golden and the inside still soft, the squelch in your teeth, the saltiness, and somehow sweetness. YUM! I dare say that part of the reason it went down so well is that I am actually connected to that particular food. I drove out to the dairy, I spent a fabulous day with my parents exploring the Tablelands and its produce; my Mum and I sampled lots of gorgeous cheeses, and we bought a few!! (As well as chocolates and truffles made onsite!) We met the farmers, chatted with them, watched while they were feeding the young animals. I think that makes a difference in the quality and the energy of the foods we consume. It’s not been sitting in storage or transport or come flying out of a huge factory, it’s made by hand, raised by hand, processed by hand and all right up the road. As such, it’s seems natural that it’s not particularly reactive. I’m able to assimilate all of the perfect foods I bring to me! Haha!

Now that dessert is well and truly gone and I’m looking around helplessly wondering where I can get more! I love Tuesdays!

I also love early nights. I haven’t seemingly been getting many of them lately! Some reading time or maybe watch a movie, although I think I might fall asleep during a movie. Only this time I wouldn’t wake up tangled in Alex, or to him sitting up with a cheese platter! I am serious! Seems I’m not the only fan of the ‘fridge fromagerie’!’

NM.