Val’s Comments (group member since Aug 28, 2019)

Val’s comments from the Beyond Zon group.

Came home from my walk (now doing 5km each day) and just fancied a boiled egg for breakfast. But then the food delivery arrived and I needed to make some room in the fridge, so I used up the remaining cherry tomatoes and baby spinach leaves, mixed in with scrambled eggs. Made a nice change from gluten-free Weetbix (cardboard block anyone?) and yoghurt.

Chicken tikka masala made with one of those Spice Tailor packets - I don't buy them often but they are quite handy (my pantry does not contain fenugreek) and very tasty. Served with basmati rice, sliced tomatoes and naan bread.

Agree, mustard is a must. I've never used coconut milk though (despite me having bought it in powdered form in industrial quantity at the start of lockdown). I think that might be a bit sweet for my taste.

Always made from scratch. I've never tried packet ones. Probably cos I'm a tightarse and there's always butter, flour, cheese and milk in the house.

We still have Woolworths (supermarket) and Big W (general goods) here. Big W is great for reasonably priced clothing, homewares, etc. Unfortunately we don't have one locally so I generally use K-Mart for similar items.

https://www.bigw.com.au/

When we entered Lockdown 1.0 back in March, all supermarkets stopped deliveries at first - they then re-introduced them for special groups (health workers, elderly and disabled) before opening them up to everyone. Right now deliveries seem to be working well and I can usually get a spot on the day/time that suits me. But right at the start, I was worried about milk in particular so I sourced bulk powdered coconut milk from a health food supplier. It was a life saver back then and while I'm not sure I could face it in tea, I've got completely used to having it on cereal.

Lockdown 2.0 seems to be having the desired effect and we are expecting a (very) slight relaxation in restrictions tomorrow.

Covid-19 CASE NUMBERS IN MELBOURNE FOR THE LAST 9 FRIDAYS

31st July : 627
7th August : 450
14th August : 372
21st August : 179
28th August : 113
4th September : 81
11th September : 43
18th September : 45
25th September : 14

In a city with a population of almost 5 million people, doing the right thing does work!

suzysunshine7 wrote: "Oooh??? ... what are they filled with, Val?

Is it Fondant? - or Mousse? - or a flavoured 'bubbly' Chocolate like an Aero? ;o>"

Hard to describe. The centres aren't soft or gooey. They're solid but not tooth-breaking hard. More like a stick of rock - the soft kind not the rock-hard ones.

Why won't Goodreads allow me to edit a post today!!!!!

https://www.lollywarehouse.com.au/pro...

Grizzlygrump wrote: "Clangers ain't edible!!!
"

These ones are:

Love all these Suzy!

Grizzlygrump wrote: "When I got home at three o'clock this morning I popped my pills, popped the cork on a bottle of Port and popped my dinner in the already warm oven (thanks to a text to Mrs Grizzly).

Does that make me top of the pops? :)..."

An article I read on getting old said the three most common words used by old people were "pop", "toddle" and "cuppa".

I'm just going to pop the kettle on to have a cuppa before I toddle off to bed.

suzysunshine7 wrote: "What Browser are you using with Windows 7, Val?..."

I've used Firefox for years now. I too have had Microsoft Edge mysteriously install itself on my lower tool bar. I haven't tried to use it as I'm happy with Firefox.

On my "other" desktop, I use Firefox with a very old XP installation and I don't have any problems with that either.

I've always used the paid version of Malwarebites. When I was working, the Education Department's technician told me it was the best available. However, that was seven years ago so newer (and better) programs may have come on the market since then. But I've never had any problems with it and it seems to do its job unobtrusively so I renew it every year. I'm still wedded to Windows 7.

You're a girl after my own heart Suzy. I also insist on a pre-warmed mug/cup, the kettle boiled with fresh water and poured onto the tea immediately it's boiled, stirred with a spoon and allowed to brew for a minute or two and then just a drop of skim milk. Only difference is I have all but abandoned teabags in favour of loose tea. My friend Dave is an Englishman who always swore by M & S's tea but he has now got me on to T2's Morning Sunshine. I use this mug




Last week I got 250g of loose tea, in a tea caddy tin, on special for £5. Bargain!

EDIT: And the benefit of loose tea in an infuser is I can empty the tea leaves straight on the the gardenia we have in a tub at the front door.

Rump steak, dauphinoise potatoes and the most beautiful cabbage delivered by a local friend. She also brought two bunches of kale and I made kale chips earlier in the day - they didn't last long!

suzysunshine7 wrote: "My old Mentor has managed to come up with three quite different options for Voluntary Placement - so I can hardly bear to wait now to give my Neighbour a Call tomorrow and give her all of the Info ..."

Great work Suzy! Keep us updated.

Last night was a Bolognese sauce (homemade gift from my daughter) over penne.

Tonight I will be revisiting 1972 again with a Jimmy Young recipe that has always gone down well here, Creole Chicken. Updated by using stock instead of water and a few more spices.

Lez wrote: "That sounds yummy! I don't think I've ever seen tinned lentils. They'd be really useful."

I buy these ones from Italy - cost about 65p for a 400g tin



I've also used these, also from Italy and the same price:

I hear you Suzy. I fear the new normal will be a case of "how many deaths can we get away with"? I said months ago that my biggest fear was the political stoush that was inevitable once we started to come out of restrictions. And we're seeing it already, all over the world. We've got Mr Trump calling it "the Chinese disease". The other day, when questioned about Russia's alleged poisoning of the leader of the opposition, he deflected the question saying he couldn't understand why everyone was talking about Russia - China was a far more dangerous enemy. Already Australia is taking a very strong anti-China stance (it got two journalists managing to flee China this week and a third still in detention). I wouldn't mind if this was an Australian initiative but I fear we are dancing to the tune of our American masters. Already China is refusing to import Australian barley, wines and other produce. Back in March, we here were "all in it together"; we were all Australians. Not any more. With every state and territory maintaining a hard border, we are all sniping at one another. The Victorian State Government is a Labour government. We have had some of the most strict regulations in the world. We have also had the most infections and deaths in Australia. Part of this is due to a poorly run hotel quarantine system for returned overseas travellers (all paid for by the tax payer). So the Federal Government (a coalition of Liberal and National parties - but think Conservative) is gleefully pointing the finger at the Victorian Government - it's all your fault the virus got away!! But most of the deaths have occurred in Aged Care Homes. And guess whose jurisdiction they fall under? Yes, the Federal Government, who had no plan for preventing the spread of infection among the elderly. And don't even bother bringing up the disabled people in the community, because there has been no thought given to them at all. So now it's all about how to shift the blame and no one's going to put their hand up because all they're worried about is being re-elected. Even in New Zealand, where everyone I know thinks Jacinda Ardern is the most grounded and forward-thinking politician anywhere, well they've got an election coming up and the Leader of the Opposition there is branding her as arrogant for putting the Covid response as the number one problem to be faced. I fear the end result will be "we can't afford to let the economy go down any further (even though we were already in the doldrums before Covid) so let's open up and get business back to normal and if we have some deaths along the way, well so be it." So let's all go back to working in tall office buildings, crowding onto trains, trams and buses to get there and travelling up 50 stories in tightly packed lifts. The almighty dollar rules!!

Home made soup. Broccoli stalks, cauliflower stalks, onions, garlic, carrots, spring onions, sweated off then covered with 2 litres of beef stock (vegetable stock would have been better but the beef needed using up), boiled up them whizzed with a tin of lentils. Looked like sludge but tasted okay. Mr H. really liked it!! (much to my surprise).