food and drink – phonakins

We are saved we have banana muffins

I rarely make cakes or banana bread, and generally make muffins since they’re easier to judge if they’re cooked, already portioned and yeah, just easier.

Today I made Banana Muffins since I got a lot of bananas free yesterday. I was going to put some coconut in, but I couldn’t find a hammer, so that can wait for another time.

I didn’t really use a recipe or fixed portions, but they have 3 bananas, 1.5 cups of sifted SR flour, some melted butter, 2 eggs, some brown sugar, cinnamon and some vanilla essence. Cooked for 20 mins @ 160 Fan forced.

Still going three times a week to support mum at the rehab hospital. Brought Maxi in again on the weekend to cheer people up, which is seemed to do. Petrol is crazy, isn’t it? Saw the first 91 for 264.9 today on the app! Just waiting for the diesel to tick over $3, have also seen a few stations around with only one kind of petrol left on sale and all the other numbers blacked out.

Last Thursday I was anxiously watching the petrol prices go up in Morisset as I was preparing to take my stepson to his Employment Plus appointment – that they cancelled just before we were about to leave.

— 💜 phonakins 🍉🌲 (@phonakins.com) 2026-03-23T20:21:59.993Z

When all you have is a hammer…

the unemployment will continue until morale improves

— Antipoverty Centre (@antipovertycentre.org) 2026-03-17T03:52:52.112Z

Obviously not an economist, but I can’t see how pushing up the amount people with home loans have to allocate to that, while petrol is also up, isn’t just gonna lead to a severe drop in spending. Food prices and prices on other goods are also still going to keep going up due to increased transport costs, and everyone’s going to suffer. And I feel like that’s gonna lead to recession in the precious little economy? But again, not an economist, just someone surviving the cost of living crisis with a hotch potch of strategies.

AbstractThis report examines how Australia's care infrastructures, encompassing welfare, housing, food, and community support systems, are fraying and increasingly failing to meet the basic needs of those on low- or no- income. Drawing on in-depth interviews with people reliant on JobSeeker and the Disability Support Pension as well as people seeking asylum without access to income support in Central Western Sydney, the report documents the labour-intensive and precarious work required to piece together fragmented supports amid a worsenining cost-of-living crisis. It also includes the perspectives of frontline support workers and reveals how inadequate income support, unaffordable housing, and overstretched community services compound hardship and erode wellbeing, leaving individuals and organisations "holding on by a thread." Yet, the findings also highlight the creativity and mutual care that sustain life in these conditions, but that sometimes put people at risk. The report concludes that meaningful reform requires raising income support to a liveable rate, addressing housing affordability and supply, and properly resourcing community organisations to shift from crisis management to supporting people to live flourishing lives. — Surviving in a Cost-of-Living Crisis: Australia’s Fraying Care Infrastructures

It was a 5-4 decision apparently.

Free breads and stuff from the foodbank — Free carbs from the food bank

My main cost of living strategy is living off free hot cross buns of varying flavours. Good thing I’m not diabetic, only fat. Apparently the free quiches I have stashed in the freezer were also good, and I used the Latina pasta I had in there for a good few months finally last night and it went down well too.

So, the RBA is choosing to add more people to the unemployment queue. Pawns in their little game of economics. Pawns that will suffer, but whether that continues to be quietly since they’re too busy surviving, remains to be seen.

“Indexation” day this Friday, I’ll be seeing $20.50 “extra” go into my account on pension days from later next month, but it won’t stay there long. Watched the Margaritaville ep of South Park again last night from 2009, and it’s feeling like it’s going to be relevant again soon.

Corollin’ along

Spending a lot of time in my little Corolla at the moment. Mum had a second brain bleed on the weekend and so while a lot has settled back to a routine since then, we’re all a bit more on edge and really wanting things to keep steady and on the path to rehab for her. I’m taking today away from the hospital, stocked up on snacks and hope to be rested to head back in tomorrow (I will regardless, I just want the rest first – Maxi was nagging me to take my meds last night right on 9pm too and get to bed, so he knows it too).

Still super appreciating having Everyplate meals ready to cook when I get home – even if they did stuff me around with saying they replaced the parley for a meal with coriander but they’d really replaced the coriander for another meal with the parsley. Neither was a really suitable substitute and I got credits on my account but I don’t really have the brain power for that, so I made up my own substitution for the coriander using some chives I got a week ago in a free fruit and veg bag, and now I realise I DO have parsley, I’m glad I didn’t buy any and will make that meal tonight.

So yeah, trying to look after myself, keep mentally and physically well too so I can keep helping. Trying not to feel guilty about letting other things slide, or being away from the house more, or not being as available.

Mum’s waiting on a rehab bed, bed block is everywhere. The Rehab doctor from that hospital seemed to be estimating about an 8 week stay there once that happens and then hopefully home. In that time we’ll see what supports she needs to go home and hope that’s organisable and not too much of a fight… And what role I’ll play in that.

Even though the days are long at the hospital I feel better for being able to be there most days because I hate to say it there are days on the wards when patients don’t get all the care they need because they’re short staffed or just have the right amount for no emergencies or other contingencies and me being there means I can help with practical things like meals and helping mum with talking to all the allied health and doctors coming around. She was seen by a gaggle (legit term for them I swear) of final year speech students yesterday for her swallowing and higher language skills and I was trying not to remember how useless I felt on my hospital placements.

Send snax or energy drinks, gift cards or cold hard (electronic) cash if you wanna help me out at the moment, but if you’ve got my on Bluesky or Instagram, a heart on a post here and there goes a long way, because I’m feeling so out of touch with the online part of my life.

What we ate last week – Week 3 2026

a doze cupackes with dark blue icing

Started last week with some jeans / cookie monster blue cupcakes. I don’t know what I was aiming for, but obviously used way too much blue. Last week was about running down the meat in the freezer and I think we did well.

Two plates of rissoles, mash and peas. And a plate of leftover rissoles on paper towel

Rissoles is ALWAYS a good fallback. And I did booked enough for two nights, but they got eaten up for lunches so I had to do something else for Tuesday night. As I was getting out the sausages, Bruce informed me that he found them really gristly and would rather not have them, so Tuesday was chicken balls. Well they were called “Kiev” balls with pesto that I got free from the community centre. And i did them in the air frier, and served with the usual Mash and Peas. Or beans for the stepson since he doesn’t eat peas. I personally find frozen beans gross and cannot have them lol.

Three plates of chicken balls and mash and either peas or beans

Three plates of beef Bolognese, penne and garlic bread

Wednesday I defrosted the last of the beef mince and made a jar sauce Bolognese. Added some onion and garlic, and served it with Aldi garlic bread and $1 food pantry pasta – Harris Farm penne this time.

Three plates of marinated chicken, beans, carrot and rice

Thursday I defrosted a tray of “butter chicken” marinated chicken thigh (another freebie) and cooked that up and served with rice and with beans and carrots I got from Coles that morning when I wasn’t intending to leave the house at all but ended up doing the recycling and a few other things. It went down pretty well actually.

One half of my pantry Other half of the pantry

We’ve been getting a lot of ants lately. I think there might be a nest in the ceiling in the lounge room, but who knows. They got into a container of fruit and nut mix so I cracked it and cleaned out the pantries over two days, did a chuck out, wiped them down and Bruce poisoned everything. Good time for a stock take and all too. Updated my Amazon list of some pantry items that’d be treats or really helpful if you’re keen. Probably pushed myself a bit far Friday and ended up tripping over the down and have pulled up sore – knee, foot, elbow, hand still giving my a bit of ow-ness when I use them wrong.

3 plates of post steaks, beans and mashed potato

Had another freebie tray to defrost Friday night – 500g of pork steaks. They were small bois so we had two each with the rest of the beans and some mash.

3 plates of been, mashed potatoes and peas or beans

Saturday was the rest of the beef that I’d served up a couple weeks before after the ozharvest drop. Still not great at cooking it but whatever, was definitely over cooking by then.

Yesterday we got some BBQ chickens from Woolies and Bruce made Caesar salad rolls for us 🙂

two plates with open Caesar Salad rolls.

It was nice to have an easy one.

We got 99.5 mm of rain Saturday night

Spent Saturday and Sunday watching the weather keenly with all that rain we got.

Maxi dog with a cup of ice cream in his bowl

And Maxi tried some Doggo ice cream from Aldi and to say he loved it was an understatement! He even scoffed the pea one and he’s rather picky about greens usually.

box of Doggy Ice cream, carrot and apple and pea flavour

This week I’ve gotten EveryPlate which was a relief when it arrived! Also was able to get some free breads since the local community food pantry reopened today.

What’s on your plate this week?

What we ate last week – Week 2 2026

3 bowls of prawn spaghetti

So last week I got a Marley Spoon box after they gave me a good discount – think it was under $80 total for the 6 meals. So Monday we started with a prawn pasta – I switched out the tinned cherry tomatoes for two punnets of cherry tomatoes I’d gotten free the Friday before and can use the tin down the track. It’s topped with panko crumbs toasted up with garlic and olive oil – part of the recipe.

3 bowls of chicken caesar salad

Tuesday was a chicken caesar salad – fried up a couple of died pieces of bacon to add to it. Shoulda made the croutons crunchier, but we learn. I also swapped out the zucchini they sent that was meant to be char grilled for some fresh cucumbers again from the Friday Ozharvest haul. Lighter for the hot week we were about to have.

3 bowls of rice, crumbled chicken and picked carrot, cucumber and radish

Wednesday was a chicken katsu. Sadly I’m still not great at judging when the chicken is cooked through in the frypan so it had to go back in once I’d started slicing into it. The fast pickled vege (popped into vinegar with sugar and salt while I cook the rest of the meal) was a nice part.

3 bowls of rice topped with chicken satay

This funny little satay dish on Thursday was quite nice and wish I’d had more of it!

three bowls of salad and park rice

A light pork rice and salad for a hot Friday night.

Saturday was the hottest day so we tried the new Char Char Chickens down at the shops ($20 for the chook). Aside from the bag leaking everywhere it was brilliant! Just ate in in sandwiches. Since it was still 34 degrees when I went to bed it’s good I didn’t wait for the kitchen to cool down to cook.

Last night we had the last meal of the meal box – a beef stir-fry. It was mean to be a low carb no rice one, but I added rice and also the zucchini from the other day to make it actually feed the three of us.

Used my multichopper for the first time too, gonna give it a go for the diced onion tonight for rissoles. I didn’t end up getting Ozharvest last Friday since it was stinking hot and I couldn’t drag myself down there, so we got more taters yesterday and will have a lot of mash and greens with the contents of the freezer this week. I have Everyplate coming next week, which I think will be $50 for the box.