food and drink – Page 8

Ausgrid Voices of Community Panel – First Face-to-Face Day at Rydges World Square

Gonzo and Rizzo saying I'm here to tell the story and Rozzo saying and I am here for the food

Over the last couple of months I’ve been participating in a panel for Ausgrid, the local energy distributor, working with 60 other customers across Sydney, Central Coast and the Hunter to feed into their next big plan. We had several evening sessions and one full day online before today, but Saturday was the first face to face session. As it was down in Sydney, Hunter participants received an extra $100 gift card thank you, on top of the $1000 payment we will get at the completion of the program in June.

Got up at 5am and caught an early train down the Central… been forever since I’ve done that long trip! Unfortunately, I lost my concession opal card a few weeks back and the replacement hasn’t arrived, so it was tapping on with my keycard for full fare. I still really don’t like three newer trains with the blue seats, and sadly didn’t get the old more comfortable purple seat train either way. One day the even newer trains will be in service and I’ll get to complain about the seats not being able to change direction.

a aoman with purple hair and glasses, wearing and pink mask and purple tank top — Andy Giraffe Romper from Rainbows and Fairies

An uneventful trip down, Sydney greeted me with what they’re know for best at the moment -rain! It was a dash up Pitt street without the umbrella I forgot to bring, and straight to the urn of coffee after registration. I’ve recently worked out that the reason I feel sick after two coffees is the milk and not the coffee or caffeine, so a low milk coffee link urn or instant with a splash of milk can be consumed repeatedly over the course of a conference or meeting day like this one.

sydney station outside on a rainy day

I swear I’m not just there for the food like Rizzo the rat, but a decent spread was put on and that’s what we’re at least making this post for! Gotta keep us fuelled up and thinking!

mini muffins

vege mud cakes

Morning tea was muffin time – blueberry, choc chip, and citrus and poppy seed muffins for the crown, and some vegan chocolate mud cakes for those with dietary restrictions. I tried them all – even the mud cake at the end of morning tea when they were going untouched. The mini-muffins were generic enough, and I stashed a couple to eat on the train home. The icing on the mud cake disappeared into my tongue somehow! It was VERY noisy in the lobby and the conference room, so I did some disappearing acts during the breaks to recharge.

buffet lunch

a plate of lunch and an apple juice

Lunch was a buffet – roast lam and vegetables, chicken curry and rice, salads, bread rolls, and desserts. There was a cheese option too, and apple juice, water, tea and coffee. I ate my lunch alone, then went to be social with some of the others with my petit fours and mug of tea. I nearly recruited someone to man a booth on election day, but she declined for her own sanity, and I don’t blame her!

The afternoon, while short was also long, and felt like it was dragging. I think it was because we’d been going over the same topics and points all day, trying to nut them out to be able to take them back to “the stakeholders” for feedback. There’s only so many times I can hear the same comments about an issue that’s really not that relevant but is super important to someone before rolling my eyes and wishing myself out of the room. They did have these plush cubes that had microphones to throw around so we could hear the speakers which was kinda cool, and super helpful especially with some people wearing masks.

The party pies were a surprise for afternoon tea, but strangely hit the spot with the grey old world outside looking like I didn’t want to go back into it.

I stared out over the lanterns at afternoon tea, regathering my self to face other humans for just one more session. Honestly, I didn’t contribute too much in the finally session, I was so done, and I somehow ended up on a table talking about fault reporting and tried to be useful and care. One strategy I did find myself using though the day was putting my hand up early to contribute so I knew I’d participated in a session and didn’t get lost in all the noise. It seemed to work for me.

We finished on time and scurried to the station for the 5.18 train. That was peaceful enough until Woy Woy when pre-loading teens got on to head into Newcastle for clubbing. They were so loud and reeking of cheap premixes, but good for them for, hey?

What do you like about conference type meals? I’m glad we got a sit-down lunch rather than stand up sandwiches and wraps, so that was a pleasant change!

Bruce’s Birthday Dinner – Mizumi Japanese Toronto

We really don’t get to go out much for dinner, Covid put a huge halt on that too, so making an effort to go for something nice for birthdays has become very important. This year for Bruce’s birthday we finally dined in at Muzimu Toronto, after getting takeaway sushi and bento a few times.

We got the usual – a plate of salmon sashimi each – they also do a melt in your mouth tuna sashimi – and some takoyaki to share, then Bruce selected his main – Tenpura Donburi, and I asked for the Wagyu beef entree, but they didn’t have it so I went for something I haven’t had since probably high school – an Okonomiyaki.

I have fond memories of making Okonomiyaki in the tiny classroom we had our Japanese lessons in back in high school. This one was clearly better, and who doesn’t like the dancing flakes on top?!

Now I’m all inspired for going back to Japanese lessons on Monday! They were paid for by a lovely Tweep called Eric, and I’ve been doing my Japanese revision on Duolingo to try to get back in the swing. This week I started doing the lessons live on Twitch to encourage me to practice the pronunciations rather than very passively reading to myself.

MIZUMI Japanese Restaurant

2/58 The Boulevarde Toronto
NSW 2283 (02) 4049 2567

EveryPlate Meal Boxes as an Executive Functioning Aid

The ingredients that came in one everyplate box

I’m sure by now you’ve all heard of Hello Fresh meal boxes – you get a weekly box of meat (or not if you’re vegetarian), vegetables, carbs and spices sent to you, along with recipe cards. As someone living on JobSeeker (person-first language lol) I find Hello Fresh too pricey for me. They have great recipes, and it was wonderful back in the day when I was a speech pathologist, but fortunately there are a few options that are more budget friendly. EveryPlate is actually owned by Hello Fresh, and at $75 a week for 6 meals for two people fits into our weekly food budget well.

Why do I feel that these boxes are great for people with executive dysfunction difficulties? (aside from friends with ADHD raving to me about how useful they find them for ensuring they still eat a balanced meal at the end of the day?)

Is it Insta worthy?

No.

Did I manage to put an actual dinner together, without executive dysfunction getting in the way after getting up at 5am, doing 3 hours work, then working a 9 hour conference while my RA is also flaring?

I DID!!!!!!

Thanks @phonakins for the free box 💜 pic.twitter.com/3Ao1lBfTrd

— Rebecca Millar (@rebeccamillar83) March 21, 2022

Okay okay, they also cited chronic pain and arthritis flares, but hey, I think any spoonies could benefit from getting to 5pm, looking at a recipe card and going “hey I reckon I got the skills and energy to get through this!”, which is me six days a week. (on the seventh day we’ve usually had takeaway one night or I’ve been out, so six meals is the right amount for us).

Executive functioning skills include initiating tasks, problem solving, evaluating priorities, organisation, goal setting, flexible thinking, meeting deadlines, working memory, self-control, time management, perseverance, and planning. You can see how someone with a mental illness, chronic pain, autism or ADHD may struggle to pull these together to make dinner every night.

I actually quite like going grocery shopping. I like to look at the specials at Woolies beforehand to see what branded products I might get there because they work out cheaper than my Aldi staples, or that are my favourite treat products like $2 Tim Tams and choc-peppermint ice creams. I don’t like having to work out meals for the week, and I really don’t like having to ensure I have enough for every meal. I used to be better at it, but I put a lot more time and energy into it. Having the shops closed with Covid, or low stock from panic buying or supply chain issues with floods and wars, is not something I want to deal with. I can be creative with my meal planning, it’s just not my priority these days.

salt, pepper, olive oil , white wine vinegar, salad leaves, pink potoatoes, chicken breast, butter, tomato, aioli two brown plates with chicken, roast potato salad and green salad

One thing that caught me out initially was the “pantry ingredients” that they assume you have. I mean , I already did have a range of vinegars (white and red wine, balsamic), salt and pepper, brown sugar, soy sauce, butter, eggs… the one that first tripped me up was mayonnaise but that’s now a staple – the Aldi one does the job, so you have to give that a quick glance each week on the recipe cards so you’re not caught short.

chicken thigh, salt, pepper, olive oil, white wine vinegar, cucumber, tomato, galric. two white bowls with chicken curry, and salad

Sometime they do forget to include ingredients – depending what they are that can be catastrophic like when a portion of chicken was missed – but you contact them and get a credit on your account for more than the value of the item so that works out okay if you’re able to get to the shops – I actually bought a replacement pouch of chicken from the food bank I visit fortnightly from their frozen section that was actually donated from EveryPlate for much less than what I was credited. Sometimes they substitute items – particularly when there were supply shortages – so you get fish instead of chicken, or a carrot instead of zucchini. This isn’t a problem for me since we’re not fussy eaters or have dietary requirements, but I know it would be for some of you. I wouldn’t recommended these boxes without having a good look at the meal options if you do have fizzy eaters. They do have enough options for vegetarians – we usually get one vegetarian meal a week – but not for vegans as their vego meals often include cheese.

So, how does everyPlate fit in my week and make it more manageable? At the moment it arrives on a Wednesday – There’s a few days to choose from depending on your address. It has the six meals worth of meat, vegetables, carbs like rice, cous cous, wraps or pasta, and little sachets of spices. Sometimes there’s canned items like corn, beans or coconut milk. They come with overly-generic labels that remind me of the supplies from the Dharma Initiative in Lost. I think it’s hilarious and I love posting the photos of it on Twitter like they’re rations. Sometimes I go through to check if everything is there, but I usually don’t and just pack it away. I bring the recipe cards to my desk (the recipes are all online too) and then each day me and Bruce pick what we eat. Some of the things like chicken are suggested to eat early, or I’ll leave the super speedy meals like anything tacos for a day where I know I’ll probably be zapped – like after DBT group where I’ve had to be switched on and may have been emotionally taxed – and we go from there. In summer I’ll pick and choose meals that don’t need the oven, or I’ll just shove the potatoes in the air fryer instead. I’ve not yet managed to perfect the home cooked chips, I kept trying and I just can’t do it, so potatoes are usually just roasted in small cubes if chips are called for. Whaetevers.

food containers with blakc and white labels from the tv show Lost

In my homebody day, I try to get the dishes from the night before done before lunchtime so I’m working with a relatively clean and tidy kitchen. I get the ingredients out for a photo for Twitter and go from there. I’m getting better at cooking the rice on the stove, and timing my vegetables. So, I’m learning skills, it’s not all lazy and short-cutting.

I spent about five minutes here and there feeling bad about the small plastic packets everything comes in. But enviro-ableism has no place in my kitchen. (Read more about plastic straw bans and disability) Do what works for you. Your plastic packet might be “bad” but it’s not up there with the damage governments are allowing from coal and gas, so you know, live your best life.

You made it this far, so you deserve this unboxing video I did live on my Twitch channel :p Winning!

Got any questions? Fire away below. I sometimes get free boxes to give away to people who haven’t tried it before, so keep an eye out on Twitter for those. Otherwise if you want a $30 discount off your first box, use my referral link.