Beer and beef festival!

I had the pleasure of attending the Beer and Beef festival over the weekend. 

My sister had a spare ticket and she extended it my way. The weather was amazing!
The festival consisted of lots of different stalls set up by different breweries. Upon entry you get a tasting glass (which is just a wine glass on a lanyard) and you visit each stall and try all the different beers/ciders they are offering and then you have the option to buy a pint if you want.
It also had market stalls, live music and a big projector to watch the football!

I really liked the garden ale from Stone & Wood, which is a brewery in Byron Bay. I don't like many ales, I am more of a draught girl myself. But I really enjoyed this ale, it was dry and refreshing and I ended up buying two pints of it! Another drink I am not a huge fan of is cider. It is a bit too sweet for me to enjoy. But tasting just small amounts of each I was able to enjoy it a bit more. I really liked a cloudy apple cider from Custard and Co, though. I would definitely buy that again.

 Another drink that was really good was the Ruby Cooler. It was Gin, Grapefruit and soda water. It was so refreshing because it was quite hot by then and I'd been drinking a lot of beer so to mix it up with a bit of gin was good. By this point I was a bit merry:

 Okay, so now let's talk about the food.

First of all, there was a stall there called chewy mooey and they make the most delicious beef jerky. I tried the original which had a really nice flavor to it. The chili one is really good, too, it's not too hot straight away but the heat does build. I got some for my partner and he has tried most of the jerky on the market, he is a serious jerky eater. And he gave me the thumbs up on this one, so you guys can check out their site here if you want to find out for yourself,

 All the food looked so amazing, I wish I tried everything. But I'm not sure if that would have been a smart idea. The first thing that we got were these Mogo Mogo balls with chipotle crema.

 They were amazing! Basically they are a deep fried ball of pulled brisket with a banana coating on the outside. They look as though they are burnt, but honestly, if they aren't meant to be like that, then I want them to be purposefully burnt if I ever have them in the future again. Because the crispiness on the outside really pulled it all together. Same with the chipotle crema. The combination is really good. I could have eaten 20. They are from a Mexican restaurant called El Publico, and I even found the recipe online.. I'm definitely going to have to visit this restaurant.

Along with the Mogo Mogo balls, we got a texmex potato salad from Lot Twenty. Now the chef really talked this up. She said something along the lines of the sauce being made out of the juice from cooked brisket and a whole bunch of other flattering stuff, and I mean, it was good.

 But it just tasted like a potato salad to me., In the defense of Lot Twenty, though, they did try to get us to buy the ribs. I am in a world of regret for not taking their suggestion.

There were some amazing looking dishes that I didn't try but took photos of anyway.
Like these Cheeseburger Spring rolls from Eat no Evil. I asked how they tasted and the reply was
"tastes like pickles and mince"
Mmm!

 I saw many of these amazing burgers in the hands of hungry and satisfied festival goers.

 These are Smoked Beef Brisket Mac & Cheese Croquettes made with Margeret River fresh beef, roasted capsicum and wild rocket salad from The Stables Bar.

 Having recently trying Chilli Con Carne for the first time and loving it, my sister got The Stables Bar, Chilli Con Carne with Blackwood Valley organic beef, tomato, coriander, salsa & sour cream. She said it was amazing.

Towards the end of the festival I got a dish that I'd been eyeing off since I arrived. And that was the Crispy potatoes with slow cooked braised beef and cheese sauce. It was as good as the name made it sound. I got this from Chloe & Kelly, who I believe were contestants on Master chef.

It was a really great day filled with good drinks and even better food and a perfect way to spend a sunny spring day celebrating the Queens birthday long weekend.
I would definitely go back next year.

This kid is going to be great.

The place my partner spent his childhood is so beautiful. His parents own a cherry farm. I am so glad that Oliver has this place to run around in. I remember playing down at the creek at my Grandparents house.. It was such a big part of my childhood. So many memories playing among' the nature. The creek is all dried up now, I think. I would not really know. I have not been there in years. I want Oliver to have a childhood like mine. Not drowned out by technology, like so many kids these days seem to be. I want him to enjoy running around in the fresh air, getting dirty, scraping knee's and climbing tree's. This farm and his side of the family will help that, they are adventurous, nature driven people. I think myself really lucky to be apart of his family and I'm sure he thinks that about mine. My family grew up with such strong family values. We all really admire one another and get along incredibly well. I always think about how lucky we are to have been blessed with Oliver, but today, I am thinking about how lucky Oliver is to be blessed with our families. My heart feels heavy for the children that don't get this. The simplicity of a happy childhood. A loving, happy, funny family. As adults, it's our duty to make sure that earths children are happy, safe and loved. I'm so happy and blessed that I am able to provide that for Oliver. This kid is going to be great. 

A recipe: Frittata

My household has been sick these last few weeks and just when I thought I was finally over it, it's as if I caught another strand of the flu and got it all over again. I decided my immune system sucks and that I eat too much crap. We never plan our meals ahead and at least once a week we get take-out... We have a stash of those hand towelettes in our top kitchen drawer. That's when you know you have an issue. So, in an effort to be healthier, I made a GIANT frittata for the whole week so that I could just heat up a slice each morning. I'm talking 12 eggs in this sucker and jam packed with vegetables! It's really easy, healthy and tasty!

Now depending on how much you want to make, the amount of ingredients really depend.
What you will need:
Eggs, I used 12.

A few dollops of cream.

A handful of grated cheese.
Half a sweet potato, cubed.
3 white potatoes, grated.
A handful of spinach.
A handful of chopped mushrooms.
2 carrots, grated.
And 3 finely chopped cloves of garlic.

You want to start off by preheating your oven to 200 degrees.
Peel and wash your sweet potato and cut into small cubes. You can do the same with the white potatoes if you like, I just wanted to grate them to add to a thicker texture. But if you want more chunks then you can have both of the potatoes cubed. Lay them out on a baking tray with a drizzle of olive oil over the top of them. You want to half bake them.

After they are half cooked, take them out to a cool. Change the heat of your oven to 160 Degree's.

Whisk all of your eggs together with the cream and pour into your baking dish. Literally just put all of your vegetables into the egg and spread them out. Sprinkle the garlic through and season with salt and pepper. Cover with foil. You want to cook the frittata slowly so that the inside cooks thoroughly without the top of it burning. Mine roughly took around an hour, for such a large amount. When the inside is cooked it'll rise and become fluffy and white and the top will be nice and crispy. Sprinkle the cheese over the top, return to the oven for 5 minutes and you've got yourself a frittata! (And a week of healthy, delicious breakfasts)

So this is I

I am still learning who I am, I don't think you ever stop discovering new things about yourself, or you never stop changing into someone else. Forever learning and changing and growing. But for now, I will tell you who my 22 year old self is.

• My name is Lauren
• I live in Australia
• I am the youngest of SIX children.
• I am the only one with a child, so far. So I gave my parents their last child and their first grandchild. You're welcome, Ma & Pa.
• I found out I was pregnant at 19 weeks. I had zero symptoms except for incredibly horrible heartburn towards the end. I went to the doctor and had blood tests, which read 5 weeks. Then I had an ultrasound, which showed a little baby and that I was 19 weeks along. The lady told me it was a boy on the very same day I even found out I was having a baby. Surreal. Terrifying. I cried so much because I didn't think I could do this. A week later, I was calm, happy... still terrified. But I couldn't imagine my life any different now.
• I always find myself standing on my tippy toes when I'm cooking. I think it stems from learning to cook (stirring the gravy) at such a young age and never being able to see over the top of the pot properly. I always find myself doing it now and I am definitely taller than the bench.
• I love a clean house. But I am not a clean person. I don't hate cleaning, in fact I actually have fun when I'm cleaning... opening the windows, listening to music, dancing, burning incense. But I can't keep my house clean for longer than about two days. It's a curse.
• I have always liked to write. Back in the day when internet wasn't a common thing for every household and when there was only one computer in the house if you were lucky, which wasn't actually that long ago... I was only born in '93, haha. Anyway, I used to jump on to Word on the family computer and just type stories... I wish I saved them, I wonder if they made sense? So, yes, I have always loved to write. Hopefully other people think I am good at it, too.
• I'm all about that mexican food life.

Meet Oliver

Like I said, I found out I was pregnant at 19 weeks with this little fire cracker. He most definitely was a surprise. A blessing in disguise and an angel I never even knew I needed. I don't think my life was heading in the direction it was mean't to, nor was I turning into the person I was mean't to be, without him. I'm so glad he came into our lives. Everyone who meets him, loves him to bits.

• When Oliver was born, he was placed on my chest and he looked up at us and didn't even cry. It's as if he was like "Finally! Hello! I'm here!" and then he immediately started searching for a nipple.
• He has always hated being swaddled. I had to stay 5 days in the hospital and he would only sleep on me, nursing.  Every time I tried to put him down he would wake up. He is still the exact same at 8 months.
• His legs have always been very strong, ever since the first day he was born. Everyone commented on how big his feet were and how strong his little kickers were. I already knew he was strong because I felt him kicking me from the inside....
• His neck was also very strong when he was born, too. It didn't take long for him to be able to hold it steady. I still really believe he is in a hurry to learn everything and grow up and live his life.
• This kid loves watermelon. LOVES IT.
• He really hates being fed by a spoon, unless he has food he can also hold in his hands.
• He loves long warm showers just like his mama
• He has an amazing smile just like his dada
• He is constantly on the go, he never ever sits still unless he is asleep. I feel like I already have a toddler. I bet I'll look back at that comment and laugh.

Hey, Blogspot.

I've decided to start fresh over here on your side of the blogging world. I have come from Wordpress. Restarting my blog, is in a way, helping me to change my thought patterns. You see, recently, I realized how absolutely downright negative I am. I want to change that. There are many steps I have to take, some are going to be hard. I basically have to rid my life of negativity. Some negativity cannot be ridden, yet, or ever. Some of this negativity lies in my loved ones. But maybe, if I can change my aura, my positivity will reflect on to others. One negative thing I know I can get rid of, though, is my old blog. I feel sad to start over, because I did start that blog when I was pregnant with Oliver and have continued to post on it since. But it turned into more of an outlet to complain and express my frustrations, I lost all inspiration and emotional connection to it because I only seemed to get on and write a post when I was feeling negative. I always wanted to have a blog so I can look back on it in years and years to come and remember every fine detail of my life. I don't want to remember the negative thoughts and feelings. That's not to say that if I am truly feeling emotional that I won't express it through my posts here, because no matter how much negativity I squeeze out of my life, I'm not going to be 100% happy all the time. I want this blog to be raw and honest. But I want this blog to be creative and clever. And happy. I want to document my journey through Motherhood, Happiness, life. So I sit here, at 11:59am on a Tuesday, starting fresh, one piece at a time.