We've recently had Easter, which consisted of us having a four day weekend (we brewed beer and grilled food) and not a whole lot else.
 |
| Our newest batch - Hazelnut Brown Ale |
I love the fall here, the weather is still pretty warm but the air just feels different, it's hard to describe. I know I relentlessly complain about Ohio, but autumn here will never beat fall there. I love the crunchy leaves, going to cheesy haunted houses and the halloween thing at Cedar Point, and listening to Alkaline Trio while going on night drives there and I miss it a lot sometimes - yeah, probably not the snow in October part, though!! Charlotte didn't really have a fall - not in the city anyway. I would notice the leaves changing from our very high up balcony, but the weather didn't change much.
 |
| Charlotte Balcony Views - 1/2 |
 |
| Charlotte Balcony Views - 2/2 |
Anyways Luke (my brother) and I had a chat recently and it doesn't matter where you live or what you do, during the work week not much changes, and adult life can be dull-ish. Right now Regis and I are just trying to save up money and time off so we can hopefully escape the hellishly cold and dark winter for a week or so around August. It's pretty nuts - it's actually cheaper to travel outside of Australia for a week than it is to fly somewhere else in Australia for even a few days. It'll also be nice because Regis is like never here because of his job, so spending time together will be nice. He is in BFE Western Australia right now.
Being alone for such long periods of time has allowed me to come up with some nifty things to make life a little easier - I think people call them "life hacks" these days. Anyway, here are mine:
1) Being home alone is not an excuse to eat a bunch of crap and not exercise - keeping a very regular exercise routine will make you feel happier and less lonely
2) Some grocery stores offer online shopping / home delivery - if they do, DO IT. I used to make fun of people that did this in Charlotte and thought it was extremely lazy, but it is so much easier than taking all the time to go alone, dealing with crowds, trying to figure out where stuff is, then lugging it all home (the grocery store is about a 1km walk away) and having to put everything away. Delivery to our apt door is free and all I have to do is put the stuff away. THE BEST!
3) Adopt the "say yes" mindset. I could be a shut in if I wanted to, but generally if anyone invites me to do something, even if it's not my cup of tea or I don't know them very well, I'll go. It's a great way to make new friends, try new things, etc. I can't believe I used to be an introvert, haha.
4) Minimise TV- seriously. Sometimes when I have really crappy days at work and go home and just sit in front of the TV, I feel 10x worse. Use your time for better things. Cook something fun, read a book, go on a run, go on a bike ride, go get a beer somewhere if its your thing, whatever. Sometimes even if I just blast fun music and clean, I'll still be in a better mood than if I mindlessly watched TV. Try it :)
5) Get a dog. hahahahaha. just kidding, Regis says no. :(
Anyway, enough soapboxing from me, here's a fun recipe. I make it when I don't care about carbs, it's good in cold and warm weather so my US and Australia friends can enjoy it now! I never use recipes, so don't feel like you have to follow this to a T. I usually make these using whatever we happen to have, so shoot for the moon (then obviously tell me how they turned out!) I also used to buy enchilada sauce and started making my own here since it's not as available - best idea ever, highly recommended. Also if you have a couple beers and snack on chips and salsa the whole time you make this recipe, I won't tell ;)
How to make awesome enchiladas!
Things you'll need:
For Filling:
Protein - I usually use ground beef, ground turkey or beer stir fry strips - feel free to sub out tofu, zucchini, or whatever though!
Steamed brown rice (only if you're feeling super carb-tastic)
Spinach
Bell Peppers
Taco Seasoning
A couple big spoonfuls of below mentioned sauce
For Sauce:
1 can of plain diced tomatoes
1/2 can of black beans
3 cloves garlic (don't worry about chopping!)
1/2 a red onion, chopped into big chunks
2 jalapeno peppers**
1 habanero pepper**
**PLEASE use your own heat tolerance to decide this. I do not want to be the cause of your death if you are kind of a heat weenie!
Toppings/Other
Low carb whole wheat wraps (These are my favorite in the US, but whatever size/variety works)
Shredded cheese - whatever you prefer (I use mozzarella)
Plain greek yogurt
chopped tomatoes
avocado
Directions
Steam the rice before starting this if you are going to use it!
Start off by chopping up the bell peppers and sautéing them in a large frying pan. Once they are soft, add in the protein. Monitor this while starting on the enchilada sauce - also preheat the oven to about 200C / 400F right about now:
For the sauce, add all ingredients into a saucepan and simmer for about ten minutes. Once the onion looks soft, turn off the heat and let everything cool off for about five minutes.
 |
| Sauce Ingredients - Right Before Adding Tomatoes |
Get the meat nice and browned, then add the taco seasoning. If you live by a Trader Joes, use the stuff you can buy there, it's the BEST, and if you're feeling super nice, send me a few packs :) Turn the heat to low and go back to your sauce.
This is the part where I tell you to do something you probably shouldn't do - I use my blender to make soups / sauces while all the ingredients are hot - I recently read somewhere you shouldn't. I recently bought a nice-ish commercial grade blender because of this habit I've adopted and I'm confident with it, but if you have a food processor, probably use that!
Anyway, carefully pour the contents of the pan into your blender, and continually use the pulse setting until everything is a nice, consistent sauce. You will need to taste it and probably add a bunch of salt and maybe a small handful of cilantro if you have it, then blend a bit more! Pour it back into the pan, or into a big measuring cup. Take a few really big spoonfuls and put them into your meat/protein so you have a nice filling.
Now for the fun part! Line a rectangular baking dish with some olive oil, then start making your enchiladas! Warm your wraps/tortillas, then one at a time:
1) Add your meat filling and rice (if you made it)
2) Fold by either rolling or using the method I learned at my first job which was at Taco Bell (holla!)
3) Set it fold-side down in the pan
 |
| Pre-Saucing |
Keep doing this until you run out of tortillas, toppings, or space in your pan. Then, take the remainder of the glorious sauce you made and pour it all over the top of the enchiladas. Top with several handfuls of shredded cheese, then bake for around 20-30 minutes, or until the sauce looks nice and bubbly. Make sure the cheese doesn't brown!
Once you take them out, serve with whatever you want. I like a couple spoonfuls of plain greek yogurt, a couple chunks of avocado and some tomatoes. You won't even need hot sauce making your own enchilada sauce! Enjoy :)
 |
| YUMMMM. |
Regis hates black beans and probably just found out he ate them earlier this week, hahaha - sorry Regis!
Goodnight from the other side of the world, I'll leave you with a photo of my new pink hair that is not awkward at all for working in an office!
-L
