Laci's Life Hacks for Not Going Crazy and an Excellent Enchilada Recipe

Every time I post a blog, I promise myself I'm going to a) nag at Regis to give you all a life update (he is too busy gaming) or b) update this myself more, but then every time I go to actually update this, a month or more has always gone by, haha. Figures.

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

My Mom's Visit and Some Other Stuff

Today is a great day for an update - it's the last day of labor day weekend so today I'm just going to be productive and try to get a bunch of stuff done that I've been putting off. Hopefully a run and/or trip to the gym is in store once I finish this too!

So, my last post was pretty short because it was pretty late, but I just wanted to share some pictures and stuff from when my mom was here! She had been looking forward to come here for quite some time and even before we moved here, started following a bunch of Australian tourism sites on Instagram. She really wanted to see wildlife and focus on outdoors stuff, like going to the beach. Easy! We actually spent the majority of her trip outside of staying in our apartment - we live quite close to the city and it can be noisy and crowded. Probably a culture shock for anyone coming from Ohio! We went to the Mornington Peninsula, specifically Rosebud and Rye, and also went to Phillip Island for a couple days. Phillip Island is really famous for it's fairy penguin population, and you can sit on the beach on any given evening to watch the penguins pop out of the ocean and head back to their land-based homes for the night. It's pretty cute! We got some pretty excellent beach days in too.

On board the Arthur's Seat Eagle cable car

Arthur's Seat, Victoria

On the Beach in Rosebud!

We really had such a great time on this trip. When we got back to the city, we spent a lot of time at my pool just catching up, and I also took her to Fairfield where we used to live for the day. We got lunch at a Vietnamese place I really like, then went kayaking. Vietnamese food isn't really a thing anywhere I used to live in the states, but it has become one of my favorite types of food to eat - my mom usually doesn't try new things but eventually caved to my request, haha. What a good sport! I think my mom's favorite part of the day was finding a rope swing on the side of the Yarra River. We both swung into the river a few times - I did so pretty reluctantly knowing how many snakes are around the area! Turns out the river has quite a few poisonous tiger snakes in it - one of which ended up in the CBD right after my mom went home! Terrifying.

Lunch in Fairfield

Kayaking on the Yarra

Probably like 20 snakes are hidden in this photo :(

I think in general it seemed like my mom really loved it here. It was nice to hear her tell me she can see exactly why we moved here and why we would love living here so much. She also got to feed a couple kangaroos, which has apparently been on her bucket list for quite some time.

When she left, I was honestly pretty bummed for a while - it is weird being away from home so long (it's been about 4 and a half years since I left Ohio) and then seeing family. I honestly think I will get better quality visits in with family since they will obviously come for longer visits since it's such a long flight. We only saw people for 2-3 days at a time in Charlotte maybe once or twice a year. With that being said, it's also hard to know when the next time we will see anyone since it's such a large commitment to come here, both financially and time wise.

It's sort of a struggle I have had on and off since I left; you feel pretty guilty at times for being so far away from people you care about. However if I would have stayed in Ohio, I don't think I would be successful or happy, so it's just something to deal with, I guess. I have other friends here and all over the place that have moved from pretty far away and I think it's a common theme. There is a quote that comes to mind from a book I really like, Tiny Beautiful Things, "I'll never know and neither will you of the life you don't choose. We'll only know that whatever that sister life was, it was beautiful and important and not ours. It was the ghost ship that didn't carry us. There's nothing to do but salute it from the shore."

Living here is very fulfilling in a lot of ways - but it still gets lonely!

Regis' favorite old/new hobby

South Melbourne Market, one of my favorite places

Anyway, for other updates, we are working on eventually finding a different apartment - ours is over a pretty main road, plus it's a bit expensive. We've both been researching more seriously and have found we can get a nicer place for less money - so the next place we live will hopefully be somewhere we can stay for a while. We ended up where we are because we were in a hurry, so now that we have time, it'll be a lot easier.

Regis is leaving tomorrow morning for some mining town in WA - his trip was supposed to be six days and now it's about two weeks total. Neither one of us are happy about that, hopefully Regis gets another job at some point that he's happy with. I've been doing a lot of training at mine, which has been good. We really haven't been up to much else - Easter is coming up, so I think after that is out of the way we are going to do some kind of health kick! Hopefully the next entry on here is some kind of update from Regis or maybe a fun recipe from me.

See ya later!

-L

A Couple Updates and How to Make Hot Sauce!

Hey guys!

So we have actually been pretty busy lately, and I owe this page an actual update, which I will do when I have more time and a few better photos! Honestly, we haven't been up to too much that's out of the ordinary lately.

A couple cool things do come to mind though!!

- I have been driving a lot and I'm actually used to it now!

- My mom was here a couple weeks ago to visit

- We are currently looking for a new apartment

I'll obviously go through those details in the next post, but I wanted this page to start featuring some recipes I like making since I'm pretty into cooking and making my own sauces/dressings/etc. Plus, let's be real.. hearing about us all the time is boring - let's mix it up!

I'll throw it out there - I REALLLLLY, REALLY miss the variety of hot sauces we have in the States. Not that there isn't variety here, it's just a different assortment of stuff you can buy. I really just miss going to Trader Joe's and trying basically anything on the shelf for about $2. Here a lot of the hot sauces are imported and they are pretty expensive - there are lots of duds too!

So I started making my own a few months ago just to see how I'd do - turns out it's pretty simple and they have all turned out great!!

The recipe I am sharing is a variation on a copycat Frank's Red Hot sauce recipe I found in a quick google search - I'm not linking it because I've changed so much! You can basically suit it to your needs, but since Regis and I are obsessed with pretty spicy sauces, I threw some habaneros in. Let me know how it turns out if you decide to make a batch!

Red Jalapeño and Habanero Hot Sauce

You'll need:

About 25ish red jalapeño peppers (for extra heat, set them in the sun for a few days!)
2-3 habanero peppers
2 cups of white vinegar
2-3 cloves of garlic
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more to taste

Directions

Place all of the peppers, vinegar and garlic in a small pot. If the peppers are not almost covered by vinegar, add more. Simmer this mixture for about 20 minutes - about 5 minutes in, stir in the salt. Don't let it boil too much as this will overcook the peppers.

Mmmmm.. spicy!

Take the mixture off the heat for a few minutes, then blend this in batches. I made the mistake of putting too much in last time I made this sauce and made a huge mess, so be extra careful when blending!

Pre-Blended

Make sure the mixture is as smooth as possible before adding back to the pan. Continue to simmer on low heat for a further 15-20 minutes. Use this opportunity to add a half cup of water or more depending on your heat tolerance - this will take down the spiciness a bit and will also make straining the sauce easier later on. Taste as you go and add more salt if needed.

Straining into a bowl

Once this is done, pulse mixture in batches in the blender one last time. Strain the mixture into a large measuring cup or bowl, then transfer to a sealable bottle (These ones from Ikea are my favorite!).

Final Product!

This will last a couple of months in the fridge - not that it's ever stayed in there that long in our house! :)

You can also use the leftover chilis from straining as a condiment - I've found it's great to throw these into Asian food. Stir fries, pho and banh mis are great with some fresh pickled chili!

Pickled chili on a tofu banh mi (Regis HATES when I take fancy  pictures of food I make!)

Anyways, hope to give you some more updates soon. I'll leave you with a phrase I've recently adopted from basically every person ever here - Cheers!

-L

Here's to 2018.

Well, I would have had no idea that my last post would be the last one of 2017, AND the last post before we hit our one year of living here! What a crazy year. 

We have had all kinds of highs and lows, we (by we, it's Regis) have a car now, we have a nice apartment in an awesome area of the city, we have made some great friends, we've had several visitors, have gone on some cool road trips, have brewed some great beers, and all kinds of other stuff I'm more than likely leaving out. Oh, and I turned 29 last week, which terrifies me haha. People here act much younger than people back home, so we fit right in!

Sunday Fundays with the neighbors

Kat, Colleen and me en route to the Yarra Valley wine region!

It's crazy to think a year ago, we were living in someone's spare bedroom in their apartment with literally four bags of stuff, two bikes, and no job prospects whatsoever (to be fair, I had one interview lined up before we got here). It's utterly insane how much we've accomplished and I am really proud of both of us. This move has taken more out of me than I ever could imagine, but at the same time it was completely worth it because both of us are so much more fulfilled here. I mean.. today for example we went paddle boarding at the beach after work. What a great way to end the day!

From today's session

First time on the new board!

I think for the most part we are fully adjusted, although I'd still go for cheaper beers and not having an hour commute to work. Sometimes when I gripe about silly things like not being able to eat turkey bacon or that I miss the crap out of Trader Joes, I have to stop myself because living here is basically a dream I have always had and we finally made it. Seriously though, if anyone wants to send me some hot sauce from Trader Joes, I'll pay you :)

News-wise, we have just been enjoying this gorgeous Aussie summer! Having the holiday season during the summertime just makes so much more sense - you get nice days off work! If I never see a white Christmas again, I'm 1000% cool with it. 

This year, we did Christmas Eve dinner on the barbie!

Regis got me a standup paddle board for my birthday, so we have been spending a considerable amount of time getting better at it. That's about all I've got for now, so until next time!

Disclaimer: I mentioned last post that Regis would be the author for the next one, so it's his fault this thing hasn't been updated for so long! He hates writing, so I guess expect 2-3 posts a year from him!

Me: "Hey Regis, are you going to update the blog??" Him: "NOPE"

-L

Home is Where the Sunshine (And Patio Furniture!) Is

I’m not gonna lie, I was feeling pretty back and forth for a long time about living here but it is FINALLY, FINALLY starting to feel like home now. I feel like I have grown so much as a person the past nine or so months and it’s pretty surreal to type this blog post sitting on the balcony of our new apartment on our sweet ass new patio furniture next to our new grill that we don’t have to share with 300 other people (sorry old apartment complex!).

Montalto Vineyard, Oct 14th

Montalto Vineyard, Oct 14th

We have worked extremely hard to get to where we are and it’s taken the better part of a year to get to a place where we’re comfortably living again. It’s super sweet to have real furniture and not be basically living in someone’s spare bedroom! It’s nice too to finally be able to comfortably sit outside – winter here is nothing compared to home, but houses here are not equipped for the cold at all (we have basically one space heater that’s attached to the wall in the kitchen) so the winter was pretty effing miserable.

BBQ at a Brewery on the Peninsula

St Kilda Beach Volleyball - the New Thursday Night Hangout

I’m pretty sure we are going to have the go-to spot all summer though, with our new furniture, grill and our homebrew on tap! I’ve also started my gardening career, so it will add some nice additions to our outdoor area. There is a ton of sun and dust from living right over an extremely busy road, so we may not be able to grow much other than cacti!

My New Balcony Garden

Regis got a car almost two weeks ago now meaning we can finally drive to run errands, and more importantly we can go on our adventures on our own terms! We were both super happy to go pick up furniture for our patio. Next up on the list is another bed so our visitors coming have somewhere to sleep (and my new favorite, this egg chair!)!

Our visitor season is coming up, and I’m so excited to say that my mom went through with buying the plane ticket to Melbourne! No one in my family is much of a traveler, mainly due to money and lack of time off, but I am so proud of both my mom and my sister for taking the time to plan out a visit here and buying plane tickets! My brother and sister turned 26 yesterday and I felt a lot of guilt about not being able to spend time with them – so some family time is going to be much needed.

Regis traveled for work for about six weeks straight and I’m pretty sure I was going nuts for a while, but we have been back to basically normal (whatever normal is for us!!) for about a month. Some new beers are being brewed, and we’ve finally made a few other friends! We even went on a trip recently with them to the Mornington Peninsula that was a nice relaxing getaway away from the city. We went back to the Peninsula this past weekend to go back to the hot springs I mentioned in our last post, and we also went to a couple other places we went when we were on holiday here.

It was a huge “holy crap” moment when we went to Montalto Vineyard – I think that was the point on our holiday two years ago where we both decided it’d be worth it to actually go through with moving to Australia, no matter how difficult it would be and it was basically one of the most surreal experiences I’ve ever had going back there as a resident and not a tourist. Most of the stuff we’ve done here hasn’t seemed like huge leaps or bounds, but looking at it all now is insane, we have really accomplished a lot and set up a new life in a pretty short amount of time. It’s a hell of a lot of work though and I am not trying to move anytime soon!!

Montalto Vineyard

The Cups Estate

I honestly don’t have too much more to add at the moment, but hope you all enjoy these pictures of the beginning of a gorgeous Australian summer!

Rye, Victoria

St Andrew's Beach, Victoria

Parrots on our Balcony!

St Andrew's Beach, Victoria

Until next time, guys! Regis is up.

-L