the fifo wife

I grabbed this recipe from Home Life I have tried it a couple of times and its a good make ahead meal. Enjoy!!

Cottage Pie..

What you will need:

1 tbs olive oil 1 brown onion, finely chopped

1 carrot, peeled, finely chopped

1 celery stalk, finely chopped

500g beef mince

1/4 cup (40g) plain flour

1/2 cup (125ml) red wine

1 cup (250ml) beef stock

2 tbs Worcestershire sauce

2 tbs tomato paste

2 tbs dried bay leaves

1/2 cup (80g) frozen peas

4 (about 800g) pontiac potatoes, peeled

50g butter 1/2 cup (125ml) warm milk

Melted butter, extra, for brushing

How to:

Heat oil in a frying pan over medium heat. Add onion, carrot and celery;  cook, stirring, for 5 minutes or until onion softens. Add mince and  cook, stirring to break up lumps, for 5 minutes or until mince changes  colour.

Add flour and cook, stirring, until well combined. Add wine and bring to  the boil. Cook, stirring, for 2 minutes or until wine reduces by half.  Add stock, Worcestershire sauce, tomato paste and bay leaves and simmer.  Cook, stirring occasionally, for 15 minutes or until sauce thickens.  Add peas and remove from heat. Taste and season.

Meanwhile, place potatoes in a saucepan with cold water over high heat;  bring to the boil. Cook for 15 minutes or until tender. Drain well,  return to pan, add butter and mash until smooth. Add milk and stir to  combine. Season with salt and pepper.

Preheat grill on high. Spoon beef into a 1.5L (6 cup) ovenproof dish.  Spoon mash over the top; lightly brush with melted butter. Cook for 2-3  minutes or until potato is golden brown. Serve immediately.

My lovelies I have one Ardell Brow Defining Palette and stencils in medium to give away. The stencils arent pictured but are included (I couldnt find a product shot and well my camera skills are terrible)

My beautiful ‘spa therapist’ gave them to me last week while as I was preparing for a thing..which consequently involved a photo shoot..lol…that’s a nervous laugh there lovelies.

I asked her if I could have one to share with you as I have some deserving lovelies and well girls brows and lashes are my thing so here you are.

All you have to do is comment down there telling me one random thing about yourself..you have to comment to win it and then that will go through the random thingy mijgy and it will then pick a winner… I also only have one..sorry. It will close 5pm Friday.

Hope you are having a good day lovelies,

xxDeb

So the office called yesterday. He goes back to work on the 1st of June. I’m not over the moon about it. I’m already running meal plans, rosters jobs and list’s through my head. List for ways to keep busy its my secret weapon. Yet I have been spoilt this month and it will be a shock to the system. One I’m not really prepared for or looking forward to. I have loved having him home this long despite what I joked about yetserday and yes it was a joke..really it was be it a slight reality of some.

Now I’m almost glum about it. Its like going back to work after a really good freaking holiday that’s literally what it feels like. What I’m dreading the most? The absolut thing I’m dreading…is the early starts..just like going back to work I’m dreading the early starts. I really do see this part as my job and I like to think I do it really well. I’m as passionate about this FIFO life of mine as Dame Edna is for sequins.

Yet when he is away I start my day at 430 am its the only way I can literally keep the crap together…somewhat. I have tried other ways of staying on top of stuff but I’m not that brilliant and well I’m also not a night person. So I am a little glum and I have exactly eight days to suck up the reality and get on with it. Glum or not.

He on the other hand I think is looking forward to going back to work. He loves his job. He thrives in his job. He does his job well and Im proud of him for that. This time its a new boat, new crew, adult stuff. Important stuff. He also gets to hang out in the big city for a few days before his new adventure starts.

That’s the difference between his job and mine there is always a new adventure for him.

I guess on the bright side the keeping up appearances will be easier. I can let my legs get a wee bit hairy and well I wont have to make an excuse for the redness and swelling as I return from the ‘spa therapist’ only the boys will see and well a little white lie to them wont hurt.

So my lovelies bring on the early starts and lonely nights..I’m ready for you…well sort of.

xxDeb

 

I read a lot. Its compensation for lonely nights. Its also good for my brain and all that relaxation stuff. Twenty minutes before bed that’s all I need. So I know I’m behind the times but this is what I have just finished reading Room by Emily Donoghue (it was published 2010). I have mixed feelings about the book. My feelings about it are mixed because I read it in a hurry because I was intrigued and wanted to know what happened in the end all while being annoyed that a five year old was narrating the story. The language is the same as what my three year old uses so perhaps that’s what annoyed me the most. Even in my off time I had the voice of a child in my head. Having said that its its nothing like I have read before so its worth a read and to make up your own mind.

It got a 3.95 (?) out of five on the website good reads so perhaps let that be your guide.

So this is the blurb for Room by Emma Donoghue

To five-year-old Jack, Room is the entire world. It is where he was born and grew up; it’s where he lives with his Ma as they learn and read and eat and sleep and play. At night, his Ma shuts him safely in the wardrobe, where he is meant to be asleep when Old Nick visits.
Room is home to Jack, but to Ma, it is the prison where Old Nick has held her captive for seven years. Through determination, ingenuity, and fierce motherly love, Ma has created a life for Jack. But she knows it’s not enough…not for her or for him. She devises a bold escape plan, one that relies on her young son’s bravery and a lot of luck. What she does not realize is just how unprepared she is for the plan to actually work.
Told entirely in the language of the energetic, pragmatic five-year-old Jack, ROOM is a celebration of resilience and the limitless bond between parent and child, a brilliantly executed novel about what it means to journey from one world to another.

xxDeb