What I ate this week

In the last week I have really eaten quite a lot. I won’t go through every meal but just the ones that I have photographs for.

Last Sunday I turned 51 and I bought a cake to celebrate.

Big Boy from Ricardo's Cafe and Patisserie
Big Boy from Ricardo’s Cafe and Patisserie

This is from Ricardo’s Cafe and Patisserie in the Jamison Plaza shops. This is known as the Big Boy. It’s slightly larger than a softball but the crispy nutty chocolate shell contains a rich chocolate mousse. It was delicious.

Readers who follow me on other social media platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter will have noticed that my lunch photographs have taken on an artistic background in the last week. I found an old 2008 calendar and thought it would make a nice backdrop. It’s quite large and it has some interesting subject matter.

Because my leftover meals tend to look ‘beige’ as some friends say (meaning bland and unappealing) I’ve been experimenting with black and white.

Monday lunch was leftover lamb forequarter chops

Leftover lamb forequarter chops
Leftover lamb forequarter chops

Monday dinner was baked salmon

Honey soy baked salmon with vegetables
Honey soy baked salmon with vegetables

Tuesday breakfast was fried eggs and cheese

Fried eggs and cheese
Fried eggs and cheese

Tuesday morning coffee from Urban Bean Espresso Bar

Coffee from Urban Bean Espresso Bar
Coffee from Urban Bean Espresso Bar

Tuesday lunch was leftover chicken giblet congee

Leftover chicken giblet congee with black fungus and an artistic background. Where is that hand going?
Leftover chicken giblet congee with black fungus and an artistic background. Where is that hand going?

Tuesday afternoon tea

Crunchie bar with note paper
Crunchie bar with note paper

Tuesday dinner was baked salmon and crunchy rice

Baked salmon with fried quinoa rice
Baked salmon with fried quinoa rice

Wednesday lunch was leftover forequarter lamb chops

Leftover slow cooker lamb forequarter chops with potatoes and quinoa rice
Leftover slow cooker lamb forequarter chops with potatoes and quinoa rice

Wednesday dinner was Chicken Maryland and crunchy rice

Chicken Maryland with crunchy quinoa rice, avocado, Brussels sprouts and cheesy potato gems
Chicken Maryland with crunchy quinoa rice, avocado, Brussels sprouts and cheesy potato gems

Thursday breakfast was a Snickers bar. I had a 6 am teleconference.

Snickers on my keyboard
Snickers on my keyboard

Thursday lunch was leftover slow cooker beef

Leftover slow cooker beef and vegetables
Leftover slow cooker beef and vegetables

Thursday afternoon tea was charity chocolate

Turkish delight and picnic chocolate on my keyboard
Turkish delight and picnic chocolate on my keyboard

Thursday dinner was Chicken Maryland with crunchy noodles

Baked cheesy Chicken Maryland with crunchy noodles and cheesy potato gems
Baked cheesy Chicken Maryland with crunchy noodles and cheesy potato gems
Baked cheesy Chicken Maryland with crunchy noodles and cheesy potato gems
Baked cheesy Chicken Maryland with crunchy noodles and cheesy potato gems

Friday breakfast was a cheese and spring onion omelet

Cheese and spring onion omelet
Cheese and spring onion omelet

Friday lunch wasn’t leftovers. Normally on Fridays I work in ACT Pathology at The Canberra Hospital. This Friday though we had senate budget estimates so I had to be at my regular job. I ended up driving to Parliament House twice and didn’t get asked anything which I’m not unhappy about. I’ve had a bit to say over the last couple of estimates hearings and gave evidence at a senate inquiry hearing towards the end of April. So for Friday lunch I splurged a bit and enjoyed a Pork belly cheeseburger with a really nice jalapeño aioli from Urban Bean Espresso Bar.

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Pork belly with Jalapeño aioli cheese burger and chips from Urban Bean Espresso Bar
Pork belly with Jalapeño aioli cheese burger and chips from Urban Bean Espresso Bar

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Friday dinner was a simple affair. The Australian Kangaroos were playing a rugby league test match against the New Zealand Kiwis so I needed some footy food. In the end I went to Coles and bought a couple of beef and mushroom meat pies for dinner. I used Adobe Photoshop to create the Green and Gold background in support of the Australian team which contained most of what I hope are the Queensland team for this year’s State of Origin series.

Beef and mushroom meat pie
Beef and mushroom meat pie

Saturday breakfast was in the QANTAS club at the Canberra International Airport. I went with a slice of rain toast, a glass of tomato juice and a small latte.

Raisin toast with coffee
Raisin toast with coffee

The flight to Brisbane was pretty smooth. I ended up in an armrest battle. Have you had one of those?

I ended up eating second breakfast!

Breakfast on QF948 CBR to BNE
Breakfast on QF948 CBR to BNE

I flew to Brisbane for my eldest daughter’s twenty-first birthday. Ms21 is a qualified event planner/manager so we had a really nice party with family and her friends.

Mum and Dad took me out to lunch to Portabella Restaurant to celebrate my birthday from last week. We also had Ms18 and Miss15 with us too. Ms18 is now Ms19 so it was a celebration for her too. Yes, my two eldest daughters were born on the same day.

Mum, Dad, Larissa and Nicola
Mum, Dad, Larissa and Nicola
Larissa and Nicola
Larissa and Nicola

I was going to asked for the pork belly or the lamb shank but the fish of the day was a wild caught fresh north Queensland barramundi. My mouth started to salivate.

Crispy skin barramundi with duck fat sauteed potatoes
Crispy skin barramundi with duck fat sauteed potatoes

It wasn’t what I was hoping for. The skin was crispy. The duck fat sautéed potatoes were nice. It looked nice but the barra wasn’t pleasant to eat. It wasn’t moist and flaky. It was spongy and bits clung to the teeth. Barramundi can be difficult to cook, it is bad undercooked and easy to overcook. I suppose having lived in the Top End for nearly 12 years I was spoilt. I’ll know next time to ask for something else like the pork or the lamb.

For afternoon tea I had a vanilla slice

Vanilla slice
Vanilla slice

For Saturday evening we celebrated Ms20’s 21st birthday. No food photographs sorry but here are some photographs from the evening.

Grace and Rhys Grace, Larissa, Nicola, Mum and Dad Grace, Mum and Dad Grace and Samantha

Chinese Lantern made by the birthday girl
Chinese Lantern made by the birthday girl

Grace, Larissa and Nicola at #GraceLum21 Grace, Larissa, Nicola and Samantha

Sunday Mother’s day breakfast at Groove Train Chermside

Hearty vegetarian at Groove Train
Hearty vegetarian at Groove Train

The hearty vegetarian always a good choice and better when Mum gave me some bacon from her Eggs Benedict.

I hope you had a good week!

6 Responses

  1. Congratulations on your 51st birthday.

    That vanilla slice looks similar to a napoleon filled with pastry cream from my local bakery. Is it made with puff pastry?

    1. Thanks. I wonder when I’ll start going backwards in age 😃

      That vanilla slice wasn’t traditional but it was very nice. Yes it was a puff pastry.

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