What a great night!

I hung out with my Mum after work today. First we went swimming. It is the best form of exercise for someone with a prosthesis - so nice to get it off and jump in the water where you can float as well as the next person. Tonnes of laps later, I started getting a bit "grumpy old women" on some kids who were continually jumping/pushing eachother into the lap lanes right in front of all the swimmers. Who would have thought I was in my twenties? Ha.

When I went back to Mum's it was one bit of awesomeness after another...

The dinner was 'cous cous patties', which Mum served with steamed vegetables and the most delicious zucchini I've ever had - mini zucchinis from the farmer's market baked in a bit of olive oil. YUM! The cous cous patties were served with a choice of sweet chilli sauce or tomato and capsicum relish. I tried the patties with one and then the other, and it was a tasty party in my mouth :D

I wanted to try cooking these patties myself, especially after my attempt at my Mum's awesome broccoli pasta worked so well earlier in the week. Not only did I get to borrow the book that has the recipe for cous cous patties in it off of Mum, I also found out she has (and was willing to lend me) a copy of A Year of Slow Food by David and Gerda Foster!

My awesome new top of the reading list!

After hearing me whinge about needing a soap shaker, Mum remembered that she had, hiding away in the back of the cupboard from years ago... that's right, a SOAP SHAKER! These are apparently very hard to find, but I now have one! I was so excited we had to stop at the supermarket on the way home to get me some velvet soap so I could test drive it tomorrow.

Also scored a toothbrush from the shops so I could use my old one to clean the grout between the tiles in my shower. I'm starting the oddly satisfying process of cleaning my house using only water, vinegar, bi carb soda and lemon, using A Chemical Free Home by Robin Stewart as my bible. I got home at midnight, tired and ready for bed, and... cleaned the shower. Eep what is happening to me? Anyway the bicarb and vinegar worked pretty well in the shower. I wouldn't say it worked any better than shower power, but it didn't make me dizzy or lightheaded, and didn't leave my skin red and irritated. Tick!

Earlier in the week I also cleaned the floors with hot water and vinegar (tick!), and the stove with bicarb and vinegar (BIG tick!)... So far so good for this book. I don't think I'll do ALL of it, and I'm not sure Bertie will do any of it when she cleans (fair enough too, I can't make that choice for her), but if we reduce the amount of chemicals we use for cleaning in our house - and there are heaps - then I'll be a happy little vegemite. For now. Lol.

But wait! There is MORE awesomeness from tonight for you to be told about. Actually, I'll tell you about it with this photo, which pretty much speaks for itself:

This beautiful, beautiful machine has been sitting in a cupboard for a long time (I was given it as a child) because I couldn't sew... I am going to change that. I've bartered a weekend of my cooking for a weekend of my friend's sewing lessons. Good (I hope) food + sewing lessons + good company = a hell of an exciting weekend!

The food I make can't have meat, dairy, eggs, honey, gluten, yeast, funghi (mushrooms etc), eggplant, tree nuts (all nuts but peanuts), kiwi fruit, mango or honeydew melon. And none of the recipes should have too much sugar in them. I'm looking forward to the challenge :D