Photos of summer salads

I accidentally published my previous post a bit early. For recipes, click here.

I meant to add some photos.

Here is my Green Bean Salad.

It turned out yummy, and tasted pretty much exactly like the one at ate at the cafe. So yay for me and my awesome palate and for being able to work out a recipe after eating a dish just once. Maybe I should consider auditioning for Masterchef!

Here is the Warm Potato Salad.

Roast Potato and Bacon

Adding the dressing...

The finished product.

And it tasted just as yummy as I remembered it.

A great success all round :)

For the first time in what seems like ages, I've been doing some creative cooking today.

The weather is warm enough for a barbie for dinner and so I'm experimenting with a couple of salads to go with our steak. Mmmmm steak...

The first salad I'm calling Green Bean Salad. It was inspired by something I ate at a cafe near me. As soon as I began eating I knew that it was something I would try to recreate at home. It just seemed so perfect for the warmer weather and was a treat for the senses - the crunch of the beans complemented by the creaminess of the avocado; the peppery-ness of the rocket a perfect foil for the sweetness of the mango. 

I'm sharing the "recipe" below, but be warned! I fly by the seat of my pants when it comes to cooking. I've created my own version of the dish based only on my experience of eating it once. I may need to tweak the recipe a bit for next time. 

Ingredients

A couple of big handfuls of raw green beans, topped and tailed and cut into two-inch pieces.

A couple of big handfuls of baby rocket.

Half a large red capsicum, sliced as finely as possible.

Half a spanish onion, sliced as finely as possible.

A large avocado cut into small chunks.

A large mango cut into small chunks.

A drizzle of red wine vinegar.

A drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.

Method

Toss the beans, rocket, capsicum and onion in a salad bowl.

Dress with vinegar first, then oil.

Gently toss through avocado and mango just before serving.

The second salad is one that my sister served us recently. I helped her make it that day, so though I didn't have the recipe in front of me when I made it today, at least I had a fairly good idea of what went into it. Here's my version of Warm Potato Salad.

Ingredients

Enough new potatoes for everyone, cut into bite-size chunks. (I used about 750 grams. I didn't actually weigh them. I'm just guessing.)

A generous drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.

Diced bacon. (I used four short-cut rindless rashers.)

About half a cup of whole egg mayonnaise.

About a quarter of a cup of sour cream. (I used "light". Who was I kidding?)

Three good teaspoons of wholegrain mustard.

Method

Fry the bacon.

Put the potatoes into a baking dish and toss in the oil. Sprinkle the bacon over.

Bake the potatoes in a hot oven for 40 minutes, tossing halfway through cooking time.

Combine the mayonnaise, sour cream and mustard for the dressing.

Put the cooked potatoes into a serving dish and dress immediately.

Allow the salad to cool a little before serving.

Can be refrigerated and served cold.

Braving bare legs with body bronzer

Spring weather is very unpredictable where I live.

One minute you're enjoying wearing a short skirt with bare legs and stressing about the whiteness of said bare legs. The next you're layering up with jeans and cardigans.

The other day we had an awesome warm springish day and I decided to bite the bullet and wear a skirt with no stockings, tights or other leg covering materials. I'm super brave like that now!

I just needed a little something to give me the confidence to bare my legs, so I decided to give some Le Tan Body Bronzer a go. It's like make-up for your body. You can click on the link to visit Le Tan's website and check out the product for yourself. I didn't receive any for free or anything. I'm not being paid or compensated to write this post. I just like to share information when I can.

I applied the lotion generously to my legs and then washed my hands with soap and water to avoid having bronzed sparkly hands all day. My legs looked pleasantly golden with a little bit of a shimmer. I was a little bit worried about the shimmer to be honest. I work in a library and I didn't want my legs to look like they were dressed for the disco! It wasn't a problem, however, because the shimmer is subtle and only really shows up under strong light. Out in the sunshine I glittered a little, but not enough to look like I was auditioning for a role in a Twilight movie!

The bronzer stayed put on my legs all day and didn't rub off onto my clothes. When I showered it washed right off with soap and water. I think I'm a convert now!

Do you have any little tricks that give you a bit more confidence to face the world? I'd love to hear them.

And if Le Tan want to send me a truckload of Body Bronzer I'm happy to receive it!

Skinny Ass Saturday

I just thought I'd share...

I'm on the Maintenance Plan with Weight Watchers now!

As soon as I got below 58 kg I clicked "maintain this weight". No more losing for me!

Maintenance is awesome. I get 6 more points a day - hooray!

I've been on it for all of one week but it's going great so far. What's not to love about 6 points more each day? Except for the fact that in the back of my mind I've been a teeny bit worried that those 6 points were the only thing standing between me and obesity. You know the irrational fear that as soon as you stop losing weight you will automatically start gaining again? 

I started maintenance at 57.9 kg and was determined to stay under 58 kg. So I wasn't giving myself much room to move! This morning I checked my weight and it was 57.3 kg. So now I'm feeling a bit more relaxed about the whole thing.

I'm going to link this post up with my pal Brandy at You Don't Know.

Please click through to visit Brandy and encourage her to keep up the good work!

Almost too busy to read.

What have you been reading?

Unfortunately, my life has reached a level of busyness that has rendered me almost too busy to read. What??? I didn't think it was possible.

I used to tell people that insisted that they were too busy to read that it would never happen to me. I have my priorities! But I'm struggling these days to get through a book in two weeks, sneaking in a few minutes of reading here and there wherever I can. What is the world coming to?

I have discovered two series that I'm enjoying.

I've started reading Kelley Armstrong's Otherworld series. Click here to visit Kelley's website.

The first book in the series is Bitten. It tells the story of Elena, the only female werewolf in the world, and her attempt to live a normal human life. Trouble in the werewolf pack draws her back into the supernatural world and into danger...

I'm currently reading the second book, Stolen. 

The other series that I've discovered is Nora Robert's Circle Trilogy. Click here to visit Nora's website.

The first book in the series is Morrigan's Cross. It begins in medieval Ireland with the sorcerer Hoyt battling the vampyre Lilith, but the action quickly moves to modern-day New York where we meet the beautiful and powerful witch Glenna. Hoyt and Glenna are charged by the goddess Morrigan to assemble an army to fight the vampyres and rescue humankind from annihilation...

I'll soon be heading to my library to borrow the second book in the series, Dance of the Gods.

Have you got any new favourite books lately? Any authors that I should be looking out for?

Happy reading :)