A bit of Southern inspired cooking... in Australia

So I absolutely love the idea of Southern food. I trawl through pinterest looking at Southern inspired recipes, salivating over the delicious artery-clogging food.

One of my good friends is from the south (Pensacola, Florida) and I absolutely love hearing her describe all the lovely food that she has grown up on. Surprisingly, she is very thin! (I would be severely obese if I was to relocate!).

Her mother was over last year and bought a suitcase full of jars, bottles and sachets of all things delicious. I was very happy to accept the offer to come over for a "Southern" breakfast one morning.
After a cup of sweet tea (I didn't want to know how much sugar was in it), I was served some delicious French toast(?) which had been seasoned with some kind of yummy sugar, drizzled in calorie laden syrup. Ah-mazing.

I am always on the lookout for recipes to make, but it is made hard by not having a lot of the ingredients available here in Australia. So imagine my glee when I was shopping at Harris Farm Market and found a stand of Sweet Baby Ray's Gourmet Sauce.
Yoink. I threw a bottle into my trolley and sped home (ok, I finished my shopping and drove home adhering to the speed limit).
After perusing Pinterest and Google for some recipes, I found a few for a slow cooked style BBQ chicken. I decided to slightly take a pinch from one recipe, a pinch from another recipe and a pinch of my friends thoughts, and managed to produce some delicious chicken for dinner which was No fuss, cheap and required no heavy duty cleaning.

Delicious Southern BBQ chicken Adapted by an Aussie*
*I am in NO WAY saying this tasted anything like Southern cooking (because I have no comparison) but enjoyed making it into my own :)

Firstly place two chicken breast into the slow cooker 'bowl'. Of course, defrosted. No need to slice or pre-cook.
Season with salt and pepper. Just enough to lightly coat
Mix, in a separate bowl, 1 cup of BBQ sauce, 1/2 cup Italian salad dressing, and 1 tsp worstershire sauce. I used "Sweet Baby Rays hickory and brown sugar BBQ sauce".
Coat chicken breast with mixture. Ensure that both breasts' are covered well
Cook on LOW for 7-8 hours. Every few hours, I gave it all a bit of a 'mix'.
Shred chicken with fork

Before

After

 

We enjoyed the piping hot chicken on fresh rolls with some crunchy coleslaw. Accompanied by home grown sweetcorn and butter.

We also had lots leftover for lunches.

Quick, easy, and absolutely delicious. A must-try!

 

Love Bettie xx

Visiting the beach as a pale gal with lotsa freckles

Living in this gorgeous beachside suburb with the same name as a large lake bird, a lovely swim is only a 3 minute drive away (for the beach), or a 3 minute walk (for a swimmable part of Lake Macquarie). We are truly blessed to live here.

Which brings me to my next point being sun smart. I have extremely pale freckly skin, and as much as I would love (and love to think I can) to get a lovely tan, I can't. And I have tried. 

On a recent trip to Hawaii, I was thrilled to see that they had actual sun tan oil in the ABC shops (those who have visited Hawaii would know all about these shops). I squealed and put it in my basket. About 1/12th of a second later I heard some laughing and looked up to see Mr Bettie shaking his head at me. "No no no". 

And he was right. I. do. not. tan.

I do however turn a bright shade of red, and become extremely more freckly. Nothing sexier.

Here I am. Sans makeup. Sans filter. In all my pale freckly glory.

 

I really enjoy going to the beach to swim and relax. So I have to be smart about it.

Especially since my Nan passed away from melanoma when she was only in her early 40's, and unfortunately I don't remember her.

 

I have been burnt so badly I have blistered and peeled. And I am sure that every Australian can say the same. There is nothing more Australian than going to the beach and running across the boiling hot sand to the water. Then floundering around in the surf, with the occasional dunk from a wave causing you to choke on the salt-water. Sounds bliss, doesn't it. Oh and of course the 'easy' lunch of hot chips with chicken salt and tomato sauce still in your wet swimmers. Bliss.

Not so bliss that night when you are literally on fire. Gone are those days.

 

These days I am smart about it. Here are my products that I use to protect myself from getting burnt.



 

 

QV day cream with SPF 30+.

This is very cheap and lovely and thick, and lovely on my sensitive skin

 

I love this Neutrogena sunscreen, as it is a fine mist spray which is easy to apply

 

 

A beautiful Kaftan-style cover up to feel like a goddess and to hide flabby bits when walking to destination spot on beach. Also helpful for popping to the shops on the way home from said beach (secretly jealous of those gorgeous people who walk around the shops in bikini)

What a sight- on the way to the beach. Note the ship on the horizon. You know you are near the ocean in Newcastle/Lake Macquarie when you see these lining up

Beautiful. Stunning. Struggling to take picture whilst carrying beach chair, bag, umbrella

 

I love the plants and trees around the water. I don't know how to put sounds on this blog, but picture this tree with the sound of crickets and a fly buzzing in your ear. How Australian is that hey!

 

 

My set up! I do love stripes. Umbrella complete with some kind of mark on it (presumably bird poop).

 

Hi there! Enjoying the beach I am.

 

Hat- from Santa Claus. Sunglasses- Fendi (purchased in Venice after one bottle of champagne during gondola ride. I'll be wearing these until I am 87).

 

 

So my must haves include big hat, sunscreen, big sunglasses, umbrella, cold water, and swimmers (cozzies, swimsuit, bathers). Confidence (to wear the bikini on the beach), and a book!

Reapply sunscreen every hour.

Feel good about yourself in your bikini ........ until a real life barbie and ken camp up right next to you.



 

Now home on the lounge, with the air conditioner on watching Puberty Blues. My favourite movie of all time. If you haven't gotten to watch this movie, it is a must see.

 

 

 

 

Love Bettie xx

 

My first ever blog post

How to start? What to write? What will this blog even entail?
I guess whatever I want, as it is my blog. Will anyone even be interested? Perhaps, yes. But if not, what have I lost.
I don’t find myself as entirely interesting. I am a girl (obviously), OR should I say I am a woman. I hate that term. I am a “woo-man”. Like a feminist. Feminists ey.. I prefer a brazillian wax, to wear a bra and think that I should cook and my boyfriend should take out the trash.
I am I suppose what some people would call successful. What defines success? Wealth? Health? Happiness?

I graduated from Newcastle University when I was 20-and-a-half with a Bachelor of Nursing. I wanted to be a primary school teacher, but didn’t get the marks. My plan was to get into something ‘easy’ and transfer over. I never did. And I would never say the Bachelor of Nursing was ‘easy’ either. Perhaps that it was because I was only 17-and-a-half when I started? And was mostly interested in drinking, and hanging out with my then emotional-abusive boyfriend. And have absolutely no idea what I wanted in life. That just seems like yesterday, except it feels like a very long time ago if you know what I mean.

I have been working at a large trauma referral hospital in Newcastle as a Registered Nurse for coming up to my 8th year. I am 26 and a half. And I am a bloody good nurse. I am caring, and passionate. I am honest and a patient advocate. I have days where I want to throw it all in, but what else would I do? Nursing is what I have been made to do.

I live in a quiet lake/beachside town that has the name of a coastal bird. It is bliss. We have horrible shaggy carpet that makes me feel itchy, and has to be vacuumed all the time (but doesn’t as much as it should).

I am on Lexapro. Lexapro is a medication used to treat anxiety and depression. I have anxiety which in turn made me depressed. It made me depressed because I felt so anxious and worried all the time, it caused me to become depressed. “But you are so happy all the time Bettie” (pseudonym). I have been on this for coming up to 5 years, and I am doing very well at the moment.

I have some endometriosis. I have had two laparoscopic surgeries for it.

I am not perfect, and have many many flaws. I hope to update this blog regularly with whatever inspires me.

 

Introducing myself. The one in the stripes. Always in stripes. Taken NYE 2014.

Happy New Year all

Love Bettie xx