Blends and Brothers!

 

Sweetly tucked away in Rouse Hill Town Centre lies this outstanding concept café - A Barber Shop and Café! Now before any food safety officers start pulling their hair out, the two are separated by a fabulous bench with old school stools!

 

 The coffee is to die for! The food, mouth watering - and the cuts, well my partner in crime and gorgeous man Tommy Craig won't go anywhere else!

It also helps that is housemate is his barber, but that doesn't stop him, or all the gents I know heading down to Blends!
The atmosphere as you walk in just welcomes you as if you are an old friend! The music they play is something out of an 1940s movie, loud enough to hear, but soft enough to have a conversation with the person you are with!

For me however, the food and coffee is why I keep coming back! My friend Brady ordered his standard morning beverage, an ice coffee and was suddenly surprised when this gorgeous set up was placed in front of him! Freshly brewed coffee with a scoop of ice-cream and fresh milk - and my god was I wishing I ordered that!

  Now when I first went to Blends, I thought, no, with that small of a kitchen there is no way this breakfast would match some of my favourite cafes in the Inner West (more to come on them I promise!) - however the Nutella stuffed French toast absolutely blew me away! The presentation, the flavours and the taste made me crave more!

 

 

 

Overall, Blends and Brothers is worth the drive out to Rouse Hill! Check them out on their Facebook page - Blends and Brothers!

 For any locals out there who have not been, YOU HAVE TO GO!

 

Big love to all the crew at Blends, including my favourite Barber Isac (you crazy bearded American!)

 

Signing off,

 

Clo xx



The little things... Chilli Corn Delights!

The little things are what makes a meal! You can have the most glorious, delicious, succulent roast pork as the staple of your meal, crispy crackling and heavenly gravy, however that meal can all go to waste if the sides are not as equally scrumptious.

This post is to show you what a few simple (and very cheap!) ingredients can do, to make a meal look AND taste even better!

I made this quick little recipe up on a Sunday night. I had eaten breakfast, brunch and lunch that day (as you do on a Sunday) and I didn't feel like a big meal! You know when you look in the fridge and nothing jumps straight out at you, you wonder around your kitchen aimlessly trying to figure out what it is that you actually feel like, well that was me for about 2 hours on Sunday night!

Eventually I looked in the freezer and saw a bag of frozen corn cobs - and then my stomach growled! This was exactly what I felt like. Heavenly corn on a cob with butter - but with a twist!


Below is the (very small) list of ingredients and the "method" of how to cook it. Nothing I post will be confusing and all of my recipes are very easy to follow - so enjoy! For the cheaper version, use frozen corn cobs, however my number one rule is -

Chilli Corn Delights.
Serves 3Gluten Free & Vegetarian Friendly

 

Ingredients:

6 x Frozen or fresh corn cobs (frozen is cheaper, but fresh is always best!)

1 x red long chilli (chopped finely)

1 x handful fresh mint (I grow mine in a small pot - gives it a nice touch!)

100g butter (if you want, you can just do oil, but good unsalted butter is delicious!)

Salt and Pepper (to taste)
1 x tsp. crushed garlic (you can get this on the cheap at Woolworths!)

 

Method:

1. Boil the corn in a pot of water until tender then drain water

2. Place butter and garlic in the pot with corn

3. Once butter has melted, add all other ingredients. 

4. Fry corn in pot until browning slightly

5. Present corn in a bowl with a spring of mint and a twist of salt and pepper.

 

The end result will blow your mind with the chilli and mint flavours! The mint leaves will have soaked up all the butter and chilli and taste absolutely scrumptious!

 

Comment with your photos and results of your fabulous Chilli Corn Delights - I cannot wait to read them!

 

Enjoy, Clo xx

In the beginning...

In the beginning, man lived off the earth. They survived off eating roots and raw meat and everything was natural. The word "processed" and "additive" did not exist and people lived long lives (before the dinosaurs ate them of course!). Over the course of the last 50,000 years or so, we have changed the way we live and in turn, what we eat!

 

We have seen the effects of media telling us "how to loose 10kg in a week" and the assortments of diets and fads, which has led us to a society filled with anxious young women worried about their clothes size rather then their education, and men who inject themselves with steroids rather then naturally gaining muscle.

I myself have succumbed to this "media pressure" and have tried many, MANY of the fad diets out there, no carbs for a week, only carbs for a week - only eating vegetables, only eating meat - the lists go on and on, however it is now time for a change.

My name is Chloe Elliott and I want a change - I want young people to have a great attitude to their bodies and lifestyles - I want young people on a budget to eat good, healthy, natural food and not break the bank. I want to teach people that you can cook natural foods AND make them tasty!




Now I warn you all, I am no where near the calibre of qualified chefs and nutritionists. I regularly make mistakes in my kitchen and end up crying on my kitchen floor because my fabulous recipe didn't go as planned - however I want to share these moments with you and also celebrate the wins. I'm going to show you some quick, easy to cook recipes that taste fabulous and don't break the bank.

I would love to hear from you all, if anyone is out there... I would love to hear your tips and tricks, your favourite recipes and moments in the kitchen (good or bad!) I promise I will share with you, my best and worst moments, because in the end - it's all part of the journey!

 

I am so excited to get this started, so please - enjoy!

 

Clo xx