The BB cafe

[Kazzl]

The BB cafe is open for business!
Welcome all to a new chill and chat place for everyone on the forum.

The BB cafe is whatever you want it to be. There are comfy sofas, tables and chairs, coffee machines, a kitchen stocked with everything. There's a pool outside, a bbq area, an annexe with comfy beds for a quiet sleep, tv, dvd, books and whatever else you would like to have here.

Most of all, it's a place to meet friends and fellow travellers for a bit of company. Talk over problems, tell jokes, share your day, escape into a world of your making. Grab a coffee and pull up a chair ... 

So, with a nod to the wonderful Carole King (Hard Rock Cafe) ...

Now if you're feeling just a little bit lonely
Don't sit at home just mopin'
Come on down to where the friendship flows freely
You know the door is always open

At the BB cafe
Come to the BB cafe
They will help keep your blues at bay
At the BB cafe

Important Message from ModSupport: 
The main intention of the BB Cafe is to encourage light conversation. Please look after your fellow community members by nuturing the BB Cafe as a place to escape some of the more pressing issues in life and save those conversations for personal threads. 

[mmMekitty]

Oh, it's still rainy, but hopefully not much more. Still, I feel like a warm breakfast.

What can I find to put in my omelette? Good question. If you would like an omelette, what would you like in it?

Besides Cheese - I think every omelette must have cheese, added right before folding.

[ecomama]

GOOD RAINY MORNING everyone, even though it's afternoon now lol. Luckily Kitty's omelettes are on the ALL DAY MENU! 

Gosh I had to read back so far, been a while since I came into the Cafe. I've been so unwell, got meds from the Dr, so hopefully on the up and up from NOW. 

Didn't watch the Queen's funeral. I respected her and her marvellous life long commitment to her role. 
Darling lady, hope she can rest in peace. 

Wow we're up to 1977! 

I missed OTR talking about all the yummy Asian fruits and sauces!! 
We also use Kewpie mayo but for on top of anything lol, especially Nigiri, but anything really. 
It's our TOP fave mayo.

I could lend you a chicken or two? 
Hahaha. I leave the whole old pizzas in their coop, they chomp through the crusts eventually. 
But I avoid putting anything with avocado or kiwi fruit in there as they poison chickens. 
Never potato skins unless they're cooked. Raw ones poison them too. 

They've got LOTS of Indian food to eat this week. My multiples had their family birthday party this week and Indian food was the go. 
Plus leftovers from a Farewell luncheon at work too... lucky chooks! 

They DO love the Arrowroot leaves I trim off the plants for them every day, just saying. 

I'm having Thai Soup tonight, YUM. Tom Yum to be precise lol. 

Love EMxxxx

[Moonstruck]

Tom Yum Thai soup hey ecomama?   Why didn't you invite me over?  Did you make it, or was it bought somewhere?  How do I make it?  I'll bet it's too difficult.  Is there some good ones in the supermarket. Oh that's right, we can't afford to buy stuff in supermarkets any more.  absolutely everything is going sky high.  It's like that up here in Qld anyway...whats it like foodwise wherever you all are?

[mmMekitty]

Hi Moon! Great to see you here.😺

& everyone else too, including those who are new to BB. 😺You are all welcome here.

You might recall, I'm Qld too, metro area, & still the prices are high - I feel for those living in any rural areas, where the cost is always higher than for city folk. I consider whether or not to get some foods, thinking more carefully about the nutritional value of the food I'm buying, & not wasting so much money on 'crap'. & I have to include coffee in that.

So far, so good. I've only had two morning cuppas in the last week, ten days, I think I'm not feeling any 'withdrawal' & it's getting me into a better habit of having breakfast, at breakfast time.

& I am persuading myself it is worth getting more fresh fruit & veg & filling up my meals with more salad. The fruit can be on my cereal or for dessert.

I think I'm fortunate to be doing this now, while the weather is warming again. Winter could  see me struggle again. For now, I'm hopeful that I'll be feeling good effects of eating better than I ever have before.

Today is a lovely day, great for taking lunch outdoors, or having a picnic.

Lucky us, at BBc Cafe; our lawns are not soggy at all! There's plenty of shade under the trees & just a gentle breeze bringing the scent of spring flowers to us from the garden. & I've filled the bird bath & put out some seeds & fruit pieces for them, too. & I do believe they are singing happy songs because bellies are full, & nests have eggs, & the world is a generous & Peaceful place, hear at BB Cafe.

😹

mmMekitty

[sbella02]

EM, Thai food in general is amazing, perhaps at the BB Café we can have a Thai-inspired feast tonight!

mmMekitty, it's great to be conscientious when buying food, particularly in times like now when food prices have spiked. I should probably do that more, I unfortunately spend quite a bit on food that will offer me a sweet treat rather than what's healthy.

I'll bring my picnic rug to the Café this morning, I'd love to breathe in that fresh scent of spring flowers while we enjoy a beautiful picnic in the outdoors. Unfortunately it's raining where I live, so it's nice to see that the sun's out here.

SB 🙂

[On The Road]

Good evening everyone, a whole new week's coming🙂  What's special on the BB cafe menu this week???

EM, nirigi is one of my favourites, I like to have a bit of wasabi (just a little bit) with my sushi. Your chickens are lucky to have more varied kinds of food than many ppl have 😊 

Not sure what arrowroot is but I supposed it's something that I had before in soup, probably not the same root veggie.

Tom Yum is the best lol, I love every ingredient of it. 

Hi Moonstruck, Mekitty and sbella02, the grocery price still are high (except for the lettuce and strawberries?)  I actually bought 2 kilos of strawberries as they were so cheap, I and my housemate tried to finish them before they went bad and still we waste a few of them.  I had them with my cereal in the morning, and also as snacks after lunch.

Spending a bit bigger proportion on healthy food is good, while sometimes a bit extra on not-so-healthy food is not a bad thing if that makes you feel good. What are some guilty pleasure treats that you all would love to have? 😊

[mmMekitty]

Hi OTR & everyone,

Because pre-packed frozen fruit is expensive when compared to fresh, I have bought the fresh, & am cutting things like bananas & strawberries & freezing them. I get a cutting board, & lay a sheet of plastic on it, & then cut the fruit & lay the pieces on the plastic then the cutting board & all go into a plastic bag & into the freezer. Grapes, blueberries, blackberries, raspberries & anything similar won't need cutting first.  i put them into plastic bags just as they are then freeze.

I haven't tried melons or apples or pears, nor stone fruit - but if I find it in the pre-packed products, I think they could work okay.

Only thing,is, I can't 'snap' freeze, so the result when the fruit is thawed the texture may be not as good as fresh, but I think fine for cereal or smoothies, or in cakes. 

If uncertain, just try a little first & see how it goes.

In this way I don't hav to try to finish whole punnets of strawberries within a few days. I think this makes economic sense - if you have the freezer space.

😺

Now it's nighttime, we can have a little rain to keep our lawns green. & maybe, some little white mushrooms will pop up in the night. Just rememberm leave the Gnome 🍄 Home Mushrooms where they are, because we don't want to see any gnomes without homes.

mmMekitty.

[ecomama]

Beautiful BB Cafe goers! 

sbella, knock yourself out with a Thai menu! lol. 

Kitty, there are tried and true methods of preserving fruit and veg, specifically for each one. Some need par blanching. My Nana taught me how to do this for years. It's worth getting IN SEASON F&V at all times, far cheaper this way.

Moon, you are ALWAYS welcome anywhere I am lol. Love you to bits, hugs! 
Oh we bought Thai food this time from a new Thai restaurant we wanted to try out. Must say we were disappointed... we're pretty fussy tho. 
My variation is really easy to make. SOME ingredients could be hard to find like fresh lemon grass (kaffir lime leaves etc) but this is a SUPER EASY plant to grow...  I need to revive the Gardening & Easy Peasy Recipes thread. 

OTR, my cultural cousin lol. We love Nigiri! Did I put THIS on the recipe thread? I make around 6 x 30cm long rolls of Sushi rice mix at a time. Whatever we don't use for Nigiri, my kids slice up for their invented Asian salads. 

ARROWROOT is a beautiful, tall plant with lush wide leaves. It's a super booster for Compost systems, cut off leaves, add to composts to activate faster. The corms under the earth can be dug up, dried & finely grated to thicken soups etc. But I grow mine for their uses with increasing the health of my chickens & their beauty. 
Our chickens are SPOILT. We regularly get double yolkers & once had a TRIPLE yolker. 

PLEASE dear BBers, visit Community Gardens to gather any fresh, in season veg, some have fruit too! 

We have THREE in walking distance of our home, open 24 / 7 for EVERY-ONE. 
The more people USE these gardens, the more we grow them throughout ALL Communities! 
It was precisely for this time that we prepped them. 

Hopefully I'll get to a talk by Costa Georgiadis this weekend, I'm so excited, I can barely contain myself lol. 

Love EM

[mmMekitty]

Ah, you give me more to research, EM. 🙀 As if I gon't get tired enough!

[ecomama]

Oh dear Kitty! I'm sorry. Hey if you want to post on your thread, what you're trying to store in your freezer, I can search it up for you. I'll do my best anyway. 

Also the fruits and veg in season. 
Buying "in season" can mean up to a quarter of the price. 
Of course this also means we'd need to concede to eating differing foods (and recipes) in each season, which can be a THING for some people! 

I get that. Sorry dear Kitty. 
On the PLUS side lol... the method you use will allow you to HAVE these foods last much longer in your freezer. 

Talk soon! 
Love EMxxxx