Milo? Weet Bix?

When we first arrived, I constantly heard people talk about Milo.  I understood it to be some kind of snack.  But oh, it's so much more.  It's apparently gold in Hollie's eyes, who has become totally addicted to the stuff.

Milo can be purchased in multiple forms - powder, premade liquid, pudding, cereal, etc.  It is made from malted barley, is chocolate in flavor, and apparently offers a multitude of vitamins, minerals and protein.  Add warm milk and wah-lahhh - healthy hot cocoa!

And then there is Weet Bix.  It's like the national cereal.   "Aussie Kids are Weet-Bix kids!".  I have tried it and must say, it's pretty good with a half pound of sugar on it.

As for cereals, variations are limited here.  I shop at Coles ,and there are probably 5-10 different kinds of cereal, and are not the sugary variety I would see back home.  Cocoa Krispies is the only one that I see here.
There are no instant grits : (  No frozen pancakes (poor Brynn) and NO BISCUITS!  Of course, I'm sure I could make them if I could figure out how to do it in a way that doesn't involve tearing paper off a can, popping it open with a fork, and laying them out on the pan?  As for eggs, I've only seen brown ones here (which are stored on the shelf, and not refrigerated).   So breakfast is pretty bland so far in our house (toast, bagels, rice krispies), but I feel certain we'll find something that we all love soon!

Coffee

I am a big coffee drinker.  With all the coffee I drink, you might think I'd be diverse in my selection.  Not so.  I like coffee mostly plain.  I do like a little (and by little I mean like 3 packs of Equal) sweetener and a little (quarter cup) of milk.  Hey, I told you my metrics were off here. Prior to our move here, I was also a decaf drinker.  Those days are long gone.


Here's the thing.  You basically can't find drip coffee in Australia.  I have seen it once so far, at McDonalds, out of the city.  I love McDonalds coffee back home, but here it's not even close to the same.  This reminds me of something I just read about Cherry Coke that is produced in the Netherlands - "I think they add a little bit of ass in"....Clearly the McD's coffee here is made in the Netherlands. 


When I am out at a coffee shop, I generally order a Flat White.  And if I can make it to the coffee shop before 7am, I'll get the early bird special price of only $4.   Well, hot damn, I'm running out the door at 6:50am!  No, not really.  I drink instant coffee (gasp here) at home.  I have an electric kettle and can make a decent (Okay, I guess I've just gotten used to it) cup of coffee in under a minute.


Anyway - Flat White...


Here is how a Flat white is defined by Wiki:

A flat white is a coffee beverage from Australia and New Zealand. It is prepared by pouring microfoam (steamed milk from the bottom of a pitcher) over a single shot (30 millilitre) or double shot of espresso. It is similar to the latte and the café au lait and like other espresso based beverages it can be interpreted various ways.

The beverage is typically served in a small, 150–160 millilitre, ceramic cup. Microfoam is used, resulting in a smooth and velvety texture. A flat white may incorporatelatte art.

Eating ...and Eating...and Eating...

Any chance I get to eat, I'm in.    I wonder if this lifestyle of eating is going to force me to change my ways, or maybe just my pants?

The days go like this.

7am Brekkie (breakfast, if that wasn't obvious).   My kids have this at home and usually it consists of a bowl of cereal or some sort of bread with butter or jam (toast, bagel, etc)

10am Morning Tea: Coffee for me (also another item on my never-turn-down list), kids have milk or juice and fruit and crackers or something similar.  I've had crumpets a few times as well, and I must say, I really enjoy them. Coffee and crumpets doesn't sound quite proper, does it?

1pm Lunch:  At home, we generally have light lunches.  Sandwich, bowl of leftover dinner, soup, etc. At school there is a variety (I will add a menu from Hollie's school below).

3pm Afternoon Tea: Coffee (duh) for me, Kids have juice/milk and again fruit and crackers, and sometimes a cookie, etc

5pm: Supper / Evening Tea:  At preschool and after school care, "supper" is served at 5 and is a light meal.  These are generally pasta, mixed fruit...sandwiches..soup...etc.

7pm Dinner:  Normal dinner at home (although we're not quite on a normal rotation as far as what we eat here).  We usually have pasta at least one night, pizza one night, and the others are just a range of things. Notice that I say that like I'm an avid chef.  Truth is, if they had Hamburger Helper here, we'd be having that once a week too.

That is a lot of eating for one day.  But I find if I can keep the meals light, I feel pretty good throughout the day and don't get too hungry or too full.  This is also helpful for my kids, as they acclimate to the food differences here at school.  Brynn's teachers have told me that she gets quite cranky (who - Brynn? Really?), when she is hungry (nooo..really??).  But, she doesn't like pumpkin soup, which is wildly popular here, and she doesn't like vegemite, she is not huge on fish...So there are a lot of differences in her meals at school.  She has started to eat watermelon and rockmelon (cantaloupe), and those are quite common with morning tea so this is good progress.  But worst case, if she doesn't like what is being served - it will be time for some form of meal in 2 hours or so, so I think she'll survive.

As for Hollie and Jax, they can buy food at the tuck shop at their school.  Each night, I can go online and order their meals for the next day if I want to.  Of course, Jackson would DIE if he had to go pick up a premade order ("no one does that, Mom"), so he just goes and picks up something.  Hollie is actually having her first go with sushi today, so I'm curious to hear how that goes.

Here is the menu from the tuckshop at Hollie's school

You can click those images to enlarge them, if you can't see them (either because the font is too small or you're blind as a bat, like me).

Interesting Combo...

One of the most common burger toppings here is beetroot.

I LOVE BEETS!!!  I do, really.  My problem with this has nothing to do with the beet.  It is actually the beef aversion I am having.   Since I've been here, I can eat beef if it is mixed in with something (spaghetti sauce, etc).  But a burger, a steak - no can do.  It doesn't taste right to me yet.  One exception is the McDonalds cheeseburger, but who knows if that is real beef anyway.

Vegemite (continued)

So, maybe there's still a chance...


From Wiki:


The most common method of eating Vegemite is on toasted bread with one layer of butter or margarine before spreading a thin layer of Vegemite. A Vegemite sandwich may consist of two slices of buttered bread, Vegemite and cheese, but other ingredients such as lettuce, avocado and tomato can be added as well.

Taste Test

We've been here for three months now, and I realized yesterday that I have not tried vegemite! How can I claim to be living the Aussie experience without trying something so...basic?   So wiith that...

Doesn't look good to me, but here I go....

Survey Says.....

Thanks, but no thanks.  It has a very sharp and bitter taste to me.  Maybe it can be mixed with other things for different flavoring, so I'm not going to give it a No-Never rating, just a No-not like this  rating.

I always thought that vegemite was some sort of veggie blend.  Here is what the label lists for ingredients:  Yeast Extract, Mineral Salt, Malt Extract from Barley, and some various colors. I wonder why they want it to be brown?  Another thing for me to Google...

Pikelets

Before we moved, we would laugh about how Brynn was going to manage her pancake addiction upon moving here.  She had around a 4 pancake-a-day addiction.  She loved them so much that she would pull them directly out of the freezer and eat them just like that.  I am no great cook, and quickly resolved to buying Eggos or Aunt Jemimas after I attempted a Friday night meal of pancakes once.  My poor family.

There are no Eggos or Aunt Jemima pancakes here.  Brynn has sufficed with croissants or bagels here and there, and has developed a love of Rice Krispies.  I do love that she doesn't require anything sugary (she always had the pancakes without syrup, ..and does not eat sugar on the cereal).  Of course, this only applies when Big Daddy is not in town.  When he is here, anything is fair game for breakfast for her, including Coke, coffee, cake, and donuts.  (Dad, if you read this - It is okay, and I'd let her have that breakfast every day if you could be here with us).  Rice Krispies is actually one of the only cereals I've seen here that I recognize.  I have also seen Fruit Loops, Cheerios (although not plain - only some variation that is sort of like honey nut Cheerios) and Cocoa Krispies.  Gone are the days of Cap'n Crunch and Lucky Charms.  

Yesterday I picked Hollie up at afterschool care, as the girls were getting ready for tea. Hollie asked one of the ladies if she could have a Pikelet.   I asked what that was, and the lady said.."It's sort of a crumpet...or a pancake".. Pancake??? What!!!???  How did I not know this?  Hollie got one and insisted I try it.  Sure enough....it was like a pancake!

After googling this pikelet thing, I found something that I thought looked delicious.  I think I'll be trying these:

Pikelets, Pikelets..Everywhere!!

Off now to Woolies, where they are on sale for $1.99.  DEAL OF THE CENTURY!!!