Chilli Con Carne

Since Gaffa has been away at officer training for the Australian Navy, I've been surviving off the frozen meals he made before he left and my parent's cooking. I made a promise to Gaffa that I'd learn to cook and finally got off my ass and did some cooking on the weekend.

I decided to make one of the meals that Gaffa always makes. It's really tasty and versatile, and actually easier to make than one of Jamie's 15 minute meals that I made the same day. 

Jamie's good old chilli con carne is in his Ministry of Food cookbook, and is probably the most used cookbook in our collection.  Gaffa has added a few of his own ingredients to make this more filling and give it a bit more of a kick.

As you can see from the list, it's got the basic staple ingredients that Gaffa has written about previously in his versatile cooking blogs, so this is definitely a hearty and healthy meal that can be frozen for later.

High Tea at the Tea Room, Gunners Barracks

Good day my dear readers. Imagine me saying that in my best English accent haha.

So Gaffa and I had enquired about having our wedding reception at Gunners Barracks as we loved the idea of high tea and the beautiful views there but unfortunately we couldn't make the numbers. My SIL (offically now) went there for high tea with a friend and told me that they did a gluten free option. So I booked Gaffa and I in for afternoon tea on the first weekend he was back from his initial training period with the Australian Navy.

They gave us a time slot from 12.30pm - 2.30pm for high tea and I had originally booked for 2 gluten free high teas but then later decided to just have one gluten free and one regular, so we were able to compare the two. I had also confirmed with them that our table would be outside, undercover but with a very nice view of the city and surrounding headland.

Flourless and Low Sugar Chocolate Cookies

Gaffa is currently down in Jervis Bay, attending New Entry Officer Training at HMAS Creswell. He has been there since his birthday and is not allowed off base until 16 August. So it's been a very long and hard couple of weeks, but I've been lucky enough to talk to him on the phone a few times. Originally we were told that phones would be taken away and no contact was possible in the first 4 weeks. But apparently they've been doing well in training so they get some phone time to call their loved ones :D

During one phone call I got from Gaffa, he told me is mailing address and also advised me that I could send him a care package if I wanted to. Yay! Challenge accepted. With a few suggestions from friends, I decided to bake him some cookies - gluten free ofcourse!

I did a quick Google search and stumbled upon a recipe from Kalyn's Kitchen for some chocolate cookies.  I'd also been told by Gaffa that he's been going to church and getting gluten free biscuits from the chaplin's wife, after the service. So I knew Gaffa was craving some treats since he's not normally one to go to church... but who knows?