Lentil as Anything

If any of you lovely people have the misfortune of following my instagram feed (i.e. lots of #foodporn, photos of old buildings and my feet), you may have seen that I am having a bit of a love affair with Lentil as Anything, particularly the lovely restaurant down at the Abbotsford Convent.

In a brief summary, Lentil as Anything is a not-for-profit chain of restaurants in Melbourne with a "pay as you feel" philosophy. Food is prepared and served predominately by volunteers, is vegetarian and is as sustainable and locally sourced as possible. There is no prices on any of the meals. Rather, you come in and enjoy your food, then pay what you feel the meal was worth in one of the "magic boxes" on your way out. The aim of this is to focus on individuals, rather than money, so that those that can't afford to pay for a regular meal at a restaurant can pay as much - or as little - as they want without feeling looked down upon. 

I have been to both the Footscray and Abbotsford restaurants, which offer a communal eating atmosphere, and a self serve buffet of deliciousness. Simply grab a plate and load it up with what you will.

I am drooling looking back at this photo. Meals usually consist of curries, rice, salads, and often focus around a particular cuisine. I've had Mexican, Ethiopian (best injera ever) and Mediterranean. 

The two other restaurants I have yet to check out (emphasis on "yet" here) are in Preston and St Kilda, and offer a menu rather than buffet style affair. The philosophy behind Lentils is fantastic, and the generosity of volunteers and patrons is amazing. I am eager to see developments of this organisation in the future!

I love the chilled out atmosphere at Abbotsford restaurant, as well as the Convent itself. I could spend all day gazing at this beautiful old buildings.

Have you been to Lentil as Anything before? Or the Convent? It is such a beautiful part of the city.

Reanna.

A Cheapskate's Photo Journal

At the commencement of 2014 I was feeling refreshed, energised and inspired. I had a million ideas running through my head of things I wanted to achieve, new things to try, and places to go. While I didn't end up setting any goals, I did actually end up extracting some of these whirlwind ideas and putting them into play (a rare occurrence for me!).

One of my summer holidays goals was to take more photos of Chris and I. Considering we have been dating for nearly three years, we probably only have a handful of photos of us together, and of those less than half would actually be decent! I have also been pondering how I can better utilise all these photos I take of my day to day life on my iPhone. I've been known to always sneakily pull my phone out in every situation to take a quick snapshot (most usually of my food), but then I never do anymore with it than perhaps post it on instagram. Inspired by the mindset of simplicity that Elsie has towards scrapbooking over on A Beautiful Mess, I decided to make a photo journal of 2014 in order to utilise all these pictures.

I wanted to create something that would suit my lifestyle. I would love to have copious amounts of supplies but a) I don't have the money, b) I don't have the time to spend hours creating beautiful pages, and c) I am really, really not that creative! With this in mind, here is what I ended up picking up:

Yep. A notebook from Kikki K, a bunch of sticky notes, glue, scissors, and a pen. As for my photos, I simply print them out at the library (I do have a printer at home, but have you seen how expensive printer ink is?!).

With simplicity in mind, and about half an hour, I was able to throw together a few pages from out first week of January. Chris and I went for a random camping trip, which was a perfect way to kick of the year. 

They are no masterpieces, but I love that at the end of the year I will be able to flick back through this book and reminisce over these days. I hope I can keep this up! I aiming to print photos over roughly once a week and setting aside half an hour or so to put together the pages. Are you trying anything new this year?

Reanna.

Mediterranean Chickpea Stew

I'll be honest, this was one of those meals where I literally just through in whatever happened to be lying around the kitchen. I had no idea what I felt like, what I could be bothered cooking, or what was even in the fridge. Plus, I am home alone all this week, so I couldn't even pester Chris for inspiration! But it turned out to not only be edible, but delicious! It can easily be tweaked to suit whatever is floating around your fridge too.

Mediterranean Chickpea Stew

(serves 2)

Ingredients:

1/2 a brown onion, finely diced

a clove of garlic, crushed

1 tomato, finely chopped

1 cup water

2 cups diced mixed vegetables

400g can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed

1tbsp tomato paste

1 tbsp mustard (I used wholegrain)

1-2 tbsp grated coconut palm sugar

1 tsp dried mixed herbs

salt and pepper

feta and olives, to serve

In a large saucepan, heat some oil over medium heat, before adding the onion and garlic. Allow to cook for 1 minute, or until soft. Add the chopped tomato, and cook for another minute. Pour in the water (or stock, I had conveniently ran out!), vegetables and chickpeas. Stir together, and allow to simmer for 5-10 minutes until the vegetables begin to soften. More water may need to be added if the stew becomes to dry.

Add the tomato pasta, mustard, palm sugar (adjust to taste depending on how sweet you want the stew to be) and mixed herbs. Season with salt and pepper, and stir well to combine. Allow to cook for a further 5 minutes.

To serve, ladle into bowls, top with crumbled feta and diced olives. A nice crusty slice of bread would probably go down rather nicely as well.

And there you have it! Quick, easy, cheap, and relatively tasty! I served my soup up with some of mum's amazing homemade gluten free bread. 

Enjoy!

Reanna.

Crossways

I've been meaning to write about Crossways ever since I started up this little blog. And the honest reason I haven't done so yet is that whenever I eat here, I'm so eager to start devouring my meal that I'm halfway through by the time I remember I was going to take a photo! But today, I exerted some self control so I can share one of my favourite lunch places in Melbourne.

Crossways is little more than a doorway amidst the chaos of Swanston Street in the CBD. It's one of those places you normally discover through word of mouth (I was informed of it's existence by a relative), or if you are one of those people that actually takes the business cards people hand out on the streets. Either way, once you find it you won't regret it.

For $7.50 (or $5.50 concession, student life wins again) you are entitled to "all you can eat", but the servings at Crossways are so huge that I cannot imagine going back for seconds! The menu is set, with a different main meal and dessert on rotation every day. The main meal (which is vegan and gluten free) consists of rice, curry and papadums, while dessert is a sweet halva with custard (vegetarian). You can also help yourself to water, lassi and cordial. As basic as the meal is, I have never had a bad experience eating here. It's just so. Damn. Delicious.

Seriously, Chris and I come here far too often.

This place is always packed around lunch time, but there is plenty of seating available. Service is at a counter up the back, from which you collect your own cutlery and serving tray. This place is more of a canteen than a restaurant, but everyone who works there is lovely.
If you ever want a cheap, delicious and quick lunch fix in the CBD, this is the place. I'll probably be in the corner devouring a plate myself!

What are you favourite cheap lunch destinations? Any old faithfuls?
Reanna.