Here’s some of the food I ate while Jac was away in Denmark (a town in Western Australia, not the country in Europe!) recently, starting with… no surprises for regular readers – SPAM! Whenever Jac’s away I will eat at least one meal of fried SPAM and egg, rice and baked beans. This time, I mixed corn kernels with the baked beans. This has to be my top comfort meal of all time. When I’m feeling down and exhausted (unfortunately, not a rare occurrence), this is the meal I cook for myself, and it always helps me feel at least a little better.

I rode my bicycle to the shops on the Saturday. It was a lovely day, riding in the sunshine with the wind in my hair, then walking around the shops and stopping to have lunch at Nando’s – chicken ribs and chips (AU$13.95 in combo with a drink).

The chicken ribs were succulent, saucy and finger-sucking good. Other customers came, ate their chicken, and left… and there I sat, like time stood still, meticulously sucking on every single chicken bone till not a scrap of meat or sauce remained.

I also cooked one of my “green” stir-fries for dinner that weekend – this one with bok choy, baby corn spears, mushrooms and chicken, loads of garlic and oyster sauce, and a little sesame oil to finish.

While digging around in the fridge, I found a paper bag with a surprise Jac had left for me – mini quiches and mini sausage rolls! I thought it was sweet of her to leave me a surprise of pastries! :) Here they are just after I microwaved them for a quick snack.

And of course since I’d opened the tin, there was more SPAM to use up. And because there was leftover rice in the fridge, it made sense to cook my favourite fried rice, with SPAM, green beans, egg, garlic, oyster sauce and soy sauce. I really do like eating my favourite dishes over and over again. I’m really a woman of simple tastes. Sitting at my computer, eating a bowl of SPAM fried rice on a weekend alone… happiness.