In my kitchen - May

The months are rolling around far too quickly for me to keep up right now! But I have a few fabulous delights in my kitchen this month, so I thought I'd share.

I'm trying to crank up the health factor in what I'm eating [and drinking] so making a bit more of an effort to have a green smoothie every day. This one had baby spinach leaves, cucumber, carrot, ginger and some pear. It made loads and was very refreshing to slurp on throughout the day.

Sometimes I think the chickens are the best fed at our place! I'm really grateful to our local greengrocer, Feast on Fruit at Morningside, for helping us keep our girls fed in greens. At least three times a week they give us a very generous bag of lettuce and cabbage leaves from their scraps pile. The girls go crazy when they hear that red bag rustle! We've been buying loads of our fruit and veg there since moving here about 8 years ago, and their deli is sensational!

My fairly blah day yesterday was brightened immeasurably when this gorgeous pack of goodies arrived from Nessun Dorma Coffee Roasters and cafe at Yeronga. A bag of coffee, a couple of macarons, some drinking chocolate and a gift voucher to check out their cafe for lunch or breakfast over the next couple of months. Excellent timing as I'm just about out of coffee - a calamity when you are a full time uni student, and trying to run a business and blog and feed a hungry hubby and step-kid!

I'm a massive fan of Thomasina Miers Mexican cookbooks, so I was beyond delighted when Fiona from Tiffin gave me a pack of wahaca chilli seeds she collected on a trip to the UK. I really need to plant them, but I love the pack too much!

This wooden flour scoop was mum's that I found a couple of years ago. I remember using it as a kid when I baked, and I love that it is now in my kitchen again. Especially as I've been having a bit of a baking revival over the last year or so.

I'm a massive fan of Marion Nestle and her wonderful blog Food Politics - a blog that everyone who wants to know more about food and the power of "big food" should be reading. I bought a couple of her books recently, and they are fascinating reading - especially What to Eat. 

The gorgeous people at Heilala Vanilla noticed a tweet of mine a while back that said I hadn't ever tried their product, so they sent me some. How kind was that! I'm now a convert, especially to that vanilla paste. OMG yum. Shortly after it arrived, Bizzy Lizzy posted about a slow cooked vanilla beef casserole that I just had to make - it was stunning.

What's in your kitchen this month?

Thanks to the lovely Celia from Fig Jam and Lime Cordial for instigating In My Kitchen - you can check out other kitchens on her blog.