commonwealth Archives - hungry and fit

If you know me, or if you’ve been reading long enough, you’ll know that I’m half-Kiwi (meaning half “New Zealandish”). My mum is from New Zealand and thus I grew up with a lot of different cultural things coming from her. As you know, New Zealand is a part of the Commonwealth, and so it takes things from England and either keeps it the same or changes it. New Zealand, by the way, is the best place ever with the best people ever, and we can’t wait to someday move there (dual-citizenship comes in handy). Alana, what’s this back story for?! It’s for the recipe I’m about to share with you, Bubble & Squeak.

You can read that link if you’d like, but I’ll give you a short description here. Many mornings, if we had leftover mashed potatoes from the night before, mum would make me bubble and squeak. It’s a little different than the one you’ll read about in that link, because my mum would normally just use potatoes (if you have other leftover vegetables like carrots or broccoli, you can use them too). She would put the mashed potatoes into a cast-iron skillet and just continually let them cook, then scrape them, cook them, scrape them. This results in a delicious manner of browned mashed potatoes, as best as I can describe. Once it’s browned all over, you serve it on some toast and pour lemon juice over it. My mouth is watering as I write this and making me miss home! Alright, let’s get down to the details.

Yum, ready to go!

Prep Time: 0-2 minutes
Cooking Time: 5-10 minutes

Ingredients

leftover mashed potatoes (or sweet potatoes, that’s what is in these pictures. You could even have boiled taters and mash them for this specific meal if you really want)
toast
lemon

Directions

Take out mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, or any leftover vegetables out and mash them into the potatoes

Mashed up white sweet potatoes

You can salt and pepper it if you wish. Now cast-iron is best, but make do with whatever you have. Put that vegetable mix or mashed potatoes into the frying pan. You can put a little oil in if you wish, but really we just want to let it brown and keep scraping it and turning it. So, turn up the heat!

Put on a piece of bread to toast
Once you’ve gotten your mash nice and brown, go ahead and serve right on top of the toast. Drench it with lemon juice (we squeeze lemons on top).
You can cut it in half and eat it like toast or just use a fork and knife

Yum, ready to go!

It is sooooooo good. And it’s such an easy thing to prepare for any meal. The combination of tastes between the lemon and browned mash makes you want more and more. This is something I will continue to use and thank my mum for making it for me during my childhood. This is a sure-fire easy recipe to keep you hungry and fit!

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BONUS KITTY PIC

Sajah getting a nice bath

When I was pretty young, my mum would have Weetabix cereal with warm milk and brown sugar. What is Weetabix? It’s a commonwealth shredded wheat cereal that’s either rolled into a circular pattern or into a rectangular block. Sounds so appetizing, doesn’t it! It doesn’t have any added bad stuff in it, and packs a good amount of fiber to boot.

I hadn’t had Weetabix for awhile, it’s not a very American thing, but I know my mum had it in New Zealand all the time (yes, she’s a kiwi–which makes me half!) and then brought it to the States for us. I was talking about it with one of my clients (why do I have the most awesome clients?) and how I haven’t had it in forever because I don’t look for it. Well, a few hours after our training session, I came to the Front Desk and found a big box of whole-wheat Weetabix waiting for me with a kind note.

So how should you eat this stuff?Most Americans would have it in some cold milk with maybe some fruit like strawberries or blueberries. I, however, was brought up to heat some milk, put in two weetabixes, sprinkle a little brown sugar on top, and then mush the weetabix into a less solid form.

It may not sound appetizing, but is one of the most delicious, healthy, comforting breakfasts. And serves as a wonderful afternoon tea or morning tea snack as well. And I owe it to my client for bringing these childhood memories back! Try it out, you actually can find these in American grocery stores now. It’s a healthy breakfast, filling, and satisfying! Not to mention, it doesn’t break the bank.