Breakfasts! Here are some oaty, porridgy type ones.

Top: Triple-coconut quinoa porridge Bottom left: Yogurt, granola, berries Bottom right: The Very Best Oatmeal

I made quite a few smoothie bowls too...

Top & bottom left: Pink Smoothie Bowls Bottom right: Blackberry overnight oats

And I've also started making avocado roses! Avocado level up.

Clockwise from top left: Toast, avo, ricotta, smoked salmon; Wholegrain pancakes; Avo toast; Avo toast & PB toast

Here are some work lunches. Pepper Lunch will make your hair smell but is so worth it.

Clockwise from top left: Crumbed chicken at Pepper Lunch, Spicy potato noodles at Dainty Sichuan Express, Beef bimbimbap at By Korea, Grilled lemongrass chicken bun at Pho Nom

Here are some homecooked dinners. Comfort food was clearly what we were after! Sandra's also (temporarily) on a low FODMAP diet - this is all a bit new to us, so if anyone has any tips or favourite FODMAP-friendly recipes, please hit me up in the comments!

Clockwise from top left: Prawns, corn, avocado; Pasta with cream ham and peas; Eggplant quinoa bake; Fried potatoes with bacon-scrambled eggs; Roast chicken with vegetables & chorizo; Shepherd's Pie

One night, my friend Alaina and I caught up for a special screening of Blue Velvet at the Lido, so we took the excuse to have dinner at Vaporetto (681 Glenferrie Rd, Hawthorn VIC 3122)...

Sweet and Sour Sardines at Vaporetto

... and dessert at Piccolina (802 Glenferrie Rd, Hawthorn VIC 3122). I think these guys do the best gelati in Melbourne.

Piccolina Gelataria

I won tickets to see The Beast one night! Before the show, we did a pre-theatre dinner at that old favourite, City Wine Shop (159 Spring St, Melbourne VIC 3000). I loved the cheddar with piccalilli, and the gorgeous spaghetti and meatballs.

Spaghetti and meatballs, City Wine Shop

One Friday night we went for impromptu cocktails and dumplings with our friends Jenni and Jimbo. We started at State of Grace (salted caramel espresso martinis, woah!)....

Salted caramel espresso martinis, Charlie Chaplin cocktail

...then had exquisite dumplings, fried chicken and duck fried rice at Mr Huang Jin (24 Katherine Pl, Melbourne VIC 3000)!

Mr Huang Jin

We then rounded off the night with super-fancy cocktails (and nutella donuts!) at Lui Bar, (Level 55, 525 Collins St, Melbourne VIC 3000). Love this place!

Back: Lola Montez Spider Dance Fizz Front: Sous Vide Shrub

Nutella Donuts - $18

The next Friday, we did giant schnitzels at Universal Restaurant (139 -141 Lygon Street Carlton VIC 3053). I wasn't sure if they'd be good, given that their schtick is that their schnitzels are cheap and huuuuuuuge, but I really enjoyed them!

Parma, mushroom schnitzel - $14 each

I finally tried soft-serve from Aqua S (16 Red Cape Lane, QV, Melbourne VIC 3000). Super cute! I couldn't bring myself to do a huge fairy floss-covered one, but settled for a delicious milo soft serve in a charcoal waffle cone with a crunchy egg roll.

Milo soft serve at Aqua S

My folks went on a holiday to Penang in September, and for their welcome back dinner, we took them to Maedaya (398-400 Bridge Rd, Richmond 3121). Of course, they're famous for their excellent yakitori, but I can also recommend the tempura, the matcha beer, and their sake-whiskey hot toddy cocktail.

Maedaya

And here's a preview photo from Cairns! We spent the September long weekend there and had a fantastic time! The weather was just perfect! This photo is from Fitzroy Island, on the path from the jetty to Nudey Beach (not an actual nude beach). Gorgeous!

Fitzroy Island

October - lots of events on weeknights, foodie catchups on the weekends. Woop woop!