Meal Plan Thursday: The Diet

I'm on a diet. I'm on a HUGE diet. In fact I may have died of starvation by the end of the day.

As I mentioned some weeks ago, I recently changed pill and this caused a 5kg weight gain. It didn't bother me because I'd rather have the weight gain than the side effects of the other pill. However, just between us I was somewhat narked off that I didn't get to EAT all that weight on (yes, that is an appalling attitude, I do agree).

Still, a dieting I must go.  In addition to the pill weight, I'm carrying 10kgs worth of grief eating around my middle from last year. I hate it.  I hate the way I look. I hate the way I feel.

I also hate people telling me its okay.

Its not. Its really unhealthy. It is not okay when my stomach sticks out further than my size E breasts. That is not okay.

Me being fat is not okay with me. (Frankly I don't give a rats arse what anyone else thinks about it, its none of their business. The important thing is how I feel about it, after all its my body, and how I feel is crap).

I've been a fan of weightwatchers for YEARS. I've lost significant weight with them twice. I think if you need help losing weight then they are the people to see.

However, this time around, just for the sake of interest and messing with my own head, I've decided to take a different path.  One of my idols, Lisa Curry, is running a weightloss program on her website http://www.lisacurry.com.au/, and I have signed up.

Its very low carb, I'm eating in a whole new way, I don't know if I'll last, but I'm up to week 3 and so far its been a fun experiment.  If I get sick of it then I'll be straight back to weightwatchers - I still have my online membership.

Therefore, no meal plans for the time being. However, I am feeding hubs and the kids as per usual, so I might stick up the odd recipe from time to time.

Shall let you know how I go :)

Breastfeeding is best where possible...

My breastfeeding years are behind me. Thank GOD. Yep. Not a fan.  As my posts on this blog from my breastfeeding years attest I was a milk cow of the highest order. Massive over supply and accompanying leaking, swelling and agony were the order of the day. My let down half drowned my kids, my clothes were endlessly soaked, we were going broke buying breast pads, and I smelled horrible.

I could not wean overnight. And nor did I want to. Because despite the discomfort I knew that breastfeeding was the right thing to do.  But after about three months I was over it.  Completely over it. So I got some goat's milk formula and slowly, over the next few months I weaned my baby off the breast and onto formula.

I did this with both kids. They were perfectly fine, and I was happy.

The End.

That is my breastfeeding story.

It was not brought to you by the media, the australian breastfeeding association or the formula floggers. No indeed. It was brought to you by me and my local GP, who gave me the advice 'breastfeeding is best where possible.' I took that advice and made my decisions.

I remember clearly that back in 2005, when I was pregnant, the media had obsessed itself with the 'too posh to push' issue. Where apparently, mothers were electing to have a cesarean rather than a 'normal' birth (I have certainly never met any mother that actually did this). But suddenly everyone deemed my plans for birth their business!  Conversations would actually start 'You're not going to have a Caesarean are you?" With smiles of approval when I said 'not unless necessary.'  How I got my baby out of my body was between me and my obstetrician, ffs.  Not the business of people in the checkout line.

You see, despite what the media seems to think, we mothers have the best intentions for our children, and spend most of our time half killing ourselves to do the right thing.  The decisions we make take into account our own circumstances, needs and values, those of our families and the children themselves.  We've known the little blighters since they were an egg, after all.  We love them, and you know what? Because we love them we give them the best we possibly can. Always.

It is not for the media or anyone else to judge us.  I, for one, am thoroughly sick of seeing this endless attack on mothers, these days you cannot conceive, be pregnant, give birth, have a new born, breastfeed, have a toddler, breastfeed a toddler, go out in public, stay home, work, not work, have a pre schooler, home school, or start your kid early, late or in between at school, without some journalist thinking they can have an opinion on your decisions and use it to sell a few papers or get a few more clicks on their website.

It is none of their business.

It is none of your business.

It is none of anyone's business.

A Mint Garden

Mint, in all its forms, is incredibly invasive in the Sydney climate. With no frost to knock it back, it can take over gardens and be impossible to get rid of.

Therefore, we have not had much mint in our lives - I only dare grow it in pots, and around here few things in pots survive a 40+ day. They tend to get cooked.

But, we've got this odd scrappy bit of garden. Its at the top of the drive, and is home to an apricot tree, the airconditioner and The Cat That Will Not Die - thus the kennel and the blanket.

This area is surrounded by tarmac, and has, to date, done little except grow weeds and provide shelter for the many members of our snail population.

Before

So in a moment of blinding inspiration I decided that rather than be the eyesore that greeted guests who made it as far as our front door, we could turn it into a mint garden. Its surrounded by tarmac so the chances of the mint absconding into the garden are slim. I hope.

After

I've got common mint, chocolate mint, spearmint, peppermint and apple mint.

Mint garden

I'm on the lookout for some basil mint as well, someone on twitter told me it is wonderful, and I've never heard of it before :)

Dear Liver, Please Forgive Me...

I haven't travelled for a while.  I think the last trip was my cowgirl adventure around the state with my mate Wend, where I got to explore the world of camp-drafting.

Conference lolly jars

So I was pretty chuffed when, last weekend, I headed up to the Gold Coast for a conference with my writing sister-hood, the Romance Writers of Australia.  Book Thingo has a great round up of events, I have only vague memories of things mentioned in the sessions due to having a hangover for most of it. Okay all of it.

Yes. Alcohol was involved.

Everyone takes pics of MacGyver snogging
right? right?

And whilst it may sound like I drank excessively, I didn't.  But, all those years of pissing it up when I was in my twenties caught up with me back in 1998 (the day after I drank the Lindfield soccer team under the table), and now as I venture into my forties, five glasses of champagne (tight arse hotel sized glasses) over a five hour period leaves me seedy and irritable the next day.

We reap what we sow, it seems.

I want to go back :(

Late nights and drinking weren't happy just pissing off my liver and making me hate life, oh no. Next up was a dose of tonsillitis so bad that when it came to flying home I didn't care if the plane crashed or not, as exploding into a ball of fire would make it stop feeling like I was swallowing razor blades.

Woe was me.

I took a lot of great stuff from the conference, and I'll write a post about it later in the week.  But the main message was that I AM GETTING OLD.

And if I am not tucked up in bed by 8pm with a cup of chamomile tea then my body exacts a terrible revenge.

sigh.

Search for an Author Photo

So, the Gods of branding, and the marketing gurus at Momentum, have required me to come up with an author photo.  A cool, calm and sophisticated author photo.

This one was discarded...

I risked life and limb for this photo. I DID

As was this one...

What? Xmassy and quirky.
It shows readers I have personality
Or something

And when I finally found one that I thought would be okay I sent it out to my family for final approval. Now I love my family, I really do, but...

This is what hubs did to it

And this is what my sister did to it

Thanks guys.

You're growing what??

Its mid-August, and after three days of massive gales I crept outside to survey the damage.  

Branches everywhere, but look what else I found...

Baby turnips

Snow peas

Spuds

Lemons

Nearly ripe mandarins

And winter isn't even done yet. Methinks its time to get clearing out the vege beds and getting the spring plantings in. :)

The eggs undoing

My darlings: the Eggs

i carry your heart with me (i carry it in

my heart) i am never without it (anywhere 

i go you go,my dear; and whatever is done

by only me is your doing, my darling) - ee cummings

i carry your eggs with me

(i carry them in my pockets)

i am never without pockets

(anywhere i go they go,my dear;

 and whatever is done by only me

 is the eggs undoing, my darlings) 

- Cait Nicholas (with apologies to ee cummings)

Eggs in my pockets

The Eggs; undone

Banishing Negative Thinking

Image from http://disney.spiderpaws.com/eeyore_ii.htm

At the moment Eyeore is the Winney The Pooh character I relate to the most.  It's been a long and hard few months / years for us, what with Miss 6 Aspergers diagnosis and a lot of Unemployment for hubs.  On top of this I began to suffer badly from hormone induced depression and migraines.

Things are going 6000% better now. Hubs has an excellent job, if we are talking Pooh characters then he is Tigger, and he is now working in a place where he can Tigger to his hearts content.  Seriously, I never thought he'd find a job that he wasn't bored with in the first few weeks, but it seems he has.

Miss 6 is going SO well.  We've got help at school three days a week and it is making a huge difference to her. Reading is finally coming  along and she is much more content in herself.  This means that our extremely high stress household that was filled with screaming and tears at every turn, is starting to become calmer.  Screaming happens but its not constant, and situations now come under control very quickly.

I am also bribing her with money.

Yay money.

Depression and migraines were starting to take over my life for a week a month, and on top of this I usually copped another week to ten days persistent and illogical anxiety.  The solution to this has been to change pills, and MY LORDY has it given me my life back!! It has also given me a 5kg weight gain (and it all went on the space of 3weeks, seriously, it was terrifying to watch, I just ballooned!). But frankly I can lose the weight, I've done it before without much fuss, I'd rather 5kgs round my middle for a while than depression, migraines and anxiety.

So, I now find myself in a better happier place than I have been for a long time.

But, I'm having huge trouble letting go of the stress and the negativity. Its like its been so hard for so long that I've got stuck in that way of thinking.  I dwell on the bad stuff, expect negative things to happen and I feel like Eyeore, pottering around with a sad expression and my own personal rain cloud where ever I go.

Even worse, I've realised that Miss 8 is reflecting some of that negativity - in the way she views the world around her.

So, a few weeks ago I was wandering about the net (as you do) and came across this 30 Days of Gratitude post by the wonderful Nicole Cody of Cauldrons and Cupcakes.  It seemed so apt, so incredibly well timed that I got a shiver.  It seemed that Nicole was precisely what I needed...

Psychologists have found a link between gratitude and well-being. Studies have shown that when a person is depressed, anxious, negative and directionless, they can take control of these emotions and begin to turn them around themselves through a daily practice of finding things to be grateful for in their everyday life. The practice of gratitude literally has the capacity to rewire our brains, firing off more of our feel-good emotions and thinking patterns.  It helps us to remember who we are, what makes us happy, and where we want to go in life. - Nicole Cody (https://cauldronsandcupcakes.com)

Owing to being chest deep in edits I knew I didn't have time to embrace Nicole's course at that time. But now I have time, and so today I begun.

Of course at school drop off, where I attempting to exude the golden light of positivity, I had three different people ask me "What's wrong," in a concerned tone.  Sigh :)

Rome wasn't built in a day, hey!

W(here)TF Have I Been...

Well might you ask, what have I been doing for the last five weeks...

EDITING

Or, a visual guide...

This

Occasionally This

The End.

Inching Closer to the Dream: Release Date

1st November 2012

That, dear readers, is the release date for Drive Me To Distraction.

Along with the release date Momentum have sent the publishing schedule - which is a schedule of what happens when with the manuscript.  It made my little deadline orientated Capricorn heart sing with delight. Deadlines. Heaps of them.

Can it get any better??

Well yes.

THEN Momentum sent me the first round of edits.  I love edits.  Almost as much as I love deadlines.

Not being hard bitten or thick skinned, the first read of edits is always somewhat daunting. But I've made it through, the feedback and ideas are awesome (I mean SO, SO awesome), and are going to make great improvements to the book. (Not that it wasn't perfection in the first place, ahem).

Drive is being published by Aussie based Momentum - the digital arm of Pan Macmillian Australia. Writerly people, I highly recommend you submit to the them, you won't regret it :)

Meal Plan Thursday: Kung Pao Chicken

Next week's menus.

Monday
Ham and Tomato omelettes

Tuesday
Baked Greek Fish

Wednesday
Kung Pao Chicken

1 tbs canola oil
2 whole fresh red chilli, deseeded, thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
500 g lean chicken thigh fillet, cut into 3cm pieces
20 ml rice wine (Sake), (shaoxing or dry sherry)
1 1/2 tbs cornflour
140 g canned bamboo shoots, rinsed, drained,
200 g snow peas, trimmed
1/4 cup chicken stock,
2 tbs soy sauce,
roasted peanuts, unsalted
green shallots, thinly sliced

Heat a wok over medium-high heat.
Add oil and heat for 30 seconds.
Stir-fry chilli and garlic for 20 seconds or until fragrant.
Add chicken and stir-fry, in batches, for 5–7 minutes or until browned all over and almost cooked through.
Meanwhile, combine wine and cornflour in a small bowl.
Add bamboo and sugar snap peas to wok with chicken and stir-fry for 2–3 minutes or until just tender. Add stock and soy sauce and bring to the boil.
Gradually add wine mixture and cook for 1–2 minutes or until thickened.
Serve sprinkled with nuts and shallots.

Thursday
Cauliflower Pancetta bake

Friday
Roast: Chicken

Saturday
Leftovers

Sunday
Beef Koftas

Treat
Lemon and lime madeleines

Crop Rotation: Suburban Garden Style

In my vege plot I work on a six bed crop rotation system which is as follows:

Bed 1: Root vegetables
Bed 2: Legumes (peas, beans)
Bed 3: Onions
Bed 4: Tomatoes
Bed 5: Sweetcorn/Pumpkins
Bed 6: Potatoes

Why rotate your crops: because if you don't you end up with things like Root Knot Nematodes - which I have in a bed where I grew spuds, then tomatoes, then spuds, then tomatoes, then tomatoes, before I knew about crop rotation.  The bed is now next to useless.

So, whilst visiting Fagan Park at Galston last week I was interested to see their crop rotation system in their Eco Garden.

Its a sign

Bed 1: Lettuce, garlic, marigolds

Bed 2: Cabbage, radish, celery

Bed 3: Leeks, shallots, onions

Bed 4: Green manure

Bed 5: Snowpeas, beans

Bed 6: Spinach, beetroot, onions

Yes well I thought it was interesting ;)

Happy New Financial Year: May You Be Able To Heat Your Own House

And so the second half of the year begins. Don't ask me where the first half went, for us its disappeared into a blur of school routine.

The big news, here in Australia is that...

1. Its the end of the financial year (tax time, groan)
2. We are now being carbon taxed

With regards to 2. our Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, decided to make light of the controversial tax that will see (for starters) energy bills for all Australians jump by 15 - 20% (estimates vary - and that's before the price gouging has begun), by coming up with the following quote.

The time has come for Australians to judge the carbon tax for themselves - and realise "the sky hasn't fallen in", Prime Minister Julia Gillard says

I'm still reeling that she actually said it.  

I'm sure you are aware of the tale of Chicken Licken. Where a young and stupid chicken runs around in a panic because someone has told him the sky is going to fall down.

So, what Ms Gillard is patronisingly telling the country she leads, is that we've all been running around in a panic about the carbon tax (I'd have called it grim bitter resentment myself) and that here we are, its come into effect, and nothing is different.

Well no. Because none of us have got our electricity bills yet. We're not yet seeing the price gouging that's about to happen on every consumable product and service you care to think of.  It won't happen on the first day (well it might, but any company stupid enough to do it is going to get slaughtered by the Government and Journalists alike), it won't happen in the first month, but by Christmas and over the next few years the prices will creep up and up because the big companies will be passing on the tax, and having a red hot go at increasing their profit margins whilst they are about it.

I am not against the carbon tax per se.  It agrees with my stance on things environmental, but its the fact its been forced through by a Goverment whose balance of power is in the hands of a few individuals, who are running the country to their own agenda. Its because the tax will do little to stem the tide of pollution, and that everyday households will bear the brunt of increased costs.  Why would companies reduce their carbon footprint, when they can just raise their costs and let the consumer pay for the new tax?

So cheers, one and all.  Welcome to the new financial year.  May the carbon tax tread lightly on  your pocket, and may you be able to afford to heat your own house.

Using All The Things: Sunday Breakfast

We had some of that horrible no-brand white bread left over from Miss 8's party, so I decided to up-cycle it...

 French Toast

2 eggs
150 ml milk
1 tsp vanilla (if you want, I usually forget)
4 slice(s) bread, stale, old, crusts removed (not mouldy - just sayin, ahem)
Banana
Strawberries
Icing sugar and/or Honey

Combine egg, milk and vanilla in a shallow bowl.
Dip bread into egg and milk mixture, allowing it to soak for a few seconds so that some liquid is absorbed.
Heat a large frying pan/griddle over medium-high heat.
Add soaked bread and cook on both sides until browned.
Slice strawberries over each portion.
Sprinkle with icing sugar and drizzle each serve with 1 teaspoon of honey

Sunday breakfast

Winter Vegie Planting

Here on the upper upper north shore of Sydney our climate is somewhere between Temperate and Sub-Tropical. Really it depends on the year and what El Nino/La Nina is doing.

In anycase my winter plantings are for a garden that does not get frost in winter (we did have a frost once, about ten years ago, so I take my chances :-)).

If you are wondering what to plant in your area check out the wonderful Gardenate website.  It'll give you a good idea, the comments are often full of useful info as well.

Winter Planting according to the Eco Garden in Fagan Park

Seedlings are SO expensive.  One punnet is $5.98 in Swanes - given the high mortality rate in most home gardens, its just not worth it.  I went for the manky $2 ones, but really I should've put in seed about two months ago (ahem).  Anyhoo, this box set me back $10 and I should get something out of it, or the white cabbage moths will.

Cos lettuce, dwarf beans, cauliflower, brussels sprouts and savoy cabbage

My brassica's bed is presently filled with a few sad and abused, blackfly covered leeks (yum) so I shall be setting forth and clearing it out before I get this lot in the ground.

Anyone else out there winter planting?

:)

Meal Plan Thursday: Salmon Stir Fry

I've been getting organised and planning our weekly menus...

Salmon and Egg Noodle Stir Fry

 Monday
Salmon and Egg-Noodle Stir Fry

150g dried egg noodles
1 tbs olive oil
400g skinless salmon fillets, cut into 2cm pieces
1 small brown onion, cut into thin wedges
2 tsp finely grated fresh ginger
1 large carrot, cut into thin matchsticks
1 large red capsicum, thinly sliced
150g sugar snap peas or snow peas
1 bunch bok choy or choy sum
2 tbs shaoxing wine
2 tbs kecap manis
1 tbs soy sauce
Coriander leaves to serve

1. Cook egg noodles following packet instructions or until just tender. Drain
2. Heat wok over high heat. Add half the oil and heat for 30 secs. Stir-fry salmon, in batches for 2 mins or until golden. Remove from wok.
3. Heat remaining oil in wok. Stir-fry onion and ginger for 2 mins. Add carrot and capsicum and stir-fry for 2 mins. Add sugar snap peas and choy sum and stir-fry for 2 mins.
4. Add noodles, salmon, shaoxing wine, kecap manis and soy sauce. Stir-fry until heated through. Serve sprinked with coriander.

Tuesday
Oven baked mushroom risotto

Wednesday
Pork with apple and cranberry sauce

Thursday
Omelettes
- with sweet corn and bacon

Friday
Silverside with steamed potatoes and white sauce
- cooked in the slow cooker

Saturday
Leftovers

Sunday
Lemon and herb chicken bake

Treat
Cherry, apple and almond friands

A Cupcake Party

We had Miss Nearly 8s birthday party last week.  It was a cupcake decorating party, and we ended up with a house filled with chatter, delight and very happy little girls.

Masterpieces 

I like the red octopus

Miss Nearly 8 desired the colour theme of the party to be her two favourite colours, pink and red...

And So It Was
Sorry for boring beforehand pic
All others filled with Other People's children :)

And for her cake I made an 8 shaped red velvet cake.  I actually don't have a pic of it iced because I did it the morning of the party and was panicking :)

Just imagine it covered in lurid pink icing, pink and red smarties and edible glitter!

Red Velvet cake is an interesting recipe, it uses buttermilk, and baking soda with vinegar to rise. The icing is tangy cream cheese.  I use Smitten Kitchen's wonderful recipe.

It was a lot of work. Nearly a week of cooking and cleaning to get everything up to scratch. But Miss Nearly 8 had complete ball and is still lit up with delight.  And that made all the effort worth it.

The Day The Dishwasher Died

Its the first day of the school holidays and I've come down with a cold.

Just. Perfect.

I did, for a few foolish hours, decide to go natural and beat it with Ease a Cold.  Then my nose wouldn't stop running and I had to cook dinner, and the thought of cooking with tissues shoved up each nostril was Too Much To Bear, so now I'm dosed up on the heavy duty ColdnFlu tablets.

So much better.

At the end of last week we had Miss Nearly 8s birthday party.  A cupcake extravaganza which I shall post about tomorrow (if I haven't DIED in the meantime).  Every year, about a week before Miss Nearly 8s party, an essential piece of home equipment fails.  Last year it was the oven and this year its been the dishwasher.

This led to much weeping and gnashing of teeth.

HOW? (I asked the Universe) HOW? can I survive without a dishwasher?

Hubs, on observing the state of his wife, made an emergency call to our fix-it guy.  He lives close by and dropped in an hour later.

The verdict was this: The circuit board has shorted out, the dishwasher will not heat, it will cost $450 to fix it. A new dishwasher will cost you $600, you may as well get a new one.

In simple terms the circuit board needs a spot of solder on it, but the best option is to get a new dishwasher??

What the??

We're supposed to just throw it away?

Even worse, this problem with the dishwasher not heating is apparently a "known problem." If its a known problem, why is there not a cheap easy known solution?

It took us aback, and made us think about the resources which are being wasted, the empty pointless consuming which we are expected to buy into, and it made us think about money.

And the upshot of all this thinking was that... and this is something I never ever thought I'd write... we will be going dishwasher-less from here on.

I thought I needed it.  I thought it was making my life so much easier.  But three weeks in, and I'm not missing it that much at all.

The kitchen in tidier - no dirty pots waiting to go in the next load, no dirty plates stacked waiting until someone unloads the thing.  Washing up, drying and putting away happens in 20 minute bursts throughout the day.  The kids help.  They think its fun.

Yes, its more work. I'm not saying that we've taken an easier option.  But I don't mind it.  Its the better choice.

A Perfect Hot Chocolate

This is how I make hot chocolate.  Its often known as French Hot Chocolate or Chocolat Chaud.

Trust me, once you've tried it, you will never, ever drink milo again.

Slow Method:

1 ½ cups whole milk
2 ½ Tbsp. water
2 ½ Tbsp. brown sugar
3 oz. lindt chocolate, (milk, dark or both) bashed into bits

In a medium saucepan, combine the milk, water, and sugar.
Place over medium heat and whisk occasionally until the sugar is dissolved.
Increase the heat to medium-high and bring the mixture just to a boil.
Remove the pan from the heat and whisk in the chocolate.
At this point, blend the mixture. If you have an immersion blender, you can do this directly in the saucepan; if not, you’ll need to transfer it to a traditional blender. Either way, blend for 1 minute (on high speed, if using a traditional blender - and take care(!), as hot liquids expand when blended). The finished mixture should be very smooth and frothy.

This recipe is adapted from: http://orangette.blogspot.com.au/2008/01/from-this-day-forth.html

Blending

Quick Method:

Microwave milk until hot (about 1 minute for a mug)
Add lindt chocolate - I use both milk and dark
Microwave for another minute (don't boil it over, messy)
Stir
Lick spoon (mind its hot)
Drink

Serve in beautiful cups

It will make your children love you more.

:)

There's another variation of this recipe HERE

June in the Vegie Garden

The vegie garden is coming along, slowly, as its winter, but coming along nonetheless.

Beans, planted during my Great Garden Disaster, will be producing in the next few weeks.

Dwarf beans

Self-seeded Pak Choy, nearly ready for a stir-fry...

Pak Choy + weeds

Row of lettuce, am already using the leaves in salads

Butter lettuce
And weeds, oh the weeds

Kale, carrots, turnips, onions, leeks, spring onions and broad beans are all coming along nicely as well :)