Monday, October 04, 2010

action stations

Spring has sprung...how awesome to have some sun for more than just a couple of hours at a time. It's been all systems go here - spring cleaning, weedspraying, sorting through summer clothes, moving furniture...i knew i'd gone a step too far when today, while waiting for my dinner to cook, i found myself cleaning the interior of the freezer (just to fill in some time...eeek)

Sunday, September 19, 2010

stormy weather

An analogy for life, this mad and unpredictable weather we're having right now...the promise of a sunny day, invariably stolen and replaced with rain, wind and today, hail...
One week out from school holidays and I am desperate for the term to end. We have had a seemingly neverending run of tonsilitis, tummy bugs, coughs, colds, and nits. meetings here, donations there, cakes to bake for fundraising, newsletters to write, real work to do....
On the upside, the days are stretching out, which means (well, when the weather improves) time to be outside after dinner, breakfast on the deck in the sun, leisurely walks in the sun to the icecream shop...The children are becoming friends more and more with each day as they seem to get closer together in age (does that make sense?)...they are enjoying some similar activities, can play a board game or cards with proficiency, have scooter races, beat me at said card game, bring me breakfast in bed...
I read an old blog of mine tonight, where I considered the authenticity of my values - yep i'm still a bit of a plastic sandle and candle girl (I think that's kind of like doing semi-conscious parenting...), but i'm getting there. the vege garden is full, there's blossom on the fruit trees, the mending pile is actually almost non existent, there's a promising collection of books on my nighttable.

Wednesday, September 01, 2010

Motherhood

This week I watched 'Motherhood' a movie starring Uma Thurman about a day in the life of a mother in NYC - she's a blogger, has two kids, a bike with a flat tire and a birthday party to organise. it wasn't even a great movie but it really resonated - it was so easy for me to identify with her.
I have referred to myself sometimes as a 'semi-conscious' kind of mother - you know, I WANT to be TV free but i'm not quite there yet, my kids should eat healthily but I still sometimes put chips in the lunchbox, I like cotton sheets and woolen jumpers - but polyester and fleece just wash and dry so much easier!...
Lately I've been reading www.Flylady.net... www.destitutegourmet.com...www.simplesavings.co.nz - there are heaps of inspiring stories and ideas (yeah some of them are mind...) but I've decided that most are an ideal not a reality - so much easier to think this way and then less chance of feeling inadequate - we women are pretty tough on ourselves and each other anyway!
nevertheless, here's my bits of wisdom and tight-assing for this week:
held a babyshower for a friend having her 4th baby, who SO doesn't need anymore 'stuff'. So, on the advice of another friend this is what we did:
instead of a gift, each person brought a frozen meal for her to keep for D-week.
instead of huge amounts of food (although there actually was) with hours of preparation, I made 2 fondues - a cheese/wine and a chocolate. Each guest brough something to dip.
Easy as.
Secondly, I've started my Christmas shopping...yeah I know...I sell Avon and buy from the bargain bin for distributors, take advantage of all the free with purchase offers, make a trip to the $2 shop about 4 times a year and spend say $20, and keep my present box (an old suitcase) topped up. The kids can 'shop' from here for birthday presents too - it's easy because I'm not having to monitor the money they're spending and I know everything in there is 'appropriate'! And now I'm about 75% done, just the foodie type stuff to get right near Christmas. feeling smug...

Sunday, June 20, 2010

whatsfordinnermum wiki

well what a marketing gimmick that was...like i will pay $5 a week to put up stuff i can put here for free...
like todays lunch....
pumpkin soup: I put about 2 inches of water and a tbsp of chicken stock in the crockput. chopped up a whole pumpkin (seamus and stewart watched me in horror as i used a carving knife to do it), added 4 cloves of squashed garlic, and 3 big rashers of bacon, not cooked but finely shredded. let it bubble away all day then put my stick mixer through it (my favourite kitchen tool). served with a swirl of cream today . yum...
Tuna fishcakes with oven fries Cut large spuds into chunky oven chips. Put into a baking dish with a bit of oil. Slosh around a bit and then put in the oven, turned onto highest temp. These need to be watched but will cook from cold in about 40 minutes. Meanwhile.... Into a bowl place 1 tin of tuna in olive oil or half a tin drained tin salmon 2 table spoons or so of chopped herbs - tonight i used coriander which I had prechopped in the freezer* 1 egg a shake of pepper and salt and any other herb you feel like. Tonight I used celery salt and a squirt of lemon juice. enough dried or fresh breadcrumbs to absorb all the liquid Mix it up and leave to stand about 15 minutes or until firm-ish. About 10 minutes before chips are ready, form the fish mixture into little balls (squeeze well or it'll fall apart) and pan fry in a bit of oil til crispy. Because i was really lazy, tonight I served this with whole tinned tomatoes, heated in the microwave. The ones in thick sauce are best. If i buy a big bunch of herbs or one of those living herb pots, as soon as i've used what i need on the day, I chop the whole lot, and put it into a small box in the freezer, then it's free flow ready to go any time and doesn't need thawing. As soon as i have stale bread, especially crusty bread, i chop it into bits and put it in a zip lock bag in the freezer. take out what you need and grate or crumble while frozen to make easy fresh breadcrumbs for cooking or topping things. **