Lunchbox Munchies.....

So as we all know it's back to school time and with it comes the  task all parents love waking up to.... packing the lunchbox. Now in our house 'Miss 7' is also Miss consistent. She has the standard sandwich, piece of fruit and snack each day. There are a few variables for type of fillings or fruit depending on what we have and whats in season but generally she eats what I pack and is very consistent. Now 'Miss 5' is a little like me, she loves some foods with a passion one day then despises them the next. I remember my Mum asking what I want for lunch in the morning and thinking "How do I know at breakfast what I will feel like eating at lunch?" and 'Miss 5' is the same. Just to add some other interesting points into the mix she is currently going through a "I don't like sandwiches" phase and my lovely husband is training for an Ironman and we are all on a family health kick....  lunch box fun eeeek!!

Now out here especially in the last few weeks we have had the luxury of time, when you have young kids it really is a luxury. So we have spent some of this time looking at recipes, and trialing some lunch box options, and we have had some sweet and savoury successes so I have decided to share them..

Savoury:
EGG CUPCAKES

These don't really have a recipe, but consist of whatever you have in the fridge and cupboard.Our latest version are:

 
1 cup cooked pasta,
1 cup frozen peas, carrot and corn mix
5 medium eggs
about 1/2 cup of grated cheese
Mix together and pour into mini muffin moulds and bake on 200 degrees until cooked
(20 - 30 minutes at my place)
Note: you can add ham, tinned corn, anything really. I sent them to school in a small container with a dollop of their favourite sauce on top. None have come home yet!!

CORN FRITTERS:
This recipe is from the Coles Baby and Toddler cook book and as a trial I made them for Friday night dinner with a selection of dipping sauces, mango chutney, tomato, BBQ, and  sweet chilli.

They are a little bland without the sauces but are also good as a burger or sliced through a salad. The kids loved them and loved guessing the sauces though they still like the basics tomato for the girls and BBQ for the little man!!
The recipe is here:

Now for the sweet...
Now I must confess I haven't had much luck in the past with slices but we make this all the time it's easy and it has never failed us. 'Miss 7' calls this her recipe because she can make it herself.... that's right all by herself. It's easy and we change it each time. I can't remember where the recipe came from it is hand written in my recipe book (so if it is yours I apologise). The latest batch has Goji berries, Dark Chocolate and sprinkles on top. In the past we have made it with dried fruit, smarties, nuts whatever you have around..... it's yummy!!

MUESLI SLICE:

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups of Rolled Oats

1 cup Rice Bubbles

1/2 Cup Shredded Coconut

1 tbs Honey

1 can Condensed Milk

Mix all ingredients together add in any extras and bake on 160 degress for about 40 minutes. Wait until it's cool before cutting then store in the fridge.



Last but not least here is my all time favourite recipe. Most of my city friends would have eaten this at some stage and its also not too bad to you.... it's yummy for a snack, and moist enough to not need any butter on it and can be heated up and served with icecream or cream for desert.

DATE LOAF:




Mine

 


Original

 

 

Ingredients

• 1 ½ cups chopped pitted dates
• ½ cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons margarine
• 1 cup water
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• ½ cup self-raising wholemeal plain flour
• ½ cup self-raising white plain flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder

 

Method

1. 1Place dates, sugar, margarine, and water in saucepan. Bring to the boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 2 minutes. If you would like to use the microwave, place the dates, sugar, margarine and water in covered glass bowl and microwave on HIGH for 4 minutes. Remove from heat and cool.
2. 2Add the egg and mix well. Stir through sifted flours and baking powder, then place in a lightly greased 14 cm x 21cm loaf tin.
3. 3Bake in moderate oven (180°C) for 50 minutes.

This is from the Sanitarium Website, they have lots of yummy easy and healthy recipes.... especially vegetarian ones, this is the link: http://www.sanitarium.com.au/recipes.

These recipes make the mornings that little easier as they go straight from the fridge to the lunch box..... and anything that makes the mornings more efficient can only contribute to more of ...."these Beautiful Days".... Enjoy xxx

 

It's a BIG Day...

Tuesday was a BIG Day at our place, 'Miss 5' started school. Now it's the tendency in our current situation to not really treat this as a BIG Day because of where we live it sort of didn't feel like 'a big deal'  and I'll tell you why.

The school 'Miss 5' is attending had 30 students.... total. She knows them all by name who their siblings are and where most of them live. This school is over our back fence.... literally. She has spent many lunch times at the fence on our side eating her lunch with the school kids including 'Miss 7' her sister. 'Miss 5' has spent one day a week at school last term in a Pre Prep program as such she knows all the teachers, aides, and staff. She knows where the toilets are, how to borrow library books, where the staff room is and I work there so she has familiar faces... essentially she is ready, so it's the tendency to think it's not such a BIG day. 

This is so different from when our 'Miss 7 ' started school. She knew 5 other students out of the 90 starting prep and the 400 in the school. She had never been to the school before, didn't know her teacher or any staff members in the entire school. I remember feeling when I dropped her off that it was a BIG day. It is interesting to look at the difference in these two experiences in very  different circumstances. It makes me wonder what and where 'Master 2's' BIG day will be. Because the circumstances are so different for these two days there is a tendency to treat them differently, but you can't and here's why....

These BIG days are the first of many in these little people's lives. First jobs, first day of high school, first overseas trip alone, having a baby, getting married, starting university or a new course, joining a band. performing on stage, starting a business, and following a lifelong dream all involve these BIG days. These days take courage, they involve anxiety, excitement, doubts, and uncertainty all rolled into one. Each of these experiences make the next BIG day a little easier.

Now I can't remember my first day at school clearly, but I remember some of my other big days and I do still get worried, anxious and very excited. I usually handle this by putting all that energy into preparation so that I have all the information I need to be ready for the BIG day. I gather from this that my parents must have made me feel secure in my anxious feelings, taught me how to prepare and gave me a soft cushion and a cuddle or an endless ear after a BIG day.... So pretty much they did it right.

So with the tendency to treat Tuesday as if it's not such a BIG day and the sudden realisation that it is a BIG day and we aren't going to pass up the opportunity to make it a BIG day (to help prepare her for the BIG day when she has the courage to follow her lifelong dream) this is what we have done.

We have prepared by - buying her new school things and letting her choose. New shoes, drink bottle, socks, and shorts have all been purchased with 'Miss 5's' assistance and labelled.

We have talked through stuff, basic scenarios and possible problems have been bought up and theoretically solved.

We have had a countdown so she knows how many days to go, this takes care of the surprise factor.

We have cooked and tried new lunch options and some even got the tick of approval.

We have her bag out and packed, uniforms ready so we have plenty of time to get photos and not be rushed on the morning.

Now for the BIG Day....just one of 'these Beautiful Days'

Miss 5 .. very excited

2 out of 3 there

Footnote: 'Miss 5' loved her BIG day,she came home excited a little crazy and was asleep early.... it may be a long short first week of school.

Ok I admit it...... I Knit!!

I have to admit it......I knit.

I love sitting there with my needles for what amounts to hours and hours creating pieces of 'sometimes wearable' clothing. I really do love it!!

I learned to knit from my mother in law on one family holiday with my husbands family. We went to an island  for a week long holiday and it rained. We had several small children in a townhouse  and it was very cold and very wet and still it rained and rained. The boys on our holiday stayed busy with fishing, fishing and more fishing while I slowly pulled my hair out. Maybe sensing that I was about to go home from our holiday bald, Jill my lovely mother in law gave me a set of knitting needles and some yarn and patiently taught me to knit.... ahhh bliss. I had an expert on hand as I fumbled my way through the basics and Surprise!! I picked it up. I can't remember getting frustrated or slamming doors (which is how I usually perfect new skills) I just nutted it out asked questions and learned.

Looking back there are several reasons why I think I took to knitting. Like breastfeeding it's one of the few times as a mother you can sit down and still be doing something. Like smoking which I gave up years ago it gives me permission to sit and be while I calm my mind for a few minutes. I can take time out and think while I look really busy. I have generations of knitters on my mothers side, so I like that I have picked up something they may have taught me if we had more time together.

Since this first holiday I have rarely been without a project and thanks to You Tube I can pick up almost any stitch or technique. Ravely has been my go to site for an endless supply of pattens and support in their online knitters community. More recently Pinterest has stolen many of my nights looking at inspirational ideas while I follow links and Pin more projects.

Since moving to this insanely warm tropical climate I have still been knitting, I do look a little crazy but I still persist. Making the kids cardigans they might wear once a year, and sending tiny baby pieces to friends and family in cooler climates.

Now I am having a baby and this baby is due late June (probably be born early July) in Winter!! So I have been knitting up a storm, ideas flowing since I saw those two lines on the test. We have decided not to find out the gender of this baby so that means that my knitting has been fairly gender neutral although the red cardigan is a bit girly, I love it!!

New additions for our new addition

I have adapted the patten for the grey wrap cardigan from the Baby Yoda Sweater patten free and found on Ravelry here: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/baby-yoda-sweater

The red cardigan is adapted from the Striped Smock Top patten free and found on Ravely here :http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/striped-smock-top

 I have created two pieces so far but I am currently working on a few more, not to forget a knitted blanket before bub arrives so exciting. I am only a few days off being half way through this pregnancy so I better get my knitting on.... my family better get used to hearing  " just wait a minute I'll be there after this row"!!

Sitting knitting and.... enjoying 'these beautiful days'.

Grocery Adventures................

"We need food"..... the dreaded words that I hear usually 2-3 weeks after the last adventure into town to gather supplies. The fresh fruit and salad supplies are long gone usually consumed by all with gusto and glutton  within a week of the last adventure. So starts the process of printing out our shopping list adding quantities (21 or 30 long life milks) and planning meals. It sounds simple right but the meals have to be planned so  the ones that contain fresh ingredients are eaten first etc.... It's a big process.

Now loads of people in town leave once a week to grocery shop but I love avoiding shopping, one of the best things about living out here is that you just can't pick something up for dinner on your way home (and spend $60 in the process). I love making do with what we have and creating meals out of brown rice, frozen veggies and pastry (try it I guarantee all will eat it). I love the kids learning that when the cereal, muesli bars, biscuits, and  juice runs out, it actually does for a while at least. It's teaching us all about appreciating the food when we have it and the pantry doesn't have a revolving door. We always make sure we have milk but the rest is a compromise. Recently we have veered towards wraps instead of bread because its easier to transport and store and over time we are learning more tricks and compromising more.

The road out of town, with cows ahead... this is in the dry season

Beside from the planning the actual trip into town is always eventful. Our first trip in to grocery shop  3 days after we moved here was a huge adventure. We loaded the car with esky's and drove off along the dirt. We dodged  numerous pot holes that could double as a wading pool for the kids, dingos, wallaby's and stopped several times for cows meandering across the road. We slowed down for 3 huge wedge tailed eagles feasting in the middle of the road. These majestic birds are amazing and I never tire of seeing them but they are so slow to take flight, their huge wings struggling to life them up and clear the car, so you always get a great view of them. After 2 1/2 hours of this we arrive at the local supermarket.

Good Moo....rning Everyone!

 

Now to the actual shopping part on this occasion we took our time and visited the local market, the coffee factory and finally shopped as the rain set in. Luckily my husband and I were together on this trip we separated the list and split the kids to the easiest combination of the day (this varies) and shopped. If I am husband less the shop involves filling one trolley, checking out packing the car and returning to fill the second trolley with the cold goods and fruit and veggies usually with at least 2 children tagging along (whaaa not fun at all.)We each filled our trolleys met and went through the checkout, we packed the car ensuring the cold goods made it to esky's and cool bags and headed off. Since then we have learnt a few things, make sure the icecream lays right way up, cooler bags aren't great with ice in them, the milks lids always need to be tightened before travel, double check the list before you leave, make sure the mince and ham makes it to the esky and when you get home unpack the car thoroughly.

On this first shopping trip we took our time and paid no attention to the weather as we leisurely shopped as the rain poured on outside. We drove out of the town with a full car, very proud of ourselves first shop done. Not too far from home we hit the first river crossing.... umm a little running water, straight through no worries round the corner second river crossing eeek a little more but still ok,  now we could exhale we were on the homeward stretch the kids were all excited we drove through the water Dad!!! ........until the dreaded 3rd river crossing we had forgotten about. Now we stopped and we watched and waited .......and waited and looked, and waited. Finally another car came past, the same size as ours but a real 4wd rather than our city version. Now its the Country Way to help each other out and the guy stopped and said we'd be right getting through and he would wait for us so we followed him through carefully watching the path that he took to stay on the causeway and eternally thankful we headed home with our food....never had a trip to the supermarket been so eventful, the kids loved it and while my husband and I relished in the excitement of it all we were also facing a huge learning curve... Wow we really are in the country now!!

The boot of the car after a recent shopping adventure

The wet season has just started up here again, it's a little later than usual this year but as the rain buckets down I remember that first shopping trip and know that I will be checking the weather more closely  for the next few months on our trips into town. We will be stocking up on some frozen food and pantry staples so that if the road gets closed for any length of time we will have enough (even if it is sauce, pasta and veggies for a few dinners) and I will be baking snacks for the kids frequently rather than openingg packets. I know that in the future our grocery adventures will be laughed about by the kids as they grow up remembering 'these beautiful days' with an adventure, story and smile!!

In the kitchen......

It’s school holiday time here at the moment and the combination of 3 hungry kids, no shops close by and it being too hot to play outside means we all spend lots of time in the kitchen. Now I am not much of a chef and my husband did not marry me for my cooking that’s for sure (I have actually set a toaster on fire making toast) but I have had to learn and improve over time. I am lucky that my husband is awesome and likes cooking so we get to share kitchen duties. Over the last few weeks I have had some kitchen successes so I thought I’d share them.

For Christmas I was given (or may have requested) the CWA cookbook. I had read a review on it and now I am a ‘Country Woman’ I thought it would be handy.... and it is. It has lots of basics and heaps of recipes that use few ingredients and lots of pantry staples.

 But the best part is the cakes and sweet section. Now is the time to confess....I have a sweet tooth, but I love eating healthy food, confusing I know... so I am always looking for easy recipes that satisfy the sweet craving while not being too bad for me or the kids. Our favourite so far is Kim's Chocolate Cake, only a few ingredients and I have halved the sugar to ¾  cup and it has worked perfectly every time.

 I have used this recipe to make a cake, added coconut and sultanas (on separate occasions) for muffins and made cake pops with it, and it is so easy to make and delicious.

The second recipe that we have tried recently and loved is a recipe for Quinoa burgers. Now Quinoa is pretty new in at our house and I have only used it a few times, but this recipe will become a staple because (drum roll please)..... Everyone ate it!! I have another confession I am a partial vegetarian (I only eat chicken and fish) and I live in a house filled with carnivores especially Miss 7. So when I find a recipe we all eat for dinner the heavens open and angels sing. This recipe was easy to make, the burgers stayed together and it made 14 burgers more than enough for leftovers for lunch the next day. I put the burgers in the fridge for 30 mins prior to cooking because the mixture was quite moist and I think this helped keep them together, but they are great, and easy. The Quinoa burger recipe is from here: http://eatingwelllivingthin.wordpress.com/2010/11/01/love-my-quinoa-burger/

Our Quinoa Burgers

Quinoa Burgers from the website

I hope that these recipes work as well for others as they did for me, food is such an important part of our lives and I am starting to actually enjoy spending time in the kitchen (just don’t let my husband know). When I am cooking it is the one time our active Master 2 will sit still and help me out with the taste testing. It is lovely watching the girls becoming more independent as they can do more cooking themselves. Spending family time in the kitchen has become a big part of ‘these beautiful days’.... Enjoy.

The day I resuscitated a Chicken..... And other poultry tales!

There was moment in time when I realised that my life was different. It was the moment my husband and brother walked in and found me giving mouth to mouth to a chicken.... ewww I can’t believe it either but let me give you the back story of how this came to be.

When we told the kids we were moving we knew the house we were moving to had chickens and a coop. So every time the kids would say that they didn’t want to move because they would miss their friends, activities, home school, pre-school, family we would say “It’s okay we will get some chickens”. It became our mantra of sorts. When we arrived there were 3 chickens in the coop for 24 hours before they had to go with the previous occupants of the house. But that was okay because “we will get some chickens”. It turns out it was the wrong time of year for hatching baby chicks but one of the women in town said that she would give us some of her chickens. I soon discovered that in the country these things don’t happen quickly (it’s the Country Way) and a few months went past. One morning we got a call “Do ya want some chickens?” “Sure we’ll be there soon”. Later that day we had 6 chickens, Harriet, Ronette, Ginny, Marnie, Chest and Courtney all tucked up in the backyard coop.

Months went past and all was well. Then Ginny got a sore eye we nursed her back to health inside the house, frequently finding her on the lounge watching TV with the kids in the process. This is when I got over my fear of chickens as I bathed her eye with saline 3 times a day, until she made a full recovery and was reunited with her plucky friends.

One morning when all was well in the land of the chickens we heard what best can be descibed as a “Errrccc a doddle doo” sound from the coop. Umm, Ginny was actually Ginny Boy. We also held a suspicion about Marnie’s behaviour with jumping on the back of the other chickens. What to do now? These two were the two favourites and the friendliest of the lot now here they were the dreaded “R” word... Roosters! We knew we couldn’t keep them both and we couldn’t decide who to give away, so we had an idea. We would try and breed them, get some baby chicks and then pass the Roosters over the  when the chicks arrived. We had a clucky chicken and we waited... and waited and waited finally a chick hatched, the much loved Maharnie and she lived about 12 hours before she died. We were all so sad. Another two chicks tried to hatch then also died, talk about giving these city kids a crash course in life in the country.

The kids saying goodbye to Maharnie

A day or so later the Roosters took to it, we had been told that they would fight but I had no idea they would be so crazy. They danced around each other as if in a trance and tried their best to harm each other. I tried the hose, a stick, and loud noises and eventually split them up by chasing them around the yard and caught one. I put this one in the shed, locked the other one up and went to the town touch football game, intending to offload two Roosters as soon as possible. The next day the girls bravely cuddled their beloved roosters before they were collected in a feed bag. Marnie Boy and Ginny Boy are now seeing out their days out on a farm outside of town.

After all this we were a little chickened out when the kids started asking about some baby chicks “its okay we’ll get some chickens from the shop”. I arrived back from a trip to town with a light, a box, newspaper and 4 day old hens, Luna, Coco, Ginny and Hermione. These tiny baby chicks were fed, cuddled and cleaned twice a day, they sat on our laps and fell asleep on the lounge with the kids at night.



Much Loved



Two days later the kids had been playing with them when I heard a cry and scream from where the chickens were.  Luna, Master 2’s chicken was dead. The kids were beside themselves and I was alone, I thought I have to try something.... so I tried mouth to beak, tiny little breaths into the little beak and that’s how my husband and visiting brother found me a few moments later. They didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, I know it’s a sight that they won’t forget and you can laugh about it because it worked. Lucky Luna as she is now known started to come around and rested with a hot water bottle for a few moments until she was reunited with her little friends.

Luna recovering sleeping after her big ordeal with her owner

Today we have 8 lovely ladies in the chicken coop, who are patient enough to let the kids play with them, and even dress them up. The chickens eat all our scraps and produce 4 of the most beautiful eggs each day. They bring so much joy to our lives and each has their own personality and funny little ways. They really are lovely pets and very much a part of our family and contribute so much to “these beautiful days”.

Hermione and Miss 7

Ginny and Miss 5

Luna and Master 2

 

Resuscitating a chicken doesn’t seem so strange after all that...... does it?

Little

Getting bigger and exploring the coop



All grown up in the garden



Differently the same....

There is a post on Facebook at the moment which says something like, '12 months ago I never would have imagined my life the way it is now'. For us this quote couldn't be more true.

Last year I greeted the start of 2012 with trepidation and a little dread. My little family was happy but busy. I'm sure many mothers could relate to me when seeing their children playing and wanting to join in but needing to do X or Y or Z first then missing the moment. Or the pressure associated with timetables, drop offs, activities and homework while still trying to work or study and have some sort of (insert gasp here) social life or time to yourself, (don't even mention the preparation or guilt associated with either of these).

So my husband is brave and he  started applying for positions far far away from the life we had created and I didn't say "no" (not even considering that he would be successful) but he is not only brave but employable too as it turns out. There was a movie out at the time with a quote I remember  'it takes 20 seconds of courage to change your life forever' and whenever I felt like putting the brakes on the move I would quote this to myself and take a breath.

So whats different now....

We drive 2 hours each way to our nearest supermarket along dirt roads with wandering cows and crazy wallabies who love playing 'Frogger' with the cars. This makes each shop count as it doesn't happen very often. We have a shopping list on the computer and print this off a few days before we leave. We plan meals and write quantities, we take Esky's with us and now know why ice takes up so much space in the frozen food section.

We have time on our side now. Time to plan food trips, time to play , bake, clean, do craft, time to think of activities, places to picnic and swim. Time for myself to start a Blog, knit, bake, read and learn to sew.

We walk. We walk to get the post 3 times a week, we walk to the pool, we walk to one of the local pubs for dinner, we walk to BBQ's. We were always in and out of the car and couldn't walk anywhere previously.

It's hot, really hot. We no longer need jumpers, tights or jackets even in winter. At the moment while the rest of Australia is in a heat wave, everyone is enjoying temperatures similar to our normal summer temps.

What do I miss? I miss strange things that I never thought of, the daily newspaper, fresh bread, fruit and vegetables and going to the gym for 'me time'. I miss the thought of family and friends being close by but with communication we are never far from each others lives.

Any regrets? None, not for a second. For the first time since our eldest daughter was born almost 8 years ago we can slightly financially breathe a little. We are enjoying life and have been able to bring a new little member into our family due late June. We never could have considered this as a possibility 12 months ago. This baby will be the first where I haven't worked or studied throughout the pregnancy or soon after, What a lucky baby (and mother)!!


Whats the same? The kids are essentially the same though it maybe because I see them more but I think they have become 'more' of themselves. More imaginative, more adventurous, more crazy. More centred and comfortable in themselves. They have grown and learnt how to get along with lots of types of people. They have felt what its like to be different and to not understand some of the cultural norms we all take for granted when we have lived somewhere for a long time. They have developed empathy and they have adapted.

From the experience I encourage everyone in 2013 to take some risks, do something new, scary, foreign. Change your life a little for the better and shake it up a bit. You will grow and discover you are stronger, braver, calmer, wiser than you think.... and it will make more of these beautiful days in your life.

The start of "These Beautiful Days"

I am starting this blog to share this exciting time with all. We are lucky to have 3 beautiful children with another on the way. In 2012 we found our lives were getting crazy busy so we took an opportunity to move 2000 kilometres away from our life in the city to an isolated area in Far North Queensland to slow life down. I have been amazed at how different almost everything in our life is now. Since the move I have come to realise there are so many differences in this vast country of ours and I want to share these with you.  This move has been the best decision we have ever made and I want to share this time, I know it will  forever be remembered in our life as These Beautiful Days.