Cooking

MMMMMMMM......food.

One thing about winter is it always makes me want to bake and eat, lol. Little wonder the weight I so desperately want to shift is hanging around, hehe.

During the last week the kids and I have tried a couple of new, and some old trusty, things in the kitchen...the results have been pretty good if I do say so myself.



We tried making bread for the first time, using a bread mix that I bought on special from coles about 5mths ago. We don't have a stand mixer or a bread maker so it was kneaded by us, left to rise, quickly kneaded again, smeared with some crushed garlic and then chucked in the oven. We had it with dinner last night, spiral pasta with a tomato and basil sauce, yum.



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We pulled out the trusty VVB recipe and made some choc chip biscuits.



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Late last week we needed dinner and the cupboards were bare, freezer was almost empty,the garden is only producing a few tomatoes, basil, sugar snap peas and lettuce and none of our usual meals were appealing.

So after riffling through the garden, freezer and cupboard I came up with:

500g pork mince
3 or 4 green shallots
a garlic clove
a bunch of shredded cabbage
2 or 3 grated carrots
Lettuce leaves



I browned the pork mince, added the garlic and shallots, cooked a bit longer, added the carrot and cabbage and cooked till they were softening.

Served in lettuce cups or leaves.....we are growing a more flat leafed lettuce so we wrapped ours around to eat.

Yum. The kids really enjoy it and I really liked that there was no added sauces or salts.

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I was mucking about on Wednesday....

2 cups of flour with 30g of butter mixed through with fingers, 1/2 cup of milk and 1/2 cup of water......mixed.....rolled and twisted.

I chucked them in oven and hoped for the best.



Tasted like scones, hot from the oven with butter.

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Picklets never last long in this house.



I use a recipe from a family circle baby food book, they puff up nicely and are super yummy.

XOXO Hayley.

TMI Warning: Period

This time (June) 2 years ago I had my last period, 2 weeks later Ari was conceived....and the rest, as they say, is history.

Two years is a long time to go without, I am very grateful that Ari and I have a fabulous breastfeeding relationship that has helped keep my hormone levels up and my period away.

I woke up this morning and quickly realised that my dream run was over *sigh*.......not to sure how I feel about being "fertile" again, especially considering we do not, under any circumstances, plan to get pregnant again. Plus add to that I feel drained and my back is aching and I have 4 kids to look after....*big sigh*..

The one positive to come out of the return is that I got to use my Lunette Menstral Cup for the first time, and it went really well. I found it much easier to use then I imagined and although I felt a little uncoordinated I know that will get better with practice. I didn't even have to trim anything.

So anyway, now you probably know more about me than you wanted.

XOXO hayley

Fabric Buckets

I made these this week, actually last weekend...super easy to make.

I have put the larger one to use storing some fabric but the smaller one (which is made according to the pattern) is so small I am not sure what I will use it for.

Tutorial is here.

http://vlijtig.blogspot.com/2008/11/here-it-is.html

Sling Meet

I am a member of a Google group of Baby wearing parents, Baby Carriers Downunder.

Amongst the group they have meet ups (sling meets) in a few different places around Australia and NZ . The baby wearing capital of Australia seems to be Brisbane and while I was there on holidays I was really happy to be able to attend one of the meets.

I was a bit nervous to be meeting relative strangers, I mean we had chatted online but not in depth and I am quiet....quiet, lol. I feel so awkward in social situations and struggle to talk to people and always worry I have said the wrong thing, argh!!!

Despite my nervousness I had a lovely time meeting some of the parents (who were lovely) and the carriers....oh my!....of course I came home with one, lol.

Paulus helped me figure out my straight strapped Pod...



The Dream Carrier - I tried it, I loved it, Paulus told me he was thinking of selling it...so I bought it...





..and my new wrap, a Cairo Hopp...a very thick wrap, great for winter.



I am really enjoying carrying Ari (and sometimes Nate), can hardly believe my baby is 14mths old already though! He is getting heavier so some of the old carriers are moving on and these new ones are supporting his weight a lot better.

Wooly Goodness

We have been so lucky to of received some fabulous woolies over the last few months.

Nate and Ari got some longies and matching beanies from the beautiful Mel for their (1st and 3rd) birthdays. Nate is refusing to wear anything knitted at the moment but I am really lucky that Ari has no such problems, lol.

So here is Ari modeling both sets.....they have been worn a lot over the last few weeks - we love them Mel!!







And then....some amazing knits from Tracy of Desert Rose Designs. These were knitted for me using some lovely BFL yarn I had bought but was unable (due to lack of knitting talent) to transform.

Tracy had no such troubles in coming up with a spectacular outfit, she is a super talented crafty mumma (of 6) who sews, knits, crochets, quilts and I am sure could pretty much do anything crafty!.









Isn't it just gorgeous!!! I love it and it is beyond what I could of envisioned.

The weather is really cooling down here now - we have actually had the heater on a few times in the mornings. These woolies (along with the set from Shannon) will be getting a work out this winter.

A holiday to QLD

My mum invited us to her house, in southern QLD, for the Easter holidays. I had reservations but put them aside and told myself that the kids would have a great time and it was just for 2 weeks. Well the kids did have a great time and although I struggled it was all worth it to have the kids enjoy themselves immensely.

I think the highlight of the trip for the kids was visiting Dreamworld.....twice!

Liam especially loved all the rides, he even convinced me to go on the Tower Of Terror with him....eeek!! He went on the Cyclone Roller Coaster with Steve....if you look at the pic really closely I have drawn a small arrow and his name on the pic.....you can't actually see his face as he is just to little, lol.



Nate loved the train, the animals, the cars, the white water rapids and wiggles world. He got really upset that he wasn't old enough to go on the big rides, lol. Ari was not so trilled about the park but was happy in the DC (Dream Carrier) that I got from Paulus from BCD (Baby Carriers Downunder).



Bethany liked the Blues Clues ride, the tea cups and the Merry-Go-Round......basically she liked the ones that were quiet and sedate, lol.



When we went with Steve (Mums Husband) he shouted the 3 big kids a helicopter ride!



I enjoyed myself too......as I said I went on the Tower Of Terror with Liam and also the motorbikes and log ride.

I took a few photos of the animals there.....





and my little girl - who turns 5 in a 4 mths!!!! She said she didn't want her picture taken, but I saw her peaking out from under her hat........

So much to blog about......

Its been 2 months since I posted, OMG I am slack!!

My babies, Nate and Ari turned 3 and 1 in March....they had a party which was a heap of fun, they got so many great pressies, including lovely longies and beanies from Mel.

Ari started walking a week or 2 before his birthday and is just so grown up now. He is still breastfed on demand and co-sleeps, he is also still worn each day in our baby carriers.....I am kinda sad that he is getting older but also happy that he is learning so much and starting to give me a bit more space during the day while he plays.

I am struggling emotionally.....I think that it has been hard for me since Ari was about 5months old but I kinda expected it to go away.....it hasn't, and I have realised I need to make an effort to change things to make myself happy.

Liam started back at soccer which mean training one day a week and soccer Saturday mornings. And the 3 big kids go to swimming lessons so we go there twice a week.

We (kids and I) had a road trip to QLD which involved 2 days at dreamworld. It was a good trip and I have heaps of photos that I will have to upload (darn dial up it takes forever).

I got some delicious knitted items from Tracy (Desert Rose Designs)...they are just fabulous.

This weekend was mothers day - which was OK but not to different from most other days.....I did sit down and sew on Saturday afternoon though, as part of the Nappycino sew-a-long. I sewed the Heather Bailey Pin Cushion...quick and pretty easy. I should at least show one pic to make this post more interesting.



Thanks for reading....try to be back soon with more pics and in depth stories.

the most SPECIAL knitted set - hoot hoot

Now you may of read the title and thought I was exaggerating, but now you've seen the photos......



.....Isn't this set just fabulous?.

I must apologise to the lovely lady who made this , Shannon, I have had it for a few weeks and thought that I had blogged about it but I obviously hadn't, so shame on me!!!!.

I can hardly put into words how happy I am with this set.

It is knitted so perfectly, is so soft and squishy, the colours are perfect and I can feel the care that went into making it.....cabled pockets, button details, the OWL!!!

This will be Ari's 1st birthday present.

EXTRA SPECIAL THANKS to the beautiful Shannon not only for making Ari and I this beautiful set but for lifting me up and bring me joy.

XOXOXOXO

Portabellopixie Dress "Claire"

I made this dress today from the Portabellopixie pattern "Claire".

The pattern goes from 6m to 8 years and the pattern piece took up most of my lounge room floor, lol, I made size 5 for Beth...next time I will make size 6.

I love the old school style and the overall girlyness of the dress - to me it looks like a little girls party dress...not like some of the ones you see in shops that seem to be something an older girl/woman would wear, iykwim.

Beth put it on and we went outside to take the photos.....and she follows her brothers and climbs a tree......in a party dress, lol.

How Our Garden Grows - February 2009

Or maybe that should be, how our tomatoes grow, lol. Our tomato plants in the garden are going great, (except for the ants that keep eating them)! Scott commented this afternoon that we should of made a bigger garden!! He doesn't know what he's gotten himself into, lol.



The basil is also growing profusely, its great on pizza and pasta and our little capsicum plant has flowered once leaving us a tiny little capsicum and another flower is ready to open.



I really enjoy spending time outside pottering about and I do agree with Scott, we definatley need a bigger garden.

Vegie Garden - All Mulched

Looking pretty good if I do say so myself, lol....now I just have to keep it all alive.

We have eaten 3 cherry tomatoes so far and there are a few more ripening up now. And we used some of the basil in home made pizzas, yummo.

I am (DH is) going to screw the trellis to the fence (with a block behind it so there is a gap) behind the tomatoes so I can tie them off or poke them through if I need to.



Its great fun and I am attempting to grow some shallots and carrots in the little seedling trays to put in the dirt patches you can see.

Wish me luck, lol :)

Ari has his first train ride

I took Ari down to Sydney last week which involved his first train ride :) He was a dream, happy and excited and we had a lovely day meeting some members of Baby Carriers Downunder.



Total travel time for the day was about 5 hours so we were knackered when we got home...left at 7:30am and got home at 6:30pm.

I wouldn't do it with all the kids but it was a nice day for just the 2 of us.

How Our Garden Grows

Well I have managed to keep things alive so far, although my large tomato plant in the pot is getting a little dead in places, lol. I have since read that tomatoes grow better in the ground.

I decided to dedicate a part of the back yard to the growth of food and that involved removing turf, which I had trouble doing so DH helped, and also framing up some hardwood from our old garage to act as the garden sides.

So here is a picture of what the back corner looked like before....sorry I didn't actually think to take a before shot so this is as good as it gets, lol...



This is what it looked like with the frame empty....please excuse the dodgy night shot...



Today I got a delivery of some organic soil mix......I shoveled it into buckets and filled the frame. My arms are so sore from it but it was nice to get out and do some physical work....I still have a little more to shovel tomorrow that will go on the other cleared area right in the corner. I want to plant some dwarf lavender and some chamomile.

In the veggie garden I planted some tomatoes and basil from my Nana and also a tomato plant I had here in a pot (from my sister), it looks like its a Roma Tomato plant....



I used 2 bessa blocks from the old deck as stepping stones so I can get to the back plants without stepping on things.

The marigolds are in metal pots we used at our wedding 5 years ago...I knew they would come in handy, lol. The flowers are so pretty.



I have plans to sew some seeds....dutch carrots and shallots....in the next few days, I will put some in pots and then transplant if they germinate. I also have to buy some sugarcane mulch.

Here are a couple more photos of the plants...




And Ari...hmm whats this mum??.....(Lemon Basil).....I don't think he liked it, lol.