What I Can Do on Very Little Sleep

I have had one sleep deprived weekend. Emily has a cold and although it's nothing serious, it's hard to breath through runny nose when you still suck on a dummy all night. I believe the last decent nights sleep I had was last Thursday.

This morning she woke up at 4am and decided that it was time to get up and play. After an hour and a half of warm milk, back patting and lullaby's I put her in my bed. Half an hour of kicking and mucking around later I decided stuff it, we're up!

Saturday night Emily told me she wanted Macaroni Cheese for dinner....either that or it was Macca's. In two year old speak they both sound the same. Anyway I thought I'd do a little experimenting. We had no macaroni and I have no idea what cheese goes into it so I cooked up some spiral pasta and cauliflower. Then I sweated off some chopped leek and garlic and poured in some cream, grated Edam & Chedder cheese, and seasoned with salt and pepper. I mixed the sauce with the pasta and cauliflower.

Emily did her first bit of cooking by sprinkling the breadcrumbs, cheese & rosemary mixture on top.

Then I popped it in the oven for 15 minutes till the top was golden. Emily wolfed it down and we even had enough leftover for Sunday lunch, which was good because I was definitely too tired to cook.

To kill some time today, and to burn off a little excess toddler energy, we went to the park. Finally Emily can reach the peddles on her tricycle and it was nice that she actually sat on it without insisting on jumping off and pushing it herself.

I'm loving this stage that she's at. It's all make believe and pretend play. She watches everything I do and if I'm sweeping the floor, she has to get her little broom out and sweep too.

With a huge week ahead including the Kids In Style expo next Friday, I really hope she sleeps well.

How was your weekend? 





A Blissful Weekend

What an absolutely glorious weekend! It helped that I got loads of sleep, something that is normally unheard of in this house. Emily was away at her Daddy's for the weekend so I took full advantage of the peace and quiet.

Waking up this morning I just had to go for a run. When my husband and I first met I was running 7km a day (I know that's not much for some but for me it was a huge achievement), but since Emily was born and with all the problems we have been going through at home, the running has been put to the side.

I felt so good to get out in the fresh air. And boy was it fresh! 2'C fresh! Even the cows were huddled under the trees and I could hear the white frozen grass crunching under my feet as I ran across the paddock and into the reserve.

When I got home I couldn't help but notice my garden and the sun shining on it. Even though everything has been pruned and the leaves are long gone from the trees, you could still see color and life everywhere.

My Mum calls these winter roses and says she just wishes they'd straighten up and hold there heads up.

This precious angel has survived more gardens than I can remember. She has been with me for about 15 years now and looks magical under the white Camellia.

These beauties popped out there heads in the sunshine last weekend. They were such a lovely surprise as I didn't even know they were there. I must remember to plant more surprise bulbs around the garden this Spring.

So what better way to finish the weekend than with a Sunday Roast? Silverside is a seriously underestimated cut of beef. 1.5kg cost me a mere $7.00 and would be enough to feed a family of six. I knew the best way to do it justice would be to slow cook it all day in my late Nana's crock-pot. Just seasoned with salt and pepper and a bit of olive oil and I cooked that sucker for 8 hours. The result.....juicy, fall-apart on your fork, salty silverside served with roasted root vegetables and green beans. Delicious!

Those beautiful daffodils looked lovely on the table at dinner tonight too.

It was truly a glorious Sunday. How was yours?

Single Mum's Meal #1 - Baked Salmon & Broccoli

Since separating from my husband a couple of weeks ago one thing I've struggled with (apart from the obvious) is cooking for one and a half. Emily is not quite two and only eats a quarter of my dinner and a lot of the time I don't feel like mashed potato and peas (which is her favorite). 

So tonight I tried something different. And I've decided to start a series of recipes for single mum's who want something healthy, budget conscious and quick to make. 

Recipe #1 - Baked Salmon with Steamed Broccoli and Sun-dried Tomato's

Small Salmon Steak with Skin On

Small head of broccoli 

1 tbs of sun-dried tomato strips

1 lemon

50ml Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Salt and Pepper

Dill Tips

1/2 tsp crushed garlic

Pre-heat your oven to 180'C. Grab some baking paper and a small baking tray. Place your salmon steak in the baking tray and drizzle with some of the extra virgin olive oil. Sprinkle the top of the salmon with some dill tips (I used Masterfoods dried but fresh would be great if you have it). Season well with salt and pepper. Thinly slice the lemon (about 3-4 slices) and place them on top of the salmon. Now for the tricky bit. Take the two sides of the baking paper and bring to the center, fold down the top & tuck the ends so you've made a little parcel. Don't do this two tightly as you want air to circulate. Pop your fish in the oven and bake for approximately 30 mins or until the fish is cooked through. 

While the fish is cooking prepare your dressing. Squeeze the rest of the lemon juice into a jug. Add the remaining olive oil and season well with salt and pepper. Add the crushed garlic and stir well. Cut your broccoli into pieces and place in a microwave steamer bowl. I use a Decor one from the supermarket and it does a great job. Sprinkle with the sun-dried tomato strips and dressing. Add a tiny bit of water (about 10ml) to the bowl so your broccoli doesn't dry out. 

3 minutes before your fish is ready put your steamer of broccoli in the microwave and zap on high for 1 1/2 minutes. Check the broccoli and give it a toss. Put them back in and zap for another minute. That should do it. 

Then it's a simple matter of taking your salmon out the oven (it should be done), opening the paper and sliding the fish onto the plate. Add your steamed broccoli and viola! Amazing, delicious and healthy! 

The salmon cost me around $5 for the piece, the broccoli was about $1 and the sun-dried tomato strips cost me $3.50 but the jar will last me ages and I can use it in lots of other dishes. 

A Place In The Sun

Hooray for the sun coming out! We've got 12 days left of our holiday here in Ireland and the first couple of days here were glorious and sunny. But for the last week it's been overcast, raining and we've had bitterly cold winds. When it's like this there's not much you can do but stay inside and keep warm.

We're staying in my mother-in-law's 2 bedroom cottage and it's gorgeous, but probably better suited to 1-2 people, not 3 adults and a toddler who just wants to run around all the time.


On Thursday night we picked up hubby's other two children who live here in Dunfanaghy. Now we have two teenagers, 3 adults and a toddler in a two bedroom house. It's slightly crowded to say the least however I think we're all coping enormously well.


So when we woke this morning and say blue skies and felt the sun through the kitchen windows we were all so happy. My mother-in-law Helen has taken the children swimming this morning and hubby has gone to the gym. Emily is asleep for her midday nap and this has given me some peace and quiet to do some writing and just relax. Aaaahhhhhh.......

Early morning sun hits the hills and we wake up to a glorious view of the valley

I love that everyone lives next to each other here. That is that my father-in-law Jimmy has the house next door to Helen's (they separated some time ago but remain friends) and my brother-in-law Adam and his partner Olivia and son Reuben live in the little cottage next to Jimmy's.

Adam and Olivia's little cottage next to the main house

Having everyone at your doorstep has been fabulous. Both the little ones have been sick at various times and we've been able to run panadol back and forth and bulk buy nappies and wipes since they're both the same size. We've shared food and wine such as the delicious Rhubarb Crumble cooked by Helen with Rhubarb from Jimmy's garden, and Spaghetti Bolognaise cooked by Jimmy and eaten here by the whole family.

One decimated patch of Rhubarb

Every where I look here there are reminders of a wonderful family life. There are animals everywhere and gardens that are well looked after. Emily has fallen in love with the little white horse named Holly who lives across the road behind the house. 

Holly the friendly neighbours horse

Helen has a little dog named Coco Michelle and she was happily sleeping on my feet while I was writing this until the sound of typing must have annoyed her and she moved to the little bed next to me on the couch.

Coco Michelle having a wee nap

Jimmy has a wonderful vegetable patch with potato's, leeks, carrots, spring onions and strawberries growing. He also grows Christmas Trees that he sells at the end of the year. The whole family is musical with Helen playing guitar, base guitar, saxophone and various other instruments, Jimmy plays the guitar and is a very well-known musician around here, brother-in-law Adam plays the drums and is in high demand with local bands and hubby plays guitar and base guitar. I keep waiting for them to break out into some sort of partridge family type gig but they are all way too cool for that.


Tonight we're heading out with the in-laws for a bit of frivolity and fun at the local pubs. We'll watch my Jimmy play in his band and drink some Guinness. Tomorrow we'll all wake up with headaches and no doubt Adam and Olivia will wander down at some stage to join in with our recollection of previous nights antics over a bite of lunch. At some stage Jimmy will wander through the trees that divide the house and pop his head in the door to just say hello and see how we're going. The kids will play and run about in the garden chasing the cats and dogs. It's a lovely life and I'm quite happy to just relax and enjoy it for now.

Emily walking up the lane

Things I Love

Things I love.....

• Morning cuddles and kisses from my daughter, especially if she gets in our bed between hubby and I
• Walking in bare feet on freshly cut lawn
• Eating salty popcorn till my lips sting

• Open fires and sitting so close you bum burns

• Freshly washed sheets and pyjamas. Whats the point of fresh sheets without fresh PJ's?
• Coloring in with Emily, especially when she dictates what part of the picture I can color
• Ripping the foil and getting that first whiff of a fresh jar of coffee
• Reading a good magazine....in peace......cover to cover.......
• Hot showers on really cold nights
• Going to sleep with my feet touching my husbands
• Hot roast lamb on a cold Sunday for lunch with all the family
• Friday night drinks with friends
• Singing to tunes I love at the top of my voice in the car
• Christmas.......
• Cooking anything from a Jamie Oliver cookbook

• Watching my hubby play with Emily

There are so many things I love. Most of all I'm grateful that I get to enjoy all these things and live the life I was given.

What do you love?

As time goes by....

This week has gone so quickly and it's getting more and more stressful the closer we get to our trip. Hubby is complaining that we haven't saved enough money, I'm complaining that he's not showing enough admiration or support since I'm been working like a dog to make some money to put towards the trip, Emily isn't sleeping properly and is cutting her eye teeth, and all the while time is ticking by.

Today was my day off but the whole day was filled with work. I managed to get a hair appointment in early this morning but I didn't even have time for my hairdresser to dry me off before rushing out the door to pick up Emily from Mum and Dads as they had an appointment to go to. After that I made two dresses and a pair of pants for the Saturday Night Market at Beechworth.

My Nana taught me to cook as a way of keeping me out of trouble since I was such a busy little girl. She looked out for me years ago and today using her old crock pot to make spaghetti bolognaise for dinner tonight I felt like she was still looking out for me. Thanks God she left that old crock pot to me along with several other cooking utensils. At 6pm when Emily was having a meltdown and hubby came in looking for food I proudly announced dinner was made and at least that was one thing he couldn't complain about today.

Tomorrow is another full on day in the shop and I hope I remember to bank and get change for the market.

Feeling Better.......

Today was my first day off in 9 days and boy did I need it! I finally feel a bit better and a bit more organised. Emily slept 12 hours straight last night which meant I finally got a good nights sleep and so I just had to start this morning with a special cooked breakfast for hubby and I. Emily even had her first boiled egg this morning so after a great start I figured some shopping, visiting and cleaning were in order.

We.....

• Did the grocery shopping
• Visited Mrs Doodlebug and picked the new logo for the shop
• Did some more shopping and bought some winter pyjama's and an Elmo DVD about travelling
• Cleaned the entire house including bathrooms, windows, vacuuming and crayon removal from walls
• Colored
• Danced to the new Elmo DVD
• Made a lasagna for dinner

Now Emily is in bed, hubby is in his man cave and I am free to sit on the couch in a very clean house and blog away.

I'm trying really hard not to make my posts like an on-line diary of my daily events. I've never thought of myself as a writer but I guess that's what you do when you blog. I look at my blogging hero's to see what they do that makes them a success and there's a few things they have in common.

• They blog every day - even if it's to say their day is shit and they have no time to blog
• They're opinionated and they say what they think with no apologies
• They're open about who they are, they don't hide their identity and we all know their names.
• They always have pics, links or videos on their blogs so it's not just text
• They are social media queens and regularly post on Facebook and Twitter

I can log in at any time and see what these women were up to. Late at night I often lie in bed with my i-phone and read their blogs and they're like a bunch of friends that I get to listen to each night before I go to sleep. They have interesting things to say and they make me laugh and cry.

My blogging hero's are Woogsworld, Edenland, BabyMac and retromummy. These women are inspirational to me because apart from having kids and and doing all the wonderful and selfless things mothers do, they've actually inspired so many other women and given an outlet for many of us to express ourselves.

Can you imagine what our mothers would have blogged about back in their day?

FIGJAM

My weekend was pretty uneventful.......

I weeded and harvested the vegie patch before the deluge of rain hit.

Then I made a lasagne with the herbs and a salad with the lettuce we'd picked.

Then I made some cheese and chive muffins....



Then I organised my new sewing and craft chest of drawers....

This was my fathers chest of drawers and his mothers before that. There is a stamp on the back of it stating it was made in 1923. I just love it.

Then I made a dress for Emily......

Then I made a pair of denim pants for Emily......

A bit daggy but suitable for Childcare I think

Then I made some Oat Bran Biscuits for hubby's lunches this week.....







Then I made a Silverbeet and Potato Gratin with Pork Chops for dinner.....

I really did mean to take a photo of this but.....

With all the housework, washing and ironing done I'm now sitting back tonight thinking I can achieve a lot when it's pissing down rain and you can't go out!

How was your weekend?

PS> My thoughts tonight are with the flood affected areas of NSW, VIC and ACT, especially my hometown of Urana NSW which is being air evacuated as I type this. 

Food Stuffs and Raspberry Muffins

I always like to keep a few essentials handy in my pantry and freezer for unexpected meals and sweets, and to make things that little bit more interesting on the table. Here's a few:

Roasted Pumpkin (or Butternut Pumpkin to be exact).

I add this to tarts with spinach and feta cheese for a quick and simple meal. Pumpkin is a great addition to salads mixed with some pine nuts, rocket and goats cheese.

I roast a whole butternut pumpkin, cut into small cubes, toss with olive oil in a pan lined with baking paper, and cook at 200'C for about 30 mins. It should still be slightly firm, not mushy.

It's also a great vegetable for our toddler and having it cubed and already cooked means I can defrost the amount she needs, mix with some peas and corn and maybe some chicken and viola!



Garlic Infused Olive Oil

This is really easy and here I've used an empty Peanut Butter plastic jar to store it in. You might choose something prettier. Very simply put 4-6 cloves of garlic in the jar and fill with Extra virgin Olive Oil.

I use this on salads, on lamb cutlets before cooking, in my bolognaise sauce and loads more dishes that call for garlic. It just gives the dish that extra bit of flavour.

Frozen Raspberries

I always keep a packet or two of frozen berries in the freezer. You can make loads of dishes with them, from quick parfaits to berry topped ice-cream, to muffins.



Here's the recipe for the wholemeal raspberry muffins I made today:

200g of frozen raspberries

2 cups of wholemeal self raising flour

1 cup of plain flour

1 teaspoon of cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda

1 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1 egg

11/3 cups of whole milk

1/3 cup vegetable oil

Grease a 12 hole muffin pan. Pre-heat oven to 200'C.

Reserve 1/4 cup of the raspberries for later. Add the rest to your remaining ingredients in a large mixing bowl and stir until just combined with a large metal spoon (I add the raspberries last so they don't break up).

Spoon mixture into prepared tin and top each muffin with the remaining raspberries (pressing in slightly). Bake for approximately 20 minutes.

Turn onto wire rack to cool.

These muffins will keep for 3-4 days in a sealed container.