Weekly 10 - It's been a weeny while

With party prep, parties and birthdays it's been a busy wee while. Here's how I went with the last list. Make sure to check in tomorrow to see what else I've been up to and what I've got coming up :)

1. Put together party favours

2. Get hair and nails did

3. Decorate ready for party

4. Wrap Leah's birthday presents (organised little poppet I am)

5. Clean front door entrance ready for party favours

6. Clean out/ re-organise the girl's clothes

7. Decide on cake and make

8. Take cake smash photos

9. Whole day Saturday prep for the party - clean, food, shop, last minute decorations

10. Snuggle the crap outta the husband that's back from 'Straya. 

That's right! Smashed it.... and although I haven't had lists, I've done a whole heap of stuff in between lists. Read about it tomorrow in Weekly 10, the sequel. Lol

Man it's been a busy week. I may not have written my weekly ten this week but I've done a tonne of stuff - I'll outline this week I finally write my next weekly ten. It's been on my mental to do list all week but I haven't got around to it! Couple all my productivity with Willow's birthday and of course that pesky little full time job and the week has flown...absolutely flown. Never too busy to be grateful though.

So very grateful for all the family and friends who joined us for Willow's birthday. She was super spoiled and just loved all the attention. Our little social butterfly. She's one. Can.Not.Believe.It!

As I said last week, I have amazing friends who I'm always grateful for. Our cake smash cake was made by one and I wouldn't have been able to get all this food on the table last Sunday if it wasn't for another. I love these two like crazy and I'm so grateful to call them my best friends. Thanks girls. Willow and Leah are lucky to have amazing Aunties like you.

Speaking of helpers...

Grateful that this isn't her usual disposition, and that we have such a happy wee one year old at home who's way too close to walking. I've enjoyed her starting later as she's just such a monster, but I'm afraid it won't last much longer at all... :/

So very grateful for my stubborness this week. I have many traditions that I begun with Leah and that I also wanted to do with Willow. I'm not only happy that I've kept them up for Leah but have also started them again now for Willow.  This is Willow's first birthday letter along with Leah's last 3 (soon to be 4).

And always, always grateful for being able to eat pig. Pulled pork in the slow cooker for dinner tonight and I'm dreaming of it already...om nom nom nom

What are you grateful for this week? xox

Grateful Fridays

What a week. We've been full blast with party preparations and although I'm looking forward to the weekend it's going to be a busy one. I already have a a page full long list of things that I need to do beginning this afternoon as soon as I leave work this afternoon.

First and foremost, I'm grateful to have my wonderful husband back in the country. We didn't have a horrible week without him like I thought we might, but it's just nice to have his presence back in the house. We missed him. We love you dadda <3

I'm grateful for being able to zip back home and get photo day outfits when I forget them. Thank goodness for working 5 minutes from home now! Also grateful for the cutest girls in the whole wide world.

Feeling very grateful for amazing friends who are helping me out with the birthday party this weekend. I have one friend making a cake for a cake smash that I need to photograph and another coming to stay on Saturday night to help out with decoration, food prep and general shinanegans. I remember you ladies were also the ones who stepped up and ran the kitchen for me last year at Leah's birthday when I was as huge as a whale in my heavily pregnant state. You know who you are and you are just amaze sauce.

Grateful for raisins and their attention keeping capabilities. We had no tears and focus on the task at hand the whole hour we were at the restaurant. Success!

Grateful for helpful big sisters.

And lastly and most recently, I'm grateful for a hairdresser that can make me my hair look this good.

What are you grateful for this week? xox

Weekly 10 - A new week

I quite like doing the 'Weekly 10' in two posts - one to round up the last week and then outline the next. I did a smashing job with last week and this week is all about getting ready for our wee ones first birthday party on Sunday.

1. Put together part favours

2. Get hair and nails did

3. Decorate ready for party

4. Wrap Leah's birthday presents (organised little poppet I am)

5. Clean front door entrance ready for party favours

6. Clean out/ re-organise the girl's clothes

7. Decide on cake and make

8. Take cake smash photos

9. Whole day Saturday prep for the party - clean, food, shop, last minute decorations

10. Snuggle the crap outta the husband that's back from 'Straya.

Weekly 10

Phew! What a busy week. I haven't had time to blog, but did you notice how fast the turn around on this Weekly 10 is? 4 days!!! That's 4 days people. After streaks of 3 weeks I'm very proud of myself. PLUS I've even done things extra to the list, see below. Keeping in mind that I've had parent teacher interview two nights this week AND it's just me without my sidekick at home with the girls. THAT'S impressive... maybe it's the sidekick that takes up too much of my time usually? Or maybe I'm just trying to keep myself busy so that I don't miss him so much (3 1/2 more sleeps <3)

So, here's to how I did.

Productivity:
1.  Laminate and cut out things for Willow's birthday.
2.  Get cook books ready to sell.

3. Get baby books up to date - shutterfly ones and physical ones. 
I've completely got the digital books up to date, here they are for your paroosal. I've also decided to hold off on printing the photos that are needed for the physical ones as I will do them in one fell swoop after birthdays so I have everything I need. I have although, got all the needed photos on a memory card ready to go. *PROUD*

For the family:
4. Get through the week without dadda!
5.  Take Leah to choose and buy her 4th birthday bracelet charm.
I'm crossing this out now as it's planned for the weekend. Needed to do something productive while daddy was away. These littlies would drive me nuts if we stayed at home all weekend! LOL

Work and stuff...:
6. Finish making Gloss aligned maths resource.

7. Write plays blog post... when the videos hurry up and upload to drop box!
You can see it here.

Just for me:
8. Be kind to myself this week - it's a busy one and we're one man down at home!
9. Track eating on 'My fitness pal'.
Proud that I did this every day, even though my eating has been mediocre. I often stray away from tracking on days that I'm not super awesome with eating, but I've found that I've actually not done too bad this week! Yus!
10. Finish reading cross stitch.
I was happy to 'complete' my list with this goal 75% finished. I've begun watching 'Outlander' which is based on the book, and that's taken up some of my time. Still loving and enjoying the book also and didn't want to make it a chore by forcing myself to read when I also want to watch.

Other things that I have done this week include...
Updated Willow's 365
Listed cookbooks to sell
Lister make up to sell...and sold it

Tasty Tuesday

Some more recipes from my culled cookbooks. I've been surprised at how easy they were. A lot of the recipes I pin are quite complicated and have a tonne of ingredients, but these are simple and mostly use the things I already have in my cupboard or fridge.

I thought I'd do a couple of sweets to start off...

Hazelnut Caramel Slice
200g butter, chopped
1/2 cup cocoa powder
2 cups firmly packed brown sugar
1t vanilla extract
2 eggs, beaten lightly
1 1/2 cups plain flour
200g dark eating chocolate, melted, cooled

Caramel Filling
180g butter, chopped
1/2 cup caster sugar
2T golden syrup
3/4 cup sweetened condensed milk
1 1/4 cups whole hazelnuts, roasted

Preheat oven to moderately slow. Grease 20x30cm pan, line base with two long sides.

Combine butter and cocoa powder in medium saucepan; stir over a low heat until smooth. Add sugar; stir until dissolved. Remove from heat; add vanilla, egg and sifted flour, mix well. Spread mixture into prepared pan. Bake in oven for 20 minutes, cool.

Quickly spread caramel filling (see below) evenly over base; refrigerate at least 30 minutes or until firm. Combine chocolate and oil in small bowl, spread over caramel filling; refrigerate until set.

Caramel Filling
Combine butter, sugar, syrup and condensed milk in medium saucepan; stir over low heat until butter is melted. Increase heat to medium and simmer, stirring about 10 minutes or until mixture is a dark caramel colour. Remove from heat and stir in hazelnuts.

I whacked this next yummy slice together in a morning with two whingy girls hanging off me and it was still yummy. Gotta love anything lemon.

Tangy Lemon Squares
125g butter
1/4 cup icing sugar mixture
1 1/4 cups plain flour
3 eggs
1 cup caster sugar
2t grated lemon rind
1/2 cup lemon juice

Preheat oven to moderate. Grease a 23cm square pan, line base and two opposite sides of pan with baking paper.

Beat butter and icing sugar in a small bowl with electric mixer until smooth. Stir in 1 cup of flour. Press mixture over base of prepared pan. Bake in moderate oven about 15 minutes or until browned lightly.

Place eggs, caster sugar, remaining flour, rind and juice in medium bowl, whisk until combined. Pour egg mixture over hot base. Bake in moderate oven about 20 minutes or until firm. Cool in pan.

Lift slice from pan and cut into pieces. Dust with sifted icing sugar.

Grilled chicken, brie and avocado on ciabatta
2 chicken breast fillets
4 thick slices ciabatta
1/3 cup sweet chilli sauce
50g baby rocket leavevs
100g brie, cut into 4 slices
1 small avocado, sliced thinly

Halve chicken pieces diagonally and slice through each piece horizontally (to make 8 pieces). Cook in heated, oiled grill pan until chicken is browned both sides and cooked through.

Toast bread, both sides in the same grill pan.

Spread half the sauce over toast slices; top with rocket, chicken, cheese then avocado. Drizzle with remaining sauce.

Grilled pork chops with apple and onion plum sauce
2 medium apples
1T olive oil
1 medium red onion, cut into thin wedges
4 pork loin chops
1/2 cup plum sauce
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/2 cup chicken stock

Cut each unpeeled, uncored apple horizontally into four slices. Heat oil in grill pan; cook apple and onion, turning until softened.

Cook chops in heated oiled grill pan until cooked.
Stir sauce, juice and stock into apple mixture, simmer 1 minute.
Serve Pork chops with sauce.

Weekly 10 has been somewhat of a disappointment of late. Don't worry, I'm super busy doing stuff... just not the stuff on my list. Lol, this last time in particular, which is why I've been skulking away and not doing the next list. Oh alright let's look at it...

Productivity:
1.  Christmas shopping list.
2.  Make a budget that makes saving a priority.
3. Get baby books up to date - shutterfly ones and physical ones.

For the family:
4. Day out to the movies and mini golf with Dadda and Leah.
5.  Enjoy spending time with our cousins at Savannah's 1st birthday

Work and stuff...:
6. Make maths games resource bundle.
7. Go to secret squirrel interview.

Just for me:
8. Conquer at least 20000 steps EVERY day.
9. Practise making curls using the hot iron
10. Read!

I don't know what I was so scared of. It's actually not that bad. One of the ones I haven't done I will add to this week as I'm halfway there. The one about the budget I'm going to defer until birthday season finishes in our house and although I haven't quite done 20000 steps a day, I have won my challenges on the fitbit. So I'll take that.

Onward!

Productivity:
1.  Laminate and cut out things for Willow's birthday.
2.  Get cook books ready to sell.
3. Get baby books up to date - shutterfly ones and physical ones.

For the family:
4. Get through the week without dadda!
5.  Take Leah to choose and buy her 4th birthday bracelet charm.

Work and stuff...:
6. Finish making Gloss aligned maths resource.
7. Write plays blog post... when the videos hurry up and upload to drop box!

Just for me:
8. Be kind to myself this week - it's a busy one and we're one man down at home!
9. Track eating on 'My fitness pal'.
10. Finish reading cross stitch.

Grateful Fridays

I've read a few times that being grateful for the little things in life can help you become more mindful of you're surroundings and helps to ground yourself and make you more happy. I definitely like that last one, so thought I'd give it a nudge on the blog.

I'm grateful for people with minds that make things like this. Clever cookies.

I'm grateful for a plethora of people who messaged me and sent kind words after sharing this post earlier in the week.

Biggest grateful smiles for the dog that always wiggles his bum in happy appreciation when I come home, day after day after day. Love you Jake <3

And just looking at that photo super, super grateful for selfies. What a good lookin' pair we are.

As always, I'm grateful as all hell for a husband that makes me toasted sandwiches on Thursdays (a weird day on which I never feel like cooking), a big girl that wants a cuddle mid-dinner and a little girl who's so cheeky and naughty it's hard not to laugh at her on a constant basis. I'm a lucky lady.

What are you grateful for this week?

xx

Tasty Tuesday

 It's been a long time coming, but not for lack of recipes to share. I've been going through my plethora of cookbooks and culling some, but not before I try out any recipes I like from them.

I've been trying to take photos of what I've made here and there, but I've either gobbled most of the meals up too quickly, they don't look great (but taste yummy), or have gone south with my dead phone (must learn to back up devices periodically).

So I apologise for the lack of photos of most of these recipes. I really urge you to try them. Both husband and I have enjoyed all the meals, and very much the variety.

Pork chops with baked potatoes
750g potatoes peeled
2T  olive oil
4 large pork chops
125g smoked bacon diced
1 large onion sliced
2 garlic cloves chopped
2t dried oregano
Grated rind and juice of one lemon
250ml chicken stock
salt and pepper

Cut the potatoes into 2.5cm cubes. Heat the oil in an ovenproof frying pan, add the pork chops and cook over a high heat for 1-2 minutes on each side until browned. Remove from the pan with a slotted spoon.

Reduce the heat to medium, add the bacon and onion and cook, stirring, for 3-4 minutes until golden. Add the potatoes, garlic, oregano and lemon ring and stir well. Pour in the stock and lemon juice and season lightly with salt and pepper.

Transfer to a preheated oven, 180 degrees celcius, and bake, uncovered for 20 mins. Arrange the chops on top and bake for a further 20 minutes until the potatoes and pork are cooked through.

Chicken, asparagus and potatoes in garlic cream sauce
500g potatoes, halved lengthways
1t cracked black pepper
1T olive oil
4 single chicken breast fillets
400g asparagus trimmed
6 slices prosciutto, chopped coarsely
1 clove garlic, crushed
1/2 cup dry white wine
300ml cream
2T wholegrain mustard
1/2 cup coarsely chopped fresh chives

Preheat over to hot.

Combine potato, pepper and oil in a large bowl, mix well. Place potato, in single layer, on oiled oven try, roast, uncovered in hot over about 20 minutes or until browned.

Meanwhile heat large lightly oiled fry pan; cook chicken, in batches, until browned both sides. Place chicken, in single layer, on oven tray. Roast, uncovered, in hot oven with potatoes about 10 minutes or until cooked through.

Remove chicken and potato from oven, cover and stand 5 minutes, slice chicken thickly.

Meanwhile, boil, steam or microwave asparagus until just tender, drain. Cover to keep warm.

Cook proscuitto in same frying pan, stirring , until just crisp. Remove from pan and cover to keep warm. Add garlic to pan, cook, stirring over a low heat, until fragrant. Add wine, bring to the boil. Boil, stirring until reduced to about 2 tablespoons. Add mustard and cream, bring to a boil. Boil, stirring until mixture thicken slightly. Stir in chives.

Divide asparagus among plates. top with potato, half of the proscuitto, chicken, sauce, then remaining proscuitto.

Rosemary, brie and sun-dried tomato chicken
30g sun-dried tomatoes
 1T finely chopped fresh rosemary
4 single chicken breasts
60g brie, quartered

Combine tomato and rosemary in a small bowl.

Slit a pocket in one side of each chicken breast. Divide tomato mixture and brie among pockets, secure openings with toothpicks.

Cook on a heated, oiled grill plate until browned both sides and cooked through, cover to keep warm.

Choc-caramel slice
2 cups plain flour
2/3 cup caster sugar
185g butter, melted
1 cup of chopped roasted hazelnuts
200g dark chocolate, chopped
395g can sweetened condensed milk

Preheat oven to 180 degrees celcius. Grease a 20x30cm pan and line base with baking paper with two long sides.

Combine flour, sugar and butter in a large bowl, mix well. Press mixture over base of prepared pan.
Bake slice about 25 mins or until golden brown and firm.

Sprinkle nuts and chocolate over the base. Top evenly with the condensed milk.
Return to the oven and bake for a further 25 mins.

Cool slice in pan, cut into triangles. You can serve with fresh strawberries (if you have em!)

30 before 30 progress report

I have wanted to do a progress report for some time, and now I've gotten around to doing it, a lot of the photos I wanted to use are potentially lost with a broken phone... hrmph.

In the meantime I will update what I can.

My sleeve got underway about a month ago and I'm SO happy with the start. I love it. Will be booking in time during the October holidays for installment #2 - a dream catcher.

 Of all my goals, the restaurant one has been the most pleasant I think. Lol. Albeit in competition with my goal to lose weight! I've lost many a photo of a few meals but have found these of my trip to Longroom in Ponsonby. What a yummy lunch!

We ordered a few plates to share - pork belly in miso sauce, hot wings, sliders and we also go salt and pepper squid (which I didn't get a photo of). The pork belly was to die for and even though I live about an hour out of Ponsonby, I would travel there happily for that dish alone. A very cool little place with very yummy food. Would highly recommend it to any and everyone.

I've also visited Red Earth. I do like the tapa style of eating, but felt like this place was over priced, especially considering where it is. In comparison to restaurants in town where I've had tapas in particular. The food was OK, I would have felt a lot better about it if it wasn't so over priced. I did like how the waitress looked after my little wriggler by offering a complimentary fluffy. She loved the chocolate fish! A very average meal though.

"Stars can't shine without darkness".

I've been mulling over whether or not to write this post for a week or so now, but I decided to because I've heard that not enough people talk about it... as hard as that may be.

For an undefined period of time now, I've been dealing with overwhelming feelings of sadness, inadequacy and a whole heaps of anxiety. I remember going to visit my doctor about it about 3 years ago, to which he told me I 'just needed to talk to someone, and here's the number of a councilor that will cost $110 per hour'. Ahh, thanks you unhelpful git. Fast forward 3 years or so and here I am, diagnosed this week as moderately depressed.

The brain can be a hideous little organ sometimes. Logically I know I should have no worries - I'm healthy, I have a hugely supportive husband and two wonderful little girls, I have a gorgeous house and we're at a great stage in our lives. Unfortunately logic doesn't matter here. I don't ever feel like I'm doing a good enough job, at anything. At being a mum, a wife, my job, a friend. Second guessing decisions and negative talk about myself to myself all the time. The brain is the bully that never sleeps, or at least, when it does it's giving you dreams about how shit you are! Asshole.

The way I described how I'm feeling to Damien is that I will be in a moment where my brain is telling me I should be feeling happy - playing with the girls, throwing the ball for Jake, having a fun night out - but I just don't. I feel numb. And that's scary. Some days are better than others, and the positivity that I hold onto so strong is still there, or at least I'm trying for it to be - all.the.time.

So I'm looking at this as another opportunity for improvement and trying very, very hard not to feel like admitting this defeat (for lack of a batter word) is a weakness.