Fortnight in review....

Wow I really am slipping on this blog huh...
 So what have we been up to?

 Blocks, Teela has recently rediscovered building blocks and has been making quite a few castles, towers and dinosaurs.

 A trip to the grocery store and a bribe with the Clifford ride, I can remember when these things were 20c, sadly no more :(

 A few trips to daddy's work and some delicious coffees and hot chocolates for this cold weather we have been having.

The Rodz rock'n'roll festival.  This is highlight of the year for us living in the pine shire.  We are not to bothered by the bands or the carnival food but we are 100% there for the cars, sweet sweet car love.

The almighty SLR5000, my ultimate dream bogan car.  They sure aren't the prettiest car out there and they are certainly not the most rare or loved of the Australian muscle cars but they have always held a special place in my heart, I would give anything to own one, swoon....

 The thing that my kids look forward to the most at the car show, a ride on the dodgy carnival rides, again  another good behaviour bribe.

The unfortunate reality when you leave two under fives in a naughty mood in the TV room for some rest time alone.   Since this incidence the craft box is now located in a locked cupboard and the games and puzzles have been moved to the top of the linen cupboard. 

It is not an ideal situation and I hate that they sometimes do things like this, I hate it more when I can't get them to clean it up.  I wish I had the perfect system and routine in place to avoid messes like this but I am not super mum and I am not aiming to be, I have to wash and cook and clean and my kids can't and don't want to be with me all the time while I preform these menial tasks.  For the most part my kids are great, they have wonderful personalities, great manners and I love them dearly.  On the other hand they are stubborn and difficult and can be rather naughty, this was just one of those days when the naughty kicked in..
  

Mexican night...starring the famous chicken enchiladas.  I have not made this dish in almost thirteen years and my husband has heard about it a million times from myself and others, I finally caved and made a quick version of it, almost as good, so very close but nothing beats marinating chicken for 12 hours and fresh hand made tortillas.

 Pumpkin pie.  This is not an Australian dish at all and is something that I associate with Autumn, log fires and turkey.  It was a really nice dish not too sweet and with the perfect amount of spice.  My husband was not a fan and I don't think it is a dish I will make again in a hurry but it really was lovely and paired up with the right main meal and company I can see me using this recipe again.

What have we been up to?

So I have failed at my week in review posts and am quite behind but in my defence things have been pretty quiet around these parts, just the usual daily comings and goings of a family.

Sour Cherry Cheesecake and Key Lime tart.  I had some requests for taste trials and I pumped out these two, both delicious and no favourite can be decided.

 Pumpkin risotto and lime herb chicken.  Match made in heaven, it might not look all that amazing but certainly tasted that way.  I made the decision a few weeks ago to get back into home cooked healthy meals and am rather pleased with the direction I am going cooking wise.

 Three pumpkin limit, 10 kilos or pumpkin and all for the princely sum of 90c.  I for see lots of pumpkin soup, pumpkin pie and roast pumpkin in our future...

 Home made macadamia Anzac biscuits and my new cup and saucer.  The biscuits were amazing, thank you Women's Weekly Bake cookbook.  The cup was something I fell in love with and had to have as it was only $4, lucky I did happy Mothers Day indeed.

Pineapple upside down cake.  This is a firm favourite in our house, a Nigella Lawson recipe that I am just utterly in love with and a dish that happened only because I found a Pyrex dish with pineapple ring in the fridge, perfect coincidence I say.

 A day out at Chambers Island.  It is not the prettiest looking place and is tiny and it has a whole lots mud on one side but it is a huge part of home and a perfect day out with family and friends.  We had games in the mud flats, swimming in the river, a trip on a boat, picnics under the trees and fishing.  The most fun I have had in a long time.

 Chicken Roast Zucchini and Broccoli Pasta, not creamy at all and top it off with toasted pine nuts, almonds and Parmesan and you have one mighty fine tasting guilt free pasta dishes.

A trip to Under Water World.  We have yearly passes to this place and we do try and pop in whenever we have a bit of spare time when we are on the coast.  This time we bought Grandma and Auntie along and we even manged to sit through the entire seal show, quite an adventure.

We have also had a million trips to the grocery store, a trip to the foot specialist at the Children's hospital, a kindy disco, colds and flu's a hardcore asthma attack, a night out without kids to a friends place, the greatest cob loaf ever tasted, a daddy night out to the football and a mummy night out for dinner, a gift of home made coffee fudge, a child caused flooding in the bathroom, a wedding invitation and a surprise visit from Grandma all in all a busy but nice last few weeks.

Week In Review....

 Healthy Lunch.  My kids are amazing eaters but I kind of hate the daily routine of sandwiches and fruit bars so on non kindy days I am implementing healthy lunches.  The best thing is they actually eat all of this without being hassled or bribed.

How many four year olds do you know that love spinach?  Miss T is a odd ball child who often chooses to eat a salad over things like chicken nuggets and chips and will eat spinach straight from the container in the fridge rather than crackers.

Chocolate fudge pie, the burnt crust was a nice extra touch :(

In all seriousness though I used to bake for a living and I had my own business supplying cakes and slices etc.. I have not properly baked since I closed up but I did get the urge to bake during this week.  Too much going on, kids interrupting and an unfamiliar oven all led to a nice fudge part and a sad and burnt over cooked pastry.  Am going to go back and attempt it again at some stage.

Week in review

This was the last week of Miss T being at kindy before the school holidays and from the sounds of it they had an awesome last two days.  I am going to miss the reprieve that I get when I send her off but I am looking forward to a few days holiday back home to visit all my friends and have a few long over due drinks, ohh and lots of chocolate

One of the parents made all the kids at the kindy marshmallow bunnies and  the kids got to decorate them with food dye.  How awesome is that, hearing things like this make me very happy that we have sent Miss T to a community kindy.

I have been on a chocolate making fix the last few days for the teachers presents, cute white chocolate bunny lollipops and Oreo truffle filled Easter shaped chocolates

Rib Roast. 
I have a confession to make on this one...
This my first beef roast ever.  Yes ever.  My mum has always been the roast person and it was not until I moved in with J that I learned how to cook a roast chicken and then we were vegetarian for a while so obviously no beef roast for us.  I will say that I was rather chuffed with myself and how it all turned out, it was nice but I am no meat eater and would rather have a nice big plate of roast veggies, J however J thought it was amazing and can't wait for the next one.

24 hours my friends, my whole Saturday was spent with this book, from cover to cover.

Long story, my mother in law bought me The Lost Symbol for Christmas a few years ago and I was always under the impression that The Dan Brown books had some kind of order that you had to read them in, the book has sat for years untouched.

Last week I took my friend into a thrift store that I frequent and I happened upon the DaVinci Code in almost new condition for $5, so I thought why not?

It was good, I really enjoyed it and I am loving the fact that I have been reading more books in the last four months than I have in the last four years, why did I stop reading?  I used to live with my nose in a book, my first love in life was books and when I say first love I mean my first passion and reason for living was books.  Books they are pretty awesome :D

Discovering bands especially well established and older ones that leave me wondering how they escaped my notice.  Bent a British band that falls under the electronica/lounge/down tempo/chill out category that I have so fallen in love with over the last few years.  I am no longer a happy hardcore raver kid who likes my doof doof music loud and full of bass, instead I like my electronic music a little more relaxed these days.  I have always been a fan of music that is a little left of the norm and happily these guys fill that spot rather nicely.  I have spent a whole day with them today and I can't wait to get my hands on an album or two.

Week in review

Cup of tea in my favourite mug with home made bagels and cream cheese, just a wee bit more than awesome.

 Strawberry and lime cider, very sweet but a nice treat occasionally.

Parents lunch afternoon at the C&K kindy, we got a show and miss T showed me all around her room

Mini sour cherry cheesecakes, I made a huge one for everyone at J's work and made a few small ones for us at home, best one I have made possibly ever.

 I pulled out the long neglected husky and made head way with the mending pile and UFO's

 One of the many UFO's I finished, matching bath mat to the trimmed towels I made miss T last year, ohh and a pedicure something that never happens but I had a voucher that was about to expire so a much needed pampering was had.

 Some photo boothing with little miss T

And plenty, plenty, way too plenty of this.  Three is a much more demanding and meltdown inducing number then two ever was, sigh......

Lately....

                                      

• The Easter decoration aftermath.  I do not really get into the spirit of holidays (8 years of retail in malls will do that) but I decided to go all holiday mode for the kids this year.  Should not have bothered, ten minutes hanging out the washing and that is what's greeting me inside.

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•  It has been hair clip central here for the last few weeks.  I am done for a while but the hard parts start now, choosing a name to operate under and selling some.

•   Enjoying the last of the warm sunny days, sadly I think that this day was the last that we will enjoy untill next spring :(

•   Helping my amazing friend out with her kids clothing stall, I love being around so many beautiful things that she has hand crafted on her own

•  Mixed berry cheesecake.  I used to make these bad boys for a living in so many diferent flavours, I used to make lots and lots of them every week, it has been two years and this is only the second one I have made.  It bought back all the good feelings that I get when I cook/bake and it tasted pretty amazing as well.

• J considers himself the baker in this house and weekends we are usually indugling in some home made bakery treats, usually bread but sometimes he will make something indulgent like this brioche that was not really anything like brioche but still tasted too good to be healthy.

• Scrubbing walls, yep scrubbing the walls of the house, not the greatest activity that comes to mind but something that must be done.  Two years of little grubby kid hands is starting to bother me, super spring clean here I come.