MERRY CHRISTMAS

 

Your christmas card from me

Wishing you all a wonderful christmas holiday and New Year... Please click on the pic above for a little surprise christmas greeting!

I'll be back next year!

GF PIZZA Sunday

The LM and I decided to have a Pyjama day today. We had a very late night last night with friends visiting, chinese for dinner and then out first foray into COLD ROCK ICE-CREAM, which I have to say is pretty amazing for a treat.

The LM had Bubblegum flavoured ice-cream with Nerds and I had Peanut Butter with Malteasers.. Yummy!

So today we decided to sleep in, stay at home and make pizza base (GF of course) and then tonight we will top them with our favourites with what is in the fridge.

We started with a Pizza base recipe from Jamie Olivers site, but I needed tweak it a little because of the GF flour.
I used 800g flour instead of 1kg ( I was going to do half a recipe but ops, used the original amount of water so then had to adapt. -  thats what happens when you are trying to be smart and are cooking with kids hehe).

 What we ended up with was edible, but also very stuck to the greaseproof paper so maybe I should have put it straight on the plate.. but I was concerned about it sticking to that too... oh well back to the drawing board and will try something a little different next time. I have two lots of dough left so will buy more cheese next shop on friday and try some more options next time... maybe greasing the pan first??

I was wondering if I should be doing this, spending a heap of time standing and sometimes sitting in the kitchen making the pizza instead of just having something simple for dinner....
When I look at this pic I know it was the right thing to do... He enjoyed it so much and seemed so carefree doing it that he started pulling faces .. and being a general twit... and a perfectly normal little boy.... considering how non normal our lives are at the moment I am very proud of how he is dealing with everything.

 

What face is your favourite???

Another thumbs up day... even with the rain

Well what a day it has been, the sun was shining this morning and I had lunch plans with a dear friend who is celebrating her 10year wedding anniversary!... Yes I can't even imagine being married let alone married for 10 years but she and her beautiful hubby have done it so my hats off to them

We had a wonderful lunch over near the hospital waiting for my Specialist appointment. AND then there was more good news...

I had a little fall on Monday ... and was a little concerned I had caused some damage... but no ... everything is perfectly fine. . . . if no at all pretty..... for the squeamish of you please look away. I have now got the original scar which was reopened on the left... and now another beauty on the right... oh well at least it is a little more symmetrical..... It is now in a beautiful blue fibreglass cast Oh how i love blue...! and I didn't even request it it was just the colour that was open.....

Funny story about coloured casts... the physio that was putting mine on told me that the often had pink cast open but saved them... I asked what for... and she said little girls .... and FOOTBALL PLAYERS!!!.... just there little it of humour... and apparently they have had the feedback that is it a complete chick magnet. The things you learn hanging around with our health professionals... hehe... I am a frequent flyer there so I guess they are treating me like one of the family.

FINALLY I got home to find this wonderful competition being run over at My Sweet Prints. She has just reached 200 followers, and has decided to give away two of her fantastic prints. I have been following her blog for a few months and she has some amazing ideas for everyone and every room in the house.

Go and check her out please ... who knows you might just find that Chrissy Present for the special someone.

Hope you all had a sunny day..... What happened that was good for you today!

Summer is on its way

Summer Sun (here)

Bondi (from here)

Summer is on its way, and I for one generally love it, long days, warm weather, when the heat goes up there is all sorts of things that come out like icecream and long walks along the beach late in the afternoon, Snorkelling, and those free sun tints that happen, but this summer will be the second I spend in plaster which means no water sports for me, no walks along the beach and not a lot of time outside because having a sweaty cast is not a nice look smell or feel.

So I have decided to think of all the things that I will be able to do this summer... and the first thing came to me tonight while I was having desert was this... something so simple but ..... YUMMY

WATERMELON 

I don't just mean watermelon... I mean the delicious juicy watermelon that is only available around Spring and Summer. When you know you are going to eat it all because it won't be floury, it will be tasty.... and juicy and messy...

And SUMMERY!!!

Oh and it helps that my LM loves it too!

What are you looking forward to this Season??

Thumbs up... the tide has changed!

from here

Lately my life... while not bad... has not really had a lot of peaks to speak of ... Until Yesterday... 


No... I didn't get OPRAH tickets... 

BUT in my opinion I got something even better.. 


Don't get me wrong.. I would loved to see Oprah in the flesh so to say... but that would have been just for me.. what I got is for Both me and the LM and has allowed me to do something I have been talking about for ages... 

So you are wondering ... what did you will ... well .. I WON......

Two national VIP passes to Seaworld, Movie World & Wet n Wild. We’ll also throw in some food vouchers to ensure your dream comes true...

For years I have been wanting to take the LM to QLD to see his paternal family, to go to the theme parks, so see my cousin and generally to have a nice holiday... and now.. we are one step closer to being able to achieve that.

I know there is still a long way to go but accommodation is sorted, transport while there ... no problem, all I need to organise is cash for food and the flights... 

Oh and not to worry.. I also won a new phone too... a Nokia C6... so thats another thing sorted cos I needed a new one.... YAY 

Finally... just in case you were wondering what I wished for? Well ... my entry was simple... I would rather spend the money on riding roller-coasters till I puked... Maybe it wasn't classy... but ... it did the job...!!!!

If you want to try your luck check out Nokia Bill Exchange GOOD LUCK!

Do you ever get the crankies?

from here

 Today I woke up with the Crankies. My Son, beautiful early rising son, decided to read this morning and not really wake me up. I think he was in the mood for a cuddly day at home and didn't want to admit that it was really a school day. So by the time I had coaxed my sleepy eyes away and glanced at the clock it was 8:26am!

Normally... not a problem, into the shower for me, dressed breaky and a cuppa and out the door at 9 to be at school before the 9.10 bell.... ..NOW that is not possible and that is what let the Crankies in.

The LM knows that I can't do a lot in the mornings and what I can do I do slowly. See with a foot in plaster, crutches and stairs to deal with, and I have realised my other foot is still not as healed (read about it here) as I thought it was (because 5mins of standing on it singularly and it is begining to protest) I am not able to get up and go like I used to.

The LM makes his own lunch in the morning, sandwich, fruit and recess (muesli bar or whatever snack food I have bought for the purpose), he also gets himself dressed and breakfasted so that I don't have to deal with the winging of not wanting to wear those shorts or eat that cereal or that much or even that he didn't want that spread on his sandwich. It works for us and has for a couple of years now but every now and then he drops the ball.

THIS MORNING, he had not gotten dressed, he had not had breakfast and he had not packed his lunch, he had chosen to read for an hour.....and so with 20mins to do it all I was cross and cranky.

My anger doesn't abate quickly and so I was still grumbling as I hopped out of the house and shut the door, then proceeded to hop up the stairs ...............and that is where I came unstuck.

Because the Crankies had set in I forgot to concentrate on what I was doing, I forgot that going up a flight of stairs on crutches was difficult, and so on the last step I caught my shoe on the lip, I tripped and landed heavily on my plastered foot......

So really who does the Crankies hurt.... it turned out it only hurt me... and boy did it hurt. !!!

So once I got over the pain, hopped onto the motorised scooter and got him to school I decided that a massage was in order. My arms and back have been hurting since using the crutches and now I had hurt my foot so I needed to relax, take it in and get over it ...

WHAT do you do when the Crankies hit?

Roast pumpkin Salad recipe

I can't remember where I first came across this recipe, I have written it in my recipe book and have then proceeded to change it a million times.

BUT what i come up with is this which really enjoy and that keeps for a few days so it is great for lunches.

RECIPE (for about 4 serves)

• 1kg pumpkin roasted ( i used what ever pumpkin is cheapest)
• a tin of chickpeas (you can get dried and soak them but this is easiest)
• a bag of baby spinach or rocket (or the original recipe uses flat parsley)
• olive oil
• slivered Almonds or pine nuts or both
• Sugar (optional)
• garlic (optional)

1. pre-heat oven to 200 degrees
2. Cut pumpkin into slighlty larger than bite sized pieces (it shrinks) place into a roasting pan and drizzle some olive oil over the top and toss through. (You can also scatter a tablespoon of sugar over the pumpkin to caramelise it but I often don't' bother.) I sometimes roast some garlic with the pumpkin to get a little different flavour
3. Put pumpkin into oven and roast untill soft and a little crispy (usually an hour or so)
4. GO and have a cuppa
5. drain chickpeas and either roast in the oven (to warm not to crunchy), or in a pan on stove top
6. toast almonds or pine nuts or both lightly. I find it is easier on top of stove in a non stick pan but can also be done in the oven
7. toss it all together and enjoy!

I often add some chicken to the salad to make it more filling.

DRESSING 
I make a very basic olive oil, lemon, salt and pepper to dress this with.
You could buy a simple pre-made dressing, or use your favourite.

HOT OR COLD???

I like it both ways, though I have learnt to keep the ingredients separate until I am ready to eat as the pumpkin does strange things to the greens. So I put the pumpkin and chickpeas together in the fridge, leaves separate and store the toasted nuts in the cupboard! EASY!

Homemade Hummus

I love Hummus, I didn't know it existed (other than on lebanese kebabs) until a few years ago but I really enjoy it now, and I make it at home. It is sooooo cheep and easy to make as long as you have a blender or food processor.

I make a basic mix and often that is as far as it goes, but sometimes I get the urge to make things a little more interesting and today was one of those days.

I start off with this basic recipe

Hummus

Ingredients:
2 to 3 cups garbanzo beans (chickpeas) or 2x 12-15 oz. cans, rinsed well
2 Tbs. cumin spice
Juice from one lemon
3 Tbs. olive oil
Up to ½ cup water
Salt to taste
¼-½ cup raw sesame tahini
1 large clove garlic
Directions:
Prepare cooked chickpeas (or canned). Combine at least 2 cups of beans, water and olive oil in a food processor and blend until smooth. Add remaining ingredients.
The reason this recipe calls for 2-3 cups of beans is because some people like hummus thinner than others. Having the extra beans available gives you a chance to find the consistency you like.

From here I like to fiddle. Most of the time I add more lemon and Cumin. ..... Oh and then it gets interesting

Today I used three tins of chickpeas becuase I wanted to make three different flavours in the end. So on top of the recipie i used a tin of beetroot and about a quarter of a pumpkin roasted.

Chickpeas, olive oil and water

Add all the rest and blitz, then i added more lemon juice and cumin

2 thirds of the mix I put aside and left a third in the processor for......

adding the roast pumpkin to.....

then another blitz till it is nice and smooth

and it is now ROAST PUMPKIN HUMMUS

Put another third of the basic HUMMUS mix back into blender with a tin of Beetroot

Blitz until smooth and you have BEETROOT HUMMUS

WALAH! ORIGINAL, BEETROOT AND HUMMUS DIPS

NOTE:

I don't bother washing the processor between flavours, I just make sure beetroot is always last. I have also done carrot, and other suggestions are sundried tomatoes, black beans or even parsley.

OH and I always split the mixes and freeze half, saves waste and that means I can make big batches and not get bored with the same flavour. AND there is always one in there if I get visitors!


What do you cook in batches??

Catching up, chilling and cooking!

This weekend has been restful and relaxing, filled with wonderful friends and food.

Somehow I know I should be relaxing with my foot up but I still feel the need to get up and do something, so while a lovely friend came and stayed with me for the weekend, making me copious cups of hot delicious tea, cooking for me (in another life he was a chef) and generally keeping me company (esp while the LM was with his dad for the day and night on Saturday) and having some lively conversations and discussions, movie watching,  and I also decided to cook.


Over the weekend my darling friend and I watched movies too which was a real treat. We saw Get him to the Greek, which was very funny and works well with my humour, and also the fact I needed something that didn't take too much brain power. A rainy Saturday kept me in the house all day, so it was a very quiet day. We watched The book of Eli, Which while based on religious concepts (and I am not a religious person) was still a great watch. I little slowish in some places but all in all a few twists and turns keep you in.
Lastly we watched Daybreakers. I am a little hooked on Vampire stuff at the moment and this one really appealed to me... right to the end which left me very disappointed. It was very gory, and creepy. I am not a scary movie kind of person usually so I was very glad there was someone else in the house with me.

On the menu over the weekend was Spinach and Ricotta Cannelloni with a side of pan fried Chicken breast, and Orange and almond cake on Saturday night. ( no pics unfortunately!)

I had planned to bake some pumpkin sometime over the weekend so today, after cutting it up ( Bought a whole Kent pumpkin for $10 so waned to make a few things with it to last the next week).

So I had two big trays of pumpkin in the oven roasting away for 2 hours and it came out delicious... then I had to decide what to do with it..

First on the menu was Hummus. Now I know what you are thinking, that doesn't need pumpkin... but when you do it my way you end up with multiple flavours and The roast pumpkin is one of my favourite. (Recipe here)
I also made some plain and some beetroot hummus just for variety!

Next was a roast pumpkin salad that I had for dinner tonight, (recipe here) and lastly I intend to make a kind of frittata with some of the pumpkin. so for that $10 which I was a little shocked when I realised how much it was, I am getting 6-8 meals for me which I am pretty impressed about. I will give me easy simple lunches all week which all my lovely friends keep reminding me I need to keep my foot up and doing this will give me that opportunity.

Enough chickpeas and pumpkin left for at least 2-3 salads and pumpkin for the frittata too

What do you cook that lasts a few days??

I've been trying to catch up on my google reader blogs, and am not having much luck with it, I got it below a hundred the other day and it is now up to over 250 again! BUT I have read a few lately with recipies which are great so I have decided to add some recipies of my go to foods ... anything to give me something to do for the next few months. Let me know what you think?

Oh and what did the LM do while I was cooking today... he went outside... and found a Butterfly and carried it around for half an hour... he really is a sweet kid when he wants to be!

another the week that was

I can't believe its been another week since I have been on here it has absolutely flown... but I guess I did sleep about 3 days away so its not really been that long!

Wednesday last week was spend doing final catch up things and getting organised for surgery on Thursday.

Mum came down on Wednesday and brought the spare bed which got set up in the lounge room so I have lost my craft corner ... but Oh well.. not really sure how much I will be doing in the near future either.


So Thursday was up early to get to the Hospital by 8... and then wait around...

everything went on time which was good, the surgery went well... Right navicular cuneiform fusion with bone graft for those who know what they are talking about....

I am loving the foot-ware at the moment and with the added bonus of a semi-perm colour stocking I am definitely looking great!

I had forgotten how annoying it is to sleep in plaster... kicking the wall and myself all night long. I also had reaction to three different pain killers ... night terrors last ear with Endone, a rash and hot skin with Tramadol this year and then nightmare/terrors this year with Panadine Forte... soooooo needless to say I am taking Panadol and ibuprofen now .. which is not really hitting the sides but it takes the edge off and doesn't make me too sleepy which is great.

from here

Will (Mr7) and I went to school today for the first time on the Mobility scooter (like this one.. but a bit older) and him walking today so it was an interesting trip...only to about 20 mins there and 15 back so that is good... means being a bit more organised in the morning but it will work for dry days... can't use it in the wet... but that's ok at least I only have to get someone else every now and then when it rains...

So what did you do last week?