Feeling Better Maybe..??

Am craving ordinary chicken soup today, can you believe, it is going to be 30C here and I want soup. My gut is pretty ravaged so I know it will be the best thing for me.

I must be feeling better, the untidiness here is bugging the crap out of me. I want to do something about it and am getting restless and antsy because I can't. Matilda is home with me today and is an angel, she is making the soup for me (no mean feat for a vegetarian - we work well as a team, I'll do the chickeny bits). She has told me not to stress, that she will tidy for me when she is done with the soup. I really don't cope well with mess and John and the boys are messy...untidy. I think it's a boy thing...it doesn't seem to bother them if there are piles of stuff all over the place. I knew it when we moved in together so in part I have to suck it up, however, they in turn knew that I like to be tidy and it works both ways.

I will add in John's defence that he has been carrying a huge load this last couple of weeks...he works every day then comes home to have to prepare dinner and get organised for the next day, I'm no help at all and feel pretty useless.

It's not a big ask to expect people to pick up after themselves, is it..?? To wipe down the bench when finished preparing a meal or snack...(and with wet cloth NOT the side of your hand on to the floor so it leaves smears across the bench that boys are blind to)...??

Any suggestions..?? How do I get all of the kids to pick up after themselves without being asked...?? One suggestion was to "impound" anything left out at the end of the day. It wouldn't take long for them to "remember" then but it seems pretty drastic.

Wise Bloggers...help...

Easiest Dinner Ever...

Mondays are a bit manic here after school, Matilda has cheerleading class at 4pm so I pick her up from school, (she usually catches the train home but it gets in too late for her class on Mondays), whizz home, whizz out again to cheerleading, I drive home, prepare dinner then whizz out to pick her up at 5.30pm. Mind you, it's a lot less crazy since Myles finished football for the season, I used to have to take him to training on the way to pick Matilda up.

So Monday dinners need to pretty much take care of themselves...tonight's dinner was a Jamie Oliver recipe. It's prepared and cooked in the one dish, (I use a paella dish given to me by my sister, she lived in Spain for a few years, it's the real deal). Preparation takes 10 minutes from beginning to in the oven...truly it does, we love it at our house.


Not sure on exact quantities but it goes something like this...

10 Free Range Chicken Thigh Fillets
8 Medium sized Chat Potatoes
12 Truss Cherry Tomatoes
I Head Garlic (around 10 cloves)
Handful Fresh Thyme
4 Small Onions - pickling size are great
Balsamic Vinegar Reduction
Olive Oil
Salt & Pepper
Continental Parsley

Brush large casserole/paella dish with olive oil.
Halve Chicken Fillets and arrange evenly in dish.
Quarter Potatoes and poke in the spaces between the chicken.
Peel Garlic and Onions, quarter onions, fill empty spaces.
Scatter Cherry Tomatoes evenly, I like to leave the stems on.
Wedge the Thyme in among everything in the dish.
Drizzle with Balsamic Reduction and Olive Oil
Season with Salt & Pepper - I prefer salt flakes and freshly ground pepper.

Bake in 180C oven for approx. one hour or until potatoes are golden.
Adjust seasonings & scatter with chopped Continental Parsley

We love this meal with a huge green salad and lots of crusty bread to mop up the juices in the bottom of the dish...they're good, really good.

*Photo is the dinner I prepared tonight...it's also a meal you can prepare earlier in the afternoon or even the morning and leave in the fridge until you need it. If you do it that way, it's a good idea to quarter the potatoes and leave them in a bowl of water to prevent browning then add them just before baking.

It's also super easy to double or halve for bigger or smaller families, this quantity feeds three adults and a hungry 12 year old.

Quick Post...some photos...

We spent the day last Sunday with John's oldest son Brad, his wife Briohny and their boys (John's grandsons) Blake & Dylan...Blake is 9 and Dylan 8. They were holidaying on the Gold Coast and as we don't see them nearly enough it was a great chance to catch up.

We went to the Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary, the day was glorious, the sun not too hot to be out in and a gentle breeze was blowing. The Sanctuary was great, I hadn't been there in 30 years so it was wonderful to see the positive changes that had been made.

Here's a few quick pics of the kids...

From L-R...Matilda, Myles, Blake & Dylan. Seconds after that photo was taken the koala pooed in Matilda's hands...she was grossed out but relaxed a little when the koala carers told her it was all eucalyptus leaves, nothing else. Myles is Blake & Dylan's uncle, the similarities he and Dylan share are uncanny. Blake is fair and blue eyed like his Mum.



Myles with baby croc...just as well it was firmly taped shut, they are quite snappy even at this size. We saw a number of larger crocs while we were there. Nothing like getting a close up look to remind you that humans are not at the top of the food chain...
Unfortunately our day was way too short...it was so hard for them to fit everything in that they wanted to do. They will be in Queensland in March for a wedding so we hope they will come and spend some time with us then.

Better get a move on...it's cheerleading night and I need to get dinner organised before I go.

I have another post brewing on the outrageousness of surgeon's fees...not happy...!!!

Proud Mama Here...

Being the end of the first school semester, it's school report time here...

Myles brought home an impressive report last week...excellent results in Maths, English & SOSE but more important for him, excellent results in attitude to work. He has only been at his school since the beginning of the year. We made the decision to change schools after a series of unfortunate events at his previous school...in a nutshell there was a distinct lack of warmth and communication. His end of year school report was distressing to read...mostly because it wasn't a true reflection of Myles. At the beginning of the year we spoke with the deputy principal at his school and raised some concerns at his having to study German and Music, both subjects he had never studied before...we were assured that it wouldn't be a problem, that the teachers would be informed and allowances made. This did not happen. The teachers then both complained at the end of the year (via his school report) that he had been not trying and had been disruptive in class all year. And we find this out in December...!!!??? If this had been a problem all year why was it not addressed with us much, much earlier...??? There were two other critical incidents that led us to think that we did not want this school preparing Myles for secondary education, so the decision was made.

At the start of the year we enrolled Myles at his current school, he wasn't at all happy about having to change yet again, in fact he was downright hostile but after day 1 he was sold on his teacher, as were John & I. There are very few teachers in the public school system with their Doctorate in Education...we have one of them. Mr. Y. is warm, funny, dedicated, committed, honest and approachable...also sporty and competitive. Myles idolises him and he has huge respect from his students and their parents alike. He is the most requested for teacher at the school. His comments on Myles school report reflect Myles true nature, he has him sussed right out, there is nothing Myles wouldn't do for him.

Matilda's school report came in the mail yesterday. As per usual we expected it to be good, she routinely brings home excellent school results, always has, right from Prep. This time it was outstanding, STRAIGHT A's...!!!

Her teachers commented that her excellent results were due to good organisation, excellent research skills and attention to detail. She also received all A's for classroom conduct and attitude to work. They also said that she was a pleasure to teach and that they love having her in their classroom.

Can't ask for much more than that really can we...??? While they can be difficult and hard to motivate at times at home, it's good to know that we can send them out into the world and they know how to conduct themselves in a way that will do themselves and us proud.

So, apart from lavish praise and letting them know that we are very proud of their efforts and achievements, we decided that the longed for trip to Dreamworld, (see most recent post), would happen these school holidays.

Secretly, I'm looking forward to going too..!!!

A Labour Of Love...

***Disclaimer...the lasagne pictured is not mine, although I'll admit, mine was a fair representation.

Wednesday afternoons/evenings are tricky here with kids sporting commitments and it makes for an interrupted evening meal.

So...at 5pm I take Myles to footy training, that finishes at 6.30...the round trip is about 20-25 minutes depending on traffic. I come home, make the final preparations for dinner then head off and pick him up, at the same time dropping Matilda at her 6.45pm cheerleading class. I then drop Myles back home and head back to pick Matilda up. Her class finishes at 7.45pm...mostly I take a drink, my book or The Australian crossword and my phone and wait in the car park...I usually manage a quick phonecall to stay in touch with friends. We fly home, really hungry by this stage and have dinner while watching Spicks & Specks. Last night I worked out that the time taken to do all of this was an hour and forty five minutes and 37.5 kilometres...phew...!!!

I like to be ahead of myself and try and have something ready that needs very little attention right at serving time. Our family has some pretty specific dietary needs...Josh & Myles have a number of food sensitivities and cannot have egg, dairy or nuts (with the exception of pine nuts, but they are seeds). Josh is also highly sensitive to eggplant, Myles has never had it but it's a sure bet he will be. Matilda is vegetarian but eats fish, dairy & eggs and I am highly allergic to crustaceans. John is the only family member who had escaped. As the boys have got older they are less sensitive and can have some dairy and egg.

All of this makes meal preparation "interesting" to say the least, last night I made a vegetable lasagne from the ground up, although I will own up to not making the lasagne sheets this time and used prepared ones instead. It is a labour of love...a labour intensive meal indeed. The vegetable sauce simmered for two hours through the afternoon, it smelled divine, ( or so the dorky Optus Representative who keeps coming to our door to try and get our custom back, but that's a whole post on it's own, told me)...the kids said that they love coming home from school when there are cooking smells. Matilda told me that she feels that I love them lots when she can smell dinner cooking.

Last night it just "worked"...the sauce/pasta/bechamel balance was exact...when the lasagne was cut you could see perfect layers, the salad was filled with greens from our garden and the potatoes golden & crunchy.

There is just enough leftover for my lunch today.

Life is kind sometimes.