Where does she find the time?

This morning I realised that we had no fresh bread. Or any bread at all (tomorrow is shopping day). Saturdays are a long day at dancing and I need to pack snacks and lunches for myself and 2 girls. What to do?
I made tortillas. I have never made tortillas before and they were really easy. In total they took approximatley 15 minutes with 20 minutes rest time. That 20 minutes I used to pack a nappy bag, pack a dance bag, drink a coffee and start washing up.

This is leading to the question stated above: "Where does she find the time?"

*I get up early. I am a naturally early riser and as long as Breanna doesnt wake up really early as well I have an hour plus to do stuff.
*I prioritise. If my girls are loved, cuddled and spent time with, it doesnt really matter if I dont fold the washing straight away. It will get done but the girls come first.
*If I can cook tonights dinner and something else at the same time I will.
*Leftovers!! If we have the same thing 2 nights in a row the girls & I deal with it. Or if I can freeze something I will.
*Quick and easy dinners...I hear you say "Takeout/packet/jar/frozen foods take much less time". I work full time. I get home at 7pm, I too get tired and want something quick with not much thought. Solution: Omlettes with cheese. 2 cheese omlettes take 10 minutes (including cooking time). You can add kale, silver beet, onion, mushrooms, tomatoes etc. Quick, easy and your not eating crap.
*Slow cookers, or dishes you can put on and walk away from. These mean you can spend the time with the kids or clean or veg in front of the t.v.

Feeding myself and my family well is important to me. I'm lucky that I love cooking. This means I make the time. Yeah I might want to sit in front of the t.v but turning it off for an hour or so allows me to get in the kitchen and make several things (snacks, dinners, lunches).

All that said, I would love to have more time. I have so many things that I want or need to do (mostly want), but at the end of the day if something is important to me and my family I will make the time.

What time saving tricks do you use?

Sustain

Yesterday I made the trek into Moore Park to go to the Sustain organic expo with my Aunty Jo & Breanna. Had a fantastic time looking at the different products, sampling wares and spending time with Jo. I still haven't worked out how to get photos on. I know the theory but can't do it from my phone & I can't find where on my computer my photo files are! When I do I'll put up pics of my stash. In the meantime here's a small run down on what I got: Subscriptions to both ABC Organic Gardener & earth Garden. Two fantastic magazines that I buy. At Organic Gardener I got a free gardening book for liking them on Facebook. At Earth Garden I bought a bread book, bok choy seeds & spinach seeds ( these will be for the greedy chickens). Speaking of seeds I also got butternut pumpkin, gramma pumpkin, chiggioa beet root & lots of garlic. Coconut oil, flour, dried coconut, proper chocolate. I have never tried cooking with coconut flour but I'll have an attempt today. Tri coloured quinoa. Again haven't used it but have wanted to try. Stainless steel divided children's plates, reusable snack & sandwich bags, reusable produce bags. These are because I'm trying to limit the amount of plastic we use as a family. Soap nuts, bamboo brush. From the same guy I get my bamboo toothbrushes from. Coconut milk in BPA free cans. Why do we use BPA? Rock dust to help improve my soil condition. Kombucha. I also got a ton of freebie magazines, food samples etc. big Thankyou to Mojo Kombucha for the free bottle, TOM for the sample and Spiral Foods. Where I live they do coal seam gas, so I also signed petitions, got stickers, posters & a bag against coal seam & mining in food production areas (food security is close to my heart). Also signed petitions against GM foods. Lunch was a sourdough steak sandwich with rocket, beet root & caramelised onion followed by a glass of organic cab sav. It was fantastic to be at an expo and be able to use real silver wear, glasses and plates. Heaps better for the environment and made you feel like "yes I'm a person who can actually eat of china without breaking it". So many expos & shows make you use plastic. Today after doing the usual cleaning & cooking thing, I'm going to sit down and read through the literature that I recieved yesterday.

Perceptions

Perceptions are a funny thing. We can all look at the same object and come away with completely different ideas and thoughts. Take my families' diet. My perception is that it was fairly healthy, a few convenience items and a little bit too much takeaway and lollies sneaking in. Someone else would look at it and think: " They grow their own vegetables, have chickens, eat dairy, whole meal bread and occasional treats. They are WAY healthy". A third person would look and say "But it's low fat dairy, store brought whole meal, look at all the packets and jars!". And finally someone else would say "They eat meat/animal products, how is that a healthy diet?" so on and so on. My perception now is my families' health and well being is the most important thing (it always was but now I'm being more pro-active). My eldest daughter is probe to allergies/food intolerances and asthma. She got very sick last year and took a while for her to recover. She is also very active and dances several times a week. I don't want my youngest to have health problems. My mother has high blood pressure and hypothyroidism. I had put on weight. I started reading. Yes compared to some people our diet was ok. BUT I have the ways and means to make it better. This blog will mainly be about the changes I'm making in our lives, it's not about being perfect, or putting anyone's lifestyle down. It's about what I'm learning, changing and teaching my children. I don't have unlimited funds - I work full time, rent and have two kids. I don't have unlimited time. Sometimes I'll stuff up, but hopefully I will make enough life changes that it's easy to get back on track. When I look at my families' diet I want my perception to be "Thats a fantastic way to eat"

Busy, busy, busy

Flew home on Saturday night and it's been non stop. Sunday morning I unpacked, caught up with my neighbour, went shopping visited with my mum & Ma, roasted a chook, stripped it down , made stock, Lara bars, popcorn, had dinner with my neighbour then got ready for work on Monday. Monday I got home at 7pm, made fajitas from some of the chook, made Pikelets for snacks and packed school/dance/work food & bags. Today I had work again (I work full time & catch public transport),leftovers for dinner, pack bags again and I'm going to the gym for the first time in weeks. Oh yeah I've also been washing up, feeding chickens, collecting eggs and general house stuff. I've also been trying to read my blogs (100daysofrealfood, foodbabe & dyno-mom)to help keep me inspired/give me ideas for my families' food overhaul. Oh yeah got to find time to do my tax....sometimes it feels like something's got to give! So that means I'm making plans, running budgets etc I think I've got a workable plan (more on that later) What has been keeping you busy?

Flying Home

The girls and I will be flying out of Adelaide tonight. It will be good to be back home, but I will miss Adelaide. I feel like I need another week or two to explore. So many markets and op shops not yet visited. So many cafes and restaurants not eaten at. So many plans, ideas, recipes not yet tried. We went to Semaphore on Thursday, a lovely seaside town. I want at least another full day to fully look around. As we were walking down the main street I was earmarking places for when I come back. The future visit will need to be in summer so that we can go swimming (beaches with no waves in adelaide - how freaky yet kid friendly). I also want to bring my mum down, she will absolutely love it here.
So quick round up of some cooking: Carrot & walnut muffins, raw fudge, spicy tomato & vege soup, home made pizza (yes even the base), scones, morroccan chickpeas & couscous, macaroni cheese with mustard chicken & veges (I have never eaten boxed mac & cheese, that stuff is just wrong!), proscuitto wrapped baked Brie, savoury Pikelets with tomato salsa, sautéed wild pine mushrooms....that's all I can remember, I should of written it down. All of these use whole grain, local, full fat products & if I could get it in organic. I do have some pictures which I will have to work out how to upload. My recipe for morroccan chickpeas will be up on NeenishArts (again need to work out links). Today I will be hitting up the health food store (40% off closing sale, next week 50%), and if the weather holds out going on a dolphin cruise. Then it will be off to the airport & one day at home before back to work.

I HEART Adelaide

What I Love About Adelaide
1. Spending time with my cousin and her family. We spent a lot of time together when we were young and since she moved interstate, I miss her. My eldest (Stella) is her goddaughter and my youngest (Breanna) is 4 weeks older than her daughter. I love most of my family to pieces, so this is the biggest thing I heart about Adelaide. Watching the two little ones play is fantastic.
 2. The markets. I've only been to the Fishermans Wharf markets and Adelaide Central markets, but they both rock. Fishermans Wharf is great for finding second hand treasures and the priced aren't evil. I'm taking home some old ballet books, retro cat shakers, various cutters and molds for cooking & postcards. I could of brought more. Adelaide Central markets will be my first stop on a return journey. Excellent food stalls, including several organic, specialty cheese, bread, meat (local), delis etc. I got pine wood mushrooms, proscuitto, Brie, quince paste, truffle oil, pink lady apples, cocoa butter, bananas, sourdough baguette, free range organic eggs and some heirloom seeds. Some of my finds will be coming home, some have been eaten!
3. The op shops. I love a good second hand shop. I really love a second hand shop that doesn't jack the prices up. I got myself and the girls some new clothes. Breanna scored an apron (Stella has several to wear when eating messy foods).
4. The old houses and buildings. These are everywhere and are beautiful.
5. Haigh's chocolates - need I say more?
6. The fact that it's a city but has a more relaxed feel. The high rises aren't very high. The trains are two carriages long and only have one level. You can get a seat at rush hour. I love Sydney but that would NEVER happen! When I come back, I'm planning on coming in warmer months. That way we can explore the beaches and other markets.

Holiday part two

The zoo was great. I'm used to zoo + school holidays = crowds, and if you add pandas to the mix? So I was pleasantly surprised to find that there was not many people, which meant we could get close to the animals. It was also great having a zoo you can walk around in a couple of hours and not feel exhausted afterwards. Don't get me wrong, I love Taronga zoo but sometimes it's just too much - too big, too many people, too far to come home at the end of the day. The kids had a great day, but the bubba was tired & cranky by 4 and the "I walk" was just not an option. So we were treated to a nice tanty! On the food front I made carrot & walnut muffins to bring packed with sourdough salad sandwiches, fruit leather, grapes, strawberries, cucumber, cheese, almonds and corn crunches. When I made the muffins I also made scones, which provided my eldest with afternoon tea for a couple of days. I love cooking and find it soothing and relaxing. I'm also loving the fact that I have time to cook. That's something I really miss working full time. Next post I'll do a quick run down on food I've made for dinner, markets I've been to and what I'm stocking up on to take home.

Holiday part one

I'm on two weeks holiday at the moment, visiting my cousin in Port Adelaide. Loving it here. Today I had a brilliant lunch at Red Lime. I had a Morroccan stew with hummus & couscous, followed by raw carrot cake & raw chocolate slice. My eldest & youngest shared fruit salad & a choc/banana smoothie. My cousin had a sweet potato/pecan burger. Her little girl loved the raw carrot cake. My two tried it but weren't too fussed on it. Port Adelaide also has a great health food shop (unfortunately its closing down), great bulk items, lots of range. I spent $73.60 and got dates, oats, sesame seeds, pumpkin seeds, cashews, yoghurt covered strawberries, chocolate covered raspberries, cocoa powder, coconut oil, sourdough rye bread, iron supplements, shampoo, conditioner & deodorant. I'm going back before I leave! Tomorrow we are going to the zoo so I'm going to make some snacks.