Sewing/ craft tip and menu plan

Sometimes splitting up a big project into smaller sections which can be done during nap time is the only way to get any crafting done.

One way to do this is to cut out on one day, and then put it away to be sewn the next day, or the next week, or the next year.

The problem is, I have a mind like a sieve. So I need to label every piece, every partly done item. Write in on a piece of paper and pin it, with super detailed instructions. Makes much more sense when I pull it out again.

I haven't done menu planning in a long time, but I'm keen to get back into it. Especially now that we have the new kitchen, I'd like to try out some new meal which still suit my dead easy, cheap and healthy requirements.

Menu plan for this week:

Monday: Stir fry
Tuesday: Scavenge (I have a work function)
Wednesday: Bolognese (from the freezer)
Thursday: Roast beef
Friday: Roast beef leftover and salad
Saturday: Chicken curry (from the freezer)
Sunday: Chicken bolognese

Lemon herb chicken

We tried another meal tonight in my new kitchen experimentation plan. I'd been looking forward to making a lemon chicken, even though Dear Husband wasn't keen on fruity flavours with meat.

I'd looked at a few of the cook in bag kits to ease myself in, but a quick glance of the ingredients list and I saw that it was choc full of preservatives. Even for a domestically challenged person like myself, I figured I could do better.

I tried this recipe, and the verdict from both Dear Husband and me is that it wasn't great, but it has potential and is worth tweaking. I think it will end up on our regular rotation.

Here's what I actually did:

Ingredients
Chicken
- two small chicken breasts, cut into large strips
- 1/4 cup lemon juice
- 1/4 cup honey
- 1/4 teaspoon chopped chives (dried)
- 1 teaspoon chopped parsey (dried)

Vegetables
- 1/4 butternut pumpkin
- 2 carrots
- 1/2 sweet potato
- 3 medium potatoes
- avocado oil

Method
1. Wash, peel and chop veggies. Parboil for five minutes. Toss in oil.
2. Put in oven at 190 degrees Celsius for 25 minutes
3. Mix honey, lemon juice and herbs.
4. Chop chicken
5. Put one teaspoon of flour inside an oven bag and shake.
6. Put chicken and marinade into oven bag. Tie off and shake around. Continue to toss while veggies are roasting.
7. After the veggies have been in for 25 mins, add the chicken for another 20 mins.



What needs to change:
- I didn't preheat the oven, because things were toddler-nuts when I was putting it on and I wasn't sure if I would be able to get it started when I wanted to. This means that the actual cooking times were probably less.
- The veggies still aren't right. We've been experimenting with the roast veggies but each time I feel like the need to go in longer. Next time we will try cooking for 90 minutes or more to really crisp them up. It also needs some steamed green beans or something green and light - all the carb-y roast veggies are very heavy
- The chicken was cooked through but could use more time to crisp up. Another option might be to cook it uncovered, instead of in the oven bag.

What was good:
- The chicken was yummy! Dear Husband doesn't usually like fruity chicken meals, but he liked this one. If we crisp it up a bit it will be great.
- It's very easy to make. It's super easy to put it in the oven; actually I'm suprised that I was happy without a working oven for so many years. It's very toddler friendly to put something in the oven, block it off for safety and then eat later than it is to stand over the stove cooking something in the pan. It wouldn't be a good meal to do on a work day or when we were out all day - I'm not walking in the fdoor at 5:30 and starting a meal that will take hours to be finished. There was probably only about 15 mins of prep (max) but a lot of potential for things to go bad if there were any interruptions or delays. I'm a bit funny about freezing chicken meals, but it would be a good on-the-day meal. A good plan would be to 1) plan ahead so that I had the ingredients, 2) cut up the veggies, make the marinade etc at nap time and then 3) put the veggies on at 4:30ish , and then the chicken on an hour or so after that.

This is certainly an easy meal, but it would require planning. I think that we need to go back to meal planning, which is something that I stopped doing - pretty much because all we ever ate was spag bol and stir fry. I'm going to start planning again, and hopefully introducing a bit more variety. I'll still have my freezer stash of bolognese for crazy evenings (or weeks) as a fall back plan or a planned easy night, but hopefully they will stop being such a regular feature (although I do love spag bol - thank goodness!)


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Roast beef

 

Now that we have the new kitchen (and a working oven) I've started cooking roasts which has been lovely, and very easy. So far I've been cheating and buying marinated roasts and cooking them in an oven bag. The veggies I've been doing are potatoes, sweet potatoes, pumpkin, parsnip and carrot. I have been parboiling then and tossing them with avocado oil, but they could go in for even longer to really crisp up.

We've been intentionally having the left over roast meat with salad the following night. Neither Dear Husband or I are keen on bubble and squeak so I need to cut back on the amount of veggies that I cook since they have been going to waste. I could make proper Shepherd's Pie with the roast one day, but salad is much easier in the mean time.

Yum!

 

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Cosleeping in the child's room

When talking about our adventures in cosleeping, the need for a different plan and ultimately going back to what we were doing in the first place, Becca commented that they had the family bed in the baby's room, rather than bring the baby into the master bed. I'd never thought of this before, but it seems like it could be a great solution. It wouldn't work for our family and the layout of our house, but it seems like a great option!

Our current approach hasn't changed much since our last update. Chubs feeds to sleep on our bed, then gets moved to her cot until first wake up, which could be anywhere between 11pm and 4am. She then comes in with us, and if she is taking up too much room the Dear Husband or I relocates (usually to the couch) for a few hours. Having tried it the other way, I'm certain that we all get more sleep this way. Yes, it's disrupted sleep - but my sleep has been disrupted for the last 20 months, and I'd rather be sleeping on the couch than standing awake over Chubs' cot patting her while she desperately asks to come into the big bed.

For her second birthday in a few months we are getting her a big girl bed, with a trundle. Perhaps she will be happy with one of us sleeping next to her on the trundle if needed. Even if she still wants/ needs the closeness of the big bed, a single bed in her room will allow whichever one of us who is bed-angel-ed out of the big bed to have somewhere comfy to sleep!

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Goodbye car

We said goodbye to our car today. I bought it seven years ago, not long after I met Dear Husband. We've had lots of fun adventures. Lots of four wheel driving (mostly beach), lots of road trips and lots of long commutes.

It was no spring chicken when I got it, and I certainly didn't treat it gently! Lots of ks and lots of sand.

It never had air con, was full of rust and the door handle kept breaking no matter how many times I replaced it. The muffler had busted and been repaired with a tin can before being replaced. The starter motor went one year over Christmas and we couldn't get a replacement in for a week or so, so we have to spend all week push starting it. I had to sit in the supermarket car park for half an hour with the car running while Dear Husband went in and grabbed some groceries. Every time it got a service ther was plenty of things which needed doing, but it was still an amazing car.

We only ever got it bogged twice, and not for lack of trying. It was a great zippy little beach car, and I would seriously consider getting another (newer) model in the future when we buy another 4WD. For many years Dear Husband and I were a one car family with it - even before we were a family. We drove around in that car while we were dating, through our engagment and first few years of marriage. We drove to and from all my pregnancy appointments in it and to the hospital when I was in labour. It was the car that we brough Chubs home from the hospital in.

We got a second car in the middle of last year, which has whizz bang features like air con, CD player, keyless entry, central locking, and doors that close properly. Oh, and automatic transmission - it took me a while to get used to that!

Still, my little red Suzui will always hold a special place in my heart. Unfortunately it has an electrical fault somewhere which we just can't find, and not for lack of trying. It was continually cutting out - would go months at a time with no worries, and then would cut out again. When we couldn't drive two suburbs over without calling a tow truck, we knew it was time to let it go to the big sand dune in the sky.

The tow truck contractor picked it up today to take it to the wreckers. We couldn't even get it started to drive it onto the truck. Chubs keeps saying 'car babble babble babble gone', with actions to match.

So, goodbye to my little Suzi. Thanks for the memories. I know that you were just a car, but you were a daily part of a wonderful time of my life.

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Spoon rest hint

I've had this photo sitting around for a while but I don't think that I've been able to upload it.

I have an oversized coffee cup which is perfect as a spoon rest - much better than using a saucer or the onces that sit flat on the bench. Using it works for me!

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Milksharing article

 

This is a very interesting article about donor milk which has just been released by an expert researcher in the field. I talked about donor milk for World Milksharing Week last year . This article is a good resource and overview of the issues, as well as looking at future directions.

 

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