Sunday, August 26, 2012

Brilliant blog

I've been madly reading "The Nutrition Coach" blog this weekend. The tagline "Research-based nutritional findings and practical ideas. Debunking myths and helping you find clarity" totally appealed to me. 

Some of her recent entries include:

The benefits of gelatin (anti-aging - sign me up baby!) 

Be Pro-Thyroid- "Recently I’ve been delving deeper into all things thyroid-related, exploring and analysing the fascinating research of physicians like Broda Barnes and endocrinologist Raymond Peat. … and because my new mantra is to keep my blog posts short and sweet … here are just a few nutritional tips and important facts to be aware of, to hopefully inspire you to learn more "


 Hope you like it too. 
 
 Plus she is the cutest pregnant lady.

Friday, August 24, 2012

One of the best things about little girls...


...are the pigtails 


 


Have a beautiful weekend.


Thursday, August 23, 2012

The easiest dahl recipe EVER!


Need to make some food for a friend? 
Got a busy week ahead and need to make a meal that will magically keep on giving?
 On a budget? Like the idea of putting everything in a pot and letting it cook itself?

Make this recipe. 

This is one of those recipes that came from a friend. She had it torn out of a magazine and photographed it on her phone so she always had it on her so she could easily pick up ingredients at the store.

INGREDIENTS
6 cups water
3 cups Red Lentils
1/4 Fresh Coriander
1/4 Fresh Parsley
1 teaspoon chilli flakes
1/4 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 can chick peas
2 cups diced mushrooms
2 cups diced tomatoes
4 large handfuls of baby spinach
2 teaspoons of garlic
1 large chopped onion
1  teaspoon sea salt

INSTRUCTIONS
Boil the water then add lentils, onion, sea salt, garlic, coriander, parsely, chilli, cumin seeds and stir until dissolved. 

Add chick peas, mushrooms, tomatoes, baby spinach and stir in until cooked. Turn hotplate/ gas off and let Dahl sit on stove for 15 mins with lid/ plate on top.

I like to serve this with a  raita (mix Greek yogurt with sea salt, mint and cubed cucumber)

Tips
* I make my raita really salty, as in three teaspoons to a cup of yogurt.
* I don't add salt to the Dahl usually.  I put it in this recipe as per the orginal recipe but as miss s eats it, we don't add it and the raita usually adds the kick we need.
* I peel the cucumber but very thinly and only about half of it so it looks a bit stripey. I like to leave skin on most veggies if I can given that a lot of the vitamins etc are contained in or near the skin.
* You'll need a big pot as this recipe yields loads.


I promise yours will look much nicer than my photo. I had people jostling to eat mine so I had to take a photo in about 1.2 seconds. No styling allowed...or proper light metering:(

Monday, August 20, 2012

Generations

We visited Sienna's Great Grandma today. Grandma Eddie is 93. That is her hand on my belly in my blog header.  Sienna loves to visit her.



 Sienna has inherited my grandmother's beautiful square jawline.


  Even as a little baby, she would lie quietly in my grandma's arms. Something she wouldn't do with anyone else.
You can't see me in this shot but I'm lying on my grandma's floor. I would go over to visit. Sienna would lie quietly on her and I could give my boobs a rest. Sienna was a massive feeder!


Grandma hasn't knitted for about 20 years but my mum (her daughter-in-law) has gotten her going again. Mum chooses the pattern and the wool and Grandma is the workhorse. I think about six lovely grannies were involved in knitting this little jumper.  Grandma lives in a retirement home and they would all gather around her kitchen table to work out the pattern. Not one of them had knitted in the last decade and not one of them is under the age of 90.  


Such a useful shape too as it is so easy to get on and off and no hard buttons to do up - although I do love a good button.  We now have a few of these jumpers in different colours.  I have a red cardigan from when I was six that Grandma knitted. It is still in perfect condition.  I'm looking forward to Sienna wearing it when she is old enough.

Monday, August 13, 2012

Projects


Maybe it is reading all about Blogher 2012 that has gotten me excited but I think I would like to post more often in the coming month.  Don't hold me to it because I'm not good with commitment  (yes, I know you know, I still haven't posted photos of miss s' first birthday or of her bedroom...one day).  Maybe it is the nerdy teacher in me that likes projects but the slacker Joe part of me that can't commit to the daily photo thingos.

I do like looking at all of them though. To my detriment. I wonder how much cleaner my house would be if I didn't have access to Pinterest?  You too? It seems to be the malaise of 2012.

Some projects that have taken my fancy recently...
 *10 on 10 - Oh I could do this. Ten photos taken on the tenth of each month. So far, I've been checking out, Angie, El, & Rachel. I'm kind of intimidated because I seem to keep finding professional photographers but still, I could get my teeth into this one.

* Letters to my daughters. This is a collective of mums writing a letter to their daughters each month. The group consists of mums around the world living different lives. I find it an inspiring way to think about my own path in motherhood.

* Video portraits.  I've been so keen on photography that I have completely neglected my video skills, yes the area that I actually got a degree in. I am totally in love with this kind of work   Maybe I'll do something with miss s before she turns 5.

What have you seen lately that has got you thinking of doing?