Slippery dip with Dad

Gemima and Esme

Isabel and Summer received these two dollies for christmas from their nanna Anne. That's my mum. Izzys is Gemima, and Summers is Esme(named by my mum). The dollies reside on the beds of their respective owners.

After a bout of gastro with Summer, a leaky exploding nappy, and living in Summers cot, Esme came out second best. She didn't quite survive the wash and needed some running repairs. 

Mum expressed when she bought them that they dollies should have a book to document their travels and adventures, what better place to do that than this blog! 

Watching Shrek with their engrosed(and tired) owners

Curried mince and veg

This is a recipe that I have conjured up. It's a bit like a chow mein without the noodles, you could have it with noodles if you have them. I served it in a lettuce cup with some rice on the side. 

2 garlic cloves, crushed

115 grams onion, diced

olive oil spray

500 grams veal mince

2 Tblsp curry powder

150 gr zucchini, diced

110 gr cabbage, sliced

100 gr carrot, halved and sliced into half moons

100 gr frozen peas

Spray a large saucepan or deep fry pan,  with olive oil.

Saute onion and garlic for 2 minutes. Add mince and brown. Add rest of ingredients, give it a good stir. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. 

Serve.

I cook a cup and a half of brown rice with a diced onion, a teaspoon of cumin, a teaspoon of turmeric and a bay leaf. Remove the bay leaf before serving.

You could exchange veal mince for whatever mince you have.

I weighed the finished dish and then divided by 6. 1 serve was 1/6th of the total weight.

Serves 6. 1 serve = 159 calories(just the mince curry and lettuce).
Bugger all!

Apricot Nectar

The Diet - the first week

It's been a week. Yesterday I weighed in, after my first wee, in the nuddy, as soon as I woke up. There was excitement and nervousness as I stepped onto my newly purchased scales. They had been a new novelty for the kids for the past week. Izzy had only seen one like this in nannas bathroom, we would goo and gaa in fascination when she stood on them. She has been pulling this one out and playing with it, but it's my turn now. 

To tell the truth I had a go during the week, and found that I had lost a bit. I feel less bloated and just in one week, my pants have loosened just that little bit.

The biggest thing I have noticed and been making a conscience effort on is chewing my food! I am not sure if it is a mother thing, being busy and gutsing my food down quickly while I can, but I have been. I remember when I had Izzy and breastfeeding, I was starving, and would woof my food down. Maybe it's something I have carried with me.

I'm always reminding Brett to chew his food, that his stomach doesn't have teeth, because he eats like a bull at a gate. He is famous for being the first one finished although he does the most talking at the table(usually with a mouthful of food, which is totally grosse to watch!). I make sure I take my time, put the knife and fork down, and chew.

I was shocked too at how much I did pick. Cleaning up the highchair, Izzys plate, I had made myself a human garbage disposal. But not only that, when I was preparing food too. I check myself all the time now before my hand reaches my mouth!

"A diet is the penalty for exceeding the feed limit"

I am eating a lot more healthy, not so much packaged sweet rubbish, like biscuits or chips. I have given up sugar, and as a result coffee, and I am not buttering my bread or toast. I am eating heaps more fresh fruit and veggies. Still managing to fit in a few alcoholic bevos somewhere during the week in to my calorie count, I have to have some sort of vice!

I started last week at 75 kgs*. I don't know how but I weighed in at 69kg and lost 6 in this first week. Now it's gonna get harder, and I've got to do more walking.

*While I weighed in at 75kg last week, it was in the middle of the day, and I was clothed. Realistically, I should have done in the same conditions as I did yesterday morning. Possibly I could have been 74 kgs, whatever the if, I lost weight!!! 

Tricycle made for two

Brett started working and driving trucks for my brothers at the end of last year. They own the scrap metal recycling business my dad, Scrappy Joe, started in the late 70s. I am so proud of my Dad, he now lives a life of luxury, walking to the main street and back everyday and going to clearing sales here and there to keep busy. He is very well known and liked around the place.

When Brett came home from work and said he had something for Izzy, my only thought was, 'What the hell has he bought home this time?!' 

Ratatouille

Now that I am on a diet, I have to calorie count everything. Every morsel I eat is weighed, measured, accounted for. This is one of the recipes I made for myself with the summer vegies I had on hand. 

Ingredients                                                                     Cals   Kj

1 clove (3g) of Vegetables, fresh: Garlic, raw		4	16
(x) 140 g of Vegetables, fresh: Onions, average all types, raw		42	178
(x) 500 g of Vegetables, fresh: Zucchini, raw		75	305
(x) 200 g of Vegetables, fresh: Beans, Green or French or Runner, raw		58	244
(x) 400 g of Vegetables, fresh: Tomato, ripe, raw		72	296
(x) 1 cup, chopped (120g) of Vegetables, fresh: Capsicum, Green, raw		26	110
(x) 1 teaspoon (5g) of MasterFoods: Herbs: Thyme Leaves		15	64
(x) 5 g of Herbs: basil, fresh		2	9
(x) 1 serving (1.5g) of ProChef: Sprays: Olive Oil, Extra Virgin		13	56
(x) 1 half cup (125g) of Ardmona: Vegetables, canned: Tomatoes, Crushed		33	134
Meal Total		340	1411

From my food diary at Calorieking.com. It works out everything!!

1 onion, chopped

125 gr capsicum, chopped

1 clove garlic, crushed 

500 gr zucchini, chopped

200 gr green beans, chopped

400 gr tomatoes, chopped

1 tsp thyme leaves

2 Tblsp basil, torn

1/4 cup tomato puree

Spray oil

Saute onion and capsicum for 5 minutes in a large saucepan sprayed with oil.

Add rest of ingredients and simmer for 15 minutes.

Serve warm with meat or fish or on it's own with crusty bread.

The whole recipe added up to 340 calories. I weighed the finished dish and then divided that by 4 serves, so 1 serve was only 85 calories! I had it with a 100 gr piece of steak. I mixed some pasta through the ratatouille for the kids and Brett.

I have been posting some of my meals on instagram, if you would like to follow along, I have just started tagging with #onemotherdiet.

Iceburg

Food for my babies

It was the tea time rush. Summer was crying. I pushed on with her on my hip, dishing up dinner for the four of us. I was getting flustered. 

Call it an A-HA moment, or whatever. The thought of african babies, crying in desperate hunger,  filled my mind. My heart sank with the feeling of heartache, of mothers having nothing to satisfy the hunger of their precious babies.

Everything seemed OK from that point on. I was much calmer in the knowing I had something to feed my wailing hungry baby. My stress became insignificant, at least I had food to put on our table......everything was going to be ok.

image from world vision

Little fatty

I went and bought a pair of bathroom scales. I knew I'd put on a bit, I wasn't quite prepared for how much. I was shocked. A feeling of shame swept over me as my mouth dropped open, 75 kg. My last weigh in full term with Izzy was 72! Shocking, just shocking. Seventy five kilos might sound not so bad for most, but with my 157 cm short frame, it's too much. I need to lose at least 15 kilograms, and am making my target 60 kg.

Wish me luck, I am kicking of my weight loss campaign today. I am registering my weight and will be filling in my food diary at calorieking.com. I have been here before, I know I can do this, but just between you and me, I am shitting myself!

Chocolate and Zucchini cup cakes

1/4 cup butter

3/4 cup sugar

1 egg

1/2 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup milk

1 1/4 cup plain flour

2 Tbsp cocoa

1/2 tsp bicarb soda

1/4 tsp salt

1 cup grated zucchini

Cream butter and sugar. Beat in egg.

Add milk, vanilla and sifted dry ingredients. Stir in zucchini.

Keeping in mind there is no raising agent, fill 16 cup cake cases and bake for 15-20 minutes at 160 degrees.

You could double this recipe, pour it in a tin, and bake for 40 to 45 minutes at 160 if you wanted a big cake.

The girls loved these and ate their little hearts out, unbeknownst to them, the vegie goodness. Sucked in!

Changing habits...or...My pants are too tight.

My size fourteens are feeling uncomfortable, I am not feeling good about it. The only alternative, besides watching what I eat and walking, is to buy size 16 and I am not having it!

I can't blame it on motherhood, however before I had the girls, I was a happy, confident size 10. I have let myself go.

I am not aiming for size 10 again, it would be fantastic, but I would be setting myself up for failure. Just a size 12, so the clothes I have fit, I feel confident and comfortable in them, along with my own skin. With less weight , more confidence in my appearance, other parts of my life will become easier to deal with. I know this. But just like giving up smoking, my head has to be in the right space. I am close, if not there.

The first step, small but substantially big enough, is cutting down on sugar. I have recently, well in the past 6 months or so, started drinking coffee. For the longest time I have been a tea drinker. Black, no sugar. I am sure the extra milk(I liked it milky), and the sugar(two) have been slowly making their impact. The first mouthful of a coffee with no sugar didn't appeal to me at all, I tipped it down the sink and made a black tea. Hello old friend. It felt and tasted right. I have been a cranky, irritable and short tempered bitch today. 

The second step is to make sure I am drinking at least a litre and a half of water, every day.

Thirdly, I need to check my food intake in between meals. NO picking at the kids leftovers! It is so easy to shove bits and pieces in when I'm cleaning up. Stay away from the biscuit barrel! Instead of having something healthy like fruit, I will graze out of the biscuit barrel, and then think, I need a coffee to go with that, and grab a couple more biscuits! I need to change my habits. 

Blue River

Zucchini dip

1/2 cup olive oil

1 kg sliced zucchini

1 garlic clove, finely chopped

1 teaspoon coriander seeds, coarsely crushed

Salt and black pepper

Juice of 1/2 lemon

Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a large saucepan at a moderate heat. Tip in zucchini, garlic and coriander seeds. Lower heat,cover and cook for about 20 minutes, or until tender.

Blend in a processor(I used a stick blender) until chunky, add lemon juice, salt and pepper and gradually add oil and process until smooth or desired consistency.

I just happened to have a coriander plant going to seed in the garden. If you don't have the seeds, don't worry, don't add them. Consider using parmesan cheese or a fresh herb like basil or mint in the final process.

Monarto Zoo

Boxing Day we made our way home after spending christmas with Bretts family north of Adelaide. On the way back we spent a couple of hours at the Monarto Zoo, about 15 minutes out of Murray Bridge. I had a sore and puffy foot still(I got spider bitten two days before christmas), so was apprehensive, but knowing they had buses to ferry us around in made me feel better. Plus Brett had built Izzy up and she was asking when we were seeing the animals as soon as we took off from his sisters house. How could we disappoint her?!

I got as many photos as I could, we didn't take the pram in and frankly it would have been a hassle having to fold it up every time we got on a bus. We went on about four different buses, or was it five, and I was usually holding Summer trying to take one handed photos with my camera, easier said than done! 

White Rhino and baby, amazing!

This was the final fence of three to get into the carnivores section, where the lions were, triple assurance they don't escape, which is comforting, they were huge! Note the sign on the fence, it's someones idea of a joke. The volunteer guide doing the talking at the front of the bus reckons it's because the lions don't like it when the spokes get stuck in their teeth. Boom tish!

Nought to eighty kilometres per hour in three seconds. Vision of up to five kilometres. Amazing creature. Not one I would like to come across in the wild, but apparently you can have a cheetah experience and get right in their enclosure with a guide if you're brave enough.

Sitting on a bus watching another bus full of eager zoo goers. The size of the zoo grounds when you look at this is astounding. It is fantastic to see the animals have so much room to roam. I am with the firm belief that is why, as opposed to a "cage" zoo, the animals grow to such huge sizes like the lions and this american bison. The photo doesn't do justice to how massive this animal is, it was HUGE! 

Who knew there were different types of zebras? They have two varieties at the zoo. This one is the Chapmans zebra. 

Monarto currently has eighteen giraffes! They all weren't on display, they are trying to keep the boys away from the girls, they are too good at breeding, there were about nine that I could see. You could get off at the bus stops and have a look around, this was at the giraffe section, there was a walking trail that ended on a raised platform so we had a great view. 

When we made it back to the start my foot was aching so I sat with Summer in the cafe and Brett took Izzy for a short walk to see the chimpanzees. Izzy was funny, showing me how the chimps jumped around and telling me how cute the baby one was. I'm sorry I missed the baby one. We had a fantastic time, so glad we went.