WiTKL.........11

Back to finger food this week. Even though we have only been back one week this term, I feel a bit exhausted today and have lost my lunch mojo.  It probably shows from the lack of colour in today's meal. But I flatly refuse to feel guilty about it because I have plenty of other places that I can use my mother guilt on!


so week 12, this kid had

• an apple for recess
• vegemite and cheese on salada's
• a mini lamington (another freezer hero)
• a "fruit shoot" juice

Last week Lucy was a flower bearer for her school's special assembly. It was my first super-proud-paparazzi-parent-attending-assembly. Unfortunately in her big moment everyone was standing so we couldn't see her do her thing, but I did get a snap of her and she knew I was there. I also managed to hold back the tears as the choir sang "Two little boys", which is a great feat for me, but I didn't want to embarrass Lucy and then her ban me from attending any school events again.

WiTKL?........ ten

Term 1 completed - Check
Survive April school holidays - Check
2 out of 2 tasks completed. Now to do it all again but with jumpers on because it is bloomin' cold. In the scheme of things it's not as cold as full blown winter yet, and other places and countries survive much colder weather. But here in WA anything below 20degrees Celsius and we are all pulling out our thermal undies and ugg boots. It also adds a different dimension to the morning routine, because getting up in the cold and dark is strange and convincing the kids to get into action is a bit tougher because they still think it is night time.


I may have to start thinking of warming lunches too. Does anyone know of a good "kid friendly" thermos? Something that can be opened easily by little hands?


Week 11, this kid has:

• Soy milk and Sipahh straw
• Pasta salad
• a slice of Fruit cake
• Red seedless grapes for recess

If your kids are happy with eating "fork" food at school then pasta salads are an easy lunch to throw together. Especially if you have leftover pasta from last nights dinner. Then add any salad veggies you have in your fridge that your kids will happily eat. Lucy chose cherry tomatoes, cucumber, basil and parsley. I also added some shredded ham and her favourite salad dressing which is a creamy potato salad one (not my preference - I'm more of a balsamic vinaigrette gal, but it's not my lunch so I let her have it) Other options could be with cheese, olives, salami's, spring onion, pinenuts, capers, etc. Anything your kids will eat really.

The fruit cake is one of my lunchbox cheats. This one is store bought and I cut it all up and freeze it. It is always defrosted by the time she eats it and it keeps it fresh all week. No thinking in the morning and is friendly on your finances too.

Maybe next term I will try and do a rough costing of how much each lunch is. What do you think? Hmm already sounds too hard. Maybe not.

Friday is for - Potato stamping

Anyone who knows me well, knows that I am a bit of a scrimp when it comes to gift wrap. Wrapping paper can be expensive and in my personal opinion I would rather spend the extra 5 or 8 bucks on the actual gift than on the wrap and card. 
In the past I have used the kids paintings and drawings from craft activities and kindy, brown paper bags with labels made from golden books that I've found at thrift stores, pages from old atlases and butchers paper with iron on transfers that I have found on the cheap. I usually then write straight on the gift wrap my message to the giftee instead of giving a card. Most, if not all, of the ribbon I ever used is recycled from gifts I have received or leftovers in my sewing stuff. One Christmas I drew the ribbons onto the wrapping with a permanent red marker!
This weekend we are attending a kids party and so we have to wrap a present. Because it's school holidays I thought i would double the task as an activity to keep the kids happy. So this morning was all about potatoes and stamping.

 With the addition of a little picture from a 0.99cent golden book and a message I think we've done a good job.

I love when I can make a task that needs to be done into something fun the kids can help with.

just like what we did as kids

What do you do with the kids on school holidays? What did we do when we were kids?

Rollerskating of course

I'm pretty sure they are probable the exact same skates that were hired out 20 years ago!

And when the results are sweaty happy and worn out kids, it now makes sense why we  were sent here too. We only had a few tears, and that was out of frustration but after a few trips around holding the side rail we saw nothing but smiles.

Definitely on the to do list for every school break from now on.

the aftermath of chocolate

I survived Easter Sunday without eating chocolate and silly things.


 I DID NOT survive Easter Monday without eating chocolate and silly things!


 At the end of the night I gave in and polished of a whole 100g cadbury bunny and was stupidly hating myself for every bite, but still did it anyway. So I knew that I hadn't even been to the gym all weekend and yet knowingly added and extra 535 odd calories into the mix. And on top of that didn't even take the time to really enjoy it.


I can hear all the psyhco-analysing right now, "you're self sabotaging", "you put too much pressure on yourself", "was it emotional eating?", "you are using the festivities as excuses not to take responsibility".

SHUT UP. Shut up because they are probably all true but at the end of the day it doesn't change the fact that I did it. So today I am gonna suck it up and hit the gym twice. One session of shred already done this morning which is hopefully about 450 cals burnt. Maybe a walk with the kids this afternoon, which I don't count as calorie burning, just to get them out too and then Zumba tonight, which will hopefully burn another 370 cals. Then tomorrow instead of still holding this dread feeling I will just be sore and weary, which is a much more productive feeling! 


 But I'm not gonna stop there. I think some of my problem is that I have hit my goal weight and haven't set myself a new goal. I didn't want to rush into anything initially because I wanted to really enjoy what I have achieved so far. It seems that I don't have the personality type to do that quite so simply. And so the new phase begins. But with no time frame. And the reward I want is a new pair of sneakers. Flashy and pretty ones like these 

.

Yep I know it's lame but I think that having these sneakers will keep up my motivation, because I'll want to be seen in them. I mean who wouldn't want to be seen in these gems? And maybe even some new skins. Not that I'll be strutting the streets in those though.

Hoppy Easter

Dates are not just for old folks!

I have always loved dried dates. Even as a kid I thought they were great. Then in my late twenties I was introduced to fresh dates and my world has never been the same. I think it was because of weight watchers or some other diet thing that I froze them for treats, and they taste all fudgey and yummy, and are a perfect sugar fix when you have cravings for bad food.

I know plenty of people hate the texture, but I challenge those that do to at least try a fresh date once. They are nothing like the dried ones and you might join in on the hype too.

I mentioned at the start of the week a fudge ball that my friend gave me, and I am sticking to my word and will share the recipe with you today. The original recipe is for a Thermomix. I don't have one of these fandangily machines so I used a food processor so I will give you the alterations I made to it too. (Typical me - I just can't make anything to the original rules!)

This is the original

Ali measured them all out (she is the master of WW points) and they are roughly 2 points each ball - and they were big balls too. Ha I didn't mean for that to be rude. Probably about the size of a large walnut. They were easily a rounded tablespoon size each. 

I basically put everything in my food processor (I swapped the sultana's for craisins because that's all I had in my pantry). At first it looks too dry to ever stick together, but don't panic. As you keep going the nuts get smaller and then all of a sudden seem to release their oils and it will suddenly start to "ball up" don't process it any more as it will get too runny. Then you just roll into the ball size you want and roll those in coconut. I did small ones so they looked more like little truffles. So I think you could almost have 3 small ones for 2 WWpoints. But don't rely on me for specific numbers!

Also on a side note, it is Easter time so I'll share with you Miss Lucy's new collection.
She (ok I may have guided her towards it) has decided to started collecting bunnies of the ceramic variety. Her very first Easter she was given this pretty bunny from her DeDe. It looks stuffed but it is in fact pottery. 

And now she has 3 more added to her collection thanks to a sale and Bed Bath & Table.

 Don't you just love the little origami one.

So the plan is that every Easter they will be out on display in the living area and then the rest of the year live happily in her room. Lucy and I are really excited about finding more little gems on our visits to op shops and markets(or treasure shop as she calls them).
It's fun having a little girl.
I wonder what collection Flynn will want. I hope it isn't something gross like bugs. Or expensive like motorbikes. Oh the joys still to come.


Happy Easter everyone. 

march 2012

Here are a few snaps of what we got up to during March. We did a lot more than this but we don't always have our camera with us. I guess we should really work on that

Haircuts, black-eyes, sillyness, falling asleep on the couch and LOTs and LOTs of Iron man!

Beachside birthday party

Jet boat family nights

Engagement celebration

what's in that kids lunchbox........... nine.

LAST WEEK OF TERM! I am slightly proud that I have managed to keep this up for the whole term. Plus I am really looking forward to the next two weeks off. So all in all I guess I am in a good mood today.


Easter is only a week away now so this weeks lunch box is a tiny bit Easter themed.


Week 10, this kid has

• a hot cross bun (of course!)
• what Lucy has named "Picky Mixey", which is basically a lunch of bits and bobs that you eat with your fingers. This one has a hard boiled egg, some cabanossi, cucumber slices and some tomato.
• some yoghurt covered fruit balls (because they look like little eggs!)
• a fruit juice
• and an apple for shared fruit recess.

Last week's lunch box had one criticism. She didn't like the freeze dried apples much - but Flynn did so she swapped him those and started taking some apricot bites instead. You know the ones that are in the dried fruit section that are rolled in coconut and probably full of sugar.


A good friend gave me some blinking beautiful fudgey date balls that she made over the weekend and they are so yummy that I intend to get the recipe and share it here. They will most definitely be my treat over Easter instead of chocolates. They would also be great treats for afternoon tea with a nice cup of green tea. YUMMY.


Enjoy your short week! Hope you like the rain as much as my garden does.