Pay It Forward

Have you ever been presented with the opportunity to do a good deed but been unsure if it will be taken in the spirit in which it is intended? I believe we're presented with opportunities to 'pay it forward' all the time, some so subtle we often overlook them, but others so blaringly obvious that you get an instant urge to go and act on your impulse to help. Today was one of those days.

I was dropping my daughter off in her classroom this morning, doing the usual 'settling in' routines like putting away her folder, getting her started on her morning reading activity, and so on. This morning I sent money in for an performance our school is putting on for the kids - $5. I had just handed the teacher our payment and a little girl whom I often help in the mornings (she's the only one who has ever referred to me by my first name, and not just 'Miss Moo's Mum', LOL) mentioned that she wasn't going. Now, occasionally parents opt out of the performances and excursions for reasons other than money, so I didn't think much of it at first, but then she said "I really want to go, but I'm not going".

Now, I can't tell anything at all about her family situation because I'm not friends with her mother. She doesn't appear to be in the needy category. Our school is very much a middle class school - we live in a good neighbourhood. I know that doesn't preclude someone from financial stress, but just as a comparison, our old house was smack in the middle of a lower-socio-economic group and there was a different feel to how the school was run, especially in regards to making all the performances and excursions affordable. At the old school there was a larger percentage of kids who's parents had to 'pick and choose' which extras to allow their kids to participate in. Our current school, while still very respectful of all of that, is very large - the largest primary school in my state, actually - and I guess given the 'comfortable' postcode, it may be easier to let some kids fall through the cracks.

So my thoughts were this: Immediately after I spoke to the girl, I had the urge to go and pay for her to see the performance, anonymously of course. I used to know a double-income family who always paid twice for any excursion or extras their kids brought home notices for, in order that the second payment would go toward someone who really couldn't afford to do it. I used to think that was just lovely. I remember when I was in primary school there were plenty of times I had to go and spend the day with another classroom while my classroom went out for the day, because my parents often didn't have a lot of money to spread beyond the basics. So I know what it is like.

If I'd had the money on me I would have gone right to the front office and done it, but I didn't. And as I've pottered around all day, I keep thinking of the 'what ifs'.

How do I figure out if the girl has actual financial need or whether her parents just prefer that she not attend? It happens, and I certainly don't want to step on any toes.
What if there wasn't an easy way to ensure an anonymous payment would go toward this particular little girl? The easiest way to ensure that it would, would be to talk directly with our classroom teacher, but I certainly don't want the attention that might bring. I'm not doing it for the recognition. Plus, I might be pooh-poohed. It's a pretty delicate situation, with lots of potention for offending someone.

I'm wondering whether I might do a bit of 'fishing' - engage this little girl in conversation tomorrow morning. But kids are often not privy to all the information so that's slightly less ideal.

The other option I have is to speak to the school principal or deputy (I know the deputy well - he was the deputy at the other school I mentioned LOL) and ask whether there are some consistently left-out kids for things like this, and perhaps could I contribute, say, $20 toward four of them attending (hopefully one of which will be this little girl). I just don't want it to be a huge deal and I know that something like this is probably going to produce a bit of 'oh that's so wonderful!!!' - do you know what I mean? I can't do this for every performance or excursion, but its in my power to help with this one, and I want to.

Some thoughts to ponder...suggestions welcome by the way! Or maybe you could share an example of a similar situation you've been in and how you 'paid it forward' :)

** Edited to add: Oooh, I just had great idea, not thirty seconds after I hit 'publish post' (always happens, LOL) This would be a great opportunity to promote good values with the kids. I'll hold off talking to anyone at the school, but in the meantime bring up the idea with the kids. We'll talk about less fortunate kids (we've already touched on this whenever we've done a toy or clothes clean-out - they know their old stuff goes to kids who need it more than they do). I might suggest them earning some money toward this idea by doing minor household jobs, or giving up a little of their saved pocket money. If they're willing, it might be a good way to kill two birds with one stone, LOL. I get to act on my urge to help and the kids get something very, very valuable out of the experience. I'll stress the 'anonymous' part to them, but if I manage to see the deputy principle, might see if I can direct that money toward this little girl (obviously with my daughter in her class, the last thing I want is for Miss Moo to blab!) Then I might throw in some extra for good measure. Plus, there'll be a lot less 'oh wow' directed toward me! Now, just to get the kids on board....LOL ***

Cheers,
Lizzie

Menu Plan Monday - July 30

I've had a revelation this week. I always like those, LOL.

I printed out my own blank Monthly Menu Planner (see left sidebar under 'downloads') to write in last week's menu, then put the mostly blank sheet up on the fridge. There's enough space to fill in six weeks worth of menus, but I was pressed for time so I just jotted in the one week and told myself that next Monday (ie, today) I'd fill in the other five weeks. It's really not that hard, after all. I have a formula.

So all through the week, I've had little brainstorms about meals. I was surfing and gleamed an idea from somewhere for a certain dish - instead of writing it down on scrap paper then losing it as I'm apt to do, I jumped up and wrote it into the appropriate square in the second row. Later on that day I was flicking through some old magazines ripping out pages to keep (the rest gets recycled) and spied another recipe. I slipped the sheet into the front pocket of my Home Management Binder and wrote the recipe name directly into the right spot on the Monthly Menu Planner. This went on all week.

Now normally, I'd have to spend maybe 30 mins actively menu planning, looking through cookbooks, scouring grocery store fliers. Today though, I'm at a loss. I don't have to 'menu plan' - all my squares for this week are already filled up! When did that happen? LOL.

The Menu Planner that is up on my fridge at the moment has room for part of July, all of August, and a couple of days in September. That's the beauty of a non-dated form I think. You tailor it to your own needs. I've even written in the 'regulars' right through for the whole six weeks. Monday is Pasta night at Lizzie's Home, so in any four week period we have Spaghetti, Ravioli, Spaghetti and Lasagna, in that order. Fridays were recently instigated as Leftovers Nights and I'm careful to plan something for Wednesday or Thursday that will give plenty of extra serves. Sunday nights are Roast, Homemade Pizza, Roast, Takeaway in that order, and like Pasta night, we just keep repeating. So that's already three nights out of any seven taken care of.

Now, onto this week's menu!

Monday ~ Ravioli (rolls)
Tuesday ~ Crispy Chicken Soft Tacos
Wednesday ~ Baked Potatoes (various toppings)
Thursday ~ Shepherd's Pie (vegies)
Friday ~ Leftovers

Saturday ~ Chicken Parmigiana (carried over from last week, with chips and vegies)

Sunday ~ Takeaway

A couple more foody snippets:

I made Chocolate Cake and Choc Chip Nut Muffins (variation from the Berry Muffins if anyone in Australia is playing from home!) from this cookbook this week. There were mixed results. Co-incidentally I used my brand span---- whoops, I mean, brand new silicone baking pans to make them. The cake itself, my first from scratch in a long time (gulp...you didn't hear that from me) was delicious but the flexible pan just didn't hold it together well. I was thinking it would turn out magically intact and perfect when 'popped' out as the label said but it didn't. No matter, I will persist. The reason I bought a few of the silicone pans in the first place was to stop my recent speight of 'hollow base syndrome'....you know, when the bottom of your cake sticks to the base of your supposedly non-stick teflon wonder. I also bought the 6-cup muffin pan and a loaf pan in silicone (Willow Bend n Bake) and did the muffins in silicone as well...

...lets just say the first batch's failure was due to human-oven-timing error, and leave it at that, LOL. The second batch turned out pretty well. The recipe only made a dozen though, so when the first 50% went into the trash the remainder only constituted two days worth of lunchboxes for my three kids. Still, was better than nothing I suppose.

I'll reserve judgement on the silicone pans for now, but I'm still glad I didn't immediately get rid of my old non-sticks :)

Cheers,
Lizzie

Has It Come To This Already?

I put this sign up on my laptop's desktop today. When one has to REMIND THEMSELVES that a whole universe exists outside of Bloggityville, then its a pretty safe bet they're spending far too much time reading blogs!

Oh, you may scoff - and Hubs probably will when he next turns on the laptop, LOL - but I figured it was the electronic equivalent of a Post-It note stuck to my screen!

I already have a 1 ½ hour study window pencilled in each weekday. I'm going to get strict on myself. If whatever I'm working on that day doesn't need the computer, then it doesn't go on during the day at all. If I maybe need to do a little word-processing, fine, but no Internet. Occasionally I will need to check up on facts, research online and so forth, so the idea is to get in and out of cyberspace as quickly as possible.

I have Mum's Down Time as a permanent feature of our evenings. The kids go to bed at 8:30 and I have a two hour window in which to enjoy TV, or (hopefully soon!) craft, or surf the net. That's okay, but if I do log on, I'll set the timer. It is amazing how fast time flies when you're following a Linky Brick Road, LOL. An hour zips by so fast.

So most of my personal internet wanderings (including emails, groups, blogging and general surfing) will be restricted to this evening slot, and the daytime window available only if needed for study. I need to start thinking of my time at home in terms of an actual job. It's too easy to flick the computer switch when you sit down with a cup of tea, or while you're waiting for the roast to finish up. No, no, no! Bad Lizzie, LOL! There are so many other things that need my concentration at home and its about time I dealt with that before wasting (any more) time online.

Cheers,
Lizzie

Oh, YUK!

I think I'm going to have to watch my phrasing.

I was just checking my 'Came From' stats on my StatCounter page and noticed a google search link. So I clicked on it.

My phrasing? "Brand sp*nking new"

Other pages that came up when someone typed in "Lizzie's sp*nking"? You don't want to know.

Ick, ick, ick...

P.S. What's the general consensus with site meters? I picked StatCounter when I first developed Lizzie's Home back in March, but my blocking cookie (the thing that eliminates your own page views from when you mess around on the blog from showing up in the official count) keeps needing to be reset. I'm thinking of switching - who uses what system?

Cheers,
Lizzie

The Quiet Box

We're starting a new part of our schedule here at Lizzie's Home this week.

Around these parts, we aim to have the kids in bed by 8:30 pm. Apparently we are abnormal in our decision to go for this time, with the kids' respective friends enduring a much earlier bedtime, but we think this is a good time for our kids. They aren't tired the next day at school and they're still getting around 10-11 hrs a night. I could only dream!

But we did notice that we were sending them to bed all wired from a frenetic bedtime routine. Our kids are really good sleepers so within half an hour they'd be out like a light anyway, but it still bothered me that the post-dinner period was consumed with TV.

So an effort on my part will see dinner served a little earlier, baths given a little earlier, have them brush their teeth a little earlier, and the TV turned off at 8:00 pm for a half-hour 'quiet time'. To 'sell' the idea to the kids, we're bringing in The Quiet Box.

Activities will be sourced from home, dollar stores and flea markets. The idea is to throw things into the box that promote quiet play - puzzles, new colouring books, games they can play together quietly. The Quiet Box only comes out at 8:00 pm, and only if the TV is off. No exceptions. At 8:30, we pack the box up and head to bed.

A thought: The only way this will remain exciting for them is to restrict the amount of time The Quiet Box is brought out (only that half hour a night) and to frequently switch out the activities. We'll be using it to slow them down at night (and to promote family time, if we find an appropriate game or activity we can all do) but you could use the principle anywhere - for example, a library bag filled with car games and books could become The Quiet Bag and might only be brought out while on long trips (you could keep it in the trunk).

Eventually, we'd like to extend quiet time out to a full hour. But first things first!

Cheers,
Lizzie

It's Time For A Change

*** Warning: Every so often, I feel the urge to write long, rambling posts about nothing in particular. This is one of those times, LOL ***

After months of procrastination, Hubs and I are going to tackle a few bothersome jobs this coming week. Every three weeks his roster is such that he has a Tuesday through to a Friday off, and the kids are in school during the day, so the perfect time to get some things done. One of the few benefits of a shift-working husband, LOL.

We've been here in this house for two years, and for that entire time, when the kids have outgrown clothing, or we've stopped using such-and-such household item, I've simply thrown it into a big ol' garbage bag (white ones, to differentiate between giveaway stuff and actual trash, LOL) and tossed it onto the heap in our fourth (spare) bedroom. Well, its gotten so that we can no longer safely get across the room. Think of Catherine Zeta-Jones' laser-beam gymnastics in Entrapment and you've pretty much got our junk room down pat. The landmines need to be negotiated and then removed before Boofah can move in (hopefully!) sometime in the next couple of months.

So that's one of the things we're doing - filling the car (and I mean FILLING the car) with white garbage bags and dropping them off at the Salvation Army thrift store. We'll probably need to make a second trip to take the full trash bags to the rubbish dump ourselves (for the record, if I've 'stored' bags filled with trash, it is never anything other than miscellaneous non-food/non-smelly/non-urgent things!).

Underneath the bags, there are boxes - ironically all labelled 'Misc' and filled with stuff that was never going to see the light of day even when we moved, but we kept a hold of because it was 'stuff'. Just doing the bags and then sorting through the boxes will take large chunks of those four days Hubs has off next week.

We also finally called our local council today about their hard rubbish removal service. A couple of times a year each household is entitled to have the council come and do a kerbside pickup equivalent to a 6'x4' trailer. Here's where it gets interesting, LOL.

When Hubs and I moved in together, we had very little by way of furniture, so we had to buy a few things. Because of finances at the time, we were only able to afford 'throwaway' furniture - even though some of it was new, it was always going to have a limited lifespan, and we've well and truly eclipsed that now. The futon we bought when Master J was born has been through two mattresses and no longer has any screws holding it together. For the last couple of months it has been hemorrhaging foam bits all over our loungeroom. It's going to the dump. We're also having a second smaller sofa picked up because the seats are worn so badly it can't be sat on for fear of falling though to China. Yes, we could re-strap the seats but the whole thing is filthy and ripped so off it goes to the great big garage sale in the sky. We also have an old wardrobe that came with us when we moved but has sat outside under our carport for the last two years because (thank gosh) we had built-ins at the new place. This was furniture Hubs had when HE was a teenager. We have the matching lovely faux woodgrain dresser as a TV stand in our main bedroom. Unfortunately, the dresser has life in it yet. But the wardrobe is going (in the time it has been outside, it has been rained on so many times it has become like a Tim Tam after it has been used for a Tim Tam Slam. Go on, click the link. It will make so much more sense then, LOL. In other words, easily destroyed by the application of pressure, LOL).

All this purging will only go part of the way toward the serious decluttering we need to do.

We have two living areas in our house. The first, the Family Room, is a large open plan 'square', with the kitchen, dining area, computer area and TV watching area each in their own 'corners'. Given that I spend 90% of my time either cooking or cleaning in the kitchen and that it overlooks the main kids' play areas, it gets a lot of use. The second is a seperate lounge/living room - its in this room that the futon and seatless sofa reside. It also holds the 'nice' TV and the 'nice' cabinet. However once the delapitated furniture goes, there'll be nothing to sit on, LOL.

The TV area in the family room has a leather couch and two armchairs. The dilemma: Do we move that suite into the loungeroom and set that room up as the sole TV room (nice TV, nice couch, closed off room) or do we basically 'gut' the loungeroom, leave the suite where it is (in the more frequently used living area) and turn the loungeroom into a temporary playroom/study?

Both options make sense for different reasons. I like the idea of having a TV room. At the moment we can watch TV in either the loungeroom or family room - this can be handy when the kids want to watch something and we want to watch something different, but in some ways having that option is bad all on its own - too much TV is a bad thing. The problem with having a TV in the family room is that it tends to encroach on other activities we use that room for - such as eating meals. Setting up the loungeroom as the main TV room would mean switching the lounge suite around which would then leave a gaping whole in the family room. The second TV would still be there (that cabinet is on its way out as well, but that's another story) but no couches on which to sit to watch it. We could even take it one step further and downside the cabinet, replacing it with a very simple Ikea-type thing. At the moment we have a massive wall-sized behemoth that we bought second hand ten years ago - vinyl covered black monstrosity I've been campaigning against for at least half that time. It has compartments for stereo, speakers, drawers etc...but they haven't housed any of that for years and years and so its basically an eyesore with peeling vinyl with an itty bitty TV taking up about a tenth of the available space. Removing it altogether would make it a very happy day for me, LOL. It would open up the living space dramatically, and I can imagine setting up a 'kids corner' with a little table and chairs, bookshelf etc. It's appropriate for that because the entire family room is tiled (good for spills). And this would mean we'd be a whole lot less likely to throw the TV on during dinner (we can see the set from the dining table) or in the mornings when the kids are getting ready for school.

Or, we can do the opposite, turning the loungeroom into the playroom/study (temporarily!). Pros: It's the only room, except for their bedrooms, we can totally close off (go for noise reduction). Cons: it has the good TV, not to mention our only DVD player. We can't move the cabinet or the nice TV out and we still like the idea of curling up in there to watch a movie because it has a lovely gas heater. But once the futon and sofa are gone, we'll have nowhere to sit! The solution would be to keep our eyes peeled for a simple sofa on sale. But we're not sure we want to spend the money. I kind of like the idea of having a whole room for TV but Hubs isn't keen - he likes to potter about the family room with the TV on as background noise, even when he's playing on the computer in the 'study corner'. It just seems pointless to have a nice TV and gorgeous cabinet set up in a room where we'd have nowhere to sit down to watch them. Switching the lounge suite to the other room makes more sense. Hubs' disagrees, LOL.

As you can plainly see, I have far too much time on my hands, LOL. Ideas, suggestions welcome!

Oh, and I've been really encouraged and inspired by Like Merchant Ships series on Living Well For Less. Some brilliant ideas there. We don't get a lot of garage (yard) sales around my parts and I don't have the transport to get to the ones a bit further afield, but I do have plans to do a round of the thrift stores next week. Very occasionally you see something half-decent so perhaps I'll be lucky enough to find something that will fix the dilemma, LOL.

I'm also on the lookout for new plates. We're past-due for a new dinner setting (90% of our dishes have chips in them) but I had the idea of first looking for odd plates of roughly the same size in thrift stores that conform to a particular colour scheme rather than ones that actually match exactly. I could go out and buy a $30 basic setting tomorrow, but where would be the fun in that? LOL.

Cheers,
Lizzie

I'm Only Four Months Late For St Paddy's Day

I had a serious problem with Corned Beef as a child. The whole 'pink meat' thing freaked me out. Even to this day, I can't eat any meat that has even a tinge of pink. I don't think they have a category for how well done I like my meat. But I got older, and realised it tasted great.

Hubs was fed Corned Beef regularly but as I discovered when we visited relatives this past week, his mother served it with gravy. GRAVY PEOPLE. That's like food blasphemy or something, LOL. I've served it maybe three or four times in my ten year relationship with Hubs, as he's simply not that fussed.

The whole Corned Beef thing started again while we were away - we were served Corned Beef cooked in the crockpot. It was DELICIOUS. And easy. And I suddenly got a hankering for it. So it made it onto this week's menu and I'm going to re-create it in my own crockpot for tomorrow night's dinner. Don't have a recipe, mind you, but I'll wing it.

Cooked soup in the crockpot today so will bag that up soon and freeze it. Then get it all set up again for the Corned Beef. Can't tell you how great it was not to have to stress about dinner tonight. I've had a very hit and miss run with my crockpot, and the only thing I've managed to recreate well everytime has been soup, LOL. About time I practiced I think!

Oh, and I'm down to my last assignment. I've set myself a deadline of bedtime tomorrow night. I've got an MDO (Mum's Day Off) planned for Friday and I haven't had one of those for weeks - I'd normally go once a week (for errands mostly) but I've been telling myself no days out until I finish my study, LOL.

My head hurts just thinking about tomorrow's mammoth study effort. See you on the flip side!

Cheers,
Lizzie

Menu Plan Monday - July 23

After a good few weeks sans Menu Plan Monday, I figured it was about time I picked it up again ;)

The good news: I'm recommitting to the whole losing weight shebang. The bad news: I'm opting out of the May Day Weight Loss Challenge. In the however-many weeks of the Challenge so far, I gained 3 kg (6.6 lbs). More good news: Thanks to the 'lighting fire under backside-ness' the Challenge stirred up (and my newfound love of podcasts), I realised I quite enjoy walking. Admittedly I've been sans that too for the last three or so weeks, LOL. But we won't go there.

Today starts anew!

And yes, this does have something to do with Menu Plan Monday! Bear with me!

I realised I was going about the whole weight loss thing as though someone was holding a gun to my head. Extreme? Of course it is. Let me explain.

When I 'get the bug', I get it BAD. I need to organise, plan, research whatever it is to within an inch of its life. The problem with this is that I tend to get semi-obsessed, burn out, and fall on my (already too large) butt. Then bye-bye whatever the 'project' was. This week's Menu Plan Monday post is sort of connected to the whole weight loss thing because I had it in my mind that I either planned 'regular' sort of family meals (not unhealthy by any stretch but you know, not 'perfect' either) or I calorie counted. Sometimes this meant I could eat what the rest were eating, sometimes not. Fact was, I was thinking too hard about it and it made either option a total chore.

So I'm unwinding a little on both counts. No specific calorie counting (though did write myself out a menu, including snacks, for the week that I know roughly equates to what I should be getting, calorie-wise). No meticulous record-keeping, either via the Lizzie's Great Big Walk (in the seven weeks I was with the Challenge, I managed 100 odd miles, and I'm thrilled with that regardless - I just decided I liked Woodbury NJ and stayed!), or measurements. If I'm losing weight then my clothes will get looser. Knowing the exact amount of centimetres my thighs are will just be depressing in the meantime. I may occasionally put up something specific to weight loss in a post but maybe not. The idea is to relax about the whole thing.

Now, on to the menu! I decided to just plan 'normal' meals and portion control. If the weight hasn't budged after a week I'll re-evaluate. Easy peasy.

Monday ~ Spaghetti Bolognaise (standard Monday night fare)
Tuesday ~ Chicken & Vegie Nuggets (homemade, plus mini baked potatoes - kid friendly!)
Wednesday ~ Soup & Sandwiches (crockpot Tomato & Vegetable, plus toasted ham & cheese)
Thursday ~ Corned Beef (done in crockpot along with potatoes and carrots, served with broccoli, corn and white sauce)
Friday ~ Leftovers (I'll be crockpotting 2 large pieces of corned beef as 'planned leftovers' for tonight and Hubs' lunches)
Saturday ~ Chicken Parmigiana (chips, vegies)
Sunday ~ Roast Chicken (potatoes, vegies, gravy)

I don't know why it is so hard, but oftentimes I'll look at our usual menu and think "Oh, that's 'off-limits', I'll have to have a Lean Cuisine" or similar. Duh! Everything in the list above is up for grabs if I portion-control well. Restrict the pasta served with the spaghetti. The nuggets are homemade and full of vegies so I can join in when I serve these up for the kids (plus its dead easy to boot). I'll just have the soup on Wednesday (its very filling). I checked up on the calorie level in corned beef and a moderate serve is just fine (and I'll heap my plate with vegies and perhaps skip the white sauce). Leftovers are easy - probably more of Thursday's meal. Chicken Parmigiana is traditionally done crumbed and shallow-fried, topped with ham, tomato sauce and cheese, but I've been making it with plain breast fillets, omiting the ham and using light cheese. A very small handful of thick cut oven chips (homemade if I'm inclined on the night) and heaps of vegies and I'll be full to the brim. And the Roast Chicken? I found out a week or to ago that the lite instant gravy mix I'd been using (never said I was perfect! LOL) to 'cut back on some calories' is actually virtually identical in cals to the 'premium' flavour - and the premium doesn't taste like dirty dishwater!

Of course, there'll always be meals I probably shouldn't eat - but there'll always be ways I can tweak the usual dinner menu to accomodate my needs. I think far too many people (myself included) get so caught up in the 'right' way to 'diet' (hate that word by the way)...there's always a plan, a list of no-no foods, a set of requirements you have to fulfill. I happened to catch a Joyce Meyer podcast this week and she made a very valid point - "Eat your necessary foods, and don't eat foods you don't need." On an intellectual level of course I understand this. But I tell you, its very hard to listen to good advice sometimes when that last double-rich brownie is calling to you!

I'm off to go for a walk - my first in three weeks. I'm not going to put on my pedometre. I'm not going to list how far I walked here or anywhere else. Doesn't matter. The fact that I went, and walked at a good pace for roughly the amount of time I need....does :)

Cheers,
Lizzie

Helloooooo Possums!

Just a very quick update...

On holidays this week and loving it. We stayed at a little cabin park on the beach for two nights (pity it is the middle of winter here...) and now we're at a relative's house for another few nights.

Tragedy No. 1 ~ Master J has lost his Tamagotchi doodad. We're hoping it is buried in the dirty clothes bag and not lost somewhere in the cabin we vacated two days ago. $20 is a fair chunk to lose. Remarkably he's taking it quite well - with J there's always the potential for it to become Chernobyl over the most minor of things, but he's behaved super. We won't be replacing it either way, but his attitude (ie, no meltdown) sure goes a long way toward us allowing HIM to replace it from his own pocket money. Big tantrum = no way.

Well, I'm off...hopefully another update in a day or so...

Cheers,
Lizzie

The Most Delicious Cookbook In The World

Remember last week when I was talking about the fab new cookbook I found in the store that I was going to go back and buy? Well I went back and bought it. I haven't even made any of the recipes yet and I love it already, LOL.

It's most definitely a dessert book (no practical meals here!) but the recipes are exactly as the title says: Old Fashioned. Of course, Aussie 'old fashioned' and US 'old fashioned' are probably quite different (smile). And therefore probably not all that useful to my American readers (especially with that nasty metric system and all!) However I'm sure you will revel in my joy at the discovery of this cookbook just the same. When I get around to making something I'll review it and post the recipe (and even do the conversions for you...because I'm that kind of blog host).

For all those overseas, the Women's Weekly is, ironically, the matriach of all monthly women's mags down here. It's been around for about a kajillion years and you'd be hard pressed to find an Australian housewife who doesn't own one of their (very extensive range of) cookbooks, of which this title is one. I've probably got about ten, LOL.

Some of the recipes I'm dying to make:

Anzac Biscuits (cookies, as far as I can tell, this is where my MIL gleamed 'her' recipe from! They're identical!)
Chocolate Caramel Slice
Chocolate Chip Cookies
Hedgehog Slice (chocolate slice with cookie pieces)
Honey Jumbles (like a gingerbread cookie with icing on top)
Melting Moments
Raspberry Coconut Slice
Gingernuts
Traditional Shortbread
Vanilla Slice (vanilla custard sandwiched between two pastry layers and covered in passionfruit icing)
Gingerbread Cake
Basic Scones (like American biscuits)
Basic Butter Cake
Marble Cake
Patty Cakes (cupcakes)
Chocolate Cake
Coconut Cake
Dark Chocolate Mudcake
Caramel Mudcake
White Mudcake
Apple Streusel Cake
Lamingtons (an Aussie icon)
Berry Muffins
Orange Cake
Rock Cakes (a recipe synonymous with my mother..and btw, rock cakes don't look or taste like rocks!)
Banana Cake with Passionfruit Icing
Golden Syrup Dumplings (one of those great 'made from thin air' pantry recipes)
Apple Pie
Banoffee Pie
Apple Crumble
Lemon Delicious Pudding
Self-Saucing Chocolate Pudding
Self-Saucing Caramel Pudding
Vanilla Bean Icecream

Okay, so that's like two thirds of the index, LOL, but it should give you an indication of how much I've been salivating since I brought it home!

For Australians, these are the recipes we were most likely raised on. Most of them use ordinary ingredients, the kind of thing you can just whip up on a lazy Sunday afternoon. I'm dying to get cracking on this list but I can't! From Friday we're away so posts might be a bit scarce again for a bit. Apologies for that (and for absence the last few days - houseguests!) but with any luck the crazy few months I've had will begin to settle down around about the time we get back and I get dip my toes a little deeper into the bloggityville pool again. I've gone AWOL on all my blog carnivals lately and I've got loads to say, especially on the May Day Weight Loss Challenge front. However, that will have to wait for another post as I'm off to wipe the drool off my chin and plan a big cook-fest for a couple of weeks from now...

P.S. Can someone please help me figure out what's going on with not being able to put up a post title? I can't even click in the Title field on the 'create post' page in Blogger...

Cheers,
Lizzie

Busy, Busy, Busy...

Oh my lord. Have I got a busy day on my hands!

The house is my primary concern today, rather than study (for a change!) I managed to post away two more assignments yesterday so I have some time up my sleeve today to give everything a once-over. That, and we have visitors arriving tomorrow ;P

For the first time in a loooooong while I got in eight hours sleep last night so already I feel more able to get cracking on the housework. First thing this morning (as the kettle was boiling) I threw on a load of washing and will reboot laundry all day long (yes, it will take at least that long). Now I'm finishing up my cup of tea and bloggin' a little before assigning the kids some 'quiet chores' - Daddy is sleeping (he worked late last night) and as soon as he's up its full steam ahead.

I totally have the organising bug at the moment, but am having to pull on the reins a bit. I know from experience that starting a 'project' right now would be more than a little detrimental to these last few assignments so 95% of what I have the urge to do I have to add to my list for after we get back from our holiday.

Sometime tomorrow I have to bake a butter cake or two for Boofah's decorated birthday cake. I am seriously contemplating buying a ready made plain cake rather than baking from scratch, just to save myself a little time. One year I used this principle to turn mini jam rollettes into a 'snake' cake...it was perfect and the kids loved it. You know how sometimes when you agree to a decorated cake you forget that the 'extra' stuff used to decorate it basically equals what a good store-bought cake would have cost? That's probably what this one will end up like. Boofah's having a treasure chest so lots of chocolate coins and candy necklaces, LOL. I might cheat a little and reduce the size of the treasure chest! We were eating 'snake' for a week last time!

You might have noticed that I've been absent from blog carnivals this week. I'm cutting back on those for the time being out of necessity - just can't keep up with those and everything else. Also, from this Friday I'll probably be out of blog-shot for a week, so I hope you'll all come back after that!

Here's an interesting piece of news - my Dad is remarrying. It's weird - there, I said it. I'm happy for him and at 27 I am the youngest of his four children (the eldest is 37) but still....its strange. He and Mum were separated for a few years before Mum died last year and divorced a month before she passed on (she's been gone around 14mo now) but I never in a million years pictured my father married to someone else. I've met the lady a couple of times and she seems really nice but because we all live so far apart its hard to build up any kind of relationship with her so I still feel as though she's a stranger of sorts. She has a pre-teen daughter (good luck with that one Dad!) and an early-twenties son that Dad will officially step-father although I know Dad well enough to know that all parenting decisions concerning the kids (especially the daughter) will remain with their mother. They've had the benefit of getting to know Dad as they all live in the same town, but because my siblings and I live from one side of the country to another, its harder to develop that relationship with either the lady or her children. There's no rush on the wedding, but when it occurs I'll officially have a stepmother, a stepbrother and a stepsister. That's just too weird, LOL.

Well I'm off to reboot the laundry and wake my very sleepy daughter (she would sleep till noon if we let her - bodes well for the future, huh? LOL)

**Well, that's weird... it won't let me enter a title for this post. What's up with that?**

Cheers,
Lizzie

Randomness

Howdy all! Yep, still here, still madly scrambling to finish assignments. I should have another two done by the time I go to bed tonight which leaves just 4. With a moderate amount of luck (and many chocolate biscuits/cups of hot tea) I am hoping to have them all done by next Friday. I may have to take that last one with us on holiday but it shoudn't be too painful - we have two nights in a beachside cabin before our stay with relatives and I doubt there'll be much else to do once the kids are in bed. Of course we would have to be planning this trip right in the middle of winter (when swimming is out of the question), LOL.

I have so much I want to get stuck into as soon as these dang assignments are out of the way!

* I obviously need to revisit the whole 'time management issue' so will go over Candy's Home Management Binder University posts (see her left sidebar for other posts in the series). Clear out the unecessary papers from my HMB and so on.

* A big project on the cards is to clean out the fourth bedroom so that Boofah can finally have his own room. He's been sharing with his sister for the last few years and really needs some space of his own. We've been using that bedroom for a home gym/junk room and I kid you not when I say it is wall to wall JUNK. I'm going to have to do a 'before' and 'after' series of photos I think.

* Hubs and I were in Ikea the other day looking for frames for his photographic exhibition next year. We saw some neat bunks that have a desk underneath and are considering something similar for the boys. Our kids' rooms are quite small and a bed, desk and maybe a small shelf is about all that will fit in there, so we were thinking of doing something to save space. Failing that idea, some very simple cheap desks will suffice for now.

* I want to really knuckle down and get my Routines stuck as habits.

* Speaking of habits, I haven't walked in over a week and you may have noticed I didn't do a May Day Challenge weigh in this week either. I've been thinking about this. The walking is something I'll pick up as soon as I'm over this crazy slump of mine, but I just don't think I have the energy to be actively engaged in weight loss at the moment. I keep saying each week on Tuesday weigh-in that I'll 'do the diet thing' this week and so on, and I never get around to it. I've come to the conclusion that at the very least I won't be in a position to devote extra time to that sort of thing until at least when we return from our holiday in a couple of weeks. By that stage I'll have finished the crazy studying schedule and can start to think about other things. I may not immediately switch to 'diet mode' right then either...I may give myself a few weeks to concentrate on the home front, which is hanging on by a very thin thread at the moment. The whole house needs serious attention so as soon as I can stop thinking about storylines and advertising jingles (ie, my course!) I know I'm going to feel energised enough to jump in and go nuts with the (mid-winter) cleaning.

* I found an awesome cookbook in the store the other day. I almost bought it - and probably would have if Hubs wasn't there saying "Another recipe book? Can't you find those recipes online?" (well yes I can Hon, but that's not the point, LOL). It's called Old-Fashioned Favourites and for my Aussie readers, its a Women's Weekly cookbook. You know how normally when you pick up a cookbook you flick through it and find three, four, maybe five recipes you know you'll make over and over? Well in the entire book I only found two or three recipes I wouldn't make. Those are fantastic odds! It's a baking book rather than a dinner meals book but it has the good ol' favourites like basic cakes, cookies, slices, apple pie, and so on. I could find those recipes online but this cookbook puts it all together for me, LOL. I almost never buy cookbooks (can't remember the last time actually) but I'm probably going to pick this one up.

* I DESPERATELY need to put Lizzie's Inaugural Chick Flick Festival into motion, LOL. One of my favourite things to do is curl up with a hot cup of tea or hot chocolate and watch a film that Hubs wouldn't sit down and watch with me. I wait for a night when he's working, swing by Blockbuster and stock up on romantic comedies. Then I snuggle under a quilt and watch away :) I haven't had one of those in ages. Somewhere in amongst all that I'm also going to throw in a MDO (Mum's Day Off) and see a brand new film in the cinema, something else I really enjoy but don't get to do very often. Yes, I quite enjoy watching movies, LOL.

P.S. Today is Boofah's 7th birthday. Of all the things he could have had, he requested Tacos ("with the hard shells Mummy") and chocolate pudding with icecream for dessert, LOL (we've got a family day planned for next Monday with his cousins which will include bowling and McDonald's for lunch). He is such a little boy. From us he got a Leapfrog talking globe whatsit - they've been around for a while but we could never in a million years justify the $200 price tag. Then a couple of weeks ago we saw a couple on a markdown table for $50. That was in our price range so lucky boy got one. Plus a couple of smaller presents (books and dominos). He's had a great day :)

Cheers,
Lizzie

The Header Question

I have a quick bloggy-favour to ask of anyone with HTML knowledge. I want to centre the blog header so that it lies directly above this (middle) column and for the life of me I can't find out how to do it, even with the online tutorials. I don't know if this makes it more difficult, but this template was changed to a 3-column format near to the beginning of Lizzie's Home and perhaps that affects how things align with the header? I haven't found any tutorials online to deal with headers on a (changed from original template) 3-column thing. I think I'm just going to have to ask someone directly.

So, if you can help, give me a quick email. And I'll have to think of some way to repay you!

Cheers,
Lizzie

Menu Plan Monday - July 2

Happy Menu Plan Monday everyone!

I feel like I'm doing this late - it's Monday evening here :P

Tuesday ~ Chicken Kiev (chips, vegies)
Wednesday ~ Soup & Sandwiches (Tomato & Vegetable/Toasted Ham & Cheese)
Thursday ~ Tacos (Boofah's choice for his birthday dinner!)
Friday ~ Chunky Shepherd's Pie (vegies)
Saturday ~ Chicken Parmigiana (Vegetable Bake, microwaved baby potatoes)
Sunday ~ Roast Beef/Lamb (roast potatoes, vegies, gravy)
Monday ~ Spaghetti Bolognaise (garlic bread)

Bonus Recipe To Try This Week ~ Apple Pie (scratch)

I almost didn't put in a MPM post because with the weird week we've got coming up I didn't expect to be planning meals at all - simply eating on the fly, LOL. It does feel better to know I have a plan though!

Cheers,
Lizzie