A little 'Get Up and Go' Wisdom

"The thing is, whenever people - perhaps showing a slightly patronising amusement at how often I cook (and maybe it's this that irks) - claim that they never have the time to cook, it makes me feel uncharacteristically aggressive. What I want to point out is that they are hardly using the time they save by not cooking to write 'War and Peace'. I don't suggest that finding time to cook makes you a better person, but nor do I think that being "too busy" too cook means that your life automatically has a higher purpose. And I say that as one who often professes to be beyond busy but somehow finds time to slump in front of the TV watching CSI repeats for hours on end."

~ Nigella Lawson: 'Nigella Express'

I read this last night, at the beginning of Nigella's 'Get Up and Go' chapter and I wanted to cheer. I'm really enjoying watching 'Nigella Express' on ABC1 on Saturday's (6pm) for the inspiration I gain about balancing a busy family life with eating food that is tasty but not burdensome to have prepared. I try and record each episode so that I can rewatch them as often as I please, with the recipe book on my knee as I do. As I rediscovered yesterday, a hearty home-cooked meal (or snack) is as far away as a little bit of planning and a well stocked pantry.

I have a feeling a full set of Nigella's DVD's may be on any gift list I might be inclined to scribble down, not to mention more of her books!!!

Feeling a Bit Clever

I'm sure there are many posts out there from far more organised women than I, who are completely organised and will scratch their heads in wonder that this is somewhat of a revelation. Not a new one...but a very much appreciated one!

I knew I would be late home tonight. I knew Dh would be heading out early in the evening. This morning I ducked home between staff devotions and the lessons I was required for and got dinner into the crockpot. Now I know this is nothing new, indeed I've used my crockpot for such occasions previously. However, when I'm leaving at 8am, getting a crockpot going is not usually on top of my to-do list. I'm flat out getting four of us out the door, each with the things that are needed for the day.

It was wonderful to have about an hour to pop back home and get myself prepared for the evening ahead, so that I would not be stressed about how long the 'section meeting' went for. I've come home to a dinner prepared without undue flurry and tension this morning and I had the foresight to put the cooling on too. Now what could be better, I wonder, than coming home to dinner cooked and a cool home when the day is again hot....currently 30C.

I think working in the middle of the day has some benefits I had not thought of!

Monday's Menu Plan and other things...

Oh my word, it is HOT. Currently in the city it is 34C. I knew I should've left the cooling on throughout the day, even though we weren't home for much of it! In any case, it is pure bliss to come home and press just two little buttons and have cool air flowing through the house, pushing all that yucky hot stuff out!

My day at work was had its share of stresses, which had me a little hot under the collar at one point, adding to the heat. Suffice it to say the new student I work with will travel a very up-and-down kind of road and we've not yet figured out how we, as staff, do that with him. We will figure it out and it will get better. In the meantime, I've faxed my enrolment form off to TAFE to begin my Certificate 4 course. I'm looking forward to getting on with it and getting it done. This level is a pathway into University, so I wonder whether it will be more full-on than the Certificate 3. Time will tell....

Now because I must not be hot enough...cooking. Ugh...I think I'll just melt myself now and be done with it! In case I decide to keep myself in one piece, here's the plan for this week:

Monday: Ricotta fritters, salad
Tuesday: Chicken Cacciatore (in the crockpot)
Wednesday: Pork with apple & celery, potatoes, salad
Thursday: Pasta with bacon & mushroom sauce....or a sausage sizzle at Girls Brigade!
Friday: Chicken wanton soup, prawn crackers
Saturday: Chicken & rice noodle stir fry, thanks to Miss Sunshine
Sunday: Brandied Bacon Chicken, roast spuds, vegies (recipe from 'Nigella Express')

Stay cool. Or warm, as the case may be where you are....

Looking Beyond

I feel a little reluctant in posting about Black Saturday...a year ago today. Reluctant, because I didn't suffer the loss and tragedy that people in the fire areas did. Life, for us, has danced on in the same way that it had before that day. As I was thinking about what I might post I was reminded of something we saw along the road into Mallacoota over the summer. A tract of land that had been scorched and scarred by fire, and a myriad of these little grass trees that had sprung up along the blackened area. These grass trees often only flower after the earth has been scorched by bushfire. Indeed they are regenerated after such tough conditions.

This unusual little tree reminds me that good things come out of hardship and tragedy. God doesn't intend for us to get stuck in our sorrow, but to follow His plan as it plays out for us in the environment He created ~ we need to allow regeneration in our lives and let God lead us on.

"For as the earth brings forth its bud,
As the garden causes the things that are sown in it to spring forth,
So the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations."

Isaiah 61:11

Lots of Catching Up....

I finally got around to having my kangaroo lasagna. I don't know what I was expecting. A stronger flavour...a different texture? I'm not sure. It just tasted like lasagna should. Red wine and spices hid any gamey flavour there might have been and we all enjoyed our meal. Pretty good for seven bucks a kilo!

I went out for lunch with 10 other mum's from school today. Ahhhh, the bliss of laughing and chatting and eating and laughing some more with good friends....as well as sharing our trials and sorrows. Yep, it was a lovely relaxing way to spend the day! I'll not need dinner tonight. I suspect that lasagna might make itself useful again tonight. Or maybe some other treasured leftover waiting for someone to find it in the fridge!

I received my enrolment forms from College to start my Certificate 4. I have received my Cert 3 and have the piece of paper....very pretty. I even got clever and managed to scan and email it to the business manager at school so I can get a pay rise. It wasn't even that hard, and the pay rise, as meager as it is, will be nice and fun!

Book club tonight. I'm so excited! We're chatting about 'Veiled Freedom' by Jeanette Windle. She's one of my many favourite authors. Her books are well researched and filled with all the elements that make a good book....to me, anyway! Things like intrigue, drama, a little romance, fast pace and fantastic writing. We've emailed her our questions and I've been waiting with baited breath. Rel tells me they've been answered brilliantly.

I had the best moment this morning. A new student I'm working with this year has been a little edgy about venturing into the wide world of specialist classrooms. Since I was there for morning cuppa anyway I offered to go up to Art with the kids and hang about for 10 minutes. We bargained back and forth and I agreed to 13 minutes....he ended up getting his 15 minutes out of me. I'm too soft! I was ecstatic that he was engaged and content when I left. When I saw him after school he said he'd enjoyed the class and reckoned he'd had the best day all week today. YES!!!!! I love sharing those little steps and triumphs with kids who just need a little bit of support. I'm off to phone a good friend whose daughter is finding the adjustment from homeschool to 'regular' school a little bit more challenging than her siblings.

Cheese & Zucchini Pancakes

Frances commented the other day on my menu plan about my cheese and zucchini pancakes and asked for the recipe. I have to say, with just a small amount of pride, that this is truly a made-it-up-myself recipe. Perhaps born out of a glut of zucchinis from my garden in previous summers or just wanting something a little bit different for lunch on school holidays...I really can't remember, but I know they taste really good.

I thought I'd better check my sidebar before I started typing out the recipe. Guess what? I've actually gotten ahead of myself and posted the recipe last year.

So, if you want to know how I make my cheese and zucchini pancakes all you need to do is click right here. If you get a bit lost, you could also click on 'pancakes' on my sidebar. I was reading a post by Anna at Pleasant View Schoolhouse the other day and she posted a recipe for 'Popovers'. To me, it looks like pancake mixture made into a muffin, so my mind started whirring and I wondered whether I could make cheese and zucchini popovers as well?!

So. Who wants to join me for a virtual dinner on Saturday night? I can see it now. Cheese and Zucchini pancakes (or popovers!) right around the world. Now that sounds like fun.

The Seasonal Shopping Rant

I'm going to preface my post with this comment: I don't like shopping. At all.

Now that you know that, you can only imagine how much more frustrating it is for a non-shopper to walk into a shop like Target and discover that summer clothes are hard to find....even though it was 37C on the day I went to buy things that were necessary.

I really, really don't understand what makes retailers tick. It's the hottest month of the year and they've already begun switching over to Autumn wear. I'm sorry...but I just can't try on long sleeve anything while it's so hot outside, no matter how air conditioned the shopping centre is. And come Autumn, I won't be able to find light-weight long-sleeve fabric choices...they'll have moved into full-on winter. OK, that's an exaggeration. In Australia there seems to be an issue with selling clothes that will actually keep you warm on a cold winter's day.

Someone needs to stop this nonsense and sell clothes that actually suit the season we're currently in. You don't want to try on sleeveless and short things when you're freezing and you don't want to try on long stuff when you're too hot already. Especially when the non-shoppers of the world already struggle with the whole idea of having to buy clothes anyway.

There the rant endeth. I told you I don't like shopping!