A Diversion

...from Uni, from illness, from boredom.  Something we all needed today!


My brother, his wife and their two bubbly little girls came for lunch and a chat and, as it happened, a visit to Our School.  There have to be perks to having a key, so we had a private tour, punctuated with lots of playground stops.

Yesterday our diversion was in the form of going to see 'The Smurfs' at the movies.  It was a delightful movie.  Truly a movie for old Smurf lovers like me.  The only thing left on our holiday to-do list is a visit to Costco.  Sometime late next week might be the way to go.  Mr Busy might survive it by then.

Warning: Whine Alert. Read at Own Risk

I'm tired of illness.  I'm tired of coughing.  I'm tired of feeling drained.

I'm tired of Mr Busy being so unwell.  Not in a selfish he's-taking-so-much-of-my-attention kind of way.  Tired of it because it's no fun watching your little boy struggle to overcome an infection that does not want to give up.  I was hoping we'd just spend time relaxing and I'd watch him regain his health and vigour.  Rather I've watched his health dip again and require another course of antibiotics and more tests.

I can't even think straight to get my essays written.  I'm writing stuff down but it's pretty ordinary.  Where has the sharp edge of my brain gone? 

Monday Menu Plan: Week Beginning 26 September

Here we are - the beginning of Term 3 holidays.  Oh what a blissful moment, this morning, when I realised I don't have to go to work.  I can just blob around home.  Well....you know...what I mean is, I can devote all my daytime hours to Uni assignments and the last few weeks of coursework in my tracky dacks.  The kids can spend far too much time watching screens of various descriptions.  Oh, and I can make time for a friend to pop in unexpectedly without stressing about the time I should be devoting to assignment writing.  Yep.  I do find myself hanging out for holidays.  Even more so after a couple of weeks of illness around the house.

Mr Busy is still coughing a lot.  It sounds appalling really, but I know he's doing so much better so a little bit of unattractive noise isn't so bad.  It's all about perspective.  He went to school and after a physical game of Dr Dodge with his and the next door class he was cactus for the rest of the day.  He lay on the couch in the Yr 5/6 room where I was and moaned...and coughed...and didn't do anything much at all.

Given that I'm in the throws of those final 5 assessments the girls are still going to get their fair share of cooking to do.  Lucky them!

Monday:  Jerk Chicken (Jamie's 30 minute meals)
Tuesday:  Chicken wonton soup
Wednesday:  Cheesy salmon patties, vegies
Thursday: Slow roasted beef, vegies
Friday:  Lasagna, salad
Saturday:  Ricotta gnocchi with tomato pesto sauce
Sunday:  I might go back to the pasta we didn't have last Saturday

Given that it's going to b 27C on Tuesday (what's with that anyway?!) we might do some swapping around.  Soup on a warm day just doesn't feel right!

Recipe: Lazy Day Curry

I know there are purists out there who will say a real curry requires a great deal of preparation from raw ingredients.  And they're probably right.  A curry made completely from scratch is divine.  But I'm not from a curry-making heritage, nor do I have the time or inclination to put into creating such a meal.  So I go for a really lazy option that tastes pretty darn good.  Not only that, if you bulk the meal out with plenty of vegetables, there will be leftovers for lunch.  Always a good outcome!

This is not so much a recipe as a loose set of instructions for you to interpret as you will. 

1. Finely chop an onion and a clove or two of garlic and saute until softened.  Add curry paste to your taste preference and cook until it smells great (a minute or so).
2. Add the chicken to the pan and stir fry until cooked, then add the vegies, a tin of light coconut milk and 1/2-1 cup of chicken stock (I use water and stock powder).
3. Cover the pan and simmer until the vegies are all cooked through.
4. Serve over cooked basmati (or some other!) rice.

For vegies, I include any combination of pumpkin, sweet potato, carrots, cauliflower and zucchini.  You could also add a tin of chickpeas if you wanted to.  I use curry paste from Aldi ~ use any brand/type you like.  It's your curry!!!

There you go.  Simple.  Fuss free.  Delicious.  Fairly inexpensive.  Just the thing for a busy, hungry family.

It's Tough, You Know.

It's tough when your study requires you to take a leisurely walk through the bush with your children first thing in the morning.  Our School has a substantial amount of pristine bushland on the property, including a creek and I needed a field site within walking distance so I'm focusing on pollution and local water ways.

I needed photos so my kids joined me in my warm, sunny early morning walk down the track.  I love hearing the sound of the creek swishing along as we get closer to it. I love the dappled sunlight and shade along the track.  If it weren't for the leeches I think I'd be inclined to spend more time down there but alas, the leeches rule the bush!  We didn't see any this morning though.

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Mr Busy is going to school tomorrow.  It will be some time before his lungs are fully recovered and gunk-free.  But he's bored, he misses his friends and neither of us think he's sick enough to be home any longer.  I think that's celebration worthy, after two long weeks of illness!

He Sparkles

Antibiotics are a marvellous invention.  Especially when used to tackle atypical pnuemonia.  Mr Busy has finally turned a corner.  He's gotten cheeky again.  And annoying.  He's sparkly and chipper even though he is still pale and his eyes are red-rimmed.  I've missed his mischievous little self.

Monday Menu Plan: Week Beginning 19 September

A busy day back at work today, for the first time since last Monday.  I felt like I'd missed so very much in the days that I missed, and the kids in Mr Busy's class are now asking when he's going to come back to school.  They miss him.  Hopefully in the next day or two, thanks to antibiotics!

People who are not well need good food....

Monday:  BBQ rissoles & pork ribs, salads
Tuesday:  Oven fried chicken, vegies
Wednesday:  Sweet & sour pork, rice
Thursday:  pasta of some description
Friday:  Roast chicken, vegies
Saturday & Sunday:  I'll decide later.

Here's to the last week of the term, the writing of assignments and getting little boys back to school.