Beauty Products

I have discovered this most amazing range of beauty and body products that are made from organic and natural ingredients. I received my first order last week and am very impressed. The package smelt amazing as we opened it. The eczema cream has worked wonders already.

Please check the store out at

http://healthandhappiness.com.au/ or on ebay.

Making bread

Today I made 2 loaves of bread. They smelt super yummy while cooking and even though I do not normally eat bread, I just had to try it. It was very yummy spread with butter. Joel enjoyed some with peanut butter and Bethany enjoyed some with Jam. I did the dough in my food processor which coped ok but the dough was a bit heavy and it wasn't able to process it as long as I would have liked. Bring on the Thermomix!

Grainy Bread

750g organic, unbleached white wheat flour
1/2 cup LSA Mix (linseed,sunflower, almond)
1 tablespoon pepitas (pumpkin seeds)
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons organic raw sugar
1 tablespoon cold pressed oil
12g yeast
500ml warm water
sesame seeds for top

1. Combine flour, LSA, seeds, salt, sugar, oil and yeast in processor. Pulse for a few seconds to mix.
2. Gradually add water until the dough has formed. Allow to process for a few minutes until it does not stick to the sides.
3. Place in greased bowl. Cover. Place in sunny spot for 45 minutes or until it has doubled in size.
4. Cut dough in half. Shape as desired. Place in greased pans (this makes 2 loaves). Brush with oil/ water and sit in sun for a further 30 minutes or until it has again doubled in size.

5. Preheat oven to 190 degrees (170 for fan forced oven). Brush with water and sprinkle with sesame seeds. Bake for 20-30 minutes or until golden and hollow when tapped.

6. Tip onto wire racks and cool. Cut and eat when cooled (if you can wait this long...)

Strawberry Jam

I made strawberry jam this morning. It set a little more like jelly than jam but takes awesome and the kids love it. I could eat it with a spoon straight from the jar!

Ingredients

500g strawberries, washed and hulled

2 granny smith apples, cored and thinly sliced

150g rapadura sugar

squeeze of fresh lemon juice

1-2 teaspoons agar agar

1. Place strawberries, apple and sugar in a saucepan over medium high heat for about 10 minutes or until the fruit has softened. Add a squeeze of lemon juice to taste.

  2. Add 1 teaspoon agar agar into the jam mixture. Test to see if it is set. If not add 1 more teaspoon of agar agar and retest (test jam by placing a drop on a cold saucer. when cool, push on jam. if it wrinkles it is set).
3. For smoother jam place in food processor and process to desired consistency.
4. Place in clean jars. Sit upside down for 10 minutes. Keep in fridge.

yum yum on my sandwich

yum yum all over me

Cost- around $7.00 for one large and one small jar of beautiful jam.

Thermomix Update

I went to a Thermomix Demonstration yesterday, hoping to find out that the Thermomix really isn't as great as I had believed. Unfortunately I fell more in love with it. We enjoyed 6 dishes made fresh in the Thermomix during the party- fruit sorbet, garlic and herb dip, coleslaw, bread rolls, risotto and chocolate custard.

This machine is amazing. It chops, blends, melts, cooks, steams, kneads, crushes etc etc etc.

I am so blessed to have a generous husband who has bought me a Thermomix. I am so excited and can't wait to have it in my kitchen. It isn't just another appliance. It is a change of life. Grinding your own grains for flour, and grinding sugar into icing sugar within seconds. It's just another (major) step in the changing habits changing lives process.

Orange Cake

Orange Cake

1 orange

180g butter, melted

3 eggs

1 cup rapadura sugar

1 1/2 cups organic unbleached wheat flour

3 teaspoons baking powder

icing: 2 cups icing sugar

2 tablespoons butter

orange juice

chopped almonds to decorate

1. Process whole orange to pulp.

2. Place all other ingredients in bowl, add orange and mix well.

3. Bake for 30 minutes in moderate oven, or until cooked when tested.

4. Allow to cool before icing.

5. Icing- combine ingredients in bowl and mix until smooth. Ice cake and top with almonds.



Chocolate Bounty Cake

Ingredients

1 cup coconut

1 cup organic pasteurised milk

1 cup organic sugar

1 cup organic unbleached wheat flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/3 cup pure cream

180g organic dark chocolate

1. Sift flour and baking powder together into bowl. Add all other ingredients. Mix together.

2. Bake for 30 minutes in moderate oven or until cooked when tested.

3. Allow to cool before icing.

4. Ganache icing- place cream and chocolate in saucepan. Stir over low heat until chocolate has melted. Place in the fridge and spread over cake.

Little Drummer Boy

Joel had Bethany in hysterics when he played the 'drums' the other day.

I am sure Tupperware would be super impressed to see the alternate uses for their products!

Banana Smoothie

Friday 20th August 2011

I have been hanging out for a banana. This week they were on special at Betros for $9.99/kg which I thought would be ok. I ventured in there and found some loose ones for $7.99/kg. Yes please! I bought 3 trays and have been enjoying them ever since. What a luxury.

Cyndi has a protein shake for breakfast that I have now been able to try.

Protein Shake

1 banana

1 cup other fruit

1/4 cup pasteurised only milk

1 tablespoon honey

1 tablespoon almonds

1 tablespoon colloidal minerals

1 tablespoon oats

ice

1. Place all ingredients into blender or Thermomix and mix until smooth!

Falling in love!

I have fallen in love with Thermomix's. I have never seen one or touched one or used one but I want one. Something that can make a salad in seconds, butter in 3 minutes, sorbet and icecream in 7 minutes and bread in 20 minutes deserves to be fallen in love with. Plus it self cleans. Yep. Self cleans.

The only problem is the cost. A Thermomix costs $1939.00. I have checkout them out on ebay too but even a second hand one is going for around $1500.00. Can I justify that cost? Not at the moment. What a pity... think of the possibilities. A friend bought one to take in her caravan around Australia. I don't have that need. What a pity... Caravanning anyone???

If you would like to see more about Thermomix please visit their website at http://www.thermomix.com.au/

Peanut Butter

While baking today I used up the last of our store bought peanut butter. I happenned to have a bag of raw unsalted peanuts in the cupboard and decided to make peanut butter.

Ingredients
250g unsalted peanuts
Sunflower Oil
1 teaspoon organic raw sugar
Sea Salt

Place the peanuts in the food process and process until smooth, adding just enough oil to make a paste (the longer you process the smoother it will get so don't add too much oil too soon. Peanuts have their own oils too). Add sugar and salt to taste. Process to the consistency you like- ours is mostly smooth with a few crunches. It is quite runny at the moment so I am hoping it will harden in the fridge.

Salad for lunch

This is the salad I enjoyed for lunch today!

Ingredients

Iceberg lettuce leaves

Roma Tomatoes

Kalamata Olives

Boiled Egg

Avocado

Dressing (a combination of real mayo, lemon juice, djion mustard, fresh parsley and a dash of warm water)

There is no eating like a rabbit for me!

Bethany- 9 months old!

Our precious princess is 9 months old. It is hard to believe that she has been 'out' for as long as she was 'ín'. She is such a delight! She looks very pretty in pink and has the most amazing hair. The boys still fuss over her and she is really lost without them around her too. She is sitting now and enjoys the different perspective it gives her. She is not a fan of being on her tummy and rolling has so far eluded her. Her favourite food is raisin toast, banana custard and milk arrowroot biscuits, followed by anything in a baby food pouch or tin that is the right temperature.

Weight- 7680g

Length- 71cm

Head- 45.3cm

So... 21 days later

I am feeling great after finishing my 21 day health program from Changing Habits Changing Lives. It has opened my eyes to the world of opportunities and chances to change the way we live our lives. All up I lost 3.4kg and 13cm. Now the real challenge begins.

I have joined the Healthy Living Club to keep myself on target and to give myself a support network of people all over the world who are changing their lives too.

My goal- to fit into my wedding dress for our 10 year anniversary! Scarey I know. More than that thought I am enjoying the difference of living my life in a healthier way.

I ate chocolate yesterday and felt horrible. I didn't realise how good I was feeling until I feed my body the wrong thing. And it was good quality chocolate too- just unfortunately full of processed ingredients and chemicals. Today I bought 85% cocoa dark chocolate. Eating it is not as pleasurable as eating cadbury but if it allows me a little indulgence then it is ok. Cyndi recommends a couple of organic brands that I am hoping to chase down sometime soon... somewhere!

A new way of shopping- well a start anyway...

Tomorrow marks Day 21 of my Changing Habits Program. It is not a program that goes on indefinetly and after completing it Cyndi suggests using her Changing Habits Changing Lives book to continue on the journey towards better, cleaner health and living.

So, being that it is pay day today (for the month) I have been forward planning our meals for the month and trying to decide just which products I would 'switch' this month. Changing to less processed, less chemically affected, more natural products is something you can either do all at once (if you have the finances to allow this) or as the need arises, which is the approach I am taking.

So today I did some research- both at the local shops and online. These are the products that I need and can source an affordable option for locally-

• BEE Nappy Soaker/ Wash Booster
• BEE Dish Liquid
• Toothpaste
• Organic Unbleached White Wheat Flour
• Organic, Gluten Free Baking Powder
• Organic Cocoa
• Agar Agar (a natural gelatine)
• Organic Rapadura Sugar (suggested by Cyndi)

I was able to get all of these products at Dalby Health Foods. They have a large selection of grocery lines so I will defeintly be going back there. And the ladies were super friendly!

Everything else I should be able to buy at Coles as they have many organic grocery lines- if the $ stretches far enough this month. Otherwise there is always next month!

Vegetarian Sausage Rolls (yes really!)

Tonight we enjoyed Vegetarian Sausage Rolls from my Changing Habits Program. They are just lovely to eat and the kids ate them without even questioning if there was meat in them or not. And it made so many that I have some in the freezer for another meal.

Vegetarian Sausage Rolls
Makes 24 medium sausage rolls (you could easily cut them smaller again)

3 organic free range eggs (or as close as you can get)
1/2 cup fresh walnuts
1 cup feta cheese
1 onion, peeled and roughly chopped
1 carrot
1 zucchini
1/2 cup organic bread crumbs (or as close as you can get)
1 cup organic rolled oats (or as close as you can get)
2 tablespoons mixed herbs
1 tablespoon tamari (you'll find this in the health food isle/store)
3 sheets butter puff pastry (yes- butter puff- not the oil puff as it is too processed and contains many processed ingredients)
Organic unhomogenised milk and sesame seeds to sprinkle

1. Combine egg, nuts, feta, onion, carrot, zucchini, tamari, bread crumbs, rolled oats and seasoning in food processor and process until a mince like mixture forms (just check that the carrot and feta has been processed.
2. Place mixture into the fridge for 1/2 hour at least.
3. Preheat oven to 200 degrees C. Take puff out of freezer to slightly thaw.
4. Cut pastry sheet in half. Place sausage like roll of mixture down the centre of the pastry. Roll over to close. Place on lined tray. Brush with milk and sprinkle with sesame seeds.
5. Cook for 20 minutes or until the pastry is golden.
6. Serve with organic homemade sauce (or as close as you have) and a lovely green salad.

Seriously yum!

Weekly Shopping- Week Three

Today was shopping day for changing habits week three.

My shopping list consisted of-

• watermelon
• strawberries- 2 punnets
• passionfruit- 2
• pineapple- 2
• kiwifruit- 12
• oranges- 3kg
• apples- 2kg
• pears- 2kg
• avocado- 2
• lettuce
• tomatoes- 2 punnets grape tomatoes
• carrots- 1kg
• zucchini- 3
• onions- 4
• capsicum- 1 red/ 1 green
• mushrooms- 100g
• salmon
• organic milk
• cheese (full fat organic if possible)
• sour cream (must be full fat)
• feta cheese
• butter puff pastry
• walnuts
• pine nuts
• mayo (Thomy brand)
• tin tomatoes (organic if possible)

The menu for this week is-

MONDAY- Chilli Con Carne
TUESDAY- Vegetable Stew
WEDNESDAY- Taco Salad
THURSDAY- Salmon, Sweet Potato Mash & Capsicums
FRIDAY- Vegetarian Sausage Rolls

I realised that my beautiful friend who leant me the Changing Habits Changing Lives books in the first place gets home from her holiday to America next week so I am going to have to buy myself a copy of her books!

Changing Habits- Week Two

Week Two of changing habits has come and gone. I lost 0.8kg and 8 cm which I am happy about. There is only this week to go of the healthy eating program. Then I can explore other meal options from her chaning habits changing lives cookbook.

My goal is to fit into my wedding dress for our 10 year anniversary. So I have 6 months to work on that goal. My biggest worry is that even if I get back to wedding weight, that 10 years of living and 3 children have changed my body and I won't get back into it. No use not having something to aim for I guess...

Changing Habits Changing Lives Dinner

Tonight we had vegetable lasagne for dinner followed by tapioca pudding for desert. I was a bit unsure about both of these dishes but am super impressed. The lasagne was particularly yummy and I was able to make it without pasta which is great. The tapioca was nice too but very sweet. Bethany liked the tapioca.

Vegetable Lasagne

Vegetable Lasagne  consisted of a layer of sweet potato, a layer  of tomato sauce (made with tomatoes, onion, garlic, ginger, chilli, red kidney beans, basil, oregano, fresh parsley and mushrooms), then a layer of ricotta, a layer of mozarella and a layer of parmesan. This is repeated and finished with parmesan on the sweet potato. Delish!

Tapioca Pudding

The tapicoa pudding is made with tapioca, organic milk, organic sugar, egg yolks and vanilla.

Happy Anniversary!

My mum and dad celebrated their 34th wedding anniversary today. They came and visited us which was super special. We had a cake and sang happy anniversary to them. We are so blessed with such wonderful parents and grandparents- great role models for any marriage. Thank you.

Breakfast time for Bethany

Bethany loves breakfast time. She has weetbix mixed with rice cereal and a piece of raisin toast.

Baking Donna Hay style

Even though I can't eat any baking at the moment, I had the urge and need to bake today so I made a number of things, including these banana choc chip muffins and buttermilk layer cake from the Donna Hay Kids Magazine.

We shared the chocolate cake at home group. It was quite rich with the cream cheese icing but still enjoyable.

Look at me- I'm sitting

Bethany has started enjoying sitting and is getting stronger at it each day. She loves being able to sit up and play and look around.

A weekend away... sometime soon

We celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary in 2012. To celebrate we are going away- childless- for a weekend. I won't tell you when or to where but here is a photo to wet your appetite.

Health Kick - week two!

This week is week 2 of my health kick. I lost 1.9kg last week and am feeling great. I found it really easy to resist all the yummy food while I was away too.

This week's menu goes something like this...

Start each day with a glass of hot lemon juice (1/2 lemon) followed by a glass of water

Breakfast- Fruit/ Fruit Juice

Snack- Boiled Egg

Lunch- Salad or leftovers

Snack- fruit/ almonds/ veg & dips

Dinner- anything from salmon and sweet potato, to vegetable lasagne, vegetable stew and lentil soup. I even get to try tapioca pudding one night.

The main rules for the health kick are-
1. must eat at least 5 times a day
2. must eat all natural foods (no processed or ready made)
3. get moving

Stay tuned for the results of this week.

Unhealthy Obsession

Joel is obsessed with playing the Wii, playing the DS or playing my smart phone.

I found him like this while I was on the computer.

Oh dear...

Weekend at the Bunya's

I got the chance to spend the weekend with my ladies bible study group at the Bunya Mountains last weekend. It was a beautiful place to go and take time out- though Bethany wasn't too keen and didn't sleep too well so I came back feeling quite tired. We spent time sharing and getting to know each other a bit more. We spent time praying and worshipping. We did not go for a walk or a run. Maybe next year. And oh yeah, of course we spent time eating. (A great weekend to be on a health kick I hear you all say!).

Thank you to Nana Lyn for coming and spending the weekend looking after my boys. They all had a lot of fun too!

Bethany & Dominic- born only 1 day apart!

Baby play time (what about sleep time???)

Breakfast time for Bethany

Quite time (notice all the cuppas- it was quite fresh)