End of the week special :: Vegie Surprise Soup

As part of my new concerted effort to be a better steward of our income and to just love the planet more, I am not throwing out food anymore. 

I don't know about you, but my 'crisper bin' in the fridge could be more of a 'compost bin' at times.  I would be suckered into whatever the special was at the supermarket or I'd think, yeah, I'll make something with that eggplant and then never actually do anything with it.  Not anymore. 

I have always made shopping lists and weekly menu lists, but I can be weak and deviate off the plan.  Now, my menu plan is more concise including a list of pantry items.  Deviation is rare!

But, yes, sometimes there are vegies that need to be used up so on my weekly menu is the end of the week soup special- An Ode to the Fridge Remnants (if you will).

So, this past week's comprised of cauliflower, potato, corn, zucchini and carrot.  I found an odd tin of vegetarian abalone, some soup mix (yellow split peas, barley etc) and flavoured it up with onion, garlic and vege stock.  It was yum yum yum (even if I say so myself).  And the mung beans?  Yes, sprouted by me ...

and were even eaten by my other sprouts aka da boyz.

Do you have a yummy way of cleaning out the fridge too?

x's

A trip to the Botanicals

We went to our local Botanical Gardens this week.

I need to go back, and probably sans kidlets as they pestered and whinged and meant that we didn't take many photos and couldn't soak up Creation as much as we'd hoped.



Liam insisted on taking a photo and this is it.  I love maiden hair ferns, do you?

 Instead of relaxing, we all became a bit highly strung.  But I managed to snap this one of my big fellas...

But then Rick took this photo of us.  Obviously, we weren't all ready for the photo and he wasn't going to take another one!

But life is precious and this time with the children being so little will pass all too quickly.  Do you find yourself missing your children about an hour after they go to bed?  I do.  I think it is because they can drive me nuts all day and when I've had an hour to myself, to collect my thoughts and gather a bit of strength, I miss them and want to pour out some love on to them and not my angry voice!

Rick will return to work soon.  Since returning to Port Stephens, we have actually been able to benefit from all this time away from work aka unemployment.  It has been 3.5 months and really, the last 3 weeks have been wonderful.  It wasn't so wonderful before.  As much as we wanted to make Hervey Bay our home and we miss our family and new friends there, it was a difficult time.  Unsettling.  Both Rick and I lost weight which we aren't complaining about at all.  But when I'm asked how I lost weight, I say "buy the book I am writing, it is called the unemployment stress diet!".  Actually, I don't recommend it (and no, I am not really writing a book!).

I am grateful that God listens to my prayers and answers them in His time.  Throughout these past weeks I have meditated on this text:

But those who wait on the Lord

Shall renew their strength;

They shall mount up with wings like eagles,

They shall run and not be weary,

They shall walk and not faint.

~Isaiah 40:31

Sometimes we have to wait, and He doesn't let us down, we do that ourselves.  So to avoid letting myself down, I claim this promise:

Trust in the Lord with all your heart,

And lean not on your own understanding;

In all your ways acknowledge Him,

And He shall direct your paths.

~Proverbs 3:5,6

x's

Simple Life Challenge :: Sprouting

Inspired by this post at Slow Living Essentials, I thought I'd give sprouting a go.  Have you sprouted seeds?

I have just started with mung beans but I hope to move onto other legumes and seeds.

I was really put-off starting when I did my little internet search and saw these little gadgets and blog posts/comments with complicated methods. 

But I think I worked out an easy option- well it works at least. I've used one of those glass jars that have the lid attached on a metal hinge, and used the lid to rest the jar on so that it sits at a nice 45 degree angle.  I have then closed the opening with a piece of lace fixed in place with a trusty rubber band.

All I did was soak the beans overnight in water, strain and rinse.  I don't even remove the lace, I just run the water through the top and up turn to drain.  I do it twice a day and they sprout within 2 days usually.  Once sprouted it is best to keep in fridge.  Some people continue to rinse and strain and keep in the fridge, but I find we eat them too quickly!

Yum on salads, soups and stirfries (even sambos!!)

What do you like to sprout and how do you like to eat them?

x's

Shell designs ...

Do you find after reading Dr Seuss your brain tries to make you rhyme?  My brain tries, but doesn't succeed.  I have hardly any original creativity in my body so as much as I can hear the brain crunching gears in my head, there is no rhyming gear!

Perhaps due to lacking talent of my own, I totally gravitate to creative people, which explains why I love reading your blogs.  I feel so ashamed sometimes of my lack of anything interesting to add to the creative pool in the blogosphere but I do enjoy what you have to offer.  So I don't participate in sew-alongs or sending creative gifts around but I do so enjoy seeing what you are all up to.

Therefore, it is no surprise that one of my closest friends is a talented artist and graphic designer.  Shell has finally stepped through into our blog realm and is showcasing her talents: Shell Designs.  Please check her out! 

Here are some examples of her talents that she's blogged:

Pop over there and perhaps you might like to 'follow' her too.  I think Shell is a chickie going places.

Hanging out with creative people is so much fun and I am blessed to have clever friends!

x's

Brave New Me :: Where am I?

So, where do I start?... ok, I'll just tell you as it is.

Hervey Bay didn't work out.  Unemployment and the threat of a long sweltering summer for us eskimos just didn't appeal in the end.  Rick and I decided that he should find full time work again and I will continue on at the home front until we are more settled.  What an upheaval- to say the least.  Twice in 11 weeks we drove 1300kms with two boisterous toddlers in the back seat.  Not my idea of fun not to mention I think I sped past a speed camera just hours after Rick did!

Hervey Bay is beautiful and the home of most of Rick's family.  We also attended Hervey Bay SDA Church while we were there and were met with a massive amount of support and christian love.  I will  miss my family and friends there very much. 

So where are we now?  Back in Port Stephens, infact we are only minutes away from our old house.  This area has a high demand on the rentals so we were blessed to get a house.  Being able to crack open our boxes of belongings and make this house our home has settled our troubled minds considerably.

And now another chapter begins.  Meanwhile, I'll be in the kitchen if you are looking for me (recipes to follow soon).

xx

Just before we left we had some family photos on the beloved pier



We are going to miss the pier where we visited almost daily




Just a random photo in a park in Kempsey NSW on our way home



It's in the little things . . .

When we moved to Hervey Bay we thought that all would fall into place once I find a job and that I would find a job within a month . . . ok, still looking for that elusive job but not for a lack of trying.  On last count, I have approached 50 businesses by either answer to an advertised job or cold call, more of the latter for lack of the former.  I have put myself out there, flogging a product that I am reluctant to flog as it is me!  It is weird 'selling yourself' to complete strangers some of whom I suspect have shredded my resume the second I left the premises (is that the correct use of whom?). . . but this is not going to deter me as my life is in God's hands.  He's got a plan for me.

So, to carry on until I get a job, I look for blessings and things to keep me positive.  Last week, in a last ditch attempt to find good tofu up here, I finally went where I should have gone first.  I went to an asian grocer.  You see, I could find the perfect tofu at our local Bilo back in Port Stephens.  But not here.  Every big chain supermarket here seems to sell only silken or nigari tofu.  Silken is too custardy for my favourite tofu dishes (salt & pepper tofu or Rick's favourite tofu marinade) and the nigari is too hard and crumbly.  I was actually feeling a bit glum about this, perhaps deflecting my unemployment-blues elsewhere!  But, at the local asian grocer, I found some firm tofu and all is well again.  Phew. 

It's a small thing but it makes a difference!  I think moving to a new place is most difficult in the little things . . .  you know, leaving behind that great hairdresser, dentist, playgroup etc that you took forever to find, just to have to find it all again.  Tofu was my stumbling block up here but I have found it.  It almost makes me feel like if I can find good tofu I can find a good job. 

My other concern with moving north, closer to the equator and into the tropics, was whether I would have to give up my new found love of patchwork and knitting.  You see, I thought it would be so hot up here that no one would be interested in quilting or knitting.  Boy was I wrong!  There is a community of quilters up here and I needn't worry about fabric supplies.  Dewdrop Inn claims to be the biggest patchwork shop in Queensland.  I don't know about that but it is in Hervey Bay where there isn't a Spotlight and the closest Lincraft is 30km away in Maryborough.  Yes, I know I could order super fabrics online for a good price, it is good to also go and visit and where possible support your local business.  They also have some yarns so I needn't worry about supply and the winter here was actually cold so there is a season for it, albeit short.

When the big things get me down, it is in the little things that a blessing can be found.

image credit
xx

Feast vs Famine

I got to sit down to this delicious breakfast this morning ...

Just your plain multigrain toast, not brioch, sourdough or a bagel, just a simple, choc-full of additives, off-the-shelf standard bread.  I spread it with olive oil margarine, not mascarpone or ricotta, just your good old transfatty marg (well, not that good hey?).  I topped it with sliced strawberries, straight out of the punnet, off the shelf from Woolies, not picked by me off the organic farm!  How 'un-bloggy' of me. 

Why am I telling you this?  Because in all the struggle I am having at the moment in getting work, with no income right now, I have not wanted for anything!  I enjoyed every morsel of my breakfast, no matter how unglamorous or undecadent it was. 

I am so grateful that my boys and my husband also enjoyed a healthy modest breakfast (Weetbix with strawberries and soy milk). 

How our current situation is dwarfed by what is happening in East Africa.

I am overweight.  I have a clean home to live in.  I have clothes.  I have access to good medical care.  I have clean water to drink.  I am not threatened.  I can worship at my church of choice in peace.  I can read my bible without persecution.  I can provide all this to my children.  Blessing after blessing after blessing.  God is providing "exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think" Ephesians 3:20.  I am praying that God pours out his blessings on those poor starving people of East Africa. 

Dear Father, please remember your children in Kenya and Somalia.  Feed, clothe, heal them.  For Jesus' sake. Amen.

My dear readers, those of you who pray, please pray for this famine to cease.  Please pray that evil people do not stop aid.  Please pray for these precious souls who are our brothers and sisters.  Please pray for the little children who cannot fend for themselves. 

My children, although they have never been of the chubby bubby variety, have still been able to have normal baby-pudginess.  Chubby ruddy cheeks.  Never missed a meal.  Oh how my heart aches for those little babies who can't even hold their heads up due to starvation.  Oh the mothers and the fathers who look on through their own sunken eyes, at the horror of their dying children. 

If you want to help aid in East Africa with a financial donation, you can visit this site.  Or for a list of other aid agencies working in East Africa, try this site.

This post is linked to Rhonda's 'On My Mind'