Category Archives: Food

Not How I Imagined…

Posted in Family, Food, Life, The List by

Ok so before I get stuck into this post let’s be clear on one thing… my list, my rules… got it? Good… Now with this in mind I do need some help… I can’t decide whether or not this is cheating… There have been a few things on the list that haven’t happened they way I imagined they would in my mind… What I mean by that is when I put them on the list I imagined them to play out a certain way… But they haven’t… I have still ‘completed’ them and so they come off the list, but just not the way I had originally intended… Maybe I am making a mistake, I don’t know… What do you think?

20. Get a massage…
What I imagined: I nice relaxing half hour… maybe even an hour… relaxing while listening to meditation music and experiencing a sense of ahhh…
What actually happened: A quick 2 min massage in the kitchen from my brother, while I kept preparing Christmas dinner

29. Dance with Dave…
What I imagined: Well I had two weddings on the cards this year and at most weddings there is an opportunity to slow dance… So I went ahead and imagined myself slow dancing with Dave in the lovely atmosphere of a wedding…
What actually happened:
Well neither wedding was dancing kind of wedding… So we did not dance… Instead we danced in the kitchen… Dave under sufferance while I attempted to have a beautiful moment… technically we danced… but not for long and perhaps only coz I said we had to…

And… 88. Go to the Zoo…
What I imagined: Dave and I would actually go into the zoo, spend a morning, an arvo or a whole day wondering, looking at the animals, generally enjoying each other’s company… I would whinge about the smell, and refuse to go in the butterfly room, but it would be fun.
What actually happened:
Dave and I took a small detour on our way home from Bendigo and I went to the zoo… that is I stood outside and Dave took my picture… we were there, went out of the way to go there… but didn’t actually go inside…

So there your go three more off the list… but perhaps not exactly the way I thought it would.

The Girl Can Cook

Posted in Family, Food, Life, The List by

December has escaped me… well and truly.  It has disappeared in a whirlwind of work and festive goodness.  But it has been good, and fun and worth it, even now as I sit here and type with heavy eyes, a full stomach and with one Christmas dinner to go.  I have also learnt some things this December and impressed myself a little in the process.

This December has been a month of cooking so I thought I would take a moment to brag a little because I really am quite proud of myself.  I think one of the reasons I am so proud is while I am not a bad cook, I am not a confident cook.   Cooking and baking take me a long time, I am meticulous with recipes and even then things don’t always turn out all that well… in fact you can read about some of my past kitchen adventures here… anyway, this year as part of my list I added a couple of cooking challenges and throughout the year I have been able to cross a few off the list…

2.  Make my own Ice Cream
Ice Cream
13. Make Breakfast Muffins
Breakfast Muffins
16. Make meringues
meringues
35. Make a mocktail
Mocktail
83. Bake something for work
Cookies

But at the beginning of December there were still a few left… some of them on purpose, but not all… And while all the cooking things on the list were things I had wanted to do for a while, or things I felt might stretch me and my skills… and hopefully increase my confidence in the kitchen, in December I got my chance to shine… This month I have been able to knock another 4 cooking things off the list…

41. Try 1 recipe from each of my Donna Hay Subscription Magazines
This one has taken all year, mostly because it was a yearlong subscription… but it has been fun.  I still lean towards baking biscuits and sweets rather than dishes and meals, but I have tried to vary it up a little and this was the result:Donna Hay

54. Use every appliance in my kitchen at least once
I don’t have pictures of every appliance so you will just have to trust me that I did… and it was fun…

93. Make a gingerbread house
This is probably the one I am most proud of, if I am honest.  Previously even just the gingerbread alone has been a disaster… missing ingredients and not tasting all that good.  But not only was the gingerbread delicious, but the house went together and stayed together… and looked pretty good too, even if I say so myself…Gingerbread

100. Have a dinner Party
I am also very happy about this one… this year I hosted Christmas dinner at my house, with my Dad, my brothers and my sister-in-law, and it went well… nothing was a disaster, all had a good time, and it all came together perfectly… dinner party complete.

So after it has all been crossed of the list, how do I feel about my cooking skills? Well… pretty good.  I can cook… I can cook good food and amazing dessert.  Of course, I am not chef quality and it still takes me a while, but I feel like I have proved to myself that if I just give it a go I can do it, even the more challenging ones… the skills are definitely there and it can only get better from here.

Three Quarters Done

Posted in Family, Food, Life, The List by

It’s been a while since I did a list update, so if you are not interested in what is and isn’t crossed off the list then please continue to the next blog, but if you are here is what has happened since my last update here it is…

A lot has been happening since July and a few more things have been chipped off the list… So once again here is what I have done so far… click the links on the ones that have their own special blog for the full details if you wish…

2. Make my own ice cream

3. Read 6 books

8. Make a photo book with our wedding photos

13. Make breakfast muffins

16. Bake Meringues

19. See some fireworks

22. Watch a sunset with Dave

24. Finish watching Mcleod’s Daughters

25. Fix up super stuff

26. Ride a push bike at least once

28. Go and hear live music

30. Go Camping

31. Go to the museum

32. Stay at the Langham

33. Get our wedding pictures framed – completed 21/7/12

It is so nice to have our pictures framed and up and I think that they look amazing… very very very happy!

34. Have a bath

35. Make a mocktail

36. Do a fun run/walk – completed 26/8/12

I have officially crossed this off the list, although I am not done yet so I have broken it into two parts… so for now I have completed a fun walk… the Parkinson’s Walk with some work colleagues…. but next weekend I am doing a fun run as part of the Melbourne Marathon series so watch this space… that will be part 2.

37. Go on a Road trip

39. See a Musical

40. Have a rainbow paddlepop

42. Finish unpacking my stuff in the study

55. Clean the gunk off the little hav

56. Eat at 10 different breakfast places

58. Visit a country town I have never been to before

59. Go to a Wedding – completed 22/9/12

A couple of weeks ago I was privileged enough to witness some good friends of mine get married, it was a beautiful day and such a lovely wedding.  I am so thankful for both of these guys and that I could be part of this special day!

57. Bust a move in a random location

60. See the fire balls at crown

62. Learn a new joke

63. Visit Castlemaine

64. Visit Bendigo

65. Do my own washing once

68. Wash my own car – completed 7/7/12

This was actually more difficult than it sounds, I am actually quite week and the high pressure hose is not… therefore when washing my car I look like an idiot trying to control the hose enough to effectively wash my car… luckily Dave seems to be happy to help out!

70. Send 5 Cards just because – completed 2/7/12

Every one likes a random card…

71. Play with playdough

72. Have a hot jam donut

73. Go to a football game

76. Go a term without Maccas

77. Sing in the shower – completed 7/7/12

This one doesn’t get a picture… trust me, you’d thanks me

79. Go to the beach at least three times

80. Go up a look out and look over the city – completed: 7/7/12

Dave and I went up to the top of Mt Dandenong, had a lovely lunch and a little look out… on a beautiful winter day too I might add.

81. Have a pot of tea

83. Bake something for work

84. Do 3 exercise classes

86. Get and exercise piggy bank

89. Go to a concert of Dave’s – completed 4/8/12

This was probably the most extravagant school concert I have ever been to, complete with a 7 course dinner and my spunky husband doing his thing.

95. Check my car’s oil

96. Swim laps at the pool – completed 27/8/12

After deciding it would be bad taste to take a picture of either me or others actually swimming in the pool, I opted for a picture of my goggles instead… enjoy

97. Do a water areobics class

98. Play with sparklers

99. Try and espresso

So there you go… I’m now over three quarters of the way through, still a bit to go, but once again this is a nice reminder to get back on track with a couple of the longer term list items… I still need to be more deliberate about cooking dinner, exercising and doing my devotions, I still need to stop eating chocolate at breakfast, and I still need to keep focused on my weight loss, chores and date days… I can’t cross them off the list if they are not done, and they need to be done… But so far not too bad,  I am getting there and still having fun doing it.. only 49 to go.

Half way

Posted in Family, Food, Life, The List by

Wow I can’t believe it’s the middle of the year already… seriously how does this keep happening…

Anyway, I decided that being the middle of the year it was a good time to do a list up date because while there are lots I have posted about there are still a few that have happened which haven’t made it to a blog on their own… so here is what I have done so far… click the links on the ones that have their own special blog for the full details if you wish…

2. Make my own ice cream

3. Read 6 books – completed 25/4/12

Here they are…

1. Sing you home – Jodi Picoult,   2. The Girl with Dragon Tattoo – Stieg Larsson,   3. It – Craig Groeschel

4. The Hunger Games – Suzanne Collins,  5. Catching Fire – Suzanne Collins,  6.  Mockingjay – Suzanne Collins

And the reading continues… I am officially a book worm once again.

8. Make a photo book with our wedding photos – completed 20/6/12
It looks pretty good if you ask me… complete with my favourite pics from our amazing photographer as well as some others taken by friends and family.

13. Make breakfast muffins

16. Bake Meringues

19. See some fireworks

22. Watch a sunset with Dave

24. Finish watching Mcleod’s Daughters – completed 14/4/12
It’s done… all done… there is no more and while it feels good to have finally finished all eight seasons… I am a little sad, I wish there was more…

25. Fix up super stuff

28. Go and hear live music

30. Go Camping – completed 7-9/5/12
I did actually blog about this as well… again… I just forgot to mention crossing it off the list in the blog… check it out here

31. Go to the museum

32. Stay at the Langham

34. Have a bath – completed 15/4/12
I decided that photos of this would be inappropriate and unwanted, so you will just have to trust me.  I have in fact had a couple of baths (as opposed to showers which I have daily) and they were all very relaxing… I think it is something that I need to do more often.

35. Make a mocktail

37. Go on a Road trip – completed 29/6/12
Even though it was back to Bendigo again, I have decided that it still counts, Dave and I went, we spent the night hung out with friends and we were in the car for more than an hour… so road trip it is…

39. See a Musical
I also saw Annie the musical in May, which is one of my all time favourites and definitely worth seeing…

40. Have a rainbow paddlepop

42. Finish unpacking my stuff in the study

55. Clean the gunk off the little hav

56. Eat at 10 different breakfast places

58. Visit a country town I have never been to before – completed 7-9/5/12
I did actually blog about this as well… again… I just forgot to mention crossing it off the list in the blog… check it out here…

57. Bust a move in a random location

60. See the fire balls at crown – completed 18/5/12
I was lucky enough to catch up with my buddy Jana in the city for dinner and as both of us are terrible decision makers we ended up kiking through the city using the ‘urban spoon’ app to choose our destinations.  It was a workout, but on the plus side, I got to spend more time with Jana, we found places we had never been to before and I got to see the fireballs…

62. Learn a new joke – completed 26/5/12

63. Visit Castlemaine

64. Visit Bendigo – completed 24/6/12
It was a quick sticks trip just to hang out with my mate Melface… and the rest of course but she had flown over from WA so I guess that’s worth mentioning… Super fun… just like it always was… and here is a picture of my journey home the next morning… it was nice to watch the sunrise over the country side.

65. Do my own washing once – completed 2/4/12

71. Play with playdough

72. Have a hot jam donut

73. Go to a football game

76. Go a term without Maccas

79. Go to the beach at least three times

81. Have a pot of tea

83. Bake something for work

84. Do 3 exercise classes

86. Get and exercise piggy bank

95. Check my car’s oil – completed 12/6/12

97. Do a water areobics class

99. Try and espresso

So there you go… almost halfway there, still a bit to go, but this is a nice reminder to get back on track with a couple of these… I need to be more deliberate about cooking dinner exercising and doing my devotions, I need to stop eating chocolate at breakfast… seriously it is not a breakfast food and I need to keep focused on my weight loss, chores and date days… because I can’t cross them off the list if they are not done, and they need to be done… But so far not too bad,  I am getting there and still having fun doing it.. only 60 to go.