{foodie} Best Yoghurt Ever

This is a thermomix recipe for yoghurt, however yogurt is fairly easy to make and you don't need a thermomix to make, or an easiyo set up. On Easiyo....those packets you buy....pretty much really expensive sugar, starter culture and whatever else they put in there. Don't buy them, they are a rip off.

Ingredients

1-2 litres of milk, full cream or low fat, it doesn't really matter. How much yoghurt do you want to make? Keep in mind, if you drain the whey, you will not end up with what you started with.

2 Tb natural live yoghurt. This is your starter and you will need to buy some plain yoghurt or reserve some each time you make yoghurt.

 

How to

Pour milk in the thermo and heat 10min/80/speed2

Leave to cool until the 37 light switches off.

Add yoghurt starter. Mix 5sec/speed 3

Heat 10min/37/speed2.

Pour straight into your thermoserver or container to keep warm. This is the key. You need a nice warm environment for the yoghurt cultures to do their thing and for the yoghurt to set. You could place in a casserole dish, lid on with a towel wrapped around, or in a thermos. I use my thermoserve and place in the oven overnight.

Leave for at least 6 hours or overnight if possible.

*drain the whey through a muslin. This is optional. I prefer to do it and I use the whey in cooking or ricotta cheese making (I will post up a blog post!)

 

Now you have plain yoghurt. It should keep nicely for up to 5 days.

Flavourings

Plain yoghurt is fine, but you can have a bit of fun flavouring your yoghurt. I generally grind 1/2 MC of sugar 10secs/9 and add this to my yoghurt along with whatever flavour I want to make it. For example, vanilla:few drops of essence, strawberry:a large blob of strawberry jam. Stir through

Jam makes a great flavouring, as does fruits such as banana and peaches. I do recommend the sugar, but play around with the quantities, see how low you can go to get the desired sweetness.

Let me know how you go! If you have any questions, please ask!

 

FFS

 

 

Start uni this week. No FFS

Uni is a 180km return trip. FFS

The powers that be put on a free coach bus service, hellllooo air condition comfort. No FFS

The bus driver looks like the lead character in a f-grade horror flick. FFS

He drives the bus like a horror flick. FFS.

He gets me home faster than I could, and I don't stop to let students off. No FFS (just close your eyes, think of England, no one has died....yet)

Big two have to walk themselves home from school. No FFS (it's character building and fitness building...right)

Big two have a fight, and separately contact me, one via Skype, one via Instagram. FFS

Fight club topics include whether or not either of them should have a shower after school, who should go first, and why are girls mean. FFS

The first rule of fight club......

You can join in the FFS awesomeness or just have a laugh at the lovely eatfuellove.com

 

A.S.A.P get it, like ASAP

This post has not been sponsored in any way shape or form. This is all my own opinion. I bought these products with my own money. I just love this brand and after a few decades trying to find something that doesn't burn, cause blotchiness and aggravate my acne, I've finally found it!
Well over a year ago I booked in for a facial, it was bliss, really bliss, and my skin felt divine. The beautician convinced me to buy a travel pack which contained some of the products in it and some moisturiser. I can't remember all the contents, but I do remember wondering if I had just wasted my money and I would be binning these in 12 months (you know beauty products have a shelf life don't you?).
The brand is ASAP, and you can find them at www.asapskinproducts.com

They were worth every cent. Seriously.

I use the moisturiser and cleanser every morning and night. And apart from having to go several weeks without the moisturiser (no stockist in my home town eek! And then I forgot to buy some when I went to my closest regional city!), I have used the both with a fair amount of commitment for about 16 months now.

Now I'm no supermodel. Those who see me first thing in the morning will confirm I can and do look like a wild women of Borneo. I have days where I'm bloated, where lack of sleep takes it's toll and where I need to get stuck into the healthy foods more.
But I am nearly 35. I raise 4 kids as a mum who is single. I run two business's . I study full time at university. I volunteer at the school canteen. I play basketball. I ferry around kids so they can play basketball.
I'm flat out busy and often sleep deprived. I have every reason to look like hell.

Now I don't want to sound up myself, but for the most part, I don't think I look like hell. Genetics might play a part. When I get enough water and nutrients, that plays a part too. But I have noticed a massive difference in my skin and my acne problem (quite bad hormonal acne on my chin and neck, I still get pimples, but they don't turn into massive clusters of poppable pimples anymore) since I started using this brand.
I haven't had another facial since (but I want one!).
I don't wear foundation. Ever. My make up routine is sometimes a bit of lipstick or lip balm and some eyleliner. Sometimes.

I've used the facial scrub and the tinted moisturiser. The scrub is great too. The moisteriser would be great, but the tint is a littl strong. I don't look like an Oompa Loompa, but I do look like I've used a bottle of fake tan. Like 5 minutes ago. I do use this, but tone it down a bit with my moisteriser. The clear skin gel is fabulous, makes my skin feel nice and tight and firm too.
Go! It's worth giving a go!

Wanna go on a date....Good Looking?

Dating advice for the not so desperate!

An occasional series, taking advice from Disney and taking the piss out of being single and dateless!

 

 

 

Dating tip #2

Hot guys who are stupid aren't worth it.

Trust me.

Conversation goes flat. You need more than something pretty to look at.

 

{foodie} Creamy Garlic Prawn Risotto

This is pretty yummo and so simple to make. My kids are a bit fussy and will pick out the prawns. A little devoid of greens, you could serve on a bed of rocket or a nice side salad perhaps.

 

Ingredients

50g Parmesan cheese

1 onion. Spring onions/shallots work well too

2 cloves garlic. You can add more, I usually do!

40g butter

350g arborio rice

50g white wine. I use my fav Brown Brother Moscato

900g chicken stock. I use 3 stock cubes in 900g water

400g prawns. Or a mix of seafood

60g sour cream

 

Method

Add parmasan cheese and grate for 5 seconds on speed 8. Set aside

Add garlic and onion and chop for 5 seconds on speed 5.

Scrape down the sides, add butter and sauté for 2 min, 100 degrees, reverse speed 1.

Insert butterfly, add rice and wine and sauté for 2 min, 100 degrees, reverse speed 1.

Add stock and cook for 14 min, 100 degrees, reverse speed 1.

Add prawns and cook for 1 min 30 sec, 100 degrees, reverse speed 1.

Transfer to thermoserve, add parmasan. Let sit for 10 min. Stir and serve!

 

 

 

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Mans Best Friend

Dating advice for the not so desperate!

An occasional series, taking advice from Disney, my mum and other randoms and taking the piss out of being single and dateless!

 

Wanna date?

image source: http://www.palmerston.nt.gov.au/laws-and-permits/animals/caring-for-pets

I was having a chat to my mum the other day, we get the normal pleasantries out of the way, you know, how are the kids, how's the country life ect ect.

 

Then she asks for an update on my love life. You see she is praying to the gods and goddess that they will send along a suitable fellow soon. And she's a woman of faith and expecting some sort of action by now.

She must be praying to the wrong deities.

Anyhoo, I tell her there is no update and day dreams don't count.

So she then tells me to get a dog, walk the dog, and when I come across some man, strike up a conversation. Use the dog as an icebreaker. Ask this man on a date. And voila, love life fixed.

Thanks mum.

Too easy.

Only, I don't have a dog.

I live 25km out of town.

My nearest neighbour is my sister (incest...no thanks).

And my driveway is 2km long, and to be honest, after walking two km down that, I might not be in the best state to strike up a convo with an eligible bachelor.

 

Ahhhh mum, keep pray'n

 

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Cars and Houses

FFS Friday

Today is Saturday, who gives...I had a crap week with lots of FFS moments. So here goes:

 

Bought $20 000 car. Love it. No FFS.

$20 000 car breaks down 7 days later. FFS

Major engine failure. You have got to be kidding me. FFS

Car dealership sorting it out at no cost to me. No FFS.

I have a loan car, busy advertising Bunbury Holden across south west WA, whilst yelling at the kids to not put their muddy feet on the seats, touch the glass with their fingerprints, eat/breathe/make smells ect in the loan car. FFS.

Borrow sisters bogan car that goes and goes and goes. And when it breaks it's fixable and then goes some more. No FFS.

Lock keys in sisters car, 10.30pm at night. Car is on. I live in a rural area. No one around. FFS.

Walk the 300m down the road to my sisters house, pitch black, cold, to get my sister, admit to my stupidity and get help. FFS.

Ended up smashing the window to get keys and turn car off. FFS.

Goodbye $285. FFS

Water pressure in rental is almost none existent. Leak, maybe a blockage, who knows but it means hot water can't kick in. No hot showers, 10 days now. Using sisters amenities. FFS.

Bloody awful smell wafting up from toilet, think the recent rains have affected the backyard sewerage in some way. FFS.

Those same rains have cause a major ceiling leak in the hallway. FFS.

House is not happening, had enough. Applied for another rental. No FFS.

Offered 6 months paid rent in advance to secure it, waiting to hear back. No comment cause I don't want to jinx myself.

Rent is more than my last mortgage. FFS.

Hoping next week is better!!! Way better!

Come join in, it's strongly therapeutic! Thanks for the lovely www.dearbabyg.com for all the good times following FFS Friday!!

 

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All You Need To Know About Dating You Can Learn From Disney

Dating advice for the not so desperate!

An occasional series, taking advice from Disney and taking the piss out of being single and dateless!

 

Dating tip #3

Accept that there are no normal ones left over the age of 30.

It's all downhill after 29.

 

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FFS Friday

FFS Friday

 

Got the new rental house. No FFS.

Packing and shifting with 6 days notice. FFS

Kids changing schools. Again. 3rd school this year. FFS.

I've spent a small fortune on various school uniforms this year. FFS.

Lost battery charger for whiz bang camera. FFS.

Last week, gave up and ordered another from EBay. FFS.

Packing a box. Found battery charger. FFS

 

No vote from me

Dear Matthew,

I think it is admirable you are standing as an independent in the upcoming state elections. Parliament needs more variety and the more choices we have, the more chances we have electing someone that truly represents their constituents and not a political party.

However I digress.

You are in danger of not even getting a look in for my vote.

You are no ordinary politician, I accept this. Your need to take up not 1 or 2 car park bays, but three, puts you in the "not just any politician" position. 3 bays!!! Really!! Outside of a busy school that is already pushed for parking.

Cheers mate.

Lela

P.S please ignore the empty car space next to me. I rock up to school half an hour early, just to get a car park. Those empties, they fill up real quick.

First Day Nerves

My last wee babe starts school today. He is so excited. Very nervous. And soooo ready for this.

I'm all of those too!

You will not conquer me.

I have a fear...that's not quite the right word, but it'll do, of the telephone. Not of it ringing, but of me calling people, talking to them.

Now, part of it stems from being hearing impaired. But to hide behind this is a bit of a cop out. It's more.

Some days I'm fine. I'll make a stream of calls. But other days, I procrastinate and avoid even making simple calls (like making appointments).

And then days where i'll hold the phone, write out scripts, give myself prep talks and procrastinate on pinterest looking for images depicting inspiring quotes to boost my confidence.

Meh.

I know it's part of a broader 'socially anxious and somewhat socially awkward' personality I have.
At times it impacts on my life. Lost friends, lost hours, lost opportunities.

In face to face situations I get by. But the phone.....oh my do I hate the phone.

And now I have a job that requires regular phone usage. I'm also co-running a business which also requires using the phone.

This will not conquer me.

All Clear, See You Next Year

Well Australian Hearing services won't be seeing the girls until next year.

Zoë continues to have perfect hearing, the only one of my four children that didn't inherit my bad hearing.

Lily has no change (yay!). She only has a mild loss in one ear, no need for aids for her.

My boys will go for a check up in November, and hopefully both will have no further decline in hearing. Both have a hearing loss in both ears which they wear hearing aids.

Pic is of my girls enjoying the train trip home. :)

Life Goes On

So I decided to pull out of TAFE. I'll just be concentrating on my new (part-time) job, my little business and more importantly, being a SAHM.

I'm disappointed. But on the other hand, relieved. I really enjoyed the last two weeks, interacting with grown ups and using my brain/creativity/skills. But the stress of money, the stress of household chores and the stress of not seeing/being there for my babies just didn't make it worth it.

So now I'll only be out of the house one day per week, my little boy will be in daycare on that day and my big kids won't need to go to before/after school care.

On friday and saturday I contemplated what I was going to do, I kept changing my mind. I'm a 'look for signs' kind of person and on Sunday I had a few. Firstly in The Sunday Times was an article about parents needing to make more time for their kids, to not put so much emphasis on material wealth, to be more involved in their schooling.

Then in the liftout magazine was an article on Free Range kids.

Both articles resonated with me because to be the type of parent I want to be, to type of parent I value, I can't achieve if I'm not at home to be with them. I just can't have my cake and eat it too.

Then the deciding factor was the sermon at church. It was the story of Samson and Delilah, but it was the points made by my Pastor that resonated with me. That our strength can also be our weakness. My Pastor spoke about balance, that we all need balance, and he also spoke about failure.

All this was in relation to the Samson story, but I could see the applications in my life at this moment.

So this morning, I dropped my kids off at school. I spoke to my daughters teacher. I held hands with my son as we strolled to the car. I'm sitting on the lounge, cuddling my youngest son, listening to the rain, while he watches Postman Pat and I type on the laptop.

Life may not have taken the direction I had thought it would (looking back on my dreams and hopes), I may be impatient for it to be 'my time', but on the whole I am happy.

Life

My Sweet Baby Girl

What a hectic fortnight I've had.

I started a TAFE course, started a part-time job, trying to get stock ready for a stall and the kids went back to school.

I really want to do the TAFE course...it's only 18 weeks more to go....but the impact on my kids is already noticeable. My 5 year old threw a tantrum yesterday, she never throws tantrums, and I know it was from overtiredness/early starts/not enough attention from me. My 3 year old gets all whingey (it's not really crying), as we pull into daycare, telling me he doesn't want to go.

My big kids are mostly ok, they are a little older and a little more independent. But the long days do affect them.

The house is rapidly turning into a tip. I have my routines in place, but I'm still doing all the housework, the kids help out, but my husband doesn't. It's not to bad, but I'm finding it hard to keep on top of things.

Then the cost. Daycare/After school care is costing me around $200 per week. I budgeted this in, then had unexpected expenses, and now the budget can't cover the care costs.

So I find myself wondering if it is worth it. I like being busy and active, but I don't like my family life to have such a hectic pace. And although I love the course, I don't really want to work in the field long term. The true cost of the course at this stage is draining.

On one hand I think I know what I need to do, but on the other hand........I really wish I had parents that I could go to and seek advice :(

It makes me smile

Came across Poppy, Bean and Bloss, what a delightful blog, anyway she has posted what is making her smile so I thought I would join in. :)

This little guy. He's three tomorrow! My last baby is rapidly leaving toddlerhood, this kind of makes me sad, but relieved as well. He's a handful, and he lives up to his name Cadel, which means warrior spirit. He is full of spirit and already showing signs of a wicked sense of humour (and I mean wicked, he has a fondness for playing pranks already!)

Speaking of Cadel, watching Cadel Evans makes me smile. I don't follow any sport in any way, shape or form, but if an Aussie is looking like they have a chance, then I do my patriotic duty and cheer him on.

And yes, I was heavily pregnant, hormone affected, watching Tour De France, three years ago.....hence my sons name. This always makes me smile!

Oh and I found out the other day the job I went for....I got it! It's part time, with the potential of taking full time, part of which I can work from home. This definitely makes me smile.

I start a TAFE course next week, this makes me smile. And the kids go back to school, I love school holidays, but going back to a regular routine....this makes me smile.

What makes you smile?

Things (my) Kids Say

Mr soon-to-be 3: If a dinosaur comes into my room and does a poo I'm going whack him like this (demonstrates whacking).

Dinosaurs let it be said, you have been warned.

Because I'm Worth It

(also known as Operation Bunker Bay)

I am so proud of myself this week! I have done 1 aeirobics class and 4 x 1hour gym workouts this week!!

I am hating the exercising, one of those gym sessions I had to really drag myself down, force myself on the machines and plays lots of happy music on my iPod to get me going. But I made it!

I haven't got an exercise scheldule. I've come to the conclusion I may not be able to scheldule in gym sessions with any consistancy. But that is ok, as long as I'm going, it doesn't matter so much if I don't do it at a certain time on particular days.

This weeks exercise goals are

*head to the gym 5 times

*push myself a little harder in the cardio bit. At the moment I do roughly 5min x-trainer/15min treadmill/5 min bike. I would like to increase the x-trainer because I think it gives me a better workout.

Food wise is going good. It helps that money is so tight at the moment! I’m eating more fruit and vegetables and also made an effort to decrease my meat consumption. This is a financial/ethical consideration as well, but will have positive health implications as well.

My food goals this week are

*Increase water

*Make an effort to snack between midday and 3pm. I find 4pm hits and I’m so lethargic and bleh as well as ravenous.

Looking Good Feeling Good.

I’ve been having a bit of fun with Pinterest this week, pinning all sorts of pics for inspiration. Several of those pins have been hair tutorials, of which I’ve been practicing on myself and also on my daughters.

I’ve also pinned some pics of outfits I want to copy.

My Pinterest profile name is lelacass if you want to join in the fun

I live in a town that has a bad 'rep'. For years it has been labelled as boganville, low socio-economic, high crime, low prospects etc etc.

Several of these labels are actually incorrect/unfairly distorted in my opinion.

But you know what? I hope the ignorant stay ignorant.

They don't know what they are missing out on. ;)

Saving Money. Making Money

It's common sense that the key elements of finacial freedom make up a  3 pronged approach.

Reduce Debt
Make Money
Save Money

Now reducing debt is closely entwined with making and saving money, but is deserving of it's own strategy of attack.

So what am I rambling on about. Well I've been totally inspired by        Kylie Ofiu who is aspiring to be a millionaire (cash and/or assets) by 30. I would love to be finacially free, so I've started pitting some of her thoughts and ideas into practice. 

Firstly I opened a high interest bank account and set up a direct debit. It's only $5 a week, but it is a start. 

I've drawn up another budget. This time I used an Excel spreadsheet that allows me to enter a months income/expenses. The single most important money tip (from my readings and experience) is to manage you finances with a budget.
I've brainstormed some money making ideas. Some a short term, some fit in the grand plan. One idea I'm really excited lover is 'The Rusty Geranium'. I'll do a proper blog post on it later, but basically I've started raising a variety of seeds with the view of selling excess stock over spring/summer.

Another area I'm homing in on is saving money. I've disconnected the landlind (saving about $700), I'm menu planning again (this saves a fair bit, my estimate is about $200 a month gets wasted when I don't menu plan). I've devised a plan to get solar hot water installed, thus saving on my energy bills.

Allow the saved $ at the moment are going into reducing debt and only a tiny bit into savings.

I've also pencilled in reminders into my organiser to spend time on this. Time is now set aside for budget, menu and income planning.

The $100 Christmas is also part of this plan.

It all feels refreshing and empowering. I might not get to a million dollars, but I'm giving it a go.