Around Here

Around here things have been busy and I've been sick for the past month and I think I'm on the mend now diagnosed with pleurisy after yesterday's chest x-ray.  I've been taking it easy on and off and spending a couple of days laying in bed but still doing everything you have to do when you are the only adult around raising kids.  Over the past month we have had the pleasure of an international student from Japan staying with us and the kids and I have loved learning about life in Japan and showing her how us Aussies live.  Here's a few photos from the past month.

First day in Australia happened to be her birthday so I made a cake for her and she's never made a cake or seen one made as they don't have an oven at their home in Japan.

Sitting down to write stuff on the blackboard was a daily occurrence and learning new things.

Doing Origami together.

Showing off the Brisbane city skyline.

Doing some maths equations with James.

A game of scrabble after dinner.

Aunty Lisa (my sister) got a new bird and we went with her to pick Ziggy up from the pet shop.

James on his iPad on a Friday afternoon after school.

Family pic at our favourite local BBQ spot.

 Sienna loved having another person to cuddle.

Toasting marshmallows on the fire.

Jasmine in full bloom.

Home made pies and salad for dinner.

We walked to the local park after school and these two loved making up games to play.

Afternoon at the local park.

Making up stories and drawing on the blackboard in the hallway.

The AFL Season is over for another year and the trophies were handed out by our Local Member for Parliament. James 5th year with this club.

James made this car which was part of his school assignment which he got an A+ for.

Home Made Healthy Chocolate

I love chocolate and I eat way too much of it but I can't give it up either....there has to be some good treats in my life.  The other day I made these chocolates and I had 1 to 2 a day as my treat and didn't eat any other sweets during the day.

The recipe is from Cut out the Crap blog which is a great resource.  Here is the link to the chocolate recipe.  I forgot to take a picture of the finished chocolates and now they are all gone so I guess I'll have to make another batch.

It's just 3 ingredients coconut oil, cacao powder and maple syrup.  It says you may need a touch of milk however I didn't need this at all.  If you want to make a healthy chocolate give this a go and it took less than 5 mins to mix up and put in the molds.  You could use ice cube trays but the chocolate pieces would be much bigger and hard to cut in half and only eat half.  I buy my coconut oil from Aldi and it's half the cost of the other supermarkets and it's organic too.  The maple syrup comes from Aldi as well.  These are so easy and taste great.  I put mine in the freezer (out of sight) and just got one out when I needed it.

Around Here

Here's what's been going on around our place....

Sienna up in the tree complete with her book and pillow.

Helping me take some moody photos in the backyard.

My kids are growing up...this has to be documented with James growing 2cm in the past 8 weeks.

Hair cut time while reading the iPad.

After said hair cut in the pretty light around the side of our house.

Too cold to take his hoodie off...

Sienna helping in the kitchen with disposable googles that I got after a dentist visit.

Sienna's little crochet project.

Our one lonely lemon.....very neglected.

This is my favourite flowering bush in our back yard.

Still enjoying these healthy muffins I made last week. Recipe here.

The kids and I watched this DVD which had us on the edge of our seats....along with thinking this guy was completely obsessed and crazy.

James playing AFL (Australian Football League)

Sunset after a trip to the park to play.

James playing his guitar.

 Sienna doing some knitting.

Breakfast Seed Muffins - Gluten, Dairy, Soy, Nut & Preservative Free

I recently came across a new to me Australian blog called "Cut out the Crap" by Collette with her story into healthy eating here.  She has a whole host of recipes and the other day I made Breakfast Seed Muffins.  I didn't want to go to the shop and discovered I actually had all the ingredients for the recipe including the 3 tablespoons of orange juice (half an orange) which was amazing because we always have apples in our house and not oranges so I was thrilled when I discovered I had some. I turned the oven on and got about to starting the recipe only to discover it said "brown rice flour" and I thought......I don't have any and I didn't want to go to the shop.  I remembered that my Thermomix mills flour (never done it before) and I had brown rice in the cupboard so 2 minutes in the Thermomix and I had my brown rice flour....I seriously felt like I was so clever.  Here is the link to the recipe.

Getting back to the recipe, it's a very runny liquid type of mixture which made 13 muffins and takes 30 minutes to cook.  It basically tastes like a carrot cake and has a very similar walnut taste of a normal carrott cake because of the sunflower seeds and pepita seeds (pumpkin seeds) which has a lovely crunch.  I will absolutely be making these again.  You can have them cold or warm...I cut mine in half and spread some butter on it and it's so delicious.  I've popped the rest of them into the freezer so I can take out one a day for morning or afternoon tea.  I highly recommend making these and are a great "grab and go breakfast" snack because it has so much goodness in it.  I made mine with a red apple as I don't buy green apples so didn't have any and it was fine.  If you are looking for a healthy treat or an "on the go" breakfast, morning or afternoon tea make some of these.  Here's some pics from my baking.

My carrotts were on their last legs as they were "bendy" not crisp but great for this recipe.

My brown rice in the Thermomix ready to do my first "flour milling"

2 minutes later freshly milled brown rice flour.

Some of the ingredients.

More of the ingredients.

Ready from the oven I made 13 muffins.

Look how delicious they are.

Yum....healthy, tasty and delicious goodness....gluten, dairy, soy, nut and preservative free.

Around Here

Around here we are nearing the end of the school holidays and we've had time to go on a bush walk, try ice skating, see the new Ice Age movie and tomorrow we are going to some Farmers Markets.  Here's a few pics from our holiday.

Winter doggy slippers....

A bit of crochet and snacking on Jatz while watching a DVD.

The kids got to try outdoor ice skating at the Brisbane Winter Festival in the city.

 
Family snap.

Aunty Lisa (my sister) with the kids trying to get a photo.

Collecting leaves.

The last of the pretty autumn leaves.

Helping my sister with some photography tips...

Holiday down time on the iPad.

Ready for the bush walk.

Such pretty light.

There were 3 of these pretty little birds on the table.  We think they are these.