Christmas is just around the corner...

With christmas gaining on us all very fast, we decided to put up the tree. We had planned to put it up a couple of weeks ago when mum was here but it didn't happen. The kids completed it by themselves with a jittery excitement.

I took a photo of the ornaments that we put on the tree. All of them have been collected in the last 18 months from different locations and have significant meaning to us. All of the other 'crap' ornaments are going to the op shop so we only have ones that are important and evoke wonderful memories.

From the back - Bagpiper from Scotland, Santa from Rome, tin santa and reindeer from London, soft santa with eiffel tower from Paris, Kiwi Santa and Reindeer from NZ (Popeye bought me this when he was working through NZ)

Second row- Bagpipe santa and scottish snowman from Edinburgh, parachuting santa from Tasmania, kiwi santa and chimney from NZ (Popeye, again), gold angel from Kensington Palace, London

Front row - Eiffel tower bauble from Paris, Santa, teddy and xmas tree bauble from Rome, Sydney Opera House from Sydney, santa and Eiffel tower from Paris, pink bauble from Paris.

We always put a few candy canes on our tree and have fun eating them in the days leading up to christmas. The kids wrote out a wish list for santa, so hopefully he has a bit more of an idea of what to get them!

Changing the subject...Last week YM was asking for sushi for lunch, but I put him off until after the wedding. So today I decided to grant his wish. I knew I didn't really need a recipe but I wanted to use my new cookbook - 1000 Vegan Recipes. The sushi I made had avocado, baked tofu, asparagus and grated carrot.

For dinner I made Snobby Joes from the PPK website. Isa's recipe asks for 3 tablespoons of chilli!!! Even a comment was posted about it possibly being a typo, but Isa said it wasn't. I'm not sure what type of chilli powder they have in the USA, but that is WAY too much chilli for my family! I only used 1 teaspoon and it gave a nice mild taste but the kids still needed a cold drink of water next to them! Occasionally one of them would fan their open mouths and pant to ease the heat! I would keep it to 1t next time as well.

I also made some oat-maple-walnut biscuits from my new book. That's lunch snacks sorted for the week - if I can keep my little mitts out of the container!

31 days til Christmas, 25 days til Popeye is home!

Tahn

Couscous with Lentils and Butternut Pumpkin

Tonight we had Couscous with Lentils and Butternut Pumpkin. I made a few changes and also found that they asked for too make water in the couscous so it was a bit sloppy, but still quite nice (the water evaporated in the pan at the end anyway).

I've just been chatting to my friends in Frankston (via email) and we have organised a Pre-Melbourne Uncup dinner at their house (on the Monday night before the Cup day), with us all getting dressed up to the nines! I'm so excited! An opportunity to dress up! Woo hoo!

I took the kids swimming today. I spent about 20-30 minutes with each one individually to teach them to improve their swimming. I would like to do this at least once a month, with the aim of 1 per fortnight. This all came about because the kids' school sent home a note for swimming lessons - $65 per child!!!!! WTF!! In W.A, the government obviously believes that it is important for all children to be able to swim and they subsidise the swimming lessons so all we pay is $1 per lesson! Even on the school holidays, they subsidise the lessons for the same price. Here, it is going to cost me nearly $200!! And as a teacher I know how it all runs (I know they are doing a good job, I'm not dissing them here, just making a point). They have 8 (YES, only 8!!) 30 minutes lessons, sharing their time with up to 10 other students and on the last day they spend the time 'playing' and having fun. I don't really see the value in that!!!!!
So I have decided to make a conscience effort to teach my children to swim. They have all got a good basic swimming level so that helps. I am a reasonably good swimmer myself so that helps too! I downloaded some swimming lesson plans to help with the progression, and I think I will help them more than if they do it once a year at school.

On a lighter note, I recently came across the website Day zero - 101 projects to do in 1001 days. I contemplated doing the full 101 projects (chosen by me- my goals) in the 1001 days (which is about 2.75 years), but I couldn't come up with 101 goals!! So I decided to make it to suit me and type up my list (I  have about 50 of them), add to them when I think of a new goal, and aim to complete my list in the next year. I also found an article called 'Thirty days to Success'. In it Steve Pavlina talks about 'testing' goals for a 30 day trial period. He even discusses how he went vegan by giving it a 30 day trial. So I have incorporated this theory in some of my project.

Here is my list:

HEALTH/FITNESS/BODY
detox for 5 days straight (0/5)

lose 10kg (0/10)

eat no refined sugar for a week (0/7) 

go jogging at least twice a week for 1 hour for 4 weeks (0/8)

do at least 1 weight session per week for 4 weeks (0/4)

do cardio at home at least 5 times a week for 4 weeks (0/20)

do 100 sit ups per day for 4 weeks (0/28)

do 50 push ups (on toes) per day for 4 weeks (0/28)

give myself  a weeks’ break then repeat the above

try a bikram yoga class

drink 3L of water a day for 4 weeks (0/28)

take all supplements and vitamins for 4 weeks (0/28)

GIVING BACK

gather supplies to take to orphanages when in Bali

donate blood

CREATIVE STREAK

learn more Auslan

take an art class

take a  photography class

learn a new word weekly to use in conversations 

ADVENTURE 

VEGAN FOOD

Try eating/cooking with 10 new ingredients (0/10)

complete veganmofo by posting every day of the month 

FOR MOTHER NATURE

grow something from seedling to eating

JUST BECAUSE

watch the sunset

watch the sun rise

delete Facebook account

Have a game night

host a dress up party

read 10 new novels (0/10)

wear a dress to Shani’s wedding 

get my palm read

get a tarot reading

take the kids overseas

have 50 tv free days (0/50)

have a board games night

cook for people and get dressed up (have a dinner party)

attend a dawn ANZAC service

make a time capsule with the kids to be opened in 20 years

take the kids to the pools for ‘swimming lessons’ at least once a month

STIMULATING THE ECONOMY

FOR ME

wear a dress or skirt at least one a week (0/62)

wear heels at least once a week

get another tattoo

write a will

dye my hair an outrageous colour

use moisturiser daily

tan at least once a week for 4 weeks (0/4)

To be completed Dec 25, 2010

Obviously, I have a few gaps and I will fill them in as I go.

Sorry for such a long post, but I have to get it out publicly to be accountable.

Tahn

Lentil Spaghetti

I decided we would have pasta for dinner tonight and since it is YM's favourite, I let him cook. It's a very simple lentil sauce recipe from Vegan a Go-Go. We usually double the mix to make more than enough for us. Use whatever pasta you like.

LENTIL SAUCE
1T oil
1 onion chopped
1 tomato chopped
3/4C stock
2 garlic crushed
1/2C red lentils
pinch black pepper
pinch salt
pinch cinnamon
 Heat oil and cook onion. Add the rest of the ingredients and bring to the boil, then simmer for 10 or so minutes. Blend half or all and serve over pasta.


So today I did things slightly different. Kids went back to school today and instead of going for a jog while they were at school, I waited until they were home and we all went together. I am hoping that will encourage me to continue exercising in the long term and as an added bonus the kids get some physical activity in, too.
While the kids had a 20 minute play on the playground I decided to do some hill runs. At the Coburg Lake playground there is a small hill that goes towards a main road. I ran up there, to just past the toilets, and walked back down and repeated it 12 times in 15 minutes. I was aiming for 15 times in 15 minutes but as the sprints went on, they turned into slow jogs up the hill! Something to improve on though :)


We came home, YM made dinner (with my help) and Baby made fruit salad and custard for dessert (by herself).


Today I have been checking out raw vegan food sites, and I am going to try and have at least one raw meal a day (even if it is only a smoothie or a juice or a piece of fruit and a handful of nuts). You gotta start somewhere.

Tahn