ICK!

Dear Karmic Forces,

I realise that I need to lose weight. About 12 kg's worth if we're being picky. I also realise that the 'wishful thinking' version of dieting I was undertaking (you know - the one where you wish you were slimmer, you wish you fitted into your clothes better and you wished you didn't look quite so... fat, in photos. Yeah, that one!) wasn't actually working but I don't think that sending me a hearty dose of food poisoning was a very nice thing to do.

Sure it kick-started the weight loss. 4 kgs in the first 12 or so hours is impressive by anyone's standards. And I'll admit that the extra kg I've lost since then just because I still can't eat anything is a bonus. The fact that I probably will never be able to eat that particular brand of fast-food ever, ever, ever again probably isn't altogether bad either.

But still. It wasn't the kindest way to tell me to start being more aware of what's going into my mouth and to watch how much of it is going that way too. Then again, maybe it was just the kick in the backside I needed.

Much love,

(from a mummy who is about 5 kg closer to her goal weight)

Red Dirt Mummy xxx

A Truly Fabulous Cake

I made this a couple of weeks ago and just haven't got around to sharing it with you yet. Which is a shame, because this is one fantastic cake! The cake part itself is moist and sweet, the apple and strawberry layer on top of that is delicious and the crumble mixture that covers the cake is oh-so-more-ish. Everyone who tried it was hooked and I'll be making it again really soon.

Added to the general delicious-ness is the simplicity of the recipe itself. This isn't difficult to put together but the end result, both in presentation and taste, would suggest otherwise. You could make this for a weekend afternoon tea treat or to take along somewhere and really impress - it would be a big hit either way.

Apple and Strawberry Crumble Cake

from Good Taste, June 2009

Melted butter, to grease

200g butter, at room temperature

155g (3/4 cup) caster sugar

2 tsp vanilla essence

2 eggs, at room temperature

150g (1 cup) self-raising flour

150g (1 cup) plain flour

185ml (3/4 cup) milk

1 Granny Smith apple, peeled, cored, thickly sliced

200g strawberries, washed, hulled, halved

Crumble topping

75g (1/2 cup) plain flour

50g chilled butter, chopped

55g (1/4 cup, firmly packed) brown sugar

1. Preheat oven to 180C. Brush a round 20cm (base measurement) springform pan with melted butter to lightly grease. Line the base with non-stick baking paper. Place the prepared pan on a baking tray.

2. Use an electric beater to beat the butter, sugar and vanilla in a bowl until pale and creamy. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Use a large metal spoon to fold in the combined flour and the milk until well combined.

3. Spoon into the prepared pan. Use the back of the spoon to smooth the surface. Arrange the apple and strawberry on top.

4. To make the crumble topping, place the flour and butter in a bowl. Use your fingertips to rub the butter into the flour until the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs. Stir in the sugar.

5. Sprinkle the crumble topping over the apple and strawberry. Bake in oven for 1 hour and 10 minutes or until skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Set aside in the pan for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool slightly. Serve cake warm or at room temperature.

It's A Good Thing I Think He's Funny!

Yesterday morning I was flipping through the newspaper while I was sorting school-bags and lunches at the kitchen bench. I came across an article about a survey of Britons who had declared that Jane Eyre's Mr Rochester was the most romantic character in literature. I scoffed to Hubby that he was nowhere near the lead for that title, indeed Mr Darcy was my ultimate winner. Hubby astonished me by remarking that Darcy was "arrogant, aloof and up himself" - oh I wasn't astonished by the sentiment, Darcy is after all each and every one of those things, rather I was astounded that Hubby, Mr I-Don't-Read-If-I-Can-Possibly-Help-It-And-I-Definitely-Don't-Read-Fancy-Literature-Type-Stuff, knew that about him.

After closing my gaping jaw, I agreed with him but said that Darcy was still a million times better than Rochester. As I told Hubby, Rochester kept his deranged wife in the attic. Hubby's reply? "He was lucky to have an attic. I have to keep mine in the kitchen." With that he gave me the cheekiest wink you can imagine and then dear reader, we fell about the place laughing. Seriously, belly-aching, child-scaring, laughter. That's love.

A Day At The Park

We spent yesterday with Hubby's family celebrating his Mum's (aka Grandma) birthday. Hubby's parents had arranged for a small bus to collect us all and transport us to a national park, some distance from our usual stomping ground, for a picnic lunch. We took more food than could possibly be eaten in one day, even if our numbers had been doubled. Or even tripled. The kids, also referred to as 'the cousins' had a ball playing together all day and there was much seat swapping on the ride to and from the picnic. Hubby's grandmother also made the trip so we had four generations together ranging in age from just-turned-four to 89 years old.

The park was gorgeous. Beautiful lawns, well tended pathways, a body of water named Loch McNess and the requisite jetty for small children to tumble head-first into the water. Not that they did. Despite their best efforts.

We got down to the serious business of eating and drinking as soon as we arrived. The kids were all starving and, just quietly, most of the grown-ups were pretty hungry too. As you can see Offspring #2 took it very seriously.

We took along a few bits and pieces to keep the kids occupied. A few frisbees, a footy and of course the obligatory cricket bat and tennis ball. Hubby set to teaching the kids how to play cricket with varying results. Here's Offspring #1 attempting to talk his Dad into agreeing that he was safe. His attempt was unsuccessful.

Some kids had a great time swinging the bat. Here's one who's swinging madly. It's a shame the ball is still on it's way to her.

And some kids needed a little more assistance than others. Especially when the cricket bat was nearly as tall as that kid.

But my word. When she finally hit the ball (with the afore-mentioned assistance) she ran like the blazes, cackling like a lunatic the whole way.

After the games we wandered off to check out the koalas. Oh sorry. Was that a bit casual? Yes. There were koalas! And yes, we all got just a little bit excited trying to find them in the trees. Look, here's one.

And here's another one. She's playing peek-a-boo. And, although you can't see it, she's a Mama koala and her baby is hiding behind the gum leaves too.

And here's one without a head. Only joking! The kids thought this koala might be playing hide and seek. They thought he was counting while his friends were hiding. We thought he was probably hiding from the kids.

So there's our day. Cricket, koalas and a day in the country. Not a bad way to spend a Sunday.

It's All Going Swimmingly

Yep, swimming lessons have started again. We had a break from swimming last term - it was too cold and I was running out of steam with racing up and down the hill umpteen times a week. And, as it turned out, Offspring #2 suffered from cold after cold after cold so her lessons would have been a complete waste of time and money anyway. After a little break both kids were eager to get back to swimming - or 'fwimming' as #2 insists it's called, she'll even sound out 'sss, sss, ssssss.... ffffwimming. It drives her big brother crazy. Which makes us laugh. A lot.

Anyway... I worked most of the school holidays and kept putting off organising their lessons which is why, having finally made the phone call on the last day of the holidays, we've ended up with the lessons on different days and at not especially fabulous times. #1's lessons are late in the afternoon and I'll be needing to get super organised as I'll be arriving home with two tired, starving children smack on dinner time each and every Monday. My plan is to dig through my slow-cooker recipe books and try out some of the different recipes. We're heading towards Summer so my regular slow-cooker standby's, like Beef Hot Pot, Lamb Shanks and other casserole-y type dishes, aren't going to be all that popular.

I put the plan into action and came up with something a little different for Monday night's dinner. I guess my head was stuck in the "slow-cookers are only for casserole-type dishes" so, while I've made Chicken Cordon Bleu many times, I was pleasantly surprised by how well this turned out when I used the slow-cooker. And I was even more pleased to arrive home with tired, grumpy kids and have dinner ready to go. A dinner that everyone polished off and even had the boys in the house asking for seconds. It's a winner for me.

Slow Cooker Cordon Bleu

from The Easy Slow Cooker Cookbook by Barbara C Jones

4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves

4 slices cooked ham

4 slices Swiss cheese, softened (I used what was in the fridge - regular Cheddar)

1 (300g, 10 ounce) can condensed cream of chicken soup

1/4 cup milk

Place chicken breasts on cutting board and pound until breast halves are thin

Place ham and cheese slices on chicken breasts, roll up and secure with toothpick.

Arrange chicken rolls in 4 litre (4 quart) slow cooker. Thin soup with the milk and pour over chicken rolls.

Cover and cook on low for 4 to 5 hours. (I messed up the starting time so did 3 hours on high and it worked a treat).

Serve over hot cooked noodles and cover with sauce from soup. (I gave the noodles a miss and served it with a salad).