Emily's 18th birthday party

At the end of January, Emily celebrated her 18th Birthday with about 30 girlfriends.

Originally supposed to be a Garden Party, (for which we did considerable work on the garden), the party moved indoors at the last minute after a few  intermittent showers. Emily decorated the living room with the streamers she'd made for the front garden, and made tissue paper flowers, thank you favours and cute drinks labels.

That's my girl.

I can see she will make a great wedding planner one day :)

Laura and I worked hard while the girls chatted to provide a feast with vegetarian, nut-free and vegan options, while Steve was off playing quartets at music camp. At the end of a great party, we three girls tidied up and then collapsed on the sofa for a TV dinner.

All about food, again.

Once again, my world revolves around food.

More diet changes. For a month I can eat only:

chicken soup

vegetable soup

steamed vegetables (think green vegetables, carrot and cauliflower)

small amounts of pumpkin and smaller amounts of sweet potato

onions and garlic

lamb steaks once a week (yey for lamb night!)

fish

chicken

green smoothies

vegetable juices

herbal teas

healthy oils and a few herbs & spices

Next week I get to add in 1/2 a cup of berries per day.

(Woohoo!)

So I can't eat most of the foods in these photos, which were taken in recent months.

No nectarines, no parsnips, and definitely no jamdrops.

(My, those jamdrops were good - made of buckwheat, from the latest Donna Hay magazine).

Even salads and fermented veges are out for now.

The purpose of all this, according to my nutritionist, is to give my digestive system a rest. A holiday, of sorts, from it's usual traumas. Cooked vegetables are easier to digest than raw. Avoiding any sweet foods helps keep the bad bacteria under control. Walking 5 times a week helps keep everything moving ;) so long as I have the energy to walk, that is!

I'm going ok with it, but finding it a bit up and down. Sometimes I feel weak and hungry, other times quite satiated. Mostly I'm feeling well, anyway, which is the aim of all this. I'm used to radical diet changes by now - it's almost 4 years since I went on a big elimination diet and I haven't eaten "normally" since then.  After the month is up, I'll start trying other foods again, which sounds like it will take another 6 months or so, like my elimination diet of 2011. So I just plod on, keeping a food diary, cooking my veges, and preparing other foods for the varied diets of the rest of the family, giving them veges when I can, of course ;). (Actually, I've been known to forget about meals for everyone else, oops). It's not too bad, really, except at afternoon tea time, when I would dearly love a sweet treat! Or when I go out, and while others have coffee and cake, I sheepishly pull out a little Tupperware container holding a boiled egg, chicken, or limp broccoli.

On the plus side, since starting this diet I've had some great soups, a good baked salmon dinner, and an amazing lamb steak dinner. Friday night drinks were spiced up with yummy cinnamon-roasted cauliflower instead of the usual Smiths Crisps. And I drank iced water with a slice of lemon, instead of something stronger. I can still have my normal good breakfast of a kale omelette, sometimes with salmon on top. And since my food choices are so limited, decisions about my own meals are pretty easy. On top of that, it looks like I might be taking my belt in another notch, before too long.

So, it's all good, really.

... right?

Changing diets ... again

These last two weeks have been very up and down.

I've loved the winter weather, 

both the cold, cold days, and the milder sunny days, too.

I'd be quite happy if this was our weather all year round.

And then there's food.

My life is revolving around food.

First Laura had to give up dairy and sugar (on top of gluten)

three weeks ago. We've managed that, kind of.

(The butterfly cake above is GF, DF and sugarfree,

filled with cashew cream.)

And then I was told to give up sugar and limit starches.

Considering that my diet is already very limited

(no gluten, dairy, high salicylates, or high amines)

it makes for quite a challenge.

Under a nutrition's advice, my diet at the moment

revolves around nuts, coconut, chia seeds, sunflower seeds,

chicken, fish, lamb, eggs, (limited) vegetables and (very limited) fruit.

Coconut, nuts other than cashews, chia and sunflower seeds are foods 

that I normally avoid so I'm hoping that over time I can cope with them.

So far, there have been some reactions, but nothing too unbearable.

This morning I was called to do a day's casual teaching
(for only the second time all year)

and I had to come up with some morning tea and lunch for myself

that fitted all the requirements but also had to be nut-free for school

and ready in 5 minutes.

Yikes! Luckily I had a few bits and pieces in the fridge to throw together,

and fortunately I was too busy at school to feel hungry ;-)

   

Anyway, I'm learning some (more) lessons about food.

 Not just how to cook without some (lots of) foods,

or what is good for you, although there's been a lot of that,

but about my attitudes  and approaches towards food.

This seems to be an ongoing process in my life in the last 5 years.

1. Food is for nourishment. I'm grateful for the energy food gives me,

even if it sometimes is not to my taste.

(although I'm not sure I'll ever like papaya, sorry Ms Nutritionist).

2. A body can get used to anything. I've gotten used to drinking hot water instead of tea,

and giving up chocolate and all sorts of other good-tasting foods, I can change my diet again.

3. Cooking with new foods and new methods takes time. 

Give myself lots of time, and start with a clean bench. 

(Unfortunately my bench looks nothing like this at the moment,

being covered with coconut products, seeds, nuts etc. that don't fit in the pantry)

4. Don't beat myself up about cooking failures, the cost of health foods,

or rejection of foods by certain family members. It's all a learning curve.

Girls' afternoon tea one day, one cupcake tray each. No one ate the dates. One girl wasn't sure about the cacao spread.

5. I'm so grateful I have a Thermomix, it's a real time-saver

and saves my muscles too, heating and stirring weird and wonderful ingredients.

6. Food tastes better outside, with good company.

(and no, he doesn't always smile like this!)

Baking and Remembering

Today I baked Gran's 'Raw Peanut Biscuits'.

These are the biscuits I remember eating at her house,

something we looked forward to when we visited.
I'm sure she baked other biscuits, but I don't remember them.

As a peanut-lover I couldn't get enough of the nutty flavour

and the dark crisp texture of the biscuits, 

and the peanut skins fascinated me.

Gran would send us out to the garden to eat them

and we would walk on the hard mown grass,

collecting jacaranda pods, 

imagining they were the soles off ladies' high-heeled shoes;

and spotting eggshells in the compost pile

and identifying carrot tops in the garden beds.

A few years back my aunt lent me Gran's old recipe book, 

full of handwritten recipes and recipes cut out from 

magazines and newspapers.

After some searching I found the recipe for my beloved biscuits,

and some raw peanuts still in their skins,

and recently I've converted them to fit my current diet better.

There are all sorts of recipes in here, older and newer.

The recipe above is for Pigs Cheeks Brawn.

How tastes have changed.

And just below it, another biscuit recipe.

This much-loved recipe book is barely holding together.

I always loved my Gran's handwriting,

though as a child it was hard for me to read.

I think I will have to try these Apple Orchard Cookies,

they sound delicious.

And I love this advertisement folded inside the book.

Laura baked today, also,

and did a brilliant job piping meringues.

 So afternoon tea was pretty good, here,

and full of memories.

Babycakes, and knitted love

 

Baby-sized cupcakes for my cousin's baby shower today.

Pink and blue, to cover all outcomes.

We girls got stamping and punching and icing after lunch

and were finished just in time.
(And time for a quick photo, too!)

It was a good afternoon, no games, just lots of food,

chatting and presents for the mother-to-be.

Everyone is so happy she is having a baby,

she got married last year, just before her 40th birthday.

My aunt gave my cousin today 

some baby items our Nanna had knitted and crocheted,

years before, for her great-grandchildren.

It was special to see the booties and bonnet knitted so lovingly

and packed away so many years ago for a hoped-for child.

My girls each have a crocheted granny rug from Nanna,

who died just after Laura's first birthday, over thirteen years ago.

This will be the tenth great-grandchild in the family,

but Nanna only lived to meet the first three of them.

Here is my Nanna, and my father and aunt,

babies both welcomed with much love,

and likely much knitting too.

I'm hoping to crochet something for the baby,

who is due in a month.

I'd better get started!

Laura has begun a rug,

but got sidetracked crocheting squares for Wrap with Love.

Babies + celebrations + good food + items handmade with love 

It's all good.

In which we get to go out like normal people

They say it never rains but it pours.

I hardly ever get to go out for a meal, let alone a movie,
and then suddenly I have three days of
restaurants and movies.
Yey!

While the girls were at camp Steve and I had two date nights.
On Wednesday night we had a delicious dinner at a local bar & grill.
I had Morrocan Lamb Rump, (on a stack of grilled vegetables and a bed of hummus).
Steve had a Seafood Mornay Pie.
(unfortunately I didn't take any photos of our yummy meals,
just one of the pretty lights in our mall).

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Then we headed to the cinema and saw Edge of Tomorrow
with Tom Cruise and Emily Blunt.
I panicked a little when I saw the ads before the movie,
firstly because they were so loud 
(especially for someone who recently got her hearing back in one ear!)
and secondly because the movies advertised were all very sci-fi.
Thankfully the movie was at a more reasonable volume
and the sci-fi element was only a small part of Edge of Tomorrow.
 We liked the action/Groundhog Day mix.
It was pretty quiet out,
seems that all the normal people were home,
watching the State of Origin match.
There was only one other person in theatre,
we enjoyed our back row seats ;-)


On Thursday night we went to our favourite local Thai restaurant,
and enjoyed Garlic Lamb and Satay Chicken, on Saffron Rice.
Yum.

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At the video shop we found the movie I was looking for -
Populaire.
I loved this movie.
Think: 1950s, France (and in French!), secretaries, typing competitions,
50s songs and 1950s style title animation.
Loved.

Image

What more can I say?  See it.

On Friday I had lunch out with my good friends Fiona & Tanya.
I don't think I've been out for lunch since my birthday in September!

Over my gourmet chicken burger (GF!)
and their fish & chips and barramundi
we (quite unintentionally) came up with plans to
reorganise all sorts of things at church.
Now we just have to persuade our minister. Lol.

After lunch I rushed to collect the girls from school,
and found myself in a traffic jam of about 10 buses, 700 girls and
250 parents.  Not sure why the school thought it was a good idea
for all the camps to finish at the same time...

And on Friday night (while eating a good steak with the yummiest butternut pumpkin ever)
Steve and I watched 12 Years a Slave.

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Which was also really good.  Powerful. But harrowing.

Yesterday, we returned to normal life.
No fancy meals, no movies ... just some good memories.

Winter Evening

Brrr! It's cold outside.

The girls and I came home this afternoon

from a church weekend away,

not far away, just a couple of valleys over, really.

We had a wonderful time.

Talks on Ecclesiastes (and Hebrews, for the girls)

by visiting speakers; getting to know a young African man

our church is sponsoring through bible college;

chatting, crocheting and a campfire;

a family fun night that really was fun;

a walk in the late afternoon sun past lovely properties, 

with more chatting, as we spotted scarecrows and vegetable patches;

late-night port and playing Articulate;

camp food that even I could eat;

good times reading the bible, thinking, discussing and learning.

And now we are home,

which is always a good place to be.

There's a bit of unpacking mess around,

and some rest and sleep to catch up on.

After a sit on the sofa reading some favourite blogs

I felt energetic enough to do some baking.

Steve and I made these carob cookies,

which are super-easy and yummy.

Emily has been finishing off an ancient history essay,

and Laura is nursing a sore foot, she had a scooter stack

while we were at the campsite, a sock and shoe were casualties,

as well as her foot, which has a sort of burn from the bitumen.

(At the time of Laura's spill I was frantically doing a jigsaw puzzle of 

Romans 1:16 with ten or so other people, to earn 30 points

for our team, so much more fun than it sounds, 

especially when we won ;-)

Just as well we have those crutches Laura chose once at the op shop ...

It's not often I would wear a polar fleece jacket inside

and still be sitting or hovering right by the heater, 

but this afternoon I am.

There has been a gorgeous sunset,

I braved the chill winds to get some photos.

Tomorrow we go back to normal routine, 

but just for two days,

then the girls head to school camps,

leaving Steve and I home alone in the old house ...

... I guess we'll manage somehow ...

So, it's been a good weekend.  Lots to think about
and lots to appreciate, both there, and back home.
God is good.

Moreover, when God gives someone wealth and possessions, 
and the ability to enjoy them, to accept their lot 
and be happy in their toil—this is a gift of God. 
They seldom reflect on the days of their life, 
because God keeps them occupied with gladness of heart.

- Ecclesiastes 5:19-20