As a “middle aged” lady, I do try to keep myself fit-ish. I no longer go to Gym. I was a member of Curves for a few years but the fees kept rising and our local center changed hands and the opening times were not a “work time friendly” for me. Hubby and I had been walking every evening, but now the Queensland Summer is just about on us, it is far to hot, even in the evening. What to do?
My Daughter has been into yoga for as long as I can remember, and while I do enjoy yoga, again I find the times of many studios (and fees) not suitable.
Imagine my excitement when I decided to search YouTube for some gentle yoga and I found HEAPS!! Who knew? People keep telling me there is all sorts of “stuff” on YouTube. I recently bought a box “thingy” that plugs into the TV that turns it into a smart TV. It is primarily for Netflix, but the opportunity to have YouTube on the big screen is great too.
Anyway, I found this instructor who I have found great. Yoga with Adriene
I won’t promise to do yoga EVERYDAY, but it nice to have so many options.
Have you seen my “Getting $#!T Done” course yet? I ask because, part of the challenge is to audit your life in every area and slowly level each area up to a “10”
One area of life is, of course, “Romance / Significant Other” I have rated this area of my life as a good solid 8 🙂
Nobody is perfect and I don’t know that anybody should actually rate their relationship as a 10. Let’s face it there is always more to do and some little thing that we are not 100% happy with about our partners (or ourselves).
When I was going through my monthly plan and trying to decide how I could level up this area, I thought one thing we enjoy doing is eating out. We choose not to spend $100+ very often on a restaurant meal, but we are both capable home cooks and can replicate a restaurant style dish without too much stress.
Anyway, I digress 🙂
In my never ending quest to become a princess and be wined and dined by my prince I decided that , as I work from home every Friday, I would look through a few menus and have a “fancy dinner” on Friday nights. I will not shop specifically for this meal, but rather use the menu as inspiration to use what I have in the fridge, freezer and pantry.
This weeks menu came from a lovely restaurant not far from us. See Restaraunt in Mooloolaba I have actually only been there once, and it was with a group of girlfriends for a special lunch. It is on my list of places to go with hubby, but is is a stretch on the budget. (A couple would do well to walk out spending under $100 after meals and a couple of drinks)
Scrolling through their menu, this dish caught my eye…. Confit Duck, Spec and Green Pea Medley, Honey Carrot Puree
Yummmmmm, but I don’t normally have duck or spec residing in my well stocked fridge/freezer, but I most certainly do have chicken and bacon!! This sounded like a winner.
This is what I ended up with …. Slow Roasted Lemon Garlic Chicken, Bacon and Green Pea Medley, Honey Carrot Puree.
I found this recipe on Taste for the Chicken and made it with a small half bird from the freezer.
The “bacon and green pea medley” is a side dish I often make for guests.. (a similar recipe is here) In my dish I used frozen peas, green shallots and snow peas and fresh beans all cut into small pieces about the same size as the peas.
For the honey carrot puree, I sauteed a small chopped onion in a drizzle of olive oil until soft but not coloured. to that I added two medium carrots chopped into rounds, and covered with water, a tablespoon of honey and a teaspoon of chicken stock. Simmer this until the water is mostly gone. Be careful, you don’t want it to boil dry.
To serve, mash or puree the carrots ( I used a stick blender) and spread onto a plate in an attractive pool. Nestle the chicken in the puree and surround with the peas. Gently spoon over the sauce from the chicken being careful not to “drown” it
As I am a TERRIBLE food blogger, I forgot to take pictures 🙁
Hubby declared the meal a success, and I felt I had boosted my “relationship score” a point or so – at least for the night 🙂
I picked up a packet of Soy and Linseed rolls at the supermarket the other day.
They were on special and they looked really yummy.
When I got home and looked at them again, I thought they were quite large. I am not gluten free, but I do try to keep my bread down as I find I get a little bloated with too much.
I was going to cut them in half like this…
Then I saw an ad on the TV for ( of all things) a MacDonald’s Big Mac. I came up with the clever idea to split my bread rolls into 3!!
Now I have 6 rolls and 6 slices of yummy Soy & Linseed bread for toast under my eggs in the morning.
What a great way to stretch those more expensive “artisan” rolls.
I really do not bother too much about my weight, and do stick to a fairly healthy diet, but I know I have been a bit slack lately. Tripping up and back 400kms to see my Mum has seen me not eating the best.
Yesterday I thought I did not want my regular eggs on toast, but still wanted eggs. I came up with this yummy little omelette on salad.
It is a simple dish that is made by gently beating just one egg with a fork until just fluffy add some chopped onion and a bit of grated cheese. I then lightly greased two egg rings and cooked until the egg was cooked through and golden brown.
I then placed them on a bed of store bought salad leaves with a bit of chopped tomato, onion and capsicum. A drizzle of balsamic vinegar and breakfast was ready.
Who says dieting has to be boring? 🙂
Ps. Balsamic Vinegar is a fabulous addition to your pantry. A quick drizzle elevates any dish to “restaurant” quality.
Hubby and I have been just so stupidly busy lately that we are both feeling quite overwhelm
ed. I can tell, both of us are a bit cranky and TIRED oh so bone weary TIRED. We often find ourselves struggling to stay up past
8:00pm
We work for ourselves and recently lost a key staff member. It shook both of us around a bit and rather than re-hiring immediately, we tried to do it all ourselves. (Bad move..although saving 3 months wages has made the bottom line look healthy)
We have now hired some more help so we know it is going to get better, but just the act of doing ANYTHING at present seems to be a struggle. I have made sure we are eating well with minimum cooking fuss. Quite a few “throw the ingredients in a pot and cook it” type meals.
Luckily neither hubby or I are not prone to any severe depression or anxiety, but after the last month or so , we can certainly see how these conditions can manifest very quickly. We keep reminding ourselves that there IS an end in sight. The new staff members are coming up to speed and the workload is coming back to a manageable level. Heck, just the fact that I have time to type this post, means I am not “drowning” beneath a pile of paperwork to be completed.
We have both been fairly mindful that we have been too busy and that the need to look after ourselves is important. ( hence the in bed at 8:00 caper) Some things I have done are: (in no particular order)
Ignored the housework to a certain degree.
Made sure we eat. At work we have been so busy there were a couple of days we forgot to eat, so I set up a reminder on my phone for coffee breaks and lunch – even if it was just a sandwich on the run.
Planned simple no- fuss dinners that required little prep and cooking. It sounds fancy, but a simple roast is just peel a couple of potatoes, slice off a chunk of pumpkin and thrown it in the oven with a piece of meat for a couple of hours.
Ordered groceries online and had them delivered to the office later in the afternoon.
Tried to stay positive and actually talk to each other. While we work in the same business, we don’t actually work together ( does that make sense?) I am busy in the office while he is busy in the factory. So we can still have a “how was your day” conversation when we get home.
Hubby has been very good at prioritising which jobs need to be done by which day, and we have not upset any of our valued clients. He is far better at To Do lists than I am. I make to do lists but not in the correct order and then I can get stressed when they don’t pan out.
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I have (again) decided I need to lose a few kg’s.
Hubby and I have been just so stupidly busy lately that we are both feeling quite overwhelm
