|| Mumma Daze ||

and the entire house was exhausted! I have resorted to what I call the 'cop out' of parenting...turning the TV on and leaving the child to be glued to it like a brainwashed robot. Why you ask? I is tired! and I have much to get through, and whilst I want my little guy to help me with all the fun stuff, the style of whinging that only comes from a nearly 2 year old is the very last thing I wish to experience today. The weather is dreary, again, which makes standard housework even more unappealing. Who wants to hang washing out when it isn't sunny and beautiful outside?! I have sneakily switched the channel to an animal doco, still enticing enough that the little person will let it capture his attention for a few minutes at a time (hello going to the toilet in peace!) but not enough to have him glued to it for the entire day. Perhaps after his nap I will put my responsible parent cap back on and turn the TV off.

soooooooooo per previous post, I have some baking to do for Christmas... Went to major supermarket to complete the grocery shopping.......... visited the biscuit aisle for a major ingredient requirement............ THERE WERE NO MILK ARROWROOT BISCUITS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! just plain unacceptable, surely the little people in the biscuit factories are churning more of these out than ever come mid November to ensure the nation is not in short supply of chocolate / rum balls come Christmas Day? Shall be stalking all supermarkets within radius of home over the next two days to locate these imperative items!!

Shopping bill always elevates a little at this time of year....mixed fruit, toasted muesli, extra SR flour, plain biscuits.....lots of goodies are produced from that little stash though! This year the bake off will consist of: chocolate balls apricot muesli balls cinnamon biscuits a fruit cake (!) and the very dapper choc brownie santa hats that have gone viral on the web this past week! yummmmmmmmmmmmmo!

the joys of being a working mum. with technology what it is, working from home is now just as easy (read :: normal) as working in the office. this means when the little people are sick, you don't go INTO work, but you still work. juggle, juggle, juggle. I wish I could juggle balls, blocks or firey sticks as well as I can juggle my time. It would be much more entertaining!

Last night DH, myself & the little guy embarked on an outing that we don't do often enough - dinner, out, just the three of us! We visit many local eating places with DH's sizable family (9 incl partners plus close family friends - normally ends up anywhere between 12 - 15ppl!) however it always turns into a reasonable difficult event with the little guy in a loud place, lots of people and so on and so forth. Recently I mentioned to hubby we don't go out just the three of us - SO  we did! We bought an online deal voucher for $29 that entitled us to a bread for entree, 2 main meals & a bottle of house wine at 4017 Bar & Grill @ Sandgate. This is a 'pub' like I've not seen in a very long time, but in a good way. It comprises of a small public bar and a dining room.... and that's it. There is no pokies, no TAB, no thumping loud music, no gawdy carpet and no awful lighting - dim here and there, starlight bright everywhere else. I was impres...

this is a delightful recipe, that is so so soooooooooooo easy and very yummy. I found it in the 4 Ingredients 'red' cookbook. INGREDIENTS 1 x vanilla cake mix - the no name 70c ones 3/4 cup melted butter 400g tin pie apples (that is the original recipe - I use fresh apples, about 5 good sized granny smiths, peel, quarter and par cook in the m'wave for about 4 mins, then cut in half again) 200g Sour Cream Cinnamon add melted butter to cake mix and combine to form a dough - press dough into a rectangular lined baking dish. Bake in a preheated 180 degree oven for 15 mins combine sour cream & apple and pour over the base, top with cinnamon - as much or as little as you please. return to the oven for a further 15 minutes. cool in the fridge for a good couple of hours before removing from the dish and slicing - the longer it's in the fridge the better as it really needs to set. I cut mine into squares for dessert or smaller rectangles for morning tea. en...

the weather was forecast this weekend for wet and stormy, and we woke this morning that is exactly what it was, but alas the mumma bear goes shopping for a few hours and much changed. the sun is shining, the sky is blue, put the paints away, lets play outside today!! just have to wait for the little guy to awake from his daytime slumber!

So in light of all things that pertain to making the mummy of the home happy, I finally decided the time had come to indulge in something that I have always, always wanted....a really good camera. To explore the small amount of creativity I have and to see if I can capture what I see in an image. OH and to take amazing photos of the little guy! Two weekends ago off to Harvey Norman I went, thanks to their spectacular 50 months interest free deal - because I was sick to death of saving and waiting! and walked out with brand spanking Nikon D5100. I have taken approximately 500 photos since :) Have I managed to capture what I see in an image - once or twice YES! I'd like to do it more often, but practice makes perfect. I see a lot of beauty and tranquility in the bushland that backs onto our home and I love the afternoon sun in our backyard, it is one of my favourite places in our home at that time of the day and this is one of the things I am trying to get INTO a shot to share wi...

This Mumma bear has been working full time for the month of september, two weeks down, two weeks to go. It's tough. REAL tough. Last fortnight I capped off 94 hours of work. How did I fit that in - AND everything else? The lord looking down on me only knows! I have much to share, new recipes, new tricks and lots of stories, but unfortunately no time right now. Leave with this - find an hour soon to do something you love. Go for walk, go to the beach and get your feet wet, bake cookies, pick up a book and read it. Just do something that makes your heart warm and lips smile.... you'll feel better for it.

Okay so I've voiced before our f/t grocery budget is $350 - this figure was derived not from what was left after other expenses but rather based on what we actually spent when we bought everything we needed. This means it's a generous budget and it always works - very hard to go over it! This fortnight I've beaten it AGAIN! By following my own little set of rules that I've previously shared with you...it looks something like this: FIRST STOP :: Aldi - lots of snack food (more than I usually would) incl crackers, sweets, muesli bars etc, nappies and other grocery items...total $115.72 SECOND STOP :: Woolworths - just a few key items that were in their specials catalogue ... only one of them a necessity - the others are treats... total $28.45 THIRD STOP :: Butcher & Fruit and Veg - lots of meat, and a trolley full of fruit & veg...total $81.93 Now I do need to pay a visit to Coles for a few particular items (some on special, some not) and I estimate I...

Whilst the shopping to a list and meal plan is the best way to save yourself money / time there is also another nifty tip that for me works well and go hand in hand with this process. I have certain grocery items that are just in the pantry - as I am sure we all do - sauce, dressing, mayo, plain crackers, pappadums, curry powder etc Rather than try and remember what you need each week / fortnight - attach a piece of paper to your fridge or your cupboard and when you run out of something whilst cooking write it down. Make the list a permanent fixture in your kitchen so this tiny tiny task also becomes a fixture.. you'll no longer have 3 bottles of tomato sauce and no BBQ. French dressing but not italian, curry powder but not mustard powder and all types of pasta instead of 5 packets of fettucine!!!

Think Again! So you don't have kids, you think that all this money & time saving stuff Mum's go on about doesn't apply to you... Well here's news, it can! There are also many OTHER tips for people who are time poor but with some disposable income.... *Buy your fruit & veg at the fruit shop and meat at the butcher, yep you'll save money but you'll get better quality too! *Do your groceries online and have them delivered, when you're working full-time why waste your weekend at the supermarket? *Hire a cleaner - once a week / fortnight / month. You might be surprised how affordable it is... And the time you gain is worth it, not to mention the lack of stress that can be associated with keeping house whilst working 40-50 hours a week. *Learn to follow a recipe and create a yummy meal out of a good cookbook, you'll enjoy the task, the outcome and you might save a few bucks eating at home instead of heading out to the latest & greatest restaurant i...

Folding washing that has been on my ottoman for a couple of days... Pick up a pair of Bonds socks that have the non slip rubber stuff on the bottom and realise they are literally black with ants. Entirely covered. Upon closer attention realise the rubber has been almost entirely eaten off! There are specks of blue all through the clean washing! Never seen this before, and hopefully never again! YICK!!!

I have just downloaded an app for my iPhone that allows me to post to my blog... This is the trial post! Having only a desktop PC I find that whilst I have much to share I often forget it by the time I get to my desk or simply run out of time... So if this works maybe you'll see more of mummadaze :)

Faced with a family birthday yesterday and a little stumped on gift ideas...I did have one brilliant idea but of course none of the shops I visited produced what I was looking for... ANYWAY..... Whilst wandering through my local shopping centre I thought hmmmmm Did you know.. Gloria Jeans sells gift vouchers? YES they do! In $5 increments. Well I'll have 4 of those thank you very much. Beautiful idea, thoughtful, practical and not another piece of junk to occupy space in your house that you probably won't use. Way better than a scratchie too! So the next time you buy a birthday card and are heading to the newsagency to stuff it full of scratchies consider a cup of coffee for your friend or family member instead :) p.s. I prefer Zaraffa's coffee over anything else..and they do gift cards too - a pre-paid card of 10 of your favourite drinks :)

it seems this is one of the 'greatest debates' at the moment. a hot topic. when you're pregnant / a new mum somehow or other it becomes ingrained knowledge that Huggies are the one, the only, the best nappy for all children...and parents. this somehow leads to a division between huggies users and those that don't (oh my! you don't use huggies? I ONLY use huggies...) and I have witnessed this first hand in the real world....almost as if you don't use Huggies you're a second class parent. WELL .... I used huggies & modern cloth nappies from the word go...and from the word go Huggies leaked. they leaked in Newborn, they leaked in Infant, Toddler & Walker.... i have had no less than 4 Huggies replacement packets left on my doorstep by their lovely courier people - they must deliver ALOT of nappies to unhappy parents. It definitely pays to complain. However, having had it knocked into me that Huggies were the one & only I just didn't know w...

I dragged my heels heading to the butcher / fruit market today..why? because I still had no meal plan and only a skerrick of shopping list. Seriously lacking in energy and motivation I sourced my meal plan inspiration from the butcher / fresh produce / my husband and whatever I already had in the pantry! For a change it was nice, although we did the Aldi stop too and without a list that was tough... I had a rough idea what I needed and a little adlib was okay too. I have now produced my meal plan, albeit vague! beef strog chicken carbonara rissoles (could be hamburgers?) slow cooked lamb shanks chicken sausages & vegies honey mustard chicken sweet & sour chicken steak (with whatever takes my fancy... potato salad maybe?) marinated chicken wings & rice LOTS of chicken, but it's always that way in our house. tonight DH & I have no idea what we're eating for tea. Personally I'm leaning towards a scrumptious chocolate & cream cake roll paire...

Never in my life has time moved so fast as it did last weekend. From Thursday family began to arrive and by Friday afternoon we were all here! That's 13 of us in total!!! Time went by so fast, after two park trips, lots of naps, nappy changes, and a mountain of food it was Monday before I knew and half of my beautiful family had already left and the others were due to leave that day :( The two little people got along brilliantly, and by geez when they're just a little bit older I think they'll get up to mischief whenever they're together. Meal plan? what Meal plan? Any plans I had made at the beginning of the fortnight were quickly shoved out the window. Before everyone got here I was too busy planning their arrival to follow a plan...and after they left I was too buggered! So we've just pulled something together from what we have and now lo & behold it's bloody shopping day again!!! I have my work cut out for me with no meal plan for the coming tw...

$116 under budget.... yup that's the result for this fortnights shopping. Albeit it may not be a very true reflection as there are four days completely removed from the equation. But hey it makes the bank balance look good, and makes me feel like the extra work I put in is worth it! A note on my satay from last night, it tasted pretty good - not very satayish but yummy just the same. when I told my sister what I'd put in it she yelled down the phone "WHAT! Where did you get THAT recipe?" response "my head..?" she then proceeded to give me a true Indonesian Satay recipe which she is going to write out for me on the weekend...then I shall share it!

A slow start to my shopping day that resulted in only half of it done. Hubby is picking up a bit on the way home from his sporting match and I guess I'll finish it tomorrow. Nearly too buggered to bother preparing the dinner that is planned, but hitched up my pants (literally, my jeans are always slipping!) and got on with it. Diced up the mostly defrosted chicken thigh and rummaged around for the ingredients that I assume go into a satay..now I say first attempt which isn't quite correct, I have attempted satay once before many many years ago but cannot remember the outcome...this and the fact I've never made it again probably mean it was bad...this one WILL be better...positive thinking always works. peanut butter...smooth (we don't do crunchy) cashews, they just happened to be in the cupboard, already opened and probably forgotten about. Figured they'll add some texture. Put them in the happy chopper then into the sauce. soy sauce - which I had to add more ...

Further to what I've previously written about checking Big W out for bulk grocery prices AND checking catalogues for good specials on items you would normally buy.... Bio Zet Laundry powder averages a retail price of $9.99 for a 1kg box at the supermarket At Big W the every day the price is $37.98 for a 6kg tub - this equals $6.33kg - this is their EVERYDAY price...not a special. So you can see that if you bought at Big W at any time you're paying less for the product. BUT checking the catalogues pays too because this week at Coles, a 1kg box is on special for $6! For me this fortnight I've saved myself an extra .33c kg on laundry powder as I was going to head straight to Big W and buy the tub - but now I'll buy it at Coles instead :)

This fortnight is a bit out of the ordinary for a couple of reasons - A) I shopped from my freezer first... because it was quite full from buying in bulk I need to clear it out before I can buy anymore, so my meal plan is based around the meat we already had B) for four nights out of the fortnight I will have guests! So I won't be including the meals for those days! {meal plan} > marinated chicken thigh (possible skewers) w/ fried rice > chicken wraps > home made hamburgers > butter chicken with rice & pappadums > crumbed chicken breast & stuffed potatoes > Hubby's curry > Steak & gravy w/ mash > Potato & Cauliflower curry (this I've never cooked before so is likely to be made as a side or additional to what I'm already cooking!) Now all the meat I'm using I already have, and as you can see we have lots of chicken & mince in the freezer! Also all of those meals are made from scratch, except the butter chicken ...

It comes but once a year.  The BIG one. well the BIG one times four. Toy Sales.... Big W, Kmart, Target, Myer. They release their catalogues online as a sneak preview, deliver them to your letterboxes weeks before and then cram every bloody last nook & cranny of every store with toys...random toys, new toys, sparkly, shiny toys (and personally I think some that are left over from last year too)!! In my opinion this is the PERFECT time to put on a layby, a large one, and pay it off for the next 6 months. They all offer NO DEPOSIT!! and store it until CHRISTMAS EVE!! Now our little mr 18 months celebrates his birthday in January. Just a week and a half after Christmas. In theory that could put ALOT of strain on the wallet. But by shopping around the four major department stores, collecting the catalogues and then racing out like a crazed imbecile on the opening day.... it doesn't :) This is our second year of doing this, last year it wo...

This week I have been struck down with a cold. Thankfully not the flu. But still a yicky very {snotty} cold!! It has put a dampener on organising my shopping trip for the weekend, cooking meals for my boys during the week and in general being on top of everything. This means the last three menu items for this fortnight haven't gone to plan. Honey Mustard Chicken that was meant to be served with rice - so Fried Rice could be made - was had with beautiful curly pasta hmmmmmm tasted good with my sore throat! Fried Rice is out the window now until Friday night. And the last menu item of lamb chops, vegies and pasta was replaced last night by KFC.... O_o .... :D Now we don't do the takeaway thing very often at all and even rarer an occasion it is that we resort to KFC of all things, but I tell you what when it comes to takeaway that was value for money! 9 pieces of chicken, 9 nuggets, large gravy, four breadrolls and two large chips - $24.95. Plenty of food for 2 adults ...

BBQ chicken broken down for sandwiches whole egg mayo (or any mayo you like the taste of) celery finely diced salt pepper dill if you have it or chives sour cream Mix all of this together in a bowl and use as a sandwich filling - this is a great one for parties / guests etc as it has a yummy taste, isn't just chicken and mayo AND the chicken will spread a lot further. yummmmmooooooooo!!!

...and the word change in this sentence has two contexts - I made a change to my life and consequently now receive MORE change at the supermarket!! There are many age old theories and also plenty of new ones regarding how to save money with your groceries. One that I have never applied nor followed is the art of making a meal plan and thus a shopping list....and then sticking to it. For the last 2 - 3 months, that is exactly what I've done and by geez has it worked. Combining the meal plan and shopping list with some other tried and true shopping tricks I have kept my grocery budget and we have eaten beautiful, yummy food every day and every night. This week for me is shopping week so as I complete each step I'll blog it and hopefully you'll see how it actually works. Before we begin, below are my KEY shopping tips to save money that I undertake every shop (for me this is fortnightly)... and because I'm all about sharing my personal grocery budget for a fortnigh...

Sleep when the baby sleeps Eat to keep up your strength Make time for yourself Have someone else feed the baby so you can have a break You hear all of that and more when you're a new Mum, all of it with good intention however it often seems like hounding and honestly how many of us heed it? It all comes down to this... Be Kind to Yourself. Recently I have learnt from a medical professional how important it is to be kind to yourself. If you are not then you will suffer for it. Maybe not straight away, maybe not in a dramatic way but you will feel it. You may feel depressed, anxious, cranky. You may put on weight, your skin my appear dull & listless. No doubt you will be tired to the point of exhaustion. And you will say to yourself and others... I'm just tired, you know having a baby is tiring...or any excuse along those lines. Be Kind To Yourself and you WILL feel better. Get some sun - just 10 minutes in the morning before it gets too hot. Have your cup of t...

Today is the day Mumma Daze begins. Well not truly, as the daze of motherhood for me began on the 8 th January 2010. But this is where I will begin to share with other Mums or anyone who is interested in reading, my ups, downs, sideways and diagonal traipses through what is the daze of being a Mumma. In this blog you will see.. · random thoughts that may or may not relate to children · the rants and vents of a mother at the end of her tether · reviews of ‘products’ that I love or hate…and if I hate them you’ll know it · my hints and tips on saving money in your grocery (and other) shopping…because as you’ll come to learn.. I love a bargain · recipes that I’ve tried, tested, probably failed, then tried again and again · you will also hopefully, quite plainly, see the adoring love I have of being a working housewife and a mother to one precious little boy so, enjoy, relax, provide feedback, stay a quiet follower, join in… I’ll be here J