Home

Home is where your heart is. Familiar smells, the collection of random collectibles in my cupboard that brings back a moment in the past. 

It is comforting knowing some things never change. Like the man selling Leen Chee Kang at the same spot in the night market since I was a young girl. It used to cost eighty cents, then a dollar, now it's a dollar fifty. 

One sip and I'm transported back to my childhood. Happiness can be found in the simplest of things.

Last weekend before the big trip

Ahh I love waking up on weekends, breakfast is already in the oven waiting to be heated up.

Exciting times this week! First family trip! Anxious and excited!!

What I'm thankful for this weekend

* Massage for my aching wrists 

* Sleeping in while hubby takes care of Em

* Home cooked breakfast 

* Road trip to the site of our new house 

Beauty is a burden

My neighbour's passion fruit plant is growing well. So well that it grew over the fence to our back yard in search of greener pastures. 

It's little crawlers searching for something solid to creep up on. Which happens to be my clothesline. Every morning I remove the plants' crawlers from the line, in the evening they cling on again.

So today hubby trimmed them off. My clothesline is now free from the twirly veins, even the beautifully weird flower in my favourite colour does not stand a chance.

An Unordinary Day

As new parents both hubby and I have not had a chance to eat out at night, just the 2 of us. Date nights are but a distant memory. Valentines day was approaching and instead of making it just another day filled with baby-related routines, I decided to cook a 3 course dinner to spice up our life a little.

It took some time planning and also help from hubby to take care of baby Em while I cook. I did not want to make the usual soup, meat + potato + veg and dessert, as MKR is now showing on TV I was inspired to try something different, something which looks like restaurant quality food.

For Entrée we had:
Scallops with Hazelnut Butter and Herbs

The recipe is from here.

 

Main was Herb Crusted Lamb Cutlet with Sweet Potato Purée and Asparagus

The recipe is from here.
 

For dessert:

Deconstructed Tiramisu

Recipe was from Taylor's University pastry course which I attended.

To drink we had sparkling Cuvée (alcohol removed). 

Hubby set the table, lighted a candle and dimmed the lights. We started dinner at 8.15pm and only finished 3 and a half hours later. Baby Em was lovely to let us have the entree in peace but later required a feed, diaper change and be put to bed. So we took our time to enjoy each course and each other's company.

At the end of the night, long after baby was in bed I sat on the couch with hubby with our full tummies and watched a marathon of If You Are The One showing on tv till 1.30am. 

No fancy restaurant, overpriced romantic menu, or having to pay a jockey for car park. I was at home with my 2 valentines, and it is exactly where I wanted to be. 

 

Weekly food diary: Snacks

When I was pregnant my appetite increased, especially in the last trimester. I was constantly hungry and looking for food.

So after giving birth I thought my appetite would return to that of pre-pregnancy days.. Boy was I wrong. Enter breastfeeding, which burns extra calories and in turn makes me hungry ever so often. 

It's so tempting to indulge in snacks between meals now that I have a legitimate excuse to eat more (feeding 2 people here!) so I try to limit sinful treats to once or twice a week. After all I think I deserve to pamper myself after a long week of hauling around a 5.5 kg bub.

This is a sample of my weekly snacks:

Monday: Roasted peach with brown sugar 

Tuesday: Low fat hummus with water biscuit and paprika 

Wednesday: Barley with rock sugar, beancurd sheet and candied winter melon

 

Thursday: Tiny pear (ok I did not eat 3, only 1)

Friday: Small bowl of trail mix (almonds, hazelnuts, raisins, cranberries, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds)

I must admit after bub was born I did indulge on biscuits, chips(!), satisfying my seemingly bottomless appetite. Now I'm approaching 11 weeks post partum I am determined to eat healthier and better, to return to my pre-pregnancy food habits. Of course also to lose those last few kgs of baby fat!

Blue Skies

Simple joys of life include a sleep in on a cool summer morning, waking up to big breakfast/brunch, and a stroll in the park. Best if its a combination of all of the above on New Years weekend.

Sometimes all I need is a change of scenery to remind myself that life is bigger than what I see in my little cocoon, which currently is filled with everything baby related and passes in a whirl of sleep deprived days.

Clear blue skies, rustling leaves and a whiff of lemon scented gumtree reminds me that my world is beautiful, it's just waiting for me to embrace it.

New beginnings

It's been almost 4 years since I last posted on this blog.

Life had taken over in the last few years, and I am now a different version of myself having gone through 2 new jobs, a surgery, migration to Australia, my wedding and the birth of my beautiful daughter.

When the clock struck 12 on 1 January 2015, I was standing in front of my kitchen sink, cleaning milk bottles, as the house slept. From the kitchen window fireworks lit up the sky from across the Swan River. In that moment I felt at peace. Contented.

In my mid 20's I ushered in the new year in discos, music blaring and strobe lights flickering.
In my late 20's and early 30's New Years meant making resolutions, writing down my wishes and hopes for the coming year.
Now in my mid 30's, the new year is about living the life that I am now blessed with.
I have nothing more to ask for, no wish unfulfilled. I've been humbled and blessed.

One thing I do hope is to blog more, if I could now that I have a newborn.
Lets make this happen!