Mammajoy

Banana Bread

Once, a long time ago, I used to go to the Australian Breastfeeding Association's fortnightly mum's group in Brisbane.  I have such fond memories of these get togethers with other first-time mum's.  The support and encouragement I received from those lovely mum's helped immensely in those trying days as a newbie mum.

It was at one of these gatherings that we all swapped a favourite recipe of ours, and one of the recipes I received was for Banana Bread.  I can't remember the mum who gave me this recipe; it's handwritten on a page with some notes and tips added haphazardly.  I love that from one home to another, this recipe has made it's way into my collection.

I love Banana Bread and so do the kids.  It's quick, healthy and you can hide all manner of goodness inside them.  So with this handsome dude to help we baked a loaf this morning.

 

Banana Bread

2 cups SR flour

1 tsp cinnamon (I always add a smidge more..)

2/3 cup caster sugar (I'm out of caster sugar, so today I used brown sugar, worked fine!)

1 cup milk

2 eggs

1 tbsp sunflower oil

2 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup mashed banana (about 2 medium bananas)

(You could easily add some linseed, lecithin, pumpkin seeks, sultanas etc. for some more goodness.  If this makes the batter dry just add a splash more milk).

 

Preheat oven to 180C.  Grease and flour a large loaf tin.

Sift flour and cinnamon together.  Add sugar and stir well.

In a jug whisk together milk, eggs, oil, vanilla essence and banana.

Add milk mixture to the flour mix and stir together well.

Bake for 45-50 minutes and until a skewer comes out clean.  Leave in tin for 5 minutes before cooling on a wire rack.

* Make sure the loaf tin is large as this cake will rise and we don't want any overflows and terribe messes in the oven!

Deee-licious with a hot cup of coffee for morning tea.

In the Kitchen

Now that I'm (almost) back on my feet my kitchen has been a hive of activity lately...

 

:: Bread dough.  Resting.  Waiting.  Doubling in size.  This is a new recipe and I'm very keen to see the results.

 

:: Pizza for dinner.  This is our favourite dinner on Monday nights.  It's easy, quick and relaxed after a (usually) hectic beginning to the week.  And really, what kid doesn't love making pizza?

 

 

::  My favourite helper in the kitchen.  Okay, so she doesn't as much help as goof around.  But fun nonetheless!

 

 

::  A big 'ol bag of bananas.  I LOVE YOU $1.99 per kilo bananas.  We went many months without bananas because they were just too expensive - $15.99 per kilo!! - so it's wonderful having them in abundance again.  I'll be making banana muffins for school with these as well as putting heaps in the dehydrator.  Dried banana = YUM.

 

 

::  This here is all my mum's fault.  Spoiling me when she was here taking (amazing) care of me and my family and sneaking all sorts of goodness into my pantry (which, by the way, she completely cleaned and re-organised for me.  Mum, you're just great).  This is pure, raw cocoa powder.  I think my heart just skipped a beat.  The only downside to this - but then again not really - is that it's best not to cook with it.  Apparently all the awesome goodness of antioxidants and vitamins and minerals are vastly depleted if it's cooked.  But this isn't going to stop me.  I've got an amazing recipe for Raw Chocolate Brownie that requires no cooking whatsoever.  And the taste is out-of-this-world good.  And it's healthy.  And very chocolately. 

 

::  And lastly, the latest poster from Frankie magazine.  I don't usually put these postoers up, but this one is so quaint and makes me smile.

As I type this I have that bread dough baking in my oven.  Oh my.  My kitchen smells GOOD!  If this recipe turns out I may have found the bread making technique that is going to work for me!  I've tried quite a few and they haven't risen to the occasion.  Oh yeah.  Pun totally intended.

Anything exciting happen'n in your kitchen?

Today...

Overseeing the painting of the NEW chore board.  We have so many chores to list that we outgrew the last one!  Jess did a great job on this :-)

Baked some delicious Apple and Cinnamon muffins for school and kindy lunches.  My Sunday's are not complete unless I bake something.  This is a strange and fustrating quirk!

Admired these beautiful roses that a dear friend gave me this week.

Kept my eye on this litte tiger who seems to have developed a nasty cough overnight.  He's had his little chest rubbed with some menthol balm, some panadol given and the vapouriser on in his room.  Hopefully by morning it will be a little better.

There's a fresh new week beginning tomorrow!

Change....

...is in the air.

Hello!  It's me!  Long time owner of this blog :-)  I've been MIA for a while now but I'm still here and still hanging on for the motherhood gig.

Life for our family has been one rough journey over the past few months.  Maybe I'll share with you one day.  Maybe I won't.  I haven't been blogging as frequently as normal (if you could ever call my blogging ahem, frequent) and I'm sorry if you've been popping by to see what's up.  I do that on some other blogs and when nothings new it's kinda annoying.

But I'm here, and I'm good and I'm remembing why I love this space.  I'm determined to not allow negativity and hurt stop me from being myself, sharing my heart, my messy house, my love for my family and my wonder at this universe God created.  Life's too short to let other people dictate how I live my life.

So. Moving on!  I anticipate big things for this blog this year.  I'm thinking new PAGE DESIGN, new COLOURS, more recent PHOTOS of myself (now that I'm 12kg's lighter...) and maybe even some more consistent posts.  Just for laughs!

I've learnt a lot since that first post back in 2008 (about my showering habits???  really??) and I'm so thankful for this journey.  I'd like it to continue, one day and funny anecdote at a time.

Right now, Samuel is climbing onto my lap, dummy in his mouth, ready for bed.  Everyone has just returned from a night out and it's bed time.

If I can manage to get up off the couch I'll go and say some prayers and give some cuddles and give thanks for the end of another (slightly difficult) day.

Thanks for reading.  Thanks for your patience.  Thanks for your friendship.

On to bigger, brighter and better things!

Peace xxoo

 

One Day

I lay down beside him, just as we do every night.

'Mum, I really like you'.  

'Aww, I like you too buddy'.

We share this exchange every day now.  And each time my heart skips a beat.  The way he honestly expresses his feelings towards me, so innocently and without flourish or extravagance.  So beautiful.

This particular night he mentioned how big dad is.  I said that one day he would be as big and as tall as dad.

'Wouldn't that be hard to imagine, that you'll be as tall as daddy one day?'

He smiled and nodded, already proud at the thought of such an achievement.

And then a sadness drifted into my heart.  Hang on.  You're my little king, not sure I want you to grow up so soon.  The thought of seeing him one day, a tall, strong man seems so distant.

'Hey mum!  Guess what!  It's Christmas tomorrow!!!'  

Aahh yes, but today, today he is still my goofy little boy who has no sense of time.

'Um actually no, it's not Christmas tomorrow Joseph.  Christmas was a few weeks ago darling.'

'Oh'. 

He snuggles in and we say prayers and I'm thankful that he grows only a little each day, and it's the number of days all together sprinkled with love and nurturing that will, one day, make him as tall as his daddy.

I'm just glad that day isn't today.

Seven

I look in my rear view mirror and see her.

She is looking out the window, with longing in her eyes.

Sometimes when I see her I wonder what she is thinking.  What is going through her mind.

Dreams?  Good thoughts?  Fears?  Memories?  Thinking that she was born into the wrong family?(She says that sometimes.....!)

She is beautiful beyond words to me, and each year she astounds me with her wisdom, her patience, her love for friends (and siblings, although I have photograhic proof that would suggest otherwise....remember this?)  She seems to have a mind that is three years older than her body.

This is both a blessing and a curse challenge.

 

Jessica's 1st Birthday Party

She looks worried....didn't like the party poppers!

Jessica, 7 years old

There is something undeniably special about your first baby.

That first time that you realise that your heart is capable of bursting completely open wide.  And then doing that again and again every day for years to come.

She is vivacious.  Courageous.  Audacious.  Outspoken.  Vibrant.  Smart.  And beautiful.

The other week she turned seven.

Last night she lost her front baby tooth.

She's growing up, that girl.  And she makes me proud every single day.

I love you Jessica Jade.  You're gonna love being 7.

It totally rocks.

Pause

Sometimes a 'non-day' is just what you need.

Matt's work van sits un-moved in the backyard.

The list of 'things' I'd hoped to achieve today goes un-ticked.

The suitcase from my weekend away with friends remains un-packed.

You could say we've hit the 'pause' button.

We feel like we are waiting at the moment.  Waiting for direction.  Waiting for confirmation.  Waiting for growth.

Waiting for school to finish.

Waiting for Christmas and cherished time with family.

There is a solace and serenity in waiting and today, we have simply stopped and soaked it up.

A Bubbly Letter

Dear new 8.5kg washing machine.....

l'm so glad you're here.  I appreciate your flashing lights, your smooth dial and that cute song you play when you're turned on.  I'm sure we're going to get along marvelously.

But you see, my last washing machine broke down - more than once - because of the aforementioned flashing lights, dial and pretty tunes.

So here's the thing. I won't be swayed by your cuteness.  You can't dazzle me with your unnecessary technology.  You are here to wash, and wash only.

Don't sensor my clothes, don't adjust the water temperature to suit the level of dirt detected, don't do a 'medic rinse' at 40degress to kill the germs.  

JUST WASH MY CLOTHES.  

I want them clean and spun at 1400.  M'kay? Do that, and all is sweet.

Sincerely yours,

Your new owner.

 P.s.  Oh and the dryer can be a bitch sometimes. Just a heads up.

 

Holiday Snaps

 

    
 
 
I'm in love with NSW beaches.  We explored them for hours, collecting shells and rocks and chasing crabs along the sand.

These photos are strange to look at.  Like the calm before the storm.  The day after they were taken Samuel became very ill and we rushed him to Hospital.  Wish I could rewind time, go back to this beach and start over from there.

But that post is for another day.

Today, I'm soaking up these photos and remembering that fresh, salty air.

 

The View from Here

:: The swimming spot that is ranking as favourite so far.  Named Shark Bay, slightly disconcerting yet beautiful!

::  Rachael and her 'starfish'.  Clearly it's not really a starfish, I think they only have 5 points?  A sea-dwelling creature of some kind.

::  Jessica dancing on the beach.  I want to do that every day!

::  Rachael creating a home for her 'unnamed sea-dwelling creature'.  That girls loves seaweed.  Go figure.

::  Family tournaments of Kerplunk.

::  Waking up from snoozes on the couch.  And in our PJ's mid-afternoon. Love it.

::  Pictures with my eldest daughter, marvelling at how quickly she is growing up.

::  Enjoying Easter celebrations and a backyard easter egg hunt.

 

Tommorow we plan on checking out the Macadamia Castle  and then maybe onto Byron Bay the day after.

I hope you and your loved ones have had a lovely weekend.  Happy Easter everyone!