A new venture

Hi

Exciting times!

We're starting a new venture PET Me on 28 September.

Check out our website www.petmeplease.co.nz

Easy-As Sour Dough Starter

The first step to delicious, healthy sour dough bread is the, aptly named, Starter!

After trial and error, here's my formula for your own yeasty, bubbly tub of goodness to fuel your future adventures in sour dough ....

 

"Eating Our 8" (or an alternative to forming the parent plate police!)

There's a thread on neighbourly at the moment with that age old issue of how to manage fusspot kids at the table without everyone going insane!  As a family, we struggled with this when our two hair-shirts were small.  Even now, aged almost-10 and 12 years old, we have our moments!

 

We got totally sick of being the "plate police" - so we started an "eating your eight" policy. 

 

 

 

Photo:  Our kids are bigger and we are no longer "writing up", but, out of curiosity while writing this post I reproduced how the kids would have done yesterday.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here's what we did ...

Brilliant Bircher Brekkie!

I love Bircher for breakfast! It's super tasty, super easy, sugar free and nutrient dense.  I like that I do a little prep the night before as in the chaos of our school mornings, my breakfast is sadly well down the list!  This really sets you up for the day!

 Here's how I make mine ...

Hamilton's Poisonous Parks

As a mum and a dog owner, the presence of poison heralded as DEADLY in the parks, gullies and walkways that we frequent is a cause for concern.    I have noticed that in many places the signage appears to be staying up indefinitely and  it's a right pain to not know if somewhere has or has not had poison laid. I wondered:  is this how this signage (and poisoning programme) is meant to work?

Test Kitchen: High Protein Cookies

I decided to try out a recipe I thought looked really interesting  on Spoonful of Sugarfree and to let you all know how I got on.  The High Protein Cookies recipe looked really interesting because, if they're nice, then they could be a great before/after event or long run option. 

They looked great coming out of the oven!

Read on for my version and verdict ...

Cinnamon Scrolls - sans sucre!

This is an adaptation of an internet scrolls recipe and my attempts at sour dough based cinnamon scrolls.  I am (very) happily enjoying this latest batch as I write. mmmmm!

Juicy Jellies

In our search for a sweet treat that fits with our sugar free status, we've come up with Juicy Jellies: just using gelatine, juice and fresh fruit ... and they're a WINNER ...
 

• Totally healthy
• Totally easy to make
• Totally affordable
• Totally YUM!

My Kids' Moral Character Starts with Me ... more on the Rowers

 

So, two kids have a brief brain explosion at an airport ... 

 

(photos from Facebook)

 

There is the Blog by Brendon Malone doing the rounds on Facebook entitled "Son, Your Character is More Important to Me than Legal Action".  This takes the writer's personal point of view as the parent of a two year old and imagines what this two year old might say in his defence, if as teenager he had been sent home having broken the law on a sports trip.  It basically argues that the boys parents have undermined the school's view of the code of conduct and by doing to have done a disservice to their children's upbringing and character.  A commonly held position on this issue.

I agree with Malone that kids need consequences and that it is bad for parents to be wishy washy on rules. 

I disagree with Malone's application of these principles to the current case.  Malone's argument is fatally flawed for four reasons:

Thoughts on the Row over the Rowers ... Putting the Just in Justice

So, a news story dominating our headlines over the last few weeks has been that of a couple high school rowers who acted like a pair of delinquents at an airport on the way to an important rowing event, the Maadi Cup.  The parents of the pair applied for a Judicial Review of the decision and won an interim injunction enabling their sons to attend the Maadi Cup.

A Great Idea #2

The modernist, technocratic idea of "development" is the exportation and global implementation of one technological, economic and societal monoculture, promulgated as normal and progress.

Skinny Juice AKA Green Tea Lemonade

I can't tell you just how much I LOVE this stuff!

Green tea and lemon juice not only taste delicious together, but the lemon juice enhances the green tea health benefits.

Rich in antioxidants, the ingredients have wide ranging beneficial effects from lowering cholesterol to preventing tooth decay to an association with lower cancer and heart disease rates.  Both green tea and lemon juice can help with rheumatic and arthritic issues. 

A Great Idea #1

Check this out:  The French require rooftops to be "green"

Instead of commercial/industrial zones being urban deserts of concrete and tar seal, the French have enacted regulation requiring the wasted roof space of these flat roofed buildings to be put to good use.  At least 1/3 of the space must be covered in either solar panels or a green roof.  Most people are aware of the passive power general benefits of solar generation. The green roof functions on many levels:  it improves insulation enormously, saving power usage for the building; it improves the quality of the storm water draining from the roof;  and, it provides all the benefits of greenery in an otherwise black and grey area!

Imagine if all the new commercial buildings in New Zealand had this requirement?  How much better off would we be?

Life Hack: Fried Shallots

If you don't know about these yet - get prepared to be using these on everything!  They're delicious, they're crunchy, they're not enormously bad for you ... no downsides.  Fried dried shallots!

Most international style supermarkets stock them.  They're pretty cheap ($3-$4 for a medium sized bag).  Just sprinkle over your casserole, curry or stew for a sweet crunchy lift.

They're really, really good added last to chicken and corn noodle soup just before serving.  Just as sensational on tomato and bacon soup, added with parmesan and croutons (of course!).

Once you start, you're going to be hooked.

Post ways you use them in comments ...

 

Life Hack: Coloured Rice

Here's an ingredient we've only recently discovered:  coloured rice.  Specifically, red and black rice.  These are a really great way to boost the nutrition and flavour of a rice based meal.

Beef up your meat meals

Like many families, meal times for us involve walking the tight rope between what we know we should eat, what the kids won't fight us on and what we are conditioned to like such as meat (mainly 'cos it tastes good!).

Here I'm going to share a few of the tips we have learned to beef up our meals nutritionally and to make them more economical ... and, here's the clincher, without the kids even noticing!

Life Hack: Cooking without Sugar (Savoury)

Our family is on a one-year sugar free challenge.  This has meant we've had to create and adapt recipes for this post-sugar reality. 

It might surprise you, but sugar is used a reasonable amount in savoury cooking:  especially in curries and sometimes stews.  Many dishes involve a tablespoon or so of brown sugar at the onion-browning stage.  How do you substitute another ingredient without compromising taste?

Sugar Free Family Challenge

At the end of August 2014, at the suggestion of my husband, our family embarked on an experiment:  Could we go without sugar for a year?

Welcome!

Welcome to my first post as a blogger!
It took a lot of brain storming to come up with a title that accommodated the disparate and eclectic topics I wished to cover, including:  health, fitness and diet;  family;  philosophy; and, the various animals that accompany us on our journey! 
Those who already know our family through social media or, astonishingly, real life will know how passionate we are about these things.  I hope to share some of that passion and compassion for life, to share some of the learning and challenges encountered on our journey and to provide a forum for others to join in discussion as intelligent and kind human beings!
Excited?  I am!