Its been ages since I've waxed lyrical about how much I love my Thermomix and what a game changer it is - c'mon, I know you've missed my thermo-mixing ha ha - so here goes:

S was in Europe a few weeks ago for 10 days - lucky guy - and left me to fend for myself with the two tiny terrors underfoot. We survived and even ate nutritious meals every most nights with the thermomix saving my life a few times when the littlest boy ramped up his arsenic hour behaviour right on meal prep time.

One of the meals on my list while solo parenting was enchiladas - I love Mexican, the boys do too and enchiladas taste great for lunch the next day.
I defrosted the chicken breast and was all set to steam, season and shred the chicken as per the TRLMT Chimichangas steps with a few minor alterations (add grated zucchini and enchilada sauce) when I realised my pantry was bare of Taco seasoning! The horror! Seriously, I usually have at least 4 packets of this stuff floating around. I was ready to give up but then remembered the chicken had to be cooked and I didn't want to be wasteful.
Light bulb moment... why not mill my own Taco seasoning in the TMX? I googled blends, found one that I had the herbs and spices for and literally 30 seconds later, was back on track with my own Taco seasoning.
Seriously, how good is that!?

Lately I've whipped up the Egg & Bacon Pie from the 4 Blades magazine Budget Issue. Super easy, my only tweak is to whisk and combine the eggs with a little milk and seasoning before pouring it over the bacon ... I throw in some extra cheese too ;)
Its a quick tasty dinner or an easy lunch (served hot or cold as the weather warms) as we almost always have the ingredients on hand - even the day before grocery day.

Individual lasagnes have also been a big hit. I use a basic bolognaise recipe from the EDC with beef mince and lots of veg in the base, fresh pasta sheets and a dash of ricotta on top. S loves them cold for lunch at work and the boys scoff them for dinner. They're pretty fuss free to make although don't do what I did and try and form the uncooked pasta sheets ... they tear and break.!  If I read the recipe properly instead of skipping ahead, I would have realised they need blanching first.


And my favourite find recently was again from the 4 Blades magazine, the Asian Noodle Cakes with Bok Choy. Such a simple use of 2 minute noodles and tasty enough for the whole family. Also another perfect meal for Summer weather and packed cold in lunchboxes (if they last that long). They also freeze quite well so I keep a batch in the freezer for weeknight dinners and kindy lunches when I haven't got fresh bread on hand.

Do you have a Thermie (or a Bellini)? What are your go to recipes?

My ongoing confessions to a not so perfect life:

I don't blow dry my hair ... ever! Ain't no one got time for that with 2 little boys to get out the door ... make that 3 (the husband). Plus I have no idea how to other than wave the dryer around in my hair. The only time my hair ever gets a blow dry is when I finally get to the hairdresser.

Christmas 2013

I'm definitely going to try and break out the Christmas decorations and maybe even our tree this weekend - S will pay lip service to it being to early but he won't stop me. I live for this time of year and am happy to follow a slightly delayed retail calendar when it comes to decorating. #itsthemostwonderfultimeoftheyear

The KFC $5 lunch box is back and we have an outlet within walking distance to work... you do the math.

I quite enjoyed S being in Europe for 10 days last month  ... I liked drinking my wine in peace once the dinner/bath/bedtime battle was won and eating stir fried veg or ice cream and popcorn for dinner.

I spent my last night before he came home on a Pitch Perfect 1 & 2 marathon ... it was a toss up between that and Harry Potter.

I've put on weight. I'm noticing it around my midsection mostly and I need to do something about it but I don't feel strongly enough to cut out the likely culprits - I'm looking at you Boatshed Bay and cheese.

The boys have been eating dry cereal for breakfast ... and fruit, but dry cereal, winning at the mum thing and providing my boys nourishing balanced meals clearly! Throwing out a fresh omelette/french toast/porridge for the 100th 10,000th time had me drawing a line and dry cereal it is. Plus side, its easier to clean up.

S had gut pain last night and I found it impossible to muster sympathy with his tossing and moaning and dramatic acting. He's a bit of a drama queen at the best of times and I've already used up my Florence Nightingale quota on a bout of man flu earlier this year.

I hide in the laundry (like actually hide behind the fridge not just stand in there) when I hear bath time coming to an end so I don't have to wrangle pajamas and the overtired 18m old for an extra few minutes. Usually I have a glass of wine in hand.

I play Candy Crush ... but I don't send invitations to my friends, I don't want them to know I play.

I set up an online gambling account to bet on the Melbourne Cup. Going to the TAB was just too much effort and it would be un-Australian not to have had a flutter. Despite a near perfect two decade first place record, I bombed this year.

Annabel Karmel toddler freezer meals get served regularly in our house ... and they are scoffed quicker than almost anything I cook. Mumma's get on to them, especially when they're half price.

I've struggled a little with post natal depression since having C and have days where I find it really hard to feel happy or joyful at all. I'm lucky enough to be surrounded by some wonderful people though and a caring husband who support and help me - some without even realising.

Edition 1 ... we all tell ourselves white lies most days right?

My ongoing confessions to a not so perfect life:

I love Wednesday nights! S is at soccer and if I get the boys down early, I have the lounge to myself, total control of the remotes and netflix and I don't have to make conversation. Dinner is also optional and ice cream or popcorn are totally acceptable.

I am hanging out for October and the start of The Originals and Vampire Diaries new season. Sad but true... my viewing taste is pretty trashy at best.

Domestos is one of my all time favourite cleaning products. Just squirt it around, leave it and come back later to wash off. It gets everything sparkling with no effort, whats not to love?

My assistant and I are having McDonalds for lunch today ... we've been totally sucked in by the start of the Monopoly promo. But beware, they have totally limited what you collect tickets on now - sneaky!

I still climb into the cot to settle my 1 year old if necessary. It works, keeps him quiet (and from waking the toddler) and gets us all sleep. And it keeps him out of our bed - important as the 3 year old often ends up in there by morning so despite being a King, it gets cramped.

I hide money from S ... not big sums but just a little here and there to shop without judgement. He wouldn't care if I bought something/anything but sometimes its nice to buy knowing you never need to have a conversation about it. I also fund a lot of purchases by selling my old things I don't need or wear anymore so I don't feel the need to share this income stream ;)

My 1 year old is totally being bribed by blueberries at the moment... to have him sit in his highchair or at the table, to eat another bite of dinner, to stop crying, to get in the bath... I'm totally not above bribery with food, I'm just lucky his preferred crack is blueberries and not smarties. 

I grate zucchini and add it to the pizza sauce I put on the boys' homemade pizzas. Much easier than negotiating with a 3 year old to actually knowingly eat zucchini.

I bought a pair of nude shoes on sale 2 months ago ... because they were on sale. To tell the truth, I'm yet to even cut the tags off and I suspect I bought a size too small. I told you I'm a shopaholic.

My favourite phrase to the baby this past week has been 'where's daddy, go find daddy' in an excited encouraging tone so that he toddles off looking for daddy instead of sitting at my feet shrieking & crying to be picked up because I'm 'muuuuummmmmaaaaa'.

My ongoing confessions to a not so perfect life:


I have no patience... none whatsoever. This is severely tested being a mother and I am good at managing it towards the boys but ours house renovations are killing me. I can see the end result, the final product and I want it now! But money and time amongst other factors are keeping the brakes on and I have been known to snap at S after his day off... 'I can't believe you only got one wall painted', not remembering we have two toddlers, the walls were spackled and now need plastering then sanding then two undercoats. My bad!


I finished The Originals and The Vampire Diaries entirely ... as in there are no more episodes to even watch ... and as a result, have entirely gone off TV. I am totally relating to these Netflix memes:

With the cold upon us, its time for warm comfort foods and easy options as its dark so much earlier in Winter and we all can't wait to snuggle in our nice warm beds - okay that's just me wanting early nights, the boys would be happy to play until they drop.

I thought I had been lacking some shopping mojo lately ... until I started compiling this post. Some of these are actually essentials and the rest, frivolous of course because who needs a new bikini in Winter (even if I do live on the Gold Coast).


I stocked up on Country Road henleys yesterday in their mid-season sale for the littlest boy for next Winter as he's currently living in them - $12.95 plus an extra 25% off for cardholders! So under $10 for staple basics is a ridiculous bargain. I also bought this embroidered Milk tee because its just so cute and my boy loves his milk.


Witchery knits were an essential. After spending the last 3-4 winters pregnant or breastfeeding, my winter wardrobe is non existent and particularly in knits. I loved the underlays and zip features on these for something different.


Eeeni Meeni Miini Moh sleeping cocoon for the baby (is he still a baby now he's one and walking?) is also an essentials purchase. E never slept in his cot so we never really used sleeping bags whereas this little guy sleeps mostly in his cot and with the temperatures dropping, a winter weight bag became an urgent need. We got a STTN the first time he wore it so in my books, its paid for itself ;)


A definite non essentials buy is this Delta limited edition Quartz bikini. Non essential for so many reasons including that its currently Winter and freezing and I'm am far from bikini ready ... something to work on! The print though sucked me in after I saw them posted on an insta friend's feed.



An essential buy is the Country Road quilted hoodie - see earlier knits explanation. This hoodie is so soft and very cosy, I have already worn it in my office to combat freezing air conditioning.


I could say this is an essential as E looks so cute in camouflage print and has outgrown all of his last Winter pants but he has a bursting wardrobe for Winter already so the stripes & camo for the big boy are purely a 'mummy is a shopaholic and this is outfit is too cute' purchase.


The Country Road texture print pants were an ebay buy. I was pregnant when my sister bought them instore and was kicking myself for not buying them too when I started back at work and realised that since having the boys, I actually like pants over skirts nowadays. When they came up on ebay for $20, I couldn't not snap them up! Essential buy as I severely lack work pants having always worn skirts.


Enough justification for my latest spending spree?

My ongoing confessions to a not so perfect life:


I finished work early last week ... and I went shopping. On. My. Own!
Yep, instead of heading straight home to see the boys like I usually do, I decided to be selfish and call in to the local complex for a browse.
This was motivated in part by the disastrous outcome of finishing early and racing home the week before - the one where the boys sat at my feet and screamed and carried on because they hadn't napped and mummy was home to torture.


I was that mum with the screaming toddler trailing after her at the park over the weekend... E had an epic meltdown and wouldn't come with me while I tried to remove him from the scene so I did what I remember my mother doing to me and walked off and of course he chased me down screaming (told you I was becoming my mother).

But a day of sleep is off the cards - S is working Mother's Day - so here's what is on my list instead:

I am still thermo-mixing and loving my machine possibly even more than I used to. So much so I convinced my boss to buy one (and I've only been back at work a week) and my amazingly talented in the kitchen aunt when she visited for a weekend last month ... yep, I'm that persuasive when I love something.


Our favourite recipes on rotation at the moment come from my favourite Thermo-mixer, TRTLMT (The Road to Loving My Thermo-mixer). Peta has some of the most seriously amazing yet seriously easy recipes for our whole family and I use her list almost daily.

Because I like to make life as stressful and busy as possible, moving house seems to be a thing we save for my maternity leave and only once we've had baby to make life just that much more fun.












We have been looking to buy for a long time now and we finally bit the bullet and went with a renovator that ticked our non negotiables. - 4 bedrooms located in a cul-de-sac on 800m2 with a big fully fenced yard. There is A LOT of internal work to be done including miles of plastering, entire repainting, new wardrobes, new bathroom and toilet, new kitchen ... you get the idea, its a real renovator and I have big big plans that include knocking out walls, building, a pool. But in the meantime, that yard! We are just loving it more than I could have imagined with E loving the space to roam and go on dragon hunts.

Our weekday routine has run a little like this for those interested:


I start work at 8am so I need to be out the door by 7:30am and with a toddler, a baby and a forgetful (okay, lets give it its real name, disorganised) husband to also get sorted and out the door each morning, my organisational Type A skills are in overdrive.

My 12 months of Maternity leave is over and I'm back at my desk as though I'd never left.
Well not quite, we did lose government while I was gone (coincidence you think?) but hopefully that's a temporary thing - especially if skeletons keep falling out of the Labor MPs closets.

So moving forward, I now have time to blog again - lunch breaks anyone! My first in around 12 months I tell you ... With an almost 3 year old who has a flair for the dramatic and an almost 1 year old who can't bear to not be in touching reach of mummy at all times, I'm lucky I even managed a toilet break most days let alone food.

Unlike most, I've been looking forward to my return to work. I like my job, my boss and my co-workers. It's a fun and supportive environment and allows some 'me' time which helps me to be the best mother to my boys that I can be. I'm also very lucky that my boys only need to go to daycare one day a week thanks to amazing family options courtesy of my mum and mother in law which allows the boys to see and play with their cousins weekly and spend some quality time with their grandparents.

So life with two... It's been a ride, a very crazy ride so far and things are just starting to settle down for us now.

Charlie, or Charley Bear (CB) as he's been affectionately known as by his big brother since he came home from hospi, went from dream angel baby to more demanding/high needs than E in the blink of an eye and it's only now since he is crawling and cruising that he's calmed down a little. Truly, I'm sure the kid just hates being a baby and wants to skip straight to toddler. He grunts and squeals or squawks with frustration every 2 minutes and demands to be in the middle of the action at all times. He despises sleep, it's for the weak I think he feels, just in case he misses out on anything and don't even think about trying to spoon feed him, he'll clamp his lips shut and grunt and wave his arms like a madman until you give him control. No matter who you are, if you're not mummy, the bottom lip will drop and he will let out an almighty scream until he's back in mummy's arms, with the only exceptions being grandpa and sometimes daddy... Thankfully this is slowly passing too but don't try to extend a short cuddle if you want to keep your hearing intact.

He's a beautiful little boy with the absolute cutest of smiles but there has been a lot of tears this past eleven months and honestly, I recognise now, a little post natal depression too.

I've got lots to write about and share from over the past 12 months including an enormous renovation project we've undertaken, the antics of life with 2 under 2 and what I did to survive the past year.

I'm not sure if anybody checks in here anymore but it's a great little journal and outlet for me so expect some regular posts and feel free to get in touch.

R x

I have officially discovered one of the easiest Thermomix dinners to prepare during 'arsenic' hour with a screeching overtired toddler at your feet and a cranky baby strapped to you in the baby bjorn!

Honey soy sesame chicken ... and yes, it is delicious! So much so that even the toddler ate a few mouthfuls - which is a huge win here if you have been following along for a while and know about E's hunger strike.

You literally throw in a garlic clove and piece of ginger, blitz.
Add some olive oil & sauté for 2 minutes.
Add chicken and sauté for another 2 minutes.
Toss in soy sauce, honey, cornflour and water and cook for 15 minutes.

Sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds and serve with rice  and some greens - microwave of course (or a pre-cooked sachet) and you're done. Even the husband was impressed to walk in to dinner on the table and praised me for the effort... I may have omitted the ease of the recipe to him.

I also managed to whip up a batch of fresh baked roasted almond and choc chip cookies during nap time (yes, my one saving grace for my sanity is I can usually get both boys down to sleep at the same time) and sensibly gave half of them to my dad to enjoy and popped half the dough in the freezer for those days when the cupboard is bare and someone pops in.



Any other recipes this easy that other Thermomixers can share with me?

FYI - I did not leave the boys napping together like that, I put C in his bassinet after the photo.

And it's set to get even better before the week is over.