friday favourite: little angels

my favourite photo taken this week

[inspired by Soulemama]

I'd love it if you'd share yours too...just add a link to your Friday Favourite in the comments below!

lazy nutrition

If you read my interview with The Wholefood Mama, you'd know I'm quite devoted to healthy eating. In the days that followed after Nikki published the interview, I reflected on how my family was portrayed and realised I never made it clear that I don't actually *enjoy cooking. Nor did I point out that my adorable loving **husband does ninety percent of meal preparation around here!! Yeah, I tell him what's good and what isn't and he nods and says "As You Wish". Hee ha ha...actually it's not like that I swear...Ben has his finger on the pulse and his ear to the ground on good nutrition as much as I do - if not more so. 

But anyway...where was I?....Oh yeah, so about me not enjoying time in the kitchen! Maybe you clued in when I was harping on about not over thinking healthy food or perhaps alarm bells went off around the bit where I pretty much said it's OK to give your kids the same boring lunch everyday for a year (so long as it's healthy!). I still stand by what I said because yes, I AM seriously passionate about good nutrition, but the truth is, I'm sometimes hopelessly lazy about meal prep too! Ben had footy tonight so I took charge of dinner for the munchkins. To prove how lazy I am, here's what I threw together for my kids dinner tonight.

It took all of, hmmmm, maybe ten minutes to dish up this meal. Honestly, I AM NOT exaggerating!

So what's my point exactly? Well, I want to inspire you! I desperately want folks to know it's easy to feed kids well and that creativity is (at times) truly overrated! I want to shout from the rooftops that a simple healthy meal can be quick, effortless and totally lazy...a complete no-brainer!

I know everyone has off days, frantic days and just plain 'I-can't-be-bothered-days' (that was me this afternoon)...but truly, driving up the street to buy take-out would have taken longer than it did for me to chop, slice, open a jar and arrange a plate of simple foods - that my kids wolfed down without so much as blinking!!!!

Are you interested in a little plate breakdown?

OK, so on the menu tonight we had cucumber and carrot sticks, whole olives, a few slices of cheese, a wedge or two of tomato, a glop of hummus, a dollop of sauerkraut, a sprinkling of lettuce and some sliced cold left-over roast beast! 

I used what was on offer...and took into account what I know my darlings will eat (Harry loves olives...Matilda does not). Some other ideas are: a few boiled eggs, tinned tuna or salmon, and any other seasonal veg. See, it's EASY!

So, does anyone else have super lazy but seriously nutritious dinner suggestions to share?

* once in a blue moon, the cooking-up a storm mood strikes

** Ok, so HE cooks...but I do hang out in the kitchen too - a lot. Think of me as the behind-the-scenes gal...you know, the person who keeps the kefir fed, the vinegar fermenting and the nuts soaking!!!

we give thanks

Today on Norfolk Island we celebrated Thanksgiving. And to be sure, we have much to be thankful for! The church altar was embellished in a bountiful collection of freshly harvested produce, cakes, pies and breads; all of which were auctioned off in the church hall after the service. I haven't seen or tasted pumpkin for quite some time...so I paid a hefty price for that specimen. I'd like to say it was worth it, but we haven't sampled it yet. I'd already planned to make a traditional sweet potato pie to compliment our roast dinner (which incidentally, was scrumptious). I think pumpkin soup might be on the menu soon though!

[thanksgiving blessings to all]

weekly stills

So I'm here...weekly-stilling again...but not really blogging. What can I say? It's the crazy season!

OK. The low-down:

[i] knock me over with a feather...he sat at the piano without being nagged!
[ii] new books arrived in the mail...can't wait to put them through their paces
[iii] Matilda - looking too darn grown up I'd say
[iv] Mummy, I mean Matilda had so much fun with this paper lace craft kit - awesome present Auntie Lou!
[v] grey days here....we welcomed the rain
[vi] Saturday lunch with my own on-the-spot invented dip (beetroot, tahini, peanut butter and coriander)
[vii] a wet Aggie...I've been trying to photograph rain...with not much success!
[viii] I gave up on trying to capture rain...and took photos of wet leaves instead

Joining in with Emily 

never a dull moment

I haven't been very regular here, have I! Life has been getting in the way. To prove I'm not resting on my laurels...here's a brief re-cap.

I've been a backstage Mum. 

Can you guess which Oompa Loompa is mine?

Ben ran a leg in the Around the Island Relay...I walked a leg 

(both our teams came third in their respective categories)

Harry gave a speech and was elected Vice Captain

Miss Till gave a speech to Her Excellency the Honourable Quentin Bryce, the Governor General of Australia

Ben caught a really huge fish!

sunday stills [beachy business]

New togs, a warm evening and the peeps more dear to me than anything else in this world!

Dusk at Emily Bay...there's no other place I'd rather be on a Sunday afternoon. The perfect way to finish up the weekend!

joining in with Em from The Beetle Shack

the wholefood mama

I'm still here. And I'm working myself up for a blog post - honest. 

In the meantime, follow this link to an interview I did recently with Nikki Fisher from The Wholefood Mama. Stay a while to explore Nikki's blog, you are certain to come away inspired and informed!