a mushroom recipe & going with the flow

We were meant to leave for Alice Springs on Friday. And then it changed to Saturday and now we just don't know exactly what day we will leave.

A chesty cough coupled with fever and headaches for River and Pete, and croup and ear pain for Sol (and a whole lot of loving kindness going out from me!) mean that our trip is delayed. And that's just how it goes.

Today my sister-in-law Davini was to join us for lunch (that's us in the pic, celebrating last year with a ladies lunch before Davini and her now husband Scott's wedding).  Davini coming for a visit is a big thing because we only see each other a few times a year, partly because of the distance between our two houses and the fullness of our lives, particularly Davini who has a blended family of six teenagers. So even with sick relatives she didn't mind, she wanted to see us before we head off. With her big family Davini is no stranger to what it takes to nurse your family back to wellness, so it was nice for me to have the moral support!

You can thank Davini for today's recipe, there's a few things she can't eat and she's a great cook and food lover, so during the week I pondered what to prepare for our Sunday lunch and came up with baked mushrooms with pesto and goat's cheese, and a roasted vegetable salad. Only problem was our Sunday lunch plans changed as we both had to go with the flow of family life.

Davini's morning began with chasing her twins school camp bus 100km up the highway because after waving the twins goodbye at the bus she went home to find that her daughter, our darling niece, had left her bag of clothes and other essentials at home. "I'll be later than 12pm, enjoy lunch without me" came Davini's text.

Meanwhile at our place Sol woke at 5.30am with ear pain. Off to the local emergency he and I went. An ear infection brewing was the last thing we needed. The doctor checked him over and as Sol didn't have a temperature and there was no redness in his ears we went home with pain relief.

The ear pin subsided and then returned with a vengeance by the early afternoon when Davini arrived. Between packing, loading the trailer, shopping for River's birthday present I'd managed to roast the vegetables for the salad and that was about it. All Sol wanted to do was lay with head on my lap so I could rub his ear. Fortunately Davini had a late breakfast and wasn't hungry but was keen to run some errands for me to help out. Thankyou Davini!

After some more pain medicine Sol fell asleep for the afternoon. Davini returned from running my errands and had bought some ear candles for Sol. After a bit more of a chat we said our goodbyes and Davini headed home. After she left and while Sol slept I finally got to make the pesto and bake the mushrooms!

Here's the recipe for you. They are extremely delicious. I will have to cook them for you Davini when we get back in the spring time. Thanks for the back up today xx

Baked mushrooms with dairy free pesto and goat's cheese

(not sponsored I just like this goat's fetta and the people who make it)

For the dairy free pesto

1 cup tightly packed basil leaves
1 clove of garlic
1 tsp sea salt
2 tablespoons pine nuts
1 tablespoon savoury yeast
1/4 cup olive oil (plus a splash more depending on the texture you like your pesto)

Place all ingredients in high powered blender or food processor and blend until it is a texture you like, chunky, smooth or somewhere in between.

For the mushrooms

4 large field mushrooms
4 tablespoons of goats cheese (fetta or not is fine)

Heat oven to 180 degrees celsius.
Place a splash of olive oil in a baking tray and cover the tray with it.
Cut stalks from mushrooms and finely chop.
Mix the stalks with the pesto.
Place mushrooms on the tray with inside of mushroom facing up.
Spoon pesto mixture into each mushroom and bake for 8-10 minutes.
Remove from oven and crumble fetta on top and sprinkle with extra pine nuts, return to oven for a few minutes until cheese is melted and nuts are toasted. Be careful not to burn the nuts!

Enjoy with salad and your favorite sister-in-law if you're lucky to have one like mine :)

What's happening at your place? Is everyone well? How do you deal with ear troubles in children?

monday musings: Dr Sarah Buckley in Melbourne Thursday November 21

When I was pregnant with River I was fortunate that my sister-in-law Davini Malcolm gifted me Dr Sarah Buckley's book Gentle Birth Gentle Mothering. I was also blessed by the fact that Davini is a birthing extraordinaire who birthed her four children at home including twins, and I had her focused and loving support at River's birth - but that's a whole other post. Oh and just to say, any woman who has given birth naturally or by caesarean, at home, in hospital, on the side of the road is a birthing extraordinaire!

Ecstatic Birth

What? Birth can be ecstacy inducing? Yes! But that headline has become a very well guarded secret. And no I'm not talking about taking drugs, I'm talking about the natural high that goes with natural birth the one that Sarah writes so well about in her book in a chapter titled - Ecstatic Birth - natural childbirth and its ecstacy-inducing hormonal cocktail.

I think every pregnant woman should read at least this chapter. I say this because it offers an alternative perspective to the dominant belief that giving birth is horrendously painful and potentially traumatic. Sarah's words in this chapter in particular were a major light bulb moment for me, I had heard so much about 'pain relief', gas and epidurals, it was a complete revelation to read that when in labor my body would produce hormones that would take me to a natural altered state that would enable me to birth my baby. I make it sound so simple and of course I know that giving birth can be straight-forward but it can also have many twists and turns for each woman and their baby. However, I wholeheartedly believe that women are not encouraged enough to believe in their bodies, believe in their baby and supported to experience birth as empowering and energising and affirming.

Sarah's writing explained birth to me in a way that not even the midwives at the birthing centre I was attending came close to. Sure for some her words will be so far removed from the fear based medicalised birth culture that so many of us know, that it will take some getting your mind around this different point of view but it so worth stretching your mind. Even if you are thinking 'I'm not the home birth type' or 'it all sounds a bit hippyish' put those thoughts aside because there is so much to be gained from reading Sarah's book and considering birth from a fresh positive perspective I know you will find wisdom in these pages to carry with you in pregnancy and birth.

I can't recommend Sarah's book highly enough and if you are in Melbourne this week Sarah is speaking on Thursday night as per the details above. If you are pregnant or know someone who is or perhaps you work in the area of birth, spread the word about Sarah's book and her talk as the information, experience and wisdom Sarah shares positively transforms birth experiences.

Blessings to all the pregnant mamas reading xx

Are you a fan of Sarah's work? Are you going to hear her speak in Melbourne?

An evening with Sarah Buckley, Thursday 21st November 6.30pm-9.30pm, 
$45 general/$35 students,
Australian Catholic University, Christ Lecture Theatre, 115 Victoria Parade Fitzroy. 
For bookings phone: Sunderai 0401 626 883

(I am not affiliated with Sarah or her book, I am writing this because I have her book and believe so much in her work)