national porridge day - june 1

I've decided this year I am going to do my best to embrace all that is good about winter. Starting with celebrating National Porridge Day tomorrow. What's better than a hot bowl of porridge on these wintery mornings I ask you? 


In honor of the humble breakfast dish, 5-grain porridge and muesli maker Flip Shelton has declared the first day of winter in Australia National Porridge Day, yes to promote her muesli and porridge range but also to encourage everyone to start their day with a nutritious breakfast. Flip says, "Porridge warms the cockles of your heart on these chilly mornings, it’s cheap (only 70c for 50 g – depending if you have a Papa, Mama or Baby Bear size); nutritious being a wholegrain food packed with complex carbohydrates and proteins; and there are so many delicious ways to  enjoy it.  My favourite way is cardamom, currants and pistachios".


Flip recently spoke on ABC radio about the glories of porridge including 12 suggestions for porridge toppings you can find them here.


As this is the world wide web I will go one step further and declare it International Porridge Day I like  northern hemisphere readers to feel included even if I'm finding it difficult to read northern hemisphere blogs at the moment as I have season envy. All those photos of sunshine and beach days. Back to enjoying winter. 


Now of course oats are not the only grain used to create porridge. I made the porridge pictured above using quinoa flakes and then added rice milk, sliced banana, natural yoghurt and a sprinkle of cinnamon. When I visit my friends Nicky and Jason on a weekend, if I'm lucky Jason will have made a pot of decadent black sticky rice porridge with palm sugar and coconut milk - dessert for breakfast! A recipe for black rice porridge can be found here on this lovely blog. One of my other favorite grains for porridge is brown rice. I love the nuttiness of it and particularly like to add nutmeg and sometimes lemon rind to it. Amaranth is another grain I've tried but wasn't especially taken with. My friends Bronwyn and Rosie top their porridge with umeboshi plums.


What are your favorite porridge combos? How decadent do you go? A dollop of butter? A sprinkle of salt? Cream??! Sultanas and honey? Get your grains and toppings today and prepare to start the day tomorrow with some warming, delicious porridge. Warming hmmm grated ginger is a good idea.

coconut & date pikelets

When I wandered to the kitchen yesterday to create an after school snack, I was inspired by Lucy's comment on this post. Coconut and date pikelets were the well-received result. The cool weather here makes hot pikelets perfect afternoon or morning tea fare at the moment. This recipe is gluten free and sweetened naturally with dates and natvia which is new stevia product I was experimenting with. 

I hope you enjoy them as much as we did.

Ingredients

3/4 cup rice flour

1/4 cup almond meal

1.5 teaspoons baking powder

1 tbsp shredded or desiccated coconut

2 x 3g sachets natvia (or sweetener of your choice)

1 tbsp melted coconut butter

3/4 cup water or milk of choice

1 egg, beaten

a few dried dates cut into slices

extra coconut butter for cooking

To make

Mix dry ingredients - except dates - in bowl. Add water (or milk), melted coconut butter and egg. Mix well.

Heat a pan and melt a generous knob of coconut butter. Pour batter in and just as bubbles are starting to appear as in picture above, dot the pikelets with slices of date. Flip pikelet and cook the other side until golden.

Remove from pan, spread with butter and enjoy with those you love.

I made some with dates and some without. Thinly sliced apple or pear would be nice too.

breastfeeding

Each year the mainstream media do their best to churn out a few stories portraying breastfeeding as something unusual, unnatural, sexualised or something for mothers to be embarrassed or ashamed about, for instance those mothers who do vs. those who don't, those who stop after a few months vs. those breastfeeding three year olds.

Being a long time breastfeeding mama myself I couldn't resist weighing in on the matter, particularly as I'm still breastfeeding my youngest son Sol who is two and a half (he and I pictured above). I breastfed Sol's older brother River until he was two and then for River's second birthday I decided the gift I was going to give both he and I was: weaning. Within two nights our breastfeeding days were done. We were both ready for that to happen.

Not so with Sol who is far more attached to being breastfed than River was. I am growing physically weary of feeding and am looking forward to having my body back. Slowly, slowly.

Today I came across this article 'Getting rid of the breastfeeding taboo' written by Australian author and mother Tara Moss about her experience of breastfeeding her daughter, the article also includes a lot of facts and figures about breastfeeding in Australia and the general lack of support many new mothers experience in their effort to breastfeed. Tara is the UNICEF Patron for Breastfeeding, for the Baby Friendly Health Initiative which aims to protect, promote and support breastfeeding in Australia.

Before having children I didn't imagine I would breastfeed for more than the first year of my children's lives. I've been very fortunate that my experience of learning to breastfeed was very straight forward - no cracked nipples, no difficulty with attachment, no mastitis.

The Natural Way to Better Breastfeeding by Francesa Naish and Jan Roberts is the number one book I recommend to any breastfeeding mother. I referred to it daily in the beginning months of feeding. Franseca and Jan are natural health and fertility practitioners and have written a number of excellent books about conception, pregnancy and birth.

If you haven't yet visited Marvellous Kiddo, one of the series I enjoy on this great blog is the art and photography series celebrating breastfeeding mamas such as this photo by Dorothea Lange.

This has turned into a long post! And its not over yet, below is a story I started a few years ago about breastfeeding and I've just finished it now.

Feel free to leave a comment if you have something to say about your experiences of breastfeeding or the media's role in making it look unnatural.
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Would you like a glass of water love?

When pregnant with my first child I wondered what will it be like to breastfeed? Would I be able to? Would my baby take to it easily? I felt nervous at the thought of it not happening easily. So, during my pregnancy I read books on breastfeeding, browsed the internet and studied the Australian Breastfeeding Association website. I listened to stories from my aunt and sister-in-law who breastfed their children for two or more years. I also heard friend’s stories of suffering cracked nipples, back, neck and shoulder pain, having difficulty attaching their baby to the breast, not enough milk or too much milk. My aunt and my sister-in-law were really the only two women who spoke of the experience with fondness. Despite my quiet nervousness I knew breastfeeding my baby was the natural thing to do, I also knew reading and hearing stories were one thing, doing would be another.

On July 29 2006, after 10 hours of labour our beautiful son was born naturally and to my relief he latched on to my breast and sucked with strength. From day one I felt no pain, within two days I had an abundance of milk, my nipples didn’t crack and my baby gained weight literally before my eyes. As perfect as this experience sounds, in my early newborn daze I felt twinges of how women can feel depressed when first attempting to breastfeed.

Recovering from labor was a greater task than I imagined: the physical pain of sitting, standing, walking and even laying down left me craving just a moment to breathe, to have my body to myself. But no, my body was working round the clock to produce milk and the little being I had brought into the world wanted and needed to be fed, wanted to suck at my breast at anytime of the day and night regardless of how exhausted I felt. The support and encouragement from my partner cannot be underestimated. He brought me countless glasses of water while I fed River and reminded me that the feeling of exhaustion would pass and encouraged me to sleep while River slept.

In decades gone by women learned to breastfeed by watching their mothers, aunties and sisters, who were supported by other women to do so. Today some women will not have held a baby til they have one of their own, much less regularly witness women breastfeeding. It seems what is natural has become unnatural. Breastfeeding takes time and commitment, you have to want to do it, you have to be supported to do it by your family, friends and community. An example of this kind of support happened when my son was four months of age we were walking along a local shopping strip and it came time for a feed. I sat on a bench outside a hairdressing salon and began to feed, the salon owner came out and asked, ‘Would you like a glass of water love? I remember how it was.’ I was so touched by her support.

My friend Maria who breastfed her three beautiful girls gave me a valuable piece of advice before I gave birth to River at a birthing centre and that was, for the time I stayed at the birthing centre each time River was to feed to ask a midwife to be by my side. That way, I had support from the very first feed and my nipples were less likely to be damaged if someone was there to guide me through those early feeds.

At first, I felt quite overwhelmed that my baby depended on my milk to survive and thrive. What if I didn’t have enough? What if he didn’t gain weight? As River and I settled into our breastfeeding rhythm my overwhelm eased and I was thrilled to see him grow and know that I really was sustaining him. I loved the convenience of breastfeeding. No bottles to carry around, no need to make sure there was enough formula in the house or packed in a bag if we were going away. Another aspect I totally value about my experience of breastfeeding River and now Sol is the way it connected us, fulltime breastfeeding meant I had to be with them. 

I’ve chosen to be with our boys around the clock during the formative years of their lives and that has included breastfeeding day and night. I count my blessings it was easy for me to do. To new or pregnant mothers reading this, like everything else in parenting, breastfeeding is a ‘season’ a period of time that begins and ends, for some it is a smooth, enriching season for others it is stormy; whatever shape the season takes for you speak up early when you need help (or if you have too much ‘help’ speak up) and above all else trust your instincts and enjoy your baby. All too quickly you’ll be wondering what to put in their lunchbox.

one for the weekend

We are rained in here today. The wind is wild. Even the school drop-off became an adventure this morning navigating flooded roads, puddle filled walking paths and gusts of wind that threatened to turn umbrellas inside out. My mind is turning over the possibilities for rainy weekend happiness.

Here goes:

-Making playdough following a hand-written recipe given to me by my friend Lucy, who among many other talents is a creative mama of 3. Lucy stood at my kitchen bench and wrote the recipe (from memory) on a card along with one for finger paint when River was about six months old, Lucy told me they were essential recipes for all mamas. Right she is.


Playdough
1 cup plain white flour
1/2 cup salt
1 cup cold water
1 tbs oil
2 tbs cream of tartar
food coloring (drops of!!)
Stir and cook all together over low heat for 3-5 minutes or until just 'off' sticky. Store for months in airtight container.

I haven't been brave enough to make the finger paint but here's the recipe in case you are:

Finger paint
2 tbs sugar
1/2 cup cornflour
2 cups cold water
food coloring
Mix sugar and cornflour then slowly add water. Stir over low heat until blended. Divide and add different colors.

-Being arty designing birthday cards for the many May birthdays we celebrate in our family this week
-Drinking homemade chai
-Dreaming up dishes to cook that incorporate yoghurt cheese, such as steamed broccoli with garlic, lemon, olive oil and one or two balls of yoghurt cheese stirred in before serving. I am yet to make my own yoghurt cheese despite how simple it apparently is to do, if you'd like to give it a go try this recipe
-Sneaking out for at least one coffee with a friend
-Finishing sewing hand puppets with River and Sol taking to the sewing machine!
-Baking...any suggestions? How beautiful does this 'garden cake' look? I first saw it on A Cup of Jo.

And then just letting the rest of the hours unfold...I'm sure there'll be some cubby making, drawing, squabbling, fingers crossed some napping, writing, reading, movie watching.

Happy weekending.

attitude is everything

My nan (pictured left) and Pete's mum (on right) are visiting River's school today for Grandparents Day. This occasion has raised an unexpected wellspring of emotion in me - which I have to say I find inconvenient when this happens! - but anyway happening it is. Partly an emotional hangover from Mother's Day but the other part is the pure love and admiration I feel especially for my nan who is such an inspiration to me, and all the women of her generation who raised their children back in the days before lattes, baby cinos, 'me' time and dads who washed dishes.

My nan and Pete's mum are a year apart in age, (in their eighth decade shhh! they don't look it or talk much about that), their resilience is something I am in awe of.

Nan raised her four children while my grandfather could be counted on to drink his pay check and turn the house upside down.  To feed herself and her children my nan sewed. Dress after dress, alteration after alteration, with children climbing on her lap her sewing machine hummed along and nan just 'got on with it'. When nan's youngest child, my aunty, was 14 they went to live with my great-grandmother another great woman I was blessed to have in my life. By this time, nan's three sons - my dad and my uncles - were living independently off in the world doing their own thing.

Nan is an exceptionally capable and unflappable woman. I have never heard a bitter word spoken by her about my grandfather who passed away 2 years ago. In fact, they remained in contact over the years. My grandfather had stopped drinking in the latter part of his life and had better relationships with my aunt and one uncle. Nan is eternally optimistic about life and lives by the motto, "attitude is everything and as long as you have good health that's all that matters."

The quality I admire so much about Pete's mum is that despite a very difficult family life as a child she went on to create a loving family life with her husband and Pete and his sister and also became a Nanny to two families who she is still very much part of their lives today. Pete's mum's kindness and generosity is inherent in her nature.

The year nan was turning 70, my aunt and I were planning a party for her. Plans changed though when nan announced that she had met a fella and that he had asked her to go travelling with him. First stop was Darwin (from Melbourne where nan lived to Darwin by road is 3,754 kilometres). As her family we were slightly speechless but nervously happy for nan who was off on an incredible adventure. On her seventieth birthday nan rang me from Broome in Western Australia where she had just watched the camel train walk along Cable Beach as the sun was setting, her beau Bob by her side. The lightness and joy in her voice, she sounded like a teenager. I was so happy for her it was a gift I couldn't have given her and it beat the barbecue party in the backyard my aunt and I were planning.

Nan and I on my wedding day

Today I am happy for River that he gets to have his grandmother and great grandmother see him in action at school, and Bob will be there too. And I am happy for all the grandparents because I know the boundless joy their grandchildren bring.

Who are the inspiring women in your life? Are you lucky enough to have great grandparents?

i'll be with you in the squeezing of a lemon

This post marks the beginning of an occasional series looking at a particular ingredient or flavour. First up is a humble yet versatile essential: lemon. The zest, rind, juice, oil, whole or sliced, preserved or fresh imagine cooking without lemon?

"I'll be with you in the squeezing of a lemon" is a line from a play written by Irish author Oliver Goldsmith. It is also the title given to a mini collection of writings and recipes by lauded British food writer Elizabeth David, in the book David laments the absence of lemons from kitchens during the war years:

"Without a lemon to squeeze on to fried or grilled fish, no lemon juice to sharpen the flatness of dried pulses - the red lentils, the split peas - which in those days loomed so largely in our daily diet, no lemon juice to help out the stringy ewe-mutton and the ancient boiling fowls of the time, no lemon juice for pancakes, no peel to grate into cake mixtures and puddings, we felt frustrated every time we opened a cookery book or picked up a mixing bowl...There are indeed times when a lemon as a seasoning seems second only in importance to salt." (pages 79-80)

A bowl of lemons is a permanent fixture on my kitchen bench, and a lemon tree is a quintessential part of an Australian backyard (that said, we don't actually have one in our backyard! our steady supply of lemons come from friends, family and local road side stalls set up with an honesty box to pay).

Here's are some of the ways I use lemon:

I start each day with a liver-cleansing glass of fresh lemon juice and warm water.

Sliced lemon slid beneath the skin of chicken before roasting provides a wonderful flavour and aroma, the lemon slices are as delicious to eat as the chicken.

I baked lemon tart on the weekend using this straight-forward recipe. It takes a bit of time but it is easy really it is!

Lemon wedges are always on the table alongside the bounty of seafood my family is so lucky to enjoy - squid, whiting, flathead, salmon - thanks to Pete, and to our friend Simon who dives for prized scallops.

Green vegetables from our garden lightly stir-fried with garlic, then a squeeze of lemon juice are a favorite of mine. Is it a favorite of River and Sol's? Not so much but I'm working on it!

I was a latecomer to appreciating the fabulousness of preserved lemon but now there's no looking back. I have to confess I am yet to actually preserve some myself, but if they're not already part of your pantry seek them out. They elevate everyday recipes - soup, salad, tagines, casseroles, stuffing, pasta - to something memorable.

Lemon and dahl together are good company in my view.

What are your favorite ways with lemon? Do you have a prolific lemon tree?

managing distractions

Monday feels like a good day to write about 'getting things done'. While I'm definitely one for making time to watch the clouds drift by I do have a mild trait of needing to be productive to feel happy. And if I'm honest, I'd like to be way more efficient at getting things done. I don't like the feeling of always playing catch up and I'm guessing I'm not the only one. I've identified a few daily distractions slowing me down and want to compare notes with you.

As regular readers know my eldest son River started prep this year, one thing his class is practicing is 'managing distractions' that stand in the way of their learning. What a great thing to learn, because there is no shortage of distractions in this lifetime to take our minds and actions away from what we really want or need to be doing.

Checking emails, sending text messages, chatting on the phone, reading blogs, washing dishes, are just four of my distractions that keep me from getting through a to do list that some items seem never to be crossed off.

So now that I'm becoming clear about what is distracting me, I am going to manage those distractions. If my five year old son and his classmates can learn to do it so can I. And I've started with writing this post. Normally I would check emails as they came in and if I felt like it I would reply to them, I would answer the phone if it rang, if I got stuck for a word or next sentence I would wander off and wash the dishes or wander to another blog - true this does help writer's block - but it didn't take much for me to wander off.

Single-minded focus is my new aim. Starting a task and seeing it through, managing those distractions as they come flying at me including the thoughts that take me away from my task is my new approach.

I think clearing my mind with meditation and returning to regular yoga practice would definitely help me to focus my busy mind and scattered approach to getting things done.

I've decided clutter is huge time sucking distraction. My husband is always telling me the more possessions people have the more time they have to spend putting them away and he's right. A 'spring clean' is in order for me to cut down on the time I spend organising possessions, finding lost items and putting things away. Less things, more time to myself.

If you're looking to change your ways this list 50 tricks to get things done faster, better and more easily has some good ideas. And if organising and decluttering your house is a priority but you don't know where to start The Organised Housewife will get you sorted.

Are you satisfied with your productivity/efficiency? How do you organise your time to get things done? Send me your tips I would love to know what works.

this (food) writing life

Reading Alison Tait's blog Life in a Pink Fibro inspired this post. Alison is a blogger, author and freelancer with 20+ years experience working in magazines, newspapers and online.

I've recently been re-assessing my freelance writing life, what I like about it, what I want to do differently. Perhaps you are pondering how to get started or keep going in your own writing life?

Pinpointing what I like about being a writer is easy - hearing people's stories, using words to craft a story, seeing said story in print and the power of sharing stories.

Changing what I don't like about being a writer takes work. I was lamenting to a friend recently that I love the writing part of my job but not the selling side. Selling? Yes selling. Writers sell ideas to editors. To be a freelancer who actually gets paid work you have to do BOTH writing and selling. It's true that editors commission writers to do stories but writer's ideas are their currency; the ability to take your idea, come up with an angle and sell it to an editor is the real skill as far as I'm concerned. There's no two ways about it, rejection is not fun but it is part of the job. Alison has written a great post on pitching.

For those starting out, the adage 'write about what you know' worked for me. Writing about what you passionately know about will come across in your writing.

As I explain on my about page, writing and cooking have been passions of mine from a young age so it made sense when the time came that I wanted to work as a writer to combine the two. I remember when I was 19 deciding I wanted to be a food writer, I sat by the phone picking up and putting down the receiver trying to pluck up the courage to phone Roslyn Grundy the then editor of The Age newspaper food section Epicure. I wasn't phoning Roslyn with a story idea. I eventually made the call and earnestly asked Roslyn, "how do I go about becoming a food writer?" Roslyn defied every stereotype of gruff editors and spent half an hour talking encouragingly to me about looking for stories, suggesting them to editors and the importance of reading food writing. Ten years later I enjoyed working with Roslyn as my editor when I was reviewing for The Age Cheap Eats and The Age Good Food Guides.

Whether you are an aspiring or experienced writer here are some ideas and links to get you started or keep you going:

-For a goldmine of freelance writing tips and inspiration click on Alison Tait's writing page.
-Seek out your local writer's centre such as Writers Victoria, The Sydney Writers Centre or Varuna
- Or this online writer's society Write on Edge
-Take a look at Julia Cameron's book The Right to Write
-If you are thinking about starting a blog or want to improve your existing Problogger is the place
-Read with a pen in your hand. Take note of what really works in other writer's work and use it to sharpen up your own.
- I love Doris Lessing's approach when pulling a story together, Lessing says you have to 'let it cook'. Even with a deadline looming if the words are not flowing going for a short walk and 'letting it cook' really works for me.
- Go with the flow. Get the words out, edit later.
- Whether you are scared to write, bored with what you're writing, uninspired, frustrated, exhilarated, passionate the feelings pass the process is the same - you must start and keep going.

For me the writing life is proving to be a rich life, no it has not been a fast track to financial fortune, instead it challenges and inspires me daily and has enabled me to be at home with my sons in the early years of their life.

Let me know if you have any writing links you love or if you have any questions about the writing life.

That's enough of that for now. Happy weekending to you all! What are you cooking? Home made burgers and chips for dinner here tonight. And I'm yet to decide what baking joy will take place. Perhaps something from Sarah Wilson's new 'I Quit Sugar' e-cookbook. Bye for now.

a linky list

Once you've made a cup of tea and have a moment to actually sit down and drink it, here's a list of links to keep you or get you inspired...

- How good do Jude Blereau's pear anzacs look?
- And this incredible orange blossom sesame cake on My New Roots.
- On my foodie reading wishlist Love & Hunger by Australian novelist and journalist Charlotte Wood.
- My friend Michelle sent me this one -  Child's Own Studio - have you seen it? Your child does a drawing of an animal, fairy, creature, robot, you send it in and from the drawing they create a soft toy.
- On that crafty note, take a look at the latest creations happening at Harvest Workroom
- If you fancy a bit of eco 'window' shopping for housey stuff, jewellery, stationery and more check out my friend Jenny's site State of Green
- An email promoting The Champagne Dame Masterclass at Circa landed in my inbox this week and made me smile because while I still have great appreciation for champagne, The Champagne Dame seems a world away from my Wholefood Mama ways these days.

Have you finished your tea? Do you need to sort out squabbling children? Hang some washing? Go to sleep? Off you go. 'See' you back here again soon.

book talk: growing great families

Before getting into the highlights of Ian and Mary Grant's fantastic book 'How to bring out the best in your family - Growing Great Families', I spotted this quote today on a retro postcard:

"My idea of housework is to sweep the room with a glance". Good huh?

I'm slightly obsessed with wanting to create a family life rich in experiences and opportunities for River and Sol that encourage them to grow with open hearts and minds and that they see themselves as a part of this vast world not the centre of it.

My latest resource on this quest is Growing Great Families. I like the writing style of this New Zealand husband and wife team, it is conversational rather than patronising as some parenting books can be, and their strategies straight forward and achievable. The book covers the years from babies right through to parenting teenagers. There are 13 chapters, beginning with a focus on the importance of community and building foundations, moving through to 'giving your child a moral foundation', 'moving from dependence to interdependence', a chapter about '...different family shapes' such as solo parenting and step-families, and one on parenting 'tricky' kids, who the Grant's describe as "tricky kids are 'more' - more intense, more stubborn, more argumentative"

At the end of each chapter there is a chapter summary in point form. Even if you only read these summary pages you would get a lot out of this book.

One of my favourite messages within these pages was that:

'Children need three R's - Rules, Routines and Ridiculousness'. It is good to be reminded that rules and routines don't have to equal serious all the time.

Others points listed on the summary pages that stood out were:

"Your children will remember the feeling in your home.

Parents, nurture your own resources.

Capitalise on the ages five to 10.

Young children are good observers but poor interpreters of events.

Don't forget to be playful. If you are stuck in power struggles unlatch with a different approach.

Take one-on-one time with each child. Recognise their need for significance."

What are you reading at the moment? What are you loving or loathing about being a parent?

How to bring out the best in your family - Growing Great Families by Ian and Mary Grant, published by Random House Australia, RRP $29.95