Pearl Barley and Vegetable Soup

Ingredients

1 teaspoon olive oil

1 teaspoon of crushed garlic

1 onion finely sliced

2 sticks of celery finely sliced

2 carrots, peeled and sliced

1 medium parsnip, peeled and diced

5 mushrooms, sliced

1 zucchini, sliced

2 bay leaves

2 stalks of thyme

100g pearl barley

1.5 litres of salt reduced vegetable stock

2 tablespoons of tomato paste

2 tablespoons of chopped flat leaf parsley

Salt and pepper to taste

Method

1. Heat a large saucepan over a medium heat. Add oil and onion and cook until soft.

2. Add celery, carrots, parsnip and cook over a medium heat for 5 mins or until vegetables soften.

3. Add tomato paste, stock, bay leaves, thyme and pearl barley. Bring to simmer and cook for 30 minutes.

4. Add zucchini and mushrooms and cook for a further 15 minutes or until vegetables and barley are tender.

5. Remove bay leaves and thyme stalks and stir in parsley, season with salt and pepper to taste.

Today I'm linking up with Veggie Mama for Meatless Mondays

Carotenosis or Carrot Anemia - The incredible orange baby

I have the best little veggie eater that ever was. He eats them all and in good quantities, potato, sweet potato, carrot, pumpkin, leek, turnip, celery, parsnip, beetroot, beans, spinach, brocolli, you name it he eats it, twice a day, with gusto. It makes his mummy proud and satisfied to know that he is getting the very best.

But my proud mummy moment was interrupted when family and friends began commenting on the Squishy's little nose: "He has an orange nose", they would say. The hubby and I had noticed this and assumed we weren't cleaning his face well enough, so we vigorously scrubbed his face each night with a washer. It didn't come off.

Then one day, out talking to the neighbours, our neighbour made a comment: "What has he been playing in?", referring to an orange tinge on his palms. I just laughed and said "Oh, he gets into everything". This was the first time I had noticed his hands adopting the familiar orange hue. Needless to say, the washer didn't get his hands clean either.

Right: Carrot, sweet potato & apple. All high in carotene

When the bottoms of his feet began to turn the same shade, it finally occurred to me. Most of the vegetable purees I made had a base of orange vegetables e.g. pumpkin, sweet potato and carrot, which I recalled could turn skin a shade of orange. We had given our baby what they call Carrot Anaemia or Carotenosis.

According to Dr Wikipedia, Carotenosis or Carotenaemia is the presence in the blood of the orange pigment carotene and it is caused by the excessive intake of carrots or other vegetables containing the pigment. It makes the palms of the hands, soles of the feet and yes, those little noses turn a shade of orange. Thankfully, it is a benign condition.

So the Squishy's intake of vegetables has been halved. He now gets one serve a day. Lunch is now a rye bread sandwich and the vegetable bases I make now include a wider variety of white and green vegetables, although a lot of these also contain high levels of carotene.

The orange hue is gradually fading and the Squishy no longer gets curious stares. A shame really, we could have farmed him out to the circus. We might have made a fortune showing off the incredible orange baby...

Flash Blog Friday Linky Party

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Welcome to Flash Blog Friday!

In the spirit of flash mobs, this is a flash blog.

You're invited to flash your favourite post for the week.

Your Guide to Flashing

1.  Follow Twinkle in the Eye on Google Friend Connect, Networked Blogs, Facebook, Twitter or Google +

2.  Grab the Flash Blog Friday button and display it on your post or sidebar so others can flash too.

3.  Choose your favourite post for the week and flash by clicking on the link below. Make sure you use the URL for the post, not your primary blog address.

4.  Check out your fellow flashers and maybe spread some comment love.

5.  Come back next Friday and do it all again!

Thankful Thursday: Post Baby Body - 10 Months On

Disney's Flubber

Flubber. Everything wobbles like a bowl full of...flubber.

I'm only 2kg heavier than my pre-baby weight but everything has changed, nothing feels taught or flat - except my arse, it now looks like a pancake. My thighs look like a crumpet and my boobs...well, they're intact - for now. Once I stop breastfeeding, whose to say how low they can go.

My tummy, what can I say about my tummy. My mother, who had five babies including twins used to say she had stretch marks on her tummy that looked like a West Australian Waratah. I couldn't imagine what that would look like, turns out I didn't have to - it's genetic! I am now tattooed with an Australian national emblem - how patriotic of me.

Image source

When I lay on the bed with my baby boy he likes to pull my shirt up and play the drums on my tummy. He likes the sound of flubber drums. He likes the feel too. He pushes his little hand in. So far it hasn't got stuck.

I am by no means obese. I am about 10 kgs overweight. I'm also expert at making excuses when it comes to watching what I eat and exercise, so my flubbery existence is likely to continue. I could go to the gym and get those rock hard abs I never had back, but I'll likely get knocked up again and resume my flubbery state - so what's the point?

I'm in good humour about my body and its current state. Sure I'd like to feel taught, trim and terrific but my happiness doesn't depend on it. I am more than my body. My body bears the scars of motherhood (and the awesome Key Lime Pie I just ate), but the people I love most in this world, love me regardless. For that I'm thankful...and happy.

Today I'm linking up with Kate Says Stuff for Thankful Thursday

Wordless Wednesday: Key Lime Pie

Ingredients

4 egg yolks
400ml condensed milk
6 tablespoons of fresh lime juice (5-6 limes)
200ml thickened cream

Crust

12 digestive or wheat biscuits
135g melted butter

Method

1. Preheat oven to 175 degrees celsius
2. Lightly grease a 22cm glass pie dish
3. Blend digestive biscuits and melted butter to a breadcrumb consistency
4. Firmly press mixture across the base and sides of the pie dish
5. Place in the oven for approximately 10 minutes or until base is slightly brown. Remove from the oven and cool.
6. In a separate bowl, whisk egg yolks and combine with condensed milk. Gradually stir in lime juice, one tablespoon at a time.
7. Pour mixture into the pie base and level with the back of a spoon. Bake for 15 minutes, remove from oven and allow to cool before refrigerating overnight.
8. To serve, whip cream until it forms stiff peaks. Smooth evenly over pie. Garnish with fresh lime zest if desired.

Divine!

Link up your Wordless Wednesday by clicking on the link below:

Would you like a side of placenta with that?

It would seem there are a lot of women out there eating their own placenta. Check out this YouTube video of a young mother who defrosts her placenta, seasons it and then has her husband BBQ grill it before serving it to friends - *shudder*.



I Googled it - 'placenta eating' otherwise known as 'Placentophagia'.

Placentophagia is said to have a number of health benefits for women including the prevention of post-partum depression, the promotion of milk production and the shrinking or 'çleaning' of the uterus. Sites refer to unnamed studies that provide evidence of the benefits, yet critics say there is no conclusive evidence to date. In all honesty, I don't care. If eating a placenta meant I could sprout wings and fly - I ain't doin' it!


If watching this video didn't gross me out enough, reading recipes for placenta certainly did. Fancy a placenta smoothie to wash down your placenta lasagne, spaghetti, pizza or stew? Oh yes, this is happening people and I suspect those for which it is happening will not like the tone of this post. I am thinking of the Las Vegas woman, Anne Swanson, who after a month of giving birth was battling the Sunrise Hospital for the return of her placenta. Ms Swanson went so far as to stage a protest outside the hospital with placards reading "Free the placenta". Do you really want a month old placenta back?!


I am the first to be in awe of this marvellous endocrine organ. It is life giving. I even thanked mine when they took it away. Seriously, I did. I remember doing it in my post delivery euphoria and morphine haze. But eating it? It's all one step too far for me, even if you can dehydrate and encapsulate it for easy consumption.


It might be nutrient rich, but so is a glass of vegetable juice - and I'm sure it tastes better.


So back to that placenta smoothie...

Placenta smoothie featured on babble.com

 Bottom's up peeps!

Flash Blog Friday Linky Party

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Welcome to Flash Blog Friday!

In the spirit of flash mobs, this is a flash blog.

You're invited to flash your favourite post for the week.

Your Guide to Flashing

1.  Follow Twinkle in the Eye on Google Friend Connect, Networked Blogs, Facebook, Twitter or Google +

2.  Grab the Flash Blog Friday button and display it on your post or sidebar so others can flash too.

3.  Choose your favourite post for the week and flash by clicking on the link below. Make sure you use the URL for the post, not your primary blog address.

4.  Check out your fellow flashers and maybe spread some comment love.

5.  Come back next Friday and do it all again!

Wordless Wednesday: ANZAC Biscuits

The great Australian classic

Ingredients

1 cup plain flour

1 cup rolled oats

1 cup sugar

3/4 cup coconut

125g melted butter

2 tablespoons of golden syrup

1 teaspoon of bicarbonate soda

2 tablespoons of boiling water

Method

1. Preheat oven to 170 degrees celcius with fan

2. Line a baking tray with baking paper

3. In a large bowl, combine flour, oats, sugar and coconut.

4. Place butter and syrup in a bowl and melt.

5. In a small bowl combine the bicarbonate soda and water and stir. Add to butter mixture while foaming and stir.

6. Add butter mixture to dry ingredients and combine well.

7. Place a teaspoon of mixture on the prepared tray and gently flatten with a fork.

8. Cook for 20 minutes or until biscuits are golden brown.

9. Allow biscuits to cool slightly before removing onto a cooling tray.

Eat a biscuit and shout "BONZA!" It doesn't get any more Australian than that!

Now its your turn - link up for Wordless Wednesday...

Baby in Greece: The countdown begins

Trialling the new back pack

It's less than a month until we fly to Greece with the Squishy.

People keep asking if I'm excited. I am but it's buried somewhat under the trepidation I feel about the impending 23 hour flight. This has been made worse by the call we received from our travel agent telling us our flight over had been cancelled and we would have to re-schedule.

We had planned to stop over in Singapore for a night each way. With the new arrangements, if we choose to stop over in Singapore we will have to stay there for five days. As we had planned a trip to Greece, not Singapore we will have to push through the full flight with a 45 minute stop over.

Did I mention we'll be doing this with a 10 month old! 

I know people do it all the time and my husband reassures me it won't be that bad, but those flights are bad enough without having to keep a wriggling ball of energy suppressed.

I anticipate getting on the plane and being met with looks of fear from other passengers as they chant in their heads: "Please don't sit near me, please don't sit near me". I expect intermittent death stares from other passengers should the Squishy get upset. I also know, for a fact, the Squishy will try, on multiple occasions to pull the hair and remove the earrings of the passenger lucky enough to sit next to us. If they are really lucky they might even get an open mouthed wet kiss!

I'm relying on his cuteness to excuse much of his behaviour.

I've been Googling, trying to form a plan of attack. Here's what I've got so far:

1. Bring new toys
2. Bring plenty of food
3. Bring dummies. Lots of dummies.

That's all I got people! 23 hours in cattle class with crap sleep and swollen feet and that's all I got!

Oooh, I just thought of another one: WINE! They give that shit out for free - that should soften the blow...

My mother-in-law is a Doctor. She's doing a bit of research for us on an appropriate sedative should he really struggle to cope, but I want this to be an absolute last resort.

At this stage, I choose not to contemplate our 5am arrival in Greece, after a 23 hour sleep deprived night with a baby who now needs to have his sleeping routine turned on its head. I'll just take that day as it comes.

In the mean time, I'll suck it up and picture Santorini...

Today I'm linking up with Diary of a SAHM

My first blog award!

I've received my first blog award! It's called the Liebster Award. This award is given to blogs with under 200 followers who inspire others. Mine was awarded by Heather from A Cupcake Love Affair.

There are a few rules for accepting the award:

• Copy and paste the award on your blog
• Link back to the blogger who gave you the award
• Pick your five favourite bloggers with under 200 followers who deserve to be recognised and leave a comment on their blog letting them know they have received the award
• Hope the five chosen bloggers will continue to spread the blog award love

I will happily accept this delightful award and share it with five worthy bloggers who I love to follow. Check them out:

• Yvette @ Delightfully Tacky Little Squirts
• Lisa @ Two Point Five Kids
• Rebecca @ Wholly Listening
• Lisa @ Sweet Little Pretties
• Laureny @ The Surprise Beginning

Chocolate Saucy Pudding

My mother has been making this for years. It's commonly requested as a birthday treat. Last night wasn't my birthday, in fact, I was home alone with the baby. I figured it was a good opportunity to do some cooking for the blog - yeah, that's why I made it...

Ingredients

1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup self raising flour
1 tablespoon cocoa
1/2 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla essence / extract
1 tablespoon melted butter

Sauce

1 cup boiling water
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon cocoa

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees celcius. Lightly grease a round cake tin or small glass baking dish.
2. Combine all ingredients in a bowl and beat with an electric mixer for 3 minutes.
3. Place mixture into the baking pan / dish.
4. Combine sauce ingredients and stir until dissolved.
5. Gently pour over the cake mixture.
6. Bake for 35 mins.
7. Serve immediately with a generous serve of ice-cream and a dollop of fresh cream.
8. Bliss out :-)

Back pain? Pull your vagina to the left and repeat...

I've had a sore lower back for weeks. I thought it was because I was lifting the little Squishy the wrong way. I've had five knee operations so bending at the knees like you're supposed to is not my favourite past time. I finally gave in and made an appointment with the chiro.

On arrival, I gave my history including the fact that I had given birth to the Squishy nine months ago. "How was the birth?" she asked. "Good" I replied. "Pretty standard as far as these things go". She looked at me wanting more. "It was fine, bubs heart rate was elevated for a prolonged period towards the end so they moved things along with an episiotomy and vacuum extraction". She frowned.

"Up on the table, on your back". Following a small amount of poking and proding she said "reach down and put your finger around your episiotomy scar, when you breath in pull to the left then release and breath out. Do that about six times". I must have looked perturbed "you can do it through your clothes" she added. Relief! To her credit she turned her back, counting and telling me to breath. In my head, I'm thinking "OMG - is she registered? Did I see a certificate on the wall?!"

I did as I was told because I didn't know what else to do and while I could not see a certificate on the wall that certified vagina pulling as a cure for back pain I was sure it was there.

Turns out her logic about the episiotomy is quite sound. When you have an episiotomy they cut through the perineum which supports your pelvic floor. The pelvic floor muscle gives support to the spine. This in addition to the loosening of the ligaments for birth has weakened the muscles around my hips, leaving my back poorly supported, hence the pain. She went on to give me a good back crackin' to re-engage the muscles, which I think was more beneficial than the vagina yanking. But heah, I feel better, if not slightly compromised.

The beautiful head that broke my vagina! So worth it.

Have you ever been put in an awkward position by a health professional?

Flash Blog Friday Linky Party

<a href=http://www.twinkleintheeyeblog.com/><img src=" http://i1059.photobucket.com/albums/t434/hbbcustom/twinkleintheye/breeflashbutton.jpg" /></a>

Welcome to Flash Blog Friday!

In the spirit of flash mobs, this is a flash blog.

You're invited to flash your favourite post for the week.

Your Guide to Flashing

1.  Follow Twinkle in the Eye on Google Friend Connect, Networked Blogs, Facebook, Twitter or Google +

2.  Grab the Flash Blog Friday button and display it on your post or sidebar so others can flash too.

3.  Choose your favourite post for the week and flash by clicking on the link below. Make sure you use the URL for the post, not your primary blog address.

4.  Check out your fellow flashers and maybe spread some comment love.

5.  Come back next Friday and do it all again!

THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO LINKED UP TODAY - LINKY TOOLS HAS HAD A HISSY FIT WHICH I AM WORKING TO CORRECT. THE LINKY PARTY WILL BE BACK NEXT WEEK. HOPE TO SEE YOU THEN!

Mummy blogger gets her wings

Seven months ago, I didn't know what a blog was. I heard the phrase tossed around every now and again but it didn't mean anything to me. Enter maternity leave and time to explore the online world and I am now a social media freak. Well, its not quite that bad, I still find time to look after my child (high five!), but it certainly consumes a lot of my time and thinking - in a good way.

In a few months time, I will be returning to work part-time and I would like to continue working part-time while ever I am raising children. Blogging is not only my new uber fun past time, but it might be a way for me to complement my income.

Miranda got her wings too!

My husband is supportive, so much so he's encouraged me to drive four hours to attend the Nuffnang Blogopolis Conference in Sydney, he's bought me a new Asas tablet so I can blog on the go (I got wings baby!), supported me to register my blog as a business, draft sponsorship proposals and order business cards. What a man!

Now I have to get out there and show him what I'm made of!

Before I fell pregnant, I had a niggling fear I would be a bad mother. Always needing some kind of intellectual and social stimulus, I thought I would struggle to be present and happily attend to a child. Having had a history with depression, I also feared the conditions of motherhood might trigger it once again. I'm pleased to say this hasn't happened, firstly because I'm in love with my baby boy, he brings me great joy in all the little things (like eating wads of sticky notes like he is doing right now - bad blogging mummy!). But I also have the journey into blogging to thank.

It has stimulated me intellectually, I now use terms like 'HTML', 'Meta tag' and 'SEO'. It has inspired me creatively - blog design and content will do that, and socially it has connected me with other like minded women in a similar position, reducing any sense of isolation I might have felt. That the topic of my blog is motherhood and my baby boy is part of its focus, also helps me reflect positively and actively on the experience of motherhood and on the kind of mother I want to be.

So thanks blogging for enriching my life and making my experience of motherhood reflective and meaningful (and for my new toy, did I mention my shiny new tablet? Oh joy!)

Wordless Wednesday Linky Party

I am a sometimes scrapbooker. On this occasion I did a layout designed by my sister, who has been named a Scrapbooking Master by Scrapbooking Memories Australia. You can see more of her work at A Little Peek of Me.
Link up your Wordless Wednesday below!

First Easter, First Egg, First Chocolate

A picture speaks a thousand words

May your Easter be just a joyous!