Love List

Housebound with two sick kids I’ve still got no problem listing things that I am loving this week. In fact I always need to make sure the list is not too long!

This week I am jumping for joy over:

Vegetarian Meals

I have been trying a few vegetarian meals this week to increase our consumption of vegetables. We’ve had quiche, minestrone, stir-fry and still to come are pasta fagioli and pizza. Filling, delicious and nutritious.

I had heard of the Meat-Free Monday campaign but I didn’t know that cutting out meat just one day a week can make a major reduction on your carbon footprint. The meat industry is estimated to be responsible for more than one fifth of the world’s green gas emissions.

I think I could make us meat-free a couple of times a week.

Thermomix Juicing

I have asked questions on a couple of juice websites and the general consensus is that I am technically cold-press juicing in my Thermomix if I blend it with ice then strain it. Benefits of cold-pressing are that you don’t kill off the enzymes and vitamins by heating the juice (a conventional juicer uses a lot of energy to get the juice and generates heat).  Also by drinking juice instead of a smoothie you get the vitamins and minerals of the fruit and vegetables without the digestion energy needed for a smoothie. Both are excellent options though,  in smoothies you get the fibre and they are more filling.

I have enjoyed quite a few different juice combinations though there were a few losers this week (check out my facebook page for the one that tasted like sludge).

Fruit as a Meal 

We have an over-flowing fruit bowl this week and two kids with sore throats. They haven’t wanted to eat a lot so a few times their meals have just included a variety of different fruits. I am still getting my head around the fact that this is a meal, though I am not sure why (I would suggest it’s better for them than toast). Kids love that kind of thing and add some cut-up cucumber, some carrots, nuts and cheese and it’s a balanced meal.

Advance Party Planning

Thanks to my Sister-in-law, I don’t feel as panicked about an upcoming birthday party for Leo. I have ordered everything, got the food menu sorted and invite list done a month early. Now I just have to get him a present….what to get the boy who has everything (handed down to him)?

Rebounding 

Ok, so it’s bouncing on a mini-trampoline (very 80’s) but I keep reading about it everywhere. In books, on websites and just as I was convinced, Therese Kerr wrote this article. I’m getting one this weekend. Yes I feel like a sucker…I will use it for a week then put it away…maybe. But it’s cheap and the kids are going to love it and you can get fold away ones now.

Benefits

Circulate oxygen to your tissues. • Increases lymphatic circulation, as well as blood flow in the veins of the circulatory system. • Helps you breathe deeper. • Normalises your blood pressure. • May help combat depression. • Stimulates the metabolism. • Promotes muscle tone. • Increases the activity of the red bone marrow in the production of red blood cells. • Lowers elevated cholesterol and triglyceride levels. • Enhances digestion and elimination processes.

Re-reading well-loved books

Making my way through the Shopaholic series by Sophie Kinsella. For the tenth time. She cracks me up, people look at me strangely when I’m smiling inanely at the pages. If you are in the market for a silly, fluffy laugh out loud book (or books) this could be the series for you. I’m so glad I have a good, old fashioned hard copy of these to thumb through.

The Pack Away Song

I know it by heart. I sing it in pretty good key.

I am still the only one with any enthusiasm for it.

Spending a lot of time indoors means that nearly every toy we own (in all different rooms) has been out at some point this week.

Though my first born sometimes heartily joins in me in harmony, he rarely joins me in the physical work.