Leftover Vegetable Soup

For the last couple of years, I've discovered a liking for soups, particularly just before I go shopping and I've got a fridge full of aging produce.

I've discovered that you can throw just about any vegetables together to make a tasty soup, but today's was a particularly nice batch, so I'll record it here for future reference.

Put chopped zucchini, broccoli, half a cup of soaked lentils and corn off the cob into a large saucepan with about a litre of water and some miso soup paste. Bring to the boil then simmer for 10 minutes or so.

Add a wedge of chopped pumpkin and a tin of berlotti beans, stir well and simmer for another 10-15 minutes. Take off the heat and season with salt and pepper.

Serve when ready with a crusty bread roll or add a small packet of udon noodles to the soup.

Yummy!

And the good thing is, it's low in fat but really filling.

Jet Truck at Ekka

We went to the Ekka the other night - a huge country fair right here in Brisbane. We had an awesome time as a family, with no tantrums or tears. The highlight for all of us was the night entertainment on the centre oval. I think I've had my fill of woodchopping, whip-cracking, horse-dancing, utes driving and motorbike thrills, but it was the jet truck that really stole the show.

This truck was an old World War 2 truck of some sort with a huge get engine on the back (a bit like the one in the picture, but just not as new!). It drove around the oval, burning off jet fuel with about 20 blasts and the heat could be felt all over the grandstands.

In this age of aggressive occupational health and safety, I can't actually believe that they were allowed to have this crazy contraction. I can just see the headlines - "4000 people burnt to a crisp in crazy Ekka stunt!"

My boys thought it was a ball, and I was just glad when it was over, but it made me realise, that if this is still possible, then surely so many other things are permissible with the right controls in place? As playgrounds and school yards get more and more safety aware that they take away the risk and fun, isn't it time that we had a 'jet truck' approach to childhood also?

Thank goodness that the fireworks finished the night off perfectly and we all got home in one piece. Perhaps we'll go again in a few years time... who's betting the jet truck's back then too!

Amazing Race 14

There is building excitement in our house, with the Australian premier of Amazing Race 14 less than 2 weeks away.

This series has captivated our hearts - we love the oddball contestants, the arguing and strategy, but most of all, we love the travel. I think we're all armchair travellers, and because we haven't been able to see this big blue ball we live on, we really enjoy seeing the contestants flit from one country to another, scrambling over one another to win the $1 million prize.

We've got into a great habit of taping the programs and then watching them on Friday nights with a few like-minded friends as a great end to the week.

It goes to show that even the smallest of rituals in a family can have the best payoffs, so with the ice cream stocked up and the odd bottle of wine stored away, bring on the games!

Bushwalking

We went bushwalking at Binna Burra in the Gold Coast hinterland over the weekend. It was the most beautiful country I've seen in a long time. Massive waterfalls, enormous trees, craggy escarpments - it was just such lovely country.

But the highlight for me was the 16.6km hike that took our family of 5 (including our 7 year old) 8 hours. Sure we saw all these things, but it was the other things I saw that really stood out for me:

• I saw a family, who despite bickering over what TV shows they watch or who gets to sit where on the couch, actually love being together.
• I saw our kids helping each other out over the boulders and through the muddy sections, guiding the footsteps of those walking behind them.
• I saw us as parents learning new things from our kids and new things about our kids.
• I saw our quietest child, who has the least faith in himself, emerge as the leader, setting the pace and taking charge.
• I saw a family who found all sorts of things to talk about - faith, life, dreams and love.

If I could trade those 3 days in for any other 3 days in this life I wouldn't do it. They were some of the most precious days I have ever lived. It goes to show that it's not the big holidays that necessarily leave the biggest memories, because it's all about the quality of those memories.

A Bag of Lollies

Yesterday I bought a bag of mixed lollies. I didn't realise that the bag included about 15 bananas, which have no fans in our household. So instead of the holiday stash being full of lollies, the box was only about half full... pretty disappointing really.

The more I thought about it, the more I realised that that bag was a good representation of life. Too often we rush into something, like a new job, a holiday, purchasing a new car etc, and then realise that there were lots of things we didn't realise came in that 'packet'.

In our house, the jelly babies, milk bottles and snakes go first from the lolly packet. Then the racing cars, strawberries and cream and the raspberries disappear. The black cats, pineapples and teeth are the last pickings. The poor old bananas are left in the bottom of the barrel until I throw them out or convince a visitor to scoff the lot.

We're heading off for a mini-break at the end of the week, and I know it will be just like that bag of lollies too. Everyone will be excited about going and jump into the task of packing the car. People will grumble and groan as we clean up the house before going, but they'll still pitch in because the holiday is before them. But when we get home... I know I'll get all the bananas - I'll be doing the washing long after they've jumped on the couch and turned the TV on.

I think I'm ok with that, I'll just have to make sure I find plenty of jelly babies and milkbottles to enjoy while we're away.

Household Chores & Kids

I'm having one of those weeks where the dirty washing is starting to invade the house and the ironing basket is now the major feature of the lounge room. It seems like the family roster for keeping the house clean and tidy has broken down.

Why is sharing the household chores so important to family life?

I think kids can only learn about the breadth of domestic work by taking part in it. We spent time on a property last school holidays, and our kids saw that to help their family stay afloat financially, the kids were needed to muster cattle, feed the animals and work within the house, from basically dawn to dusk. They were under no illusions by the time we left that their lives were very easy and that they took on far less work within our house than we did.

Teaching the kids to clean the toilet, put their washing away so that it's neat and doesn't get crushed, and cleaning up their bedrooms might not be a huge contribution to the running of the house, but it teaches them to pull their weight, which hopefully will be helpful when they get their first job or move into a share house. It also gives them plenty of time to see you and how you operate as an adult.
What can you do to make sure everyone is helping to keep the house tidy?

We've tried heaps different ways of doing the roster and the only thing I've found that really works is a really simple one. Our current roster is a wheel that rotates around each week. Everyone in the house gets one job - cleaning the toilets, rubbish duty, unpacking the dishwasher, sweeping the floor etc, and one breakfast during the week to prepare and serve.

The only downfall seems to come at the end of term when people have lots of things on and lots of projects and they run out the door without doing their job.

I'm still trying to work out how to deal with this, but I find reminding them calmly over the dinner or breakfast table has worked much better than yelling and stamping my feet at them. I've also found that I've got to make sure I've done my jobs before I start hassling them about doing their share.

First-time Family Camping

We've just started talking about what we're going to do during the holidays. We think we'll sneak off for a 'mini-break', family camping style.

If you haven't gone camping as a family, then I'd recommend it as a cheap means of resetting the family compass and reconnecting with one another. There's nothing like working together to set up camp and sharing a meal that you've prepared together.

I think there are 10 things that are essential purchases for any family getting into camping:

1. A good tent - but not one that is too big. Buy a tent that's just big enough to accommodate everyone when they're sleeping and still give you room to get out to the toilet if needed. You also need a bit of space to store clothing and belongings.
2. A large tarpaulin - this goes over the tent, which is essential when camping in Queensland because the weather can change so quickly, the storms can be pretty fierce and the sun is pretty punishing too. A tarp gives your family a living room space outside of the tent, which is a must in our blistering summers. Just make sure you buy enough poles, ropes and pegs to put it up.
3. A decent esky - you don't need an icebox or fridge unless you're planning to camp in really isolated places or lug a generator, but a decent esky will keep your food and drinks cold with the odd bag of ice thrown in.
4. A butane stove - these little cartridge stoves are so portable and you can buy the fuel at K-mart or Big W, as well as camping stores. They're great with kids because they produce just enough heat to boil water, but they're pretty safe around kids.
5. Bedding - We've discovered 4WD mats, which just roll out and self-inflate. They also stack on top of each other during the day when you need more space in the tent. If you've got some old air mattresses, then make sure you replace them with these when the time comes. Your camping experience will never be the same again.
6. Crates - We now use crates for everything. Food, cooking utensils, clothing, games... If you buy lots of crates at the same time, you'll find they stack nicely on top of each other, which makes packing a breeze and helps you keep the tent tidy when moving from day to night and back again.
7. A camping table and chairs - These are a must. The table gives you somewhere to cook and eat, somewhere to play games and somewhere to put things off the ground if you find yourself in a torrential downpour.
8. Light - If you haven't got a dolphin torch or a battery operated lantern, then these can both be handy, but our family have really taken to using headlamps. You can pick them up for around $40 at Anaconda, and it means everyone has enough light to see what they're doing and still has both hands free. They are also much kinder on batteries.
9. Uno, Skipbo, Scrabble or any other games - Games are a must on any family holiday but especially when camping. There are plenty of times when you have to wait and grabbing a pack of cards or game can really add to the camping experience.
10. A packet of marshmallows, chocolate and wine - no camping holiday is complete without roasting marshmallows, even if it is on the butane stove, and I can't recommend highly enough the restorative effects of a block of chocolate and a glass of wine after a long day of camping with the kids.

The only other thing you'll need then is a trailer to fit it all in and your togs!

Rainy Days

My memories of rainy days as a kid are of being curled up on my bed with the radio on and a good book in my hands.

It's raining today and the kids are home from school because the teachers are on strike. There's that lovely clunking sound on the roof from the bigger drops falling from the trees and the steady hush of the gentle rain. There's that cool, crisp stillness in the air too. It's a perfect autumn rainy day.

The kids have spent an hour or so in front of the TV and they're just cranking up the Wii in the lounge room now. I know that later in the day we have some jobs, music practice and homework to tackle, but it's just such a perfect day at the moment.

Sometimes I wish I could just hold onto a moment like this forever. I know it won't be all that long before the kids are at home a lot less and even move out. This is a magical time in family life and I really wish it could last and last. But, one thing I've learnt as a mother is that if life is good now, it only gets better as they get older and more independent.

For while the kids have been lazing around, I've put on a load of washing, started some baking, made breakfast and cleaned up the kitchen. I'm just about to go up and tidy the bedrooms and bathroom and sort out some washing. The nice thing about the kids growing up, is that when the next autumn day like this comes around, they might do one or two of these jobs themselves or not even be living at home at all.

Families growing up is good, not bad, and that's what we have memories and photos for - to remember the good times in the past, during the good times in the future.

Getting the Budget Right

I think budgeting is a pressing matter for just about every family this year, so if you're having trouble making the budget work, try some of these:

1. Have another look at what's coming into the house and what's going out, write out a detailed budget. www.moneyminded.com.au has lots of budgeting tips as well as budget worksheets.
2. Treat money spent on a credit card like you paid cash for it. That way you won't keep building up a debt that you can't service.
3. Don't buy lunches, pack them at home to save money. Try offering different things from sandwiches everyday, like leftover pizza and even mini quiche made from eggs, ham and puff pastry.
4. If you're having trouble with your rent or mortgage, get help early and find a financial counsellor or take a look at this website - www.capaust.org which offers financial counselling through local churches that comes to you.
   
5. Make a shopping list and shop just once a week. Get really good at turning leftovers into something else and using those cans at the back of the cupboard. If you're still having trouble buying food, contact a local emergency relief group or food bank, or talk to your local church.
6. Cut down on takeaways which aren't as filling and cost more per meal. Make homemade food takeaway by eating it somewhere else, like in the backyard on a picnic rug or at the park.
7. Buy treats like chocolate, alcohol and takeaways at the end of the fortnight or month, when you know you can afford them. Use them as a reward for sticking to your budget.
8. Clean up around you house and see if you've got anything that's no longer needed but could do quite well on ebay or in the Weekend Shopper. Even getting a few dollars can help and having a tidier home can lift the spirits no end.

MasterClass

I've been enjoying watching MasterChef on the TV lately. I've never realised how much thought goes into a restaurant meal, but then I don't think we're talking about McDonald's-type restaurants here, and lets face it, I haven't been to the other sorts for a while.

Anyway, back to MasterChef. Most of the contestants seem to be good cooks who think they'd like to be a chef. I consider myself a pretty good cook, but I've been learning a lot from this program. Their contestants have to think about the ambiance and environment that they serve their meal in, then there's the way the 'plate' their meal. They have to be careful to put vegetables from the same season together, so a chef doesn't seem to be able to gather up the least lively veges from the fridge and throw them together into a new dish. Every dish needs a name too, and not some lame name like Sausages and Potato and Withering Veges. It needs to sound impressive, like Venetian Sausages or Beef and Vegetable Hot Pot. There also needs to be plenty of thought about what herbs and sauces are added, so the taste and 'aromatics' are perfect.

I've been getting a box of veges delivered each week to make my shopping easier. I have to say these veges are always really fresh, but it's a bit of a lucky dip, because it depends what's in season. So this week, we've had garlic in everything, because I got about 30 cloves of garlic. We've had lots of potatoes, onions, gem squash (yes that was new to me too) and carrots, lettuce and tomatoes which come every week.

This has made me realise that the art of cooking isn't just about shoving plates of food on the table as quickly as possible. Cooking is about the whole meal - the conversation, the pace, the connection and the food. Throughout history food has been used as a reason to gather and as part of celebrations, both within families and communities. A good cook (as compared to a chef) probably works with what they have available, but the process should still be the same. We should be thinking about how we present food, what ambiance our meal is creating and what smells and tastes people can experience from our food. The modern notion of preparing simple meals as quickly as possible has probably taken the focus off this, to the detriment of our home-dining experience.

Well that's all I have time for, I've just got the sausages and mashed potato ready, so if we hurry we can catch tonight's episode of MasterChef. Some things are hard to overcome, aren't they?

Mothers Day

Today is Mothers Day. It's my 11th year as a mother and my 36th with a mother. I've realised some important truths today about why Mothers Day is so important. I'm just sorry that it's taken me so long to work this out.

You see, as a kid, my family didn't celebrate Mothers Day. I don't remember having nice lunches or making Mum breakfast in bed. I can't even remember making her fancy homemade gifts at school and I don't remember ringing my grandmother in New Zealand either.

I think that was partly because my father was rarely at home and my mother wouldn't have drawn attention to herself. MyMum is a pretty humble lady who always downplays what she does.

But today, I've realised that Mothers Day is about saying thank you for all those things you haven't said thank you for over the year. The times Mum cleaned up the bedroom or did another load of washing. The days Mum stayed home when you were sick or rocked you to sleep when you were tired. The days that she cuddled you through your tears and spoke words of encouragement when you faced your fears. There are so many things that Mums do that go unthanked. I now realise I have a huge debt of Mothers Days to make up for.

These days, my thanks is more for stepping in and looking after the kids when I need a hand, or putting up with a change of plans when my life gets busy. My thanks is for accepting that I'm far from perfect and sometimes forget to call her. My thanks is for the opportunities she gives me to return the care she's given me over the years - cooking her meals and including her in the grandchildren's lives.

Mothers are the foundation of society. They teach children how to live in community and how to behave as adults. They are largely the unpaid workforce in society, that does the cooking, cleaning, childrearing and other volunteer work that keeps the economy going. Every mother deserves to feel valued today. I'm glad I got that right this year.

Kitchen Cheats

We had some friends over last night who we hadn't seen for years. We decided during our holiday that we should make an effort to have friends over for dinner now that the kids are happy enough to sit in front of the television while we entertain.

It was a great idea earlier in the week - I was looking forward to using the nice dinner set where all the pieces matched, and I was keen to get stuck in to making some new fancy dishes too. I love cooking and putting on dinner parties is a real joy for me. But as Friday got closer, reality hit.

Work to do, the house to tidy, things to do for the kids... When was I going to cook a fancy dinner, let alone shop for it and make myself and the children look presentable for company?

So I turned to a magazine which offered me a 'Cheat's Dinner Party'. That sounded like what I needed! And I have to tell you, it delivered what it said it would. I managed to shop, prepare the dinner party and clean up the house, children and myself in 2 hours - not bad hey!

The food was delicious and only needed a few tweaks to feed 7 instead of the intended 4. My daughter and I even had time to pick some flowers from the garden and make the table look fancy.

This made me think of the other ways that we can make life simpler by 'cheating'. After all the dinner plan was just a set of instructions to follow. How often in life do we stress out about something, when if we sit down and list all the steps we have to follow, we can accomplish something without too much fuss?

So today, I've got about 5 things to do, some big and some small. But I think I'll just see them as a set of steps to get me to the couch tonight by about 6pm to enjoy some time with my family and a nice glass of wine. My kids might even learn from my good habits!

One thing I know for sure is that next time, I'm not going to worry about entertaining. I'm just going to invite people around and plan the food around what else needs to be done.

Modern Life

Everyone talks about how busy modern life is. With the invention of the microwave, dishwasher and mobile phone, life only seems to have gotten busier. Why is that?

But along with that busy-ness, seems to be a constant change. People change jobs more frequently, roles within jobs, expectations, working conditions and hours seem to be constantly changing too. I feel that you can't really make long term plans anymore, because you can't really imagine what life will be like in 2, 5 or 10 years.

Five years ago my husband and I moved our family across the city for a number of reasons:

1. To be closer to his work, cutting down an 1.5hr commute to a matter of minutes each day, allowing him to spend more time with me and the kids.
2. To live in a community where our children could more safely enjoy some of the things we took for granted as children ourselves.
3. To give ourselves a choice of a number of high schools which would equip our children for their adult lives.
4. To live closer to friends to be able to enjoy the journey of life alongside.

In the time that has passed, so much has changed that we really have to dig deep to cling to those reasons. While my husband still only takes minutes to get to work, he works much longer hours when he is there, so we cling to the knowledge that he's able to drop in to see that race at the sports carnival or come home early now and again to watch a school concert.

Our community is really no different to any other community now and we're constantly struggling to allow our children to be independent without putting them at undue risk.

Our choice of high schools has significantly lowered with the closure of some and others adopting strict boundaries. Who would have thought that we now only have one choice, like we did before?

Our friends have moved away or have busy lives also, and as our children have grown, it's become quite difficult to have the social life we once had. In fact, most of our friends now are the parents of our children's friends. Friends we've made at the school gate and soccer sideline.

Modern life is all about change. Modern living is all about embracing change and being willing to make the best decision at the time based on what you think the future will be like. Most of all I think you have to adopt a 'no looking back' philosophy. You can have no regrets in modern life, because you just couldn't have known how life would turn out today.

Today, I'm thankful that modern life has enabled me to work from home using the internet, and not tied me to a desk in an office. I'm thankful that modern life has enabled me to free up some time to watch my son play school soccer tomorrow. I'm thankful that modern life had enabled my husband to take the kids for a ride this morning while I prepared bacon and eggs for a traditional family breakfast. Yes, modern life is all about change, but that doesn't mean the things that worked in the past can't be held onto into the future.

For Crying Out Loud

One of my favourite authors wrote, "Why do tears make people treat you like a five-year-old when usually they mean something really grown-up is going on inside?"

I know that feeling. There are plenty of times where tears come as an emotional response to something, but others interpret them as weakness. But do tears mean that you're weak or child-like?

The Bible says "Those who sow in tears will reap with songs of joy." - Psalm 126:5

I think this means that life is meant to be joyful, but at times we have to embrace the sadness to see how wonderful the good things are. We live in a world that skews to the pessimistic side of life. But I think it's important to actually see the good things in life and keep sorrow in it's place.

The other week my son was swimming at the district trials. He came 3rd last in backstroke but got a 3 second PB, so he went down to the butterfly races feeling confident. At the end of that race he'd come last and been disqualified because his stroke wasn't quite right. Next I know he's in a pool of tears and never swimming again. He's hopeless at butterfly and backstroke (forget about that PB now) and might as well give up all together. This carried on for about an hour and half and only really stopped when it was time to get ready to swim freestyle. Somewhere deep in that body he found the confidence to have one last go. While he didn't do any superhuman Olympic-worthy swim, he did win his heat and get a small PB. We went home to celebrate as quickly as we could - there was no way I was letting that winning feeling slide again!

That was just one small step in teaching my son that sorrows and joys are linked and don't actually cancel each other out. Perhaps I just need to remember that in my own life too. When I'm tired and weary from working and the house is untidy and there's nothing much for dinner because I haven't had time to shop - there's still a loving family who treasure me more than a house and fancy dinners. When I feel sick but need to keep going and look after the kids - my tears are a helpful step in knowing that there is joy just around the corner, when I'm well again.

Crab Capers

We've just got back from our annual January camping trip. This trip has been one of the things that helps us press the reset button at the beginning of each year, and the highlight of the week is the nightly crabbing excursion. If you've never been crabbing, then allow me to explain.

You take a bucket or two, a few children and some torches and head to the beach in search of crabs. Upon locating a crab the entire group must yell "Crab, Crab!" and one child is chosen to catch the crab. While the catching is taking place, all the other children must scream and squeal at the top of their voices ad an adult must hover with a bucket nearby to receive the crab.

After collecting plenty of crabs, a large circle is drawn in the sand and the bucket is upturned. The crab who crosses the line first is named champion and then all the children and adults trudge home, ensuring that the maximum amount of sand returns to be deposited in the tent.

Each night of this routing brings much joy to our family and reminds me what life is all about. Things like school and work aren't the main event, just the supporting act. Joyfully relating to those closest to you is what makes most of us tick.

Gladiators

You know everything's right in the world when Gladiators is back on TV again. Interest rate rises, the Taliban and Pakistani cricket problems all pale into insignificance when those bold men and women slap on their lycra.

I had fond memories of watching Gladiators with my family, but my husband's pointed out that I'm too old to have done that, so it must have be It's a Knockout, another quality show from that era. But curled up on the couch with the kids I did feel some sense of history repeating itself.

Watching it as more of an adult than last time, there were some interesting things about the show last Saturday. The first was that they all wore mouthguards, padding and safety harnesses. We couldn't remember the gladiators of old stopping to clip onto the safety line, or spitting out their mouthguard before they made some comment on the state of the game. And that was the other thing, the speaking. There were a few gladiators who could string a coherent sentence together, but some of them seemed more comfortable with saying just a few words without much concern for whether they made sense. My daughter also raised the question of why the girls needed to have their togs on when they didn't go swimming, which is a valid question.

I'm not sure how long the show will last, surely not too many competitors will put their hand up to humiliate themselves on national television, but I do know where I'll be this Sunday night. I can guarantee that I'll have at least one child wriggling around next to me, and I'll be loving every minute of that show!

The Birds, the Bees and the Guinea Pigs

Our family had a guinea pig die a couple of weeks ago. That left poor old Kit Kat on his own - not a good life for a guinea pig. After lots of discussion, it was decide that we should get a lady friend for Mr Kit Kat and allow them to have a family. Little did I know what that would mean for our little family.

On Saturday we found a 5 week old girl guinea pig with an unfortunate hair-do. Dubbed Princess Leia, she's been handled constantly since she's come home and I'm beginning to worry that she thinks she's human. Anyway, Princess Leia might be ready to have babies, but she's a bit too young to start a family, so she's having to live in a separate box, waiting to join the old boy. Can you see my dilemma here? Our children are learning all about abstinence at the moment and the curly questions just keep coming. My best answer to date is that Princess Leia is like a 15 year old, but she has to wait until she's 25 to have babies. I'm wondering if I shouldn't have said she's like a 20 year old waiting until she's 30, just to make sure, but I guess by the time my kids are that old they will have worked out the real answers anyway.

Nobody told me parenting would be quite like this. Do you find that happens a lot? I knew we'd have to talk about the cycle of life at some point, and we've done that with our older son, but this process has happened much quicker and much more openly. Being compared to a guinea pig is not such a nice thing, and that seems to be how my children are thinking of me at the moment.

Anyway, the good news is that they've found out from us first. With this world of cyberspace and global information, I still think it's important that kids learn their most important lessons at home. Whether that's how babies are made, how to get on with others, how to read or how to tie shoelaces. There's only so much we should pass onto others, and while teachers can clear up that the Great Wall of China was not built to keep the rabbits out, there are some things best talked about behind the front door.