Chocolate Cupcakes

Makes approx 18.

INGREDIENTS:
1 1/2 cups plain flour
1 cup sugar
1 tspn baking soda
1 tspn salt
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 cup water
1 tspn vanilla extract
1 tbspn white vinegar

METHOD:
Preheat oven to 170. Line cupcake tin with patty cases.
Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl, then make a well and add rest of ingredients. Mix to combine then beat for two minutes on medium.
Evenly divide mix between cases and bake for 20 minutes, or until cupcakes spring back when lightly pressed in the middle.
Allow to cool completely before icing.

Yes, I'm THAT Mum.

Do you remember what it was like when your first born was a baby and you had all these plans? Whether it was making tentative plans to send your child to a private school, being the doting parent who attends all your child's extra curricular activities, to being the parent who would *NEVER* let their child cry it out in their bedroom?

I was the parent who would ensure my son didn't watch TV as long as the sun was shining. If his behaviour turned out of control (my brother had ADD), I would never consider medicating him.
Not that I'm against those who do these things; it just wasn't an upbringing I wanted my perfect child to experience.

Hahahaha. Ohh, naive new mum L, you were so cute and innocent!

I did okay with my plan to minimise the television Spawn watched - he didn't really watch TV at all until he was 18 months old. And even then, he was limited in his exposure towards it until he was at least 2. Now, however? Our TV is always on ABC Kids whenever Spawn is home (unless he has a movie on upstairs), even though it isn't always being watched. Take today for example; the sun is shining, it's relatively warm for a mid-winter afternoon, and Spawn has come home from school early, like he does every Wednesday and Thursday. He is currently glued to the television whilst I sit on the couch. Neither of us are absorbing any of that glorious vitamin D - and I'm okay with that!

Anyway, I completely digressed from my reason for blogging today!
Yesterday during our paed appointment, it was decided that Spawn would trial medication to help with his anxiety. So now he is not only on Ritalin, which has a bad stigma on its own, but he is also on a medication commonly referred to as Prozac. Yup, my almost 6 year old is on Prozac.

The decision to give him that half a tablet this morning was most definitely NOT made lightly. In fact, I think it's one of the hardest decisions I've made to date as a parent. I filled the description with the thoughts of, 'the pediatrician knows what he's doing' and, 'calming Spawn will help him do better at school and become more confident in his abilities' - because let's face it, dealing with anxiety doesn't really help ones confidence.

Even so, I struggled with the idea of actually having Spawn take the pill. Until a glorious friend (you know who you are!) reminded me on a Facebook status of the main point behind all of this: "anxiety is just another medical condition that can respond to treatment."

Which brings us to now. Spawn was noticeably calmer at school this morning. After his first half a tablet. Not sure if it's because of the Prozac, or merely because he self-settled, but either way, I no longer regret my decision to trial Spawn on it.

Have faith in yourselves, fellow parents. None of us make decisions regarding our children lightly, and we shouldn't be made to feel like bad parents if our decisions don't conform with the 'norms' of society.

Love to all.

- L. x

Beef Lasagne

I LOVE lasagne. All the variations of it too, depending on my mood. However, whenever I make it, I always wing it when it comes to the contents! So my own lasagne is amazing one day, mediocre the next. Such a pain! (I do this with several meals, to be honest!)

So I've started writing recipes down as I go, then saving them if they're amazing. That way, I may never make another meal the same, but others can enjoy my success! ;)

INGREDIENTS:
1 tbspn olive oil
500g beef mince
2 small carrots, diced
150g bacon, diced
1 brown onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, dic....crushed (lol)
1 cup beef stock (or red wine!)
700g jar of passata (I used a little less - didn't have quite a full jar)
1/3 cup water
1 cup pizza blend cheese (or mozzarella/parmesan blend)
6-8 instant lasagne sheets (approx)
White sauce:
90g butter
1/2 cup plain flour
3 cups milk

METHOD:
Preheat large saucepan over medium-high heat with oil. Add 'vegetables' and bacon, and cook for 6-7 minutes, until softened. Add mince and cook for 2-3 minutes, until slightly browned.
Add stock and simmer for 2 minutes, then add passata and water, bringing to boil before reducing heat to medium-low and simmering for an hour. Stir occasionally.

To make white sauce, melt butter in a saucepan over med-high, then add flour and whisk until it starts bubbling. Remove from heat and gradually add milk, ensuring it's well combined between additions. Return to heat and whisk constantly until sauce begins to boil. Remove from heat.

Preheat oven to 180 and lightly grease dish (whatever you want to cook your lasagne in), then place lasagne sheets to cover bottom. Try not to overlap too much.
Add half the beef mixture, half the sauce, then place another layer of pasta. Add beef, then pasta, then top off with rest of sauce. Sprinkle with cheese then cover with foil and place in oven for 25 minutes. Remove foil then return to oven for 10 minutes, until cheese is golden.
Allow to stand for a few minutes before serving. Great with chips, salad, roasted buttery corn cobs.... everything really. :)

Enjoy!

- L. x

Always Keep Fighting.

No matter what.

Life isn't meant to be easy. It shouldn't be this hard either, but one thing I have learnt recently is that as long as I'm fighting, everything is worth it.

There is light at the end of the tunnel.
Difficult roads often lead to beautiful destinations.
Take the good with the bad.
Stars cannot shine without darkness.
A bad day is a lesson for another day.
If every day were easy, no day would be spectacular.
Determination is the key to success.

For I believe in happily ever after, and I will not stop until I get there.

Peace out.

- L. x

Wholemeal Banana Berry Muffins

As the school holidays come to an end, it's time to make snacks for Spawn's lunches! I'm not sure how these will go being frozen, but they're yummy enough that they should be okay either way!

INGREDIENTS:
2 cups wholemeal flour
2 tspn baking powder
1/2 tspn baking soda
1/2 cup self-raising flour
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tspn ground cinnamon
1 tspn vanilla extract
1 egg
1 cup blueberry yoghurt
1/2 cup milk (or just use 1 3/4 cups blueberry yoghurt - I used what I have as this polar blast is intense and I'm NOT leaving the house lol)
1 cup mashed ripe banana  (2 approx)
1/4 cup olive oil
1 cup frozen blueberries

METHOD:
Preheat oven to 190 degrees and put patty cases in muffin tin.
Combine all dry ingredients in a large bowl, then make a well and add all other ingredients, except blueberries. Stir until combined, but do not overwork.
You can either gently fold through blueberries now, or place them on top once mix is in cases. I did half and half - I love the smushy berries on top!
Fill the cases 2/3, then put into preheated oven for 20 minutes. Makes between 12-18 muffins, depending on how generous you are.

If freezing, do not do so until they have cooled completely. Otherwise they may go soggy and bleh.

Enjoy!

- L. x

Taco Soup.

This is a take on some American thing. I made it a little healthier, as well as tastier! It's basically nachos with beefed up taco filling. So good!

INGREDIENTS:
500g beef mince
1 brown onion, diced
Olive oil
1 sachet taco seasoning
400g tin diced tomatoes
400g tin four bean mix
1 tin sweet corn kernels
Passata - err, about a cup?
Plain corn chips
Sour cream
Grated cheese

Heat oil in large saucepan over medium heat, then add onion and cook until softened. Add mince and cook until browned, then add all other ingredients and stir to combine. Add enough passata until you have desired consistency. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for 15 minutes.
To serve, put soup into bowl and top with grated cheese and sour cream, with corn chips on the side for dipping.

Enjoy!

L. x

The End is Nigh.

Oh, my gosh.

These holidays have been a blast! However, I am more than ready for Spawn to return to school! His need to defy everything I ask him to do has my hair turning greyer than ever before.... So tragic. I am officially at the stage where I will be dying my hair for the rest of my life. :(

Recap of the holiday activities we have partaken:
- zoo. This was fun, until Spawn decided to meltdown and run around making himself trip - what is with that??? I need to bring this up with the paed at our next appointment. It does my head in to no end!
- craft activities. These have been my saviour, without a doubt! I stocked up on a bunch of Naplan style math workbooks, and bribe Spawn to behave in order to get one. *snickers* Bribery is an amazing tool.
- baking. Didn't do as much of this as I thought we would, but Spawn did enjoy making a strawberry cake, then making a strawberry puree to put on top. Neighbours were very appreciative of our efforts!
- Sovereign Hill. This was our last day out for the holidays (apart from the trip to the shopping centre the following day, which resulted in disaster [details to come!]) and a lot of fun! I hadn't been to Sovereign Hill in a REALLY long time and it was amazing how little it had changed, yet how different it looks from an adult's perspective. Spawn had fun doing the mine tours and panning for gold, and now has a new obsession with all things gold related. Love the obsessive mentality of his mind. He truly is incapable of doing anything by halves! He also met a little girl and his impulsive nature meant he had no problem straight up asking her for her number! (she would have been around 4) This little girl then came up and casually put her arm around him. It was so adorable! I love the innocence of kids. So pure and untainted. :)

During the holidays, I have tried implementing new techniques to prevent angry outbursts from the little devil spawn, however few methods seem to work. I know that you have to give things time to sink in, but when you're trying to calm an aggressive child down and he gets significantly worse - well, this does not call for a fun time. I feel like all we're doing in going in circles, with no sane way out. The calm bottle however, is an AMAZING thing. It actually works, if I get Spawn to play with it before his temper fully kicks in. Loving it immensely!

On the topic of sanity; I officially lost mine yesterday. We went to the shopping centre to buy groceries and a new board game to play over the quiet weekend to come, and Spawn went ballistic, trying to destroy things in the centre!!! Not so much embarrassing, as I find myself being able to ignore most of the stares, but definitely depressing. Am so grateful that my mum was in the area and able to take him for the day - it worries me what could have happened if he had stayed with me. :/
Chocolate swirled brioche and red wine definitely helped me a little though. I found my sanity at the bottom of the bottle - yay. :)

I find myself a little scared at the prospect of Spawn returning to school. I'm getting to the point where I want to drop him off, then turn my phone off and not worry about anything until I pick him up at 3:30. All the phone calls and face-to-face conversations are so taxing! I am so grateful that Spawn's teachers are understanding and try to keep him in line, but him being sent home really doesn't help our situation. He comes home so ANGRY - at me mostly - that I dread it. 100%, no doubt about it. Don't want it to happen!!

Ah well. If I were a believer of God, I would be SO upset at the idea of him believing I am worthy of such a child. Just once, I'd love for something to happen in my life that wasn't so... demanding? Painful? Intense? Hard?
Just give me easy, please? Just ONE thing. I don't ask for much, do i?

Peace out.

- L. x