Donating My Hair!

So about a year ago, I cut my hair short for World's Greatest Shave. Unfortunately, my fat head would never be able to pull off the shaved look, nor did I have the balls to find out. All good though - I managed to cut a whopping 39cm off! Well, that was just the ponytail... I then lost a tonne more due to styling... Was a sad day. The fact it was for a good cause made it a LOT easier to stomach!! ;)

Anyway, the day has come... It is time...... TO DONATE MY PONYTAIL. Yes, ladies and gents, I have kept my ponytail in a drawer for the past year. Occasionally, I pull it out and lovingly stroke it, and reminisce about the days when I would complain about how long it took to straighten, or the headaches it gave me, or how long it took to grow to the length it was..... But not often. Because I'm not THAT crazy....

Where am I donating my hair, I hear you ask? Ahhh, why to the Princess Charlotte Alopecia program, of course! The program is run through Variety, a children's charity organisation, and aims to give young sufferers of alopecia a sense of confidence, independence and self-esteem, through the provision of specialised wigs! These wigs are essentially a priceless gift, due to the confidence they instill in the children, which in turn means those alopecia sufferers are able to take part in the activities they love and enjoy, but were too scared to participate in before receiving a wig.
And who doesn't love making kids smile?!!!! Ugh, I could go through life giving and giving to organisations who help sick kids, and never grow tired of it. :)

It took me awhile to find a program worthy of receiving my hair. Don't get me wrong, I am fully aware that anyone would love and be grateful for my hair, but I wanted to give it to someone ...I don't know. It took a lot for me to be willing to actually part with my hair. Alopecia is something that a lot of people don't know about, and maybe I can bring awareness to another handful of people, who will one day bring awareness to another handful of people.... It's all about that chain reaction!

So, enough rambling from me. .

Peace out.

- L. x

The ponytail in question.

Dentists..........

Suck.

That is all.

- L. x

Lemony Chicken with Broccoli

I'm trying oh-so-hard to find a million ways to incorporate broccoli into dinner without just having plain '30-second-steamed' broccoli on the side of most meals. This turned out pretty good!
As a sidenote - I have a photographic memory, so sometimes I see a recipe and then remember the key ingredients or whatever, then incorporate those ingredients into what I believe to be my own creation. So whilst I think I'm being totally original (or not... someone out there has pretty much combined every pairable ingredient possible!), I may have been unknowingly inspired by someone else. We're all Masterchefs in here though. ;)

Served myself and Spawn, with enough leftovers for both of us to have again for lunch tomorrow!

INGREDIENTS:
1kg chicken breast, diced bite-size
1 medium brown onion, finely diced
250g mushrooms, sliced
1 lemon
300g broccoli, steamed (I steam for about a minute - just so it's more vibrant and heated)
1 tspn ground cumin
1 tspn dried basil
1 tspn dried oregano
Salt & pepper, to season

METHOD:
Heat large frying pan over medium heat and add oil/fat of choice.
Add onion and mushroom and cook until starting to soften, then add chicken and mix well.
Once chicken is just about cooked, add cumin, oregano, basil, juice of lemon, and broccoli. Mix around and then add salt and pepper to taste, and more oil/fat if needed. Test to ensure chicken is seasoned to your liking - if not, add more salt/pepper/herbs/lemon, then stir and serve!
I served this meal with brown rice, but would be great with cauliflower rice or mash as well.

Enjoy!

- L. x
(Will add a photo next time - was running late with dinner tonight, lol.)

Ooooh, burrrn.

Oh! Oh! Oh! Have to blog this while it's fresh.

You know what I hate?! Being one of those people who HAS to have dinner on the table at 17:30.
Why?? Because it means I can get phone calls regarding jobs I've applied for (and other useless calls) while I'm sitting down to eat.
Case in point: I just sat down to enjoy my tofu stir-fry. It smells so good that I practically started INHALING it the second my butt hit the chair. I was just putting a piece of almost raw (the best way to eat it!) broccoli into my mouth, when my phone rang. I recognised the number as being that of "X", so quickly chewed and swallowed. By the time the broccoli was traveling down my throat, I had missed X's call. Ugh. No problem! *calls back* VOICEMAIL. Leave brief 'phone tag' message, then resume eating, thinking I probably won't hear back until tomorrow..... A few minutes later, I had JUST put piece of broccoli in mouth and my phone rings again! Bugger this; I'm so not playing phone tag all evening! So I swallow the exceptionally large piece of broccoli WHOLE. Gotta love not having a gag reflex. ;)
Exchange pleasantries with X. Discover this call is basically a rejection call. "The other candidate we're going to interview has a fraction more experience than you, which is why we've decided to interview her over you. However, should we decide not to go with this candidate, we will be in touch."
Okay, that's fine. I get that - I know I'm super green with my freshly completed education and lack of workplace experience.......BUT WHY DID YOU HAVE TO TELL ME THIS NOW?! Why not just call me tomorrow and reject me/ask for an interview????? Some people make NO SENSE AT ALL.
And now I'm sitting here with a piece of broccoli chilling uncomfortably at the entrance to my stomach, all thanks to this 'maybe' phone call.

....I need an alternate ending for when I'm feeling anything but "peaceful".

- L. x

Mad Woman, Bad Woman, that's just what you are...

Yeah, you'll smile in my face then rip the brakes out my car.

Remember that time I mentioned my waning sanity??? Well, it's waning some more right now. Well, today. Why is parenting so hard? Why don't you get an instruction manual, that also includes a list of common issues children dish out over the years?!! I swear, the person who comes up with that manual, and finds a way to give it to everyone in the country (or world!) deserves a prize. Like, a country or something equally epic.

Soooo. How's the serenity?! No, really. Tell me. I forget what it's like to know real peace! Even while Spawn is at school - and I CHERISH those precious 6.5 hours - I never really experience serenity. There are always floors to clean, dishes to do, food to prep, shopping to do, people to see, cleaning to do, toys to hide.....I mean, put away.
DOES. IT. EVER. END?!! Who knows? Maybe some great-grandparents know. Although, I suspect they're facing their own problems....like incontinence.

I'm looking forward to watching The Walking Dead (s5e10 for those in the know) tonight. Ahhh, nothing like some mindless zombie action to distract a crazy lady. Daryl is supposed to have a decent appearance tonight. I miss him. He was such a crazy redneck when he first came on the scene - I'm not sure when I developed a little crush on him?!!! And he's old!!! Like, (almost) as old as my parents! Creeps me out. He aged well. *excited*

If you need me, I'll be that weird lady in the corner talking to herself about the days when sanity was a thing she knew well.........

Peace out.

- L. x

Stupid Feelings & Emotions.

So I had three job interviews on Tuesday... This was a super fun experience! ..err.

Anyway, one of the interviews turned out to be for a position I didn't really want, but as I can't afford to be picky, I went into the interview and gave it my best shot.
Apparently I NAILED the interview! Like, the guy would hire me as he could see me being a long-term employee at the firm. However between myself and the other girl he interviewed, he managed to decide to go down the traineeship path with the position I interviewed for, which obviously takes me (and the other girl) out of the running.

Has anyone ever experienced this bittersweet moment?? I'm so proud that my interview skills are improving significantly (and I seriously thought I did so bad in this interview - it was the last one of the day and I was super frazzled lol!) and that I was able to help the firm out, however I'm simultaneously excited AND bummed that I didn't get the job. :/

Ugh, feelings and emotions suck. o.O

This Friday afternoon ramble was proudly brought to you by Cadbury Chocolate, PMS, and silly Melbourne weather.

Peace out.

- L.

Sausage Rolls

So, I'm not really a fan of sausage rolls... Something about the texture of sausage meat makes me ill.... It's so.....sausagey. Bleh!

Anyway, I experimented and tweaked recipes to my tastes, whilst still keeping Spawn happy (Spawn LOVES sausage rolls!). These are still a work in progress, but I have the 'meat' aspect perfected! Next stop, pastry. Gluten-free pastry can be a pain in the backside!!!

INGREDIENTS:
500g lean beef mince
300g lean chicken mince
2 eggs
1 small onion, finely diced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 carrot, grated
1 cup breadcrumbs (I use GF, but regular would work the same)
1 tbspn mixed herbs
1/2 tspn ground nutmeg
Squirt BBQ sauce
Salt & pepper, to taste
3 sheets frozen puff pastry (or your own puff pastry, if you're better than I am - feel free to share your recipe!)
Sesame seeds, to garnish

METHOD:
Preheat oven to 200° and line two large trays with baking paper. 
Add all ingredients, minus 1 egg to a large bowl and mix well, using your hands to ensure the two meats are combined. 
Cut each sheet of pastry in half. Grab enough meat mix to cover approx. 1/3 of the pastry, and roll into a sausage before adjusting to fill the pastry from one end to the other. Crack the remaining egg into a small bowl and gently whisk, then spread a little on the other edge of the pastry, before rolling lengthways. Place sausage roll on tray with join facing down, and repeat until all are done. Brush the tops with egg and then sprinkle with sesame seeds (or cracked pepper) and then put in oven for 20-25 minutes, until golden.
If you plan on cutting the sausage rolls into snack-size, gently mark the tops of the sausage rolls with a knife, but do not cut through until they have cooked and cooled slightly, as this ensures they don't dry out.

Serve with sauce, or on their own.
Can be frozen in airtight container/bag for 6 weeks. 

- L. x