Fast forward to last weekend……for Mother’s Day I received pyjamas, which is a standard Mother’s Day gift and are always appreciated, as I never buy them for myself.

This year was different, instead of a “pair of PJs”, I got a onesie! So like mother, like daughter!

I love love love my onesie! Why had I not found out about these ‘onesies’ sooner?? It is just so comfortable!

Reasons to become a onesie convert:

* No need to worry about your pyjama top riding up and exposing your tummy to the cold during the night – you can stay snug as a bug!

* You can remain warm during trips to the bathroom as only your bottom needs to be exposed, not your legs as well!

* They don’t really feel like you are wearing daggy PJs, so they can be classed as day wear too! Well, maybe not when you are grocery shopping or picking the kids up from school..

* When you are bending over picking up after your kids, a onesie can stop that evil plumber’s crack from showing!

* They are worn by Justin Bieber, J-Lo and One Direction so they must be HOT right now!

* A onesie can make you feel just as sexy as Britney Spears in the “Oops I Did it Again” red catsuit!

* Some may think the onesie is a bit of a passion killer (just like wearing knee high stockings under a long skirt), but with press studs down the front, just think how quick this baby can come off!

* They make you feel like a kid again, just without the need for nappy changes! Wooooohoooooo!

So jump on the onesie wagon with me, you will be glad you did!

What is your favourite type of sleep wear? Could you see yourself in a comfy onesie, with the convenient “butt flap”?
 

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My WID list:

I received a onesie for Mother’s Day and I may never go back to normal PJs again!

My kids are obsessed with iPads, but also with bead mazes! Two VERY different toys?!?

I am enjoying the fact that most clothes in my wardrobe no longer fit…….for all the right reasons!

That it is only just over 3 weeks until I will be in New York, travelling and shopping! Macy’s here I come!

Story time at the library requires kids to sit, listen, be attentive and appreciate the stories, to not fight, yell, cry or run around acting silly……after the spectacle my cherubs put on last week we will not be returning to story time again! I am sure their photos will be appearing on the wall behind the counter!

That my Zumba teacher used to dance with the Wiggles and appears in three of the four DVDs we have….a little hard to not picture her dancing around as a BIG Green Dinosaur during my weekly class.”

I am yet again too involved in a reality TV show!!  This time The Biggest Loser, and each episode I am getting so angry, as I cannot stand the arrogance of the Light Blue team!!!! Arrrrgggghhhhh!!

What have you discovered this week?

Flogging with Grace

Growing up I remember my mum LOVED eating Papaw.  I did not like it at all.

I am not sure if it was the texture, the taste, or both so I avoided it, and her like the plague whenever it was brought out.

Fast forward to October 2009 and we were in Hawaii for our honeymoon.  I ordered a large bowl of fruit salad for breakfast, and as I ate it I realised there was Papaw in it, I was going to leave it untouched, however after all these years I wondered if I had acquired mum’s palate for it.

I asked a passing waiter, what I was eating, and he said “Papaya“…..isn’t that the same thing I thought?  No…..

It was divine, and the main different was it was sweet. I will always remember my first Papaya experience!

Papaya Australia are keen to get more families to eat Papaya! So I was contacted and offered the challenge of making of making a dish with this fruit.

What I love is seafood, and what a great pairing Prawns and Papaya are, so Prawns with Papaya Salsa was to be our dinner (I found this recipe and tweaked it)!

Serves 2

500g green banana prawns, peeled (leaving tails), deveined
1 tlbs grapeseed oil
1 long red chilli, finely chopped
1cm cube fresh ginger, peeled, grated
1/2 lime, rind finely grated, juiced
1/2 garlic clove (add more if you would like a stronger flavour)
1/8 cup chopped fresh coriander
1/2 red papaya, seeded, cut into 2cm pieces
1 spring onions (shallots), thinly sliced
1 tlbs parsley
Salt and Pepper

Instructions

1. Soak bamboo skewers in water. Combine the prawns, grapeseed oil, 1/2 of the chilli, ginger, garlic, lime rind and 1/2 tlbs of the coriander in a bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and place in the fridge for one hour to marinate.

2. To make the salsa combine the papaya, shallots, remaining chilli, lime juice, and remaining coriander in a bowl. Season to taste.

3. After marinating time is up, slide prawns on to skewers

3. Heat a barbecue on medium to high heat. Cook the skewers, turning, for 3-4 minutes or until the prawns change colour and are lightly charred.

4. Serve with the Papaya salsa with a sprinkle of parsley on top.

So we have a great giveaway to go with all things Papaya, and that is a $250 Woolworths voucher.  All you have to do is getting cooking, get creative with PAPAYA!

How to Enter:

To enter, please either submit a blog post via the linky tool below, or submit a recipe in the comments section (ingredients AND instructions) and email your photo to Jodi@mummyhood101.com.

You will need to submit a photo to be eligible, and it needs to be an original photo. All entries will be judged by Mummyhood101 and the team at Horticulture Australia Limited and the entry deemed to be the best will be awarded a $250 Woolworths gift card.

For full terms and conditions click HERE

The T&Cs appear extensive, but basically the photos submitted must be your own, if you find a recipe from someone else you may use it only if you have tweaked or changed it to make it your own/original.

Competition ends 31st May 2013 @ 11:59PM.

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Before I left for school mum gave me a little bit of money to spend that day (yes, she was basically paying for her own gift).

I felt so exited that I would be able to buy her a present. We had already spent the week decorating colourful Mother’s Day cards, with glitter, paint and crepe paper, now it was my chance to find the perfect gift to go with it.

On fair day I cased all the stalls looking for the ideal present. There were photo frames, scarves, fancy plates, all these pre-loved items all waiting for new homes.

And there I saw it!! It was on the last stall, a stall full of jewellery! I was sure mum would love a necklace.

I took my 50 cents up to the lady and asked to buy the most perfect necklace for my mummy! She was going to love it.

I hid it in my bag, I remember I managed to wrap it in paper, which I can only presume I had drawn on, all ready for Sunday.

Mother’s Day came and I handed mum my carefully selected gift, she seemed ELATED! I was so impressed with my choice!

Weeks later we were going out to dinner and I stood watching mum get ready she opened her jewellery box and selected a necklace……it was not the one I chose for her.

Mummy, why aren’t you wearing MY necklace?

I am saving it for a special occasion!

I felt a bit confused and then a bit angry that my daddy hadn’t taken mummy out somewhere special so she could wear this lovely piece!!! Why hadn’t he??

Well it wasn’t that my dad hadn’t taken mum anywhere special enough for her to wear this gorgeous Mothers Day present, it was the fact that this necklace was absolutely truly HIDEOUS!!

A necklace made of HUGE apricot coloured beads, certainly didn’t go with anything mum had to wear, even in the 80s! It was awful, and no wonder it was “pre-loved”, someone probably could not wait to get rid of it!

Though mum was very accepting of her gift and never let on, that she would not even wear this monstrosity even when on her own standing  in the dark!

The above image is actually a lot nicer than the real thing…..!  Image credit

Have you received some “scary” Mothers Day gift? Or better still given one of your own?

I know this is something I have to look forward to.

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Header image credit

My WID list:

Whomever got me addicted to Candy Crush needs to be slapped!!! I wonder if there is a Candy Crushers Anonymous I can join? Anyone want to come with?

That I should not swear whilst driving with the kids in the car, no matter how cute Miss Z sounds shouting “SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIIIIIIITTTTT!” at the top of her voice.

It is always nice to take a trip down memory lane and visit your old home town once in a while. I <3 Wollongong.

During the past 9 weeks of my diet I have lost weight EVERY single week, even if it was small, a loss is a loss as they say.

Rasperberry Jam and Nutella combined together is an awesome combination (not good for the diet though )

For some stupid reason I feel the need to clean our house before the cleaner gets there?!?!? Why don’t I just get rid of the cleaner and pay the money to myself?

That today is my gorgeous, loving, caring niece Miss M’s 7th Birthday – we hope she likes barbies and ‘girl’ lego! Happy Birthday x

What have you discovered this week?

Flogging with Grace

The food was amazing and as too were the ladies from the MMCC.

These ladies have created a cookbook which contains a short story about the history of each dish, some have been passed through generations, others say that a recipe can be seen as their legacy.

Cooking from the heart is what this book is all about.

This event was sponsored by both Appliances Online and Breville.

Appliances Online have many great gift ideas for Mother’s Day, with free, next-day delivery to most metro areas it makes it very easy to shop for your mum!

I was gifted a Breville All in One for attending the morning tea, and can I say, seeing it in action when the ladies were cooking was amazing. I need to take this baby for a test run, and soon. From soups to dips, to purees, to making my own pastry to fluffy meringues!

What to make first, that is the question!

Keep an eye out for my adventures as I try out the Breville All in One! Now off to find some tasty, yet diet compliant recipes, need to keep things interesting!

Home is where the heart is….

Home Sweet Home…

On the weekend we packed the kids in the car and headed to Wollongong for the day. I moved out of the ‘Gong” when I was 25, moving up to the ‘big smoke’ to be closer to work, and to move in with my now husband.

However whenever I take the trip down there, I always feel like “I’m coming home”. The view driving down Bulli Pass or Mount Ousley Road always makes me smile.

I may have moved away 13 years ago but this place will always be a part of me.

I love where we currently live, suburban, leafy, family orientated, close enough to the city for work but far away enough to be comfortable.

We probably will never move out of the Lower North Shore (well, unless we hurry up and get our butts organised so we can pack up and move to the Gold Coast to be closer to my family), but Wollongong will always be a special place.

So many memories…..first day of school, going to footy games on the weekend with my brother, summers at the beach, graduating university, my first job….

And this becomes more prevalent each time we take a drive down there.

It is nice to let the kids, as they are growing a little older, experience some of the things I did as a child. See sights I used to see, swim where I used to swim and play where I used to play.

I will never live in the Gong again, so I guess it will have to be my home away from home.

Do you have a special place you like to call home?

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Just borrowing some lyrics from Miss Z’s favourite Justine Clarke song!

The best thing I am finding about my diet, or should I say lifestyle change is the fact that I can eat fruit! Most diets seem to restrict fruit due to the high sugar content.

I  usually have some at breakfast and snacks throughout the day, I do make sure I do not totally overindulge though.  Apples, raspberries, grapes, mandarins and pineapple!

Pineapple is a great fruit, as it can be added to savoury dishes too. In my previous post about a healthier me, I mentioned I wished to share some recipes with you.

Quinoa Salad with Pineapple & Coriander

Ingredients
•2 tbs olive oil
•2 cups quinoa
•4 cups water
•dash of salt
•2 cups fresh pineapple, chopped
•1 avocado, peeled and roughly chopped
•½ cup red onion finely chopped
•½ cup fresh coriander leaves
•1 cup cucumber, roughly chopped
•Juice of 4 limes

Method
1.Wash the quinoa in a fine strainer.
2.Place the water, salt and quinoa in a medium pot and bring to a boil.
3.Reduce heat to low and simmer until water is absorbed, about 20 minutes.
4.In a medium bowl mix all the salad ingredients and set aside.
5.Toss the cooked quinoa with the pineapple mixture and serve.

Pineapple and Prawn BBQ Kebabs with Mint Yoghurt

Serves 4-6

Ingredients
•12 green king prawns, peeled and de-veined
•1 pineapple diced into bite-sized chunks
•250g Haloumi cheese chopped into bite sized chunks
•1 red capsicum, cut into 3cm pieces
•1 green capsicum diced, cut into 3cm pieces
•300mL Natural yoghurt
•1 handful of fresh mint
•1 clove of garlic

Method
1.Thread a prawn, piece of red and green capsicum, piece of haloumi and piece of pineapple onto a skewer, with prawn in the middle. Repeat to create a colourful kebab.
2.BBQ until prawns are cooked through and the other ingredients are ever so slightly charred (approx. 7 mins).
3.Served drizzled with mint yoghurt. Combine natural yoghurt, 1 clove of crushed garlic and some chopped mint.

These recipes are thanks to Australian Pineapples Ambassador, Dr Joanna McMillan, who I had the pleasure to speak with about my lifestyle changes.

Dr Joanna McMillan is a registered nutritionist with a PhD in nutritional science. Her thoughts on pineapples are simple, “Pineapples are the perfect fruit to use in recipes as they are incredibly good for you and can be used in so many ways, from curries to quinoa. Just one pineapple is enough for the whole family”

For more information and for more yummy recipes, please visit the Australian Pineapples website.

So to help you incorporate healthy foods in your shopping trolley, I have a $150 Woolworths voucher to give away!

To enter, please answer the following question:

Tell me how you would incorporate pineapples in your diet e.g. a recipe you would like to try, adding pineapple to a family favourite, or a fun creative way to eat pineapple!

CONGRATULATIONS GOES TO AMBER B!!

“I love Thai Fried Rice with Pineapple. It sounds rather strange, but the mixture of spiciness and sweetness is absolutely delicious. It’s really refreshing! Also refreshing is Vodka Pineapple – pineapple pieces soaked in vodka overnight and voila – party-time fruit”

Flogging with Grace

It started in August last year, and by the time Christmas came around 10kgs had come off. It was not easy but I ensured I had watched what I ate and moved!! Walking, walking and more walking.

The problem with Christmas was the 4 week blow out. It was the festive season and I had plenty of Christmas cheer!

Getting back on the wagon was hard, motivation was lost, I managed to lose some of the weight the blow out had produced but not all of it, I plateaued.

It was time to rethink and change the approach. And things have been working! A new attitude to food and ensuring I eat what I should, without totally depriving myself.

Instead of walking or jogging, which in all honesty, I was not REALLY enjoying, and it could sometimes feel like a chore, I decided to do what I love!

DANCE!!

I did dance for many years, when I was younger, I gave up at the age of 25 when I moved to Sydney and have missed it since! So Zumba has been my exercise of choice.

Ditch the Workout and Join the Party!

I also use our Wii three times a week too as I have two Dance Games which guarantee to make me work up a sweat! 

So in the past 8 weeks I have lost 8.5kg, so overall that is 15.5kg!

I was lucky enough to be contacted by a Nutritionist named Joanna McMillian who you may know as the offical nutritionist from the Today show. You can see more of Joanna by visiting her website here.

Joanna had asked for my food diary which I was keeping so she could assess it.  Overall she seemed happy with what I was eating, and in what portions, so I was pleased the diet I had chosen was well balanced.

As I was told it is not a diet, it is a lifestyle!

One of the things that was mentioned to me was that due to the fact I had Gestational Diabetes with Master M, I am a candidate to develop Type 2 diabetes as I get older. It is important to instill healthy eating habits now, to combat this happening in the future.

Some of the points mentioned during my 30 minute consultation (some I was already doing, and others I need to improve a little on)

• Drink Water!!  However you CAN still have a coffee, it really is OK (I cannot survive without one)
• Green Tea can assist with weight loss and fat burning…..so drink up!
• On your plate, 1/2 of it should be made up of “plants” i.e Salads and/or Vegetables!
• Instead of having mashed potato try some mashed cannellini beans with a drizzle of oil
• Keep on moving!

I have a couple of recipes to share which involve fruit from Dr McMillan, in particular pineapple. This is one of the fruits I am really loving, and adding to main meals is a favourite thing of mine. Keep an eye out on the blog over the next few days!

How do you like to keep moving?

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Image Credit

One of the things I often do is cut out breakfast, simply because it takes too long in the morning. That 15 – 20 minutes could be spent getting my kids ready for day care and ensuring THEY have breakfast.

In particular on the days I work I find by 9am, I am be tired, unable to concentrate and often starving.

I was asked to review the new Cranberry flavoured belVita Breakfast biscuits recently, the first thing I thought was “I do not have time to have breakfast, how can I review them!”

The one thing I found is that I could eat these in the car on the way to the kid’s day care centre! Being a female I can do two things at once, it is called multi-tasking!

They are small and convenient enough for me to just pop in my handbag!

According to the national belVita Australian Mums Breakfast Report, which was conducted by Galaxy Research, Australian Mums are running on empty!  I know I usually am, with two kids under 3 I am run off my feet most days, and combine that with working and running a household, I am exhausted!

belVita Breakfast biscuits have been specifically designed with time-poor mums in mind, offering a convenient breakfast product with a wholesome taste experience.  What more can you really ask for? The Cranberry flavour was great too, especially with the pieces of Cranberry throughout, I am a HUGE fan!

Being a mum means you need to be a great juggler, so when you are juggling the washing, cooking, shopping. kid drop offs and pick ups, we tend to forget ourselves, often ending up neglected and tired.  Having some belVita Breakfast biscuits on hand to have  with a glass of milk (or your morning coffee!!) and a piece of fruit for a quick breakfast is doing something good for YOU!

belVita Breakfast Cranberry is available in supermarkets across Australia and is located in the biscuit aisle along side the other belVita Breakfast biscuit varieties (RRP $3.99 per box).

For further information about belVita Breakfast biscuits visit www.belvitabreakfast.com.au

So to help one lucky mum (or even a tired and running on empty dad!), I have two (2) months supply of Cranberry Belvita Breakfast biscuits to give away!  You will receive 8 boxes, worth $32.00!  Each box contains 6 individually wrapped portion packs of 4 biscuits each!  Who can resist?

In order to enter please answer a simple question in the comments section……. How do you kick-start your mornings? Give me your best TIP!

Flashing with Bree, Flogging with Grace

Terms & Conditions

I received a sample of belVita Breakfast Biscuits to try, and have been given 2 months supply to give away, no money has exchanged hands.