Will my house ever be clean again?

This is the mess Jambin created in the time it took me to brush my teeth. Lest you think I am a dental hygiene freak, I can assure you that I only spend a few minutes on my pearly whites morning and night. I don't even floss and gargle every time. If I'm being honest, I will admit that I don't even floss and gargle on a monthly basis, which is probably why my dentist gave me quote recently for the work I need doing, and it amounts to just over $600.

It's not that I have terribly high standards of house cleanliness, but I do like to be able to walk down the hallway without tripping over things, and when I cook, it's nice to be able to take the ingredients and utensils out of cupboards and drawers, instead of picking them up off the floor.

Tidying is tricky. Jambin immediately wants to play with (i.e. distribute throughout the house) anything that I touch. So by virtue of that, anything that I touch to tidy away, automatically becomes his new favourite toy, to be discarded only when I touch something else in a pointless effort to create some semblence of order. You can see where I'm going with this .....

I've done a lot of thinking about this, and as far as I can tell, the only solution is to massively declutter the amount of stuff we own. Less stuff = less things for Jambin to take out of cupboards = less things for me to put back into cupboards. Jambin is a whirlwind of never-ceasing activity - that's just his temperament and I can't see it changing in the short term, so I need to change either (1) the home environment or (2) my reaction to the mess or (3) both.

Savoury Muffins

I made a batch of these today, and they've already been demolished by Gareth, Jambin and myself. I've adapted this from a zucchini slice recipe given to me by Deb, a friend in my mum's group. It's super easy, yummy, and can be easily adapted to use up any leftover veges in the fridge.

Ingredients

* 2 carrots, grated and excess liquid removed

* 1 zucchini, grated and excess liquid removed

* Kernals from 1 corn cob (or 2 handfuls frozen corn kernals)

* 1 onion

* 6 eggs

½ cup oil

1 cup self-raising flour

1 cup grated cheese

4 bacon rashers (optional)

Salt and pepper to taste

Method

Mix all ingredients together, no need to sift the flour.

Place spoonfuls into greased muffin tray. They don't rise much during cooking, so fill the muffin cup nearly to the top. Try using mini-,muffin trays to make small ones for toddlers - my son loves these.

Bake in a moderate oven for approximately 25 mins.

Eat warm or cool - they're yummy either way

Ingredients with an asterix (*) beside them came out of my Food Connect box.

Menu Plan Monday

Monday - Grilled barramundi with chips

Tuesday - Minestrone with homemade bread

Wednesday - Chilli con Carne with corn chips

Thursday - Chicken teriyaki with rice noodles

Friday - Leftovers or takeaway Indian curry

Saturday - Tuna and tumeric rice

Sunday - Steak with fried eggs and spicy carrot salad

Menu Plan Monday

Okay, I know it's Tuesday, but I didn't get a chance to post this yesterday lol. My in-laws left yesterday morning, after spending a week staying here, helping us build a new set of front steps, so I only have to plan for 3 people this week.

Our Menu Plan for this week is as follows:

Monday - Tacos

Tuesday - Chickpea, lentil and butter bean soup

Wednesday - Minestrone with homemade bread

Thursday - Chicken paprika with rice

Friday - Chicken paprika with rice (leftovers)

Saturday - Spaghetti bolonaise

Sunday - Toasted sandwiches

UFO Update #3 / Knitted Longies

Knitted green longies, which are water-resistant by virture of being made of 100% wool. I can use these over fitted nappies, or even terry towelling flats, WITHOUT needing to use a cover.

This is the first thing I've ever knitted, and I'm so happy with how they turned out. I *think* one leg is slightly longer than the other, but it must be because my stitches were slightly tighter on one side, because I've recounted and there are definitely the same number of rows in each leg.

When I finished knitting these, I immediately started knitting another pair, in Woolganics organic wool, coloured Chile (deep, dark red), just so that I don't forget what to do. I'm going too knit a pair for a friend in my mum's group too, for her daughter Niamh.


UFO List:
1. Cloth bum wipes
2. Cloth nappies - Cuddlebuns
3. Cloth mama pads
4. Flower garden knee quilt
5. English patchwork knee quilt
6. Japanese fabric quilt
7. Wheat harvesting cross-stitch
8. Watering can of flowers cross-stitch
9. Knitted longies - green
10. Knitted longies - red
11. Boxer shorts for Gareth
12. Ankle length pink skirt
13. Curtains for Jambin's playroom
14. Curtains for my outdoor office
15. Bibs

My love affair with a mixmaster

Gareth and my in-laws bought me this for a birthday gift a few years ago, alone with some matching pink utensils (of course!). I love it. It gives me joy to look at it sitting on my kitchen bench. And because it's not tucked away in a cupboard, I use it a lot. Yesterday I decided to make cupcakes on a whim .... 15 mins later they were in the oven. If I had to dig through my crowded cupboards to get a mixer or electric beaters out, I can pretty much guarantee than those cupcakes we had for dessert last night would not have been baked. It's got a bread hook attachment which I've never used, mostly because I like to make my bread by hand. But it's nice to know that it's there if I ever feel the urge to use it.

My gorgeous boy

 

14 months old