Camping on Melbourne Cup Day weekend

We escaped the winds and the heavy downpour in Melbourne during the Melbourne Cup long weekend and drove 5 hours east towards a beautful flowing river and camped there.

Here's our lovely campsite-  overlooking the river.... not many people came here to camp thinking it will be bad weather so we were lucky!

We took a 2 hour trek and little Daniel took along a bucket of rocks so he can throw it in the river for fun!

Here's the family!

is this the life or what?

it was really a nice 25 degree day!

Got trapped in a caravan park at Marlo as hubby wanted to wonder somewhere else the next day and it didnt look good enough to stay.

Daniel amongst the mozzies.

a break from a looooong 7 hr drive home!

Recomended Food Place - The Strand @ Williamstown

We went to The Strand @ Williamstown for dinner recently and ordered the lamb - it was delicious!

Hubby ordered the fish with peanut sauce - ad its really yummmmmo!

Highly Recommended although it wasnt enough to fill the tummy - i reckon a glass of wine and some entree bread would do the trick but David had a budget. The meal would have cost us $80 just mains alone.

My hunger was satisfied by some flies and wicked wings in the cinema after!

Tumeric Chook

Stumbled upon cooking this and putting ingredients from the pantry!

Only tumeric, salt & pepper - that's it! And hubby wants me to cook this all the time now! :)

Parent's Trip to Melbourne 2010 - September

My parents took 10 days off to come down to visit us. We went to various places and one of them included a farmhouse. We loved it. Daniel got to play outdoors with the bike and the dogs were so friendly.

Here he is - grinning away with his flower.

My family enjoying the simple pleasure on the farm.

And strolling along to look at the residents.

We loved it - the place is called The Lavender Farm located at Healsville.

Here is the link!

http://www.greatplacestostay.com.au/lavenderfarm/default.asp

We took a drive up to Mt Donna Buang from the farm to see the snow!

Not knowing that there was snow- we werent really dressed for it and was freezing!

BUT it was the 1st time that my parents & Daniel encountered snow so it was worth it!

look what we found! A cutie, or two!

Its all food and fun while my parents are about and I'm glad for the family reunion, even though its short.

Soccer in the cold

 We were left outside the hall on a cold and extremely windy morning to play soccer.

It took a while to warm up. I was freezing but Daniel took to the weather better than I did. Kicking balls in the wind didnt faze him!

Cold Red nose but still going on strong!

It was different and fun but would be better without the cold.

Chess before a fall

Here is Daniel striking a pose at the shopping centre before he fell flat on his face and blood came gushing out. He is ok now, but has a fat lip and some flesh dangling out for a while. Food consumption and speech is fine. thank goodness!

Its cute to see him the same size as these chess pieces!

the truth about Soy

Soy is ubiquitous in the our diet today. It's everywhere, in fact, I had trouble finding bread that has no soy in it! It shows how much we know what goes into our food these days.

Although, the media has always raved about soy being good for us, but animal studies suggest that eating large amounts of those estrogenic compounds might reduce fertility in women, trigger premature puberty and disrupt development of fetuses and children.

Soy contains high quantities of various toxic chemicals, which cannot be fully destroyed even by the long cooking process. These are: phytates, which block the body's uptake of minerals; enzyme inhibitors, which hinder protein digestion; and haemagluttin, which causes red blood cells to clump together and inhibits oxygen take-up and growth. Most controversially of all, soy contains high levels of the phytoestrogens (also known as isoflavones) genistein and daidzein, which mimic and sometimes block the hormone oestrogen.

The story is long but I've put a few links which will help dispel the benefits of soy.

Let's say, I would try to avoid it as much as possible.

Unless its in its fermented state, like tempeh or miso, it is classifed processd and is GM.

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=soybean-fertility-hormone-isoflavones-genistein

http://www.the7thfire.com/health_and_nutrition/truth_about_soy.html

http://www.optimumchoices.com/Soy.htm

Interesting take on how we support a heart related disease

DK just rolled out a national campaign for a fanatstic cause, I think it is something that is quite heart-warming. ( No pun intended).

Do you know that most donuts have a high level of trans- fat?

You might ask, what's that and if its in most foods that we consume, why is in there and why is harmful?

TFA or hydrogenated fats tended to raise total blood cholesterol levels. Some scientists believe they raise cholesterol levels more than saturated fats. TFA also tend to raise LDL (bad) cholesterol and lower HDL (good) cholesterol when used instead of cis fatty acids or natural oils. These changes may increase the risk of heart disease.

 This is the ironic part; to help kids with congenital heart disease ( a condition that occur as the baby's heart was developing during pregnancy, before the baby is born. Congenital heart defects are the most common birth defects.) we stuff ourselves with food that will cause another heart -related disease.

I'm sure that they are ways to contribute to the society and be mindful of what you do to yourselves or your loved ones.  I support the thought whole-heartedly, just not the food.

My Baby Turns 3!

This is our entry way to the Race Party!

And this is the banner that my dad made (grandpa) & shipped it from Singapore!

A table for the kids to feed on.

External Ambience

His little car.

Absolutely idolises this cake!

The Food

Mummy & Son... Oh no.... camera too bright!

The Happy Family.

The Guests.

posing with the cousin.

Daniel's 1st Hair Cut - almost 3 yrs!

Here is Daniel at home ( above) after this 1st Hair Cut!!

For the past 2 over years, he has never been to a professional hair dresser and this Wed, 7th July was his first!

I am impressed - he sat really still and allowed the hairdresser to do what she needed to.

Before we got there, I told him that it's going to be fun and he just nodded his head.

Here he is looking a little unsure.

Look at that expression -  I wonder what was he thinking at that time. Looks like hes going, ooook, I am not sure how this will turn out.

Ta Dah!! All done!

The youngest cook in the house!

 I ducked out for 10 mins for the shops on a Saturday morning and David was taking out his new novelty item - the NEW pasta maker that he got online.  This is the sequel!!

Came home & David was excited - Daniel was making his own pasta!! Apparently, he did it himself, the dough & the fettucine part too!

Little chef in the making! He is arelady cooking before the age of 3! Somehow puts me to shame! I dont really like to cook, but I guess with 2 chefs in the house, I can get to eat more in this case!!

Another invention test.

This one is looking much better. Once again, hubby whipped out lunch that tastes great and is healthy. ( Made from Organic Rye Bread - which has no SOY as an ingredient) - in case you dont know, SOY is GM & is bad. - we'll talk about it in one of my blogs some other time.

Lets see, it has organic free range eggs, tomatoes, avacados, and a little bit of bacon which is the unhealthiest thing on the plate, and some home grown parsley. 

With a little saly & black peppercorns, I think its a cafe style dish that can sell for $12.90. And of course, great to taste.

Pasta chef

My hubby got a little hooked on trying to make his own pasta & i think it must be inspired by the Masterchef series. Being inventive, he bought some buckwheat & added some chlorella in there.

It started looking like that, and with a bit of curiousity, kiddo came up on the bench and asked "Whats that? Is that poo?"  What can we say?

It eventually came up looking a little better, the pasta maker that hubby got from Aldi broke before he finished doing the 1st batch. So much for Aldi products that cost $15. Apparently, the ginder couldnt take the pressure and moulded off from a square bit to a circle with the friction gone.

We didnt get much.

Interesting looking.

But at the end of the day, we had it on our plates, and I must say, with the Maggie Beer pasta sauce costing us $10 a jar, with some ricotta cheese and some fresh snapped peas, it tastes really good!