Showing posts with label fussy eaters. Show all posts
Showing posts with label fussy eaters. Show all posts

Thursday, August 29, 2013

Recipe: Pressure cooker lamb ragu

Since getting out of hospital I've started cooking again. Part of my depression recovery plan is to make sure Noo and I eat better. We all know it's critical for good mental and physical health whether you're a late 30s mum or an almost five year old boy. Hell, we all need good food and exercise.

So far we've had chicken sticks, spagbol, tuna rice and veggie patties, and cottage pie served with salad. Tonight Noo and I made ham and pineapple pizza together which was delicious. But the recipe I wanted to share with you now is for a dish I made a little while ago while we were up the Mountains, before I went to hospital. I took all the photos as I was cooking but somehow life got in the way of me publishing the recipe.

Earlier on this year I was the lucky winner of a Tefal Cook4Me pressure cooker. I entered a competition on Kate Says Stuff and was so stoked when I was notified by Kate that I'd won. The massive box arrived soon after and both my parents and I were amazed at its size. Where the hell would we fit this appliance into our already stuffed apartment?

The obvious solution was to send the Cook4Me up to my parents house in the Blue Mountains. We have a bit more space there and it is the perfect place to cook and eat hearty food like lamb ragu.

I must admit I had doubts about the appliance. Why? It looked too good to be true. I recently bought a slow cooker and I didn't like it at all and actually gave it away to Noo's day care. The Cook4Me however is awesome. So good I'm thinking we've got to get it back to town so I can use it more often!

I got the recipe from my favourite recipe website Taste.com.au but I adjusted it for the pressure cooker. The original recipe can be found here.

Without further ado - my first go of the Tefal Cook4Me...


Cook4Me Lamb Ragu


Ingredients

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 kg half leg of lamb
1 large brown onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
About a 10 cm chunk of bacon speck cubed
2 medium carrots, peeled and cut into 1cm pieces
2 sticks of celery, cut into 1cm pieces
1/2 cup fresh herbs (rosemary, thyme, sage, parsley - whatever you've got)
1/2 cup red wine
2 tablespoons tomato paste
2 x 400 g cans diced tomatoes
2 cups chicken stock

Pasta of your choice
Parmesan cheese to serve


Method

1. Prepare

I like to take out all the ingredients I need and prepare the veggies, herbs and meat so everthing is laid out ready to go. I didn't read the recipe correctly and so cut my lamb into large chunks rather than cooking the 1 kg half leg as a single piece, as you can see in the picture below. I highly recommend not doing what I did because you don't get that really tender melt in your mouth thing happening with the meat if you do.

Also have the Cook4Me out and ready to go.





2. The Browning

Add the olive oil to the bowl of the Cook4Me. Using the manual setting, brown the lamb using the 'browning' function on the Cook4Me for a couple of minutes on each side. You can set the timer on the machine but I just went freestyle and used my noggin to determine when the meat was browned.

Remove meat from cooker and set aside.


3. Sauteing

With the Cook4Me still on 'browning' mode, add pre-prepared onion, garlic, speck, carrot, celery and herbs to the cooker. Saute, stirring occasionally, until onion has softened.




4. The Saucy Bit

Add wine and cook for 1 minute. Add tomato paste, diced tomatoes, 2 cups of chicken stock. Stir to combine.


5. Introduce the Meat to the Sauce

Return meat to the Cook4Me and stir to combine or if using a whole piece of lamb ensure meat is covered with the saucy bits.




6. Speed Cook

Batten down the hatches! Close the lid on Cook4Me following the instructions. It's really super easy compared to our old pressure cooker which is now doomed to be heading for the garbage bin, if it hasn't already been let go of it's old duties thanks to a younger, smarter worker taking its place.

Set the Cook4Me to 'quick cooking' for 20 minutes. The cooker will tingle with a bell sound when it has completed the 20 minutes and steam will shoot out its rear. It is all rather exciting! I just couldn't wait to see what the end result was inside.

If the ragu needs more cooking you just need to shut up the pressure cooker again and set it to cook for a further 10 minutes or whatever you think it requires.




7. Finishing Touches

Shred the lamb with a couple of forks. Remove any fat or bone from the ragu.

Cook whatever pasta you wish to have with your lamb ragu. Chop up fresh parsley and shave up some parmesan.


Yummy lamb ragu with pasta


There you have it! It actually took way longer to prepare all the ingredients than it did to cook the ragu. Writing this post took double the time of all of it (gosh I'm slow!).

Everyone in my family loved this recipe and even fussy eater Noo gave it the tick of approval.

I would highly recommend the Tefal Cook4Me. I'm so glad I won it! Can't wait to get back up the Mountains to try other recipes in it.


V.

PS. I was under no obligation by either Tefal or  Kate Says Stuff to write about my prize. I just felt like it. So there.






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Friday, August 23, 2013

Mental illness: Coming home from hospital

If you follow me on the social networks you'll know I'm freshly out of hospital. I was an inpatient at a psychiatric hospital for two weeks being treated for depression and anxiety. Or maybe it's bipolar II. My shrink can't put me into a DSM-5 box yet.

I've been back out in the big bad world for a week. Well, it isn't that bad, but it is full of new challenges as I try to adjust to life on a completely new family of medications with a son who has gone through a behaviour training program of sorts while I was away.

This is an excerpt from an email I sent my parents earlier this week. Actually, it's most it. There's not much I don't share on here! It explains what went on and how I was feeling in those first three days out of hospital without me having to write it all up again.


19 August 2013


Dear Mum and Dad

The last four days have been quite strange in both good and bad ways. Nothing seems ‘back to normal’ but it’s not all negative, there’s been a lot of positive change, which we were all hoping for I guess. I've only been out of the hospital for three days and I still feel really fragile.

While the medication change has been worth it there are some side effects that aren't great, the worst one being that lithium causes a slight tremor so I'm kind of shaky all the time. Sometimes it isn't noticeable, eg when out for a big walk (which I've started doing regularly) or watching telly (rather than staring at my laptop being unproductive I've been getting back into my shows), but typing on this keyboard or texting on my phone can be quite challenging at times.

Like I told you in my text message Saturday was the hardest day so far. I was so shaky and nervous about seeing Noo after a week of not seeing him that when I arrived at Yo’s house I burst into tears. Noo was so happy to see me. You know how chatty and happy he is normally, well times that by 100 and you can imagine what he was like.

We hung out with Yo and Cal for a little while as Mala had her midday nap. Noo was constantly asking for food to eat. It felt really strange. Callum made him a ham and cheese toasty which I shared with him. Noo's aunt and uncle are very stern with him and he is not allowed to leave the table when eating. Even fruit comes after main meal because it is considered a sweet treat! Seems to have worked, whatever they have done, because the kid has got an appetite and he's stopped being such a fussy eater!

Yo had promised Noo that I would take him for a chocolate shake at the cafĂ© around the corner and then to the local playground. Noo scooted while I walked along. He was just so happy. Oh my god, the talking! He’s language skills have improved ten-fold as he relays stories of what had been happening while I was away. When we got to the cafe we shared a banana bread with Pepe Sayer butter and strawberry jam and Noo had his shake and I had a coffee. He said please and thank you and was just lovely to be with – just so different with me from before I ‘went away’.

I was still so shaky and nervous about doing the right thing though. I don't want to fuck up all the good work they've done by giving Noo more structure and routine to his life, something I've always struggled with.

We went to the park and Noo enjoyed a huge turn on the swing and then the slide. I sat and watched and tried not to be over anxious about him falling or whatever. There were a lot of other kids in the playground and it took an effort for me to not stress about them being mean to him. Of course they weren't going to be, it was just my own fear from when I was a child. I didn't realise just how much of my own childhood anxiety I have been transferring on to him. And anyway, if they had been mean, Noo probably would have handled it differently to me because he is such a confident kid.

When we finally got back to Yo’s place I was worn out. I just needed to be alone for a bit and so had to say goodbye but Noo kept trying all these distraction tactics to keep me there. I felt so bad leaving. He was crying with his little hands reaching out of the front gate but I just had to get into the car and not look back. It was a hideous experience.

Saturday night, back home alone, I was determined to pull my shit together and get him back the next day, despite having said I'd take another week off to be alone to sort out the apartment and work out our new routine. I'm so glad I made that decision! He is just amazing. I'm so happy we are back together and so is he. And he keeps telling anyone who will listen – “My mummy and I are back together! Isn't that great?”

On Sunday I met up with Yo, Cal, Mala and Noo at Marrickville Markets where the sun was shining and we all worried about getting sunburnt. We are having the warmest August which is lovely. We hung out on the grass near where the pony rides are until Mala started getting tired.



“I'm just so glad we are back together Mummy!”



Next job was to transfer the car seat from the Volvo to the Subaru with Noo and all his clothes. Noo and I then headed back to the apartment and he was happy to be back in his own home. He chatted non-stop all the way, saying “I'm just so glad we are back together Mummy!” over and over. My heart filled with so much emotion it was hard to not cry - for the joy of being back together and for the sadness of having to leave him in the first place. I am still so emotionally sensitive that it doesn't take me much to start crying. I have to use all the skills I relearnt in hospital to distract myself in order to stay in control of my emotions.

We hung out for a while and Noo ate all the sandwich he requested: Ham and American mustard on sourdough while watching Escape from Planet Earth. I’d already had the most delicious pulled pork with coleslaw and crackling roll at the markets. Only $9 and oh so good. I hadn't had breakfast so got the roll when I arrived at 10.30am and there was no queue. By the time we left at 11.30 people had already queuing for it. Noo and I will have to take you there one weekend when you get back. I'm salivating just thinking about that thing!

We went back out to the shops later in the afternoon. When we arrived at centre we jumped on board the lift heading for level 2. I said the usual “press number two, Noo” but the other person in the lift had already pressed it. Rather than crack it and give the angry look, Noo said to the man, “thank you for pressing two for us”. I was fucking gobsmacked! Talk about manners!

We checked out the new frozen yogurt place and shared a huge yogurt, trying all the flavours. Then we went into the arcade game place and played air hockey and it was a draw. Noo then said he was hungry again so I said lets go for dinner on the sushi train. I was hungry too as it was 5pm by this time and I had not eaten anything since that delicious roll at 10.30.

We sat up on the train and Noo ate his whole plate of tuna rolls, some raw salmon from my plate and most of the edamame with piles of ginger and soy sauce. He even tried a little wasabi!

Next stop was BiLo and we each had to have a basket with identical contents. I said he could get one Kinder Surprise Egg for his dessert and he also got a small chocolate milk which he finished in the car on the way home. There were no arguments trying to get more treats than were already offered.

By the time we got home, with shower and dinner already done for the day, Noo enjoyed some time with his own iPad while I did a few jobs around the apartment. I’m telling you mum and dad, the happiness emanating from this child is amazing! He was a bit wound up so getting him into bed at the time Yo was managing just wasn't going to happen. Instead of 7.50pm bedtime he was in bed by 8.20 and lights out at 8.35 with only a few arguments. Can’t complain about that! So much better than his old 9.30-10pm bedtime, that is for sure.

Getting ready Monday morning was also pretty easy. He was up before 7am and asked to watch a movie while eating the breakfast that he made for himself (nutella on sourdough with a bowl of strawberries). I resisted the movie as Yo had said no screens in the morning. After a while I thought, fuck it, and told him he could watch some cartoons but no long movies or iPad. I had to shower and wash my hair so I had to give him something.

We got to school by 9am. Before we left, when we got to the lobby Noo says “Hello Terry and Joel! Look! Mummy and I are back together again!” It brings a tear to my eye just thinking about it! Actually, I'm bawling, but don't be alarmed. Joel and Terry were really happy to see us and Terry high fived Noo for us being ‘back together again’.

At preschool, it was the same thing from Noo. As soon as we were through the gate he was telling everyone. I stayed for a little while because Noo just wanted to show me off because I was home from hospital. One of the boys asked why I'd been in hospital and Noo answered that it was because he didn't go to bed early enough. I was really surprised and tried to say no way was it his fault! He changed the subject pretty quickly but I will have to address that with him later. I do not want him thinking it is his fault that I am unwell.

Mala heard my voice from the nursery and was trying to get my attention. OMG! She is so funny. She’s lost that baby look and has started to look more like a toddler. She’s started to get quite long. She'd dragged herself to the gate, had her legs all the way out pointing over at us. I went over to her side and gave her a cuddle but she kept pointing at Noo saying “Neh, Neh!”. The both of them are so gorgeous together. Noo really didn't want me to leave but I didn't want to be disruptive so by about 10am I was finally out the gate. I then went for a big walk around the Harbour which will brighten anyone's mood.

Well, that’s enough for today. Not much else to tell you. Hope you are having a wonderful holiday.

Love
V.








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Wednesday, May 29, 2013

The power of pineapples

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I am having a really tough time of late. I wrote about it in my last post. I feel like my heart is breaking, my soul is quaking and my entire sense of self worth is dissipating. Like that rhyme? Me neither really but I'm struggling with words at the moment. I'm struggling to be a parent, an aunt, a daughter and a blogger. The four things I love being the most.

I just want everyone to go away from me for a while so I can close up all the blinds in our apartment and watch episode after episode of great television, movie after movie and escape this stuff going on in my brain. I'd have comfy trackies and uggs on. Our couch would be arranged just so it was like a snug cave and I'd be enclosed in it covered with my duvet. By my side would be an endless supply of diet coke, coffee, homemade cookies and chocolate. I'd snooze on and off in between shows. There'd be no commitments, no texts buzzing, no emails. Just me, my remote control and my comfort food.

But, of course, life goes on. I took on board a lot of the advice given to me in my last post. For Noo's behaviour to improve the both of us need more structure to our lives. For my mood to improve I need to look after one child at a time. I felt terribly guilty about it at first but I've decided to put Noo into daycare on Tuesdays so he will now be attending four days a week. It will be an excellent warm up to the five days a week he will need to endure next year anyway. Plus I can't be a quality mum if I'm completely stressed out of my mind all the time. Choosing to put Noo in that extra day is a win/win for everyone really.

One of the areas of concern for me regarding both Noo's and my behaviour and our health is our diet. I've spoken at length before about my fussy eater and of my own weight issues. I've tried to understand why he has very little interest in food. He won't sit still long enough at the table to eat a whole meal, he only likes certain foods and then those certain foods can change all the time. It drives me insane!

I recently got involved in a campaign for Australian Pineapples. The offer of a session with well known nutritionist Dr Joanna McMillan was too good to pass up. Dr Jo offered me some really great advice both in regards to my nutritional needs as well as for Noo.

Now I must admit that my slip back into depression (looks like my meds have stopped working effectively according to my GP and I'm seeing Shrink tomorrow to confirm) has really thrown me and I'm using chocolate as a way to get through it. I know you could call it self sabotage. I call it that! But my resistance is low as my mood swings from delicate in the morning through to full blown tears and woe in the afternoon.

My beautiful mum has stayed in the city with us for going on a month now. She is my confidant and my shoulder to wipe all the snot and tears on during the really awful episodes. She knows me so well and can see the cracks begin to appear on my psyche before I do. I really don't know how I'd survive sometimes if it wasn't for my mum!

Now back to pineapples. When my mum is here she makes sure we all eat properly. She doesn't do all the cooking but gives me friendly nudges to get me off my bum and into the kitchen. That coupled with some inspiring recipes from Dr Jo, as well as the winning entry for my giveaway from Claudia from Little Cottage Big Life, means we've had a few delicious and nutritous meals around here lately.


The first recipe came from Joanna McMillan.

Pineapple, Sweet Chicken and Chili Curry

Serves 4-6

Dr Jo's yummy pineapple, sweet chicken and chili curry
Ingredients

750g chicken breast or thigh, chopped
500ml coconut milk
1tbsp red curry paste
½ tsp fish sauce
3 kaffir lime leaves
½ fresh pineapple, diced
2 red chilies sliced (seeds removed if required)
2 chicken stock cubes

+ Serve with brown rice and steamed vegetables

Method 

1. Pour coconut milk, fish sauce, curry paste and stock into pot and dissolve to creamy consistency.
2. Bring curry to the boil over medium heat.
3. Add chicken and continue to cook over medium heat for 5 mins.
4. Add pineapple, kaffir lime leaves and chilis.
5. Continue to cook over low-med heat for 15 min.


This is how my attempt at this recipe turned out:


My version


I embellished the recipe a bit. Actually, a fair bit. I think this is why I don't do diets very well. I'm always adding to the recipes. My mum, the retired chef, says it's the sign of a good cook!

For starters, I used thighs instead of breasts. So much tastier! I also browned them off a bit rather than solely poaching them. I also used way more curry paste. I didn't have any Thai red curry paste so I just chucked in half a jar of korma paste which was delicious. I put the paste in just after browning the chicken. Frying it off a bit brings out the flavour of the paste.

We had a lonely eggplant in the fridge so I chopped it up and added it early on before all the liquid went in to make sure it got that nice browned off look and taste.

I'm not a massive fan of the old stock cube. The stock you buy in the tetra pack is the goods for this sort of cooking and it is one of our cupboard staples that is always stocked up. I just whacked in enough til it looked and tasted right.

The fish sauce levels were upped a fair bit too. Fish sauce is the weirdest ingredient isn't it? Stinks in the bottle but brings out the flavour in so many Asian style dishes.

This time around I omitted the chili because I was hoping Mr Fussiest Eater in the Universe might try some. He didn't but oh well, I tried.

We had kaffir lime leaves in the fridge which was lucky because I'd forgotten to buy some when out that day. The pineapple came in last, but by no means least, because it was so delicious.

My mum was sceptical when I told her about the pineapple campaign because she said pineapple wasn't currently in season. It's a tropical fruit right? While we've had a mild Autumn here in Australia, it certainly hasn't been tropical. I've been really surprised by how yummy and juicy the pineapple we've been buying has been. Not to mention some of the other 'out of season' fruit I've bought over the last week or so: rockmellon, watermellon, strawberries, papaya and passionfruit. YUM!

As you can see from my picture, my curry was heavily garnished with corriander and chopped scallions, as my mum calls them, or green onions or shallots as Aussies usually refer to them as. We also had some steamed brocolini on the side.

All in all it was a delicious meal! I had some the following day for lunch as well and my dad, who came down from the Mountains for a couple of days, also got to try some of this delicous pineapple chicken curry and was really impressed.

Do you know what? If you've managed to read this far, my post has gone from sadness, to happiness about pineapple, and my mood has lifted. The power of pineapple? Or, most probably, the power of distraction!


If you want to check out more of Dr Joanna McMillan's pineapple recipes check out the Pineapple Australia's website. I'm going to do the Quinoa Salad with Pineapple and Corriander next. YUM!





Do you like fruit mixed with savoury dishes? 

V.

PS. Thank you to all the lovely readers who entered my competition a couple of weeks ago. You had some awesome ideas for me. I can't wait to give sweet and sour pork a go. Also, I'm thinking I really need to try Kylie's mood lifter - dancing to 80s music in my undies sounds like something that could really help me right now!


Disclosure: I was given a free half hour session with Dr Joanna McMillan to discuss my nutrition issues as well as a $150 Woolworths gift voucher that was given away to one of my readers. No cash has exchanged hands. All opinions are my own in accordance with my disclosure policy.





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Friday, May 10, 2013

Day 8: Some free (nutrition) advice and a giveaway

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Day 8, Wednesday: A piece of advice you have for others. Anything at all.

I'm two days behind with #blogeverydayinmay. A very minor head cold, combined with lack of sleep, has made my brain feel a little muddled up making it difficult to write coherently. I'll confess I spent most of yesterday on the couch sleeping and watching TV.

My very late day 8 is all about advice. Rather than me give you some advice I'm going to tell you about the professional advice that I got last week. And then I'm going to offer a $150 Woolworths gift voucher to the reader who can give me the best bit of advice.

        Read on for more details...


The BB and the (famous) nutritionist


The Skype session started and Dr Joanna McMillan's familiar face was beamed into my bedroom. It felt really weird speaking to someone I know from the telly. I was quite nervous at first but it didn't take long before Jo's friendly smile assured me I was in good hands.

Dr Jo asked for my background story. "How long have you got?" I replied with some playful sarcasm.

I tried to sum it up in a few sentences: I told her that I had a history of drug and alcohol addiction as well as anxiety and depression. I told her I had five years of sobriety under my belt but was still very much addicted to sugar. I told Jo how I'd quit sugar for seven weeks last year but when I fell off the wagon with a chocolate cake on my birthday I have not been able to get back on it. I told her about my lapband and my struggle to maintain a healthy lifestyle because of my self saboteur who visits with all too much regularity. That about sums it up, right?

First up Dr Jo told me to stop being so hard on myself. With five years of sobriety up my sleeve I ought to be proud. And of course I am but I told her I wish I could do with sugar what I did with booze and drugs - let go of it. She told me I needed to take baby steps to turn my food habits around. And that jumping in the deep end with any extreme lifestyle change (like IQS or 12wbt - both of which I have attempted) was only doomed to fail.


Back to basics with you BB!


With the Alcoholics Anonymous slogan in mind we talked about "taking one day at a time", or even one meal at a time, rather than me setting huge unachievable goals that were doomed to fail. Dr Jo suggested I take "baby steps" and make small changes to my everyday eating habits.

From the Day on a Plate food diary I gave Dr Jo she concluded that I snack too much and that I needed to give more structure to my meals throughout the day. The day I diarised was actually a really good day for me and I admitted I usually eat a lot more chocolate, cake and ice cream.


A day on the BB's plate



Oats for breakfast - salad and cheese for lunch - a (tiny) bite of Noo's ice cream in the arvo


7.30am Black plunger coffee with one sweetener

8.00am Half a cup of Uncle Toby’s quick oats served with 1 cup of low fat milk, 5 chopped fresh strawberries, 5 raspberries, sweetened with 2 teaspoons of stevia, plus a dessert spoon of Benefibre for added fibre

11.00am 1 fun sized Kit Kat and a can of Diet Coke

1.30pm Shared two plates of mixed salad at the 13 Rooms exhibition pop-up café with my mum. The salads included quinoa, vegies, beef, salmon, rocket, white beans. Very healthy and gluten and sugar free. We also shared a cheese platter with gorgonzola and triple cream brie, fresh figs and grapes and lavosh crackers

3.00pm a mouthful of my son’s choc top Mr Whippy soft serve

4.00pm three slices of my son’s spinach and ricotta Turkish gozleme

5.00pm Black plunger coffee with one sweetener

6.00pm handful of plain potato chips and a handful of red grapes

8.00pm four chocolate covered scorched almonds


All in all not that bad a day. Usually I would have also had at least an ice cream or piece of cake plus much more chocolate.


Advice from the expert


The best advice I got from Dr Jo to incorporate some better eating habits into my day include:

  • Take one meal at a time. Aim to make the next meal a healthy one. And then the next and the next. Slowly but surely make changes to my everyday rather than expecting to wake up one morning as a health freak who never eats sugar, cake, chocolate, ice cream, hot chips... because that ain't gonna happen. I need to make gradual change.
  • Back to basics - Eat three solid meals a day. Breakfast, lunch and dinner. Seriously, that basic. Eat until almost full so I can be sustained through to the next meal without reaching for a bag of Malteasers. 
  • Make sure half my plate is salad or veggies. The other half needs to be divided three ways: protein, carbs and oil - oil being just a little bit.
  • Try to reach for health snacks between meals - a piece of fruit, handful of nuts.
  • Think of cutting back chocolate and other sweet foods like giving up cigarettes: go without for one minute, five minutes, one hour, two hours... and see how it feels and build up from there.
  • Dinner is my weakest area. Because Noo is so fussy and won't eat very much I've got lazy about cooking for one. I need to get more disciplined with dinner to avoid snacking on junk all through the evening until bedtime. Make something easy (eg steak and salad). Sit down at the table with Noo. Eat together. Offer Noo foods he doesn't usually like. Don't resort to giving him treat food.
  • Take large doses of fish oil (9000mg a day). This has also been told to me by three psychiatrists. Fish oil has been seen to help with mental health issues like depression, anxiety and ADHD. 
  • Don't rush into personal training, aim to go for a half hour walk every day and build up from there.
  • Notice as you slowly take control.
  • Avoid black and white thinking. If I have a piece of chocolate don't see it as a major fail and fall completely from the wagon. 

There's some really great advice there that I'm slowly incorporating into my everyday.


Giveaway!


Now it is your turn to give me some advice for the chance to win a $150 Woolworths gift voucher.

Just answer one of the following three questions in the comments below for a chance to win. The most creative answer will win the $150 gift voucher.

1. What is your most delicious, nutritious and simple recipe for dinner that is suitable for one mum and one fussy eater?

2. What healthy activity do you do to relieve stress (rather than eat junk like me)?

3. What is your most delicious, nutritious snack for kids?


My session with Dr Joanna McMillan and this post were sponsored by Australian Pineapples. Extra points will go to entries that include pineapples in them.






Competition details:

1. Answer in the comments section one of the questions above.
2. Like babblingbandit.me on Facebook.
3. Follow babblingbandit.me on Twitter.
4. Subscribe to babblingbandit.me (see the form at the bottom of the post).
5. Australian residents only. Sorry!
6. Most creative answer wins.
7. Judge's decision is final. No correspondence will be entered into.
8. The winner will be notified by email so please ensure you subscribe.
9. This giveaway is in NO way sponsored, endorsed, administered by or associated with Facebook.

EDIT: Competition closes next Friday 17 May 2013.
Entrants who don't use Facebook or Twitter will not be penalised as long as they subscribe my email.

COMPETITION CLOSED

GOOD LUCK!

V.

Disclosure: I was given a free half hour session with Dr Joanna McMillan to discuss my nutrition issues as well as a $150 Woolworths gift voucher to giveaway to one of my readers. No cash has exchanged hands. All opinions are my own in accordance with my disclosure policy.




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Sunday, January 20, 2013

Sugar free banana bread

I have posted several times about what a fussy eater Noo is. You can read here and here how much his eating habits drive me crazy. I'm always swinging between the emotions of fear for his health and exasperation at the stubbornness of that little kid who is so energetic, healthy and happy, yet so under fed. If Noo sat down and ate an entire Happy Meal I think I'd probably cry with joy. You don't hear that from many parents, do you?

Noo decided last week he liked banana bread again so I was more than happy to oblige by making him some. I would make him anything as long as he ate it and it had no sugar - so I can have some too. Yes, I'm back on that bandwagon.

Last Monday I was up late trawling through Pinterest (go on, follow me!) going through the multitude of 'healthy' banana bread recipes. Egg free, gluten free, sugar free, nut free, with nuts, no oil, with oil, vegan... It was all getting overwhelming but I clicked like on a recipe I thought looked pretty good and repinned it.

The pin then showed itself on my Facebook feed and a mum I know through my online study ventures commented on the picture, chucking in her favourite banana bread recipe. It was so simple! But it included the banned substance. A further comment from me asking if I could swap out the sugar with rice malt syrup prompted a comment from my sister's mother in law who said if I was to do that I'd have to up the flour or the batter would be too runny.

And, voila! I had a recipe to try and I had to try it immediately.

At midnight I found myself throwing the ingredients together and by the time the loaf had been baked it was heading towards 1am but the recipe was a success.


Sugar free banana break mark I and Noo with a mouth full of it


Every last mouthful was eaten and the friends and family that had a taste enjoyed this delicious sugar free treat.

After a few requests on Facebook for the recipe I decided to make this delicious sugar free banana bread again, taking photos as I went to publish here on the blog. What better way to get clicks? Surely that title alone has a whole lotta SEO magic happening. Only time can tell.

Without further babbling, here is the recipe:

Sugar free banana bread


Ingredients

125 grams butter
1 cup rice malt syrup
1 egg beaten lightly
3 small-medium ripe bananas
A sprinkle or two of mixed spice or cinnamon (depending how spicy you like it)
1.5 cups of wholemeal self raising flour


Method

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius and grease and line a loaf tin.

2. Melt butter and rice malt syrup in a small saucepan. Remove from heat and allow to cool.

3. Mash bananas in a large bowl. Add flour and spice.

3. Combine cooled butter and rice malt syrup with egg then add to banana, flour and spice. Stir until combined.

4. Pour batter into lined loaf tin and bake for 50 minutes or until cooked.


Mix it, bake it, rise it, cool it, eat it - super easy sugar free banana bread


That's it!

Let me know if you make it and how it goes.

Yum, yum pig's bum.

V.

Disclaimer: Just because this recipe is sugar (fructose) free does not mean it is low in calories but it is super easy to make and super delicious to eat. It is a treat and should be treated as such. I take no responsibility for anyone who wants to gobble up the whole loaf in one go and then steps on the scales only to find they've stacked on a keg or two!

Friday, November 30, 2012

Fussy eaters: Confectionery confessions

I know I carry on about this a lot but it is the parenting issue that causes me the most distress: My almost four year old rascal Noo has no real interest in food. Fussy Eater should be his middle name!

Noo's tiny little 11 month old niece Mala, on the other hand, eats everything that is given to her and consumes twice the amount of food in a day than her older cousin does even though she does have real food issues.

Noo could, if he wanted to, eat anything. Mala on the other hand has serious food allergies to dairy, nuts, sesame seeds and eggs. Her current weight is also considered "off the chart" as far as what she should weigh for her age (according to those silly growth charts that cause a lot of parents mostly needless worry!).

My sister and her husband have always been careful about Mala's diet, not just in regards to the foods she is allergic too, but in limiting her sugar intake as well. Yo has always been vigilant with feeding times and patient, yet persistent when it come to the long, boring slog that feeding a little one can be.

Mala's parents have always fed their little girl the most delicious combos of mashed meat, veggies and grains, along with fresh fruit and soy and other non-dairy products suitable for kids her age. I am sure this why Mala has an awesome appetite!


YUM! I would eat this: Mala's lunch today.


When I picked Noo up from daycare last Thursday I noticed on the board outside the kitchen that the menu of the day included fish fingers, veggies and chips. I made a comment to the teacher standing by that he mustn't have eaten much that day. I made that assumption because I rarely see Noo eat vegetables. And fish fingers? Forget it.

The teacher went on to tell me that he ate everything off his plate, even the veggies with a little coaxing. I was gobsmacked, if a little sceptical... or maybe it was just defeat I felt.

Noo eats well at school but terribly with me.

I know I've discussed Noo's food issues in this blog several times over the years. I even admitted I felt responsible for his terrible eating habits when I wrote this post about my fussy eater and how I thought his consumption of sugar could possibly be to blame.

Confession time...


Noo has always been a terrible eater. From the moment he was born to this very day he has been a pain in the arse with food. As his mother, his only parent, I feel I am the one responsible for this and I have struggled with how to deal with it, especially considering my own sugar addiction.

Do you want to know my worst parenting secret?

On my mum's advice, I used condensed milk on Noo's dummy all his first year of life. There, I've said it. It was so effective in keeping him soothed and quiet I became addicted to it as much as Noo did. There was always a little pot of the sweet white syrup in the nappy bag along side the nappies and wipes.

My parents thought it was a completely normal practice to dip a dummy in condensed milk before popping it into an infant's mouth. They didn't do it to hurt their precious grandson and neither did I. We just wanted him to be happy... and soothed.

But think about that! (Actually, you probably don't have to think that hard to know that what we did was terrible.) Here was a baby that refused to attach to the breast, was bottle fed and also had a dummy dipped in condensed milk everyday, several times a day. Sugar was a dietary staple from the very beginning.

I know. Bad. Very bad. Go on. Judge me. I judge me! Call DOCS now. Actually, you better not, they have more serious cases of abuse to work on!

I knew in my heart it was wrong but it worked so well to keep him quiet and as I was living with my parents I went along with it. My parents are strong people and I can be heavily influenced by them. I cannot blame them though. I am the mother, I make the decisions and I should have put my foot down. That first year of Noo's life was so challenging. I just did what I thought worked. I couldn't look toward the future to see what the long term consequences might be. I was just surviving day to day.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: Mala is a mere 11 months old and eats twice as much as Noo does now at nearly four years old. Her mother never caved to the pressure from mum and dad to give her baby condensed milk (and yes, they did suggest she do it!). As I said earlier, Mala is allergic to dairy foods so it is so lucky Yolanda stayed strong!


YUM! Home made beef and vegetable stew then watermelon for lunch.
She also had half an avocado and some baby crackers.
Oh and some boob to top up.


Now I believe Noo's taste buds have been ruined by sugar in his first year but still I allow him to eat lollies and chocolate. Even when I gave it up. I am so weak at saying no to him. Over Halloween we had heaps of the crap laying around the house. Although I never let him sit there and binge he pretty much has a couple of chocolate or lollies everyday. Add that to the BBQ sauce on fish fingers (which he ate for me earlier in the week!), the Nutella on toast, the fruit flavoured yoghurt squeezies... The sugar load adds up!

Below is a little collage I did a little a couple of weeks ago for a confessional post like this. It has just taken a while to write it!


Check out the sugar hidden in nearly every corner of the kitchen!


The other vice I let Noo indulge in is what my skinny little redhead calls a "Warm Chocolate". It is a hangover from the days when he used to suck on a warm bottle of milk more than a few times a day. "Hot Bo!", "Hot Bo!", Noo would call after putting the sofa cushions in position for him to lay back and suck back the warm and comforting liquid that became a meal replacement for a fussy, lazy eater.

When I was certain Noo's milk addiction was keeping him from eating properly I threw out every bottle and teat in the house. Not long after "Mama", Noo's dummy, was disposed of too. But then came along Warm Chocolate in a sippy cup.


Transformer the cat, Noo and his warm chocolate, Peekaboo the bird
and Marco the dog in bed earlier this week.


"Please, Mummy, can I have a warm chocolate?" 


Do you know how many times a day I hear this request? Ah, probably between 4 and 100 times! He goes straight into position on the couch (or in bed), cushion in just the right spot behind him so he can balance his Warm Chocolate, Transformer and the iPad all at once.

I'll admit there have been plenty of times I've let him feast on chocolate milk because I haven't had the time or energy to fight him to eat proper food. This is where I take responsibility but we are finally making some changes.


2013: the year we finally give up milk as a meal substitute


Just like with Hot Bo and Mumma, we are giving up Warm Chocolate.

Here is my plan of attack:

  1. Throw out all but two sippy cups until Noo's 4th birthday on 22 December when remaining two sippy cups will be chucked (I can't make the kid go cold turkey!).
  2. Cut out night time Warm Chocolates immediately (started this on Monday this week). 
  3. Give Noo an awesome mug he can call his own for his 4th birthday so he can sit up at the dining table and have a warm drink in the morning like a grown up.

I'm hoping by taking away the comfort of laying down to suck back sweetened milk will reduce the attraction of the Warm Chocolate. 

By not letting him have any warm drinks at night means he will feel more hungry and therefore more compelled to eat the food I provide for him.

I will also stop buying chocolates and lollies... after his birthday and Christmas.

Fingers crossed this works with as few battles as possible. I've just got to take responsibility and get this little kid eating for me.

Do you have a fussy eater? Any tactics you'd like to share on how to get fussy eaters to, well, EAT?


V.

Linking up with the ever awesome Grace from With Some Grace
to do a bit of floggin'




Sunday, August 19, 2012

Fussy eaters: We need to quit sugar

Noo is one of the fussiest eaters I know. I've heard some shocking stories about other kids too, like the one that subsists on nothing but fruit toast and then there's another kid I heard about the other day that will only eat canned spaghetti. Breakfast. Lunch. And dinner.

Then there are the kids that eat everything. I am so frigging jealous of those kids' mums. We know one little boy who will snack on cucumber at the park while other kids have muesli bars and other junk. Another baby I know eats cold grilled mushrooms. Without being force fed! I'm for real here! I seriously shit you not. Even my eight month old niece, Mala, eats more than Noo does on a daily basis. Noo is three and eight months!

Noo has been a fussy eater since the day he was born. After he eventually evacuated my body after a 39 hour labour, he refused to attach and I had to be hand expressed by a midwife. We were in hospital over Christmas for about six days and he left there 370 grams under his birth weight. For seven long weeks I tried to get that bub to attach but it was no use. I double pumped to express what I could for him but he still wasn't gaining enough. It was terrifying.

I eventually had to put him on formula just to make sure he was eating enough and by the 8th week he finally started to gain some weight. It was slow. And he is no different now. Noo is indifferent to eating. He only likes a few kinds of food. He'll eat most things laden with sugar (chocolates, lollies, cake frosting, ice cream) like most kids. But he also loves sushi. Strange, but true. He absolutely loves those little cooked tuna rolls with soy sauce and pickled ginger. Seriously! And wait for it. His favourite bit is the seaweed on the outside. WTF? I don't even really like the 'black bit', as Noo calls it.

Usually Noo's best meal of the day is breakfast. Most days his grandmother or I can get him to eat a bowl of warm oats with honey. But when he is sick, like he has been for the last week, he just doesn't eat at all. Even chocolate doesn't interest him. He can lose a couple of kilos every time he gets a cold. The weird thing though he is always full of energy and always has a smile on his gob (except when I try to take his picture!).

Check out what we had for breakfast today...

BB_Breakfast
Click on the picture to see it better

For Noo I served dry Nutrigrain which he seems to like at the moment but didn't touch this morning. It was on sale at Aldi so I thought I'd give it a go. It is so sweet I really expected Noo to like it. He drank all his freshly squeezed juice and drained the yogurt squeezie. This I was happy with. Only a couple of strawberries were eaten but he sucked back that antibotics and he has no trouble eating the vitamin chews.

I ended up eating the fresh fruit, washed down with black coffee accompanied by the multitude of tablets I take every day.

Everything on that tray, bar my meds, has been sweetened. Since I first started reading Sarah Wilson's "I quit sugar" a couple of weeks ago, I have been really aware of the fact that Noo and I eat Too. Much. Sugar.

Could too much sugar be making my son a fussy eater?


Tomorrow Noo (although he doesn't really realise it yet) and I are starting Sarah's eight week program to see if we can turn this fussy eating around. Noo and I will spend the next week reducing our sugar intake. I plan to make this experiment a blog series. I've already been doing a stack of research on the whole sugar controversy. And yes, it is controversial because there are so many differing opinions out there about just how bad sugar is to us. And not just sugar. The different kinds of sugar. Its a bloody minefield out there!

I'm nervous about it. Shitting myself actually. Scared about how to deal with Noo and scared about letting go of my one last vice. I am not going to kid myself that this will be easy, or even possible. I couldn't even complete a bet with my mum and sister recently that I could go a whole month without chocolate.

But I'm will to give it a go. It can't hurt. It would be amazing if I could get Noo to eat better and if I could get back on my weight loss journey. I've got 10-15 kegs to go! More on that next time...

Have you quit sugar before? Or do you have a fussy eater? Any tips?

V.