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Wednesday, January 30, 2013

I ran...

YAY it is finally time for the hayfever to subside which means I can get outside again 
YAY YAY YAY !!!


It is SO good to be outside in this beauty environment when you've been stuck inside for the last few months!
I've started up doing the Couch to 5km program which I've used before and it is AWESOME.  SUCH a good program for ridiculously unfit people like me to get you back up to higher fitness levels again.

Basically it starts you off nice and slow (walk 1.5min/run 1min repeat for 30min to start with). It only takes 30min 3x a week to do so my oldest son (now 9 1/2yr) comes with me Mon/Wed/Fri after the little kids are in bed.

 I'm using music via the iPod shuffle thingee with Podrunner Intervals which I do not know where I orginially downloaded them from but there are HEAPS out there! The one I have is by DJ Beatsmith if you wanted to google it I'm sure you'd find it or one similar. Basically it beeps when you have to run and again to walk and the music beats at a good tempo to walk and then run to.

SO .. Back to the land of the healthy I go .. and I see a few others of you out there are doing the same so good on you :-) Give it a try - you won't be dissapointed (I hope!) xo

Sima J

Sunday, January 27, 2013

Butterscotch Square

I got this recipe off my Mum the other day (don't know where she got it from) after eating some she had made .. YUM YUM!
I think the dish I used was a bit small because mine was quite a lot thicker than hers, but either way it still tastes delicious - though it's fairly crumbly so you'd better supply a plate for anyone who eats it (or send them outside! Esp. if they're kids!)




Here's the recipe:
BUTTERSCOTCH SQUARE

Base:
3C Flour
2/3C Sugar
2 1/2 tsp Baking Powder
280gm Melted Butter
2 tsp Vanilla Essence

Sift flour, sugar, and baking powder together. Stir vanilla essence into melted butter. Combine dry and wet. Press into a greased tin.

Topping:
2 lightly beaten Eggs
2C Coconut
2C brown sugar - or 1C brown sugar & 1C rolled oats (I used oats in mine)

Mix the ingredients together well and spread over the base.

Bake for 30 minutes at 200C. (I have my oven cooler because it's gas and HORRID to cook with, and mine took 20min to cook)

ENJOY!
Sima J

Friday, January 25, 2013

Yummy Chicken & Roasties Salad

I had a quick check back over and it's not in my recipes section so I'm assuming I've never written about the delicious Chicken and Roasties Salad that is one of my favs! 
I made it today (but it won't be 'today' since I'm scheduling this post for a later date!) for a bring and share dinner we're having. 
It's really easy and super YUMMY! (plus it has greens so it's a little healthy ..)
I'm so glad my friend Stacey from over here at dear future me shared this great lil recipe (which I'm pretty sure her bestie made up) a long time ago .. it's been a fav in my recipe book ever since!
Here's the low down on how to make this ...



1 -  Roast bite sized pieces of potato/kumara/pumpkin etc. with salt and oil (alternatively you can be lazy like me and go buy a pack of 'Roasties' which you can find in the frozen section of the supermarket by the hash-browns and what not.

2 - Cook some diced chicken or roast a whole chicken and de-bone

3 -  Prepare salad - mesclun lettuce mix/spring onion/avocado/cashews/toasted seeds (pumpkin/seasame/sunflower etc.)

4 - DRESSING: - 2Tbl Dijonnaise mustard (or 1Tbl Mayo, 1Tbl Mustard (not the dry stuff))
- Black pepper to taste
- 2Tbl white wine vinegar (it's totally worth buying good quality - it makes a HUGE difference!)
- 6Tbl good quality oil
- 1 1/2 tsp salt
- Basil leaves - chopped handful

5 -  COMBINE.

Easy as pie. 
Maybe even easier than pie actually because some pies are tricky ;-)

Sima J



Wednesday, January 23, 2013

I cut my own hair!

WOW so I finally bit the bullet and cut my own hair!  

Here's some before and after shots - I didn't do anything too drastic .. I'm too scared .. 
maybe next time ;-)

BEFORE(hair scraggly) ....   AFTER (hair trimmed nicely)
BEFORE (fringe too long) .... AFTER (fringe nice and tidy)
 This shot shows the layers I put in


And the back .. 


And all the funny shots I took trying to get the photo of the back haha


Have you ever cut your own hair? Are you brave enough to try?! 

Sima J

Monday, January 21, 2013

Another Quilt in the process ..

Hey there again lovely people!
ANOTHER post .. I'm on a roll here .. I've done like 3 posts in the last month or so WOW! 
Thought I'd let you take a quick peek at the quilt I'm making for my littlest munchkin. I want it ready for when she goes into a big bed, so I have about 10 months to get it done .. hmm we shall see how THAT goes!
Anyway this can be a brief tutorial too on how I go about pinning my quilts (with a lot of help from my wonderful Mum!)

First you have to get your backing, batting, and top layer all flat.
(iron the back and top if needed).
Lie your backing down on the carpet and pin it to the carpet on the corners, centre, and a couple in between.


Then you lay your batting over the backing so it's nice and flat and central.


Then you lie the top layer on top of that (central again) and put in your pins starting at the middle and working your way out.


 This was how close we pinned because we had enough pins to do so and the batting was only JUST big enough so we wanted to hold it nice and firm. Now I just need to quilt the whole thing! (starting from the middle and working my way out by the way)


And this is the backing fabric. I just LOVE it and was stoked because I got the last piece and the lady gave me some free because it was just a dreg left YAY :-)


So there you have it. Quilt number .. hmmm maybe number 6 I think? .. in the making :-) 

Have a good one!
Sima J