Ahh the weekend!

My second week as a vegetarian is done and dusted. And yep, I have failed at reporting to the world about what I have been eating, so I apologise. But rest assured I have been following a no meat diet and overall I feel good.

Each lunch I have had last week was leftovers from the previous evening's meal. I had left over ravioli from when we went to dinner with friends and then we did host a barbeque with friends the next night. No rice salad, but I did do a potato bake and our guests made a nice green salad which was great for lunch the next day. I also baked a heap of vegies for myself, just to make sure.

With so many leftovers we even managed a dinner from them as well, which was just what I needed after my day at work.

The most epic fail of the week was a "Caesar salad" that I bought from a local take away. I figured I would do the right thing when I ordered and request no bacon or chicken which was fine. When my colleague returned with our food I saw the salad had no dressing or croutons. Basically my vegetarian option for a Caesar salad was lettuce, egg and Parmesan cheese! I certainly won't be ordering from there again.

The win this week was a recipe by Jamie Oliver - Happy Cow Burgers which I have eaten for dinner last night, lunch today and I will be eating again tonight with fresh steamed vegetables.
The burgers are made on frozen broad beans and the taste was amazing - I didn't even notice that it wasn't a lovely homemade rissole. I highly recommend them, even for a whole family meal.

I have planned a week's worth of meals, so let's see how this week goes.

Work and old habits

I knew as soon as I went back to work that my daily posts might be delayed. There always seems like so much to do and time doesn't appear to be on my side.
So let's recap now...

Sunday morning was mushrooms with scrambled eggs. Lunch was leftover vegetarian macaroni cheese with some chips. Dinner was vegetarian fajitas.

Monday morning was scrambled eggs on toast. The pasta from the other day did nicely for lunch and dinner was the same sauce used for 5 Spice meatballs smothered over zucchini, carrot, broccolini and white rice. That was an interesting dinner... For sure I thought I would miss the meatballs but serving them up for the others was a piece of cake!

Today's breakfast was boring old toast. Lunch was leftover fajitas which was originally made on kidney beans and corn - super tasty with the addition of an enchilada sauce.
Tonight I convinced my husband to take me to dinner.  The initial reaction was "Why are we paying to go out to eat vegetables?". It is a good opportunity to see how the restaurants deal with vegetarian meals and to get some inspiration - even if I did have a meal plan!

Tomorrow friends are coming to dinner. A good old barbeque is planned.... I will be consciously avoiding the meat and snags for roasted veges. Maybe a potato bake and some rice salad? We shall see how the afternoon ends up!

Day 4, 5 & 6

Leftovers have been a good friend to me this week.
Besides not wasting food, it means I am not stressing out about every single meal.
Leftover lasagne without a side salad satisfied me for lunch on Day 4 after a breakfast of toast. Super boring. Dinner was a repeat of lunch WITH a salad again. I'm not a huge fan of salads everyday but it is going to be something I am going to have to get used to...

Day 5 was scrambled eggs on toast before a fabulous walk up the local gorge. My fruit snacks were enough to get me through to lunch where I politely refused a ham sandwich from my friend and hurried home to leftover falafels.
Dinner was a macaroni cheese - without the bacon.

Day 6 - today was a little more adventurous. Breakfast was scrambled eggs on portabello mushrooms (the pic at the start of this post). I am not a fan of mushrooms but I really am trying to embrace new things. Besides, they didn't taste too bad.
Lunch was a vegetarian version of a caesar salad... clearly no bacon or chicken for me.
And tonight was a spinach and ricotta agnolotti with a creamy cabonara sauce sans bacon. Mushrooms also featured in this sauce as well as peas.

Yesterday after my walk I ventured to the local library and borrowed a couple of books for recipe inspiration. Looking through the meal ideas really got the ideas flowing and I wonder how I am going to go this week when I go back to work. Usually when I get busy at work I resort back to the tried and tested meal ideas when I plan our eating for the week.

Even 6 days in I am not missing the meat. No other noticeable difference weight or feeling-wise at this stage but my increased chocolate consumption (thank you Xmas presents) may have something to do with that!

Day 3 and the lunch challenge

Today was going to be my first little challenge - eating out.
Breakfast was super boring pieces of toast with some Vegemite as I was saving myself for a lunch date with my friend, Maddy.
I chose the place because I figured being a Chinese restaurant they would have quite a few vegetarian options... unfortunately I was wrong.
While waiting for Maddy I scoured the menu - sweet and sour pork, beef and black bean, combination noodles with chicken or beef, king prawns and plenty of other dishes that were all based on meat.
I was about to ring Maddy and tell her to meet me somewhere else when I saw a stirfry with vegetarian option - bingo! Crisis averted... this time. Admittedly I did order a side of fried rice which when it arrived did have a few little pieces of pork through it. I dodged those and reminded myself to next time ASK if they could make it without meat.
Dinner was a vegetarian lasagne with side salad while my husband enjoyed the lasagne with a roasted chicken maryland. I didn't even flinch when serving it up. Not even a quick sniff to see if I miss it.
At the moment this challenge is a choice which leaves me to wonder if that makes it any easier. Usually when we are told we can't have something we crave it even more. I haven't told myself I can't have meat per se... it is more about choosing to not have it for now.
Day 3 was a success.

Day 2...

Day 2 has come and gone and was successful as far as vegetarian eating was concerned. Not so much on the chocolate front.
Breakfast was left over bechamel sauce with sweetcorn on toast.
Lunch was this vegetarian pizza  I whipped up at home on pita base with bought tomato sauce. Topped with three different types of cheese and some baby spinach right at the end it was really good!
Dinner was leftover cauliflower curry with chickpeas.
So far so good!

Surviving day 1

Well I did survive and it wasn't as big a deal as I imagined...
Breakfast consisted of some leftover bechamel sauce mixed with tinned corn on toast (an old favourite).
Lunch was some leftover roast vegies from my last roast lamb dinner (see photo from the last supper above) and some falafels with a divine spiced pumpkin chutney.
Dinner was my cauliflower curry with chickpeas.
Done and dusted. So how do I feel? Just fine!

Going vegetarian...

The preparation has begun for Vegetarian January. In less than 2 days I am forgoing meat for 1 whole month. Doesn't really sound like much and for those die-hard vegetarian folk out there I am sure it isn't.
But this month means cooking new dishes almost every night or I face the boring option of eating salad. Cooking I enjoy but when I go back to work the inspiration and ideas tend to go out the window when I get busy and we revert back to the protein (meat) and vegies.
So now I am prepped. I searched for inspiration on different vegetarian recipes that I can adapt to include meat for the others and that look really appetising. They have been saved to my Pinterest board here if you want to see what I have found.
This morning I got up early to go to the local markets and stock up on half my vegetable list and then I followed up with the supermarket to get the other items. I did have some lentils in the pantry but the mouse my cat let into our house (a whole other story) somehow managed to get to the third shelf and help himself to my legumes and pasta packets.
Just to start getting into the swing of things I whipped up a cauliflower curry with some items I had... the chickpeas I purchased today will be added to it to make it a bit more filling. That is Monday's dinner sorted!
To celebrate the last day of being a meat eater (for 1 month anyway) I am having roast lamb tomorrow night. It is my intention to enjoy every mouthful but to also remind myself that this is a new challenge and anything I usually set my mind to, I do it.
Wish me luck!

7 years

It is nearly 7 years since I posted on this blog. So much has happened (as does in life) and yet not much has changed.
I closed by hamper business and shed a lot of tears.
I stopped working with my husband and have worked at 3 different places (about to be a 4th).
My son has graduated high school and is about to start University this year.
Family relations have dramatically changed and some friendships have solidified while others have dissipated.
I took a year off from soccer to try different things and returned last year for what seems to be my final year.
And yet here I am writing again.
The real reason behind starting up my blog again is to document some of the self-set challenges I am going to do this year.
First up - January = Vegetarian.
31 days of no meat... as I mentioned on Facebook, it could be the best 31 days of my life or the worst. But it is just for a month. To start.
4 days out and I have begun to prepare. Will you join me in this journey?

Update on list....

Here it is, just past the middle of January and I decided I had better do a little report on how my list is going.

My original list of 37 jobs blew out to 44 in the end and I am sure it will get another few before the end of the month.

And I am happy to report that I have done 26.5 of those jobs! Yahoo and yippee for me! Why 26.5 I hear you ask? Ok, so I have half finished a job.. that is I have done the taxes for both businesses, but have not completed the BAS for them.

In all honesty I should have made them two separate jobs, but too late now, it stays as it is.

The last few days of the holidays are here now and work and school routines will soon begin again. Hopefully (with all fingers crossed) I can get the last 17.5 jobs done before life kicks in again properly and becomes pure chaos.

Stay tuned....

I love lists

Yep, I do love a list... in fact I have been very busy crossing off the things I have achieved from my last list that it got me into the mood to make another list. This time it is all the things I would like to achieve in the holidays....

So far there are 37 things on that list. Make that 36 because my wonderful husband just cleaned all my windows in the house, so that is one thing ticked off!

My list is made up of 3 areas. 1 for business related jobs. Those are the things that I have to do to ensure our two businesses survive. And to make sure the tax department doesn't come looking for me.

The second area is house related jobs. Good old fashioned ironing and sorting out cupboards - blah. All my favourite jobs that really should get done throughout the year, but I claim I am way too busy to do. Time to do them!

Thirdly is all the things I would like to do that I consider fun stuff. Finish craft projects and get more into my Wreck this Journal. Ironically even though I have been busy, busy, busy, I have managed to do a couple of pages of the Journal. AND, shock, horror, I have been writing in my normal journal. Ok, it is pretty run of the mill stuff. But if I am to get my head into some sort of order and achieve some of the things I said I want, then I have to do it!

When I showed said list to my husband he wasn't entirely enthusiastic. He did volunteer to do the windows, which is a huge help and the job has now been done... But he thought that because I made this list then any plans for holidays and get aways are out the (clean) window!

I must point out as (I did with him) that this list was made with the theory that it is a perfect and organised world where time is mine for the taking and I can do anything whenever I want. Long ago I recognised that such a world does not exist and I will have to take another step to see that some of these jobs get done....

Prioritise! At the end of the day it doesn't matter if all of the jobs get done. If I get 3, 4 or more of them done, then it will be 3, 4 or more off my 37 job long list. The rest can likely wait until later anyway.

I will keep you updated as to how my list goes... It will be a bit of an experiment to see then how I can make the other list of things I want to do actually get done!

Happy holidays!
K

Crossing off things on my "to-do" list....

Well, here we are on another Tuesday. Christmas appears to be just around the corner and I am getting into the swing of things organising my corporate Christmas hampers.

I have also been making the most of my "free" time and getting a few little projects done that were on my "to-do" list. That is going through my internet favourites folder called "Stuff I want to try" and actually try some of the things I have saved.

Today I finished off a pair of rosebud earrings inspired by a great blog post. I will post a photo later of them.

I have also just about finished off some magnets that I am trialling for the markets early next month. So far so good.

A storm has been brewing in my kitchen... I mean I have been cooking up a storm in my kitchen, making double choc muffins, chicken kievs, smashed potato and chicken salad and tonight a few home made meat pies.

Wreck this Journal has been sitting next to my bed begging me to open it and I haven't written in my journal although I have considered the million things I would write in it.

Just to top off my week I have found a brilliant site called Ideas Culture where they come up with ideas. How fantastic!! I have subscribed to their newsletter and I absolutely love the concept behind it. Check them out and see what you think.

In the meantime, have a great day!

Christmas? Stop swearing at me!

Even though I am supposed to be back in the land of living, I am not ready for things like Christmas!

Last week I tried, I mean tried to get things organised... I have some corporate orders (yay!!) that I am currently working on... but Christmas at home has just gotten a little more complicated.

Long story short we still don't know what we are going to do for Xmas. This year it is my intention to create a gignerbread house. I would like to cook a greek inspired lamb on the rotisserie and try to enjoy as much about the day as I can.

In my head I have great inspirations for decorating the house... So maybe now is the time to start a little plan. I actually saw a book at one of my favourite shops about planning for Christmas. What a great idea!

Ok, time to add a few more things to my list of things I would like to do and seriously start a plan for Xmas.

How are you guys going? Do you have any family traditions that you would like to share? Drop us a comment below!

Best wishes,
Kirsty

PS. I have done a couple more pages in Wreck this Journal. The fascinating thing is that after doing it I had the most specatular dreams that night... Wow, the power of creativity, hey?

Back from a break

So, I am back! Not quite with life just yet, still recovering from a chaotic 3 weeks that included a bridal expo, jury duty, 30th birthday party (mine), 9 day visit from my aunty, a 10 year old birthday party (my son) and then orders and work on top of that.

Needless to say that my BAS is still to be done and I should probably be doing that rather than writing here, but anyhoo!

Wreck This Journal has been sitting at the bottom of a pile of things beside my bed. Everyday I think about it and then get distracted with something else. I feel that pang of guilt and tell myself I need to do something about it and ironically enough I have added a few things to my vision board!

So far I can see that I like chandeliers and black and white. Ironically enough I knew that, even before I started a vision board. It does seem that each magazine I flick through happens to be a decorating magazine which is a subtle hint that maybe I should just bite the bullet and do my house up.

And the first step to that was get my husband on board to find someone to paint it!! After discussions this weekend he has agreed to ring a friend who is a painter!

Will keep you updated on the next step....

Had to share this little photo

I took this the other day when I went for a walk with our fat dog, Maddy. I have no idea how it will come out on screen, but I loved it at the moment I took it and wanted to share...

Vision boards and other such fun stuff...

So, Wreck this journal is supposed to help me with creavity... and this blog is to help me document my wonderful journey. All sounds fairly easy.... And it is.

But in part of this journey, which is getting messier and messier as I progress I also have a business to continue and get my head in a space where I can grow both personally and professionally.

A couple of weeks ago a group of ladies and I had a networking session where we worked on getting some goals actually written down and making them more than just written down goals (if you get my drift). Yes, ladies and gentlemen, we actually have to action them!

Now, to do this it was recommended that we create some vision boards where we can have our goals plastered in a prominent place so that we see them and reinforce them EVERYDAY! Sounds like a plan...

So I bought my cardboard (that was the first step to actually actioning the goal of actioning the goal) and it has been sitting in front of me ever since. In all honesty I have been scared I was going to "mess it up" and it not be perfect. Hmm, I am starting to realise that I have a problem here...

My fear of "messing up" was preventing me from doing!! Woohoo.. now that I have realised that it is time to take action. And this is where I got the idea of Wreck this Journal. In a very long and convoluted way it was to help me not be so much of a perfectionist and get the job of starting to action some goals done so that I can achieve!

I feel I am on the right track.. even if I seem to be going in circles. This week I have been thinking more about my goals and realised that I probably needed a Daisy list like Sami which would be made up of things that I want to do, but is not so much a goal that it requires a vision board.

And that is where I am at today - I needed somewhere I could put my list of things to do and BINGO - this is it!! I am going to add a little area on the side where I can add the things I want to do and can tick them off as I go.

Problem solved!!

If you would like to know any more about Daisy lists, Wreck this Journal or Vision Boards, please email me! I would be happy to share.

K

Getting it wrong...

Apparently you can't get it wrong when you are "wrecking this journal"... Even following the instructions (I prefer to call them destructions) I still managed to muck up the first page!! :)

The clause in the front I think will save me - "Instructions are open to interpretation"... I am sticking to that, so sue me.

Anyway, I have had a flick through the journal at all the interesting destructions on how to destroy it and well, my neighbours might be calling the psych ward as I get into it...

Should be fun, I might give them the number to save them the time!

Wreck this Journal

1st post for My Journal Journey.... Wow! I discovered this book through a tangled web of blogs and followers etc and decided I wanted to do this.

I am one of the thousands (probably millions) of people who wants their journal to be perfect and often put off doing anything with it because of fear of doing it wrong.

Gosh, what a wasted existence! So, embracing the whole concept of wrecking a journal I have purchased a copy and am not set to go about and wreck it. Unfortunately I was expecting to receive the book in the mail on Friday, but it didn't arrive and managed to frustrate me the whole weekend just hoping that it would arrive today.

Well, it did and now to get on with it! Let's see what this is all about and can it really change some one like me?

Only time will tell....