Polly Dolly - In The Trenches

Welcome to the first week of the 2nd year of the Polly Dolly challenge - the brainchild ( and very big success! ) of the lovely Dani over at Danimezza. This time around, at the start of a brand new Polly year, Dani is thinking autumn fashion, and she's thinking our Polly's might need to invest in a .....

Polly Dolly - In The Trenches by Amy1984 featuring a trench coat

Now, i already used a trench two weeks ago, in the " floral " challenge, so i had few other trench coat picks waiting in my saved items folder. I used a dress last time so this time i wanted to make my trench coat set a bit Audrey Hepburn inspired - slim fit jeans, mock turtleneck and cute flats, and incorporating this seasons neutrals to keep it all fresh. The trench itself is quite a classic cut but in a beautiful terracotta colour. And, just for a splash of colour, i've gone with a gorgeous baby blue tote, which i think works with or without the trench. A slick high pony and natural makeup finish the look off. I see Polly wearing this to the office on casual Friday - cute, comfortable and classic!

Friday Feast

Good morning and welcome to another Friday Feast. For those playing along at home ( or for those who want to ) Friday Feast is a fledgling link up ( which is so fledgling it doesnt even have a linky yet! ) where we each share a favourite recipe - sweet or savoury, dinner or dessert, budget or blue ribbon. It doesnt matter, as long as its delicious!

This week, i thought i'd go with something sweet:

Fruit and Nut Slice ( originally found in Recipes + magazine )
395g can sweetened condensed milk
125g butter, chopped
1tsp finely grated orange zest ( omit if you arent a fan of zest )
1/3 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
250g plain biscuits ( such as Arrowroots )
1 cup dessicated coconut
1 1/2 cups dried fruit of your choice
1/2 cup pecans or walnuts
1 1/3 cup milk chocolate melts

1. Grease 26x16cm base baking pan and line with baking paper, leaving over-hang at edges.
2. Combine condensed milk, butter zest and juice in small saucepan. Cook and stir over low heat until butter melts. remove from heat.
3. Process biscuits into fine crumbs. Add biscuit, coconut,dried fruit and nuts to condensed milk mixture. Stir to combine. Press and smooth into prepared pan. Cover with plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for at least an hr.
4. Melt chocolate in microwave on medium setting in 30 second bursts, removing and stirring in between, until melted and smooth. Spread chocolate over slice to cover evenly. Let cool for 30 minutes or until chocolate is almost set, then cut into squares to serve.
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I've made this slice quite a few times for my mums group meet ups or morning teas, and i gave my dad the recipe so he could make morning tea for his secretaries at work, and it always gets a great reception. Its moist and a bit chewy and nice and sweet with the fruit ( i usually use dried apricot and cranberries, but you could throw in sultanas or glace cherries aswell ) and the best thing about from the cooks perspective? Its no bake! Plus, it uses ingredients that most of us would keep in our pantries, or that we might have left over from something else. Plus, it keeps for 4-5 days in the fridge - although i'm sure it will be all gone by then!

What about you? Do you have a recipe to contribute this week ? Go, do your post, and then come back and leave a link to the post in the comments!

I Have No Words...

Image from here

The urge to write

It is insane

A buzz inside

My fertile brain.

The subject which to

Touch upon?

An idea once had

But now is gone.

" Bloggers Block "

The proverbial name.

"Baby Brain "

Is sure to blame.

The urge to write

But no words yet...

This stupid poem

Is all you'll get!

Operation Slimdown - We're Getting There...

Seriously - are you people getting tired of reading about " Operation Slimdown " yet ? I know i'm only doing a diet/exercise/body post once a week but it seems like i'm forever writing about it... anyhoo, yea yea, its Tuesday again so its time for the fortnightly update on where my weight loss is at. Behold - the stats!
Bust: 91cm - down 1cm
Waist: 75.5cm - down 1.5cm
Hips: 97.5cm - down 0.5cm
Bum: 102cm - up 0.5cm
Thigh: 62cm - down 0.5cm
Weight: 68.6kg - down 1.1kg


I'm really happy with that, seeing as i've felt like i've been slacking off a bit. Maybe it only feels that way because i was sooooo strict with the my eating in the first few weeks? I'm not sure, but i'm coming to realise that its ok to have a bit of chocolate, or a small bowl of icecream, or even a yummy yummy Portuguese tart ( mmmm...Portuguese tart... ) a few times a week if i'm keeping everything else under control. Which i am - my portion sizes are much smaller than when i started my third attempt at " Operation Slimdown ", i'm eating way more vegies and i find that i'm not craving rice or pasta at all. I have a nice low-GI muesli for breakfast most mornings ( i occasionally indulge in peanut butter and toast! ) and a wholemeal sandwich or leftovers for lunch. Dinners are my favourite though - you know how i love pour over my cookbooks and magazines and i've really enjoyed some of the new, healthier, dishes i've come across. As has Mick - he hasnt exactly been on a concentrated " diet ", but through healthier eating and a very physical job he's managed to lose around 10kg in the last 3-4 months. Go us!

And now? I'm 9.2kg down in 12 weeks. Only 800g to go until i hit my 10kg goal that i set as my New Years resolution. I'm kind of amazed that i've been able to come this far in a relatively short period of time ( you know, seeing as my original goal included a November deadline.. ). Once i hit the 10kg mark, i would like to push on and reach 65kg - thats roughly how much i weighed when i met Mick, and i think i looked awesome then, so thats the next step in the dance... fingers crossed i lose the 800g by next weigh in though!

Knives and Forks and (S)poons...

So - my normally voraciously appetited son went through a stage last month where no matter what i tried to give him for his dinner, it was being thrown off his plate ( or the spoon knocked from my hand ) and onto the floor. He went from being a baby who would eat pretty much anything to a squirming, screaming, messmaker who was refusing food he loved only the day before. Out of exasperation i started giving him a sandwich, some cheese and some fruit for his dinners, but i knew that the scrimping on the vegies couldnt last too long. To be quite frank, dinner time was doing my head in. Mick and I, being first time parents, had no idea what the bloody hell was happening but we sure as hell knew we needed to put a stop to it ASAP. So, as a first time parent, how do you figure this type of conundrum out? You ask your other, older, wiser mummies. And, thanks to my wonderful work colleague, "Aunty " J, we found a solution....we eat at the table, at the same time.

Mr Flynn, munching on a strawberry...

I know - you're reading this now going " uh...duh Amy! " and yes, in retrospect, it all seems so simple to me too. See, i was feeding Flynn on his own, and then Mick was giving him a bath while I cooked our dinner. Even though he was refusing his own food ( the same yummy chicken-and-rice, stir fries and spaghettis that he's always enjoyed ) Flynn would then happily totter over to us while we were eating and demanding stuff off our plates. I explained all this to J and she just looked at me and smiled and said " He's a big boy now - he wants to eat with you ". Doi! Of course he does! Flynns been able to say " big boy " for about a month now and has been doing all kinds of other " big boy " things, like bing allowed in Daddy's garage or being able to walk into the shops ( very slowly ) holding my hand.... of course he wanted to eat at the table with the grown ups. So that night i went home, cleared off the end of our dining table ( yes, we're guilty of eating in front of the tv watching "Neighbours" instead of using the table... ) and proceeded to cook dinner at a time suitable for us all to eat together. That was last Monday, and we've had a blissful week of Flynn eating most of his dinner and throwing none of it on the floor.

Most nights he's eaten the same meal as us ( except when its been a bit spicy ) and he's going really well. I give him a little bowl of stir fry ( for eg ) and he sits quite contentedly, picking up chunks of chicken and bits of vegies and gulping it all down with copious amounts of milk. I even gave him his own little plastic fork last night, just to see how he went...and he was stabbing the little chunks of meat like a total pro! You know, except that he holds the fork like a tiny caveman and has no table manners whatsoever... even better, Flynn even asked for more vegies! He'd picked out all the capsicum and beans in the bowl and was left only with chicken. When he saw me eating a bean he pointed and grunted and i asked him " Do you want some vegies? " and he points again and goes " bej- ees! ". So now, not only do i have a child who is eating his dinner without throwing it AND is interested in starting to learn to use forks and spoons ( or " poons " as he calls them ) but i have a 15 month old who wants more vegies.

Toddlers - they're so weird!

The New Me...

Image from WeHeartIt

Friday Feast

So - i didnt have much of a response to my idea last week to start a Friday Feast link up. For anyone who missed it, i'd love to start a weekly link up where we contribute ( and thus exchange ) our favourite recipes, whether they be sweet or savoury, simple or gourmet. The budding chef in me would love to find more family and budget friendly recipes, but anything you like would be great! That being said, i didnt have many takers for the idea last week but that wont stop me starting it as a weekly post for myself. Who knows - perhaps it will evolve?

So, this week, i thought i'd start with one of my favourite quick, easy and fresh recipes: Sesame Crusted Salmon with Coleslaw.

Sesame Crusted Salmon With Coleslaw ( serves 2-4 )
* salmon fillets ( get one pieces for each person you'd like to serve )
* 1/2 cup of sesame seeds
* 1/2 small white cabbage, thinly sliced
* 1 large carrot, grated
* 2 sticks of celery, chopped finely

1. Putting the 1/2 cup sesame seeds on a small plate, coat both sides of each salmon fillet with seeds.
2. Heat a teaspoon of vegetable oil in frypan. Place salmon in, seeded side down.
3. Cook for 3- 4 minutes both sides ( or until cooked to your liking ).
4. In the meantime, mix chopped cabbage, grated carrot and chopped celery in large bowl.
5. ( This is where i alternate from time to time... ) Either dress coleslaw in store bought coleslaw dressing or mix 2 tablespoons of sweet chilli sauce with 1 tablespoon of lime juice, for a refreshing Asian style slaw.

And that be it - those proportions are all from memory. Because i only make this meal for Mick and myself, we usually end up with left over coleslaw for the next days lunch, but if you think you'll need more, than just up the amount of vegies by another half or so. Couldnt be easier!