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Giveaway ★ Kids Business Bloggers BBQ

May 11, 2012 by Cassie

You may have noticed a giveaway or a sponsored post here or there lately. I’m sorry if they are not your sort of thing but above all else this blog is a project for me; something to keep me inspired and to keep my mind working as a SAHM. I’m loving the admin that goes in to these things and I’m definitely loving being able to giveaway some really great prizes. So bare with me!

At the end of March this year I was invited by Kids Business to attend their Bloggers BBQ in Melbourne. It was held the day after the Digital Parents Conference and across the road from the hotel. I had to leave to catch my flight at around 1.30 so was worried that I would miss out on a lot but decided it was too good an opportunity to pass on.

It was more of a family event and I would have loved for Lily and Mr Monkey to have been there but we couldn’t afford for them to come to Melbourne with me. Lily would’ve had so much fun and it would have been great for Mr Monkey to get more of an idea of what these blogging things about. Oh well, maybe next time.

I arrived early, as I do, and found somewhere to stash my bags. I was handed a beautiful rose from Roses Amore and a really awesome “I ♥ Blogging” bag from Target (the major sponsor of the day). I started to make my way around the room and the different stands that the brands had set up.

I’ve since arranged with some of those brands for a big giveaway for you, my readers! I’ve got a great selection of prizes for you to win and I can’t wait to give them away!!

Nads Hair Removal

Nads had a great stand set up where they were doing free eyebrow waxes using their new product – the Facial Wand Eyebrow Shaper. This is a pretty cool product; you use the pen-like applicator to apply the gel precisely to where you need it and then use the provided strips to remove. Simple! The awesome Lori from Random Ramblings of a Stay at Home Mum posted a vlog recently of her experience, which I filmed for her!

On the day I entered in to various competitions, including one to win a $100 voucher to any of the Sydney Nad’s Laser Hair Removal Clinics. I wasn’t able to stay to hear the competition winners announced so it was a great surprise to get a tweet while I was on the bus to the airport to say I had won the Nads competition!

However, I have since decided that I am happy to keep shaving and waxing, as I have pale hair and Nads have been kind enough to agree to allow me to give the voucher away to one of you! That’s right. $100 towards laser hair removal treatment!!

Nads have also been kind enough to put together a second prize – including one of the super cool Facial Wand Eyebrow Shapers and a tub of their Natural Hair Removal Gel. Make sure to read right to the end to see how you can enter!

Prize 1
♥ Laser Hair Removal Voucher (Sydney only)- $100

Prize 2
♥ 1 Natural Hair Removal Gel – RRP $13.95
♥ 1 Facial Wand Eyebrow Shaper – RRP $13.48

Lenards

When I was growing up we only ever had Lenards on special occasions – we were in for a great night when we were having Chicken Kievs!! After I moved out of home I still had the mentality of Lenards as a “special occasion meal” and so haven’t actually bought anything from there! The great guys from Lenards were handing out little sample pieces of Chicken Kievs and oh my god! I had forgotten how amazingly yummy they are!

Lenards have since sent me a $20 voucher to use at one of their stores and I can’t wait to work it in to one of our meal plans. I’m not sure if I’m going to get some Chicken Kievs or one of these delicious looking Dijon & Garlic Roll Roasts.

Good news is that Lenards have given me an extra $20 voucher for one of you too!

Prize 3
♥ Gift Voucher – $20

Ella’s Kitchen

The Ella’s Kitchen display was one reason I wish Lily could’ve come with me. They had a ball pit set up which I’m sure we would have found it hard to keep Lily out of!

Ella’s Kitchen are a UK company that have just launched in Australia, supplying Coles. Ella’s Kitchen was started by Ella’s Dad, Paul, who believed that kids “should have the opportunity to eat better food and also to discover that healthy food can be fun, tasty and cool.” They take “simple, natural ingredients that ooze goodness and created baby foods, and packaging, that really connects with little ones – with flavours, colours, textures and even names that will appeal to all of their senses.”

We took a slightly unconventional approach to introducing Lily to food – instead of starting on purees we basically followed Baby Led Weaning; allowing the child to feed themselves from the beginning.

However, the most important part for me was ensuring Lily was eating healthily and that she saw eating and food as fun! I had seen the different packaged foods in the supermarkets but these pouches stand out to me – they’re completely natural with good, healthy foods (they don’t even add extra water!) and the packaging is cute!

I was given a bag of goodies to bring home and one to giveaway! Lily has been loving using her pouches to mix in with her yoghurt for breakfast and has been asking to play the “Tasty Tunes” CD so she can dance around the kitchen.

Prize 4
♥ (1) “The Purple One” pouch RRP $1.49 (Coles online)
♥ (1) “The Yellow One” pouch RRP $1.49 (Coles online)
♥ “Ella’s Guide to Mealtime Fun” – an excellent booklet which guides you through the various stages of weaning.
♥ “Tasty Tunes” – a fun CD of songs about eating healthy, set to well known nursery rhymes.
♥ Upcycled Cooler Bag – made from recycled Ella’s Kitchen pouches.

Crayola

Another reason why Lily would’ve loved to have been there on the day! Crayola had a big display of their new range of products (including coloured bubble machines!!) and a table for the kids and kids-at-heart to draw and paint to their hearts content.

Lily ignored me when I got home from the trip – she laid the guilt trip on thick. But as soon as I pulled out her bag of Crayola goodies I was her best friend again. That girl is addicted to crayons, markers and paint!

And I have a big Crayola goodie bag to giveaway to one of you, worth almost $50! That’s a lot of drawing!!

Prize 5
♥ 1 pack of 12 Twistable Crayons – RRP $8.99
♥ 1 pack of 12 Colored Pencils – RRP $5.99
♥ 1 pack of 8 Classic Broad Line Markers – RRP $6.99
♥ 1 x Dual-Sided Dry Erase Board Set – RRP $14.99
♥ 1 pack of Color Explosion® Metallic – RRP $12.99

Total Prize RRP – $49.95

McCormick Foods Australia

McCormick Foods had a stand set up with a big selection of their new range of products. I was particulary drawn to the new product they have released – the Recipe Creations range. Each pack includes a recipe card plus all of the herbs and spices (correctly portioned) to add flavour to your meal. These would be great for people who are just starting to learn to cook or those wanting to learn how to add more flavour to their meals. I can’t wait to try out the Herb Chicken and Potatoes! I also used their Tomato Onion and Sausages slow cooker base just last week to make some really yummy meatballs in the slow cooker, using a recipe that they gave us on the day.

Now, see that list below? Yup, that’s almost $200 worth of McCormick goodies! Even though I got some great goodies from McCormick on the day I’m really jealous of whoever wins this one! Lots of great meals to be prepared with all of this.

Prize 6
♥ A selection of the newly released McCormick Naturals Recipe Bases
♥ The full range of McCormick Herb & Spice re-sealable sachets
♥ A selection of McCormick Herb & Spice jars
♥ A tin of KEENS Mustard & Curry Powder
♥ A McCormick Cookbook
♥ A McCormick Apron

Total Prize RRP – over $180

Fressure Foods

I’m only a recent convert to avocado. I used to hate it! A few years ago I started getting salads from a salad chain and they had a really yummy chicken, mint and pea salad that unfortunately came with avocado. I considered asking for it without avocado but I had always thought that meals that included avocado looked really yummy and I felt like I was missing out on something. So I sucked it up and started eating the avocado with the chicken. Now, avocado is one of my favourite ever ingredients!

So, the Fressure Foods stand was one that I was instantly drawn to. Fressure Foods supply Coles with “pure, all natural Avocado Spread and Mild and Spicy Guacamole. All made from fresh avocados grown in New Zealand’s beautiful orchards.” My Mum was born in New Zealand so it was great to hear a Kiwi accent on the day!

The avocado spread is delicious and would be perfect to keep in the fridge to spread on sandwiches (or the Avocado Chicken Parmigiana that I made last night!) or even to use as a dip with some yummy lavosh crackers. The Guacamoles are divine and would be amazing with Mexican food or as a dip as well. We’re having a picnic lunch on Sunday for Mothers Day (and my birthday!) so I’m looking forward to picking up a few of the Fressure Food products to enjoy.

And now you may too! Fressure Foods have provided me with a few $5 vouchers (their spreads and guacamoles are $3.99 RRP) and I’m giving them away!

Prize 7

♥ 1 x 2 $5 vouchers for Fressure Foods products – $10

Prize 8

♥ 1 x 2 $5 vouchers for Fressure Foods products – $10

Prize 9

♥ 1 x 1 $5 voucher for Fressure Foods products – $5

Roses Amore

As I mentioned above we received a beautiful rose on entry from Roses Amore. Unfortunately, as I had to go straight to catch my flight home, I couldn’t take it with me but I passed it on to a friend who really appreciated it. I really wanted to bring it home!!

Roses Amore only deliver to Melbourne Metropolition but they have offered a 10% for all of my readers for the month of May! Make sure to hop over and check out their beautifully designed website even if you don’t need to order any of their stunning roses!

Discount Code:
♥ 10% Discount on all orders – code “fdm100″

Giveaway Entry Requirements

So I’m sure by now you’re wanting to enter! It’s simple! Using the widget below (if you’re reading this through RSS or email you will need to click through to the actual post) just answer the question to automatically go in the running to win one of these great prizes.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Terms and conditions: The Flying Drunken Monkey’s Kids Business Bloggers BBQ giveaway will be judged on creativity and originality. The competition opens Friday, May 11th at 1.00pm AEST and closes on Saturday, May 26th at 2.00pm AEST. Australian entries only, sorry. There are 9 prizes to be won, with a total prize pool of over $401.39. Winners will be notified via email and published on this blog. Entries remain the property of The Flying Drunken Monkey and may be republished. For full competition terms and conditions, click here.

Disclaimer: I was invited to attend the Bloggers BBQ by Kids Business. I received products and information on the day. The prizes for this giveaway have all been provided by the relevant companies.

Category Cool Stuff, Giveaway | Tags: , bloggers bbq, Crayola, Ella's Kitchen, Fressure Foods, giveaway, kids business, Kids Business Bloggers BBQ, Lenards, McCormick, Nads, Roses Amore | 13 Comments
Meal Plan ★ 21st – 27th May, 2012

May 21, 2012 by Cassie

Lily helped me doing the grocery shopping last week – she held the list, “told” me what was on it and “marked” off the things we got. It was very, very cute.

Click on the image on the left to download my Weekly Plan/ Meal Plan Template.

Please let me know if you use it and what you think! If you have any requests or suggestions I’d love to hear them.

Meal Plan:

——————
♥ Monday – Leftover spag bol
♥ Tuesday – Chicken rissoles and mash
♥ Wednesday – Pub food
♥ Thursday – My brother’s birthday
♥ Friday – Down at Granny & Poppy’s house
♥ Saturday – Quiche
♥ Sunday – Sausage pasta

Busy, busy week this week. Mr Monkey has a doctors appointment early Monday morning and then a physio appointment on Thursday afternoon – his knee has been better but is still giving him issues. We’ve also got Lily’s swimming lesson on Monday as usual and then we have a nutritionist coming in the afternoon for a “fibre audit” (I won it at a recent Proctor & Gamble event). The nutritionist will be giving us some tips about how to incorporate more fibre in to our diet and other general tips. It should be interesting.

I am starting a new course on Wednesday – Change your world – Buddhism introductory course at the Sydney Buddhist Centre. I have been reading “The Complete Buddhism for Mothers” by Sarah Napthali and am loving it. I love that Buddhism isn’t really a “religion” – there is no “higher power”, everything is internal. There is no need to worship or even attend a temple, you can simply meditate at home. So much of the book made sense to me, in the way that you feel like you already know it as soon as you read it. There is many different types of Buddhism and the book draws from all of them. The Sydney Buddhist Centre is the same – drawing from all of the types to create a more “Westernized” Buddhism. I’m looking forward to learning a bit more and about how I can incorporate it into my life.

Thursday is my brother’s birthday and we are heading down there after Mr Monkey’s physio appointment. Mr Monkey is going back to work on Friday but Lily and I will probably stay another night at my parents’ house.

Hoping to get a bit of housework done this week. Last week was a bit of a write-off so I want to get back on top of it.

What do you have planned for the week? And do you have any experience with Buddhism?

Category Meal Plans | Tags: , meal plan, meal planning, meals, template, weekly plan | 1 Comment
This Week’s Cleaning Zone ★ Kitchen

May 21, 2012 by Cassie

As this month’s decluttering zone is the kitchen we have already done a bit of work in this week’s cleaning zone. I have decluttered the top of the fridge, under the sink and last Saturday we decluttered the big “microwave” cupboard (above is the “before” picture).

So, this week I should be able to concentrate on the general cleaning. There is a few more cupboards to declutter, we need to clean the oven and reorganise our herb pots. Unfortunately our two surviving herbs died after our cat decided the herb pot looked like the perfect place to sleep. I think we need to change the herb pots to round ones to stop him being able to lay in them.

The plan for this week’s cleaning zone;

♥ Sweep floor
♥ Scrub stove top
♥ Clean cupboard doors
♥ Clean out fridge
♥ Clean small appliances
♥ Clean big appliances (outside fridge etc)
♥ Mop floor
♥ Clean microwave

Do you have any plans for cleaning and decluttering this week?

Category Cleaning Zones | Tags: , Cleaning, cleaning zone, Decluttering, housework, kitchen | No Comments
Recipe ★ Pea Soup

May 16, 2012 by Cassie
♥ I am not really a soup person. I’m not sure what it is but there is just something about soup that I can’t take to. There really isn’t many soups that I will eat willingly.

♥ The weather has gotten really cold here in Sydney town. I’m rugging up in scarves, cardigans and my new boots every day, and we’re pulling out the extra blankets at night. It may not be as cold as at BabyMac’s place but it’s still pretty damn cold.

♥ There has been much confusion about what was actually served in the first class restaurant on board the R.M.S Titanic (I think a menu was found only really recently) but a cookbook was released in 1997 that recreated recipes that were thought to have been served – they used recipes from the time plus looked at what was served on other White Star Line ships. “Last Dinner On the Titanic: Menus and Recipes from the Great Liner” includes some wonderful recipes and history on the Titanic and the different dining areas.

♥ When I was younger my Mum and I would create “Titanic dinners” for my family. We’d plan the menu, decorate the table and get dressed in our nicest clothes. The above cookbook was our go-to book.

So, what does all of this have to do with anything? Well, this recipe of course! Potage Saint-Germain, or Spring Pea Soup, is one of the meals in the “Last Dinner On the Titanic: Menus and Recipes from the Great Liner”, one of the meals that we had at one of our Titanic dinners, one of the only soups I’ll eat and is the perfect meal for these cold nights!

I love to serve it with toast and butter and a big splodge of crumbled fetta in the middle. It’s also great to freeze to have on hand for an easy meal – simply freeze straight after blending and then follow the rest of the steps.
Print

Potage Saint-Germain (Spring Pea Soup)

Rating: 51

Yield: 4 to 6 servings

Named after the Conte de Saint-Germain, war minister to Louis XV, this light soup is made from a puree of fresh green peas. Thought to have been served in the first class restaurant aboard the R.M.S Titanic.
Ingredients
1 tbsp butter
1/2 cup sliced leek, white part only
1/4 tsp each salt and pepper
Pinch of granulated sugar
2 cups shelled fresh or frozen tiny peas
1 cup shredded romaine (cos) lettuce
1 tbsp chopped fresh chervil or parsley
? 6 cups chicken or vegetable stock
? Fresh chervil or parsley sprigs
Instructions
In a large saucepan, melt butter over medium heat: add leeks, salt, pepper, and sugar. Cook, stirring, for 5 minutes or until softened. Add peas, lettuce, chervil, and 1 cup of stock; cover and cook over medium heat for 5 minutes or until peas are tender.
Working in batches and adding remaining stock, puree soup in blender or food processor; blend until very smooth. Strain through fine sieve and adjust seasoning if necessary.
Return to pan and reheat until steaming; skim off any foam. Ladle into serving bowls; garnish with a sprig of chervil or parsley.
Notes
Original Recipe from Last Dinner On the Titanic: Menus and Recipes from the Great Liner
Schema/Recipe SEO Data Markup by ZipList Recipe Plugin
2.0
http://www.thesmidy.net/flyingdrunkenmonkey/recipe-%e2%98%85-pea-soup/
Category Recipes | Tags: , Last Dinner On the Titanic: Menus and Recipes from the Great Liner, Pea Soup, Potage Saint-Germain, recipe, Titanic | No Comments
Meal Plan ★ 14th – 20th May, 2012

May 14, 2012 by Cassie

Ham, Rosemary & Edam Risotto that I made last week. Super, amazingly yummy!

Click on the image on the left to download my Weekly Plan/ Meal Plan Template.

Please let me know if you use it and what you think!

Meal Plan:

——————
♥ Monday – Cheese Toasties
♥ Tuesday – Miso Glazed Salmon Steaks and Rice
♥ Wednesday – Fillet Steak with Portobello Mushrooms and Pepper Sauce
♥ Thursday – Dinner out with Amy
♥ Friday – Tofu & Vegetable Parcels
♥ Saturday – Lamb Salad with Chilli and Feta Yoghurt Dressing
♥ Sunday – Stovetop Avocado Mac and Cheese

I hope you all had a great weekend! I did. Saturday we came down to my parents’ house and then went to the local shopping centre. We had a lovely day and I actually got some sleep that night (compared to the 2hours sleep I got the night before. Damn insomnia). Sunday I was woken early to some lovely presents from Lily for Mothers Day and from Mr Monkey and my parents for my birthday. Yes, my birthday was on Mothers Day so I got double presents! We spent the day at a local park with the rest of the extended family and Lily had lots of fun on the big playground, and joining other families for their lunch!

Our biggest day this week is Monday – we’ll be driving up early from my parents’ house, meeting the in-laws who will be taking Lily to her swimming lesson while I drive Mr Monkey to a physio appointment. He hurt his knee the week before last, finally got to the doctor and was told he’s most likely bruised the cartilage in his knee. So, he’s been limping everywhere and even though it’s basically impossible has been trying to do light duties at work.

After his appointment we’ll be heading back to meet Lily and the in-laws and then going to meet my parents and my aunt for lunch. Then I’m off to donate blood and Mr Monkey has to work the evening. Big day.

Do you donate blood? I couldn’t donate during high school as I had really low iron levels. I began thinking about it again when I was working and arranged a group from our office to donate regularly. I’ve donated every time I could since then, except for when pregnant and the 9 months after. I think it’s a very easy, yet very important thing to do.

So, that’s just Monday! We also have to do the grocery shopping, do the housework and we’re catching up with Amy for dinner! I think Lily will be excited mainly because she’ll get to go on a bus.

What are you up to this week?

Don’t forget to enter my big giveaway! Over $400 worth of prizes!

Category Meal Plans | Tags: , meal plan, meal planning, meals, template, weekly plan | No Comments
This Week’s Cleaning Zone ★ Downstairs

May 14, 2012 by Cassie

I promise she insisted on washing the dishes. She wouldn’t even finish her dinner because she wanted to wash the dishes. Ok, so I may be milking it a bit. But only a little bit…

Don’t you hate it when you keep putting off a task and then realise that you’ve been putting it off for 2 weeks? I got most of last week’s cleaning zone tasks done except for the floors. Then I realised that they weren’t done last week. Damn it. I actually got up off the couch at 11pm on Friday night and vacuumed downstairs because I couldn’t bare the thought of the floors not being done at all last week.

So my first task this week is to mop the kitchen and vacuum the computer room and bedroom. Then I can move on to the below and also working on the decluttering zone for this month – the kitchen.

So here’s the plan:

♥ Dust
♥ Vacuum
♥ Clean couch
♥ Tidy top of TV cabinet
♥ Rotate Toys
♥ Filing
♥ Tidy shoes
♥ Clean window

So there you have it, my plan for the week. I’ll let you know how I go at the end of the month.

Don’t forget to enter my big giveaway! Over $400 worth of prizes!

Category Cleaning Zones | Tags: , Cleaning, cleaning zone, downstairs, lounge room, spare room | No Comments
UNHCR Safe Mother & Daughter Appeal

May 10, 2012 by Cassie

I had a fairly easy pregnancy with Lily so it came as a bit of a shock when I had a hard labour. It wasn’t very traumatic but it was 25 hours from the first contraction to that moment of joy and relief, and included over 2 hours of just pushing. Full on, tiring, draining, exhausting.

I wanted to try having a completely “natural” birth but ended up having morphine and the gas. After the 2 hours of pushing if Lily hadn’t been born I would have had to have had a vacuum extraction. Thankfully, it didn’t get that far.

But no matter how hard my labour was I was in a safe and hygienic environment, with some of the best medical care and the best support in my husband and my Mum. I can not even begin to think what it would have been like to have not had any of that.

Do you know women still die in childbirth? It’s hard to believe when we know how far the medical industry has come. Yet a woman in Somalia today is 150 times more likely to die in childbirth than a woman in Australia. In fact, over the course of her childbearing years, a Somali mother has a staggering one in 14 chance of dying of complications during pregnancy and childbirth. One in 14! Imagine 1 in every single Mothers Group dying of complications during pregnancy and childbirth.

Globally, an estimated 358,000 women die during pregnancy and childbirth from preventable causes every year

We have so many options for who we want to attend our child’s birth – spouses, family, doulas, midwifes, obstericians, doctors. Yet, only 9% of all births in Somalia are attended by skilled health personnel. 9%! That is a shockingly low number.

And we also live in a reasonably safe country. These women are forced to flee ongoing conflict and devastation in their homeland, in many cases losing their homes, their husbands and their children.

This Mother’s Day, Australia for UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency’s charity in Australia, is launching a Safe Mother & Baby Appeal with special lifesaving gift packages that can be bought and sent to women in refugee camps around the world, on behalf of Australian mothers, daughters and sons.

The items that can save lives are simply staggering – the Clean Delivery Kit includes a small sealed bag containing a plastic sheet for the mother to lie on during labour, a clean blade, string to tie the cord, a swaddling cloth, soap and clear pictorial instructions. Yup, that’s it! Simple, everyday items that we take completely for granted could save a woman’s life in Somalia. A kit that costs only $2.70, can be the difference between life and death for refugee mothers and babies!

To purchase a Mother’s Day gift package visit Worlds Biggest Package or phone Australia for UNHCR on 1300 361 288. A printable gift card is provided for each donation, which is tax deductible.

Gift packages include:

♥ Clean Delivery Kits – $26
- buy 10 kits containing an instruction sheet, cotton baby wrap, soap, plastic sheeting, a clean blade and string for the umbilical cord

♥ Midwife Pack – $53
- provide drugs, sterile dressings and other supplies for midwives

♥ New Mother Packs – $100
- provide nutritional supplements, baby blankets, baby clothes, and soap for 20 pregnant women

♥ Emergency Health Kit – $1044
- purchase an Emergency Health Kit to meet the complete medical needs of up to 5000 refugees for one month.

This Mothers Day why don’t you give generously to the UNHCR Safe Mother & Daughter Appeal help provide care for other mothers and babies?

Category Cool Stuff | Tags: , Mothers Day, Safe Mother & Daughter Appeal, UNHCR, UNHCR Safe Mother & Daughter Appeal | No Comments
March Decluttering Task ★ Storage

May 9, 2012 by Cassie

March’s Monthly Decluttering Zone was the Spare Room. One decluttering task was to declutter the end of the bed – you can see how bad it had gotten in the photo above.

One weekend we decided to attack the end of the bed by putting some of the stuff in our cupboard under the stairs. Yes, we have a Harry Potter style cupboard. Although, it is very small and until we moved the furniture around it was blocked by the couch (it’s now blocked by the entertainment unit).

Mr Monkey started by pulling the couch away from the cupboard so we could check what was in there. Lily decided this was great as she was able to get really close to the TV. We thought it was really great as she wasn’t bothering us!

Mr Monkey started cleaning a few things out of the cupboard that we no longer needed or needed out for winter and just rearranged what was in there. I started clearing out what was at the end of the bed and worked out what we needed to put away and what needed to stay out. We managed to clear out quite a bit and the bed was looking quite better.

We then decided that since we were on a roll we’d go upstairs and work on February’s Decluttering Zone – the Computer Room. I had “organised” our stationery in to a few ice cream containers after we cleared them out of the computer desk but I didn’t really like it. So I grabbed a large filing box and just chucked it all in there. Not neat, but it will do for now. I will look at somehow getting them back on to the computer desk once Lily is a bit older – she likes playing with them too much at the moment.

I also cleared off the top of the drawers and made them much more organised. I love how much better it looks now and how much easier it is to keep tidy. It also makes the whole room seem so much tidier.

Mr Monkey started to clear off the top of the cupboard and then inside. There was a lot in there that was simply stuffed in and forgot about so obviously not really needed. We were able to clear out quite a lot – gave a rice cooker that we had never used to my parents and we have a chocolate fountain which will probably go to an op shop. I actually feel a bit less stressed knowing that cupboard has been taken care of and I don’t have to worry about it anymore. Personally I would prefer to empty it completely and not have it but the cupboard belongs to the landlord.

So, the storage in the Computer Room is looking much better and the end of the bed in the Spare Room was also better. Unfortunately, the Spare Room isn’t looking as good after we changed the entertainment unit around – all of the general clutter from the old entertainment unit got moved on top of the bookcase in the Spare Room, part of the unit is laying on the bed, Mr Monkey’s DVDs and CDs are lying in different spots around the Spare Room and there is a big container of his work papers in there too. We are looking at getting a new DVD cupboard to store them all and will hopefully sell the old unit soon but I think I’ll have to spend some more time in the Spare Room working on rearranging all of the clutter.

Category Decluttering Tasks, Decluttering Zones | Tags: , decluttering task, Decluttering zone, downstairs, storage | No Comments
Meal Plan ★ 7th – 13th May, 2012

May 7, 2012 by Cassie

Click on the image on the left to download my Meal Plan Template.

Please let me know if you use it and what you think!

Meal Plan:

——————
♥ Monday – Fish and Vegetable Parcels
♥ Tuesday – Ham, Fontina & Rosemary Risotto
♥ Wednesday – Avocado chicken parmigiana & mash
♥ Thursday – Giovanni’s Sausages with Potatoes and Rosemary
♥ Friday – Family chicken and corn pie
♥ Saturday – Down to Granny & Poppy’s house
♥ Sunday – Mothers Day/ My birthday

♥ Baking – Basic Biscuit Mix

I’ve decided to look back at recipes we’ve used before and found a few that we really liked. The fish and vegetable parcels from Fat Mum Slim were simple, healthy and yummy. The Ham, Fontina and Rosemary Risotto was the best risotto I’ve ever had (although I will probably chose a cheaper cheese). The Avocado Chicken Parmigiana just includes so many of my favourite things. The Sausages with Potatoes and Rosemary were a favourite as soon as we made them – very yummy, very easy, very rustic. I actually made them for my brother and sister while my parents’ were away and left the recipe for my Mum. I remember I had issues with the pastry on the Family Chicken and Corn Pie so am looking forward to trying to cook it again. Plus I remember it was really nice and full of creamy corn!

The beginning of this week is fairly normal – swimming on Monday followed by the grocery shopping, then I’m hoping to go for a run. I’m going to bake some biscuits with Lily, most likely on Wednesday, just for the fun of it. I’d like to go for a run again on Thursday but not sure if it will happen.

Then Saturday we will be heading down to my parents’ house again and Mr Monkey will be joining us after work that night. Sunday is Mothers Day and also… my birthday! Double presents for me!! We’ll be celebrating Mothers Day, my birthday and my brother’s birthday with my Dad’s family.

So what do you have planned for this week? Do you like to revisit favourite meals?

Category Meal Plans | Tags: , Avocado chicken parmigiana & mash, Family chicken and corn pie, fat mum slim, Fish and Vegetable Parcels, Fontina & Rosemary Risotto, Giovanni's Sausages with Potatoes and Rosemary, ham, meal plan, meal planning, meals, template, weekly plan | No Comments
This Week’s Cleaning Zone ★ Computer Room

May 7, 2012 by Cassie

Nothing to do with this week’s cleaning zone but Mr Monkey surprised me last week with a brand new MacBook! I knew we were going to eventually get a new one after ours was damaged but thought it had been pushed months back in the budget. It’s so pretty!

I got almost all of my zone work done last week. I spent one afternoon in the laundry and bathroom and only didn’t get the floor washed. I even pulled the washing machine out and cleaned behind it!!

I’m hoping to get the whole zone done this week. Need to do the vacuuming first thing as it didn’t get done last week. The top of the drawers and bookshelves are fairly clear, just some general stuff to put away. I love that this area is so much better now that I’ve decluttered the cupboard, decluttered the top of the drawers and sorted through Lily’s clothes. I try to keep the computer desk fairly tidy as well so there is only general tidying and vacuuming to do.

Considering this used to be one of the worst rooms of the house I’m really happy with how it is!

So, here’s the plan for this week’s cleaning zone:

♥ Dust
♥ Tidy computer desk
♥ Tidy off top of drawers
♥ Tidy off top of bookshelves
♥ Vacuum

So there you have it, my plan for the week. I’ll let you know how I go at the end of the month.

What do you have planned for this week?

Category Cleaning Zones | Tags: , Cleaning, cleaning zone, Computer Room, Decluttering, study | No Comments