On life, blogging, and things in between...

One question I find that comes up often in the blogosphere is 'Why do you blog?'.

My short answer? It's fun, it's enjoyable, it's good for the soul.

But really it's so much more than that.

Sometimes I write and I wonder what the point is. There are so many words out there, vying to be read, so many voices, and so many people who have more important, more eloquent things to say. At times it's easy for me to get caught up in the world of blogging and feel very inadequate.

Some days I am plagued by doubts. I have been blogging now for over a year and yet still feel like a new, very insignificant little fish in an enormous ocean. I notice someone who I avidly follow, and seems to follow so many of the people I interact with, and yet for some reason they don't follow me. I think 'What's wrong with me?' Or else I see conversations, or friendships developing on facebook or twitter and feel so out of it and am suddenly somehow transported back into ballet class being placed up the back because I'm 'tall' (big) or else back in the final year of school, suddenly feeling so out of place with my peers. You never really do squash that insecure teenager do you?

Some days I love the sense of community, the belonging, the feeling of being heard when so often as a Mum I feel like I have become a little invisible.

But it's not just that. Even if tomorrow I lost every follower and nobody ever commented or read a single post again I would still want to write. (I would probably be an inconsolable mess too, because after all I'm very human) But it is so nice to write. I love the memories my writing evokes. I read a post from months back and my memory is stimulated- I remember exactly how I was feeling, what I was doing, what prompted that particular post. I love blogging for the memories.

I also love the record that I am making here. I wrote once about The Why behind my blogging and that still hold true. I love that this is a record for my children of their mother. I don't have any expectation of dying young, I plan on being around for many grandchildren, but I love that this blog will give my children glimpses of their mother. I know if my Mum had ever written a diary or journal when I was growing up I would love to read it, I'd find it fascinating... and I hope maybe one day they might too.

Sometimes I look back on previous posts and cringe. It's embarrassing sometimes, baring your soul, especially when so many people I know read this. Sometimes I feel very silly. But at the same time it's very liberating, and I am well aware that I do have drama-queen tendencies, so knowing that there are people who I see every day who read this also keeps me very honest.

I also enjoy that feeling that I get when I see that somebody gets what I was trying to say. I love writing something funny and knowing I've made people smile and laugh (even if it's at me), or writing something that means something to me and having people listen, really listen. I also love writing about things that I find difficult and finding out that I am not alone.

So.... I write. I blog. It may not be perfect, it may never be anything out of the ordinary or particularly significant in the eyes of the world. But it's good.

Guest post over with Glowless

Today I'm guest posting over at Glowless's place whinging about my poor husband, for 'He did what!?' so I'm feeling all special and stuff..... come check it out!

Progress....

I have many, many posts swirling around in my head, but at the moment Shane is home and we are unpacking from being away and changing rooms around. Georgie is going to move into the office and the new baby will have her room- (it's much easier as that room is set up for a small one). So the house is in a mess and we're a little busy, but it's a good busy. I'm getting so many things crossed off my list! One day soon I will get back into my rhythm but for now Shane only has a couple more days off so I'm trying to enjoy it.  Here are a few photos of what's going on in the slightly deep household at the moment:

Office before

Office in it's current state

It would go much quicker without this helper! (But she's a lot of fun too!)

There's no place like home....

Away...

Image

Shane is on break and we are in the city for a couple of days. The drive here was a little hellish, we left later than anticipated so Georgie missed her lunchtime/afternoon nap and was over-tired, but once we arrived and put her to bed (with a little screaming) she slept for 12 solid hours straight- twas lovely!!

So, I am taking a little bloggy break and am enjoying not being at home and thinking of the million little things that need doing in my house- it is very nice! We should be back by Monday-ish... we are just taking it as it comes at the moment. But for now we are just taking a break.

Happy Birthday Mum!

Today it's my Mum's birthday. I am more grateful for her than I can say. She helps me out so much especially with Georgie and she just is... you know? I am so glad Georgie has grandparents that love her to bits. I don't know how sometimes, but she did something right!

Image

Happy Birthday Mummy!

The day we learned that eggs are bad

On Saturday night I gave Georgie her first scrambled egg. She's had bits of egg before in quiche, cooking and toast soldiers dipped in the yolk. But apparently a whole egg was too much for her system because about 45 minutes later, after she'd gone to bed, she threw it all up.

I was a little worried, but more grumpy about cleaning up. Besides, she was quite chirpy and seemed fine. I googled egg allergies, and found that most of the time the reaction seemed to be immediate or delayed. I was a little concerned that it could affect airways, but Georgie's breathing was fine, so cleaned up and tired again, she went back to bed. I rang my Mum just so see what she thought and was advised just to keep a close eye on her.

That night Georgie was incredibly restless, I went in to check on her lots and she was breathing fine (albeit a little heavily) she did cough a lot, but she had been coughing a bit all day. I gave her panadol and lots of drinks of water. At that point I still wasn't 100% sure if it had been the egg or just a little bug, or maybe it was even the coughing that had caused her to be sick. I went to bed and checked on her a couple of times during the night but I wasn't too worried.

The next morning my alarm went off at 6:30am and I got up to get ready for church as I was doing music that Sunday morning. At 7:45am I was quite happy that I'd managed to get dressed and ready without waking Georgie. Again, I wasn't terribly worried as she normally sleeps in until seven or eight in the morning. When I went in to wake her up so I could take her to my Mum and Dad's before music practice I got an awful fright! She was hardly recognizable! Her little face was so puffy and red and swollen, she didn't even look like herself. She could hardly open her eyes and was very drowsy and not-herself. I panicked a bit and quickly rang my Mum and Pastor to let them know I was not going to music practice and was taking her to the hospital.

We rushed up to the hospital, all the while I was berating myself for never turning a light on in the night to see how she looked. I felt like the worst Mother in the world. At the hospital a nurse saw us straight away, but once she had determined Georgie was breathing okay she relaxed a bit and so did I. Within half an hour we had seen a Dr, who checked her thoroughly and said she was actually alright. She looked bad, but her airways were clear and so they weren't going to give her any medication as she was so little, but I was advised to keep a very close eye on her for the rest of the day. He said it was most likely caused by the egg. By this time Georgie had perked up and was looking for her breakfast so I felt a bit better as well.

We spent most of the morning at my Mum's, and Georgie ate breakfast and played. I was still a bit shattered. I kept a very close eye on her all day and the swelling in her face went down during the day, and she started being her usual happy self.

I was so, so relieved. I have never wished for Shane so much. That day was really tough, and putting her back to bed that night was so hard. I think it was the fact that it was all on me. I should have checked her better, I shouldn't have been so blase about the whole thing. It was a big reminder to me as a parent that things do happen. Children are not guaranteed to be okay all the time. Sometimes looking after a small person can be a terrifyingly huge responsibility.

She is fine today and I am going to go take her to our Doctor to talk about this a bit more and see what we should do, but I am just so, so thankful. Glad that she was still there in the morning, that she is still breathing now. I am so grateful to God that even though I wasn't on the ball, He was taking care of her. I am so glad that my little girl is still here and is okay.

My little trooper (this is almost 24 hours after eating the egg- still a bit puffy)

A post in which I display other people's creativity... (I've recently discovered pinterest)

This week has been super tough. Shane has been away for 41 out of the past 46 days... it's taking it's toll a little. We are so looking forward to some (well deserved) time off. My back has also been playing up majorly and I could hardly walk this morning, but thankfully there are such wonderful people as Physiotherapists and at least this is only a pregnancy related thing for me and not long term!

But in the meantime, I thought I'd share some awesomeness with some things that have inspired and amused me this week...

Everything displayed here was found on Pinterest (a great big, fun time waster if ever there was one) come on over and see all the other pretties if you like.... plus I'm there too!

Where did that come from?

A couple of days ago I had to duck downtown to go get milk. (Georgie drinks milk like a calf, I swear!) It had been an icky morning, Georgie was a bit grumpy, and I wasn't looking particularly spiffy so I just wanted to get in and get out quickly.  I drove to my local IGA and there weren't many parking spaces in front of the store but there was a lady about to leave so I indicated, showing that I was waiting for her and would take her space. Then as she drove out, another lady came up behind me in her car, went around me and parked in my space.

And I was angry! Boy, was I angry! I said some incredibly not nice words (and later was grateful that Georgie can't talk yet). But the venom, the rage inside me was kind of insane. I went around the corner and parked, and the whole time I was fuming! "Sure, make the pregnant lady carrying her child walk further, it's not like my baby is tired and needs to be in bed for her nap or anything!" As I walked past her car I wanted to kick it, or at the very least leave one of these:

Image found here-  :)

As I walked into the shop I was kind of looking out for her, hoping I would be able to trip her, or abuse her, or give her a good Glare you know? But (probably fortunately) I didn't see her, and her car was gone when I walked out of the store.

As I was walking back to my car I got to thinking. Where did that come from? Was I really just that angry over a parking space? I mean seriously... it was just a parking spot. I had to walk an extra 20 meters and I'm ready to do bodily harm to a person?

Maybe she didn't realise I was going to park there, she might have thought I was double parked, or dropping someone off, maybe she was having a really bad day, maybe she genuinely didn't see me, or maybe she was a horrible person. But it doesn't really make a difference. By harboring all that anger and hate towards her, I didn't hurt her. And she didn't need my anger anyway. But I don't think I did myself any favours.

It just really surprised me you know? I mean I know I lose my temper sometimes. But I thought it was something that I was getting better at. I certainly didn't expect to lose my shiz over a parking space. I think maybe I understand a bit more how people can just snap at little things. Especially if they were super stressed to begin with. It's scary. And it's definitely something I'm going to try to work on. But because of it I know that I'm a little more humble, a little more understanding and a little less self-righteous, that's for sure.

Wordless Wednesday: Sad Puppy

Before (Action Shot!)

After

Playing along with My Little Drummer Boys for Wordless Wednesday.

Tasty Tuesdays: Quick Vegetable Curry

This recipe is so ridiculously easy but it is a really yummy dish. I can cook it quickly as a dish for one (with leftovers) when I don't really know what to do for dinner, and I generally always have all the ingredients. It also wouldn't be a hard recipe to make for lots of people either, you'd just have to increase quantities.

Quick Vegetable Curry

Ingredients:

Onion
One clove of garlic
Carrot
Zucchini
Red capsicum
Mushrooms
Broccoli
125g can chickpeas, drained (optional- I just added them for some protein)
400g can crushed tomatoes
2 teaspoons curry paste (I use Pataks Madras Curry paste)
Cooked white rice, to serve

You can also use any other vegetables you choose, I just used what I had, but I think cauliflower or sweet potato would be lovely with this too.


First, fry your onion and garlic in a oiled pan, then add the other vegetables.

Then stir-fry them all until they are tender. Once they are cooked add the chickpeas and the tinned tomato, once combined add your curry paste. It's a good idea to add your curry paste slowly, testing the heat, especially if you're don't love spices. I quite like hot food, so I sometimes add more than two teaspoons. I'm getting in all the tasty food I can before I have to breastfeed again and go back to bland!

Let the curry simmer for a few minutes to improve the flavour, then serve with rice.

It really is that easy, and so good! I love the freshness and zing to this dish. Enjoy!

Red

Red

There have been many posts about Daniel Morcombe, a boy here in Australia who went missing at age 13 eight years ago. Today a man has been formerly charged with his murder. His parents have asked people to wear red (the colour of the shirt he was wearing when he was abducted) to remember him today. And if you don't know about this case you might be wondering, why? It's sad yes, incredibly so, but why all the noise about it? Children go missing all the time, why are Australians all remembering him, specifically?

It's because in all this time his parents never stopped looking. They never stopped pushing, prodding, probing into the mystery and the tragedy that was their sons disappearance. They dedicated the last eight years of their lives to finding out what happened. They offered a huge reward, There was a song, there were countless advertisements, pictures everywhere.

I wonder if it is better for them now? I wonder if I would push, would rather know exactly what happened, or always have a little hope?

I think it would be better to know. I understand why they never stopped trying. But I feel for them. Because now they have to face the fact that there is no more hope, no more maybe. I also feel for them because eventually, they have to start living again, and this time it is in a world where they know that their boy is definitely no longer alive.

He would have been 22 now, if he was still alive. Only a year or so younger than me. I wonder if he would have had children by now too? Maybe he would have been at University, or working? It's odd to think of not knowing who he is. But I wish I didn't.

Sometimes I find life with Georgie hard. Because she is almost always with me. Always. Having Shane away so much means I rarely get a chance to duck downtown by myself, or go for a walk. I have family who helps me for appointments and things, but I hate using people too often. It's just not as easy as a husband, a Father, who is responsible for her like I am, who isn't doing it as a favour.

And sometimes I resent it a little. Resent never being alone. I just want space from her. But today I am remembering Daniel and the Morcombes, and I wonder what they wouldn't give for just a few more moments with their boy? So right now I am relishing this. The fact that right now my babies are safe, secure, and close (oh, so close) to me.

Strawberry face

Sunday Song: Float

Shane has a thing for Irish music, and I love this song by Flogging Molly. I especially love the violin in the middle.  The music clip is a little trippy though....

Grateful for blogging

Today I'm joining up with Maxabella Loves and talking about blogging.

I started blogging as a kind of memory journal for my family and I, because it is such an easy way to do it and I'm too lazy for scrapbooking. But my blog has started to evolve and is becoming more and more for me. I still want to make the memories, but I think it's also so good for the soul.

I'm also getting a bit involved in the blogging community and I just love it. I love the communication- speaking and being heard. It really helps with the loneliness. I'm also discovering so much about the kindness and generosity of other bloggers.

A week or so ago, I won a giveaway on Melissa @ Suger Coat It's facebook page.Yesterday a parcel arrived in the mail and it was one of these cute little owls made by A boys Mumma. Thank you so much ladies!!!

Very clever yes?

Georgie just thinks it's yummy

So today I am just really grateful for blogging... I'm grateful for the people I've gotten to know and just loving where the journey has taken me so far.

I am a custard apple...

Have you ever heard of the poem, The Plum?

Here it is:

 

The Plum

Image found here

You must learn that you cannot be loved by all people

You can be the finest PLUM in the world,

RIPE – JUICY – SUCCULENT

And offer yourself to all.

However you must remember there will always be people who do not like plums.

You can learn to understand that if you are the world’s finest plum,

And someone you like does not like plums

You have a choice of becoming a banana.

However, you need to be warned that if you choose to become a banana,

You will be a second-rate banana,

However, you can always be the best plum.

You need to understand that if you choose to be a second-rate banana,

There will always be people who do not like bananas,

Furthermore, you can spend your life trying to become the best banana (which is impossible if you are a plum),

Or: You can seek again to be the

BEST PLUM!!

Poem found here

Anyway I've decided that I am not a plum. I'm not a banana. I think I must be something really different. Stupidly obscure. Like a coconut.... Or a pomegranate...... No, they're too exotic and exciting. I need to be something that's just odd. Like a custard apple.

That sounds about right. I am a custard apple.

Why is it I can never do things like an ordinary person? I think I'm one of those people that are really entertaining, but terribly uncomfortable to be. I just want to be serene. One of those beautiful, soft, lovely people who you read about and who everyone wants to be. Instead I am inappropriate. And passionate. I frequently open my mouth without engaging my brain. I am all or nothing. I do really dumb things.

I can pass myself off as ordinary. I've become very good at hiding. If you don't know me well, you might not understand what I'm talking about. But believe me when I say that the deeper you delve in, the better you get to know me.... the more you see that I am a custard apple.

I'm a bit of an Anne of Green Gables. But Anne grew up. I seem to be a version that never quite knew how, and am still dying my hair green, or putting my fingers into moving eggbeaters, and throwing spoons at my husband. The problem is, I don't realise a thing is stupid until I'm staring at the wreckage going "Oh...."

And I try, I do try to be ordinary. But it seems like I can never shake off that little girl who said "I just want to Shine." I get what the poem is saying. I know I need to be the best me. But I just wish me wasn't so difficult and uncomfortable..


Freaking custard apple.

Image found here

What about you? Do you think you're a nice ordinary Orange, or do you feel more like a Pineapple? Maybe you're a fruit salad? ;)



Linking up with Shae for Things I know, and Glowless for the Friday Blog Flog today.

Some things never change...

This afternoon I wandered down to my sister Jenny's for the afternoon because Georgie has had a yuck day and I needed out, now! She decided that last night was a good night for not sleeping for some reason, and so Mummy has been in a zombie state today.

Anyways, I had a good visit with Mum and Jenny, and then my sister Cathy popped in too. Mum went home and I was about to leave as well, but then Jenny asked if we could stay for a minute while she took my niece Rachel to dancing. So Cathy and I hung around in the backyard with the kids, while they played madly on the trampoline.

Georgie and I went for a walk to look at the animals since Georgie had decided that the trampoline was a little too rough for her tastes. We looked at the guinea pigs and watched them widdle themselves in fright when I lifted the lid of their cage up to see them, and Georgie made the appropriate squeaks of excitement of a baby seeing little furry animals.

Once we decided the guinea pigs might have had enough of us, we wandered over to the chickens. I happened to notice that they seemed to be looking for food, and I remembered that it's generally my niece Rachel's job to collect the eggs and feed the chickens their scraps. So I thought I could help her out and do that chore for her so she wouldn't have to after dancing.

We went upstairs and I grabbed the scrap bucket and then went back downstairs and chucked the scraps to the chickens. I remember looking at the scraps interestedly, thinking, 'I didn't know you could feed chickens eggshells and tea bags,' but I didn't really dwell on the fact for too long. Then when we went to collect eggs I noticed there were none and thought that was a little strange, but figured maybe Jenny had grabbed them earlier to cook with.

Not long after I'd finished with the chickens Jenny got home. As I was leaving I just casually mentioned that I'd done Rachel's chore for her and fed the chooks some scraps (feeling that warm inner glow of righteousness when you know you've done a good thing).

Jenny went "Hang on..." and then mentioned that she'd already done that job. So we went to look at the chickens to see what I'd done. Turns out I'd fed them all the scraps that she keeps separate that the chickens are not supposed to have. (Of course I had) Cathy and Jenny had a good old laugh at me, and Jenny said "Didn't you notice me go and take the scraps and get the eggs earlier?"

No, no I hadn't.

I'd like to blame it on baby brain and lack of sleep, but I think the simple truth is that I am just a silly. Always was, always will be. Some things never change.

All is well...

It's late and I'm tired, but I just wanted to say that the scan went very well! All looks good for our little one. Shane also managed to come home for the day (driving a 3 hour, both way trip) and see the scan too, so that was really really great! We were very strong and didn't find out if it's a boy or girl, even though I really wanted to! But baby number 2 is looking good!

However we did get another (another!) due date, which is..... the 24th of December. I'm feeling a little apprehensive, as our last date was the 31st, which meant after Christmas and that sounded so much nicer. But the baby will come when it's good and ready, and at the moment all is well. :)

Also, in case you were wondering... I've decided to make Tasty Tuesdays a fortnightly, rather than weekly thing... weekly was just a bit too much to keep up!

Fear...

Newborn Georgie- terrified and excited at the idea of another one of these!

Tomorrow I am going to have the 20 week morphology scan for baby number two. And I am nervous.

We didn't have a 12 week scan, we just decided not to. We'd seen the baby at an earlier scan only a few weeks before, and since we are low risk for anything going badly, and would never terminate, I just decided to leave it. But now I am really regretting that decision and getting a little worried. It's been a good long while since we've seen how things are going, and what if something's wrong? I just want to know how everything is going in there!

I have no reason to suppose that things could be bad, I am healthy and reasonably fit, no negative signs at all, they've been able to find the baby's heartbeat at every Doctor's appointment, and I've been feeling little tiny kicks in the last week or so.

But still....

It's funny, even though this baby wasn't really planned the way Georgie was, and I must admit that I'm a little worried about what having another baby will do to us. (I sometimes feel that I'm barely coping as a Mummy of one child, let alone two!) Yet I still want this baby, so, so much. The idea of another squishy little newborn is just wonderful. But it's also very scary, and somehow it's more scary than it was last time. I think because I've had a baby, and know exactly what we would be losing if something happened. I really, really want everything to be okay. Possibly too, I am little more aware this time around? Thanks to the internet and blogging I've been exposed to a wide range of stories about birth... and while some are amazing, some of them are just heartbreaking.

So in many ways, the fear is greater. It's not because I love this baby more or less than Georgie, but things are just so different this time.

Today is just hard

Grateful for my parents

It's funny that I've decided to write a Grateful post and link up with Maxabella for her Grateful Saturday's post. Because this week life has thrown me a few curve balls.

Georgie has a cold, and I won't go into a lot of details, but suffice to say Shane's family is undergoing a lot of upheaval, and I am missing him terribly- he has worked and been away for 30 of the last 34 days (so believe that when I talk about my husband working away a lot and how hard it is I am not exaggerating!).

However, it seems like there is always something to help lift your spirits when things are tough.

So this week I am really grateful for my parents.

Image taken from here

I know that however hard things are, they would be so much harder without my parents. My Mum is... just brilliant. I really can't adequately describe how good my Mum is. It's funny, but I am only now realising how good our relationship is. Not everyone gets along as well with their Mother as I do. And so I am just so grateful for our relationship and all that she has done (and continues to do) for me.

I am also really grateful for my Dad. Growing up, Dad kind of kept well away. It's not like he was absent, but I think he struggled a little with raising and relating to four daughters. He was also very much part of the generation where a man's job was to provide food on the table. So in a way, he kind of left much of the parenting up to Mum. But now, Dad has just... changed an awful lot. He still tends to hand the phone over to Mum when I call, but we definitely have a much closer relationship. He absolutely adores Georgie, and he's just much more thoughtful and much softer than he's ever been.

Last night Dad actually babysat Georgie for me while Mum and my sisters and I went out to our local performing arts production on Grease. It wasn't a huge deal as I already had her in bed when he arrived and she slept the whole time. But still it was just so nice to get out for the night. It was a good night and I'm really glad that I got to go. I don't think I ever would have imagined my Dad babysitting my children for me when I was younger.

So right now I'm just so grateful for my parents. I'm glad that they are close and I'm grateful not just for all that they do, but for the fact that I have such a good relationship with them.

I loves you hard little baldy head....

Dear Georgie,


You are just so flippin' cute!

You are driving your mama slightly insane because you are such a busy little thing, but gosh you are lovely. You are so close to walking, but I don't really mind if you take your time- you're already pretty fast on all fours! You like to go outside all the time and I lovingly refer to you as my search and destroy missile.

 

You still don't have much hair, so you look a little younger than your 13 months. But that's okay. Your little head is so very kissable. I'm a little tired of people saying "When are you going to grow some hair?" and I sometimes feel like replying "When she damn well wants to!" but it really doesn't matter.

Cause I loves you hard little baldy head.

Falling in love with my house again...

Lately I have been... unmotivated about housework. I just plain don't want to do it.

I clean something, and in two seconds it needs to be cleaned again. I'm just tired of it. So as a result, I've been letting housework fall by the wayside badly. I've been (kind of) keeping up with the washing and dishes, and the day-to-day tidying. But my bathroom could really use a good scrub, my cupboards are disorganized, everything could use some dusting, my oven needs a clean... you get the picture.

So, I'm going to try to like my house again. Because really it's a nice house. It's no mansion, but it's a very comfortable house. I think it's easy to fall into the doldrums and feel like everything is mundane when you are at home every day. But Shane and I are fortunate. We own our house (or maybe we own the bedroom and the bank owns the rest- but, you know!) Sure, there are things that still need doing- that's what happens when you buy an older home. But really, when all is said and done- we are blessed to have what we have.

When I was pregnant with Georgie I had a cleaning checklist. (I know, I know, I sound like a crazy person) But I'm the kind of person who likes lists. I like looking back and seeing what I've done. I find things easier when I have a set task and can focus on goals. And my cleaning checklist was good, because it put some of the bigger cleaning tasks that I don't do regularly into bite-sized manageable pieces. It worked for me. So, I've pulled the list out, made some changes and have decided to start again.

My new and improved cleaning checklist, sitting on the fridge

I figure I'm almost halfway through this pregnancy (19 weeks) so I have roughly 20 weeks to get things in order before my world kind of gets thrown into chaos again for a little while. And to further motivate myself, I've decided I will take a few pictures of the house, and do a few before and after posts to help motivate and inspire me. I must admit I'm kind of uncomfortable about showing you just how gross my house has gotten, but at the same time I feel that it's important for me to be real when I write. I don't want to set myself up on a pedestal and only show the nice things about my life.

So, it begins today. Even if I just cross off one little job- I'm going to start. I'm going to try to love my house again, because it is a nice house and I am grateful for it.

I've linked this one up with Kate @Kate Says Stuff, for Thankful Thursdays, and am now going to go and attack my folding, which is the one job I hate with the fire of a thousand suns. What is your most detested housework task?

Tasty Tuesdays: Low-fat Creamy pasta

I love this pasta recipe because it's a yummy creamy pasta dish that you can eat without worrying about it turning you into the size of a house. It's a good one for those nights when you don't really want to be bothered about dinner and you forgot to get meat out.


Low-fat Creamy Pasta

Ingredients:


Fresh pasta (Now fresh isn't essential but it is nice. I buy the Latina fresh fettucini, that is 375g)
8 mushrooms, chopped
1 zucchini chopped
5 rashers shortcut bacon, chopped
1 onion, chooped
1 capsicum, chopped
oil for frying
1 can low-fat evaporated milk
cornflour for thickening (approximately 2 tbs)
Garlic
wholegrain mustard
Grated cheese (1/2 cup)
Thinly Sliced Avacado


First, put some water on to boil to cook the pasta in. Then fry up your bacon, onion, zucchini, mushrooms, garlic and capsicum in an oiled pan.

Once the water has boiled cook your pasta until just done.Then drain the pasta and combine it with the ingredients in the fry pan. Mix.

 

Then pour in almost all of the can of evaporated milk, and combine on a low heat. Then mix cornflour with the leftover evaporated milk, and then just add this slowly while stirring until the pasta is as creamy as you like it.

Then add some wholegrain mustard to taste, (I tend to use a fair bit so I'll leave that one up to you!) and the grated cheese. Finally, as a last thing, you can stir in a some chopped avocado, (but make sure you don't cook it!) and serve.