Month: August 2017

Embracing A Messy Lifestyle

Embrace A Messy Lifestyle
Embrace it, accept it and kickass at parenting!

Parenting is crazy & messy, but so rewarding & beautiful at the same time. Before I became a mom, I was obsessed with everything being in its designated place, b ut now, the house is just messy! In a nutshell, I was a control freak!

Motherhood has simply forced me to choose between my sanity and a model lifestyle.Guess what…sanity won! I have come to realize very quickly through motherhood is that I can only control my reaction. We can’t force kids into doing what they don’t want to do.This got me thinking more on the parenting side about what matters? Does the messy room with toys matter, does the kitchen sink with dirty dishes matter or does the time taken to play catch, hide&seek or listen about their day for an hour with your child matter when you return from work?

After I thought about it, I realize there are 2 kinds of mess, the literal and the figurative..

First, let me share the literal in my household and it goes like this:

My toddler leaves her trademark in every room, be it her toys, her books, the contents of my kitchen cupboards and I just don’t care as much as I used too…people can judge when they visit and I don’t care.The house is clean but just untidy!

I choose to spend time with my little girl, it’s ok to have my shoes scattered around the house for a few hours.At the end of the day, we sing a clean up song and she puts my shoes back into the closet; it’s ok for her to pull out the wooden spoon and mini frying pan out the kitchen cupboard so she knows she is part of the cooking journey while I cook because we will wash up together and she will pack it away.

Messy house
Embrace your house will not be perfect

Embrace the mess and turn it into an experience and adventure!

Now, the figurative sense goes like this:

I went through the postpartum tears for random reasons, I was in zombie mode until Mckenzie weaned off the breast, and now we are reacting to toddler meltdowns. The mess of not having time to speak to your best friend who lives in another province and not one day goes by without you taking a moment to think of her but not enough time to pick up the phone to send a message or give her  call just to say hi and how are you? The mess of you and your partner being exhausted and can only hold onto distant memories of the time you could share dinner over candlelight and a glass of wine because all you can do now is tag team to ensure you eat a warm meal…BUT remember this mess is now and it will pass BUT your child needs you to be happy and be present, NOT A PERFECT HOUSE OR PERFECT PARENTS!

Embrace it, laugh at it, accept it so you can kickass at this messy lifestyle!

 

 

 

 

Vegan baked beans and tofu curry – On a budget

Vegan curry In 30 minutes
Vegan curry on a budget

I used to enjoy eating baked beans but steer clear due to its high sugar content.I was happy to see KOO’s Lite version on the shelves, so naturally I had to try it ( taste test🙂).

A vegan recipe came to mind as I thought about how to prepare the baked beans. My colleague purchased tofu for me from a Chinese shop for an affordable price of less than R4 for a block. (Yeah you heard right!)

 

 

 

Given that I needed to use the tofu, I decided to make a baked beans and tofu curry.

baked beans and tofu curry
Ingredients less than R30

The curry cost me less than R30 in ingredients and can easily feed a family of 4 adults if served with some wholewheat pasta or brown rice, or simply enjoyed on its own. It took me a total of 30 minutes to prepare including the cleaning up.

The reduced sugar did not compromise the baked beans taste as we know it to be. The tofu provided protein and a lovely texture to the curry.

Recipe

1 small onion sliced

2 red chillies (depending on how spicy you want)  🌶

3 sprigs curry leaves 🍃

1 tablespoon coconut oil

1/2 tsp mustard seeds

1/2 tsp cumin seeds

1 tsp turmeric powder

2 small tomatoes

1 can KOO Lite baked beans

1 block tofu

Pink Himalayan salt for taste

Method:

Heat coconut oil in a heavy based pot over medium to low heat.Add onion, chillies, 2 sprigs curry leaves. After about 30 seconds, add mustard and cumin seeds, fry for 20 seconds.Add turmeric powder and tomatoes and salt.Cover pots with lids and let the tomatoes cooked until soft enough to mash up.Once tomatoes are mashed, add tofu and baked beans and last sprig of curry leaves.

Cook covered on very low heat for a total of 15 minutes while mixing lightly every 5 minutes to make sure it does not stick to the bottom of the pot.

Curry on a budget
Baked beans and tofu curry

Happy cooking!

 

Lifestyle after gallbladder removal

 

My gallbladder was removed last year in November due to gallstones and the movement of these stones into my bile ducts causing sever pain.

I would like to share my lifestyle after removing my gallbladder, what I can eat and can’t eat. The list is based on how my body reacts to the different foods and what I eat to support digestion and my liver function.

What I ate for about 3 days post surgery?
I ate a bland diet consisting of foods that are easily digested. The intention was to allow my body to adapt to the change in the way the bile is being processsed and to aid my body through the recovery process.
Breakfast: A cup of Earl Grey tea with almond milk and a smoothies made from bananas and coconut water.

Lunch: Chicken stew/broth or Eggs with crackers

Dinner: Soup with Provita

I started following a low FODMAP diet , which was not new to me as I was generally following it when I was diagnosed with IBS.There are days I indulge but it does leave me uncomfortable and I do feel a strain on my digestive system…after all we are human, we are allowed to indulge in moderation.

Typical foods I eat:

Soluable fiber – Effective in binding bile acid to reduce the risk of heartburn

Bananas,strawberries, blueberries carrots and oatmeal

Lean protein-Remove fat from the sides of your chops 

Skinless chicken breasts, lean beef or pork and fish

Healthy fats

Avocados, almonds, chia seeds,cook with coconut oil and  salmon

I avoid eating fatty meals, dairy and high sugar meals.

Eating smaller meals spread over the day also helps with comfort levels!