That’s Topliss Tarts not Topless Tarts, by the way.

The ladies behind the counter were neither topless nor tarts, let me assure you!

Now carrot cakes is fine for breakfast when it’s this full of veggies and nuts, surely?

Look at the fruit and nuts in this carrot cake, and the carrot too... I must try to re-create this at home!

I shared one with my friend Hester, how restrained!

And then had these groovy little patties, full of sweet potato and quite scrumptious

Managed to resist these treats... but next time we visit......

 Everything on this menu appeals to me.  The prices do as well.

Love a very healthy cafe that has some luscious treats too.

Have you been to Eumindi Markets?

What’s your favourite market feast?

]]> http://themumsdiet.com/topliss-tarts-at-eumindi-markets-delicious-healthy-food-for-breakfast/feed/ 2 http://themumsdiet.com/minnie-the-minx-fave-photos-of-my-daughter/ http://themumsdiet.com/minnie-the-minx-fave-photos-of-my-daughter/#comments Wed, 16 May 2012 07:53:16 +0000 Seana http://themumsdiet.com/?p=2089

Oh, I am missing my little daughter!

Not so much that I am going to cancel the last two days of this wee trip.

But enough to really, really love looking at these favourite photos of her.

And the big question… if you do, does it matter?

During the Easter school holidays, I did put on 2kg and have edged them off since. That kind of quick weight gain is usually not too hard to lose as it’s generally caused by eating more sugary, carby foods than usual and thus having more water retention.

Over the long Christmas school holidays though, I didn’t put on weight even though I did eat more than usual, and drank my weight in wine almost daily. But all the activity with the kids must have seen that off.

I’m in Noosa for four (glorious!) nights just now with my old school pal Hester.

And cooking is not part of the plan.

So will I put on weight whilst eating out for most meals. Does it matter?

Probably yes, and probably no.

But part of my new me healthy eating mission is to be able to eat out without totally pigging out, so I will be keeping an eye on what goes down the gullet. I think I’ll do a day of a visual food diary again, just to keep me honest.

And we’ll walk and swim too. How heavenly, how lucky.

Anyway, I did start off well when at the Qantas club yesterday. My little lunch above was: chickpea and tomato salad, lean ham, cottage cheese and some coleslaw.

And a little lunchtime glass of sparkling wine, just to prove that I really am away from all the responsibilities of motherhood.

 Do you put on weight on holidays?

Do you always lose it afterwards?

Happy Mothers Day to all the Happy Mothers out there.

And now you Happy Mothers can stop reading as there’s nothing more here for you!

I’m writing now only for the mothers who aren’t feeling entirely happy today.

Hello friends.

Mothers Day can really get my goat… it’s always portrayed as Happy Mothers Day.  Harumph.

Well, I am starting a campaign for all the other mothers out there. Lets hear it for:

Tired Mother’s Day

Grumpy Mother’s Day

Lost-My-Sense-Of-Humour Mother’s Day

Single Mother’s Day

Multiple Mother’s Day

Mothers-In-Need-Of-A-Glass-of-Wine Day

And lets raise an especially big cheers for the really, really hard-working mums for:

Special Needs Mother’s Day

And another big cheer for all the mums who have bravely faced the facts and asked for help to get over anxiety and depression.  

Well done those mums!  Lets hear it for:

Recovering Mother’s Day

Most of us mums are all these mothers, one type on one day and another on the next.  Hooray for all mums and hooray for diversity.

If you’ve read this far you’re a mum who knows that motherhood and family life is not all beer and skittles and that beds of roses, even bunches of roses, can be few and far between.

But lets hope today that there is something special done, some shows of appreciation for all mums.

So here’s to us all.  Raise your glasses.

Happy Real Mothers Day!

PS  Photo of me on a typical day; wondering when the racket is about to commence!

 What sort of a mother are you today?

Not a travel story – sorry.  

Just a few thoughts on helping out mums in need for Mother’s Day and on why East Timor is a place that our family likes to donate money to.

As I wrote before, I have done a bit of shopping for myself recently.  Shopping is not really something I’ve ever been that fond of, but as the children grow, somehow the idea of wearing rings and earrings and even schmicker clothes grows more appealling.

And I’m generally a size 12 now which is a massive thrill in itself.

And I’m off for four days of total girly R & R next week… how can I not want to spread some love (and more usefully, money) around.

Good Return

So I’ve loaned some money to Rosa Gomes. That’s her story over there.

I’d say that Rosa and her kids deserve a hand in life.  My loan of $50 will go a long way.

Rosa needs a couple of hundred more – come on mums!

And I sent $25 to complete the loan that another, older, mum needed to set up her business.

Good Return has a campaign selling gift certificates that can be given to mums for Mother’s Day.  Then the mums can fund the mum of their choice.

But I thought I’d save my hubby and children the trouble!

Alola Australia

Alola Australia partners with the Alola Foundation in East Timor, basically raising funds to be used to support women and children.

The Alola Foundation was founded in 2001 by Kirsty Sword Gusmao. It’s mission is ‘Feto Forte Nasaun Forte – Strong Women, Strong Nation.’

You can read about Alola’s programs on their website here. My heart is especially drawn to their maternal and child health programs.  Of course.

I like to donate something to Alola on special days; Christmas, my birthday, Mother’s Day.

Because I’m grateful.

Why East Timor

* Because it’s so very, very close to Australia.

* Because it’s people’s lives and livelihoods are so very far away from the lifestyle we enjoy here.

* Which just seems so wrong.

* Because I believe in helping your neighbours.

* East Timor is so small, we might just make some real difference.

What a simple way to celebrate gratitude.  

I will wake up in a warm, dry bed tomorrow. My husband and daughter are away but getting home in the afternoon.

The three boys will bring me something in bed, hopefully a cup of tea. Giant Teen might even serenade me on his bagpipes.

You never know your luck!

Here’s to the worldwide community of mothers and to lending a helping hand, just as others do lend a hand to us.

Quick update on how the last two days of my 10,000 Steps A Day Challenge went.

10,000 Steps A Day Challenge – Wednesday

This was the twin’s 6th birthday and I had a zillion things to do.  About a billion of these involved mini cupcakes and trying to get 48 of them to school with all their Maltesers still attached.

I used the very reliable Beetroot and Chocolate Cake recipe.  And I didn’t even get to eat one of them – boo hoo.

At home I made a butterfly birthday cake, much licking of the bowl and lots of stomping around in the kitchen.

After school we had a party for the twinnies at… no not home!  At Lollipops Playland… it was a bit of a party for the mums and dads too.

Anyway, no exercise done at all on Wednesday and so my final step count was a piffling 6845.

Actually that’s not bad for a ‘no exercise’ day, I didn’t really sit down at all for the whole day.

And I didn’t get to eat one of these!

10,000 Steps A Day Challenge – Thursday

The big boys needed to be at school by 7.30am and our Intn’l Man of Mystery was able to take the twins to school.

Cue for me to seize the hour and have a little walk around Narrabeen Lake.

Sheer heaven!

A glorious day… I’d have jogged if I hadn’t been in need of a lavatory. So I just strolled and not even for very long, but that walk surely lifted my heart.  

And my step count was 3168 by 9am. Yippee!

Had a weights session at the gym later on and although I worked hard, not many steps were taken.  I did jog but only for one km as I was pressed for time.

Did some shopping, some desk time at home, the school pickup, dinner etc etc

Then ran around and about up and down the stairs whilst getting kids to bed.

By about 9pm, I was totally whacked and decided to throw myself into bed for an early night.

Sometimes ‘discretion is the better part of valour’ and getting sleep is the most vital and valuable thing to do.

So I didn’t get to the 10,000. But not to far away.

+    +    +    +    +

This little challenge has taught me a lot… 10,000 steps is a pretty long way and I need to be moving a lot more than I generally do to make it.

Astounding to me that I am often so far off the 10,000 steps when that’s what is considered necessary just for health maintainence.  Yikes!!

Wearing a pedometer is a huge encouragement to increase the steps.

Huge.

Do you use a pedometer?

]]> http://themumsdiet.com/10000-steps-a-day-challenge-days-six-and-seven/feed/ 1 http://themumsdiet.com/quorn-bolognese-recipe-veggie-healthy-and-quick/ http://themumsdiet.com/quorn-bolognese-recipe-veggie-healthy-and-quick/#comments Thu, 10 May 2012 22:30:18 +0000 Seana http://themumsdiet.com/?p=1938

Have you cooked with quorn at all?

If you’re ever looking for a vegetarian meat alternative, quorn is your man.

Made in the UK, quorn is made from mycoprotein, the name given to an organism originally called ‘Fusarium graminearum.’ It’s in the fungus family, but now commercially produced and turned into quorn.

I like it for its relatively high protein as well as the taste and texture.

It works well for us because I can make it into a bolognese sauce which our vegetarian Intn’l Man of Mystery, yet whch the kids think is just like my normal meaty spag bol.

Quorn is sold in the freezer section of most large supermarkets, alongside the other vegetarian frozen goods.

I’m going to give my general recipe here, but you can just substitute it for beef mince in your usual bolognese recipe and it should work well.

The quorn itself doesn’t have a strong flavour so it picks up herbs and garden and vegetable flavours. Yum.

I’m feeling a bit guilty about Mother’s Day this year. You see, I’m very good at buying myself little gifts and have got myself a couple of new rings recently.

And now I hear from the twins that their Dad has taken them shopping… and the big boys have been shopping too. Unusual.

Now I’m not complaining about being lavished with gifts.

But I’d like to pass it forward.

To some mums who really need a hand in life.

Their lives are truly tough.

And mine is truly very easy.

Here in Australia, we mums and are families are living such relatively safe lives, with excellent medical care.

So I’m donating to a couple of charities this year, using some of the royalties I’ve just been paid for sales of Beyond The Baby Blues.

Here’s the first, and it’s very meaningful for me today as it’s my twins’ birthday.

The twins were born by section six years ago today. The big boys were born using the traditional exit method. All four children were born in hospital, attended by well-trained mid-wives and by an obstetrician who did the section.

Clean, safe, with excellent medications, sutures, pain relief, clean sheets, post natal care. Clean, safe, and for the boys, totally free.

You want to know how grateful I am? Very bloody grateful indeed!!

So the UNHCR’s Safe Mother and Baby Appeal can easily find a place in my heart. It aims to improve the care of mothers and babies in Somalia. Watch the 45 second video here and you’ll understand why.

How simple are the needs of these mothers?

Yet such simple measures can make a huge difference.

I’ve just donated some cash to provide 50 Clean Delivery Kits.

“Clean Delivery Kit– 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.”

Bloody hell! That’s so little… so very different to all the technology and expertise that helped deliver my four babies.

How lucky am I to have been paid for some work and to be able to pass some of my good fortune forward?

How lucky to have had four children, brought safely into the world. Four kids who are thriving, and one whose special needs do not have to be a life sentence here in Australia in the 21st century.

Should we rename Mother’s Day to Lucky Mother’s Day?

Grateful Mother’s Day?

10,000 Steps A Day Challenge – Monday

Up early, kids breakfast, dressed, brushed etc and drove to school, took car to garage, walked part of way home

8.45am  2563 steps

Tidy, tidy, tidy, 30 mins weights at gym, Ikm run/walk

10.18am  5314 steps  - surprised, thought it would be more

At home for the rest of the school day with a zillion things to do. Was up and down the stairs a billion times, on my feet all the time even when doing a bit of typing.

Collected kids from school and noticed that, whenever there’s an opportunity, I’m taking the long way round. On feet again at home, cooking, more tidying and sorting. Bit of jogging around the kitchen. Up and down and up and down the stairs whilst putting away clothes and doing baths and bedtimes.

7.45pm 10, 10739 steps  Splendid!

P and F meeting, made school lunches, kissed all kids/cats. Collapsed into bed!

11pm 11371 steps – it’s a record!

Moral of the story: never sit down!

10,000 Steps A Day Challenge – Tuesday

Bit of a problem on Day Five, I forgot the pedometer, remembering to put it on at about 9.30am. Oops.

The moral of today’s steps story is to go shopping. 

I spent about two hours at a shopping centre buying birthday presents for the twins, whose birthday is tomorrow. Got everything I needed and indulged in a bit of mooching, looking at clothes shops myself.  A rare pleasure. No purchases but got a few ideas.

Anyway, I did almost 4000 steps in that time. No bad at all!

at 7pm I had to go to collect Giant Teen from his rugby league practice. Rusty Rocket came too, in his pjs. We went a bit early and walked around the oval and pretended to play cricket for 15 mins.

9pm  8496 steps

I’m going to hit publish now because I’ve got 50 mini cupcakes to daub with icing then pop a Malteser on top. 

It’s the twins’ 6th birthday tomorrow. Pressies to wrap, plans to make.

Six years ago tonight, I wasn’t icing cupcakes nor was I trying to walk 10,000 steps a day. I was desperately trying to breath properly, and deperately hoping that the miners stuck in the goldmine in Tasmania would get out safely.

Just before I went off to theatre next morning, the two brave miners were free and safe.

Shortly afterwards, the twins were delivered and safe and I could breath properly at last.

Six years, feels longer, feels so short too.

10,000 steps a day very similar!

]]> http://themumsdiet.com/10000-steps-a-day-challenge-days-four-five/feed/ 0 http://themumsdiet.com/10000-steps-a-day-challenge-days-two-three/ http://themumsdiet.com/10000-steps-a-day-challenge-days-two-three/#comments Mon, 07 May 2012 09:35:46 +0000 Seana http://themumsdiet.com/?p=1853

I’m a bit behind in posting these, but here’s the step count for the weekend:

10,00 Steps A Day – Saturday

Up, breakfast, tidying kitchen, shopping at Aldi, deli and last few things at Woollies.

10.30    2175 steps

Collected a cat, dropped off some bits of carpet, made lunch for hungry hordes, started de-cluttering a cupboard, cuppa with neighbour

4.30pm   5220 steps HELP

One jog around cul de sac, one walk around cul de sac and make dinner (lamb kofta, rost potatoes and peas)

6.40pm  6886 steps

Walking up and down the stairs, then along the corridor a few times whilst twins in bath. A few laps around the kitchen bench whilst tidying up the kitchen post-dinner mess.

7pm   8078 steps

Decide to sit down with a glass of wine and enjoy Stuart Little 2 with half the kids. Put twins to bed, very dozy so I have to carry them up the stairs. At over 20 kilos each surely that counts as double steps. But no!

8.15pm  8273 steps

Look longingly at empty wine glass. Decide to give up steps.... or no… a final push and then how good will a glass of wine taste??!!

Whizz out into chilly night air to march around the cul de sac. Up and down and around, up and down and around, listening to a podcast of a BBC Radio 4 show called ‘Front Row’ an excellent interview with Hercule Poirot actor David Suchet.

8.33pm  10026 steps

Thank God!! Now I can get my second glass of wine and flop down to watch a DVD of Downton Abbey.

20 years ago, Saturday nights were never like this!

Final reading of the day

10,00 Steps A Day – Sunday

Final count of the night

This day was supposed to work out much better. Lots of exercise in the morning and a relaxed evening.

Like all plans, it had a fatal flaw: it wouldn’t work.

Decided to get down to the beach early and walk along the promenade at Manly.  Took Rusty Rocket and his bike.

Sunny day, lovely. Sounds like bliss but it was a nightmare!

RR didn’t want to be there and was obstreperous, refused to ride his bike. If you saw a woman weeping with frustration down there on Sunday morning it was me.

Once we turned for home, he did ride and had a lovely time… though he’d deny it. Why!??

Had a cuppa with a friend in the arvo and had to go out for a walk again at night!

Feeling very bad tempered!

But I did get the 10,000 steps done.

This is all proving very tricky and is harder than expected.

Any advice for an old slowcoach?