Daily Planner

I'm a list writer and planner. I love crossing jobs off my daily list. I have daily job lists, monthly and yearly .  I have found a great daily planner at my new favourite shop, Typo! It has a daily goal list, appointment list, notes section, it also has a workout section but I use that for our daily menu plan. It has a daily star rating, weather, glasses of water I've drank, fruit/veg I've eaten and the section the kids like to check ' My stress levels are'.

I feel like it is keeping me more organised and I can keep on top of all the kids appointments and activities and it's all written on the one page! 

How do you all plan your busy days? 

My little ray of sunshine

She makes us laugh! 

Risotto

One of our family favourite meals. I have wanted to share this meal for such a long time. One of my very dear friends gave me this recipe after the twins were born and I had three children under two, she could see my need for fast and easy recipes. Well as this family has grown it has certainly become a regular around here and a huge favourite. The variety of combinations you can use when making risotto is endless.

This recipe is not made the traditional way, if it was I just wouldn't have time to make risotto. As I have mentioned before I need to create yummy meals fast and they need to be easy. Nights can be very hectic when you have seven to cook for. The method used makes a beautiful risotto. 

I hope you try this recipe and enjoy it as much as we do.

For this weeks dinner I made it with a seafood marinara and cream combo.

You will need a Microwave for this recipe. I think maybe this recipe is the only time I use my microwave. 

 What you'll need

Risotto base

2 cups of arborio rice

1 medium onion

2 tbsp of butter

1/2 cup of white wine

1 litre of stock

125g of Parmesan cheese

Pepper

Seafood Marinara Combination

1 kg Seafood Marinara mix

400ml cream 

Olive oil

1 bunch of Dill

Salt and Pepper

Method

1. Melt butter in microwave on high for 1 minute.

2. Add chopped onion to melted butter and cook for 2minutes.

3. Add rice and white wine to butter and onion mix and cook for 2 minutes.

4. Add stock to mixture and cook for 8 minutes. 

     a. When stock and rice mixture is cooking in microwave, on your stove top heat olive oil on medium

          /high and add seafood mixture to pan.

      b. Cook seafood well, add Aspargus, mix through dill, pepper and cream. 

      c. Turn heat to low and keep an eye on cream so it doesn't separate.

5. Stir rice and stock mixture and cook in microwave for a further 10 minutes.

6. Remove from microwave and stir through Parmesan cheese and pepper.

7. Finally, stir through seafood marinara cream mixture and serve.

# This made enough for 8 serves. 

You have to love a risotto with no continual stirring, always good when you have a two year old wanting to be held during dinner prep. 

ENJOY! 

Salads

Well, I was sent a email during the week from a lovely reader Angela wanting some recipes for salads that I had posted on Instagram last week. The salads are super easy and oh so yum! As I have mentioned before with four children and many activities and homework I need for dinner to be super fast, healthy and EASY!  Of course it helps when the younger people in this crazy house love them to.

I hope you enjoy it! ..... skip the shop bought dressings and try making your own, they are always so much better and way more economical. 

Four bean salad

1 -2 cans of four bean mix

1 cucumber diced

1 punnet of cherry tomatoes or 2 large tomato diced

1 large carrot diced 

1 medium red onion finely diced

Dressing

2 tablespoons of olive oil ....optional

1 tablespoons of balsamic or white wine vinegar

1 clove of garlic crushed 

Salt and pepper

1/4 of a bunch of coriander roughly chopped

1. Rinse four bean mix and add to large salad bowl.

2. Chop the rest of the ingredients and add to bowl.

3. Mix dressing ingredients, taste, adjust as needed, now add to salad.

Rustic Parsley, Spinach and Tomato Salad

1 bunch of parsley

150g of English spinach leaves

2 tomatoes diced

1/2 bunch of shallots 

1/2 cucumber diced

1 red onion diced

Dressing

1 lemon 

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 clove of garlic crushed

Salt and pepper

1. Mix all ingredients in a large bowl.

2. Make dressing in a small jug or jar and whisk together, taste and adjust as needed, now add to salad. 

Any questions just leave a message! 

Two

You are two! What a beautiful day, jammed full of fun. Hetty had a wonderful birthday and she so enjoyed her small little party with her family. Hetty woke to birthday snuggles and kisses, followed by presents, her favourite breakfast of pancakes with banana and blueberry monster faces, fruit and juice, lots of play, reading all her new books, long walks, milk shakes, more play, naps with Mummy and Daddy, wanting to wear her party hat all day, her favourite dinner spaghetti carbonara and lastly birthday cake for our precious girl. Watching Miss Hetty blow out her candles was just so beautiful, Oh how I loved it, all of it! Two blessed years with our Hetty.

The rest of September

A glorious month....... Well that was some more pictures of September, now for a new month, a new start! 

Weekly meals

Sorry for my lack of posts but school holidays are in full swing and we have been having lots of fun!

I was sent an email requesting a blog on what I feed this family of seven. Well I love menu planning,  creating new recipes and feeding this family of mine, even though it can be a challenge sometimes. 

I plan my menu around what our weekly commitments are and I always give myself a easy night. I shop weekly as I don't like freezing lots of meat and like my fruit and vegetables fresh. If you follow my facebook and Instagram then you will already know that Friday night is pizza night and the whole family love it! 

Anyway here is a week of meals.....

Spaghetti and meatballs

Zucchini slice w/ salad

We tried the HAS NO gluten free pizza base ....yummy!

Butter chicken

Pumpkin, feta, spinach and pinenut salad

Roast lamb to go with our pumpkin salad

Salmon for easy night served with salad, cob of corn and homemade chips

Shepards pie w/ broccolini 

That was our last week of meals. 

If you have any questions please feel free to ask and leave a comment below. I can post the recipes for any of the above meals.