life is surprising...

In 2008, just after my 21st birthday, my boyfriend (now my husband) and I had just moved in together. A month after living together, we had found out that we were pregnant, after using two forms of contraception. 

At first, I thought it was a mistake (it just could not be true), followed by the following conversation:

Me:             I am having this baby, whether you stay or not. I don't want you to give up your life, just to stay with me because I am pregnant.

Him:            I'm staying because I love YOU, and I think you'd be a fantastic mother, and wife.

Well that was me! Afterwards, our lives changed something chronic. We both stopped going out, he settled for a 9-5 job, I fortunately graduated that year and when our lease expired we moved out of our 12th floor urban apartment and moved into a family flat in a security estate. We both saved any money we could, after decorating the nursery and buying gifts for our new little pip. 

We were thrown into the deep end, and I personally believe it was THE best thing that could have ever happened to us. We decided not to get married at the time, we wanted to wait until the time was right. He proposed 6 months after our beautiful son was born, and we got married a month later!

I was so petrified after my son's birth of accidentally falling pregnant, I took every single precaution available. Whenever I thought I was pregnant, I did a pregnancy test and celebrated every negative result. 

That was until last week. My son is now 3, and we thought it would be a fantastic age gap. I did a pregnancy test, after being convinced I was pregnant. And cried for hours over a negative test. What a surprise, I never thought I would ever get upset over a NEGATIVE TEST!  I think it was because I had planned my entire pregnancy in my head... 

When I was pregnant with my son, they discovered that I did not have anti-bodies for Rubella (German measles) - I was supposed to be vaccinated in between pregnancies, but forgot. In a way, it is a blessing in disguise. I am going to get vaccinated on Friday, and then will have to wait a month, and then we'll try to fall pregnant again. 

And this time, we will be prepared for our positive result! :)

Mussels in Tomato Sauce

We found this fantastic, sea-side restaurant in Cape Town; that we ended up frequenting quite often. One of our favourite meals on the menu was a delicious bowl of mussels in a creamy tomato sauce. We loved it so much, that we started making it at home too - it is such a great recipe!

Ingredients:

1kg mussels

cup of red/ white wine

2 cans of chopped tomatoes/ tomato purée 

      (if you prefer smooth sauces)

cup of cream

salt and pepper

Directions:

Wash the mussels thoroughly under cold water, and clean shell - removing any impurities. You can soak the mussels for a while, so that they open and release any sand or impurities that are inside their shells.

Steam the mussels in wine, in a pot or large wok, until the mussel meat turns bright in colour. Drain and place back in pot. (You can keep the wine in the pot, if you like). Add tomatoes and mix well, then add cream - slowly, until desired consistency. Add salt and pepper. And voilà!

**Don't eat mussels that don't open during cooking.

Serve with some fresh bread! Hmmm....

Buon appetito!

x

Baby to Toddler

Oh my word, have we had such a transformation in the last few days. My little one has just turned three, and all of a sudden, has developed into a proper little boy - he is FASCINATED by yucky boy things (snails, stretchy skeletons, daddy's playstation games, mud, etc) and has become such a daredevil - bouncing on the bed, and falling off of it; going on the swing - something he hated as a child; and jumping and splashing in the bath (and almost drowning himself), two week after telling me 'Mommy, I don't like baff(th)ing, get my out'. He has also become so much cheekier. I asked him to get ready for lunch time, and he come back with a bag of sweets that he got out of the cupboard and said ' No mommy, I think it is sweetie time'.

I love the fact that he has become more confident and more sure of his own place in this world. This said, our naughty corner has never been used so much before... :)

Easter celebrations!

Happy Easter everyone - hope you all had a lovely day, and hope that you were spoilt by the Easter bunny! Easter brings fantastic family traditions, and this year it was our first 'no-family' family celebration, in which we made a few of our own traditions... With a toddler, I am forced to 'chill out' and relax my obsessive perfectionism. We made Easter cupcakes that I intended to look like nests, however they turned into messy cupcakes that tasted good and were tons of fun to make.

We then went on to dyeing and decorating boiled eggs. Everything was going well, until I walked into the kitchen and discovered that my over eager child had played 'musical dye' with the eggs, and had replaced them in other colours. Needless to say, the colours came out very different to what I expected. We then we drew on the eggs with crayons and special coloured pens. Again, not quite what I expected. However, it was a great bonding time, and we did have fun!


To end off our Easter weekend, we had a FANTASTIC Easter hunt - we were REALLY spoilt. Followed by a fantastic roast lamb lupper (lunch supper).

Roast lupper recipe:

For the roast:

Ingredients:
leg of lamb
garlic
rosemary
seasoning
olive oil

Directions:
Cut slits into the lamb, and insert slices of garlic and bits of rosemary.

Mix olive oil, salt and pepper. Spread the olive oil mix all over the roast, and place in a large roasting bag (Best things ever invented!) or in an oven proof dish and roast at 200 degrees celsius. 20 minutes for every 450g of roast.

For the potatoes:

Ingredients:
potatoes
seasonings
rosemary or chives
olive oil

Directions:
Peel potatoes and cut into chunks. Boil for about 10min, soft but only just. Drain and place in the fridge for about an hour. Warm up oil in an dish in the oven, season potatoes and toss in the warm oil. Cook in the oven for about 45 minutes or until cooked to your desired crispiness. Sprinkle with rosemary or chives when nearly ready.

Veggies:

We did asparagus and carrots.

Ingredients:
carrots
sugar
butter

asparagus
butter
seasonings

Directions:
For the carrots, slice thinly. Cut butter into little cubes and put about 5 small cubes over the top. Sprinkle with sugar, as much as you like. Place cling film over the bowl, poke a few holes into the film and cook in the mircowave for about 5 minutes.

For the asparagus. cut in half or leave whole. Place small chunks of butter on top of the asparagus and season. Cover with cling film, poke a few holes in the film and cook in the microwave within 5 minutes.

What a lovely feast!
HAPPY EASTER!
x

Chicken and Broccoli Bake

I absolutely love this recipe, it is healthy and yummy - and most people eat it, whether they like broccoli or not!

Ingredients:
pack of chicken fillets/ quorn 'chicken' pieces
head of broccoli
tin of chicken/ chicken and mushroom or mushroom soup
curry powder - mild or strong
cheddar/ parmigiana, to sprinkle on top
brown rice

Directions:
If using chicken, boil the chicken first. If using quorn/ vegetarian substitute - put directly into oven proof dish. Chop up broccoli, and mix with 'chicken'. Pour in tin of soup, and some curry powder, and mix it up until well blended. Sprinkle cheese on top. Bake in the oven for about 15-20 mins.

If you are using brown rice, be advised that it takes about 30 minutes to cook.
Serve with side salad!

Buon appetito!
x