Whatever you have shreddies

Whatever you have shreddies

The last few days I’ve been thinking long and hard about what I can give Brandon for snacks as well as finger foods that are not full of crap!

This morning I was going through the fridge, looking at a stack of vegetables that were days away from being ready for the garbage bin, and then it hit me.. Its time for Brandon to try vegetable shreddies.. Problem solved.

Im not going to lie I tried one and it was delicious!!!

They are so simple and easy, you can use any vegetables you like.

Ingredients:

Broccoli

Zucchini

Parsnip

Cheese (optional)

2 eggs

1 TBSP Plain Flour

Coconut Oil (for frying)

Method:

1.       Grate all ingredients and put into a bowl with the eggs and flour.

2.        Heat the coconut oil in a pan (medium heat).

3.       Place spoonful’s of the mixture into the pan and flatten with a spatula.

4.       Cook for a few minutes on each side or until golden brown.

5.       Serve cold or warm

Enjoy!

Finding Nemos Dinner 

xx

Guest Blog - Candice Williams - The Working Mumma Holly Shit Im a Mum And I Love It

I first started following "The Working Mumma" a few months ago and I seriously fell in love with all of her posts and her blog. I thought to myself her and I are so similar....... She became my little insta mumma crush.....Don't act like we don't all have another mummy crush out there, because we all do!

I finally got up the courage to send her a private message on Instagram. When she replied I though oh my gosh shes actually replied to me! Shes as awesome as her blog is. So I asked her to write a guess blog for me, so all of you can get to know Candice and enjoy her updates as much as I do. 

She gladly said yes!
So have a read below with what she has to say about being a first time mum!

Holy shit! I am a mum... And I love it!

I am that annoying person who just won't shut the hell up about their baby when they are asked, "how's the baby?" I just keep going on and on about how magical the love is, how precious they are and just how amazing motherhood really is! I see the other person's eyes glaze over, I ignore it and just keep rambling. What. The. Hell. Who is this person? And what has she done with Candice?!

Let's rewind to even 18 months ago, JUST before William was conceived. I wasn't sure I wanted kids. We were trying, but to be honest, I thought I could be okay if it didn't happen. We had a lot of trouble falling pregnant, my fiancé was more distressed about it than I was. I would hear co-workers or close friends talk about their children and I legit thought, who on EARTH would want that.

I would wake up from a big night out at 1pm with a hangover, just wanting maccas and the thought would cross my mind... What happens if I had to get up to a baby in this state?? HELL NO! No more sleep ins? Haha no. Feeling this guilt you 'apparently' feel? No thanks, honey. I won't be THAT emotionally invested in my kids, it's not natural and obsessive. I felt sorry for my friends with kids. Don't get me wrong I LOVE kids and LOVED being around my friend's baby/toddlers/children, I was just so turned off by the whole lifestyle.

I know why I felt like this, it was because I didn't know, I wasn't aware of the addiction and love you are overcome with when you have a baby. The love is like no other.

These days I don't crave big nights out, I crave cuddles on the couch with my baby and baby daddy. The guilt feeling? I welcome it. Emotionally invested in my baby? I am balls deep. Obsessed with William? Omg he takes up every thought, even dream, every second of the day... And you know what? I wouldn't change it for anything. This mummy lifestyle? I LOVE IT. I love the early starts, love the late finishes. I love the mummy community. I love it so much. The love you receive the second your baby is born grows and multiples every hour, until you are left loving this tiny human with your whole being and more, in just a few short days.

I am that mum who tells their childless friends not to be scared of it, embrace it! Because it's the best time of your life. And I see them politely smile and give me that look - she's a bat shit crazy mum. She's sooo far gone that there's no saving her now. And you know what? They are right. There is no saving me. I am already saved, by my family.

This secret mumlife world is AMAZING. It CERTAINLY has it's moments, hours and even days, at times, but that addiction you have for you baby keeps you going. That love feeling is the strongest drug in the whole world.

I am 100% positive I am not the only one who has felt like this pre-kids. My pre-baby self would be mortified if they knew that I cried about not being able to breastfeed, that I was obsessed with tracking my baby's poo-y nappies, that I trade the girls night outs with lots of fancy clothes and delicious drinks for brunch catch ups with my mummy friends drinking a hot chocolate. They would be mortified to know I cried sometimes because I am so happy, I cry sometimes just smelling my baby, I cry sometimes because I feel blessed with this life.

I loved my pre-baby life, I had SO much fun and don't regret it. But this life is the best one, the life I would choose ten thousand times over without even a thought.

If only we could show our pre-baby self a picture of our life now? I would show me a picture of me breastfeeding William with Kyle sitting next to me. I would tell her that this would be the happiest time of my life. What would your picture look like?

Love,

Candice x

Ricotta Balls

Today I really wanted to make Brandon something different as I’m sure his getting bored of the foods I’ve been feeding him lately. So I experimented a bit and made him some Ricotta Balls.

Ingredients:

200g Fresh Ricotta

1 Tbsp dried oregano

Tin Diced Tomatoes

1 Tbsp tomato paste

1 crushed garlic

*Note: The reason I use these tomatoes is because they are just tomatoes nothing added

Method:

1.       Pre-heat oven 160 degrees

2.       Line baking tray with baking paper

3.       Mix ricotta and oregano together

4.       Once well combined roll into balls, I made mine fairly small but you can make them as big or as small as you desire.

5.       Put them in the oven for 20 minutes or until heated through.

6.       Meanwhile in a small saucepan combine the tinned tomato, tomato paste and garlic and heat.

7.       Once the Ricotta balls are heated remove from the oven and serve topped with sauce as a side dish.

He really enjoyed them. To round out his dinner I served them with some chicken for extra protein. As well as some steamed vegetables that I chopped up.

Enjoy!

Finding Nemos dinner xx

Mixed Chicken With Cinnamon

I thought I would share a go to meal I make for Brandon that I generally keep in the freezer for those nights where Brent and I are having something he won’t eat. Like a curry!

I don’t really like to give him packaged foods if I can avoid it because some of them are high in sugar and I like to know what I am putting into my baby’s body!

Now to cook everything and blend I always use my Bellini but you can use a pot of water instead.

Mixed Chicken with Cinnamon

4 Chicken Thigh Filets

Half a Sweet potato

1 Potato

1/2 Cup Kent Pumpkin

Half a Zucchini

4 Broccoli

1 Cup of Quinoa (I cook this separately and add it to the puree)

1-2 teaspoons of Cinnamon

This made about 10 meals for him so I'm stocked up for a while.

Brandon Seems to really enjoy it well for now anyways till he decides he wants something else.

I like to give Brandon lots of protein with his dinner to keep him full for longer that’s why there is so much chicken in my recipe.

I also don’t give him any fruit after dinner because of the sugar content in fruit I always give him his fruit in the morning after breakfast and after lunch. It’s just something I find works better for Brandon.

I generally use the Heinz containers which i just picked up from my local Woolworths. They are easy to use as well as being great for space if you don't have much space like me!

http://www.heinzforbaby.com.au/

Enjoy mums and dads!

Big love

Finding Nemos Dinner

xx

Young Life taken too soon

Last night my husband sent me a text message sending me a link to a news page. The title read “A mother of four has died and a pregnant woman has been injured when they were hit by a car at Terrigal”. These girls where both in my husband’s grade at school.

au.news.yahoo.com

what ran through my head is that could have been anyone that could have been me……

I bet she didn’t expect to go out and not to return home to her loving husband and children.

Even good people have bad luck!

My husband said “I don’t want to be one of those people”

I just lost it when he said that. I think it really hit me because I am a mum just like her. I have a young child like her. I have no doubt that one of her biggest fears, like mine, was the thought of not seeing her children grow up and not having their mummy around.

That fear came true for her.

I can’t imagine how her husband is feeling having to explain to young children that their mummy wasn’t coming home.

Did they cry out in the middle of the night for her, not remembering that she was no longer there?

Did they wake up this morning expecting to see her face?

Do they understand the extent of what has happened? How long will they take to realise that mummy isn’t coming home? How many tears will be shed every time they remember that they are never going to see their mummy again?

All of these thoughts, they are going around in my head. My heart is absolutely aching for those children and aching for her husband who is having to look at a very different life ahead of him. A different life from the one that he was living just a few days ago.

She was innocently crossing the road, when she got run down. She just went out for dinner with her girls. A night out ended in tragedy. She was just crossing the road with her friends as a sports car came around the bend. 

That could have easily been me……..I went out with my girls a couple of weekends ago and one of us could have easily been run down by a car just going too fast!

When it happened, did she know she wasn’t going to make it?

Were her last thoughts that she wasn’t going to see her children again.  That they would have to grow up without her in their lives.

This morning I sat with Brandon as he was falling asleep. I gave him the biggest cuddles. I gave him excessive amounts of kisses to the point where he was pulling away from me. I stroked his head, I took in all of him, his little toes, his long legs, his beautiful face that makes my heart melt every day. I told him I loved him, and I always would. I gave him one last kiss before I left him to fall asleep. I stayed a moment longer than I normally would have to take it all in. Because at that moment, I felt lucky that I could do all of those things. The things that young mother will never get to do again.

Little Green Bites

Yesterday I was walking through the supermarket checking out what they have to offer in the way of snacks for children, and what I can give to Brandon my forever hungry little man!

Each time I looked at the packet I would think nope it’s got huge amounts of sugar, sodium or have ingredients I wouldn’t even know……

Do I really want to be putting that into his young body?

I decided to create a little snack for him. Let’s call them “little bites”. They are the perfect size to put into lunch boxes and to be honest I didn’t mind the taste of them either! It also took me a few goes to get the taste right!

The recipe is so simple and easy to make that you can do it while your little one is having a nap or having a play.

1 Banana

30g Oats

80ml of my green juice (Spinach, Kale, water and Chai Seeds)

1 Egg (if your little one has an allergy to egg you could use a substitute)

Cinnamon

30g coconut Flour

TBS Peanut butter *Optional (some babies have allergies to peanut butter so you can leave this out)

Blend all ingredients in a blender, I used my Bellini.

Put into cupcake moulds.

Bake in the oven for 15 minutes at 200degrees.

This made 6 bites.

If you wanted you can always add extra add in like blueberries

He was very impressed! 

Breastfeeding

So its Breastfeeding awareness month so I thought now was the perfect time to write a blog on breastfeeding.

The meaning of breastfeed is “a women feeding a baby with milk from the breast”.

Seems fairly straight forward doesn’t it?!

Well no breastfeeding is not straight forward and no it isn’t easy either! And some women aren’t able breastfeed at all. So let’s get this straight FED IS BEST!

I thought to myself how many women are actually unable breastfeed so after a quick Google search I’ve come up with such a small percentage that its actually surprised me! It’s a tiny 5% of mothers don’t actually ever produce breastmilk.

I started producing colostrum at 20 weeks. This was a great sign because it meant my body was preparing for the birth of our baby. It was a proud moment. But embarrassing at the same time. I was at work and I looked down because my top felt wet…...Yes you guessed it I had colostrum all over my top. I remember it being a very hot day and I'm the idiot wearing a jacket done up just to cover it up. I went to the toilets and stuck toilet paper down my bra just to soak up anymore that may leak. Talk about awkward!

While Pregnant I was asked the question “So are you going to breastfeed?” I would think to myself of course I would try and breastfeed, but I would keep an open mind. You never know if you can breastfeed or not till after your baby is born.

I still remember the first time Brandon breastfed from me like it was yesterday. It was like it was a skill he already knew. He was put on my chest and he crawled to my breast and just begun sucking it was the most amazing thing I have ever experienced.

Shortly after his first feed of colostrum he was taken to the Special Care Nursery and had his first tube feed as my milk wasn’t in yet and he was so small that he couldn’t go without food. I had to breastfeed him every 3 hours plus a top up of formula at every occasion just to get him to start putting weight on.

That might sound straight forward and your sitting there thinking oh man how did this chick get it so easy with breastfeeding. Let me tell you it wasn’t easy at all! Infact it was far from easy! I was just lucky in an unlucky situation. With Brandon being a tiny 2kg we had to spend the first 5 nights of his life in the Special Care Nursery which also meant I got a lot of one on one help from the nurses in the nursery they would sit with me every feed and help with attachment. There were even times where I would be sitting there letting the nurses hand express me. That’s right its exactly as it sounds hand expressing. I literally have no boundaries anymore! Because he would tire so fast the nurses hand expressed me a few times to try and get my milk to come in a bit faster and so we could feed my milk to him instead of formula.

At day 3 I remember over night getting these awful sweats……yes you got it my milk was in I looked like I had inpants, I went from a B cup to a D cup overnight! I remember my boobs being so sore and I just couldn’t wait to feed my little man. I was producing that much milk that I had to stick a towel down my top and there would be times where I would spray him in the face with my milk. (Sorry buddy!)

He had a great latch and the nurse in the SCN even mentioned he had perfect lips and tongue for breastfeeding. I was almost suspicious of how easy he seemed to take to breastfeeding. He breastfed like a little champ!

Now my milk was in I was on a strict feed every 3 hours so we would set an alarm even over night for the first 2 months of his life. I still don’t know how I survived I think I was just on a high from having a baby!

I was lucky enough to be able to breastfeed for the first 6 months of Brandon’s life. At 6 months I made the choice to wean from breastfeeding to formula due to him becoming so much more aware of what was going on around him and he became so much fussier. You can read this in my previous blog.

I can proudly say I breastfeed! Some mothers don’t even get to breastfeed at all. I just want to say that fed is always best!

How I Lost My Baby Weight...Plus Some!

A question I often get asked is “How did you lose so much weight”??

The human body never ceases to amaze me. I have learnt that when treated correctly, it can bounce back and actually give back, as if it’s trying to say “thank you” for how well you look after it.

During my pregnancy I wanted to stay as active as I could because I was told how hard pushing a baby out is. And yes they were all right! Even if I only had to push 3 times it was bloody hard work! So my advice to anyone who’s pregnant is just keep walking during your pregnancy!

So I’m going to be honest here, I lost most of my weight through Breastfeeding. Yup I’m one of those lucky ones who could not only breastfeed but also dropped weight very quickly by breastfeeding. But that wasn’t the only way I lost it because that would be completely ridiculous!!!!

Our little guy went through a stage where he would mostly have his good sleeps in his pram. So what did I do you ask? Yes, you go it I walked and walked and then I walked some more. I would go to the beach every single day for months and would walk 3-4km. I often would go to the shops and I would just walk around. I wouldn’t actually buy anything I would just use the shopping centre as different scenery as well as those quick trips for more nappies.

During my pregnancy I gained about 15kg total. Probably because I only had a 2kg baby! Please don’t hate me! I lost about 10kg in the first two weeks! The human body is truly amazing!

Something no one tells you though is you will still look pregnant……...for weeks and weeks. This is something that really surprised me! So new mums prep your closet full of postpartum “outfits”. Big, flowing maxi dresses or tights with long, flowing shirts. Dressing the postpartum body makes dressing the pregnancy body seem like a breeze! But don’t worry mums, the water retention melts away and things change rather quickly! Just be prepared for a confusing body shape for the first month or so!

 I was often asked if I was eating……...Yes of course I was eating and I was eating A LOT!!!! but I was trying to eat all of the right clean and healthy food. You didn’t think I was going to say the kilos just melted off without paying attention to what was going into my mouth did you? J

I focused on filling my body with as many nutritious foods as possible, and I would snack regularly because breastfeeding is hungry work, just to maintain milk supply is around 500 additional calories on top of your normal calorie intake! I’m not going to lie I would eat chocolate too probably more than I would actually like to admit!

It’s not magic you won’t just drop the baby weight without putting in the effort and ensuring you are putting the right foods into your body.

Recently I have started going back to the gym too. Not to lose more weight because I weigh less now than I did pre baby. Thanks to pregnancy I have this little mummy pouch and soft abs. So I’m now just trying to tone this mummy bod and regain some of my core strength!

I absolutely loved being pregnant! I didn’t get a single stretch mark……don’t hate me I was just one of those lucky mums! Or the bio oil I used every single day 3 times a day actually worked! Becoming a mum has made me appreciate my body so much more than I did pre baby. I am actually so much happier with my body. Yes, my body isn’t perfect, yes I have wider hips, yes I have a bigger booty (opps I always had that), and as I mentioned before that wonderful mummy pouch has appeared.

It all comes down to hard work and commitment. You need to want to look good and be healthy again. But this time it’s not just for you! You have a family you want to do it for, you want to see your children grow up and be able to run around with them without feeling the strain of a couple of postpartum years not focusing on your body, your recovery after giving birth. So mummas get out there with those beautiful babies and walk, its only one foot in front of the other while looking at your little babe.