Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Ready for white walls

I am sooo over it, I'm ready to invest in paint.

Everywhere I have ever lived has had walls that can be washed. And I'm someone that will wash them every now and then because marks on walls is more visual clutter that I do NOT need!

We moved into this house about 20 months ago 'freshly painted'.

Ha!

Some of it was freshly painted. With cheap dodgy paint.

You know how I know that it's cheap and dodgy , for sure...?

Soon after we moved in there was a small accident and we needed matching paint for the repair job. I went to Bunnings (Australian hardware store) and asked in their paint department for the cheapest nastiest wall paint that they had. They asked why and I said I needed it to match what was on the walls and we didn't know what brand/shade it was, other than dodgy. He told me I'd NEVER get a match and found cheap paint for me. I asked if it came any flatter than the can he'd handed me and it did, so that's the one I got.

Cheapest, nastiest paint possible.

He thought I was mad.

And yes, it's a perfect match!!!!

See I told you it was bad!

Seriously - if you breathe on this paint, it leaves a mark. Add in 3 small kids going in and out of the house multiple times a day and the walls become feral all too soon. Washing the walls removes more paint than dirt and so has proven futile. I said to Pete just days after moving in "You know we'll have to paint before we move out, don't you". Well, we're not moving any time too soon but I NEED white walls. No it's not a NEED as in need to survive but so far as my sanity goes, I reckon it's a serious need. I wish I was kidding.

So on the list of things to tackle in the next month or so is painting the main traffic areas with better paint. Paint I will be able to wash. And life will be good.

About as good as it gets at the moment

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Sunday, March 18, 2012

Menu Plan for the week

I find meal planning helps life move along a little more smoothly around here

Monday
B: Scrambled eggs on toast
L: Baked potatoes
D: Beef Stew (already cooked)

Tuesday
B: Breakfast Muffins
L: Picnic in the park (all going well!)
D: Lasagne (already cooked) & extra vegies
Note: Start the chicken broth in the crock pot if haven't done so yet

Wednesday
B: Porridge & eggs
L: Zucchini slice
D: Stroganoff shepherd's pie (already cooked) with extra vegies

Thursday
B: Fried eggs on toast
L: Dim sims
D: Chicken and corn noodle soup

Friday (Cook Up! day)
B: Porridge & eggs
L: leftovers
D: Roast something but must include roast pumpkin... my favourite! Possibly roast lamb as there's nothing like roast pumpkin & potato drowned in both mint sauce and gravy!!

Cook Up! Goals (Friday): Pasties, Country Chicken double meal, Tomato Tango Meatballs (mmm) 2-2.5kg, Savoury Mince x 6L, Bean & Pasta soup x 8L and... (brain working hard music...) oh yes, a couple of Tuna Bakes


By the way... is the evening meal 'tea' or 'dinner' in your home? I'm pretty sure I grew up with it being 'tea' but have switched to 'dinner' after 10 years of Nannying in homes where it was called 'dinner' and now saying 'tea' sounds odd to me even though it's what I seem to hear most from others!

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Thursday, March 15, 2012

Tonight's Dinner

 

My all in one beef crockpot stew :o) Changes a little every time but this is today's version!
1.2kg rump steak, 1 onion, 2-3 cups butternut pumpkin, 200g mushrooms, 1/2 red capsicum, 1kg carrot chunks, 2c chicken broth, 2 cups zucchini, 1/2 jar of tomato passata, 3 potatoes (one diced so it will fall apart and thicken the casserole, 2 in large chunks), 2 tsp Celtic sea salt and 1 beef stock cube (Massel). All in a 6L crockpot for the day. Thinking I might put some more mushrooms in once it cooks down a bit and will probably add a cup or two of green beans about 2 hours before the end of cooking.


Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Small things...

Church had a family fun day in December... cool things like an animal nursery and face painting, a jumping castle and this huge caterpillar that kids could crawl through...





and of course the best bit - coming out of the caterpillars BOTTOM. It was the highlight of their day!

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