The life and times of Libby Withnall

It’s a new week and I’m ready to get back on the healthy eating wagon. Started the day with a lovely walk by the lake and a green smoothie.

Then it was on with cleaning the house and a yummy falafel salad for lunch.

Afternoon tea was some tiny teddies I found while cleaning out the kitchen .

Dinner was a burritos made with TVP, cheese and tomato. And don’t you just love how bright tonights photo is? Kevin got me a new camera – isn’t he a sweetie! I can’t believe how much better it is.

And supper…the last of the ice cream (no more until we’re back from the UK) and a choc strawberry bought yesterday.

I’m all geared up and ready to get back on track with the Red Carpet Ready program. Which means no cakes, cookies, lollies, ice cream and only the occasional dark chocolate until we leave for the UK in 5.5 weeks. It’s crunch time!

It was  a beautiful Sunday here – definitely more Summer than Autumn. I started the day with what else but a cup of tea and a piece of banana cake . Everyone played on their computer until Amy decided she would make us breakfast. How lucky am I? It’s not even Mothers Day till next Sunday.

She made us scrambled eggs, tinned spaghetti and toast. Served on our special plates .

We had planned to go on a bike ride and have lunch out but at about 11am I started feeling icky in the stomach and a bit light-headed. I had some cruskits with cottage cheese to see if that helped.

It didn’t – so I tried some chocolate – thinking maybe some sugar might do the trick. It didn’t work either so we decided to stay in for the day.

I didn’t really feel like eating but made myself have a salad (featuring falafel and homemade hummus) around 2pm.

I did start to feel better which was good. I was able to enjoy some afternoon tea.

We put on Avatar to watch and the girls decided they wanted popcorn. I wasn’t go to have any (since I’d already had the above) but it smelled good so I had a little bowl.

Drizzled with a bit of melted butter…

We ended up having a late dinner. It was new recipe tonight – tofu & noodle stir-fry – which was a bit too fiddly for a Sunday night. Amy didn’t like it. I thought it was okay. Kevin really enjoyed it.

Made a cup of tea to have in bed with an orange chocolate bar.

Woke up at 6am with a rather sore back this morning. It tends to get sore when I sit around for long periods of time like I did over the weekend . Oh, well, guess it stops me from being too lazy as I know I’ll suffer later. Anyway, I was out the door with dogs while it still dark but light enough to see safely. I love walking at this time of day – mind you we were too early for the best part of the sunrise .  It was cool out this morning and I had to wear long sleeves AND a jacket.

Back home and getting ready for the day. We saw Amy off – she’s going to camp for the rest of the week and Kevin was dropping her at the train station. Christy and I enjoyed a very quiet breakfast together – she had french toast and I had two of the leftover oat pancakes with some raspberry jam.

Once Christy headed off the school I got stuck into the housework. Once I was done I had a green smoothie before heading off to get my groceries. I spotted this yummy looking salad and have printed up the recipe to make another day.

Back home with the groceries. I got everything unpacked and put away. Then it was time for lunch. I had hoped to make the above mention salad but I was too tired at this point so just made the usual. Todays featured topping – leftover Mexican Rice from last night. Tasted good.

This afternoon I managed to do a bit of scrapbooking while enjoying a cup of tea. I wanted a little “something” so had an ANZAC cookie and small dark orange chocolate bar.

Later, around 4pm, I had a piece of cape-seed bread with hummus and cheese. I put the grapes from Christy’s lunch in a bowl and munched on them a bit later.

It was a quiet dinner with Amy being away. I planned an easy dinner of microwave potato topped with mexican beans, cheese and bit of sour cream.

Later I enjoyed a cup of tea with a banana goji berry muffin (defrosted from the freezer) and some dark chocolate.

And just before going to bed I had a handful of rice crackers – left over from Christy’s lunch!

Today I went to see a natruopath. I’ve never done anything like it before but am desperate to find some relief for the swollen hands & feet I’ve been dealing for over 5 years. Each Summer they get worse and worse and I’ve just had enough. Specialists have ruled out carpel tunnel and arthritis and my doc told me I’d just have to live with it!!

The naturopath was a little bit woo woo for my liking but everything he touched on was along the lines I was thinking from my own reading. Basically he said I need to eliminate wheat and dairy from my diet. Plus take the supplements he has given me. I will definitely give this a good go – but I told him I’m not starting the diet until AFTER Easter .

I don’t think wheat will be too much of a problem as I can still have spelt and rye, and dairy as far as milk goes will be okay…but cheese….I LOVE cheese…..hope soy cheese tastes okay and works in our recipes . Ethically and health wise I think giving up dairy will be a good thing and it’s something I have been considering for a time. Let’s just hope this gets some results.

Okay everyone. I need your honest opinions. I’m quite happy doing a daily blog post but I want you, my readers, to be happy as well.  I know everyone has limited computer time and there are so many wonderful blogs out there and I don’t want you losing interest or struggling to keep up. So please let me know if you’d like to continue seeing a daily post or if you’d prefer them a little less frequent.

*** If you want to see photos from today I am sharing them on facebook.

The girls and I were up early this morning (in fact they were up before I was). Since the sun wasn’t up yet we decided to head outside to see the sunrise. I took a cup of tea and it was just lovely sitting there with my two girls as the sun rose.

We had breakfast with Nan & Pop today and then got all organised and on the way by 8.45am. We headed into Port Hedland where we went to the visitors center for our BHP Billiton Iron Ore Tour.

It was a bus tour of the facilities and very interesting (esp. as Amy & I had just done the Steelworks tour at home).

After the tour we bought some lunch from the same cafe as yesterday. Then Pop realized he had forgotten to switch over the car battery (it runs the freezer in the car) and the battery was now flat.

Luckily it wasn’t too bad a place to be stuck for a while. We had lunch at the same table we ate at yesterday – but with a better view today as there was no fog. Then Christy played at the park while I checked facebook and blogs on my i-phone. Luckily we only had to wait about an hour and were on our way at 12.30pm.

It was quite a pretty drive today and I even managede to get a little nap – I know I must be really tired if I managed to sleep in the car. Unfortunately when we arrive at Karatha at 3.30pm the van park had no record of Nan & Pop’s booking. Eventually it was resolved and they were given a cabin across from us for the night – with the van parked right out front.

After everyone had calmed down we sat and enjoyed a cheese & fruit platter that Amy had prepared for us. Later Pop cooked a BBQ for dinner and now the girls are watching a Spongebob DVD which Amy bought yesterday (first TV since we left home) and I’m updating my blog and going to read some of the 1000+ posts showing in google reader. If I’m a regular commentor on your blog I’m sure you’ll understand if I don’t comment while I’m away, but I am still reading when I can.

Tomorrow we have a 7 hour drive to Exmouth but then we’ve got 4 nights in the same cabin.

I think someone forgot to tell the birthday gods that you aren’t supposed to feel yucky with a cold (not swine flu) on your birthday. It’s Wintery, cold and rainy outside and I good morning for snuggling in a warm bed, but I’m wide awake at 5am with a pounding headache, achy body and runny nose…. what fun!

At least I have this beautiful necklace to cheer me up. One of my new favourite bloggers, Lisa Clarke of Polka Dot Cottage, makes jewellery. As soon as I saw this set, inspired her recent trip to the beach, I knew I had to buy one for myself as an a birthday present. And I just LOVE it!!! Be sure to visit her shop to see her other creations – they are so beautiful.

After a very nice nights sleep (Mum & Dad’s new van has a great bed), I enjoyed a cup of tea in bed while playing on the laptop (such a holiday luxury to do this in bed). I’m not sure what time I got up and dressed but we enjoyed a hot cross bun for breakfast with the Powells.

Since it was such a nice morning we decided to take the boat out again and let all the kids (including the 2 big ones) have a go on the inflatable. Everyone had a great time.

It started to get overcast and we were all getting a little hungry so called it a day and headed back to the van park. We had some lunch and the kids all took off playing and riding their bikes. At 3pm they could buy plastercast moulds and sat painting for the next hour.

Us adults sat around drinking tea (beer for the guys – Kevin is enjoying his homemade ginger beer) and chatting. I also worked on some knitting and read a magazine or two.

Around 7pm we had some dinner (pasta tonight) and chatted some more. It’s been a good day. Very lazy and relaxing.

It’s funny I thought I did quite well with last weeks plan but looking back on it we only had one planned meal – homemade pizza. Oh, well. This week we had big organic delivery so I’m looking to use up lots of fruit and veg. We’re also going away on Thursday for Easter, so meals might change depending on what the Powells want to do.

MONDAY: Baked veggies, cauli & brocolli

TUESDAY: Vegetarian Chilli (made by Amy – new recipe)

WEDNESDAY: Crockpot Honey & orange tofu (leftover new recipe from last week)

THURSDAY:Pumpkin Cannelloni

FRIDAY: Pasta with cheese sauce

SATURDAY: TVP Tacos

SUNDAY: ???

MONDAY:???

For more menu ideas visit the organising junkie

Last weeks meny went quite well but we did miss a few of the meals.

MONDAY: Vegie Snitzel/Fish, mashed potatoe, veggies

TUESDAY: Corn Quiche and veg

WEDNESDAY: Chinese style Fried Barley

THURSDAY: Chili Con Carne

FRIDAY: Camping – TVP Wraps

SATURDAY: Camping – BBQ

SUNDAY: Leftovers or from freezer

For more menu ideas visit the organising junkie.