My curious George little monkey

Emma loves watching TV and DVDs when she needs to wind down and as we’ll be away the whole summer I have started to think about DVDs we could bring with us. I have already bought a mini iPad and started to download educational apps that are meant to keep her busy during our travels and then during our long stay in Greece.

So when I saw this competition launched by Tots 100 that involves winning a bundle of curious George DVDs I knew this would be perfect for us. Emma loves George and can’t have enough of his clever adventures and silly fun.

So here is a picture taken last Saturday of Emma and daddy enjoying a cheeky ice-cream in the rain. Oh well, I assume it tasted even better, despite the rain, by the look on their faces

Healthy Living Challenge: Day 34 – New Healthy Family Habits

The weather has been nice last week and we took up some new habits. A long walk by the beach with Emma in the pram then a stop in a local child-friendly restaurant with a small play area for herbal tea and play time. We did it three times last week and it worked really well as mum and dad got some time to chat while Emma made new friends and kept busy playing.

I really look forward to going to Greece. I have missed the blue sky and the daily walks I took with Emma in the morning. I intend to keep up the good habits and enjoy daily morning walks with my girl(and hubby, on the days he will be off) and plenty of healthy, fresh, straight from the market food.

On the other hand, I am still 68.5, guys…this is my third plateau and the hardest to budge out of…I have done everything right last week, from drinking pots upon pots of herbal tea, eating only lean meat and veggies, avoiding wheat and so on…I do have a suspicion that the lack of healthy fat from my diet(I have eaten less coconut oil and avocados lately) may be a contributing factor. I have also had less regular bowel movement despite the abundant fluid and veggie intake which I find strange. Any ideas on what could cause this would be much appreciated.

One happy little girl: she doesn’t need much, just the blue sea and a juicy peach!

Healthy Living Challenge: Day 33 – Slacking is losing

Yes, you guessed it, I did slack during the Easter holidays. Ate cake. And munched at Emma’s Easter eggs. And enjoyed butter and cheese.

And now I have put weight back on. I am back to 68.5. Darn…I have lost the bet with myself and I am slightly irritated at my lack of resolve.

Oh well, back on the horse, I suppose, I can’t let setbacks put me off my goal. Which is in sight: 65 kilos by the end of May, when we leave for our holidays!

Stay healthy, talk tomorrow!

I made sure that chicken didn’t cluck by the end of the day and now I have to live with the consequences

Hristos a inviat! Christ is Risen!

So since the time has been manually adjusted I suppose it’s officially tomorrow and I can wish you all a very happy Easter!

I was raised in Romania, in the orthodox church so this is the song I associate with Easter:

“Christ is risen from the dead, crushing death with His death and giving life to the dead!”

May His light and the life He came to give shine bright into our lives, my friends!

A very happy, Christ-centred Easter!

Healthy Living Challenge: Day 30 – The Last Quarter

I know I have taken forever with this challenge and my 40 days will end up being 50 but hey, I was never known for writing posts for the sake of writing them…there were days I didn’t have anything informative or interesting to write about and so my 40-day challenge got a little prolonged. But the end in in sight,hurray!

I have learned a lot during this challenge.

I have read a lot, discovered a lot of “food trends”, acquainted myself with a lot of healthy, vegetarian, vegan and paleo food bloggers out there.

I have also realised that I could never be a full-time vegan because I find the opinion that eliminating even honey and eggs from one’s diet extreme and probably non-beneficial to the human body in the long term. On the other hand, you would never find me going to a “sausage party” and learning to slaughter animals at home. One step too far in the other direction, me thinks…

I have been inspired to try new foods by both vegan and paleo bloggers and fell in love with quinoa, bulgur, smoked salmon and organic butter among other things.

I have accumulated knowledge about the healing properties of plants, fruit and veggies that I have felt compelled to share with my Facebook friends (I think some have muted me already .

I have also been reminded of the wickedness of the human nature and how people would use promises of health to ruthlessly extract money out of their fellow humans.

But most importantly, I have learned about myself. That I can stick with a goal, even when I see no my visible results. I am not a patient person so this has been a challenge for me. But I have pushed through!

This is day 30 of my healthy living challenge, take heart,the end of these posts is in sight

P.S.-and because I use these posts as a means to keep myself accountable but also celebrate my success , I must inform you that after more than a week of a plateau at 68.4, this morning the scales read 68!! Hurray!

Healthy Living Challenge: Day 29 – God, the Maker of All Good Foods

Yes, today I had time to reflect and be grateful to God, the maker of all the amazing things there are out there to eat and help us live a healthy life.I think that this has been brought about gradually by all the healthy eating books I have been reading. By the conversation we had last night with dear friends about how their health has improved just by them eating the right foods.

God has made every single plant, fruit and vegetable with the clear intention not only to sustain us but to bring restoration and healing when it’s needed. He made them colourful, flavoursome, exciting and nutritious!! And tonight I am saying thanks to Him for this part of my life, the good, fresh, yummy tasting food .

Night night, be blessed.

And yes, I do miss Greece and having fruit and veggies in abundance on our doorstep!

Healthy Living Challenge: Day 21 – Pinocchio…belly

Dear friends, I am more than half way through my challenge and I have my good days and my bad days. Yesterday was a great day in everything except my wheat avoidance.

I had a busy morning cooking a healthy meal for my family but in the process I made a couple of nutritional mistakes. I left it for too long to have a snack in the morning. Then what was supposed to be my snack (a lovely veggie omelette) became my early lunch. Then by three o’clock I was in work. And hungry. And I had a slice of bread. The scenario sort of repeated itself later in the day and by the evening I was feeling and LOOKING very bloated. And I knew it was the bread. And I thought of poor Pinocchio who every time he told a lie had an inch nose growth . I was the very same, an inch belly growth with every slice of bread.

Needless to say, rye bread supplies have been replenished in the house and today is a new day, with less opportunities for mistakes of the sort.

This is day 21, the countdown has started and there are only 19 days left of this healthy living challenge.

Have a great, healthy eating day!

Healthy Living Challenge: Day 17 – Easy Dinners. Again

I was going to call this post Damned 69 ( a figure I associate with a lot of psychological distress) because my weight went up by 300 grams to 69 kilos this week and I was really pissed off this morning. But I suppose this things are normal when you try to lose weight and as long as I eat the right things a change IS BOUND to happen sooner or later.

Anyway, these days I have been quite busy trying to run the house and various errands, see the G.P. over my strange back pain and keeping everyone happy. In consequence I had to come up with quick, satisfying but healthy dinners.

I know you know I am Romanian. As a Romanian I was raised with dishes and ingredients that people here turn their nose to. Take chicken livers, for example. I love chicken livers, pork tongue, bovine brain…okay, I know I grossed you out, sorry. Yesterday I felt like having chicken livers. I had some free-range ones in the freezer from my butcher. I fried them in the pan with coconut oil once defrosted. This is the first time I do it with coconut oil and was pleasantly surprised by the delicate taste it infused into the livers. Livers are a versatile but very simple dish and all you need for seasoning is salt, a bit of pepper and some rosemary. I make them into a meal by adding boiled potatoes into the pan once the livers are cooked. Voilà!! A dish in half an hour. Oh, if you thing you need some convincing to eat liver, check out what the Butter Believer thinks about it.

Today was another busy day so I opted for chicken breasts marinated in Nando’s sauce that I cooked in the oven for a change and lentils. I used this recipe for inspiration because it was the easiest I could find online but I added some flavour into it by cutting an onion and stewing it in coconut oil, water and Indian spices. I usually use half a tablespoon of each spice: turmeric, coriander powder, cumin powder and cumin seeds along with a cube of garlic and one of chilli(Tesco’s frozen brand), a couple of cardamom pods and a bay leaf. It’s not as complicated as it sounds, it’s simply throwing everything together in a pot, letting the spices infuse the onion for 5 minutes and then adding a cup and a half of green lentils with enough boiled water to cover them. Lentils are thirsty pulses so keep an eye on them and add water until they start going soft and don’t forget to season them with salt(or a stock cube). Another half an hour meal ready!

This is day 17 of my healthy living challenge, there are 23 days left and I hope I have inspired you to live a bit better! Keep up the good work!

Spicy chicken, Indian lentils and Romanian cabbage salad

Healthy Living Challenge: Day 10 – Dieting and Kids

“And I don’t even like you!”

I bet your first thought was: “Naughty little one!” when you read the line above. But hey, I’m going to surprise you(once again!) and say, no, actually, that’s what I said to Emma yesterday evening after a day of eating too little and doing too much!

I had a busy weekend, then on Sunday night I didn’t sleep until midnight as BBC1 decided not to work at 8 p.m., time for “Call the Midwife” and I stayed up catching up with the girls in the latest episode on iPlayer.

Then yesterday morning I grazed on pita bread and hummus, went for a 30-minute power walk and then just rushed on to work at 1. Biiiiig mistake! I managed to grab half an apple and a banana but it was way too little in terms of nutrition(for running around after 3 young kids!) and at 5.30, when I returned from work I was RAVENOUS. Not a good time for Emma to put on a little tantrum over leggings but hey, three-year olds were never known for their subtlety and empathy…And then I snapped. Like a twig. And I said stupid things to her like: “I don’t even like you!”

Lesson learnt: eat appropriately for the day ahead! It’s okay to graze if you’re in the house, lazying around on a Sunday morning but it’s definitely NOT okay to starve yourself when you have a busy day ahead!

Yesterday was day 10 of this healthy living challenge, only 30 days to go!!

My fashion-conscious child