Me: A frustrated cook

I have a love / hate relationship with my kitchen, lately it’s mostly hate.

Since moving here 3 years ago the kitchen has grown but my cooking skills / meal repertoire have not and neither has my desire to cook for my husband. I would love to know if other wives / partners of chefs feel the same because I fucking hate cooking for Chris, it gives me anxiety.

Before I met Chris I felt quite competent and confident as a cook but now that feeling is almost entirely shattered, what he can do in 30mins takes me 2hrs and my meals never taste as good. I realize that I put A LOT of pressure on myself and that I have not had the training that he has but I feel like his ability to cook diminishes my role as the wife & mother who has a meal (full of love) on the table when the man gets home. This does not happen. When I do cook, which is not often now, it is a slapped together version of what I intended and leaves me wondering why I bothered.

To add to my frustration tonight Chris has whipped this up…

Pumpkin Soup with fresh made bread AND a freshly made Rhubarb & Vanilla sponge cake. He also made Crumbed Whiting and chunky chips for the kids and all this in about an hour (cooking time not included) How do I compete with this? I actually think I have a plan and my plan is preparation and this for starters …

I have marked out some Jess friendly mains (yellow post-its) as well as some desserts which are a little more adventurous (pink post-its) Fingers crossed that this is the motivation I need to get back into the swing of things.

A new lifestyle

3 days ago I started a 28 day cleanse / detox / lifestyle change, It means no sugar, which nearly all of the time I’m good with, no gluten and all other food is to be whole or unrefined. It also means a whole lot of exersize which is going to be the struggle for me, that being said I did get up at 5.45am on Monday to go for a brisk 5ish km walk with my neighbor, now had she not been out the front waiting for me I would definitely have pushed snooze.

Waking up on days 2 & 3 was horrible, I had the shakes and some full on nausea which means the detoxing is working and I am withdrawing from all the shit I’ve been eating but the worst part of today has been the cramps in my legs, not so much the muscle contracting type but more like a headache just in my legs.

I signed up to this challenge for the accountability or maybe that’s the wrong word but having everything set out is making the transitions really easy. Shopping lists, limited meal options, daily food diaries, exersize plans and knowing that there are about 300 other people experiencing the same things you are really helps me stick to the program. I’ve written down some goals that I’d like to reach by doing this and happily they are not all weight related. I’m using this yes to lose some weight but also to change the way I consume, for me to be healthy and for my family, to raise my children without exposing them to all the rubbish that is in food today.

I had planned on sharing my before (& after) pics with you but I will admit that I am a little embarrassed, I will however happily share my results with you. I can all read feel the benefits in my clothes and I am looking forward to taking my measurements on Monday so watch this space.

Fathers Day Falafel.

Have you eaten Falafel? Until tonight I had never tasted a falafel and boy oh boy it was delicious. I feel like I’m saying ‘What is this Falafel thing you speak of?’ It’s not like I’ve never heard of Falafel before I’ve just never eaten it. As far as food goes I was never the most adventurous eater, that is until I began a relationship with a chef. When I met Chris I had never eaten soup, of any kind, or tried some of the most common of foods like eggs, sure I’d had eggs in things like cake but I’d never eaten an egg on its own, say for breakfast.

Anyway back to the Falafel. As it was father’s day today I felt that I should give Chris the night off from cooking but had absolutely no idea what I was going to make let alone any motivation. Scrounging through the pantry I came across a box of Orgran Falafel mix and thought WHY NOT?

SO simple, all I had to do was add water to the mix and then let it sit, during the resting time I chopped up some lettuce, cucumber & tomato, crumbled up some feta and opened the lid of some roasted garlic tzatziki. Had I had more time I WOULD have made my own tzatziki, maybe, but overall this was a great dinner all rolled up in some herb wraps and made in less than 30mins. The only thing I should have done that I didn’t was pay more attention when I was doing the cooking bit, unfortunately I burnt (only slightly) Chris’s father’s day dinner.

What did you have for dinner tonight? Was it something special or different to the ususal Sunday night fare?

Mostly I enjoyed knowing that after 10hrs of cooking for everyone else & their dad’s, Chris didn’t have to cook for us. The domestic goddess is SLOWLY returning to our house.

Grand Plans in Action

It started like this…

Followed by this…

and this…

I had planned to not be at home when Chris found this one but was caught in the driveway as he pulled in, with little explanation I left him to discover it on his own and returned to a very happy husband. As sneaky as I thought I had been he had guessed my plans for a night in the city a few days earlier, not to worry because it was still one of the best things we have done in a long time.

24 hours child free began with a quick bite to eat at my new favourite local cafe, The Alley, then it was time to hit the road to Melbourne. We had reservations at Rendezvous Grand Hotel for accommodation and Noir in Richmond for dinner. Dinner completely outshone the hotel and I can not recommend Noir enough, an AMAZING 7 course sharing meal ensured we left satisfied both by taste and full bellies. Fresh Goats cheese salad w frozen balsamic, heirloom beetroot and goats cheese donuts, Tomato & paprika gazpacho, Chicken, mango & walnut salad, Pressed pork belly w sugar snaps, peas & garlic puree, Moreton bay bug ravioli w crushed peas, Rabbit pie w heirloom carrot & persillade. Finally we had the BEST course, DESSERT! Potted molten chocolate w chocolate twill, milo foam & popping candy crust. OMG!!! this was out of this world delicious and lucky for Chris we each got our own serve and didn’t have to share because believe me the pregnancy card would have been played and I would have been eating it all.

The night was hot and the walk from the restaurant to the station was well-earned (after all the food consumed) and needed just to cool down, the trip to the casino however was neither earned nor needed but highly enjoyed, especially after winning $50 on the roulette table but heading back to the hotel I realised that it had been a long time since Chris and I had stayed up so late and we are not as young as we used to be. Damn it we’re old! well compared to the version of ourselves that’s in my  mind we are.

We left the city after an average breakfast in a Melbourne back alley cafe completely relaxed, something we haven’t both felt at the same time in I don’t know how long and relishing the time we were able to spend together.

There is a lot to be said for quality time and I urge all you ladies out there to get your romance on, do something for your man once in a while, he deserves it too.!

Me all dressed up with somewhere to go!

Back without a vengence

I’ve been awol for a couple of days now due to some serious pregnancy related hurling. Yesterday I went home early because it was day 4 of not being able to keep my food down, I walked in the door dropped my bag and flopped on the bed so freaking exhausted from chucking and just being hot. I really had been thinking a lot about what I wanted to write on this blog only to be that tired that I couldn’t even lift my fingers to the keyboard.

My body was so tense, I felt like I had to hold my stomach so it wouldn’t fall to the floor, even leaning over the toilet, the stance I had to take just to spew comfortably was so previously uncomfortable that I couldn’t get it right. Do you know how awkward that feels, when you can’t even stand right to vomit? Seriously awkward. Lying in bed I could only lie in one position without having my back feel like it was going to explode. Pregnancy is awesome!

With the past 4 days over I am starting to feel better I have kept 2 meals down so far and I am so hungry all I want to do is keep eating and by eating I mean stuff my face with all the foods I shouldn’t be eating; chocolate, ice-cream, lollies including licorice all sorts, god I could go some of those right now.

I’m happy to be back and look forward to sharing some more stuff with you.