Creamy Cheese Chicken Pasta

I pretty much suck at all things housewife.  Give me a hammer and some tools and I might be a bit more comfortable.  When I do have a bit of a housewife win though I just have to share it with someone! You lucky devils!  Today's housewife offerings are a recipe for Creamy Cheese Chicken Pasta.  I got the basic recipe off the jar of Cheese Spread. Who knew you could use it to cook with!? Then I added my own little lazy housewife touches.
 

Creamy Cheese Chicken Pasta
 

Ingredients:
Cheese Spread. (Yes I'm serious, trust me on this)
Mustard (I used Honey Multigrain)
Chicken Thighs. ( I used two but if you are feeding more than 1 adult and a fussy toddler I would suggest more)
Onion (I used brown onion but it would be nice with spring onions or red onion)
Ham (or bacon)
Splash of milk
Veggies (I say veggies but all I added was corn)
Pasta (Because I am mum to a toddler all we had was simpsons pasta, it would taste nice with macaroni though)
Shredded Tasty Cheese.

Method:
1.  Dice the chicken and place in a frypan. Cook until heated through. Put the pasta on at the same time. Or if you are lazy like me just chuck them in the microwave.
2.  Add diced onion. Cook until onion is soft.
3.  Add Veggies.
4.  Add the Ham. If you chose to use bacon then it would probably be a good idea to add it earlier but ham is so much easier to use. 
5.  Add a splash of milk, 3 massive tablespoons of cheese spread and mustard to the frypan.
6.  Mix well, until everything is coated nicely with the cheese spread mixture. 
7.  Add a hanful of shredded cheese and mix well.  You will have a nice cheesy mixture.
8.  Combine the pasta and cheesy chicken.
9.  Take your pants off before consuming.

This whole meal took me 20 minutes to make. If you wanted to cut a few corners you could use a cooked chicken.

Selfishness and Parties

 A conversation on twitter yesterday got me thinking about my 21st.  In Australia the big parties seem to be the 18th, 21st and then the decades there after.  My 18th was pretty non event so I was holding out for my 21st.  The universe however had other ideas. I was 6 months pregnant with Devil Spawn for my 21st so my birthday was a no alcohol for me event.  I wanted to just go to the local pool and laze around in my giant pregnant state but apparently that was unfair to all of my other able to drink guests. Whatevs
 

Just to throw another spanner in the works Devil Papa also got shingles in the week before the party so he was too tired to stay much longer than a couple of hours.  It did make the night relatively cheaper though as two of the biggest drinkers were out of action!
 

My family traveled down for it (7 hours so was a bit of a hike for them) and we had dinner at a local pub. I had a few friends come along and it started off as a nice night.  Until one annoying friend, who is no longer my friend, started to complain.  Some part of her brain malfunctioned and she thought that the night was about her. Her brain malfunctioning is all that I can think of because surely no one is as selfish as she acted that night.
 

The party started at 630pm (I think, the memory is a bit fuzzy) and after half an hour she was complaining that she was bored and wanted to know when we planned on going clubbing.  As I already mentioned, my family had traveled 7 hours to be here, they sure as hell deserved more than 30 minutes of my time.  Also no one in their right mind goes clubbing at 7pm, there is no one out and you look like a dick.
 

My party was also a sit down dinner...no one had eaten.  If you have ever been pregnant or been around someone who is pregnant, then you know that nothing stands between a pregnant woman and her food.  Especially at the particular pub we were at. They are known for their giant meals.  Devil Papa and I go there regularly and often take left overs home as there is enough for another meal.
I tried to ignore said friend to no avail. She was adamant that we must leave as soon as possible for the clubs.  She even made a point of walking out in a huff (aka adult sized tantrum) after I had said for what felt like the 1000th time that no we were not going anywhere yet. I hadn't made plans to go clubbing at all but if the opportunity arose I'd take it. 8pm was not the opportunity that I saw.
 

The party came to a close and a few of us decided to go to a large hotel that was in the vicinity of the clubs but not completely full of douche bags.  As I mentioned, I was six months pregnant at the time and just wanted to dance without someone grinding their groin on me.  As the hotel was mainly filled with middle aged women at the time, instead of getting my arse grabbed there was lots of belly rubbing to feel like Devil Spawn kick.  He obliged by doing his usual Mexican wave across my stomach. 
 

This 'club' was obviously not to the standard of which my 'friend' was hoping for.  She once again still forgot that it was in fact my party and we were going where I damn well said we were. Yes I was an only child for 11 years...how did you guess?  She complained and huffed about how we weren't doing what she wanted to do. 

After my parents left, I told her to go do what she wanted because I was sick to death of her attitude.  I was pretty reserved and had to tell another friend who was there at the time to leave it, because I was very close to telling her to go fuck herself.
While this friend didn't ruin my night, it made the night very unpleasant.  Her selfish actions left a sour taste in my mouth and it wasn't too much longer after that, that I cut her out of my life completely.
 

Have you had a party ruined by someone else's attitude?

Listmania: Currently I am

On my usual morning social media read, I stumbled across a new linky party by Deb from Home Life Simplified. It's brand new for 2013 and has a new list of prompts each week.  The linky is open for a week so if you are a blogger then come along and join the party!

 This weeks prompt is Currently I am:

 Reading: I just finished The Perks of Being a Wallflower.  I quite enjoyed it.  I think I'll read a Janet Evanovich one next as I like to have a filler in between 'heavy' books.

Listening to: Napoleon. Devil Spawn has taken a liking to the movie. I'm just waiting for the disc to die from overuse.

Laughing at: The phrases that Devil Spawn comes out with. It's amazing seeing how his brain works when he comes out with some of the stuff he does! 

Swooning over: In light of the Breastfeeding debate that was sparked by a woman getting asked to leave a pool, the images of Ryan Gosling that are circulating. He thinks Breastfeeding is sexy ;)

Planning: I've gotten into the swing of the Menu Planning and it's actually working, most of the time.  

Eating lots of: Lattice Slice. It is yum yum and the recipe can be found here

Feeling: Completely overwhelmed...still

Discovering: Not everything is as it appears. It's better to to stabbed in the front by an enemy than stabbed in the back by a friend.

Looking at: Ways to improve the blog. Let me know what YOU want to see more of here 

Wearing: As little clothes as possible when I'm at home. It is ridiculously hot here at the moment. I feel like I am sitting in a giant pool of sweat, even at midnight.

Cooking: More meals that are easy, but still nutritious. Ones that also appeal to a fussy toddler are also winners.

Wondering: If I am taking the right steps to making 2013 my bitch. It feels like two steps forward, one step back at the moment. I will OWN it!

Trying out: A bit of goal orientated exercise with Kate and signed up for Operation Move. 

What are you currently....

 

Tasty Summer Treat!

*The following post is a review of Smooze Fruit Ice.  I received 8 products to test and give my thoughts on. All opinions expressed in the following post are my own. No monetary compensation was made for my opinions.*
 

I was super excited when I was contacted to review the Smooze Fruit Ice products.  It has been stinking hot here lately and I was pumped to try out a new frozen treat.  Upon receiving them, they promptly went into my freezer.  I think I checked them every couple of hours to see if they were frozen yet haha! I'm not sure if it is my dodgy freezer but they seemed to take a bit longer than normal ice blocks to be completely frozen. 
 

 When reading all about Smooze Fruit Ice, the first thing that stood out to me was that they are dairy free.  With allergies on the increase, it is so refreshing to see companies making yummy treats for those who can't indulge in dairy ice cream.  "Smooze Fruit Ice is made with a base of coconut milk, with real fruit added to create four delicious flavours – Pineapple + Coconut, Pink Guava + Coconut, Mango + Coconut and Simply Coconut.  Available in boxes of 10, Smooze Fruit Ice doesn’t need to be frozen all the time, making it a convenient addition to the pantry all-year around."
 

I have to admit I was a bit worried that with the Smooze Fruit Ice being made with coconut milk, I thought the coconut flavour would be quite strong and overpowering. I was however pleasantly surprised and they offered a sweet refreshing treat on a hot afternoon.  They were  a definite winner with Devil Spawn who devoured two in one sitting.  That's the great thing about them, they are small enough for little hands to handle.  The thicker cardboard packaging also means that they aren't too cold for little hands to handle. 
 

 In my package of yum I also received a few drink recipes to try with the Smooze Fruit Ice.  The breakfast smoothies weren't overly appealing to me but when I saw a Mocktail recipe I just knew that I had to try it.  Turning it into a Cocktail of course.  It was delicious and hit the spot after a long day of toddler wrangling. 

Tropical Mocktail
1 Coconut + Pineapple Smooze Fruit Ice
1/2 can Passionfruit Pulp
1 serve of Sugar Syrup *see note
1 Handful of Ice
 

Method:
In a blender mix together Smooze Fruit Ice, Sugar Syrup and Handful of Ice.  If you are using Icecubes from your freezer then I suggest smashing up the ice before blending otherwise it will take forever to chop up the ice. 
 

Pour mixture into a glass of your choice (or in my case plastic cup because I have a toddler and we can't have nice shit when he's around) and mix through Passionfruit Pulp with a spoon.
*Note: Sugar Syrup is made with 3 Tablespoons of brown sugar and a dash of water, enough to make a syrup consistency.
Add alcohol of your choice. I used vodka and I was yum! I think Malibu would go nicely with it as well.

 

 Smooze Fruit Ice doesn't need to be frozen at all times, so makes a great addition to your pantry.  In my local Coles I found them in the same aisle as the Ice-cream cones and toppings.  The media release I received stated the RRP as $6.49 AUD for a box of 10.  I went into Coles this morning to suss them out and found out that they are $5.99. Score! I love them so much I went and got my own box as we finished off the products we received yesterday.
 

They will definitely be a feature in The Funny Farm's Summer this year!
 

What's your favourite thing to eat or drink on a hot day? Have you tried Smooze?

Deprivation

Over the course of my obsession with food and weightloss, I think that I have read just about all literature and heard every line about how to achieve wellness.  A comment today sat me on my arse and made me think hmmmm.

What was that comment you ask? It was a reply to a post on an online forum about healthy eating that told the poster if she wanted to ensure her diet was healthy, then she needed to go through her cupboard and fridge and throw out the junk.  That wasn't the mind blowing statement.  This was: If you think it's bad for you, then you shouldn't be giving it to your kids either.

MIND BLOWN

We have it ingrained into our head that the kids need to eat healthy blah blah blah but whenever mummy or daddy goes on a diet, they don't eat the same food because we don't want to have to 'punish' them or deprive them of anything.  

I ask you this however.  What are you really depriving them of?

By removing junk food as a staple food item you are depriving them of the likely hood of being an overweight adult, of having high cholesterol, high blood pressure, diabetes 2, heart attack...the list goes on. 

Doesn't seem so bad now does it?

Child vs Food

Tonight I actually got up the energy to cook a meal that was nutritious...what did Mini do? He did what most 2 year olds do and screamed like I was trying to feed him arsenic. 

Our journey with food started at 4 months.  He detested Farex but devoured fruit and veges. 

He was pretty willing to eat anything that was put in front of him and I loved that I didn't have a fussy eater.  He ate stuff that both Major and I couldn't stand.

Like Broccoli *barf* 

Then the magical age of 2 started to approach and this was the face he pulled when I tried to get him to eat

It's all gone down hill from there and it's driving me up the fucking wall.  On the weekend we had spag bog and he devoured it like he has never eaten before.  The next night I served up tacos aka left over mince on chips..cue screaming like a banshee.  The night after that we had left over spag bog and again he ate like he had never been fed before.  Tonight he ate two yogurts and a packet of tiny teddies instead of the healthy meal I had cooked him.  

Despite all this, he's growing like he should be and isn't malnourished.

What has your Child vs Food journey been? Do you have a garbage disposal or a fussy eater?

I'm all about choice baby

I've been umming and ahhhing about writing about this topic because I wasn't sure how to approach it without seeming preachy or attracting unwanted attention.  In keeping with what I have going on about honesty though I decided to take the plunge...so here goes.

I think the greatest debate the many mothers, mothers-to-be and every other nosey bastard that wants to put their two cents in whether they are planning on having kids or not is 'to breastfeed or not to breastfeed'.  Go onto any parenting forum and you will no doubt find a heated debate from both sides of the fence.  

What camp do I reside in? I sit in the 'its your damn baby and your body you do whatever the hell you like as long as you are feeding them'.  I do however enter into debates if someone who bottlefed their child is being unfairly treated.

I bottle fed Mini Man and I'm not sorry for it..nor do I think it is anyone's business to try and make me feel guilty for it.  I did what was best for our situation and it worked.  In the same breath though I never begrudge a friend or woman for their ability to breast feed.  If you can and you want to, then that is awesome...but if you can't or don't want to then that is just fine too.

I've been called many names on parenting forums for choosing to bottle feed and I think it's disgusting.  As mothers we face so much judgement, so why do we feel the need to push our own judgement onto other mothers.  

I think there needs to be support for everyone.  Support if you are breastfeeding, support if you are bottle feeding.  There were a lot of questions I had when I first had my son...but I was never asked if I was ok because I 'took the easy way out'.  Anyone who bottle fed/feeds will tell you that while it is relatively easy to establish compared to breastfeeding, it is in no way as easy as established, successful breastfeeding.  I did find myself wishing I had gone the breastfeeding route for the pure on tap convenience it has once established.  I forgot to take a bottle while out shopping ONCE it never happened again.

Being a mum is hard...you are damned if you do, damned if you don't.