Dull Roar Breakfasting

I am a terrible breakfaster.
I just somehow don't breakfast. I am not one who feels sick in the mornings or any plausible sounding excuse. I do get swept away in the chaos of the day two children to get ready for school, breastfeed the baby, get everyone else breakfast, manage to make a couple of cappucinos for myself and long suffering Husband etc and before I know it it is lunch time and the blood sugar is plummeting. 

Not good, not slimming either. It seems to have something to do with keeping your metabolism cranked up and not letting your blood sugar get so low you are inhaling pumpkin gingerbread by 11.50am. (by the way I LOVE pumpkin gingerbread. I am also aware that it probably negates the redeeming features of having healthful, ingredients if I eat eight slices in a sitting, which I have done- did I mention I liked it?).

So I know that eating breakfast has a multitude of benefits but only if you keep that blood sugar steady (so no sugar coated flakes with milk). I also know if something isn't mindblowingly quick and easy I will simply not do it because I can be rather lazy. Doing My Blackmores program has been a little bit of a challenge but it does tend to fit in with lifestyles of the rushed and lazy fairly well so inspired by the meal plans I have a couple of faithful breakfasts I am actually managing to make and eat for more than two weeks now!
Busy parent breakfasts:
Eggs and Spinach on toast:
Take a small handful of frozen spinach, pop it in the microwave on a saucer, microwave for 30 secs, crack and egg onto it (pierce yolk AND white with eggshell or a fork if you are all lah-di-dah about it) salt and pepper, cover with a side plate and microwave for another 45 seconds to a minute whilst a piece of toast (from the freezer). Serve the egg and spinach on the toast and on the side plate used for cooking. Easy, healthy, bugger all washing up.
Porridge: use proper rolled oats not those gluey quick oats, use boiling water from the kettle. If you are feeling really lazy eat from pot with a pinch of salt and soak pot all day. Or you could add frozen bluberries. Babies like this too.
Yoghurt and muesli with frozen berries: (oh c'mon you don't need me to describe it do you?- just watch the portion sizes- scales are good for this).
 I will get a bit more experimental with breaky- maybe mix it up with a smoothie or two or a muffin I made earlier but for now I am delighted that I have found breakfasts I am actually eating I don't want to complicate things too much. 

What about you, do you breakfast? What do you eat? How do you manage it?

What is the Dull Roar Philosophy?

What is the Dull Roar Philosophy?

I have three children, two boys currently four and six and a baby girl who is six months. Combine this with running (and expanding) a business with my beloved, an enthusiasm for cooking and a blindspot when it comes to housework and things get interesting.
That's why I examine things against my Dull Roar Philosophy. It's not about perfect organisation. It's about keeping the chaos down to a dull roar. I am not one for organisation. It's really boring for me, I didn't sign on for marriage and motherhood to devote myself to arranging children's belongings and unfortunately my younger son has inherited a more severe form of Pig Pen syndrome which I suffer from so having a spotless house and scrubbed clean children is never going to work.
Here's a few things I do to keep things down to a dull roar.

• Multi-tasking errands, a trip to the market forms part of the food shop and is exercise and entertainment for the family. 
• Feeding the children raw vegetables when they are watching television. Television is excellent for promoting mindless eating so if healthy food has been low and they are watching TV I give them carrots. tomatoes, beans etc.
• Teaching the children to do the housework. This is in the first stages but they are nearly as good as me. This doubles as entertainment for a few minutes. They like vacuumming and unpacking the dishwasher best at present!
• Older child reads his daily school reader to the family for the bedtime story.
• I make custard in the Thermomix often for breakfast, this sounds counter-intuitive but with an egg and rapadura instead of sugar and served with frozen berries in is a wholesome start to the day and the Thermomix does all the work!

So I try to get the most bang for the least buck (or effort). And try to keep the chaos down to a dull roar.
I think it's kind of sort of working!

Keeping it at a Dull Roar

I have to try to balance things carefully at the moment, they are really going well enough but at the back of my mind is a lurking awareness that it could all fall in a screaming heap what with the newborn, recovery from pregnancy and birth, two boisterous sons, a business to keep going, rental properties to try to rent and manage, blogging, trying to stay healthy and unstressed oh and a predisposition towards  anxiety and depression.
It's a challenge but it is going OK so far. Multitasking is the bomb right now. Breastfeeding and blogging, breastfeeding and meditating, breastfeeding and paying bills, breastfeeding and sleeping. Bubby goes in a sling which allows a bit of batch baking (biscotti, fruit bread, gingerbread). walking to the markets gets me exercise (for health and mental wellbeing), keeps the boys entertained and bubby soothed and the shopping done. Housework has always been minimal but I have found that many tasks only take 5 minutes and you can fudge some (sweeping the carpet under dining table when I do the kitchen floor anyone?). So far I haven't done more than 15 minutes at a time but Yoga is very important for my stress management and strength. I have found that the boys like to eat vegetables in front of the TV whilst I am making dinner, this suits me, if their appetite is spoiled it is spoiled by vegetables and makes me feel like I am trying to keep them as healthy as possible. They like to snack on frozen corn kernels and carrots as a rule and even ask for them if I don't hand them over but cherry tomatoes, cucumber and red capsicum go down well as well. 
I am tired now but honestly our little girl is pretty good at sleeping for a tiny girl so I am not complaining!

The sun pops out periodically and that makes things easier and lets be frank the odd Pizza doesn't go astray either.
I wonder what thrifty tips you could give me to make my life easier for now?

Wayward Solicitors and Vexing Babies

Here's my hot tip for today. Google your service providers before you pay them a retainer. Sometimes you might find something interesting. Like an article about your solicitor on a national news site. One where it details his alleged use of a Lesbian porn website called "Hot young girls with suntanned skin going at it" (hmm catchy) and the fact that he narrowly escaped being disciplined by the law society on a technicality and has been swearing in court and throwing documents about and that judges have variously referred to him as "incompetent" and blatantly stated that he has no credibility amongst other gems. This wasn't on a user reviewed website where anyone can write anything, but a newspaper with quotes from actual judges and magistrates. Hmm, no wonder we hadn't had much progress on our cases... One of our previous solicitors was being investigated because she took funds from a trust fund for some post baby plastic surgery and to buy a new boat. We just don't have much luck with solicitors!

Keeping things to a Dull Roar at our house at the moment involves lots of finger food in front of the TV for dinner as I keep having prolonged bouts of non productive contractions (Hello pre-labour! Aren't you just the thing?) and keep trying to plan for bubby's arrival which seems like it is never coming- I am not overdue yet- just worn out from so many nights and days of pains. I know labour will probably be fast but my last labour was 1.5 hours and I didn't need so much warm-up!

It's raining now so no walking. I think I will give myself a break and go fill the house with convenience foods (hopefully keep the costs down and the convenience and actual food up!) so the family has something eat if I ever go in to hospital or for the evening when I am huffing my way through more painful non-productive contractions.
 At least finding out about the solicitor has given me a much needed belly laugh for the day!

Here's a picture my dear husband took of me last night because he seems to love taking pictures of me when I am heavily pregnant and having contraction pain- I am getting quite a collection being on my third pregnancy. I am not sure what he likes about them but this one captures the whole feel of the moment I must say.