Choc Protein Balls

This is a super easy and tasty protein ball recipe that one of my PT friends shared with me a couple of years ago.
I have tweaked it a little to suit my tastes since then.
It’s one of those combinations that will hit the sweet spot, if you are looking for that hidden chocolate stash 😉

 

Choc Protein Balls

Ingredients

1-2 tablespoons cocoa powder

2 tablespoons peanut butter

60 grams almonds

2 scoops protein powder

1 cup rolled oats/quick oats

1 tablespoon honey/rice malt syrup

1 tablespoon milk to bind

Coconut for rolling (optional)

Method

Process the almonds into meal consistency in your Thermomix or food processor.

Throw all your other ingredients in and blend well.

Roll about a tablespoon of the mix into a ball and then roll in coconut if you choose (I don’t do this, only because I’m not a huge coconut fan) and then either freeze the balls or just pop in the fridge.

Notes 

  • If you haven’t got a food processor, you can still make these by hand.  I would suggest using quick oats and perhaps melting your honey and peanut butter to help bind everything together more easily and with a lot less elbow grease!
  • If you don’t like/can’t use almonds, you can replace the 60 grams with anything like coconut, or another nut or a mix of chia seeds as well.  The combinations are endless!

Primary version of Mother’s Day 

Today was the Mother’s Day morning at the Clowns’ school. There is an art show (awesome, my fave part!), a concert (normally skip this bit and cross the road for a coffee, yeah mum of the year won’t ever go to me!) then morning tea (in years past, this was something you didn’t want to miss). 

I love seeing the art from each primary class – they are all usually really interesting and I actually want to have a browse.  I love being able to pull each child out of class individually to do this. As a general rule, the Clowns don’t get a whole lot of one-on-one time with either parent so this is special regardless of what we are actually doing.  And I love having the chance to catch up with some mums that I may not usually see around school, now the eldest two are out of prep.  This year is also the first time I have been younger sibling free. It was kinda weird. But great.  No appeasing a bored child/ren was awesome!   To be able to talk, uninterrupted is still a thing I take great delight in! 

Here are each of the clowns with their art for the show….  

Reuben and his crazy cats
  
Ella and her painted flower pot
  
Owen and his emu
    

 

You actually bought one?!

Yup, I did!  That’s my answer.  

Yes, I did get the new version.  

And yes, I DO love it!  That’s my next answer.  

I DO ACTUALLY use it daily, sometimes several times a day.  Sometimes not.  It just depends on the day and what we feel like and what I need to get done for meals or prepping for the week.  

I have found that I prep a whole lot with it.  More than I ever thought I would.  

I need to convert more of our usual and familiar recipes.  This is probably the one area where we should be utilizing it more.  

Yes, I believe it is worth it.  But you need to not be scared of using the thing.  It isn’t scary.  It’s a tool.  Use it!!  Experiment.  Try a few new things.  Challenge your family to try it out (if you’re game!!).

I have had my Thermomix since November last year.  I do love it.  Honestly!  I am cooking more things from scratch, sometimes because it’s just that little bit easier and faster.  Sometimes because I want to test out something new and specifically for the Thermomix.  Sometimes because I have seen something on Instagram or Facebook that catches my taste buds’ attention.  Marc even likes it.  Whether it was the novelty of it inititally, or the ease of use and friendly instructions (hello fresh pizza dough!  Made by Marc!! That is made just as fast as ordering take away…)  He cooks more than he ever has, and that is a benefit that has paid for the machine in itself, kind of!! 

Either way, it gets used a whole lot.  And I am happy I finally invested in one.  And it is an investment.  I see it as an investment.  

HOWEVER!  We are NORMAL!  

We still have ‘off’ days.  You know, days where I call Marc on his way home to get take away.  We still buy bread, even though I have made bread rolls and scrolls and bagels etc.  We still buy jars of pasta sauce.  I can honestly say that this will probaly always be the norm for our family.  

And that is totally OK with me.  

Mxo

Banana and choc chip miffins

I posted this recipe way back in 2010 on a recipe blog a few of us cooking-loving friends decided to put together.  The blog, sadly has been neglected by us all for some time now, but I still head back to it for a few favourite recipes every so often.  This is one of those recipes.  No matter how many times I have made this recipe, I still, for the life of me can never ever quite remember the whole thing 🙂  So I’m bringing it back and sharing it with you all…
 M xo
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Why miffins?  Well, instead of admitting to a typo (me?!  Never!!!), mini muffins are now known as miffins in our house!  As a general rule, I am not a fan of baked banana goods.  Give me a real, fresh banana any day.  But these muffins are chocolatey and banana-ery without having that typical banana bread taste.  It may be the sour cream?  I don’t know, but I’m not complaining!  It’s a great way to use up those sad looking bananas that sit in our fruit bowl all on their own and just know they aren’t going to be eaten.
Ingredients
  • 1 3/4 cups plain flour, sifted
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 2/3 cup caster sugar
  • 1 cup sour cream
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/4 cup vegetable oil
  • 2 small bananas mashed
  • 3/4 cup chopped milk chocolate or milk chocolate chips

Method

  1. Preheat oven to 180 C.
  2. Place flour, baking powder & sugar in a bowl.
  3. In another bowl, whisk together sour cream, eggs & oil until combined.
  4. Fold into the flour mixture with the banana & chocolate, stirring until just combined.
  5. Spoon mixture into well greased muffin tray, bake for 25 minutes or until golden brown.
  6. Allow to stand in the tray for 5 mins.
  7. Cool on a wire rack.

Makes 12 muffins or 24 miffins

My Notes
  • Using 2 large bananas as opposed to the 2 small bananas as listed in the ingredients doesn’t make a difference to this recipe.
  • I always add more choc chips of any colour, it wouldn’t be right if I didn’t!
  • If I have only a bit of sour cream left in the container, I add that in too.  Doesn’t seem to make any difference to the end result.
  • For me, these muffins stick to paper muffin pans so I generally use the silicon ones if I need them in patty papers for these.

Adjustmenting

* warning : there are a lot of shouty words in this post.  I tried not to, but couldn’t help myself.  


Yep, I’m making up words again…

Adjustmenting : the act of changing tact to cope with one’s situation

I should start writing my own dictionary…
The 2015 Harvey Edition…
6000 new and improved words to add to your vocabulary!
I’m sure I could stretch it out to a least 6001…  

 

Any who….!  Back to what I actually wanted to talk about!!  


We have all three clowns at school now.  Prep, grade one and grade four.  And it’s been a bigger adjustment for this mum than I probably care to let on.  But this is the place to talk of all things, no matter if they are the good, the bad, or the ugly…  So let’s get on with it, shall we?!

Ella going into prep?  The child I ever so confidently thought would BREEZE through that classroom door everyday, from day one.  Yeah, well.  That didn’t happen.  She obviously didn’t get the memo.  How can you go from practically owning the Kindy, to digging your heals in AT THE DOOR on most days, because you just DO NOT want to go to school?  I don’t get it.  And because I am a mean mum, I leave her there.  In the care of a wonderful teaching team and she has an awesome day.  Every.  Single.  Day.  This child is doing my head in.

Grade one is just plain HARD.  Hard classroom, hard homework, hard playtime, hard swimming lessons.  You get the picture.  Life is just hard for the middle child.   And Reuben will tell anyone who will listen (or not, he’s not picky) all about his predicament that doesn’t seem to be changing to his liking.  I can’t get over how much his reading has improved in just a few short weeks of grade one, even though it’s all so HARD.  I think once he gets over himself, grade one will be fantastic everyday, not just on PE days.

Owen is loving grade four.  The extra responsibility and independence you are allowed once you hit grade four is significantly different to grade three.  And the teachers let them know just WHO is responsible, too. And that person is not me, or Marc.  It’s the kid.  It’s all Owen.  And that has been GOOD.   Excellent for him.  He doesn’t need to be reminded (too much) about what he needs to get ready for the day, or what uniform he needs to wear, whether it’s homework day etc etc.  I only hope that this new enthusiasm and responsibility lasts the whole year.  I have my fingers and toes crossed.  The workload he brings home however, is MASSIVE.  I really do feel for those parents of kids who don’t or wont do their homework.  Thankfully, Owen just takes it in his stride, and buckles down and just gets it done.  I have heard of parents having to bribe their kids to do homework or read or practice their spelling words.  So glad we haven’t had to resort to these measures.  Although, if you had of asked me two years ago, I would have jumped at the chance to try anything and everything to get him to do his homework without fighting about it!!

Marc has started a new role.  Which means more travel.  More time at the office. More meetings.  More of everything.  Which is great, really it is.  He revels in the challenge.  We, the other four, however are used to him being home more rather than less and not having to go away so much.  We have been spoilt these last couple of years so now we adjust accordingly.  Dinner times are sometimes Dad-less.  Nights are sometimes Dad-less.  But that’s OK.  We can handle it!  Some days ‘handling it’ requires more m and ms or an extra coffee…  But that’s OK too.

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See?  Adjustmenting is a perfect word to use here!  We are all trying to go with the flow and fit everything in and adjust accordingly.

One day we will get it right.  One day…

M xo

 

 

 

Pinning. It’s a disease.

I can’t help myself.

Hi, my name is Meegan  and I am a Pinterest addict.

I am sitting at the computer, fresh vanilla latte in hand, the washing machine is telling my I have 38 sweet, sweet minutes before it demands my attention.  So what do I do?  START PINNING!
Emails that have been staring at me for a few days?
Pffft!
They can wait.
Replying to text messages and Facebook?
Nup.
PINNING.
PIN PIN PINNING…..!  My happy place 🙂

That (and catching up on Lost Girl) is all I really want to do for those few short 38 minutes.

It’s a disease, I tell you!

So what have I been pinning, I hear you ask?  Well, everything.  New dinner ideas, Thermomixing (is so a word.  I just added it to my dictionary, so it must be!) inspiration, things to help my three clowns with their homework and to keep the younger two occupied quietly while the biggest is still going on his school work, exercise tutorials, crafting things, inspiration for the house…  So much!!  Pinterest

You can follow my pinning adventures, there it a button up on this blog to come see what I’ve been pinning.
I also share a few things on the Harvey Circus Facebook page. If you don’t already, come follow me on FB!
Would love to see you there 🙂

Brag-ara 2015

We packed up and took the Circus to Bargara for a whole seven days this week just gone.  And it was THE BEST!

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Beach Clowns

We had booked and planned this break for nearly six months, with family friends who we like to go camping with on an (almost) regular basis, the Hunter’s.  So we made up a holiday group of nine – us five plus Sarah, Brett, Grace and Little O (Owen).  Plenty of people to play with and hang out with, which always seems to work well with our two families.  Camping with the Hunter clan is easy.  You know, when you have those friends that you know whatever tantrum the kids are throwing, where quiet time apart is OK and happens naturally, or whatever they want to do next, it’s all good?  Yeah, that’s the Hunter’s for us Harvey’s.  Despite the ages differences (9 down to 3), all five kids get along so well and are a pleasure to watch.  I really hope, and I’m sure they will, stay great friends.

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Owen doing some of the hard yards for the dam building project.

To say I was looking forward to this week at the beach was an understatement.

Christmas?  New Year?  Nup.  Well, yes… but nope! Bring on Bargara!

A whole week away with the beach just across the road, plenty of walking/riding paths, a skate park, the beach, a coffee shop, drinks with dinner, the beach, scootering, ice blocks on the grass, did I mention the beach?!  In a cabin this time, so we were a little more comfortable (read – no sand in beds!!!!!).  Heaven!

So we spent the week swimming, bike riding, running around, swimming again, turtle watching (that’s another post altogether), and most importantly, catching up on some decent family time that really hasn’t happened at all this year.  A week of no distractions was awesome.  And just what we all needed, I think.  Marc is back to work again today and having that week away right before going back to work hopefully means he feels a little bit rested and rejuvenated for the full on year he has ahead.

The brag-ara bit?  It was a week for firsts and random achievements for all the kids.  Which, if you follow my instagram account, you would have been spammed by all my holiday pics.  Luckily I wasn’t on a social media ban for the week!

Ella learnt how to ride with no training wheels on her bike!  And by the end of the week could start off on her own, she still needs to work on her braking though….
All three Clowns learnt how to ride the waves with boogie boards.  And loved it so much that we made a trip into Bundaberg to get them boards of their own.
Little O learnt to use his brakes, not his shoes to stop with.
And Grace, she learnt to rider her scooter more confidently!

To put each day in Owen’s words, “that was the BEST DAY EVER!!”

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I’ve never been sun burnt on my butt before! (And never will again….!)
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Reuben watching the surf.
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This face. Every time she caught a wave all the way back in. Priceless! (This is also how my butt got sun burnt…  Helping kids catch the shallower waves.  The things we do..!)  
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The boys and the kids. They built an epic structure, only to be gleefully stomped all over. I think Marc and Brett were secretly upset that all their hard work was demolished in seconds…

Now, how can we top that?!

Oh, yeah.. that’s right… by coming crashing back to reality with 637852 loads of washing and a welcoming water-logged Brisbane…!
And planning our January 2016 Hunter/Harvey trip!!

Mxo

 

Whoa! There goes 2014!!

What an amazingly FAST year!
With two Clowns at school, and the littlest Clown at Kindy, this year has been one filled with loads of running around, drop offs and pick ups, house renovating stuff, sport, homework, sight words, readers, finding my exercise mojo and making that part of our week, fitting in a new job, a puppy addition to the circus, Marc going on loads of business trips and diving into a new role. To say it’s been a massive year is probably a perfect description!

My plan initially was to blog (more than not at all!) and cruise through this year, helping Reuben transition to Prep and enjoying Ella’s last year before all three Clowns are at school. Well that didn’t really happen too often… I am thankful for our regular coffee dates and the quiet Monday’s we had at home after full on weekends, just us girls at home, cleaning up and regrouping with a Barbie movie (or three) and some down time before the next round of craziness started each Tuesday.

So living through instagram as my social media outlet has been my thing this year. I love instagram. I love my little community of real life and virtual friends around the globe. I love the support and friendship and real life antics of these people that have become part of my everyday. Checking in with my ig friends has kept me sane, kept boredom at bay, kept me laughing, has made me shed a tear or few, found me a bargain, taught me things, opened my eyes to yet a wider world.

It’s a special place, that instagram.

2015 though, is going to me yet another crazy year, I’m sure. But one that has a little more focus on me and what I want to achieve in the next twelve months. I have plans, people! Plans that need action! Plans that need my family to start the process of supporting me, not necessarily me supporting them 100% of the time.

Now it’s time for a break though, to start the school holidays on the right foot, with loads of down time to recharge and rest those weary kid brains. Time for our family to have a proper break before 2015 takes hold with both hands and doesn’t let go.

M xo

School 2014

All the Clowns have begun their school year now and all three have been chomping at the bit to start school this year!

First Day of School 2014
Owen going into Grade 3, Reuben starting Prep and Ella going to Kindergarten has meant for a huge start to the year for everyone here.
Loads of changes and different routines and new faces and places.
New systems set up at home for what will hopefully mean a smooth(er) start and finish to the day.
Different homework routines as Owen starts using more electronic methods of learning and Reuben gets a feel for homework for the very first time.
To hopefully help everyone be more organised in the mornings and better prepared for what they have on for the day, I have set up a small ‘Drop Zone’ for school bags, shoes, hats, swimming gear and an A3 colour coded weekly schedule for all the kids.  So far, after two full days or using the system, the boys have remembered everything and Reuben is feeling confident about the day before he gets to his classroom.  Ella doesn’t have much to bother about at all, but to help her get into the same routine as the boys, her kindy bag etc is also part of the Drop Zone.  An added win – the kids love the name we gave our little spot!  Once I add a few more hooks to hang the hats I’ll take a pic.
Anyway, here are the obligatory first day photos.
Everyone has come come each day with massive grins and each says they have had awesome days.  Yay!
First Day of Kindy 2014

Scattered.

It’s been a funny break, this lot of school holidays. I wouldn’t even call it a holiday or a break really. Maybe that will come in the Easter break. I really hope it does. We all need it. Already.

We have had some major changes around our parts. Mainly, moving house right before Christmas. Which of course meant great upheaval and mess and chaos and anxiousness and uncertainty and pressure. But excitement and happiness and relief and contentment, too.

Change is as good as a holiday, right? Well we made a change IN the holidays, so what does that mean? Well, for us, it has meant that there really hasn’t been a holiday. Not at all. Not even much down time, where we literally act like sloths and laze about for a few days straight. Nup. That hasn’t happened. And this family generally requires that time to get it (back) together. To regroup. To refocus. To reset. Not this time though. There has been too much to get done, with deadlines.

I am not organised. I have not been organised for about three months, if I am honest with myself. And I hate it. I hate this place I’m in. It’s not me. Not at all.

I completely bombed out at Christmas. Acting so unlike me, and not having presents ready, Christmas cards were not even thought of, let alone sent out. We didn’t fit in as much of our usual Christmas traditions. We didn’t make it into the city to see the lighting of the tree. We missed out on quite a few Christmas events. I didn’t have Christmas day/ Boxing Day food prepped or even thought of until the very last minute. I even ran out of sticky tape and wrapping paper at the eleventh hour.
To me, it was a Christmas Fail.

And I will do much better this year.

Then there has been the unenthusiastic, on strike cook. It’s as if all motivation and inspiration has done an exit stage left from my brain. It keeps getting to 5pm and I have no desire to get started and nothing in mind for dinner, much less the ingredients on hand to make anything remotely decent for the Circus. So very unlike me. I love to cook, just seemingly not right now.

Exercise and good diet have been a distant friends. I could blame the heat, but that is just a pitiful excuse. I could blame the holidays, in general. That I will take on as a genuine reason. Oh and house packing up, moving, painting, unpacking, adding in Christmas to the mix as well, and you don’t really have a great routine going to make that time for myself.
In hindsight though, I think I should have at least stuck fast with the excerise. I think it would have kept me more focused. More patient. More fun to be around. More normal. More me.

School prep has been slow too. Thankfully, my former organised Self, decided to purchase all the boys school uniforms and paraphernalia long before school finished for the year. However, I of course was not able to order books and stationery etc etc that far in advance, so I kind of conveniently forgot about all that other stuff that has to be done. It’s all done now. But not in my usual fashion.

But it has now hit the business end of the holidays.
Procrastination can’t be allowed in anymore.
There has to be a turning point.

Now. It has to be today.

Because tomorrow is the beginning of Reuben’s schooling career.
Because Owen is embarking on Grade Three.
Because Ella starts Kindergarten on Thursday.
Because Marc already knows he has a massive year ahead, work wise.
Because I need to get my shit together so we function well.

So. As I sit here, confessing my holiday sins, I have mustered up enough effort to make a batch of banana choc chip muffins for the poor kids lunches.
Dinner prep has started. At the very least, today I thought about it way before 5pm…
I have almost finished getting the boys ready for school tomorrow.
Three books that require contacting are staring me down. Waiting for the sticky face off that must happen sooner rather than later.
Two spanking new school hats need labels ironed on.

Good luck to all those Preppies and Parents starting school this week. And to all those starting in new schools, I hope you make at least one friend on your very first day. I’m sure you will do great. Smile. Be kind.