Ingredients (serves 3)
* 3 XL eggs (or 4 medium)
* 60g chopped deli leg ham
* 1 small/medium onion chopped into rings
* 1 small bunch broccoli
* 40g Parmesan cheese (finely grated)
* a bit less than 1/2 cup natural yogurt or light sour cream
* 3 second spray olive oil
* 1 tsp olive oil

Method:
1. Preheat oven to 200•C

2. Blanch broccoli under just tender, drain and rinse with cold water, drain again.

3. Cook onions for approx 10mins with olive oil (liquid) until tender

4. Spray oil in small baking dish, line with baking paper

5. Mix eggs and yogurt together until smooth

6. Place 1/2 the broccoli, ham, onion, egg mixture and parmesan in the lined dish - repeat with the second half

7. Cook at 200•C (mine turned out a touch wonky as my oven is fan forced) for 30-40mins, allow to set for 10 mins before serving

8. Serve with cracked pepper and a side salad & enjoy!

This recipe is adapted from Broccoli, Leek and Ham Frittata by Weight Watchers & is worth 5 ProPoints - delish!!

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purityrach!

I can't really blame myself, I spend more time reading blog after blog about babies and mothering (all of course with a dash of humor and a smidgen of swearing) and I feel like I really can't be bothered writing a blog. I don't have anything big to write about. Should I write a food blog? Hmm, probably not. It's not really that interesting reading about someone who cooks a bit from scratch but really chucks bits & pieces together to make food that 'will do' as I'm definitely not a gourmet and really don't want to be.

Do I rant and rave about my (somewhat) boring and mundane life? Or do I plan and dream about where my career and life might take me? Do I dream and ponder life's little mysteries like 'why can't I stick to a goal?' or 'why does my dog love pineapple?'. Maybe I'll morph my space into a weight loss blog and hide when I inevitably fall off the band wagon? All viable options, but I don't think I can pigeon hole myself just yet!

I will be focusing in real life on my fitness and health. I hate writing shit here because even though I have the teensiest, tiniest following, I always feel like arse when I fall off the bandwagon, but I'm seriously sick of doing so. I've signed back up to weight watchers, this time going with a friend to keep the motivation high. I've tracked everything that I have eaten and drank - the good, the bad and the downright ugly.

But I'm happy to report, it's been 6 days and I'm going fabulously. Completely on track, haven't missed a beat. Looking forward to going to my next meeting and hopefully seeing a drop! Already tee'd up with JD that I am buying some clothes and a new pair of shoes at my 5% goal (hopefully within 4-6 weeks) and I will contemplate my 10% goal when I reach my 5%. I hope to realistically lose 30-40kgs by my wedding. It's totally doable (on paper). But it's more than that. It's not about looking glamorous, it's about being happy & healthy. I've always been loved and liked irrespective of the size of my pants. I want to love myself as best I can, by proving to myself that I can achieve. I've got 21kgs to lose before I'm back down at my lightest (which was when JD and I started dating). I still can't believe that I managed to stack on that much weight in less than 3 years.

But it's time to move on. No need to get upset. I lost 16kgs watching my intake, increasing my exercise and when I was in the right frame of mind. I felt better, my clothes weren't snug and my bum was less shelf-like. I know I can do this. Little bit by little bit. I hope to reach goal within 2 years (keeping in mind I realistically have 60kgs I could lose) I won't know where I feel happy & healthy until I try.

Week one's mini goal was to track my food, research recipes and 'best options' and I'm happy to give this one a big, fat CHECK!

Week two's mini goal will be to wear my pedometer, see how many steps I do in a normal day and round up to the nearest 1000.

Not getting ahead of myself - you'll just have to wait for week three! Be on the lookout for recipes, results and rambling. Hopefully the falling off the wagons will be kept as a minimum and the excuses kept at bay.

I currently have my lunch in the oven - broccoli, onion & ham frittata.. Stay tuned for the recipe!

xo Rach

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Feeling a wee bit down as I haven't blogged about anything in hmmm a long time. Not wanting to look really because I'll get really down on myself.

Anyhow, it's kind of hard to blog when your life is fairly uninteresting. Work, sleep, study and a little bit of play. Really pleased that I've finished for the semester, hopefully that realization will kick in sooner rather than later.

Things I must do this weekend: vacuum my car, wash my car and wash my puppies.. Who said I had nothing to blog about?!

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Well and truly just had enough today.

Assessment time again and I'm thrown back to 2007 where I absolutely hated going to uni and would stay up til 1am then power nap til 4am and alternate between snacking, writing out notes, getting in and out of bed and typing up shit on the computer because I'd get cramps in my hands. Oh the life of a uni student. Exciting isn't it.

I've felt very mature since I started juggling full time work with distance education. I've certainly crammed more shit into less time, but definitely haven't stopped leaving everything til the absolute last minute. It's like I crave that deadline, but the truth is I'm really lazy.

I've given up for today. I have well and truly reached my eyebrows in not giving a fuckism. It's been over 6 months since I've had any real time off and the last holiday I had was a surprise to me and I went back to work about 4 hours after I got home (certainly not complaining... I had the time of my life!) before this, I had 2 weeks off to pack (yes.. Pack I shit you not) and that was hmm.. 18 months ago.

I am seriously burnt out. I keep going from job to job in search of something more desirable, but really I think that just taking a break might do me the world of good.

The last few weeks have been feral. A wedding and associated dates, a baby shower, birthdays, party planning, assignments, exams and a partridge in a pear tree. It's mainly been exciting, but my lack of laze around and do sweet f a is sneaking up on me. My brain has shut off and packed up shop.

I'm setting my alarm for somewhere in the vicinity of 3am to try and nut out some more of my essay planning and gauge where abouts I'm up to, to see if I can realistically finish by midnight tomorrow or if I have to chuck a sickie (which I surprisingly don't want to do)

So plan is:
* Get up at 3am, read notes I've written, write a few more before I leave for work (hopefully have all my articles written out in note form)

* 8am - leave for work (don't really care as long as I'm there by 9).

* 1pm - lunch. Write intro/something small.

* 6pm - get home (get dinner on way home). Start typing up essay, get extra references as needed.

* 11pm - curl up in a ball and cry. You're never going to pull shit off.

you need to stop putting this shit off until the last minute.

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Cleansing the soul by decluttering my inbox, messages, calendar and blog posts (yeah, I don't care judgmental red dotted line.. I'll make up words if I want to). Struggling a bit to put everything into perspective at the moment, reading too much into everything. Hypersensitive. All in all, not really very productive. Was in a dark place yesterday, glad to report I've picked myself up.

Happy go lucky, smiley and strong.

Plans for the rest of the week (ok 3 days..) complete my online exam, wash my clothes, laugh & smile at a friends wedding and recover on Sunday.

Life isn't as bad as I lead myself to believe. I refuse to bring myself down again.

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Feeling inspired after reading 4 billion blog posts while waiting for answers at our local ED (funnily enough.. Nothing about this experience is sparking any anger.. Everyone has been fab - just wanting to clarify)

Leggings as pants

No. Just no. I'm well known for this hate on of leggings as pants (I don't care if you call them Jeggings or tights) they are still not pants. If your shirt or your skirt does NOT cover your unmentionables, stop assaulting my eyes with this horrible fashion statement.

Mullet dresses

Especially the ones with a vast range in hemlines. Oh my god. I just want to cut some off the back and stitch it up the front. I'm a Nanna and don't like fashion. I don't understand it at all. It's like they got my memo about having a booty and wanting some extra fabric in the back but took it to the extremes. Sigh.

Asshats who touch things that don't belong to them

In the recent months I've had my car tampered with twice, at 2am in the morning and it just shits every fibre of my being. I work hard for my things and you need to fuck in the off direction and stop fondling my door handle when you think I'm asleep. JD was unfortunate enough to have his aerial pulled out AND have his rear spoiler ripped off within a week of each other. Asshats I tell you.

People who are impatient

As mentioned, I'm currently at the hospital with JD waiting for a ward bed. There was a right royal bogan junkie sitting next to us in the waiting room sprouting off gems like 'there's my nurse.. Oi!' and 'fuck this shit, I'm not waiting here with these people for a bed' please, kindly fuck off. Don't take beds of those like JD who, at the time had a spiking fever and needed fluids and still had to sit in the waiting room connected to an IV or the poor old bloke who had to be stuck in a wheelchair and pushed to the corner with his IV pole because as it was explained to us there was no beds whatsoever. So I'm sorry love that you need to wait around for a bed so you can have your operation in the morning. At least you can walk around and at least you'll be getting fixed up in the morning. How about saying thank you to the staff who are working around the clock, not sleeping in THEIR beds so you can get well and get back to yours?

Lack of sleep

I'm a sook of gigantic proportions. I can't handle not sleeping. I need at least a solid 7 hours or I am Cranky McStroppypants.

The fact envelopes cost a fortune

The lovely Miss Chrissy and I made invites for a small family engagement party and i finished them off 2 days ago. Yeah, go me! However I'm being a Jew McJew and not wanting to spend $1.50 on each F-ing envelope, FFS?! What's with that?! I now understand why people hand deliver and sport the plain DL envelopes at $4/box. And while I'm at it when did stamps cost 60c each?!

And that is what grinds my gears. Lindsay Lohan and her little outfits. Tell me what you want Lindsay!

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So I just finished watching Something Borrowed with Kate Hudson, Ginnifer Goodwin & some extremely hot gentleman with the last name of Eggleston.

Anyway, I don't know if it was the blush worthy hotness of the leading man or the way the plot line rung home that really drew me into the movie (have I mentioned he's hot? Like a sophisticated Zac Efron meets the spunk appeal of Channing Tatum with the smile of Mr Ryan Reynolds.. I'm getting a little hot under the covers here.)

Basically in a nut shell, kate & ginnifer are BFFs. Ginnifer & hot guy go to uni together, hot guy starts relationship with Kate. All the while hot guy is pining for ginnifer.. Anyway, the message that is drummed home is that cheating is ok (if you have feelings for someone else). Because I'm a geek of gigantic proportions, I usually read movie reviews after I have formed my own opinion because I don't really care if anyone else liked it I have a unique taste in movies.

As previously mentioned, I don't know if it was the trance like state I went into everytime Hotty McHotstuff got his shirt off or because I really thought it was a good movie. Kind of got me thinking - what would happen if you met the love of your life, but you already married someone else?

I don't believe in 'one true loves', soul mates or even destiny. I do believe that love is many things and love is worked on. Love is understanding. Love is trust and communication. Love is saying sorry and meaning it. Love is sometimes cliche and sometimes spontaneous. Love is what you make of it.

Not many people know that when I met my fiancé I was is another relationship. Not one, but two relationships. The person I now cuddle up to every night was the person who gave me advice when I didn't want to cuddle up to the others anymore.

We were friends and never intended any different. It was all completely above board (at least for the first one). If I believed in true love, I couldn't have possibly stayed just friends with my fiancé for 2 years while I tried to talk through the problems with his girlfriend, while he helped me straighten out my life. No tension, no flirting. Just friends.

What rings true for me from the movie is the fact that sometimes you realise things when it appears too late. Like the ship has sailed.. Sometimes you have to be bold, be ruthless and go for what you think is right. I ended a shit relationship not for another one directly, but opening myself up to the options of exploration and change. I don't agree with aspects of the movie to do with being deceitful (especially toward friends) but I do understand at times that while cheating isn't acceptable, sometimes it's permissible to drill home the fact that you are no longer happy. Sometimes I think we want to be caught to finally make it go away.

All in all though (and this is just my opinion so spare the hurling of tomatoes please) if you think it's ok to cheat on someone you 'love'.. You obviously don't love them, you may love the idea of them, but not much more. Make up your mind - if your ready to cheat, you're ready to leave. always be the better person and be honest.

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Now, I guess this one comes with a disclaimer.. I am under no delusion that i'm a gourmet chef, I am just a regular girl who loves cooking, likes getting creative with flavours and most importantly.. A girl who dislikes going to the shops after the weekly shop is done.

So, this recipe is an adaptation of several recipes (and a few thoughts of my own) to make an easy, throw together chicken noodle soup.

Ingredients:
* chicken breast staple in most houses.. Always have one on hand!
* thin hokkien noodles happened to have these on hand from a chili stirfry I did a few months back (generally I don't like them)
* shallots ok, I bought these to make chicken & corn soup but inspiration took hold!
* carrots, 2 thinly sliced another fridge staple
* onion, thinly sliced and diced completely optional
* minced garlic or fresh would be best.. But I like the convenience of the minced stuff
* celery bought this for chicken & salad on Friday night.. So definitely came in handy for the soup base
* chili, 1 small diced & deseeded if you like heat, always have these in your fridge, they make a simple meal, special
* chicken stock powder I guess you could use the carton stuff, but you can't control the strength and my inner Jew comes out.. You can make it go much further. As a plus, you can mix it in with cream to make potato bake or carbonara!

Method:
1. Fry up the onion, celery and carrots in a bit of olive oil in the pot you will use to make the soup.. Let them cook until the onions become semi translucent
2. Pour in stock (about 750ml- 1L)
3. Stir
4. Add in noodles, stir
5. Add in garlic and chili
6. Add in diced chicken and poach (about a minute or so)
7. Add in shallots and let boil/ simmer for a little while.
8. Serve (and most importantly.. Enjoy!

Notes:
Adding in fresh parsley/coriander would make it taste better (but I didn't have any!).

If you aren't a spicy food lover, you could replace the chili with a bigger chili and use the same amount (the little chilli's are much hotter).

If you can't stand spice, I would omit the chili, up the herbs and add more chicken stock powder to intensify the flavour.

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Had the best relaxing morning, curled up in bed with my (boy) favourite. I woke up at what I thought was 10am only to be reminded that it was 9am (boo yeah!)

It was so refreshing to cook up bacon & eggs, make a huge cappuccino (finally converted JD to the better coffee! Death to flat whites!) and watch the Sunday Footy Show.

Had some time with the puppykids.. Reilly impressed me by sitting and dropping from 2 metres away! And then I started feeding them Devon because in my opinion, it isn't fit for human consumption!!

Reilly now knows sit, drop, high five, shake, up, stay and roll over. Penny, my remedial student.. Knows sit, drop, up and stay. Weirdly enough, she's the more clever one?

Anyhow, just sat down and finally watched 50/50 the one with Seth Rogan and Joseph Gordon-Levitt, a recommendation from one of the besties.. I must admit, pretty good! A good mix of everything. Now I get to watch the footy, knock up a chicken noodle soup with a twist and cuddle with my two favourite 4 legged friends.. all before a brilliant mother nature water bashing! Heaven!

What do you do to relax?

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