Before my h usband left for his work trip to Texas on friday, i promised him he would come home to a new woman.
i have had depression for 2 years now, not that i realised it as i didnt beleive depression actually existed. However after much self reflection and an actual medical diagnosis from Barb, my womens health nurse a few months back, i finally understood. i have been working through my own personal issues and have come to the conclusion that
1. i cannot live from my past experiences
2. i cannot change my past but i can make my own future
3. i cannot continue to neglect myself any longer
My first attempt at conquering this battle is exercise, and it has worked to help reduce stress and promote physical well being. We live on a small rural property that has a 100mtr long driveway. i attempted to run the length of the driveway. and was buggered at the end of it, i felt like my chest was about to explode, then cave in... that was a few weeks ago. i have a steady exercise regime in place now as well as cut my smoking to a few a day, in the anticipation that i will be completely smoke free by the end of next week and going strong when my husband returns home 10 days later... all with the help of mother nature and her vitamin supplements. (thank goodness mum works at the health food shop!)
So my second life changer is to stop SMOKING! i am terrible for it... and i came from a non smoking family, so i have no excuses except that it was my own stupid decision that i have been at fault for since i was 15 years old.
Thirdly, i began to focus on my appearance a bit more... this started off as buying one pair of high heels and then becoming addicted to the 1000's of designs out there. born a shopaholic, this doesnt help the budget, but then again, that is why i sell pretty things on Ebay. i have started with skin care as well. ALBA products which over the past 3 days since i have had them in my possession, have help clear my acne prone skin up without fail. i was very surprised as these products are only available from the health food store and do not contain any ingredients that are synthetic or toxic.
forthly: i am an avid cook, i love it! especialy mediterranian food. give me flour and i'll make bread. my most recent concoction was chocolate cake made on vegetable puree. i had heard it had been done before but made my own recipe and trialled it on 12 employees at weatherfords in chinchilla... no surprise that they didnt realise it was healthy and gobbled it all up... so did the kids. So i will commit to making healthier food and writing down a recipe every week as well.
my fifth goal was to SAVE MONEY... i opened a savings account that accumulates interest and hope to goodness that i can stick to this plan... as i mentioned before...the shopaholic genetic problem.
Number 6 came in as creativity. making the point of reading more. i usually read one book over 2 weeks, but my goal was to read 2 books per week and so far so good. this week i have read "plane insanity" and "not another greek salad"... both of which i thoroughly enjoyed, both on the subject of travel. And focussing on success of being creative and success of doing what i love
Lastly number 7, the golden number is for me to TRAVEL. small steps first then large steps, i plan to go back home to the central coast in nov, then Sunshine coast/ Hervey Bay in december, Fiji in may 2011 (family wedding), and if all goes well, ITALY in November for my 30th birthday. hopefully hubby has accumulated enough frequent flyer points from his work trips to pay for a ticket over there!
I used to travel often before i met my husband and it seems i have slackened off a bit since 2006... this is one major reason for my depression.
When lucy suggested the BLOG, i questioned it. but it may well be the release i was needing...
Below is my RECIPE for the week.
BEETROOT,CARROT & ZUCHINNI CHOCOLATE CAKE
Pre Heat fan forced oven to 180 degree's C
Cooking time ; 20 - 35 minutes, depending on tray used, i used a lamington tray, it took 25 minutes to cook.
Line your cake tray with baking paper.
Peel and remove stalk, then Grate 2 FRESH BEETROOT, 1 CARROT and one ZUCHINNI.
add 2 EGGS, 75g melted BUTTER, 2 teaspoons of VANILLA essence, 1/2 cup BROWN sugar and 1/2 cup WHITE sugar... as well as the 3 vegetables to the blender and hit PUREE! gradually add 1 & 1/4 cups of MILK to make a sloppy mix, when ready it should look reddy/bright pink.
Sift 2 cups of SELF RAISING FLOUR to a bowl, and 3/4 cup of COCOA into a bowl, and make a well in the centre and add puree mixture.
The entire mixture will turn brown from the cocoa and disguise all those vegetables!
Combine until smooth and all combined. POUR into tray or patty papers and bake until cooked through (cooked when an inserted a skewer comes out clean)
Let cool on a wire rack and ice if desired. These cakes are so good that you may not even need icing and can be served as muffins.
Icing: make chocolate icing, i cant even describe how to make tis as i just whack it all together with a bit of milk and soft butter. sprinkle coconut all over the top of the cakes when iced..
DELICIOUS!
recipe by Lauren McDonald. created 15th september 2010
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