Misery loves company

The season of sickness is upon us! Everywhere you turn there's someone coughing or sniffing and our house has been no exception! This is the reason I haven't blogged in some time. We have just had an endless cycle of misery doing the rounds. It started with Bilaal, then to me, then back to Bilaal, then Sumayah, me again and now finally, Yaasier. Now I realise getting sick is inevitable, but I usually don't get affected as badly as I did this time. All I wanted to do was crawl deep under the covers for a few days and sleep. But of course there is no sick leave when your job description is 'mommy'. There's still kids to feed and bath and fetch from school and all the rest. I was in Dischem the other day buying a humidifier for the kids' rooms when a complete stranger came up to me and asked me 'are you sick, you look very sick?'. I was taken aback but I answered yes to which she replied, 'shame you shouldn't be out.' When this happens you know you look terrible! I am happy to report though that I am feeling much better and so are the kids. But I have learned from this experience that Sumayah has the worst sick personality ever! Bilaal is crabby yes and just wants his mommy to hold him and comfort him a little, but Sumayah! Wow I have to say I had absolutely no patience with her when she was sick... She turned into a little monster! Now I know I'm not supposed to say that and feel all tender and loving toward my sick little baby girl... Fek that! I am only expressing the truth. And the truth is that I do not like her very much when she is sick and I am soooo glad she is better or I swear I would've gone potty. Here's to everyones health this winter!

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Foody Friday: Garlic Mushroom Risoni

This is my first foody friday post, so I must make something very clear. I do not claim in anyway or anyhow to be some masterchef, gourmet kitchen goddess. So the point is not to amaze and delight with my cooking wonder or to reveal some self discovered culinary secrets. In fact I may just find myself sharing some of my mishaps too...to share...and to learn. The whole point of foody friday is that I am a regular mum with regular cooking abilities and I like to cook for my family food they will enjoy. But sometimes, in fact often the mumdrum of the kitchen just annoys me and I find myself feeling like I want to reach out to the culinary creativity in me and maybe learn something new. So here is where I will share my favourite good 'ol faithful regular dishes as well as any adventures I may embark on in the kitchen (even the failed ones!).
The first recipe is one such adventure. Yaasier once told me about this risotto dish he had at a Primi that he really enjoyed and it sounded so tasty that I decided to try tom make it. So i did what any good cook does in need of a recipe and I Googled it. I came across many recipes and settled on the simplest method. The first time I made this was ages ago, could even be over a year ago and what I didn't realise then was that Risotto is not the same as Risoni. Even Bilaal could've told that Mommy! They only sound SIMILAR not the SAME! But as far as I recall it tasted quite good. But typically I didn't write down the recipe. So the other day I wanted to make it again and this time I actually Googled both Risotto and Risoni and discovered that while Risotto was made with arborio rice and Risoni with pasta rice, you could actually make it in exactly the same way and the only difference will be in the texture. So I once again combined all the simplest recipes and ingredients and tried making it and it was really nice. So here it is:
Ingredients:
Fresh mushrooms
1tsp garlic
Butter
1 Chicken stock cube
Risoni rice
Parsley (optional)
Parmesan (but i didn't have so I used regular cheddar and it was till delish)
Ok so you may notice there aren't really any quantities it's because it depends how much mushrooms you like and how amny people you making for so you just have to judge. And its not like baking, the risoni want flop, its all about the method.
Method:
Make the chicken stock mixture on according to the packet instructions. The one I used was dissolved in 2 cups boiling water. Then set aside.
Sautee the mushrooms on med high heat till dry and set aside.
Melt some butter and garlic in a pot then add risoni
Stir-fry the risoni briefly till covered in butter.
Now add the chickenstock mixture little at a time, ensuring the risoni is always just covered in liquid. Stir continuously (never allowing the risoni to cook dry) until it is cooked al dente, approx 15mins. If you run out of stock before cooking is complete you can use boiling water. The risoni must have a creamy texture.
Remove from heat and stir in mushrooms, some chopped parsley, a little butter and some cheese. Then serve with a sprinkling of cheese. And that's it! Enjoy!

Wordless Wednesday Mishap!

Yesterday my most faithful reader, my brother Rameez commented on my facebook profile about my wordless wednesday post asking, 'a bit too early?' To give you a clue as to how slow motion my brain has been operating this past 2 days let me tell you I couldn't for the life of me figure out what he meant by that. It was only now when I wanted to catch up on some blog reading and I noticed my fellow blogger Karen posted her Wordless Wednesday picture today that I realised that I was a day early! This I tell you is the effect being sick has on a mother's mind. On Monday morning I went to see my students at their fieldwork placement and I was feeling fine. And then, when I got home at about 11.30am, it was like a wave of flu just suddenly crashed over my head. I started to feel cold even though the sun was shining outside and I was dressed like an eskimo; my body was aching and paining from head to toe, and my throat was all warm and sore. Thank goodness Abigail was there so I could take a 20minute power nap before getting ready to fetch Bilaal. because even when you are feeling like the dog's breakfast, the 'mumdrum' of life must go on.

It was only when Yaasier cam home and the kids had supper that I could get into bed and bury myself under the covers. By 7pm I was lights out still wearing my eskimo clothes with a fleece gown and wooly slippers added on top of that and my brand new Mothers Day beanie a couple of good friends gave me, all bundled under the blankets and duvet! The next day I felt much better, off to see my students again, even managing to mark their work and give them feedback I think they understood? But that little bit of thinking took so much energy out of me that by the afternoon when Bilaal was home I needed another sleep. Thank goodness for playstation and t.v! I know, a very un-OT like comment to make. But when you are in serious need of some shut-eye recovery time. these evils of our technological age are fantastic babysitters! I locked us upstairs with Bilaal at the playstation and cbeebies on the tele and slept away. So I think I can be forgiven for thinking it was Wednesday already when I finally came to my senses right?

So anyway, I am far less of a porridge brain today, although my throat still feels very inflamed, but I am back to my usual functional self!

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Foody Friday

So a few people have been reminding me that I have been neglecting my blog yet again! But I think we all can be forgiven for falling off the earth only slightly over these many holiday breaks. I must say we had a fabulous time over Easter. Yaasier's folks flew up from CT and the we all drove down to Durbs for a few days. It was awesome! The kids had a blast with the doting grandparents and the grandparents got some much needed rest. And Yaasier and I could baljaar in the deliciously warm and wild waves of the Umhlanga coast like we were kids again. Bilaal and I even built a sand castle. And what do you know Sumayah actually enjoyed the beach! In Cape Town she hates the wind and the cold sea water, but in Durbs she was right in the water along with us, still holding on for dear life, but loving it!

So this week it was back to the daily grind. But I must say it's been a quiet start for me, which is good, 'cos Yaasier started his new job this week, so it helped that I wasn't too hectic too. Its also given me time to focus on my website project, but details about that is for another post.

So what has all this got to do with the title of my post? Well 2 Fridays ago already I had this idea to do a foody post every friday. Seeing as how food is such a big part of the 'mum drum' of my life I may as well share some of it here. So evertime I make something I wish to share on my blog I will take a photo of the completed dish and post it with the recipe on Foody Fridays! Any other bloggers out there are free to join in ;-) Hopefully next week will be my first installment so watch this space!