6 weeks and chicken teriyaki

The 6 week mark always signifies things getting a little bit easier after I’ve had a baby. Little lottie is sleeping a bit more at night but still likes to be on or near me. I’m getting up at 7.30ish because all the little kids want breakfast and their favourite cartoons put on but it’s still hard to get out of the house anytime before 10am! In fact yesterday the big kids were invited to a last minute playdate and it was 1 o’clock by the time we left the house. Mind you today we were 20 minutes early to our 9am swimming class so I’m getting a bit better when I set my mind to it and skip a morning shower.

I’m gaining weight while breastfeeding but no surprises there. Not one of those mums who just gets back into shape easily and making milk is hard work and leaves me soooo hungry I eat whatever I can find. I’m hoping once everyone goes back to school and routine and I do a few more things that I might eat a bit less and instead of gain weight start to lose some. Well I hope. Today I’m making a huge soup in the slowcooker which hopefully will fill me up and keep me away from the sweet treats.

The slowcooker is still working overtime. I honestly have the most basic slowcooker but it’s working well for me. You don’t need big and fancy really. Last night was a sweet potato risotto with chicken stock we made 2 nights ago from a whole chicken in there. I’m without a stovetop (it died) but am discovering all the great things you can do in the thermomix like boil spaghetti and potatoes and so we’ve been using that a lot too. I’m hoping that this weekend we might get a few meals made and in the freezer like our favourite sausage rolls, a few lasagnes and more.

My big girls love to cook but I’ve had to ask them not to for a few days so I can keep the kitchen clean as it’s mess everywhere when they get in the kitchen. Now my favourite slowcooker recipe doesn’t have any photos but is so delicious so here goes – 1kg chicken thighs (just put them in whole), 1 can of crushed pineapple (I think its 440g), 1/4 cup tamari/soy sauce, 1 onion diced up, some ginger and garlic all go into the slowcooker on low for about 6 hours. Serve with steamed rice and even your fussiest of eaters will gobble it up. I put some chopped up veggies in there for a complete dinner. Total winner.

My big girl devised a weekly chore chart so we can be a bit fairer in dividing out the chores. Each of my big 3 has 2-3 jobs a day to do – nothing too big- and hopefully getting that routine in place now will help when everyone goes back to school.

I’m managing about 1-2 rows of knitting………..a week. Yes a week and sometimes I wonder will I remember how to knit but as things get easier and a little one sleeps more then I know I’ll be back to my crafts. I did make this little kina to gift last year and Lottie did a great job of modelling it for me. Pattern is here and I used adagio alpaca in 5ply.

And thank you for all of your tv suggestions on FB. I asked what to watch since I’ve worked my way through all of Shetland, the Crown, the Keepers, Silence the movie and need some tv viewing for those late night baby feeding sessions. After all of the suggestions I think I won’t be leaving the house anytime soon. I started with a rewatching of North and South. I could watch that one 100 times and still just love it right till the end.