My Walk for Breast Cancer Research.

How was everybodies Mothers Day?  I hope all of you had a wonderful day, were pampered and spoilt.

I was up early on Mothers Day like I have been for the last few years.  Every year we go in the Mothers Day Classic walk for breast cancer research.  The event is run (and walked) all around Australia.  There is a lot of information about the even in my previous blog post.

So up at 5.30am to get ready for the walk.  I had to pin all of our numbers to our tops.


We set off at about 6.45 where we were being taken by bus over to the event.  We go every year in a large group and we all meet up, walk or run, then come back to a hotel near by and have breakfast.   We arrived at the walk at about 7.30am and watched the runners take off first.  They had somebody there getting the crowd to warm up.

Warm up guy, getting the runners warmed up.

Off they go....

Mum's, Dad's, Kids, Grandma's, Grandpa's, Prams, it was for everybody.

It is such a fabulous atmosphere.  There are families, children in prams, people in wheelchairs, people recovering from breast cancer, people walking for a family member who has lost their life to breast cancer.  There are people dressed in funny costumes, the is lots and lots of pink.  Pink as far as the eye can see.

Pink angels in their halos

Crowds of pink everywhere.

I do have to say that there is one thing and one thing only that I can not stand about this event and this is what they are.....

Port-a-loos.... YUK

Do they need any explanation?  I don't like public toilets at the best of times, but one thing that really really makes me grosse is port-a-loos.  I was that desperate to go to the toilet at one stage but I just couldn't go, I just couldn't go into a port-a-loo.  So I held on until we got back to the hotel and ran for my life, LOL (only just made it too).

So we participated in the walk, not the run.  It was just fantastic.  We headed off at about 8.30am with thousands of other people.

We are at the start for the walk... waiting.... waiting...

Off we go... Under the start line.

It was just such a fantastic atmosphere but at the same time very emotional.  There were times when I would find myself tearing up when reading a tribute that somebody had pinned to their back and I would be walking behind reading.  There was also a number of tribute walls which also were very moving.

One of the tribute walls

Close up of the tribute wall.

Another touching tribute.

The whole walk was just so fun.  Walking around seeing so many different costumes, from fairies, strange pink outfits to a kangaroo.

The person in that suit must have been so hot!

Another spectacular thing was walking alongside the beach with the sun rising above.  Just magical and a perfect way to spend Mothers Day with my family and friends.

Sun rising as we walk.

The Beach we walked alongside.

We crossed the finish line and we all got a goody bag, a medal and a bottle of water.  The event was very well organised, there were food stalls, jumping castles for the kids, face painters, a band and entertainers in the massive park right on the beach.

The band played.

After the race, just enjoying the morning.

All in all it was a really lovely morning, I really enjoyed spending the morning at this very special event with my Mum and my family and many of my wonderful friends.

I can't wait until the event next year!

Thanks for sharing my journey.....

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Mothers Day Classic

I am so excited about Mothers Day this weekend.  Not because of the breakfast in bed (that I will not be receiving, LOL) or about my gorgeous gift my son has purchased with his own money from the Mothers Day Stall at school (I will share some of the gifts I have received in the past over the weekend).

I will be spending my Mothers Day morning doing a 4km walk, in the Mothers Day Classic.  http://mothersdayclassic.com.au/  The Mothers Day Classic has become a bit of a tradition in my family.  My whole family participates, including my mum, we all walk together.  I have friends who also go with their families, mothers, sisters, grandmothers, children (and the odd father and husband too).  It's a really fun morning, a wonderful way to spend mothers day together, walking in the sunshine (please don't rain on Sunday), alongside the beautiful beach.  Unfortunately I missed the walk last year as I had torn the artery in my neck a couple of days before, so was not able to exercise, or do very much at all actually.  After the walk we all head out for breakfast, my family, my friends and their families.   Anybody who decides not to walk (like me last year) meets us at the restaurant for breakfast after the walk.

The Mothers Day Classic is a great cause, its actually the biggest community fundraiser for breast cancer research in Australia.  Walks/Runs happen at the same time right across the country and always on Mothers Day.  There are walks in every major city in Australia and in over 28 regional towns across the country.  Grandmothers, Mothers, Daughters, Fathers, Grandfathers, Sons, Aunts, Uncles all walking together for a very important cause.  Babies and toddlers being pushed in prams, people being pushed in wheelchairs you name it, they are participating too.  More than $7.8 million has been raised from this walk/run for breast cancer foundation since the even started years ago.

It's also very touching and emotional too.  You get a number to pin to your top and on that is a space for you to write the name of a person or people you are dedicating your walk to or the person you are walking for.  People write loved ones or friends battling breast cancer or those who lost their battle with breast cancer.  It's a very moving walk as you walk around, seeing the names of those that have had this walk dedicated to by their loved one or friend.  It is a wonderful community event and something that I can highly recommend to anybody who has not heard of it before.

If you want to find a walk near you, visit http://mothersdayclassic.com.au/events for a list of where the walks/runs around Australia are.  Also if you would like to find more information, register for to do the walk or run or even to make a donation to this very important cause visit http://mothersdayclassic.com.au/

BIG - Extreme Makeover

Gosh, I have just been watching this new show, that premiered tonight on Channel 9 (in Australia).  Here's an article on the show and you can see Mick the man featured on the show tonight. Big - Extreme Makeover.

I have to say it was rather shocking to watch.  This poor guy on the show was massive, just massive.  For those that didn't watch the show or haven't heard of it, they say its the show for people "too big" for "The Biggest Loser"!!!  Too big for the biggest loser????  "Are they kidding" I thought.  Then I saw that they were not kidding.

I have to take my hat off to Mick, the guy on the show tonight.  In his first 40 days he lost 40kgs (88.18lbs).  Then the next two weeks he put on 18kgs (39.68lbs).  18kgs in two weeks!  Boy Oh Boy that's a lot of weight.

They did some tests and found that he was only getting about two to three hours of sleep a night and this can affect weight loss.  Now I did not know this.  I do get a good amount of sleep each night, around 7 to 8 hours, but I did not realise that not enough sleep can effect weight loss.

As the show progressed Mick stopped losing weight, mainly because he couldn't stop eating.  So they admitted him to a weight loss clinic.  He was there for 4 weeks and it was amazing, the change in his attitude and his state of mind.  So after 200 days, he lost 50kgs.  He has a long way to go, but he is on his way.   He lost enough weight to have stomach stapling.  How bizarre being too big to have weight loss surgery!

I have to say that Mick was inspirational.  Whilst he had ups and downs, who doesn't!  He had times when he reverted to his old ways and those bad habits crept back in, but he got off the couch and kept going!

Well Done Mick and good luck with your continued weight loss!

An Old Family Favourite

I know this is not diet food, but this is a family favourite recipe passed down through the generations of my family.  When my parents got married, my dad came with this recipe.  So this is something that my great grandmother used to make my grandmother, my grandmother used to make my dad and my mum made for me and I am now making for my son.  My son absolutely loves it so I know it is something that he will carry on to the next generation (phew, that was a long story, LOL).  Anyway I thought I would share this dish with you.  It is SO easy, really a great dish for the whole family and I was going to say cheap, but it has veal in it, so not so cheap.

So the dish is called "Rice Number".  That's it, just rice number.  Maybe it had a fancy name once upon a time, but as long as I have known it, it's rice number.

So the ingredients..

Veal (that has been beaten out) (about 4 or 5 large pieces)
Wheatgerm (I used about a cup)
2 x Cans of Campbells Condensed Cream of Chicken Soup
2 x Cans of Mushrooms in Butter
1 x 250ml Tub of Natural Yoghurt
1 to 2 Bay leaves
Paprika
Rice

Slice up the veal into small bits.

Place wheatgerm into large zip lock bag (This is obviously a modern day addition to the recipe that I have created as when my dad was young and when I was young, we didn't have zip lock bags, LOL).  Place veal into the wheatgerm filled bag and seal the bag.

Move veal around until it is completely coated with veal (making sure no pieces are stuck together).

Once coated, heat a pan and add some oil.  Cook veal in small batches until lightly golden brown.

Place cooked veal into baking/casserole dish.

Into large bowl or blender add chicken soup, mushrooms and yoghurt.

Blend until well combined and if in a bowl used a hand blender to mix ingredients until well combined.

Pour sauce mixture over veal and mix lightly.

 Add a couple of bay leaves to the top of and press slightly.  Sprinkle top with paprika.

Place in moderate oven for about one hour.

Cook some rice.

 Add rice to a bowl or plate

Scoop a couple of large ladles of Rice Number over the top.

I have never tried to freeze this, so don't know if it freezes, but it is just as good the next day if stored in the fridge and then reheated.

Enjoy....