should we have seen the signs?

It was the eve of my tenth birthday, I had hopped into bed excited for the morning to come when something started to happen. In such a small amount of time I was crying in pain, begging for help when my parents threw me into the car with an hours drive to the nearest hospital. I had spent my 10th birthday in a hospital bed begging doctors to fix me. Cute the pain. No one knew anything. I had a feeling a the doctor had mentioned I may have been faking it.

That was my first experience with endometriosis 15 years ago and it still feels as if nothing has changed.

At the tender age of 11 I experienced my first period. It was emotionally and physically draining and I couldn't bare the thought of it coming again. After several years of heavy painful periods, I needed to find something to help. 2-3 weeks at a time I would bleed. I couldn't handle this, I needed help. We seeked professional help but was often turned away and sent home with paracetamol. At the age of 13 I was on contraception. It helped with irregular periods but didn't help with the pain. 

Over the years I was told many things, I had an intolerance to dairy, gluten and wheat. I probably wouldnt be able to have children. Cancer scares. Everything but endometriosis. 

I started my own research into my symptoms and found so many others suffering from this chronic illness. I went to Auckland and attended a endometriosis seminar with guest speakers. It was amazing to see I wasn't alone!

My journey has only just started into the discovery and treatment of this illness. This is my story and I want to share it with you. Please if you would like to share yours, feel welcome to!

Being a young mum

Having been told time and time again that I have failed for having children is appalling. The looks I get in public. The comments I get when I growl my children in public. When people roll their eyes at me taking my boys to the supermarket. I'm on my own journey as is everyone else. I have learnt to turn a blind eye to the ones who are blind themselves. Blinded by judgement.

So here's a little poem I've written. Don't laugh haha

Being a young mum

Being a young mother came as a surprise 

Being a young mother is not an easy ride

Having a baby when your just a baby too

Does not mean it is the end for you

Being a young mother meant putting dreams on hold

Being a young mother meant for judgments i'm told

Whether the dreams were big or small

No one can judge you, no one at all

Being a young mother has changed me for good

Being a young mother has changed me as it should

Someone who couldn't care for a thing at all

Is now someone who would come at your call

Being a young mother has taught me a lot of things

Being a young mother has taught me the joy it brings

From teaching my kids the right and wrong way

to when we fight over which song to play

Being a young mother has its ups and downs

Being a young mother as silly as it sounds

Is the best thing that's ever happened to me

It's given me hope to strive to be what I can be.

Being a young mother does not mean i have failed at life

Being a young mother does not mean I have given up strife

If anything being a young mother has given me

It is to be the best young mother my children could see.

Everyone has there own story. Everyone makes mistakes. You cannot judge someone for their past if you have your own dirty secrets. People do make mistakes but it is the ones who learn a lesson from their naive choices and turn it into something you could never imagine. It is people who can make positives out of negatives and build something from nothing. 

Love and light to all you young mums who are having a hard time. There is hope. 

- Shannon xx

A few cheap, fast and yummy dinners!

Meals that are quick, easy, cheap and yum are hard to come by! I have a few of my favorite recipes that I love to cook at home. What I love about these are that each of the recipes are flexible. You can add whatever you like, take out things you may not like or swap something for something else! It's all about experimenting and using what you already have available. Use your imagination 

Healthy Nacho's

My family absolutely love having nacho's - little do they know this recipe is packed full of all sorts of vegetables and also tastes great! You can switch it up with whatever you have, and if you don't have something on the recipe - swap it for something else! Enjoy x 

500g Mince

1 onion, diced

Capscum

Small handful of tomato

Mushrooms

Any Vegetables

1 rye wrap

Avocado for serving

Greek yogurt - preferable

1. Cover non-stick fry pan with a little olive oil

2. Cook onion until soft or how desired

3. Put in mushrooms and let cook with the onion for about 30 seconds

4. Add capsicum

5. Add mince and cook until brown

6. While meat is cooking, chop up rye wrap into triangles & bake until crispy

7. Add tomato if using and let it cook for about 30 seconds

8. Place onto plate with rye wrap triangles and serve with avocado and

 Greek yogurt

Thai Yellow Curry

So this is my cheap and cheat meal! Everyone absolutely loves it and I seriously cannot get enough of it. It's perfect for the family or when you have guests and it is SO easy to make. I'm pretty sure the directions are on the back of the bag so if my recipe is wrong, follow that! haha

x1 packet of Global Thai Yellow Curry Stir Through Sauce (found at any NZ supermarket)

500g chicken

1 bag of Uncle Ben's boil a bag rice

Capsicum

Brocolli

Any vegetables

1. Cook rice as directed 

2. Heat oil in a pan and cook chicken until tender

3. Add capsicum, brocoli and any other vegetables you would like

4. Stir through sauce and simmer

5. Serve with rice

Roasted Pumpkin Soup

Im a huge fan of soup, any soup at that, but this recipe is to die for! Plus it's perfect for freezing and reheating if you have leftovers or perfect to feed the fam!

½ butternut pumpkin, chopped and skinned

½ red capsicum

½ white onion

2 pieces of bacon, no rind, chopped thoroughly

1 cup chicken stock

1 carrot, chopped

1 tsp. olive oil

Garlic

1. Chop vegetables and place on baking tray

2. Toss with garlic and olive oil

3. Bake on 180° until cooked

4. Add to blender with chicken stock and blend

5. Add 1 tsp. Greek yogurt for a bit more flavor

Maggi Beef Stroganoff

This is easy, cheap and yum! I like to boil fettuccine and stir through the sauce once it has simmered. Personal choice though :)

500g blade steak

1 onion, sliced

1 1/2 cups mushroom

2 tbs sour cream

1 pkt of MAGGIE beef stroganoff

1. Heat 1 tbsp oil in frying pan, brown beef, add onions and mushrooms cook for 2 minutes.

2. Add combines 1 cup (250mL) water and Maggie Recipe Base, bring to boil, stirring

3. Cover and simmer 20 minutes or until steak is tender, stir through sour cream to serve.

So there you have it! Hope you enjoy the meals! Keep an eye out for more recipes coming your way!


Shannon xx

Cooking for a cook

Who would have ever thought Steve and I would have Maori television's celebrity chef, Pete Peeti, in our bloody kitchen! Well we didn't anyway.

As we were finishing up at the shed, Pete rolled up with a cheeky grin and couldn't wait to get amongst what our backyard had to offer. It literally was the best afternoon and night for a deer stalk and steve couldn't contain his excitement to take Pete out.

As they headed off towards the bush Pete hit me with a bomb - "cook yourself and the boys a feed, we don't know what time we will be in, there's a bag of goodies on the bench"

100 questions were going through my head! Do I cook him dinner as well? Should I just leave what he bought and find something else? Where the hell do I start!? What are we gonna have? Is he going to like my cooking?!

Well in the end I ended up cooking for everyone.

An ameture cook cooking for a bloody CHEF! Now I really didn't have the slightest clue where to start.
Especially when we were expecting him to do the cooking ;)

With a bag full of goodies Pete had left on the bench I had a fair idea what I was going to do. The bag consisted of

• Scallops
• Prawns
• Salami
• Crayfish x2

As I rummaged to see what we had in the pantry I managed to whip up a beautiful prawn pad Thai for the boys and myself. 

Now what to do for the men... 

After a lot of thinking I decided to just bite the bullet and do what I normally do in the kitchen and make it up along the way. I created a creamy chili and garlic prawn fettuccine for them, and it was a hit!

I also pan fried the scallops and put the crayfish on a plate for them. Pete mentioned my scallops were cooked beauuttiiffullyy. 

WHAT THE F*%K IS HE SAYING?! It was my first time cooking them. I couldn't bloody believe it. The only thing he would have liked more was SALT. 

We ended our meal with a slice of homemade cheesecake made from fresh berries I had picked from the farm earlier on in the week. It was my first time making cheesecake so his opinion was going to either stop me from making more or make me go back for more berries!

I felt a little intimidated, or well a lot like Kasey & Karena Bird on Masterchef as I presented him my food. He was a lot nicer than the judges though ;)

After a few laughs and a couple of beers, we threw the kids in the back seat of the truck with a pillow and a blanket and set off for a late night spotlight.

The joy it brings Steve and I to be able to watch peoples face light up to see what we have here on our own backyard really is rewarding. Pete is a top notch bloke full of wisdom and we are so grateful for the opportunity it was to have him in our home.

Well to conclude things here we loved having him. The joy it brought us seeing his face when we got home at 1.30am after night of spotlighting was priceless. Makes us both so happy to
be able to take people around to go hunting. It's a pity we didn't see anything!

Hope you enjoyed the read and please if you want to keep posted, subscribe to my post updates :)

Latttteerrrssssssssss xxxx

Can you make what you always wanted to do, happen?

Working a 9-5 job with the same ol' routine of work, eat, party and sleep, I thought, was what we were suppose to do. Grow up, get a job, have a baby or two and voila! Perfect life. Perfect hair, flawless makeup, up to date trends is only a few things I was struggling to keep up with, with the illusion that this was all there was to it. Until I found other meanings to life, none of that bullshit would ever be able to provide me with what I was truly searching for. Happiness. Even if that meant having mud replace the foundation on my skin, shitty nappies, early mornings cupping tits and long days spraying weeds.

I have started a journey into discovering my true self. How I am able to fulfill my own happiness, create my own future and provide an environment  for my children to grow up and see things in a broader perspective rather than the typical child who has no idea where milk comes from.

Learning to pull on cows tits,  tackle calves and trying to move a bull after snapping his cock trying to impregnate one of my cows is only a few situations iv'e learnt to deal with becoming a farmers wife. Which funnily enough, does make me happy. 

Now this is the start of my journey to discovering new and beautiful things - whether it be for myself, my partner Stephen or my children.

Now my question to you is; Can you start your journey too? 

Getting creative.

Having just renovated our family home we had 5 odd doors lying around. With a little creativity and flare, throw in a few screws and a saw and look what you get! A new bed for the guest room!

Thought I would give you a look into what I get up to into my spare time. Will be putting up a few more things I have created in the next few days.

Thanks for reading
- Shan xx