GetUp! have recently launched a campaign to gather signatures calling for a minimum of six months paid parental leave. They’ll then deliver the petition to the Productivity Commission, who have been investigating paid maternity leave, and the federal Government.

As mentioned in their campaign:

‘Australia is one of only two developed countries without paid maternity leave. The government is looking into the issue, but unless there’s overwhelming community support they won’t set six to twelve months as a minimum standard - a standard supported by research on health and development, social welfare and economics.’

Sign up here:

www.getup.org.au/campaign/AllTheOtherKidsAreDoingIt

Let’s make it happen!

Jodie Benveniste, director and founder of Parent Wellbeing, recently appeared on Channel 10’s ‘9am with David & Kim’.

She helped Kate Franklin, mum to 2 year old Gabriel, prepare emotionally to return to work.

To watch the video, please click here:

http://9am.ten.com.au/6949.htm

Jodie’ top tips include:

1. Enjoy your work.
2. Kids will be happy if you are happy.
3. Focus on the positive.

Recipe courtesy of www.thefoodcoach.com.au

Low GI, Low sugar, Wheat Free

The riper the banana the more naturally sweet your banana bread will be so don’t be afraid to use the soft black ones that look fit for nothing other than the bin. Banana bread is readily available but none, to my knowledge, use spelt flour or honey to replace sugar. This high energy treat is therefore a healthier option to the commercial cakes found in many shops and cafes.

Ingredients:
1 cup white spelt flour
1 cup wholemeal spelt flour
1 tsp low allergy baking powder
¼ tsp sea salt
1 cup toasted walnuts, chopped
1½ cups ripe bananas, mashed
1/3 cup low fat natural yoghurt
¼ cup honey
2 large eggs, beaten lightly
¼ cup sunflower oil
1 tsp vanilla extract

Prep Time: 15 mins
Cooking Time: 55 mins
Ready in: 1 hr 10 mins

Suitable for: Dessert, Snack

Preparation:
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius.
Grease and flour a loaf tin.
Combine the flours, baking powder, sea salt and walnuts and set aside.

Method:
Mix the bananas, yoghurt, honey, eggs oil and vanilla together.
Fold the wet ingredients through the dry until combined, but don’t over stir.
Pour the batter into the loaf tin and bake for approx 55 minutes until the loaf is golden and the cake comes away clean from the sides.
Set aside to cool.
Stores for up to 4 days refrigerated.

Makes 10 servings (serve = one slice)

For more delicious recipes from Judy Davie, The Food Coach visit www.thefoodcoach.com.au

Multi-tasking. Frankly, I’m over it.

As a woman I constantly hear how I am apparently so much more superior to men because of this ability to do a hundred things at once, but I have started to wonder about the effects this skill is having on my brain…

Before having children, it was a badge of honour to have a career, renovate a house, foster an incredibly virile relationship and whip up unexpected and creatively unique social events at the drop of a hat to entertain vast bevvies of fascinating friends.

I even believed that it was an admirable skill to have after having children and beneficial too. I could put the baby down to sleep and within one hour when I knew I should have been resting too, I could tuck the phone into my shoulder and return calls whilst putting the washing away, preparing dinner and removing staples from the timber floor that I was about to sand, all under the pretence that I was actually having some ‘me’ time by having Oprah on in the background!

But the other day as I was cleaning my teeth - do you know how much you can get done whilst mindlessly brushing your molars? I cleaned the toilet, picked up the kids clothes, rescued the bath toys from the depths of the shower recess, opened all the windows in the house to let in the fresh air and started to pack the lunches…my toothbrush still deftly doing its job with the help of my free hand. This is ridiculous I thought.

I have gone mad.

I cannot concentrate on one thing at a time.

Even at work - on the computer- I am constantly side-tracked by incoming emails and requests whilst trying to get one task finished, each email leading to a tangential task that snowballs into a major project tearing me away from what ever the original task was at hand…I know that this is part and parcel of work life but I think it has multiplied since having kids and having decreased time for oneself. In that time you do have, you try to complete a months worth of desired chores in one hour to make up for lost time and so the cycle continues into every pore of my work and play.

I’m sure I would be just as efficient if I did all these tasks consecutively, but before I know it my mind and body are onto the next thing before finishing the last and then I stop mid track and realise that I have completed task 1,2, 4, 5, and 9, but am half way through 3 and 6 and can’t even remember what 8 was!

Me time, I have revised now, is the ability to do, and enjoy, one thing and one thing only.

Its not easy, because you can read a magazine or sift through the school newsletter whilst watching a dvd!…and you can get the washing up done or the skirting boards painted during the ads whilst catching up with your TV friends…and isn’t it amazing how much you can get done whilst diligently listening to your friends on a hands free phone! When will it stop?!

I am trying…to ’stop’..that is.

I do enjoy the small things but always while enjoying other things at the same time!

I stop to smell the roses whilst walking the kids and the new puppy to the park. Did I mention we have a new puppy! I am trying to do that cliched thing of ‘being in the moment’. I never knew how hard that would be to achieve after trying so hard to always ‘achieve’. But for my own well-being now, post small babies, I am practicing.

I think I’m going to try to reduce my multi-tasking down to bi- or tri tasking! - …baby steps!

Admittedly sometimes it serves me well, but there is a limit when I stop and notice the ridiculous things I find myself doing!

Am I alone in this aftermath of a multi-tasking generation!? Is anyone else being affected I would love to know!

Sarah Lamond
Designer and mother of 2

Dairy free, Low carbohydrate

Recipe courtesy of www.thefoodcoach.com.au and the Meat and Livestock Association.

Prep Time: 30 mins
Cooking Time: 30 mins
Ready in: 60 mins

Suitable for: Dinner

Preparation: Preheat oven to 200 degrees Celsius (180 fan forced).

Method: Cut vegetables into thick strips and put in a large roasting pan and into the oven for 20 minutes or until edges start to colour.
Remove from oven, top with a whole bunch of rosemary and pour over the stock. Place lamb racks on top.
Return to the oven and roast, allowing 20-25 minutes for rare, 30-35 minutes for medium or 40-45 minutes for well done, basting throughout with combined honey, lemon juice, soy sauce and garlic, and pan juices separately.

Test to see if roast is done to your liking by squeezing with tongs: rare feels soft, medium has a little resistance and well done feels quite firm. Remove lamb from roasting pan and cover loosely with foil. Allow to rest so juices settle before carving (about 10 minutes).

Meanwhile, drain the juices from the roasting pan into a saucepan and boil until reduced a thin sauce consistency. Reserve vegetables as an accompaniment and discard rosemary.

Serve three lamb cutlets per person on a bed of the vegetables, drizzled with the sauce and, if desired, roast potatoes or sweet potato on the side.

Tip: to keep roast juicy, it’s best not to insert a skewer when testing it, but to practice your touch with the tongs. It won’t take long before you can ‘feel’ just how cooked your meat is.

Makes 4 servings

For more delicious recipes from Judy Davie, The Food Coach please visit www.thefoodcoach.com.au

The productivity council has been meeting to discuss maternity leave and whether there should be government funded or workplace funded leave for all working women in Australia. Different people and groups have spoken for and against and there have been many interesting arguments. The welfare of young children and women has been discussed widely, as has productivity.

For me the most interesting argument for paid maternity leave is childcare. In most areas of Australia at the moment there is a massive shortage of places in baby rooms. In our tough economic climate more women are going back to work earlier and many are leaving their young babies in childcare. If paid maternity were to be introduced it may just take the pressure off the childcare shortage. And as quality childcare centres lobby for better staff to child ratios, this reprieve may allow this to happen. Interesting…

Emma Anderson, Childcare Professional and Mum to Jasper.

Recipe courtesy of www.thefoodcoach.com.au

Low GI, Low sugar, Wheat Free

Feel free to replace the rhubarb with pears or any other fruit in season that works well in a crumble. The topping is much healthier than the traditional crumble made from flour, sugar and butter - and much nicer.

Ingredients:
1 bunch rhubarb, trimmed
½ cup apple juice concentrate
1 tsp fresh ginger, grated
¼ cup hazelnuts, dry roasted
¼ cup almonds, dry roasted
½ cup rolled oats, dry roasted
¼ cup sunflower seeds, dry roasted
¼ cup pumpkin seeds (pepitas), dry roasted
1 tbsp sesame seeds, dry roasted
½ cup barley malt
1 tbsp corn oil
¼ tsp cinnamon, ground

Prep Time: 10 mins
Cooking Time: 30 mins
Ready in: 40 mins

Preparation:
Preheat the oven to 160 degrees Celsius.
Wash the rhubarb but don’t dry it, and cut into pieces about 2.5cm (1 inch) long.

Method:
Put rhubarb in a pan over low heat, add the apple concentrate and ginger and cover. The rhubarb will slowly stew in the steam and its own juices. Remove from the heat when the rhubarb is tender but still retains its shape - about 5-10 minutes. Divide among 6 individual ramekins and set aside.

Coarsely chop the roasted nuts and mix with the oats and seeds.
Melt the barley malt in a saucepan with the corn oil and cinnamon and mix with a wooden spoon.
Pour the oil and malt mixture over the nuts and mix until thoroughly combined. Spoon the crumble mixture over the rhubarb and bake for 15 minutes.

Makes 6 servings

For more delicious recipes from Judy Davie The Food Coach please visit www.thefoodcoach.com.au