Eat. Live. Be.

Eat. Live. Be. is an initiative started by Cate and Sarah to help them focus on their health goals and to help them create healthy habits. The initiative took place on their blogs and had lots of other participants too. So many women aren't where they want to be health-wise!

This time around they are also joined by Joanne and Patsy, two bloggers that I am looking forward to getting to know.

I've been keeping an eye on the Eat. Live. Be. Facebook page and saw that they're re-booting this week. Which is perfect for me, because the issue of health has been on my mind all year and - although I've accomplished a lot in terms of being conscious of what's going on between me and food, me and excercise and me and healthy habits - now it's time for action.

Eat. Live. Be posts will be published on Wednesdays and will focus on inspiration and motivation. Today is Thursday so I am already late, but I wanted to see everyone else's posts first, to be honest.

It makes sense that a first post like this one should contain a list of goals, so here are mine:

• eat only what I feel like having, when I feel like having it
• include protein in each meal
• drink more water
• drink less wine (!)
• sleep more
• excercise when I can, but don't obsess if I can't

I originally had 'lose 10 kilos' as my first goal but in the end I decided that should be the result of all these other habits I'm hoping to form. Losing weight has been mo goal for so long that it sounds ridiculous to me now.

This week's inspiration is supposed to come from a magazine and I wasn't sure what to talk about until I remembered the wonderful Christmas gift I received from my husband's daughter - a year's subscription to BBC Good Food magazine, which I love. The magazine has loads of wonderful ideas and I always think that if I cooked more of our food from there or similar sources, my whole family would end up healthier. So I'm sure that the magazine will be my inspiration all year long. If you don't get the magazine, visit the website, where inspiration is hard to miss!

Mini-reviews...the only way to catch up!

It's mini-review time again!

Making History by Stephen Fry
Ever wondered what the world would be like if Hitler and World War II hadn't happened? Stephen Fry explores this question in this great book, which shows us that things can always be worse and reminds so to be careful what we wish for. It left me thankful for the freedoms that I have in this world. And what a great idea for a book, a fascinating question. Be warned though, this is nothing like the comic side of Stephen Fry that you may already know and appreciate!

Dating Big Bird by Laura Zigman
A light, quick read about Ellen, a single woman who desperately wants a child - so desperately that "Big Bird is looking like a better candidate for fatherhood every day: he's tall, affectionate, and steadily employed" (from back cover). Those who were ever desparate for children will be able to relate and those who have children will certainly laugh at some kid-related bits. But if you're not really into this topic then you probably won't enjoy this as much as I did.

Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants: The Second Summer by Ann BrasharesAnother installment of the young adult series about four best friends. Not much to say, really, it's fun. I like how the four girls are different and how they end up in completely different places and situations that let them grow. I'll definitely be reading the next one. Oh, and I like the movies too, though Alexis Bledel will always be Rory to me!

The Weed that Strings the Hangman's Bag by Alan BradleyThis actually deserves a post of its own, but I've been sitting on it too long and now can't remember the details of what I loved about the book. Except for Flavia the 11-year-old solver of murders herself of course, I love her for everything she is. My only gripe with the book is how horrible her sisters are to her, I can't imagine living in a family like that!

Percy Jackson and the Battle of the Labyrinth by Rick RiordanThe fourth in this series about Percy, son of Poseidon. It brought more adventure, mayhem and monsters - and also some teenage boy feelings, though not explored in any depth. But this isn't supposed to be a deep book, just a fun one that gets kids into mythology. A great aspiration, in my opinion.

Weekend Cooking: Christmas cookies

Today is our first Christmas celebration. We always have a first Christmas at the beginning of December, when my husband's daughter spends a few days with us. We make Christmas dinner, decorate the tree and exchange gifts. It's a wonderful way of starting the holiday season!

The dinner will be started later on today, but in the meantime I thought I would introduce my toddler to the joys of baking cookies. I wanted a simple recipe we could put together quickly and settled on Rachel Allen's basic cookie recipe from her book Bake. By the way, it's a wonderful book full of both sweet and savory baked goodies that are easy to make.

The cookie recipe is simple - cream together 225g of butter with 110g sugar, then stir in 275g flour. You can add whatever flavorings you want - we added cinnamon and vanilla and stirred in some chocolate chips too. I have some lavender which I'll add to the next batch, once these disappear.

My son loved arranging the balls of dough on the baking sheet! :-)

This post is part of this week's Weekend Cooking feature over at Beth Fish Reads.