MamaTuppa

Since having babies, it has really hit home the phrase, "it takes a village to raise a baby". I am not going to lie, kids are full and hard work. I bet all other mamas and papas out there agree with me when I say that. Five years ago, I used to think I was tired after working full time and socializing. That sort of tired is nothing compared to working full time, socializing AND looking after very active 2 and 4 year olds! Being a mama is fabulous, but exhausting!  My First Mothers Days Classic Fun Run  - Exhausting but fabulous!   Raising these babies requires lots of help, love and support. Phillip and I both work full time and we could not raise these babies and work full time with our wonderful village around us. In February we took the plunge after much deliberation and decided to have an Au pair join us. We had no idea what we were doing, no idea on au pair manuals and thank goodness our first gorgeous big girl (as they are affectionately known as by our 2 babies) h

We took 1 day off work to get an extra long weekend of 5 whole days off work to spend some much needed quality time with friends and family. We packed up and headed up to Cotton Tree Holiday Park for some much needed chill out time. Ivy is a huge fan of camping. And I mean huge. At home she loves to tie knots and there are rescue lines, ropes and all sorts of outdoor stuff in the playroom. So when we told her we were packing up to head up to the Sunshine Coast she was beyond excited.  Cotton Tree is an amazing area for families. What I love is that the beach is on your door step and afterwards you can duck over the road and get coffee, ice creams and fish and chips. Which makes getting away so much easier. Our last camping trip was a bit (ok a huge!) disaster! No amenities, no water and what felt like a huge tornado go through the campsite. The last camping trip entailed Flip and I holding up tent poles in the middle of the night  due to horrific winds ripping through. So having the

Being an oral health therapist and a mama is really hard over Easter. You walk into all the shops with your kids and all you see is chocolate, eggs, bunnies and bilbies and more chocolate. So much colourful alfoil and underneath all of that alfoil is sugar. So much sugar. Too much sugar. A ridiculous amount of sugar. And I mean a ridiculous amount! One of my childhood favourite eggs is The Humpty Dumpty Egg (165g) which I looked at the box yesterday and it has 25 teaspoons of sugar! Therefore approximately half of Humpty is sugar. My stomach churns at the thought of sitting down to eat 25 teaspoons of sugar. All kids need new toothbrushes, floss and toothpaste to remove the sugar! I saw mamas and papas on Easter Saturday  in department stores getting angry at other because they took the last of the chocolate eggs with some sort of ridiculous toy in the box. I saw another mama actually hit another mama as she snagged the last of a bag of hunting eggs for an Easter egg hunt. Is this

After being home for a week it made me think about our so called family beach holiday! We spent the week on glued to the television watching one of Queensland's natural disasters unfold before our eyes.  Watching the rain pour down As the days went on, Cyclone Debbie was wreaking havoc across Queensland and Northern NSW. We couldn't believe what was occurring. Literally could believe it. As this week has unfolded, Rockhampton's Fitzroy River was rising. It was just heartbreaking to watch. Doing vegetables to roast in a BBQ as we had no power on holidays As the week progressed, I just kept thinking how lucky we were to have each other, be in a house that is standing,with no flood water swirling through. Lots of cold cups of tea to be had due to no power, but at least we had clean running water Being back home, as my 4 year daughter and 2 year old son were getting cranky about who pressed the dishwasher buttons, I sat back and reflected....we are beyond l

Being on holidays with my family has made me reflect on how important it is to nourish this Mama's mind and body. I think we get caught up in our hectic lifestyle which for us can be pretty full on. Sometimes it gets to Sunday  night and my husband, Flip, and I look at each other and say "ummmm....where has that weekend gone?" Then it's back to work on Monday  and the cycle starts all over again. We are in a lovely beach house in Burrum Heads (love AirBnB!) and I am enjoying the simple pleasures with my family. Walking over to the beach on the hunt for solider crabs, going out boating and seeing the excitement on the kids faces, playing board games as well as being able to do one of my all time favorite pastimes which consists of sitting, reading cookbooks and drinking numerous pots of tea. You know it's a great beach house rental when they have a proper teapot as well as a MokaPot for delicious coffee. Tea in a proper teapot, A Year at Avoca Cookbook and a D

I am an oral health therapist, have a fabulous and supportive husband with 2 adorable kids and a miniature schnauzer called Olive. We live in the beautiful city of Brisbane, Queensland and I am really passionate about good food and teaching our kids about how to prepare, cook and store healthy foods. I have loved Tupperware for as long as I can remember so these things just go hand in hand to help us in the quest for good health. "But why start MamaTuppa and doesn't everyone just eat like we do?" My darling husband says to me over dinner of colorful salad and chicken. I stared at him! Literally just stared at him. He works in accounting so is pretty sheltered from poor dietary choices as he just eats what ever is in the fridge that I have bought. I had to stop, process what he said and think about my response before I spoke. I work in an industry plagued by the side effects of poor nutrition and poor oral hygiene habits. Combine these habits and I, unfortunately will be