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Suzie’s Kitchen
Name: Suzie
Age: 32
Hometown: Tamworth NSW (NNSW)
Family: Married with three sons Josh (6) , Alex and Luke (twins 4 and a half).
Josh is in Year One at Tamworth South Primary School and the twins go to Peter Pan Pre-School two days a week. They are my
My husband Andrew is in the Army, and is currently based at the Tamworth Reserve Base training reservists. We think we’ll be based here for the next few years – at last somewhere to settle!
Occupation: Mum ! My main priority is the boys but I do also work part-time at the local council. Security in a job is important to me, and I enjoy being able to go in each week and catch up with familiar faces, but my main priority in life is the boys.
We were able to afford a great place in Tamworth without a crazy mortgage, so it has allowed me to work less than I had to when we were in the city. Andrew and I think it is really important to be available for the boys as much as possible and we can afford to do it here. Now I have time to help with reading or art classes at Josh’s school and go on excursion’s with the pre-school. Those are the kind of experiences which I think are invaluable for both mums and kids.
Pets: Currently, we have a bird and a fish. When the boys are older we will get them a dog but for now the three of them are enough of a handful for me!
Interests: I honestly don’t have much time for anything after running the boys around to playgroup, school, footy or their friends’ places. Someone once told me it’s easier when they are babies and I didn’t believe them but it really is true. As they get older they get involved in more things and have their own little personal lives. Plus, Andrew and I like to do as many family activities with them as we can, like walks, bike riding, going to the swimming pool or on picnics.
Cooking is my one passion. There is a group of mums from Josh’s school who get together once a fortnight to share recipes and inspiration. We take it in turns to host. It’s a great way to get to know people in the area and to share handy tips. It’s also a good forum for talking about the kids.
Recipe Links http://www.naturalkitchenstrategies.com.au
Living in Tamworth: Tamworth has turned out to be fantastic. Our previous posting was in Sydney, and we found it much harder to settle in there. Everybody was too busy doing their own thing, which is fine, but here in Tamworth, we feel as though the community has really embraced us. Andrew is on the P&C at the school and there are always fetes or other activities on to get everyone involved. We’ve been really impressed with the quality of education and things like healthcare too—it’s all just that bit more personal.
This was the tree house work in progress. The finished product
Tamworth is great for the boys. They have the space here. They have a tree house in the back yard and are always outside getting dirty. In Sydney we were in a townhouse with a paved back yard. Now they can play soccer and cricket without worrying about breaking the neighbours’ windows. They can even play in the street with their friends after school. There is often a cricket game happening out there on Friday afternoons. Most of the Dads get involved when they get home from work. I think they enjoy it as much as the kids.
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The boys bedroom— This is our place….. Imagine The Kitchen: where all the action happens. Cowboy theme. imagine what this would Very ‘Toy Story’! cost in Sydney!!
Shopping: You can get almost everything here you can get in Sydney. The shopping is pretty good really. When we first moved here I bought quite a bit of new furniture. Lately, it’s been stuff for the boys (they’re always getting toys, clothes or something) and a few luxury items for us, like a new coffee machine and wine rack— I’ve usually earned a nice wine by the end of the day!
There are a few websites which comprehensively outline what is available in the area. On the rare occasion I can’t find what I’m looking for in stores here I just order it online. http://www.nnsw.com.au/tamworth/ http://www.communityguide.com.au/community.cfm?/tamworth/cat/clothingfashion/
Average Weekly Grocery Budget: $300 I try to shop weekly but end up doing a top-up shop mid-week most of the time. I generally buy based on price. There are particular brands I always get because of the quality—like Huggies nappies when the boys were little and Kellogg’s for cereal— but for cooking products like sugar or flour where it doesn’t make any difference, I just buy the store brand.
I like to buy Australian made if I can but not if it’s a lot more expensive and I won’t go searching labels for it either, I just don’t have the time. One good thing I like to do is buy products from companies that are doing some good. For example, Paul Newman’s salad dressings, I know he’s good at giving money away to charities. Or at a local level I might buy from a butcher who gives the sausages to the school barbeque.
In the shopping basket: I am passionate about good nutrition for our kids. Generally, I prefer to buy fresh produce for the family and make most things from scratch but I do buy meal bases or sauces for the nights I just don’t have time That way I can at least add fresh ingredients and quickly make something that’s still reasonably nutritious
The kids always have fresh fruit in their lunch boxes and although I’m not mega organic or anything, there is this one great organic food shop in Tamworth called Honey Pot Health Foods. I found out about it before we moved there through my favourite website www.mumsweb.com.au. There is a section on the site which has a blog just for rural and regional mothers. You can guarantee if you ask a question on there, someone will know the answer and pass it on. www.raisingchildren.net.au/forum is also another site that has great parenting tips and chat rooms
If the kids come with me to the supermarket I probably end up with a few things I wouldn’t normally get. Nothing too awful but every now and then I’ll let them pick a yoghurt so we will end up with Bob the Builder or something.
As another treat for the boys, sometimes we take them to a fast food restaurant like KFC or Maccas. I prefer Macca’s because they support local kids’ sports—like they run this footy team of the month promotion on the TV which one of our local teams won a few months back.
Holidays: I don’t have a desire to go overseas at all. We spend most of our holidays traveling in Australia. There’s just so much to see and do here. We’ve got younger children and I guess the problems with traveling internationally with them have probably deterred me from doing that at the moment. I just think it’s safer and less hassle to travel with kids in Australia.
Favourite TV Shows: Any cooking show. Since he started the 15 restaurants and has been so outspoken about kid’s nutrition I am a big fan of Jamie Oliver.
Other than that, I just like to wind down with TV after the kids have gone to bed. I love shows like All Saints, Better Homes and Gardens, 20 to 1, Getaway & McLeods Daughters.
I used to like watching the news at tea time but now I have to fight the boys for it over the Simpsons. I’m usually busy cooking dinner at that time anyway so I’ll usually catch up with local TV news if I’m having a bit of sneaky daytime viewing!
Music: I love easy listening music. Old 80s stuff from Whitney Houston, Lionel Richie, the Bangles, U2 (old stuff), George Michael and Madonna. More recently, living in the home of Australian Country music I have started to enjoy Kasey Chambers, Faith Hill and the Dixie Chicks
Reading: Before we had the boys I was an avid reader of novels but these days I never seem to have the time to get into one unless we’re on holidays. I buy the occasional magazine though, nothing religiously but there’s usually a reasonably current issue of something like the Women’s Weekly or New Idea floating around. I like to keep up on things and look for recipes. I also like to flick through the local free paper to find out what’s going on around town. I usually buy the Sunday paper because it’s got a lot more variety even though Andrew usually ends up reading more of it than me.
Favourite Films: Again, great 80s films like Pretty in Pink, The Breakfast Club, Mannequin and Electric Dreams and of course Bueller! From the 90s and lately I like Four Weddings and a Funeral, Notting Hill and Bridgets Jones’ Diary. In terms of new stuff we don't get to the cinema much anyway and prefer to get DVD’s— something we can both watch like a romantic comedy or thriller |
