Being time productive

As you would all know when you have young children you feel like your chasing your tail all the time. There is always so much to do and it feels never ending.

I have a very demanding little two year old and so I am constantly looking for ways to keep her amused so that I can get some things done.

To get the washing done I get her to pass me the pegs but if I'm in a big hurry I turn the outside tap on to a drizzle, give her a little watering can and she waters the plants while I hang the clothes.



Just today she needed a shower and didn't want to get out so I scrubbed the outside of the shower and cleaned the toilet while she had a play.....this is a job I had been struggling to find the time for. It's not something I can do with her clinging to my leg. But this way I got a clean baby and a clean bathroom.

Do you have any time productive tips to share?

More christmas goodies

 

Chocolate mudcake christmas puddings 

 

 

These were quite simple. I saw these done with fruit cake....which would be delicious! I have children that don't like fruit cake so we used the idea to make something the kids would enjoy.

 

We just cooked a chocolate mudcake and crumbled it after it had coled a little. I mixed some hot chocolate ganash through and we rolled them into bite size balls. We chilled them in the fridge and then finished them off with the melted white chocolate topping.

 

You can use m&m's and cut up mint leaf lollies for the decoration but we had already coloured fondant left over from Jada's birthday cake, so we used it instead.

 

 

These would be a really special gift or are perfect for that extra special something to take to a christmas party.

 

Enjoy!!!!



Cinnamon Muffins with crumble topping

These are so scrumptious!

We had a baking day yesterday to try out some new recipes. These muffins smelt amazing cooking and were so delicious with our cup of tea after all the hard work.





I am finding so many recipes at the moment that I want to try out. So if you are after cooking inspiration 'watch this space'

The link for this recipe.....
The recipe

Simple christmas cookies

I love christmas so much, it is my favourite time of the year. I love doing christmas craft and christmas baking with the kids, I love decorating the house, buying gifts, christmas music and movies and wrapping presents with beautiful bows. (I don't like the weight that I gain though)



 













Today the kids and I baked the simple but yummy christmas cookies. They are just basic sugar cookies from Martha Sewart's website. This is a fantastic recipe that you can mix up quick with not alot of ingredients and you can freeze the dough and use it later.



We used royal icing because I wanted an icing that would set so that I could fill the cookie jar but you can use any type of icing to make the sprinkles stick.

Check out Martha Stewarts delicious sugar cookies

Please share if you have a baking favourite!!!!

Making Christ the center of Christmas

Idea #4

Make the effort to get to carols by candle light this year.

 



I have to admit I haven't been too fussed on getting to one for quite some time. Sometimes it all just feels too much with all of the end of year things to get to and all the people that want to catch up before christmas.

This year I am being a bit more picky about what we go to and how many people we catch up with......not because I don't love these things and these beautiful people in my life, but because I need to prioritise this year if I'm going to make Christ the center of christmas.



"Oh no, not boring carols again", you might be thinking.

Why not look up the meaning behind one or two of the traditional carols, who wrote it and where their inspiration came from. This might help to appreciated the beauty and depth of these incredible songs. And just read over the words....they are beautiful.

And let's face it....there really is an incredible atmosphere at these events that leave you feeling so good inside. And the kids love the night out!

Go with a group of friends, it makes it so much more fun.

Just don't forget the mozzie repellant!

Keeping Christ the center of Christmas

Idea #3

Bless somebody! Just remember Jesus was the ultimate gift and blessing for us, so let's try to pass this on to others.



• Take the children to visit a nursing home to give the lonely residents a christmas gift or card
• Buy a gift for someone in your church that you think might not have anyone to buy for them at christmas (a single parent, someone in financial diffuclty etc.). Ask a church leader to give it to them if you wish to stay anonymous.
• Buy a gift for the Kmart wishing tree
• Bake some nice christmas cookies and visit someone that is lonely. Nice fresh cookies to share over a cup of tea



You really don't have to spend a fortune to give a gift or be a blessing. I have found some beautiful home made gift ideas (beautiful not corny).

Imagine receing a tin of these....Mmmmm!

 

Beautiful Gift idea

 

Making Christ the center this Christmas - Idea #2

Keeping the true meaning of Christmas alive in your home....

Idea #2

Display a nativity scene. If you are like us and don't own one, then you can make one. We will be making a couple of different beautiful nativity's to have on view in our home. I will post photo's over the coming weeks as we complete each project.

I think involving the children with some activities like this helps them to focus on the true meaning and spirit of christmas as well.

Check out this link which has a very simple yet affective nativity scene that children can help make.

http://todaysfabulousfinds.blogspot.com.au/2011/11/craft-stick-and-clay-pot-childrens.html

Check out this link

Making Christ the center this Christmas



It is so easy to get caught up in the crazyness of Christmas and forget what it's all about. With the financial stress, all the shopping, baking and christmas parties it is just too easy to just 'go through the motions' and end up exhausted, deflated and broke at the end of it all.

Even church with the best intentions can still burn us out at this time.

I have put some thought into it and have come up with some ideas that will hopefully help me keep focused on what it is all about this year.

First idea:

Because I have hurt my back and can't move around too much today I have decided to make this time as productive as possible, so I am getting started on writing on christmas cards.

I am writing a verse in each card so that it sends out a reminder to others and helps me to keep focus as well.

"The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel"--which means, "God with us." (Matthew 1:22-23, NIV)

Christmas....my new project!

Christmas is getting close and I am planning to be organised!

I know some super organised people are already finished christmas shopping and I haven't even started but starting now belive it or not is organised for me.



November is a huge birthday month for us and normally I can't get my head around Christmas until after they are all over but this year I determine to do things differently. The children that have birthday's in November are getting older and therefore there aren't any time consuming parties to organise.

My plan is to wrap the gifts in the weeks leading up to the special day rather than the usual' half the night wrapping christmas eve'

The youngest for November is 16 and we are taking him paintballing....nice and easy!

So I have printed my 'Christmas Planner' from the organised housewife blog and have started filling things out. I have written my christmas card list, some new baking ideas, gift ideas etc.

It feels good!

I will share some of these ideas as I go. I have some great ideas for homemade gifts, some delicious new recipes to try and gift ideas for those that are hard to buy for.

Hopefully I can help to motivate and inspire you to not just be organised but to also enjoy this christmas season.

These are delicious!

I made these christmas cookies tonight and they are truly amazing!

Something extra special to serve to visitors or they would be a gorgeous gift....a jar filled and decorated with ribbon.






Choc fudge cookie Recipe

Sift 1 1/2 cups plain flour and 3/4 cup cocoa and add 1 1/2 cups brown sugar. Melt 180g butter and 150g dark choc. Add the choc mixture as well as 3 eggs to the flour mixture. Mix well and then add 1 cup of dark choc bits.
Drop teaspoons of mixture on to baking paper lined trays and bake in mod oven for 10 mins.
After they have cooled dip them into melted white choc and sprinkle crushed candy cane on top.

Enjoy!

Christmas baking

Christmas is close and I am trialing a few recipes. These candy cane cookies look amazing to serve to guests or use as gifts, and they are incredibly easy!



Make chocolate cookies of your choice, dip them in white chocolate and sprinkle some crushed candy cane on top.

I got this idea from http://www.theidearoom.net/2010/12/chocolate-peppermint-cookies-and-fudge.htmlThe idea room has some great ideas

Our gift boxes from recycled materials - cheap and cute

Unfortunately I didn't get a good photo of the gift boxes for children to take home after the party. They are lined up on the bench in the background of this photo.

This is the only photo we have of the 15 assorted boxes. It is my birthday girl blowing her nail polish dry.



We just used plastic strawberry boxes that we saved for several weeks leading up to the party. We put a little coloured shredded paper in each box, a little lolly bag and a couple of little toys. We put a strip of patterned paper around the outside, some ribbon and then finished them off with a pom pom garden critter that we also made.

These didn't cost much at all. We recycled strawberry boxes and used paper and pom poms that we had in the craft cupboard. I ordered the toys from ebay well in advance because it worked out cheaper that way, (magnifying glasses, bird whistles and bouncy balls).

Recycled and revamped drink bottles for our garden party

My initial idea was to use glass bottles that I had collected for the party but then decided plastic would be safer for young children. Not as cute but still do-able!

I just used cheap round shape pop tops. We pulled off the labels, rinsed them out and decorated them with scrap pieces of paper and string. I had planned to make labels to put the children's names on the bottles but sadly, ran out of time.

The kids and I did these together and had alot of fun.



We used funnels to re-fill with the fruit punch.

They were a real hit!

Garden party for my 2 year old baby girl

My little girl loves playing in the garden so we decided to have her birthday party in our garden with lot's of cute home made critters, toad stool tables and more...

Over the next few days I will post photo's of the things we made for the party.

My main objective was to recycle as much as possible and make everything from things we had at home.

Here is a picture of the paper mache lady beetles that we had hanging in trees around the garden.

Re-using glass bottles

I said I would share more ways to use re-glass jars. So here we go as promised!

This is a cute way to use glass juice bottles.



I have used stickers but I plan on painting chalk board labels in the near future.

I will be getting quite a few of these ready for my little girls 2nd birthday for fruit punch. We will write the children's names on the chalk board labels.

Her party is a "teddy bears garden party" theme....just a cute little picnic in the back garden with some friends. Teddy bears and playing in the garden are two of her favourite things.

The bottles of fruit punch will be referred to as beetle juice to go with our garden theme and we will have some 'new and clean' watering cans for fruit punch refills.

I will continue over the next few weeks to show you some of the party ideas and preperations. Some of these things will be recycling old jars.

Baby food jars will be perfect for some of the ideas I have!

Easy breakfast fruit crumble

I love fruity crumbles for breakfast.....but the reality is who has time to make crumble from scratch in the mornings!

I have come up with a couple of ways to make it do-able.

There is always the most obvious way, and that is to make it the night before. But I have to say I don't always have the energy of a night.

The other option is to have an assortment of berries, cooked apple etc in the freezer and some crumble mixed up in a container in the fridge.

Check out this idea- measure up the dry ingredients and put in a jar. You can have a couple of these in the pantry in different serving sizes. Label them and all you have to do is mix some butter through so that its ready to top your choice of fruit (which of course you have in your freezer).




I love recycling jars and there are so many cute things you can do with them. I will post some of these ideas over the coming weeks.

If you have lot's of children at home with you like I do and limited time, just use it as a fun time with the kids to measure out some ingredients. Have some special time with them in the kitchen, get them to help fill the jars and attatch the tags. The kids love these kinds of activities.

Check these out!

I just love this idea!

These adorable garden desserts are made up of chocolate mousse, chocolate cake, mint leaves and marzipan critters.....everything is edible.

I have to admit though that I didn't make them, my eldest daughter did.  But the kids and I will be having a go at them in the near future because they look fun....and are so yummy.

My baby is turning two in a few weeks and we will be having a little garden party for her. I think these little critter desserts will go beautifully with our garden theme.

Any suggestions for other party food that will go with our theme?

Fried cinnamon bread served with sweet ricotta and strawberries

This is one of my favourite breakfasts at the moment.....so simple but so nice!

It is basically cinnamon toast but oooohhh so much better, mmmm.


How to make this delicious dish:

Simply beat some cream and eggs together. Slice bread thick and into fingers (I actually use wheat and gluten free bread). Dip bread pieces in the egg mixture and fry in a pan. When cooked on all sides roll them in a cinnamon sugar mix and serve with sweet ricotta and fresh strawberries.

What a breakfast!

One of the highlights for me from my recent trip to Melbourne was exploring gorgeous cafes hidden away down back streets and laneways.

Breakfast is definitely my favourite meal of the day and we enjoyed some delicious breakfasts while we were away.

I have decided that I really need to purchase a waffle iron after one of our mornings out.....fresh waffles are amazing!

One of our latest projects

A work in progress

After discovering the price of beds...."gasp!", the search for a nice small set of 'second hand' white timber bunks for my girls room began.

After months of searching on ebay, gumtree, opportunity shops and garage sales and coming up with a big fat nothing, I decided I would have to find another way to make this happen......and of course it meant lots of work.

I managed to pick up a raw timber ikea bunk bed for a bargain and my 8 year old and 11 year old girls spent a day painting them with some white glossy paint that we had sitting around.

It took us forever to put them together but here is the finished product....

Getting organised!

These are shelves in my wardrobe. All of my shelves are now tidy and super organised with these boxes that I picked up in Kmart.


To me getting rid of clutter and mess build up is a such a good feeling.

I hate the "my house is spiralling out of controll" feeling!

It's not just those dumping zones on benches for all to see that I'm talking about either. I'm talking about cleaning out those drawers, cupboards and wardrobes. The areas that get so out of controll that you just shove the stuff in and hope it doesn't fall on you next time you open the door.

The cupboard you hope no-one will ever see in!

I am on a mission to get some out of controll, "I'm gonna get to it one day", areas sorted over the next few weeks. I will post some before and after photo's as I go.

The trick to keeping your house clutter free is to have a home for everything. If it doesn't have a home, find it a home or chuck it out!

I don't know about you but I feel much more relaxed and at peace when my life and my house is in order. Once you get on top of things it is much easier to keep on top of things.

Why don't you join me room by room, cupboard by cupboard in the quest to have a more organised life.

I have started with the wardrobe in my bedroom and am very happy with the results. So why don't you take a look at your wardrobe this week....are there clothes taking up space that you don't wear, could you do with some baskets to tidy up the shelves?

This website the organised housewife.com.au is a brilliant website with great tips and inspiration.

Pop Tarts recipe as promised

In this photo I put caramalised apples and walnuts on the side

Pumpkin Pie Pop Tarts

I just cheated and used frozen puff pastry.

For the filling: 3/4 cup mashed pumpkin, 1/4 cup brown sugar, 1 large egg, 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/8 teaspoon cloves, 1/8 teaspoon all spice.

For the glaze: 1/3 cup softened cream cheese, 2-3 tablespoons cream or milk (I used milk) and 3-4 tablespoons powdered sugar. (Although in this photo it is a drizzle of home made caramel sauce)instead).

You can make any type of pop tart that takes your fancy. I have tried chai pear, cinamon apple and the kids favourite is choc marshmallow. Let your imagination run wild!

Let me know how you like them and what other amazing ideas you come up with :)

Two of my new favourite things....Jars and paper straws

I am just loving jars and paper straws at the moment.

The ideas for gifts in jars is endless. Cherry syrup, Hot cakes for two (dry ingredients only of course), gourmet sauces and jam, sugar coated almonds.......

You can pick up some really unique jars at garage sales or second hand shops.

I even think there are some cute jars for smoothies or mocktails, with a paper straw of course!

I found the straws on ebay and bought several colours.

I will be adding some photo's over the next few weeks of some things I've done with my jars.....so watch this space!

Breakfast, the most important meal of the day

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day and if we can help our children to have a love for it, we are helping prevent a hurdle that they will have to overcome later in life.

Am I the only one that has struggled in the busyness of life to start the day with a good breakfast?

Jada is 19 months old and breakfast is her favourite meal of the day.

I love this photo of her, it is what she does every morning. She takes her time with toast or cereal, cut up fruit, yoghurt and a baby-cinno. Her little cup and saucer and milk jug are so cute!

Home made Sweet Pumpkin Pop Tarts

I love it when I have time on the weekends to try out a new recipe for breakfast....or should I say brunch!

These homemade sweet pumpkin pop tarts with a glaze were a big hit this morning.

Quick lunch

Have you ever had one of those days where you are rushing around like a lunatic and then you suddenly realise you haven't stopped to eat?

That was my day yesterday....at about 12pm I realised I hadn't eaten yet and I still had heaps of errands to run. With 15 minutes to spare, I grabbed what I could find in the fridge.

It was  scrumptious!

Toasted roll with cream cheese, avocado, salt and pepper with a steaming hot cup of tea.

Some amazing recipes on this blog

I am loving this blog

Apple Pinenut Pudding

This is one of the most incredible dishes to have as a breakfast or a dessert.

Apple Pinenut Pudding with caramel sauce and sweet ricotta....compliments of Lee and Me.

A Cassy Cruickshank creation.

Visit Lee and Me in Wollongong

Mouth Watering

Home made lemon meringue pies with home made pastry!

Are your saliva glands working yet?

Fresh and delicious

It's always sad to see the end of the summer fruit season.....grapes, strawberries, watermelon, peaches and nectarines! 

I just loved the fresh fruit salads with thick creamy Gipsland yoghurt.

Child's play

How beautiful is it to watch little ones play using their imagination - a basket quickly becomes a boat, a box can be a car or a cubby, a cardboard tube is a trumpet, a telescope or a sword and a stick can be a magic wand.....

They can have all the toys in the world and yet they all still gravitate to those simple things that take them in to a world of creative play, imagination and adventure.

Getting creative with gift wrapping

I just love wrapping presents, and I love it even more when I have the time to be creative with it.

There have been times when I have stopped at the shops on the way to a party with 5 minutes to spare to purchase a gift, wrapping paper and a card....usually with no idea what to get!

Then I've  pulled up at the party half an hour late because the 5 minutes at the shop turned into half an hour of stress trying to make a decision. Then to top it all off I am madly trying to wrap the gift in the car (and of course I've forgotten to buy sticky tape so then I have to some how get it to hold together with curling ribbon....if I was lucky enough to have remembered that).

Does this sound familiar to anyone else?

I don't particularly like these moments....I feel terrible that not alot of love and care went into the gift. I hate the whole 'that will have to do' attitude.

The times I enjoy (which aren't nearly as often as I would like) are when I have not only had time to think of a gift that I think the recipient will love but I have even bought the gift in advance. It's during these organised times that I get to wrap and decorate it without any rushing.

I like to find ways to make a gift look incredible without spending a fortune on ribbons and things. I try to use what I have at home, and of course I like to make the card so that it matches the paper.

Here is a gift that I wrapped yesterday. I love how it turned out and the only thing I purchased was a roll of gift wrap. I just used a piece of tissue paper to wrap around it (instead of ribbon) and then I used scraps of cardboard and off cuts to make the card. I attatched  the card to the front of the present to create that extra special 'wow' factor.

Dining Creativity

If you are a creative being you will understand when I say that my creativity flows over into all areas in my life.

I love school projects with the kids, scrapbooking, taking photo's, cooking new things, wrapping gifts with that extra special touch, shopping for that 'something different', decorating my house and even doing something 'design like' when setting the table.

I have stuck with my all white dinnerware for a really long time. All white is just so classic and you can never go wrong with that, but just of late, I have been loving the odd coloured dish mixed in.

For Easter I splurged and bought some red bread and butter plates to add to the white table setting and I was delighted with the result.

It's the simple things in life

Enjoying some T2 English breakfast tea with the newest addition to my teapot collection. Such a cute little teapot with infuser....only $5 from kmart!

.....and T2 English breakfast tea is lovely :)

I discovered this recipe - Zucchini Sweet Potato Bread....it is absolutely delicious and super easy!

Zucchini Sweet Potato Bread

adapted from Bon Appetit Magazine, November 1992

2 cups all-purpose flour (I used 1 cup all-purpose and 1 cup whole wheat flour)

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon cloves (the nutmeg and the cloves are optional, you’ll just have a less spicy bread)

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 cups sugar (I think 1 cup of brown sugar is plenty...possibly even 1/2 cup)

3/4 cup vegetable oil (You can even use 1/2 cup oil and 1/4 cup apple sauce. Less fat.)

3 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 1/2 cup grated zucchini

1 1/2 cup peeled and grated sweet potato

1 cup chopped walnuts (optional but yummy)

1/2 cup dried cranberries (optional)

Preheat oven to 170 degrees C. Butter and flour a 9x5x3- inch loaf pan and set aside. Sift the first 7 ingredients into a medium sized bowl. In a seperate, large bowl, beat the sugar, oil, eggs and vanilla extract. Mix in the zucchini and sweet potato. Add the dry ingredients and stir just to combine. Fold in the nuts and cranberries and stir well.

Transfer batter to prepared pan. Bake until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean, about 1 hour and 20 minutes. Cool bread in pan on a rack for 15 minutes. Loosen the edges of the bread with a butter knife and turn out on a rack to cool. (or it is delicious hot)  Can be prepared 1 day in advance. Wrap in foil and keep at room temperature.

Check out where my eldest daughter works 'Lee and Me'....fantastic atmosphere and incredible food!

Breakfast inspiration

Check out this great site for breakfast inspirationCheck out this great site for breakfast inspiration

A warm cosy afternoon tea

It is raining and cold outside but we are all snuggled up with blankets, a roaring fire and a nice afternoon tea.

Toasted sourdough bread with lots of butter and chunky black cherry jam. And to make it complete, a cappuccino and candles.

My latest find for storage solutions

I can't handle clutter of any kind so I am always looking for new ways to keep cupboards organised and find ways to store those 'bits and pieces'

But of course I am obsessed with everything matching and looking stylish which makes it even more of a challenge!

I love these boxes that I came across in Kmart. They are cheap, neat and tidy and the perfect size for wardrobe and under bed storage.

My little girl enjoying an interior decorating magazine

Like mother like daughter!

Jada (at 17 months of age) sat, flicking through this magazine for ages looking so engrossed.

A definite photo opportunity :)

Our 2012 Valentines Day

The kids and I spent a day of schooling preparing for a family valentines day  meal.

We did everything from resaerching how it came about to menu planning, decorating the table, shopping for supplies, writing out easter jokes for some dinner time fun and cooking the dinner. We also cooked and decorated heart shape cookies for the main table decoration and the dessert.

The kids made place cards with a special little note to each person on the inside, the jokes were on little colourful strips of paper and then curled to fill glass bowls and of course all the prep for the centerpiece.

Not only did we have a great fun day but we covered everything for schooling for the day......english, history, culture, project reasearch, craft, writing, spelling, food tech with the menu planning and cooking, math with the cooking measurements and budgeting etc.

And the best part of all was that we managed to surprise the whole family and the night was a great success!