EASY PEASY ZUCCHINI

I have another winner to share in the lunchbox stakes...

A winner all round as everyone loves it but most importantly - it freezes well, just like the last lunchbox winner, which helps enormously with the need for variety and for a time poor Mum.

Zucchini & Ricotta Muffins

based on recipe originally from Muffin Bible

1/2 cup grated zucchini

2/3 cup ricotta cheese

1 & 1/2 cups plain flour

3 tsp baking powder

pinch of salt

2 tbsp sugar

1 tspn chopped parsley

1/4 cup milk

1/2 cup melted butter

2 eggs

1. Mix the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and parsley together in a bowl.

2. In another bowl combine together the milk, butter & eggs. To this second bowl, add the zucchini & ricotta cheese and then beat well.

3. Add this second bowl to the dry ingredients, stirring together until just moistened. Batter may look a little more stiff than your usual muffin mix.

4. Fill each muffin cup to about 2/3 full. Bake at 200 degrees celcius for 20-25 min or until golden brown.

Use baking paper as muffin liners (just like this) and it won't stick to the patty pans like it did with mine. I used baking paper the other day when I made zucchini slice in muffin form (another lunchbox winner & pictured below) and it worked beautifully, so I'll be using that next time I make these muffins!

If you have any healthy-ish recipes whether sweet or savoury, that would work for a lunchbox, please link them up to this post. I'm trying to get a bit of a collection together as I need all the help I can get and I'm sure it'll be helpful for others too - thanks!

THIS SATURDAY I'M GRATEFUL...

This Saturday I'm grateful for a little bit of family time. Time over a weekend to just stay at home and potter is so ridiculously rare at this house. There always seems to be something going on and somewhere we need to be.

I love to savour and breathe in the little 'everyday' moments, particularly in the backyard - spending time outside is just good for the soul.

Although these photos were obviously not taken in the past week where there has been more rain than sunshine, as sad as it may sound, hanging clothes on the line is one of my favourite household chores. I find the time to slow down and reflect, with the kids playing around me and letting the chooks out for a run rather therapeutic. Hanging clothes over clothes horses over vents throughout the house, does not have quite the same appeal or aesthetic...

I'm also grateful for these two gorgeous little kids who I get to hang out with during the week, while their big sister is at school and their Dad is at work. They really are so different to each other in so many ways, but they are the best of mates to each other at only 15 months apart (yes, we are insane) and they really are very good at amusing themselves without my help. Something I am truly grateful for.

Remembering that he likes things to match, he quickly amended his 'peg fingers' to more suit his slightly OCD tendencies. This quietly observant and kind hearted child finds himself in the middle of two loud & bold as brass sisters.

Grotty, full of cheekiness & spunk, dressed in her favourite pink "ballet dress" (thanks Kate!), constantly talking & always in an animated fashion - these images typify so much of what I'll remember of this little one at this age (which is of course the number she is holding).

What are you grateful for?

Head on over to Maxabella land to see what others are grateful for this week.

DIY BUBBLE BATH & BODY SCRUB

As mentioned previously, I am the 'craft' organiser this year for my MOPS group and the last time we met (just after Mother's Day) we made our own bubblebath & body scrub from ingredients found around the house.

DIY Bubblebath

Ingredients:

1/2 cup shampoo

3/4 cup water

1/4 teaspoon table salt

Method:

1. Gently mix the shampoo and water in a bowl.

2. Add salt and stir for approximately one minute or until mixture thickens slightly.

3. Pour into jar. This amount of mixture will be enough to fill 2 baby food jars.

4. Decorate your jar if desired.

* This would be even more fun if you used a clear or light-coloured shampoo and added some food dye. This way the bath would turn the colour of the food dye. You know I love that. Or if you added your own fragrance to an un-fragranced shampoo. I just used a pink, fragranced shampoo.

Of course, I had to test it out first with the kids & their little cousins and as you can see the bubbles most certainly worked. I will not be buying bubble bath again.

DIY Chocolate Body Scrub

We also made our own chocolate body scrub in baby food jars. Goose made some of these for her Aunties and Granny at Christmas time, thanks to this lady's inspiration. We used the recipe at the bottom of this post and I think it would be fabulous with some orange essence, or essential oil of your choice, added.

These are both super easy acitivites for kids to do as well, to use at home or to give as gifts.

If you are interested in other craft activities that you can do with your kids, head over to our 'Kids Craft' page right here.

Or for others creative spaces for this week head over here.

EASY PEASY MORNING TEA

I was very, very proud of myself this week because...

I made scones.

For some reason, I have always been scared of scones. They seemed on a par with sponge cakes and pavlovas. In the realm of the experts at the CWA who had perfected the art over many many years.

I actually laughed at myself when I realised how easy they were. This recipe was given to me by my new friend Susannah (who has, by the way, just started her own very cool blog - head on over for a visit!). As usual I had some willing helpers and in no time at all (seriously!!) we had a batch of scones on the table and in even less time than that - all were gone - delicious!!

EASY PEASY SCONES

3 cups SR flour

1 cup lemonade (or even soda water)

1 cup cream

I'm not exactly sure on the correct way to make scones, but I just mixed the ingredients together, rolled them into balls (using some extra flour on the bench & on hands) and popped them onto a small lightly greased (& slightly floured) tray. Then into a 200 degree celcius oven for around 10 mins (depending on size of scones).

I notice that my friend Sonia from Lioness Lady also uses the exact same recipe. I'm onto a winner and I encourage you to give it a go! Next I'm going to experiment with adding extra ingredients like ham and cheese or raisins & the like, as they may just work in lunchboxes! If you haven't yet, please check out this post and share your lunchbox tips! I need all the variety I can get!

If you're after more easy peasy recipes, you might like to head over here.

Aaargh me hearties.... it's a Pirate Party!

Earlier this month (where on earth has that time gone?!?!) I promised photos of the magnificant pirate themed party that we went to for my gorgeous nephew's 5th birthday.

I was very impressed with the superbly stylish simplicity of it all!

There were a number of activities set up for the kids to complete during the course of the party.

First of all they were invited to decorate their own 'treasure bag' and then for completing each activity they earned a little gift to put in their treasure bag.

Knock 'em down game - made by covering tin cans with colored paper and small home made rice bags which Lou made using the same fabric she used to make the bunting.

Digging for gold coins in the sand

Treasure Toss - tossing large silver coins (cardboard wrapped in foil) into an old suitcase.

Walk the Plank (plank of wood set up on bricks) to receive a pirate hat.

Pin the Eye Patch on the Pirate (made by our talented sister Clare!)

Amazing Cupcakes made by Lou's beautiful & talented friend Cathie (I know, how lucky are we?!).

Cakes are the domain of my brother-in-law who always does an impecable job - he even joined the last craft night at Lou's to finish sewing the sails.

Party bags contained pirate coloring pages, a treasure map, some chocolate coins, a fruit stick, a pirate magnet (made by Lou) & an eyepatch. Plus the kids got to take home the things they'd collected in their 'treasure bags' during the activities - bubbles, spinning top, pirate hat, box of sultanas & gold coins.

Many of you will remember my sister Lou - Well of course, being a blogger, she has been kind enough to give us a list of where we too can find many of the 'pirate' additions to this party so that we can have our own pirate party! Thanks Lou!

Stripy Straws

Thankyou stickers on bags

Brown bags

Pirate fabric for bunting

Cupcake flags

Invitations

Cupcake Wrappers

eyepatch

pirate hats - free printable

pirate flags (burger toppers) - free printables

pirate ship 'thank ye' card (food labels) - free printables

pirate balloons

To check out some more DIY parties or to share your own, do head on over here to our DIY party linky which is growing every day!

THIS SATURDAY I'M GRATEFUL...

I'm grateful for all the help I can get! I'll be putting her to work on the clothes pile next...*

* Disclaimer - Vacuuming is something my children love to do... as you can see here (do go & check it out for a laugh!) not a lot of vacuuming actually gets done!! Not a lot of clothes folding gets done either..although to their credit they're getting better at putting them away once folded.

EASY PEASY LUNCHBOX WINNERS

I'm on a quest for healthy (ish) school lunches for Goose and in particular - sandwich substitutes. So far the stand out favourite has been the 'Mini Egg & Bacon Pies'.

This is a recipe that has been in our family for as long as I can remember. These were requested at every single birthday party without fail when we were growing up and my sisters & I have carried on that tradition.* They are always a hit and perfect to freeze and pull out for school lunches, when friends come over for lunch or when you need to bring a savoury plate. They are great warm and great cold.

MINI EGG & BACON PIES

source NMAA cookbook

250g shortcrust pastry

3 rashers bacon, chopped

1 tablespoon chives OR 1 onion, chopped

3 eggs

1 & 1/2 cups of milk OR cream

2 teaspoons parsley, chopped

125g cheese, grated

salt & pepper

1. Set oven to 190 C.

Fry bacon & onion in frying pan. (Or just the bacon if you are using chives)

3. Beat eggs & add all other ingredients.

4. Line a greased muffin tray with pastry rounds. I use the top of a wine glass or a scone cutter.

5. Put tablespoon or so of mixture into each one & cook for 15 mins.

* This can be made into one large pie also. Just blind bake the pastry first for approx 10 mins and cook at 180C for approx 40 mins.

Coming close second in the lunchbox stakes are Zucchini & Ricotta Muffins... stay tuned later this week for the recipe. I am keen to try these, these & these which I think could be winners also.

What are your lunchbox winners?

If you've got a healthy lunchbox recipe, whether sweet or savoury, that you've already posted about - please link it up below. Or you could always write a new post - just to link it up here! It would be great to have a resource of lunchbox ideas, that are tried and true by bloggers & their kids, that we could all go to with just one click!

*With the exception of the Japanese party & the Pink Party as it just didn't fit the theme ;)

THIS SATURDAY I'M GRATEFUL...

- for the fun times had last weekend at 'cousin camp'. Country mountain air is just so good for the soul. I'll never be able to shake my country roots. 5 acres, beautiful views, great company... not to mention a huge bonfire, billy carts, a tree swing, deliciously hearty food prepared by others and best of all - plenty of willing & capable babysitters!

- that one of those cousins took some gorgeous photos of my kids with their fancy camera!

- for my Mum & 2 sisters & my gorgeous husband who give up their time & are so invaluable to me in keeping afloat in the overwhelming chaos that I seem to find myself in quite a bit these days. You've been particularly helpful in the past week. Thanks!

- that today I have a small chance to breathe & catch up.

- that once again Goose was very understanding when the tooth fairy was her usual ditzy self! She has been a day late a number of times before, but this time she actually got it right, left some coins, left a note in reply to hers, ate the chocolates and sprinkles left behind, but ..... somehow forgot to collect the actual tooth....

- that none of you are going to mind that this blog post is a couple of days late... it's been a busy week/weekend (as per usual!!) and blogger was down for a couple of days...

I find it healthy to try and find things to be grateful for, a "glass half full"/polyanna look at life. For other 'grateful' posts that I've written, you can head over here.

...for others 'grateful' lists, you can head over here. While there you might like to read her advice on juggling too many motherhood balls, I think I need to read it very carefully...

What are you grateful for?

REALITY - AT MY HOUSE

I think often pictures speak louder than words.

These photos were quickly snapped on my phone this afternoon.

Not a lot of blogging going on here at the moment...

Afternoon Addition - this feels so therapuetic to post these pictures - I dare you to do the same and post your house, just the way it is looking right now! Let me know if you've been brave enough to do it in the comments below...and feel free to link back here so that others know you're not the only one!!


29.07.11 I have just linked this post with Magdalena from the Craft Revival.  

MOTHERS DAY PRINTABLES...

Last year I did a rather large round up of free mothers day printables that I had found across blogland. Why not head over there and check them out as well as some new ones that I've found this year...

Mothers Day teabag tags, paper & cards

Mothers Day coupons

Mothers Day breakfast printables

Candy Wrappers (for any occasion!)

Mothers Day cards

Babushka Mothers Day card (-just for you Lioness Lady!)

Mothers Day card

Mothers Day Cards

DIY Color-in Cupcake toppers & wrappers

Mothers Day floral Gift tags

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What will you be doing this Mothers Day?