Tickly Moo

This month has flown by and I don’t seem to have done any of the things I have planned, lots of half finished projects & projects that have only got the the buying fabric stage!  It has been a pretty chilly winter here so far so for dinner tonight I made one of my favourites, a slow cook carrot soup.  It is a Gordon Ramsey recipe which is yummy and just the colour brightens me up and makes me feel cheery.

I also whipped up a banana & blueberry loaf this afternoon which is a great snack for the girls & holds up well in lunchboxes so here is the recipe for anyone who is interested.  You could really substitute the blueberries for any other berries you like but blueberries are always a favourite in our house.

 

Banana & Blueberry Loaf

2 cups flour

2t baking powder

1t ground cinnamon

1 cup brown sugar

2 free range eggs, beaten

125g butter (melted)

1-2t of good quality vanilla extract

3 largish bananas (lightly mashed so there are still a few chunks)

1 cup blueberries (frozen is fine)

 

• Grease a 10 x 20cm loaf tin & line the base with baking paper.
• Sift dry ingredients into a large bowl & then stir in the brown sugar.
• In a seperate bowl, mix banana, egg, vanilla extract & melted butter.
• Fold blueberries & wet ingredients into dry ingredients mixing only until just combined, do not over mix.
• Scoop into the loaf tin and bake at 180°C (350°F) for around 55 minutes.  It is ready when a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean.

This can be served cold or warm & is great with some butter.

I have also made an update to my Favourite Kids Books page – Never Too Little To Love & Poppy Cat’s Farm.

 

 

3 Comments | In: Food Stuff, Recipes | tags: banana, blueberry, books, loaf, recipe, soup. | #

I have felt like I have been very busy over the last week but have very little to show for it.  Poor Phoebe has had the chicken pox and has been feeling very grumpy and unwell but I have managed to finally make the hooks for the back of Ella’s door, I have made decorations for Ella’s windows which I put without photographing and now I just can’t get a decent photo of them with the dismal weather & the brightness of the window behind them, and I have started but am yet to finish several other small projects – gathering materials & changing my mind a hundred times (nothing too unusual about that).

And then there is my new passtime of playing with polyshrink plastic!  I vaguely remember getting something like this in a cereal packet when I was little but when I came across sheets of it in a local scrapbooking shop, I got very excited by the possibilities & the simplicity, so Ella & I have both been busy doodling and shrinking.  Ella was more excited about making a tag for her friend Mya than doing things for herself which was sweet, but she is keen to buy some hairclips to attach the little discs to.  I have found some great tutorials for pins from Tutti Frutti, for rings from Planet June and I yet to try anything as complicated as Jessica Poundstone’s YouTube tutorial for shrink plastic jewellery. My first attempt at a ring did not even come close to being round but by number three I was getting the hang of it.  I am now working on some cute little bird brooches so watch this space!

I had my very first Etsy sale a couple of weeks ago – yay – and I have finally managed some more crowns for my shop (s0me more are still in progress).

And in between all this I added our favourite recipe for playdough to my pages and forgot to post anything about it.  It is the best playdough recipe and my little ones love being able to help choose their own colours etc.

Well, what a confusing rant, I hope you can follow that, maybe I will get some more sleep and be more mentally organised tomorrow!

No Comments | In: Crafty Stuff, Kids Stuff | tags: crowns, playdough, recipe, shrinky dink. | #

I forgot to put a photo up of the no bake birthday cake that Ella made in my last post & had this promptly pointed out to me so here it is!  Ella’s actual birthday was the day before her party & naturally she wanted a cake & candles to blow out but as I was busy with the party cake, I let Ella make this herself & she was very proud of it.

It is chocolate chip biscuits dipped in orange juice & sandwiched together with whipped cream into a log shape, which was covered in more yellow whipped cream & topped with sprinkles.  After being in the fridge for a few hours, the biscuits go soft & it is like a chocolate biscuit cake in texture & very tasty.  One of my favourites when I was little & simple enough for a child to do with minimal supervision & resulting in extreme pride in doing something “all by myself” – very important when you are five!

For a slightly more grown up version – leave out the food colouring, replace the sprinkles with grated chocolate & replace the juice with sherry or peach schnapps, yum!

2 Comments | In: Food Stuff, Kids Stuff | tags: baking, birthday, cake, recipe. | #