Sorry for the lack of posts. I know Christmas and New Years have come and gone. But I hope you are happy and healthy so far this year!
Seriously, December is pretty much a write-off for our family. Jacob's birthday, the boys' birthday, Christmas parties, Christmas, New Years. It's madness.
So here is the crazy chaos that is December...
Our Playcentre Christmas Party/Teddy Bear Picnic
Little men following the big kids on a hike.
The Cool Santa sporting Ray Ban Sunnies, of course.
Uncle Jeremy - I mean - Santa giving Wim his gift.
Back at home - we slowly welcomed Summer and the Holiday Season
The boys learning some proper gardening skills
Making Xmas Cards
Star biscuits!!
The Wellington Multiple Births Christmas Party
H & J checking out another Santa.
More gifts from Santa!
The serious business of meeting Santa!
The boys had their second birthday as well! Jacob did an amazing job baking both cakes and cooking up a storm on the BBQ! It was a very small party, but thankfully fairly chilled out compared to their first birthdays!
Lunchtime can be such a struggle sometimes. It usually met with fussiness and cranky boys, over-tired and an exhausted mum. It is so hard. Parenting is just hard. There is nothing easy about this shit. The days it goes all good in the morning, the afternoons just lead to chaos.. and vice versa. It's rare that we have a seriously good day. It sucks. I want them to be all good days. But alas. No.
I recently gave up trying to be healthy for lunchtimes, well at least for a couple of days. Usually we have things like edamame, whole grain toast with tuna, mostly healthy and as unprocessed as possible. Then, it all turned to custard. I threw in the towel and decided to make them PB&J. ARGH!!! There was no bread. Out come the tortillas. I know I was a PB&J kid and still am. But now I know why. The boys were so happy. I was happy. All good.
You can't be that mum everyday. Somedays you have to feed them PB&J for lunch and baked beans for dinner.
And it's ok..
The new lunch favourite
And quickly, look at this little heartbreaker above. He has been quite lovely lately and it's amazing. While Willem has had a pretty bad week, Hendrik is the one to help out. He gets their socks and shoes when Willem is having a tantrum on my lap and gets into the pram without question. And not to mention, he can work a camera like no other little boy! ;)
It always makes me slightly angry when I find simple recipes like this that I could have been making for ages! Way too easy, way too yummy, way too quickly eaten. The recipe I actually used was from the Treats from Little and Friday. (which of course I'm dying to go visit the cafe in Auckland.)
Check out the book at least. There are so many great recipes.
Good cheese and fresh herbs from the garden.
Yes, I cheated. Store bought puff pastry.
Messy twisties.
And yummmmmm. Amazing warm out of the oven.
Yummy for boys, and yummy puff pastry crumbs on the floor for Timmy.
These are something I make quite often. I found the original recipe here when I was just starting out Baby Led Weaning and solids with the boys. They are nice little afternoon tea snacks and yes, there is a bit of sugar in them, it's not ALL bad. Besides, I think Jacob and I eat most of them!
The last batch of these I made, I had some handsome help in the kitchen!
Here is our latest version of them!
The Always Keen to Help Hendrik.
Preheat your oven to 180C and line a baking tray, 20x25cm, with parchment paper.
Place all of the dry ingredients into a big bowl and mix to combine. The key is to have 3 cups of a mix of oats, fruit, nuts etc. We use our favourite muesli from Moore Wilson's that has oats, almonds, papaya, raisins, and such. Then we add in anything else we like.
Melt the coconut oil and golden syrup, it doesn't combine as well as butter, but still does the trick in the long run.
Pour the syrup mixture into the dry bits bowl and stir to combine. Pour it all into the baking tray and pop in the oven.
Bake for about 20 minutes. Take it out of the oven and let it cool completely before cutting. This is the hardest part, especially if Jacob's around to sneak a few nibbles off.
We leave it in a airtight container in the pantry, I wouldn't know HOW long it would last, as it's usually gone in a couple of days.
H & W proud of their efforts.
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Muesli Bars with Coconut Oil
by August-14-2014
Ingredients
125 grams coconut oil
1/4 cup golden syrup
1 1/2 cup rolled oats, or we use our favourite muesli
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup pumpkin seeds (pepitas)
1/2 cup sunflower seeds
1/2 cup self raising flour
1/2 cup brown sugar
Instructions
Preheat your oven to 180C and line a baking tray, 20x25cm, with parchment paper.
Place all of the dry ingredients into a big bowl and mix to combine.
Melt the coconut oil and golden syrup in a saucepan.
Pour the syrup mixture into the dry bits bowl and stir to combine.
Pour it all into the baking tray and press it down and into the corners of the tray and pop in the oven.
Bake for 20 minutes.
Take it out of the oven and let it cool completely before cutting.
I'm discovering a passion for using leftovers. Even when I am cooking something, I am thinking about what I'll be able to make that last uneaten portion into. Frugality at it's best I like to think.
Last week, Jacob made some lamb and couscous for dinner. The lamb was perfect. So was the couscous. But there was a lot of it! He had made it with a mix of onions, garlic, silverbeet and currants. So yummy!
The next day, I had over a cup leftover in the fridge. So, I did what people tend to do with quinoa and such, Fritters!
The boy friendly lunch.
Couscous Fritters, baby cos lettuce with carrot 'slaw' and blackcurrant jam for dipping.
If you know how to make fritters, you can really make them from anything. Potatoes, kumara, mixed veggies, lentils, beans beans and more beans. It's all a bit to easy not to try.
First, whisk the egg then mix in your couscous. Add in the breadcrumbs slowly, a little at a time and mix. You may need less or more depending on the texture of the couscous and what is in it already if you are using leftovers.
Add in the feta and let it crumble a bit and keep some pretty chunky. I love the texture of big bits of melted feta. Next, you want to be able to make them into balls with your hands and have them stay together. If this isn't happening and it's still too wet, add more breadcrumbs.
Heat up the pan with a bit of oil. I used regular canola oil for this one, but tend to do grapeseed oil when frying. Pop them into the pan and let them brown a little bit and then turn them and flatten a bit with a fork or a spatula.
They should be browned a bit on each side, it's just the egg you need to make sure cooks through, so it usually won't take any longer than 4-5 minutes on each side.
Drain them on a paper towel and serve 'em up! I was secretly hoping the boys wouldn't like them so I could have the whole lot, but no such luck. They were, sadly, a hit.
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Couscous Fritters
by August-11-2014
Ingredients
250 g (about a cup) cooked couscous, inc any yummy bits and pieces
1/2 to 1 cup breadcrumbs
1 egg, lightly beaten
2-3 tbsp crumbly feta
1/4 cup canola or grapeseed oil
Instructions
First, whisk the egg then mix in your couscous.
Add in the breadcrumbs slowly, a little at a time and mix. You may need less or more depending on the texture of the couscous and what is in it already if you are using leftovers.
Add in the feta and let it crumble a bit and keep some pretty chunky.
You want to be able to make them into balls with your hands and have them stay together. If this isn't happening and it's still too wet, add more breadcrumbs.
Heat up the pan with a bit of oil. I used regular canola oil for this one, but tend to do grapeseed oil when frying. Pop them into the pan and let them brown a little bit and then turn them and flatten a bit with a fork or a spatula.
They should be browned a bit on each side, it's just the egg you need to make sure cooks through, so it usually won't take any longer than 4-5 minutes on each side.
Drain them on a paper towel and serve 'em up!
Details
Prep time: Cook time: Total time: Yield: approx 8 fritters
I wanted to document what we are having for lunch lately. It's been a pretty awesome change over the last year. There is something so cool about when your kids start eating "people" food. Or grown up food. Or at least a variation of it. Here is what they had last week ...
Tuna Melt on Vogel's Bread with baby cos and capsicum. Hard boiled egg, hummus, carrot and capsicum, and an apple. Couscous Fritters, baby cos lettuce and carrot 'slaw' with balsamic, and blackcurrant jam Curry Kumara Puffs, pear, mixed beans and lettuce *Mousetraps, mandarin, edamame, and mixed beans
Please note the *. This was a very, very special meal. The mousetraps were made by the boys. Mostly. They spread the vegemite on the bread with actual knives, placed the cheese on top, and only ate a few bits of it. They were so interested and excited when I took them out of the oven! It made my day! Also, this was their first day with edamame in their pods. They loved it! It was a bit of a challenge at first, but even today, Willem had the technique down pat! Totally aced it!
I love that they are so keen to help and watch what is going on in the kitchen. I never remember being that excited, but then again, when I met met Jacob, the only thing I could cook was pasta and red sauce. True story.
The more I involve them, the more interested they are. The mousetrap making was just awesome to watch. They are naturals in the kitchen!
On and off eating.
Clingy.
"Up!"
Nappy rash.
Not napping.
"Up!"
Full on napping. Talking like 2+ hours.
Tantrums.
More not eating.
Cranky.
Cranky.
"Up!"
Cranky.
"Up!"
Teething? Possibly. I hope so.
Growing pains? How can you tell?
