Trying out the new Playtime toys (Wordless Wednesday)

So thankful these arrived during an afternoon of rain this week. Was such a welcome distraction from being house-bound (again!).

The road & train table...

and the super-cool roller coaster!

Wordless Wednesday

The Puddle Police at the Garden Centre

Where would your kids like to go on a special outing with you? The movies? An icecream shop? A cafe? A park? How about Flower Power? Yes, that's right, a garden centre.

I took Mr Sociable on a "Mummy Date" last weekend & we went to Flower Power. We had a great time! There was a cafe, a playground, lots of plants to look at and.... PUDDLES! I knew there would be puddles. I brought spare clothes just in case.

Mr Sociable loves puddles and had a super-fun time jumping in them. He was pretty good about not wetting me or the other cars. But I was really surprised by all the filthy looks I got from people walking past. Like I was irresponsible to let my child jump in puddles. I'm really glad that Mr Sociable was having too much fun to notice their disapproving stares - I don't want him to feel self-conscious about being a kid and having fun!

Before the puddle-jumping, we also ate morning tea...

and looked at the plants and fountains. 

We chose a special plant together to remember our fun time. Mr Sociable is really into cacti at the moment!

But the highlight of the morning was definitely the puddles!

Do you let your kids jump in puddles? Do you understand why other people were giving me grumpy looks?

Pea and Bacon Tart

I made this recipe all the time in 2010 and then forgot about it... Until my mother-in-law was coming over for her birthday dinner this week. I spent a long time trawling through old copies of Delicious magazine trying to find it. I've decided to record it here* (with my own modifications...) so that you can enjoy it (and I will know where it is next time!).

2 sheets shortcrust pastry (but in the photos it is puff pastry)
300g bacon (I usually buy the pre-shredded stuff - and in the photos it is actually ham because I picked up the wrong packet)
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 onions, finely chopped
8 eggs
385g tin evaporated milk
1/2 cup fresh mint, chopped 
1 cup cheese
2.5 cups frozen peas (defrosted)

Grease a pie tray and line with defrosted pastry.

I bought this one from IKEA & I love it!

Cook the bacon, onion & garlic with a little oil.

Combine the evaporated milk, eggs, cheese and mint. 

Add defrosted peas, as well as the cooked bacon, onions and garlic .

Fill the pie dish.

Cook at 200˚C (170˚C fan-forced) for 40mins. Check that it is cooked by cutting the centre with a knife, to see if it has set.

Serve with salad.

*The original recipe was "pancetta, pea & cheddar deep-pan tart", Delicious, March 2010, p. 118.

Making a cap more sun-smart (Quick sewing project)

Mr Sociable was given a free cap at a show we went to last year. He really likes it because it is black (his favourite colour). But, didn't offer much sun protection for his neck and ears.

 
So, I stitched a flap onto the back of the hat (with a little bit of extra room in the middle so the cap will still be adjustable as his head grows).

I ordered a Lightning McQueen motif from eBay to decorate the hat. It was pretty tricky to iron it on, so I just hand-stitched it.

Done! Mr Sociable is happy with his new hat (and so am I!).

Taming the pantry

I've never been much of a menu-planner. I tend to buy what's on special/in season, then just decide each day what I will cook, based on the ingredients we have. To make this cooking style work, I have always had a well-stocked pantry - full of ingredients to make a wide range of dishes (eg. on any given day, you would be almost guaranteed to find long grain rice, arborio rice and brown rice; penne, fettuccine and spaghetti; red lentils and yellow lentils; coconut milk, powdered milk, evaporated milk and UHT - just in case).

I also have a tendency to buy multiples of everything when they are on special & to have a spare of each open item, ready for when it runs out (eg. spare tomato sauce, fish sauce, soy sauce, mayonnaise, flour, sugar - you get the idea!). Sometimes buying multiples (that are not on the shopping list) results in this:

 

Then, a few months ago, I realised how many mums actually menu plan for the week & shop accordingly (eg The Useful Box, The Organised Housewife, Passionate Homemaking). I thought it was a bit restrictive - especially since I prefer to experiment with food than to closely follow recipes. But I gave it a go & I have really found it useful. I have actually found we actually have more variety this way - as I can see on the calendar what meals we have had over the past few weeks & try to do different things (I can also keep track of how many red meat, white meat, fish & vego meals we eat, to ensure balance across the week). I still buy whatever is on special - sometimes I go with a few dinner options in mind, sometimes I make up the week's menu based on what we have.

Meal-planning calendar - on the fridge

But, with a menu written for the week, I really don't need to keep 8 tins of tomatoes "just in case", or 5 packets of lasange sheets! (I found Glorya's post about "Just in Case" helpful in thinking about this!) So now it's time to tame the pantry! Over the coming weeks, I want to menu plan based on the things in my pantry/freezer - using up all the excess stuff that has been lying around. I started tonight with a chicken & mushroom risotto* (using the arborio rice & stock that have been in the pantry for ages....).

Although my pantry shelves are already pretty organised (everything is categorised - eg all tinned vegies together, legumes together, sauces together, pasta together etc) I'm hoping that in a few weeks, my pantry shelves will be a lot emptier! Maybe I could even move some of the boxes off the floor! ;)

Pantry (9/2/12)

* This is the recipe I used as a base - with substantial modifications. I deleted the butter and halved the oil. I doubled the mushrooms and added frozen peas (maybe 1/2-1 cup). I substituted the thyme for about half a cup of fresh parsley. I substituted tasty cheese for the parmesan. I used sweet white wine instead of dry (because that's what was open - and I prefer drinking that while I am cooking...). I used chicken mince instead of thigh & I actually cooked it all in one pot - ie. I didn't fry the chicken & mushrooms separately before adding it to the rice mixture.

Windy Day Fun (Wordless Wednesday)

I have been saving this wind-catcher for a rainy day (well, a windy day really!). The boys had lots of fun with it this week.

Linking up with My Little Drummer Boys for Wordless Wednesday

The Dummy Challenge

Both my boys have been dummy boys from pretty early on. Mr Sociable liked to comfort suck (for hours), so the lactation consultant suggested I use a dummy after each feed. They were a lifesaver when he was a newborn! After trying a few different brands, Mr Sociable settled on some cheapish Tommee Tippee ones. Once he had grown attached to these, he wouldn't use anything else. He maintained his love of dummies until he was almost 3 years old. One day, he announced that he was a "big boy" and didn't need dummies anymore - so we threw them in the bin!

Mr Sociable, at 5 days and 16 months

After such a positive dummy experience first time around, I planned to use dummies with baby #2. While I was pregnant, all of the "BPA-free" baby products were starting to be released. I felt guilty about all the BPA-containing products that we had used with Mr Sociable. I purged our baby bottles and Tupperware cupboard. I researched bottles and dummies that did not contain BPA. At the time, the only BPA-free dummies were Happy Baby (which had been recalled) and Avent. So, I bought the expensive Avent dummies, hoping I could later convince him to switch to a cheaper brand when other manufacturers caught onto the BPA-free trend.

At the hospital with Mr Fun (1 day old) - he looked so cute with those massive Avent dummies!

Mr Fun has had good times with his Avent dummies. He has worn them rock-star style; he has learned to put the entire thing in his mouth; he has worn them two-at-a-time.

My rock star; Mr Fun thought the plastic part of the dummy was better for teething ;)

But then, he started to bite through them. Buying the Avent dummies started to get expensive. I had a packet of the cheaper latex ones that Mr Sociable used to like. I threw out Mr Fun's precious Avent dummies and gave him the Tommee Tippee ones. He looked at them, put them in his mouth, spat them out, put them in, spat them out, put one in his mouth and.... left it there. Success! He made the switch. No dramas! Hooray!

Within a week, he had bitten through both of the Tommee Tippee ones. They didn't seem so cheap anymore either...

So this week, I tried the cheap, cheap, cheap cherry-shaped latex dummies from Kmart. They are BPA-free & only $2 for 3!! I washed one at the shops and gave it to him straight away (in case I had to buy something different while we were still there). He accepted it with no dramas. Apparently, he is not as fussy about his dummies as he is about his food ;)

Kmart dummies

Mr Fun modeling the new dummies

Ready for bed (yes, he takes a spare dummy in one hand & a bike/car in the other)

Have your kids had a preference for a particular brand of dummy? Have you tried to switch them to another brand?