FortyOne/52

"Portraits of my boys, once a week, every week, in 2014."

Back to school and kindy for these two little guys tomorrow - back to the term time routine and the thought that the long summer holidays are just around the corner!
 

Tom
George

  

Joining in with Jodi's "52 project".



 

Eight eggs...........orange madeira cake

I've been wanting to try this recipe for a while, I thought I had read the ingredients list wrong at first, eight eggs!  Really?!

Over the winter months our chickens did not lay and for a while we were buying eggs.  So now they are in full production mode again we have plenty of eggs and a chance to bake this cake without feeling guilty about the amount of eggs I was using.

Our chickens are actually bantams so their eggs are a little smaller which was still fine for this cake.  Our girls eat a lot of kibbled maize too so the very yellow yolks made for a very yellow cake.

This makes a huge cake and is delicious - so enjoy!


Orange Madeira Cake

You will need:

12 oz (340g) Butter
12 oz (340g) Sugar
Rind of 1 Orange (I used 2)
8 Eggs, beaten
1/2 cup Milk
Pinch Salt
2 large cups Flour
2 teaspoons Baking Powder

Icing
1 1/2 cups Icing Sugar
2 tablespoons Butter
Juice and rind of 1 Orange
Boiling Water

Method:

Beat butter and sugar to a cream.  Add orange rind, beaten eggs and then milk.

Sift all dry ingredients in separate bowl and fold through wet ingredients.

Bake in moderate oven at 350F (180C) for 1 1/4 hours.

For the icing - beat together icing sugar, butter and orange juice.  Add boiling water as required to reach a smooth consistency.  Spread over cooled cake.

Yum!

School Holidaying

We are into our second and final week of the school holidays.  It has been a good one, with lots of outdoor time, a bit of sunshine, family and friends visiting, café visits and playground trips.

I love this time with the kids, a break from term time and it's routines.  We live in a coastal town, surrounded by hills, orchards, vineyards and farmland.  There are no huge shopping malls or amusement parks here.  We have one movie theatre.  We would love an indoor playground or Ten Pin bowling centre.......that would be great.

So school holidays can be pretty inexpensive here.  There is no pressure to spend money on expensive outings as there is nothing expensive to go to!  The movies would be the most pricey outing, although so far we haven't been this school holidays.

For my boys who are three and five - they are at an age where they are easily entertained.  We go to the beach, into town for fluffies (babycino's) and to the park most days.  For my teen, she heads into town with friends and goes for sleepover's.

A few weeks ago a neighbour gifted us a kayak and paddle.  We have a creek that runs along the front of our property.  It dries up over summer and fills to the brim when we have heavy winter rains.  At the moment it is ankle deep, deep enough it seems for these three to spend hours going up and down the creek, through a tunnel....up and down. 

It reminds me of when I was little - our house backed onto a reserve with a creek.  We used to spend hours in that creek, walking through tunnels and building rafts to see how far we could sail along.  only returning home to eat or change muddy and wet clothes.

Term 4 is nearly here - swimming will start up for the boys and Bell will have her dance classes.  Back into the swing of term time and the coming summer months.

I'm going to savour these last few days.

 

How do you spend your school holiday time?

 

Love them/hate them?

 

Do you remember your school holidays?

A milky reveiw

I love milk.  Love it!  Preferably in a tall glass and it needs to be icy cold.  While pregnant with all three of my kids, milk was my drink of choice.  With Bell I liked to dip chicken chips (crisps) into my banana milk.  With Tom it was chocolate milk and with George is was plain old full fat milk.  At 33 weeks I got a telling off from my midwife who wondered if my huge consumption of milk was growing big babies.  I cried..........and carried on drinking it anyway.

So, there you go that's my milky background...........and the very kind folks at Vitarium sent us their flavoured milk mixes to try.  We were keen beans to try them as we all love our flavoured milk.  I was horrified to learn that the average flavoured milk drink contains 7 teaspoons of sugar?!  Step aside sugar milk and make way for Vitarium flavoured milk mixes.

These 100% natural mixes are 99% fat free and low calorie as they are sweetened with Natvia (from the stevia plant).

No-added sugar

Aspartame free
Saccharin free
Sucralose free

Gluten Free

Nut Free

Wheat Free

Egg Free

Yeast Free

GMO Free

I wanted to know up bit more about the stevia plant and found that:

"Stevia is a sweet leafed plant. Its proper name is Stevia Rebaudiana, and it’s part of the Chrysanthemum family. The glycosides in Stevia plant leaves create its incredible sweetness; Stevia is naturally 300 times sweeter than sugar. It’s been part of the human diet for thousands of years, traditionally in grown Paraguay, Brazil, Japan and China."

The packaging says to add four teaspoons to your milk, but I find that 2 is enough.  You can also use the mixes in baking..........just add to a muffin, cake or biscuit mix in place of sugar.  A great alternative for sugar free baked treats.

My three kids like the milk mixes in the morning with their breakfast.  Banana is our favourite, followed by strawberry then the chocolate.  You can find your Vitarium flavoured milk mixes in your local supermarket (Australia and New Zealand).

If you see them while doing your weekly shop, pop one in your trolley and give it a try.  We used to use another milk mix product but will be sticking with this one from now on.  Thank you Vitarium for the goodies!

 

Do you love milk?  Cold, warm, hot or mixed with something?

 

Anyone else dip their chicken chips (crisps) in their banana milk while pregnant???

Forty/52

 

"Portraits of my boys, once a week, every week, in 2014."

Down by the riverside...........making the most of those blue skies.
 

Tom
George

  

Joining in with Jodi's "52 project".



 

Good things

The rain came then then sun showed up........along with the wind.  But that's all good, massive amounts of washing done and dried in just a few hours.  A bit of a novelty after the winter months.

And when the sun comes out, so do the jandals (flip flops).  Bought myself a new pair - I live in these over summer.

Toes done, check!  And my sister talked me into getting a Shellac manicure - I haven't had a manicure in years.  I'm a nail biter, and tend to garden without gloves so it has never been something I bothered with.  But I'm hooked, no chipped nail polish and I've stopped chewing on them.  (Penny - love how you spotted them in my review).  Feeling a bit fancy!

Baking.............

Try not to look too closely at the photo above - there is a lot of butter in these vegemite scrolls.  I never got to sample these ones.  I packed Tom off with a tin full when he went to a friends house to play.  I had a few sitting on the bench, ready to have with a cup of tea.  The phone rang, and when I came back they were gone!

Clams for dinner.  Delicious.

A lovely treat in the post from Kimberley of Creative Chaos.  Kimberley sends Lego magazines and posters for Tom which he pours over for hours.  And tucked inside was this beautiful wash cloth.

Thank you so much Kimberley - you are always spoiling us xo

School holiday mess.  It's a give in.  It's easily dealt to - I'm a bit Sargent Major when it comes to mess -  I have a "place for everything" (this really does work) so it is easily tidied away when the time comes.  I love seeing the boys engrossed in books with them scattered around them.

Gave the boys room another going over.  I emptied out the wardrobe and re-organised it.

I'm a fan of plastic boxes.  They aren't terribly pretty but they are so practical.  I like to be able to see what's in them.  And they are easy for the boys to take out (buy the medium sized ones) and carry to the lounge or where ever they want to set up.  It makes for a quick and easy tidy up too.

Eggs!  21 eggs each week........any good egg recipes you want to share?!

This handsome little chap is my nephew.  He took a huge liking to our dog Maybell.  Maybell is great with children and has the patience of a saint.  I have spent the last ten days with my sister and my niece and nephew who were visiting from Brisbane.  We had such a great time.  I loved spending time with my sister.  So pleased they are coming back for Christmas.  He started walking while he was here too.  Wobbly little steps.  Am in love with this little guy.

Discovered "Day of the Taco" a pop up restaurant.  Open on a Friday night.  Mr H and I went last week.  Frozen Margarita's and a Set menu.  Food was delicious and so filling - I couldn't eat all mine - Starter, main and dessert. All for $25.  I invited a group of friends for dinner there last night.  A lady's night that we plan on repeating very soon.

One more week of the school holidays to go.  I've been keeping everyone busy with play dates and fresh air.  I enjoy the school holidays, I love the break from kindy/school runs and after school activities.  Can't believe we will be heading into the final term for the year.

Have a great weekend where you are!

ThirtyNine/52

 

 

"Portraits of my boys, once a week, every week, in 2014."

 And then the rain came down................by the bucket load.
 

Tom
George

  

Joining in with Jodi's "52 project".