SnapHappySaturday: The Kool Kids...

These pics were taken by the very talented Nisha - when she and her gorgeous boys came over last week for a playdate. I love that even Dougall is in this pic!!!

l-r: Olivia (3y8m), Eloise (5y2m), Nicholas (4y11m), Alexander (3y8m), Laura (3y8m), Dougall (10m)

(Alexander and Laura and Olivia's birthdays' are 2 days apart)

Eloise prior to fringe butchering

Sugar, sugar, sugar!

Rainbow cake.yumm.

cute!

The gang show off their sugar fix!

FrillyFrugalFriday: Back on the wagon

I've been so very good.  Well that is of course if you forget about the $1,312 electricity bill we got.  Yes, there is a 1 before that 3.  AND I haven't used the dryer this winter.   It's got to be the heaters - a column heater in each bedroom and until recently another in the loungeroom.  It can't be all my baking could it?

Anyways, we'll pay it off, but I'm NOT impressed.  That goodness we've got a gas heater for the loungeroom now and the colunm heaters are GOING.

Otherwise how am I doing?

Grocerywise - good week - well a few wins.  I ordered some groceries from Homeshop and frustratingly enough they totally buggered up my order - sent me coke instead of diet coke, the wrong brand and type cereal and bread, sent my shampoo and conditioner with each of them open (!!) and in the end, they allowed me to keep the wrong and open stuff and credit me the cost of them, plus my delivery fee - a credit of $68... which I used towards my top-up shop.

*I also went to check out a 'wholesale chicken and egg shop' with farm prices in Quakers' Hill which a total disappointment - more expensive than the farm and markets/supermarkets too - it turns out the only thing procured on the premises were the eggs and the reason for their inflated price was because they used 'specialised feed'.  Well!  There was seriously the worst crumbed chicken I had ever seen (it was yellow!) and I left empty handed and annoyed I'd left better priced and quality produce behind me at the farm and abbatoir.  Never again!  I ended up having to buy my chicken locally... which was much more expensive! Annoying!

So for the month 15th August - 14th September:
Budget = 775.00
Spends so far to date = 443.24
15/8 Homeshop - monthly staples stock up = 150.52
15/8 Riverside Produce - farmgate fruit and vege = 70.21
15/8 M&A Butchery - Meat and smallgoods abbatoir = 113.95
16/8 Woolworths - chicken shop* = 41.94
16/8 Glenrose chicken shop* = 16.50
17/8 Homeshop - top up shop = 35.28
20/8 IGA - Specials, delicious mag $14.84

FrillyFrivolousFriday - Who seriously buys this?

If you are my friend, and you buy this for your dog... um... you're dropped.

FIVE HUNDRED foody, family, frugal and frivolous posts...

I'm obviously very verbose.

THANK you to those who RSS, follow and randomly visit me. I really appreciate the comments and the encouragement you give!

You know, 85 of those 500 are recipes. I'm really happy I've got my own online recipe book! Makes my life easier. And also recording the stuff we do, the kids' lives, pics, it's record-keeping. I love that.

The best new years resolution I've ever made, and possibly the only one I've ever stuck to.

Run, run as fast as you can..

You can't catch you kids when they steal a bit of the gingerbread men!

I was feeling poorly yesterday.  A wee cold but it still had me in the doldrums.  The kids were immune to giving their poor old sick Mum a break so I went about trying to occupy them without having to go outside in the wind....  I was pondering this when Georgie and Alex on playschool made gingerbread men.

Yes!  That was a plan!  So I went onto taste and used their recipe.  Thank you http://www.taste.com.au/!

Gingerbread Men (Or Daddies as Olivia likes to call them)
125grams butter, softened
1/2 packed cup brown sugar
1/2 cup golden syrup
1 egg, separated + I egg white extra
2 1/2 cups plain flour
1 tb powdered ginger
1 tsp mixed spice
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
2 cups icing sugar
1 50gr packet smarties or chocolate buttons to decorate

Method:
Preheat oven to 180 degrees c

Mix together with electric beater, stand mixer or food processor - butter and brown sugar - until they have creamed.
Add egg yolk and golden syrup, mix until combined.
Add flour, ginger, mixed spice and bicarb soda - ensure all is combined.  It might look a bit crumbly, but don't worry - it works!

Oliva LOVES the kitchenaid!

Fold out onto a piece of baking powder

and then cover with another piece of baking powder - rollout and cut out with desired shapes (kids can help here) re-roll as needed, but keep using the baking paper.

move over with a spatula/egg flip to greased baking trays and bake for 8-10 mins

Once baked, let cool for 10 minutes and then transfer to cooling tray.

With leftover dough, let the kids go for their life - we had a 'cow' 'butterfly' and an 'Olivia'

For the icing, that's 2 eggwhites, beaten until you get stiff peaks, add sifted icing sugar and combine with a few drops of lemon juice... put into piping bag and go for your life.  I did the piping, Eloise and Olivia did the smarties (Laura had lost interest by this stage!)

Reality Bites: Gotta Blow Something I Suppose

What was with Kristy's makeup in the model swap bit (OMG how funny was that!?) at the beginning - she looked like she'd been sprayed in the face with hairspray?

Queen Vic Markets - I was taken back to Project Runway US Season 1 and the adorable Austin and his corn husk dress! Interesting stuff being picked up along the way - when Lauren was picking up onions I was thinking 'what the hell'? were you?

Watching William blow the yolk out of his quail eggs 'gotta blow something' oh-my-god-i-love-him!! And poor little Mark - I thought he was going to pewk!! Too funny.

Who did I love? Ivana - my favourite! She's shown the other designers that she has something to give! (Though Lauren did a great job on the onion dress)

My least favourite - Mark - sad but it was pitiful ("Take me to your leader" was a pretty good assessment!), though Yopie was a close second with what seemed as dead budgies on the bottom of her shorts! (they were artichokes people!) but in her immortal words she was 'screwed'

My boys on the whole were a little disappointing - the judges raved about Anthony but I did think it was too bulky aound the middle and given he's an avant-garde genius I had higher expectations - first week that William has disappointed really.

Kids' game review: Monkey Math

I'm all for games that teach us something, and my girls at the ages they are (5yrs 2 months and 3 years 8 months) don't have a lot of patience when it comes to games - they're just not at the right age for most games!

Examples:
Snap can only be played one-on-one for example and UNO - I'm surprised the house didn't combust with the dramas with that one - there is a reason it says 7 and up on the packet!

Monkey Math is actually a good game for them to collaborate - and the first game we played worked, but as we played on - impatience won out and I now think it's for one player ideally, and two players of the same age secondly... not more.  It's great for those parents with kids going to school soon or just started school - I would say 4-7 years.

How it works

The monkey is like a scale, there's bananas of all denominations (1-10) and you can balance them on each side to see what makes up a number on the other arm.

i.e. a bunch of 1, and a bunch of 2 and a bunch of 4 bananas balances a bunch of 7 bananas.

How we played it with three kids

Each child got 5 sets of bananas, we'd have turns putting bananas on the scales, and when it balanced, we took off both sides, counted up the bananas and saw they balanced.   Then, with Eloise I took it one step further and we put them back on, but I hid one of the bunches of bananas.  She worked out which one was missing.

Pros
Very literal understanding of mathematics.  Great for conceptual development of maths, and fun too!  Cheap at $7.70 from Educational Experience

Cons
Probably only a game to play for about 15 minutes at a time (but they'll go back to it in pairs or individuals), there can be fighting over who puts on/takes off the bananas !

Word-to-the-wise Wednesday - Shopping Bargains for kids' summer clothes

Well anyone who knows me, knows that my girls nearly exclusively wear Gymboree clothing. Yes, it's not very patriotic I realise, but it is well-made and I can get more 4 items that co-ordinate (especially helpful with three girls and twins at that - saves me A LOT of grief!) and I can get a couple of co-ordinating ranges a season and be done with it - no traipsing around the shops for me! I keep them well and have no issue selling them after we've grown out of them. You can also get everything from head-to-toe - hats, shoes, coats, rainboots, hairclips,pyjamas - you name it.

They also deliver world-wide which is another wonderful thing, and being an aussie, we can buy clothes for our upcoming summer. Tomorrow, circle of friends' promotion is on - which means if you check out with code GYMFAMILY you receive 30% off your order - before shipping is applied - which means your shipping will go down too (shipping is based on $$ spent, not net weight)

Some examples of summer bargains:

For a Size 2 little lady:

Price =7.99(hat)+5.49 (clips)+17.99 (dress)+11.99(shoes)=43.46 less 30% = 30.42 USD for outfit (about $37 AUD!)

For the little man in your life (Size 2)

Cost = 7.49 (hat)+11.49 (shirt)+19.49(denim shorts)+17.49 (sneakers)=55.96 less 30% = 39.17

For the bigger girl (size 6)

9.75(sunglasses)+19.99(dress)+8.00(bracelet)+27.49(glitter ballet flats)=65.23 less 30%=45.66

For the little man (8 years)

6.99(sunglasses)+11.49(tshirt)+19.49(cargo shorts)+24.75=62.72 less 30% = 43.90

Of course you need to add freight but if you order $225 USD (after discount) it's $35 USD to Australia. Go in with some friends!

Current exchange rate is $1 AUD = .8267 USD - so if you were to order $225 USD +35 delivery - 260 USD - you'd be up for $315.50 AUD. It seems like a lot of money - but at prices like above, you can get a lot for that money!

I promised myself I wouldn't rant about this.. but my hands are tied

Octomom, now this nightmare. A tunisian woman is pregnant with TWELVE babies and wants to deliver them naturally. I mean REALLY.  Even I, with twins, had the good sense to listen to my doctor when he advised that the position of my babies did not lend itself to safe delivery of TWO babies... this woman is risking her and multiple babies' lives by even CARRYING twelve babies, but to deliver them naturally?  She's crazy... and irresponsible.

At least she's not selling her story - yet.  Two babies, three babies, four babies, six babies - incomprehensible the amount of work of twelve babies - who is going to do all this work?  How much love an attention can you give twelve children of the same age at any time?  Large families with lots of kids over a number of years can support and help each other out - but when you have 12 babies going through 6 week growth spurt, teething, crawling, illness, toilet training.. nurturing, cuddling, kissing..there's just not enough hours in the day.

I'll go on with my rant about publicity and infamy hound parents of multiples another day...

What will they think of next #17 - new levels of weird...

I've been told that the smallest thing you should put in your ear is your elbow.  Well the japanese think maybe it should be this electronic ear cleaner with camera, so you can see exactly what happens when you pierce your eardrum.  Brilliant no?

When a five year old decides she wants a fringe....

Eloise decided it was time for a fringe today - unsupervised and with kitchen shears no less! She is SO sneaky I feel like I can't even go to the toilet! She snuck the shears outside, hid under a tree and chopped. Luckily she didn't do a bad job - but I didn't want her to have a fringe! Argh!

The hmmm.. maybe Mummy's cranky pose:

I think it's a rite of passage thing - developmental - my sister cut her hair around the same age - except she cut close to the scalp and on top of her hair - so she had a mini-mohawk.... nervous breakdown stuff.

So this is the result - even after my scalding about using scissors, the possibility of poking ones' eye out - her sisters possibly copying her and the sneaking - she was quite proud of her efforts and I had to usher her out of the bathroom several times whilst she brushed her hair and admired herself.

Man... it's only Monday!!

Not the worst-case-scenario

Strawberry Cream Cheese Muffins

You might have eaten these at Muffin Break - I remember when they first opened sheesh about 18 years ago now and the cream cheese muffins were my favourite - strawberry or blueberry I wasn't fussed!

I haven't had one for years and was inspired by some gorgeous strawberries we go on the weekend at Riverside Produce (500grams for $3!) and I had some cream cheese in the fridge so I thought I'd give them a try as we need some baked goods for morning teas this week.

They are light, fluffy and so yummy. They freeze really well, so this recipe will make 24 muffins. Feel free to divide my recipe if you need less.  I freeze them in lots of 2 for hubby and 3 for the little girl in zip-lock bags.  Take them out at breakfast time, they're defrosted by morning tea or even reheat in the microwave...mmmm.. they're nice warm!

Ingredients:
1 tub philadelphia light cream cheese
2/3 cup canola oil
2 1/2 cups white sugar
4 eggs
3 tsp vanilla essence
2 cups self-raising flour
1 cup buttermilk (if you don't have any, put 1 tb vinegar in bottom of 1 cup measure, and fill to top with regular milk - leave for 5 mins - that's a buttermilk substitute!)

Method:
Preheat oven to 180 degrees c
Cream the cream cheese, oil and sugar

Add eggs whilst mixing, one by one
Add vanilla
Add flour, and beat until no lumps, then add your buttermilk - remove from/mixer
dice your strawberries into small pieces, add to batter and mix with spoon

Fill large muffin size patty pans almost to the top

Bake for 15-20mins

Dust with icing sugar and/or cover cream cheese icing - personally I don't think it needs it, but it would be yummy!

Meal Plan Monday: the 'make it week'

This week as we've just had our monthly shop over the weekend is the 'make it week'. I make everything this week - no leftovers, no pre-frozen portions - no short-cuts. It's a busy week! I should remember to make something extra the week before 'make it week' so I feel like I'm not tied to the kitchen, or perhaps allow ourselves a takeaway?


OK this week:

Today - Rich Beef Casserole - double recipe - one half to be used as 1 lunch and beef pie filling later on.
Tuesday - Meatloaf (double recipe, one meal for the freezer)
Wednesday - Chicken Parmigiana (one dinner 2x lunch for hubby)
Thursday - Sausage Eggplant Casserole (slow cooker, easy to make!)
Friday - Salmon Macaroni Bake
Saturday - Vegetarian Nachos
Sunday - Corned Beef dinner

Let in a light!

Have washed all my windows today - and in this house - that's alot!!  Floor to ceiling windows on two sides of the loungeroom, the dining room and all the bedrooms.  It's tough work but you know what? It looks SO good.  It's amazing how windows can let the appearance of your house down!   Cleaned all the sills too.

A squeegee with an extender handle or the threading to put a broom handle in is perfect.  The squeegee should also have a brush/sponge/both on it too - that saves loads of time.

Forget paper towel for touch ups - use a teatowel.  Better for the environment too.

I clean my screens with a dustpan brush and then wipe with a cloth dipped in diluted lemon oil (to deter spiders)

Getting on top of the spring cleaning - that's a big job out of the way!

That's not a lemon.. THIS is a lemon!

Just had to share how ENORMOUS the lemons we got yesterday at Riverview Produce were!  Now this is my hubby's hands (and he's 6ft 3 folks!) with a regular-largish lemon on the left, and our enormous lemon (bigger than a grapefruit, truly!) on the right!  I got a bunch - at 99c a kilo, how could I refuse!  Lemon Meringue Pie, more lemon butter, lemon delcious, lemon squares...ooooh

I know this is obvious.. but!

When I look at my two little girls and even Eloise sometimes I find myself doing a double-take.  I see bits of myself or another family member and although I know we are related (!!) it still startles me.

Like Olivia - I think she's a lot like me! What do you think?

This is me at 3:                               and my little Olivia

SnapHappy Saturday - Busted Custard!

I love this pic - the little girls (Laura right-side up, Olivia upside-down) are 5.5 months old... I cannot believe that's over 3 years ago!  Still cheeky monkies!

Fess up Friday

Anything you want to confess?  Come on, tell me - you know you want to...


Me?  I ate a whole.packet.of.soft.licorice.TO.MYSELF.  Shall probably regret that tomorrow.