turning off.....

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Around this time last year, I made some changes, and it mainly revolved around the black box

The Television.

I decided, quite spontaneously that I just could not stand it any longer, and that it was controlling our life more than I ever imagined.  Of course it all happened unintentional, once the two little people in my life work out how to use the remote control and change channels.  And then ABC had to go and make a whole separate channel for my little people that was available practically all day.

Dont get me wrong - my children weren't watching copious amounts of TV - and this was the issue.  They would turn it on and Playschool, or Postman Pat, Giggle 'n' Hoot or Elmo would blast at my face, and then in about 5 minutes they would be running around doing something else, leaving me to have my morning cuppa singing I'm a little teapot!!

So I switched off - no more day time TV.

ahhh, the bliss.  I thought it would be hard.  I mean I started just before last winter, but it was surprisingly easy as each time I had a request for the television, I would counter it with;

"yeah, but do you want to do this (play outside, get the train set out, ring Nonno, make cupcakes, or go for a walk) instead?"

And usually the answer was in favour of my suggestion.  Given my children were hopeless TV watchers in the first place, I didn't feel this put me out in any way either.  It's not like the TV was allowing me to get things (dinner, washing, chores, phone calls etc) done anyway - So for me it wasn't a burden.  Hubby and I also agreed to keep the TV off until they were in bed so no more early news (too much distress!) and NO TV whilst having dinner.  Again, bliss!

Now we are a year in and this morning I read this article entitled Turn off the screen and tune into fun and I felt a great sense of relief that I have already made this decision and that it is the best situation for my children.  They do watch TV occasionally - mainly from a little collection of DVD's that we have - but on average, they might get through one DVD a week.   I was amazed reading the article that television and "educational" dvd's are considered ineffective and can actually delay learning, especially language learning.   The findings suggest that the more TV a child under three is exposed to the higher chances of developing attention problems by age seven. I'm not sure if I entirely believe this.  I had no basis for making my decision last year, but I'm glad I did.

My children have an array of activities at home to keep them occupied, plus our extra activities that take them out of the home. We listen to music most of the time during the day and I can see improvements in their concentration, their relationship with one another and their ability to make up games and really use their imagination when it come to play.

Have you made any changes at your house?  How are you going and was it easier or harder than you thought?

Brenda does....{moroccan}

I was gifted a new cook book recently.  It's the Jamie Does....{Spain, Italy, Sweden, Morocco, Greece & France}.  I'm totally in love with this cookbook as Jamie travels through each of these countries listed, and learns what food they hold culturally significant and learns about special dishes.  Each chapter is dedicated to each country and it's like going on a little SBS food journey, with the pictures of the places and people really speaking a thousand words.

I already made a few meals from this cookbook and I thought I would start sharing some of the recipes with you - hence the title of this post is Brenda Does (instead of Jamie) becuase, well, this is how I did it!...

Chicken Kebabs with Avocado Dip & Carrot and Orange Salad.

This is a combination of two recipes in the Morocco section.  I loved the sound of the Chicken Kebabs with Avocado Dip, but thought the extra salad would be a nice accompaniment as well.   My favourite was the avocado dip - with the extra ingredients it was so delicious it was hard not to grab some crackers and eat the whole bowl before dinner!

Here is what you need for four serves. I know it seems like a lot, but really it's just about combining all the ingredients for each component - that's it.

- 500g Chicken breast cut into bite sized pieces.
- Flat bread or turkish bread (we used our homemade turkish bread)
- 1 lemon

For the marinade
- 1 tbs hot or sweet paprika (i used sweet)
- 1 tsp turmeric
 - 1 tsp ground coriander
- 3 tbs olive oil
s + p

Avocado Dip
- 2 ripe avocados
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
- 1 fresh green or red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
- small bunch of coriander, finely chopped.
- 2 tbs olive oil
-juice of 1 lemon

Carrot & orange salad
- 4 small carrots, peeled and shredded (I used the fine slicer on my grater, so I got round thin slices, not julienne slices)
- Juice of 1/2 orange
- olive oil
- red wine vinegar
- sea salt and freshly ground pepper.

1. Mix all the marinade ingredients in a bowl with a good pinch of s+p.  Toss the chicken chunks in the marinade until evenly coated, then cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes - longer if possible.

2. Spoon the flesh of the avocado into a bowl, add all the other ingredients and a pinch of s+p, and mash well with a fork.  you can make this really smooth or rustic and chunky. Have a taste to check the seasoning.

3. Place your shredded carrot in a bowl and add all the other ingredients.  Add a splash of the oil and red wine vinegar, and you can add some mint leaves if you like (i didn't because i didn't have any!).

4. When your ready to cook your meat, get a griddle pan on medium heat, add your chicken peices and cook for 5-7 minutes.  If you want warm bread, use another pan to heat your flat bread.

All you need to do, is bring all these yummy ingredients to the table, and start ripping your bread and filling it with the dip, salad and chicken.


xx

fancy pants @ sugar and spice...

Oh what a glorious day today!  Finally some sunshine on my face and probably the last chance to frock up in some summer gear...

So I took the chance and wore this little dress that I haven't worn that much over summer (mainly due to a lack of appropriate weather!)

The family headed off today to Woodend for a day out.  We stopped past the Sugar and Spice Children's Market and then made our way down to a great adventure park for a play and picnic I'd packed in the morning.

We all had a lovely day out and I snapped up some gorgeous items at the Market

One of which is this adorable necklace my daughter is modelling (minus her leggings but added mummy's shoes!) It's from Natasha at Piper & Lilly and as soon as I saw her little stall I recognised the label and mentioned that I follow her blog.  Natasha replied that she recognised my ring!!  hah!

 My daughter was is an exceptionally photographic mode today and kept asking for more pictures, so I took the opportunity to snap a few of the both of us!

wearing;
HUBBY; top - polo ralph lauren top, hat- bought at a market,
ME; Dress - on sale at target for $20, shoes; Betts, hat (top pic) from Asos, cardi (top pic) Review.
DAUGHTER; Top - target, necklace - Piper & Lilly

Joining in with this lovely gorgeous fancy girl!

xx

I'm grateful for {the new addition}

Everyone - I would like to introduce you to our latest addition to the family!  Welcome to my Janome!  Janome this is blogland!  Now that you are formally introduced - your first little expedition here in blogworld is to star in post along with Maxabella Loves and all the other grateful bloggers out there.

Today I'm grateful for...

1. New additions - This little beauty up there is my new sewing machine!  She's been with me for a few weeks now, and we are very well acquainted.  I love her to bits already and she is a really good companion and a great listener.  It's a Janome DC2101 and some of the features I love include the vast array of stitches, computerised component, auto needle threader and foot speed control.  It's been a dream to sew with!  Old Elle (aka - The Elna) is now in semi retirement and will take a much needed break.  She will be great to use to teach the kids how to sew.   So now I have a young and fresh machine sitting alongside my other Janome (my overlocker) and they look very happy indeed.


2. my man - he made the suggestion of buying a new machine!

3.  Dora - the lovely sales assistant at the sewing centre who spent her time and effort in helping me choose the perfect machine for me!

Happy grateful day xx

....a tough decision

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Ok - the time has come!!  It's been over a year now since I snapped up some bargin chairs that really needed a makeover!  I've begun sanding and polishing the timber, but for a while now I've been slowly searching for some upholstery fabric that will really bring these babies back to life....

The two chairs are very similar to the one above - maybe just a little shade lighter, but the style is almost identical.  I've kept this picture as inspiration for myself and to encourage this project along....

Now I feel like the creative Gods are aligned as I stumbled upon Spoonflower - the most amazing independent fabric store I've come across.  It is an ingenious creative hub, whereby anyone (yes, thats right - anyone) can design fabric, and then you can make your design available to the public!  Not only that, but Spoonflower take on all the role of printing and sending out the fabric to you and those that purchase it!  

But the best bit I Iove is searching through all the amazing fabrics on offer! That and the fact that I can order a swatch and then they will print that fabric on any type of material from quilting cotton, linen blend and even upholstery weighted material.

So - now that I've done some searching here are some of the fabrics I'm about to order to see if they will be suitable for the job of adorning my thrifted chairs.

What do you think? Which one do you like the best??

These designs are by holli_zolliger - and you can find her on Spoonflower

my creative space...{hop, skip, jump}

My son has a love affair with numbers.  It sometimes appears that he eats, breathes and sleeps numbers and has acquired a real passion for anything relating to numbers.   He knows our friends house numbers by rote, knows the ages of all the special people in his life, a trip to the shops are all about isle numbers, prices and how many of things.

He loves to count up by 2's, 5's, 10's and and 11's and knows any number up to a billion.  When it's time to draw or paint at Kinder, I'm collecting piles of paper with numbers diligently drawn all over...

He has a little collection of three calculators and his quiet time activity will be to "do numbers" on his calculator.  He gives me sums and then works them out on his calculator to see if I'm right or wrong (mostly I'm wrong!  - maths was never my strength!).  He loves working out what age he will be when I am older... (although thinks that he'll still be at Kinder when he's 47!)

So when I saw this cute hopscotch pattern in Cool Spaces for Kids Book (by Sam Scarborough) I knew he would love it.  I showed him the picture and he was very very excited.  He helped me make it by picking out the fabric for each number and then patiently watching me sew it together...

 He takes a little bean bag and throws it on a number and then hops, and jumps his way through the sequence....

It's not the best sewing job I've done (what with two big blue eyes watching over me "are you finished yet??), but he loves it....it's portable, so we can fold it up and put it in a bag and take it away with us.

Now - cast your virtual bean bag and hop and jump to all these lovely places!

fancy pants - Brunch anyone?

A special little outing this morning for the whole family - we were invited over for brunch at a friends place.  A lovely mother and her daughter whom I meet whilst we were at swimming lessons with our children.  We bonded instantly, and have since become lovely friends...

...so it was time for our husbands to meet.  Is it just me, or is that a time where you nervously wait to see if they'll get along (hoping?) - no need to worry, they bonded too and before long they were talking like old friends!

We were spoilt with delicious breakfast of bacon, eggs, toast, coffee and treats. I baked a walnut coffee cake and our kids were excited about playing with their new friend.  

Melbourne has put on a typically miserable day today and I hate to think Summer is truely over (boo hoo!).  I still needed to feel as I was dressing for summer, so choose this summery dress, but of course added some layers to keep me warm.

These are the only shoes I've bought this season, and I love them.  The neutral colour means they go with everything and the height is just perfect (ie, not too high!!).  I also got some pink Clinique lippy from a friend that I wasn't sure was my kind of colour - but I tried it out and I really like the soft girly pink.

Linking up with this fancy gal - join us!


wearing
dress - gift from my Nonna (she bought it on her last trip to Italy)
cardi - oh it's so old i can't remember!
tights - target
shoes - betts
earrings - sportgirl
bangles - tilkah
lippy - clinique - kissfit

I'm grateful for...{diaries}

I love that we can start the weekend off with so much positivity.  Grateful day, is a special way, that does make me stop and appreicate, reflect and perhaps be a little less cynical or selfish.

I'm joining in with the ever entertaining Maxabella Loves....

And I'm grateful for...

1. Diaries - I've always been a diary kind-of-gal.  The kind that writes in appointments, carries one everywhere and feels lost without it.  At school, i would decorate my diary with an inch of it's life, cutting out gorgeous male models    pictures, and photos, paper and drawings just to make it look lovely.  Now with my delightful Frankie diary - Diary writing just got a whole lot cuter.

2. Games - at the moment, my kids love to play "hide and seek" together and sometimes with me.  I love how they can hide in the same spot over and over (or tell me where to hide whilst they count) and still act just as surprised when they find me hiding in the bushes for the tenth time just like they told me too! It just makes me giggle endlessly.

3. Sweet Surprise - I was the lucky recipient of a lovely giveaway from Louise at Vintage by Lou Lou - I received the most amazingly scented candle - lemon biscotti!  Yes, for those that know me, would know how much this scent would appeal to me....well, it smells so good, i'm so tempted to eat it!

for more gratefuls...head over here...

I have no idea where this image is from - so if you know, please let me know! 

my creative space...{superhero status}

Along with promising to make more of my own clothes this year, I've also made a little pact to make the kids more costumes for dress ups.  I think I got slack in this department because my son was never really into ever "dressing up" when younger, but now that his wee little sister likes to change outfits 4 or 5 times a day, I've realised that this is one area that I could contribute to quite easily.

So when a friend asked for some capes for her kids, I thought it would a good start to whip up four instead of just two.  I made them reversible - a bright bold colour and a contrasting pattern.

So now, my little superheros can fly around the back yard or spin around with delight.   It's also given me a little idea I'm working on for my next market.

For more super dooper creations - head over here! 

the perfect cake {coffee and almond crunch cake}

This cake is the bomb, and i seem to make it time and time again.  I've just made it actually and it's baking away slowly and the smell is intoxicating!  After cleaning all the mess that comes from baking with too little ones that need to crack eggs, sift flour, lick spoons and eat little piles of slivered almonds, my darling husband asked if I'd be putting this onto The Blob (yes, i meant blob - that's what he calls it).  I rolled my eyes and confirmed to him that most certainly I would have posted about this recipe long ago..

...but alas i have not!  Travesty!  This recipe is too good for me to keep to myself.  It is one of Gordon Ramsey's  and I have to say that I've added a bit of my own touch...which of course I prefer...

So here is the recipe;

Ingredients;
170g unsalted butter
170g caster sugar
3 eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 tsp almond essence
100g almond meal
4 tbsp strong espresso coffee
100g self-raising flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
small handful of slivered almonds
icing sugar - to dust.

crunch topping;
60g plain flour
40g brown sugar
40g cold butter, diced
50g slivered almonds

1. preheat oven to 150 degrees and prepare a 20cm cake time with a removable base.  Mix the ingredients for the crunch topping by rubbing in the sugar, butter and flour until the resembles breadcrumbs, then add the almonds and lightly incorporate.  set aside.
2. Cream the butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl until light and fluffy - I used my kitchen aid, but you could use hand held beaters. Beat in the eggs, one at a time until fully incorporated.  Add the almond essence and mix well. Fold in the almond meal, followed by half the espresso.  Sift in the flour and baking powder together and fold this through the wet mixture.  Finally fold in the remaining espresso and the small handful of slivered almonds.
3. Spread the mixture into the cake tin and level with a spatula.  Sprinkle the crunch topping evenly over the top, bake for 45-55 minutes until the top is golden brown and a skewer comes out clean.  Remove from the oven and leave to cool slightly before removing from the tin.
4. When cool, dust with icing sugar, then serve!

I like to enjoy it with a strong cup of tea so you can taste the flavour of the coffee in the cake!  Or an almond flavoured liqueur!

 xx

I am loving my little babushka measuring cups too (first pic) - they stay on the bench and get used at every opportunity!  aren't they just so sweet? 

A made-to-measure kind of fancy

 I made a bit of a promise to myself that this year I would try and make more clothes for myself.

Well, so far so good.  I was visiting a lovely fashionista blogger - Jacinta, a few weeks back when I noticed this outfit she was wearing and commented on how fabulous her skirt was.  When she replied stating that it was a simple design with elastic in the back, my mind started ticking.....

....so with a Spotlight voucher sitting idle in my purse for 7 months I raided my draw full of patterns and headed off on a mission.  I was really worried once I got home that I'd made the wrong fabric choice....the green, seemed, well - too green. But I really loved the bright peachy/pink roses and that hint of black throughout had me thinking it would be ideal to team it up with a simple black singlet.

Of course, I didn't follow the pattern to the letter - i made it up as I went.  I cut the skirt on the bias, added an invisible zipper on the side, and then added some really light weight interfacing to the front facing, and only made a casing at the back for the elastic.  I didn't want to do elastic all the way round and have it bunching up at the front!

 It was virtually a made-to-measure skirt as I had it all done, except the length of elastic to feed through the back, so I tried it on, pulled the elastic until it was the right tension and sitting just slightly above my hips.

And since this fabric was marked down, it cost around $16 to make!  I've paid much more for a pair of trackies!

I'll be here today - selling cute little floral skirts for little girls, cards, key fobs and buntings...so if your around, pop in and say hi!

Join with Kym in her weekly Fancy Pants link up!

Wearing;
Singlet - Cotton On
Belt - Dotti
Skirt - Made by me!
Bracelet - bought in a small stall on the side of the road in Rome, Italy (ohhh memories!)

xx

I'm grateful for {THOSE questions}

It can't be Saturday again?  Surely not...., but alas it is and it means I get to link up with the ever so talented Bron, at Maxabella Loves!

If you've followed my blog for a little while, you might remember I have made reference a few times to my son's growing need to ask more and more questions.  And then I blogged about this particularly funny comment my son made about when he was a baby.

Well, I think this week I need to be grateful for the ever challenging questions getting thrown at me at any given point by my 4.5 year old son...

The other night at dinner the conversation went like this;

him; Mum - how do babies come out of tummy's?
me; A baby doctor helps
him; oh - but how?
me; the mummy goes to hospital and the baby doctor helps the mummy get the baby out.
him; are there baby doctors at the hospital?
me; yes, mostly, and nurses.
him; but how does the baby doctor take the baby out of the mummy's tummy?
me; the baby doctors are very clever and know how to do it.
him; but how?
me; I'm not a baby doctor.
him; but did you go do hospital and have a baby doctor take me out.
me; yes
him; BUT HOW????

(arrggghhhhh - do I need to use the word vagina at the dinner table!) No, i think not.

me; hows your dinner?
him; may I have more sauce please? *

me; (phew!)**

Happy Grateful Day xx

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*and yes, after long and repetitive nurturing, we have manners! 
**Clearly I know this is only a temporary solution - perhaps I need to get the picture above!