Organising Baby's closet

I am one of those people whose closets gets out of order rather frequently, even though I try to have some sort of system in place. Once Baby #2 comes along, I kneow I want a system for his clothes that is easy to manage and that others can follow, as there may be times when I want a specific top but am unable to get up, or if someone else is dressing him, or even if someone else is putting the laundry away. I found this on Pinterest and thought it looked too easy to work, but work it did!

First I cut out 6 6x4 pieces of cardstock in Butter Yellow, then printed the provided templates as 6x4 photos. The templates go up to six years, but I have only done the first year for now.

I then cut out the hanger part as instructed.

Lastly, I placed each divider in the closet to divide up all the clothes- easy peasy!

Now I know exacly where each size begins and it will be easy not to get clothes mixed up in the closet. You could laminate these or print them on thicker cardstock if needed, but I am very pleased with this as a temporary solution. When the baby grows out of each size, the plan is to cut off the hanger part of the divider and place the size part of the sign at the front of the box when I put away the clothes.

Freezer Meals made easy

Not long to go now until Baby #2 makes his way into the world, and my nesting has kicked in to high gear. I will probably end up with a c-section due to medical reasons and complications from my first son's birth, so I wanted to make sure my son and husband had some food to see them through the 4-5 days I will be in hospital as well as in the weeks following the delivery. So I stocked up my freezer with these recipes, which serve 2 adults plus 1 toddler:

Lamb Kheema with Peas
Adapted from skinnytaste.com

Ingredients:

1 large onion, minced

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 tsp ginger, chopped

2 tsp butter

1 lb lean ground lamb

1 tsp coriander

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp chili powder

1 tsp turmeric

1 tsp garam masala

1 tsp cinnamon

1 cup frozen peas

1 chili pepper, minced (or more to taste)

2 tbsp fresh cilantro, chopped

1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1/4 cup tomato sauce

1 bay leaf

salt and fresh pepper

In a large pan, heat butter and onions on medium heat. Cook about 8 minutes. Add garlic and ginger; cook another 2 minutes. Add ground lamb to pan and brown. Season with salt, pepper, cumin, coriander, cayenne, chili powder, turmeric, garam masala and cinnamon. Stir well. Add chopped chili pepper, cilantro, bay leaf, tomato sauce and 1/2 cup of water. Reduce heat to low and cover. Simmer for about 15 minutes then add frozen peas and simmer covered another 5-10 minutes.
To freeze: Cool the lamb mixture to room temperature then freeze in a freezer-proof container. I freeze this with cooled cooked rice so that it is a complete meal when defrosted and reheated.

Creamy Chicken Taquitos
Adapted from Penniesonaplatter.com

150g  cream cheese, softened

1/4 cup salsa

1 Tbsp fresh lime juice

1/2 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp chili powder

2 cloves garlic, minced

3 Tbsp chopped cilantro

2 Tbsp sliced green onions

2 cups shredded cooked chicken

1 cup grated cheese

small flour or corn tortillas

In a large bowl, mix the cream cheese, salsa, lime juice, ground cumin, chili powder and garlic. Once combined, stir in the cilantro and green onions. Add the chicken and cheese; mix thoroughly.

Working with a few tortillas at a time, heat them in the microwave between two paper towels until they are soft enough to roll (about 20 – 30 seconds).

Spoon 2-3 Tablespoons of the chicken mixture onto the lower third of a tortilla. Roll the tortilla as tightly as you can.
To freeze: Freeze the taquitos in a single layer on a baking sheet for about 20 minutes, then place in a labeled freezer bag and store up to 3 months. To bake a frozen taquito (no need to thaw first): Preheat oven to 200 degrees C and bake for 15-20 minutes.

Hawaiian Chicken- directly from freezer to slow cooker
Adapted from six-cents.com

• 2-3 chicken breasts
• 1 cup of chicken broth
• Small can of pineapple pieces
• 1 red bell pepper sliced into thin strips
• 1 large onion sliced into strips 

Place all the ingredients into a freezer bag or container. When required, place the frozen ingredients into a slow cooker and cook on low for 8 hours.  Serve on buns with lettuce and cheese, or over white rice.

I hope these recipes can help you for the times when you need to stock up your freezer with easy food! I also bought a lot of staples such as rice, spaghetti, canned tuna, chicken breasts etc to make some easy meals after the baby arrives, as well as a lot of freezer-ready options such as crumbed fish, family sized pies, meat and vegetable stir fry mixes and beef schnitzel. Overall, I have three weeks worth of meals on hand, plus another week of dinners planned out that I haven't shopped for yet. For the sake of a couple of hours today, I now feel prepared and know that my family will have lots of options for cooking dinner when I am not there.

Choco Coconut Banana Muffins

I always seem to end up with bananas that need to be used in baking- a lot of them end up in the freezer too! I decided to bake some yummy muffins today with some of the frozen bananas I had in my freezer. I love the flavour of coconut, so these have a very tropical taste to them.

You will need:

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 cup mashed banana
1/2 cup coconut milk
1/3 cup butter, melted
1 tsp coconut extract (can sub vanilla if needed)
1 cup shredded coconut
3/4 cup chocolate chips (not pictured)

Preheat oven 180C.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt and cinnamon.

In a large bowl, whisk together sugar and eggs until well combined, then whisk in the mashed banana, coconut milk, butter and coconut extract.

Pour dry ingredients into wet ingredients and stir until just combined, making sure no streaks of flour remain. Stir in shredded coconut and chocolate chips.

Pour batter out into prepared muffin tins. I find this mixture gives me two batches of standard muffins and two batches of mini muffins, which is perfect for snacks for the week for the whole family, plus anyone who decides to pop in for a coffee.

Bake for 25 minutes for mini muffins or 30 minutes for standard sized muffins. Best served warm, but will keep for 3-4 days in an airtight container.

New house and a Snow Day!

Sorry I have been offline for a while, we sold our house and had no internet while we moved over two weeks, working around painters, vinyl layers and other workmen. The new house is a lot bigger, and my son has loved running around in it. We had a lot of help with the moving, and I am so grateful to everyone who pitched in.

Luckily we moved in when we did, because yesterday the snow started! So I thought I would share some photos of the new house in the snow- plus my son playing. he was not very impressed at the snow and demanded to go back inside when he realised his precious Thomas gumboots were getting covered in snow!

The house at 8am in the morning.

Snow was still falling at 4pm.

Me and my son outside.

What is this stuff Mum?