Feeding a New Mum

Those newborn days can be a blur as you get to know your sweet baby. Eating nutritious and healthy meals is very important but may not be the easiest thing to organise with your new addition!

I found it so helpful to have meals given to me as a new mum, and so when my sister had her baby I knew I wanted to help her out too.

I decided to create some breakfast, lunch and dinner options on the go for quick, easy and healthy meals.

Below are the items I took around to her.



Her breakfast should be easier with this Paleo Granola and some fruit- I added pre-packed fruit so that there was no chopping or peeling required.



Lunch was a few of these pouch soups- I love them because some of the flavours are gluten free and all of them are delicious! I also added some rice cups to go with the dinners.



I had five dinners ready to go in these Glad containers, as well as a container of stir fry vegetables to go with the meatballs. The freezer meals are:

• Fiesta Chicken Bake
• Spinach Enchiladas double serving (originally vegetarian but I added ground lamb)
• Chicken Pesto Meatballs
• Classic Mac and Cheese

Five days worth of meals sorted for new parents- I know it is the kind of gift I would like to receive!

Hosting a Cookie Exchange

One of my favourite parts of Christmas is hosting a Cookie Exchange!

If you have never heard of a Cookie Exchange before, here is how it works. You invite your friends and family to each bake a specified number of cookies, which then get split up and divided between all of the guests. There are also some set aside to eat on the night, so that people can vote for things such as most creative cookie, best use of sprinkles and most festive decorations.

Best of all, there are so many free printables out there that you don't have to do a lot of work to make your Cookie Exchange successful. Invites, voting forms and awards are already done for you, so that you can enjoy a night of tasting with your friends and family.

Once you have invited your guests, the first thing to do is bake your cookies. It is perfectly acceptable to enlist your children and others to help with this step! My boys love baking with me and it helps to teach them important skills.



One of my favourite Christmas Cookies to make are these Peppermint Mocha Brownie Cookies, but you can create whatever Christmas cookie you feel like.



Be sure to provide some sweet and savoury snacks for your guests- even though they will be eating cookies it is nice to have a break and nibble on something different. Here I have a Christmas tree made from crackers, cheese and cherry tomatoes, some pretzels with chips and dip, meringues with berry compote, and my famous Chocolate Peppermint Cake.



Have a sampler of the different cookies on some festive plates, and let the tasting and voting begin!



With the free printables you can give out some fun awards, and some of them can earn prizes. I have found that Christmas themed kitchen items such as Christmas mugs with hot chocolate sachets are a popular prize.



Cookie Exchanges really are a fun way to celebrate the Christmas season, and you get to leave with so many different baking options. I would suggest providing some containers so that each guest has a box full of baking to take home, and have someone in charge of dividing up the cookies evenly. Usually if I have five guests coming I specify 30 cookies per person- which means 5 per guest and one each to try during the actual party, but feel free to suggest more or less depending on circumstances and how many guests you have coming.

Have you hosted a Cookie Exchange and have some great tips to share? Let me know in the comments!

Superhero Family Fun Dinner

My boys are currently obsessed with superheroes- Marvel Avengers, Batman, comic books, anything will do! We decided to have a family fun night based on superheroes, thanks to the help of The Official Super Hero Cookbook. If you have boys in your house, you need this book! As well as everyday items, it has great ideas for birthday themes and jazzing up lunchboxes, and it even comes with stencils.

We looked through the cookbook and chose what we would like to eat, then I helped the boys write out the menu and a list of ingredients and supplies we would need.

Our main course was Holy Guacamole with Krypto Dogs, Wonder Woman Crudites and Superman Sauce. We also had Joker Juice as our drink.



Dessert was Plastic Man Pudding- this was absolutely delicious! I did change it to Batman Pudding and used a Bat cookie cutter to place some blue fondant on top, and we only needed small amounts of this sweet treat.



The boys both really enjoyed planning, cooking and eating our special superhero themed family fun dinner.

WCW Pinterest Recipes May

Time for this month's recap of recipes I have made that were pinned on my boards to try.

First up was Easy 5 Ingredient Coconut Curry Cod. With the title longer than the list of ingredients, I thought I was on to a winner. I really enjoyed it, as did my husband, but my boys found the flavours too strong even though they will usually eat curries and fish. I will try this one again, toning down the spices a little. Verdict: Keep with modification.

A little lunchbox fun for my 5 year old was the PB Cracker Sandwiches Lunch. This was a great alternative to the usual sandwich, and my son came home with an empty lunchbox and has requested this again, so the verdict is KEEP!

For the baking, I tried the Chocolate Raspberry Crumb Bars that I was drooling over.

Mine are definitely not as pretty as the original pin, but still quite yummy and sticky. Verdict: KEEP.

Getting back to basics, I cooked this recipe for Honey Garlic Balsamic Chicken for a quick weeknight meal.


Served with a pumpkin risotto, this was enjoyed by everyone and my 2 year old even had seconds and thirds! Verdict: KEEP.

We also tried out the One Pot Chicken Alfredo as an easy meal before a busy evening. Unfortunately it was quite watery and lacking in flavour. I tried adding more cream and cheese, but although the texture was good the final dish lacked something. Verdict: DELETE.

Next month I am hoping to try some yummy breakfast recipes, as well as some Mexican inspired tastes. Have you come across any recipes on Pinterest that you want to try? I would love to see them!

WCW Cameo Slice

One of my favourite treat biscuit is Cameo Cremes- a delicious chocolate biscuit with a creamy centre. I needed a quick slice a few weeks ago, and had a packet of these biscuits in the fridge, and so Cameo Slice was created!

Cameo Slice
1 packet Cameo Creme biscuits, coarsely crushed
1/2 can sweetened condensed milk
1/4 cup butter
4 tablespoons brown sugar
1/2 cup raisins

for the icing:
1 cup icing sugar
2 tablespoons cocoa powder

In a saucepan or microwave jug, heat the butter, sweetened condensed milk and brown sugar until butter is melted and sugar has dissolved. Mix in the biscuits and raisins. Press into a slice form and refrigerate for two hours.

Mix together the icing ingredients and spread over the base. Let cool then cut into slices.



This is like having a Cameo Creme biscuit with added deliciousness! The raisins stop it from being too sweet, and the texture is firm but easy to eat. I have made this a few times and each time it has been easy, yummy and eaten far too quickly!

WCW Cinco de Mayo Family Dinner

We celebrated last night's Cinco de Mayo with a low key Mexican family fiesta. Even though we are not a Mexican family, we love the food and it was a great opportunity to practice some of our Spanish. I am bilingual in Spanish and English and am bringing my boys up to be bilingual also, and so immersing them in events such as this helps them to understand the different culture and increase their vocabulary.

I cooked a meal that was enjoyed by everyone in the family as it is easily customised to different tastes.

Taco Salad
500g chicken mince
1 large jar salsa (mild, medium or hot depending on your tastes)

for the table:
4 cups lettuce or other greens
1 1/2 cups corn chips
1 can refried beans, heated
1 cup grated cheese
cherry tomatoes
1/2 cup sour cream
1 avocado, pitted and sliced into chunks
1 cup sliced black olives

Heat a frying pan on medium high heat and spray with oil. Saute the chicken mince until white, and then stir through the salsa until heated.

Serve on the table with accompaniments and let each person choose their own toppings.



I had some of everything! The boys always go for lots of cheese and beans, and my husband is not a fan of olives. This way we all get what we want to eat, and it is a fun and interactive way to have dinner as a family.


Do you have any serve at the table meals that your family enjoys? I would love to hear about them!

WCW Pinterest Week April

Recently I decided to try some of the delicious recipes I had pinned on Pinterest, as there is no point in me pinning them if I don't make them! I did manage to photograph some of them, but with the light fading by 5pm every night thanks to Autumn, it was a bit tricky to get a dinnertime photo.

My menu plan for Pinterest Week was as follows:

Creamy Tomato Tortellini Soup
Easy Baked Fish
Chicken Tortilla Bake
Pizza Steak Sandwiches in the Slow Cooker
Spicy Sausage Pasta
Cordon Bleu Lasagne
One Skillet Chicken Pot Pie
Lemon White Chocolate Blondies

Creamy Tomato Tortellini Soup
The soup was delicious- the boys really like tomato soup and their "pasta parcels" so this was a quick and easy dish to make when I was feeling less than inspired. Verdict: KEEP!

Easy Baked Fish
This was pretty good, but didn't crisp up as much as I would have liked, I think next time I make this I will use more breadcrumbs and less mayonnaise. Verdict: KEEP!

Chicken Tortilla Bake
This was such an easy casserole to put together, and the boys especially enjoyed it. This was a great warming meal for all of us, and the husband was happy to have leftovers for the next couple of days! Verdict: KEEP!

Pizza Steak Sandwiches in the Slow Cooker
After three wonderful meals, this one didn't quite hit the mark. The meat was still quite chewy, and the boys only ate the pepperoni, cheese and bread. Verdict: DELETE.

Spicy Sausage Pasta
Now this meal was popular! The boys inhaled it, and the leftovers the next day were even better. Verdict: KEEP!

Cordon Bleu Lasagne

I wanted to like this, I really did. My husband enjoyed it, but I just found the seasonings and mixes of cheese weird. The boys weren't big fans either- they picked the chicken out but didn't eat the pasta. Verdict: DELETE.

One Skillet Chicken Pot Pie
As we sat down to eat this, my 5 year old looked at me, looked at his food and said "you are the best mum ever!" This dish is worth keeping just because of that reaction! The dumplings were so amazingly light and fluffy, and the dinner table was silent as we all were too busy eating this delicious meal. Verdict: KEEP!

Lemon White Chocolate Blondies
I had some guests over for a few coffee groups this week, and these blondies received high praise from some of the ladies who had never head of a blondie before. Next time I might tone down the icing- which was my fault as I deviated from the recipe, but as written this blondie is delicious!
Verdict: KEEP!

I have decided to make this a monthly series, with the last Wednesday of each month dedicated to seven recipes plus a dessert or baking dish I have tried from Pinterest each month. If you have any suggestions of recipes I can try, or if you would like me to try out one of your recipes, please let me know as I am always on the lookout for yummy things!

WCW Tropical Teacakes

Those pesky bananas are still lurking in my fruit bowl as my 2 year old insists on buying them every time we go to the supermarket! 

I decided to whip up these teacakes instead of the usual muffins or bread. I used a pretty baking mold but you could use a mini loaf pan or muffin trays instead. These are dairy and egg free, and perfect to whip up for a quick afternoon tea.

Tropical Teacakes

2 cups flour

3/4 cup sugar

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

4 tablespoons Healtheries Black Chia seeds

4 tablespoons ground flaxseed

1/4 cup cold water

2 small bananas

1/2 cup orange and mango juice

1/2 cup dessicated coconut

extra 1/4 cup orange and mango juice

Preheat oven to 160 degrees celcius.

In a large bowl, mix the flour, sugar, baking soda and salt together. Create a well in the center and set aside.

Mix the water, flaxseed and Black Chia seeds to form a paste. Mix in mashed bananas and juice and add to the dry mixture. Mix well.

Fold in the coconut and add extra juice if needed. You want the mixture to be quite runny, about the consistency of pancake mix.

Add a dessertspoon full of the mixture to each mold or muffin tray. Bake for about 20 minutes, or until tops are lightly browned.

Serve warm or keep in an airtight container for up to three days.

Batman Birthday Party

My son celebrated his 5th birthday party recently with a Batman themed birthday party. Originally Lucas wanted a generic superheroes theme, but we narrowed it down to just Batman in order to keep my stress levels down!


First up was creating the Batman invitations. You can read the full process for making these invitations here.


My cupcakes were going to be decorated with bat sprinkles, but unfortunately these were out of stock so I had to make do with plain black sprinkles. I made the cupcake wrappers myself using black cardstock and the Cricut- they say Happy Birthday.

The food consisted of these cupcakes, fresh pineapple, ham and cheese toasted sandwiches, yellow jellybeans (purchased in bulk from The Lolly Shop), peanut butter truffles rolled in yellow sprinkles, batman cookies (using this cookie cutter) and Cheerio sausages, because my husband tells me it isn't a party without Cheerios.


For the tableware I went with yellow and black, as a lot of the specific Batman items were the new grey and blue style and Lucas really wanted lots of black. I used a plain black tablecloth, yellow paper cups, yellow plates, black napkins and some black treat cups.


We even had a special appearance from Batman himself! My Dad is always dressing up in costumes so this was brilliant, and all of the little boys were so excited.


We played a fun game outside to get the kids moving called Musical Superhero Sounds. I printed these printable comic bubbles to A4 size and laminated them, then laid them out on the ground. We played some music, and when the music ended each child had to jump on one of the sounds. I removed a sound each time, and so a child would get "out" each round. The game ended when only one child jumped on the remaining comic bubble.


It wouldn't be a birthday without a cake! I used my tried and true chocolate cake recipe, and spread the cake with yellow icing. I made the topper at a Superhero Themed workshop, which worked out perfectly!

Lucas was very excited to see his Batman cake, and blew out his back candles.

All in all, we had a great Batman themed birthday party and Lucas really enjoyed the games, food and cake. Now to think about next year's birthday theme!

Linking up with Pin Me Party and Kitchen Fun with My 3 Sons!

Plans for a weekend of Love

Valentines Day is coming up, and so I have planned some fun things for my family to do with love. I tend not to be too worried about the commercial side of Valentines Day, to me it is a time to remind my husband and boys how much I love them and a great way to reconnect as a family. My husband and I also celebrate our wedding anniversary just before Valentines Day, so it is great to be able to use this time to show my entire family how much I love and appreciate them.

 image via Bento School Lunches

Lucas is a school boy now, and I want to make sure he eats his lunch on Friday. I will make an easy love themed lunch similar to this with simple heart shaped sandwiches, some strawberries and fresh fruit. Some Babybel cheese and strawberry yoghurt will be perfect additions to a delicious, nutritious and fun lunch.

Valentines Day falls on a Saturday this year, so we have the whole day to celebrate. We do have some dance classes in the morning, so we need a fuel-filled breakfast. I plan on making some berry smoothies and also giving the boys some berry cereal.

 

We like to snuggle up with some books before nap time, so I will be reading Splat The Cat Funny Valentine and Foxy in Love.

To keep the boys entertained, we will do some Heart Stamping using toilet rolls and red paint. I will also mix red and white paint to make pink to teach the boys about primary and secondary colours.


 Image via I Can Teach My Child

As part of my Pinterest Resolutions, the boys will be receiving these love coupons.

An afternoon treat of Strawberries cut into heart shapes will suffice- my boys love fruit!



Image via One Good Thing By Jillee

The night will be finished off with a special family dinner inspired by One Good Thing By Jillee, as she has provided table decor ideas, a menu with printables, recipes and even a family activity.

Lastly, we will settle down and watch Madly Madagascar together- my 5 year old loves the penguins and this movie looks to be popular with all of us!

What have you got planned for Valentines Day?

Top 4 recipes of 2014

I can't believe that the end of the year is upon is- it seems so cliche but time really does fly when you have little people to run after.


We have been busy cooking up a storm this year, so I have rounded up my four most popular recipes for 2014.

At number four is the Raspberry Lamington Cake I made for my husband's birthday. Layers of cream, fresh raspberries and sponge make this into a decadent giant lamington.

The third most popular meal is Meatball Pizza, a combination of two of my son's favourite foods.

The second most popular recipe is a delicious Rhubarb Spicetrail Shortcake, which is great served warm or cold.

Number one is Roast Pumpkin and Cashew Chicken Curry- still a family favourite!

Thank you to all of you that have left comments, supported my blog posts and given feedback this year, and also a huge thanks to those of you who have made these recipes yourselves and let me know! I can't wait to share some more tasty dishes in 2015.

Linking up with Wow Us Wednesdays and Best of 2014 Link Up Party.

To The Kitchen!

Welcome back to another installment of the Poppins Book Nook!

This month's theme is To The Kitchen!

My boys both love baking and helping in the kitchen, so we focused on a couple of great kid's cooking books this month. The two that we loved were Chop Chop- The Kid's Guide to Cooking Real Food with Your Family and Ready, Steady Spaghetti. We chose both these books as they had great step-by-step photo instructions, were visually appealing and also both had comprehensive safety, healthy eating and recipe sections.

As well as being in the kitchen to cook, we also focused on science experiments this month using things you will find in the kitchen.

The first thing we did was create a water symphony. I filled three glasses with different amounts of water and the boys had fun hitting the glass with a wooden spoon and making different sounds.



A fun dessert was a Spider- we added a scoop of icecream to lemonade and watched it fizz up!



Lucas is a big fan of EvanTubed, so we replicated the Balloon experiment that he featured on YouTube.

It was so much fun to see the boy's faces light up as the balloon got bigger and bigger. A great science lesson that even the littlest family members can appreciate.



Of course, we also had to make something edible in the kitchen. We chose a simple recipe for Crunchy Nut Cornflake Slice out of the recipe book, as both my boys love breakfast cereal, peanut butter and chocolate. Lucas was a champ at measuring out the ingredients, and Adam enjoyed stirring everything together.



Here is a photo of the finished product- we will be sharing the full recipe on Wednesday so be sure to come back if you would like to make your own version of this slice!



We also made a New Zealand staple- Hokey Pokey. This involves heating 5 tablespoons of sugar with 2 tablespoons of golden syrup in a small pan. You then add 1 teaspoon of baking soda.



This puffs up and creates a golden candy.



Allow to set, and then break into pieces.



Both boys enjoyed trying the Hokey Pokey.




I put the boys in charge of choosing a recipe and making dinner on Monday night, and they chose the Cheese and Bean empanadas. Both boys did a great job mixing the ingredients and forming them into empanadas using our special cutter.



They looked great and tasted delicious- I was so proud of my boys for making these.



We had a great time using kitchen items to experiment, cook, bake and create dessert. Click below to see how other members of Poppins Book Nook were inspired!

 Clip art by MelonHeadz.

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