Eight

 On the 9th of October Poppy turned 8. She had decided she would like to go rock climbing with her friends instead of having a full blown birthday party (phew!) and it was the perfect activity for my active girl.

The day before her birthday she met with six of her friends at our local PCYC where they giggled, rock climbed, jumped on the trampolines and did gymnastics. It was the perfect catch up as it was the end of the two week school holidays and all the girls were missing each other.

On the morning of her actual birthday Poppy had asked to go to McDonald's for breakfast, as she had never been for breakfast before, so all the children were very excited. She got the hot cakes and a juice and won two free sundaes on the Monopoly promotion stickers, so it looks like another trip to Macca's is to be had in the next few weeks before they run out. 

The 9th was a Sunday and also the day we go to a friends place to watch the Bathurst car race every year, there is always lots of our friends and children to play with so it was the perfect thing to do on Poppy's birthday, one of our friends Lily turned two a few days before, so both the girls had birthday cakes to share. Lily had a great "Dory" cake and Poppy had requested a 'Pinata' cake (where you 'smash' a chocolate dome and reveal a cake covered in lollies underneath!) 

Happy Birthday my gorgeous girl, I hope the year ahead is your best yet.

xx

Muesli bars

Lately I've been trying to use what we have at home instead of popping to the shops every day(we live about a two minute walk away from a major supermarket). Our pantry, fridge and freezer are constantly full to the brim like we are stocking up for some sort of world ending event. When we run out of something I pop to the shops to get it and end up loading four more bags of groceries into the car. 

My first effort in doing this, has been preparing Tom and my lunch's on a Sunday, saving time and money and leaving out the option of a 'grab and go' not so healthy lunch (mine is usually toast with peanut butter!). I recently tried these Burrito Bowls and they were delicious.

So this morning when I realised I had run out of some school lunchbox bars, I had a poke around and found enough ingredients to make my own, they were a winner with the kids (and big kids) and so easy to make. 

What you'll need:

2 cups of oats

1 cup rice bubbles

1/2 cup of your choice, I had pretzels in the cupboard so I crushed them up and used those, but you could use nuts, m&m's, or dried fruit.

1/4 cup butter

1/4 honey

1/2 brown sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

What to do:

In a bowl combine oats, rice bubbles and extra of your choice (I chose pretzels as my children attend a nut free school).

In a small saucepan on high add butter, honey, brown sugar, stir until melted. Then simmer on medium for 2 minutes.

Pour butter mixture and vanilla into bowl and press firmly (really firm so the bars don't fall apart) into a slice tray lined with baking paper.

I topped mine with half mini m&m's and half melted chocolate. You could top yours with white chocolate, mini marshmallows, nuts, pretzels, sultanas or anything floating about in the pantry.

Place in the fridge to set. Mine took about 30 minutes.
Cut into bars, wrap in lunch paper and serve.

The bars we get at the shop can be priced up to about $1.00 a bar. This recipe made 12 bars and cost about $0.20c a bar, and I know exactly whats in them!

Now I just hope there is some left come Monday morning!

Sharing boards

If you follow me on Instagram (@hollirob) you would have noticed that 'Sharing boards' are my new favorite tummy filler.

Between the five of us, we all like different things, so I'm finding these fun sharing boards a great way to please everybody, and to use up left overs in the fridge from the week before.

The last few weekends, I have whipped one up late afternoon when everyone is "staaaaarving" and then later at night when everyone gets the nibbles again, I pop something easy in the oven, like some chicken wings, spinach and cheese toasties, or I use up some left over veggies in this recipe.

I have noticed the children trying different things they may not have tried before, or not for a long time, In the busy day to day, I sometimes forget to add new things to their plates to try, instead just going with what I already know they like.

I also love whipping one up in the afternoon for an after school feed. I can put one together before I head out on school pickup and it's ready to go when I get home with three tired, hungry children.

  
With school holidays just two days away, I'm sure I will be making a few to get us through some of these cold wet and windy days.

Yum! xx

Smoothies

We love smoothies at our place, they are often whipped up after school for a healthy snack or on weekend mornings when we have a little more time. We have been loving them though the hot summer days, as when using frozen fruit, they are a delicious icy treat. 

I often buy the marked down stone fruit from the supermarket, slice out the bad spots and lay on a plate with baking paper in then pop in the freezer.

I then put the fruit in a zippy bag ready for our smoothie mornings. 

I also do this with bananas (a staple in all our smoothies), blackberries, raspberries, blueberries, strawberries and even spinach.

Then chuck what ever fruit we choose in the blender with the liquid of choice, coconut milk or water, almond milk, cows milk, orange juice, the possibilities are endless.

Served in a cute bottle or jar, and topped off with a pretty straw, of course.

Do you smoothie at you place?

Yum! xx

Mexican Brownies

I made this easy brownie for my up coming Mexican 30th. We have already had a few pieces and I can tell you it's a total winner.

What you'll need:

1 1/2 cups unsalted butter

3 cups white sugar

6 eggs

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1 1/4 cups unsweetened cocoa powder

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 3/4 teaspoons ground Mexican cinnamon (canela)

1/2 teaspoon ground pequin chile pepper

3/4 teaspoon kosher salt

3/4 teaspoon baking powder

What to do:

Preheat oven to 180 degrees C. Line a slice pan with baking paper.

Place the butter in a microwave-safe bowl, and cook on Medium until the butter is about half melted, about 1 minute. Mash the butter with sugar until well combined, and stir in eggs one at a time. Mix in vanilla extract.

Sift the cocoa, flour, cinnamon, pequin pepper, salt, and baking powder into a bowl. Mix the flour mixture into the butter mixture, stirring to blend well, and pour the batter into the prepared slice pan.

Bake in the oven until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with moist crumbs, 20 to 25 minutes. Let cool in the pan.

Enjoy. x

Easy Peasy Sprinkle Biscuits

These Sprinkle Biscuits are great for baking with children, the recipe is so ridiculously easy that it's impossible to mess them up, perfect for freezing and delicious!

What you'll need:

125g butter

1/2 caster sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla essence

1 egg

2 cups plain flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tbs milk

100's and 1000's

What to do:

Pre-heat oven to 180 degrees Celsius and line a couple of baking trays with baking paper.

In a large bowl, beat butter, sugar 

and vanilla until pale and creamy.

Add egg to butter mixture and mix until combined.

Sift flour and baking powder over butter mixture and mix in gently by hand until well combined.

Stir in milk.

Roll tablespoons of the mixture into balls and press down with fingers or a fork to make flat biscuits, sprinkle 100's and 1000's over the top.

Bake for 15-18 minutes until firm.