Fathers day "couture ties"

Today Pippa hosted mums group and we made "couture ties" for Fathers day. Chelle & Paxton made a tie for Tim, Sorry I didn't get a picture :(
Ria, Micah, Celeste & Porsha made ties for their Dad & Papas. Here's Micah getting inspiration from batman and hulk!!

  Maria, Ta'atiana & Allison made ties for their Dad & Grandpa. Here's Alli  taking a break while making her tie for Daddy.

Watson made a tie for daddy and Papa. He's holding it behind his back....its a secret for Daddy on Sunday :)

Here are the ties we made.....

We used ties from the dollar store and fabric paints and fabric crayons. Loads of fun and I bet the Daddys are going to look AMAZING at church on Sunday!!!!

BUT WAIT........ WHAT DID WE EAT??

CHORIZO SANDWICH SKEWERS

Ingredients:

2 Turkish garlic bread sticks
2 Chorizo sausages

Haloumi cheese

Basil pesto dip with cashews
basil leaves

Method:

Cut Turkish garlic bread loaves in half, as if you were making a sandwich. Spread each side with pesto dip. Top bottom side of bread with a layer of basil leaves, sliced chorizo & sliced haloumi. Place other side of the garlic bread on top (to close sandwich) and weight down for 10mins. Cut sandwich into bite sized pieces (about 3cm X 3cm) then place 3 pieces in each skewer. Brush with olive oil and cook until golden in frying pan. 

SOOooooOOo Yummy....ENJOY!!!

Posted by Pippa :)

Our Mums Group gift for Neice (she just had a new bubba)

A while ago at Ria's place, we laid out lots of material and scrapbooking stuff on the table and all got to work in making Vernice a cool gift!!

We covered the wipes box and travel box sizes with the fabric and added lots of bits and pieces for trimmings :) We even got an old xerox box and covered it with materials, popped in some muffins.  In each of the muffins, we inserted a skewer with had more bits n pieces on top. 
Everyone got arty farty and we had a ball of a time making this gift for Neice and we were done within 2 hours.. She came over and we surprised her with our Congratulations :) and finished off mums group with some FOoOOOOOd of course !!

Better living everyone ! X
Posted by Ria

Chicken Enchilladas

Here is a yummy, easy and fast recipe for the whole family to enjoy!

4-5 chicken breasts (~1kg)

1 can corn

1/2 cup green onions

1 cup grated carrots

1/2 cup cabbage (or any other veggie you'd like)

flour or corn tortillas

1 1/2 cups cheese

Scoop filling into tortilla, roll up and lay in greased pan

Mix together and pour on the top of tortillas:

2 cans cream of chicken soup

1/2 cup sour cream

1 cup of milk

Sprinkle a little cheese on top if you like and heat in oven at 200oC for 15 min or until cheese melts.

p.s. To cut in half cook 5 chicken tenderloins and fill 7 corn tortillas.

ENJOY!
Posted by Patty

Homemade Jam

After the awesome mums group we had at Heidis a few weeks ago I decided to try and make my own Jam. It was so simple to make and the BEST Jam I'd ever eaten!!! So I thought I'd share it with you all and you could try it at home too?

What you need:
Jars for Jam
1kg fruit ( I used boysenberries they were only $5.99 at Pak'n'save)
1 kg Jam setting sugar
1 knob of butter (about 10g, if you like measuring :)
OK so start by sterilizing your jars. Preheat oven to 120 degrees celcius and wash all jars in hot soapy water. Place in oven for 30 mins.

Know to make the jam....

1. Place fruit and sugar in a large heavy based saucepan. Mix over low heat until sugar is dissolved, stirring occasionally with wooden spoon Do not allow to boil.

2. Add a knob of butter and increase heat and bring to full boil (a boil that cannot be stopped when stirred)
3. Boil for 4 mins, carefully skim off any foam from surface during cooking.
4. Pour into sterilized jars.

 

To sterilize jar lids, stand in boiling water for 5 mins

Now seal jars with lids, be careful they're very hot!

This made 6 jars of jam and cost only $10.40!!!

Thanks to Heidi for your inspiration :)

From Pippa :)

Treats from Marias day

Feijoa cupcakes

Ingredients:
75g Butter, softened
1 C Sugar
1 C Mashed feijoas
1/2 C milk
1 t baking soda
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 t vanilla
2 C flour
1 t baking powder

Method:
1. Cream butter and sugar, add feijoas.
2. Heat milk and add baking soda. Add to butter mixture along with eggs & vanilla.
3. Sift flour & baking powder over mixture and mix together.
4. Pour into muffin tin lined with patty cases. Bake at 180 degrees celcius for 20-25mins or until skewer comes out clean when tested.
When cool top with cream cheese frosting

White Chocolate and Raspberry cupcakes

Ingredients:
100g butter, softened
3/4 C Castor sugar
2 eggs
1 1/3 C plain flour
1 t baking powder
1/2 C milk
100 g melted white chocolate
1 1/2 C frozen raspberries

Method:
1. Preheat oven to 160 degrees celcius.
2. place butter and sugar in a bowl and beat with electric mixers until light and fluffy.
3. Gradually add eggs & beat well after each addition.
4. Sift over flour & baking powder and beat until combined.
5. Fold through milk, chocolate and raspberries.
6. Spoon into 12 lined muffin tins and cook for 20 -25mins or until skewer come out clean when tested.
When cool top with white chocolate ganache

ENJOY!!

kids art cork boards Thurs 26th May

Maria hosted mums group today and was great to get together with Patty, Tiarnie, Talia and Pippa! We made Kids art cork boards. Maria had cork board tiles which we all used differently to create ways to display our kids art. Check out the different designs....

These are Shanayes (Shanayes Tiarnies daughter and only 8!) cork boards. She used elastic on the one on the left in a criss-cross pattern so you could put art under the elastic. the one on the right has buttons and coloured pencils. Too clever Naye!!!

This is Talias cork board. The cork cam already in the frame only $4.79 at Mitre 10!!! Talia added red trim to hang on the wall, buttons on the frame and a piece of red string and little wooden pegs. Awesome Talia!

This is Pattys cork board. She used a cork tile then covered it with fabric, added coloured string at the top and bottom with wooden ladybug pegs. love the little doll in the corner!! Great stuff Patty!!

This is Pippas cork board. She painted a wooden frame, then glued a cork tile to the back of the frame and covered it with fabric. Looking good!!

 This is Marias cork board. She used a green frame, cut her cork tiles into 4 squares and painted them, then glued them to the back of the frame. She then decorated the frame with buttons, little coloured pencil and paint brushes. She also wrote "My Art" out of bits and bobs......so creative!!!

So get creative, there are soOo many ways you can do it and they all are unique and such a nice way to display your kids art!!!!

Pippas eats....ohh lala

Here are the recipes for the lunch we had a Pippas on Thursday.

PUMPKIN & KUMARA SOUP

Ingredients: 
2-3kg Pumpkin
2 large carrots
2 medium Red/purple Kumara
2 celery stalks
1 onion
2 cloves garlic
1 L Chicken Stock
1 L Vegetable stock
300mls cream
100g grated parmesan cheese
Salt & pepper

Method:
1. Peel and cube kumara, carrot & pumpkin. Set aside.
2. Dice onion, garlic and celery. Place in a large pot and saute until onion is clear. Season with salt & pepper.
3. Add the pumpkin, carrot, Kumara & stock and bring to the boil.
4. Lower heat and simmer for 40 mins or until veges are soft.
5. Allow soup to cool slightly then blend till smooth.
6. Stir through cream and freshly grated parmesan. Check seasonings again and add more salt and pepper if needed.

Tips and Tricks:

I've made this soup in different ways but have found it tastes the best when I use powdered stock and make up with boiling water, also it can handle lots of cracked pepper so don't be shy :) I also use and stick blender to blend and just stick it straight in the pot (less cleaning that way). Also you don't need to be "perfect" when cutting up your veges because they all get blended up anyway. It also freezes well too, I usually put some aside before added the cheese and cream and freeze then when I thaw it, I heat it up and add the cream and cheese just before serving. It also always tastes better the next day so if you're having people over you can make it the night before. ENJOY!!! 

RASPBERRY CHEESECAKE BROWNIE

Ingredients:
250g butter
1 C cocoa
1 C caster sugar
3/4 C raspberry jam (I used the jam we made at Heidis last week..YUMMY!)
4 eggs lightly beaten
1 t vanilla extract
1 1/4 C Plain flour
1/4 t baking soda

Method:
1. Melt butter in a saucepan, whisk in cocoa and cook until bubbling.
2. Remove from heat and whisk in sugar and jam. Add eggs & vanilla and stir until smooth.
3. Fold in flour & baking soda. Pour into slice tin lined with baking paper.

Cheesecake topping
1. Beat 250g cream cheese, 1/3 C castor sugar, 1 egg & 1/2 t vanilla extract with electric mixer until smooth.
2. Fold in 1 1/2 C frozen raspberries. Spoon over brownie mix.
3. Bake at 160 degrees celcius for 40-45mins or until cooked. Cool in tin before cutting.

Hope you enjoy these recipes  love Pippa :)