I'M NOT CRAZY!!!

'beady eyed seal giving me that crazy look....

Merrily browsing the sweetie aisle of the supermarket desperately  trying to find sweets that do not contain glucose syrup (so much harder than it sounds) reading every label and minding my own business when a mom comes round the corner with a trolley and 3 children in tow. Mom instructs them to pick some chips to buy, each to pick a flavor that they would like :) great - so they all do that and place them in the trolley. Then one kiddo sees the pre-packaged lollipops you put in the freezer to make frozen lollies and says please mom can we have these. Mom says um let me see and starts reading the label, "kids this has aspartame in it" so she picks up the next brand and starts reading again... more aspartame! and going through every make says sorry kids but these all have junk in (meaning aspartame) I think we must make our own at home. You know I could have walked over to that mom and kissed her I was so happy. she had no idea that I overheard her conversation and that I was smiling with delight.
I often feel like a label freak and a weirdo when I say sorry sweetie pie but we won't be having that - because of the junk that is in it eg aspartame, MSG, tartrazine, the E numbers on stuff!!! (the list is long- they put so much junk in our food) I was giddy with happiness to find that I wasn't the only one that was concerned about what I ate/gave my kid and was happy to say no to them - even if that mom was only concerned about aspartame I was sooo happy I almost did a Jimmeny cricket up in the air sidekick. I often feel like the crazy mom - "like oh please we aren't going to die if we eat tartrazine" looks i get. And the best part was I had a moment of - "you know I am not as crazy as I thought" :) yay me!
Thank you lady in the grocery store you made my day :)

THINGS THAT MAKE ME SMILE...

• I was not looking forward to school starting and getting up to make lunches but since school has started - I am happily getting into a routine of walking on the beach and coming home and bathing and reading a bit of a book.- I never thought that the routine would work in my favor :) Life has nice little surprises sometimes.

• Planning a holiday in your head can be so refreshing and an escape from reality .... In my mind I'm off to Italy - and someday I will go there but for now it is nice to day dream :)

• My husband can make me more than grin sometimes :) He surprised me with a beautiful bouquet of roses last week that are still lasting - they smell beautiful and are sitting in a vase on my kitchen table (sigh) so pretty :)

• Party plans for the little ones birthday are well underway - decor has been bought and ideas are flowing but invitations are not yet made!!! on the bright side most of the decor is here and ready to be put up when needed - only 16 more sleeps if I'm correct - AAAAH!!! I see baking in my near future.

• Your comments make me smile - just saying :)

So what have you been up to? Any happiness or daydreaming in your day?

Summer is an Ice Lolly

How fast can you put a smile on a child's face when handing them an ice lolly :) Pretty darn fast I tell you :)
An instant pick me up and also a great way to cool anyone down from kiddies to adults. And the best part is that you can make your own in your favorite flavor and you can make them preservative free and as organic as you want them to be - it all depends on the quality of your ingredients. All you need is some juice and some yoghurt! Simple hey!

INGREDIENTS
Fruit Juice of your Juice (the more organic the better)
Yoghurt of your choice (also the more organic the better)

METHOD
Take your favorite juice flavour (as fresh and as organic as possible) and pour into a 1/3 or half of the lolly moulds. Place in the freezer and when almost set put in your ice lolly sticks. When the juice is properly set pour in your yoghurt till almost fill (i use organic vanilla yoghurt) and place back in the freezer until hard and set.

Take out and enjoy :)
And its healthy too :)

 

PINK & WHITE POLKA DOT PARTY - KIDDIES

 I had the privilege of photographing and discussing ideas of this gorgeous pink and white Polka Dot Party with one of my sister in laws who created it for her daughters 2nd birthday Party. How cute is it? 

The theme is consistent through out - pink and white polka dots :) Just about all the eats are pink or white - white popcorn, pink and white lollipops, pink and white marshmallows, pink and white layered jelly, pink and white cupcakes, pink and white swiss roll, white peppermints, all laid out on a white table cloth with a pink tuile overlay and scattered glass droplets for dots on the tablecloth. Lots of little touches of pink and white and polka dots.

So cute for a little girl. But just as good for a girly party of any age. Cute for a baby shower of girly kitchen tea too.

Happy looking.

peppermints in tiny teacups with polka dots - lots of glass droplets for polka dot look on the table cloth

pink fondant iced cake with white fondant dots

 

isn't this little silver bird to cute?

  

pink filled wafers in a pink heart shaped box

pink and white plates layered

 

swiss roll with a white cream and strawberry, pink filling

I couldn't resist wrapping my nieces' present in polka dots too :)

I liked the different shaped containers to hold the various eats - martini glasses as well as square vases and plates plus rectangular platters gave a nice diversity without detracting from the polka dot theme.

silver bird looking after the cute pink and white polka dot serviettes

Thanks for looking at this party. I just love the little silver bird, I'm hoping to find my own one, one day. 

This party is so cute and could be used for so many parties not just for a 2 year old but a girl/woman of any age that loves pink and the touches of white polka dots just makes it even cuter.

 



p.s. submitted and selected for :) Bird's Party Blog !!! :)

not getting up early, music and party stuff

•  I am busy planning my daughters birthday party which has me in design and create heaven - but money grounds me regularly -no giant imported thing-a-ma-jigs or fresh pastries flown in from france ;)
• The soulful sound of chilled out jazz and the swishing and tapping swing style is really up my alley at the moment - I'm feeling like real old school music at the moment.
• I feel more relaxed when my house is clean.... Well tidy, clean maybe pushing it (hehehe)
• Not having to get up and out the door for the school run is making me super happy - from next week it maybe another story when my daughter goes back to school - but for now, I'm enjoying it
• All the lovely comments on this blog has kept me smiling - thank you :)

 

So whats making you smile at the moment?

EASY ROAST CHICKEN

 From this....

 To this.....

I love easy food - as in just stick it in the oven and then dish it up once it cooked :) Makes life easy for everyone, especially on a week night when things need to get done and routines need to happen with kids etc...
So this is one of my easy meals I make when I have other things to do besides cook or just don't feel like it [gasp]

RECIPE
All you do is take a raw chicken (I use free range chicken) and place in a large roasting/oven dish.
Surround with *peeled and chopped up potatoes.
Drizzle with some olive oil and plenty sea salt - and some fresh rosemary (if you have) .
Place in the oven at 180 degrees celcius for roughly an hour to an hour and a half.
Make a quick salad while chicken is cooking (whatever you like- cucumber, tomato, lettuce, feta etc) and place in the fridge.
Check the chicken near the end so you don't burn it. And maybe stir the potatoes a little.
Take out when juices inserted in the leg/thigh area run out clear with no blood in it and the chicken skin is brown and crispy.

Cut up the chicken and serve with the potatoes and salad

* you don't even have to peel the potatoes if you don't have time - they will come out like wedges if you leave the skin on.

I'm Not so Good at Self Reflection

Happy New Year and hello 2011

So who knows what this year will bring... I'm not one for new years resolutions cause I'm realistic like that - but I do know that whatever comes my way I will :) think it through properly (i hope) and then see what i feel about it before rushing off with a decision.

It sucks when everyone has to go back to work and face reality and that holidays can't last forever but in another way routine is good and it helps us appreciate the time we have off :) 

So to those of you that have blogs - happy blogging, I wish you a prosperous year with many blog posts and even more readers ;) cause I know that is what I would want. 

And to those reading and lurking in between the words :) nice to have you here I hope I will write something so awesome that you will want to leave a comment - cause I  HEART comments <3 

OR maybe you'll just comment cause you are nice :)

anyway every happiness and fun to you :) hehehe 

happy monday 

hugs