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Christmas/ Craft/ Kids in the Kitchen/ Non Thermomix/ Thermomix/ Twins

Advent Calendar for 2 year olds

It’s the most WONDERFUL TIME of the year!!! I’ve always loved Christmas and now it is so exciting to share it with the boys! Now that they are 2, this is the first year they can start appreciating it! Instead of chocolates/lollies for the 25 day countdown to Christmas, this is my 25 days of Christmas advent Calendar activities suitable for 2 year old old toddlers (and the family)!! Last year I also had a list for when the boys were 1 year olds!

1. Take photos with Santa

2. Paint Christmas ornaments

I bought this $5 Christmas plaster set from Kmart which the boys will love! http://www.kmart.com.au/product/christmas-plaster-set—pack-of-17/1030801

3. Finger paint Christmas cards/wrapping paper

4. Make & play with a Christmas Tree Ball sorter

https://au.pinterest.com/pin/28640147608206029/

5. Make Reindeer paper plates

https://au.pinterest.com/pin/41587996536037932/

6. Make salt dough hand print Christmas ornaments

Non Thermomix – http://www.mommymoment.ca/2013/04/salt-dough-handprint.html

Thermomix – http://www.trtlmt.com.au/salt-dough/

7. Sing and dance to Christmas carols

8. Take Christmas themed photos at home

9. Make homemade muffins for the first time!

20 Second Crunchy Lemon Muffins (made in a big bowl so they can stir it themselves!)

20 Second Crunchy Lemon Muffins

10. Check out Christmas displays at a shopping centre (i.e. Myer/DJ’s in the city!)

11. Make popsicle stick Christmas Tree ornaments

https://au.pinterest.com/pin/351912451187976/

12. Have a picnic in the backyard with Christmas themed food

13. Go the beach and make sandcastles

14. Make little canvas paintings for presents – use painters tape, and tape a shape/initial on a canvas, and finger print on top – when dry, peel off the painters tape!

https://www.pinterest.com/explore/painters-tape-art/

15. Help mummy make and decorate Red Velvet Cupcakes

Red Velvet Cupcakes – Recipe for with or without a Thermomix

16. Make easy ‘snow globes’ for presents

https://www.pinterest.com/explore/snow-globe-crafts/

17. Make Christmas shapes out of red and green playdough + Doterra ‘Holiday Joy’

ThermoFun – Kids Everyday Essentials – Playdough

18. Help mummy decorate a Gingerbread house for the first time

(this was mummy’s last year before any creative help from the kiddies!)

19. Run in the sprinklers

20. Check out Christmas Lights!!

21. Make Christmas feet Reindeer

https://www.pinterest.com/explore/reindeer-footprint/

22. Tree/star shaped pumpkin pancakes for breakfast

Pumpkin Pancakes

23. Make Chocolate Chip Cookies for Santa (ready for Christmas Eve)

Healthy Choc Chip Cookies

24. Watch a Christmas themed movie as a family with popcorn AND set up Santa’s snacks!

http://www.kidspot.com.au/MySpot-escapes-The-best-Christmas-movies-of-all-time+6494+178+article.htm

25. Take family photos in front of the tree and open presents!!

November 15, 2016 By Sophia Brown

Baking/ Cake/ Chocolate/ Non Thermomix/ Thermomix/ Twins

Car Drip Cakes – Ethan and Harley’s 2nd Birthday Cake

Car Drip Cakes for my 2 year old car loving boys!!

I wanted to incorporate the fun look of a drip cake, with cars which the boys are loving right now! My husband had doubts of it looking like a ‘car’ whilst I was making this, but the end result turned out better than I thought, and the boys kept on pointing at their cakes very excitedly saying ‘CAR!’ so mission accomplished!! 🙂

These are the first cakes that I’ve made using ALL of my recipes which is exciting and special for myI boys!!

The cakes consist of Milo Fudge Cakes topped with Perfect Buttercream Icing, drizzled with White Chocolate Ganache, and decorated with Fruit Jelly Lolly wheels, silver sprinkles and gold leaf windows, and a chocolate smiley face.

A FEW DAYS BEFORE…

A few days before the boys birthday, I made 4 x Milo Fudge Cakes (I only needed 3, but made 1 spare) – each ‘car’ consisted of the Milo Fudge Cake baked in a loaf pan, and a 15cm round cake pan (cut in half for the top of the car shape). I cooked the cakes a few minutes longer so it was more like a Milo mudcake (less gooey fudgy) so that it was firm to decorate. Once the cakes were cooled, I double wrapped the cakes in plastic cling wrap, double wrapped them in foil, then popped in them in the freezer.

TWO NIGHTS BEFORE…

I made 1 x batch of Fruit Jelly Lollies – I used apple and blackcurrant juice, added edible black glitter, and blue gel food colouring to make the jelly really dark. I then poured it into a silicon baking pan and set it in the fridge overnight.

THE NIGHT BEFORE…

I made another 1 x batch of Fruit Jelly Lollies – this time with coconut water (so it was a light colour). I then used cookie cutters to cut out ‘E’, ‘H’ and ‘2’ from the dark blue/black glitter Fruit Jelly Lolly mixture. I then placed the cut out ‘E’, ‘H’ and ‘2’ into silicon muffin trays, and then poured the coconut water Fruit Jelly Lollies over them to set in the fridge. I could see the colouring spread into the light coloured coconut water jelly, however only the colouring spread into this, not the glitter, so the ‘E’, ‘H’ and ‘2’ were still quite visible.

I took out the cakes from the freezer and decorated the cakes whilst frozen/defrosting. I cut the circle shaped cake in half with a large sharp knife. I attached the bottom loaf shaped cake to the cake tray with melted chocolate (so it doesn’t move around).

I then made 2 x batches of Perfect Buttercream Icing at a time (2 x batches per Car Drip Cake = 4 x batches in total for the 2 cakes) with Wilton ‘Teal’ Gel Food Colouring. I iced a ‘crumb layer’ of the cakes, and attached the cakes with a wooden skewer to keep them in place. I then placed the cakes to set in the fridge for an hour.

Once the crumb layer was firm, I iced another layer of buttercream icing, and smoothed the icing with a dough scraper (this took the looongest time out of everything!)

I then let the cakes set in the fridge overnight.

IN THE MORNING…

I made the White Chocolate Ganache, and let it sit on the bench for about an hour to thicken. I then dripped it on the sides and middle of the cake with a metal teaspoon, then placed the cakes back in the fridge to set. I added white chocolate melts/dark chocolate chips for eyes, and dark chocolate piped on as a smily face. I then added silver sprinkles in the shape of windows, gold leaf on the drips inside the ‘windows’ and then attached the Fruit Jelly Lolly wheels with toothpicks.

August 30, 2016 By Sophia Brown

Chocolate/ Healthy/ Kids in the Kitchen/ Non Thermomix/ Snacks/ Sweets/ Thermomix/ Twins

Healthy Golden Gaytime Easter Eggs (NF)

These are healthy nut free and refined sugar free Easter eggs which are a great alternative to the traditional chocolate Easter eggs, great for the whole family!!!! They are great for the Easter egg hunt, Easter presents for both kids at school and for adults, and are a perfect kids in the kitchen activity!

I’ve been working on a healthy Golden Gaytime for my husband as that is his No. 1 icecream flavour (I have been making him a Golden Gaytime Icecream Cake for his birthday every year).

I have made this nut free so it is lunch box friendly. The rice bubbles for the Golden Gaytime ‘crunch’, vanilla bean paste and maple syrup to get the caramel flavour, and cocoa powder for the chocolate. These are DELICIOUS!!!!!!!!!

Note that the cocoa/cacoa powder is quite bitter which goes really well with the sweet ‘egg’ part and together makes it taste like it had a hint of dark chocolate. If the bitterness bothers you, you could coat in a drinking chocolate (with added sugar), blitzed up choc chips, dessicated coconut or leave it coating free 🙂

To wrap them up into ‘Easter Eggs’, I used the cheapest aluminium foil I could find from Coles, as it is nice and thin – the stuff I normally use from Costco is a lot thicker and doesn’t wrap as nicely around the egg shape (Coles Smartbuy foil – about $1.10 for 10m – bargain!), and I bought a $2 pack of 100 Easter stickers from the reject shop.

You can make these as bliss balls (when it’s not Easter) for healthy Golden Gaytime treats! You can also use my other bliss ball recipes and roll them into an egg shape like this too! However, the taste and crunch in these Healthy Golden Gaytime Easter Eggs will definitely be a winner with the kids!!!

Add all ingredients (except for rice bubbles) in bowl

Mix 15 seconds/Speed 8

Add rice bubbles

Mix 15 seconds/Speed 2/Reverse

Spoon out a tablespoon of mixture

And shape/roll/press into an egg shape

Roll in cacoa/cocoa powder

Place in fridge to firm up for at least 1 hour

Cut small squares of cheap aluminium foil

Wrap Egg inside the foil and press the foil around the shape so it’s nice and firm

Press foil around the egg

Secure the end of the foil with stickers and decorate with more stickers 🙂

Repeat the above for all of the eggs

Enjoy giving them for presents, eating at home, or using them for a healthy Easter Egg hunt!! Check out Ethan and Harley with their first (practice) Easter Egg hunt:

Healthy Golden Gaytime Easter Eggs (NF)

Print Recipe

Ingredients

100 grams oats
160 grams medjool dates (pitted)
10 grams chia seeds
2 teaspoons vanilla bean paste
10 grams maple syrup
40 grams coconut oil
25 grams rice bubbles/puffed rice
Cacoa or cocoa powder to roll eggs in

Instructions

METHOD (Thermomix):

Add the oats, dates, chia seeds, vanilla, maple syrup and coconut oil.

Mix 15 seconds/Speed 8.

Add the rice bubbles and mix 15 seconds/Speed 2/Reverse.

Use a spoon to measure out a spoonful of mixture and roll/shape into an egg shape (make sure to get excess rice bubbles from the bottom of the bowl so that you get an even mixture)

Roll the egg in cacoa/cocoa powder and place in fridge to set for at least an hour.

Once the egg's have firmed up, wrap in pieces of aluminium foil and decorate with Easter stickers (optional). You can wrap with aluminium foil straight after making them, but I find it easier once they have firmed up.

METHOD (Blender/Food Processor):

Add the oats, dates, chia seeds, vanilla, maple syrup and coconut oil.

Mix until all the ingredients are combined.

Add the rice bubbles and do a quick turbo mix, you may need to further mix with a spoon/spatula - try not to blend it too much as you may lose the rice bubble crunch!

Use a spoon to measure out a spoonful of mixture and roll/shape into an egg shape (make sure to get excess rice bubbles from the bottom of the bowl so that you get an even mixture)

Roll the egg in cacoa/cocoa powder and place in fridge to set for at least an hour.

March 8, 2016 By Sophia Brown

Baby Food/ Dessert/ Healthy/ Icecream/ Non Thermomix/ Thermomix/ Twins

Milo Ice Blocks

We love ice blocks! These are actually the first lot of ice blocks I’ve given the boys. They are nearly 18 months, so I thought it was about time, especially given the heatwave Sydney has had this week! And they looooved them!

I used Décor Likety Sips Ice Block moulds (

http://www.decor.com.au/product/lickety-sips/), however you can use any type, any brand, but these measurements fill the 4 x iceblock moulds EXACTLY!

If you use other ice block moulds, make the ice blocks as per the following recipe and if it needs a bit more filling, top up with more milk.

Pour into moulds

Freeze overnight

Serve dipped in extra Milo (optional)

Milo Ice Blocks

Messy boys!

Milo coma!

Milo Ice Blocks

Print Recipe

Ingredients

300 grams milk (any type - I use A2 Full Cream)
75 grams Milo

Instructions

Method (Thermomix)

Add all ingredients into bowl. Mix 40 seconds/50 degrees/Speed 4.

Pour into ice block moulds and freeze overnight.

Method (Stovetop)

Add all ingredients into a small pot. Stir with a whisk/spatula until Milo and milk have mixed together into a chocolate milk.

Pour into ice block moulds and freeze overnight.

February 23, 2016 By Sophia Brown

Baby Food/ Breakfast/ Kids in the Kitchen/ Main Meal/ Non Thermomix/ Snacks/ Thermomix/ Twins

Finger Food Ideas for Babies and Toddlers

Here are my ‘tried and tested’ list of finger foods for my boys!

When Ethan and Harley started to want to eat themselves, I did a lot of online and book research for finger food ideas. My boys are HUGE for their age, and looove their food. They are not fussy (…most of the time) and have no food intolerances which makes it really easy for me to prepare their meals! My rule is to have the most colourful ‘tasting’ plate of foods so the boys experience a variety of different foods, textures, smells and flavours. I’ve read that a colourful plate of food is a nutritious one! So I make sure I cover lots of food colours in the meals the boys eat (except for when we are out and using the pram!). I’ve also read that the more variety of foods you give a baby when they are young, the less fussy they will be when they grow older (this isn’t tried and tested yet, so *fingers crossed*)!

Thermotwinning’s Finger Food Ideas for Babies and Toddlers

Koala sandwich with Mayvers Super Spread on a bed of baby spinach, cherry tomatoes, babybel cheese, steamed broccoli and carrot, strawberries (quartered), hard boiled egg, and pizza pockets

The boys with their ‘pram friendly’ finger foods (i.e. nothing juicy or coloured like vegemite, tomatoes, berries, watermelon etc)

Dinosaur sandwich with cream cheese on a bed of baby spinach, cheese and crackers, dried apricots, freeze dried apple, and whole orange and poppyseed muffin with almond and chia seeds

Another ‘pram friendly’ lunch box

Cheese and bacon rolls, sweet eating cucumber, tasty cheese, mini fruit balls, pear and crackers

BREAKFAST:

Pancakes/waffles – these are some that I make that freezes and reheats well:
– Pumpkin Pancakes (The boys fave!!)
– Sweet Potato Waffles
– Berry Coconut Flour Pancakes

–Oat and Pear Pancakes

Wholemeal sandwich, toast or Cruskits with the following spreads:
– Baby purees including fruit purees (instead of jam)
– Vegemite
– Mayvers Super Spread (can be found with the peanut butter section/organics section)
– Cream cheese
– Avocado
– Mashed banana
– Jam

Raisin Toast (there is a wholemeal version available) – freezes and reheats well

Scrambled eggs – in a bowl, add egg(s) (about 1 per child) + a splash of milk + a small handful of grated tasty cheese – microwave 1 minute on high, stir, then microwave 30 seconds at a time stirring in between until cooked. Leave to cool for a few minutes – the tasty cheese gives it some flavour and also helps the egg firm up so it is easier to grip (my husband’s trick! he makes it for the boys on the days I’m at work) – goes well with vegemite on toast!

Sultana Bran Buds (link here) or similar type bite sized cereals (soaked in some milk to soften)

***With a spoon:

MAIN MEALS:

Wholemeal sandwich, toast or Cruskits with the following spreads:
– Baby purees including fruit purees (instead of jam) and savoury ‘main meal’ ones
– Vegemite
– Cream cheese
– Mayvers Super Spread (can be found with the peanut butter section/organics section)
– ‘The Laughing Cow’ cheese triangles – squished and spread
– Cream cheese mixed with sardines (super nutritious but best left to eat at home as it‘s a bit on the nose!) my boys love this!
– Vegemite and sliced tasty cheese
– Avocado
– Mashed banana
– Jam

Wholemeal Toast Cheesy Melts – I use one or some of these toppings and top it with a piece of sliced tasty cheese and pop it in the air fryer or grill for 5 minutes/180 degrees
– Tinned tuna
– Ham
– Scrambled eggs
– Tomatoes
– Tinned red salmon
– Avocado
– Bolognese sauce
– Gourmet sausages cut up into small pieces
– Roast/poached chicken (shredded)
– Leftover meat diced into small pieces

Pizza Pockets (link here) – freezes and reheats well

Pasta – any type, I usually use elbow pasta, macaroni or small sea shells as they are easy to pick up – freezes and reheats well. I generally use a cheesy white sauce base, vegetable puree, or tomato based sauce for the pasta sauce with the following fillings:
– Tinned red salmon
– Fresh salmon (de-skinned and de-boned)
– White fish like Ling or Barramundi (de-skinned and de-boned)
– Bacon/ham
– Chicken Thigh Fillets (they have more nutrients than breast fillets)
– Pork, chicken or Beef mince
– Peas
– Broccoli
– Sweet Potato
– Pumpkin
– Carrots
– Zucchini
– Frozen Veg i.e. peas and carrot
– Or cooked pasta with grated cheese melted on top (easy and not messy if you’re out!)

Some of the boys’ fave pasta recipes:

Smoked Salmon Pasta (using tinned Tuna/Salmon instead of Smoked Salmon)
Skinnymixer’s Macaroni Cheese with a Twist
Chunky Spaghetti Bolognese (with hidden veggies – with the onion in Step 3, I add 2 x carrots, 3 x sticks of celery, and 1 x zucchini)
Best Ever Macaroni Cheese
Basic Cookbook – Creamy Tomato and Salami recipe (with extra veggies blitzed with the onion)

Meatballs – Any combo of chicken/pork/beef mince + hidden blitzed up veggies – freezes and reheats well

Salmon Patties – I use a recipe from the Thermomix Cooking for your Baby and Toddler book – however this is a great Salmon Rissole recipe – freezes and reheats well

Risotto or Pasta Muffin Cups – With any risotto or pasta recipe, just place in muffin tins and top with tasty or cheddar cheese, and bake for about 20 minutes/180 degrees until cheese is melted and golden. Skinnymixer’s Risotto Frittata is a great recipe – freezes and reheats well

Hot Dog Buns (Chinese Sausage Rolls) (link here) – freezes and defrosts well

Sushi – This is great for older babies if you’re out and need to takeaway something for them. My boys love the mini ones and make sure you don’t get the raw fillings, so I usually get avocado, tuna, cucumber, or egg ones. The sushi rice is really sticky so I find it really easy to clean up after them! You can make Sushi yourself – this is a great recipe – Thermobexta’s Egg and Avocado Sushi

Thermomumma’s Garlic, Cheese and Spinach Naan (link here) – freezes and reheats well

***With a spoon/fork:

Risotto (I use the Basic Cookbook recipe)
Skinnymixer’s Coconut Curried Sausages
Skinnymixer’s Butter Chicken
Thermomumma’s Corned Meat and Veggies (Pg. 22, cut up into small pieces)
Or food that the rest of the family is having!

VEGETABLES:

Sweet eating cucumbers (halved or quartered lengthwise) – these are mini cucumbers you can get at green grocers, Coles/Woolies and Aldi – usually in the refrigerated vegetable section with the lettuce

Cherry/grape tomatoes (halved lengthwise) – the boys fave are the Gold Sweet Eating Grape tomatoes (they are orange in colour) these are the ones from Coles, they are sweeter than normal Cherry tomatoes which can sometimes be quite tarte

Steamed carrots and green beans (cut in half, then quartered lengthwise) – Fill bowl with water just above the blades, place carrots into steaming basket (I usually make about 2 carrots and a handful of beans then place in fridge to use as needed), then steam 16 minutes/Varoma/Speed 1

Steamed Broccoli Trees – Fill bowl with water just above the blades, place carrots into steaming basket (I usually cut 1 lot of broccoli then place in fridge to use as needed), then steam 12 minutes/Varoma/Speed 1

Steamed Zucchini – Fill bowl with water just above the blades, place carrots into steaming basket (I usually cut 2 lots of zucchini then place in fridge to use as needed), then steam 9 minutes/Varoma/Speed 1

Sweet potato (roasted/air fried/steamed)

Pumpkin (roasted/air fried/steamed)

Potato (roasted/air fried/steamed)

Lettuce/spinach leaves (any type though I steer clear of the bitter ones like rocket)

Cooked peas – Fresh, frozen or dehydrated

Capsicum (Cut into sticks)

FRUIT:

Apples (quartered, cored, then each quarter cut into 3 wedges) I leave the skin on as it has a lot of vitamins/nutrition in it, or else there are ‘kid’s lunchbox’ apples which are smaller which my boys love to use their teeth and bite into!

Pears (quartered, cored, then each quarter cut into 3 wedges) I leave the skin on as above

Seedless Watermelon (cut into small pieces (one of the boys faves but I leave it for home as it is so messy!)

Blueberries

Strawberries (halved or quartered)

Grapes (halved lengthwise)

Bananas

White or Yellow Peaches

White or Yellow Nectarines

Mango

Kiwifruit

SNACKS/DESSERT:

BLISS BALLS:
(Fridge or freezer)

SLICES/BARS/BROWNIES:

(Freezes and defrosts well)

MUFFINS/CUPCAKES:

(Freezes and defrosts well)

20 Second Banana Oat Muffins *NF *EF
20 Second Crunchy Lemon Muffins *NF *EF
30 Second Milo Muffins *NF *EF
Banana Bran Muffins *EF
Coconut Quinoa Muffins *NF
Chocolate Pumpkin Cupcakes *NF
Whole Orange and Poppyseed Muffins with Almonds and Chia Seeds

COOKIES/BISCUITS:
(Freezes and defrosts well)

Apple and Celery Cake Cookies
Coconut White Chocolate Cookie Balls *NF
Oaty Date Cookies *NF option
Milo Cookies *NF

BREAD/CAKE:
(Freezes and defrosts well)

30 Second Caramel Apple Cake *NF
Apple and Custard Scroll Pullapart Log *NF
Chocolate Beetroot Cake *NF
Custard Scrolls *NF
Finger Buns *NF *EF
Healthy Banana Bread *NF option
Orange Yoghurt Cake *NF
Steamed Sponge Cake *NF

SWEETS:
(Keeps in fridge for a few weeks)

Fruit Juice Jelly Lollies *NF *EF *GF

SAVOURY:

(Freezes and defrosts well)

Cheese, Bacon and Pineapple Rolls *NF *EF
Duck Pancakes *NF *EF
Hash Brown Quiche *NF
Hot Dog Buns (Chinese Sausage Rolls) *NF *EF
Pizza Pockets *NF *EF
Taiwanese Rice Balls *EF *GF
Vegemite and Cheese Muffins *NF

Hard Boiled Eggs – Fill bowl with water just above the blades, place eggs into steaming basket – cook 15 minutes/Varoma/Speed 1

Tasty or cheddar cheese – pre-sliced/cut into thin pieces

Cheese sticks (these are softer, I would wait to introduce it around 10 months as I found the boys would squish it in their hands and smoosh it everywhere before it got to their mouths)

Babybel Cheese

Deli meats – ham, turkey, Skinnymixers Lunchbox Chicken Loaf

Shredded chicken (poached, roasted)

Crackers – Jatz, Ritz etc

Arnott’s Shredded Wheatmeal biscuits

Fruit straps (100% dehydrated fruit) I have made them like the Strawberry Chips but they have a really short shelf life when homemade (when the boys are older and eat more it’ll better!) but my recent fave are Annie’s Fruit Straps as they are great to leave in the baby bag

Mini Fruit Balls (link here) – can be frozen and defrosted

Cruskits – These are a great alternative to the ‘baby section’ rice crackers which are sooooo $$$$$$ which I use for snacks when we go out

Dried apricots

Dried apples

Sultanas

Tinned pineapple pieces

Freeze dried fruit (I buy mine from Costco, Bellamy’s Organic also have some)

Veggie Straws (I also buy these from Costco but you can get them from the heath food section)

Skinnymixer’s Cheesy Pumpkin Puffs (link here) – freezes and reheats well

***With a spoon:

5 Second Chia Seed Pudding *EF
Baked Rice Custard *NF *GF
Fruit Jelly Cups *NF *EF *GF
Thermomumma’s Creamed Rice (Pg.34)
Custard (‘Runny’ setting in the automatic recipe in the Basic Cookbook – either Vanilla flavoured, or banana custurd by popping a ripe banana in, instead of sugar)

DRINKS:

Getting into their pizza pockets!

Wholemeal toast cheesy melt with Bolognese sauce #nomnomnom

Healthy Golden Gaytime Easter Eggs

Milo Iceblocks

Apple Pie Bliss Balls

November 25, 2015 By Sophia Brown

Christmas/ Craft/ Non Thermomix/ Thermomix/ Twins

Advent Calendar for 1 year olds

After years of searching, I’ve finally found a wooden Advent Calendar that I am in love with!!! I got this beauty from Target!

As the boys are still young for little toys like yoyos, lollies/chocolates, activities like Christmas light watching (the boys are in bed before it’s dark!), this is my 25 days of Christmas advent Calendar activities suitable for 15 month old toddlers (and the family)!!

1. Take photos with Santa

2. Start wearing Christmas Pyjamas

3. Finger paint Christmas cards/wrapping paper

4. Read Christmas stories

5. Feed the birds some bird seed

6. Make salt dough hand print Christmas ornaments

Non Thermomix – http://www.mommymoment.ca/2013/04/salt-dough-handprint.html

Thermomix – http://www.trtlmt.com.au/salt-dough/

7. Sing and dance to Christmas carols

8. Take Christmas themed photos at home

9. Make homemade hot chocolate with marshmallows (their first taste of hot chocolate!) https://thermobexta.wordpress.com/2015/03/11/thermobextas-heartwarming-hot-chocolate/

10. Check out Christmas displays at a shopping centre

11. Stocking game – place toys in Christmas stockings and get them to pull them out one by one to play with

12. Have a picnic in the backyard with Christmas themed food

13. Go the beach and make sandcastles

14. Make little canvas paintings for presents – use painters tape, and tape a shape/initial on a canvas, and finger print on top – when dry, peel off the painters tape!

https://www.pinterest.com/explore/painters-tape-art/

15. Play with bubbles

16. Make easy ‘snow globes’ for presents

https://www.pinterest.com/explore/snow-globe-crafts/

17. Make Christmas shapes out of red and green playdough

http://thermofun.com/thermofun-kids-everyday-essentials-play-dough/

18. Feed the fish some bread

19. Run in the sprinklers in the garden

20. Play with Christmas stickers

21. Make Christmas feet Reindeer

https://www.pinterest.com/explore/reindeer-footprint/

22. Play with red and green balloons

23. Tree/Star shaped pancakes for breakfast

http://www.recipecommunity.com.au/desserts-sweets-recipes/best-ever-pancakes/119949

24. Watch a Christmas themed movie as a family with popcorn

http://www.kidspot.com.au/MySpot-escapes-The-best-Christmas-movies-of-all-time+6494+178+article.htm

25. Take family photos in front of the tree and open presents!!

I cut out little cards to write the activities on to put inside the Advent Calendar boxes – Christmas shapes – I placed 3 colours of paper together and cut them together once to save time!

Write the No.’s 1 to 25 onto the shapes

Write down the activities (see my list above)

Place them in the corresponding box

Advent Calendar all ready to go for December!!

November 18, 2015 By Sophia Brown

Baby Food/ Breakfast/ Non Thermomix/ Thermomix/ Twins

Sweet Potato Waffles

With sick babies who only want to feed themselves, I wanted to make them something relatively nutritious for their breakfast today.

Sweet Potato Waffles

I thought I would sneak in some sweet potato into some waffles, since the sweet potato works so well in the Sweet Potato Caramel Mudcake making it really moist (http://thermotwinning.blogspot.com.au/2015/08/sweet-potato-mud-cake.html)!

If you don’t have a waffle maker, you could use this batter for pancakes (they are pretty much the same type of batter).

SWEET POTATO WAFFLES (THERMOMIX)

Ingredients:

260 grams sweet potato (cut into 1 inch pieces)

40 grams water

30 grams butter

165 grams milk

190 grams plain flour

1 egg

30 grams brown sugar

15 grams desiccated coconut

1 1/2 tablespoons baking powder

1 teaspoon cinnamon

Method:

1. Preheat waffle maker (or frying pan if you don’t have a waffle maker).

2. Add sweet potato to bowl and chop 5 seconds/Speed 7. Scrape down.

Sweet Potato

3. Add water and cook 3 minutes/Varoma/Speed 1.

Sweet Potato Chopped + Water

4. Add butter and blend 10 seconds/Speed 7. Scrape down.

Cooked Sweet Potato + Butter

5. Add milk, flour, egg, sugar, desiccated coconut, baking powder and cinnamon and mix 10 seconds/Speed 4.

Sweet Potato Waffle Batter

5. Spoon into greased waffle maker (or frying pan) and cook according to the waffle maker instructions (or if in frying pan cook and flip until both sides a browned).

Grease preheated waffle maker and spoon in batter

Sweet Potato Waffles!

Sweet Potato Waffles – serve with or without maple syrup

Yum!!

September 15, 2015 By Sophia Brown

Craft/ Kids in the Kitchen/ Thermomix/ Twins

Playdough

Both of the boys have been sick and it’s the first time one of them has been put on antibiotics (Harley 🙁 ) so thought I would treat them to their first playdough experience!

First time playing with Playdough!

There are many playdough recipes around, but this one caught my eye, since it was titled as ‘the best’ Thermomix playdough recipe by Fat Mum Slim, so I just had to try it!

http://fatmumslim.com.au/best-thermomix-playdough-recipe/

For the non-Thermomixers, she has also put a link to a non cook/non Thermomix recipe too!

The recipe pretty much cooks up the mixture, cooking/dissolving a salt, water and cream of tartar mixture:

Dissolved/heated salt, water and cream of tartar

Then you mix in some plain flour:

Added flour

And then mix in some oil. I chose coconut oil as I just looove the smell!

Added Coconut Oil

I then added 1 teaspoon of liquid blue food colouring and kneaded it in the Thermomix as I wanted minimal ‘hands on’ effort especially with the food colouring – 3 minutes/kneading function.

Added 1 tsp of blue food colour

After 3 minutes/kneading function

I then used a spatula, and kneaded it with a handful of plain flour into small shaped balls for the boys to play with…and ‘tested’ it for them too 🙂

Playdough!

‘Testing’ it first

🙂

As they are still quite little, and eat everything they’re not supposed to, they did try to eat bits of it, but luckily it’s non toxic and all the ingredients are things that they have eaten in their ‘proper food’.

To avoid this, I pressed in cookie cutters for them to take off and press in – they are great at dismantling Duplo blocks/wooden blocks, so it is a different ‘sensory play’ for them to do it with playdough!

It felt amazing, silky and smooth and feels so nice coming out nice and warm from the Thermomix. I haven’t played with playdough for over 2 decades, but this will definitely be my ‘go to’ playdough recipe in the years to come as I cannot fault it in any way!

Yay for playdough!

Getting serious with it!

September 14, 2015 By Sophia Brown

Dessert/ Healthy/ Non Thermomix/ Snacks/ Thermomix/ Twins

V8 Jelly with Diced Strawberries

V8 Jelly with diced strawberries

The boys got to taste all sorts of sugary goodness at their 1st birthday party, with Ethan taking a particular liking for jelly! The jelly was blue at the party and he ended up with really bright fluoro green poop the day after that (sorry TMI!!!)!! So obviously that wasn’t very good for him!! I thought I would make the boys a healthier jelly (also for the adults). I love making Nushi’s Jelly Joobies and how it uses V8 Juice (http://thermotwinning.blogspot.com.au/2015/07/healthy-snackspetite-fours.html), so I thought I would use that concept and make it into a jelly with similar ‘wobbliness’ as Aeroplane jelly.

I used diced strawberries as they are in season and really cheap at the moment, but you could use any fruit (however not pineapple, kiwifruit or paw paw as the gelatine will not set).

I used the V8 Forest Fruits flavour with this lot of V8 Jelly, I’m looking forward to try the other flavours!!

Thermomix recipe is in RED, and scroll down for the Non-Thermomix recipe in BLUE.

V8 JELLY WITH DICED STRAWBERRIES

Ingredients:

1 x bottle V8 Juice (approx. 1270g)

30g gelatine powder

1 tsp vanilla bean paste

45 grams agave syrup

5 strawberries

Method (Thermomix):

1. Add all the above ingredients – 5 minutes/60 degrees/Speed 2.

2. Whilst cooking, wash and dry strawberries (excess water may affect the gelatine), and dice into small pieces.

Wash and dry strawberries

Dice the strawberries

3. Add diced strawberries into 8 small cups.

Distribute diced strawberries into 8 small cups

4. Once finished, pour mixture into cups over the strawberries. I poured it into a measuring jug first as I find the Thermomix jug a bit big to pour into small cups. Place in fridge to set for at least 3 hours.

Decant jelly liquid into a small measuring jug

Place in fridge to set

V8 JELLY WITH DICED STRAWBERRIES

Ingredients:

1 x bottle V8 Juice (approx. 1270g)

30g gelatine powder

1 tsp vanilla bean paste

45 grams agave syrup

5 strawberries

Method (Non-Thermomix):

1. Add all the above ingredients into a medium sized pot, on low heat.

2. Continuously stir with a whisk until gelatine has melted (dip your finger in and rub together – if it has a gritty feel it still needs more melting).

2. Wash and dry strawberries (excess water may affect the gelatin), and dice into small pieces.

Wash and dry strawberries

Dice the strawberries

3. Add diced strawberries into 8 small cups.

Distribute diced strawberries into 8 small cups

4. Once finished, pour mixture into cups over the strawberries. Pour it into a small measuring jug to pour into the small cups. Place in fridge to set for at least 3 hours.

Place in fridge to set

The jelly turned out amazing and the sweetness was perfect for me. The boys loved it and shared a cup of jelly for their morning tea today. This is a refreshing and healthy snack or dessert perfect for the whole family!!

Spoonful of V8 Jelly with diced strawberries

Ethan and Harley enjoying their jelly!

September 2, 2015 By Sophia Brown

Cake/ Twins

‘Sail Away’ Cakes – Ethan and Harley’s First Birthday

Ethan and Harley’s ‘main’ birthday cakes, which I call, their ‘Sail Away’ cakes.

Sail Away Cakes

I didn’t really have a clear vision of what I wanted it to look like from the start, I just knew I wanted to have blue coloured torched meringue (to look like the sea) and I wanted it to go with the nautical theme. I actually just thought it would end up like a blue version of my 30th cake, but wanted it to be more appropriate for the occasion.

When I searched for ideas for nautical themed cakes, it ended up with a whole lot of fondant (which I hate) and cakes cut and shaped to be pirate ships (which I didn’t want to make x 2 of!!

I started off with making the cakes so that each cake would have 2 layers of Magic Bean Cake and 2 layers of Sweet Potato Caramel Mudcake. When I assembled it, it was HEAPS higher than I thought, but I made the cakes so I didn’t want to waste them lol! I had a whole bunch of ideas, like icing it an ombre blue and matching with the smash cakes but ended up trying to keep it simple with a lighter tone of blue for the buttercream base, and darker shade of blue for the white chocolate ganache.

2 days before the party…

I made the boats for to top the cakes. I was really determined to make the boats out of chocolate, but wasn’t sure if it would be too brittle/look terrible so had brown coloured fondant as back up (though all the fondant boats I looked at looked very bulky/heavy looking and I wanted it to have a crisper/lighter feel…and I hate fondant…so I’m glad I didn’t have to do that!).

I was an expert at folding boats after making heaps of paper boat food labels so I thought I would fold boats out of baking paper to use as a mould for the chocolate. I made 2 and stood them up in apples (I saw them on the bench in my fruit bowl and thought they would be great stands/weights for the wooden skewers lol!).

Making Chocolate Boats

I melted dark brown candy melts in a ziplock bag (20-30 second intervals and squishing it around in between until all melted). Then cut the tip off the ziplock bag and piped it onto the boat shaped baking paper to set. I didn’t end up checking them until the morning of the party, in hindsight I should have made a few back ups just in case it didn’t work or they broke in the process, but they ended up PERFECT and worked really well!

Piping the candy melts on

Ready to put in the fridge to set

Even though I hate fondant, I couldn’t think of any other way to make the ‘sails’ edible (though I would use paper if need be as a back up).

I rolled white fondant and roughly cut into square/rectangular shapes.

Rolling and cutting fondant

I tried putting the fondant straight onto the wooden skewer but it was too heavy so cut pieces of cardboard to skewer with it to support the weight of it.

Skewering fondant sails with cardboard

I used an egg carton to hold the skewers. I then left it out on the kitchen bench to dry out and harden for the day.

All done to set on the kitchen bench

The day before the party…

I took the cakes out of the freezer and made the buttercream whilst they defrosted.

As in my post yesterday with the smash cakes, I went through 9 kilos of buttercream icing for the 4 cakes. I made the buttercream icing using a 1:2 ratio of butter to icing sugar. No need to measure/weigh anything – I just chucked in a 500gm block of butter (room temp. cut into cubes), beat for about 30 seconds, then interrupted the beating about 4 times to progressively add and beat in a 1kg packet of icing sugar. I then beat till light, fluffy and when you can see the ‘yellowy’ butter colour has turned white.

Cakes defrosting, and ready to ice!

I started off with the Sweet Potato Caramel Mudcake at the base secured with melted white chocolate, then alternated the cakes ending up with the Magic Bean Cake at the top.

Securing base of cake with melted white chocolate

I didn’t cut the tops off as they ended up relatively flat after the baking and freezing. I used the ‘top’ Magic Bean Cake and turned it upside down as the bottom edging of the cake is heaps sharper from the pan than the top of the cake (I thought this was a genius idea at the time, though it probably is common practice with pro bakers!). I placed 3 wooden skewers through it to secure the layers, and I iced about 1cm of frosting in between the cake layers then finished it up with a crumb layer.

Frosting between cakes

More frosting between cakes

Securing with wooden skewers

Icing a Crumb Layer

Once the crumb layer was done, I put in the fridge to set.

I then mixed up the buttercream and used the Wiltons Gel Food Colouring Royal Blue Shade to create a light blue. I iced both cakes with the light blue then put in the fridge to set.

Covering in light blue icing

All done to set in the fridge

I have never ever ‘smoothed’ buttercream, but I really wanted to do it as I was unhappy with the finish of the icing from just putting it on with a spatula. I googled it and found some youtube video from America saying to do it with a Viva papertowel – I tried that and it DID NOT work! I ended up remembering seeing photos of people using those metal dough cutters (well that I use as a dough cutter) to smooth the buttercream. Once the icing was chilled in the fridge (so not sticky upon touch), I used my metal dough cutter to smooth the sides. I felt like a bricklayer smoothing out my mortar as the buttercream had a very putty like texture after being scraped and smoothened several times.

Smoothing buttercream icing with a metal dough cutter

Smoothed buttercream vs one that is about to get smoothened!

It took what felt like forever but came out soooo much nicer than I ever imagined (I am so using this technique in the future!) I almost thought of just using the cake plain like that! But… I don’t really do ‘plain’ lol… so then I made the white chocolate ganache.

I have never coloured white chocolate ganache before but researched it only works with gel food colouring. I did it the old school way on the stove (small pot with 1 inch of water on medium heat, with a glass pyrex bowl on top). I used 350 grams of cream and 450 grams of Nestle White Chocolate Melts.

White chocolate ganache…the old school way!

I heated up the cream first, then added the white chocolate bit by bit and stirred until melted in. Once the white chocolate was all melted, I added the gel food colouring in (same Royal Blue shade as the buttercream) with a toothpick to build up the colour to make it an intense blue.

Adding gel food colouring

It ended up slightly teal in colour as I think the white chocolate has a hint of yellow in it, but loved the colour, looked very ‘sea’ like. Once it was all mixed in, I took it off the stove and let it sit for about 10-20 minutes to cool and thicken up a bit. I then spooned it on with a metal tablespoon starting from the sides of the cake to drip down like candle wax, then filled in the top middle part of the cake once that was done.

Dripping ganache onto the sides of the cake

Filling in the middle of the cake with ganache

All ready to set in the fridge

I then put in the fridge to set overnight.

The morning of the party…

Well, lucky the boys are early risers, comes in handy sometimes!

I started off making 2 x batches of basic meringues.

I used my Kitchenaid (sorry Thermie!) as it is best for light and fluffy meringues, plus I was slightly disheartened by my Thermie from the previous day by failing to produce copious amounts of buttercream without getting error messages!! (though it still is great for everything else…and less ‘mass produced’ stuff lol!!)

I coloured the meringue with the Wiltons Royal Blue Gel Food Colouring (sticking to the same shade as the buttercream and ganache) to have a light blue colour, and not mix it in completely so it would have streaks of darker blue coming through).

Colouring the meringue

I then used a small spatula to spoon the meringue onto the cake, the torched it with a blow torch bit by bit to set and hold it, mindful of the angle of the blow torch so the ganache wouldn’t melt! I wanted it higher on one side of the top of the cake, then to trickle down the other side of the cake so the boat was placed on what looked like a floating sea cloud of torched meringue.

Meringue all ready to go!

Dolloping on the meringue and torching it

Torching meringue

Building up on the meringue

Trickling meringue down the cake

I then took the chocolate boats out of the baking paper, they didn’t break (PHEWF) and placed them on the highest part of the meringue.

Assembling the chocolate boats

Placing the boats on the meringue

I then cut the cardboard out of the fondant sails, and secured the holes from the wooden skewers with white chocolate (as it was too heavy to hold without it), set in the fridge for a few minutes then placed 3 within the chocolate boat.

I needed to ‘bling’ it up abit, so with my fingers, I sprinkled glitter on top of the sails, and placed light blue cachous vertically on the buttercream and rubbed glitter over it. I also used the ‘sand’ that I made from the smash cakes (blitzed up scotch finger) and placed it in sections of the cake. I then topped it off with a wooden cake topper with the boys names.