That's a LARGE Skinny Flat White

Week two of returning to work and Eva has an ear infection and The Husband a throat/head cold. I'm missing my afternoon nap!

I'm a caffeine addict, for just over 18 months I have been either pregnant or breast feeding. And have been very good at sticking to 1-2 cups a day. Returning to work and having to engage your brain and all my hard work has gone out the window. There is no such thing as a lie in when you become a parent, and no such thing as just make it through the week and crash on the weekend. I have to be asleep early during the week to function, so limiting my caffeine intake is in theory going to keep me awake and my brain functioning during the day. I thought I would share the tips for reducing the number of coffees I have each day. I'm going got give this a go this week and will let you know how I get along.

1. Save your first cup of coffee until late morning if you can.

2. Give your self a wake up shower by turning up the old then hot water. This will stimulate blood flow around the body and help wake you up.

3. Take a brisk walk in the morning and lunch times, even if it around the block at work.

4. Make sure you're having your 2L of fluids a day - ideally from water or herbal teas. 

5. Balance your carbs and fruit through the day to maintain energy levels. I prefer porridge for breakfast, a lighter lunch with a banana for energy, and fruit or nuts for your afternoon snack. Apples are a personal energy boosting favorite.

6. If you need more energy try a muesli bar (watch out for the fat and sugar contents). 

7. Most importantly when you have your one cup a day, make sure its a good cup, so you don't feel cheated.

 

At last the Royal baby has arrived.

And it's a boy. I can not be more excited.  Not only is the arrival of a new a baby a joy. But he could one day fall in love with my little princess and she could become the queen. There's nothing wrong with dreaming big !!

I wish the Prince and Duchess all the best, I'm sure they'll have a team of people to help,  but they are new parents and will have the same worries and experience the same joys as parents the world over.

Duchess gives birth to baby boy http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-23413653

1st Birthday Party

Eva has turned one! As parents we've reached our biggest milestone yet and survived. Eva is no longer a baby, but a little person in the making, walking or almost walking and a great little  personalities starting to shine through.

Let the joys of toddler hood begin!

The first birthday party was so much fun, she was such a little socialite, working the room (on her knees in her version of getting about - a cross between walking ad crawling). Making sure she spoke with every little guest, and of course assuming all fairy bread belonged to her.

I had so many things I wanted to do for the party, with family visiting and me starting work the following week I scaled back. There was more than enough food and plenty of sweets. If you're looking for ideas here is my list of first birthday party food:

Party Food:
- Vegemite and ham and cheese triangle sandwiches- Homemade sauge rolls
- Fairy bread, cut into number 1 and butterflies with a cookie cutters
- Cupcakes
- Chocolate crackles
- Of course birthday cake. 5 layers of pink, green and purple, iced hot pink with pink and purple butterflies.

Party Drinks:
- Strawberry milk in milk bottle with stripped pink straws
- Juice
- Cola
- Sparkling water

Vegtable slice

This slice can be packed with any mixture of veg you have in the fridge, so feel free to experiment. I also like to swap out onion for leek. They are really tasty, and won't last long.

Ingredients

2 cups of root veg, chopped  - such as potato, sweet potato and carrots
1/3 cup peas
2 sheets of puff pastry
1 small onion or equivalent volume of leek
light sprinkle of herbs - try parsley or thyme





Directions

Pre-heat oven 180° C and line a tray with baking paper.

Steam or boil root vegetables until soft

Saute onion or leek.

Mix vegetables together and lightly mash.

Cut each sheet of pastry in half. 

Fork mixture along the long edge of pastry and gently roll, so the pastry fully covers the mixture with a small over lap.

Brush party with milk or egg.

Place in oven 7-10 mins until  brown.


Sweet corm, parsnip, pumpkin and swede are also great fillers.

Problems getting baby to eat greens

My daughter will eat pretty much anything if its covered in cheese, butter or mashed with sweet potato. She's almost one and I'm keen to get her to start eating family food. Here are a few suggestions which I found to help:

- cook veg with a few slices of apple
- cook with unsalted chicken stock
- stir-fri veg with ginger, leek, apple
- cook broccoli and pear in the same pan

Persevere, persevere and persevere! What they don't eat one day they will love the next.

Home Made Rattle

I love these, free and easy to make with items around the house. 

What you need:
- Water bottle
- few grains of rice
- super glue

Other suggestions:
- feathers
- beads from an old necklace
- ribbons
- coloured rice (use food die)

1. Add your decorative items, mixing 2-3 colours and textures.

2. The rice will stop condensation and mold forming once the bottle is sealed.

3. Super Glue the lid on, allow a good 10 mins to be sure it's dry.

Quinoa Bites

The problem with quinoa bites is they are so yummy they don't last long. Quinoa is such a versatile grain, it goes with most vegetables.  This evening I used zucchini and parmesan, as suggested by Little Grazers. Pumpkin,  sweet potato,  mushrooms are equally tasty.

Ingredients

200g uncooked quinoa (or 250g cooked)
60g grated parmesan
1 grated zucchini
1 egg
Filtered water or unsalted stock

Directions

Cook 1 part quinoa to 2 parts liquid. Approx 3 mins, until moisture has been absorbed.

Mix quinoa,  grated parmesan, grated zucchini and egg.

Place in mini muffin trays and bake. 10mins at 160 fan. (My oven tends to run hot, 180 for 5-7 mins may work better if your oven is better behaved than mine).

They should by lightly golden on top. Leave to cool in tray.