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.

Self Designing a Dress

This is my first self designed dress. It was a first attempt and I'm proud of how it turned out.

Traditionally you would unpick an existing garment to create your template. I liked the dress I was copying the shape from and didn't want to ruin it. So I free styled it.











 
I measured and dress a copy of a smaller sun dress, added 2 inches around the edge and adjusted the style.

Instead of an A-Line skirt I incorporated pleats by cutting x2 the width of material I needed and folding and pinning at regular intervals.

Baby Shoes

I came across this super cute tutorial for baby shoes on Fleeting Thing

I made a pair for a friends little girl.  A little fiddly to make but great fun and worth the effort for such a cute little gift.

Sawmillers Reserve, McMahons Point

Sawmillers Reserve, McMahons Point is approximately 35-40 mins walk from Crows Nest, or 10 mins walk from North Sydney. I love this park, it has some great views of the harbor and is relatively quiet (unless you are breast feeding when a group of arrive for their boxercise class!!)

Its a hilly walk and a little hidden from the road, if you enter via Dumbarton Street, there is a steep,windy path - much easier to access with the pram then then steps at the other end of the park.

There are no bathroom facilities.

Non mobile babies: ideal, mum can eat lunch and enjoy the view or read a book. Baby has plenty to look at  with the birds, boats trees and the mid week boxercise classes.

Crawlers: lots of flat grass to explore, but you will need to keep a close watch as the park leads directly to the bay.

Toddlers: not really ideal. There is plenty of space to run around, but the park leads directly to the bay with no fence. The look out might provide some entertainment, but not for long.

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Waverton Park

Waverton Park is about 35 mins from our place. It's a hilly, but a lovely walk through Wollstonecraft. There is no play ground, plenty of grass, and a walk along the old gas storage facility, which is fenced off.

Non mobile babies: ideal, mum can eat lunch and enjoy the view or read a book. Baby has plenty to look at  with the birds, kids kicking balls.

Crawlers: lots of flat grass to explore, and some fantastic tress line the edge of the park.

Toddlers: plenty of space to run around, kick a ball and have fun, but no play ground.




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Surviving the First Day: State of the Worlds Mother's

Save the Children released their annual Save the Children Surviving the First Day report. Phew moving from the UK to Australia meant my daughter had a better chance of survival during her first 5 years of life. Not surprisingly the war torn African countries come in at the bottom of the list. The factors looked at in the report were -  education, income and political representation of women among other factors.

The best and worst places to be a mother.

3,000,000 babies die within the first day of their life, Save the Children announced this morning on ABC news. They go onto say that around 1million of these could be avoided by relatively cheap intervention. The biggest problem being access to any medical assistance.

Major Causes of Newborn Deaths

Save the Children are promoting 4 life saving solutions, which they are seeking donations to fund the purchase and distribution.

Major Causes of Newborn Deaths

1. Corticosteroids: Speed up the development of lungs in preterm births. 

2. Chlorhexidine: clean cord care, protecting little ones belly buttons from fatal injection.

3. Antibiotics: treating injections such as sepsis and pneumonia.

4. Resuscitation Equipment: to help babies take that first vital breath.

 

To read the Mother's Index Report click here.

Donate to Save the Children.

Mini Banana Muffins – Sugar Free

I friend gave me a great sugar free muffin recipe. Her son loved them. I made them and they were  - well not the yummy bundles of scrumptious I envisaged. I forgot the baking soda and didn’t adjust the cooking time for my hotter than normal oven. I made a big pot of custard and my husband and I ate them for dinner.

A bit of experimenting and tweaking of the recipe and Eva has a one in each hand chomping on them as fast as her 2 little teeth will let her.

Ingredients:

3 large bananas – the softer the better

1 tsp cinnamon

1 egg

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. baking powder

1 1/2 cup whole wheat flour (or plain white flour)

90g. of unsalted butter – melted

Preparation:

Pre heat oven to warm (approx. 200 degrees). 

Mash bananas.

Add cinnamon and slightly beaten egg.

Melt butter (20sec in microwave) and add to mixture.

Sift dry ingredients together and mix until combined

Place in a non stick mini muffin tray (or grease your tin)

Bake for 15 minutes. DON’T open the oven door early.

  

Notes:

The softer the bananas, the better.

If your bannanas are small, use 4.

If the mixture if a little dry add a little more butter – don’t overdo it. The mixture should be sticky and not runny.

Bake for 20 mins if making normal size muffins.

You can swap out wholemeal for plain flour if you prefer.