Kid Snacks. It's A Smoothie. We Love Smoothies.

I've been messing about with smoothie recipes over the last couple of months to find what my smalls like, and what works best. I wouldn't call it a science, I'd call it - what's in the fridge, and what appeals to kids. I can recommend it for getting rid of some slightly overripe fruits, and sneaking a bit of extra nutrition into your kids day.

Take this one for example. Not groundbreaking, but really delicious - and the smalls woofed it down. Or is it wolfed it? Either way, they were into it. 

PMM's Raspberry & Banana Ripple

1 cup of frozen raspberries
1 ripe banana (go for frozen, it makes smoothies creamier)
1 cup almond milk
1 tablespoon chia seeds (any colour)
1 tablespoon honey (not pictured)

Toss all ingredients into your blender, pulse for 1 minute or until smoothie is at a consistency that makes you happy, pour into two glasses. Straws. Smiles. BOOM! 

Another alternative to this? I love this one. It's fresh, and delicious.

PMM's Minty Raspberry Slushie

1 cup of frozen berries (choose whatever you like)
around 7-8 frozen cubes of natural apple juice*
a handful of mint leaves
1 tablespoon of chia
1 slurp of water 

I throw everything into the blender, the water helps loosen up the mixture so it's not so thick. Blitz for 1 minute and serve in two glasses, with a straw and a spoon. 

This is a good alternative to a normal smoothie, as my kids really like that it's more a slushie than a smoothie.

* by freezing apple juice (I put them into ice cube trays) means the smoothies take on a slushie consistency, which my kids are mad for. 



KitchenAid lent me some attachments to try out, and I've loved using them. This is not a sponsored post. The blender is so great, easy to use, and I wanted to share.  

When Life Hands You.. Er, Oranges

Tonight Matt made dinner, we ate it (STOP THE PRESS), and then I was still a little hungry.


I have the loan of a Vitamix for a few weeks.
I made a cray cray smoothie tonight to share with Matt to fill the void:

The original Thursday night post-dinner smoothie:
2 x oranges
1 x banana
1 x stick of celery


Blitz. Like cray cray.

Bon appetit baby.

Celebrating... Legumes! Celebrating... Pulses!

Being very budget-conscious, and particularly moreso now we've moved house, I'm looking at ways to economise. To tighten our belts.

I'm looking for inspirational (and cheap) recipes that are family friendly. Family friendly is key because I do not want to be whipping up 74 different meals each night.

On the weekend Matt and I bandied together to cook Tessa Kiros' Lentils & Rice. We really didn't need to do it together, and the only reason we did was I was about to walk about the door to go to the book shop once I had cooked the onions. Poor timing on my part. Thankfully my faithful sous chef stepped into his whites and cooked it for me.

Unfortunately dearest Tessa doesn't really clarify whether she's using tinned lentils or dried lentils. It wasn't 'til the end of the recipe - when I came home - when all cooking was done, that I realised she must have used the dry lentils and therefore absorbed much more water. Using tinned resulted in claggy rice and lentils. A (now) delicacy in our house. Delicacy being used very, very loosely.

So today I jumped straight back in and made Tessa's Lentil Soup. It's packed with loads of vegies (carrots, celery, capsicum, onions, cabbage, English Spinach, passata.. Oh yes! YES! Served with a generous slurp of olive oil, it was pretty darn good.

Have you got any favourite lentils, pulses or legumes recipes to share?

Il Postino

Have you ever seen the film Il Postino? I have. It was about fifteen years ago and for the life of me, I can't remember what it was about. I think it was good, but I can't vouch for it.

What I do know is that postmen are good. Unless they are this one.

But today's postie is exceptional in his deliveries.

My own copy of Homemade is already being thumbed through like mad. So many great contributors, so many great recipes.

Lookie lookie. If you haven't already snaffled a copy, do so pronto because all money raised from the sales of 'Homemade' goes to the Salvation Army. Well done to all those involved.

Magical March: Day 6

Day 6 of Magical March. You've caught me mid-hop. But I'm going to post something magical damn fool!

Magical for us today was making 'goop'. Yes that's right. Have you made goop? My goodness, it's so much fun that the Doctor and I sat spellbound for at least an hour, only packing it away when Tiny woke up (because Tiny would have liked to get her tiny little mittsies on it and probably eaten the lot).

Goop is incredibly tactile. Tactile to me is MAGICAL sensory deeeee-lite! Messy. Magical.
So here's the recipe if you feel the need to magic up some goop.

1 packet cornflour

1 cup water
colouring (optional)

Mix cornflour with water a little at a time so there are no lumps and bumps. Put the goop into a flat baking dish.

You can remove goop from carpet by allowing it to dry then brushing or vacuuming it out. Goop can be re-used after it has dried out. Crumble it into powder then restore it to goopy consistency by adding water one tablespoon at a time.

Are you enjoying a Magical March?

BTW - The Doctor is sporting his 'chef' hat courtesy of one of my friend's MILs. So cute.