Friday 24 October 2014

The best oats porridge you will ever eat!


I love oats porridge! I know it is not every ones cup of tea, but for me, it is the ultimate breakfast indulgence! Warm, creamy, healthy goodness in a bowl! I have been making this for Bump and I for breakfast just recently and he LOVES it!!! Makes my heart very happy :) So, if you want to make the the best tasting oats you have ever had....here is my recipe:

You will need:
1/2 cup oats (quick cooking or whole rolled oats - whole rolled will just take a little longer to cook) 
1 cup boiling water
2 T raisins or sultanas
1/2 cup milk
Medium sized apple grated (you can peel or not peel before grating)
1/4 tsp cinnamon 
Brown sugar or honey to taste (If you are going to feed this to your little one, PLEASE DO NOT ADD HONEY unless they are a year old!!! Although rare, honey can contain spores from the bacteria Clostridium botulinum which can make your baby very ill!!)
1 tsp peanut butter (a generously heaped teaspoon...or tablespoon....your call!) 

In a medium saucepan put the grated apple, oats, cinnamon and the raisins or sultanas. Pour over the boiling water. Add the milk and stir the mixture. Cook on a medium to high heat, stirring frequently until the oats are soft and creamy (the quick cooking oats took under 5 minutes cooking on gas).
Stir in the peanut butter and sugar or honey (if you are using) while the oats are still hot. 
Now you can sit down and enjoy! (Obviously allow to cool down before feeding to your little one - the raisins can stay hot for quite some time after being removed from the heat). 
This recipe should make enough for you and your little one. Hope you enjoy!

Keep smiling!
Jax










Tuesday 21 October 2014

Easy peasy girls skirt


KCWC day one:
So I am super impressed with myself! I actually finished the little girls skirt I spoke about in this post! I am very good at starting sewing projects but not that good at finishing them all the time! Well to be fair to myself, it is usually only when something goes wrong that I don't finish...it will get scrunched up and thrown in the cupboard to be finished at a later date when I am less likely to take a pair of scissors to it in frustration! I was following a drawstring skirt tutorial from Melly Sews and got frustrated trying to make a buttonhole for the drawstring on my machine (for some reason it was stitching horribly!!) so instead of my usual stunt of throwing it in the cupboard I took a time out with a cup of rooibos tea and then decided to scrap the drawstring idea and just elasticate the whole skirt. I love how it turned out. It was a super easy (free!!!) pattern/tutorial to follow and the bonus is that the sizes go from a 2T to a 16 year old! Fabulous! I only wish I would get to see it on the little girl that I made it for. I made it to put into my Santa Shoebox for a little 2 year old girl called Lihle. It is such a wonderful, worthwhile cause and such fun to do! I will post about the project and the shoe boxes that we did as a family this year soon! But for now, time for some much needed sleep!

Keep smiling,
Jax

Signing up for Kids Clothes Week Challenge, October 2014




Okay so I must be crazy... I signed up for the Kids Clothes Week Challenge yesterday!! It is something I have been wanting to do for ages, but never get around to doing or don't find the guts to try. So this time I have just dived in! No excuses, (and no preparation either !!!) but I am going to have a go! This is probably going to be one of my busiest weeks as it is Bumps first birthday party on Saturday... So much to do!!! But hey, I am sure I can fit in an hour of sewing every day of the week in amongst the housework, cooking, looking after Bump and party prep!

So the first thing I desperately want need to sew is a little girls skirt for my Santa shoebox which I need to deliver on Thursday this week too (just to add to the chaos!)! But at least that can count towards my hour sewing even if it is not actually for my child right? This is the pattern I want to sew:

Sew an easy drawstring skirt in any size with this tutorial - Melly Sews


Is it not gorgeous? The pattern and tutorial is from Melly Sews. It looks pretty straight forward and it will give me an excuse to try my hand at french seams, another thing I have been wanting to try out.
Well wish me luck!! Time for me to get stitching!!!

Keep smiling!
Jax