Stuck on you

Just a quick post in between mopping the floor and the Little man waking up from his nap....


This week I introduced Bubba to collage. I wasn't expecting great things to be honest, given he is only 13 months and a force of destruction but to my great surprise he really enjoyed it.


I stuck a piece of clear contact paper (sticky side facing you- not the door lol) onto the glass sliding door and reinforced with some sticky tape. Then I found some old pieces of wrapping paper, wool, cellophane and feathers and popped them into a basket.

He loved touching the sticky contact paper and, of course, had a lick too. Then to my great surprise began to stick things on. He sat for nearly half an hour which is remarkable for him!


I left this up for him to return back to during convenient times, like when I was cooking dinner and he also found that pulling things off the contact paper was nearly as much fun.


I recommend trying this one out especially on cold, rainy days when the cabin fever sets in.


Enjoy and happy sticking!

Play-spiration

Today I have a few ideas for using upcycled found materials to make some toys for enquiring minds. My little man loves to "post" things at the moment. Blocks go into a box or basket then get tipped or place out then back in again. If only I could train the teenager this way!

Sorting and posting are a developmental milestone and a popular play activity for 1-2 year olds. Children are learning about volume, space, measuring, colours, sorting and matching as well as the fine motor development in manipulating the items.

Here some ideas!

Here we have a big cane basket, an egg carton and a muffin tin. In the basket, I put patty cases, lids from baby bottles and some papier mache balls. Logie loved this activity the best. He discovered the balls fit inside the lids and delighted in repeating this action for about an hour.

Tissue boxes are great for posting items like blocks, lids and here is some scarves. Bubs can put them in and take them out. Also for a great sensory activity add different sorts of materials like lace, satin, cotton etc. Don't go to any expense! I use old clothes, doilies from the op shop and old ties from the Hubbies wardrobe. You can go to a bit more effort and cover the tissue box in wrapping paper and clear contact. Makes it a bit prettier but honestly the Bubs don't mind : )  

This is a old milk jug with 2 holes cut out. I covered the edges with electrical tape so they weren't sharp and thats it. Things to post? Blocks, lego, bottle tops from baby bottles, balls, anything!!!

This is just a nappy box with a hole cut in the side. Again you could cover it but i like Pooh Bear anyway : )  The posting items are family photo's from a cheap photo album. You can cover photos or pictures from magazines with contact and it works great too. Logie like to drag this over to his ball pit and fill it up with balls, uses it as a walker and slides it across the floor, sits in it and his Dada pushes him around like a race car, puts it on his head and plays peek a boo.....you get the drift. 

The idea is to give your Bubba open ended materials. This means things that can be used in different ways. This is where the Fisher Price toys fall down. The kids play with them once or twice and then???

Give them a cardboard box and a few scraps of material and watch them create their own learning.

Also did a cute little setup to encourage Logie's creative side. He is just starting to "get" drawing and was so excited to make marks on the paper today. These crayons Faber Castell crayons are great for little hands. Make sure you use large, thick paper so they don't rip or miss the paper. The bottle next to the owl was made from a 2 Litre empty Pepsi Bottle with paint poured in. When it gets rolled around the paint spreads, fun!

Hope this helps inspire some creativity, especially in this rainy, cold weather x x x 

Comfort Food

Ahh we have officially de-caterpillared the house and back to the day to day grind. 
So happy to see the sunshine today if only fleeting. I still wasn't keen to risk the clothes line so I hung all the clothes (ok 2 weeks worth of washing-eep) out on the patio. Thank God we have clean undies again..close call!


This cold rainy weather makes me crave the winter comfort foods and i have a confession to make...I am a soup-oholic! In Winter, I could live on my Sunday Soup (with chunks of fresh bread and lashings of butter). Ok so the extras are not great for watching the waist line but this soup is so good for keep immunity up, the budget and is a very healthy, hearty soup.


Sunday Soup


This got its name because I clean out the fridge on Sunday to make way for the new groceries. I use up all the left over veges from the week and add some freshies if needed.

You Need:
One Roast Chicken- I usually buy two and roast them both at the same time. One is for a roast dinner and one for the soup. I strip all the chicken of meat and keep aside for the soup. You can use BBQ chicken but I like it better with Home Cooked.
2-3 Potatoes
1 x can corn kernels or cob of corn chopped up
Stick of  Celery- don't get ripped off buying a huge bunch of celery (unless of course you plan to use it for something else). Most supermarkets sell them buy small stick and it will cost like 15 cents.
1 x brown onion
Pumpkin, mushrooms, sweet potato, broccoli, spinach, carrot- Basically whatever you have in the vege drawer.
4 x chicken stock cubes or equivalent stock
Optional- 1 chilli- deseeded and chopped very finely ( I add a very small one and you don't really notice it in there but its great for moving the works along, if you get my drift! Great for weight loss soup also skip the bread and butter though)


How to make:
Boil water in a big pot about 1/2- 3/4 full
crumble your stock cubes into the pot
Chop all the veges up into chunks
Add veges and give a stir
Leave for about an hour
Add your chopped chicken
Stir and leave sit for a half an hour.


Voila! Soup done and ready to pop into the freezer. I freeze mine in lunch boxes so if im having a busy day, I have a meal ready. Logan loves his soup. Teenager not so much. I like to leave it rustic and chunky but if you like your soup smooth, pop it in the food processor for a minute.
For another variation, add chopped garlic, can of kidney beans and can chopped tomatoes and its Vegetable  Minestrone, add pasta - even heartier. Omit the chicken and its still great. Best news is its cheap as chips to make and great for keeping Winter sniffles at bay.

Someone else is a big soup fan!

Today we made Chinese Chicken and Corn Soup for lunch. Little man ate a huge bowl and then polished off half of mine, all the while exclaiming, mmmmm num num num! So cute.


Chinese Chicken and Corn Soup- SO flippin easy you will wonder why you don't make it more often!

You need:
1-2 can creamed corn
1 small chicken breast diced
2 x chicken stock cubes
Water in a pot
2 x egg whites
Small onion diced small
Sesame oil
Green onion if you want to be fancy


Method:
Boil you water, if you only want a small saucepan full use about 1 1/2 - 2 litres water
Crumble stock cubes in.

Add creamed corn and onion 

While the water is boiling add the chicken to boil, this should only take 5-8 minutes. If you are not sure pull a bit out and check.
Add a small dash of sesame oil to give the Chinese flavour.
Cook for 5-10 minutes.
Scoop out your chicken and a ladle full of soup and place in food processor to chop up the chicken. If you don't have a food processor, just dice it up finely.
Pop back into soup and bring back to the boil.
This is the trick!!!
Get your egg whites ready in a cup. Bring the saucepan off the stove and stir to make a whirlpool. While the soup is whirling pour in your egg whites. Place back on the element for a further minute and hey presto that's it!.
As this has egg in it, I like to eat it fresh but if you want to freeze it leave the egg out. For fancy pants's add chopped spring onion on top to serve.




 Thats it from me, its Bold and the Beautiful  and afternoon cuppa time. Be well and happy :D