 Today I woke up with aches and pain on my shoulders. Like I had physically worked out at the gym! Since I have not been anywhere near a gym in the last ,....... well lets just say its been a while I kept wondering why I had these pains.
I thought back to the day before and then remembered that my son insisted we play horses. Yes I of course had to be the horse! His reasoning that he was too small to be a horse and therefore I had to be. If you told me 10 years ago I would be being pulled by my hoody strings on my jumper by a 4 year old around the house whilst on hands and knees saying neigh, I would have told you, you’ve got rocks in your head! But alas here I was doing exactly that. On protesting I had enough I was told horses don’t talk and they only say neigh, and was then instructed to eat hay and then sleep. Great -Sleep, I was good with that. Shame it only lasted 30 seconds before I was woken up by my master and expected to take him for a ride. The only thing that kept me from screaming, Enough was the beautiful smile and laughter I saw in his face. I guess sometimes we just have to be horses for the ones we love! Any how I eventually convinced him we had to switch roles and he could be the pony. I had to clean the stables, and we had to make food for horsey to eat. Furthermore since he was such a good pony, we could have a treat. So getting to the cooking part of this blog and with Easter just round the corner it is our family tradition to make some hot cross buns. Light and fluffy sweet bread with sultanas topped with strawberry jam and whipped coconut cream!!! Mmm Although easy to make they do take a while due to the waiting time to rise. But all worth it in the end! Im sure you will love them .. And so will all the Horses and Ponys. INGREDIENTS:
INSTRUCTIONS:
Enjoy!!!!!! Wishing you a happy Easter And Happy baking
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 So its been a while ...... The kids are kind of back at school and so we start the routine again. My biggest Pet peeve is school lunch boxes, and making something to go in them in the early mornings , whilst is a rush to get everyone out the House!!!
Obviously the simplest thing is a sandwich , fruit , some water and out they go. Simple yes , but when you have to make the bread , a little headache I may say. So anyhow I have now been making my own gluten free bread , and after making one loaf and it disappearing in one day, I decided to make 3 loafs on a Sunday evening , slice them up and keep them in the freezer . That way we will have bread for the week. I kinda keep experimenting each time with different flours and textures , but I must say I think this one is the best I have for those sandwich snacks. It doesn't have an overpowering taste and keeps well. My son loves it soo much , today I found him in the kitchen at 6 in the morning eating it straight out the freezer!!! I think the little guy may have a bit of a bread addiction. So I actually made him lettuce wraps today. Yes he did pull a bit of a tantrum , but got over it eventually! That's another great lunch idea ... Also super easy . We use big lettuce leaves which we smear with our cream cheez , then add grated carrot and sliced cucumber and wrap them up. YUMM!!! Anyhow back to the bread ... Yes the recipe is as follows: Recipe: 1 1/4 cup organic non GMO corn flour 3/4 cup GF oat flour 1/4 cup GF oat flakes 1 1/4 cup GF flour blend 1/2 cup tapioca starch 1/4 cup sunflower seed (grind into flour) 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 tablespoon baking powder 2 tbls olive oil. 1 cup organic non GMO soya Milk 1 cup water Combine all dry ingredients together in a bowl. Now add the olive oil and milk. Then gradually add the water until a think dough paste is formed. It will be sticky . Place in a loaf tin and sprinkle with oat flakes or chia seeds ect. Bake in a pre heated oven on 180 degrees for 50 minutes and then uncover the bread and cook for a further 20minutes . Take out and leave it cool before cutting. Attention!!!! We warn this bread can get highly addictive.... One toasted slice drizzled with olive oil and topped with smashed avocado , salt and pepper ..... mmmmm will most likely set you back on half the loaf !!!!! you have been warned ... Happy Baking So my little one has been at home with the snots and sniffles for a few days. Yeah Lucky me!!! Just let me clarify he in no way resembled a sick little boy, with the exception of boogers running down his face ( And yes he did try to lick them whenever he could- Disgusting I know!!!) he was as highly energised as ever and on a mission of destruction. So in an attempt to get him well ASAP, We had plenty of fresh smoothies every day!! We would start off the day with some warm herbal tea and a bit of honey, somehow we managed to use 7 tea bags each time to make one cup of tea… To say my days were not so productive would be THE Understatement of the year ( Ok excluding the year 2020) The first day I nearly slipped and killed myself after he had poured dish washing liquid on the floor. He then added water and proceeded to “Clean up” and then he started on the cupboards. By that time half my utensils and pots were on the floor and there was chocolate smeared on multiple surfaces. I wanted to cry , But instead I gave him a hug , (Of course he wiped his all but clean face on me) and started laughing. So my thoughts holy cow he's eaten chocolate ( dark , sugar free and organic) But still not appropriate for a sick kid. Quick smoothie to balance that out. Citrus orange and mandarin with powdered ginger and turmeric. Went down like a charm. The second day I was trying to get a few things done and he was not exactly bothering me (WARNING _ Usually that's not a good thing!!!) So I didn't look into it. However when I did - I found him with a sharp object engraving my stainless steel benches!!! YEP Playtime was over.. So distraction time ….. Lets make a smoothie…. Fresh green apple juice with fresh ginger, blended with strawberries. Wow this is one of my personal favourites. We both downed it. The third day , I must admit he looked mighty fine to go to school but we still kept him home just in case. Needless to say no one got anything productive done as he was on a mission to play , play and play all day. (Rightly so - He is 3 and a half) So our smoothie of the day was a fresh juice with carrot, green apple , celery and a squish of lemon. He drank it , although he admitted he liked yesterdays better. That evening as we were getting ready for bed and reading a few books ( Its a night ritual we have) I kiss him goodnight. After some huggies and I love u , I get up to leave. He whispers mummy I'm going to be sick tomorrow as well so tell the teacher I wont be going to school…. Fourth day , he went to school, screaming and crying …. I did make him a smoothie to take with him on the go. Actually he calls it his ''coffee frappé'' Blend some Ceylon cinnamon with raw honey, water and coconut milk. We stopped crying and started drinking. He went to school and we were all happy!!!! If you would like to make any of our delicious smoothies you can find the recipes below: Happy Juicing and Blending !!!! Citrus Mango Smoothie  Citrus Mango Smoothie: 400 ml orange juice 400 ml mandarin juice 25 grams mango 1/2 teaspoon ginger powder 1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder Apple Strawberry Smoothie  Green Apple and Strawberry 800 ml green apple juice 1 inch fresh ginger juiced. (more if you like it spicier) 350 grams frozen strawberries. Carrot & Apple Juice  Carrot and Apple Juice 5 green apple 3 large carrots 2 celery stalks Squish of lemon juice We use a slow juicer as you can get more juice and it actually maintains the full nutrients and enzymes. Ceylon Cinnamon Frappé  Ceylon Cinnamon Frappé
1/2 to 1 tsp Ceylon Cinnamon 1 Tsp Honey (Sweeter of choice) 125ml Coconut Milk 125ml water ( Or you can add more coconut milk and omit water) 1/2 Tsp probiotic powder (Optional)  I made this recipe a few weeks ago. It was a Saturday afternoon , the house was a pit and I was chatting to a friend. In conversation I tell her to come round with the kids for coffee. So I close the phone look at the mess than have a slight panic attach!! Then I start screaming for everyone to pack up their Sh%&T and tidy up. Of course I DO NOT get a response from anyone until about the 10th request , where by that time I’m a crazy person…… Anyhow the house did get tidy eventually , and no body was injured or murdered (by be deadly stares I was giving out) Just as I was about to relax , I realize that I don't have anything in the house to offer with coffee. OMG !!! Second wave of panic….. Im the type of person that cant fathom the thought of someone coming over and not having something to offer them. So I run into the kitchen. There's half a cup of peanut butter on the kitchen bench. ( Left overs from this mornings peanut butter , that wouldn't fit in the jar) First thing that pops into my mind… Peanut butter cookies… Ok great. Flour ….. None in the house and cant be bothered to grind anything to make it. Sooo flour less peanut butter cookies it is. Next I look around my eyes catches the fruit bowl and a brown specked banana is screaming consume me before I melt !!!!! So I grab it mash it up with a fork and mix it with the peanut butter. Next open the fridge, a little too frantically and I nearly get knocked in the head with the maple syrup jar that comes flying off the fridge door. . I guess that’s a sign. So I pore ¼ cup maple syrup in the mix. Next open the pantry move a few things round for inspiration and spot some dark sugar free chocolate that has been forgotten in the far back corner. Great choc chips. Chop up about 100 grams and throw that into the mix. Add a splash of vanilla and ½ teaspoon of baking powder. Mix and ready. I preheat the oven on 180, and grab a tray and line it with baking paper . I Roll out small balls , wet my hands and flatten them down on the lined tray. Put them in the oven to bake for about 12-15 minutes until golden. Let them cool when they were done and served them to my guests when they arrived 5 minutes later!!! Super proud of myself I must admit: Inspiration for recipe -nano seconds Prep time -5 minutes cook time -15 minutes and clean up time -1 min to throw everything into the laundry room, where the mess cannot be seen!!! Kids loved them , adults loved them and there were no more left by the time everyone went home... Happy baking !!!!    A few days ago I was experimenting with natural food colours! You know with cake decorating and all I needed to make small quantities of creams in different colours. So blending fruit in the mixture was not really an option as I only needed a tablespoon or so. So I stumbled across some natural powders made from all natural ingredients But with a neutral taste. You should have seen my excitement!!!!! So particularly interested in the green, as so far was using spirulina and corella to colour small amounts of cream. Not the most pleasant of smell or taste as you can imagine. So my powder was Matcha better!!! I’m not too much of a Matcha fan, so was happy when they told me it did not have any flavour just the beautiful green colour. So off I set to colour my cream. I open the packet ………smell it …….. Well still smells like Matcha to me………. Taste it …….. EEEWWWW still got that flavour…………….I make a tea with it to be just certain that it does taste like Matcha………………………..Yep!!!! Green and grassy Man I’m Pissed!!!! I’ve got another packet of Matcha tea ………. I have been unwillingly collecting this stuff …..it’s the 5th packet……………………… So after cursing the guy who sold it to me and Ladedada…….. I calmed down. Ok since I’ve got sooo much of this stuff let me attempt some culinary baking with it……………. I must admit I have tried in the past, but was not wowed by it … So here I go again. I thought to try some cookies. Always a good start. So I did some research and set to making a mess in the kitchen. So after countless tries I must admit I did create something that I actually liked…….. Mild in flavour , full of goodness and I have been having one for breakfast 5 days in a row…….Just to make sure that I do like it that is… And I have accompanied the biscuit with a cup of the Matcha tea on several occasions…….. Well that’s progress for sure … Not sure if my taste buds have flipped, changed or just matured…..Or maybe its all the honey and coconut milk ..... Anyhow I thought to share my creation so here goes ½ cup Self raising gluten free flour ½ cup oat flour 1/2 teaspoon baking powder 3 tablespoons almond butter 3 tablespoon coconut sugar 3 tablespoons agave or maple syrup 2 tablespoons coconut oil 11/2 teaspoons Matcha powder Mix all together to form a dough. Then take a tablespoon of the mixture and roll it our into a ball. Flatten in on a baking try lined with baking paper. If the mixture is too sticky wet your hands to make it easier to work with. Repeat with the remaining mixture until finished. I sprinkled some black sesame seeds on top. More for decoration than anything else. Cook in a preheated oven 180 degrees for 10-12 minutes. The cookies will be soft when first taken out but then they will firm up. Store in an air tight container. If you like the taste of tahini and sesame I also made another batch where, I omitted the almond butter and coconut oil and replaced it with equal tablespoons of tahini. A lot more earthy I must say... Great if your a Tahini fan. So go a head and make yourself a batch of these cookies ………. I promise you will feel Matcha better. Happy baking   So a very big happy new year to all. I am sure many of us are happy to be seeing the back end of this one!!! Although not so sure what this new year has install for us but hay we can all hope and be optimistic as a start!!! So for my new years positive influence, I thought I would make some fortune cookies. Yes I did get all excited about the idea. I went online and searched for quotes on love, life and above all gratitude. I think we all need a bit of uplifting and some positiveness stuffed in a delicious biscuit!! I have always loved the idea of a mystic fortune cookie. Usually given at a Chinese restaurant after the meal is ended. I loved cracking it open and reading the quote and the lucky numbers or whatever else was there. Some years back when visiting San Fransisco , I specifically made a trip down to china town in search of the famous fortune cookie factory. So after a long search and going through dirty side streets and not finding this place ( In my mind there were lights, a grand entrance and a little Chinese man at the front sipping tea and telling you his words of wisdom) I turned to some worker in the street to ask for some directions. Right behind you he said!! WHAT… We were in an alley … He pointed to an open steel door and told us to pass through there and that is were the factory was. Maybe it was hidden were my first thoughts. So in we went…. NOPPPEE looks same as the outside. It basically looked like a warehouse . Some guy did come up to us … Not Chinese and asked what we wanted. My enthusiasm by this point was going a little downhill, I did manage a Hi we would like to see the fortune cookie factory. Yep here it is ….. Great !!! ok so we ended up buying a packet of the cookies , not as I imagined them. They were individually wrapped and looked very commercial and I didn’t get my words of wisdom chat with the little Chinese man with the funny pointy beard drinking matcha tea. So we left and sat on the sidewalk and cracked one open. Yeahh My lucky numbers were 14, 78, 98, 5, and 77. Ok must admit it was somewhat disappointing...... Anyhow fast forward to now – Im super excited to be making the cookies. So I searched into finding meaningful quotes that people could read to bring about some hope and positiveness. YEAAHHHH I'M MAKING FORTUNE COOKIES!!!! LOVE IT!! After a few tries - I am pleased to say that I nailed them !!! They were crunchy , slightly sweet and I managed to get a quote in them. Looked pretty good and everyone had a fun time cracking them open , reading the quotes , having some AHAH moments and OMG thats sooo true !!! So all in all I was happy!! happy ... Happyyyy!!!! So the recipe is as follows: 1/3 cup fine coconut sugar 1/6 cup corn flour starch 1/6 cup Gluten free flour ¼ cup aquafaba or 2 egg whites 30 grams coconut oil ¼ cup coconut shreds. Firstly beat the aqua-faba or egg whites until frothy and white in colour. Next add the sifted flours and coconut sugar and coconut oil. Mix until combined. Place a baking paper on a tray and mark 6 round 8 cm circles. Now place a tablespoon of the mixture on each circle and spread it evenly over the circle. Sprinkle with coconut shreds. Cook in a pre heated oven on 180 degrees for about 7-8 minutes. The cookies should be a rich golden brown. Take them out and immediately take one by one place a fortune in the middle and fold the cookie in half and then place it on the rim of a cup in order to fold it . Repeat with the remaining cookies. This batch should make 18 cookies. Be sure to make 6 at a time. If the cookie hardens you will not be able to fold them. If you find the cookies are a little on the soft side after you have folded them and they have cooled down, place them all back in the oven and put heat on 80 degrees and leave them there for 20 minutes to harden. Keep cookies in an airtight container to maintain the crunchiness. I have collected some of the quotes I have used posted them below: 1. A ship is safe at harbor – But that’s not what ships were built for 2. Faith is taking the first step even though you cant see the end of the path 3. “You do not find the happy life. You make it.” – Camilla Eyring Kimball 4. “Stay close to anything that makes you glad you are alive.” 5. “Make each day your masterpiece.” – John Wooden 6. “Happiness often sneaks in through a door you didn’t know you left open.” – John Barrymore 7. “Happiness is not by chance, but by choice.” – Jim Rohn 8. “Impossible is for the unwilling.” – John Keats 9. “Believe you can and you’re halfway there.” – Theodore Roosevelt 10. “When you have a dream, you’ve got to grab it and never let go.” – Carol Burnett 11. “You must be the change you wish to see in the world.” – Mahatma Gandhi 12. “Dream big and dare to fail.” – Norman Vaughan 13. “No matter what you’re going through, there’s a light at the end of the tunnel.” – Demi Lovato 14. “Nothing is impossible. The word itself says “I’m possible!” – Audrey Hepburn 15. “If it matters to you, you’ll find a way.” – Charlie Gilkey 16. “Tough times never last, but tough people do.” – Dr. Robert Schuller 17. “The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” – Lao Tzu 18.“Don’t wait, the time will never be just right.” – Napoleon Hill 19. “Try to be a rainbow in someone’s cloud.” – Maya Angelou 20. “Some people look for a beautiful place. Others make a place beautiful.” – Hazrat Inayat Khan 21. “Try Again. Fail again. Fail better.” – Samuel Beckett 22. “The only thing that can grow is the thing you give energy to.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson So hoping you all have fun making these cookies and bring a smile to someones face as they bite into your cookie and get the quote they need to read.... Cheers, Happy Baking and And a very happy new year !!!   A couple days ago I sat down with my two kids to help them write their letters to Santa. Now I have been warning them for a few weeks now that if they are naughty Santa will bring them coal. ( This was usually used as a threat when I wanted them to do things like clean their room, mess they make etc etc… So my daughters response to this was… Well I don’t mind , if I get coal ill just make a campfire and cook a meal. Now that a girl that’s going places I think to myself!!! ( If life gives u lemons just make lemonade!!!) I love it.. So anyway she started writing the list and gave Santa a choice of 5 presents. Telling him to choose whichever is easiest for him to make. The coal was actually included in the list. Hhmmm I wonder what goes on in her mind – is it some sort of reverse phycology trick!!! So it goes into an envelope lots of stickers love hearts and colour and sealed closed. We then write Santa’s address The north pole. She then tells daddy that they have to go to the post office tomorrow to post the letter. So hubby somehow convinces her that he will drop off the letter in the letter box. So its been 2 days and she is waiting for a response letter from Santa. I can never remember Santa giving us confirmation letters when we were young!!! Maybe it’s a new age thing … So WE got the letter sent !! Check Reply received !!! 4 days after posting !! - Check House decorated !!! – Check Christmas tree up with flashing coloured lights – Check WE have a fire place – Check And of course we got our Christmas cookie recipe to make those delicious treats for Santa when he visits. – Check!! Now after much thought we decided to go for double chocolate chip cookies!!! OWW YEAH!!! Santa’s gonna love them. So we thought to do a practice run to make sure we have perfected the recipe before making a fresh batch on Christmas Eve. As fate has it- some friends come round that afternoon with their kids. And YES ALLL the cookies disappeared in a flash and the kids come back for seconds!!! Cookie Recipe perfected .. Check!! Cookie recipe … Kids approved …. Check!! So I can safely say we are good to go.. Ingredients: 1 cup gluten free flour 1 cup gluten free oat flour 1 cup walnut flour (Blend walnuts into a flour in a grinder) ½ teaspoon baking powder 4 tablespoons cocoa powder 1/2 cup coconut sugar 1/2 cup agave syrup or maple syrup 1/3 cup coconut oil 3 tablespoons apple sauce 100 grams sugar free chopped dark chocolate chunks Firstly we made the apple sauce by simply cleaning a few apples cutting them into small bits and placing them in a blender and blending until a puree was formed. We then grinded our nuts to a flour. (Note any nuts can be substituted – but I do highly recommend walnuts – they give some added moisture and softness to the biscuit) Next we placed all the dry ingredients and sieved them. Then added the choc chips and remaining wet ingredient. Stirred everything together, got our hands dirty!!! Had fun liking it all off !!! YUUMMMYY!! Ok so washed up and then started rolling the dough out. If you have time its much better to put it in the fridge for half an hour to firm up. It makes it easier to roll out. We made star shaped cookies. We then placed them in a preheated oven on 160 degrees and let them cook for 13 minutes. That’s it !!! The house smelled divine, and the cookies ….. well you will just have to try them for yourselves …. So make sure you make Santa happy this year by making him a batch of these delicious chocolate cookies …..And while your at it , make a batch for the reindeers as well!!! Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas And Happy Baking.   So last week was my daughters 7th birthday. My week was busy to say the least.
She has been excited about her birthday for weeks counting down the days. So she came to me a few weeks ago and she was telling me what she would like to take to school to treat the other kids. She started off with I know its not so good for us but can I take snickers bars? I look at her at say yeah sure , but you know what I can make them better than the store bought!!! Her eyes light up.. Yes we can make them together. More excitement … And wrap them …. Now ecstatic!!! Ok great so she's on board.. I smile to myself remembering Eddie Murphey Raw (A stand up comedy from the late 80's - If you haven't seen it - its a must - Just be warned it has a lot of colourful language!!!) Any how there is a part when he's talking about the kid that wants Mc Donalds Hamburgers and the mother tells him I ‘ll make you burgers Better than Mc Donalds. And the boy says Better than Mc Donalds ?? So in between white square wonder bread with the sides torn off , and a big hunk of home made beef burger, with the grease dripping down, the kids wondering how in the hell this resembles and is better than McDonald!! So the pressures on ...God the stress … I have to really make these look like snickers bars and make sure that the other kids will eat them. So the day before her birthday we set to work. First we made a base. So we make it with some oat flakes , cashews a few dates , coconut oil and agave syrup. Press it into a dish lined with baking paper and set it aside. Now I’m not really one for taking exact measurement but it went something like this 1.5 cup oat flour , 1.5 cup cashew flour, 8 dates , 3 tablespoon coconut oil, 3 tablespoons agave syrup. Placed everything in a food processor and blended until crumbly and sticky. Next caramel layer . In a pot we put 2 cans full fat coconut milk , 6 tablespoons coconut sugar , 6 tablespoons agave and teaspoon of vanilla. Boiled it ,then turned it down to a simmer and let it cook until it reduced and caramelized. We poured it over the base. Next we topped the caramel with course chopped peanuts and transferred to the freezer to set. Once set we cut it into bars and placed them back in the freezer. Now for the chocolate we made our own by using 150 grams cocoa butter, 90 grams cocoa powder and 90 grams agave syrup. We then took each bar and dipped it in the chocolate. And of course we also had to do some lines on top. Then we put them in the fridge to set. Next up we got some gold foil wrapping and wrapped each one individually and put them in a box ready to be taken . So the next day Elissa woke up and happily took her sweats to school proudly telling everyone she made them with mummy and that they were healthy treats. So when she got home , I was curious to see if the kids enjoyed them. She said most of the kids had them at school and said they were really nice. Hooray mission accomplished !!!!  So for those of you who don’t know me I was born and raised in Australia. I can say I had a really nice childhood looking back. There were lots of pic nics, caravan holidays in nature and of course cinema outings. My mum would organise a cinema outing with the cousins and my aunties. Yes we would be a heard of 15 people , hyper active kids all super excited. Now we would go to a cinema in a big shopping centre and the cinema area was huge with a candy store , popcorn stands arcade’s and whatever else. I loved the smell of the popcorn and we just drooled at all the candy and chocolates in the candy store. But rest assured our mothers thought it a great idea to make home made popcorn and put it in brown paper bags and take juice boxes. So yes we would all go to the movies sit down and when the lights were turned down our mothers would hand us all a brown paper bag of popcorn and a juice!!! Now not quite the same as buttered popcorn but we still scoffed it down. Then we would start complaining we wanted chocolates and yes they would take out a party size pack of Mars bars and give us all one. Geez they had everything planned out to the T. Admittedly living in Cyprus I have yet to take my daughter to the cinema. But we do on occasion have a movie night which she gets very excited about. I don’t know how kids do it but they have the ability to watch the same movie over and over and over again and again and again. I cant even stand the mention of the movie The Grinch. And now that Christmas is round the corner the excuse of it’s a Christmas movie doesn’t go any more. The other day I did manage to convince her (with a lot of trying may I add) to watch something new .. Jingle jangle and she eventually did like it. A little too much and we are here on Friday night getting ready to see it again !!! Anyhow so its movie night, we will make our popcorn, we like both salty and sweet, so we make organic air popped popcorn and put tablespoon of coconut oil some salt and nutritional yeast. And we also make some salted caramel popcorn. See recipe below. So here’s is to all those parents that have to sit through a movie 10 times over, because if its not their kids choice of movie than they are forbidden to watch any other movie. Enjoy Salted caramel popcorn 6 cups popped corn 1 can coconut milk 3 tablespoons coconut sugar 2 tablespoons maple syrup 1 teaspoon vanilla essence Pinch of sea salt or to taste Place all ingredients except the popcorn in a pan and bring to boil. Then let it simmer until it reduces and thickens into a nice golden caramel. Pour onto the popcorn, mix well and then place on a lined baking tray and cook in a pre heated 160 degree oven for about 10 minutes. Take out and let them cool for 10 minutes then dive in !!!
 So how was your September ??? Well mine like every year was packed with birthday parties!!! (Kids birthdays that is ) Yes its my favourite month of the year :) I love it when all my weekends are spent with a roomful of screaming kids bashing pinatas, I mean who wouldn't?? Yes we had it all this year – Parties ranging from Spa themes, Moving Discos with blowing bubbles Unicorn themed, Professional magic show and entertainment and a pool party.
Whatever happened to good old fashioned b'day parties, were you were just happy you were having a b'day party in the garage. You know the ones were your parents would roll the cars out into the side street , you’d clean up , put some table and chairs and maybe hang some balloons and streamers around.  The food menu would be fairy bread ( For those unfamiliar with this it is basically square white bread covered in butter and coloured sprinkles) , Sausage rolls, party pies with sauce ( also known as meat pies with ketchup for those of you unfamiliar with the Aussie language) Lots of pop corn and crisps , soda , Spiders – (Basically coca cola with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, and juice. There would be a b'day cake ( Most likely chocolate and always home made – No fancy themed cake from a designer bakery costing $250) some jelly and chocolate crackles ( see recipe below of MY adapted healthy version). Give or take this would usually be the standard b'day menu. (I must admit not the most healthy and nutritious food, but hay 30 years ago our parents were not soo aware I guess!!!)
You would invite 10-15 of your friends, who would all turn up on time bearing a small gift , ALL very excited . You would then proceed to play some party games like pin the tale on the donkey (Basically picture of a donkey without a tail would be stuck to the wall and each kid is blindfolded and given a cardboard tale with blue tack on it then spun around a few times with the aim of disorienting them and then telling them to walk up to the donkey and attempting to pin the tail were it should be – Usually the tail would end up on the donkeys face, body or even no were near the animal and all the kids would sit there giggling and impatiently wait there turn to have a go at it.  Then there was musical chairs and pass the parcel, familiar games sometimes played in this day in age. There would be some dancing , the music blaring from an old cassette radio , with smash hit songs that took you a week to record on the tape recorder.  If you were a little older you may also have played spin the bottle. (You would all sit around in a circle and each person got to spin the bottle. When the bottle stopped spinning and the lid was pointing at you you were asked to pick a truth or dare, which would be created by the other kids in the circle). If your b'day happened to be in the summer months (EXTRA BONUS) you got to play BOB the Apple. A huge bucket would be filled with water and some apples would be floating in there. The aim of the game was to try and grab an apple with your mouth without the assistance of your hands. As kids are kids this would usually end in some kid dunking you in the water.  When it was time to sing Happy b'day and blow the candles we would all be given party hats and would sing at the top of our lungs.  When it was all over each kid would receive a goody bag which contained a few different sweets and chocolates. (That was your party favor) All kids were over the moon and off they went home. YOU were super grateful and happy and everyone had a great time.  Chocolate crackles Healthier Version ( Vegan , refined sugar free and gluten free) 4 cups rice crispies / bubbles (Organic and sugar free) 1 cup desiccated coconut 1/4 cup cocoa powder 1/2 cup agave syrup ¼ cup fine coconut sugar 1 cup odourless coconut oil melted pinch of sea salt Directions Mix all ingredients together, spoon mixture into patty cake papers and refrigerate until set. ENJOY!!!!!  |
AuthorHi , I'm Helen the recipe creator behind Healthy Delicious. Here you will find my kitchen adventures in making Gluten,Dairy and Refined sugar free recipes that are so much more than JUST tasty!!! Archives
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