{Recipe} Soft oat and coconut slices

I absolutely love Carman's Oat slice and I could have them every day! But they're pretty pricey in the long run so I thought I'd find a recipe that would make something similar. I came across this one from Budget Bytes. I changed a few things as I tend to do. I used honey in place of brown sugar, milk instead of soy milk and omitted the walnuts. 

These things!

These turned out soft and delicious but sadly not the texture I wanted to copy the Carman's slice. Taste-wise it's pretty much there though. So I will have to find a recipe that is more cookie-like in nature. 

The slices are on the less sweet side so if you want them sweeter, consider adding sugar (not more honey as that might add too much liquid to the recipe) or even make a quick icing to drizzle on top. 

The baby was napping so we mixed everything by hand. If you use a mixer to cream the butter, the slice will turn out puffier and lighter. 

Ingredients (6-9 slices)

¼ cup unsalted butter, softened and at room temperature
¼ cup honey
1 egg
1 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla essence
1½ cups traditional oats
1 cup wholemeal flour
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp baking powder
½ to 1 cup shredded coconut

1. Preheat oven to 180°C (170°C fan-forced).
2. Line your baking tray (I used a 9x9" glass dish).
3. Mix all the dry ingredients together. 
   
4. Cream butter. Mix in honey.
   
5. Add egg and mix until fluffy. 
   
6. Add milk and vanilla essence and mix thoroughly.
7. Add dry ingredients and mix gently until just mixed. 
   
8. Place in baking tray and bake for 20-30 minutes. The time depends on the type of dish you use, oven, etc. When it's done, it should look golden and start browning around the edges and you'd smell the 'doneness' if you know what I mean lol.
   
9. Cool and slice as you wish. I used a bread knife to get clean slices. 
   

Notes:

• When baking, make sure your ingredients are at room temperature unless stated otherwise
• I use unsalted butter when making sweet bakes

 Thank you for stopping by!

{Recipe} Wholemeal bread

This recipe is altered from Five Heart Home. I use regular wholemeal flour instead of white wholemeal flour and halved the recipe. The recipe has a 'starter' for the bread which makes it soft and yummy!

 Ingredients 

 

2 cups wholemeal flour
3 tbsp gluten flour
2 tsp yeast
1 ¼ cups lukewarm water

1/2 tbsp salt
3 tbsp honey
3 tbsp oil (I use coconut oil or grapeseed oil)
2 tsp lemon juice (not pictured)
1 cup wholemeal flour 

 

1. In the mixer bowl, mix the first three ingredients and add the water. Mix on low with the dough hook for one minute and scrape the bowl with a spatula and mix again for a few seconds. Cover the bowl with a tea towel and set aside for ten minutes (This is the starter).
   
2. In the meantime, if it is cold where you live, preheat the oven to 30°C. Otherwise, your bread can just rise at room temperature. Grease a loaf pan or line it with baking paper.
3. After ten minutes, add salt, honey, oil and lemon juice, mix. 
    
4. Add the rest of the flour and knead until thoroughly mixed.
5. Put the mixer on low and knead for 6 minutes.
6. Dough should be clean off the bowl and just the teeniest bit sticky.
7. Put the dough in the loaf pan and place in the oven if using or on the counter to rise for 40 minutes.
8. Put your timer on 35 minutes. Turn the oven up to 180°C (fan-forced, 190°C conventional) without taking the loaf pan out while preheating. If you rise your dough on the counter, put the pan in the oven while preheating it.
9. When bread is done, it sounds hollow when you tap its bottom.

Notes:

• I always store my yeast in the fridge and only take it out right before using it.
• I just cut a piece of lemon and squeeze the amount of juice needed into the bowl (if you do this, make sure you don't get any pips in the dough!)
• This bread stays nice for at least 2 days but makes great toasts day 2 onwards anyway. 
• Sorry for the lack of photos (and shadowy ones at that) I was in a rush!)

 Thank you for stopping by!

{Montessori on a shoestring} Nature table

This is a repost from one of my old blogs.

Mrs. Montessori believed that children are stewards of the Earth and by incorporating nature-related activities, they will learn to care for nature and develop a love for it. And that is why I designated a place for Umar to explore nature indoors. 

After much moving furniture around, I found a spot for a nature table. As it is quite a narrow nook, I decided to use a bench instead of an actual table. It would have to be high enough to fit a child’s chair and deep enough for things like a flower press, some jars and vases and a scrapbook. So off I went browsing IKEA’s online catalogue and I found the bench I wanted to use. But it wasn’t in stock! Alas, I MUST find an alternative because Nijaz (he has a love-hate relationship with IKEA) somehow magically agreed to go to IKEA with me that weekend! I decided on a LACK TV bench. I was hoping to get something made from solid wood but the TV bench was cheaper than the bench I wanted and it was the perfect size.

After the exhilarating trip to my most favourite shop (in case you lost me, it’s IKEA), I put the bench together but omitted the shelf on the bottom. I also bought 3 of the NJYTTA frames in green. I have had the prints, also from IKEA, for a while now, bought for $1 at clearance.

The table now sits against the wall. The framed prints of various plants are in theme and were put up with 3M hooks (great for preserving the wall). He has a little vase with an artificial gerbera in it and some jars with random things in them, which I repurposed from his treasure basket. He also has a bucket for picking flowers and herbs. Umar has since put a rock or two in the bucket, pine cones, flowers from his mini gardenand parsley from our little vegetable patch (post coming up).

There are also a flower press and a greenhouse (not shown (it’s placed near the window for some sun); it’s a kit from Woolworths in collaboration with Jamie Oliver) growing garden cress, coriander, chives and basil. Another thing he has handy is a magnifying glass, which at the moment Umar uses to ‘make your eyes look BIIIG!’. The little crate contains some wooden and cloth fruits and vegetables (some are available from our online shop Fancy Grey Cat).

On the left is a basket with Umar’s activity mats. One is a long playmat which his grandmother got him.  One is a white bathmat and the little one is a placemat, both from IKEA. On the right is a little basket with some picture books on animals and plants. I plan to get more books on nature and a wooden tea box to store and display his finds.

I hope you enjoyed the little walkthrough. Thank you for stopping by and happy DIY-ing!

Note:

If you ever buy the NJYTTA frames, you’d notice that the plastic glazing seems a little dull. Just peel off the protective layer of plastic on both sides before framing and your picture will look super bright and shiny!

List of products:

LACK TV bench

NJYTTA frames

Books:

First animals by Hinkler books

I see by Helen Oxenbury

Pelle’s new suit by Elsa Beskow (this book is great not just for its beautiful nature illustrations, but for practical life skills as well)

This post is proudly shared on:

Edit: We have since rearranged this space in our house but we loved it while it was there (14/08/15)

{Organise-my-life project} Clothes organiser

This is a repost from one of my old blogs.

It took me years to realise that I am most productive when I am most organised; time-wise, thoughts-wise and things-wise.

So, I aim to reach my 30^th birthday next year with an organised schedule, mind and home. I will document bits and pieces of organisation ideas and tips being implemented in my life on this blog. I shall call this adventure organise-my-life project. Hopefully I will meet my deadline with a completed work. 

This brings us to one aspect of organisation that has boggled my brain for a while now; chest of drawers for clothes, how do I organise them and make them stay that way forever. I yank a t-shirt out and the whole system disintegrates. Or I try again and  lift the whole stack of tops and take the one I want and I end up doing that once and decide the next time that I just want the top t-shirt and leave the rest never to be worn again. And go back to the yanking method and back to my dilemma.

 

Just like Sheldon, I’ve been using a FlipFold for a few years (I made one with cardboard before forking out the money to buy a real one) but it doesn’t solve the stacking problem.

I thought of a filing system, which actually has been done through an IKEA hack – T-shirt filing HEMNES drawerbut I’m not that handy and the comments made a point on space (which I am trying to maximise).

At a glance, these look like a lady's monthly necessities

I remember an organising tip retrieved from an obscure part of my mind; think vertical. So I did more research (read: Googling). I found these beauties called Pliio. I think they’re an absolutely brilliant idea. Unfortunately, they do not have a retailer in Australia. A check with Amazon showed that they are USD20 for ten and they will deliver for about USD20. Now, my tops probably cost me about $10 each so I doubt I would spend $5 just to put them away. Besides, I needed them to fit nicely in my drawers.

What the inside of my drawer looks like now

So, taking my cue from my experiment with the FlipFold apparatus, I decided to try this filing system with, you guessed it, cardboard! They were from IKEA and toy boxes mostly. 

My drawers are about 350mm deep and 150mm high. So for the main body, I measured out 150 x 130 mm so I could have two rows and have some leeway for clothes thickness. The Pliio has three sections to it. I copied that design and found it perfect for dresses and long tunics but not so perfect for regular tops. 

So for t-shirts, I measured out a main body and just one flap. As for pants, I find just having the main body is enough. 

Materials:

Cardboard

Pencil/pen

Ruler

Scissors/box cutter

Tape measure

1.       Measure your space.

2.       Decide on the size of the main body of the clothes filer and how many flaps. Mark on cardboard.

3.       Cut the cardboard and use it as prototype for tens/hundreds more you have to cut.

4.       Tend to your sore scissors hand.

How to fold:

Top - flatten shirt and place filer in the middle, fold on either side, then fold top and bottom and fold the filer.

Pants - fold pants lengthways, put filer on one end, fold either sides and fold from the filer end until done.

 

And here's how to fold a child's top:

 

Tips:
Make sure your source of cardboard is clean

The corrugated nature of cardboard makes it easy to manipulate when folding a thick article of clothing

I would love to come up with something that doesn't require to be left in the garments or even just a better and more durable material. But in the meantime, I am happy with this solution.

Thank you for stopping by and happy organising!

Edit: I have since ditched the cardboard because I find it easier to just 'eye' the folding. I still fold my clothes the same way for the drawers minus the cardboard (14/08/15)

{Kids} Dealing with baby cold

Umar caught his first cold at two weeks. Feeding time was a struggle as he could not breathe through his blocked nose. He would latch on for a few seconds then unlatched for air, screaming because he had to let go of his source of food for a few seconds, as you do. I asked friends-with-kids' opinions regarding how to best remedy the situation. Most suggested using unmedicated saline spray then suck out the snot using the included aspirator/bulb, which I was already doing. 

But one friend's advice that worked for me was to put some eucalyptus oil on a cloth and place it near the baby's head as they sleep. She also recommended baby vac which you use with your vacuum cleaner to suck mucus out.

The days are getting colder in Perth and Dawud has caught a cold at 6 weeks. I am quite crook myself. It is nasty business looking after and feeding the baby while you're under the weather. So here are some tips to make your days and nights easier as baby recovers:

1. Use unmedicated saline spray in both nostrils (baby's) a few minutes before feeding.

   

   Saline spray and bulb

   
   

2. Suck out the mucus using the bulb or baby vac.

   

   Baby vac

3. Feed baby and repeat 1 and 2 before putting baby to sleep. A baby with a blocked nose tends to sleep fitfully so you want baby's nose free of muck.
4. Put a few drops of eucalyptus oil on a cloth, roll up and place near baby's head.
   
5. If baby is older than 3 months, you can rub babyvicks on their chest and back.
   
6. If you can and comfortable in doing so, being mindful of your nurse/doctor's advice about sleeping positions, keep baby's head elevated while sleeping. 
7. You sleep in content (for 3 hours until baby screams for milk).

I got my baby vac from ebay. I find young babies like the sound of vacuum cleaners as it is white noise and therefore easier to use the baby vac on as opposed to older ones who you might have to pin down (2 adults necessary) because they believe the vacuum cleaner can suck their limbs clean off their bodies.

Other tips that might be worth a try are running a hot shower and letting steam tease out the mucus and sucking snot out using your own mouth (which I haven't had the courage to try).

Now that Umar can blow his own nose, I give him a box of tissues and a bucket to throw tissues in when he has a cold. He carries them around the house as he goes about his day parking cars and playing in his one-man band. I still stick to steps 4 and 5 for Umar.

Winter is coming and head colds are pretty much inevitable but hopefully these tips will make them at least tolerable.

Thank you for stopping by!

P/S: Happy birthday to my cousin FA!

{Art and craft} Edible paint

A repost from my old blog horrendezvous.blogspot.com 

Babies and toddlers put everything in their mouths so this quick and easy recipe is great for when you need an activity to occupy the little ones outdoors or even in the bathtub!

Ingredients

1 tbsp sugar
1/2 cup flour
2 cups water
Food colouring
5-6 glass jars (I reused baby food jars)

1. In a small saucepan, mix sugar and flour. 
2. Gradually whisk in water. 
3. Turn heat on low and keep whisking until mixture becomes thick and, gooey. This should take about 5-10 minutes, no need to boil.
4. Divide into jars.
5. Add a few drops of food colouring in each and mix. I used the handle of a spoon. 
6. Leave to completely cool and let the little tike have fun! 

We set up our 'art centre' in the back patio with old towels on the ground in anticipation of the mess but the bathtub would have been great too as you could just wash the bub off right away and extend the 'art' session!

Enjoy! Ta ra~

{Recipe} Portuguese-style chicken

A repost from my old blog horrendezvous.blogspot.com 

We just bought bulk chicken so our freezers are overflowing with whole chicken, chicken pieces, thighs, well you get the picture. In order to keep interest high in our meals, I have to scour the deepest of internet oceans to come up with different recipes for the same meat. This particular one was altered from this recipe. It tasted great and caramelised very well so it was juicy and sticky, just the way we like it. Have a try!

Ingredients:
4 chicken thigh fillets
2 tbsp oil
4 tsp ground coriander
3 tsp paprika (I mixed regular and smoked)
1 tsp dried oregano
2 garlic cloves, crushed and finely chopped
Juice from half a lemon
1/2 tsp crushed dried chilli (optional)
Salt to taste, I finely ground sea salt over the fillets so I used maybe 1/2 tsp (will need more if using coarser grains) but we tend to undersalt our food

1. In an oven proof dish big enough to hold the chicken, mix all the marinade ingredients. 
2. Put the chicken in and rub thoroughly. Cover the dish with its lid or cling wrap and let marinate in the fridge for 1 hour or overnight. Take it out for about an hour before baking.
3. Preheat the oven to 200°C (190 fan-forced).
4. Take off the lid and bake for 20-30 minutes, basting the chicken with the marinade every 5-10 minutes.
5. Take out and rest the chicken for about 5 minutes and serve with a spinach salad and rice. Drizzle the juice over the meal and enjoy!
   

Notes:  

• I rub about a tablespoon of salt on the chicken I use and thoroughly rinse to get rid of the 'chickeny' smell
• You can replace the fillets with breast/chicken pieces/whole chicken but please be sure to adjust the amount of marinade and baking time. 

Happy cooking! Ta ra~
 
Image sources for ingredient board:

Chicken thighs - http://www.farmfreshgrocer.com.au

Olive oil - http://www.newhealthguide.org 

Ground coriander - http://www.mediterraneanfoods.co.nz

Paprika - http://www.savoryspiceshop.com

Dried oregano - http://www.finecooking.com

Garlic - http://www.bbcgoodfood.com

Lemon - http://vladimiria.blogspot.com.au

Dried chili -  http://www.thalgoldenspice.com