Sick, Tired and Cold

Well I've been really sinusy for over three weeks now.
I've given up milk and hoping to see an improvement any day now (sniff)

LOVING the Pseudoephedrine!!! I am also still using Otrivine before bed but am afraid my nose is starting to crack and will probably drop off in no time.

I saw the first Daffodils this week! That for me is like a glimmer of hope that soon the weather will clear and get warmer. It will be lovely to be able to hang out with my boys in the evening. I'm looking forward to picnics in Albert Park after work.

OK enough moaning about the weather lets talk about my awesome boy.


William is having a little trouble fitting in over on the big kids side at his crèche.
He’s been biting both people and his clothing. I read that biting clothing can be a sign of stress in a young one. To help him settle and also be there to prevent biting I’ve been going down and having lunch with him. The biting seemed to happen just before lunch when it gets crowded with a lot of busy little bodies finding their seets and I think he was getting overwhelmed.

I’ve also set up playdates outside of crèche to hopefully form stronger friendships which may intern make it a bit easier to break into the cliques.

Lastly I made William a necklace to hopefully stop him chewing up his clothing. Chewing on his clothes is a right pain in the neck because he gets wet down the front of his top and his sleaves.

I got a nice string and threaded it through some stretchy rubber tubing. (the kind the physiotherapists give you) Tied a nice chewy knot in the middle and tied the string ends together. I needed to cover the string in tape to make it stiff enough to thread through the tube. I then soaked the rubber in hot water, then mouth wash and then rinsed it off. This gave it a slight mint taste. Mmmmmmmmm

I made it just big enough to slip over his head.
Liam took to it straight away! Very cute. He calls it his “necka lalase.”

I must admit I’d love to give it a good chew myself. Both James and I are chewers. I just noticed recently that chew on the security swipe card that is hung around my neck.

Some people may disagree and think that I’m replacing one bad habit with another but for now I think he needs a little security blanket while he is having trouble adjusting to the move from the baby side to the over twos. PLUS if he has his necklace in his gob he hopefully won’t be physically able to bite others.

He happily settled into bed without any fuss on Friday afternoon. After he had his lunch I tucked him into bed and asked him if he wanted his necklace. He eagerly took it and snuggled under the blankets munching on it. For the rest of the day there were no incidents and we made a HUGE fuss over how good he was.

I’ll see if I can get a photo of William and his “necka lalase” soon.

Adventures in Baking

Well not really a "shrinking" topic is it???

I think I've been posessed by my grandmother! I'm baking up a storm.
It all started when I wanted to make cupcakes for my son's birthday in June. I wanted all his little friends to have a treat including the vegans.

I found this AWESOME recipe

Fluffy White Cupcakes
makes 22 cupcakes
1 TB white vinegar
1 ½ scant cups plain soymilk
2 1/8 cups flour
2 tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. salt
1 1/8 cups sugar
½ cup oil
1 ¼ tsp. vanilla extract
½ tsp. coconut extract (optional)

Preheat the oven to 180º.

Spray 22 muffin cups with nonstick spray or line with paper cupcake liners (I like to spray the inside of the muffin papers with nonstick spray to help the cupcakes release). Set aside.Place the vinegar in the bottom of a liquid measuring cup and fill the cup with soymilk to equal 1 ½ cups. Stir well and set aside (the mixture will curdle).

In a large mixing bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In another mixing bowl whisk together the soymilk mixture, canola oil, and extract.

Add the wet to the dry ingredients and beat until smooth using a hand-held mixer, stopping once to scrape down the sides of the bowl.

Fill each muffin cup with ¼ cup of batter. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until a cake tester inserted in the middle of a cupcake comes out clean. Let cool in the pans for 5 minutes, then remove cupcakes from the pan and place on a wire rack.

Let the cupcakes cool completely before frosting.

I made several batches to "practice" and then for his and his friends birthdays.


My Fav. batch was for his wee girl friend's birthday. I piped melted chocolate on overhead projecter sheets with templates of Pooh, Tigger, Eeyore and Piglet's faces on paper undernieth. Once the chocolate had set I pushed it into the iced cupcakes
They looked WONDERFUL



Other wonderfull kitchen experiments have resulted in what I like to call

CUP PIES.

http://homecooking.about.com/od/dessertrecipes/r/blcookie83.htm

I changed the recepie and replaced the peanut butter chips with just chocolate.
mmmmmmm

OMG
Macaroons!!!!

Little man LOVES them...

real easy. (off the top of my head)

Two egg whites
half a cup of sugar
a teaspoon of vanilla essance
2 1/2 cups of coconut

stir it all up in a bowl

Bung spoonfulls on a tray and chuck it in the oven at 170 for about 10 minutes.

AWESOME

I like to drizzle melted chocolate over them.
YAY