Holiday Fun – Tin Can Telephone

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tin_telephone.cover

We into our thrid week of the Winter Holidays and its been Holiday Fun all around.Hubby came up with this idea when he saw me rinsing the tomato and onion tin cans heading for the recycling bin.

We’ve had such giggles playing with these. My youngest even gave us code names, I’ve been given MamaBear and Jules our Nanny has the code name NannyBear lol 😂.

Wikipedia describes this fun tin can phone in a very Wikipedia way……(I love the drawing)

Tin can telephone

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A 19th century tin can, or lovers’ telephone

A tin can telephone is a type of acoustic (non-electrical) speech-transmitting device made up of two tin cans, paper cups or similarly shaped items attached to either end of a taut string or wire.

It is a form of mechanical telephony, where sound is converted into and then conveyed by vibrations along a liquid or solid medium, and then reconverted back to sound.

 

This easy and fun activity is simple and cheap.All you needs is:

  • Two empty tin cans (washed and cleaned.Make sure there are no serrated edges)
  • String (twine or wool will suffice)
  • A nail
  • Hammer

Hammer a hole into the tin, pull the string through and knot it,measure out the string to your desired length and snip.Pull the other end of the string through the other tin and knot it.

tin_can_telephone.02  

tin_can_telephone.04  tin_can_telephone.05

and

start playing!

tin_telephone.010  tin_telephone.011

 

 

 

Two Minute Noodles (Without The Scary Ingredients)

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You’ve come across the stories on social media.Two Minute noodles are not a healthy option for anyone let alone kids.
Its holiday time so not only are you having to entertain ,spend time with and run around to play-dates for your kids , you also have to think about being clever with your left overs or make new meals for lunch for your children (and friends).

Two Minute Noodles

Who remembers when two minute noodles came out? My brother and I were in high school and it was the best lunch to make when we got home, quick and easy, my mom used to buy those by the trolley load.If you ever looked at the ingredients on the packet of two minute noodles and all the “e-numbers” they have it will definitely make you think twice and put them back on the shelf.I have to admit still buying them even after I learn’t about E-Numbers and only fed the boys the noodles.Then I came across the information that the noodles were just as bad so its probably 2-3 years since I haven’t bought.

two minute noodles

In saying that I also know parents need a easy and quick meal to make for their kiddos – its not like they eat noodles everyday.

Enter the new Egg Noodles from Woolworths.All natural ingredients and you can get clever with the stocks and additionals you add to the noodles.

I simply added a teaspoon of Dehydrated Chicken Stock to mine for flavour , cooked it in boiling water for two minutes and that was lunch with our Woolworths Crumbed Chicken Breast.

two minute noodles

See moms – they still super quick but without the scary ingredients.

A few more ideas:

  • Add x1 tbs of dehydrated beef stock – for a beefy flavour
  • Add 2tbs of frozen peas and carrots
  • Boil and add to your leftovers for flavour
  • Boil and drain – add x1 tbs of melted butter and sprinkle with garlic powder
  • Boil ,drain and allow to cool – add to your salad
  • Boil,drain and add to your stir fry

Enjoy –  if you try them let me know what great ideas you came up with.

 

Easy Bread Sticks

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I learn t this easy way of making fresh bread at home in a matter of 30 minutes.Easy bread sticks are made using store bough bread dough.My Checkers always has stock in their fridges closest to the bakery and if you look at the pic below you will see how cheap it is.

Easy Bread Sticks

Plus there isnt much mess.Simply take out of the bag and divide dough in two.For a family of four half the dough is perfect. Dust your area with some flour and roll out into a  rectangle.

easy bread sticks

Place 3 – 4 tbs of butter or margarine in the microwave for 30 seconds and then add garlic powder and stir.Using a bastig brush cover your rolled out dough with the butter mixture.

 

Divide dough in the middle and begin to slice dough into long finger like bread sticks.Place in a preheated oven on 180C for 20-25 minutes.Remove from once they are done and brush them again with the butter mixture (Optional – add fresh or dried parsley to mixture before you brush it one).

Easy Bread Sticks

They best served warm but really they great anytime.

If you have been following my #soupseries you will know they ideal to accompany any soup instead of croutons.

Easy Bread Sticks

Bon Appétit

 

 

 

 

Soup Series – Prawn Soup

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This is the ideal soup to serve when you hosting a Winter lunch or dinner , there’s  no word but divine when describing the last soup in my Soup Series.Its a pretty expensive soup to make seeing as I spent close to R 200.00 for 800g of prawns but like I said its well worth it.

  • 750g of Prawns ( I buy the already headless and peeled prawns)
  • 2 Onions (Med)
  • 4 Garlic Gloves
  • 1 Pkt of Carrots
  • 2 Turnips (Med)
  • 1 Tomato (Med)
  • ¼ Red Pepper
  • ¼ Green Pepper
  • ½ Chili
  • Sprinkle with Black Pepper to taste
  • Parsley
  • Olive Oil

Method:

Cook deveined prawns in water and salt for +/- 10 minutes, peel skins and cut into pieces (stock – you can make fish stock out of the skins and prawn heads)

Chop veggies into same size pieces in order to cook evenly.

Add a dab of olive oil to the bottom of your pot and fry the onions and garlic until transparent, add a little water and add the carrots, tomato, turnips and peppers until soft.

Liquidize all the vegetables once cooked. Then add the prawn stock (sieve leaving behind the skins and heads) and prawn pieces, bring to the boil and add the parsley. Allow to stand for a while.

Serve with toasted bread cut into small squares (croutons) or Woolworths Toasties.

Watch out for the next post when I show you how easy it is to make bread sticks (see above photos). or Click on the this link – Bread Sticks

Bon Appetite!

Soup Series – Roasted Garlic & Pea Soup

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You will love the bright colour this soup has,just looking at it brightens you up on a gloomy Winters day and the wonderful aroma and taste well it’s divine.

Plan ahead when making this soup as you going to have a whole head of garlic in your oven for about 40min to and hour.Slice off the top of the head of garlic place in centre of a well oiled Pyrex dish or do what I do (I use those foil mini pie dishes that can be thrown away when I’m done with them)and drizzle with olive oil and place in the centre of your oven and bake at 180C.

in a pot with salted water place 400g of frozen peas and cook until the water starts to boil.Remove from heat and drain the peas and liquidize them until smooth (I go an extra step further and sieve it into my pot).

By this time the awesome aroma permeating from your kitchen is amazing,remove the garlic head from the oven and allow to cool before you squeeze all that awesomeness onto the peas.Add 2tbsp of butter , 2 tbsp of hard cheese such as Parmesan or any other hard cheese you prefer, make 500mls of watered stock and slowly add the stock to the pea puree until you have the soupy consistency you like and the taste is to your liking, do this over medium heat and stir occasionally.

You can definitely add pouring cream before serving.

Accompany your soup with a divine slice of bread.

bon appétit

 

 

 

Soup Series – Alphabet Chicken Soup

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Continuing with our Soup Series , by far the staple and most favourite of favourites is the good old fashioned Alphabet Chicken Soup anytime , it’s not just when we sick that this bowl of comfort food is served.

I make ours with one free range chicken breast,carrots and an onion and the favourite ingredient is definitely the Alphabet Pasta that’s used in the soup.This soup is always made when one of us is not feeling to great, my little boys expect it without fail but it’s also a any-day-of-the-week kind of soup, I either make it for afterschool lunch or a starter soup before supper.

I remember as a child lifting my spoon and scanning through the letters trying to scramble them to form a word before it went into my mouth.Oddly I still find myself doing this even now.My little boy eats his and try’s to scramble the names of everyone in our family before the spoon goes into his mouth.

I have gotten a little more adventurous and grated rainbow carrots just to add a little more fun and colour to our soup, but then without thinking I liquidized the whole thing 🙁 .

Once again soups are pretty easy to make.

I use one free range chicken breasr (with the skin).Boil chicken pieces in salty water (water and one tsp salt) until well cooked along with one large onion and a tablespoon of crushed garlic , add one large carrot sliced or grated (optional).Once the chicken breast  is cooked remove from the broth onto a soup plate and let it stand.Add a cube of Knoor Chicken Stock to the broth and simmer,stirring every now and again.This is the time to add the tiny pasta such as the ABC pasta or the little stars – up to you but it has to be the small pastas.Cook until the pasta is soft.In the mean time shred the chicken and add to the soup.

Thats it!Serve hot and enjoy.

bon appétit

 

 

Soup Series – Roasted Butternut Soup

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Organic Butternut soup just shouts “hello winter”! It’s by far the easiest Soup to make because all the veggies get tossed into a baking tray with a dribble of olive oil and plenty of garlic.This Roasted Butternut Soup is the easiest in the Soup Series but then again any soup is pretty easy to make and it’s a healthy meal.

I love the crispy bacon I serve it with as its the perfect marriage between the sweet roasted butternut and the saltiness of the bacon.Clean one or two butternuts depending on size.For my family I nice organic sized butternut is ideal for my family of 4.Remove the seeds and chop it up nicely, place this in a Pyrex along with one chopped onion an two tbs of crushed garlic.Season with salt and pepper along and drizzle olive oil all over.Place in a preheated oven for 30-40 minutes.Oven to be at 180 degrees Celsius.

Once all is soft and cooked remove from oven and place in a pot along with your liquid stock of choice.Mine is usually the organic chicken stock.

Liquidize the soup and cook for another 10-15 minutes on a medium heat.Add boiled water if you feel it is too thick.

Fry diced bacon and drain on a paper towel.Serve with soup.

bon appétit

 

 

Soup Series – Potato & Leek

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Nothing says Winter more than a nice warm bowl of Soup, It got me thinking that over Winter I tend …(Like many households)to make soups.So over the course of the next few weeks I’m going to introduce you to my take on my family’s favourite soups with the Soup Series.

I first ate this soup way back when I was just a kid.We were on holiday in Germany visiting my aunt and uncle, I was a terrible fussy eater and so my awesome aunt usulaly had potato and leek soup as a starter knowing how much I liked it when I 1st tasted it, that way I could get away with not eating the main course or very little of it if I so chose to do so.

Its an asbolute firm favourite in our household.

What you going to need (Ingredients)

  • Leeks (200g)
  • Potatoes – about 3-4 medium size potatoes peeled and cut into same size pieces (for even cooking)
  • One Chopped Onion
  • 2-3 tsp of crushed garlic
  • 1 Litre of Organic Vegetable Stock ( I love the Woolies one)
  • 250 ml Pouring Cream
  • Butter – about 20ml when melted
  • Bacon pieces – optional
  • salt and pepper to season

Melt the butter and fry the leeks,onion and garlic until soft.Add the potatoes and the vegetable stock.Allow to cook on medium heat for about 40 minutes stirring every now and again.Fry the bacon in the meantime and drain on a paper towel.When the potatoes are nice and soft remove from heat and liquidize.At this stage decide if you want ot add a little water depending on how thick or watery you like your soup , its also at this stage you can add your cream and then season to take.

Serve with the bacon bits on top.

bon appétit

 

 

 

Keeping our family car clean

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There have been times where our SUV looks like an explosion of sorts happened in there.At any given time there might be jackets , leftover crisps, little toys  and I can’t begin to tell you about the amount of water bottles under the passenger seat.Ive been determined to changed this over the last few months and I’m proud to say so far so good and I’m dying to share with you how we keep our family car  clean.

I roll my eyes every time I have to go to a car wash to get my car cleaned (even if I’m sitting there scrolling through emails it just feels like poor time management).I’m lucky enough that I’m able to get my car washed in my parking bay at the office (best idea ever) while I’m working my car is getting washed.I usually have them do both the outside and inside but these days I make sure to vacuum the inside once a month, this gives me the opportunity to clear out the junk.

I’ve always kept a microfibre cloth in the cubby because I can’t stand the dust that accumulates on the dashboard but no matter how many times I’d take the cloth to that dashboard once the doors opened a whole new family of dust particles rested on the dashboard.A while back I added my niffty little vinegar spray bottle and I’m so happy I did so.

Ive never been a let’s-clean-the-car-on-the-Weekend-in-our-driveway kind of girl , my husband loves to clean his own car , hoses it down , vacuums and polishes it , even gets the boys to join him.I clean the dashboard and doors in the time I sit at the school parking bay waiting for the bell to ring for the end of the day.

Thanks to Jill Nystul from @byjillee Blog I added the sponge brush to my car cleaning kit so I get to clean my aircon vents brilliantly.I can’t help but smile when I look down and see the clean vents #dustfree.

Happy Cleaning

xx

 

#superanimals – Are Back

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Our 1st trip to @picknpay to get us some #superanimals , yup I’m that sort of mom , the one who gets the whole family involved , starts a WhatsApp swop group , goes to store swop days . Why? My youngest is a collector from little , if there were/are toys or things that come in groups we had to get the “vallection” (that’s how he pronounced the word collection when he was smaller) why I indulge in this whim……
•they rather educational
•they get to practice putting the cards in numerical sequence time & time again(that’s maths)
•they learn to read & spell the animal names (that’s language)
•swopping makes for good camaraderie , making new friends , learning the art of being civil (that’s social skills)

#superanimals #picknpaysuperanimals #superanimalcards #momblogger #mommyblogger #picknpay