Miss 'almost' 10 turns 10!

As a parent I like to hang on to my children being young and "my babies" for as long as possible. There will be a stage I'm sure when I will have felt like I have blinked and almost missed it all and my 4 kids will be moving out of home and having babies of there own....until then I am trying to keep them young and carefree as long as possible.....you may notice how I say the ages of my 2 older girls Miss "almost" 10 and Miss "almost" 8 ........ well Miss "almost" 10 turned 10 yesterday!!!!!! ....and guess what she says "MUM! I will be 11 next year and a teenager in 3 years" ....... (pass me another drink someone!!??)

My darling Miss 10!

I love sitting down and having a moment when its the kids birthdays and thinking of all the times we were trying for them....the moment we found out we were pregnant....the moment I knew I was in labour.....the first glimpse of that 'oh so precious' blessing you have given just birth to after them growing inside you for so long......and having all those heart warming memories flood back.....then you turn around and see your baby girl.....now 10.....so beautiful, smart and loving.....and wearing the same size shoes as me!!!!!

Miss 10 as a baby! She was 8pd 1 ....2 days over....18 hour labour.....She is 12 days old in this photo!

 Miss 10 is having a sleep over for her birthday on Friday night with a few friends, but being her birthday yesterday we always like to do something special....hubby is still in America (1 more sleep until he is home YAY!) so we didn't want her to feel sad about Daddy not being here.....my sister, nephew and neice came over after school for afternoon tea and a little play....and then my mum and dad came down for dinner and we all gathered around the tv eating homemade pizza and watching The Voice grand final......Miss 10's choice!

We are going great with the Additive Free addition to our diets and wanted to make afternoon tea and dinner the same whilst having the kids still feel like they were having "party food".....



Frozen Oranges

Additive Free "Party Food"

Making "Pinwheels" are the kids favourites! I was excited to be able to make these Additive Free. Thaw out puff pastry at room temperature, line one end with tomato sauce and grate some cheese on top....

....Roll them up like a sausage roll and cut in 2-3cm peices......

....Cook in a preheated oven (180c) for 15-18 minutes ot until golden......

.....They won't last long at all!!!!!!!

"THE CAKE CHALLENGE" somthing pretty and additive free! I made the basic cake mix from "1 cake 9 ways" out of CUT OUT THE CRAP FOR KIDS ..... and to the mix I added 1 teaspoon of cacao......

.....I made 2 of the cakes......

...preparing some ingredients.....what better than melted chocolate and fresh strawberries.......

....how good do these look....I'm kind of glad I am allergic to all chocolate and strawberries as I may have eaten them all!!!!....

....next step.....grate some more chocolate for decoration......

....once the cakes are cool.....place on the serving plate.....evenly spread with Jam.....

....evenly spread with whipped cream......

....place next cake on top.....

.....spread a small layer of whipped cream on top......ooohhh, look at that jam oozing out!....

....decorate with premade chocolate strawberries and grated chocolate......

The finished product!!!!!!!!!!!

Happy Birthday!!!!!!!!

....just to tempt you, incase your not tempted already!!!!!!!!

....and another one......can you believe this is gluten free, preservative free and additive free!!??

There was nothing left over so I'm assuming it was a hit all round!

Take Care Of You,
Coll x

easy, quick, healthy, tasty, dinner....

Friday nights mark the end of a long exhausting week for most of us.....so I like to do something easy, quick, healthy and tasty for dinner......I decided on "Sticky Chicken" from CUT OUT THE CRAP FOR KIDS (page 39) and was going to do a quick simple stir-fry with it until the girls asked if we could PLEASE make something to go with the Chicken, with our new "food processor/grater/shredder/toy" ..... it's funny that they are loving it as much as me!

What I had....3 carrots, 4 sticks celery, 1 red capsicum, 1 beetroot, 2 green apples, 1/4 - 1/2 large fennel and I added coriander to mine when serving......

The finished salad! I love my mew "toy" I put the chicken in the oven and put the timer on, made this salad and 10 minutes hadn't even gone past! And that includes getting things out of the fridge and washing the "toy" up!!!

Our dinner - Sticky Chicken and a very colourful salad! AND there is HEAPS of leftovers! Yay!

It was so delicious....and I think I would love this salad even more in the warmer months as its so crisp and fresh.....one to remember for sure.....

Wishing you all a beautiful weekend, 

Take Care Of You,

Coll x

Additive free and LOVING it!

Happy Friday! 

DAY 5 of "Additive Free" here for our household and *insert gasp* SHOCK HORROR...NO 'meltdowns' from Miss 'almost 8' - now friends of mine will know it's generally a daily thing....so as much as 5 days might not seem long to some.....its a GIANT step in the right direction for us!  

Believe it or not this "additive free" change is (slightly) scary for me! More than anything though it is EXCITING! I am doing what I feel is right for MY family and before you ask, YES we already eat VERY healthy, there was room for improvement though. Everynight we eat Gluten, Dairy and Preservative Free due to MY allergies, and I REFUSE to cook 2 different meals of a night. I limit my kids to one serving of wheat per day, even though they don't have allergies, simply because I feel it's better for them not to have too much. I expect my kids to eat what I serve them and feel that I am realistic with these expectations.....I'm not going to go and serve something with mouth burning Chilli in it and expect them to eat it.....broccoli, zucchini, carrot etc.....ah, yep, I expect them to eat it! I have been this way with them since they first started eating and my hard work has paid off - it's not "just luck" as some like to tell me! Miss 'almost 8' every night tells me she doesn't like broccoli and every night I tell her "oh well, its good for you, please eat it" ....and she does. 

However, its the snacks where I was going so completely wrong...unless I was cooking them myself of course! I have recently bought 2 little "guides" and I am in love with them (I know I have mentioned one only the other day)....no kidding I have been carrying them from room to room so I can read them when I get a spare 10 seconds! The first one is the "Additive-Free shopping guide" www.additivefreepantry.com

It has over 800 products listed that are OK! AND its broken down into woolies, coles, aldi and general....it can't get easier than that!

The second "guide" is "The Chemical Maze" www.chemicalmaze.com which I love the warning on the back of it *This book contains information that could change your life* This is NOT for the light hearted! It has all the numbers listed so you can see exactly what it is and what it can do to your body.....I was HORRIFIED to find some "chips" that I paid a small fortune for, for the twins, from the HEALTH FOOD SECTION have one of the main ingredients as MSG (nicely hidden!) and another # that should not be fed to children under 12months!!!!! WHAT!!!! Am in meant to be comfortable with that because they are 17months??!!

Both these guides have helped me change my pantry (or really 2 shelves of "snacks"!) I have had a huge clean out and it feels & looks wonderful. I was pleasantly surprised that the main ingredients I use I was getting right! Phew! ha ha! It's simply now retraining the "sometimes" food for the kids.

I have had some comments from people that think this is "over the top" and I will now be "an inconvenience to catch up with" and I accept this is their opinion, but as I say to everyone, MY family MY choice and they have the same rights. I do hope though that they learn even little bits at a time from me and start to realize the benefits for themselves and their families. I don't believe that I am better than them for doing this....it's all different journeys we are on. 

One thing for sure is my kids are NOT missing out! They were super excited to be able to munch away on Original CC's the other day and stuffed themselves with Blueberry Muffins from "Cut out the Crap for Kids" www.cutoutthecrap.com.au for afternoon tea.....I have discussed with them why we are doing this and even they are excited! They have a love of food like never before......the other day Miss almost 10 and 8 asked me if I would grate carrot and apple for them to make a "salad" for afternoon tea......one happy Mumma here!

Grated carrot and apple - yep they ate the lot!

Master 17months devouring a pear!

Making a healthy and filling Milkshake for the kids when they come home from school

Banana and Blueberry Smoothie

1 cup rice milk

1 banana

12 frozen blueberries

1 tblspn agave nectar

sprinkle of cinnamon

Put all in a blender and mix for 30 seconds!

one happy girl :-)

I am so grateful for these guides & I believe in everything they teach...... Completley Additive free Day 5 and I can see the benefits already....how INSPIRING is that!!?? I look forward to seeing what the weeks bring....

Take Care Of You,

Coll x

My new 'toy'

I never thought the day would come when I got so excited that I did a 'happy dance' over a new 'toy' for my kitchen. I say 'toy' simply because I can't wait to play with it....and sure enough as soon as I opened the box I had a 'play'.....and I must say I LOVE IT! 

I have been on the hunt for a while now for a new food processer ever since I put the lid of my 'old' (and much cheaper one) in the dishwasher and it melted....woops....guess it wasn't dishwasher safe!

I have had a heap of people recommend 'Thermomix' which I KNOW are great as I have seen them in action, but out of my budget at this stage. After getting a letter from my local Electrical Store about a sale they had on yesterday, I left Mum to watch the twins and I scooted down to buy one....saw this and fell in love :-)

It isn't just a food processor, it does chips and coleslaw and so much more so I feel like there are lots of little "freebies" involved!  

For those that love cooking "healthy" food like me from scratch then I'm sure you can understand my exitement...... in 14 seconds we made potato and sweet potato chips for tonight....topped with my recent discovery of Herbamare (thanks to Tanya W from www.additivefreepantry.com) the kids are excited.....

....they also asked to see what another "disc" did so we grated carrot and apple and make a cute little salad in 7 seconds......how lovely to see them scoff themselves with it for afternoon tea!

So with every new kitchen 'toy' becomes the task of finding room! I decided to take out all my plates and bowls that I normally only use for taking photos in my books and put them somewhere different.....I was a little shocked as to how many I have collected! 

Oh well, thats my excitement from here on this horrible rainy day.....we are all pretty yuck with a cold at the moment....hoping to see some sunshine soon as I'm sure this helps clear the germs! In the meantime....happy cooking!

Take Care Of You,

Coll x

The Airport.....

Last Saturday my husband left on a 1 week holiday and 2 week work trip to America. As it happened to be my birthday the day he was leaving, and it was a Saturday, I didn't feel like sitting around the house missing him for an extra day so I decided the 4 kids and I would make the trip to Sydney with him to say 'Bon Voyage' and to have a nice day out. 

My 2 favourite men!

"Hey Dad, Can I come too?"

I know that may sound strange to some, but a day at the airport (even with 4 kids in tow) is interesting. 

All the kids loved seeing the planes take off and the lady that checked Joshs bags in gave us the directions to a brilliant viewing platform that was semi outside....we were so close to the action it was brilliant (although not so brilliant when it started raining and we had to dodge raindrops and it became so cold our noses were freezing!).

Josh and our 4 children xxx

Joshs plane.....1pm and so dark....horrible weather......

I find people "interesting" in an environment like that (yes I was one of the few that liked the TV show Big Brother!) and I wondered when we were walking past the departure drop off point if people were frequent flyers, was this their first time flying, were they going away on a holiday or for business, was it a happy flight or were they leaving loved ones behind (more than 3 weeks like my hubby!) did they enjoy flying, were they nervous.......we walked past the drop off several times during the hours we were there and in the end my nervous giggle started as I watched the hugs between loved ones, children crying and adults crying and knowing that my time to say bye to Josh was getting nearer. My nervous giggle was there because I knew that soon that would be me with tears, not only mine but the big 2 girls, it's probably a good thing that the twins are too young to understand it all and already little Miss A at only 1 1/2 has stopped rolling over after her morning feed to say good morning to Dadda and now kisses the IPad waiting for him on there!

I know this all may sound a little dramatic to some but 3 weeks without my hubby and the kids with their dad is huge for us. The longest he has ever been away is 8 nights and that was only last year. 

I came home to have 2 of my best friends and supports swing by for a cuppa and another farewell, as they were leaving the next day for Thailand for a month.

My mind crossed on the day to those that have to say goodbye to their loved ones as they go off to war with the Army, or those (like one of my good friends) that sees her Mum only once a year and has to do that emotional farewell every time. No thanks! 

So long, Bon Voyage, Farewell, Goodbye....no matter how you say it, Goodbyes are not my "thing" ......

So back to the airport.....the other thing I LOVE is the food.....albeit I can't eat any of it but the variety is amazing and it inspires me in a strange way to want to cook and create! So often we get caught up in eating the same thing week after week when they are so many "different" flavours and ingredients out the to explore. It disappoints me to a certain point that I couldn't just go up and order the fresh Thai stirfrys they were cooking or try some of the amazing looking Japanese Sushis. However, I know I have these allergies for a reason and that pulls me back go reality - its no use day dreaming of "what ifs" unless I can turn that into "what if I can change "this" to "that" so I can eat it!" 

I would love SO much to be able to explore different countries food and travel the world experiencing it all....the Pastries and Coffees in France, the "proper" Pastas and Gelatos in Italy, the traditional cuisine full of beautiful spices in India.....however I know that's not realistic and it comes down to the fact that my allergies simply wouldn't allow it more than my fear of flying....or the fear of falling....or the claustrophobic issues of being on a plane....ok now I'm getting side tracked!!!!!! 

What I found when I googled French Pastries!

What I found when I googled Gelato!

A sign at the Airport! Love it!

So......add to my (forever growing) list of things to do......create and explore different cultures food that I CAN eat and cook at home ....... Would love to hear what countries food you love the most....do you have a multi-cultural background and cook recipes that have been handed down through generations....or if you could go to one country simply for the food, where would it be????

Take Care of You,

Coll x

Birthday Cake from my friend Melody - My Mum made me one also but I ate it before Igot a photo! Woops!

Present off my sister....she knows me well!