About 6 months ago I packed away all of my CD’s.  I now listen to music using the ipod and dock and had no need to have the CD’s out anymore.  However this did leave me with a small problem.  For my 21st birthday my parents had given me a CD rack made out of NZ rimu.  I loved it (and still do).  After I packed the CD’s away I had no idea what to do with this now empty rack.  I could not bring myself to get rid of it so it has been sitting empty for the past 6 months.

A couple of days ago inspiration hit.  By adding a few bits of dowel I now have a great Bias Binding dispenser.  Also adding in some empty CD cases I have some extra storage for thread, bobbins and other bits and pieces.

1. Put the elastic band over your knee or another solid object.
2. Take a piece of tulle and fold it in half
3. Place the tulle under the elastic and open up the loop (figure a.)
4. Push the ends of the tulle through the loop (figure. b)
5. Pull the tulle until it is snug around the elastic (figure c)
6. After you have finished 10 tulle loops add a loop of the feature fabric
7. Continue steps 3 – 5 doing 10 tulle loops and 1 feature loop
8. Tie on the ribbons using a standard knot at even points around the tutu

Pictures coming soon

Well as I couldn’t make a decision I decided that I would let random.org decide for me.  You also all get 20% off vouchers!

1. Tlani Knuth

2. Renee Houston

3. Char Harrison

4. Lily Moegelberg

5. Belinda Howard

Congratulations Char!

This variation of ‘egg in the hole’ is one of our favourite breakfasts!

Jade isn’t a big fan of eggs but when she helps me make them looks like stars or hearts she thinks they’re great!

To make them all you need to do is butter a piece of bread on both sides and use a cookie cutter to cut a shape from the centre of the bread. Having 2 little girls the preference in my house is for stars and hearts!

Simply fry the bread in a pan or on the bbq. Crack the egg into the hole in the centre of the bread and wait until cooked. These work best when flipped over. If you don’t like your eggs flipped simply turn the bread before adding the egg to ensure both sides are browned.

We usually serve with a side of bacon for breakfast but can be served up with some veges at dinner time!

Hi Kim, a friend of ours made this for us and got Mattthew to help.  It was so simple and we all loved it

Dessert Pizzas

Ingredients:

4 small Pizza bases (ready-made or home-made) 250g sour cream

1/2 cup soft brown sugar (approx)

Bananas, sliced

Marshmallows

Choc chips

Instructions:

Mix sugar into sour cream until melted.  Adjust amount of sugar to taste.  Spread over pizza bases.  Decorate pizzas.  Bake for 15 mins.  Enjoy!

It’s our favourite because they’re easy; even my not-quite two year old can help and have a great time rolling the balls in corn flakes (making a mess!); and they’re really yummy!

250g butter or margarine

1 cup castor sugar

2 eggs

½ teaspoon vanilla

2 cups S.R. flour

5+ cups Corn Flakes

1 pkt Choc-Bits

½ cup sultanas

1. Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
2. Add eggs one at a time and beat well. Add vanilla, blend.
3. Fold through sifted flour, choc-bits, sultanas and 2 cups Corn Flakes.
4. Form into walnut sized balls and roll in remaining (slightly crushed) Corn Flakes. Bake on greased oven trays in a moderate oven (180°C) for 12-15 minutes until lightly golden brown on underside.
5. Cool on racks. Store in airtight container. Makes 50.

1 kilo carrots (peeled and chopped)

40 grams butter or marg

300 gram tin of chickpeas

bunch of spring onions (6 in bunch)

1 tablespoon minced ginger

1 tablespoon minced garlic

7 cups of vegetable stock

Step 1 – Melt butter or margarine in large pot, not on full heat, add chopped spring onions, garlic and ginger. Cook for 5 mins to soften.

Step 2 – Add the chopped carrots, drained tin of chickpeas and vegetable stock.  Cover and simmer on low heat for 45 mins (or until carrots are soft)

Step 3 – When carrots and chickpeas are very soft, puree with hand blender or potato masher until smooth

Step 4 – Ladle into soup bowl, serve with crusty bread.

Some people like a bit of plain yoghurt with this.

Enjoy!

Our first couple of recipes for the recipe competition are coming in.  Don’t forget to vote for your favourite by leaving a comment.

Cornflake Cookies – Submitted by Tlani Knuth

Ingredients
125g butter, chopped, at room temperature
2/3 cup caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla essence
1 1/4 cups self-raising flour, sifted
1 tbs milk
1 1/2 cups cornflakes
1/2 cup sultanas

Method
Preheat oven to 180°C. Line two large flat baking trays with non-stick paper.

Using electric mixer, cream the butter, sugar and vanilla essence in a mixing bowl until creamy. Add the flour and mix on low speed until just combined. Add milk and mix until dough comes together. Using a wooden spoon, stir in cornflakes and sultanas, and mix until well combined.

Using 1 tbs of mixture, roll into balls. Place onto baking trays allowing room for spreading. Flatten slightly with a spatula. Bake for 12-14 minutes, swapping trays after 8 minutes or until light golden. Stand for 5 minutes on tray before transferring to a wire rack to cool.

As my daughter gets older I am on the lookout for new and fun recipes I can make with her.   Of course she loves making the sweet stuff where she gets to lick the spoon, but she also enjoys making her own pizza, decorating her own cheese on toast and sprinkling cheese and pinenuts on almost any dinner.  However I am now in need of some inspiration.  Some fun, new and preferably healthy dinner and snack options that she can get involved with and help make.

Now how do I find these recipes?  Well here is the fun part.  I thought we could turn this into a little competition.

If you have a recipe you make with your kids please send an email to kim@kaboodle.net.au with the recipe and a little description about why you like that recipe.

I will publish the recipes here on this blog and everyone can vote for their favourite recipes.  I will also choose my favourite recipe and the person who sent this in will get to choose either a Toddler or Kids apron in their choice of fabric.  They will also get a 20% off voucher and free postage within Australia.

Then the 5 recipes with the most number of votes will all get a 20% off voucher and free postage within Australia.

Although not a requirement of the competition I would love for you to include a photo of you and your child cooking.  This would be included in the blog with your recipe.

I can’t wait to see the recipes.  Happy cooking!

The fineprint:

• For the main prize my decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into
  
• The 20% off vouchers will be given to the 5 recipes that recieve the highest number of votes.
• Recipes can be entered from today until Friday 2nd July
• Voting will close at Midday Sunday 4th July
• Winners will be announced after 4pm Sunday 4th July
  

So a week after making the lolly cake I am finally getting around to uploading the photos.  We had fun making it and Ariane especially had fun sampling the different ingredients.

During the afternoon Ariane decided she did not like what she was wearing.  She dug out some different clothes to wear and no amount of talking on my part could convince her to stay in her existing clothes (or select some more matching clothes), as a result she ended up in a lovely combination of pink tights, red dress and dusky pink top.  At least the apron looked good!

I ended up making two smaller logs.  The first was cut up for the party but the second is still sitting in my fridge.  I really need to find somewhere to take it so I don’t end up eating it all myself!