The Real Saint Patrick

How often, when a holiday comes along, do we begin to wonder "What would it be like without the commercialism of it all?" This year, as part of simplifying our lives, we have chosen to teach our children (and ourselves) the reason for each season.

The past week, Toby has been having a milk intolerance reaction so our days are pretty easy and slow due to how clingy and needy he can be when unwell. Basically we roll with it. Read when we can. Skip count as we hop down the hallway. Write shopping lists. Very natural learning with not many set lesson plans.

But we couldn't miss Saint Patrick's Day.

But what is it all about?

To hook the children's interest, I decided to show them a short movie about Saint Patrick. It gave them lots of laughs but also showed them the basic story.

We then spent a while role playing the travels of Saint Patrick from a young boy until his death. I printed off a map and the children used barbie dolls to be the parts of each character.

The children noticed that the shamrock showed up often in the above movie. We went outside and found a clover leaf each. It led beautifully into the next segment of our study. The trinity.

We made a simple shamrock and discussed the way that God had 3 different parts: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. As the children glued their shamrocks together we talked about our different body parts and the jobs they have. You can't see with your legs. Your legs are for walking and moving around. Your skeleton has the job of holding your body up, not for digesting food. Your stomach has that job. And the 3 parts of God are the same. Each one has a particular job. Amy was able to identify that God's job was to be creator and Lord of All and that Jesus' job was to die for our sins and help us get to God (success!!!!). They had never really heard of the Holy Spirit so had a little talk about "that voice" that tells you right from wrong and guides us all. 

We read the book "A picture of God: 3 in 1" which is available at Manna Christian Bookstores and also on YouTube.

They then, of course, had to have a snack of...you guessed it...apple! Amy happily chatted about what each part meant as she devoured her half and Sarah just ate. And thats okay! Because the more exposure they get to these harder concepts, the more easily they will begin to understand it one day when they are ready.

Before we finished, the children asked to watch another YouTube movie about Saint Patrick. I had previewed one from Adventures in Odyssey the previous night, and it turned out to be a favourite with both girls.

Finally we sung a song found from Blessed Beyond A Doubt. It is sung to the tune of Frère Jacques:

"Praise the Father, Praise the Father
Praise the Son, Praise the Son
Praise the Holy Spirit, Praise the Holy Spirit
Three in one, Three in one." 

Hair Detangler for Cents

I don't know about you, but I really struggle to pay full price for kids and babies "necessities". So often items are sold to us as essential, when in reality they are merely an advertising gimmick sent to us by companies whose entire purpose is to make money from parents who are desperate to do the best for their kids.

In walks hair detangler!

My daughter loves her hair. It is long. It is straight. It is proof that she is a princess.

However, when she gets up in the morning, my little princess looks more like a little bramble bush. Her hair is incredibly knotty and difficult to brush.

And so begins the daily battle of readying ourselves for school. She fights. She yells. But every morning the result is the same. Long, straight hair that looks as if no one ounce of effort has gone into creating that princess effect.

One day, in desperation, I went to the supermarket looking for anything that would help tame the tangles that we faced every morning. I went from shop to shop, and eventually found something called "hair detangler". Perfect! At not so perfect a price. It lasts 2 months. Every 2 months I am expected to fork out $6.99 for something that can be made at home for less than a dollar.

Here is my money-saving solution. Its really quite simple. All it needs is two ingredients and very little time.

Simple Hair Detangler

You will need:
A good quality conditioner - we use Tresemme bulk conditioner
Warm water
Strong arms

Method:

1. Squirt 3/4 inch of conditioner into the bottom of a spray bottle. I used the original hair detangler bottle once we had emptied it.
2. Fill the rest of the bottle with warm water, leaving an inch of air.
3. Close the lid and shake until the conditioner has melted into the warm water.
4. Fill with warm water to the top and seal.
5. Your hair detangler is ready to use!

Enjoy having smooth, shiny hair that brushes easily!

Blue Pancakes

At the moment, I am pulling my hair out attempting to cater to the health and nutrition needs of 3 children with differing allergies and sensitivities.

 While wandering through the library, I stumbled upon a wonderful cookbook called “Allergy Proof Recipes for Kids”. I fell in love! The recipes in this book are simple, delicious, and relatively cheap to make – a combination that was a big tick in my book!

 

One of the recipes I found was for pancakes that were healthier than your everyday flour, milk and egg pancakes. Nervously, I gave them a go.

 

Brilliant!

They were soft, moist and – most importantly – did not have the consistency of rubber!

Blue Pancakes

½ cup blueberries or blackberries
1 cup white or brown rice flour
2 tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
¼ cup flaxmeal (optional)
¾ cup alternative milk beverage
2 Tbsp oil
2 cups applesauce

1. In a food processor, combine all the ingredients. Process until smooth.
2. Pour 2 Tbsp batter into a hot non-stick pan, spreading the batter thinly around the bottom to make a hotcake.
3. When the purple batter begins to turn blue, flip and cook on the other side. Remove the finished pancake and repeat until all the batter is used up.

Pancakes can be frozen by placing waxed baking paper between each pancake and storing in a resealable plastic bag for up to 2 weeks. To reheat, microwave them at 30 second intervals.

 

Yield: approx. 10-15 pancakes.

 

Enjoy! They are delicious!

 

Frugal Baby Play

Today I'm feeling tired.

And a tired mummy is not a very creative mummy.

So to keep Mr T busy and stimulated, I came up with an activity that taught lots of skills, cost nothing, and kept him entertained for a VERY long time!

All I needed was a ball and a bowl.

My goal was for him to explore the sound of the ball rolling around in the bowl. Boy was I wrong! Mr T was not particularly impressed with my plan of events. He picked up the balls one at a time and threw them away, then turned the bowl upside down.

 

Mummy fail.

Until I had a brilliant idea. Why not hide the balls UNDERNEATH the bowl???

Bingo!

After showing him where the balls were and how to lift the bowl up, I stepped back and let him create his own learning.

I almost needed popcorn. The entertainment was priceless.

First, Mr T circled the bowl, pushing it around and growling when he was unable to flip it over.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next he tried banging on it.

He then spent almost 5 minutes pushing the bowl backwards and forwards, enjoying the sound of the ball hitting the bowl.

 

 

And repeat. Many times.

Eventually he just sat back and gave me this look....

 

 

So before you think that you need high tech, expensive toys to keep your little one entertained....look no further than your kitchen!

 

 

What items from around the home does your little one like to play with?

Beetroot Chocolate Tea Cake

In my quest to ensure my allergy kids get their daily doses of fruit and veg, I came across the idea of using vegetables in cakes.

Sounds weird, right???

I was sceptical too.

Until I tried this recipe. It creates a moist, rich tea cake that melts in the mouth. Not that my kids noticed that. Al that they cared about was that it was chocolate, and paint. Full stop.

Beetroot and Chocolate Tea Loaf

1 cup of white flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 cup of unsweetened cocoa powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup of unsealed butter or dairy-free margarine, melted

1/2 cup of white sugar

1/2 cup of brown sugar

2 tsp of egg replacement

2 tsp vanilla extract

2 Tbspn white vinegar

1 drained tin of beetroot, finely chopped in food processor

1. Turn the oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Grease the loaf tin and lightly dust with flour.
2. Sift the flour, BP, cocoa powder, BS, and salt into a bowl.
3. Melt butter or dairy alternative and pour into a separate bowl. Mix sugar, egg replacement and vanilla into the butter, whisking until it forms a creamy mixture.
4. Add white vinegar to the dry ingredients, followed by the butter mixture and the processed beetroot.
5. Gently fold together until the batter is fully mixed.
6. Pour into the prepared loaf tin and bake for 38-40 min.

I hope you enjoy it as much as we did!

Dairy-free Alfredo Sauce

We eat a lot of pasta. Its what the kids will eat so we all eat it. Its cheap, tasty and so versatile that we can adapt it easily to an allergy-friendly dish.

 

The problem isn't pasta. Its the sauce. Cupcake has been allergic to tomatoes since she was young. When I say she's allergic to tomatoes, I mean that she is allergic to the pesticides used ON the tomatoes.

 

Needless to say, she is afraid to eat tomatoes, tomato sauce or anything resembling a tomato.

 

But dry pasta is soooooo boring.

 

Enter: dairy free alfredo sauce.

 

 

Our local green grocer currently has enormous cauliflower for only 79c each!! When I say enormous, they're bigger than my head!

 

Dairy-free Alfredo Sauce

 

Ingredients:

• 1 large cauliflower or 2 smaller cauliflowers
• 1 carton of alpro soy cream or milk alternative
• 1 tsp minced garlic or 2 garlic cloves
• salt and pepper to taste

Method:

1. Roughly chop cauliflower and place in large saucepan along with garlic, salt and pepper.
2. Fill saucepan with water to 2cm depth and boil cauliflower until soft.
3. Let cool on the stovetop.
4. When the cauliflower has cooled, place in a blender or food processer along with soy cream, and blend until silky smooth. This took me approximately 3 minutes.
5. Store in freezer-safe containers for up to 3 months in the freezer or 3-5 days in the refridgerator.

 

There you have it! Nice and easy, and tastes almost the same as alfredo sauce containing dairy - and much better for you!

Dinosaur Eggs for Dinner

Here is the recipe for dinosaur eggs that I mentioned in the post "Frugal Friday - Family Fun for Cents". I'm sure they have a more adult name, but for the purpose of getting the children to eat them, we called them dinosaur eggs.

Dinosaur Eggs

Ingredients

• 250g premium beef mince
• one onion, pureed
• 2 icecubes pureed carrot
• 2 icecubes pureed courgette
• 1/4 c breadcrumbs
• 2 Tbspn oil
• 1/2 tsp oregano, dried
• 2c flour
• 3 tsp baking powder
• 25g butter
• 1/2 tsp salt
• Water, to mix
• Bought pasta sauce

Method
Using your hands, mix mince, breadcrumbs and puree's together. Form into small balls and put aside.

Melt the butter in a microwave safe dish. Sift flour, salt and baking powder together into a seperate bowl. Add oregano and butter. Using a breadknife, mix until forms a loose crumb.

Add water and knead until forms a scone dough.

Divide the dough into the desired quantities, making sure there will be enough to wrap around a meatball. Roll into balls and flattened until at least 10-15cm diameter.

Place one teaspoon of pasta sauce and one meatball on the centre of each scone disc.

Wrap the dough around the meatball and sauce, sealing on one side of the ball.

Place on baking tray and bake for 15-20 minutes at 180 degrees celcius or until lightly browned.

Serve and enjoy!