Toilet training begins next week.

Get excited, this is going to be one hell of a ride.
My tips coming soon.
Ax

Is baking for the kids making me fat?

I don't actually like baked goods that much. But I find it's one of those things that the more you have the more you want. I used to nanny for a family who LOVED home made baked goods. About 3 times a week I would be whipping out the shortbread recipe, icing a chocolate slice or rolling out a ridiculously fattening cookie dough. Now I nanny for a very healthy family, who only have very good quality healthy food in the house and NO sweets. When I first started a few months ago I would get actual sugar withdrawals at about 2pm leaving me with a pounding headache and the shakes. So now I have found a compromise. I bake, but only (semi) healthy treats - everyone is happy and hopefully I will lose some ass weight now. Please?

Banana, date & rolled oat cookies

(Recipe: Woman’s Weekly “food for fit and healthy kids”)

125g butter, softened
1tsp finely grated lemon rind
1 cup brown sugar
1egg yolk
1/3 cup mashed banana
1 ½ cups plain flour
½ tsp bicarbonate soda
1 cup rolled oats
½ cup finely chopped dried dates
½ cup rolled oats extra
4 dried dates extra (chopped)

1/ Preheat oven to 180 and line 2 trays with baking paper. 

2/ Beat butter, sugar, rind and egg yolk in a bowl with an electric mixer until combined. Stir in banana, sifted flour, soda, oats and dates.

3/ Roll level tablespoons of mixture into balls and roll each one into extra oats then place on trays 5cm apart.

4/ Press a piece of coarsely chopped date into the centre of each ball. Bake about 15mins and then leave to cool on trays.

must. have. chocolate. now.

Certain times of the month I crave chocolate. Too much information? I know, but we're all friends here. Am I craving it today? Yes. When this happens and I can't make it to the shops because of a sleeping child, i.e. now, I make the slice below. It's the sort of thing you can make in a hurry, baby on your hip, one bowl, a spoon and an oven. And you don't have to sit staring longingly into the oven for hours it's quick! The recipe came from my Grandma's collection and it's really divine. I would show you a picture but I already ate it, all... sorry.

Chocolate Coconut Slice
125g butter
½ cup brown sugar
1 cup coconut
½ cup plain flour
1/3 cup self raising flour
1 tablespoon of dark cocoa
1 egg

Icing
1 cup icing sugar
1 tablespoon of cocoa
1 teaspoon of softened butter
1 tablespoon of milk

Melt the butter, stir in the brown sugar. Combine the buttery sugary goodness with coconut, sifted flours, cocoa and lightly beaten egg. Spread the mixture evenly over a pre-prepared 28x18cm greased pan. Bake at 180 for 20 mins or until just firm to touch (underdone is better than overdone).

Spread with icing immediately and leave in fridge to cool (or not, just eat it like I am now, num num num). Sprinkle with extra coconut - if you have time.

Get in while it's cold

It was cold-ish today so I took advantage of the weather and made my all time favourite soup. The kids ate it so fast I couldn't believe it. Try it tonight - there's still time!

My Potato and Leek soup
(Makes 6 bowls)

1 knob of butter
2 leeks
1 medium brown onion: peeled/chopped
2 cloves of garlic: peeled/chopped
2 large potatoes: peeled/diced
2 cups of chicken stock
½ cup thickened cream
Dash of Worcestershire sauce

Melt butter in pan over medium. Add leeks, onions and garlic. Saute until soft. Add potatoes stirring well. Add stock, bring to a boil and simmer partially covered, for 30 mins (or until potatoes are really soft). Put in a food processor or hand held blender and puree, leaving slight texture. Return to pot, stirring well. Bring to boil, let simmer. Add cream, Worcestershire sauce salt and pepper. Serve with crusty bread. Mmmm.

Tips
If you like it thick, only add the stock so it just covers mixture.
For pumpkin soup just switch the 2 leeks for a butternut pumpkin half.
If you want to freeze it, don’t add the cream to the mixture until you want to eat it.

Is that meat in my sausage roll?

 I have a  weakness for pastry - especially sausage rolls. So nothing annoys me more than when I resist the urge, buy them, and look inside at the meat and think, hmm what is that hard gristly thing, is that animal or vegetable and are those black things herbs? Ughh filth. So I made it a bit of a mission this week to try and make them myself. This easy recipe is the result of my weeks testing, and makes sausage rolls that are pretty healthy and so delicious. Best of all you know what's in them. The kids gobbled them up like candy and trust me, you will feel better for making them yourself. 

Allie's Sausage Rolls

- 500g quality sausage/pork/chicken or veal mince. (I used pork) 

- 1 cup of fresh breadcrumbs (day old bread) 
- 1cup of milk (soak breadcrumbs in milk)

- 3 eggs

- 1tbs finely chopped sage 

- 1tbs finely chopped basil 

- 1tbs finely chopped thyme  
- 1 carrot  (grated)
- 1 zucchini (grated)
- 1 small apple (grated, keeps mixture moist)

- 1 brown onion (grated)

- Salt & pepper

- 4 sheets of puff pastry 

- 1 tbs sesame seeds

- Tomato sauce, to lather on top 

1/ Preheat the oven to a hot 220°C and line a few trays with baking paper. 

2/ Combine all the ingredients minus 1egg and pastry then blend together in a food processor.

3/ Slice each pastry sheet in half so you have 8 rectangles and place on a lightly floured surface. Divide the mixture into 8 equal portions and spoon evenly down the center of each pastry rectangle.

4/ Fold one edge of the pastry over the filling, stretching it slightly as you go. Fold the other pastry edge over the top to overlap and form a seam and press down gently to seal. Turn the rolls over and place on the baking trays (seam side is down). 

5/ Cut each roll into 4 or 5 segments and make a small slits in the top (because they burst otherwise and it's not pretty). Cover with glad wrap and put in the fridge for 30 minutes.

6/ Remove from fridge. Brush the tops with the lightly whisked remaining egg, sprinkle with sesame seeds and bake for 30 - 40 minutes or until golden brown and cooked through. 

I serve these with steamed veggies/salad and tomato sauce. Enjoy. Ax

I'll have one of those baby things now please

I used to think new born babies were a bit squidgy looking, all wrinkled, blotchy and red. But ever since my best friend gave birth I feel an overwhelming urge to have one. Not only did she look utterly gorgeous pregnant, she had a natural labour that she found 'empowering' and resulted in the most beautiful baby girl I have ever seen. I have always had clucky moments and being in my mid 20's I think my body is telling me it's ready but the minute I saw this particular baby all of my senses have gone into baby overload. I can't sleep properly, I see babies - everywhere, I browse baby stores instead of DJ's and I look at my boyfriend in a different way i.e. will our kids have your nose or mine. It's sick isn't it? I used to see a baby and think he or she was cute, but then I could rationalise; 'think of the crying!', 'no more wine', 'you can't afford it'. Now my mind says; 'the smile outweighs the crying', 'I am  sooo over drinking', 'you can never REALLY afford a baby now can you?'.  And it's not just me, I know my girlfriends are all thinking the same thing when I see that glazed over look in their eyes. The moral of the story is that babies in general are cute,  but babies from best friends really are contagious and very, very dangerous. They turn a content not-thinking-about-a-baby-right-now female into a gooey maternal mess. But I think I like it.

Ax

My toddler must looooove me

Apparently if a toddler has a tantrum in front of you it’s a sign of respect. Wow. Aren't I the lucky one? I read this morning that the most trying time for a mother is when her child is around 18months old. In my experience some of the symptoms of this age group are: biting, tantrums, 'no', screaming, climbing, clawing and experimenting. However, when I look at this list I think to myself hmmm that's true those awful little monsters but at the same time I see a great similarity between  18months and 18years. When a child reaches 18years (or earlier) there is biting, tantrums, 'no', screaming, climbing, clawing and experimenting. But, there is also binge drinking, heartbreaks, drugs, sex, gatecrashing, bad circles, hormones and an ID.

I think the most important difference is that at 18months you can still pick up your child and put them in the naughty chair. At 18years they will use the naughty chair to climb out the window, over the fence, into the room of the girl next door, steal the car and drive to the pub. I think I'll take the 18month old over the 18year old thank you very much.

A shout-out to my faves

When I started this blog a few weeks ago I had no expectations. Sharing my thoughts each day has been really enjoyable, almost therapeutic, and I really love the connection with other mums and nanny's. I had a look this morning at where my readers are coming from and was thrilled to see you're from such a range of places.  Please take the time to comment or write to me as I would love to find out more about you, otherwise just enjoy the nonsense my day has to offer.

A little mention to those in, Fremont Monmouth UK, Elland, UK, Villers-ie Bouillet Belgium, Kuala Lumpur Malaysia, Tokyo City, Brisbane Australia, Perth Australia, Canberra Australia, and of course my home Sydney Australia.

Ax

Best apple invention ever

And you thought apples couldn't get any better! Well this little baby is one of the best things I have seen. For someone that 'prepares' many apples on a daily basis this de-core-er, skinner and slicer is a.m.a.z.i.n.g

Apple goes through and... ta daaa.

I would make a great infomercial chick.

When stuck inside make pizza... or not

So, I don't know if you heard on the news or saw for yourself but the view from my balcony in Sydney yesterday looked something like this:

This glorious dust storm covered Sydney for the best part of the day and we were urged to keep indoors. Not only that but the wind was blowing a gale, and you know what that does to kids. So I had to think of something, fast. We decided to make pizza. Look, the end result was pretty delicious but to be honest it took over 2 1/2 hours and the dough wasn't all that great.

The dough sat in a bowl with a wet towel over it for about 1 1/2 hours and didn't rise properly:

But the end result was yummy:

My verdict? The kids LOVED it. But I think they loved the concept of eating a "bad" food like pizza more than the actual pizza itself. If you have a good, fast recipe then please send it my way, but I think I'll stick to buying pizza bases and topping them myself.

Ax

Pancake Tuesday

Tuesdays are generally pretty average. It's not Monday, it's not mid week, and Friday is still so far away. I try and brighten it up a bit for the kids, and let's face it, me. Pancakes can be healthy, are always delicious and make for a fun afternoon. This recipe makes 12 so I usually halve it as they're so filling. Looking forward to Tuesdays now? Num num num num.

Pancake Tuesday
2 cups self-raising flour
1/2 cup plain flour
2 tbs caster sugar
2 1/3 cups of milk
50g butter, melted
1 egg, lightly whisked

Whisk all the ingredients together. Or, put them into an empty plastic bottle turn up the music and get the kids to dance and shake it around. Put some butter in a hot frying pan, pour in the mixture (about 1/3 of a cup). Cook for a few minutes, or until bubbles appear on the surface. Carefully turn over and cook for another minute.

I usually serve mine with berries and banana and a small splash of  maple syrup. Alternatively you can use lemon juice and sugar, jam, golden syrup, or honey.

Life's too short to sort socks

One thing I am really terrible at is sorting socks. I have a real inability to decipher the difference between 9month, 2 and 5 year olds socks. To make things even harder, boy and girl socks look the same - forget the days of pink and floral vs blue stripes. One day the mother I was working with pulled out all the socks and lay them out in front of me. Then she patiently explained the size, colour and shape difference. The next day, terrified of getting it wrong I came up with an ingenious plan. I sorted the laundry pairing the socks (that I can do) and while we were eating afternoon tea the kids happily sorted the socks into their piles, the person who could do it the fastest won. Sounds like a pretty standard game, but they loved it. It got me thinking about other laborious chores I could get the little ones involved with. I found many of the things I hated doing, they love! Bingo. Here are my top 5, would love to hear yours.

1-    Sorting socks
2-    Cleaning glass windows and doors
3-    Putting pillows in covers
4-    Sweeping the kitchen floor
5-    Brushing the dog

Seriously good chicken recipe

Just so you know, I do not give this recipe away lightly. It was given to me by a family whose nanny got it from another nanny - somewhere in Asia who got it from another nanny’s grandma who was given it in secret by her great aunt who was a mother of 10 children. Now you have it, you will wonder how you ever got by without it.

Honey Chili Chicken
(Serves 4)
500g chicken fillets (thigh or breast)
Plain flour
2tbs honey
2tbs corn flour
1/3 cup water
1tbs sweet chili sauce (for sensitive kids, halve the sweet chili)
1/3 cup lemon juice
2tsp soy sauce
1/2 a brown onion (finely chopped)

1/ Chop up the chicken into small pieces and coat with flour and a pinch of salt.

 2/ Heat some olive oil in a fry fan and cook the chicken until golden brown and chicken is cooked through (the trick is hot, hot oil). Put the chicken on paper towel to drain away the fat.

3/ Leave 1tbs of oil in the pan (very important there is not too much oil as honey will not froth). Dollop in the honey and stir continuously for 1min. The honey should bubble and foam, the foamier the better but be careful not to brown/burn it.

4/ Next, combine the onion, cornflour, water, chili sauce, lemon juice and soy sauce and add it to the honey. Stir it in and in the next few minutes the mixture should boil and thicken into sticky gluey goodness.

5/ Add the chicken and stir to coat. Here you can also add veggies such as, corn, peas, broccoli, carrot.

Serve with rice, cous-cous or Asian noodles.

My mouth is watering at the thought. So enjoy, and only pass on to those you love
Ax

Overworked and underpaid?

Begin rant. I know a nanny that works with 4 kids, 5 days a week, 9hours a day. She tries to look after all the kids and give them the best life possible, while juggling 6 loads of washing a day, folding, ironing, vacuuming, baking, making the beds inc. parents, she cooks the whole fam a nutritious dinner, does the school run, bakes birthday cakes, walks the dogs, monitors home work, etc. etc. etc. She gets paid $16.50 an hour, no holiday pay, no sick leave, no praise, bonus or sincere thanks. When she asked for a pay rise, she was refused, why? Because there is always another nanny out there who will work that hard for that money. When you think about it, nannies can be the most important, influential people in a child's life, and often have more one-on-one time than the parents do. In that case wouldn't parents want to keep them happy? Shouldn't parents pay them a proper wage, and give them a paid well deserved holiday so they return fresh and positive? I've had a few emails about this, and it's shocking to hear so many nannies are overworked and underpaid, feeling lonely, isolated and unappreciated. I am one of the lucky ones, with fair, grateful parents and gorgeous kids. But I have been to the dark side too. Nannying can be one of the most rewarding jobs, and the right nanny can make the world of difference for a hard working family. The demand for a good nanny is becoming greater every day, so I think there should be a demand for parents who respect the profession and keep things fair. A good nanny is worth their weight in gold, not $16.50. End rant.

Bacon & Mushroom Risotto...tick!

I'm feeling really happy about myself today. The risotto went down a treat, the only downside was that I had to hand pick out the mushrooms for miss 2. It is great to freeze in small portions, and if you're really struggling, put a dollop of tomato sauce on the side. Oh, and you need white wine for this one, so might as well have a sneaky glass for yourself. Cha-ching!

Bacon & Mushroom Risotto
2 tbls olive oil
30g butter
1 onion
4 rashers of bacon, sliced
2 cups arborio rice
4 cups chicken stock
Decent splash of white wine
2 cups of mushrooms
Half cup of cheese

Heat the olive oil and butter in a large saucepan (those big electric fry pans are brill for this). Add onion and bacon, cook for a few mins. Stir in the rice and cook over a medium heat for 5mins or until the rice gets a bit of colour, stir frequently. Add the splish splosh of wine and pour yourself a glass too, then simmer to absorb the liquid. Keep stirring. Add the stock, one cup at a time, let the rice absorb the stock before adding more. Add the mushrooms with the second cup of stock. I almost always need more stock/water. Once the rice is done turn off the heat and stir in the cheese, salt and pepper. Delish.

Feel free to add another cup of veggies i.e. brocolli, carrot, corn if you aren't keen on mushrooms, and I usually add cooked chicken pieces to bulk it up a bit.

Bon appetit mon enfant!

Making dinner every night for kids takes the cake for being the most challenging part of the day, depending on a) the fussiness of the little angel and b) range of cooking skills, i.e. making the healthy taste delicious. Finding a repertoire of recipes that the small people love would make my day a lot easier. So, every time I cook something that makes the kids (and parents) squeal with delight, or in fact they simply eat it without force, it will get a special mention here. Easy on the food presentation critique, this isn't Masterchef.
Ax

Do you have a baby in your tummy?

Asked an adorable 5 year old. And it's a really cute question if you're pregnant. But I'm not. Maybe I had been exhaling, and my top is baggy boho, right? I decided to let that one slide until her comments of my 'black and yellow' hair, 'soft arms' and 'stretchy-eye-skin' tipped me over the edge. I dealt with the personal attack calmly and maturely, cancelled the afternoon activities, stomped out of the room, and served brussels sprouts on spinach mash for dinner.

The thing is, her comments did get me thinking. Are children the answer to providing brutal honesty to our inane questions? Imagine taking a child shopping and asking 'does my bum look big in this?', 'is this penny pirate costume any good?', or 'did daddy's mummy really say I was a terrible cook?'. The answers we have been fighting for from our boyfriends, husbands and girlfriends can be simply provided by the little ones we love.

But then again… maybe I'm not ready for the truth just yet.