Super quick homemade ice cream

Source: Unholylab

Most of you know that I'm an ice cream addict. I've tried so hard to stay away from it recently because I know that I can't stop until I eat the whole tub! I just keep thinking of all that sugar and fat going through my milk into Master T. But today I felt like some ice cream and I recalled a quick recipe that my mother used to make. It's super quick and super easy. It's also low fat, and doesn't contain any of the nasties that commercial brands contain.

All you do is freeze a tin of low fat evaporated milk. Allow to soften slightly, add a 300ml tub of low fat double cream, approx. 1/2 cup sugar, 2 tsp natural vanilla essence and whip with a hand mixer but not too much - you don't want whipped cream. Freeze. Once frozen allow to soften slightly and then whip again. I just used a fork and then froze again until firm and ate! The more you freeze and then whip the fluffier it becomes but I found just the once was fine.

Just omit the vanilla and add any flavour. I'm going to grate some dark chocolate and add cocoa. Can't wait!

Yummy quick meal - Pesto Pasta

Source: Peas.org

Just wanted to share this fantastic dish with you. I just made it for lunch and it was a hit. It includes all Master R's favorite foods, peas, sausages, pasta, cheese and tomatoes and is quick to throw together. Despite the sausages it feels healthy and virtuous. Enjoy!

Pesto Pasta

Ding dinners with a difference

Source: Savvymom

Since I've made the decision not to have a fulltime nanny something had to slip. And it's my diet. My diet has been crap lately. I'm lucky if I can grab a slice of toast and protect it that from Master R's greedy fingers.

So I signed up for Pure Package meal delivery service. I get 3 meals a day plus two snacks. The food is all fresh and I'm really enjoying having meals ready to just rip off the cover and scoff. Only the evening meal requires heating. The portions are huge, sometimes too big. But I feel virtuous knowing that I'm getting the required fruit and veg. If I go out for lunch I just give Mr M the meal I've missed.

The only issue is that sometimes I just feel like a slice of buttery raisin and fennel toast and a cup of tea. And that's exactly what I'm having for dinner tonight. Bon appetit!

8 boys and wanting a girl

It is quite interesting the number of boys we have between us. Out of the 8 mamas only Mama H is lucky enough to have not one but two girls. The rest of us are blessed with little boys. Personally we were really wanting a boy first. Mr M is just a boy boy if that makes sense. Second time around he wanted another boy. I really didn't mind. Again, Mr M got his wish. We'd like to have a 3rd and it would be nice to have a girl. I'd love to make beautiful little dresses for her and paint a room pink. But if number 3 was another boy I really wouldn't be worried. Boys are such fun too.

Last night a documentary aired on four families all desperate for a girl. One family had 8 boys while the others had four boys each. What I found disturbing was the desperation of these mothers. All the fathers were fine with it. Sure, it would be nice to have a girl, but they had healthy children so what's the problem. The mothers were a different story.

One mother went as far as saying that to her not being able to have a girl was the same as a woman who can't conceive at all. A dreadfully selfish and almost disgusting suggestion in my opinion. This woman was blessed with four very beautiful and healthy boys and was bemoaning this fact! The documentary showed her discovering she was pregnant with number 5 and accompanied her to the 18 week scan to see the sex. It was a boy. She sobbed openly in front of her boys about not having a girl. How will these boys grow up, especially the poor little boy number 5?

The mother with 8 boys was now in her mid forties and had been trying for a couple of years to fall pregnant again but it was just not happening. She had largely accepted it.

Two of the mothers, one in the UK, the other in the US, underwent PDG, a IVF type process of selecting only the female embryos for implantation. The practise is illegal in the UK so the British mother travelled to Spain for the process.

It was the second attempt at PDG for the American mother. Unfortunately for her it failed once again. She sobbed openly in front of her boys about not having a girl and her husband was clearly concerned about how this negativity would effect their boys.

It does have a happy ending. The British mother had refused to marry her partner of many years until he gave her a girl. After 4 beautiful boys and a single round of PDG she gave birth to twin girls. She had her fairytale wedding with the young daughters as bridesmaids. The disproportionate attention she gave to the girls while ignoring the boys was disturbing. She highly recommended gender selection as a way of building a balanced family.

Gender selection is actually legal in many US states. What are your views? Will it create an unbalanced society or just enable people to create a balanced family?

To cry or not to cry?

Source: About.com

Ask any new mum and the biggest concerns are going to be feeding and sleep - both their own and their babies. I read so many books on sleep and had formed a very strong feeling against any form of sleep training. I was definitely in the Dr Sears camp (cosleep until baby is ready to move into his own bed) rather than the Dr Cohen approach (at 8 weeks place baby in crib at 7pm, close the door and open it again at 7am). However all that changed with Master R was 7 months old.

I was going back to work on a 2 month contract with Goldman Sachs. The Sunday before I started I met with Mama V and complained that I didn't know how I was going to continue to cosleep with Master R, wake during the night for feeds and make a good impression at work. Mama V told me I was just going to have to use the cry it out method (CIO). She shared her experience and urged me to consider it. What sold me is that she said Master K was a much happier baby as a result often waking of a morning to sit in his crib playing happily with his toys - a stark contrast to Master R who awoke screaming most mornings still tired.

That night Mr M was travelling for work so I resolved myself to the task. After a bath and story we lay down together for a feed and then put him in his crib at 7pm. Prepared for the worst I was surprised when he only whimpered for 15 minutes before falling asleep. Shocked I waited for him to wake up. Finally at 10 he awoke crying but again he only cried for 10-15 minutes. He woke again at 11 and I thought this was going to continue all night. But once again after 15 minutes of crying he fell asleep again - for the rest of the night! The next night he only cried for a little while before sleeping the whole night and then every night since, except for a the odd night of course.

So now I'm a convert. I see anti-CIO parent's kids who still wake during the night at 4 years old and I'm so pleased that Mama V encouraged me to do it. Now however, it's Master T's turn. He's 5.5mths old - where has the time gone? It's not so easy. He feels like a little baby and seems to young to just cry. We've started CIO, a modified version of it anyway. He falls asleep during feeding and was waking again after 1-2 hours. But a week ago I started letting him cry. It hasn't been as quick as Master R, but so far it's working. Master T mostly sleeps through until 10:30-11pmish when I come into bed and wake him up. In the next couple of months I'll move him out of our bed and start working towards a full night of sleep. Two kids sleeping though the night, won't that be bliss!

What do you think? Did you or didn't you use CIO or a version of it?

Tuesday is bake day

Source: The Australian

Master R is obsessed with cooking. He stands up on his little stool next to the bench and insists on mixing and of course eating. An idea I stole from another wonderful blog is to have a cookie of the week. The mama blogger lets one of her 3 children choose a cookie and they bake it together. With no classes on a Tuesday it has become bake day. I'll try to post what we've baked and share the recipe.

These are an old favorite passed down from my grandma. ANZAC biscuits* were developed to send to the Australian and New Zealand Army Core while serving in Gallipoli.

*Biscuits are not savory like in the US but are just the British word for cookies.


ANZAC biscuits
1 cup plain flour
1 cup dessicated coconut
1 cup oats
1 cup dark sugar
125g butter
2 tbs golden syrup (you can find this in some stores around Battery Park)
1 tsp bicarb soda

Preheat oven to 180C/350?F. Combine all dry ingredients. Melt butter and golden syrup and add to the dry ingredients along with bicarb soda dissolved in 2 tablespoons of boiling water. Mix well and using a teaspoon form into balls - careful they really expand. Bake for about 10 minutes until golden.

Revisiting real nappies

Source: ittibitti.com.au

A while ago I wrote about my attempts at using real nappies with Master R. Despite my best efforts it wasn't very successful. They just leaked too much. I can't do nappy changes every 1-2 hours. I think he was too active for them.

However, I'm using the same size, large, for Master T with great success! They last for 2-3 hours between changes and look great too. It's so cute seeing him in little red, blue or yellow nappies. I have about 7 sets and just throw them straight in the washing machine as they're soiled. Once I've used them all I just switch on the machine (no fabric softener though as this effects the absorbency). Once washed just throw in the dryer and viola, nappies ready. I really don't find them any more difficult than disposables. I'm also saving money but better still, the environment.

These real nappies are not going to work for the long term but if I can enjoy them for the next few months that's good enough for our pocket and carbon footprint!