"Keep it Simple, Sweetie" with Cooking; Chocolate Banana Cake

This is my go to cake. I normally have these ingredients in my cupboard and it can not be stuffed up. Even if you burn it (which I do regularly, just cut off the ends and it's good to go, don't tell anyone).

       

Ingredients;

3 big ripe bananas
185g caster sugar
185g of self-raising flour
2 eggs, lightly beaten
3 tbsp light olive oil
3 tbsp milk
100g dark chocolate, roughly chopped
100g walnuts, chopped

 Method;

Preheat oven to 180 degrees. Lightly grease a 10x20cm tin

Place the banana in a mixer and mash it up.

 Add the sugar.....

 and mix.

 Add the sifted flour

 Place the eggs into a small bowl

 And whisk

 Add the eggs

 Add the oil

 Add the milk

 Mix

 Roughly chop the walnuts and chocolate

Add them

 Mix a little

 Add to tin and cook in oven for about 55 minutes. Leave to cool for 5 mins then turn out.






Sooooo yummy. Try it today. xx

"Keep it Simple, Sweetie" with Craft; A Me box

My daughter was asked to do this for school but it is such a nice idea I thought I would share it.

 What you will need;

Some pictures of your child. I let my daughter choose them. The things that she thought where important in her life so far.

Scissors

Wide sticky tape

A shoe box or similar

An all about me page (I'll explain later)

How to make;

We printed a bunch of pictures off the computer. We ended up with about 40 because my daughter had trouble deciding. 

Cut them all out.

And stick them all over the box with the wide sticky tape

Sides, top, bottom......

 And the inside

 Don't forget the lid.

 Next add some things into the box.
We were asked to add;
a photo of them as a baby
a photo of a special event in their lives
a special toy
a photo of them now
a photo of their family

All the photo were all over the box so that was great for us.

Make an "All about Me" page;

With the questions;

My full name is
I was born on
My first word was
I began to walk when I was
I am _______ years old now.
My favourite colour is
My favourite food is
I don't like to eat
I like to
The best thing I ever did with my family was
When I grow up I want to be a

My daughter wrote the cutest things for this like,
I don't like to eat........ WORMS
and
The best thing I ever did with my family was........... SEE A RAINDOW.
Why do we ever take her anywhere? ;)

 And there you have it, your very own ME box. It would be so lovely to keep this and make another one every few years and see how there answers change. Maybe add some more questions. xx

"Keep it Simple, Sweetie" with Cooking; Nut-free muesli bars

 Hand made muesli bars are so good because you really do know what you are putting in them. This one can also go to school because it is nut-free unlike a lot of the bought ones that may contain nuts.

Ingredients;

130g mixed dried fruits

20g crystallised ginger

60ml apple juice

155g quick oats

15g rice bubbles

1 tsp lemon zest

60ml apple juice

1 tsp lemon zest

120ml honey

Method;

Finely chop the fruit. (I used my mini processes for this but you could just cut them)

 Cut up the ginger.

 Pour the juice over the fruit and ginger and set aside for 5 minutes.

 Place oats in a bowl

Add the rice bubbles

 Add the lemon zest. Stir until combined.

Place the honey in a small saucepan and bring to the boil on medium heat.

 Reduce heat and simmer 1-2 minutes until syrup has thickened.

Add the fruit to the syrup.

Simmer for a further 3-4 minutes

Add the fruit to the dry ingredients.

 Stir until combined.

 Spoon the mix into a slice tray.

Press down with a spoon.

 Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour or until set.








Cut into bar size bits and Waa Laa, yummy healthy muesli bars. xx

"Keep it Simple, Sweetie" with Craft; Alphabet Monster

This little guy is super cute and I think he is actually going to be fairly handy in my house. I have made him to help my four year old with her letters but I'm going to make another one for my six year olds high frequency words. Awesome.

 What you need;

Some bright paper for decoration

A container. (I used a baking powder container because it was empty. It is 125g, fairly small, but I thought this was good. Any box or container you have would work.)

A computer to write the letters nicely (Not essential)

Laminator paper to make it last longer (again not essential)

Scissors

Sticky tape

Anything to decorate

Method;

Cut a slit hole in your container. (I just used scissors for this but it depends on your container.)

 Write the letters or words on your computer

 Print them out onto your bright paper

 I did upper and lower case letters on different coloured paper.

Cut them out

 I then laminated them to make them last longer but this is not essential. Cut out the laminated letters. Stay 1/2 cm away from the paper edge, so the laminated sheet stays together.

 Decorate your container

 Cover it in bright paper, I then put wide sticky tape around it, so it would last.

 Add the cute touches. two layers of foam and an eyeball.

 The game;

The game is to match up the upper case and the lower case letters.....

And feed them to the monster. It is very important to tell the monster what he is eating, the name of the letter and the sound that it makes. 

Yummy, happy monster. xx