Encouragement for Hard Times, Meal planning, Fun Activities etc.

 Today's video is short and sweet. I share two verses that I've been thinking about this week which give encouragement for going through hard times and making hard decisions. I also share a way I meal planned which worked well with the kitchen renovations, a frugal living tip and some activities we did in the holidays that the children enjoyed!

Coping with Change etc.

 (Cranberry and White Chocolate Oat Biscuit Recipe below)

In today's video I share a few things I've been baking/cooking this week such as Cranberry and White Chocolate Oat Biscuits, an easy simple desert (Mocha Fudge Pudding), soup from pork chop liquid, and the different things I've made with my Pizza dough recipe. I also talk about coping with change when it's unwelcome and share some things that have helped me with accepting my life change as a special needs mum.  I hope it will encourage/help someone with whatever changes they face, whether it's the changes covid has brought or something else.

Cranberry and White Chocolate Oat Biscuits

2/3 cup butter (or margarine) softened
2/3 cup brown sugar
2 large eggs
11/4 cups oats
11/4 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup cranberries
2/3 cup white chocolate chip/drops

Preheat oven to 190C. Beat butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add egg, mixing well. Combine oats, flour, baking soda and salt in a separate mixing bowl. Add to butter mixture in several additions, mixing well after each addition. Stir in dried cranberries and white chocolate drops. Drop rounded spoonfuls onto baking tray and flatten slightly. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown.

Mocha Fudge Pudding Recipe

Pizza Dough Recipe

Mice and Things not Nice

 (Below Pack-A-Snack Bars Recipe)

In this video I show some things I've been doing with the children during lockdown, a new muesli bar recipe, a way I used up leftovers, a Christian movie I enjoyed and some thoughts from some creatures that have been in our house!

Pack-a-Snack Bars
Base:

1 cup flour
1 cup wholemeal flour
1 cup rolled oats

200g chilled butter

1 cup brown sugar

Topping:

4 large eggs

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 tsp vanilla

2 cups almonds

1 cup dates, chopped

1 cup dried apricots, chopped

1 cup chocolate melts

1 cup coconut

    Heat oven to 180C (170C fanbake), with the rack just below the middle of the oven. Line the sides and bottom or a 23cm square pan (I used rectangular) with baking paper.

    For base, chop the flours, oats and cubed butter together in a food processor, or grate the butter into the oats and flours in a bowl. Mix in the brown sugar and press the mixture into the prepared pan. (For a thinner base use half the base ingredients.)

    For topping, put eggs, brown sugar and vanilla in a large bowl and beat with a fork just until whites and yolks are evenly mixed. Add all the remaining ingredients and mix together with a stirrer or spatula.     Spread over the uncooked base and press down fairly evenly.

    Bake for 45 minutes, covering the top if it browns too quickly. Cool in the baking pan, preferably overnight. When completely cold, cut into four large pieces using a sharp serrated knife. Trip off the outer edges if necessary. 

    Store pieces in the refrigerator up to a week, or freeze for up to six weeks in plastic bags or covered containers. Cut each piece into bars or fingers as required, just before serving.

Making the Hardest Day a Favourite Day...

 (Chewy Oatmeal Cookies, Date Balls, Oaty Pancakes,  Potato Fritters and Easy Pizza Dough Recipes below.)

Today I talk about the day of the week I find the hardest, but how I've found ways to make it a favourite day! I also share a frugal living tip, some easy recipes, some thoughts about love, two ways to use up leftovers and a few others things/thoughts. Recipes below.

Chewy Oatmeal Cookies
1 cup butter softened (225g)

1 cup white sugar

1 cup brown sugar

2 eggs

2 tsp vanilla 

2 cups flour

2 cups oats

11/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup each raising/chocolate chips

In a large bowl cream butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla. Beat well. Combine flour, oats, baking soda, cinnamon and salt and add to creamed mixture. Mix well. Stir in raisins and chocolate chips. Drop teaspoons on tray. Cook 9-10 minutes at 180C.

Date Balls

2 cups dates (approx)

11/2 cups coconut

3-4 tblsp cocoa

(optional) nuts or seeds

Cut dates. Process all ingredients until fine. Add some hot water--enough to make the mixture sticky enough to roll. Roll into balls and in coconut. Put in the fridge to become hard.

Pizza Dough

1 sachet dry yeast (active)

1 tsp white sugar

1 cup warm water

21/2 cups flour

2 tblsp olive oil

1 tsp salt

Dissolve yeast and sugar in warm water. Add in other ingredients and knead lightly. 

Cook 230C for 15-20 minutes

Potato Fritters

Mix equal amounts of mashed potatoes and flour. Add 1tsp baking powder, 1 egg and any extras--chopped bacon/ham, parsley, cheese, chicken stock, paprika, salt and pepper etc.

Roll into balls. Fry on both sides.

Oaty Pancakes

3/4 cup milk

3/4 cup rolled oats

1 large egg

1/2 cup self-raising flour

3 tblsp sugar

1/2 tsp salt

25g (2tblsp) butter

Pour the milk over the oats and leave to stand for a few minutes. Add egg and beat with a fork. Sift in flour, sugar and salt (Don't mix). Melt the butter in a non-stick pan in which pancakes will cook later. Add melted butter to bowl and mix everything. (Don't mix too much). Pour some pancake mixture into the hot pan to make a round pancake. When bubbles burst on tops of the pancake, turn it over. Cook second side until the center springs back when lightly pressed. Adjust the heat if necessary, so next pancakes are golden brown.

Cultivating Patience, Sowing Seeds etc. Vlog

This week I felt very uninspired and I prayed about skipping a video this week. But after praying about it, I realized I did have a few things to share. I also remembered Ecclesiastes 11:6 which I talk about and explain. I share some ways to cultivate patience, some thoughts about staying close to God and about gratitude, some frugal living tips and some good Christian movie recommendations.

 

A Different Perspective, Golden Oldies etc.

 (Spaghetti Sauce and Louise Cake Recipes below)

In this vlog I share some of the things I've been doing while my children have been away at my parents, my perspective since Lydia's first year, three frugal living tips, and encouraging article etc.

Spaghetti Sauce

2 medium onions

2 cloves garlic

2 tsp oil

500g minced beef

1 large carrot, grated or finely chopped

1 400g can diced or sieved tomatoes

1/2 cup tomato paste

1 50g packet tomato soup mix (or bacon and onion)

1 cup hot water

3 tsp instant beef stock powder (or cube of beef stock)

1 tblsp brown sugar

1/2 tsp oregano

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 smoked paprika or 1 tsp plain paprika

Finely chop onions and garlic. Heat the onion, garlic and oil in a non-stick frypan until the onion is transparent, then tip into the slowcooker bowl (if using).

Add all the remaining ingredients and stir together.

(You can cook in the slow cooker on low for 6-8 hours or just cook it all in a pot on the stove!)

Louise Cake
100g softened butter
1/2 cup sugar
2 large egg yolks
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup self-raising flour

1 cup standard flour

Filling

1/2 cup good quality raspberry jam

Topping:

2 large egg whites

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup sugar

3/4 cup coconut

Heat oven to 160C (150C fanbake). Line the sides and bottom of a pan about 18x28cm with baking paper, allowing enough extra paper on the sides for lifting the cooked slice out.

For base, put the softened butter and sugar in a food processor or large bowl. Separate two eggs, adding the yolks to this mixture and put the whites in a separate bowl ready to use for the topping. Add the vanilla, mix the egg yolks through the softened butter and sugar, then add the two flours and mix again until evenly crumbly. Tip crumbly mixture into prepared pan and press down evenly. Bake for 15 minutes.

 Make topping while base cooks. Beat the egg whites and vanilla until frothy, then add the sugar and beat until the tops of peaks turn over when the beater is lifted from them. Fold the coconut evenly through the meringue. 

For filling, spread the jam over the hot, partly cooked shortcake.

Put the meringue in spoonfuls over jam, then spread evenly with a knife. Sprinkle with 2 tblsp of coconut if you want. Bake for about 15 minutes or until the meringue feels crisp and is evenly and lightly coloured. Cool completely before cutting into pieces of the desired size.

Rest, Loving Your Children...

 

In this video I share some thoughts on rest and quiet time with God, loving your children and husband, frugal living tips, and some recipes etc.

Three Recipes, a Simple Thought that Makes a Big Difference etc.

(Lemon Pudding Cake, Caramel Biscuits and Rice Pudding Recipes are below.)

In this video I share a frugal living tip and 3 recipes that relate to this tip--Lemon Pudding Cake, Caramel Biscuits and Slow Cooker Rice Pudding. I also share a simple living tip, a simple thought which has helped me with the stress of getting the children ready for school in the morning (but which applies to anyone in any situation), some photos that Johan took on his holiday last weekend and a few thoughts from the story of Sarah in the Bible. 

As I was typing out the Rice Pudding Recipe, I realized I wrote the wrong measurement for sugar on the video (2-3tblsp). The correct measurement is down below. (4-6tblsp)

Lemon Pudding Cake
8 eggs, separated

2/3 cup lemon juice

2 tsp lemon zest

2 tblsp butter, melted (30g)

3 cups of sugar

1 cup flour

1 tsp salt

3 cups milk

Preheat heat oven to 350F or 180C. Beat egg yolks, lemon juice, lemon zest, and butter. Combine sugar, flour and salt; add to egg mixture alternately with milk. Beat egg whites until stiff and fold into batter. Pour into greased 9x13 inch pan. Set pan inside a larger pan of hot water in the oven. Bake for 45 minutes.

 (We like it best cold rather than warm.)

Caramel Biscuits

250g butter

1 tblsp golden syrup

1tsp vanilla

2tsp baking powder

2 cups cornflakes

13/4 cups sugar

1 egg

2 cups flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 cup coconut

Cream butter and sugar, add golden syrup, egg and vanilla. Beat well and fold in flour, baking powder and baking soda. Lastly, add coconut and cornflakes. Roll into small balls, and press slightly. Bake at 180C for 15-20 minutes. (Cook less if you want more soft or less brown)

Slow Cooker Rice Pudding (Double)

1 cup short grain rice

6 cups milk

1/2 tsp salt

4-6 tblsp sugar (white or brown)

2 tsp vanilla

Turn the slowcooker onto low. Put the rice, milk and salt into the cooker bowl, cover and cook for 4 hours. The rice is cooked when you taste a few grains and find that they disintegrate when you rub them against the top of your mouth with your tongue. If you would like the rice softer, cook it for longer, up to another hour.

Turn off the slow cooker and lift out the bowl, sprinkle the rice with white or brown sugar and drizzle with the vanilla. Serve warm or chilled. (We like it chilled!)

Turn the slowcooker onto low. 

What I do on Fridays ...

 In this video I share a little about what I help my husband with on Fridays and what I've been learning through that. I also share a time management/simple living tip, a frugal living tip, a nice Christian movie and some challenging thoughts on prayer.

Lessons from Kids, Old Ladies and Stuff || Simple Living etc.

(Baked Oatmeal Recipe below)

On this video I share some thoughts I've been challenged this week--one to do with children and consistency and the other to do with old ladies! I also share different ways I've been using up the apple sauce I made last week, some simple living tips, what I got done on Saturday, a good lunch box recipe, a frugal living tip and what I found at the opp shop this last week.

Baked Oatmeal
2 eggs

1 cup sugar (I use a bit less)

1/2 cup butter or margarine, melted

3 cups oatmeal

1 cup milk

2 tsps baking powder

Pinch of salt

(I like to add a tsp of vanilla for flavour)

Preheat oven to 180C /350F. Combine eggs, sugar, and butter. Add oatmeal, milk, baking powder, and salt; stir until well blended. Pour into dish and bake for 30 minutes. Eat warm or cold with some milk.

Pain and Busyness...

I was going to skip making a video this week, because it's been a very busy week and I didn't feel well on a few days. Instead I decided to talk about those things and what we can learn from them. And I added a few frugal living tips, a time management tip, a muesli bar recipe, and some Christian movie recommendations.

Easy Meal Idea, Beautiful Poem, Being Unique...

 In this video I share an easy meal idea that we had for dinner last night, another helpful motto, three frugal living tips, one simple living tip, some thoughts about having courage to be unique and a beautiful poem from Streams in the Desert.

'The road is too rough,' I said; 

'It is uphill all the way; 

No flowers, but thorns instead;

And the skies over head are grey.'

But One took my hand at the entrance dim,

And sweet is the road that I walk with Him.

"The cross is too great,' I cried--

'More than the back can bear,

So rough and heavy and wide,

And nobody by to care.'

And One stooped softly and touched my hand:

'I know. I care. And I understand.'

"Then why do we fret and sigh;

Cross-bearers all we go:

But the road ends by-and-by

In the dearest place we know,

And every step in the journey we

May take in the Lord's own company.

My Favorite Motto, Swiss Dough Recipe, God Providing...

(Swiss Bread Dough Recipe below)

 On this video I share my favorite motto and a thought that goes along with that, two frugal living tips and what I found at the opp shops this past week, the Swiss dough recipe and what my children made with it over the holiday. I share two housecleaning tips and a story and sermon about God providing.

Swiss Bread  (Zupfe)
7 cups of white flour
1 tblsp salt

125g butter--melted

600ml milk

2-3 tblsp dried yeast or 7 tsp surebake yeast.

1 egg

Put flour and salt in large bowl and mix.

Melt the butter in a saucepan, then add the milk and heat only to body temperature. 

Add the yeast to the warm milk.

Add the egg and mix well.

Pour the liquid over the flour, mix, then knead for 10 minutes.

Put the dough back into the bowl, cover with a damp tea towel and let rise to twice the size.

Plait (if you want to plait it the swiss way) and bake at 200C for 45 minutes. Or make into buns and cook till done.

Fun with Pastry and Dough...

 

In this video I show what the children made with their pastry, another simple living tip, a frugal living tip and what I've been doing to make the most of what I have and a helpful Christian movie recommendation.

A Fun Holiday Idea, Simple and Frugal Living Tips...

 In this video, I share a fun idea for children, a frugal living tip with some ideas, two simple living tips, some thoughts about coping with the pain of living far from loved ones and a favorite sermon.

Easy Butter Chicken, Morning Routine, School Holidays Ideas...

 I'm not sure how this video got so long, considering I missed out half of what was on my list! But I share my favorite easy butter chicken recipe, some thoughts about seasons, my morning routine, a parenting tip, some school holiday ideas, one of my favorite movies and a few more things. I also share that the reason that I share these tips is because I know what it feels like to be behind and overwhelmed and I hope these tips might help someone else like they helped me. The last thing I want to do is make someone feel overwhelmed by watching these videos! 

Let's talk about Gardening, Clothes, Laundry, and Saving Money!

 We have just been away for Easter, so I planned to miss a video this week. But yesterday I had an unusual amount of energy and I got two days work done in one! So I was still able to do it.

In this video I share a gardening tip, a tip I find helpful with clothes and laundry, a Christian movie that someone else recommended to me, a way we save money, some photos/videos from our holiday and a few other things.

I hope you and your family have had a nice Easter reflecting on Jesus, the cross and the empty tomb!

A Helpful Organization Tip...

 Last year I got the idea to make more videos along the lines of what I share on here. Videos to share what I am learning or things that I find helpful etc. But I tried to forget about it, as I am much more comfortable with writing! However the idea won't go away, so I am going to give it a go.

On this video I give an introduction and share my motive and reasons why. I also share the kind of things I hope to make videos about. I love it when I hear helpful tips from other people and I believe strongly in sharing to help each other! In my case it's more of a need to share things. If I didn't have some way of sharing, I would burst or something! 

I do not think I know anything better than anyone else, I am just like a beggar telling other people where I found some food! Also, I get overwhelmed very easily and I've had plenty of times when I've been sick/pregnant and in survival mode. The last thing I want to do is to overwhelm someone else especially if they are going through a time of 'survival!'. So please take what's helpful and leave what's not!