Banana Muffins

I recently borrowed the Mother & Baby + Toddler magazine from our local library. Inside it had a very easy banana muffin recipe, one that I thought would be good to try making with my toddler. We did just a few things differently

Ingredients
3 large bananas
1/4 Cup white sugar
1 large egg yolk, beaten
1 tsp bicarb soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 3/4 Cup plain flour
1/2 Cup oil

1. Preheat oven at 180 degrees Celcius.
2. Mash together bananas & sugar.
3. Add beaten egg yolk
4. Stir in sifted dry ingredients, then add oil
5. Mix until ingredients combined.
6. Pour evenly into a greased 12-hole muffin pan or 24-hole mini-muffin pan.

Seafood Buffet, Icons Brasserie, Sydney Harbour Marriott

On Monday we took Nathan out for an early Father's Day lunch. We went to the Icons Brasserie at the Marriott for the Seafood Buffet lunch. The food was delicious & we indulged in all the seafood! The prawns & oysters were really fresh & juicy, they had a dish of crabs cooked in a ginger, shallot sauce and they were really good too. About an hour into lunch the crab was finished & replaced with cooked mussels. They had a pretty good variety of foods & they also had make to order stir-fries, which you can pick any meats, veges, noodles & sauces and they cook it in front of you. The desserts were really good, my favourite would have to be the crème brulee. They also have an amazing flourless chocolate cake, oh and the pavlova was pretty good too. I'd recommend this place for a good seafood buffet lunch and at the moment they're buffet lunch is only $29 on Monday & Tuesday until the end of October (download the coupon here). I suggest you arrive at the start of lunch so you can try a bit of everything.  The size of the plates on which the food were served were modest for the buffets I've been to, but it was good because they kept replenishing them. The staff were really friendly & helpful & the atmosphere was really nice. I definitely want to go back again. 

cold foods

hot foods

desserts

The Star, Garden Buffet, Pyrmont

In the spur of the moment we decided to go out for lunch & my husband came across this promotional special at the Garden Buffet. To get the lunch for $9.90 we had to join the rewards program at The Star in Pyrmont, which was free. The only thing that took a bit of time was having to register in the casino & we had to do it tag-team style as children are not permitted in the casino. Once we were at the restaurant the staff were really friendly and helpful in trying to find a table/ sitting area that was large enough for 3 adults, a toddler and my massive twin pram. We waited about 5 mins for our table and they gave us a table for 6, ensuring there was plenty of space. I was pretty happy with the food, there was a good range of dishes from pastas & pizzas to curries & roasts to prawns with a good selection of desserts & fruit. It was a great place for Charlie to eat with a decent selection of non-egg & wheat dishes. 

What goes in a hospital labour bag?

While I await the birth of our second child the thought of packing my hospital bag constantly stream through my mind. I can't really remember what I packed last time but I remember having everything I needed EXCEPT the mobile phone chargers! Both phones ran out of battery just after we sent the announcement and to add to the stress of not having charged phones, we had actually organised to pick up our new bed and washing machine that same morning. It was a little hectic trying to quickly pass on details to my in-laws. So second time around I'll hopefully have the phones charged and chargers packed! Let's hope it actually happens while we rush out of the house at some ridiculous hour.

Anyway here is a list of things I've included in my hospital/labour bag that I think will come useful.

Hospital papers (yellow card, birth plan if you have one written)

Medicare card

Lip Balm 

Water bottle

Phone & phone charger 

Camera & camera charger

Sports drinks (I think I drank 2 bottles after the first labour, it was the only thing that was palatable)

Snacks (for both you and your birth partner)

Thongs or slippers

Heat pack (for back pain especially during labour)

Stress balls (to use during labour)

Toiletries (shampoo/conditioner/body wash, tooth brush and paste)

Hairbrush, hair ties or clips

Flushable wipes (this is something I didn't have last time and I think it'll be really useful, as I remember in those early days I had to keep dampening the toilet paper so it wasn't so rough)
Make-up for photos (sounds like a good plan but I probably won't actually use it)

Deodorant

Comfy clothes for breastfeeding (keep the maternity pants out, there will still be a bump after the baby is out)

Going home clothes
Maternity bras & breast pads

Maternity pads (you'll need a lot of them)

Comfy undies 

Pyjamas (button up ones are good, easy access for breast feeding)

Reading material eg. parenting magazine, breastfeeding books or baby name books (for those moments when bub is asleep & day time TV just doesn't do it for you)

Just a few tips you can prepare before going into labour that will make things a little easier when the moment arrives:

1. create a group on your phone who you wish to notify of the birth of your baby, this way you don't need to spend lots of time selecting every aunt, uncle and cousin when you just want to give your new baby lots of cuddles & kisses
2. since I have a toddler now making the dash to the hospital requires a little more planning and preparation as to who will mind the young child. I have arranged with mothers in my local mothers group to take care of Charlie until Nanna can come (she lives 45mins from us). So hopefully it all goes smoothly on the day
3. discuss through your birth plan with your birth partner so you both have a clear understanding of how you would like things to be & pack for your birth partner eg. swimmers- if your having a water birth and it requires them getting wet. Another good advice I received, if you want your birth partner to deliver the baby make sure they're not in their favourite shoes, it tends to get messy when the baby comes out, we'll be packing a pair of crocs!
4. on the topic of mess, keep a waterproof mat & towel in the car, you never know when your waters  will break. 

My First Pretty Apron

I recently came across this blog, Modest Maven and it had a tutorial for making this really cute ruffled apron. I've always wanted a pretty apron & this one didn't look too hard to make so I had to give a go. Here is the finished product. It didn't take too long to make & I think it makes a great gift. 

Review of TommeeTippee

When I was pregnant with Charlie I got the TommeeTippee Closer to Nature Manual Breast Pump from Target (seen in picture). I used it regularly as Charlie had allergy issues that we were trying to figure out and we travelled to Japan for 3 weeks when he was 5 months old and I still wanted him to have the benefits of breast milk while we were away. After having used it for more than a year the top of the handle piece had melted in the microwave when we were on holiday. As for why it happened I'm not entirely sure, maybe the microwave was too hot or there wasn't enough water in the container. Anyway I was a little shocked it happened as I have used it many times previously and never had a problem with it. I took the product back to Target to get an exchange but because it was more than a year ago and I didn't have the receipt any longer they couldn't do anything for me. My husband suggested that I contact TommeeTippee directly and see if they could send me a replacement part. 

Many months had passed and finally I got the courage to call yesterday, 1- because our baby is due in less than 10 weeks and 2- I didn't want my pump to go to waste as I had got the extra bottles, teats and lids for the system. When I called the number a really nice lady answer the phone straight away, it was nice to not have to go through a series of automated messages. I explained to her briefly what had happened and that Target couldn't do anything for me because it was more than a year ago and I didn't have a receipt. The lady immediately said that they would send me a replacement part and got all my details. I was surprised it went so smoothly and I didn't have to "put up a fight" for my case. When I got home later this evening there was my express post parcel from TommeeTippee with a whole new manual pump! I was just expecting to receive the handle part but instead they replaced the entire thing. I'm very pleased with my experience with TommeeTippee and suggest that if you have any troubles with any products just to give them a call. It was much easier than I thought it would be and in the end I got what I needed and they've kept a customer happy. 

Nappy Clutch

I've recently started sewing again and decided to make myself a nappy clutch. With Charlie older and not needing to carry around that massive baby bag everywhere I go I wanted a compact way to carry around a couple of nappies and wipes in my handbag. I made the clutch so that it fits the Huggies wipe travelling case & several nappies (the nappy side expands to however many nappies you want to carry). 

My VERY Easy Quiche recipe published!!

My quiche recipe has recently been published on the Kleenex Mums website, feel free to check it out.

http://www.kleenexmums.com.au/meal-ideas/recipes/unsorted/100-very-easy-quiche

Weekly Thought: Gifts...

"Life is the first gift, love is the second, and understanding the third."

Marge Piercy

My Little Photographer

Every so often my little boy comes to me while I'm at my desk wanting to have a bash on my laptop, instead  I pull out my camera and show him how to take photos. Anyway one day when I left him upstairs to play while I quickly did something downstairs, I came back to the room to find my camera on the floor. I didn't think too much of it as he always likes to pull things off my desk and it's my own fault for leaving things too close to the edge. The next day when I went to use my camera I found all these 'random' photos that I hadn't taken. So here are a few of his work.