Nightwolf's Den

In the Den Kitchen – First birthday edition

You can now find previous In the Den Kitchen posts here or on Pinterest. Clicking Recipes in the menu above will also take you to my In the Den Kitchen Pinterest board. I’m slowly reworking some older posts so they will show up there too.
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Miss A turned one (!!) last weekend so this week I thought I’d share some of the food I made for her party. We themed it around the book The Very Hungry Caterpillar so food choices were pretty easy (You can read more about the party over at From the Wolf’s Den)

Starting with the egg on the leaf I made Devilled Eggs using YIAH Bay of Bengal Curry dip mix

Then apples, pears, strawberries, grapes (instead of plums), oranges and watermelon on a fruit platter

And the Saturday foods….

chocolate cake and cupcakes (orange and banana) – I’ll be sharing the chocolate cake recipe next week. You can find the orange cake recipe here, I iced them using some YIAH Choc Orange chocolate powder and my banana cake recipe here

Ice cream cones. There’s a bit of a story here… we started off thinking we’d use ice cream lollies, then I found a recipe that was choc filled cones with a marshmallow on top but we couldn’t find mini ice cream cones, so, I trawled Pinterest and saw marshmallow cones. Perfect. Found a recipe for sherbet and a recipe for marshmallow. The sherbet tastes like Wizz Fizz and the marshmallow was soft and fluffy. I did learn a lesson from this adventure – make it on the day you want to serve it otherwise things go soft and the 100s and 1000s loose their colour.

Swiss cheese and salami, a glass full of lolly pops, mini savs for the sausage and mini cherry pies (which were made in paper gelato cups with a square of puff pastry filled with tinned cherry pie filling).

The green leaf was represented by a green salad. Cocoons were made by cutting puff pastry in half then cutting those haves into 2 triangles. Spoon a blob of nutella on the long end then roll up towards the point (like a croissant). Bake for 30 mins in a 180C oven. Butterflies were a last minute decision – fairy bread cut into butterfly shapes.

So there you have it. Food fit for a Very Hungry Caterpillar.

and she turned into a beautiful butterfly

Like that our baby is one!

We had an awesome day and Miss A was totally spoiled.

Mum & Dad decorated their house

and there was loads of food

and cake

and of course our gorgeous little caterpillar

who was spoiled and got lots of new goodies including this

Now onto planning the next birthday (which is February for Miss K’s 6th!)

The Life:Captured Project – July 2015

You can see my previous Life:Captured Project posts here.

01 Describe a moment from today that you want to remember always.
Having lots of cuddles with Miss A. She’s had a rotten head cold and all she wants to do is cuddle into me.

02 What do you love the most about little children?
Snuggles. Watching them grow and learn.

03 When was the last time you chatted with a neighbour? What did you talk about?
About a month ago, when our neighbour moved out. We talked about our other crappy neighbours and travelling

04 If you could grow anything you wanted, what would you grow?
Mangoes

05 When it’s really cold, how do you like to warm up?
Snuggly jumpers, hot chocolate, wood fire

06 What happens on a Wednesday?
Usually Miss K is at school. Every other week is payday so on those weeks – paying bills, grocery shopping, trip to town. If not, just pottering round home or working.

07 What do you usually have for breakfast?
Hot chocolate & toast or cereal. In summer, fresh fruit.

08 What can you see outside your bedroom window?
Our driveway, the road and the side fence

09 Write about three things that you are thankful for right now.
Having a roof over our head, having wood for our fire and lots of good food to eat.

10 What does unconditional love look like?
The love of a parent for a child.

11 What do you think is the hardest thing about being a parent?
Watching your children grown up and become independent

12 When was the last time you cried, and why?
The other night cause my little one wasn’t well and I was just feeling very stressed.

13 Do you find it easy or hard to make new friends?
Sometimes hard. Other times it just clicks and you know you’ll be friends.

14 Who are the people you always go to when you need someone to talk to?
My mum

15 What are some of your family’s favourite dishes?
Chicken, pretty much anything chicken. Chinese BBQ pork. Toblerone Cheesecake

16 What would you say to someone who was grieving?
I’m hear if you need someone to talk to or just want someone to listen

17 Describe your ideal holiday.
Somewhere warm, somewhere we can relax but still go do stuff if we want. Location doesn’t really matter.

18 How do you feel about traveling alone?
I’d love it but I would really miss my family (but some alone time would be nice)

19 What are you feeling stressed or worried about right now?
Not really stressed, just worried I won’t have everything done in time for our daughter’s first birthday

20 What is the first thing that you usually do when you wake up?
Check my phone and turn off the alarm

21 If you could only keep twenty-five things, what would they be?
OMG how hard is this? My laptop, my camera, my phone, my scrapbooks, my thermomix, my pink teddy bear, my favourite jeans, my favourite black boots, my willow tree collection, our D&D collection, my scrapbookng supplies, a printer, my planner, my ipad, ….. i can’t really think of anything else right now

22 When you are gone, what do you want your child(ren) to remember about you?
I was kind and loving

23 What do you like to have with pasta?
Usually spaghetti bolognaise or a chicken/bacon pasta bake

24 Whereabouts in the world do you want to grow old?
Traveling around the world. Would love to be a grey nomad and travel when we retire

25 Write a letter to your parents, and tell them the things you’ve always wanted to say.
Oh I’m not sharing this one on the blog. Sorry world but there’s a few things I’d say that I don’t want to share.

26 Write down your love story.
The short version :p We met. Became good friends (even though both secretly wanting to be more than friends). I ended relationship I was in. We went on holiday together. We moved in together. Started a business together. Got married. Bought a house. Had a child. Decided no more kids. Had another child… TBC 😀 Celebrating 10 years of marriage next year!!

27 What are three things from this past month that have made you think twice?
Silly arguments. Rereading The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up. Listening to other people.

28 What are three things from this past month that have enriched your life?
Renewing old friendships. Having new friends. Big deep and meaningful discussions

29 How are you feeling today?
A little tired but glad Miss A is on the mend. Overwhelmed by how feral our house has become while she has been sick but motivated to get stuck in & clean it up. Looking forward to next weekend.

30 What is your favourite thing about Thursday evenings right now?
It’s almost the weekend 😉

31 What are you most looking forward to next month?
Miss A’s first birthday. And hopefully getting our tax return back

Decorating caterpillar style

Very Hungry Caterpillar Party ideas

Yes more party planning. This will be the last post about it before the actual party.

We’re keeping it pretty simple, some balloons, some streamers, a paper lantern caterpillar and a photo caterpillar.

Yet again Pinterest has heaps of ideas…

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That’s just some of my favourites. I’ll be sharing my decorating efforts after the party 😉

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The Very Hungry Caterpillar ate some cake

and mummy went a little mad trying to work out which cake she would make

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Yet again, Pinterest will be the death of me 😉 so many cake options.

Do I do something fancy like these?

The very hungry caterpillar cake and cookies http://butterheartssugar.blogspot.com.au/2012/11/very-hungry-caterpillar-cake-and-cookies.html Elaine's Sweet Life: The Very Hungry Caterpillar Cake with Butterfly. Made with fondant and hand painted.

or something simpler like these?

Very Hungry Caterpillar Cake, fondant fruit around base A Very Hungry Caterpillar Birthday Party - Rainbow Cake by Made With Pink, via Flickr Google Image Result for http://betweenthepagesblog.typepad.com/.a/6a0120a5924ef0970b017ee74a0ae7970d-pi The Very Hungry Caterpillar Cake by Relznik, patacake-parties via Flickr

or something really simple like a cupcake caterpillar?

Very Hungry Caterpillar cake! #birthday #party #cake Gives tips on how to swirl the frosting colors to resemble the colors in the book.

What we’ve chosen will be a secret til the day of the party 😉

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I’m konverted, I think

So. If you’ve been anywhere on the interwebs recently, you’ll probably read about or heard people talking about that book, or things that spark joy. No idea what I’m talking about (where have you been :p)? It’s The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo

(From Amazon)

This #1 New York Times best-selling guide to decluttering your home from Japanese cleaning consultant Marie Kondo takes readers step-by-step through her revolutionary KonMari Method for simplifying, organizing, and storing.
Despite constant efforts to declutter your home, do papers still accumulate like snowdrifts and clothes pile up like a tangled mess of noodles?
Japanese cleaning consultant Marie Kondo takes tidying to a whole new level, promising that if you properly simplify and organize your home once, you’ll never have to do it again. Most methods advocate a room-by-room or little-by-little approach, which doom you to pick away at your piles of stuff forever. The KonMari Method, with its revolutionary category-by-category system, leads to lasting results. In fact, none of Kondo’s clients have lapsed (and she still has a three-month waiting list).
With detailed guidance for determining which items in your house “spark joy” (and which don’t), this international bestseller featuring Tokyo’s newest lifestyle phenomenon will help you clear your clutter and enjoy the unique magic of a tidy home—and the calm, motivated mindset it can inspire.

Mum bought me the book & I’ve read it, twice and I have started to KonMarie my clothing. So far – 3 bags to donate (admittedly some of the clothing was the girls) and the way she suggests folding and storing your clothes seems to be working well for me. Lots f the book really resonates with me and how I’d like our house to be.
I’ll be interested to see how it goes in coming months and see if I personally can stay decluttered and organised. I’ll keep you updated.

Have you read the book? What do you think? Have you been Konverted?

A very hungry caterpillar went looking for some food

and found sooooo many ideas on Pinterest it wasn’t funny. Seriously, how many ways can you do food that is themed to the caterpillar?
I’m keeping it simple, mainly cause Miss K has soccer the morning of the party and I need to make it as easy as possible!
How much more simple than taking my cues from the story!!
In the light of the moon, a little egg lay on a leaf – devilled eggs on a bed of lettuce leaves

it's me, andrea.: A "Very Hungry Caterpillar" birthday party.

For Monday (one apple), Tuesday (2 pears), Wednesday (3 plums – thinking we might do grapes), Thursday (4 strawberries) and Friday (5 oranges) – a fruit platter
Saturday…

chocolate cake – brownies
ice cream cone – maybe small ice cream cones filled with something not ice cream or ice cream lollies
pickle – not sure about this one
Swiss cheese – and biscuits
salami – maybe some twiggy sticks
lollypop – mini lollipops?
cherry pie
sausage – mini savs
cupcakes
watermelon (on the fruit platter)

Sunday The Caterpillar ate through a nice green leaf – a salad
The cocoon – these nutella ‘cocoons’

"cocoons" for caterpillar bday- Nutella and cinnamon inside for Caleb's 1st birthday. "A Very Hungry Caterpillar" party.

A beautiful butterfly – butterfly sugar biscuits
I’d like to do something like these

butterfly cookie favors. how can these be so perfect?

but it will most likely be something like these
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And somewhere in there I’ll do sandwiches. That look like this.

Oh and the cake, but that I’m saving for next time.

You can check out my ideas on my Very Hungry Caterpillar birthday Pinterest board

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Healthy food choice for the little people

This post is brought to you in collaboration with Heinz Australia.

There can be so much confusion over when to introduce solids and what are suitable types of solid food for babies. What ARE healthy baby solid foods?

All babies will be different, but when Miss A turned 6 months we decided that it was time to slowly introduce her into the amazing world of solid foods. Well truth be told, she decided she wanted to eat solid foods, grabbing food off my plate or out of our hands. We started on purees of vegetables. Sweet potato was an instant hit, other vegies, not so much. Fruit was another success. One thing that we found great was the Heinz pouches designed for 6 months +. Easy to use and full of yummy fruits, vegies and meats – Miss A loved them. Great to keep in the cupboard and grab and go (especially when paired with the Heinz soft twist top spoon tips). Downside of the pouches – no awesome little jars to keep things in – seriously baby food jars are awesome storage for crafty bits or nails/screws/bolts etc. Bonus tip there for you all 😉

So why do we personally pick Heinz over other brands the majority of the time? For us it’s not just about price, it’s about knowing what goes into the product. Something that is nutritious and something that is good for my infant. For example, did you know Heinz source their apples, pears and peaches from Goulburn Valley, and pumpkins from country Victoria? Ingredients are delivered to the Heinz baby food facility in Echuca, where they are lovingly prepared.

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Creating a diet for our kids that has low to no nasty numbers is also a big thing for me. We have a few different allergies in our families and I’ve seen how numbers can effect behaviours. Heinz infant meals are steamed cooked and after cooking, all of the Heinz infant jars, cans, and pouches are heat sealed, locking in all the delicious flavours and preventing the need for preservatives! No nasty numbers or preservatives. Heinz infant meals have no artificial colours, no artificial flavours, and no preservatives.

I totally love that Heinz infant meals grow with your baby too, providing meal options and snacks from babies from 4 months (if you decide to start introducing solids from this age) through to 12 months +. Miss K (who is 5) still loves snacking on the Heinz Little Kidsfruit bars and sharing the Heinz Nutrios with her sister. AND who can go past the good old Teething Rusks, they were a teething staple when I was young and we’ve used them for both our girls.

TheGoodStuff

Relaxing

We’ve spent the last few days away, relaxing. Spending time together as a family. Spending time with my parents. Going out for a meal. Going to the beach. Spending time inside when it rained. Checking out Wings Wildlife Park (which if you are ever in Tasmania I can totally recommend – we’ll be going back). Limited net access. Playing with new Legos. Reading. Colouring in. Doing creative stuff. Going for walks. Did I mention relaxing. I was awesome. Much needed. Especially after 2 kiddos had been sick with head colds.
Anywho, some photos for your viewing pleasure 🙂

Colouring 01 Colouring 02 Colouring 03

Back to normal soon 🙂

The Life:Captured Project – June 2015

01 Describe a moment from today that you want to remember always.
Having tea with mum & dad. They had been at a funeral so we went out there and cooked tea for them – lemon ginger chicken & rice then steamed sticky date puddings

02 What sort of outdoor activities do you enjoy?
Walking, bike riding, going to the beach, photography, watching sport

03 Write down some of your favourite memories with a grandparent.
Spending time at the beach. French toast. Catching up with soapies with my Grandma when sick. Fishing.

04 What are your hopes for your children?
That they grow up to be happy and loved.

05 What are your biggest fears for your children?
That people will take advantage of them.

06 Find out five things about a distant relative of yours.
I’ll have to work on this one

07 Describe your family’s morning routine right now.
Get up, breakfast, shower, check emails

08 Describe your family’s afternoon routine right now.
Kids watch some kids tv. Dinner prep.

09 Describe your family’s evening routine right now.
Dinner. Kids bath. Skype with my mum. Story time. Bedtime for the kids

10 Write down five funny things that your child(ren) or your partner has said recently.
My armbow hurts (Miss K), Why is it called a beanie bear when it doesn’t wear a beanie? (Miss K)

11 How are you going with your goals for this year?
Pretty good so far. I’ve posted an update for my 100 things list.

12 What are your favourite items of clothing to wear when it’s really cold?
Big thick woollen jackets & cardigans. Scarves in either black, blue or silver

13 What are your favourite soups to drink in winter?
Tomato, carrot, pumpkin, Chinese chicken & sweet corn or leek & potato

14 Write down the recipe (no matter how simple) for your go-to comfort food.
Icing sugar. cocoa (or YIAH chocolate powder). melted butter. dash of milk. Yup chocolate icing. my favourite comfort food

15 How do you feel about speaking in public?
Hate it, with a passion. Which is odd considering a few of my jobs include speaking to groups of people.

16 When was the last time you did something risky? Write about it.
Over 10 years ago. Kissed someone while in a relationship with someone else. The person I was in the relationship was home.

17 What normally happens on a Tuesday?
Swimming lessons in the morning for both girls. Time in town with mum. Afternoon at home.

18 What were the best and hardest parts about growing up?
Best – Having an awesome family and friends. Hardest – the time of teenage rebellion

19 What was your father’s childhood like?
Grew up in Scotland. Moved to Australia when 9.

20 What do you usually snack on throughout the day?
Chocolate. Whatever baking I’ve done. Toast. Nutella

21 Describe your dream garden.
Front – roses Back – veggies, chickens, bees, play area for the kids

22 What does it mean to be brave?
To be able to deal with whatever life throws at you and keep going.

23 If you could have an entire day at home alone, how would you spend it?
Scrapbooking

24 Is there an aunty or uncle you have a particularly close relationship with?
Not really. I’m pretty close with most of my relatives.

25 What are the five things you love the most about your partner or spouse?

we like so many of the same things
he knows how to cheer me up when I’m down
he makes a great dad to our daughters
he puts up with my quirky
he’s just him

26 Is there anything that scares you about growing old?
Getting dementia & loosing my memory. Not having my parents around.

27 What are three things from this past month that have made you cry?
My littliest being sick. Being so tired and emotional. watching silly videos on YouTube

28 What are three things from this past month that have made you laugh?
Watching silly videos on YouTube. My girls playing together. Silly jokes on Facebook

29 How are you feeling today?
A little tired. Miss A has a head cold and was awake on and off all night last night resulting in not much sleep for everyone.

30 What is your favourite thing about winter/summer right now?
Hot chocolate with marshmallows. Warming soups with crusty bread. Wood fire.