{The 1 minute Smoothie : Healthy, quick and delicious}

I created this quick breakfast idea and the family LOVE it. This is a great idea to add to spring/ summer for breakfasts or on the go smoothies at any time.

I set up a bunch of small snap lock bags. In each bag I put the following:

- 4 strawberries
- A spoonful of blueberries  
- 1 dessert spoon of oats
- 1/2 banana cut up into pieces
- 2 spoonfuls of your preferred yoghurt (I use natural yoghurt)
- Splash of vanilla
- Sprinkle of cinnamon 
- a squeeze of honey
- a sprinkling of flax seeds and chia seeds

Zip up the bags and pop into the freezer. That's the hard part! 

Then, each morning, I just take a zip lock bag out and add it into my magic bullet blender thing, fill it with milk and blitz.  
[You could also use a blender, but that's why i love the magic bullet because you have to wash far less dishes!]

SOOOO easy! And because it's all frozen, it turns into a sort of a smoothie frappe. VOILA!!!

You can also try this with any fruit/ yoghurt combinations you have on hand. Other ideas to add to the bag might be:
- passion fruit pulp
- tinned fruit
- flavoured yoghurts
- fruit puree's frozen into cubes like the yoghurt concept
- blueberries
- paw paw
- kiwifruit
- a sprinkle of cinnamon
- mangoes

.........let your imagination take over and create!!!

Enjoy;

Lauren x

{School Holidays "Muuuuum I'm Bored"}

Well, school holidays are upon us in Sydney. Here are a few fun ways I have found to help beat the boredom. The best bit is, that you can create the ideas on your own or with the kids, but when you hear the (somewhat inevitable) "Muuuuuum I'm bored"... they go and choose something themselves to do. This teaches them to learn to regulate their own boredom and manage their own time.

Deliah creates the bucket list

The Crafting Chicks

Craft-O-Maniac

Keeping it Simple

I hope you enjoy your holidays and would love to hear how you deal with the holiday activities and boredom!

Lauren x

{Toddler / Pre-schoolers Quiet Book}

I was browsing on pinterest the other day and came across a few quiet book ideas for toddler/ preschoolers. Most of them were hand sewn and beautiful. I was in craft heaven!

However, with a family lunch on later that day, i didn't have much time. So I came up with this in the morning (nothing like leaving yourself a few hours to complete a project).
Armed with my mac book, a laminator and some blue-tak (will replace with velcro dots asap) I got to work.
I would format it properly if i gave myself more than 20 mins to design the pages.

So, here is what I came up with on the rush and it was SUCH a hit for my VERY busy and inquisitive 2 year old. The beauty is you can just add pages as you want to and personalise as interests and skills grow and change.

The cars being different colours and sizes makes a great talking and learning point "Show me the yellow cars" "where are the big cars?" "can you show me the little red car?"


The colours are printed on the page and cut out and laminated also, it helps the little ones know where to put them.

I hope you enjoyed this idea and I now have an order for a 5 year old in the house!

Lauren x

{Spring Clean Time}

Well, It has been a while since my last post. I have been knocked about with a sickness for the last two weeks and have had to had to have some tests done and a few visits to hospital. I am okay, but am SO grateful for my freezer meals I had created earlier (they have saved me on more than one occasion).

Amidst the sickness, I have been starting some serious spring cleaning. As we moved into our new house last December (and did the usual skip bin before the move) the spring clean is obviously going to be different to that of a house a few years old.

Have done
* The boys clothes (clear out sizes that are too small)
* Organise Medicine cabinet (chuck expired ones out and re-organise into 4 tubs a.kids medicines b. adult medicines c. bandages, dressings and medicine cups and d. sun care and repellant)
* Clean the windows of the house
* Clean out dvd's and video game discs into a disc organiser bag (all in one place and easy to take into the car for our car dvd player)
* Organise the clutter in the laundry and clean appliances.


I cleaned my washine machine by putting 2 cups of white vinegar into the machine. Put it on a hot wash with a soak setting. I did this overnight so it was cheaper. Voila!


There are other things on my list and I want to do them in the next week or two. I just choose one or two a day and get stuck into it.

To Do
* Clean out plastics cupboard and re-organise
* Go through mine and hubby's wardrobe.
* Go through toys and clear out/ donate any old/ unused toys


I would love to hear if you are a spring cleaner or not and how you do it and any tips you want to share.

Lauren x