when all the batteries are used by munchkins....

Ok, so I had this plan I would post some crafty things I had done, but realised a miniature photographer had used up all the batteries in the camera. Despairing not I will now turn it into a post about self portraits and what children see...






Lucky they are so cute... and it's so interesting to see the world from their eyes sometimes...










The last pic is actually from my neighbours garden....so obviously a bit of fence jumping has occured!
So although I have some craft to share, this will have to do. Mind you these two are the best things I have ever made anyway :)

What we eat is killing us...

Big report out by the World Cancer Research Fund claiming what many an old wife has said for hundreds of years...we are what we eat...or as Hippocrates so eloquently stated "Let food be thy medicine ...". What the report actually says is that 95 % of cancers are caused by lifestyle. It highlights that people should not increase their weight after 21, meaning we should be lean, we should exercise more, drink less, eat less meat and eat NO processed meats (ie bacon, ham etc). We should also breastfeed for as long as possible, avoid sugary drinks and eat a plant based diet. This is a reasonable article on the topic...
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/10/31/wcancer231.xml
Interestingly in NZ the tv news had this story as its lead, reported this information, yet somehow in summing up only really highlighted the body fat issue as being a major finding in this study! And they are not the only ones. Going through some of the headlines when I googled this report you would think that they had only said we need to look at this problem. Obviously obesity is a major issue, but the fact that we are being told to eat a plant based diet, limit our meat intake and eat no processed meat ( note that is THREE ways of saying try going veg) is being played down by many media outlets... In the end reports like these can only highlight the issues and people have their own right to choose how they respond to such findings. Just wondering how all those sausage and bacon makers might fare after today...
For me and my family I hear this information and I am glad my girls have never eaten meat. I am also glad I now have some weight to my arguement when faced with those...'are you sure they are getting all the right food...surely growing children need to eat meat...where will they get their iron from?' type questions.

And while I am on a roll, the weather today...

Weather forecasts are funny things. How can they tell what the weather will do tomorrow with so many variables involved? Last night, for instance, the weather forecast claimed we would have showers all day...



But this is what we woke up to this morning...sunshine! Not that I am complaining, in any way!!!

On a roll, or should that be a muffin...

I felt the urge to make muffins this morning. Mainly because I had some stewed fruit and didn't know what I was going to do with it
:) So as I lay half asleep I conjured in my head a batch of rhubarb apple and custard muffins...mmm...The challenge being to make them vegan. So I made a mix for basic muffins, added soy milk, oil and fruit in place of the milk butter and eggs, plopped some custard (also soy milk) in the middle and hey presto...They probably needed a tad more sugar, but they taste just fine otherwise :)

choc oaty treats

I love baking, and I am reasonably successful at most things I try. My only problem is I have children who prefer the dough to the end product! So the big people are left to eat it all...Until now... Now I have found the perfect compromise. It is from Leah Leneman's Easy Vegan Cooking, and it is called Oaty Chocolate Treats. I actually thought they were biscuits when I started making them the first time, and I got half way through before I realised they were not baked. They are a kinda fudgy sauce mixed with oats, fruit and nuts. But best of all everyone loves them in my house (for now anyway....) . I like them because they remind me of chocolate krispie cakes I used to make with my aunty Fofa :) (I guess you can use the same base recipe to make a vegan version of this old fave)

photo essay

This is how my 6 year old sees things around the house...

spring

So spring is happening right now all over the place! All my fruit trees have been flowering and greening up a little. I have been clearing beds and digging in compost in the past week or so. Also have got pots on the go, sprinkled with seeds such as mesclun, lettuces, basil and cocktail tomatoes. We have been germinating seeds, and trying to be patient. I find this time of year difficult...like doing prep for painting, I hate to have to wait! At least the weather is warming up and we no longer need fires and heaters :) And once I find batteries for my camera I can post the photos.