Tuesday 29 October 2013

TUTORIAL: Rolled Stuffed Leaves

Just recently, I was talking to someone about what we stuff. We stuff, zucchinis, zucchini flowers, capsicums, silverbeet, dried eggplants and vine leaves. I am now looking forward to trying my hand at stuffing cabbage and leek. I wonder if there is anything else that we could stuff that we haven't tried yet.

The last time, I shared with you a tutorial to show you how you can stuff your (silverbeet) leaves in a triangular shape. To access to the tutorial which includes the preparation of the leaves, the stuffing, the cooking method and more, you can click here.

This time, I am sharing the easiest method of stuffing leaves with you; rolling. The pictures say it all but if you have any questions, please ask in the comments section below.

Enjoy!

Silverbeet leaves

stuffing leaves

recipe: how to stuff leaves

tutorial on how to stuff silverbeet leaves

stuffed silverbeet recipe

rolling silverbeet leaves

stuffed silverbeet

making dolmas




Saturday 26 October 2013

TIP: Whitening Socks

Photo Credit
As it is well known to us all by now, white socks start changing colour in time. To whiten them once again, boil them in lemon and water mixture.

Sunday 13 October 2013

DID YOU KNOW ...? (74)

Cat
Photo Source
Cats use their whiskers to feel if they can fit through a small place, like a hole in a fence. If their whiskers fit through, they know their body will, too.

Monday 7 October 2013

A Photography Challenge

Less than a couple of weeks ago, I put my hand up for a link party, my first ever linky party to be exact. The lovely lady, Ipek, from Hep Yesil blog invited us all to a photography challenge. The idea was to photograph what made us happy or what inspired us over a period of time. Here is my contribution.

Day 1 (Mon, the 30th Sept): 
Scooting around

My son, who has recently turned 5, wanted to have a 'boys' time alone with his father. He is surely growing up fast! Soon after my husband came home from work they went out together. It was the first time Mr. Junior had ever been to a cinema. They watched the 'Planes' at the cinemas, played some games, bought him some plane toys and dined out. My son had popcorn which he didn't enjoy much and hubby ended up eating it all. Meanwhile, Miss Junior, who is 2,5 years old, wasn't impressed that she was left behind and was upset for a while. It was a windy day but I took her outside regardless. We ran around, went for an egg hunt and she also went on her brother's scooter. She only learned to ride the scooter the day before. She was quite happy by the time we came back home after that.

Day 2 (Tuesday, the 1st of Oct): Lost chicken flyer

Miraculously, we found our lost chicken after her disappearance almost two weeks ago! We had registered her as a lost pet with the council, talked to some of our neighbours, and gone around looking for her in the first days. Later on, we printed out some flyers and with the kids, we walked around in our neighbourhood and dropped them off in mailboxes as well as at a nearby fast-food store while a lovely friend of mine, a beautiful lady from the same community helped us out by putting up some posters at local shopping centres and the vet. We got a call from a lady who happened to be one of our neighbours saying that she found the chicken in her garden and kept her for a week. When they found her, she was cornered by their pet dog and both the dog and the chicken had no idea what to do with the other. They were both afraid of each other (luckily!). They let her out in the garden during the day and kept her in the laundry at nights. When they lost hope in finding the owners, they gave it to a priest friend of theirs who had other chickens. Once they saw our flyer in their mailbox, they called us using the number we had left. She then arranged it with their friend who returned our little 'girl' safely. She is now a bit quieter than usual but seems to be healthy and happy to be back at home.

Day 3 (Wednesday, the 2nd of Oct):reversible bag and pencil cases by MADE BY  Y

We had yet another windy and rainy day. It was quite cold too and we chose to stay at home today. I had the motivation to make so many things but only had the time to complete a few craft projects. I definitely enjoyed working on the reversible tote bag but I think I am addicted to making pencil cases these days.

Day 4 (Thursday, the 3rd of Oct):Some drink and dessert

We had a great time meeting up with some friends over a cup of coffee.

Day 5 (Friday, the 4th of Oct):breakfast and a bib by MADE BY Y

A good friend of mine that I met during my postgraduate studies years ago, who also coincidentally became a colleague a few years later, was over for breakfast but we had such great time that we ended up spending most of the day together. I find our conversations to be inspirational, fun and real with her every time we are together. After such a beautiful day, I also had a great night. A handmade item of mine was sold soon after a showcase that I participated in commenced.

Day 6 (Saturday, the 5th of Oct): french knot cushion cover and bib by MADE BY Y

After getting my son's haircut and also going to one of his friends' birthday party, I indulged myself in finishing a brand new project, a cushion cover, and also a bib that I had started a few days ago. I must admit, as much as it can get a bit painful to work with french knots, a part of me is in love with them.

Day 7 (Sunday, the 6th of Oct):renovation ideas - study and bedroom

I am definitely not the best person to handle sleeplessness well. I had a late night on Friday and today, I have started feeling sick. It is very likely that my immune system weakened and I will be suffering from a mild case of cold for a while. Well, it is not too bad for the moment. So, I still did most of the things that I was hoping to do today; weekly shopping with the family and working on ideas for a minor renovation at home. We also had our first 'family movie afternoon' today. It was quite fun except the fact that our little daughter slept halfway through and our preschooler son was not really impressed with our choice of movie. It was a totally different feeling for us to be able to sit down and watch a movie with our kids and we definitely made the most of this great experience.





Wednesday 2 October 2013

Homemade Cereal Mix

My children love their weetbix bars for breakfast and at least 3-4 times a week, they have them. I always try to mix them with some fruit and nuts but it can get quite time-consuming especially when in a hurry. Instead, I have recently made a mix that I add to their weatbix bars along with milk. I often change the variety but just to give you an idea, here is one of our homemade mixes.


Ingredients of the mix in the picture above (from top to bottom):

Pine nuts
Spelt flakes
Peanuts
Goji berries (wolfberries) (you can read more about them here)
Quinoa
Pepitas/pumpkin seeds (read more about them here)
Sunflower seeds
Almonds
Oats
Raisins and cranberries

Enjoy!