Sunday, 28th Feb 2016

 

 We've started our Sunday with a baking session and made fluffy, buttery,

 croissant-like breakfast rolls.

 

 

They turned out great!

Really yum!

 

 

After a long breakfast feast,

we all got dressed and went outside

to get to know the new garden a bit better

and to do some outdoor spring cleaning.

 

 

We all got a bit hungry around lunch time,

so we had some defrosted apple crumble cake

and hot chocolate.

 

 

We ignored the mess in the kitchen and went outside again.

 

 

We found the first spring flowers and the garden toys

which hadn't been unpacked yet.

 

 

 

 

Alfie got bored of the garden after a while

and wanted to go for a walk in the field behind the house.

 

 

 

I started cutting the lawns after our little walk until it got too dark and cold.

 

 

 

Gerd bathed the kids while I tidied up the kitchen

and cooked a prawn curry.

 

And made a fancy dessert.

From a pack.

With whipped cream.

From a can.

 

 

Ta-daa!

 

I cleaned up the kitchen

and gift-wrapped this T-Shirt

I made for a friends' boy's 1st birthday.

 

 

The kids sleep

and Gerd and I spend the rest of the evening

together on the couch

before a new, busy week begins in the morning.

 

 

I hope your Sunday was as nice as ours!

 

Lena

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



No nap and a sick hen

Today, Alfie decided that he was a big boy.

And big boys don't nap.

 

Big boys play with toy cars instead.

 

 

 

And with toy cars storage boxes.

 

This was the first nap-free day in Alfie's life.

And it went quite well.

 

Later, he helped me to feed the hens.

 

And we discovered, that Henny,

the speckled hen in the picture,

has a sore leg.

She hobbles around the place,

the right leg held up. Most of the time.

Poor Henny!

We really hope, she'll be better, soon.

 

 

Alfie tried the

"I'll give her all the corn I have"-cure.

I'll let you know, if it worked.

 

Well... I kind of missed my midday-break today.

But the little man sleeps now.

And he went to bed not offering the tiniest bit of resistance.

 

Good boy, Alfie!

 

Maybe it's nap day again tomorrow.

Maybe not.

Klara gave up daytime naps at the same age.

Nothing would surprise me, so.

 

:-)

 

Lena

 

 

 

Wholemeal Breakfast Pancakes

Who doesn't like pancakes for breakfast?

 I think everybody does.

And so do we.

But because Klara shouldn't have 

a lot of plain wheat in her diet

and because I try to feed my beloved ones

with rather healthy food than junk

I made pancakes from wholemeal spelt flour 

this morning. 

And everyone loved them.

Here's the recipe:

- 150g wholemeal spelt flour

(I used Odlums, bought at Tesco)

- 1 tsp baking powder

- ½ tsp salt

- 1 tbsp brown sugar

- 200ml milk

- 1 large egg.

- 2 tbsps melted butter or coconut oil, slightly cooled

-butter or coconut oil for frying

To serve:

- Maple syrup

- Nut Butter

-Fresh Fruit and Cream Cheese

-Jam, Chocolate Spread, Golden Syrup, Lemon Curd...

Sieve the flour and the baking powder,

add sugar and salt.

In a seperate bowl, beat the egg

and mix with the milk.

Add eggmilk and butter/oil to the flour and whisk.

Let stand for a few minutes.

Fry from both sides in a frying pan with a little butter or coconut oil until golden brown.

Now.
This is my favourite topping.
It's quite far away from being healthy.
So maybe you don't want to tell your kids
and eat this when they're in bed.
Or at school.
Or you tell them it's something only adults can have.
Like whisky or Guinness.
I don't know if that would work, though.
Anyway:
It's crunchy peanut butter,
chocolate spread
and Golden Syrup.
We call them "Snickers Pancakes".
Try this!!!

Lena

Hello from Germany!

The kids and I are currently visiting

our family in Germany.

And we're having a lovely time!

Klara and Alfie have been just SO good at

Dublin Airport and during the flight.

Yes, I was quite surprised myself.

We've spent the first 2 days in Cologne

with my sister Kicki and Ralf,

 my brother-in-law-to-be.

It was sooooo hot. 

But wonderful!

We bathed in the River Rhine.

We got to know "Espresso de Luxe",

Kicki's new pet.

And Klara test-drove it.

There was a pet farm...

...and fun time in a pretty little park.

We stayed up late 

as it was too hot to sleep

before 11pm.

We splashed with buckets of water

on the balcony.

We had some ice-cold beer

and German fast food.

And we realised,

how childfriendly Ireland is

compare to Germany.

Enjoy your summer!

Lena

Climbing Baby.

He found the chair...

...and climbed the table...

...he saw the fish...

...and wanted to cuddle it.

Mammy moved the fish and Alfie found the piano.

Dear son... please learn to walk first.

You're killing your old mammy!

Thank you.

LENA

Raspberry Dessert Day

Today was a rather normal day.
The weather was crap and I ruined the only raincoat I have had. But apart from that... all good.

In the afternoon, Klara and I spent time in the kitchen together. She did her homework while I prepared the dinner and Alfie took his Lego Duplo digger for about 496 crawls around the dinig table.

And because we deserved it, Klara made some delicious treats for tonight. I helped here and there but she really did most of it on her own.

She whipped some cream and mixed it with bold, 10% fatty, creamy Greek yoghurt.
She crumbled meringues and tried them to make sure they were nice and sweet enough. And she tried them again. And crumbled a few more and tried them again and crumbled and tried and crumbled... so at the end, we needed the whole little bucket of mini meringues for 4 desserts. Had to be done!
She then licked washed her hands and spooned a layer of the yoghurt into 4 whiskey jars. On top of that went some meringue crubs, followed by a layer of fresh raspberries. Then Yoghurt again, then raspberries, then meringue. Into the fridge they went until after dinner.
And after she did all the hard work, it was just fair enough that I had to do the cleaning up after.

They were absolutely delicious! 

But more then eating mine, I enjoyed the time I spent with Klara today while taste-testing meringues, chit-chatting and making  "Rasperry clouds in jars". She called them that. And there's no better name for them. 

LENA

Good morning!

"It’s your place in the world; it’s your life. Go on and do all you can with it, and make it the life you want to live." -Mae Jemison