Hungry hungry hippos...

Marley has been asking for this for months, so at the Target toy sale in July I bought it for her and put it away for Christmas... She talked about it at least once a week that entire time, completely unaware that we had it stashed away for her, and she was filled with joy when she opened it and realised what it was! I must admit, I was concerned whether she would do well at it, but no matter who else was playing, from Mace to Mark, her aunties, me, she won about 90%of the games! Mace obviously has a way to go, he has his own technique which sometimes includes picking the balls up and running away with them, Marley minded her temper though and it was a great game for the day, and our futures!

I definitely recommend it for a 3 year old, even though it says older... Lots of fun for the whole family!

Lego Friends: Olivia's House

My family are crazy for Lego... Apart from me! We have bought Marley and Mark/Mace quite a but over the past year, lots of Friends Lego, the girls range, and they all love to play and build... Personally I'm not a big fan, until we bought this house for Marley... Mark built it with her while I was napping, when I woke I was disappointed with how small it was, then I had a good look, and I can see why the price!

Opening and closing doors, details of little things like the perfume on her dresser... Setting good and real examples like the fresh veg growing in the garden and the lawn mower too... I'm so impressed by this... Definitely a great present choice!

Merry Christmas!

I have been crazy busy lately with the in laws in town for Christmas... But I wanted to say Merry Christmas to all!!! This year has been full of so much good news from many loved ones, as well as being blessed with my own awesome family!

Today has been brilliant, makes me even more thankful for my circumstances... That I married a wonderful man, had beautiful and healthy babies, have the support of my brilliant mother and her partner as well as my cousins, aunts, grandparents and all of my wonderful friends... I honestly feel blessed every day, even the shit days! Haha... Looking forward to 2013, hope it is full of all the good stuff for everyone!

Snow White and The Huntsman

Another on my 'to watch' list for quite some time... I didn't have high hopes, but it was really good... Dark and beautifully filmed, an entertaining take on the story... And I didn't want a refund on the two hours of my life that it took! It was a shame about the cheating scandal tarnishing this film...

On top of wanting to see it, I wanted to see whether Kristen Stewart could act, and she almost can... Her trademark kissing/pained expression did put me off, but she wasn't as bad as any of the Twilight films, maybe bad acting is her interpretation of Bella Swan! Who knows..?


In any case it is worth watching....

Toothache skirt...

I have wanted this skirt for months! There is a dress in the same fabric, but it was too much fuss for me... I spotted the skirt, couldn't find it in my size, let it go and then found it in my size! I was beyond excited! It does have red in it, which goes against my personal tastes, but the cuteness overwhelms me! So here is my toothache skirt!

Black Swan...

When this was at the cinema it felt like everyone was raving about it... It sounded like my kind of thing, so I finally get around to watching it... Mistake... This film has actors in it that I love, but the story is just creepy and twisted going nowhere... Serious time suckage... I won't get that 2 hours back...

Boom Box Cushions

I saw these in Ego Trip's gift guide and we absolutely had to have them... I went to order off the suggested US site and they were sold out, I clicked the international site and they were still in stock! I was incredibly happy... They are for the lounge room, but will stay in our room until the tiny humans are less grubby!

Burlesque film...

Just as with Magic Mike, I watched to see half naked humans dancing around... I had low expectations, thought I would probably turn it off, but I didn't... Yes yes the acting is not great, and the story isn't original, but I enjoyed it... I was stoked that the leading men were Eric Dane and Cam Gidnet, could have done with more of them, ahem... It was a cheesy chick flick and at that it ticked all the boxes... If you dig that, watch it... If you want naked ladies, watch something else!

Friday baking: Oreo white chocolate pudding cookies...

Am all brownied out so it was cookies this morning... Good choice! Jacked from two peas and their pod... Delicious start to the weekend! We don't have all of these pudding options in Coles, so I substituted for vanilla pudding..

Oreo White Chocolate Pudding Cookies
Prep Time: 10 minutesCook Time: 10 minutes
Soft white chocolate pudding cookies with Oreos and white chocolate chips

ingredients:
1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 (3.4 oz) package white chocolate instant pudding mix
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups all-purpose Gold Medal flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups chopped Oreos
1 1/2 cups white chocolate chips

directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a Silpat baking mat and set aside.

2. Using a mixer, beat together butter and sugars until creamy. Add in white chocolate pudding mix, eggs, and vanilla extract. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until just combined. Stir in the Oreos and white chocolate chips.

3. Drop cookie dough by rounded tablespoons onto prepared baking sheet. Bake for 10 minutes, or until slightly golden around the edges and set. Remove cookies from oven and let cool on baking sheet for two minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack and cool completely.

Note-these cookies will stay soft for 3-4 days. Store in an air-tight container on the counter.

Magic Mike... Hmmmm...

I don't wanna be a hater, I thought this was going to be a cheesy story about strippers... It's was a more dramatic type of story you have seen a hundred times, set in a strippers world... Boring? Yes... Did I stick with it just to see hot bodies dancing around? Yes...

Now that I have finished watching Battlestar Galactica, I am working my way through a bunch of film recommendations in my 'spare' time, read when doing dishes, washing, anything that distracts me from the kids... So there will be little rants about films around here over the next couple weeks, I'm sure...

Protat natural tattoo aftercare

At the tattoo expo a few months ago the Protat dude gave me a couple of tubes of his product to try... The natural tube is my favourite... Both tubes are non greasy, smell nice and don't ruin your clothes or sheets like Bepanthen does (1000tc $400 sheets!!!), and while the premium is their best selling most known product, the natural goes on sooooo easy, it's just divine!

I recently had my thigh piece finished - although Mark thinks it needs more... And have been using these products on it and they are peeling off but not feeling itchy or losing colour in the peel... So far so good...

Chocolate, peanut and banana ice 'cream'

My daughter Marley is a diva, I say this in the 'a lot of truth is said in jest' way... So she has loved bananas her whole life, so regardless of prices ($16 per kilo after the last cyclone, around $2.50 per small banana), I let her have one every single day of her eating life... In the past few months she, and now her brother Mace, have gone right off them... I still think that they are awesome and continue to buy them in hope that they will change their minds... This means I have loads of bananas going brown, so I break them into pieces and freeze them, then I do this:
Banana, chocolate and peanut ice 'cream'
(Can be vegan, check brackets for vegan option)
1 frozen banana
1 tsp peanut butter (crushed peanuts) - you can add more if you are really into the nuttiness, I am not
1tblsp chocolate (vegan chocolate)
Dash of milk (soy or rice milk)

Blitz it all together, eat quickly before banana stops being frozen!

It's really good for an almost healthy option! If it's the three of us, I double the recipe! Take that kids thinking you don't eat bananas!!!

The Very Hungry Zombie A Parody - Michael Teitelbaum

We are all massive fans of The Very Hungry Caterpillar in this house... Mark and I are also big fans of zombies! So when I saw this book I bought it immediately... Sort of thinking a stocking stuffer for Mark... I got it today and it's a board book, with child friendly content, so now it's a book for all of us... It's a good conversation starter with Marley about zombies too, which has been enlightening... I definitely recommend it for the zombie fans in your life!

Melbourne Victory Christmas bauble...

Things have been off the hook busy at the moment... That time of year! Lots of catching up with awesome humans, spending time with our tiny humans doing Christmassy things... Life is good... Mark did quite a bit of tattooing on the weekend, a bunch more of my thigh, and more work on other mates, one of which bought us these awesome Melbourne Victory baubles... I love them, put one right between my pride bauble and sparkling pink reindeer... So lovely of her :)

Friday baking Oreo brownies

These look amazing! So I baked them... The batter is quite dry, which it states in the recipe, but the outcome is not a dense gooey brownie... It's a bit crumbly, still good, just different!

Recipe from http://www.twopeasandtheirpod.com/oreo-brownies-with-white-chocolate/

Oreo Brownies with White Chocolate
ingredients:
3/4 cup flour
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp table salt
1/3 cup semi sweet chocolate chips
1/3 cup white chocolate chips
1/3 cup canola oil
2 large eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 cup crushed Oreos

directions:
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease the bottom and sides of a 9-inch round cake or pie pan.

In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt. Add in both kinds of chocolate chips. Whisk until blended.

In a separate bowl, mix together the oil, eggs, and extract with a fork until just blended.
Pour the liquid over the flour mixture and mix with a rubber spatula until just blended. The batter will be kind of dry, don’t worry. Stir in the Oreos.

Scrape the mixture in to the pan and spread evenly. You might have to press the mixture in to the sides if you are having trouble spreading with a spatula.

Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick or cake tester inserted in to the center comes out with only a few gooey pieces clinging to it. Transfer the baking dish to a cooling rack and let cool.

Cut into wedges. If you want to-melt white chocolate and drizzle over the brownie wedges.Heat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease the bottom and sides of a 9-inch round cake or pie pan.
In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt. Add in both kinds of chocolate chips. Whisk until blended.
Oreo Brownies with White Chocolate
ingredients:
3/4 cup flour
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp table salt
1/3 cup semi sweet chocolate chips
1/3 cup white chocolate chips
1/3 cup canola oil
2 large eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 cup crushed Oreos

directions:
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease the bottom and sides of a 9-inch round cake or pie pan.

In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt. Add in both kinds of chocolate chips. Whisk until blended.

In a separate bowl, mix together the oil, eggs, and extract with a fork until just blended.
Pour the liquid over the flour mixture and mix with a rubber spatula until just blended. The batter will be kind of dry, don’t worry. Stir in the Oreos.

Scrape the mixture in to the pan and spread evenly. You might have to press the mixture in to the sides if you are having trouble spreading with a spatula.

Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick or cake tester inserted in to the center comes out with only a few gooey pieces clinging to it. Transfer the baking dish to a cooling rack and let cool.

Cut into wedges. If you want to-melt white chocolate and drizzle over the brownie wedges.Heat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease the bottom and sides of a 9-inch round cake or pie pan.

Next Winter outfits!

I am a massive fan if Next UK, reasonably priced, good quality clothes with free delivery... Just did a winter order and got quite a few items, the highlights were Mace's matching dinosaur top, gumboots and body warmer - kid loves dinosaurs, and not wearing trousers! And Marley's rainbow jeans and matching top... I love matching... I can't help it... Anyway, if you are looking for something different, hit them up nextdirect.com

Advent calendars...

Last year Mum bought Marley a chocolate advent calendar... I was less then pleased... I don't fancy giving my kids chocolate every day, and if I give them chocolate I want it to be special, not because a calendar says I should! So I splashed out on these Lego advent calendars back in November, they are a huge success! Marks mum surprised the kids with these awesome age appropriate advent calendars, they are a 'scene' we have the reindeer and Christmas food ones, the kids find the number, detach it from a sheet and stick it in the calendar! Gorgeous, and awesome for Marley's numeracy... Thoroughly enjoying the countdown to Christmas this year!!!

Friday baking - delayed... Milky Way brownies!

It has been a killer weekend... Marks BFF came for the weekend, and I went out dancing Saturday night, so I am all sorts of behind on life right now! I baked these on Friday, they didn't look beautiful so then knocked up some of my favourite caramel brownies! As it turned out everyone loved the Milky Way brownies, but they still don't look good!


milky way brownies
Yield: 3 dozen + brownies
Prep Time: 25 min Cook Time: 45 min
1 pound (4 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into pieces 450 g
1 pound semi-sweet chocolate chips (or chopped chocolate) 450g
6 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped 170g
2 Tablespoons instant espresso powder
7 large eggs
2 Tablespoons vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups granulated white sugar
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
12 ounces miniature Milky Way Bars, chopped 340g
1 full-size Milky Way Bar, sliced thinly

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter and flour 12x18x1-inch pan. Line with foil or parchment that hangs over the sides for ease in getting them out (butter the foil/parchment).
2. In a heatproof, medium-bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water, heat butter, and chocolates until melted and smooth; cool slightly.
3. In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, espresso powder, vanilla and sugar. Stir the egg mixture into the slightly cooled chocolate mixture. Cool to room temperature.
4. In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, and salt, then add to batter. Stir chopped mini Milky Way bars into chocolate mixture. Then pour into prepared baking pan and smooth top with a rubber spatula. Place slices of the full-size Milky Way Bar onto the top of the brownie batter.
5. Bake for 25 to 35 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean with a few crumbs attached; do not overbake! Let cool completely, then cover tightly and chill overnight. Chilled brownies are easier to cut.
Tips:
*These taste better the second day.
*If it's a warm day inside your house, you might consider chilling the Milky Way bars before you try to cut them.
http://www.recipegirl.com/2007/04/15/milky-way-brownies/