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Kate from Family Fever gives us 5 ways to keep the kids entertained during the holidays through baking!

One of our favourite activities, especially during the school holidays, is baking. The children enjoy making all sorts of treats, both sweet and savoury – and of course, they enjoy sampling them too!

Below I have listed my Top 5 ‘Baking with children recipes’

DOUBLE BERRY MUFFINS

Ingredients: 

300g plain flour

3 teaspoons baking powder

125g caster sugar

50g butter

3 eggs

4 tablespoons sunflower oil

1 teaspooon vanilla essence

150g natural yogurt

100g blueberries and 100g raspberries

 

Method

Preheat oven to 200*C/Gas mark 6. Mix together the flour, baking powder and sugar. Melt the butter, and then add this to the flour mixture. Add the eggs, oil, vanilla essence and yogurt and blend with a fork until just mixed. Stir in the berries.

Divide the mixture between 12 muffin cases and bake for 15 minutes.

APPLE SCONES

Ingredients:

1 apple

75g butter

375g self raising flour

1 teaspoon cinnamon

75g caster sugar

1 egg

150ml milk

 

Method

Preheat the oven to 200*C/Gas Mark 6. Peel and dice the apple. Heat 25g of the butter in a saucepan and add the apple – cook gently for 5 minutes until the apple is soft.  Put the flour, cinnamon and 50g of the sugar into a bowl. Cut the remaining butter into small pieces and add to the flour mix, then rub together with your fingers to make crumbs.

Add the apple and the egg and stir to make a dough, adding the milk slowly to make the right consistency. Roll out and cut with cookie cutters. Place on a greased baking tray, brush with milk and sprinkle with the remaining sugar.

Bake for 12-15 minutes.

ANIMAL COOKIES

Ingredients:

175g butter

75g caster sugar

275g plain flour

 

Method

Preheat oven to 180*C/Gas mark 4. Cut the butter into small pieces, then put in a bowl with the flour and sugar. Rub between your fingers to make tiny crumbs. Squeeze the mixture together to make a dough.  Place the mixture between 2 sheets of non-stick baking paper then roll out thinly. Peel off the top piece of paper, and cut animal shapes with cookie cutters.

Place these on a greased baking tray. Bake for 10 minutes. You can then decorate with icing pens, sweets, sprinkles etc.

FRUIT SALAD PIZZA

Ingredients:

300g strong white flour

Pinch of salt

2 tablespoons caster sugar

1 teaspoon fast-action dried yeast

25g butter

1 egg

125ml warm water

Jam and fruit of your choice for topping

 

Method

Brush a flan tin with some oil. Put the flour, salt, sugar and yeast in a bowl. Melt the butter, and add to the flour mix along with the egg. Slowly mix in the water until you have a soft but not sticky dough. Knead the dough for 5 minutes (kids love this bit!). Place the dough in the flan tin and press over the base. Spread the dough with jam (approx. 4 tablespoons).

Top with the chopped and peeled fruit – we like to use apples, plums and peaches but you can use whatever you fancy.

Leave in a warm place for about half an hour to allow dough to rise, then brush the top of the flan with some melted butter and sprinkle with some sugar. Bake for 15 minutes at 180*C/Gas mark 4 for 25 minutes.

CHEESY MUFFINS

Ingredients:

100g cheddar cheese

125g cornmeal (if you don’t have cornmeal, use the same quantity of plain flour instead)

175g self raising flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

150ml milk

2 eggs

2 teaspoonsDijonmustard

4 tablespoons sunflower oil

Salt and pepper

 

Method

Preheat oven to 200*C/Gas mark 6. Grate the cheese, and mix with the cornmeal, flour and baking powder. Add the milk, eggs, mustard and oil and a pinch of salt and pepper. Stir together until just mixed.

Spoon into 12 muffin cases and bake for 15 minutes.

 

These are our all time family favourite baking recipes, and we make them over and over again. The only problem is, that they never last very long!

Hope you enjoy giving these a try, and let me know which is your favourite!

Read more from Kate on her blog, and follow Family Fever on twitter and facebook.

Mummy Blogger Natasha gives us her best Money Saving Tips for Mums.

As I look over my expenses from last month, I can’t quite believe how costly Christmas has become now that I have a little one.  It shouldn’t be a shock; they say that babies cost about £50,000,000 in the first year or something mental like that.  But now that the festive cheer has gone, and all we’re left with are heating bills and un-kept New Year’s resolutions.  So I’ve come up with a list of a few things that should help us all make it through the next few pay days!

 > Meal times – as appealing as baby ready meals appear for their convenience, its far more cost effective to make your own.  If you’re cooking spag bol for the family, just remove a load for baby before adding any salt and these can be frozen in batches.  The same goes for dessert.  Got a load of fruit that’s getting soft?  Just whack it all in a blender and freeze in ice cube trays to pop out what you need when required.

 > Clothes and toys – ebay is a great source of clothes, purely because our babies are never in them for long.  There are also many Facebook selling pages for local toys and clothes available in your area.  Just do a search for your town and the word ‘baby’ or ‘sale’ and you should find loads.

 > Sign up to baby clubs – pretty much every supermarket out there has a baby club nowadays, and signing up gives you the heads up on events and money off vouchers.  It’s still worth shopping around though, sometimes the offers aren’t as good as they seem!

 > Bedding – baby sheets and blankets can rack up a ludicrous amount of money.  You can buy double sheets for adult beds, cut them in half and give them a quick hem on a sewing machine.  Alternative, drop it all off at Grandma’s and ask her to do it!

 > Nappies – if you’re brave enough, opt for reusable nappies.  If not, buy disposables in bulk when sales and events are on and stock up.

 > Days out – there are so many places to take the little one’s for an enjoyable day out without having to spend a penny.  Sites like www.daysoutuk.com, www.moneysavingexpert.com and www.visitengland.com are a great source of information.

 > Fun play – you don’t need to spend a fortune on toys to keep your sprogs entertained, lots of things can be made with simple household items.  Bottles can be filled with beans or rice to make fun rattles (just make sure the lids are stuck on with glue to sellotape), play dough can be made with flour and water for messy play.

If you have any other money saving ideas, please feel free to post them on our FB page!  Photos are also welcome.  

 

 

It's no secret that the Christmas season is one of indulgence and spending. As we enter the new year there could be a little panic over the cash flow, and recovering from the festive expenses isn't easy.

To help get the finances back on track, we've put together a list of Mummy Blogs that specialise in money saving hints and tips. 

The Diary of a Frugal Family

Money Saving Tips From A Skint Mum - The Real Supermum

Saving Money Generally

A Thrifty Mum

Super Amazing Mum Blog: How to save money the Super Amazing Mum Way!

How being a Savvy Shopper has Changed my Life - Mums The Blog

Money Saving Tips - Purple Mum

Make do mum: Money saving DIY

116 money-saving tips for mums

The Miss Thrifty Blog - Save money with frugal tips

Money Saving Mom® | Helping You Be a Better Home Economist (US site, but still useful!)

 

Do you have any money saving tips of your own? Let us know in the comments, via Facebook or @NurseryValue on twitter.

Picture the scene... beautifully immaculate house (ok, that may be a slight exaggeration!); late Edwardian property with period features, stripped floorboards.  In comes Shyloh.  And she’s hungry. 

For some reason I thought I’d go down the baby led weaning route.  To those who have no idea what that means, it roughly translates to, ‘let your baby fling food all over the walls, floor, cat, etc’.  Ok, it causes far more mess than fat kids in a pie eating contest, but in all honesty I think it’s been worth it.

I knew that Shyloh was ready to start eating solids when she stole a strawberry off my plate and shoved it in her mouth.  She’s lucky I didn’t try to take it back, as I’m usually very precious over my strawberries, but it was just too entertaining watching her suck the hell out of the fruit, drooling red slobber down her front.

From that point on, I became the puree queen – I was pretty anal about it, and made sure she started off on bland savoury foods, working her way up to flavoursome fruits.  Me and Thom had previously spent £400 on a blender (we were sucked in at a food festival, but the man said it’s the best blender in the world so it must be true!), so I was making sure I got my money’s worth. 

I started out pureeing things, as in all honestly, I was too scared to do baby led weaning – even though I had read up on it, I was terrified she’d choke on something.  But I didn’t really need to be concerned.  A baby’s gag reflex, unlike ours, is only halfway down their tongue, so if she attempted something that was too big for her, it soon came flying back in my general direction. 

Shyloh has been wonderful with her food, and continues to amaze me.  From about seven months old, she has been able to feed herself at meal times, she eats everything we eat, from coconut and chilli thai curry, to salmon and cous cous.  You can tell she really enjoys her food – I generally gauge this from how far the food has spread around her face. 

I must say though, not everyone is a fan of my method of teaching Shyloh enjoyment in eating.  My mum thinks, and I quote, that I’m, ‘bringing her up like a savage’.  I do try explaining the benefits but I’ve given up now.  I now just find secret fulfilment when Shy flings her food across mum’s freshly hovered floor. 

For anyone looking to try baby led weaning, I’d say go for it. I can give Shyloh a whole pear and she’ll work her way through it, leaving the core, or she’ll eat melon off the rind.  She’s learning to enjoy different flavours, textures and shapes at her own pace, whilst being part of family meals and eating healthily.  She’s awesome and I’m so proud of her, even if she does wreck my dining room three times a day!

In part 1, we discussed what tax credits are available to new families and low income parents. In part 2, we’ll be discussing how to make those funds go further.

It’s hard times out there at the moment - wages are down; food and goods have gone up in price. But not to fear, for generations, parents have brought up healthy, content and intelligent children using the bare essentials – and there’s no reason why you can’t do the same!

Before the recession it was far too easy to replace parenting with purchasing. We’ve now got the opportunity to entertain our children by connecting to them, by reading, painting and other crafts, rather than buying superficial toys. These options are much cheaper, improve both social and motor skills, and offer unlimited playability limited only by your imagination.

“It’s easy to spend money on our kids by stockpiling toys, gadgets, and the latest gizmo. But finding ways to enjoy being together without spending increases joy. When the focus is on spending time together, rather than money, the creative juices really start to flow.” – “Eat, Nap, Play”

Here are some other great ideas for cutting down:

• Drop the premium nappies. Your little one is unlikely to care what brand he’s wearing, and neither will the bin men. You might also want to buy in bulk from your local warehouse store.

• BREAST FEED! Not only is this the best source of nutrition for your little one, it also saves on buying expensive formulas. Buy a milk expresser so you always have a supply for when you’re not around, or when baby stays at the grandparents.

• The most obvious option is to get toys and clothes from other parents. Children grow up so fast they’ve normally outgrown any item of clothing within a couple of months, so why not see what your friends have, in most cases you may never need to buy clothes or toys as every item needed is passed down. In return, always look for someone to pass your goods onto to continue the circle.

• Once your child is capable of eating solids (approximately 6 months) avoid buying expensive pre-made baby meals. Instead, blend some vegetables, potatoes and soft meats from your own meals into a puree and use those. Just make sure they aren’t high in sugar and salt.

• Like clothes and toys, prams can be obtained from other parent friends who often will be more than happy to part with it for much less than you will buy brand new. Alternatively, you can try eBay, or something that’s becoming increasingly more widespread is the use of factory outlets. These manufacturers use these outlets to re-sell their returns. These returns are often refurbished to a very good standard and often as cheap as second-hand found on eBay.

nurseryvalue factory outlet