Flapjack Idea for the Little Lunchbox

Hello, 

I am always on the look out for lunchbox ideas for my girls attending playschool, I am sure other parents are too.  Everyone loves something nice after their lunch and as parents we are encouraged to only give healthy lunches. I have been experimenting with flapjacks.  I recently made these and they were a hit.  These are very simple to make and contain protein and fibre.  I store them in an airtight container. 






Ingredients

360g Oats
2 Bananas
6 tbsp Honey
6 tbsp smooth peanut butter
4 tbsp coconut oil plus extra for greasing

Method

Preheat the oven to 180 fan.
Place the oats in a mixing bowl.
Mash the bananas with a fork and add them to a saucepan with the honey, nut butter and coconut oil.  Allow to simmer until a smooth paste forms.
Pour the liquid over the oats and stir well so that they are fully covered.
Grease a baking tray with some coconut oil.
Transfer the flapjack mix into the baking tray, press it down firmly with a spatula so it is compact.
Bake for 15-20 mins until the top starts to brown.
Once it is cooked remove from tray, leave it fully cool before slicing into flapjacks.

Enjoy!!

Don't forget you can keep up to date with Countryside Mumsie on our social media accounts facebook and instagram.

Thanks for reading,      

Orla Xx

How My Children Do The Gardening ;-) Some fun tips!

Gardening With Children

Gardening combines many of the elements that children love most; exploring, watching things grow and making a mess.  Add a few worms, bugs and mud pies and you have the recipe for a constant source of activity.

   Introducing your children to gardening can create a passion, that will last a lifetime.

 

 

Children enjoy growing things that they can pick and eat.  Fruit and vegetables are ideal for small hands to poke around in without causing too much damage.  Try potatoes, courgettes, strawberries and tomatoes.  Even the fussiest eater should be delighted by growing and harvesting their own supper.  In our house this is usually soup for lunch!

Lack of space need not be a restriction.  Even the smallest patio or window ledge can provide shelter and sun.  Use any container, yoghurt pot, tin can, old tyre.  All can be decorated and turned into a perfect plant pot. 




Tips for gardening with children

Give them their own garden beds. Whether you use raised beds, containers or ground plots, be sure to give each child his or her own separate plot. Keep it small, very small for young kids. Put their plots right in the middle of the action, with the best soil and light. Set them up for success.

Reuse the sandbox. If your children have grown past their sandbox years, consider converting the old sandbox to a garden bed. This gives the child continued 'ownership' of a familiar space and encourages a sense of responsibility to the gardening project. Of course, a productive garden bed needs to be in good sunlight and soil should be free of tree roots. It may be necessary to relocate the sandbox if growing conditions are less than ideal.

Give them serious tools. Cheap plastic child's gardening tools are worse than no tools at all; they break easily and frustrate the user. It can be hard to locate good tools for kids, especially work gloves that fit a small hand. With some garden tools, like a hoe or spade, you can easily saw the handle shorter. Let them use your tools if need be; in this way you're acknowledging the importance of the work they're doing.

Engage them through the entire process, from seed to table. Children learn better when they understand the context of their activity. They will learn that gardening can be fun, but far more than idle play; they are contributing to the family well-being. Besides planting and nurturing their garden beds, be sure they alone do the harvesting and preparation of their crop for the table, no matter how modest the offering.

Start from seeds. While it's a convenient shortcut to buy starters, children will learn more by seeing the growing process as it begins, from seed. The care given to sprouting seeds and nurturing the young seedling are a valuable part of the gardening experience. Seeds will need to be started indoors in a warm room and once sprouted they can be transplanted into pots until ready to set out


Cheat a little. Depending on the age of the child, you may need to help out a little 'behind the scene'. Not every garden task is pleasant, and the child may not be ready at all times for all chores. You may need to go out in the evening to pick a few slugs off the lettuce, or be the one to run out and move the sprinkler. They don't have to know about every little help you offer - the child's 'ownership' of the plot is the main thing.

When all else fails, make a scarecrow. The best time to engage children in gardening is when they're in the mood for this activity. If their attention wanes, or the garden tasks become boring, let them build a scarecrow. This activity is still a contribution to the gardening effort and adds another layer of interest to the garden scene. It also reminds the child of the importance of the garden crops.

Show off their work. When giving 'garden tours' to friends, be sure to point out the children's beds. Take a photo of their harvest and send it to the grandparents. The attention given to their work is the best motivator for children to stay involved with a project.

People of all ages can enjoy gardening, but children in particular will have lots of fun and gain special benefits. Gardening is educational and develops new skills including:

• Responsibility – from caring for plants
• Understanding – as they learn about cause and effect (for example, plants die without water, weeds compete with plants)
• Self-confidence – from achieving their goals and enjoying the food they have grown
• Love of nature – a chance to learn about the outdoor environment in a safe and pleasant place

• Reasoning and discovery – learning about the science of plants, animals, weather, the environment, nutrition and simple construction
• Physical activity – doing something fun and productive
• Cooperation – including shared play activity and teamwork
• Creativity – finding new and exciting ways to grow food
• Nutrition – learning about where fresh food comes from.

Here is a list of the fruit and vegetables that the girls have grown that have been a success;

Runner beans
Strawberry
Radish
Lettuce
Courgette
Carrot
Potato
Spinach
Swiss chard
Beetroot
Pumpkins

Thanks for reading

Orla & Kerri xx

Don't forget you can keep up to date with Countryside Mumsie on our social media accounts facebook and instagram.

 

Our Halloween Traditions

Halloween always brings back many fond memories of great childhood fun. Now that Im a Mom I try recreate some of the fun and spook! Here are some of our favouite family fun Halloween traditions.



Making a barn brac!

I currently have mixed fruit (mostly raisins and sultanas) soaking in tea (Barry's of course!) and tomorrow or the following day I will make two barn brac's. Carrying on the tradtion my mam had, I always wrap a €2 and 2 €1 coins in shiney tin foil and mix them through the mixture. Theres nothing more exciting than biting into a hard coin and unwrapping the foil. Its the little things that always have the best reaction. The recipe I use can be found under the 'Country Cooking' Tab.


Pumpkin carving.

Like most families this is an activity we get great fun from in the days leading up to Halloween. As a child we used to grow our own pumkins so lots of experimenting of faces was done. Next Halloween I hope we too will have a smal harvest of our pumkins. Luckily there is a farm near us that grows pumpkins and we will go and pick and cut out our own pumkins. This year we are going to embrace an americian (i think!) idea of the blue pumpkin. As our DS is Dairy free we thought it might be nice to let others that may come to our house 'trick or treating' know that we have some dairy free halloween treats! We have in fact decided to make all our 'trick or treating' treats dairy free.

Halloween Games.

We LOVE halloween games.

Our top 3:

Coming in a No 1 everyones favourite: Apple Bobbing.

We like to spook it up a little and add some green food colouring to the water, we also add some monkey nuts and €2 coins to the dish with the apples. This way there is a different difficulty rating and makes the game enjoyable and competitive for every age! The nuts float on top so make them nice and easy for the little one, the apples add that bit of difficulty due to needing to bite in and the coins sink to the bottom making them the ideal target for the hard core bobbers!


No2 : Snap Apple.

We drive a nail (new and sterilised) through an apple, attach string to the top of the nail and hang from a door frame. We usually hang from the double doors to make sure there is lots of room. Hands are tied behind your back and each person gets 30 seconds to try take a bite for the apple. Its so much fun and by having an adult in charge of the varying height of the string this game is suitable for all the family, mam and dad too!

No3: Cutting the Cake.

But its a flour cake! Yes this a messy one but super fun. You pile up flour on a plate, in a much of a 'cake' shape as possible an place a cherry on top. Each person takes a turn at cutting a slice, any shape or size they desire. They gently seperate the cut slice from the rest of the cake, but leaving the flour on the cake. The person who cuts the slice whereby the cherry falls form the top is the loser and must put their face into flour! So simple yet so fun!

'Trick or Treating'

Yes, we are mean and do give some of the older kids 'tricks'. Ah isn't that what it's all about!!

This years favourite dairy free treat: A plastic glove, place a jelly at the tip of each finger and fill the rest with popcorn! Simple, effective and budget friendly!

Our favourite treat: This one was a roaring success when we discovered it as kids! A hard boiled egg, dipped in melted chocolatae! I know I know, how mean your thinking! But come on....all treats would be no fun!!


So while we have lots more Halloween ideas, including decorating and costume ideas I tried to keep this post as concise as possible. But do keep an eye on our  facebook and instagram pages for constant updates! This year we dont have a family theme for our costumes but should be fun none the less.

Hope you got some ideas from here, or reminded you of some of the childhood halloween games you too may have played and had forgotten.


Have a spooktacular Halloween everyone,

Stay safe,

Kerri and Orla xx

(Images are courtesy of google images)

Go to sleep my little baby! PLEASE!!!!!!

Establishing a good bedtime routine

Go to sleep my little baby  boy  PLEASE!!!! PLEASE, PLEEEASSSSEEE!!!!!

September is always a tricky month for us. We have both had the summer off  so late evening strolls, trips to the beach after tea, playing outside until dark and staying late at Granny and Grandads all results in our summer routine being: no routine! And we LOVE it! But getting back to business in Septemeber is always tricky. This September we moved house and I started a new job, so getting into a good bedtime routine and quickly was vital.  Thankfully those great people at the groCompany sent us a Gro clock at the most perfect time. While it did take us a full month to settle back into a good routine, I'm glad we have now nailed it! (for now!)

And the gro Clock played a mojor part. This updated version of the Gro-clock uses fun images of the stars and sun to communicate when to go back to sleep and when it's time to get up, and was a tremendous success. The gro clock comes with a story book explaining the benefits (and consequences) of not following the stars to sleep. The book worked so well the first night: our DS was so afraid to run to the toilet!!!! Note to self: don’t stress the consequences so much! But it's a really nice addition to the gro clock and fits perfectly into our bedtime routine.

So here's our routine....not over complicated.....but works everytime! 

We try to make our evenings screen free, from 4.30 onwards (until little boy is fast asleep), but always from 5pm onwards. I believe there is just no need to have such a little mind racing when calm down and sleep time is so close.

Our bedtime routine begins at 6.30pm on no bath nights and 6pm on bath or shower nights. No drinks or food are given after this time.

Pajamas are put on and bedroom and/or playroom toys are tidied with curtains drawn. This sets the ‘calm down’ tone of the next 30 mins.

We try not to rush or get too excited before bedtime. Seán is bursting with energy all day and with only an ounce of encouragement would be bouncing off the walls! While the slow pace is super
annoying we calmly tidy away the toys.

Teeth are brushed, I wont lie… there is a bribe of a new book at the end of the week if teeth are brushed with my help each night. It work's though! 

After teeth, face and hands are washed and then its good night kisses to Dad/Mom.

Two stories are picked out and into bed he hops. Prayers are said and two stories are read. Tucked into bed and a kiss on the head and Seán and teddy are ready.

Seán then gets 5 minutes with the nightlight on to read his own stories. He usually throws the book out of bed himself and turns over to sleep.

Obviously the above is the good night. There are bad nights (even ugly ones!) but these nights are usually when the routine hasn’t been followed and we think were back in July! This lovely fresh evenings at the moment are killing us! But the gro clock is really great to kick us back into action. On the gro company website there is downloadable reward chart that I now plan on introducing. Just to ensure the routine is maintained and the sense of excitement and fun is still a part of the routine. (download groclock reward chart here).

So whats more to say  only GO OUT AND GET A GROCLOCK!!! Its another brilliant product from the amazing gro company. Simply click here to purchase today. We were very kindly gifted this groclock but they retail at approx. €30.00. Which I personally think its great value for such a great product. I, like Orla loved the gro bags for the baby years, we have other gro products also such as the gro anywhere blind and the gro chair harness and Im so thrilled to see this company never rest when it comes to making life a little easier with a growing boy! The gro light will be my next purchase. What will be yours? Have a look here to shop products by season, age and gender. 

Hope this post may be of some help to you getting into a bed time routine, and remember thats all it is:routine. You can do it and you will. Before you know it you will be wondering what to do come 7.30pm (other than clean, tidy, make lunches, wash clothes, iron, plan for tomorrow etc etc etc!).

And now its off to bed for me, Good night all.

Night Night, Sleep Tight, Dont Let the bed bugs bite xxx

Thanks for reading. 

Kerri and Orla xx

Don't forget you can keep up to date with Countryside Mumsie on our social media accounts facebook and instagram.

We were kindly gifted this groclock, however all opinions are our own.