Rain, Rain, Go Away

Rain, rain and more rain. This is pretty much what the weather has done all weekend here on the Mid North Coast.

Image: http://www.polyvore.com/you_are_my_rainbow_on/set?id=11380338

Now, I don't mind a little rain. A little rain. But a constant downpour and drizzle is another story. Why?
1. Most of us worry another flash flood is on its way (once bitten, twice shy) and 2. Cabin fever.


Keeping my two little ones entertained during this kind of weather is hard work, but it can be fun. Continuing on from my previous post about Entertaining the Kids (read it here), a little preparation can go along way to keeping the kids entertained and your sanity intact.

Below are some of my affordable and easy ideas for keeping your little ones busy in the wet weather. I suggest having a box put away especially for rainy days or those 'i can't think of anything else to do' kind of days.

• Make a list of indoor playgrounds and head there. Check out your local Bunnings stores and McDonalds who both usually have undercover playgrounds to play on.
• Have a stash of board games that ONLY come out in the wet weather. My kids enjoy puzzles, but other easy games like Snakes & Ladders, Trouble and Connect Four will also provide entertainment for the whole family (P.S. This adorable Hungry Caterpillar board game is going on my short list for the kids this Christmas). 
• Make some playdough. This is the easy, peasy recipe I use. An extra tip: Make multi coloured playdough and entwine them together. Once your child mixes two colours together (like blue and yellow), they'll learn that a new colour is made (green). Educational and fun. Jackpot. 
• Have a dance party. If you've got energy to burn, put some tunes on and start dancing! You'll not only wear the kids out (or not), but it's one way to get some cardio exercise done for the day. Keep it upbeat to make up for the miserable weather.
• Head to the library, if they're open. Read some books there or borrow them out. Either way, library books are way more exciting than the ones you have at home. 
• Fill the kitchen sink up with water and bubbles. Add some food colouring and a whole lot of jugs, measuring cups and other utensils. Warning: Place a towel on the floor and have spare, dry clothes on standby. 
• Get baking! We normally eat pretty well in our house and if you're the same, consider making rainy days your 'triple choc brownies' kind of baking day. For something different, make cookies and stick in paddle pop sticks to make cookie lollipops.
• Beading. Grab some twine, tie a knot in one end and bead on some Fruit Loops (or Cheerios for a healthier choice). Tie it around your child's wrist and you've got a portable, ready to go snack. 
• Do an indoor treasure hunt. Hide yourself, hide the kids or hide some fun things around the house and get the kids to search for them. Use the old 'getting colder/warmer' method to help younger kids on their hunts. 
• Have a family movie session. We have a spare mattress that gets placed in front of the TV and we all snuggle in with our pillows and doona. Put on a movie the whole family will enjoy, have your popcorn ready and relax.
• Make an indoor cubby in the lounge room. Simply drape a sheet over your strategically placed dining chairs to make a quick indoor tent. Read some stories in here, have a tea party, colour in or play Barbies all in your special little fort.
• Do a toy box clean up. Nothing gets my kids interested in their toys like mummy on a cleaning rampage. Empty the toy boxes out and watch your kids come over to 'help'. 
• Do some art and craft. My daughter goes nuts for crafts, so have a box full of craft items and get creative. Cut out strips of coloured paper or magazine and staple, glue or tape them into circles to form a chain. You'll find plenty of other craft ideas online. Or simply do some drawing or colouring in. 
• Deck your kids out in some gum boots and a rain coat and let them go outside! Remember: rain is only water. It will dry. Let the kids have fun and explore your garden in the rain. We find lots of worms and puddles in our backyard, which the kids are fascinated by. Have towels ready or a nice, warm bath or shower ready for them to warm up when they're done. 

If you need to get out and have some extra coin, here's some extra ideas to keep the family occupied. 

• Go indoor bowling. We did this yesterday and the kids had a ball. Don't forget to ring and book in advance since they can get pretty busy in the wet weather.
• Head to the movies. Find a kids movie that's showing and go along as a family. Alternatively, just take your older child/ren and leave the youngens at home with dad.
• Find an indoor play centre. My kids love these places, so head along, grab a hot chocolate and a magazine and chill out while the kids play!
• Go to a cafe. Milkshakes and babycinos are popular in our family, so make a date with your kids and have a treat. 

 Having your rainy day supplies ready and some ideas up your sleeve is half the battle. That's why I suggest having a Rainy Day Box that has the ideas I've mentioned above written down and any equipment you'll need readily available. Put the box somewhere you'll remember, but not in a place where the kids can access it everyday otherwise the excitement will wear off much quicker.

Most of all, don't forget to look on the bright side. Rainy days can be just as exciting and enjoyable as a warm, sunny day and time spent together as a family is never a bad thing :)

Entertaining the Kids

It goes without saying, I love my kids. I love being with my kids. I love hanging out with my kids. But, dare I say it? It can get boring.

Some days I take the easy way out and I'm guilty of letting my kids watch too much TV. Yes, these times are handy for getting a bit of cleaning done, dinner prepared, writing finished or just taking a breather, but I would much rather be spending quality, one on one time with the kids doing something that we ALL enjoy.

This is where a weekly plan will come in handy. I suspect most of my boredom is the result of not having a plan. It can be hard to be exciting and creative when put on the spot. I certainly would want (or need) a lesson plan if I was a teacher, shouldn't I have something similar with my own children?

It doesn't need to be anything too complex, too educational or too strict. My weekly plan will have a simple mission: To help me be a better, more attentive & hands on mummy. I'll start by focusing on which 'lessons' I want my children to learn. I want to foster a love for reading, I want to encourage them to continually learn, I want them to learn nutrition, I want them to be polite, but most of all I want them to be happy and have fun. 

So, this will be one (among many) of my missions to complete in the coming days: To create a Weekly 'Lesson' plan for my children with the goals I mentioned above included. This schedule will be pretty comprehensive once household chores, appointments and even meal times will all be taken into consideration, but as the Manager of Household Operations, I want my 'workplace' to run more efficiently.
I want these short years before my children start school to be as stress free as possible and I want to look back on these as some of the best years of my life.

For some extra tips on managing your household, check out this site: http://hubpages.com/hub/Managing-Your-Household-Tips-for-Stay-at-Home-Moms.

And I'll hopefully be sharing my plan with you soon!

Toy Box Organisation

When organisation and de-cluttering king Peter Walsh talks, I most definately listen!

I recently saw a mini video presented by Peter on the Oprah website outlining three steps to tackling the toy box. You can watch the video here, but I have basically summarised it for you below:

1. Establish limits on the number of toys your children can have - You may decide to limit this to two baskets or one big tub. This is definately one rule I will be enforcing a little more since we currently have numerous baskets and tubs both in their rooms and their loungeroom.

2. Teach children where their toys belong - This means helping your children understand that when they're finished playing with their toys, that those toys have their own special 'home' that they must be put away in.

3. Before they add a new toy, they have to take out a toy - The 'one in, one out' rule is a great idea to ensure you don't end up with the problem of your toys breeding! It's also a nice way to teach your children about giving away to those less fortunate and teaching them responsibilty for their own belongings.

Here's some extra tips regarding toy box management (courtesy of The Creative Mama):

• Prior to birthdays and Christmas (or even on a regular basis) sift through your child's toys and remove any toys that are broken, have been outgrown or just aren't played with any more. 
• Get rid of the traditional bulky toy box. My children rarely play with the toys tucked away in the big tub, probably because it's a little overwhelming for them and they can barely reach all the toys in them. A smaller storage system for toys is probably a better idea and allows kids to find toys more easily and 'try' keep the mess to one basket at a time. 

Monkeysee also has some great mini videos on organising your children's toys.

So, in the coming weeks I will be making some major changes to my kid's playroom including (hopefully) a bigger toy storage area. Here's some ideas that I love.

Fruit & Vegetable Preparation

In one of my previous posts regarding the weekly shop (read here), I mentioned how I wash and cut most of my fruits and vegetables before I put them away.

This not only helps reduce food wastage, it also makes eating healthy easier and for the most part prolongs the life of your fresh produce.

Below is an A - Z list of the most popular fruits and vegetables that you can cut and store in the fridge ready for eating or cooking.

A -
Apples. Most apples will brown fairly quickly when cut, so leave these in their original package. Simply give them a good wash and store wherever you like. (Tip: leave them in a prominent place to encourage you and the kids to eat a healthy, nutritious snack!).
Avocado. Leave as is, but once open store in an airtight container. (Tip: Include the stone when storing. Not sure how, but it slows down the browning process. You can also add a little lemon juice over the fruit).

B -
Bananas. Bananas will brown when peeled, so leave them as is. (Tip - for a delicious banana icecream using ONE ingredient, check this site out!).
Broccoli. Wash. (Tip: Cut into florets and place in a container ready to be cooked). 
Berries. Raspberries, blueberries and other berries can be rinsed and stored in a small container.

C -
Capsicum. Rinse well. Either leave whole or cut into strips and store in an airtight container. 
Carrots. I store my carrots in the original bag, in the crisper. However if you enjoy munching on carrot sticks as much as my daughter does, you could peel a couple of carrots, cut into small sticks and store in a sealed container. (Tip: Try dipping in peanut butter. This was a great way to introduce my kids onto carrot sticks).
Cauliflower. Wash. (Tip: Cut into florets and place in a container ready to be cooked).  
Celery. Cut off base to seperate stalks. Take each stalk and remove the leaves. Cut into snack size sticks and wash well. Place in an airtight container. (Tip: The moisture from washing the celery will keep them firmer for longer).
Cherries - Rinse and store in an open container lined with paper towel. 
Cucumbers. If your fridge is too cold, these will freeze easily. I leave my cucumbers whole to make them last a little longer and keep them crisper.

G -
Grapes. Wash well and place in a container lined with paper towel. (Tip: Plucking the grapes from the vine will make an easier snack, but I'm sure they last a tad longer when left on).

H -
Herbs. Rinse well and place in an airtight container lined with paper towel. 

K -
Kiwifruit. Peel, cut into cubes and store in an airtight container.

L -
Leeks. If you know you will be using your leeks in an upcoming soup or casserole, cut the base and remove the tops. Cut the stem lengthways and slice into desired thickness. Make sure you rinse well as leeks can store a lot of dirt between layers.

M -
Melons. Cut open and then into bite size cubes with the skin removed. Store in an airtight container.
Mushrooms. The exception to the rule. Rinsing mushrooms before storing can make them yucky, so simply fold the bag over and store in the fridge not the crisper. Alternatively, store in a glass container and place a tea towel or moist paper towel over the top to allow air circulation.

O -
Oranges. Either leave whole in your fruit bowl or cut into small wedges with skin still intact. Store in an airtight container.


P -
Pineapple. Cut the top off and the base so that it sits evenly on a bench. Remove the hard outer skin. Lie the pineapple on its side and slice. Cut out the hard inner core and store in an airtight container.

Pears - Another fruit that will brown once open. Simply wash and store in a spot where they will not be bruised by other fruits. 

S -
Strawberries. Rinse and remove leaves. I don't hull until prior to eating to ensure they stay a little fresher. Place in an open container lined with paper towel.
Stonefruit - Peaches, plums, nectarines and apricots can all be washed and cut into smaller pieces. Store in an airtight container.
Sprouts - Rinse and store in a container lined with paper towel.
Spring Onions/Shallots - Rinse and remove any ends or limp bits. Either leave whole or cut to size and store in a container.

T -
Tomatoes. Rinse well and store in a fruit bowl. (Tip: I once heard a tomato farmer say the biggest mistake people make with their tomatoes is storing them in the fridge. In my humble opinion, tomatoes taste better and ripen better when left out of the fridge).

W -
Watermelon. Slice and cut into triangles or into small cubes. Store in an airtight container.

As a general rule, I leave my fresh produce to last when putting all the groceries away. Place the various fruits and vegetables in a strainer and rinse as many as you can together.

While some of the suggestions above will extend the life of your fruits and vegetables, I would still recommend using any cut produce within 3 - 4 days.

Enjoy!

The Weekly Shop

I might be a bit odd, but I actually enjoy grocery shopping. Personally, I think it's the thought of eating all that food that excites me the most.

Doing your weekly shop needn't be an arduous task. With a little planning, you'll not only save yourself time and money, you'll also reduce the amount of food wasted and remove the daily stress of what to cook each night.

So here are some of my ideas to make the most out of your grocery shopping.

1. Start the night before with a fridge clean. Remove anything dead, dying or inedible from your fridge. Also use this time to do a little stocktake of what you have available in both your fridge, freezer and pantry.

2. Write a meal plan. I created a little document (shown below), which I printed off, and I write down all my meals for the week. On the back I have a shopping list (also shown below) to write down all the ingredients I need. Grab your cookbooks, jump online and write down some meal ideas. I plan 6 meals a week with Fridays being 'No Fuss Friday' where we eat something quick and easy. Allow yourself 30 minutes of planning. Concentrate first on your main meals, then work out your side dishes later.

3. Go shopping. Find a day that suits you and make that your shopping day. I make Wednesdays our shopping day since I only have one child to cart around with me. I break my shopping trip into three parts with the whole process taking 2 hours. This gives me a great chance to hang out with my little boy as well as get him excited about all the healthy food we've just bought (pictured below).

4. Now put your goodies away. Taking the time to wash, prep and put your groceries away properly is another great way to reduce your food wastage. Give all your fresh produce a good rinse and where you can, cut any fruits or vegetables into ready to eat pieces. Celery gets washed and chopped into snack size sticks, watermelon gets cut into snack size triangles and the strawberries get a wash, leaves plucked and placed in a container all ready to be eaten when hunger strikes. (An extra tip: I store any open packs of crackers and corn chips in the fridge. It will keep them fresher for much longer). In the end, my fridge looks something like this:

You can't see my top shelf and my vegie crisper is getting a wash, but that's mostly it. And yes, I label my containers. I have a labelmaker and I'm not afraid to use it.
FYI, the pull out containers on the top shelf there contain my condiments in one and spreads in the other. I got them from Howard's Storage World, but have seen them at Big W for a little cheaper. 

If you've got a handy tip when doing the groceries, please let us know!