Easter: Banana cupcakes with Cadbury Philadelphia frosting

These are delicious. Seriously. You may have already seen my constant tweets about how delicious they really are. And now, lucky you, I am going to share my recipe with you!

They are also a great way to use up over ripe banana's.

Simply made Eastery (Yes, that is now a word!) with some Cadbury flake and mini eggs used ever so cleverly (ahem) to create a nest.

Oh and did I mention the delicious (over use of this word is needed with these) Cadbury Philadelphia cream cheese frosting???

Do you know what? Forget me blabbering on about them and try them for yourself. You will see! Here's how:

A week in tweets

Slummy single mummy started this over on her blog last week and I thought it was a fab idea so I'm joining in this week with my 2 year olds week in tweets (or what they would have been if she was on twitter...... or could write for that matter!)

For more entries and the a bit more information on what this is about then pop over to Slummy single mummy's blog now!

Show me Show me: Chris and Pui Roadshow 2012

Copyright Chris & Pui 2012.
www.chrisandpui.com

Yesterday we were lucky enough to be able to go and see TV's favourite double act....

NO, not Ant n Dec!!! This pair.

Copyright www.chrisandpui.com

My daughter, like most her age, absolutely LOVES Show me Show me. We have it on series record (Thank the Lord as it's no longer on Cbeebies so I my daughter can no longer get her daily fix there!) and she requests it on at least 5 times per day, broken up with some Mr Tumble in between fixes.

Silent Sunday

Outdoor Art

Now the weather is brightening up its a great time to start taking the indoors out!

These activities are really really simple but the kids love them.

Chalkings

Spring: Sowing Sunflower Seeds

Source

What better way to welcome spring than to sow some seeds? And what better seeds to sow that sunflowers? I love them! They are a sunny, happy flower which kids of all ages will love to get involved with and it's always fun to add a bit of healthy competition into the mix with 'Who can grow the tallest?'

The best time to plant sunflowers is just after the last frost of the season if planting straight into the garden or anytime around now (March) if planting in pots.

We have done both just to see which do best as the worst of the weather seems to be over with.

For planting straight into the garden choose a very sunny spot and somewhere close to somewhere to tie it to when it gets tall, like a fence.

There are many different types of sunflower but for maximum competition potential we chose the giant sunflower and for maximum prettiness and colour the red sunflower!

Easter Giveaway: 'Little Chick' by Amy Hest

Easter is not too far away now and I'm sure the kids are looking forward to all that chocolate already but as a nice change why not give your little one a book this Easter too?

And lucky for you, we have the perfect book to giveaway right here!!

Source

Little Chicks written by Amy Hest, illustrated by Anita Jeram

RRP £10.99

Age Range: 2 +

Meal Planning Monday (W/C 19/03/12)

Linked up at At Home with Mrs M

Being a childminder (and mum!) it is so so important to plan my meals in advance. For one it helps with just general organisation knowing what I am doing each day, being able to prep food in advance where possible and a reminder to get meat out of the freezer the night before (something which I am normally terrible at!). It also helps for me to make sure the children are getting a well balanced diet with their 5 a day included and it is great for money saving! Planning my meals means I only buy what I need to and can minimise waste.

Most childminders do a 4 week rolling rota for meals but I like to plan weekly as I do my shopping weekly no monthly and I like to see whats on offer, keep things new and varied and to always use seasonal veg (some of which comes from our garden that I can't plan too far in advanced with)

The advanced menu is also great for parents and children a like to see what they will be eating that week. I would normally do a plan all meals including snacks etc but today I'll keep it easy with just main meals.

So - Onto this week! This week is a funny one as we normally buy all of our meet in bulk from a local butchers and I then split it into freezer bags for each meal but this week the Mr went to the butchers and when he got back he plonked it all straight into the freezer without splitting it up. So now I have huge amounts of meat we need to eat up in a few days so trying to keep things varied is difficult *rolls eyes*

Monday: Mediterranean Chicken with Potato wedges and balsamic roasted vegetables.
Tuesday: Cantonese Sweet & Sour Chicken with Steamed rice and Vietnamese Prawn Crackers.
Wednesday: Sausages with Cheese & Potato Pie and Baked Beans
Thursday: Spaghetti Bolognese
Friday: Toad in the hole with Roasties, Veg and onion gravy.
Saturday: Quiche with New Potatoes and Salad
Sunday: Roast Dinner

*Note: I am a vegetarian so where it says any meat in a meal i.e. Chicken or Sausage, I always have the vegetarian version to keep meals simple*

Book Review: Phillipa Knickerbocker Glory and the Ice Cream Castle

Author: Sarahjane Funnell

Age Range: 3- 6 years

Price: £7.99 direct from website

Website: www.phillipaknickerbockerglory.com

Silent Sunday #4

Easter: Chocolate cornflake nests

A simple classic great for Easter

*You can use shredded wheat for a more 'nest' nest like appearance but personally I think it would taste like nest too, and who wants that? Traditional cornflakes all the way for me!*

An outdoor adventure - rustle, squelch, splash!

Lungs full of fresh air... A warm breeze on your face... Freedom of open space...The sound of baby birds chirping in the trees... Alfresco dining...

THE GREAT OUTDOORS!

You really can't beat it. And I personally love it at this time of year. Buds appearing, new life beginning, weather not too hot and not too cold.

I truly believe that come rain or shine children should get at least an hour of outdoor play everyday, provided they wear the correct clothing and protection there's absolutely no reason not to.

I actually love the motto that the blogger at Learning for Life uses for her nursery and have adopted it for myself "Sunshine is delicious, rain is refreshing, wind braces us up, and snow is exhilarating; there is no such thing as bad weather, only different kinds of good weather" (John Ruskin 1819-1900) Couldn't have put it better!

Rainbow Messy Play

A colourful sensory adventure! 

Silent Sunday #3

Stained glass windows / Sun catcher

Fun & simple to make, look great in your own window now the spring sun is here *hope I don't jinx it away saying that* or even a lovely gift for Mothers day.

Easy Cheesy Fish Pie Recipe

A firm favourite in this house which never fails to leave plates cleared and is so very easy to make, healthy and cheap! A winner all round.

Play on a budget #2

So it's been 2 weeks since the first installment of Play on a budget so what bargain play items have I found since then?

My main item is this table and chair which I picked up from a second hand selling group for just £4. They are fairly expensive new but this one had stickers covering literally every inch. The table, chairs & storage box are solid and so I thought even for just a crafting table which will get messy anyway it was worth it.

Silent Sunday

Find out more

How to create a designated childrens reading area

In honour of World Book Day yesterday.....

Weather you call it a reading area, book corner, reading den or story tent, here is a quick list of must have things to include to make your designated area somewhere children will love to spend time and enjoy reading.

An outdoor art activity

The sun is shining YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!

I *think* spring has sprung and it feels great to be soaking up the rays and enjoying this whilst it lasts. We've been doing the usual with bikes, playhouse, climbing frame and sand/water play but here is a quick art activity you can take outdoors for something a bit different.