threefootcooks

B is for Bunchems Product Review

2016-04-21T21:15:00.000+10:00

This review post brought to you by Nuffnang and Bunchems. We received a Bunchems Mega Pack to review. All opinions are 100% my own.

We love doing creative things in our house. While cooking is a great creative activity and one I think all children should be regularly involved in, it is not the only creative process my girls love.

Bear and Bear love to build, craft, design, draw, paint and colour. Drawing, painting and colouring happen a lot here with the girls having easy access to paint, markers, pencils and paper from their craft trolley. Building and construction not so much. At the moment storage is an issue so it is harder for the girls to find their construction materials when the mood strikes them.

So when I was offered the chance to review the Bunchems Mega Pack kit I was intrigued to see how Bear and Bee would react. They have seen the advertisements on tv so I knew they would be interested when they opened the parcel. As it turns out both girls love Bunchems. Hubby and I love them too. Hubby happily made a few creations too (see photo below) and I love how easy they are to use and store when finished. Bunchems are a great way to combine the girls' love of craft and construction.

Apart from the pieces in the Bunchems packs being great colours they are just the right size for this age group. Large enough to create all sorts of cool characters but small enough to store where they are easy to access.

After investigating the Bunchems for a few minutes, Bee got straight to work making accessories for her new rainbow soft toy leopard. The Bunchems grip the short plush well enough to stay on but don't get stuck or pull threads.

Bee went on to make a paper copy of her Bunchems collar so she could keep her design and use the pieces to make something else.

Bear thought Bee's creations were cool and set to work making her own version.

Bunchems are great for fine motor skills too.

So what can you create with Bunchems? Pretty much anything! The girls have tried both their own creations as well as the ideas in the guide book that comes with the kit.

I think Bee's green bat is a groovy dude.

Bear's birdy is very cute too!

Hubby's creation

If your kids can think it, they can probably create it with Bunchems. So too can the grownups!

C is for Cranberry Fruit Drink Product Review

2016-02-14T14:33:00.000+10:00

Here in the three foot cooks household we have been enjoying a delicious new range of drinks from Ocean Spray.

We were recently sent some of the new Ocean Spray Cranberry Low Sugar Fruit Drink to review. I regularly use the dried cranberries from Ocean Spray in trail mixes and Christmas recipes we haven't tried the drinks before and I must say that they have been a resounding success.

In North Queensland where we live, as in many parts of Australia, we have been experiencing really high temperatures this summer. Combined with our normally high humidity here in the tropics it has been a challenge to stay hydrated.

Bear and Bee are fortunate to attend a school with air conditioned classrooms and where they are encouraged to bring water bottles which can be kept in the classroom fridge for easy access.

However after drinking water all day at school both girls prefer to have something else to drink at home with afternoon snacks. Bee's favourite drink is milk and she has raspberry cordial as a treat while Bear prefers orange juice and soft drink (which she only gets occasionally). So you can imagine my delight when both girls declared that they love the Cranberry Low Sugar Fruit drink.

Bear enjoying her drink beside the pool.

Even though she won't drink other juices Bee loves this one.

The Ocean Spray Cranberry Low Sugar Fruit Drink is such a great swap for high sugar drinks like cordial and soft drinks and even has less calories and sugar than Bear's preferred brand of orange juice.

And I love it too. This year one of my goals is to consume less sugar which I have been trying to do by cutting back on coffee, tea and soft drinks. Now I am going to be swapping some of these drinks for the Cranberry Low Sugar Fruit Drink. With only 10 calories per serve, the Fruit drink is healthier option and it tastes great.

For more information on Ocean Spray's Cranberry Low Sugar Fruit Drink visit their website here.

We love the Cranberry Fruit Drink so much I have plans for using it in some recipes with Bear and Bee. Keep watch for my upcoming posts on Berry Frozen Yoghurt Pops for Breakfast and Cranberry Jelly Desserts.

** All reviews are 100% my opinion.**

C is for Christmas Cookie Cutter Crafts

2015-12-17T22:01:00.003+10:00

We seem to have a lot of Christmas themed cookie cutters in our house. How about yours? More than any other theme our collection of trees, reindeer, stars and gingerbread people seems to grow all by itself.

So it seems a waste not to make use of this overload of festive cutters. Here are 5 ways you and your kids can use your Christmas cookie cutters these holidays. And they are not all cookie recipes!

Idea no. 1. For easy melted bead ornaments. No need to carefully place the beads on the design trays before ironing to make a new ornament for the tree. Follow these step by step instructions for Cookie Cutter Melty Bead Ornaments and make some really colourful, and sometimes interesting, designs like we did.

My favourite is the colourful star. I love how it turned out. I also like the tree. The way the green beads curled when melted is pretty cool.

Just remember to keep these cookie cutters for ornament making from now on. Best to be safe and not use them for food again.

Idea no. 2. For homemade wrapping paper. Dip the thicker edge of the cutters in some paint on a tray and stamp it all over large pieces of craft or butchers paper. Cheaper and more personal than store bought gift wrap. For ideas on how to make your own wrapping paper The Imagination Tree has this post on Cookie Cutter Wrapping Paper and Gift Tags while over at Nurture Store you can read about their Homemade Gift Wrap with Christmas Scented Paint.

Idea no. 3. Salt dough ornaments/gift tags. If you don't have any more room on your Christmas tree, turn salt dough ornaments into one of a kind gift tags. Once baked and decorated you can write names and the year on the back of the ornaments and then use ribbon or string to tie them to the gifts.

An easy to follow post for making these ornaments is this one on Salt Dough Christmas Decorations from Be A Fun Mum.

Red Ted Art used their Easy Salt Dough Recipe to make a gorgeous star garland.

Idea no. 4. Treats for your furry friends. Make sure your pet dogs are in on the festive treats with these homemade dog biscuits.

Idea no. 5. For Christmas Cookies. Of course I had to include one regular cooking activity. This is a great way to keep the kids busy in the lead up to the Christmas break. Get them to help make a big batch of sugar cookies and then let them loose with the icing and sprinkles. These would make lovely packages for neighbours or elderly relatives. We used our recipe for a basic biscuit dough but you could use your own favourite sugar cookie recipe too.

For more ideas on crafts using cookie cutters have a look at our Pinterest board.

Wishing you a safe and happy Christmas from the three foot cooks!

V is for Veggie Mac and Cheese {Childhood 101 Guest Post}

2015-07-24T13:27:00.000+10:00

If you follow our blog, you would know that I have been a regular contributor over on Childhood 101.

Here is my latest post on a reworked classic Family Dinner Idea - Vegetable Macaroni and Cheese. And the best part? It only takes one pan!

Click here to read the full post.

I is for IKEA Inspiration

2015-07-08T21:20:00.002+10:00

I find IKEA a great source of inspiration not just for myself and organising our house but also for items for Bear and Bee to use and enjoy. We are travelling south to visit family these school holidays and hopefully I will be able to squeeze in a visit to this Swedish icon. I would love to go regularly just to revisit some of their displays but it is a 12 hour trip so once a year is the best I can hope for.

This year I don't have a long wish list of IKEA products. We need some more rolls of drawing paper and Bear and Bee's paint sets need replacing but I am really looking forward to just having a look around.

IKEA is great for finding items for your budding chefs too. I have put together a list of my favourite products. Almost all of these we have and use regularly.

1. Kids cutlery sets - Bear and Bee use these every day for their meals and we have an extra set for impromptu picnics.

2. Kids plates and bowls - these also are used by Bear and Bee everyday and are great for when they want to make their own lunch or afternoon tea. No worrying about broken china.

3. Grater with container - both girls still find grating most veggies tricky. They seem to be able to handle this grater better than the upright box style and can manage to grate cheese and zucchini with it.

4. Bag sealing clips - these are fantastic for closing up bags in the pantry. Some items like flour and sugar go in resealable containers but sometimes we have a small amount of an ingredients left after experimenting with something new. Both Bear and Bee can open and close these clips unlike some resealable containers that can be harder to open.

5. Felt fruit and felt vegetables - these are perfect for our pretend play kitchen. Many a meal has been constructed out of these felt food items. I like them much better than plastic versions and they are lasting very well.

6. Felt birthday cake - the felt birthday cake we have is slightly different to these cupcakes. It has been used for numerous pretend birthday parties.

7. Ice cube trays for ice in fun shapes - these are good for cold drinks in hot weather but have lots of other uses too. If your child loves small world play the fish shape tray will make great icy fish shapes in a polar play setting. The trays are good too for sorting seeds and dried beans when practicing those fine motor skills.

8. Placemats in cute designs help make dinner time fun and keep the mess to a minimum (just maybe!). Unfortunately I couldn't find these on the IKEA website to link to but I am sure if you get a chance to visit the store you will find some great versions.

9. Ice block moulds - I love that these moulds come with a stand. It makes filling them so much easier. We have made lots of ice blocks using these moulds including fruit juice and berry and yoghurt versions.

10. Play kitchen - I would have loved this one for bear and bee but we just couldn't get it home. Not enough space in our car.

11. Step stool - with twins both wanting to help in the kitchen I invested in a learning tower but this stool would be good if you have one child or are short on space in your kitchen.

What have you bought from IKEA that you love using with your kids?

**This is not a sponsored post I just love IKEA's range of products and their affordability.

S is for School Holidays

2015-06-23T18:37:00.002+10:00

In Australia our mid year school break is approaching. While it is winter for us I know many of you are in the midst of summer school break so I thought a list of food related activities for the school holidays might come in handy right about now.

1. Learn to make something new - book into a cookery class or do a swap with a friend. They teach you and your children how to make a favourite dish and then you can return the favour.

2. Plan and make a picnic - indoors if it is cold, outdoors if the weather is warm enough. There is something about a picnic that makes the food extra special so you don't need to go to a lot of trouble. These Iced Chocolates and Strawberry Shortcake Kebabs are good picnic treats and don't take much time to put together. Visit our Picnic Food Pinterest board for some other ideas.

3. Visit a working farm to see where our food comes from. Dairy farms are great for kids but you might also have a sheep or crop farm nearby that welcomes visitors.

4. Visit a farmers market or local produce co-op. Many places will have samples for you and your children to try.

5. Host a cookie decorating or cupcake decorating play date for your child and their friends.

6. Try out new ideas for lunchbox items. Search our Lunchbox Ideas Pinterest board, magazines or kids cook books with your child for possible items for your kids lunch boxes. Have them help make some things off the list and taste test them for back to school.

7. Bake something together that takes a little extra time that you don't usually have. Try homemade bread or a rainbow layered cake.

8. Visit your local library and borrow some children's cooking books. Read them together and choose something to make. We made Gingerbread Cookies after borrowing and reading a Maisy book from our local public library.

9. Take inspiration from your child's favourite book and see if you can come up with a dish to make. Try our Ariel's Treasure Cakes or Cinderella's Pumpkin Doughnuts.

10. Spend the day with grandparents or another elder for your community (if you don't) have any relatives close and make a recipe from their collection. You can discover some wonderful tried and true recipes this way and chances are your child will remember this time spent together for a long time to come.

To help you plan what to do on the holidays, I have made this activity list into a free printable. You can read it with your child and mark the activities you want to do. Or use it as a checklist and tick each one as you do it.

Click on the image above or on this link to download the free School Holidays Activity List printable.

Have a safe and happy break.

H is for Hand Pies

2015-06-17T22:08:00.000+10:00

What is a hand pie I hear you ask? Well maybe you already know. I hadn't heard them called hand pies before.

Mini pies? Yes. Hand pies? No.

So in case you are in the dark like I was, hand pies are mini versions of regular pies. Easy to hold, very easy to eat and you get to enjoy the crispy pastry edges as well as the yummy filling.

At least that is what Bear and bee love best about hand pies.

We made hand pies a few weekends ago to share with family at a BBQ. With the weather cooling down only a little and mostly at night time it is still nice enough to enjoy an outdoor barbie but now we can add the fun of a camp fire or brazier fire.

Bear has desperately wanted to make pies this last week so these hand pies were the perfect solution for dessert. We were able to customise the pies for each person by making small amounts of filling and then mixing and matching. Bear was happy to work with apples and blueberries while Bee chose raspberries and strawberries. I like to keep some frozen fruit in the freezer for use when the fresh versions are out of season so apart from the apple all the fruit we used for these pies was frozen.

For the fruit feel free to use whatever your family prefers. We peeled, cored and chopped an apple and mixed it with a teaspoon of brown sugar. We also used frozen blueberries, and raspberries which we allowed to thaw a little. The frozen strawberries were thawed slightly and chopped into smaller pieces.

Bear cutting apple for the pie filling.

Adding the brown sugar is optional. A little rice malt syrup would work too.

You can use either ready made or homemade pastry. We found both types worked well for this recipe. You might also like to try puff pastry for a flakier crust.

These pies are delicious served warm with custard or vanilla ice cream. They would also be a nice addition to school (or work) lunchboxes.

If you would like to make hand pies with your children, here's what we did.

Fruit Hand Pies
Makes 6 approximately

Ingredients
2 sheets of ready made shortcrust pastry
OR
1 quantity of homemade shortcrust pastry

1 1/2 cups fruit, all one type or a mix
1/4 cup almond meal
1 egg, lightly beaten
cinnamon sugar for sprinkling on pies

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 200°C.
2. Line 2 baking trays with non-stick baking paper.

Waiting for the frozen strawberries to thaw.

3. Prepare the fruit for the filling.

4. Cut the pastry into 12cm x 8cm rectangle (or close to this to suit your pastry sheets).

5. Take one pastry rectangle and top it with a teaspoon of almond meal and some of the fruit. Make sure you leave a clean border around the edge of the pastry rectangle.

6. Place another pastry rectangle on top and press the edges together to seal.

7. Gently press the edges together with a fork.

8. Place the pie onto the prepared baking tray and cut 3 slices in the top of the pastry.

9. Repeat with the remaining pastry and filling.

10. Brush the top of each pie with the beaten egg.

11. Sprinkle a little cinnamon sugar over the pies.

The lighter pastry is the ready made version.

12. Bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown.

F is for Food Revolution Day 2015

2015-05-19T18:54:00.002+10:00

I love Food Revolution Day and the aims of the movement. Unfortunately this year the three foot cooks and myself didn't get time to participate on the Friday. The girls' school had other celebrations planned for the day and by the time we got home we were all really tired.

I didn't want to miss it completely though so we went ahead and made the Oat and Raisin cookies on the weekend. Jamie Oliver's original recipe is gluten free but since we don't have any food intolerances in our house we made the cookies using regular flour.

If you like biscuits and cookies with oats in them you could also try our Anzac Biscuits recipe.

Oat and Raisin Cookies

Original recipe Gluten Free Oat & Raisin Cookies from Food Revolution Day

Makes 25

Ingredients

100 grams unsalted butter
1/2 cup caster sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1/4 cup milk
1 2/3 cup plain (all purpose) flour
1 teaspoon bicarb soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
3/4 cup raisins
2 cups rolled oats

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 180ºC and line 2 baking trays with non stick baking paper.
2. Melt the butter in the microwave or in a small saucepan over a low heat. Leave to cool for a few minutes.

3. In a large bowl, mix together the sugars.

4. Pour in the melted butter and stir well.

Bear practising cracking eggs.

5. Add the egg and milk to the sugars and mix well.

6. Sift the flour, bicarb soda and cinnamon into the bowl and stir to combine.

7. Mix in the raisins and rolled oats.

8. Place heaped spoonfuls of the mixture onto the lined trays leaving a 4cm gap between each one.

9. Flatten each biscuit slightly with your fingers.

10. Bake for about 15 minutes or until golden brown and crisp.

11. Transfer to a wire cooling rack and leave to cool.

12. Enjoy for afternoon tea.

C is for Chocolate Crackle Nests

2015-03-31T21:14:00.000+10:00

Chocolate Crackle Nests are a simple to make chocolatey treat for the upcoming Easter break. Not that we need more chocolate but these are fun to do and easy enough for older children to make on their own. There is no copha to melt which means no need to supervise kids using the stove.

Bee requested we make Chocolate Crackles this weekend. We usually spend some time talking to both girls about what they would like to do each weekend. Sometimes they have enough ideas to make a list. Other times we go with the flow.

Bear and Bee making chocolate crackles with Dad when camping last year.

Bee remembers making Chocolate Crackles as part of the kids' activities at the holiday park we stayed at last year. She also remembers missing out on the Chocolate Pizza which is on our holiday to do list.

This version of Vegan Healthy Chocolate Crackles from Veggieful is even healthier than the traditional recipe too. Coconut oil is used instead of copha (a form of vegetable fat shortening) to make everything stick together. And maple syrup replaces the icing sugar as the sweetener. I haven't tried them but rice malt syrup and agave nectar would probably work well too. I prefer these crackles made with maple syrup as I don't find them as sickly sweet as the version made with icing sugar.

You could add in 1 cup of desiccated coconut just like traditional chocolate crackles or some chopped macadamia nuts if allergies aren't a problem.

Chocolate Crackles Nests
Recipe from Veggieful
Makes approximately 12 muffin sized crackles

Ingredients
1/3 cup melted coconut oil
1/3 cup maple syrup
1/3 cup cocoa powder
2 1/2 cups rice bubbles (puffed rice cereal)
24 mini chocolate eggs

Directions

We used a patty cake tray and made slightly smaller crackle nests.

1. Line a regular muffin tray with paper cases.

Adding the maple syrup to the oil.

Bear whisking the oil, syrup and cocoa together.

2. In a large bowl, whisk together the coconut oil, maple syrup and cocoa powder.

Double mixing gets it done faster!

3. Stir in the rice bubbles.

4. Spoon the mixture into the paper cases.

5. Top each nest with the mini eggs.

Ready for the fridge.

6. Refrigerate until set - about 2 hours.


Mini chocolate crackles.

Since we used a patty cake tray which is smaller than a muffin tray we had enough mixture left to make some mini chocolate crackles.

If you are looking for more Easter inspired cooking ideas check out our Easter Pinterest board.

B is for Busy Days

2015-03-29T21:14:00.001+10:00

Things have been very quiet here on the blog since the start of the year. Mind you it's the only place things have been quiet around here.

Bear and Bee have started Prep this year which is the first year of formal schooling here in Queensland. I went back to work for the first time since the girls were born. I am very fortunate to have gained a job in the library at the same school as the girls. It sure makes drop off and pick up a whole lot easier.

It is a brand new school so I have been spending a lot of my own time there getting things organized. Now that we have a good routine and many of the resources in the library have been processed I plan to spend more time back here on the blog and interacting with you on social media. I have heaps of ideas for blog posts and lots more on my to do list.

But for now I have a big announcement to make. I think I have put it off for long enough - not that I meant to put it off!

If you are a follower of Christie Burnett and the amazing Childhood 101 blog you may have noticed that the three foot cooks have been making regular appearances. I was so excited when Christie approached me about becoming a regular contributor on Childhood 101. How cool is that blog? And such a wealth of information too. So every 2 months now Bear, Bee and myself will be contributing a guest post to Childhood 101.

So far we have made -

Healthier Vanilla Cupcakes.

Homemade Tortillas for Taco Tuesdays.

Hot Cross Scones.

I will be posting a short extract from each of these guest posts here on the blog. But make sure you click on the links to take you to the full posts over on Childhood 101.

While you are there check out the other guest contributors. It is such a fabulous group to be part of.

And keep an eye on our facebook page. I will let you know when our next guest post is done as well as all our new blog posts.

I am going to get my act together with the newsletter too so if you subscribe it's an easy way to keep up to date with our cooking adventures.

A is for Australia Day Busy Bag

2015-01-18T21:57:00.001+10:00

With Australia Day coming up next Monday, the 26th January, I have teamed up with some awesome Aussie bloggers to bring you lots of fun Australian themed ideas for kids.

For our Australia Day activity, rather than doing an Aussie inspired recipe with Bear and Bee I came up with a new printable Busy Bag idea. Both girls loved the Healthy Lunchboxes Busy Bag and Grow My Garden Busy Bag I did last year as part of a Busy Bag Virtual Exchange so I was pretty certain (can never be too sure with 5 year olds) that they would like this idea too.

If you are catching up with family and friends on Australia Day this Busy Bag would be a great quiet activity for the kids to do after lunch.

So without any further ado here is our No Mess Pavlova Busy Bag.

Click on this link to download a free printable that includes instructions for putting together the No Mess Pavlova Busy Bag.

I was initially inspired by the Pavlova Playdough Mat over on My Little Bookcase. I have included a sheet of fruit pieces to cut out and decorate the Pavlova page.

If you are pressed for time you could skip cutting out the fruit pieces and just print out the Pavlova base. Add in some tubs of playdough and shape cutters to make the fruit or use beads and buttons. To be safe use beads and buttons for older children only.

For more Aussie inspiration, check out these great Aussie blogs.

Danya Banya for two cute crafts of Sydney's icons - the Harbour Bridge and the Opera House.

The Craft Train for gorgeous Frilled Neck Lizards.

Laughing Kids Learn for making Damper Bread.

E is for Eight Maids-a-milking

2014-12-08T20:25:00.000+10:00

Updated 27/12/2014.

On the eighth day of Christmas my true love gave to me - 8 Maids-a-milking.

We have joined with 11 other bloggers to celebrate the festive season by creating crafts and activities based on the 12 Days of Christmas. This blog hop full of Christmassy goodness is hosted by Silly Sparkles. Make sure you head over to the other blogs and have a look at the other 'Days of Christmas' too. Links are at the end of this post.

We chose 8 Maids-a-milking and I couldn't decide on whether to make Christmas milkshakes or Christmas ice cream.

With the really hot weather we are experiencing at the moment (hot even for Queensland in December) ice cream was the winner.

To make it a real hands on sensory experience for Bear and Bee I knew we had to try making Ice Cream in a bag. If you haven't made ice cream this way before you definitely need to give it a go. It's a great activity that is lots of fun to do and as a bonus uses up a little of the excess energy kids seem to have around holiday time.

Here's how we made our Christmas Ice Cream in a Bag.

Christmas Ice Cream in a Bag
Ingredients
300ml cream
2 tablespoons caster (or icing) sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 or 4 candy canes
2 trays of ice cubes
6 tablespoons rock salt
1 large ziploc bag
3 small ziploc bags

Directions

1. Place the candy canes inside one of the small ziploc bags and then hit with a rolling pin until the canes are crushed into small pieces.
2. Pour the cream into one of the remaining small ziploc bags. Place the bag into a coffee mug or small bowl to help it stand up and not spill over.
3. Add the sugar and vanilla to the cream and seal the bag well.
4. Place the bag of cream mixture inside another small ziploc bag to protect it well from the salt.
5. Put the ice and salt in the large ziploc bag and add the bag of cream mixture. Make sure the bag is sealed really well.

6. Now for the fun part. Wrap a tea towel around the whole lot and start shaking and massaging the bags.

7. Gloves are handy to protect little ones hands from the cold or you could put the whole lot (minus the tea towel) inside a large coffee can or baby formula tin and start rolling it around.
8. Keep shaking or rolling for 5-10 minutes or until the cream mixture has thickened. It will be like soft serve ice cream. Ours took 10 minutes.
9. Remove the small bag of ice cream from the other bags. Wipe carefully with a clean cloth to remove any traces of salt.

10. Use scissors to snip off the corner of the bag and squeeze the ice cream into cones or bowls.

11. Sprinkle with the crushed candy canes and enjoy.

A very happy Bee with her Ice Cream

If your kids like candy canes, add the crushed canes to the cream mixture in step 3. Bear doesn't like candy canes and Bee does so I just added them at the end.

Click on the images below to follow each of the 12 Days of Christmas craft ideas!

: Partridge In A Pear Tree by Silly Sparkles

: Two Turtle Doves by Because Babies Grow Up

: Three French Hens by Learning and Exploring Through Play

: Four Calling Birds by Messy Little Monster

: Five Golden Rings by Multi Crafting Mummy

: Six Geese-A-Laying by Swords and Snoodles

: Seven Swans-A-Swimming by Craft Ideas For Kids

: Eight Maids-A-Milking by Three Foot Cooks

: Nine Ladies Dancing by Making Memories In The Chaos

: 10 Lords-A-Leaping by Adventures of Adam

: Eleven Pipers Piping by Play Explore Learn

: Twelve Drummers Drumming by Learning and Exploring Through Play

C is for Christmas Playdough

2014-11-27T20:59:00.001+10:00

Playdough that smells like Christmas. Well sort of. This Christmas Day Playdough from Nurturestore does smell Christmassy although it is a traditional European Christmas scent. Orangey, cinnamony and cosy. Which is really truly lovely.

I would like to make an Australian Christmas scented playdough but I am not sure how to combine Eucalyptus leaves, hot summer day, beach and barbecues into a smell with out it ending up like a cleaning product!

So this year I am sticking to the Christmas Day playdough. I also made a batch of Snow Playdough and scented it with Peppermint essence and some Green sparkle playdough using the same base homemade playdough recipe.

I set them up for Bear and Bee as an Invitation to Play with rolling pins and Christmas themed cookie cutters.

And we also practised our rolling skills and made playdough candy canes.

What is your favourite Christmas scent?

F is for Fun Food for Christmas

2014-11-25T21:00:00.003+10:00

Over the last few weeks I have been working on our family Advent activities for this year. We will have an Advent Calendar as usual along with reading through our collection of Christmas stories. This year I am also going to do a Jesse tree with Bear and Bee to take the focus away from receiving presents to more of the reason we celebrate Christmas.

I have nearly got our Advent Calendar finished - just need some numbers on the drawers. In the past I have used envelopes and boxes but this year I finally found a set of drawers that I liked (and could afford). I have the activities printed out ready to go in the little drawers. I just need to buy a few small treats to go in there too.

If you haven't got your Advent Calendar sorted yet or you just want some ideas of activities to do with your children over the upcoming school holidays I have a list that should help.

Here are 24 food related festive activities that you can do with your children throughout December. **List updated 8 December 2014.

1. Make and decorate Salt Dough Ornaments. Change these Easter ones by the threefootcooks to more festive versions using Christmas shaped cookie cutters. There are lots of ways to make salt dough ornaments. This is our favourite one.

2. Build a Gingerbread House. If you have plenty of time, bake the gingerbread and cut out the pieces. If not, buy one of the many great kits available. I have my eye on an Australian outback shack from one of our bigger grocery stores. But whatever option you go for make sure you use this Gingerbread House 'glue' by Kids Activities Blog. It is the best. In Australia you buy meringue powder from speciality cake decorating suppliers or subsitute Pavlova Magic from the supermarket.

3. Make Reindeer Food. This idea comes from Parenting Fun Everyday. It will be a perfect and inexpensive gift for Bear's and Bee's kindy friends. While you are over looking at this site check out the rest of Amber's great Christmas activites. She has put together an eBook which you can purchase to make downloading easier or you can get each activity separately for free.

4. Whip up some Christmas Ice Cream. Ice Cream is good in any weather right? We made Christmas Ice Cream in a Bag for the 12 Days of Christmas Blog Hop hosted by Sillysparkles.

5. Put together a food hamper for charity. Non- perishable food items like rice, pasta, cereal, meals in a can and baby food are just some of the items that you can donate. Have a look at this article on Food Drives from Foodbank in Australia for more ideas or contact a local charity in your town or city.

6. Have Breakfast for Dinner. We use this simple tradition on a number of occasions throughout the year (like the start of school holidays) and you can make it extra special for Christmas with some simple touches. Read about having Breakfast for Dinner over at Peace but not Quiet.

7. Bake Cookies for Santa or the neighbours. These Christmas spiral cookies made with the threefootcooks are good.

8. Make Christmas Popcorn to eat while watching a Christmas movie. This year we are going to try this delicious sounding Christmas flavoured sugar from Nurturestore.

9. Make real hot chocolate. Or if it is summer where you live (just like it is for us) make Iced Chocolate just like Bee did on threefootcooks.

10. Bake a Christmas Cake together. Dig out your mum's, aunt's, grandma's cherished recipe and have a go at making it as a family. Here is my mum's recipe.

11. A great homemade Christmas gift is Cookies in a Jar. Be a Fun Mum has a simple to follow version that would make delicious gifts for teachers, family friends or relatives.

12. Bake some Homemade Dog Treats using this recipe from threefootcooks and take them to the animal shelter. Check first with the shelter if they will accept these. Otherwise find out what they do need like old blankets and towels, kitty litter or canned food and put together a donation basket.

13. Hold a Gingerbread Party Playdate just like this one from I Can Teach My Child. I love how it includes the gingerbread creations going missing along with reading The Gingerbread Man story.

14. Make Christmas Cone Cakes with the threefootcooks. Baking these cupcakes in ice cream cones in the microwave means they are quick and easy to prepare. Leaving plenty of time for the kids to be creative with the decorating.

15. Challenge the kids to make these gorgeous Gumdrop Snowflakes from Tips from a Typical Mom.

16. Bake a batch of Angel Halo Biscuits with your kids like I did with the threefootcooks. They are quick, easy and delicious.

17. Mix up a batch of Christmas playdough and let the kids go crazy with the cookie cutter. We made this Christmas Day playdough from Nuturestore and it smells divine. I love that it is scented using herbs and spices.

18. Throw in some Kitchen Science by making these Christmas Peppermint Creams. We made these a few years ago and they worked really well. Follow the links to the original recipe on the Science Sparks site.

19. Make Candy Cane Chocolate Hearts with Be a Fun Mum. Another great idea for school friend gifts.

20. Eat Dessert first. Pavlova is a traditional dessert often included on Australian Christmas dinner tables. How about getting the kids involved in making their own. There's no need to make the pavlova base yourself. If you do want to try making your own One Perfect Day has a recipe for Super Simple Never Fail Pavlova. Buy a box of mini meringues or meringue drops, cut up some fresh fruit such as bananas, berries, mangoes and kiwi fruit and whip fresh cream. Lay it out on the table in small bowls and get the kids to layer up their own plates.

21. If your children are breaking for school holidays soon this Christmas Tree Bread from Mess for Less would be a fun and tasty way to keep them busy.

22. Need some Christmas gift ideas? Try these Snowball truffles from Here Come The Girls.

23. Angel Cakes. A sweet take on the more well known Butterfly cakes, here's how we made Angel Cakes.

24. Turn your gingerbread cutter upside down and make these Gingerbread Reindeer from Martha Stewart.

A is for Angel Cupcakes

2014-11-24T21:19:00.002+10:00

With the festive season in full swing, it can be tempting to try and do everything bigger and better. Often, however, the simple ideas can be the best.

Take these Angel Cakes for example. They are a simple combination of vanilla cupcakes, vanilla icing and icing sugar. But they make for the perfect Christmas treat.

Most people would have heard of, and probably made, Butterfly Cakes. All you need to do to make these super cute Angel Cakes is make a batch of your favourite cupcakes as you would for Butterfly Cakes and reposition the wings.

How wonderfully delightful are these Angel Cakes?

Here is how we made them.

Angel Cakes
Makes 12

Ingredients
For Cakes
120g unsalted butter
2/3 cup caster sugar
2 eggs
2 cups self raising flour
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup milk

For Icing
2 cups icing sugar mixture
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons hot water
extra icing sugar for dusting

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 180°C.
2. Line a cupcake tray with paper liners
3. Beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
4. Mix in the vanilla.
5. Add eggs one at a time and beat well after each addition.
6. Add flour and milk and mix well.
7. Spoon batter evenly among paper cases.
8. Bake for 10-12 minutes.
9. Allow to cool for a few minutes in tray before placing on a wire rack to cool completely.

10. To make the icing, mix icing sugar and butter together in a medium bowl.
11. Add water and mix until a smooth paste forms.

12. To assemble the cakes, cut a disc from the top of each cake.

13. Fill the top of the cake with icing.

14. Cut the cake disc in half and gently stand each half upright in the icing to form wings.

15. Dust with icing sugar.

C is for Christmases Past

2014-11-24T13:37:00.001+10:00

This is my mum's recipe for Christmas Cake. We will be making a version of this for our own cake this year as we won't be at my mum's for Christmas Day. I believe it is good to carry on some traditions from the past in order to keep us connected with our families and ancestors.

Do you have family Christmas traditions that you are keeping this year?

T is for Too Hot for Hot Chocolates!

2014-11-23T21:36:00.003+10:00

With the temperature regularly reaching 30°C or above (86°F) now it is definitely summer here already even if officially summer doesn't start for another week yet.

This also means it is definitely too hot for hot chocolates. Why am I talking about hot chocolates I hear you ask? Hot chocolates, marshmallows and Christmas seem to go hand in hand. Well they do if you live in many parts of the northern hemisphere anyway. But here? Not so much.

So with Bear and Bee both keen to start doing anything Christmassy, we changed up the Hot Chocolate tradition for Iced Chocolates. Much more suited to where we live and delicious for an after kindy afternoon tea.

There are many recipes for making Iced Chocolates just as there are many recipes for making Hot Chocolates. This is how we made our Iced Chocolates. It is not really a recipe though more just a suggestion of what to do.

Iced Chocolate
Serves 1

Ingredients
1 tablespoon chocolate flavoured topping (like you pour over ice cream)
2 scoops vanilla ice cream
250ml milk
whipped cream, grated chocolate and extra chocolate topping to serve.

Directions

1. Place the topping, ice cream and milk in a blender or a milkshake shaker like our Tupperware one.

2. Blend or shake for 1 minute.

3. Spread a little extra topping around the inside of a glass.

4. Pour in the milk mix.

5. Top with whipped cream and grated chocolate.

6. Serve and enjoy!

You could replace the chocolate flavoured topping with powered chocolate drink mix or even make your own chocolate mix. Whisk together 2 tablespoons cocoa powder, 1-2 tablespoons sugar (depending on how sweet you like it) with a little hot water. Use in recipe in place of topping.

A is for Angel Halo Biscuits

2014-11-20T10:11:00.001+10:00

Every year around this time I start making a list of recipes for Christmas meals and treats that I want to try out. I love looking through all the Christmas themed magazines and marking the ideas that I want to do this year. That doesn't mean I always get through my list. Often there is too many things on that list or as happened last year (and will probably happen again this year) I run out of time because we are moving house.

So when I came across the idea for Angel Halo Biscuits in the Christmas edition of Better Homes and Gardens magazine I knew I needed to give it a go as soon as possible.

It is a fairly simple recipe using ingredients that you will probably have in your pantry and quick to make which is handy if you have last minute guests popping in over the Christmas break.

These simple biscuits are equally delicious with a glass of cold milk or with a well deserved cup of tea. I adapted the recipe slightly to suit our tastes. I would recommend adding a little ground cinnamon or nutmeg if you want more of a Christmassy flavour boost.

Angel Halo Biscuits
Makes 14 depending on size

Ingredients
1 3/4 cups plain (all purpose) flour
1/2 teaspoon bicarb soda
100g unsalted butter, melted
2/3 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 egg
extra plain flour to dust surface when rolling
To decorate:
1/2 cup pure icing sugar or icing sugar mixture or Icing glaze and yellow sanding sugar

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 160°C.
2. Line 2 baking trays with non-stick baking paper.

Bee sifting flour and bicarb soda

3. Sift flour and bicarb soda into a large bowl.

Bear whisking butter, sugar and egg

4. In a small bowl, whisk together the butter, sugar and egg.

Making a well in the centre of the flour

Pouring in butter mixture

5. Make a well in the centre of the flour and pour in the butter mixture.

6. Mix until a dough forms.
If the weather is warm when making these biscuits I would recommend putting the dough in the fridge for 10-15 minutes before rolling.

7. Take 1 and 1/2 tablespoons of dough and roll into a sausage shape on a lightly floured surface. Be careful not to use too much flour for rolling or it will make the dough too dry and crumbly. The dough sausage should be about 1 1/2 to 2cm wide.

8. Repeat with remaining dough.

9. Carefully shape the dough sausages into rings and place on the prepared baking trays.

10. Bake in the oven for 12 minutes or until firm.

11. Cool slightly on trays before transferring to a cooling rack.

Bee sifting icing sugar over the biscuits

Sprinkling on the coloured sugar

12. To decorate, either sift over icing sugar or make a quick glaze with 3/4 cup icing sugar and 1 and 1/2 tablespoons of hot water. Dip the biscuits in the glaze and sprinkle with yellow sugar.

If you like this recipe download the printable recipe card for this recipe from here.

P is for Pumpkin Sugar Cookies

2014-10-29T21:44:00.000+10:00

These Pumpkin Sugar Cookies are Boo-tiful (sorry couldn't miss the opportunity!). If you are looking for a simple Halloween or Autumn treat that the kids can help with, then try these.

The pumpkin flavour is subtle so even your fussiest eaters should be happy with these cookies. I deliberately kept the spices to a minimum to suit Bear's and Bee's tastes. You might like to use a little more cinnamon or add some nutmeg too.

The colour of the dough will be paler after baking so you may want to add a few drops of orange food colouring to enhance the pumpkin-y-ness of the baked cookies.

For this recipe I adapted the Basic Sugar Cookie recipe from Martha Stewart.

Bear cutting out shapes.

Bear decorating cooled cookies.

Pumpkin Sugar Cookies

Makes approximately 30 depending on size of cookies.

Ingredients
3 cups plain (all purpose) flour, plus extra for rolling
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup (113g) unsalted butter, softened
1 (220g) cup sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup pumpkin puree
Icing in various colours to decorate

Directions
1. In a large bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, salt and cinnamon.
2. Use an electric mixer to cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
3. Beat in egg and vanilla.
4. Add pumpkin puree and mix well.
5. With the mixer on low speed, gradually add flour mixture.
6. Mix until combined.
7. Divide dough in half and flatten into disks.
8. Wrap each disk in plastic wrap and freeze until firm.
9. Preheat oven to 160°C and line 2 baking trays with non-stick baking paper.
10. Remove one disk of dough from freezer and let stand for 5 minutes.
11. On a floured surface, roll out dough to approx 0.5 cm.
12. Cut out shapes with cookie cutters. Make sure you dip the cutters in flour to help stop them sticking.
13. Use a spatula to transfer the shapes to a prepared tray.
14. Reroll dough scraps and cut more shapes.
15. Repeat with remaining dough.
16. Bake until edges are golden. Depending on the size of the cookies this should take 10-18 minutes.
17. Cool cookies on a wire rack before decorating with icing.

You can download a printable recipe card for this recipe from here.

H is for Halloween Cooking with Kids

2014-10-27T13:59:00.000+10:00

Halloween is certainly gaining momentum as an event to celebrate here in Australia. More and more children are dressing up, going trick or treating and having halloween themed parties.

Bear and Bee have been interested in Halloween for a few years now. Where we used to live, many of the families in the neighbourhood would walk around as a group trick or treating. Bear and Bee loved to dress up and stand at the front door ready to hand out the treats.

This year we are in a new neighbourhood without many young children so I have been planning a simple Halloween party for the girls and their cousin. I have another post coming up with some of the snacks we are making for the party.

Getting the kids involved in the planning and prep for any party is a great way to reduce stress and your workload. Choose some simple decorations that the whole family can help create this week.

Check out our Halloween Pinterest board for decoration ideas.

As for the food, I have rounded up some great posts on Halloween suitable recipes that your children can help make.

Pastry Wands by the threefootcooks

Incy Wincy Spiders here on threefootcooks

Dirt Cup Treats over at Juggling with Kids

Bone Yard Breadsticks from Crystal's Tiny Treasures.

Halloween Monster Cupcakes over at Kitchen Counter Chronicles.

Spooky Orange Faces with Danya Banya.

Frankenstein and Zombie Cookies with Life at the Zoo.

Mini Pumpkin Quesadillas from Crafty Morning

Witch's Hat from No Time For Flash Cards

Halloween Bark with Family Food and Travel

Happy Pumpkins over at Kiddie Foodies

Mummy Pizza at The Joys of Boys

Ghost Toast and Witch's Brew with Imprints from Tricia

We hope you and your children have fun making these for Halloween. BOO :o

I is for Ice Cream Shop Play

2014-10-15T19:06:00.000+10:00

Bear and Bee both love Pretend (Dramatic) Play. Bee especially loves setting up all manner of shops selling everything from stationery supplies to pets.

One of Bee's more common requests is for an Ice Cream Shop. I actually have a clear plastic shoe box filled with items that she can use to set up her shop. I have similar ones for a Post Office, Pet Shop, Hairdressers and Doctor's surgery.

Initially I was inspired by these great posts from some fellow bloggers.

Imaginative Play Ice Cream Shop from Learning 4 Kids.

I also made a set of the super cute felt popsicles shown in the Ice Cream Sensory Box post on Pink and Green Mama.

And the idea for a menu came from this post Dramatic Play Ice Cream Shop over on Pre-K Pages.

Then I set about gathering from our real kitchen and the play kitchen, some essential tools for an Ice Cream Shop such as:

an ice cream scoop
spoons
plastic containers for the various flavours
scrunched up tissue paper for the ice cream
bowls
cupcake liners
plastic sundae glasses (which I found at a second hand shop)
empty cake sprinkles containers
sauce bottles for toppings
toy ice cream cone set
and our trusty cash register.

Add in an apron, a table, the bookshelf from our quiet reading area and some willing customers and you have a very busy Ice Cream Shop.

Bee making ice creams.

If you want to extend the fun, Twodaloo also has a great tutorial to make an Ice Cream Play set and Color Matching game.

G is for Gone Playing Back Soon

2014-10-07T11:56:00.003+10:00

You may have noticed that things have been very quiet here over the last few months. I have been taking some time off to work on some projects as well as work out what I wanted to do, if anything, with this blog.

I haven't been completely out of touch though. While taking a break I still did some guest posting. Click on the links below to see what we did.

Over on Childhood 101 you can read about our Chicken Pot Pies.

And on Creative World with Varya we made some Macadamia Anzac Biscuits.

Hopefully you will be pleased to know that the threefootcooks blog will continue - just at a slightly more casual pace. I found that working on this blog was taking over and I didn't have any time for the other things I enjoy doing such as sewing and diy projects.

I will still be writing and posting about new recipes and other food related projects that Bear, Bee and myself have tried but it may only be once or twice per week. I hope you will stick around and will enjoy this more lesiurely pace.

If you have any suggestions or feedback please leave a comment.

S is for Sick Days

2014-08-14T16:14:00.001+10:00

Sick days were always much easier pre children. We could spend the day in bed and recover and only myself or hubby would get sick, rarely would it be both of us.

Now with kids it's one in all in. And with Bee and Bear going to kindy they seem to bring home more bugs too. Bear currently has a chest cold which has been hanging on for more than two weeks and over the weekend Bee has come down with her first bout of tonsillitis.

So while we haven't been doing any cooking together I have been thinking about the best food for sick kids. I have gathered together some of my own recipes and ideas for feeding sick kids and some from fellow bloggers as well as a couple of posts on activities to do with your children when they are sick.

The one food I could rely on as a child when I was sick was Vegemite Toast Soldiers. Vegemite (a savoury spread) always seemed to help settle my stomach and when I was a bit older mum would make me a cup of tea to go with it. Bee is a fan of Vegemite and I have been able to get her to nibble on Vegemite toast and Vegemite on tortilla wraps.

I don't add parsley to the kids' soup.

Chicken Soup is a wondrous thing when you are feeling sick. Homemade Chicken Soup is even better and it doesn't have to be complicated to make. Click on this link to download my recipe for Easy Chicken Noodle Soup.

Homemade Yoghurt Pops are soothing on a sore throat and if you use a yoghurt with active cultures they will be good for your child if she has been on antibiotics like Bee is at the moment.

Ginger can be calming on upset tummies. Try having your child nibble on some cute Gingerbread People (minus the icing and decorations) if they are feeling nauseous.

Once your child is starting to feel better try these Falafel Burgers. Their bodies will benefit from all the extra vitamins, minerals and other goodies.

Or if your child is happy to eat their vegetables chunky this Seven Vegetable Minestrone from Mama Miss would give them a great boost too.

This list of 8 Ways to Cope with Sick Kids from Kate at Picklebums is a good place to start. The tips include how to keep fluids up and providing snacks to remind your children to eat. I too have found the power of a heat pack for helping Bee with her aches and pains.

And to cheer your sick child up and keep them busy Alison at Pint-sized Treasures has 19 Activities for Sick Kids

If you have sick kids I hope this list helps.

B is for Breakfast on a Dream Morning

2014-08-04T20:27:00.000+10:00

**This is a sponsored post. While I was sent free samples of the products to try I received no other compensation and all opinions expressed are my own.**

It's funny how the threefootcooks, hubby and myself all have different ways we like to wake up in the mornings.

Bear's and hubby's dream mornings are pretty similar. They like to get up early, watch some television while waking up, have breakfast and then get ready for day ahead.

Bee on the other hand is fully awake as soon as she gets out of bed. She will get changed into her clothes for the day, eat breakfast and want to start playing or go to kindy straight away.

My ideal morning would involve a late wake up, a cup of tea while watching breaky television in bed, a leisurely breakfast made by someone else and then I might be ready to start the day.

We might very occasionally get our dream mornings on a free weekend but our regular weekday mornings are always more of a rush to get ready for kindy and work.

To make our mornings a little less hurried, I find the right breakfast options are essential. They need to be quick and easy to make and filling to see us through until lunch (or morning tea in the girls' case).

With the cooler weather lately I am loving Uncle Tobys Oats Quick Sachets. The sachets are a convenient and tasty oats option, perfect for busy parents and their kids. The Quick Sachets are easy to prepare in the microwave and mess-free which fits with my essential criteria above.

The Uncle Tobys Oats Quick Sachets are made from wholegrain oats which I find keeps me fuller for longer making me less tempted to eat snacks mid morning.

And there is such a great variety of flavours in the Quick Sachets range. All made with no artificial colours of flavours. The Fruit Variety pack with Apple and Cinnamon, Apple and Raspberry and Apple and Honey, is deliciousness in a bowl. I can't wait to get started on the Berry Variety pack next with the Strawberry, Blueberry and Triple Berry flavours.

I really like how the Oats Quick Sachets have actual pieces of fruit in them. Certainly simpler than having to add fruit to a bowl of plain rolled oats on a busy morning.

Click on the following link for more information on Uncle Tobys Oats Quick Sachets.

While I might not get my ideal morning everyday, using Uncle Tobys Oats Quick Sachets will certainly get me closer to a more relaxed and calm breakfast routine.

T is for Tiny Biscuits

2014-07-25T20:58:00.000+10:00

Tiny things always seem to be a hit with children. Tiny pet toys, tiny lego pieces, tiny fairies and tiny dolls are popular in our household.

Bee and Bear also love the small packets of even smaller biscuits for a snack.

And while they are cute and convenient, the biscuits do work out to be quite expensive when packaged like this. Besides, with only a few biscuits in each packet they don't last very long.

I knew I needed to find a homemade version that I could package up myself to include in the girls' kindy lunchboxes.

Amanda from One Crafty Mum has this recipe for Homemade Tiny Teddy Biscuits on her blog and that is what we used for our tiny biscuits. We don't have a thermomix which is what Amanda used to make this recipe. She does suggest that the recipe would work with a mixer or a bowl and spoon so we used our stand mixer.

We added 2 tablespoons of cocoa powder in with the flour to make tiny chocolate biscuits. And because I am impatient I didn't bother putting the dough in the fridge for an hour. The weather was reasonably cool the day we made these and the biscuits turned out fine. But if I was to make them in summer I would definitely rest the dough in the fridge for a while.

To make the dough for the Tiny Biscuits, I creamed the butter and sugar. Then I mixed in the egg, vanilla, flour and baking powder.

Once it was all mixed well, we turned the dough out onto the lightly floured bench, rolled it out and starting cutting out our shapes. We don't have a tiny teddy shaped biscuit cutter so I searched through the girls playdough cutter collection and came up with small bear, small elephant, small duck and small dog shapes. After a good wash in hot, soapy water the cutters were ready to use. If you want to buy a tiny teddy cutter Amanda has links in her post.