Motherhood Matters

Vanilla Slice

2011-09-20T15:01:00.001+10:00

Recently I have been making an Aussie favourite, obviously called Vanilla Slice, and had many requests for the recipe. So here goes: Ingredients: 2 sheets of puff pastry 2 packets of Vanilla pudding container of cream (around 450ml) 1 cup milk Roll out pastry sheets to fit the dish you'll be using. Cook them on a cookie sheet as per package directions. Allow to cool. Mix remaining

9/11...a view from an Aussie

2011-09-10T01:06:00.000+10:00

There are things happen in our life that we will always remember where we were and what we were doing at the time. September 11th 2001 was one of those days. We had just moved into a new house. We that is, except my husband who was back in America visiting his family. The children were all in bed and I was on the computer chatting with friends from all over the world. One of my friends mentioned

The Elusive °....or degree sign

2011-09-01T00:42:00.000+10:00

I type a lot of recipes. Whether it's to post on my blog or just to put in my file on the computer, etc, I type a lot. Everytime I've come to the temperature I have to type the complete word...degree. It gets old and it just doesn't look right. Surely there's a way to simply type ° rather than write 'degree'. So I went in search of the 'how to'. I found help all over the place...as you do. Some

Zucchinis Galore.....

2011-09-01T00:24:00.001+10:00

This is the time of the year that neighbours are dropping off 'zucchini bread' or 'zucchini brownies'. Everyone is trying to disguise this abundant vegetable (although some may argue that it is a fruit). If there was such a thing as a 'State Vegetable' then zucchini would be it for here in Utah. Everyone has a thriving garden here (all except me it seems) and everyone plants zucchini. There is

Salsabol

2011-08-25T05:46:00.001+10:00

If you have found my recipe for Eggplant Salsa then you will know how much we love salsa in our house. Today I found this bowl online that would fit perfectly in our family. This bowl makes the art of scooping salsa onto your chip, effortless. No more fear of having the blob of salsa fall straight from your chip onto the table as you lift the chip to the edge of the bowl. Just think of the money

Tip Junkie....Homemade Projects

2011-08-23T16:27:00.000+10:00

I messed up big time on my first time at all this 'sharing'...but...Oh well. Bloggers from all over are sharing their homemade projects. The one I shared is my Eggplant Salsa...but of course when it asked for 'Name'....I put MY NAME and not the name of the project. DUH! Anyway...go check out all the fun and inspiring items that people are making. I for one will be having a go at making my own

Menu for a month

2011-08-21T07:49:00.001+10:00

For the past number of years I have found that making a menu, and following it, makes my life so much easier and find it saves us money as well. I thought I'd share my latest monthly menu with you in hopes that someone might find it helpful. Monthly Menu Blogger

Back to school

2011-08-18T07:06:00.000+10:00

Feeling the need to get your nails done to celebrate 'back to school'? The Daily Nail: April 2010 (clipped to polyvore.com)

2011-08-10T09:12:00.002+10:00

Parenting....

2011-07-27T00:24:00.003+10:00

I have been a guest contributor on a blogEzine. This is my latest contribution. Another 4th in July.

LDS Welfare Square

2011-07-15T03:00:00.003+10:00

Yesterday my husband an I took our three teenage sons to visit the LDS Welfare Square. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has always shown concern for the poor and needy, from the very beginning. For example, back in 1842 the women's organization, known as Female Relief Society of Nauvoo. That same organization continues to function today known simply as Relief Society and is about

Homemade Cereal and teenage boys.....

2011-07-09T05:08:00.000+10:00

I get a real kick out of making my own things. A few months ago I tried my hand at a recipe I'd had sitting in the bottom of the recipe pile for some time. You know the 'one day I'll try this' recipe pile. After trying it I found my teenage sons loved it and actually told me not to buy cereal anymore. Well...we made the big move from Australia to USA and I haven't made it because I don't have

Homemade Chocolate

2011-07-05T01:27:00.000+10:00

I have been making chocolate for years and for years people have asked me for the recipe. I have finally put the recipe up for everyone to see over here: A String of Pearls If you go over and like what you read please leave a comment there and if you're interested I will be happy to share just how we made STRAWBERRY chocolate....but you'll have to leave a comment so I know.

Money...money....money.....

2011-07-02T13:15:00.000+10:00

This is a picture of an ATM receipt someone left at a gas station recently. Alas it is not from my account but it sure can make one daydream about the 'what ifs'. So....What if it was yours....what would you do? List the top five things you would do if you had this kind of money.

Sibling Rivalry

2011-07-02T13:07:00.001+10:00

Who hasn't lived through it with your own siblings or dealing with it now as your own children grow. Here is a fantastic idea that is sure to help with who gets to sit in the front seat of the car or who gets to choose the TV show to watch or ANYTHING for that matter. The Pocket Referee I'm sure you have some tales to tell of sibling rivalry in your life. I'd love to hear them so go ahead and

Cyclones, Strangers and Floods......OH MY

2011-02-22T01:00:00.064+10:00

To say the start to my year has been eventful is an understatement. It all began with a phone call just days before New Years Eve. The person on the other end was someone I had met once for just a few minutes during 2009. She was calling from Malaysia asking if she could stay with us for a few days and that she'd be arriving in Brisbane Jan 1st. The connection with 'Sue' is that she is the

Helping a Hoarder

2011-01-17T13:49:00.000+10:00

Yesterday I was out and about with three of my four children (#4 has an arm in a cast) helping with the flood clean-up effort. It was Sunday. Our Sabbath. We are Christians. We go to church every Sunday and love it. The mess that this flood has caused made me think of a few scriptures: Ox in the mire In the service of your God So with those verses in mind we set off in the morning to help in

Battling the Brisbane Floods

2011-01-13T06:23:00.001+10:00

I live in Brisbane. I love Brisbane. I sit in my safe, dry house here on the south side and I weep. I weep for the loss of precious items...photos, letters, home movies, etc. I weep for the loss of things.....beds, TVs, curios, pianos, etc. I weep for the clean up that people will encounter for months and months to come. I weep for the loss of income for so many. I weep especially for the loss of

Babies don't last but dishes...and laundry do

2010-12-05T18:01:00.000+10:00

I loved having little ones around the house. I loved getting on my hands and knees and playing games with them. I loved when they played outside and came in covered in dirt. (I always believe a dirty child just means they've had some great fun) I loved singing silly songs with them wherever we were...in the supermarket....in the car....walking down the street. What I didn't enjoy was doing

Role Model Parenting

2010-11-23T06:08:00.000+10:00

Role Modeling: I tell my children, clean-up their room and they look at my garage. I tell them not to drink and they look at my eyes when I come home from a party. I tell them to be honest, I have an escort radar scanner in my car and my tax return shows 'zero' income for the third straight year. And so there are those who leap all over the place pulling hair from their head and the employers

On The Road Again...Travelling With Children

2010-11-22T08:00:00.000+10:00

"Are we there yet?.....Are we there yet???....Now? Are we there now???" Ohhh you've heard it before. My response is usually "Have we stopped the car? Are we getting out of the car? Are we walking to the ...........? Well then, we are NOT there yet." Here's some fun games we use to play (and some we didn't but you may like to)to break up the time as we'd travel....or even during church or times

Erma Bombeck wisdom

2010-11-22T06:04:00.000+10:00

The other day I was going through a lot of papers I have as we are making a move from Australia back to the US very soon. I came across a folder of papers I was just going to toss out because they aren't relevant to my situation anymore but they were too helpful to just throw out to never been seen again. They are papers I found helpful as a young mother. I gleaned ideas of fun things to do with

Passionfruit Perfection

2010-11-10T14:16:00.000+10:00

I LOVE passionfruit. It screams 'tropical'. I came across a recipe site that had a gazillion recipes that each use passionfruit in one way or another. Ok, ok, so maybe not a 'gazillion' but there was a LOT of 'em. I decided that I would share with you the gems that I found in all of them. I whittled many out for various reasons. If they used alcohol they were GONE. If the method was too long or

Embarrassing my kids

2010-10-15T10:32:00.003+10:00

I was asked the other day by my soon-to-be 15yr old son: A: "When did you decide to be an embarrassing parent?" Me: "Ohhh...long before you kids were born." So there you have it. I'm an embarrassing parent....and dang proud of it I might add. I thought I'd share some of the embarrassing things I have done, or do, in case I can 'inspire' other embarrassing parents around the globe. I will

Kung Pao Chicken

2010-09-09T15:05:00.001+10:00

As you can probably tell by most of my posts, I love food. I love to cook. I love to eat. I love when my family ask "what's for dinner" and when I tell them they go "Ohhhh yum". I love that they love my cooking. I was craving some of my favourite Chinese dish one day when a friend of mine said she had a recipe for it. Sure...I'll take the recipe, thinking of course that it would be one that I'd