Kids Cooking - Chocolate Brownies in the Thermomix

My daughter really wanted to whip up a batch of brownies because she had found a recipe in one of her 'Princess Cooking' books.  I thought she might like to have a go at using my Thermomix.

 Measuring ingredients carefully.  I hadn't converted the recipe so we were still using 'cups'.

Measuring flour before we level off with a knife.

 Into the Thermomix it goes.

Smoothing out the brownies before baking them in the oven.

Sorry, no after photos.  They were the slightly crunchy on the outside type, and were devoured 10 mins after coming out of the oven.

Saturday Child Chore

This was another Saturday chore that my children were asked to do.  They have one each Saturday that I set for them, and they haven't complained yet.

This one again involved a bucket of water each, and a sponge.

 "I want to see that Air Hockey Table shine!"

So they did.

They did a really awesome job.  There were no complaints, no arguments, they just got right into it and cleaned it thoroughly.

Bet they can't wait to see what I have in store for them next Saturday! (I have to think of something fast!)

Council Clean Up Part 2...

Before each scheduled Council Clean up, I do a brief walk around the house and note what needs to go and what needs to stay.  Sometimes if I want to put items aside specifically for the Clean Up, I will put them in the front part of our garage so they're easier to cart out on to the street.

It's also a great excuse to do a little bit of outside cleaning.

 Here's one of the jobs that really is not pleasant.  It's washing off the 'bunny spray' from the Elephant Ear plant leaves.   Basically, un-neutered male bunnies like to mark their territory with their scent by spraying their urine everywhere.  It's just gross.  Even worse when they try and spray YOU! On the plant leaves I find that a bucket of water and a cut up sponge specifically for that purpose works well to bring the leaves back to their usual green self again.

 Sweeping up the carpet leftovers.

 This area of the house irritates me.  I can't do anything with the sheet of asbestos.  It has to stay put until Phil decides to organise for it to be disposed of properly and according to Asbestos regulations.

 I did however get rid of this rusting shelf (but not the bricks)...

...and the bunny hutch that Charcoal loved.  I found it in a Council Clean-up many years ago, and I got some excellent use out of it.  It was falling apart, the wood rotting and wasn't safe for bunnies any more.  It had to go.

Everything we put out was picked up bright and early Thursday morning.  Hooray!

Council Clean Up Part 1

We have a Council Clean-up in our area 4 times a year.  They always fall on school holidays as well which is usually handy for me.

I had an idea of the things I wanted to get rid of, and started to round them up.  The Council has requested that people only stack a 1 metre cubed pile of rubbish on the curb.  I have so much I would like to get rid of though, and I doubt anyone else would want it.

First thing was the carpet we ripped up...

... and a broken whiteboard, and why do I need to keep boxes?  The recycle bin was overflowing, so out went the boxes.

I found a rusted shelf left behind by the previous owners, an old plastic table and chair left behind by a previous renter and another box. We added a solid brown desk which I had really thought hard about throwing away but no-one wanted it, so out it went.

Looking around the house, I can't even tell that I decluttered anything.  *Sigh* It never ends, does it!

Chores with Water...couldn't be more fun!

My son has a rather large collection of Nerf Guns.  I'm not the biggest fan of the things but unfortunately I only get half the say in these sorts of matters.  Phil and Matthew get 1/4 each ;D

Back to the Nerf Guns...

I did a bit of a dig around my garage and I came across some old milk crates.  Goodness knows how long they had been sitting in my garage. It was time to put them to good use.

But first, they needed a thorough clean:-

 Enter: Child Labour...I mean...chores.

If there's water, a bucket and a sponge involved...this child will get his hands dirty.  Just a little ;D

Drying off in the sunshine once all the cobwebs and dust had been washed off.

These two crates made a perfect home for Nerf guns in my son's wardrobe.  They make it much easier for him to pack them away too.  I have to say, this has been the first week I haven't peeked into his room and seen Nerf guns all over the floor.  Yay for garage finds!

In my Bedroom this time...

Ripping up carpet, that is.  The last room in the house to have the carpet removed.

I really should have taken a 'before' photo to show you what complete knuckleheads the previous owners of the house were.  Most of the carpet was an ugly green colour, but in the very centre of the room was a patch of cream coloured carpet.

When we first moved in to our house, the real estate agent explained that the owners had a water bed and didn't think you could actually move them.  So when the green carpet was laid, they left the water bed where it was and carpeted around it.

Yup.  Clever!

 I was very pleased to see great looking floorboards again.

 The carpet in the house is now ALL gone!

 ...but there are a gazillion little annoying staples to pull out.  I'm still pulling the rotten things out!

Looking very pleased about a job well done.  Back to staple removing!!!

There's a Party in my Laundry!

Seriously, there is!

Phil decided for some random reason to install a party light in there.  Goodness only knows!  I certainly don't have a party every time I do my laundry, that's for sure.

The problem is that I can't do any laundry at night - because I can't see well enough in there.

It is also where our outside toilet is...and for goodness sake I don't want to see what is glowing... (I'll let your imagination do it's thing there!)

 Phil's Party Light Bulb in the gross light shade that is in my laundry.  Goodness knows why we didn't replace that when we replaced all the other light fittings in the house.

 My hand towel glows really well!  Apparently my camera likes to have parties in there too, and glowing objects make blurry pictures.

Who would have thought that the inside of toilet paper rolls, Phil's underwear, Pink Napisan containers and power points switched on glow under a party light bulb?

Now the question remains.  Is Phil going to remember to take the party light bulb out before my family come over to celebrate Jacki's birthday in a few weeks, or are some of them going to get the surprise of their life?