School holidays + Rain + Wind +Coughing Sick Kids = PYJAMA DAY! What do your Pyjama Days look like?  Ours are filled with sleep-ins (echoes of laughter), pyjamas all day, quick and easy meals, fingernail painting, playing hairdressers, and cozying-up under the doona in front of a movie with popcorn […]

It’s Pyjama Day!

Now that the cooler weather is setting-in it’s time to get out the thermos and start sending the kids something warm and comforting  in their lunch boxes.  Macaroni cheese is probably the No. 1 choice in our house and it’s simple to make, using pantry staples you probably already have […]

Winter Warmers

Now, you know what a nut lover I am, and these muesli bars have a wonderful nuttiness about them without actually containing any nuts.  This is a bonus if your child goes to a school with a NO NUTS policy.  I’m not knocking the no nuts policy, I understand it […]

Apricot Muesli Bars

I just couldn’t wait until Muffin Monday to tell you about this muffin recipe.  It’s originally from the Splenda website, but you can use any Cup for Cup Sugar Substitute you have on hand.  I used Equal, and I also used some frozen Mixed Berries I had in my freezer […]

Very Berry Blueberry Muffins

I’ve had the guilts this week.  We’ve had sick kids, my husband has been away and we have had lots of school events to attend, and the lunch boxes have suffered.  More times than I care to admit I have reached for a box of store-bought muesli bars, so this […]

Choc-Chip and Oat Slice

My family loves this delicious, fruity slice, and I have been making it for quite a few years now.  It’s really quick, easy and super-healthy, making it a great treat for my little diabetic.  I don’t mind it for those mornings when I don’t have enough time for breakfast and […]

Fruitastic Slice

EVERYTHING FREE MUFFINS! Now, I feel I have to be upfront and honest here, and tell you that these muffins didn’t exactly tickle my tastebuds, but I made a double-batch (16) of them about three hours ago and most of them have already disappeared with my girls requesting them in […]

Muffin Madness Monday

Pretzel Mix I know it’s not the best picture, but unfortunately the container kept reflecting the light, so I had to pick the best of a bad bunch.  I thought you might like to see an example of my Pretzel Mix.  I usually pack it in these containers so I […]

This Week’s Lunch Box Filler

Now, I have shared my family’s favourite chicken wrap recipe, Chilli Chicken, but I thought you might like to know some of the other easy chicken marinades that we use.  I’m going to share links to these recipes on my family recipes site, Plate4Eight.com, otherwise this post could go on […]

All Wrapped Up

  This week we remembered Anzac Day, a day when we stop to honour past and present servicemen and servicewomen, and those who have lost their lives serving their country.  We watched our eldest son, an Australian Army Cadet stand vigil at The Grave Of The Unknown Soldier, represent his […]

Anzac Biscuits 2

I can’t think of one kid I know who doesn’t love Pizza, hot, cold, bought, home-made, they don’t seem to care as long as it’s Pizza!  The good news is that if you make it yourself and know the ingredients that have gone into making it,  choose healthy toppings, and […]

Easy Peezy Pizza Dough

I’m on the hunt for great slice recipes to add to my repertoire at the moment.  I have fallen in love with slices, they are so quick and easy, and that means they are useful for busy mums with just enough time to throw some ingredients into a bowl, stir, […]

Sugar-Free Apricot Yoghurt Slice

I have never been a great pikelet maker, they’re either too thick and chewy, or the mixture is too runny.  I also tend to burn them a lot, plus you have to stand around for a while waiting for each batch to bubble, then you flip them over and wait […]

Pikelets

Occasionally, when I am trying to change things up a bit in our lunch boxes, I will replace crackers with Pretzels.  The kids love them.  Sometimes I give them a side serve of Lite Cream Cheese to dip their pretzels in, and sometimes I make what I call a Pretzel […]

This Week’s Lunch Box Filler

Looking for something quick and not entirely unhealthy (notice the oats) to add to your lunch box as a sweet treat, but  you don’t have the time to bake biscuits?  That’s the predicament I found myself in the other day, so I went looking for a slice recipe.  Slices are […]

Anzac Slice

This quick and easy savoury slice uses basic ingredients you probably already have on-hand and makes  a nice change from sandwiches and wraps.  We have it for dinner the night before with salad and put left-overs in the lunch box. Ingredients: 2 1/2 cups macaroni pasta 60g butter 1/4 cup […]

Cheesy Ham and Macaroni Bake

  Somehow I have let my store of pantry supplies dwindle down to less than the basics, but fortunately most muesli bar recipes are quite forgiving, allowing for the substitution of some ingredients.  In this case, it’s sugar, brown sugar to be exact, or the lack of it.  I never […]

Chewy Muesli Bars

To survive the Christmas School Holidays, my husband and I  devised a plan we call “Divide and Conquer”.  Unbeknown to the kids we secretly directed them towards separate activities around the house and outside, therefore avoiding fights over iPads, colouring pencils, barbies, trampolines etc.  You understand what I am getting […]

Crunchy Cookies

Well, they’re all back at school, full of energy and continuously hungry.  I thought you might like a peek into our lunch boxes this week, I’m packing four at the moment.  It can be hard to know how much to send to school with them.  While you don’t want a […]

What’s In The Box?

WANTED:  Head Chef Must be creative, flexible, able to multi-task, and above all else, extremely SNEAKY.  Oh, and willing to work all hours. I think this description fits every lunch box packing parent on earth.  Making sure our kids eat a balanced diet can be exhausting, especially if you have […]

Carrot! What Carrot?