No blog lately due to broken computer, working, visitors and other life things.  I am making a new sourdough starter though (a two week process) and still making time for games.  We always make time for games.  Perhaps that's our family motto ;o)

lazy porridge in the slow cooker

I love porridge but in the morning things can be a bit rushed and I can't be bothered with the measuring and cooking and stirring.  If I cook it in a pot then it sticks, if I do it in the microwave I often overflow it, or forget  it.  On cold weekend mornings it's nice to have warm food in your belly before heading out the door to stand in the rain for sport.  Here is the ultimate in lazy porridge.  No stirring, no microwaving and no morning effort.

Thanks to this Alison Holst cookbook these days our porridge is ready and waiting for us.

It's ridiculously easy.  

1 cup of oats (we use the jumbo ones)

4 cups of water

a pinch of salt (I usually forget it) 

1/4 cup of extras (seeds, dried fruit, coconut, LSA...).

If you don't want to add "extras" just use more oats.

Put it all into a lidded bowl that can fit into your slow cooker or use a bowl with a plate on top.  It stops the porridge from drying out.  Put about an inch of water into your slow cooker bowl and pop the lidded dish in.  Put the slow cooker lid on, switch it to low and leave overnight.  It doesn't seem to matter what time you do this.  Sometimes it's 8pm, other times it's 11pm and it always works brilliantly.

In the morning we just help ourselves when we're ready and pop the lid back on to keep the rest warm (you can switch it to warm too or just turn it off).  It's deliciously creamy despite the lack of milk.

I eat mine with LSA and almond or soy milk and sometimes berries and banana.  It's even better with warmed up milk but usually it's just cold from the fridge.  How do you eat yours?

sourdough help?

A bad thing happened in January.  Our fridge/freezer lost power while we were away and we returned to a defrosted mess.  The saddest part was that my lovingly tended sourdough starter was purple and repugnant and had to be immediately disposed of.   For almost two years it had lived in our kitchen.  B and I had grown it from scratch, a mixture of flour and water that we had to feed like a baby till it was established.  I got into a routine of baking every couple of days and our bread went from okay...  to amazing.

Since January I have only baked bread once, using yeast.  It was pretty good but really nowhere near what we were used to.  The boys have stopped asking for the homemade bread now :o(.  I had shared my starter with at least five others but none of them have kept it going.  I'm hopeful that somebody reading this might have their own beautiful starter that they'd be willing to share with us.  I have found a place online that I can buy it but I was strangely attached to our one and would much rather have one from someone I know (even vaguely).  Can you help?

holiday boot camp

Motat always has something to entertain the troops in the school holidays.  This time it's Soldier Soldier.  We  bought a family pass for the year (only $65!) and make an effort to go each school holidays. There is also a very cool Halloween event, Christmas village and Steampunk day (coming up on May 26th).  The boys were put through their paces at a boot camp obstacle course which involved doing some silly things too, like singing songs and making funny noises for the strict soldier in charge.

 The regular Motat stuff is all there too and the Imagination Factory exhibit is still going strong.  Lots of inventions and machines to have a go with.  There is a pitch black tactile dome for the older kids.  Our two gave it a go but came out upset as it was too dark.  I saw several other teary kiddies come out too.  Maybe we'll give it another couple of years.

The boys always like to lock each other up in the stocks by the Victorian village.

The other awesome thing for the holidays was the armoury.  There are lots of different types of weapons and armour to try on and have a hold of.  Even I thought that was pretty cool, especially these Gothic gauntlets... fancy!

party people

We went to Simone's carnival party yesterday.  It was intense!  Loud, colourful and crowded with happy kiddies.  The rain poured down but we were safe and dry undercover at the local kindy.  I was official photographer so thought I'd share a few pix here.  She will have the full story on her blog sometime soon.

today in (many) pictures

6am

Emptying the dishwasher.  It's cold and wet out.  Porridge ready in the slow cooker on the bench.

7am

"Look what I found mum. When can we go to another rugby game?"

8am

 Off to school solo today.

 Big brother is home recovering from yesterday's fever.  

I didn't bother to photograph myself doing the vacuuming or other domestic chores.

 9am

Getting crafty.

 Simone and I do some party prep for the weekend.

10am

His (cow) and hers (almond) milk for morning hot chocolates.

11am

Enjoying memories of the toddler years.

12 o'clock

 Lunch.

1pm

Sorting through a dusty box of old photographs.


We discovered an old kids questionnaire, so he wanted to do an update.

2pm

He plays Angry Birds Star Wars with his oldest friend (Kylie the giraffe).

Cutting out fabric for a couple of special birthday crowns.


Why oh why won't my machine zigzag today?

3pm

Little brother is home! Wet and barefoot but happy.

Talking to cousin Maddy on the phone.

4pm

We make green smoothies.

Popcorn and pears for afternoon tea.

Homework.

Watching some tv while I try to figure out my sewing machine.  NanaR helped via the phone. Turned out that my practice fabric was not thick enough.  It worked okay on the felt.

I have a couple more too that I may add here later on.

life is sweet...

...even if your baking doesn't really work out how you planned.

Oh I had all sorts of plans for these biscuit cutters.

But after the mixing, the refrigerating and the rolling (which took FOREVER!!)...  

the cutting was really quite tricky.  Sometimes the letters slipped out of place and then this happened...

 and kept happening.  It took me an hour or so to make four biscuits!!  Arghhh!

The second half of the dough refused to be rolled out at all and so I had to take to it with a spoon.

 It made vaguely acceptable jam biscuits, but really not what I had planned at all.  I made them for a cake stall and they were going to have school slogans on them.  Maybe my recipe was at fault.  I think I'll stick to anzac biscuits in the future, or our amazingly good chocolate chippies, they're so quick and easy.