1. Dai frutteti di Carassai, 2. Cherries, 3. Cucumbers, 4. DSC_0032.JPG

We are really enjoying the in season fruit and veg at our house at the moment. Stone fruits like apricots and cherries are not lasting very long in the fridge as the children snack on them. I am also loving the crispness of the veg for summer salads, with veg like celery, capsicum, cucumber and iceberg lettuce. Naturally the meals for this week’s menu plan contain lots of these!

The following fruits and vegetables listed below are at their best and cheapest this month. These lists are for Australia, but if you live in the UK you can see what’s in season at Eat the Seasons UK and for North America Eat the Seasons US.

Fruits:
apricot, banana, berries - gooseberry - loganberry - raspberry - strawberry, cherry, currants - black currant - red currant, lemon, lychee, mango, melon - honeydew - rockmelon - watermelon, orange - valencia, passionfruit, pineapples - smooth - rough leaf, rambutan, starfruit.

Vegetables:
asparagus, avocado - hass, beans - green - snake, capsicum, celery, choko, cucumber, eggplant, lettuce, onion - salad - spring, peas - green - snow - sugar snap, radish, squash, sweetcorn, tomato, watercress, zucchini, zucchini flowers.

Now here is family menu plan for the week:

Monday: Spaghetti Alla Matriciana

Baking: Chocolate Balls

Tuesday: Beef Stir Fry with Asian Greens

Wednesday: Sausages and Salad

Thursday: Left Overs

Friday: Baked Penne With Bacon

Saturday: Tacos

Sunday: BBQ at Kinder Christmas Party

For more menu planning ideas head on over to Laura’s place at “I’m an Organizing Junkie“.

Technorati Tags: Menu Planning, Recipes, seasonal fruit, seasonal vegetables

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Image by Gaetan Lee

Back in February in “Planning To Let Go, One Step At A Time” I wrote about how I was preparing myself and my eldest son for him to be able to walk to and from school on his own.

Researching the subject came up with the age of 10, to be appropriate for a child to be able to walk safely by himself.

Kids aged under 10 years are particularly vulnerable because they’re small - they don’t have the fleet-of-foot nimbleness that many older adults have and can’t get out of the way so easily if they get in trouble. They are less good at judging the distance of a car and how fast it is travelling; and their peripheral vision - the ability to ’see things out of the corner of their eye’ - isn’t as good as an adult’s. So children under the age of 10 shouldn’t be crossing the road without an adult.

Source: ABC Health and Wellbeing

Well yesterday Thinker turned 10 and as promised and prepared for, he walked home from school by himself. I was nervous and he was very eager and incredibly proud of himself when he arrived safely home.

Little Rascal was a little miffed at not being allowed to walk home with his older brother, but I feel that to have him as well would be too much responsibility at this stage. Also Thinker had to wait until he was 10 to do this, so he also needs time to have this as something that just he can do.

We will continue to walk to school together in the mornings. I actually really enjoy this time as it is a really nice part of our day together. I share the school pick ups with another family, so Rascal will still be being picked up at the end of the day and Thinker said:

“I will walk home everyday, unless I break my leg or something like that.”

Happy 10th Birthday beautiful boy and congratulations on being so independent and responsible.

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Four weeks to Christmas! My goal this year was to have completed all my shopping before Dec 1. My lovely older sister is looking after my children for me tomorrow for a few hours and I should be able to buy the remaining 7 presents that I need to get. This will make me the most organised I have ever been before Christmas.

This week’s activity as part of the Christmas Preparation Plan is Christmas Decorations. We don’t actually put up our tree or any decorations until 1st Dec, so this week is all about me getting everything organised. In reality this means fossicking through the attic to find them!

Christmas Table Centre Piece

I made the table centre piece (in photo above) a couple of years ago, when I was hosting Christmas for my extended family. I cannot take credit for the original idea. It was something that I copied from the clever craft group at my children’s school.

It was very easy to make and looks so effective as a table centre piece. As we had more than one table on the day, I had this large centre piece and a couple of smaller ones for the smaller tables.

I simply found in the garden some old branches that were about a metre in length. I then waited for them to dry out thoroughly (a number of days). Once dry, I laid them on newspaper outside on the grass and sprayed them with metallic silver paint and let them dry.

I then arranged them in a large vase and added the appropriate colour themed Christmas baubles.

Solar Powered Fairy Lights

Image by Storeyland

This will be the first year that we have put fairy lights up around our house for Christmas. The reason it is the first year, is because I have personally found it difficult to rationalise the use of electricity, with the on flowing carbon emissions for such a purpose.

However this year we have purchased Solar Powered Fairy Lights! We bought them a couple of weeks ago on sale at ALDI. You probably can’t find them there now, but you can try:

The Environment Shop - online shopping. Scroll towards the end of the page to see their range.

Dick Smith Electronics - in store currently.

I will post later this week with some home made decorations that the children and I are working on. When do you start putting up all your Christmas decorations?

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Yesterday I posted a list of children’s activities on in Melbourne for December, something which will become a regular part of my posting schedule. Apologies to non Melbourne readers, but the feedback has been positive, so I hope you don’t find it too boring!

In November I posted a list of activities also, and I thought I would share with you a couple of the children’s activities that we participated in:

Family Classic Kids - Melbourne Symphony Orchestra
I was a little worried that my older two boys (9 & 7) would find this a little boring, but I was definitely wrong. They were thoroughly entertained for the 45 minute session. There are a couple of actors who help take the children through the different components of an orchestra and how music can tell a story.

The actors were funny and the setting is quite intimate, so the children felt quite part of the show. Apologies for the lack of detail in the photo, but photography was not permitted during the show and Mr I managed to snap this at the end for me.

Tot Spot: Outside Art - NGV International
I have only just come across this activity recently and the session we attended on Monday morning was the last for the year. Possum really enjoyed herself and we spent a lot of time over the remainder of Monday talking about what we had seen and what she and Babaganouski had made.

The plan was to tour the Sculpture Garden and then sit outside and make our own sculpture. Melbourne’s weather however was unseasonably cold and windy, so we did the tour and then went back into the Great Hall and the children made sculptures there.

The above photo shows the work of Babaganouski on the left and Possum on the right. Babaganouski would have been quite happy to have sat and cut up straws for the whole session, he loved the sound that they made when he cut them with the scissors.

During the discussion of the sculptures, the instructor always started by asking the children what they thought each one was, encouraging participation from all children. She then explained to the children what the sculptor said it was, what materials they were made of and how they were made.

Next year Tot Spot art sessions will be run on the last Monday and Thursday of every month.

What have you and the kids been up to?

Technorati Tags: Children's Activities, Melbourne

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You wouldn’t currently guess it by our current weather patterns, but summer is approaching in Melbourne and so too are the summer school holidays. As always there is so much to do in Melbourne with the children. Some of these events are free, some are cheap and others more expensive but a very special treat.

(1). NGV International - Family Day: The Cricket and the Dragon
Date: 7 December 2008
Time: 11:00 AM - 3:00 PM
Cost: Free
Location: 180 St Kilda Rd, Melbourne

To be held in the Grollo Equisit Gardens and Great Hall to celebrate The cricket and the dragon: Animals in Asian Art, a special exhibition for children. Artist Tom Ripon will be sculpting a large baby elephant from wire mesh, KITA Performing Arts Company will be on at 11am when they present Tricky Tales a performance based around three traditional stories from Korea, China and Indonesia. Children will have an opportunity to paint an animal picture and make an origami jumping frog from 12noon.

(2). Homeless World Cup
Date: 1 - 7 December 2008
Time: Lunchtime until early evening
Cost: Free
Location: Federation Square and Birrarung Marr, Melbourne

This should be amazing and it is the first time it has been held in Melbourne. If you haven’t heard of this before here is a description from their website:

The Homeless World Cup is an annual, international football tournament, uniting teams of people who are homeless and excluded to take a once in a lifetime opportunity to represent their country and change their lives forever. It has triggered and supports grass roots football projects in over 60 nations working with over 25,000 homeless and excluded people throughout the year.

In Melbourne across the week there will be over 400 matches, 56 international teams, each match lasts 15 minutes. There is no reserved seating, so you can just turn up and see some great street football action.

(3). Christmas in the City
Date: 1 - 30 December 2008
Time: All day
Cost: Free
Location: City Of Melbourne

The Myer Christmas Windows are part of Christmas in the City Of Melbourne. Each year the windows of this department store are decorated with a Christmas theme, which is always visually entertaining for children (and adults).

Whilst in the city you can also check out the Nativity Wall.

This striking display features a message of hope and joy in the heart of the City of Christmas, through a contemporary calligraphic interpretation of a traditional nativity scene. A blessing ceremony, held on the eve of Saint Nicholas Day, Friday 5 December at 10.15am will be marked by traditional carols sung by a choir.

(4). State Library of Victoria - Sparky Stories: Digital workshop for kids
Date: 7 & 14 December 2008
Time: 10am - 12pm
Cost: Free, but booking required.
Location: 328 Swanston Street, Melbourne

Aimed for children aged 5 to 12, each child can create a digital picture-book, complete with illustrations and their own narration.

(5). ACMI - Animated Kid’s Christmas Classics
Date: Mon 15 - Sat 20 Dec & Mon 22 - Wed 24 Dec 2008
Location: Federation Square, Melbourne

A number of movies being shown including - The Snowman & Mickey’s Christmas Carol.

(6). Art Play - Homage à Picasso
Date: 20 December 2008
Time: 1pm - 3pm
Cost: $20 and booking required.
Location: Birrarung Marr, Melbourne

Artist Edna Primoratz will teach the children about some of Picasso’s finest works before leading them through the creative process to help paint their own portrait on a plate to take home.

(7). Carols by Candlelight
Date: Various
Time: Various
Cost: Local tend to be free.
Location: Various locations around Melbourne

The link above is to the biggest Carols by Candlelight in Melbourne, we however will be going to our local and much much smaller version. Check with your local council to see when your Carols by Candlelight is on, some are very early in December.

(8). Lysterfield Park - Open Water Learning Experience
Date: 1 - 5 December 2008
Cost: $5 per child
Location: Lysterfield Park - approx 40kms east of Melbourne.

The Open Water Learning Experience (OWLE) is part of the state governments ‘Play It Safe By The Water’ campaign offering fun and educational activities that provide students with a practical approach to familiarising themselves with open water environments. With a major emphasis on water safety the program teaches and empowers students to use potentially lifesaving skills.

(9). Raspberry Picking
Raspberry picking starts in December, with the season beginning to peak late December. There are many pick your own berry farms around an hour away from Melbourne. Here are just a couple that would provide a fun family outing for the day:

Kinglake Raspberries

Blue Hills Berries and Cherries (Silvan)

Gentle Annie Berry Gardens (20 minutes from Lorne)

Penny Royal Raspberry Farm (Dean’s Marsh)

(10). Wave Pool
Being summer, water activities are always a great way to enjoy time with the children. My children love wave pools and we have spent many hours in the water having fun. In Melbourne you can try the wave pools at:

Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre

Monash Aquatic and Recreation Centre

Technorati Tags: Children's Activities, December, Melbourne

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Image by blair christensen

Each week I aim to bake a treat for the school lunch boxes. This week I am making on request White Chocolate Chip Muffins. This is such an easy muffin recipe to make that my children can actually do it by themselves. It does help that we have been making this muffin recipe for years, but it is very simple and very tasty.

This easy muffin recipe is also very versatile and can provide a base for many other types of muffins, for example:

omit the white choc chips and include berries of your choice

add orange juice and rind instead of vanilla essence, then poppy seeds instead of white choc chips

add banana and choc chips and so on.

I have also included the recipe as a word document further down in the menu plan; this makes it easier to print it out if you want to add it to your recipe collection.

White Chocolate Chip Muffins

Ingredients:
2 cups self raising flour
½ - ¾ cup caster sugar (I think it was actually ¾ but I always reduce it to about ½ cup)
¾ cup milk
½ cup canola oil
1 tsp vanilla essence
2 eggs
1 cup white choc chips (if large chips chop roughly first)

Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees
2. Sift flour and sugar into a bowl. Mix and make a well in the middle.
3. In a separate bowl mix the remaining ingredients (except choc chips).
4. Pour the liquid ingredients into well and mix with a wooden spoon. Muffins are best when made quickly and not over mixed.
5. Add choc chips and mix lightly through.
6. Spoon into well greased muffin pans or patty pans in muffin tray
7. Cooking time depends on the size and oven, but 12 -15 minutes is about average for the standard patty pan size.

Here is the shopping list for this week’s menu plan: 081124 Family Weekly Menu Plan Shopping List

And here is this week’s menu plan:

Monday: Pasta Bake

Baking: White Chocolate Chip Muffins

Tuesday: Left Overs

Wednesday: Pasta Carbonara

Thursday: Marinated Steak and Garlic Mashed Potatoes

Friday: Sausages and Salad

Saturday: BBQ

Sunday: Chicken Schnitzel and Steamed Vegetables

For more menu planning ideas head on over to Laura’s place at “I’m an Organizing Junkie“.

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I have written a few consumption driven posts of late, so this is a bit of a balancing and perspective post for me. During the lead up to this Christmas period I have also begun reading Growth Fetish by Clive Hamilton.

It is certainly an interesting time to be reading this book, given the current financial crisis. Growth Fetish was first published in 2003. The basic premise of the book is that the constant mantra of economic growth over the last few decades has not led to a better or happier society.

Clive Hamilton argues that, far from being the answer to our problems, growth fetishism and the marketing society lie at the heart of our social ills. They have corrupted our social priorities and political structures, and have created a profound sense of alienation among young and old.

This book is not an easy read, but it definitely worth the effort. I am only a quarter of the way through it and it has challenged me to think about very personal issues like “What makes me contented?” and “What choices am I making with my consumption patterns?”.

I have a Business degree, so studied economics and like subjects during my time at university. The below explanation of the working of capitalism is the best that I have read.

Modern consumer capitalism will flourish as long as what people desire out paces what they have. It is thus vital to the reproduction of the system that individuals are constantly made to feel dissatisfied with what they have. The irony of this should not be missed: while economic growth is said to be the process whereby people’s wants are satisfied so that they become happier - and economics is defined as the study of how scarce resources are best used to maximise welfare - in reality economic growth can be sustained only as long as people remain discontented. Economic growth does not create happiness: unhappiness sustains economic growth.

Now that the state of economies around the world have fallen off the growth cycle, it will be interesting to see how society changes along with the economy. Economic growth did not bring the happiness that it promised - increased obesity, increased depression and suicide rates show this. What will the economic downturn bring?

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Five weeks until Christmas!! I am actually getting quite excited about it too. We will be spending Christmas in the country with my family and all my 3 sisters will be there with their families as well this year. We haven’t had that happen in a few years, so it will be something special.

This week’s activity as part of the Christmas Preparation Plan is Christmas Present List and Shopping. As seen previously in the Christmas Planning Spreadsheet 2008, each year I keep a list of presents that I buy. I find this helpful for two reason, firstly it helps me keep track of what I buy throughout the year, so I don’t buy more than one present for each person. Secondly, it makes sure that I give a variety of gifts to people over the years, not by accident the same present in consecutive years!!!

Although the attached spreadsheet looks like I have not completed any Christmas Shopping, I have actually cleared all my inputs for this year’s Christmas Present List because many of my family and friends read this blog (even if only occasionally!) and I do not want to spoil the surprise for them.

I have completed approximately 80% of my Christmas shopping and am quite proud to say that almost everything I have bought so far has been on sale. I do love a bargain.

Below I have listed what I think are some great sources of gifts if you still have a bit of shopping to do:

ickle kids - If you are traveling over the Christmas period definitely check out the activity packs and travel toys that they have. One of the things I bought last year from here was the Hide and Seek Pirate Game and it was a hit. This year I have purchased the Hide and Seek Safari Game - it is slightly harder than the pirate version, so should keep them very quite in the car.

Mum’s Grapevine - is a new service that I have signed up to and you might like to as well. It is a weekly newsletter letting you know where the sales are for maternity, baby and children’s clothing, toys, accessories, nursery items and more (Australian).

Chadstone VIP Shopping Day - This is only relevant to those of you who will be in Melbourne on Wed 26th Nov. I usually prefer to buy from smaller retail outlets, but I have been to this shopping event for the last couple of years and have found it great to grab some bargains for stocking fillers and for those more hard to buy for family and friends. They have huge discounts at almost all stores through out the day from 9am until midnight.

Me2Me2 - They have gorgeous kits for children like builders, hairdressers and cooks kits. Items in the kits are sourced from genuine adult products and downsized for children.

Missy Confidential - Another newsletter that I subscribe to (Australian only again sorry!) which comes daily and lets you know about fashion sales and designer bargains.

And of course there is always Handmade Christmas Presents as well. Now I just need to start wrapping them!

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Last week my 10 things was on Practical Christmas Presents For Children. This week I am continuing on a gift list theme, but specific to parenting books that I think would make a great practical Christmas gifts for parents.

I should note here that I have only included two that I have read myself, which are the last two on the list. The remaining books actually come from my wish list (hint to any of my family that might be reading this!!!!). If you have read any of them, I would love to hear what you thought of the book.

(1). Parents Please Don’t Sit on Your Kids - Clare Cherry
The subtitle of this book is “Alternatives to Punitive Discipline”. The book looks at constructive methods for handling anger, and help children develop social responsibility.

(2). Doing Anger Differently - Michael Currie
Adolescent boys can swing between silence and anger very quickly. This book

presents complex theoretical issues from the existing adolescent and aggression treatment literature in a set of clear and practical principles, which are illustrated with case studies taken from the author’s years of experience working with angry boys.

(3). The Literacy Wars: Why Teaching Children to Read and Write Is a Battleground in Australia - Ilana Snyder
This probably tells a little bit about my nerdy interests, like literacy education.

(4). Under Pressure: Rescuing Our Children from the Culture of Hyper-Parenting - Carl Honore
I have written previously on this blog about Honore’s book. I would love to have this book as a reference point for me to go to, so it can remind me that childhood is precious.

(5). Hidden Messages : What Our Words and Actions Are Really Telling Our Children - Elizabeth Pantley
This book has been on my to read list all year, since I wrote about it back in January. This book emphasizes the importance of letting children do things for themselves.

(6). The Optimistic Child: A Proven Program to Safeguard Children Against Depression and BuildLifelong Resilience Martin E. Seligman
Seligman studies demonstrate that

“pessimistic children are at much higher risk for becoming depressed than optimistic children.” His mission here is to teach parents and other concerned adults how to instill in children a sense of optimism and personal mastery.

(7). My Mother Wears Combat Boots: A Parenting Guide for the Rest of Us - Jessica Mills
Jessica Mills is a touring musician, artist, activist, writer, teacher, and mother of two.

This book provides a clever, hip, and entertaining mix of advice, anecdotes, political analysis, and factual sidebars that will help parents as they navigate the first years of their child’s life.

(8). Unconditional Parenting - Alfie Kohn

Begins with the question “What do children need – and how can we meet those needs?” rather than “How can we get kids to do whatever we tell them?” Helps parents to move from techniques that emphasize control (and conditional acceptance) to an approach designed to help kids grow into good people.

(9). What’s the Hurry? - Kathy Walker
In a very easy to read style, this book provides parents with well-grounded information, ideas and advice about children as they move from pre-school to school.

(10). Children are People Too - Louise Porter
This would be the most referred to parenting book that I own. It is a parent’s guide to young children’s behaviour and covers all the hot topics like tantrums, hitting, eating etc.

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Image by thebittenword.com

As we lead up to Christmas and the end of the year, I am finding that I am out a bit more at night at the moment - prep information evenings (Possum starts school next year), Kinder functions, Christmas catch ups etc.

So this week’s family menu plan is based on keeping it simple and also healthy. Here is the shopping list for this week’s menu plan: 081117 Weekly Menu Plan Shopping List

Monday: Fried Rice

Baking: Lemon Slice

Tuesday: Chicken Stir Fry With Seasonal Vegetables

Wednesday: Left Overs

Thursday: Lamb Chops With Steamed Vegetables

Friday: Home Made Pizzas

Saturday: Tacos

Sunday: Sausages And Steamed Vegetables

For more menu planning ideas head on over to Laura’s place at “I’m an Organizing Junkie“.

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