Do you like them? Our additive and preservative free cupcakes with all natural food coloring! Yum!

So I was thinking that perhaps a chemical free Christmas idea doesn't have to be all about food but also about how to bring the fun back to Christmas. This year it is at my house and Taylor No. 3 knows what it's all about this year, while Taylor No. 4 will have an awesome time with the wrapping.

I want to keep the specialness (is that a word?) and the magic for the older two so guess who is making his way to our house via the north pole right now??? I can't wait!

Check out this link to see what mischievous antics he can get up to once he arrives! The best place to enlist the services of your little elf friend for those of us in Australia is through the Book Depository here, as it's free delivery worldwide and his services are very cost effective. 

If you're in the U.S. the best place is at his official website here - they only ship to the U.S.

Will keep you posted once he arrives!!

Elf on the Shelf

I was shopping in Smiggle recently for a birthday present and saw that they sold advent calanders full of stationary items. I thought what a great idea instead of all the chemically laden candies and chocolates everyday, why not a little toy or stationary item instead? It got me thinking how else we could have a chemical free Christmas ... any ideas everybody?

We were a little light on snacks this Monday morning for school lunches today (kids ate me out of house and home at Little Athletics on Saturday) so I whipped up this easy as blueberry muffin recipe. The kids can have one for breakfast while their nice and warm and then I'll pop one in their lunch for morning snack.

Fresh blueberries are expensive here in Australia and not quite in season so frozen is fine. I always keep a packet of these and other berries in the freezer. Berries have loads of color so the kids think they are getting a real treat when it's a recipe with berries. Enjoy this recipe on me for breaky tomorrow!

Blueberry Muffins

Ingredients: 

2 cups plain flour 
1 tbsp baking powder 
2 tsp custard powder 
1 cup sugar 
3/4 cup blueberries 
2 eggs 
3/4 cup milk 
3/4 cup vegetable oil

Method:

Pre-heat oven to 190 degrees Celsius. 
Sift flour, baking powder and custard powder into a bowl. 
Add sugar and blueberries.  
In a separate bowl, mix milk, eggs and oil. 
Add to dry ingredients and mix until just combined.  
Spoon into 12 hole muffin tin. Cook for 15-20 minutes. 
Dust with icing sugar if desired.

Taylor No. 3 turns 2 tomorrow and we are having a wiggles theme party to celebrate. Of course we are trying to be as additive free as possible and this is what I am hoping to emulate tomorrow morning to have on the party table - don't they look visually fantastic?

Fruit salad ... yummy, yummy!

Well we thought we would be clever and have a little break away while the children are on September school holidays here in Victoria.

It was our AFL football grand final weekend so we hired a holiday house in the hills and lit the fires as it was quite cold. We were with another family and had an excellent time cooking large meals together of spaghetti, burritos and BBQ's. There was also lots of exercise, walking to the waterfalls and playing footy out in the large yard.

Just as a side note exercise and plenty of water is a great way to help the body rid any toxins from the bad food that is sometimes consumed.

After this we took our camper trailer to a beautiful part of the world called Wilson's Promontory, which is basically the bottom of Australia. It was very windy, in fact record breaking and very rainy. Not at all pleasant and so the decision was made to pack up and come home ... very sad. But better to be safe than sorry.

Hence my October updating of this site is a little behind schedule, but hey! that's life and why we do this, as we want to enjoy life! However, now I'm back earlier I can get started, so please check out our special Halloween edition of what is in the pantry this month, what is ingredient of the month and what chemical we should cut while trick or treating!

Happy Haunting!!!