Crock Pot Bacon Baked Beans

Crock Pot Bacon Baked Beans 
Soak the beans  (1 kilo) overnight
In the morning rinse the beans and put them into the crockpot.
Add-
1 large can of tomatoes (800 grams I think)
1 1/2 cups of apple cider vinegar
2 1/2 cups of water
2 tsp of dry mustard
1/2 cup of sugar free BBQ sauce
2 cups of onions

Cook on high for 2-3 hours then turn to low and let simmer most of the day
When it is closer to serving up (say 2-3 hours to go) add the following ingredients.
The lady who gave me the original recipe, which I have addapted, told me that once you add the salt and sugar that the beans don't get any softer. So for a softer bean add it later.
6 tablespoons of sweeter (I used Xyliyol)
2 teaspoons salt
6 Tablespoons of molasses (this I feel is optional and can be reduced or left out altogether)
1 kilo of shortcut bacon diced up

Stir through out the day.
However it is very forgiving. I left mine unattended for 7 hours while out today and it was fine.

You can add a little more water as needed if you think it is too thick.
Eat with a slice of Rye and Oat Bread that you made earlier and enjoy!!

Blessings to you and your homes,
 
Linked to- The Art of Home making Mondays

A Special Tea Time Party ☺

I really don't remember when we started having Tea Parties but they are such a regular and important part of our lives.

It seems we don't need much of an excuse to have one in our home, at any hour or day.

AS I write this up we had a mini one last night and Vellvin and Rogan are having another one now ☺

However it has been a long time since we have had one with our lovely Bernadette, our very own Mary Poppins.

Really we have not had one with her since we moved here from Tasmania, and so we truly loved having a special one again.

We were so delighted to have Bernadette visit for a few days and we loved catching up on all the things we used to delight in doing together.

Bernadette would often bring over little bits and pieces of craft and we would, well I would attempt to, do them together ( our small children loved the visits too).

While she was here we started a  new project she brought with her and we were inspired to get back into the crafting we used to do more of.

We knew from the start we needed to fit in a tea party while Bernadette was here and we planned this ahead of time, especially as Bernadette is gluten free!
So we found recipes that would suit both her and our THM lifestyle.

Rogan made a beautiful Strawberry Cornflour Sponge Cake. It was his first attempt at this cake and look how beautifully it turned out!
Vellvin made her famous Baked Lemon Cheesecake. It is both Gluten free and THM friendly.
Vellvin and Arwen made the Chocolate Cupcakes with Peppermint Icing. These again are sugar free, Gluten Free and THM. We have used these in our Feast Days celebrations and the children love them.
We wanted to try a Caramel Slice that if not THM was at least Gluten Free.
So Rogan tried this Salted Paleo Caramel Slice. It was not well received by all. Some liked it but others did not.

Naturally we had our tea cups for this Tea Party and Bernadette has her own tea cup that we keep at our home with ours in the china cabinet for when she does visit.
This has been our tradition since our first Tea Party with her ☺

I was very blessed to be given that lovely High Tea Plate that the cup cakes and caramel slice are sitting on as a birthday gift from her, just in time for the Tea Party. I have long coveted one and the children could not find one for me for Mothers day even though they looked everywhere.
So of course Bernadette in her magical guise of ' Mary Poppins' was able to find a truly beautiful one for me.

Tea Parties are such a wonderful way to show special love and attention and this one was especially special with the visit of our very own Bernadette.

Blessings to you and your homes,
   
Linked to - A Wise Woman Linkup

Anzac Day 2015

Saturday dawned a cloudy and overcast day with every chance it would continue to rain as it had during the night.

However we put on warm clothing and rushed out the door to get a good spot to see the parade down main street.

We parked a fair way away and scurried over to a good spot.

Amazingly we were even in position early and had to even wait for the parade to start- not our usual form :)

While waiting for us to finish getting everyone ready Rogan made a batch of Anzac cookies for the family and later on Vellvin made a THM
The recipe we have used for years is this one
Anzac Cookies-
Ingredients:

1 cup of rolled oats

1 cup plain four

3/4 cup of sugar

3/4 cup desiccated coconut

1 Tablespoon Golden Syrup

1/2 cup butter

1 1/2 tsp of Bicarb Soda (Baking Soda for non Aussies)

2 Tablespoons of boiling water

Method:

1. Mix oats, sugar, coconut and flour together

2. Melt syrup and butter together

3. Mix soda with boiling water and add to melted butter and syrup

4. Add to dry ingredients

5. Place tablespoon of mixture on greased baking tray

6. Bake in slow oven 150-160 degrees C for 15 to 20 mins

The Trim Healthy Mama version I shared here

Finally the parade started and it was wonderful to see such support from people.
I think there were over 15000 people actually watching the parade and that I think is a great show of support.

It started of with the older veterans in old vehicles and

was followed by a small contingent of the Light Horse

We had an Arial fly over but I missed capturing it all on camera :(
However we did have the practice maneuvers over our house the past couple of weeks

Then  we had a continual stream of military file past

All this followed by a helicopter fly over

We then walked up to where the ceremony was but couldn't get very close to hear all of it.

We have spent quite a long time on  learning both on Friday and today about ANZAC and I hope to share the resources with you soon.

"They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old;

Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.

At the going down of the sun and in the morning

We will remember them."

Blessings to you and your homes,
 

Anzac Cookies - Trim Healthy Mama version

THM ANZAC COOKIES~ E style

Ingredients:

11/2 cup of rolled oats

1 cup baking blend * see notes below

3 tsp of shredded coconut

1/2 cup of xylitol and a slightly rounded 1/4 tsp of molasses

1 tbs of egg whites

1/2 cup non fat Greek yogurt

1 1/2 tsp of Bicarb Soda (Baking Soda for non Aussies)

2 Tablespoons of boiling water
Optional extra- caramel or butterscotch essence or flavouring (as could be a bit bland for some)

Method:

1. Mix oats, baking blend, xylitol, and coconut  together

2. mix non fat yogurt and egg whites  together

3. Mix soda with boiling water and add to yogurt and egg whites

4. Add to dry ingredients

5. Place tablespoon of mixture on greased baking tray, flattening to how round you wnat them. They won't spread dueing cooking

6. Bake in slow oven 150-160 degrees C for 15 to 20 mins

You can have up to one third of the recipe which for us was 3 cookies

*Baking Blend-

2/3 cup old fashion oats (ground up in blender)

Mix with1/3 cup oat fiber or Physillium husk

Blessings to you and your homes,

 
Linked to The Art of Home Making Mondays
Linked to Wise Woman Linkup

Hello there!!

The days pass and our life keeps moving.
There are twists and turns that we don't expect but that life of ours keeps moving ever forward and what we are able to accomplish varies.
So again I find that the season of my life at the moment means that I just don't get here as often as I like.
I still have many partial completed posts of what we are doing in our lives. I have been making lots of the home made health and beauty recipes. Some for the colds we have had others to use as hair and body cleaning products, which I would love to share but just don't get around to doing

 I have been spending as much time as I can helping our emerging readers and spending time being there for them,

Stephen and I have spent some time working out how we can spend more time with each other and then individually with each of our children each month.
We felt that as our children get older and tend to spend m ore time away form our home it actually is harder to spend quality time with each child.

Hence we have re-instituted family board game night, each week, that is preceded by a family meeting at least once a month and more if needed.

Since starting this we have had quite a few small outings out both of us with several of the older children.

One of the ways that I spend time with the little ones is at bedtime.
Even though our bed time routine is not what it has been in the past or as I would like it to be still, I do spend time with our little ones getting to sleep.
These two especially often get cuddled to sleep and we listen to 'sleepy music' or The Rosary on my phone as they nod off into dream land.
Of course there are nights I drift off too :)

Like I said I have been making our home made products for out health and I do still share bits and pieces on my Instagram. It is very easy to post just a pic with a few words. Sometimes that  means writing a blog post about things seems so much harder.
I mean writing a WHOLE post can take more time and so we have a cycle of non posting too.

 Vellvin and I are also trying to eat more Trim Healthy Mama and have been discovering many interesting and exciting foods.
It certainly has made me feel as if I am missing out on favourite foods and we have fond so many that we absolutely love. For example the baked custard above is soooooo delish!!

With the warmer weather we have been  spending time out side again.
Lots of water play again and I have never know a child that did not want to wash their own bike.
Really I think it is just an excuse for  getting wet, Seriously though I don't really mind that. I so enjoy the children playing outside and anything that encourages that I am am all for.

We also went through a stage of making tents for picnics and play and these are just a couple of version that the children came up with.

We have had a Confirmation and a First Holy Communion which required preparation for four of our children as well as two white dresses to be made for Moran and Myffwyn.

Life is busy, life is a challenge, life is a Blessing and like everyone else we prioritise for those things that are most important. Therefore I am thankful to be sharing it with those most special people in my life- my family!!

Blessings to you and your homes,
 

Lemon Cinnamon Cheesecake Pudding - THM Friendly

We have been indulging on this special treat here lately..................

Lemon Cinnamon Cheesecake pudding: (S)
250 grams low fat cream cheese
a couple of squirts of lemon juice (bottle is fine)
2 tsp Natvia
pinch of celtic sea salt
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 c. cream whipped cream
1 tsp Glucommanon powder

Topping -
1/2 c. cream
1/2 tsp natvia
 1/2 t. vanilla  OR
A generous squirt of the store bought low fat ' chipmunk cream' as it is known in our home (aerosol whipped cream)

Method:
Firstly whip the cream and set aside in another bowl.
Next  cut up cream cheese and put into the mixer bowl
Add all the other ingredients (not the topping) and start to beat the mixture up
Keep beating until smooth
Add the cream and stir
Taste for sweetness and add more stevia or Natvia if needed.
Put into a bowl and add topping, either of the above
Place in fridge if you want a chilled version but we rarely wait.

Tonight while typing this up I have been eating a chocolate version which is lovely too

 Blessings to you and your homes,