Many years ago we decided that for our family we wouldn't have a television...,Yes, you read that right, no TV. Now I know that might be controversial for some, but I encourage you to stick around for this conversation because it isn't quite how it sounds. Shortly after our second child was born ( we have four), we sold our television. We had already decided that unless we were video chatting with family, our eldest would be screen free for as long as we could manage it. Well we reached 3 years old and seemed to be fine without screens. With only one child and a busy work schedule, we were not home much and didn't need to rely on screens, as our toys at home were a novelty. She was always busy at preschool or with us on the weekends so it didn't make sense to add screens into the mix. After our second was born, I was determined not to fall into the screen trap that so easily happens when you are occupied with a newborn. We had come so far without screens, I was up for the challenge to keep it that way. As the years went by, we did end up purchasing a movie projector and we occasionally (maybe once a month) watch a show together as a family; usually a documentary or a movie based on a book we have read. So, how do we manage no daily screen time with 4 very young children?I was thinking about how we do it and I narrowed it down to 5 simple lifestyle choices we make that allow for us successfully limit screen time in our home. Although I do realize that nothing is ever simple and what works for our family might not work for yours. I would say that unless we changed our lifestyle to suit a screen free life, we would have gone a bit crazy, especially when we had 3 under 3.5. 1. We got rid of TV.If you as a family are committed to the screen free life, than this step really is essential for a harmonious home. You do not need to rid your home completely of all screens if you aren't ready to give up your Netflix binge nights or Sunday afternoon football, but the main spaces of your home should not have the screen as the focal point. For us, that meant no TV at all for some it might mean limiting it to another room or hiding it behind a cupboard door when your child is around. 2. We prepared a space.This is probably my favorite part of the screen free life. Our home is child friendly. We have purposefully made our living spaces welcoming for our children. They can reach the plates, fruit, and cutlery in our kitchen. The table is always open for their use to eat or to create crafts or use clay. Our living room has a cupboard with open ended toys like magnetic tiles and Duplo. There is a child sized table that is used in many ways in imaginative games or as a base for play. The natural light floods the space so that they feel inspired in by the view of the outside world and warm by the rays of the sun. In our new house, we have been blessed with a large upstairs room where we have space to make encourage gross motor play with a trampoline, slide, indoor swing, nugget couch and sturdy shelves that are often used as stairs to jump from. We can also clear this space and build large creations with duplo or the train set. If you want to live the screen free life with four children, then open ended toys can be a game changer. We love to source ours second hand through facebook marketplace, garage sales or thrift stores. 3. We filled our home with books.When we were in our small home in New Zealand and when we are in our new larger home in the United States, we have always made places for picture books. In our smaller space, we had to be more creative with shelves on the wall, in our hallway cupboard or in nooks beside their beds. In our new home we have a dining room which we have converted to a "library." It is a room filled with books, a comfy chair, a table for puzzles or writing and wonderful natural lighting. Just the other day, I called out to our 8 year old from the kitchen. She came waltzing in dreamily. When I asked her where she was, she said "Ooops mama, I was in the library dreaming up wonderful things." My heart filled with joy knowing that the space I had so carefully crafted, was inspiring her to dream, imagine and get lost in her thoughts. Filling our home with quality children's literature. along with cozy nooks or comfy couches has leant to hours of time spent "reading" and browsing books. We try and make an effort to read at least 3 books out loud to them daily, but they also spend hours flipping through books imagining their own stories. We also love our CD player. We try and keep a few audio books from the library available so that they can independently listen to them without the need for a screen. I also use a bluetooth speaker and will play audio books podcasts via my laptop for them. 4. We include our children in daily rhythms and tasks.I love cooking with my children. My eldest, who is 9, can cook breakfast by herself which is so helpful in a busy household. I find the time spent together in the kitchen valuable for relationship building and also for learning. Some of my favorite memories are of us together in the kitchen prepping some muffins or making a meal for a family in need. My husband enjoys projects outside in the garden - from building a chicken run, planting potatoes or fishing in the pond. The children love to follow him around with their little shovels and buckets. Time spent busy, working together is one of the best ways to replace the entertainment of screens. 5. We spend a lot of time outside.Which leads me to my favorite lifestyle choice - spending hours of time outside in nature with each other. We love hiking, biking, and gardening. And with a little investment we can enjoy these tasks together. Who needs a video game when you are racing through the woods on the bike track with your siblings. I know where my kids would rather be.
Being screen free is definitely something you have to deliberately choose. These days, screens are everywhere, each one trying to capture our attention. But if less screens is an important family goal, then be encouraged that another family is in the trenches fighting screens for more family memories and connection with each other.
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I will be the first to tell you that getting four children out the door is no easy task...If we are going on an adventure that involves getting in the car, I personally like to spend the time packing lunches, organizing our gear and making a plan. This all sounds relatively straightforward until you add in a toddler who painted the entire radius around them with yoghurt, another child, who must have been born a diva and insists on changing their outfit 10 times, and yet another is an aspiring engineer and if you aren't carefully supervising them will deconstruct any appliance or toy until unrepairable. In all that chaos, I still think it is essential to get children outdoors. Why?
2. “There must be provision for the child to have contact with nature; to understand and appreciate the order, the harmony and the beauty in nature.” - Maria Montessori Only just today, as I was gazing out the window, I noticed the morning dew on the grass. My sleepy children came tumbling down the stairs and began their usual lets climb all over mommy until she makes us breakfast routine. I looked out the window and posed this question. "What is that on the grass?" The children suddenly became fully involved in this exploration. They ran outside in their pajamas. They inspected the grass carefully with all their senses- running, gazing and touching the dew as it ran down their fingers. They reached into their past experiences and came back to me with an answer... 'SNOW!" they declared in a matter of fact way. 'Hmm"... I said, "It has to be 32 degrees for it to be cold enough for snow and it is already 75, I don't think it is snow. They looked at each other confused as they were sure it was frost, having spent their whole lives prior in a colder climate. After some more curious exploring they came back to say it was not frozen... only wet. "Intresting!" I declared. Our days should be filled with learning about the natural world... IN the natural world. Reading about bodies of water can be beneficial, but until your children are out on a lake exploring its fragile ecosystems they can only have ideas. It is when they gain experiences that they really learn and appreciate the beauty, harmony and order of nature. 3. "We are all meant to be naturalists, each in his own degree, and it is inexcusable to live in a world so full of the marvels of plant and animal life and to care for none of these things." - Charlotte Mason
It is all well and good to learn about the natural world, but unless it changes the way you interact with it, it is only a mere head exercise. Time in nature should change you. It should leave an impact on your soul that beckons you to care for it and preserve it. Tending a vegetable garden opens up a world of learning, not just about how plants grow but about soil, pollination, composting, pollution, pests, organic and inorganic farming and more. Over the last three years, I have been exploring the concept of "play." What is play? Why do children do it? How do we as adults interfere, limit, extend or stifle play in children? The result of my research thus far is this: Play is a lot deeper than I first thought and although I have spent a significant time learning about it, even immersing myself in it, I still feel like the real learning and motivation behind it alludes my adult mind. The more time I spend observing children play the more I realise that I will never be an expert on it, so please take my reflections lightly. They are just that - reflections. There once was a time where I was driven to make huts, forts, tents, houses and yurts. I can recall spending a lot of my time on the playground in the sandpit digging very deep trenches and seeing if I could dig up to the other side. From memory, I wasn't even realizing I was "playing ." In my mind, it was comforting to explore these ideas over and over again. My world felt complete when I was under stairs at our house building a wee hideaway with lights, cushions and books. And although I feel like "play" is something I will continue to only try and understand with no real definite adult answer here are some basic themes I have learnt about play these last few years. 1. Play is how children make sense of the world. Children are always learning. You may have heard the analogy that a child is like a sponge, soaking up the world around them. Their minds are fresh, their senses acute. They are sensitive to the slightest change in sounds, colours or smells. I start opening the cupboards in the kitchen and my daughter's ears immediately perk up. "Mummy, what are you doing?" She comes bounding in to see what I might be eating or making. "I smell something yummy," she might say. This sensitivity to the world around them does not stop when they are obviously "playing." My littlest one will grab the shaker and shake it over and over again. Looking at her hands while she does it, then looking more closely at what is inside the shaker. She looks to be asking it, "Why do those beads make noise when I move my hands up and down." My eldest will get all the dolls out and line them up on cushions. She says they are sleeping. I ask her after a couple hours of her babies sleeping, "Aren't you going to get your babies up and play with them, they have been lying there all day." She looks at them with compassionate eyes and says, "My poor babies were up a lot of the night. They made these sounds, 'ZZZZZ, WAHHHHHH, ZZZZZZ, WAHHHH!' They are very tired and need some sleep." In that moment I realised that her play was so much more important than dressing her dolls in their pjs and putting them in their beds. She was making sense of her world. 2. Play is purposeful even if it doesn't look like it. Yesterday my three year old spent the afternoon climbing on top of things and chucking balls around the room. After a few narrow misses of her sister's head I said in my authoritarian Mummy voice, "Stop, get down off of there and stop throwing those balls around. They are for your sister to play with." For those of you more seasoned in "play" you are probably shaking your head at me and thinking, "you ruined a genuine learning moment." Well before you judge me too harshly ;) all was not lost, as my daughter is a great communicator and stepped in to defend her play. She said, "I only wanted to see what would happen if I threw the balls from a higher place." Doh! That is when I pulled my head in and realized that my adult eyes saw only danger and annoyance. In her mind, she is always a scientist, testing out her newest hypothesis. She is mastering the scientific method ("the systematic pursuit of knowledge involving the recognition and formulation of a problem, the collection of data through observation and experiment, and the formulation and testing of hypotheses." -Merriam-Webster) prior to even the formal teaching of these procedures and principles. In fact, we allow children to have free, uninterrupted play they will constantly be testing new ideas and discovering new things. 3. Play is different for all children and each child sets their own "rules" for their play. What is a fort to one child, is a tower to be knocked down by another. We can't assume that when we set out a box of blocks for children to "play" with that they will all want to build a house, or even build something for that matter. The other day at playcentre, a 4 year old boy and his father were busy building an amazing tower. My three year old pranced over and was obviously in awe of their work. She was so inspired that she wanted to "play" too. She began to pick up the blocks and declare that they were going to go in the middle of this amazing tower. The other child crinkled up his face at her and said, "No! That is not where they go." Both the boy's father and I held our breaths waiting to see what kind of argument would ensue. My daughter continued to go about her idea, even though the boy was obviously upset. He then began to break his tower down, saying that he didn't want to play it anymore. She cried, upset that she couldn't join in the game. I hugged her and said, "The boy has already started building something, if you want to join in, he wants you to follow his rules." She walked back over to the boy who had begun rebuilding his tower and said, "I want to play!!!" He paused for a moment and then said, "You can put that block on here like this." She agreed and after a few well placed blocks realized she didn't really want to follow his rules and went to play with something else. As adults we sometimes intervene before children are allowed to share the rules of play with each other. We often see the first instance of anger and say something along the lines of "You need to share!" "Take turns!" "You need to use nice words!" When actually they aren't asking what our rules are, they need to know what the other child's rules are. As parents it is important to intervene in ways that do no interrupt this delicate "play dance." Allow them to sort it out, be there to guide them in the questions they need to ask or to cuddle them when they are refused, but I don't think we should always be the ones to set the rules or they will always need us to sort out the problems. Teaching them to ask the right questions and cope with disappoint is more empowering than forcing them to share. 4. Play needs to be child initiated and directed to have the most lasting impact on the psyche of a child. I am a trained teacher and I love neat orderly play. I like "play-based learning," "learning provocations" and "tidy play areas." Although I think that these things all have their place and can teach valuable lessons or contribute positively to a child's play, real learning and problems solving often occurs when a child is the one who begins the play and directs it to explore their own inner-driven scientific hypothesis. Real learning happens when a child wants to learn something, not when a teacher or parent wants to learn something. We have to ask ourselves, what is the purpose of my well planned activity? What am I wanting a child to learn? Is it to follow my rules of play or is to be a little scientist who follows their own rules of play to test out one of their many hypotheses about how the world works. As adults we should not always be the constructors of play, instead we should be there to supply ideas when asked, answer big questions, guide them when needed, insure the safety of the child while still allowing them to explore and most importantly be a present in their learning with them. This is a concept that I find very difficult to follow because I love tidy neat play. But we really do have to be careful that "play-based learning" doesn't become another way for adults to control children and manipulate them to do what we want. I am speaking to myself here, not just the masses. Play should not become the new worksheet. We need to be cautious that we don't always throw our rules in the mix and stifle real, genuine learning. Provocations on the left have their place, but they should not take the place of genuine play like that in the picture on the right. Which leads me to my final point... 5. Play is so much richer in a natural, outdoor environment. Recently my daughter had a friend over. They say they love each other, but you introduce toys in the mix and they suddenly become arch enemies. After a few squabbles over various items designed for children to "play" with, we quickly intervened and suggested we go out for a walk. They readily agreed and with their gumboots on went crashing and running down the path along the river. They would pause to climb a hill, pick up a stick or throw a rock in the water. The arguing magically melted away as the autumn sun lit up their faces. They quickly became scientists "playing" in their natural environment - taking risks, getting dirty and enjoying each other's company. Meanwhile... "Nature is always hinting at us. It hints over and over again. And suddenly, we take the hint." -Robert Frost To read some more ideas about play check out these other great blogs:
https://www.fix.com/blog/get-children-playing-outside/ http://happinessishereblog.com/2016/03/why-i-dont-like-play-based-learning/ http://www.letthechildrenplay.net/2013/03/be-reggio-inspired-learning-experiences.html Dear daughter,
It has not been that long since you made me a mother, that chilly spring day just 3 years ago. You came into the world wide-eyed and full of wonder. Emotion flooded my heart as I gazed back at you - you were my tiny human. You were mine and I loved you. The days and months following were difficult for both of us. You cried and cried and so did I. You were taking in the world around you and I was learning right along with you. You were so helpless and dependent on me. Sometimes this would even make me feel exhausted just thinking about it. Months past and our bond grew stronger. I learned to explore the world with you. Your very presence would bring a peace and completeness to my soul. I longed for you when you were sleeping, to be snuggled up next to you and to feel your warm breath on my skin. I loved to see your tiny hands reaching up to me. This year has tested our relationship. Your struggle for autonomy has been hard on both of us. I long to have you nuzzled up in my arms and I can tell you do to, but your actions are very different. You push away, you yell, you shout. You want to do it on your own, you say you don't want me. But my darling daughter, I know you do. The very thought of you not needing me, causes so much pain that I too, try and push you away. And then in a brief moment, you call out to me, "Mama!" "Yes, little one?" "I love you." "I love you, too." And all the hurt melts away and I am reminded of the day I met you, the day I became a mother. I am reminded that we are just learning, learning how to love. I love you my darling. Mother's day often brings up so many emotions for people. Even if you are not a mother, we all have mothers. Some of us find it easy to love our mothers, some of us have lost our mothers, some of us hate our mothers, some of us never knew our mothers, some of us had surrogate mothers, grandmas and aunties. Some of us planned to be mothers, some of us dream to be mothers, some of us didn't choose to be mothers. We are all on a journey and we never chose to make someone a mother when we did. Perhaps your timing wasn't ideal or perhaps you were the long awaited baby. Whatever the case,we all had a moment in time when we came into the world and for that we can be grateful for our mothers. We can choose to learn and move forward regardless of our beginnings, regardless of our past mistakes. I am far from a perfect mother. I make mistakes. I sometimes lash out with an unkind word. Today on this special day to honour mothers, I am choosing to move forward and love - love my friends, love my family and even love myself. Happy Mothers' Day. Baby Wells Number 2: We had decided that we would like to have this baby at home. We spent a bit of time discussing the logistics with my midwife and she gave us the green light to have baby at home. When I went into labour on the due date, I was well and truly ready for baby to come. The labour started off slowly and quietly just before midnight. I felt a few small, what might have been contractions and I convinced myself to go to sleep. I woke up a few times in the night sensing that they were getting a bit stronger. Finally at around 5am, I decided to start timing them. I would fall asleep inbetween and wake up with the timer still running, etc. Finally after a good hour of trying to time them, they were roughly 10 minutes apart and moving towards 5 minutes. I woke Tim at 6:15 and told him that I was in labour and could he please call C (my midwife) C was called and I finally got up out of bed. I couldn't lie down anymore. I quickly put up my birth affirmation cards in our bedroom, threw down a blanket on the floor and camped out in the dark curtained drawn room listening to Kye Kye. I was in the zone... the quiet place of pain and purpose. Tim would wander in and out. I could hear J waking up and eating breakfast in the other room. I heard someone say C had arrived. She came in quietly to see me and to see how I was doing. She didn't say much as she could see I was concentrating on staying calm and was focused on relaxing in and between contractions. She checked bubs heart rate and let me know that she thinks baby was quite low and wouldn't be much longer. Meanwhile Tim, Mum and J focused on filling up the pool and putting up some blinds in the lounge. J thought the pool was a good idea and wondered if she could get in. C snuck off to give them a hand. What felt like very soon after, C came in to say the pool was ready. I said, "I wasn't." "I feel like labour is progressing well and I don't want it to slow down." She said, "I don't think it will and I think you should get in." I conceded and inbetween contractions, I crawled my way down the hall and into the warm pool. Instantly I felt my body relax. I could even smile and joke in between contractions. I could move and settle into new positions quite easily. I could feel the head and knew it would be here soon. For a very brief moment I declared, "I don't think it will come out!" But then, I knew it was time, I pushed and she was there. My little warm, slippery baby. J gazed in wander as Tim held my hands. I uncontrollably sobbed happy tears of relief and joy. I joyfully declared, "It's a girl!" Our sweet baby girl. J sensing my tiredness and relief, came over and cuddled me close. My long awaited little one was finally in my arms. We were all so grateful. Thanking the Lord in our hearts for her safe delivery. I carefully and not so gracefully climbed out of the pool and birthed the placenta and Tim cut the cord. We were in awe of our little, swollen baby. We were really too busy cuddling our new addition to care what we named her. Grammie had just arrived the afternoon before. less than 24 hours before baby was born. She was at the birth of J, so it was special to have her here as well. J was in awe of her little baby sister. She just wanted to gaze at her. We too, could not take our eyes off of her.We too, could not take our eyes off of her. After an hour or so, our midwife, did the baby checks. She proudly announced that baby was 8lbs 14ounces - over 4 kgs. I had done well to carry and birth a baby that size and I was definitely feeling proud. This photo was taken later of J, the self declared, "back-up" midwife of C. Here she is our sweet
E Wells 8lbs 14 ounces 54 cm long Born at home. My husband is a bread monster which could possibly present as a problem as I am coeliac and we have NO GLUTEN in our house. Gluten free bread is anywhere from $5 - $10 a tiny loaf from the shops. I buy some really nice Verdini Six Seed bread that lasts me a week sometimes two. The bread monster could probably consume it in 3 days. -_-
We asked around and googled around and experimented and finally have come up with a suitable solution to feed the bread monster. The other great thing about it, is that he makes it himself! Yay! Once less thing I have to cook. Here is our fine tuned recipe for gluten free bread. (Not really healthy - but it is also soy and egg free and possibly dairy free if you use coconut yoghurt) Tim's Gluten, Egg, Soy Free Breadmaker Bread recipe - AKA "Bread Monster Bread Recipe" Ingredients: 2 tbsp sago (or tapioca / arrowroot) 5 tbsp yoghurt (substitute coconut yoghurt for dairy free option?) 2 cups warm water 1 tsp guar gum 2 tbsp sunflower seeds 2 tbsp pumpkin seeds (leave out or substitute other seeds to your preference) 2 1/2 cups Edmonds gluten free flour 1/2 cup buckwheat flour 1 tsp salt 1 tsp olive oil 2 tsp gluten free yeast Directions: Soak 2 tbsp sago or tapioca in 5 tbsp yoghurt in a separate bowl. Mix in thoroughly, this helps the sago get absorbed and helps bond the flours together Add 2 cups tepid water to breadmaker bowl Add flours Add seeds Add guar gum Add salt to one corner Add oil to one corner Make a indent in top of flour and add yeast. Add yoghurt/sago mix Mix ingredients together and cook on the gluten free or shortest cycle in breadmaker. The mixture should be like a thick batter, you can add more water if you need to to achieve the right texture. Also when it has stopped kneading give it a stir to make sure the seeds have not sunk to the bottom. I cut it when it cools and put it in the freezer to toast but it is yummy to eat as bread while it is warm. (It gets a bit crumbly sometimes so you have to cut carefully!) Beco Soleil: A great versatile and comfortable soft-structured baby carrierFeatured to the left is my Espresso coloured Beco Soleil. Here are the official specs: - body 16″ wide x 17″ tall. - shoulder straps 23″ (can be adjusted up to 21″ LONGER for a total of 42″) - padded waist belt 28″ (can be adjusted up to 60″) - weight capacity of the carrier: 7 – 45 lbs (3.2 – 20.4kg) - weight of the carrier: 1.5 lbs. Mine included: - carrier - removable hood - removable carry-all bag - instructions Why I love the Soleil...
What is your favourite carrier and why?Today was the first day of Autumn (nearly winter) where I felt the need for soup and to get the log burner going. Altogether a cozy afternoon at home.
Recipe: Pumpkin Soup (Gluten Free, sugar free with Dairy Free Option) 600g pumpkin (seeds removed and diced flesh) 1 small apple or pear 1 onion 2 Tbsp butter or coconut oil 2 cups homemade bostocks chicken/veg stock ½ tsp mild curry powder ½ tsp ground ginger Sour cream or coconut cream Celtic salt and pepper Method: Peel and dice the apple and onion Heat the butter in a pan and briefly saute the diced apple and onion. Add the diced pumpkin and saute briefly, then add the stock and simmer over a low heat for 20 minutes. Add the spices, 3 tablespoons cream and puree the soup with a blender. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Garnish with cream. This will be my 29th Christmas - 29 trees, at least 100 presents, thousands of lights and candy canes later and this is how I feel... OVER IT! I wonder why I feel this way? I used to love the Christmas season - the lights, nativity plays, carols, presents. I took out our little fake tree this year and faithfully wrapped it up with lights and hung our little ornaments that someone kindly gave us years ago. It does look quite magical, when the sun finally sets at 10pm and the darkness envelopes our house; the lights brightly casting their rainbow hues against the lounge wall. Why then do I feel like Christmas has been sucked dry of all its magic and has turned into this crazy xmas monster that needs more, more, more? Everyone is talking about what they need to get their child, how they are going to dress their table and how they can't find that perfect present because so and so has everything already. Even I spent an hour or two trolling Amazon and Trade Me to find the perfect present for my 2 year old. After I found a few great ideas, I still feel underwhelmed by xmas - the search for the perfect present, the time and money wasted decorating my house in red and green, the hours spent searching, buying and wrapping presents. Many families struggling to make ends meet are at this special time of year when they are under pressure to surprise their children with the newest video game, toy or trendiest sneakers. Organisations put together "toy drives" or "shoe box" collections to give children toys who have none. As it just wouldn't be xmas without a toys. They pull at our guilt ridden heart strings as we walk out of a store with bags full of toys for our families. Making us feel like we too must give toys to all the children in the world. Why can't I give all year round? Why must guilt be my motivation? Why am I so passionate about giving little poor kids toys, but too busy to make a real difference in the world? Why do I have to wait until xmas to justify buying a new camera, kayak or trampoline? Why can't I spread my spending and presents throughout the year? Why do I have to give "so and so who has everything", another something? Why can't I just write them a nice card and wish them well? And then there is the question of Santa Clause. All the children are talking about Santa and how they can't wait for him to bring presents. I overheard one precious little one telling another child how he spends all year with the elves making toys for good children to have on Christmas day. Without making this a debate about the big guy - why on earth do we teach our children that a man with a big white beard, has tiny elves that work with him and that he flies around on a sleigh giving presents to good little girls and boys? I like pretending, using your imagination, creating fantasy, but no way on earth am I going to teach my 2 year old that HE IS REAL. I was secretly pleased that when passing by a big massive blow-up version of Santa, I asked my two year old, "who is he?" She said, with a quizzical expression on her face, "a man?" Two days later, we then walked by a nativity display in the local pharmacy. My little darling came alive with wonder and squealed in delight, "It is Jesus!" "It is his birthday!" "Look at the Christmas!" There it is... the magic! The sparkle in her eye. With no sign of Christmas elves, presents or lollies. She is excited by the wonder of Christmas and the joy in celebrating a birthday. A birthday of someone who is dear to her. Maybe I am a grinch, maybe a religious zealot, but I am really struggling with xmas. When you take the joy of our Saviour's birth out of Christmas, all you are left with is a materialistic holiday based on getting and giving stuff. I am already too wrapped up in the holiday to go back now. I have picked out some nice presents for my family and have put up my tree. I just can't help but feel a little disgusted that I have once again been sucked into another year of thinking, "Hmmm, what do I want this year?" I guess I am being a grinch. And perhaps I have come to realise that Xmas just isn't for me. Christmas for me has a richer deeper meaning that brings a message of mercy, grace and peace for all. Forgiveness, healing, restoration and Joy, true joy. And that to me is worth celebrating. We had some friends over and I had to whip up something. Did a bit of googling and came up with a Baked Potato Bar. I know that isn't that revolutionary, but it was easy, healthy and yummy. I used some great ideas from this website http://www.realsimple.com/food-recipes/recipe-collections-favorites/baked-potato-bar-0.
I baked some potatoes and and orange kumara (sweet potato) in the oven. While that was cooking I worked on the toppings:
The baked potato bar was a hit. What do you like on your baked potatoes? |
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