Oven Timer

A very wise and godly older woman gave me this advice a number of years ago.

It seems universal that children lack the urgency in getting themselves ready in time.

In time for school, in time for church, in time for breakfast, in time for bed.

It also seems universal that we as parents work ourselves into a slight frenzy as we continually repeat the same instructions to get ready over and over and over.

Ultimately we get angry and our children suffer our sinful wrath.

A very simple yet effective technique to overcoming this frustration is using an oven timer.

We can train our children that we expect them to obey after just one instruction, if they struggle with doing so timeously, we can set the timer explaining to them that they now have '10 minutes' to be dressed and ready for breakfast.

If they fail to be ready by the time the alarm sound, there should be appropriate consequences.

This tool has helped me many times to keep a peaceful atmosphere in the home, there are few things worse than a nagging mother.

I found it very useful when my daughter went through a daydreaming phase during dinner time, I would set the timer and my daughter would be finished eating in no time.

We should just be aware to give a reasonable amount of time for the children to achieve their set task.

Moist Chocolate Cake

You might have noticed that I love chocolate, well here is a recipe for a dairy-free chocolate cake that my Mom receved from a friend of hers many years back.

430ml flour

375ml sugar

4 eggs (seperated)

200ml oil

3 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon vanilla essence

1/2 teaspoon salt

Cocoa mixture: mix 125ml cocoa powder in 250ml hot water

METHOD:

Sift dry ingredients together.

Beat egg yolk, oil, vanilla essence and cocoa mixture together.

Mix into to dry ingredients.

Fold in stiffly beaten egg whites.

Bake in a pre-heated 180 deg C oven for 30 minutes

(or until skewer comes out clean)

Mary vs Martha

I have recently - once again - been convicted by the story of Mary and Martha (Luke 10:38-42).

Martha and Mary

38Now as they were traveling along, He entered a village; and a woman named Martha welcomed Him into her home.
39She had a sister called Mary, who was seated at the Lord's feet, listening to His word.
40But Martha was distracted with all her preparations; and she came up to Him and said, "Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to do all the serving alone? Then tell her to help me."
41But the Lord answered and said to her, "Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered about so many things;
42but only one thing is necessary, for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her."
The busyness of life so often creeps into the daily routine of cleaning, cooking, training, tidying, that I neglect the "one thing" that is truly necessary. Listening to Rachel Barkey share how her life has changed since she found out that she had but a few weeks to live, begs the question: how would my life change if I knew I would die in 6 weeks time.

Would I leave the dishes for a few minutes more so that I could play trains with my 2 year old son. Could my admin wait so that I spend some time drawing or reading with my 6 year old daughter. I am sure that I could probably put aside these household chores to spend time with my children. But could I put aside the things I enjoy, could I put aside my crafts, my reading, my blogging, my phone time with a friend.

And then what about the "one thing"? Time spent at my Saviours feet, listening, learning and loving the God that saved me from an eternity seperated from Him. I am so thankful that He is the Good Shepherd, that He so often leaves the 99 and pulls me back into his safe and nurturing care. How good it is that I have a God that loves me absolutely and eternally. How good it is that the love He has for me is not dependant on me, my works, my spiritual state, my lovability.

His love for me is based on the work of the Perfect Lamb. Jesus who became sin on my behalf, so that I could gain His righteousness, stands as my advocate. God, the judge, finds me innocent because Jesus paid the ultimate price for my sin. God loves me, because Jesus bought me with His life.

Now, more than ever, I realise how thankful I am that my salvation is not based on me - because I would have lost it a long time ago!

My prayer, that I would become more like Mary and so much less like Martha. That I will choose the "good part", that which will "not be taken away". That my life will be busy with that which will have eternal value.

Matthew 20:28 "just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many"

Tissue Time

I was reading through one of my favourite blogs - Girl Talk http://girltalk.blogs.com/ and they mentioned a video by a woman named Rachel Barkey. She is a 37 year old wife and mother who is dying of cancer. I would encourage everyone to go to her website and listen to the talk she gives on 'Death is not Dying'. It is incredible, just remember the tissues, chances are there will be tears. http://deathisnotdying.com/death-is-not-dying-event-audio/

Dairy Free Chocolate Souffle

This one is especially dedicated to the Doctors Penny :-)

Chocolate Soufflé (Dairy Free)

Serves 4

100g good quality dark chocolate
50g dairy free baking margarine
40g (100ml) cocoa powder
75g (90ml) castor sugar
2 eggs, separated
5ml vanilla extract
60ml coconut cream

1. Preheat the oven to 160 deg C
2. Melt the chocolate and margarine in a double boiler.
3. Add the cocoa, 50g (60ml) castor sugar, egg yolks, vanilla essence and coconut cream and stir to a smooth paste.
4. In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites until soft peak stage, add the remaining sugar.
5. Fold the egg whites into the chocolate mixture and then spoon into individual ramekins.
6. Bake for 8-10 minutes.
**For a bigger dish bake for 20-25 minutes.**

Flying with Children

I have had opportunity to fly to several countries throughout the world with my two little ones.

Flying with babies and toddlers can be quite daunting, but here are a few helpful hints that helped make our trips a little easier.


1. Allow your baby to nurse or drink from their bottle during lift off and landing.
A dummy also works to help equalise their ears during the pressure changes.
I even allowed my 5 year old to suck a dummy when we last flew as she suffers with her ears during the flights. It made quite a difference to her take offs and landings.
Chewing gum also works for older children.

2. Pre-arrange children's meals with the airline.
I have found that the adult food can be quite spicy and my children would not be able to eat the meals.

3. Take plenty of healthy snacks for the trip.
Try and stay away from sweets and sugary foods as this can result in irritable children.

4. Take a bag with small toys, colouring books and special surprises for the children when they start becoming a little miserable.

5. Take an empty drinking bottle that you can pour their drinks into, as they are usually offered in those little cups - guaranteed to be poured all over Mama!
Try and get the kids to drink mostly water as flying tends to dehydrate one's body.

6. Take an extra pair of clothing on board, for your children and maybe even for yourself.
Having been thrown up over, I would love to have been able to have changed my clothes.

7. Take lots of wet wipes.
Great for cleaning your kids, yourself, the seats - you get the picture!

8. Take along children's paracetamol or Neuraphen for pain & fever.
On the one trip my daughter started with a high fever, fortunately I had meds for her.
Anything can happen on a plane trip!

9. Pray, and get all your friends to pray for you and your children :-)
Pray that God will keep you calm and happy, and that He will keep your children calm and happy.

Hope this helps, above all else try and enjoy the trip. Children pick up on our stress, if we are happy, our children tend to be happy as well!

Dairy Free Rusks

If you suffer from Dairy Allergies like my family does, you can sometimes get a little frustrated with the lack of suitable recipes avaibable. I have adapted my recipes to cater for my family and I will be sharing some of my favourites in the coming weeks.

Rusks

(If you do not know what a rusk is, find a South African and ask them to explain to you.)

Ingredients:
1,5kg selfraising flour

5ml baking powder

100ml Pronutro (optional)

100ml raw oats

350ml sugar

1/2 cup crushed pecan nuts

1/2 cup slivered almonds

3 tablespoons sesame seeds

3 tablespoons sunflower seeds

2 eggs

500g dairy free margerine - melted

500ml soy vanilla yoghurt

5ml vanilla extract
Method:

Mix all the dry ingredients together in a large bowl.

Mix the rest of the ingredients in a seperate bowl.

Now mix all the ingredients together in the large bowl.

*Hands are definitely needed for this exercise*

Roll portions into balls and then flatten out slightly.

Pack into 3 rows of balls in 3 greased bread tins.

Bake for 30-45 minutes in 180 deg C oven until cooked.

Allow to cool and then break apart and dry overnight in a 70 - 100 deg C oven.

Once completely dried and cooled, store in an airtight container.

Make yourself a good cup of coffee, dunk and enjoy!