The Best Carrot Cake You Will Ever Eat

I myself have never been a fan of Carrot Cake, the idea of vegetables in desserts just didn't sit right with me. A few years ago though I was feeling adventurous and decided to try some of my husbands slice of cake during one of our date nights. I was needless to say "pleasantly surprised". I was imagining some kind of roast dinner mixed with dessert kind of combinations. Since then I have made many Carrot Cakes on a semi-regular basis much to my husbands delight. He is all about the sweet stuff, me, not so much. Give me some bread and cheese any day though.

This recipe is one I have perfected over the last little while and has been given the stamp of approval by even my pickiest of eaters. It is definitely a substantial cake and can be cooked in all sorts of different pans, you will just need to watch the cooking times. It is incredibly moist and will keep its moistness for several days just left on the bench...if it lasts that long.

I just love the awesome caramelly colour it comes out as. Such a nice change from the boring chocolate cake brown. Oh and not to forget the smell! I think it kind of smells a bit like Christmas with the cinnamon and nutmeg.

Recipe

Ingredients

• 2 C Sugar
• 1 C Vegetable Oil
• 4 Eggs
• 1/2 teaspoon Salt
• 1 Teaspoon Baking Soda
• 1 Teaspoon Baking Powder
• 1 Teaspoon Cinnamon
• 1 Teaspoon Nutmeg
• 2 C Carrots Grated 
• 1/2 C Sultanas
• 1/2 C Chopped Walnuts 

Method

1. Preheat Oven to 180C/350F and grease and line a 20cm cake tin
2. In a large bowl beat the Sugar, Oil and Eggs until thick and pale
3. Into the same bowl sift in Flour, Salt, Baking Soda, Baking Powder, Cinnamon and Nutmeg
4. Mix until well combined
5. Stir in the Carrots, Sultanas and Walnuts
6. Pour into prepared tin and bake for 50-60mins or until skewer comes out clean when poked. 

For the Icing:

Once the cake has cooled completely ice with cream cheese icing and top with chopped nuts and cranberries.

Cream cheese Icing

Beat together 250g/8oz pack of Cream Cheese along with 1/2 stick of butter. Gradually add in 2-3 C of icing sugar and 1 Tablespoon of Vanilla. If its too thick add a little milk.

The Tooth Paste Hoarder

The kids are in bed and I thought I would sit down to write something at the computer. It smelt kind of nice around the desk, a little suspicious as usually the interesting smells are forgotten nappies. However I just enjoy it until I pick up the mouse. Everything is covered in strawberry toothpaste. The mouse, keyboard, the big black box thingi, the screen, and the speakers. ughhh. Ammon has had a thing with toothpaste the past week. He has a stash of tubes somewhere that I can't find. We had a friend give us about 20 tubes (yes we have cool friends like that) and I have no idea where they are but it seems Ammon does. He took one to the car, unknown to me and spread it all over Lili's car seat. That went down really well with Lili, until I told her it just mean her seat wont get cavities or holes. Gullible kid. I really wish I knew where he was stashing them all. Probably in the same place as his shoes.

We got together with some of our homeschool friends today to celebrate book week. Everyone dressed up and each family organised an activity table for the kids to go around to. Everyone had such an awesome time. Auron and Lili went as Harry Potter and Hermione. The both looked the part. Lili's hair was pretty much the highlight of the costume for me. I haven't brushed it out dry in forever but it was like a lion's mane. She kept asking why her hair was so fluffy today...like a cloud. 

For dinner tonight we had meatballs and mash and veges. We had the same thing last week sometime and you would have thought I was trying to poison them the way they were carrying on. We had gagging and every excuse in the book why they couldn't possibly eat it. By the time they did get around to eating it, it was cold and probably did taste kind of gross at that point. They only ate it once I told them the meat was chicken. We have a lot of brown chicken in this house. Tonight, same meal, exactly the same, not even a slight variation and Auron proclaims it as his 2nd favourite meal ever and can we have it tomorrow, and Lili eats three helpings. (Ammon is just a garbage disposal and will eat anything). Sometimes I really just want to bang my head into the wall. 

Relax Relax Relax

In April/May this year we thought "hey let's do a girl's weekend". It was one of those thoughts my cousin and I have for great plans that never come to fruition. We are often quite elaborate in our plans then we just end up eating chocolate and nothing ever happens. Please tell me we aren't the only ones???

This time however, we actually made it work. My mum flew over from New Zealand for the week and we headed out of the city for a night away. We had it well planned out, I paid accommodation, Sotarah paid for petrol and driving and Mum paid for the cheese...I mean food.

Our whole plan for the weekend was to do NOTHING. So we arrived just after lunch and after finally figuring out how to turn on some kind of heating we settled down to do our nothing. We are soooo not good at doing nothing. It was like twiddling our thumbs kind of boring.

To cure the boredom we huddled back into Sotarah's "good little car" and hot up Kmart. No one can ever be bored in Kmart. I purchase some swimwear...for the first time in 6 years. The last set of swimwear I owned was a bikini. Haha I wouldn't want to torture the world with that image these days. It seemed so wrong to be buying swimwear while a storm brewed outside. It's still technically August so why is there swimwear out anyway??!

We had Fish n Chips for dinner. Nothing better than fresh fish direct from a seaside town.The had the batter just right, crispy not soggy. Probably the best I have had in Australia. They say they do good Fish n Chips but they have nothing on New Zealand.

We spent the next morning at the Peninsula Hot Springs. As soon as we walked into the reception area we knew it was going to be a very new kind of experience. Everyone was so calm and serene. They gave us a card on rules to look over....no sex in the pools. I guess that sort of stuff happens often?? Then they handed us over our crisp white robes, Now we were fully initiated into the commune. A commune that was exactly what it felt like. We probably spent a good 3 hours soaking up the lovely hot mineral water before we were getting hungry and not prepared to pay the inflated prices to eat some rabbit food they had at the cafe.

We stopped of on the way home at Mc Donalds, see a much better alternative to rabbit food. Although I went to the bathroom after lunch and was looking at the advert on the back of the stall door for crispy raw organic green beans. I was sold, however when I went to buy them they were sold out due to weather conditions. Saved myself $5 and purchased an entire bag at Aldi that afternoon instead. I doubt they were organic.

Great weekend, fabulous company, can't wait until next year!

The Child Whisperer Review

The past couple of months our little Lili has been struggling quite a lot with anxiety. It seemed that no matter what we did or how hard we tried nothing was helping her and it was just becoming worse and starting to take a significant impact on our day to day life as a family. If you know me well enough you will know I am not quick to jump on the anxiety/sensory/adhd band wagon. Not that those things don't exist because they do, just that it seems these days everyone is quick to diagnose normal childhood development with some kind of disorder. However the more and more this went on the more I realised it wasn't just a short lived phase..it was going on and on and on and increasing in intensity.

I asked around on a few groups I am a part of for some ideas and put out a plea for help. One of the book suggestions was to read "The Child Whisperer" written by Carol Tuttle. I had heard of the book before but never paid it much attention. So I purchased the ebook and read the whole thing in one night (you know desperate for some magic cure). The main idea behind the book is that each child has a different energy that can be divided into one 4 types. The book then dives into each type, identifying certain factors which you would notice in a child of that type. For example Lili is a Type 2 child, a sensitive child. Almost everything the book said a type 2 child was, perfectly summed up my Lili. The author then gives you the best ways to parent that child. What will work for a type 2 child may not have the same result for a type one child for example.

The book teaches you how to parent in a gentle and calm manner resulting in less contention and a more peaceful home...because let's be honest peaceful is what we all aim for. This book is honestly like the handbook to kids. By learning and applying the techniques you learn in the book you can become more in tune with your child and their needs instead of just taking a stab in the dark.

We have been putting the lesson we have learnt into practice for the past 2 1/2 weeks. So while it is early days the change has been remarkable, REMARKABLE. So while Lili is still quite anxious and we have a long way to go...I can now go to the bathroom without my little friend waiting outside the door or drive the car in peace as opposed to having Lili meltdown because I wont pull the car over on the freeway to give her a cuddle right then and there. Oh and we managed to STOP the whining, Lili was an expert whiner. I know this is just the start of great things for our family.

If you want to read a bit more you can visit this website Live Your Truth

 

Abstract Art Class

It was another stunner of a day here! I am loving all this warm spring weather, unfortunately it is probably not going to hang around long. This morning we went to an Art Gallery with some friends who also home school. "Art" is soooooo not my thing. I don't get it, I don't really care too much about it but a well rounded education needs a bit of art appreciation. The lady taking the kids on the little tour was wonderful. She had them sit down in front of each art work and explained it and asked them questions about how it made them feel and what they thought about it etc. After the tour she took us back into another room for a hand on abstract art class.

The art they did was inspired by some of the techniques the artists of the works they saw used. So they did a bit of drawing to music and painting and cutting and gluing. All the kids loved it. Personally I thought Ammon's picture belonged in a gallery it was that abstractly fantastic. Maybe he will make us millions one day. I am not sure almost 2 year old's could make anything that wasn't abstract, that's kind of their thing.

We headed over to the park to play afterwards. I hadn't planned on staying but it was such a beautiful day it seems a shame to waste it, and the kids wanted to play with their friends. The was one little girl chasing Lili around trying to play with her but it was more like a game of torture for Lili, she does not like new people in her space at all! We left a bit later so grabbed some burgers and shakes for lunch on the way home. I let Ammon "share" my much anticipated banana milk shake. When I took it off him 2 mins later all I got back was frothy dribble at the bottom. I felt so ripped off. I remember the days when I used to drink a whole milkshake by myself....those are distant memories nowadays.

Parks and Christmas Shopping

Auron finished up his school work in record time this morning. Reading, math and writing all done in less than 90 mins. His quick work meant we had plenty of time to get out of the house and enjoy the beautiful day. Nice days have been few and far between around here.

We decided a BBQ in the park was the perfect idea. We are really lucky that Daddy doesn't start work until 2:30pm and gets to spent lots of time hanging out with us.

Auron always says "I hope I make a friend at the park today" Sometime he lucks out but today he made friends with a little girl and they played some very animated and exciting game for the whole 2 hours we were there. I love that he is confident to go up and make friends with other kids. I am even more happy that the times he has been knocked back haven't deferred him from trying again. That is one thing that I really admire about my Auron. He left the park today exhausted and happy, just they way I like it.

I started my Christmas shopping this week! Can you believe it? I really hate the madness that happens in December. I figured if I do it now I can avoid the chaos and avoid any kind of shopping centre if at all possible. Our kids are getting one big combined present this year of a really awesome wooden marble run. Other than that, they will just be getting a few things needed for our overseas trip early next year, like toiletries and new earphones for the plane. They are going to absolutely over the moon about this marble run though! We have a plastic one from Kmart that is next to useless and any attempt to play with it usually ends in frustration and disaster. So while this is expensive I expect it to last for many many years. Who knows maybe the grandkids will enjoy it one day!

You can purchase one here at  Buy My Things

EVERYWHERE!

It was EVERYWHERE! This afternoon we went to the shopping centre to just look around. Something that was probably a bad idea. You should always go shopping with a plan, aimless walking around can get expensive. I few hours later after we still hadn't accomplished much other that a combined 4 trips to the bathroom when Lili pipes up "Mummy I need to go toilet" Since we are already heading back to the car I ask her if she can please just wait until we get home. She says yes but her hopping around like a rabbit possessed tells me otherwise. I decided to quickly run her back down to the toilet while Aarahi put the other kids in the car. We get to the toilet and I wait outside holding the door for her. I smelt it before I saw it. I opened the door and squeezed inside and there it was. Poop everywhere. All over her legs, clothes, toilet seat and floor but none in the toilet. "I told you I needed to go" she whimpered.

It took a good 20mins to clean her up and dump her dirty underwear and tights in the "feminine hygiene" products bin. All the while she kept telling me, "it's ok mummy we all make mistakes, thanks for not being grumpy with me" To tell you the truth I wanted to vomit from the smell and the sight of poop all over my hands. So as much as I was annoyed that we were now in the toilet for the 5th time in 2 hours I couldn't bring myself to let her know how frustrated I was. It wasn't her fault she must've had a sore tummy. But seriously it was EVERYWHERE.

We are now both sparking clean after showers. Luckily poop just washes right off.

All fresh from her bath, showing of her new Minion slippers. Daddy bought her new slippers because he ran her old ones over with the lawn mower. RIP Slippers 

It wont last forever

I think it is time to get back in to writing more. I have had the nagging feeling for a couple of months now but keep putting it to the back of my mind "for another day". However after a few trying months I think it will probably be good for me, regardless of if anyone reads it. I have even struggled to keep up our weekly family blog that goes out to our families overseas.

I had a little look back through some older posts tonight and realised how fast my kids are growing up. I really does just happen in the blink of the eye. I think the saying is "the days are long but the years are short" How true is that? I am so not ready for it to be going so fast. I keep telling Aarahi we need more babies so I can never lose them. He thinks I am a little crazy.

Tonight I wished I could have frozen time, if only for an hour. I had three freshly washed children all snuggly and warm dressed in their PJ's. There eye were beginning to droop as the minutes ticked by, ready to rest from all the days fun. These days are limited, they wont last forever. One day they will be gone, grown up and having these experience in their own home with their own babies. Just in that small moment in time it didn't matter that the house looked like a tornado had ripped through it (that tornado being named Ammon). Or that there are art projects all over the floor that I have been trying to throw away for days but my little hoarder is on to me!

Next week my Mum is visiting from New Zealand and Aarahi is taking a week off work. I can't wait to lap up every minute of it. Aarahi and I will be taking a very much needed trip to the temple which I am sure will calm my troubles and fill my heart with all those good things.

We went on a cruise earlier this year. I love this photo of Lili. It was pouring with rain and all she wanted to do was make sand castles.