Thoughts on Food {My Elgin Chicken Test!}

In my first post in this series of {my} Thoughts on Food I mentioned that I'm going to cook both an Elgin Free Range Chicken and a "normal" chicken to see the difference, the difference was so unbelievable, both hubby and myself was astounded!  The "normal" chicken was dry and shrunk to almost half it's size.  Taste wise  it tasted like chicken, but the skin didn't crisp up as I would have wanted it too - I didn't even want to take pics. 

Then on Friday evening we cooked this Elgin Chicken.  From the beginning I could see a huge difference, there was no blood in the package, in other words no fluid and moisture drained from the bird so it was not injected with water to make it heavier!  The bird was huge in comparison to the others on the shelf and it kept it's size after cooking.  This one chicken could comfortably have fed 6 people.  The skin was wonderfully crisp and the flavour was amazing!

I only seasoned it with a bit of salt, olive oil, lemon juice, coriander, lemon zest and some paprika and a tiny bit of chilli.

Hubby braai'd the chicken beautifully and also commented on how easy it braai'd - no burning or excessive shrinking!

We enjoyed this beautiful chicken with a home made garlic bread, some oven roasted veg and a green salad. Superb!

I will always buy Elgin chicken from now on!

Kinderwerf Expo

A few months ago I was fortunate enough to exhibit at the Home Educators Expo in Cape Town.  It was so much fun meeting homeschooling moms and chatting to them about schooling and their kiddos.  I exhibited the Kinderwerf range of products, quality Afrikaans {and English}educational products and learning aids.

Here's my stand:

Love the new 2011 Calenders!  

Perforated pages for easy removal of the past month, great rhyme for every month.  With every calender you get an extra pack of stickers and ideas that you can print and use to mark special days, or to help you teach your little one about months of the year, days of the week,etc.  Available in Afrikaans and withing a few days also in English!  {R80 each}

I couldn't resist taking a few pics of Mouse with Loebi the Dragon!  Loebi is the central character in the Kinderwerf book series.  Mouse L.O.V.E.S Loebi!

I'm also hosting a Kinderwerf Breakfast if you would like to come and see, touch and feel all the wonderful Kinderwerf products!

When:  11 December 2010

Where:  Lazaffe Restaurant, High Street, Bellville

Time:  9h30 - 11h00

Cost: R100 per person {includes 2 course breakfast plus a Kinderwerf Product}

RSVP: Trudie {trudie@kinderwerf.co.za} before 6 December 2010.

Hope to see you there!

Advent Calender

I've been meaning to make an Advent Calender for some time now, what always held me back was where do I store it afterwards?  It is packed away for 11 months of the year and I really am short on storage space.  There's so many awesome designs and ideas on the internet of Advent Calenders, but I immediately fell in love when I saw this great idea on Muffin Tin Mom, create a Advent Calender in a Muffin Tin!  Super easy and you only have to worry about storing 24 paper discs!

I also had heaps of Index cards laying around and I decided that this was the perfect project to recycle them:

I cut the circles out of the Index cards and punched out some stars and simply assembled the design.  I then added a magnet to the back to stick to the muffin tin.

To display it, I simply pop it into my recipe book stand - it takes up little space and it works beautifully!

I only have a 12 cup muffin tin, so I will need to add the 13 - 24 after the first 12 days. Now I only need to fill the cups with treats {healthy options as well!}.

Homeschooling Highlights

Doesn't she look super cute with her two pigtails?  We are still keeping learning fun and without too much structure, it works for us!

Just some highlights to show you what we have been up too:

We used our Suczezz Number set to help us count to threee, the set goes up to 10.

{you can contact me if you are interested in more info on any of the suczezz products}

I made her this Ice cream Felt set a while ago already, the idea is to match the coloured ice cream part to the cone with the same colour dot on.  She did really good and loved this!  This idea was inspired by Shelly Lovett

We played on a jumping castle = loads of fun!

I bought her a Mikey Mouse activity pack at Game {think it was about R100} one of the activities was this Minnie Mouse sand art page - we had loads of fun creating this togheter!

While Mommy was busy ironing, Mouse also did some ironing and earned a sticker for her chart!

We also spend loads of time as a family, loving each precious moment.

Hope you have a blessed week!

Healthy Eating by Real Moms

This is a guest post by my dear friend Donette from The Journey, I've asked a few moms to guest post and tell me about their experiences with healthy eating and food.

This is what Donette had to say:

Growing up, we were what the polite would call "financially challenged". Crisps on rolls or a opened tin of curried vegetables on toast was quite a filling meal and considered healthy!
Other times our plates were piled high with pasta. Every scrap would have to be finished off. There were no healthy snacks in between meals. Fruit was something I knew very little about. Never mind the benefits!
My increasing large size was blamed on a "big" bone structure and a mindset of "it's in the genes", where in actual fact I am actually quite average boned and every big person in my family has big plates of food all the time. It would never have been thought of to once question the calorie intake. Since getting married I have thankfully been introduced to wonderful delights of fruits, vegetables and other delights I would never have thought to try.

When my son was born I introduced fruits and vegetables as per the guidelines in most books. Unfortunately my son is a bit Orally sensory defensive. What this means is that my son refuses to eat fruits and vegetables unless cooked. He will eat bananas on good days and none on others.
How do I provide healthier meals for him, was often a question I asked myself.
Sugar is the answer at this point. I definitely notice that the more sugar my son consumes through chocolates or sweets the worse his behaviour!
Breakfasts are the easiest meal to organise. No sugared cereals are the first step. Yoghurt, fruits and home-made fruit bars are often the best for snacks. I have recently started using Jessica Seinfeld's deceptively delicious cookbook to hide more fruits and vegetables in our food and although it does take some thought to get started it is so much better for us.
Now although we are not completely sugar-free - I dont plan to be either, it does help to offer different choices. I am sure there are other avenues we will later look at, for now sugar is our first battle.

One other statement I will make is that often people blame TV as a being used as a baby-sitter...How many times have we used food as a baby-sitter..."here's a packet of crisps while Mommy pays for groceries. Just be quiet!" I have been guilty of this, But I have realised the dangers in offering food to avoid situations.

Something else on my mind...
When one begins to run their own home, shopping can be a chore. I used to go to the shops, see a "good deal" - especially on the fresh produce side and buy bulk. At home, the produce seems ok. We often just accept that this is the quality/taste that is on offer. Two days later, when half the bag has gone bad, off I go again.

I came to realise that some more finesse is required when buying healthy food. Instead of always looking at the price, look at the quality. Looking at what I am buying often saves me some money in the end as well as keeping me from poisoning my family with less chemicals.

There is a common sales pitch that seems to be used with meat especially....Advertised as grain-fed beef, we think, OK this must be healthy for us then!
Is this a joke? Well unfortunately the joke is on us. We have no idea what goes on with the production of the grain! How many pesticides and other poisons are used when growing the grain?
We are sometimes blessed with some mutton and lamb straight from the Karoo. The difference in taste in the wholesome naturally fed mutton/lamb versus the mass produced/grain-fed is indescribable!


Thank you Donette! 

Thoughts on Food {My Challenge}

I was super excited to go to the book launch of Justin Bonello's new Cooked Out of the Frying Pan. He is such a sweet guy, humble and down to earth.  During the launch he chatted a bit about where our food really comes from, what do we as consumers really know about our food's origins, how is the cattle fed, how are our pigs treated, what is really sprayed on our fruit and veg?  Do we really know?  The sad truth is, no, we as consumers don't have a clue what is really going into our bodies.  He has a Facebook page with a petition for real food, please visit and lend your support to this cause.

After his totally inspiring talk last night I set myself a challenge.  From now on, I'm going to ask questions, I'm going to expect my supplier {supermarket, butcher, etc.} to be able to tell me how the meat was reared, or any other question I might have. I am going to start with a research campaign and will try and give info through to you.  I am by no means an expert, just a concerned mom who is trying to do her bit to make sure my baby girl's nutritional needs are met, but also that she is not getting in "stuff" that is not supposed to be in our food.

Jeanne from Elgin Chickens was in contact with me and we are planning a talk and information day in the new year, she will be able to shed some much needed light on what is truly a free range and organic chicken.  I'll post  dates and details as soon as it is finalized.

Hope that you will join me in this challenge!

Thoughts on Food {What we eat}

I've always enjoyed Justin Bonello's Cooked series of programs. What I like about it is the fact that it is good, honest food that is regularly available in SA.  No nonsense kind of stuff!  Yesterday on DStv I watched his new season of Cooked {Season 5}, the series will be about where our food actually comes from, how it is grown, harvested or where our meat comes from.  How the animals are reared, etc.  The first episode was on Elgin Free Range Chickens, it really made me think.  We just take the suppliers word on how good the food actually is for us, we don't really know what is in our meat, do we really know how much antibiotics or growth hormones / promoters are in it?  I'll definately be buying just Woolies Free Range Chicken or Elgin Free Range Chicken from now on.  I don't just have to think about my own health, but also the health of my two year old little girl! 

Elgin Free Range Chickens are free from antibiotics, growth hormones and growth promotors.  What you get is pure chicken and nothing harmfull added.  In the program Justin closed by sayng, buy a free range chicken and a mass produced one and taste the difference, you will be amazed.  I'm planning on doing just that!  Will post pics etc as soon as it is done!  In the meantime, let's all be a little more vigilant on what we put in our bodies, and let us support the local manufacturers that have our interests and the animals best interests at heart.

Hubby bought us this book last weekend, cannot wait to start cooking from it!  Click on the link above for the Kalahari link.

Mouse's First Bike!

Daddy bought Mouse a bike for Christmas, yes, way to early, but we couldn't wait!  :)

 Mouse looking at her new bike, you'll notice that Ta-Tam is already in the carrier!

 A proud Daddy and his Little Mouse!

She loves her new bike!

My Little Girl {I love you!}

I really enjoy spending time with my little girl, she is the sweetest little thing.  Always happy, smiling and filling the room with love and joy.  She is truly such a great blessing in my life and I cannot imagine life without her. 

I love how she can make a huge mess in a matter of seconds :)

I love how she is always laughing and smiling :)

I love how she always points with her little hands when she is talking!

I love the way she paints :)

I love how she always shares her food with the dog and that her favourite blankie Bear Ta-Tam is

never far away :)

I love it when she is being silly :)

I love you my baby girl! :)

Sweet Lollipop Goodness!

I was super lucky to win a Sweets hamper from The Sweet Lollipop Shop.  Louise was even kind enough to post it all the way to SA!  Mouse was over the moon when we fetched it at the post office, we had to open the parcel then and there and she enjoyed some of the sweets in the car already!  What lovely sweets, all Louise's sweets are hand made and they are super yummy.  I loved the fact that she also makes Natural sweets, without any artificial flavours.  I truly enjoyed every little candy jewel!

All the candies were beautifully packaged in re sealable packaging, not that they were left for too long! 

My hubby loved the Clove flavoured ones, I loved the Toffee and Mouse ate everything!  Please visit her Etsy Shop and spoil yourself!