new shoes and some food ideas

we got this this sweet little chap his first proper shoes at the weekend. he really wants to walk everywhere now and i thought it might be nice for him to not have wet, muddy feet anymore. so his daddy took him out for a little stroll. it's so lovely to wander with him as he tightly clasps your fingers and takes every step in his own wobbly time. then leads you to where he wants to go and stops when something catches his eye. it brings back so many memories of when his older brother started walking. oh the sweetness of it all.


On another note, I've been trying out a few recipes lately;

my mother used to always make rissoles when we were growing up and these brown rice patties were lovely, so cheap and simple to make. i must do this more often.

and my 4 year old is going crazy for these at the moment. i used a mixture of honey and agave nectar. they're actually really similar to the energy chunks i made a while ago, but the chocolate chips are the winning ingredient. they're a great treat for his school lunch box. oh i do love it when i manage to sneak healthy food into my boys.

and chicken soup, it was the chicken broth recipe from apples for jam, i love this book, did i say that already? but instead of a whole chicken, which can be so expensive especially if like me you want the organic one. i used some free range chicken thighs and drumsticks to make the broth and it worked just as well. we even had chicken left over for a stir fry the following day.

do you have any cheap meals or short cuts that you often use in your kitchen?

sarada xx

a changeable sort of day

today it started off stormy, then sunny, then rainy and by the evening there wasn't a cloud in sight, just a beautiful yellowy pink sky. we got caught in a downpour on the way back from school so we ran down the hill shrieking and smiling till we got home. we got cosy and made these biscuits for the second time. i'm always on the look out for a dairy and egg free recipe for my little allergy sufferer, so when this came through the post in the lush catalogue we had to try it. they are really good. i never thought of using coconut oil like this and i love that they have fresh ginger in them too. not so pretty to look at but really tasty, just like proper crunchy ginger biscuits. they're definitely becoming a favourite around here.

sarada xxx

the other day

i had a few moments to myself so i sat on the balcony and read this cute and inspiring craft magazine whilst eating these sweet healthy treats. what bliss. i love those wreaths, such beautiful pictures. and there's a tutorial for a throw that's made out of woollen jumpers that i've got my eye on, so i couldn't resist this lot at the boot fair. 3 woollen blankets (not sure what to do with them - any ideas?) and 2 woollen jumpers to start me off all for just 3 quid. now that's a bargain don't you think? i had to snap them up even if it was ridiculous walking around with them for the rest of the day in the sweltering heat!

sarada xxx

at halloween

we went to stanley's first halloween party. he dressed up as a spider. he did wear it for about 15 minutes at the party but his favourite thing was showing daddy his costume when he got home.


we decorated a pumpkin when granny and grandad came to stay. a potato peeler turned out to be the best tool.


and we made biscuits out of the pumpkin flesh which turned out tasty but more cake like than biscuit. i think because i wanted to use all the pumpkin i had they turned out much more moist than they were supposed to!

here is the recipe that i adapted from an old cookbook to suit my little dairy allergy sufferer;

pumpkin biscuits with brown butter glaze
4oz soya margarine
5oz plain flour
4oz wholemeal flour
6oz soft brown sugar
8oz of cooked pumpkin (i used the flesh of a whole medium pumpkin)
1 egg
2tsp ground cinnamon
1tsp ground allspice
1/2tsp baking powder
1/2tsp bicarbonate of soda
3oz pecan nuts roughly chopped
3oz raisins

brown butter glaze
2oz soya margarine
4oz brown sugar
4oz icing sugar
2tbsp soya milk

mix together the margarine, sugar and egg until light and fluffy, then mix in the cooked pumpkin. stir in the rest of the dry ingredients and mix thoroughly. place teaspoonfuls of the mixture onto a greased baking sheet and cook in a pre-heated oven (375f/gas mark 5) for 10 to 12 minutes or until the edges are firm.

to make the butter glaze melt the soya margarine in a pan over a medium heat, add the brown sugar, then take off the heat and add the icing sugar, thin with the soya milk and spread on the biscuits when they have cooled.

a delicious way to use up that pumpkin.

sarada x

life at the cottage

Well, life at the cottage has been really hectic lately. The beautiful warm weather has made all the plants go crazy and we have finally started eating some garden produce. carrots, peas, courgettes, and of course eggs.

up until yesterday only 3 of our chickens had been laying and we were beginning to think that janice would never produce an egg, anyway she must have heard us talking because she laid one. I am very pleased to have 4 laying hens as we seem to be getting through all our eggs. I never realised that we used so many. eggs in bread, cakes, drop scones, potato farls and that's not even counting all the other stuff like omelettes. they are also becoming really lovely pets each with their own personality. chicken mania stills reigns at the cottage.

we have had a few unwanted visitors in the garden lately, my artichoke plants are covered in black fly. they have been decimating my poor plants and to top it off i nearly killed them by dousing them in soapy water. in the end we decided to fight them off naturally with ladybirds and nematodes bought online from gardening naturally. lets hope they wage a good war and the right side triumphs.


I have also found some time to make a few bit and bobs that i have been planning for ages. the elastic in my old pj's had gone and i had been walking around with my bum showing half of the time. it was not a good look. anyway i knocked up these. not a real fashion statement but the pure comfort outweighs everything else and besides who's looking really when you're just relaxing round the house.


I also made this towel poncho for francisco. it is very snug and i am quite pleased with how it has turned out, and he seems to really like it which is the main thing. i really enjoyed working with towelling and think i will do some more projects for myself. i just wish it wasn't so expensive. so far i've not managed to find it for less than £8 a metre. if anyone knows of a cheaper way to buy it please let me know.

I generally spend a lot of my time on a self-sufficiency quest. this includes trying to rid our lives of nasty chemicals. if i don't understand what an ingredient is it makes me wonder why it's there. inspired by angry chicken, my sister stopped washing her hair with shampoo a couple of months ago and has got me onto it as well. the new system involves using bicarbonate of soda and vinegar read here for more info on the method, and the reasons why conventional shampoo is not good at all. on top of this i have also been very inspired by angry chicken's blog and have used her recipe to create my own deodorant. i love it and it works! i have been using it for about 3 weeks now and am very impressed. i scented mine with geranium and lemon and made a little pot for steph scented with pettigrain and sandalwood, it is a little bit more masculine. the pot shown here is for my mum as a late birthday gift. i think she will love it too.


ambika x

the girls

this is a post especially for all my friends and family who helped make it possible for me to finally own some chickens. they have been a little late coming, 1 year to be precise but instead of living in an eglu (which was the original plan) they live in the custom built luxury that is "cluckingham palace".


we were very keen to rescue some hens and have ex-bats, so we got in touch with the battery hen welfare trust which is all run by volunteers who do amazing work.

but it was not meant to be! in this part of the country there are not many regular rescues, as most farms are free range, and also i am pleased to say that there was quite a long waiting list.

so we packed the car with cardboard boxes and headed to a reputable chicken dealer who had been recommended to us by a fellow chicken keeping friend. we bought home 4 girls.


adriana - a leghorn
the chicken man told us that the white leghorns are prolific layers, but that they are very skittish and aren't great company. adriana does lay a beautiful white egg every day, but on top of it she is one of the tamest. she is currently vying for top bird position and has become a little bit of a bully.


ginny & janice - speckled marans
these girls have yet to lay. they are currently around 20 weeks old and should start laying dark red rusty colour eggs soon, we hope! ginny is slightly lighter and has feathers all down to her claws,very sweet, she is also quite plump. janice is quite dark and very bossy. they tend to hang out together and like to have dust baths in the afternoons.


carmela - a sussex rock
we were told that this girl will make a good pet and lay around 300 eggs per year. currently this is true on both counts. her eggs are speckled and normal egg shell colour. she is currently at the bottom of the pecking order.

the pecking order has not yet been fully established and carmela has been having a bit of a rough time, receiving some very serious pecks and feather loss. she was looking a little sorry and the other day we noticed an open wound on her back. after much research and advice hunting i decided to concoct my own chicken healing ointment and then paint her feathers with anti-nail biting lotion. i am very pleased with the results so far. she seems much happier and the other girls are leaving her alone a bit more.

recipe for aromatherapy chicken balm.
3tbs vaseline
1tbs cocoa butter
12 drops of tea tree essential oil
16 drops of lavender essential oil

method
melt the vaseline and cocoa butter together in a pan, remove from heat, stir in the essential oils and leave to set in the fridge. for easiest application use at room temperature

we have also been keeping them busy by hanging up cabbages and cauliflowers just out of reach. it is great fun watching them jump for it, or climbing up on the logs and trying to balance to get a good peck. it keeps them very fit. we have also just started letting the out in the garden. they love exploring and having a good scratch about, except my vegetable patch is off limits as much as i can help it.


we have all got chicken fever, the good kind,and francisco is loving his new pets. this drawing of adriana is one of my favourites.


we are all also loving the fresh eggs. this is the very first egg that was laid at the palace.


thank you all once again, and keep looking here if you want regular updates on the girls.

ambika x