This is quite possibly the most forgiving and versatile recipe I have ever made. Honestly, I’ve substituted potato flour when I had no plain, mixed almond meal and coconut when I was 50g short, and once, after three nights of no more than 2 hours sleep, I over measured the flour and ended up with a mix that wasn’t quite double, but still yielded 20 perfect little cakes.

Given that these can be made with any kind of ground nut meal, the possibilities are endless. I’ve just recovered from an obsessive need for a certain choc/hazelnut spread (eaten straight out of the jar!) and decided to try and re-create it in friand form using hazelnut meal. It worked and is delicious! Using ground coconut fills the house with the smell of summer as it bakes and creates a lovely moist cake. The more traditional almond meal friand with either peach or raspberry (or both) will always be the favourite in my house, although I think the chocolate coconut I baked today may just top it!

These are a simple treat to prepare and don’t scream ‘Gluten Free!’, in fact, I don’t know anyone who doesn’t love a friand with their mid morning beverage. I just hope that this batch make sit to my Mothers Group tomorrow unlike the last dozen that never stood a chance!

Basic Friand Recipe

150g almond meal

1 ¼ cups pure icing sugar, sifted

¾ cup gluten free plain flour

5 egg whites at room temperature

150g cooled, melted butter

Peach & Raspberry - finely grated rind of 1 lemon

150g mix of peach & raspberries (or as a single fruit)

Choc Raspberry Hazelnut - substitute hazelnut meal for the almond meal

1 T cocoa powder, sifted

150g raspberries

Choc Coconut - substitute ground coconut for the almond meal

1 T cocoa powder, sifted

1. Preheat oven to 200 degrees.

You’ll need a 12 capacity muffin tray, lightly greased. I love my silicone friand/muffin trays. NOTHING sticks!

2. Mix appropriate nut meal, icing sugar, flour and flavouring (cocoa powder or lemon).

3, In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites until frothy. I find the more you whisk, the lighter the end result.

4. Add to the flour mixture and fold in to combine. Stir in melted butter and fruit if using.

5. Spoon the mix into the trays. I use an ice cream scoop to make each friand even, as I apparently have an inability to bake without either ending up with left over mix, or not enough!

6. Bake until golden. This can take anywhere from 20 minutes in a decent oven to the 40 minutes it takes in my geriatric one.

7. Cool in the trays for around 10 minutes then turn out and cool.

Brew yourself a hot cup of coffee, pinch a piping hot friand, grab the latest baby magazine and sit and relax! (even if just long enough to eat the friand in one bite before the little one wakes.)

With excitement akin to Christmas morning we eagerly awaited the arrival of our first toy to road test and the ‘Farm Animal Sound Puzzle’ did not disappoint. Beautifully crafted by hand the puzzle has 8 pieces which have matching noises. My son Billy (2 years, 5 months) loved the puzzle with and without the noises (It took 3 trips to the shops to remember to buy the batteries and then once I got home I realised I had bought the wrong size and had the correct size batteries in the cupboard the whole time….it was one of those weeks!). Without the batteries Billy picked up each piece and said the name and made the correct sound before putting it in its place, as a child who usually calls the animal by the noise it makes I thought this new development was great. He was content to use the pieces with the puzzle and take them off about the house and use them in conjunction with whatever else he could find - his blocks, his trains, his baby brothers back.

Once the batteries were put in Billy thought the puzzle was hysterical and plays with it over and over again. The pieces have matching pictures underneath which would help with younger children who are new to using puzzles and the sounds would help those children who are learning animal noises. Even Patrick (7 months) thought the sounds were amusing and watching his brother play with the puzzle provided a good distraction while I was trying to get dinner. For the sake of my ego I maintain that the mass amounts of dribble were in anticipation for the tasty vegetables I was preparing and not his urge to suck on the pieces of puzzle. For anyone in the 1-2.5 year old bracket this Melissa and Doug Sound Puzzle is highly recommended!

My 23 month old toddler amuses me. Daily. I had no idea when venturing into this parenting thing that one of the bonuses would be belly laughs every day. It makes all the exhaustion and sacrifices well worth it. There are numerous reasons that make it worth it - deep and profound reasons - but this has been an unexpected light-hearted one.

I’m sure I didn’t teach her to be funny.  Not consciously.

So what makes her so funny? Well, perhaps the things that amuse me are funny only to me. It’s so hard to be objective when it comes to our own children. Nonetheless, I can’t resist sharing.

It’s the way she puts on a pair of 80’s tennis armbands and headband and dances to Old MacDonald Had a Farm. It’s the way she points to the toilet brush and says “Brush teeth?”. It’s the way she sings word for word along with her father’s bath time rendition of ‘You’ve got to fight for your right to parteee!’. It’s the way she turns on an English accent (where from I don’t know) and says “Mummy, mummy, da pooh in da nappy!”.  It’s the way she wakes up in the morning, sits upright and sings the Hokey Pokey. And when asked what she’d like for dinner she answers every time “Chipppeeeees!”. It’s the way she purposely leaves her spoon in her mouth and mumbles “Stuck!”, waiting for you to playfully come to her assistance. It’s the way she insists on sitting on the floor every time her father asks our dog to ‘sit’. It’s the way she makes a pretend phone call to her Nana & Pa every Saturday morning at the swimming pool public phone, earnestly discussing all her favourite animals. It’s the way she throws her dinner on the floor and says “Uh-oh!”(yes, doubles as amusing AND mildly annoying). And when she hides her teddy behind her back and throws her hands in the air and with a straight face says “Where ted-bear?”.

And perhaps what amuses me most of all is the way she keenly observes and calls our audible bodily emissions… yes, fart humour. I blame her father of course. Her daily catchphrase being, (in a whispered voice) “Shhhh! I fart…” (then in a loud voice) “Ha ha ha I funny!”. Yes it is very funny, can’t argue with that. Even funnier when she announces to the entire supermarket, “Mummy fart?… Funny!”.  I can assure you that Mummy is finding it funny while simultaneously turning a deeper shade of red.

There is such playfulness in her humour and dialogue. And what pleasure it brings! I am treasuring every minute of this wonderful age. There are highs and lows with every stage of development, but I think I’m enjoying this age the best. If only I could bottle ‘nearly two’.  It’s precious.

A great article on Attachment Parenting in this month’s Practical Parenting written by Pinky McKay and featuring our very own Carey, who enjoys this style of parenting…

Well done to the following fortunate three for their outstanding bebe June Product Reviews.

Each will receive a $50 bebe virtual voucher to spend at their leisure (which all Mum’s know they have plenty of !).

Keep reviewing for July and your name could be next.

1. Skye Tiernan

2. Gemma Healy-Maver

Get the towels, suction down the bath seat, kneel on the hard tiles and send your back into spasm as you lift out a slippery, wet baby. This is the worst part of our giant bath tub.

I am firmly of the opinion that bath time is baby and Daddy time, so was horrified to discover, on a night where I had to do the bathing, just how impossible and back breaking it is to transfer our chubby little gentleman in and out. Too little to sit by himself in such a big tub, Alex tolerated being placed in his bath seat, sliding down and wedging himself against the hard plastic, in what can only be described as an eye watering position for a boy! None of us found bath time a particularly comfortable experience.

I already feel a little like an environmental terrorist with the amount of nappies I go through each day, so the sheer volume of water it took to give Alex his nightly bath just didn’t sit right with me. His original baby bath had long been banished to the garage where it now gathers dust. Being too shallow, too short and without a drain, it simply wasn’t going to solve our bath problem. I needed a bath that, after the 30 minutes it was in use, could be packed away for the remaining 23.5hrs!

Just as I was seriously considering the kitchen sink as an alternate bathing location, the Flexi Bath came into my life and has saved Alex from evenings spent as part of the washing up! Designed with consideration for the environment, health and safety, Flexi Bath is made from plastics free from BPA’s, PVC and phthalates. It’s soft and pliable to the touch, yet, when filled, holds it shape and is remarkably strong. At 66cms long, 38cm wide and 24cm high, it is the perfect size for most bathroom vanities. Visually, it’s clean and simple. Even the drain hole has been given the designer touch, shaped like a flower. Easy for grown up hands to put in, but hard for inquisitive little fingers to pull out. I realise I’m getting excited about a drain hole here, but it’s so efficient! Large enough that the bathwater drains easily and quickly, ensuring the after bath routine is completed as quickly as possible. Folding is as simple as flattening a cardboard box, just press and collapse. In under 10 minutes, the bathroom is back to it’s sleek, Zen best.

More than just a baby bath, in summer it will be a great outdoor water play area, and, when he’s too big for it, a place to store toys. I have a feeling it will also be utilised as a nice, deep foot bath for my tired little feet.

From the moment we lowered Alex into the Flexi Bath, it was apparent that our bath time nightmares were over. A huge smile, and I’m sure a feeling of relief, swept over him and he splashed and explored his new space with glee. He could sit unrestricted and enjoy the eye level company of his Dad, who, un-hunched, could splash and play right along with him. It may only be 30 minutes a day, but bath time is such a special father-son time. Enjoy it.

Check out the sexy Flexi bath here…

As Grace approaches her first birthday, I’ve found myself thinking back over the past twelve months.  It has been a year like no other, with incredible highs and the lowest of lows.

When Grace arrived on August 20, I was exhilarated.  It was the best moment of my life.  I had been so worried about the birth and in the end, things went better than I could have hoped.  And I had a girl.  I have always wanted a daughter.  I know I would have loved my child no matter whether I had a boy or a girl, but I had secretly wished all those nine months for a daughter, and here she was.

We arrived home and I was glad to be back in my own environment.  But by week three or four, I felt a real change in myself.  We were at my parents-in-law’s house, sitting down to lunch for Father’s Day when I started to feel very strange.  I felt like I was not present, but that I was watching myself from a distance.  I felt like I was in a fog and couldn’t think straight.

I was exhausted from the relentless feeding regime but there was no relief.  I couldn’t sleep, my mind was racing with thoughts.  I felt anxious and constantly on edge.  I had absolutely no appetite, which is not like me at all, I usually love my food.  I dreaded the sound of Grace’s cry.  I felt physically sick at the thought of having to feed her because it was so painful. I didn’t want to get out of bed. I didn’t cry, I just felt numb.  And while a friend was finally getting the hang of breastfeeding, things were getting worse and worse for me despite expert help from lactation consultants.  I felt like I was the worst mother in the world.

I took myself off to my doctor because I knew that this was more than the ‘baby blues’ and that I needed help.  I told her how I was feeling and that I was a complete failure because I wasn’t coping and I couldn’t breastfeed, something that was meant to be the most natural thing in the world. My GP, who is such a compassionate woman put her arm around me and said “Suzanne, you know that Grace will be fine.  We need to focus on you. What she needs is a Mum who is happy and well” And then I finally broke down and cried.

I made it through the fog of Postnatal Depression because I got help.  By the time that Grace was four months old, I felt like my old self again and I was able to really enjoy being a Mum.  As women, so many of us feel that we have to be perfect and to portray an image of having it all together.  But there is absolutely no shame in asking for help, in fact it is the best thing you can do for yourself, your relationship and your little one.

Here are some other tips that helped me:

Just take things one day at a time (or one hour if it helps!).  Thinking too far ahead can snowball negative thoughts in your head.

Get some fresh air each day.  At my lowest point, I would walk to the end of our street and back.  Just five minutes, but it made a difference.

Tell yourself “this too shall pass”.  You won’t feel like this forever.  You will feel in control of your life again.

Don’t compare yourself to other Mums.  A colleague of mine took her little one in to the office 3 weeks after she was born.  It took me 8 weeks until I felt brave enough to venture out to the supermarket with Grace.

Don’t isolate yourself and assume that people will be judgemental.  One of the best things I did for myself and for Grace was to go to Mothers Group and to be honest about how I was feeling.  They’ve been an amazing support for me.

Ed note: Thanks Suzanne for sharing your experience with the bebe community. I too suffered from PND with bebe baby #1 and found that trying to fix it alone was the wrong answer.  I spent months isolating myself “until I got better” but in the act of isolating myself made it worse. I found getting help, fresh air, socialising with other Mums (to normalise the new parenting struggles ) and looking after myself were the key to getting out of the PND rut .  Thanks again for sharing. Careyx

It’s raining outside the kids are under your feet, the days are dragging. Time to  pull out these activities for something new.

Activities for infants

Here’s smiling at you- join your baby in front of a mirror to make faces

Surprise box-fill a empty tissue box with scarves ribbons, fabric bits or even paper with different textures and allow your baby to remove. They love to put in and out (always supervise for safety).

Get Musical -dig into the kitchen cupboards and pull out the pots & pans ; arm Jnr with a wooden spoon. Sit back and enjoy a wonderful but noisy concert.

Activities for Toddlers

Get outside- rug up play puddle jumps great for the afternoon to shake off the sillies and head straight to a warm bath

Playdough- use just made nice warm dough your toddlers will love helping measure out the ingredients (they don’t have to be precise)

Build a cubby- drape the table with a blanket or sheet fill with pillow or cushions and have story & snack time inside.

Activities for preschoolers

Fashion fun- find the old shoes, scarves, handbags & hats from the cupboard then have a grand parade.

Sensory clay - pop on dads old t-shirt, spread out a old shower curtain under the table add a little water; get busy (can replace with sand or finger paint).

Play shops/ cafes- set up child sized pretend food/ real food, pretend Cash register allow them to serve you, pretend to have baby cinos, coffee & cakes.

Activities out & about

Educational fun-head to the museum to play in their special children’s area.

Shop til you drop- shopping centres provide great undercover play areas with a chance for that much needed espresso

Get wetter- head to the indoor pool for some wet fun.

Playdough recipe

1 cup plain flour

½ cup salt

2 tablespoons cream of tartar

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 cup water with food coloring added

1 teaspoon vanilla essence (optional but it makes the playdough smell nice!)

Put all the ingredients into a large saucepan & mix, then stir over a medium heat until the dough forms into a ball. Allow to cool until luke warm

Store in an airtight container (a Ziploc bag with the air pressed out is good).

Whether it be during illness, post-vaccinations or just one of those weeks, sometimes Wolf can be a very fussy eater. It can be hard to get anything more than toast and bananas into him. I’ve tried to instil Wolf with the spirit of a gourmet, but right now he displays all the worst characteristics of the sort of food critic you’d throw out of your restaurant. Admittedly Wolf is still getting over the tail end of a nasty week long virus, which the whole family shared.

On the plus side his aim is bang on; if you want a lamp chop - a former favourite - lobbed right at your face Wolf is your man.

My fail safe in these situations is pasta. We’re also going through another finger food stage where anything served via a spoon is a cause for tantrums. Carbohydrates keep baby from getting hungry and a sticky sauce full of good things ensure that while Wolf enjoys one of his favourite foods, he’s still getting some nutrition in there.

Pesto is really easy to throw together, especially if you have a food processor (mother’s essential arsenal), and you can hide a lot of green goodness in it. Pine nuts, an essential component of pesto, are actually the seed of the as a opposed to the fruit, so not actually a nut. Also, though raw garlic is usually used, I like to roast it for a milder flavour that is more baby friendly. Using spinach adds extra iron to your pesto, but you can replace it with rocket or any robust green. I bet everyone has a great pesto recipe, and I find this one works for me. This makes enough for three adult serves and one baby serve, with enough pesto leftover for a very delicious chicken sandwich for mum’s lunch the next day.

I like to use penne because even if Wolf is in an extremely fussy mood and tries to wipe off the sauce, he can’t extract the stuff inside!

Pesto Pasta

1 packed cup fresh basil leaves

5 garlic cloves

1 cup grated good quality parmesan, grated

¼ cup pine kernels

2 packed cups of baby spinach leaves

½ cup olive oil

salt and pepper

500g penne pasta

1. Set a large pot of water to boil with a pinch of salt. In a 180 degree oven, roast your garlic cloves, skin on, for about 7 minutes, until garlic is fragrant and soft. Remove flesh from skins.

2. Spread your pine kernels on a baking tray and place in the oven. Toast until golden brown. This will happen very quickly, within about 5 minutes so watch it carefully.

3.In a food processor add your basil, roasted garlic, pine kernels, spinach leaves and a couple of good splashes of olive oil. Process until smooth. You will need to periodically add splashes of olive oil to your mixture to help everything break down. Season to taste.

4. Add penne to boiling water and cook until al dente. Drain.

5. Put penne back in pot and add pesto mix. Stir until all pasta is coated with sauce.

6. Serve with extra grated parmesan on top.

I have lost count of the number of bibs I’ve bought since Grace was born.  I seem to be constantly on the look for that elusive, perfect one. The issues I’ve encountered with bibs are many and varied.  Everything from velcro losing its stickiness, being too thin to absorb mess, looking awful once washed and not to mention naff pictures and slogans. As one of my friends said the other week in mothers group; “Why can’t you buy a nice plain bib that does what it’s meant to and doesn’t have something embarrassing written on it like “quack if you love mummy!”"

So it was with great excitement that I opened my Road Test package to find two Eeni Meeni Miini Moh bibs.

The attraction was instant.  Firstly, I loved the muted, tasteful colours that you so rarely find in bibs.  Usually bibs are pink or blue, presumably to help strangers identify the gender of your child?

Secondly, you can immediately feel from the material that this is a high quality bib. The back consists of a very lush towelling material and the front is super soft cotton.  Much to my delight, the material gets even softer the more they’re washed.  Imagine your comfiest pair of trackies and that’s what they feel like.

The press stud closure at the neck gives the bib much greater longevity compared to its velcro counterparts. And the wide shoulders give added protection to clothing.  This is essential for us as Grace often gets distracted and looks over her shoulder during meal times to see if the television is on (it isn’t), getting food all over her clothes.

But most importantly, these bibs are super absorbent.  This is crucial if you have a little one like mine who delights in taking copious swigs of her sippy cup and then proceeds to let the water run right out of her mouth instead of swallowing it.

So, do the Eeni Meeni Miini Moh bibs tick all the boxes?  Let’s run through the criteria.   Large enough to protect clothes? Tick!  Does up securely at the neck? Tick!  No naff colours/pictures/slogans? Tick!  Looks stylish? Tick!  Will last the rigours of daily washing? Tick! Super absorbent? Tick! The Eeni Meeni Miini Moh bibs definitely tick all the boxes.  I wish I had a whole drawer full of them.  Well, I have four and counting…