Tips for Moving With Small Children (and What Not to Do)

As most of you will know we moved into a new house last week. On the whole it was pretty successful and our kids have adjusted really well to being in a new house. I wanted to share with you some of the things we did that worked really well, and also a few things that I highly recommend you avoid doing.


  Helpful Hints:
1. Pack while the kids are asleep. The boxes are way too exciting for small children and they get upset when you put their things in a box or want to pull everything out.
2. Choose some favourite toys, books etc to keep out of the packed boxes so they don't really notice that many of their things are getting packed.
3. A few days before you move plan sets of outfits so that you can pack the rest of the clothes and know you have enough outfits for the next few days (don't forget pj's/shoes/shoes).
4. If you are moving locally, move some of the kids toys over to the house first so that they begin to feel the new house is a fun place to play. It also gives them something to do while you start to unpack.

5. If possible, visit the "new house" a few times before you move (letting the kids explore/play) so that they are familiar with it and know which room will be theirs.
6. Create a special box for loved and cannot sleep without toys/items.  You don't want to be digging through 30 boxes to find blankie at 10pm
7. If possible, move on a day when the kids are in school or childcare. Otherwise get a sitter so they are not in the way of the removalists.
8. If like us, you have a baby with you make sure they have somewhere to sleep and somewhere to play so you don't have to hold them all the time. 

Sleeping on the bench

9. Make setting up the kids rooms a priority. When they see their furniture and their things in their new room it helps them to settle quickly.

The girls room mostly set up

10. If you are not happy with a routine you have, use the change to start something new. We have started "room time" where the kids have to rest/play quietly in their new room. So far it is working well for us.


Not So Helpful Hints:
1. Letting the kids use the boxes as boats/cubby house etc then trying to take them back to pack (or finding the boxes are damaged.
2. Forgetting their is no toilet paper on first visit to the new house.
3. Not explaining that the hand towel holder is NOT for swinging on.

Our kids are not normally destructive :(

4. Not moving the couch before the removalists lift it up (Ewww look what was behind here from all the "cooking helping" the kids have been doing up the the bench....but we did find the missing socks and a missing Freddo Frog). 

5. Leaving your child's favourite toy at the old house (even when you were trying to make sure it came over).
6. Leaving an important baby item in the old house and having an unsettled baby who won't be put down.

I desperately needed this rocker on the first night

7. Having your hubby go out to a meeting the first night you are in the house (with the unsettled baby).


Like any move there were a few hiccups but just a few days in we are feeling quite settled and have already starting sharing this lovely house with our family and friends. We hope that it can be a place where others always feel welcomed and where we can grow our family for many years to come.

Our new home

Do you have any do's and don'ts for moving with kids?
 

Weekend Cookbook: Guest Post: A Bit of Everything Risotto

  Today I have coerced another of my friends to guest post for me as I have been moving this week. I am looking forward to cooking up some more wonderful recipes from my new kitchen in the very near future (when the benches are not covered in boxes). Thanks to Sami for posting this recipe for me.

When I was living at home, the first dinner recipe Mum asked me to cook was Vegetable Risotto. I am not sure where the recipe came from and I think all it had in it was sweet potato and vegetable stock. It quickly became my staple contribution to family meals and that didn’t change when I got married. One thing did change though, I got a bit creative. You can take or leave most of the ingredients in this recipe and quantities are not that important; the more the better really.

You definitely go away full after this Risotto! 

A Bit of Everything Risotto

 Serves: 4-5

Time: 40 minutes 

Ingredients

* 1 cup baby spinach

* 250g button mushrooms, sliced

* Balsamic vinegar

* Mixed herbs

* Bacon, diced

* Chorizo (optional), sliced

* 1 large sweet potato, cubed (approx 2cm square)

* 1 brown onion, diced

* Vegetable oil

* 1 cup Arborio rice

* 1litre chicken stock (or vegetable)

* ½ cup parmesan, grated

* Extra parmesan and black pepper to serve

Method

1. Preheat oven to 220°

2. Drizzle balsamic vinegar and mixed herbs over mushrooms and baby spinach. Leave to rest.

3. Bake sweet potato for 20 minutes (or until cooked through). Turn halfway.

4. Cook bacon and chorizo. Set aside.

5. Cook mushrooms and baby spinach in their liquid. Set aside.

6. Cook onion in vegetable oil until brown.

7. Add Arborio rice and stir on medium until coated in oil.

8. Add chicken stock to rice, ¼ cup at a time. Wait until all liquid has been absorbed before adding more. (You may need more or less stock depending on what you’re cooking in, the temperature and brand of rice). Stir continuously. 

9. Once rice is cooked (make sure there are no crunchy bits inside) add mushrooms, spinach, bacon, chorizo and sweet potato, combine until warmed through.

10. Add ½ cup of parmesan, stir through. 

11. Serve with extra parmesan and pepper.

Freezes and reheats fabulously too! 

Sami is wife to a wonderful husband of 19 months as well as an oldest sister and daughter. She loves her kitten, cooking, knitting, Scottish Highland dancing and teaching. Sami recently launched her Teacher Blog; Teacher On Training Wheels and is excited to become a part of the blogging community.

Co-sleeping: Delight or Danger?

Co-sleeping is the practice of parents sleeping with their babies or young children in their bed. With my first child I was very afraid of co-sleeping. I remembered a Bible story I had heard as a child where a woman accidentally smothered her son by laying on him (read the rest of the story in the Bible 1 Kings: 19-21). However, I did become a fan of breastfeeding while in bed when she was older, which meant that I would sometimes fall back to sleep with her still feeding.

Source: m.wikihow.com via Brittany on Pinterest

With my second child, my husband was in hospital from when she was a few days old. She was a bit unsettled so co-sleeping was the easiest way for us both to get a decent night sleep. I become very confident that co-sleeping was a really beneficial practice for both mum and baby.

Recently I read an article which stated that co-sleeping placed babies at risk of SIDS and recommended that parents only feed in bed if needed but put the baby straight back into its bed/bassinet. While I knew that there was a slight risk, I had not heard such a negative report on co-sleeping. I had previously discussed co-sleeping with my midwives and they had assured me it was safe within certain guidelines.

While I agree that you need to be cautious and I would never tell anyone they should co-sleep with their child, I still think there are benefits to the baby. When our third child was born, co-sleeping was something we automatically did. Alicia does have a bassinet, however on the night after she was born my husband cuddled her to sleep as she wasn't able to settle in the bassinet. She had only been out of the womb for around six hours when we went to bed and I imagine that it would be traumatic to be deprived of body contact that early in life.

While I enjoy having her in our bed, now that she is older I prefer to have her sleep in the bassinet. I am able to be more comfortable and sleep better without her next to me. However if she is unsettled co-sleeping means we get at least a bit of sleep. Some nights I think she just needs to be close to me to feel secure enough to sleep.

As there is always a risk of SIDS with a small baby I do make sure that I am mindful of the Safe Sleeping guidelines outlined on the SIDS and Kids website I generally sleep with her in the middle of us, with her laying in my upper arm which makes it impossible for me to roll onto her. In doing some research I have found that having her in the middle is not actually part of the recommendations.

Despite the report I read, I still think there are many benefits of co-sleeping. It is not new, and has been practiced safely for many years and in many cultures. I will continue to co-sleep with Alicia where I feel she needs it, and will do it with confidence that she is safe.

Do you co-sleep/have you co-slept with your babies?

Below are the Co-Sleeping recommendations from the SIDS and Kids website:

Do not share a sleep surface with a baby if:
• You are a smoker

• You are under the influence of alcohol or drugs that cause sedation
• You are excessively tired.
• Other children are sharing the bed with a baby
• The baby could slip under bedding e.g. pillows and duvets or doonas
• The bed is a waterbed or if the mattress is too soft
• The sleep surface is a sofa or chair
• Baby could become trapped between the bed and the wall or the bed rails
• Baby may fall off the bed

Using these guidelines:

• Put baby on the back to sleep (not on the tummy or side)
• Make sure the mattress is firm and flat (not tilted or elevated)
• Sleep baby in a baby sleeping bag to avoid bedclothes 

• Make sure that any bedding cannot cover the baby’s face. Keep pillows, doonas and any other soft bedding well away from the baby
• Do not wrap the baby

• Place the baby at the side of one parent - not in between two parents, as this would increase the likelihood of the baby becoming covered or slipping underneath adult bedding
• Ensure that the baby is not close to the edge of the bed where he/she can fall off. Do not place pillows at the side of the baby to prevent rolling off. A safer alternative is to place the adult mattress on the floor.
• Pushing the bed up against the wall can be hazardous as baby may become trapped.

Ready to Leave, Sad to Go

This week we are busy packing up our house, and moving our belongings over to our new home. It is time to move but it is always a little sad when you leave a home. No matter how long you live somewhere, from the moment you arrive you start making memories. We have only lived here eighteen months, but so much has happened since we arrived.

I won't miss the mess

Of course the most memorable event that occurred in this house was the birth of our beautiful daughter. It seems strange that in a few days we will no longer be able to return to the bathroom where she arrived.

We will remember Alicia's eventful birth

Despite this house being quite small, we have loved living here and I have said in the past I was content with this home. When we found out Alicia was on her way, most people asked whether we would be moving to a bigger house. Moving was the last thing on my mind when I found out I was pregnant. I just wanted things to stay the same and not have to deal with packing to move or cleaning a bigger house.

However, next year our church will be starting a new congregation so we decided that it was the right time to move into the area where the church will be located. We are keen to begin to form connections in the local community and enrol my eldest into the pre-school. We also decided that, with a growing family an extra bedroom would make life more comfortable.  It was these things that led us to make the decision to move.

There is always a loss when you move (along with many gains). I will miss my under cover washing line, I will miss the easy to clean house, I will miss living close to baby/cat sitters, I will miss living close to the lake/park/pizza shop but I am thankful for all the good things I have enjoyed here.

The time is right and we are very excited to move into our new home, but we are thankful for the time we have spent at this house. This week we begin to create wonderful new family memories in a new home and I can't wait.

We will remember Claire sleeping on the window still

Do you get excited about moving?

Weekend Cookbook: Chocolate Layer Cake with Choc Cream Cheese Icing

Before you all think "Seriously, when did she find time to bake this with three kids?". I have to be honest and say that this is an old picture as I have been busy getting ready to move to a new house.

Even though the photo is old the recipe is still amazing and I have cooked it a number of times (sometimes using half the quantity to just get a normal cake with this yummy icing).

The fun thing about this cake is the WOW factor. It is actually a pretty simple cake to bake and ice but the layers make it look pretty special. It is a Donna Hay inspired recipe (my version of her recipe) and I am pretty sure they made this cake on Masterchef about 2 years ago. I was giving birth while it was on but I was told they made it.

So if you are looking to show off a little bit...this is the cake for you. It is also delicious! I will have to give it another go once we are settled in the new house.

Chocolate Layer Cake with Choc Cream Cheese Icing

Donna makes it look prettier, but it still tasted amazing

cake:

1 cup (250 ml) water

125 g butter, cubed

1/3 cup (35 g) cocoa powder, sifted

2 cups (300 g) flour, sifted

1 teaspoon baking soda, sifted (bicarb soda)

2 cups (440 g) caster sugar

2 eggs

½ cup (125 ml) buttermilk

1 teaspoon vanilla essence/extract

Icing: (makes a lot but then you can just eat it with a spoon :) )

100 g butter, softened

500 g cream cheese at room temperature

2 cups icing sugar, sifted

½ cup (50 g) cocoa powder, sifted

1. Pre-heat oven to 160 C. Place water, butter and cocoa in a saucepan over medium heat and stir until butter has melted and set aside to cool slightly.
2. Place flour, baking soda and sugar in a bowl, add the cocoa mixture and whisk to combine.
3. Add the eggs, buttermilk and vanilla and whisk to combine. Divide mixture between 2 greased and lined 20 cm round cake tins, then bake for 40-45 min or until cooked when tested with a skewer.
4. Allow to cool in the tins for 10 minutes, then turn out on wire racks to cool completely.
5. For the Icing: place the butter and cream cheese in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat for 5-7 minutes until pale and creamy. Add the icing sugar and cocoa and beat for a further 5-7 minutes until light and fluffy.
6. To assemble, slice off the round tops of each cake layer to produce 2 smooth, flat layers (don't cut too much though). -Keep the off cuts to spread with the remaining icing so you can indulge before your guests arrive. Then cut each cake horizontally to produce four cakes. Place one layer on a plate, spread with a quater of the icing, and repeat with the remaining layers and icing. 

Tip: Where possible turn the layers upside down and ice the uncut cake side. It helps the icing not be become full of cake crumbs

What have you been cooking this week?

Weekend Cookbook Guidelines:

1. Link up a recipe that you have posted (it doesn't have to be a new post).

2. Link up by clicking on the link below and pasting your post URL (not your blog's URL)

2. Follow Mummy Undeserved Blessings on facebook 

3. Check out the other links and leave a comment.

4.If you make other blogger's recipe take a photo and post it in their facebook page (or yours and tag them). 

Liebster Blog Award for Me

A couple of weeks ago Francesca, of  Francesca Writes Here tagged me for a Liebster Award. I have seen others with the button on their blog but never actually knew what it was. It sounded like a lot of fun so I thought I should join in.

Here are the rules:

1. Each person must post 11 facts about themselves.
2. Answer 11 questions the tagger has given you and give 11 questions for the person you tag.
3. Choose 11 people & link them to your post. (They must have 200 followers or less)
4. Tell them you have tagged them.
5. Remember, no tag backs.

11 facts about me

1. I was born in Wollongong.
2. I studied Psychology at uni but I am not a Psychologist.
3. I have completed my Hairdressing trade.
4. I failed my L's test twice :(
5. I have moved house nine times in my life.
6. I love moving house, even the packing.
7. I have traveled to Bali, Tonga, Samoa, The Maldives, Chile, Peru, Bolivia, Argentina & Brazil.
8. My husband just called me stupid because I forgot I went to Bali.
9. I would choose Cadbury chocolate over more expensive brands.
10. I do my most deep thinking in the shower.
11. I once speared a fish with a proper spear gun.

Francesca's Questions for me 

1. Does vegemite go in the fridge or the pantry? Pantry, until opened and then fridge.
   
2. Today, are you where you thought you'd be ten years ago? No, I am even married to someone who I was even interested in back then :)
   
3. What is your favourite thing about blogging? The community of bloggers and being able to express how I am feeling and knowing other people can relate it to.
4. Do you have any quotes you live by, or just favourite quotes? Bible quote from Ephesians chapter 2 verse 4 ^"But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, ⁵ made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions —it is by grace you have been saved. "
5. Do you know any foreign languages? Not really
   
6. What's your shoe size? (yes, I was looking at my feet when I thought up this question) 8
   
7. Which do you prefer, winter or summer? Summer
   
8. What is your favourite colour? Yellow
   
9. Do you like your name? Yes
   
10. Do you have any regrets, like, big ones? I did lots of stupid things as a teenager but I guess they made me who I am.
    
11. Have you ever experienced déja vu? All the time 

 Questions for my tagees

1. Do you have a regular holiday destination? If so, where?
2. What is your dream holiday destination?
3. If you could have a super power, what would  it be?
4. What is the last book you read?
5. Would you ever wear ugg boots in public?
6. What colour is your handbag?
7. How long have you been blogging for?
8. What food could you not live without?
9. Is your hair colour real or dyed?
10. Apple or Andriod?
11. Favourite flower?

Tag Time!

Join in as it is a bit of fun, but don't feel pressured to if you have done it before for are just not interested. Here are the people who I am tagging:

1. Sara from Zahara Dessert
2. Kim-Marie  from Kimba Likes
3. Claudia from Little Cottage Big Life 
4. Rhianna from A Parenting Life 
5. Veronica from Mixed Gems 
6. Penny from A Mum in the Wild 
7. Jo from Country Life Experiment  
8. Jessica from Wrappersay 
9. Dani & Mel from Honey You Baked
10. Deb from Helping Mums Manage
11. Tubbah from Organising My Crazy Life

Weekend Cookbook: Guest Post: Deconstructed Moroccan Chicken Pie with Sumac Yoghurt

Last Thursday night, my husband and I cooked up a recipe for Deconstructed Moroccan chicken pie with Sumac yoghurt. I jokingly put a photo up on facebook, because although it tasted fantastic it wasn't a beautiful dish. However, Lisa called my bluff and asked me to share the recipe on this blog. I was going to say no, but then I remembered that commandment in the bible "Thou shalt honour thy minister's wife's blog"

If you haven't cooked with Sumac before, it's a sour-tangy spice with a vibrant purple colour. I was introduced to it by a Saudi Arabian friend and workmate. She invited a bunch of workmates over to her place to eat a home-cooked banquet. After I gushed about the food she gifted me with a whole kilo of Sumac from her pantry! Obviously I'm still going through my kilo, so I am not sure how easy it is to find in supermarkets, but any oriental grocer or spice shop will carry it.

The original recipe makes this into a pie, but I decided to instead cook some pastry separately and serve it on the side. This way, the meal is ready earlier and I could control how much pastry I wanted to eat.

Deconstructed Moroccan chicken pie with Sumac yoghurt
(based on Moroccan chicken pie in Weightwatchers' Food you'll Love recipe book, available at supermarkets)

olive oil
500g chicken thigh fillets, cubed
1 red onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
2 tsp finely grated fresh ginger
2 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp ground coriander
1/3 cup dried apricots
400g can diced tomatoes
500g sweet potato, cubed
1 sheet puff pastry
1/2 cup low-fat natural/greek yoghurt
1 tsp sumac
fresh coriander

1. Preheat oven to 200C. Thaw sheet of puff pastry on the bench.

2. Heat oil in frying pan over high heat. Add chicken and cook in batches until browned. Remove chicken from pan. Add a dash of oil and cook onion, stirring frequently, until softened. Add the garlic, ginger, cumin and coriander and stir for 1 minute.

3. Add chicken back to the pan with apricots, tomatoes and sweet potato. Add just enough water to cover (about 200ml). Bring to the boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes, until potato is tender. 

4.While the chicken is simmering, cut the puff pastry into approx 2cm x 10cm strips. Place the strips on a cookie tray lined with baking paper, and twist the strips once over to create a curve in the middle. sprinkle with a little sumac, and place in the oven for 10 minutes or until the pastry is crisp and just starting to brown.

5. Sprinkle sumac over the yoghurt. Serve the 'pie' garnished with coriander leaves, with sumac yoghurt and pastry strips on the side.

This was a really tasty and easy pie, and we'll definitely be adding it to our high rotation list. You could also add a can of chickpeas, either to bulk out the meal or replace the chicken if you're vegetarian. If you have kids, it would be fun to use the strips to make their first initials.

Kath is a grew up in Hobart, Tasmania. She met a guy called Matt in high school, and married him in 2008. She loves live music, handmade crafts, and fresh coffee. She has an honours degree in medical research that doesn't get used much. Matt and Kath moved to Canberra in 2011 where she is slowly learning to follow the politics and the roundabouts 

What have you been cooking this week?

 Weekend Cookbook Guidelines:

1. Link up a recipe that you have posted (it doesn't have to be a new post).
2. Link up by clicking on the link below and pasting your post URL (not your blog's URL)
2. Follow Mummy Undeserved Blessings on facebook 
3. Check out the other links and leave a comment.
4.If you make other blogger's recipe take a photo and post it in their facebook page (or yours and tag them). 

 

Life with Three under 4

Way back in February I wrote this post on Staying Positive as we Prepared for Baby # 3. I had 5 weeks to go until Alicia was due and I was pondering what life would hold for our family. Well five months on, I thought I would give you an update on how we were coping with three children under four.

I remember saying I hoped Alicia would just fit in with our lives and I couldn't have been more right given she arrived while we were still at home (if you missed reading about her bathroom floor birth you can read about it on this link) and I was allowed to stay at home with my family after the birth. So life just went on as normal despite a new little person living in the house.

A few hours after she was born...just getting on with life

While feeding was a little difficult at the start, it improved quickly and she was feeding and settling well by two weeks. We did have a scary week when she developed a kidney infection at 14 days old and she spent a week in hospital on antibiotics. However when she returned home she went back into an fairly good routine and life returned to normal.

My poor sick bub

Has having three kids tipped me over the edge?? No, I still manage to look after the kids and myself (and have time for my hobbies and my blog). Is it harder? Of course! Life is so much busier. I used to have time to get all of my cleaning jobs done for the week, but now I get the basic stuff done but the tasks that are non essential (like cleaning the car out or cleaning grubby marks off the windows) are neglected. Days and weeks just get away from me and my to do list never has more than a couple of things marked off it per day. Do I care? Nope, I am loving it. I waste heaps of time just making my baby smile. It's great.

It helps that Alicia is a great sleeper both day and night, so tiredness is not really a problem. I have turned into a bit of a hibernator lately though. In the past I would take the girls out most days of the week, even if it was just to the park. Towards the end of my pregnancy I stayed home a lot more, but now I am home more days than I am out. It is just so cold here in Canberra and it is so hard dressing all three girls, doing hair, doing teeth, battling to get them into the car and trying to time all these things (and the outing) to occur between feeds. Alicia is also a pretty fussy feeder at the moment so I prefer to be at home to feed. I have just found it is easier to stay at home and to be honest I am enjoying it.

She is so loved!

I am also finding the three kids thing easier than I thought because I really only have to look after them on my own for three days a week. My hubby is around Saturday to Monday (Sunday is a work day but since he is the minister of our church we get to go to work with him). On Thursdays the older two head off to childcare so I only have Alicia with me.

Another thing that has made my transition easier is accepting help. I often get people to hold Alicia while I tend to the girls (once it was a Minister -the political type who was visiting our local park to talk to mums at a group play session). If people see me struggling and offer to help I take it. I often wonder if people see me struggling and judge me for having too many kids, but mostly I don't care and just accept any help I can get.

Slightly neglected #3 child falls asleep on the playmat

So there you have it. I am surviving having three kids basically under four or almost under three (my eldest was three and six weeks when Ali was born). There was really nothing to fear and we are loving having these three beautiful girls. They are such a blessing to our life and we couldn't be happier.

How I Show the World I'm Coping

Life with three very small children can be pretty hard (you can read tomorrow's post to see just how I cope with three kids under four years old). Just getting out of the house some days is a massive achievement. 

I am coping pretty well with my three little people but there is one thing that I need to do everyday to show the world I am coping.

I guess a normal person would be satisfied that their children were dressed, fed, clean and happy (and of course I am) but everyday before I leave the house I have to do my hair and put on make up. Even if it is just to the park or the supermarket. I am always wearing light foundation, mascara, blush and lip gloss.

I would love to be one of those ladies who could just don their tracky dacks and a bit of moisturiser and head out the door but for me leaving the house without make up is like telling the world I am not coping.

I think I fall into the natural category         image credit

 

Of course I know no one thinks that about me. They are too busy with their own lives to care or even notice whether or not I am wearing make up but for me wearing it makes me feel good about myself.

I have been pondering recently whether it is me being vain or if it is ok to enjoy putting make up on each day. I have come to the conclusion that if I am doing it for myself then it is ok. We all have our things that we love and mine obviously is make up. It helps me to feel good. I particularly love Napoleon Perdis make up. I only ever buy it with Christmas and Birthday money because it is a bit pricey but it is a way I spoil myself.

The only negative I see with wearing make up to places like the park/supermarket is that I worry that other mums might view me as being less approachable. However, I have never found that as I guess I am not THAT made up that I look like I should be in a nightclub rather than pushing a swing.

So even on the days I feel like I am not coping, you will still find me with my Napoleon make up on. It helps me feel a little bit happier and I feel like I am coping better.

Are you a make up wearer? Or do you have something else that you can't leave the house with out? 

Weekend Cookbook: Really Easy Chicken & Mushroom Pies

A good friend of mine had some fairly major surgery this week so I wanted to cook their family something that was easy to reheat and something that their kids would eat too.

I was going to cook up a big pie but instead I remembered....the dinosaur. It doesn't look like an actual dinosaur but it sure is as old as one. This wonderful appliance is something that many people have and that most people no longer use. It is a pie maker!

The dinosaur!

My husband brought this into our marriage. He thinks it is from his uni days. It is so old that it even has a fabric cord. But it still works fantastically and makes all sorts of pies, really easily.

I chose to make a chicken and mushroom pie. It can be made in the pie maker, or just as easily in the oven.

Chicken & Mushroom Pie

(makes 4 pies)

2 sheets of puff pastry

1 tablespoon of olive oil

1 leek, sliced

125g mushrooms

250g of chicken breast, diced

1 tablespoon of flour

40g of butter

1 cup of chicken stock

1 tablespoon of cream

Thyme or other fresh herbs

 salt and pepper to taste

1. Get your pie maker out or preheat oven to 180 degrees

2. Heat the olive oil in a large frypan and brown the chicken, then transfer to a plate.

3. Heat half the butter with a little extra olive oil and cook the leek until it is soft. Add mushrooms and stir until cooked through. Remove and transfer to a plate.

adding oil to the butter helps the butter not to burn

4.Add more butter to fry pan then add flour and cook for 1 minute. Gradually add the chicken stock stirring continuously. Return the leek mixture and chicken to the pan and add the herbs and cream.

5. Meanwhile, cut pastry into circles larger for base and smaller for lid (or line a pin tin with pastry and cut a lid to size.

6. Fill pastry cases with filling and cook for 5 mins in the pie maker or 20 -30 minutes in the oven or until pastry is cooked. 

What have  you been cooking this week?

 
Weekend Cookbook Guidelines:

1. Link up a recipe that you have posted (it doesn't have to be a new post).
2. Link up by clicking on the link below and pasting your post URL (not your blog's URL)
2. Follow Mummy Undeserved Blessings on facebook 
3. Check out the other links and leave a comment.
4.If you make other blogger's recipe take a photo and post it in their facebook page (or yours and tag them). 

Happy Birthday to Mummy's Undeserved Blessings!

It's hard to believe I have been blogging for one year today. I remember how nervous and excited I was when I first hit publish. Would anyone read it? Would people hate what I was writing? Would I decide I hated it? 

Creating a facebook page for my blog was the same. I wondered if I would get any likes at all or would people not be interested in what a Mummy and a Minister's wife had to say.  I remember on my first day, I had hit 20 likes and I was super exited. Then, amazingly, Jen from Lovely Living shared my page with everyone on her facebook page and suddenly I had over 50 likes and by the end of the week I had over 100. I am still very thankful to her and the many other lovely bloggers who have supported me this past year.

I am also thankful to all my readers who have read, commented, shared and liked my posts. It has been a great year and I have loved sharing this journey with each of you. 


I have enjoyed treating my blog as a hobby and have mainly not stressed about stats ( i.e. how many people are reading / liking etc.). There have been times and will still be times when I wish I was more successful, a bigger blogger, but I am choosing to measure my success on the lovely emails and verbal comments I get from people who have been touched by my posts.  Even if just one person is helped, encouraged or cheered up by what I write then it is all worth it.

As a way of finishing I wanted to share the links of my top 10 posts of the year and a collage of some of my post's photos. Please enjoy and check out any of the posts you may have missed.


Top 10 Most Post Popular Posts

1.My Story: Dealing with Miscarriage and Fears of Infertility

2. Weekend Cookbook: Dumplings, Pork Belly & Creme Brulee

3. Showing off our Beautiful Family with help of Photographer Annette Audrey

4. Is My Baby Going to Be OK?: Our Hospital Experience

5. Baby Alicia...Born on the Bathroom Floor 

6. Two Rudie Nudies 

7. Pre vs. Post Marriage Style: My Confessions 

8. Goodbye Natalie..See you in Heaven 

9. I think I just learned something about parenting.

10. Ok, I admit it.....I need my hubby! 

 Whether this is the first time you have read my blog, or you have been reading it since I started, I want to say thank you for your support. If you like reading my blog, please tell your friends to come and follow my journey as a Mummy and a Minister's wife learning to appreciate her undeserved blessings.

 

P.S. Don't forget to link up any recipes you have posted this week to the Weekend Cookbook starting this Friday.