Messy Tasty Kiddy Fun: Making Truffles

"I'm bored" and "I'm hungry" seem to be favourite sentences around here of late.  I decided to tackle both problems when the girls had some friends over.  I let them make truffles. Pretty gourmet for kids, but this easy recipe is so simple that it's perfect for kids to have some fun with. You can play around with flavourings too adding orange or raspberry extract for fruity versions and you can definitely experiment with toppings. I asked if they wanted coconut but got a resounding "ewwwww!"  For adult versions you could add some grand marnier.



Easy Cream Cheese Truffles

• 8 oz full fat cream cheese
• 12oz dark chocolate, melted
• 3 cups icing sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• Cocoa, icing sugar, sprinkles, coconut etc to decorate

Beat the cream cheese with a spatula until softened. Add in sugar and vanilla and beat until combined.  Stir in chocolate, it should start to thicken right away.  Once combined, refrigerate for 20 minutes to an hour.

Use a teaspoon and scoop out a spoonful of truffle mixture and roll into a ball in your hand.  Roll in topping of choice, eat immediately or refrigerate until serving. Enjoy!

Homemade Laundry Detergent

Both my girls have eczema on their arms and I have tried literally everything to get rid of it. From over the counter creams to prescription cortisone and steroids and nothing seems to help.

Recently I began thinking about other causes and decided a simpler more natural laundry soap might help.

The following is my recipe for homemade detergent. It's incredibly frugal, making enough for 160 loads and working out at less than three cent a load. Beat that Proctor and Gamble!!! You can customise it to suit your water and sense of smell. I like lavender and find it relaxes the small people, so I went with that.  You could also add a few drops of tea tree oil for it's disinfectant properties.

Borax can be bought at most chemists and if they don't have it in stock, they will order it for you. I got the soda crystals at Tesco and the soap at Dunnes. This is very effective and gets stains out easily. Use a little extra soda if you have hard water and continue to use whatever softening technique you already use, like Calgon.

Ingredients:

• 3oz laundry/castile soap, approx half a bar (i.e. Ivory, Fels Naptha, Fairy, Dr. Bronners)
• 3/4 cup borax
• 3/4 cup washing soda
• 9L hot water
• 10-15 drops essential oil

Grate the soap into a metal bowl.

Bring one litre of the water to a boil on the stove and add the grated soap, stirring until dissolved.  Add essential oil to scent.  Remove from heat and add the soda and borax.

Stir until combined, it will thicken.  Pour into a ten litre container* and add the remaining eight litres of hot water.  Stir vigorously until well mixed.

Allow the mixture to sit overnight and it will thicken slightly.  

Use 2 fluid ounces (1/4 cup) per load of laundry, more for extra soiling.  

* I asked at the local shop for one of those big mayonnaise buckets they use at the deli!

Nursery Makeover on a Budget

We're fortunate to have four bedrooms, but since the girls share a room, we only use two.  The third is a dedicated guest room and the fourth has been at some stage or another a guest room, an office, a study room, a craft room and just a general storage area.  When we found out number three was on the way, I knew right away I wanted to do it up, but money was going to be tight since we had long ago gotten rid of all our baby supplies.  I immediately turned to Pinterest for inspiration and figured with some recycling and Ikea, I could keep to a budget of one hundred euro.  At the time we weren't sure if we were having a girl or a boy, so we wanted something that we could either "pink out" or "blue up" when baby came along.  We went about fifty euro over budget in the end, but I think it turned out well.  The lighting was ten percent off at Ikea the day we went as well.  If I don't mention the furniture, it's something we already owned and don't mind my yoga equipment in the corner! ;)

Elephant Wall Stickers - B&Q - 11.99, Ikea Bug Lamp - 6.99, Ikea Lack Table - 8.59

 Ikea Mammut Shelf - 4.06, Ikea Chest of Drawers  - 49.81, Crown Paint, B&Q - approx 35.00










 Elephant Wall Art, B&Q - 14.99

Ikea Knappa Lamp - 20.32













Linking up to: Not Just A Housewife, Take a Look Tuesday, Anti-Procrastination Tuesday, Handmade Tuesdays, The Homemaker's Challenge