presents Archives - Munchies and Munchkins

How many toys is too many toys?

December 27, 2012 · by munchiesandmunchkins · 7 Comments

This seems an apt time to ask you how many toys does your child have? And secondly how many do they play with?

Izzy has lots of toys. I should state that we haven’t bought her lots but I’m from a large family and things get passed along quite regularly. I have always welcomed this as I know that lots of people aren’t lucky enough to have family to share and spoil. The last few days I have been thinking more and more about how many toys she should have out readily at her disposal to play with. I’m not a mean mammy I just don’t want her to be spoilt. Christmas is really what made me think about this.
We only spent about £30 on Izzy this year including stocking fillers as I knew it would be hard for her to appreciate it being only 16 months old. We bought her a few books,some stacking cups and a few bits n pieces. On Christmas morning she enjoyed opening presents and kissing pictures of Upsy Daisy .. By the end of Boxing Day she had approximately an extra 25 presents. Only 2 of which were clothing. The presents are gorgeous but on top of what she already has I don’t know how many she should be able to play with at one time. We are planning to keep some in her bedroom for her morning play ( she always plays in her cot for at least 30 mins on waking while we get some extra snooze and loves having separate toys up there) and perhaps leave some of her older toys with grandparents so that she always has something familiar to play with. I will keep all her books out as she loves to read ( well look at pics) and I want to encourage that but any tips on what to do? Should I pack some away for a month or two? I don’t want to be mean but I don’t want her to grow up to expect this either. Hmm its difficult.

What did your little one have for Christmas? What are your thoughts on this?

I should point out that I was of course grateful for all of her gifts and some of them really were beautiful and thoughtful it’s just very hard to know what to do.

I also may steal her hungry caterpillar cup for myself as its so damn cute.

She loved her “ipad”- the Haribo selection pack in background belongs to Daddy!

Wearing great Nans Christmas hat

Also do you have any funny names for your child’s toys? The pic below shows Izzy in her baby Einstein activity centre ( passed onto by family) which we call “the one that can’t move” for example if I’m cooking and my OH needs to pop upstairs or out I will say ” Put her in the one that can’t move for a few mins” it’s been brilliant as she enjoys it for short bursts and still hasn’t figured out how to get out.

Thanks for reading, I’d love your comments 😉

Cooking at Christmas time

December 27, 2012 · by munchiesandmunchkins · Leave a Comment

Has Christmas Day really come and gone already? It seems like we prepare for an absolute age and then it’s gone in a flash! I hope all your wishes came true and your dinners were delicious.

I spent Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with family so I didn’t get a chance to cook which I missed! Yesterday I just relaxed and spent time playing with Izzy or watching tv with my OH but today I really wanted to get back in the kitchen. I was spoilt this year, spoilt by the wonderful time I got to spend with my family and the fabulous food I had to eat and once again spoilt with perfect presents from my OH and Izzy.

I won’t list all my presents but I will tell you that I will be experimenting with new recipes, cooking methods and playing with kitchen gadgets for quite some time!

Some of my books:

Already bookmarked around 30 MUST TRY recipes.

I was also lucky enough …after numerous hints to get a new waffle maker so it would have been rude to not try that out. It’s very different to my old waffle maker (my mums) so my first attempt looked like this:

I blame the waffle maker instructions. It said use 1 tablespoon of mixture .. Clearly not enough so I doubled it for attempt 2 which was a major improvement :

Both tasted delicious. For those interested the recipe I use for waffles is here and I often add extra ingredients such as vanilla or cinnamon… Or even chocolate chips.

Waffle making was not enough I needed to make something delicious for dinner so I tried a recipe which I have heard fave reviews about. Ham in coca cola. Sounds weird, tastes dreamy.
I used Nigellas recipe which you can find here I made a few small adjustments. Instead of using molasses followed by mustard powder and sugar I simply rubbed in a tablespoon of English mustard after I had placed my cloves in the scored fat and then followed by rubbing in 2 tablespoons of molasses. Worked well for me and the end result was so good I was amazed.

Here are some pics :

Bubbling hot hot hot

Just ready to go in the oven

Begging to be eaten but best leave it cool…

Worth waiting for

And one more just because it looked so pretty

If you have a ham lurking in your fridge you must try this, if not then well there are lots of hams in the shops at the moment. Buy one, try this. You will not be disappointed.

My kitchen addiction only seems to be growing so expect more and more recipes very soon.

I am aiming for healthier recipes in January. Until then enjoy.

P.S thanks for the feedback from you lovely people who tried my sprout recipe on Christmas Day. So glad you loved it too!

How many toys is too many toys?

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Cooking at Christmas time

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