Almond Meal Banana Bread

October 23, 2022 · Leave a Comment

I know, I haven’t posted a recipe in an age!

Truth be told, I wanted to write this one down somewhere safe so I don’t lose it! I seem to be making lots of banana bread these days as the family run hot and cold with bananas. I can’t bear to waste them.

I love using almond meal in cake recipes as it’s so tasty and nutritious as well as making the banana bread gluten free. This recipe also happens to be dairy free (as long as you don’t serve it with lashings of grass-fed butter!!)

This almond meal banana bread has a beautifully soft and light texture and is not overly sweet. It’s super filling, so one piece is plenty.

Almond Meal Banana Bread

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups almond meal

3 medium bananas (super ripe with black spots for best results)

4 eggs

1/4 cup melted coconut oil (or butter)

1/2 cup coconut sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon bicarb soda

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup walnuts (optional but yummy)

Method:
Preheat the oven to 160oC. Line a loaf tin with some non-toxic baking paper.

Mash the bananas and whisk with the eggs, vanilla extract and coconut oil.

Add the rest of the ingredients and mix well (save a few walnuts for the top).

Pour into your loaf pan and bake for 50-60 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean.

Let cool in the pan for 20-30minutes. Store in the fridge. Use a bread knife to cut.

*note: I like to keep the walnuts chunky but you can chop them up if you want.

To save time, I sometimes make this in the Thermomix. Just whizz the banana, egg, vanilla and oil on speed 7 for ten seconds, add other ingredients (except walnuts) and whizz on speed 5 for ten seconds or until it’s all incorporated. Add walnuts and mix in, on reverse, speed 5 for five seconds.

I have loads of other banana bread recipes if you want to try something different, but I hope you love this almond meal banana bread as much as we do!

How to get your family on board with decluttering

July 19, 2021 · Leave a Comment

How to get your family on board with decluttering

By Cari Milton, decluttering and organising coach at Clutter Free with Caz

Tell me if this sounds familiar.

You’ve spent way more time than you’d like cleaning the house. The space is feeling tidy and relaxed and it makes you absurdly happy. It may not be magazine layout perfect, but things are where they belong for the most part.

You enjoy a cup of tea in your happy place… and then it happens.

Maybe it’s the kids pulling out toys, leaving them discarded like the debris field of a plane wreck, in their search for that one specific thing they really wanted. They don’t play with most of it, but struggle to let a single thing go.

Or your partner comes home, leaving their keys and other random items piled on the table where they collect other clutter to them like an electromagnet. It could be a hobby that creeps into the rest of the house, until you find paraphernalia in every single room… or worse, there’s a mountain of stuff that hasn’t been touched since the cretaceous period (ok, slight exaggeration there!) but they can’t possibly part with it.

The allure of one day having the time or energy to use it is strong.

You mentally throw your hands in the air and resign yourself to living with clutter, because you don’t know how to get your family on board.

I talk to a lot of women about clutter and what their challenges are in tackling it. That story is their most common pain point! I don’t have a magic wand to wave (if wishing made it so!), and it won’t happen overnight, but here are a few strategies for infecting them with the clutter free bug!

♥ First, make it fun!

Let’s be real, if it feels like a chore, it’s going to be met with resistance. Make it a game for the kids, get silly with them. Record a video of you (and them) doing the tidy up and then play it at ridiculous speed. Watch them crack up as they see themselves zooming around the screen. Set a challenge… if they keep things where they belong instead of the floor for an agreed amount of time (even just a day to start with!), have a treat with them.

Keep a basket somewhere the family can put items to donate. It may take a while for this to catch on if they are younger, because kids often view their stuff as an extension of themselves. We have one and it fills up every few weeks!

♥ Second, Lead by example.

Get your own stuff in order first. Declutter your closet, donate things you don’t use anymore, toss out anything unusable. If you’re the head chef in the house, declutter the kitchen so you have only what you use and need. Make sure your personal desk area is clutter free. Let them see you enjoying the benefits of being clutter free!

♥ Third, set them up to succeed!

If you’ve got kids, start as young as possible by giving them less stuff. Advertising convinces parents they need every contraption under the sun for their little darling, but we got through millennia as a species without seven different types of items to hold our babies when they weren’t in our arms.

You don’t need most of it. Consider experience gifts over toys… a day trip somewhere fun creates memories you’ll both cherish… and no clutter! If you do give toys, go for quality over quantity. One well made toy that will last is a much better option than several things grabbed from the shelves of the local discount store! You’ll be picking up the broken pieces of those within days.

♥ Fourth, communicate!

Talk to the family about why you are decluttering. ‘Laundry piles up because we have too many clothes! Let’s pare down so it’s less overwhelming.’ Or ‘If we donated some of these toys you’ve outgrown, you’d be able to find your favourites so much easier!’ Remind partners what the benefits are, if they make homes for their things, they’ll never have to tear the house apart searching for their keys (for example).

♥ Fifth, give them the tools they need.

Help them by setting up systems that will work for them and for you! For kids, a toybox is a recipe for disaster, because when everything goes in one container, they inevitably must dig for things. Try baskets or bins on shelves instead and label the heck out of everything! If they can see Barbie goes in this bin, things are more likely to end up where they belong. If your little ones are pre-reading age, use picture labels for easy recognition.

The same works for partners and other grown-ups, too. Labelled containers are your friend! Start with something they use often, like your utility drawer. I don’t know about you, but my techy Virgo husband would be almost giddy at the sight of the batteries, cords, and those tiny tech accessories all being in clear, labelled containers. I’m pretty sure if we tallied up the amount of time he has spent searching for those types of things in his life, it would add up to months!

Once they have the tools, give them the opportunity to fail too. Don’t automatically swoop in to save the day when they can’t find something. Sometimes a little tough love is needed to form new habits… make some suggestions on where it might be and remind them where it should be. But let them try to find it for themselves.

♥ Last, create your own clutter free zone!

This is a marathon, not a sprint. You’re going to need to carve out your own little clutter free zone where you can retreat to keep from losing your *$%@ while you work with them on learning new habits.

Trust me. It will be worth it.

I hope these tips have given you some ideas on how to get your family on board with decluttering.

Interested in more help and advice? Hop on my mailing list or book in for a session or course.

About Caz

Caz Milton is a Decluttering & Organising Coach who helps busy women go from being stressed and overwhelmed by clutter in their homes to feeling in control with organised, clutter free spaces!

She has spent decades helping family and friends declutter just for fun and is coming up on her first anniversary in business. Caz absolutely lives for the transformations she makes in her clients lives and their feedback makes her as giddy as a schoolgirl!

Caz lives in sunny Queensland, Australia with her hunky husband, 3 teens, and a menagerie of critters in a tiny suburban home. You can usually find her writing saucy novels, cross stitching snarky samplers, or organising the pantry. Again.

Follow Caz

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Would you like to feature on Natural New Age Mum? Get in touch: sonia @ naturalnewagemum.com

Tips for Avoiding Fatigue and Burnout

May 17, 2021 · Leave a Comment

Tips for Avoiding Fatigue and Burnout

By Iwa Brown, Naturopath, BHSc (Nat)

Burnt out women, particularly mums is something that is becoming so prevalent in our society nowadays, that we must ask ourselves – how did it come to this? We are so busy working, running households, and providing to our families in so many different ways, putting everyone else’s needs ahead of our own, that we end up leaving our own cup empty. Here are my tips for avoiding fatigue and burnout, from a naturopath’s point of view!

We know that when we start putting ourselves higher on our priority list, that we start to feel better. We can then do a better job at looking after everyone else than we can when we are tired and burnt out. Even though prioritizing ourselves tends to come with some level of guilt, we instinctively know that we must take steps, no matter how small, to regain ourselves back.

The fast pace of modern day life means that most of us spend much of our time in sympathetic nervous system (fight and flight) activation, with constantly elevated cortisol and adrenaline (stress hormone) levels. Eventually our adrenal glands have had enough, and we burn out. Operating at this level for any length of time is not sustainable, and your body will tell you loud and clear when it has had enough!

When we decide we want to start prioritizing ourselves, it’s easier to just start with one thing at a time to work on and focus on that, before we move onto the next thing. So what are some steps we can take in order to start working through and avoiding further fatigue and burnout? Read on!

Spend time in nature and breathe

There is nothing quite like spending some time in nature, breathing in the fresh air deeply, and enjoying the sounds of nature. Most cities have a range of walking tracks within relatively short driving distance, to suit a range of fitness levels. A quick internet search yields some great information to help you plan your next bush walk! Otherwise, a walk along a river or creek, or along the beach is another great option.

Gentle exercise such as walking is excellent for activating the parasympathetic nervous system, which reduces our cortisol levels. In addition, time in nature helps to produce higher levels of neurotransmitters that make us feel good.

One thing to note is that if you are the type of person who prefers intensive exercise, this type of exercise can drive cortisol up further. Listen to your body to make sure you don’t overdo it.

Relax before meals

People can often really underestimate how much of an impact stress can have on digestion. When we are stressed, meaning our cortisol is elevated, and we are in sympathetic nervous system (fight and flight) activation, our digestion shuts down and digestive secretions are not produced. This is because we need to relax and activate our parasympathetic nervous system (rest and digest) in order to allow our body to digest the food we eat.

When we relax, take a few deep breaths and ensure we are not feeling stressed when we sit down for a meal, our digestive system starts to prepare for digestion by producing stomach acid, bile, and digestive enzymes. Without these, we feel full very quickly, we may become bloated, get reflux, or other digestive symptoms, and we are not giving our body the chance to digest the food we eat. In the long term, chronic stress can therefore lead to nutrient deficiencies. We also need adequate stomach acid to break down proteins to liberate amino acids, which are required for our mental health and other functions in our body, as well as other nutrients and minerals our body needs for optimal health.

In addition to the above, fluids should never be consumed in large amounts with meals. A few sips of water are fine with a meal, but drinking larger amounts of fluids will impede digestion by further diluting the stomach acid required to adequately digest our food. Aim to not drink too many fluids around 20-30 minutes either side of a meal and ensure you are staying adequately hydrated away from meals.

The importance of sleep

We must remember that we need cortisol for survival – it is not our enemy. Our cortisol should be at its highest levels in the morning when we wake up – this is what gets us out of bed in the morning, and gives us energy to get through the day. Conversely, our melatonin (sleep hormone) levels should be lowest in the morning when the cortisol is high, and then cortisol should drop through the day as melatonin rises later in the day to prepare us for sleep. Our body is this incredible and fined tuned system that keeps all of this under control, but problems arise when this cycle is dysregulated (hypothalamic pituitary adrenal or HPA axis dysregulation), and this can happen for many reasons, but stress is always a big factor here.

When our HPA axis is in balance, we sleep soundly and for adequate periods without waking in the night, we feel refreshed when we wake up in the morning and we have consistently good energy levels through the day and then falling asleep easily at the end of the day.

Sleep hygiene is super important here – aim to not have any screen time an hour before bedtime. Have a cup of chamomile or lavender tea, diffuse some calming essential oils if you wish, dim the lights and make a conscious effort to relax as you prepare yourself for sleep.

Book in with a naturopath

If you’re feeling like you’ve made a whole lot of changes but need some extra help, naturopathy is an excellent modality to assist you with making that extra progress to get you to where you want to be. Combining individualized prescriptions that include a combination of herbal medicine, nutritional supplements, in addition to dietary and lifestyle changes, works incredibly well to help people to get their energy and life back.

One step at a time

I hope these tips for avoiding fatigue and burnout have been helpful! Remember – don’t become overwhelmed by all the things you want to do to start feeling better. Progress is what we are aiming for, not perfection. Lots of small steps over time add up to incredible progress.

You are worth it!

About Iwa:

Iwa Brown is a naturopath and herbalist, who founded Magnolia Naturopathy to make naturopathic care more accessible to people all over Australia. Iwa (pron. Eva) assists her clients with a variety of health complaints, including children’s health, women’s health, nervous system support, immune support and of course digestive health. Naturopathic treatment addresses health from a holistic perspective, by treating the whole person.

As a special offer for readers of Natural New Age Mum, Iwa is offering 20% off your initial consultation until the end of June 2021, when you book online using the code: NNAM20 !!

Follow Iwa:

Magnolia Naturopathy website

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Would you like to feature on Natural New Age Mum? Get in touch: sonia @ naturalnewagemum.com

How to stimulate your vagus nerve for better emotional and physical wellbeing

May 3, 2021 · 2 Comments

By Dr Carrie Rigoni, Chiropractor

The vagus nerve is the largest nerve in the body, and it is strongly connected to our health and vitality. Today I am sharing my tips for how to stimulate your vagus nerve for better emotional and physical wellbeing.

Mums are notoriously burnt out, I mean, being “on” 24/7 to ensure our kids are ok is a huge undertaking. Not to mention the sleep deprivation, postpartum nutrient depletion, and the juggle of the rest of our lives thrown in there too!

What I find in my practice is that many mums don’t even know about the vagus nerve and what it can do for their daily health. And me? Well it’s my favourite thing in the world. Firstly because it makes you feel SO GOOD when it’s working well, and secondly because it doesn’t take much to get it to start firing up for those good feels.

The vagus nerve

The vagus nerve runs from your brainstem, through your neck, thorax and abdomen, all the way to your pelvic floor. It has connections to every organ in the body, and supports the body with maintaining all those automatic processes such as breathing, heart rate, blood pressure, digestion, and immune response.

But? For every one fibre that exits the brain and connects to an organ, there are nine fibres that send messages from organs up the vagus through to the brain, telling the brain what is going on in the body. So the vagus nerve is very much a sensory nerve, giving feedback about the state of the body (eg. inflammation, infections, stress).

This is important because the other important function of the vagus nerve is it’s ability to sense the environment. You know when you have a gut feeling that something doesn’t feel right? Or you feel uncomfortable around certain people but you can’t put your finger on it? That is your dear vagus nerve kicking in (and consider this my permission slip for you should listen to it).

In terms of maternal depletion and burn out, the vagus nerve plays a big role in keeping us out of a sympathetic dominant state, and back into a state of rest and healing. In fact, the easiest way to know whether your vagus nerve needs help or not is to consider how long it takes for you to get out of the stress response, if you can at all.

Vagal tone

Vagal tone refers to how well your vagus nerve is functioning.

If you have a quick stress response, maybe your child is running away from you towards a busy road, it is healthy and normal for your body to kick into gear and use the sympathetic nervous system to help you help your child.

The key in the process is having the vagus nerve kick in AFTERWARDS, to allow your body to come back to a calmer, lower-stress state. Ie the parasympathetic nervous system. A vagus nerve with high tone will do this process very easily (and you’ll notice the chill people who seem to calm down immediately), whereas a vagus nerve with low tone will struggle to kick in, leaving you in a stressed out state long after the incident has occurred.

This is an issue because we know chronic stress is no good for our overall health and wellbeing!

The link between the vagus nerve and maternal depletion

So we now know that the vagus nerve keeps us out of the chronic stress response. But what it also does it keep our immune system in check (especially the gut microbiome and gut-immune system), reduces our pain responses, keeps our inflammation in check and plays a big role in social engagement – eye contact, wanting to reach out to friends and family, wanting to have conversations with others.

Symptoms of a low-functioning vagus nerve include:

Chronic inflammation
Leaky gut
Food intolerances
Tired but wired
Depression and anxiety
Increased pain
Migraines and headaches
Unexplained weight gain
Feelings of isolation or wanting to isolate yourself from your support network
Insomnia
Feeling depleted and fatigued no matter what you do, what you eat, or how much sleep you get

How to stimulate your vagus nerve to help motherhood feel easier, happier and calmer

If you feel like the vagus nerve is struggling a bit, let’s look at what you can do to support it and start feeling like yourself again! You don’t have to do all of these, but choose a few that resonate most with you and commit to doing them daily.

Eat a low-inflammation diet where you can
- This supports your gut bacteria and decreases stress on the vagus nerve
Get sleep where you can
- Prioritise it, even if it feels selfish – it makes all the difference
Singing (loud) and dancing
- Turn the music up, and sing sing sing!
Gargling
- The quickest and easiest way to do this is in the shower
- Make sure you get that water right to the back of your throat – the key here is stimulating the gag response
Cold showers or dips in the ocean
Nasal breathing
- Take check and see if you breathe through your nose or your mouth
- Consciously seal your lips during the day to breathe exclusively through your nose
Weighted blankets
Eye exercise
- The vagus nerve is stimulated when our eyes look horizontal (ie the opposite of scrolling, which actually decreases our vagus nerve tone)
- Stand up, lift your chin a little and place your hands behind your head
- Keep your head still, move your eyes to the right and find something to hold your focus on
- When your vagus nerve kicks in, you will sigh, or yawn, or feel a calm wash over you
- Then move eyes to the other side and hold again

Doing one or two of these exercises daily will support your vagus nerve and having you feeling more regulated and (hopefully) less depleted. Please note there are some bigger things that affect the vagus nerve that I didn’t touch on in this blog, so if you feel nothing at all it’s likely something else is causing your vagus nerve to be inhibited (in this case it would be worth getting in touch with a practitioner who works with the vagus nerve).

You can also use these exercises in times of stress – for example if you feel like you can’t calm yourself down, or you can’t fall asleep – these exercises come in handy to bring yourself back into balance.

How is your vagus? Could it do with some love and attention?

About Carrie:

Dr Carrie Rigoni is a chiropractor for mums and babies in Perth WA. She works using Applied Kinesiology and Functional Neurology, and has a fondness for the vagus nerve. Her practice is full of children from newborns to teenagers, and mothers from preconception through pregnancy and into the postpartum period. However, absolutely everyone is welcome! She is passionate about educating parents on raising healthy children, and offers a number of online masterclasses (and one online course – Fearless Foodies – learn how introducing food influences your baby’s gut, hormones, brain, and indirectly their vagus nerve!).

Follow Carrie:

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Think with your heart!

April 23, 2021 · Leave a Comment

by Anna Kovacs

Think with your heart not your head.

It’s a statement that is likely to make most people baulk. It’s not logical, it’s full of fancy, it will lead to disaster.

What if I said to you that the wisest part of you is your heart? It’s the wisest place that ensures you make perfectly aligned choices.

Whilst undergoing yet another process of ‘crap clearing’ in my life, I kept butting my head against the brick wall of no change. It’s funny how sometimes you so desperately want circumstances in your life to change and the only thing that seems to happen is that they stay firmly entrenched. The constant loop thinking and repeated experiences were another Groundhog Day.

As much as you can repeat positive thoughts over and over to instigate change, there is one ‘brain’ that needs to not just accept, but adopt with such a solid way of being within desired change, and that is the heart.

The Law of Attraction works wonderfully well, but there is a proviso. It will work if and when you have done the work of clearing the limitations that have kept you in a place where you do not feel free to be you.

Think about the statement ‘my heart’s not in it’.

You can mutter affirmations morning, noon and night but these will come to naught if the heart has not made up its mind that an idea, a plan, a life that is so very worth investigating and pursuing. It leads the mind and the rest of you (along with possibly other people) into that way of thinking and being. The heart has let go of all the baggage that has kept it in one very firm and comfortably uncomfortable spot.

We live in a society which gives status, credibility and a certain amount of infallibility to that which arises from the logical mind. This is not the infinite wisdom stemming from consciousness. It’s that small mind, the mind which stems from the ego.

It’s kept you small, it’s kept you compliant, acceptable and according to this ego mind, it’s kept you very safe. Nothing to see here other than a ‘normal’ person doing ‘normal’ things, living a ‘normal’ life. No emotional nonsense to get in the way of logic.

It appears to me that truth, beauty, integrity and authenticity arise from the choices that are made from the divine heart. From this place fear is replaced with divine love, and appropriate choices for the individual are made. These choices do not come from a place of logic, rather they emerge as a knowing. It’s a sense that comes from a place deep within and it is filled with a wisdom that defies logic.

Take a step into a brave new world and quieten your mind chatter for a while.

Then invite your ego mind to take your divine heart’s hand and allow and trust that the heart will lead you to the place you were always meant to be. You can visualise this if it helps! Be aware too, that there is a difference between what appears to be heart made choices that are ego driven.

You will find that those made from the wise, divinely guided heart have a quieter, more steadfast feel to them.

Do you think from your heart? Share with us your experiences!

About Anna:

Anna is the owner of Golden Spiral and is located in Canberra where she works with those whose energy levels suck and who need that bit of help with stress and overwhelm management.

She is a Reiki and Seichim Master, and has postgraduate qualifications from Australia’s first Buddhist-based tertiary institution. Anna is also a Bach Flower Remedies Therapist, a Colour Therapist, qualified Massage Therapist, a holistic Life Transformed Coach and is now venturing into Sound Therapy.

Anna works with both face to face and on line. Anna is also mum to her two adult children, and also has a grand-dog and grand-horse.

Follow Anna:

www.annagoldenspiral.com

Ph: 0413 723 928

Email: anna@annagoldenspiral.com

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How To Make An Easy Upcyled Easter Crown

March 29, 2021 · Leave a Comment

By Jasmine at Crafty Little Folk

Who can believe it’s already time for Easter Parades!!

Teachers & families all over the country will be busily sloshing glue about, adding sweet pastel coloured shapes to create fun headdresses & bunny ears. If you haven’t had time to whip some up with your children yet, don’t panic, I’ve got a fun, quick way to create an Easter masterpiece.

I am going to show you how to make an easy upcyled Easter Crown!

How to make a recycled Easter crown bonnet

Yesterday I had the pleasure of running a couple of children’s Easter craft workshops at our local handmade Bush to Bay Market. In preparation I headed to our local library for crafty inspiration & nuggets of gold. I certainly found it in Alyn Carlson’s The Paper Hat Book.

What a gorgeous book full of beautiful crowns!! But what I found super helpful, was how she reused brown paper grocery bags as her crown base! Genius! Perfect thick sturdy paper that will withstand plenty of glue & goodies! Plus we all have a couple of those stashed with our shopping bags.

So now lets go raid your craft box!!!

Making a recycled Easter Crown Easter Craft

Materials (makes 4)

2x brown paper grocery bags

1x ruler

1x paper scissors

1x stapler

!x craft glue , either PVA or a big glue stick

Craft supplies feathers

Easter stickers

Confetti

Paper offcuts

Wool & felt pieces

Washi tape

Glitter or anything else in your craft stash

Method

10 – 15 minutes prep 15-30 minutes craft

Cut the base and handles out of your paper grocery bag. The cut down the side of the bag to create a large rectangle.
Using a ruler measure 10cm along the width of the bag & cut two long strips 10cm wide x 40cm long (approx depending on the size of your bag)
Fold your strips in half to create a fold line 5cm wide.
If your child would like to make bunny ears, then cut 2 curved ear shapes from the paper offcuts.
Open your folded head band. Cover the inside with glue & let your child add their bunny ears or feathers up to the fold line. You could also add strips of coloured paper, felt or pipe cleaners.
Add glue on the other side & fold the paper closed, encasing the bunny ears or feathers. Press down along the length of the band to ensure the head band is closed.
Wrap the band around your child head & trim with 4cm overlap (to be stapled soon!)
Lay the paper flat on the table & let the children decorate with all your wonderful craft supplies. If time allows, try not to rush or help your child here. Allow them the freedom to add & subtract, problem solve, think creatively & of course ask you for assistance if needed. They may want to use felt pens to create extra texture & colour.
Once your child has finished creating an Easter crown masterpiece, top it off with glue & glitter or eco glitter for that extra bling!
Wrap the crown around your child’s head, resting on an angle on their ears & staple the crown together at the back a couple of times.
If you have a mirror handy, show the children just how fabulous their creation is! Put it up on top of the fridge ready for your Easter Parade!

A Recycled Easter Crown Bonnet Easter Craft

Tah DaH! Easter Parade ready!

Now if you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me at hello@craftylittlefolk.com.

Also if you’re a sewer you may like these sweet bunny ear headbands or perhaps your children love gardening, these Easter grass eggs are so fun to make. A batch of Chocolate Playdough would be so fun as well.

Happy crafting & I hope you have a lovely relaxing Easter!

Jasmine xx

About Jasmine:

I’m Jasmine & I love to create fun, engaging activities to share with those busy little people in your life.

Are you an Early Childhood Educator (like me!) or a parent or grandparent looking for a range of easy, yet charming experiences to create together? Fresh, free printables are added often, so you can print & go, having more time with your little folk.

A smidge about me…..

I live in Queensland Australia, on overgrown farm with my husband, two teenage daughters & a couple of sweet, but needy puppies.

For many years we ran our own produce business from the farm. Our girls grew up around farmers, soil, lots of flowers & the occasional rotten potato.

I was a hands-on mum & soon learnt that our children loved playing with a pile of cardboard boxes, just as much as that new Bratz doll (if not more).

When our youngest started high school I was able to return to study Early Childhood Education. These days I work in a lovely childcare centre with a top team of hard working, (sometime mischievous) ladies who make me laugh everyday.

Caring for young children is a big, fun messy job. Sharing in their growth, watching their personalities develop & building meaningful relationships is such a joy & privilege.

Creating safe, stimulating environments is also a big job. Here at Crafty Little Folk, I hope to share the experiences our children love exploring & inspire you to get messy !

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The Best Natural Playdough Recipe

February 23, 2021 · Leave a Comment

The Best Natural Playdough Recipe

by Jasmine at Crafty Little Folk

What activities do you remember loving when you were a young child? Making mud pies? Building sheet cubbies? Or perhaps creating with playdough? The Best Natural Playdough Recipe

Our two daughters loved all three!!! Unlike mudpies or cubbies, playdough was a lovely experience we could share at the kitchen table while I was busy cooking and doing jobs.

Back then I used the basic recipe from the back of the cream of tartar pack. It was good enough, but I secretly longed for that silky playdough from the girls’ kindergarten days.

Our girls are now grown up now and I’m lucky to be an Early Childhood Educator.

I get paid to make playdough!!

Now I’ve tried every possible version of making playdough over the last four years, but the recipe below takes the cake – everytime.

It has two extra ingredients that creates silky, smooth, long-lasting playdough, making it what I think is the best natural playdough recipe ever!

But first – why make playdough?

♥ The wonderful benefits of playdough

Engages your child’s senses, imagination & creativity

Develops their fine motor skills & hand-eye coordination

Encourages free play & problem solving

Creates a soothing, calming activity

♥ Types of playdough

Scented with food grade essences eg. vanilla, peppermint, rose water, coconut, lemon

Coloured with natural food dyes or flavoured fruit teas

Spiced with cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, allspice

Themed to reflect the seasons or calendar events (ie peppermint essence with red and white coloured play dough for Christmas)

♥ Accessories for playdough

Small wooden rolling pins, bamboo knives & forks

Jar lids, cookie cutters, paper towel rolls

Paddlepop sticks, small candles, cupcake wrappers, paper straws

Leaves, twigs, stones, shell, edible flowers

Small dishes, tiny glass jars, trays

Pompoms, lace, large buttons, fine eco glitter

Plastic animals, toy fences, interesting containers from the recycling

I’m a big fan of child-led learning, so if the time is available allow your children to have input into the colours, flavours & accessories used in their dough play.

Making playdough together is so fun & gives children the skills for other types of dough making (like homemade pizza!).

So here it is, the best natural playdough recipe for you!

The Best Natural Playdough Recipe

Ingredients:

2 cups plain flour

2 cups cornflour

1 cup of salt dissolved

2 cups of boiling water

4 tablespoons of cream of tartar

4 tablespoons of vegetable oil (or oil of your choice)

4 tablespoons of glycerine (found in medicine section of the supermarket)

Optional – natural food colouring or essences

Equipment:

A large mixing bowl & a small metal bowl

Measuring cups & spoons

A metal spoon & wooden spoon

Kettle for boiling water

Apron

Method:

♥ Mix both flours & cream of tartar together in a large bowl.

♥ Dissolve the salt in boiling water. This is easiest done in a small metal bowl. Mix with a spoon. Or sometimes I heat it on the stove.

♥ Add oil, glycerine & food colouring to the salty water.

♥ Make a well in the flour mix & pour in the wet mixture.

♥ Mix with a wooden spoon until combined.

♥ Turn out onto a floured surface & knead for 30 seconds Don’t miss this step – it’s the secret.

This recipe makes a really big batch, so feel free to halve the recipe if you need to. Store your dough in glass jars with lids.

All up it should take you less than 10 minutes to make in return for hours of fun creative play. Our daughters loved playdough for many years & so did their friends!

A jar of playdough or several small jars in different colours and scents make great DIY birthday gifts.

If you would like a printable PDF for the best natural play dough recipe you find it at my Crafty Little Folk website.

Happy playdoughing!

Jasmine xx

About Jasmine:

I’m Jasmine & I love to create fun, engaging activities to share with those busy little people in your life.

Caring for young children is a big, fun messy job. Sharing in their growth, watching their personalities develop & building meaningful relationships is such a joy & privilege.

Creating safe, stimulating environments is also a big job. Here at Crafty Little Folk, I hope to share the experiences our children love exploring & inspire you to get messy!

I have a new membership just for Early Childhood Educators, providing support and connection as well as easy activity ideas. Check out Crafty Little Educators.

Follow Jasmine:

Crafty Little Folk Instagram

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Crafty Little Folk Website

Reclaiming Motherhood

February 10, 2021 · Leave a Comment

Reclaiming Motherhood

by Anna Grillo

I came across the following quote the other day, and it got me thinking of my journey towards reclaiming motherhood.

I was adamant I wasn’t going to be a typical mother; a stay at home mum, who solely looked after her kids. What kind of life would that be – one that revolved around her children’s needs?

What about my needs? What about my important career? One that fuelled my sense of self worth? Who would I be without my regular feedback of external cues, where I sat on the organisation chart, without the yearly pay rises and bonuses that let me know who I was and where I was at?

These things were much more exciting, important, and priority in my mind.

Society had filled my subconscious with the ‘right’ way to do things – school, go to uni, get the job, climb the corporate ladder, live in the (right) suburbs, get married, have kids, send them to private school, keep climbing the ladder of success while collecting more, doing more, but never speaking up, never stopping, never deviating from the plan, don’t complain, be grateful, and keep going.

It didn’t matter that I had digestive, chronic fatigue, and menstruation issues.

It didn’t matter that I had no social life, too exhausted and drained to be bothered to show up and be present in my interactions.

In my mind, what mattered was that I ticked off the next thing on the list, and performed.

When it came time to start our family, my cycle suddenly had other ideas. I recognised that stress was actually a problem, and had to decide whether I was going to go for prevention rather than the cure.

In the secret whisperings of my heart, I knew there was something more.

Something that allowed me to create change for individuals and uplift and energise and have the courage to be who they truly were. And it needed to start with me.

So I decided to leave my corporate job and start on my journey of self discovery by studying Kinesiology.

On my last day of work, I found out I was pregnant.

I started studying, gestating myself as well as my daughter, until she physically joined us earth side.

What a journey – what joy, what bliss, the agony and the ecstasy. And once she arrived, something within me said slow down.

Of course I didn’t listen.

Because while I was transitioning to a lifestyle that was more aligned and attuned with my life purpose, I still had the stigma of what motherhood portrayed lingering in my subconscious.

I still felt as though I needed to do it all. To have a thriving business, to see clients straight away, fill my calendar, to push aside the time I could have used to recharge, regenerate, and renew myself, because that’s what successful women do right?

My addiction to stress and pleasing others was on overdrive.

I knew something had to change when sending my kids into the school system just didn’t resonate for them or myself at all.

I knew they would thrive being able to follow their own education and learning on their own terms.

Diving deep into homeschooling was an integral lesson to my hidden self saboteurs of measure of self worth against societal standards.

To give away perceived success to …. stay at home and be with my kids?

But my heart and soul would not be quiet.

It required me to change. As I read about home education philosophies, strongly entwined amongst the words was the reclamation of motherhood. The importance and significance of nourishing and nurturing small minds, as well as our own.

To slow down and to soften.

Knowing that I had to reprogram my thoughts and beliefs from the ground up, I invested in working through my addictions to stress, other people’s opinions, and ticking off the to do list.

And over time, things changed. I changed.

I stopped overthinking, worrying, and trying to prove myself.

I stopped comparing myself against ‘others’.

And I started dropping into my heart and listening to within. I started slowing down.

I became more confident speaking up on centering children. That we can’t talk about what is best for women without also looking at what is best for our children as well.

To be proud of the significance of the role we are here to play. How we shift and evolve as our children do as well.

The importance of mothers, and trusting the innate instinctual that we have to protect, grow, and nurture our children.

Even when it goes against western society’s norms.

It required total surrender, deep faith, trust in myself, kindness and compassion, as well as a shitload of courage.

Reclaiming motherhood has absolutely been a journey that I’ve been on. I’ve resisted daily with what society has viewed motherhood as, and what it means for me as a woman, how it’s portrayed in media and reflected throughout society, priming the subconscious where we feel we are constantly battling something unseen and not understood but deeply felt.

We turn the tables on what we are fed by our societal influences, and instead focus on what it is we truly want.

Becoming aware is the first step. What stories have you been sold about what motherhood is? What resonates, and what doesn’t?

The second step is connecting in with what the highest vision could be for you and your family. If you didn’t have to worry about time, money, or other people’s expectations, what do you know in your heart of hearts, is the best for your family?

What we focus on, we attract.

So I invite you to do an audit on what social cues you are currently receiving that may not be conducive to a harmonious family environment that you are truly craving. One that matches what your vision of motherhood is.

Motherhood by heart – connecting in with your heart frequency and listening to the whisperings within.

About Anna:

Anna Grillo is a Mindset Mentor, Soul Connector & Holistic Business Strategist, helping well-being practitioners and purpose driven professionals transform fear and doubt into unlimited peace, joy, and ease.

When she’s not home educating her kids, she combines her well-being experience as an EFT Practitioner, Kinesiologist, Spiritual Companion, Freedom From Self Sabotage Coach with over twenty years of corporate human resources, business strategy, and leadership development to support those who have the courage to realise the highest version of themselves so they can create a soul led location independent lifestyle.

Follow Anna:

True Self Website

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Why I Don’t Recommend Following The Food Pyramid

January 11, 2021 · Leave a Comment

Why I Don’t Recommend Following The Food Pyramid

by Lisa Moane

Many Australians have grown up with guides like the Healthy Eating Food Pyramid. But if you want to make sure you and your family is eating the healthiest diet possible, I do not recommend using the Food Pyramid. Why I Don’t Recommend Following The Food Pyramid

Let’s take a closer look at why the Food Pyramid is not the best option, and what I suggest using instead.

♥ Dairy and grains are over-represented

The sections for dairy and grains are much bigger than what is ideal in a nutritious diet. Dairy has its own food group, even though you can get every nutrient found in dairy elsewhere.

Grains add a significant amount of calories and carbohydrates to the diet, but often not much in terms in micronutrients. Again, the key nutrients in grains such as B vitamins and fibre are found in abundance in other foods.

So why are these two food groups put at the same level as protein sources, fruit and vegetables? Simply because they are cheap. Grains and dairy have become staple foods because they are what people can afford to buy.

Unfortunately, the foods that give you a substantial amount of calories for a low price tag are often not the best for you nutritionally. If you are on a tight budget, I’ve got some tips here.

♥ It’s not designed for optimal wellbeing or supporting illness

Do you think that following the Food Pyramid means you’ll get plenty of essential nutrients? That is often not the case. The recommendations are based on RDIs that are far from the ideal amount of any nutrient.

The Pyramid was also not designed for people who have any chronic health concerns. This seems short-sighted, given the high rate of chronic disease in the Australian population! So if you or a family member have any significant health concerns, this tool is not appropriate.

♥ It takes years for the Pyramid to reflect what we know about nutrition

The majority of nutritionists have known for years that the low-fat approach is not healthy or balanced. But it took until 2015 for the Food Pyramid to be updated regarding fat intake. Even the latest version emphasises low fat products and doesn’t recognise how critical healthy fats are.

In many ways, the Food Pyramid is constantly out of date – it does not reflect the latest nutrition research available.

♥ Everyone has unique dietary needs

Everybody is different in terms of what they need and what doesn’t suit them. For some, a lower carbohydrate approach is best. For others, there may be allergies or intolerances that mean foods need to be removed. What you need also depends on your goals.

The Food Pyramid simply cannot offer enough guidance to allow for personalised nutrition. It cannot guide you about what to eat if your child has ADHD or autism and refuses food. Nor can it tell you that a child with asthma may need to go dairy-free. This is where working with a qualified nutritionist is the best option.

♥ What about the Australian Guide To Healthy Eating?

Another diet guideline I’m often asked about is the Australian Guide To Healthy Eating. This plate-based approach has many of the same issues as the food pyramid.

The grain-based foods make up nearly 1/3 of the plate – more than the vegetable and legumes section! It contains a dairy section that emphasises low-fat, and the fats section includes canola and margarine.

If you followed these guidelines as a template for how you eat, you would not get enough key nutrients.

♥ What do I recommend instead?

When it comes to you or your child, there are a few steps that I often recommend:

Focus on adding in nutrient-dense foods – the more nutritious wholefoods that you include into your diet, the more essential nutrients you give your body. For many, it’s easier to add in foods rather than taking the less healthy foods out. Examples of nutrient dense foods include berries, organ meats and eggs. For more about the best foods to add into your child’s diet, check out this article.

Switch processed foods for healthier alternatives – what if the go-to staples in your house include cereal, flavoured yoghurt and biscuits? In this case, it can be easier to switch for better alternatives. That way, it’s not a huge change to make and is more likely to stick! You can find my favourite swaps for kids here.

Work towards a nutritious day on a plate – for those who do better with visual tools like the food pyramid, this is my go-to. It emphasises nutrient-dense foods such as organ meats, vegetables, fermented foods and water. As with any guide, it does need to be tailored based on the needs and any intolerances or allergies. But it’s a great starting point for parents to start offering better balanced meals.

Do you struggle with feeding your child a variety of healthy foods? Why I Don’t Recommend Following The Food Pyramid

About Lisa:

Lisa Moane is a qualified Nutritionist, Food Scientist and GAPS practitioner.

Lisa works with children and families to restore their health and wellbeing. Her focus is always to get to the root cause of disease, and embrace symptoms as vital clues in this journey.

Lisa has a special interest in children’s health, gut health and auto-immune disease.

Her training as an engineer and food scientist makes her a natural problem solver, putting all the pieces of the health puzzle together and finding a workable solution.

Lisa runs a busy practice in the Illawarra, seeing clients in person and virtually, across Australia.

Follow Lisa:

Holistic Health By Lisa Moane Website

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How to do a $10 Christmas

December 1, 2019 · Leave a Comment

We had a $10 Christmas last year and it was so wonderful, that we are adopting this tradition for ever more.

I haven’t really seen a $10 Christmas concept around so when I asked on socials if anyone was interested in hearing about it, the response was overwhelming!

So here we are, I am going to share with you our tips and gift ideas to create your own $10 Christmas tradition.

“A recent Australian survey by McCrindle Research has shown that 78.5% of Australians have received a present that they didn’t want. 13.7% of people will throw away these unwanted presents – meaning they go unused from manufacturer to landfill.” ~ Clean Up Australia

Why did we do a $10 Christmas?

Basically we were fed up with ‘stuff’ and the gross consumerism of Christmas!

As a family we have long been conscious consumers and our Christmases have always been very low-key.

Last year in December, we had decluttered, downsized and moved to a smaller house. I suggested we cut back even further and limit gift purchases to ten dollars or under.

Luckily the family thought it was a brilliant idea. We were all keen to avoid adding loads more stuff back into our new house!

Why stress?

I know that for many people, gift giving has become a ridiculously stressful ordeal. There are expectations of a certain dollar spend, having to buy for lots of people, actually getting to the shops and doing all the shopping and then wrapping everything, having anxiety about what to buy and if the recipient will like it and use it and more! Then the credit card bill arrives in January just before the school expenses begin.

I think that all that stress, anxiety and overwhelm start to over-ride the joy of gift giving and gifts can become infused with negative energy. There was a time when kids were happy to just get an orange for Christmas in their stocking! Christmas can be simply a lovely family time to spend together and celebrate, not a huge spending spree that ends up in debt.

Keep it simple

My first tip is to scale right back and keep it very simple. We limit the gift buying to just the immediate family. This year we have decided to go even thriftier and make the gifts from each couple, not individuals.

Have a chat to the extended family and see what you can work out. Maybe you could do a $10 Kris Kringle if the aunts and uncles still want in or maybe just buy for the kids.

Cheap doesn’t mean nasty

I was very adamant that buying $10 gifts didn’t mean we were going to buy cheap AND nasty stuff. Just budget-friendly stuff!

By nasty stuff, I mean anything poor quality or novelty that will end up unused and unwanted in landfill and anything unethical that was so cheap that someone, somewhere was exploited.

Second-hand is a winner

For some reason, giving a pre-loved gift seems to come with a stigma of being stingy. Not in our family! We actively celebrate the amazing things we have found for under $10 and congratulate each other on the find.

Check out your local op shop (find my tips here for op shopping), vintage stores, buy swap and sell groups, Facebook marketplace and places like Reverse Garbage and tip shops. You can find lots of things still in original packaging if second-hand bothers you. We don’t buy anything that’s in poor condition or grotty! A quick wash or polish can be needed though.

Op shopping is a little bit harder than regular shopping as it’s lucky dip! If you can devote half a day, visit a few op shops and see what’s on offer. Many times you will find three or four op shops conveniently located together. If I am out and about on errands, I will pop in and have a quick look in my local shops to see what new stuff they have in. If you want to get really serious, visit those more affluent suburbs where the quality of donations tends to be better.

You can also regift anything received throughout the year that you don’t have a use for. I keep a basket in a cupboard for these and then either regift or donate.

Ideas for gifts $10 and under

The family and I find the challenge of gifting amazing things under $10 lots of fun! You do have to be a bit more creative and think outside the box.

Here is a list of things that we gifted each other and some other ideas you could do as well.

Books. Many book shops will have a great selection of books under $10 – check out those pop ups where everything is $5 or $7. My daughter found a beautiful set of animal oracle cards for $7 and I found a book on numerology for my son’s partner at QBD for $10. QBD also have a whole online section of discounted books under $10. Second hand book shops and op shops are great for books too. My mum received a brand new Food Safari cookbook from me last year and it only cost $4!

Toys. Depending on their age, kids won’t notice if their toy is second hand or new. Op shops always have a selection of toys, board games, sporting equipment and sometimes electronics for kids. I found my son a ‘Star Wars Family Feud’ board game for $2 which has provided us with lots of laughs. You could also hold a ‘Toy Swap’ with some friends and get free toys! Older kids and teens are able to understand the eco implications of too much stuff and hopefully will be on board with the plan. It could also be a fantastic learning tool to research things for their wish list that meet the $10 requirement. We tend to make Christmas low key and birthdays a bit more special with gifts up to $50, so that could be a new tradition in your house too that keeps the kids happy.

DIY Beauty Products. These are very easy and fun to make. My daughter made us all a beautiful lavender body scrub in upcycled glass jars last year. Krissy Ballinger has an awesome book, The Inspired Little Pot with all sorts of easy recipes for DIY beauty and home products including these gorgeous bath bombs. I am using her lip balm recipe to make a gift for my son’s partner this year. You can personalise it with some cute labels and different essential oils.

Plants. My son chose an easy option last year and just went to the local nursery and bought everyone a plant! New plants are always welcome.

Food. It really can be as simple as a box of chocolates, tin of special tea or basket of fresh cherries. If you have time, make a big batch of something yummy, pop it into some glass jars and whack on a Christmasy ribbon or a bit of twine and foliage. Here are 25 Real Food Homemade gift ideas to get you started.

DIY Gifts. Okay, this does take a bit more time and effort, but things lovingly made are such treasures. You don’t even have to be that crafty or clever – there are loads of ideas out there that are very easy to execute. Here are a few to get you inspired. It can also be as simple as a photograph or postcard in a nice frame.

Handmade. Have a browse around your local markets for beautiful things made by hand.

Eco-friendly. My favourite eco stores have whole sections online devoted to budget gifts. Check out the soaps and tote bags at Biome.

Clothes and Jewellery. This is where op shops really come into their own! For this year’s Christmas, I found my son a Politix business shirt and a Mossimo t-shirt for $6 and $2.50 respectively. A quick google online shows the value of these as around $150 and $30. They are in perfect condition. I also found two nice pairs of pants for my mum for a combined total of $6.00. A few months ago, the op shop gods delivered a Spell dress for $5! I really should have saved that for my daughter for Christmas but I was too excited and gave it to her! This year she is getting a gorgeous aventurine necklace and bracelet set from the op shop which was half price and exactly $10.

Homewares. Again op shops and Facebook marketplace are amazing for quality homewares at a fraction of their retail price. Last week at my local op shop, I found a stainless steel coffee moka pot for $4 and an insulated drink thermos in original packaging for $6. Most kitchen shops would at least have cute coffee cups under $10.

Other stuff. I could keep going and be here all day, but I’ll wrap this up for you with a few other things we have gifted. I found my son a large Reebok sports bag as new for $6, my mum got me some teeny bird statues for the garden, we found a new wooden painting easel for my daughter on Facebook marketplace for $5 (although I ended up giving the lady $10 because it really was worth a lot!).

When it comes to wrapping gifts, we use Santa Sacks (basically fabric bags in Christmas prints) that we have had for years. I pop them out on Christmas Eve and everyone adds their gifts (without peeking in!).

On Christmas morning, we all get our bag and take it in turns to pull out one gift each. It’s really lovely and mindful and we all get to see and appreciate each gift instead of it being a frenzied free for all. Here are some more ideas for eco-friendly gift wrapping.

This is my Christmas shopping all done for the year as mentioned throughout the article. Seven gifts, three op shops, two hours and all for under $45. Yes, I am loving myself sick!!! 😉

How do I get the family onboard?

I think once you explain all the benefits of a $10 Christmas to your family and present it as a fun challenge, they can see that it’s a great idea. If anyone is resistant, they are totally fine to do what they want to do but you can still go ahead with your plans to gift them a $10 gift! Here are some great tips to navigate gift giving with the extended family.

What do you think? Would you give the $10 Christmas a go? I found it so fun and so liberating. Best of all, I love that I don’t have a huge credit card bill due in January! I hope these tips and ideas have given you some inspiration and a starting point. Let me know if you have any questions!

If you are up for the challenge, I would love you to tag me on socials and show off what you’ve come up with and what your ideas are. You can also use the hashtag #atendollarchristmas

How to do a $10 Christmas

Want to read more?

How to do a $10 Christmas

Check out my eco-friendly tips for a very green Christmas.

Top ten tips for a Stress-Free Christmas.

Here is Lindsey from Treading My Own Path on why she completely opts out of Christmas.