little. lovely. - Life's better when you add a little lovely.

Basil pesto + Electrolux Turbo Pro stick mixer giveaway

I was watching this lovely video by Tiger In A Jar recently and had the urge to make pesto. I love fresh pesto, especially in a ricotta lasagne. Ricotta lasagne is one of those dishes I love so much that I make it with a frequency which makes my little family sigh slightly at dinner time. ("Oh not this again.") 

I love the utilitarianism of the Tiger In A Jar method of making pesto, but I have to admit I'm more of a modern girl when it comes to making pesto myself.

I prefer to use a stick mixer to make pesto because it's less mess and fuss so when Electrolux contacted me to see if I would like to try their TURBO Pro stick mixers my mind immediately thought of making basil pesto. 

Using the TURBO Pro stick mixer made maxing pesto so quick - and washing up a whole lot easier.

I also have one of their Electrolux TURBO Pro stick mixers valued at $139 to give away. You'll love how the TURBO Pro stick mixer helps you take your cooking to the next level - whether you're whisking an egg, grinding up a curry paste or blending your favourite icy cold summer cocktail.

To enter join our facebook page and leave a comment below telling me what you would cook with the Electrolux TURBO Pro stick mixer.  

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Terms and Conditions: A comment will entitle the reader to one entry in the giveaway. One comment per person. Competition opens 8:00am Thursday 8th November and closes 5:00pm Thursday 22 November 2012. One winner will be chosen at random on Friday 23rd November and the winner's name will be published on this post.

Brownie Easter Eggs

Easter is upon us and I've started gathering the bits and pieces I affectionately call 'the little details' that (I hope) turn holidays into really special times our children will remember.

I ordered these real chocolate filled eggs (which are now on sale) for our celebrations. Then I found this recipe for... brownie filled eggs.

Making them seems so much more special than having simply bought them, so I'm going to suggest my Mum and I make these together while we're staying with her over Easter. 

Some of the best memories I have are of cooking with my mother when recipes went disasterously wrong and we stood doubled over in the kitchen laughing at the results.

Our most recent cooking experience together was assembling this cake and while it turned out perfectly, I'll always remember how we giggled at the height of the cake as we put it together it in the wee hours of the morning before Charlotte's party.

You can find the recipe for the chocolate brownie eggs here. (Scroll down to find the English translation.) 

Little kitchen: How to make nut milk

My New Roots - How to Make Nut Milk from My New Roots on Vimeo.

We try to eat organic, local produce as much as we can but the truth is that this choice can leave a serious hole in your wallet. Even so, I notice a difference in our health and wellbeing when we cook and consume this type of produce. 

Of late, I've especially enjoyed adding almond milk to my cooking in place of dairy. But at nine dollars a litre it's expensive and it seems a shame to consider milk a luxury.

So, I was especially excited to find this video on one of my favourite blogs, My New Roots. (It's a fabulous blog, with beautiful photography that focuses on making healthy choices, every day.)

It's only a minute and a half long and even if you're not into the whole organic way of life it's worth watching just for the aesthetics alone.

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Tell me, do you eat organically, or do you think it's a waste of time?

Free back to school printables

Every Monday, I find myself trying to come up with fun, healthy items for Hunter & Charlotte's preschool lunchboxes.

Recently, I created a series of sandwich belly wraps to help make their lunchboxes more exciting. They turn the most boring of sandwiches into something a little more special.

These free printables are really easy to use - you won't need any special paper or tools. Simply download the PDF, print onto plain white paper, cut out and secure around the belly of your sandwich.

There are a range of special messages including "Your first day of school" (available in pink or blue), "Bon appetit" and "Goodluck" or; sandwich fillings including "Vegemite" (for the Aussies), "Peanut butter", "Ham and chees" and "salad".

If there's a special message or sandwich filling you would like to include in your children's lunchbox email me and I'll send it to you for free.

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Conditions of Use: All little. lovely. downloads are subject to our Terms & Conditions. Downloads are for personal, non-commercial use only. Please do not redistribute or modify any of the templates. Planning to use these on your blog or website? I'm really flattered. If you do, please link directly to this post, rather than to the PDF file. Thank you!

Playing kitchen

Playing with these crocheted toy rattles is an easy way to make sure your children get an adequate serving of fruit and vegetables every day. 

Available from Our Shop.