My Tots100 Printerpix competition entry

Tots100 and Printerpix currently have a wonderful competition running with the top prize being a Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ200 camera and £100 to spend with Printerpix.  There are four runners up prizes of a large framed photo or canvas print.  To enter you just need to submit your favourite family photo.  It ends on the 22nd of February and is open to all registered Tots100 members.  You can find out more about the competition here

I hope I am entering my photo in the right category.  The categories are as follows:

• Babies Under 2
• Children aged 2-4
• Children aged 5+
• Family Portraits

I think I will opt for the 'Children aged 5+' category as I don't feel my photo fits the 'Family portraits' section as I would expect more people in the photo.  My boys are 4 and 10 years old, so I will go with entering this photo in the 'Children aged 5+.'

This photo is my favourite as it's my two son's venturing out on a long autumn walk together, nicely kitted up for the cold weather we were experiencing.  My husband and I walked behind them and it was a proud feeling seeing our children enjoy the magic of long walks in the forest.

To me this photo sums up everything about my hopes and dreams for them.  I hope they will always be united and always be there for each other on the long road ahead.  I hope they will always find the magic and beauty in nature and appreciate the pleasure it can bring.  More than anything I hope they will not only be brothers, but true friends.

This post is Sarah's entry into the Printerpix photo competition.

Tots100 MoneySupermarket That’s My Hero competition

This post is an entry into the Tots 100 Moneysupermarket That's My Hero competition!  

Moneysupermarket's new TV advert is all about Alan, who jets off into space and becomes his son's hero, so this month Tots100 and Moneysupermarket have launched a competition to write a blog post about your child's hero.

I asked my four year old and his answer this week was 'a big scary monster'; asked why his response was "because they are big and scary and can frighten people; and can get rid of baddies."

Here's his drawing:

 Isn't it funny what children can deem as a hero?

If you would like to enter the competition, please head here

Flippin' good fun!

Dear Confused.com,

Thank you for your interesting post on pancakes.  I was intrigued to find out that by cooking pancakes I am actually moneysaving:

Meal	Time	Energy Used	Cost *
Oven cooked dinner	60 mins	1.2kw/h	17p
Microwave meal	10 mins	.75 kw/h	2p
Pancake on the hob	2 mins	1.2kw/h	1p

Read more: http://www.confused.com/gas-electricity/articles/pancake-challenge-competition#ixzz2KzBjVqsi

But did you also know that you can even make pancakes in a slow cooker?  Admittedly, it will be a big giant one, but you can cut it up and we all know how economical a slow cooker is!  It will even save you the worry of burning the pancakes or any 'flipping' disasters!  What's even easier is that you can do your measuring using a cup. If you don't like using rough measurements, a cup is equal to roughly 240ml.  Here's a link to a great recipe

Anyway, lots of fun was had making creative pancakes this Pancake Day.  Here's what we made:

 Pancake Day is never complete to me without a bottle of golden syrup and lots of fresh fruit.  

Firstly we created a giant sun pancake.  Simply made by making a plain pancake, using bananas for the eyes and a blueberry for the nose and chocolate sauce for the mouth and eyebrows.  The rays were made by alternating laying strawberries upside/downside.  It was great fun for my son to see a plain pancake turn in to something that looked quite comical. This pancake also didn't require much cooking skill, so it's a great project for children to help out with.

 The sun pancake was a big hit and everyone enjoyed eating him.  He was so big he required a punnet of strawberries to complete his rays of sunshine.

Being huge Toy Story fans, our next pancake was Mr Potato Head.  Again, this just required me to make a plain pancake and the decorating could be done in the main part by my four year old. 

 The following pancakes were ideas taken from the book 'OMG pancakes' by Jim Belosic and they were surprisingly easy to do.  They just required the use of a squirty bottle; you then had to draw the various shapes on the pan.  My son thought the creations were wonderful.  I have never seen him eat pancakes so quickly.

Elephant

 Dog

 Noughts and crosses.

The spaghetti was made by drizzling the plain batter around the pan and the meatballs were formed by making circles on the pan with pink batter.

 This one just required the addition of food colourings.  The eggs were made in two parts.

 This unicorn was made by drawing on the pan with various coloured batters and the addition of fruit and choc chips.

The children loved the creations and showed much more interest in them than the plain old pancakes we normally have each year.

Thank you Confused.com for the fun challenge!  If any of my readers would like to take part in the challenge you have until February the 28th to do so.  You can read more about the challenge here

Ready, steady, FLIP with Center Parcs’ February Pancake Day challenge!

Center Parcs is one of my favourite places in the world.  We have made so many magical memories as a family there that it is somewhere I hold dear in my heart.  When I think of Center Parcs I think of fresh air, forest walks, being at one with nature, beautiful scenery and quality time with the family.  So I was rather excited to be able to take part in their bloggers challenge for this month; which was to get creative with pancakes.

We always love to get creative when we go to Center Parcs; The Pottery Painting Studio being one of our favourite places.

I particularly love the above photos of our time at Center Parcs and so when I first ventured in to creating some novelty pancakes on Pancake Day, it was this photo I had in my mind to recreate.  This is what I created:

 It's certainly not what I had in my mind, but as far as making a picture with pancakes, I was pretty pleased with my first attempt. This was just made by using various squirty bottles filled with different coloured batter. I achieved the colours by mixing food colouring to the batter.  The picture is meant to represent my husband and son walking through the forest at Center Parcs.  To emphasise the magic we feel at Center Parcs, I thought I would add on a bit of edible glitter.  Unfortunately I was a bit too heavy-handed and half the pot fell out, so it looks more like a fireworks event at Center Parcs now.

 I don't think the pancake looks particularly appetising and I didn't really fancy serving it up to anyone due to the large amount of edible glitter on it.  If I was to remake the pancake I would probably add in peppermint essence to the tree and maybe a strawberry flavouring to the red colouring.  But this was my first attempt and it inspired me to carry on being creative throughout the day.

Here are some of the other pancakes I thoroughly enjoyed making.  My four year old enjoyed helping with the decorating too (using strawberries, choc chips, blueberries and bananas).

Pancake Day is never complete to me without a bottle of golden syrup and lots of fresh fruit.  

Firstly we created a giant sun pancake.  Simply made by making a plain pancake, using bananas for the eyes and a blueberry for the nose and chocolate sauce for the mouth and eyebrows.  The rays were made by alternating laying strawberries upside/downside.  It was great fun for my son to see a plain pancake turn in to something that looked quite comical. This pancake also didn't require much cooking skill, so it's a great project for children to help out with.

The sun pancake was a big hit and everyone enjoyed eating him.  He was so big he required a punnet of strawberries to complete his rays of sunshine.

Being huge Toy Story fans, our next pancake was Mr Potato Head.  Again, this just required me to make a plain pancake and the decorating could be done in the main part by my four year old. 

 The following pancakes were ideas taken from the book 'OMG pancakes' by Jim Belosic and they were surprisingly easy to do.  They just required the use of a squirty bottle; you then had to draw the various shapes on the pan.  My son thought the creations were wonderful.  I have never seen him eat pancakes so quickly.

Elephant

Dog

 Noughts and crosses

This one just required the addition of food colourings.  The eggs were made in two parts.

The spaghetti was made by drizzling the plain batter around the pan and the meatballs were formed by making circles on the pan with pink batter.

 This unicorn was made by drawing on the pan with various coloured batters and the addition of fruit and choc chips.

The children loved the creations and showed much more interest in them than the plain old pancakes we normally have each year.

Thank you Center Parcs for the fun challenge!  If any of my readers would like to take part in the challenge you have until February the 22nd to do so.  You can read more about the challenge here.  I look forward to next months!

Novelty Pancakes for Pancake Day

Phew!  It's been a long day of pancake making but I am really pleased with the results.  Last year I couldn't cook an average pancake and this year I have produced something I can be proud of...

Last year I had the same big ideas in my head, but just couldn't translate that to the pan. My pancakes stuck and ripped at the first attempt; I gave up disheartened and deflated.

This year Lakeland sent me a griddle pan and some squeezy bottles to review.  In return I offered to provide my honest opinion on the products and blog about my attempt to produce some novelty pancakes.  I didn't believe I could possibly be feeling as satisfied as I am writing this blog post, but I will let you see the results for yourself.....


Why are we making pancakes anyway?

Shrove Tuesday is just around the corner and it's interesting to know how Shrove Tuesday originated.  

Taken from Wiki: Shrove Tuesday (also known as Fat Tuesday, Mardi Gras, Pancake Tuesday and Pancake Day) is the day preceding Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent. Shrove Tuesday is determined by Easter; its date changes annually.

The expression "Shrove Tuesday" comes from the word shrive, meaning "confess."^[1]Related popular practices are associated with celebrations before the fasting and religious obligations associated with the penitential season of Lent. The term Mardi gras is French for Fat Tuesday, referring to the practice of the last night of eating richer, fatty foods before the ritual fasting of the Lenten season, which begins on Ash Wednesday.

I used the following recipe for my pancakes:

• 225g / 8 oz plain flour or all-purpose flour
• Pinch salt
• 2 large, fresh eggs
• 600ml / 2½ cups/ milk
• 2 tsp melted butter plus melted butter for cooking

This was easily mixed together and I knew as soon as the first lot of batter hit the griddle pan that this pancake making session was going to be a success.

The Swift Flat Griddle Pan costs £52.99 and is worth every penny.  The weightiness of the pan immediately made it feel an item of quality and the fact that not one of my pancakes stuck to the pan, speaks volumes about the abilities of the non-stick coating.  It works on all hobs including induction and is perfect for any novice pancake makers. If I can achieve what I have on this pan on my first attempt, I feel inspired as to what else I can create using it. It's heavy gauge construction allows the heat to be evenly distributed so that everything cooks evenly and the handles made moving the pancakes a breeze.

The options for using the pan are endless as it can be used for welsh cakes, pizzas, cooked breakfasts and even steaks. 

The next essential for novelty pancake making is squeezy bottles.  They are available in packs of two and cost just £3.39.  If you want to be able to do the more complicated pancakes that feature further down this page then this is what you need.  I loved the speed that the batter came out of the holes of these bottles as it was just the right medium to be able to draw on the pancake designs.  They were easy to clean out afterwards too.

My first pancake I made was this lovely Sunshine pancake.

This was made by making an average sized pancake and then chopping up lots of strawberries.  Strawberries have to be laid down in an alternate upside/downside pattern.  I chopped bananas for the eyes and used a blueberry for the nose.  I used chocolate sauce to add detail.

 He was gobbled up soon after this!

Next we have a Mr Potato Head pancake.

This was made by making an average sized pancake and then using blueberries, aerosol cream, oranges and strawberries for decoration.

He was a big hit with my son!

 The noughts and crosses design needed to be drawn on the pan using the squirty bottles.

My first complex pancake.  The design had to be drawn on the pan using the squeezy bottles.  Chocolate chips were used for the eyes.

 Little dog!

 I'm very proud of my bacon and egg pancakes.  These were achieved by adding red and orange food colouring to the batter mix.  

Spaghetti and meatballs.

And lastly a unicorn.

It's amazing what the right tools can do, a good pan and some squirty bottles and you will be able to achieve anything!  

For more information on the products please visit www.lakeland.co.uk and have a lovely Pancake Day!