I Should Be Cleaning My Kitchen, But...

This is Charlie the Wonderdog. He says "rowf!" Actually this picture is kind of old (in it he was four or five months old and he's now 10 months) but it's a fairly accurate representation of what you can expect to see him doing at any given point in the day, including now. Good Lord that dog sleeps!

In other news...

Talented Hubby has been working so hard lately. He's had a lot of difficult (emotionally, professionally) situations at work lately and that can get a person down after a while. But he handles it well - far better than I, that's for sure. I'm very proud of him...and we're both looking foward to getting away in a few weeks.

I made a Shepherd's Pie last night. While not a disaster, it certainly didn't knock my socks off either. For some reason, Shepherd's Pie/Cottage Pie escapes my culinary repertoire. You would think it would be easy, right? It's just beef mince (ground beef), spices, thickening-something-or-other (usually flour) and vegies. But I've never found one I'm entirely happy with. One day...

No garden this year :( I'm quite disappointed about that but will save up my pennies and plant next year. I was really looking forward to fresh tomatoes too, darn it.

Did I tell you all I succumbed to my inner fifteen-year-old and purchased Seasons 1 & 2 of Dr Quinn, Medicine Woman? I didn't? It's kind of funny, and I'm copping a fair bit of good-natured ribbing from most of my relatives, but I am loving it. I remember sitting down to watching this show as a teen with my mother - I believe it was on a Saturday? - and now Moo is sitting down with me watching it (co-incidentally, I did the same thing with Jane Austen movies, just like my mother did with me, and I'm happy to report I have a cute little Darcy-swooning daughter on my hands, LOL) We talk about 'girl business', like how romantic it is that Sully followed Dr Mike all the way to Boston, or what prejudice is (Native Americans, African Americans, migrants are all covered). Okay, so that last part isn't specific to girls and in actual fact Boof (who is 9 and far more worldly in his own eyes) has frequently provided some good debating material along these lines, but I'm quite enjoying it all. There are certain parts I'm not so crazy about - the girls in the saloon (although less because of what they do - as that is never really elaborated on - but more so because of the 'W' term used to describe them. I don't allow her to watch episodes that have Myra - saloon girl - as the focus) and there was one episode that focused on the racist exploits of the 'clan' (don't want to use common term as I don't fancy weeding through the Twitter spammers later, sigh). But most of the time the show is tame and sweet, and at least tends to paint the questionable aspects in a moral light (for example, they had an episode about gambling, but the character in question had a deserved fall from grace because of it).

Moo and I have particularly liked watching the budding romance of Dr Mike and Sully. I remember being completely enamored with Joe Lando when I was a teen and there may even have been a teen mag-style poster of him resplendent as Sully adorning my ceiling at one point -- but we won't mention that again, 'kay? LOL. I'd forgotten how cute it is to watch a romance blossom naturally on screen as it did back, well, before the internet really took off and TV had to ramp up the sexual material to compete. As old-fashioned as this might be, I'm glad Moo's being exposed to a romance - yes, even this young (she's 7 ½) - that focuses on things like courting and protection and old world charm.

I'm nothing if not a tragic romantic, LOL.

The only downside? Of the 6 seasons (150 episodes, plus 2 TV movies - and yes, I 'Wiki-ed' it because hello? That's how tragically and geekily involved I am :P) only 2 are so far available on DVD down here, with the 3rd coming in October and gosh-knows when for the remaining three. I've already used up all birthday and Christmas presents for this year when I bought this, so I'm going to have to raid the change jar when the time comes!

You may all laugh at my television viewing choices...now.

Bikes, DIY, God Signs & Japanese Chimps

Happy weekend guys! Did you miss me? Let's kick things off right away:

DIY Meal Planner Frame (Perfect Sentiment) - I'm rather taken by this whole idea. Must. Implement. Soon.

Rain Gutter Book Shelves Tutorial (Raising Olives) - This is so cool! I'd do this if I thought Talented Hubby would let me...

Dry Erase Calendar (Nannygoat) - Sort of similar to the first link, but I love how the idea can be adapted to just about anything, turning what would normally be an ordinary thing into something quite special.

Asking God For A Sign (Conversion Diary) - I have so been there :)

Story Dice (Scribbit) - What a sweet gift to give to a young one! (I especially love the variation for the non-artistic, LOL)

The Bike Raffle (The Meanest Mom) - Laughed till I cried. Mostly because this is pretty much my family.

And finally this...it's in Japanese but it had Talented Hubby and I in hysterics!


See you on Monday!

Trying To Crawl Out Of The "Meh"

Okay, so even though it's winter right now, our winters do not include - obviously - Christmas trees or snow. Winter snow elsewhere in Australia? Sure. Not in my city though. Which means the above pic isn't a very accurate graphical representation of my current situation. I just think it's cute.

Moving on...LOL.

I have been battling a fairly severe case of the "blog blahs" these past couple of weeks. All of August actually. I'm working on it, I really am, but the interesting thing I've learned recently is that life really does go on when one doesn't blog. Don't worry, I'm not about to shut up shop, LOL. But I am finding it far less stress-inducing to keep to a 'whenever the urge strikes' kind of schedule. I'm not in it for the ad revenue and I'm getting to the point where subscriber numbers and page hits bother me less and less. I blog because I find it fun. So this 'everyday' thing? Lovely in theory, a bit impractical in reality - at least for me. The ease of twittering the day's trivialities instead of blogging about them does make it the laziest choice!

So what's been going on these past couple of weeks?

Boof sat a national mathematics competition test last week and even though we won't know the results for a few more weeks, we think he did well. This was a totally optional thing but was right up Boof's alley so he jumped at the chance. Atta boy!

We booked and paid for our trip to Sydney in a few weeks. The trip is about three-quarters "Good Lord we need a BREAK!" and one-quarter "Happy 30th birthday Lizzie!" The weather will be warming up into spring but not too hot. Talented Hubby is busy planning all the photo opportunities and I'm busy freaking out about the plane ride (I don't do planes well, LOL). But it will be great and we're really looking forward to the break, something we don't do nearly often enough. What we are NOT enjoying? The fact that it will cost about as much for 6 days as it did for BOTH of us to fly, stay AND eat breakfast daily when we travelled to Bali in 2000. Okay, so the then-recent civil disturbances in neighbouring East Timor kind of bumped the price down, but still. It's very hard to see a 'per night' hotel tariff for Sydney and not automatically convert that to a comparable "cheap Bali t-shirts" figure, sigh. When we went to Bali we took what we thought was a modest amount of spending money and still came home with over half of it - and we bought a LOT of stuff. But Sydney is a place that neither TH or I have been since we were wee things and I know the lure of Taronga Zoo is too strong to resist for my photography-mad husband. I mean, we don't even have ELEPHANTS at our city zoo...and they have a baby one!

Also, I am sick. No specific reason. Though weirdly, my legs hurt. I think it's because my friend C and I got stuck in the torrential rain yesterday which was then capped off by severe wind, freezing our wet denim legs into icicles. My legs feel like they've been run over and haven't felt truly warm since, despite being in dry clothes the second I got home. So yeah, legs that don't work properly and no doubt, a cold coming. Auuugh. I took some classic photos with my mobile phone, including one particularly amusing one with C using her 1yo son's parka as a rain hat, but she made me promise not to blog it. Actually, she threatened me with an unflattering Facebook retaliation so I had to concede defeat, LOL.

The poor dog - the wind had been blowing the rain inside his kennel all day so by the time I got home he was saturated and shivering and I felt horrible. That dog has never had so many cuddles and treats in one stretch as he did yesterday afternoon.

I promise I won't be such a stranger this week. No, really. As for now, I'm off to take some paracetamol and download a podcast or seven to make cleaning my kitchen far more palatable.

Mwah.

Using Google Reader As An Alternative To iTunes

Did you know that when it comes to podcasts, not everyone likes iTunes? It's true.

I find it tedious and awkward to download podcasts the traditional way. I don't want to subscribe to them via iTunes (which automatically begins downloading any queued podcasts the next time you open the program) for two main reasons.

1. I sometimes only have the time to 'cherry pick' individual episodes that look interesting, rather than the whole kit-and-kaboodle (some of which I may delete due to time restraints anyway).
   
   
2. I'm not in the habit of loading up iTunes terribly regularly, except when downloading specific songs. I don't use it as a music player very often as my song collection fits in its entirely on my iPod itself, and I prefer to use a jack plugged into our sound system rather than put up with the tinny efforts of the laptop speakers. So if I subscribe to a podcast via iTunes, it's quite possible I'll have thirty queued episodes, each an hour long, ready to go the next time I open up the program. This KILLS our internet download limit. And takes a sweet FOREVER.
   

So what's a podcast-loving, time-restrained gal to do? Look no further than Google Reader!

Now, I might be the last person on the planet to clue onto this fact, but Google Reader is useful for all sorts of reasons, some of which aren't related to reading blogs at all. I know, shocking. Anything with an RSS feed can be subscribed to via GR - including podcasts - but unlike iTunes, everything is done manually, rather than automatically. In my case, this is a GOOD thing.

Here's how I do it.

The first thing to remember is that not every random page URL will work. If you just want the podcast, and not the blog entries associated with the same site, then you need a unique podcast-only feed. Finding it isn't always as easy as it seems.

Nearly every blog or site out there will, of course, publish an RSS icon (or a text link) in some prominent location in order to subscribe to blog content, or if you have a browser that supports it, up there at the end of your address bar, you might see a mini RSS icon - it pops up whenever you're on a site that has a feed attached to it (if you look up there now, you'll see one up there to quickly sub to Lizzie's Home :) But for podcasts, there can be several different ways of finding that unique podcast feed.

Here are just a few that I've come across - not every site will be the same, but it will give you a jumping off point.

Level 1 ~ Podcasting Is My Day Job

If you're looking to use Google Reader to subscribe to a well-known or professional podcast, such as a major church's sermon series or to a radio show , then you're in luck. Most of these folks give clear links to their unique 'feed page', usually front-and-centre on their home page. Let's take your average Australian radio duo, Hamish & Andy (disclaimer: possible toilet humour on that one. Examples given are just the ones that came to mind first :)

(Click on each image to enlarge)

You don't even have to plug your brain in for this one. You just choose your preferred subscription service (iTunes and RSS both feature in this list) from the drop down menu...


...click on your standard Google subscription button...


...and Bob's your uncle.

Level 2 ~ Podcasts Are Important, Sure, But Isn't iTunes Easier?

Yes and no, LOL. I personally prefer to do things this way for all the reasons listed above, but that certainly doesn't mean everyone has to! Even websites which have podcasts as a large part of their offered media (a church site, for example), sometimes don't make it terribly easy to see there's life beyond the standard iTunes subscription button. Or at least they make it generally harder to find the unique podcast feeds.

Here's an example from Mars Hill Church.


Way down the bottom of their home page, there's a teeny tiny text link to 'Feeds' (sometimes, like this example, you'll need to go a-searchin' for that elusive link, and site maps can help if you can't seem to find what you're after first go).


Once you're there though, you have a ton of options. Mars Hill, like many similar sites, offers vodcasts as well as regular and music podcasts and lists each option's unique pod/vodcast feed link button on the one page - handy.


From here on out, it's the same deal as the first example. Click on button, all done.

Level 3 ~ If You Can Find It, Good Luck!

Every now and then, you'll come across a lesser-known, or poorly designed site that still offers a podcast you'd like to keep track of through Google Reader, but whose design makes it incredibly difficult to work out how to get that unique podcast feed.

KFUO radio station out of the States is a good example:


This is the home page. Funds - sourced directly through listener donations - clearly go into paying the station costs (and rightly so!) and not toward web design! After several months of diligently returning to the site each Tuesday to get a right-click-to-download link to the most recent podcast, I figured there had to be a better way.

But before we get into that, here's a good example of what happens when you take a random site's home page URL - even one who specializes in podcasting, such as KFUO - and try to put that into the subscription window in Google Reader (obviously, doing this for a blog would work perfectly, if being subscribed to the blog content is what you're after, but unique podcast feed URLs are a very different kettle of fish :)


This fails because the URL you put in isn't the unique podcast URL. So what do you do instead? Go back to the picture of the KFUO home page. There's a very small 'XML Podcast' link in the left hand menu, and it takes you here:


If the site offers multiple podcasts, as this one does, then they're generally collated and listed on a single page for ease.


Right click on the appropriate link, select 'copy' (or 'colour in' the text link, right-click and then copy)...


...and paste the URL into the Google Reader subscription box.


So...What Now?

So those are a few examples of how you can find, and subscribe to, the unique podcast feeds of sites that you love through Google Reader. Now what do you do with your new found power?

Since one of the main reasons I keep track of my podcasts this way is to kind of 'store' them until I'm ready to download them, I can happily go a couple of weeks just letting them build up. I have a 'Podcasts' folder set aside specifically to do this (if you look closely at some of the Google Reader shots, you might see it on the left) and currently subscribe to five unique feeds, one of which is a vodcast.

The best part? When I'm ready, I don't even need to return to the site itself to download the podcast.


To keep the podcasts out of my general 'unread' pool, I 'star' each one as it comes in, then click 'mark all as read'. This won't delete them, so don't freak out! It just removes them from your unread item count.


Clicking on the 'Starred Items' at the top of the left hand menu will bring up your whole list. When I do this, I usually have a few from each of my five podcasts, all jumbled up in order of when they were published.

Let's look at your average podcast subscription screenshot in Google Reader:


There's a convenient little player build in to each entry, and I'll use that sometimes for ease, but I generally prefer to download the podcasts to my computer so I can sync them up on my iPod later.

If you look closely at the picture, you'll see an 'Original Source' text link underneath the embedded player. Right-click, 'save target as' or 'save link as' and when the save window appears, choose your location on your computer, rename file if necessary and hit 'save'.

Wrapping Things Up

Perhaps you think this is a horribly convoluted way to achieve the same thing that can be done automatically via iTunes. You're right, sort of! If there's a podcast that you are 100% committed to (ie, would listen to every single episode) and you're the kind of person who plugs in their iPod each time they turn on the PC, then these methods may not make much sense to you. I personally find them brilliant for my needs :)

A wonderful side benefit of subscribing to podcasts in Google Reader is that, like regular blog subscriptions, the resulting list of past posts are a sort of handy, simple 'archive' list, sometimes going back months or even years. If the podcast site archives their programs, rather than remove them from the system (to be fair, some do, to save on the exorbitant hosting/bandwith costs - an hour long sermon can be HUGE) then you could conceivably download a podcast that is over a year old, long after it disappears from the main list on the site. Using KFUO's Wrestling With The Basics example above, I was just now able to download a program from Jan 6, 2007, right from within Google Reader - no trawling through archived pages on a website, if they exist at all. And it all comes complete with Google Reader's usual features, like Shared Items, Notes, and the handy search function (know you heard a sermon about the fruit of the spirit about a year ago but can't remember who did it or when exactly it was 'published'? Pop in the keywords in the search box).

Be aware, however, that not every site will do such a long archive - another podcast I regularly listen to removes their podcasts after a couple of months, and if I'm behind and have that many 'starred' and awaiting download, I might find the earlier one or two won't be available (ie, they've not been archived on the main site). This is all worked around really easily by keeping an eye on your undownloaded podcast count and just downloading to your computer every now and then, even if you won't have time to listen to them right away. Once they're on your computer, they're there until you need them :)

Putting the podcasts onto your iPod is RIDICULOUSLY easy:

1. Open iTunes (you don't even need to plug your iPod in yet).
2. Open the folder into which you've downloaded the files.
3. Drag from the latter to the former. They'll pop right up on your iTunes list. I have a playlist I call Audio and I just throw everything on that.
4. Plug in your iPod. If you've set it up this way, it should sync files automatically, otherwise manually sync using the option in the file menu.
5. Eject, unplug, and rock your podcasts as you wash dishes/hang the laundry/clean up the vomit the dog left behind after eating your favourite sock.

Enjoy!

Mostly For My Own Amusement, An Experiment In Machine Breadmaking

This past week, I rediscovered a long-lost friend. Lurking in the back of a kitchen cupboard behind the lonely Tupperware lids and ice-slushie mugs was my bread machine.

My parents bought the machine for me back in 2000 as a 21st birthday present and back then I thought it was the best thing since, well, awkwardly-sliced bread. Somewhere along the way though, I decided bread-making wasn't for me and put the machine in whatever cupboard was the least used to keep it out of the way. I've used it a handful of times in the last few years, always frustrated at the silly little hole the blade cooked into the base (this was back before the age of collapsible blades) and the fact that I can never, ever slice the loaves thinly enough to make it an economical source of bread for sandwiches.

I don't know what made me drag it out this week. It may have been the kitchen cupboard reorganization or the fact that a brand of bread mix I'd used in the past with success was on sale at the supermarket. Either way, I loaded her up and baked my first loaf. The bread mix made the whole experience shamefully easy (pour in water, dump in bag of mix, measure out yeast, beep through menu, press start) but the best part came later, when the smell began to waft through the house. I'd forgotten how good that stuff smelled!

That first loaf, a multi-grain one, turned out light and fluffy and with just the right amount of chewiness from the grains. I still had the problem with slicing it (silly smell was making it hard to wait until it cooled, LOL) but this time it seemed okay somehow, I guess because I didn't jump into it thinking it was going to be a replacement for thin sandwich loaves. Just something a little extra to put on the table with dinner that night. The next loaf wasn't a loaf at all, but rolls - same process but I took the dough out of the mixing bowl and hand shaped, let it rise, and baked in the oven. Similar springiness and texture to the grainy bread I'd made earlier (same bread mix) and just as good as store-bought rolls.

Today, I used the machine again to knead and do the initial rise and then I shaped the dough myself. The resulting loaf was a good size but a little more dense. It actually sliced a lot better than the machine loaf too. But this little foray into breadmaking has got me thinking - why do people bake bread? What are the benefits? Come with me on a little journey while I nut this out...

Cost

At my local supermarket, I can buy a 20-slice loaf of store-bought bread for $2. At the same supermarket I paid about $6.80 for a 4pk of bread mix, or $1.70 per loaf. On the surface, it looks more economical to go for the bread mix, especially when you consider that this particular brand has yeast included and the grainy variety is more hearty. However, it's downfall comes when you try to slice it. The slices are large, but even with an electric bread knife and an experienced machine-baker-and-slicer (my MIL), I've rarely managed to see more than 10-12 slices. Now maybe that's my (or my MIL's!) lack of skill showing, but speaking to others, they seem to have a similar problem - fewer slices from a bread machine loaf. For the sake of this argument, and perhaps testament to my lack of practice, I'm going to assume 10 slices per loaf. So, to get the same number of slices as the store-bought, I'd have to make two machine loaves. This now makes the total cost more like $3.40 for a similar slice count. For some reason the size of the slice means far less to my kids - we'd all prefer more sandwiches over monstrous slabs of bread anyway. Again though, this is for pre-made bread mix, not your average totally-from-scratch loaf with flour, oil, yeast etc. That would, of course, be far cheaper than a store-bought loaf.

Health Benefits

Everyone knows homemade bread is healthier than store-bought. You can control the additives and you can alter ingredients based on individual family intolerances. In short, you know exactly what is going into your family members' tummies. You can also get ridiculously creative with different types, seed-mixes and sweet and savoury flavours rather than be restricted to the varieties your store carries.

Taste

Now, I'm thinking I probably don't need to elaborate on why homemade bread is better in this regard - but I will anyway! You just can't compare to it in terms of flavour. It's what real food tastes like - not the bland, bleached, uniform little bricks of blah you get at the store. Homemade bread has character. There's a history in each loaf, from the recipe used (Granny's everyday bread) to the smell (which has the power to instantly transport you back to your childhood) and even the texture in your mouth (the spongey flesh and the chewy crust...mmmm).

Convenience

Until I become a better baker (and/or slicer!) I don't think I'll be using homemade bread for sandwiches. Making your own bread takes a bit of finesse, something I have in pretty short supply, and for a family whose lunch habits revolve around lunchboxes and sandwiches, I'm just not 'there' yet. But for other things - fresh bread at dinnertime, hot rolls with soup - I'm totally into it. It seems to round out the meal just nicely, and because I don't have to worry about 'sliceable' loaves, I can get a bit more creative.

The Verdict

I'm loving the experimenting :) But so far, I've kept to the pre-made bread mixes which is kind of like cheating, LOL. And there's something else that is a bit frustrating - with the bread machine I can only make one loaf at a time, whether I use the machine to just knead for me or bake through to completion. It does take away some of the effort of course, but if I ever get to the point of baking to a more sustaining level - ie, sandwich bread - then practically-speaking I'd want to do several loaves at once, and that can be achieved far more quickly by mixing up the one (really large) batch of dough from scratch and dividing it to rise and bake. A bread machine isn't great for bulk baking.

So for me, baking my own bread isn't an economical decision - right now it's more about the taste and fun of it. But if anyone out there has an outstanding, foolproof, white, wholewheat or wholegrain 'from-scratch' bread recipe (we use all three in this house) then I'm all ears.

Fire away!

My Philosophy On Cooking

Inspired by A Classic Housewife (a blog which I'm shamefully late in discovering), I thought I'd share with you my own philosophy on cooking. The disclaimer? This is the standard I aim for, but I'm not perfect!

Good old-fashioned family meals.

I've been known to bust a move in the kitchen on occasion, trying out weird and wonderful concoctions that I've come across online or in magazines. Most times, they fail. Not always because I mucked up the recipe - although that happens too! - but in the taste test. If my family won't eat it, it's a waste of my time. Now I stick mostly to tried-and-true family favourites and modify for different flavours. I no longer care that we eat the same thing usually twice, sometimes three times a month.

If I can't find all the ingredients at the local supermarket, the recipe doesn't get made.

This doesn't mean I only ever shop at the supermarket - far from it. I oftentimes go to a stand-alone butcher and fruit and veg shop. But if my local supermarket doesn't think it's worth stocking (we're not talking specific brands here, as plenty of supermarkets are selective on those, but whole *types* of foods), then odds are the recipe will wind up too expensive or too time consuming to make anyway once I go out of my way to find an odd ingredient. Specialty asian sauces and other ethnic foods tend to fall into this category (my mother-in-law once had me looking in asian groceries down here for tamarind juice - perfect example). Thankfully most supermarkets in my area stock a fairly decent range of brands/types of foods, which allows for plenty of creativity.

My kids are never going to be gourmets, and neither am I.

At least not at the ages they are now (10 ½, 9 and 7 ½)! They're kids, and they eat like kids. They don't 'do' fancy well. They also like the same things over and over - and dislike the same things over and over. There is little practical sense in having a box stuffed full of complicated recipes if nobody likes them (that said, they are required to try all new foods a few times before pronouncing judgment)

I have a '30 Meals' list.

Menu planning, for me, comes and goes in seasons. A long stretch of an abnormal interest in freezer cooking one time, perhaps a menu based around Talented Hubby's shiftwork another, and my personal favourite, the "If It's Monday, It's Spaghetti" approach, also features prominently. My 'ebb and flow' food patterns used to bother me, but not anymore. It's part of my eclectic nature, LOL. At the very least though, I keep a running list of thirty meals that, ideally, we have the ingredients on hand to make most of the time. Things like spaghetti, lasagna, pasta bake, basic stirfry ingredients (plus rice and noodles). Sometimes, I go 'off grid' completely and each day is a new culinary disaster adventure, other times I'm very anal retentive, down to the particular side dish to serve, and that's okay. That's just Lizzie. But the '30 Meals' list gives me a fall-back plan during the bad weeks, and is a great memory jogger for weeks when I want to get a little more detailed (great explanations of a '30 Meals List' can be found at The Happy Housewife and Want What You Have). I'm also training myself to channel my culinary creativity into baking, rather than straight-out cooking of meals. It's far more appreciated there!

I try to keep a well-stocked pantry.

Just the other day, I stumbled across a spectacular deal for our favourite brand of pasta sauce. I bought sixteen jars, or enough (give or take) for four months. Another grocery trip might see me with thirty cans of tomatoes, or ten packets of pasta. If it stores well, the price is right and if it is a product we know we will need and use, then I will clean the shelves.

I am absolutely enamoured with the idea of a Price Book.

I've played around with various binder-style versions but at the moment I'm developing a spreadsheet version just like this one (plus follow up here). Price books are the dynamo of kitchen management, as far as I'm concerned. They save you loads of money and help keep your pantry filled with good food. Win!

Nutrition is important...

I'm not against 'hiding' vegetables in sauces and baked goods (a la "Deceptively Delicious"), but I do think kids need to see fruit and vegetables in their natural state and learn to enjoy them that way first. Same goes for meat, dairy and grains. The kids know processed meat should be limited, and they drink water first, milk second most of the time (with the amount of cheese they eat, I don't think lack of calcium is going to be a problem anytime soon!) Grainy bread is common in our house and they've never balked at eating it. I don't bother with adding pureed carrots to our muffins because they all know, like, and prefer raw carrot sticks.

But we're not Food Nazis.

Yes, our children eat McDonald's. Yes, they drink fizzy drinks on occasion. No, I'm not worried about the Cheetos at Little Johnny's birthday party. Sometimes - shhh! - we even let them leave food on their plates! If these occasions are limited - and they are - then we're all good.

Dessert is NOT held as a reward.

Truth be told, we rarely bother with a pre-planned dessert, and on nights that we do serve it up, 'dessert' could be anything from snacks during a movie down to a lonely cookie. Totally informal, totally random. They still try the whole 'Is there dessert tonight?' business to gauge how important eating their meal is (we do impose an 'eat most of your dinner' rule on dessert nights) but Mum and Dad are pretty smart individuals. We know when we're being scammed, LOL.

We don't force a genuinely-disliked food on the kids.

Remember this? That said, it has to be a proper aversion, not a 'pull the wool over Mama's eyes' kind of moment. Thankfully none of them have yet developed a distaste for 'real' food like milk, eggs, cheese, vegies or meat.

Snacks are generally 'smorgasbord' style.

And sometimes, when Daddy is working, so are dinners or lunches! I've never had as much success with getting the kids to try new foods as I have when I've served a few morsels up on a platter along with some other good stuff. Similar to the concept of Muffin Tin Monday (but without the tin to clean afterward!), "Kids Bits" changes every time we serve it and it's a great way to try new vegetables or use up the last couple of pieces of something - just cut them up in small pieces, add something to dip (we like cottage cheese and salsa), add some fruit, and you're good to go.

I try to bake consistently.

Commercial snack food is horrendously expensive on a per-serving basis. Not to mention filled with ingredients which are bad for us. I tried a weekly baking day but several hours standing upright in the kitchen does not a happy cook make, so I've recently switched to two co-existing systems. The first is a daily baking window. Right after lunch (and remember, my kids are in school during the day) I try to whip something up. This serves as both part of their afternoon snack (coupled with fruit or yoghurt) and the next day's lunchbox treat. Remainders get frozen.

The other thing I've been trialing this week is homemade baking mixes. One day I'll have to cost these out, but so far Anzac Biscuits and Fudge Brownies have worked brilliantly. If you want to try this, do a trial batch first - recipes would normally ask you to combine ingredients in a specific order and depending on the recipe, doing 'dry then wet' could either spell disaster or be a rioting success. A cake is a good example - normally you are asked to cream the fat (margarine or butter) together with the sugar, add the eggs and liquid flavourings, and then add the dry ingredients. Obviously you can't do that when making your own homemade mixes, so try going 'off radar' and dumping all the dry ingredients (for just one batch) in the baggie and experimenting with how they combine with the wet stuff later. Worse case scenario? The cake doesn't turn out well. If that happens, do what my Dad always suggested (it came from his mother, my Nana - queen of WWII type cooking) - break it into pieces and make a trifle out of it. That way, it's never a flop, just 're-purposed', LOL.

And there you have it. Pretty basic stuff, but it serves us well!