A lot has changed since I last posted my banana cake recipe, oh my gosh, that was almost FOUR years ago… I had a full time job as a programmer, I was going to the gym heaps, living in an apartment in Auckland with my husband of one year. I baked those banana cupcakes late at night and took them to work the next morning, I can remember that time so well… but it feels like an absolute lifetime ago.

This time I made this cake with the help of my son, standing on his little step beside me he is the best kitchen assistant anyone could ask for. Sure I have to double check what’s in the bowl every time I look away for rouge cars or spoons but he measures ingredients for me, cracks eggs, mixes and is a great taste tester.

I’ve made this many times over the years (oh god this makes me sound really old) and each time we change it up a bit, chocolate chips, spices, wholemeal flour… it’s a fab recipe.

Banana Cake

Preheat your oven to 180 degrees (350 farenheit) and prepare your cake tin or muffin pan.

125g butter
1 cup sugar <- we use brown but you can use whatever is in the cupboard
2 large free range eggs
3 medium bananas <- use some nice ripe ones from the fruit bowl
2 cups flour <- try replacing up to half of this with wholemeal
1/2 cup chocolate chips <- totally optional
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon of mixed spice
1 teaspoon of vanilla

Beat the butter and sugar together until pale and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time beating well after each one.
Throw the bananas into your mixer and beat well. Or mash them and mix them in.
Add the rest of the dry ingredients and mix until all the flour is just incorporated.

Pour into tin or pans and bake until the middle springs back when pressed, about 12 minutes for muffins and 25 for a cake.

Get cake all over your face and enjoy!

I’ve had some of the best two weeks of my life. I feel so blessed to be in New Zealand with my baby, relaxing, catching up with old & new friends and generally just loving my life. Time passes so quickly especially when you have a baby and responsibilities and it’s too precious not to love every moment of it and everyone in your life.

This face. I love. So much. What a freaking cute boy.

This is our second car seat and what an amazing workhorse of a seat.
The best features:
Can be used rear facing till 25kgs in the front and rear seats of the car (front seat with no airbag, and you can use it in the middle rearseat)
Can be used forward facing and as a booster. You should never really use any car seat forward facing though if you can avoid it.
It is really one of the easiest RF seats to install ever. No support leg, just tethers.

Other positives
Lovely zip off cover
I think it will fit all cars really. Especially for older children where you have it in the upright position. I’ve installed it in the front and rear of a 4 door Renault Clio (1999 shape) and it’s just fine. Remember only to install it in the front if you have NO airbags. It easily fits in a BMW 7 series (2002 shape) and gives much more legroom than the BeSafe Izi.

The downsides:
It does look kind of basic, compared to say the BeSafe IZi Combi x3, it doesn’t have the same level of padding and head support/side impact protection. In saying that, I have no problem putting my son in it, it looks sturdy and comfortable.
To adjust the shoulder straps or recline angle (just 2 reclines) it’s kind of a mission. Adjusting the shoulder straps requires re-routing the straps through the shell. The recline is even more tricky and means re-installing the seat.

All in all an amazing seat – one of the cheapest around for extended rear facing. Pics coming soon.

This was our first extended rear facing car seat, and is permanently in one of our cars until R outgrows it. It is a gorgeous seat, very plush and has tons of fancy features that really make this a luxury car seat – and as such comes with an accordingly high price tag. I think you can get this for around £260 if you shop around.

The main plus points for this seat are:
It is one of the highest scoring ERF out there. With excellent side impact protection as well.
I think the softest, comfiest, most solid rear facing seat money can buy.

Other great points
Has an amazing magnetic belt system, which keeps the straps out of the way so you don’t have to fish them out from under your baby when buckling him in.
Wonderful shoulder/headrest adjustment system. You just grip a bit on the back and pull up, which at the same time moves the shoulder strap height. Really easy.
Multiple reclining positions. This would be a huge plus in most other cars than ours. Our rear seats (7 series BMW) have a very steep angle on them which means that the most reclined position is barely reclined at all, and the most upright position is too upright. But a huge plus in other cars. You just lift a lever under the seat and adjust with your hand.

Negatives
It is huge and weighs a ton.
The first time we installed it was rather fiddly. I have since removed and installed it and it was much easier, although I’d be lying to say it is a piece of cake.
And yeah… once again it is pretty huge. I’m going to see if it fits in the middle soon but I think it probably wont due to how wide it is and how far back my husband needs his seat to drive.
It only rear faces to 18kgs. This is probably ample for some kids but my son is pretty huge and I can imagine we will have to retire this seat at some point unless we have another baby!

I think Reuben can almost be considered a toddler. He’s now walking 70% of the time, the other 30% is an extremely fast crawl

Ah I love him so much. He learnt to say “car” two days ago and can say it if you point to a car. It’s kind of a big deal because everything else he says with his mouth totally closed haha but this one he pronounces it so well with kind of a gutteral C sound if that makes any sense. Also because a family(in-law) members seems to think I don’t talk to him enough and therefore its my fault he hardly talks lol. Whatever I talk to him all day long!

We may have just had an indoor sprinkler party where I spray him with the mister bottle I use for ironing and he goes crazy hysterical. We may or may not have been right next to the TV and stereo system… ahh I’m such a good mum.

He’s kind of a danger child and likes to pretend to climb over the sides of the couch and stuff like that. He loves books, both reading them by himself and being read a story.

That’s him holding a wicket from his cricket set that is rather sharp on one end … great for bashing stuff with

What else is new.. ummm… I’ve been doing some stuff around our crappy flat, man it’s hard work living on the second floor with a baby! I can highly NOT reccomend it. Just don’t ever pretend it’s a good idea unless you have a lift. Anyway, I digress, I give to you the bathroom shelf:

easy installation and led me to the discovery that our bathroom wall is curved. cool. ah the joys of renting. Also bought some new bedding which clashes horrificly with our magnolia bedroom walls, it’s making me really want to paint them but can I really be bothered? My guess is … probably not. Watch this space (or not)

Made a hat, I don’t love it I was going to give it to one of the mums who is expecting in my knitting group but the wool isn’t very nice. I should have guessed, It’s Sirdar Eco Wool and I don’t feel like it’s the nicest thing I could have picked from my stash for a newborn gift so not too sure what I’m thinking. I might give it to charity when I send off the jumpers for african babies…. and reknit this in Sublime merino cashmere silk or something.

Wow that was a boring ramble. Big love to everyone – be happy xoxox

Mine started out fab. Reuben & I had breakfast, he had a huge nap, I drank lots of coffee and did some knitting, we went out to browse a knitting shop and have coffee with some gorgeous knitty friends and gorgeous babies,

happy happy

and then

get home, Reubey is playing so happily, I’m knitting in the lounge and he crawls off into his bedroom and I stay put, can hear him crashing around with his duplo and stuff… 20 mins or so later he crawls out all smiley

and then

OOOOOOOOhHHHHHHMMMMMMMYYYYGOD there is POO EVERYWHERE. He has somehow managed to undo one side of his nappy resulting in complete poomageddon. Did you read the bit above where he had crawled from HIS BEDROOM TO THE LOUNGE??? yeah. with half a nappy on. And poo everywhere. Ohh. Funn. Then it dawns on me that this is my child… and I’m the one that has to clean it up. Haha. Glorious Mum moment.

So shower/bath/30 mins later OKAY So he’s clean. Back into his room, try not to cry while seeing poo smushed into new carpet … room looks like some kind of crime scene with duplo covered in poo…  he had obviously taken his walked and rolled it back and forth over the poo.. anyway.. I digress from the next moment in my day… So I plonk him onto his change table and unwrap the towel from around him…

Reubs is coooooooovered in  rash. Slight panic.
/skip the boring trip of my day/
MEASLES.

Oh joy. That was a surprise. I like to think I’m pretty in touch with how wee man is feeling etc as we are quite joined at the hip for a good portion of every.single.day.. and he hasn’t been acting terribly out of sorts. Last week I had to go to hospital after I had a miscarriage (that’s a story for another day) and then again for an oral surgery appointment for my jaw so we spent a good amount of time in that disease ridden place…. and I’m sure he picked it up from there. Apparently 7-14 days from infection to rash so that would work out.

Sigh.

Trap him in a corner of his room behind the couch while I deal to the aftermath of poomageddon…. except I hadn’t trapped him, he had crawled off and slithered out into my bedroom.. prceeding to empty everything from 2 drawers of a bedside table.. containing all my makeup.. yay!!

Carpet is clean. Room no longer smelling 110% of excrement. Now like 50% poo 50% wet carpet. Go baby hunting… aha! Reach for baby and step on a square jar of moisturiser and roll my ankle, almost fall onto squishy baby…

and so on and so on

rah rah rah.. day didn’t get much better for me or reuben poor boy developed a bit more of a fever and spent a lot of time snoozing on my tummy in the evening. oh well I ate lots of cake……. wait that’s not a good thing either :<

but seriously, at not one point in this day did I feel unhappy or despair (until my husband got home, but thats another story .. f**king cricket) .. because I love my sweet little poo making baby.. and I feel so bad for him that he’s all uncomfortable with the measles… If I could have it for him I’d do it in a heartbeat.

Loving on my stinkster squiggle machine…….. Lau x

If you don’t know what these are, go and buy one. And at the same time buy 2 x 500g packs of stoned dates (£1.34 from tesco each) and some pecans (£4.49 for 300g… ouch more than I remember) and then you can make 37 of your own (pretending you make them exactly 35g each) for £7.17 opposed to £26ish.

You can  make these way way cheaper by using cashews instead of pecans – I just way way prefer pecans. There are infinate variations, add other dried fruit, add cocoa, cinamin, spices, whatever you fancy. I think this would be a great project for little ones to help out with, such a fun texture to mash up and relatively mess free. And they are making food!

You will need -

A food processor
Dates (I use 1kg of dates per 300-400g of nuts)
Nuts (pecans are our favourite, cashews work equally well)
Any extra ingredients you want – cocoa powder, chocolate chips, dried fruit etc.
A willing taste tester always helps:

Chop the nuts in your food processor. You don’t want to grind them into dust, just into nice chunky pieces that should look something like this:

Then tip them into a bowl (use a large bowl to save on washing up later, one that you can fit everything into), and put all the dates in the food processor (you might have to do this in batches, depends on how powerful your processor is.
Blend/Pulse the dates until they are really mashed up, they should start sticking together into a ball. Often you will hear a really nasty sound while doing this and it is probably because there is a pit (stone) or two in your bag of dates. Usually best to stop processing and fish it out because it can scratch up your bowl pretty bad. The dates should eventually look something like this:

Next step is to grab handfuls of the dates and knead them into the chopped nuts. It’s a bit trial and error at first but you will quickly figure out the amount of nuts you can incorporate into the dates. I just use my hands and fold/knead lumps in. You don’t want to mix too many nuts in or else it will crumble when you make them into bars. At the same time you don’t want to put too few in or else it will just be a sticky date bar. Mine look something like this when they are finished:

Mmm attractive. Insert gross joke here. Once you have incorproated all the dates into the nuts or vice versa you want to start shaping them into bars. You can really make any size or shape that you want, depending on your needs. I tend to make my bars quite large, as Reuben loves these and would quite happily eat them all day if I let him. That way I can have one in my bag as an emergency meal…

I lay out a piece of clingfilm and roll a log in between my hands, then flatten it onto the clingfilm, and wrap it up:

Then the most important step – squash it really hard with a book:

And that’s it!

I store mine in the fridge, I think they would be fine unrefridgerated but I have no idea of their shelf life… after all they are just dates and nuts. Enjoy!

Cath Kidston mugs making me happyyyyy inside

baby R helping me fix my laptop keyboard (fixed!! more blogging action hopefully *should* be taking place as a direct result of this)

lots of happy hooking time has been taking place and baby R’s blankie is coming along very nicely!! so exciting!

the sun is starting to shine more and It’s lovely having my sister in law staying with us for a few months too xxxxxxx

My TV watching since being pregnant has exponentially increased and I no longer think I can blame it on little R, I need to admit I am addicted…

Anyway Kourtney & Kim Take New York is my not so secret guilty pleasure – and Kourtney K is my favourite hollywood Mom for sure (see how I used american spelling there). Not only is she a super breastfeeding advocate – she has talked openly about her breast feeding experience and how sad it was for her to stop at 14 months – I spotted her reading one of my favourite baby books – Super Baby Food!

I’ve had Super Baby Food since little R was born and it has been an invaluable resource, especially when we started weaning/eating solids around 6 months. Go buy it if you are pregnant or are weaning, it is a fab book. xx

Loving lazy Tuesdays… relaxing on the couch with some tea (herbal) and some new cookbooks (Nigella of course).. listening to the sounds of the dishwasher doing dishes for me. Dreaming of hooking up some cushions with  my new found crochet skills.. maybe later.

Interlude to check facebook, watch some videos of the grammys and realise that little man will still  be sleeping for another hour… bliss. If I could block out the noise of the rubbish truck outside I could almost pretend that I am on the couch in New Zealand..

Look at how big munch man is getting… Looking so grown up in his jammies from Aunty Julian too…yes that is the lens cap from my camera :/