Brunswick Community House Meets Aunty Rozzy

My Mr 2 goes to the local community house twice a week. We call it ‘kinder garden’ at our place, not occasional care. Just too long and confusing for a 2 year old! So twice a week we trot off to kinder where Mr 2 enjoys painting, reading books and playing games with all the other kids.

The centre is modest and has all the mod-cons but as you know I’m a re-cycler so I am always donating magazines and other odds and ends. Recently l donated the **Aunty Rozzy educational book pack l received at the Bloggers Brunch. The books at the centre were looking a bit tired and the walls were also looking a little bare. They were thrilled when l gave them the colourful Aunty Rozzy books and large poster filled with colourful fruit and vegetables for the wall. God knows we have enough books and posters at our place (Nanna and Grandma are teachers so we are always being showered with books!) So instead of The Aunty Rozzy books becoming lost among our HUGE collection at home l thought the books would be more appreciated at the community centre.

A big thanks to Aunty Rozzy for supplying the gift pack for us and the feedback l have so far on the donated books is that the kids are loving them and the poster is placed on the wall above the play-dough table. Very colourful indeed!

The Aunty Rozzy pack also came with some great healthy recipe cards – stay tuned for them to be cooked up in the Hey Bambini kitchen soon.


**Aunty Rozzy encourages kids to read, dance, and sing, all while aspiring to healthy eating. Aunty Rozzy’s books and CD’s have been designed to encourage healthy eating and she understands the importance of kid’s nutrition. Kids will love the fun, colour, and catchiness of her children's music and music videos, while parents and carers will appreciate the opportunity to read their children story books that are loaded with educational value... and nutrition for kids isn't where the educational aspect ends! For more info on Aunty Rozzy click here.

Adam Liaw :: Two Asian Kitchens

We all love a new glossy cookbook sitting on our kitchen shelves. The excitement of trying a new dish here and there is something we love to do in our house. I have been lucky enough to get my hands on a copy of Adam Liaw’s cookbook, Two Asian Kitchens, who is incidentally the Master Chef winner for 2010. As part of my role as a Malaysian Kitchen Ambassador we were all given a copy of this lovely cookbook. Let’s take a peek inside….






Looks nice yeah? Can't wait to try some, stay tuned for Hey Bambini kitchen adventures!

5 Colourful Cafes for Friday

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Have a colourful Friday & enjoy the weekend.

Here are 5 cafes that splash a little colour about.


Brown Cow

High chairs - Crayons & Colouring Sheets - Kids Menu

Famous Blue Raincoat

High chairs - Toys - Kids Menu

Lemon Tree

High chairs - Crayons & Colouring Sheets - Mini Milkshakes

Pearl Oyster

High chairs - Toys - Kids Menu

Marmalade Cafe

High chairs - Toys - Kids Menu

Strawberry Jam

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I know it's still winter time and strawberries are expensive but this recipe caught my eye and l just had to share. One to pop aside for the warmer months.

Simple Strawberry Jam Recipe

1.75kg Strawberries
2kg Sugar
6 Teaspoons Pectin
15g Unsalted Butter

Method

Place strawberries in a large saucepan and crush with a fork. Add sugar and pectin and heat slowly, stirring continuously until the sugar has dissolved. Add butter, increase heat and bring to the boil for four minutes. Remove from the heat, cool for one minute, then pot and seal.

Do you know your Cafe ABC's?

Last month l did a guest article for Alphabet Street Melbourne. Alphabet Street is an online destination for all things to do with kids and they list all the current child friendly activities happening in New Castle, Melbourne and Sydney. I was so chuffed with this article that l had written (nothing like a bit of self praise eh!) that l thought l just had to share it on my blog. You may or may not have seen it so here it is again for your reading pleasure....

Love to eat out? Love coffee? Love ANY meal you haven’t had to prepare yourself? (Of course you do – well derr!) Check out these cafes and restaurants for size. It’s Hey Bambini’s quick guide to Melbourne’s best and what better way to remember them by – it’s the Hey Bambini ABC guide to fabulous family dining.

A is for Afternoon Tea at APTE in Alphington

B is for BABYCINOS. Get your Babycino fix at Babycinos Garden Cafe

C is for Coffee Beans – Roasted on site ‘coffee heads’ can check out The Auction Rooms in North Melbourne

D is for is for Family DAY TRIP. From Ballarat to Sassafras we have 20 “Out Of Town” Cafes and Restaurants to choose from HERE.

E is for ETIQUETTE. Kid’s table manners start at home. Teach kids to chew with their mouths closed, use spoons and forks and push in their chairs after meals.

F is for Fairfield Boat House. Great family day out on the River

G is for GOOGLE maps, the best app going around guiding you on your way from cafe to cafe.

H is for HIGHCHAIR. Call ahead and book a highchair if you’re dining out at a busy time of the day or BYO Totseat

I is for ICE CREAM. If dining out at night time, order the children’s Ice Cream with your mains. Ice Cream is sure to keep active toddlers in their seats while Mum and Dad eat and enjoy their meals.

J is for Junior Republic Cafe & Boutique – shop – play – learn and eat

K is for KIDS MENUS. From fresh fruit salad with yogurt to nuggets and chips loads of cafes and restaurants cater for the kids if you know where to look.

L is for Leroy’s Cafe in Newport. It’s one of the BEST new kid friendly cafes in town.

M is for Miss Marmalade Cafe. They cater for kids and mother’s groups and serve delicious food.

N is for NAPPY. Jack and Daisy’s Cafe stock emergency supplies of Nappies for forgetful parents

O is for ORGANISED. Some cafes do have toys, books and games but always pack some extras yourself just in case.

P is for PATIENCE – bring it by the bucket load!

Q is for QUIET the time of the meal when children are happily eating. Silence really is golden.

R is for READING – Combine the love of books, coffee and cake, pop into Teatime and Tales in Carlton North for a tea party.

S is for SPACE – Let the kids roam the parklands in Bulleen then have a light lunch at the stylish Cafe Vue at the Heide Museum

T is for TOYS – find all the fun cafes in town HERE with the BEST toys

U is for UNDISCOVERED – jump in the car and drive to the other side of town.

V is for Verb Cafe in Flemington has Highchairs – Pencils - Books and Activities for the kids.

W is for Warren Glen Cafe – has Highchairs, kids menu, ducks and Thomas the Tank Engine.

X is for XYLOPHONE is case you didn’t know!

Y is for YUM CHA - dumplings, won tons, spring rolls – oh my!

Z is for Zzzzzz – the sound of sleeping in the car on the way home from a fun dining out adventure.

So now it’s time to bundle up the family and with a tiny bit of adventure and the Hey Bambini cafe knowledge you will have this weekend mapped out in no time with fun eating out experiences for the kids.

How well do you know your ABC’s?

High Chair Hygiene

There is nothing worse than going into a café or restaurant and plonking your little one into a dirty highchair. They say there are more bacteria growing on a highchair compared to your own toilet seat. Yeah – revolting right.

So let me pose the question to parents who use highchairs in cafes. Do you clean up after your little one has covered the highchair with the daily special? Are you the type of mum or dad that cleans up after them and leaves it nice and clean for the next tiny bottom. Or are you the type of parent who thinks, “l just paid good money for that meal and l believe the staff should clean up after us, we’re paying right”? Then there is also the unknown, do the staff even wipe down the highchairs well or do they just dust it off half-heartedly for the next customer?

Personally l’m a cleaner. I don’t wipe down before we place the bubba in the highchair – l’m not that germ mad but l do clean up afterwards, with a packet of wipes and some elbow grease. Only on one occasion l've totally freaked out about the “hygiene levels” and that was when a large cockroach emerged and crawled over my son’s tray and then disappeared. l did the freak-out-jump –up and down on the spot for 10 seconds following that episode. Cockroaches freak me out!

I understand the café staff are PAID to clean up after us but l just can’t bring myself to walk away from such a devastating mess of bread, fruit, yogurt and god knows what else has been mashed up in my young son’s mouth and then spat back all over the highchair and the floor. And even if the café staff do clean up after l have, at least l know it’s been given a good clean, twice, for the next little bottom.

My husband has been known to give me the ‘hurry up’ on several occasions because l’m down on all fours under the table frantically picking up tiny crumbs and crusts from the floor – slightly a bit obsessive l know but l like to leave things the way l found them. Clean. So next time when you are out and about have a think, are you a squeaky clean mamma or a messy mamma?

All Brunched Out

Well my head was certainly spinning by the time l got home from the Bloggers brunch that l attended on Friday. It was so full of information, inspiration and my throat was sore from so much talking. l had to pull over and pop into my local Japanese restaurant for a quiet lunch afterwards just to take a moment to re-group. (!!)

The lovely Christie from Kids Business certainly out did herself again and put on a spectacular brunch with loads of interesting guest speakers, delicious food and of course some great products for the mums to take home to try.

It was great to catch up with some old friends – Li-Ann from Ham and Pea, Jodie from Muddled up Mamma and Kate from Babysitters and More, l also had the pleasure of meeting some new mums and had a few good laughs with Maria from Mums Word and l met the sweet lady behind Little Sooti – the lovely Thetis.

I actually had the honour of being asked to be filmed for Channel 31 along with some other mums as we checked out all the latest and greatest products by the sponsors. Maria and l took centre stage a few times at various stands throwing questions around like Tony Barber. It was most fun. Some of the great brands we got to experience and learn more about were, Garnier, Million Dollar Woman, Blackmores, Aunty Rozzy, Protect-a-bed and HoMedics, who were all very generous and gave us all fantastic show bags to take home stuffed with products, samples and all sorts of other goodies.

I am particularly excited about trying the Garnier product “Anti-dark Circles Roll on” heaven knows l have enough dark circles to cover up!! I was that excited to try the Garnier products l accidentally picked up another bloggers sample bag in the madness, and not realizing my cheeky error trotted off home. It wasn’t until l was showing Mr Man my “boodle” at home l found the second bag of Garnier goodies, sick to my stomach l immediately phoned Christie to let her know.

Turns out it did belong to someone – the lovely Becky from Becky and James (so sorry for ‘lifting’ your goodie bag!!) I offered to hand deliver it to her house, then Becky explained to me she lives in Bathurst, which is just slightly out of my way! (LOL! It’s in the post my dear!)

All in all it was a great day and lovely to put some faces to blogs and meet the women behind them in the flesh. As always Christie put on a grand event and the generosity of the sponsors didn’t go un-noticed. Thanks for letting Hey Bambini being involved – even if l did grab an extra bag! (Can’t take me anywhere – I’ll blame my “kleptomaniac” evil twin sister!)