SEASON'S GREETINGS

It is hard to believe that 2011 has already come to an end. I am not sure how to celebrate it or whether to celebrate it but one thing for sure that it provides people with an opportunity to speak out their best wishes for others.

Please accept my best wishes for the New Year. May it bring to you and your loved ones health, happiness, peace, and prosperity. May it see your hopes fulfilled and may it be rich in the successful accomplishment of your most important aims.

I'd also like to take this as a chance to thank everyone who has viewed my blog (homeofhomemadereasures.blogspot.com) and facebook pages (Why Bee and MADE BY Y) and has shared their much appreciated comments and feedback with me publicly or privately. I am still at the beginning of this inspirational and exciting journey and am grateful to all those who have been supporting me. I hope to share with you as practical, meaningful, informative and helpful information and products as possible in the coming years too.

Enjoy what is left of this year and I hope to catch up with you all in the next year!

REFRESHING YOGHURT DRINK

It is summer in Australia and there are many days when we look for a cold refreshing drink around the house due to the heat.  Most packaged drinks are sugary and as always, they have a few too many ingredients for an innocent summer drink. They are only two of the reasons why it is best to make your own at home.

Here is a refreshing yoghurt drink recipe for you that can easily be followed and made by even young school aged kids. It is a traditional Turkish drink and is often used in the Middle East too. I have not tried it myself but heard that it goes well with some sweets even though it is most commonly consumed with pastry, kebabs and even on its own.

Ingredients:

Natural plain yoghurt (click for homemade yoghurt tutorial)
Water
Salt (traditionally used but it is upto you to discard if preferred)
Ground mint (optional)

Method: 

Just mix your yoghurt well and add some water in it as you stir it. It needs to be very smooth with no lumps in it. The consistency depends on your taste but I would suggest it to be not too runny or too thick. Then add a pinch of salt (into your glass only or into the jar) and some (preferably homemade) ground mint.

Before serving it, mix it well and serve it cool (you can leave it in the fridge for a while before serving it or add some ice cubes into it).  

Enjoy!

A SHOE RE-DO FOR THE CRAFTY

Here is an idea for the craft cravers. I haven't tried it myself but it doesn't look much complicated and the video recorded instructions are quite clear. I think it is a fun project and can be very helpful in utilising shoes that are out of fashion or are scratched lightly. It would also make it possible to design a matching pair of shoes for a particular dress since apart from some classic colours that can be boring, not many shoes can match many outfits.

Click on the play button in the middle of the picture below to watch the video which runs for approximately 3.5 minutes. 

Enjoy adding a new life to your old shoes!

WHICH FISH NOT TO FEED CHILDREN

Fish is a great source of Omega-3 fatty acids, which play a huge role in brain and eye development, and is very nutritious. It is a great idea to feed babies (starting from about 7 months old) and kids fish regularly (about two baby/kid serving size a week). However, you need to be mindful of the hazards of mercury in fish. In high doses, this metal is harmful to a child's developing brain and nervous system.

Mercury is everywhere including the weather we breathe in. Fish have mercury in them too but what you need to keep in mind is that certain types of fish have much larger amounts of it than others.

As a general rule of thumb, just remember that the larger the fish, the higher the mercury level. There are some logical reasons behind this. For instance, larger fish eat smaller fish. Therefore, on top of their own mercury levels, they contain the mercury from the fish that they eat as well. In addition, in most cases, larger fish live longer. Thus, they build up higher levels of this metal in their bodies since they have more time for more mercury exposure.

These are the kinds of fish that contain the highest level of mercury:

• Shark
• Swordfish
• King mackerel
• Tilefish

Some experts also recommend that children between the ages of 2 and 6 not be served fresh or frozen tuna (there are some arguments on canned tuna), striped bass, bluefish, Chilean sea bass, golden snapper, marlin, orange roughy, amberjack, Crevalle jack, Spanish mackerel from the Gulf of Mexico, and walleye from the Great Lakes.

According to the experts in the U.S., these are the fish that are both low in mercury and high in healthy fats:

• herring
• mackerel (Atlantic, jack, chub)
• rainbow trout (farm raised)
• salmon (wild or farm raised)
• sardines
• whitefish

I highly recommend that you include fish in your child's diet and I definitely do not recommend to discard fish from the menu to avoid exposure to mercury. Fish is the best source of Omega-3 fatty acids. On the other hand, here is a list of foods and drinks that include some Omega-3 for your information in case fish don't work for your life style. 

• Eggs 
• milk
• soy beverages
• juice
• yogurt
• bread
• cereal
• margarine 

The above are now fortified with omega-3s in many countries. Some don't contain very much DHA or EPA, but small amounts can add up. (Look for products that contain at least 50 milligrams of DHA per serving.)

CARROT DIP

Easy Carrot Dip

Carrot dip is very easy to make and is easy to consume too. I especially recommend it when the weather is warm/hot as well as when you have many carrots in hand that you don't know what to do with. Most dips also make a good finger food when served with some crackers or better yet, homemade chips (see my entry on how to make easy and healthy homemade chips). Dips are great as appetisers, snacks, side dishes and party foods.

Homemade Chips

Ingredients: 

Carrots (3-4 medium size or as many as you like)
Natural yoghurt (depends on the amount of the carrot. If the carrot is about a bowlful, then add yoghurt about the same size or a bit more or to taste)
Oil (preferrably olive oil) (approximately 2-3 tablespoons)
Garlic (optional)
Pinch of salt (or according to your taste)

Method:

Wash, peel and grate the carrots. Heat up a pan with oil in it. Add the carrots and stir it for a few minutes on high heat, until it becomes soft. Take it off the stove and leave it aside. While it is cooling, mix your garlic, yoghurt and salt well. Add the coked carrot and mix it until there is no big lumps of carrot. Serve it cool.

Enjoy!

WHY DO COWS HAVE HORNS?

We had a pretty rough afternoon and evening here in Melbourne yesterday. It was so stormy that unfortunately, many people from certain suburbs had their cars damaged because of the hail.

Mr. Junior was quite uncomfortable due to all that thunderstorm and lightening and found it challenging to fall asleep at his sleep time at night. I thought it might be helpful for him to have a little teddy in bed so that he can hug it tight when he feels a bit scared. Despite the fact that he has never had a comfort toy, last night, I offered him a teddy in pyjamas thinking that it would be the perfect comforting friend for bed. Even though he was glad with the idea of a comfort toy in bed, he didn't want the teddy. Instead, he asked for a cow that is almost more than half his size and was gifted to him by some much loved family members. We gave the soft cow to him and I think he felt better with it next to him. However, this time his curiosity took over and he couldn't sleep for a while because he said 'he had some problem'. His problem was that he had some questions in mind about the cow and they were important to him. One of the questions was 'why do cows have horns?'

It is almost always about lots of 'why' and 'how' questions with him at this stage. It is extremely enjoyable, surprising and challenging. Some of his questions make us think really hard. Sometimes, he asks questions that we have never even thought about. Sometimes, we know the answers but it is the matter of finding the right words to explain them to him. At times, he asks questions that we too would love to find out the answers of.

Last night, we told him that some animals have horns to guard themselves but even we weren't quite sure whether it was the reason or whether it was the only reason (or, for example, do they use them while mating or finding food too?). He found the answer satisfactory enough I suppose. So, I went online after he was asleep and checked what information was available on that. Below is all I could find.

• Some cows have horns, while others don't. It depends on the breed. 
• Female cows can have horns just like bulls (male cows). It is not gender dependent. 
• In most cases, domestic cows are 'de-horned/debudded' to protect the carers as well as the herd as it is believed that there is no natural predators and they can do without them. 
• (I was unable to find the reasons behind having horns). 

For further reading on cows, you can visit some websites such as this. Some of the information given is so interesting and some is sure to give many of you goosebumps.

If any of you have any factual information on 'why cows have horns', please share with us so that we can give more reliable information to our children as well as feeding our curious minds with it. 

DID YOU KNOW ...? (5)

Raccoons are nocturnal animals. During the day, they like to sleep in hollow oak trees.