Fruity Week...

This week has been a busy week, we are all back in the swing of school, homework, playgroup and the general day to day running of the house. I have started teaching at the school one day a week.... eeek which is a little nerve racking and a bit overwhelming. I am a trained secondary teacher and primary teaching is sooo different. It's amazing how patient primary teachers are they do such an amazing job with teaching these young minds. Out here the classes are small but they are multi-age which adds a whole new dimension to teaching. I have 'Miss 7' for some of her lessons, and I am so worried about embarrassing her,(she's not worried at all) but it's lovely to get to be creative and use my brain a little too.

It's lovely to watch kids of all ages play together and interact in the classrooms and at play time. The big ones look after and include the little ones and everyone plays games together. It is magical to see kids of all ages getting along and this school has created a supportive and empathetic environment for kids to be growing up in.... I really am so thankful, the kids out here are so well behaved and special ....it's amazing.

I  had two extra children for the night during the week and these boys were so polite and well mannered, it was lovely to have a full table at dinner and a house full of little people, 'Master 2' loved having two 'big brothers' for the night. They played cricket and Nerf guns and read books it was great for him to spend some time with some 'big boys'. Having all these kids around gave us a taste for the future and I think we are all going to love it when our baby arrives, it will be fun adding to our family all the chaos and laughter.

I stumbled upon a new biscuit recipe in the midst of this week, these weren't as popular with the kids as the chocolate cake I served up at the same time but I love them and my husband loves them too. It's nice to have something put aside that’s healthy and sweet that the kids aren't going to gobble up in a day.

Fruit Clusters

1/2 cup dried apricots

1 1/2 cups of Muslie or Corn Flakes

1/2 cup sultanas (I used dates, Goji berries and linseed instead)

1/2  cup coconut

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 Plain Flour

2 Eggs lightly beaten

125 g butter melted

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees. Line two oven trays.

2. Mix all dry ingredients in a medium bowl. Pour in eggs and butter and mix well.

3. Make rough tablespoon size balls and place them on the oven trays (2cm apart). bake for 10 - 15 mins until brown on the bottom.

Enjoy xx

This is adapted from the 'Saving Mum' book by Amy Pleydon and Tiana Johannis. This book has lots of clever ideas about saving money, cleaning tips that work and heaps of easy, quick recipes. I love these Fruit Clusters because they don't need a lot of milk (hooray!!) which we are low on at the moment and they can be adapted to the tastes of your family members.

 So I am off to put my feet up with some knitting and a Fruit Cluster and enjoy a little bit of peace a quiet,  an important part of .....'these beautiful days'.