Let's make browned butter!

Ok, so I'm pretty late to the browned butter party but over the past few years I've seen the term creep up now and again and it's usually accompanied by the sentence 'life changing' so I figure it's a must try.

It's very simple to make and I *urge* you to try it once. Browning your butter brings out a caramelly-nutty flavour that you can't get any other way. It adds a new dimension to your standard butter flavour and changes the flavour of your baking with one simple substitute.

Frugal family summer: Make your own play 'dirt'!

Like most kids, my boys love getting dirty. There's quite a big age gap between my 8yr old and 3yr old but I find messy play brings them together by appealing to their dirt lovin' boyish nature.

In my search for frugal summer activities I have been trying to use household items to create messy play activities the boys can indulge in at a moments notice and without too much effort on my part (I'm still working throughout the holidays) and that generally means raiding the pantry!

Peanut Butter and Marshmallow bars

Regular readers of my blog will be familiar with my peanut butter obsession. I love peanuts and peanut butter in EVERYTHING. Sweet foods, savoury foods and smoothies - all taste better with peanuts!

A few months ago Duerrs got in touch and sent me some of the newly branded jams which I used to make some jammie biscuits. I'm not a huge jam fan so I'm not loyal to one brand of jam generally but I did like the samples they sent and they worked a treat in those biscuits.

But then Duerrs tweeted me (best tweet EVER!!) and offered me some of their new peanut butter and I *knew* I had to try it! I mean who'd say no to free peanut butter?

Make your own iced coffee

Summer holidays. That magical time where alarm clocks no longer exist and are instead replaced with the sounds of 2 boys fighting over the TV remote. Ahhh bliss.

As the school holidays progress, my need for caffeine increases but I'm not really a drinker of hot beverages and whilst I can appreciate a good cuppa I really can't get on with drinking hot drinks in this weather. A hot cup of tea cools you down? Give over. A slush puppie cools me down thanks very much.

Frugal family summer: shaving foam fun!

We were lucky enough to be able to book a midweek break to Butlins earlier this year (and the boys loved it!) but now as the real Summer holidays approach I realise how long these 6 weeks will be without the possibility of a getaway...

So, I have taken on a small challenge. I've raided Pinterest, G+ and every parenting site I know in order to look for some frugal and fun activities I can create at home for the boys. I have a *really* small budget to work with so I'm looking for things that will entertain the boys for more than 5mins and avoid potential arguments.

Oreo filled s'mores brownies

This summer has provided the perfect conditions for outdoor family vacations. When Finley was little we dabbled in camping and really enjoyed being outdoors but now with Milo having such vocal night terrors I can't imagine being outdoors through the night and not waking every family near us... My in-laws have a caravan which we stayed in the other night and it reminded of how much I loved the camping/caravan lifestyle so hopefully we'll be able to coerce them into lending us their lovely caravan sometime soon ;)

5 ingredient peanut butter cookies

I came across a recipe on Pinterest for peanut butter cookies which looked too good to be true. 5 ingredients - that's it. I thought there was no way it could work, but after extensive googling it seems I'm quite behind in my thinking and this simple recipe really is as easy (and yummy) as it looks!

I love recipes like this as they are made using things I always have in my cupboards and my boys love peanut butter so with the summer holidays just around the corner, I know I can make these as a treat to store in the cookie jar as they keep well for up to a week (if they last!).

Strawberry Puree recipe

The current heatwave in the UK means that a lot of our fruit plants are seeing an abundance of yummy fruit - but you need to pick it quick as the heat also means it is decomposing a lot quicker too.

My friend Maidie kindly let me pick some strawberries from her community garden and after I scoffed a 'decent' amount, I still had some leftover so I thought I'd try my hand at making some strawberry puree as I've been trying to perfect my strawberry buttercream recipe.