Happy Birthday, Daddy! Vegan Crumble Recipe

All he wanted was not really to do anything…

I can’t blame him, live is rather buzzing most of the time and we had some travel for work just last week.The last few years I always organised some sort of sursprise party and made a big deal…Because: I love birthdays, and this man deserves to be celebrated.

This year I think he was right, it was time for a very low-key weekend. We all needed some rest.

His little gift he already received the week before in the Blue Mountains, so this weekend was all about just getting our apartment spring ready. Lots of cleaning, gardening, car washing, fixing things…

But also a morning on the beach, a home made birthday crumble, which was so delicious I have to share the recipe below. :)

Faye really needed the calm weekend too, as she looked quite overwhelmed, probably catching up from the previous eventful week . She also napped on both days in a row. Just what the doctor ordered, a weekend where Mama wasn’t working and we weren’t all super busy.

We love you, Daddy!
Thank you for a wonderful time at home.

Delcious Vegan Apple & Cherry Crumble

Ingredients

FILLING

• 4 tart organic apples

• 2 cups Cherries ( I used frozen ones)

• Juice of 2 lemons

• 2/3 cup Maple Syrup

• 2 tsp ground cinnamon

• 3 Tbsp organic buckwheat flour for thickening

• 1/4 cup water

• 1 tsp fresh grated ginger

• 1 pinch nutmeg

• 1 pinch allspice

TOPPING

• 1 cup organic rolled oats

• 1 cup almond meal

• 1/2 cup organic buckwheat flour

• 3/4 cup maple syrup

• 1/4 Blacksrtap Molasses

• 1/4 tsp sea salt

• 1 tsp ground cinnamon

• 1/2 cup melted coconut oil

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees

2. thinly slice apples lengthwise

3. Add to a medium pot, add cherries and top with remaining filling ingredients. Toss to combine.
   Warm on medium heat until boiling then let it simmer on low heat for a few more minutes.
   Add the mixture to a baking dish.

4. Add all topping ingredients to a mixing bowl. Stir to combine, Until sticky and clumpy. Pour over the apple/cherry mixture in an even layer.

5. Bake for about 40 minutes (to 50min) or until the filling is bubbly, the apples are tender and the topping is deep golden brown.

6. Let rest at least 30 minutes before serving. We had ours with Pana Salted Caramel Ice Cream.

   The recipe has been inspired and adapted from The Minimalist Baker
   

Yoga & Meditation for Toddlers

I have already posted this on Insta…and didn’t quite keep up to pop this post on the blog.

So here it is:
Let’s talk about yoga for children

Is it a good idea? Just a trendy fad? Do kids need meditation and yoga classes?

Does Faye practice yoga? 

Let me start with a little known fact about myself: 

I am a certified Kundalini Yoga Teacher. ‍♀️

While I don’t currently teach any classes I am devoted to my own practice, meditation and trying my best to live a yogic lifestyle. 

Yes, Faye does practice yoga and has done so already in the womb 🤰🏼

She grew up with all the chanting, mantras and movements.

She has been crawling all over us ever since we started to get back into our morning practice at home...(let’s be honest here, we don’t keep it up all the time)

I think parents probably need yoga more than their kids. If we practice mindfulness and model self care then it can become a natural part of family life. 

If our kids see us do yoga then they would want to do it too. Toddlers want to be in on EVERYTHING we do, right?

Now at 2 Faye loves practicing Yoga.

We found some great toddler picture yoga books with simple illustrations of poses, which make it really fun. So I wanted to share some of these treasures...

OUR FAVOURITE KIDS YOGA BOOKS

Faye’s first Yoga book was “Little Yoga” at around 20 months. She got it out every day and wanted to practice. The illustrations are cute and simple and they can definitely be followed by the youngest yogis.
There is no story here, but she illustrations and animal names, were engaging enough for Faye to love it.Great for mimicking and body awareness and a sweet intro to yoga poses.

We got “Good Morning Yoga” & “Good Night Yoga” as German titles, becuase I try to speak and read as much German as possible to Faye. These two are real cute treasurers. Very beutiful illustrations. There is a bit of guidance on the breath here as well. They are recommended for older (school age) children andFaye can’t do all the poses yet, but she loved the beautiful illustrations and really enjoys them. They also both finish with a guided meditation, which is a bonus. Both feature girls and boys and global diveristy, without gender stereotyping. Big thumbs up.

”I AM YOGA” is more artistic in it’s sketchy illustrations. It is also a book that can simply be read without trying to copy the movements and poses. It offers a great insight in how to use Yoga as a tool in daily life to stay calm and centered. It really teaches yog aas a coping strategy for hard days and hard feelings. Kids can copy the poses while listening to the story. It’s a great little book.

”Rachel’s Day In The Garden” is a great yoga story book, which allows to integrate a simple yoga practice into a lovely nature story. It really is fun and Faye enjoys that there is a story. It’s wo a few awards for a good reason. LOVE this one. It’s also a great one for kids yoga teachers to have and use during a lesson. Charming illustrations, easy to follow poses and tips for parents/teachers are included in the back!

I hope you enjoyed these!

I think yoga is great for children, whether you simply practice at home or sign up for a lesson.
Just keep in mind to not overschedule your kids weeks. It is more “yoga” to live simply then trying to race to another activity/childrens enrichment class even if that one is yoga!

A Beach Day in Winter & Plastic Free July

While I am all rugged up next to a heater with fluffy socks and a warm tea while typing this we had a surprise return of Summer over the long weekend and what did we do? You guessed it! We went straight to the beach in the morning sipping delicious coffees while Faye ran around in a swimsuit and even splashed in the water! Lots of people went swimming but I didn’t bring my bathing suit, which was my only regret that day.

Faye, on the other hand, was ready for anything. 

I always think kids look the happiest on the beach. They can roam free, climb rocks, dig in the sand, scream, build and destroy, jump and of course there is water to play in.

All the best toys are indeed free: water, sand, rocks & sticks. 

I am also a big believer of as much unstructured play time as possible for kids and this was just what Faye needed. 

She could just be free and play.

I think it was also just what we needed. 

A cup of coffee while watching her, overlooking the beautiful harbour and relaxing for a moment. 

Very much in love with our city and beautiful local beaches!

At the beginning of this year, we were trying to work out the big life questions. We wondering where to live (was it time to change cities?) and did a lot of research into schooling for Faye. 

Well, we confirmed and enrolled Faye at our local Montessori School, where she will start pre-school next year and continue on until she turns 12 years old!

We couldn’t be happier. 

This means we will stay put. 

Such a great feeling to have some clarity!

That was a little round up from us!
Also it’s Plastic Free July!
So we are trying our best to avoid all single use plastic and continue our journey toward #zerowaste!

Faye’s swimsuit was a gift from Fit Swimwear a professional quality eco-swim label.
All fabrics are recycled and keep the oceans clean. 
All FiT swimwear for women, teen kids and babies is made from a mix of polyester, and ECONYL®; an innovative, sustainable fibre made from regenerated nylon waste (recovered from landfills and oceans around the world). It has the same level of quality as brand new nylon, and it can be recycled and reused over and over again.

Faye Turns Two! Vegan Pancake Birthday Cake Recipe

“I am two” were the first words she said this morning, waking up unusually early and bouncing all over the bed.
Here we are!
Two times around the sun ✨🎂✨
Our little sunflower is growing big and strong. And just like that I am the mother of a two year old.
Getting to know this little person better in every moment but also feeling as if I have always known her is a pretty special way of spending my days.
Guiding and being guided in this role of motherhood. Always learning, always teaching.
Life has never been warmer, sunnier and more joyful, Happy Birthday, little one!

We celebrated by telling Faye her birth story, a Montessori “walking around the sun” ceremony, wearing her birthday crown and a vegan homemade birthday cake. We set up and decorated her birthday table with fresh flowers and her birthday ring. (A German tradition) She sang herself a birthday song over and over and seemed very pleased with the whole scenario.
Then we all headed to a kids bicycle & scooter park, as this was my best guess at what Faye would want to do with her day. She was riding for hours! Some of her lovely neighbour friends came along and we shared some cake in the afternoon!
She blew bubbles and bubbles and more bubbles.
She unwrapped a gift.
By 6pm (her usual bedtime is 8) Faye fell asleep in my arms and was too tired to speak or eat dinner.
Whoops. I totally thought we kept it simple and didn’t want to overwhelm her...🤷🏼‍♀️ She sure had a good day! And hopefully it was somewhat meaningful, magical, yet simple!
You might have guessed it: I LOVE BIRTHDAYS!

I got a lot of questions/comments on the cake when I shared it on Instagram so here is the recipe:

PANCAKE CAKE- Birthday Cake- Vegan

Ingredients:
Pancakes:
2 cups green banana flour (125 g)
2 cups buckwheat flour
6 tablespoons date syrup or raw sugar or any sweetener of choice
4 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
4 cups non-dairy milk (240 mL) add more if needed to make a smooth batter
4 tablespoons organic apple cider vinegar
2 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon Cinnamon
(toppings of choice see below for what I have used)
Filling:
1 Tub coconut yogurt (about 250ml)
Home Made Chia Jam, see below!

How to:

Pancakes:
First combine the dry ingredients, then add the wet ingredients, use a whisk or hand mixer to combine.
Let dough settle for 5 min.
Use a non-stick pan and start making pancakes on medium heat. They are done very quickly, so keep an eye on them and flip them half way through. I made mine quite thick, which worked really well for the cake.
Let all pancakes cool down.

Cream:
Mix Coconut Yogurt or Coconut Cream (only the thick part if you buy a canned coconut cream) with Acai Powder or freeze dried berries for pink colour and flavour. If you are in Australia: I used the Aldi Coconut yogurt which is extra thick and works perfectly well as an icing or filling.

Assembly:
Layer pancakes: Pancake with chia jam, pancake with coconut cream, pancake with fresh berries and coconut yoghurt, pancake with chia jam and so forth.
I made the cake the night before Fayes Birthday and kept it in the fridge overnight, which worked out fine.
Toppings: Rose Petals, Strawberries, Raspberries, Star Shaped Apple Cutouts (made with cookie cutter and baked in oven for 15min)

I am big on improvising and making things up when in the kitchen, so please let me know if this doesn’t make sense…I am always trying my best to remember what I did and to write it down…

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!