I went back to full-time study a few weeks back and life has been hectic to say the least.  After my first week it became clear that my family could not live on fish and chips and spagetti on toast everynight of the week.  So I went out last weekend and bought a slow cooker (also known as a crockpot).  I have to say this new kitchen appliance is a life saver!  I can put my evening meal in it at breakfast time and by the time I come home my house smells of a lovely home cooked meal and all I need to do is dish it up. Not only does it cook casseroles, you can put whole chickens in there too! If you struggle to get a meal on the table in the evening I recommend this appliance even if you use it only a couple of nights a week.

Steph xo

I have just discovered Lunchbots! Do you know them yet? They’re little stainless steel food containers which are completely BPA-free and eco friendly and eliminate the need for plastic baggies and other waste. They come in different sizes and with different divisions, so they’re handy for littler snacks or for a bigger meal.  Great for inside lunch boxes, for after school snacks, for car rides or airplane journeys, etc. And the best part is that they’re dishwasher safe, so easy to clean! They’re  available in the UK from Little Acorns To Mighty Oaks.

-Courtney

Aren’t these wooden utensils so fun? They’re perfect for school lunches, birthdays, ice cream parties… you name it. There are loads of cute designs and themes to choose from, and you can even customise your own. There’s even ice cream paddles and chopsticks! All available from the Sucre & Spice Etsy shop.

x Courtney

xxx Esther

In the gift shops you will almost certainly find these Breton bowls with first names written on the side, which have been ubiquitous with French seaside resorts, at least since I was a kid. I remember my grandmother coming back from a trip with one of these bowls for each grandchild. At that time, we still drank our milk out of a bowl in the morning, so it must have looked really cute having all of us sitting around the table draining our bowls.

Why were we draining our bowls? Because inside the bowl is the little iconic image of the Breton farmer and his wife and we needed to finish every bit of milk to make it appear! Last year, on a seaside holiday, I got a pair of these bowls for my girls. Partly for sentimental reasons and partly because I just think they are cute and very français!

x Courtney

We’re vacationing in France at the moment, and I came across these adorable bowls in a store yesterday. Of course I just couldn’t resist — thinking they would just be perfect for breakfast in the garden, or for serving summery dishes like blackberry cobbler! They are available online through the online store of Comptoir de Famille, or in the UK at Divertimenti.

xxx Esther

Loving these chic bibs from New York-based company NestPrep. There are three designs, all in lovely, great quality fabrics and with a convenient terry liner to wipe clean you baby’s face or absorb the drool. They look really adorable on — you might want to leave them on all day. A lovely present for a newborn too.

xxx Esther

My son Pim just started school (here in the Netherlands school starts at the age of four), and he’s still getting used to the whole ordeal. He’s really exhausted when he gets home in the afternoon, and I can see (and imagine!) that the whole thing is a big change for him. Getting used to the bigger boys, making new friends, learning to learn and behave…
Anyway, he needed a bit of special attention so he and I made fun dinosaur cookies when his big sister was away on a play date the other day. We got these cute dinosaur cookie shapes for him when we were in London last month, and we made and ate a whole batch of them. I used the sand-cookie recipe that I’ve written about earlier, and which is great because it’s easy and children can be very involved in the process. Similar cookie cutters are available on Amazon (UK or US)…

xxx Esther

Olive Loves Alfie is one of my favourite children’s boutiques in London. I always know I can pick up a unique birthday gift, a great new children’s book, or something cute for the home whenever I stop in. Ashlyn, the owner, has such a great eye for design… and every time I leave her shop I feel full of design inspiration!

Olive Loves Alfie has now launched a new, spruced-up website and it is gorgeous — just as inspiring as the shop itself! And to celebrate the launch of their new site, Olive Loves Alfie is now offering our readers a 10% discount. Just enter code: MOLIVELOVES at check-out (offer good until 31st of May). I have my eyes on that cool miffy light. What about you?

-Courtney

For Violette’s 3rd birthday, I went cupcake crazy and it was a massive success. The little Frenchies went crazy for this Anglo invasion of sweet treats. I think there is a future here for them…. I cannot wait for the time we will find cupcakes neatly lining the bakery shelves, right along side croissants and pains au chocolat.

-Emilie

I LOVE the Smiling Planet dishes! The whimsical designs are so, so sweet. Plus they’re made from 100% recycled BPA-free plastic, they’re dishwasher safe and scratch resistant. Perfect for your little ones!

E-Side, the new eco webshop, is now kindly offering this Wonderful World Plate and Bowl Gift Set to one lucky reader. How cute! Just leave a comment below by next Wednesday, April 13th, and we’ll pick one winner at random.

Good luck!

This give-away is now closed.

I picked my stamp up at the Printemps department shop here in Paris,  but here is the link to the list of shops that stock Fred’s Stamps.

-Emilie

One of my little pet peeves is drinking cold coffee — and at the moment my coffee gets cold very, very often! Between getting kids out of bed, dressed, to the breakfast table, into coats and out of the door, my sacred cup of coffee (strong, with a drop of milk, no sugar) gets put down on a shelf somewhere. By the time I find it again, it is stone cold.

I have recently invested in a Bodum Travel Press. So far it has been a success story. It is super easy to use and my coffee stays warm for at least 2 hours. It might be a small step for mankind, but it is certainly a big step for me!

-Emilie

These Goodbyn lunch boxes are something else. They are so clever and tick all the boxes — they’re BPA-free, 100% recyclable, dishwasher safe, and made in the USA. The innovative design means you have 5 containers in one, eliminating the need for any wasteful plastic baggies. And not to mention, so cute and kid-friendly!

They’re available in many different colours from the fantastic new UK webshop, Toyella, which specialises in toys, games and gifts that offer something different.

-Courtney

I’m laughing because I think we have made a bigger deal of Pancake Day than we have done for any other holiday! But… it’s like Emilie said, who doesn’t love pancakes?! I’m loving these cute silicone moulds to shape your pancakes into designs your kids will love. You can use them for fried eggs too! Available from the new UK webshop, Mum et Moi, where you can find loads of other cute kid-friendly cooking tools.

-Courtney

Anyway, are they stepping up their bakeware or am I just slow on the uptake?  I was really impressed with their baking accessories, cupcake papers and doilies.  I couldn’t resist these Dala horse (Mama & Baby) bake tins – so cute! I baked Courtney’s famous carrot cake in them over the weekend, which has become a favourite recipe in our household.  However, my only problem was getting the cake out in the end — does anyone have a great cake recipe that is meant to be baked in a tin like this and therefore slips out?

-Mo. x

How cute are these little TumTum Snack Pots from VUPbaby, each with a little bug on the lid? They’re made from BPA-free plastic, are dishwasher safe and fit one inside the other for easy storage.  Cute for inside lunch boxes or for storing after school snacks. Or… you can do what I just did and give them to your 2-year-old and ask her to stack and sort them. Mine sat there for nearly 20 minutes completely entertained!

-Courtney

With the third baby, you sort of consider yourself an experienced mum. You think you get it, know how it’s done best, and it truly makes parenting a lot easier because you’re a lot less bothered. (Most third babies I know are very easygoing — must have something to do with the parents being more relaxed!)
However, when it’s regarding eating solids, Ava is in no way like her siblings, and I honestly am at a loss here. The thing is this: where Sara and Pim at six months would eagerly open their mouths for their first bite of solids (baby rice), baby Ava was not very keen to try at all, and the little bite that I managed to get into her mouth was not met with a lot of enthusiasm (if you want to see photos of me feeding Ava her first bites you can have a look here, the look on her face is classic). From that moment onwards, Ava has kept her mouth shut and turns her face away as soon as she sees a spoon coming her way. And don’t think I haven’t tried it all: home-cooked, not home-cooked, mix with breast-milk, have other people try, same taste for a few days, different tastes, etc. etc. She’s now 8 months old and not much has changed! The only thing that sort of works is to give her a plate, set her down for dinner with us and give her chunks of food (like broccoli, carrot, fish, or bread). She will suck on these (and analyse them, play with them, and throw them on the ground together with the plate). I wonder if this means we’re skipping the pureed food stage all together? It surely means we have a very stubborn little lady on our hands here!

xxx Esther

PS – the cute over-sized bib is from Coq-en-Pâte and made of 100% organic cotton and non-toxic ink.

Because I’m quite often stuck in the morning for original ideas to fill the boxes, I’m thinking of creating a (printable) list of ‘ideas for the lunchbox’. Now I only have 10 minutes for this in the morning, so creating fresh sushi or sandwiches in the shape of an octopus is not for me (yes I know, my poor children). Do you have tips for me? Whether food items, easy recipes, good lunch boxes or shopping tips, I’m interested to hear. To be continued.

xxx Esther

PS Unbreakable stainless steel Eco Lunchbox from GreenJump.nl