A Quick & Easy Dinner Recipe and a Tip About Tinned Tomatoes

I have a confession to make; I am not the cook in our house. There is no Chez Louisa in residence. Cheze le Architect gets home late most days and so if I don't feed the kids, they don't get fed.

As a result I've learnt a couple of really quick, easy and tasty meals that Bliss loves and will eat time and time again.

Tomato Sausage Delight.
(Original name, hey? Don't you think "delight" makes all the difference.)

Prep time: 10mins
Cooking time: 20-30mins depending on the oven.

You will need:

• Sausages - however many you want to feed your child/ren and some extras if you want to freeze. Hint: if you buy nice sausages it makes this dish even tastier.
• A tin of whole tomatoes, or two if you are making a huge batch.
• Herbs to taste and some salt, pepper and chilli.
• A baking dish.

Instructions:

• Grease the baking dish.
• Cut the sausages into bite sized pieces and place them in the bottom of the baking dish
• Cut up the tomatoes from the tin and pour them, and the tomato puree over the sausages
• Add herbs, salt & pepper and if your kids are up to it, some chilli.
• Bake in the oven covered. Uncover for the last 5 minutes.

Serve with a side of veges.

Voila!

Tinned Tomato Tip:

It's convenient to buy chopped tinned tomatoes but the next time you use them compare them to a tin of whole tomatoes. Do you notice the richness of the whole tomatoes, the thickness of the tomato sauce? To me there's a noticeable difference so I buy the whole tomatoes and just give them a quick chop before using them. Have a look and let me know if you see the difference too.

4 Stunning Gifts For The Little Girl(s) In Your Life.

Have you shopped for a little girl lately? There is an abundance of gorgeous little girls toys on the market - we are spoilt for choice. How do you choose the items that your little girl will most enjoy? I'm going to help you with that today by sharing some of the most played with toys in our house. Get ready to fall in love!

I have to start with the best:  Mother Garden. Have you seen the range? Beware. You will fall in love! I am not a huge pretty-in-pink-girl but this range is just breathtaking. It's so fun and well made. We gave Bliss the Toaster Set for Christmas and she plays with it every single day. We have picnics, we make breakfast, the teddies are fed. It goes on and on. She loves it! And she's not the only one.... :)

The cake and tea set is also beautiful. What I love about these two sets in particular is the inclusion of a tea set.

And of course, Bags, Bags, Bags!

It starts at an early age but there is no denying that little girls love their bags. This is a gorgeous basket just perfect for pretend play and an outing with Mummy!

My Bliss was given a teepee for her second birthday and it's been a huge hit. Lots of independent  and corporate play happens with it and I love that we can use it inside  and outside!

Finally, little girls just love jewellery and I just adore this necklace and the hair clips.
A-D-O-R-E!

What are the favourite toys in your house? Do you have a particular item that you regularly give as gifts to little girls. Would love to hear what you enjoy the most!

4 Beautiful Gifts for Babies 0-6 Months and a Giveaway.

by Louisa from Everything is Edible

When you are pregnant with your first bubba it's all so exciting and wonderful and overwhelming!

And oh-my-oh-my the stuff! It's beautiful and appealing and you think you need it all.

When Bliss was born I was simultaneously awed by the all the beautiful things and flabbergasted. Did one little baby really need all of that???

The Architect, not really big on kids stuff, managed to convince me not to buy anything much. So I didn't. We happily cruised along on the hand-me-downs of generous friends and the few random things I bought on impluse.

What I missed out on were all the really gorgeous, high quality items that would actually have been worth the investment.

So, when I discovered I was pregnant with Bear I deciced it was my time. I finally felt I could sort through the myriad and choose some items that would be loved, used and stylish.

These are some of my favourite items for a bubba that will be used, and loved, every.single.day.

You just can't go past a good rattle - a little jingle, a good chew.
Every bubba's perfect toy!

Another perfect pick for little fingers gaining strenght and coordination.
This chew and look toy will grow with your bubba.

I didn't get a baby bath for Bliss but took the plunge second time round.
Loved-it-every-time.
It's SO handy to be able to bathe a bubba hands free.
Not to mention that this is just so gorgeous!

This last one is actually my favourite.
I think he is just gorgeous!
My little boy loves his squishy bear and I am sure yours will too!

Would you like to win a $50 Gift Voucher to spend on TOYS at Little Yo Yo Styles?

1. Become a Follower of this blog
2. Simply visit Little Yo Yo Styles have a look around
3. Come back and leave a comment saying what your favourite gift for a baby would be.


The winner will be chosen by Random.Org on Sunday 6th March. What are you waiting for?

Meet The New Bloggers on the Block

Recently, the Little YoYo Styles blog added three new bloggers to bring you posts about everything from product reviews to recipes, parenting and Post Natal Depression. Before the first post goes live, an introduction seems appropriate. Here's a little about each blogger;

Hi, I'm Louisa. I am married to "The Architect" and we have two children, Ginger Bliss who is almost 3 and Little Bear who is 4months. We live in Melbourne with our large piece of fluff, Rumple. I love kids clothes and toys and sometimes it feels like our house is over run by the stuff. The Architect does not love these things. He loves books, music and art. Thankfully, we do too and he and Bliss can often be found dancing round the house together. I'm looking forward to contributing to the Little Yo Yo Styles blog and sharing with you some beautiful pieces for your beloved little ones as well as meandering the parenting journey and "hot spots" with you. When I'm not writing here you can find me on my personal blog Everything Is Edible.

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Hi, I’m Bec.  I’m a Mother, I’m a wife.  I’m a sister, I’m a daughter.  I’m an employee, I’m a volunteer.  My children are Hunter, 4 and Savannah, nearly 2. It just seems like yesterday Hunter was born, but here we are with him starting school later in the year.  When I’m not in any of my “roles” I love reading, gym classes and scrapbooking.  Since having my daughter I’ve developed an obsession with nice girly clothes, hence her wardrobe would cloth a small country.  I love finding new, useful and special products, so look forward to sharing these with you.  I also enjoy activities with the kids, so will be writing about some of the things we get up to.  I look forward to sharing our journey with you.  

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Hi, I'm Becky. I have been married to my best friend for almost 4 years now and in these 4 years we have gone from a family of 2 to a family of five. My three little Munchkins; Ellie, 3, Kahlei, 2 and Jasper 3 months, keep me on my toes and entertained. I spend my days playing and crafting, not to mention cleaning, cooking and general running around. I have dabbled in Digital Scrapbook designing, my life long dream was to be a novalist, I still dream of selling some of my photographs and I love to blog, so I am still finding my purpose in life. I look forward to sharing play and craft ideas and those general life moments as well as sharing some of my journey with Post Natal Depression with you. When not posting here you can find me at beckyandjames.com.

Thanks for joining us. We look forward to getting to know you and would love to hear from you the sorts of things you'd like to find in this blog.