Baking Headstart: My very own Convection Oven

Last April, i finally got a headstart on my baking journey when i finally got the Imarflex 3-in1 convection oven with 30L capacity. Since then i learned so much and tried baking all sort of stuff from cookies to bread loafs to pizzas. The hubby also roasted a whole chicken in it. You can checkout my Instagram for a gallery of my baked success (and failures, too). 

Disclaimer: I am not being paid to publish this post, just sharing my experience with the product. 

Before i got this, I've tried baking in a turbo broiler. I managed to bake banana loaves, but baking took too long and it was quite difficult to "balance" the temperature inside. The top layer of the loaves can get burnt quickly, since the heat is solely coming from the heating component on top.  A convection oven circulates heated air to make sure even cooking on top, below and around your baking pans.   

Cream cheese cookies baking in my convection oven

Wondering about Weaning

I cannot give the exact date when my son finally weaned from breastfeeding. I guess it was about on the start of this year, he had just turned 3 years old. Now, he just promptly refuses whenever I offer to nurse him, just for the fun of  it. We would just turn away from my breasts, as if nursing was the ickiest portion of his young life.;)

Now after weaning, i can finally drink beer or wine without having to worry about nursing later. Now i can drink gallons of coffee without needing to count the milligrams of caffeine i've taken in. Now my wardrobe won't be confined to nursing clothes! But a wee bit part of me often misses that side of me, the nursing mama.

Looking back, here are some key points about our own weaning journey:

The 5-step DIY kids apron

It's my son's transition period to his new preschool and they have too many requirements! We had to spend one whole Saturday just to put everything together. Finally the checklist has been sorted out but one more thing is missing - a kiddie apron. They'll be using this during art activities. We looked for it at National Bookstore and in art craft stores but we did not find any that will fit our 3 year old son.

I knew i had to D-I-Y this one, eventually. But it's ok because DIYing is really liberating yet challenging, as it squeezes my creative juices. Plus i'll get to use up the remaining junk i have in storage. ;)

No need to bring out the sewing machine (though i wish i own one), just plain hand stitching will do. I got the idea from this blog.

So here's how i made this cute little apron.

Choco Oatmeal Bars

Recently i have been looking for healthier baked desserts. I usually scour the net for recipes, but i'm shocked by how much sugar a cake recipe calls for! So i usually follow the recipe, but use less fats (oil, butter, margarine) and sugar.

My idea is to incorporate oats, which is my favorite healthy food, to my baking. It's very filling and has loads of fiber. And i like its chewy texture when added to cookies. Plus oats has been known to help increase breast milk production, so nursing moms should really much on them.

I was inspired by the revel bar recipe from Bake Happy and All Recipes but i tamed down the butter and the sugar. Now, without further ado, here is my recipe for choco-oatmeal bars! The result was not so sweet but still deliciously decadent, in my humble opinion. ;)

Lemon Crinkles ala Expert ;)

So i bought a convection oven two months ago and this has awaken the baking diva in me. Really, i've been on Pinterest almost every time for baking ideas and inspiration.  

So far, this Lemon Crinkles have been our favorite and i'd like to share the recipe. :0 You can expect more recipes in my succeeding posts as i am really on a baking streak!  

Yummy lemon crinkles - best served with freshly brewed coffee and a big smile. :0. 

DIY Play dough

How's your child's summer break so far? My son's classes have ended three weeks ago so he's at home the entire day. IT IS a challenge to keep him busy, but i manage to squeeze in a few ways to he keep his hands off the Ipad even just for a few hours.

His most requested activities so far include making volcanoes (you know the reaction when you mix baking soda with vinegar?) and play dough. These keep him busy for a while and i like it because he's able to practice his fine motor skills on a sit down activity.

Let me share how we make our own play dough.  I found several different versions online, but the recipe below seems to be the simplest and i readily had three main ingredients in our pantry.

"Thou shall not fear the Credit Card"

Yes! You read it right. This has been my mantra these past few months. Expenses have been piling up and I had to resort to swiping the dreaded card more than i planned to just last month. Honestly, i think my goal of having zero credit card debt seems unreachable this year. I originally planned to eliminate using "plastic", but we had a huge unexpected expense last November, and i needed to take an emergency loan from our cooperative. I had to pay the loan for 3 years, at Php 6000 monthly. This loan made a big dent in our family fund, sending my budget on haywire. I ended up relying on the credit card for daily needs like groceries, school requirements, even gasoline, along with some little indulgences like dining out here and there.