Quick & Easy Carrot Cake Recipe
Carrot cake is a fantastic way to eat your vegetables! It even has walnuts and cream cheese icing which is a good source of calcium. If you have it with a cup of green tea, you’re loading up on all the good anti-oxidants too.
Note: Having tea with any meal may reduce the absorption of iron which I will ignore just to have more carrot cake. 
Did I mention that it’s moist and not overly sweet? And it’s oh so delicious!
The carrot cake was very easy to make. If you can use a grater, you can make this! I brought the cake to a picnic all carefully wrapped up in aluminium foil in my Esky and it survived the road trip. I had leftovers which kept well in the fridge for a few days too.
Do you have a good carrot cake recipe to share? Send me a link!
Carrot Cake Recipe at Taste.com.au
This weekend I am having a family lunch for my sister-in-law’s 30th birthday. I’m thinking of bringing chocolate chip muffins. I saw this recipe and I’m really keen to try it out. I’ve never seen muffin recipe that uses Nestle caramel top ‘n’ fill before. I’ll tell you how it goes next week. 
Are you cooking anything special this weekend?
{ 11 comments }
Recycled Magazine Christmas Tree
Last year, I handmade Christmas trees for Richard’s family out of old magazines. I used a craft tutorial from Just Like Martha. I know this post is very belated but better late than never! Anyway, I think the recycled magazine Christmas Tree can be used all year round as a home decoration. Like suggested in the tutorial, you can spray paint them to suit your interior decor. I left it to his family to add any finishing touches.
Hours of folding and not one papercut! I’m just glad they actually liked their paper trees. Plus, I get to recycle and craft at the same time.
Funnily enough, Richard’s brother, James, wrapped all his Christmas presents with old magazines too, even the extremely large Guitar Hero World Tour box! The recycled magazine wrapping didn’t stay on for long and the family was jamming away in no time. Rock on!
Jackson on Guitar Hero, James on drums and Richard on guitar
Moving Forward
I have lost my job at the high school I’ve been working at for the last three years as a Teacher’s Aide. I did not receive a call one morning to say thank you for your services but there is no longer a position available to you this term. No, it didn’t happen that way. Instead, I had one day of work when school reopened and then nothing else. I rang up and was told that there is limited funding and they’ll keep me in mind. “I’ll keep you in mind”. What a blow to my guts.
It’s been a bit more than two weeks since I’ve gone to work. It feels like forever sometimes. I’m not sure what will happen next. I’m optimistic at the opportunity presented to me. I can start fresh again. I can put all my efforts into the best I can be, instead of settling in a job that underutilised my skills. Even though I am stressed and anxious about the future, I am happy.
On my road to self-discovery, I’ve been asking myself, “What are you really passionate about?” The answers are revealing themselves in mysterious ways. Last night, Richard laid next to me going through his RSS on the laptop. He found a Maths article which led to another article and ironically, an article on success and happiness. Below is a video from the article. It’s Steve Jobs, who co-founded Apple, giving a graduation speech at Stanford University.
If you don’t see the video, click here to view directly from YouTube.
To read the entire article on “Collected Notes on Success and Happiness”, visit BetterExplained.
Tell me, friends. What is your idea of success and happiness?
{ 20 comments }Knitted Possum Pouch
I knitted a simple possum pouch to help injured possums and joeys recover when they get hurt in Australian bushfires. The plight of the native animals was brought to my attention by the media and also, Kristy of Snowpea.
The possum pouch was knit in machine washable wool and in simple garter stitch. In my excitement to knit for those poor animals, I misread the instructions and knitted the possum pouch too long. The picture shows my pouch folded down to the right size. The measurements for the knitted pouch was supposed to be 25cm wide and 22cm long. I knitted my pouch the same size as the cotton lining which is 24cm wide and 30cm long. (Please do not repeat my mistake.) The cotton flanellete lining is machine sewn and not attached to the pouch as it needs to be washed regularly. I will be posting these to:
WIRES
PO Box 260
Forestville NSW 2087
The carers who look after these injured animals are volunteers and collaborate with non-govt organisations like WIRES and Wildlife Victoria. They need as much support as we can give them and I know knitters and crafters have big hearts.
WIRES is supporting Wildlife Victoria through this difficult time. However, Wildlife Victoria is no longer accepting supplies like linen and blankets but they still need cash donations. To find out more about how you can help, visit Wildlife Victoria bushfire appeal.
Download (PDF) the instructions to knit and sew possum pouches
{ 4 comments }Easy Sewing Needle Holder
My handmade needle holder brightens up my craft and sewing box, which is a large uninspiring toolbox from Bunnings. I used to stick my needles in a pincushion but I found that every time I needed a particular needle, I had to pull each and every needle out to find the right one.
Then I saw Melissa Goodsell’s tutorial and thought her needle holder was just so perfect! It’s made out of felt and machine sewn together. I want to make more and give it away as gifts. Every household should have one!
Get automagic 
blog updates
