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  • Member Since: June 24, 2013

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Fudgy Cracked Cookies

Fudgy Crackled Cookies

These quick and easy chewy, fudgy cookies are delicious and have more ‘wow’ factor than your standard biscuit.

You’ll need:

1 box of Devil’s Food Cake Mix
1/2 cup of vegetable oil
2 large eggs
Icing sugar for rolling (works best if this has been sifted)

Method:

Step 1: Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius.

Put the cake mix (I used Betty Crocker), eggs and vegetable oil (I’d run out, so used olive oil and it worked just as well) into a large bowl and stir.

Step 2: Once mixed, shape dough into 3cm/4cm balls. Place on a lined baking tray and leave to dry for a few minutes. (This is so that the icing sugar doesn’t get absorbed into the dough.)

Step 3: Roll the balls in icing sugar. Make sure they are very well coated, otherwise you won’t get that lovely crackled look.

Step 4: Place 6cm apart on the baking tray and bake for 10 minutes or until the middle has JUST SET. Don’t take them out too early, or you’ll find they ‘flop’.

Remove from oven and transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Step 5: Eat them before hubby or the kids do!

Who’s tried them and what  did you think?!

It’s All About Perspective

June 26, 2013 Bel's Blog

2 Comments

mother's inspirational video

We all have THOSE days.

You know, the ones where the baby won’t stop crying, the toddler’s full of mischief and drawn on the couch/walls/dog… again, and you’ve tried all day but still haven’t managed to hang out the washing or empty the dishwasher.

Then, when you do finally get everyone dressed and out of the house, a stranger offers you some ‘helpful’ advice that makes you feel as if you’re doing this whole parenting thing wrong.

Yep, you’re on edge and ready to throw in the towel.

And then you take refuge in Facebook, Twitter, a blog, etc for a few moments.

And you watch a video like this one, an incredibly strong, brave woman named Lacey Buchnanan being the best mum she can be despite such incomprehensible adversity.

I’ve seen this video several times now and it still makes me cry, but not for the hurdles this mum and her son face (he was born without eyes and with a cleft lip and palate). Instead, I cry because of her raw love and absolute pride in him.

He is her baby and she loves him unconditionally – any condition or diagnosis is irrelevant when it comes to the depth of her emotion.

And he clearly knows just how loved he is. So the little cherub showers his mummy with the best gifts a parent can ever receive – their child’s love, laughter and smiles.

Life’s little gifts

It shouldn’t, but sometimes it takes hearing someone else’s story and seeing their utter devotion to their child for us to stop and realise just what we have.

Personally, I know just how lucky I am to have my kids. My daughter was unexpectedly born prematurely at 32 weeks and I’m still haunted by the first conversation I had with a doctor after her birth where he discussed her “viability”.

It was a heart-wrenching moment that I wouldn’t wish on anyone.

Luckily her condition quickly improved and  three years on, she’s a happy, healthy, mischievous little monkey that leads her little brother astray.

She is a gift. I am truly blessed to have her and her brother in my life, even if they do sometimes test my patience!

As parents, we are all fortunate to have our beautiful babies no matter what challenges we may face. And they all are beautiful babies!

As they grow, we may not always agree with their choices but we must remember how incredibly lucky we are to have them in our lives.

So next time you’re at the end of your tether and you think that things are just so hard, take a moment to sit back and really take a look at where you’re at.  I’m sure you’ll agree it’s not really all that bad after all.