RECIPE: Caprese Pull Apart Cheesy Garlic Bread

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Oozy stringy mozzarella cheese, the rich depth of sundried tomatoes and the pungent flavour of basil are such a perfect combination, but why keep them to just a caprese salad? Bringing this traditional combination together with punchy garlic and a loaf of bread makes for the most delicious pull apart cheesy bread that is ideal for sharing with friends or family. It is incredibly easy and quick to make too, using largely store cupboard ingredients. My children also really enjoy helping to mix the ingredients together, spread the garlic herb butter and stuff the bread with the cheese. We love cooking together and if you do too then this is the perfect easy recipe to do together. 

PARENTHOOD: 20 Ways to Make Life Easier when you have More than One Child

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Life is busy at the best of times, but when you throw children into the mix time just seems to disappear. Getting jobs done, keeping a household running and staying on top of the to-do list can be such a challenge for parents. As someone who has recently welcomed our third baby into the family I am all too familiar with the struggles of daily parenting life and have had to quickly learn hacks, tips and tricks to make our family life easier. Some of them are really small things, but they make such a difference and I hope that they can help you too.

CHILDREN: 140 Indoor Activities for Hours of Entertainment

There are so many reasons why we may need to stay indoors with our children, whether it be wet weather, a cosy weekend, illness or the current pandemic of Coronavirus. The idea of staying indoors with children for a prolonged period of time can be quite a daunting prospect, but in an aim to help parents I have put together 140 ideas for indoor activities. These will keep you busy for hours, days, if not weeks and can easily be combined with more educational activities too. There are opportunities to practice fine motor skills, be creative, learn new skills and simply have fun, which is really important for children, but especially with the current concerns, unknowns and changes.

REVIEW: Jooki - The Smart Player with ToyTouch Technology

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Turning up the volume, having a boogie, listening to stories or bringing a performance alive children love to be surrounded by music. A day doesn't go past where we don't have a kitchen disco dance or Isabella wants to show us her latest dance performance. However, to access music children often need an adult to select a certain playlist or song, which in turn limits their ability to be creative with sound. Jooki have created The Smart Player with ToyTouch Technology to solve this exact problem and allow children to safely access music and stories; bringing back their creativity and enabling them to enjoy screen-free time.

RECIPE: Slow Cooker Cinnamon Buns with Cream Cheese Frosting

Cinnamon buns are such a comforting treat, aren't they? The swirls of warming cinnamon contrast perfectly with the creamy frosting, but they can be lengthy to make from scratch. This is where the slow cooker comes in because there isn't any need for hours of proving time or kneading. The gentle cooking of a slow cooker is ideal for allowing the cinnamon bun dough to rise and bake without the need to stand and wait. Most of the time slow cookers are used for savoury main meals, so why not change things up and bake a batch of cinnamon buns instead? There's nothing more welcoming than filling your house with the sweet scent of cinnamon on a cold winters day. 

PARENTHOOD: 7 Creative Ways to Capture your Children's Childhood

Capturing our children's childhood is such a special thing to do, not only for our memories but for theirs too. I have such fond memories of all gathering together to look back through the photo albums of my childhood and children these days are incredibly lucky with quite how many different ways their childhood can be captured. Our parents generation only have a few photographs, our generation have more along with the odd video and the current generation of children we are bringing up have all the digital photos and videos they could ever dream of. But how can you capture your children's childhood in a slightly more creative way?