Home made chocolate-banana ice lollies

So, summer is about to end.....(sigh). Next week is "la rentree" and, although we DID finally get a decent summer here in Brussels (after a non-existent spring) it is still incredible how weeks have flown by.

But hey, just because the countdown to another school term (and shorter, cooler days) has begun, it doesn't mean we cannot still enjoy one of our summer time favourites: home made ice lollies.

It started a few years back, when I bought some ice-lollies molds from IKEA, full of good intentions but little else. The molds remained untouched in a drawer in our kitchen until this year, when I found a number of nice looking recipes online and decided to start experimenting.

This summer, I've done from the really easy, virtually no work required lollies made of frozen supermarket-bought smoothies (I know, I know, but sometimes one is really short of time and ideas) to the more elaborate ones. This is a recipe for banana-chocolate ones, which have proved a big success with Bibu. It features the good, old, hard-working banana (is there a house with small children without a bunch of bananas lying somewhere?) and cocoa powder, which is apparently full of antioxidants and a super food. Here we go:

Ingredients (for 6 ice lollies)

• 2 ripe bananas
• 2 tbsp cocoa powder (I used the 100% cocoa powder from Carrefour, but you can even go organic if you prefer, so ensure healthy credentials)
• 4 tbsp natural yogurt
• half a small carton of cream (creme fraiche)
• 1 tsp of sugar (or honey, or agave syrup)

Just put everything into a blender, whiz until  you get a chocolatey, creamy texture and pour into the molds. Put the molds in the freezer for at least 4 hours (best overnight) and then enjoy. They won't make summer any longer, but they will definitely make it sweeter!

Escape to Parc Tenbosch (Ixelles)

So, what do you do when, suddenly, both your children are at home during school holidays (the baby one and also the one you counted on being at the quite expensive hockey one-week stage you signed him up for but that he emphatically refused to go to after three days ?

Well, if you live in the Ixelles/ Uccle area, you escape to Parc Tenbosch for a spot of pic-nic. Obviously.

It's the yummy mummy park par-excellence here in Brussels, I think. Today, though, not a mummy and baby yoga class in sight. It was all very quiet and peaceful. All the loungers were empty, so Bibu and I settled and proceeded to attack our picnic sandwiches while baby Pingu proceeded to attack us (and steal some bites of my sandwich, after having eaten his own appropriate warm baby-meal)

As usual, picnics with two boys tend to last about 6 minutes, just long enough for Bibu to scoff his food as fast as he can and declare that he is ready to go to the playground. So there we went, wallking along the brick road, past the romantic, beautiful wooden benches:

And into the strange red wood chip playground

Parc Tenbosch is incredibly beautiful, definitely one of my favourite parks in the cityl. It's small, but big enough to house a couple of gated playgrounds (the woodchip one and one which is just a sandpit), a tennis, a petanque and a basquetball field, plus all the nice benches and greenery galore. The only thing missing is a toilet, preferably with a nappy changing station. Many other less nice parks in the area have toilets, so it's baffling why such a well maintained park doesn't.

That, and a nice coffee place just across the street is what would make Tenbosch the über-park. In the meantime, though, not to be missed. Boys and mamma very pleased with the bit of fresh air.

Sport camp lunchbox: courgette muffins

So, summer is almost gone (back to school in two weeks already??) but still it's "stage" (sport camp) time for many kids in Brussels. This year; we only signed Bibu up for one week of stage, doing an introduction to hockey in one of the best-known hockey and tennis clubs in the city.

Sport camp means in most cases "packed lunch", as it's not common for warm meals to be provided. I thought, besides the typical ham-and-cheese sandwich and cherry tomatoes combo,  what can I put in Bibu's lunchbox that will be easy to eat, easy to pack and would provide some healthy alternative?

The answer: savoury mufifins!

I'm quite familiar with the traditional sweet muffins. I have a few recipes that use reduced sugar and yogurt and are always a hit with the kids, using chocolate, apple and cinnamon or lemon and honey, among others. When it comes to savoury muffins using vegetables, however, there is much less variety. I scoured page after page of Pinterest to only find a few weird recipes. I was looking for courgette muffins, as I had a couple of those bad boys in the fridge. In the end, I found one recipe that I adapted a bit:

They are easy peasy to make. I made about 16 muffins wit the amounts given. I advise it's best to prepare them the night before, as they need to cool down completely. I also advise to dry a bit the grated courgette in a clean kitchen towel or cheesecloth to avoid the muffins being too soggy inside, as courgettes (and spinach) tend to hold lots of water inside.

Ingredients (for about 16 small muffins)

• 200 gr self-raising flour
• 1 tsp salt
• a couple grinds of black pepper
• 60 gr grated parmesan cheese
• 2 eggs
• 250 ml full fat yogurt (I used a 150 gr pot of soft goat cheese and 100 gr of yogurt, but you can use only yogurt. I imagine ricotta might work just as well)
• 4 tbsp sunflower or olive oil
• 200 gr grated courgette (or cooked spinach, or whatever vegetable you want to use)

Preheat the oven at 180 C and while it gets ready, start preparing the muffins. Mix all dry ingredients in one bowl, mix all wet ingredients in another bowl. Pour the dry onto the wet, ad the courgettes and mix well. Using an ice-cream scoop (it rends the process sooo much easier) put a little bit of the mix onto each muffin form (I used silicone muffin forms for these ones, but you can also line a muffin tin with muffin papers) but don't over fill, as these babies will rise in the oven. Then bake them for about 30' or until they're golden on top.

I tried one -for research purposes of course- and it was delicious. Let's see what happens with the one I put into Bibu's lunchbox this morning.

Oh mamma, I wanna go swimming!

We've been all under the (crap) weather at home, so some blog silence ensued. First it was Bibu and me with flu, and last week baby Pingu got croup first and then a bout of conjunctivitis. Fun............it was not. Anyway, the spring is slowly rearing its pretty head and with the sunny days coming along, I started thinking about sports.

A while ago, when Bibu turned 4, I started thinking which"organised" sport should he start with and I instinctively steared towards swimming. His school is quite close to Watermael-Boitsfort's communal swimming pool Calypso 2000, which is part of the Trois Tileuls/ Drie Linden sport complex (where you can also play tennis, basketball, rugby and fencing) so there we went.

The entrance looks like this:

Yes! There is a parking! Yee-ha!

Swimming lessons for kids are held mostly in the "Petit Bassin" (small pool), which is in a rather ancient buidling behind the main building. The swimming pool at the Petit Bassin is about 1 mt deep, so perfect for small swimmers. The water is also warmer than in the main building. The dressing rooms are a bit ancient as well, but overall clean and warm (quite important during winter months)

The cost for each level  (10 lessons, 1 time per week) is 50 EUR. Children can start as of 4 years old and there are classes every day of the week, except Sundays. Of course, Wednesdays and Saturdays fill up quickly, so bear that in mind. Every 10 weeks, a new cycle starts, so ask when is the next one starting.

In addition to the swimming lesson at the Petit Bassin, if what you want is just go for a swim with your kid, the main building (the one you see on the photo above) houses an olympic size swimming pool and two small pools for kids: one for babies (water up to a toddler's knee and very warm) and one slightly deeper for kids of up to 5 years old. Prices to access the main building start at 1.2 EUR for children up to 4 years and 2.9 for adults who live in Watermael Boitsfort.

Also in the main building, there is a course for babies (bébé nageur) on Sunday mornings. This I did not try it myself yet, but will maybe take Pingu.

And now, the "piece the resistance" of Calypso 2000 and something that amuses me no end. Just by the reception of the main building, next to the cafe entrance, there is a vending machine for........... swimsuits! Yes, imagine that you've suddenly decided to pop into the pool but, oh, no! you've forgotten your trunks! No problem, just put a few coins (or your banking card, even better) into this bad boy and you can get adult and kid-size trunks or swimsuits, googles and even silicone hats. My hat to that!

DOD: Great clothes at great prices

When I think about kids clothes, especially boys, I know they have to be nice but also have to be also great quality and stand the wear and tear of two active little fellows. On the other hand, I don't want to spend a fortune dressing my kids.

DOD Junior in Avenue Louise

DOD is one of those shops I go time and time again. It's not only a kids' clothes paradise, but also caters women and men's fashion. I think it only exists in Brussels, and, since I've become a Bruselaar, it's one of those places you need to visit. There are few shops dotted around the Madou Tower area (metro Madou) and one in the Bascule neighbourhood, but the ones I go to most often are in the Rue de Bailli area, in Ixelles (tram 94, stop Rue de Bailli). The women, men's and 6 to 16 year old shops are located in Rue de Bailli itself, while the babies, toddlers and kids up to 6 years is around the corner, on Avenue Louise (a few metres from the Michael Collins Irish Pub)

What is the secret? Well, you can find a huge variety of clothes and footwear of well known, good quality brands, for a fraction of the price you pay elsewere. Some of the brands in the baby shop include Noukie, Ralph Lauren, Tommy Hilfiger, Chevignon, Okaidi, IKKS, Geoxx shoes, etc.

I believe the way they work is that they stock clothes from a couple of season's ago. It does not really bother me because, hello, who cares about following the latest trends in kids fashion? A body (onesie/ romper) is a body and a sweater is a sweater. Over the years I have bought tons of clothes and shoes for Bibu and Pingu in DOD Junior and I have always been very happy with the quality and with the price, of course. Just as an example, last year, my mother in law bought Bibu a very nice pair of sneakers from Geoxx in a shoe shop close to their home. They paid something like 70 EUR, which is I think an average price for kids sport shoes. A few months later, I saw similar Geoxx shoes in the DOD for less than half the price, and it was not during the sales, just their regular price. Also, more recently, I bought a lovely light sweater from IKKS, for a 6-month old baby at 14 EUR.

So, cannot recommend the place enough. For me it really ticks many boxes.

The only drawback from DOD, and one you have to bear in mind, is that they do not make exhanges under any circumstances. Once you have paid for the item, it's yours........ for all eternity, even if you find out it's too small for your kiddo or he/ she hates it. So, maybe a tricky one to go for presents, unless you know the size of the kid perfectly well. The same applies for shoes, so make sure they try them properly before leaving the place.

Another point to bear in mind when shopping in the DOD Junior in Avenue Louise is that the shop has just enough place to manouver a pram/ stroller. The babies clothes up to 3 years is on the groundfloor, but for older kids, up to 6 years old, you need to go upstairs and there is no elevator, so not really recommended if you want to go shopping for your baby and older kids at the same time (unless you are accompanied by someone who can mind the baby in the stroller while you go upstairs). Same happens in the DOD Junior in Bascule.

Tried and tested: cute labels for your kid's stuff

Baby Pingu recently started going to daycare, in view to my imminent return to the office world. At Belgium's childcare centres, they typically provide the nappies and meals and you need to foresee to provide the formula, bottles, extra sets of clothes, pacifiers, creams for nappy rash, etc, all dutifully labelled with your bundle of joy's name.

In the past, I've resorted to just writing into the labels of the garment in question and sticking a regular paper label onto the bottles. Regardless to say, the process needs to be repeated rather often, as the labels peel off after a couple of washes and the "permanent" markers are not so permanent after all.

I was therefore looking for a more lasting solution. I had seen nice plastic labels, some with cute designs, on the clothes and items of Bibu's friends, but never found out a place to it. That is until a few weeks ago, when one of my friends showed me her kid's labels from Lovely Labels and told me it was super easy to order them online.

Source: homepage Lovelylabels

I went to their website and ordered the "paquet combiné", which consists of a combo of labels for textile, two different sizes of plastic labels and a luggage tag for your kid's school bag for about 20 EUR. You can choose the font, colour and a variety of cute designs (you can also choose not to have any design) and pick one of a several designs for the luggage tag. I ordered the textile labels and the big plastic labels for Bibu and the small labels for baby Pingu, which are more handy for example to stick to his pacifier (just about the perfect size). They also make custom ID bracelets -which can come in handy on holidays-, and round and special shape labels.

I made the order on a Sunday evening and by Tuesday morning the pack had arrived. The items arrived as I had ordered them, so no nasty surprises. So far I have used the plastic labels on a number of items but still have not tested the textile ones, although they look very pretty too.

I'll definitely re-order!

Dinos and bagels

On Friday, I decided to make the most of the last day of the Krokusvakantie and the fact that baby Pingu was at daycare to take Bibu to his favourite museum: the Natural Science museum in Ixelles (a.k.a. the dino museum)

We have been there a few times already and it's funny to see how each time is like the first time for Bibu, albeit with the already acquired knowledge on how to best navigate the museum and the best perks of the visit.

We arrived to an entrance hall full of parents and kids in similar states of excitement, mostly Flemish. For some unfathomable reason known only to the high powers of the museum and the two grumpy ladies behind the ticket desks, the museum was still shut at 9:45am, when it states in their website that it opens at 9:30 on weekdays. So, a word to the wise, better arrive 10-ish.

We did the grand tour, Bibu happily inaugurated the sand box where you can "dig a dino" and we visited the museum shop (and managed not to buy anything) When the the time came around lunchtime, I already knew that the musuem cafe was really a no-go. It's small, the offer of food is terrible (dubious hot dogs and soggy sandwiches) and one look at the enormous queue that had formed had Bibu and I going for the exit in search of a more human place to eat. I knew that there were plenty of places around Place de Luxemburg, so we headed there.

We ended up going into Karsmakers, which is one of those places I intended to go to for some time but never quite found the time. It specialises in coffee and NY-style bagels. There was a bit of a queue at the door (you need to order first and they bring it to your table) but we stayed and hoped for the best. Bibu ordered the ham, tomato and creme cheese plain bagel and I had the poppy "bagel of the month", which consisted of a roast pumpkin, ricotta and pesto filling (de-li-ci-ous!). Luckily, we found two empty spots at the sofas in the back and settled there (quite cozy, but one of the tables with regular chair would be easier for a kid to eat from, provided they are available).

VEREDICT: It was not an obvious choice to go with small kids: I think quite ok for a 4-year old but more tricky with babies or toddlers, specially at lunchtime when the place is packed with with Euro-interns. The service at the counter was very efficient and quite fast and the waiter that tended to us was a Spanish-speaker and very nice (he even reminded us I was leaving my umbrella behind). The toilets were nice and clean and even had a folding changing table, but you had to go down a flight of narrow stairs to get there. I would definitely go again but sans les kids, or maybe on a Sunday with Mr M and the kids for a late breakfast.