How to Make Pretty Mother’s Day Cards For Your Loved Ones and How to Create Beautiful Paper Flowers

Posted on March 10, 2021 by Sabrina

With much of the United Kingdom still in lockdown and people unable to purchase their usual items for loved ones, I have decided to write this blog post to help people out. Mother’s Day is a special day for everyone who is classed as a Mummy, whether that is to furry children, human children, step children or children who may still reside inside us. It’s for Grandmothers, Nan’s and Great Grandparents too don’t forget, so why not make a loved one a card and let them know you’re thinking of them.

I have several ideas that should suit most people, because Mother’s Day Cards are usually floral or feminine, but you can personalise your design to fit the people in your life. If you can draw then even better! I’m not very good at drawing so I prefer to use paper and card to create pretty cards instead. This blog post is all about how I make cards using coloured card and paper.

WHAT YOU WILL NEED

Coloured Paper and Coloured Card
A Pencil
Items to Draw Around – to make the Circles for the Flowers
Scissors
Coloured Pencils or Crayons if you are Drawing
Pens – Mixed Colours and Thickness
Glue or Sticky Tape
Ruler
Coloured Tissue Paper
Pipe Cleaners

HOW TO MAKE YOUR CARD – 3D FLOWERS

Step 1. Take a piece of pale coloured card and fold it in half to get your card shape. Decide if your design is going to be a landscape or portrait style.

TOP TIP 1. When you come to make your shapes maximise the paper by doing them close to one another and along one edge. It makes it easier to cut them out but also and more importantly you’re not wasting any of the paper, and the leftovers can be used on your next awesome project!

Step 2. Draw around circular items in order to make your petals. Carefully cut them out and then fold them in half to create your three dimensional petals.

TOP TIP 2. The ideal size for the petals for an A4 Card design (an A5 when it is folded) are the size of a Nail Varnish bottle. Draw around the base of the bottle when it is stood up on the card. Another tip is to cut out one shape and use that as a guide to cut out the other petals so you get them the same size.

Step 3. Arrange your design on the Card first before gluing anything down, so as to make sure it all fits nicely.

Step 4. Glue or Stick the Card pieces down and finish decorating with any details or wording that you choose.

HOW TO MAKE A TISSUE PAPER FLOWER

You Will Need;
A Coloured Pipe Cleaner
Sheets of Coloured Tissue Paper

Step 1. Lay out your tissue paper flat, you want to cut it into equal rectangles. Once cut you stack them one on top of the other.

Step 2. Fold the tissue paper stack into a concertina, like a fan, until it is all folded and flatten it down. Stick the pipe cleaner in the middle, folding it over and under the stack, then wrap the remainder of it around.

Step 3. Next you need to trim the edges of the tissue paper, you can round them off or make them pointed, it depends on how you would like your flower to look like at the end. This determines the shape of the petals of your flower.

Step 4. Once the ends are trimmed lay the flower concertina across your hand with the pipe cleaner part pointing down. You want to gently and carefully tease the layers of the flower up and out. Once they are all up spread them out and make it look like the petal layers of a real flower.

(There is a video tutorial on this on my Facebook page as well).

Check out my images below!

My Tips for Opening your Flower: Open the tissue paper out gently and carefully, you should start to see a fan shape at first, and then you can raise the inner layers of the flower, just start by pulling upwards towards the middle part where the pipe cleaner is so as to make the flower look three dimensional.

Step 5. When you are finished it should look like my images below. Bend the pipe cleaner a little to make it look like a flower. Fan the petals out gently to make it three dimensional.

Paper Flower Dimensions

It depends upon how much you trim on the ends to create the petal shapes of your flower, but here are some rough dimensions of the size that your flowers will be. The larger the flower the easier it is to fluff up. Why don’t you experiment like I have below with different shaped petals and layering different colours of tissue paper too!

Rectangle Size 20cm equals a 17cm flower
Rectangle Size 15cm equals a 12cm flower
Rectangle Size 7.5cm equals at 7cm flower

HOW TO MAKE YOUR CARD – Happy Mother’s Day – Their Favourite Flower or Favourite Item

Step 1. Work out what your loved ones favourite thing is, then you want to write the words Happy Mother’s Day either vertical or horizontal on the folded A5 card. You incorporate those words into the item, such as the stem of the flower, or the base of an item like a slice of cake. (See my photo below for inspiration).

Step 2. To make a flower you need to cut twelve identical coloured card petals. Layer them up on the card to make the flower, don’t forget the middle bit either.

TOP TIP 3. If you want the petals to all be the same cut one and then use that one to draw around to make the additional ones.

Step 3. Other things you could do include a slice of cake with a triangle piece of card decorated with smaller shaped pieces. Or draw an outline and let smaller children colour them in.

Another easy thing to do is a card of family hand prints.

Other Card Designs that are Easy to Achieve are…

Flat Flowers
Three Dimensional Flowers
Drawing Bouquet of Flowers
Family Hand Prints
Cake Slice Drawing
Favourite Animal

Use a Ruler and Pen to make the stem lines and the bow, colour them in with pens and draw little flowers on the end of the stems. I did daisy like shapes, but if you can draw better then me be creative with it! Do any colour combination that you like. Add some wording around your design like “Happy Mother’s Day”.

I really hope that you have enjoyed this blog post and find it beneficial. If you do make some cards I would love to see them! Please tag me on any of my social media using the hashtag #SabrinasArtandCrafts

Thank you and I wish you all a lovely Mother’s Day.

✩ Sabrina ✩

A Week of Positive Things – Sabrina’s Tips for having a more Positive 7 Days at Home

Posted on January 21, 2021 by Sabrina

A Week of Positive Things

Sabrina’s Top Tips for having a more Positive 7 Days

Everyone seems to be feeling a bit low lately, it’s bound to be the Winter Blues mixed in with everything to do with the Pandemic. There are so many people who have found themselves working from home again, and many young people who are studying at home again too. With all this time stuck at home there are lots of anxious feelings and negativity, so I’m here with some suggestions to try and put a positive spin back into your home environment!

So here is my solution to tackle the blues, try to take half an hour out of your day as a family unit, every afternoon for the next week, after work is over and after the schooling is done for the day. Pick one of these ideas of mine to do together, a different one every day in any order you like.

I guarantee they will have you feeling more positive by the end of day 7! You can do them in any order you like! Or do one of them twice if it’s a hit! If you play along please comment on this post or on my socials at the end of the week and tell me which activity your family preferred and whether these activities did in fact work for you and increase your family’s positive attitudes.

Go for a Walk (Weather Dependent) and play a game as you go! Ideal for parents with younger children who are still enthralled by the nature of “eye spy”. But the fresh air and endorphins combined should make all of you feel better too. Older children may want to go for a jog or a bike ride if that’s more your thing, so long as it’s half an hour outdoors with your family, all together.
Watch a Funny TV Show or Cartoon. Laugher really can help you to feel better, even for a brief moment, so why not stick on a tv show or a favourite cartoon that never failed to make you laugh and giggle together. Tom and Jerry is a good one!
Bake or Make Something Delicious! I have a ton of recipes on my blog and some don’t even take that long to do. So why not make some chocolate crispy cakes or even some rocky road, something simple and even something that doesn’t require baking to save you time! Then you’ll have a tasty treat for a few afternoons to come! See what you’ve got in the cupboard! Here is my baking section HERE.
Get Creative. You can do one of two things with this creative activity depending upon the age of the people in your household. Either, do a rotating draw-off where by you each start with a piece of A4 paper and one coloured pen (all varying colours) and you keep rotating the papers every minute, do this until 4 minutes is up. Everyone should’ve drawn on each of the pieces of paper. No talking! See what you’ve come up with! Share them with me on social media! #SabrinasCreativeCrafts
OR
You can play the Sentences Game. The idea is to make up a creative story, it should be funny, and you once again rotate the papers. This time you want long strips and not A4. Cut a vertical A4 in half twice or get your strips. Once the first minute is up and the first sentence has been written, you all fold over the section and pass it on. When the time is up you each open up the papers to find a story.

For example;
There once was a man who couldn’t find his shoes.
I think I want some KFC he thought.
He headed off in the direction of the sunset.
In the end his dog ran away and joined the circus.

If you have teenagers then you could play the game another way, this is called CONSEQUENCES, you start by writing on each of the papers the following things, add extra if you have a large family so that everyone will get a go at each section when the papers are passed on. They usually go like this…
___
Met
___
At
___
They said ___
What happened next was ___ OR The Consequence was ___

Then unroll it after everyone has had their turn and the sections are completed, then take turns in reading them out. See my photo below this list for an idea of what it would look like when you finished! Warning my examples may cause laughter!
Photos! Another fun thing that would brighten your spirits is to look back at any photo albums that you have or digital slideshows. You could even play a game while you look through them. Every time that your mum is seen with sunglasses on she gets a point, each time someone hasn’t got their hat on when they should you lose a point! First person to spot the water in the photos gets a point. Etc etc! Make up some rules before you start and say that the first person to 10 points gets out of doing the washing up tonight! Or the winner chooses what’s for dinner the next night! Involve one another in every day things.
Write a List of Goals and Aspirations for 2021 – but only write the do-able ones! For example, I want to bake a cake for mums birthday. OR I would like to walk a mile on the next weekend that is dry and sunny. When you achieve something, even if it’s a little thing, you feel so much better about having accomplished it. Setting some realistic goals now for the year might seem silly when we don’t know what’s around the corner, however even if the goals are just for the people in your bubble, it’s still doable. Put them up on your fridge or board and tick yours off when you have completed it.
Make a Meal Together. No matter how old you all are there is something fun about making dinner together. May I suggest something that everyone can get stuck into such as Fajitas, Curry, Sausages and Mash or Lasagne (dietary requirements permitting). I have tons of recipes on my blog if you need inspiring! But making and preparing food together before you eat it can be a real bonding experience, and it can also be important for teaching younger children where foods come from or that by mixing this with that you achieve this outcome. Food is something that has been so important during the first lockdowns so I thought I would continue on with that and try and get you back into your kitchen to make something you love together. Check out my Recipes HERE.

Why Not Try And Make My Delicious Cookies? Click the link in section 3 for the recipe!

The Consequences Game – Imaginative Fun for the older children in your family.

I really hope that you’ve enjoyed this blog post and that you would like to participate in my week of positivity. If you do participate in any of them or attempt to get those in your bubble to do so, then please let me know how you got on! I can’t wait to see if you make anything as well 🙂 tag me online! And thanks for joining me!

✩ Sabrina ✩

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Sabrina’s Tips On How To Make Your Food Go Further

Posted on March 28, 2020 by Sabrina

Chicken Stir Fry with Noodles and Peppers

If you’ve been following my blog for a while then you’ll know that food is a huge passion of mine. Coming up with new recipes and experimenting is a hobby of mine. But today, with all this talk about panic buying amidst this deadly virus, I couldn’t help but think, what can I do now to help others…

My epiphany was this! My Ideas On How To Make Your Food Go Further!

There are certain things that most of us keep in our kitchen during week to week shops or our larger monthly stock ups, so I wanted to focus on those to begin with. The issue right now is that due to bulk panic buying some of our staples are very hard to get a hold of. Take a look at the meals below to see if any of them would appeal to you or your family. Then see how you can make them go further with my recipe adjustments.

All of these recipes are my own, so if you wish to recreate one please credit me and notify me on where you have used it, thank you.

Keep those handy takeaway boxes ready to freeze any leftover freshly cooked meals, extra vegetables or leftover homemade sauces.

Author: Severn Sabrina
Prep Time: 45 Minutes
Cook Time: 40 Minutes
Serves: 4 to 6 people
Allergens: Wheat Flour, Barley and Soya in the Gravy Granules

COTTAGE PIE
Serves 4 to 6 people (sometimes with leftovers if its children’s portions)
Ingredients
1 or 2 Large White Onion – Diced
3 or 4 Large Carrots – Diced
500g Mince Beef – Cooked & put through a processor to make smaller pieces
1kg Potatoes – Cooked and Mashed
Gravy Granules – I use the Bisto Onion Gravy Granules
Additional foods to add to make it go further…
Baked Beans x 1 Tin
Mixed Dice Vegetables x 1 Cup
~~~
Most people will have a bag of frozen veg or veg that needs to be used up. Dicing it up small and adding it to your cottage pie gravy is a great way to get extra veg into children as well as help an adult get their 5 or more a day! Same with the tin of beans! Pour off a little sauce if there is lots in the tin, but the tomato sauce actually helps you to get a lovely gravy. The beans bulk out the cottage pie filling while adding your veg in take. You can even add all of this into a large casserole dish, and cook it in the oven for an hour, even the veg if cut small enough will cook in the gravy, locking in all the vitamins…

My Cottage Pie is a family favourite! If you cannot get fresh meat then using a tin of Minced Beef and Onion would work just as well!

Author: Severn Sabrina
Prep Time: 30 Minutes
Cook Time: 30 Minutes
Serves: 4 to 6 people
Allergens: Dairy will be present in Naan Bread if you choose it as a side

CHICKEN CURRY
(You can use one of my Recipes already on my blog for the method)
Serves 4 to 6 people (sometimes with leftovers if its children’s portions)
Ingredients
2 Large White Onion – Diced and Chopped into two sizes
50g Tomato Puree (this is for your homemade sauce)
2 Tin of Chopped Tomatoes (for your sauce)
500g of Chicken cut into bite size pieces
100g of Yoghurt, I use Dairy Free Coconut Yoghurt
Serve with Rice and / or Naan Bread
Sauce – I prefer to make my own to my taste but you can use a jar of sauce, but if you do use a jar you only need 1 Tin of the Chopped Tomatoes. You then add curry spices like Cumin, Paprika, Garam Masala and Chilli. As well as Garlic and Coriander usually! (See my Recipes for more on making sauce and a method for the curry too).
Additional foods to add to make it go further…
New Potatoes x 1 Tin (They’ll cook in the sauce on a low heat for 20 mins)
1 or 2 Peppers Sliced thinly (fry these a little with your onion then add)
Cauliflower Diced up x 1 Cup (Chopped small it will cook in the sauce)

Here is one of my recent Curry dishes, this one was with extra Peppers and Potatoes

Author: Severn Sabrina
Prep Time: 25 Minutes
Cook Time: 40 Minutes
Serves: 4 to 6 people
Allergens: Check Jar if you purchase a sauce, otherwise none.

CHILLI CON CARNE
Serves 4 to 6 people (sometimes with leftovers if its children’s portions)
Ingredients
2 Large White Onion – Diced
4 Large Carrots – Diced
1 Tin of Plum Tomatoes (they are sweeter but you need to chop them)
1 Tin of Chopped Tomatoes (you could use 2 of these and no plum if easier)
500g Mince Beef or Pork or both – Cooked & then put through a processor to make the pieces of meat smaller – or use Quorn or Soya Mince
1 Tin of Red Kidney Beans
Serve with Rice
Sauce – I use a packet or a jar for convenience but you can make a sauce, you have done the basics with the tomatoes already. So add the tomatoes to a bowl, then add Cumin, Garlic and Chilli to your own taste.
Additional foods to add to make it go further…
Baked Beans x 1 Tin (some people don’t like Red Beans so you could use Baked Beans (Haricot Beans) instead.
Peppers – as many or as little as you like, if one needs using up do it!
Mixed Dice Vegetables x 1 Cup (You can add other basic veg if you don’t have enough or you want to do a vegetarian style chilli).

✩ ✩ ✩

Author: Severn Sabrina
Prep Time: 25 Minutes
Cook Time: 30 Minutes
Serves: 4 to 6 people
Allergens: Check the Jar of Sauce if you buy one.

SWEET AND SOUR CHICKEN
Serves 4 to 6 people
Ingredients
500g Chicken Breast (Diced) or a Vegetarian Alternative
Tin of Pineapple – Cut into Small Chunks – 1 Ring per person
Peppers – 1 Yellow and 1 Red Cut into Small Long Pieces
1 Large Onion – Diced into Small Long Pieces
2 Carrots – I Peel and Slice them with the Peeler into long thin shards!
Serve with Rice
Sauce – I always buy a cheap jar of sauce, the cheaper the better!
Alternatives
This dish is so easy to make and these flavours are quite specific, if you aren’t keen on that much pineapple then do one ring total or leave it out but then you should add more of the other ingredients.

✩ ✩ ✩

Fresh meat, fresh fruit and fresh vegetables are hard to get hold of in my area right now. When I did a home delivery order most of what I asked for was either out of stock or I was given a substituted alternative closest to what I wanted. This was very inconvenient and I have ended up spending 4 hours in total, chopping, peeling and bulk freezing some of the fresh veg before it went bad. I created mixed veg bags including a stir fry mix!

TOP TIP: Only make a freezer portion size for what you or your family members would eat at a meal time! Then there is no waste when you defrost it to use!

Washed, Chopped and Sliced, Ready to Freeze. MY TOP TIP always squeeze the air out of the freezer bags before popping them into the freezer to save space!

You can make 6 portions of Vegetable Stir Fry using the following raw vegetables, washed, chopped and ready to cook or freeze:
3 Coloured Peppers – 1/2 a sliced pepper per portion
1 Broccoli Head – cut into thin stems
1kg Carrots – I use a peeler to slice mine into strips
1 White Onion for every 2 Portions – Diced into small chunks
~ Add any of the following to make it go further and become 8 portions~
Water Chestnuts – I use Tinned x 1
Bamboo Shoots – I use Tinned x 1

Adding Noodles OR Rice on the Day you make the Stir Fry for extra bulking out of your food. Either use 1 Packet of Stir Fry Noodles once your veg is cooked, or a packet of Microwave Noodles or a Microwave Rice (all down to your preference) and one of these makes this meal double in amount.

Using a bought Sauce or Making a Sauce?

Adding a bought sauce to this stir fry is great, but if you’re feeding more than 4 people then 1 jar is only just enough. TOP TIP: Make sure you add 2 cm of warm or hot water to the bottom of the jar, replace the lid and give it a good shake, add this to your stir fry, no sauce left in the jar and wasted!

Don’t be scared of not using all the sauce, you can you half, replace the lid and use the rest within 2 or 3 days usually (always check the label).

Alternatives for Sauce… Make your own!
You will need… Garlic fresh or paste, Ginger fresh or paste, Sweet Chilli Sauce or Chilli Sauce (if you like it hot!) Salt, Pepper and Chinese Five Spice! I prefer the pastes as it makes things so easy!

In a small bowl mix up a tablespoon of everything above! Less of the hot chilli though unless you like it spicy! Add more or less and experiment with the taste until it’s to your preference. Add this to your stir fry when you add the noodles. One of each paste does me around 7 or 8 stir fry’s or Chinese orientated meals. Chinese Five Spice goes a long way too!

A Pasta Bake is also a great way to use up Vegetables about to go stale and any leftover sandwich meats or leftover sausages for example. This is a firm fave of mine, bacon chunks, peppers and tomato!

I really hope I have given you some inspiration on some family favourites and ideas on how you can make them go a lot further during this difficult time. You can of course substitute the meats for vegetarian alternatives or swap out the vegetables you don’t like for others too.

Experiment with what you’ve got to use up and so long as you’re making healthy meals with vegetables in you’re already winning for the day! If you liked any of my meals after making them please leave me a comment, I would love to know how you got on.

Is there anything you would like to cook but need some help with? I’m an experienced cook and perhaps have experience of the dish, please comment and ask me 🙂 I’m happy to help!

Stay In and Stay Safe Friends. I might go do some baking now I’m done with my savoury cooking! If you’re after sweet treats check out those recipes that are on my blog already too!

✩ Sabrina ✩

Sweet Treats Week – Day 4 – Sabrina’s Loaf Tin Cake

Posted on February 20, 2020 by Sabrina

Welcome to Sweet Treats Week on Severn Wishes. This half term I wanted to share my top 5 baking treats with you all, hopefully you’ve got some time this week to make them with me! Check out my Instagram for more food pictures, videos and recipe ideas too!

Day 4 is Sabrina’s Loaf Tin Cake

I know some people aren’t fond of eating loads of chocolate things so I figured I’d have to put my next favourite baking combination out there, which is Loaf Tin Cake! This can be my favourite cake which is a Lemon Drizzle cake! Or we can do a Banana and Chocolate Chip flavour!

I make this delightful and refreshing cake in a loaf tin because it’s easier to cook it, easier to cut it and easier to store it too! You have lots of options to customise your own cake too! I will be giving you two versions, Lemon or Banana and Chocolate, you can choose which to try or even do both!

When baking you’re looking for a gorgeous golden colour on top!

A loaf tin cake is much easier to judge than a round cake, I think!

It’s also easier to store, cut it into slices and it’s ready whenever you want a piece! One tin gives you around 8 slices! This cake keeps best for up to 3 days, but because there aren’t many slices it’s usually enjoyed during a day or two when it is at it’s best. TOP TIP Store this cake in a cake tin with a piece of kitchen roll underneath the baking parchment to help absorb any moisture.

What You Will Need

A Loaf Tin
Baking Paper or Parchment
A Large Mixing Bowl
A Small Mixing Bowl
A Wooden Spoon
A Tablespoon
A Sieve
A Knife
A Whisk (Manual or Mechanical)
Something To Store The Slices In After They Are Cooled

Author: Severn Sabrina
Prep Time: 20 Minutes
Cook Time: 25 Minutes
Serves: 6 people per loaf made
Allergens: Wheat Flour, Dairy, Egg and Soya (unless you use my alternatives listed below)

Ingredients To Make Any of Sabrina’s Loaf Cake Recipes

1 Free Range Egg (Fresh is best for baking)
125g Butter (or Dairy Free Spread) Melt in the Microwave
100g White Caster Sugar
50g Golden Caster Sugar
190g Self Raising Flour
1 Tablespoon of Vanilla Essence
1 Tablespoons of Milk or a Milk Alternative

Additionals to Flavour the Cake

Lemon Drizzle Cake
For the Cake: 30ml of Lemon Juice
For the Drizzle: 30g Icing Sugar, Lemon Juice, Lemon Rind (Optional)
In a small bowl Mix Lemon Juice one Spoonful at a time to Icing Sugar, how much you want to make depends on your personal preference.
Pour this over your cake when it’s baked.
Add the Lemon Juice at Step Number 2.
Add the Drizzle only when the Cake has cooled but still on its parchment.

Banana and Chocolate Chip Cake
For the Cake: 1 Banana – The Softer the Better! Mushed Up!
50g Chocolate Chips (I use Dark and Dairy Free)
25g Chocolate to Melt and Pour on Top of the Cooled Cake (Optional)
Add the Mushed Up Banana and Chocolate Chips at Step Number 2.

Method Steps

1. In a Large Bowl mix the egg and sugars together with a wooden spoon until smooth. Then add the milk and vanilla. Add the melted butter which has cooled and combine all these ingredients together using a whisk.

2. Now is the time to add your additional filling, use your small bowl to measure out anything you want, then transfer it to the large bowl and mix in.

3. Next you need to sieve the self raising flour into the bowl, do this a little at a time, stirring it together constantly mixing until the mixture is smooth.

4. Make sure you cut a piece of parchment to the correct size for your tin, it needs to stick out above the sides to allow the cake to rise and not spill over.

5. Bake this Cake at 160’c or 150’c (Fan) for 30 – 35 minutes. Check the cake at 25 minutes with a knife or skewer and then check it again at 30 minutes. The knife should come out clean and the top of the cake should be golden like my image below.

6. Once baked remove the cake from the tin by lifting it out using the parchment, and leave it to stand on a flat surface to cool down. Once cooled you can either add the additional options as outlined above or cut it and serve.

Thank you very much for joining me for Sweet Treats Week! I hope to see you again tomorrow for our final baking day!

If you make any of my recipes be sure to tag me on social media, leave me a comment here on my blog. Any questions don’t hesitate to ask them! If you recreate this recipe somewhere else please credit me for it and name me and my blog or even better link back to this original post! Thanks everyone!

✩ Sabrina ✩

Sweet Treats Week – Day 2 – Sabrina’s Warm and Gooey Cookie Dough

Posted on February 18, 2020 by Sabrina

Day 2 is Sabrina’s Warm and Gooey Cookie Dough Recipe.

This fantastically easy recipe is great if you want a hot desert ready in under an hour. It’s egg free too! I make mine with a dairy free butter and use dairy free chocolates. But you don’t have to if you prefer the real thing. This warm desert is best served about thirty minutes after it’s finished baking, cooled off a little bit but while it’s still warm and gooey. Great on its own or you can pair it with a nice vanilla or coconut ice cream for example.

What You Will Need

A Glass Dish measuring approximately 12cm x 17cm / 5″ x 7″ and preferably with a lid for easy storage after its cooled down!
A Large Mixing Bowl
A Wooden Spoon
A Sieve

Ingredients

150g Plain Flour
115g Butter (Dairy Free Spread)
110g Light Brown Sugar
Water (Per Tablespoon – See Method)
1 Tablespoon of Vanilla
Chocolate Chips or Chunks (As many as you like but a nice ratio between dough and chocolate) I used around 60g of dairy free chocolate chips.

Additional Information: This sized portion will make 4 portions when transferred into pudding bowls. This is a rich desert and you can divide it up into 8 portions if you want to have it accompanied with something else such as ice cream. Keep any leftovers inside the glass dish with the lid on at room temperature, eat it within 48 hours. If you want it warm and extra gooey then microwave a portion for 20 seconds in the microwave.

Dairy Free Cookie Dough with Various Dairy Free Chocolates

Cookie Dough Variations

Add Chunks of Chocolate Brownies. If you have already made brownie earlier in the week you could put small lumps of your softest brownie into the cookie dough along with some chocolate chips. Just ensure they are submerged in the dough so as not to overcook near the top!

Method Steps

1. First you will need to soften the butter a little, add the measured out spread into the large mixing bowl, melt it at 10 second intervals in the microwave and stir after each one. Once softened you add your measured out sugar. Mix until smooth and combined.

2. Sieve your measured flour into the bowl now, make sure once it’s all in you carefully mix it. Then when smooth you add your Vanilla and Chocolate Chips.

3. You now need to add some water to the mixture, add it a tablespoon at a time until you achieve a Cookie Dough consistency. It usually takes between 4 and 8 tablespoons to achieve the dough like substance. Once you’re happy transfer it to your preferred baking dish.

4. Now it’s time to bake! Preheat your oven to 180’c and cook in the centre of your oven until the cookie dough top goes golden and slightly brown. The best way to test the dough is right for you is to carefully touch the top, beware it will be hot, so leave it a minute outside of the oven and push down on the top. I like mine to be like a Cookie on the top, and then soft and gooey underneath! Mine took around 24 minutes!

5. As I described above, leave the glass dish out of the oven for around 30 minutes after the bake is complete. Serve the dough after this, it won’t be too hot that way, it should just be warm and gooey!

Thanks very much for joining me on my blog for this recipe! Thank you very much for joining me for Sweet Treats Week! I do hope to see you here again tomorrow!

If you make any of my recipes be sure to tag me on social media, leave me a comment here on my blog. Any questions about a recipe please don’t hesitate to ask them! If you recreate this recipe somewhere else please credit me for it and name me and my blog, or even better link back to this original post too! Thanks everyone!

✩ Sabrina ✩

Fun Crafts With Children This Christmas

Posted on December 20, 2019 by Sabrina

Hello everyone, today I’ve gone all arts and crafts on you! Most children break up from school today and I’m sure a lot of you are trying to come up with ways you can entertain everyone without it being Christmas movie after Christmas movie. Hands up if I’m right!

So what about some crafting! You can choose whichever one of these that you already have the necessary items for! Pick one or do them all over the festive season! They make great tree decorations or cards, and perfect gifts for family members too!

Top Tip: Pop your little ones name and the year in the corner of the decoration if you’re keeping it, make one every year and compare the sizes!

It’s amazing what you can make out of a few bits of card, a pack of mixed pens and some washable paints! Why not give one of these awesome craft ideas a go with your little ones this Festive Season!

I always love the idea of doing cards! You can combine any of the below ideas and then simply cut out your finished design and stick it on to a piece of card.

Reindeer Foot Print
Penguin Foot Print
Snowman Foot Print
Christmas Tree Foot Print

Reindeer Hand Print
Robin Hand Print

What Will You Need:

A Sensible but Fun Adult 😉 with Baby Wipes at the ready!
Coloured Paper and Card
Pack of Mixed Coloured Pens, Glitter Pens are also cool too
Double Sided Tape or Pritt Stick or Glue

Washable Paints in mixed colours – I like the Crayola ones
A few different sized paint brushes or a sponge for skin application.
Scissors (one reason you need an adult)
Stickers if you want to add those or some googly eyes for your print animals

You may need a ruler, a hole punch and string or ribbon if you plan on making anything into a hanging decoration.

Use Washable Paints and some Card to make your very own Tree Decorations or Christmas Cards. It’s easy to do Hand Print Robins, Wreath or Reindeer! Or Footprint Trees, Snowmen, or Penguins!

How To Make It…

Paint your child’s Hand or Foot and carefully press it down on to your chosen card or paper.
Let it dry overnight somewhere warm.
Flatten the design for the next few hours once it’s dry.
Next you need to decide which Christmas theme to go for!
Paint, Draw or Stick on your favourite bits to make your design real!
Get an adult to do any cutting parts that are needed to make it into a decoration or card.

Toilet Roll Snowflakes are great to do too!
You need two toilet rolls per snowflake, glue, scissors, paint and glitter!
Tip One: Paint the Toilet Roll and Glitter it up first and then let it dry before cutting, at least overnight!
Tip Two: Cut all the pieces the same width and arrange it before gluing!
Tip Three: Tie some Ribbon or String to the top and hang in your home!

Thank you for visiting Severn Wishes today, I hope you enjoyed this Arts and Crafts post. Hopefully I will to see you here again soon. Have a great Festive Season!

✩ Sabrina ✩

Six Tips for New Parents – the things that everyone forgets to mention!

Posted on September 16, 2019 by Sabrina

These are my Six Tips for New Parents – but they are the things that everyone forgets to mention!

So despite being post birth and genuinely exhausted, most mum’s will admit to that feeling of pride that comes with the arrival of a child. Be it your first or fifth baby, they are all special and all little miracles. Just look what you have achieved!

However there are things people forget to mention to you and I thought I would share some of my tips in this blog post for getting passed these… we will call them the six newborn phases!

When you become a mum you look at your bundle of joy and you feel incredible, that rush of emotions and pride… you just grew and birthed (in whichever way you did) a small human being. Go you! Own it!

But, while trapped in a chair under said small human, (in fear of waking them up if you were to even clear your throat!), you can’t help but wonder why your amazing body didn’t also develop the ability of telekinesis while it was doing this awe shattering feat! How amazing and useful would that be?! So here are my six phases… I guarantee you’ll laugh before the end of this article…

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Phase 1. The “I Can’t Put The Baby Down Because We Are Bonding Or Cluster Feeding” Phase.

Always keep the essentials close by, as in within an arms stretch! This goes for the TV remote, your phone, at least one snack, your phone charger or a charging device, iPad or a book, and definitely a glass of water. If you have a little one who won’t sleep very much then life saving materials can be what get you through those afternoons, as you cradle your small bundle who is finally napping but you dare not put them down. Instead you settle in to an afternoon of Netflix binge watching and you have a whole packet of biscuits with your name on.

Personally I had a lunch bag size cool bag next to where I sat with my son. Inside it were snacks, a reusable bottle of water and piece of fruit. I kept a table to one side of me with the remotes and my phone on, and a box of tissues. On the other side within a stretch away was the cool bag, my iPad and a portable USB charger. Life savers for me on several afternoons!

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Phase 2. The “Where’s The Flipping Muslin Cloth” Phase.

Buy Extra Cloths! So cloths for a newborn are a given, but have you considered you may need to wipe all sorts of things off your baby and multiple times in one day. I couldn’t believe how many cloths I went through a day at first. The tip for this is to keep a folded clean pile of muslin’s somewhere in every main room of your home. Also buy similar colours of cloth so that you can just throw them all in the wash together. Because Muslin cloths are thin they don’t take a lot to wash and also dry, but you won’t want to wait a few hours when you’re down to your last one and baby is due for a feed…

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Phase 3. The “What Time Is It? Oh My Days, I Forgot To Stop For Lunch, Again” Phase.

Nobody tells you how fast the time goes. This isn’t a lie, time actually goes faster and you will forget what time of day it is and then realise you haven’t had a drink for hours! Make sure you always get nourished every time you journey into the kitchen, keep snacks and fruit handy, things you can eat one handed, and keep a reusable water bottle by your favourite seat. Keeping hydrated is most important especially if you’re breastfeeding and recovering from birth too. If baby is having something to drink then you should be too!

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Phase 4. The “I’m Too Tired To Cook, Let’s Open Up The Fast Food App” Phase.

Every parent will admit to ordering fast food in those first few weeks with a newborn baby. But if you can organise yourselves in the weeks running up to their arrival, you’ll feel better for it, both stomach and bank balance!

The answer is this, Bulk Cook your favourite Foods! Keep some of those previous takeaway Tupperware tubs, check how many you can stack in a drawer in your freezer. Then bulk cook a few of your favourite dishes using fresh ingredients. Then you can freeze them in tubs and in portions. Throw in Veg too if you like, at least then you’re getting healthy food inside you. Chicken Curry with added Veg or Spaghetti Bolognese made with a few Veg to bulk it out are both easy to reheat.

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Phase 5. “I Managed To Put The Baby Down, Shall I Pop On That New Series On Netflix Or Go To Sleep?”

It’s really tough when Social Media blows up with the latest Netflix series, and you’re surviving on maybe 4 hours of sleep and only scrolling on your phone in order to stay awake during the 5am feed… But there will come a day when things get easier, your baby won’t need feeding every two hours forever. And then you’ll sleep a little more… (does 6 hours or less sound good to you?). Plus you’ll get used to the lack of sleep and gradually be able to do more, like managing to watch half an episode of something… once a week… then forget what happened and watch it again… and so it goes on…

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Phase 6. “We haven’t had any us time for a long time…”

This phase is a serious one and more to do with you as parents, it’s brand new, it’s exhilarating and exhausting but remember you have become two different people. You are still you, and what time you spend together is still important. You might not get a date night in weeks, if not months after baby is born. But if you have the support of family and you trust them, then there will come a time where you can leave your baby with that person and get back to being you “both” again.
People don’t tell you how hard it is, not being able to go out just the pair of you, you won’t get to watch television or a film without interruption or pausing it every now and then. This is the new normal and it’s okay to find it a difficult transition. Especially if you’re used to going out for a meal once a week or pop off to the cinema at an hours notice…
My tip to get through this phase is this, plan, plan and plan some more. Make timetables and plan ahead with a calendar and try your best to stick to it. Change the usual cinema outings to a Netflix movie and a meal at home, with a big bag of popcorn and sweets from the supermarket as a great and cheaper alternative to the cinema treats…

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Thank you for visiting Severn Wishes today, I hope that I see you here again soon for more parenting posts.