Organise a Toddler Wardrobe

It seems as though I'm re-arranging things in Miss S's wardrobe every few months. A good idea when you have a toddler who grows out of her clothes so quickly, but time-consuming sometimes. This little clean-up took about a half hour, so it was one of the quickest organising jobs I've done around the house.

Here is what her wardrobe looked like a month ago, coming up to the end of Summer.

It probably looks fairly neat & tidy but on closer inspection....

you can see the tshirts are almost overflowing (& getting squashed & wrinkled) & the clothes on the bottom 2 shelves had to be rolled up so they could fit (more wrinkles!).

Her shoes were in a drawer with the socks & tights.




This wasn't going to work with all the thick, warm clothes for Autumn/Winter that we needed to accommodate, so I  changed things around a little. This is what the wardrobe looks like now...

All the coats, cardigans & knitwear are now hanging on the top rail (coats to the left, cardigans & knits on the right),
with dresses, skirts & long-sleeved tops hanging on the bottom rail (skirts, then tops, then dresses L-R).

Miss S's Winter hats & scarves are top left, Summer hats & caps are top right.
Shoes are on the middle shelves & the white box in the front has her brushes, combs, hair detangler, lint remover & other bits.

One of the drawers now has all her leggings, jeans, shorts & tracksuit pants. I've folded them & "filed" them so everything is visible. It's practical so Miss S can see everything at a glance.
I'm encouraging Miss S to choose which colour pants she likes to wear. I'm finding that this is a good way to teach colours to a toddler!
There are a few rolled up leggings because they're the ones Miss S wears around the house (they're the ones that are damaged or have stains that I can't remove, so she can get as dirty as she likes in those ones!).

Another drawer has pyjamas & singlets.

The other drawer has her socks & Winter tights, & I've put her photo albums on one of the shelves.

A toddler girl's wardrobe is quite involved, as there are also accessories to consider. I've thought of a way to organise hair accessories & I'll hopefully share that in a post very soon.

Not bad for half an hour's work. It could be better but in about 6 months I'll be doing this again, so I can spend a bit more time on better organisation then.

How have you organised your toddler's wardrobe?

Zucchini Recipes

Zucchini is currently in season & my vegie patch is overflowing with them. I searched the internet & found some easy zucchini recipes that I could try. Here's what I found:

Feta & Zucchini Fritters
2 eggs
1/2 cup self-raising flour
2 tablespoons milk
3 medium sized zucchini, grated & squeezed of their juices
100g feta cheese, crumbled
1 tablespoon fresh thyme, chopped
1 garlic clove, crushed
vegetable oil, for frying

Combine eggs, flour & milk in a bowl, add zucchini, feta, thyme & garlic & stir to combine.
Heat a little oil in frying pan or use oil spray. Place 2 tablespoons of mixture into pan & flatten a little with a spatula to form round pancakes. Cook until golden brown on both sides & cooked through (a few minutes on each side). Transfer to a plate lined with absorbent paper towel.
Repeat until you've used up all the mixture. Keep spraying the pan with oil between batches.

A similar version of this zucchini fritter recipe is
Corn, Zucchini & Chickpea Fritters
The ingredients are different but the method is essentially the same:

1 can chickpeas, drained, rinsed & blended
1/2 cup milk
2 eggs
3/4 cup self-raising flour
1 large zucchini, grated & squeezed of it's juices
1 cup frozen corn kernels, rinsed to thaw, then blended
handful of grated tasty cheese
olive oil cooking spray

Whisk milk & eggs. Place flour in a bowl & whisk in milk mixture until smooth, then stir in chickpeas, zucchini, corn & cheese.
The rest is the same as above.

You can eat these fritters on their own, with a squeeze of lemon juice, as an accompaniment to a meal, as an afternoon snack for kids or you can put them in a sandwich with other fillings.


Zucchini, Corn & Feta Muffins
1 egg
220g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
50g breadcrumbs
1/2 cup frozen corn kernels, rinsed to thaw, then blended
3/4 cup milk
3/4 cup vegetable oil
1 1/2 zucchini, grated & squeezed of it's juices
crumbled feta

Combine egg, oil & milk in a bowl. In a separate, larger bowl add flour, powder & breadcrumbs. Add egg mixture to dry ingredients & mix, then add zucchini, corn & feta & stir until just combined.
Line a muffin tray with paper muffin cases & add about 2 tablespoons of the mixture to each case.
Bake at 200C for about a 1/2 hour (the time may vary a little, depending on your oven. It takes me 1/2 an hour as I have an old gas oven with no fan. It should take less time if you have a fan-forced oven).
Cook until golden & cooked through.

All of these zucchini recipes are great for kids. Healthy, fresh & home-made (so you know exactly what's in them). Miss S loves them!


Bon appetite!

Hair Clip Organisation

I was getting a bit frustrated every time I wanted to put a hair clip in Little Miss's hair. The storage I was using for the clips was not working out so well - I'm sure you'll all agree.....

This fabric bag with the clips attached to it, was hanging on the back of her bedroom door!

I decided to go through the house & see if I could find some inspiration.
Rather than buying a new storage container that would eventually be thrown out or take up room once we no longer needed it, I thought that using something "not for the purpose it was intended" would work just fine.
This is what I came up with. What do you think?

Much prettier & easier to use. I just had to make sure I put it on a high shelf in her room where Little Miss can't reach it.

It's amazing what you find around the house that's not being used. I only ever use the egg cup holder at Easter, which is perfect as Easter has just gone, & the little bowl is one of so many you can find in your kitchen. I'm sure once Easter comes around next year, I'll have to upgrade to a larger container so I won't need to use the egg cup plate anymore.

The egg cup plate can also be used in the study to store paper clips & other little stationery items.....

Now if I can only figure out how to store her headbands. Any suggestions?

Toddler Recipe - Beef Casserole

An easy, very basic recipe to cook for your toddler. I usually just make it up as I go, but this is my regular list of ingredients, as I usually have them in my pantry & fridge.
You can substitute the vegetables in this recipe for whatever you may have at the time: zucchini, sweet potato, parsnip, pumpkin, etc. If you're using zucchini or pumpkin, add them close to the end, as they cook very quickly. 
I used to cook this for my Little Miss when she was a young baby on solids, but I pureed or mashed it for her.

• beef (eye fillet or porterhouse) cut into very small pieces, suitable for a toddler
• 1 tbsp tomato paste or 1/4 cup tomato puree
• 1 carrot (chopped into very small pieces)
• 1 potato (chopped into very small pieces)
• a handful of frozen corn kernels
• a handful of frozen peas
• boiled water (as much as is needed)
• 1 tsp olive oil

Put beef & oil in saucepan & brown the beef. 
Add enough boiled water to cover the beef & start skimming the impurities off the top of the water with a spoon, continuing this until there are no more impurities on the top. Add the carrot & cook for a few minutes, then add the potato & cook for a further few minutes, then add the corn & peas. Finally, add the tomato paste or tomato puree & continue cooking. 
Keep topping up the water & simmering, so the water is just covering the casserole. 
Simmer for between 30-45mins. To check whether it's cooked, take a sample of each ingredient & taste. If the vegetables are soft & the meat is cooked, it's ready.