Easter Cupcake Treats

It has been a long time since I did some baking and I forgot how much I loved it! 

This time my 3 year old daughter asked to help and I must admit even though it took twice as long I thoroughly enjoyed seeing how happy she was helping me bake cakes. 

So we decided to share a few photos, the recipe we used and the finished cakes below for you all to see. 

We hope you are all enjoying your Easter Holidays with your families and eating lots of chocolate eggs :)

Spaghetti & Meatballs Recipe

There is just something about meatballs that makes such a yummy dinner for the kiddies and us grown ups. This is another of my daughters favourites, if she could she would eat this meal every day! 

Here is my simple and quick recipe for the perfect spaghetti and meatballs full of flavour, great for the whole family.

Zeytinli // Olive Bread Recipe

When the weather is grey, wet and cold, I just love staying indoors and doing some rainy day baking and cooking. This recipe is for a traditional turkish style olive bread, one of my favourites and the smell of this bread baking reminds me of when I used to live at home. My mum used to always make this when she had time and it would always seem like a treat where we would sit in front of the TV with a pot of cinnamon tea and enjoy her freshly baked olive bread. 

There are so many ways to make this bread and if you ask any turkish family I guarantee their recipe will be slightly different, you can add halloumi/hellim instead of olives which is another favourite of mine. Even though this is a yummy recipe its not quite like my mums but I think thats why this comfort food is so special to me, my mums cooking will always be the best. 

Here is my recipe perfect for all the family to enjoy for breakfast or for you mid afternoon snack with a nice cup of tea...

INGREDIENTS

(8 Muffin Sized Rolls)

80 grams Black Pitted Olives, cut in half

1 small Onion, sliced and chopped

7 grams Dried Active Yeast

360 grams all purpose Plain Flour

300ml luke warm water (add more if needed)

Half tsp Salt

1 tbsp Dried Mint

1 tbsp Olive Oil

Sieve the flour, yeast and salt together in a large bowl. 

Add the water slowly to combine these ingredients and knead the dough for about 10 minutes until the dough is smooth and slightly elastic. Cover with a warm tea towel and leave in a warm place (like on a radiator or warm cupboard) until the dough has doubled in size.

Once the dough is ready add the remaining ingredients and cover again with a towel and return to a warm place just to let the dough rise slightly again. 

Pre heat the oven to 200 degrees fan oven.

Once this final preparations is ready take the dough and take it apart in muffin size chunks and roll into a large ball and flatten slightly on a baking tray. Bake for about 20- 30 minutes until cooked and the top is a lovely light golden brown.

Bon Appetite!

Love & Light

♥ 

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Mother's Day Loving

Yesterdays Mother's Day was my fourth as a mother and my first with Luca. I was surprised with cuddles and presents in bed in the morning after both of my babies let me sleep in. The sun was shinning and the smile on Melis' face eager to help me open my card and presents was all the happiness I could ever ask for. Firstly, my card was a personalised one with a lovely photo of both of the kiddies having a cuddle when Luca was only a few weeks old. Followed by a Boux Avenue bag (my favourite) which contained new fluffy pink slippers and a sleep mask (just what mummy had asked for) but then there was another box which to my surprise was my favourite perfume, Stella fragrance, which I wasn't expecting. The kiddies spoilt mum and I'm very grateful that their Daddy was so helpful in doing the shopping for the lovely gifts :) 

Late morning we all got ready and went to my mums for a lovely Turkish style brunch with my two sisters where we spent the afternoon, eating, drinking tea and watching films, a nice relaxing afternoon. I even made a nice Victoria Sponge cake :)

Then we ended the day as a family again with a lovely meal at Pizza Express where we all enjoyed our dough balls and garlic butter and I had my favourite pizza ever, the Sloppy Giuseppe! Finished with a nice lemon sorbet (Obviously diet started again this morning!) 

I hope all the mummies, nannies and great nannies had a wonderful day!

Here are a few snaps from my day... 

Love & Light

♥ 

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New Blog Layout & A Little Blogging Advice

BEAUTYBAKINGBELLA has been going now for nearly three years so I decide to take the next step and invest in a new and professional blog layout and buy my own domain. I have to say I never thought I would even still have this blog let alone buy the domain for it! I'm am very excited and very grateful that I have so many readers that take the time to read my blog otherwise I would never have bothered to do anything to it. However, I'm glad I have because I feel like its a new direction for my blog and it has inspired me to keep posting and writing about the things that interest me.

Blogging has become a great way for me to find some time to myself and actually have grown up thoughts to myself about things that I like as a person and not a mummy like, baking, food and makeup but on the flip side its becoming a great way for me to sit down and reflect on how I get through each day being a mummy to my beautiful babies.

Over the years I've learnt a lot about the wonderful world of blogging and I'm still learning but one thing that I do know and tell myself is not to feel pressure posting for the sake of posting just so there is one every day. As a blogger I want my posts to be filled with thought and feeling- maybe just thought in my food posts making you all hungry :) but what I'm trying to say is blogging should be an enjoyable experience and thats one thing I've learnt over the past few years and if you are struggling to find your feet with blogging that is the one piece of advice I would of given my novice self. 

For anyone looking for a new blog layout check out pip dig they have so many different varieties depending on what type of blog image you want and the best thing is that it was stress free and easy. They even install the template for you free of charge, thanks Phil :) giving you all the support you need to get your blog looking the way you want.

I would also recommend GoDaddy if you are looking to invest in your own domain name. Why not? A very quick and easy process again and all the support you need is available on the website. Within 48 hours I had my dream blog up and running, as easy as that!

I hope this post has inspired anyone out there that is thinking about starting a blog or maybe even thinking about giving up because you've lost your inspiration. Find your passion and interest and just let the rest flow and enjoy!

BEAUTYBAKINGBELLA is now on Facebook! Like for up to date blog posts :)

Please leave me your blog links in the comments, need some new blogs to read while doing the baby feeds :)

Love & Light

♥ 

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French Toast & Berries

I love French Toast! This is a perfect brunch idea when you fancy something sweet and healthy at the same time. It is so quick and easy to make and is perfect for the whole family to enjoy.