Pink Princess and Pirates birthday party

B turned 7 in August and wanted a princess party, but because she had boy cousins, decided to have a princesses and pirates birthday party so the boys could also dress up.

I was trying to keep costs down, so it wasn't too out there.
I got lovely pink plastic table cloths from the Crazy Store. At the Crazy Store I also found the most exciting item for the party - a pink princess castle pinata!! Both my girls got terribly excited when they saw it:)

For entertainment we borrowed a friend's jumping castle and brought the slide and trampoline from home, and the church garden already had a small jungle gym and swing set.

When the girls arrived I gave them each a crown and the boys got swords (that I picked for a song at Osman's - LOVE that place!)

They played for a bit and then sang Happy Birthday for B. She loved the Red Velvet cake I made for my sister's virthday and so I made her one for her birthday cake.

They then ate, played a couple of games and had their faces painted.

When they left, the boys got treasure chest party packs and monster trucks and the girls got Tangled party packs and make up kits.

My kids got hiome, had a bath and slept till almost 8am the next morning - all partied out :)

Budget Beef Wellington

A while ago I needed to feed quite a few people on not too many ingredients, and so I googled "mince recipes" and was inspired by what I saw to try to create my own version of a budget beef wellington:)

To make this you'll need:

500g minced beef

1 finely chopped onion

1 finely grated carrot (optional)

1 egg

500g puff pastry

Since I was cooking for a crowd, I doubled the recipe.

I took 1kg of minced beef, seasoned it as I would for meatballs, added a large minced onion and 2 beaten eggs to bind it. I then shaped it into 2 large loaves and placed it in the middle of a sheet of puff pastry. I then cut the pastry on either side of the loaf into strips, brushed some beaten egg on the ends and laid them criss-crossed over the loaf of mince.

I then brushed the pastry ith beaten egg and baked it at 180 degrees C for 45mins-1hr.

 It looked gorgeous, smelled amazing and the kids all had second helpings:)