Promised a healthy cake to a 2 year old but our chickens haven't produced any eggs

So I deleted the earlier version of this post by accident... need to learn how to use the Blogger mobile app and my laptop at the same time. Probably didn't help that Hugo was screaming at me... as it turns out I am a blogging idiot.

Zara, Hugo and I on a Friday head to "Paint and Play" - a fabulous free initiative held in parks around Canberra. Zara loves going to "paint and play" and according to her play dough and painting are the "best". And seeing her "friends" is great. Mind due "friends" at this stage just seem to be other small people who look at each other and smile. This week was better than normal because there was a visit from a fire truck. No ordinary fire truck it came - complete with flashing lights, sirens and water. The kids could even climb into the truck and pretend they were firemen... Zara was a little scared of this and was happy just to watch.

To convince Zara to have her afternoon nap (without protest) I promised her that when she woke up there would be cake... after a quick trip to the fridge and then the chicken house I realised this might not be so easy so much for last weeks repair job. We had no eggs - silly mummy don't promise something you might not be able to deliver.

We have three chickens - Nugget, Korma and Tikka who up until recently have reliably laid eggs. Previously when we have had egging issues all instances could be attributed to our four legged friends who like to get into the chicken house and steal eggs. Last weekend after finding a few new holes around the pen it got "fixed".... However it appears the repair job had worked but the girls have just stopped laying.

So after a quick bit of research I found some options for egg substitution... Now this cake could have gone really badly because not only was I experimenting with egg substitutes but we also had a new packet of Natvia - a sugar substitute to try. I have seen a number of recipes on Sugar Free Kids that use this product and thought it was worth a go, if it was healthier and less calories.

Fruit and nut loaf







60g margarine
350g dried fruit (sultanas and prunes) roughly chopped
1 1/4 cups boiling water
2 small pears grated
1/2 teaspoon of bicarb
1 cup Natvia Sugar Substitute
1/2 cup skim milk
1 teaspoon white vinegar
2 1/2 cups self raising flour
1 teaspoon ginger
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees and prepare a loaf pan (grease and line with baking paper).
2. Sour milk by adding vinegar to the skim milk.
3. Put the margarine, dried fruit, pears and boiling water on the stove in a pot. Bring to the boil. Once the fruit is plump and the margarine melted take of the heat.
4. Stir through the bicarb - it will foam and this is good.
5. In a mixing bowl put the Natvia, flour, walnuts and spices. Stir in the fruit mix and milk. Combine well.
6. Put into the prepared tin and bake for 45 minutes or until it is cooked through.