Replacing the Nutella, and a Recap

A few posts back I made some place mats for my daughter out of an old bamboo blind and was waiting to see what she thought. I just got a text to say she's having people round for dinner and is going to use her cool place mats..success! And the magnets passed too.

I have always tried to make things instead of buying them. I remember when we could first buy sushi and it became my daughter's favourite food. But it seemed so dear for a few little bits...how hard could it be? I made some without telling my daughter and placed them in a washed sushi container. She didn't say anything (but later said she'd suspected I'd made them), but when I tried them they weren't quite right. I then learned about the vinegar mix that goes in the rice and can make them just like the bought ones now. 
So my latest trick was to replace the Nutella (chocolate hazelnut spread) that Katie loves. That stuff is full of sugar, plus I don't want to be buying plastic containers of it.
After looking around for recipes I just gave it a go. All the recipes I saw said to roast and skin the hazelnuts - but I'm lazy and just left the skins on them - turned out fine.
I don't have a proper recipe, but this is approximately what I did:

DIY chocolate hazelnut spread

Chocolate Hazelnut (and Almond) Spread

50/50 mix of whole roasted almonds and hazelnuts approx 1 1/2 cups total
olive oil (a mild tasting one)
heaped tablespoon of whole milk powder
3 teaspoons of icing sugar
1 tablespoon of cocoa powder

I put all the ingredients except the olive oil in the food processor and whizzed them up, then added the oil slowly through the top until the spread was the consistency I wanted. I left it a bit grainier than Nutella - I like that home-made texture.
It was a hit with Katie. It's not too sweet, but just enough and has a lovely hazelnut flavour, not overwhelmed by sweetness.

Stings

I don't mind so much if it is a caterpillar eater like this one (no monarch butterfly caterpillars here yet)

I've just been out in the garden and got a wasp sting - ouch! I don't know about you, but I rush for the lavender oil. It took the pain away within about 20 seconds, and a short time later you wouldn't have known I'd even been stung.

Today I have planted out my corn, dalmatian cabbages, butternut pumpkin, kentucky pole beans. I'm all excited to see flowers on the tomatillos already.

My tomatillo plant in flower, and yes there is another to pollinate it.

Hope your week's going well. Thanks for visiting.