Mini Goddess – big style for little ones!

Following on from our super-popular Instant Goddess columns, we’ve got the Instant Goddess herself on hand to impart some sassy shopping tips for littlies too – all in her trademark style!

Calling all mamas of mini goddesses and gods!
Looking for some summer style ideas for your little ones?  Look no further, Mini Instant Goddess is at hand with affordable top of the shops picks for this season!  This time it’s toddler style so with no further ado let’s indulge ourselves while we still have some say in dressing them!

One of my mama friend’s style mantras for dressing her little girl is to dress her in what an adult would like to wear.  Thankfully, she’s a stylish Mama but it got me thinking that within reason this is a good idea and also allows me to dress my little girl in what I would like to wear but don’t have the figure or pins for!  Like this denim jumpsuit from H&M!  I would love to be able to wear this.

H&M denim jumpsuit $149, and H&M mini dungarees $199

Some other denim ideas…

Denim dress and denim pinafore both $239, denim pedal pushers $199 all Zara

Top of the frocks
For the most reasonably priced frocks on the HK high street, it has to be H&M.  These cotton dresses are perfect for summer and a steal at $99 each.

And if $99 isn’t good enough, there are these at $49.90!

Other ideas for our mini goddesses to tantalise your style taste buds – with some mix n match outfit ideas!

Zara floral frilly top $269, Zara jeggings $129 and Zara woven effect sandals $269

H&M heart vest $49.90, Zara pink box pleat skirt $169, H&M Flamingo T-shirt $49.90

H&M butterfly t-shirt with bow $79.90, H&M dark blue shorts $99 or Zara denim ra-ra skirt $229

Crochet detail vest top $79.90, floral leggings $49.90, floral skirt $49.90, all H&M

If you don’t mind splashing a bit more cash, these caught my eye in Gap:

Broderie anglaise dress in orange $269, orange and white stripe t-dress $179, and cherry leggings $79, all Gap

For the Boys
As it hots up, it’s all about shorts for the boys and these reasonably priced combos caught my eye in H&M:

Blue check shorts $149, teamed with blue fine stripe cotton shirt $99 (sleeves rolled up for more of a dude about town look!), plus hat $79.90 if he’ll keep it on… I know this could be a stretch too far!

H&M green check shorts $79.90, teamed with plain white polo shirt $99 (we’ll be lucky if this stays clean for more than 5 minutes!) plus baseball boots $99. The latter may be too hot for those little trotters so I would love to see some Havaianas teamed with this look, which you can get from the HK Cricket Club shop or the new Havaianas store that has just opened in Harbour City TST.

For a smarter look, I love these fine red stripe tailored shorts from H&M $179, which would work well teamed with this dark blue H&M shirt $99 (again shirt sleeves rolled up) or you could go for a plain white shirt or polo or funk it up with a sporty tee ($79, H&M) for a more casual look.

H&M swim shorts $99 also available in pink, both t-shirts are from H&M priced at $79.90

I thought these t-shirts from Mothercare would funk up plain shorts:

Mothercare “Baby K” t shirt with glasses $160, “Baby K” t-shirt $160 and Mothercare own brand chopper bike tee $85; excuse my homemade photography taken at speed on these ones before I got thrown out the shop by security!

Fussy eater challenge

As part of the Instant Goddess blog, we always have a midweek meal inspiration recipe, so not to be outdone, here’s a Mini Instant Goddess recipe!

If like me it’s a constant battle to get veg into your little one, then you might fancy giving this recipe a whirl. It’s packed with vegetables disguised by coconut milk and it makes a perfect sauce for rice, noodles or pasta.  The coconut brings a sweetness to the sauce that most toddlers love.  You can spice it up with a mild curry paste but my little girl has now gone off this so we just leave the curry paste out.

Ruby’s thai style veg sauce

1 tsp fish sauce
½ tsp soy sauce
½ tsp caster sugar
2 tsp sunflower oil
1 small clove of garlic, crushed
½ tsp grated fresh root ginger
25g (1oz) shallot, thinly sliced
1 ½ tsp mild korma curry paste (optional)
1 small carrot, peeled and diced
Small handful of green veg (whatever takes your fancy: courgette, peas, broccoli, we also use aubergine and I know that’s not green)
¼ red pepper diced
100ml (3 ½ fl oz) chicken stock
1 tsp lime juice

1)     Heat the oil in a wok.  Add the garlic, ginger, and shallot, and stir fry for 1 minute.

2)     Mix in the curry paste if using, followed by the vegetables, fish sauce, soy sauce, caster sugar, chicken stock, and coconut milk.  Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 5 minutes or until the vegetables are tender.  Add the lime juice.

3)     Finally, blend to smooth sauce consistency.  Serve with rice, noodle or pasta.  If you’re lucky and your toddler eats chicken and fish, you could add either of these. Suitable for freezing.

Until next time goddesses… mini and grown-up alike! xxx