Weekly Meal Planner

This week we have so many meetings, performances and late nights that our menu had to be a quick and easy one and here it is...

Monday

Gammon, egg and chips

Tuesday

Vegetable curry, rice and samosas

Wednesday 

Pizza and garlic bread

Thursday 

Beef nachos

Friday

Chicken wings, chips and salad

Saturday

Hot dogs and onion rings

Sunday

Spaghetti bolognese, homemade garlic bread and salad

What's on your menu this week?

                                                                    M xx

Weekly Meal Planner

So, normality resumes this week, which to be honest is a little bitter sweet for me as I enjoy our adventures. None the less, with normality comes our ram packed weekly schedule so keeping us focused is this weeks meal planner.

Monday

Spaghetti bolognese and homemade garlic bread.

Tuesday 

Sausage, mash and beans

Wednesday 

Lamb kofte, could cous and roasted veg

Thursday

Chicken and leek pie, roasted new potatoes and veg

Friday

Steak, fried mushrooms, sweet potato chips and salad

Saturday

I'm out so dinner will be up to Dad. Something that cooks from frozen in the oven in about 20 minutes would be my guess!

Sunday

A lovely lamb Sunday roast.

What's on your menu this week?

                                                                   M xx

When life doesn't go to plan

Baby sensory classes, swimming lessons, baby massage, getting back into shape(well any other shape than the current one which pretty much resembles that of an orange)afternoons spent happily, comfortably and confidently breastfeeding in cafes with mummy friends. House work done, laundry always sorted, house always clean and tidy, routine, structure, schedule...The perfect family... WRONG!!!!!

Maternity leave hasn't quite gone to plan. Whilst I knew having a baby during the summer holidays would turn summer into one big blur, I also knew that once September came and I could instill structure and routine, things would be lovely, bliss if you like but that really hasn't been the case. With my eldest son in his final year of primary school I have done 13 school tours at 11 schools across three boroughs. We've had my mother-in-law in intensive care for two weeks, a baby who is back-and-forth at the baby clinic because her weight gain has been in the words of her paediatrician 'sub optimal', a leaky roof that has been a disaster to get sorted, a new street door and frame being fitted, a cooker that broke down and was repaired only for my husband to smash the top of the cooker at the very next day and a seriously stroppy teenage daughter.

This isn't quite what I had planned. 

 It's hard to believe that in just 5 months my maternity leave will be over and I will be leaving my adorable baby and going back to work. If I could rewind the time I would go back to the beginning when baby was first born and start all over again but I can't so moving forward I guess I have to be realistic and roll with the punches as it were.

It's so easy to let things get on top of you, overwhelm you and make you forget exactly why and who you are doing all of this for which is definitely what has happened to me.

So after a few deep breaths (and more than a few cursewords), I refuse to let things defeat me. I am going to have a long soak in the bath reevaluate everything and get right back on track.

I look at my kids and I know that despite my off days or weeks, I'm doing something right and I need to keep doing it for them.

Have a lovely weekend everyone.

M xx

Weekly Meal Planner

Ok, so last week was a disaster! Sickness, tiredness, late nights, meetings, constant arguing amongst the kids and more. By Thursday I just wanted to crawl under my duvet and hide from the world for the foreseeable future, BUT after a family meeting at the weekend and a productive Sunday, fingers crossed, we are back on track!

As this week is half term, we've had a think about what we will be doing during the days and as a family we've worked out a meal guide that will work for us.

Monday

Chilli dogs, wedges and onion rings

Tuesday

Salmon, green beans, peas and cheesy pasta

Wednesday 

Pork ribs, noodles and salad

Thursday

Spaghetti bolognese

Friday

We are off to Brighton to will be having a seaside classic of fish 'n' chips!

Saturday

Chicken nachos

Sunday

Lamb curry, pilau rice, salad and naan breads

What's on your menu this week?

M xx

Weekly Meal Planner

Oh dear, I didn't realise it had been quite so long.

Things have been as hectic around here as usual but I'm back with this weeks meal planner!

Weekly Meal Planner

Monday

Chicken noodles

Tuesday

Lasagne, pasta and sweetcorn and salad

Wednesday

Pork chops, roast potatoes, carrots and peas

Thursday

Sausage, mash and bwans(with onion gravy of course!)

Friday

Chilli con carne with Mexican rice, salsa and tortilla chips

Saturday

Turkey drummers, chips and beans

Sunday

Roast beef and yorkshires with all the trimmings

M xx

What's on your menu this week?

Our Easter Hols

Our Easter Holiday in pics!

And finally...

Relax!!

How was your Easter break?

                             M xx

Yummy Scrummy Apple Crumble Recipe

Yesterday little monster and I had fun in the kitchen making apple crumble. Here is our completely fool proof recipe.
I have included the quantities that we used but once you've made this once or twice you can adjust the amounts to suit your own taste.

You will need
For the crumble
300g plain flour
155g brown sugar
200g unsalted butter, cubed

For the filling
400g peeled and chopped cooking apples
50g brown sugar
1tbsp flour
1tsp ground cinnamon

What to do
Mix the flour and brown sugar together in a large mixing bowl. Add the butter 1 cube at a time and rub through your fingers until the flour mixture resembles breadcrumbs.

                               

Once the apples have been chopped up place them in a bowl and carefully mix with the brown sugar, flour and cinnamon. Try to avoid breaking up the fruit when mixing.

Grease an oven proof dish, then spoon the fruit into the base. Sprinkle the crumble mix over the top of the fruit but do not pat it down.

Bake in the oven at gas 4/350F/180C for approximately 40 minutes or until the crumble is golden brown and the fruit is bubbling.

Serve with fresh cream or warm custard and enjoy!

M xx

All The Small Things #1

With the weather in an atrocious state, the news full of well bad news and everyone suffering from horrible bugs at the moment it can be pretty darn hard to find something to smile about but I stumbled across a blog and a linky that put a smile on my face. The lovely Cassie over at Mummy Never Sleeps is helping to spread some smiles with her linky All The Small Things. 

Every Tuesday whether its a memory or a thought, helping a stranger, a kind word or a familiar smell, blog about the small thing that has put a smile on your face. Sometimes it really is the small things that make a big difference.

This picture always puts a smile on my face. The genuine happiness in their eyes always makes me smile when things aren't so bright.

What small thing makes a big difference to you?

M xx

Rainy day activities

We're fortunate enough to live in an area that is densely populated with parks, soft plays, museums and other family friendly attractions, however, on days when the weather is like it has been of late and you really don't want to go out I realise just how quickly cabin fever can set in!

So with the weather forecast not looking too great for a little while here are some of our favourite rainy day activities.

Masking Tape Games

Something as simple as a role of masking tape can provide hours of fun. Mark out a hopscotch on the floor using the tape. Using the masking tape stick a large circle to the floor followed by 2 smaller circles inside the largest one and an 'x' in the centre. Roll a ball and try and get as close to the 'x' as possible.

Play Dough

Despite what many think, making your own play dough couldn't be any simpler. There are loads of recipes out there that require just a few ingredients which you will probably have lying around in the cupboards at home. The beauty of homemade play dough is that its non-toxic, cheap and can be made in minutes.

Puddle jumping

This has to be the ultimate(and my personal favourite) rainy day activity. Get all the kids and adults to pull on a pair of wellies, grab a brolly if it's not too windy and head out in search of some puddles to do some good old fashioned puddle jumping in!

Rain gauge

Let the kids play scientists by measuring how much rain falls. Find any measuring implement(jugs, old baby bottles or pick up a rain gauge) and leave it out in the garden, on the windowsill or on a balcony. After every period of rain get the children to record how much rain fell in a chart of some kind

*this could also be used as part of your child's school homework*

Bake

Get baking! Fairy cakes, biscuits, fudge, desserts, flapjacks. You'll be surprised by how many ingredients you'll already have laying around in your cupboards so there's no excuse!

Indoor picnic 

Ok, so the weather outside may be rubbish but why not have an indoor picnic? Complete with blanket, sandwiches and  finger foods treat yourselves to a bug free picnic!

Decorate a candle

If like me you have hundreds of candles around the house then why not get out some plain candles and your craft box and let everyone decorate a candle. The possibilities are only as limited as your imagination.

Play a board game
Monopoly, Kerplunk, Frustration and Dominoes these were just some of the games I used to play as I child and I find they are still as popular today. Get everyone around the table and enjoy an afternoon and fun (and in our house lots of cheating!)

Do a puzzle
For me, there's always been something quite therapeutic about sitting with the kids so why not get everyone to get out their favourite puzzle and all complete them together.

Make a Christmas Pomander

With the school Christmas holidays fast approaching I'm always on the lookout for festive craft projects that I can do with with the kids.

One thing we look forward to making every year are our Christmas pomanders. Super easy and fun to make these will go down a treat and leave the house smelling very Christmassy.

You will need

Oranges

Ribbon

Cloves

Cinnamon 

Star anise

Skewer

1) Wrap the ribbon around the orange in any style you want but remember to tie it at the top and leave the loose ends.

2) Use the skewer to pierce the orange where you want to put the cloves then insert them. You could follow a pattern or place them randomly, be as creative as you can.

3) Once your happy with the way the cloves are arranged, attach the cinnamon to the loose ends of the ribbon and tie a know.

4) Slip the ribbon through the back of the star anise and push it down the ribbon to the cinnamon stick.

5) Tie the loose ends into a bow and hang around the house.

That's it, you'll now have some beautiful Christmas decorations and a wonderful smelling house!

                           M xx

Top 10 Halloween Activities

Halloween will soon be upon us and with it it brings a school holiday. If like me, the only way you can survive these are by planning activities and days out for the kids then look no further. I've put together a list of 10 activities and days out that you and your family can enjoy this Halloween.

1. Paint a Scary Canvas

Using a small canvas(these can be found in most pound shops), get your child to use their hand or footprints to make a spooky picture. They can embellish these with glitter, foam shapes, pipe cleaners and more.

2. Go Pumpkin Picking

There are many farms in the UK that have pumpkin patches open to the public. So why not take your children to pick their own pumpkins ready for decorating? Just don't forget your wellies!

Here are some pumpkin patches around the UK

Riverside Farmers

Kenyon Hall Farm

Ivy House Farm

3. Decorate a Pumpkin

Once you've picked your pumpkin your children will be desperate to start decorating them. For the older kids, challenge them to be as creative as possible with a pumpkin carving kit and for smaller fingers why not give them a box of craft goodies and even paint and let them get arty with their pumpkin                                                                                                                               

4. Make Frankenstein's Hands

A fun activity for children of all ages is making these scary Frankenstein hands. They are inexpensive enough to make that you could even hand them out to any trick or treaters. Using food safe gloves get your child/ren to put a single sweet into the tip of each finger of the glove. Then simply fill the rest of the glove with popcorn and bingo...Frankenstein's hands! Don't forget to tie the top of the glove with a ribbon or band.

5. Visit a Spooky Place

There are lots of attractions and farms that really go to town decorating and installing some fab Halloween attractions so why not take the kids to visit one. If your lucky enough to have a child free evening around Halloween then there are also adult events taking place.

Tulley's Farm have some great events taking place in October, from family fun daytime spooks to adult fright night specials, not to mention the farm shop, animal enclosure and playground and tea rooms. Everything you need for a family day out.

6. Bake up a Halloween Treat

Using Halloween coloured chocolate(green, orange, purple etc) cover plain pretzels in the melted chocolate and leave to dry on baking paper. Once you have some in each colour, put in a cellophane bag and tie with ribbon.

Make some cake pops and decorate them like eyeballs.

Make some toffee apples and get the kids to cover them in decorations of the choice.

Either bake or buy some fairy cakes and get the kids to be as creative as possible decorating them.

7. Host a Movie Night

Why not invite some friends over, close the curtains, serve up some of those Halloween treats that you made and put on some spooky films. Some favourites in our house are Hocus Pocus, The Haunted House, Scooby Doo and Harry Potter.

8. Make a Spooky Game

Get the kids to paint six 2ltr bottles white then paint on eyes in black. Paint a face on a small pumpkin and remove the green stalk. Set up the bottles like bowling pins and they'll have their very own ghostly bowling game.

9. Play Dress Up

The kids will love nothing more than getting together and dressing up in some of their favourite costumes and they don't have to be Halloween costumes. Let them paint each others faces and enjoy the fun. 

10. Throw a Party

If like me you just can't resist, then just throw a Halloween bash. Get friends and family to each bring some nibbles, make some ghoulishly fun drinks and play some games. Any excuse to get everyone together and have a giggle.

Whatever you decide to do, Have Fun and Happy Halloween!

Do you have any plans for Halloween? I'd love to hear what activities and other things you get up to.

M xx

Weekly Meal Planner

Like many parents I too often find it a struggle to come up exciting and varying meals to feed the family week in week out and there are times when I feel like I'm cooking the same meal over and over again.

So as not to bore everyone and risk plates full of wasted food, I asked the kids to come up with this weeks meal planner.

Brought to you, by the kids...

Weekly Meal Planner

Monday

Shepherds pie with baked beans and sweetcorn

Tuesday

Lamb stew with dumplings

Wednesday

Homemade pizzas

Thursday

Spaghetti bolognese

Friday

Chilli com carne and rice

Saturday

Ikea got dogs and fries

Sunday

Roast chicken and all the trimmings 

Heading into this week what are some of your children's favourite meals? 

M xx

The Labour of Love Continues

Following on from a previous post And so the Labour of Love Begins here is the update and finale of the project that my daughter and I took on.

After having a few heated discussions about the best way to sew the bag together and what colour thread would work best (amongst other discussions!) we finally got around to cutting the fabric out and pinning it together.

As this would be Mikhayla's first attempt at using a sewing machine I was a little(well a lot actually) apprehensive as to how this would pan out so I dug out the user manual and before I would even let her plug it in she was made to read the entire manual.  What I wasn't prepared for were the questions that my daughter would ask after reading some of the guide, particularly as I am yet to read the manual myself...ooops! 

I have to admit that we did have a giggle at some of the terminology and examples shown in the book as neither of us had a clue as to what was going on! We quickly decided that we would work everything out ourselves and got on with the practical side of it all.

What really surprised me throughout the entire process was unexpected bond that we shared. We realise that although we clash at times, we are in fact a lot more alike than we'd both like to admit. She's confided in me her fears and ambitions, what makes her happy and how she is really feeling about starting secondary school in September.
Although we do talk quite openly, it was nice to be able to spend time alone together doing something that we both enjoyed and creating something usable at the end which will hopefully provide us both with long lasting memories.

So here it is, our bag of love and memories

Mikhayla really surprised me with just how well she knew her way around the sewing machine, so off she went with some scraps and thread one afternoon and lo and behold here are her very own creations, made 100% by herself.

She really doesn't realise just how proud she makes me on a daily basis.

M xx

All the Fun of the Fair

Nintendo Ds, Nintendo Dsi, Wii, tablets, Virgin digital television, 2 laptops, a pc, V-Tech smile, battery operated handheld consoles, iphones, a blackberry are just some of the gadgets that reside in our house! Whilst I have no particular interest in many of these the thought of doing something that doesn't involve one of these pieces of technology is enough to send chills down the spines of most children. With this in mind I told the kids about the kind of toys that children had in previous decades and how lucky they were to have bowling alleys, theme parks, museums and more all within easy reach of our London home.

Funnily enough, 2 days later my daughter noticed a sign for Carters Steam Fair, "Great, how about I take you guys there this weekend?" "No mum, it's an old fashioned fair", "it will be sooooo boring", "I'll just stay home and watch a movie" were just some of the responses I got from all, 3 of my little 'angels'. So I resolved to spend Saturday afternoon baking instead.

Saturday afternoon arrived and it was meet by "I'm bored" and "Can we go out please?" So I agreed, on one condition...we go to the steam fair at the local park. Reluctantly the kids agreed, so with our neighbour, my sister and her little boy we headed to the steam fair.

As soon as we set foot in the park the kids were off, now considering it was an 'old fashioned fair' and 'it will be sooooo boring' I barely saw them for the entire time we were there. 
As scaredy cats, my partner Sam and myself decided to look after the youngest 2 whilst the others went off on the rides.
Reasonably priced and not too busy we all had a ball and even the originally unimpressed angels had a blast. "Oh my goodness, I didn't realise those rides would be so fast or scary", "Did you see how many times I won the grand national in the penny arcade?" "Please can we go on the helter skelter? Just once more pleaaaaaase!"
Needless to say, I left with 3 very happy children that now realise there is life beyond technology and had one more request.

"Mum, when we get home can we play some board games........" Aaaaaah, all the fun of the fair has converted them, temporarily I'm guessing!

M xx