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Win a family ticket to see Peppa Pig LIVE

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This little piggy went to market..this little piggy stayed home..this little piggy had roast beef and this little piggy went wee wee woah I’m a huge mega star. If you love her or hate you you can’t deny that Peppa is a big name in the world of children’s television. If you have a child under 5 chances are you have seen the tv show, bought the t shirt (literally her face is on everything) and used the bubble bath.

Now I am very excited to be able to give one lucky family the chance to see Peppa Pig and all her friends live at a venue of your choosing. Woohoo. Read on….

Come and join in the fun with Peppa, George and their friends as they tour the UK with the new theatre show Peppa Pig’s Big Splash. We have tickets for a lucky family to win.

The nursery roof is leaking and Peppa and her friends need to fix it quickly. They set up a fete to raise the money for Mr Bull to do the repairs. There’s plenty of fun to be had as Peppa, George, Mummy and Daddy Pig, as well as Danny Dog, Pedro Pony and Suzy Sheep put up bunting, run stalls and organise a great day out.

There’s also a Champion Puddle Jumping competition judged by Mr Potato where everyone gets wet and Peppa needs to find her Golden Boots.

Another all-singing, all-dancing adventure full of songs, games and muddy puddles is guaranteed for all the family.

For your chance to win a family ticket to see Peppa Pig’s Big Splash on tour please answer the question below:

What is the name of Peppa Pig’s new show?

. Peppa Pig’s Big Banana
. Peppa Pig’s Big Splash
. Peppa Pig’s Big Boat

Please leave your answer in the comments below. Competition closes at 5pm October 3rd 2013.

* A family ticket is for 4 people, minimum 1 adult. The tickets are non-transferable and are subject to availability. There are no cash alternatives, accommodation or travel included in this prize. The Criterion Theatre dates are excluded from this competition.

Peppa Pig’s Big Splash is on tour until October 2014.

For further show information and tour dates click here

Follow @PeppaPigLive on Twitter
Facebook: Peppa Pig Live

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* I have been given a family ticket to giveaway to my lovely blog readers.

33 Week Update. Feeling positive.

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You will be happy to know that this is a positive blog post about pregnancy.

I’m 33 weeks. It’s getting closer to the big day. I’m really starting to get excited. I’m not worried about actually giving birth at all. This may change but at the moment I’m just looking forward to the experience. I know it’s going to hurt like hell. It did last time and its far from easy but there are two huge bonuses at the end:

1. I will have my baby in my arms.

2. Pregnancy will be over. Forever. Yay.

Weight:

I have gained enough weight for this stage in my pregnancy ( smack bang in the middle of the average weight gain range) yet I actually don’t feel fat. I may look it but I don’t feel it. My belly is of course huge but the rest of me seems ok ..ish at the moment. In fact I somehow managed to accidentally wear size 10 non maternity leggings the other day.. Oops. They felt rather uncomfortable by the end of the day.

Lovely dress I bought from Seraphine for a wedding:

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Sleep:

Sleep is elusive. I want to sleep but I can’t. Between the crazy dreams, toilet trips and general niggles and pains I rarely get more than about 4 hours. I am getting used to the tiredness but it is frustrating when I know I need my energy for when baby arrives. I am starting to reintroduce my daily nap which I stopped for the past fortnight as felt I didn’t need it.

Baby:

We saw the baby again on Monday. We had a scan followed by a consultant appointment. All seems well at the moment which is just fabulous news and feeling less stressed about how she is doing is definitely contributing to my current positive mood. The scan was incredible. My last scan with Izzy was at 20 weeks so seeing my baby looking well like a proper baby is a bit mad. We had a 30minute scan as they asked us if we minded also being scanned by a trainee student after the sonographer had finished. To thank us they gave us 4 photos and I thought I would share one with you as it’s so clear:

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She is head down and has had a growth spurt since our last scan which is great. I just can’t wait to meet her now.

Strep B:

As I already know I have Strep B we have been told that we have to get to hospital as soon as contractions become in any way regular or if my waters break I need to go in immediately in order for the antibiotics to start working and to stop the baby getting the infection. This does make me panic slightly and I predict there may be some false alarm hospital visits in a few weeks. Better to be safe though and I am lucky that I know that I have it. You can read more about Strep B here

Cravings:

These haven’t changed much since last week really but my ice craving has increased massively. It turns out my iron levels are low which could explain that. I am now on an iron liquid supplement twice a day which is pleasant.. Hmmm. Anyway back to the ice. The staff in my local Asda think I’m crazy after a recent ice craving conversation and I have discovered I can recreate a slush puppy using my Vitamix to crush the ice and them adding soda stream cola syrup afterwards. Far from healthy but oh so good. Apples are still popular with me but I don’t feel the need to eat more than 1 a day anymore.

Cooking:

I am loving being back in the kitchen more. I have a new pantry – which I love and today my brilliant Dad is painting the whole room for me so it means I can’t spend anytime in there cooking but I will have a lovely fresh looking kitchen soon enough. In the past week I have made:

Slow cooker beef stew, brownies, tiffin, lazy pasta and Butter chicken curry. Yum.

Later on I plan to make bread and if I continue to feel well next week I plan to make lasagne, curry,stew and pies for the freezer ready for those first crazy weeks.

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Izzy:

Izzy is bonding more and more with my bump and loves to look at the scan photos. My bump gets kisses all the time and she will dance with my bump too. I can’t wait to see them together. I know there will be some jealousy and resentment at times but I do hope they are close. She had her 2 year assessment with the health visitor last week and passed with flying colours. She continues to surprise us with her funny sentences and the things she seems to know without us telling her. She still has the occasional tantrum but they are mostly short lived…for now.

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Work:

I am officially on annual leave now followed immediately by my maternity leave commencing and it feels really good to know that I don’t have to worry about being well enough to go to work. Kinda crazy to know I will be off work until next October! Thoroughly enjoying the extra time I get to spend with my girl before baby two arrives.

Names

We finally have 1 or 2 names that we like. Still not sure if they are the right ones but we are getting somewhere at last.

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Anyway that is enough rambling from me. Thanks for reading 🙂

Project B Box – A review

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A little while ago I spotted a tweet (on twitter..obviously) asking for pregnant bloggers to review a brand new pregnancy subscription box service.

A bit about Project B:

The box costs £14 each month.

Each month you’ll receive products, from relaxation, to healthy eating, to household, to pampering, plus expert advice to match your month of pregnancy. You can sign-up for any month from 12 weeks.

Each month you’ll receive around five items in your box; it might be a nourishing bump oil, a pregnancy-specific vitamin, a delicious snack, or a new household product.

From the UK’s leading and well-known brands, to more niche or emerging companies, products you can expect to see are Pregnacare, Palmer’s Cocoa Butter, Metanium, Weleda, Green People Nappy Cream Balm, Nakd cereal bars, Halos N Horns, Spontex, Balm Balm Rose Geranium Face Balm to name but a few.

Expert advice – Midwife and Health Professional Nikki Holdsworth RSc (Hons) RM and author of ‘What To Buy For Your Baby’ Liat Hughes Joshi both write completely independently. This means you also have some interesting information to digest in each box – specific to your stage of pregnancy.

Four large postcards will tell you about –

Your Pregnancy This Month – how big baby is growing, how you might feel, what you might expect.
Eating Well – what’s good to eat and what’s not in Box 1, and then a nutritious recipe to make in each box after that.
Staying Active – safe and effective ways to keep you mobile and help build stamina for labour.
Shopping Ideas – what to think about buying when.

What I think:

I received box 5 (weeks 30-34) and the products/information are all geared towards preparing for labour.

I had a helping hand to open it:

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My box contained:

* Nail girls nail varnish in burgundy

* Montezuma’s creamy white Dominican Republic chocolate with raspberry

* 3 x Pukka tea samples

* Floradix liquid iron formula

* Laboraide twin pack – natural aid to baby’s birth

* Femfresh intimate hygiene wipes

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Firstly..what I liked:

* The Floradix iron formula is a handy addition to the box. I (like lots of pregnant women) have had iron deficiency problems throughout my pregnancy and I think this is really useful. I was however disappointed that there are no instructions/dosage details with the bottle. I’m unsure if the bottle I have is one dose or more? I am going to check with my local pharmacist.

*Chocolate – I’m not a huge fan of white chocolate but its nice to have an indulgent treat every now and again and this is pretty nice chocolate.

* Tea – out of the three herbal tea samples I enjoyed two. I didn’t enjoy the ginger one but that is personal taste more than anything else.

What I didn’t like :

* Femfresh wipes – I’m not a fan of Femfresh. I really don’t get it.

* Nail Varnish – I was happy to get a nail varnish in the box especially one which is free of nasty chemicals but it was very watery and hard to put on for that reason.


What I’m undecided on:

* Laboraide – this is a new product which seems to be like a gum shield that you bite down on during labour. It has lots of exciting and bold claims on the box about reducing pushing time during labour, pain etc but until I actually use it I can’t really tell you what I think. I will update this post after I give birth. It retails at approximately £20 per twin pack so it bumps the value of the box up quite a bit.

My final thoughts on the box overall:

As a concept I love the idea of a pregnancy gift box each month. Pregnancy can be a pretty rough, emotional time and a little treat each month is a great idea. I think for me it would be the kind of thing I’d like to receive as a gift from my partner/family member or friend rather than something I would purchase for myself.

If the Laboraide works then the box is good value..however if it doesn’t I may not think it was worth £14. I did get a sneak peek at another box ( the pamper/relax month) which contained a candle worth £9 along with bio oil..face balm and skin illuminator as well as popcorn so that month sounds pretty nice!

My Pantry Essentials

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YES I have a pantry. Wooooohooooo. I have wanted a pantry for such a long time. Some people would call it a store cupboard but to me it’s my pantry.

Now that I can have the space and the means to store everything the way I want I thought I would share with you my pantry essentials. Food products that I always always have in my kitchen and which I use all the time. Things which save me money, time and give me great flavours. Staple products which mean that I can create a meal in minutes even without ANY fresh goods.

Spices and herbs – cumin, nutmeg, coriander, cinnamon, parsley, basil, rosemary, thyme,bay leaves, curry leaves, curry powder,allspice, Chinese 5 spice, cloves, fennel, garam masala, ginger, mustard seed,celery salt, garlic powder, paprika, sweet smoked paprika, saffron, turmeric, star anise ,oregano and tarragon.. There are probably more!

I also use a lot of the Schwartz perfect shake line.. Including chargrilled chicken, fish blend, season all, piri piri and Thai 7spice blend. I was sent a few to try a while ago and I love them. We have used them to make homemade fish fingers and beautiful crispy griddled chicken recently.

Baking goods –

Plain flour, Self Raising flour and Cornflour. I always have a full stock of these three. Plain flour with a little olive oil,salt and water means I can always make the most beautiful flatbreads. Self raising flour to make cakes at least once a week 😉 Cornflour to thicken my stews and to make sauces from scratch. I also have bread flours, pastry flours and more.

Jars of flavoured caster sugars such as vanilla and lavender for baking. Icing sugar and granulated sugars also.

Cocoa powder – for baking and hot cocoa.

Nielsen Massey vanilla pastes/extracts – I adore these products. I also always have vanilla pods.

Hobbycraft food colouring paste – I like these as you only need a tiny amount of paste to create really vibrant colours.

Oils – I have a full stock of plain olive oil, vegetable oils, rapeseed oil and flavoured garlic/chilli oils from The Preservation Society.

Salts and Peppers – I only really use sea salt but I have a fair few varieties of it such as smoked,chilli and more. I use a LOT of black peppercorns but I generously have a stock of Sichuan peppercorns and mixed too.

Tins and cartons – Chickpeas, butter beans, kidney beans, passata, chopped tomatoes,baked beans, coconut milk, new potatoes, sweetcorn,tuna and some dessert emergency essentials such as custard and rice pudding 🙂

Sauces and condiments – soy sauce, sweet chilli,fish sauce, worcester sauce, jerk paste, Thai green curry paste, garlic paste, curry sauce mix such as, I have stock cubes and gravy granules for thickening stews/adding flavour.

Pasta, lentils and rice – I stock up on pasta when stores like Asda do a promotion. Recently they sold all of their pasta products for 50p a pack so I now have a huge stockpile of lasagne sheets, linguine, twists and shells. Pasta has a long shelf life and is something I always buy so buying it in bulk at a reduced cost saves me a fortune.

I buy dried red lentils in large packs in the world food aisle – they seem to last forever. The same goes for rice, cous cous, bulgar wheat and quinoa.

I will probably add more to this list as I finish organising but this is a great place to start if you are looking at doing more home cooking and if you buy one or two things each week then it won’t really affect your shopping budget. Most of the products I have last me ages.

Photos will be added when my pantry is completely finished and organised. A nesting pregnancy woman’s dream hey?

Ruby and Ginger Compact Changing Bag – Review

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You may have seen Ruby and GINGER featured on Dragons Den sometime ago or their products being used by celebs such as Danni Minogue and Zoe Ball.

Ruby and GINGER was created by two mums to help make life a little easier for busy parents everywhere. In their collection you will find a great range of baby accessories including the Original Nappy Purse which turns any bag into your changing bag; the simple yet practical Toy Tie and the Original Cosy Car Seat Cover designed with safety and comfort in mind.

When the very lovely Liz from R&G offered to send me a sample of their original nappy purse for use with my toddler I was thrilled. I expected to use it at festivals/holidays/quick trips to the shop but I didn’t expect for it to become my every day changing bag. Well it has. We use it all the time. It slots into all my bags or I throw it under the pram or in Izzys rucksack. It holds three nappies, a reusable box for wet wipes, a changing mat and I squeeze in a few nappy sacks and some cream too. There aren’t many occasions when we need to take more than 3 nappies out with us at any one time right now so it’s ideal. My full size changing bag was never ready to go when I needed it, I was always hurriedly packing it just before we left the house but maybe it’s the compact size or the fact that I can’t take additional bits but I always have it ready stocked and I just grab it.

It was most useful to us when on holiday at Camp Bestival. The site is huge and you really don’t want to be taking huge changing bags around with you everywhere so being able to just pop this in my bag made life easier.

The changing mat is completely machine washable and it washes well without losing any of the colour or shape, the tub for the wipes holds plenty and the bag itself is really pretty.

I chose this design:

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But there are two other designs to choose from also.

I can’t really pick any faults with this product and for £14 its a proper bargain. Looking forward to using it for baby 2! I’m very tempted to buy a matching car seat cover 🙂

If you would like to buy a changing bag and save a whopping 20% off the retail price you can do so by visiting the site here and using the code FESTIVAL.

* I was sent this product for free to review and give my opinion on it.

Great Bloggers Bake off – Brownies

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I’ve been meaning to post this recipe for a while.. It really does make the very best gooey brownies every single time.

This is the second entry into the GBBO ..my first is HERE.

I am disappointed that for one reason or another I have missed out on several weeks but never mind. Once again I hope to be able to join in the remaining weeks.

My recipe is based on one that I fiddled with from Mary Berry – queen of cakes herself.

Beckys Brownies

You will need:

275g softened salted butter
375g golden vanilla caster sugar
4 large eggs
1 tsp Nielsen Massey vanilla paste/or extract
75g cocoa powder
100g self raising flour
35g white chocolate chunks/chips
35g dark chocolate chunks/chips
35g milk chocolate chips
50g icing sugar (for decoration)

Preheat your oven to gas mark 4 and grease/line a 12×9 traybake tin.

It’s the simplest method. Put all ingredients apart from your icing sugar in a large mixing bowl and mix either by hand or with an electric whisk/beater for a few minutes until combined.

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Tip into your prepared tin and level out. Bake for approximately 40 mins until your top is set and it still has a slight wobble but is cooked. Remove from oven and leave to cool in tin for a few minutes before placing on a wire rack, when more or less lukewarm dredge with sieved icing sugar. Cut into squares and serve.

These are delicious served with vanilla ice cream when slightly warm.

They keep really well for days in a sealed container although good luck with trying not to eat them. They are seriously good -this is the 4th time I’ve made these in 6 weeks! Oops. I have shared though. Honestly.

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The Great Bloggers Bake Off is a weekly linky organised by Helen from The Crazy Kitchen and Jenny from Mummy Mishaps

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Lazy leftover pasta

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Sometimes it gets to that point in the week when I should really have done my weekly shop but for one reason or another I haven’t got around to it so I scrabble around in the fridge and cupboards to pull together a meal – usually pasta.

My leftover pasta dishes are very adaptable, I make a different version most weeks but this weeks was super tasty so thought I would share it with you:

Lazy Leftover Pasta

You will need:

2 sausages ( cooked and chopped or roughly chopped and cooked from raw)
1/4 of a large courgette cubed
4 shallots diced
3 overripe tomatoes chopped roughly
1-2 garlic cloves diced
1/2 teaspoon of dried chilli flakes or half a fresh red chilli diced
Crushed black peppercorns
Fresh herbs ( I used basil as needed to use it up but any you have or dried would be fine)
150ml of single cream ( to make a healthier version swap with tin of chopped tomatoes)
Olive oil
Leftover cheese (whatever you have – I had cheddar)
300g pasta ( anything you have – I used twists)

* You could add in peppers/vegetables but I only used what as in my fridge or you could use chorizo instead of sausage – I had run out and needed to use up my sausage.

Put your pasta on to cook according to packet instructions.
Fry your chopped sausages with a little olive oil over a medium heat along with your onions and garlic, when browned add your courgette,tomatoes and herbs as well as chilli flakes and pepper. Slowly cook over a medium heat until meat is cooked and everything else has softened. Reduce the heat and add your cream. Within a few seconds your cream will turn a light pinky colour. Drain your pasta and add to your pan stirring well.

Serve immediately topped with a little grated cheese and I also threw on some (slightly limp)rocket and a little more pepper. Yum.

It was delicious, slightly naughty and indulgent due to the cream and with a kick from the chilli flakes.

This served two very hungry adults ( one pregnant) and with leftovers for my OH to take to work. If you were making for children you may want to leave out the chilli flakes or reduce slightly depending on their taste buds.

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Link up your recipe of the week

Kiccckkiiiiingg – 32 week update

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My baby is wild. Seriously quite often I look at my stomach and you would think from the crazy shapes it pulls that she is running in there. She is so strong.

Today I had a midwife appointment, not a regular one but one of the extra appointments I’m having to make sure all is ok with me and baby.

I am very happy to tell you that for once.. In fact I really do think its the first time this pregnancy all is OK. WOOP. I wasn’t sent to hospital for monitoring ..blood pressure was all good..everything was fine. My midwife who was very rudely kicked (extremely powerfully) by the bump told me that she thinks my baby is the busiest baby she has monitored for a long time.

It’s incredible the relief I felt walking out. I almost felt like a normal pregnant woman. So I went and bought myself a big juicy steak from the butchers and 4 apples as a celebratory treat.. Well I can’t have champagne so what’s a girl to do?

By the way why did I never realise quite how amazing a good apple can taste? I actually asked the green grocer today what are the tastiest apples you have? Ha. English Windsor apparently. Drools.

At 32 weeks:

* I feel huge

* I look neat ( haha according to my green grocer – so not true)

* My skin feels oily again

* My hair is thick and reasonably glossy

* Cramps are pretty bad again. This morning I couldn’t shake it for a whole hour. Ouch.

* Heartburn is horrid – mostly at about 2am

* Baby moves a lot and with huge gymnastic type movements – I don’t remember it being quite so crazy last time.

* Baby is still head down and very low..lots of pressure but not too painful at the minute.

* My concentration is not great – I have a million things to do and a lot of blog posts to write but actually completing them is hard.

* I’m super emotional/hormonal/kind of a bitch at times.

* Everything aches. All the time.

* I’m starting to worry ( a little) about everything being ok (health wise) for the baby when she arrives.

* I’m getting excited to meet our girl.

* I’m more in love with Izzy than ever before. She turned 2 this week and she is such a special girl.

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* I’m more thankful than ever for my supportive man and family. Couldn’t have done this without them.

* I may open the babys wardrobe to look at her little shoes more than is necessary.

* I eat apples, carrots and red meat. A lot.

* I still love ice

* I still like to brush my teeth. A lot.

All in all other than having to pop Izzy to the hospital for mysterious rash check its been an ok week which compared to the past 6 months is pretty amazing.

32 weeks:

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For reference this is a Jicama ( I had to google it) a kind of Mexican turnip.

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The Ultimate Baby Monitor- A Review

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A few months ago we were offered the chance to review the all singing all dancing video and sensor monitor from Tommee Tippee. We had been using a TT monitor with Iz since birth so I immediately said yes.

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The monitor we previously used was the suresound sensor pad monitor – we were given it by my brother and sis in law and it was fabulous. As new parents bringing home a newborn it was scary. Being able to glance over and see the reassuring flashing light and know that my baby was moving/breathing made me a lot less worried.

The new monitor is even better.

Features :

*Infrared night vision camera
*Movement sensor pad
*Adjustable sensitivity settings
*3” colour screen
*Baby’s room temperature display
*Up to 300m range with out-of-range indicator
*Two-way talk back
*Pager to find missing parent unit
*Baby night light controllable from parent unit
*Channel auto-select

The parent monitor can be charged up so you can just carry it around with you unplugged so when you want a relaxing bath it’s ideal. With the video screen it’s really handy to keep an eye on Iz especially when she is banging about so I can check she isn’t trying to escape her cot! We use the talkback feature to tell her to lie down etc which she mostly listens to and also to wake her gently from her nap rather than just walking into her room. It’s also really good fun to listen to her nighttime babbles and her morning chats with Makka Pakka.

You can even remotely switch on the nightlight which is a feature we have recently used when Izzy started getting scared at night.

We still use the sensor pad option for Izzy as she is still in a cot and I still find it reassuring, particularly when she’s unwell as she can have problems with wheezy breathing which can be frightening.

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All in all its a really fabulous product. We don’t get any false alarms with the sensor pad which happened occasionally with the older model and the soppy parent in me has really enjoyed these few months of watching my little girl sleep. It is an expensive product retailing for around £150 but its definitely worth the extra pennies.

* Disclaimer – I was provided with this product free of charge in exchange for a review. All views are my own. Images from the Tommee Tippee site.

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Simply special sides ..Super Sweet Carrots and Vitamix puréed mint peas

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In my recent post on pregnancy cravings I revealed that my dislike for carrots has over the past few weeks gone from a like to a love to an obsession. I eat carrots every day and I’ve started making them in lots of different ways. I think I saw this idea a long time ago on Pinterest but dismissed it as being yucky carrots – I know. Childish. Anyway this week while boiling some beautiful fresh carrots I decided that this would be a delicious way to serve them so here they are ..super sweet carrots:

Super sweet carrots

You will need:

4 carrots (diced quite thickly)
1.5 tbsp of brown sugar
1 tbsp butter

Cook your carrots on the hob in boiling water until just firm ( or to your liking – I like mine firm)
When cooked drain and put back on the hob on a low heat with your brown sugar and butter and simmer for a few minutes until ready to serve.

Simple and delicious.

I’ve made minted peas on lots of occasions, however I never seem to really get the complete mintyness (not a word I know) that I crave into the peas. Tonight I changed that by using my Vitamix to create a mint pea purée to serve with lamb chops. Wowee it was delicious, fresh and minty.

Vitamix puréed mint peas

You will need:

Frozen peas ( amounts depending on how many you are serving )
1 tbsp of salted butter
A bunch of fresh garden mint
Black pepper

Cook your peas until ready to serve (boil, steam or microwave) and then put into your blender ( I used my Vitamix ) with your butter, mint and pepper and whiz up until beautifully smooth. Add more mint if required. Other blenders may not create a purée quite as smooth.

Serve immediately.

I served both of the above sides with my ultimate sauté potatoes and minted lamb chops. It was a beautiful easy meal.

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