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Making life easier – Preparation

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I knew that being a mum of two would be hard but well it’s really hard. I often feel like I’m not coping as well as I should be although deep down I know that I’m probably doing just fine. I love having my two girls around me but I do feel like I don’t get anything else done. Both girls are always clean and well fed and some days I feel that’s about all I achieve.

I’m probably putting too much pressure on myself but I get frustrated when I don’t make decent home cooked meals and have to rely on ready prepared items from my fridge or freezer. Cooking decent meals is my thing and very stupidly I feel a bit lost when I don’t do it.

I have decided to do something about it.

Every week I’m going to spend 2-3 hours on meal preparation for the week ahead. I will chop vegetables, marinade meat, measure out items and generally get organised so that I can toss some ingredients in the slow cooker or oven and feel better about the food we eat. I figure that if I feed Chloe and put her down for her afternoon nap ( generally her longest sleep of the day) Izzy can play with her Dad or they can go to the park and I can get my organised head on.

My hot cooked meal plans include:

Casseroles
Curries
Stew
Bolognese
Soup
Pie fillings

So I will chop and prepare my vegetables and meat ready for quick assembly and bag/box them up with the stock/seasonings they need.

I am also aiming to batch cook one dish a week so perhaps on week one it will be bolognese sauce – I will cook 5 meal sized portions of sauce and freeze all but one. I will use that one the same day and have 4 easy to defrost and cook meal ideas for the following weeks if I run short of time or can’t do meal preparation that week for one reason or another. These could be made into pasta bakes, lasagne or jacket potato toppings.

I’m going to wash and prepare all my salad items so they are easy to assemble for lunches and if I get enough time I’m also hoping to make large amounts of waffles, muffins etc to freeze for delicious easy breakfasts. Izzy loves to help me in the kitchen so I will get her involved with the baking side.

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I’m still hoping at some point to get back into cooking meals on a whim and spending a few hours in the kitchen slaving over a hot stove making indulgent dishes but I do know its not always possible. For example last night when my other half was in work I put Izzy to bed but Chloe decided to attach herself to my boob from 6.30 until 11pm so nothing else got done. I have to accept that this is the way it may be for a while and just find ways to work around it rather than worry myself over trivial matters.

I will be sharing my preparation tips and meal ideas with you over the next few weeks. Any ideas you have are gratefully received.

Love Your Eggs

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I didn’t used to like eggs much, I only really ever ate them in cakes and it was only when I was pregnant that I missed having them.. I know you can still eat them but having to cook them into submission didn’t really appeal.
In the last few months I have developed a real addiction to poached eggs and recently I have started trying eggs in new recipes..not just cakes!

One of my favourites is Frittata I was going to share this recipe soon as part of one of my eating on a budget blog posts but here it is sooner than planned.
The best thing about this dish is you can throw anything in, leftover boiled potatoes, peppers, meats,spinach, onions.. I could go on. Let me know if you have any special combos that you use.

This is what I used in my last frittata recipe so adapt however you like:

You will need:

1 large cazuela or pan you can use in hob or in oven
Olive oil
Chopped boiled potatoes
Chopped ham
Chopped peppers
Chopped onions
Chopped spinach
6-8 eggs beaten (dependant on size of pan)
3 or 4 tablespoons of cheese. I use pilgrims choice. Yum.

Preheat oven to 190C/fan 170C/gas 5.
Warm a little olive oil in a pan and add all ingredients apart from the eggs and cheese, sauté for 5 minutes then add your beaten eggs and cook until the mixture has set on bottom and is starting to set on top,sprinkle with your cheese and some cracked black pepper & herbs of choice and put in oven for 10-15 minutes until completely set.

When this has cooled slightly you can cut like you would a pizza or quiche and serve with a nice big salad for a healthy, budget friendly lunch. This is also great chilled and taken on picnics.

Another eggcelent (sorry I had to put it in somewhere) recipe I have recently made is spaghetti carbonara.

You will need:

1 large saucepan and 1 frying pan or cazuela
Olive oil
250g bacon, diced or roughly chopped ( I used lardons)
300mL single cream
3 tablespoons Parmesan cheese ( I have substituted other cheeses and its just as good)
3 egg yolks
Salt and pepper, to taste
350g spaghetti or tagliatelle ( I used Lidl egg spaghetti last time and it was tremendous)
Seasoning

Start to cook your pasta by the packet instructions whilst frying your bacon in a little olive oil until golden, add your cream and cheese and remove from heat to stir through. Return to heat for 2 mins before adding your egg yolks and again removing from heat to stir through.
Remove from heat, drain pasta and combine. Serve immediately with fresh grated Parmesan and black pepper.

Its so good.. This serves 2 with leftovers.

After the carbonara recipe I had 3 egg whites leftover which I didn’t want to waste so I made a quick Baileys chocolate mousse which I’d never made before but it worked really well. I adapted this from a weight watchers recipe and simple to make but very tasty.

You will need:

1 microwaveable bowl and 1 mixing bowl
Electric whisk
100g of good quality dark chocolate (70% cocoa)
3 egg whites
2 tsp of Baileys

Break your chocolate into pieces and melt in the microwave I do in 30 second bursts to make sure it doesn’t burn. Leave your chocolate to cool slightly and whisk your eggs until stiff ( the peaks should stay up when you pull the whisk out). Put a tablespoon of the egg whites into the chocolate to loosen and mix well. Gradually mix the rest of the whites in, not too fast as you lose too much air. Once it’s all mixed in add your baileys, mix once more and spoon into 4 ramekins or glasses. Refrigerate until set, mine took an hour or so to set but I left them there until the following day.

These taste so scrumptiously naughty it’s hard to believe its a low fat recipe. One is more than enough to satisfy a sweet tooth and you don’t feel overly full afterwards.

If any of you have any more egg recipes to share please do!

This should go without saying but please only use free range 😀

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A Room To Relax In

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It’s been a long time since I’ve seen my bedroom as a comfortable room to relax in. For over 2 years its been strewn with toys, bottles, nappies and a cot or crib. At the moment it’s a room for us to crash into at the end of the day and pray for sleep.

I’ve decided that when Chloe is old enough (between 6-12months old) to move into her own bedroom we will redecorate our bedroom and make it a space for us. I’m sure I will miss the clutter and being able to reach out and check on Chloe in her bednest but when the time comes I think we need it to become a space for us again.

I’ve been looking at some absolutely gorgeous bedroom ideas on the Rodgers of York website and have fallen in love with this one:

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So maybe the shape of my room is different and it won’t look exactly the same I know but the colours and the light are feelings I want to reproduce.

I also quite like the idea of creating a really cool room for my toddler who will be moving out of her baby room and into a slightly bigger big girls space.. I think she would love this jungle theme:

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She is a big fan of monkeys and giraffes rather than pink and princesses at the moment so this would go down a storm.. And then I need to start working on ideas to get the baby room up to date. So much to do so little time.

Do you find your bedrooms get taken over by your children’s clutter? What do you do to avoid this and how do you make sure your bedroom stays as a room for relaxing? Am I being daft for thinking this is even possible with young children around?

*this is a PR collaboration

Ewan the Dream Sheep Review – Baby Essentials!

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I receive items quite often for review purposes which is lovely but it’s not often I think to review a product which I’ve bought myself or that we have received as a gift but sometimes they can be my very favourite products so I’ve decided to also start reviewing the things I truly love which make our lives as parents easier ..starting with Ewan.

Chloe received Ewan the dream sheep as a Christmas gift from her aunty and uncle and well it really has been a ‘dream’ sheep. From the day we started using it the soft cuddly toy has helped to both settle C to sleep and also to calm her when she’s upset. If she starts to wake in the night we push a button on Ewan’s leg to play the womb/heartbeat sounds and within a minute of so she’s back in the land of nod. During the day when she gets irritable we play the harp songs and it seems to help settle her.

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At £29.99 in most shops it’s not cheap for a cuddly toy but then its so much more than a toy and I would say its worth every penny. An absolute wonderful present for both a baby and their tired parents, I think it’s a product I will recommend to all of my pregnant friends and followers.

You can buy Ewan in lots of places but here is a link to it for sale in Kiddicare mainly as I’m a big fan of the Kiddicare shops.

Here is what Kiddicare say about Ewan:

Ewan’s actual heartbeat/womb sound combinations mimic the noise babies hear in the womb and are proven to be effective at settling and calming your baby. Combined with the comforting pink glow, Ewan helps ease the transition from womb to world.

Ewan the Dream Sheep is soft and cuddly and can be used as a hand held toy or can be attached to the Cot side. He has gentle womb, rain or musical sounds and has a gentle pink glowing light in his chest.

*Suitable from Newborn
*If Ewan is used from birth baby will recognize the sounds and associate calmness and sleep when played
*Comforting pink glow
*20 minute timer
*Volume control
*Sponge clean only
*Hangs from Cot with Velcro tail
*Helps to soothe restless babies
*Batteries not included

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There is only one fault I can find with this product and I thought long and hard about it and that is that it uses up a LOT of batteries. It takes 3 AAA batteries and we change them about every 4/5 days – but it still works out less than £1 a week which I am more than willing pay for the peace 😉 Also if we used more expensive batteries they would probably last longer but we bought a big pack cheaply a while back so working our way through them first.

Coming up shortly are reviews for the Boba wrap, Bednest and Gro Swaddle.

Cooking in the kitchen.. Having fun – Valentines treats

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Last year sometime myself and Izzy watched an episode of Zingzillas.. In each episode they create a new song which they sing at the end and in this particular episode they sung about cooking in the kitchen. The lyrics go something like “Cooking in the kitchen ..having fun” da di da and for some reason this sentence stuck and quite often when I ask Izzy what she wants to do that day she will say Cook in kitchen? Having fun? Which of course is mega cute. Anyway on the weekend we decided to do a little baking in our pyjamas ( I was still unwell) while Chloe and Dad watched the rugby and we copied an idea which I used to make a long time ago from my Be-Ro book to make stained glass Valentines hearts.

You will need:

225g self raising flour
100g caster sugar
100g butter
1/2 lemon – grated zest and juice
1 medium egg -beaten
Boiled sweets
Heart shaped cutters

Preheat oven to gas mark 4. Grease and line your baking trays with baking paper.

Mix flour and sugar and rub in the butter, add lemon zest and juice and most of your egg.

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You may not need all the egg just use enough to make a stiff dough.

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Roll out your dough and using a heart shaped cutter cut out as many large hearts as you can.

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Then using a smaller heart cutter cut out a segment from each heart. Place your large hearts and small hearts on a baking tray and cook for approx 5 minutes.

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Remove from oven and place a boiled sweet in the middle of each large heart and bake for a further 5-7 minutes until the sweet has melted. Remove from oven and leave to cool for a few minutes on a wire rack.

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For the smaller hearts simply dust with icing sugar and munch away.

You could also use a skewer to place a small hole at top of the large hearts so you can hang with a ribbon. Do this prior to baking.

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Would make a cute gift from your children to their Dads to say Happy Valentines and they taste pretty good too!

COOKING WITH KIDS

Parents don’t get sick days…

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I remember a time not so long ago when I had a nasty throat/ear infection, it was about a year before I got pregnant with Izzy and I called in sick to work and spent the entire day in bed.. Then the following day I still felt awful so I spent another day in bed. Nothing too strange about that really. I was ill so I helped myself to recuperate by resting.

As a parent you can’t phone in sick or take time off from parental duties. You can get help from your partner and family but you are still a mum or a dad. I bet not many of you have spent an entire day in bed since having children. This week was the first time when I have really felt ill to the point where I needed that but I’m breastfeeding and as such my daughters needs come first. I didn’t quite anticipate how hard that would be when I was unwell. The hardest time being when I had to go in for a lumbar puncture and leave Chloe on the ward with my mum. I fed her like crazy before I went in and just hoped she would be ok while I was gone (she feeds on demand) the lumbar puncture took 4 attempts meaning it was a while before I got back to the ward to my thankfully sleeping baby. I then had to lie flat on my back for at least several hours without getting up for bathroom breaks or to feed. My daughter who would normally have fed at least twice during that period instead chose to take an extra long nap. Isn’t it strange how that works? It was as if she knew. That night I was dreading being alone in my hospital room with Chloe as I had an extremely sore back and head but again she was wonderful, she fed a lot but settled quickly after each feed and every Doctor and nurse that I saw commented on my contented baby. Since coming home I’ve had lots of support luckily as my headache only eases right now while I’m lying down.

I should be feeling better in a week or so but I do wonder how parents with long term health issues cope as its so very hard to be a parent when unwell. I salute all of you.

Salted Caramel Luxury Hot Chocolate

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Oh my. This stuff is good. If you liked all the flavoured hot chocolates and coffees on offer during the festive season you will love this.

You will need:

1 cup of milk ( I used skimmed but you could use whole for extra indulgence)
1 small handful of chocolate buttons
1 tbsp of salted caramel sauce – recip ehere
2tsps of good quality hot chocolate or cocoa powder
Squirty Cream to top and a drizzle of sauce

If you are using a Vitamix place all ingredients apart from the squirty cream in the blender and starting at variable 1 increase to variable 2 and speed 10 and blend for around 4 minutes until hot. If you don’t have a Vitamix place ingredients in a saucepan and whisk well over a moderate heat.

Top with squirty cream and a drizzle of salted caramel.

This is utterly gorgeous and you may burn your tongue if you don’t exercise a little restraint 😉

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Enjoy 😀

No more tears.. Dentinox eye wipe review

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Keeping your baby clean can be a full time job – between changing nappies, mopping up baby sick, cutting nails and cleaning eyes and noses it never stops so anything which can make life a little easier is a bonus.

When we were offered some eye wipes to review from Dentinox to review it couldn’t have come at a better time. Both my newborn and my folder were full of cold and suffering with sticky, gungy eyes. Not pleasant.

These wipes which are individually wrapped therefore sterile and easy to use were a great help when out and about with no access to boiled water/cotton wool etc. We even ended up using them at home as they were so convenient.

For once my toddler didn’t complain about me cleaning her eyes. Possibly because it was dealt with so quickly and it worked well on my youngest too who at just 8 weeks old gets sticky eyes quite often.

Clean, bright eyes..

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Would definitely recommend having a pack on hand at home and some stashed in your changing bag.

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*We received this product for free for review purposes and were compensated for our involvement in this campaign.