Meal Planning Monday; 29th October 2012

Good morning everybody! It's actually looking rather sunny outside this morning, although I've been informed it's freezing which doesn't surprise me. The weekend was horrifically cold and Bubbah's winter hat was whipped out with much joy by me...and Bubbah

Last week the slow cooker was well and truly out in force with chicken, lamb and sausage casseroles on the menu. Our meal plan went pretty well last week, although Saturday night was ruined and I ended up just having BBQ pork with tortilla chips.

This week we have the slow cooker out just once as I cleared out our freezer and discovered a plethora of freezer meals begging to be eaten.

Here's this week's plan:

• Gammon and curly fries for me for both of OH's fast days as I have some gammon steaks to use up
• Vegetable soup courtesy of the slow cooker
• Freezer meals (probably ratatouille for OH and sticky chicken for me)
• Freezer meals (it's either bolognaise or bbq pork [I can't quite work it out] for me and honey and mustard veg for OH) on jackets

I'm linked up to At Home With Mrs M's linky so head on over there to see what everyone else is up to this week.

Recipe binder: herby toad in the hole

Toad in the hole is one of my favourite meals both to make and to have. It's definitely up there in my list of top comfort foods and one I love to bring out this recipe when it starts to get colder. Apologies for the dark picture but it was the best I could do with OH complaining how hungry he was!

What you need

• Sausages (I tend to use two per person)
• 200 ml milk
• 100 ml plain flour
• 1 egg
• Rosemary and thyme

What you do

• In a casserole dish cook the sausages for ten minutes
• While they cook beat the egg before adding the flour and milk
• Mix well
• Add the herbs and mix again
• Pour over the sausages making sure the batter covers all of the bottom of the casserole dish
• Cook for 30 minutes gas 7
• Serve with vegetables, mash/chips/roasties and gravy

Recipe binder: vegetable soup

This is another simple recipe I use my slow cooker for (although you could just do it on the hob) when the nights are long and the days are short (and cold)! It's perfect for when you want something filling and warm at the end of the day. Ignore the mark on my place mat in the picture by the way, Bubbah decided to play with his yoghurt and some escaped!

What you need:

Carrots

Peas

Sweetcorn

Potato (1 per person)

Vegetable stock

Plain flour

What you do:

Cube the potato and carrot if not using frozen

Make up approx 400ml vegetable stock

Add all the veg into slow cooker

Pour stock in over the top and mix in

Cook on low for 6 hours

If you need/want to make it thicker, add a bit of plain flour and stir it in. It doesn't change the taste but makes all the difference for thickness!

Serve with crusty bread (and cheese if you wish, I do but that might just be my own preference...)

Meal Planning Monday; 22 October 2012

My oh my how lovely and Autumn-like is it?! Bubbah and I enjoyed a nice few trips out with me pointing out the pretty crunchy leaves (much to a passer-bys amusement) to him. Last week's meal plan went pretty well, although we ended up having jackets AND cheesy pasta so sausage casserole fell to the side. As predicted, I had a very busy week; a coffee catch up with my friend on Monday, lunch out with my dad on Wednesday plus my mum ended up having three days off (two of them courtesy of a stomach bug Bubbah had at the beginning of the week) which Bubbah enjoyed very much!

He's certainly coming on with his movement; not only is he speedy with his crawling and pulling himself up but he's also twigged how to move along furniture to the point where he'll end up on the other side of the room if I look away for two seconds! His curiosity also seems to know no bounds as he decided to help me sort through our washing!

This week the slow cooker is coming out again in force with a sausage and a chicken casserole in the mix. There's also toad in the hole, pizza and fajitas. For OH's fast days I'm having chicken casserole and either fish pie or BBQ pork with veg.

As always I'm linked up to Mrs M's linky so head on over there to check out what everyone else is having.

Meal Planning Monday; 15th October 2012

Hello everybody!  What a crazy week it has been this week. Bubbah has really got the hang of crawling now and I'm frantically running around stopping him from eating cables, leads, DVDs and the such like. He's also moved onwards and upwards, having mastered the ability to pull himself up on stuff. We've also had a lovely weekend with my brother, his girlfriend and his kids visiting which included yummy picnics indoors and a fun swimming session.

Last week's meal plan was a rousing success, with the exception of Friday and Saturday after an impromptu dinner at my dad's with the clan Friday night, and a cheeky McDonalads on the Saturday. I used the lamb to make lamb casserole in the slow cooker and I used some chicken I bought to make cheesy mayo chicken (as seen on the Hellmans mayonnaise adverts, recipe to appear later in the week) for when OH was fasting.

This week it's part slow cooker, and part oven meals;

• OH has requested sausage casserole again this week as he's declared it one of his "favourite meals ever"
• I'm hoping to make a chicken casserole too.
• I'm planning pigs in blankets and cheesy mayo chicken for OH's fast days
• We'll have pizza as usual on Friday night with some dough balls I have sitting in the freezer
• Finally we'll probably just have a nice lazy option of jackets with cheese or mac n cheese for Saturday

I'm hoping to make some bread this week, mainly just to see if I can(!) but that depends if I can fit it in with my week's plans of seeing a friend for a coffee and a catch up, quite possibly seeing my dad and step mum as they have the week off and my mum having a day off which will be spent doing chores around the house and shopping for my nephew's birthday in a couple of weeks. I've also got to have Bubbah's feet measured as his feet seem to be taking after mine and being rather on the big size, resulting in generic baby shoes not fitting him any more and me having to fork out for some (undoubtedly rather expensive) cruiser shoes from Clarks. Expensive it shall be, but I am quite excited about him getting his first pair of "big boy" shoes.

As usual I'm linked up to Mrs M's meal planning linky

Recipe binder: lamb casserole

I love casseroles around this time of year. The weather is rubbish, I'm usually feeling lazy and in want of yummy comfort food. Enter the slow cooker. My OH hates lamb so I usually do this when he's having a fasting day. What's great about this is that you can just bung it all into the slow cooker in the morning and leave it, save in the knowledge that come tea time a gorgeous meal will be awaiting you!

What you need

• Lamb pieces
• Potatoes cut into small squares
• Carrots
• Peas
• Any other veg you want
• 300-400 ml meat stock

What you do

• Make up the stock
• Add all the ingredients into your slow cooker
• Pour the stock on top and mix the ingredients about a bit
• Cook on slow cooker's low setting for 6-7 hours
• Serve with dumplings/stuffing

Rainy days and Mondays

Thanks to the atrocious weather outside today I've had the Carpenters stuck in my head all morning! My chest infection is slowly getting better and the fever has subsided, which is lovely. Bubbah's cough seems to be getting better too, although we seem to have given my mum our germs; whoops!

I decided to brave the downpour currently occurring and headed out on a walk with Bubbah (all wrapped up in his winter coat and foot muff and protected from the rain with his rain cover) and my Mickey Mouse umbrella that my niece has set her eyes on (admittedly I think it may be a children's umbrella but it's adorable and doesn't look like one) to the local shops. It was set to be the park, before I knew it was raining, but obviously I can get Bubbah playing on wet slides/swings/bouncy toys now can I?

My local co-op must have a field day whenever they see me, I go in there several times a week and always end up buying something - quite often something I don't need. Today it was mini marshmallows, 100s and 1000s, and, er, birthday candles. Admittedly these will all be used up and they were all reduced to about 60p each so I thought I'd stock up and pop them in my baking box.

Some foodie magazines also found their way into my basket. I always have trouble resisting these, especially BBC Good Food magazine as everything looks so good! I also picked up Take a Break's recipe magazine as there are quite often good ideas in there.

Bubbah fell asleep on the way home so I'm enjoying a nice bit of peace and quiet before he wakes up. I've done a load of housework today plus about six lots of clothes washing and the smell of thyme is drifting through the house. I decided to indulge myself on OH's first fast day of the week and have slow cooker lamb casserole, with a generous helping of thyme.

I'm also recovering from lunch where Bubbah decided he wanted to feed himself the last few bits of his lunch (fish cakes in parsley sauce, courtesy of Ella's Kitchen because mummy was too lazy to do anything in her own kitchen) and then thought that blowing a raspberry at me with a mouthful of food would be a good idea. I keep finding smears of food on my top and cardigan, and Bubbah had to have an entire outfit change once he'd finished. He enjoyed himself though and after a few misses - mostly ending up at his eye/forehead - he did manage to get the spoon from his bowl to his mouth:

Success!

Meal Planning Monday; 8th October 2012

Hello again! Last week practically whizzed by thanks to being struck down with a chest infection (as mentioned earlier this week as a mystery cold/flu thingy and later in the week as an actual infection) and, as to be expected, my meal plan went completely out of the window. I think we managed toad in the hole, and jackets but that was it. We did have pizza but it was a naughty take away after I phoned OH at work begging him to come home to look after Bubbah so I could sleep.

Bubbah has also come down with a bit of a bug this week, he's on some yummy smelling cough medicine which is helping so I've literally been struck down with a clingy baby because hugs from mummy make everything better apparently...

He doesn't look unwell but this was at 12:30am Saturday night/Sunday morning! That's my mum's iPad case by the way, he seems to prefer fake leather over teething rings and a new tooth is close to breaking its way through.

This week, I'm breaking out the slow cooker from its cupboard confinement. It's cold, we're all a bit miserable and missing the summer sun. 

• Sausage casserole done in the slow cooker including potato and a variety of veg. Possibly with home made yorkshire puddings and stuffing as well, but that's to be decided as and when we cook it.
• Chicken soup probably in the slow cooker as well to save me constantly hovering over the oven hob while Bubbah crawls around the kitchen (and attempting to play with the oven)
• Pizza; home made this time, promise!
• Mac n cheese. The most lovely and lazy option I have in my meal planning repertoire 

For OH's fasting days I've got some lamb and mince so I'll probably mint the lamb in a cooking bag and have it with roasts and veg. I'll most likely do a bolognaise style with the mince and freeze the leftovers. This will be served with a jacket or some pasta, rice or noodles depending on my mood and how much time I have to spare for cooking.

As always I've linked up to Mrs M's meal planning linky.

Sick day bluespart two and the mummy wardrobe conundrum

So it's official, I have a chest infection. Hurrah! (Not) I went to the doctors on Friday as my cold/flu/ill thingy was beginning to interfere with my asthma - and breathing is so important when running around after an exploring seven month old Bubbah - and I was promptly diagnosed with said infection. I'm now on a round of amoxicillin which is helping a bit but I still feel a bit rubbish.

Also, on top of that, Bubbah has come down with a cough. Unfortunately not much can be done about it except a bit of apple flavoured cough syrup for babies (it smells amazing, like a sour apple sweet) which actually seems to be improving matters. It certainly is a welcome change not to be dashing into his room at 3am because his coughing sounds like he's choking. I'm sure any mummy readers will appreciate how horrendous that would seem at such an hour when you're brain is foggy with sleep!

Partly due to being ill, and partly due to the weather, I've been reaching for warm, comfy clothes. Yes, my summer dresses and skirts have officially been put away into the spare wardrobe in Bubbah's room. I needed new winter clothes as last year it was all maternity bits.

Which is where I hit a bit of a conundrum.

I'm a mum, yes, so clothes need to be practical, but I'm also young. I'm only 21 so didn't want to be looking fuddy-duddy. Heck I did fashion journalism and was fashion editor on my university online magazine. I needed a fashionable yet functional wardrobe for winter. I like to have a bit of quirk with my outfits somehow, and accessories are out as Bubbah still puts everything in his mouth.

So, I headed out on the high street after a mega online browse and begun my mummy wardrobe make over. My new wardrobe consists of:

• Numerous pairs of coloured jeans (green, purple, blue, pink, teal, black)
• Some basic vests that I already had
• Cardigans from many moons ago
• Some jumper dresses including this one from Asos curve;

I bought an Asos jumper dress last year while I was at uni and it was pretty much this in yellow with black cuffs and a thick black stripe in the hem. It also had a higher neckline which often felt a bit uncomfortable, which is something I was pleased to see was different on this one.This one also zips up on the back, but it isn't really needed. It's a good length so I can get away with wearing it with tights as well as leggings.

• A gorgeous winter coat from Next (last year's needed replacing as it was about three sizes too big) which should last me a good few years
• A few print t-shirts which I risked from Asos. I'm not normally confident regarding fit with Asos as I've found in the past their sizes come up a bit small. However, this time around they fitted and I could have actually gone down a size(!)

 
This first one I picked because it was adorable and I couldn't resist. It's a t-shirt with a koala bear hugging you from behind, what's not to love?!

I also bought this one as I loved the print and I love deer. It is a bit sheer so you have to watch what you wear underneath it but they're both so comfortable it kind of overrides that fact.

Finally, I bought a new pair of winter boots from good old Tesco in a Chelsea boot style. I was reluctant to buy new boots but had to face up to the need when our local cobbler (aka the key cutting man) informed me my beautiful vintage boots I'd have for nearly two years had been worn to death and couldn't be saved because the toe was gone (apparently it's the only bit that can't be re patched.) It took my ages, because I'm very picky about my shoes and I finally came across my Tesco boots when I'd popped in to buy Bubbah some PJs. They (the boots, not Bubbah's PJs) are mega comfy and fit really well. They're also waterproof and haven't fallen apart which is a bonus as that's always been an issue with high street boots in the past. I might actually buy a second pair of these as insurance.

Phew! It didn't seem like that much when I look at it all hanging up!

Sick day blues

It's official; I am ill. It's quite rare that I get ill but I seem to have been struck down by one of the numerous winter bugs making their rounds. And it's lovely and sunny outside today, typical! I feel absolutely miserable, have used up a box of tissues, feel freezing but have a burning head and need water about every five seconds. You know the drill, I'm sure.


However, as some of you will know, unlike yesteryears when you could retreat under a duvet with your comfort food/drink of choice (tomato soup, ice cream and lucozade were my choices) and a box set of DVDs (usually the O.C. because Seth can always cheer me up) as a mum of a young baby there isn't that option. I can't just cocoon myself away (at least until the hubby gets home) and have to run around after a seven month old who has just begun crawling and wants to play exploring including (read; mainly) things that he shouldn't really such as the lamp base and cable, the pipes and living room radiator.

Mummy can we watch a DVD?

What's over there?

What's in here? 

Can I play with this?

As you can see, he's been up to quite a bit this morning! Thankfully he's gone down for a nap so I can zone out for a bit, down a bottle of water and consider what I'm doing about my lunch (because there's no way I'm up for much cooking)

Also, hubby may be making a trip to Tesco on the way home for some lucozade...


What do you like to do when you're having a sick day?