Fathers Day Gifts...

I'm a bit late with this post (sorry) well I have actually written it once and didn't save it, a few choice swear words were muttered I can tell you!

Anyhow this is what we did for Fathers Day this year...

I like to do something personal with the girls for Fathers Day, they enjoy doing it for a start and I think it's nice to have something to keep and remind us how little they were (are).

Last year they painted gnomes and as we are currently doing the garden I thought another garden based gift was on the right lines.

This year it was bird houses! Even though I'm not quite sure any birds would actually fit in the hole???

So thanks to Hobby Craft (again, even though it ends up costing a small bloody fortune every time I go in) I got the houses and paints, which I then lacquered after the girls painted them to make them water resistant.

They had a great time covering everything in paint and glitter (including my kitchen, glitter EVERYWHERE) but they enjoyed it which was the main thing and Daddy (and Grandad, they did him one as well) loved them.

I also got Daddy a Ladybird World and a Horrible Science Kit, as I want to encourage them to be interested in the natural world and science, I can't think of a better way of learning than doing stuff with Daddy :)


I hope you all had a lovely Father's Day xx

Did you get your first choice school?

Excuse me whilst I sob into my pillow...

We didn't get our first choice....

Or second choice....

We got our third choice!

I think that is why this post is two months late, I've been in denial and pretended it wasn't happening but now it's time to face facts and admit it to myself.

At first I wasn't too fussed as all three schools are good schools, (it was actually my second choice but my husbands third so thats how it ended up in bottom place) and the third choice school also has an excellent school nursery that Isobel can start in January.

But as time has gone on I've got more disappointed.

There isn't much in it regarding Sats and Ofsted BUT my first choice school is the best school in the area, and has a fantastic reputation where as my third choice school has just had a new head who is doing marvels with the school it's just not quite up to my first choice.

And the killer kick is we missed out on our first choice by 0.03 miles!

0.03 miles!!! Gutted!

So we are on the waiting list and up to now we are first in the que (yes, that's how close we were, missed out by one sodding place! Excuse me whilst I go and sob again).

And just to rub my nose in it, pretty much all of Amelia's nursery friends are going to my first choice so the mums are all glowy and happy and I want to scream!! Ok well maybe not a scream but still it gets me all irritated, not that it takes much but hey ho.

But and it's an important but, I do know how ridiculously lucky we are that we have such good schools to choose from and its a nice middle class area so no Jeremy Kyle types but still I am keeping everything crossed we get the call we are in, it will probably come the day after I order her school uniform....

Home Made Yorkshire Puddings - Revised

Another food blog!!! 

As you know I am determined to start cooking things from scratch and next on my hit list was Yorkshire Puddings.

No more Aunt Bessie's for us (well that is the plan)

I trawled the Internet for recipes and they all looked pretty similar and easy enough and this is the one I went for.

125g of plain flour
300 ML of milk
2 eggs
Pinch of salt & pepper

Sieve the flour into a bowl
Make a well and put in the eggs
Then mix until firm
Add the milk and mix thoroughly

Leave to stand for 30 minutes

Oil and pre heat muffin tray

Add Yorkshire pudding mixture and cook for 25-30 minutes

Do not open oven door until they are cooked (as I learnt to my horror last week as I ended up with very flat stodgy yorkshires and I only opened the door for a second)

Makes at least 12 Yorkshire Puddings and I always have some mixture left.

And that's it! Simple and very tasty Yorkshire puddings. Amelia currently will only eat yorkshires so I am judging her as a bit of a expert and she says they are much nicer than Aunt Bessie's so that's good enough for me :)

Update

Ok after my early smugness my yorkshire puddings stopped rising (damn you yorkshire puddings!!)

So after much sulking and head scratching (and the power of Google) I know add 3 eggs rather than 2, make sure my oven is on full wack, get my oil sizzling before I add the mix and then turn the oven down once the mix has been in for 10 minutes and (touch wood) they have been great since.

Making real gravy.... Revised!

I was a bit nervous of this one for some reason, but in reality it was very simple and absolutely delicious.

I will not go back to instant gravy for roasts ever again, it made such a difference to the meal.

So here is what I did

Put pan with meat juices onto the hob and heated until fat started spitting

Then I added two table spoons of plain flour and mixed to a paste

I then added hot water from my potatoes and whisked

You can add a stock/oxo cube at this point if you desire (I did)

Then I whisked some more


I left to simmer on the hob whilst I dished out and it thickened up nicely

I will say that I struggled to get the flour to mix completely so I had to siv the gravy but for my first attempt I was delighted with the result.

Update!

I have figured out how to not make lumpy gravy (woo hoo) and its down what I stir with. If I use a spoon with holes in then viola I don't get lumps, which makes me a happy girl :)

Real gravy....

Today I made gravy for the first time and all I can say is "Oh my god! Why have I not made gravy before!

(I didn't get chance to take pictures so proper blog post next Sunday)

It was simple enough to do (it did go a tad lumpy but my siv soon sorted that out) and it was by miles the nicest gravy I think I've ever had and I'm really not exaggerating it was divine.

In fact my whole roast was perfect (happy dancing), the lamb melted in your mouth, roasts were lovely, my Yorkshire Puddings were perfection and I got all my veg fresh from the farm shop yesterday and by god you could tell the difference. Poor Kit Kat had no left overs!

Even Miss "Fussy Pants" Amelia ate something other than just Yorkshire Puddings.

My homemade apple crumble is now in the oven so lets see if I can do a full house :)

Laura Ashley Josette Bolster Cushion Cover

Laura Ashley Josette Bolster Cushion Cover

Same fabric front and back

Zip fasten

£14.99

Toad in the Hole

I was delighted with how well this recipe turned out.

Now I know it's a very simple one to do but I was surprised at how tasty it was and it looked great.

And of course as we know I am no Nigella so any success is to be celebrated :)

The Recipe

Toad in the Hole

125g plain flour
300 mil milk
3 eggs
A pinch of salt and pepper
Sausages

Siv the flour into a bowl and make a well in the middle

Add the eggs and then mix until firm

Gradually mix in the milk

Season with salt and pepper

The mix thoroughly until smooth

I also siv the mixture to ensure it is lump free

Let the mixture stand for 30 minutes

Heat oven to 240c

Heat oil in your roasting tin until the oil is smoking.

Whilst oil is heating I fried the sausages (but you can grill them if you prefer)

Once the sausages are cooked I put them onto a plate ready to quickly add them to my Yorkshire pudding mix.

Get your heated oil out of the oven and immediately add the Yorkshire pudding mix then sausages and put back in the oven.

DO NOT OPEN THE OVEN DOOR UNTIL ITS COOKED

After 10 minutes turn the oven down to about 180/200

Total cooking time 25 minutes

Serve and enjoy!

I used Asda extra special thin Cumberland sausages which are 90% pork, since the meat scandal I have definitely changed my buying habits and these sausages where surprising good value at £2.50 for twelve, I pay more than that normally for sausages with no actual meat in them!

Tip - Getting Rid of Stubborn Smells

If you have children then you know that when toddlers are sick it is THE most horrendous smell that seems to linger for weeks.

My youngest is a sickie child, I have lost count of the times she has vomited in her bed, over the carpet, on my living room rug (which I ended up throwing out as I didn't know this little gem then), in the car, in fact she has been sick more in one year than Amelia has in total. She is a nightmare!

This is my tip for removing the smell of sick and any other unpleasant smell.

Mix washing powder with bicarbonate of soda and brush gently into the area, leave overnight then vacuum.

No more smell

This works like a charm

I also use it to freshen up my carpets and it makes your room smell wonderfully clean and fresh.

Sunday Catch Up

It's been a nice old week this week (well apart from Friday afternoon but I shall get to that later)

Easter Week meant hubby was off on Monday and we had a nice trip out to the beach in the snow! It was blinking freezing but a good day, girls were well wrapped up and they had a great time building sandcastles, going on donkey rides, chasing the dog and eating dongnuts, it was fab.

Then hubby went working away for the rest of the week so I spent a lot of time at my mum and dads, which I love doing. Even though I haven't lived there for 15 years (WHAT!!!!! 15 years!! Give me a minute I've just put myself into shock, 15 years???) deep breaths, lets carry on! My mum and dads will always be home and I love spending time with them and my girls adore them, Amelia stayed there this week with my 5 year old niece but I can't get Isobel to stay, the little clingy madam, she just cries "Home Mummy, Home".

During the school holidays I have my niece whilst my sister is at work, my niece and Amelia are as close as sisters, they bicker, they argue but they have loads of fun and are always so excited to spend time together it's lovely to watch them playing.

I took them both to the cinema on Thursday whilst Isobel was at nursery to see Wreck It Ralph, Amelia fell asleep and Ella was mesmerised but blimey it's not cheap is it! Nearly £40 for 3 tickets, 3 drinks and some sweets, I don't understand the logic of making it so expensive. Surely if it was cheaper people would go more often, I know I would now that the girls are getting old enough to go. .

Then Friday arrived, Amelia hadn't been well at my mum and dads during the night coughing. She wasn't too bad during the morning then after lunch the dreaded croup cough kicked in. I had taken the dog for a walk and my hubby called me to come home as she was struggling to get her breath, so off we went to A&E for the second time in 5 weeks. She was poorly little girl and its awful to watch, makes my heart go out to those parents who have to deal with child illness every day, it must be so hard. The children's department are wonderful, they get you in and seen within minutes and very shortly after the wonder drugs are administered she is quickly on mend thankfully.

Poorly Me Me, fast asleep in hospital :(

And finally we have sunshine!! It's still a bit chilly but gosh it's nice to see that sun. Nothing much was planned for the weekend, a few little walks with Kit Kat, playing in the garden and then a big family lunch on Sunday, just lovely.

Enjoying the sunshine

I'm learning to cook (and bake)

Ok as you know I am not the best in the kitchen, if I had to describe myself I would say I was Susan from My Family, where I subject my own family to some terrible creations. Granted over the last couple of years I have improved but I rarely make anything from scratch so that is what I want to change.

I am setting myself a challenge to learn one new recipe from scratch a week starting this week with Toad in the Hole. A good old family favourite that hopefully won't be too difficult, lets break me in gently!

Other things on my list for the rest of the month are:

Apple Crumble
Spaghetti Bolognese
Real Gravy

So wish me (my family) luck, I will let you know how I get on.

Happy Easter! The kids get crafty...

Wow! This year is just flying! It can't be Easter already???

I wanted to do something different for Easter gifts this year and the girls love painting and gluing and sticking so these beautiful little plant pots seemed like the perfect Easter gift for Grandparents (and us of course, they were just too cute not to).

I first got the idea wandering around Tesco, I saw the terracotta plant pots which were on buy two get one free so I got 9 for £5 which I thought was reasonable enough. My original idea was to plant Sunflower seeds and let the girls free style the decoration but I saw the hand print pads in Hobby Craft and that's how the handprint idea came about.

After spending a gazzillion pound in Hobby Craft we had enough paint and stickers to do some serious decorating.

First we painted the pots white, then we added the handprints. On the grandparents pots they did a hand each, then we spray lacquered them so hopefully the paint will be weather proofed and once thoroughly dried the girls added the stickers.

 Painted white

 

Giving them a helping "Drying" hand

HANDPRINTS!!!

Having a freestyle break

All painted, ready for stickers

Princess Amelia doing some serious sticking

All Done!

                                             

The Finished Product

It was great fun, the girls had a wonderfully messy time and the grandparents loved them.

Puppy Training

My cute and cuddly little teddy bear has turned into Cujo!

His favourite past time is chasing small girls around, he bites them whilst they scream.

Now he is only 13 weeks old so I know nipping and mouthing is all normal but after having a very unruly dog for 15 years I really don't want to make the same mistakes so puppy training it is. I also want the girls to be able to control him and to learn how to act around dogs.

Last night was our first class and it was bedlam!

I don't really know what I was expecting but it was a bit nerve racking at times with all these puppies running around wrestling each other. It's not so bad with puppies the same size as yours but some of them are BIG! Lots and lots of Staffordshire Bull Terriers, a very stout Bull Dog, a leggy Doberman and then a mixture of little terrier types. A recipe for chaos! (and lots of poo)

Poor Kit Kat didn't know if he was coming or going, one minute he was fearing for his life and then the next he is having a great time trying to hump a little terrier.

We learnt sit, down, stand and recall, I was very impressed with him he did really well, he will literally do anything for a bit of cheese.

Now we have to practise lots for next week and not that I am competitive or anything but we WILL be top of the class.... Come on Cujo, Sit!

The 30 Day Squat Challenge

I need to get fit.

I used to exercise a lot before I had the girls but I have struggled to find the time or in complete honesty the motivation to do any exercise at all. 

Luckily I am naturally very slim far too skinny, a bit like a pubescent boy, no boobs or bum so weight loss is not the issue, I want to get strong. 

I love strong fit women, if I could choose a body these would be like the one I would get...

But back to reality and my skinny little ass, I saw the 30 day squat challenge today 

and I immediately thought, 

YES! I could do that.

Day one 50 Squats and by Day 30 250 Squats... Ouch (but thighs of steel)

Why Squats?

What is a Squat?

In strength training, the squat is a compound, full body exercise that trains primarily the muscles of the thighs, hips and buttocks, quads (vastus lateralus medialis and intermedius),hamstrings, as well as strengthening the bones, ligaments and insertion of the tendonsthroughout the lower body. Squats are considered a vital exercise for increasing the strength and size of the legs and buttocks, as well as developing core strength. Isometrically, the lower back, the upper back, the abdominals, the trunk muscles, the costal muscles, and the shoulders and arms are all essential to the exercise and thus are trained when squatting with proper form. (Wikipedia)

I am also incorporating matching the squats with crunches and also half the daily amount of press ups (which could be my complete downfall as I have no upper body strength at all) to try and get an overall complete body workout.

Day one today I did 50 squats and yes it was painful but ok

But what surprised me the most was that the crunches was agony! I used to have abs of steel but two pregnancies by two c-sections in 17 months and no exercise has caused me to now have abs of, well when I find my abs I will let you know, they are currently missing in action!

I am already a little sore, so tomorrow will be interesting.

I will update on this regularly, if I have to give you weekly updates that means I HAVE to finish it, otherwise it will just get awkward and embarrassing and I don't want to start deleting posts because I am quitter Ha Ha!

Funday Monday

Is at Jellybeans today, a couple of hours where they can run wild and wear themselves out (hopefully).

A bit of an easy one today in anticipation of painting and decorating 11 plant pots for Easter gifts next Monday, which they will love doing, whilst my inner OCD will be having a nervous breakdown.

Sunday Catch Up

Hubby has been working away this week so it's just been me, myself and I when it comes to the kids. It certainly makes me spare a thought for all those single parents out there, it's a bloody tough job.

Monday Funday was a trip to Tesco.... I know not very fun I am hearing you shout but we went for lunch in the cafe and purchased our plant pots for our Easter gifts and the girls loved it, I sometimes forget its the small pleasures in life that the girls like so much.

Having Fun in Tesco

We spent Wednesday with my mum, who spoils the girls like mad, including cake before lunch!

Little Devil?

Princess Amelia

Just sums my two girls up perfectly.....

Thursday is sewing day and I had a frustrating few hours trying to figure out how to sew a sodding cube! It turned out ok in the end but a bit more research is most definitely needed before the next one.

Laura Ashley Josette Door Stop

And today has been all about muddy puddles, horses, chickens, a boxer dog the size of a donkey, more muddy puddles and drinking lemonade in the pub.

Great Sunday afternoon which resulted in the kids and dog both needing a bath after a very long, wet, muddy and thoroughly enjoyable walk.

Sunday roast is about to be served and I LOVE LOVE LOVE Sundays :))

Sunday Catch Up

Hmmm what did we do this week......?

It's all a bit blurry this week as we are on the 2nd / 3rd ish week of very early wake up calls from either Isobel or blooming Kitty Kat!

More often than not its been Isobel, normal time is about 5.30-6.00 am and she even kindly threw in a 5.20am on Saturday morning, so needless to say we are all a bit tired.

Any how we finally did our Monday Funday and made Gruffalo Crumble which was good fun, even though Amelia did say its not real Gruffalo Crumble as its flat and hasn't got eyes!  

www.jules-home.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/funday-monday.html

Tuesday was nursery and Gymnastics for Amelia and torture for poor Isobel who is desperate to join in with Amelia... Only another 9 months to go Baba!

Wednesday we took the dog on THE longest but shortest walk in the history of man. It took us half an hour to walk literally about 800 meters. Walking a 12 week old puppy and two toddlers along a road, lined with driveways is not for the feint hearted.

Thursday is sewing day, the girls are at nursery all day (woo hoo) which means I am chained to the sewing machine all day, not that I am complaining as I love it. I am also super busy which is great but I do need to find a bit of time for learning some new skills, I've had my first order for a door stop so that's my new project for next week. 

Thursday was also tainted with a bit of sadness as a fellow blogger recently lost her baby to cot death and it was the funeral. The out pouring of support on Twitter was very moving and a lot of money was raised for Bliss which was wonderful.

If you can spare a little please go to:

www.bliss.tributefunds.com/fund/Matilda+Mae/showFund

Saturday is ballet day, even though at the moment neither of them are that keen on doing it so its a bit of a chore but I'm hoping its just one of those phases kids go through and they will be back to loving it in no time. 

Amelia has been mithering to go to McDonalds for ages and we have a relatively big one with a play centre not too far from us so Saturday I caved in and we went. They had a marvellous time, running round with what felt like a million other kids , a good way to tire them out for bed :)

And then lastly it's Mothers Day!

I am writing this in bed, I've had lovely flowers, some plants for the garden, something that looks like Gin in a Tin but its not (unfortunately Ha Ha ) it's some sort of plant and lovely cards and they bought me a cup of tea in bed. It does sound like bedlam downstairs at the minute so I may hide in bed for a little bit longer, it is Mother's Day after all!

Left Over Chicken Pie

This is a blog I never thought I'd write.... A food post... Me?? Thats laughable, as I am terrible in the kitchen!

I either burn things as I get distracted or I under cook it in the fear of burning it (you get the picture)

But I am determined to start cooking more things from scratch and this brilliant (and very easy) recipe was given to me by my sister (thanks Jo)

I was a bit dubious as I'm not keen on left overs but I gave it a go and it is delicious. If you are anything like us we always have a ridiculous amount of chicken left over after our Sunday roast, which makes it economical in these hard times as well, bonus.

Ingredients

Left over chicken
mushrooms
a tin of sweetcorn
carrots (cooked or tinned)
2 tins of condensed mushroom soup
Short crust pastry

Directions

Heat the soup, chicken, carrots and mushrooms in a pan
when hot add the sweetcorn
Put contents into your pie dish and leave to cool for 30 minutes

Roll pastry and add to pie dish
Brush with egg

Cook for approx 30 - 40 minutes until pastry is thoroughly cooked

and viola a hearty delicious chicken pie

Funday Monday... Making Gruffalo Crumble

Funday Monday was still a bit low key due to the girls still not being a 100% but a vast improvement on last Mondays trip to A&E!

We made Gruffalo Crumble...

Well it was apple crumble but the girls got me this delightful Gruffalo Crumble set for Christmas, which included the oversized mug for mixing, a Gruffalo wooden spoon and the crumble mix.

We just needed to add the fruit to the tin sprinkle the crumble on the top and cook for 25 minutes, easy as pie...

So we had to pad the time out a bit with squashing fruit and mixing crumble otherwise it would of been done in about five minutes but the girls had a thoroughly enjoyable time.

Now for the really fun part... Gruffalo Crumble and Custard anyone?

Sunday Catch Up

Gosh is it Sunday again already???

Well we have had yet more illness as Amelia came down with a nasty bout of croup on Monday (as per my earlier post) and she also has an ear infection, with Isobel also having some sort of virus, it's been a tiring week. They are both on antibiotics so here's hoping they help a bit. Hubby and I also haven't been 100%, I think we need a holiday November seems like an awful long time ago :(

Kit Kat has been booked on his puppy training course and Amelia is going to take him with me, which she is extremely excited about. Even though he still isn't great we have seen some improvement on the biting front (hallelujah) and he went for his first walk today which he loved! We go to a fab little pub on the Mersey called the Ferry Tavern, lovely walks, great fish and chips and dogs are welcome. The girls love going and having a drink of lemonade after splashing in puddles and feeding the swans. It really doesn't get much better, fresh air, happy girls and a good pub.

It's been an outdoorsy weekend, making the most of the sun for a change. We have planted our strawberries and sunflower seeds, ready for the girls to replant in their pots that they will paint and varnish in the next couple of weeks, which make lovely easter gifts for grandparents (post to follow on that one). I even hung some washing on the line, which I got ridiculously excited about (how sad is my life now Ha Ha)

Next week we are hoping to make Gruffalo Crumble on our Funday Monday, the usual rounds of gymnastics, swimming, ballet and nursery and I am attempting to make left over chicken pie tomorrow which should be interesting with my culinary skills!

See you on the other side...

Planting seeds, spring is in the air :)

Kit Kats first walk along the canal

Beautiful Amelia

My little cheeky monkey chops