The Cak-y Baptism, The Missed Week and the Curry

 Hello out there in the blogger-verse.

Sorry I was incommunicado last week it all went a bit crazy.

I had my little ones baptism.

So I had loads of stuff to sort out last week from the arrival of family to sorting out a cake topper. I was actually shameful and used Store bought cake instead of making my own. but what with getting the balloons ordered the venue set up and trying not to loose what little of my mind I have left it was the easiest options.


All I can say is thank goodness for "Not on the High Street" as I managed to get a great cake decal that my poor mother and sister in law spent one night cutting out and sticking on as I had to take the Godparents through the order of service.

Although in all the madness I did manage to whip up a curry - It a take on a curry I made before but as I know the recipe and I know it a fairly quick cook time (Well most of it is letting it simmer) I made Sweet Potato and Chicken Curry.


Ingredients
400g of Chicken
3 Sweet Potatoes
3 Bell Peppers
400g of tinned tomatoes
200g of Tomato Puree
350g of Spinach
Some Fat Free Fromage Frais
Curry Powder - No I picked Hot as I like it spicy but it up to you really.

Also 300ml of Stock (not featured as I forgot until I was in the mist of cooking)

Chop the sweet potatoes and put them on to par boil for 5 minutes.

Then in a big pan throw in the chicken and add the curry powder you can be as generous as you want it up to you spice it up a bit...

Then Throw in the peppers and start to cook off.

After then add the par-boil potatoes to the mix, stir in

Before adding a handful of the spinach.

Followed by the tomatoes

and the Stock

and another handful of spinach and the tomato puree

Keep adding the spinach till it wilted down then simmer for around 25 minutes until the potatoes are lovely and tender.

then you can stir in some fromage Frais to make it a bit creamer. Also if you've got someone who like it a bit milder you can always add a bit more to there curry to cool it down.

serve up with some rice and for added healthiness veg.

So glad I managed to get that in with in the madness. As it very filling and super nommy. 


You'll all be please to hear that the Baptism went off without a hitch, well the best it can with a 23 month old and a 45 minute service.



The reason we didn't have him baptized sooner, was because due to family being scattered across the world it was a logistical nightmare but  nearly everyone invited turned up which is amazing. It so nice to be able to celebrate a nice and happy day in actually really fantastic weather (for England in September).

Our Priest Father Peter was amazing and it was great service and everyone, what ever religion, was made to feel included and enjoyed a few laugh. Especially when my darling son didn't want to go over the font and was grotting my husband by clinging on for dear life to his neck tie lol..

Also the party afterwards was super success too I can't thank The Spitfire pub enough who put on a lovely do the space was amazing.

Made even more special by the fantastic balloons from Party on the Hill . They were such nice displays and I wanted something small and understated but set off the room.

As with kiddywinks running around you know they will be popped or when we're not looking the Helium used for hilarity (Warning Helium can be dangerous so not advisable) but considering some of the parents were doing it they couldn't really then tell their kids off. I don't know sometimes we can be worse than the kids lol..

Don't worry the little ones godmother is a nurse so we were safe from any calamity. lol


Also on the same day we had my in laws 35 Wedding Anniversary and our friends 33rd Birthday so we needed to get extra cakes to celebrate that too. Think I had cake overload.

What with that the glass of wine, the glass of champagne and did I tell you I started of the day with a bucks fizz my diet went truly out the window. But hey how many times am I going to get my son baptized.

So this week at weight club I had a gain so am back on the diet trying to loose it. So to make it more interesting I redid my wrapped chicken recipe (see my 1st July post for details) but this time I added fresh chilies in with the low fat cream cheese, now these were some fiery chilies. They were so nice to eat but did have a bit of heart burn afterward that will server me right for cranking up the heat a bit too much phew.

So I think my next post will be filled with nice and healthy dishes as I need to get the weight off.

As we booked another girl trip to Amsterdam - See Amok in Amsterdam parts 1-3 for what we got up to last time goodness knows what we will get up to this time but I can tell it's going to be filled with Fun, Food and a couple of drinkies (Don't worry I will be sans baby).


Which is great as I really need a break :), 

I had to decimate my Disney holiday fund to throw the baptism party which I don't mind as it was such a great day. Also I have managed to re-start the fund and have 1.5% saved up so far. Ooh so much I hear you say lol 

although with Epcot food and Wine starting and its coming up to the year anniversary of my last trip. I can't help being a bit bummed. As looking at the F&W previews it looks amazing and I would love to taste all the fun thing from all over the world.

Oh well as they say good things come to those who wait so I will keep at the saving try not to go mad at Christmas and hopefully in the January Sales I can bag a holiday bargin.

Wagamama fun and a New Car

So since I posted on Monday I've lost another 1lb not as good as my weight loss last week, I grant you, but every little helps.

I have gone a tinsey bit off the diet way as I had a fantastic dinner at Wagamamas. Okay it's a chain but I think the food is really good and with having a toddler a meal out anywhere is a special occasion. 

We had duck dumpling for starters. I had a cheeky glass of fizz to go with them.

Well why not... 😄

Then for my main I had Firecracker chicken.

It was very spicy but oh so yummy.

The hubby had teriyaki soba.

I did have a dessert shh don't tell my diet club. I had Banana Katsu, battered banana with Salted Caramel ice cream it was so yum. I dread to think the calories.. 

Apart from the normal work stuff and the amazing up and downs of being a parent. The little one is still not sleeping properly but I getting us to running on only a few hours sleep. 

I bought a new car yay.. So excited.. Although I need to wait till March to get it. I'm getting a Suzuki Swift, in black. 

So good news for me as I've got my own car and great news for my hubby as he gets his car back..

Also it's a 5 star safety rating with ISO Fix which is so important for the little one.

I think it the perfect combination of safety and style... 

IKEA, Christmas and Curry

This Weekend we took a trip trip to Ikea (Lakeside). Have to say I love the store and as it's a bit out of a way out it becomes an event going there.

I think I love the fact that they see you the vision as well as the product. Sometimes seeing things in isolation doesn't really work I like see it in a context. I.E a lamp in a bedroom or a couch near a TV.

I also fell in love with this Kitchen as I plan to move earlier next year this will definitely be on my wish list when renovating the new place. Think of all the cooking I could do... Sighs longingly

Also walking around I came across these dogs - between you and me, I think the one on the end has had a bit too much, but hey it Saturday and he obviously likes to party :)

I don't care what anyone says it not a trip to Ikea without stopping for some Swedish Meatball. I love them and so does my other half. We even gave the little man some but he wasn't as impressed as we were, which is probably lucky as I dread to think of the salt and fat content.

I think it's the gravy I like the most, having a parent from the North East of England I am particular to Gravy and Chips and this is just Swedish gravy and chips.




I even to treat myself as I obviously didn't get enough calories from the meatballs, gravy and chip I had a slice of there Dime Bar Cake. Actually I say had a slice I had a bite and I didn't like it. It looked a lot nicer than it tasted which is a shame for my taste buds but not for my thighs.




We didn't leave empty handed we bought a light for the living room as our last lamp was destroyed by a head on crash with a train. Thomas the Tank engine walker that my son uses to be exact. But you'll be pleased to know there were no injured apart from the lamp, unfortunately we couldn't save it. (a moment of silence for the lamp)..

I couldn't leave with out some thing sweet so in the food hall I picked up some Godis Snogubbe and some Singoalla. At the time of writting this blog the Godis Snogubbe are no more as they were very delicious and we hadn't started on the Singoalla but I'm thinking they are like Jammie Dodgers...



On Sunday it was our local Village Christmas Market and light switch on. As it was only me and the little man and owing to the weather and the not great facilities for pram users we just had a quick look round.



He managed to get a nice Santa balloon and we hightailed it out of there before it became too busy. It is actually a very nice event they have the local school choirs and lots of local shops and local producers with their stalls. I think I would have stayed longer if I was with the other half or my parents. but even now I sometimes get nervous of being out with the little one on my own especially when there's a bit of a squeeze and not ready access to toilets if there is a changing emergency.




I got the free bus down to the town but I walked home which was a bit silly as it up hill all the way. but hey it will of least gone some way to burning off my Ikea meatballs.

Sunday late afternoon I decided to do some cooking. After pigging out on nommy stuff from Ikea I decided to make myself a Potato and Spinach curry.




Ingredients:

1 bag of New Potatoes (or 800g of other potatoes)
Onions (about two or a whole bag of chopped (why yes I am that lazy lol))
Two Tins of Chopped Tomatoes
300g of Spinach
1 Stock Cube
Curry Powder (as hot or a mild as you want)
Water

chop the potatoes and if needed the onions and add them with some of the spinach to a pan with a little bit of oil and a big dash of the curry powder (for the exact mesure I'll leave that up to you to have as little or as much as you want) cook them off for about 3 mins. then add the tomatoes and about 300ml of water.

Then you just simmer it all for 30 mins adding more spinach as you go. I like spinach so I sometimes add more from another bag just to make sure there's enough. About 5 mins from the end I add the stock cube and stir.

(You can if you want add chicken at the start throwing them in with the potatoes and onions if you want to add a bit more protein.)

Cook up some rice (My Fav is Brown) and Voila homemade, very healthy, curry for a cold winters night.