Piggies, Shooting and the North Pole

Another very busy week... No wonder the doctor says I'm run down.

So last Friday it was my Nephew's birthday so we spent the day in Peppa Pig land part of Paulton Park theme park.

After 2+ hour drive from where we are it started off as a bit of a grey old day but we persevered and headed to see the Pig.

Have to say it was a great day out. So good for young children. There was lots of rides to amuse them. Had fun running on all the kiddie rides.

 Peppa's big balloon Ride.

Windy Castle Ride and a big hit  Daddy Pigs Car Ride.

Also the Soft play area which was helpfully split into section so the little one could play without the fear of being mowed down by the bigger kids.

plus loads more rides attractions and parks.

Have to say was very good value my ticket was around £25 and I bought a couple of souvenirs and some lunch and was pleasantly surprise at the cost of it all.

Would give it a big thumbs up and recommend it to young families as a relatively (remember I go to Disney a lot so that the bench mark) inexpensive brilliant day out.

Saturday we went to farm where my dad does his pheasant shooting for their clay day.

I personally am probably a hindrance with a fire arm so left that up to the Hubby.

Also having dyspraxia I do worry about handling loaded weapons as I'm not the most co-ordinated of people which was apparent as I fell walking across the field. It was compounded by the fact I was carrying the little one. I managed to fall to my knees before I eventually lost my grip on him. Luckily the ground was soft. But it was pretty scary and after I made sure he was okay a few tears but hugs soon made him better. Started to feel frustrated and stupid at the whole thing.

I know it just an accident and these things happen to everyone even people without dyspraxia, but then I have "what if it was worse" though running through my head for most of the rest of the day. Making me feel even more guilty than I did in the first place.

Having dyspraxia has effect my choices as a parent as I refused to use the baby sling/carrier when he was young as I was afraid of falling over when he was attached and he probably spent more time in the pram. As when we where going anywhere new I didn't really like carrying him if I was on my own and when we went shopping it was the Husband responsibility to transport the car seat to the trolley then back again.

The older his got and the more active and mobile hes got as made me less worried although with days like this don't think I'll go again unless I better prepared and have more help when he's running about the place.

Apart from the fall the rest of the day went without a hitch and we from a lovely range type cooker, (So jelly one day I would really love one of these)

event was rounded of with Boar Sausages.

They were super duper local as they farm we were shooting on was where the boar are raised. Super delicious and I can buy them from the local farmers market.

On Sunday in between going to the park to let the little one run off some steam in the nice weather I got some cooking done.

I made a lovely spicy chicken dish. Basically getting some skinless, boneless chicken thighs throwing them in a cooking dish, breaking an Oxo cube over them and sprinkling chilli power (a little or a lot depending on how spicy you want it) then just throwing in Red Onion, button Mushrooms and baby tomatoes before putting it into a high over (200 degrees) for around 25 minutes.

Monday Morning as the Hubby had work in the afternoon we decided to trek all the way to The North Pole, well the Wateringbury one :).

It a really lovely pub very kid friendly as they have a fab garden out the back. The also have a section off Dog Garden as well which is good if you have a boisterous pet you want to keep away from the play area.

Their food is great have eaten there on a few occasion and I've never had a bad meal. It was the first time eating for the little one. I got him a kids meal which he enjoyed some of. But he's still not eating loads so his father and I got to enjoy the rest along with our fab sandwiches. (Would have had order from their main menu but we were a little pushed for time, just another excuse to go back). Although saying that considering how big the sandwiches are and how lovely the homemade chips are accompanying felt so full after eating.

That afternoon I also made some dessert bars. I found a wonderful recipe on Google+ from the Mrs with the Dishes  blog of  Blue Berry Pie bars.

I have converted the recipe into UK measurements if anyone in the UK would like to give it a go as it was simple but effective as they look great and taste fantastic.

Crumble Mix
125g of Butter
100g Sugar
50g Brown Sugar
250g Flour

Yogurt Mix
1 egg
190g Plain Yogurt
65g Sugar
3tps Vanilla Extra
2tbsp Flour

Fruit
350g Blueberries
65g Sugar
2tps Lemon Juice
2tps Corn Flour

Mrs with the dishes has a great step by step guide to making these. But in essence Mix all the Crumble mix ingredients together in a bowl then get your hands in and rub them together till you get a nice crumble consistencies. in your foil lined tray put 3/4 of the mixture to form the base of the dish. Then mix all the yogurt ingredients together and pour on top of the base (jiggle the mix to get an even spread).

Mix the fruit with the sugar, lemon juice and corn flour together stick with it as it becomes a bit gloopy add the fruit on top of the yogurt mix.

Then with the 1/4 of the crumble mix distribute evenly on top of everything and bake in a 180 degree oven for 55 minutes.

Blueberry Pie Bars

I also put a twist on the recipe and made Chocolate Cherry Pie Bars. I used 25g less flour in the crumble mix to add 25g of coco powder. I added crumble Twirl chocolate to the yogurt mix and on top of the cherries which were used in of the Blueberries.

I took both in to work and they were both a big hit, but I think the Blueberry ones where the favorite as the were the first to go.

Center Parcs Fun

So we've just got back from an A---Mazing break in Longleat Center Parcs. 

My Friend L and her Husband J, my Husband, me and the little man all arrived on a cold Monday morning ready for adventure .

We stayed in a lovely 2 bed room Executive Lodge. Although they had one on site we took our own Travel Cot. Anyone reading this blog know if you're traveling with an infant you need at least Triple the amount of stuff you would need if it was just the two of us.

So we had our car stuffed to the rafters but that why it so nice having a lodge you can bring the comfort of home you need for the little one...

So on the first night we went to Hawtons Bar and Grill  and to start the holiday I had to have a cocktail a long Island Ice Team. The food was lovely but I was so hungry I forgot to take a picture but I had Ham, egg and chips a classy classic :)

We then Visited the Parc Mart to pick up some essentials even though we brought a lot of stuff from home. The few things we didn't bring was crackle logs and Marshmallows 

they are so yum covered in Chocolate.. Sticky gooey choco heaven.. 

Our second day was a bit of a wash out as the little one was a bit sick we tried a bit of pottery painting in the morning he did do very well for about 10 minutes. But with a 15 month old it's hard to keep there attention for any length of time so after a bit of squealing accompanied by some paint throwing the other half too him to the Park. 

Which he loved there are so many little parks and field dotted about for the little on to burn off some steam. Also with the fact there are no cars allowed after the initial drop off of stuff, we even let him walk between venues well let him walk a bit before he wanted picking up lol 

So with the little one being ill J&L cooked us an amazing Dinner of Chicken Fajitas, Salad and Tortilla Chips. They went to a lot of effort and it was so nice after having got the little one to bed to tuck into the Mexican goodness. 

Next morning up early and a trip to Starbucks oh yes. J&L did a morning run and met us there. I do sometimes feel guilty about the lack of exercise I do. Especially if you go away with people who are very active. But I soon got over it when I realized it was freezing outside.

As we walked with the little one down the hill to the Gardin De Sport in the -1 temps I had a nice warming hot chocolate with extra cream.

The third day was better the little man was a lot more jovial and he managed to go to the Activity Den (Did have in booked in for two slots but with him being ill I didn't take him for his first session) for a 3 hour nursery session. It was brilliant a nice big space with soft play area and lots of toy. The little man headed right for the truck section.

So with him all settled in the adults headed for the pool. It was really nice having a bit of adult time as we where able to throw ourselves down all the slides, mess about in the wave pool and have a long relaxing spell in the hot tub. 

But even though I enjoyed the relative calm of having the little one in Nursery. I'm always keen on getting him back I even called from the pool area to see if he was doing okay and turned up 1/2 hour earlier to pick him up. Although because he was having fun I left him till the end of the session. 

He was all smiles and did a painting and according to the diary they gave you of his activities he enjoyed the soft play, playing with trucks and ate all his snacks.

That evening we went to our favorite restaurant at CP HUCKS it an american style diner and they do amazing chicken wings. The little boy wanted a hold so I was unable to take pics of my dinner as I had him in one hand and my fork in the other. In the last 15 months I have become an expert in eating with one arm :)

But at the end of the meal he settled down and I treated myself to a Dessert Cocktail that had Balieys, Mint Ice-cream and mushed up Oreos it was very rich but also very yummy.

After the meal the boys took the little one home and Me and L went out for a couple of drinks. Literally a couple I had a Margarita and long Island Ice Tea which did look like a Del Boy Special

We had a good old girly chat then when we got back to the lodge about an hour later than when the boys left us it was snowing. They had put the baby to bed had the fire on and some snacks out. I could get use to service like that.

The next day it was still trying its hardest to snow even got the little one out in it as it was his first ever snow. Don't think he was overly impressed but was so warm in his snow suite and fleece lined pram comforter,

Also feeling a lot better he enjoyed having a little run about in The Sports Bar. Where he got a free balloon and if the squeals of delight were anything to go by it was the best balloon ever.

The main activity for that day was "Outing with Owls". We mainly booked it because all of us could do it. It was good fun and I learnt some interesting stuff about owls. did you know that the colour of their eyes denotes if they are (Yellow Iris) hunt in the day (Orange Iris) hunt at dawn and dusk or (Brown Iris) hunt at night. 

That is one of the great things about being a parent as I get to do all this stuff that I probably would have normal done and I'm learning a whole load of new things. Also seeing the wonder in his face it just magical he was so fascinated by their flying, couldn't keep his eyes off them. 

Another hidden treasure of the Longleat Center Parcs is they have a cluster of Giant Redwoods. Now I would love to see the really big ones in the states but these ones are pretty good. We could see the moon behind them and it was like we where on Endor (yes I have overactive imagination). 

As it was our last afternoon we had a indulgent lunch at The Pancake House.

I didn't bother with a main I went straight for the dessert and had a Banana Caramel Chocolate Pancake Stack. It was so wrong but so right and probably a million calories.

After a brief period to let the food go down we ended up in the park next door I had a go on the Zip Line, my face of horror at the end seemed for my husband to be the funniest thing about the trip lol

Then we finally got the little man to the pool. We would have ideally loved to spend every day in there with him but with him having a bad belly for the first two day we decided against it as it would have been flirting with disaster.

He loved it, their toddler pool facilities are great with little slides and water jets. He had a great time splashing about going down the slide and playing in the jets of water. A great way to knacker him out in the afternoon so he goes to bed on time.

As the girls went out the night before the boys went off to play pool and pick up a take away from the "Dining In" facility on the site. So we got the baby to bed just in time for them coming in with all the take away.

So we finished of  a bottle of Fizz and ate a big mix up of Pizza, Indian and Chinese a great final night.

My Verdict of the break it was great a perfect get away spot for people with kids especially toddlers there was so much for them to do and with the onsite Nursery even gives you the opportunity to have a break and do something that they would be allowed to do. Next time I'm going to go on a segway lol

So far so good

Well my New Years resolutions got off to a flying start.

I've managed to lose 5.5lb (2kg) in my first week of dieting with Slimming World.

I'm so happy but it's not all been plain sailing, as the the below comparison picture shows.

My Husband and I, thanks to my Parents got to go for a nice meal out at a local Kent Pub - "The Farmhouse" in West Malling toddler free. which you all know meant I could eat without a screaming fit.

 I had a seafood linguine to be good. The other half had a burger followed by their sticky toffee pudding and I had nothing. He also left a bit of it, it took every inch of willpower not to finish it but I managed lol.

With trying to eat healthy I've been cooking up a storm.

This week I've made Turkey Chili.

All you need is:

Turkey Mince

1, Courgette

1, Bell Pepper

Mushrooms

Red Kidney Beans

500g chopped Ttomatoes

Chili Powder (I had hot but you can have mild)

1 vegetable Oxo Cube

Brown the mince add all the veg, kidney beans, Oxo cube and tomatoes and simmer for 20 minutes.

To top it off I added home made chips (Fries) and added Salad.

I've been a busy bee in the Kitchen and with a young child it is difficult as we have a low oven so if I'm doing a lot of cooking I have to put the baby gate up so he keeps away from the hot oven. He obviously doesn't like it and stands at the gate and makes his feeling known lol.

So I spend a lot of my cooking time running over to him and giving reassuring hugs that I'm only cooking and haven't abandon him in favor of a Kitchen appliances. 

I used the basis of the Slimming World Quiche recipe and made.

Roasted Aubergine (Egg plant) & Courgette (Zucchini) Salmon Quiche

I roasted 1 bell pepper with 1 Aubergine and 1 Courgette at the same time cooked for 20 Minutes the Salmon. 

While this was cooking I took 4 eggs and 300g of fat free cottage cheese and mixed added a bit of Salt and pepper for seasoning and mixed together. 

Then when the salmon and the veg were done I lined a bottom of a dish with the roasted Aubergine poured over half the egg mixture then added the courgettes, peppers and the flaked Salmon before Pouring over the last of the mixture.

I then put this back in the over for another 20 minutes at 200 degrees.

What your left with is pastry free delicious quiche. 

To add to my busy cooking schedule last week I also had to attend a two day course to get my re-registration of my Prince2 (Project Management) Practitioner exam. The course was very intense and with the little one demanding most of my attention when I got home it was a bit tricky to do the home work. So fingers crossed I passed (I won't find out for a few weeks).

The upside is the training facility was in an Awesome location. Right next to Tower Bridge and the Tower of London. As the weather was nice (Chilly but nice) I did a bit of sightseeing in my lunch.

I do love London even though I've seen these sight loads of times before I still love it when I near them.

On Sunday I was up early but due to one thing an another getting the little one up and fed. I decided I wanted something slightly more interesting for breakfast so I made Syn free Spicy Potato cakes.

All you need is a potato a grater and some Quark (a soft low fat cheese).

The process is so easy I made a little video:

So as I said a great week so far on the Diet front still need to get my other resolution off the ground but I am feeling healthy and fairly happy. Must be all the vitamins from all the fruit I've been snacking on.

So wish me luck with this weeks endeavors.

Think I'm just glad to be cooking again as it was a bit weird having a cooking blog with no cooking lol...

Driving Test and Santa

Just a short post from me this week as I'm trying to pull myself together for Christmas don't know why but I can't seem to get into this year. I'm hoping after I put up a few decorations and start wrapping presents I'll feel better.

So this week was a momentous occasion in my life, I finally past my Driving test.  As I grew up and lived most of my life in London and what with the great Transport links and the fact that I always commuted and my Husband who I met in 1999 drove when we needed to get somewhere, it never really came up.

But now living in Kent and having a child I definitely needed to be on the road so after 6 month worth of lesson and one failed test I can now legally drive on our fair nations roads.

The other fun thing I did this week was take the little one to visit Santa at the local school fete. I love these things. The smell of classrooms mixed with, mulled wine and a ancient tea urn coupled with the throng of mostly parents of the children who attend the school they are quintessentially English. So we entered the grotto which was two classroom merged together with a actually quite festive array of lights and tinsel to the Beard Man sitting in his sleigh. Then in usual comic as it is with Kids he was having none of it so I now have a blurry photo of him throwing a fit lol

So hopefully we'll have better luck next year :)

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.

Sunday Lunch and baking Fun

After my week of highs and lows. I thought I would do something productive with my weekend.

My husband works in Sports TV meaning he works weird and wonderful shifts so this Saturday with him working and the weather being horrible thought I'd give baking a Clafoutis a go.

Although my little one had other ideas as I think he was as board as I was with the wet Saturday. So we played with what I think was every single toy we own. It was actually good fun and for me very therapeutic. It amazing how interacting with a child can make all other problems seem so small. They're just so happy and amused by the most mundane of things which in infectious and cheered me up no end. Another plus it, helped the little one sleep better he did wake up in the night but not as often as he had in the week and not for as long.

So Sunday after being house bound I insisted we at least go out for a bit. With the Grand Prix final in contention I knew I'd have to get him back for that. We decided to try out a new(ish) pub in the area (open March 2014)  The Poppy Field Its a Marston's pub so part of a chain and lacked some of the atmosphere of the other pubs in the area which have their years of history oozing out of the walls. Although unlike these bygone treasures it is amazingly accommodating for Children and ease of access. Wide enough spaces to get the pram around and a lovely colourful play area for little ones which is great. The little one played and discovered while we ordered.

The food was okay too, nothing spectacular but it was a nice meal. I did eat everything on my plate and the menu looked quite interesting with a rotisserie on site. Plan to go back and give that area of the menu a try before I pronounce final judgement on the food. Also even though we didn't order from it the children menu is very good a lot of classic with a slew of healthy items.

Overall it was a great experience and we will definitely be going back as it fit in with exactly what we need at the moment from an eating establishment. The food is nice and the staff and the set up are geared to people with young children. Also have to go back as I never did find out what "The Trouble With Lazy Ethel" was lol.

We got back about 10minutes after the Grand Prix had started and with Lewis firmly in the lead and the little one and my husband captivated by the happening on the screen I decided to do some baking. I wanted something quick and easy as I was cooking more for a stress free activity than an actually event. I decided to make Chocolate Chip Sugar Cookies

150g Sugar

80G Brown Sugar

80g Granulated Sugar

2 small eggs

225g flour

dash of Vanilla extract

1tps of baking power.

Bag of chocolate chips

Cream the sugars and the butters till creamy, add the egg and Vanilla Essence stir. Sieve in the flour and the baking powers, dump in the chocolate chips and mix together. spoon teaspoon amounts on to a greased baking tray and cook in a 190c preheated oven for 8-10 min an Voila yummy cookies.

 

The mixture does make quite a lot, I got over 30 in my batch; so I brought them into work for a Monday treat. Great way to start the week on a positive note also doesn't hurt to do something nice for you work chums once in a while.