Faux Fun

So I had big plans for cooking and was going to teach the hubby how to make Bread and we were going to paint the front of the house be busy productive members of society...

The little man had other plans. He was a bit ill and when I say a bit ill if you've ever seen the "Exocist" you'll know what I mean.

Wasn't so bad when we were at home lots of cleaning up lots of hugs as you always worry so much when they are not well,. but his temperature was fine so obviously something just upset his stomach.

Or major error came when we thought he was doing better and took him out to the local hardware store "B&Q" to look at getting supplies for the house painting, and was subsequently very ill down one of the isles and all over his dad. To be fair the staff were wonderful and really helpful and didn't get upset even when I showed them the mess.

Just think that great for a store as there are times when you are a bit mortified but they handled it like it wasn't any trouble at all and I did even offer to do the mopping myself but they said to take care of the little one and they would take care of it.

So as for cooking, this week to make thing easier I stuck with quick simple dishes in between handing out a shed load of TLC.

I made a Faux Carbonara .

cooked up some leeks and Mangetout while frying some bacon..

After the leeks and Mangetout were cooked I thew them into the frying pan too for a couple of minutes.

Before mixing them all with some pasta and low fat fromage frais for very quick very easy and if you've cut the fat of the bacon low in fat healthy scrummy meal.

I even made another Lasange (See previous week's post for recipe) but instead of pasta sheets on top I used potatoes which gave it an added kick.

Don't worry the little one did get better and even managed to have some fun on the swings.

I am  a big kid at heart and the swing are one of my absolute favorite things to do and I am  so glad my son is like me and loves them.  I know when he upgrades to the big kid swings we'll be on them together from morning to night  :) 

As he was doing so well went out for a lovely brunch  at The Fancy Goat. I had a Bucks Fizz (mimosa) to celebrate his recovery

And enjoyed a wonderful Tortilla De Patatas.

Oh and when the waitress said the pan was hot I should have paid more attention as I burnt a finger on it ouchie, ouch.. Although being so yummy made up for the pain.

The little one got some tasty scramble egg very rich and creamy.

Another highlight of the week was another trip to Thomas Cookie Co to get some more of there fab cookies can see them become a staple in my life (but shh don't tell the diet)...

Right this weekend I am having no excuse (well a sick infant isn't really an excuse it a all encompassing situation) I will be making bread and will post it up step by step...

And as it's a Bank Holiday over here I've also got a few other interesting things planned so will be a far more exciting post, well they can't all be mad weekend in Amsterdam (even though I wish they were lol) :)

A Flat Peach of a 4th of July

The sun has been out in full force this week in dear old England.

Which did result in some fantastic thunder storms, one lightening strike so loud it woke both the Husband and Me up. The little one didn't stir at all well not from the cacophony of  weather noises but because I got up  to get a drink, the mouse like noise of me tip toeing to the Kitchen was enough to bring him full awake. Have decided that Kids have super sensitive hearing set to Mummy so when I make a noise it deafening to him and he must investigate lol.

So this weekend was pretty full on.

It was my husband Birthday on the 4th, Parent's 40th Anniversary on the 5th and it my Bro birthday on the 9th so we had a bit of a do to celebrate.

On the morning of the 4th I work up early with the little one! Wrapped presents wrote cards and tried to stop him bursting the helium balloon we got for his Dad before he woke up.

Birthday with Kids is a strange affair, pre-kids it was all lie-ins with breakfast in bed and a read of paper and general slovenliness until we decided what we wanted to do. Now it up and go, go, go. the little one loves the excitement and wants to know everything that is going on.

So We managed presents in bed with the boy crawling all over helping unwrap them and finally getting his hands on the balloon to play with it.

For breakfast we decided to go out and went to The Fancy Goat in West Malling. First time visiting and was quite impressed it a lovely light airy space and they do a very good selection for Breakfast.

As it was the 4th of July my Husband opted for Pancakes, with blueberries and Bacon topped off with powdered sugar. He thought they were very good, so good in fact no one got a taste.  ( Luckily We'd already gave the little one his breakfast at home as he can be a bit of a fuss pot).

I had Egg Florentine Benedict which has Spinach and Salmon.

were as my mother in law had the Eggs Benedict.

both were equal as delicious the hollandaise sauce was just creamy enough as to not over power the rest of the dish.

Oh and my husband loved the biscuit they gave with the coffee and as it was his birthday they gave him two.

In the afternoon we were invited to my folks for a barbecue with friends to celebrate there 40 years of putting up with each other lol.. No they are still very happily married (actually a bit sickening) but didn't want to do any thing big so it was a lovely day of friends, family good food and good drink.

(Would have taken more shots but as it was the other half B'day I took charge of the little one so it was difficult to do two things at once)


The food highlight of the day was the Birthday cake my mum got for my Husband, Brother and her best Friend who all have birthdays in the same week. It was a Sweetie cake from The Chocolate Umbrella. Great fun as it had all the retro sweets from our childhood, there was a bit of a fight over the Drumstick.

A great idea, lots of sweets placed on top of marshmallows and I was informed it was gluten free. Although would hate to think what the calorie count was but seeing how many people there were to split it with I can't have consumed that many calories lol :)

Also the little one didn't have any, my son must be the only toddler in the world who doesn't like sweets or chocolate. I'm not knocking it, as I will hopefully get away with the pestering and the sugar highs that come with a sweet loving child.

So all in all a great day out and I didn't travel more than about 2 miles from my front door, which made getting home after very easy and only a hour and a bit outside the little ones bedtime.  Everyone else partied into the night but that's the sacrifice you have to make having a young one, parting is less but crazy cute fun is more :)

Oh and the other foodie highlight was I bought some "Doughnut Peaches" from Asda.

Basically they are like normal peaches only flatter.

Really nice I think they are slightly sweeter than normal peaches and also they are less messy, easier to hold and the stone is smaller. I ate all 4 in only two days.

Think als,o with the right slicer you could get really nice slices for a peach pie mmmmm think I might give that a go in a later blog.

Only other thing I wanted to mention was "Sharknado" for those of you who don't know what it is, its a movie. Well a series of movies.

The best way I feel I can sum it up is it's the most Awful yet epic movie every. I think because it's so bad that that's the reason that make it good. You'll need to see the movie to discover what I mean by that.

Brief synopsis there is a tornado that full of Sharks and as it sweeps in the Sharks attack people, in the second movie the same thing happens but it is based in New York.

Now the 3rd Movie, "Sharknado, Oh Hell No!!!" I'm so excited about this movie as I know it going to be as Bad-Good as the other 2 but it is set in ORLANDO (My spiritual home) taking in Universal Studios  as one of it locations for mayhem.

It comes out later this month on SyFy UK and I shall be watching it. And In honor of its release they have created an Sharknado App where you can picture yourself being eaten by a shark.

Obviously now my new favorite app.

This week,  Friday 10th July, I will be attending the Kent County Show and I will be tweeting ( Twitter Name: @dyslexiccooking ) and hopefully (Depending on Connections) Periscope live from the event.

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...