New Year and hopefully an improved me..

So it's 2015 the year in which I turn 35 which means in most surveys or online forms I will go into another box.

I've got a few months until this happens but I never really get the wobbles about life on my birthday. I normally get them at new year. There something of a finality to the death of the old year. even though it only a few days go it the past. 2014 is so last year.

So now we are faced with a fresh bright (albeit rain/cold) brand spanking new year and what to you intend to do with it?

I of course have resolutions/goals for the up coming year which are:

• Loose weight
• Eat at a Michelin star restaurant
• See a West End Musical (as thanks to the little one I haven't been to one since 2012)
• See a Opera and the Royal Opera House 
• Wear more bright colour (My wardrobe is distinctively dark)
• Bring lipstick back (I don't really wear make up but plan to get a couple of nice bright shade and brighten up my lips from time to time)
• Move Home 
• Have more fun especially with the little one (now he's getting bigger and I can drive taking him to more activities we can do together I'm thinking Farm, seaside and all that fun stuff).

So not the biggest list in the world but now it is out for all the world to see at least I can check back and have a barometer of how I did at the end of the year.

I'm debating whether I should add find a new job??  Hmm this is a hard one especially if you've got a young child. I am currently in a job where I'm slightly unfulfilled with the tasks I'm set but apart from that they are very accommodating. I can work from Home every Friday to help with childcare they very good if I have a last minute disaster. Also the people I work with are very nice.

I do live quite far away from were I work over 3 hour round trip each day. But I worry that if I did jump ship to be nearer or do something more exciting would I have the flexibility you need when you have young family?

This is a very hard question as it something even though I would want to ask not the best thing to come up in a interview "Do you mind if I've got to leave the office at short notice or work from home 1 day a week?" think that would be the death knell for any chances of being made an offer of employment.

I do think the government needs to do more (oh no my soap box is out) as loads of company now have the tools for home working and flexible hours. I think they should work with business to encourage this more from the out set. I.e. put it in a Job spec -  willing to take on people who don't want to work a full week or be more flexible in the hours they do.

As I'm of the opinion just because people are in the office it doesn't mean there working and if the jobs getting done does it really matter where they are based?  Although these are just my own opinions and because I am in this situation maybe if I didn't have a toddler I'd have a different point of view.

So the job think is a like to have, I've been keeping an eye out and if anything interesting does happen I'll keep you posted lol.

As for the top resolution I have re-joined Slimming World. I originally joined in Jan 2013 and did quite well lost one and half stone (21lb, 9.4kg), then I got pregnant. Although when I got weighed last night I weighed a stone (14lb 6.5kg) less than when I first started back in 2013 which is good yay. This means I need to loose around 2 stone (30lb, 13.5kg) to get to my target which is not so good :(

I'm going with friends and have compiled a shopping list so hopefully this will spur me on to greatness, well thinness anyway. I have set myself the time limit of getting all the weight off by July for the summer.  I won't be going a Michelin Star restaurant until I'm at target which is another incentive.

As for the West End Musical and the Opera resolution, I am open to suggestions if any of you have seen a great show or know a of a great Opera. I have never seen an Opera live so happy to take all and any recommendations. With Musical I have seen Wicked and Lion King but apart from that no of the other show I've seen over the years are currently on in the West End (London).

For the more fun I am going to channel the young me and do all the things I wanted to do when I was young even if it just having fun on the swings (which are my favourite of the playgroup apparatus)

Also  the year culinary wise has started out great my Husband made me a lovely dinner the other night. It was a really simple yet super yummy and very well presented.

All you need is Duck Breast Marinated in Ho-sin Sauce and a bit of Soy. Roast for 30 min then place on a bed of finely chopped Spring Onion and Cucumber.

It was very very nice.

And now with SW I will for a few week be posting some yummy health meals to get everyone through the winter blues.

My Christmas Day

Yay Christmas 2014 in the DCM household was a low key affair this year well apart from my fab crimbo accessories.

With a little one you think we'd be up earlier but the pudding slept past 7am and by the time I managed to get husband unit out of bed we did presents at 8am.

As the little one only 14 months we decided not to go too mad with gifts as I'm sure over the coming years the demands on Santa will increase. 

Christmas morning in our house all ways consist of Bacon Sandwiches. Mmm Bacon making the house smell delicious.. 

Then on with a The Christmas Tv while we enjoyed the bacon and slowly got dressed. Think there's nothing nicer than having a quiet Christmas morning as the day can be stressful enough without starting it in a panic. 

Then it was off to my folks for Christmas Dinner they're only 10 minutes away so it was a short jaunt. I drove there so the Husband unit would drive back. Don't feel too sorry for him he's not a big drinker and with us just getting over cold I wouldn't be having a lot.

Now it is true what they say nothing beats your mother's cooking. My mum always pulls out all the stops for Christmas a proper Turkey Dinner. The starter was Prawn Cocktail which is a bit 1970 chic. But hey I like them and if someone else is making it I'm in no position to comment. 

We have a serve yourself system at dinner at my mum's which I think is great so you can just have what you want rather than being rude and leaving stuff on the plate you don't like. For me it's peas I like them in stuff like a cottage pie but have a thing about the on their own (yes I know I'm weird). 

So dinner with all the trimmings was amazing.

Followed by Christmas pudding and custard.

As you can see I'm a traditionalist when it  comes to Christmas eats. 

But that's just once a year ( well we are having Christmas two tomorrow when my brother and Nephew go over to my mums). So that's okay... 

And considering my fantastic Christmas present 

Know I'll be cooking up some interesting flavours in the New Year. So if any of you out there have any good Tangine Recipes I would love for you to share them,

I'm now having a relaxing Boxing Day ( for my American readers this is a holiday we have the day after Christmas in the UK) in front of the telly with a sick little man. 

Piece of advice people don't get your kids MMR jab just before the holidays as he's having a mini measles session while the vaccination start work. Not too bad apart from the 1am sickness session :( but seems to be not too bad now.

So a quiet day in front of the box with some movies (mostly cartoons) and the odd treat to keep me going.

So I hope you all had a great Christmas Day and have a fun fuelled new year planned.... 

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.