Red Pepper and Chickpea Conchiglie

How do you pronounce conchiglie? I don't know why but I always say con-quig-ly which I imagine is completely wrong!

This is a simple recipe I threw together in about 25 minutes
Serves 2

Ingredients

• Pasta (I used conchiglie (shells) as that's what we had in but you could use anything) - enough for two depending on how hungry you are
• Half an onion (diced)
• 1 tsp olive oil
• 2 tomatoes (diced)
• 1 tsp lazy garlic ( or one clove of garlic if you're not lazy like me!)
• Handful of frozen mixed peppers
• 1 tin of chickpeas
• About 4-5 tbsp passata
• 1 tbsp dried basil
• Salt and pepper to taste

Method

1. Put your pasta on following instructions on the packet
2. Heat the oil in a small pan on a medium-high heat, and then throw in your diced onion
3. Once your onion is starting to soften add in the diced tomatoes and garlic. Give it a really good mix and let the tomatoes go nice and soft and juicy. 
4. Next throw in the peppers and stir, then the drained tin of chickpeas.
5. Once the peppers have defrosted add in the passata, basil, salt and pepper. Have a taste and see if it needs more - I needed to throw in more salt and pepper.
6. Turn the heat down on the vegetables until your pasta is cooked (I had to keep stirring mine though so they wouldn't burn or stick to the pan)
7. Drain pasta and plate it up and then divide between the plates.

I had mine with a slice of garlic bread that I chucked in the oven from the freezer but you could have cheese or a salad with yours. Whatever you fancy!

Enjoy!

My favourite apps

Who else feels as though they are constantly attached to their phone? I don't go anywhere without mine - not even bed! It is my alarm, my contact to other people, my tool for work, my entertainment and a source for knowledge. I bloomin' love my little black Sony Xperia!

Here are some of the apps I have been loving recently:

• Facebook - ah facebook! I equally love and hate you. Often such a waste of my time, and yet seeing those bickery fights between people makes me laugh everytime. 
• Whatsapp - this app is so useful. It means all I need is either my 4G connection or any WiFi and I can get in touch with any other users of it. Love it.
• Instagram - I love trawling through other people's pictures on there. I like that I can search tags and things to find inspiration whenever I need it too.
• Monster Busters - we all know I'm obsessed by now...
• TimeHop - A way to see what you were doing on social media this day last year, 2 years ago, etc. Most days it is a completely random status of mine moaning about how much uni work I had going on then or the weather, but sometimes I get a little photo gem from a memory I had almost forgotten about.
• Outlook - I love having my emails sent directly to my phone. I use email as a huge way to connect with students and so having this on a portable device means I always get back to them relatively quickly.
• YouTube - for those mornings when I'm bored but really don't want to get out of bed yet. I always find something to watch.
• What to Expect - Daily tips and updates on baby's progress and things that might help symptoms I could be having. This app has been useful the whole way through my pregnancy and I love reading how big Squishy is getting!
• Odd Socks - does anybody else play this game? I am not sure why but it is completely addictive and I find myself checking up on it at least 3 times a day!
• Catch Phrase - I remember watching this programme with my mum when I was a kid and loved it then. Now there is an app on the Play Store I had to download it!

How I try to save money on our food bill

I'm not very good at planning. I'd love to be better in all honesty, but I find when I plan our meals I just don't take into consideration what we'll actually fancy on the day. So here are ways we do this without costing ourselves an absolute fortune:

• I buy a supermarket's own brand or their value range most of the time. We have certain things we like though and so I get these when they are on offer.
• I buy cheese in bulk. Asda and Tesco have been doing 2 blocks of their cheddar cheese for £5 for quite a few months and I find this works out so much cheaper (especially as the man only likes certain cheeses and so I can't completely scrimp on this)
• I shop frequently. At the moment we have been eating quite a lot of salad and if I were to buy enough salad for the week I'd throw at least half of it away - it just goes off too quickly. And so once a fortnight we do our "big shop" of all the tinned and frozen bits and then twice a week or so (whenever we're running low) we'll go out and get fresh stuff. 
• When I see treats that we like on offer - I get them. In Jan/Feb this year Tesco were doing 4 Easter eggs for £3 - 75p each! We bought 12 Easter eggs... That meant there was enough for everyone we had to buy from and then some left for us (Cadbury's Easter egg chocolate is the BEST!)
• I use frozen or tinned instead of fresh when we can as it is usually cheaper. For example if we were to buy Asda's own fresh spinach we'd pay £1 for 160g, but if we buy their own frozen spinach it is £1.15 for 1kg! And it doesn't go off. And it tastes just as good for cooking. 
• We cook from scratch alot. The man likes to make his own burgers (he likes to experiment with hot sauces and spiciness in them...) and at £2.75 for 750g of beef mince it makes sense to do it that way. Asda are currently selling 2 packs of 4 burgers for £5. Once he has bulked them all out with onions, etc and made them how he likes we get about 8 burgers out of our pack of mince. And as they are just for him I'll freeze them in greaseproof paper and just pop in the oven whenever he fancies ones.
• I do the big shop online. Delivery costs £1 for some midday deliveries now (I even saw one time slot for 50p this morning!) and if you think of the cost of getting the bus/taxi or even just petrol it makes sense to sit on your backside and let someone else do the hard work! Plus this way I can shop all their best offers. I can add things in and take things out of my "basket" constantly and I always have an accurate running total. I find that when we shop instore if we're getting a trolley-full then the end price is often a bit of a mystery until it's too late. 
• I make the most of my Tesco vouchers. When you shop online you get a big list of things you have money off vouchers for when you get to the checkout. Often I'll go there first and make a note of anything that is worth it (mixing vouchers with their instore offers makes alot of sense) and then add these things. Often they offer you vouchers for things that you purchase frequently or that you might like because you like something similar. A few weeks back I got a box of cereal for 45p because it was on offer for £1 and I had 55p off it - not too shabby considering Tesco's cheapest box of chocolate cereal is 83p for 375g.

I don't know if these tips are helpful at all to you but let me know. Anyone got any tips to share?

Ikea's KORKEN jars

So if you hadn't guessed by now I have a bit of an Ikea-obsession. Last time we went we spotted these Korken jars which have really good rubber seals around them making them airtight! 

The range starts from just 80p for the smallest (which holds 500ml so isn't exactly teeny and useless) and they are such a bargain and so useful I just had to share!

Here is a link to everything in their Korken range.

We bought quite a few jars for our kitchen to help us to store things in a more practical and less messy way. We are currently using them to store rice, pasta, long spaghetti (in a tall jar), tea bags, coffee, sweetener, sugar, marshmallows and sultanas as most of these come in untidy looking plastic horrible packaging so we pop them in the jars and stick the wrapping in the recycling.

The more I look at how these areas of our kitchen are tidy, the more I want to go on another jar splurge (is that a thing?)! I'm thinking they'd be great to store different flours and sugars for baking (maybe with some of those salt dough labels I discussed last week), bobbles and hair pins, office supplies, cotton buds and pads in the bathroom, toiletries in the nursery... I'll have to stop otherwise I'll bankrupt us with my jar buying!

I love the way these look and I don't think I've seen them at a better price anywhere else - Oh I love Ikea!

Squishy report: 32 weeks pregnant

How far gone? 32 weeks

Total weight gain: 15lbs - 2 this week but totally expected

Maternity clothes: No more new ones.. back to lounging around in my lazy clothes this week as I've been feeling a bit rubbish and tired.

Sleep: What's that? I'm back to waking up constantly throughout the night and I'm up most mornings from 5am and with all the noise in the daytime of the man's dad decorating for us I'm not even getting a nap anymore.

Movement: On Sunday we had to go and get monitored because Squishy's movements had slowed right down throughout the weekend. The results showed everything was normal and they put it down to me being busy, not drinking enough and my anterior placenta and sent me away and since then (now I'm back to being a slob again..) movements are all back to normal.

Food cravings: Junk food - and lots of it! So far I've not given in. But we are going to our caravan holiday on Saturday so I'm saving myself for then. Onsite there is a burger place, a chippy AND a pizza place.... as well as various sit-down restaurants and a shop selling lots of naughty things... I'm going to be super fat when I get back!

Gender: Not a clue!

Labour signs: Braxton hicks are really going for it this week!

Symptoms: Just tiredness and heartburn mainly. The sciatica is marginally better, but the heartburn is back to being horrendous again. And tiredness from the insomnia.

What I'm looking forward to: My holiday and *hopefully* some sleep!!

I have been reading about Squishy's progress each week here so go and have a look. 

Dear Squishy...

Hello in there little one!

I'm so excited to meet you. I feel like I know nothing and yet everything about you. I know you like to wriggle around when you hear your daddy's horrendous dubstep music playing, and that if we try and poke and prod to make you move you like to be a little monkey and keep super still. I know you are growing faster than the doctors thought and that they predict you will be a big baby (we'll see!). And I know that I already love you with all of my heart.

But are you a boy or a girl? What will we call you and will you like your name? Will you have blue eyes and light brown like me and your daddy? Will you be creative and musical like me? Will you be a computer games addict like your daddy? And will you join our growing clan of Doctor Who fans?

According to your predicted date of arrival we have about 8 and a half weeks to go until we finally get to all have snuggles together. Your daddy, your big sister and I are so excited to see you! Will you be on time? I don't mind so long as you are healthy and happy.

I am looking forward to the future when we can bake cakes together and play on the swings at the park. I'm looking forward to all of your firsts! Your first holiday, your first time in the swimming pool, your first ice cream (how much mess will you manage to make?), your first day at school, shopping for your first shoes...

So keep growing Squishy. Be healthy. Be happy. And remember you are always loved.

Love Mummy x

Lust List: Ikea Toy Edition

I may have said it before and I may even say it again but I bloomin' love Ikea. Especially their children's section. They have so many cutesey little things and all so reasonably priced too! On our last expedition to Ikea (it felt like a hike walking round that ginormous store with my sciatica!) we were constantly "Ooo"-ing and "Ahh"-ing and saying "If we had a bigger budget..."... Not that you need a big budget to shop at Ikea but you do if you lust after as many things as we do!

I have a thing for felt play food. This little one will have felt play food for a play kitchen and it will make me very happy. I wish I was crafty enough to make something like this (I'm sure it is makeable - but I have no idea how) so my little one could have something so cute and handmade. Instead I shall settle for just cute. £7

How cute?! A daddy and baby fox! The first thing I bought Squishy was a teeny little fox toy (it has been sitting next to my TV waiting for baby to arrive!) and I just think toy foxes are so adorable. I don't know why. £8

I love felt play food. I love cake. Of course I am totally besotted by this! £7

This was one of the "almost bought" things last time. It is adorable and only £26 - which seems to be a bargain for rocking toys. If I was tiny again I'd have a whale of a time rocking about on this moose.

I have a vision of my child having these beautiful wooden toys that are nice to look at as well as fun. This shape sorter fits that bill perfectly in my eyes. I'm not a huge fan of cheap-looking plasticky toys (although I know kids are!) and I wish other wooden toys were as reasonably priced as this. £7.

Foody Pinterest Plans

Everyone is aware of my Pinterest obsession by now I imagine..?

I love pinning recipe ideas (not that I ever get round to them!) And this week I seem to have been pinning quite alot of different ice lollies and frozen treat ideas.

Banana split... on a stick. How tasty does this look? 

I love iced coffee. And I love ice lollies. This is just my idea of heaven after a meal... I miss coffee while being pregnant!

Oh my days. I don't even think I need to say ANYTHING at all about this.

Don't these look refreshing? Coconut water and fruit - yum!

Mmmmm smoothie pops. These look refreshing and healthy. Perfect for a hot summers day (if we ever see one of those in the UK!)

I hope that has given you some icy treat inspiration - it certainly has given me some! Now go make your treats.... just stop salivating first!

What has been making me happy lately?

I haven't posted something like this in a few weeks and there has been so much recently in amongst the pregnancy pains that has been making me smile so I should really give it all some recognition.

Source

• Toasties - we bought our argos value toastie machine when I was in my first year at uni. I think it cost us about £4 and lately it has been my obsession! Personal favourites are tuna mayo with sweetcorn and cheese, ham with cheese and bbq sauce and sliced chicken with pesto and cheese (are you seeing a common cheese trend here..?). I think the nicest one I had was my tuna melt the other day on seeded bread... mmmmmmm.... 
• Being in slightly less pain - so I am now on maternity leave - woohoo! - and that means I can sit down whenever I need to, and I have all day long to do the housework that I would have forced myself to do (or not do) after a long, hard shift. 
• Squishy - Squishy has been kicking sooooo much recently. It makes me feel so lucky to be able to feel my little baby's kicks and wriggles all the time. I think that is going to be what I miss most after this pregnancy is over.
• Baths - is there anything better than going for a nice soak with a face mask? And candles lit? And nice piping hot cuppa? I did that today and it felt amazing!
• Naps - I have been taking an hour out most afternoons to just have a little dose on the sofa as I've been getting so tired. Its amazing how doing something small for yourself makes such a difference.
• Cooking - well having the time to cook mainly. Before I'd rush something rubbish out of the freezer at 6pm after I'd been to work all day and then taught in the evening... now I have all day to prepare us a lovely meal. The other half is being spoilt!

• My cat - this little fluff ball has been around all the time lately when usually he only comes back to the house to angrily demand food. It is so nice to have him around.
• Sandals - My body temperature is through the roof 90% of the time and so it has been nice to just pop sandals on when we go somewhere rather than having to wear my heavy work shoes and thick socks. 
• Painting my nails - I was never allowed to paint my nails while working and so I'm making the most of it now! I'm slowly working through all the different colours in my rather large collection of nail polishes - most of which haven't been used in a couple of years! I must find time to go through and purge the really gross ones!

Crafty Pinterest Plans #2

This week I have been thinking of trying to make some cutesy things for the home out of salt dough. I remember (like every other child in the country) making Christmas decorations out of this in primary school and so I know it is easy to do. Looking on Pinterest gave me so much inspiration for slightly more grown-up things I could try my hand at making though.

So first are these suncatchers that I saw. It looks like you fill the middle with plastic beads before they go in the oven (sort of like what you do if you make stained glass cookies at Christmas).

I love this idea of using stamps to put words onto these little discs. I saw some that had been used as labels for baking ingredients saying things like "Plain flour" and they would look so cute on a piece of twine around a glass jar.

How cute is this? This would be such a gorgeous addition to a child's birthday party or without the writing and just as a decoration for the home.

I know we've missed Easter but I just can't get over how gorgeous this little bunny is with his bow on! 

And finally, how beautiful is this? And such a simple idea too. I love the idea of using a doily to create the lace effect. So pretty.

Learning to look after me

I have been suffering with various things so far throughout this pregnancy - sciatica, acid reflux, morning sickness.... and I was just doing the bare minimum to help myself so I could keep plodding on with what I'm used to doing. I would still push myself to get things done and still expect myself to try and keep up with everyone else. For example, if we went into town altogether I'd still march around at the same pace as everybody else until we'd finished doing whatever needed to be done and then I'd collapse in agony for the rest of the day unable to move. Now I'm writing it down I can see how daft it was.

Source

This week I've decided to slow down a bit - people can wait for me! I set myself one housework task to do a day (be it mop the kitchen floor or take the clean washing upstairs) and if it doesn't get done I'll not beat myself up about it. I walk at my own pace and I don't ever try to keep up with anybody else.

I've also tried to do something for myself a few times a week - like putting a face mask on or having a really luxurious bath (with candles and a cup of tea and all the goodies) or just taking 20 minutes to paint my finger nails!

The last thing I've been doing is lying on my sofa after lunch for an hour or so. If I dose off to sleep in this time then fine, if I just lie there and collect my thoughts and feel my little baby wriggling around inside my belly then that is also fine. 

And you know what? I haven't had to take any painkillers since Sunday evening. I've had aches and pains - but they've not been bad enough to make me mope about or get upset. I've felt much more in tune with my body and I've slept a lot better at night as I've not been struggling to get comfortable in bed. 

I am so glad I've decided to learn to look after myself finally. 

Squishy report: 31 weeks pregnant

How far gone? 31 weeks - My bump is getting bigger and bigger!

Total weight gain: 13lbs - I lost a pound this week. I'm not worried as I think that I'm just eating better since going on Maternity leave - baby is still growing and growing (and growing..)

Maternity clothes: New clothes - finally! I've been washing the same 2 pairs of maternity trousers over and over since I got them and they are now the only things that fit me (well not including pyjamas...) and so I popped into town on Monday and bought myself a pair of plain black leggings that have a band to go over the bump (these are incredibly comfortable - £7.99 from H+M) and a pair of thick navy blue trousers that are a slimfit and have the over the bump band (again from H+M and these were the only pair they had and were reduced to £7!). I also popped into Primark (on a bit of a budget at the moment with all the house decorating that needs doing...) and picked up a stretchy black vest for £2, a stretchy black t-shirt for £2.50 and a bright pink longer stretchy vest for £3.50. I love these stretchy tops from Primark at the moment as they are comfortable, cheap and they are easy to throw on and look put together with a simple cardigan, maternity trousers and ballet flats.

Sleep: Sleep is much much better this week - I'm getting an average of 10 hours a night and then come 1pm I'm lying on the sofa for an hour and relaxing/dosing.

Movement: The baby is still as active as last week but I'm starting to see more of a pattern - so whenever I'm full or relaxed the baby starts doing somersaults. Clearly Squishy likes it when I'm feeling comfortable.

Food cravings: I'm not really having any cravings this week. This morning all I could think about was having a tuna and cheese toastie for lunch though and I really wanted some smokey bacon crisps with it (we only had cheese and onion Pombears... grrr). Today I want savoury more than sweet stuff and it has been the same for the past couple of days too... I don't know if that's just me missing the junk I used to eat at work or what...? I did have a bit of an unreasonable strop at the man on Saturday because he said we can't afford a takeaway and I really wanted one... but even if I woke up at 2am demanding something insane I don't think I could be mean enough to make him go get it for me when he is doing horrible 11 hour shifts at the moment.

Gender: No idea

Labour signs: Nothing - I went to a relaxation class yesterday about the first stage of labour so feel like I'll be a bit more clued up now when things get in motion.

Symptoms: The first half of this week was horrendous - heartburn was completely out of control and the pains were horrible. This was making me feel really low and sorry for myself and on Saturday I felt so miserable that I made myself some hot dogs and took them to eat in bed and then moped around on my laptop in bed for over 4 hours. But the second half has been a lot better. I'm starting to just accept that I need to relax more and look after myself better because when I don't that is when I get in pain and then start feeling unhappy.

What I'm looking forward to: So the nursery has had it's first coat of white paint (it needs that to let it soak into the plaster apparently...don't ask me) and we have been getting quotes off decorators to get it done. We chose and ordered the border and curtains last night! And we are getting the carpet fitted as soon as it is all painted. Which means all we now need is a curtain pole - unless we can salvage the one that used to be in there. It is is finally coming together! Woohoo!

I have been reading about Squishy's progress each week here so go and have a look. 

Using up eggs

I had a lot of eggs to use up in my fridge - 17 to be precise - so I had to be a bit creative with what I decided to do with them.

Firstly I made these egg and pepper breakfast muffins - just eggs and frozen mixed peppers mixed together and cooked in a muffin pan. So easy. 5 down, 12 to go!

Next I made up some freezable Yorkshire puddings that we can just pop into the oven from frozen to go with our Sunday lunches or with something like sausage and mash. I just used half a packet of batter mix (I cheated...) and 2 eggs and then used a shallow muffin tin to do them. This is the first half in the picture - I made 24 in total!

There was a little bit of batter mix left and I was starting to get peckish so I did myself two little pancakes in the frying pan using a metal biscuit cutter to make them circular. I topped them with mini marshmallows and chocolate syrup - yum!

10 to go!

I haven't made devilled eggs in so long! But I do love them. I hard-boiled 9 eggs (because that is how many I can get in the pan in one go) and then let them cool completely. Next I just peeled the shells, sliced them in half, scooped out the yolk and lay the whites out on the plate. I mashed up the yolks with a good dollop of mayonnaise and then scooped them back into the holes in the eggs and topped with a sprinkling of paprika. I love having these made ready in the fridge as they are great to just grab one or two when I'm feeling peckish in between meals, or to add to a simple salad to make a quick lunch.

1 to go!

Finally, that night for our tea I cooked us a simple egg fried rice to go with a Chinese chicken curry I'd had in the slow cooker all day. I couldn't believe how easy it was to do and how tasty it was! (Plus the man is usually quite fussy and even he took leftovers to work for lunch the next day!)

And that is it! 17 eggs used up and not one wasted. 



Egg fried rice

We love a takeaway as much as the usual family. But between the two of us a chinese usually comes in a fairly horrendous £13! I've been seeing so many people making "fakeaways" recently and so I thought I'd jump on board and give it a go.

Here is my super easy egg fried rice recipe.

Ingredients:
1 tbsp. oil (we use extra virgin olive oil)
Cooled boiled rice (enough for two people - it doesn't matter what sort so long as it is plain)
1 cup of frozen peas
1 egg
2 tbsp. soy sauce

Method:
Heat up the oil in your frying pan or wok
Add in your cooled rice and stir fry it (keep stirring or it'll burn to your pan) for about 4-5 minutes or until it is fully heated
Throw in your frozen peas and give another good stir
In a little bowl beat the egg and add in the soy sauce (don't forget to keep stirring the rice though)
Now turn the heat down and  drizzle this eggy-saucy mixture over the rice and peas and give this a really good mix now - you don't a big block of egg in your rice, more evenly distributed throughout the rice.
And that is it. We didn't need ours straight away (I was making tea early so it could just be heated up when I'd finished teaching) so I popped it into a bowl and let it cool. This is fine to keep and reheat the next day too if you have leftovers.

Enjoy!

Egg and Pepper Breakfast Muffins

So I had a lot (I mean A LOT) of eggs that needed to be used up this week and I've seen this kind of "breakfast muffin" thing floating around on Pinterest so I thought I'd it a go.

I used 1 egg per serving and some frozen mixed peppers. I decided to make 5 as I figured I could freeze them and have 2 or 3 for breakfast with some baked beans or a piece of toast depending on how hungry I am that day.

This is so simple I'm not even going to making a proper recipe for it! Basically crack your eggs into a bowl, add a generous helping of frozen mixed peppers, spoon out into a deep muffin pan, pop in the oven for about 20-25 minutes on 200. Et voila!

(Please excuse that pretty overfilled one on the top right!)

 

I was thinking these would make a great Slimming World or generally diet-friendly breakfast or lunch as there's no junk in them.

 

Enjoy!

Crafty Pinterest Plans

Who else is obsessed with Pinterest? I can spend hours scrolling and pinning, pinning and scrolling... I have boards of all of these awesome craft ideas that I am "going to do". Of course I'm not going to do them! I'm terrible at making stuff! But at least the idea is there!

Lately I have been thinking that it is about time I actually give something a go... I mean I have almost 4000 pins and I don't think I've tried any of the recipes, organisational ideas or crafts that I've loved enough to "pin". So I created a board of nursery craft ideas as I figure while on maternity leave and preparing for the new arrival I might feel an urge to actually make something! 

I love this idea. Something so simple but (if I make it nice) can be treasured for a long time. I had a look on good old eBay and the wooden blocks aren't too expensive to buy either. This is definitely a maybe.

Ok, so this is a link to an etsy page (more on etsy love at a later date) but going along the same wooden block theme - how cute are these? I've seen a few similar ideas and I think I could do some kind of PVA glue magic with some nice little cut-outs from books or things I've printed online. 

How darling is this? Our nursery colours are yellow and green but the blue would be so cute as a contrast - maybe in a white frame though (I feel another Ikea trip). And all I'll need is just some nice scrapbook paper and maybe a stencil to do those letters... any thoughts on how to make that look as good?

I love this. It is so dainty and cute, and I love that those words have been stamped on giving it that "shabby chic" feel that I am totally obsessed with. I don't have a sewing machine so not sure I'd go about doing that (maybe with some embroidery? I'll have to do a bit of googling...) but this would be cute with little blue and yellow bunting on a white background wouldn't it? Or maybe I could find some cute checkered fabric. 

And finally, how cute are these letters? Looking at them they look far too neat to be something someone like me could make, but if you follow the link to the blog they're from then they actually aren't that complicated. Obviously we don't know what we're having yet, and so don't know what name we're going with - maybe this is one for the future?

Toy storage: HOL side table

 Look at that mess! All living room toys are supposed to fit into that stripy basket... they don't, but they're supposed to. I'd had enough of more and more things making their way into the living room and just being dumped higher and higher so we bought a proper toy box. Well I say a proper toy box... it's meant to be a side table.

This HOL side table from Ikea was only £16. They had a bigger one but we figured with having another little one running round soon they'd need seperate spaces for storing their junk toys. It was really easy to assemble - and I hate flat-pack furniture with a passion! It took me about 10 minutes to throw together and it makes such a huge difference! Definitely going back for that second one on our next Ikea excursion.

Oooo... tidy!

And plenty of space for all of her toys. Anyone else's kids obsessed with Moshi Monsters?!

Cheesy chicken slice aka the "pastry thing"

This is a favourite in our house for using up leftover food... you can put pretty much anything in - sweet or savoury (just not together). We call it the "pastry thing" in our house... we call alot of things "thing"... but I figured I better give it a better name!

Ingredients

• 500g pack of puff pastry
• Leftover cooked chicken
• Peas
• Sweetcorn
• Grated cheese (as much or little as you like/have)
• 1 tsp mixed chilli flakes and sea salt
• Good dash of black pepper
• Flour (for rolling pastry)

Method

1. Preheat your oven to 200
2. Dice up your leftover chicken
   
3. Next bung everything (bar the pastry) into a mixing bowl and give it a good mix
   
4. Roll out your pastry using a little bit of flour
   
5. Put the flat pastry onto your baking tray (which I line with greaseproof paper - but you don't have to) and turn all the edges up
6. Put your chicken-y mixture onto the pastry and smooth it all out 
   
7. Now pop the tray into the oven for about 15-20 mins or until the pastry has puffed up nicely and gone a lovely brown
   
8. Slice and serve!

(Alternatively you can let this cool, slice it up and pop it into hungry people's lunchboxes. OH will be having a good slice of this in his packed lunch tomorrow)

Delicious!

Chilli Con Carne

I love chilli con carne - but as my partner isn't a huge fan of mince I just don't have it enough. Yesterday however (when clearing out the mess of a chest freezer we have) I found a pack of lean beef mince and decided that I was having chilli for tea!

Chilli Con Carne
Serves 2-4 (depending on how big you like your meals and what you have it with)
Total time: About 35 minutes (including chopping up veg, etc.)

Ingredients: 

• 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil (or whatever cooking oil you use)
• 500g lean beef mince
• 1 medium-large onion (chopped)
• Handful of mushrooms (I used 6 - peeled and sliced)
• Frozen mixed peppers (A generous amount - I used about 1.5 cups worth)
• 2 gloves of garlic/2 tsp lazy garlic
• 1 tbsp mild chilli powder (you can use hot if you like - didn't want to risk with my heartburn)
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 Bovril/beef stock cube (I just like the extra kick Bovril gives)
• 2 tbsp of dried coriander
• 2 tbsp tomato puree
• 250g passata
• 410g tin of red kidney beans
• Half a tin of baked beans
• Half a tin of sweetcorn

Method:

1. Heat the oil in a decent sized saucepan on a medium-high heat, add beef mince and cook until mince has all gone brown (I know it will keep cooking but having given myself food poisoning before I take no risks!)
2. Next add in the onion, mushrooms and peppers and let them cook through for a few minutes until they are all nice and soft.
3. Now it's time to add in the flavour! Garlic, chilli powder, paprika, cumin, stock cube (crumble it in), coriander and tomato puree got chucked in. Give it a good stir - now is when it all starts to smell like a really good chilli! Yum!
4. Now add in the passata and give it a good stir. Turn the pan down to a medium-low heat now.
5. Let the pan simmer for about 10 minutes or so (this is when I do my jacket potatoes... I used frozen ones last night because I am trying to use up as much freezer food as possible at the moment. Tonight I'm having it with rice though so this is when I'd chuck on the rice).
6. Finally, add in the beans and sweetcorn. Give it a stir. 
7. Leave it to continue simmering away and then turn the heat back up just before you're ready to eat it.
8. Serve with jacket potato, rice, pasta, salad, garlic bread, in wraps... the choices are endless! Enjoy!

(P.S. this is super simple - I am rubbish at cooking and even I spent the whole meal going "this is amazing!" and "I am a chef"... lol.)

Squishy report: 30 weeks pregnant!

How far gone? 30 weeks - 10 weeks til the due date!

Total weight gain: 1 stone - no weight change this week.

Maternity clothes: Still no new ones. Still living mainly in PJs and leggings.. especially that now I'm on maternity leave!

Sleep: Slightly better this week. I think that might have something to do with the acid reflux tablets the doctor prescribed me. I'm still getting heartburn but it is much more manageable now.

Movement: I think this every week but I honestly think this is the most the baby has been moving. I woke up at 2am this morning and baby was kicking, same at 4am, at 5:30am, at 7am and at 9am (when I finally dragged my lazy backside out of bed!). Does this baby never sleep?!

Food cravings: Still twister lollies. Nothing much other than that. Although yesterday afternoon I NEEDED chocolate. I couldn't shake that craving so had to give in...

Gender: Still no idea.

Labour signs: Nope nothing.

Symptoms: Sciatica - which is much more manageable with my new exercise ball (I find bouncing up and down and side to side really helps - plus that is practically exercise isn't it?), taking painkillers when I need to, and the fact that I can sit down whenever I need to. Acid reflux - like I said before the tablets my doctor prescribes are amazing. We ran out of milk last night and usually that would be a huge problem but I was actually ok - and managed 10 hours sleep last night!

What I'm looking forward to: Nursery is all plastered and I believe OH's dad is starting to paint that room and the LO's room from today, plus we chose the nursery carpet last night - so hopefully soon I'll be able to see the baby's nursery finished! Also we go on holiday in just over 2 weeks so looking forward to that too. 

I have been reading about Squishy's progress each week here so go and have a look. 

Tesco Groceries

We get our food shopping delivered purely due to convenience. Plus as I don't drive and Tesco will deliver to us for a mere £1 it definitely beats the buses!

We tend to flick between Asda and Tesco mainly depending on what we need/fancy and what deals are at that time. But in my opinion Tesco's Everyday Value products beat Asda's Smartprice hands down - there's a much better range and they don't taste quite as cheap as the Asda's do (plus I can get away with giving the OH value products more and he won't notice as much! Mwahahaha!)

So firstly I got a whole load of tinned stuff - 3 sweetcorn (we use these with everything), 4 chopped tomatoes (for sauces, etc), 4 new potatoes (amazing roasted or in quiches), 2 cartons of passata (sauces), 3 mushy peas, 2 ravioli and 1 beans and sausages. I've had them all before except the ravioli and beans and sausages - but figured they're worth a try as now I'm home all day they make a quick and easy lunch if I'm not feeling too great. 

Here you can see our 3 (yes, 3) bottles of skimmed milk. We prefer skimmed to any others (it tastes less cow-y....don't ask) and we go through easily 4 pints a day between the 2 of us. You can also see a sneak peek at some of the naughties I bought!

So the naughties! 2 packs of mini marshmallows (2 for £1.50 - just to top up for baking), 2 400g blocks of Extra Mature Cheddar Cheese (2 for £5 - I like a little bit of cheese, and the OH loves a load of cheese so I usually will whizz about half a block of these in the food processor at a time to grate it (we have one of those attachment things - fancy!) so we don't go through it quite so fast. But extra mature just because we prefer this - it's got a stronger taste so you don't need as much in theory. 2 packs of EV Caramel Wafers (40p a pack so worth a try), 1 pack of EV Milk choc wafers (54p), a pack of EV choc digestives (44p - got these to hopefully make some rocky road with if we're needing a sugar kick), 2 chocolate swiss rolls (25p each), a pack of Jammie Wagon Wheels (these were £1 on offer and I had a 45p off voucher - bargain!) and 2 packs of Butterkist sweet popcorn (on offer for 99p a box - and last time we went to the caravan on holiday we were eating this as our naughty evening treat to save some money). Just out of shot are 6 (yes... I know) bars of EV Milk chocolate (30p each and I use these for baking).

Ok, so it's not all bad! I got a lettuce, some bananas, a few carrots and  pack of cherry tomatoes.

So frozen stuff - a tub of light Walls ice cream (only type I'm allowed to buy..), a bag of mini corn on the cobs, a bag of roast potatoes and a bag of frozen mash (the last 2 are crazy I know but they're just what we prefer.)

2 cartons of smoothies - they're only 75p each for 750ml cartons at Tesco and I love them. Apparently they contain 2 of your 5 a day per 250ml (nice to know) and I just love that when you look at the ingredients they are all things I recognise (considering the price).

Oooo another naughty... 2 bottles of diet cherry cola (on buy one get one free and 89p each normally). I love diet coke and I figured I'll have one as a treat at home and I'll try and save one for holiday. (The caffeine keeps me happy, ok?)

OH's crisps for work. 99p for the meaty ridge cut crisps and £1 for the pom-bears!

2 Cornish pasties (half price at the moment), a pack of pepperoni (for homemade pizza or just sandwiches) and a 6 pack of mini naan breads for when I make a curry. In the background you can just make out 2 packs of rolls (one normal for sandwiches and one finger for hot dogs) that were buy 2 for £1.

An unsmoked gammon joint that came in at just £4.01 and a huge pack of beef mince that was only £2.75. 

Toilet rolls are £2.45 for 9 (they are cheap but don't feel it - I know some people are fussy with loo roll) and a 2 pack of Flash Magic Erasers (£1.50 - I got these as I want to see if they actually work. We have dirty handprints on our nice white walls from where our old lodger who moved out a few weeks ago ran his grubby hands down the walls. grrrr). Also a bottle of bubble bath (that I forgot to photograph apparently) for 70p.

And finally a pack of cheap white printer paper. If it's no good the LO can have it for drawing on.

And that is it! How much do you reckon?

....nope, you're wrong! Including delivery costs that all came in at a very satisfactory £54.77 - bargain! 

We don't shop every week like this, just when we need certain things. So hopefully other than a top-up on fresh stuff we'll be good for a fortnight or so now.