Pizza Making...

It's become a tradition in our house to cook up a healthy fakeaway on Fridays and Saturdays.

I've done it for years now and really look forward to cooking them.

They started after my stark realisation of just how salt and fat were added into our favourite takeaway meals. I found that I could cook them myself much healthier and save myself a wad of cash at the same time.

 It's worked really well for us and has definitely saved lots of money that I would have forked out for weekly takeaways!

We cook and eat various fakeaway dishes from Chinese, Indian, Thai, Japanese, Italian and American dishes to name a few. 

This weekend I decided to make a nutritious veggie pizza. I thought DD would like to help me make it which she certainly did. We made the dough for the base which DD was fantastic at helping with. Whilst DD was taking care of the dough, I made up the tomato sauce and left it on a low simmer on the hob.

DD had some extra fun by cutting pieces of the dough with the cookie cutters but we managed to knead and roll it back to a pizza base again.

I then popped the tomato sauce on with some mozzerella and lots of veggies! Into the oven it went.

It was really tasty and worked out just over £2 for the whole pizza.

To be honest, that's quite expensive for our meals as our fakeaways tend to work out around £1.50 or less!

Nevertheless, DD had a great sensory and baking activity doing this. I am going to try doing this with DS to see if he enjoys it, too :)

Keep safe,

Amanda xx

More Messy Sensory Play & Day Out...

It's utter madness that we are now in July and I am constantly cold! Anyone else feel like the weather is more Autumnal than Summer?!
I am living in hope that the weather warms up a bit to resemble something more like Summer!? and when/if it does than I want to be ready to hit the beach so I have ordered a little beach tent.
The day it was delivered, DD and I set to work straight away erecting it in the garden and she was very happy with it :) It blocks out harmful UV rays, provides shade and I thought it would also be useful to breastfeed in whilst we're at the beach. I cant wait to use it properly :)

Despite the chilly weather, the children and I have been keeping busy with more messy sensory play  - DS just loves this and we've been getting out in the garden as much as we can.
Recently, we played with coloured spaghetti which was really fun for me to prepare not to mention all the fun and amazing feedback DS got out of playing, swirling, dropping and squelching the pasta. I will definitely have to make this one again as it was such a hit!

DS and I also planned on doing some baking. DS just loves the feel of soft flour and he really enjoys pouring and slopping ingredients into a bowl and stirring and feeling with his fingers.
After scrupulous handwashing, we set to work with our ingredients. Unfortunately, our mixture never quite made it to the oven but that really didn't matter as DS had an absolute ball playing and feeling with the mixture. He loved tipping in things like extra icing sugar, flour and even a couple of eggs constantly changing the consistency which interested him.
The end result was a messy one but no regrets here as it was so enjoyable for him :)

Speaking of baking, DD and I had our first ever baking sessions together. We made shortbread biscuits and weirdly enough, DD kinda knew what to do. She stirred the mixture with a spoon (as well as taking it out and putting it in other nearby bowls!) - I swear that this child has been here before!

DD did an amazing job - they were delicious! :)

This week, we had our first day out since March and it was wonderful!
It was lovely to drive further than the local supermarket (which is the furthest I have been since March!)
We visited a safari park as DD loves animals and we all thoroughly enjoyed it.
After the safari drive, we went on the little funfair which DD liked and we had our first ride on a beautiful carousel :) It was such a lovely day :)

This week, I have started scribbling in a journal. I have never used a journal before but was keen to try one. I ordered a gratitude journal as I feel that would be the most beneficial to me right now. The basic concept of this is that everyday you write three things that you are grateful for that day - they can be little things or big things. After a short period of time, you will automatically start to notice gratitude moments which in turn will make you think more positively therefore making you a more positive and happier person. I think with the world being fairly scary and unpredictable right now for most people then something like making an effort to notice more moments of gratitude is no bad thing.

I'm day 6 into my gratitude journal and am loving it! I complete it everyday and can definitely see me ordering another one once this one is completed.

Hope you are all well and staying safe,

speak soon..

xx

Messy Sensory Activities and Edible Sand...

Whilst restrictions have eased a little and the weather has been glorious, we've been out in the garden a lot.
DS has enjoyed some awesome messy sensory play with gloop. We always make the gloop up together which he enjoys adding the ingredients and stirring. We tend to add food colouring to our gloop just to give it a pop of colour. When I ask DS to choose a colour, nine times out of ten he will choose red.
Our gloop is cornflour, water and food colouring so its completely edible and safe. DS has a little tendency to taste everything he works or plays with so I always try to make stuff safe and edible as much as possible.

DS has also enjoyed some sunny days out with his wonderful staff. He's become partial to enjoying some chips whilst sitting on the promenade looking out to sea. I love doing exactly the same thing so he must take after me! :)

DD has been enjoying some baby sensory play activities too.
I have recently discovered how to make edible sand! DD can be a little monkey when playing in the sand pit as she often eat the sand.
Pinterest has some fantastic ideas and recipes for safe baby sensory play ideas and I think that's where I nicked my edible sand recipe from.
I say 'recipe' but it isn't really, it's simply a box of Cheerios breakfast cereal blended into fine sand like crumbs. DD seemed very impressed and yes she did eat some of it too! :)

Water is a terrific sensory play activity for both children. DD has enjoyed lots of days in her paddling pool with cups, jugs and such and DS has a cool tray on a stand which he can access.
Water is always a massive hit with kids!

I've been trawling Pinterest just lately looking for activities that can entertain both children as I think cabin fever coupled with boredom is close to hitting them.
DS hasn't the routine of school anymore and DD is missing out on her baby classes so I've been trying to keep them stimulated and engaged as much as I can.

I have had some amazing news this week! I am now the proud owner of an hair appointment! lol
Oh yes, I have a much needed hair appointment in my usual and favourite salon and I really cannot wait! :)

I have been very busy decorating my Mum's house. I've been stripping wallpaper, painting and wallpapering and I have just completed the second room in her house - only 4 more rooms to go *groans* but it does look very lovely though.
Mum says there's no rush so I will just plod leisurely on room by room :)

Now restrictions have eased a little, I have excitedly planned a day out! I have booked and paid for tickets and will tell all once we have been - more on that next time :)

Hope you are all doing well, take care..

xx

He's a Teenager...!

Yes that's right, DS is now a teenager!
This month, we celebrated DS turning a whopping 13 years old!
Absolutely crazy!
DS's Dad and I couldn't possibly be anymore prouder of him. He's a Superstar in his own right.

DS is a good few inches taller than me now and has the strength of an Ox. He's becoming a lovely young man.

We celebrated his birthday out in the garden in the glorious sunshine with balloons, birthday cake and laughter - it was a lovely day despite what's happening worldwide.

Today has been a scorcher of a day in the UK.
I have been extremely busy. I stripped the most stubborn wallpaper in the world off the walls today with gritted teeth, then I sanded the wall and then I washed said wall down. That took most of the day but my lovely Mum did cook me a delicious Sunday roast.

I then noticed that the weeds and nettles on the other side of my fence are starting to obstruct my beautiful view of the farm next door so I decided that I was going to strim them down.
This meant removing one of the fence panels and then climbing over to strim.
It's hard work and keeping my balance is extra hard as the ground is so uneven and slopes quite steeply.

I managed it and then went to the front garden to trim a bush that is getting a bit out of hand.
I then collected all the trimmings and put them into the garden waste. The heat was beating down on me and I was getting really hot and sweating.
When I came back into the house, my face was red and I was a hot, sweaty and shattered mess plus I was shaking. I downed a couple of glasses of water and started to run a very cool bath.

I popped one of my bath bombs in and climbed in. The water was so lovely and cooling on my hot skin and I just lay there for ages soaking my limbs.
I had to drag myself out eventually but at least I was much cooler now.

I'll make sure tomorrow is a more relaxing day as I am feeling so exhausted.

The weekly Zoom sessions with my closest friends are still happening and we always enjoy them.
Last week, one of my friends suggested that we have a 'night out' via Zoom of course :)
So I popped on a set of lashes, poured myself a glass of wine and jumped on :) I sat in the garden in the evening sun for it and we all chatted away :)

I'm loving the evenings at the moment and am really savouring having a quiet moment watching the sun go down with a cup of tea, there's just something so peaceful and relaxing about it.
Anyway I best go and take my weary body to bed.

Hope you are all well, take care

xx

Lockdown Post

I realise that I haven't posted on this blog in a long time but I am hopeful that you will forgive me as time has just whizzed by!

DD's first year just whooshed by though I remember DS's first year happened exactly the same  - there seems to be nothing in a year after having a baby!

Of course now were in the middle of lockdown and have been for 6 weeks now.
I'll be the first to admit that it's hard being so cut off from loved ones and some days I really struggle with it.
Of course, I realise why we have to do it and I'm adhering to the goverment's rules but that doesn't make it any less hard and isolating.

I'm certainly kept busy with the kiddos but they are getting fed up now, I know DD is really missing her weekly classes and activities and I am too.

Several fab things have come from these strange times though and one of those happens every Friday evening :)
Friday evenings are reserved for 'Zoomin' with my bestest and oldest friends. We always have a glass of wine and are usually in our py-jamas. It's so lovely to chat away and catch up with each other - I really love it.

The weather has been glorious so far during lockdown which has made it much easier to stay home.
My DD has really enjoyed playing in the garden in the treehouse and slide. She has taken a shine to the tractor working on the farm at the back of our house which she really enjoys watching :)

Whilst she enjoys a post-lunch nap, I have been taking the opportunity to indulge in some pampering and self care love :)

I have followed YouTube tutorials on beauty treatments such as manicures, pedicure, facials and even cutting your own hair!!!! That was a nervous one to do but I didn't do a bad job :)

All in all, we've been doing okay so far and of course things like cutting my own hair is irrelevant compared to all the souls that have lost their lives to this virus.
If I have to cut my own hair for the foreesable future in order to protect lives and our wonderful NHS then I thinks that's a very small price to pay.

I hope you are all keeping well,

Much love,

Amanda xx