Family time is important, but equally so is time for yourself, so in this busy world we live in - don't forget.... make time for you to relax, refresh and recharge, because lets face it you deserve it!
Thursday, 21 January 2016
Bath time....
Ah the bubbles and the warm bubbly water - as we all know, nothing better than bathing the little ones to help them relax before bed and settle down for a restful nights sleep, but when it comes to mummy relaxing in a lovely warm +LUSH bathbomb infused bath.... nope! Suddenly everyone needs to go for a tinkle before bed, brush their teeth, fill a glass of water.... it goes on and on, so no tonight's relaxing mummy bubble bath did not happen, therefore I have decided that from now on indulgent, relaxing bubbly mummy time will have to happen during school hours - just checked my diary, pencilled myself in for a warm relaxing soak next Thursday - can't wait! But just to reassure you readers - I will still take a daily shower haha!
Family time is important, but equally so is time for yourself, so in this busy world we live in - don't forget.... make time for you to relax, refresh and recharge, because lets face it you deserve it!
Family time is important, but equally so is time for yourself, so in this busy world we live in - don't forget.... make time for you to relax, refresh and recharge, because lets face it you deserve it!
Thursdays tea - slow cooked savoury mince
Thursday is one of my days off, so I like to throw something in the slow cooker that'll make the house smell homely and scrummy. My family (hubby and daughters 6&9) all love traditional, comforting home cooked dishes, so tonight we're having savoury mince with roast potatoes, peas and Yorkshire puds. There is no exact science to my savoury mince recipe and sometimes I just add a packet mix, but today I have made it from scratch. I tend to try and use what I have in the fridge, and also, seasons and weather permitting - I like to eat what we grow at the allotment, you can follow also follow our allotment blog - http://myallotmentadventure.blogspot.co.uk/.
So with the help of my sear and stew slow cooker - it usually ends up a tasty hearty meal that everyone enjoys. I love this type of slow cooker as it can be used on the hob, then all ingredients transferred in the pot to continue cooking in the slow cooker - less fuss, less dishes!
Here's the recipe for todays tea, I hope you try it and would love to know how yours turned out.
Mummy Moo-Moos Savoury Mince
Ingredients
Splash of oil
1 large chopped onion
1-2 chopped stalks of celery
2 chopped carrots
2 cloves of garlic - crushed
500g minced beef
A sprinkle of mixed herbs
A sprinkle of paprika
Dash of Worcestershire sauce (I would have added this if I had some!)
1 beef oxo cube
200mls water
sprinkle of gravy granules
Method
1. Heat oil in pan and add onion, celery, carrots and cook until softened.
2. Add minced beef and garlic, cook for a couple of minutes until brown
3. Add herbs and paprika - stir.
4. Mix oxo cube with water and add to the pot, splash on the Worcestershire sauce and stir.
5. Transfer ingredients to slow cooker.
6. Cook on low for 4-6 hours
7. Thicken with gravy granules and serve.
Serves 5 portions - 222cals per serving
So with the help of my sear and stew slow cooker - it usually ends up a tasty hearty meal that everyone enjoys. I love this type of slow cooker as it can be used on the hob, then all ingredients transferred in the pot to continue cooking in the slow cooker - less fuss, less dishes!
Here's the recipe for todays tea, I hope you try it and would love to know how yours turned out.
Mummy Moo-Moos Savoury Mince
Ingredients
Splash of oil
1 large chopped onion
1-2 chopped stalks of celery
2 chopped carrots
2 cloves of garlic - crushed
500g minced beef
A sprinkle of mixed herbs
A sprinkle of paprika
Dash of Worcestershire sauce (I would have added this if I had some!)
1 beef oxo cube
200mls water
sprinkle of gravy granules
Method
1. Heat oil in pan and add onion, celery, carrots and cook until softened.
2. Add minced beef and garlic, cook for a couple of minutes until brown
3. Add herbs and paprika - stir.
4. Mix oxo cube with water and add to the pot, splash on the Worcestershire sauce and stir.
5. Transfer ingredients to slow cooker.
6. Cook on low for 4-6 hours
7. Thicken with gravy granules and serve.
Serves 5 portions - 222cals per serving
Just not feeling it...?
No matter how determined you are at the start of the year, its so hard to keep your motivation going especially during a busy week with the family. This week has been a huge struggle for me - following last weeks amazing step totals and new +Fitbit badges, so far this week I've not met my step goal once! Now not only am I not feeling the love for fitness, moving and anything energetic, I'm now also annoyed with myself for not achieving this week... pffft.... vicious circle - NO! No, no, no! I could just sit in my pj's all day, drinking coffee and eating chocolate - or I could put on my work out gear and get this thing done!
So far this year I have done looooong walks, and also used my treadmill (quite good when its raining actually, I can put a film on my laptop and then walk and watch. But I've spotted the rarely used xbox and wii in the cupboard - I think I might give these a whirl today, well, do a session on the wii fit this morning, break for lunch - pop to shops as I still need to get a mix for tea, then back home and watch and walk before the school pick up.... yes, that is the plan - current steps today - 854, step goal 15,000 - what am I waiting for? No more excuses! Go, Go, Go!!!
So far this year I have done looooong walks, and also used my treadmill (quite good when its raining actually, I can put a film on my laptop and then walk and watch. But I've spotted the rarely used xbox and wii in the cupboard - I think I might give these a whirl today, well, do a session on the wii fit this morning, break for lunch - pop to shops as I still need to get a mix for tea, then back home and watch and walk before the school pick up.... yes, that is the plan - current steps today - 854, step goal 15,000 - what am I waiting for? No more excuses! Go, Go, Go!!!
Sunday, 17 January 2016
A lovely day out...
Well after checking the weather app and the tidal forecast I decided on a trip to the beach - and what an absolutely lovely time we had, plenty of fresh air, plenty of space to run, rock pools to explore shells and beach treasures to find, quality time together, even the dog enjoyed zooming around, barking at the sand and the freedom of running around off her lead.
The beach we went to was Portwrinkle on the south coast of Cornwall, it's not a beautiful golden sands type beach but more shingly and rocky.
Parking in winter is charged at 10p for an hour or 50p all day (much cheaper than it's summertime rates!).
Across the road from the carpark is a public toilet - perfect for a quick stop before continuing on to the beach.
Just along from the carpark is the Whitsand bay hotel which offers a lovely menu and Sunday roasts, and what better day to walk off the delicious food than a walk on the beach.
There's also a beautiful little cafe called 'The Jolly Roger', that over looks the beach, but we didn't go there today. Here they offer hit and cold drinks, light meals and icecreams.
Getting to the beach - easily accessed by a concrete path - it's quite steep, but compared to other local beeches probably one of the more easily accessible ones.
Notes for future visits - picnics and body boards for warmer weather, soup picnics while it's still chilly. Good beach for kite flying.
All in all a refreshing January's walk -
Total spend £0.50
Mummy Moo-moo rating 8/10
This weeks meal plan and shop - monday 18th January
This week I have the inlaws coming for tea on Monday - Mr Moo-moo is cooking a spaghetti Bolognese - which I'm certain will be delicious.
Lunches - the girls will have cooked lunch in school, I will have teriyaki stir fry veggies and salmon mon, tues and wed, thurs and Friday will probably be homemade soup from the freezer or eggs. Mr Moo-moo will forage the cupboards and shops for his lunches.
Tea time as always depends on shifts and clubs, so here's the plan, with cost and shopping list - as usual purchased online at +Sainsbury's , shopping list included at the end. There are also extra snacks, cereals etc on there.
The only additions to this will be bread, milk and savoury mince packet mix that I couldn't get online. Oh and freezer tea is whatever I can find in there.... may be a strange selection but the girls usually love it.
Lunches - the girls will have cooked lunch in school, I will have teriyaki stir fry veggies and salmon mon, tues and wed, thurs and Friday will probably be homemade soup from the freezer or eggs. Mr Moo-moo will forage the cupboards and shops for his lunches.
Tea time as always depends on shifts and clubs, so here's the plan, with cost and shopping list - as usual purchased online at +Sainsbury's , shopping list included at the end. There are also extra snacks, cereals etc on there.
The only additions to this will be bread, milk and savoury mince packet mix that I couldn't get online. Oh and freezer tea is whatever I can find in there.... may be a strange selection but the girls usually love it.
Mon
18th Jan 2016
Monday –
Bolognese, pasta, garlic bread… inlaws here for tea.
Tuesday – Mr
Moo-moo: pizza Mrs: zoodles, bacon,
onions, philli
Snack tea for afterschool club:
chicken satay, crackers, cuc/carrot/pepper
& humous, granola bar
Wednesday – Adults - Bacon/sausage
sandwich
Snack tea for afterschool club:
chicken satay, crackers, cuc/carrot/pepper
& humous, granola bar
Thursday – Slow cooker savoury
mince, roast pots, Yorkshire puds
Friday – Chicken
kiev, caul and broc cheese & peas
Saturday – Ham rolls for lunch, freezer tea
Total
-£10 online voucher = £53.55
Quantity
|
Product
|
Price
|
1
|
Sainsbury's Garlic Baguette x2 420g
|
£1.40
|
1
|
Sainsbury's Houmous, SO Organic 200g
|
£1.20
|
1
|
Sainsbury's Courgetti 300g
|
£1.20
|
1
|
Schweppes Elderflower Tonic Water 1L
|
£1.20
|
1
|
Sainsbury's Popcorn Sweet Cinema Style Basics 160g
|
£1.15
|
1
|
Sainsbury's Pepperoni, Basics 60g
|
£1.00
|
1
|
Sainsbury's Carrots 1kg
|
£0.60
|
2
|
Sainsbury's Beef Mince 10% Fat 500g
|
£7.40
|
1
|
Sainsbury's English Butter, Salted 250g
|
£0.85
|
1
|
Peperami Original 5x25g
|
£2.50
|
1
|
Premier Deli Breaded Ham 250g
|
£1.50
|
1
|
Sainsbury's Easy Peelers x6 (minimum)
|
£1.00
|
1
|
Sainsbury's Frosted Flakes Cereal 750g
|
£1.95
|
1
|
Sainsbury's Fresh Teriyaki & Ginger Stir Fry Sauce 175ml
|
£0.85
|
1
|
Copella Orange Original 1.5L
|
£2.00
|
1
|
Sainsbury's Roast Potatoes 900g
|
£1.00
|
1
|
Sainsbury's Pink Lady Apples x5 (minimum)
|
£2.25
|
1
|
Sainsbury's Pineapple Pieces In Juice, Basics 227g
|
£0.35
|
1
|
Sainsbury's Onions 1kg
|
£0.80
|
1
|
Petits Filous Frubes Strawberry 9x40g
|
£1.00
|
2
|
Sainsbury's Cheddar Cheese Sauce Mix 40g
|
£0.80
|
1
|
Sainsbury's Smoked Back Bacon, Basics 250g
|
£1.50
|
2
|
Taste Original Mini Chicken Satay x12
|
£4.00
|
1
|
Sainsbury's Granola Bars Maple Syrup 4x42g
|
£1.40
|
1
|
Sainsbury's Red Pepper (each)
|
£0.60
|
1
|
Sainsbury's Cucumber Whole
|
£0.45
|
1
|
Sainsbury's Tortilla Chips, Basics 200g
|
£0.55
|
1
|
Sainsbury's Thin & Crispy Meat Feast Pizza 10'' 325g
|
£1.80
|
1
|
Pedigree Dentastix, Small Dog x7
|
£1.50
|
1
|
Sainsbury's Lemon & Raisin Pancakes x8
|
£0.70
|
1
|
Müller Light Red Fruit Yogurt 6x175g
|
£2.00
|
1
|
Warburtons Teacakes x4
|
£0.65
|
1
|
Sainsbury's British Cauliflower & Broccoli Floret Mix 1kg
|
£1.20
|
1
|
Sainsbury's Avocado, Ripe & Ready x2
|
£1.80
|
1
|
Sainsbury's Chicken Garlic Kievs x4 568g
|
£2.65
|
1
|
Sainsbury's Yorkshire Pudding, Basics x15 230g
|
£0.50
|
3
|
Sainsbury's Microwave Rice Basmati 250g
|
£1.50
|
1
|
Dolmio Bolognese Pasta Sauce Original 500g
|
£1.00
|
1
|
Sainsbury's Stir Fry, Basics 700g
|
£1.00
|
1
|
Sainsbury's Free Range Mixed Weight Eggs x6
|
£0.85
|
1
|
Young's Boneless Pink Salmon Fillets x4 360g
|
£3.50
|
1
|
Ritz Breaks Original Crackers 190g
|
£1.00
|
Saturday, 16 January 2016
The end of week 2...
And to top it all off, I achieved my +Fitbit highest stepping day ever this week -
Eating - I've not done too bad this week, just under on my calories all week, only 2 glasses of wine!
Weight - disastrous! Well I put 1lb on! The hubby thinks this is likely to be muscle, but I'm ok with it - I 'feel' slimmer, and my tummy feels happier from not eating junk.
All that said, it is only week 2, so let's keep going, keep moving and do this!
#findyourfit #fitbit #myfitnesspal #determination #Perseverance
Happy new year!
Yes I'm a little late with my happy new year, but I hope so far you've had a great one!
So what plans do I have and what can you expect on my blog this year....
Firstly 2016 for me is about family, money saving, healthy eating and getting fit - and how will I achieve this whilst also working 3 days a week? With plans and lists - my favourite things, because lets face it, without these I'm quite likely to forget everything.
So firstly family - you may or may not know, my little family consist of yours truly, Mr Moo-Moo (nickname given by my littlest squishy), my 2 daughters and of course Fifi the dog and Honey-boy the guineapig. We're a busy household, the girls obviously have school Monday - Friday, plus various clubs which include, cross country, rainbows, brownies and swimming. I work Monday to Wednesday - which means we have to use afterschool care for the girls, and Mr Moo-moo works full time and shift work which means we have to fit family outings and trips around this. I'm hoping to share our days out, trips away and camping with you - the logistics, costs and fun we have along the way!
Secondly on to the money saving, now its my job to organise the shopping and grub - so I will mostly be on-line shopping, I find this cuts down on impulse buys, I can plan my weekly menu from the comfort of my settee and have the cupboard, fridge and freezer on hand, which is essential in cutting down on duplicate purchases. I mostly use +Sainsbury's, my main reason for this is that they have nectar points, we like to save these through the year and then the points contribute to the Christmas shop; last year we clocked up a fantastic £80 which was fantastic to add all those extra luxuries to the shop.
Now that said - I do also like to support local business, so will also use my local butcher and greengrocer, the quality of these are fantastic and I can't grumble at the prices either.
In addition to this we are luckily enough to have an allotment, its not huge, but it does give us the opportunity to grow our own, spend time in the fresh air and have a family interest - plus the girls love a shed picnic in the summer. We are nowhere near self sufficient, but every little helps as the the saying goes. I will post updates on this, but also have a separate blog for the allotment -
http://myallotmentadventure.blogspot.co.uk/
Thirdly - healthy eating and getting fit - that old chestnut! I know, this is something I aim to do at the beginning of most years, but this year I have to do it! I'm increasing my exercise - and no I'm not going to the gym, I have purchased a fitbit and intend to clock up 2016 miles in 2016 - by walking, hoping, crawling, running (eventually!). It works out at around 5.5 miles a day - yes this does seem quite a lot, but I want to have a goal, not an easy one and not an impossible one, but I think this target is do-able. Along side this I'm going to eat healthy whole food - not all the time because that totally unrealistic and I think would be setting me up for a big fat fail, so I will be tracking food with +MyFitnessPal - which syncs with fitbit to give accurate calories burned, exercise, sleep etc.
Well there it is in a nutshell - what I will be aiming to achieve and blogging about through 2016,I've added pages for each section along the top, so check back regularly and I hope that some of it helps you along the way, please feel free to comment and make suggestions - happy 2016! Lets do this!
So what plans do I have and what can you expect on my blog this year....
Firstly 2016 for me is about family, money saving, healthy eating and getting fit - and how will I achieve this whilst also working 3 days a week? With plans and lists - my favourite things, because lets face it, without these I'm quite likely to forget everything.
So firstly family - you may or may not know, my little family consist of yours truly, Mr Moo-Moo (nickname given by my littlest squishy), my 2 daughters and of course Fifi the dog and Honey-boy the guineapig. We're a busy household, the girls obviously have school Monday - Friday, plus various clubs which include, cross country, rainbows, brownies and swimming. I work Monday to Wednesday - which means we have to use afterschool care for the girls, and Mr Moo-moo works full time and shift work which means we have to fit family outings and trips around this. I'm hoping to share our days out, trips away and camping with you - the logistics, costs and fun we have along the way!
Secondly on to the money saving, now its my job to organise the shopping and grub - so I will mostly be on-line shopping, I find this cuts down on impulse buys, I can plan my weekly menu from the comfort of my settee and have the cupboard, fridge and freezer on hand, which is essential in cutting down on duplicate purchases. I mostly use +Sainsbury's, my main reason for this is that they have nectar points, we like to save these through the year and then the points contribute to the Christmas shop; last year we clocked up a fantastic £80 which was fantastic to add all those extra luxuries to the shop.
Now that said - I do also like to support local business, so will also use my local butcher and greengrocer, the quality of these are fantastic and I can't grumble at the prices either.
In addition to this we are luckily enough to have an allotment, its not huge, but it does give us the opportunity to grow our own, spend time in the fresh air and have a family interest - plus the girls love a shed picnic in the summer. We are nowhere near self sufficient, but every little helps as the the saying goes. I will post updates on this, but also have a separate blog for the allotment -
http://myallotmentadventure.blogspot.co.uk/
Thirdly - healthy eating and getting fit - that old chestnut! I know, this is something I aim to do at the beginning of most years, but this year I have to do it! I'm increasing my exercise - and no I'm not going to the gym, I have purchased a fitbit and intend to clock up 2016 miles in 2016 - by walking, hoping, crawling, running (eventually!). It works out at around 5.5 miles a day - yes this does seem quite a lot, but I want to have a goal, not an easy one and not an impossible one, but I think this target is do-able. Along side this I'm going to eat healthy whole food - not all the time because that totally unrealistic and I think would be setting me up for a big fat fail, so I will be tracking food with +MyFitnessPal - which syncs with fitbit to give accurate calories burned, exercise, sleep etc.
Well there it is in a nutshell - what I will be aiming to achieve and blogging about through 2016,I've added pages for each section along the top, so check back regularly and I hope that some of it helps you along the way, please feel free to comment and make suggestions - happy 2016! Lets do this!
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