Silent Sunday – 17 November 201
Month: November 2013
The Beano is 75 – 2014 Beano Annual
Each and every year of my childhood life, I received the Beano and the Oor Wullie Annuals. It was just a tradition and every other child I knew also had them as a pressie on Xmas morning. We’d sort of got out of the tradition over the last few years here so it was nice to be given a copy of the Beano 2014 Annual.
One of the first things I used to do on getting mine was to sit down and read it before Christmas lunch. It was nice to see all the old favourites there and for a while I had a subscription at my local paper shop for it.
The annuals are great for boys who are not massive readers as it’s in small chunks and this will be perfect for us.
The comic is now into its 75th birthday with all the usual favourites most of us will remember.
- Dennis the Menace
- The Bash Street Kids
- Roger the Dodger
- Minnie the Minx
- Gnasher
- Billie Whizz
- Lord Snooty
The newer sections my kids loved, ie the Revolting Rhymes. Perfect for tween boys that really like that sort of thing. Boys and trumping jokes seem to go together like peanut butter and jam. Our copy has now been squirreled away and wrapped for a xmas pressie for one of my boys and it is bound to be bedtime reading in the school holidays. It really does seem like a blast from my past and I am looking forward to my boys rediscovering the joys of xmas annuals.
It’s priced £7.99 and available from WHSmith, Waterstones and all other good bookshops.
Sponsored: How to Beat the Rise in Energy Bills
Four of the UK’s ‘Big Six’ energy companies have recently announced price rises for 2013/ 14. Effective from this winter, energy companies including British Gas, npower, SSE and ScottishPower will raise their prices, with energy companies EDF Energy and E.On expected to follow in their footsteps. With the cold winter nights ahead of us, this is bad news for homeowners who are already looking for ways to slash those household bills.
To help prepare yourself for the rise in energy bills, and to cut those growing costs further, there are plenty of things that you can do to help keep those energy costs down this winter…
1) Check for cheaper providers.
When searching for the best deals for gas and electricity, remember to look beyond the ‘Big Six’ energy providers. Smaller energy companies may have better deals available, and most companies offer initial discounts to new customers.
2) Be more energy efficient
It is something that we are always advised to do, but do any of us actually put energy efficiency into practice? Simple things such as washing our clothes at 30°C and opting for showers instead of baths can greatly cut the amount of energy we consume – helping to eventually lower our overall energy
3) Upgrade your home’s current heating system
Other ways of making your home more energy efficient is to check your current heating system. Most European households use heating circulator pumps to heat the home, however if your domestic central heating pump is old then it is likely to be inefficient – meaning that it is consuming far more energy than necessary. Upgrading the circulator pump to one of the A-labelled central heating pumps available such as Grundfos MAGNA or ALPHA pumps will see you saving up to 80% in energy – reducing those pricey bills as a result.
4) Check meter readings
To guarantee that you are only being charged for the exact amount of energy that your home uses, it is a good idea to regularly check meter readings and pass these recordings onto your energy provider – this is particularly useful if you feel that your current energy provider is overcharging you.
5) Find out if any support is available
If you are struggling to pay your energy bills, most energy providers have government backed support available. This ensures that those on low-incomes can afford to heat their homes – which is of great importance during the winter months. The government also offers various types of support to elderly people who find that they cannot afford to pay for central heating in their home.
Fast Potato and Leek Vegetable Soup Recipe
Vegetable soup is just that. It can be made from anything and absolutely everything that just happens to live in your fridge or kitchen cupboard.
This version was as a result of vegetables that would likely have been thrown out in a day or two so they needed to be used up and I’d no meat out of the freezer to make a casserole or meat dish.
Fast Potato and Leek Vegetable Soup Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 Small Turnip
- 4 Medium Carrots
- 8 Medium to Large Potatoes
- 2 Large Leeks
- 1 Medium Onion
- 1 Vegetable Stock Pot
- 3 l Boiled Water
- Salt and Pepper to Taste
- Parsley to Garnish
Instructions
- This type of soup is about as simple as it gets. Put a litre of the boiled water on to moderate heat with the vegetable stock added and simmer for 5 minutes.
- While the stock is simmering, peel and chop the vegetables into smallish chunks. The smaller they are, the quicker the soup will be ready.
- Pop the vegetables into your pot and fill up the water until there is a good covering of water around the vegetables. Add more water for a thinner soup and keep it less for a thicker version. You can always add more water later if you haven't added enough.
- Sprinkle on salt and pepper to taste. Simmer for approximately 20 minutes, or until the vegetables are soft.
- Blend for a smooth soup or if you have chopped your vegetables really small you might wish to have a more watery version with the vegetables in it. I prefer the blended version. Add more salt and pepper if needed and serve with home made bread.
Custard Apple and Dragon Fruit Milkshake Recipe
I’d not tried custard apples before and thought it would be interesting to make something with them. I was a little unprepared for how it actually needed to be prepared, but the taste was very custard/banana cross like. Custard Apples need to sit until they become soft to the touch. In most other fruit, the same effect would have me reaching to throw the fruit in the bin. Don’t put them in the fridge as they don’t do well if they are too chilled.
The fruit seems squidgy and slimy as you remove the seeds and does look rather unappetising like that. Don’t worry though, as putting it into milkshake makes for a perfect consistency.
Dragon Fruit is one of my favourite fruits, so it was an easy choice to try adding that to a new shake style drink.
Out of 5 of us, only littlest was not keen, so it was a success. Littlest was put off by the seeds from the dragon fruit, though I suspect the milkshake would have been slightly more tart without it. Some children might prefer a little syrup added to the milkshake to make it sweeter, but for us, it was fine simply with fruit and milk blended.
Custard Apple and Dragon Fruit Shake
Ingredients
- 4 Custard Apples
- 2 Dragon Fruit
- 3/4 Litre Cold Milk
Instructions
- Peel and take out the seeds of the custard apples.
- Peel and chop the dragon fruit.
- Put the fruit into a blender with enough milk to make up to approximately 1.20 - 1.50 litres in your blender and blend until smooth.
- Keep your milkshake in the fridge. We prefer to put ours in the freezer for half an hour before we drink it as the kids prefer the slightly thicker consistency.
Stay At the Holiday Inn – Competition
Anyone with children will tell you that a well earned break can be enough to give us the rest and relaxation that comes with the hard work that it brings. Spending a weekend away can be enough to give us the welcome break we need, and what better if we could win one and not touch the family budget to do it.
Many of the memories we make as young children stay with us for life and who wouldn’t want make the most of lush surroundings and someone else making the evening meal. My boys were once completely impressed by the fact that a hotel room included a set of plush double bunk beds behind a big set of cupboard doors. They were only 4, 5 and 6 when they went, but they’ve never forgotten how extra special they felt at the time.
If you’re looking for a break away for free in a high quality hotel, I suspect you would take the opportunity when it came around. I know I would.
The Holiday Inn Hotels are running a wee competition that gets social media users involved in sharing their best family holiday or childhood holiday images to Twitter.
IHG are the people behind most of the Holiday Inn hotels and their competition is very easy to enter. All we have to do it post our own memories and photos of holidays and holiday hotel stays. Any family hotel photo will be what they are looking for, they don’t have to be from the Holiday Inn.
There are two parts to the competition and entry.
Part 1 – Weekend Away – Share An Image On Twitter
There are 10 weekends away to win at 10 hotels who will be asking their followers to submit their best family holiday or childhood holiday images to Twitter. To win the weekend at a Holiday Inn, you simply have to tweet a picture of one of your favourite family holiday photos or even a childhood holiday picture. To do this, you must mention the hotel you pick from the 10 to add to your tweet and also include the hashtag #himemories.
The 10 hotels that will be undertaking the photo competition are: Bloomsbury, Regent’s Park, Mayfair, Heathrow M4J4, Gatwick, Edinburgh, Glasgow, York, Kensington Forum and Bristol-Filton. Their Twitter username are below.
- Holiday Inn London Bloomsbury – @HIBloomsbury
- Holiday Inn London Regent’s Park – @HIRegentsPark
- Holiday Inn London Mayfair – @HILondonMayfair
- Holiday Inn London Heathrow M4, Jct. 4 – @HIHeathrowM4J4
- Holiday Inn London Gatwick Airport – @HIGatwickHotel
- Holiday Inn Edinburgh – @HI_Edinburgh
- Holiday Inn Glasgow Airport – @HIGlasgowAirprt
- Holiday Inn York – @HolidayInnYork1
- Holiday Inn London Kensington Forum – @HIKensington
- Holiday Inn Bristol Filton – @HIBristolFilton
Part 2 – One Night Away – Share A Memory On Twitter
For those of you who don’t have any photographs to share on Twitter with the participating hotels, you could still win a night in one of 49 other Holiday Inn hotels. You can simply describe a cherished family holiday or childhood memory in a Tweet. To do this, all you have to do is mention the hotel you would wish to stay in should you win, and describe your memory using the #himemories hastag on Twitter.
Why not try it and see if you can win yourself a night away.
This is going to be my entry:
My boys loved finding secret bunk beds behind cupboard doors in an unscheduled stop over on the way to France. #himemories @HIEdinburghWest
Here are the participating hotels and their Twitter names.
Ashford – @HIAshfordKent
Aylesbury – @HIAylesbury
Basildon – @HIBasildon
Basingstoke – @HIBasingstoke
Belfast – @HIBelfast
Bexley – @HIBexley
Birmingham M6 J7 – @HIBhamM6J7
Brentwood M25 J28 – @HI_Brentwood
Cambridge – @HICAMBRIDGE
Cardiff City Centre – @HICardiffCity
Chester South – @HIChestersouth
Colchester – @HIColchester
Coventry M6 Jct 2 – @HICoventryM6J2
Derby Nottingham – @HIDerbyNotts
Eastleigh – @HIEastleigh
Edinburgh – City West – @HIEdinburghWest
Fareham – @HIFareham
Farnborough – @HIFarnborough
Gloucester – @higloucester
Guildford – @HolidayInnGuild
Haydock M6 Jct 23 – @HIHaydock
Heathrow Ariel – @HolidayInnAriel
Hemel Hempstead M1J8 – @HIHemelHempM1
High Wycombe M40 J4 – @HIhighwycombe
Hull Marina – @HIHullMarina
Ipswich – @HIIpswich
Lancaster – @HILancasterUK
Leeds Brighouse – @BrighouseHI
Leeds Wakefield M1 J40 – @HIWakefield
Leicester – @HILeicesterCity
London – Brent Cross – @HI_BrentCross
London – Commercial Road – @HICommercialRd
London – Sutton – @HISutton
Maidenhead – @HIMaidenhead
Maidstone – @HIMaidstone
Milton Keynes – @HI_MiltonKeynes
Norwich – @HINorwich
Oxford – @HIOxford
Portsmouth – @HIPortsmouth
Reading South – @HIReadingSouth
Rochester – @HI_Rochester
Rugby Northampton – @HolidayInnRugby
Runcorn – @HIRuncorn
Southampton – @HISouthampton
Stoke on Trent M6 J15 – @HIStokeonTrent
Swindon – @HISwindon
Taunton M5 Jct 25 – @HITaunton
Warrington – @HIWarrington
Washington – @HIWashington
The Terms and Conditions are here.
Sponsored: Childrens Swimming Lessons
As a family, we spent an absolute fortune on swimming lessons when my kids were younger. I found it hard to see any actual difference in their ability to swim after a couple of dozen lessons.
I’m not sure if it was the way they were taught that my children found difficult to follow, or whether they were just not interested, but we gave up and just went swimming ourselves for years. Swimming aids are great for boosting confidence in the water and we used a few different options from floats to noodles to get their confidence in the water.
When were on holiday and in Aberdeenshire, we decided to book eldest and littlest in for intensive swimming lessons. Middler is at special school and they have swimming lessons weekly there, so it seemed pointless to expose him to more lessons that he was going to find difficult to follow. My brief to the staff was that I didn’t care if my kids could swim “properly.” I just wanted them to be able to keep their heads above water and be able to breathe if they landed out of their depth in a pool, river or anywhere else with some water they could land in.
It took a while, but by the end of the first week, they were managing to hold their heads up and take a breath which was all I really wanted to be able to happen. It’s all very well being able to swim underwater, but it isn’t any use if they can’t breathe.
My kids go through swimming googles like nobodys business. They have a bad habit of leaving them lying in changing rooms or forgetting to pick them up when they leave the pool. It’s probably just as well there is a great range of fun kids swimming goggles from Zoggs so we can just go have some more. I’ve learned to always keep a spare pair or two in our swimming bags, but for some reason, we always seem to run out of them very quickly.
This is a sponsored post.
National Adoption Week 2013
This week is national adoption week.
It’s no secret that we adopted 3 boys a decade ago. Looking back on the long and invasive process that often made me feel like I was an errant schoolgirl giving evidence of playground tomfoolery, we nearly fell at the first hurdle. My husband found the intrusion very difficult and repeatedly having to go over and over and over previous deaths in the family and how that made him feel seemed more appropriate to a crime interrogation than finding out if we were possibly going to be good parents.
Birth parents don’t have to undergo such intrusive techniques or trickery to try to catch you out in case you are lying and I know there are good reasons for trying to spot the chink in the armour of every prospective adopter, but it doesn’t make the process any easier to go through. I found IVF much more simple and with less stress and worry than the adoption assessments.
I became obsessed with whether our house was clean enough for social worker visits, and whether I had just the right amount of biscuits to not be classed as a potential over feeder. I cleaned the spare rooms before every visit, just in case it would be the week they would ask us without warning to have a look at the rooms that children would live in. The medicals the financial assessments, the family skeletons discussed – nothing was left unvisited. I felt under scrutiny in all parts of my life.
Family was visited, friends were visited, and each time I worried they might recite some long forgotten incident from my youth that might have me seen as unacceptable to adopt. Long phone calls afterwards asking what they said, how it was said, and how did the social worker take it ensued, and I am sure I must have driven my references absolutely mad with my questions.
By the time we reach adoption, most of us have finished with the long rounds of treatments and invasive technology to try to have our own birth children. There are those who adopt to add to their birth families, but for the most part, the majority of adopters and potential adopters I’ve known have been people who couldn’t have children naturally.
I’ve been told I am lucky to have adopted, yet those same people don’t understand that adopting children is only the first real rung on a possibly very difficult to climb ladder. The children might be still with birth parents, languishing in children’s homes, with foster parents, or they might have already been to one set of parents and rejected there too. There are few babies up for adoption that haven’t suffered trauma, alcohol or drugs while they were in the womb, or with the after effects living with birth parents and it’s only right that we should have some preparation of what life might be like.
For some adopters, receiving their child or children might go smoothly at first, and it might stay like that for ever. For the majority, there will be a lifelong commitment to children who will need help to understand their past and their new future. There are so many considerations that birth children wouldn’t face, but the support is very lacking for parents that take children who struggle.
Imagine the older children in foster care, or children’s home waiting for a forever family that might never happen. What does that say about us as a nation that so few of us actually take the plunge and bring a child into our families and homes?
For many, adoption is by no means easy. There are so many considerations to take into account. For us, we’ve recently been exposed to some birth family through the wonders of Facebook. We’ve met lots of siblings, for whom the process has been positive, yet it could have gone so differently.
My children, a teen and two rapidly approaching the teenage years have lots of questions, worries and stressors.
I don’t love them any less.
My boys are growing tall, their blonde hair floats in the wind with their blue and grey eyes. They look like my husband so nobody ever guesses they are adopted, yet they have no problem telling people about all their brothers and sisters. I’m ok with that, but other adoptive parents have to think about how they are going to cope with it as their children grow.
Our assessment seemed to be just like the pregnancy of a woman. One bad experience of labour doesn’t put women off getting pregnant again and again and again. In the same way, I’d do the same thing again, no matter how difficult it can be with one of my boys diagnosed with Foetal Alcohol Syndrome who is unpredictable and often aggressive for no reason.
I’d do it all again if I was in the same situation and the world needs more families who are willing to change their lives and make a very real difference to a child in waiting, waiting for that forever family they can call their own.
Sponsored: Keeping Warm Over Winter
The NHS states “Cold homes have a significant impact on people’s health. One of the best ways of keeping yourself well during the winter is to stay warm.”
Keeping warm can help us cut down on our risk of health problems like cold, flu and even heart problems. Last year, we had almost a month in the very cold weather with ZERO heating. Our boiler packed up and the new one that arrived was also faulty. Luckily we had a duel fuel system and still had hot water on electric and the gas fire in the lounge. It was just the gas heating in the rest of the house that we struggled with and the kids hated having showers in really cold rooms.
There are certain people who are more vulnerable to when it’s cold:
- Over 65’s.
- Babies
- People with long term health conditions.
- The disabled.
- Low income groups.
In the UK, the NHS says that around 25,000 – 30,000 deaths a year are linked to the cold weather. We can look at ways to keep warm over the winter which can also help keep costs down.
To stay well over the winter, we can try some of these tips:
- Get our flu jabs. Over 65’s or those who are pregnant or have some medical conditions, or are carers will get it free. I am classed as a carer and get my injection every year as soon as it is available in a bid to help stop the flu in our home but before I was eligible for the free flu jab, I used to pay for it yearly.
- Set our heating properly. Keeping doors and windows closed is sensible to keep the heat in.
- Wear layers of clothing and suitable footwear for outdoor cold weather when we go out.
- Eat well. Eating hot food and drinks as well as keeping active is another way to try and keep warm.
- Electric blankets are ideal for keeping cosy without breaking the bank.
- Hot water bottles are perfect for keeping our feet warm and cosy in front of the TV.
- Close the curtains as soon as they daylight stops.
I know we could use a stylish wall fire from TJ Hughes for our home office as the radiator in there really isn’t big enough to heat the room properly. It gets overheated in summer and is extra cold in winter. Perhaps that is because it has a very large window, but the extra heat would be very welcome in there.
If you are on a low income and feel you might struggle with fuel this year, there are some cold weather benefits you might like to spend a bit of time to find out if you are eligible for. Some of the most common ones are:
- Grants for winter fuel payments and cold weather payments.
- Winter fuel payments for those born before July 5 1951.
This is a sponsored post.
Silent Sunday – 03 November 2013
Mini Victoria Sponge Cakes with Buttercream & Jam
To make my small Victoria Sponge cakes, I use the red Pyrex Silicone Muffin Cases from Tesco which do the job brilliantly and are really easy to squish up in my kitchen cupboard. Sometimes the kids don’t want a slice of cake, and if I put some into lunch boxes, it’s easier when the cakes are individual. Kids also want to have things that look different from their friends who have their cakes in traditional paper cases, and I’m happy to oblige.
These fairly plain and standard cakes are firm favourites with my boys and so easy to make as well.
Individual Victoria Sponge Cakes with Buttercream and Jam
Ingredients
- 8 oz Plain Flour
- 8 oz Butter
- 8 oz Caster Sugar
- 4 Eggs
- Icing Sugar
Icing
- 5 oz Butter
- 10 oz Icing Sugar
- Jam
Instructions
- Cream the sugar and butter and set the oven to 160 degrees c.
- Add in the eggs and beat or mix until smooth.
- Sift in the flour.
- Divide into individual cake cases.
- Bake for 15 - 20 minutes, or until a skewer tester comes out clean.
- Turn out cakes and leave them to cools lightly before splitting them in half across the centre to give two cake halves.
- Mix butter and icing to make the buttercream icing.
- Spread the buttercream icing and jam on individual cake halves and then put them together and finish with a dusting of icing sugar.
Health Benefits of Eating Lamb
We all like to look for dishes that give us wholesome food for the family.
Lamb is meat from a young sheep and often available in different cuts to suit different methods of cooking. It’s also possible to get lamb mince that we can use to make our own meatballs, burgers and patties.
In response to the question “I know that I should avoid fatty cuts of beef and pork, but what about lamb? Is it okay?” Oprahs resident doctor David L. Katz, MD responded that there is no good reason to avoid lamb.
He states:
“There’s no overriding health reason to stay away from lamb. Its nutritional value is influenced by the cut, and the leanest choices include loin, shank, and leg, all of which are often comparable to beef or pork in terms of calories and fat—about 150 to 170 calories per 3-ounce serving, and 2 to 3 grams of saturated fat. However, some cuts of lamb—blade as well as ground lamb—can be 20 to 30 calories per serving higher than their beef counterparts.”
While also mentioning knowing how the animal has been raised being important, he stresses that grass-fed animals have higher amounts of omega-3 fatty acids than grain fed.
Health Benefits of Eating Lamb and Other Meat Include:
- A good source of high quality protein.
- A good source of heart healthy omega-3 fatty acids.
- A good source of iron.
- A good source of vitamin B12.
- A good source of zinc.
- Reduced fat with good cooking practices.
Cooking with Lamb
Almost any dishes we cook with beef can be replicated with lamb.
- Lamb has an almost gamey taste which is ideal for curry or for slow cooking. Lamb shanks make ideal soup broths and do very well roasted but it’s important to know which cuts you are buying. Lamb fillet and chops can be expensive to buy and your butcher can advise you on the best cut for the meal you plan to cook.
- Cheaper cuts of lamb are ideal for slow cooking as the process tenderises the meat.
- Shoulder cuts can be roasted as a joint with vegetables and is ideal for cooking in a roasting bag. The juices will flavour the vegetables and with some herbs and spices it makes for a dish that can taste differently each time you prepare it. As an alternative, shoulder is ideal for stews and casseroles and also does well in a slow cooker.
- Scrag and neck really need to be cooked slowly to get the best out of them. The best option would be to dice the pieces before cooking to maximise the cooking process.
- Chump is a cut that can be treated like a steak and grilled, roasted or shallow fried.
- The breast of the lamb can be fairly inexpensive and needs cooked slowly. It is quite fatty but the fat can be cut off or poured off after the cooking process.
- The most famous of lamb recipes has to be the lamb rack. It’s impressive and couldn’t fail to make a splash on the dinner table if you are entertaining in the holiday season this year.
What to do with leftovers is always something to think about. Lamb curry is an idea way to use up leftover lamb and make a delicious and filling meal that will fill up the family.
This post was written in collaboration with Tesco
For your dry potato, look for Kerrs Pink, September onwards.
My nana used to say it to me, I’m sure I heard my mam say it too. We were from…
This is the first recipe I've used in my new breadmaker and the family are all loving it!