Posted on 7 Comments

Jam and Cream Roulade (Roly Poly) – No Oil or Fat – Modify for Dairy / Lactose Free

 I just have to share the recipe for this one.  I didn’t build it from any recipe that was in any book.  It is simply trial and error, and I finally hit on a masterpiece that my children absolutely adore. 

I bake – a lot.  I bake blind – a lot.  I throw things in, measure how much they are and judge from the mixture, and how it looks, to tell me if it is enough or not. 

This recipe for the roulade is one that is very popular with my kids and there is NO fat in it at all. 

Are you listening – None at all.  Sugar, eggs and flour, yes, but NO fat, butter, marg, or oil.  

 The cake does still come out lovely and moist.  My boys love the fact that I also use sugar strands to add a little decoration to the mix.

Ingredients
4 oz caster sugar
3 whole eggs, and 1 extra egg white
2.5/3 oz plain flour
1 oz sugar strands
1 teaspoon vanilla flavouring, or 5 drops vanilla essence
Jam and Cream (or custard / marmalade / butter icing) for filling

Method
Put caster sugar and eggs into a mixing bowl, or mixer and whisk until it begins to thicken.   When the mixture turns almost totally white and lt leaves a trail, similar to yoghurt, it is ready. 

Simply add in the vanilla flavouring, and fold in the flour and sugar strands.

Use a baking tray about 8″ x 10″ and line with baking paper.  Tip mixture into the tin.

Bake at 200 C/400F/Gas 6  for approximately10 – 15 minutes.  While baking, the sugar strands should sink to the bottom of the mixture.   When the roulade is lightly golden brown and feels cakey to the touch, remove it from the oven.

Place a piece of baking paper onto a table, sprinkle caster sugar all over the paper and tip your cooked mix out onto the paper.  Press lightly onto the caster sugar and peel off the backing baking paper.  Turn over the piece of roulade and repeat for the other side (which should be coloured with the sugar strands, and coated in the caster sugar). 

Leave the roulade on the baking paper.  Roll it up while hot, and close both ends to stop it unrolling.  I use elastic bands on either end.

Leave it to cool until it is completely cool. 

If you unroll while it is still warm, it will fall apart. 

When it is completely cool, unroll it, spread on whipped cream and jam, and roll it back up again. 

 I had to cut mine into two pieces, as one piece was too big for the one plate.

Then, simply slice and eat. 

This roll must be kept in the fridge after making as it is fresh cream, and there is no fat in the recipe.

I used a lot of cream for my recipe, about 6 oz double cream whipped would give a more  perfect looking roll. 

 I used more than that, and added jam so not so much room to have a perfect swirl.  It all depends on how perfect you like your roll to look.  If you want to remove fat totally, or have dairy free, you could use cream alternatives, or make different fillings, eg lemon curd, butter icing using dairy free spreads etc etc.

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Thinking Slimmer – 1st Week In the Trial

I’ve decided to update my Thinking Slimmer post  to let you know how I am going with it.  I have even give it a category all of its’ own.  At the moment, I am not terribly sure how well it is going.  It is still early days in the scheme of the programme.   The programme states that it takes about three weeks for it to become a new habit.  I am ok with that.

How am I doing so far?

In the first few days, I was not sure if the programme was working, or if the fact that I was on the programme was the incentive in itself.  Even, by the nature of posting the results, and reviewing the programme, it can have a placebo type effect.  That’s what I told myself anyway.

Now getting to the first week in, I am noticing small changes, as the programme tells me.  I am making better food choices already.  I am not eating so much, and my confidence is improving.  There is nothing like keeping on hearing it, to help you believe in yourself.

We should try this on the kids when they are dropping off to sleep.  “You will be quiet and respect your mother in the supermarket.”  Joking aside, I am feeling much more positive than I did a week ago.   Is it coincidence, or is it as a result of the programme?  I don’t know, and only time will tell how it works for me.

I have decided not to weigh.  I become obsessed with numbers when I step on the scale, and I want to free myself of that particular reason to shake my confidence.   I am going to do this differently from how Thinking Slimmer is judging results so far.   As a stress eater, taking the stress out of the equation is the best option for me.

I am going to judge my losses and how it works by my clothes and how comfortable I feel, and how positive my outlook becomes.    I don’t want to look at the scales and see how many pounds I have dropped.  I want to know how good I feel wearing whatever sized clothes I am putting on, and how I feel when I look in the mirror.

Roll on week 2.   I began quite sceptical and I have been pleasantly surprised so far.    There is still a long way to go, but  am positive about it rather than feeling like I am being deprived on a diet 24/7.

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The Lure of the BMX Bike – Peer Pressure at Work

 My eldest wanted a new bike at christmas, but it couldn’t just be any bike.  It had to be a BMX.   The reason for that was that he wanted the “cool” badge at school by having one.    He also wanted to be able to start doing stunts, and needed a bike that you can turn the handlebars right round in a 360 degree circle without any cables getting in the way.

I think it looks ridiculous to see those big lads on those teensy bikes, but that’s what he wanted, and thanks to a sale in a toy shop, that’s what he got.  He is happy as larry, and enjoys spending time with his BMX.

What it also raises is the red flag of the peer pressure and how it affects our children when they are only really very young.  Right from babies, on TV there are adverts aimed at them.  Cereals, sweets, toys from October onwards, and there seems little we can do to shield them from it. 

Even if we self consciously ban TV channels that carry the adverts, and keep them away from films and programmes that we don’t approve of – they still ARE going to find out all about them in the most gory sense of the words, and without the benefit of censoring.

School playgrounds and parks are hotbeds of gossip, slander, and peer pressure.  If you are at a non-uniform school and happen to wear the wrong trainers, the consequences can wound you past adulthood.

When my children were very young, I decided that I would not bow to peer pressure, and that my children would wear what I bought them and be done with it. 

Several years on, I am glad that there are some discount sports shops and ways to get hold of sports gear and shoes at reasonable prices, or I would struggle to meet the demands that our children place on themselves, AND have placed upon them by others.

Yes, there is the argument that there are children worse off than ours, and that ours should be grateful for what they have.   I have had a lot to do with disadvantaged children, and believe me, that argument won’t hold water with your children, or stand up when they are being made a fool of by the children who “have”.

Our children live in the socio economic circles of their peers (in most cases).   They can no more understand the difficulties surrounding children who have little, than we can understand how our great great grandmothers cleaned and cooked and provided for families of 14 children or more in two rooms.  

What we can do, is try to keep it within reason, and not try to keep up with the children who will always have everything.  Most of those children who get everything will never appreciate the value of their money, or the ability to manage a budget (you know the ones, with every new product going, and a new toy nearly every day).

I have accepted that my children can not match many of those children, but I provide for some of the things that they “need” to be accepted when it fits my budget.   The right trainers are do-able at the discount sports shops, as are some football kits.  I buy the football boots in the sales and stock up on the next sizes.   I don’t go overboard, and if my kids had their way, they would have every game console and game that is on the market (and believe me some of their friends do have that). 

There are times that we have to accept the peer pressure, and work within it to give our children the self-esteem that they need to live among their peers, but also be responsible enough not to let them be the pampered brats that grow up respecting nobody. 

It’s a fine line between showing off and being practical.  Sadly, it is the children who always end up at the end of it, suffering at either end of the scale.  The middle ground to me, has to be the right place to be.

Where do you sit in the debate?

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Competition June 2011 – £25 Gift Card for Pledd.

A new competition from Angelika of Pledd.   

Angelika invited me to have a look around her website and products to decide if I wanted to run a competition on my blog for a £25 gift card.  I like the idea of personalised baby blankets as it is such a thoughtful idea. 

 Angelika is offering a £25 gift card for the winner of the competition on my blog.  They also sell soft pillows/ toys for young children. 
 
  • The contest will run until the 30th June.   
  • I no longer have a small baby, but I could see their products being unique for new baby presents, or for special occasions.  
  • I think the little pillow in the picture at the top of my post looks rather sweet.

 To enter: 

  1. Pop on over to http://www.babyblanket.name/  and like them on Facebook if you have an account.
  2. Make sure you are following me on Twitter on @scottish_mum
  3. Like my Facebook page, or friend connect me on my blog if you haven’t done it already.
  4. Leave a comment on my blog to say what you have done, ie your twitter name etc so that we can identify you and contact you if you win.
  5. For an EXTRA entry – tweet the following:  (I entered to win a £25 gift card from Pledd. with @scottish_mum

Good luck everyone.

Scottish Mum
x

Posted on 5 Comments

Vlogging – My Home from Home

I don’t think I have got the hang of this properly yet.  If someone has some tips for embedding the videos, please feel free to email me, or let me know.    The videos that come up after my one has played are not mine.  Youtube put them there.  

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I88xJjZEPbU&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL

Posted on 7 Comments

Thinking Slimmer – A New Challenge

Thinking Slimmer contacted me to see if I would be interested in trying out one of the podcasts that they have to help people to lose weight without dieting.  As a blogger, I was aware of the original mum bloggers who trialled the system and I have keenly watched their progress. 

The programme consists of podcasts that you play for 10 minutes a day, and which is intended to help train our chain of thoughts, and  help us change our attitudes, perceptions and relationship to food.

Thinking Slimmer has been working with mummy bloggers for a while now, and I am lucky enough to have been chosen for the next phase of the trial. 

As I am a fibromyalgia sufferer, they felt that it might be a good case study for someone to use the programme who has a bad relationship with food.    I certainly do have that kind of relationship with my carbs.  I have never understood the people who say that they cannot eat when they are stressed.  The slightest sign of stress and I am likely to head for the nearest packet of crisps.  Then, sadly, once I begin eating carbs, the guilt cycle begins.

I have chosen to trial the Drop Two Sizes or More Podcast.  

Wish me luck.

Scottish Mum xx

Posted on 11 Comments

To Bravissimo, Or Not To Bravissimo…

 

THIS IS NOT A SPONSORED POST

 What do you know about bras and Bravissimo? Do you think they are just an expensive lingerie company?

Until recently, I was blindly ignorant, and knew very little about bras.  I knew I hated all the ones I had worn over the last two decades, and I had spent a small fortune on supermarket cheap brands, and even on some not so cheap brands from some well-known department stores.

I saw bosom holders as a necessary, but evil need to hold in my growing bust.  I hated the way that I looked in clothes, and hated how I always felt like I was not properly supported.  Blindly, I still bought and then stuffed bras that were never going to be any use to me into my bottom drawer.

I did once have my bosom measured by a very efficient and knowledgeable woman at M&S, who supplied me with a bra that gave me backache.   My next attempts were to do the measure with a tape under the bosom, then add-on for the cup size.  I never, ever got that right, and every bra and brand seemed to be different.

Most of the supermarkets and shops I tried bras on seemed to either be out of stock, or they didn’t stock in my size.  For years I have been blindly wearing 40C or 38DD, or just whatever I could get my hands on.  I even stooped at times, to using bra extenders at the back to make a smaller bra feel more comfortable around my back.

When a friend mentioned Bravissimo to me, I almost snorted to myself, but she made a compelling argument.   I tried to ignore the foreboding feeling that came over me when I walked up to the shop in Aberdeen, and climbed the stairs to the secret lair.  It’s best to make an appointment, as I found out when I arrived, as it takes a little time to be fitted at Bravissimo.

I was lucky enough that there was an appointment within half an hour, and I was soon standing in the cubicle with the assistant surveying my existing excuse for a bra.   I cringed as I saw myself in the mirror, but steeled myself to having to go through the fitting process.  She took my current size as a gauge, and from there, the trying on and off of different back size and cup sized bras began.  I was surprised to find that my back size is actually a 36 / 38 E or F, depending on the chosen bra, and there were a multitude to choose from.

In the end, my favourite one was the Panache Porcelein Bra.  I ended up with it in both the Black, and Nude colours.   I love the way that the nude colours totally disappear under white t-shirts.   I instantly felt supported as soon as I put that one on.  It also has enough moulding that our female bits won’t end up on show if it gets slightly chilly.    The shape it gives me under my clothes makes me a happy girl and it seems to hide my belly, as it shapes my boobs so well.

How tight the back was for me, surprised me at first.  Realising I was wearing most of my bras too loose, then totally leaving me unsupported was a revelation.   Since wearing my Bravissimo bras, my backache has disappeared – totally.  I wish I had found out all of that earlier.   They fit you into the biggest hook of the bra, so that in natural wear and wash, if it gets slightly looser, then you can tighten it up a little.  I would also imagine that would apply for losing a little weight as well.

The assistant spent a long time going through many bras with me, and I bought 4 at the time, and have since gone back to buy 2 more of the panache porcelein ones.

 I have also bought a lovely black tankini with fabulous fold over briefs and I have my eyes on a few more items for over the summer.    I am used to buying swimsuits for either the coverage, or the length, as I have a long body.  I find most swimsuits too short, and tankinis always leave a bare midriff.  I was really pleased to find the combination of tankini and fold over briefs means that I got supported swimwear without a midriff on show.

Why am I writing a review?

I hope to help other people blindly suffering along with supermarket style bras, and who con themselves into thinking 10 cheap ones are better value than one or two good ones, but who feel too self-conscious to go for a proper fitting.

I found the staff very helpful.   The girl fitting me went out of the changing room each time I changed bra so that I didn’t feel uncomfortable.  She offered, and I appreciated that very much.  By the end of the fitting, I had forgotten to be embarrassed by my over ample assets, and settled in to the pampering of having a personal assistant to help with the shopping.  It was a luxurious and indulgent fitting, but oh so well worth it.

Yes, the bras are more expensive than I am used to paying for, but in my opinion, already, they are worth every penny for the support and shape.   They are also washing very well, and I can see these bras lasting far longer than my old ones.

ALL my old bottom drawer bras have been consigned to third world support, through the bra depositories that Bravissimo have in store.  My old bras, that have never fitted me, might come in useful for someone from another country who cannot afford any bra at all.

Even though Bravissimo advertise as for the larger figure at over a D cup, I could understand how many B to D cups buyers could actually be wearing too big back sizes with too small cup sizes.

Don’t take my word for how good they are.  Go and visit Bravissimo to see for yourself.  http://www.bravissimo.com/

 

Thank you to Bravissimo for allowing me to use their photographs for my review.

 

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Abuse at Winterburn View, Castlebeck (Panorama) It Needs MORE Than Arrests

Anyone who knows me is going to know what I am going to say about this hospital.   The abuse at Winterburn View, the Castlebeck Private Hospital has shaken me considerably.  These abused people are CHILDREN.  They are in big bodies, but they are CHILDREN.    Picture your two, or three, or four year old being treated like that.

I came home from a fabulous show last night, watching the Shaolin Warriors in Aberdeen (blog post later in the week), and saw some tweets in my inbox about a Panorama Programme that had made people cry.  I also got the impression that it involved special needs and vulnerable adults with learning difficulties and autism.  Watch the programme on Iplayer HERE

I quickly booted up BBC Iplayer at 1am and began watching.  It was riveting viewing, and once I had switched it on, I couldn’t switch it off again.   It was very much more than I had expected when I began to watch.   The extent of the abuse shown on the documentary had me speechless.    I thought they might be talking about a few punches, a couple of isolated asssaults, and that would have been bad enough – but the extent of it, I have no words to express.  The lad who carried the cameras has stamina and strength to be able to keep going back and into that environment.  Thank goodness for his perseverance to help those vulnerable people, who are hopefully all now safe.

How those abused people felt, I cannot even begin to imagine.    The final scenes with Simone were so bad that it makes me despair.    Our children tend not to tell the truth, or not know the difference between truth and fantasy,  so I can fully understand her parents dilemma when she told them she was being attacked, and they didn’t believe her.  Special needs children suffer from the boy who cried wolf too often.  How her parents feel now, knowing that on this occasion she was telling them what was actually happening to her, rather than imagining something from watching a film or playing a video nasty I have no idea.  I do know that they will never forgive themselves for it.

The Care Quality Commission (CTC) quite frankly seemed toothless.   They came across as paying lip service to form filling and happy with well behaved staff once the door was unlocked to the locked wards.   There was no evidence of activity schedules, or plans for moving back to the general public (from the documentary) – yet, they thought that was nothing to be concerned about.  That should have raised a country sized red flag.  And as for not taking notice of the complaints made by a respected member of staff in the field, Terry Bryan – it shows how little anyone really cared.

One programme later, and it all comes out of the woodwork.  Castlebeck should be taken to account for this.  It is NOT enough to say they are “sorry,” or they are “ashamed”.    If they cared, they would have investigated before they were publically held to account by Panorama.

It is NOT the sole blame of the carers behaving badly here – it is the management of the home who allowed the environment to move in that direction.    And while I am at it, where were the social workers under whose charge the patients should have been assisted?  Why aren’t social workers head rolling on this as well?  Why was the ward locked with no family allowed in or out?   That speaks volumes.   The doctors who must have been aware of unrealistic levels of accidents, bruises, injuries and trauma, but turned a blind eye.

Bored special needs people will strop, they will have tantrums, and they will use language without thinking of the consequences at the time.   Punishment does not lead to better behaviour, or make them think before they act in the future.

I am horrified that Castlebeck have so many other establishments out there.  I just hope there are responsible staff in those.

I am not niave enough to think that Winterburn View is the only place in the UK where vulnerable people are being abused, but I do expect the watchdogs to be on top of them, and keep it to a minimum.    Some of the abuse they suffered on camera had the potential to kill.  It was systematic, targetted, and daily.  How could they miss that?

As a parent of a special needs child who will grow up into a special needs adult, and who might at some stage in his life, need adult care outwith the home for extended periods of time – I am sick to the stomach.

Yes, those of you who are parents of neuro typicals are going to see that it’s shocking, distressing, and that it shouldn’t happen, but social care is never actually going to be something that you have to consider, or be subject to  for your children.

We are knocking on the door of respite for the first time ever, and as a family we need it to start to cope with him long term at home.

The thought that my most vulnerable child could suffer at the hands of bullies like that is already making me think twice about where he goes.  He is growing up and needs to see more of the world outside his home cocoon, so I work though it.

As a grown up, I have to be realistic, and try to see the good in people.  Sadly, through circumstances, potential and his educational experience, all I see is the potential for harm.   When any male teacher, or charity worker deals with us, I don’t think “nice man”.   I look, smile, ask questions, engage them in conversation, and through gritted teeth, accept that I must trust him.   I do look, and I try VERY HARD to find something that makes me uneasy about him (or her).   When he leaves with a carer, my heart beats fast, and I panic fleetingly in case I have just handed my child over to a psychopath.

I also know, that if the day comes that my son accuses one of his carers of hitting him, I am not going to know if it is the truth, or if he is imagining a film he saw ten years earlier, or if it was a dream that has upset him.    The only thing I would be able to do is remove him from the carer, as leaving a situation like that until proof was found could be too late.    What about when we are no longer able to look after his interests.  Then, he is at the mercy of strangers, social workers, doctors, management and staff.

  • Our world saddens me.
  • My lack of trust in strangers, neighbours and friends saddens me.
  • I don’t know how to live with that fear.
  • We must live with that fear and we must trust strangers, neighbours and friends if we are to have fulfilling lives.
  • We must live with the consequences.
  • We must make it better for those who are still in places like Winterburn View.
  • We must reach out and help those who cannot help themselves.
  • We must NOT turn a blind eye.

I am not relieved that these patients have been moved to “safety”.  I am sick to my stomach about it.  Physically.

Their lives will now never be healed.  They will mostly lack the ability to reason that the danger has now passed.  The rest of their lives will be spent in fear.

Will they be moved to a place that is any safer?

How many other “Winterburns” are there out there?

And before  I end this – what do I think of the reporter that did not intervene during that last horrific day of abuse in fear of blowing his cover?  I love him for outing it, but also can’t understand why he didn’t immediately go to the police.  What about the BBC who allowed it to keep going until the programme aired – they also fostered allowing it to happen for those days.

I would like to think the last footage was filmed on Sunday, someone please tell me that was what happened.

UPDATE:
I have just heard that filming was Feb / March.   That also saddens me.   That was another 2 whole months after this footage was taken – BEFORE they were rescued.

Bloggers With Excellent Posts
Benefit Scrounging Scum – Imagine You Were Four #panorama

The Small Places – Last Nights Panarama – Anatomy of a Scandal

A Boy With Aspergers – Behind Closed Doors

Posted on 6 Comments

Gagging Orders / Superinjunctions

I really don’t care at all about the supposed footballer and his inability to stay faithful to his wife. It is sad to say, that if we, (the general public) were to judge by the frequency of news stories and infidelity, it seems almost an expectation of the job WAG.

I don’t understand the argument about the unfairness of him silencing the girl because he could afford to. She knew what she was getting into. She wasn’t hoodwinked into believing he was young, free, and single.

What does bother me is the ridiculous effect it is having on the perception of us as a country.

Someone needs to explain to me how someone can be prosecuted, or jailed for telling “the truth” about someone, when they have not been part of the injunction, nor have been notified that they are under the order.

The media, I can understand. The woman silenced, I can understand. But don’t the people who are subject to the order need to be personally notified of what they are not allowed to talk about? Doesn’t that then mean the injunction breaks the law?

How can you personally notify millions of people all over the world that they are subject to an injunction, because then you have to tell them what they are not allowed to talk about. I missed my personal mailing. I wonder if anyone else got one.

And how can twitter reveal the users of the accounts when you can register using throwaway email addresses. You can use web cafes’ and unregistered mobile phones. Wouldn’t those first few pioneers in the dishing the dirt have stayed untraceable?

The lawyers and the courts are making us into laughing stocks with these orders.   Now the tax payer is also going to have to fund the costs of upholding these empty orders.  

What a waste.

I think about the care that has been taken away from our worlds abused, disadvantaged and disabled, and consider the publicly earned money that these piece of dross legal gravy trains are are going to cost us, and that makes me very angry indeed.