This is a lovely featured guest post with some handy tips on redecorating a child’s bedroom.
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As parents we’d love to give our kids the best of everything, but unfortunately more too often our hearts say one thing and our purse strings another.
As our children grow older one thing that must also grow with them is the interior design of their bedroom, and for a lot of parents just the mere thoughts of this renovation can cause palpitations of the heart as they see the proverbial hole in their wallet grow crater-sized. However, redecorating your child’s bedroom is something that can easily be done on a reasonable budget, and is also a good way to involve your child and help them learn about practical decision-making.
Take note of these practical tips for redecorating your child’s bedroom on a budget, and think about where your child might be able to get involved along the way.
- A Splash of Colour – Picking a new shade for the walls is one of the thriftiest ways of making a big overall change to the room. There’s no reason why you can’t choose a mix of different colours for the room, perhaps colour-coding different areas for different activities. A calming pastel blue for the bed area will help your child relax at the end of a busy day.
- Choosing a Theme – Being on a tight budget means wanting to avoid having to redecorate every single year, and so choosing broader bedroom themes – such as under the sea or a jungle adventure – is a better bet than choosing specific cartoon or television characters, which your child may well tire of as they grow older.
- Getting Practical – Redecorating your child’s room is a great way to clear out clutter and to create more space. Affordable and functional divan beds are a good option to save money on buying extra storage space, and specialist retailers such as Silentnight offer a wide selection of these bed types, as well as their Silentnight mattress range that will give your child the comfort and support they need for years to come.
- Stuffed Animals – Your child’s stuffed animals can actually be a handy resource for basic bedroom decoration. Why splash out on expensive ornaments and trinkets when you can just rearrange what is already there? If your little one is a teddy-bear obsessive, create a special corner of the room to house them all. This can really help your child to develop his or her imagination.
There’s no reason why redecorating your child’s bedroom should send you into a financial black hole. Treat it as the fun project it should be, and get a little creative. A handprint on the wall is just as effective as an expensive accessory when it comes to adding a little of your child’s personality to their personal space.
Category: Guest Posts
Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen. Best of British Show in aid of The ARCHIE Foundation – 25th May 2012
I’m happy to host this guest post from the fashion management students at my old Uni, The Robert Gordon University, who are raising money for The ARCHIE Foundation for children.
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Since it began in 2008 the annual charity fashion show at Robert Gordon University has raised tens of thousands of pounds for deserving charity foundations.
Now into its fifth year third-year fashion management students are hoping they can raise more money than ever before.
On the night of May 25th the Aberdeen Business School will be transformed on to accommodate 400 guests for what is hoped to be a marvelous and memorable evening of fashion, shopping and entertainment, with The ARCHIE Foundation being the sole beneficiary of the show.
This year’s show takes on the theme ‘Best of British’; rather fitting in the year of 2012 which sees both the Royal Jubilee and the London Olympic Games and plenty of patriotic celebrations along with them!
Catwalk themes including the British seaside, countryside, music, sport, people, designers, royals and the traditional tea party will showcase the very best of British style, and what’s more guests will be invited to enjoy a whole host of other entertainment on the night too.
Alongside the fashion catwalk there will be some fantastic on-stage performances and the opportunity to indulge in some of Britain’s finest foods and not to mention lashings of cocktails too!
Guests will have the chance to browse and buy within a unique shopping area dedicated to hosting a variety of local retailers; from fine wine to fashion there is something for everyone. To add to the mix there will be a both a silent auction and a prize raffle on the night too.
With everything from cocktail mixology sessions to designer handbags, restaurant vouchers to fitness memberships, there are some fabulous prizes up for grabs and plenty of chances to win. With all proceeds going to The ARCHIE Foundation the students are determined to raise enough money to make a considerable contribution to the charity and its work.
As the official charity of the Royal Aberdeen Children’s Hospital, the Children’s Wards in Inverness and Elgin and Community based Child Health throughout Grampian, Highland, Orkney and Shetland, the ARCHIE Foundation is dedicated to making a difference to the lives of sick children through providing state of the art medical equipment, specialist staff, funding into research and of course lots of toys too!
The ARCHIE Foundation is so incredibly deserving of financial donations. Its work really is invaluable to sick children and their families.
With the aim of surpassing last year’s total of £11,000 the third-year Fashion Management students have been up to all sorts in order to raise money in the lead up to the show. We’ve had our measuring scales and mixers out to host bake sales on campus, and we’ve put our creativity to the test too with kids’ crafts and face painting at the Bon Accord.
We’ll be proving our knowledge with a special Best Of British pub quiz, be doing supermarket bag packing and we’ve been out and about in the pubs and bars of Aberdeen promoting the show and collecting donations too all whilst planning what is sure to be the biggest night in Aberdeen’s fashion calendar.
The Best of British Fashion Show will be held on May 25th 2012 in Aberdeen Business School, Robert Gordon University, and Garthdee Road, Aberdeen.
Tickets for the show are priced at £15 each, or for VIP ticket priced at £25 guests will receive special goody bag, front row seats and access to the exclusive VIP room, and are available by contacting:
fashionshowrgu@gmail.com
We announce all of our exciting news and fundraising updates on Facebook and Twitter too:
We also have a Just Giving page where online donations to The ARCHIE Foundation can be made:
Donate to The ARCHIE Foundation
Guest Recipe : Meatball and Okra Casserole
This guest recipe comes to you from Leila of @persianliving on Twitter. Her blog is worth a visit as it grows with lovely Iranian style cooking. You can find her recipes at: persianliving.co.uk
My favourite vegetable of late is the flavourful and aromatic Okra, otherwise known in the West as Ladies Fingers or Gumbo.
In Iran, we call it Bamiyeh and in Pakistan/India it is known as Bhindi.
You can fry them up with garlic and tomato and eat with flat breads soaking up the juice, or cook in a casserole with chunks of lamb or beef ,flavour up with ginger and cinnamon and just for good measure add a few pieces of apple or simply stir fry. The easiest way and as I have found, the best way to get them eaten by my children, is to add them to a saucy meatball casserole because you can mash it up a little and they would never know the difference!
Okra, which is rich in calcium, can be found in most supermarkets usually somewhere obscure where all the fresh herbs and exotic vegetables are in little packets or already potted. I get mine from my favourite Asian store in Manchester where fruits, vegetables and herbs such as okra, baby aubergines, quince, coconuts, methi (fenugreek) and much more can be found in abundance. Here is my recipe for a deliciously spicy meal. Enjoy!
Ingredients
- 400g lean minced beef or minced lamb shoulder
- medium onion, grated
- 175g okra
- 1 tin chopped tomato
- 2 heaped tbsp tomato puree
- 2 heaped tbsp fine white breadcrumbs
- 1 tsp turmeric
- 1 tsp curry powder
- salt and pepper to taste
- 4 tbsp vegetable oil
Method
- Add the grated onion, breadcrumbs,, turmeric, salt and pepper to the minced meat and mix thoroughly.
- Roll the meat into little balls about the size of a gobstopper or smaller.
- Heat oil in a medium sized lidded pan and fry the meatballs until they have firmed up and have turned a brown colour.
- To avoid *sticking*, whilst the meatballs are still soft, instead of using a spoon, pick up the pan and shake occasionally to make sure all the meatballs have been allowed to fry.
- Once the meatballs are thoroughly browned all over, add the chopped tomatoes, tomato puree, curry powder, salt and pepper to taste and cover with water.
- Bring the casserole to the boil then simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- After 30 minutes, add the okra. Mix into the casserole as gently as possible using your spoon to bring up sauce from the bottom and pouring it over the okra.
- Leave to cook for a further 20 minutes repeating the same method with the sauce in order to soak the okra.
- Serve with fluffy white rice and a crisp crunchy salad!
*Tip: Okra can be slightly *sticky* if split open. This is due to the seeds being gelatinous. To avoid this, don’t cut them or split open whilst stirring the casserole.
Guest Recipe: Sloppy Joes Burger by Claire T
This Guest Recipe from Claire, aka ninjakillercat.blogspot.com/ and @needaphone on Twitter sounds amazing.
Sadly Claire didn’t manage to take a photograph, so that means that I will just have to go and make it so that I can get one. I’m sure my boys will love giving it a try.
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The trick to this recipe is to brown the meat well, on high heat. Don’t crowd the pan , work in batches and don’t stir the meat until it is well browned on one side. It helps to use a large cast iron pan, or an anodised pan, as these pans can handle the heat and are relatively stick-free.
Ingredients
- 1Tbsp olive oil
- 1/2 cup minced carrots or sweet pepper
- 1 cup chopped onion ( about 1 medium onion)
- 1/2 cup chopped celery
- 2 gloves garlic,minced
- Salt
- 1 1/4lb ground beef
- 1/2 cup tomato sauce ( or 1 15 once can whole tomatoes, pureed)
- 1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tbsp red wine vinegar
- 2 Tbsp brown sugar
- Pinch ground cloves
- 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
- Pinch cayenne pepper
- 2 turns of freshly ground pepper
- 4 hamburger buns
Method
- Heat love oil in a large saute pan on medium high heat. Add the carrots and saute for 5 minutes. ( If you are using peppers instead of carrots, add those at the same time as the onions).
- Add the chopped onion and celery.
- Cook. stirring occasionally until onions are translucent, about 5 more minutes.
- Add the minced garlic and cook for 30 more seconds. remove from heat. remove vegetables from the pan to a medium-sized bowl, set aside.
- Using the same pan ( or you can cook the meat at the same time as the vegetables in a separate pan to save time), generously salt the bottom of the pan ( about 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon).
- Heat the pan on high. Crumble the ground beef into the pan. You likely need to do this in two batches, otherwise you will crowd the pan and the beef won’t easily brown. Do not stir the ground beef, just let it cook until it is well browned on one side. Then flip the pieces over and brown the second side.
- Use a slotted spoon to remove the ground beef from the pan ( can add to the set- aside vegetables), salt the pan again and repeat with the rest of the ground beef.
- If you are using extra lean beef you will likely not have any excess fat in the pan, if you are using 16% or higher, you may have excess fat. Strain of all but 1 tablespoon of the fat.
- Return the cooked ground beef and vegetables to the pan.
- Add the ketchup, tomato sauce, Worcestershire sauce, vinegar and brown sugar to the pan. Stir to mix well.
- Add ground cloves. thyme, and cayenne pepper. Lower the heat to medium low and let simmer for 10 minutes.
- Adjust seasoning to taste.
Guest Recipe: Seafood Broth from Graeme Taylor
Guest Recipe from Graeme Taylor of Scots Larder, and also found on Twitter as @scotslarder
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I love seafood, you can’t beat it for freshness, flavour and for sheer enjoyment of experimentation and it goes so well with so many ingredients, it complements chorizo, and the fresh herbs and white wine make it zing. It’s also great to watch everyone get messy as they wrestle with heads, tails, claws and shells!
I threw this soup together with what I found available in the fishmonger and supermarket but really it’s all about experimenting with what’s available and in season.
I made my own stock using the bones from the gurnard with stock vegetables but you could use a cube if heads and bones offend you or even a shop bought pot of stock, many fishmongers do excellent ones. I just don’t like to see flavour going in the bin so made my own.
This will serve 4
Ingredients
1 Gurnard filleted and chopped into bitesize chunks
100g clams
100g squid chopped into rings
Dozen mussels
150g king prawns
1 tin chopped tomatoes
1 tin cannellini beans
50g chorizo piccante finely chopped
2 shallots finely chopped
Splash white wine (just a splash, not a sploosh, there’s a big difference!)
Tiny splash sherry vinegar (maybe 1tsp)
Dessertspoon finely chopped dill
2 small ladels fish stock
Method
- In a medium pot sweat the chorizo in a little olive oil until it begins to give up it’s colour then add the shallots and cook slowly until soft.
- Add the gurnard and coat in the orangey oil to brown a little and then add the tomatoes.
- Add the sherry vinegar and beans and bring to a slow simmer.
- Meanwhile clean and de-beard the mussels and clams making sure you discard any dead ones. The end of this recipe is all about timing, nobody wants cold or overcooked seafood.
- When you’re happy with the flavour and consistency of the soup, probably around 15 minutes, put a little olive oil in the bottom of a hot pan and then add the mussels, clams and white wine, cover and set timer for 4 minutes.
- Add the prawns to the soup and give the shellfish pot a shake but don’t take off the lid or the cooking steam will all be lost.
- When the buzzer goes drain the shellfish pot into the soup to get all the flavour the clams and mussels have given up along with the white wine.
- At this point put the squid into the soup as any more than two minutes will render it elastic band like!
- Take the mussels and clams from their shells except a couple for decoration (not essential unless you’d like to impress somebody!) and add to the soup.
- Take off the heat, stir through the dill, correct for seasoning and serve in warmed bowls with a huge chunk of Guinness soda bread.
Guest Recipe : The Best Carrot Cake in the World from Lindsey Cave
A lovely Guest Recipe from Lindsey, who you can find on Twitter as @MrsVanderCave, with her blog at backofbeyondbaking.blogspot.com. That topping is perfection by the look of it.
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This recipe is actually for a carrot cake but it makes a big cake which can sometimes be a bit OTT, particularly if you like to watch your weight! So I came up with the idea of making individual cakes using half the recipe. This recipe has been named as the best carrot cake in the world ever after I used it in the school cookery book that I collated for my son’s school PTA fundraiser
The recipe below is gluten-free and for a full-sized cake but it is easily transformed back into a regular recipe by swapping the gluten-free flour for ordinary plain flour and excluding the Xantham gum. For 8 muffins just half the recipe and bake for around 18minutes.
The best Carrot cake in the world ever!
Pre heat the oven to 180c. Grease and line two 20cm cake tins. I use my cake tin liners from Lakeland.
Ingredients
250ml corn oil
175g caster sugar
3 eggs
175g gluten-free plain flour (I use Doves gluten-free flour mix)
2tsp Xantham gum (Doves Farm make this, you can get it in Tesco and Sainsburys)
1.5 tsp gluten free baking powder (check the label on your baking powder)
1.5tsp bicarbonate of soda
3/5tsp salt
1.5tsp ground cinnamon
a pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground ginger
115g chopped walnuts
225g carrots finely grated
5tsp vanilla extract
2 tbsp soured cream
For the frosting
175g full fat cream cheese chilled
25g unsalted butter at room temperature
225g icing sugar sifted
Method
- Place the corn oil and sugar in a bowl and beat well with an electric mixer until thickened.
- Add the eggs one at a time and beat well after each addition. The mixture should now be pale and fluffy.
- Sift the flour, Xantham gum, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and salt into the egg mixture and beat well.
- Fold in the carrots, walnuts, vanilla extract, and soured cream.
- Divide the mixture between the tins and bake in the oven for 1hr 5minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the tin comes out clean.
- Once cooked, turn cakes out of the tins onto a wire rack to cool.
- For the frosting place all the ingredients in a bowl and whip until light and fluffy.
- Sandwich the two cakes together with a little of the frosting then cover the whole cake with the remains of the frosting. Swirl the frosting as you go to give the classic carrot cake look.
Guest Recipe: Vodka and Tonic Battered Fish & Wedges
Todays Guest Post is from theperfectbadmummy.wordpress.com, who is @mrsaimeehorton on Twitter. Her recipe for vodka and tonic battered fish & wedges is not something I would have ever thought to try, but it sounds very tempting to give a go.
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Food for 2
I get a little bit excited when I learn a new kitchen “skill”. Probably more then is normal. Then, I love to make it a bit different, especially if it involves alcohol.
For the Fish:
2 chunky white fish fillets
4oz/110g Self Raising Flour
175ml of Tonic
Double shot of Vodka
Salt & Pepper
Extra Flour for dusting
1 pint of Vegetable Oil
For the Wedges
4 or 5 large potatoes – peeled and cut into wedge shapes
Cajun Spice
Method:
1. Pre-heat the oven to 200C – pour the oil into a roasting dish and pop in the oven to heat
2. Sprinkle Cajun spice over the potatoes and put them into the hot oil and allow them to fry gently for about 10 minutes, until they are soft but still pale.
3. Lift out of the pan and leave to cool slightly on greaseproof paper.
4. Mix the Flour, Vodka, Tonic, Salt & Pepper in a bowl until it becomes a thick batter
5. Dip the cod in the batter until it is thickly coated
6. Place in the oil and cook for a few minutes until the batter is crispy and golden
7. Leave to drain on greaseproof paper
8. Add the potatoes back in the oil to finish off and crisp up
9. Serve with Mushy Peas or Salad and a vodka and tonic with a slice of lime.
YUM.
Guest Recipe: Mutta Roast (Egg Roast) by Sheba Promod from Absolute Indian, Cooker School and Spice Boutique
The recipe attached is provided by Sheba Promod of the Absolute Indian, Cooker School and Spice Boutique. The website has a lovely little shop for Indian spices and I was quite surprised to learn that Turmeric is actually known for it’s antiseptic properties.
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Egg Roast (Mutta Roast)
Ingredients
(serves 2-3)
3 hard-boiled eggs, halved
3-4 tbsp. vegetable oil
½ tsp. mustard seeds
2 medium onions, finely chopped
8-10 curry leaves
1 tsp. fresh ginger, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
75 grams chopped tomatoes
¼ tsp. turmeric
½ tsp. chilli powder
½ tsp. coarsely ground black pepper
½ tsp. salt
¼ tsp. garam masala
This dish is normally served as a breakfast dish in Kerala alongside Appam (similar to a thick pancake and made from ground rice and coconut) However, it can also be served as an accompaniment to other Kerala curries. I must admit though, I find it truly heavenly just on its own or perhaps with some bread to help mop up the extra onions. It happens to be one of those meals that I craved when pregnant but wished my mum had been around to make then for me! She made them slightly differently, with luscious mounds of the onion masala served on top of the clean, cut eggs and then warmed through in the oven. Just as delicious!
What makes the dish so mouth-watering is the abundance of onions. You may be rather alarmed with the quantity of sliced onions you have prepped for just 3 eggs but believe me, the sweetness of the slow cooked onions and the sharpness of the tomatoes (with of course, a kick of chilli) make this a delectable way to eat those simple little eggs. Perhaps try this as a variation to scrambled eggs one Sunday morning? You’ll want to make them again and again!
Heat the oil in a shallow non-stick pan. When hot, add the mustard seeds and fry for 2- seconds (they should sizzle immediately on contact with the oil). Reduce to a medium/low heat and fry the onions for 5 minutes to soften. (Bear in mind you do not want to brown them) Add the ginger, garlic and curry leaves and fry for a further 3-4 minutes.
Combine the tomatoes, turmeric, chilli and black pepper into the pan and cook for 5-6 minutes until the oil begins to separate from the masala. Season with salt and garam masala and then gently add the eggs. Mix well to warm through the eggs, being careful not to crush them.
Serve with fresh, warm pooris and pickle.
Notes
A simple way to split boiled eggs in half is to use a piece of thread lengthways across he egg – this gives you a clean cut without crumbling any part of the yolk or white.
This dish can also be served as a starter or canapé. Simply top the warm, halved eggs with small mounds of the onion masala and serve. I promise you, totally mouth-watering. However, no more than 1 egg per person or you may find your guests stuffed before dinner!
Guest Post – Adoption & Drug Users
Firstly, thank you very much to Scottish Mum for letting me guest post on her blog.
I wanted to write something relevant to her readers and I wasn’t sure which route to go down. However, I was listening to a debate on a radio show the other day about adoption and the lengthy process it has become and how this in itself is causing more potential trauma to children in care and I thought this seemed a good topic.
According the BAAF statistics, from April 2010 to March 2011, there were 3660 children under the age of 1 in care. Yet, only 60 babies under 1 were adopted in the same period. The average age of a child at adoption is 3 years and 10 months. To me, this seems rather old to have such a massive change of circumstance. They will have started at nursery and be not far off starting school by that age. If children were placed earlier in their lives, surely there would be less risk of them being scarred mentally by the whole process.
Whilst the adoption process is long for prospective adoptive parents, it needs to be, to ensure that the right number of checks have been carried out, and steps taken to prepare those wanting to adopt. However, the court process to get a child into an adoptive family is what seems to hold the process up. The reason for this is that the court puts the mothers needs above that of the baby. Whilst this is reasonable (they might be able to look after their children once they have dealt with issues), what kind of impact is it having on the child? What, I thought, about the babies born to drug users who are unable to look after their baby? Well, it appears that the interest of the mother comes first in these cases too. The courts will keep the baby with the mother (or in foster care) whilst the mother sees if she can ‘get clean’.
Now I may be cynical but, having worked with drug users (and previously covered the topic on my blog here), I have never once met someone addicted to drugs who didn’t put the next hit before everything else in their lives (however much they insist otherwise). So should the interests of these babies not be taken into account? They have potentially already had a rough start in life, like many babies born to drug users, they might have already had to withdraw from the drugs passed to them in the womb by their mother. How many times does a baby or toddler need to be taken into care whilst the mother ‘gets clean’ and is then returned to the mother only to be taken back into care when she falls foul to addiction again?
Research by Drugscope back in 2003 suggested that there were between 250,000 and 350,000 children born to drug misusing parents. With the numbers of drug users rising year on year, the number of children affected is increasing. The only way to stop this, is to offer effective, realistic treatment to the parents.
Whilst I appreciate that there are drug users out there who desperately want to stop taking drugs and will do anything in their means to make sure this happens, they really are the minority. Unless the mother moves away from her current situation, contacts and friends, she will find it all too easy to slip back into the old habits. It is possible to beat addiction and fight for your children, as the article here shows.
I am absolutely not advocating snatching babies from drug users as soon as they are born, but maybe the balance needs to sway towards what is best for the baby. The first three years of their lives are so valuable in how they are shaped as individuals and how they judge the world in the future.
Sources: http://www.baaf.org.uk/
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@helpfulmum from You”re Not From Round Here
I agree with you John ogroats is a dreary miserable lifeless place stuck in the 1940s full of greedy little…
Hi Made lot of rolls and bread. Try make 50/50 rolls and come out great.and used my bread machine.
For your dry potato, look for Kerrs Pink, September onwards.