the Zooball returns!

You may recall the tragic day when Madison wouldn’t listen to Mummy and insisted on taking her Zooball to school. Well today, 7 weeks after the event, the Zooball has come home!

Madison came out of school thrilled that the lost Zooball had been found by a fellow classmate on the playground today. She said ‘I had to wash it 3 times Mummy cos it was really dirty, but it’s alright!’ As I tucked her into bed tonight she said ‘Mummy god really must exist as I prayed my Zooball would be found and it was!’ Well I can’t argue with that. Faith has been restored in the Baldwin Biggs house hold tonight. Ironically Faith was the name of the child that found the lost Zooball, funny old world we live in!-,

End of the road for Multi-tasking!

Last week I read an article about the downside of multi-tasking and it has played on my mind ever since. I would class myself as a professional multi-tasker. I always have my laptop on, my iphone in my pocket, a load of washing on, the radio playing and piles of paperwork that I dip in and out of whilst cooking dinner. The article basically said that multi-tasking leads to dissatisfaction in life and your children feeling ignored and in turn growing up in a world where it is acceptable to hold a conversation with someone whilst checking your emails!

I am very guilty of being on the laptop or texting whilst listening to the children talk about their day. I think multi-tasking in my house has gone mad and since reading about the effects it could have on the children I have felt a bit deflated and unsatisfied. The problem I have is nothing ever gets finished because I have so many things on the go at once. I never stop and I literally job from one task to another without thinking.

Although I have always been proud of my multi-tasking skills I think it is time to take it down a notch and try mono-tasking. My plan is to make a list of things I need to achieve during the week and allocate time to each task and make sure that when doing that task I don’t get distracted by the washing, or the email. Most importantly I am going to dedicate the hours of 3.30 – 8 pm to my children. Give them my full attention and enjoy spending time with them instead of being frustrated at the constant interruption. Sounds easy, but breaking bad habits is always hard!

Can’t beat Spaghetti Bolognaise

I love to cook and always try to cook from scratch rather than using pre made sauces and marinades. I am a big Jamie Oliver fan and have most of his books. Spaghetti Bolognaise is one of my favourite dishes to make as the kids love it! It is quick and easy and if you make extra you can freeze it for another day, so great time saver!

When I make bolognaise I always use Jamie’s recipe for “Kinda Spaghetti Bolognaise” from his book “Happy Days with the Naked Chef”  –  serves 4. I have put the recipe below and if you have never tried it I highly recommend that you do.

10 slices Pancetta or smoked streaky bacon rashers, sliced
1 handful of rosemary, leaves picked and roughly chopped
olive oil
1 large onion, finely chopped
3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
455gr/1 lb  chuck steak, minced, or best minced beef
1 wineglass of red wine
1 level teaspoon dried oregano
1x 400gr/14oz tin of tomatoes
1 x 200gr/7oz tube tomato puree, or 1 small jar of sun-dried tomatoes, finely chopped
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
455gr/1 lb dried spaghetti
1 handful of fresh basil
2 handfuls of grated Parmesan or strong Cheddar cheese

Pre-heat the oven to 180C/350F/gas4.

In a large hot pan that can go in the oven, fry the pancetta and rosemary in a little olive oil until lightly golden.  Then add the onion and garlic and fry for a further 3 minutes until softened before adding the minced beef.  Stir and continue frying for 2 or 3 minutes before adding the wine.  Reduce slightly, then add the oregano, all the tomatoes and the tomato puree.  Season well to taste, bring to the boil, cover with greaseproof paper or a lid and place in the pre-heated oven for an hour and a half. 

If I don’t have a lot of time I just do this on the hob and let it simmer for 20 minutes and it is just as good. I watched a cookery programme recently that said that there is no dish in Italy that is the equivalent of Spaghetti Bolognaise. There is a traditional Ragu sauce but it would not be served with spaghetti as it would not coat the pasta so it would be served with tagliatelle. Since watching this I have always served mine with tagliatelle and have to say it is much better. When mixed the sauce coats the pasta and some how seems less greasy. This recipe is a really rich sauce so you don’t need a massive portion, but it goes down a treat in my house with a bit of cheese grated on top and lots of garlic bread!

Quick tip – I don’t know about you but if I have to open a bottle of wine to cook with I often end up drinking the rest of it when I don’t really need to – or if I’m not in a drinking mood it can sit on the side and turn before I get round to enjoying it. My tip to prevent this is when you have a bottle of white or red wine open fill an ice-cube tray with some and pop it in the freezer (or if you have a bottle open that you aren’t going to finish do this rather than let it go to waste). Then the next time you are making a dish that needs wine, just go to the freezer and grab a couple of your wine ice cubes. Simple x

There are so many variations on this sauce that I would love to hear what your families favourite is and how you serve yours?

Ronald McDonald House Charities

As a treat today I took the girls to McDonald’s for lunch as I had had to drag them round the shops. As we were sitting eating I noticed a member of staff moving between the tables trying to sell something. My heart sunk as I hate sales people approaching you when shopping and even worse when eating. I kept my head down, but she was a woman on a mission and she wasn’t going to pass our table without giving it her best shot. I had already decided that it was a No from me, that is until she started talking! She was selling a lapel pin badge to raise money for the Ronald McDonald House Charity.  Hopefully most people will not know too much about this charity (that sounds strange, but I mean from an experience aspect), but I know only too well about it as I have used their facilities on a number of occasions. I instantly felt guilty about trying to avoid her gaze and reached straight for my purse. The woman was elated as she hadn’t had much success. She went on to tell me that today she had only sold a couple but the day before she had sold 68! I brought 2, one for each of the girls. She asked me if I knew anything about the charity so I went on to tell her how I had stayed in the house at Kings College Hospital in London when Ella had 3/4 of her Liver removed when she was 5 months old. Ella was in the high dependency unit so I wasn’t allowed to stay on the ward with her. If it wasn’t for the Ronald McDonald House I would have have to of gone home at the end of each day which would have been torture so probably would have ended up costing me a fortune in hotel bills.

For those of you who don’t know about the charity, it raises money to operate a home from home house on, or as near as possible, to hospitals with Children’s high dependency units. The house is there for the family to use, for free, as a base while their child is in hospital . It is an amazing facility to be able to offer a family with a sick child and the houses are maintained to an exceptional standard. They are normally large houses that have en suite rooms and then a shared kitchen and lounge area. I stayed in the house for just over a week. It meant I could get a proper nights sleep but was only across the road from the hospital if I need to get to Ella quickly. It also meant I could make myself a proper meal and meet other parents and families who were going through a similar thing. It was a great comfort and meant I had one less thing to worry about.

I am ashamed to say I hadn’t thought about the charity, or the fantastic work they do, for some years now. But after today I am very keen to help spread the word and would ask everyone that if you are approached to purchase one of these pins then please give your £1 and help families in their darkest hour. If not then go to their website and donate online. We never know when we will need this kind of support and from experience I assure you it is something that you will be so grateful of if you ever need it.

We were in the High Wycombe McDonald’s and the money they raise this week will go towards the house at the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford. If you local restaurant isn’t collecting at the moment please visit the site and she how you can get involved!

Fashion Design for 8 – 12 Year Olds

Ella attended her first Fashion Design course today. She was thrilled to see a Fashion Design course available to her age group in the Aylesbury Vale ‘Do It’ Easter brochure. Ella’s ambition at the moment is to be the next Stella McCartney so this was a perfect opportunity for her. I booked it straight away and she has been counting the days ever since. It was held at our local college which I thought was a great venue as Ella has always been fascinated with the building and knowing I attended my Counselling Training there she has always wanted to go in.

The course ran from 10am to 3pm and they just had to take a plain item of clothing with them that they wanted to style. Ella decided to take a white T-shirt. I have to say as I write this I am feeling very proud of my talented little lady. I think what she created is really good. This is the first time she has ever been given the opportunity to do anything like this and it sounds like the teacher was excellent. They had to create a mood board first and then think about styles and fashion. Ella said to me when she showed me her top ‘Less is more Mummy’ which I was very impressed with as I feel like she has really taken the lesson seriously and got something out of it. She was so pleased with herself and loves the fact that she now has something to wear that she created herself and that no one else will have. For an 8-year-old Ella is extremely fashion conscious and very much has her own style already. I have to say at first I found it quite hard as I felt like she was growing up too quickly. However, I am a believer in allowing your child to form their own opinions through experiences in life and feel it is important that she has some freedom to express herself. Don’t get me wrong I would step in if she took her fashion statements too far, especially as she is a fan of Lady Gaga! But to date I have always been very impressed at the out fits she puts together for herself.

I am very impressed with this course and would highly recommend it to any child who has an interest in fashion. They really seemed to have explored in-depth what goes into fashion design and not just said here’s a load of fabric do what you like! Ella’s mood board is excellent and she can tell you how she came up with the design for her T-Shirt. She has talked about how you can turn an old dress into a skirt and matching clutch bag and has asked if we can go to a charity shop to look for some bits that she can transform. I am thrilled that the course has fueled her interest in fashion even more. She is very creative and at school she doesn’t get the opportunity to do a lot of crafts which is a shame as it is the one area that she thrives in. Today has given Ella a massive confidence boost and she has already asked if she can go again in the next school holidays and knows exactly what she will take to work on. For £25 for the day I wouldn’t think twice about sending her again!

Year of the sleep over

Ella turns 9 this year and it seems it is the age that they start attending sleep over’s! Ella is a confident child when it comes to staying away from home. I think this has come from having Grandparents that lived in Norfolk when she was very young so she would go and spend half term breaks with them. Last night she attended her first Sleep Over Birthday Party. She was very excited and went off happily. The Mum had the girls phone home to say good night around 8pm which I thought was a nice thing to do. They all sounded rather hyper when she phoned. Ella said they had been painting their nails and had pizza and were now getting their pyjamas on and going to settle down to watch a DVD. Knowing Ella is a child who does everything she possibly can to avoid sleep I didn’t hold out much hope of her being asleep before midnight. I think it is quite a big responsibility looking after a group of 8/9 year olds over night and have to say I am not looking forward to May when it is Ella’s Birthday and she asks to have a sleep over. I never had, or went, to sleep overs until I was at least 13, but then everything seems to take hold a lot earlier in life these days – man I sound old!

I picked Ella up at 10.30, she was happy but uncharacteristicly quiet. The Mum said they had been chatting until past midnight and in the end she had, had to join them and sleep on the sofa downstairs. Apparently the more tiered they got the more they scared each other about people trying to break into the house! They had finally settled around 1am! The main thing is they all had a good time, but the aftermath of tiredness is trying to say the least. Thankfully it is the school holidays and Ella is good at laying in so I am sure tomorrow she will be back to her normal self, but really I do think maybe they are still a little bit too young for sleepovers and I may try to gently persuade her to have a different kind of party! I can hear it now – “Mum that’s so unfair!”

What to do with Brown Bananas!

In our house the moment the bananas start to turn brown no one will touch them! I hate waste and throwing out food so I am always looking for recipes and tips on how to save or use food that is on the turn. This is my favourite recipe for using up bananas that are past there best. The kids love eating it as well as helping bake it and it is a great lunch box treat or morning snack!

Banana & Chocolate Chip Loaf

You will need;

6 oz Butter or margarine

8 oz Caster Sugar

2 Large Ripe Bananas

1/2 tsp Vanilla Essence

1/25 tsp Salt

10 oz Self Raising Flour

3 Eggs

& 2 oz Chocolate Chips

Set your oven to 160 C

Line a 3″ deep Loaf Tin

To make, put the butter and sugar in a large bowl and melt in the microwave. Once melted add the flour, salt and bicarbonate of soda and mix together. In a separate bowl mash the bananas with the vanilla essence then beat the 3 eggs into the banana mixture. Add the banana mixture to the flour mixture in the large bowl and stir well until combined. Finally add the chocolate chips and stir lightly before pouring into your lined tin.

Bake at 160 c for 50 minutes. My oven is a fan oven and it sometimes needs a little longer. You know your cake is ready when you push a skewer into the middle and it comes out clean.

Totally yummy and counts as one of your five a day. What’s not to love!

If you have any banana recipes please comment and let me know so I can give them a go.