Update ..

Have I really been away this long? 
So far the 'fat club' has freed me of 1 stone and 5 pounds
I am beginning to feel more socially acceptable and people are noticing which is a good thing!!
I do have to say I owe it to the threat of ritual humiliation, getting weighed on a weekly basis works for me however much it costs! I have learnt to be inventive with food ... and also that the exercise is the important bit!!
I have been doing 20 minutes a day .. ;0)

One year today ..

A year ago today my perfect little boy was born ... he brings so much joy and happiness into our lives ... ALL of my children are so beautiful I feel very blessed ...
That is all ...

Roasted pepper risotto

just made this for tonight ..

roasted four peppers and a red onion with a little fry light for about half an hour 

blended them 

add a tin of tomatoes

put in a large pan and warm through

add some garlic to taste (i am using about five cloves)

then stir in about 200g of risotto rice and cover and cook for ten minutes

Add 200ml(ish) of veg stock

and cover and cook for another ten minutes

then remove from heat and add some fresh basil cover with a tea towel leave for five mins then eat

also added pepper

This also makes a great pasta sauce and is very good with bacon/chicken and pork. I have left it plain (diet grrrrrrrr) but its great with a dollop of philly added once cooked for a creamy flavour!

Vegi cottage pie

half a swede

a parsnip (med sized)

one large onion

a carrot (med sized)

two sticks of celery

cabbage/mushrooms/anything left over is in the fridge

half a bag of quorn mince/tvp

two stock cubes (beef)

enough water to cover

a clove of garlic

mixed herbs (to taste

black pepper (to taste)

two spoons of boullion

potatoes for mash

extra light mayo for the mash if needed( i dont bother as it adds a syn)

dice all the veg small and add to a pan with some fry light over a low heat and allow to 'sweat'.

add the herbs and garlic (garlic burns if it goes in to early)

then add the quorn

then the water slowly, I found the quorn is really porous so you have to do this by eye)

allow to cook on a low heat while you cook the potatoes and mash them

put mix into pot cover with mash and cook for about half an hour ..

this made two that fed myself, El Hairy and Roo

If you are not on a diet you can use lean mince instead of course ... and if you are not on a diet I am jealous because I totally prefer the meat version!!

Wow!

Just realised how long it has been since i wrote anything here .. how remiss of me! Christmas and new year were great, good to be around family and eat loads ... now have rejoined 'fat club', there is something only the ritual humiliation of a weekly weigh in can produce, that's me lighter! ;0)
I also realised how this blog has turned into a recipe spot, not that I am complaining, I guess everyone has their niche, i will be putting much lower fat/calorie recipes on for the time being! I think nine months is a long time to keep my baby bump after giving birth so i fully intend at least to abbreviate it if not get rid of it completely!
i am blaming the 14lb turkey! Nothing to do with booze/cream and chocolate overdoses of course ...

Trolley Dolly Review

Trolley Dolly, well what can I say???  In short it works, looks great and is immensely practical. Now for the review ;0)

Mumsnet asked me if I would like to try and review the ‘Trolley Dolly’, I was more than happy to put this invention through its paces, it arrived as quickly as I had pressed the reply button! I was sent the ‘Poppy Dots’ print much to my Husbands disgust, I was more than happy but he did say he would only use it if we shopped together as it is a bright print. But I have to say there is where most of the criticism will stop.

It was clearly created by a truly organised and practical Mum; all I can say is ‘Well done!’As you can see it is a small bag basically full of bags, added extras include; a trolley coin, a good zipped pocket, phone pocket, a shoulder strap and various way’s of attaching it too the trolley. 

Pro’s

•          The first real advantage to using the ‘Trolley Dolly’ was clear before we even left the house! The space it saves is amazing! As you can see my hall and the boot of my car are far tidier with my new addition! (It also fits easily under each of my pushchairs)
•          Secondly, the extra space in the bag is more than enough to fit in; nappy, wipes, purse, phone and emergency biscuits! (was great to take one bag in to town rather than three)
•         There are three/ four ways of attaching the bag to the trolley also which comes in handy as your child grows; it can hang from the hook in the front by the red webbing or the handles, or you can use the strong ‘velcro’ strip over the handle of the trolley.  This was a great help to us because Roo used to find having the bags in kickable distance most annoying, and putting the bags in the trolley left room for nothing else! Problem solved!
•          The internal bags are really strong and it was handy having shoulder bags whilst shopping in town, personally I find them more comfortable. I guess I should say here about colour coding your shop but I just don’t do that and never have, but we both loved the colours anyway   
•          The ‘trolley coin’ has also been a godsend twice now, not that we didn’t have change, it simply made the children put the trolley back and give us back the token rather than losing a pound every time.
•          Our weekly shop of £200 fitted in easily, the website quotes £300 but I guess that depends where you shop and what you are buying.

Cons

·         The only gripe came from my Husband and was mentioned above, I guess target market will be those who ‘shop most’ and that tends to be the woman, but in our household the task is evenly shared, (I sometimes just let him loose alone) . So in hindsight if I was choosing one I may have not gone for the’ Dots’ but chosen a more ‘man friendly’ print.

    

•          I also have not yet made use of the green nets as much as I felt I should do and maybe would have preferred less of them and a couple more of the other bags. This of course will probably change as my shopping habits change sometimes you don’t use something because you don’t have it, now I have then who knows?

Just to finish off the ‘Trolley Dolly’ is our new best friend, it goes everywhere we do and performs the job of something, indeed some things that are twice its size and require much more thought and effort to remember! At £29.95 I feel it is a bargain every home should have one! All of the bags are extremely well stitched and have the added bonus of the feel good factor ecologically! Fully washable in case of spills and actually just fabulous! Maybe not a good Christmas present though chaps .....


“I am a member of the Mumsnet Blogging Network, a group of parent bloggers picked by Mumsnet to review products, services, events and brands. I have not paid for the product or to attend an event. I have editorial control and retain full editorial integrity”. 

truffles .. Christmas again =0)

These are so easy it would be rude not to do them ...

Truffles (Basic and low fat)

·         1 (200g) tub cream cheese, softened( you could use quark here to reduce the fat content)

·         350g icing sugar, sifted

·         500g plain chocolate, melted

·         1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

In a large bowl, beat cream cheese until smooth. Gradually beat in icing sugar until well blended. Stir in melted chocolate and vanilla until no streaks remain. Refrigerate for about 1 hour. Shape into 2.5cm balls.

Roll truffles in ground walnuts (or any ground nuts), cocoa, coconut, icing sugar, etc. 
To flavour truffles with liqueurs or other flavourings, omit vanilla. Divide truffle mixture into thirds. Add 1 tablespoon liqueur (almond, coffee, orange) to each mixture; mix well.

Super duper truffles

5 oz (150 g) very best quality dark chocolate (at least 75 per cent cocoa solids) I use lindt stuff mostly but aldi and lidl are great!)

 5 fl oz (150 ml) thick double cream

 1 oz (25 g) unsalted butter

 2 tablespoons rum or brandy

 1 level tablespoon Greek yoghurt

 For the plain truffles:

 1 level dessertspoon cocoa powder

For the ginger truffles:

¾ oz (20 g) preserved ginger, very finely chopped plus some extra more randomly cut up for decoration

For the toasted almond truffles:

1 oz (25 g) flaked almonds, very finely chopped and well toasted

For the chocolate-coated truffles:

 2 oz (50 g) dark chocolate (at least 75 per cent cocoa solids)

 ½ teaspoon groundnut oil

 a little cocoa for dusting

1.    Break up the chocolate , I do mine in the food processor, it needs to look kinda like granulated sugar

2.    Heat up the cream butter and alcohol on the hob (this MUST NOT boil)

3.    Add this into the food processor through the tube thing

4.    Blend until smooth

5.    Add the yoghurt

6.    Throw it in the fridge

7.    Leave till the following day

8.    Roll it in to balls

For the plain truffles

Roll into balls and drop and coat in cocoa powder

For the ginger truffles:

As above after adding the ginger with a fork and rolling ,these are also nice with a crushed walnut covering

For the toasted almond truffles:

As above once the almonds are mixed in, you could also use pecans etc

For the chocolate-coated truffles:

Melt chocolate and oil over a pan of hot water, have a sheet of greaseproof nearby, roll the mixture into balls using cocoa powder... using a couple of cocktail sticks dip in the chocolate ... quickly put them on the paper allow to set ... you can add decoration then ie nuts/ginger/chilli .. or use cocktail stick to apply thin stripes of white chocolate over the set dark stuff .. simples ..

Box up and give to anyone and everyone =0) x