Pom Pom Sorting!

This is one is so simple but really fun.
All you'll need is some coloured pom poms and some coloured cups.

Throw them all in a bowl and let your toddler go crazy, sorting them into the right cups, we had lots of fun putting the wrong colours in the wrong cups, Little Badger thought this was hilarious and took great delight in showing silly Mama where they were really supposed to go!
This is great from colour recognition and fine motor skill.

Wholewheat Pitta Bread.

I've always fancied having a go at making some pitta breads but always thought it was going to be a bit of a faff. How wrong was I! These are so easy to make and ridiculously cheap, 22p for six! I will definitely be adding these to our regular menu as they are just so lovely and simple to make.

You'll need:
9oz Wholemeal Flour
7g Sachet of Dried Yeast
6floz Lukewarm Water

Method:
Mix the flour and yeast together in a bowl and make a well in the middle.
Add the water until it starts to form a dough (you may not need it all)
Kneed for 5-10 minutes and divide into 6 balls.
Roll out the balls to a thin pitta shape and place on an oiled baking tray. Remember your dough will rise so you need to roll it thinner than you think.
Pre heat oven too 250C/230Cfan/Gas 9
Leave in a warm place until the pittas have doubled in size.
Bake in the oven for 5-10 minutes or until they are just starting to colour.
Place them on a wire rack to cool.
Enjoy!

New Years Resolutions.

Happy New Year!

I've never really been one for new years resolutions, I kind of just go with the flow and don't give much thought ahead to the coming year, but now I'm a grown up with my own house and child, I don't think that would be the brightest idea to just wait and see.

#1. Plan ahead.
Especially meals, I started to meal plan at the end of last year when money was tight, I sat here, cupboards bare with £12 in my pocket, 3 mouths to feed and 2 weeks until pay day, I pulled everything out of the cupboard and listed everything I had, to my surprise I managed to make 16 separate dinners and was able to easily make my £12 stretch for lunches too, I won't lie we ate a lot of pasta that week, but we ate.

#2. Cut the crap.
Food wise, sometimes when you're skint it can be all to tempting to buy crap, over processed, packet mix, tinned everything, I cook mainly from scratch so we don't have many dinners that come out of a packet, but when it comes to chocolate, breads or refined carbs, we do eat a lot, which is something I'd like to get away from. So we'll be swapping regular pasta for wholewheat versions, baking our own breads, replacing regular treats with a small treat once in a while, cut down on refined sugars and try to completely cut out anything highly processed and eat much less meat.

#3. Move more.
I won't lie, I'm a lazy Badger, I'm a fan of staying in where it's snug and warm and like to save adventures for when it's nice and dry, so I'm going to buy myself a mac and some wellies and brave the storm whilst reducing my carbon footprint.

#4. Be a gentler person.
Sometimes in life I find myself being a little harsh or a little thoughtless, whether that be to others, the earth or even myself. I often catch myself after a using a harsh tone, throwing out something that could of been recycled, criticizing myself and think to myself  "why did I do that?" It doesn't take much just to me that little but more mindful.

So these are mine, now what are yours?

Every Penny Counts..... Literally.

No I really really mean it, you know all those pennies that you just misplace, throw out, accidentally wrap up in the carrier bag and put it in the recycling? The could add up to £100's.

Over the past year every time we find one of those pesky little pennies knocking about the house it's been thrown into a pot.
This morning we emptied out the pot onto the table and set about sorting through the bronze and the silver and bagging them up.

We are a card family, we rarely carry cash (this totally needs to change but that is a whole other blog) so imagine my surprise when we counted.......


£99.10!!!!!!

We have used this to open a savings account for Baby Badger as we have never got round to it when he was born.Let me warn you though, don't try to sort your pennies if your toddler is awake! Not only do will you have your neatly sorted coins scattered all over the house but you will also have grimy hands leaving you unable to fish bits of floor fluff from your toddlers mouth with out rigorously scrubbing your hands first, by which time that floor fluff will be no more. 

My Kid Won't Eat Vegetables!

Arrrgh, do you know the frustration when you've lovingly prepared a tasty and nutritious meal only for your toddler to turn up their nose and catapult it from their highchair?
Yep I do!
Baby Badger has always been great at eating anything you put in front of him, but ever since around 18 months vegetables are met with a fight, now there is some theory knocking about that when a babe reaches around 18 months their taste buds change causing them to taste the bitterness that we as adults don't taste, but that doesn't explain why Baby Badger will eat them if they're hidden. I will openly hold my hands up and say that the other night he had cheerios and fruit for dinner after he refused 3 different things because they had a smattering of green in them, so today I've been a sneaky sneaky badger and made a "Tomato" sauce, packed full of hidden veggies and vitamins. It went down a treat and he ate all his dinner without fuss, I do still offer veg at meal times as I'd like him to at least have the chance to eat them whole, but this is a great way to sneak some extra goodness into his diet.

This recipe makes A LOT, about 6-8 toddler portions but freezes really well.

Sneaky "Tomato" Sauce

I used;
tsp olive oil
1/2 a leek
2 ripe tomatoes
1 red onion
1/2 a red pepper
1/2 a small aubergine
2 tins of chopped tomatoes
1/2 a tube of tomato purée
dried herbs and garlic to taste,
1 tbsp of sugar.

In hindsight the aubergine did make it quite bitter so next time I would omit the aubergine and go for something sweet like carrot using less sugar. Although I don't really like to use a lot of sugar when you realise how much this makes, divided into portions there isn't actually that much.


Step one
Chop up all the veg and fry them gently until soft.

 Step two
Add the tinned tomatoes, purée, garlic and herbs and simmer for 10 minutes.

Step Three
Whizz it until smooth and add sugar a bit at a time to taste.

Voila!!!

Serve with pasta and cheese for a quick and easy lunch, add it to mince, lentils, for a spaghetti bolognese or throw in some kidney beans and chilli to make a tasty con carne!