Meal Planning Monday - 26th August 2013

Another week gone, the weeks really are flying through and before we know it it'll be the big C word! - Crazy.

Just another quick post this week as the little ones napping and I've got to get some things done whilst she's sleeping or they'll never get done.  We're having a period at the moment where she's back to waking up through the night again.  I"m not sure if it's due to her crawling, climbing and learning so much more every day that she's regressing again throughout the nights or what but it's hard getting up again throughout the night for an hour or more until I can get her back to sleep.  Ulg... lots of caffeine is needed!

So here's what we're having this week: -

Monday - Omelette's & Waffles
Tuesday - Chicken Stir fry & Noodles
Wednesday - Sausage, Beans & Mash
Thursday - Pizza
Friday - Chicken & Meatball Subs & chips
Saturday - BBQ/Stag do
Sunday - My parents/Hubby's parents

I'm going to give it a go making my own pizza dough in order to try and make a bit of a healthier pizza.  It may be a complete disaster but sure, got to give these things a whirl.

I was struggling with Saturday/Sunday as what to have and then was reminded by hubby that I'm down at my mum and dad's on Saturday at a BBQ they're holding (lets hope for some good weather) and he was meant to be joining me but it's his friends stag do that night so he'll be out with his friends instead.  Which also means that on Sunday we'll be having separate lunches as well.  My family live approx 30 miles away so there's not really much point in him travelling down just for lunch and then having two cars driving home again, so we'll both be at our respective parents houses.

On Sunday morning I'm meeting up with some of my friends and their little ones!  A girl who I've known since P2 lives in Scotland now, she's home for a holiday seeing her parents so I'm heading over whilst at home myself to see her and meet her little one.  Her cousin, who also has a little baby is coming over too and her sister as well.  It'll be nice to see everyone again and hopefully get a group picture of us all now with our babies.

Hope everyone has a nice week.  I'm sure some of the schools are back again this week which no doubt parents are glad of!

I'm linking up with Mrs M so why not click on the badge above and check out what everyone else is having this week.

Discount at TheWorks.co.uk - Expires 18th October 2013

Image credit - www.dalton-park.co.uk

No tricks, no scam, no review, nothing along those lines, just a code I was emailed from TheWorks.co.uk after purchasing some children's books for the little one and I thought I'd share it.

It's simple, if you want to use the code all you have to do is click the following link http://theworks.refr.cc/TNKB7Z4 and you'll get 15% off orders £10 or more.  The discount expires on 18th October 2013 so why not check it out and get some Christmas shopping started early!

Meal Planning Monday - 19th August 2013

Another Monday rolls round and we're edging closer towards September!  September, where has the year gone so far?  This time last year I was 7 months pregnant and waiting for the arrival of the little one in November and now we're nearly at her first birthday! - Arggg.

Just a quick post before she wakes up.

This week we are having: 

Just noticed I've spelt broccoli wrong in the picture but it's Monday morning and I don't have the heart to do it again!

The baked pasta dish is a freezer batch from the last time I made it..It makes about 5 batches of the sauce and then you just make the pasta each time which is handy!  I must get another batch made soon.

Chicken, Broccoli Pasta (I can't remember what it's actually called), is a recipe my mum found years ago on the side of the Campbell's condensed soup tin.  Basically it's chicken, carrots, broccoli, pasta, condensed chicken soup, milk, stir, simmer and Bob's your Uncle a yummy tasty dish that can be served with crusty bread.

Salted chilli chicken is rather tasty and simple to make too.

I must point out that it looks that we're being rather unhealthy with chips two nights in a row.  We make ours in the actifry, which is meant to be the healthier way to make chips and so therefore it's possible we may have them two nights in a row.  Hubby and I are both trying to be good, cutting down in portion sizes, no cakes, buns and plenty of fruit etc, but were somewhat disappointed when we weighed ourselves at my mums yesterday only to find that there was hardly any progress and we've been doing it for a good 4-6 weeks now.  Bahhhhh.  Hopefully we'll not lose motivation though.

Have a good week!

Meal Planning Monday - 5th August 2013

Morning all, Monday again and into August.  I can't believe that we're closer to this Christmas than we are last Christmas (yes I did just say the C word twice!), over half the year gone and I've really no idea where it has gone to as it's gone by in a flash.  I must be getting older when I'm talking about time passing by so quickly.

Last week is a bit of a blur, we didn't get out much as the little one was wanting to nap and was a little grouchy I think due to teething.  Hopefully we'll get out a little this week just to get a change from the same four walls.  One of my friends is coming up tomorrow with her wee baby girl so will be lovely to see them and have some lunch.  Hoping to get round this week to see another friends new wee baby boy.

Oh!  Also, we go our photos from the photo shoot on Saturday - eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!  So excited, I love them but just can't decide now which one to put up on the wall.

I love this one but just one of the photos to choose from

Anyway, on to this weeks meal plan.  Last weeks went pretty much to plan but Saturday went out the window as I forgot to leave the chicken out of the freezer and so we ended up with a chinese instead - whoops!  This weeks meal plan isn't that exciting either but sure!

So this week we are having.....

So what are you all having this week?  Have a good one, whatever you're up to.

I'm linking up with Mrs M so why not click on the badge and find out what everyone is having this week.

Weekly Meal Plan - 29th July 2013

Hope everyone had a good week.  It's terrible, I'm sitting here trying to remember what we actually did last week and I can barely remember!  Memory isn't what it used to be....  The sun dipped in and out and heavy showers came on quickly so we stayed around the house and tried to get some things done.

Hubby and I got to go on Friday night to view the pictures from our photo shoot last Saturday.  I was anxious if they would be any good as it was an exceptionally warm day and the little one hadn't really napped so it was just a bad combination.  I needn't have worried as they were beautiful and of course it made it extremely difficult to decide which ones to pick.  We eventually decided on 9 photos that we're getting on disk so we can get prints, wall art etc ourselves.... I hope it arrives this week as I'm chomping at the bit to see them again.

We stuck to the meal plan last week, although the little one refused a few dinners.  Don't know if she is getting too independent and wants to feed herself all the time and so is refusing when we spoon feed her, but if I leave her to her own devices she doesn't get an awful lot in her belly.

This weeks meals are pretty uninspired, finding it hard to find things that we can all have together without it being repetitive every week.  There's a few meals on the plan that she won't be having and instead will be having Chicken, Vegetables and potatoes, Chicken & Summer vegetables and Tuna Casserole....hopefully they'll all go down ok :s  Any ideas of what to give her would be gratefully received.

This weeks meals are as follows:

The baked pasta dish is a batch I already have in the freezer and am trying to use up before it's been in there a little too long.  By Thursday I was completely uninspired so am just going to stick my head in the freezer and see what there is, there's bound to be something in there that needs used up anyway.  The smoky philly chicken is scrumptious and we haven't had it in a longggg time, so will be good to have a change with it.

I'm linking up with Mrs M, so why not stop by and have a nosey at what everyone else is having this week.

Have a good one :)

Things I love about you...

Tomorrow my beautiful girl you turn 8 months.  8 months that have gone past in the blink of an eye, in some ways it feels like you've not been here that long and in others it feels like you've always been there and I can't imagine life without you.

Already I can barely remember you as the smell little newborn who just stayed still and looked at me with wide eyes.  There's so many things that I love about you, that I'm sure I'm going to forget as you get bigger...

I love that despite me telling you for 9 months not to come on my birthday you decided to do it anyway

I love the huge grin you give me every time I come into your room after you wake up from a nap in your cot

I love when I check on you there's always at least one toe poking through the blanket

I love your cute curls in your hair

I love the way you always pull up your big toe from the rest of your toes

I love that you've ticklish feet

I love how excited you get playing peek-a-boo, your arms trembling with excitement waiting for the blanket to be pulled off

I love that you hold your arms up when you want picked up

I love that you spend all day going, ma ma ma, da da da, na na na

I love how excited you are on your swing

I love the MANY funny faces you pull

I love that you find such simple things funny

I love that despite all your toys being out that my shoes are still more fun to play with

I love how you are so cute when you rub your eyes when you're tired.

I love that you make me go at record speed to change your nappy before you crawl/roll away

I love that you always want to stand and won't bend in the middle to sit down

I love how you laugh so hard you end up with hiccups

I love that you always smile and get excited when daddy comes home

I love the way you splash about in the bath

I love the way you tap the floor with your hand for me to come here, after I did it to you

I love that you crawl after me if I step into the kitchen to see where I've gone

I love the way you pop your head around the kitchen door each morning to say "Any chance of breakfast Mummy?" 

I love that sometimes you only want me and no one else will do

I love the look you give me when you know you're about to do something you're not meant to as if to check that it's actually ok...it's still not

I love how you turn the pages of your book even if it's not in the right order

I love how you can put your dummy in yourself but not necessarily the right way up

I love the way you've captured my heart

I  love that we've been blessed with you in our lives

I love that your happy and healthy when not every parent is so lucky

Most of all I just love you, for who you are, the person you will grow up to be and I treasure these days of innocence and beauty.  The days that you want me to be here, you want me to play with you and you want to spend time with you.

I can't stop the time from going so quickly but I can only appreciate every moment that we have together.  Before I know it, it'll be your first birthday and our first proper joint birthday together.

I don't even want to think about how quickly you'll be going to nursery school, then primary and secondary school, dating, getting married and having children of your own.  For now, I just want to treasure that you are my beautiful and gorgeous 8 month old baby girl and hug you tight with all my might.

I love you little JD :)

Meal Planning Monday - 22nd July 2013

Don't fall off your seat reading this, I am alive and well!!  Yes, it has been a little while since posting anything but I have still been Meal Planning behind the scenes.

Things just got really busy with the little one and with the glorious weather it made it difficult to get the little one to eat, sleep, want to do anything so I just didn't have the time to get blogging.  I also had a wave of what's the point?  Does anyone even read this and is interested whether I'm actually here or not? and so before you know it it's over a month without a single post being written and very few being read.

I still find time very limited to get reading/writing posts, as it is the little one is asleep now but I should really be doing something productive before she wakes up again.  By the time she's settled in bed for night, things are cleared and tidied up, a brew in hand and some chilling time, it's time for bed!  I'm in awe of all you who seem to be so much busier than me and still have time to blog.

Anyway, so we're back (for this week at least) and hopefully I'll get back into the swing of blogging and find time to be able to just share my thoughts if nothing else.

So in my absence on here, we've had some progressions....weaning is still going well and now I'm trying to find meals that we can both have together instead of having to make separate dinners.  Any thoughts on meals that could be made or ideas of lunches would be greatly appreciated as I'm running out of ideas.

Also, about 3 weeks ago JD started crawling forward!  She had reverse gear, side to side and complete about turn but could never seem to get forward.  Now there's no stopping her, it is more like an army crawl but she can fairly shift and now I need eyes everywhere!

On to this weeks Meal Plan....

I'm linking up with Mrs M, so why not click the link and take a look at what everyone else is having this week.

Weekly Meal Plan - 10th June 2013

Last week was beautiful here, we had lovely sunshine nearly every day and pretty warm temperatures...  On Saturday JD and I, along with a friend and her wee boy, took part in a World Record Pram Push attempt for the most prams moving at one time.  We had a gorgeous day for it, almost too warm as we had to walk from the top of Stormont, down to the bottom and back up a hill.  Unfortunately with the good weather I think people didn't turn out for the event and so whilst we didn't break it, we did have a fun morning/afternoon and in total the event raised £15,000 for TinyLife Charity.

Sunday we ditched the meal plan, grabbed a disposable BBQ and headed to Newcastle for the afternoon.  It was lovely just chilling, having our BBQ, letting the little one roll about on the blanket and just having some family time together.  We headed for a walk into the town and then up to see my brother & sister in law and nieces who have a caravan up there.  It was great seeing the cousins play together and they love our little one so much.

So some meals from last week will be reappearing as we didn't have them last week.  The sun has also gone this morning (Tuesday) so there probably won't be any meal changes.  I think our week of sunshine was summer, well it was nice when it lasted.

This week we are having:

Not entirely inspiring but tasty all the same.

I'm linking up with Mrs M so why not click on the badge and see what everyone else is having this week!

Have a good one.

Weekly Meal Plan - 3rd June 2013

It's June, JUNE!  Can you believe it?  Where has 6 months gone?  Dare I say the dreaded words...before we know it it'll be Christmas!  In a few weeks we are about to have the longest day and then slowly creep back into the darker days but yet where has summer been?  I hope it stops hiding and comes out soon!  In saying that we have had a day or two which has been lovely, bright and sunshiny but at the same time it'd be nice if it stuck around for a while longer.

Last weeks meal plan got juggled around a wee bit.  Tuesday I just couldn't be bothered and so we ended up getting pizza (not good for my waistline, hips or jelly bottom - but none the less super tasty!). Another night we swapped and had what we were meant to have on Tuesday.  Saturday we bought chicken and cubed potatoes from the butcher and made our own sweet chilli chicken and on Sunday we had the chilli as we're at my cousins wedding today and will probably get a roast dinner so thought it best not to have two in a row.

This week is looking as follows:

Last week was a bit stressful and well, upsetting for me.  Little JD started screaming the house down at every nap for a couple of days, which isn't like her.  She'd be screaming her wee heart out and it upset me that I didn't know what was wrong and couldn't get her to sleep for ages.  I felt like a bad mummy.  I thought at the start it was teething and she is drooling lots and constantly got her hands in her mouth, but the screaming only happens at nap time (generally).  I'm wondering now is it separation anxiety and that's why she's so upset.  I'm trying to be strong so she won't pick up on it but hate hearing her cry so sore.

Earlier on in the week we managed to get out for a wee date with my friend and her wee boy.  we went to one of the local parks and had a wee bit of fun on the swings and then had a big walk around the park (twice) and then the mummy's got a tea and a bun after! - Well why not!?

I'm linking up with Mrs M (probably on Tuesday after the wedding), why not head over and see what everyone else is having this week.

Have a good one!

Weekly Meal Plan - 27th May 2013

 

Forgive me but there's going to be no flash, jazz or flare to this post! Up until about 10 minutes ago I didn't even know what we were having this week.

I wasn't prepared to have it done at the weekend as he sun was shining on Saturday and we went out for the day to a local farm and then had a big walk around the lake.  

Sunday we were just chilling and visiting family but I couldn't bring myself to think about meals just yet.... On Monday JD and I went down to my mums to see my sister and leave in my brother in laws birthday present so. We were away the whole day.  Today my head isn't working and it's going to be a caffeine fuelled day to get me through.... JD keeps waking up at 5am and having a little chatter for about an hour and then normally falls back to sleep.  This morning she woke at 5am and was up chatting but then started crying so I ended up having to bring her into our bed so as hubby could get some sleep.  She went back over but it was after six she was going to sleep and awake again for 7am!! Shattered.  If anyone has any ideas of how to stop her waking at 5am I'd love to hear them! She's not waking for food she's just chatting and cooing away.

Anyway, the shopping is still to be done but I'm tied to the house as our bath is FINALLY being delivered today.....now to get it installed :s

So this weeks meal plan is as follows;

Monday - Leftover fajitas from Saturday

Tuesday - Tuna pie, baked beans and spuds

Wednesday - Omelettes and chips or hash browns

Thursday - Baked pasta dish

Friday - Burgers and chips

Sat - Chilli

Sun - A roast of some sort

It's somewhat uninspired but anyway it's all my brain can cope with this morning.

Hope everyone had a good week.  I'm linking up with Mrs M so why not head on over and see what everyone else is having this week.

Have a good one :)

Weekly Meal Plan - 20th May 2013

Morning, another Monday, just crazy!  Hubby will be in his new job 4 weeks now and JD will be 6 months this week.  I'm not sure where that times gone at all, I guess before I know it I'll be planning her first birthday.  I don't want to think about that just yet :(

Last weeks plan went pretty much to plan except for Friday where I headed out to see a friend, leaving hubby with the little one and a dinner from the freezer (well, I was nice I cooked it for him first!) and I had a great night chatting, catching up with my friend and gorging on take out food.

It was lovely having my mum and dad up and they enjoyed the Sweet & Sour Chicken, Hairy Biker style.  We did have enough rhubarb to make the rhubarb crunch and whilst the weather wasn't great it was still sooo yummy.  If you love rhubarb I'd definitely advise you to give it a go as it's just lovely.

This week we're still trying to use some of the freezer food up and then replenish the stocks, mixed in with some 'fresh' dishes.

Hopefully the sun will come back again this week.  We had a blink of it on Friday and then the rain set in for Saturday and Sunday.  Perhaps that was summer.

I'm linking up with Mrs M, so why not click the link and have a look at what everyone else is having this week.

Rhubarb Crunch Recipe

This is a recipe that my mum always made for us when we lived at home and it went down a treat!  Mum grows rhubarb in her back garden so it was always freshly picked for this.  Now in our own house we grow rhubarb too and it's lovely just being able to go out the back and pick how much you need for the dish.

Mum also made a lovely Raspberry flan with a sort of custardy filling...mmmm, my mouth is watering it's beautiful! So when we finally get some raspberries I'll blog that recipe too!

The finished product

Ingredients

1lb Rhubarb washed, trimmed & cut into 1 inch pieces

3oz Caster Sugar

1 Tbsp Water

1 Level Tsp Cornflour

2oz Margarine

40z Breadcrumbs

1 Level Tsp Ginger (or a few shakes more if you like it stronger)

2oz Demerara Sugar

15oz Tin Creamed Rice (We use 3 tins)

Method

Put the rhubarb, sugar and water in a saucepan and good gently until tender but still holding it's shape.

Rhubarb once it's been stewed

Mix the cornflour with 1 teaspoon of water in a separate bowl and mix to a smooth paste.

Cornflour & water mixed into a paste

Add cornflour paste to rhubarb .  Bring to the boil to thicken and cool.

Melt margarine in frying pan, stir in the breadcrumbs and ginger.  Cook until brown.

Stir in sugar and continue to cook until crispy but not too hard.  This really is just trial and error and probably to taste too.  Sometimes they crisp more when they cool.

Breadcrumbs when they're brown & crispy

Put alternate layers in a bowl starting with some of the rhubarb, then crumbs, then rice and finish with crumbs on top.

Put in the fridge to cool and serve when you can't resist the temptation any more.

Enjoy!!

Weekly Meal Plan - 13th May 2013

How's everyone this happy Monday? (You can tell I'm off on maternity leave when I'm saying that!)

Last weeks meals went pretty much to plan, however we had a panic for a few days as we thought our freezer was on the blink.  A warning light kept flashing at us which normally suggests the temperature isn't right.  I think the door might have been ever so slightly ajar, but after 24 hours when the light was still flashing it looked like it wasn't going to be good and the freezer full of food was going to have to be quickly eaten.  The strange thing was that the food in the freezer was still frozen, but anything new put in the top drawer didn't seem to be freezing... Very strange! So Saturday's tea was bumped in order to start using up the freezer.

Anyway, thankfully a day or so after the mysterious warning light has now vanished and the food still remains frozen so hopefully there won't be the need for a new freezer after all. (Fingers crossed).  I've taken it as a good opportunity to use up some of the freezer meals I have in there and get it defrosted and hopefully that will make it happy and help it to continue working.

Oh, on other news JD mastered how to roll from her back to her front last week.  As a new mummy of course I was very proud and just think she's amazing.  She's now trying to 'flap', sorry crawl, but it really is more of a flapping her arms and legs and she's getting frustrated that she can't do it. I'm sure that will happen soon enough and then I might cry a little as she's only wee and I want to keep her that way :(

Anyway, enough blethering and on to our meals this week: -

My Mum and Dad are coming up to visit us on Saturday so I'm making the Sweet & Sour Chicken fresh for them.  Hopefully I might get to making a Rhubarb Crunch, but just need to check if we have enough rhubarb in the garden.  If I make it I'll be sure to blog it as it's one of my favourite dishes....layers of yummy rhubarb and creamed rice...mmmmm.....

I feel a little lazy cooking wise with all the meals being from the freezer but hopefully it means that the weekly grocery bill will get a bit of a reprieve too.

I'm also trying to think of different things to give JD for weaning.  I'm trying to put a few flavours together but if you have any suggestions of good recipes or ideas I'm all ears!

What are you having this week?  Hope you have a good one!

As usual I am linking up with At home with Mrs M's #MealPlanningMonday.  Why not click on the badge and have a nosey at what everyone else is having this week.

Mum's the word weekly meal plan - 25th March

I'll be honest when I was working and before little bambino came along I would never plan meals so to speak.  We normally decided a day or two in advance what we wanted and had got a shop probably the week before ending up getting lots of things we didn't need, or worse didn't eat and would end up being thrown out.

These days I'm trying to be a lot better mainly from Lauren's meal planning blog post,planning what we're going to have and only shopping around that to cut out waste and costs.  The odd thing that's not on the shopping list does find its way into the basket but generally I try to be good. Somehow though our food bills still seem to be rather high.  If someone has any advice, tips, ideas I'd love to hear them as maternity pay does make things that little bit tighter.

So here goes the first post instead of a note in my phone:-
Mon - Mince pie, corn on the cob & mash
Tues - Chicken Broccoli Bake
Wed - Hairy Bikers Chilli Salad Bowls
Thurs - Sausages, beans & mash
Fri - Spicy Beef & rice
Sat - Smokey Philly Chicken, mixed veg & baked potato
Sun - Roast Turkey dinner at my mums for Easter

Fisher Price Rainforest Playmat/Gym

Rainforest Playmat/Gym

About a month after our little one, JD, was born we wondered if we should get her some sort of playmat/gym to keep her entertained.  I can't remember how we came across this one (probably Hubby and his love of googling) but we decided to go for the Fisher Price Rainforest Gym.  I'll be honest it's not cheap, it's currently selling in Argos for £40.99 on sale but it's retail price is around £50, but it's money well spent.

Being made by Fisher Price the quality is excellent.  I don't know what it is about Fisher Price toys but my mum has ones from 30 years ago when I was a baby and they're still going strong.  I think in some cases it's definitely worth spending a bit extra for a quality product.

The playmat/gym is so colourful it's easily attractive to little people, with so many things to keep them entertained.  

View of the base of the playmat.
Plenty to keep them entertained during tummy time.

It's simple to assemble, by slipping the feet of each of the arches into a hole at each corner.  We keep the mat laid flat when it's not in use but the arches can be swivelled around easily so the mat folds in half and can be placed behind the couch or in another room until next needed.

The playmat runs on 3 C batteries and has three different settings, music, rainforest sounds and music on movement, where the baby has to pull, push, touch something in order for the melody to continue.  Ours is used everyday, numerous times a day and now 5 months later the same batteries are still going strong.

There is 5 movable toys that come with the playmat and approximately 8 different hangers at different heights and positions on the mat that the toys can be placed on.  A monkey who hangs by his tail, a toucan that rattles, a parrot that has a spinning paddle, an elephant that has little balls in it's spinner to rattle and a mirror that if your child is like ours loves looking at herself in!  There's also a bug printed on the mat that is hiding underneath a leaf.  I didn't even know it was there until recently!

Toys included with playmat.

When the melody is playing there is also lights which go on and off to the music.  These are placed under the control unit so the baby can see them when lying down.

Without a shadow of doubt it's one of the best things we've bought for JD since she's been born.  When she was little the lights, bright colours and sound would take her attention.  Now that she is older she's gone from just looking at the toys to reaching for them and playing with them.

It's a great mat to use for tummy time and because all the toys can be unhooked they can be repositioned anywhere to suit where the little one is placed.

Another great feature is that it is machine washable.  I've already had ours in the wash as tummy time inevitably brings out burps, which always leads to a little moisture being expelled.  The mat washed really well and wasn't damaged from the washing machine in anyway.

If you're pondering over a playmat/gym to get your little one I'd really recommend this one.  There really is lots to keep them entertained.

This post isn't sponsored and I haven't been asked to review this.  I just thought I'd share my thoughts on what a great product this is.  Well done Fisher Price - I hope it's still standing in 30 years time!

Breastfeeding - How it doesn't work for everyone

All through my pregnancy I was told that "breast is best".  All the midwives and literature informed that breastfeeding was the best and only thing to do in order to give your child the best start to life.  As a first time mum I obviously wanted to give my little girl (JD) the best, so I was certain that I was going to breastfeed her as soon as she was born.

In the hospital I was given no choice whether I was breast feeding or bottle feeding my baby, she was just put on and there was no if's or but's about it. I found it very hard to know if she was latched on right. All the signs showed that she was, pulsing beat at her earlobe, most of the areola covered etc, but I felt a pinching which always suggested to the midwife that she wasn't latched on correctly.  No matter how many attempts at latching I always felt a bit of discomfort.  We were told JD had a slight tongue tie, not serious enough to fix, but I think it seemed to affect her latching on correctly.

Unfortunately in the early days JD was also a lazy feeder, she didn't want to wake up for a feed and we had to use horrible tactics of putting cold water on her face and stripping her down to just her happy in order to wake her and get her to feed.

Our first night at home was horrendous, I wish I was over exaggerating but JD was up feeding nearly all night, by the time she'd finish and I got her down for sleeping she was only down 5-10 minutes before wanting fed again. Being a first time mum I had no idea if this was normal but I kept thinking that surely it couldn't be right. Surely, although everyone said you'd have a lack of sleep they couldn't mean that you'd only get an hour or so a night.  I had endless tears as the never ending cycle kept going and the clock felt like it was going backwards and morning was never going to come.

By morning I was a wreck and when the midwife arrived and greeted me with "well, how is everything going?", I burst into tears and told her things weren't going very well at all.

My midwife was lovely, I told her how to me JD looked like she was latched on properly but there was some discomfort when she was feeding. She watched to make sure I was doing it correctly and then let me in on a secret that no other midwife had told me, in fact, they'd made me think that I was doing it all wrong...breastfeeding IS uncomfortable, it IS sore.

JD dropped down from 7lb 14oz to 7lb 3oz which is within the 10% margin that they expect of newborns to loose within their first 5-7 days. It was expected that she would be back to her birth weight again quite quickly but unfortunately at the next weigh in she had only put on 2oz.

The horrendous nights continued with very little or no sleep to be had, I was starting to feel so worn and run down after so many nights of little sleep and felt like I was becoming a vampire, awake at night and asleep during the day. Night after night I was in floods of tears and felt so pressured to feed myself and not poison my child with formula.  That I must be doing something wrong as no one had ever said that breastfeeding might not work for you.

After a few days I started to get hot and cold flushes and thought that I was just getting run down from getting such little sleep.  I spoke with my midwife to find out that I had mastitis on one side and so was given antibiotics to clear it up and paracetamol to take down my temperature.  As I was just getting rid of it on one side I then got it on the other!  They advised to continue feeding during mastitis in order to keep the milk supply flowing and to stop it getting painful from the milk not being used but this was easier said than done.  It was painful for her to feed whilst having it and I'd raw and cracked nipples on the other side from her feeding so much that it almost filled me with dread each time I had to feed her.  I'd get her into position to be latched on, hold my breath and curl my toes until the pain passed and it was bearable again.

After two weeks of living like a zombie, JD hardly gaining any weight, the midwife and I talked and decided to knock it on the head and to breastfeed but top up with a formula feed to ensure she would gain weight.  I'll never forget the day I went to buy the formula from a local Boots store. It had been another dreadful night with very little sleep. On taking the formula to the cash desk I asked if I could pay for it with the points that I'd accumulated on my advantage card.  I was soon informed in a rather snooty tone that points couldn't be used to purchase formula products as they couldn't be condoning the use of it when breast feeding was best for a child. Well sleep deprived and struggling to get weight on my baby this was like a red rag to a bull, it's not often I would voice my opinion but I snapped back with "if you'd had the night I've had then you wouldn't be saying that".

As I fed JD formula for the first time I felt awful. I felt like I was poisoning my beautiful baby girl. I was formula fed, my hubby was formula fed and we're both fine (well maybe a little nuts round the edges but who isn't!), but I still couldn't shake this feeling that I was giving up, that I wasn't giving her the best that I could have.

As it turned out, formula was the best thing for JD. We worked out that I wasn't producing enough milk for her so that's why she was up so much during the night because she wasn't able to fill her boots with what she was getting from me. On formula she was a changed baby, I was a changed mummy and I could finally relax and get to enjoy my precious beautiful baby girl.  As she was so much happier on formula, I decided not to breastfeed at all and just solely give her formula.

I'm not saying I don't agree with promoting that breast is best, but I think there shouldn't be as much pressure on Mum's that they have to breastfeed or that they are wrong to formula feed. There needs to be a happy medium, a realisation and understanding that it doesn't work for everyone. What about mothers who have had a mastectomy, should they feel shame that they aren't able to breastfeed their child?

I'm glad that I was able to at least give JD the best I could for the first two weeks and that she got the goodness of the colostrum (even if it was in drips and drabs) but I wish that I'd listened to my husband and my mum when they said I didn't have to put myself through this.

If you're a first time mother and breastfeeding isn't working for you, remember that you DON'T have to put yourself through this, you aren't a failure and you aren't doing wrong by your baby. Just because you aren't breastfeeding doesn't mean that you aren't giving them the best start in the world. Don't put yourself under the pressure that I did to continue with it when it's obvious it wasn't working for us at all.   

Weekly Meal Plan - 6th May 2013

Another week gone and another week closer to the first half of the year being gone!  It must be me getting older but I definitely think time is going quicker!

The first half of the week for me was a wipe out, unfortunately I woke up on Monday with a bug but thankfully by Wednesday it had packed it's bags and vacating the building.  I was even more thankful that no one else in the house, especially little JD got it.

We managed to still have all our meals on the meal plan, bar Saturday when we were out and decided to ditch the sweet and sour and get a yummy chicken fillet burger from the chippy instead. (Oh well, can't be good all the time!)

So on to this weeks plan!

As you can see the sweet and sour has made it on to this weeks meal plan as I'd bought all the ingredients in the online shop last week.  Speaking of online shops, I don't know how but every time I shop online and get vegetables I always end up with far more than I wanted.  The first time I did an online shop with Asda I wanted one onion and ended up with a kilo, yes 1 kilo!! of onions.  I had them coming out of my ears!  This time I wanted a small knob of fresh ginger for the sweet and sour, well you can imagine it already.  I've ended up with a couple of huge bits that I have no idea what I'm going to do with!  So any suggestions on what to do with it will be greatly appreciated!!

The baked pasta dish is a tasty little recipe that I found online.  It's great as it makes 5 portions of the sauce which is a handy wee quick dinner when you've it in the freezer, cook up the pasta, top with cheese and pop in the oven - done!

The spicy tuna fish cakes were a real hit the last time I made them and so are featuring again to give us a break from our poultry heavy meals.

The Cajun Chicken Pasta and Chicken & Chorizo Stew are both new recipes so will look forward to trying them out for something different.

I'm linking up with Mrs M for the #Mealplanningmonday so why not head on over and have a jook at what everyone else is having this week!

Have a great week! :)

Weekly Meal Plan - 29th April 2013

So it's Thursday and I'm only writing this Meal Planning post.  In fairness, I had our meals all worked out on Sunday and was going to write this on Monday as we were only home on Sunday night from staying overnight at my mums, then I was hit on Monday morning with a vomiting and diarrhoea bug (sorry if you're eating!) and couldn't face it.

Thankfully it seemed to only be a 48 hour bug but it's long and hard enough when you're trying to look after a 5 month old at the same time as trying to run for the bathroom.  A friend and my mother in law did offer to look after the little one, but of course I was stubborn and although I wasn't well thought I still should be the one to look after her.  By Tuesday I threw that right out the window and my mother in law kindly came and looked after the wee one whilst I could lie down.

Anyway, thankfully I had some meals on the plan that were 'frozen'. My mum had made us a turkey pie and there were some Kiev's in the freezer that hubby could knock himself out with, as I was sticking to dry toast (one way to loose some weight anyway!).  I got the shopping delivered yesterday so the rest of the meal plan should pretty much stay the same.

The Meatball Sub was just made out of my head last time but was sooo tasty that hubby wanted it again.  This time we're having a tomato & basil sauce on it instead of a tomato & chilli sauce (the sauce is shop bought).

The Sweet & Sour Chicken is another favourite from the Hairy Bikers Diet recipes, we've had it before and it is really tasty.

I'm looking forward to trying the Maple Pork Chops.  I saw this on Daft Mama's Meal Plan for last week and so had to give that a go.  I'm normally not a fan of pork chops, I think it comes from years of having them at home and they always seemed to be dry (sorry mum!) so looking forward to seeing what these taste like.

Hopefully everyone had a good week last week and are having a great week so far!

Happy munching :)

Spicy Sausage Cassoulet Recipe

This is another recipe my mum used to make us but it is a firm favourite with hubby - he loves it. It's one of those recipes that maybe doesn't look great on a plate or in a bowl but is just so tasty and the leftovers are always great for a lunch or even another dinner.  

The recipe says it serves two but we normally get at least two good dinners out of it and enough for maybe another dinner or a lunch.  I do have a tendency to add a few extra peppers into it but you could do so to taste and if trying to bulk it out add more veg or sausages.

Ingredients

1 Tbsp oil
1 Onion, finely chopped
1 Garlic clove, crushed
1 Red pepper, chopped
2 Sticks celery, chopped
200g Chopped tomatoes
125ml Chicken stock
2 Tsp Dark soy sauce
2 Tsp Mustard
400g Black eyed beans (I always used baked beans - it tastes yummy)
125g Pork Sausages cooked and chopped into small pieces
2oz Breadcrumbs
1oz Grated Cheese
2 Tbsp Parsley chopped

Heat 2 tsp of oil in a large saucepan/wok.  Ensure the pan you use can be put under the grill and won't melt!

Cook sausages on grill, frying pan, actifry - however you like to cook them.

Add onion, garlic, pepper & celery to the pan and cook on low heat for 3-4 minutes stirring occasionally.

Add tomatoes, stock and soy sauce.  Bring to boil, reduce heat and simmer for 15 mins or until sauce begins to thicken.

Chop sausages into small pieces. Add mustard, beans and sausages and cook for further 10 minutes.

Before sauce has thickened

When the sauce had thickened

Mix breadcrumbs, cheese and parsley together and sprinkle over sausage mixture.

Place pan under hot grill for 2-3 minutes until golden brown.

All ready to dig in!

Serve with salad/crusty bread.

Tuna Flan Recipe

This is a dish we would often have at home when I lived with my mum and dad.  It's simple and easy and I love it.  Not being a great fan of fish (only eating tuna or salmon out of a tin) this recipe is great for getting some fishiness into you.

Tuna Flan (Partially eaten - whoops, forgot to take photo before dinner!)

The recipe for the pastry is to the tea as its from my mum.  The filling however will be a little haphazard as it's from me and I've a tendency to add a little here and put a little dash here but if you'd like to try making it here we go....

To make the pastry

125g/4oz Stork Margarine

175g/6oz Plain Flour

1 Tbsp Cold Water

Place the flour in a bowl and rub in the margarine until it looks like breadcrumbs, then add the water.  Blend together.  You can add a little more water if needed but don't make it too sticky (strict instructions from my mum!).

Flour surface and roll the pastry out.  Greases the dish you are using with a little butter.  Place the pastry over the dish and pat into dish to fit.  Trim off edges if necessary.  Once the pastry is in position prick it a few times with a knife to ensure it does not bubble.

Place the pastry in the oven 200oC/400oF/Gas Mark 6 for approximately 25 minutes or until lightly brown.

To make the filling

1 Tin Tuna Chunks

Milk

2 Eggs

Frozen Peas

Cheese for topping

Put tuna in bowl and mash with fork until the chunks are broken up.  Add the two eggs and mix.  Add a handful or more of frozen peas (really add as many as you like and as many as you need depending on how big your dish is).  Add a little milk, until it raised by an inch or two.  Mix until peas are separated and everything is combined.  Pour the mixture on to your pastry base.  Top with grated cheese and cook for approximately 20/30 minutes at 200oC until the cheese is golden brown.

Serve with broccoli or any vegetable, baked potato and lashings of HP sauce (OK so the last one is just a personal favourite).

Mum's The Word Weekly Meal Plan - 22nd April 2013

 

 Can you believe it's Monday again? The weeks are just flying by.

Thankfully we got good news about Hubby's car, although there is a fault with the brake sensor (I think that's what it was) the mechanic said that VW are repairing the fault free of charge.  I checked with our VW dealer and it is the case (yippee), so as long as it comes up with the same fault code on their diagnostics we'll not have to pay to get it fixed.  This is just great as when Hubby was googling about it, it could have been £1000 - £1500 to get it repaired - ouch!

I took the little one up to see my Grandma and my mum on Wednesday. My Grandma just turned 90 in January and I think she's brilliant.  She lives in her own wee apartment attached to my Aunt and Uncles house which means she gets her own bit of privacy but the family make dinners for her etc, and it's nice to know that someone's not too far away if anything happened to her.

I got to enjoy some time this weekend catching up with friends and family.  Friday I had a lovely dinner catching up with one of my friends who has a 18 month old boy.  Saturday I got catching up with my best friend that I haven't seen in 7 weeks. We live 30 miles apart, which doesn't sound a lot but she works shifts so it's been hard to get a time that suits us both. It was great just chatting and laughing and of course doing some munching and shopping.

Sunday the lovely Lauren, my cousins wife, was over this week seeing her family and having some chill out time.  Although she was home chilling she kindly met up with the little one and I at her Mother in Law's house (my Auntie). Was lovely seeing them both as we haven't seen them since January at my Gran's birthday.

The little one was unfortunately a little strange at the start but came round pretty quickly and was giving plenty of smiles.  We had a lovely afternoon chatting and playing with the little one. It was  lovely to see her and only wish she was closer so we could see her more.

Some of last weeks meals were a great hit!  The Spanish Chicken was lovely, Sausage Casserole was very tasty (always popular in our house - recipe to follow!), Meatball Sub (a creation out of my head but was super tasty) and the Beef and Bean Burrito, although it did just taste like chilli in a wrap.

Lauren & My Little Princess

Little Princess & Me

This week we only (hopefully) have 5 meals to plan for.  Hubby finishes work on Thursday and starts his new job next Monday, so we're having a celebratory dinner on Thursday.  Friday he's out at his leaving do, so just dinner for me. Saturday we're hoping to have a day out in the town and get dinner out, so seeing if my mum can look after the little one for us.  We'll stay over at theirs on Saturday night so no lunch to make on Sunday!  It'll be good to see them and catch up and for them to see the little one too.

So on to this weeks meal plan!

I'm linking up with Meal Planning Monday over at Mrs M's Page so why not pop on by and nosey at what everyone else is eating this week.

Hope you have a great week.