Car Bootiin'

I'm about a week late with this post because we went to the car boot sale on Sunday, but I'm hoping you'll forgive me for my tardiness. I've had the mother of all headaches again this week and it seems they're down to high blood pressure. I've always had high blood pressure and it's never caused me any real trouble, but it seems now just for funnsies and to add a little interest to my day it's going to give me headaches which make the usual day to day things a little more difficult, things like walking, blinking and seeing further than the end of my nose.

So all good stuff really and my prescription is to relax and take it easy. Don't worry, I'll wait til you're finished laughing......

You done? Moving on....

Last week I dragged my family we went to our first car boot sale of the year. I know I've said before that I love charity and second hand shops and that I love freecycle, but if it's even possible I love car boot sales even more. I always find just exactly the thing I've been looking for, the thing my life would never be complete without at car boots.

Of course, I always find things I really don't need at all too.


No clue why I bought, but, and this is where I tell you about yet another flaw in the way my brain works, I can't pass up a big book. The bigger the better, I can't get enough of those huge coffee table books and I've yet to be able to leave one sitting for somebody else.

The flaw in the way my brain works is that while I'm all about the bargain and getting something I need and saving a bit of money and I'm always good at remembering that it's only a bargain if I actually need it, that goes out the window with books. I paid £1 for this book...


Yep, that's an RRP of £29.99, by my brain's calculation I'm now up £28.99. See how that works? Even when I don't have any need for a book, so long as it qualifies as a book my brain writes off the expense so that I'm no longer £1 out of pocket but I'm a full £28.99 better off. Don't argue with it, I've tried and my book shelves will tell you, it doesn't work.



But it does have some great info, and I do really want to have a crack at screen printing and yes, I am fully aware that my brain has taken over and is now justifying the purchase of the book to you because you all know that I could have found the very same information online for free, but as I said before, don't argue with it.


And I found these little beauties hidden under a table, wrapped in bin liners where nobody else had dared to look...


I have a real thing for copper in kitchens. I already have my copper kitchen aid, which I'm still convinced was possibly for display purposes only and the shop shouldn't have sold it to me because I've never been able to find another one, anywhere.


There are four of them and I still need to clean them up with bicarb to get the lacquer off because I do plan to cook with them. Nothing cooks like a good old copper pot and these are pretty heavy. When I found them and asked the price the lady wanted £3 for each one. I figured two would be plenty for me and knew that if she set the other two out on the table instead of hiding them that they would sell quickly too, but she wanted to start packing up to go home and gave me all four for £6. Bargain:)

Which means that after the whole trip I'm still up £22.99 and you can't get better than that really now can you?

Menu Plan - 13/4 to 19/4

Menu Plan Monday again.

A little late with the menu this week, but still better later than never.

Monday:

Poached chicken with salad and fresh bread. I just threw a large chicken, some carrots, leeks, celery and onion into the crockpot in the morning and added enough water to just cover.

Tuesday:

Chicken noodle soup. I'll use the rest of the poached chicken along with the stock created by poaching and add some egg noodles. I'll split some of this off into a smaller pot because the husband likes his spiked with finely chopped fresh red chili.

Wednesday:

Beef casserole made in the crockpot. The family really enjoyed this last week and asked for it again. They even went back to the pot and ate all my planned leftovers.

Thursday:

Burgers with the usual dressings and chips (fries). I have some beef mince and some lamb mince in the freezer so I'll use half and half to make the burgers. Plus if we happen to be out today I can throw them in the cooler box and cook them on the camp stove while we're out.

Friday:

Chicken olives with steamed veg and potatoes. I live to make my own. I usually trim and flatten two chicken thighs after I've boned them, place a few tablespoons of parsley and onion stuffing, wrap the chicken around the stuffing, wrap the whole thing with a slice or two of streaky bacon and bake in the oven at 180C (350F) for about 30-45 minutes depending on size. To test stick a metal skewer into the centre of the meat and hold it there for a few seconds before removing it and carefully touching it quickly to your bottom lip. If its hot, its cooked.

Saturday:

Homemade pizza. I have a couple of bases in the freezer along with the salami so this can be a really quick meal.

Sunday:

I'll either make fajitas or we'll use any leftovers in the fridge just to start the week fresh.

Baking:

Cherry scones for picnics.
Apple oat bars.
Choc chip cookies and p'nut butter cookies from the freezer stash for the cookie jar.
2 batches of bread dough. I'll use some of the bread to make a few pizza bases, part bake them and freeze them for later.

Menu Plan Monday 23/3 to 29/3

Menu Plan Monday again.

Its Love Beef Week here in Northern Ireland so I'll try to incorporate as much as I can. Luckily I still have some cuts of beef in the freezer so this shouldn't be a problem.

The weather has definitely been a lot kinder here lately so as usual Toots and I will get out of the house as often as possible, because of this a lot of our lunches will consist of sandwiches, soup and any leftovers which I can reheat on my mine gas stove while we're out. I'm hoping for a trip or two to the coast this week.

Monday

We'll have leftovers from the barbecue today. There's a mountain of salad and chicken, so we'll have that. No sense it going to waste.

Tuesday

Crockpot lasagna. Again I'm hoping to be out today so this is something I can put on in the morning and not have to worry about it.

Wednesday

Meatball subs. I'll make some mini meatballs and again throw them in the crockpot with tomato sauce and all I have to do tonight is add bread and cheese.

Thursday

I'm going to try taco soup. I see recipes for it everywhere and it sounds interesting. The recipes seem to be a very personal thing, with everyone making it their own way, but I'm going to use Annie's recipe because I've never went wrong using her recipes before. The crockpot might get used again today (I'm being a bit lazy this week, but it just makes dinner too easy).

Friday

Steak and chips. A nice easy treat for the husband. There are definitely a couple of sirloins in the back of that freezer somewhere.

Saturday

Ok I'm slightly embarrassed to admit this, but you'll see it come up again in the future, trust me. Plus I'm sure we've all done the same thing.

Mystery meat surprise. Yep, I've thrown something in the freezer at some point wrapped in foil in a freezer bag with no label on it whatsoever. I have no idea what is in there, so I'll defrost it on Friday night so that I can spend Saturday thinking about what the hell to do with it.

Sunday

Pork fillet with potatoes and vegetables. I think I'll just roast the pork fillet but don't put it past me to just throw it in that crockpot.

Baking

Bread, but then you knew that.
Fifteens
Vanilla cupcakes using my simple sponge
Easter baskets. I'll post a recipe for this later in the week.

WFMW - Frozen Yogurt Pops

So you've bought two dozen yogurts for the kids.

Because the kids have been eating yogurts like they're going out of fashion for the last three weeks and you thought you'd take advantage of that huge pack of yogurts because they were only £1.99 and they'll last at least a week without you having to run out and buy more every night because the stash in the fridge has mysteriously disappeared.

Cut to a week later, you still have a fridge overflowing with yogurts, there's only three days left before they go out of date and your kids are eating grapes like they're going out of fashion.

What do you do?

You could eat every tiny pot yourself.

You could strap the kids down and force feed them yogurt through a funnel.

Kidding.

Besides a funnel probably wouldn't work. Its not like I tried or anything, I'm just guessing.

So what's the one thing that kids will eat without complaint?

Frozen treats

I don't know about your kids, but my daughter will eat iced lollies in the dead of winter.

So take your huge stash of yogurts, make a hole in the lid and stick in a handle. If you happen to have lolly pop sticks, then use those. The ones I have are for crafts and are coloured so I'm not really fussed on trying to use them for food.

I do have a stash of plastic spoons though...




Just stick a spoon through the lid and into the yogurt and stick them all in the freezer. These little yogurts are usually ready in about an hour or so.

So now you don't have to eat three squares of nothing but yogurt everyday and your kids will love* you for letting them have all the frozen goodies they can eat.

And it works well with that monster bunch of bananas too. I usually peel the banana (they're a bugger to peel after they're frozen), cut it in half and stick wooden skewer in the cut end. Pop a handful of banana pops in a freezer bag and throw them in the freezer for an hour or so. They're great for birthday parties or barbecues in the back garden. You can even get fancy and melt some chocolate before dipping the frozen bananas. The cold bananas set the chocolate almost straight away so that the kids can crack through the chocolate layer.

For more Works for me Wednesday tips, head over to We are THAT Family.

*Not that the love of a child can be bought with frozen dairy treats, it's just a figure of speech.

Recycleable - Paper Doll House with Update

I originally posted this tutorial at the start of the year when the weather was miserable and I needed a quick fix for a bored preschooler. It seems the idea went down well and I wanted to post it again in honour of Kristen's "Best Of Theme". I have updated the tutorial at the end of the post and if you want to jump straight to the update, please feel free to do so

We were all set this morning, coats, gloves and hats on and ready to head out the door until...

Snow...and rain...and icy winds...and...no

So back inside and now I have a three year old who was desperately looking forward to a walk around the town this morning,

Because this morning we were supposed to be going to get her some new ballet pumps.

Ah well, such is life I guess. I'll measure her feet and run down tomorrow while she's with Nana, come hell or high water.

So I needed something to take her mind off the fact that she still wanted to go out regardless of the weather.

Hmm, crafts with nothing planned.

A paper doll house.

All you need to complete this very simple project are;

• 2 pieces of stiff card (or a cardbox box will do).
• A glue stick (or PVA or Mod Podge, whatever's within reaching distance)
• Some sharp scissors (for you)
• And the Ikea catalogue (or home inspiration magazines like Ideal Home).
  

You need to have a quick flick through the catalogue or magazines and tear out any pages with a room which pretty much covers the majority of the page (its easier to manage this with the Ikea book trust me, but then beautiful glossies don't have huge prices printed in the middle of the kitchen, so). Then with the scissors cut a very narrow slot halfway along the long side of the card and halfway through the card. Slot the two pieces together to look like this.


Then you want to give the three year old a glue stick and swan off into the kitchen to make a cup of coffee. Now you'll need a damp sponge to quickly sponge the (hopefully) still wet glue off the carpet because you weren't intelligent enough to put a mat or drop cloth down first.

Or if you're that way inclined you can sit and watch to make sure she "stays within the lines".



It's much easier if you keep the two pieces of card slotted together and then lie the whole thing flat on the floor, that way all you have to do is make sure that the magazine pages you stick to the two facing sides are both of a kitchen, or bedroom or whatever.

Like this.

Carry on around all four sides (you'll need eight magazine pages in total) and it should wind up looking something like this.

Doesn;t she looked pleased with herself. I cut two small slots near the corners at each side of the "kitchen" and strung a length of silver cord across, before hanging up a little t-shirt and trousers I cut from some old fabric. I'd picked up those tiny clothes pegs to use for hanging cards at Christmas and I've been trying to think of something else to use them for.

If you're feeling particular inspired and creative you could always colour the pieces of card yourself, then cut out individual pieces of furniture, chairs lamps that kind of thing and have fun designing your very own rooms.

I'd love to know if anyone does this their child.

For more great WFMW tips and ideas, head over to We are THAT Family.

Update

The paper doll house went down so well in our house (it has become Toots "go to" toy) that we decided to make it more of a permanent fixture. We are still in the process of decorating her house but basically we replaced the pieces of cardboard with sheets of balsa wood. You could also use thin sheets of plywood or fibreboard (just make sure to seal all the cut edges and wear a dust mask while cutting). Best of all we're finally using up all the paint and wallpaper leftover from decorating our own home.

Oh yes, we're making her a mini version of our house, so she'll be able to play in her bedroom, in her bedroom.

I've wanted a doll's house for Toots for a long time now but just couldn't bear to part with around £100 to buy something sturdy enough to l ast, plus some of those things are a fair size and take up a lot of space while not in use. The real beauty of this house is that you can simply slide the pieces apart and slip them in under her bed.

Now THAT definitely works for me.

I'm also linking this post to the 6 o'clock stich's Make and Tell Monday carnival. You should head over there and check it out, there are some fantastic tutorials.

Basic Bread Dough Recipe - WFMW

As promised my basic bread dough recipe. I've been fiddling with this for a while and I'm pretty sure its as good as it going to get.

I use this dough for a lot of things, not just plain white bread, but we'll get to that.

About lb plain white flour
About 300ml luke warm water
2 tbls olive oil
2 tsp salt
2 tsp honey
2 tsp dried yeast

Put flour, oil and salt in a large bowl

Add yeast and honey to lukewarm water to reactivate and make a cup of coffee while you wait 10 minutes.

Tip water mixture into flour and combine with your hands. You may think at first that there is too much water but just keep mixing and squeezing together it will be a soft dough. The idea behind good bread is to get as much liquid in there as possible and still be able to handle the dough, even if you can just barely handle it.

Flour your counter top and tip the dough out. Knead the dough for as long as you can manage, you'll start to feel a difference with this dough very quickly after a couple of minutes and because it is a soft dough with plenty of liquid it is very easy to knead*. If need be take a break for a couple of minutes, nobody ever said you had to knead the dough for a solid 20 minutes.

Once you're happy that the dough is soft, smooth and elastic, add a little bit of oil to the original bowl (it will be relatively clean), cover with cling film and leave to prove**

Once proved, knock back slightly, shape, preheat oven and bake.

* I think the easiest way to knead dough is to hold onto the piece of dough closest to you and stretch the rest of the dough away from you, then roll the dough back on itself, turn and repeat. The first few stretches the dough will break, then it stretches more and more easily. This way seems to me to be much easier on the arms, much quicker and theres something very rhythmic and relaxing about it.
** In my house there are three ways to prove bread. Sometimes I'll make a double batch of dough and prove half of it in the fridge for 24 hours or so, that way I only have to make dough once. It can be proved at room temperature for about two hours, you can easily make a batch after lunch and have fresh baked bread with dinner. 3.00pm and not a crumb in the house, stick some washing in the dryer while you make the dough, put it in the bowl, switch off the dryer, flatten the clothes slightly, set the bowl on top and close the door while you preheat the oven, 20 minutes later, perfectly risen dough.

I always bake bread at 180C (350F) in a fan assisted oven.

Sandwich Rolls divide dough into eight pieces, shape into rolls, scrunching and twisting the ends of the dough into the base of the roll, brush with milk - bake for 15 minutes. Or make about 20 smaller rolls, flattening the dough into a disk before wrapping around a knob of frozen garlic butter or mozzarella before baking. Make a dozen medium rolls stuffed with chicken breast, marinated and cooked in soy, garlic, ginger and spring onion, wrap the dough around, brush with salted milk and sprinkle sesame seeds on top for Chinese style chicken buns.

Plait divide the dough into four pieces then each piece into three, roll into a long strip and plait starting in the middle and working out to each end, turn the ends under, brush with milk and bake for 15 minutes.

Tin Loaf - Tip entire batch of dough out onto a flour surface, flatten slightly, roll the dough into a short fat sausage shape drop into a 2lb loaf tin and bake for 30 - 35 minutes. You'll have to give the loaf a second prove for about 40 minutes with this option. Don't be afraid to add flavours here, when the dough it flattened, before rolling up, spread with basil or tomato pesto, Dijon or wholegrain mustard, cover with chopped steamed spinach, tomato or onion relish, all very good additions.

Bloomer - Again use the whole batch of bread and prepare as for tin loaf, except prove the bread on a greased baking sheet. You can knead in other flavours here and give the loaf a longer second prove, chopped sunblush tomatoes, fresh green grapes and brie, Parmesan and chopped spinach, grated raw beetroot (wear gloves) bake for 30-35 minutes.

Pizza - Yes it makes great pizza, tip dough onto a pizza sheet or just a regular baking sheet (pizza doesn't have to be round), push out to the edges of the pan with your hands, add toppings and bake for 25 - 30 minutes or part bake dough on as it is for 10 minutes, cool and freeze for later use. This recipe will make two 12inch deep dish pizza bases or four thin and crispy (although you're going to have to bake it on a pizza stone or a large untreated terracotta tile placed in the oven works just as well for a fraction of the cash).

Focaccia - The recipe makes two, drop half the dough into the base of a cake tin (about 10 - 12 inch) and push out to the edges of the tin, leave to prove while oven is heating. Before baking make indentations all over the top of the dough with your fingers, drizzle with olive oil, add sea salt, finely sliced red onion and fresh herbs such as rosemary, thyme or sage, bake for 20-25 minutes. The bread should be a lovely dark golden brown on top with a lovely crisp crust, serve warm (can be reheated wrapped in foil in the oven for 10 minutes or so).

That isn't even the half of it, you can use this bread recipe for dozens of other options, no more having to remember which recipe you use for rolls, or sandwiches, or pizza, all the one, it all works.

And please let me know if you try any other flavours with this recipe. I'd love to see what else everyone comes up with for this bread.

For more tips, crafts and recipes than you can shake a stick at, head on over to Rocks in my Dryer.

I also have another post up today if you need a relatively quick, very cheap gift idea for Valentine's Day.

Menu Plan Monday - 9 Feb to 15 Feb

Monday again. This is great, not only is this helping me to remember what to cook, its helping me remember what day it is.

January was not a good month for remembering what day it was, seriously don't ask me what January was all about.

Anyway, food.

Last week we stuck to the plan completely. Nothing weird cropped up and I had a lovely relaxing time and even managed to get some completely non-essential baking done (btw non-essential baking is pronounced chok-o-lat cake in my neck of the woods).

Monday:
Lunch: We'll be at mum's and dad will cook, so probably something "mad man with a spatula esque" cornbeef toasties for all I know*.
Dinner: Ham and Pea Risotto with crusty bread.

Tuesday:
Lunch: Toasted hotcross buns, fruit and yogurt.
Dinner: MTM's glazed pork chops with roasted root veg

Wednesday:
Lunch: Potato, spinach and cheese melt. I've spinach in the freezer and baby potatoes which need to be used.
Dinner: Fish pie. Basically just fish poached in milk, use the milk to make the parsley sauce, add flaked fish and peas, plonk in an ovenproof dish, top with potatoes and bake.

Thursday:
Lunch: Lentil soup and bread rolls.
Dinner: Crockpot pulled pork with noodles and shredded vegetable stirfry.

Friday:
Lunch: Pulled pork sandwiches using some homemade soft bread rolls.
Dinner: Homemade pizza using the salami I still have from Christmas.

Saturday:
Lunch: No ballet today (its half term), I have sandwich steak in the freezer, so I'll cook that with some soy, ginger, garlic and spring onions and have it (again) with good bread or with rice or noodles. If the weather is at least dry I may chuck the gas cooker and a pan in the back of the car and head to the forest to get Toots out of the house, I'll cook lunch while we're there.
Dinner: Toots will be at Nana's and what with it being valentine's day I'll treat the husband to one of his venison steaks**. I'll coat it in crushed peppercorns, sear it quickly in the pan and then finish it off in the oven. I'll serve it with tobacco onions, roasted sweet potato and baked mushrooms.

Sunday:
This Sunday will be a bit different, mum does a light lunch and big meal later on, so toots will only have had a light meal when she arrives home and I'd like her to have something substantial in the evening.
Lunch: Nice lazy lunch, something bready,, maybe french toast with bacon and eggs.
Dinner: Baked whole trout (I still have loads in the freezer my brother caught last year. He fishes but hates fish, go figure) with lightly spiced crushed borlotti beans and spinach.

* He's actually a pretty good cook most of the time and he knows I'm joking when I make fun, but he sometimes has a bad habit of putting together ingredients that have no business even nodding at each other in passing let alone sharing plate space.
** I bought the venison steaks for the husband as a Christmas present and seriously those things have paid for themselves three times over. Ladies consider buying your husbands meat for all present affiliated holidays. Meat and beer!

Stuck in a rut? Need menu ideas? Head over to Menu Plan Monday at Organizing Junkie.

And if you come back here tomorrow I'll be posting my basic bread dough recipe, with some ideas on how to use it and also some yummy variations.

WFMW - Soda Bread

Soda Bread

We love soda bread around here. Its one of the easiest things to make and definitely the quickest way to have lovely fresh bread in the house. I'm trying this year to buy as little bread and baked goods as possible and so far apart from one or two sandwich loaves when I've been short on time I've managed it.

I've been using the same recipe for years and its been a great help in sticking to my resolution.

1lb plain flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda
1oz butter
1/2 pint buttermilk

Feel free to half the recipe (I usually do), substitute margarine for the butter or sour milk for the buttermilk it all works. Bear in mind though if you use sour milk also add a pinch of cream of tartar to help keep the bread tender, although the bread is still fine without it, it just makes it a little lighter.

Method (haha)

Dump all dry ingredients into a bowl, rub in butter (don't be too fussy about this) add buttermilk and mix it all together with your hands. It will form a soft dough, but it shouldn't be too sticky.

Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and shape it into a fat disk about 5 centimetres thick.

You can cook the bread in a couple of ways either,

Place the disk whole onto a baking sheet and score into wedges and bake at 180C (350F) for 30 minutes, or

Cook in a heavy based frying pan or skillet over a low/med heat turning occasionally until dark brown blisters have formed on either side of the bread. You may want to make the disk a centimetre or so thinner to cook it this way.

Either way, allow to cool slightly, cut into wedges, split and cover with butter, jam, eggs, bacon, whatever takes your fancy. It keeps for a day or two and its much easier to toast after a couple of days.

Of course you can add to the bread. I don't personally know where the idea of adding caraway seeds came in and I've certainly never seen any for sale with them added, but a lot of people seem to like it, you could give it a whirl. A great addition is dried fruit, currants, raisins or sultanas are all good.

And you could always whisk a couple of tablespoons of treacle (molasses) into the buttermilk before adding to the flour to make treacle farls (the husband's personal favourite) or go the whole hog and add treacle, fruit and cinnamon for a lovely sweet tea bread.

If you try the bread, please let me know and feel free to pass on the recipe to anyone with a pen and paper.

For recipes, tips, crafts and more head over to Rocks in my Dryer.

Menu Plan Monday - 2 Feb to 8 Feb

Another Monday already. Last week's menu plan actually went pretty well with only a few changes to scheduled programming.

We had omelettes instead of frittata on Wednesday because we were short on time and because we were short of time (yep you guessed it) no ribs on Thursday. I completely forgot to lift them out of the freezer. Instead I made a veggie lasagna on Thursday and the ribs on Friday.

The weather here this week is for icy winds with the possibility of snow, so I think nice warming casseroles and soups will be the order of the day.

MTM's pork chops went down really well, they were lovely and tender. I will say when I was heating the sauce to begin with and the first few minutes in the oven, they smelt very cinnamony (so not a word) and I was bit concerned that I'd maybe added too much but the smell really mellowed after a while and the cinnamon was a very subtle background flavour in the end, so don't panic if you have a go with these yourself.

Monday:
Lunch: Baked potatoes with cheese.
Dinner: Vegetable Soup with homemade bread. This is an Irish staple. Ask any Irish girl, we all make the same soup, carrots, soup celery, flat leaf parsley and leeks with a mix of different lentils and barley. Don't believe me, seriously ask anyone?

Tuesday:
Lunch: Homemade sausage rolls. There's still half a hundred weight of processor puff pastry in the freezer.
Dinner: Toast with garlic mushrooms and picnic chicken.

Wednesday:
Lunch: Crusty bread pizzas (again, I know but we love them)
Dinner: Toots will be at her Nana's so I'll make the husband an Ulster Fry. He doesn't get them often but with the weather to be really bad today he'll appreciate it.

Thursday:
Lunch: Homemade soda bread with scrambled eggs.
Dinner Paella

Friday:
Lunch: Jambons using more of that processor puff pastry.
Dinner: Baked chicken kievs with roasted veg and sweet potatoes.

Saturday:
Lunch: Cheese and Ham toasties with tomatoes.
Dinner: Lamb Patia with chapatis.

Sunday:
Lunch: Baked gammon with roasted potatoes and parsnips.
Dinner: Sandwiches or hotdogs.

For more menu plans check out Menu Plan Monday at Organizing Junkie.

WFMW - Oh yes I did.

It's that time of the week again and you'll be sooo pleased you stopped by.

Oh yes, its also that time of year again.

Yep, I'm planning for Christmas.

Wait, wait, don't be running away just yet. There's a perfectly good reason for planning so far ahead.

Seriously, I don't know about anybody else, but Christmas here just wasn't the same this year. I'm sure its been very difficult for everyone this year and I personally know a lot of people (myself included) starting 2009 unemployed or facing the real prospect of redundancy.

So with that in mind (and in part to take my mind off it) I'm planning really far ahead for the holidays this year. All holidays and birthdays in general but mainly Christmas.

I'm determined this year will be completely a "make your own" year. No presents will be bought ready to give, no ready made bread, biccies or buns. If I can't make it, you won't get it here.

So, the first step is to organise the knitted and hand sewn projects.

I grab the hold of my handy little A5 binder (I've carried this around with me for about 2 years now, couldn't be without it) and add another section.


Next I need to have a look through my ever expanding pattern books. I have three like this with around 80 patterns in each and four lever arch files which I need to get around to sorting into books like these. So much more space efficient. You'll notice straight away they aren't sorted into sections. That's because I like to just ramble through them to pass time.


My mum will love this bag. A new bag is her first request for every birthday and Christmas, although she wouldn't be too keen on the colour. She prefers bright colours, even in the dead of winter. So...


My mum is #1. I'll pop a little sticker on each pattern for her with a #1 written on it and pop in a list to remind me which yarn I will use.

Then back to the book and make a list detailing each gift for each person along with supplies needed to complete the project. If I have highlighted the item, I already have the supplies in my (huge) stash. Bonus.


And lastly I need an easy shopping list to carry around with me.

I never leave home without my phone and even though its quite old now I can still open a new reminder in my calender and pop in an abbreviated list and set it to recur weekly. This way I can keep a quick track of anything I've still to pick up if I spot a good sale.

So there you go. Is anyone else mad enough to prepare for Christmas in January?

For some, perhaps more sensible, tips, tricks and ideas, head over to WFMW at Rocks in my Dryer.

Menu Plan Monday

I said I was going to have another go at menu planning this year. Truthfully, it was a New Year's so its probably time I started don't you think.

Monday -
Lunch: I cooked a cured ham I bought at Christmas yesterday, so Toots and I will have some of that along with baguettes and tomatoes. The husband will take some to work in sandwiches.
Dinner: Roast Chicken with steamed potatoes and green beans.

Tuesday -
Lunch: Chicken and pasta bake using some of the leftover chicken.
Dinner: Homemade potato and leek soup, again with any leftover chicken and big croutons made from the remaining baguettes. The husband's on call tonight so if I make this during the day it'll be something quick for him to have if he needs to leave the house in a hurry.

Wednesday -
Lunch: Frittata. I'll use some of the leeks instead of onions with potato (must remember to cook extra on Tuesday night) and bacon.
Dinner: Toots will be at her Nana's for dinner, so I'll make some chilli and rice for me and the husband.

Thursday -
Lunch: I'll chop up any left over frittata and add an extra raw egg along with leftover rice and make a fakey egg fried rice.
Dinner: Barbeque ribs with pickles and crusty bread. The ribs are in the freezer, someone remind me to lift them out on Wednesday.

Friday -
Lunch: Crusty bread pizzas. I'll slice the bread and cover with tomato sauce, cheese and salami, I have in the freezer since buying it at the christmas market.
Dinner: Hamburgers and french fries. Fully loaded with roasted red peppers, dressing and tomatoes for the husband and with cheese and dressing for me and Toots.

Saturday -
Lunch: I've processor puff pastry in the freezer, I'll cook some chicken and add it to some of the potato soup, cover with pastry and call it a pie.
Dinner: Again it'll just be me and the husband tonight. Toots is off to a party at her cousin's with Nana and she'll spend the night there. We'll probably just use up any leftovers still in the fridge or I'll make some pizza dough during the day if pickings are slim.

Sunday -
Sundays here are a bit different from the rest of the week. I usually cook breakfast on Sunday, pancakes, scrambled eggs that kind of thing so when I say lunch it's actually more like a dinner and its about 3pm and dinner is later and lighter.
Lunch: Glazed pork chops. I've been meaning to try to this recipe for a couple of weeks now and I've checked, I have 18 pork chops in the freezer (don't ask me how that happened). We'll have them with mashed potatoes (with a little mustard added for me and Toots and a lot added for the husband), cauliflower and brocolli.
Dinner: I may use some of the leftover mash, add finely chopped scallions and tuna and make mini fishcakes with some sweet chilli dipping sauce.

I'll be checking through the plans and recipes on Organizing Junkie for some inspiration to keep this from getting too samey.

A few days in the life

Its been a busy few days around here.

I'm still managing to keep up with the Project365 and I'm actually having fun. My addictive personality has kicked in big time though. I badly want a new camera along with all the bits and pieces to go along with it, but short of a lottery win that won't be happening any time soon. I'll just have to stick with my "old as dirt" Fuji.

We went to Wacky Whizz Ards on Thursday. I managed to get in touch with the mother of Toots best friend in daycare. We'll call the mum Alison and her lovely son Jimmy. Toots and Jimmy had an absolute blast in Wacky Whizz Ards which is a large indoor soft play area for kids under 7. They spent most of their time scrabbling up the platforms and going down the spiral slide on their tummies. The real bonus is that Alison and I got on like a house on fire too. We have quite a lot in common. Unfortunately, she will be made redundant at the end of next month so meeting up worked out quite well for both of us. We'll be able to get together and occupy the kids once a week or so and I've said that I'll happily take care of him and take both kids to the library or let them play around the house if she needs time to attend interviews or anything like that.

She's a single parent and in her line of work you don't really want to mess potential employers around by changing interview dates and times. Take the first one they offer, even if it's at lunch time, today.

Later we went on to Alison's home because the kids just couldn't bear to be separated again just yet and it was quite late in the afternoon by the time we arrived home.

I threw some food together with Toots and the husband and popped a load of washing into the machine. About 20 minutes later it stomped out into the middle of the room in protest. It's been a bit noisier than usual lately and I've been pushing my luck with it.

The husband had a look because he's pretty good with these things but all the obvious things, brushes, belts, motor seemed to be perfectly fine. So I had to call a repair guy to come and have a look at it. I'm pretty well on top of things around here, but I can't be doing without a washing machine for any length of time.

He came out, popped the top off and fiddled with four large bolts holding the block of concrete in place. I don't know if all machines are the same but ours has a big block of concrete in the top of the machine to stabilise it. He said the bolts were loose and after removing them said that some of the threads were worn and they'd need to be replaced. About fifteen minutes and £35 later I swear that machine is quieter now than when we first bought it. Plus now I have a fair idea of whats wrong the next time it starts to get noisy again.

I'm pretty happy about the charge for fixing the machine though. £35 isn't exactly a lot of money, although I wasn't planning on it a week before the end of the month so its thrown a spanner into a couple of my plans, but at least the machines working and I can keep everyone in clean clothes.

I still have the old bolts so I think at some point over the next week or so I may pick up another set and keep them somewhere safe for a quick fix next time. Obviously buying the bolts and replacing them myself will be a lot cheaper.

Toots had another ballet lesson yesterday. This time was much better. No tears whatsoever, as soon as she spotted the tutor coming down the hall she was off running, pulling other kids along behind her. Still no photos though I'm afraid. It looks like I really will have to wait another 8 weeks.

Also I'm going to start menu planning. I tried this once before and it didn't really work out too well, but this time I'm determined. I want to try to plan leftovers for Toots' and my lunch more so than the actually evening meal. I could eat the same thing everyday and it wouldn't bother me but I think the kid's getting a bit sick of reheats.

We'll see how it goes.

Recycleables - Tutorial - Paper Doll House

We were all set this morning, coats, gloves and hats on ready to head out the door until...

Snow...and rain...and icy winds...and...no

So back inside and now I've have a three year old who was desperately looking forward to a walk around the town this morning,

because this morning we were supposed to be going to get her some new ballet pumps.

Ah well, such is life I guess. I'll measure her feet and run down tomorrow while she's with Nana, come hell or high water.

So I needed something to take her mind off, still wanting to go out regardless of the weather.

Hmm, crafts with nothing planned.

A paper dolls house.

All you need to complete this very simple project are 2 pieces of stiff card (or a cardbox box will do).
A glue stick (or PVA or Mod Podge, whatevers within reaching distance)
Some sharp scissors (for you)
And the Ikea catalogue (or home inspiration magazines like Ideal Home)



You need to have a quick flick through the catalogue or magazines and tear our ny pages with a room which pretty much covers the majority of the page (its easier to manage this with the Ikea book trust me). Then with the scissors cut a very narrow slot halfway along the long side of the card and halfway through the card. Slot the two pieces together to look like this.


Then you want to give the three year old a glue stick and swan off into the kitchen to make a cup of coffee. Now you'll need a damp sponge to quickly sponge the (hopefully) still wet glue off the carpet because you weren't intelligent enough to put a mat or drop cloth down first.

Or if you're that way inclined you can sit and watch to make sure she "stays within the lines"
.

It's much easier if you keep the two pieces of card slotted together and then lie the whoel thing flat on the floor, that way all you have to do is make sure that the magazine pages you stick to the two facing sides are both of a kitchen, or bedroom or whatever.

Like this.

Carry on around all four sides (you'll need eight magazine pages in total) and it shoudl wind up looking something like this.

Doesn;t she looked pleased with herself. I cut two small slots near the corners at each side of the "kitchen" and strung a length of silver cord across, before hanging up a little t-shirt and trousers I cut from some old fabric. I'd picked up those tiny clothes pegs to use for hanging cards at Christmas and I've been trying to think of something else to use them for.

If you're feeling particular inspired and creative you could always colour the pieces of card yourself, then cut out individual pieces of furniture, chairs lamps that kind of thing and have fun designing your very own rooms.

I'd love to know if anyone does this their child.

For more great WFMW tips and ideas, head over to Rocks in my Dryer.

WFMW - Saving on Art and Craft Supplies

Toots received an easel from Ikea for Christmas. So far its been a big hit, she uses it every day without fail. It has a white board on one side and a chalkboard on the other, which is great because it means no paper.

Well in theory. We all know kids love to paint and Toots is no exception. She can happily pass an entire afternoon splodging paint onto paper.

The problem is that providing a constant and unending supply of paper for her to use can get very expensive. Also if she isn't producing masterpieces each and every time, I hate to say it but its kind of a waste of paper.

The easel is designed to hold a roll of white paper and conveniently enough, Ikea sells the rolls of paper under the same design name as the easel. The rolls are 40 metres long and £3.91 each. Now that actually isn't too expensive, it'll take her a while to get through a 40 metre roll.

Still if I can think of a way of saving money I'll certainly have a go.

The husband picked up two of these at the weekend.

They're rolls of lining paper, normally used for lining walls before painting or decorating. They're 60 metres long, £1.89 each and a hell of a lot thicker than the rolls in Ikea. Also they're recycled paper and can be recycled again. Plus because the paper is so thick she can easily use both sides.

Now the only problem with using these is that they're about 8 inches too wide for the easel. The husband took a saw to ours and cut through them in a couple of seconds, leaving me with two large rolls of paper for the easel and two smaller rolls which I'll eventually cut down into sheets to use when she's forced wants to sit and practice her handwriting.

Now if I can just get her to produce that masterpiece, we'll be set for life.

For more WFMW tips head on over to Rocks in my Dryer.

Tu Tu Tutorial

I finally managed to finish the tutu/skirt for Toots preschool ballet classes. She doesn't start the classes until this coming Saturday so for once, I haven't been rushing to get something finished at the last minute.

You'll have to excuse me, but this is my first tutorial of sorts. I'm actually not much of a seamstress. Actually, I'm nothing at all like a seamstress. I just wing it, sometimes things work out, quite often they don't.

For this skirt I started off with a metre of pink mesh like material, two metres of inch wide pink ribbon and some narrow elastic to use for gathering the fabric. To find out the length of elastic I needed, I just wrapped it around Toots waist and cut it to length. I allowed just over an inch of overlap.




I cut the pink fabric in half and laid the two pieces one on top of the other before using the narrow elastic to gather. Basically I sewed each end of the elastic to opposite ends of the fabric. I pinned the fabric out stretching the elastic out to the full length of the fabric before quickly sewing along the length of the elastic. Don't worry about this part being pretty, you'll cover the elastic and any wonky stitching with the ribbon.

Once I'd finished doing that, it looked like this.

I then folded the ribbon and skirt in half along the elastic to find the center of both and folding the ribbon in half pinned it over the elastic, creating the begining of a waistband.

Something like this.

Then carry on pinning the ribbon over the elastic out in both directions until you have completely encased the elastic with pink ribbon.



Toots is only 3, so using two metres of ribbon left plenty at each end to tie the skirt around her waist.



Once the ribbon is pinned in place, backstitch using small (ish) stiches along the length of the ribbon about 1/4 inch from the long edge of the ribbon.

You should wind up with something that looks like this.

I decided that I wanted the skirt to be a wraparound rather than a step through skirt because this set of lessons will last ten weeks> There are another set of lessons a bit later in the year over the summer and then a further set of lessons at the beginning of next year. I'm hoping that this way the skirt will last 18 months or so.

I'll post a photograph of Toots wearing the skirt for Project365, just as soon as she comes home from her Nana's house.

Actually, I forgot to mention that I'm having a go at Project365 this year. Hopefully, I'll learn how to use my camera because I just don't have a clue at the minute.

If I'm honest that thing scares me a bit.

Frozen peppers and feeling undeservedly superior

What with Saturday having some lovely weather and toots off to a birthday party with Nana, I decided to spend the afternoon market haunting.

My fruit and veg guy obviously had somewhere to be in the afternoon and when I arrived he was already packing up, at least an hour earlier than usual (or maybe he just knew I was coming and wanted to get the hell out of there).

He had a box of mixed bell peppers which he had marked down to £0.40 each which is actually a pretty good price here. They usually run about £0.50-£0.60 each for a medium sized one or £0.99 for three little tiddlers.

I maybe got lucky because he just wanted to get packed and away, but I offered him £0.15 each and I would take the entire box off his hands and he finally agreed. He doesn't do any markets on a Sunday and would have had to wait until Monday to try selling them again and they were already very ripe.

Alright, so I don't drive and it meant lugging a box of 24 peppers home with me but I was a very happy bunny when I got them home. I sliced the whole box into strips and froze them on baking sheets before dumping them into two large zip lock bags. I get through a lot of peppers in this house, but they'll still last a couple of months.

And does anyone else get that odd slightly elated feeling, that you rock as a mommy and wife when you have a glut of something (that if it was all you had left, you could make a meal of) in your freezer. And why do I get exactly the same feeling when I've stocked up on toilet paper?