Weekly Meal Plan - Week Commencing 30th June 2014

This week I am meal planning, however depending how the week goes will depend on if I stick to it. My Nana has been taken into hospital so we are just basically going day to day at the minute. But I want to keep as much normality as I can so I am continuing with my meal plan and feel it may help in the week if I am not quite with it.n

Last weeks meal plan didn't go well due to circumstances I relied on quick meals after hospital visits. However I did make the Mediterranean Meatball dish which was a huge success. I featured this dish on my Cheap Budget Meals which you can see here.

This is what we will be enjoying this week...

Week Commencing 30th June 2014

Mushroom Risotto

A family favourite which is an easy, quick meal to make.

Spaghetti Carbonara

Another easy meal plus we have quite a few eggs from the chickens to use.

Meat Free Cottage Pie

After successfully giving my lot a meal using a meat substitute I bought some more last week and plan to make a cottage pie using some of our lovely homegrown vegetables.

Roast Rosemary Chicken

I will serve this with fresh vegetables and potatoes.

Fish Pie

I love fish pie and we simply do not have it enough due to price of fish but this week I will buy some to enjoy.

Pulled Pork

As it is the hubby's birthday on Saturday I will be cooking one of his favourite meals, pulled pork with fresh enriched bread rolls.

Have a great week x

As always I am sharing my weekly meal plan with At Home With Mrs M - Meal Planning Monday

Alphabet Project - G

My G has to be...

Garden

Our garden is such an important part of home life. We all love being out and my hubby has worked so hard creating the perfect garden. We a fortunate to have a long garden and have dedicate the bottom third to purely fruit, vegetables and chickens. The middle third is the children's area for ball games, the trampoline and swings. The third closest to the house is the family area and twins area.

We love our garden and that is why my G word had to be Garden.

As always, I am sharing my Alphabet Photo with  PODCast - Alphabet Project

How Does Your Garden Grow? - Gardeners World Live 2014

As promised here is my follow up post about Gardeners World Live 2014.

I simply had too many photographs to share in one post. That is why I wrote a separate post about the RHS Floral Marquee which you can read here.

In the main exhibition halls there were stalls and stands selling anything that you may need for the garden. You could buy tools, plants, garden machinery, green houses, furniture, sun houses, there was everything. Among the stands were beautiful displays which constantly caught the eye. The room was full of inspiration to help create your own personal space in the garden.

Along with the many stands and displays were stages and talk areas where some of the Gardeners World experts were. We had the pleasure of watching Carol Klein and Joe Swift. But the highlight definitely had to be listening to Monty Don talking about Longmeadow.

Like I said in my round up posts of RHS Floral Marquee and Good Food Summer Show to be able to get the most out of both of the shows I would recommend visiting over two days. However if you are only visiting the one, get there nice and early and make a full day of it. This is a fantastic show that is a great day out for any garden lover.

Here are my pictures of Gardeners World Live 2014...

The suggestion tree for visitors to peg up their best gardening tip.

Celebrity chefs and bakers designed Veg Trugs with kitchen inspired herbs and vegetables

A little later than usual, but as always I am linking up with Manneskjur - How Does Your Garden Grow?

23rd June - 29th June 2014 - One Picture Everyday For One Year

This week hasn't been the best I'm afraid to say. It has been a hard week which has made me admit that there is a problem. Everything has got to me and on Thursday I took a trip to the doctors and have been diagnosed with depression.

On Monday my Nanna was taken into hospital and my parents were away. Therefore it fell on my shoulders and I have felt the pressure! Thankfully they are home now, but the worry continues.

On a good point, I have got the support of my family and I am focusing on getting back to my normal, happy self. I have also had an amazing amount of support from the blogging community and I thank you for it, you have made me realise that I really am not alone in this.

Here is my week in pictures...

Monday 23rd June 2014

Monday was a lovely sunny day and was perfect for sitting in the garden. We took the large pad and crayons out and the twins loved sitting and colouring. On Monday the twins walked to and from school on the afternoon pick up for the first time. I wasn't sure of they would manage it as it is just under 1 mile round trip. But they were really good, they both held my hands all the way there are back. I was so proud of them.

Tuesday 24th June 2014

This little lady has well and truly settled in. Dotty certainly has become one of the family.

Wednesday 25th June 2014

We have found the perfect job for the twins! They love throwing the cardboard and plastic in the bin for recycling! They cheered for joy each and every time they threw something in.

Thursday 26th June 2014

I think that this picture shows how much Dotty loves the children. When Isabella was sleeping on the settee she walked over, looked at her and snugged down next to her.

Thursday 27th June 2014

Thursday was a hard day. I had a hard morning with the twins which resulted in me breaking down. However Joseph made me proud at his sports day. He came 1st and 3rd in his races. Thursday was the day I reached out for help. I had an extremely emotional visit with the doctors and poured my heart out.

Friday 27th June 2014

The Loom band craze has hit our house! It started out with me learning how to do them and help Joseph. But I hang my head in shame, I took over and made them myself. Unsurprisingly he has taken them all back and put them in his room away from me!

Saturday 28th June 2014

Well, what a change of weather! Gone are the flip flops and the tights and boots are back out, temporarily I hope! We spent the day together, I have been getting extra cuddles and the hubby is really taking the pressure off me by helping more with the children. He really is my rock, I would be lost without him.

Sunday 29th June 2014

My silent Sunday x

As always I am sharing my week in pictures with

The Boy and Me - Project 365
Make Do and Push - The Week That Was Captured
Actually Mummy - Expressions

Silent Sunday

A2 Milk - Review

When I saw the opportunity to review A2 milk I was keen to try it. But not for me. For my husband.

My husband suffers with stomach problems which are aggravated by some dairy products, particularly milk. He has never been diagnosed as lactose intolerant but steers clear of regular cows milk due to the discomfort.

So when I heard that A2 milk is a cows milk that is perfect for people like my husband I was eager to find out more.

After reading some information about A2 milk I discovered that cows milk contains two different  types of protein, A1 and A2. Cows milk originally contained only the A2 protein, however over the years A1 has become more dominant in milk. This is the protein which some people find hard to digest, hence the rise in allergies and intolerance.

A2 milk contains, as it says, the A2 protein. Therefore people who have struggled with regular milk should find that they are able to drink this milk without any discomfort.

I will admit, my husband did go into try this dubious which is understandable. I was asking him to drink cows milk. He was surprised that after he had used it for his breakfast cereal he had no discomfort at all. He was, for the first time is years, drinking and using cows milk and not feeling unwell afterwards.

The big test was the children. One morning we were low on milk but had A2 milk. So I did put it on their cereals. I got no comments back about the taste, they simply could not tell the difference between regular milk and A2 milk. I also tasted it and could tell no difference.

If you do suffer with discomfort from milk I would definitely recommend giving A2 a go and get back to enjoying the taste of cows milk.

For more information visit A2 Milk

Disclosure: I was sent some vouchers for A2 Milk for the purpose of this review. No payment was received. All views and opinions are my own and 100% honest.

Photographs courtesy of A2

Jungle Dogs Pork Hot Dogs Recipe

I will admit that I am not usually a fan of hot dog sausages. It is something which I do not buy as they usually contain a lot of ingredients but not a lot of meat and are heavily processed.

So you may be wondering why I decided to try Jungle Dogs.

For starters my eldest does love hot dog sausages. So when I saw that Jungle Dogs contain 85% Pork which is not mechanically separated meat, naturally smoked, contain no artificial colours or flavours I decided to give them a chance!

The packaging is designed to attract children and my son thought that it looked great. You get 6 hot dogs in a pack and retail at £1 which is a good price. My son enjoyed eating them as an afternoon snack and as a traditional hot dog.

However, me being mum and wanting to get a bit more goodness in him, I used them in a pasta dish which he loved! This dish is such an easy, quick meal to make and is perfect for busy days.

This is what I did...

Jungle Dogs Pasta

Ingredients

1 packet of Jungle Dogs
1 red pepper, chopped
1 red onion, chopped
Pasta
Grated cheese to serve

Method

1 - Cook the pasta as per instructions

2 - Heat the hot dogs as per instructions

3 - Fry the onions and red peppers in a little olive oil until starting to soften

4 - Cut the hot dogs into chunky slices and add to the frying pan and cook for a few minutes

5 - Drain the pasta and return to the pan

6 - Toss the onions, red peppers and hot dogs with the pasta and serve as it is or with a sprinkling of grated cheese

Enjoy x

Disclosure: I was sent some packets of Jungle Dogs for the purpose of this post. No payment was received. All views and opinions are my own and 100% honest.