Word of the Week - 26th September 2014

This week has been a good week all round. My word of the week is...

ACCOMPLISHED

This week I feel that, at last, I have got my life/home/blog balance just right.

I have started writing my posts in the evening and scheduling. This has made a huge difference to my home life. I have managed to get on top of all the house jobs, I can spend quality time with the children without thinking about posts that need writing. It has also eased the stress of trying to blog while doing so many other things.

This week I have had a clear out of old clothes and blitzed upstairs and it feels good to have had a clear out!

I have also been over to my Nanna and Grandad's house one final time before it is sold. I am so pleased that I did it and had lots of play time with the twins in the garden. I also took my camera and captured some final pictures. You can see them here.

All in all I feel like I have accomplished a lot this week. That is why accomplished is my Word of the Week.

What word sums up your week?

As always I am sharing my word of the week with the lovely Jocelyn The Reading Residence.

Lemon and Thyme Chicken Skewers

We all love chicken so I enjoy finding new ways to serve chicken so that it is a bit different.

This week I have made lemon and thyme chicken skewers. They are not only a fun way to eat chicken (for older children and adults) but they are full of flavour. This dish is also a versatile meal that can be served with potatoes and vegetables, rice or couscous. Best of all they are quick and easy to make and cook.

This is what I did...

Lemon and Thyme Chicken Skewers

Ingredients

4 chicken breasts
1 lemon, juice and zest
Fresh thyme
1tbsp olive oil
4 skewers

Method

1 - Slice the chicken breast into chunks and divided between the skewers

2 - Place the lemon juice, zest, olive oil and a handful of fresh thyme leaves into a container which will hold the skewers

3 - Roll the chicken skewers in the juice, cover and leave to marinade for 2 hours

4 - To cook place the skewers under a high grill and cook on each side for 10 minutes or until browned off and fully cooked

I served the chicken skewers with cubed herbed potatoes and vegetables. They were a huge success with all of the family. I will definitely be trying these on the barbecue next year!

Enjoy x

How Does Your Garden Grow? Grandads Garden - A Final Goodbye

This week I took an unexpected trip over to my Nanna and Grandad's house. It was unexpected because when I left last time I said that I would not return as it was just too hard. However I had the urge to go and see it for one last time as the sale in almost complete and I knew that once it is gone there is no going back.

So I put the twins in the car prepared with food for them, packed up my camera and set off.

I was fine until I was just outside of the village. Once I was nearly there I got a heavy feeling inside but on I went. Thankfully my parents were also there so I wasn't alone. I did have a few tears when I saw Grandads garden but only because, thanks to the hard work of a gardener that my parents employed, it was looking like Grandads garden again. After he died last year it got neglected and it always upset me to see it like that as he spent so much time out there. But this visit was like seeing it as it was.

That is why I want to share it with you this week. I have so many happy memories from this garden. It has heard so many happy times from numerous generations. This visit was the twins turn to run around and play as I did.

This is how my Grandads garden has grown...

A childhood hiding spot

The twins following in my footsteps through a tunnel made
from shrubs and trees

With all of the beautiful plants that were in the garden were
these sun faded, sad looking silk flowers. No one really knows
why they were outside.

This bed of shrubs will always make me smile. My Grandad
used to chase Joseph around it when he was little, it would
take me 20 minutes to get Joseph in the car to go home!

As always I am sharing my weekly post with the lovely Annie at Manneskjur.

Alphabet Project - T

This week T could only be for one person. That person is...

Taylor

My little Taylor.

My little mummy's boy.

When the twins were babies I usually had Taylor while the hubby had Isabella during feeds. This has resulted in Taylor being such a mummy's boy. Which at times has been hard. When he was smaller he was literally stuck to my hip and would scream if  I left him. Thankfully he has just about grown out of that but he is still extremely close and clingy to me. Which if I am honest, I love! Taylor is the youngest twin by one minute and after he was born he spent longer in neonatal care. Taylor was born with fluid on his lungs and struggled to breath so spent a week in an incubator. It was heartbreaking seeing my second son in an incubator as his big brother was. I missed those first cuddles, the first contact, the first feed, all over again, it was so hard. So when he was finally taken out of the incubator I made up for it and tried to make up for what he had missed that Isabella had. I know deep down that he really didn't know but at the time I honestly thought that he did.

My little man can drive me to the brink of despair but when he looks at me with those beautiful eyes he melts my heart.

As always I am sharing my Alphabet Photo with PODcast - Alphabet Project.

Rich Mushroom Pasta - Family Favourites

The idea for this meal came up during the masterclass that I attended last week at San Pietro Restaurant. This was a fantastic foodie day full of demonstrations, hands on experience and of course eating!

This dish was originally a Crostini recipe, however on the day I enjoyed the topping so much I have decided to use it in a main meal dish. In the recipe that was demonstrated they used wild mushrooms. However these are not always available and can be expensive for an everyday meal. I have replaced the wild mushrooms with a mixture of chestnut and mini portabello mushrooms.

This is what I did...

Rich Mushroom Pasta

Ingredients

1 red onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, chopped
2 anchovies, finely chopped
100mls whipping cream
1/2tsp parsley
150g chestnut mushrooms, sliced
150g mini portabello mushrooms, sliced
Black pepper
Parmesan shavings to finish
Linguine

Method

1 - Cook the linguine as per instructions

2 - Gently fry the chopped onions and the garlic in a little vegetable oil

3 - Once the onions have softened add the anchovies and cook until they dissolve into a paste

4 - Add the sliced mushrooms and gently fry for 5 minutes

5 - Pour over the whipping cream and stir in the parsley and black pepper to taste

6 - Cook for a further 10 minutes on a low heat

Serve with linguine cooked a la dente and top with Parmesan shavings,

This is a meal that the whole family enjoyed. Please do not let the anchovies put you off, they are simply added for seasoning. They really do add a depth of flavour that makes this a lovely rich dish that is great for an everyday meal.

Enjoy x

I am sharing this recipe with:

A Mummy Too - Recipe of the Week
Honest Mum - Tasty Tuesdays

Point + Shoot - 20th September - 21st September 2014

I am afraid that I don't have many photographs to share from this weekend. We have just been so busy with birthday celebrations.

On Saturday we travelled over to Huddersfield to have a meal out with the hubby's side of the family to celebrate our nephew's 21st birthday. It is always great to see him as he is also the twins Godfather. It has now been just over a week since Isabella stopped wearing nappies and I honestly was not sure how she would do on the hours journey. Despite having a sleep she stayed dry! I was so proud of her. We enjoyed a lovely meal but had to rush back to miss the football traffic. But it did give us chance to go shopping before going home.

On Sunday Joseph's birthday continued! We had planned a family meal out with our parents. Before the meal we took Joseph to spend some of his birthday money. We all enjoyed our food and invited everyone back to our house for a glass of bubbly to toast the birthday boy, my first born! Joseph got a skateboard for his birthday so spent the afternoon practising.

Even though it has been a lazy weekend cooking wise, we feel as though we simply have not stopped. The weekend has flown by in a blur of meals out and seeing lots of people. We are most definitely looking forward to a more relaxed weekend next week!

What did you do over the weekend?

As always I am sharing our weekend with the lovely Em at Snowing Indoors.