Wow a rather blustery night with storm Isha, some trees down in the village, but seems a bit brighter now I am sitting down to pen my meal plan for this week.
I will do what I did last week and just post, Monday – Friday as we have a lot on at the weekend, so we will decide nearer the time.
I am really trying to work on the calories in v’s calories out, so My Fitness Pal is back in action, as is my accountability group on WhatsApp – Ladies, you know who you are. So here is the plan for this week:
I have also noted some snacks down for ease and using things up that are already in the fridge from the weekend, such as mackerel pate on oatcakes and brazil nuts. Trying my best to get all of the micro and macro nutrients in there – well as much as I can anyway. We’ll see!
I am trying to go to the gym every day, even if it’s just for a swim, the only way I am going to shift the weight and tone up, is if I am consistent in my gym going and eating and drinking less. I am on this!
We are going back to planning our meals every weekend for the week ahead – I have decided to just do Monday – Friday as these are our busy days and we can see what folks fancy at the weekend as a treat.
The dinner tonight is salmon topped with Boursin cheese, you finely slice the fennel and tomato and put the salmon skin down on the veggies in a foil parcel, then top with Boursin, it really is that simple. I am serving it with a clean eating salad I saw on social this morning, with chick peas, avocado, cucumber, fresh parsley and plum tomatoes.
Tuesday sees us having a lovely peri peri chicken, you put your chicken in between two sheets of clingfilm and bash to make around 1cm thick. Then coat in beaten egg and then peri peri spiced panko breadcrumbs. You then flash fry to get some colour on it and then stick in the oven for 8 minutes and serve with salad. This was from a Hello Fresh recipe we had recently.
We got a Campbells meat order delivered, with some amazing beef fillet strips – so we will be having a teriyaki beef stir fry with veg and rice on Wednesday.
I batch cooked a load of veggie chilli at the start of the year, so we will be getting that out of the freezer and serving with wedges or baked potatoes.
Farfalle pasta carbonara is Isaac’s favourite – He was looking through my cookery books at the back end of last year and liked the look of this Jamie Oliver recipe, so it’s now a staple.
What are you eating this week – Please give me a comment and let me know as I love to try new things.
1 tbsp olive oil 3 medium onions, chopped finely 3 celery stalks, sliced finely 1 large carrot, chopped finely 3 cloves of garlic, minced 2 bay leaves, whole Sprig of rosemary 2 tsp oregano or any other mixed Italian herbs that you like Salt and pepper 2 cans of chopped tomatoes 1 can pinto beans, drained 750ml stock of you choice 120g Marshall’s macaroni 75g kale, remove thick stalks and cut into smaller pieces 75g spinach, you can use frozen for this too 50g parmesan
Method:
Put your Instant Pot on saute mode and add the olive oil. As soon as it gets to temperature, add your onions and cook until soft
Add in your carrots, celery and garlic and saute for a further 3 minutes
Add the rest of the ingredients apart from the beans and parmesan
Put on your Instant Pot lid and press ‘Manual’ and set this for 6 minutes – This will ensure all vegetables and pasta is cooked through
When it’s finished leave it on keep warm function until ready to serve
Serve in bowls with green pesto, grated parmesan and crusty bread.
Top Tips:
Always reheat on the hob and not in the microwave
If wanting a vegetarian of vegan option remember to check your cheese and pesto and substitute as appropriate
Add a little pesto to the top as an extra special treat
Here is the link to the traditional authentic Italian minestrone I have adapted for Instant Pot
I was in the gym today and as I was leaving, I was chatting to a lady from the class and she said she was starving, I was like, OMG, I really fancy risotto for lunch, thinking on my feet, I was like, hmm, I have mushrooms, yes that could work….
I got home an grabbed the Instant Pot as I know I can rustle up a risotto in less than 20 minutes, so simply, so knew what I needed to do. None of this faffing around with lots of different types of mushrooms, I had a full punnet of chestnut mushrooms in the fridge that needed used today, to viola, that was it.
It was super tasty and was in front of me as I went back to work after my gym class, made in 20 minutes.
INGREDIENTS:
1 1/2 cup of risotto rice 1 tbsp of olive oil 1 tbsp of butter 1 medium onion (chopped) 2 cloves of garlic (minced) 1 cup of white wine 3 cups of cooled vegetable or chicken stock (I use water from kettle to mix the stock cubes and rest of water is cold – you do not need hot stock for this recipe) 1 punnet of any mushrooms salt and pepper 50g grated parmesan cheese
Optional: Add in chilli flakes
METHOD:
Turn Instant Pot on Saute mode and add olive oil and butter
Chop onion and add to Instant Pot
Once slightly softened add minced garlic – saute until onions soft
Add in risotto rice and stir
Add wine and stock and mix well
Add in chopped mushrooms
Add salt and pepper and chilli flakes if adding
Mix well, put on your lid and cook for 12 minutes on manual, then quick release
Mix again, add in parmesan and incorporate, add extra parmesan and rocket for garnish
Let me know how you get on, and please share your own variations, I love a quick risotto in the Instant Pot, perfect every time and no messing around adding a little warm stock often.
During the pandemic a lot of us switched to online shopping as we were trying to limit contact with others and also, sometimes the queues for things we madness. So now that that has all died down, where does that leave us with online shopping versus in person shopping.
I have to say, pre-covid I used to love nothing more than mooching round the supermarkets on a Saturday, looking at all the new products and trying them out. As I worked in food marketing at the time, I used to go look at displays, new packaging and seeing what new idea people were coming up with. But these days, not so much – The cost of living in the UK also doesn’t help really. If I do shopping online, I don’t seem to get swayed by the promotions or displays so much. You would think I had learned, as I have worked in marketing for 30 years, but yes, I still get swayed by the BOGOFS in our supermarkets.
I had been going in person to the shops recently, but it is quite a chore when you have got so many other things to be doing. Last week I decided to do a Morrisons Online shop through Amazon. During the lockdown, this was the best option and usually great prices and not many items out of stock, managed to get everything I wanted. But the person picking the items was clearly having a bad day – 7 items picked incorrectly and dog food in a bag on top of my bread. So wasn’t the best online shopping experience I had had.
I tried Sainsbury’s this week and whilst that was better, it was sooooooo much more expensive and they picked chicken pies instead of sausage rolls for me, go figure. I think I will try Tesco next, just to try them all, I do like Asda, so they will be next – Lots of deals to be had in there.
In terms of clothes and anything else other than food shopping, I have to say that I do most of this online, especially clothes – I cannot stand clothes shopping at all. Amazon is my usual go to, although there are lots of other retailers out there offering better prices. I have given in and tried Temu, but they are hit or miss – sometimes they arrive quickly, other times they take ages. Others complain about them and how they are putting UK businesses out of business, well isn’t that just what Amazon and supermarkets did as they rose in popularity of being a one stop shop, for us busy people in the 90’s.
My next purchase is going to be an air fryer – I have a really old one, probably a first generation one which is ok, but the ones you get now are fantastic – Just seeing what I can get for my pennies.
A few folks were asking for my recipe for my no fuss herb bread that I quite often rustle up for lunchtime as it doesn’t need proving time and also just need mixed and then baked, so it’s super easy to make ahead of guests if you fancy something different than a slice of Warbutons.
Ingredients:
250g Wholemeal Spelt Flour 1/2 tsp Bicarbonate of Soda 1/2 tsp Salt 1/2 tsp of each of 2 herbs or spices you like, I use Rosemary and Thyme or Thyme & Chilli flakes 100ml milk 150ml Natural Yoghurt 1 tsp Dijon Mustard
Method:
Preheat oven to 200 degrees, line a baking tray with baking paper
put flour, salt and bicarbonate of soda into a mixing bowl (you can sift them, this adds air so makes it a little less dense, but I am usually making this on the hop, so I don’t bother and it still turns out well). Add in your herbs or spices. In another small bowl whisk together the milk, yoghurt and dijon mustard, once combined well, gently mix the wet ingredients into the dry mix. Gently, using a dessert spoon, mix everything together. I usually ditch the soon at this point and use my hands to finish off the mixing.
Once completely combined, use a little flour on the baking paper and shape into a rough round. I usually dust with a small amount of flour and some of one of the herbs or spices used.
Bake in oven for 30 minutes, then leave to cool on a cooling rack before slicing.
Let me know how you get on and any new flavour combinations.
I don’t know about you, but when the clocks go back and we seem to have more darkness in the day, than light, I really struggle. I don’t know why, but this is always when I seem to feel the need for a health kick. Maybe it’s natural and we all do this – Let me know if you do too?
In December I decided enough was enough and did some research into things that I could do to boost my energy levels and goodness, there is so much out there – You could spend an absolute fortune on the ‘magic potion’. But I decided that I was going to try something friends had tried along with ditching the booze, eating more healthily and exercising. Now, I am going to be honest, this wasn’t an overnight thing, I didn’t actually ditch the booze til New Year, but the rest of it was being set up as we moved towards Christmas.
Essens Elixir No. 4
For those who know me personally, you will know I have been a distributor of Essens products, but bet most of you think of it just as perfume, well no, that is just a small part of what they do. They have a whole factory that works exclusively on what they call Home Pharmacy, from vitamins and supplements to wellbeing products.
I am always a bit sceptical on these types of things, maybe it’s because my Dad was a pharmacist, I don’t know, but this Elixir No.4 has been a gamechanger for me.
So let me tell you a bit more about it. All of the ingredients are natural and this Elixir is mainly Ginseng & Orange. It tastes reasonably pleasant, and you definitely get used to it.
I have tried this on and off in December, but being busy, didn’t really stick to it, but last Monday, I pulled myself up by the bootstraps an started it for real, I am going to give it a go for 3 months. You take 5ml three times a day for seven days, then you take 10ml in am and 10ml.
As I said, started it Monday and by Thursday, I was jumping out of bed at stupid o’clock. I have so much energy and have even made the gym 4 times in the past week (this is unheard of at this time of year normally!)
See below for the benefits:
One of the other benefits of this Elixir is that it naturally supresses your appetite, so some find that they lose weight too, but certainly the snacking and reaching for the wine every night has already disappeared and we are just over a week in.
I haven’t lost weight, but folks, what I would say, is take your measurements (chest, bust, hips, waist, arms & legs) and your pictures (front, back and both sides). I may not have lost weight, but I have lost 5 1/2 inches in just over a week. What is not to like about that?
As I say, I am a distributor so this is my side hustle, but if you want to give it a go here are the details:
700ml Elixir will last you 5 weeks and it retails at £42.30, you can order direct from my website https://essensworld.com/1010029298 (it will ask for an email address, but neither I or Essen retain this information) or get in touch with me and I can order it for you.
I can also offer a week’s trial at £6 for 7 days worth, to get you started and see if you like it.
If you would like any further information, please get in touch.
Oh goodness, what a 3 years it has been – I decided to move on from mummysknee.com after 10 years as the blog name and content didn’t really fit with what I was doing in my life, fast forward 3 years and the shitstorm that has been Covid and all of a sudden, I wake up on a blustery Friday morning in January 2023 and I am back!
Got to say this has been a while coming now – We have had a tumultuous 3 years, as I am sure many of you have had and I finally feel like I am back to normal. Well in fact, better than that – I have new vigour and determination that this year is going to be fantastic. So put that in your pipe and smoke it – Negative Ninnies!!
I have really missed writing my blog, although there were times when it really felt like a chore – I am not saying being sent lovely products to review is a chore, but when you are working full time with a young family, the struggle is real and we all feel it from time to time.
Also, at the time I stopped, I had been really struggling and saw many Doctors over the past four years and finally one of them listened and referred me to a consultant and turns out all that time that the Doctors had me down as depressed and anxiety, it was in fact that my hormone levels were changing dramatically and that I was perimenopausal. So here this ladies, if you have a head of cotton wool at times, become forgetful and have off the scale imposter syndrome or anxiety, that you have never experienced before – Keep a diary, take it to the doctor and have the open and frank conversation. I am so grateful for the random dog walker I met, just over a year ago who saw me walking the dog in a kind of fug, who stopped to chat. We spent an hour chatting about stuff and she told me her story and so I kept the diary and the evidence from that is what got me the referral. Crazy really, as that Doctor said to me, she wouldn’t have diagnosed that as I wasn’t in the age bracket – Well I am so glad she listened to me, as I have had this conversation with many friends who are experiencing very similar changes.
I’ll love you and leave you for now, but just thought I would say – I’m Back!
We were on the school run the other day and as Isaac went through our friend’s stair door the glass at the top of the door shattered and kind of swung around in the window. He was oblivious, it was only when I shouted up from the back door that they realised what had happened. Later on Isaac said to me ‘Mum, my guardian angel stopped that glass from falling on me today’ Aw man, in bits – I totally believe in our angels and how they help guide us on our paths, keeping us out of danger, but for an 8 year old, that’s pretty deep, isn’t it?
Do you believe in guardian angels? I’ve had a few times where something has made me stop and change what I was doing and it ended up working out better. Maybe it is just a coincidence, like when I was 17 and we had a really bad car crash, if I hadn’t have put my seat belt on that day in the back, neither would me friend and all 4 of the teenage passengers would be in a very different place now!
I think my guardian angel is my Granny Heron, but not 100% – how would you know? I am pretty sure Isaac’s is my Dad, but again not 100%, just a hunch. Wonder if you can communicate with them, I’m off to Google that one later……
So who has had something happen and think, ah, someone is definitely looking out for me today, that was not just luck on my side?
In hindsight, I wish I had taken a picture of the window and the glass just hanging there to show you, but I was caught up in the moment of it being the school run and I had a job to do and get them off to school.
Let me know if you have had any interesting events that made you wonder…….?
I left school back in 1993, I went to one of the top state schools in Edinburgh, sought out by my Mom, who wanted the best education for me. She wanted me to go to Heriots, so I sat all of the exams to get a scholarship, but there were not enough places to go around and Dad didn’t want me to go to private school, so Mom did some research and decided on Balerno High School.
I was bullied badly in S1 and start of S2 so messed around to try to fit in. Why am I telling you all of this? Well for those who sailed through high school, you might watch something like Educating Greater Manchester and say to yourself, why on earth is that girl, Morgan, acting like that, she even says if she had her time again she would be the class nerd. Well, she has her coping mechanisms and just because she is finding it difficult to fit in and stop the messing around, does not mean that she is not clever. She is clever in her own way, might not get the grades this time round, but hey ho, she is learning life skills that will help her massively moving forward.
I was told by my guidance teacher, that I would never amount to anything and should leave school at end of 4th year. I didn’t realise at the time that school was scored on how many Highers you took in one year and what grades you got. Well Mr Guidance Teacher, I am now 45 and trying to help my children navigate their education and I try my best to help them as best I can but I will not force them. I can’t MAKE them study, I can’t MAKE them achieve the grades, but I can support them mentally and help them to make the best choices available to them at any one time and hope that they take the right path.
Mr Guidance Teacher lives locally to me and has since retired, but I see him in the local community a lot. Shame I haven’t got the guts to say to him and pull him up – cause that was 30 years ago and see, watching Educating Greater Manchester, made me feel like I was back there, a 15 year old trying to get the best grades I could, cause I did realise that I needed to work hard, but it was too late, school had already written me off.
I could really resonate with Morgan and her cheekiness, I think she is a real character and I hope she comes out the other end of the education system with good grades just so she can stick two fingers up to those who wrote her off. That’s what I have done!
p.s. I started writing this post back in 2012 and have gone back to it many times, but I just didn’t have the connection to why I would post such a random post on my parenting blog at the time. So now I’m back, randomly blethering about things that come and go in life, what we experience and tv shows we watch, so it was time! Now I have Closure – Thanks Morgan x
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Random Blether 