Memorial Ideas

As I have been asked not to attend my Nanna's funeral tomorrow, I have been trying to come up with something else the Boys and I can do to mark the day.

I did think about sending up a Sky Lantern, but with this lovely sunny weather we're having, it won't be dark enough, early enough for No. 2 Son's bedtime tomorrow, to make it effective. Currently, I am thinking about sending some paper boats down the local river. Not sure if you're allowed to do that?

Any ideas, gratefully received.

On a more slightly more upbeat note and in an attempt to get back in the saddle, here are some updates.

No. 2 Son got to hold all £200 worth of Tiegan's Olympic Torch, which was special for him. 

All 3 boys played in the Parent and Child Hockey tournament night, last night and I know I really shouldn't laugh, but DH is making some very strange noises today with all his aches and pains.

There were about 50 taking part in all and they were all split up across ages, skill, gender to create mixed teams, but No. 1 Son's team came first so he was very pleased.

Finally, today, I got the courage up to have a go at making the Chicken and Chorizo pie the wonderful Frugal Queen taught me. 8 carrots, 1 onion, 1 green and 1 red pepper blitzed in, so plenty towards their 5 a day. I was worried that the pastry was too wet when I took it out of the food processor, but it rolled out Ok.

I also wasn't too sure how long it would take to cook, as I hadn't written down the cooking time, so I had to put it back in a bit longer. I took a chance when it looked brown but not burnt.

When No. 1 Son said, on receiving his plate, "I didn't know you could make pastry!. I said , quite honestly, "neither did I!".  No 2 Son said, "You can't have made it Mommy, it's not black". Children, can't live with them, can't live ..... no just, with them!!!

The verdict, they all loved the pastry but they didn't like the filling. I'm amazed, I thought it would be the other way around. Next time, maybe no chorizo or paprika, need to make the filling a different flavour.

On the subject of cooking, I have saved all the bread loaf crust/ends, since Froogs told me not to waste them, but what can I do with a bag of frozen bread crusts?

Lots of Love Arwedd xx

House clearing

At the moment everywhere I look around my garden, drive, paths, we are over-run with ants. It seems they like this lovely sunny weather we're having too and have all come out to walk around in the sunshine.

Not so lovely when the path they are walking goes through the middle of the house. Thankfully not my house, although that has been known, but the house belonging to our two bunny wabbits, Speedwell and Bigwig. So today, a spot of house clearing was in order, just a bit earlier in the week than the normal cleaning job.

Out with all the old sawdust, straw, food leftovers, and general waste. All of which will go for composting, I'm told rabbit poo is a brilliant fertiliser, maybe I could sell bags of it to the local gardeners? A good cleanout, then a brushout and a spray around with rabbit friendly hutch cleaner.. 

Bigwig evicted for the clearout!

Nice clean sawdust back in and Bigwig enjoyed a lovely lie down next to his tea. 

The hutch our rabbits live in was originally built by a chap as a dog kennel, bought by us for £10.00 when he moved and converted by DH so the front wall with his archway in, turned into two mesh doors, with plenty of ventilation and somewhere to clip their water.

Don't get too settled, Speedwell, I'm cleaning that corner next!

 Bigwig and Speedwell have quite a large run, much bigger than any shop bought run and they make full use of it. They often play games in the early morning running around, hopping and they jump quite high and twist in the air. You can actually tell they are having fun, I know it sounds soppy, but it's true. They have a catflap which swings loose both ways and they come and go, in and out, whenever they please. They generally come in when it is pouring down, very wise.

Bigwig demonstrating the cat flap, but he's a bit quick!!

I tried something different today, with bits and pieces that had been in the freezer and store cupboard for months, Taco Shells. I must have seen them one day and decided they looked like a good idea, but then changed my mind. However, today after mincing down the carrots and onions, plus a pepper, now becoming a routine to hide the veggies, 

then frying off with the beef mince, 

I added a small amount of the pack of seasoning, as my lot are not particularly into spicy food,

added the water and left it to simmer down. 

I also added a good dollop of tomato ketchup, as per Froogs instructions to make it a bit sweeter and more familiar.

At the end warmed the Taco shells themselves and served with oven chips.

No. 2 Son wanted to know what the orange bits were and barely touched it, so I may have been rumbled, but the other two made their way through it. Not a huge success, but veggies eaten, items from store cupboard used after being there a few months and frozen mince from the freezer, (that had also been there a few months) also used up. More room for the things they prefer in future.

Are your pets troubled by home invasions, too? Any tips on how to solve the problem gratefully received.

Off out now as DH is insisting I get some exercise in today and it's still warm enough to walk, not sure I fancy a jog!

Lots of Love Arwedd xx

Flat is the new tasty.

Many Thanks to everyone for their words of Condolences. It is much appreciated.

Recent circumstances have led to the need for communications with those who generally leave me feeling inadequate and generally flat, so our meals today have reflected this.

However, even flat food can be very tasty. Instead of ham sandwiches today for school lunch, both boys took a Ham Wrap. We then carried on the Tortilla fest for tea.

I fried off four large chicken breasts.

Also made some Gucamole with avacados, and cut up some cucumber. Already had store bought Salsa and so we all had one of the boys favourites, Chicken Fajitas for tea.

As I seem to have an absolute glut of eggs this week, so these were followed by more flat food, Pancakes!

I made the batter doubling Delia's recipe so,

8oz (220g) plain flour

2 pinches of salt

4 large eggs

14 fluid oz (400mls) milk mixed with 6 fl. oz (150mls) of water

 4oz. (100g) butter to oil the pan.

Thankfully my DH is great at cooking anything to do with eggs, Omelettes, poached, scrambled etc, so while we sat, he made the pancakes and out of my 8 1/2 " pan we got three each, plus an extra two, one each for the Sons and a tinsy one for DH as he had stood at the stove for an hour making them. 

They were delicious with lashings of sugar

and a good sprinkling of lemon.

Apologies to all those horrified by our use of a plastic lemon. I did have real lemons but couldn't be bothered to mess up another implement for the washing up to squeeze them. Someone also put Golden Syrup on theirs, NOT me!!

Lots of Love Arwedd xx


P.S. I love that I just shared a recipe, even though it isn't mine and I didn't put the method, 'coz you all know it.

Best of British plus a touch of Italy

Now I know not every one is interested in all the "hype" over the Jubilee or the Olympics and I can totally understand why. However, I am trying to get into the spirit for the boys sake. No. 1 Son is desperately keen for the GB Hockey team to do well, as it is his No. 1 passion. I doubt it will feature highly in the BBC coverage, but we will be following it. No. 2 Son is interested because they are using it as a learning tool at School.

I've been enough of a misery in general over the last 10 months, so I am trying not to get too jaded about this aswell. Our Church is taking advantage of all the festivities to hold a Jubilee fair fundraiser and aswell as being roped in to Face Painting on the day itself, I promised to make some cards for one of the stalls.

So here are my first few efforts, made today:-

Hopefully a lot more to come before June.

Also today I made my own attempt at the lovely Frugal Queen's lasagne, after my recent cookery lessons and if I say so myself it didn't come out half bad. At least it smells fabulous, it is actually going in the freezer for next week.

It doesn't look as dark in real life as it does in the photo, so it's not actually burnt.

For tea I did homemade Carbonara:-

Blitzed some leftover bacon and left over cooked ham (as I didn't have enough of either on their own) in the food processor with an onion, fried them off with some mushrooms. Made my own **HOMEMADE** cheese sauce, with Froogs microwave method. It used 2/3 rds of a block of mature cheddar and was very cheesy. Cooked the spaghetti and added that and the sauce to the frying pan, gave it all a good stir around and served with some crusty bread. I would have done salad as well but we are nearly out of food this week. My DH said it tasted much better than the normal packet stuff. I am doing a little dance as I type this. Hurrah!!

Lots of Love Arwedd xxx

Saucisson Part Deux

Welcome to my new Follower.

Many Thanks to RachelRadioStar for our lovely tea tonight. She really is a star, although I don't know whether she is a Radio or not? I'm guessing not. Only teasing Rachel!

Before Cooking

The Value sausages were indeed de-skined (is that a word?) and added to minced up and fried off carrots and onions, to be hidden as per Frugal Queen's lessons, and breadcrumbs. I also added some paprika and seasoning and baked in the oven. A lot of fat came out of them, and we will definitely not be buying them again. In fact, I think I might steer clear of the value label on all meat/chicken etc, in future, it's just not proving worth it.

After Cooking

However, by the time I added some passata and spaghetti, they didn't look too bad at all and the important part - all three boys ate them all up with only one comment that the meatballs were a bit wet.

I am really pleased that I didn't just waste them and put them in the bin, which I would normally have done. In fact if we had nicer meat, I might even attempt something like that again! Wow, I know, me actually cooking, well kind of cooking, I did add some spice after all and on my own initiative aswell.

I have tried to do lots of exercise this week, but didn't quite manage a 5k walk yesterday as I developed low back ache on the way round. This time I stuck to the pavements rather than wading through mud, but realised just how unfit I was when I got very out of puff striding up the hill at the top of town. I was rewarded with a spectacular view though across to the moors.

I have also done a couple of sessions on the Wii Fit and worked very hard at Aquafit tonight, so I think I have earned a nice sit down with my Crochet Blanket tonight and perhaps a lovely cup of coffee. I'm trying to cut down as it is not doing my funny heart beat any good, but I just love the stuff!!

Then I'd better do a spot of tidying up in the hope that the Broadband engineer will be here tomorrow! 

Hope you had a good Tuesday.

Lots of Love Arwedd xx

The Big Thaw

Main job for today was defrosting the big freezer in the garage. It's not romantic or sexy, but hey, it's my life, give me a break!

While I shuffled back and forth with buckets of icy water, my DH & No.1 Son tried to turn the wilderness of our back garden into something a bit more dignified. I'm not entirely sure why it is, that all I can manage to grow is Dandelions, but our rabbits never complain. They just love them.

Before

After

The rabbits hutch has moved place in the garden temporarily, in preparation for work to take place on the fence. Previously they were right next to the fence and now they live right over the garden steps! This should give them a chance to ruin a completely different part of the garden. Hey ho!

After I finished scraping the plastic off until my oven racks were gleaming again 

and so as not to disappoint No.2 Son, I did attempt another cake today. This one was a bit of a cheat as it was out of a packet. It's been in the cupboard quite a while but I haven't had the courage to give it a go. Just one more stupid question, perhaps all you lovely ladies can help me with. When I cracked one of the eggs it had lots of red blobs in it. It wasn't egg shell, as the break on the shell was quite clean, so is this Ok?

The mixture was quite runny when it went into the tray 

and although it was quite level when it went in the oven, it didn't seem to rise evenly. Is this something I did or do they always go like that?

It seemed to taste Ok, although DH & No.2 Son gave me some tips for "improvement". I don't know whether they think I am actually looking for constructive criticism - I'm NOT! It didn't look so bad though once I put the topping on.

Having made one card already, I wonder if you can guess who for, I am now planning to dedicate myself to an evening of cardmaking, while I look out and admire the mess that is my back lawn.  

Have a good one, lots of love Arwedd xx

From Success to Disaster and Back again

My first success was the half hour spent excercising on the Wii Fit Plus. The lovely machine did however, have to remind me that it had been 15 days since my last visit - it's a worse nag than DH about my exercise! Buoyed up by this success my DH suggested that we went on another 5k walk as training for the Race for Life and, without giving it too much thought, I agreed. I almost backed out when I saw it was drizzling, but decided that, as it was not an outright downpour, I would not be detered. This led to me my first disaster of the day.

This may look like an idylic walk through the forest,

but it was far from pleasant!! The ground was so wet I was slipping and sliding all over the place getting more and more covered in mud. My trainers have seen better days and the lack of tread was evident, as I had to keep grabbing DH intermittently, accompanied by terrified squeals. As a consequence, the pace was painfully slow and we definitely did not make our 5k in the allotted hours time slot before school pick up. There were massive black flying things making a horrendous buzzing noise in my ear and randomly zooming into my face. Urghh! By the time I arrived at the school playground the damp had crept up my trouser legs to the knees, my feet were sopping wet, and I looked liked I'd had a mud bath with my clothes on. Very glamorous.

My second success of the day came in the form of a delicious Lemon Drizzle Cake. My second attempt at Frugal Queen's recipe and this time I thought I would soften the butter more thoroughly first. I actually managed to melt it completely, but in it went and instructions followed as per the recent training, the result was much better than the first attempt. Apologies no photo, but it actually all went before I got the chance to take a piccy. Strangely, it took much longer to cook in the oven, I had to put it back on for a full further 10 minutes than I did last time, but I'm relying on all your comments that handmade can vary a lot, so I just kept going and the result was a much lighter, fluffier cake and it was very moist.

Buoyed up by my amazing cooking success and dwelling on thoughts that I will actually be the one who can turn up at the next Homegroup with a homemade cake,..... yes ME,..... unheard of, I got on with the job of cooking the tea. SMACK! I ran straight into disaster number 2 and went back to being old Mrs "Can't Cook". In fact, not only can't cook, but can't even heat up food. All that was required of me was to warm up some pre-cooked food and the result?

Oops! The gaps in the melted plastic is where I have removed pieces of the prawn toast and the plastic is stuck to the bottom of the food. Yum, yum, yucchh! Oh well it serves me right for getting too big for my boots and thinking I had got this thing called cooking licked.

However, all was not lost as my biggest success of the day? When snuggling No. 2 Son into bed, he said in his lovely sleepy voice, "Mommy I like it that your learning to make cakes, what are you trying tomorrow?" I always knew that child was a saint!

Hope you only had successes, but if you didn't maybe we can laugh at the disasters together. Now I've got to get back to scraping the plastic off the oven racks.

Lots of Love Arwedd xx

Sausages

When is being Frugal not cost effective?

Oh My Lord, I just have to share with you the absolute disaster that was our tea tonight. This week, I thought I would be a good frugal girl and order the Value Sausages from Mr Tesco. What a mistake.

Almost as soon as they went in the pan they grew a life of their own spilling their guts all over the place. They were definitely well pricked before hand but that did not seem to stop them exploding out of what was clearly an extremely thin skin.

They were sticking to the pan and falling apart and yet still not cooking through so by the time they made it to the plate what was left of them looked like... well I just have to say it..... something a dog might leave on the pavement!! 

They actually tasted worse than they looked. I know, how can that be possible?!? The worst part of it is that we still have another pack of 8 in the fridge!!

Tell me, what have you bought in an attempt to be frugal, that just wasn't worth it?

Sunshine 

I'm not really sure if I deserve the following award as I'm not feeling or sounding particularly "Sunny" tonight, after my sauage disaster, but I want to say a BIG Thank You to Emma at The Log Cabin for passing me the Sunshine Award.

My answers to the 10 questions:-

1. Favourite Colour - Lilac. It was the colour of my bridesmaid dresses and I still love it, in all it's various shades.

2. Favourite Number - I don't really have a favourite number, but if I was pushed I'd have to say 42. It is after all the answer to Life, the Universe and Everything.

3. Favourite Animal - Probably a Penguin, read into that what you will.

4. Favourite Non-Alcoholic Drink - This one's a struggle as my favourite drinks are alcoholic!! I'd love to be really healthy and say Water, but it's probably a cup of good coffee.

5. Do I prefer Facebook or Twitter - Facebook, it's the only way I can communicate with the younger members of my family and I like to look on there to see what they are up to, although I don't post much myself. I do have a Twitter account and I follow a few celebrities, but I haven't been on it for months.

6. What is my passion? - I have a few but the latest is definitely learning to crochet and I am building up muscles in my hands and arms I never knew I had.

7. Do I prefer giving or receiving? - I much prefer giving, although don't get me wrong I like to receive aswell. I like the person I am giving a gift to, to open it straight away so I can see if they like it or not, as I'm always hoping I have given something they will really love.

8. Favourite pattern - I'm not really a gingham, paisley or check kind of girl, but I do kinda like Polka dots, mini ones not giant ones.

9.Favourite Day of the Week - This has to be a Sunday, as I get to spend dedicated time out in the presence of God. I do get to do this on other days but not so consistently.

10. Favourite Flower - Daffodil, that must be my 'Taffy' side.

I really struggled with passing it on to 5 more Blogs, so I can be a real coward and sit that part out?

Thanks Emma you really made my Day, it's nice to know at least one person (other than me) is enjoying my Blog.

Lots of Love Arwedd xx

You can take the Girl out of Wales

Recipe for Welshcakes as Requested

12oz (350g) self-raising flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

6oz (175g) butter or margarine

41/2oz (115g) caster sugar

4oz (100g) currants

3/4 teaspoon of mixed spice - (the not so secret ingredient!)

1 large egg

about 2 tablespoons milk

caster sugar to finish

Prepare a griddle pan (it does need to be a thick heavy based pan) by greasing and heating.

Measure flour and baking powder into a large bowl and rub in the butter until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Add the sugar, currants and spice. Beat the egg with the milk, then add this slowly to the mixture and mix to form a firm dough, adding a little more milk if necessary. I don't ususally need all the egg/milk, though.

Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface to a thickness of 1/4 in (5mm) and cut into rounds with a 3in (7.5cm) fluted round cutter.

Cook the Welshcakes on the griddle on a low heat for 3-5 minutes on each side until golden brown. It is important to cook them slowly, otherwise the centres will not be fully cooked through, so turn the heat down if they brown to quickly and try to be patient.

Cook on a wire rack then dust with caster sugar. They are best eaten on the day of making and my DH thinks they are best served buttered, although they will freeze like any other scone or scone, depending on how you pronounce it.

--*--

And here's a picture of me in my Welsh National Costume just for fun. When I was on holiday in France once as a child, a young French girl asked me where I was from and when I said "Wales", she said, "Is that in England?". My parents were horrified!!

Hope you enjoy them, if you should make them and don't forget to show the pictures.

Lots of Love Arwedd xx