Recipe: Banana Bread

I often buy bananas, and they usually get eaten, but sometimes, just sometimes, we just don’t fancy eating them and they get a little bit over-ripe. There is however, a solution that does not involve throwing them out uneaten! Banana Bread!

It’s tasty, satisfying, and just a little bit indulgent without going overboard, it’s perfect for a snack or afternoon tea, or even for breakfast if you fancy it, and it’s easy to whip up in no time. This one’s actually a lot of fun to do with the kids, especially when you let them mash up the bananas.

Banana Bread
Makes 1 small loaf yielding 12 slices

Ingredients:

• 3 small bananas
• 40g honey
• 2 eggs
• 50g margerine/butter
• 200g self raising flour
• 1/2 tsp mixed spice

Directions:

• Pre-heat the oven to 180C.
• Mash the bananas till they’re all fluffy, then add the honey and eggs and mix well.
• Add the margerine/butter and mix well.
• Stir in the flour and mixed spice.
• Line or lightly grease a 1lb loaf tin and pour in the batter.
• Bake for 30 minutes or until the banana loaf is golden and cooked through.
• Slice into 12 equal portions and keep in an air-tight container.

It’s easy to double up the quantities if you want to make a larger loaf, or more than one loaf or to partially adjust them to fit however many bananas you have left to use up.It has very little fat in it and if you need gluten free, just substitute an alternative flour and raising agent.

Go, quickly, go to your kitchen and grab those bananas – you could be enjoying a delicious slice in little over half an hour!

That said, it’s now 9.45pm and I have some in the oven right now, so we can have some for breakfast tomorrow. I can hardly wait!

 

(2015) 52 things in 52 weeks update

I won’t promise to do a monthly update, as life often gets in the way of such things, but here we are at the end of January and I find myself with a few minutes to spare, so I’ll do a quick round-up of how my challenges are going so far.

Surprisingly, I have now completed TEN of the 52 challenges:

2. Watch 5 films nominated for awards in the 87th Academy Awards
I’ve actually now watched seven films this year that have been nominated for various Oscars, and several of the films I watched last year have also been nominated for Academy Awards. You can check out all the films I’ve seen HERE (and there are sometimes links to reviews I’ve written if you click on them!)

4. Post predictions of Oscar winners
Click the link above to be taken to my predictions post.

8. Apply to be a giver for World Book Night (fourth year running!)
I actually applied at the tail end of last year as I didn’t want to risk being late, so I started the year with one challenge completed. A teensy bit of a cheat, perhaps, but for a good reason. I really hope to get chosen again as I love taking part in this!

9. Drink no alcohol for 4 weeks (28 / 28)
Not one drop of alcohol has passed my lips during the whole month of January. It wasn’t particularly difficult, as I’m not really a big drinker, but I do tend to have a few drinks over the course of the festive period, and I have occasionally been tempted to crack open one of the bottles left over from the end of last year!

32. Make a summer holidays bucket list
You can see my list for this summer HERE. It’ll be a work in progress, as I’m sure I’ll hear of various events being held locally nearer to the summer holidays.

35. Make a family photo book/album of last year’s (2014) pictures
My photo book arrived a couple of weeks ago and I love it! It’s sitting with the previous two on the shelf in the living room. If you’d like to make one, I highly recommend Vistaprint – it’s a very easy to use system and a very professional finish.

39. Not shout at my kids for 4 weeks straight (28 / 28)
This was perhaps the most challenging of my challenges. I’m not a partiularly angry person, but I do have a six year old son who likes to push the boundaries! Nevertheless, I have managed not to shout at my kids all month, and I intend to continue as long as possible, I have raised my voice to call out to them from another room or over some distance, but I have not raised my voice in anger. I may have lowered my voice and spoken slightly forcibly through gritted teeth once or twice, but I have not shouted, and of that I am incredibly proud. I have once or twice gone into another room (or even a cupboard) and given out a short, sharp scream to vent some frustrations, but never in the same room as my children. And it hasn’t gone un-noticed. Tadpole has commented on it several times and seems quite pleased. We’re also trying to work on how he vents and expresses himself, so hopefully we will soon have a harmonious and peaceful home where nobody shouts. Wouldn’t that be a wonderful thing?

43. Continue breastfeeding Choochie to the age of 15 months (10 January)
We made it past this milestone and he’s still going strong. Honestly, Choochie is a total boob-monster! He no longer nurses at night, but wakes around 4.30am for a feed and a cuddle, then a couple of times through the day he climbs up on my knee for his Milkies, but mostly when he’s feeling tired and wants to nap. He does, however, usually stop before he falls asleep and will now go to bed while still awake and settle himself down. He’s also started sleeping a little bit longer (most of the time, anyway), which is making a huge difference to me and my quality of sleep!

48. Make / contribute three items for charity (3 / 3)
I’ve actually made about 40 items now! I’m taking part in the Be Aware, Make a Square charity drive to raise awareness and money for a meningitis charity. The squares will be made into various items which will be auctioned off.

52. Make a new list of 52 things in 52 weeks for 2016
I’ve already made my list! It won’t be posted until the end of the year, so I may well tweak it a little bit, but it’s got 52 challenges on it ready to go!

I also have quite a few challenges ongoing and partially completed:

1. Watch 52 films in 52 weeks (17 / 52)
5. Read 2 books each month (2 / 24)
18. Lose 14lbs (9 / 14)
27. Split all my coppers between Tadpole’s and Choochie’s piggy banks each month (1/12)
28. Save all £2 coins into the Xmas fund each month (1/12)
29. Save all silver up to the value of 20p into the Xmas fund each month (1/12)
30. Put aside £2 for each challenge completed into Xmas fund (£20/£104)
31. Save £10 per week (£50 / £520)
34. Visit family in Scotland
36. Take the kids to the library once a month (1 / 12)
41. Share a photo of my kids and me each month (1 / 12) (see the photos HERE)
44. Continue breastfeeding Choochie to the age of 18 months (10 April)
45. Write 12 letters (total, between them) to my various pen pals (3 / 12)
49. Make six gifts /Xmas decorations (3 / 6)
50. Release twelve new cross stitch charts (1 / 12)

And these ones will be started in February:

10. Eat no chocolate for 4 weeks (0 / 28)
11. Drink a green smoothie every day for 4 weeks (0 / 28)
16. Try out 6 recipes I’ve never tried before (0/6)
17. Try 6 foods I’ve never tried before (0 / 6)

So, quite a lot of progress made, and I’m well on my way towards fulfilling my list of challenges!

Of tea and Christmas spirit…

My beautiful Twinings Floral tea caddies, soon never to be filled again!

There are few things in life more comforting than the Great British Cuppa. Had bad news? Have a cup of tea. Feeling a bit blue? Have a cup of tea. Under the weather or worse for wear? Have a cup of tea. Friends come calling? Sit down with them and have a cup of tea and a chinwag.

Tea is marvelous – the elixir of life to those who love it – so when you find a tea you truly love, it’s a wonderous thing.

For me, that tea is the floral tea range by Twinings. My absolute favourite is the Blossom Earl Grey (Earl Grey with just a hint of orange blossom), but I also love their Rose Garden and Jasmin Earl Grey, and if I’m having trouble sleeping, their Lavender Earl Grey helps ease me into a sleeping state. In the cold weather, their Mulled Spice tea is quite the most luxuriously warming drink, redolent of traditional Christmases in front of the fire.

So imagine my dismay when I discovered Twinings are now discontinuing the entire range!

It came at a time when I had only a few teabags left of some of them, and none at all of others. When the response to my enquiry came through, I’m not ashamed to admit, I actually shed a couple of tears.

I then hurriedly asked if there were any left of my favourites, so that I could re-order, as two of the teas were not even showing on their website. The reply was that there is no more Lavender Earl Grey, but a box of each of the others is being sent to me, free of charge, as a gift, and my comments are being passed on to the development team.

I was quite blown away by their generosity!

I still went straight to the website and ordered £54-worth of the teas that were still listed – 440 teabags should keep me going for a little while at least. I shall eke them out and make them last as long as possible, as I will be very sad to see the last of them. IN the meantime, I shall enjoy every last drop, especially of the ones that are being gifted to me in a display of Christmas spirit not usually associated with large companies.

Twinings, I salute you and your customer care. I only hope you decide to change your minds about my beloved floral teas, and that by the time I’m running low again, you will be putting them back into production!

52 things in 52 weeks – August Update

OK, it’s been a while. A few months in fact. I’ve been keeping tabs on my challenge progress, but sometimes I just didn’t manage to find the time to make the monthly post about it, so here is one big catch-up to keep you up to date with where I’m up to on the challenges. Quite a few are now completed, which is great, and some are still in progress.

Here’s how things are going:

Food challenges (30 days each):
17. 30 days of green smoothies – July (20 / 30)
Again, I didn’t manage the full 30 days, but I had a smoothie most days and will still take part in the October challenge.

Other food challenges:
19. Take the kids blackberry picking
We got a large enough haul for a crumble, but not enough for jam as yet. I plan on grabbing some more blackberries over the next couple of weeks and hopefully we’ll get enough to make a small batch of jam at least!

Financial challenges:
23. Put £20 into Tadpole’s savings every month (£160 / £240)
24. Put £20 into Button’s savings every month (£160 / £240)
25. Split all my coppers between Tadpole’s and Button’s piggy banks each week (35/52)
26. Put £1 for each day of every month into savings (£243/ £365)
27. Put £1 for each challenge completed into the Xmas fund (£30 / £52)
28. Save all £2 coins into the Xmas fund each week (35/52)
29. Save all silver up to the value of 20p into the Xmas fund each week (35/52)
These all continue as usual. The totals are totting up nicely and our individual piggy banks are looking a bit healthier!

Entertainment challenges:
30. Read 52 books in 52 weeks (17/52)
Still not caught up to where I should be with this challenge, but as I have a 10 month old baby who never sleeps and clings to me like bindweed, I think I can be forgiven for not being able to find so many quiet moments alone to read. you can get links to all the reviews HERE.
33. Visit six local attractions (6 / 6)
We’ve now been to LOADS of places locally. You can see which ones on my list HERE.

Family-related challenges:
34. Continue breastfeeding Choochie to the age of 6 months (10 April)
35. Continue breastfeeding Choochie to the age of 9 months (10 July)
Another two milestones crossed off here, and Choochie continues to be a total boob moster. He’s coming up on 11 months now and it doesn’t look like he’ll change any time soon!
38. Share a photo of my kids and me each month (8 / 12)
I’ve been sharing them, some on here, but mostly on my Facebook page, where, granted, you’ll not be able to see them, but they’re being shared. Here are a few recent ones though!

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41. Take the kids to the library once a month (8 / 12)
We continue to make our monthly visits to the library. Tadpole loves stopping in to check out the books.

Personal challenges:
47.  Get a new job
Technically, I got my old job back, as I managed to secure a transfer to my local branch after my maternity leave ended. Unfortunately, I was then forced to quit because I wasn’t able to cover the shifts they wanted me to work due to childcare difficulties and the fact that they wanted me to work full days when I was only supposed to be part time. So, for the time being, I am being a Stay-At-Home-Mum, but I shall be looking for another job to see if I can find something that will fit in with our family needs.
49. Make twelve Xmas gifts /decorations (1 / 12)
I’ve now gathered craft pretties to make more Xmas gifts, so this section will shortly be completed as I get my crafting hat on and my fingers get busy!
50. Release twelve new cross stitch charts (12 / 12)
Completed! I’ve actually have another eight that will be released over the remainder of the year as well, so this one is well and truly smashed!
51. Post a monthly update (8 / 12)
OK, so I haven’t technically given monthly updates here, but I have made regular posts which have kept the blog up to date and everyone abreast of all kinds of goings-on, so I’m choosing to count those here and renewing my resolve to keep up monthly challenge updates from now on!

Waste not, want not…

I’m pretty sure that everyone in the western world is aware that we should all be aiming for a minimum of five portions of fruit and vegetables every day, and if you’re anything like me, every week you buy a bogey-load of fresh fruit and veg to help hit this quota.

And you try to eat it. You really do. But there’s only so much fresh produce you can get through in a week, so inevitably, there’s a load of stuff that you have to chuck out because it’s gone mouldy and rotten. So you clear it out of your fridge and your fruit bowl at the end of the week, and you buy more. It’s a vicious circle, and it’s incredibly wasteful.

I don’t know about you, but I HATE seeing good food go to waste, but try as I might, there’s always something thrown out untouched.

Until now.

Because I’ve found the answer. Jamie Oliver told me how to stop wasting all that lovely fresh fruit (somehow it’s always the fruit that goes to waste, hardly ever the vegetables – they seem to keep far longer, and I often buy frozen so there’s no waste there). It’s so simple I don’t know why I never thought of it myself, because it’s brilliant.

The answer is… Smoothie Bags!

Left: My bag full of smoothie bags, which is in my freezer Centre: One of my smoothie bags ready to blend. Right: My delicious smoothie, ready to enjoy!

Yup, you just grab some freezable bags and portion out the fruit into them, then you bung them in the freezer ready to pull out and make delicious fruit smoothies!

This past week, I’ve made up eight little bags of two different recipes:

1. Strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, cherries, blackcurrants, redcurrants and banana, with a spoonful of oats and another of mixed seeds.
2. Mango, kiwi and banana with a spoonful of oats.

In both cases, each bag has half a banana, then a handful of the other ingredients. The oats make it silky smooth and give you a great source of slow-release energy to counter the instant fruit-sugar hit, and the mixed seeds are another lovely hit of energy that’s super good for you. Then all you have to do is add your base liquid (choose from fruit juice, milk, nut milk, coconut water, or plain water – I used a little coconut milk and water in mine), and if you want them a little sweeter, you can add a spoonful of honey too (I usually don’t bother, as I like mine zingy).

Not only do I now have ice-cold smoothies at the push of a button, but I’ve saved several quids’ worth of fruit that would have ended up in the bin within the next few days.

It’s a win-win situation!

And Choochie decided he liked my smoothie too – he was slurping it right out of my glass like crazy! I have a little fruit fiend on my hands here! He might be only ten months old, but when there’s fruit around, we can’t hold him back. That’s a good thing, at least!

Recipe: Off-the-chart tasty good-for-you burger with side salad and peanut dressing

Most people love a good burger, but the fast-food versions are full of cr@p and not particularly good for you. What if I told you, you could have your burger, have it be off-the-chart tasty, and totally good-for-you? And to top it all off, it’s so simple to make you’ll wonder why you ever bought ready-made burgers? Look no further – your entirely healthy, delicious dinner recipe is right here!

This really IS a tasty burger!

Ingredients:

For the burger (per burger):

• 4oz low fat beef mince (20% or lower) or turkey mince
• 1 tsp of your favourite sauce (I use Levi Roots’ Reggae Regaae Sauce)
• 1/2 eschalion shallot or 1/4 small onion
• pinch each of black pepper and cayenne pepper
• Wholewheat or 50/50 English muffin

For the salad:

• Green salad leaves
• Small chunk of cucumber, sliced
• One apple, cut into chunks

For the peanut dressing:

• 1 tsp peanut butter (or any other nut butter)
• Small dash of sesame oil (or peanut oil)
• Small dash of lemon juice
• Pinch each of salt and smoked paprika

Directions:

• Put all your burger ingredients (apart from the muffin) into a small bowl and mush them all together with your hands, then form into a patty. Whack it on the BBQ or under the grill to cook through.
• Arrange your salad ingredients on a plate.
• Put all the dressing ingredients into a small bowl and mix to form a runny sauce (play with the quantities till you find a combination that suits you best).
• Cut our English muffin in half and lightly toast.
• Serve your burger on the muffin, and drizzle your peanut dressing over the salad, reserving a little to put on your burger.
• Enjoy!

It’s quick and so simple as to require virtually no effort at all, and it really is off-the-chart tasty and good-for-you stuff! I’ve not tried this particular burger on the kids yet, but I’m willing to bet that even my fusspot, Tadpole, would eat this with minimal tweaking of the recipe.

Reasons to be Cheerful – Sunday

Day seven (and the last day) of my positivity project – here are my three reasons to be cheerful for Sunday:

• Family Time
  Hubby works hard. Every week he is off Sunday and one other rotating day through the week. He does, however, often work on his day off through the week, so Sunday is the one day every week when we can guarantee he’ll be home with us. Sunday is family time, and whether we’re just staying home or off somewhere for a family day out, Sunday is OUR time.
• Pony Rides
  Another new experience for Tadpole. He’d never been anywhere near a horse (they’re so big he’s been kind of terrified of them), but there were two nice little ponies at the Maritime Festival today, giving rides to the children. To our surprise, Tadpole decided he’d like to have a ride, so we let him pet one of the ponies first, to make sure he wouldn’t freak out. He met a gorgeous little pony called Ripple and decided that, yes, he’d very much like to have a ride. So he donned a riding helmet and was lifted on. Judging by the grin on his face, he loved it. It didn’t even phase him when Ripple tried to do a little bit of trotting. I get the feeling that Tadpole will want to do it again soon!
• Sunday Lunch at Dolly Dimple’s
  I’ve always enjoyed a nice Sunday dinner, but it’s even better when I don’t have to cook it myself – not because my cooking is bad – in fact, I’m a very good cook, and my Sunday dinners are lovely – but because it’s nice to be able to sit down to a good meal without having to spend time in the kitchen cooking it. Even if you enjoy cooking (as I do). Especially when the weather is hot. Dolly Dimple’s do a gorgeous Sunday dinner of roast pork or beef, with roast potatoes, Yorkshire pudding, various vegetables, and lashings of gravy. It’s also very reasonably priced and they’ll do a “baby meal portion” (which is actually still quite large!) for £1, so it’s great value for those with little ones too.

So, that’s my week of reasons to be cheerful. I could have included many more things, and some days it was difficult to whittle it down to just three, so I guess I have plenty to be happy about. I just have to remember that on days when I feel a little grumpy and hard-done-by!

Hope you’ve all had a fabulous week too!

Tadpole riding Ripple. I love that they BOTH smiled for this picture!

Reasons to be Cheerful – Saturday

Day six of my positivity project – here are my three reasons to be cheerful for Saturday:

1. Fun Local Events
   Despite the weather being less than pristine (in fact, it was a bit of a wash-out), the Blyth Maritime Festival was a lot of fun. There were the usual market stalls in the market place, but also fairground rides, then down at the quayside, there was a storytelling mermaid, bands and dancers performing, craft stalls, more rides, and a couple of guys in medieval get-up letting folks make their own stamped leather bracelets, so I made one for Tadpole. It was a fun time for very little outlay (I paid for him to do on a few rides, but that was all).
2. Having two gorgeous lunch dates
   Well, one, really. Tadpole was awake and eating, but Choochie fell asleep as we reached our favourite cafe (Dolly Dimple’s), so Tadpole and I were each other’s lunch dates. He was quite delightful company.
3. House!
   We had our offer accepted on the house we looked at the other day. Now we just have to see if the bank will give us a mortgage. It’s a do-er upper, but it has real potential, and we can see our little family being very happy there. Fingers and toes crossed!

The storytelling mermaid on the quayside. She was very friendly and didn’t try to drown anyone.

The stamped leather bracelet I made for Tadpole

Summer Bucket List

It’s officially the summer holidays. For the next seven weeks, there will be no school, so I have to find ways to keep the boys (well, I say “the boys,” but I actually mean Tadpole – Choochie is happy with the label on a muslin for the best part of an hour!). I thought the best way to make sure we had many fun and exciting adventures would be to make a summer “bucket list” – a list of activities and places to go that can be checked off as the summer days pass. Here’s what I’ve come up with:

THINGS TO DO:

• Build sandcastles
• Paddle in the sea
• Go rock-pool dipping
• Go swimming
• Bake cookies
• Bake cupcakes
• Make a colour wheel spinner
• Make a God’s Eye
• Make lollipop stick picture frames
• Plant cress
• Have a picnic
• Read James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl
• Read some books on Bug Club
• Go for a walk by the golf course to see how far the path goes
• Go blackberry picking
• Do some pavement art with chalks
• Go on a mini beast safari
• Take Tadpole out on his bike
• Have a play date with friends
• Watch a family movie together

PLACES TO GO:

• Visit Beamish
• Visit Alnwick Castle and Gardens
• Visit Kirkley Hall Zoo
• Visit Lindesfarne
• Play in Ridley Park
• Go to Plessey Woods

LOCAL EVENTS:

• Blyth Maritime Festival, Blyth, 10am-4pm (19-20 July) – FREE EVENT
• Active Roadshow, Seaton Sluice, 1pm-3pm (22 July) – FREE EVENT
• American Roadshow, Seaton Sluice, 1pm-4pm (30 July) – £1 DAY TICKET
• Vikings Attack!, Lindesfarne, 11am-5pm (2-3 August)
• National Play Day, Seaton Sluice, 1pm-4pm (6 August) – FREE EVENT
• Magic Day, Seaton Delaval, 11am – midnight (16 August) – FREE EVENT
• American Sports Day, Seaton Sluice, 1pm-4pm (18 August) – £1 DAY TICKET
• Birds of Prey Display, QEII Country Park/Woodhorn, 11am-3pm (25 August) – FREE EVENT
• Children’s Summer Festival, Astley Park, Seaton Delaval, 10am-2pm (27 August) – FREE EVENT

Reasons to be Cheerful – Thursday

Day four of my positivity project – here are my three reasons to be cheerful for Thursday:

1. New Foods
   Chochie was sitting in his highchair, picking at his ham sandwich (which he usually loves), while I ate my hot-smoked salmon with a green salad. I then started following up with half a pink grapefruit, and Choochie put down his now limp sarnie and motioned that he wanted some of my grapefruit. Expecting a reaction like the one he had with lemon back at Easter (because although it’s sweet, my pink grapefruit is still quite zingy!), I scooped a little onto my spoon, checked it had no pip fragments, and popped it in his mouth. His little face lit up! He asked for more, so I gave him more, and he ended up eating about a third of my half grapefruit! When it comes to fruit, my youngest is a bit of a greedy guts. I love watching him experience new flavours for the first time.
2. School Fayre
   This afternoon was Tadpole’s school fayre. There was plenty to see and do, and Tadpole and I won several prizes – loads of lovely toiletries and, best of all (in his eyes), a single-use camera, which he will use to document some of our summer holiday adventures. It made him incredibly happy to win it. 🙂
3. Scorchio!
   Today is so sunny and hot and summery, it was absolutely glorious. It really feels like summer today, and I hope we get some more weather like this once school is finished!