Mummy & Moose
clapping, napping and yapping our way through the day

A snowy week

As you know we don’t get a lot of it so when it snows here (especially here in the flat plains of the fens where it rarely ever settles) you can forgive us for getting excited.

This week has been disrupted by the white stuff. Bess enjoyed 3 glorious days of school closure but Moose’s preschool remained open throughout. This week for him was one where Moose and his friends were allowed to attend preschool in fancy dress.

Unfortunately for him, he managed to come down with something which meant that he missed out on a day. He did manage to make good use of his superhero wardrobe – which is becoming pretty extensive thanks to my weak will and the Matalan sale.

Moose has loved the snow of course.

I have loved seeing the snow through his eyes. That magic of seeing the world as your children see it is one of my favourite things about having mini humans around.

I really hate driving in the snow so much of our week was spent on foot. We headed outside to play in the white stuff a couple of times. I learned that my son is much like me in that we love the snow to look at but 5 minutes of being wet and cold is more than enough for the both of us.

He did find it hilarious to pelt me with snowballs though.

By Friday I was itching for the snow to melt and for some kind of normality to resume. G decided to travel down to his Mums with the children to give me a bit of time to myself. Something which NEVER happens.

It was so lovely to spend some time just relaxing at home without anyone else to worry about, reading my book and really just having a good rest!

 

 

3 ways with Rustlers #rustlershack

Bess and Col are always in the fridge.

Honestly, I sometimes cannot believe how much they get through and of course they only ever really want crisps or chocolate. Our rule is that they can help themselves to fruits or vegetables but the other stuff they need to at least try to go easy on!

It’s not just the health aspect which is obviously important but the cost too! As well as those things though it is important to me that they get involved in the kitchen and help out with the preparation of their meals to educate them for the future.

I was recently asked to get involved with the #Rustlershack and try to create a tasty family friendly meal using as a base the Rustlers Southern Fried Chicken burger. I decided that this would be a great thing to do with Col and Bess

This is what we came up with!

Bess chose the ingredients for her creation. Rustlers are known for their burgers microwaveable qualities but Bess wanted to be different. She went for a toasted bun and chose to oven bake her chicken (so it would be crispy) and then she added a grilled pineapple ring and grilled halloumi – salty sweet perfection! She served this with some crunchy vegetable sticks and a glass of cold milk.

Col’s approach was to create what he called the champion of burgers! Again opting for the toasted bun and baked chicken combination to get the best possible texture he added a hash brown, spinach leaves, some cheddar and onion rings along with some BBQ sauce to make a magnificent tower of chicken goodness (his words) and he served that with chips because he is a growing boy!

I have a confession

When it came to my turn I didn’t really fancy a burger. I decided to opt for a salad (both kids rolled their eyes) and I was so glad I did!

I sliced the bun and tossed it in a pan with a little olive oil and garlic powder.  Meanwhile I microwaved the chicken and made my salad of leaves, tomato and avocado. I placed the sliced chicken to the dish and used the burger mayo as a salad dressing. It was hands down one of the tastiest lunches I have ever knocked up in less than 5 minutes!

This was great fun to play around with new ideas for dinnertime and it was great that we could all add our own unique ideas to really make the meals our own. If you would like to get involved you can grab a twinpack Rustlers chicken burger from Tesco!

This post is an entry for Britmums Rustlers Burger Hacking Challenge, sponsored by Rustlers

Let’s Go PJ Masks DVD Review

It’s great when your little one starts to love the characters from a TV show. In terms of development it helps them to learn about empathy and of course it is great for imaginative play long after the show has ended.

It’s not great when they develop said obsession 11 days AFTER Christmas. Moose had absolutely no interest whatsoever in PJ Masks before this but when it hit. Boy, did it hit!

For anyone who’s not in the know

PJ Masks is a series about a group of 3 six year old children. By day Amaya, Greg and Connor are normal kids but by night they don their PJ’s, activate their animal amulets and they become their superhero alter egos: Owlette, Gecko and Catboy!

This is one of the few shows which Moose loves that I quite like too. The animation is cute, the characters are pretty cool and well, it’s not Peppa or Bing.

Moose was given the special superhero assignment of taking a look at the new PJ Masks Let’s Go DVD in exchange for our honest opinion of it and we were happy to oblige!

 

pj masks dvd

The DVD comes in a nice presentation sleeve and includes some stickers which Moose loved! The whole thing runs at 72 mins which is enough time to write a blog post about the PJ Masks DVD or cook dinner and tidy a kitchen or just browse Pinterest (I have checked and double checked and this is accurate)

There are 6 episodes included on the DVD. I won’t say too much because, spoilers! Suffice to say, Moose was thoroughly entertained.

The episodes are called

  • Gekko & the Snore-A-Saurus
  • Catboy and the Shrinker
  • Blame it on the train, Owlette
  • Looking After Gekko
  • Catboy’s Tricky Ticket
  • Clumsy Catboy

pj masks

Moose tells me that his favourite is Gekko & the Snore-A-Saurus. This is no great shock as we see a lot of Gecko impressions at home at the moment.

There were a couple of episodes on the DVD which I am sure we have seen on Tv but to have them all grouped together (thus avoiding adverts) is really handy. Plus, at this age children will not tire of rewatching those episodes anytime soon.

I have no doubt that Moose will enjoy PJ Masks ‘Let’s Go’ over and over and over and over and over and over again…

PJ Masks Let’s Go is available to buy now!

 

Pirate Partying with Baking Mad

January is a bit of a busy month for us. In amongst the ever growing list of birthdays is my nephew Kieran’s. This year he turned 9 and as he is one of our favourite Humans we all wanted to make it memorable for him.

When I was asked to test out a Pirate Party Kit from Baking Mad I knew exactly who we should throw a party for!

Baking Mad sell a kit which provides you with almost everything you need to make an awesome Pirate Cake with a surprise chocolate bean centre.

Included in your kit you will find

  • Allinson Self Raising Flour (1kg)
  • Silver Spoon Icing Sugar (500g)
  • Billington’s Unrefined Golden Caster Sugar (500g)
  • Nielsen-Massey Vanilla Extract (60ml)
  • Black Icing Writing Pen
  • Pirate Cupcake Kit with Cupcake Cases + Toppers
  • Cake Decorating Sugar Paste Brilliant White 250g
  • Cake Decorating Sugar Paste Black 250g
  • Chocolate Beans 250g
  • Cake Board – 10”
  • Recipe and Instruction Booklet

The kit doesn’t come with butter and eggs. I would say that these are things you would probably have already but since you need 9 eggs in total, you will probably need to make that trip to the shops!

The recipe says you need 500g icing sugar but I didn’t have enough and ended up adding another box to my shopping list along with those 9 eggs and 3 packs of butter – I will concede that I did make my buttercream layers quite thick!

I am not a cake maker so this was a great experience but I did also need to buy equipment. Cake tins and a palette knife for smoothing – I accept that these are things which most people own though.

The kit arrived in a lovely lidded box tied with baking mad ribbon. I really felt that the ingredients and the decorations were of a great quality and really well presented.

Kieran happened to pay me a visit a couple of days before his birthday so I showed him the kit and he was really excited. He wanted to help me make the cake so I spent a lovely evening with him baking his birthday cake!

The instructions were easy to follow but I would have liked to have had a page of tips to help out clueless non bakers like me! Luckily I was able to call my Mum and she helped me out.

Tips from my Mum

  • To get the buttercream to lay with a nice flat finish use a hot palette knife. I use a jug of boiling water (drying the knife first of course)
  • Add milk if the icing is too thick
  • Cool the cake thoroughly before icing
  • Use a sharp knife to level the sides of the cake to give an even finish.

I was pretty happy with the finished result!

 

Kierans birthday was a great success! He and his friends all enjoyed the cake (especially when it was cut open to reveal the surprise chocolate inside!) and had lots of fun playing with the Baking Mad Pirate Hats (available to purchase on the Baking Mad website)

I found the process of using a party cake kit a really interesting one. Although I think the cost of the kit might limit how much I would use the service I think it is a great way to introduce yourself to creating a really special birthday cake.

Disclaimer: This was a collaborative post. I received the Party cake kit in return for an honest review

Valentines Gifts 2018

 

1 Matilda Mae Handbag from Mia Tui

I love a handbag and over the years I have amassed quite a collection! I adore the rich colour of this one and the separate compartments inside would make it a great practical choice.

2 A Great Quality Hairbrush from Rock and Ruddle

Rock & Ruddle’s quality boar bristles are strong and resilient, have a natural stiffness that means that they brush the hair thoroughly and yet don’t pull as they are drawn through it.  They have microscopic scales that release and drag the sebum (natural oil) that is produced in the scalp distributing it along the hair making it shiny and healthy looking

3 Fair Trade Flowers

One of the most iconic Valentine’s gifts with a very special value: Fairtrade Roses are handpicked by local farm workers in Kenya. Make a difference and choose to improve the working and living conditions of farmers and workers in Kenya. Spoil your loved one with a bouquet of 12 passionate red roses.

4 Hallmark Itty Bittys

I love the cute and quirky Itty Bittys and this Valentines. We are all really into Superheroes here so of course, Batman and Batgirl were the obvious choice. Other couples versions that are new to the Itty Bittys range include Lady and the Tramp, Miss Piggy and Kermit and Superman and Supergirl.

5 Splurging on a Camera

This one is way up there on my wishlist. The Canon G7X II is an amazing camera and excellent for helping to make memories!

6 Statement Jewellery

We adore this Feminist necklace by Rock and Rose. Is there anything sexier than a man who is not afraid to be with a strong woman?

7 Chambord

A delicious black raspberry liqueur which can be used to make amazing cocktails or (if you are me) an awesome grown up milkshake!

8 Valentines Card

Forgot the card? Don’t worry, Hallmark have you got you covered. They have a massive range of cards to suit all ages and tastes!

9 Luxury Chocolates

Who doesn’t love chocolate?! My advice is to buy the best quality chocolate you can afford. The H Box from Hotel Chocolat is a great gift choice!