Summer

As most people know we recently moved back to my hometown. There was about a 2 month gap between leaving our old house and moving into our new one. During that time we were very kindly put up by my sister!

Maybe because of the situation but this summer has seemed to have flown by and with everything that has been going on I've not blogged at all!

To get back into things I thought I'd post some of the pictures I've taken this summer. We've truly taken advantage of our lovely new surroundings and have tried to get out and about as much as possible.

Enjoying the park! Sophia loves the swings the best!

Exploring the river. Sophia likes to pick up and then drop the pebbles back into the river over and over again.

Eating picnics out and about! 

Spending time with her cousin Flo.

A walk around the castle - we love that route! 

There's still a few weeks of summer left - I hope we get plenty of sunshine before autumn arrives! 

A Quiet Day

Today we spent a quiet, relaxed day together at home. We've all been under the weather this week but are feeling better now.

We read some stories together, played with Sophia and played in the garden with the animals.

Sophia loves to play in the garden with bubbles and she likes to 'help' us to take care of the rabbits and hens.

Some pictures from our quiet day...

Reading a story.

Eating lunch together. A summery pasta salad.

Saying hello to Maggie and Dotty. Do excuse the lawn it needs mowing! A job for the bank holiday!

Looking at a dandelion clock. We showed Sophia how to blow the fluffy seeds off but she preferred to pull them all off instead! 

One of our rabbits Mabel in the run.

Playing with the ball. 

We've had a lovely quiet day :) 

Growing Up

Over the past few weeks I've started to notice more and more how much Sophia has changed since her birthday. She's now walking confidently and she understands quite a bit of what we say now. She'll also come up to us and give kisses, wave to us and she is now able to anticipate our routine more, like when I get her coat and shoes on or when it is dinner time. She's also interacting with Smudge a lot more now and the other animals and really enjoys stroking them gently. 

She's so fun at this age, though she's sometimes a handful, she's easy to distract and is becomming more interested in doing proper activities like playing with the ball in the garden and playing with playdough. I'm trying to think up lots of new ideas for her! 

Though the baby stage felt like it went far too quickly, I'm enjoying having so much fun together at the stage she's at now.

Here's some recent pictures...

Walking in the woods.

Helping to look after the hens.

Sophia now uses her fork and spoon after lots and lots of practise together!

A Video of Sophia at 1 Year Old

Over the last few weeks I’ve been putting together a video of some photos to show how Sophia’s changed throughout her first year of life. It’s uploaded to James’s YouTube channel (along with some older videos too if you fancy a look).

I hope you enjoy it and I hope it’s something lovely that Sophia can look back upon when she’s older.

Budget Bites: Hobnobs (3p each)

As James will tell anyone I’m a complete biscuit addict – they’re my favourite food and I love them in the afternoon with a cup of tea. I decided to make one of my favourite varieties; hobnobs!

The sweet, oaty crunch you get with a hobnob is perfect!

This recipe makes 28 chunky biscuits and they price up at 3p each or 85p for the batch.

Ingredients:

225g self raising flour – 7p
225g sugar – 18p
225g porridge oats – 16p
225g margarine – 38p
1tbsp golden syrup – 5p
1tbsp hot water - free
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda – 1p

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 180c.
2. Mix the flour, sugar and oats together.
3. In a pan, on a low heat, melt the margarine, syrup and water. Once it’s completely melted add the bicarbonate of soda.
4. Make a well in the dry ingredients and pour the melted mixture in. Stir well until all of the ingredients are combined in a sticky, oaty ball.
5. Take little handfuls and roll into small balls and place onto a greased baking tray.
6. Once all the mixture has been made into balls, flatten each one either with your hand or a fork.
7. Put into the oven on a middle shelf for around 15  minutes. The biscuits should be a golden colour, not brown when they are ready.
8. Enjoy!

These biscuits are delicious and keep well in an air tight container for at least a week (if they last that long!).

They make the perfect addition to an afternoon tea break!

**Biscuits can be bought for cheaper than this but I bet they don’t taste half as delicious and are probably full of chemical ingredients.**

Dear Sophia: 13 Months Old

Dear Sophia,

You are a 1 year old now! You’re personality is shining through and we are loving watching you change. The pudgy little limbs you used to sport have been replaced by toddling, long legs and busy hands. You’re so aware of everything that’s going on now – you don’t miss a trick! Here’s what you get up to at 13 months old…

Eating

We’ve done it – we’ve finally done it! We’ve found a food you don’t like; green beans. Which is a bit of a blow as I have nearly a whole bag of frozen green beans in the freezer so I’ll have to get creative with disguising them in food! You’ve been trying them, making a face and taking them back out of your mouth. It’s the first food you’ve ever not liked so that’s not too bad going.

Other than that, you’ve been continuing to eat all we give to you. You have 3 meals and usually 2 small snacks a day which seems to suit you well. You are completely off bottles now and have a warm drink of milk in the morning and evening. Overall we’re so happy with how you eat. Baby led weaning was by far the best choice we could’ve made for you!

Development

This month has seen a big change as you can now…

• Walk! You now toddle around and you’re so pleased with yourself and we are so proud of you!
• Four teeth. You have two teeth on the top and two on the bottom. You look ever so grown up when you are smiling now. You still love to brush you’re teeth too.
• Understand speech. You understand hello, goodbye and goodnight and respond by waving. You understand when we are talking about mum, dad or smudge and look in the right direction. If I say ‘Where’s Smudge?’ you look around the room until you see him, then you wave.
• Naps. You are slowly dropping from two naps a day to one which means mummy has to work twice as fast to get everything done. Now you usually go down after lunch and sleep for a few hours.

Five Favourites at 13 Months:

Favourite toy: You love your push along truck at the moment. You go up and down the room like Speedy Gonzales! Though you enjoy walking on your own you seem to really enjoy pushing your little truck along too.

Favourite book: You had a sound book form Uncle Pat for your birthday that you’ve really been enjoying’'. You like to press the buttons to hear the sounds play.

Favourite food: You’re favourite meal is spaghetti bolognaise at the moment (I’m going to do a post soon on an average week in your tummy – showing which foods you eat).

Favourite activity: Opening and closing things or getting objects in and out of boxes, cupboards, baskets etc.

Favourite thing to do or say: Giving things to people. You like to present people with your toys and food and look at them with a big smile when they take whatever you’re offering.

You’re such a jolly and happy little girl and you seem to be growing up before our eyes at the moment – time goes too quickly!

And that’s what you’re doing at 13 months, our beautiful toddling little sweetpea.

Lots of love from Mummy and Daddy.xxx

Budget Bites: Mackerel Kedgeree (49p per portion)

 

The sunny weather seems to have spurred Dotty and Maggie (our hens) into egg-laying action! We’ve had 2 eggs each day since Thursday so I wanted to use some up for our evening meal. I also had a pack of two smoked mackerels that needed using up today. What better recipe to make with fish and eggs than kedgeree?

Mackerel is a firm favourite in our house. We usually have it once a week in some form or another to make sure we’re on the way to getting our Omega oils quota. It is quick and easy to cook with but is also one of the cheapest oily fish varieties. We also love salmon but usually I just can’t justify the price.

This recipe serves 4 (it served us as a main meal each and there was leftover for one of us for lunch the next day). It cost £1.94 to make or 49p per portion. However, if using shop bought eggs it would’ve cost £2.25 or 57p per portion (still great value!).

**All costings are done using budget or basic brands from Sainsburys or Aldi**

 

Ingredients:

• 1tbsp oil (I used vegetable oil) – 3p
• 1 onion, finely chopped – 6p
• 125g rice, cooked – 7p
• Pack of 2 smoked mackerel - £1.61
• 50g frozen spinach (or a good few handfuls of fresh spinach) – 8p
• 2tsp curry powder – 9p
• 2 eggs – free (from our hens)
• Optional: sprinkle of coriander (I had some leftover in the freezer so used a little bit)

Method:

1. First, hard boil the eggs and cook the rice as per the packet instructions.
2. Whilst the eggs and rice are bubbling away, flake the mackerel flesh into a bowl and discard the skin (or give to the cat that’s staring longingly up at you – which is what I did!).
3. Once the eggs have boiled, cool in cold water and peel when ready.
4. Heat the oil in a pan over a medium heat and gently fry off the onions for about 5 minutes. Then add in the frozen spinach, stirring until defrosted and mixed with the onions.
5. Add the cooked rice and the curry powder and mix well until all the ingredients as distributed evenly.
6. Mix in the mackerel and cut the eggs into chunks then add in.
7. Finish by sprinkling in the coriander, if using, and plating up.

I served ours with green beans and seasoned James’ and my meal with salt and pepper for extra flavour.

This meal was really tasty and filling and a great way to use things up.

(I’ve just noticed that there are four eggs in the pictures above – I used two for the meal and boiled up an extra two for James’s packed lunch tomorrow.)