Mud Cakes and Wine

It was a cold, wet and windy Saturday afternoon, for some reason I decided it would be the perfect time to start tackling the front garden. I made several discoveries during what felt like the coldest 40mins of my life. I need some new Wellington boots mine are dead and for some reason have split across the foot area to go along with this discovery I need some thick socks and lets get personal here some thermal undies!!!! My feet were numb and I think it took three cups of tea to defrost me. Let's get back to the garden shall we, I decided to start clearing the small border near the front door along with the dead ivy. Peeling old woody ivy from the wall I must admit was very satisfactory, it was a little like peeling wallpaper when you get a long strip that just comes away. I also discovered that if I used the outside brush on the wall more of the tiny bits left came off. See I am full of handy garden tips, brush your walls to remove dead ivy. I have discovered we have three plan...

We have always fed the birds, I was brought up in a house where every winter my mum would be sending us out with food for the birds, the diversity in species and numbers of birds in her garden would provide some interesting reading. Like many families across the UK we participated in the annual RSPB birdwatch, I say we, in fact it was myself who did the birdwatch. Our 4 year old has special needs which means he has concentration issues at the best of time and our youngest pottered in and out. The bird watching was interrupted several times to get drinks and children needing the loo so you never know we may have missed a very rare sight indeed. But I really enjoyed the birdwatch as it made me stop, I stopped and just watched the world go by for around an hour. This is very rare, with two young children your always busy anyway add to that special needs and type 1 diabetes plus a husband who has a very busy and stressful job. its normally a cuppa on the go. What I have always like a...

I seem to spend most of my time looking at the garden and thinking about just where do I start, then I wonder around a little more, fill up the bird feeders and decide to have a cup of tea and another think. My main problem is I am time poor at the moment and the garden is just full of areas that need to be addressed. My other problem, which is a big one, I get bored easily, starting one job getting half way through and go and start another meaning I have two jobs unfinished. My endless cups of tea have brought a plan, I need a couple of quick wins, small jobs that will make a difference, whilst we think about the bigger story. So I have decided I am going to concentrate on the following.... The front garden/drive is the first impression but it's also what welcomes us home everyday. We spent a lot of money on getting our drive all one level it's been changed beyond our wildest imagination but the drive is surrounded by a muddy, weed filled boarder, bins and rubbish, lots ...

This week is I must admit is rather full of simple comfort food that I can kind of throw together.  It's a big week in terms of talking about how our eldest moves forward in his education and the last thing I need is trying to cook anything complicated. Monday - Gnocchi with a blue cheese sauce for Mummy and Daddy MCW. The little ones it will be Gnocchi with a tomato Sauce Tuesday - Sausages with Pasta I am going to try this with the boys I never really know how they react to sausages sometimes I get clean plates other times a resounding yuck Wednesday - Omelets and chips very simple ham, cheese and mushrooms but still very tasty. Boys hate them so will be having waffles, eggs and lots of salad Thursday - Tuna Pasta bake the boys do not like this one so will be having cheesy pasta Friday - Homemade Burgers with the blue cheese from earlier this week. Burgers will be homemade. Boys will have spag Bol Saturday - Mr MCW is out so myself and the boys will have fish and chip...

It's cold and we need comfort food also I am shattered and need easy food..... Monday - Birds eyes fish chargrills with new potatoes and spinach the boys are having fish fingers, mash and peas Tuesday - Cauliflower Cheese bake I am going to try this with the boys Wednesday - Fast Fix Fried Rice http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/6350/fastfix-fried-rice boys will have pasta with salad Thursday - Bonfire night Jackets again from BBC Good Food the boys love this meal  http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/1759659/bonfire-night-baked-potatoes Friday - Thai chicken (quorn) baked in the oven BBC Good Food the boys also like this meal  http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/4017/ovenbaked-thai-chicken-rice Saturday - Spag Bol shock horror again for the whole family Sunday - Roast Chicken with the works

The blog has been playing on my mind, I have started so many posts and deleted them not happy with anything I have written. I decided to have a long think about what I wanted from doing this. My day to day life is full of dealing with two young boys and also the constant ups and downs of a child with special needs and type 1 diabetes. The waiting by the phone incase school call to ask for advice or needing me to take him home as he has had a sever hypo or his readings are too high. Then on top is the worry about school, is he having to move to the local special needs school, his education healthcare plan needs updating, he has not received any of his NHS speech therapy. As you can see I have a lot to blog about, but writing about it was not making me happy. I have been enjoying twitter a lot, I like to have a chat and more than happy to start a conversation, what I have really found out is my love of talking about the garden, food and wildlife. So this is where my blog is going, I am ...

It's new year and finally we are back doing our meal plans, nothing has changed OB is as picky as ever so the meals are two fold. Monday - Pasta with a Tomato and Aubergine Sauce and a cheeky garlic bread on the side - the boys are having  Three Cheese Tortellini  Tuesday - Lentil, Mushroom and Spinach curry taken from Women's Weekly the Complete Book of Slow Cooking One Pot and Soup - the boys will have Mini roasts with veggies and gravy Wednesday - Baked Potatoes with tuna mayo for Mr MCW , myself and the boys will have cheese and beans Thursday - Spanish Chicken - Women's Weekly the Complete Book of Slow Cooking One Pot and Soup  this is being made with quorn - the boys will have Carbonara Friday - Mexican meatballs with sour cream, tortilla chips and guacamole -  Women's Weekly the Complete Book of Slow Cooking One Pot and Soup -  the boys will have fish, chips and peas Saturday - Ken Hom box the boys will have homemade pizza Sunday ...

Getting our eldest to eat is always a struggle, I rely heavily upon his meals I know he will enjoy. Tonight we had a small breakthrough and who knows if he will eat it again. But I thought I would share for anyone else with children who have special needs and major texture issues. Today shock horror I ran out of chopped tomatoes,  I first of all was shocked at how such a thing could even happen. This meant I had to think fast this is what I did and it was eaten and I mean forked into his mouth as I watched in amazement. I only cooked a small amount for the boys but it's easy to double or even triple up. Simple Tasty Mince 1/4 finely chopped red onion 1/2 clove garlic finely chopped  100g minced beef 2tsp honey 2tsp paprika 100ml beef stock The method is so simple fry the onion and mince until the mince has browned then add the garlic so it foes not burn finally add the honey, paprika and beef stock. Simmer for about 20 mins until you have the mince with a small amou...