A Toilet Roll a Day and Other Adventures

Frivolous blog post, but I chuckled massively whilst thinking of these, so when I come back to my blog looking for good memories in the future, I will chuckle too.

0: the number of uninterrupted showers I have taken this holiday
1: the quantity of toilet rolls we've used per day
2: the quarters of toast Booboo will eat for breakfast before asking for a 'deal'
3: the spoonfuls of any meal eaten by Booboo before the request for a 'deal' is made
4: the number of times I need to tell anyone to stop hitting a sibling before they'll even consider it
5: the number of times Husband#1 has wiped the work top, having just tidied up (he tidied 37 times)
6: the number of trips to the loo Husband#1 made in one shopping trip with the girls
7: the number of meals (105 in total) that Biggie has eaten without screwing her nose up
8: the average number of socks (not pairs) on the stairs waiting to go upstairs to the wash basket
9: multiply by 17 to get near to the number of daily sibling fights between Biggie and Booboo
10: the total number of minutes I've had peace and quiet this last six weeks
11: multiply by three and you get the pounds I need to lose (and yet I still won't make skinny)
12: the number of washes needed per week to keep in civilian gear (school uniforms are food resistant)
13: unlucky for some, for me the date of eye surgery I cannot rearrange :-(
14: the number of apparently diabetes causing fruit juices my gals drink per week :-(
15: the number of punches Husband#1 gets before he stops snoring
16: apparently the number of punches it takes me to stop snoring
17: the number of 'matoes' Booboo will eat without question
18: the number of courses Biggie will eat: starter, main, pudding, cheese, fruit, yoghurt etc
19: the number of minutes it takes Biggie to have a wash in the morning, with reminders to keep moving
20: the number of times I hear "I'm telling you off" during the average hour's play

Oh dear. I'm chuckling again, but do you know what? I love it - this chaos and more!

He he he.

Blog Off

I'm really fed up to day, in fact it all started late last night, continued through the night and into the day. It could be that going back to work is making me sad. I just get to know those gals of mine and learn to cope with them as a full time mother when I get pulled away and forced into relying on others and not knowing what to do with them on a weekend. They are so beautiful, funny and clever. In fact, I've said it before and I'll say it again: I feel sorry for those of you whose kids aren't mine! The mood could also be because somewhere, somehow, every thirty seconds or so there was a loud bang last night. It was so loud, I got up to investigate, whilst Husband#1 snored on. I wasn't asleep until after 2am and I had to be up at 7.30am to take the car for another service. That was a great improver of my mood. Not. Massive bill this week and then it has to go back in two weeks time for more work. Great.

So the day started with porridge and syrup for all (even Booboo had a small bowl) and then we went out into town for various things and ended up lunching in the same old deli as earlier in the week - you'd have thought we were made of money!

For tea I've made the girls chicken and sweetcorn soup - a really easy one is this. You sauté an onion and some garlic until soft and then add chicken - thighs are best. I used about 600g. I then stripped four sweetcorn cobs of the sweetcorn (straight into a bowl to avoid spillage!) and added to the pan once the chicken had browned. Finally I added about a litre of chicken stock, maybe slightly more and put the empty cobs back in for flavour. This simmered for about ten minutes when I added a cornflour and water mix to thicken and then served. I have another three portions in the freezer from this mix.

It's pizza night for Husband#1 and I. Garlic mushroom - not my favourite, but it will do. Just make sure to cook the mushrooms before you put them on the pizza or the pizza will be really soggy. I had way too many mushrooms tonight so managed to put some (cooked) in the fridge and we'll have them for tea on Monday on a lovely olive oil drizzled ciabatta.

Life isn't all bad, is it? My glass is definitely half full...

Family Octopus & Chips

And so tonight is Family Octopus and Chips night. I type as the chips are chipping and the octopus is having it's final few minutes in the oven. Very exciting for an octopod fan. The gals keep running in to see if it's ready and I think the lovely brownie sat waiting on the side is only a slight distraction! The whole reason why the gals are having this is that I have literally been begged. When Biggie goes to the supermarket with me, she asks loads of questions about food and I'm not shy to give the answers, believing it's much better for kids to know where their food is from and how it got there. So when she asks the fishmonger (usually a very young lad, not far out of school) how exactly did the octopus die, I don't curtail the answer, indeed if he doesn't give it straight I will interrupt! Here she is, pictured below, helping me to wash one before I cleaned it out earlier this year. I love it that she's so confident with food.

Biggie cleaning octopus for tea



 

So we made the brownies this morning, using a Barefoot recipe again - as I mentioned previously, Husband#1 has an obsession and the gals are often to be seen reading her books, so I had little choice. I have no problem with Ina, but I have to say I've a few recipes which haven't worked out for me and that puts me off. Husband#1 and Ina are synchronised perfectly and anything she can do...It sounded quite complicated and faffy, but actually it was really straight forward and any waiting time mentioned in the book is really short and almost unnecessary. By the time they'd baked the smell was delightful. So I covered in a caramel sauce that I think would make Ina's hair curl, but it was all that was available to me and I'll have to do better in the shops next time - I may even make one myself - but it worked and was so, so good. In fact, we were planning a late night chocolatey treat, but these brownies are so rich, they will do. And I can't wait to add a glass of red wine to the mix...Diet? What diet?

 

 

And finally, the pièce de résistance: Octopus and Chips. Using a (Sir) Rick Stein method of cooking, I out the octopus in a Dutch oven with about 100ml of olive oil (there was about 1300g of octopus, two large ones) and placed in the over on 150* for about 2 hours. In fact it was more than enough time to have a lovely walk out with the gals. Booboo's pushchair (broken at the caravan) went to the tip this morning and even though we did the extra long walk of about forty-five minutes, she did it a treat. We even managed to get a look at the chicken coop on the local allotments - I think we may have some rescue battery hens coming to live with us in Spring! We arrived back to a lovely, if unrecognisable, roasting smell. It doesn't smell fishy, but pleasantly promising something which is going to be very satisfying. I prepared some potatoes for chipping (I use my deep fat fryer, as I feel it's safer) and made some aioli - just a bit of Hellmann's, a clove of garlic and the juice of half a lemon. Once cooked, I drained the octopus, chopped it up and sprinkled with smoked paprika and (for the adults only) some cayenne pepper. Both girls ate with gusto and ketchup, preferring that to aioli, which I don't mind! They ate under their own steam and enjoyed it: that's what I like.

The Best Cook in the Whole Wide Kingdom

Hmmm. About five days left until I'm back to work and I'm feeling restless. We got up very late this morning (my gals are fantastic at sleeping and indeed sleeping in!) and then the whole day cascaded into a disaster of what should have been done but wasn't. We have one day left to get to the tip; the garage is full of rubbish which will prevent me starting my new regime next week (sick of feeling fat, old and tired, increased activity is the only answer), whereas the garden is full of a (very kind) neighbours cast off ride-along toys. They are great for a while (and very much appreciated) as the gals have lots of choice (they still both want the same one, however) but some of them are now well out grown. We also have two broken hosepipes, make of that what you will. On Friday, my car has to be in the garage at 8.30am for a service that should have happened in March, but I was so busy I forgot to book it and had to go with a simple MOT instead. I nearly forgot this holiday as well. Finally, the delicious lamb shanks with orzo failed to be pictured last night and so I can't talk much about those except to say that this is a Barefoot recipe well worth trying. Husband#1 certainly cooks a good Ina, it was superb.

Lunch today was tortilla and salad (the gals don't love me any more for bringing this delight into their lives) which was okay but uninspiring. I have it for lunch on a work day, so it's not special, nor is this version homemade either - but it's great for speed. Tea was more exciting. I took the lovely courgettes picked earlier in the week and battered them in a mix of self-raising and corn flours with some salt, white pepper and iced water. I deep fried them at quite a high temperature and it worked a treat - my batter was lovely and crispy. We ate them as each batch was done, but again the gals weren't overly enamoured and only really ate them because I'd also bought some triple chocolate cookies for pudding (which I hardly ever do, what is happening to me?). To go with the courgettes I made a sweet chilli sauce, and though I messed it up, it still tasted good - chopped chilli and garlic boiled vigorously in white wine vinegar (should be rice but Sainos didn't have any this week) and water with a large amount of sugar. Mine didn't thicken so I think I under-sugared. For the gals, I made a pistou-type thing. I chopped some basil leaves in extra virgin olive oil, added chopped garlic, grated parmesan and the zest of a lemon. The addition of the pistou was, for Biggie and Booboo, the only saving grace that has maintained my status as "The Best Cook in the Whole Wide Kingdom".

Thank goodness!

Well tomorrow, things are hotting up and I'm not sure if I'll still reign supreme at the end. We're baking salted caramel chocolate brownies in the morning (I hardly ever bake, but Biggie was promised, having picked the recipe carefully herself - and I do love to see her browsing through recipes!) and then for tea it is Family Octopus & Chips. I look forward to updating with how this goes down tomorrow! Pictures promised!

Dead City Lights, Jordan Sweeto, Deceptively Innocent and Other Followers

I'm just chuckling at myself today as I'm having to stop feeling too cool. Not sure from whence it all came, but suddenly I have a spate of young, cool musicians and groups following me on Twitter. I've even been sampling EPs on ITunes -  and liking them. In fact, this summer I've turned into quite the Rock Chick as I can also recognise about four Fall Out Boy tunes when I hear them, and I believe they're quite cool? Not bad for a Working Mum Who Cooks!

An odd day today, we decided to shop and lunch out. I started by giving Husband#1 space to buy more t-shirts (he swears there are only 20 -twenty- in his drawers, but I know better) and jeans (at least 10 -ten- pairs hidden away). For a man who works in suits, I feel it's a lot, but hey I'm just jealous as I'm moving into specialist stores if I put on any more weight. Whilst he shopped, the gals and I went to Clark's where to my horror Biggie needed three new pairs. A pair for school, gym pumps for school and new trainers. Wow. Luckily Booboo has had a period of stunted growth over summer, it would seem.

We then went for lunch in Deli Central, which was quite lovely. Husband#1 and I shared the house platter and a cheese platter. The house platter included poached salmon (technically a fish, I know, but still lovely), Yorkshire ham and some rare-cooked roast beef with two cheeses, a selection of salads (pictured below) with various pickles, including balsamic pickled onions and the biggest capers I've ever seen! The cheese platter had five or six different cheeses, pickles, chutneys and a Waldorf salad. Both came with bread and butter and of course we ordered red wine! The girls had ham sandwiches, though I got Brie on Biggies. She was struggling to eat it, so Husband#1 and I shared a smug smile, knowing the additional cheese was ours and we both saved a large gulp of red to go with it, but no, my well-trained beauty ate all ham and cheese and just left the bread. Never mind. The positive is she likes Brie and she also helped us eat the olives.

After lunch we took back my glasses to the shop as one pair massacre my vision, which isn't actually that bad. I only want my eyes to stop hurting during the day and felt perhaps some help on the long commute might help (and yes, additional sleep is planned on a work night). Anyway a few adjustments later I'm still not convinced, so we'll see.

For tea, Husband#1 is cooking lamb shanks. As usual, the kitchen has passed through a few different stages today: clean, tornado damaged, cleanish. He cleans well but never, ever, cleans the work tops or table. Once, having made something with raw chicken earlier in the day, I questioned why he hadn't cleaned the work top and his reply included the fact there was no need as he would be making a sandwich soon. I think that was before we lived together - why oh, why did I not take that as a prediction of the future?! Anyway,  as usual, we will be eating at about 10pm and as a result the gals had to have emergency fish fingers and beans, theirs will be frozen for future consumption. So picture and recipe for the lamb will come tomorrow, but it's smelling very good, don't tell him!

I Was a Girl in a Village Doing Alright, I became a Princess Overnight....

Monday, 26th August 13:30 (pre-soup)

If I spend anymore time with Husband#1, I may go mad. He is running round the house in his dressing gown singing the theme tune from Sophia the First, whilst Biggie and Booboo sit square eyed in from of the blooming programme. He has always been easily taken in by twee children's TV. Sophia is the most morally upright and annoying princess I have ever heard of and as a result she is dull. Children's TV does vary, admittedly, but who can resist Josie Jump or Archie from Balamory? Indeed, I challenge you to look at Miss Hooley and not return her smile when she invites you to join the fun too! Mickey Mouse Club House - annoying, but I can't resist Hot Dog, Hot Dog, Hot Diggedy Dog and the gals dance to it a treat. Doc McStuffins? Precocious. Dora The Explorer just gives badly translated cultural misinformation: "When we want someone to move out of  the way, we say 'Please.'" Not in England, Dora. We say "Move." Finally, an old favourite in the Madhouse is Peppa Pig. Peppa is spoilt and George is naughty, nothing can save them, but Daddy Pig reminds me of someone, pompous, useless at DIY but generally loved by all. Who could it be? As for Mummy Pig's inability to resist a challenge? Brilliant. She rules.

Anyway, I think I'd better move on from here and warm the Coquina Squash soup I made this morning, whilst ironing - yes, it is true, I can multitask. That the girls clothes are already covered in soup before they have even gone in the wardrobe for wearing is a point I'll just keep quiet.

Monday, 26th August, later (post-soup)

Well the soup had a mixed reception. Biggie claimed to like it but took her time, whilst Booboo was still eating an hour later. Husband#1 had seconds and that's what counts. If grown ups would like it, I'm happy. At least then if the girls are tolerating it their tastes may develop. It was easy to make. First I peeled and chopped two large coquina squashes into about 2cm squares. I rubbed these in olive oil and salt and put into a hot oven (200*) until cooked and browned. It took about 30 minutes and I did it in two batches. Then I sautéed an onion, a teaspoon of ground cumin and three cloves of chopped garlic before adding the squash and about a litre and a half of vegetable stock. I brought it to the boil and simmered for about ten minutes and allowed it to cool a little before blending. At that point you can add more water to make less thick, depending on what you like -  I found ours was too thick. But it was lovely, and cheap. The squashes cost £3.00, and everything else is really store cupboard. I've fed four of us today and have frozen a further three meals for Husband #1 and I for later. I suppose you could also add cream or similar, but it really didn't need it.

This evening we have had BBQ, lovely as ever - nice and simple too. The gals love playing outside and it's nice that we're all out there together. We just had burgers, sausages and sweetcorn, and of course there was French's mustard, Ketchup and BBQ sauce to go on the buns. Two things to remember for next time:

1. Defrost the burgers in plenty of time to avoid a necessary reformation as they all fall apart and stick together.
2. Prevent Husband#1 starting a fire next to the BBQ, especially with greenery - the smoke will force you out of the garden and prevent the compulsory toasting of marshmallows.

Toast! Toast! Toast! Oh Dear.

Tomatoes, butter, jam, lemon curd, peanut butter are all examples of things you get on toast and the list is not exhaustive. Horrifically over the last couple of days there has been nothing available to eat for breakfast and lunch apart from toast. It's shocking from a woman who prides herself in good nutrition for the kids...Booboo, who dislikes porridge and takes a year to eat cereal, has indeed eaten almost half a loaf in two days. In fact I knew we had a serious issue this morning when we ran downstairs for the porridge and reached into the fridge to find there was no milk.

Anyway after a trip to the supermarket, we now have alternatives...hopefully. Husband #1 was able to cook lemon chicken with couscous and broccoli. It wasn't a success; the monsters that are my gals ate the couscous followed by the greenery - that usually always gets left until the end! Trying to get them to eat the chicken was a no-no, thank goodness we'd decided against giving them lemons. i liked it, though, but I do wish he'd branch out and try a recipe from someone other than Mrs Barefoot! No offence Ina, still hope to end up like you and Geoffrey.

Husband#1's Lemon Chicken with Couscous and Broccoli

A short post tonight, tomorrow is BBQ night and soup (no toast) for lunch. I'm making butternut squash soup except that I have some other kind of squash. But it will do!

In my book, like cleanliness is close to godliness, adaptability is close to MichelinStarness.