chatty update

so hello and welcome if you have come via my youtube you have found my blog ! yaye you !! feel free to grab a cuppa and take some time out to read my post history, the blog will be updated often with lots of new and very exciting things up and coming for Jess & Bodhi !

Pancake day ideas

So it's pancake day or shrove Tuesday , Yaye pancakes for breakfast lunch and dinner ! Yum yum but why do we eat pancakes on this day every year? I doubt many children would really know..... So in a nut shell ( and what I will explain to bodhi later ) pancake day falls on the last Tuesday before Ash Wednesday and this is the 1st day of lent. In the past families would be use up all the yummy fatty foods before the start of lent, and the easier tasties way turned out to be pancakes. So it's like one last big blow out before the diet starts on Monday ! We will be having pancakes for pudding after dinner tonight as no time before school for making them and I think for lunch & dinner is a little much for a four year old. We will be having good old shop brought scotch pancakes with toppings of a range of fruits and marshmallows and naughty chocolate spread ! 

I have been looking at ideas for next year tho and have come up with five that I think would be great for spacing pancakes out over each meal 

Breakfast : - 

These simple and cute teddy bear face pancakes could be made very simply by using scotch pancakes and a few add on, could also makes faces, pac man, sunshine, endless options really. I think that having the pancakes already made ( or brought ) is a great idea for breakfast as time is key in the morning before school ( plus all the extra washing up? No thanks ) 

Also another simple and easy idea if you have a little more time in the mornings would be to use metal ( not plastic they will melt ) cookie cutters to shape your pancake batter, just pop the cutter into the pan and add some thicken batter. What child wouldn't like hello kitty / batman shaped pancakes??? 

Lunch :- 

Pancake art, now this one looks fun. Not sure how gooof they would taste but who cares right? Just make up the batter as normal into a few bowls and add a few drops of differnt food colour to each then either add mixture into squeeze tubes or you could just use a spoon to create works of modern art for lunch ! I think this would work best with brighter colours as will darken once cooked. 

Dinner :- 

Bacon pancakes , now when to Miami on holiday we visited a Wendy's and I ordered pancakes with pbacon and maple syrup and my god it was so good !!! I've tried to make it again and again but it just isn't the same , I personally think it's our bacon. But I do this this looks yum ! Pair it with some eggs and beans and you've got a pancake based dinner, just part cook the bacon, then add strips of pancakes batter to the pan lay the bacon into the mixture and spoon over more batter ( I may pop to the shop for bacon to make these tonight ) 

Pudding :- 

 

Bread and butter pancake pudding , now this looks like a thing of beauty and I really really want to try this so I may well do that ASAP mix up a normal bread and butter mix of sugar/cinnamon/milk and eggs and rather then using bread you use...... You got it pancakes! I think shop brought scotch would work best, could even buy the ones with added sultanas. Then bake in the oven like you would a bread and butter pudding could also add soft fruit like the photo shows but I think I'd rather add that once cooked. Be perfect with some ice cream !!! 

So I am now staving hungry and looking forward to getting some pancakes into my tummy !!!! Hope this has given you a few ideas. Please comment on what you'll be having on your pancakes today. 

Brown bananas turned into muffins!

Now I'll be the first to admit that I waste food and I hate it I see it as money in the bin so I am really trying my hardest to cut down on my wasting. I had two very brown ripe bananas sitting in my fruit bowl that kept getting over looked for other items and I knew they would end up in the bin unless I used them , after a look in the cupboards to see what I already had in I came up with the ideas to make muffins ! They turned out really well and Bodhi pretty much made them by himself. 

So you will need :- 

X2 ripe bananas ( or how ever many you have ) 

150g self raising flour

100g soft light brown sugar ( or white caster I just didn't have any )

X2/3 eggs ( depending on the size of them I used x3 small eggs ) 

150g butter

Handful of chocolate chips ( up to you ) 

How to make :- 

Set your oven to 200 while you get all of your items out and weighted , you will also need muffin cases. I used silicon ones ( I made x12 ) Place all of the ingredients into a bowl and use a fork to mash the bananas into the mix, once all mixed it should look like a lumpy cake mix. Use a spoon to half fill the cases ( as they will rise while cooking ) Pop into the oven on the middle shelve for 15-20 mins leave to cool and enjoy. 

Tears and trifle

Earlier this year my great aunt Kath passed away, and it's still upsetting when I think that I'll never see her again or spend a Christmas with her. Every year Kath would make a trifle that was more booze then jelly. So when I came across hartleys glitter jelly ( in raspberry ) for sake in Sainsbury's for 70p I thought maybe I could carry on the Christmas tradition of auntie kaths trifle.

The next day bodhi and I did a test run to make sure their,lay was up to the task and I was so simple to make , the jelly comes in powerd form rather then jelly blocks just add boiling water and mix. I used plastic cups for my jelly moulds as this meant I could make lots of smaller jelly ( as they don't do a sugar free option ) I was very impressed at just how glittery the jelly was once set and it didn't effect the taste or texture, bodhi loved it and has been enjoying it for puddings with cream! 

I feel that I will do auntie Kath proud this Christmas with my glitter trifle , I am going to buy this large glass trifle bowl from Sainsbury's at only £12 I thought it would be perfect for the job of housing the trifle. We are spending Christmas Day at my parents along with my sister and her three children so that will be nine mouths to feed 

I am looking forward to making the trifle with bodhi and taking about auntie Kath , I am hoping it's something one day he will do with his children. Our trifle won't have any booze but will be full of love and happy memories. 

Colgate minion battery powered toothbrush

In the October half term I took nearly four year old bodhi to visit the dentist, we have been taking him every six months from his second birthday, he has no fear or worries about going and I hope that doesn't change any time soon, she commented on how lovely and clan his teeth are and that now he is pretty much four ( birthday in January ) he can have a battery powered toothbrush , exciting times! I picked up the yellow minion one by Colgate as bodhi is minion crazy! It was priced at £4 but after buying I did also seen them half price in wilkos for only £2.50 ( so I picked up a spare ) 

* small oscillating head that cleans teeth and gently sweeps away plaque

* extra soft bristles helps protect gums 

* slim handle 

* easy on/off 

* brush lays flat for easy toothpaste application 

* 2 replaceable AAA batteries 

The above list is taken from Colgate.com and it is all true, bodhi can hold and use this new toothbrush and now really enjoys brushing his teeth rather then me having to bully him into doing it, we also have a timers from the shop tiger that is like a egg timer ( could also use a stop watch on your phone or play a song on YouTube ) children should be brushing teeth for around the two mintue mark. 

When I brought the toothbrush I also picked up a tube of colgate mild flavour toothpaste, aimed at ages 4-6 we have had a lot of trouble in the past with toothpaste and bodhi finding them in his words "spicy" I really didn't want to fall into the habit of buying the fruit flavour paste or worse still ( in my option ) the bubble gum ones!! So far no issues with the one so its a keeper! 

All around two big thumbs up from myself and from bodhi and fingers crossed when we go back to the dentist in six month time she will still be happy with us! 

I change bodhi's toothbrush every 3/4 months 

I brought these products this isn't a paid review for Colgate.

 

Naturelly - jelly juice

Bodhi and I were very kindly sent a box of new jelly juice from naturelly to try out ! We received x6 100g gram pouches in three differnt flavours tropical fruits, summer fruits and apple & black currant 

1st impressions from that packing are very good, it's bright eye catching and clearly shows the fruits used for each flavour. Twist off cap insures a mess free enjoyment, and with the soft pouch bodhi had no problem with eating his jelly juice. 

In his words it was " yummy / soft / fruity / tasty " I also tried some and it tasted of the fruits and had texture of jelly that had been mixed up in the bowl. 

Naturelly are free from gelatine / gluten / wheat / dairy / nuts & bees this is great news if your little one has any food intolerance. They have no added sugar or sweeteners each pouch has 7.7g of natural sugars found in the fruits. Also made in the UK and have added vitamin A,C & E 

We have taken these pouches out on day trips, packed lunches and car snacks. Bodhi who is nearly four loves them, we also took some for my 86 year old nan to try as she is a huge lover of smoothies. She enjoyed the pouches aswell 

Over all we give them two thumbs up . Naturelly.co.uk 

Lego duplo

Three and a half year old and duplo are a match made in heaven ! We can spend a whole afternoon building and playing with the sets he already has. It's wonderful watching him making up stories and little voices for all the people and animals he has, 

We love to build towers aswell, that's a favourite thing to do with blocks, we have started counting while we build and seeing how tall we can make the tower, also colour sorting the blocks into piles so aswel as lego being fun it can also be educational , Bodhi's most loved sets are his batman & joker set I picked this up just before Christmas last year in Sainsbury's at under £20 , he also loves the ice cream set this was a gift from my sister but that is around £10-£12 he likes to play ice cream vans and shops. 

So many other ideas on Pinterest ( as always ) for lego and duplo , I will be adding to his duplo collection this christmas , but only a few sets as I'm sure it won't be long before he wants the Lego Lego, but I feel that duplo really is the better of the two options up until around 7/8 years old due to the small parts and complexity of the sets. 

I am loving the forest sets and bodhi already has the zoo set so I feel they will blend together well same with the food set to add to the ice cream set, so he can have a Lego cafe !! The forest sets start from around £6/£8 up to £20/£30 for the bigger and the food set is £12-£15 I will be keeping an eye on Amazon and also in stores as I'm sure coming up to christmas they will be on offers or save 25% or save 1/3