mothers day , what do we really want?

with mothers day less then a week away i was talking with some mum friends on the school run this morning about what is it mums really WANT for mothers day, the main comment was 'lay in' 'hot cup of tea' and an 'early night' but not like that ! so this got me thinking what is it i'd really like to be given as a gift for mothers day ( even tho i know that i won't get any of these ) as 1 my husband doesn't do mothers day for me from bodhi as I'm not HIS mum 2 he doesn't read my blog ( shocking no? ) and 3 I'm at work on the sunday so will be leaving the house well before the boys are even awake so not eve a chance of a cuppa in bed! but if i was to be playing mothers day this is my little list of five things that would make me feel special

1) a big metal J light to go on my desk, this one i found at a bargain £9.16 ( i may just have to order it at that price ) i also love the light boxes that you can change the wording in but i found this was a little more me. found at www.stuff4crafts.com 

2) the unmumsy mum book , now i hinted at a copy of this for my birthday and didn't get it so i thought id add it back into my mothers day list. its stocked at my local sainsburys for a bargain £6.49 so again i might just treat myself!

3) now these are a real lush want item , i don't need a new toaster or kettle and in fact no point in buying lovely new ones until we have replaced our old kitchen but these by morph richards are real kitchen porn, in the sage green on sale for £79.99 in currys.com

4) raspberry pannacotta serector chocolate from hotel chocolate only £3.85 if you haven't tried these you haven't lived i am a big lover of fruits in my chocolate and these are lush! only a small bag mind but i think thats for the best www.hotelchocolate.com

5) now this one i am really hoping will come true as ill be working until 5 so last thing i want to be doing once i get home is start cooking, we have a harvester not far from us and just feels less naughty then getting a take away. 

so thats what i would like in a nut shell what ill get? the gift from the secret shop at school that i gave body the £2 for ( and I'm guessing its going to be a Terrys chocolate orange ) as it was last fathers day and christmas when we did the secret shop at school. 

happy days! 

World book day stress!

World book day is this week ! Whoops like really 3rd of March is this week?? I am still thinking we are in January, got the letter home from school on Friday and to be fair to the school I think they are doing it pretty well, have asked for only book characters and no "fancy dress" so bodhi and I sat down and looked at all of his book together sorting out a yes , no and hell no pile ( cat in the hat / box trolls / Thomas the tank engine ) 

The list came down to four books that I felt happy I could make a outfit from 

Harry and his bucket full of dinosaurs - red jumper / jeans / bucket with plastic dinosaurs

Charlie bucket from the chocolate factory - old clothes and golden ticket 

The three ninja pigs - make pig mask / blue jumper / blue joggers 

Peter Pan - £15 job by from TU Sainsbury's !! 

I left the choice up to Bodhi as it would be him who would be wearing it all morning at school, in the end he picked to be a ninja pig ( even if he did want to be the yellow one not the blue ) after much explaining just how hard it is to buy yellow trousers he agreed to be the blue ninja pig for world book day 2016 ! Yaye 

So now onto Pinterest to find a simple pig mask that I could make before Thursday !! I went with this one as a base and I will add a blue ninja mask, and plan B he has a knight outfit so can go as a knight from the round table or something !!!! * ninja pig turned out pretty well so no need for the fancy dress outfit, hoping the handmade/home made world book day outfit will get me some brownie points with the teachers ! Ha ha ha 

I wonder how many will still go dressed as ironman and none story Disney princess ? One of the things I've been looking forward to with bodhi growing up was things like dressing up at school but it really is just a big pain in the bum isn't it ?? They are doing a prize for best outfit for each year group , not holding out any hope that bodhi will win, but I know he will be getting a book token so that's good enough for me. 

I'm really pleased with the outcome and so is bodhi !! What/who is your child going to school on world book day as? Bring it on world book day 2016 !! Who know what bodhi will want to be for world book day 2017 tho !!! 

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.