Phew, What a Day

It's been a busy old couple of days here in my glitter & sparkle centre! Princess Kitchen is tackling bigger events (today being our first buffet for 32 covers) the clients were impressed with what they saw, fingers crossed it is as tasty as it did look when I dropped it off.

I seem to have taken a mission on without realising it of taking a photograph of my mainmeal each evening. Who knows why but I'll share some of this week's meals shortly.

The weather got me down today, quite literally too as I took a dive in a car park... ouch.

Bacon and Parmesean Spaghetti

Baked rice - a working lunch

Eggs, Chips & Beans

Tomorrow is an office bound day, so I'll be taking my usual soupy lunch tomorrow is my new concoction of Chicken minestrone the recipe can be found here: http://beebeesrecipes.blogspot.com/2011/01/chcken-minestrone-soup.html

A Day of Opportunities

It's been a strange old day, had a usual order to fill for Fozzy's Cafe and halfway through that I get a phonecall to cater for a YCA buffet - on Thursday! Eek panic stations ahoy lol.

So it's the end of the Christmas break and as of tomorrow we are almost back to reality here. Not necessarily a good thing as it took me two weeks to get used to them all being here and now it's going to feel really strange. At least school should be back on Thursday so I can get my buffet together in peace.

Tomorrow I also get to see some friends for the first time since before Christmas and see just how kind the New Year has been to me!

After being on Twitter a fair bit today (oops, but hey it keeps me sane!)  and got into a discussion about Sushi, personally I love the stuff, my favourite being either a maki roll or a cali roll mmm even typing the words makes me want to. So, I have found two more things to add to my things to do in 2011!

The Maki Roll

 


The Cali Roll

  









4. Learn how to make my own sushi.

and
 
5. Teach my husband how to cook 4 dishes. (His culinary skills can only be described as sandwich maker and general warmer uperer.

And in a fit of domestic goddess I also made a Pecan and Banana Loaf (you can find the recipe in here http://beebeesrecipes.blogspot.com/2011/01/pecan-and-banana-loaf.html) which I'm about to partake in with a lovely cup a char mmm.

Streamers and Balloons

It's that brand spanking shiny New Year that we have all been waiting for. It finally arrived and is full of all the promise we knew it would be.

However, if you look really closely it is just the same as last year, but this is were the trick is, to keep looking through our childlike eyes as everyday is new and can be whatever we choose it to be.

This morning, after having my daily porridge, I started the day with a pain aux chocolate and a rich black coffee on my favourite cup and plate. It makes all the difference when you eat off something that you really love.

Apologies, for the scrappy backdrop, I needed to have some light to take the picture, and the only bit I could find was in the bay window of the front room!

It was scrummy and so worth the wait for them in the oven!

I am also going to start another new tradition on this blog. On the first day of the month I am going to take a head & shoulders shot of myself and post it.
So beware! I'm not at my best first thing in a morning. Please be kind.

This is could be an interesting aside to normal life, see how the little thing affect the soul and how these things are written on your face for the world to see.

It was a quiet night in last night, we love New Years Eve so the Hubster and I spent it together on the PS3 on a number of the Buzz games (I'm a bit of a quizaholic) I got wallopped 4 games to 1. No more than 1 shot of Morgan's Spiced was drunk.

So I will bid you farewell for today and leave you with a picture of my tea from last night!

P.s. If you would like to see some of my recipes please head over to http://www.beebeesrecipes.blogspot.com/ where I will be updating my catalogue of foody things regularly.

Glitter & Sparkles

BeeBee

A Time to Look Forward

I love the promises that each New Year brings. Its like a blank canvas ready for anything. The future is ready for you to shape it in anyway that you see fit. Anything seems possible on New Years Eve.

But why, on a whole, do we keep this feeling of optimism just for the beginning of a new year? It is a feeling we should be able to harness at anytime of year. We just need to believe.

Which is why I recently got myself inked again to remind me at all times to Believe. Things may get tough and difficult and times but everything can be survived and often we come out stronger at the other side, better for the experience but its believing that we can make it through the tough times that is the most difficult life skill. One that I am only just learning, and I hope it is a lesson I can instill in my children that EVERYTHING is possible. You can do ANYTHING that you put your mind to. The only thing standing in your way is YOURSELF.

Plans

What are your plans for this upcoming brand spanking new year? I used to make lots of Resolutions. This year I am making a to do list instead, as the year goes on I will be crossing off those things that I complete and add new things I want to do as well.

At the moment I stand with three main ones:

1. Get a social life - Since having my boys I don't go out as much as I used to, but I also tend to just stay in sofa bound with my husband. I want us all to socialise more next year. It will be good for us as a unit giving us new things to talk about and good for our children to see us and to learn how to act in a new environment.

2. Remember the birthdays of those I love - I tend to be really unorganised in this respect, and they sneak upon me. If this happened to me I wouldn't like it so why do I do it to other people.  I have diaries and calenders, it shouldn't be too difficult to do (you would think!)

3. Go to Nandos - Yes shallow, but hey I really want to go!

Yes there are other things I will want to do, and will do but for now those are the main things.

I will continue my weightloss journey, but this is not on my things to do as I accept myself as I am and I am simply just making myself the best me I can be. There is nothing about me I want to change.

Currently I stand just 3lbs off my 2 stone target. Then as ever I will set my next target from then.

Questions for you:

What are you looking forward to doing in the New Year?

Do you make Resolutions?

So Here It Is... Well It Is Amost the New Year

It's almost time to get back to normal. Today I have been having a chores day, pottering up and down the high street looking in part for inspiration and in part doing jobs for my grandmother, the pre-school, my husband... I think that you can see how it's going.

So half way round Netto (I know the glamour!) I decided that what I needed was more speed food (yes I am slightly addicted and obsessed by Slimming World again at the moment. Although I do refuse to talk about it offline unless I'm in class). Of course me being the strange soul that I am was obviously lead to my Nearly Soba Noodle Bowl for lunch. So quick and tasty, takes as long to cook as it does to boil up a pan of wholemeal spaghetti (for me it must be wholemeal as the white stuff isn't as tasty and you need that nutty edge that it gives you).

So here I introduced my

Nearly Soba Noodle Bowl

500g Wholemeal Spaghetti
1 bag of stir fry veggies
2-4 cloves garlic, crushed
1.5-2 pints bovril chicken stock
1/2 cup tamari sauce (aged soy sauce, but any will do)
1tbsp ground coriander
1/2 tbsp ground cumin
pinch cayenne pepper

Quickly stir fry the veggies in fry light, add the garlic, coriander and cumin. Pour over the chicken stock and soy. cook until the veggies are tender.
Boil Spaghetti.

To serve, put some spaghetti in the bottom of a bowl and cover with the chinese veggie soup.

N.B. You can add extra protein in here too, on the one I made today I added in some pre-cooked king prawns, chicken breast also works well.


optional extra

Noodle crunch (total 8.5 syns, a good size single sprinkling about 2 syns)

28g tbsp sesame seeds
1 tbsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground cumin
pinch cayenne pepper

in a dry frying pan toast the sesame seeds when golden and fragrant turn the heat off and add the spices, toss in the pan until combined and put in a airtight container. Will last about a month (unless you're as addicted to the crunch as I am!)

Merry Christmas

Hope everyone out there has had a good Christmas/Yuletide this year. 

A hazey fog of yuk descended over me this year, so I've not been able to enjoy it as much as I usually would, didn't eat much (a bacon buttie and a mini pork one too) I've had a reaction to something I've eaten and am still feeling the benefits over 48 hrs later, hence I'm up at stupid o clock on a monday morning - saying that I also have my final batch of cupcakes for Fozzys for this year.

This year's runaway flavour has been Chocolate Orange - I'm so proud! Bring on the New Year, my plan is currently for carrot cake cupcakes!

Today I'm going clear liquids only in the hope to shift this fug, as I still feel dreadful - hot lemonade is my cure all - I just don't have any lemonade in :( only 4 hours until the shop opens! Bring on the microwave goodness.

Boys had a fab day despite my malaise (and major dinner cock up on the big day!) and have a suitably large haul, tomorrow will be Thing 1's 5th birthday, scary thought really. Hope he likes his bike, and that the snow and ice clear up soon so he can learn to ride it stabiliser free!

Ho Ho Ho-M-G it's Nearly Christmas?

So yes, time is running away with itself again, I really do wish that sometimes it would slow down a little.

After a week of snow days followed by a week of kiddysickness (boo - never much fun!) we are finally getting back to some sort of normality, aside from the skiddy black ice that has snuck up on us this last couple of days. The snow has made way for 2-3 inches of thick compacted ice, and the thaw isn't working as quickly as it usually would, not too bad, except we are due to have a turn in the weather again tomorrow! (Why does it always happen on a work night?)

So this does mean that I've not really been upto much apart from avoiding the cold, being mummy, and going to Slimming World.