Scent-sational 🙈 – What I Wear and When

I’m a really nosey person and love to know everything about everyone (in a non gossipy way!) and find weird things like whether or not someone wears one perfume all the time or one for going out and one for work really interesting ha! I just like to know what other people’s habits are and how they differ to mine, so I thought I’d make use of a nice picture I took of my perfume (I often take casual snaps of perfume, nothing to do with wanting a nice pic for my insta feed 😳) and talk through the ones I wear and why. An incredibly boring read I imagine but if you came onto my blog to read it then you only have yourself to blame 😂

How Weird That We’re Growing a Personality…

Now that Reu is 20 weeks he’s really started to develop his own personality and it’s amazing (and funny)! One minute he’ll be really happy, the next in a massive mood with his bottom lip out, then in a blink he’s lolling at something again (aren’t babies weird)?!

Does it make me a bad friend…

Since having a baby I think that whilst my mummy skills have definitely come along leaps an bounds my friendship skills have suffered slightly. I’m not saying I have become a bitch…I’m still a nice person (I hope) but my focus has definitely shifted and find myself asking myself, “Does it make me a bad friend…

Sometimes I feel like a “Teen Mom”…

So before I had a baby it only felt like about a year since I was at uni, being a standard early 20’s student drinking most week nights and generally living the youthful dream. In reality it’s been 11 years since I started my degree and just the thought of going clubbing makes me feel hungover, with my preference always leaning toward a nice dinner and drinks out over any form of social drinking environment 😩

Despite my change in preference for drinking I still feel pretty young (I mean I’m 29 so I am young still but you know what I mean!) and I sometimes can’t believe I have a baby. I look at other mums and they look really mum-y, like they really fit the bill. Then I look at myself and think, do they look at me and think I look really young and under qualified to parent?!

I watch the mum-y mums playing and singing and knowing all the words to all the nursery rhymes and I’m sat there humming along cos I know no words and my preference is to sing Craig David “Monday, took her for a drink on Tuesday, we were making out by Wednesday…” (I’m not convinced Reu actually enjoys this) or the theme tune to fresh prince (a show I’ve recently started watching re-runs of 👌🏼👌🏼).

Despite this I have little desire to learn the words to wind the bobbin up, I mean how retro, someone needs to invent some more up to date tunes about ipads or something relevant…what actually is a bobbin…

I sometimes find when I’ve been to one of my classes with some of the mums that really know their shit about babies (like when they’re meant to do stuff like roll) that I feel a bit deflated, and guilty for getting bored of playing with all Reu’s toys with him after about ten minutes and maybe popping a cheeky cbbc kids show on for 20 minutes. Then I remember he’s four months and not 100% sure what’s going on and I feel ok again, and that ten minutes of playing for him is probs pretty tiring 😃 (I mean I’m exhausted so he surely is too).

I also find that hanging out with like minded mums really helps, I always feel like I’m winning at life after an afternoon with my mummy friends as they always reassure me that I’m bossing motherhood and most of the time feel the same as me ✌🏼(I think wine Wednesday probs helps too).

So yeah, sometimes I feel like a teen mum who doesn’t have a clue what’s going on (ps I’m sure a lot of teen mums do know what’s going on, I’m using the MTV show as my reference point for the title 😂) but my baby smiles loads so who really cares 👶🏻 I’m fairly sure mummy’s of latter day got by without knowing exactly what’s what all the time ✌🏼

Ps I find it really hard to match pictures to my posts so they are pretty random!

My Week of Healthy Eating

So when I say week of healthy I more mean I’m not eating crap throughout the day. It’s not really that healthy and just food I like in moderation 😊 Through doing it last week I lost 2 pounds, and felt loads better in terms of energy and just general wellbeing. I’m not a very good cook so soz in advance…

Monday
Breakfast
Porridge and honey
Recipe: I use a handful of oats and a glug of semi skimmed milk to cover the oats then 1 minute in the microwave

Lunch
Chicken Salad
Recipe: slice up a chicken breast and cook at 200 for ten mins. Once cooked add to as many salad leaves as you fancy, half an avocado sliced, some sliced red onion and sliced raw mushrooms then dress with natural yogurt dressing (Nat yog, lemon juice, a grated garlic clove, capers, salt, pepper and olive oil)

Dinner
Chilli stuffed peppers

Recipe: chilli – 500g 5% fat mince beef, 1 chopped onion, 1/2 chopped peppers, 1 tin kidney beans in chilli sauce, 1 tin chopped toms, 2 tablespoons tom purée, 1 tablespoon black treacle, 2 teaspoons chilli powder, 1/2 teaspoon paprika, 2 teaspoons chilli paste (I also had some mushrooms so I chopped them in too).
Peppers -You then just half two peppers and stuff with the chilli (I use left over chilli, don’t make it fresh for this dish so it usually has some rice mixed in too) cook for ten mins then add cheese on top and cook for five more mins.
Sides – I chopped up two handfuls of new potatoes into quarters and covered in oil and some dry seasoning (use any) then cooked for 40 mins. I also steamed some long stem broccoli 😊

Tuesday
Breakfast
1 slice of honey on toast

Lunch
Leftovers – Chicken Salad, stuffed pepper & avocado

Recipe: As above (all leftover from Monday)

Dinner

Smoked haddock, cauliflower and pea pie with mash topping

Recipe: Poach 300g smoked haddock in 400ml semi skimmed milk for about ten mins (from cold milk to hot) – aim isn’t to cook the fish but to flavour the milk. Use the milk to create a sauce using the flower and butter roux method – add plenty of salt and pepper. Par boil half a cauliflower then drain and put it in an ovenproof proof dish. Layer the smoked haddock on top (in bite size pieces), cover with a couple of handfuls of frozen peas, throw on the sauce then top with mash (we used a ready made M&S one). Cook at 180 for 20 minutes then add some cheese on top (we used Parmesan) then cook again for another 10/15 mins.

Wednesday
Breakfast

Bowl of sultana bran

Lunch

Went out for lunch so had baked potatoes and beans with a side salad and coleslaw

Dinner

Sausage (I only ate two of the sausages), broccoli and potatoes

Recipe: sausages follow the packet, broccoli two minutes in a tuppaware with a bit of water in the microwave, potatoes- half and cover in oil and dry seasoning then cook at 190 for 40 minutes 

Thursday

Breakfast

1 slice Nutella on brown toast

Lunch

I was bad today and had a latte at lunch time then a Love Brownie and some prosecco at my friends house early afternoon, as well as some strawberries and some nuts haha!

Dinner

Baked salmon with spiced caluflower and rice

Recipe: Microwave the cauliflower in a little water for two minutes then drain, add a little oil and season with dry seasoning, put in the oven at 190 for 30 minutes. Put salmon in foil package and season with salt and pepper and add to the oven for 15 minutes. The spicey rice is Uncle Bens so just microwave at the end before plating up. 

Friday

Breakfast

Bowl of sultana bran

Lunch

Left over fish pie

Dinner

Beef salad

Recipe: This is a rump steak and James seasoned with salt and pepper and cooked it in a hot pan for 3 minutes each side then left to rest for 5 minutes before slicing, he also pan fried a few onions in the meat juice. To go with the steak he roasted some new potatoes in oil at 200 for 40 mins and popped some broccoli in for 20 mins and it went nice and charred. He added it all to a bag of salad and a mustard, oil and balsamic dressing.

Saturday

Breakfast

Honey on 1 slice of brown toast

Lunch

Mackeral salad

Recipe: Blister packed chilli mackerel broken up on half a bag of salad, some sliced mushrooms and cover with balsamic and oil. Left over rice on the side too. 

Dinner

Moules frites

Recipe: we used one pack from Booths of blister packed moules in white wine sauce and just followed the instructions and served with oven fries.

Sunday

Breakfast

Scrambled egg and tomato on toast

Lunch

Naughty again but I knew we were having a bigish dinner so James and I shared a slice of chocolate cake with a ball of ice cream.

Dinner

Spicey roast chicken, Spring greens and crushed new potatoes

Recipe: We bought a spicey spatchcock chicken that you cook in the tray then served with new potatoes which we boiled then crushed and added old bay (this is amazing and the dry spice I always refer to) seasoning alongside some M&S Spring greens that you microwave 👌🏼

Drinks: everyday I have a cup of tea with breakfast, Diet Coke with lunch and cordial throughout the day. I also had a glass of wine on Saturday and Sunday evening.

Snacks: After dinner each night we had one hotel chocolat chocolate each (crazy kids). If I got hungry in the day I ate gherkins and the odd apple here and there.