Yacon Syrup

My weight loss has been kicked started by Yacon Syrup, I have been taken the daily recommended dose for two weeks. I coupled Yacon Syrup with a healthy eating plan and I'm feeling fabulous.
Yacon Syrup was given to me free of charge on the proviso I complete a review. To be clear this is not a paid review and the opinions I am about to write are 100% my own.

What is Yacon Syrup?

In short Yacon Syrup is a sweet gorgeous syrup which has been proven to aid digestion and weight loss. It appears to be taking the US by storm and I was thrilled to have the opportunity to try it.
For the technical explanation with all the long words and to view the clinical trial results visit www.qualityyacon.com.

Conquering the 'What if' Fear

Blogging is very public and since I started the 'what ifs' have been huge and if I'm honest terrifying.. 

What if my posts are crap? what if Blogger.com decide my blog should be taken down? What if my friends laugh? What if no one takes me seriously? What if  I can't make a career out of blogging? What if no one likes our recipes? What if they don't like my amateur Iphone photography?

I blogged anyway and I now understand the saying...

Chilli Seafood Mix

This is Reegan's first ever post and I am very proud.

He likes a bit of spice and made this to go on top of +Gareth King's paella. 

Unfortunately, I deleted all his pics when I swapped my phone over (sorry bud!) I am sure you will agree this is a great recipe  and makes a great post without pictures. 

Reegan made his dish by adding spices, herbs and tabasco sauce as he went along. There is no hard and fast rules or measurements - it is made to taste!

Reegan's Chilli Seafood mix recipe

HALF TERM BAKING! - By Courtney :)

As its half term we have been doing a lot of baking! Come on, who can't resist the results of home made cakes, tarts e.t.c.? Not us, we've been busy baking Jam tarts, milk chocolate crispy cakes, chocolate chip cupcakes, white chocolate & marshmallow crispy cakes and a delicious chocolate chip sponge cake! A lot of chocolate there but who doesn't like chocolate? 

We know that cakes and chocolate aren't that healthy but you have to have some fun in your diet!

Mahoosive Shepherds Pie

If you want to feed a large group of people then shepherds pie is the way to go.....
It is easy to cook, delicious, cheap and full of healthy vegetables. 
Plus, you can always add your own twist with extra herbs, veg and spices. 

Last week we had a family feast. There was 9 of us in total. Our menu was shepherds pie, kiddie friendly cabbage and brussel sprouts cooked with bacon.

Normally I would....Heat a little oil, fry onions, brown the mince, add some veg and water, leave it to simmer, then add gravy granules to thicken, spoon on mash, grate a little cheese on top and plonk in the oven for 20 mins- easy quick and tasty. 

Valentines cupcakes - By Courtney :)

There was a valentines day cake sale on Friday 14th February at my school. I decided to take part and make some yummy cupcakes.
I used a plain vanilla sponge for the cupcakes, vanilla buttercream and then made some white fondant flowers using a tool I got from my favorite magazine - Something Sweet Collection!

Chicken Paprika Stew

Chicken Stew was first on our list of 'Norfolk Veg Box' dishes. 

The beauty of stew is that you can add as much veg as you like - making an ultra healthy meal and a brilliant winter warmer!

Before now I haven't ever made a Chicken Stew, it has almost always been a beef stews. 

I did a little research, well Googerling (I wonder if Googerling will be added to the English dictionary soon) and then I created my own.

WHOOP! What a week...

We are definitely back on the right on track. 

What an awesome week we have had.....
First off I have lost 4lbs this week, this I am very please with. I have really watched what I have eaten and kept it healthy. I returned to the gym and rekindled my love of running. (I even managed a 5 miler yesterday.) 

All in all I'm extremely pleased. 

Delicious meringues....By Courtney

Delicious Meringues - By Courtney

Another recipe that I have really wanted to try - I used the BBC Good Food Recipe

They take ages to cook so leave yourself lots of time! :)

Excuses, excuses

Crikey - its been alittle too long since I last wrote...

I am full of excuses. 

I'm finding it hard to juggle full time work, four beautiful children and blogging! 

Having said that I see blogging as a helping hand in our change - a diary of our journey and a very public way of keeping us on course - breaking habits is hard! 

So excuses aside I MUST make more time for blogging. It's soooo important that we eat healthy and if I can share our experiences, tips and help others do the same then that's awesome too! 

How to make Carbonara sauce..

What is Carbonara sauce?

Carbonara is a beautiful creamy Italian dish.
Carbonara sauce is the signature sauce, comprising of primarily eggs, cream and cheese.

It is scrumptious and perfect for sprucing up leftovers.

Kaylee and Courtney's croutons!

Hi again, I'm back with mine and Kaylee's homemade croutons!

Croutons - By Kaylee (5) and Courtney (10)

Ingredients:

Ends of a loaf of bread
Any herbs that you like (we used garlic)

Eating Healthy? Saving Money? Wasting Less?

Our weeks review

OK, we are on week 2 and I should really give you an update as to our family resolution of eating healthy, wasting less and saving money on food.  

To be honest I haven't been keeping track,  not as closely as I would like.... an update is a little hazy. It is true to say I need to focus on this task much more, being back at work I have dropped the ball on cooking.

Pancake update!

I know, I know, I know - I promised pancake pictures and to let you know how the they went! But this week has been crazy... proper crazy. Getting back to school and work and routine has been 100% stressful. Juggling four children - that's four uniforms, 4 pairs of school shoes, 4 coats, 4 school bags packed, 4 snacks, 4 water bottles and 3 lunch boxes (Dylan only goes mornings) and all before 8:20! 
You can guarantee at the last minute someone has lost a shoe,  or someone else has suddenly remembered they have not done their homework and then -  oh no - I need PE Kit!
I hope your reading this fast - I'm typing fast - it's like a mini rant through my fingers - to be honest I hate school mornings. I'm not the best at organisation and even when I'm organised it doesn't go to plan.

Back to school Pancakes

Today is Blue Monday - apparently the most depressing day of the year. 

The decorations have gone back in the attic, everyone is back at work/school and the Christmas cheer has faded away.

To be honest, I don't feel like it is a blue day. Especially, as we now have all our 2014 plans and goals to look forward too (We are getting married!) I am not blue - not one little bit and I really hope you are not too. 

Family food budget?

After a trip to Tescos and an additional £32 spent I am wondering what budget we should be aiming for?

The reality is I have no idea what we should spend, with all the recent food price increases I don't know what is reasonable - how much would you say to feed a family of 6 healthily for 1 week?

I know a budget would normally be 'what you can afford' however, I want a challenge to see how well we can do. I am finding it fun thinking of simple, cheap and healthy meals. 

Courtney's potato salad!

How I made it:  by Courtney (age 10)

Ingredients + salt and pepper

Ingredients:

leftover boiled potato's (cold)

mayonnaise - just enough to coat it

1 onion 

1 red onion - optional

parsley leaves

a pinch of salt

sprinkle of pepper

Kaylee's Pickled leftovers

In the past, left over food almost always found it's way to the bin. Even if I saved it in the fridge I wouldn't get round to using it up in time!

As part of our family New Years resolution we are not going to waste any food and we are determine.

Following our roast, we had two raw carrots and a little bit of red cabbage left. Inspired by +Jamie Oliver Kaylee and I created the following.....

Kiddie Friendly Cabbage....

For our Sunday roast today I followed +Jamie Oliver's Mothership Sunday Roast Pork recipe, which included a gorgeous red cabbage recipe.  I never would have thought that cabbage and jam would go together, but it did and we all loved it. 

I had to share this recipe with everyone, especially mums and dads who (like me) sometimes have a battle when it comes to getting little people to eat the good stuff.

The Mothership Roast Pork....

I woke up this morning and thought - why wait til the new Year to change?

I got out the laptop and checked tesco.com to see what meat they had on offer. Pork joints were reduced and I decided to do a lovely roast pork.
It was a little ambitious, seeing as I have never cooked roast pork and we invited Giz's mum, dad and brother to join us, making 9 in total.

Armed with my ingredient list from the 'Saving with Jamie' recipe I headed off to our local Tesco. I decided to pop into Morrisons on the way so I could check their offers. 

I am glad I did - they had lots of beautiful joints half price. I picked up a 3Kg Pork leg for a tenner - Brilliant!