Etsy

I have recently discovered a fabulous website: Etsy.com. The only problem is, I want to purchase everything I see!

I am a huge fan of homemade items, for several reasons. Mainly because the items are one of a kind, but also because I feel like I'm supporting those out there trying to make a living making their products with love and feeling.

So, I bought the little chick (for when she eventually decides to put in an appearance) some onesies that have been decorated especially, some birthday and valentines gifts for friends and family and a necklace. My best purchase is a bag of handmade fish shapes with numbers on them to help the Dude learn to count. It's his favorite toy when he's not playing with Thomas! But more than purchasing the products, I love browsing and adding shops to my favorites. I love looking at items and thinking 'Wouldn't that be an awesome birthday gift for ...'

So if you get a chance, have a little look on Etsy.

Philadelphia cream cheese

I love cream cheese. It doesn't last more than 5 minutes in this house. The Dude loves it too, especially on bagels.

He doesn't eat meat though. Well actually that's not true - he mostly doesn't eat meat. Occasionally he'll eat a chicken nugget or two. So imagine my surprise when he ate the meat sauce on his pasta at dinner! The solution - I mixed in cream cheese as I was cooking the sauce.

It was a recipe I found on Rachael Ray's website. Brown off the ground beef, stir in tomato sauce such as Ragu (I made my own) and melt in half a block of cream cheese before stirring in pasta. Top with Parmesan if desired. It was yummy and the best part of it is that it took 15 minutes to make!

So there you have it folks, if in doubt add cream cheese.

BJs Wholesale Club

I really don't like grocery shopping. I love food, but buying it can be a nightmare. So when we finally ran out of food in the pantry yesterday, I had to really psyche myself up to go out to BJs and do a food shop.

However, what we bought really made my day. A 3lb pork tenderloin that will last us two dinners and my hubby's lunch on Monday only cost $14. I usually spend that on way less at my regular grocery store. The meat is in the slow cooker as we speak, marinading in root beer (I found an awesome recipe on-line yesterday for pulled pork) ready to be shredded, mixed with BBQ sauce and put in sandwiches, served with home made mashed potatoes and veggies. Mmmm. I'm so hungry!

Then we bought 2lbs of stewing steak. That went in the crock pot last night and made an awesome casserole, which is now living in the freezer ready for when the baby arrives. That little lot came to roughly $12 and again will get us through two meals. What a bargin!

Lastly, 2lbs of ground beef will make enough spaghetti bolognaise to sink a battleship.

Being frugal is definitely the way to go, especially in the current economic climate. But it doesn't mean that your family meals have to suffer. If you have enough space in your freezer, there are plenty of yummy recipes out there for make-ahead meals that you can freeze until you need them. (Which in my case is most of the time!)

If you have a wholesale club in your area such as BJs or Costco that you can join, it's definitely an investment worth making. And they sell more than just mammoth amounts of meat! We buy all of our diapers, wipes, cleaning products and toiletries in the large quantities, because in the long-run, it saves us money. (And we even get coupons in the mail!)

Nesting and pregnancy

I feel as though I have neglected this blog over the last few weeks. The truth is I haven't been able to do anything worth blogging about! Not surprisingly, I went into preterm labor and have ended up on bed rest. Which to most people would probably sound like heaven, but I have a nesting instinct so powerful that I'm going out of my mind, and worse still, I can't satisfy it. My husband has been nesting for me.

The pantry has been re-arranged, the house scrubbed from top to bottom and the closets tidied. Dinners have been cooked and laundry has been done, but I am ashamed to say not by me. And he's done a better job of it.

Still, by the end I'll have a beautiful baby girl as well as my handsome little dude and my family will be subjected to my somewhat chaotic housekeeping methods once more. I just hope it's sooner rather than later, I'm going out of my mind.

Use-it-up bread pudding part two

It's awesome! The house smells amazing. I'm looking forward to serving it up tomorrow with some tangerine cream sauce! (Yes, I have a bunch of tangerines to use up, but I've seen an authentic recipe that I already have all of the ingredients for!)

If you have any use-it-up recipes that have been a success, leave a comment below and tell us how it went :-)

Use-it-up bread pudding

It's 9.45pm and I've just made a use-it-up bread pudding. The loaf in the bread bin was going stale and I didn't want to waste it - particularly as the holidays are approaching and things are getting tight!

So here's what I used:

Half a loaf of wholewheat bread
2/3 cup of demerera sugar
the last of the vanilla extract that was in the bottle
an excessive sprinkling of nutmeg (I LOVE nutmeg)
2 cups of semi-skimmed milk (It's all we drink and I don't have any cream)
1.5 cups of raisins
1 cinnamon stick
1/4 cup of butter
3 eggs

Here's what i did:

Pre-heated oven to 350.

Warmed up milk and added butter and cinnamon stick. Left it to simmer for 2 mins.

Mixed vanilla, eggs, nutmeg and sugar together vigorously for at least a minute. Then slowly, after removing the cinnamon stick, I added the milk.

Cut bread into triangles (Like my nan used to) and placed strategically around a grease Pyrex dish, layering in some raisins along the way.

After my last layer of raisins, I poured the milk-custard concoction over the bread. It's now in the oven for 45 mins. . .

My Nan Brown would be horrified if she were reading this right now! Still, I shall update you on how it went when it finally comes out of the oven.

H1N1

I can't believe how long it's been since I've posted here. I've been horribly ill with the flu and as you can imagine - at 6 months pregnant it's been rough. Thankfully, I'm back on my feet again, ready to take on the world.

In order to make sure that people are aware of the flu symptoms and how they can be managed, I've written a couple of articles that you may find useful:

http://www.examiner.com/x-20546-Hartford-Early-Childhood-Parenting-Examiner~y2009m11d10-Cleaning-up-after-flu--making-sure-your-home-is-germfree

http://www.examiner.com/x-20546-Hartford-Early-Childhood-Parenting-Examiner~y2009m11d7-Signs-and-symptoms--of-H1N1-and-when-to-seek-medical--help

http://www.examiner.com/x-20546-Hartford-Early-Childhood-Parenting-Examiner~y2009m11d4-Current-H1N1-flu-clinics-in-your-area

I hope you find these useful. It's important to get as much information out there in regards to the flu, even if we've read it a million times. I wouldn't wish the symptoms I had upon my worst enemy (not that I have any!) especially if they were pregnant and trying to take care of an 18 month old.