What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday?

Exactly how I left my desk last night after I was working on my Project Life album for week 5.  Scrapped January now.  Just 3 1/2 months to do to catch up.  No pressure really.

This is how the spread looked late last week.  I moved a few of the cards around different pockets

Don't forget to visit Julia to see the linky for other craft desks all around the world.

Project Life Tuesday

My progress this week?  Not much.  With one thing and another all I managed  was to cut some paper up and put in the pockets.

I know its a little strange showing this paltry amount of scrapping but I need to keep myself on track.  This is after all progress.

Mixing it up a bit with these 2 weeks and using stash instead of Clementine and Studio Calico PL kits.

I did manage to cut paper for 2 weeks though and all the photos are printed.  I just need time to stick them down, write a little and prettify.  Prettifying is the fun part.

Pop on over to The Mom Creative where you will find plenty of examples of Project Life progress.  Something which you clearly haven't seen here this week.  Life happens I suppose but without life there would not be this project.

Snack Time

Finding healthy snacks for my little monkeys has always been hard.  Offer them fruit and they go and hide.  Offer them veg and they run to the hills.  Snacks usually consist of yogurts, crisps if they are extremely good (or I need to bribe) and home cooked biscuits and cakes.  With home cooking I at least know there are no additives and other things lurking.  

Both Children take packed lunches to school and both want crisps each day.    The crisp and snack industry is worth £2 Billion a year in the UK alone.  The Food Standards Agency say that 69% of children's lunchboxes contain crisps.

However, research by the British Heart Foundation has found that this crisp habit could be causing problems in the future.  A packet of crisps every day is the equivalent of drinking nearly 5 litres of oil.  Yes, you read that right, 5 litres of oil.  To me this is shocking and then there is the hidden salt and sugar in our foods.

I also know that my children don't eat enough whole grains either.  They are not big on brown bread, rice or pasta. The 'white' products contain refined grains which don't have the same health benefits as food containing wholegrain.  I try to sneak the fibre in chocolate and carrot cake by using wholemeal flour but still they really don't have enough. I know my children are not alone but it is estimated that 27% of children have no wholegrains in their diets at all.

To help hearts be healthy the BHF recommends a diet that includes:

• plenty of fruit and vegetables
• plenty of starchy foods such as bread, rice, potatoes and pasta. Choose wholegrain varieties wherever possible
• some milk and dairy products
• some meat, fish, eggs, beans and other non-dairy sources of protein
• only a small amount of foods and drinks high in fats and/or sugar.
• and to choose options that are lower in fat, salt and sugar whenever you can.

Walkers Hoops and Crosses are made from 56% wholegrain and instead of being fried they are oven cooked meaning less fat.

Last week Walkers sent us a packet of these new crisps to try along with a cute little monkey and a booklet all about their new snack.

After Little Nephews Christening this weekend we put them to the test.  

Starting with the oldest taster:

'They're alright'

Then comes back for seconds, thirds and even tried for a fourth taste!

'Grunt'

As a child little Bro was said to grunt once for yes and twice for no.  Since moving to Wales to go to Uni and never leaving he can now grunt in Welsh!

'Yummy, can I have the rest of the packet?  Pleeaaase?'

'MMMMMM, Can I have some more please?'

'{Insert high pitched squeal}'

Only 1 last week, so doesn't talk.  Look on the face and hand held out suggested they are a winner.  

Insert more high pitched squeals.

The crisps come in beef, salt & vinegar and prawn cocktail flavours.

                  

Overall, they were a success and now we have tasted them I was tasked to find some in our local supermarket.  We live in the middle of nowhere and only have a co-op so was quite surprised to see they were already stocking all 3 flavours.  A pack of 6 was priced at £1.89. Only The Boy likes Prawn Cocktail and he loved these.  I am a little boring when it comes to crisp flavours and only ever eat salt & vinegar, ready salted or cracked black pepper.  Personally I found the salt & vinegar hoops and crosses to be too strong a flavour.  The girl thought they were ok but the boy devoured the remaining ones left in the packet.  These crisps are certainly going to find their way in to lunch boxes in our house.


And after much arguing the winner of the monkey?

The little monkey in the middle

As part of this review we received one packet of Walkers Beef flavoured Hoops and Crosses, a super cute toy monkey and payment for writing this post.  All views are mine(**) and those of The Boy (11 on Wednesday), The Girl (9), Little Nephew (1 last week), Little Bro (37) and Grumpy Grandad (old).

Sky Watch Friday

Very very grey here after all the sun on the bank holiday.  Just knew it was too good to be true; Sun on a Bank Holiday weekend, totally unheard off.  Just fits that the weather will be awful for quite some time now.

View from our cottage towards the hills

Very misty and very grey

A little brighter facing the sea but still brewing a rain storm 

which hit all last night with quite a bit of wind

Photos taken 5.45 pm

9 May 2013

Tywyn, Wales

Lets hope that not Summer we have just seen!

To see other skies around the world pop on over to here.

A Mexican Feast

This past weekend we have been enjoying some Mexican food courtesy of Discovery Foods with the addition of some homemade garlic flat breads and Mexican snacks (Recipes included below).

We decided to try the bottle of Cajun season and sauce mix first.  I personally like spicy food, not things really spicy but just a little kick.  The Girl is exactly the same, the spicier then better.  Strangely when I was pregnant with her I craved spice and she does have a real love for such foods.  With the Boy I craved sweet things and he loves sweet things way too much.  Unlike the Girl he is not a fan of too much spice.  I should not have been worried with this sauce as it suited all 3 palettes well.

I cut up 3 chicken breasts and sprayed some low cal spray on.  I then added the spice mix which snaps on to the jar lid.  I did struggle a bit to be honest to get the spice pack off.  The boy ended up doing it for me but I do have Carpel Tunnel Syndrome in both hands and tend to struggle with such things.  Having said that it was easy enough for a child to remove so couldn't have been that tight.

The chicken mix was poured in to a nonstick pan and cooked.

Once cooked, the sauce was added.  You will be pleased to know there was no problem with the jar lid removal!

I boiled some white rice to serve it with and added some tortilla chips as a side (recipe below) with salsa and garlic and herb soured cream.

The second Mexican meal we had was made using the Fajita kit.  The kit contained 8 flour tortillas, a packet of Mexican spice mix and salsa.  The meat was sprayed with some low fat spray and the packet of spices added.  This was mixed well and then cooked in a non stick pan.

Tortilla's were warmed in the oven whilst this meat was cooking.

Now the simple part, place some chicken, salsa and soured cream on the tortilla and roll.  Its that simple.  I like to get the kids involved and place everything on the table and get everyone to make their own.

The pack comes with 8 tortillas but we only used 6 of them.  The remaining 2 made a third meal.  Whilst the pan was still hot I placed the tortillas in the spicy oil and pressed down.

Rolled them up and cut in to strips.  We had some salsa and chicken left over which I placed in a bowl, popped in a bag and put in the fridge.

Next day I put everything in a nonstick pan, added some thinly sliced choziro and warmed through.

Beat 3 eggs and added to the pan with a sprinkling of cheese.  Once the bottom was set, I popped it under the grill to brown the top.

This served 3 of us for a spicy breakfast.  Served with soured cream and salsa.  

The bottle of soured cream goes a long way and seems to go on forever!  For a snack the children had tortilla chips, sprinkled with cheese.  I popped these in the microwave to melt the cheese and topped with soured cream and salsa.

Even after all these meals we still had soured cream left. I made some garlic flat breads:  

250 g bread flour

1 heaped teaspoon of baking powder

2 teaspoons of garlic powder

pinch of salt

140 ml water

A good glug of olive oil

Mix well then place on a floured surface and kneed for a little while.

Break into small pieces and make flat.

Place in a heated non stick pan (no oil needed).  Cook for about 3/4 minutes and turn.

Cook the other side for a couple of minutes.

Once cooked, sprinkle cheese (the breads are still hot, so the cheese will melt), top with salsa and soured cream.

We all enjoyed these meals and both the kids asked if we could have them again really soon.  

The sauces are slightly spiced so adults will enjoy but still mild enough to suit a child's palette   I find it difficult for both my children to eat the exact same meal as me but with these kits and sauces we enjoyed a number of tasty meals and snacks with no changes being made for them.  Win Win in my eyes.

Just so you know, we still have 1/3 bottle of the soured cream left.  It really has gone a long way.

You can find other recipes at the Discovery Foods website.

For the purpose of this review we were provided with a Perfect Fajita Kit, a jar of Cajun Season & Sauce and a bottle of Garlic and Herb Soured Cream.  All other ingredients were added by myself.  All views contained here are my own with snippets from The Boy & The Girl.