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Wednesday 30 January 2013

{Recipe} Chicken Schnitzel


I love chicken. You can do so much with it. Have it plain or dress it up.
Today, I dressed it up.

Serves 4
4 Chicken breasts
flour, for dusting
2 eggs, lightly beaten
280g of fresh breadcrumbs
salt and black pepper
olive oil for shallow frying


Cut each chicken breast in hale, cutting diagonally through the middle to make 2 thin fillets. Place between 2 sheets of cling film and press lightly to flatten slightly.
Place flour, eggs and breadcrumbs in separate bowls. Season breadcrumbs with salt and pepper.
Working one at a time, dip the fillets in flour then egg and breadcrumbs. Make sure they are well coated. Place on a plate on baking paper and put in the fridge for 10 minutes.
Heat two tablespoons of oil in a non stick pan and cook in batches. Cook for 2-3 mins on each side or until golden brown and cooked through.
Serve with mash and veg or beans.

This went down a treat in my house and I pretty sure it's going to become one of our monthly dinners.



Happy cooking!!


Tuesday 29 January 2013

All Occasions Cake.


I'm linking up today with AP from ILYMTC for two posts. I should a have done this yesterday but we won't even get started on yesterday.

i love you more than carrots




I'm linking up for The dog days {of winter} are over and Hey, That's Pin-tastic!
This weeks link-up is for the dog days is "make it". I am very proud to say I made these.



Here is the start recipe that I use. I just double it if I'm using a bigger tin or different shape.
5oz Flour
6 -8 oz Sugar
3 Eggs 
3 floz Water

Separate the eggs.
Mix the sugar, egg yolks and water until light and foamy.
Add the flour.
Beat the egg white until in stiff peaks.
Add to the other mixture.
Decide into 2, 8 inch tins lined and floured.
Bake at 180c for 15 to 39 minutes.




Thursday 24 January 2013

Top teething tips.


We're in full teething mode in my house right now. 
Little man is nearly 13 months and we still have only 3 teeth.
That's right people, 3 teeth!
For the most part he's pretty cool about it but when it goes bad, it's bad.

I have tried everything I can think of to help him from the traditional stuff to the wacky internet stuff I found.

I decided to put a list together to help other Mom's who might be in the need for some Teething tips.
Bonjela gel.
 It really is fantastic stuff. Numbs the gums nearly straight away. Only problem is you can't give it all the time. Every 3 hours. So what do you do when it wears off. You should have this in the house if you have kids. No question about it.

Calpol.
Again no mother should be without this stuff. Fantastic for everything.

Frozen Food.
Some examples of foods you could use are whole frozen green beans, frozen fruit slices, and ice cubes made of juice and then placed in a mesh feeder. We have tried the juice ice cubes, and he loved them! I have also tried frozen ketchup sachets. They are great to use as mini ice packs and he loved chewing on them.

Here are a few more things that I have yet to try but might have to try them soon.

A cold wash cloth.
Wet a face cloth and stick it in the fridge. Give it to the baby and let him go for it.
It's meant to sooth the gums and catch all that teething drool. Bonus!!

 Cold celery sticks.
     Apparently celery is a natural pain killer. I may have to 
     research this a bit. I don't like celery but if it helps him, I'll try it.

Tommee Tippee Baby Teethers.
      Tommee Tippee Baby Teethers  come in a variety of different styles for every stage of teething. While some are meant for beginning teethers, others are specifically designed for the later stages of the teething process. I have not tried these but they look like they would be very helpful.

The other thing I'm interested in trying is these Amber teething Necklaces. A Mom at school told me about these. Might have to try it if things get really rough.

Amber teething jewelry.
These necklaces offer a natural, drug- free alternative to soothing teething tots. Besides that, they are beautiful, lightweight, and have a lot of other homeopathic benefits.



Kidsme Food Feeder




AP over at I love you more than carrots found these amazing things the other day on amazon. There a new and improved version of the mesh feeder. All the convince of a mesh feeder without the trouble it is to clean. Follow this link over to her blog to read all about it.


That's it. Wish me luck in my battle with the teeth. 

Til next time.


Tuesday 22 January 2013

Snowed in with a Jolly Little Snowman


The weather here is normally rain, rain and more rain.
But every once in a while we get snow!
SNOW!

Snow


Every day since Christmas Jasmin has woken up asking the same question,
"Did it snow last night??"
And every morning it was the same answer, "No." 
Poor thing was so upset.


But then it happened. It snowed! She nearly burst when I told her it snowed and then totally burst when I told her she had no school.
Snow day!


And so we had a snowball fight, made snow angles and made a Snowman.
I was really looking forward to making the snowman because I thought of this amaze-balls idea of how to make your snowman extra special.
And all you need is red food colouring and a spray bottle.



 Looking a bit flushed!

How cute is he?
All I did was mix a few drops of red food colouring with water in a spray bottle and gave him a healthy glow.

I try not to complain when we get snow. Yes it mean I'm house bound because my car won't make it back up the hill but it makes everything look so pretty and I get to act like a big child and go play in the snow.
Not that I need an excuse to act like a child. ;)

So, go out! Have some fun! And make some memories.


Monday 21 January 2013

Horseshoe re-do


I'm linking up again today with AP over at ILYMTC for the Dog days {of winter} are over.
She and some other amazing bloggers have teamed up to do this link-up which so far has been a blast doing.

Dog Days of Winter Are Over Link up

Everything in this picture has been up-cycled.
The brass tea pot was a charity boot sale find and the little gem it's sitting on the Hub's made.

horse shoe

 It's made from used horse shoes that he welded together and painted black.
Perfect for what we wanted as we didn't want to put up more shelves.


Happy Monday everyone!


Friday 18 January 2013

Friday Fun.


This made me laugh so hard today that I cried and couldn't even speak. 
I don't know why.
Maybe it's the strange inner workings of my mind.
Maybe it cos I have been that girl waiting for a reply and NEVER thought this is what was happening.
Should have given myself more credit. 
I'm kinda Amaze-balls, you know? 

I don't even care!
I haven't laughed that hard in a long time.
And I just had to share it.


Happy Friday Peeps!

Live, Laugh and Love Life.


Wednesday 16 January 2013

DIY Mini Pizzas



My daughter always wants to get those awful mini pizzas and swear she will eat them this time.
And like a fool I buy them and the dag ends up getting them.

I hate waste.
There is no need for it.

Hubs doesn't est pizza so we normally have it when he's not around for dinner.
In an attempt to not waste more money and food I decided to get 1 large pizza to feed all 3 of us.

But in a mad fit of 5 year old drama queen, J decided she wanted mini pizza and wasn't going to eat my grown-up pizza.

So my Mom brain got to thinking and that is where these little beauties came from.


All I did was cut the pizza up with a cookie cutter and I had mini pizzas.

She LOVED them and I now don't have to get those awful cardboard things.

Happy Hump Day Everyone!!


Monday 14 January 2013

Twistable organisation caddy


Every January I get this crazy need to organise my life. There is just something nice about starting a new year with a shiny new and organised house.

One of the biggest problems is trying to keep it organised. 

My daughter has enough twistables and colouring pencils for 10 kids but I guess you never have enough reds, or so she tells me.

I have put then in pencil cases, small bins, shoe boxes, every kind of a container but they always end up spilled out because she couldn't find the one she wanted.

That is how I ended up making this beauty. So simple but so effective.



All I needed was:
A shoe box
Wrapping paper
Toilet roll tubes
Double sided tape

I covered the box to make it look nice. My thinking was, if it looks nice she might use it more
I just stuck the tubes into the box with the tape.
And filled her up.

She loved it! She said it made her table look like an office. She's funny.

Any who, I'm hoping that this will finally keep this little corner of my house organised.

I'm lining up today as part of the “Dog Days (of Winter) Are Over”  link-up series.

I'm linking up with AP twice today so head on over to I love you more than carrots and check out some more of the amaze-balls projects these women have been tackling.

Happy Monday Everyone!!



New Years Eve jar : Hey, That's Pin-tastic!



i love you more than carrots


It's Monday again which could only mean another round of Hey, That's Pin-tastic! over at


I have seen these jars all over pinterest and some Mom blogs so I decided to jump on the band wagon and do one too.


It is very easy to get stuck in a rut and only remember the bad things that happened in the past year. It's not so easy to remember to good, funny or even goofy things that happened.

So that is why I'm doing it. So on New Years Eve I can sit down with the hubs and look back on how awesome our year was.

So all you need is:
A Jar
Paper 
Pin
Ribbon
Card.
Fun memories

Decorate the jar what ever way you want.
I just tied a ribbon around the top with a label.

I'm going to post a picture of the jar on December 31 to show you all how good our year was.

Have fun filling it up.



Friday 11 January 2013

Quick and easy pancakes


I love pancakes.
 They are just flipping yummy. 

The hubs loves them at 9pm at night. 
The last thing I need to be doing that time of night is pulling out the weighing scales.

So I came up with the easiest way ever to make pancakes.
All you need is a mug and you ingredients.

Ingredients:
 Flour
Eggs
Milk
Sugar
Oil
A mug


Fill your mug with flour. Put it in a mixing bowl.
Put the egg in the same mug and fill it up to the top with milk. Add to the bowl.
Add a tablespoon of oil and a tablespoon of sugar.
Mix and cook your pancakes.

It's that easy. No measuring. Just a mug.

Jasmin likes her in heart shapes.

Favourite toppings:
Sugar and lemon.
Butter.
Golden syrup.
Chocolate and strawberries.
Banana and chocolate spread.

Perfect for a weekend breakfast.

Happy Friday!!




Thursday 10 January 2013

Mommy time Munchies


This is my go to snack when I have a case of the Munchies
It's the only thing that I make when the kiddos are in bed. It's my "Mommy me time" snack.
I don't share. Don't judge. Not at that time of night.
Caution!! This is not healthy... at all!


Ingredients:

Cream 
Crushed Meringues
Grapes
Strawberries
Crushed Malteasers

Put everything in a bowl and enjoy.

This normal happens after 9pm. Sometimes even 10pm if I'm failing at bedtime. 
Sometimes it just has to happen.

What is you go to Mommy me time snack?

Share in the comments.
I'd love to try something new.

Happy Munching!



Wednesday 9 January 2013

Road to fittness


One of my New year goal is to get fit again. Having two kiddos, a hubby and a house to look after doesn't make it easy. But I'm determined to make it happen.

My aim is to be able to run/jog a 5k race and then I might even try my hand at a 10k. You see I was meant to achieve this last year but my appendix got in the way. Not this year. This year I'm gonna do it. Nothing is going to get in the way.

That is once the kids, husband  fur babies and my body don't decide to have a meltdown or need something every five seconds.

I'm starting this plan I saw over at Mykidstime.ie. It look easy enough even for this mama to do it.

So wish me luck. Tomorrow is day one... I hope.



Sunday 6 January 2013

That time I was attacked!


Happy Little Womens Christmas everyone.

As I was scrolling through Facebook today I can across this post. It seemed odd that I found this today, a day devoted to women. But then I thought it must be fate that I found it today.

I decided to share it on here because it is close to my heart. I was set upon by a disgusting man one horrible night. It happened over 10 years ago when I was a teenager but thankfully I got away and  I'm here to tell the tale.

It has made me more aware of what is going on around me and yes, I am now one of those people that checks her back seat every time before I get in the car and I drive with the doors locked at night.

I would hate for someone not to know what to do if it ever happened to them and so I share this post with you.

Find it on Facebook and share it with your friends or share this post.



"THROUGH A RAPIST'S EYES" (PLS TAKE TIME TO READ THIS. it may save a life.) 

It seems that a lot of attackers use some tactic to get away with violence. Not many people know how to take care of themselves when faced with such a situation. Everyone should read this especially each and every girl in this world.

THOUGHT THIS WAS GOOD INFO TO PASS ALONG...

Through a rapist's eyes! A group of rapists and date rapists in prison were interviewed on what they look for in a potential victim and here are some interesting facts:

1] The first thing men look for in a potential victim is hairstyle. They are most likely to go after a woman with a ponytail, bun! , braid or other hairstyle that can easily be grabbed. They are also likely to go after a woman with long hair. Women with short hair are not common targets.

2] The second thing men look for is clothing. They will look for women whose clothing is easy to remove quickly. Many of them carry scissors around to cut clothing.

3] They also look for women using their cell phone, searching through their purse or doing other activities while walking because they are off guard and can be easily overpowered.

4] The number one place women are abducted from / attacked at is grocery store parking lots.

5] Number two is office parking lots/garages.

6] Number three is public restrooms.

7] The thing about these men is that they are looking to grab a woman and quickly move her to a second location where they don't have to worry about getting caught.

8] If you put up any kind of a fight at all, they get discouraged because it only takes a minute or two for them to realize that going after you isn't worth it because it will be time-consuming.

9] These men said they would not pick on women who have umbrellas, or other similar objects that can be used from a distance, in their hands.

10] Keys are not a deterrent because you have to get really close to the attacker to use them as a weapon. So, the idea is to convince these guys you're not worth it.

POINTS THAT WE SHOULD REMEMBER:

1] If someone is following behind you on a street or in a garage or with you in an elevator or stairwell, look them in the face and ask them a question, like what time is it, or make general small talk: can't believe it is so cold out here, we're in for a bad winter. Now that you've seen their faces and could identify them in a line- up, you lose appeal as a target.

2] If someone is coming toward you, hold out your hands in front of you and yell Stop or Stay back! Most of the rapists this man talked to said they'd leave a woman alone if she yelled or showed that she would not be afraid to fight back. Again, they are looking for an EASY target.

3] If you carry pepper spray (this instructor was a huge advocate of it and carries it with him wherever he goes,) yelling I HAVE PEPPER SPRAY and holding it out will be a deterrent.

4] If someone grabs you, you can't beat them with strength but you can do it by outsmarting them. If you are grabbed around the waist from behind, pinch the attacker either under the arm between the elbow and
armpit or in the upper inner thigh - HARD. One woman in a class this guy taught told him she used the underarm pinch on a guy who was trying to date rape her and was so upset she broke through the skin and tore out muscle strands the guy needed stitches. Try pinching yourself in those places as hard as you can stand it; it really hurts.

5] After the initial hit, always go for the groin. I know from a particularly unfortunate experience that if you slap a guy's parts it is extremely painful. You might think that you'll anger the guy and make him want to hurt you more, but the thing these rapists told our instructor is that they want a woman who will not cause him a lot of
trouble. Start causing trouble, and he's out of there.

6] When the guy puts his hands up to you, grab his first two fingers and bend them back as far as possible with as much pressure pushing down on them as possible. The instructor did it to me without using much pressure, and I ended up on my knees and both knuckles cracked
audibly.

7] Of course the things we always hear still apply. Always be aware of your surroundings, take someone with you if you can and if you see any odd behavior, don't dismiss it, and go with your instincts. You may feel little silly at the time, but you'd feel much worse if the guy really was trouble.

FINALLY, PLEASE REMEMBER THESE AS WELL....

I know you are smart enough to know these pointers but there will be some, where you will go "hmm I must remember that" After reading, forward it to someone you care about, never hurts to be careful in
this crazy world we live in.

1. Tip from Tae Kwon Do: The elbow is the strongest point on your body. If you are close enough to use it, do it.

2. Learned this from a tourist guide to New Orleans: if a robber asks for your wallet and/or purse, DO NOT HAND IT TO HIM. Toss it away from you.... chances are that he is more interested in your wallet and/or purse than you and he will go for the wallet/purse. RUN LIKE MAD IN THE OTHER DIRECTION!

3. If you are ever thrown into the trunk of a car: Kick out the back tail lights and stick your arm out the hole and start waving like crazy. The driver won't see you but everybody else will. This has saved lives.

4. Women have a tendency to get into their cars after shopping, eating, working, etc., and just sit
(doing their checkbook, or making a list, etc. DON'T DO THIS! The predator will be watching you, and this is the perfect opportunity for him to get in on the passenger side, put a gun to your head, and tell you where to go. AS SOON AS YOU CLOSE the DOORS, LEAVE.

5. A few notes about getting into your car in a parking lot, or parking garage:

a. Be aware: look around your car as someone may be hiding at the passenger side, peek into your car, inside the passenger side floor, and in the back seat. (DO THIS TOO BEFORE RIDING A TAXI CAB).

b. If you! U are parked next to a big van, enter your car from the passenger door. Most serial killers attack their victims by pulling them into their vans while the women are attempting to get into their cars.

c. Look at the car parked on the driver's side of your vehicle, and the passenger side. If a male is sitting alone in the seat nearest your car, you may want to walk back into the mall, or work, and get a guard /policeman to walk you back out. IT IS ALWAYS BETTER TO BE SAFE THAN SORRY. (And better paranoid than dead.)

6. ALWAYS take the elevator instead of the stairs. (Stairwells are horrible places to be alone and the perfect crime spot).

7. If the predator has a gun and you are not under his control, ALWAYS RUN! The predator will only hit you (a running target) 4 in 100 times; and even then, it most likely WILL NOT be a vital organ. RUN!

8. As women, we are always trying to be sympathetic: STOP IT! It may get you raped, or killed. Ted Bundy, the serial killer, was a good-looking, well educated man, who ALWAYS played on the sympathies of unsuspecting women. He walked with a cane, or a limp, and often asked "for help" into his vehicle or with his vehicle, which is when he abducted his next victim.

I'd like you to forward this to all the women you know. It may save a life. A candle is not dimmed by lighting another candle. I was going to send this to the ladies only, but guys, if you love your mothers,
wives, sisters, daughters, etc., you may want to pass it onto them, as well.

Send this to any woman you know that may need to be reminded that the world we live in has a lot of crazies in it and it's better safe than sorry.

If u have a heart or compassion share this photo.

WE CAN SHARE JOKES AND SPAM MAILS TO OUR FRIENDS & NETWORKS
PLEASE FOR ONCE SHARE THIS AND
LETS TRY TO HELP THEM.

‘Helping hands are better than Praying Lips’ – give us your helping hand.
SHARE IT WITH ALL UR FRIENDS.

AT LEAST PEOPLES WILL KNOW WATS GOING IN WORLD.

Friends So Please Share....Your one share can Help to spread this information. We share So many Stupid Things on Facebook and ignore these types of things which can save so many lives’s...


Take care.


Be safe this year and every year ahead of you.





Friday 4 January 2013

New year resolutions


Every year I make these and some where along the way I get off track and they go out the window.
This year I not going to give up anything but I going to start new things and accomplish some goals that I have wanted to do for awhile.

So here goes!

I'm also posting them up here as I think i will feel more accountable for them. ( I'll let you know how I go with these).


  1. Give the blog a face lift.
  2. Find more Irish bloggers.
  3. Keep on top of the housework.
  4. Run a 5k race.
  5. Do more things as a family; outings and such.
  6. Sort out my major fail of a garden.
  7. Find time for me.
  8. Have FUN and BE HAPPY with what I have.
Some of these are more reminders than resolutions but they'er all the same if you ask me.

Here's to making 2013 the luckiest, happiest and eventful year for my family so far.

Tuesday 1 January 2013

Christmas 2012

















Christmas was Amazing!! everything was perfect. Christmas morning was so magical. Got to spend the day with my family. We ate too much, opened too many presents and played loads of board games. There was even the traditional arguments over who's turn it was or he's sitting too close to me.

But it was family time that I will remember forever.