A Humdrum Mum

Well last week didn't go to plan as I was ill. Clearly Mr Humdrum can't cope so I had to muddle on. I managed to resist the Dominos helpline but we did have fish n chips Thursday night. I also made butternut squash soup and veggie soup - the former for my lunch and the latter to have in a cup as a starter to get more veg down us. This week we will mostly be eating OOTF (Out of the Freezer) as I am loath to spend more money on food when I have a whole dead farmyard in there. Roasted turkey breast with some trimmings Gammon steaks for the boys and jacket potato n tuna for me Home made steak burgers and home made wedges (pic below) Omelette with soup as a starter Chicken curry, not sure which flavour yet In other news I did a tiny shop in Aldi tonight. Last time I stuffed my basket down in a huff about the long queues but today I persevered. Will report on quality! I am also trying to "eat clean" for some of the day.

I keep seeing the meal planning linky by At Home With Mrs M and not joining. Well today, albeit a bit late, I am. Even if just admit that I'm winging it this week. I'd been to a spa last weekend with my girlfriends (oh did I mention it on my last blog post?) and hadn't got round to my weekly shop. However tonight Elf has a friend over to play, and they're currently eating pasta with ham and tomato sauce, with garlic bread. They will be having chocolate muffins in a minute if they don't mess around too much. Gawd knows what we're having tonight... jacket potatoes? Omelette? I have posted a picture of my latest chicken pie which was my best, if I say so myself. I don't make my own pastry, I'm sad to say. I can, but I don't often. But the pie was lovely - 6 chicken thighs, leeks and creme fraiche. Mashed potato and carrots n broccoli on the side. Oh and yummy gravy. Perhaps I'll do that again this weekend. I promise I'll do better next week...

Last weekend, four girlfriends and I went to a spa weekend near Winchester. Every year we try to do something; the last two have been at Centerparcs. This year I'm working in a school and can't take time off. This suited us fine, Saturday night costing £129 pp including two 25 minute treatments, lunch, dinner and breakfast. We arrived on Saturday morning in time for our treatments - I had my nails done and a mini facial. The others had massages or the same as me. The spa was quite a big one for a hotel, and at no point did we feel we were "on a deal". My therapist was very nice and my treatments were wonderful. My nails are still fine now two days later, no chips at all! My facial was just what I needed going into Autumn. I feel like very refreshed now. Sun loungers around the large pool made relaxing rather easy. The pool was large enough to do lengths. We had a large sauna and steam room, heated tiled beds by the side of the pool, curved to soothe those leg musc...

Today Elf went to football training (scored two goals, one left-footed again) and then went conkering (as opposed to conquering) with his mate up the road. Left with all of this free time, I entertained my old friend who was staying, along with her 19 year old neice, who we were trying to help make a life plan. Greasy haired, we sat in our PJs, ate a brunch and gossiped. My friend used the make-up I bought yesterday to give me smokey eyes. I wondered if Mr Humdrum would notice; he did but didn't say anything as he thinks I look weird with anything other than nude eyeshadow on. Anyway, after this I decided to do some baking and made the oaty cookies from my previous post, but swapped the apricots for chocolate drops, and I made soup which I would take to work this week. Roasted butternut squash from the New Covent Garden Soup for Every Day book. Yummy! We had a cupful with our cheese on toast dinner; Mr Humdrum approved and even Elf said it was yum! The cookies were nice too. I ma...

I'm sure I've seen a linky for selfie Saturday but I can't locate it. Here's my first pic using the new iOS 7 camera edit feature. Trying to make myself look like a 60s model! I need a makeover ... Next week I'm going for a spa weekend as a real treat (I don't do this very often) with four friends. No kids and no blokes. Bliss! I'm having a mini facial and mini mani. In preparation I have bought some new make up - purple eye liner, silver/blue shadow and a pink gloss called Turkish Delight. I feel like I need a teenage bedroom night in where I shut myself in, armed with make up and hair stuff to experiment! Do any of you ever feel like you need a new look? How do you go about it?

Last week's article by Polly Williams in the Guardian's Family section, entitled The Munch Bunch, explained the reason for the £12,000 extra that a boy costs to raise than a girl - appetite. Polly states "a magic porridge pot would be the perfect solution" and she lists two omelettes, Weetabix and toast as her teenage son's breakfast. This was exactly what I'd been thinking. Well not exactly, as my boy is 7, but man, can he eat? Polly's friend states a boy needs 4 meals a day. That's my boy too. Breakfast - 3 Weetabix. Either a packed lunch (with 6-7 items) plus snack bar, or a cooked lunch and a snack bar, snacks after school, dinner, topped off with Weetabix for supper. And he can eat in between this too. My mother-in-law told me that there will come a time when you can't get enough bread or cereals down them. And there's nothing to him, not one ounce of fat. It all gets burnt off. I'm always on the look-out for home-made solutions. I...

Up until now, it's just been sports day and 10-length time trials at swimming that have moved my heart into my mouth and rendered it painful to watch. You desperately want them to do as well as they can, you don't want them to be upset with their performance, you wish you could take their place etc etc.  Well now I can add competitive football matches to this list. Elf has just started in his under 8s team. Two friends play, and we are getting to know the others in the 7-strong team. We know some other parents very well, and it's a good opportunity to catch up over the dodgy bar coffee. Last Sunday they played for the first time as a team. They'd not even trained together before as a unit. One mum's other son had started the week before in the under 9s and had endured an excruciating 15-1 loss. It's not that they're bad players; they just haven't had the chance to gel, nor to receive the specialised team training yet. So this week we fully expected t...