Vegan-ish

So for the last few weeks I've been eating vegan.  Let me get this straight, this change in diet is not fuelled by my passion to live a cruelty free lifestyle, wait that sounds bad - I'm not 'pro' cruelty!!  I'm not against people eating animal products in their diet.  My choice was fuelled by a desire for change.  We had fallen into the trap of eating the same thing all the time, convenience being at the top of our priority list.  Meat was covered in breadcrumbs,  food was cooked from the freezer, more often than not the main colour on our plate was beige. 

My friend had tried the vegan way of eating for a month, her decision was as a result of trying to cut saturated fat out of the diet of her household.  She claimed that she felt amazing as a result, full of energy and was enjoying the new tastes she was being forced to try.  So I went vegan.  Just me, not the rest of the house.  I do not know enough about nutrition to confidently change Joel's diet so dramatically and know he is getting all the essential vitamins and minerals a growing exploring toddler needs.  Phil met my vegan plan with the level of enthusiasm you would expect from any serial snacker/junk food lover.  I wasn't asking him to join in, just not to sabotage my attempts, and so we agreed to live separate kitchen lives. 

The first week I was finding my way, getting on his nerves taking ages reading all the labels in the supermarket and eating totally separately to him and Joel.  My cooking was a bit shit;

Slimy veg, plain pasta, made this for packed lunches in work, ate 2 mouthfuls and gave up.  Yuk 

 I began a quest to find the perfect dairy milk replacement for my cup of tea.  I failed and decided that I was 99% vegan apart from the splash of milk in tea.  Then the weather was amazing and there was a minor burger incident at a BBQ.  This first week also involved the re-discovery of peanut butter, my new best mate. 

Peanut butter and banana on toast with tea.  The perfect comfort food and great to grab on the way out the door to work when I hadn't any packed lunch planned or pre-made. 

The next couple of weeks I got more confident in cooking vegan dishes and was able to cook for the whole family , adding a side of meat to pacify my carnivore other half.  

Colourful veg ready to roast in the Actifry for roast vegetable and lentil soup.  A yummy belly warming soup that was a big hit with the boys.  Joel is always a fan of soup to be honest, at 18months old he is at that stage where he is impressed by his own spoon skills and enjoys any meal that puts these into use.

See?  Spoon addict.  This one was carrot, parsnip, apple and lentil soup.  Another belly warmer. 

Fresh strawberries and Alpro Vanilla Soya yogurt.  Tastes like custard.  Yum.

Baked potatoes, mushrooms, rocket and pretend bacon.  Phil had regular bacon, obvs. 

Vegetable and pretend mince chilli con carne.  A big hit with everyone in the house. 

Phil became less eye-roll-y about the whole thing.  I went out for lunch with my sis in law and didn't manage to eat vegan, I ate off the vegetarian menu instead.  Over these weeks I discovered that Pringles and potato waffles are vegan friendly!  I also tried out some homemade vegan treats.

This might look like a bowl full of mush but this is vegan ice cream.  So yummy,  and so easy to make, and its flippin' healthy!!  Freeze a banana.  Blend it.  Add a spoonful of peanut butter, 2 spoons of coconut milk, mix and then freeze for another 30 mins.  Eat.  Amazing.  

Cinnamon and raison muffins made with courgette to make them moist rather than butter/milk/eggs.  Really tasty and a bit hit with Joel.  

This week Phil was found googling vegan recipes.  He did a vegan shop, researching how he could cook for the family and provide a vegan meal for me.  What a hero, eh?  He also chatted with his friend who knows alot about nutrition type information who said that vegan diet lacks vit B-12.  After a bit of research I decided that I would include the odd egg and fish in my diet.  Therefore I am no longer vegan, but I hope to still reap the same benefits to my health.

Homemade vegan pizza, with a sprinkle o f vegan cheese.  Vegan cheese is not something I will be spending my money on again, but the pizza was lush!  So lush I forgot to take a photo.

Pasta with vegan pesto, spinach, home grown leeks given to us by a neighbour and asparagus made for work lunches this week.

So far I do feel a difference to my energy levels and I am enjoying the experience of trying new recipes.  Restricting your diet encourages you to cook more from scratch, but it has also turned me into one of those annoying people who photographs their food.  Sorrynotsorry. 

I do not know how long this wee fad will last for but I am hoping it will encourage long term healthier eating in my family.  I do promise you this, I will not be one of those people who kills the craic by dissecting the menu at restaurants and quizzing the waiters on preparation methods.  I will not turn my nose up at family functions if the food contains something I choose not the eat.  Promise I'll still be fun, ok!?

Bedroom makeover

So we have been in our new home around 4 months now.  It feels like much longer, as we are all so settled here, it feels like home.  We have fallen into habits and routines already, I have 'my seat' in the living room, the kitchen cupboards have been assigned, we have a night time 'lock up' routine.  Its like we have always lived here.

However as a visiter to our new house you could be forgiven for thinking we have been here only a few weeks, the walls are bare,the beautiful uncovered wooden floor remains untreated, the bathroom is brown and tragic, the back room has half ripped off wallpaper and the spare room has a few unpacked boxes lingering.  Well, Mr Visiter, shut up with your stupid judging, we've done plenty!  We spent days and days stripping off wallpaper and lining paper went up to create our blank canvas.  Boxes upon boxes have been unpacked and organised. Furniture from our old house has been arranged and rearranged in various rooms.  The bulk of the effort during this last 6 weeks or so of lovely weather has been in the front and back garden.  

But this is a house for life, the decorating and sorting can happen organically over time,  we made this move for Joel's benefit and so we have been spending plenty of time as a family enjoying the new lifestyle our new home and neighbourhood has to offer.  

Our pennies are being saved for one big job - the bathroom project.  We have a separate cubicle for the toilet and small bathroom next door, both decorated floor to ceiling with brown tiles that must be at least 40 years old.  So until we get this job done we are tackling low cost projects.    

Last month I focused on getting Joel's room sorted....

And this is where we started, like every other room in this house, with a steamer and a wall paper scraper and hours and hours of scraping and scraping layers and layers of stupid stubborn wallpaper. 

Once the lining paper went up I chose a neutral colour for the walls.  I am not a fan of busy character themed bedrooms for young children.  Joel's room is a small box room, we have plenty of room for play downstairs and so I wanted to keep his bedroom nice and calm for sleeping and relaxing.  I choose  a calm putty colour called 'Soft Pebble' from Homebase.  It's lovely and neutral so I am confident it could withstand a change in theme in the bedroom, plus it would nicely match a pair of curtains we already had that would fit the window in this bedroom. 

There is an alcove in the room with shelving which is great for toy storage.  I added some storage cubes from Ikea to sort toys.  Cost free as we already had them!  In our old flat these boxes were in the spare bedroom and so are bright and flowery.  I did have a minor dilemma considering weather they were too flowery for a boys bedroom and then realised I should catch myself on.   Joel has yet to express a dislike of flowers, and I have never heard of a baby boy falling into a down and out life as the result of a flower box in his bedroom. 

Perhaps I should have tidied the shelves before taking this photo but whats the point?  The reality is that toys are to be played with and so the shelves always are messy have a 'shabby chic' and 'well used' appearance. 

When Joel was born my Auntie Deborah sent a beautiful handmade quilt all the way from Canada.  Its just gorgeous with lovely autumnal colours of orange, mustard yellow and green.  

Isn't this a beautiful piece of work.  This quilt inspired me to sign up to a local quilting class.  I had hopes of turning Joel's old clothes into memory quilts but I only ever managed to get half way through a beginner christmas custion cover.  Quilting is an art and a skill, a skill I sadly don't naturally have nor do i ahve the attention span to develop it.  However attending that class made me appreciate this beautifukl little quilt even more, and the skill and time that went into it.  I decided to use this quilt as the basis of a woodland theme for Joel's bedroom.   

I took a wee notion and drew a tree freehand on her wall.  This was nerve wreaking - not because I was nervous about how it would turn out - I could always paint over it again but because my husband is a wee perfectionist and I was worried he would hate the wobbly edges.  I used a couple of tester pots of paint to do this.  Very low cost.

Taadaa!  Small but perfectly formed, no?  This is a bit bland for me so I enlisted my mum's crafty skills...

She crocheted some colourful owl bunting and a wee owl-y friend to perch on the tree to brighten the room up.  Isn't she terribly talented?  Crocheting - another skill I have never mastered. 

I then added some cheapy frames from B&M Bargains.  A pack of 3 for £2.  Wait, that makes it sound easy.  What actually happened was I bought the frames and then spent WEEKS of nagging the other half to put them up for me.  Apparently there some sort of alien super hammer required for the job that we didn't have.  So it was eventually Father-in-Law to the rescue.  So about 5 weeks later we got the frames up and photoes in the frames ordered from Photobox and Bob's your uncle! Or Mike with the special hammer is your Father-in-Law more like!  

Joel loves his family tree.  In the morning I lift him ontop of the chest of drawers on the changing mat to change his nappy and he likes to point at the faces and try to name them.  He points at the bird and tweets.  Then he pulls at the bunting and swats the frames to try and knock them off because he knows it drives me mad - wee monster.  

Well, what do you think?  Its no artsy fartsy interior design but its putting our wee stamp on our family home.  

5 reasons why everyone needs a trip to Donegal..

This times last month we were on our holidays..

If you've met me or stumbled across my Facebook feed you'll know I love Donegal.  When I was young my granny used to book a house by the beach at Portnoo and everyone used to pile down for one glorious week during the summer.  It was an old house with a miss match of double beds, single beds and sofa beds in a variety of rooms.  Someone new would arrive every day and the tiny kitchen was full of granny, my mum and my aunties tee-hee-ing and laughing while cooking up the dinner.  You were lucky if you managed to keep the same bed 2 nights in a row and it rained 90% of the time but they were really happy holidays!

Now my mum and dad book a house each year in Dunfanaghy.  It too is gathering a crowd of regulars who join us for a couple of days.  As a parent I loved seeing Joel enjoying what I used to love.  From the moment he woke he would be pulling on the back door to go outside to play and explore.  He would play with my cousins, potter with his bucket and spade, go on walks to see animals and dig on the beach until he'd collapse rosy-cheeked, ready for bed.  I loved seeing him spend time with lots of family and being soothed to sleep by my granny singing to him the wee songs she used to sing to me...

My Aunt Jane she called me in

She gave me tea out of her wee tin

Half a bap with sugar on top

Three black balls from her wee shop

My Aunt Jane she's awful smart

She baked 10p in her apple tart

When then halloween comes round

Beside that tart I'm always found

Phil has fallen in love with Donegal too and each year we fantasise about winning the lottery and the big holiday home we would buy there  with our winnings.  So I know its not just me, everyone loves a bit of Donegal, and heres why..

Beautiful deserted beaches...

 

Not a sinner in sight.  

Stunning scenery...

Staring into the Atlantic from the tip of Ireland.  I could be wrong in my geography but I'm pretty sure if you had super dooper strength binoculars the next piece of land you would be able to see would be America. 

Outdoor fun....

We were very lucky with the weather this year and were able to go to the beach without a jumper!  But rain or shine, welly boots or sandals, Joel could be found exploring the beach

There was a field next to the house full of sheep that Joel liked to visit and baa at.  This picture was taken at an outdoor centre.  More of a run down 'Father Ted' affair.  We paid our £4 in, briefly looked around and then swiftly left.  Don't think we'll be back next year.  Do any of you recognise this place from the picture?  

6am rock pooling.  When in Rome, eh?

Joel visited the local stables most mornings to see the horses getting their breakfast.  He's too little to get on a hose this year but he was just as happy to watch..

Family friendly ...

Making sandcastles with granny Jo, great-aunt Emma and my wee cousins.

Exploring the dunes with my cousins, the location where he subsequently met his summer love Amber.

Discovering a hairy caterpillar on the beach with granny Jo.  Pretty much his holiday highlight.

Swinging with daddy.

Sitting and enjoying the view while granda took some photos. 

Nutella pizza...

Ok, so nutella pizza isn't something you would associate with Dunfanaghy traditionally but we went for dinner in a place called The Rusty Oven this year.  It does amazing pizza and you can sit outside practically on the beach to eat it.  There was a surf school in getting a meal and they were served nutella pizza's as dessert.  They looked so good we had to try so we got one to take away to bring back to the house for everyone to try.  Lovely stuff!

Good views, fresh air, family and fun.  Total relaxation, a Donegal break is definitely good for the soul.  Just wish it wasn't so long until our next break..

My Phobia..

So I've never written about this as I have been concerned that by publicly revealing my weakness the information will fall into the wrong hands and will only be used against me. 
However I'm pretty sure everyone around me now knows my weakness. Now and again it reveals itself and due to it's total weirdness it becomes a talking point and travels through the people around me like like waves. 'Here, did you hear about that weirdo Amy?' 


So here goes, ready for it...

**stands up, dusts off self, clears throat**

I, Amy, have a fear of baked beans.

Yep.
I'll let that sink in.
I suppose you have some questions?

Amy's Phobia FAQ

Was there a bean related incident that lead to this affliction ?
Nope, they're just disgusting.

Does this fear extend to other members of the bean family?
Nope, although not entirely fond of other bean related foodstuff I can push them to the side of the plate like a normal person.

Do you like spaghetti hoops?
Love them

What is it that you dislike so much?
It's the entire disgusting combination, the gross bean, it's minging bean juice. Yuk yuk yuk. 

Now what? Have a compulsion to play a bean related trick on me? That appears to be the reaction of many.
I cannot tell you the amount of times I have been on a night out, ordered a drink at the bar, reached into my bag for my purse only to find a tin of baked beans.  If you were scared of dogs would I put a dog in your handbag? No. I wouldn't.
One night, coming home from my shift at work at 11pm I reached my house and was greeted by my name written in beans in the path leading to my house.  I stepped over it, not looking down, keeping very calm and collected and trying not to smell the beaniness. Finally got to the front door, reached to the front door handle to find the handle was covered in BEAN JUICE. What a bunch of bastards my friends are. That was a traumatic night.  If you had a fear of spiders would I write your name in spiders at your house and cover the door handle in spider juice? No. No, I would not.

Now that Joel is 18months old and is eating all round him people seem to be of the opinion that he is a deprived child not to have beans in his diet. 
But tough luck son. You will live a beanless life. I will not have beans in my house, tainting my cook wear. He can eat spaghetti hoops until the cows come home but I'm sorry, no beans. He does not lead a deprived life. 
Vegetarian children are not deprived without meat. 
Vegan children are not deprived without animal products.
Children with bean phobic mothers are not deprived without beans. 

One day Phil got in big trouble ...

Phil said 'but he LOVED them' - irrelevant.  He'd probably really love cigarettes if you let him smoke. 
Not only did he sneak out and feed him undercover beans, but posted it on Facebook. I had to cope with a bean contaminated child but also with every idiot within a World Wide Web radius commenting on my fear.  People would approach with their ridiculous menacing face and snarling laugh. Smug face 'Joel had beans then?' Smug face. 
I suppose when he is older and at school I will have to cope with the possibility of bean exposure at birthday parties. I SUPPOSE in that case as long as I do not see the bean eating, if he doesn't spill any on his clothing and is hosed off before he comes through the front door he can try some. Ugh. 

Oh. And my evil and satanic lovely and beautiful sister and law did this. 

Going to make a couple of onsies for her children made from cotton wool. Because that is her fear. Everyone has their weakness.


What's your weakness?