Silent Sunday

Yummy Mummy Update

Yes, it's Tuesday morning, that means I had my weekly weigh in yesterday which in turn means I have to come clean with everyone and let you know how I did.  Well.....

I only lost 1lb.  But, a loss is still weight going in the right direction, plus people have starting noticing my weight loss now, which gives me a very warm, glowy feeling inside. Ooh, ooh- I got Slimmer of the Month too!  That means out of my entire weigh in group (there's around 40 of us) I lost the most weight in the month of July- chuffed!

I had to take Madam with me to group this week, and whilst everyone commented on how cute she is, I couldn't help noticing a few glares as she tore around the room, eventually upending a recipe book stand, whoops!  What can I say, she's 'inquisitive'! ;)

Only 2.5lb to go and I'll have lost my first stone, and I am determined to do it this week!  I was hoping for it last time, but a certain time of the month foiled those plans.

So, off I go for some fruit and exercise (not at the same time though, that could get messy...), see you next Tuesday for another Yummy Mummy Update!

Recipe of the Week:
You all know what a big fan I am of baking cupcakes (check out some of my work here), but cutting down on my sweetie intake has meant finding some low fat recipes.  This is one of my favourites, and makes 16 mini cupcakes.

3 eggs
60g low fat spread (like Flora Light)
6-8 tbsp artifical sweetener
110g self raising flour
2-3 drops of vanilla essence
½ tsp strawberry flavouring

To decorate
8 level tsp icing sugar plus extra for dusting
A couple of drops of food colouring
Fresh strawberries, halved

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C/Gas 4. Put paper case in a mini muffin tin. Whisk together the eggs, low-fat spread and sweetener. Sieve the flour then fold in the flour with the vanilla essence and the strawberry flavouring.

2. Spoon into the paper cases and bake for 15-20 minutes. Remove and cool on a wire rack.

3. Mix a few drops of water and the food colouring with the icing sugar. Spoon on the cakes. Garnish with halved strawberries and dust with icing sugar

Silent Sunday

10 Things I Love About You

I've been tagged by the lovely Mother On Mother Earth to do a warm, fuzzy feeling post about my wonderful Madam- not a problem!  After such a good nights sleep however, I'm in a brilliant mood, so the problem might be knowing when to stop!

• Her manners- I'm so proud of her because she says 'please' and 'thank you' without fail and without prompting.  Well, it's more 'pweese' and 'fan-koo!' but it works for me.
• Sense of humour- she has a wicked sense of humour, and a cheeky little giggle that is so infectious.
• Curly hair. She has the same hair I did when I was knee high to a grasshopper, it's blonde and curly and I love it!  I let my mum cut her fringe when she needs it, but I dread the day I have to get Goldilocks snipped!

(it's actually about 2" longer now!)

• Her trust- the way she cuddles up close to me if she's scared of something or a little nervous with new people.  And the way she reaches for my hand when trying to climb steep steps, or if we're crossing a road, even if she has her reins on she still wants my hand. :)
• Madam has a fabulous imagination, always making her toys slide down the sofa or supping tea from her little teacups, I hope it only increases as she grows.
• Cuddles!!  Always free flowing and often accompanied by a little wet kiss.
• Her dancing- she actually has a great sense of rhythm for 19months old, and loves showing off her moves at any opportunity to any style of music.

• Her eating habits- not only is she great at feeding herself, if given the choice she will choose fruit over chocolate!!
• She has the most incredible features (yes, I realised I am biased but this is my blog so ner ner...), these include an adorable button nose, the cheekiest grin, plump/squeezable cheeks and looooong eyelashes overshadowing the bluest eyes.
• Her short temper. I know this is an odd thing to love, but it just proves how much she really is like me!

Guest post from The Gingerbread House

Well my lovely readers, I've got a lovely surprise for you.  As part of a Britmums blog swap doodah (official term!), I get to host a post from the lovely Jenny from The Gingerbread House, who you can also find on Twitter at @gingerbread_mum.  Enjoy!

Hi everyone. My name is Jenny and I blog at The Gingerbread House. I love Betty’s blog and am so happy to be appearing! As Betty writes about life with her daughter I thought I would write a post about bringing up a boy.


For as long as I've thought about having a family I've wanted a boy. When I was pregnant and people asked me if I wanted a boy or a girl they seemed surprised when I said a boy. Mums of boys told me I was wrong and should want a girl instead. However, I remember growing up with an older sister who never wanted to play with me or do the things I was interested in (I was a bit of a tomboy!). I also saw my sister bring up her three daughters. All I longed for was a boy!


With my second pregnancy people again ask me if I have a preference, many assume I must want a girl as I already have a boy. I want another boy. I feel I know how to bring up a boy and wonder how I’ll cope if I have a girl. I thought I would put together my top tips for dealing with a boy…


My top tips for dealing with a boy
* buy quality clothes which will stand up to puddles, mud, climbing, etc
* don't ever expect to sit down for a minute
* ensure plenty of entertainment with easy and quick access to a playground or large open spaces
* don’t forget they need extra love and cuddles when ill (just like daddy)
* make sure you always have plenty of food as they eat like a horse
* don't invest in books or toys which you want them to cherish, wait until they’ve got through the destructive phase
* don’t waste your time or money on pointless mother and baby classes (I signed up to a term of appreciating classical music when the only bit he enjoyed was the bubbles)
* routine is important, by 6pm all we can cope with is CBeebies Bedtime Hour and a bottle of milk.


I love my son and would not swap him for a girl! I love everything about him, his cheekiness, his boldness, his constant need to climb, explore and generally push boundaries. I wouldn't have it any other way.

Thanks for reading my tongue in cheek look at bringing up a boy. Follow my adventures and see if I'm successful over at The Gingerbread House


Jenny

Askeys Butterscotch Sauce- review and experiments!

The fabulous people at Baking Mad sent lucky Madam a bottle of Askey's NEW Butterscotch flavoured Treat sauce.  This delicious sauce claims to magically transform any dessert into an even tastier treat, feel free to use this sauce how you please- the more creative the better!

First we went the traditional route and Madam had some sauce over a bowl of ice cream.  Not too runny, but also not so thick that is wouldn't come out of the bottle.  It has a lovely smell, not chemical, and the taste is just right, certainly not over powering.  It helps that the sauce is free from artificial colours and flavours, also free from preservatives.

I thought the sweetness of the sauce might be good in coffee, but had to try it out on my mum as I don't drink the stuff myself (I have enough trouble sleeping as it is!).  She had about 2 teaspoons of Butterscotch sauce in a regular sized mug of black coffee, and said it smelt lovely, and also had a nice after taste to it, the sweetness staying in her mouth rather than bitter coffee.  So, that's a thumbs up from mother dearest, she even tried to pinch the bottle of sauce on her way out!

Following on from the positive coffee experiment, I tried a teaspoonful of the sauce in a mug of hot chocolate.  Except I picked up the wrong sachet of chocolate- Butterscotch sauce does not mix well with Mint Chocolate drink, yuck!

I whipped up some pancakes as a weekend breakfast treat (and by 'whipped up', I actually mean 'went to the shop and bought some') and drizzled the sauce over those, Mr B had 4 so they tasted rather good too apparently!  I felt that the sauce gave them a nice sweet hit, but I couldn't eat more than one without feeling like I weighed about 1000lbs for the rest of the day!

On the whole, my family really enjoyed the adding the sauce to our favourites puddings and drinks, and I plan on making sure I have a bottle in the cupboard for special treats. 

I certainly recommend that you pop over to Baking Mad's Facebook page here, a fantastic place where you can swap recipes, share advice, show off your own creations or ask questions.

Yummy Mummy Update

If you happened to clock my recent post starting my weight loss journey, you'll know I owe an update this morning.  Well, I am VERY pleased to announce that I lost another 3lb!!  Tht's 10.5lb in 3 weeks, I've never done that before, so am really rather pleased with myself.

I didn't manage to up my exercise last week though, it's been a bit difficult what with miserable weather that's been hanging around like a bad smell.  I could attempt to go on our dusty Wii tucked away in the corner, but Madam always insists on joining me on the balance board, that makes it a wee bit more tricky...

I'd love to lose 3.5lb this week, as that would get me my first stone lost award, in just 4 weeks- I'd be grinning for days!  But, I realise that's a big number so won't be holding my breath.  I think a slightly more achievable goal would be just 2lb loss, that would drop me down into the next stone bracket, just as nice methinks.

I thought I'd share a recipe with you, I'm currently on the Slimming World plan and these ice lollies are a mere 0.5syn each!  They're handy to have around as Madam loves them and they're a great sweet fix.

6 Raspberry Ripple Lollies:
340g raspberries
375g fat free natural yoghurt
2 tbsp artificial sweetener
Blend the raspberries down until smooth and mix in half of the sweetener.  Mix the rest of the sweetener into the yoghurt.  Alternate spooning the raspberries with the yoghurt into 6 lolly moulds until it's all used up, then freeze for 6-8 hours.  Enjoy!