The parent blogging community is coming togther today for a day of protest about the situation in Syria. 

Spearheaded by Liz from A Mum Blog and Justine from The Potty Diaries, the idea is to use our collective voice to be heard and make a difference.

Liz writes, 

"As parents, it is impossible not to be affected by the reports of the full horror of the Houla massacre. This is from Wednesday's Times:

'The children of Houla were not killed by random shelling. The UN yesterday revealed that they were murdered one by one. The militia came in the night armed with knives and guns, and the young victims were executed with a bullet to the head or a knife to the throat.

One photograph shows a cherubic baby girl, no older than 2, with a tiny gold ear-stud. She is wrapped in a white shroud. Half her skull has been hacked or blown away. A saucer of bone juts from a bloody gash in what remains of her head. (The full article was in the The Times on Wednesday, when they took down the pay wall so everyone could read it)."

What you can do to help: (thanks Christine for this list)

• Please tweet this post using #Syria #StopTheKilling and #TippingPoint
• Retweet any posts you see using the above hashtags
• Share this post and others on Facebook
• Sign the petitions here and here
• Write a post of your own

 Your voice matters. It's better to do something than nothing.

 

 

There's something about a nice day that makes you want to take it by the hand and roll around in the grass. We spent Sunday evening picnicking in our secret spot on the Thames: a farmer's field perfect for frolicking. It was an impromptu meal made of what I could find  --  sticky sausages with honey and whole-grain mustard, a crusty loaf, Stilton and salad. I filled a pitcher with Pimms and lemonade, and panicked slightly when I couldn't find any cucumber (we made due with some cut apples and oranges.) Added a sprig of mint from the pot in the garden. Perfect.

As we sipped our Pimms, we suddenly became aware we had front row seats to the evening Mayfly performance. Hundreds of the lacy rail-thin dancers surrounded us, flinging themselves into the air, and then dropping a few inches. They repeated this over and over (either that, or I drank too much Pimms).

The girls had a great time chasing the Mayflies around ... and this one landed on Alexandra's arm. 

Amazing those little angels only live for a day. Gives more meaning to the phrase carpe diem!

Have you seen the Mayflies yet? Hurry, it's almost June.

 

The weather is starting to warm up and the Modern Family wanted burgers for dinner! Hubby recently failed the cholesterol test, so I've been on the look out for low-fat, unsaturated alternatives to our usual favourites. I've been working with the Lean on Turkey folks, and have been experimenting with using fresh turkey mince. This recipe jazzes up turkey by adding lean beef mince, onion, garlic, spices and BBQ sauce.

My "secret" is grating the onion. This allows the flavours to mix thoroughly in the mince mixture and avoids partly cooked bits of onion in the finished burger.

You can just throw all the ingredients into a large bowl, and mix with your hands. Make sure you take off any rings/jewlery before mixing! #justsayin

This is what the burger mixture should look like after being thoroughly mixed.

This vintage burger shaper helps to compact the meat and shape into uniform patties.

Shape the burger mixture into 10 burgers.

Sizzling away. This burger is so lean is stuck a bit to the BBQ! 

The finished burger. Lean, mean and very tasty!

 A Modern Mother's Lean BBQ Burgers

Ingredients

400 ml turkey mince

400 ml 5% lean beef mince

1 small onion, grated

2 cloves garlic, crushed

3 Tbs BBQ sauce

1 egg, beaten

40 ml bread crumbs

salt and pepper to taste

Combine above ingredients in a large bowl and mix thoroughly with your hands. Shape into 10 burgers. Cook on BBQ.

We usually lightly toast hamburger buns on the BBQ, and my daughter love a slice of cheddar.

Garnish with lettuce, sliced beefsteak tomatoes, mustard and ketchup.

Yum.

 

The recipe is for the BritMums Lean on Turkey competition, sponsored by Lean on Turkey. I can't really enter the competition, as BritMums is my company. But I was having so much fun coming up with recipes that use fresh turkey that I couldn't resist.

 

BritMums are hosting a Lean on Turkey competition and are searching for original recipes that use fresh turkey. Six people will win £250 cash, PLUS a master class with Marco Pierre White! *Scream*

As a founder of BritMums, I can't officially enter the competition, BUT I couldn't resist creating a leaner, meaner version of my usual rigatoni and meatballs, using turkey. So here goes...

My recipe uses breadcrumbs. I like to make my own. I keep a plastic bag above the oven that is full leftover dried bread. You need to make sure that the bread is completely dry before storing it away, or it will become MOLDY. It always amazes me that my dried bread remains mold-free.

 Here are my breadcrumbs, all whizzed up, and ready to use in my turkey meatball recipe.

For meatballs, which will cook quickly, I like to grate the onion. You can also finely chop.

I started putting together the recipe, only to realise that I didn't have any Parmesan, a key ingredient. So I went across the road to Charlene's to "borrow" some cheese. Luckily she was home.

Here are my turkey meatballs sizzling away. They need to cook for about 10 minutes.

Here's my Simple Tomato Sauce: Onion, garlic, crushed pepper, rosemary, thyme, parsley and pasatta.

Viola! A Modern Mother's Rigatoni and Turkey Meatballs. Yum.

A Modern Mother's Rigatoni and Turkey Meatballs 

Ingredients:

• 60 g cup breadcrumbs
• 40 ml milk
• 400 g fresh ground turkey
• 2 small yellow onion (1 for meatballs, 1 for tomato sauce)
• 2 Tbs. fresh parsley, minced
• 1 Tbs. fresh thyme, minced
• 1  Tbs rosemary, chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 egg, beaten
• 60 g grated parmesan cheese
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp. pepper
• Olive oil for frying
• 500 g tomato pasatta
• 1 lb. spaghetti or rigatoni

Directions:

1. Combine bread crumbs and milk in a small bowl and let stand for a few minutes.
2. In a large bowl, combine the softened breadcrumbs, ground turkey, onion (grated or finely chop), parsley, 2 cloves crushed garlic, thyme, rosemary, egg, cheese, 1 tsp. salt and the pepper. Mix with your hands. Form 12 balls about 1 and 1/2 inch in diameter.
3.  Pour oil to cover bottom of large fry pan  (about ¼ inch) and turn on medium heat. When the oil is hot, add the meatballs and cook. Turn occasionally, until browned on all sides, about 10-12 minutes. Transfer to a plate lined with kitchen roll to drain.
4. Make a simple tomato sauce: Saute chopped onion and 2 cloves crushed garlic for about five minutes (you could add a dash of crushed pepper for heat/flavor). Pour the tomato pasatta into the pan (rinse carton with a bit of water and add that too). Add 1 tsp each chopped rosemary, thyme, parsley. Simmer for 15 minutes. Salt and pepper to taste. Add the meatballs to the sauce and cook until heated through.
5. Cook the pasta (spaghetti or rigatoni) according to the package instructions. Drain and add the pasta to the sauce. Gently toss to combine. 

Transfer the spaghetti and meatballs to a large bowl and serve. Serves 4-6.

The recipe is for the BritMums Lean on Turkey competition, sponsored by Lean on Turkey.

The fabulous Fish Is the Dish peeps sent me over a load of fresh Haddock via @ukSeafoodchef. 

So what to make with it?

The wet weather inspired me to create this really easy fish stew, with a Mediterranean influence.

Here goes...

I grabbed what I had, a tine of chopped tomatoes, carrots, celery, onion, pink garlic, a chili and a few cherry tomatoes...

Chop, chop, chop. I love the smell of fresh celery on my hands.

Diced carrots. They aren't perfect julienne squares, but they are beautiful in their mishapped sort of way, aren't they?

Saute. Stir. Bung in the other ingredients. My fish stew simmering away.

Here's the recipe.

A Modern Mother’s Super Easy Med-Inspired Fish Stew

INGREDIENTS

6 Tbsp olive oil

1 large onion, chopped

2 large garlic cloves, chopped

1 small chili, finely chopped

2 medium carrots, chopped

3 stalks of celery, chopped

2T flour

1 400 g tin of chopped tomatoes

400 g of water

slug of white wine

1 cube vegetable/chicken stock

2 large fish filets

1T capers, with juice

1 T fresh parsley, chopped

1T dry oregano

sprig of thyme

1 bay leaf

Pepper

Salt

METHOD

1 Heat olive oil in large pan over medium-high heat. Add onion, garlic, chili, celery, carrots. Sauté until soft, about 10 minutes.

2. Add 2 T flour to the mixture, stir and cook over medium heat for 4/5 minutes.

3. Add tinned tomatoes*, water, and wine. Stir. You can add a bit more water if the stew is too thick.

4. Add fish and cook for 10 minutes. I just threw in the filets with skins on. Stir to break up cooked fish into flakes. 

 (I couldn’t face trying to skin them and took them out after ten minutes, peeled of the skin, and threw them back in.) 

5. While fish is cooking, add capers w/juice, parsley, oregano, thyme, bay leaf, fresh parsley and capers. Salt and pepper to taste.

6. Put into bowls and serve with crusty bread!

*I had a few cherry tomatoes in the fridge, so chopped those and threw them in too.

 

 

The Modern Family were lucky enough to get invited to the launch of the Legoland Hotel in Windsor, which included a complimentary night's stay and a day in the park. Little did we know celebs, like Vic Reeves, Tim Minchin, Michael McIntyre, Emily Maitlis, and Zoe Ball would be there too. The girls could not believe their luck and told all their school friends they had the coolest mummy in the world.

Mum's view

What's not to love about this hotel? It's a child's Lego paradise. The hotel looks like it is made of brightly coloured giant Lego bricks. A few thousand Lego figures decorate the wall behind the check-in desk, there's a pond of Lego nearby to keep kiddies busy, and Lego figures are EVERYWHERE. Literally.  I read in The Sun that more than 80 million bricks were used to decorate the hotel. I know, shocking (that I read The Sun).

We stayed in a Kingdom room  -- think castles, knights and princesses! My girls (ages 7, 8 and 9 - that's not a typo) thought they were a bit "old" for the room, and were desperately trying to get us upgraded to a Pirate room, which "was totally cool mummy." 

The hotel has thought of everything for kids -- a box of Lego to play with, custard creams and hot chocolate to snack on, and a treasure hunt in the room. The lighting could be improved (it's dim), and I'm sure it will be a challenge to keep themed rooms looking fresh after a year or so, but overall the experience is "lego" and exciting.

The family restaurant "Bricks" is child-friendly and offers a wide variety of healthy food options for children and adults. In addition to the usual options (chicken) there is bar-b-que ribs, Chinese stir fry, an array of salads (my favourite was prawn and rocket.) The breakfast options are fabulous -- fresh fruit, berry smoothies, waffles, cereals, pastries and of course the obligatory full English fry up.

After dinner, we relaxed in the bar area next to the restaurant, which has a Lego play area and -- the highlight for my kids -- the Racers Build & Test area.This is where you build your own Lego car and race it down a track. That kept my girls occupied for hours while we enjoyed a glass of wine nearby. OK, a couple glasses of wine. :D

The hotel has a sense of humour too. The toilets have child-sized wash basins that talk to when you wash your hands ("What did you do to your hair today? It looks fabulous!") and there are little jokes strategically placed around the hotel (i.e. a, erm, flatulence button with "was that you?" written on the nearby wall.)

Our stay in the hotel gave us access to the park an hour before the public crowds were let in. We used this time to go on Atlantis 5 times in a row! 

But my absolute favourite bit about the park is manning the water pistols by the Viking River Splash ride. Where else can you shoot a freezing cold stream of water at complete strangers and get away with it. 

 But who cares what I think. Below are the views of my girls. N.B. - I've left in all typos, I just couldn't resist.

Emily's view (age 9)

When you walk into the Legoland Hotel it' a kid lego paridise (stet). There's all the lego mini-figures at the check-in, and every day there's a competition where you have a big bath of lego and you have to build something different each month. In our room (we had the Kindom room) there were loads of decorations and we had a piece of paper and it said things like how man snails is there on the floor, etc, and when you got all the numbers there's a tresure chest with a lock and you have to put the correct number in and you get some tresure (we found it very hard to get the bolt open because all the numbers were on the front so we didn't know where the numbers went but we eventually found out you put them at the bottom bit). The swimming pool was great! Well it looked great because it wasn't open yet!!

I loved the dinner and breakfast buffet because they had everything there! It also tasted very yummy. I especially liked the ice-cream factory where you got you own ice-cream out of the machine and there was carmel, chocolate and strawberry sauce. There was aso lots of toppings such as sprinkles, chocolate buttons, etc.

 

Alexandra's view (age 8)

 My mum took me and my sisters to the Legoland hotel. My fave things in the room were: goody bag, bunk bed, tresure hunt and the Lego creechers. Then we went to the swimming pool, but it was closed but it looked good. Next we went to diner it was exlent food and ice cream and we met Ellen and Logan. When we were finishing our drinks there was a disco! And we met pink brick. Then after a bizy day we slept in the bunk bed but my sister didn't like it at all, so I switched with her.

I was the first whun to wake up. After that we got changed. It took forever because my sister wouldn't put her shoos on she was too busy playing with her Lego! When she put her shoos on we went to breckfast. I had a froot smoothy. Then we went to our room again and checked we hadn't left anything then we went to the park. My fave rides were the pirate ship driving school and last but not least Viking River Splash.

 

HM's view (age 7)

It was asome! because there was a pool of lego in the lobby. The rooms were good. But there code (could) be more choyses (choices) of rooms. The pool looked good. The disco was fun. And the hotl was very colourful and nice. The food was good.

In the rooms ther was a big bed and a pull out bed and a bunk bed. There was a pyrat (pirate)room and an invenchure (adventure) room) and a cingdom room. We had the cingdom room. There was tresure in a box in the room. We had to get numbers for the code. We could not open the box, then daddy opened the box.

We had breakfast and got dresst and went to the park. It was fun. 

About the Legoland Hotel:

Family packages at the Legoland Hotel start from just £248 for a family of four for a themed bedroom, inclduing breakfast and 2 days in the park. The all-you-can-eat buffet dinner at Bricks is £19.99 for adults and £9.99 for children. For more information, go to legolandholidays.co.uk.