Baby Baby

Handy Bendy Sandy

2012-01-25T08:07:00.001Z

I've always been pretty flexible - hence the nickname. I first took a yoga class ten years ago. It changed my life. I knew instantly this was the exercise/hobby/lifestyle choice for me and I practised every day, for years. I last took a yoga class the day before I went into labour with Presley. That was four years and five months ago. Since then I've practised progressively less and less. I'm stiff, I'm off balance and I'm tense. Last night, finally, I found a new class.

I unrolled my yoga mat, relieved that there were no cobwebs or moths inside. I stepped onto it, feet bare. I felt connected to the mat, to the floor, to the studio, to the earth, to me. I slowly and gingerly laid down. I began to relax and lengthen. There was a little more space between each vertebrae with each out breath. I could feel the curves of my spine on and off the mat.

As I made each movement my muscles remembered, the cat, the cow, and the downward dog. My shoulders were tight and mostly unyielding, but with each twist I unwound. I remembered how to breathe and when. Finally, becoming a corpse, all stress oozed away. With tears in my eyes I knew I was in my spiritual home.

Namaste.

.

1 2 3 4 5

2012-01-20T08:23:00.000Z

1 Husband
2 Children
3 House moves
4 Homes
5 Years married

Happy Anniversary, Andy.

I love you more each day.

Why I'm Glad I Always Carry my Swiss Card

2012-01-17T14:01:00.001Z

I wasn't a boy scout, but boy am I always prepared.

I'm the woman with the bulging handbag. I've always got a pen, paper, parking money, tissues, water, painkillers, plasters, a mirror, a hair clip, chewing gum, lip balm and hand wipes.

I also always carry my Victorinox Swiss Card. I think I must use one of the attachments every day. If the light is good I'll whip the tweezers out and tidy my eyebrows (apologies to anyone watching me in the nursery car park). If I notice a rough nail, out comes the nail file. I use the scissors for crafting, the blade as a screwdriver - why oh why can't you just change batteries any more? And I'm always finding a use for the pointy thing, most recently freeing a toy strawberry from a toy cup.

My Swiss Card came into its own today. I had to cut myself free from a toilet. Yes, that's right, I was tied to a toilet.

Warning: Only read the next bit if your stomach is strong and you don't mind TMI!

As if having to go for a poo at the supermarket wasn't bad enough, I realised - while I was sat there - that the ties from my shirt were dangling in the toilet bowl. I tried to gently lift them out and clean them with toilet paper, but they were sodden. Then I remembered I had a pair of scissors on my Swiss Card. I carefully unhooked my handbag from the toilet door and cut the ties from the shirt. I then wrapped them in toilet paper and put them in the bin. I was free!

It was kind of like having to gnaw your own arm off to get free, but not quite so painful.

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Roasted Veg Recipes

2012-01-13T08:44:00.000Z

I adore roasted veg, although I have to admit it's a little tedious chopping these

into this

When I roast veg I usually use both my roasting tins and make loads and loads and loads.

Did I mention that I adore roasted veg? Aside from the fact that it tastes amazing, it is also good for you. It's vegetables. Depending on your portion size, I'm guessing you could get your five-a-day on your plate quite easily.

My choice of vegetables (chopped into 1cm cubes):

Butternut squash (peeled)
Sweet potato (peeled)
Courgette
Aubergine
Red pepper (deseeded)
Yellow pepper (deseeded)
Green pepper (deseeded)
Onion (peeled)

I season with salt and pepper and add fresh or dried basil.

I then drizzle generously with olive oil and mix well.

I always add a whole bulb of garlic to each tin, as individual, unpeeled cloves. These roast along with the veg and give the most amazing flavour. Roasted garlic tastes different from normal cooked garlic.

I roast my veg at 200 degrees for 40 minutes to an hour, until it's soft.

When the veg is cooked take out the garlic cloves. It is helpful to count them in and out again. Squeeze the soft roasted garlic out of each clove and either simply serve with your roasted veg or use in a sauce.

Here are a few recipe ideas that make the most of all that lovely roasted veg.

Roasted Veg and Pinenut Lasagne

Ingredients:
Roasted veg (as above)
Roasted garlic (as above, mashed)
45g Pinenuts
Lasagne sheets
400g Passata
250g Mascarpone cheese
50g Cheddar cheese (grated)
50g Italian hard cheese (grated)
125g Mozzarella (sliced)

Method:
Heat the mascarpone, stirring until it becomes liquid. Stir in the roasted garlic and the passata

Layer the lasagne in a dish. Start with 1/3 of the roasted veg, sprinkle this with 1/3 of the pinenuts, followed by 1/3 of the lasagne sheets, then 1/3 of the tomato and mascarpone sauce. Repeat this process two more times.

Top with the grated and sliced cheeses

Place in the oven (pre-heated to 200 degrees) for 40 minutes

Serve with salad

Pasta Bake

This uses the same ingredients as the lasagne, but with pasta shapes instead of lasagne sheets.

Method:

Make the tomato and mascarpone sauce (as above)

Stir in cooked pasta (75g per person - dried weight) and the roasted veg

Pour into an oven-proof dish

Top with the grated and sliced cheeses

Place in the oven (pre-heated to 200 degrees) for 30 minutes

In this version the roasted veg will break up as you stir it into the sauce. Perfect for any veg-shy children!

Roasted Veg, Halloumi and Minted Couscous

50g Couscous per person (dried weight)

Chopped fresh mint or a tablespoon of prepared mint sauce

Large knob of butter

Roasted veg

Roasted garlic

75g Halloumi per person

Method:

Prepare the couscous as instructed, then stir in the butter and the mint

Top with hot roasted veg, roasted garlic and roasted Halloumi (chop into 1cm cubes and add to the tin of roasted veg for the last 5 minutes of cooking)

Puff Pastry Tarts

Roll out ready-made puff pastry. Cut into 4 squares (to serve 4). Top with roasted veg, pinenuts and cheese, leaving a 2cm border around the edge. Cook in the oven as per the pastry instructions.

Filo Parcels

Prepare large squares of ready-made filo pastry (a couple of layers should be enough). Fill with roasted veg and cubed feta cheese. Gather up the edges of the pastry and scrunch at the top to seal. Cook in the oven as per the pastry instructions.

Wraps

Roasted veg works really well in wraps. You can also add left-over roast chicken or cheese or couscous or all of the above.

With Salmon and Rice

Bake salmon fillets in the oven for 30 minutes in a tin foil parcel containing lemons, olive oil, butter, a little white wine or water, seasoning and basil. Serve with rice and roasted veg. This works best with peppers, onion, courgette and aubergine.

What I Wore Wednesday

2012-01-12T08:36:00.000Z

Jeans - Evans, circa 2002. Every time I wear these vintage jeans I am aware it could be the last time. They have a 'designer' rip in the buttock area. They're a bit drafty in the winter, but us fashionistas have to suffer to look fabulous.

Jumper - TU at Sainsbury's, 2011. A new addition to my capsule wardrobe in a classic charcoal colour. I anticipate this piece will see me through several winter seasons.

Pants - M&S, circa 2007. Stylish*, yet comfortable.

Socks - Next, 2010. Pale pink with a hint of grey on the soles.

Bra - The Sale at Debenhams, 2009. That's what Debenhams is called now, there's always a sale at Debenhams.

*Not really

For bloggers modelling nicer clothes than mine, check out...

Reasons to Love Living in Milton Keynes #5

2012-01-10T12:44:00.000Z

Milton Keynes is a new city. It was carefully planned.

My next-door neighbour moved to our village in the 1960's, when - quite literally - Milton Keynes was all fields. She loves telling the tale of the time a bull showed up in her garden and the police thought she had been on the gin.

She is a bit of a hoarder and recently gave me the information pack she received from the Milton Keynes Development Corporation in 1972.

You know what? They succeeded.

Milton Keynes is beautifully laid out. The grid system of roads and roundabouts means the traffic flows easily. Navigation is straightforward and alongside every road are trees. There are thousands of trees to obscure the new housing estates. There are woods and parks and lakes and canals and hedgerows. There are 270km of redways, safe paths that crisscross the city for walkers and cyclists.

The detailed plans in the information pack were accompanied by an artist's impression.

This must have frightened the life out of the existing residents!

Can you spot David Blaine in the ice block? How prophetic.

Thank goodness the giant Dalek is just a figment of someone's fevered imagination. It's a shame about the slide though...

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What is the Point of Social Media?

2012-01-04T13:09:00.000Z

Oh how the world has changed in just a few short years.

In January 2009 I had an old fashioned mobile phone and sent a few texts. I sent the odd email too. I used Amazon and Ocado, but did little else online on my old PC. I had no idea what a blog was. My children were 16 months and 4 months old. I was a stay at home mum and I spent my days chasing my tail. We walked to the shops most days, with Presley in a pushchair and Cash in a sling. I sat with my babies as I fed and played with them.

Skip forward to January 2012 and some things are still the same. I use my old-fashioned mobile phone to send a few texts. I send the odd personal email. I shop online, not just at Amazon and Ocado, but elsewhere on the internet for toys, clothes, electrical appliances and things I don’t really need from Lakeland. I'm still a stay at home mum. My children are now 4 and 3 years old and attend nursery for 15 hours per week. We walk to the shops and the park. I sit with my children at mealtimes and play referee when they fight over toys.

The big change in my life is social media. I have a smartphone and a laptop. I’m a member of Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, many forums and Blogger. I have over 500 blogs in my Google Reader. I play Words With Friends.

I could, if I chose to, spend all day every day flitting around in my online life. Is social media a hobby, that can be put aside, or is it something more?

How did we keep in touch with our real-life friends before Facebook? Now we read their status updates and click ‘like’ or comment with a ‘dislike’ as appropriate, but are we really in touch with them or is Facebook a poor substitute for friendship? When did we last chat on the phone or meet up in person? And don’t get me started on Facebook’s appaling privacy record…

I sometimes find it bizarre that people tweet about the most personal of events. They ‘live-tweet’ births, deaths, accidents and relationship break-ups. It just seems a bit… needy to me. Are we all just attention-seekers looking for some kind of validation by telling the world that we’ve just thrown up, or that there are only thirteen sleeps until our holiday or that we’ve written an unmissable blog post?

Does a tree really fall in a forest if there’s no one there to Twitpic it and tweet ‘Timber LOL’?

Of course Twitter can be wonderful if you need advice. I have made some genuine real-life friends through Twitter and hopefully I have other friends there that I haven’t met yet, but I often feel like I’m wasting my precious spare time tweeting and chatting when I could be writing or learning to sew or even – yes, really – cleaning the house. Perhaps I don’t value these friendships as much as I should? I see other online friends chatting happily together every day and I feel left out. I wonder if I need to participate more. I wonder if they see me as their friend even though I don’t tweet daily. Can you have real friends in social media without that time commitment or is it a case of ‘out of sight, out of mind’?

I am incredibly nosy, that’s why I love reading blogs and looking at people’s photographs. I tend to lurk online more than participate (sometimes I simply don't have anything interesting to say) and I notice that some people seem to be online all day every day. Even Christmas Day. Surely this is the one day of the year when the online world should pale into insignificance as you spend time with your family. Live. Be in the moment. Step outside the social media bubble. Catch up with your online buddies another time.

I did an experiment over the holidays. I didn’t post anywhere online for 9 whole days. I spent time with my family. It was possibly made more special and private because I didn’t tweet about it. If I had told you that I made the best Christmas lunch ever (which I did), would you really care? I don’t think so. It would have been amusing to tweet that my mum bought me a meat thermometer for Christmas. You could have replied ‘I think she’s worried about the turkey ROFL’, but it would have taken both of us away from our children. I want to remember the look of wonder on Presley’s face when he came into our bedroom with his stocking on Christmas morning. He was too excited to speak. I’d have missed that if I had my phone in front of my face, jabbing away typing ‘7am and I’m the only one awake LMAO’.

I guess, as with most things in life, balance is everything. I sometimes think that life was simpler before social media. Perhaps I’m just being anti-social.

What do you think? Do we spend far too long online or is our real life online now? How do you get the balance right for you?

The Baby Baby Blog CV

2011-12-23T10:00:00.000Z

Name
Baby Baby

Reason for naming this blog Baby Baby
When I started blogging I had two babies. Presley was 20 months and Cash was 8 months old. Now they're 4 and 3 years old, but they'll always be my babies.

Date of Birth
14 May 2009

Reason for starting this blog
I was looking for a hobby and my Twitter friend @Caroljs had just started her first blog, so I thought I'd give it a try.

Reason for still blogging
Because it is fun. I love writing and I love the friends I've made. I now write about so much more than parenting and babies. I love having a creative outlet and a place to display my photographs. Oh yeah, I get invited to do fun stuff and get sent free stuff too. I don't particularly care for blogging about blogging, but I'd quite like a blogger calendar!

Most Popular Posts
The Little Girl and the Diet
My Old Man

The future?
Watch this space...

Santa's Sack of Potatoes

2011-12-20T19:23:00.000Z

Presley and Cash want bikes for Christmas.

The last time we went to Lancashire they rode their friend Evie's bike and loved it. A few weeks ago we measured them up for bikes and told Santa which ones they wanted *touches nose mysteriously*.

They also want toys and games and cars and trains and sweeties and so on. They understand that Santa only brings you presents if you are very very good.

What we have also told them is that Santa also has a sack of potatoes. Every time you do anything naughty Santa takes one of your toys away and replaces it with a potato.

Presley and Cash do not want to get potatoes for Christmas, so they are on their best behaviour (mostly). It's hilarious to watch them remember about the potatoes and stop fighting over toys.

Some may say it's manipulative lying and the worst parenting technique ever, but some days you'll do or say anything for a bit of peace and quiet!

We are so tempted to wrap up a couple of spuds and put them in their stockings...

***

For our other Christmas traditions head over to A Mother's Ramblings. Pippa kindly asked me to guest post for her. How could I refuse?!

***

My inbox is littered with unread press releases, but one caught my eye today.

For the person who has everything, why not get them a virtual gift for Christmas? Take a look at More Than a Gift from the charity for the young homeless, Centrepoint.

***

Merry Christmas x

.

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Our Christmas Decorations 2011

2011-12-16T13:48:00.000Z

An Easy Christmas Card Design for a Child to Make

2011-12-15T21:30:00.000Z

If your child wants to make Christmas cards and you need a little design inspiration, how about this Christmas tree card? It's easy to make, easy to replicate and you get to use up some of the billions of paintings that come home from nursery.

You will need:

Blank cards (Hobbycraft do a pack of 50, with envelopes, in xmassy colours for £4.99).
Scissors (we used fancy ones, but any will do).
Glitter Glue (you need glue and the glitter version is nowhere near as messy as using real glitter).
Christmas confetti or sequins.
Paintings

Method:

See if your child can cut out triangle shapes from their paintings. It's more effective if they use green.
Glue three triangles on the card, one on top of the other, to make a tree.
Go crazy with the glitter glue and sequins.

Fused Glass Christmas Decorations

2011-12-14T21:26:00.000Z

I always been drawn to coloured glass. I'm equally as happy looking at stained glass windows or glass bricks.

I took an evening class in 2005 and made this stained glass panel. It sits in my utility room window and I look at it every day. I had plans to make more panels. I still have my glass tools in a box in the garage. They've moved house with me five times since then.

I was delighted when my friend, Liz, asked me if I'd like to go to a fused glass workshop with her. We were going to make Christmas decorations and have a good old natter. What a treat.

Fused glass is nothing like stained glass and I didn't know what to expect. Basically you put pieces of coloured glass together and then place them in a kiln to fuse. Fusing melts the glass. You can make jewellery this way, as well as ornaments and Christmas decorations.

We started off by playing with the tubs of coloured glass and put together a few ideas.

It was difficult to picture the outcome and some of our ideas worked better than others.

This:

...becomes this:

And this:

...becomes this:

Even this:

...can become this:

...or this:

Here are a couple I wired up and hung on my Christmas tree:

The class we attended was run by the extremely talented Carla Sealey and cost us £35 each.

Rules are made to be...

2011-12-13T08:48:00.000Z

...FOLLOWED!

I'm all for live and let live. What you do, particularly as a parent, in your own home is up to you. So long as you love your children and want the best for them, then I make no judgement.

BUT

The nursery has a few rules that you sign up to, like not bringing in valuables and no jewellery. If you break those rules the worst that could happen is you lose your valuables and jewellery.

There's another rule though that is for the benefit of others and should not be broken.

Here it is:

"We ask that you keep a child away from nursery for twenty-four hours after vomiting has ceased"

On Friday, at nursery pick-up the Other Mothers were discussing how ill their children were. It's that time of year. Some children had coughs and colds, fine. Lola's mum (because none of us have our own names any more) said that her daughter had thrown up all over the car at pick-up the previous day, but that she was fine afterwards. Even so, she was taking her to the GP later on. Oh and Lola's mum had just had the best time at the ice-rink.

So Lola was in nursery while her mum went ice-skating.

Am I being unreasonable, should she have maybe skipped the ice-skating and kept Lola at home?

Late on Friday night my 3 year old, Cash, vomited and again in the morning. He was not fine afterwards. He has a temperature, a cough and a cold and a freshly washed teddy bear.

As if that wasn't bad enough, I couldn't go to the long-awaited Tots100 Christmas Party. I had to let down Sally and Annie (my roomie). I spent most of the weekend with a sickly child in my arms, the lack of sleep made me feel hungover. If it wasn't for Lola's mum I would have really been hungover, but at least I would have enjoyed getting that way.

Instead of spending my free afternoons this week preparing for Christmas (or going ice-skating), the boys are not at nursery. I am dealing with one demanding ill child and waiting for the other one to come down with it.

How to Make an Easy Christmas Wreath

2011-12-12T21:29:00.000Z

This is my first ever attempt at making a Christmas Wreath. It was remarkably easy and I'm over the moon with the results.

I don't know what's come over me lately, but I've gone all crafty in my old age. I had high hopes for this wreath as I had spent weeks planning it. I even cut some of the evergreen a few weeks before to see how well it lasted. In fact, I was so confident I could make it that I took plenty of photographs for the blog!

Here is my step-by-step guide of how to make an easy Christmas wreath

You will need:

A willow circle (£4.99, Hobbycraft)
Florists' wire (75p, Hobbycraft)
Wired ribbon (£2.50, Hobbycraft)
Wired berries (£1.49, Hobbycraft)
Pine cones (£2.99, Sainsbury's)
Evergreen branches (free, our garden)
Scissors and secateurs (I didn't buy these especially!)

Step 1

Attach sprigs of foliage to the circle with florists' wire

Step 2

Make a bow using wired ribbon.

I practised first and then made the bow directly on to the wreath. Wired ribbon allows you to shape your bow.

Step 3

Add pine cones

I cheated and wired some pine cone decorations on to the wreath, but pine cones are easy to wire anyway and free if you know where to look.

Step 4

Add wired berries.

I twisted together a couple of the wired berries and pushed them into the wreath.

That's it!

If you make your own wreath, do let me know.

Freaky Friday: Squirrel Nutcrackers

2011-12-09T07:16:00.000Z

They're nutcrackers, in the shape of a squirrel.

Isn't he freaky?!

We saw him on the bric-a-brac table at the church xmas fayre. I asked how much they wanted for him. They said 'make us an offer'. Andy said 'how do you put a price on such a item?'.

I ended up buying evil nutcracker squirrel and a bird feeder for £5.

Bargain!

.

Win a Bouquet or Hamper from Serenata Flowers

2011-12-08T06:47:00.001Z

This competition is now closed.

The winner, selected at random, is entry number 61 out of 64.

Congratulations, Karen, I'll pass your email address to the PR.

What would you do if you were given £40 (plus p&p) to spend at Serenata Flowers?

Do you know anyone who has just had a baby? You could treat your mum or your best friend or even your favourite blogger (coughs) to a surprise in the post and make their day. Would you buy someone flowers for Christmas? I'd be tempted to send my husband a surprise hamper or - more likely - just get something for myself!

I've had a look at the site and found some inspiration for you.

I love this bouquet of 20 luxury white roses:

I also like the look of this Ambersweet Christmas Wreath

Who wouldn't want to receive this champagne and truffles hamper?

Serenata Flowers do the usual stuff, Mother's Day Flowers and Valentine's Flowers Delivered, but they also sell many other gift ideas.

Fresh lemons for your G&T? How about a lemon tree:

Serenata Flowers have kindly offered one lucky Baby Baby reader the chance to win £40 (plus p&p) to spend on their site.

How to enter:

Leave a comment on this post. That's it. Make sure you include some way to contact you should you win, your Twitter ID or an email address would be great.

Terms and Conditions:

UK delivery only
One entry per person
Closes Thursday 15th December 2011 at 8am
I will then choose the winner, using Random.org
I will contact you asking for your details and pass them on to the PR who will arrange your prize
If I can not get hold of you I will redraw after 3 days

Good luck!

ThePrizeFinder - UK Competitions

Brrrrr

2011-12-07T09:07:00.001Z

The theme for The Gallery this week is My Awesome Photo.

I'm rather proud of this one.

Holly Bell's Creatures and Flowers Cupcake Course

2011-12-05T19:57:00.001Z

Normal Mum, Holly Bell, kindly invited me to her Creatures and Flowers Cupcake Course yesterday.

Look! I made these:

If Holly's name sounds familiar, it may be because she reached the final of the BBC's Great British Bake Off earlier this year.

Holly is a patient and natural teacher. She was happy to share all her tips and tricks. She was friendly and down to earth.

We started with the basics, the cake batter:

We then moved on to working with fondant icing; making flowers, ladybirds, tortoises, snails and Christmassy robins:

After a gorgeous lunch, we moved on to assembling our cakes. We learnt how to buff fondant discs and turned chocolate icing into bricks and bark.

Then we moved on to butter cream and the dreaded piping bag. We practised on greaseproof paper before icing our cakes, learning three techniques; the flower, Mr Whippy and ribbons (I'm not sure how many of these were technical terms):

We left with a dozen fabulous cupcakes, a few new friends and huge amounts of pride and confidence.

Fact and Figures:

Each course lasts a full day - 9am to 5.15pm
Breakfast, lunch and refreshments are provided
You just bring yourself
You take home 12 cupcakes, decorated by you, and a manual of full step-by-step instructions
Course dates are here
Location: Bridge 67 Cookery School in rural Leicestershire
Cost: £125

The Baby Baby Verdict:

I absolutely adored this course. Holly is genuinely lovely and full of Bake-Off anecdotes (in a nice, un-starry, way). I am confident I could replicate each of the designs, in fact one of my friends has asked me to make cupcakes for her children's birthday parties. You know what? I'm going to do it too.

*Sandy adds a KitchenAid to her xmas list*

I had a whole day to myself, learning how to make something with my hands. This course would make a wonderful treat for you, it would also make a fabulous present too.

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My New Favourite Christmas Song

2011-12-03T13:30:00.000Z

Move over Wizzard, Slade, E17, Shaky, Bing, Nat, Mariah and Cliff. There's a new Christmas song in town.

It has taken many years, but a new song has pushed Fairytale of New York by The Pogues and Kirsty MacColl into second place in my list of all time favourite Christmas songs. Yes, I do have a list.

It's White Wine in the Sun by Tim Minchin.

Enjoy.

*Passes the tissues*

White Wine in the Sun is available to download on iTunes (and all the other usual places) and all proceeds from the single go to the National Autistic Society.

Win a £100 John Lewis Voucher with Capital One

2011-12-02T17:00:00.000Z

This competition is now closed

The winner, selected by random.org, is number 60.

Congratulations to Dawn!

Sponsored post

Earlier this year I attended a round table event, hosted by Capital One, where we discussed their Credit Made Clearer campaign and YouTube Channel:

Now Capital One would like to know what you know about Cashback.

As an incentive to complete this quick survey of just three questions, Capital One are offering a £100 John Lewis voucher to one lucky participant.

To enter the prize draw, by completing the survey, please click the link below:

(the survey opens in a pop-up window)

If you would like to add any further information, please leave a comment below.

Capital One supplied me with the following useful information on cashback:

For most of us, using a credit card is mostly associated with special or larger purchases. One off items like holidays, presents, gig tickets and festivals and such: credit card. Every day essentials like groceries and takeaways: cash / debit cards. It’s easier for those of us who are particularly budget conscious to keep an eye on what’s coming in and (most importantly) going out of our accounts.

However, did you know that many credit cards offer cashback on products that you purchase? This isn’t like getting cashback on your debit card – it’s normally a small percentage of your purchases credited to your account on a regular basis. Obviously though, it’s not a good idea to put lots more purchases on your credit card – if you don’t pay off the full amount each month, the money you are getting back is going to be instantly wasted on interest payments!

That said, for spending that you’ve already got planned, it’s a good way to put your credit card to good use. You need make doubly sure that you pay off your balance every month. You can do this via Direct Debit, but keep an eye on your bills and map out these purchases carefully to ensure you’re not overspending.

Quickfire Facts

· Cashback credit cards have become increasingly popular as they offer potentially a better way of generating a return from spending than debit cards

· Capital One believes that cashback cards potentially offer a better way of earning a return on spending than many current accounts

· Savvy consumers who actively manage their finances can generate fantastic rewards each year from cashback credit cards. Consumers who pay their credit card balance in full each month currently holding a card offering other benefits, such as zero percent on new purchases, could be better served by switching to a card offering tangible cash rewards

· However, not all cashback cards are created equal – customers should choose cards that work hard for them

· Around 2.9 million (35%) of cashback card holders use their cards for less than 40% of their monthly spending while 1.8 million (22%) pay for 80% or more of their monthly outgoings with this type of card*

· With 55% of current accounts now paying 0% interest and another 28% paying 0.1% per annum or less, according to Moneyfacts, cashback cards offer a potentially better way of earning a return while spending than debit cards**

*1ICM research surveyed 2,013 British Adults via online omnibus from 6th-8th October 12th – 14th May 2010. The results have been weighted to nationally representative criteria. Calculations regarding cash back rewards have been made using the omnibus research and applying this to the latest ONS Family spending Index data. Calculations based on standard industry cashback rate of 0.5%.

**http://moneyfacts.co.uk/news/banking/the-fall-and-fall-of-current-account-interest-rates/

Terms and Conditions for the prize draw:

UK only.
One entry per person.
Complete the survey to be entered into the draw.
The survey closes at 8am on Wednesday 14th December 2011.
I will select one winner, from all fully completed surveys, on 14th December 2011 using Random.org.
I will then notify the winner by email, asking for their address.
I will pass their address to Capital One who will send out the prize.
If there is no reply to my email within 7 days, the prize will be re-drawn.

Good luck!

ThePrizeFinder - UK Competitions

Easy Risotto

2011-11-29T13:50:00.001Z

I don't usually share recipes here on Baby Baby, but I thought I'd make an exception for this this one. It is such an easy meal to cook and it's risotto. You don't often hear the words easy and risotto in the same sentence, but I can assure you anyone can cook this.

I probably make my Easy Risotto once a week. There is a little preparation required, but then you can pretty much just leave it to cook. No standing over a hot pan ladling in the stock. Only one pan to wash up. Most importantly my children eat every last bit of it. Andy and I love it too.

Ingredients:

Olive oil, 1 good glug

1 onion, peeled and chopped

2 cloves of garlic, minced (or use Gia's cheaty garlic)

Dried mixed herbs, 1 shake

2 sticks of celery, chopped

1 small butternut squash, peeled and chopped

250g arborio rice

900ml chicken stock (if you haven't got 'real' stock, use 2 chicken oxo cubes in 900ml boiling water)

Leftover roast chicken (sorry, I didn't weigh this!)

50g grated Parmesan

Ground black pepper

Method:

Heat the oil and add the onion. Fry for a few minutes until soft. Add the celery, garlic and mixed herbs and fry for a minute or two

Add the butternut squash

Once that is coated in oil, add the rice and give the pan a good stir

Add all of the stock, stir well and bring to the boil

Once your risotto is boiling, turn down the heat, cover the pan and simmer for 30 minutes.

Stir every now and again, just to make sure the bottom of the risotto isn't burning.

After the 30 minutes, add the roast chicken and the parmesan. Season with black pepper. Stir thoroughly and leave to cook for a further 10 minutes.

That's it!

You can substitute the cooked chicken for fresh cubed chicken breast or thigh fillets. If you do this, just add the chicken with the vegetables at the beginning of cooking. Alternatively, leave out the chicken altogether and substitute vegetable stock for the chicken stock and you have a delicious vegetarian supper.

You can use any vegetables you like. I had celery and butternut squash knocking around, but runner beans, carrots, courgettes and peppers all work well.

If you are cooking this for adults you can throw in a glass of white wine before you add the stock, just let it cook for a few minutes before you add the stock.

***

I got the inspiration for this recipe from the Oven-Baked Risotto in Nick Coffer's book, My Daddy Cooks. This is the recipe book that I use the most (and I'm not just saying that because Nick is my friend, it really is full of straightforward family cooking). Nick also blogs and is on the radio too.

***

This is my entry to The Gallery, the theme this week is The Kitchen.

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Win an HTC Wildfire S Smartphone

2011-11-29T09:01:00.001Z

This competition is now closed.

The winner, selected using Random.org, is comment number 1.

Congratulations to Kat from Housewife Confidential!

I will contact you to arrange delivery of your prizes.

***

Would you like to win an HTC Wildfire S Smartphone on T-Mobile worth £239?

Would you also like to win a cute Playskool Lullaby Gloworm worth £11?

Of course you would! That's £250 worth of prizes to one Baby Baby reader.

I feel like Ant and Dec on Saturday Night Takeaway. Do you remember when you could win the ads?

That's what we're doing here. The HTC Wildfire and the Gloworm are both featured in the Littlewoods Christmas advert:

How to enter:

Leave a comment telling me what you would buy me for Christmas from Littlewoods.com. Please include your Twitter ID or email address so that I can contact you should you win.
For an additional bonus entry, send the following tweet and leave a second comment to say that you have done so:

"#WIN HTC Wildfire S Smartphone with @sandycalico & @littlewoods http://sandycalico.blogspot.com/2011/11/win-htc-wildfire-s-smartphone.html"

Terms and Conditions:

UK only
One entry plus one possible bonus entry per reader
Competition closes at 6pm on Friday 9th December 2011
Winner will be selected, using Random.org at 8pm on Friday 9th December 2011
I will then notify the winner via Twitter or email, asking for your address
If the winner does not supply their address within 7 days, the prize will be re-drawn
Littlewoods.com will send out your prizes, all being well, in time for Christmas

Good luck!

ThePrizeFinder - UK Competitions

Cotton Wool

2011-11-25T07:34:00.001Z

There's not enough cotton wool in the world to protect my children from the world.

I know this.

I also know that I should be preparing them for the world. I need to create a safe and loving environment that allows them the freedom to explore. One day, in the blinking of an eye, they will be grown ups. They will see or experience sex, bullying, love, death, hate, poverty, war, beauty, famine, rock music and alcohol. They will have their hearts broken and mine will break for them.

This is all way in the future, of course. Right now they are still my gentle little boys, aged 3 and 4. Their world is full of cuddles and toys. They play with crayons, cars, jigsaw puzzles, Orchard Toys games, hobby horses, Duplo, toy food and teddy bears in trolleys, train sets, Happyland figures and books. They watch an hour of CBeebies every day. They have never seen an advert (unless we're at Grandma and Grandad's and Sky Sports is on, then Grandma usually turns over and checks the cricket score), they have never seen the news. I won't even let them watch Cars2 as one of the characters is called 'McMissile'. They've never seen a gun.

They go to the nursery at a primary school every afternoon. I chat to the other mums about Christmas. They mention Ben 10 (not on CBeebies, no idea), Batman (er, Kapow! Thwak!) and Imaginext. I google Imaginext. There is a dinosaur, wearing armour, shooting missiles from its backpack. I don't like the look of it, but does it matter? I just don't know how to ease Presely and Cash into this world, with its hard edges and robot police.

When do I start to introduce the notion that some people aren't very nice? How do I burst their rosy, cosy bubble? Am I doing them a disservice by mollycoddling them?

Advanced Squirrel Spotting

2011-11-24T13:38:00.001Z

There are three squirrels in this photograph. Can you spot them all?

Aw, go on, humour me.

We've been on almost constant squirrel watch for weeks now.

The boys found some oak trees at nursery and - quite literally - filled their boots and pockets with acorns on a daily basis for about a month. They came home from nursery and spent twenty minutes filling Tupperware pots. We then deposited the acorns under the ash tree in our garden.

Then we waited. Soon enough, a squirrel arrived. He must have thought all his birthdays had come at once. He then spent all day every day squirrelling the acorns away. I expect we'll find plenty of sapling oaks popping up next year as a result.

Our squirrel friend had the run of the garden for a few weeks and then another squirrel turned up and then another. He now has to share his nuts. There's a lot of squirrelly shouting.

So now we have three squirrels to watch. This week they all appeared together, at the same time. I caught them on camera. I won't make Wildlife Photographer of the Year, but I'm still proud.

They stayed still long enough for me to zoom in on each of them.

Why yes, of course you can see the close-ups. I thought you'd never ask.

There was one of the side fence:

One on the bird box:

And finally, one on the first branch up on the left:

There's No Such Thing as a Free Lunch

2011-11-20T19:49:00.001Z

Fairy invited me to a Clean Your Own pop-up restaurant at the OXO Tower in London's South Bank on Saturday. Michelin starred chef Michael Caines was cooking lunch.

Fabulous!

There was a catch though, I had to wash up afterwards. Turns out it was a small price to pay.

Here is the menu:

I chose the lamb. It was amazing.

As was the shepherd's pie,

and the veg.

For dessert I had the apple plate. The apple mousse, in particular, was out of this world.

Here I am with Michael Caines:

Here he is with Luschka from Diary of a First Child:

It was lovely spending the day with Luschka and her adorable daughter, along with Domestic Goddesque, Mellow Mummy and Jamie from The Life and Times of a Househusband and their lovely families.

Here is Jamie demonstrating his househusbandly skills in the Clean Your Own challenge. He took 16 seconds to wash up.

I managed to wash up in 15 seconds and won a year's supply of Fairy Platinum washing up liquid and dishwasher tablets. Go me! Actually, go Fairy. The sink was full of washing up liquid. All I had to do was agitate each item and it was clean.

Huge thanks to Fairy for inviting me, it was a super day.

Before heading home I met up with The Moiderer for coffee. I've known her online for ages so it was great to finally meet. She'd had a tricky day, but I hope I was a reasonable distraction. I think we could have talked for hours without either of us pausing for breath!

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