Mrs Monkeyfeet: May 2015

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My Thankful Thursday 28 May

This week I'm thankful for school holidays, I love spending time with my babies and we've had a jam packed holiday so far...

Playing Games @Life Game On 2.0

Sailing on a big boat for DFDS Anniversary Sailing

Fruit Art

Learning to Ride our bikes

Adventure of a Monkeyfooted Mummy

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Wednesday 27 May 2015

DFDS 20th Anniversary Day Cruise

There are some opportunities that it would be impossible to refuse... 'would you like to join us for the DFDS 20th Annivesaryday sailing?' Let me think mmmmm high tea at high noon on the high seas? Of course I flipping would. Obviously it was Afternoon tea on the remarkably calm North Sea at Midday but my version sounds more dramatic.

Sunday arrived and the husband dropped a bombshell at the last moment that with a deadline looming he just could come with us and would have to stay at home!!! Panic stations, Ive no idea where to go where to park will I manage with three kids and a pram on a ferry on my own? Eeek!

Oh my, I shouldn't have worried, the ferry terminal incase you dont know is moments away from royal quays shopping outlet, there's an abundance of parking and its really really pushchair/wheelichair friendly.

So far so good, weve made it, we have our boarding cards we have plenty of time to mooch about looking at the cool boat models, ask random questions to the friendly an patient DFDS staff. Now we just need to make it through security and onto a ferry, me and 3 kids and a pushchair. Easy peasy the whol walk way connects to the ship and once on board we were directed to the lifts, there are only two lifts and both rather small and as there were lots of families aboard there was a bit of a wait but we finally made our way to guest services who have maps and information and a giant fluffy parrot to greet you!

We wanted to see everything we possibly could so it probably would have been a good idea to get a map at this point but we were too excited and just made off to discover, it was amazing to wander around the ship and make our way outside to see our home town glide past while we took in the sights and sounds. Mummy however has no sense of direction and we got lost a couple of times moving from floor to floor, next time im packing the baby carrier, life would have been way easier just going up and down the staircases!

Finally we found our pals from North East Family Fun and took the opportunity for a picture.

Then off to have afternoon tea in the Explorers restaurant, here we met more pals, from New Girl In Toon, I decided it was probably safer for them if we sat separately and given the mess my kids got into I think Chloe, and her pretty frock, may agree that I was right! Our tables had scones, jam and clotted cream and a selection of tea's already for us and there were carrot cakes, profiteroles and sandwiches(ham and Chive, cream cheese and cucumber, egg salad, and smoked salmon) along with more scones on the buffet. While we were choosing our sandwiches a pot of hot water magically appeared on our table. I loved everything about afternoon tea (although I'm not sure the scales will on Friday) But for the kids the sandwiches were a little too fussy, with chives and 'green stuff' they weren't as impressed, so if I had to suggest any improvements it would be to offer some kid friendly sarnies and maybe a wee jug of tap water or cordial would have gone down a storm.

Then there was birthday cake cutting and dancing and more cake eating and Micheal Jackson (a tribute obviously;-) ) and face painting and ballon modelleing and then suddenly it was time to go home! I feel like we blinked and it was over, the time had passed so quickly and we had done so much but I was reluctant to leave there was so much more to discover (I'll tell you all the family friendly things we didn't get around to in another post)

Thankyou DFDS for such an amazing day my kids came home ready to sleep in 'one of them cool rooms' that we had seen while Mammy got lost! With cruises starting from £39 per person I'm hoping we can make their wishes come true really soon.

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Tuesday 26 May 2015

Slimming World Mac and Cheese

I wouldn't normally even consider Mac and Cheese on Slimming World as I prefer my Mac exactly like you get it in Hard Rock Cafe. Spicy, creamy and full of cheese! But I had a real hankering for it so decided I'd cobble something together and oooooooooh mama it's so nice we've ate it twice this week, and it's only Tuesday!

In this recipe I used my healthy A and Spartacus' healthy A too. But as the dish was shared between the two of us I have still counted it as syn free. If you are making this for one person there will be syns!

You all know I'm not so good at the measuring but because this recipe uses both mine and the husbands healthy A choice I did weigh the cheese.

I used enough pasta for two big meals and then some extra!

Ingredients

Pasta (any shape you like my preference is spirali but we only had penne today
300mls of ham stock (I use 3 cubes to make this up)
300g Quark
Cayenne Pepper to taste
2 eggs
5 laughing Cow Light
40g Reduced fat cheese
Teaspoon of mustard powder mixed with 15ml water
2 peppers finely chopped
5 strips of bacon finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic crushed
2 red onions finely chopped
Dried chilli flakes to taste

Pre heat oven to 150 (medium)
Boil some pasta until al dente then drain and rinse
Put the eggs, cayenne pepper and quark in a bowl a mix well
Mix together stock, mustard mix and laughing cow in a jug
Fry onion, garlic, peppers bacon and chilli flakes until veg is soft and bacon cooked then remove from heat
Pour in the stock mixture
Add the quark mix
DO NOT PANIC YOU MAY THINK IT LOOKS LIKE SOMETHING THREW UP IN YOUR PAN...it's fine I promise
Add in 1/2 the grated cheese
Stir well ensure a smooth consistency with no lumps
Mix in your pasta
Pour it all into an oven proof dish
Sprinkle the remaining pasta
Bake for 30 minutes

Enjoy

Saturday 23 May 2015

Game On 2.0 at Life Science Centre

Last night family Monkeyfeet attended the launch of Game On 2.0 at Life Science Centre.

The exhibition has toured the world over the past five years starting at The Barbican in London and visiting places like Stokholm, Ontario, Athens and the US so it's a real coup that Life have secured the exhibit for the next five months!

The launch of this exhibition has been eagerly anticipated amongst the people of the North so it's no surprise that last night saw a record number of people at the launch clamouring to see what was on offer.

The event itself was lots of fun with most of the catering department dressed as Mario, plenty of mini takeouts on offer (although not for this Slimming World Mummy, the kids enjoyed tucking into mini burgers, mini fish and chips and mini hotdogs).

There was lots of opportunity to look around Life and it was so nice to be able to chat with the people involved in bringing Game On 2.0 to Newcastle.

So to the exhibition..... There are games of all varieties on many many different platforms from arcade to console and computer to virtual reality, Life is now crammed with a veritable feast of gaming delight! The exhibition is constantly updated so contains amazing up to date games as well as displays of some early consoles and gaming equipment.

We attended with Peanut (6), The Golden Child (4), and Termite (1). Now we don't do console games and because I'm one of those hippy (and hypocritical, given how much time I spent on the iPad) mums I'm more inclined to send my kids outside than let them play on games BUT...., I get the educational value of some gaming, it improves hand eye coordination, you can incorporate maths, phonics,science and strategy into some games and apps and it's fun too. So given our lack of gaming experience I was unsure how the kids would find it but we all had a blast! Termite liked just pressing buttons and looking at the bright strange characters before her. My Golden Child (he's definitely going to be the computer genius) wanted to try everything, to see how it worked, what effects his actions had on the screen, how the games were made ... The questions were endless and Peanut well she loved giving the games a shot but she's a bit like her mother in that she suffers strong frustration when she doesn't get things right first time, so some of the games brought out her competitive side but overall she loved it and didn't want to leave luckily a Minecraft Cake and a pacman biscuit managed to distract her long enough to get her to the car.

My advice to anyone planning a visit...,

Plan to stay longer than normal because there's lots to play on
Expect to wait a short while for some of the more popular games, none of the queues were huge last night but obviously some games are more popular than others.
With that in mind it's probably best not to spend 2 hours showing of your best guitar legend moves!
Honestly the exhibition is very versatile an there's something for just about everyone so bring the kids, bring nana, bring everyone.

Game On 2.0 runs from 23rd May to 1st November and tickets cost

Family (1 adult + 3 children OR 2 adults + 2 children): £31.50
Adults: £12.95
Children (aged 5 - 17): £7.50
Children (aged 4 and under): FREE
Concessions (OAP, student or unwaged): £9.50

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Thursday 21 May 2015

Thankful Thursday 21 May

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Comment on the other link ups, at least the one before yours but more if you wish.
Tweet a link to your post to @monkeyfeettweet using #thankfulthursday and I shall retweet it for you

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Wednesday 20 May 2015

Laundry Rules

If you are not responsible for the laundry in your house you should read this...

If you are responsible for the laundry in your house please feel free to share this with those in your house who are not!

First off let me tell you most folk hate doing laundry, it's an endless thankless task that involves moving clothes to several different places, looking at big piles of laundry....

...timing things right, remembering the tumble dryer hates you and enjoys making your laundry look like it was slept on by elephants! You should keep these facts in mind ....

Laundry is a very simple process, it needs very little input from those not involved in the actual task of 'doing laundry'. Here are the basics

If it's in the laundry pile it will get washed, eventually
If it is on the floor and not in the laundry pile it will not get washed BECAUSE IT IS NOT IN THE LAUNDRY PILE
If you are in a hurry for some laundry it is good etiquette to try one of the following phrases ...

'Are you putting a wash in today, I'm in a hurry for this?

'Would you be able to have this washed and ready for tomoro please? I'm sorry to ask but I totally forgot'

The following may not be as successful

'Have you not washed that yet?!' This is a question you don't need to ask! If it's not clean then obviously no it has not been washed!

'I need this tomorrow' please be very aware this is neither a polite request nor a question. You are making a statement!

If you leave clothes on the bed (or wherever your 'laundry responsible adult' normally leaves CLEAN laundry. It will not get washed, infact it will probably be folded and put away. This is another time when you may NOT say 'have you not washed this' because the answer will be 'if you didn't put it in the dirty laundry pile then NO I DID NOT WASH IT.

I am in charge of tidying inspecting and laundering the clothes for 3 little people therefore I expect big people to understand the functions and etiquette of laundry!

Some practical tips

We try to remember your pockets but sometimes we forget, therefore you are ALWAYS the person who will be held responsible if a tissue spreads from your trouser pocket into a million super clingy pieces which attach themselves to the rest of your wardrobe!

If we are having a slow laundry week these answers should save you asking any questions that will lead to you being folded up and put in the washing machine..

'Your missing shirt, pants, socks etc are either in the clean laundry the dirty laundry or your draw.' If you find them somewhere else that's because you PUT THEM THERE! We do not, have not and will not ever hide your clothes for fun. It's not fun it's just more movement of clothes!

And finally we do not expect a rush of gratitude every time you wear clean clothes, but the following are great ways to score brownie points (which you know leads to the good stuff) and make us feel appreciated

'I don't know how you keep up with all the laundry I never could'

'Your washing always smells so nice'

'Why don't you send the holiday washing to the launderette? It'll give you a break from the washing mountain'

'You rock' (this works at any time not just when we are having a laundry paddy)

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Saturday 16 May 2015

Easy Slimming World Mulligatawny Soup Recipe

This isn't quite authentic but it's totally yummy and super quick and easy

You will need

A pack of aldi (or other supermarket) soup mix, this has carrot leek onion and swede in
A tin of baked beans
2 generous cups of cooked and cooled rice
2 beef stock cubes
And to taste... Garam masala, ginger, garlic, chilli, salt, coriander, madras powder

Sauté the veg in fry light
Add the beans
Cover with boiling water (so there's about 1cm water above veg)
Add stock cubes and spices (leave coriander until the end)
Bring to the boil then simmer for 20 minutes
Remove about 1/3 of the veg with some liquid and allow to cool then blend and return it to the pan
Add the rice
Simmer for 10 minutes
Add chopped coriander and serve

I'd like to add a picture but it went so quickly that by the time I took my phone into the kitchen it had all gone!! Next week I promise

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Friday 15 May 2015

OXO Tot 2 in 1 Go Potty Review and Giveaway

We love OXO Tot products and we were especially fond of our feeding gear when Termite was a teeny tot, in fact they still come in handy for days out. So when they got in touch to see if we'd like to put the new 2 in 1 Go Potty through its paces we were most happy to oblige.

The potty can be used as a travel style potty by attaching the potty bag to the flexi grips on the side the bags have a super absorbent strip to contain the wee until you can find a bin. It comes with three bags included but is made so you can use just a carrier bag (if you get caught short) by simply tucking it into the flaps.

You can flip also flip the fold out legs all the way out to use it as a toddler loo seat. It's easy clean and easy to use and comes in three lovely colours, aqua, green and raspberry.

I love this because it's amazing for traveling. It comes in its own super strong easy clean drawstring bag and it's always ready as a potty if you are caught short out and about but better still, if like us you'd prefer to get your little darling using the loo asap it can convert to a toilet seat in seconds. It's also just tall enough and wide enough for teenies to get on and off easily. Termite will happily get up and down from this without help.

It also packs away nice and small so fits in my nappy bag or under the seat in the car. Priced at £20 it is competitively priced and the quality is great.

The potty is really strong and sturdy so will pass the test of toddler torture and the kids think its really cool, and most importantly Termite loves it , although I'm not sure the Monkeyfooted ones were taking it seriously when I tried to get some pictures ....

The lovely people at OXO have given us one of these 2 in 1 Go Potty's to giveaway as a prize to one of you lucky lot, just fill in the rafflecopter Below and we shall choose a winner from the correct entries.

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a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Thursday 14 May 2015

Slimming World Mediterranean Magic Recipe Book Review and Giveaway

You may have realised we like to travel a bit and one of the things we love the most is trying new food, Greek is an absolute favourite with all of us with Spanish dishes coming closely behind. Actually we just love food! So i was very very excited to receive a copy of Slimming World's Mediterranean Magic Recipe Book

The book has recipes from..

France

Spain and Portugal

North Africa

Italy

Greece

Middle East and Turkey

I love that there are desserts, mains and starters in each section and that the recipes are simple, easy to follow and all have great guidance like whether they are suitable for freezing or if they are SP (that's the boost days for a bigger weight loss) friendly.

It's a lovely hardback book and has lovely pictures in too.

But Oh my days it is jam packed with my favourite recipes and I have had so much fun working my way through some of them , I have to share with you that my absolute favourite is the recipe for Baba Ganoush! I have spend lots of time in Greece and ate lots of what they call Egg Plant Salad, a delicious creamy dip, but Ive only just discovered that elsewhere in the world this is called Baba Ganoush and now I have the perfect syn free simple recipe and partnered with tzatziki and hummus (also slimming world recipes) on a bed of rocket it's my absolute new lunchtime favourite.

We've also tried the Lamb Tagine but with a few Monkeyfooted twists like adding butternut squash and a cup of quinoa and letting it cook in the slow cooker all day. It was truly truly immense, although didn't look amazing it was so nice we had second helpings!

Now those lovely guys at slimming world are offering one of you lucky lot a chance to win a copy of this fab book by simply entering the raffle copter below.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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T&Cs

UK only, prize will be posted directly to winner by slimming world, prize is non refundable and non exchangeable, there is no cash alternative and winner must confirm acceptance of prize within 7 days.