Food

The 70’s catered my child’s party!

01/04/2016 by MrsSavageAngel Leave a Comment

I’ve never thrown Oscar a party at home. Mostly because our house is just too small to comfortably accommodate many people and so Oscar’s previous birthday parties have been hosted, and catered, by other venues. This year we decided to have a family party for him at our favourite holiday apartment in Plymouth. And as we were hosting it also meant I could go to town on the catering. I don’t know what it is, but I love making (and eating) party food. It must have something to do with all the happy party memories from my childhood. And thanks to the advent of Pinterest, I got plenty of inspiration to add to my own memories.

I decided, as his party was being held on Easter Sunday, to go with a loose Easter theme. Think bunnies and eggs and you get the picture. I really enjoyed preparing the food and wanted to say a huge thank you to Ben for keeping the boy occupied while I did. It meant I could whack on a party play list, sing out and get creating. What I didn’t realise until I started making it, was how inspired by the 70’s my party food would be! But do you know, everyone loved it, whether it was nostalgic love or not. I was extremely proud of how the food turned out so have decided to devote a whole post to my favourite bits!

Cheese and Pineapple

My first creation was less ‘made’ and more ‘put together’, the perennial party favourite Cheese and Pineapple. Now I’ll let you in on a secret, I don’t actually like Cheese and Pineapple. I mean I like the ingredients separately, but I just don’t get them together (and before you ask, no I don’t like Hawaiian Pizza either)! Many years ago, we were going to a ‘Bad Taste’ fancy dress party and in keeping with the theme I made one of these to take along. You know, as a joke. Only everyone went nuts for it! So I’ve made one for every party I’ve had since and it’s always been devoured!

There’s no real recipe as such, only I would recommend using Mild Cheddar (Mature is too crumbly and wont stay on the stick) and tinned Pineapple chunks in juice. For the true Fanny Craddock vibe, I always use a grapefruit covered in foil to hold the sticks. It wouldn’t feel right if I didn’t 🙂

Who doesn’t love cheese and pineapple (well me, but I’m a minority!)

Devilled Eggs

Staying firmly with the 70’s vibe, I chose Devilled Eggs, as they fitted the theme and are delicious. I did think about dying the eggs pretty pastel colours as my friend Shannon over at Shannonagains suggested, but I decided to go au naturel in the end, using the same recipe as I did for my Halloween Spider eggs. I boiled 5 eggs for 8 minutes, then plunged them into cold water. Once peeled, I then cut them in half and removed the yellows to a bowl, which I mixed with a couple of tbsps of light Mayonnaise, a tsp of mustard powder and salt and pepper to taste. I then spooned the mixture back into the whites (if I’d been really fancy I could have piped them, but I don’t actually own a piping bag or nozzle!) and placed them on a plate covered in round lettuce.

Sandwiches

One of the challenges when catering for both children and adults is finding food that’s accessible for all. Sandwiches are usually a safe bet and although I thought about making some interesting fillings, I knew in my heart this would be a good place to provide something a more familiar for those who were a little anxious in their tastes (fussy eaters sound so negative!) Anyway I chose plain ham and plain cheese and kept them on theme by investing in some bunny cookie cutters. How cute are they? And I love the contrast between the white and brown bread. I’d apologise for the ‘cress as grass garnish’, but I’m not going to – I love it!

These sandwiches were all made with standard bread as Oscar isn’t the biggest sandwich fan. I made him his own Gluten Free peanut butter bunny sandwiches, which went uneaten! Sigh!

FYI, I didn’t make these Hot Cross Buns, who do you think I am, Mary Berry!

Bunny Sandwiches. I will not apologise for the cress as grass garnish!

Mozzarella Onion Pull Apart Bread

This was a variation on a recipe I found on Pinterest. It sounded decadent and yet simple to do. And I was right. The original recipe called for Monterey Jack cheese, but I decided to use mozzarella instead. To be honest, while mozzarella provided the requisite meltyness (what? that’s a word right?) I personally thought it could have done with a bit more flavour, so would maybe consider using something like Havarti or Emmental next time.

1 400g unsliced Bloomer
1 large mozzarella, thinly sliced
200g butter, melted
A bunch of finely sliced spring onions
2 tsp poppy seeds
Salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 180c, Gas Mark 5. Cut the bread length ways and width ways without cutting through the bottom crust. Place on a large sheet of foil. Insert cheese between cuts. Combine melted butter, onion, poppy seeds and seasoning. Drizzle over bread. Wrap the foil up and over bread until covered. Place on a baking sheet and bake at 180c for 15 minutes. Unwrap the bread and bake for 10 more minutes. Serve whole and let everyone help themselves!

Mozzarella Onion Pull Apart Bread. So good to share

Dip Bunny

This really was my piece de resistance. Another Pinterest recipe I found and fell in love with. It was actually incredibly easy (and my version was even easier than the original – and better looking if you ask me 😉 ). The bread came from The Royal William Bakery, next door to the apartment. It was so fresh out of the oven, I had to leave it for a couple for hours just to cool down! And boy did it smell good. Obviously you don’t need to use such amazing bread (although of course if you can, do!). The original recipe also gave instructions to make the dip, but I was doing so much else I chose to buy one. I have no problem with that. If you have time and inclination to make the dip then more power to you.

1 medium Sourdough Loaf (I got a whole grain one, but white would work as well)
2 part baked baguettes
Raisins
Cocktail sticks
2 pots of your favourite dip
Your favourite dipping vegetables. I used, pepper, carrot and celery

Bake the part baked baguettes as per the instructions and let cool. Place the sourdough on the tray you want to present it on. Carve a hollow out of the sourdough at a slight angle, keeping the bread you remove for the bunny’s face. Place the ‘face’ above the body of the sourdough and make three small indents in it for the eyes and nose. Press a raisin into each hollow. Use cocktail sticks pushed in either side of the ‘face’ as whiskers. Cut one of the baguettes in half and use each half as an ear, securing to the head with a cocktail stick. Use a round of the other baguette as a tail, placed at the base of the sour dough. Cut up the vegetables and surround the bunny (I also used left over round lettuce as grass!) and when ready to serve tip the dip into the bunny’s body.

He went down a blooming treat! We had friends over after the party too and no a scrap of him was left. That’s what I like, no waste and no washing up!

My beautiful Dip Bunny. I was so proud of him!

Cake

And of course no birthday party would be complete without cake. I didn’t make this myself, but it couldn’t not be included here. Oscar’s Grandma really stepped up to the plate, making him a delicious, gluten free rainbow cake. A rainbow, you know, like a spectrum 😉 . It was beautiful! Thank you so much to Catherine for making such an amazing cake. And then making a second chocolate one, just in case! They were both divine!

We all had a wonderful day. Oscar played with his cousins brilliantly (involving collaborative art, roaring competitions and chasing each other round the apartment) and the adults got to relax and catch up. Oh and drink prosecco. Seriously it was what every children’s party should be. With a side order of 70’s style bunny themed party food. What’s not to love?

Happy Birthday Oscar!

Mrssavageangel Slimming World – Week 1

14/01/2016 by MrsSavageAngel Leave a Comment

If you read my blog last week, you’ll know I have just spent my first week “back on plan”. So? How did it go? In some respects it was really hard. Having to stop and think about everything I ate again was something I had to consciously do. Every single time. Not picking in between meals or if I did choosing fruit or syn free foods. I had days where I had to consciously break habits I’ve made over the last few months (no cake in Dylan’s for me was a big leap!) and days where I just wanted to melt a bar of Dairy Milk and pour it down my throat (that time of the month unfortunately!) Yeah some parts of this week were hard.

But what I wasn’t expecting was how easy other parts were. In some respects it felt like coming home. Things started to slot into place from day one and I chose meals and snacks I knew I loved. I recorded everything I ate on the fab Lifeline Online planner and felt more in control than I have done in aaaaages! And it was a good feeling.

This week’s favourite foods have included pickled red cabbage (in everything! salads, stirfrys you name it) and a new discovery; Velvet Crunch Pop Corners, Sweet and Salty flavour. Kind of like popcorn chips, but only 4.5 syns per 20g pack! Yum!

One of my favourite meals this week, was one I’ve had in the repertoire for a long time. My own take on a reeeeeeally old recipe from the other weight loss company that shall not be named ?. I shared it in group last night and I thought I’d share it here too. It’s a great veggie night dish, but substantial enough to serve without the rice if you’re doing an SP day!

Red Lentil and Pepper Curry

Free on Extra Easy

1 onion, sliced
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
2 tbsp curry powder (whatever heat you fancy)
150g red lentils
3 peppers (whatever colours you have), chopped roughly
1 aubergine, diced
600ml vegetable stock
1 can chopped tomatoes
Handful of chopped coriander

Fry the onion and garlic in Frylight until softened. Add the curry powder and cook for a further minute
Stir in the lentils, peppers and aubergine. Add the stock, stir and bring to the boil.
Cover, reduce heat and simmer for 30 mins, stirring from time to time
Remove lid from pan, add chopped tomatoes, season and allow to bubble for another 15 mins or until desired consistency.
Stir in chopped coriander

Serve with rice and fat free natural yogurt for a syn free meal. Serve without rice and extra veg for an Extra Easy SP day

If you have the syns, this is bad boy is also lovely sprinkled with toasted flaked almonds (3 syns for 10g) and mango chutney (average 2 syns per tbsp).

Lush!

However, despite my best efforts this week really seemed to drag. I think that was because I was so desperate to check I was doing it right. Desperate to get on those scales and get that positive reinforcement that, yes, I was on the right path. And after last night’s weigh in, it would seem I am.

What a result! Shaking my Pom Poms all over the place right here. It’s been a long time since I weighed in knowing I was owed a good result, because I know I’d worked hard for it. It gave me a warm feeling inside. I think it’s called pride.

Next week’s target is 2lb loss.

How’s your week been? What have been your favourite dishes or foods this week? I’d love to know.

Have an awesome week!

love

Lisa

xxxxx

Savage Christmas 2015

04/01/2016 by MrsSavageAngel Leave a Comment

It’s January. How can it possibly be January? Already? We spent so long looking forward to the Christmas holiday and just like that it was over. Sad Face. Or rather that should be Happy Face, because our holiday was perfect! It was everything I had imagined and so much more and for that reason I can’t possibly be sad!

I wrote here about our Christmas plans to hire an apartment in our childhood home town of Plymouth. About how we wanted to spend Christmas with our family and friends, but how due to Oscar’s Autism, we all needed our own space. And I was right. All the planning and the organising meant the holiday, because this was so much more than just a Christmas celebration, was totally worth it!

The drive down to Plymouth was OK, with only minimal delays. The boy spent the whole four and half hours watching Thomas the Tank. God bless Apple! When we arrived at the Royal William Yard, the owner of the property was there to meet us. She even helped us carry our luggage up to the 2nd floor apartment, bless her. She showed us around, what turned out to be a much more spacious apartment than I had envisaged. I had spent some time in the weeks leading up our stay showing Oscar pictures of the flat, taken from the website, but you’re never sure how similar a place is going to be to a promotional photo. Well, I was thrilled to see it was identical, even down to the radio channel playing on the television. I could have hugged her just for that, never mind the milk, coffee, flowers and mince pies she’d bought for us! I knew then this was going to be a good holiday!

Taken from the website, the lounge looked exactly like this picture. I was so grateful!

My first impression of the place was it is SHAMAZING! — My first impression of the place was ” This is SHAMAZING!”

We settled in immediately. Oscar ran from room to room and we moved the few delicate looking objects (a beautiful model of a tall ship and some glass vases) out of the reach of curious hands. That done Ben collected the Christmas shopping, while I unpacked. Poor old hubs had to carry all the shopping from the car to the apartment alone as I had to stay with Oscar, but once it was done he was rewarded with a large beer, a child who settled down to sleep straight away and a feet up relax on the sofa with pizza. You couldn’t do that staying in someone else’s home 😉

Christmas Day itself was fairly quiet. We had present opening in the morning, in our Christmas jammies. Oscar was incredibly lucky again this year. He has such a generous family. And I breathed a sigh of relief to see no one had given him anything that wouldn’t fit in the car on the way home. ‘Tis always a worry 😉 While he played with his Tidmouth Shed playset, I cracked on with the lunch. One of the best things about the apartment was, without a doubt, the kitchen. It was an open plan layout but the kitchen was raised giving the feel of a bar, or in my case a stage! I loved it. It meant Ben could help from the other side of the worktop and not get in my way and I could talk to my mum as I prepared the veg. We drank, ate and generally relaxed all day. The boy wouldn’t sit with us at dinner, which was a shame, but wasn’t something I was going to force and cause a melt down over. Instead I plated him some food, which he moved around the room but didn’t touch. Until later when I heard him say something was ‘mmmm it’s elicious’ and realised he had wolfed the roast potatoes and later on some turkey 🙂 Good lad!

The Maple Based Turkey was a hit. And not at all burnt (well a bit singed maybe!)

Me in my 'cooking like I'm in a cookery show' element! — Me in my ‘cooking like I’m in a cookery show’ element!

Got to use my Christmas linen for only the second time since it was bought in 2010!

Yeah Christmas day was a hit , but this holiday was so much more. Before we even started our holiday, we had worked out something of a schedule. What we were going to do and who we were going to see everyday, and do you know I’m so glad we did. It meant we knew and could prepare appropriately. It also stopped any dithering, messing about wasting time, trying to decide what to do and potentially missing something important out. It also meant I could prepare Oscar. I have no idea how much the pictures of the people I showed him or the explanations I gave helped, but he coped brilliantly all week and I can only surmise it helped a bit! We visited family, had family visit us, hosted parties, went for meals, went walking in the fog up on Dartmoor and the boy loved it all. He loved playing with his cousins. They are all a similar age, but the older two, Jessica and Lucas, were just amazing with him, including him and listening when I explained why he was or wasn’t doing this or that. Whenever Oscar got frustrated or upset his cousin Lucas would just say, ‘hey Oscar come on lets run’ and off they’d go, sadness forgotten. In fact the only melt down we had all week was after his cousin Lucas had to leave. And even that didn’t last long as he collapsed into bed, jiggered from such an amazing day!

Love this crazy. My oldest niece Jessica

Partners in crime! Oscar with his cousin Lucas

We just had so much fun this Christmas. And the fact that Oscar coped so brilliantly, only made it all the better for Ben and I. We treated ourselves too this holiday with dinner at River Cottage on Christmas Eve (with babysitting provided by Nanna!) and a night out (for Ben) and in (for me) with our friends we miss terribly and don’t get to see nearly enough of.

Ben and Lee reliving their youth. Ben behind the 'bar' and Lee propping it up! — Ben and Lee reliving their youth. Ben behind the ‘bar’ and Lee propping it up!

But the best thing about this trip was undoubtedly the apartment. It was stunning and practical. It gave us everything we needed and was in a fantastic location. I knew the idea to hire somewhere was a good one. I just couldn’t have asked for more and none of us wanted to leave. Oscar loved watching the boats from the windows, I loved the kitchen and Ben loved the calm quiet of the place. One of my favourite memories of the place though was the lift. Within a day Oscar had learnt how to press for the lift, get us to the right floor and to hold our hands when we needed him to. Just watching him learning like that was worth staying there for alone.

Walking to the lift wearing his backpack for the first time!

Would we do it again?

Absolutely!

But do we really need to wait until Christmas??? 😉

Marvellous Mondays badge by Hello Archie

Our first school trip

19/11/2015 by MrsSavageAngel Leave a Comment

Oscar’s preschool often take their children out. To the local woods, to buildings of interest, to churches etc. So far Oscar has not joined his friends on any of these trips and I’ve been fine with that. His understanding of change in routine and his perception of danger mean it just hasn’t been worth it for him. However recently he’s seemed more able to cope, more able to hold my hand when asked. I mentioned to his TA that the next time they go to the woods, I would like Oscar to join in and I would happily come with him. I felt it was time to try.

As it happened their next scheduled trip was to the local Cupcake shop, to support this term’s theme ‘The Jobs People Do’. The nursery suggested Oscar and I come too and I agreed. For all sorts of logistical reasons I suggested we meet them at Mirrabelles, which we did bang on 10am. We were the only ones there for 15 minutes. In some respects that was great. Oscar went straight in, sat down, did some colouring, had a little look round, all while holding my hand. He did bloody brilliantly.

On the other hand it was a pain in the proverbial, because by the time they eventually turned up, he’d used up a large proportion of his ‘sitting still and being quiet’ quota. This annoyed me, but what can you do? Any who, the thing that made me beam from ear to ear was how happy the other children were to see him, with several of them shouting ‘OSCAR!!’ with such joy when they saw him. It broke my heart with cute!

Needless to say he struggled to sit and watch the cake making demonstration. He attended here and there, but really it wasn’t exciting enough to hold him from a distance. He’s used to getting up close and personal when we bake, so I can see why he struggled. It didn’t help that the shop had placed bowls of maltesers, chocolate buttons and sprinkles on the tables (for the children to decorate the cakes with) and told them not to touch. I know the children have to learn self discipline, but this just felt mean to me! Of course Oscar looked like the only one making a big deal about it because he’s loud, but his Key Worker told me later other children had also snuck a choccie here and there, but because they did it quietly no one noticed!

So yeah he walked/ran about a bit, he played with our friend who also happened to be there and he was sad he couldn’t eat the chocolate on the tables. But do you know, he didn’t have a single melt down. In fact he was mostly happy the whole time we were there, even if he wasn’t doing exactly what was expected of him. Eventually his TA convinced him to sit back down and they were given iced cakes to decorate. And rather than choff the sweets he now had his hands on he decorated his cake, just like every one else. They were then told not to eat the cakes and to put them in a box. So he had a cheeky nibble and did just that, with barely a fuss. I was gob smacked!

I had no idea how this trip would go. We went in with a positive attitude and an acceptance that we might need to pack up and leave if it didn’t work. But it did work. He was included. And while it was tiring, it was totally worth it. And not just because he insisted we share his cake when we got home!

What a guy!

New Lunch Bag

09/09/2015 by MrsSavageAngel Leave a Comment

So a few weeks ago you may remember I wrote about how Oscar needed a new lunch bag. Nothing exciting in that. In fact it could be seen as tres boring in fact. But he didn’t need a new bag because the old one was knackered (it is) or filthy (yeah that too) or because he didn’t like it any more (I have no idea if he likes it) or that he wanted one covered in Minions or Spiderman or any other character you care to mention (he has yet to express a preference for any characters – bar maybe Thomas). No we needed a new bag, because too many children at his preschool had the same or similar ones and this was causing something of an issue. Oscar’s autism means he sees things in quite literal terms. His lunch bag looked a certain way, therefore any bag that looked the same was his bag. End of. It was causing all sorts of upset, when he saw others taking what he thought was his bag. We needed to look at this from a different angle.

I wrote this post about some unusual lunch bags, ones other children were less likely to have. It got a wonderful response and one of my British friends who now lives in the States was kind enough to offer to take delivery of my favourite bag, only available in the US, and bring it over with her when she visited in September. How lovely is that?!

Dabbawalla Bags are made of a neoprene type fabric and are nice and roomy, without being heavy which is great for little hands. Also (get this) they’re fully washable! Fab for my mucky toddler that’s for sure. You can get a limited number of designs from various sites here in the UK, but the American site had way more designs to chose from including my favourite one. This one in fact:

I managed to get the bag off my friend last night and instantly knew I’d made the right choice. Isn’t it gorgeous?

There’s an extra pocket on the outside (under the stripes) and two netted pockets inside to hold a drink or an item you don’t want rolling around. It’s just so cool!

I’m pretty sure no one else will have this bag, or even anything close to it, but just in case they do, I took advantage of the personalisation service Dabbawalla Bags offer (in the States but not in the UK). Yes, just in case, it’s even got his name embroidered on it!

I’m thrilled with it and guess what, so is Oscar.

And I couldn’t have come at a better time either. This term Oscar will be staying at preschool for lunch on a Thursday to enable me to attend a course. And when he does he’ll be taking his food in a snazzy, functional and (hopefully) unique lunch bag!

I was not paid to write this post and bought the bag with my own money. I just like sharing things I love.

A massive thank you to Heather and Glen for bringing the bag over and getting it to us safely. We’re so very grateful!