Friday 7 September 2012

Back to School!





Lauryn, Ashley and Bailey


Yesterday the girls went back to school following the summer holidays.
Ashley, 7, was very excited to be joining her older sister, Lauryn, 8, at Junior School and meeting her new teacher and year 3 class mates again.
Bailey, 5, was also very excited to be starting back at school in year 1 with her new teacher whom taught both Lauryn and Ashley in previous years.
Lauryn, was very nonplussed about starting year 4, but seemed to enjoy her first day regardless.
Everything was packed and ready, the girls and Che were all dressed, fed and clean, the TV had remained switched off all morning, with just Che allowed use of the iPad to watch an episode of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse while I started the mammoth job of sorting the girls hair.
Lauryn is quite the tomboy and usually requests her hair in a simple pony tail, as it gets it over with quickly and she can return to whatever activity she has set up for her 'free time' before the school run gets underway, however, on this occasion she asked for a 'Top Knot'. Luckily, this is also a very quick and easy hair style so it took all of 2 minutes to complete.

 Bailey, is my Princess and she has very long and gorgeous hair and likes a combination of hairstyles on any given day, and requested a 'mini french braid into a long pony tail'. Again this hairstyle doesn't take much time, so I was quite happy to do this for her.

Then it came to Ashley's turn.

Ashley is a bit more adventurous with her hair, and often asks for more intricate designs, which is why she is usually left until last on school days, as then I can decide how much time I can spend on her hair requests.

Since we are reading The Hunger Games to the children at bedtime, Ashley has become a little endeared with Katniss Everdeen, so I am now assuming that you know what hair style my little darling requested..?!

Yup, the Katniss braid!

Now, the Katniss braid is one that I only mastered a few days ago, as it's a diagonal dutch french braid (inside out plait) which goes from the top of the left ear, across the back of the head, down to the bottom of the right ear and then is plaited down over the right shoulder.

I had 15minutes before we needed to leave the house, so we decided to give it a go and hope it turned out OK! Luckily, it was near perfect, so with 5 minutes of time remaining I managed to sit and take a couple of deep breaths before the rush of the school runs started!


With all 3 girls happily dropped off at their respective new classes, I returned home with Che, who was very clingy all day and kept asking where his sisters were and why he couldn't play with them, bless him!

We played 'car crash' which seems to be a favourite game of his at the moment, as he loves role play and giving his toys voices!








3pm rolled round quicker then I had expected and we awaited the older girls verdict on their first day. Lauryn enjoyed it, and Ashley was very happy with both her new class and her new school. She loved the fact that she could play with her big sister again (they are very close, and were both at a loss last year, when Lauryn moved schools)


Heading back to the infant school, we collected Bailey, who emerged all smiles and happy that her teacher was "Sooooo Cooooool, Mummy!"

Back home, Che was in his element, having his sisters home again, and they loved telling him everything that they got up to at school.

I read to Che and the girls read their school books to me while dinner was cooking. We had an early dinner, as as I had expected, the girls were a bit tired and tetchy following their first day back.

After dinner the kids played happily together in the garden before the bedtime routine started.

All in all, it was a very good day for my little family!

How did your children do on their first day back at school?







Wednesday 5 September 2012

Slow Cooker Chicken Curry


This is a really simple, no frills but cheap and tasty chicken curry, cooked entirely in the slow cooker!





This recipe serves 4.
Prep time: 10 mins.
Cooking time: 6-8 hours.


Ingredients:

4 skinless chicken breasts
2 onions
3 cloves of garlic
1 teaspoon madras curry powder
2 teaspoons chilli powder
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon ground ginger
4 1/3 cups water
2 cups of rice


Method:

In the slow cooker, add the chicken breasts, chopped onions, garlic (crushed/minced), spices and 1/3 cup of water.
Cook on high for 5 hours or low for 7 hours.
Then add the 2 cups of dried rice and 4 cups of water cook for a further hour on high.

Serve with naan bread/chapatti and side salad.


What could be quicker or easier to prepare when you've been out all day, or you've been running around with the children?

Monday 3 September 2012

Meal Plan Monday - 03/09/2012



This week sees my three daughters going back to school after the summer break.
I am expecting some very tired and cranky girls to return to me by 3.30pm so on Thursday and Friday of this week (They start back at school on Thursday) I am planning on just having their favourite comfort food (not necessarily homemade or particularly healthy/balanced!) ready for them to eat at 4.30pm  and then they can have a healthy snack at 5.30 before the bedtime routines start.


Monday: *Veggie burgers and potato wedges
Tuesday: *vegetable pasties with salad
Wednesday: Spaghetti Bolognese
Thursday: Potato Waffles and chicken burgers (childrens request)
Friday: Sausages with HM crispy potatoes and steamed veggies (childrens request)
Saturday: *Chicken fajitas
Sunday: *Roast Chicken dinner

*twice required amount made/cooked to provide a quicker meal later in the week.

Baking: Banana Bread and Peach cobbler.

What's on your menu this week?