Pie and Peas

Well, it's Boy Food Friday in our house yet again. I decided to try another recipe from Dan Lepard's book Short & Sweet, and it didn't disappoint. Particularly the crispy pastry lid - no sogginess at our table thank you.

I made the chicken pie albeit with a few changes based on what I had in the fridge/cupboards/freezer. And served it with mushy peas. If Boy Food Friday is all about keeping the males in my house fed and happy, I think I succeeded!

I earned my pie and peas with a 10k (ok, 7 miles) run at lunchtime, including 3 trips up and down the infamous Park Steps to get my heart rate up. It's good to get back to my running, but I'm mostly pleased that I found the Steps and found my way home. Remembering new running routes is not a strength. This running poster sums up my day really rather well.

Ricky Toad

The gorgeous husband recently bought me Dan Lepard's amazing baking book Short & Sweet. I'm not sure why I have waited so long to start using it but today I made 2 recipes - one savoury and one sweet. The amazing sons had a taste of the Blue Cheese and Oatmeal Biscuits and gave them their seal of approval.

 They have yet to know about the Rocky Road Rock Cakes I then whipped up. I might not tell and keep them all for me. Thanks to the predictive text on my iPhone Rocky Road is known as Ricky Toad in our house. This is a new take on an old favourite for me, and I LIKE IT! Now, to share or not to share?

You've Got To Be Impressed!

Amazing son number 2 has quite brilliantly outdone himself again in the SHENANIGANS department. Upon discovering a £5 note in his school bag I interrogated quizzed him about where it had come from. You probably need to understand that his piggy bank is (I think!) hidden away after he raided it and spent £10 on chocolate after sneaking up to the cafe at our gym when he was meant to be swimming.

So, it seems the £5 was actually the change from a £20 note. Apparently he took his old felt tips to school and sold them to another child for £20. TWENTY POUNDS FOR OLD FELT TIPS!!! This boy has a huge future in the business world.

Not so cleverly he then spent £15 of his newly found wealth on sweets when allowed to walk home from school by himself one day. However, I am very proud of the fact that he shared these sweets with his friends - he is a very generous child, much like the gorgeous husband.

He was also recently heard to mutter (after passing a shop buying gold) "cash for gold, I wonder if we have any gold at home". I'll be hiding wearing all my jewellery from now on then. Good job he is utterly charming and has a smile that makes your heart melt!

Crunchy Carrot Salad

This is a new favourite in our family. Instead of coleslaw I make this and it is so much nicer. Plus it has chillies in it which is ALWAYS a good thing. It never lasts very long so I always make a huge bowl. Although I think that just encourages us to eat more instead of having lots left over. Here's how to make it.

What You Need:

• lots of grated carrots
• some spring onions finely sliced
• sunflower seeds
• pumpkin seeds
• raisins or sultanas or whatever dried fruit you fancy
• fresh coriander finely chopped
• several chillies finely sliced
• lime juice
• olive oil
• honey

What You Do:

1. Mix the carrots, spring onions, seeds, dried fruit, coriander and chillies in a large bowl. I leave the chilli seeds in, makes mealtimes a little more exciting - you never know who will be the first to bite a chilli seed.

2. In another container whisk together the lime juice, olive oil and honey according to taste. We like lots of lime juice, nice and zingy.

3. Pour over the dressing and mix well. Taste (just one spoonful mind) and add more of whichever ingredient you fancy.

4. Try not to eat all in one sitting - this will keep well for a few days in the fridge. I think it tastes better on day 2. I can't tell you if it is even better still on day 3, we've never had any left by then.

Didn't I Say Never Again?

So amazing son number 2 was 9 a few weeks ago and tomorrow we are taking him with some friends for a climbing wall party. Despite my previous misgivings about making more cake pops for the sons'  birthdays I couldn't resist. However, due to a broken hand (out of plaster, in a splint, still sore, but healing nicely, thanks for asking) I am somewhat limited in what I can do. So I did cheat a little and ordered a Lego ice cube mould. I used this to make Lego brick cake pops. I think he will be pleased.  Cake, Lego, chocolate combined - can't argue with that really.

Birthday Brownies

Amazing son number 2 turns 9 on Monday and is currently out socialising for the day. My plaster cast means the proper birthday cake (yes, I am thinking cake pops again despite my previous misgivings) is going to have to wait until his party at the end of the month. I can still mange to make brownies though, and asked amazing son number 1 if he wanted to make them with me for his brother's birthday. After our embarrassing little bus journey a few days ago I wasn't sure whether he would actually want to be seen with me in the kitchen, especially if I was wearing an apron! I am glad to say it's clearly OK to be seen with your mother if chocolate is involved. I might take to carrying some with me at all times to ensure I'm less embarrassing to him in future. Particularly on buses.

ssshhhh....more SHENANIGANS!

I thought it was a bit too quiet recently. It was making me a little uneasy. But I can now relax as I have uncovered the amazing sons' most recent bout of SHENANIGANS. What can I tell you? The abridged version is as follows:

• A new bottle of bubble bath practically used up in a single bath, but cunningly refilled with water so all appears as it should.
• A box of chocolate eclairs belonging to the gorgeous husband mysteriously missing from the kitchen.
• The same goes for a box of Thornton's fudge that was mine.
• Oh, and likewise for several chunky kit-kats, some large bars of cooking chocolate, a big bag of tortilla crisps and strangely the bran flakes kept on top of the fridge.
• And apples and oatcakes (the 'healthy' options in their packed lunches) stuffed in various places around the playroom and in various states of decay. Nice.
• Holes deliberately made in different articles of school uniform. Please don't ask me why.

Splendid. They are on top form aren't they! The weekend is going to be fun I'm sure. I have got a bottle of wine already chilling in the fridge I can assure you.

And, a question for you. As a parent of a now teenaged son, I would like to know if it is normal for them to follow you onto a bus and then proceed to sit as far away from you as possible? No, I wasn't dressed embarrassingly, or singing or dancing my way along the aisle to my seat, and just moments before we had been having a perfectly normal conversation (be advised that I do use the term 'conversation' loosely in this context). Odd. Or to be expected?