April 2015 Thread 9: Let the chatting continue!

[cinnamongreyhound]

Quick new thread as only 2 posts left on old one! Any newbies or lurkers please join us!

Ah yes the good old bowl of cereal that gets thrown back at me on a Wednesday when I finish work at 6 so don't get home till 6.30. It's pretty much the exact same conversation as before but with I've only been in 10 mins (yer right) and I'll just have a bowl of cereal instead. Leaving me to cook something for one which usually involves chips in the oven and ketchup because I hate/can't cook for one.

Lauren and Boo my sympathies on the kitchen situation. My DH is the opposite he likes to go off to the butcher and do man cooking you know the sort that involves every pan, the enormous heavy wood chopping board loads of butter etc.

To be fair it's always scrummy and he does now tidy up after himself straightaway after I told him not to bother cooking if I had to clear up the mess afterwards. What I could do with him mastering is simple meals rather than elaborate stuff that starts with cut rabbit into these eight portions or first boil potatoes to make into your own gnocchi. He is your classic came to it late cooking man so obsessed with fancy stuff whereas I'm more into chopping an onion and finding stuff to go with it especially during the week.

In other news I have demolished a creme egg two mini carrot cakes and a malteser bar (as well as normal breakfast and lunch). There are two more creme eggs in my desk drawer. The junkometer is set nice and high ahead of dins out with friend tonight. Must try harder tomorrow.

Ok - finally on way home from hospital. I love the NHS - they checked blood, wee, baby's heartbeat, did an ECG and took bloods. All looked ok apart from my platelet count is a bit low, but not in the worrying figures. Baby has been having a riot today though, most active day so far! Definitely nothing to do with the chocolate cake I ate earlier....

I'm very lucky - my DP is a brilliant cook and he easily does as much cooking as me (for eg tonight he's doing roast aubergine and chicken with garlic and yoghurt sauce, and wild rice). I hope it stays that way even after we have kiddos. I think he does appreciate that looking after a baby all day is probably even more knackering than being at work. I think he saw his dad being useless around the house when he was growing up and decided never to be like that! He's also a strident feminist which helps

Apparently housework is one of the biggest things couples argue over after having a baby though which is why we will bite the bullet and get a cleaner when we finally move, at least for the first few months whilst we get into a routine.

Banana that's fab re: being midwife led, you must be very relieved!

Good news BananaToast, mlc is much more reassuring somehow.

Dh will probably cook while he's off on paternity leave but once he's back at work I will carry on doing it. Managed to cook many meals with ds2 feeding and used to put both of them into he bouncy chair on the draining board to keep them entertained until they got big enough to bounce a bit too vigorously and I worried they'd bounce off!

X-loads of of posts there!

Glad everything looks good with you and baby Brixton.

My DH isn't the best cook but he does good basics and cooks at least as often as I do, so I'm not worried about him managing after the baby arrives. I try to let him cook as much as possible so that he doesn't get used to me doing everything. Same with cleaning, although he does need prompting as he doesn't see the dirt as quickly as I do.

It's so much easier when they can sit up and you can shove them in a high chair while you cook. I used to give DD a slice of buttery toast to demolish while I was busy cooking. Speaking of cooking what can I do my chicken supreme with tonight rice or herby potatoes? DH doesn't really like rice- says it's boring. Just don't know if I can be bothered doing/waiting for the spuds.

Apparently my papoozle is being delivered tomorrow, had to change the delivery to a neighbour as I'm at work! Will be trying it out with DDs baby born.

Great news, banana, and I'm glad everything's looking alright, Brixton!

I'm another one with a DH who cooks - not particularly fancy or challenging stuff and rebels against going anywhere near a recipe, but tasty and nutritious. (He had to get used to cooking at home when he was quite young for various domestic reasons, so needed to pull his weight a bit.) I insisted we had a proper meal plan so we knew who was cooking when, and now we've got used to the pattern of doing half the week each. We'll have to carry on like that when things get back to normal, because on the days when I get back from the office I'm too knackered to cook after the commute!

Yes that's great news Banana. You must be pleased!

I will defo be in charge of most of the cooking when on ML as DH has new job starting end Feb. Will have to do batch cooking at weekends and quite frankly if we eat the odd hastily grabbed pizza with salad or filled pasta from the friendly old waitrose fridge up the road probably both too high in salt a couple of nights a week it won't be be end of the world. I remember when DH begged for no more filled pasta when DD was a newborn. He did it very politely as if he knew he was risking his life by daring to comment on what he was being offered.

Brixton that sounds delish!

Lauren can you just jazz your rice up a bit? Maybe cook it in stock so it's tasty, or add some tiny bits of veg in whilst it's cooking?

Haha smogs, filled pasta with veg sauce is our go to "we're both knackered and can't be assed to cook" meal!

I'd do some egg fried like DD likes but DH still pulls his face. Makes me mad as he never has a suggestion or alternative. Least he washes up and occasionally puts the washing on the maiden to dry. One battle at a time and all that.

Lauren the stock idea is a good one. Or my latest lazy potato wheeze is to buy new potatoes the kind that are v clean and don't need washing and sling them in a hot oven for half an hour or so with olive oil, garlic, herbs whatever you have to hand and plenty of seasoning. They go well with everything and you don't have to keep an eye on the hob. I also have a hatred of boiled potatoes unless they're literally swimming in butter.

Brixton talking to my NCT people it transpired quite a few of the men had very very timidly and carefully asked for a break from tortellini/ ravioli with this or that in the early days! I did find that it's a case of you get what you pay for - the more expensive ones actually have some filling with a flavour that vaguely matches up to the packet description.

Smogs yes, some of the M&S ones are tolerable, and Sainsbury's do a "finest" one that's pumpkin and sage I think that's quite nice. That's hilarious that it's a "thing" though! We shall have to stockpile pre birth

All this talk of food is making me hungry!

Had a stressful day so far...it looks like our seller is not going to move in to rented as agreed when we paid asking price for a chain free quick sale but now buying a flat, they haven't sent the signed TOB's and the fixtures and fittings sheet back to their solicitor (offer accepted early November!) so no draft contract sent and now we have to wait to hear back from the sellers solicitor as to the extent of the chain on the flat and if there is any possibility the seller will treat the transactions separately, if not we most probably wont be in the house before the baby is due I could actually cry we are living in a smallish double room in PILs at the moment, which wouldn't fit all the baby stuff in with us. And as much as I love PILs and get on with them fabulously I realllllly don't want to have the baby at their house I don't want to share my baby with everyone straight away I want my own space and family home, that I can get ready for baby's arrival! I know if we have them where we are the whole family will be round constantly (they are there a lot anyway) and everyone will always want to cuddle and change them...grrrrr feeling very stressed about it all I'm so angry with the seller right now! They knew when we offered we were expecting and agreed to a completion date early March, then decide end of January to buy a flat

sorry for self indulgent post, just wanted to vent!

Oh squidge that's rubbish. Big hugs. Could you maybe rent somewhere for a few months so you have your own space before you move?

Squidge

Just noticed M&S are doing 20% off online orders today if anyone has been eyeing up any clothes/nursery bits from there.

Oh no Squidge - hope it gets sorted.

We're a filled pasta as we know time is too tight/both too tired to cook. DH is a great cook - he has been fab since I got pregnant and looks after me when i'm trying to stay awake on the sofa!

Hopefully planning on starting the hospital bags this coming weekend to work out what else is missing... at least a holiday you know how long you're going for and exactly when you're leaving!!!!

Thanks ladies! Just feeling a bit Meh about it all as I had it all planned out in my head!

We could potentially rent somewhere but it would have to be an air bnb type rental for a couple of months and my OH wouldn't justify the extra cost when we are practically living for free at PILs - don't get me wrong I love them both dearly and have a fantastic relationship with MIL I just really want my own space! I guess I will have to wait for confirmation and see how things progress in Feb then make the decision!

Squidge the same thing happened to us the owner said happy to move with family into his elderly mother's house around the corner to facilitate quick sale then promptly had an offer accepted on a house and said that he didn't want to go through the moving process twice. So it took the UK regulation 3 months in spite of us having sold our flats, money in the bank etc. In the end he didn't even complete on his purchase!

The point is it was rubbish but all came right in the end if that's any comfort at all. Have a

Brixton I can't wait for the first night DH comes home to filled pasta, will bring back happy memories of being responsible for just one child!

argh squidge what a pain! Especially as you started the process months ago! We were living with PiL when DD came, so I totally get how you feel on the sharing the newborn aspect, with PiL's friends coming over to see the baby, and MiL taking DD out to see her work colleagues etc I felt at times like I'd given birth to her baby, but at the same time it was fantastic to have PiL about as they'd take DD for a night every so often when I was so tired I just wanted to cry, and MiL taking DD out meant I could catch up on sleep, and there being 4 grownups in the house meant there was almost always someone about so I could shower, now we're in our own place I have the dubious choice of picking between giving DD 15 minutes to cause enough chaos in a room that I spend 2 hours tidying once I'm dressed or not showering at all, especially now I'm sleeping so badly that I can't drag myself out of bed early enough for a shower before DH leaves the house for an early shift!!

fab news on the hospital brixton great that they gave you a full check over!

Have to admit I am an all the pots and pans cook especially with a roast! the meal cards we got are fab as they generally use a knife, chopping board, measuring cup, saucepan and frying pan as apposed to all of the everything! Filled pasta always used to be a regular thing in our house, specially with a salad and garlic flatbread, I expect I wouldn't have to dig too far through the freezer to find a full set ready to go!

smog that sounds roughly like my normal daytime diet!

argh lauren DH has learnt that if he has cereal and leaves me to cook for 1 I will order myself a takeout whether we can afford it or not :P

Hehe I have a new plan now - load up freezer with filled pasta it's actually a good idea! Can make and freeze sauces too. Ah I'm getting excited for getting this all sorted!

squidge that's so rubbish about the house move, why do things never go smoothly when you need them to! Fingers crossed things move faster than you think.

Anyone else really feel like filled pasta now?

I do. The expensive fancy sort though. Off to meet a friend for ramen though so not too hard done by. Might sneak in some salt and pepper squid and gyoza too.

Another freezer staple for me is garlic bread! Just the waitrose bog standard essentials one. I can eat whole loaves to myself.