July 2010 - Next thread, cba to think of a title

[Chulita]

I want to witter away to you lot and none of you have come up with the goods so this will have to do...

Yes chul you're right. He seems really tired atm so I do wonder if teething is affecting his sleep, and therefore his behaviour itswim. But it's definitely his age more than anything I reckon. We've had a good day today - all through softplay he behaved, he ate all his fish, chips, peas and ice-cream in the wacky, had a bit of a dickiefit when we had to leave but nothing major, then was quiet while baby napped and was good as gold getting his hair cut this afternoon. Bedtime is still 3 hours away though so fingers crossed I haven't just cursed it

I always seem to overcook cakes trude. Listen to wise chulita!

DH is 'sick of rice and pasta dishes' but I'm really running out of inspiration for veggie meals, that aren't beany/lentily/pasta/ricey Last night we had veg pies, roasties, roast parsnips & carrots and broccoli, the night before we had quiche and chips/sweet potato chips. Anyone got any inspiration for me?

Thanks for the kind words everyone, I think it seems worse because I'm so tired at the moment, G has started waking at 5am again and dh is often not home till 6.30/7 so I'm doing 14 hour days with them and I just feel knackered. I'm up at 5am with her again at the moment, I;ve been trying to get her back to sleep since 4.30 but no luck :( . HOpefully the appt on Saturday will help, vision problems are incredibly common so I'm sure it will all be ok.

Afternoon all! :) I've been keeping up with reading, but not had the time or energy to post lately. M been suffering with a cold and tends to vomit when she coughs too hard, so we've had a few broken nights due to that, and I've been fighting off the cold myself. I was a walking zombie in work on Monday and Tuesday!

We seem to be returning to normality now though, at least. The night before last she slept through, and last night we just had one wakeup that was probably either due to a nightmare or being frightened by the hailstorm at 3am, as she seemed fine but just wanted a cuddle.

I've not got much to contribute to the thread, I'm afraid! I never really feel qualified to offer much advice, since most of the time I have no idea what I'm doing and just bumble my way through.

However, I can suggest some veggie meals. :) How about Tacos, using Quorn or beans? Or we do wraps filled with salad and grilled halloumi, normally with Pizza Express house sauce and (sweet) potato wedges.

Recently we've been having gnocchi, since M seems not to realise it's potato and yums it up. We also do a fair number of curries with paneer, chickpeas or potatoes - you could do them with naan breads instead of rice? Or chapatis/parathas/etc?

Or big mushrooms, stuffed with pesto and cheese, then served on a bed of couscous. Or stirfry, with tofu or just lots of crunchy vegetables, served with noodles? Butter beans are nice too, especially served like a pasta bake with some fresh crusty bread.

Now I feel hungry.

Thanks for the suggestions spirael. He doesn't 'do' beans (other than baked beans), tofu (can't blame him) or stir fry. I adore curry and could probably eat it every night but it's one of the things he's sick of he says :(

Big mushrooms could be a winner though! You have just reminded me to put pesto on my shopping list so thanks :)

mlisc I feel your pain wrt not liking pasta/rice, dh is the same but I love it so makes it hard to think of things.

I know you said veggie but tonight for example I'm doing bacon, eggs, potato waffles and beans. Last night we had chicken goujons with corn on the cob, green beans and new potatos.

mlisc I can't help I'm afraid, we're meat-eaters through and through, all I could think of was shepherd's pie with lentils instead of meat then had to cross it off cos it's lentilly... "cake?"

wss sounds very similar to S at the mo and DH is the same with not getting back til 7 and often leaving home at 6.30am so I just feel so drained by the evening! Can't be doing with 5am wake-ups, something's going to have to change.

And you're 20 weeks pg too chulita. I'm a bit of a wuss in comparison

Hah! It's not like I have a choice though eh?! That's the thing with being a parent, it teaches you to 'man-up' and get on with it, DH said the encouraging words "at least once I leave the army you can have the career and I'll keep the house clean" why er...thanks, I think, like I'm just sitting on my arse having a rest all day!

mlic what a pain that is re dinners! spirael's suggestions sound bloody yum to me. some more:

shepherds pie (vegemince and --lentils) with veg and gravy

pizza (though i'm sure you've thought of that)

we have veggie hotdogs with wedges or veggie burgers with jacket potato or wedges and corn on the cob now and then

tagine (will he not eat chick peas?) with cous cous (or is that in the rice category)

vegetable (and quorn?) fajitas with gaucamole, wedges, salsa etc on the side

veggie cornish pasties

vegetable (and quorn?) stroganoff, could serve it with new potatoes instead of rice

spanish tortilla

falafels, humous, pitta bread, salad, you can do other lebanese stuff on the side like spicy potatoes and their version of moussaka (just aubergine, tomatoes and chick peas)

veggie sausage (with carrots and mushrooms etc) casserole with sliced potato on top

creamy mushroom and leek filo parcels with new potatoes and peas

now i'm starving but luckily meeting a friend for dinner shortly

Hiya all. Terrible night here last night, J was awake from 1am-4am. Every time I was just dropping off to sleep he'd start up again. He's suffering with his teeth so I gave him Calpol the first time he woke. Then at about 2.30 I fed him. And then again and again. He bit my nipple really hard at one point and I ended up in floods of tears. gah. Today has been a bit of a crappy day really for a variety of reasons. Have just got J into bed (though not asleep yet) and am chilling out with a whisky mac.

Ooh, mushroom and leek parcels sound delicious!

woodlands hope you get a chilled out, quiet evening, that was an awful night. Fingers crossed for a better one for you both tonight.

Sorry bout your night woodlands, that sounds horrible :(

I agree chul, the mushroom and leek parcels do sound delish! Do you know what we had for tea tonight, at dh's request? Twice baked cheesy baked potatoes with onion gravy. He was all self-congratulating on choosing such a nice meal even though I fucking cooked it

It was shit. Not shit as in tasted shit, just a shit 'non meal' meal.

So I'm making up for it with wine instead

fair one.

I will get that dough recipe, I promise, I just cba to type it out at the mo. Do you want the white, brown or granary one?

White please. Bread came out looking awful again tonight :( Don't know why :(

I am so fucking angry with my dad right now, absolutely fuming. I feel like I'm going to explode. I wish I could tell him what a selfish, disrespectful idiot he's being but I can't so I'm going to sit here and seethe until I'm calm enough to go to bed (which might take a loooooooongfuckingtime)

Right, bread recipe in an attempt to distract myself from climbing down the phone lines and throttling him

Yeast 1tsp
Strong White Flour 475g
Sugar 1.5tsp
Butter 25g
Salt 1 1/4 tsp
Water 320ml

I put mine on for the full bake period, I've found it's not so good on the 'short' version. Takes 4 hours for this machine

Fruit loaf

Yeast 1tsp
Strong White Flour 400g
Sugar 2tsp
Butter 75g
Salt 1tsp
Cinnamon 2tsp
Mixed Spice 1tsp
Eggs, medium 2
Water 110ml
Milk 110ml
Mixed Dried Fruit 150g

Our machine has a setting to add the fruit in automatically but if you don't have that you need to add them in after the initial kneading/rising. You can add them at the end by hand but it takes a year and a half of kneading to mix them in.

Fwiw I used the pizza dough recipe for the dough balls and found they rose really well and were very fluffy
that's: Yeast 1/2tsp
Flour 300g
Olive Oil 1 Tbsp
Salt 1tsp
Water 170ml

at a year and a half to knead. Mine beeps when you can add any bits.
Thank you

What has happened with your dad?

Hi,
Im off to bed, far too late, shit night last night and long day at work!
chu tell us about ur dad!
mylife hope toddleboy is good for u.
woods really hope u have a better night and no bites!
DH can u leave D at ur Moms and go get some rest?
Speak tomorrow more xx

chul what's up?

mlic i'm sulking, i can;t believe i wrote all of that out for you to just comment on the bloody parcels

Aaaaaarrrrrgggghhhhh I can't believe it!! D slept through! 8-6! I did a double take of the clock when he woke up.
Things we did differently- no sma milk, think that's what was causing indigestion. We gave him calpol for his teeth so I'm really hoping it wasn't that which helped so much but knowing my luck it was.

cake fwiw i think it all sounds lovely, although i do like a bit of meat, sorry!
What was everyones night like? D woke as usual at 3.20 but seemed to drop off at around 4.30 which wasnt as bad as usual. He woke again at 6.20 for 5mins but again droppped back off untill around 7ish, so all in all not that bad really. Does everyone use a beaker now for milk, i just tried to give D his in a beaker and he wouldnt touch it, poured it in a bottle and he had the lot. Although he doesnt seem interested in his night time milk at all really for the last few nights, has anyone dropped their night time milk?

I didn't give D any milk last night and he slept through for the first time ever so I don't think he needs it but obv other babies might be different.

Woohoo dh! Great news!

Much better night here too. He woke at 9pm obviously in pain so we gave him some ibuprofen and then he went back to sleep till 6.30am, which was just the right time for me to feed him before I had to leave for work.

Off out for dinner tonight, yay! Doing another babysitting exchange.

I am having a sartorial crisis. I'm being godmother for my friend's little girl on Sunday, and it's quite a smart christening at St George's Chapel in Windsor Castle. WHat the hell do I wear? I was going to wear a vintage green and brown knitted dress with brown knee-high boots, but actually I think that's more of a work-type outfit and I should be a bit more weddingy. I have a brown and gold Chinese-style long skirt from Monsoon but that's probably too eveningy, plus no tops go with it. I am going to Westfield tomorrow so could possibly buy something but I'm a bit skint so I'd rather not...

woods i think the vintage dress sounds lovely, can you dress it up at all, can u put a different jacket or anything with it?
dh He slept through??? HE SLEPT THROUGH!!! Thats brilliant, wow, i bet you couldnt believe it, how do u feel today?
chu how are u feeling today, has your anger calmed down yet, whats with ur dad?
trudy hows things?? is dh going to have much time off when the baby comes? whats the plan with M when u go into labour?
cake did u decide if you would take on more hours at work?
mylife what u up to today? Is it your free day? i have a week at work then a week off and i cant wait, although last time i had a week off D was home poorly, i sooooooooo hope that doesnt happen again! dh has been home poorly two days this week and had the luxury of being home alone, when i was poorly so was D so didnt even get a good rest then!
Hope the weather improves, i wanted to do stuff today!

Wow dh that's excellent!

Sorry cake Didn't mean to be rude
Ok in order:
shepherds pie (vegemince and --lentils) with veg and gravy
He'll eat it once in a while with quorn not lentils. He's not mad on it though
pizza (though i'm sure you've thought of that)
Yep, thought of that
we have veggie hotdogs with wedges or veggie burgers with jacket potato or wedges and corn on the cob now and then
I'll sometimes give him chicken style burgers but it's not my thing. That's ok though, we don't always have to have the same thing. Hotdogs are yuk though
tagine (will he not eat chick peas?) with cous cous (or is that in the rice category)
Erm, no he wouldn't entertain chickpeas. And he's not keen on cous cous either. He used to eat it back in the day, but seems to have gone off it. Either that or it was back early enough in our relationships that he was too polite to say he didn't like it
vegetable (and quorn?) fajitas with gaucamole, wedges, salsa etc on the side
Again, he used to like fajitas but has gone off them
veggie cornish pasties
Didn't see this one the first time I read the list - have you got a recipe please?
vegetable (and quorn?) stroganoff, could serve it with new potatoes instead of rice
Mushroom stroganoff is a good one, maybe with wedges or something though. He doesn't like new potatoes (are you starting to get my frustration???)
spanish tortilla
Yep, that's an option, thanks
falafels, humous, pitta bread, salad, you can do other lebanese stuff on the side like spicy potatoes and their version of moussaka (just aubergine, tomatoes and chick peas)
Hahahaha, I can picture his face if I dished that up
veggie sausage (with carrots and mushrooms etc) casserole with sliced potato on top
I haven't done sausage casserole in a while, maybe one for next week
creamy mushroom and leek filo parcels with new potatoes and peas
As I said last night, sounds delish!

Woodlands, that vintage dress sounds nice. IMO it'd be the boots that 'dress it down', could you put some nice heels with it instead to dress it up? If not I'd recommend getting a simple black dress, maybe a shift dress. A staple requirement for any girl's wardrobe!

Yes vik it's my free day! Had a bit of a trauma with toddlerface as he's back to 'I don't want to go' again :( But he has to go as in 8 weeks time he starts preschool and will have to get used to not being with me all the time. I bribed him by saying he could start visits up to the next room (pre-school room) as he is clearly bored and needs challenging/stimulating. It helped that his best friend arrived just as we went into the pre-school room, but he was still upset when I said I was going :( But in response to your question, I don't know what I'll do! I have watched the end of Little Children with Kate Winslet this morning (it's shit, don't watch it) and now watching a bit of Jezza Might go shopping later. Not that I've got any money...

Yes I still give babyboy milk at bedtime. If there isn't a big enough gap between tea and bottle (bottle not beaker) he doesn't drink much, but so long as he has his evening meal 4.30/5pm he has 8/9oz at 6.30. I intent to keep it up as I'm reluctant to change anything now he's sleeping well! He slept 7pm to 7.20am last night. Don't shoot me.

Sorry for epic post!

How you feeling Trudy?