Tuesday 29 April 2014

My first weekly VLOG!

Hi everyone! I have been wanting to start youtube and vlogging for about 5 years now but I am always too nervous but I have taken the plunge and decided to try and do weekly vlogs so I can kind of document mine and Lillys life.

This one may be a little bit boring but im still trying to feel comfortable infornt of the camera and basically talking out loud to myself! I would really appreciate it If you could subscribe to my channel https://www.youtube.com/user/Lillyandme12 and im hoping to do more beauty, mummy videos once I build up some confidence haha!

Sorry about the choppy editing and random clips but it is my first vlog and I don't know how to edit so im still learning :)


Saturday 19 April 2014

Lilly's Easter Basket 2014





I cant believe its Easter already! Where is this year going?! I did a post last week on some ideas on things I was adding to Lilly's Easter basket HERE and now I finally have the basket ready and waiting for Lilly to come down in the morning.

Since my previous post I added a little bunny teddy which I bought Lilly before she was born but its one that has just been with her other teddies and I thought I could re use it although he looks a little sad in this picture. I also added a peppa pig dinner set which includes a cup, bowl, spoon and a chocolate egg which I picked up from asda. The cute little bunny ears are from Tesco and I hope to get some pictures of her wearing them but I doubt they will be on for long! I wanted to get the traditional wicker Easter basket but I found this small basket in b&m bargains and thought I could use it in Lilly's room or reuse it for other occasions and it was only £4!

I'm excited for Lilly to see this in the morning. Its waiting downstairs on our coffee table for Lilly to see when she comes downstairs. If you have made a Easter basket this year I would love to see them so please link below :)

Happy Easter everyone x

Good Friday // A Little Trip To The Zoo









Easter weekend has fallen on my birthday this year and we are trying to take full advantage and have a family filled week. We were planning on going to whipsnade zoo on Monday but looking at the weather yesterday the bank holiday weekend is in for some rain and we decided to make a last minuet plan and go yesterday whilst the sun was out. Turns out when we got there it turned cloudy and was really cold but we still had a good day.

Its the first time we have taken Lilly to a zoo. I thought she would love it however her attention span was about 5 seconds and with the busy crown and not being able to get close to the animals she was a little over it until we got into the little petting farm section. Lilly loves being able to stroke animals and was so excited to see these little miniature goats which you could stroke. We spent most of the day in here as she didn't want to leave them and thought they were cows and repeatedly said moo!

If anyone came to stoke the miniature goats she would look at them as if to say 'get away' and guard them. Whipsnade also have a big play area and lots of places to eat. Whilst we were walking around we saw these little animals ( I don't know what they are kind a big rabbit/kangaroo) and a female came out of her little burrow with 3 babies that had just been born and was also giving birth to another which was crazy to see.

Friday 11 April 2014

A Walk In The Park...




The sun was shining today and it is starting to feel a little warmer which means its perfect for getting outdoors. I love going for family walks and taking Lilly to feed the ducks. We are lucky where we live to be surrounded by lakes and country parks where there are always lots of wildlife and new areas to explore. I'm trying to take more pictures of our little adventures and share them on here.

Lilly loves to pick daisy's. We are constantly stopping to the sound of a little voice saying 'daisy daisy' and having to pick one from every bunch for her, We came across to beautiful swans who we fed some bread to. These two swans were so calm and were reaching to get the bread out of our hands. I haven't ever really been so close to a swan I could nearly touch it but how beautiful and big are they?!

My two boys are in need of a good groom but I love this photo of rocky, he looks like he is smiling haha!

Wednesday 9 April 2014

What I Ate Wednesday

Hi everyone. I wanted to start a Weight I ate Wednesday series on my blog. I really like seeing these on other blogs and as im trying to eat better I thought id share with you guys.
 
Breakfast
 
For breakfast today I had porridge with semi skimmed milk and a couple of raspberries and strawberries on top. Im not the biggest fan of any berries but I know they are good for me and im really trying to change my taste buds and mixing them with porridge seems to help.
 


 Lunch

Lunch I usually always eat the same thing and I get stuck in a rut. I have been trying to eat different things for lunch and choosing more healthier options. I had a Warburton's thin with 1 slice of wafer thin cooked ham, some lettuce and a few cherry tomatoes. Also for a little snack I had a hand full of grapes.


Dinner

Dinner was a bit of a nightmare. I tried a new recipe for garlic butterflied chicken. I ordered polenta from Tesco but they sent me the normal polenta not the dried stuff so it doesn't look the best but it still tasted ok. It was basically polenta, garlic and mixed herbs on chicken with a salad.

Snacks
For snacks I had some quavers and a slice of brownie I made yesterday in my previous post,

Would love you to come read my Beauty blog Thepamperedpout // Follow me on Bloglovin, TwitterInstagram

Weight watchers Brownie Recipe // Bloggers WLW


 
 
I Haven't done a bloggers weight loss Wednesday post for a while, simply because I fell of the bandwagon a little! I'm back on it though but I need those little naughty treats every now and then so I don't completely fall off the waggon and order a Chinese and binge. I wanted to share with you a brownie recipe I have been making recently. These aren't exactly low cal brownies but they are better than normal brownies. I goggled low cal brownies and came across a recipe which was for weight watchers brownies. They are 7pp each which is still high but a damn bit better than 11pp for other brownies. These taste so, so good! Honestly they taste better than any other brownie I have made before. These one I cooked on a high heat for a shorter time and they came out sort of fudge like in the middle which I really like. Previously I have put them in for on a lower heat for longer than the recipe and they are more gooey in the middle and still very moist.

Ingredients
250g Dark chocolate
175g butter, unsalted
3 medium eggs
25g splenda granulated sweetener
60g white self raising flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
100g walnuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 190oc

Step 1
Put the chocolate and butter in a heat proof bowl and rest over boiling water.Leave until melted.

Step 2
whisk eggs in a bowl, gradually adding the sweetener until combined. whisk in the melted chocolate.

Step 3
Sift in the flour and baking powder

Step 4
Add to a baking tin and bake for around 15-18 mins

Leave to cool and then cut as desired and store in a airtight container.


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Monday 7 April 2014

Easter Basket Ideas

 

 
Easter is only around the corner and I thought I would share some of the goodies I have picked up in the last couple of weeks for Lilly's Easter basket. I did a Little Christmas basket for Lilly after seeing Kerry from Oh so Amelia's blog and I thought it was a good idea and wanted to do it for every holiday possible!

I don't want to fill it with sweets or chocolate but other little things I could find. Here are some of the goodies I have picked up. I'm still waiting for a few other little bits and the actual Easter basket which I want a white wicker basket and have seen one on ebay which I will do another post on the completed basket once its finished.

I went to hobby craft a couple of weeks ago and picked up the fill able eggs. I don't plan on filling these they are just for Lilly to play with as for some reason she is obsessed with eggs and colourful things. I also picked up some pink straw and this cute little pink bunny basket. We will be away for the Easter weekend and where we are going have a Easter egg hunt so I thought this would be cute for her to use to collect some eggs.

From a shop called the range I picked up this adorable 'palm pet' chic which chirps when held in your hand. Lilly loves birds and I thought this would be a cute little toy. One of my dogs also loves this too much and when I was trying to take pictures of it chirping away he was going crazy!! I also picked up a 6 pack of mini chicks for decoration and some 3d stickers.

From asda I bought this bunny mouth and teeth lolly and also a cute little Easter colouring book from Tesco. I did also get some white and pink bunny ears which I forgot to photograph but I will add in it the Easter basket post.

Are you doing a basket or box this easter?

Sunday 6 April 2014

What's On My Iphone - Toddler App's

 
 
 
 
Hi everyone! I wanted to share some of the apps on my iPhone Lilly is currently loving. I'm always looking for new apps for her and really like reading these. Now I know that there is mixed opinions on toddlers/children playing with technology and there are a lot of mums who are against it. I'm not against letting Lilly play on my phone or tab, granted I don't let her constantly play on them and her time is limited however in certain situations toddler apps have really come in handy and saved me from a mummy melt down!

Most of the apps on my phone or tab are educational apps. Lilly is a very independent girl, she hates being sat still and is constantly wanting to run around. This makes it very hard to go out for meals or even on long car journeys. I let Lilly play on my phone if we are out and she starts to get bored and a little restless or if we are on long car journeys.

My favourite apps are the fisher price apps. They are all educational and Lilly loves the puppy. The app Puppy play is basically all the fisher price apps in one and you can make little play lists. Another of Lilly's Favourite is elmo calls, I think this was 69p and its like face time but to elmo and they can see themselves in the bottom corner, Lilly loves to call elmo and knows how to answer the phone to him when he calls.

Itot is basically flash cards. I love flash cards, I have used them for a long time with Lilly and they really helped her learn words, her animals, letters shapes etc so when I found a app on my phone for it I was really pleased. Itot is the app I would recommend to everyone. Its a free app and has animals, food and things. It comes up like a flash card with the word at the top and then a picture and when you tap it says the word.

If your have a child that loves Micky mouse club house you need to download Appisodes. Its basically a episode of Micky mouse clubhouse but they have to do little tasks throughout.

 
Lilly's top 10 Apps
Puppy play
Elmo calls
Itot cards
Appisodes
Elmo monster maker
Animal sounds
Color drops
Farm Sounds
Rhymes
Counting 123
 
All of these apps can be found on the app store and I'm pretty sure most of them are free.
 
 
If you have a post on your childs favourite apps please link it below as Im always looking for new ones.
 
Would love you to come read my Beauty blog Thepamperedpout // Follow me on Bloglovin, TwitterInstagram

 


Tuesday 1 April 2014

My First Graze Box

 
 


I received my first Graze box in the post yesterday and was excited to see what was inside. I have known about Graze for a long time and have always wanted to order one but I wasn't sure if it was going to be just pure nuts but after seeing others graze box's and seeing all the yummy goodies I had to try one for myself.

The box itself is a snacking box filled with four healthy goodies. The idea is that you can have them delivered to work or home and will replace those naughty snacks and stop you hitting the vending machine or reaching for that chocolate.

When you order your box, there's a list of the foods graze provides and you can say which ones you would like to try, which you don't and things you would like them to send soon. This is a really good idea as somethings I would hate to receive and others I really wanted to try.

My first box was really good, and im hoping its not one of those one box wonders to kind of suck you in but only time will tell.

This week I received, healthy popping corn, tutti fruiti, honeycomb flapjacks and smoky gazpacho dip. The pop corn tasted so nice, just like normal sweet popcorn and was the first time I have ever had to 'pop' corn in the microwave. I ate the pop corn straight away. Today me and Lilly had a flapjack each which we both loved, they were so tasty and the little bit of chocolate on top makes the difference. I really wanted the flapjacks as everyone raves about them. I also tried the Gazpacho dip, and oh my it was so good!! I hadn't ever heard of it before but I hope I get this again.

To order a graze box you can do so here and if you use my friend code APRILN4KP you can get your first box free!

Have you tried graze yet? What do you think?