Personalised Christmas Cards with Paperless Post

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Restaurant review: Franco Manca, St Paul's, London

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Let's go on an Adventure - Alpaca my bags! Handmade card

I'm a big fan of alpacas - and even had them at my wedding - so when I saw a card making magazine on sale where the cover gift was a set of animal stamps including alpacas, I had to have them! It also came with some fun sentiments to go with the different animals including this one: Let's go on an
adventure - alpaca my bags! Probably my favourite alpaca pun :-)

To make this card I started with a background paper of pink and blue hearts. I then stamped the alpaca onto a piece of pink card and mounted it onto a piece of blue card with scalloped edging (a die-cut) and stuck it at a jaunty angle on the card. I followed the pink and blue theme with two die-cut balloons and stamped the sentiment onto a piece of pink card. I used some little pink gems in the four corners of the sentiment box to make it look like it had been fixed onto the card.

I'm sharing this with the Library Challenge where the theme is 'Five weeks in a balloon' and
Penny Black - 'summer colours'.

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1st Birthday Cakes - giraffe cake with giraffe pattern inside

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Restaurant review: Harvester Old Castle, Salisbury

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Sinabawan Ulo ng Maya Maya

Sinabawan Ulo ng Maya Maya. The other day I found this fresh maya maya fish head at South Supermarket in Filinvest Alabang. Without hesitation I immediately grab, knowing that this premium fish is no cheap. One medium size fish head costing about 500 pesos, immediately cut short my grocery budget money. Never the less I was pretty sure that it will make a great fish soup meal, I wanted to

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Adobong Kangkong with Oyster Sauce

Adobong Kangkong with Oyster Sauce. To today I am sharing my version of Adobong Kangkong. Adobong kangkong is one of the more popular vegetable adobo. It is simple, quick and fairly easy to prepare. Adobong kangkong is not new, in fact it is one of my first dish when I have started this Pinoy Food Blog. I have been posting also other Vegetable adobo recipe regularly. You may want to

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Design Your Own Invitations with Paperless Post - Review

You may have noticed that I love to make birthday cards, and have even made other greeting cards and invitations by hand. You may also have noticed that I haven't had a lot of time lately! My daughter is 13 months old now and takes up most of my time and attention, and when she's with my husband or having a nap, I'm doing housework or preparing her meals or one of a myriad of other chores.

So the opportunity to review Paperless Post couldn't have come at a better time. This is a site that allows you to create online cards and invitations, either by using one of the thousands of designs they offer, or uploading your own.

I had a go at making a few cards - I started with an invitation to my birthday celebrations and a photo upload Easter card.

The site is very easy to use and the end result looks really professional. The cards are received as an email where you can watch an envelope opening and the card coming out, and there are options to reply or leave a comment on the site. My friends and family thought the cards were lovely and I was impressed with the site.

The card are fully customisable. To make my birthday invitation, I searched for 40th birthday invitations and chose one of the designs. I was then not only able to enter the text I wanted but change the font, colour and size of the text, choose a background pattern to go behind the card, and pick the design of the envelope. You can also add a particular stamp and postmark to the card if you like.

For my birthday invitation I included a RSVP card; if you are making wedding invitations and want extra options like a card for guests to fill in their menu choices you can add that as well. You can also use the site to send messages to guests if there is information or a change of plans (or just send them an event reminder) that they need to know.

I was pleasantly surprised at how many different cards are on the site with themes like invitations to a barbecue or picnic, a hen party, a moving house announcement and so on. There are even designer collections like Oscar de la Renta and Kate Spade cards. I can definitely see myself using this on a regular basis!

There are also lots of cards were you can upload a photo so I also created Easter cards for friends and family featuring a photo of me, my husband and our daughter and a giant Easter bunny from a farm we visited recently. This is what the card looked like:

 

The site uses its own currency called 'coins' which you buy in packages, starting at 25 coins for £8 but the price per unit decreases eg 100 coins for £18 and 200 coins for £28. You get 25 coins free when you sign up for an account and can get extra coins for doing things like liking Paperless Post on Facebook.

 

My fairly simple birthday invite plus envelope and reply card cost 6 coins per invite. There are e-flyers which are free of charge to make and obviously the more you add to a card (eg extra sections for a wedding invite) the more they cost, but these are still pretty reasonably priced and much cheaper than buying and posting a physical greetings card - plus they are better for the environment. But if you do want a physical printed invitation or card there is an option on the site for that as well. I was very happy with the online cards and another benefit is that they are very quick - I didn't do the Easter cards until Good Friday and they only took a few minutes to create and send, whereas if I had bought cards and put them in the post, they wouldn't have arrived until after Easter!

 

 Thanks to Paperless Post for some coins to use on their site. All opinions are my own.

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Pinoy Creamy Pork and Chicken Curry

Pinoy Creamy Pork and Chicken Curry. I am not sure if someone has ever used Nestle cream on a Pinoy version of curry. The idea came about when I decided to cook a usual Pinoy Pork and Chicken Curry and I forgot about the coconut cream or milk ingredient. Without the coconut milk I decided to use what was available that I thought would make a good substitute, I had in the cupboard a can of

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Kinamatisang Daing at Nilagang Saba

Kinamatisang Daing at Nilagang Saba is my suggestion for a meat free holy week dish. Most Pinoy Christians in particular observed the Holy Week with meat free meals and dried fish is the choice of food next of course to the fish. Some of would rather have fresh fish for the reason of course people like fresh food. But for those who have been in the tradition of having dried fish meals during

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The nation's dining habits... revealed!

How often do you eat out? I have to admit now I have a baby under a year old I can't remember the last time I went out for dinner, though we do manage the occasional lunch out usually for a family birthday! Have you ever thought about how much eating out in restaurants costs each year and does that make you want to make more effort to cook at home, or is the cost worth it for the experience and quality of food?

This infographic from Sunny reveals some of the nation's dining habits including our favourite cuisine - some of the stats might surprise you! #sponsoredpost


Provided by Sunny

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Meal Planning Monday 2019 Week 7

I've got laryngitis at the moment so we had to cancel the visit to my parents last week and plans for this week are a bit up in the air until I get my voice back! So I am going to plan meals as if we were going to be at home every day but hopefully we will get to visit my parents at some point.

Monday
Breakfast for baby S porridge
Lunch for baby S peanut butter sandwich and apple slices with cinnamon
Lunch for us hotdogs
Dinner for baby S butterbean and veg stew followed by quark and fruit
Dinner for us fish pie for me, chicken wrapped in bacon for him

Tuesday
Breakfast for baby S porridge with fruit
Lunch for baby S crumpet and soft cheese
Lunch for us soup and bread
Dinner for baby S lentil, coconut milk, butternut squash and chicken curry based on this recipe
Dinner for us rest of fish pie for me, sausages for him

Wednesday
Breakfast for baby S cereal with milk
Lunch for baby S cheddar and butterbean bites with bits of finger food
Lunch for us just me as my husband is out - I'll probably have a sandwich
Dinner for baby S homemade risotto from the freezer
Dinner for us chicken goujons and prawns in breadcrumbs and chips

Thursday Valentine's day
Breakfast for baby S cereal with milk
Lunch for baby S  baked beans and toast
Lunch for us full English with heart shaped toast if I can be bothered
Dinner for baby S something from the freezer (I've got lots of batch cooked meals for her)
Dinner for us TBA

Friday
Breakfast for baby S porridge
Lunch for baby S  puff pastry with tomato puree and cheese
Lunch for us puff pastry with tomato puree and cheese
Dinner for baby S something from the freezer
Dinner for us pasta and meatballs I didn't do last week

Saturday
Breakfast for baby S porridge
Lunch for baby S at a birthday party
Lunch for us at a birthday party
Dinner for baby S something from the freezer
Dinner for us  sole with new potatoes for me, chicken mini fillets for him

Sunday
Breakfast for baby S cereal
Lunch for baby S pitta bread, cucumber, her favourite finger foods
Lunch for us bacon sandwich
Dinner for baby S sole with potato and sweetcorn
Dinner for us chicken mini roast

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Why Iberian ham deserves a place on the British dining table

How much do you know about Iberian ham? I have to admit I was a little hazy - I knew it from restaurants and deli counters as a wafer thin type of cured ham from Spain but that was about it.

In fact it's the pigs that are Iberian. They have dark skin and look black rather than pink, with long slender hind legs. They live in freedom and graze on acorns in certain parts of Spain, which apparently gives the meat a unique taste.

It's quite interesting reading about the process to produce the ham from salting to washing, then the pieces are left for up to three month for the salt to permeate. The really unique bit is the way the hams are cured - hung up and exposed to the natural climate conditions for 18-24 months and after that aged in a cellar for at least another 12 months (usually 18). The secret of curing is passed down in families from generation to generation.

It's also part of the famed Mediterranean diet - Iberian ham is high in monounsaturated fatty acids, protein, zinc and vitamins B1, B3 and B12, according to the information leaflet I received.

I was sent some Iberian ham by Ibeham, a project promoted by the Denomination of Origin Guijuelo (Spain). There are plenty of recipes on their site suggesting how to enjoy the ham but I wanted something fairly pure and simple, so tried it on a piece of fresh bread with some mozzarella and a little olive oil.

The slices are so wafer thin they are almost transparent, separated in the packet by pieces of plastic so you can peel the ham off. Each slice has a ribbon of fat which dissolved on the tongue and the taste and texture were both top notch. There are a lot of recipes you can use this in but I just want to savour the flavour by itself!

If you can get hold of some proper Iberian ham - and you don't have to go to specialist shops, Waitrose has some - then I highly recommend it as a little bit of luxury if you're just having a sandwich, or a platter for guests if you are entertaining.

Thanks to Ibeham for the ham to review

 

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Meal Planning Monday 2019 Week 6

I didn't manage to do a meal plan last week as I had very little time and had to just wing it when it came to meals... which isn't that easy when you are trying to prepare healthy nutritious food for a baby, finish feeding her and realise you need to get your own dinner on and have no idea what you are going to cook! My mum is out of hospital and has been for over a week now, and is doing really well; we are going to see her and my dad this week.

Monday
Breakfast for baby S Porridge with red berries
Lunch for baby S Chicken, potato waffles, veg
Lunch for us sausage sandwich
Dinner for baby S  pork with butternut squash and broccoli
Dinner for us steak and chips

Tuesday
Breakfast for baby S toast
Lunch for baby S banana pancakes
Lunch for us  pancakes
Dinner for baby S jar of baby food I opened yesterday that she didn't want followed by sugar free jelly
Dinner for us sole with lemon and parsley sauce for me, chicken chargrills for him 

Wednesday
Breakfast for baby S quark with fruit or possibly just milk depending on when we leave
Lunch for baby S finger food of cheese, pitta, cucumber etc followed by malt loaf
Lunch for us with my parents
Dinner for baby S sole with veg followed by a fruit pot
Dinner for us McDonalds which I know my husband has been wanting for a while, as we will have had a long drive

Thursday
Breakfast for baby S quark with fruit
Lunch for baby S cheese toastie followed by malt loaf
Lunch for us cheese and ham toasties
Dinner for baby S homemade risotto
Dinner for us  sausage casserole 

Friday
Breakfast for baby S crumpet with Marmite
Lunch for baby S sausage casserole
Lunch for us soup and bread
Dinner for baby S something homemade from the freezer
Dinner for us burger and chips

Saturday
Breakfast for baby S porridge
Lunch for baby S crumpets with soft cheese
Lunch for us crumpets and hot cross buns
Dinner for baby S pasta and meatballs with garlic bread
Dinner for us pasta and meatballs with garlic bread

Sunday
Breakfast for baby S porridge
Lunch for baby S pitta, cheese etc
Lunch for us sausage and egg muffins
Dinner for baby S something homemade from the freezer
Dinner for us TBA

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A Unique Valentine's Day Gift - Engraved Silver Marmite Lid

What do you get for the man who has everything? OK not everything, but if there's something my husband decides he wants, one click of a button and it turns up the next day from Amazon Prime. It takes a lot of thought at birthday and Christmas to come up with something he will like but hasn't already bought himself, and I try hard to find slightly quirky or unusual gifts from independent retailers or online gift companies (one stocking filler I got him this year was a doorstop for his 'man cave' (study) carved with the word 'hodor').

Game of Thrones is all very well but not the most romantic inspiration when it comes to Valentine's day (I don't even watch the show but can tell most relationships on it have met a nasty end). Marmite may also not seem the most romantic of gifts - until you think of the famous advertising strapline: 'Marmite - you either love it or hate it'. Believe it or not, that advert was devised in the mid 90s, and has lasted so long that it's become a metaphor for anything people have strong feelings towards.

People who love Marmite, love Marmite. It is a sign of true love for them to say they love you more than they love Marmite!

So what better way to say I love you this Valentine's day than with a jar of Marmite? Well how about this: a personalised engraved silver Marmite lid that is a beautiful keepsake, and actually fits on top of your jar of Marmite so you can either keep it in the larder or on your bedside table (the engraved lid that is, not the Marmite - unless you really love it).

There are a few different places that sell engraved Marmite lids but this one from The Engravers Guild has a beautiful design of a cupid and hearts and the words 'I love you even more than Marmite' along with the recipient's name. You could even get your own name as a keepsake for yourself!

Made of solid 925 sterling sliver in a UK silversmiths, the lid fits a standard 250g jar of Marmite. The engraving is done with a diamond-tipped machine cutter so it will last a lifetime making this a really lovely keepsake for your valentine. This one, the sterling 925 silver, retails at £79 including the cost of the engraving and a gift box.

The Engravers Guild has some other options as well including a Brexit/Remainer version, a plain silver lid (£59.95) which you could have engraved with a message for a birthday or Christening or anything else, or one finished with 9 carat gold for £140 if you want to treat your love to something even more lavish.

I love the way it has turned out - you can see more of the details on the lid in this close up photo above.
Standard delivery is 3-5 working days but they also offer a next day service if you've left it a bit late - and the lid is of course delivered with a jar of Marmite!

Thanks to The Engravers Guild of London which offers a range of personalised gifts for the complimentary engraved Marmite lid. All opinions are my own and this is not a paid-for post though I was sent an engraved lid free of charge.

 

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Baby Hand Print Get Well Card - A little bird told me you're not feeling so chirpy

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Meal Planning Monday 2019 Week 4

My mum is still in hospital (this is her 4th week) but she is recovering really well and I think pretty close to being allowed to go home, which is brilliant. I don't really know when I'm going to visit her in advance at the moment as it depends on when she is going home, what help she and my dad will need, and if I get any more job interviews - everything is quite up in the air at the moment really!

I've been winging it so far this week but had an online shop last night and realised if I don't plan meals, food will sit in the fridge until its use by date and I won't get around to cooking it. I also wanted to make some more meals for baby S though I seem to be running out of freezer space with all the little plastic tubs we've got in there now!

So right now it's nearly 10pm and I've got two pans of veg cooking to make some baby meals - this is the first time I've been able to stop all day!

Monday
I went to see my mum in hospital and we had something easy from the freezer for dinner when I got back, I can't even remember what it was!

Tuesday
We had hunter's chicken (ready made) with potato croquettes

Wednesday
Breakfast for baby S - porridge with banana
Lunch for baby S - crumpet with soft cheese
Lunch for us - hot dogs
Dinner for baby S - pasta with tomato sauce, veg and chicken followed by half a fruit pot
Dinner for us - burger and chips - not good when you consider what we had for lunch, this is why I need to plan - the planning starts here!

Thursday
Breakfast for baby S - porridge with fruit if time, just milk otherwise, as we have to go out shortly after 10
Lunch for baby S rest of veg and chicken from yesterday mixed into pasta with a cheese sauce and a tiny bit of bacon for her to try
Lunch for us bacon sandwich
Dinner for baby S Cod with butternut squash, leek, potato and kale (veg mix cooked in advance and batch frozen) followed by apple and plum crumble
Dinner for us  roast chicken - it's not Sunday but why not, since neither of us is in work at the moment!

Friday
Breakfast for baby S porridge with fruit - I did try her with Cheerios but she found them a bit difficult to manage so it's back to porridge for the moment
Lunch for baby S - chicken pieces with roasted veg from yesterday (finger food)
Lunch for us - cheese and ham toasties
Dinner for baby S - chicken with mixed veg from freezer followed by rest of apple and plum crumble
Dinner for us - chicken curry

Saturday
Breakfast for baby S crumpet
Lunch for baby S banana egg-free pancakes
Lunch for us  pancakes
Dinner for baby S - moussaka
Dinner for us - slow cooked gammon in apple juice

Sunday
Breakfast for baby S porridge with fruit or toast as we may be at my MIL's
Lunch for baby S finger food of pitta with fish paste, cucumber, cheese and any interesting fruit or veg I find at my MIL's!
Lunch for us If we are still at my MIL's, probably a bacon sandwich
Dinner for baby S - gammon from yesterday with veg
Dinner for us sausage casserole

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Meal Planning Monday 2019 Week 3

This is the first meal plan I've managed to do so far this year as 2019 didn't start off as expected - my mum was rushed into hospital on December 30th and spent a week in intensive care, most of that unconscious. Thankfully she is now awake and on the mend on a ward where she will be for a couple more weeks; I've been to visit several times already but then had a cold so was asked to stay away while her immune system is still weak. And with a job interview for myself and a meeting with a recruiter for my husband this week I'm not sure if I will be able to visit more than once this week (the hospital is a 2.5 hour journey away at least but last time it took me 4 hours to get back) and I've got a 10 month old baby at home to look after as well. So for the moment I'm planning to visit on Monday and then maybe later in the week again or at the beginning of the week after.

Saturday
Lunch for us beans on toast (in a hurry to take baby S out to a play session)
Lunch for baby S crumpet with houmous
Dinner for us steak and chips
Dinner for baby S homemade risotto (in freezer)

Sunday
Breakfast for baby S cereal
Lunch for us sausage and egg muffins
Lunch for baby S pitta bread with houmous, peanut butter, cucumber sticks, cheese etc
Dinner for us spaghetti and meatballs
Dinner for baby S homemade beef casserole (in freezer) with extra veg

Monday
I'll be away visiting my mum in hospital
Breakfast for baby S porridge or toast, whichever my husband finds easiest
Lunch for us I will be out so whatever is easiest; my husband won't get much time looking after baby S by himself so I will leave him something ready made in the fridge
Lunch for baby S jar of baby food
Dinner for us not sure when I will be back (South Western Railway let me down last time) so something easy from the freezer
Dinner for baby S Depends when I am back but possibly another jar of baby food or something homemade from the freezer

Tuesday
Breakfast for baby S cereal
Lunch for us just me today as my husband is meeting a friend for lunch - I think I will have a jacket potato with a  tuna filling that baby S can also eat
Lunch for baby S tuna pasta from this Annabel Karmel recipe
Dinner for us seabass in watercress sauce with veg and new potatoes for me,
Dinner for baby S chicken and butternut squash Annabel Karmel recipe

Wednesday
I'm in London at a job interview this morning (on top of everything else, I'm at risk of redundancy as my role I'm on maternity leave from doesn't exist any more) so my husband will be holding the fort for breakfast and lunch.
Breakfast for baby S porridge or toast
Lunch for him something ready made he can easily eat
Lunch for baby S something from a jar or the freezer that my husband can easily serve
Dinner for us rest of seabass for me (two portions frozen together) with lemon and garlic sauce; chicken breast with the same sauce for him
Dinner for baby S fish with butternut squash, kale and peas from this Annabel Karmel recipe

Thursday
Breakfast for baby S porridge, toast or cereal
Lunch for us mini pizzas
Lunch for baby S mini pizza
Dinner for us sausage casserole
Dinner for baby S homemade risotto from the freezer

Friday
Breakfast for baby S porridge, toast or cereal
Lunch for us just me I think today as my husband has a meeting with a recruiter - he is looking for a job as well - I'll have a sandwich
Lunch for baby S selection of finger food
Dinner for us chicken goujons with chips
Dinner for baby S something ready made to save time so we can tidy up before people come tomorrow

Saturday
Breakfast for baby S porridge, toast or cereal
Lunch for us bacon sandwich
Lunch for baby S pitta bread with tuna mayo and sweetcorn based on this Annabel Karmel recipe
Dinner for us having friends to stay - TBA
Dinner for baby S something ready made

Sunday
Breakfast for baby S porridge, toast or cereal
Lunch for us very excited today that I am having a proper 'dinner party' even though it's lunch time - you will be able to read more on the blog soon!
Lunch for baby S jar of baby food at her grandmother's house (with daddy as he's not coming to the 'dinner party' - it's just girls!)
Dinner for us  TBA
Dinner for baby S TBA

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