Lemon Parmesan Crusted Asparagus

For husband's birthday this week, we had a special birthday supper of steak, garlic mushroom and asparagus. I saw a recipe for this asparagus somewhere, and gave it a go. I love asparagus, and the addition of lemon zest, parmesan and breadcrumbs took it to another dimension. I generally keep a bag of breadcrumbs in the freezer (made from leftover stale bread) for topping pasta dishes etc. I think this lemony, cheesy breadcrumb mixture could be used for loads of dishes - coating a piece of chicken breast, topping some fish etc, so I will be making up a bag of this for the freezer!

Lemon Parmesan Crusted Asparagus

Ingredients
1 egg
2 tbsp milk
Handful of grated parmesan
Handful of breadcrumbs
Grated zest of 1 lemon
1 bunch of asparagus
Salt and pepper

Instructions
1. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees and grease a roasting tin or line with parchment or foil.
2. Beat the egg and milk together in a shallow dish.
3. Toss the breadcrumbs, parmesan, zest and salt and pepper together and spread out on a plate of shallow dish.
4. Dunk the asparagus in the egg, a few at a time, and then into the breadcrumb mixture. Make sure they are coated all over before putting in the roasting tin.
5. Roast until golden brown and the asparagus is soft, approx. 20-25 mins.




Before roasting



After roasting - crispy and golden


I could eat a plate of this all on its on (maybe with a little lemon or garlic mayo for dipping!)

Enjoy!

Breath Holding

The first time it happened, G was about 7 months old, and we were at a 'Music with Mummy' class. While I was putting my coat on, he suddenly leaned back (thinking I was still sat on the floor behind him) and hit his head on the floor. It was carpet, and I knew he hadn't seriously hurt himself, but he screamed and then went silent. After a second or two of him being silent and floppy, he suddenly started crying again and was then fine. I didn't think too much of it until a few weeks later when it happened again. He was sitting on his bedroom floor playing while I put his clothes away. He overreached for a toy and toppled over sideways. Again, he screamed and then after a few seconds went silent. This time I was watching him carefully. He screamed, and then at the point where a child would normally take a deep breath to give another bellow, he didn't or couldn't take a breath. His face was frozen in a silent scream, his eyes looked panicked and then he went deathly pale, floppy and seemingly unconscious. An eternity later (but actually only a few seconds), with me shouting his name, blowing in his face, pinching his cheeks etc, he opened his eyes and started crying again. He was then VERY drowsy and pale for a good half hour, before the colour started to come back.

I mentioned it to the health visitor, who just said it was "breath holding" and he would grow out of it.

After another couple of episodes over the next few months, the big one happened. He was about 13months old, and still showing no signs of moving at all. We'd dropped big brother at nursery at 8am and come home. He was sitting on the sofa with some books. As I leaned over to pick him up to take him into the kitchen for breakfast, he leapt towards me and did a kind of forward roll off the sofa onto the mat on the floor. I swept him up quickly and he went into a breath-holding episode. Except this time he didn't regain consciousness after a couple of seconds. About a minute went by of me trying to bring him round and I knew something was wrong, so I lay him on the floor and dialled 999. The ambulance came within 5 minutes, by which time he had come round. The 999 operator had transferred me to a paramedic who had kept me talking the whole time, talking me through putting him in the recovery position etc. When the ambulance crew arrived at the door, they had a camera-crew in tow (something they had omitted to tell me on the phone!). They were filming for emergency rescue or one of those sort of real-life docu-dramas, and did I mind being filmed? Well apart from the fact that I'd thought my baby was dead, I hadn't yet had a shower and looked like a greasy scarecrow! I was told to pack a bag with nappies, food, milk etc for him, as he would need to be taken to hospital to be checked over. They got it into their heads that it was a head injury due to the fall and didn't seem to be listening to me about the breath-holding thing. By the time I had run around gathering a few things, G was fine and beaming at all the camera crew, paramedics etc. I phoned husband quickly to let him know what was happening, leaving a message on his mobile (he later arrived at the hospital in a major panic, as he had only listened to the first part of my message which said "G fallen off sofa, unconscious, called an ambulance, on our way to hospital" but he didn't hear the last bit of "he's fine, everything is ok"!!). We had to stay in hospital all day for observation, first in children's A&E and then on the ward. I had to keep talking people through it over and over again, and every one of them focused on the fall & potential head injury bit & not the repeated breath-holding bit. Eventually, late afternoon, a paediatrician came to discharge us. She decided that it had just been another breath-holding (thank you!) but had no idea why he was doing them. She thought it was possibly due to the fact that he was so immobile, so that when he did a sudden movement & fell he went into shock. She advised to try to keep him calm in these situations ie not sweep him up the second he falls, and hopefully he would grow out of it.

I googled it and discovered that what he does is something called "pallid breath holding" as opposed to tantrum breath holding, where the child holds their breath on purpose.

The last episode he had was not long after we moved here, just over a year ago. The boys were fighting in the shopping trolley while I was trying to pay for the shopping. When I glanced over, I suddenly realised that G was slumped in the seat unconscious. W freaked out and started screaming, as he thought he had killed his little brother! Tesco staff were brilliant - a first aider was called, someone finished packing my shopping for me and took it to my car and loaded it for me. He was only out for a few seconds thankfully. Later that year, he finally started walking and has not had an breath-holding since.

Until this week....I was trying to get them upstairs for bathtime, and G was messing about. He tripped over my feet and plonked down heavily on his bottom. He yelled, and exasperated, I grabbed him up to take up for his bath. But I must have picked him up at the wrong moment, as he failed to take the breath and passed out. W at first found it funny, thinking G was pretending, but then realised it wasn't funny at all. G came round after a few seconds, and was then very sleepy. W kept saying "Mummy, DO NOT tell anyone what happened, as they would be very sad and scared". It shook him up as much as me.

G has been fine ever since, but it was still a frightening experience. I usually leave him a few seconds when he falls or hurts himself, until I hear him take another breath after the first cry, as it seems to be the sweeping him up mid-cry that shocks him. On this most recent occasion, in my haste to get them upstairs for their bath, I wasn't really thinking.

I really hope he grows out of this soon, as it is not an experience I want to repeat any time soon.

Birthday Cookies!

We're well into birthday season in this house (youngest one's birthday end of April, husband's 40th tomorrow, mine in a couple of weeks), resulting in LOTS of baking going on (and an ever-increasing muffin-top as a result!).

So far today I have made a batch of Peanut Butter Cup, Pretzel and Chocolate Chip cookies, and a batch of Double Chocolate Chip Oaty Cookies. Both of these are for husband to take in to work tomorrow for his birthday. I will also be making a few Smarties choc chip cookies later - some for husband to take to work, and some for a cake sale at school. I'll post some recipes up this week, if I remember!



Peanut Butter Cup, Pretzel & Choc Chip Cookies



Double Choc Chip Oaty Cookies



Cookies seems to be my latest bake-craze. They are very rewarding to make, as they are quick, easy, make a lot and the Aga bakes them fairly well (no worrying about them rising/sinking/soggy bottom etc). Also, EVERYONE likes a cookie, even if they don't much like cake. And of course, you can't beat a bit of uncooked cookie dough to nibble on - I reckon I could eat the whole bowl without ever cooking it!



Triple Choc Chip Smarties Cookies



The C Word

No! I don't mean that word! I mean the other C word - a far nastier, more vicious and destructive word - Cancer.

I found out yesterday that an old school friend has recently been diagnosed with breast cancer. She is the same age as me (37), has 3 small children under 6 which have all been breastfed, and has no family history of it. She went to the doctor about a back problem, and mentioned in passing that one of her breasts fell a bit hard. The doctor referred her for tests to be on the safe side, and they found a very large lump, which had been there for a while. She is shortly to start chemo. She seems to be dealing with it all exceedingly well, and has a very positive attitude, so fingers crossed all will be well eventually.

This news totally shocked me, as I do have a family history of breast cancer. My granny died of it, and two of my aunts have recently been treated for it (and succesfully fought it so far). It seems to be late-onset breast cancer as all three have not developed it until their 70s and early 80s.

Here is my dilemma. Do I keep my fingers crossed and hope for the best, and deal with it if and when it comes (most likely not for a few decades yet)? Or do I try and get one of those genetic tests done that tells you the likelihood of you developing it?

Angelina Jolie has been all over the media this week, regarding her decision to have a double mascectomy. I think she is an inspiration. For someone so keenly in the public eye, whose career is largely based on the way she looks, I think it is an immenely brave thing to do. By writing about it, she has single-handedly brought breast cancer awareness to the masses.

I have a doctor's appointment tomorrow morning to get some hayfever medication for the season. I think I may just mention my family history to him while I am there...

What did we do before the internet????

Isn't it amazing how entrenched the Internet has become in our everyday lives? No-one seems untouched by it. Every newsworthy event in every part of the world seems to be accompanied by mobile-phone footage, tweets etc.

I truly don't know how I would survive without the Internet these days. I buy pretty much everything online, apart from groceries (I do the occasional online order, but generally prefer to browse the supermarket shelves myself). This week it is a friend's birthday, so I went online and ordered her a present to be delivered straight to her, and then ordered a personalised card to be delivered straight to her too. So much easier than trekking to the shops, parking, traipsing around the shops to find a present and card, taking it home, wrapping it, then traipsing to the post office to post it, by which time it is already the day before the person's birthday, and Royal Mail 1st Class is unlikely to get it there on time, so I end up having to pay for Special Delivery!!

Before children, when I was working full-time, the only time I could get to the shops was on a Saturday when they were rammed, so I used to do a lot of Internet shopping (especially at Christmas). Once I had children, I realised that shopping was now one of those tasks that you avoided doing at all costs with baby/small child in tow, as the window of opportunity in a day was so small - timing had to be absolutely perfect in order to make sure baby/child wasn't tired/hungry/bored/needed a poo etc. So I shopped online even more. Internet shopping is definitely the friend of the busy parent!

I find buying online is usually cheaper too. I know that I have probably had a hand in the death of the high street, but when I know I can get the same goods online for a fraction of the cost, and don't have to brave the one-way systems and extortionate parking prices of the town centres, then I know which one I am always going to choose! If I can't get it on Amazon or eBay, then it's just not worth having!

Since we moved house, online shopping has become even more important to me. I suddenly find myself 20 minutes from the nearest supermarket rather than 5 minutes. The local large towns all take about 20-30 minutes to get into the centre, and are pretty big sh*t holes if I'm honest - very run down with wall to wall charity shops and pound lands. Don't get me wrong - I LOVE a pound shop, but it's nice to have a few other shops to choose from too! Our local small town (walking distance from our village) has a few small shops (butcher, baker, post office, greetings card shop, newsagent) but not great for finding a last minute birthday present. Thankfully a new independent toy shop has just opened, so at least children's birthday presents will be sorted from now on!

But the Internet is not just about online shopping. The communication it has enabled is just phenomenal. Families on opposite sides of the world can have daily face-to-face chats using Skype. Facebook enables you to show your holiday snaps to all those old school friends that you haven't seen or spoken to for 30 years! Twitter allows you to know what your favourite celebrity is eating for breakfast! Life seems to be broadcast live via social media these days.

When I was at university (many moons ago...well the mid to late 90's), I remember having to go to the "email lab" to send and receive emails. It was a strange, formidable place full of hardcore geeks. I had no idea what to do, and only went there to accompany an American friend who was on an exchange visit and who regularly sent emails to her family back home. It's amazing to think that that was only 18 years ago. The Internet has basically taken off in the last 18 years.

With the rise of smart phones and tablets, the Internet is constantly at our finger tips, any time of night or day. We don't even have to wait for the PC or laptop to start up in order to google how old Tom Jones is whilst watching The Voice on a Saturday night -  we just reach over, pick up the ipad/iphone/other device and tippity tap, the answer is there.

I manage ALL of our finances online. I can check credit card balances, bank transactions, ISA performances etc at the touch of a button. I can view our electricity tarif and usage and submit meter readings online. I can get quotes for car or home insurance after a couple of minutes of form filling instead of the endless phoning around and answering the same questions over and over. I can see at a glance what the best savings account/mortgage/credit card is. All of these things used to take a long time to manage before the Internet.

There are of course some downsides to having all this information readily available. Here are some I have noticed that apply to me:

* I no longer use my (millions!) of recipe books. I find it so much easier to just google what it is I want to cook, look up my many pinned recipes on Pinterest, or use one of those websites that you can type in the ingredients you have and it comes up with some recipe ideas.

* I no longer phone my friends very often. I already know the ins outs of their daily lives, places they've visited, funny things their child has said this week etc etc from facebook. If we're lucky, we may exchange emails!

* It's far too easy to get life envy from looking at other people's wonderful holiday snaps or reading about their seemingly perfect lives on facebook. We must remember that Facebook is only an edited version of people's lives, and that many people only post the good stuff!

* Pinterest is bad for my health. I have pinned so many things that I would like to cook/make/sew that if I were to do all of them, I would be fully employed for the rest of my life. Some of the stuff on there makes me feels seriously inadequate!

* Online fraud. No matter how stringent virus protection and security is, there are people out there able to manipulate it, and there always will be. We have been victims of credit card fraud in the past, but thankfully I picked it up almost immediately due to being able to check our accounts online!

* And of course the big one for me - WILFING! I don't want to know the number of hours of my life I have lost to surfing the net aimlessly.

The positive impacts far outweigh the negatives though!

Our children are growing up, never having known a world without the Internet. Our 3 year old has been using my iphone and ipad since he was 1. He is fully competent at using BBC iplayer to watch a particular cbeebies programme. The older one, is addicted to youtube, where he watches lots of clips about moshi monsters. It seems to be intuitive to them. This is their world. A world where they have everything at their fingertips.

Calling All Superheroes!

Saturday was a big day in our house - our 3 year old's Superhero birthday party!

We hired the village hall (at the bargain price of £8 per hour) as we didn't fancy 20-30 kids aged 3-5, plus a few parents, rampaging around the house. However, as the event drew nearer, and we had had only a few acceptances, we started to wonder if it was worth bothering with the hall after all. I am astounded at how many people didn't bother to reply to the invitation at all, leaving me in limbo as to how many to cater for, how many party bags to do etc. I'd invited all of the children who are in the same 2 sessions as our little one at nursery, but I don't even know who most of them are or who the parents are. I guess that if the parents don't know who we are, then they don't bother to come to the party. Such a shame, as I was really hoping it would enable us to meet some more families from the village. Oh well...

We decided to go ahead with the hall anyway as it was booked, and it worked out well. There were only 13 children in total (including our 2), but it meant they had loads of space to run around and do the party games in.

If you are ever stuck for a party theme for a 3+ year old, then Superheroes is a winner. I found SO much stuff on the internet for cake ideas, party games, party bag filler etc. Due to the all the recent films and the ones being released soon (Spiderman, Ironman, Batman, The Avengers, Superman), there is tons of branded party stuff around.

I have to confess to losing my party-mojo a little in the run up to it, due to all the rejections and lack of replies, so last week was rather busy as I tried to get games organised, food planned etc in time.

Friday was spent in a baking frenzy as I tried to get to everything made.

For the cake, I thought I'd keep it simple with a Superman logo. However, my icing skills are not up to much, and I was rushing too much. The finished result was ok, but not my finest creation!




It's supposed to be G instead of an S



Smarties cookies - the most delicious, chewy, chocolate chip cookies ever!



Cakes for the mums & dads

Where possible I tried to theme the party food too! I'd ordered a Batman cookie cutter from Ebay ages ago, but when it arrived it was way too big to make biscuits with, so I decided to cut the sandwiches out with it instead. It worked brilliantly!

Dinner, dinner, dinner, dinner BATMAN!

Kryptonite and Spiderman Jellies

There was also the obligatory cocktail sausages, cheese cubes and crisps galore!

The 3 year olds didn't really get the party games, but bumbled along with it all. The older ones however, showed steely determination to win each game! We did the following games:

• Musical Superheroes - I printed some superhero logos (spiderman, Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman) and laminated them. They were scattered around the floor, and when the music stopped they had to find a logo to stand on. The one with no logo to stand on was out (a bit like musical chairs). The laminating turned out to be a bad idea, as the first round or two saw a couple of them almost breaking a limb as they leapt onto the logo and the thing skidded off across the floor!
• Pass the Kryptonite - a managed to find a giant green glowstick for 99p (bargain!). This was passed around the circle. When the music stopped, whoever was holding the kryptonite was out. A kind of reverse pass-the-parcel. It took a little while for the children to grasp that they DIDN't want to be holding the kryptonite when the music stopped!
• Destroy the Bombs - lots of balloons blown up, including some black ones. Some had a sweet inside the balloon. The superheroes have to detonate all the bombs that an evil villain has dropped. They loved this game - being allowed to jump on balloons to burst them, and get sweets!
• Chase the Baddie - a baddie (the older brother of one of the guests who was happy to relieve husband of this role!) had stolen the bag of sweets and the superheroes had to chase him to catch him. When the music stopped, the first one to touch the baddie got a sweet from his stolen loot! This was our little one's favourite game! We played it after the food, and it really helped wear them all out and get rid of the sugar rush!

As time fillers, we also did some rounds of musical bumps, musical statues (they had to strike a superhero pose when the music stopped) and husband demonstrated the moves to Black Lace's Superman!

Our little Batman

We had a lot of help from our best friends, who helped set up and clear awy, as well as making sure everyone had a cup of tea and a cake!

All in all, we had a fun time. The two boys loved it, and that was why I went to the trouble. Sometimes I wonder why I go to all the effort (and expense) of doing themed parties every year, but the boys love it and I love the planning! I'm already planning the Moshi Monster party our eldest has requested for September!

Busted!

So, my cover as Wilfing Mum has been blown! I have been found out by husband!

Although it was never my attention to keep this blog a secret, as I am just starting out with it, I thought I would just see how I got on with blogging before telling anyone about it.

However, husband was having a discussion with a work colleague about the term "Wilfing" and they googled it. Up popped a picture of our son linking to my blog! Husband got the shock of his life!!

So a big hello to my husband (who is now an avid reader of my blog!) and his work colleagues. Hope you enjoy what you have read so far and continue to read my future posts. You never know, I may divulge some juicy gossip about husband one day!!