Weekly Meal Plan #38

Hey there! It's another Monday which means it's time for my weekly ramble and meal plan too! I hope the weather was as beautiful as it was here. It was such a lovely chilled weekend. Lazy day in the garden on Saturday, followed by a day at Nanny's while my husband went off to cricket practice. It was just lovely and makes me crave those warm summer days.

As we are still on half term we've not done the shopping yet but we will be doing that this morning. I've finally uploaded last weeks video which you can see here. I'll also be filming this weeks too and hopefully another video. Also I've set up a RSS feed so you can't get an email when there's a new post which means you won't miss a thing. I would love if you could sign up! 

As always you can link up your meal plan to #mealplanningmonday

An InLinkz Link-up

As for this weeks meals we've got:

Peanut Noodles

Teriyaki Mince Rice Bowl

Mozzarella Red Pepper Pasta

Honey & Garlic Meatballs

Tuscan Garlic Chicken

All of these recipes will feature in my ebook I'm currently writing but until then you can see my inspiration behind each meal on my Pinterest board.

Also my Weekly Meal Plan newsletter will be landing into your inboxes tonight so make sure you're subscribed to that too. It will have all of the latest news on my ebook. Sign up here.

What's on your menu this week?

Mini Egg Hot Cross Buns

I've said it once and I'm going to say it again. Dried fruit ruins Easter, and Christmas too but really, does it need to be in everything. Now you may not feel so strongly about dried fruit but don't worry as even if you love dried fruit you will still love these. I wanted to do another take on the hot cross bun. A few years ago I made Chocolate Orange Hot Cross Buns this year step forward the mini egg hot cross bun. 

Little chunks of mini egg and chocolate combined with spice flavour. Oh my. It's good. These even make a great breakfast. Well not healthy, but filling and delicious. They would make a perfect Easter treat.

I know that hot cross buns are traditionally eaten on Good Friday but these are just too tasty to wait until then. Whip up a batch this weekend. No need to thank me!

Mini Egg Hot Cross Buns

- Makes 12 - 

100g milk chocolate, finely chopped

90g mini eggs, finely chopped/crushed

300ml full-fat milk

50g butter

500g strong bread flour

1 tsp salt

75g caster sugar

1 tbsp sunflower oil

7g sachet fast-action or easy-blend yeast

1 egg, beaten

2 tsp mixed spice

75g plain flour

- Bring the milk to the boil, then remove from the heat and add the butter. Leave to cool.

-  Place the flour, salt, sugar and yeast into a bowl, keep the yeast and salt away from each other in the bowl. 

-Make a well in the centre and pour in the warm milk and butter mixture, then add the egg. 

- Using a wooden spoon, mix well, then bring everything together until you have a sticky dough.

- Tip on to a lightly floured surface and knead by holding the dough with one hand and stretching it with the heal of the other hand, then folding it back on itself. Repeat for 5 mins until smooth and elastic. 

- Put the dough in a lightly oiled bowl. Cover with oiled cling film and leave to rise in a warm place for 1 hr or until doubled in size and a finger pressed into it leaves a dent.

- With the dough still in the bowl, tip in the mini eggs, chocolate and mixed spice.

- Knead into the dough, making sure everything is well distributed. 

- Leave to rise for 1 hr more, or until doubled in size, again covered by some well-oiled cling film to stop the dough getting a crust.

- Divide the dough into 12 even pieces. Roll each piece into a smooth ball on a lightly floured work surface. 

- Arrange the buns on one or two baking trays lined with parchment, leaving enough space for the dough to expand. 

- Cover (but don’t wrap) with more oiled cling film, or a clean tea towel, then set aside to prove for 1 hr more.

- Heat oven to 220C/200C fan/gas 7.

- Mix the flour with about 5 tbsp water to make the paste for the cross – add the water 1 tbsp at a time, so you add just enough for a thick paste. 

- Spoon into a piping bag with a small nozzle. Pipe a line along each row of buns, then repeat in the other direction to create crosses. 

- Bake for 20 mins on the middle shelf of the oven, until golden brown.

5 Top Tips for an Easter Egg Hunt with a Toddler with notonthehighstreet.com

Although it's not Edith's first Easter last year she was too little to care about chocolate, which meant that I got to eat it! This year she is very much in to her "choc choc". So we decided that it would be really nice to have a little Easter Egg hunt.

I can remember when I was little and I would always want to have an Easter Egg hunt, my Mum, who was rather sensible, always suggested we hold it inside so we didn't have to worry about the weather so that's what we did. I bagged up little eggs for everyone in plastic sandwich bags and then hid them around the house. The problem was I couldn't remember where I had hidden them all so my Dad couldn't find the last bag. Ooops. He shared with my Mum in the end but I don't think they were too happy. A few weeks later we found the bag of eggs hidden in my dolls pram. How we didn't find them I don't know but it's such a great memory to look back on.

Curated online marketplace notonthehighstreet.com are "Doing It Differently" this Easter and I think they're right. So instead of a normal Easter egg from the shop why not treat the family to an Easter Egg Hunt like never before. We had a great time and we learnt a few things along the way! 

1. If you have a toddler, hold an Easter Egg Hunt at home.

I don't think Edith really understood what she was doing and it took a little while but she did have great fun. Maybe when she's older we will take her somewhere but I think holding it at home meant that we could take our time.

2. Get a personalised sign.

How else will you know where the Easter Egg hunt starts? We adore Edith's Personalised Egg Hunt Sign and it's going to hang up in her bedroom ready after Easter, ready for next year.

3. Let the Easter Bunny make an appearance.

Edith will probably hate us when she's older but oh my. Look how cute she is dressed as an Easter Bunny. I love the fact she has her bright trainers on too! She's going to be wearing this outfit for the next 2 weeks!

4. Don't let the weather spoil your hunt.

The weather was dry when we held ours but not sunny. It didn't matter and if it does rain you could always hold it inside like I did when I was little. Or why not get your wellies ready just in case it chucks it down?

5. Make the hunt extra special and have lots of fun!

Get yourself a bunny bag and a luxury chocolate egg hunt kit. Hang the "Egg Hunt" plaque above the start of your treasure trail, write the names of all the participants on the edible name cards with the icing pen, and hide them, along with the large flat chocolate eggs and golden mini eggs, in the best places you can find. There's even a chocolate medal for the winner. Everything comes packaged in a luxurious hamper box. This would make a delightful Easter gift for you and old alike. Just have a really great time together as a family and afterwards? Well. Eat all that chocolate you've found!

Happy Egg Hunting!

* This post is in collaboration with Not On The Highstreet. All opinions are my own. *

Weekly Meal Plan #37

Happy Monday and Happy Easter Holidays too! Most of you know my husband is a teacher so I love the holidays as it means we get to spend time together as a family! Wahoo. It also means I get a few work days which means I can crack on with my ebook and there's going to be a weekly meal plan video too. 

Last week someone asked if this includes our breakfasts and lunch etc. It most definitely does. I'm pretty resourceful and we often have leftovers or homemade soup with both Edith and I love. My husband takes a packed lunch to work and he doesn't have a huge appetite (unlike me!). I may to a what I eat kind of video/post if people are interested.

As always link up to #mealplanningmonday.

An InLinkz Link-up

We're doing the shop today as I was at a wedding show yesterday with my photography stand so we had no time to fit in a shop. I've been pretty slack on my newsletter but I'll be sending it out tonight with our weekly shop receipt and how much things came to or head over to my Youtube Channel and see the haul! 

This week we're eating:

Homemade Cheese & Onion Pies with Homemade Potato Wedges

Hawaiian Pasta Salad

Homemade Burgers & Homemade Chips

Beef Kofta Curry

Ham & Mushroom Pitta Pizzas

If you'd like to see the inspiration behind my mealplans visit my Pinterest Board.

Sign up for my newsletter here. You can access back issues here.

What's on your menu this week?

Celebrating My Mum with Songfinch

Mother's Day is so much more special when you're a mum and finding the right gift for your own mum can be pretty hard now you know what she had to put up with, haha! I tend to go for something practical that she can use or something that's really sentimental. Luckily a few days before an email landed in my inbox from the lovely people at Songfinch. They write personalised songs for special occasions. Now to begin with I thought this sounded super cheesey and I didn't think I would like them. How wrong I was! I listened to a few examples and fell in love.

The whole process is really simple. You just write your story, about how you know the person, what they've been through and what you want to say to them. You the pick the genre, I opted for folk as both my Mum and I enjoy it. You can even pick the singer, I didn't mind so opted for surprise me. 

A few days later the song was ready. How amazing is that! Something so personalised. 

When Mothers Day came along I played my Mum the song, now I was never expecting tears. She's a tough cookie but she really loved it! It was such a nice thought. And it just so happens that a good few years ago she did something similar for my Nanny, not as personalised as this but still, great minds huh?

If you'd like to have a listen you can do that here. And I've popped some of the lyrics below. 

" That it was the messy days

In the kitchen learning to cook

And I was taught to keep my love and my laughter

In the same drawer as the cook book

And I was there with you

My mother dear

And now I’m here to say

That you are patient

Loyal and good

And I wish that I could love you 

As well as I should 

But I will never match 

The love that you give

It fills the oceans 

And it’s for your love I live"

Songfinch have given we a discount code for you to use. So if you have a special occasion and you just don't know what to get. They've got you covered. Just enter PAPERSWANS

I couldn't recommend this service enough, my husband was really impressed and wanted to know all about it and it's great that we have that song as part of our family history! 

*This post is in collaboration with Songfinch and I received their service free of charge in return for an honest review All opinions are my own*