Create You Coaching

Dummy days, no dummy days!

O wow this week is consumed by broken sleep, due to us deciding that it is a good time to take the dummies away! And I am doing a free course on mental resilience, every bit helps right. I love a bit of bringing in positivity into your life! Hence the silence on the posting front, but I am here!

Back to the dummies; I have been following my instincts a lot with Austin and Aria and listening to their needs. The same in this situation, I feel that they are understanding more and need the dummies less yet seemed more addicted than ever. They could now ask for them, look for them, point at them and I even thought they could smell them. I have removed them from the room now and they had some radar that said where there are. We only offer them at nap and bedtime, but they were creeping into the rest of the day.

Wednesday, day 3 of no dummies: At the weekend we took them away but gave them back at 3am mostly because I couldn’t deal with being awake but that didn’t work, as Aria knew that they existed so went ballistic when they were not given. Now we are forming a different bad habit, cuddling to sleep. In hindsight I see why they went down so well without lots of cuddles, DUMMIES! Hay do what works for you in the moment parents.

It is a little shame that we were basically at the sleeping through stage and now we are back to the start again. I am finding that you need mental strength such as you have never known during this process. Challenges all over the place; what are we doing you may think to attempt this during lockdown? Never one to stand down, I am holding firm but not alone, my husband is my rock in times when I am feeling like I want to falter or cave. I look to him to be our strength, do not forget that you are team. Always, but even more now that we are all staying home, do not be shy to lean on each other.

On the third night dummy free, after holding Aria a little before bed she drifted off, with no crying and they slept through. Me on the other hand found it so hard to switch off for fear of Aria waking that I feel like I was up all night. I think everyone needs to wean off the comfort of a dummy, even the parents. I believe that is where the battle is fought and won, it is us that want to grab for it when the babies can’t settle or at 3am when they wake.

Positively it is like we are growing closer to the twins in the way that we now get to cuddle them a bit longer to get them to go down and even seeing their little personalities blossom without the old friend we call ‘D’ in the house now in fear of the babies understanding and asking for them again. It’s a process, we not magicians it has been hard, and I am sure there will be a few more days of work in it. I remind myself that this is not permanent and the same can be said for anything challenging or difficult with children.

Tuscan mince and ricotta filled pasta

We bought large pasta shells because I insisted that they look luxurious and would be great for a dinner party. They have been in the cupboard since the start of lockdown, their time had come. It is much easier than the images and recipe list would suggest, give it a try it is a nice treat and feels a bit like you went to an restaurant in Siena.

Mince of choice	Rosemary 2 sprigs chopped
1/2 tub of ricotta	Mixed herbs
¼ – ½ Chorizo chopped into small cubes	1 tbs fennel seeds toasted and ground
1 onion chopped	1 tsp ground cumin
500g Pasta (If you don’t have the large use any)	Black olives roughly pulled apart
Sundried tomatoes- not a necessity	Black pepper and salt
3 cubes frozen spinach defrosted or fresh	Chilli flacks
Preparade Tomato sauce	Lemon zest of 1 lemon

The chili flakes here were added to the tomato sauce for the adult portion

Fry your onion in a bit of oil, I added a pinch of salt at this point once translucent add the garlic but drop the heat. I forgot to toast my fennel so move the onion and garlic to the side and did it in the same pan; see in the image below. This happens to me a lot and I am not one to dirty and pan unnecessarily. Add the mince to brown, after about 2 minutes add the herbs; Mixed herbs, fennel, cumin and 1 sprig of rosemary. Add the defrosted spinach and half of the chopped chorizo, fry until the meat is cooked and has a nice colour. You could add more salt at this point, we jsut added a pince once I had removed the childrens portion.

Toast your fennel in the same pan if you forget

Remove from the heat and add the Ricotta and lemon zest stir until it is well incorporated. I added a piece of sundried tomato while assembling but you can just add a handful of chopped pieces now and mix through. Cook the pasta as directed on the packaging, drain and cover with some olive oil. This can be done during the cooking process or after depending on when you want the dish to be ready. I cooked the filling in the afternoon and set it aside to cool and kept it in the fridge until I needed it for the children’s dinner.

Once the pasta has cooled down a little you can start assembling, but first put a layer of your tomato sauce on the bottom of the oven dish. Now start filling and I even think this could be fun for the littles ones if they were a bit older. I put the rest of the chorizo in the bowl with the cooled down mince and just spooned a little with each scoop. Then place them on the sauce in a woven like pattern so you can fit the largest quantity of shells in the dish.

Top the dish with the olives and cheese and top with the chopped Rosemary to finish. What you will get is warm, comforting Tuscan flavours that brings the Mediterranean sun right into your home. We made two dinners and two lunches for us and the sae for the Austin and Aria. This would be great served with a salad if you have anything in the house, but we were a bit low on fresh foods.

Start your week fresh

We made it people! How was your Easter weekend? ‘Mondays’ or in this case Tuesday, can be hard, it’s not just me, right? So far so good here, Husband is back to work, I played with the children ( thank you Mini Music Makers!) and fed them lunch. Daddy has now stepped in for a little play before naptime.

Feeding Austin and Aria, yes take a medal, everyone is fed

It was last night while sleeping that what I wanted to share came to me, and it is not rocket science, but it has definitely had an impact on my life. It is wise words from my Mother, and it is for days or weeks that things do not feel like they are going quite your way. In my life I chose to be happy or aim for happiness. I have met people along the way that say they don’t feel the need for constant happiness, and they need to feel their pain. If that is you, and it works then by all means, do you.

The sanctuary of our garden after bedtime

At some point during my childhood I started to experience anxiety and depression, I was overwhelmed with pressure from school. My parents tried to guide me and give me advise but it is only in my adult life that it makes sense to me. It may be that you need a level of emotional maturity to process all the feelings that you have or receive from others. I admittedly was and still am sensitive to others and what they put out, many years and I still get it wrong but for the most part I can tell if it is mine, or someone else’s emotions. If it is not yours; breath, move through it move on. Easier said than done, I know.

Smile and the world smiles with you. Look at yourself in the mirror and even if you are feeling low/ depressed smile.

Chose to be happy that day. It is infections and soon your mood will lift.

Put on your face/ make up and take on the day. This was a little more relevant when I was working but even during lockdown and isolation if you feel like you need a pick me up put on your ‘war paint’. Indulge in make-up free days, if not now, then when!!?

If there is someone that is giving you a hard time, pay them a compliment. Do not be disingenuous but find something that you like be it their tie or shirt and say. Many years of this and I love paying people compliments, people are so guarded in today’s world.

Breath – Technically this one is from my Dad.

Take life by the horns, that old classic, but hay don’t knock it.

Do/be you.

Find that what brings you joy and bring more of that into your life. If you are not happy chances are you are not doing what you truly desire.

Focus the things you want in your life not the things you don’t.

This too will pass.

Here is Mamma Sue’s sage advice and a few bits I have picked up on my way.

I hope you all have a wonderful week and enjoy the sunny Spring days and that some of the above can support you in your day. I am aiming to share a delicious recipe with you later in the week so keep an eye out for when I post that.

Flawed

Happy Easter to you all. I hope that you have enjoyed the weekend with friends and family, whether at home or via social media. Immediately once I started reading this book it made me think of our current position. Not because we are in the same space but just because what we are living through is also so foreign to us, much like the people in this book must have felt when their new laws were instated.

Flawed is written by Cecelia Ahern an Irish novelist; this lady has so many titles under her belt and awards straight out of the gates with her debut novel PS, I Love You. Just note from the outset this is a two part with Perfect being the next book. I only found this out on the last page, if anyone has it let me know I would love to read what happens next.

It is a modern setting with a highschool girl,Celectine as the central character, she is not one for lots of attention and just wants to live a simple but organised life. The society that she lives in has laws just like we do but they also have a Flawed court, The Guild, were if you do anything ‘morally wrong’ in their eyes you get branded! Stealing, lying, disloyalty but also helping others already branded, The Flawed, is a punishable offence.

Celestine is also dating one of the flawed judge’s son, Art. They live a happy and perfect life until it takes a crazy twist and Celestine gets swept up in the Flawed world and becomes their poster girl. It turns out unbeknown, even to herself, she has a defiant nature. Just what is needed to revolt against the Guild.

If I get into much more I will be giving bits away, what I will say is that this read challenges you, and is even unsettling at points. It does transport you and you will get that feeling of escapism.

I’ll be on the lookout for the sequel at Lambeth Library once they are open again. Library’s are such a wonderful resource that our government provides in all boroughs, I would love to encourage you to join your local library. There is a huge selection of books and waste is greatly reduced by sharing rather than purchasing your own books. There are also other perks like the digital library where you can take out books and magazines or story times for children. Currently all these activities are on taking place online, try Wriggle and Rhyme with Lambeth Library. Happy reading all!

Beetroot and Feta muffins

We have had some pre-boiled beetroot in the fridge for 3 weeks now and I spotted a recipe for feta and beetroot muffins that I have been baking in my mind for almost as many weeks. Unfortunately, the state of play while I was making said muffins was chaotic at best, so I have no images of the process but at least I do have some of the final product.

1.5 cup of self-raising flour	Crubled feta
1 teaspoon baking powder	½ cup grated mature cheddar
2 preboiled beetroots roasted and blended	Mixed herbs
1 cup of milk or half and half
2 tablespoons of yogurt, not needed
1 egg

Pre heat the oven to 180 degrees and spray your muffin tins with non-stick, mine is from South Africa as I’m not sure they do it here in the UK. I also dusted it with flour from the sieve and some I spilt.

The beetroot went into the oven first and once roasted for 20mins it should have some colour but also its sweetness will be released. Place it in a jug and blend with a hand blended, set aside. Sift together the dry ingredients, you can add a pinch of salt, I didn’t as it is for my 18month old’s.

In a jug combine all the wet ingredients and whisk. I added a splash of reserved beetroot juice, because, why not? I added half the wet ingredients and then added the crumbled feta and added the rest of the liquid and herbs and cheddar cheese.

Presto, put the mix in the muffin tin and bake for 20 minutes, once cooked I freed them with a knife and left them on a drying rack.

Emotions on lockdown

I hope that you have had a good start to your week. Considering that I did a post on finding your happy at home last week I felt that it would only be honest of me to post what Monday and today was like for me. For some reason on Sunday night I woke up with familiar feeling of anxiety and a helicopter going over our area. I just couldn’t drift off again, after going to the loo and then googling why the helicopter was out and finding nothing I tried again.

Since then really, I have felt very anxious. Anxiety is something that I have suffered with in the past but through a controlled and busy life I have got it under control, for the most part. There are those moments when I have lost/ misplaced something that it rears its head but not day to day.

A few years back, more like 6 years back, we were living in a house share and had a carefree life for the most part, but it was then that I suffered the most. My heart races and during the evening I would get night sweats, so much so that it feels like you are over heating but no one else in the house felt it. I was on Beta-blockers and anti-anxiety meds but chose to work through the emotions and do yoga to push myself into a better place.

I had already been practicing Kundalini yoga, but we were also partying a lot and there was a lot of alcohol involved in that. I needed to stop drinking to get the anxiety under control. There was also an element of worrying about my job as a store manager, I just took it all to heart so much and thought that everything was up to me. This is just a brief glimpse into my history with anxiety.

During my pregnancy I promised myself and my unborn twins that I would not carry over my anxiety, stress and anger over to them. As if by a miracle I didn’t, my pregnancy went very well and my moods were calm and controlled, for the most part.

Now 3 weeks into isolation I just felt the wave of anxiety come over me. It is the racing heart and then tight chest that gets me. It is more of a physical feeling than being mentally bogged down. I considered that it could be a shared feeling as the entire world currently has feelings of fear and uncertainty. I ended up doing kids yoga with Glowyoga and then followed it with a quick Kundalini yoga class with One Woman Revolution that focused on Balancing Prana & Apana. Look I feeling better, but its a process, so I a going to have to work through it and take daily steps to improve it.

There are other things that I will be doing that can help, such as making my gratitude and wish lists and getting things on my mind out, the blog will help with that. Keeping the houses reasonably organized, I think this is actually a bigger worry than I let on. All day I tidy but at the end of the day it is still like a bomb hit. I would say making one noticeably improvement a day will encourage feelings of accomplishment.

This is were I am at right now and I wanted anyone that reads my blog to know the realities of life, both with children and now during the Corona lock down. As I always say we are in it together, try reaching out to someone if you are feeling a bit down, helping others will boost your mood to. Keep safe and I’ll be working on another post for later in the week.

Gammon, mushroom, leak and cheese pie

We had a nice hunk of Gammon in the freezer, from Mother’s Day as it happens, and some leak from last week’s shop. What a yummy pie that would make!

2 leaks chopped	Paprika
½ punnet of mushrooms, more if you like, sliced	Dijon mustard
Cooked gammon or slice some cold meats you need to use up	1 tbs of flour
2 medium carrots, halved and sliced	Mixed herbs
¼- ½ head of broccoli	Unsalted Butter and vegetable oil
150ml single cream	Whole milk
Grated cheddar Cheese, we used mature	1 garlic clove quartered

Fry the leaks for 2 minutes in some oil of your choosing, then add the mushrooms and a bit of butter and the garlic. Meanwhile steam your carrots and broccoli in the microwave and chop into 1cm or smaller chunks once soft. I was doing a hidden veg vibe, so they don’t bite into something and pick it out so chopped them quite fine.

Once your mushroom’s and leaks have cooked down and taken on some colour grind in some pepper and add the mixed herbs and paprika. Removed 2-3 tbs and add it to the chopped steamed veg for the kids. Hubby is not into carrots and broccoli.

Now put in in a bit of butter, how much is up to you really, add the flour and stir through the butter, remove from the heat after a minute or so and pour in the cream and stir the entire dish add a little milk to loosen and the Dijon mustard. Put back on the heat, as the mixture thickens add more milk till it is the consistency you want, then turn off the heat. At this point remove to spoons of the sauce and add to the baby’s veg and put 30g of cheese in too and mix. You will see it is mostly vegetables and just enough sauce and cheese to bind it. Add cheese to the adult portion and stir through, it is enough for 4 medium pie’s the same as the children’s or one large lidded pie. I added a pinch of toasted and ground fennel seeds, but it is a strong flavor so only add it if you love it and it is really not necessary.

It seems I added another grind of pepper, possibly once the kids was removed

The gammon needs to be chopped into cubes, for the babies I did them small 5mm square roughly and then 1cm for us. Remove your pastry from the fridge 10 minutes before needing it. Cut a 15cm piece and cut that in half so you have 2 squares.

Mix the gammon cubes into the rest of the children’s mixture once it is cooled. Place the mixture in one half of the pastry and fold over, you may need to tuck it a bit so it all fits and then with a fork push the edges together. Back for 15-20 minutes at 200 degrees.

For the adulty meal the mixture would have cooled now so add your gammon and mix put in a pie dish or any baking tray and top with the pastry, so it is covered back for the same time as the babies. I mixed carrot and broccoli in my half of the pie and it was extremely delicious! I would really recommend it and did keep telling my husband how he was missing out. Much to his silent annoyance.

Leftover lunch!!

This will be super short as the recipe came from the need to get them to eat vegetables we had and left over carbonara from their lunch.

Chop up the mini corn and broccoli and fry it a bit more, then whisked an egg with some whole milk combined with the chopped pasta and veg and back in the pan with some butter, so it doesn’t stick. Straight in the plate to cool and top it with some feta or any cheese you have.

It was very tasty, and it had all the food groups so why not!?

So quick and the children loved it… so did I!

We had pizza last night and I use sandwich thins and spread a mix of tomato sauce and tomato puree on the bottom topped with ham and cheese and a mixed herbs on top. So delicious and will work with anything you have. I used wraps before and cut then into rough rounds, but you could just quarter the.

Finding your Happy at home

Most of my blog’s focus has been on the children and what we do in our day, and while that makes for fun and interesting writing there is a lot more going on in people’s lives.

As it happens this morning, we did a Joe Wicks P.E session together as a family, they are rather challenging so that will be my exercise for today and I will commit to doing a hardcore HIIT session tomorrow. Mostly within a day I do at least one work out, whether that is a calming yoga, quick core workout by MadFit or a Peloton session with my husband.

We need to take the time to keep our heads straight, I can confirm that some days this has been so hard! You still have all the normal work to do coupled with all this fitness ‘malark’ and being a full-time good wife. It’s a lot so make sure to also cordon off time for you away from it all. Even the fitness, yes it will help but you need time to think or not think. On Monday after the children went down for a nap, I ran myself a bath and popped a Lush bath bomb( I cut it in half so I had some for another day) in and listened to a Podcast, Happy Place with Fearne Cotton and Russel Brand, confession I actually loves what he has to say! Yes, he makes it sound preachy and talks very fast but at least he is saying something and thinking about others.

While I know many people have been spring cleaning, decluttering and getting the garden ready we have not been that productive, well we have done the garden but it was only this morning that I gave our shelves in the lounge a sort. It seems that each time the babies can reach higher we just move items and after months it looked beyond messy. Giving areas in your home a freshen up can quickly and easily lift your spirits, like with most things you just need to set the time aside to do it. I tackled ours while in PJ’s and just did it!

Now the dust has settled it seems more and more social events are popping up. This evening we are enjoying a bottle of wine with above mentioned neighbours’ this evening. There is a garden between us, so safe distance sorted! Similarly, we have calls set up with some friends from our NCT group on Friday and Matt with the NCT guys on Thursday.

My lovely neighbour and Godmother to my children gave us a great idea that should have come to mind but in busy lives… They are ordering a takeaway and doing a date night every Saturday. Setting the table up like a restuarant and enjoying time together. We are looking forward to ‘going out’ for Japanese on Saturday night.

Casey from Sensoryland has scheduled Cuppa Club for the Moms or Dads to log in and have a chat on Zoom. We get the chance to talk about something that you struggled with/ found difficult that week or share an activity that was fun. I found it super helpful to just say out load what was bothering me and saying it to someone that isn’t my husband. I have been struggling to sleep or get back to sleep after waking up for the babies, one of the members had a tip to think of your thoughts as a train and each carriage is a thought. If the thought isn’t something you want to explore or that will serve you jump it and move to the next. So, go on connect with groups that you belonged to you never know if you can offer some support to someone out there too.

Remember your life before the lockdown and the things that made you happy and try recreating or adapt the things that made you happy. Create your own happy.

Healthy Pasta Sauce – Carrot, courgetti and tomato

This is one that we use all the time if you need to get a lunch or dinner together in no time. Usually we just grate a carrot into in as it gives a lovely flavor and texture, plus loads of vitamins. We only made one meal for the twins so there was sauce left to keep for another day.

Ingredients:

1 grated carrot grated	Coconut oil (any oil you prefer)
1 small or half a medium onion finely chopped	Dried mixed herbs or oregano (Fresh is fine too!)
1 small or half medium courgetti grated	Tomato paste
1 can of chopped tomatoes	We use a little Maple syrup to balance tomato
Garlic optional (We didn’t use it, but you totally can)	Balsamic vinegar
Any Pasta, I cut the shells in half once they were cooked	Butter
Mild cheddar cheese grated (15g/ child portion)	Chilli flakes

Basically, you just cook it all in one pan, starting with the veg that take the longest. First, we fry off the onion until it browns or goes translucent (it shouldn’t be completely cooked, add the carrot and a small nob of butter fry it for 1-2 minutes till lightens in colour. Then add your courgette and fry all till the water from the courgetti has evaporated, put in a pinch of your chosen herbs, I wanted it to brown but it was taking too long so I moved on. If anything gets stuck to the pan deglazed with some balsamic vinegar, just give it 30 seconds or a minute to evaporate.

Fry onion, carrot and courgette – you could add mushroom at this point if desired

Add the can of chopped tomatoes, you can use passata if that is all you have. If you only have plum just chop them up and throw in all the juice from the can. I rinsed the can with some of the pasta water, about half a can. Let the sauce simmer and reduce for 3-5 minutes add the tomato paste and Maple syrup, you can use a ½ teaspoon of any sugar you have. At this point you can remove some for the babies and add chilli flakes for the adult portion.

Set aside a portion for the next day. This can be frozen too.

Stir the sauce through the cooked pasta and add cheese once it is removed from the heat. I added another splash of pasta water, as you would normally when making pasta. I good amount of sauce was left that we will use either for another meal for the children or for a lunch for us.