A Fresh New Year

I have lost count of how many times over the years I have written a post entitled something along the lines of "brand new start" and proceeded to write a short and boring post about reviving blogging. 

2014 has had its difficult and trying moments for my family and I but there have also been some lovely moments I wish I had documented better. My son is growing up faster than I could have ever imagined and so 2015 is going to be my year. I am determined to be organised and focus on living my life for the happy moments and keeping a record of those happy moments, be that through blogging, photos or beyond.

Instead of writing yet another of those boring "I am going to revive my blog posts" I am just going to outline some of my goals for 2015 and then the world wild web can hold me responsible for working towards achieving them!

Starting with goals regarding blogging and other social media...

• Take part (and complete) FatMumSlim's monthly Photo-a-Day challenges on Instagram
• Blog regularly about things I genuinely like... I am a person who thrives on routine, I am always more likely to be successful at keeping things going if I have a routine.  One way I have decided to transfer this to my blogging is to have regular topics on certain days.  Some of the topics I have come up with include... Meal Plan Monday, Meat Free Monday, Mummy Monday, Weekly Wears Wednesday, What I Ate Wednesday, Thrifty Thursday, Filofax Friday, Foodie Friday, Fashion Friday, Style Saturday (Fashion) and Style Sunday (Home). I dare say I will come up with more in time and if there are any you guys can suggest or would like to see please let me know in the comments below.

Goals relating to health I am aiming to achieve this year are...

• Give up all alcohol (not that I drank very much anyway)
• Give up all refined sugar 
• Ensure I am hydrating properly everyday (I am pretty good at drinking plenty of water so this one shouldn't be too difficult)
• I would like to get back to running 4 times a week but with our lives the way the are at the moment this is not such an attainable goal but you never know!

Goals relating to my home and personal life (including parenting) are...

• Use my planner (Filofax) and calender to organise my schedule more effectively.  I am going to be delving a little bit into the FlyLady world
• Budget more effectively and stick to it, I am thinking of giving the cash envelope system a go
• Complete the 52 week saving challenge
• Meal plan more thoroughly to save money on groceries and waste less
• Plan an engaging activity for my Son every day and set aside some time to focus solely on that.  I find so many great ideas on The Imagination Tree
• Read a chapter a day

What goals, changes, challenges and resolutions have you all made for 2015 or have you decided not to?  I'd love to hear!

Be sure to check back tomorrow for my first Filofax Friday post.

Fresh Start

Wow,
I can not believe a whole 2 years has pasts since my last post, time to brush off the dust and start again I think.

Where have I been?
Well I guess I fell out of love with blogging and got swept up in the more instant world of Pinterest and Instagram.  I also have not given my Etsy shop any love for such a long time either and in the past those are the two things that go hand in hand.
Geographically speak I am still in the same lovely little house I was two years ago.

What have I been up to?

Our little squish Vaughn was born at 20:20 on August the 15th after a long labour and birth far from what I hoped (but that's another post for another day) 

1 week old

I had lots of ideas about the sort of parent I would be before actually becoming a mother.  Some of those have changed dramtically. I used to think leaving babies to cry in order to learn to go to sleep was just something you had to do, I now favor never leaving babies to cry and a more gentle approach to nightime parenting.  I also was stated I would never have babies/children in my bed but I know am a big believer in co-sleeper.
Some ideas I have had about parenting however I have stuck with.  I knew even before being pregnant that I wanted to breastfeed, use cloth nappies and slings.  I had a set idea that I would breastfeed for 1 year as babies then didn't need breastmilk or formula after that, I now know better and my education surrounding breastfeeding has taught me that breastfeeding is about so much more than just nutrition, the benefits extended breastfeeding/self weaning and so much more.
I had no idea how addicted and essential babywearing is and am now a full blown advocate.

Why am I telling you this?
Hopefully this will help explain some of the new directions this blog will be heading in.

Product Review: Amy's Kitchen Black Bean Vegetable Enchilada

I discovered this little gem in Holland and Barret a couple of years ago and ever since it has been by guilt free guilty pleasure, it is the best thing to warm you up on a cold day and need a quick lunch at work!  They have been a god send when I have to buy lunch and can't find anything vegan anywhere!

It has a different taste to any enchilada sauce I've tasted before and I love it, it is vegan, soy free, gluten free, low in salt and has no cholesterol.  What is not to love?

Read all about the enchiladas here and also all about Amy's Kitchen and all the lovely other products they make.

If you haven't tried these yet, I suggest you get to that right away!!

Meat Free Monday:Sushi

After a long weekend partying at Download Festival we were in need of something light and healthy for this Meat Free Monday, so we had Sushi Night...

Download Festival!

This weekend, I spent knee deep in mud, sleeping in a tent and listening to awesome music.

I was a little apprehensive about whether there would be any food I could eat there but I think I ate better than the omnivores I went with.  I had some of the nicest food I've had out in a long time there.

I was too busy having fun to take many photos and totally forgot to take photos of the yummy vegan food as I was scoffing it down but after I got home I search on the web to find out more about the van's that provided me with the best veggie burger I've ever had.  The Spicy Mexican Burger from Goodness Gracious Van...

Credit

I also had a hunt on the web for the lovely people that brought me the Vegan Chili Burrito (so good)

from Teabag Chihuahua Mexican Van...

Credit

There were some many other lovely vegan goodies I ate this weekend but unfortunately I can't remember the names of all of them.

If your going to a festival this year, look out for these two vans :)

Meat Free Monday:Any day of the week!

This week I spent Meat Free Monday at the OHs parents for a BBQ and I forgot to take any photos, I made some gorgeous marinated and skewered tofu and vegetable kebabs!

So instead of my usual Meat Free Monday post I thought I would show you what other meat free meals I've eaten this week...

Vegan Enchiladas!

Vegetable and Cheezly Macaroni 

Pesto Risotto with Roasted Zucchini from Post Punk Kitchen

and yes, I did make my own pesto

More vegan enchiladas from Amy's Kitchen read my product review here

Veggie Burger Friday:Baba Ghanoush Burger and Tabbouleh Salad

This week's Veggie Burger Recipe is Baba Ghanoush Burger and Tabbouleh Salad from Joni Marie Newman's "The Best Veggie Burgers on the Planet"

I couldn't fault this burger, it was so easy to make and so tasty :)

I decided yo use a graffiti aubergine in mine, I love them, so pretty!

Credit