All posts by Kim

About Kim

Wife to Tom, First time Mummy to Little Boy Freddie and Auntie to 4 Boys & 1 Girl.

Meal Planning Monday 17/06/19

Food & Drink, Linkies

I need this month to slow down as we have still got loads to do in preparation for our son’s 2nd birthday at the start of July.

The weekend we decided to head to Wales as it was our Nephews birthday last week, we headed over Saturday afternoon once the husband was home from work, it was lovely to see everyone again as we haven’t seen them since Christmas as they were down last month but we were on holiday.

The weather has been pretty rubbish here all of last week so i’m hoping to see it improve soon.

Garlic & herb lamb chops, sweet potato fries and salad

Burgers & Chips

Tuna Pasta Bake

Garlic & Lemon Salmon

Pan fried pork, homemade wedges,  apple/ onion salsa & spinach

Toad in the hole

Roast dinner with all the trimming

Father’s Day Gift Guide 2019 (Ad-Gifted)

Product Reviews

It’s that time of the year where I have to start thinking about Fathers Day, and what to buy all the father figures in my life. I have my dad, a father-in-law and my husband – who is, an amazing dad to our little boy to buy for and i can’t be the only one that struggles to find things.  Take a look at the items below which may help you decide.

The RTC1000 Tyre Inflator – £49.99

Powered from the in-car 12V socket, it has a long 3.5m cable to help reach tyres all around the vehicle, comes with storage case and three-piece adapter kit, and includes spare valve caps and latex gloves.

Father’s Day Hamper – £28.99

Image of Father's Day Hamper

Treat your Dad this Father’s Day with this gift which is guaranteed to make him feel special.

We have included everything needed for the perfect gentleman’s afternoon tea including the all-important mug as well as tea, chocolate, biscuits and cake – what more could he possibly ask for?

This wonderful hamper from Bunches combines all of the favourite things together.

Black Leopard

How about self care products, yes even men have to look after themselves too. These products from black leopard would be perfect for any men for a bit of self care.  I haven’t heard of this brand before either.

Moisturizer $55.00 for 100ml

Eye Cream $29.00

Snowdonia Cheese – £8.50

Who doesn’t like cheese? This duo pack makes the perfect gift.  A delightfully grown up pairing of our flagship Black Bomber extra mature Cheddar and vintage Red Leicester Red Storm , which compliments with a sweet and surprisingly complex flavour and a crystalline nutty texture throughout.

Love Layla Cards

Not forgetting cards, these funny cards are from Love Layla and you can choose from a large selection

Pull out Game Weak, £3.75

If I got Kidnapped, £3.75

Bulldog Energising Sheet Mask – £12.00

Take 10 minutes to relax and brighten tired, dull looking skin.

Our non-bleached sheet mask is made from bamboo and has been designed to instantly energise and revitalise tired skin. Containing rice, algae and maize, the pack contains 8x compressed masks and 100ml of sheet mask “essence” liquid.  Specially designed for men’s skin, there’s even a perforation to remove the bottom of the mask for beard wearers.

*We were sent these items free of charge for inclusion in this gift guide. However all thoughts and opinions are my own.  

Meal Planning Monday 10/06/19

Food & Drink, Linkies

First full week back at work last week and it was hard, after a week of doing nothing.  I finally went food shopping mid week and I struggled to work out meals we were going to eat that were different.  I have done 5 loads of washing, deep cleaned the fridge and our suitcase was finally returned Tuesday evening to  my parents.

Green thai curry with egg noodles

Quiche & salad

Jacket Potatoes, Salad & Cheese/beans

Chicken tikka breasts with Rice

Lamb chops with a garlic & herb crust, herb new potatoes & Salad

Fake away Chinese – crispy duck, pancakes, spring rolls, prawn crackers, onion bhaji & pakora

Roast dinner with all the trimmings

Me & My Boy #MySundaySnapshot

Linkies

Apologises I didn’t post a picture last week, but our journey home from Spain was delayed for 2 hours and just didn’t have time to get it scheduled.

There aren’t many photo’s of just me and Freddie so I made sure I tried to get a few of us over the holiday and I love this one so much, think it is my favourite especially as we are both smiling.

Meal Planning Monday 03/06/19

Food & Drink, Linkies

Back to reality with a huge bump this week after eating and drink the all inclusive food and drinks for a whole 7 days, it’s been amazing and pure heaven.  Not having to get up for work or rush about (other than after a toddler).  A week of pure sun, sea, sand and a cocktail in my hand.

I think we will be living out the freezer and pantry foods this week as i’m been lazy and can’t be bothered to go shopping

This week I will be making:

Potato gnocchi with bacon and creamy cheese sauce and vegetables

Lamb shanks in red wine sauce with vegetables and creamy mash potato

Shepherds pie, veg and gravy

Jacket Potatoes, tune/mayo or cheese and beans with salad

Cheese and bacon quiche with salad

Chicken tikka with vegetable rice and jacket potatoes

Roast dinner with all the trimmings

What are you cooking this week?

My Top Money Making Survey Sites

General, Personal

Everyone wants to make a little extra cash in their life for a rainy day or to put into savings.  My husband and I work full time, we have a toddler who is in nursery 3 & half days a week and some months we do struggle financially, but a little extra cash is always appreciated.   If you want to make a little bit of extra money you have to find the right places to go, and it won’t be a quick fix either, but every little bit helps, right.

four 20 Euro banknotes

So I started doing surveys to help us out.

Here are my top sites that I used to help us out.

Inbox Pounds

My husband actually found this site for us one night and is another good one except it does take a while to get build up the money if you are only doing it part-time and in between work it does take time, but you will get emails telling you when there are surveys available, some are as little as 1p for just confirming a paid message which takes only a few seconds, you can answer surveys to try and earn more and you can also receive spin’s which could win you 1p or more on each turn, you have a maximum of 10 spins per day. Once you reach £20, you can request the payment.

YouGov Surveys

This survey site is similar to the Populuslive surveys, but instead of 50 points you have to get 5000 points to receive £50, so this one certainly takes a lot longer but is more comfortable.  I have been doing these since July 2018, and so far I have racked up 4,125 points out of 5000.  You can earn anything from 10 to 150 points, the average generally been 25/50 points.  YouGov is quick and easy to register for, and they will send you emails once surveys become available to complete.  Their survey results are often quoted in the recent news, which is unusual. They post updates about the surveys that you have completed, and there are several regular surveys that I see.

Minimum payout: £50 via cheque. This can take 28 days to arrive.

Populuslive Surveys

This website is my top of them all, as you get £50 once you get 50 points and this can take no time at all to achieve this, and each survey can be worth anything from £1 to £5 which equals 1 – 5 points.  You have to be quick as they can expire or you may not be suitable for it.

I’ve only been doing this since February 2018 so just over 12 months and in that time I have earned £150 already.  I have put this straight into my savings account so we can use it towards something we want.

Thank you to Katy Kicker for introducing me to these

Do you get involved in surveys to boost your bank balance if so which ones are your best ones?

Do We Really Know How Clean Our Water Is?

General, Health and Lifestyle, Product Reviews

*AD – Gifted

person opening faucet

We drink a fair amount of water in our house whether it is in hot drinks, Squash or straight from the tap with very little thought of what chemical or nasties maybe in it.

ZEROWATER 12 CUP / 2.8L JUG – £39.99

I received the zero water 12 cup/2.8L water jug and it was really easy to set up and it comes with one filter.  It is quite large and does take up pretty much the whole fridge door pocket up.  It also features a one-handed, pull and pour button spout for easy pouring from the fridge or for filling bottles.

Unlike other leading water filter jugs, ZeroWater benefits from a patented, 5-stage Ion exchange filtration system which removes virtually all dissolved solids from your water. This provides great tasting water without the dissolved solids which may include minerals, salts, metals, chemicals and runoff.

Four additional stages of water filtration ensure larger particles and other contaminants are removed, ensuring the filter delivers a “000” reading on the included laboratory-grade water quality meter.

I set this up as soon as I received it as I drink a lot of water and wanted to see if you really can taste the difference, the answer is YES, yes you can, really.  It’s even got the husband drinking more water.  Moreover, it reduces 99% of all Fluoride and other inorganics, such as nitrates, from your water.

I would recommend this product but if you wish to keep it in the fridge and only have a small one you may struggle to fit it in so suggest getting a smaller version.

*I received this product free of charge.  However all thoughts and opinions are my own 

Meal Planning Monday 20/05/19

Food & Drink, Linkies

This is my last meal planning for a whole week as this Saturday we are flying off to Spain with my parents and nephew for the week and we can’t bloody wait.  It’s the first holiday abroad we’ve had in over 3 years plus the first one with a Toddler so my anxiety is a bit all over the place too.  Watch out for the holiday spam.

Sausage casserole bake

Chicken katsu, basmatic rice and salad

Lasagna with garlic bread

Pizza & Chips

Takeaway

Holiday

Holiday

Nature spotting #Mysundaysnapshot

Linkies

Apologises I have failed at doing this the last two weeks, it’s been a bit crazy and completely forgot.

The other night Freddie was playing in the garden and spotted a worm he sat and watched it for ages then daddy had to look too.  Once the worm had gone he kept saying “bye bye worm”.  I think he is going to love nature.