Recipe: Healthy Granola Bars!

Yesterday I baked some chewy seedy oat & sultana bars and I thought I'd share the recipe! I adapted this slightly from a recipe I got out of Rachel Allen's book "Rachel's Favourite Food at Home". The idea to bake these actually came from Emilia! As I've mentioned before she's going through a picky eating phase and breakfast can be a particularly difficult mealtime. It seems like all she wants to eat now are her dad's NutriGrains BUT I don't really like giving them to her. I'd much rather she ate something home-baked than a shop-bought breakfast bar with tons of additives & sugar in it! So I decided to try out this recipe...and it was a success! These are deliciously chewy and yummy. Not to mention the fact that they are packed full of healthy ingredients! I love to eat mine with my afternoon coffee :)

This recipe makes about 18 bars. 1 bar = 335 calories. Here is the list of ingredients I used!

300g porridge oats

50g pumpkin seeds

50g sunflower seeds

50g desiccated coconut

50g plain flour

200g butter

200g golden syrup

150g soft brown sugar

150g sultanas

125g crunchy peanut butter

1 tsp vanilla extract

You can watch the recipe video here!

Jonathan absolutely loves them! He says they taste like a homemade Tracker bar :) I store these in an air-tight container but you can freeze them too if you like! These would be perfect for kids' lunchboxes or an on-the-go snack. 

Let me know what you think if you try them! 

xoxo

Anna

What I Ate Wednesday {24.6.14}

Breakfast

For breakfast I've been eating Quaker Oat So Simple (original) with light soy milk, (usually it's almond but we were out!), 1/2 a banana, some chopped deglet nour dates (these are delicious!) and cinnamon. I love these dates! They are so sweet & yummy, like a dessert! I also have a black coffee - this is Nespresso's Fortissio Lungo.

Yesterday was our first breakfast at our new dining table :) Emilia had mini Weetabix with whole milk & orange juice.

Mid-morning Snack

This was before our weekly shop came in so we were pretty much all out of fresh fruit & yoghurt so I rummaged through the food cupboard and found some banana chips! I like these if I'm in a snacky mood (which is all the time lately!) as they fill me up for a couple of hours.

Lunch

This was leftovers from the day before's lunch! We tried out Cook Food which they have in our town & we had leftover coconut and lime rice so I had half of that with some soya beans & spring onions. These were actually sides to a fish curry I got but they were good together as a light lunch too!

Afternoon Snack/Dessert

I had another black coffee with a raspberry coconut slice, also from Cook Food! I'm not a huge fan of coconut but this was good. Jonathan picked it though, it wouldn't have been my first choice ;) Not that I'm complaining!

Dinner

This was a bit of a mess as I had planned to cook a yummy chicken & ginger stir fry BUT we ended up being out super late as we were visiting a doggie daycare and by the time we left there it was the kids' bedtime already. So it was far too late to start cooking and we picked up McDonald's on the way home! I got my wonderfully healthy staple - a cheeseburger Happy Meal! ;)

Evening Coffee

After the kids were in bed (fiiiinally! It was so late!) I had another much-needed coffee...this one is the Vivalto Lungo which is a lighter intensity so it's better suited to bedtime. 

I also drank about 2L of water throughout the day! That's it...sorry this wasn't a particularly healthy or inspirational What I Ate post, but that's real life I suppose! You can watch the video version here: 

xoxo

Anna

Sweet Sunday: Strawberry Cream Cheese Cupcakes!

This is definitely my favourite cupcake of the series so far! Probably because I have an unhealthy obsession with cream cheese frosting...I could literally eat a whole vat of the stuff! But what makes these Strawberry Cream Cheese Cupcakes even more special is that the strawberry jam & cream cheese filling. It's like a jammy dodger cupcake surprise when you bite into it! Aside from all that, they look very pretty and summery plus your whole kitchen will smell like strawberries & cream when you're finished baking - who doesn't want that?!

To make the cupcakes you will need:

2 1/3 cups plain flour

2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup butter, softened

1 1/4 cups caster sugar

3 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

2/3 cup milk

2 tablespoons & 1 teaspoon strawberry jam

3 oz cream cheese, cut into 24 cubes

To make the cream cheese frosting you will need:

8 oz cream cheese, softened

1/4 cup butter, softened

1 teaspoon vanilla

2-3 teaspoons milk

4 cups icing sugar

To decorate the cupcakes I sliced some fresh strawberries and placed one on top of each. The red & pink cupcake cases are from Waitrose and I bought this cardboard cupcake stand from Morissons! This recipe bakes 24 cupcakes. 1 cupcake = 320 cals. To see how we baked these, check out the video here!

We hope you enjoy this recipe - if you do try it out let us know by tweeting us a picture/tagging us on Instagram! 

Nothing to do with cupcakes but I just wanted to share this picture from our family picnic yesterday! We have been so lucky with the weather lately, we decided to make the most of it and have a little picnic in the park! Emilia loved it...she had so much fun eating outside & running around stealing other children's toys! Her dress is from Zara, mine is another nursing dress from Boob and my jacket is from H&M (soooo old! Maybe 5 years now!). 

xoxo

Anna

Fashion Friday: Baking Day!

Sometimes a sunny day calls for a hot pink dress! Remember that postpartum fashion haul I did when I was heavily pregnant with Eduardo? Well here is one of the summery nursing dresses I featured by Boob. I have to say I wasn't sure about it until I actually put it on. After wearing it today on a relatively warm day while baking cupcakes & cooking up a storm in the kitchen, I can safely say I love it! Nursing wear is so convenient & easy...it's not even about covering up in public (I stayed home all day today) - it's about comfort. This dress kept me cool while at the same time giving me the freedom to break for feeds! 

My shoes are by Red Herring but to be completely honest since I was home & on my feet all day I just slopped around in slippers ;) Let's just say this is what I *would* have worn had I actually left the house! My bracelets are all Alex & Ani, my earrings are by Krystal and I'm wearing my gold Scorpio necklace from my dad.

  

Here's my little munchkin's outfit of the day! She's finally getting some wear out of her summer attire too. Her whole outfit (skirt, cardigan, vest) is from The Children's Place and she had so much fun twirling around in it! So much fun in fact that it was almost impossible to take a picture ;) Emilia's bow & headband are from Layniebug Designs and of course she's not wearing any shoes here but when she went out into the garden she wore her Peppa Pig wellies...21 month olds are the best stylists :)

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend! 

xoxo

Anna

What I Ate Wednesday {17.6.14}

Breakfast

I had Quaker Oat So Simple Original porridge with almond milk, 1/2 banana, blueberries & cinnamon (pretty much the same as always!), apple-flavour Spatone in my pint of water and our LAST Nespresso capsule! :( Boo hoo!

Snack

At around 11am I usually get hungry again so I had a Pink Lady apple and some deglet nour dates...oh my God, these are amazing! They taste like a treat & are perfect if you crave sweets!

Lunch

Our latest obsession right now has to be Starbucks...I feel like we are making up for all the years of living in a town without one, ha ha ha! I had a smoked salmon & cream cheese bagel and my current summer favourite - a grande Caramel Cream! These are heavenly...if you haven't tried one you need to get to your local Starbucks asap and order it! I think I'm addicted to these, especially since the weather has been so good here! 

Afternoon Coffee

The caramel cream frappuccino has no coffee in it, so when I got home I had one of these! We couldn't get our hands on any Nespresso capsules (the website was being glitchy and we couldn't find any Nespresso bars!) so decided to trial these knock-off ones. I had a "Lungo Americano" - it was okay but nothing like the real thing! I wouldn't recommend them.

Dinner

For dinner we actually had leftovers - this was what I made on Monday night! Spaghetti vongole (spaghetti with clams). This is one of my all-time favourite pasta dishes, I almost always order it when I'm at an Italian restaurant. I used a Jamie Oliver recipe which you can check out here. It's made with fresh clams, cherry tomatoes, flat leaf parsley, chilli, olive oil & white wine. I will definitely make this again!

Evening Coffee

I had another knock-off Nespresso later that evening...this was a level 9 and it was awful! It didn't even froth properly and tasted very watery :( Thankfully we eventually got to order some of the real deal online so our capsules will be here tomorrow!

That's it for the day! I also drank 2L water. You can check out my What I Ate Wednesday vlog here!

xoxo

Anna

Mommy Monday: 2 Month Postpartum Update!

Here's what my belly looks like at 2 months postpartum! I have now lost all the baby weight due to breastfeeding a lot & eating normally. I actually weigh a pound less than my pre-pregnancy weight but I suspect that is because Eduardo is feeding so much! The same thing happened with Emilia. No exercise yet, as we've been so busy with the move! I know I'm forever saying it but I do want to work out eventually once we get more settled...ahh if only there were more hours in a day!  

Onto this little munchkin - I can't believe Eduardo is 2 months old! (Don't mind the spit-up on my shoulder...ha ha oops!) 

Height/Weight: At his 6 week appointment, Eduardo weighed 10 and 1/2 lbs! The doctor was really happy with that - he said he was booming :) We didn't get a height for him so I don't know how long/tall he is. He is quickly getting too big for his baby bath though, so I know he is growing lengthways too!

Routine: The routine is pretty much the same as in my last update, except that Eduardo feeds for longer and less frequently. He wakes up at around 6/6:30am for a big feed, then has another mini snooze while we're all eating breakfast. He eats again at around 10/11am. Then he goes down for another nap which is usually taken while we're out & about if we have errands to run. He feeds again after lunch/around when Emilia goes down for her nap. Then he has a bit of activity time before going down again. He & Emilia go up for their bath together at about 7pm, after which he gets his big night time feed with me in our bedroom before being put down in his co-sleeper for around 8pm.

Sleeping: Eduardo is sleeping really well - especially since we've moved! Some nights he'll only wake once, others it's still twice. A couple of nights he slept till 5am...it was amazing! Usually he does wake at about 2/3am though. 

Eating/Feeding: He is breastfeeding like a champ...in fact I think he has a pretty big appetite! Some days are more intense than others where he'll feed for a very long time at each sitting. One of the good things about this is that I feel it's contributed to him sleeping so well at night. He seems to get his fill during the day and which in turn makes him sleep longer after his bedtime. 

Sizes: I'm still dressing him in mostly 0-3 month clothing but this is mostly because I can't find anything as Eduardo doesn't have a dresser/closet yet so his stuff is all in boxes! He just moved up to size 3 nappies though. And a lot of his 0-3 month clothing is getting small...I imagine he will be in size 3 months soon (when I can find those clothes!). 

Milestones: Eduardo is getting so much more reactive to his surroundings, toys, people etc. His vision has also definitely improved as he reacts when someone enters the room or if we wave at him from a distance. We recently bought him a playmat which he loves. He finds the dangling toys & bright colours very stimulating...although he probably gets enough stimulation from his sister alone! Emilia is Eduardo's hero right now, he adores her and everything she does makes him laugh or smile! He also has become such a smiley baby, as you can tell from the pictures! He is a content & chilled out little fellow :) I actually couldn't stop laughing when I was editing these pictures as it looks like he's having a grand old time in each one! Ha ha ha!

That's our 2 month update! You can watch the video (complete with spit-ups!) here:

xoxo

Anna

Sweet Sunday: Lemon Blueberry Cupcakes!

We are keeping things fresh & fruity this Sunday with a Lemon Blueberry Cupcake! This is a deliciously light recipe with lots of flavour. Hope you enjoy! 

To make the lemon blueberry cupcakes you will need:

2 1/3 cups plain flour

2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup butter or margarine, softened

1 1/4 cups sugar

3 eggs

2 tablespoons lemon zest, grated

1 teaspoon vanilla 

2/3 cup milk

1 cup blueberries

1 tablespoon plain flour

For the frosting you will need: 

1 1/2 cups icing/powdered sugar

3/4 cup butter, softened

1 teaspoon lemon zest, grated

1 1/4 teaspoon vanilla

1 tablespoon milk

To decorate I used a few fresh blueberries and some fresh mint leaves!

Watch how to make these cupcakes here:

This recipe bakes 24, 1 cupcake = 240 calories.

Emilia & I had so much fun baking these! We even got to trial our new KitchenAid which was fabulous...I don't know how I survived for so long without one! Yes, they are an investment which is probably why it took me this long to purchase one but I am so glad I did. If you love to bake I definitely recommend it!

I also SWEAR I did not plan this but Emilia and I are matching (again) in this cupcake video with our stripes, ha ha! Last week we were both in turquoise and it was completely by accident! I am actually wearing a nursing dress which I'd never worn before - it was very comfortable & convenient! Emilia's t-shirt is from Zara. Her bow is from H&M.

Jonathan thinks she looks like me when I was a baby in this picture :) She is a real character...now that she knows the deal with the cupcake baking, Emilia will actually grab her apron and start to push her stool over to the kitchen island so that she can help me bake! And she wants to taste EVERYTHING, including the flour mixture...

We hope you're enjoying this summer baking series as much as we are! Let us know if you bake these Lemon Blueberry Cupcakes (they are very yummy - Jonathan gave his stamp of approval!) and tag us on Instagram/Twitter! 

xoxo

Anna

Fashion Friday: Think Pink!

Goodness knows I probably already have an outfit post with the very same title but at this point of the evening I'm too tired to care! Sorry! We are thoroughly enjoying the beautiful English summer weather...I know this is not a common thing, but the UK does tend to have better weather than Ireland so we are lapping it all up while it lasts!

Now that I've finally got my wardrobe somewhat unpacked & in order, I've been loving the brighter colours - these neon pink pants are a favourite of mine! Bought in Capri last summer from Fiorucci. My blouse is from Vero Moda. Not the best option for breastfeeding in public but thankfully we tend to leave the house in between feeds so my open-blouse boobage was kept to the confines of our living room only!! The pink bow flats are from ASOS (around four years ago now). My earrings are from Krystal (again, ASOS) and I'm wearing my gold Alex & Ani bracelets, Scorpio necklace from my dad and Estée Lauder Crystal Baby lipstick. On my nails is Zoya "Barbie". 

Emilia is wearing a pair of teal jeggings from The Children's Place, a Zara t-shirt and her Start Rite cupcake shoes which are getting a bit small :-/ I'm not sure where the teal bow-bow is from but her headband is from Holly's Bonny Bows. She is wearing her butterfly "backpack" (harness) and insisted on taking this HUGE Hello Kitty with her today. She even brought it into the Disney shop, picked up a Minnie Mouse toy (which we later bought for her) and then promptly asked for Hello Kitty back so she could hold both. Evidently she didn't want Hello Kitty to feel replaced ;)

Hope you all have a lovely weekend :) I am looking forward to baking cupcakes with my new KitchenAid that I finally bought today after my last mixer went up in smoke last week!! 

xoxo

Anna

Throwback Thursday: Happy Birthday Emma!

Happy birthday to my little sister Emma! She is 23 today and celebrating in Italy...the lucky duck. When we were growing up I was always quite jealous that Emma's birthday was usually spent on holiday in some hot destination as it was during the summer (mine is in grey & cold November!). Here we are together when we were little nuggets in Baltimore! Hope you had a lovely birthday, "Princess Beauty Girl" ;) I'm sorry we couldn't be together but I will see you very soon! <3 

If you guys are interested in my Shape Up for Summer series, I posted the third one today. You can watch it here!

xoxo

Anna

What I Ate Wednesday {10.6.14}

Welcome to the first WIAW in our new home! :)

Breakfast

This was the same as always...but it looks like I'll be changing up my porridge soon as I don't think I can find my usual Flahavan's Quick Oats in the UK! So we got some Quaker Oat So Simple as a replacement - I'll let you guys know how it compares! Today I had Flahavan's Organic Quick Oats (we still have some left!) with almond milk, 1/2 banana, blueberries & cinnamon along with a caramel Nespresso coffee & apple-flavoured Spatone. 

Lunch

We ate lunch in Ikea as we were there furniture shopping today! I had a tuna melt panino (my fave!!) made with tuna, red onion & cheddar cheese. I also got a 500ml bottle of water.

Dessert

I actually saw these apple pies as soon as we walked into the Ikea restaurant...and I could not resist!! Jonathan & I had a slice each with whipped cream. Delish ;) I had this with a cup of black coffee.

Snack

When we got home from Croydon I was hungry again (I am hungry all the time with the breastfeeding!) so I had a quick snack of a Pink Lady apple & Rachel's Organic Peach and Apricot yogurt. This was my first time trying out this yogurt brand...it gets a thumbs up from me! 

Dinner

For dinner I made Orecchiette with Raw Tomato Sauce from Jamie Oliver's website...I couldn't find orecchiette so I used conchiglie instead. I LOVED this pasta dish...the family, not so much :( Unfortunately Jonathan rarely likes any dish without meat in it and he's not a fan of olives but I try to vary up our weekly meal plan by not cooking meat everyday so this is what they got! Emilia is going through a really fussy eating phase which I'm trying not to stress about but I swear some days she eats hardly anything. Everybody is telling me not to get stressed out and that she'll eat when she's hungry but truthfully mealtimes have become a bit of a nightmare with her. I don't think she took one bite of her dinner, she ate about half a Nutri Grain for breakfast (she refuses to eat cereal anymore) and picked at a few raisins for lunch. At least she is still drinking her milk...but I'm not going to lie - I HATE this phase!! She used to be such a good eater! 

Anyway, all that aside - I definitely recommend this dish if you're looking for a quick, fresh summer pasta recipe! It'll also work if you hate cooking because there's hardly any involved being that it's a raw pasta sauce - and if you are vegetarian just leave out the anchovies! :) 

Evening Coffee

I had a lovely little caramel Nespresso coffee after the kids went to bed while watching Orange is the New Black! :) Some people think it's weird that I drink coffee so late but I honestly don't think it affects me falling asleep at night at all. My dad used to make himself an espresso coffee every evening (with lots of sugar!) and it was just a part of his normal routine. I actually find the smell of coffee in the evenings really comforting as it always reminds me of him!

Those were my eats for the day! You can watch my WIAW video here:

xoxo

Anna