Healthy Eating

Whilst Nana Bee has been stateside on her big holiday, we have taken it upon ourselves to really concentrate on eating really well. We have practically cut meat out of our diet and tried to focus on more vegetable and pulse based meals.
Our new favourite meal is the Bean and Chorizo stew that we discovered a few weeks ago, but we have enjoyed herb stuffed mushrooms, mexican lasagne, lots of homemade soups and bread and mushroom stroganoff just to name a few of our yummy new discoveries.

Waking up to sun streaming through the windows, today was all about our Mr Bee. 

Picking conkers from on the lawn, a family visit to the cinema to watch 'Planes', painting with puffy paints around the dining table, replenishing the playdough stock and preparing activities for during the week and watching nature documentaries.  

What a beautiful autumnal day.

Calke on Camera

Today I visited Calke for a photography walk around the grounds. The aim was to find a new perspective of the photography and to find new views of the house and surroundings. We searched for fungi, exoplored the original entrance to the house and walked around to the rear of St Giles Church. There were signs of Autumn around every corner with conkers on the ground and bright red leaves on trees. Here are a few of my favourite photographs from the day.

 

You can find photographs from our previous Calke Abbey visits and other National Trust adventures at the 'National Trust' tab at the top of my blog :) Enjoy!

Meeting Baby Alistair

The long awaited Baby Alistair James arrived early Sunday morning, a new addition to this lovely little family.
Today we were lucky enough to meet the little alligator (my little nickname thanks to iphone autocorrct!) and even had a little cuddle, of course he fell asleep on me, don't all babies!
It was a privilege to meet the little fella and we can not wait for him to join us on our big adventures :)
Welcome to the world little chap!

Lazy Wednesdays

Breakfast in bed, running errands, collecting leaves in the woods, baking more treats with Mr Bee, watching the Nightmare Before Christmas twice, getting crafty, making a cracking pie for dinner and an evening of films and TV with the big Bee.

I love Wednesdays.

Bookmarked

After searching on Pinterest, I have found a wonderful website with lots of activities for 4-5 year olds.
This post is just for reference, lots of activities to do with Louie.

Alphabet Match 

Rainbow Salt Tray

Playdough Garden

Puffy Paint

Peggy Number Game

Pasta and Playdough

Chorizo and Bean Stew - Recipe

The fantastic meal we concocted last week attracted so much attention, I thought I would share the recipe for this scrumptious meal!

You Will Need;

1 can of Mixed Beans (in chilli sauce)

1 can of Butter Beans

1 can of Chopped Tomatoes

1 Pepper, diced (I used 1/2 a red pepper, 1/2 a yellow pepper)

1 Medium/Large onion

100g of Chorizo, cubed

1x Chicken Stock Cube

1 tsp Chilli Flakes

1 tsp Garlic Salt

Vegan/Vegetarian alternative - substitute the chorizo for a good amount of paprika and use vegetable stock instead of chicken.

Method

Place the chorizo in a hot pan and seal until the chorizo is lightly toasted. Remove chorizo into a bowl for later. Fry the onions until soft and brown in chorizo juices with the garlic salt. Whilst the onions are frying, dissolve the stock cube in 200ml of boiled water.

Add both tins of beans to the frying pan along with the chorizo and chopped tomatoes. Cook for 2-4 minutes

Pour the stock cube over the beans and mix well. Cover with a lid and simmer for 15 minutes. Remove lid and simmer for a further 5-10 minutes.

Serve with fluffy rice or a jacket potato.

 And enjoy!

Harvest Festival

Today was a beautiful day to spend celebrating the harvest and the first day of autumn. The sun shone and the shorts and summer dresses made what is probably their last appearance.
We took Papa Bee to one of our favourite places, Canons Ashby for their victorian harvest festival for an afternoon of picnicking and wandering around the beautiful grounds.