A couple of weeks ago, I thought to myself that half term would not really make a huge difference to us: we’d still have to find ways to entertain Ioan and still work our full time jobs. But by the end of last week, both Ioan and I were well and truly sick to death of home school, and now I am relieved to have a break from the horrors of home schooling a four year old.
Obviously I’ll have to replace home school lessons with yet more screen time, which of course makes me feel like a terrible parent, but I have tried to cancel as many of my meetings as possible, and Andrew is taking some days off to spend some real quality time with Ioan … so between us we will just have to cope as well as we can.
I have planned a few cookery sessions with Ioan to break up the day, and I will be making and eating every possible variation of pancakes on Tuesday. Where possible, I’ll try and find things for Ioan to do which link up to a theme, a bit like we did for Valentine’s Day: Ioan had to make a monster for school, so he decided to make a “love monster” and voila! That’s our Valentine decoration sorted.
It wasn’t all doom and gloom in the week though, as my friend Paula sent me some surprise cake on Saturday morning. I mean, obviously I am greedy so cake is going to brighten up my day, but such an unexpected and kind gesture really cheered me up. Sadly Andrew doesn’t like chocolate so I have had to eat both chocolate tortes with clementine syrup AND white chocolate cheesecakes myself. It’s a hard life …
I made a delicious lamb hotpot for us last Sunday, which not only did we all eat and enjoy, but lasted us through Monday and Tuesday lunchtimes as well. Recipe to follow soon, but in the meantime here is a picture to illustrate what ‘comfort food’ is all about:
I also made us a ‘cowboy dinner’ (so named to try and encourage Ioan to eat it, and he did) of beef brisket (Ocado Valentine meal deal), waffle fries and baked beans – quick, easy, and tasty, even though it was basic.
Another quick, easy, and tasty meal was Saturday night’s pasta dish from the Chiappa sisters’ Simply Italian cookbook. They are Welsh Italians, and the recipe was a great fusion of Italian and Welsh ingredients – perfect for Andrew, who was feeling very patriotic following the rugby score.
Pancetta is fried until crisp, and then leeks are sweated down with butter and brown sugar (weird but it works). Mix together with al dente spaghetti and top with gorgonzola and you’re done. Because there isn’t a lot of cheese in the sauce it’s actually quite a light dish, and really delicious – it’s definitely going to go onto our list to eat again (Ioan, by the way, ate his pasta plain, just the way he likes it!).
You will be pleased to hear that this week’s menu is better organised than last week. I have already made a pot of lentil soup for lunches for the next few days, and have proved a sourdough loaf in the fridge overnight to bake later this morning.
- Monday – leftover pork from Sunday lunch mixed with prawns, noodles, and vegetables, to make some kind of South East Asian inspired dish
- Tuesday – ham and cheese buckwheat pancakes, followed by crempogs
- Wednesday – Toulouse sausages and lentils
- Thursday – burgers and homemade chips
- Friday – takeaway
- Saturday – hot dogs
- Sunday – roast chicken dinner
What are your plans for the week (food or child entertainment wise)?