Flour – check!
Eggs – check!
Extra pint of milk – check!
Lemon, sugar, nutella – check!

Pancake Day 2014 is here, time to get your flip on! Here are some great facts about Pancake Day, I do love a good info-graphic so here’s this one for your enjoyment…

We were sent a Blu-Ray copy of Turbo to enjoy over February half term.  Given the recent weather we’ve been having something new to view was very welcome.

Lil H aged 6 years old and Diva G aged 4 years old really enjoyed this quirky feel good movie, they were laughing throughout the first and subsequent viewings.  The Blu-Ray disk comes with an UltraViolet copy so we were able to load the digital copy on the kids tablets for viewing when we were made a couple of trips to visit friends and relatives.

What’s the Turbo movie all about?

Turbo is the story of a regular garden snail with big, and fast, dreams.  If you wish for something enough it can come true and a freak accident infuses Turbo with the power of super-speed and the adventures begin.

Turbo kicks into overdrive and embarks on an extraordinary journey to achieve the seemingly impossible: competing in the world’s fastest race, the Indianapolis 500. With the help of his tricked-out streetwise snail crew, this ultimate underdog puts his heart and shell on the line to prove that no dream is too big, and no dreamer too small.

What we thought

The kids loved it, its a good feel good film which appeals to both girls and boys.

Mr L found it funny and liked it too.

I got to drive my North to South road trip in peace so it gets my thumbs up for being a heartwarming tale which encourages dreams and also entertains my little ones for 96 minutes – it ticks my boxes for being a good movie!

We recommend Turbo as one to watch.

Turbo  is an animated comedy from the makers of Madagascar and Kung Fu Panda and is now out on Blu-ray, Blu-ray 3D and DVD.

Turbo movie trailer

Thank you to 20th Century Fox who sent us a Blu-Ray disk of Turbo.
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/20thCenturyFoxUK
Twitter:  @20CenturyFoxUK 

February is the month love and Friday will see the price of flowers, especially red roses, boom. The unmarried amongst us will dominate restaurants in tables of two and those who are married with kids might push the boat out with a meal deal for two. Well that’s what I did last year, in fact that’s what all the married peeps in my office did and we all had the same too! What? Don’t be suggesting we’re sad, ok?!

This year I’m cooking. I’ve taken on the challenge set by Waitrose to create a ‘healthy Heart’ Valentine’s challenge. What better gift for my Valentine, Mr L than a delicious & healthy meal cooked by his one and only true love? Whatever the answer to that question, that’s what he is getting!

Pulses, avocado (is there nothing this fruit / veg can’t do?!), nuts, salmon, fresh tuna, soya, peas, oats & barley are the food of love when it comes to providing you with heart-healthy nutrients. And I’m choosing my favourite ingredients and fresh tuna for my Valentines meal and I’m serving:

Fresh tuna steak with Pak Choi, Soy Sauce, Ginger, Chilli & Lime

Here’s what you need:
2 x fresh tuna steaks
2 pak choi
approx 8tbsp soy sauce
1/2 garlic clove finely grated
1 thumb-sized piece of fresh ginger peeled & finely grated
1 fresh chilli de seeded & finely grated
Juice of 1 lime
2 tbsp of olive oil

Here’s how you make it:

Finely grate & stir together the garlic, ginger, chilli, lime & olive oil.

Note, on the finely grated thing I do it this way when I have time but otherwise use a micro mixer / chopper with a little of the olive oil then stir in the rest of the oil & lime juice. Don’t whizz it all up, it’ll create an emulsion & that’s not so good at all.

On a hot griddle or frying pan sear your tuna steaks sprinkling a little salt & pepper to taste, whilst hot douse your tuna steaks with soy sauce & allow to rest. Sprinkle with the ginger, chilli, garlic, lime & olive oil dressing.

Meanwhile steam your pak choi or other greens. When the greens are cooked simply divide onto two plates, slice the tuna & place on top, drizzle with any left over sauce.

For more meal ideas to keep the love of your life’s heart healthy visit the Healthy Heart Valentine’s Day hub on the Waitrose website which explains which foods are good for your heart health (and why) and suggests some fab ways to serve these up.

Thanks very much to Waitrose who sent me a voucher to help me join in this challenge.

My little Diva G loves her Prima Princessa DVDs, read our review from 2012 and here she is mid performance of The Nutcracker.

What little girl doesn’t enjoy being a ballet dancer?  What mummy’s don’t enjoy a bargain?  Prima Princessa are spreading the love for Valentine’s Day and you can get 50% off Prima Princessa Presents The Nutcracker and Prima Princessa Presents Sleeping Beauty DVDs for children between 7th-14th February 2014 on Amazon. Just enter the code LOVE1234 at checkout.

Prima Princessa dance-along, award-winning DVDs are created by two mums, excited about exposing young children to the beauty and wonder of classical ballet in a way that is both affordable and practical for families.

There’s little about the current house, as it is, that I like.  The house we are saving to start developing is the one I love, here’s the house plans.  Knowing that almost every room is changed by the redevelopment leaves little in the way of mini projects. Anything we do is going to be undone as walls are knocked down and rooms change use.  The only rooms we’ve done are the kids bedrooms and we did them the day we got the keys making their rooms fab for them to move straight into.  The kids have the best rooms in the house, as it should be, but it’s getting me down.

Not having any space I like has left me with a desire to make something over that can no longer be suppressed!  So over Christmas I decided to makeover the downstairs loo, after all it is possibly the most visited room in the house by both residents and guests!

Our  starting point is orange, very orange, very very orange indeed!  Whilst I like a bit of colour this room has been most certainly tangoed by the previous owners – brace yourself here’s the before photograph:

I wanted the makeover to cost as little as possible as this room gets completely knocked down come redevelopment time.  I wanted it to look fresh, clean, modern and cost nothing – I love a good challenge!  We had white paint, a mirror I had acquired from a skip – what?  Yes I rescued it from a skip!  There were a couple of leftovers from jobs my husband had undertaken for clients, a huge and fabulous tile and a roll of funky geometric Harlequin array wallpaper.  Here’s a close up of the wallpaper, what do you think?

My plan was coming together and I had my vision for the room, for it to be a clean, white space with a funky feature wallpaper on the back wall.  I wanted to add texture with the large tile as a splash back, adding light and the illusion of more space with the large mirror.   The biggest challenge of all was getting back to white walls, I thought it would take two coats it actually took four, yes four coats of paint!  Here’s the room in its now white state with the mirror and the tile, which is a pearlescent white, as a splash back:

I’m pleased, really pleased with the new look, achieved in 48 hours with my super skilled joiner husband, swing by and like his Facebook page Rob Lancaster Joinery, Fitting, Fixing!  A few finishing touches are outstanding – a light fitting, a toilet roll holder and I am contemplating a vinyl sticker for the mirror that says “Hello beautiful!” – a nice touch or tacky or a waste of a tenner on a free mirror?  I have my eyes peeled for the right bargains.

Right now this transformation cost time and that’s all, so, what do you think?  Worth the effort even if it does get knocked down in 12 months time?  Let me know your thoughts…