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Top 5 Waterproof Festival Essentials

As news reports fly in that the Isle of Wight festival is underwater, we are reassured that the Great British summertime has arrived!

Hardcore festival goers may not have their spirits dampened by the rain, but here are a few waterproof festival essentials which will keep everything else dry. Happy festivalling!

5 Reasons to Get Excited About Spring

After more storms with their own names brought such an array of unpredictable weather, there's no doubt that most of us are glad to see the end of February looming.

The beginning of Spring is so close you can almost feel it in the air. Well, maybe if the pesky frost stopped making its appearance in the morning.

Nonetheless, to get you through the last of February we've put together this list of reminders about why you should get excited for Spring!

1. Longer Evenings, Brighter Mornings

Quite simply, more daylight. Yes, after a long winter of dark mornings and dark evenings, a bit more daylight is more than welcome in our books. You've probably started to notice it already.

Getting up in the morning with a hint more light in the sky that definitely wasn't there yesterday and wondering if you really even need your headlights on for your drive home from work (you probably still do though, sorry).

The days of leaving work when it's dark and returning home in the dark are on their way out and we are on the home stretch towards summer!

2. Chocolate Eggs

Mini eggs, creme eggs, Lindt bunnies... We've all been eyeing them up in the supermarkets and whether they make you fear for your fitness and nutrition regime or not, they definitely aren't going anywhere... for a while yet anyway.

Just one creme egg surely couldn't hurt? Chocolate has endorphins that make you feel good after all...

3. Spring Fashion Trends

It might still be cold outside (unfortunately) but that's no reason to stop you from donning some of Spring 2025's trends. 

Bright colours, statement stripes and of course, florals, are all on the cards for Spring style. So while you might not be able to leave your waterproof coat behind just yet you can start to get creative by injecting a bit of SS25 into your in-between seasons look! 

4. Snowdrops and Daffodils

Seeing flowers and growth again generally will be nice but is there a more welcome sight after a long winter than the heads of snowdrops and daffodils bobbing in the breeze? They serve as a firm reminder that the end of winter is in sight and warmer days (hopefully!) lie ahead.

5. Baby Animals

Everyone knows that Spring is baby animal season. However, do you actually get to see baby animals in Spring? Unless you live in a rural area probably not.

So why not make a point of venturing on a countryside walk and seeing if you can spot some cute lambs? Or heading to an open farm? Guaranteed it will improve your day. Maybe even your week.

5 Meal Planning Tips

Whether you’re cooking for one, two or even more, figuring out what to have for your meals from week to week can be a difficult task. This is where meal planning comes in handy. Planning ahead and getting organised when it comes to meal times will save you lots of time, energy, money, potentially help you stay healthier by avoiding those takeaways AND minimise food waste.

The problem with meal planning is that many people don’t even know where to begin. To help you get started and inspire a few ideas we’ve put together a few meal planning tips that will hopefully make your life that little bit easier!

1. Get excited about cooking

Make a list of your favourite meals and start researching new recipes to supplement your old favourites. Pinterest is great for finding new and exciting recipes that you might not have ever tried before. Just looking at the photos of the meals and trying out new methods of cooking is bound to inspire you with meal planning ideas and get you excited about cooking. This will make the prospect of meal planning all the more manageable!

2. Make a Budget

Next up is to make a list of ingredients garnered from your recipe compilation along with prices which you can total off to see if it’s within your budget. Having this list ready to bring with you on your next shop will help to stave off impulse buys, detours to the local takeaway and keep you within your budget from week to week.

3. Put together a meal planning calendar

You have the ingredients now it’s time to start planning when you’re going to make the meals. Ask yourself what leftovers can be eaten for the next couple of day’s lunches and what can be frozen for future use. Sorting out all these details that you might have overlooked before you started meal planning will help you avoid discovering that forgotten bag of off potatoes or the out of date remains of a loaf of bread.

4. Cook components of meals

Preparing and freezing components of meals for future use is a great way of saving time when it comes to cooking meals. This could be preparing tomato sauces for use in pasta and lasagna dishes or having pre-chopped veg and herbs ready to be thrown into a dish.

5. Keep an eye on supermarket sales

Many find that they make savings by planning their meals each week around what’s on sale in the supermarkets. It can be worth keeping an eye on what’s on sale and if it’s a cheaper alternative to what you would usually buy then why not avail of the offer? However, it is dependent on your tastes, you or your family might not necessarily like what’s on offer one week or you might find the savings aren’t worth compromising on brands you rely on and trust.

City Break Packing Tips

So, you're getting away for a few days? Hurray! However, is that thought of packing at the back of your mind dampening your excitement? Whenever you're unsure of what the weather will be like and only have a few vague plans in place, packing everything you'll need into the limited space of your carry-on can feel like quite the ordeal. Whether you're jetting off to explore a UK city or even further afield in Europe, we have a list of city break packing tips - designed to make fitting everything into that carry-on feel less impossible!

1. A Reliable Carry-on Bag

Make sure everything is in working order before packing. The last thing you want to discover in the airport is a broken wheel or half ripped handle. Also make sure it's a bag that you're prepared to haul around the airport with you and awkwardly stuff into the overhead on the plane. There's nothing worse than having a bag you aren't comfortable carrying around.

2. One Reliable Hand-Bag

No, you definitely don't want to bring that small bag with the dodgy zip just because it matched that skirt you probably won't even wear. You might be co-ordinated but at the cost of having a bag you can't fit everything you need into? Not worth it. Instead, bring just one spacious bag that has served you well on long days out in town shopping. These days where you walked about a lot will most closely match your city break experience so you can then gauge whether your bag will indeed fit the bill. Chances are that one that chafes on your shoulder for instance won't go down a treat. Remember, you want it to be spacious for all your essentials, durable and comfortable do you can get fully immersed in your surroundings!

3. Versatile Clothing

For instance, if you're going to pack a dress for evening wear then make sure it's a dress that can be dressed up or down - from daywear to evening wear. Having an idea of how you want to wear both looks will really help with this. Likewise, if you plan on wearing jeans during the day then make sure you pack a top you can dress them up with for evening time. There's no need to pack a new outfit for everyday/evening, simply get pieces that are easily co-ordinated to save space. Having versatile clothing will free up crucial space in your carry-on for more important things - like souvenirs! It's all about strategy when packing for a city break.

4. One Pair of Comfortable Shoes

Let's face it, nothing weights a suitcase down and simultaneously takes up an unforgivable amount of space quite like a bulky pair of shoes. And do you really need more than one pair anyway? The answer is most likely, no. Make the only pair you need the ones you wear to the airport. They're going to need to be both comfortable and, again, versatile - shoes that you can walk about in during the day and dress up for hitting the town in the evening. A pair of boots fits this description perfectly. And luckily knee high boots just so happen to be very fashionable right now. They will go with jeans, leggings, dresses and skirts. Above all though, they need to be a pair you trust. There's no point wearing a new pair to only find out that they are cripplingly painful after a half hour wearing them. Break them in first.

And there you have it, a few important tips to bear in mind before you start throwing everything into your suitcase. Happy packing!

Happy Healthy Meal Planning

I've only just started using a family meal planner and I can't believe it's taken me until now to fully embrace it. I guess I've always had a rough idea of what we would have on maybe 3 of the nights in the week but it was still flexible and frequently, I'd realise too late that I'd not got the right ingredients - nothing more frustrating! 

But now we work from a menu of about 5 multi-purpose dishes that I rotate regularly. Hands up, it's not extensive and it's not particularly adventurous but it's all largely made from scratch with a good helping of vegetables (hidden and visible) and my kids eat it all. Can't complain about that! So on this blog post, I'm going to share a few of my reliable recipes, along with some killer freezer tips for busy families.

Ragu that becomes Spag Bol & Lasagne

 I'll start with my children's favourite - ragu. I've used a version of Delia's recipe for ragu for over a year now and once a week, I make a massive pot of it. It's SO easy to make and can be tweaked and changed if you don't have exactly everything on the list. It's best made in advance and slow cooked so I sometimes do it at the weekend or in the evening after the kids are in bed.

750g pack of beef mince

500g pack of pork mince

1 pack of pancetta or streaky bacon (optional)

2 onions

2/3 big cloves of garlic

Half a head of celery (optional)

1 jar of sun-dried tomato paste (not a problem if you don't have this - just use lots of tomato puree)

1 tin of chopped tomatoes

1 carton of passata (tinned tomatoes can be substituted here)

Beef Stock Cube

Water/wine - either - a glass full

Handful of chopped fresh basil (dried works just as well)

Salt & Pepper

Cook off both your minces in a separate frying pan and drain off the fat in a sieve. While doing this, fry your onions, celery and garlic in a large casserole with a lid, then add the pancetta (if using) and colour. Add the cooked and drained minced beef and pork.

Add all the other ingredients and mix, bringing back up to a bubbling heat. Add additional water or wine to make sure there is sufficient liquid to keep the dish from drying out during the slow cooking.

Bung in the oven for 2 or 3 hours. I often put it on for 2 and then leave it in the (cooling) oven overnight before putting it in the fridge the next day until I prep for dinner.

This can be used to make 2-4 dishes (depending on how big your family is). I always get 2 generous dinners for 6 - a spaghetti bolognaise on one day using the ragu as it is and just heating up as much as I need and serving with wholewheat spaghetti. With the remaining ragu, I layer it in a large lasagne dish with dry lasagne sheets. Pour over a jar of white sauce (or you can make your own using flour, butter and milk). Sprinkle cheese (parmesan or cheddar) on top and pre-cook it for 30 minutes, ensuring it doesn't get too coloured on top (use foil if necessary). Then it goes in the fridge until we need it, at which time, I cook it for another 30-40 minutes with foil over it. The double cooking is the secret to AMAZING lasagne.

Soup that turns into Curry Sauce

My next double up recipe is a red pepper and sweet potato soup, which makes an amazing chicken curry. We usually eat the soup as lunch at the weekend but I always make a double quantity. The soup is really easy - just 4 ingredients & season to taste. 

4 Red Peppers - cut into chunks

2 Onions chopped

4 Sweet Potatoes - cut into chunks 

1.5 litres of Veg or Chicken Stock & .5 litre of boiling water.

Fry off the onions for a couple of minutes, throw in the peppers for a bit, then the sweet potatoes (no need to peel - just cut off any rough bits). Then add the hot stock and simmer until all the veg is soft. Add more water/stock as required. Blitz with a blender and serve with crusty bread (see freezer tip below).

I keep a tub of any leftover soup then and a few days later, I fry off some chicken in a large wok, add a couple of dessert spoonfuls of Korma paste then as much soup as necessary to make a nice consistency. The EASIEST curry ever and it's chock full of vegetable goodness!

Leftover Rice 

 The last dish that features every week is our leftover rice. It's basically a paella style recipe that uses up anything that's left in the fridge - chicken, sausages, chorizo, prawns - and it's one of the few dinners that I can whip up when there's literally nothing left as it's a proper store cupboard & freezer dish.

2 x Peppers (any colour)

Celery/Onions

2 cups of Brown Rice 

4 cups of Stock

Tomato Pureee

Leftover cooked meat or a bag of frozen prawns

Frozen Peas and/or Corn

Fry off the peppers and celery and/or onions with some olive oil. Add the rice, stir in the tomato puree and then immediately add the hot stock. Reduce the temperature and simmer, covered, for 15 minutes.

Stir the dish and add more stock if necessary. Add the frozen peas, prawns, chicken etc. heat through and serve. This is great with some sweet chill sauce or for the older members of the family, good old Tabasco.

Family Freezer Tips 

 I'm finishing with a few freezer tips to help make the weekly dinner dilemma even easier. Your freezer is your friend when it comes to feeding the family:

- buy chopped frozen onions, peppers, herbs and garlic. They're not that much much more expensive than fresh, never go off and make prepping dinner even faster.

- always have a bag of frozen prawns at the ready. Add pesto, cooked pasta & toasted pine nuts for another quick dinner.

- Iceland have the most amazing range of frozen breads that can be baked for 10-15 minutes. Best of the range are the crusty round rolls and the ciabatta loaf.

- freeze any leftover dinners in single portions. Then once every few weeks, you can have a mix and match dinner where everyone choses their favourite dinner from the leftover portions. These single portions are also great for nights when not everyone is home for dinner.

- if you've a bag of potatoes about to go off, don't let them! Simply peel, quarter, parboil, toss in oil and freeze in a bag. They will make perfect roasties, cooked from frozen for about 40 minutes until crispy. 

- Nothing to do with dinner but keep a bag of marshmallows in your freezer - they make an AMAZING ice pack with the bonus of being a yummy treat to make whomever's been injured feel better :)

Happy healthy meal planning!