Littlemummy.Com

The Carnival of Family Life was held at Raising a Healthy Family, here are my favourite entries including a post from the host blog which I really enjoyed.

I just loved the photos in this entry, looks like a lot of fun.

This article on how to become a millionaire offered some sound advice on money management, some of it is beyond what I would attempt, still inspiring though.

Never thought of cutting back on clothes before, don’t think I have enough anyway

Enjoyed this post on cruising with Mickey, we booked Disneyworld a couple of weeks so we’re all pretty obsessed at the moment!

This halloween project is a simple idea but you can see how effective it is from the photo.

I’m not sure if Erin had Halloween on her mind when she was making this one - it’s pretty evil looking..

Pasta faces are a simple and cheap activity requiring little effort and a lot of fun, I didn’t do this one with her, Daddy did, perhaps that’s how it’s taken on such a sinister look!

Update: I just showed Erin the picture of her plate on the ‘puter’, apparently the face is Daddy!

Ever wondered how kids meals compare nutritionally between McDonalds, Burger King and KFC. I have. Here’s what I found…

Introductory Comment

This little experiment isn’t intended to show any one brand up, rather it was to satisfy my own curiosity. It’s worth noting that there are hundreds of combinations available which I haven’t compared, instead choosing a small selection of popular combinations that I would likely choose. There are other combinations that will be more healthy and unhealthy than those I have shown. All fries are unsalted.

McDonalds

Happy Meal including Chicken Nuggets, Fries and Fruit Shoot
Calories 420
Fat 21g
Salt 1.2g

Comment: A pleasant surprise really, the calorific value is reasonable (around a quarter of a child’s daily allowance). The amount of salt in this meal was the second highest out of the 6 combos.

Happy Meal including Hamburger, Fries and Coke
Calories 590
Fat 20g
Salt 1.8g

Comment: Calorific value much higher here, mainly due to the coke. Salt was by far the highest of all selections.

KFC

Kids Meal including Fillet Burger, Fries, Fruit Shoot & Yoghurt
Calories 587
Fat 20.8g
Salt 0.8g

Comment: The second highest for calories, but quite a low salt value. Includes desert which other combos do not.

Kids Meal including Chicken Strips, Corn, Fruit Shoot & Yoghurt
Calories 479
Fat 23.2g
Salt 0.9g

Comment: Calorific value is relatively low but this meal has the seond highest fat content. Lower in salt than other combos. Includes desert which other combos do not.

Burger King

Kids Meal including Hamburger, Fries and Diet Coke
Calories 520
Fat 25g
Salt 0.8g

Comment: Very high fat content and calorific value over 500. Salt is relatively low

Kids Meal including Chicken Tenders, Fries and Coke
Calories 510
Fat 23g
Salt 0.97g

Comment: Middle of the road in calories but quite high in fat.

Conclusion

Burger King does badly for fat content. McDonalds performs poorly for salt and choose the wrong combo from KFC and consume nearly 600 calories. My favourite combination was the KFC chicken, corn, fruit shoot and yoghurt meal. Its quite high in fat but includes a vegetable, protein and dairy for maximum variety and it has the yoghurt providing a desert. I was surprised how evenly each brand performed overall. The biggest alarm bells rang when I saw how much full sugar carbonated drink added to the values.

What do you think?

McDonalds photo by flickr user noodlepie
KFC photo by flickr user viZZZual.com
Burger King photo by flickr user paranoias80

1. Melt in the Middle Chocolate Pudding with Chantilly Cream and Malibu Syrup

This is served at the restaurant I work in. It is the ultimate desert and if there’s any going spare I’m first in the fist fight to grab it. It’s a possibility for desert at this year’s Christmas dinner (what? nobody else planning christmas dinner yet?)

2. Frangelico

Another gem unearthed at work. I love tia maria and Franchellico kind of reminds me of it, its a liquer made from hazelnuts, quite strong but the perfect accompaniment to the chocoate pud. Yum.

3. Parmesan Chicken

So simple. Pan fry some skin on chicken breasts, make sure to give a good colour to the skin. Cook in the oven for around twenty minutes. Sprinkle some parmesan over the skin, be generous, then grill until golden. Serve with a green salad and a lemon wedge.

4. Lemon & Rosemary Baked Chicken

Take some skin on chicken and arrange in a dish with potatoes, pour over a good glug of olive oil, and a glass of white wine (I prefer a sweeter wine, it helps counter balance the sharpness of the lemon). Cut a lemon into segments and arrange between the chicken breasts. Add some fresh rosemary and season well. Place in the oven for around 40 minutes (check the chicken breasts are golden and cooked through). Serve.

This is a tasty one dish dinner that takes barely five minutes to prepare. Some nice crusty bread for the juices and you’re in heaven.

5. Quesadillas

An american favourite that we only discovered recently. Looking forward to trying out different combos - any suggestions?

6. Gu Chocolate Souffle and Mackays Ice Cream

Ready made Gu puddings are the ultimate in luxury deserts. For a special occasion (and we have been having a lot of ’special occasions’ recently!!) this is a real treat.

7. Vanilla Creme Round

I order my shopping online and when it’s delivered I treat myself to one of these or a slice of walnut bread. Makes the unpacking go quicker….

8. Flake Ice Cream

Flake + ice cream = yum

Flake Ice Cream = Double Yum

What more can I say?

Quesadilla photo by flickr user Rooey202

The title of this post should have read Loudon Castle. Let me start at the beginning…

Once upon a time there was a sunny day, in Scotland this is a rare occurrence. Mummy Bear, Daddy Bear and Baby Bear decided it would be nice to take advantage of the fine weather and jumped in the car and headed for Loudon Castle for a day of fun and frolics. Baby Bear was potty training and it wasn’t long before the call of nature, well, called. It called a lot during the (supposedly) one hour journey, in fact it was nearly into double figures! Mummy Bear and Daddy Bear remained patient and tried to support Baby bear as much as possible, unfortunately the road they were driving on (the A71) was also causing delays. There were a lot of temporary traffic lights, which made Daddy Bear angry. Eventually Mummy Bear and Daddy Bear got wise to the double stopping and combined toilet breaks with temporary traffic lights, much to the amusement of two old ladies at the bus stop. Mummy Bear and Daddy Bear were a little embarassed but decided that all Mummy Bears and Daddy Bears must allow Baby bears to relieve themselves at the side of the road when they are potty training (?).

The journey stretched on for almost two hours, and so did the toilet breaks and temporary traffic lights…

[much later]

Finally Mummy Bear spotted the sign (Daddy bear wears glasses and didn’t see the sign, it’s just as well Mummy bear was there!). Mummy Bear was worried when she read the sign ‘Open Every Weekend in September’, and was on the verge of saying some very naughty words when Daddy Bear pulled up outside the CLOSED gates and began to laugh hysterically, Mummy Bear didn’t think this was very funny at all…

[5 minutes later]

Mummy bear and Daddy bear decided to try and save the day and took a 45 minute detour and headed for Glasgow Science Centre, home of Nina and the Neurons. Mummy bear was happy that the entry fee was less than 16 gold pieces (please don’t turn up with gold pieces, this is for the benefit of the story, the actual price is £7.95 per adult, kids under three are free, thank you)for the whole family. By this time (12.30pm!! we left the house at 10am!!)Mummy bear was very hungry so they all headed for the cafe. Mummy bear, expecting to be ripped off, rummaged around for more gold coins…Daddy bear ordered the lunch. Daddy bear chose baked potato with meatballs, Mummy bear had baked potato and chicken curry, and Baby bear had a packed lunch. Mummy bear was astonished to find that the lunch only cost 11 gold pieces, this made Mummy bear very very happy.

After lunch they all went to explore the Science Centre, Mummy Bear, Daddy Bear and Baby Bear enjoyed the experiments and exhibits and said they would like to return one day, when Baby Bear was a bit older (and not potty training, so that then they might actually spend longer than two and a half minutes away from the toilets).

Mummy Bear and Baby Bear fell asleep in the car on the way home. It had been a very very long day. Daddy Bear took them both home and they all lived happilyish ever after.

The End

Photo by flickr user raymccrae

I recently suggested a budget conscious day out in the centre of Edinburgh, today I have another value combo once again right in the centre of Edinburgh (around two minutes walk from the Royal Mile).
The National Museum of Scotland is on Chambers Street, unfortunately we visited with only an hour or so to spare. Even so we visited the bottom floor which houses interactive displays such as a reaction board thingy, em, you know, you hit the buttons as they light up and see how slow/fast your reactions are. Other highlights included a full size F1 car which simulated a race and Dolly the Sheep (stuffed and encased). Other floors travel through time with various Scottish artefacts, we definitely need to make a return visit to explore the rest of the floors.

We found the National Museum child friendly but not particularly pram friendly, leave the pram if possible. There is a cafe and gift shop. Admission to the museum is FREE.

Cross the road and you’ll find Vittoria’s, a smart affordable italian restaurant with a good reputation. The decor was really stylish, airy and child friendly (crayons and paper provided!) we all felt immediately relaxed. The lunch menu offers pasta dishes at £5.50 and other options range from £5-£7. We enjoyed spaghetti carbonara and burger & chips, both very tasty but the highlight was the £2.95 portion of garlic bread, unlike the usual 2/3 piece portion you usually receive we were wide eyed as a basket of what looked like a loaf’s worth arrived, a nice touch which costs the restaurant very little but left us with a generous impression. As an extra special treat we enjoyed some real italian ice-cream and coffee. The green apple sorbet and pistachio ice cream are worth a try, perhaps not together though!

Photo by flickr user hapticflapjack