Saturday 30 November 2013

Roasted Broccoli and Cheddar soup

Hey guys and gals! Hope you have a lovely saturday planned, its date night for me and Chris tonight so i'm looking forward to spending some child free time with my lovely hubby!

Its sooooo cold now! So theres nothing really better for lunch on a cold day then some nice warming soup! I came across this yummy looking recipe on Cooking Closet whilst searching for some soup recipes. It looks delicious and i can't wait to try it next week!



So here it is let us know if you try it or if you have any yummy soup recipes you would like to share!



Roasted Broccoli and Cheddar Soup

A creamy broccoli and cheddar soup with the concentrated flavour of roasted broccoli.

Servings: makes 4 servings

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 50 minutes
Total Time: 60 minutes
Ingredients
  • 1 large bunch broccoli, cut into florets
  • 1 tablespoon oil
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 1 tablespoon oil
  • 1 medium onion, diced
  • 2 cloves garlic, chopped
  • 1 teaspoon thyme, chopped
  • 3 cups vegetable broth or chicken broth or chicken stock
  • 1 1/2 cups aged cheddar, shredded
  • 1 cup milk or cream
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 1 tablespoon grainy mustard (optional)
Directions
  1. Toss the broccoli florets in the oil along with the salt and pepper and arrange them in a single layer on a large baking sheet.
  2. Roast the broccoli in a preheated 400F oven until lightly golden brown, about 20-30 minutes.
  3. Heat the oil in a large sauce pan over medium heat.
  4. Add the onion and saute until tender, about 5-7 minutes.
  5. Add the garlic and thyme and saute until fragrant, about a minute.
  6. Add the broth and broccoli, bring to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer, covered, for 20 minutes.
  7. Puree the soup until it reaches your desired consistency with a stick blender.
  8. Mix in the cheese, let it melt and season with salt and pepper.
  9. Mix in the milk and mustard and remove from heat.

Option: If you like a thicker, creamier and healthier soup, pureed white beans make an excellent addition!

Option: Start the soup out by cooking 4 strips of bacon, use the grease to cook the vegetables instead of the oil and serve the soup garnished with the crumbled bacon.


Friday 29 November 2013

Every Day is A Christmas Dress Day

Hello Friday peeps! Im super excited today as my lovely Jadey and her little peeps are coming for a sleepover! Hope you all have some lovely weekend plans! We are putting the tree up on saturday night ready for Sunday the 1st whoop!

So anyway on with Fashion Friday! Keeping with the christmas theme, there isn't anything more christmassy for an outfit really than a Red dress! So i thought i would share some red dresses available at the moment that you can wear anytime in the run up to Christmas day!









These are all easy to wear and loose fitting (for the christmas calories) you can wear everyday! Add a cardigan and some tights and your good to go!

Have a lovely friday










Thursday 28 November 2013

Alphabet Bags

You know when you look at some things and your like 'i need that' or 'i want that' but you don't really need it but you just really really want it? Well thats how i feel about Alphabet Bags



So i'm just going to show you pretty much everything i love on there and want!!










So i know there are 6 bags all the same just different things printed on them at the start of this and i know i don't need 6 bags all the same but i really want them all, like i can't decide and i'm really trying my best to think up what i could use them all for because i just love them!! They need to come live at my house ASAP!

I think their stuff is really cool and fun and i just love it.... did i mention that i love it already??

In short... I LOVE Alphabet bags, The End!







Wednesday 27 November 2013

Childhood Christmas Wishes

I was just going through some old pictures and i found these of me that my mum took the minute i woke up on Christmas day in Spain.





The excitement on my face i just find magical! Like i truly believed in Magic - how amazing to capture that in a picture! The pure amazement and genuine belief.  And this is exactly why i love making so much effort with Honey and Rocco and making Christmas magical because its what my mum did for me.  These memories and feelings you can't replace! 


So when i was little i always wanted a Christmas Tree in my bedroom and of course i wanted a real one (haha) 


This is me and my dad with my tree in my bedroom! 

Well when we were in Paperchase last week Honey saw this little tree 


It is £8.50 from www.paperchase.co.uk

I just love it!! Sooo cute and believe it not i had one just like this when i was about 12 in my room! As we are getting a real tree this year for our lounge and we aren't going to get it right at the beginning of Dec i thought it would be nice for Sunday 1st December for Elvis to bring Honey this tree and some baubles for her bedroom! 

I'm going to get her some really kitsch decorations and let her go to town! I'm even going to get some tinsel hahaha - Paperchase have a great selection and some little lights! 

They also have this one in Paperchase which is also lovely



I love making Honeys dreams come true - its so rewarding and i know i won't but i hope i'll be as good a mum as my mum! She is my best friend and i wouldn't know what to do with out her! I'd say she's the original magic mummy 

Making new family traditions are the best! 





Tuesday 26 November 2013

Toddler Christmas Crafts

So its nearly the end of the term - well in 2 weeks time for Honey but i'm already getting prepared for the long 4 weeks off!

When in Tesco the other day i came across a whole section of Make your own Christmas activities - they were something like £3 each and i bought a couple.







Honey had a few hours of fun just gluing, glittering, sticking and making these lovely trees! There were 6 in the pack and they make lovely grandparent gifts to go on their trees! They also have keyrings and badges etc…. really good little craft ideas! 



Monday 25 November 2013

1 Month to go!

Happy 25th of November!! you know what that means... 1 whole month till Christmas yippeeeeeeee!!


So as we are now on the official christmas countdown over the next month we will be sharing with you all things christmas and helping you bring christmas cheer to every day! 

We really believe that the magic of Christmas isn't just Christmas day itself, its the whole christmas season and it really is the best time of year!

We will be sharing all our fave christmas activities, recipes, tips and ideas to help you along the festive period and help make your christmas magical!


This week we will be preparing our advent calendars ready for Sunday! Jade shared her fave calendars with you last week but we also like to add a little christmas activity into each advent day. So this basically means they get a little treat to eat and also a little card which will say what christmassy activity we are going to be doing that day. This can be something simple like christmas colouring, watching a christmas film, writing our lists to santa and it will also involve more exciting christmas plans we have like visiting santa, christmas parties and christmassy days out!



I will also be gathering xmas books to wrap up ready for advent too. Every night they will unwrap a christmas story for bedtime. I recycle the books from yr to yr and update a few as they only really get read once and i put them away till the next year so were not buying 25 christmas books each year but its just a nice little tradition.



What little pre christmas traditions do your family carry out? We really love hearing about and sharing peoples different ideas as we just want to make our children's memories as wonderful as possible! If you have any nice suggestions please leave us a comment below or email us at alittlemummymagic@gmail.com


Have a lovely Monday, go forth and spread some christmas cheer!







Sunday 24 November 2013

1 week till Elf on the Shelf reminder!

I'm soooooo excited!!!! Its the one week countdown till the return of Buddy and Elvis!!



Buddy and Elvis are our Elves on Shelves! They really keep the magic of christmas alive every single day of December in the lead up to christmas. You can read all about Elf on the Shelf and the purpose of him here in Jades previous post.

So this is your one week reminder peeps! If you haven't got yours yet they have some available here on Amazon for £25.39 so get ordering quick!

Heres some of the antics Buddy got up to last year, Sienna really loved him it was brilliant seeing her reaction every morning!
















Its really fun thinking of things for him to get up and the kids really love it! Theres some great ideas on pinterest if your stuck!

Have a lovely sunday everyone



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