Protecting Babies Tushies- Sudocrem Care & Protect Review

When you have a baby you find yourself discussing things that you wouldn't have dreamt of discussing before. Bums are the perfect example of this. All of a sudden this area of the human body becomes a very important part of your life - colour of the bum, smoothness of the bum, which products to put on the bum & even what comes out of the bum is openly discussed with anyone who will listen!

As we all know, a baby's skin is delicate so what we put on it has to be delicate too. This is especially important for baby's bum because of all the nasties it encounters. 

When I was asked to try out Sudocrem Care & Protect on Isaac's delicate little bum I thought 'why not, I know the brand well & it'll give me another chance to talk about bums'!

Ever since having Jamie, 9 years ago, I have used the standard Sudocrem Antiseptic Healing Cream. It always did the job I wanted it to (keeping those cute bums free from soreness) & that's why when I had Gracie-Mae & then Isaac, I stuck to the product I knew would work. The only problem with this product, in my opinion, is how thick & tacky it is - you can't really rub it in properly & little one is left with a big white patch on their skin. 

Sudocrem Care & Protect is different because it has a much smoother consistency & it rubs in beautifully. I also love the fact you can open the tube one-handed because more often than not I only have one hand available! 

On the first use I did squeeze a bit too hard & loads of cream came squirting out - I think I underestimated just how runny it would be. You can see the difference in consistency in the image below.

Sudocrem Care & Protect is a barrier ointment that has been specifically designed to help prevent nappy rash & can be used at every nappy change. It forms a protective barrier that seals in the skin's natural moisture & guards against infection. It also contains ingredients such as vitamin E & Pro Vitamin B5 to condition baby's delicate skin.

Overall it was a pleasure to use Care & Protect, I would say it works equally as well as the Antiseptic Healing Cream but soaks into the skin better & the fragrance is less medical (I put some on my hands because I liked the smell so much!)

Have you tried Sudocrem Care & Protect yet? What did you think?

*Disclaimer- I was sent this product in exchange for an honest review, however all thoughts & opinions are that of my own. 

Recipe- Slow-Cooked Chilli Con Carne

Oh, slow cooker, you do make my life so much easier! You're like a personal chef, working hard all day in the kitchen while I do other, more exciting things - like laundry, doing the school run, & checking Instagram (again). Okay, so while cooking is pretty much my favourite thing to do when I'm at home, I know not everyone feels that way. On days you don't feel like cooking in the evening or life is just too hectic, this slow cooker chili con carne will hit the spot with little fuss. The best part is it makes at least 8 servings, so you can freeze half for another time.

All you have to do is brown the meat first, then stir together all the ingredients in the slow cooker & plug it in. To dress it up, top your hot bowls of chilli with sour cream, grated cheese or chopped green onion, then grab a spoon & dig in.

Now I will be honest with you, this was the first time I've made this chilli from scratch & even though it did taste nice, it wasn't the best. So if any of you guys have any tips to make it taste better, please send them my way! 

With just 10 minutes prep time & the Slow Cooker doing all the work, it really is a quick & easy meal to make. 

Ingredients- Serves 8

• 900g Ground Beef
• 1 1/2x Onion, diced
• 1x Red Pepper, de-seeded & diced
• 1x Green Pepper, de-seeded & diced
• 1x Cup Celery, chopped
• 1x Can Red Kidney Beans, drained & rinsed
• 1x Can Diced Tomatoes
• 1x Can Crushed Tomatoes
• 2x Tbsp Tomato Purée 
• 2x Tbsp Wostershire Sauce
• 5x Garlic Cloves, crushed
• 2x Tbsp Mild Chilli Powder
• 2x Tsp Ground Cumin
• Sea Salt & Ground Black Pepper, to taste

Method

1. Warm a large frying pan or pot over medium-high heat. Add the meat & cook, stirring frequently, until browned & any excess liquid is evaporated. Transfer the meat to a slow cooker with at least 5-quart capacity. 

2. Add the onion, red pepper, green pepper, celery, kidney beans, diced tomatoes, crushed tomatoes, tomato puree, garlic, chili powder, wostershire sauce, cumin, salt & pepper to the slow cooker. Stir to mix it all together.

3. Cover & cook on HIGH for 5 hours, or on LOW for 8 hours.

4. Serve with sour cream, grated cheese, & chopped green onion or chives.

15 Things That Happen When You're Having A Kickass SAHM Day

Not very often but sometimes, Stay-At-Home-Moms totally slay their day. Here is what happens when you’re a total stay-at-home #BossMom

1. You wake up to the sound of your actual alarm rather than the sound of one or all of your kids screaming/crying/being absolutely distraught that they lost a sock.

2. You have coffee pods, milk AND sugar in your kitchen & no one has to do a 7:10am dash to the local Budgens for emergency breakfast supplies.

3. You get to drink your perfectly made cup of coffee HOT, whilst watching Good Morning Britain, in relative peace; rather than the tepid concoction you normally gulp down in the middle of breaking up a cereal fight among the feral children.

4. All the kids are settled watching CBeebies/NickJr/Ryan’s Toy Reviews (see YouTube) giving you 20 whole minutes to get dressed. You’re so impressed with how the day is going, you even wing on some lippy #Winning

5. Everyone leaves the house ON TIME. No one is missing a sock/book bag/limb or £1 donation for the PTA fundraiser. You walk the school run (where it isn’t raining!) like an urber #bossmom and even get complimented on your lippy. Today is a good day.

6. After popping to the shop to pick up everything you normally forget, you get home & prepare dinner for the evening. You even enjoy ANOTHER hot cup of coffee.

7. You realise the house isn’t actually that messy (huh? Has the hubby finally learned to pick up his boxers off the bathroom floor?) so the housework takes precisely 15 minutes. Leaving more time for another HOT COFFEE & a sneaky catch up of The Great British Bake-Off.

8. The baby is being unusually happy playing solo with the toy kitchen/wooden blocks/random raisins he found under the couch – so you spend a whole hour online-window-shopping (adding stuff to multiple baskets despite never actually hitting the checkout button) for tat you absolutely do not need but definitely want. You’re feeling in such a good mood that you eventually treat yourself to a new mug from Matalan.

9. The baby takes a nap at 12:30pm (#winning) so you take a nap too (#doublewinning)

10. You wake feeling refreshed (that never happens) with plenty of time for a hot coffee before the school run pick up. The baby is still snoozing.

11. The School run is a breeze; Another compliment on the lippy (that is still in place) it isn’t raining, children come out of school happy rather than shit-moody with NO letters asking for a £1 donation to another PTA fundraiser. 

12. Your other half surprises you by coming home early. At 4:00pm

13. Everyone eats their dinner without a mini war breaking out/moaning about the veg/or throwing a hissy-fit over your choice of glass for the squash. 

14. Hubby takes over bath-book-bed. And pours you a large glass of wine. And runs you a bath, complete with a bath bomb/bubble bar combo (And some tea-lights)

15. Children are asleep by 18:45. You are now seriously #winning at Mum life. You continue watching Suits on Netflix but because you’re feeling super productive (& empowered) you invite the hubby upstairs for sexy time. This. Is. The. LIFE!

16. You wake up at 5:23am to the baby crying & the middle child whinging that she can't fall back to sleep, then realise all of the above was just a cruel dream sent from Lucifer himself. There is no milk. You do a 7:10am dash to the local Budgens to get emergency breakfast supplies, the school run is a shit-show & absolutely no one takes a nap at any point whatsoever during the day. Lifesuckers, I know (sigh).

Gemma Xx

The Mystery Blogger Award

Hello all, hope your having a great week so far!

A couple of months ago, I had the privilege of receiving a nomination for the Mystery Blogger Award, & I’m wholeheartedly honored to receive it. I was nominated by the lovely Katie Lou who writes over at A Mother's Love, please go check her out! She writes a great deal about Mental Health, some really empowering stuff! 

Created by Okoto Enigma, the Mystery Blogger Award, is this cool award for bloggers with innovative & intelligent posts. She writes that,

Their blog not only captivates; it inspires and motivates. They are one of the best out there, and they deserve every recognition they get. This award is also for bloggers who find fun and inspiration in blogging; and they do it with so much love and passion. – Okoto Enigma

A huge thank you to Okoto Enigma for creating this ingenious award! With each nomination, it is required by the nominated blogger to answer a couple questions from their nominator.

The rules for this award are as follows:

1. Put the award logo or image on your blog
2. Thank the person who nominated you & link their blog in your post.
3. Name the creator of the award & link their blog.
4. List the rules.
5. Answer your nominator’s questions.
6. Tell your readers 3 things about yourself.
7. Nominate 10-20 people.
8. Ask your nominees 5 original questions of your choice.
9. Share links to your best blog posts.
10. Notify each of your nominees by commenting on their blog.

Right so here is 3 things about myself that you may not know:-

1) I've always wanted to learn how to surf but am overly paranoid that I'll get bitten & eaten by a shark- crazy I know! 

2) I get my best ideas right before going to bed. My mind never seems to be able to shut off! 

3) I have two speeds: busy, busy, busy OR lazy, lazy, lazy! 

How long have you been blogging?

Oh not for very long at all, I started my blog the beginning of February of this year, so that's what, 7 1/2 months now?!

As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?

Oh gosh, there were numerous things I wanted to be, I'm pretty sure it changed on a daily basis! I know at one point I desperately wanted to be a Children's TV Presenter!!

What is your all time favourite song? 

Hmmm, this is a hard one! I think it would have to be... 'I Will Wait' - by Mumford & Sons. Absolutely beautiful song.

Tea or Coffee?

Coffee! No contest! I literally would not be able to function without it!

When is your favourite time of year & why?

Christmas, hands down! Most definitely the best time of the year for me! It's not just Christmas Day that I love, it's the whole build up to the day. All the festivities that go on, the great food & drink. Being surrounded by family & friends. Couldn't think of anything better, personally!

An Open Letter To The Person Who Got Me Through Depression - this is my favourite post so far, as without this guy, my rock, my love, I would be nothing! This was a letter I had originally written down in private, for mine & MR.B's eyes only. I'm still not 100% sure why I did post it for the world to see, but I sure am glad I did! I got such a lovely, positive response from this post, just reminding me that I'm not on my own, & the fact others could completely relate to what I was saying, well that makes blogging all the worth while! 

• What made you start your blog, & what makes you stay?
• If you had to write about one thing for the rest of your life what would it be?
• Where do you draw your inspiration from?
• Where’s your favorite place to write? (Mine is Costa  & outside on warm summer nights )
• If you could be anywhere in the world, doing anything, with anyone, where would you be, what would you be doing, & who would you be doing it with?

*Would you like to have a chance to be nominated? Leave a blog comment with your blog URL for consideration. The winners will be announced on:- Monday 25th September 2017. 

Aircraft Marshalling Game- Geometry For Kids

Aircraft Marshalling Game

Give your child a chance to feel like an important member of the ground personnel that helps guide air traffic at our airports & learn a whole host of skills while he's at it! All you need are some simple materials & a chart of aircraft marshall signals to practice directions, geometry, and following directions.

What You Need:
Paper towel cardboard tubes
Orange construction paper
Scissors
Glue
Printout of aircraft marshaling signals diagram



What You Do:
1. First, your child gets to make orange wands for aircraft marshalling! Have him cover two cardboard paper towel tubes with orange construction paper. Trim the paper with scissors as needed, & then glue it to the cardboard tubes.
2. While you're waiting for the glue to dry, your child & his friends can review the aircraft marshalling signals below. These are the real signals used by aircraft marshallers at airports!
3. When the wands are ready, your child & his friends can practice the marshalling signals. When they feel they have memorized them, they can play a game.
4. One game idea is for one child to be the marshaller & the other child the airplane. The airplane should follow the marshalling directions given by the child with the orange wands.
5. If you've got more than two kids to keep busy, you can use the wands for a version of Simon Says. The aircraft marshaller with orange wands is “Simon.” Simon gives his directions as marshalling signals, & the other children must follow. For more complexity, Simon can add verbal directions also such as “180 degrees” or “90 degrees” as he directs others to turn right or left. This game reinforces direction & geometry lessons!

*Disclaimer- This is a guest post. 

Recipe- Garlic, Basil Chicken with Tomato Butter Sauce

Garlic Basil Chicken with Tomato Butter Sauce? This real food recipe only requires 7 simple ingredients: chicken, pasta, garlic, olive oil, tomatoes, basil, butter. SO good.

And may I introduce you to what may be my new favorite way to eat chicken? It’s that beauty right up there, the one coated in the buttery garden-fresh tomato sauce featuring a few leaves of summertime basil & the aroma of freshly minced garlic. Yes, THAT is how I eat chicken.

One of my biggest pet peeves is food waste, I know I've mentioned this in a previous recipe post, but it really does get up my goat! MR.B is the worst for it & it drives me insane! This dish was made using leftover ingredients from my fridge & cupboard. I wasn't really too sure what I was doing when I was making this, I kinda just made it up as I went along, & it didn't turn out too shabby! 

It's super quick & easy to make just like the rest of the recipes I post, I mean, who has time nowadays to be spending hours in the kitchen? I certainly don't! 

This meal took just 10 mins prep time & about 20-25 mins cooking time. 

Ingredients- Serves 4

• 1x lb. Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts
• Sea Salt & Ground Black Pepper, to taste
• ¼x Cup Olive Oil
• 5-6x Roma Tomatoes, diced
• 3x Cloves Garlic, minced
• 1x Handful Fresh Basil, loosely packed, cut into ribbons
• ¼x Cup Unsalted Butter
• 8 ounces Spaghetti Pasta

Method

1. Cover the chicken with plastic wrap & pound each piece to an even thickness, about one inch or so in the thickest parts (this just helps it cook faster & more evenly). Remove the plastic & sprinkle each piece of chicken generously with sea salt & freshly ground pepper.
2. Prep the tomatoes, garlic, & basil & set aside. Make the pasta according to package directions.
3. Heat the olive oil in a large heavy skillet until a drop of water sizzles across the top. Add the chicken & pan-fry for several minutes on each side - the goal here is to get the chicken cooked AND get a nice browning on the outside. When the chicken is done, set aside.
4. Give the oil a few minutes to cool, add the tomatoes, & return to heat (if you add the tomatoes to the hot oil it will be a splatter-fest). Simmer to cook the tomatoes down into a chunky-sauce-like-mixture. Add the garlic & butter & stir to combine until the butter is melted. Add the chicken back in to soak in the sauce for a few minutes.
5. Just before serving, stir in the basil. Top servings of pasta with the chicken and the sauce.

Cheap Ways To Keep A Kids's Room Clean & Organized

Keeping a kid’s room clean & organized is mainly a concern of the parents. Many of them realize that their cleaning & organizing skills & behavior will reflect on their children & how they look after their own room & space. Getting your child to clean its room is a battle going on  all over the world. The best, cheapest & most rewarding way to keep your kid’s room clean & organized is if you teach your kid to do all of that by himself or at least part of it. Stacking, matching, scooping & wiping can later on develop into a lifetime of good organizing habits.

 

It works best with toddlers! Many preschoolers enjoy cleaning & playing house. They take pride in being useful & praised & will not see cleaning as work unless you make it sound so.

Get containers with different colors for them to sort out their items. For example you can assign a container or a basket for the various kinds of toys. Lego & plastic items go in the red container, fluffy animals & soft toys in a green container and so on. Taking a photograph of how the container should look like with the toys tossed inside & sticking it on the outside will help the children match the result on the picture.

 

One cannot expect their kid to learn cleanliness by not providing them with materials that might  point them in that direction. Get them a trashcan, a toy broom, a hamper & a stepping stool to access high shelves safely. Installing extra shelves and flat surfaces for the kids to leave & organize their stuff on is a common step towards a clean & uncluttered room. Get them as many boxes as possible to store different sets of toys, label & color them to make them funny & desirable. Work together at deciding what goes where. You do not need to worry about going out & spending a lot of money on shelves & containers in the big brand stores, instead you can assemble all the parts you need from the stuff you have around the house which would be budget-friendly. Sometimes it is surprising how many items are being stored up & gathering dust when they could be used to create something new, fresh & useful. Get planks, plastic, or other wood material to install shelves & containers in your child’s room. Ask his opinion about the color & the shape so that he will like using it.

 

Once you have put in & installed all of the required items you are ready to get started. An important part of this side by side cleaning & tidying with your child is trying to take the child’s eye view. Before rearranging & sorting on your own or before imposing your ideas ask the kid to give you a tour of his room. Learn about their private space & “what’s there”. Building that kind of trust with your child will be useful later on. The child will be way more acceptable of your ideas & suggestions to rearrange their environment.  Sometimes they think the tasks they are given are too overwhelming & that is probably right, but try & get into its shoes. Some clothes or toy parts are too big for their hands, the shelves are hard to reach & so on. Do not talk about the root of the problem, do not blame the child for the mess, instead try & look at the cleaning and organization process as a learning activity.

 

Give the kids pride in having their own place. If the kid feels the place is specially for him, he/she might try harder to keep it nice. Give them control over their space & introduce cleaning methods to them. Sometimes if the result does not meet your requirements you will have to embrace the idea of “clean enough”. It is expected from them to do a sloppy job at first but any cleaning is better than no cleaning.

*Disclamier- This is a guest post. 

 

Lansinoh- Feed With Confidence Awards 2017

Breastfeeding experts Lansinoh have just launched their Feed With Confidence Awards. The awards are designed to celebrate places & people across the country supporting breastfeeding mums, & help positively change perceptions. Lansinoh’s research revealed that an average of 46% of people felt uncomfortable witnessing a mum breastfeeding in a pub, cafe or restaurant, and over a third of people surveyed were not even comfortable seeing a mum breastfeed in front of another woman! 

 Lansinoh are asking people to nominate places that they feel go above & beyond to support breastfeeding mums & make them feel welcome. Participating nominating members of the public will be in with a chance of winning a Mini Break with Luxury Family Hotels.

In 2015, 776,950 babies were born in the UK. Yet just 0.5% of UK mums are breastfeeding their newborn at 12 months, despite recommendations from the World Health Organisationto continue breastfeeding into your baby's second year. WithBritish breastfeeding rates among the worst in the world, could the culprit be society’s attitudes towards breastfeeding?

 

To understand if there is a stigma attached to breastfeeding in public, Lansinoh conducted research to gauge public opinion.The new research quashed common misconceptions, revealing that the over 65s are the most accepting & that men are more comfortable with it than women. 

Witnessing a woman breastfeeding in a café, restaurant or pub was uncomfortable for an average of 46% of people. Despite the most comfortable public spaces being revealed as the great outdoors, a surprising percentage of people still felt uncomfortable at the park (17%) & beach (16%). 

People surveyed were least accepting towards breastfeeding in front of teenagers, with almost half of respondents agreeing it makes them feel uncomfortable. Over a third of people surveyed were not even comfortable seeing a woman breastfeed in front of another woman.

 

Although lack of support from policy makers & opinion leaders was the least popular reason for low breastfeeding rates, 1 in 3 still felt that it’s a significant root cause despite it being illegal for anyone to ask a breastfeeding woman to leave a public place, such as a cafe, shop or public transport. More than half of people agreed that rates are low because women don’t want to risk abuse.

“We’re committed to supporting all mums who choose to breastfeed, and Feed With Confidence is an important initiative for us because it highlights the places and the people who are doing exactly that,” explains Kevin Vyse-Peacock, CEO, Lansinoh Laboratories. “The more we encourage openness and acceptance within society, the more confident mums will become – and that’s good news for everyone."

Michelle Lyne, Professional Education Advisor at The Royal College of Midwives (RCM), says: “There has been significant and reliable evidence produced over recent years to show that breastfeeding has important health advantages for both baby and mother. The RCM believes that breastfeeding is the best way to get the baby off to a good start in life and has a positive impact on mother-baby relationships and nurturing of maternal and infant mental health.”

 

“Women breastfeeding should not be made to feel uncomfortable or guilty. The Equality Act 2010 makes it illegal for anyone to ask a breastfeeding woman to stop breastfeeding, or cover up or leave a public place, such as a cafe, shop or public transport.”

 

“Educating the public is really the key to developing a culture of positive support for breastfeeding women right across society. However, we must remember to ensure that women have access to skilled advice and support to help them to initiate and sustain breastfeeding.”

The Feed With Confidence Awards recognise people & places that help to support mums & positively change perceptions. The awards are supported by the Lansinoh Feed With Confidence Ambassador: Al Ferguson of The Dad Network. To make a nomination, please visit www.lansinoh.co.uk/feedwithconfidence.

The closing date for entries is the 31st December 2017 & the winners will be announced in January.

Creating Rainy Day Fun With Snazaroo Facepaints

Urgh, what a horrible & wet weekend we had, Autumn seems to have officially begun! We had planned to take the children out to the local castle grounds for a walk & picnic, but it seemed it just wasn't meant to be. 

 So instead we decided to have an arty crafty afternoon! Something the children love to do!

You may have seen from my Facebook page or Instagram feed that Gracie-Mae had recently been sent a parcel from Weekend Box Club. As you can imagine she was pretty ecstatic about it & couldn't wait to see what was inside.

The children love to face paint, so they were pretty excited to start testing out the Snazaroo Face Paints.

The Mini Theme Snazaroo Pack retails at £2.99 & comes with- 

• Brush
• Sponge
• Black Paint
• White Paint
• 2x Yellow Paint
• Orange Paint
• 1x Step by Step Face Painting Guide

You can find a wide range of easy to follow Step-by-Step guides here.

Here's me painting Gracie-Mae's face, she decided she wanted to be the tiger. I had not face painted before so I was pretty pleased as to how well the paints went on & because the paints are water based it was easily washed off too! 

The paints are hypo allergenic & non-toxic; Jamie suffers from ezcema so I was really concerned about putting them on his face but he had them on for a couple of hours & it didn’t cause any problem at all – which I am really pleased about! 

I improvised with Jamie's facepaint- I'm pretty pleased with it! 

This Snazaroo Face-painting Kit gets a huge thumbs up from us & we will be definitely buying more Snazaroo products in the future! 

*Disclaimer- We were sent the mini theme Snazaroo facepaints in exchange for an honest review, however all thoughts & opinions were that of my own. 

Recipe- Gnocchi with Bacon & Spinach

Welcome to one of my new found favourite pasta recipes! Comfort food at its best & bursting with lots of amazing flavours. Even the children were asking for seconds! 

This recipe for Gnocchi with Bacon & Spinach is super quick & easy to make. Just under 20 minutes infact! 

With just 2-3 mins prep time & about 15 minutes cooking time, this is definitely going to be one of my go to dinners, when I can't be bothered to slave away in the kitchen but still manage to get a decent, healthy meal on the table. 

Ingredients- Serves 4

• 
  
• • 4x Slices Thick Cut Bacon, chopped
• • 1x Tin Chopped Tomatoes
• • 1x Tsp Sugar
• • 1/2x Red Pepper, de-seeded & chopped
• • 1x Tbsp Balsamic Vinegar
• • 1x Pound Gnocchi
• • 5x Cups Baby Spinach
• • Parmesan Cheese, grated

Method

1. 1. Cook bacon in a large deep skillet over medium high heat until done to your liking. Add tomatoes, sugar, pepper, & vinegar & saute for about five minutes.
2. 2. Meanwhile, bring a pot of salted water to a boil & add gnocchi. Cook according to package directions until gnocchi are done (usually when they float to the top).
3. 3. Add spinach to gnocchi & cook for about 30 seconds until wilted. Drain gnocchi & spinach mixture & add to sauce.
4. 4. Gently toss with tongs until combined. Divide among plates & top with Parmesan.

Ta da! That's it. How simple is that? Let me know if you've given this recipe a try. Tag me on either Facebook or Instagram @mummyinthemadhouse I'll be sure to share it for you!