160. Baking with Aldi - Carrot Cake

Hello lovelies.

Any of you that are aware of the rising cost of groceries, will know Aldi. Aldi is, compared to the other big supermarkets, a budget supermarket with great, low price products and its where S and I, without fail, do our weekly shop week in, week out. 

A couple of weeks ago, whilst browsing the aisles, I spotted their baking section and, within that, this carrot cake mix. Carrot cake is one of my all time favourites, it's got just the right amount of spice and doesn't feel too unhealthy (although it surely is!). I quickly picked up a packet - for £1.70 you can't go wrong - and put it aside to use for my sisters birthday, which we celebrated yesterday.

Ingredients

Wright's Carrot Cake Mix (500g)

4 tbsp oil

200ml water

Method

1. Pour the oil and water into a large mixing bowl

2. Add the contents of the cake mix

3. Stir until well mixed and a smooth consistency

4. Add any extras, e.g. raisins, extra carrot, etc

5. Separate the mixture into twelve cupcake cases or a loaf tin

6. Bake in a pre-heated oven (gas mark 6) for 20 minutes or until cooked through

I then left the perfectly risen cupcakes to cool for an hour, before returning to the kitchen to decorate them. For this, I used some of Aldi's Cake Angel's vanilla icing which comes in a large tub for less than £2. The flavour is absolutely delicious - sweet but not sickly and it's the perfect consistency to either top muffins and cupcakes, or sandwich two layers of cake together.

I used around 2/3 of the tub to generously cover the twelve cupcakes, and the rest is back in the fridge ready to be devoured. 

To make these birthday cupcakes look even prettier, I used a gorgeous cupcake box from The Range, although I unfortunately can't find this product on the website - I don't think it was any more than £1. Bargain.

I took the cupcakes with me down to Sheffield to visit my sister, Fi, for her 20th birthday and they went down a treat. It's so lovely to be able to bake something tasty for someone to enjoy on a special day and, if you're looking for something simple and - dare I say it - cheap and cheerful, this is the perfect solution.

159. Sunday Summary

Hello lovelies.

I hope you've all had an amazing week. The weather has been pretty hit and miss and we're well into the month, meaning that many peoples funds are beginning to run low (including mine!) but here's what I've been up to, nonetheless.

The week got off to a pretty boring start as I was working Monday and in the evening S and I just stayed in and relaxed, but I did treat myself to chip shop chips for lunch as I'd been craving them for weeks! We also got started on the awesome Better Call Saul which is available on Netflix. S's brother and his girlfriend welcomed their new baby boy, Roman, into the world on Monday too which was lovely news!

My Granny's beautiful engagement ring which I had resized and collected on Monday.

On Tuesday I treated myself to getting my hair cut and coloured at my favourite local salon, Transcend. I arrived with horrifically thick, tatty hair with a million and one split ends but left, four hours and two cups of tea later, with smoother, lighter, sleeker locks. I only lost about 2" of length so I was really pleased. Mum, her partner and I headed off to the cinema to watch Selma on Tuesday night and I can't recommend it highly enough; such a wonderful film.

Again Wednesday was spent at work - snore! - but Comic Relief's Bake Off more than made up for it. What a great line up for the first episode, I couldn't stop laughing and it made me really want to get back into baking!

On Thursday, I caught up with one of my best friends over a hot chocolate and a game of Peggle! It was fab to have a few hours to see each other and I can't wait for us to do it again soon. I also had my first ever filling on Thursday (which I then followed up immediately with a Gregg's pasty!) which was a much easier procedure than I was anticipating - what a relief.

After work on Friday I, as usual, headed over to my dads for the night. He made a delicious dinner of mince pie, wedges and veggies, and we had a nice, lazy evening watching the television. I even got to share the bed with our (outdoor) cat which was an unexpected - but lovely - surprise.

Saturday was a big day at work as I was left to dispense (advise and sell glasses) as well as pre-screen patients, which isn't something I normally do, but thankfully it went well with no major hitches. I met S late afternoon and we visited his brother and his girlfriend to meet baby Roman who - I can confirm - is adorable. After a couple of hours swooning, we popped in on one of S's other brothers for a bit of a catch up before heading back to Dad's for an Indian takeaway and a movie. It may have been a low key valentine's day but it was perfect.

Today we had a mini shopping trip in Carlisle where we picked up a few household bargains from The Range, including some photo frames, candles and kitchen accessories. Mum and her partner cooked us a delicious beef Sunday roast which was so yummy (although we had just eaten a McDonald's too - oops!) and, as always, it was lovely to spend a couple of hours with Mum. After calling in on S's mum, Grandma (who gifted us some gorgeous knitted goodies for the baby) and his third (and final) brother, I came home to a tasty cottage pie cooked by my Dad and baked some cupcakes which I'll share on here next week.

All in all, its been a really lovely week. Its been all about family and love which, as cheesy as it sounds, really is all that matters.

How has your week been?

Did you celebrate Valentine's Day?

158. 21 Week Pregnancy Update

I'm now past the halfway stage of my pregnancy! I'm now 21 weeks pregnant which means I'm be closer to the end than the start, which is a nice feeling as I can't wait for this little bean to make an appearance.

Since my announcement one month ago time has really flown by. I feel like once it was out in the open and I was able to talk about it more, the days and weeks merged together and, before I knew it, it was time for our 20 week scan.

Shane and I travelled to Newcastle's RVI hospital last Monday for the scan; both feeling ridiculously excited and, of course, nervous too. I've mentioned before that you go such a long time between scans that, if you don't feel much - or even, any - movements, it can be a scary and tense time, which is how it was for me as I've only felt the odd flutter and kick.. but I'm hoping that they will become much more frequent now. 

We had decided that we wanted to find out the gender of our baby and so we told the sonographer this when she led us in to the ultrasound room. I lay down on my back, got my growing belly out and we got going. It's an incredible feeling when you see your little one pop up on the screen and, even more amazing, when you see it's little heart beating ten to the dozen right in front of you. Words can't even describe, as any mum will know.

Your 20 week scan is also known as your anomaly scan, where the sonographer checks all of the babies vital organs and takes several measurements, to ensure that everything is on track and progressing as it should be. Our sonographer struggled to find one part of the heart initially which meant I had my heart in my mouth for about five minutes but, eventually, she found it and we were able to relax as she reassured us that everything was as it should be. Phewph. 

Now comes the exciting issue of gender. S and I had thought, from our very first scan, that we were having a baby boy, for several reasons. 1) He comes from a family of 4 boys, and his father is one of 5 boys, b) The baby was so stubborn and mischievous at our 12 week scan that we just thought it seemed like a little lad (which I know is so stereotypical, sorry boys!) and we'd even picked out a name; we were that sure.

Oh, how wrong we were. We're expecting a baby girl! I couldn't contain my excitement when this was announced as I've always wanted a little girl, although I would have been equally happy with a baby boy too, of course. And - you never know! -  the scan may be wrong...

So, how have I been feeling lately? Well, I've been very achy and my tiredness that I struggled with in my first trimester has come back with a vengeance which isn't great when I'm facing long days at work and trying to fit in catching up with friends and family too. 

Emotionally, I'm feeling pretty good. I haven't cried for a good few weeks and my snappy temper seems to have toned it down (I'm sure S is thankful for that!). My sleep seems to be improving too and I'm not getting up as many times during the night for the loo either.

My appetite has most definitely increased and I'm really loving marmite on toast and a big glass of cold milk at the minute, although I'm trying to keep my fat intake down - just in case this discomfort does turn out to be gallstones! Urgh. 

There is still no weight gain - in fact, I've lost a couple of pounds in the last week by being poorly - but my tummy has certainly begun to POP and my breasts feel a lot heavier too. 

My baby bump is definitely beginning to make an appearance!

I start my Pregnancy Yoga classes soon and I'm really looking forwards to it as I'll meet other pregnant women and the classes are intended to reduce stress and anxiety, as well as providing you with techniques to use during childbirth, which is something that I'm still trying not to think about just yet! 

In general, I'm feeling pretty good. Everything is still going smoothly and our baby appears healthy. My friends, family and work colleagues continue to be an incredible support and I just can't wait for S and I to be introduced to our little girl.