365 Days Of Gratitude. In December I was grateful for...

December was a great month. It of course had its ups and downs with Becky being ill for almost a week but she pulled herself around and got all of her Christmas shopping done. We all had a great Christmas and start to the new year.

I have seen many people on social media list something every day that they are grateful for and thought I would join in. I have done this for the whole of the last couple of years and it has really made me realise that even on bad days I have something to be grateful for.

Day 335 of #365DaysOfGratitude

Today I am grateful to get more Christmas shopping done! Came home and sorted all the presents and it turns out I am just about finished buying gifts for everyone!

Day 336 of #365DaysOfGratitude

Today I am grateful that Ellie finally brought her dirty washing downstairs despite me asking for about a week. Eesh!

Day 337 of #365DaysOfGratitude

Today I am grateful for online grocery shopping and adding a lot of Christmas things to the basket! Hehehe

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Today I am grateful that Ellie brought me a treat home. A Maltesers Reindeer!

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Today I am grateful for lunch at my dad's. He is such a good cook, even the simplest meals taste better than I can make them!

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Today I am grateful for a couple of glasses of wine tonight.

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Today I am grateful for a day in front of the TV watching the Harry Potter movies.

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Today I am grateful to my dad taking us shopping. We have now got all the freezer food for Christmas and a few extras.

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Today I am grateful that the girls have finished their Christmas present buying and I have too! I ordered the last few things today!

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Today I am grateful for a long shower, clean PJs and fresh bedding! It's little things like that which make me happy!

Day 345 of #365DaysOfGratitude

Today I am grateful I checked what day Stu had taken off work next month for an appointment. I said about 18 times he needed a certain day but of course he put a holiday in for the day after.

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Today I am grateful for a lovely Christmas present sent from a friend. I shouldn't have opened it but I couldn't wait. Hehehe

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Today I am grateful that I have nothing to do tomorrow so I can stay up and watch John Cena's last match in the WWE.

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Today I am grateful that the girls gave me a good giggle when they were wrapping Christmas gifts. They made such a drama out of it!

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Today I am grateful that I don't have to go into town again before Christmas.

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Today I am grateful that I was up early so I could have a productive day!

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Today I am grateful that Ellie is finished college for the rest of the year. She could do with a lie in or 10, she has struggled to get out of bed this week.

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Today I am grateful that the girls came up with a ton of things that I forgot to add to the Christmas food shop!

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Today I am grateful that I got to drop off some bags of Christmas presents to family! Another thing ticked off my to-do list!

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Today I am grateful that I got Ellie's and my hair dyed. I actually got the timings right and didn't need to wash both our hair at the same time.

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Today I am grateful that my dad popped round with more Christmas presents!

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Today I am grateful there were only a couple of substitutions with the big Christmas food shop! We're all set for the big day now!

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Today I am grateful that I could get a lot of little jobs done around the house and I remembered to take everything out of the freezer which needs defrosting!

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Today I am grateful that I got all the food ready for tomorrow with a little help from Ellie. Merry Christmas everyone!

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Today I am grateful for a perfect Christmas Day! The only thing that could have made it better would have been if Becky hadn't been at work but we made the most of the time we had together!

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Today I am grateful for a very lazy Boxing Day. Ate lots, watched Stranger Things, my dad popped round and I had the longest shower.

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Today I am grateful for a family night. Watching some TV and listening to lots of music.

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Today I am grateful for a quiet day of doing nothing.

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Today I am grateful that Stu helped me take all the Christmas decorations down. It looks so bare in here now but it's done.

Day 364 of #365DaysOfGratitude

Today I am grateful that Ellie made my lunch. Just ham and coleslaw sandwiches but she made them perfectly! Just the right amount of coleslaw!

Day 365 of #365DaysOfGratitude

Today I am grateful for a fun evening at the pub. It was well after 2am when we got it. Oops.

What were you grateful for in December?

Celebrate National Shortbread Day with these tasty treats!

Shortbread! That gloriously buttery, crumbly little biscuit that somehow makes a cup of tea feel like a proper treat! Did you know today is National Shortbread Day! Whether you like it plain and classic, dipped in chocolate or jazzed up with nuts and citrus, shortbread is basically a hug in biscuit form. Grab your baking tin, preheat that oven and let’s celebrate with some easy, delicious recipes!

Classic Shortbread!

Ingredients:

225g of unsalted butter, softened but not melted.

110g of caster sugar.

275g of plain flour.

Method:

Preheat the oven to 160°C (fan).

Beat the butter and sugar together until creamy.

Mix in the flour until it forms a dough.

Press into a baking tin or roll out and cut into fingers or rounds.

Bake for 25 to 30 minutes until pale golden.

Cool and try not to eat them all at once.

You can't celebrate without the classic! This is your plain but perfect version.

Espresso Shortbread!

Ingredients:

Classic shortbread dough.

1 to 2 teaspoons of instant coffee powder.

Method:

Mix espresso powder into the dough before shaping.

Bake as usual.

This gives a little kick to your biscuits which is perfect for a mid afternoon treat.

Orange and Dark Chocolate Shortbread!

Ingredients:

225g butter.

110g sugar.

275g plain flour.

Zest of 1 large orange.

50g dark chocolate chips.

Method:

Cream butter, sugar, and orange zest.

Mix in flour and chocolate chips.

Shape into fingers or rounds and bake at 160°C for 25 to 30 minutes.

That zingy orange with chocolate makes them taste far more complicated than they are.

Almond and Cherry Shortbread!

Ingredients:

Classic shortbread base.

50g chopped glace cherries.

50g chopped almonds.

Method:

Fold cherries and almonds into the dough.

Bake as normal.

They look fabulous, taste amazing and make you feel slightly sophisticated just by eating them.

Do you like shortbread? Have you ever made it before?

Our weekly meal plan! 5th - 11th January! #MealPlanningMonday

Last week's meal plan mostly went to plan. Well, it did until Thursday. No one, especially me felt like cooking on New Year's Day so we got takeaway pizza. Friday was another one of those days when cooking just didn’t make sense. Becky was away for the night, so it felt a bit pointless having a full meal so we went for picky bits. Saturday was a funny one too. Ellie was away for the night and Becky was working, so it was just Stu and me. So we had chicken curry and chips. Comfort food with no fuss! Today we're back to eating normal meals, a little bit healthier and certainly no takeaways. We have a Gousto Box being delivered today which should help things out a bit.

This week is almost back to normal life. Apart from that Stu booked a couple of days off work, just to use his holidays before the new work year starts in April. We have an afternoon out later in the week. Ellie has the check-up on her heart. It's just routine after her having surgery to fix a hole in her heart when she was almost two years old. Becky had her check-up late last year and she was told her leaky valves are leaking a little more than they were, so we're expecting the same news for Ellie because their hearts have always been the same. We're just hoping Ellie gets told the same as Becky, to come back in 2 years and see how things stand then. Fingers crossed for boring news. Boring is good when it comes to hearts!

On the menu this week we have:

Monday - Gousto Meal - Saucy Onion Gravy Beef Meatballs & Crushed Potatoes!

This one sounds like exactly what we need to start the week. Hearty, warming and proper comfort food. The forecast is showing snow and it has been absolutely freezing here the last few days. I am so ready for spring and some warmer weather!

Tuesday - Gousto Meal - One Pan Gochujang Pork Bolognese With Udon Noodles!

I order these meals and sometimes have no idea what is in them until they're delivered or I am writing this blog post. I had to Google what Gochujang was. It's a Korean fermented chilli paste known for its complex spicy, sweet and savoury (umami) flavour. It sounds like it’s going to give a proper lift to a usually very safe Bolognese. I’ll probably go easy with it though, just in case it turns out hotter than expected. I like flavour but not that mouth on fire feeling.

Wednesday - Gousto Meal - Chicken Tikka Masala With Rice!

I’m pretty sure we’ve had this one before and you really can’t go wrong with a curry midweek. It’s one of those meals that feels like a treat but doesn’t take much effort, which is exactly what Wednesdays need.

Thursday - Eating out!

We will grab something while we are out because I don't think I will feel like cooking when we get in. All I'll be thinking about it warming myself up!

Friday - Fish fingers, chips and baked beans!

A childish meal but so, so good, especially when the chips are home-made ones. It’s easy, everyone eats it without complaint and it feels like a little reward for getting through the week.

Saturday - Gousto Meal - Five-Spiced Crispy Chicken Strips And Sesame Slaw!

We’ve definitely had this one before and it’s a favourite. It’s like a fakeaway sweet and sour chicken but better. This recipe is actually the one that taught me how easy sweet and sour dip is to make, and now we love it. The sesame slaw is lovely too. 

Sunday - Mince, dumplings, mashed potato and veg!

A proper Sunday dinner to finish the week. Hearty, filling and perfect for a cold January day. This is the kind of meal that makes the house smell amazing and sets us up nicely for a quiet evening afterwards. Exactly how Sundays should be!

What are you eating this week?

A photo every day for a year! 1st - 3rd January! Week 1 of #Project365

Happy New Year! It was only Wednesday when I finished off last year's Project 365 series and here I am already with the first few days of 2026! How are we in 2026 already? It doesn't seem two minutes since I was wrapping presents and now the Christmas holidays are over and it is back to reality tomorrow. Hmmf. It's not going to be fully back to normal as Stu has a couple of days' holiday from work, we have a couple of appointments and a cupboard full of leftover Christmas treats to eat, so it's not all bad.

I'm going to share a few extra photos this week from New Year's Eve as we had such a lovely evening out. We all got dressed up, had a lovely meal, a few drinks and danced the night away. 

The food photos are the garlic mushrooms, my starter. I forgot to take a photo of my main course and for dessert we had these rose water cheesecake. I don't know what they were exactly as we weren't even planning on getting dessert but the chef talked us into it. He is so convincing and always makes the best desserts. They were amazing!

Now for a photo every day!

1/365 - 1st January!

No one was in the mood to cook on New Year's Day and it had been a while since we had got a take-away, so pizza it was and cheesy chips, onion rings and cans of fizzy pop! The best thing about pizza is that there are always leftovers for the next day too! Lunch was sorted. It wasn't the healthiest way to start the New Year but it was a nice treat!

2/365 - 2nd January!

I feel like the whole of the Christmas break has revolved around Stranger Things. There were episodes released on Boxing Day and then the final episode on New Year's Day. I was happy with how it ended and I might have cried a little bit. I am quite happy to believe Mike's version of what happened to Eleven. Anyway, I have started watching it again from the beginning. Weren't they all so young in the first season? Stranger Things has gone onto my list of TV shows that I can watch again and again!

3/365 - 3rd January!

The sun was shining and there were blue skies which made a lovely change from the gloomy weather we've been having. Don't be fooled though, it might look like it could be a little bit warm but it was freezing! We've had no snow. Further up north, to the west of us and down south has but there's been none of the white stuff here. I'm not wishing for snow, we had a lot of ice on Friday and that caused chaos for the buses. Stu managed to get to work OK. From what we saw he got the last bus before they cancelled them all until early afternoon.

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