Autumn is one of my favourite times of the year. Mainly because I'm not that much of a fan of the summer, April showers do my head in and I love the colours of the changing leaves. I was tagged by Rosie to take part in the autumn tag so of course I thought why not!

1.  Favourite thing about it?  Apart from the leaves? wrapping up warm in a gorgeous jumper, using the slow cooker every day and the excuse for more cuddles.
2.  Favourite drink?  Nothing beats a caramel hot chocolate (or a nutella one!)
3.  Favourite scent/candle?  Perfume is Soap and Glory and candles have to be the black cherry Yankee Candle.
4.  Best lipstick?  I still swear by my Clinique chubby stick in curviest caramel. But this time of year I need to put on some Lush lip scrub first as I am prone to really chapped lips.
5.  Go to moisturiser?  At the moment I have the Soap and Glory body butter and hand cream as they are still left over from christmas last year. But I need really good moisturising creams as working with books every day really dries out your hands.
6.  Go to colours for the eyes?  I'm rubbish at eyeshadow. I can barely get mascara on...
7.  Favourite music or band/singer to listen to?  In the autumn you can't go wrong with Frank Turner and City and Colour. 
8.  Favourite outfit to wear? Dressing down I love to wear leggings with my Hello jumper and my Toms botas. Dressing up I normally team a black lace dress with a chunky cardi and floral Dr Marten's.
9.  Autumn treat?  I am tempted to buy some more DM's or invest in some more dresses. I've lost a bit of weight so the winter stuff is a bit big for me now. 
10.  Favourite place to be?  Curled up on the sofa with Scott and Max watching a Disney film with a mountain of popcorn.

Did you know that nearly 50% of all our food waste is from the homes? Most of this can cost a family on average £480-£680 a month which can be around £50 a month. Two of the main reasons we throw food away is not using it in enough time and preparing too much to begin with. 

Colman's have set a group of bloggers a challenge to cook meals using their packet sauce mixes and batch freezing some so that it can be enjoyed twice!

We got sent: Chicken Casserole, Sausage Casserole, Beef Casserole and Chilli Con Carne.

In our family we love to use our slow cooker as I manage to cook it throughout the day and the family is free to eat when they are hungry. This is better for us as I work most evenings and we don't want to keep Max up to eat as a family. The only problem was that we always forgot to freeze some and then ended up throwing the majority of it away. 

We are great with meal planning but not so great with conserving the leftovers. We either pick at them or forget altogether. Because we were moving house between the two weeks we realised that it would be the perfect opportunity to freeze up some portions so that we had some to eat when we were at our new place. 

The first one we used was the sausage casserole mix. We added some sausages, potatoes, mixed veg and two packets of the sauce to make enough for two batches. Letting one half cool we wolfed down the other half with thumbs up all round. Max even went back for a second helping! After freezing the second batch, we defrosted it and cooked it up with some yorkshires and made it into a mini roast. Perfect to make the place feel like home. 

Next up we used the chicken casserole mix. Adding chicken breasts, thighs as well as veg we let it roast in the slow cooker all day with two packets of sauce mix. To serve it I added some rice which combined with the sauce gave a risotto type feel to it. The guys seemed to love it and I really enjoyed cooking something that was different to a regular roast. With the leftovers we made it into a chicken bake by adding pasta, fresh herbs and a sprinkling of pasta. Scrummy can't even describe how good it was!

We then did the chilli. Chilli is a big deal in our house. We love it so much. We decided we had experienced a bit of a meat overload so used Quorn mince instead as we find it a lighter alternative to mince itself. As well as the mince we used a tin of five beanz, pasatta and some veg and then served up with a mix of quinoa and rice. One thing we did find was that the sauce was far too spicy for Max so we had to take the taste down with sour cream and more tomato. For me and Scott it was perfect though. We freezed it and then used the leftovers to make sloppy joes. Adding the mix to fresh baked burger buns (gluten free for me) and homemade wedges on the side. Definitely the best. 

We're yet to use the beef casserole. We felt we had gone a bit overboard with the casseroles for the fortnight but look forward to trying it in the next week or so. 

Colman's packet sauce mixes are perfect for creating food in bulk as you can double up or half the packets easy to create the desired amount. As with all foods it's advisable to let the food cool completely before freezing and adding a date on there so you know when to use it by (3 months at most). We defrosted all of ours by leaving it in the fridge for 24 hours so that we knew it was fully defrosted. We aren't too trusting of our microwave. But it was no problem as it meant that we used a meal plan to it's potential. 

Now we try and conserve as much food as possible. The foods that do end up getting thrown out are normally the ones Max has half chewed before realising he really didn't want that. Unfortunately living in a flat means we can't look into things like composting but it's something that we've been researching more and more. We also are looking into other meals and foods we can prepare and cook in advance and freeze batches of.

We found that we spent less money as we planned what we were eating when and managed to save on buying those extra meals when other things went out of date! The money saved definitely made a difference, especially when moving is an expensive process. We also found that we had a healthy variety of dinners which I was really surprised about. Using the slow cooker meant that I spent even less time cooking. I normally prepare everything when the boys are eating breakfast so that it's perfect and tender by the time we eat later in the day. 

For more information about Colman's packet mix's click here.

For more information about Love Food Hate Waste click here.

Thank you to Mumsnet and Colman's for letting me take part. I'll be posting the recipes over the coming weeks in separate posts too!

To know you are part of a fan base that has been supportive of a band for 10 years now is crazy. Little did I know that I would still love them as much as I did at the start. Some people are Whovians and some are Directioners. I'm a Galaxy Defender. 

Mcfly are 10 years old. So to celebrate they put on four nights at the Royal Albert Hall to celebrate. I was fortunate enough to get some tickets for me and my best friend (who I've seen Mcfly with 17 times - out of the 23 total haha). Whilst not being the best seats we were pleasantly surprised by the location and view. Especially for the price! One thing we couldn't see properly was the video screen that popped down every now and again with well wishes from fans and celeb pals. Not that it mattered as we recognised a lot of voices and could see the boys fine anyway!

From performing well known hits to new songs and forgotten favourites. There was something for everyone to love. Not to mention the reunion of the year. Matt Wills and James Bourne from Busted fame joining the boys on stage to sing Air Hostess and Year 3000. Seriously amazing. Sorry Nsync, you were nothing compared to this!

There was a moment towards the end when I realised what it's like to be part of a dedicated fan base. They were talking about where some of the fans had come from (as far as Australia and Brazil) and how much it meant to them that we had all supported them so much. I can't really pin point why the band mean so much to me but I really know that they are always going to have that special place and I can't deny that me and Max are always going to be fans! Galaxy Defenders stay forever

Having a toddler means that the films we watch are mostly Disney. Not complaining as they are actually what we and Scott watched a lot of anyway! We got offered the chance to review some of the new soundtracks from Disney and the first one was Planes. 

Whilst we haven't seen the film in full, we have seen enough teasers, clips and bits from it to understand the story and probably buy it when it's on DVD or catch it on the Saturday morning cinema days at our local. 

The film itself is in a similar style to Cars and focuses on planes and their abilities. It features a wide array of Actors such as Val Kilmer, John Cleese and Teri Hatcher. Which is an impressive line up but Disney doesn't really do anything by halves. 

The CD contains the entire soundtrack of the film which on first listen is really impressive! Catchy tunes that are really applicable to the charts at the moment. A bit of R&B thrown in with some Rock and beautiful instrumental tracks. On first listening Max didn't really understand the instrumental bits and then he started to embrace them by dancing and swooping his cuddly toys round. 

Our favourite track has to be the bonus track. Ein Crop Duster Can Race is a hilarious ditty about Dusty the main character being able to achieve his dreams because he might look different but is the same as the others at the end of the day. 

We love this soundtrack. It's quintessentially Disney and we are HUGE fan's anyway. The composer actually helped create some of the music for films such as Tarzan, Lion King and Brother Bear so you know you are in safe hands with this one!

FInally this is a download only soundtrack over at Itunes, so if the kid's are fans then it's one for the virtual shopping basket. 

*We were gifted this soundtrack for review purposes

This weeks Fri-Dad post is going to be a little different to the last few that I've done.

This week, I had an interview for an internship in London. The experience was fantastic, but the one thing that stood out to me. During the interview process I was asked a question that the interviewers knew the answer to. I was asked 'what has been your proudest moment to date?'. Seeing my application, they knew it was becoming a dad to which I could only give them one answer.

Well, this time I'm going to ask you a similar question. As parents, we can probably all answer this question (this is possibly where I made a mistake), so I want to change it slightly.

While I was having a roller coaster interview process miles away from the family, Max was kicking butt going to the potty, telling people he needed to go and even though he did misfire, he was honest and polite about it. He even popped out of the house nappy free. I got back ad was so proud he had a fantastic day.

So tell me: What have your children done that has made you a proud parent:

This can answered to any extent, whether it's: A big performance, finally finishing a full bottle, their first time staying out of trouble, using manners without a prompt, referred to you as 'Dad' for once, huge step towards potty training, they went to bed on time, saying the right thing at the right time...the suggestions are endless.

There is no wrong answer (unless you're lying) and there is no superior answer, the fact that your child has amazed you for doing something you didn't expect them to do. They weren't like me, they did the unexpected and impressed you.

I can't wait to read what amazing things you're kids have done. It would be great to hear you talk so wonderfully about your proudest achievements ever.

So go for it dear Fri-Dadder's, amaze me!

Until it's Fri-Time, have a great weekend!

As many of you know, Max has been at nursery for nearly 2 years. We had to take him out when we finished university as it was far too expensive. As we are moving we decided to enrol Max in a local pre school. We realised that he needed to spend time with kid's his own age as we just aren't cool parents like we thought. He starts on Monday 3 mornings a week and we cannot wait! So I decided to put together a starting pre school wishlist of things I'd definitely get him if I had the money!

As I said yesterday, the main reason we went to Butlin's was the kid's entertainment. We made an executive decision to skip a lot of the adult entertainment so Max would have a good night sleep. That also meant we didn't scrimp on ANY of the children's entertainment. We saw it all!

There were four main places that the children's entertainment took place. The skyline pavilion was where the majority of it took place. Right in the centre of the skyline pavilion this stage is the heart of the kid's world. In front of the Castle Courtyard, Tot's Funfair and soft play the stage has masses of floor and seating space so all the kid's can see everything. Here we saw Barney, Bob the Builder, Pingu, Angelina Ballerina, Thomas the Tank Engine and the Skyline Gang! (Take a breath now!)

The Castle Courtyard was a gorgeous area at the back of the skyline pavilion that had loads of puppet shows. We crammed into the area with all the other eager kids and parents and watched a fabulous puppet show. Full of singing and dancing to popular songs that everyone knows and loves.

Finally there was the Character Theatre. This held host to shows from Fireman Sam and Mike the Knight. These events were ticketed but included in your price so you just had to pop to a booking point to reserve your space in this intimate theatre. It was the perfect first experience for most little kids that had never been tot he theatre before with plush seats, dimmed lights and a proper stage that the kid's loved! 

Finally there were tonnes of meet and greet events for the kids to have a photo opportunity with some of their favourite characters. We unfortunately missed Elmo but made sure that we saw Barney (by waiting in a queue half an hour before!- the things we do for kids eh). The face that Max pulled when Barney gave him a cuddle was amazing. Was worth the £15 for photo, keyring, magnet and wallet photo which isn't too bad a price but could easily add up with all the characters!

As you know we are Butlin's Ambassadors this year which we are thrilled about. What we also had was a lovely little Sun holiday break to Butlin's booked, which in reality was the complete opposite of what we have booked for our ambassadors trip!

I'm splitting this holiday into two posts, there's far too much to talk about.

That parent – child bond

Friday’s here and guess what…Dad’s not home! That’s right, I’m in fact away on holiday as you read this, but thanks to the miracles of modern technology I send you this from the past (just like in A Christmas Carol).

This week’s topic is about bonding with your child/ren. Children will mostly try to become whatever they want, thank goodness my son has not tried to become Barney the Dinosaur (not a fan of that spud bodied, perfect teethed lizard). The people that influence them the most are their parents.

Thing is, it’s hard to find something you both enjoy doing. Most of the time you are sat watching Barney the Dinosaur with your head in your hands thinking ‘why on earth did I think showing him this would be a good idea?’. 

You know what you like as a person, the music you listen to, the sports you enjoy, the beliefs you hold, the hobbies you have and even the little perks you have in life. 

For me, I enjoy showing Max what sports I like, what music I listen to and writing. The perks I get with showing Max these are, we get out of the flat and go play sports. If it’s throwing an American football or kicking a football and running about, it’s a good day out. We get to sing songs and have fun on trips in the car, even pretend to be in a rock band (Guess who is the back-up for Max? Yeah! That’s me, get jealous!) And even though he hasn’t got a clue about writing, we can pretend to write and draw then I get to make up bedtime stories for him.

It’s something that gives you the chance to do something that they will remember and you can have fun together. I’m excited to get to take Max to football games, watch games together and even get to see if he wants to give it a go. I hope Max does fulfil his dream of becoming a rock star if that is his chosen path or if he wants to be a writer like his dad…only better.

I hope you give yourself a chance to try this out, because it’s what you get excited for when you’re expecting. The picture this week is one of me and Max in football tops, just to show you how exciting and fun it is to do things together.

Have a great weekend and I’ll see you all next week!

When I was a little baby, I had a little rabbit. 

Recently Max found this rabbit that I had loved for the past 23 years and he claimed it as his.

At first I was apprehensive. What if he breaks it? What if he loses it. 

But he's loved it just as much as I did, cuddled it each night and now I am thrilled.

Thrilled to see something I loved so much passed onto someone that's loves it too.

Seeing as I'm away for a few days I thought I would get some lovely bloggers to post some guest posts for you all. First up is Emma who blogs at Handbags to Changebags.

Dear Riley

It's almost been 3 years since I first held you in my weak, shaking arms after a horrible and lengthy labour, I was so scared that I was going to drop you so I held you really tight for most of that night. The day you were born was one of the scariest days of my life but it was also very special as it was the day I met you and the day that I officially became a mummy.

Thank you Emma for the gorgeous posts. Check out her blog at Handbags to Changebags

Tomorrow we embark on our first Butlin's trip.

We booked this months ago when the Sun was running their £9.50 holidays so we are staying in the most basic accommodation and completely self catering (the opposite to what our Ambassadors trip will be hopefully!)

Over the next few days I have scheduled some posts from some guest bloggers and of course Scotts Fri-Dad to keep you entertained whilst we're dancing with Elmo and fighting crime with Mike the Knight!