How 10 Tiny Changes Really Can Make A Big Difference🌍💖

Disclaimer:  I have not been paid to recommend any products or stores or items.  These are just the tiny ways Hubby and I have been trying to change our home in an effort to live a healthier life and to reduce our impact on the world around us.🌍💖 Do you have any other ideas? Hints? Tips?  If so, let me know please in the comments below, hugs x

Hi Honeys, 

How are you today?  Well, we did it!  We've reached the last day of Blogtober for another year and I'm still playing catch up, so today there will be two posts to complete it.😊    

Today's (technically yesterday's but it has so many photos and so much content, well it got to be 1am and I just couldn't finish it, so, here we are💖)  Well anyway, for this post😊 I thought I'd share ten tiny changes we've made in our home over the past couple of years.  Just tiny changes but (hopefully) they all add up.

Some of these tiny tweaks have been made to try to live a healthier life, some have been to try to lower our impact on the tiny planet we all share.🌍💖

    

As I said honeys, there are a lot of photos in this post so it might be a good idea to grab a cuppa and maybe a cookie (or two🍪) I'll meet you back here after the page break?  See you in a few mins...

All Set For Holiday Baking And Sharing A (Very Healthy) Baked Doughnut Recipe🍩🍪🍰

Disclaimer:  I haven't been paid to promote any products, I'm just really, really (really!) excited to be able to start making plans for some proper holiday baking this year yaaaaayyy🍩🍪🍰

Hi Honeys, 

I'm happy!!  No, I'm more than happy... I'm excited, thrilled, exhilarated....  As a Scot, I feel I can quite properly say, honeys, that I'm a wee chuffed thing (that's a small happy person😄)

What's made me happy, you ask? Well, this happened...

For a while now, since I was diagnosed with diabetes, I've been making little changes in how I live and particularly, in how I cook.  

I wasn't ever a sugary person, never adding it to my tea, only using it when I baked really.  So I was thrilled (and chuffed😊) to find there were healthier ways to bake, such as products made using the stevia leaf.🍃  

This led to my discovering Truvia.  Truvia certainly wasn't the cheapest stevia product on the shelf but, having tried a few of them, it was the one we preferred.  So, for the past couple of years those tiny, square, green containers have appeared regularly in our shopping basket.  

The discovery...

Then, while aimlessly clicking on Pinterest one evening, I spotted a link showing some yummy looking baked goods and the truvia logo!  "Recipes!" I thought.  Now, by this time of course, I'd been experimenting and had discovered my own preferred ratio of truvia to (replace) sugar in a few favourite recipes.  The idea of new recipes to try was quite exciting to me.😀 

So, I clicked the link.  Only to discover there were in fact some lovely recipes but they were made using products unavailable in the UK!😲 Oh no!!  

To say I was disappointed is an understatement.  I couldn't buy these new (to me) Truvia products unless I flew to USA to buy them.  The range included a caster sugar, a brown sugar (I could make cookies!!) and even an icing sugar product!!

Then this happened...

  

They're here!! In the UK!!  I can bake for the holidays!! I am officially " a wee chuffed thing😃"

Most of the larger supermarkets seem to have them (online) it seems but the best thing is the price.  We bought these packs for £2 each and given that we pay around £5 for each little (270g) container of the original truvia, that's surprising to me (in a good way.)  

In the photo above, there are icing sugar (pink label) which contains 280g, caster sugar (with the orange label) which has 360g and finally there is the brown sugar (with the brown label and did I mention I can make cookies? yaaaaay😋) which has 320g.    

Now I can make my (healthier) doughnuts and even make guilt-free-icing to coat them with.😀 

I know it must seem like a really silly thing to be happy about but I really do love to bake.  I don't get to do much of anything these days (because of the osteo in my spine) but it does mean that when I do cook I usually have hubby with me and we do have a laugh while cooking.💖 

So, yes honeys, I'm looking forward to making some (healthier) doughnuts and making some Christmas🎅🎄 (and Halloween🎃) cookies. 

In case you haven't seen it, you can find my healthier doughnuts recipe here honeys.  Enjoy.💖  Oh, and before I forget, and I know it might be different for everyone because we all have different tastes, but after lots of attempts, I discovered the best ratio of (ordinary granulated type version) truvia when I made the doughnuts was to take the recipe (I used a sponge type recipe so technically they're actually cake-nuts?) and divide the sugar measurement by three.  

I used 75g of truvia/stevia instead of the 225g of caster sugar the recipe called for.  That's quite a saving on calories, so another bonus.  

Over to you honeys, have you ever baked with healthier alternatives?  What are your favourite holiday recipes?  Have you posted any of them?  If so, why not share your link?  

Till next time, dear ones, stay warm, hugs always x 

It's Global Handwashing Day✋

Hi Honeys,  

Did you know there was a global handwashing day?✋  I didn't.... 

I have a confession honeys.  You might have guessed actually from some of my previous posts, but I am almost freaky about my hands. Completely.  I can't remember a time when I could bear the idea of having anything (except gloves) on them.  

So strange really, when some of my happiest moments are spent in the garden and growing things.🌱🌹  I do wear gardening gloves though (and sometimes a pair of latex gloves under them too, just in case...)  Even the thought of anything icky making its way onto my hands or worse, under my nails...😯 Noooooooooooo!😳 

Not that I wear gloves all the time.  I don't, only when gardening and in winter when I wear my mittens😊 so it's not that I hide my hands away.  I mean, I have to use them.  I do wash them though.  A lot.  A really lot.  OK, now that I've confessed to being a little.... too aware of my hands, you'll understand why this wonderful day resonates with me.  I might have discovered one day in the year that I won't be considered weird?😊     

Global Handwashing Day✋

Global handwashing day has existed since 2008 (again, how did I not know about this?) and takes place each year on October 15th.  It seeks to raise awareness of the impact handwashing can have in the transmission of germs/bacteria and avoiding disease.  

Care in the kitchen...

We all know, of course, that not washing hands before preparing food can lead to food poisoning but it's also especially vital to wash hands before and after touching any raw meats like chicken.  Surfaces too should be kept scrupulously clean. Whatever we touch after all (and whatever our food touches) has the potential to make us ill through cross contamination.  We never use the same chopping board for chicken and for other foods, for instance.  

Everything we do in our kitchens has a direct connection to, and impact on our food preparation, and everything begins with washing our hands.  That simple first step becomes habit so quickly and helps keep our families, and ourselves, safe too.    

Links: 

Global Handwashing Day page from CDC

Become a soaper hero - page from Lifebuoy

Official campaign Facebook page

Information page from National Today

Over to you honeys, have you heard about this campaign?  Thank you for keeping me company, it means more than I can say.  Till next time then, hugs always x

How I Find My Happy... Even On Not-So-Great Days.

Disclaimer:  This blog post is not health advice.  Please see your doctor or a health care professional if you think you might need help to talk through anything.  I know it can feel as if we're alone at times but we're not honeys.💕 .

Hi Honeys
I was sitting on the sofa this morning and was hugging our furbaby Jade. Not that that's unusual, our baby is a very huggy wee dog but I love hugs too, so it's basically a hug fest around here most days😊  Well, all I had planned for today, being Monday, was to catch up on laundry from the weekend to pass the time till Hubby got home from work so we can have dinner and chat.  That was when it hit me...  

That this was going to be a really good day.😊  A wonderful day actually.  Literally all I had planned was spending time with our much loved furbaby, in between loading the washing machine and dryer all while waiting for my best pal to get home.  That's my best day!💖

I'm sensing puzzlement and baffled looks honeys.😊 I understand, I really do.  That must sound like the most boring day to most people, but to me, it's heaven.😊  Today really did end up being a great day exactly because it's been filled with everything I love most and nothing I dislike at all.  It's gotten chillier but I didn't have any reason to go outside anyway, so I got to stay in my "happy bubble" all day. 

Attitude is everything... 

I remember complaining once, to a very sweet nurse, about the effects my arthritis was having on my day to day life.  (Oh, to have the level of mobility I had then😒) Well, this lovely, kind lady said that it's a life altering illness and the trick was to change with it but not to let it beat me. "Fight the battles you can win.." she said. "..If you keep setting yourself up for failure, you'll get tired of fighting." 

That was over twenty years ago honeys, and my arthritis has progressed, my mobility further affected but I'll never forget that lovely nurses advice.  I keep it close to me alongside lessons I learned from my beloved Grammy, who, among many, many life skills, taught me to always count my blessings.   

There are days when I do feel stronger, when I can accomplish things I can't on other days but that's where I count my blessings and do what I know I can do successfully.  I fight the battles I can win. 

Our furbaby is the centre of our home (and she knows it too, bless her💖🐶💖) so what could be better than hugging and spending time with her?  As for the laundry?  Well, for many (really many😄) years I've always said that my best days have laundry in them... and for me they really do.  I love doing laundry. Every little bit of it.😄

Then, after having my best day, as I said, I get to have dinner with my best friend and spend the evening together chatting, watching tv, looking after Jade.  A perfect, effortless day, with so many blessings.  Every "good" day I'm blessed with also has the bonus result of giving me a boost in my mood.  Another blessing.💖

World Mental Health Day 

Today is World Mental Health Day dear ones and when I read about it this morning I did think, having battled depression for over twenty years, longer really, that maybe I should devote a post to how I cope with those days when finding my smile is really, really difficult. I do have them.   

I lost my job during lockdown.  It wasn't an important job, it was a minimum wage position in retail but I loved it.  I was as happy there as I am in my "happy bubble" at home with Hubby, Jade and all the laundry I can handle.😄 I loved my wee job.💖   I had so many lovely regular customers who I served for so many years that the children who came in shopping with them when I started there, were themselves getting married, having babies.  I belonged to the most amazing group of  co-workers and I miss them all so badly.  

My little part time job was so important for all those reasons honeys but also (or maybe particularly?) because it was the only time, other than doctors or hospitals appointments, that I ever went outside.  It was a physical connection to the outside world and losing it was devasting.  It happened though at a time when the whole world was "on hold" and we were all of us in a completely unforeseen place. We'd all just lived through a pandemic.  

It was because of the effects of the pandemic that I was able to, eventually, cope or to at least get through how it felt at the beginning and to reach the point I've reached.  Notably, that Hubby was working from home.  I was able to cope because I had my best friend with me.  Even though he was upstairs working in his home office during the day, just knowing that he was here, just upstairs if I needed him meant everything. More than anything though, Hubby listened, and he still listens (thank you sweetheart, love you x)   

Coping...

I still have days honeys, when the sun doesn't shine.  On those days I do what I need to do - on that day - to cope.  I've learned what are apparently called "coping mechanisms" through the years. These methods of coping I've learned/stumbled across and discovered they worked for me.  I wasn't taught any of them, I just learned as I lived my journey. 

I know now, from experience, how to choose which tool I need from my coping methods collection, on that day, to be OK.  For example, on losing my job, my immediate fear was how will we pay the bills!  For so many years we've always had two wages coming in each month.  Mine was only part-time but it helped.  

Coping method 1:  Hubby & I sat down with a pen and paper and wrote out all of our outgoings - regular bills, direct debits, everything.  We totalled it up and on finding that Hubby's wage covered them, well, that really helped.  That practical step helped.  It took away the panic that was in that moment.  The emotional fall-out of course followed, and that hit me much harder. Which leads me to... 

Coping method 2: Talking. This helped me more than anything. Hubby listened to me for hours, and continues to listen on not-great days (love you sweetheart x)  

Coping method 3:  My beach💖 I'd been using this method for quite some time when I was told that what I was doing was meditating! Who knew!😊 To think that my "safe place" that I have retreated to in some very scary moments would start when I saw a beautiful canvas online and fell in love with it at first sight.  I explain about it here in this post honeys, and how it got me through a CT scan at the hospital.  It's quite a long post though, as I wrote it to help anyone who had found out they had to have a CT scan and felt as nervous as I did before I had mine.  If you're going to read it, take a cuppa with you honeys, and maybe a cookie.💖.

It doesn't have to be a beach though, dear ones.  Find your "safe place."  It can be a memory, a song, a book, a photograph you can "step into." Just something that makes you feel good, and make it yours.💖

More coping methods that have worked for me:  

1. Music:  Put on ear buds and lay down on the sofa, close your eyes and disappear into your favourite music or why not dance?  Do what makes you feel good honeys, sing along, sing loudly🤗💖

2. Reading: disappear into a really good book or why not grab those ear buds again and listen to a great book on audio?  

3. Pottering in the garden:  Whether snipping at our beloved roses or pottering about at our mini indoor herb garden, I love it and it makes my heart smile honeys💖    

Give yourself permission to do something just for you honeys.  Call it a treat, a reward for getting through a tough day, whatever you love.💖  

How do you cope with bad days honeys?  Do you have any ways to share?  I'd love to hear them.💗

Links:

How I de-stress and find my calm, and how you can too

What do you do when you're feeling blue?

Till next time dear ones, thank you for keeping me company, hugs always xx

Healthy Snacking Made Easy...

Disclaimer:  I'm not being pad to recommend any products or stores, just sharing our little healthy snacking hacks.💖

Hi Honeys 

Welcome back🤗 Day two of Blogtober and today I thought I'd share how we're trying to make our snacking habits a little healthier🍉🍊🍋 

As with everything in life, a little planning can go a long way and when it comes to healthier snacking, planning is everything.  Imagine, you're at home and start to feel a wee bit peckish.  Into the kitchen we go in search of nibbles.  

Now, I know when I'm hungry and go looking for something to eat, whatever is to hand is what will be munched on.😋  Off to the fridge I go and open the door, and this is where that planning I mentioned is just everything...

Prepare, prepare, prepare...

It takes no time at all to wash and slice up some carrots to make yummy, crunchy carrot batons.  The same can be done with cucumber too.  Why not make celery sticks and keep a jar of your favourite (healthy) dip in the fridge too?    

Why not peel and slice your favourite fruits?   What about berries?  Having watermelon slices to snack on is not only healthy, but a great way to work towards staying hydrated too.  Any and all of these can then be stored in containers in your fridge, all ready for when anyone is feeling peckish or to be taken to work to ward off the attraction of those vending machines.😊

The best thing is that all of this preparation could take maybe an hour or so and you can fill your fridge up with enough healthy snacks to last you all week.  

Imagine making up a huge healthy, crunchy salad on a Sunday and filling up sealable containers, and then knowing that each day you can just reach into the fridge and there's a healthy lunch waiting to be enjoyed?

 

This can save you money too honeys.  Why eat takeaway food for lunch when it's so easy to plan ahead and you get to choose what you love too?  

Perfect portions always waiting...

Back to healthy snacking then.🍎 How awesome would it be to wander into the kitchen and find perfect little portions of yummy treats all waiting?  

Small containers and jars can be collected and used to help prepare your snacks.  Among our favourites snacks, usually prepared on a Sunday for the week ahead, are frozen fruit or berries in the bottom of a glass jar, this jar is then topped up with natural (unflavoured and unsweetened) yogurt. Another popular choice with both Hubby and I are little containers of raisins or dry roasted peanuts.   

Containers for those snacks...

In Pound/dollar stores you'll usually find sets of tiny containers for around £1/$1.  We bought these little glass jars (intended to be used for homemade jams or preserves) in a set of 3 for £1 a while ago.  The plastic tubs I think came from small mouses of some kind but the containers were such great quality I kept them.  

   

It's really not necessary though to buy these things.  If you take a closer look at your usual weekly grocery shop you might find that you have little jars of sauces etc.  When these are empty, wash them out and keep for snack preparation.  For nuts, crisps/potato chips or fruit, why not use small zip lock bags?  These can last quite a while if carefully washed, dried and re-used.

So, there we have it honeys.  Our tiny attempt at healthy snacking.  Some of these things we've been doing for quite some time and some are recent additions, like the little jars of carrot batons, also joined right now in our fridge by jars of cucumber batons and jars of tiny cherry tomatoes.😋

What are your favourite snacks?  Do you meal/or snack prep?  Do you have suggestions for different snack combinations?  If so, why not share them in the comments section below?  

Till next time dear ones, thank you for keeping me company, hugs always, xx  

A Tiny, Simple Hack To Waste Less, Save Money And Make Having Your Lemon Water Each Day So Easy!🍋🍋🍋

Disclaimer:  I haven't been paid to recommend any products, and this is not meant to be health advice!  If you have any health questions or concerns, please talk to your doctor or heath care professional honeys, hugs x

Hi Honeys
How are you today?  I hope your week is off to a fabulous start🤗 

We're been experiencing another heat wave here and have been melting away all week.  According to the little digital wotnot upstairs in our bedroom last night, it was 28.5C.  I know that might not seem overly warm to some of you lucky people who live in sunnier climes, but here in the west of Scotland those kinds of temperatures can melt furniture! Well, they can certainly melt wee Rosies😀 

I had the electric fan running all last night which, along with her chill mat, seemed to help our furbaby Jade.  It's so, so important to make sure our furbabies are safe in warmer temperatures honeys. They can't tell us when they're in distress.  You can find some useful tips to help keep furbabies cool here (there are some useful tips for us humans too💖) 

What didn't help our baby were the thunder storms that raged, really raged, last night until after 2am this morning.  The lightning too.  I had to switch off the electric fan (for a very short time) and close the curtains during the worst of it because the lightning got close I think?  It literally lit up our bedroom, twice! I was watching tv but the lights were all off (Hubby was sleeping since he had work early this morning. The rain was battering against our bedroom window too.  Such a scary storm.  Jade and I hugged each other and I know she was as relieved as I was when it was over.  

Back to todays post...

Do you drink lemon water honeys?  It's just water with a little lemon juice added (although you can add other things such as a little honey, which I do if I feel a cough or a "tickly" throat starting.  

My day usually starts with getting my first load of laundry going and then I boil the kettle to make my lemon water.  Until very recently, that meant simply adding boiling water to a cup (although I recently changed over to a tiny teapot - an upgrade to my little morning treat😊) and then dropping in freshly sliced lemon.

Around a year or so ago, I bought my tiny glass teapot from Ikea and started using one of the beautiful mugs a dear friend gave me. I so love those mugs. (Thank you Miriam, love you honey x)  As it turned out, my tiny glass teapot holds exactly the right amount for two cups of my lemon water🍋 Yum!

So, Rosie, why do you drink lemon water then? 

I started drinking my lemon water each morning as another step in my self care project.  For so many years now, I kept telling myself that I need to take better care of myself, and I really have tried.  My main issue though is that I'm just the world's worst at seeing anything even remotely concerning myself as a priority.  I have a set-in-stone mental block that will immediately tell me how selfish I'm being.  

Thing is honeys, time is passing (too fast, it feels like) and I have an invisible trailer I'm dragging behind me, chock full of chronic illnesses. I have stubbornly high blood pressure, my lungs have been trying to kill me since I took my first breath and, not content with having rheumatoid arthritis, I also have to be very greedy and have osteo arthritis in my spine too.  Added to this, the fact that I'm still living like a complete hermit with prize winning hermit skills. Seriously, the only time I leave the house is to go to medical appointments and its gone on for so long now that it just can't be healthy.

As I said, I am the world's worst at looking after myself and don't ask me why, but my lemon water is one of the few self care habits I've stuck with.  

I can't promise you miracles just because you start your day with a little lemon water but I've read so many good things online about it, like this article at Holland & Barratt site, and that's why I started.  At the very least, it means I'm drinking a little more water and I know I don't drink nearly enough.

OK Rosie, what's this new hack you're all excited about then?

It's true!  I am excited😊 I know. Excited about lemon and water.  I should get out more, as the old saying goes.  I don't go outside honeys, keep up.  This, and seeing a butterfly at the window a few days ago, are Christmas to me! 😊 

This hack has made my life so much easier, helped me to keep doing something, just for myself, that's healthy and is even saving us money too! (Get on with it Rosie!) Oops. Sorry honeys, told you I was excited😄

Well, while waiting for the machine to finish a load of laundry (exciting I know lol) I was watching some of my favourite home organisation channels on Youtube.  This is where I had my "wow" moment 😲and as with everything else in life honeys, all it needed was a wee bit of preparation...

Saving money and avoiding waste...

My usual routine with my lemons is to keep them in the fridge, so they are always chilled.  This also seems to, in my experience anyway, make them last longer.  I don't know about you honeys, but any produce, not just lemons, we buy now seems to last only days, and in some cases it's already sprouting or going soft when you get it home. 

I worked in retail for about fifteen years and I'm seeing the kind of quality in our weekly shop that never would have made it to the shopfloor years ago.  I used to be able to buy my lemons, and other produce, and they'd last me all week, now unfortunately I'm having to bin one or two of them unused because they simply "go off."  Even in the fridge!  

The answer is, of course, to be more aware when grocery shopping.  Look (very) closely at all of your produce before adding them to your shopping trolley or cart.  It makes no sense, the way things are financially for everyone right now, to waste money buying items that will go in the bin before they can be eaten.  

If I juice all of my lemons at their best, that is to say when they're brought home with the shopping, and immediately freeze them they'll then last me weeks or even a full month because I can buy as many as I would need for that time.  No more waste and money saved. 

Prepare, prepare, prepare...

So honeys, when you get home with your shopping, make a cuppa and get your breath back and then it's time to get to work.  This means meal prepping.... of a fashion.  All of your lovely produce will last so much longer if you take that extra bit of care to wash and prep it. 

Isn't it worth an hour or so and a tiny bit of work to be able to plan your dinners for the week and then to have all of your ingredients all prepped, in the fridge and ready to go?  

This absolutely applies to all of our produce, but for the purpose of todays post, back to those lemons and our daily lemon water.🍋    

Having found the freshest, yummiest lemons in the grocery store.  First thing is to wash them, I'd do that even if I wasn't going to prep them.  Even if I was just going to put them into our fridge I'd wash them first. Yes, I'm a germaphobe honeys😊  All of our produce though, when it gets home from the shops, is washed in warm, not hot, water with a little white vinegar, then rinsed again in fresh cold water.  

Ordinarily, what I (used to) do is to place those lovely clean lemons (I really don't like germs) into their designated space in the fridge and take one out as and when needed.  I did experiment with slicing them and then freezing the slices but it ended up being a pain, having to freeze them all lying flat before I could then pop them all, once frozen, into a ziplock bag.  

Did it a few times but with arthritic hands and wrists... nope. I'm not always having a "good" day.  Fellow "spoonies" will understand what I mean, sending you gentlest hugs dear ones🤗and wishes for the best day, full of spoons💖

Then, thanks to a lovely lady on Youtube, I learned about this....

The photo above shows all of the juice, squeezed from three packs of four lemons, twelve in total. This was all of the lemons in our latest grocery shop, plus four lemons from the fridge.  They were all washed carefully, then juiced using our little electric juicer, poured into the above silicone mould and immediately frozen.  

They were fresher than I've seen from our weekly shop in quite a while, so I was very keen to get them juiced and frozen as soon as possible to preserve all of that lovely fresh and healthy goodness.🍋

Choosing your moulds...

The mould shown makes very large cubes, certainly much larger than usual ice cubes.  I originally bought this mould in order to make chocolate teaspoons one Christmas.  Have you seen those honeys?  Basically, each mould is filled with melted chocolate, I added tiny marshmallows to mine too😊and then a small spoon (I used tiny wooden ones) is stood up in the chocolate mould before the chocolate hardens again.  

The chocolate spoons, basically a tiny spoon encased in chocolate, is then wrapped and a pretty ribbon tied around the wrapper (I used baking parchment) for them to be gifted💖 To enjoy these chocolate treats, they are stirred into a cup of warm milk until the chocolate has melted and you have a yummy chocolate drink. They make lovely little gifts around any of the holidays or as tiny extras to be placed in gift baskets.   

Back to our lemon water then, although now I'd quite like a lovely mug of warm chocolate now. Oh well, maybe later lol😊

The reason I decided to use the large cubed mould was because, as I said earlier, I now always make my lemon water in my little teapot.  This teapot holds exactly two cups of my lemon water.  One cube is equal to a whole lemon. 

Of course if I was only making a cup or glass or lemon water I'd use a smaller mould.  In fact, when I first tried freezing lemon juice I actually used one of my favourite moulds and this does make smaller, more average sized cubes but they're in the shape of penguins.🐧  As you can see, there is quite a difference in size.. 

I've had this adorable ice cube mould for so many years and I think it will always be my favourite🐧🐧🐧🥰

Once frozen, I placed the lemon juice cubes into a ziplock bag and back into the freezer.  As you can see, the bag has some little penguins inside too😊  

I haven't had any problems at all with cubes sticking together in the freezer and I do love that all I have to do in the morning is to boil the kettle and add a (large) cube of lemon juice to my tiny teapot.💖  

Of course, as a bonus, and during the current heatwave I can allow my lemon water to cool and place it into the fridge for a lovely cooling, and healthy, drink🍋😊  

No more having to slice or squeeze lemons freshly each day.  Unless I want to, and add an extra slice or two as I did here.  

The only downside to using our little electric juicer is, as you can see in the image above, the lemon water seems cloudier and you can see bits of the inner flesh, or pith, of the lemon in it. The smaller, penguin shaped lemon cubes had far less of this skin because they were squeezed using a hand squeezer.  

It's fine though, I thought it actually added a little extra zinginess (is that even a word lol) and if it ever bothers me, for future lemon cubes, once juiced, I'll pour the lemon juice through a strainer to remove the excess pulp bits. 

This is truly life changing for me honeys, it really is.  I haven't lost the battle to arthritis yet but, well, let's just say the fight is getting harder.  Anything, even tiny lemon cubes, that helps make daily life even a wee bit easier, is a blessing and I'm so grateful to have found this wonderful little hack.💖

My inspiration...

My inspiration for this clever idea that's making my mornings so much easier is a lovely lady who has one of the best channels on Youtube.  Her name is Noemi and you can find her Youtube channel, called Scandish Home here and her Instagram page is here.  I can't say enough good things about this wonderful lady and the amazing content on her channel.  Please do visit her page honeys, she seems so friendly and her videos are so full of information and always make me smile.  There's DIY, recipes (gluten and dairy free) homemaking, home organisation and so, so much more to learn there💖     

Just for teaching me how to freeze all of my lemon juice so that painful bones don't stop me from having my morning lemon water, although she's taught me so much more, I owe this lovely lady so much.  I don't think she'll ever see this post but just in case she does, thank you so much Noemi, wishing you so many good things and sending you so many hugs🤗  

Over to you dear ones, do you make lemon water?  Have you found any tips or hacks you want to share?  If so, please share in the comments section below.  

I hope you're having the best day, so full of happiness that it makes your face ache from smiling so much🥰🤗💖💝 and just in case you forgot honeys, you matter, you're needed 🤗

Till next time, hugs always x

Have You Tried Spiralizing Yet? Zucchini Noodles In Cream Cheese... Yum!

Disclaimer: I haven't been paid to promote any products, I just wanted to share a little culinary experiment that worked out really well x

Hi Honeys
I've been having the most fun with a new kitchen gadget and had to share.  The thing is though, in search of some mention of (or dare I hope recipes?) I typed spiralizing into a search bar and wow does it seem that I'm late to the spiralizing craze!

Oh well, better late than never I suppose 😊  I'm trying to cut carbs, having been diagnosed recently with diabetes, and the idea that I can swap out things like courgettes (zucchini) for pasta is just awesome.

After experimenting recently by making one of Hubby's favourite dinners, a lovely cheesy lasagne, using long slices of courgette/zucchini in place of pasta, I'm loving the idea and wanted to try other recipes.  I then spotted my new favourite kitchen gadget online (on sale too!) and immediately hit "add to cart"

Which brings us to spiralizing...

Our new spiralizer (a Kenwood electric one) was delivered, washed and set up.  I fetched two courgettes and a large carrot and away I went.  This was my first attempt...

So, now, having lots of lovely veggie noodles, the question was, what to do with them...

Mammogram Update And Helpful Links

Hi Honeys
Hello again, you might remember I posted recently about my experiences while attending my very first mammogram screening appointment.  You can read that post here if you missed it. 

I've received a letter saying my screening results were "satisfactory" and that I'm to attend for screening again in three years time. 

As you can imagine honeys I'm incredibly relieved and very grateful to have been given as close as the Screening service gets to giving anyone an all clear result, but I'm also very aware that not everyone is so blessed. My dear Grandmother told me once that knowledge is a powerful thing, that things lose their ability to scare us when we learn about them. 

I've found two very helpful leaflets produced by the NHS which you can download.  They are both PDF documents and the first booklet goes into detail about what happens during screening, explains the possible results and what will happen after screening has been done.  You can read and download this booklet here honeys: Breast Screening: Information to help you decide

The second leaflet contains information on how to be "breast aware."  It describes changes to look out for and when to go see your Doctor among other useful information. You can find this leaflet here: Be Breast Aware.

It's so, so important to try to be aware of what our bodies are telling us and to then act on it.  It's up to us honeys to equip ourselves with the information we need to make healthy life choices.  I hope you're having a fabulous week so far, stay warm honeys.  Till next time dear ones, hugs always xx

Smoothie Packs: How An Hour A Week Can Help You Be Healthier

Disclaimer: I haven't been paid to promote any products, just wanted to share my afternoon of smoothie pack making :)

Hi Honeys,
I'm sorry I haven't been around for a few days.  This hasn't been a great week so far, I'm afraid.  My shifts last weekend were very busy and left me pretty much exhausted.  Usually I would rest on Sunday (and sometimes Monday too if the weekend was really draining) and then be back to myself again.

Unfortunately, this didn't happen this past week.  I haven't felt so completely drained for a while and as all spoonies know, there is no fighting it, we just have to rest till it's over :/  I'm so sorry honeys, I don't do pity parties I really don't. I just wanted to apologise for going missing and to explain why.  Not to worry though, I'm feeling a little more like me and yesterday I even managed to set about cleaning, peeling & chopping fruit to make up some baggies for the freezer :)

You know what honeys? I really enjoyed yesterday afternoon.  After being so drained and feeling so awful all week I was determined to try to achieve something, anything.  So off I went into the kitchen and gathered all of the fruit we had languishing in the fridge, fruit bowl etc all together.  Once that was done, an apron was put on and I set about preparing it. 

What To Expect When Attending Your Mammogram Screening Appointment

Hi Honeys
Well today was my first ever mammogram or breast screening appointment.  I have to admit I was very nervous, to say the least, but as it turns out I needn't have worried. Which brings me to this post honeys, I wanted to write this in the dear hope that it might reassure anyone who might be getting themselves into as much of a tizzy as I did, and if this post reassures even one person it'll be worth writing. 

My appointment was arranged for early afternoon and I was to attend at our mobile screening unit which was parked in the large car park of our local shopping centre.  This mobile unit is securely sealed, with the door being kept locked at all times. At the entrance there is a secure screened window where you press a buzzer to announce you've arrived.

Super Easy Chicken & Mediterranean Vegetables

Disclaimer:  I haven't been paid to write this, one of my little kitchen experiments just turned into the most delicious dinner and I wanted to share, hugs x

Hi Honeys

Have you ever found yourself with a really busy day where time just goes by way too fast and before you know it ..... it's time to get dinner on the table?  What about something beyond delicious you can have ready in no time at all, made from three items from your freezer & pantry and best of all it practically cooks itself?

I've always loved creating dishes by combining what I have on hand, or I'll see something while shopping and think "that looks amazing... wonder what I can do with it?"  During a recent shopping trip in Asda (Walmart) I spotted a bag of  Mediterranean Vegetables with Cherry Tomatoes from their new "Good & Balanced" range.  I've already tried a few items from this range, intended to make it easier to include healthy choices at meal times, and I was really impressed by the quality and the value since prices are great too.  Having really liked the few purchases from this range we've already tried, including their steam in the bag veggies which are a dream,  I picked up a bag of the Mediterranean Vegetables to give them a try :)