Gender Reveal Party Confetti Filled Balloons

I've been totally surprised and thrilled by how popular confetti-filled balloons have been on my Etsy store. I first made confetti-filled balloons for Madeleine's 1st Birthday last year, and after being asked so much when I bought them from, decided to start selling them on my Etsy store. I'm not sure if you've seen my photos lately on Instagram, but I've been busy shipping some rather large orders to a few companies in the USA who are going to be selling them too, which is totally exciting! 

Gender reveal party balloons gender reveal confetti balloons gender reveal confetti filled balloons
A new but related product which I have been testing and re-testing has been confetti filled balloons for a Gender Reveal Party, and have now finally listed them on my store. 

gender reveal party confetti-filled balloons  gender reveal confetti filled balloons gender reveal confetti filled balloons

gender reveal party confetti-filled balloons  gender reveal confetti filled balloons gender reveal confetti filled balloons

I kept testing different quality balloons in different colours until I thought I had found the winner. I had a lovely lady agree to test my potential winners, which worked out great, and she loved them..

gender reveal party confetti balloons  gender reveal confetti balloons gender reveal confetti balloons gender reveal party

But when I tested with some polka dot balloons, I fell in love! The search was over!

gender reveal party confetti balloons  gender reveal confetti filled balloons gender reveal confetti balloons gender reveal

And because I was/am impatient and didn't want to wait another month for another test phase, I posed for a photo myself - - and so I must add a disclaimer in right now - No, I am not pregnant! Even my Husband raised an eyebrow and asked if this was my way of telling him, but I am not pregnant, just impatient! And yes, I do have Globophobia...

gender reveal party confetti-filled balloons  gender reveal confetti filled balloons gender reveal confetti filled balloons

But it was kind of fun pretending to be pregnant for five seconds, and if I am lucky enough to fall pregnant again, I'll be for sure using confetti-filled balloons to reveal whether Maddie would have a brother or sister. I think its such a fun way of involving friends and family in such a special moment in your lives. 

For my original confetti-filled balloons and other party supplies, see my Poppins range on Etsy or send me an email if you have custom requests (which I LOVE doing!!).



Psst!! If you are looking for a little more meg-made, I'd LOVE for you to follow along!

Hash Brown Cups

Finding out that I am gluten intolerant a year ago has been an interesting ride. I have said farewell to fresh white fluffy bread (the GF alternatives are fine as toast but thus far have failed to measure up on the freshness aspect) and goodbye to my beloved donuts (but I am going to start trying to make some GF donuts soon!!). But, with many goodbyes has also been lots of new discoveries and new ways of cooking. 

And sometimes, that means potato, a thousand ways! I try not to eat too many heavy and starchy carbs, but instead of bread, sometimes (and particularly at breakfast time) potato will be the only thing that will do! So coming up with new ways to enjoy it has been kind of fun. 

I had the one giant hash brown under eggs benedict, and that was wonderful for a group brunch, but not always ideal just for the two of us. 

Hash Brown Cups Hash Brown Cups Hash Brown Cups Hash Brown Cups 

So these hash brown cups are perfect to make when there's just the two of us, and actually use much less potato than a regular hash brown! 

To make the Hash Browns, grate one large (russet) potato and microwave for about 4 minutes, until the potato is soft, but not overcooked and stuck together. Then add a little GF flour, about two tablespoons, and mix through with your hands. 

Spread some melted butter into muffin tins to ensure the hash browns don't stick.

Then press the shredded potatoes into each muffin hole.

Bake for 10-15 minutes, until golden brown. The potato is effectively pre-cooked in the microwave, so it is just a case of crisping them up!!

When they are crisped and slightly brown, you can then crack an egg into each one and bake for a further 7 minutes. I used a cupcake tin, so the cases were a little small for a full size egg, so next time I am going to use quails eggs!!

We had our hash brown cups with baked eggs served with home made baked beans (recipe will come soon I promise) which was just heavenly. 

I love how different and fun these cups are, and love finding new ways of enjoying my favourite dishes. I think they look great and would make a fun brunch with friends, as you can prepare so much of them ahead of time! 

Psst!! If you are looking for a little more meg-made, I'd LOVE for you to follow along!

Fast Diet - Week 17 - #LoseDayTuesday

Week 17 of the 5:2 Fast Diet!! To find out more about it, read my original post here. 

It's been a good week on the Fast Diet. I feel like it's another slow start to my plateau busting attempts, but I feel like I've made some good choices and am back on the right track. It dawned on me that summer is just around the corner... the whole "summer bodies are made in winter" approach has struck a chord and gave me something new to focus on! I've never really been a frolicking bikini babe, but I do love me some sundresses, so it'd be nice to be a little more svelte!!

I am getting a little bored with Fast Day food at the moment, so am pretty excited that there's going to be a new Fast Diet Cook book out soon! Bring it on!

But until then, here's my Fast Day menu suggestions for this week:

Lunch - Two egg mushroom omelette

I made it through to 4pm without a bite to eat, but at that time, I was RAVENOUS! I was going to make a tasty big lunch, but when I figured out my dinner plan, I knew I needed a lower calorie lunch. Obviously I would normally cook the mushrooms in butter (obviously!), so they were a little more dry than normal, but that was sorted out when I put them in the omelette. 

Ingredients

1/4 red onion, peeled, and finely diced 

1 large mushroom, sliced

2 small Free-Range eggs 

4-6 spinach leaves

1 tablespoon grated Parmesan cheese 

salt and pepper

Oil spray

Method:

1. Quickly cook the mushrooms in a few sprays of oil, and then lightly cook the onion as well. 

2. Rinse the pan and heat it for the eggs. In a bowl beat the eggs and then pour them slowly into the pan. 

3. Swirl the eggs for the first few minutes until it starts to set.  

4. When the eggs are nearly set, sprinkle some parmesan cheese, the spinach, mushrooms and onions over one half of the omelette. Flip the other half over and cook for another few minutes until it is fully cooked through (but still a tiny bit runny). 

Dinner -  Lolo Turkey Meatballs 

Meatballs in a tomato sauce. On a Fast Day. Heck yes!

This recipe is from the Fast Diet Recipe Book and is definitely worth a calorie splurge! The standard calorie count for the recipe is 264, but I had a few extra meatballs, so am going to assume that I had closer to 330!

Recipe post here!

Total calories for the day = 500

Exercise

I mentioned last week that I had discovered the Tone It Up girls, well I am a little obsessed now! 

The girls are Karena and Katrina and they are friends who have a whole empire built around them working out together. They are so strong, feminine and love pink! I find them really easy to follow and well, if I can be half as strong as they are I'd be kind of thrilled! 

I've found a few of their workouts to do at home and I just love them! In the past week I did two of the HIIT sessions, one Love Your Body Legs and Booty and one quick Love your Body Abs and Arms workout. It has taken 4 days for me to be able to squat down to pick Maddie up without my quads and hamstrings absolutely burning!! But it is such a good pain that I welcome it wholeheartedly! 

We were all too sick again on the weekend to get to the pool, so alas, no swimming again! I am so over this damp and miserable winter! It'd be so lovely to be healthy and able to exercise outdoors again!! 

Weight loss?

Total loss to date = 3.7kg (8.1lbs)

I feel like this teeny tiny loss is okay, I'm only just re-starting my Fast Diet goals, so I know it will take some time to get going again. I feel like I'm heading in the right direction again though, so am feeling optimistic that I will push through my plateau and reach some new goals in the coming months!

Goals for the coming week

My goals for this coming week are:

• 3 Tone It Up sessions
• One long walk
• Swimming session (fingers crossed)

I wonder whether anyone else has any plateau-busting tips?

Psst!! If you are looking for a little more meg-made, I'd LOVE for you to follow along!


  

The Fast Diet Recipe Files: Lo-Lo Turkey Meatballs

I made these yummy Lo-Lo Turkey Meatballs for a Fast dinner on week 17 of the Fast Diet. The recipe is from the Fast Diet Recipe Book and is totally delicious. I used turkey instead of pork, and made a double batch to freeze for later!

Serves two

For the meatballs:
200g lean pork mince (or turkey mince)
½ medium red onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, peeled and crushed
1 small carrot, grated
pinch of oregano
1 egg, beaten
salt and pepper
oil for spraying

For the tomato sauce:
oil for spraying
½ medium red onion, chopped
½ garlic clove, peeled and chopped
1 400g tin chopped tomatoes
50g fresh tomatoes, skinned and deseeded, roughly chopped
1 tsp tomato puréepinch of sugar
200ml water
chilli flakes to taste
dash of Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp dried oregano

Method:

1. Place mince in a bowl with onion, garlic, carrot, oregano, egg and salt and pepper.

2. Mix well and shape into 12 small meatballs.

3. Spray a large pan with oil and fry over a medium heat until gently browned – about 4 minutes – and set aside.

4. For the sauce, spray the same pan with oil and fry onion until softened; add garlic, and cook for a further 3 minutes.

5. Add the tomatoes, tinned and fresh, purée, sugar and water, plus chilli flakes and Worcestershire sauce to taste.

6. Simmer till reduced and glossy.

7. Add meatballs and oregano, cover and simmer for 20 minutes.

I served mine alongside fresh baby spinach and really struggled to stop eating! SO delicious! Low calorie, high flavour and very filling.

Psst!! If you are looking for a little more meg-made, I'd LOVE for you to follow along!

meg-made it to Le Cordon Bleu London (Part Un)

I am going to have to split this post about Le Cordon Bleu into two parts, I usually don't go into much emotional details on my blog, but felt like something almost transcendent happened to me at Le Cordon Bleu and I felt like maybe you would indulge me in going a little deeper just this once! Maybe make yourself a cuppa, we're going to be here a while!!

I had quite an emotional day being in the spiritual home of cooking. It just felt purely good to be there. I had a bit of a random D&M the other day with a friend about it, but this is the first time in my life that I have wanted to learn. 

In school I just kind of just plodded along, almost as if I was on someone else's path. I got through my work, never really doing outstandingly well, but well enough. I got through high school and wanted to be a Dentist. So went to Uni and had such a horrible first year in science that I then started a Business Degree. I then added a Commerce degree too, because at least I would be employable with both. But what does that have to do with me. Not much. Or so I learned over the coming years. I persisted as an accountant for 4 years, in HR for 2, but never found the right fit for me. Some days were better than others but I always knew in my heart of hearts it just wasn't wasn't the job for me, was never where I was meant to be.

And then I became a mum. And whilst it isn't really job, it certainly is me finding what I love, and what I strive to be better at each day. It can be the hardest day with Maddie, I can be wanting to tear my hair out by the time my husband comes home, but then she runs and gives me a big hug around my legs while I'm cooking dinner and all is forgotten. No matter what time of the day/night it has been, whenever that little girl wakes up and wants/needs me, I can't help but smile. And now that she actually calls for me, I find myself skipping a little to get to her room faster. I guess you could say that I am one of those women that find mothering a very natural passion. When I was pregnant I just wanted to have my baby in my arms so I could take care of her, because I knew she would teach me how to. It has been an entirely life changing and esteem building experience and the first time in my life that I have had some confidence in what I am doing. 

And then I arrived at Bloomsbury Square, Le Cordon Bleu headquarters in London.

I was such a mixed bag of emotions - more nervous than I'd been in a long time, and just SO excited! After registering and signing in we were taken into the demonstration kitchen/dining room for orientation where we met our Fish & Shellfish Chef for the day, Chef Eric.

As soon as we went into our kitchen I felt immediately calm. It was a very strange feeling but I just couldn't take the smile off my face, it felt so natural being in there. Perhaps I was a chef in my past life or something I don't know, but it just felt familiar almost!

When we were being taught various techniques and then went back to our stations to have a go I just loved putting what we'd just learnt to practice. My favourite moment was when we had all four burners going at once (making a white wine sauce, cooking clams, making a parsley/breadcrumb topping and reducing a citrus sauce) while prepping the scallops, squid and mussels, all the one time. On every CV in the past I've put my number one skill as being multitasking and time management. And FINALLY I've found where that is actually really bloody useful!! Ha!

This experience had such a profoundly positive impact on me that I have reevaluated my lifelong aspirations to include becoming a student again, a LCB student. I found myself so inspired and envious of all the chefs and student chefs, it just seemed to be a room filled with likeminded individuals who all have a passion for food. I know you don't have to become a trained Chef to enjoy food, but for me to achieve the dreams my Husband and  I have set for ourselves, this wholeheartedly makes my part possible. So for now (and probably a long while) I am still a home cook with a passion for food, but one day, I'll trade in my apron for White's. And I am giddy at the very thought of it.

Part two of my Le Cordon Bleu posts will actually talk about some food, so I'll get that post to you soon! I took some videos of Chef Eric at work, but apparently due to confidentiality reasons, we are not permitted to show any of the LCB Chef's at work, so I won't be publishing as many photos/tutorials as I was planning on, but don't worry, some french seafood recipes will be finding their way onto my blog soon, I am now the proud owner of the Le Cordon Bleu Cuisine Basics cookbook!! One step at a time! 

Psst!! If you are looking for a little more meg-made, I'd LOVE for you to follow along!

  

meg-made it to The Royal Horseguards Hotel for (a GF) Afternoon Tea

Dear Meg, 

Would you like to attend a lavish afternoon tea at The Royal Horseguards Hotel London with a group of lovely blogging ladies and be treated to an afternoon of champagne and gluten free delights???

Gee... let me hesitate one moment before responding..... Heck Yes!!!

The Royal Horseguards Hotel Afternoon Tea GF meg-made

It was a no-brainer! My kiwi friend Emma introduced me to Selena, who arranged a group of lovely blogging ladies to all meet for High Tea at the Royal Horsegaurds Hotel on a particularly lovely London Sunday afternoon (if you live in London, you'll know which one, there haven't been many to choose from lately!!). 

Located in a particularly "London" part of town, Thames-adjacent and in the neighbourhood of Westminster and Horseguard Parade, the Royal Horseguard Hotel is in a highly sought after locale. 

The Royal Horseguards Hotel Afternoon Tea GF meg-made

Being gluten intolerant has kind of made me hesitant to attend High Teas, because in general they aren't terribly gluten friendly. Well, thanks to Chef Ben Purton at the Royal Horseguards Hotel, not only am I no longer not hesitating, I am going to be jumping in with both feet!

The Royal Horseguards Hotel welcomed us warmly (and pretty much by name, or twitter handle!!) and had arranged the private terrace room just for us, with a menu specific to our #LDNBloggersTea!

Most High Tea's don't actually place much importance on the actual Tea, but after we finished our delightful glass of champagne, it was all about the tea! We had a few to choose from (I was craving some classic Earl Grey but Sarah next to me had actual pink tea... herbal pomegranate).

But I have to take some time to talk about the scones for a bit. Have you ever tried gluten free scones?? I had not. The idea of a fluffy and light scone made dense and heavy with gluten free products did not appeal to me one bit. But somehow Chef Ben managed to make the impossible possible - a light and fluffy gluten free scone! The raisins helped to keep them nice and moist and they tasted so similar to a regular scone I would never have known it wasn't! 

And because I was a little bit impressed, we talked about them for a while... which inevitably lead to the discussion about whether you put your cream or jam on the scone first... It wasn't until coming to England that I really knew there were regionally distinct ways of cream & jamming your scones, but it seems I favour the Cornish Tea with my jam on first (all those years of being served a Devonshire Tea back home and I've been making a mockery of it... apparently!). It does crack me up that this is not my first discussion about this too! Oh England! 

When our desserts came around, us gluten-intolerants had a special little arrangement of treats. I can't eat chocolate so donated mine to the groups' cake stands, and devoured my rice pudding and passionfruit-brulee.... or whatever on earth it was that was so divine. I've only just discovered that I like passionfruit, thankfully or I would have missed out on something special here. I really have no idea what it was, but I loved every spoonful! 

I had such a lovely time meeting and chatting to some new friends and enjoying some iconically British activities. And in typical British fashion the weather was the number one talking point... but seriously, look at this day (and view from our private terrace... I mean....)

I can't recommend the Royal Horseguards Hotel enough! If you're not fortunate enough to be born an heiress, spending an afternoon and being treated like royalty is a pretty nice back up! Thanks to Selena for arranging, Chef Ben for such delightful treats that even GFers can enjoy, and to The Royal Horseguards Hotel for hosting such a lovely afternoon! 

Psst!! If you are looking for a little more meg-made, I'd LOVE for you to follow along!