It's Been A Long Time

Hello and welcome back to Mean Mother Cooker!

It feels like it's been a long time since I've shared any scrumptious recipes with you guys - and I'm so sorry!

We've been through some big changes in the last few years. We've had to deal with the loss of many family members - which made us decide to move back to my hometown of Sheffield after spending eight years in Nottingham.

We sold our beautiful house very quickly and I do miss my kitchen.

We moved to a rental property and I now have this kitchen:

You can see why I might be finding the adjustment a little tough! How I miss my beautiful kitchen...

But this isn't forever and we love being back in Sheffield.

The kids are loving their new school and have fitted in brilliantly. It's also great being close to extended family.

And I've only gone and set up a business with Mr Mean. It's all change!

Working pretty much full time has changed the way we eat. I don't have a dishwasher either in this rental house, so most free time is spent chained to the kitchen sink!

My problem is the same as ever - I won't buy convenience food, so I have to be super organised to get the kids properly fed with fresh and tasty food. Getting them to eat it is another matter!

We spent the start of the year trying to become Lean In 15 with Joe Wicks - The Body Coach. You can find most of my office lunch creations on Instagram. Here's a few of them:

So, let's get reacquainted and share more tasty recipes!

Holly xxx

Banana & Cashew Smoothy Popsicles

These popsicles are great snacks and they are super good for you too! In my pursuit for tasty clean eating snacks, I thought I'd make a smoothy into a yummy lolly - and these are well worth making. Great for a snack when you haven't got time to make a smoothy from scratch. And it's like eating a tastier Mini Milk!

Cleaning Eating & Clean Living?

My youngest is now four months old and I think it is about time to get back into shape. I'm guilty of eating way too much bad stuff. Chocolate biscuits are so easy to grab when you've got a screaming baby to feed and it would be rude not to have a big slab of cake when feeding a hungry baby in a café! And we all know that sleepless nights leads to craving instant energy foods like cakes, biscuits, crisps, white bread and chocolate. 

You see I have the goal of being able to wear less clothing in the summer months. I'm under no illusion I'll be wearing a bikini (ever again) by the pool (not when you've had three sizable babies!), but I would like to take my cardi off! So it's time to ditch the stodge and start some cleanish living!

Of course, being the Mean Mother, I won't be eating boiled brown rice, steamed fish and steamed veg every day, so my aim is to make tasty Clean Eating meals and snacks so we don't get bored, because don't think for one minute I'm doing this on my own - oh no! The whole family is on the Clean Eating diet! Although the children might get more carbs than me and Mr Mean. Lots of veg, fruit, whole foods, lean protein.... I'm sure they will love it! Lots of recipes and ideas will be posted soon!