Vegan kids Party Buffet Haul

I can't believe that its been a week already since Freyas 9th birthday, time really flies when you're close to the edge !!! I was super stressed out last week, with so much to do and the thought of entertaining little ones at home was pretty full on, but I must say that when it came to the food I was pleasantly surprised.

Can you imagine the stress of having to put on a vegan buffet at a kids party? Notorious for sugar loaded cakes, party rings and ham & pineapple pizzas, these kids were not going to be jumping for joy at the sight of a falafel and beetroot wrap, kids at parties are a tough crowd. And aside from all of that, vegan food is expensive, is it not? Or so we are led to believe. 

You would not believe the rush of relief I felt when I was able to complete a vegan kids party food haul at Asda last week in under 20 minutes, and it didn't cost the earth either. Supermarkets are defiantly getting much better, as big brands are taking on more veggie and vegan options. There is of course a separate issue of where you chose to shop as a consumer, and the reminder that processed foods are not a replacement for fresh natural foods. BUT for the sake of a party Im all in on this occasion. 

So, here it is... My vegan Kids party buffet!

Carrot, pepper & cucumber sticks 

Hummus dip, (its so cheap and easy to make your own! I'll pop a link in at the end.)

Asda mediterranean  pizza

Tortilla chips

Popcorn chicken style bites

Vegan  nuggets

Potato Pops

Veggie sausage rolls

Asdas own brand vegan chocolate cupcakes (big hit!)

Ben & Jerrys chocolate brownie vegan ice cream

Strawberries & Blueberries

I hope you find this helpful 🙂 

xx A xx

Asda vegan kids party food

Try making your own hummus: https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/hummus

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Oh Heyeeyyyyy,

I haven't forgotten that I promised you an update on my attempt to break away from the fast fashion mind set! I have just been super busy with Alfa Design, merchandising, and looking after the little ones through the holidays. Never fear; what does one do when feeling overwhelmed and  stressed? Opt for some retail therapy of course. So I finally decided to go for it and visit a few of my local second hand stores in search of beautiful, preloved items of  clothing, Plymouth, you did not disappoint. 

Here are a few items that I have collected on my travels over the last couple of weeks:

This embroidered sheer top which cost me £3.50. I've worn it with some chunky gold jewelry and a dark lip.

This cute geometric print dress originally from Marks & Spencer's Limited Collection. I wasn't too sure about the colours to start with, but its cut really well, and hangs beautifully so I've fallen in love with it. Perfect work dress. £3.00

My new "floaty goth dress." ( As Freya calls it) 

Nightmare to photograph, no idea where I am going to wear it. Fell in love. £3.50. 

Last but not least, another skirt from M&S Limited Collection 99p!!I could wear this print for dayyyysssss.

Top tip ....Be an opportunist, drop in to a charity shop whenever you pass, the stock is unpredictable and always rotating, so you never know when you are about to stumble across a hidden gem.

xx A xx

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Feeding a family can be pretty expensive these days. Actually, feeding yourself is pretty expensive, let alone worrying about picky little eaters! I spoke earlier on my blog about the difficulty that I used to have when cooking on a budget, so I have decided to share a few of what I call my Hero recipes, for when the pennies need to stretch that little bit further! Take a screenshot and save it on your phone, you can thank me later 😉

I also have a couple of recommendations that I find to be super useful.

A Girl called Jack : ( https://cookingonabootstrap.com/) She’s wicked, a thrifty, feminist food writer with a sharp sense of humour. I just know that you are going to love her. I follow her on instagram too, heres a link for those of you who are interested. ( https://www.instagram.com/jack_monroe)

Sainsbury’s on Pinterest: I know this is a random one, but recently I discovered that they have tonnes of pages for budget and vegan recipes, and they are broken down at price per portion so they are great if you are trying to keep to a certain cost. ( https://www.pinterest.co.uk/sainsburys/) We strongly recommend the shroomdog pasta.

A Facebook page called “Feed your family for £20 a week” :I must admit that we have never followed a full week, and its not all veggie/ vegan, but its a great resource for ideas, and i often tweak the recipes.
( https://www.facebook.com/FYFA20PW/)

xx Amie xx

Has anyone else been here? The cheapest of cheap food shops. When money is s tight all you can afford is pretty much just basics; tinned beans and bread. With the rise of the use of food banks I think mainstream media would make us think they are almost a myth, not needed or that the people using them just can't manage their money. However it is real. It's happening to real people, with jobs that don't pay enough, in a world where we have so much to pay for and that we are expected to have. I remember when we struggled  a few years back.

This morning Freya and Albert have been playing Mario Kart quite contently and I've been tucking into a nice seeded loaf and a cup of earl grey in bed whilst catching up on a few emails for Alfa Design. Sad as it sounds, I can't go more than a few minutes without a quick browse through Facebook. Whilst online, I stumble across this video that hits pretty close to home.

https://www.facebook.com/search/top/?q=feeding%20children%20summer%20holiday&epa=SEARCH_BOX

It's about a mother struggling to feed her children. Can you imagine how hard that must be? During the term time she receives free school meals, but over the six week holidays there is no additional financial help. This often results in skipping her own dinner in order to feed her children. I feel a familiar knot in my stomach, I've been there. Maybe you have too.

At 22 I was at university with two children and money was tight, my food budget was normally around £18 a week. I would eat the cheapest basic meals ( I'm talking super noodles, beans on toast, or perhaps a bowl of oven chips, basically, lots and lots of beige) so that I could ensure the children had a decent dinner and a nutritionally balanced packed lunch to take to nursery. But guess what? I wasn't alone, although I  felt very much that I was, the truth is that this was happening everywhere, it still is, but many of us are blind to the problem, and often individuals are too embarrassed to let on.

Trust me, you would not believe how easy it can be to cover it up once you get started.

Personally, I found that: "Hey guys, why don't we do dinner at yours this week? then maybe I can have you over next week?" ( Hopefully when my next payment has cleared) Sounds so much nicer than, "can I borrow 20 quid again please?" Don't you think?

Thankfully we haven't fallen upon times like that for a while now. After uni Levi and I went on to get steady jobs and we were lucky enough to move to my mums while we found our feet. I'm still pretty frugal, and I don't spend much on our family meals. I've got a go-to pinterest board where I save all of my recipes. (link here for those of you who have pinterest: www.pinterest.co.uk/amiesmind/vegan-meals)

Seeing the video this morning, and all of these feelings flooding back has inspired me to share some of the recipes and methods that I used to depend on. I know that those of you who need this the most probably won't want to share or comment, but perhaps you will save a link to your phone, or make a note of something useful, if so then I've achieved what I wanted to.

Can I also remind Plymouth people that there is a fantastic lunch at the library scheme that is currently running through Wednesday's in August, where children can pick up a free lunch and join in with family-friendly activities. Have a read if you are interested

If you are lucky enough not to need my suggestions then may I ask this? When you pop to a friends house, take a pack of biscuits, or offer to pick up the milk. Invite a friend over for a regular weeknight dinner, or perhaps double up when you make a lasagne and ask if they wouldn't mind trying a new recipe you're working on. Be thoughtful, be tactful and be kind

Our go-to Recipes to follow 🙂

Half term can be challenging; you want to encourage the children to get away from the TV and get out of the house, but chances are everything they want to do costs a fortune. We have found that as a family of four a trip to a local cafe can set us back around £40 let alone the steep costs of attraction tickets for a day out! Frankly its money better spent elsewhere, but there are only so many times you can remain enthusiastic about a trip down the local park. We’re hoping that this list will help take a chunk of the stress out of next week and show you some of our parent hacks along the way!
Here are 10 tried and tested ideas that have worked like a charm for our little people. If we could give you one bit of advise it would be GET EXCITED the more you hype up a special job, or a secret task the more that they are going to want to do it, there is an opportunity for adventure in everything.

1. MAKE A FATHERS DAY CARD/ GIFT - Ok Fathers day isn’t until June 16th, but you are going to feel soooo chuffed when it comes round and you have already got it covered. Get out the water colours, old magazines to cut and stick, and a box of pens. Remind them that this is a special card so they need to spend long long time on it. ( you’re welcome) It could also be a good time to stockpile other cards, leave off any writing so that when you forget to buy one for something else you can use these. Grandparents love them. Encourage aspiring Jackson Pollocks outdoors.

2. PICNIC - Picnics can be eaten in the garden while you have a sneaky coffee and check your emails, or could be an entire day trip to somewhere lovely, We recently got the ferry to Mount Edgcumbe. Encourage the children to pack up the blankets and make the sandwiches from food you already have in the house. Sometimes if we have had a busy day and the weather is nice, I will cook tea, pop it in a container and we will whizz to the beach for a couple of hours and have tea there. It makes for sudden excitement and breaks up the routine. Sometimes we take onesies and they fall asleep on the way home which means that you can also escape the dreaded bedtime routine. hehe

3. FASHION DESIGNER - This is great for older kids to do on their own, or one for you to get involved with if you’re feeling energetic, take this as far as you like.
Gather up pre-approved ill-fitting or out of favour clothes and encourage the child to think out of the box. If a skirt is too short, how about adding a frill along the bottom made out of an old T-shirt? Or Tie Dye using vegetable inks.

Make at 140 in the Royal William yard do some great patches for a couple of Pounds.Freya bought one or two last time she was there, part of the fun is sifting through the box and agonising over which one to buy, they are all so cool! Try to agree how many you are buying, or what the budget is before entering the shop to save on dramatic outbursts.
They are SO easy to apply to jackets & hoodies, maybe they won’t argue quite so much about having to bring a jacket next time?

4. BEACH CLEAN - I know, I know, we keep banging on about these! The Plymouth Beach Clean Facebook page has events running all the way through next week. We’ve done a couple, they are free, you can take the dog (check that the beach will allow dogs first), the kids have a mission, Albert dresses as a pirate and calls it treasure hunting, and you are doing something great for the environment. If the weather is nice then stay and paddle, if its not then don’t forget your wellies and a thermos.

Save a few shells and special stones so that when you get home you can make a bowl of soapy water, pop it outside and they can clean and polish the special stones…ooh imagine how lovely and shiny they could be! Our two have a shell and rock collection in pretty boxes this means that they are always on the look out for new stones to add. They may paint some and hide them, and when the collection gets a bit big don’t forget to bring some back to the beach!

5. HOT CHOCOLATES AND A FILM - The ultimate lazy day. Sometimes they just need to entertain themselves for a few hours. Spend some time making a special hot chocolate with sprinkles and a biscuit and sit them down to watch a film that they haven’t seen in a while, we love The Lorax. If the hot choccie is particularly good maybe let them text a photo to a family member.

6. SAVE THE BEES - Pollenize is a great local organisation who want to encourage bees back into the Urban areas of Plymouth. They sell packets of seeds for £2 and these can be bought from Boston Tea Party, The Hutong Cafe, and the Lord High Admiral. This is something that children can take real pride in watering and watching grow. Who will spot the first bee in the garden? Could you keep a tally?

7. CAR BOOT - ok this is an endurance test, but bare with us on this one. This is a tried and tested method of getting your kids to declutter their rooms. All old toys in a basket, they will need to be cleaned up and in working order, then you hit them with the deal breaker…. THEY CAN KEEP THE MONEY. Suddenly they get to play real life shops, they need to spend an afternoon making labels, sticking on prices, planning how to display their toys, and of course what they will do with the money. Sorry about the early start for the car boot though. Once shoppers find out that the children are keeping the money for a special treat they tend to be a little more generous.

8. JUNK ROBOTS - Alberts favourite thing to do at the moment is to make robots out of the recycling. If you want to spend a whole day on it then you could aways paint them. But its free and keeps them busy.

9. SPECIAL BATH - This is one of the best parent hacks ever, we learnt this from fellow blogger Louise Pentland from a Sprinkle of Glitter. At the end of a long day, when all you need is a break then its time to pull this one out of the bag. Special baths can be used to bring bedtimes forward an hour or so, or could also be done in the middle of the day. There is some forward planning required, you need to make a little kit: Maybe a pretty bath bomb, some bath crayons, bubbles, empty pots, anything could do, but make sure that its not something that they have often to maintain the excitement. Obviously don’t leave little ones unattended in the bath!

10. PERSONAL SHOPPER - Is it just me or do your children suddenly become completely engrossed in play when you mention popping up to the shops? I would start talking about visiting the shops at breakfast time, and explain that you are so glad that they are here to help you today. You will need help writing the shopping list, and finding all of the items in the shop. Make it a challenge, you need to have all the items ready and back home by 1pm lets say; So we will pick out clothes for the shop, write the shopping list, how long will it take us to walk there? Why not time your walk so you know what time you need to leave the shop, and start walking home? You get the idea! Bribes work… Maybe pick a special pudding, or chose a favourite for dinner.

You can tailor this to the age of the child, like all of the things on the list really. Older children can deal with money, and writing the shopping list, younger ones can draw pictures of fruit and vegetables that they need to find. Its a basic one, but if it gets you where you need to be then its got to be worth a go.

I hope some of these little ideas make the holidays a little more manageable, they are very simple but sometimes those are the best ideas! Have a great half term everyone, and don't forget to tag @wearealfafamily in your photos, we cant wait to see what you all get up to.