Splashy Saturday!

Happy Saturday! Are you all having fun? Ours has been...splashy?!!

Splash #1 occurred early in the morning - I went swimming as soon as the pool opened at 8am. I was meant to be going with Mum but she cancelled at the last minute so I went on my own. Not my best workout to be honest - I only did 30 lengths (of a 25m pool) instead of my usual 40. I normally alternate between breaststroke and front crawl but my sciatica is really bad today, and was worse when doing breaststroke so I did almost all front crawl, but then that made my left ankle play up. Gah! I really hope the podiatrist can do sometime to help the pain when I see her on Friday! Still, 30 lengths in 23 minutes...better than nothing I suppose.

I got through the last few lengths by promising myself a trip to Costa afterwards. Skinny latte with sugar-free hazelnut syrup for the walk home:

The sugar-free syrup wasn't as nice as my normal choice of sugary gingerbread syrup, but better than no sugar at all. I can't decide which is best - it seems such a waste of calories to have the sugary syrup, but then I don't really like the idea of artificial sweeteners. Meh. Either way the coffee is good!

After I got back from swimming, Liam took Izzy to gym club and I had breakfast. Mashed banana porridge with homemade cinnamon raisin peanut butter...

I haven't told you about the peanut butter yet have I? I made it on Thursday but with the minor stress of yesterday, I forgot to take any daylight photos until today.

Cinnamon Raisin Peanut Butter

• 500g unsalted raw peanuts (I used redskin ones but I don't think it really matters)
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp cinnamon
• 30g brown sugar, to taste (I used half each of demerara and soft brown sugar but next time I would just use soft as, whilst the demerara does mimic PB&Co's grittiness, I don't actually like that texture!)
• 100g raisins
• 2 tsp oil (if needed)

1. First, dry roast the peanuts at 160C for 20 minutes, stirring approximately every 5 minutes.

I used a second tray to roast the rest of the peanuts to keep them in a flat layer

2. Once the peanuts are roasted, put them in a food processor and process for 15-20 minutes until they reach a drippy peanut butter stage. Mine started going peanut butter-like at about 15 minutes so I processed for another few minutes to get nice and drippy. Stir as needed whilst processing to break up the clumps.

3. Now it's time to add your mix-ins. A little salt, cinnamon, sugar and half of the raisins (50g). This is where, for me, things got a bit clumpy so I also had to add 2 tsp of oil to get it to the right consistency. You may or may not need this.

Not as pretty but still really tasty!

4. Finally, add in the remaining 50g raisins and just pulse to combine so that they remain whole within the nut butter. Decant into a jar and store in a cool dry place.

So good! I love making my own nut butters, I enjoy the process as well as (obviously!) enjoying the finished product. This isn't as sweet as the PB&Co version, but I like that as you can really taste the peanuts rather than it being more like a sweet spread.

Anyway, back to this morning. As soon as Izzy and Liam got back from gym club, we all headed out to the hairdressers. Toby had his haircut, which requires me and Liam to be there - he sits on Liam's lap while I distract him!

Before:

After:

It's so short now! He looks all grown up :( Toby really likes it though, I think he was getting a bit fed up with constantly having hair in his eyes!

After Toby had finished having his hair cut, Liam took the children into town (to buy me a Mother's Day present I think, yey, Izzy was so excited to go shopping!!) and I had my hair cut. Not a huge difference really, mainly just a trim/re-shape. It was a different hairdresser to usual and I think she's put more layers in than I usually have, although it's hard to tell until I straighten it.

Before (post-swimming so I look a bit of a mess!!):

After:

Bad photo - blame Liam!

Like I say, not how I would normally style it, but I'm glad to have some shape back in my hair.

After a quick lunch - baguette with lots of different cheeses - we went for a walk to meet my Mum and Colin, and Colin's grandson. They didn't stay long though as Colin's daughter was coming back to pick up her baby soon, and no cuddles as the baby stayed fast asleep the whole time! After they'd left we had some fun down by the river...

Until Izzy fell in...whoops...splash #2!!

Bless her. She was fine, but a bit shaken up (and cold!) so we headed home for a change of clothes and hot chocolate! Now Toby is having a nap and we are watching Aladdin DVD...a quiet afternoon after a busy morning! :)

How have you spent your Saturday? Ever fallen in a river?? Liam was trying to make Izzy feel better by telling her about a time when he (after lots of alcohol) fell backwards into the sea...mobile phone and all! Apparently the tide had crept in whilst he and his friends had been having a BBQ on the beach, and Liam hadn't realised so lent backwards!! I don't think I've ever had an experience as wet as Izzy's - a few times I've fallen into rivers/wet patches on the moors up to my knees, but Izzy was soaked all the way up to her chest...poor little thing! She's fine now though, snuggled up watching one of her favourite Disney films = happy Izzy!!