Meatless Monday {2020 - week 04}

So here we are: week 04 of Meatless Monday 2020… and entering the last week of January and payday week at last! Thank the lord!

Here’s what we wore:

Me: Vest: Primark (similar), Long Sleeve Top = New Look, Dress = The Clothes Show Live, Tights = Tesco, Wrap = Inherited from Adam’s Nanna, Handbag & Lanyard = Cath Kidston, Leather Jacket: HidePark Leather, Boots: John Lewis

Boys: Tops & Jeans = various 2nd hand sources, including Facebook Selling and Charity Shops, Shoes= Clarks, Vests & Coats = Tescos, Fox Hats = John Lewis (similar), Toddler Backpacks = Skiphop.

What’s in my ears:

I was reminded this week of an album I used to love years ago, when I still listened to CDs in fact, now that ages me ;). I have loved Alicia Keys since she first came out with Songs in A Minor, but this Unplugged album was her first live album and I used to be obsessed with it, so it was real nostalgia to re-listen 🙂 . I’d love to see her live one day – but this album really does give you a taste of what it must be like to be at one of her concerts. Can’t believe it came out 15 years ago!

Alicia Keys brings back MTV’s Unplugged! The CD includes her MTV Unplugged performance, which took place at The BAM Harvey Theatre on July 14th, where Alicia performed hits from her current and debut albums, including “Karma”, “Woman’s Worth”, “How Come U Don’t Call”, “If I Aint Got You”, “Diary”, “You Don’t Know My Name” and “Fallin.” Included in her performance was a mesmerizing duet of “Wild Horses” with Maroon 5’s Adam Levine.
The highlights of the evening were definitely the unveiling of new music, including a soulful track entitled “Unbreakable”, which will be the first single from this release, and a cover of “Every Little Bit”. She closed the show with guest rappers Common and Mos Def, performing the hip-hop classic “Love It Or Leave It Alone”, with the blow-out finale bringing out Damien Marley for a group performance of the current reggae smash “Welcome To Jamrock”.
There’s nothing like a live album to prove the depth of an artist’s talent, so it was only a matter of time before the indomitable Alicia Keys stepped up to the challenge. But is she able to deliver without the whizz-kid production gloss of a studio album? Of course she is!
MTV Unplugged is the Grammy award winner’s chance to flaunt brand-spanking new arrangements of her biggest hits, such as “You Dont Know My Name”, “If I Ain’t Got You”, and the illustrious “Fallin'”.
Added spice comes in the form of the Rolling Stone’s “Wild Horses” – in which she duets with Maroon 5’s Adam Levine – a cover of “Every Little Hurts” and a new song called “Unbreakable”. Although the ballads outweigh her crunkier numbers, she unites with Common, Mos Def and Damian Marley for a hip performance of “Love It or Leave it Alone” and “Welcome to Jamrock” as the grand finale.
If you thought Alicia couldn’t get any more fabulous, you’ve just been proved wrong.
Matilda Egere-Cooper – BBC Review on Amazon

Here’s my week in 4:

Plans Change and we all keep moving: My antianxiety course was cancelled this week due to the course leader being ill, but I decided to handle it in the most positive way I knew how, even though I was still catching up on sleep from the week before, I pick us up and dusted down and we went off to our favourite local play gym session at the Kingston Gymnastics Centre with my lovely sister-in-law and niece. We had a lovely time and the kids just loved it, I always feel better for going and having a run around with them too 🙂 I still kept chipping away at networking with more people with insomnia, I feel like I’m starting to build a sense of community around the problem and it is just giving me more and more strength to tackle it head on. I have been pleasantly surprised how much more upbeat and resilient I have been this week in comparison to last. But in summary I think its just that sometimes we need time to stop and process big life change stuff and our society doesn’t really allow us to, so all you can do is be kind to yourself when you have reactions to things and not beat yourself up for being too hormonal or emotional, these feelings so natural, just give yourself time to adjust and don’t expect too much too soon 🙂 I have also decided to sign up for an alternative online sleep CBT course which I am going to try and chip away at from a website called Sleepio.com .
Toddler chairs and 3 year check: This week we were donated these fab IKEA toddler chairs from a dear friend and so we got rid of the highchairs from the dining room, it always amazes me when we do a mini next stage such as this how the boys embrace it and now they both enjoy climbing up and down from them and they can sit closer to the table too, its a step I didn’t realise we needed to make until friends pointed it out to me, but I’m glad we have and these chairs are just right for the stage they are at now :). The same afternoon our Health Visitor came to do the boys 3 yr check and said that they are both developing beautifully, which we were both super proud of. 🙂
The week of 2 yoga classes: I got to two yoga classes this week at the Granary and Little Breathing Space which are both located at a farm just up the road from me, and it was wonderful and nourishing, just what I needed after the challenges of last week. Yoga has become by rock of certainty and comfort and healing for my mind and my body in the last year and I am so grateful for all that it gives me. I really would highly recommend as regular practice as possible to anyone, in any stage of life, it is just so good for you 🙂 Namaste <3
Quote of the week… This was posted by one of my favourite instagrammers this week (amotherbrand) and it just spoke to me, I feel like we all desperately need to slow down, and let got of all the pressure we put on ourselves in this modern crazy life. It is easier said than done, but it is so so important to keep trying, everyday, and I just loved all of these 12 suggestions for how to go about it.

What we ate this week…

Breakfast:

I had a cup of loose leaf tea whilst I did my yoga and then a cup of lemon, honey and ginger with my breakfast. The boys and I both had cereal, me granola and them apricot wheats both with fresh blueberries and raspberries. I then took a cup of my favourite tea to work with me in a travel mug.

Lunch:

I had falafel, pesto mayo and a jar of salad, with a pack of frazzles (which surprisingly are vegetarian), an apple, a couple of clementines and a caramel bar to snack on throughout the day, I also had marquess tea in the morning and decaf earl grey in the afternoon. The boys had their 2nd week at school pre-school on Monday and I am very pleased to say that the school actively supports Meatless Monday in it’s school dinners. Hurray for that! Meals are on a 3 week rotation and this week they had jacket potato with cheese and beans and carrot cake with fruit slices and vanilla sauce for pudding, so they were certainly happy with that.

JamJarGill: Meatless Monday {2020 – week 03}

Dinner:

In my determination to finally get into cooking properly on a Monday again, after not managing to do a meal plan or plan the food shop very well, I went to the shops on campus in my lunch break and with the intension to buy some courgettes in order to make my favourite orzo and courgette bake recipe, but they didn’t have courgettes! Go figure! So I opted for mushrooms and spring onions instead, concluding that I could substitute and it would be fine. I got in from work, pretty much on time and got straight onto cooking whilst catching up with my Mum in law, it took some time and effort, but I got it done and served up, the boys were too tired after their day at school and they pretty much refused to try it. Dinner turned into a battle ground and I felt, ever unhelpful, Mum-guilt for trying to get them to eat something different. But you live and you learn and this is all part of getting used to the new routine. I am now going to plan to cook for them as soon as I get in, beans and toast for an early tea, might even get my in-laws to get it started for me, so they can eat right away and something fairly light after a day at school, then I can work out my own aside from that. I love us eating together as a family, but I think that sometimes this isn’t going to work as perfectly as I want it to, sometimes we need to eat different things, sometimes people will be too tired to deal. From my perspective the dish worked well with the substitutes, but probably needed a little salt and herbs added for flavour, which I added at the table and then it was lovely, and at least I have leftovers to freeze 😉