awilliams123

I make this sometimes, and no one in our household is vegetarian, but we love it! Basically, pan fry all kinds of veg, to the point where they have a good amount of colour (courgettes and red peppers work particularly well in this) with some onions, garlic, cumin powder, any seasonings you fancy really. Add a little flour and some vege stock to make a little sauce(not too much). Make a potato mash but instead of using butter you could use olive oil salt and pepper and leave out the milk, maybe throw in a teeny bit of garlic powder but not necessary. And then basically put it together as you would a shepherds pie and bake in the oven for half and hour or so in a med-high oven. You could also just roast loads of winter veg as you would for the side dishes for a meat roast, but why not make the veg the main. I usually toss in whole shallots (skins removed though) and whole garlic cloves (leave skins on). Then serve on a bed of mash with bisto gravy. We have done this a few times when hubby and I really fancy a roast but couldn't be arsed to go buy something to roast, so into the oven go carrots, parsnips, swede, leeks etc and we have meatless roast. Lovely.

Like the idea of the meat box....excellent! FIL is big foodie. MIL is gettin a slow cooker now...she hates to cook and pretty sure she doesn't already have one.

It's xmas eve, still haven't got anything for the MIL and FIL! Any idea?? I'm veering towards gift vouchers now....but they're just so thoughtless. Shops will shut early today so I need ideas quicktime!

Fuschia I've got this one for the little munch. Not pricey, very cosy and should fit a Maclaren just fine: http://www.johnlewis.com/230623442/Product.aspx

Shoes for me definitely. Don't think I'll be able to part with any to be honest. Not sure where I will keep them all though...

Hi 123ed, my situation is a little different, not moving abroad, especially not to Hong Kong, but I am from abroad living in the UK. Just my 2 cents, if you are used to having loads of family around, you will miss it. I think living somewhere new, everyone can adjust because it's all new and can be quite exciting, and if you can deal with being on your own (no including hired help) you could probably do it and enjoy it a lot. However, if you feel as though seeing family often is a part of your family dynamics on which you currently rely heavily, moving far away might be difficult for you. It all really depends on what mindset you have if/when you move. Be prepared to be extremely open to forming close relationships with new people quite quickly (can be scary as I've found it hard to trust people as I've gotten older). You're kids will make friends wherever they are, such is the nature of children. I could be quite exciting and quite an adventure for you and your husband, and if it's only for a short time (in the grander scheme of things) why not? the internet is a great way of keeping in touch with family, skype has been a massive saviour for me! Hope you make the right desicion, whatever it may be.

Hmmm, that is a good point.

I'll try and see if I can request more bins. Also, I have seen something on the net called a gravity lock, has anyone ever seen/used one of these to lock bins? You can only open them with a key but they open automatically when they are tipped upside down by the collection truck. Wondering if this would be a good idea or just temp someone to vandalize or steal our bins just to annoy us...

So sorry about the back pain, not easy at any time, especially not whilst pregnant with a 2 year to look after as well! Pregnancy massage? I know jsut a single session gave me enough relief to go on...a bit pricey but if you can afford it go for a hydrotherm massage. You lie on your back not your front on a giant hot water cushion while the therapist reaches between you and the cushion with well oiled hands and arms and is able to apply quite a lot of pressure to the lower back, unlike normal pregnancy massages where you lie on your front on a table with a hole in it for your bump. The only one I know of is offered at a salon in Balham, PM me if you're interested, can give you details.

Hazel - I had tried the reusable nappies when baba was first born...couldn't deal with it, we don't have a tumble dryer and those things just don't dry, 2 days later they would still be a bit damp. Gotta stick with the disposables.

When I asked for replacements for ours, I asked for the flat above as well and was told I couldn't request bins for another address...so don't think I can order them for the neighbours.

Wha can be done to stop people filling up my bins? Both rubbish and recycling are regularly being filled up by neighbours andwe have several times been unable to pt our own rubbish into them. We live in a ground floor flat and there is a single lady in the flat above us with whom we don't mind sharing, but it's the neighbours next door. It is a house of about 4 or 5 housemates and I have asked them to get their own bins and stop using ours but they haven't bothered. A few months ago a bunch of bins went missing including ours and it seems that we are the only ones who have bothered to request new bins form the council!! We have a baby and have had to store bags full of nappies in the house until collection day a few times now and it's really getting on my nerves. Can I put locks on them? Is that going too far? Same with the recycling, since the new bins were introduced, neighbours have been filling up our bin and we've had to wait until they've been emptied to put our recycling into them. Our section of the street was missed when the new bue bins were given out so I actually called the council and requested one. How can I get the shitty neighbours to do the same or at least prevent them from using ours?

Sorry, jsut read, you've already done it! Glad you had a nice time.

My sister threw me a baby shower at the Plough...not chic I know, but worked out well beacuse they gave us the entire back bit (right before you go down the stairs to the garden. They supplied the food as well...we ended up having quite a nice afternoon/evening. However, that was last year just after christmas...not sure if it would be just as nice now as I've been in there recently for food and wasn't impressed. Worth look though...they might let you supply your own food. Congrats by the way!

Agree with the comments on the Co-op...I always walk out of there empty handed aside from some loo roll. If there was a Waitrose in it's place I think it would really add to retail environment. There is no comparison to the local butchers or fishmonger, and I would continue to buy from local businesses, but I would go to the Waitrose specifically for things that only Waitrose offer, their own brand items and specialty items. It would just be a nice addition to ED.

KidKruger Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > ONCE a year it's like this, face up to it and make > the most of the other 364 days. > Don't you prefer it all happening one evening than > several evenings ? Then why are they going off again tonight? Like someone else said in an earlier post, it's been going on since diwali, and really it isnt't fair to expect entire neighbourhoods to 'just grin an bear it'. Some kids will sleep through it, and a fair few will not, and repeated nights of not being able to get proper sleep can turn into weeks of not being able to sleep...agony for the kids, agony for the parents. Onve a year? One looks forward to it. Once a year for 2 weeks? One does not.

Uh....no. Trick or treating is done only on the 31st, kids are meant to have done their round and be back home quite early in the evening! Usual hours would be something like 5-7pm....I'm not answering my door after 7pm anyway.

Curious, as I've gone and bought a supply of treats, and plan on dressing up little man (8 months old) to come answer the door with me...hope I don't end up eating all the chocolates myself over the next few days!

Ooh! Really? I will...right now! Thanks for the tip!

Thanks for the advice, I will keep enquiring. I did consider a place closer to work, but I'd prefer that to be more of a last resort scenario, commuting at peak times is a nightmare as it is, with a pushchair, kid, and everything else it would be pretty miserable.

Okay, I know I really should have considered this a long time ago and started enquiring with nurseries before DS was even born, but my husband and I thought we had a plan that would have worked out so that DS wouldn't have to be put into any childcare situation. It turns out now that we've decided that I will go back to work partime maybe 3/4 days a week and hubby will work from home one day a week and we'd need to put DS into childcare for 2 days a week. I've done some phoning around and to put it simply, one nursery I enquired with told me that they weren't even taking VISITORS to check out the place until January because they're waiting list was so long...eesh! I was expecting waiting lists but I think I'm kicking myself in the arse now about this...DS will be 11 months in Feb which is when I was planning on going back to work. I really want him to be in a nursery environment rather than nanny or childminder. What do I do???

This is really good news. I had my DS 7 months ago at kings and hubby was not allowed to stay overnight. Had had an emergency c-section and it was horrible. One night he jsut stayed after visiting hours and we kept quiet as we could so they wouldn't find out the was still there (stupid I know) but of course they did...they did insist he leave but I insisted he stay and siad that I wouldn't stay if he had to go. I was knackered, immobile due to surgery and I didn't find the night staff particularily helpful, infact I had a couple of very rude people in my experience. If partners are now being allowed to stay overnight, this can only be a good thing, especially in post c-section cases.

Sue Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > cidered Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > ----- > > Foresters arms? is the bishop no more? > > xxxxxx > > The Bishop was previously called the Foresters > Arms - and a very vile pub it was too :)) > > Unless you like the kind of place where you > squelch over the squirly carpet and can smell the > gents from wherever you're sitting :)) You can still smell the gents from wherever you're sitting, nothing changed there.

Just had a look, there are 4 or 5 guys working on it now....well definitely 2 are working on it, the others are looking on. Saw the stream on goodrich road coming home around 5pm....immediately filled kettle, washed baby bottles and put some water in some pans...was expecting this. I really hope they fix this as quickly as they did the other week.

okay have just called Thames Water, there is actually a burst water main on Goodrich Road which is the culprit in this case. Sounds like there is quite a lot of fresh water wastage going on!