I have been given the most amazing early christmas present ever!
My lovely mum is paying for me and the icklebabe motley crew to go on holiday in January to Egypt. Such a lovely lovely thought and the idea of languishing all inclusive on a far away beach for a week in deepest darkest January sounds sooo apealing but there is just one thing filling me with dread….
Well two if I’m honest, the first is taking an 11 month old Milly on five hour plane journey… hmmm… she is very good girl but like all little nippers has attention span of very small gnat, so unless they allow her to speed crawl up and down the isles of the plane or let me hand out copious amounts of valium to everyone with their complementary peanuts we could be in trouble! Maybe a generous dose of calpol will be in order 
The other main worrying issue is the dreaded bikini… I did manage a whole week in Devon this summer with just rolled up trousers as beach wear! But as its going to be a little bit hotter in the red sea rivera (that’s what they are calling it now, you know) I am going to have to rethink my beach wear wardrobe. Since having milly the idea of going public with my extra belly wobble has kinda been out of the question. I am not huge you understand but I have enough coverage to secure I won’t freeze this winter, if you know what I mean!
So me and Big J have decided a small diet maybe in order! no more toad in hole, apple crumble or treacle pudding and custard for us… nooooo… we will be mostly surviving on good wholesome mung bean casserole and pumpkin seeds (very good for the digestion apparently.)
But my very favourite healthy tea is cod and prawn parcels they taste so yummy I have left the recipe below. That should make a couple of my twitter pals very happy!
And even if my cunning mung bean plan falls flat, I have a plan B…. The spray tan! What?? you may ask , that won’t make you slimmer… well noooo, but look at it this way, brown fat looks better than white fat any day! Think crisp brown bacon sarnie compared to under done pink one? Yes, there you go , instant beach babe! well here’s hoping !
Yummy Yummy Fish parcels
Cod & Prawn Chilli Parcels with lemony Couscous:
2 pieces of cod fillet,
1 lemon, sliced,
1 pack of prawns,
1 chilli, finely chopped,
1 glass of white wine,
1 teaspoon of corriander, ( I have used fresh or dry)
1 Ripe avocado,
2 square’s of tin foil (about 20cm x20cm),
For couscous:
100g couscous,
1 spring onion,
125ml of chicken stock (I used Kalo),
Juice of half a lemon.
To start with:
Cut tin foil into two squares, place cod piece in each square top with prawns, sliced chilli , sliced lemon and coriander. Scrunch tin foil up at sides and divide wine between both parcels.
Scrunch up sides completely to seal and put on tray, place in oven at about 190 oc for about 35 mins.
To make couscous :
Add boiling hot stock, lemon juice and spring onion to a bowl. Place plate onto bowl and leave for five mins. Then just fork through.
Take fish, with lemon, chilli and prawns out of parcels and serve with couscous, avocado and some of the lovely fish juices. I eat it with yummy watercress salad. Ohhh… and a big dollop of mayonnaise! well its nearly angelic !
P.s…I shared mine with Milly (minus the chilli) and she loved it too! xxx
Mmmm, I want some of that. Off to forage… This is not good for MY diet!
Glad you liked it! and Sod the diet, unless you have to get into bikini any time soon
xx
Will definitely be cooking that this weekend! Sod the food replacement diet, that looks amazing!
We did a 24 hour flight with a 14 month old. Not actually as bad as you’d think. Couple of baby grows, couple of bottles, lots of books & toys. The air hostesses are brilliant with kids. A good dose of Calpol (and baby Ibuprofen) doesn’t hurt though.
Ohhh, you will have to tell me how the recipe goes down, we like it!
)) xx
So glad to hear the whole baby flight thing might not be too harrowing and will be following your advise on toys, books and calpol
That recipe looks yum! And has suddenly made me really hungry! What a lovely holiday you’ve got planned, I think dieting is tricky because you have Christmas before then – you can’t diet over Christmas! I wouldn’t worry too much about your tummy and maybe some fake tan beforehand will help you feel a bit better when you’re on the beach. Fingers crossed for the flight, we did a 4 hour flight when my youngest was 8 months old. It wasn’t too bad, lots of little snacks kept him happy and a few toys. He slept for a tiny bit too.
Thanks Chick!! so glad to hear so many stories of good baby travels, makes me feel allot better
xx