Let’s face it, we all love pizza.

It doesn’t get much better than tucking into a crispy base, munching on the stringy cheese and getting your teeth stuck into a range of wonderful toppings – pure heaven!

Although takeaway pizzas and shop bought ones are always tasty, they can often be a bit costly, not to mention the damage they can do to your waistline. So how about putting the takeaway menu down for a night and making your very own? Not only will it be quick, easy and relatively healthy (depending on the topping) it’s sure to taste great too!

"Homemade Pitta Bread Pizza"

Firstly, don’t bother spending ages making the dough. A great idea is to use pitta bread as the base instead. This means the kids can have their own pitta bread and put whatever they like on it, which is always a lot of fun. It’s also great to get them involved in the kitchen. Here are the ingredients:

  • Pitta bread (white or whole wheat)
  • Tomato pizza sauce
  • Grated cheese (low fat depending on how healthy you want to be)
  • Dried herbs (oregano or basil)
  • Toppings of your choice

It’s always a good idea when cooking with younger children to get all the ingredients out ready in small tubs or on plates. This means they’ll be able to use the ingredients in front of them rather than searching around the whole kitchen! Here’s how to make it:

  1. Preheat oven to around 200˚C.
  2. Spoon pizza sauce all over the pitta bread and spread well.
  3. Sprinkle evenly with grated cheese.
  4. Scatter a few dried herbs.
  5. Add desired toppings.
  6. Place on a sheet of ovenproof paper and bake for 5-7 minutes or until cheese has melted.
  7. Slice evenly with a pizza cutter and tuck in!

Let the kids really have fun with this by encouraging them to make various patterns and designs with their toppings. Anyone on a budget should check out the various Tesco voucher codes available too to save some cash on their weekly shop. A good tip is to stock up on cans and tins that you can keep in the cupboard for a later date so you can make your favourite dishes time and time again. The little ones are sure to enjoy making (and eating) their own pizzas and will probably want to make them more often. Whether you want a quick snack or you’re planning the evening meal, these pitta bread pizzas are perfect for having some fun in the kitchen.

"Takeaway Pizza Boxes"

Alternatively, if you really must get that takeaway for a special treat, there’s no need to pay full price for it. Take a look at the range of discount vouchers at Pizza Hut on different days of the week and you’ll keep both the kids and your bank balance happy!

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I love Christmas.

There. I said it.

I’m not ashamed to be one of the people who gets excited hearing Slade played in shops in November. It makes me happy.

It’s not the actual day so much, which tends to be a bit of an anti-climax, dominated by that slightly over-full-probably-shouldn’t-have-had-bucksfizz-for-breakfast feeling, it’s the build up I love. And the longer the better in my opinion. The smell of a Christmas tree in the morning, choosing presents, eating mince pies and brandy butter for breakfast. It’s all good.

To try and get even the scroogiest of readers into the Christmas spirit, I’m giving you the chance to win £100 to spend on presents in the Tesco Christmas Gift Guide. One hundred whole quid. That’s not too shoddy is it? View Post

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This week has been back to school week. Like most years, it has rather snuck up on me, and I haven’t been terribly well prepared. Belle had been back for several days for instance before I got round to buying her a lunch box. Whoops. One thing at least I did remember this time was the in service training days, which makes a nice change.

At her new school in Bristol, Belle doesn’t have to wear a school uniform. I can’t decide whether, for a slightly ‘relaxed’ parent such as myself, this is a Good Thing or not.

On the plus side, it means you never have that Sunday night panic where you remember you have to wash the school uniform, and then turn the heating on, even though it’s technically still summer, so you can hang it on the radiators to get in dry in time.

It also means your child doesn’t have the humiliation of having to wear cheap, unbranded versions of things, because you refuse to pay £12 for a PE t-shirt, just because it has a logo on it.

On the downside, it does mean that Belle’s school friends are being exposed to the full force of her rather ‘flamboyant’ dress sense. Yesterday she wore black leggings, a pink floral skirt, a blue t-shirt with flowers on and a grey and black spotty cardigan. Bee does not approve. “You can’t let her go to school like that,” she chastises me, rolling her eyes in despair. I on the other hand, am more inclined to let her express herself through her clothes. It’s what I’ve always done. But then Bee quite often does the same eye rolling at the outfits I choose to leave the house in.

It’s what on the inside that counts though right?

Last year I was helped out on the uniform front by Tesco, who kindly solved all my worries by sending me one of their uniform packs. This year, due to the lack of uniform, I had to decline. “Well we don’t want you to miss out,” Tesco told me, “how about we send you a nice school coat and shoes instead? And maybe some vouchers?” Jolly decent of them I thought.

The coat is rather stylish, and Belle looks very fetching in it. Plus with the buttons done right up it disguises the flower/polka dot combo nicely.

As I mentioned, Tesco have given me a £15 online voucher to do with as I please. I have decided to use it as a straightforward bribe, to ‘encourage’ you to comment. What are your thoughts on uniforms? Good or bad? Pain in the arse, or a useful way to protect children from an inherent lack of style?

I’ll give you plenty of time – partly so you can give some thought to what is clearly a hugely important and contentious issue, but mainly because I’m way next week at Kind und Jugend, (about which I am getting quite excited).

A winner will be chosen at random once I’m back, and then you’ll have fifteen whole pounds to go crazy with. Every little helps…

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Having calmed down from my fury of Thursday night, and after agreeing to balance the crafts and foot rubs with a workshop on women in the media, I’ve got a quick weekend competition for you. Just to lighten the mood. I’m going to be quick though, as Take Me Out has just started. (Seriously, how great is Take Me Out?? No likey, no lighty…)

Here’s the deal…

Aromettes are a new coffee thing from Douwe Egberts. It’s like ordinary ground coffee, but pressed into single serving bean shapes. Not only does the process apparently lock in the flavour, but they also look very cute in a glass jar.

I’ve tried some, and they were pretty nice. You can get them exclusively in Tesco from Monday if you want some of your own.

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It hardly seems like any time at all since I was ‘looking forward’ to six weeks of summer holidays, yet here we are, with only a few days until they are back to school and I can return to messing about on the internet in peace. I mean working of course.

I’ve never been terribly organised when it comes to getting ready to go back to school, so was actually pretty impressed to find myself in Clarks on Monday, a good week and a half before term begins. Despite my valiant attempts at beating the crowds, it was still packed with excitable children and panic-stricken parents, and the dreaded ticket system was in operation. They were on 83 when we arrived and we were number 92. It didn’t take too long though, and when they called out ‘number 92!’ I resisted the urge to ask for 4oz of olives and half a dozen slices of crumbed ham, so all was well.

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