Short Family Breaks in North Norfolk

‘You either get Norfolk, with its wild roughness and uncultivated oddities, or you don’t. It’s not all soft and lovely. It doesn’t ask to be loved.’  Stephen Fry

Where to stay?

We were invited, along with our dog, to Forest Park Holidays in North Norfolk, near Cromer. It’s only 2.5 hours from London, if you get a clear run. We had the option of camping or staying in one of their holiday homes.  We’re intrepid campers but as it was the end of September and temperatures were likely to drop in the evening and in the mornings we plumped for a caravan.  The holiday homes are very well kitted out; double glazing, flat screen TVs, sleeping for 6, an en-suite, plenty of outdoor seating and sea-views from some parts of the park.

The site itself is rather vast you can walk for about 15 mins without leaving the site.  However, unlike other caravan parks, where you have 100s of static caravans lined up in a field, the site has gentle rolling hills and is surrounded by forest which results in much smaller more naturally attractive clusters of holiday homes.  There’s also an onsite bar/restaurant, games room for the kids, outdoor play equipment  and an indoor heated pool.  The camping facilities also looked impressive.

Things to see and do

We were absolutely blessed with the weather, we had booked into Pensthorpe Natural Park  and Hootz House, which is an indoor play centre that brings the outdoors inside, on Saturday morning, but as the sun was out and we were expecting temperatures in the region of 18 degrees, it would have been criminal not to go to the beach.  The Beach, in Overstrand, was only a 15 minute walk from the Holiday Park.  As the tide was out we decided to walk to the pier in Cromer which was only about a 30 minutes by foot.

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Food and Drink

It was the best decision, after grabbing a quick ice-cream we meandered down the pier, luckily we’d thought ahead and had brought a crabbing net with us, but if you find yourself short, you can buy everything for a spot of Crabbing at the RNLI gift shop, including Mackerel,  at the end of the pier.  And to my great delight there was a bar on the pier and if you put your lager in a plastic glass you could go anywhere on the pier with it!  Beer, Sea and Sunshine! Result!

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Catch and release!

 

 

As we were in Cromer it would have been rude not to have crab sandwiches, before grabbing a quick taxi back to Northrepps, which was less than a fiver and they were more than happy to accommodate our dog.

On Saturday Night we treated ourselves to a meal at the Sister Hotel to the Caravan Site,  Northrepps Cottage Country Hotel, it was less than a 10 minute walk through the woods, but make sure you take a torch, as the return journey after a few Gin and Tonics and possibly some red wine could prove difficult.

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Edible Flowers! ‘Mummy they taste a bit off!’

 

On Sunday, we decided to make a small detour on the way home, to revisit Salthouse where we stayed at Christmas.  The staff at the Holiday Park were incredibly friendly and helpful, when we mentioned we’d be heading west along the coast, they suggested we stop at the newly opened Rocky Bottom Cafe, originally built in the 1800s as a brick kiln, which is situated between Cromer and Sheringham.

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If you find yourself in the area, it’s a must, fresh local seafood with a stunning view.  It is owned and operated by husband and wife, Richard and Alison.  Richard has been a local fisherman for 35 years using a traditional double-ended crab boat, he goes out every other day and upon his return he boils the crabs and lobsters and Alison dresses them all.  You don’t get much fresher than that.

That was my third trip to North Norfolk and I have definitely fallen in love with it and will be returning as soon as we can for another family holiday.

 

 

 

 

40+ Meal Ideas for Busy Mums

Planning my weekly meals is one of my least favourite things to do.  I spend ages trolling the internet looking for inspiration for child-friendly recipes.  However, I do find that planning our weekly meals saves us time, money, waste and ensures we eat a little better.

I recently asked a rather large group of local mums for some inspiration for meal ideas.  If I’m honest, I was rather humbled by the things they’re cooking their kids and it put my efforts to shame.  Below, I have compiled a list of their favourite meal ideas with suggested recipes.

Child Friendly Chicken Recipes

Homemade chicken and apple burgers with sweet potato mash

Chicken and vegetable couscous

Baked Spanish risotto

Homemade Chicken Nuggets

Spanish Chicken tonight and rice

Rice with chicken in cinnamon and Bechamel sauce

Jambalaya

Chicken and veg stir fry

Surprise chicken (tomato, courgette, pepper, chicken stew) with rice

Lemon marinated chicken grilled with sweet potato mash/chips and veg

Katsu chicken

Chicken with a korma curry sauce and noodles

Chicken fajitas

Chicken and Chorizo cooked with Passata 

 

Family Meal Ideas - Pork

Sausages with mash potato cheese bake

Sausage and bean casserole

Bacon and veg pasta bake

Toad in the hole gravy and a dollop of cheesy mash with broccoli or peas

Easy Sausage casserole

Pasta with bacon and a tomato sauce

Autumn Sausage Bake

 

Child Friendly Beef Recipes

Speedy Meatball stew

Beef stew and dumplings

South African Bobotie

Cottage Pie

Child Friendly Lamb Recipes

Shepherd’s pie with baked beans 

Grated Apple Lamb Burgers

No-Fuss Shepherd’s pie

 

Child Friendly Fish Recips

Spaghetti with shredded surimi

Tuna Pasta Bake

Fish pie

Steamed salmon with sweet potato mash

Sweet chilli noodles with salmon

Fish fingers

Teriyaki salmon and new pots

Creamy pasta with broccoli, salmon and peas

Jamie Oliver’s Salmon on Lentil and Spinach

 

Child Friendly Vegetarian Recipes

Butternut Squash Risotto

Simple pasta with peas, butter and grated parmesan

Jamie Oliver’s ‘Hungover Noodles’

 

Thank you to all the SAMS for your suggestions.  If you have any other meal ideas you would like to share please do add them in the comments.

 

 

 

 

Child-friendly Radio Stations

Radio for Kids

Radio for KidsI was on the hunt for a children’s radio station to have on in the background while my daughter was playing.  I don’t want to shelter her from the rest of the world but find some of the current news is a bit graphic for a 7 year old and many topics I’m not quite ready to discuss.  You just have to look at a few of the current Headlines ‘8 Dead in Florida House Shooting’, ‘Islamic State Plots to Behead’ and ‘Suspect Murdered his Wife’ to see what I mean.

I don’t tend to pay attention to a lot of lyrics in songs and happily sing along not having a clue what it’s about and I’m sure my daughter is the same, but I’d rather not have her singing things like  “stay up all night to get lucky”  and “I know you want it”.  Call me old fashioned!

After a quick Google search I came across Fun Kids, which seems perfect, good selection of tunes old and new and slightly censored news.  They have iphone and ipad apps but as I have a Sonos Stereo I simply searched for it using the Sonos Software and then added it to my favourites, so my daughter can easily access it via an iPad.

Child-friendly Radio Station UK

 

Happy Listening!

How to avoid the dreaded Motorway Services

How to find a decent place to eat when on a road trip in the UK

I have a deep hatred of UK Services on the motorways.  Please don’t take this personally, but I vividly remember experiencing my first UK Motorway services about 14 years ago; after badly navigating the one way system almost exiting by mistake, then fighting for a parking spot, nervously leaving your car fully loaded with valuables, hoards of stressed people to then be offered substandard fast food, notably Wimpy in this case.

In Canada, services are very minimal, sometimes you will be lucky to get a flushing toilet and a few picnic tables, but normally in quite beautiful surroundings with the odd bit of wild life wandering around.

Off the beaten track

We do try to avoid them at all costs and thanks to technology we can.  I have the Good Pub Guide App (£4.99) on my phone.  I simply have to select, ‘find a pubs and breweries near me’ then I can scroll through and find one that is close, serves food and is child friendly.

How to find a good place to eat

We’ve found some absolute gems and they are only minutes off the motorway.

How to find a place to eat in the UK

Once I find one in the guide I simply enter the post code into my Sat Nav and off we go.  If you want to plan ahead you can also use the post code and address option.

Do try it as it will make your journey much more enjoyable.

Happy travels…..

 

 

Win a Family Ticket to Midnight’s Pumpkin at BAC

This looks like a great night out for all the family.  Renowned Theatre Makers, Kneehigh, are bringing Cinderella to the Grand Hall at Battersea Arts Centre this Christmas from 8th December – 13th January 2013.

The usual cast of characters will be there; the Step-mother, two ugly sisters and of course Prince Charming but the big difference to this well known Fairytale, is the audience gets to attend the ball, learn the dance and join in the story.

We’re going in December and I’m sure Madame will be dressing up in one of her many Princess outfits.  Photos to follow.  :-)

Fancy winning a family ticket? Simply enter by using the Rafflecopter form below.  Please note:

Tickets must be redeemed between the 12th and 15th of December 2012

The family ticket is for 6 people, two of which must be children (Value £100)

Full Terms and Conditions can be seen at the bottom of the form.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclosure:  Our tickets to see the show are complimentary

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