Monthly Archives: January 2016

Cervical Cancer Awareness Week :The dreaded smear

28 Thursday Jan 2016

Posted by in Pregnancy & Parenting, Uncategorized

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This week is cervical cancer awareness week and so the dreaded Smear is top of mind. Let’s face it, nobody likes getting it done but nonetheless it’s so important for all women from the age of 25 and we are lucky to live in a country where there is great free screening.

I was always the worst offender for dodging my smear tests, using pregnancies and every excuse i could think of to get out of it. I even waited until my last day of being 25 to get my first test done. I’m not alone though, i recently learnt that a very level-headed friend gets herself so worked up about it that she has to take valium beforehand.

Over the last few years, i have developed a little routine that has really made the process more bearable and i really don’t dread it as much anymore. Here are my top tips:

  1. Book your free smear in a clinic or GP surgery that you don’t go to,i find the anonymity helps. There is nothing worse than your GP/nurse asking after your Ma whilst she’s scraping your cervix to make the whole experience even more awkward.
  2. Book your test for first thing in the morning and on a day that you are really busy and have lots on. That way you will have it over first thing in the morning, and if you have lots on you will be distracted by all the other things that you have to do after the test.
  3. Take a couple of paracetamol 40 mins before your appointment.
  4. Pop a few drops of rescue remedy on your tongue just before you go into your appointment.
  5. Once the test starts, get your yogic breathing going. Take a really slow deep breaths in through your nose and out through through your mouth. Focus on those nice, loud and noisy breaths and before you know it the test will be over.
  6. Enjoy the nice smug feeling that it’s over and that if the results are clear you are off the hook for a couple of years.
  7. Buy yourself a treat afterwards, i usually opt for chocolate.

If you are overdue a test or not sure when your next one is, you can check and book one easily on www.cervicalcheck.ie .

Go on, just do it and get it over and done with!

Dublin Mummy x

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5 easy vegetarian meals for the whole family

11 Monday Jan 2016

Posted by in Food

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I always strive to eat less meat and move my family towards a healthier plant based diet. It can be challenging at times convincing them that a meal does not always need to be based around meat.

If you are trying to do the same in your household, a good place to start is introduce #MeatFreeMonday so that there is one day per week where there is no meat consumed.

Another really easy way to reduce the amount of meat consumed is only have at one meal per day. This is really easily done, if you are having a meat-based dinner just make sure to swap that ham sandwich in the kids lunchbox for a cheese one. This is a small change but can make a dramatic impact.

Here are 5 super easy veggie meal ideas for the whole family to enjoy:

  1. Secret Veggie Pasta Sauce 

Pasta sauce

2. Falafel Burgers 

Falafel burgers

3. Creamy Cauliflower, Broccoli and Cheddar Soup

20151102_131659

4. Mushroom Stroganoff 

mushroom-stroganoff

5. Slowcooker Tomato Soup

tomatosoup

I hope some of these recipes give you inspiration for more veg based meals in your home.

Happy cooking,

Dublin Mummy x

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Book Review| I Let You Go

10 Sunday Jan 2016

Posted by in Books, Uncategorized

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I Let You Go by Clare Mackintosh opens with a mum and a five year old walking home from school on a rainy day when mum lets go of her son’s hand for a split second; the little boy runs out into the road and becomes the victim of a hit and run.

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What the sleeve says: 

A tragic accident. It all happened so quickly. She couldn’t have prevented it. Could she?

In a split second, Jenna Gray’s world descends into a nightmare. Her only hope of moving on is to walk away from everything she knows to start afresh. Desperate to escape, Jenna moves to a remote cottage on the Welsh coast, but she is haunted by her fears, her grief and her memories of a cruel November night that changed her life forever.

Slowly, Jenna begins to glimpse the potential for happiness in her future. But her past is about to catch up with her, and the consequences will be devastating . . .

I really enjoyed this book, it starts and ends very well but there is a long lull in the first half of the book and i must admit i almost abandoned it altogether. I am glad that i didn’t because the pace and story really pick up from about the halfway point.

This is a good thriller with a twist i certainly didn’t see coming. I give ‘I Let You Go’ a respectable 3.5 star Dublin Mummy rating.

Have you read it? Did you love or loathe it? Let me know in the comments and if you have any good book recommendations i would love to hear them.

Happy reading,

Dublin Mummy x

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* DublinMummy book rating guide
1 star = don’t waste your time or money | 2 star = fair | 3 star = good
4 star = excellent | 5 star = classic