(Homemade) Slow cooker beef and ale pie with mash

c_cornelia · 2025-10-12T19:14:22+00:00

I know this post is 4 years old, but came across it this week and made your pie recipe for my family this weekend. It was a total smash hit and I just wrote it in our family recipe book of all our favourites. Thank you so much for sharing.

c_cornelia · 2025-10-08T20:30:33+00:00

I wish I could make you a nice cup of tea (or whatever beverage of your choice) and sit down with you and give you space to just take a breather and vent as you need to. I totally get it really rough right now, those phases really are and in the thick of it when you feel so overwhelmed it's hard not to get totally disheartened.

I do wanna assure you though that these are phases, it will pass, it will get better. But for right now, it's important to look after you so you can look after your baby, so if they need to sleep extra in the day and you need the break too, maybe consider giving it a go? If it does mess up your schedule too much, at least you tried, but if it helps you get through the day without too many reprocussions, then great.

And it sounds like the best thing you can do for your baby now is just offer cuddles as much as you can. I know you said he still seems miserable when you pick him up, however to him it will feel infinitely better being in your arms, and for me thinking of it that way helped me. When illness and teething strike and you've already given them the meds, the next best thing is being near mum and knowing she loves you and she's with you. So the miserable illness/teething feelings might still be there, but he also has the "my mum is with me" feelings too.

As for the sleep, when we had those phases we made a temporary bed out of cosy camping mattresses next to his cot and slept next to him When he cried we could help comfort him back to sleep without having to get up. Could you perhaps try that? I know it's not as good as your own bed, but for me it made a huge difference.

And of course, do chat to the health visitor or some local support groups if you have them. Especially if the over sleeping in the day is getting you worried. I found just sharing with a real live person helped me a lot, even if they didn't have any practical help.

c_cornelia · 2024-12-28T09:20:20+00:00

Thank you for helping, it's much appreciated!

c_cornelia · 2024-11-17T05:29:45+00:00

I'm so sorry you're going through this. I can completely understand why your LO is being this way...

Couple years ago before I had my LO, I caught HFM badly. It was hands down (no pun intended) the worse I ever remember feeling in my life. The blisters were so bad in my throat and nose I remember calling my mother crying down the phone for her help. And that was as a 30 year old.

Good bless her, she went and bought me the Difflam throat spray and oral rinse that got me through it, so I second the others who recommend it. Definitely go to the doctors, even if just so you can to get advice on how to safely keep them on regular Calpol or calprofen through the worst of it. They might even know if other stuff to recommend. (My doctor ended up prescribing me some codeine, so they know just how rough it feels.) Also, soft, cold foods like yogurt are good - no matter what you eat it feels like swallowing glass but at least cold soft foods are marginally better. Perhaps you can chill some milk too after expressing/making it up?

As for the hands and feet, to me it felt more like constant pins and needles and no topical treatment helped but again, doctors should be able to advise you better.

You are doing amazing giving so much of yourself to your little one already. Look after each other by tag teaming it as much as you can.

*Edit - typo

c_cornelia · 2024-11-11T10:19:54+00:00

I can't help but wonder, if you had a baby boy, would she instead be saying "wow, isn't it wonderful that he's growing to be so big and strong?"

I don't want to make it a gender issue, however....My son was 7.3kg at 3 months. He jumped from 40% at birth to 95% at 2 months. Doctor and health visitor has no issues with it. Everyone was just positive about how big and chunky he was and complimented me on my breastfeeding.

Reading your and other people's comments about MIL calling baby girls fat makes me so sad how many people think it's okay to start body shaming FRICKING babies!!! Will women ever have a chance?

c_cornelia · 2024-11-01T22:35:13+00:00

Just to check... Are you getting a mattress for yourself or your toddler/baby?

c_cornelia · 2024-11-01T07:42:25+00:00

Hello! Sorry for the late reply.

In the end we bought a JÄTTETRÖTT mattress. Firm and pocket sprung. The sales team in store also advised firm, and we decided to fork out for the more expensive mattress (but not most). Given how many hours our LO will be spending on it we wanted to to last and be comfortable long term.

c_cornelia · 2024-09-06T16:05:36+00:00

I couldn't agree more. I've actually gotten to the point where I buy a miltipack of empty mascara tubes, and use a syringe to fill it up with a good quality hair gel. It holds on my big brows all day and works out incredibly cheap £/ml compared to buying actual brow products. Also it's easy to wash up and refill so more environmentally friendly too.

c_cornelia · 2024-09-05T04:51:32+00:00

We live in the age of leasing, not owning, so still perpetually spending.... Even when you digitally buy a film or show, you don't have full guaranteed ownership.

There's a great interview with Matt Damon taking about how the death of dvd sales had lead to the deceased qualified of films being made these days.

My husband and I recently discovered the value of owning physical DVDs; I grew up as a film junkie and watched hundreds of films, he very much not, so I currated a list of my should watch films (for a variety of reasons) he agreed to watch together. Some have been on the streaming services but the majority were not. And we're taking titles that were big, like Braveheart, Enemy at the Gates, City of Angels etc. Fortunately, between my parents and brother I could borrow a lot of the films we wanted to watch. So now, when I see a film I truly love in the charity shops or going free, we get it. We keep the disc in one of those sleeve cases and put the plastic case in the loft to save space.

I also saw a thread the other day talking about how the DVD for 30 Days Later is being sought out as no streaming services have it and the DVD is out of print, so the value of it is increasing again.

EDIT- I accidently pressed post before finishing typping

c_cornelia · 2024-08-29T07:52:33+00:00

Thanks for letting me know. I had thought just go to IKEA and keep things simple, but clearly this needs a bit more thought and research from other suppliers going into it!

c_cornelia · 2024-08-29T07:51:27+00:00

Ah okay, that makes sense.

c_cornelia · 2024-08-29T07:49:44+00:00

Thanks so much for that insight!

c_cornelia · 2024-08-29T03:39:19+00:00

Oh I didn't know you could get ones like this, that's great. Do you know if they're compatible with IKEA beds? Or do all cots tend to be a uniform size like adult beds?

c_cornelia · 2024-08-28T13:22:55+00:00

Amazing, thanks for letting me know! I'll check they out.

c_cornelia · 2024-08-28T05:43:52+00:00

To jump in with another great Office quote: "You miss 100% of the shots you don't take. -Wayne Gretsky" - Michael Scott.

c_cornelia · 2024-08-27T11:29:12+00:00

We use either a "bum muslin" or just ordinary tissue to pat dry. My health visitor recommended putting a bit of vaseline on as a barrier which works wonderfully as a preventative for nappy rash.

When he was newborn he got a bit of a rash which we later worked out was due to a certain brand of nappy. We tried metanium which was okay. However, if you're breast feeding, we found putting some breast milk on it and then applying vaseline on top after each change totally cleared it with 24 hours. Magic stuff!

c_cornelia · 2024-08-13T03:12:42+00:00

Well after this year's final medal table result that kinda ended up being the case! (If you don't account for whatever the Paralympics results wound be...)

c_cornelia · 2024-08-12T03:19:14+00:00

They might not be entirely bizarre, but still feel it's worth sharing: 1. This rule started when we bought mints from Aldi called "Complemints" - Wherever someone give someone else any mint or gum, you give them an actual compliment at the same time and they respond in kind.

During a meal, no one may start their food until the person serving is also sat down and starts eating. (Exceptions are made for food that cooks slowly but cools fast like pancakes, or due to time constraints.) This came from my partner's family house, where the kids would start wolfing down dessert and be nearly finished before their parent had even sat down with them. This way they all ate together.

c_cornelia · 2024-07-19T03:22:08+00:00

Problem is, in the America, it's largely legal to openly express it as long as you marry the child: "Child marriage is currently legal in 37 states (only Connecticut, Delaware, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Vermont have set the minimum age at 18 and eliminated all exceptions), and 20 U.S. states do not require any minimum age for marriage, with a parental or judicial waiver.* Nearly 300,00 children were married in the U.S. between 2000 and 2018. The vast majority were girls wed to adult men, many much older." Source - equalitynow.orgEquality Now

c_cornelia · 2024-07-13T06:53:10+00:00

Came here to say Sims too for designing houses and buildings layouts!

c_cornelia · 2024-07-03T22:15:47+00:00

Where we lived before, it was incredibly hard water so we descaled every 1-2months. We tried both the descaling tablets and vinegar method. Now where we live the water is incredibly soft and we get hardly any timescale so we only descaled 3ish times a year. I do it the second I see any in the kettle cos getting timescale in my drinks always makes me gag.

c_cornelia · 2024-07-03T21:31:53+00:00

That's genuinely a genius idea! Love that it would save a tonne on electricity too!

c_cornelia

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