What a hectic few days we've had up here in good old Newcastle, all thanks to a tiny beast named Muffin!
There's one thing in domestic life that I just can't stand doing, washing, there's something about the washing machine that just makes me irate. I hate it so much, so much so I've actually made a deal with Kris wherein he commands authority over all things laundry and is exempt from any kind of bathroom
cleanage, that's how much I despise it. I'd rather have my hand half way down a toilet than deal with soggy clothes! So, a few days ago, Kris was dealing with the ever mounting pile of dirty clothes while I sat, tea in hand, watching Come Dine With Me, lovely! All was fine and dandy till in walked lady Muffin with a washing tablet bag in her greedy mouth. You see, Muffin was purchased from a lady who I believe was experiencing her first day on Earth! The poor
beggar was fed upon open packets of ham/chicken/whatever else was lying around from
being a tiny kitten, so now she assumes everything left upon the floor is fair game. Anyway, at first I laughed 'Oh how cute' I exclaimed while watching her trot across the floor with the tiny bag in tow, till she dropped it and started gnawing upon the tightening string. I
leapt up to retrieve the bag but it was too late, she'd already
nommed off a good few inches of it and a little of the rubber stopper as desert! Now, I've had cats my whole life and I know they usually bounce back from the stupid little things they do, so I tapped her bot and sent her to the water dish to try and flush the daft get out.
A couple of days passed and everything was normal, cats kicking hell out of each other at all hours of the day and night, just another day in Bittern Close. This continued until yesterday when we noticed Muffin
struggling to, how do we say, relieve herself. Our minds instantly flashed back to the string and a horror story our friend had told us about the time her cat ate a bobble and got it wrapped around it's intestines. Oh no!! A few furious google searches tell me what I already know, get the cat to the vet ASAP! Of course, I start crying and following her around making sure she doesn't just drop where she stands while I wait for Kris to return from work. May I add that Muffin was perfectly fine through all of this, she just lacked to ability to poop, no sickness, no lethargy, no
anorexia, I'm just a massive panic
junky! Eventually, Kris arrives home and we bundle the little terror to the vets, me full of tears, Kris worrying his head off, Muffin
absolutely fine. An hour later and £30 down the vet tells us the cat has absolutely nothing wrong with her and there was no need for my huge over reaction. Phew. If this is what I'm like with the cats, what am I going to be like when I have kids. Dear lord!
After our little ordeal the last thing I wanted was to be cooking up a big, complicated meal so threw together an
improv chicken chow
mien using random stuff I had in the kitchen. Perfect end to a perfect day.
Chicken Chow Mein:
2 chicken breasts, cooked and shreaded
2 carrots thinly sliced (I grated mine)
1 bag of beansprouts
handful of mushrooms, sliced
1 onion, thinly sliced
2 cloves of garlic, minced
knob of ginger
pinch of thai five spice
glug of dark soy sauce
glug of rapeseed oil
a bag of fresh egg noodles
Fry the ginger and onions in the oil till soft
Add the rest of the veg, garlic and five spice, stir and fry for another few minutes.
Add the cooked chicken and noodles and fry till the noodles are heated through.
Remove from heat and add soy sauce to taste.
I adapted a recipe I found on Waitrose.com, I increased the amount of syrup in the cakes and whipped up a simple chocolate icing to mix things up a little.
