I'm Waïki! I'm a lifestyle blogger living in London. I write about my life as a mum to three children navigating family, marriage, career, side hustling and many other passions. Join me as I explore these different areas of life, the ups, the downs, the beautiful and the ugly!
Our children have seen a lot, and chances are, they’ll continue to see a lot as the years go by. They see us in our cringy lovey dovey moments, just like they see us when we’re at each other’s throat. These days, for example, they see an abundance of love, affection and unity, whereas a few months ago they witnessed quite a lot of anger and pain as I struggled with aspects of my mental health.
If you follow my Instagram stories in the mornings, you will know that 3 or 4 times a week I like to share my children’s lunch boxes. Some very interesting conversations have taken place in my DMs as a result, i.e. people asking me how I set aside the extra time in the mornings to pack them, or people asking about quantities, nutritional value etc. I’ve also had a few people telling me they preferred the school canteen option, which I can actually relate to, as my children used to eat in the canteen prior to the pandemic.
I’ve written this post to break down my lunch box process from beginning to end, but bear in mind that my approach is extremely simple and suits my busy lifestyle. My children’s lunches are nowhere near as creative as the ones you have probably seen on Pinterest and Tik Tok. In fact I take my hat off to any parent out there who finds the time, energy and creativity to make fancy-looking lunch boxes for their kids everyday! This is not my reality, and I’m sure many parents will relate – we don’t necessarily have it in us to make the fanciest lunches, but we still want our kids to enjoy the experience and the food!
Running out of meal ideas is a common problem in a busy household. Even looking at Pinterest and recipe books sometimes can feel a bit daunting because the choice is immense, you don’t always know where to start!
Now I’m definitely no nutritionist but as a busy household of five, I have gone through the tiring cycle of having to come up with new ideas, to avoid repeating meals over and over again… I’m the only person who cooks in this house, so the task of keeping our meals interesting falls on me and me alone.
I’ve been wanting to make carrot cake for a while, but it’s one of those cakes I wasn’t sure I could pull off. After looking up different recipes, I tried my own version a few times, tailored it to my own taste, got my husband to approve it and voilà!
We really enjoyed this cake, so I thought I’d share the recipe with you all.
I don’t know if I can call this testimony time… it feels a little premature and random but today I feel very thankfuk and blessed to be able call my creative venture a part-time job, especially during these uncertain times. It’s taken me years to get to this point and even though I still have a long way to go, it feels good to know I’m on that path.
Last week I was experimenting with plantain and made these little bites, which are essentially thinly sliced plantain, seasoned and grilled until golden. They tasted so good I decided to post the recipe. This is a lovely idea for an appetiser, amuse-gueule or just another fancy-looking way to present plantain.
When is the last time you felt really confident about your lifestyle choices, or your opinions? With everyone on social media being so vocal about what they stand for, the things they agree/disagree with… with every social media platform encouraging some sort of discourse and debate, very often people’s lifestyle choices, opinions and habits will come under scrutiny.
Happy Pancake day 2021! Crepes are a staple in our house. We make them pretty much on a weekly basis, and always honour Pancake Day in the UK. For an occasion like this, we prefer the traditional French crepe recipe. However, we do also enjoy American pancakes, and I’ll post a recipe for that soon too.
A few days after the very first lockdown was announced at the beginning of this pandemic, I looked at my husband and said “Academically speaking, this year is pretty much void, right?” He just sighed. We both had a feeling that we’d just have to erase this year from our children’s academic journey and start over next year! Being a teacher, he knows all too well the struggle to keep children’s interest in learning alive. He knows how hard it is to stimulate their young minds to keep learning at a time like this.
This past year, every time schools closed, he almost singlehandedly took care of our children’s education, home schooling them to the best possible standard and supervising them while they took their online classes. And all this, on top of having to teach from home himself. We have a routine, but let’s be honest – being at home with all the distractions just simply isn’t the same.
In times like these, that feeling of dread for your children’s future is normal. But you don’t have to do it alone, you don’t have to struggle. If you’re a parent who is finding it hard to give your children the additional academic support they need in their school journey, or if you’re simply looking for an affordable tutoring service of great quality, I’d like to tell you about Joy Learning (Click here to visit the website).
Our kitchen is white! Ok, I’ll admit – It’s not much of a revamp, apart from the colour. Everything else is pretty much the same, and a work in progress, as we’re going to change some of the furniture and flooring too…