Why I would like to win a Britmums Award

Is it rude to ask or stupid not to?  I've spent so much of my life thinking it's rude but as I get older, I'm starting to come round to another way of thinking.  What if the other adage is true that if you don't ask, you don't get...



So, figuring there's nothing wrong with occasionally bigging yourself up, I'm going to ask and hope that some of you might be good enough to consider nominating me for a Britmums award in the Food category.  (My URL is http://mamacook.blogspot.co.uk/ and my Twitter username is @Mamacook_blog if you would like to nominate.)

Last year, I was hugely lucky and very proud to make it to the finals of Britmums in the 'Tasty' category.  My life started to change from this point.  Not in the ways that you might expect either.  I had never been one to boast of my achievements in life but I found myself talking to the Leicester Mercury, the Melton Times, Great Food Magazine and BBC Radio Leicester (with the lovely Holly Bell) in a live interview.  Crazy, scary and yes I did it!  Not at all typical for the girl who used to hide in the back of the class if any reading out loud was being requested.  Basically, Britmums and the local media recognised that what I was writing was worth reading and that felt great, I even did a guest post for Britmums later on in the year.

So why?  I do all this for no money at all.  I'm not sponsored, I'm not paid, I don't even offset ingredients against tax, it's all for the joy of it and the passion I have for food and feeding kids something decent.  That's what I'm all about.  I'm that passionate about it that I've even kept things going despite illness, >400 mile a week of commuting, running three times a week and my wee toddler who's nearly three.  (I don't know how she does it?  Erm, neither do I sometimes!)

So here are some of my favourite posts that I think are worth a read.  Some new, some old but all great in my humble opinion.

The first has to be one of my posts just before the ceremony last year.  The prize for winning being a gold man statuette, here are my little gold men in tribute.  A great snack for growing kids.

I love the picture, so cute, although the temptation to bite off the toes is strong...

The second post I'd love you to read is my most popular.
Broccoli nuggets might not sound like the most enticing of meals but if you have a fussy baby or toddler, it can be a struggle to get vegetables into them.  I'm not an advocate of never serving vegetables as nature intended but I think when children are going through fussy stages (which they all do) adding some into meals as an 'insurance policy' does no harm.  It also stops you worrying so much about which parts of the meal they do and don't eat and it keeps you offering previously refused foods.  Half of the battle with fussiness is not reinforcing it by making a big deal out of it or stopping offering that food.  Also, broccoli nuggets are delicious which helps!

I've included the following post for pear and almond pancakes not because the recipe is delicious but just because I love the picture.  It's not perfect, I'm annoyed I didn't capture the butter melting but every time I see it, it makes me want to eat the pancakes (well they are delicious).

I will leave you to explore the rest of my blog for yourself if you feel so inclined and I hope you do.  If you have any feedback on how you'd like it to progress, what you'd like to see or what you'd like me to include, comment below.  I look forward to hearing from you soon.

UPDATE 23/4/13.  I can't believe it!  I've been shortlisted for a Brilliance in Blogging BIB award by Britmums!  Yes really! I'm so excited.  Thank you very much if you nominated me.  If you like the look of my blog and feel so inclined, I'd be honoured if you could help a bit more by voting for me in the 'food' category on this link.  The top rated, most voted for blogs will get through to the final (and seeing as I make no money from my blog, I'd love to get to go out for a night out!  I'm easily pleased!)