18 in 18 - March Report

After the short month of February I thought I would get more done in March but the last week just seemed to fly by and this report probably isn't going to be great.  Here’s an update on the things I’ve achieved or made progress on.  Or not!  I don't have any excuses this month, no illnesses, no terrible weather but it was busy including hosting and catering a meal for 14 people, a weekend away with our kids for our son's 30th birthday and culminated with the Easter Weekend which also included Nathan's 1st birthday.  (Where did that year go?)  I need to be more organised.

1.     Bake once per month (bread/cake/biscuits etc) Success - I made a baked chocolate cheesecake for the family meal we hosted. It was delicious!  It's something I've made a few times and it's always well received.  Probably because it contains lots and lots of calories!

4.     Plan a lunch date/date night with Nick once a month (theatre/cinema/meal)

Again no quiet romantic evenings but we did have some good family times.
6.  Complete the A - Z Challenge
A work in progress but I'm not as ahead as I hoped to be.

8.     Walk at least 3 times per week – 
Managed this - it helped that I've been taking care of Nathan quite a bit and that usually taking him out in the buggy for a walk to get him to nap!

12.  Complete my reading challenge (52 books for the year)  Ahead of schedule :)

In March I read:

The Husband's Secret - Liane Moriaty
The Tattooist of Auschwitz - Heather Morris
The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath
The Breakdown - B A Paris
Redemption Road - Lisa Ballyntyne
Pitch Black - Alex Gray and
Five Ways to Kill a Man - Alex Gray

Details and reviews can be found on my Goodreads site.

13.  Keep my bullet journal updated – this slipped a bit towards the end of the month.  I need to get back on top of it.

14.  Blog at least once per week (plus regular memes) – well I managed 17 posts which was the same as February but I missed some of the regular memes so a bit hit and miss.

15. Take more photos –this feels a bit like Groundhog day.  I must do better but I did photograph one of the meals - see below.

17. Do more crafting – update on blog.  
Last month I reported that I'd started on the edging of the baby blanket.  I’ve almost finished it so progress made!

18. Try out a new recipe each week – I managed this almost every week and did average one a weeks so I'm happy with that.
I made the following:

Chicken in Black Bean Sauce - ok but black beans are not my favourite

Braised Pork Chops - this was good
Broccoli and Leek Pasta - cooked this at my daughter's, it was ok but I'm not a great vegetarian
Pork Normandy - this was delicious
Lamb curry - this was quite mild but that's how I like my curry!

Preparing for the curry

The end result

Baked Chocolate Cheesecake

Well activity on 10 of my 18 which is one more than last month but there's still plenty of room for improvement.