Sharing Graze Boxes from Rare Grazing NI - Review

[AD/Gifted - I received this item for the purpose of this review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.]

Share boxes of any kind are so popular right now and especially in lockdown, it's nice to even send them as a gift to a loved one that you haven't seen in a while.

Rare Grazing NI are a Lisburn based company and, as the name suggests, they specialise in grazing boxes.

They very kindly offered us a box to try and the toughest thing was deciding which one to choose! Whether it's savoury you want or maybe you have a sweet tooth, there's something for everyone. Can't decide? You can even go half and half to get a little selection of everything.

We received the half Classic/half Sugar Rush box and I was very excited to taste everything that was included inside.

Firstly, I was totally blown away by the weight of the box. There are so many items packed in that it's hard to know where to start! Secondly, it just looks absolutely beautiful. So beautiful, that you almost don't want to touch it but it wasn't long before the children got stuck right into the sweets.

With a mix of sweet treats from the Sugar Rush box such as popcorn, cheese puffs and fruit skewers with a Nutella dipping sauce and savoury treats from the Classic box like cheese, crackers and dips; all four of us were kept happy.

The food inside is so fresh and they are so enjoyable to dig in to together as a family. It isn't just a graze box, it's an experience. I think these would make a lovely gift for any occasion or maybe just as a little treat for yourself.

You can find Rare Grazing NI on Facebook and Instagram. You can also find the full menu on offer alongside delivery restrictions on their website.

Shrove Tuesday - Num Noms Inspired Pancakes! #NumNomsPancakeDay

Happy Shrove Tuesday!

At three years old, this is the first year that E has been excited about making pancakes on "Pancake Day". The only thing the girl loves more than food are collectible toys with Num Noms being top of her list!

Num Noms set us a really exciting challenge - to make some Num Noms inspired pancakes. We received some goodies to help us get started, as well as some Num Noms series 4 sets for us to take flavour inspiration from.

We were familiar with the Starter Packs (RRP £9.99) and we were so excited to smell the Ice Cream Sandwich scents - Wintergreen Crème is definitely my favourite. I'm a sucker for mint! 

We also already own some Glitter Gloss-Up and Polish-It Noms (£3.99) as E received a couple for Christmas. E is such a girly girl and loves applying lipgloss and having her nails painted.

The Num Noms Lights boxes (£3.99) were completely new to us and Erin totally fell in love with them - who doesn't love a light up toy?

After the excitement of seeing which Num Noms we got - it was time to make pancakes! I'm a lover of anything that makes my life easier so pancake mix in a bottle is a game changer and you just can't go wrong.

E put on her trusty Num Noms chef hat and helped me pour the mixture into the super cute heart pan. The fun part was deciding how to decorate them when they were ready. She decided to base her pancake on Candy Karma with her candy floss scent, but first she made sure to spread her beloved Nutella on first, followed by lots of hundreds and thousands.

Now the best part - eating! E had so much fun creating her Num Noms pancakes and receiving her Pancake Champion certificate! I get the feeling that she'll be wanting to make these a lot - yum!

You can purchase Num Noms from Smyths, The Entertainer and all good toy retailers.

(We received the items mentioned for the purpose of this post. All thoughts and opinions are my own.) 

Healthy Snacking with Ape Snacks

I love food but I mostly love food that isn't the healthiest. I'm a bit of a grazer but again, I don't graze on the healthy stuff! We received some Ape Snacks to try in the hope of helping us reach for something a bit better for us.

Ape Snacks are snacking range which are simply bite-sized pieces of coconut that are full of flavour and texture, bringing excitement to snacking. They are the UK's leading coconut snack and are suitable for

We received some of the range to try; The Crispy Coconut Curls in Pepper & Spice, Lightly Salted and Salted Chocolate and Crunchy Coconut Bites in Natural, Sesame Seed and Chia Seed.

 
Firstly, how lovely is the packaging? I love that the Ape logo looks like a monkey - super cute! If you aren't a fan of coconut, these aren't for you. The coconutty taste is very strong in them, even though they are flavoured. Luckily, I'm the type of person who would always choose a Bounty first out of a box of Celebrations - I love coconut! The texture of both were like nothing I'd ever tried before but not in a bad way. They are quite enjoyable to eat. The Salted Chocolate curls had to be my favourite though, anything with a hint of chocolate and I am there!

All snacks are gluten free, sugar free, high in fibre and have the added health benefits of coconut's anti-microbial and anti-viral properties making them the perfect guilt free snack.

Ape Snacks are available in over 4,000 stores nationwide such as Boots, Ocado, Whole Foods, Planet Organic, Amazon and Holland & Barrett. The Crispy Curls retail around £0.89-1.19 per 20g bag and the Crunchy Bites are between £1.49-1.68 per 30g standing pouch. 

(We received these snacks for the purpose of this post. All thoughts and opinions are my own.)

 

 

Gin Cocktails for Summer

The sunshine in the summer months always makes me want to sit in the garden with a nice drink. With two children, I do tend to wait until they're in bed and there's nothing better than relaxing outside an alcoholic beverage in the hot summer evenings.

Gin seems to be the 'in' drink at the moment and I've got some delicious gin cocktails courtesy of Hayman's - the original English Gin Makers - to share with you. They have added a dash of Englishness to classic cocktails. Each recipe incorporates Hayman's London Dry Gin, seasonal fruits, mixers and flavours to create traditional summer cocktails with a delicious twist.

Hayman's English Ruby Fizz 

Makes 1 cocktail

• 50ml Hayman's London Dry Gin
• 20ml lime juice
• 10ml sugar syrup or Grenadine
• 4-8 fresh raspberries or raspberry syrup
• Ginger ale to top with
• Lime wheel and fresh raspberries to garnish 

1. Fill a highball glass with plenty of large cubes of ice
2. Set aside the ginger ale and garnish, and combine all remaining ingredients in a shaker with the ice
3. Shake well for approximately 12 seconds
4. Double strain into the highball glass, allowing the liquid to run over the ice
5. Top with ginger ale
6. Garnish with a lime wheel and raspberries

Hayman's Lavender Lady 

Makes 1 cocktail

• 50ml Hayman's London Dry Gin
• 20ml freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 10ml locally sourced honey or 20ml honey water
• 10ml Cointreau
• 1 medium egg white
• Dash of orange bitters
• Sprig of lavender for garnish

  




1. To make the honey water mix equal parts of honey and hot water and stir until mixed
2. Add cubed ice to cocktail shaker
3. Pour the Hayman's London Dry Gin over the ice
4. Add all the remaining ingredients, except the garnish
5. Give all the ingredients a very hard shake and strain into a cocktail glass
6. Garnish with a sprig of lavender

Hayman's Victorian Mojito

Makes 1 cocktail

• 50ml Hayman's London Dry Gin
• 25ml freshly squeezed lime juice
• 20ml sugar syrup
• Premium tonic water or soda water
• Freshly picked mint leaves

1. Fill a highball glass with cracked or crushed ice and a few fresh mint leaves
2. Pour in the Hayman's London Dry Gin
3. Add the lime juice and sugar syrup
4. Churn vigorously ensuring the ingredients are well mixed
5. Top with the tonic water or soda water
6. Garnish with a mint sprig

All of these cocktails are absolutely delicious and refreshing. The Hayman's Victorian Mojito is definitely my favourite and I know I'll be making it a lot over the summer. Let me know if you try any and tell me what you think!

(We received Hayman's gin samples in return for this post.)

 

Our #PrezzoLaFamiglia Experience

I'm going to start this post by saying that we very rarely eat out as a family. My delightful children are very unpredictable when it comes to their behaviour and my anxiety is already high enough that we just tend to avoid it to have a peaceful life. We were recently invited by Britmums to visit our local Prezzo to try a new dish on their menu for the #PrezzoLaFamiglia Challenge.

I live in Northern Ireland and Prezzo only just opened two stores here within the last four years. I do love Italian food so it was definitely on my wishlist of places to eat. I put my big girl pants on and decided to visit, children in tow!

We visited the Belfast, Boucher Square location as it's close enough to walk to so the kids should have been in good spirits as we wouldn't be travelling far. As soon as we arrived, we were seated promptly in a booth and supplied with menus. It was a beautiful, sunny Friday evening and the sun shone in through the glass windows - it was a lovely, relaxing setting. For the #PrezzoLaFamiglia Challenge, we were there specifically to try one of their new La Famiglia sharing pasta bowls. 

You are able to choose from Penne Arrabiata, Spaghetti Bolognese, Spaghetti Carbonara or Penne Alla Rusticana. We opted for the Penne Alla Rusticana and two large garlic breads. We were told, "the garlic breads are the size of dinner plates - I hope you guys are hungry!" but we were so ready for the challenge. The garlic breads came out first and by God, they weren't lying! Our four year old son C loves garlic bread so I knew he'd probably eat more of that than the pasta! The pasta followed and the bowl was huge. We each had our own small bowls so we could take as much pasta as we wanted. 

The kids had small bowlfuls but Chris and I went all out. We are both oversharers and I know for a fact that our portion sizes are too big 99% of the time! I think I filled my bowl three or four times - it was to die for! The pasta itself was perfect, the tomato based sauce was delicious and I loved the chicken and bacon lardons that were mixed in. I honestly couldn't get enough! Having a big bowl in the middle of the table is a great idea. It really made me think of a proper Italian family, dishes in the middle of the table for anyone to pick and choose what they wanted to put on their plate. It's so easy and I honestly felt it to be a bonding experience. Usually I ponder over a menu for a while, changing my mind constantly then we receive our meals and I end up thinking Chris's looks better than mine. This eliminates all of that.

C is a very fussy eater, especially if it doesn't come from his "list of OK'd foods" and decided that he wasn't a massive fan of the garlic bread, simply because you could really taste the balsamic vinegar - this was actually something I loved but the kid has his creature comforts! E, on the other hand, absolutely demolished almost all of hers and I lost count of how many slices of garlic bread she reached for. Between the four of us, we really didn't leave much at all!

To finish, we had to have a dessert! All four of us chose different flavours of Prezzo's Selection of Gelato, Ice Cream and Sorbet. You could choose two scoops of either chocolate and sea salt gelato, vanilla, strawberry or chocolate ice cream, melon and lime or blood orange sorbet. C stuck to his usual two scoops of chocolate ice cream, his daddy joined him in that, and E went for a scoop of chocolate and a scoop of strawberry. I would usually do the same but I felt that I wanted to branch out and try something different. Unfortunately, they were out of chocolate and sea salt gelato so I substituted that for chocolate ice cream and tried the melon and lime sorbet too. I have to admit that I'd never tried sorbet before and I will definitely be getting it again. It's so flavoursome and a great palate cleanser. Of course, the children and Chris has no issues with their ice cream - C even got stuck in with his fingers!

 

All in all, we had a fantastic experience dining out as a family at Prezzo. C may not have eaten much, E may have had meltdowns over not being able to pick the pasta up properly on her fork or the ice cream on her spoon (resulting in her setting it down on the table, Chris leaning his elbow on the end and catapulting it onto the back of the booth - cue me dying of laughter) but that's all the fun of eating out with children! 

This post is an entry for the Britmums #PrezzoLaFamiglia Challenge, sponsored by Prezzo.

Dolmio #ThankGoodness Family Bolognese Challenge

As a busy mum of two, I like to save time where I can. I won't lie, sometimes during the week, my kids can be partial to an "oven dinner" to make life easier. These are great for one off's but they aren't what I want my children eating every day. In a bid to get my family eating healthy midweek meals that are also quick to prepare, we joined up to take part in the Dolmio #ThankGoodness challenge.

We received a delivery of ingredients to get us started. I have always been a fan of the taste of Dolmio Bolognese jars as my mum used them when I lived at home. Since I moved out, I don't make bolognese as much as I'd like to. If I am making a sauce, especially for my children, I'd prefer to make them from scratch so I know exactly what ingredients are inside. Before I made a start on my family meal, I took a closer look at the Dolmio jar label. Did you know that in each jar there are at least 10 juicy diced tomatoes, a dollop of tomato purée, half an onion, a tablespoon of sunflower, a couple of cloves of garlic, a handful of herbs such as basil, a teaspoon of cornflour, a teaspoon of salt, a pinch of pepper, two teaspoons of added beet sugar for taste, a squeeze of lemon juice, a splash of water and nothing else? Absolutely no artificial colours, flavours, preservatives or sweeteners, just 100% natural ingredients.

As my delivery contained wholemeal spaghetti, of course spaghetti bolognese was going to be the first thing on my list. We also received a whole range of vegetables. My children, especially four year old C, aren't huge fans of vegetables so I thought spaghetti bolognese would be a great way to hide them and make sure they are getting all of the goodness without knowing.

Firstly, I chopped up courgette, carrots, mushrooms, aubergine, onion and peppers as finely as possible. This probably took the majority of my time and that wasn't even very long at all. Whilst chopping, I browned the mince then added the 500g jar of Dolmio Bolognese sauce followed by my chopped vegetables. I took some garlic granules and extra mixed herbs from my cupboard and added a dash of those too, alongside a pinch of salt and pepper. I then made up my spaghetti as per the packet instructions. By this point, the bolognese scent was filling up the house and I could not wait to tuck in.

My four year old a is a very fussy eater and did take a little bit of bribing. He totally surprised me and actually tried it which is a massive feat for him considering we have to fight with him almost every dinner time anyway! Two year old E, on the other hand, could not get hers into her mouth fast enough and asked for more. Chris and I agreed that it was a delicious meal and completely cleared our plates. Neither child queried the vegetables in the sauce and Chris even had to ask if I'd actually used the mushrooms because he couldn't taste them (he isn't a mushroom fan).

As we only had two adults and two little ones to feed, we had a lot of bolognese left over. I decided to pop it in lunchbox and keep it in the fridge for the following day where we used it in jacket potatoes. This means that we got two full, nutritious family meals in under a hours prep! 

In the days to follow, Chris and I both mentioned that we'd love to make it again as it tasted so great and was really filling so I have definitely added Dolmio to my shopping list and will be making bolognese more often. 

Do you use Dolmio sauces? Are you surprised by the ingredients inside the jars?

This post is an entry for the #Dolmio #ThankGoodness Challenge, sponsored by Dolmio. www.dolmio.co.uk/thankgoodness

 

Christmas Gift Ideas: Food

I love food (my increasing weight since having E is proof enough of that!) and Christmas is the perfect time to indulge, in my opinion. Diets start in January, right?! I've put together a little gift guide, or maybe bits to include in your own Christmas parties, of food items that would be great for this time of year.

Opies

Opies are a family owned company that has been around since 1880. This Christmas you can pick up their Pickled Walnuts which are a must have with cold meats and cheese. I love a cheeseboard at Christmastime but I'm not a fan of walnuts at all. Instead, I opt for gherkins. Opies do mini pickled gherkins which are just amazing! 

If you are making some festive cocktails, the cocktail cherries and sliced lemon are perfect accompaniments to these. 

Christmas baker? Add some Opies Stem Ginger to mince pies, chutneys or even apple based stuffing to give them some extra oomph.

When you think of Christmas, you think alcohol and Opies have preserved some fruits in alcohol for the occasion; Stem Ginger in Famous Grouse and Christmas Fruits in Courvoisier - yum!

 

Peter's Yard

Peter's Yard are authentic, traditional style Swedish crispbread that are made here in the UK. They are perfect for cheeseboards! Aside from the original flavour that suits any cheese, you can try Charcoal (recommended for Brie and soft goat's milk cheese) or Spelt & Poppyseed (to go with Single Gloucester, Camembert, Wensleydale or Caerphilly). None of the flavours mask or overpower the flavours of the cheese and they are light and crisp in texture - perfect!

In addition to these, Caraway and Pink Peppercorn have been added to the range for this year. Caraway is recommended with a strong, hard cheese whereas Pink Peppercorn is great with a wide selection of cheeses but also a rich pâté too.

 

Stag Bakeries

Stag Bakeries is one of the most remote bakeries in the UK, being based in Stornoway, Isle of Lewis on the Outer Scottish Hebrides.

I've been writing a lot about cheeseboards but if you want something different, why not try Stag Bakeries 'Something Different for Cheese' Fruit Cake? It is made with raisins, sultanas, currants, dates, cherries and cranberries which are generously soaked for 4 weeks in ruby port and whisky. It is also flavoured with pecan nuts, almonds, cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg to create a rich, delicious eat.

West Coast Dipping Crackers are available in three different flavours; Chickpea & Garlic (great with Middle Eastern dishes and dips), Green Bean & Ras el Hanout (perfect for tagines and couscous) and Lentil & Biryani (which works well with curry as an alternative to poppadums).

New to the range are Sweet Straws. They are a great alternative to tradtional sweet biscuits and are a cool twist on savoury straws. The flavours available are: Apple & Cinnamon, Blackberry & Basil, Raspberry & Chocolate and Sour Cherry & Vanilla.

 

Baru 

Baru are quirky, contemporary Belgian confectionery and even their packaging is cool! This year they have added luxury marshmallows to their collection, all "non-chocolate" flavours; Vanilla Bean, Toasted Coconut, Sea Salt Caramel, Blueberry & Basil, Strawberry & Cacao and Raspberry & Mint.

They use natural ingredients and are made in small batches to ensure high quality. Referred to as clouds due to their soft texture and light eat, they are hand crafted in Belgium to a carefully developed recipe.

Tyrrell's 

Tyrrell's are probably my favourite type of crisp so I was really excited to hear that they were adding a festive flavour to their range. Three Bird Roast is (as you've probably guessed) a trio of roast chicken, turkey and duck. I have to say, Chris and I devoured the entire bag between us in one night and the flavours and crispness are just spot on. At £2.19 per bag, I will definitely be picking more of these up over the Christmas period.

They have also added a very fun flavour to their Poshcorn range - Bellini! This is perfectly popped in small batches at Tyrrell's Court Farm using gold standard kernels. It is perfect for a cosy night watching Christmas movies!

 

EasiYo

Easiyo's bright red yogurt maker is the perfect way to make delicious, fresh yogurt at home. The brand new design is sleek and stylish yet simple. It has no moving parts or electronics so it's easy to clean and is so compact, it'll fit on your kitchen shelf. 

All you have to do is mix a EasiYo with water, put it in the maker for 8-12 hours and you will have made 1kg of fresh yogurt. There are 30 different sachet flavours to choose from and because it is made in the comfort of your own home, there are no artificial colours or flavourings. Both my children absolutely love yogurt so this would be a great hit in my house!

(This post contains PR samples.)

Chillfactor Frozen Milkshake Maker - Review

C absolutely loves chocolate milkshake, his daddy does too so I think that's where he gets it from! Every Friday after school, I take C for a milkshake as a treat after a busy week at school but of course this can all add up. When we we were offered the chance to review the Chillfactor Frozen Milkshake Maker I was interested to see if they were a patch on the ones at our local milkshake shop.

Before you use the maker, you need to remove the lid and place the cup upright in the freezer for 4-6 hours - after washing of course! Inside the cup is an insulated pouch and once this is frozen, you need to pour in some flavoured milk - I obviously opted for chocolate milk. I bought mine from the supermarket but you could always just flavour your own milk, elimating the additives!

Now for the fun bit! I put the lid back on and let C turn the handle. The handle moves the blades around, magically creating foamy milkshake! C did struggle a bit as it's tough to turn the plastic blades when they hit the frozen inner (it only takes a few minutes to make). The milk thickened up and he was blown away by the end result. Obviously, the longer you turn it, the thicker the milkshake goes. He couldn't believe how easy it was to use. The milkshake maker comes with a spoon/straw so he could scoop it up to eat the "ice cream" as he called it!

The Chillfactor Milkshake Maker retails at only £9.99 and it is so much fun! C will definitely be using this after school to make his own shakes.

(We received this item for the purpose of this post. All thoughts and opinions are my own.)