I was a strange child when it came to food. I hated chips. Disliked crisps. Would only eat one particular chocolate bar and nothing else. For months my poor mother had to feed me a diet of cold mushroom soup and baked beans as I refused to eat anything else. I remember going for playdates at school friends' houses and getting upset as I didn't like the snacks that their mums offered us. I did say I was a strange one. When it comes to my kids I'm keen that they eat a varied diet. Yet fruit and veg is important and I'm keen that it's a balanced diet, but I also want them to ... read more
Lemon, Chilli and Courgette Naan Pizzas
My sister always swears by the recipes that you get in the freebie magazines that you find near the till in the big supermarkets. The ones produced by the supermarkets themselves. Now I have to admit that in many ways she's much more organised than me and will actually work through the magazines and clip out recipes that she wants to do. Then again she doesn't have two kids so has a bit more spare time then I do! When I was in Tesco the other week I saw the August - September edition of their Real Food magazine and thought it about time to give one of these magazines a go and I've ... read more
Great Bloggers Bake Off Week 2 – Pain Au Chocolat
As if Grainy Mustard and Beer Loaf wasn't enough I today came up with my second recipe for week 2 of the Great Bloggers Bake Off - this time Pain Au Chocolat. Again the original recipe came from Bread Machine by Jennie Shapter, but this required much, much more work! This is what you need: 125ml water 250g strong white bread flour 2 tbsp skimmed milk powder 1 tbsp caster sugar 1/2 tsp salt 140g soft butter 1 1/2 tsp dried yeast 225 plain chocolate, broken into pieces You'll also require 1 egg yolk and 1 tbsp milk for the glaze. To start with you put the water, flour, milk powder, ... read more
Great Bloggers Bake Off Week 2 – Grainy Mustard and Beer Loaf
Well I wasn't exactly star baker with my efforts for week one of the Great Bloggers Bake Off, but that hasn't deterred me. Week two's theme is bread which absolutely petrified me until Helen Hollywood and Jenny Berry (again possibly not their real names) said that you were allowed to use a breadmaker. Hallelujah! I've a couple of books full of breadmaker recipes which I tend to ignore in favour of a standard wholemeal loaf which I generally make as our "daily bread". It's fascinating to see just how many thing you can make with your ... read more
August Tassimo Blogger Challenge – Costa Caramel Latte
I've blogged before about the Tassimo machine that I'm putting through its paces as my role on their bloggers network. Each month we're sent a new challenge to complete and I have to say I'm rather fond of the August challenge. Along with a pack of their new Costa Caramel Latte T-DISCS was this simple instruction: "brew yourself a delicious drink, sit back and relax" I'm a big fan of simple instructions like those - especially when life's busy with the kids - so I did exactly as they told me to. I had actually already bought a pack of the ... read more
Joining in with Warburtons Krazy Kitchen
In a house with two small children lunchtime (in fact all mealtimes!) feel somewhat crazy. There's often tears, laughter, shouting, screaming and food thrown across the room - and all that's just from eleven month old Master C! As the one who has to make lunch everyday things can get a bit monotonous though and that's where Warburtons have tried to inject a bit of "krazy" fun into the usual routine. They've launched a gameshow on their Facebook page (possibly the first Facebook gameshow ever?) where two families compete against each other in the Warburtons Krazy ... read more
Review: Cow & Gate 100% fruit pouches
Ever since Master C started on "solid" food at 4 months old he's really struggled with things that aren't smooth. It took until he was about ten months old to be able to eat puree with any texture without gagging on it. Finger food has been a complete disaster as a result, so I'm constantly worried about whether or not he's easting a balanced diet and getting enough fruit and veg. As a result of all this I feel like I've become a bit of an expert when it comes to baby food, and in particular fruit. I'm constantly reading labels and trying to work out ... read more
Making the most of my TASSIMO in the hot weather
Back in June I was asked to become one of the bloggers working with TASSIMO to help promote their brand. Now, whilst I love my tea (being a Yorkshire lass) I am also rather partial to a nice cup of coffee. I hardly ever drink instant coffee at home, but when out I do treat myself to a "fancy" coffee, especially when at my weekly knitting group meet-ups. The idea of being able to make good coffee at home really did appeal, especially as it was supposed to be so easy. For the first month I really enjoyed being able to make myself a latte, cappuccino, or even a caramel macchiato ... read more
The Charcoal Challenge – A Birthday Bloggers BBQ
I'm pretty sure there must have been more BBQs in the UK in the last three weeks than there were in the whole of last "summer". The weather has been stunning and for once it was so nice to arrange a BBQ in advance without having to worry about the weather. When Money Supermarket launched the Charcoal Challenge and offered bloggers £50 to host a BBQ it seemed appropriate to invite another blogger to join us, so that's exactly what I did. Kirsty from Damson Lane lives just down the road from me and it was a delight to have her, her husband and son come to visit us. ... read more
An evening of berries at Tesco
When my friend Jenny from Cheetahs in my Shoes asked me if I was free one evening I thought she might be thinking about a few drinks at a pub in town, or maybe even trying to catch a film or something mad like that. When she then followed it up with "would you like to come to Tesco with me?" I honestly thought she'd lost the plot! What sort of mum goes to wander up and down the aisles of their local supermarket in an evening through choice? But it seems Jenny had something else in mind... Our local Tesco store, which happens to be one of the super big ones and is also ... read more