Category: Food

7 different ways with Nestlé Cereals for Breakfast Week

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day and for the last week we have been celebrating Breakfast Week, a week in which we were challenged to “Shake Up Our Wake Up”. I have been Instagramming a new breakfast each morning, all made with Nestlé Cereals, and all have been delicious and a good healthy and balanced start to the day. They’ve also been pretty fun to make and eat too.

We started off Breakfast Week with Nestlé Shreddies Pancakes, made with wholemeal flour, agave syrup and sultanas, these were surprisingly filling and very tasty.

On Monday, we went off to work with our bellies filled with a couple of Shredded Wheat with some seasonal rhubarb which had been roasted in manuka honey and the zest and juice of an orange.

Tuesday we breakfasted on the hop, so a couple of Shredded Wheat and blueberry muffins were the order of the day, and very nice they were too! These were the most popular breakfast of the week with the boys, and I’m getting constant requests to make another batch, so these will be a regular part of our breakfast menu.

Wednesday brought a Cheerios trifle – a layer of Cheerios, topped with thick yoghurt and layered with fresh fruit – a delicious start to the day.

It was back to basics for me on Thursday with a bowl of Shreddies and dried fruit, but served in my own hand-painted breakfast bowl (you can read about our pottery painting experience here).

Friday was breakfast treat time with these Cheerios Crispie Slices, fat-free and full of wholegrains and dried fruit, you can pretty much forgive the marshmallow “glue” I used to stick it all together.

Saturday, the final day of Breakfast Week brought a chocolatey treat – Nestlé Nesquik cereal in Nesquik chocolate milk. Double chocolate and a rare treat to get the weekend going in style!

Breakfast Week has been fab. We’ve all made a special effort to have a proper breakfast each day. What we’ve really loved has been trying out more interesting ways of eating our Nestlé Cereal than just in a bowl with some milk. By adding our own twist, some fresh or dried fruit, chocolate milk, or baking tasty but healthy treats with them, we’ve really managed to shake up our wake up this week.

Looking at the #BreakfastWeek hashtag on both Instagram and Twitter it’s clear that so many people have been making an extra effort with their breakfasts this week. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day and I think Nestlé Cereals and Breakfast Week has spurred people like me on to make the effort to have a proper breakfast, not to skip it altogether or grab something unhealthy on the hop.

I do feel livelier and more alert because I’m making the effort to have something sensible for breakfast every day and I’ve noticed that with the wholegrain in the Nestlé Cereals I’ve been eating I’m feeling fuller for longer. They boys have loved mixing things up and if I take one thing away from this, it’s that Shredded Wheat muffins can make 5 year old boys very happy indeed.

things to do with cereal

= In collaboration with Nestlé Cereals =

Breakfast Week: Our Mystery Day Out with Nestlé Cereals

Rather excitingly Sunday marked the start of Breakfast Week 2016 (24th-30th January) and I am finally able to spill the beans (or in this case, Cheerios) about what we’ve been up to with Nestlé Cereals.

Last weekend we were told to be up and raring to go by 9am, a courier would arrive with a box and some instructions and we just needed to go with the flow. We were all excited and a little nervous about what Nestlé had planned for us, I’m not very good with secrets so this was a little out of my comfort zone, but if you’d like to see what we got up to please watch our vlog below…

As you can see from the vlog we had a fantastic time at Pottery Corner in Chorlton. We loved the surprise and we all enjoyed painting our new breakfast bowls and getting our handprints done. It was nice to sit down with a cuppa and chat amongst ourselves. We’ve never been to Pottery Corner before and it was so warm and welcoming, we’ll definitely be back to complete our dinner set.

breakfast week

breakfast week

nestle 1

breakfast week

And then we had our family hand-prints done as a lovely reminder of the day.

breakfast week

nestle 2

During Breakfast Week Nestlé Cereals are inviting everyone to Shake Up Your Wake Up and try something new. Cereals are a great way to start your day, fortified with vitamins and minerals, and each bowl contains one of your recommended 3-5 portions of whole grain a day. I know that sending my son off to school having had a good breakfast means he will start the day the right way.

There are so many different Nestlé Cereals to choose from; from much-loved favourites such as Shredded Wheat and Shreddies, kids favourites like Cheerios and modern classics like Oats & More, Cookie Crisp, the delicious Curiously Cinnamon as well as Nestlé Gluten Free Cornflakes. During the next week I’ll be giving my boys a new breakfast every day, so please follow me on Instagram to keep tabs on what the boys are breakfasting on this week!

Will you be doing things differently this breakfast week?

= In collaboration with Nestlé Cereals =

Shake Up Your Wake Up! During Breakfast Week 2016

This January we will be celebrating Breakfast Week (24th-30th January) and Nestlé Cereals have challenged us to Shake Up Our Wake Up! It’s so easy to wander sleepily into the kitchen and just pour some cereal or milk into a bowl and have that, but during Breakfast Week we’ll be daring to be different, mixing things up a bit and making our standard bowl of cereal sing!

I am excited to announce that during Breakfast Week we will be in partnership with Nestlé Cereals who have a surprise planned for us (more news on that as it happens) and I’ll be making a vlog of our mysterious trip out (subscribe to my YouTube channel here).

breakfast week

There are so many different Nestlé Cereals to choose from; from traditional favourites such as Shredded Wheat and Shreddies, kids favourites like Cheerios and modern classics like Oats & More, Cookie Crisp, the delicious Curiously Cinnamon as well as Nestlé Gluten Free Cornflakes.

Nestlé Cereals contain essential whole grains and are fortified with vitamins and minerals designed to help get you off to a good and nutritious start each day. The classic Nestlé Cereal, Shredded Wheat is made from 100% whole grain. Whole grain provides a range of vitamins, minerals, fibre, starch and other nutrients and it is recommended that we eat 3-5 portions of whole grain each day. Breakfast cereal is a great way to help get your day off to a flying start. Look out for the green tick on Nestlé Cereals, this tells you that your bowl of breakfast cereal contains a minimum of 8g of whole grains per serving.

My Nan drummed it into me that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, and that time should be set aside each morning to sit down and eat breakfast and mentally prepare yourself for the day ahead. I find that taking ten minutes out first thing to collect my thoughts, jot down my to do list, have a coffee and a bit of breakfast can make a big difference to my productivity that day.

During Breakfast Week I’ll be doing my bit to Shake Up My Wake Up by trying a different breakfast each day, and discovering some new ways to eat my Nestlé Cereals.

breakfast week

Review: The Snack Organisation Rice Crackers

Way back in October in my monthly Degustabox I discovered a packet of sweet chilli rice crackers from The Snack Organisation. I’d had rice crackers before and they were a bit meh, nice enough, but you needed a good dollop of dip or a wedge of cheese to make a decent snack out of them. I wasn’t expecting much, but I was mightily impressed by these little healthy disks of flavour. So much so that I now buy them regularly. 

The Snack Organisation got in touch with me before Christmas and arranged to send me some healthy snacks for New Year. I’d only tried the sweet chilli flavour so I was keen to try the teriyaki and the lightly salted to see how they compared.

Rice Crackers

Each cracker is around 25 calories each, they’re small, but big enough to pile on some hummus or cream cheese. They cost around £1 per pack and there are stacks of rice crackers in each pack. I sampled each cracker “naked” ie without a topping, and then I spread a laughing cow cheese cube on (14 calories each), making each cracker approx 40 calories in total.

The sweet chilli rice crackers were still as dangerously moreish as they were the first time I tried them, just the right amount of sweet chilli heat, bags of flavour and crunchy. With the soft cheese on top these turned into what felt like a treat, but fairly low calorie. I’m having to stop myself from eating the whole packet!

Next up were the lightly salted rice crackers. I wasn’t expecting them to be too exciting, but they worked incredibly well on their own, really snacky, I could happy go through a bowl of these whilst watching TV of an evening. If you’re prone to snacking on a bag of crisps or two, then these are a good alternative, hitting all the right crunchy, savoury notes but being better for you and more filling than standard crisps. 

soy sauce, sake, ginger

I was surprisingly less keen on the teriyaki flavour, but hubs liked them the best, so that’s a happy ending. Teriyaki has soy sauce, sake and ginger flavours, so maybe they just didn’t go so well with my cheese cubes. I didn’t dislike them, they just didn’t hit the spot for me as much as they did for hubs. But the sweet chilli flavour will be my downfall!

These rice crackers are a great little snack, pretty healthy, definitely more filling than crisps and really flavoursome, your taste buds will never guess that you’re giving your body a healthy treat!

Note: We were sent these rice crackers from The Snack Organisation to try for review purposes. All images and opinions are our own.

Unboxing my “festive” Degustabox November 2015

I am seriously enjoying receiving my monthly Degustabox. It’s pretty exciting to be sent a box of nice things to eat on a regular basis, especially as right now I’m feeling really burnt out and lacking culinary inspiration. 

This month I was told to expect a box of festive treats, and they weren’t wrong. My idea of festive treats are some nice nibbles and something a bit special for the cheese board, and I was not disappointed.

You can watch me unbox my Degustabox November 2015 here –

The Degustabox November 2015 contained…
Britvic – Gourmet Coffee Drops
Ryvita – Crispbread
Branstons – Chutney
Butterkist – Popcorn
Bourne & Wallis – Pickles
Nim’s Fruit Crisps – Mango & Pineapple Fruit Crisps
Ryvita – Crackers
Hartley’s – Jelly
Belvita – Soft Baked
Divine – Chocolate

Including some special Degustabox Discoveries…
Jim Jams – Choc Spread
Williamson Tea – Lemon Sunshine
Tuckey’s – Digestives

Degustabox November 2015

There were some real treats in this Degustabox, I loved with salted caramel popcorn and really need to get my mitts on more. The Jim Jams chocolate spread was a hit with both the boy and me – you can’t beat chocolate spread on a toasted bagel!

I loved the Riveta crackers (both kinds) as I’ve already started to nibble at the Christmas cheese stash, likewise the Branston chutney and Bourne & Wallis pickled onions have been excellent accompaniments, as have the Tuckey’s Digestive biscuits – I love digestive biscuits with cheese and these have a slightly more savoury note, and are less sweet than the brand leader.

I’ve also been enjoying the gourmet coffee drops from Britvic – if you like flavoured coffee these are great, just a few drops in you mug of coffee or hot chocolate and you get a lovely vanilla or caramel hit. 

There are lots of lovely treats in this latest Degustabox – lots going on and lots to enjoy. A merry Degustabox for a Merry Christmas!

Grab your discount! If you’d like to try Degustabox for yourself, you can get£6 off your first box with this discount code BLDEG15. You can find out more about Degustabox on their website.

Note: I was sent this Degustabox free of charge for review purposes. All images and opinions are our own.

Curry Night with Co-operative Food

Cooking and eating are important activities in our house, my Dad (now known as Grandad) comes round for his tea at least once a week, it’s our way of ensuring that he eats a decent home-cooked meal regularly and it’s an excuse for us to have a “gravy dinner” with extra veg or something similar. Sometimes when I’m just too busy to cook we’ll get a takeaway, or get some ready meals in.

As a family we all love curry, after all it is the national dish! The problem with curry is that we all like different things, the small boy loves chicken korma, hubs likes a lamb rogan josh, Grandad likes a chicken tikka marsala and I’m a vegetable biryani kind of girl. It’s impossible to cook a curry we will all be happy with, takeaways or ready meals are where it’s at. I had noticed in my local Co-op that they’d recently launched a new range of curries, so we jumped at the chance of trying them when we were asked to have our own curry night at home.

co-op curry

We were sent the Co-op Loved by us Chicken Tikka Masala and pilau rice (500g £3.59), the Co-op Loved by us Chicken Karahi and pilau rice (500g £3.59) and the Co-op Loved by us Bengali Vegetable Masala Curry with pilau rice (500g £3.59) to try. These curries are individually priced or are available in a 2 for £6 offer.

The new range of 12 curries from Co-operative Food has been created by chef, Pratap Chinna who has over 35 years experience as a chef and has been creating exotic recipes for retailers for the last five years.

My first impression was that they smelt delicious, the Chicken Kahari one especially filled the kitchen with a lovely, mouth-watering smell which has the boys running to the table for their tea. The meals are very generously portioned, I was unable to finish mine it was so big, it’s a good sized meal for a good sized appetite.

We served our curries with naan bread and poppadoms, because no curry is complete without them. Hubs had the chicken kahari which he really enjoyed, it looked and smelt good, with big chunks of chicken and lots of sauce, he said he’d definitely have it again. The packet said medium and it had a kick of heat and was the hottest of the three curries we tried.

co-op curry

Grandad had the chicken tikka masala, again this was a good sized portion which he struggled to finish, it had a good creamy sauce and nice chunks of chicken, he enjoyed it and said he’d eat it again (which is massive praise from my Dad).

I had the Bengali Vegetable Masala Curry which was full of lots of different vegetables, the sauce was spicier than I was expecting but it was flavoursome and very filling.

As well as the price and the portion size, what I also liked about them was their calorie counts – ok so the cream-based chicken tikka marsala was 702 calories for the whole ready meal, that’s probably a lot less than a takeaway,the chicken kahari was a decent 583 calories which makes that a pretty healthy option for a meal, and my vegetable marsala was just 449 calories. They’re not made to be low-fat or low calorie, but if you’re keeping tabs on that kind of thing I thought these were pretty good calorie-wise.

We’re giving Co-op curry the thumbs up!

Unboxing my Degustabox October 2015

A couple of days ago we received our Degustabox, a box of interesting food and drinks, this month there were slightly fewer sweet treats and drinks than in previous months, but there were plenty of interesting things to munch on, you can watch me unbox my October 2015 Degustabox below….

This month the box contained the following goodies…

9Bar – Carob covered healthy snack bars, 5 bars £3.49
Cirio – Classic passata and chopped tomatoes £2,25
Lorina – premium French lemonade with coconut and lime £1.49
The Snack Organisation – Freeze dried apple pieces £1 per pack
The Snack Organisation – Sweet chilli rice crackers £1
Liberation Foods – yummy fairtrade oven baked peanuts £2
Kabuto Noodles – tasty noodles in a pot £1.99
Chip Strips – New style crisps, 2 packs in the box, £2
A full value voucher for President butter

For the Db’s Discoveries this month there were-
Provena – gluten free oat muesli £3.79
Appy Drinks – Juice drinks for kids £1.99

We’ve previously tried the Appy Drinks which were a big hit then and remain so today. The juice boxes contain no added sugar or preservatives and are made from natural ingredients. The small boy loves them and they’re a nice after-school treat.

It was nice to get the passata and chopped tomatoes, both store-cupboard ingredients I usually use a few times a week, but my favourite things in this box were The Snack Organisation sweet chilli rice crackers – really tasty crunchy crackers which are lovely on their own or with dips, and fairly low calorie, I’ll be buying these again!

My other favourites (yes I am a snackaholic) were the Chip Strips, these are really hard to describe, like wafer thin pieces of poppadom but in cheese and barbecue flavours. Both the small boy and his Grandad enjoyed these lovely snapable snacks, though I did wonder if they’d be structurally sound enough to hold big dollops of dip. They didn’t last long though, good snacks never do!

An honourable mention must go to the Liberation Foods fairtrade peanuts. Little 40g packets of peanutty joy. Oven baked and liberally dusted with flavour, these are excellent snacks to munch through while watching TV with a drink.

I am reliably informed that the next Degustabox is a festive box of treats – so I can’t wait for that!

Degustabox October 2015

Grab your discount! If you’d like to try Degustabox for yourself, you can get£6 off your first box with this discount code BLDEG15. You can find out more about Degustabox on their website.

Note: I was sent this Degustabox free of charge for review purposes. All images and opinions are our own.

Tried & Tested: Practical & Stylish Prestige Vintage Kitchenware

I have been a fan of enamel cookware since I bought a couple of baking dishes a couple of years ago. They’re so easy to care for, they’re great to cook with and look really stylish when you put them on the table. I’ve been keen to expand my tiny collection of enamel kitchenware for a while now, so I was delighted when Prestige introduced me to their brand spanking new vintage range.

The new Prestige Vintage kitchenware range has the stylish vintage look which is incredibly popular today, with all the practicality we expect in a modern kitchen. The range includes stylish accessories, oven to table cookware and a number of practical pans in useful sizes. The kitchenware is made from enamel coated steel and ceramics and comes in a choice of blue/white or red/white so you can mix and match to complete your look.

Prestige Vintage

Enamel cookware is known for being easy to clean, rust proof and great for retaining heat. It’s ok to be thrown in the dishwasher after use and it’s incredibly durable. No wonder my Grandma loved it and no wonder it’s come back into fashion!

My new Prestige Vintage 19cm saucepan is a great size for family cooking. I can make a decent sized stew in it for an evening meal for the three of us, and because it’s made from enamel it can go from hob to oven to table with no bother at all. The only word of caution would be that it’s not suitable for use in a microwave, but everyone knows you can’t put metal in the microwave, so it’s not a problem really.

Prestige Vintage

My Prestige Vintage 19cm enamel pan looks fab. I chose the blue stripe, but you can get it in red too. The pan is well made, sturdy but not too heavy. I’ve used it a good few times to cook with and it’s been great, and so easy to clean. I accidentally burnt caramelised something when I wasn’t paying attention, and it cleaned up really easily and left no marks at all.

Prestige Vintage

As you can see it is a beautiful pan, a classic design and for my money the perfect kitchen staple. The Prestige Vintage range is a design classic and is ideal for practical everyday use. I’ve fallen for the Prestige Vintage range big time. It seems I have a vintage heart after all.

For more information, and to view the whole of the Prestige Vintage range, visit the Prestige website.

Note: We were sent the Prestige Vintage 19cm enamel for review purposes. All images and opinions are our own.

Enjoy Britain’s Best Breakfast for The Carers Trust

The Carers Trust have launched Britain’s Best Breakfast – an annual national fundraising campaign to raise money to help support unpaid carers and give them a break from their caring role.  As part of the campaign they are asking people to invite their friends and family to join them for a fundraising breakfast and raise money for Carers Trust.  Everyone who signs up to get a hosting information pack before 18 October goes in the draw to win an iPad.

Today, 1 in 10 of us is a carer. That’s nearly 7 million people. So even if you aren’t a carer yourself, it’s likely you know someone who needs the support of the Carers Trust. The Carers Trust is a charity close to my heart, having been a carer myself, I know just how hard it can be physically and emotionally. Young carers in particular need additional support.

£12 could offer support through a counselling session for a carer,
giving them the chance to voice their concerns and gain reassurance.

£15 could give a young carer a few carefree hours by giving them the opportunity to take part in a range of activities from arts and crafts to sport.

£50 could go towards providing a carer with a much needed respite break. This is so important as so often carers go for months or even years without a break

£75 can save valuable time for an exhausted carer by going towards a washing machine or dishwasher – a vital piece of equipment for a carer

£120 can help a very desperate carer in need of urgent help – by contributing to a carers emergency service where swift, practical support is given in a crisis

Britain’s Biggest Breakfast sounds like a really lovely sociable thing to do anyway, and if you’re sitting down and having a little breakfast party anyway, why not raise a bit of money for the Carers Trust at the same time?

You can find out more about The Carers Trust and Britain’s Best Breakfast on their website.

Charity Challenge – How quickly can I peel an egg?

Britain's Best Breakfast

We were challenged to see how quickly we could peel the shell off an egg. I thought I’d be pretty good at this because I shell quite a lot of eggs each week. I was wrong. You can see the video of how we got on below, but as a benchmark the fastest time to shell one unpricked boiled egg is 2.66 seconds and was achieved by Silvio Sabba (Italy) in Strumica, Macedonia, on 21 August 2012. As you can see from the video it took us slightly longer than 2.66 seconds. Oh dear.

We did not egg-cel at egg shelling. Our gifts clearly lie in other areas – but we gave it a good go and had a cracking time trying. I don’t think we’d ever get our time to under three seconds anyway.

Why not set up your own little challenge at your breakfast party. Here are a few suggestions for your own charity challenge (it’s not as easy as you’d think) –

• Most toast slices buttered in one minute
• Fastest time to peel a hard-boiled egg
• Most eggs cracked with one hand in one minute

However well you get on, the great thing it you can always eat the results. Don’t forget to tweet them to let them know how you got on with your challenge, and what yummy things you’re having for your breakfast event.

An unforgettable day at River Cottage

I remember watching the first ever series of River Cottage and being really inspired by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall. Over the years we’ve followed him on TV, watched the move from the original River Cottage to its new base near Axminster and continued to be inspired by the River Cottage way of life. Hardly a week goes by without me making a HFW recipe, and when we went to River Cottage for a meal in 2008 it was beyond a shadow of a doubt THE best foodie experience of my life. It could never be topped. Or could it?

In late September nearly 50 lovely food bloggers made the journey to River Cottage, convening in the car park at 9am, ready for the very bumpy tractor ride down the hill. Since my last visit to River Cottage the original barn/dining room had burnt down and been rebuilt, and a shiny new cookery school building had been added. It was bigger, slicker, but still as beautiful.

river cottage

We were greeted by the team, ushered into a yurt and briefed about our day. We were split into three groups and we could each have a turn having a farm and garden tour, make some bread and butter and have a go at some food styling and photography with the ever lovely Lucy (aka Capture by Lucy). But first, breakfast canapes and coffee, all with a Devonshire view to die for.

river cottage

Jim, the affable assistant gardener took us first round the kitchen garden, and then around to the farm area where the chickens, pigs and polytunnels are kept. The kitchen garden is at the back of the cottage and is beautifully maintained. Jim explained the principles of crop rotation and showed us all the crops and flowers growing there. 

river cottage

The garden was coming to the end of the summer season, and every space is filled with lovely produce and flowers. 

river cottage

After our outdoor tour, we gathered in the cookery school kitchen with Head Chef Gill Mellor, who talked us through making butter from scratch as well as baking a fruity, herby soda bread – all done and dusted in an hour and a half. I was particularly taken with the butter, which we filled with herbs gathered from the kitchen garden. It was messy and fun and I was determined to have another go once I got home.

river cottage
My cheesy, herby, fruity soda bread.

With our bread cooling, we headed to the dining room for a much needed sit down and a bite to eat. When I last visited in 2008 I’d eaten the best meal I could ever imagine, so I had fairly high expectations.

I’m a vegetarian so I was presented with a wonderfully rich, delicious garden ragu, full of amazing herbs and vegetables from the kitchen garden, nestled on top was a wholemeal ravioli with a cheese and spinach rarebit filling and it was incredible (I’m drooling at the memory). On the side were some corn on the cob pieces which had been tossed in garlic and herbs and griddled to perfection. 

river cottage

I didn’t think things could get any better than the plate of food I’d just polished off, but I was wrong. The fennel flower meringue, coffee infused ice cream with salted caramel, honey drizzled roasted foraged damsons with molasses crumble was a triumph and a pudding experience I will never forget and I suspect one which will never be surpassed.

Lunch was also a great opportunity to chat and get to know a few other people. It was also I suspect the most photographed meal in the history of River Cottage!

river cottage

Post lunch we convened for a food photography session with Lucy. I’ve been to one of Lucy’s workshops before and everyone always leaves feeling incredibly inspired and with a few more tips, skills and props in their armoury. This was no exception. Though my photographs during her session we nothing to write home about, I have since taken on board a lot of her suggestions and I’m making some improvements – step one – buy a proper DLSR!

It was by far the highlight of my blogging career so far. Getting the chance to spend a day in such a wonderful place with wonderful people. I learned a huge amount about food and blogging and food blogging. I was a very, very special day. Thank you to Foodies100 and to the team at River Cottage for organising it. Next time I won’t leave it so long before I visit again.

If you’d like to read more about Blog Camp River Cottage, you can find out more on the Foodies100 website.