DVDs: Channels 5’s Milkshake Fantastic Fun

Milkshake on Channel 5 and Abbey Home Media are releasing the Milkshake Fantastic Fun DVD on Monday 19th October – featuring favourites such as Peppa Pig, Paw Patrol, Toot the Tiny Tugboat, Thomas & Friends, Ben & Holly’s Little Kingdom, Fireman Sam, Little Princess, Lily’s Driftwood Bay, Dora and Friends, Wanda and the Alien, Chloe’s Closet and Bananas in Pyjamas for over 2 hours of fantastic fun!

We have watched a few of the different bumper Milkshake DVDs and they’re brilliant for keeping little ones entertained, and because each DVD contains an episode each of all of the Milkshake favourites – there’s plenty of variety and something for everyone.

Like most children, the small boy has his favourites – he loves Thomas & Friends, is completely obsessed with Paw Patrol and he adores Fireman Sam. We watched the Milkshake Fantastic Fun DVD together and it kept him happy and entertained (he also insisted on watching the Paw Patrol episode on repeat for about an hour). It gave us the opportunity to talk about the things which had happened in the various episodes, and to talk about themes such as love, friendship, sharing and always trying your best.

The Milkshake Fantastic Fun DVD is available from a wide range of retailers including Amazon from Monday 19th October 2015 and is rated U, making it suitable for all ages.

Milkshake Fantastic Fun DVD

Order your copy of the Milkshake Fantastic Fun DVD from Amazon.

Chocolate Peanut Hottie….. More boozy milkshakes!

In February I got to try out some Peanut Hottie. As a hot drink it’s warming, satisfying and a bit of a low-calorie treat, but me being me, I ended up making some pretty sexy, dirty, boozy, Peanut Hottie & bourbon milkshakes with it. Of course I blogged it and it is now without question one of my most popular blog posts. Turns out you lot love a dirty milkshake!

Last week I got my paws on some CHOCOLATE Peanut Hottie. Yup, you read that right. It’s like hot chocolate with a dollop of peanut butter stirred through it. Delicious, a little bit naughty and still only 83 calories a mug. But what could I do with this Chocolate Peanut Hottie? There was only one answer, make a milkshake and add booze! So I did.

First off, for the small boy who was stood in the kitchen bellowing “I want a milkshake pleeeease!” I made a non-alcoholic version…

Chocolate Peanut Hottie Milkshake (serves one)
2 scoops of vanilla ice cream
4 teaspoons of Chocolate Peanut Hottie
350mls of milk

Put it all in a blender and whiz up for a minute, pour it into a glass, you can top it with squirty cream and a peanutty treat if you’re being fancy, I added a slice of a Snickers bar.

I spent ages thinking about what I should slosh into my milkshake, I did consider bourbon, which would still work a treat, but I wanted something different to what I’d had before. Amaretto (a delicious almond flavour liqueur) seemed a pretty good choice, I figured the nutty flavours would really work with the Chocolate Peanut Hottie and I was not wrong.

Chocolate Peanut Hottie & Amaretto Milkshake (serves one)
2 scoops of vanilla ice cream
4 teaspoons of Chocolate Peanut Hottie
2 shots of Amaretto liqueur
350mls of milk

Again, put everything in a blender and whiz it up for a minute. Pour it into a glass, add squirty cream and your slice of Snickers (only if you’re being fancy) and enjoy.

I used vanilla ice cream, but if you wanted to boost the chocolately flavours you could use chocolate ice cream, or a scoop of vanilla and a scoop of chocolate would be good too.

I have to say it was excellent, Peanut Hottie works so well in milkshakes and it does have fewer calories than just dolloping in actual peanut butter, though I guess if you’re drinking this you’re less concerned about calories and more concerned about putting awesome things in your mouth. And by god, this is an awesome thing.

You can find Peanut Hottie in Sainbury’s, Waitrose, Booths and Tesco.

Note: I was sent a jar of Chocolate Peanut Hottie free of charge for review purposes. All images and opinions are my own.

Review: Milkshake Stars DVD Collection

Packing for my birthday weekend away, I shoved the small boy’s portable DVD player in the car along with his brand new Milkshake Stars DVD, hoping that around 2 hours of DVD fun would keep him entertained on the journey up to Whinfell. The Milkshake Stars DVD features well loved favourites including Thomas & Friends, Peppa Pig, Fireman Sam, Little Princess and Ben and Holly’s Little Kingdom. It’s fair to say it was a really good thing to take with us.

The small boy loves Milkshake. He races downstairs every morning to catch up on the latest goings on with Peppa Pig and Thomas & Friends. He loves Fireman Sam too, he doesn’t have gender bias either, he’s equally as fond of them as he is of Angelina Ballerina and Little Princess, so this DVD is almost tailor made for him.

Review: Milkshake Stars DVD Collection

Did it pass the weekend away entertainment test? Yes, absolutely. It kept him occupied, interested and engaged for the entire two hour journey. He liked the variety of programmes to watch. He enjoyed watching his old favourites, Peppa Pig, Thomas & Friends and Angelina Ballerina, as much as he enjoyed discovering new favourites such as Pip Ahoy!, Toby’s Travelling Circus and Jelly Jamm.

From a parental perspective, there are few things more annoying than putting a series DVD on and hearing the same theme tune every ten minutes, with this DVD there’s a variety of programmes, so it’s considerably less full-on. Plus it’s nice to see him enjoy the programmes. We chatted about the content of some of the shows, and explored themes around what he’d seen.

The Milkshake Stars DVD is released on Monday 8th September 2014. It is a brilliant blend of action, comedy and fun. We were sent a preview copy for review, but the DVD is widely available in the shops and online. It’s definitely going to be one of the most popular DVDs in his collection.

Note: We were sent the Milkshake Stars DVD free of charge for review purposes. All images and opinions are our own.

Peanut Hottie – Making Peanut Butter Milkshakes

Peanut butter is one of those love/hate things. I’m firmly on the side of loving it. I love it on toast, in salad sandwiches and a more recent love, in milkshakes.

I was uber excited when I got wind of Peanut Hottie which is a peanut butter hot drink like hot chocolate but peanut butter instead. Sounds weird. Looks weird. Is incredible. I know this because the moment the postman delivered me a sample, I put the kettle on.

It’s easy to make, just four teaspoons in a mug of hot water, a vigorous stir and you’re in peanut butter heaven (or hell depending on if you’re one of those weird hater people).

With the sample came a note inviting my imagination to go wild, use Peanut Hottie in any culinary way I saw fit and to blog the results. I thought long and hard about this, then realised I needed to play to my strengths. Add lashings of booze was my answer!

My friend Lou has a cafe where I spend quite a lot of time. It is a lovely cafe with a massive selection of teas, as well as brilliant cake. Amongst those in the know (taps nose with finger) they also make pretty darn special milkshakes. It was to Lou I turned with my mad ideas, he had the equipment and expertise. I had a tub of Peanut Hottie and a crazy milkshake dream.

First off we tried Peanut Hottie and Caramel, here’s what we did…
2 scoops of vanilla ice cream
4 teaspoons of Peanut Hottie
1 dessert spoon of caramel sauce
350mls of milk

Whizz it all up in a blender, add optional squirty cream and decorate with whatever you fancy, maybe chopped peanuts or a cookie.

It was incredible. It was really peanutty with a slight undertone of caramel. It was sweet but not too sweet. Lou downed his in about 4 seconds and he was really impressed with the way the Peanut Hottie powder blended. I loved it. It’s up there with the greats.

Next we tried the game changer, the Peanut Hottie and Bourbon…
2 scoops of vanilla ice cream
4 teaspoons of Peanut Hottie
2 shots of bourbon
350mls of milk

Whizz it all up in a blender, again add optional squirty cream and decorate with whatever you fancy, maybe chopped peanuts or a cookie.

This makes me happy just thinking about it. Yes it was boozy, but just the right level, it added a gentle background warmth and worked so incredibly, amazingly well with the peanut flavour, Lou was blown away. I loved it, I can’t ever imagine a peanut butter milkshake without bourbon in it now. It sounds wrong, but it is so right.

I love Peanut Hottie and I’m pleased that it has fewer calories than the actual butter. However this is negated if you make a milkshake with ice cream, bourbon and caramel, but totally worth it!

What would you do with Peanut Hottie?

Disclaimer: I was sent a jar of Peanut Hottie to try free of charge with the proviso that I blog honestly about it. Peanut Hottie is available from Sainsbury’s and Waitrose.