• Pastry squares with chestnut, turkey and kalettes
    Christmas - Cooking - eating

    Pastry squares with chestnut, turkey and kalettes

    December 16, 2016 - By 

    A big part of Christmas for me is the food. I spend weeks dreaming of our Christmas lunch and have a Pinterest board for all of my ideas. Oven Pride challenged me to think outside of the box and create a traditional Christmas dinner, but with a ‘seasonal’ twist. They wanted to hear about some funky Christmas flavours that would not usually be associated with your standard dinner. I’m a huge fan of ginger in any form. Not only is it packed full of magical properties but it adds great flavour to any dish. After a lot of thought I…

  • Devilishly delicious BEAR Claws
    eating - Halloween crafts - Happy By Nature

    Devilishly delicious BEAR Claws make the perfect Halloween treat

    November 2, 2016 - By 

    My children have been looking forward to Halloween throughout October. Our lightbox turned into a countdown and they were forever double checking how many days! Halloween can be a great event for children. There are the spooky costumes, the scary films, the pumpkin carving, the Halloween crafts and of course, the Trick or Treating. One thing I’m not so keen on is the emphasis on all the sweets and sugary stuff. The shops have been full of special Halloween branded sweets, cakes and biscuits for weeks. It’s hard to hide from those products, and even harder to hide them from…

  • eating - food review - subscription box

    Carnivore Club subscription box

    March 24, 2016 - By 

    I have something a little different to share with you today. I love to show you the contents of the subscription boxes I try and I received an email about Carnivore Club asking me to try it. I’m not a foodie but I loved the sound of this subscription box. In a nutshell, Carnivore Club is a monthly delivery subscription service of British artisan charcuterie. Once a month, boxes which are full to the brim with unique, innovative charcuterie are delivered straight to customers’ doors all over the world. The company began in Canada and America in 2013 and progressed…

  • Easter - eating - food review

    The Easter Goody Bag from Hotel Chocolat review

    March 15, 2016 - By 

    If you follow me over on Instagram you’ll know I recently posted this pic of The Easter Goody bag from Hotel Chocolate. I was kindly sent one to review and have been enjoying trying these indulgent goodies this week.   Hotel Chocolat is a British chocolatier and cocoa grower, with over seventy shops in the United Kingdom. Hotel Chocolat is the only company in the United Kingdom to grow cocoa on its own plantation. The Easter Goody Bag is a great size for chocolate lovers, filled with a selection of handbag-sized treats. This makes a great alternative to a traditional…

  • eating

    Start the day the healthy way with Alphabites

    March 1, 2016 - By 

    I was brought up to believe that breakfast was the most important part of the day which is why, every morning around 8am, you will find us sitting around the table enjoying breakfast together. I have two hungry children so they need something filling which will see them through ’til lunchtime. My children get bored quite easily, I’m not sure where they get that from!, but I admit to having a cupboard full of cereal for them to choose from. We’ve tried everything. Quite often the children come food shopping with me and are drawn to the brightly coloured boxes,…

  • Christmas - competition - days out - eating

    Celebrating those special Christmas moments with Waitrose

    November 15, 2015 - By 

    Christmas came early for me this year thanks to a special invitation to celebrate those special Christmas moments with Waitrose at the Waitrose Cookery School in Finchley Road, London. The evening was hosted by Phillip Schofield and I learnt how to make cocktails and cupcakes as well as sample the most amazing Christmas dinner, courtesy of the very talented Cookery School chefs. You may be asking why I was invited to Christmas dinner in November. Well, throughout November and December, Waitrose are celebrating all of the different moments that symbolise Christmas – whether it’s decorating the Christmas tree, enjoying the first…

  • book review - Cooking - eating - What I'm reading

    What I’m reading: Homemade Takeaways by Rob Allison

    August 29, 2015 - By 

    I love eating out but don’t really get the chance to go to too many places whilst the children are so young. They have their favourite child-friendly restaurants they like to go which we find ourselves sticking to as it makes life easier. Over the last couple of years we often treat ourselves to our favourite takeaways and we both have our go-to comfort food after a busy week. I was recently sent a copy of Homemade Takeaways: How to make your favourite takeaway … but better by Rob Allison to review. The book contains 100 recipes covering your favourite…

  • days out - eating

    Smoothie making at innocent Fruit Towers

    August 26, 2015 - By 

    Yesterday we spent the morning at the Innocent Fruit and Veg Fest at Fruit Towers. My children love Innocent smoothies so I knew they would enjoy themselves and they were very excited when they heard where we were going. We arrived at Fruit Towers where they were given their own shopping lists. For each fruit and veg activity they completed they were given a sticker for their list. They made fruit and veg heads – Little Sis is a cucumber fiend and ate most of the Cucumber Daddy she made. They did some painting using fruit and veg which made…

  • baking - eating - holidays

    Eating Belgian waffles

    August 16, 2015 - By 

    It’s a little known fact that I’m a Belgophile. I adore Belgium and have visited many Belgium cities including Brussels, Ghent, Ypres, Ostend, Bruges and this month Antwerp. I have a long list of more Belgian cities I want to visit, much to my family’s dismay. Obviously travelling at home and abroad can be expensive. According to some recent research by the Santander 123 credit card team the average daily spend while ON holiday (excluding flights and accommodation) in Barbados is a massive £109! Belgium is £88 and Poland and India came out cheapest with an average daily spend of…