Some of you have such a love of gadgets that they have their own rooms so how about adding these 2 beauties to your household. A fab doughnut maker and cake pop maker so you can create bite size naughties for yourself or make a quick and easy dessert for your loved ones.
Pop on over to the competition page to enter.
Good Luck!
With Easter around the corner, the hunt for a pressie for the special one in your life is taking place and as usual chocolate is the one present that can delight both male and female whether they are 9 or 90 and the choice is immense so we try to make it easier on your poor old feet (or fingers if you’re scouting about online) to bring you our favourite egg!
Once again Hotel Chocolat have an amazing array of goodies to tempt and tease this year with their Easter 2016 Collection. Prices range from £5.50 for their delightful Raspberry Chocolate Eggs and City Bunnies to £75 for the Classic Ostrich Egg fit for a King, Queen and several Prince and Princess with it’s enormous 1.1kg of beautiful chocolate! If you receive one of those this year you’ve obviously been a very, very good girl or boy and given the Easter Bunny a big pay rise from the Boss. Lucky you, I’m envious.
We’ve picked one of their lower priced eggs to chomp on priced at £15 and available in 4 delectable varieties: Dark, Milk, White and Caramel, the Scrambled Easter Egg is my chocolate of choice this year, so let’s have a closer look.
I decided to delve into the White Chocolate Scrambled Egg as it’s a little out of the mainstream choice of milk and dark and as much as I love caramel, I’m not keen on caramel chocolate, so white it was. The egg itself is about 5in tall and a good 3mm thick in some places so it’s not easy to just light tap and break, you have to give it a bit of forceful coaxing with a full on whack (although you are probably best doing that in the box to save shattered pieces of chocolate hitting your other half in the stomach… oops) or just take a big ol’ bite from the top.
I have a penchant for white chocolate simply because they’re creamier than regular milk and doesn’t give me a headache as much as dark chocolate tends to, so whenever the option is available, my money is on the white variety.
But what makes this egg extra special in my opinion is the spectacular Pralines that accompany it. Now regularly I’m not a fan of praline as I believe that there are far too many on the market. I love nothing nicer than a box of cremes over pralines and truffles but these have almost changed my mind totally. The sensual crack of the white chocolate as you bite through it to the super smooth praline that explodes on your tastebuds blew my reasoning out of the window. These pralines deserve an award on their own as they are quite simply the gold from the golden egg of the package. I admit it now, I did eat 5 of them and only a little bit of egg as once I tried one I couldn’t give them over to Andy to try another one. Naughty me, but they were oh so nice!
Well worth the money, just for the praline chocolates. I’ve been won over I think. Here’s to my next box…
We have 2 amazing Breakfast Sandwich Makers up for grabs this month. Ever wanted a Maccy D type breakfast but just don’t have the time or the money to pop along to your nearest one? Well now you can make your own breakfast sandwiches healthier and quicker than ever before… and we’ll also throw in a copy of “The Breakfast Sandwich Maker Cookbook” from James Heather to boot.
Visit the competition page for more details and good luck!
Jacqui
Not one to disappoint, although it’s a bit late, but fancy winning a Breville Hot Cup?? Thought you would, then do what you usually do and pop on over to the Competition Page for the link to enter.
Good Luck
Jacqui
I’m pretty picky with what I feed my dogs as I think that if you give them food that’s not very nutritious then your animals won’t get the best out of it that they would if it was of a decent quality.
Our lot were really lucky this last week as they were asked to test a US dog food which has just started to grace the shelves here in the UK. Whenever they try different food it’s always best to do it slowly. Don’t ever put a dog straight on a different food as you will just be faced with runny bottoms or dodgy tummies. Best way to do this is (click image for larger size):
This is an easy way to transition between different foods so it’s taken us a few days a while to get through the food (rather than give it to all 6, we just chose 2, Pea and Daddy Bo) as we wanted to make sure they didn’t suffer any digestive problems.
Wellness® are a Family Owned Natural Pet Food company. Based in the US, their philosophy is to provide proper nutrition to give a foundation of wellbeing, to give our pets a healthy, happy, long life through the power of natural ingredients. Being a pioneer in holistic nutrition they know the importance of a healthy lifestyle so are more than able to look after the health of our beloved furry friends.
I myself tried hard when our Biscuit (RIP) was initially diagnosed with liver nodules to feed him good quality fresh food that would support his poorly liver while he was recovering from his operation. This in turn lead us to keeping him alive and well for nearly 2 years after diagnosis. If only we had known earlier then we would have done that from the word go. It’s only now that we understand the utter importance of what you put in their bowls. These days we only feed our dogs low salt, no sugar, low fat dog food. So trying Wellness was definitely a yes when we were asked.
We slowly introduced the food to Daddy Bo and Pea. One day they both tried half a tray of Chunky Centers and from us peeling back the foil, their noses were in full sniff mode. Turning it out to cut it in half, it looked like a meat pie. Cutting into it was surprising as I thought it might be hard, but out oozed a delicious looking centre with lush looking gravy. It didn’t smell like dog food either. Sometimes you can open a tin of dog food and you get an overwhelming whiff of boiled beef. This smelt incredibly pleasant. Filled with chicken, chicken liver and spinach, I was over the moon when it was the first thing that Daddy Bo picked out of the bowl (as he’s super fussy) and continued to munch on before his regular Denes. Perhaps it was a fluke though, first day trying something a bit different so we’d wait until the next day when he’d get to try another of the Chunky Centers flavours.
Pea isn’t that fussy. He’s what, a year and a month old now and will basically eat anything and everything (even some of his rope toys too if we don’t keep an eye on him) but we’ve been gradually moving him from puppy food to adult food over the last month anyway, and being smaller portions in the foil trays made this a little easier as he could have half a tray and not even notice the difference. He didn’t hesitate at all. Straight in and gone within a few minutes.
Ideally I would have wanted to try our Shelby on it but she has been living with a bit of a dodgy tummy the last week so we’ve been told just to stick to bland food for now so sadly she had to sit this test out.
Next day Daddy Bo got a handful of the Core Grain Free Dry Formula (Ocean) but I wouldn’t give it to the puppy purely because it’s a high protein food. He already has very smelly urine, so the trainer advised us against high protein food just incase he has a kidney issue which as yet they have not diagnosed but if we’re not sure, we’re not going to chance it. Bo doesn’t have any issues with his kidney so we poured a little bit of water on the triangular kibble sized food so it was a little softer for him but again, he scoffed the lot. Pea was sniffing around the bag so he had 1 or 2 handed to him out of it, but no more.
As we received quite a few of the Chunky Centers and Petite Entrees, they’ve had quite a nice week trying the different flavours. Pea’s favourite though which he had a whole tray of to himself yesterday afternoon was the Chunky Centers Turkey, Duck and Sweet Potato. He couldn’t wait for Andy to get it out of the tray as he was pawing at him to just put it on the floor. It’s lovely when they’re excited to eat something new. Pea wasn’t a big fan of the Petite Entrees though because it was a little wetter and more like a casserole, but what he didn’t eat, Daddy Bo finished so it was team work.
We also have the bag of Simple Salmon and Potato. Again we did want to test this with Shelby as she suffers with her skin and as its ingredients list flaxseed this would have been ideal to keep her scale at bay. However, we are going to keep this and try her on it when her tummy has settled in a few days. Daddy Bo though had a big bowl of these today purely because Salmon is one of his treat foods. Whenever we have smoked salmon in the house Bo will camp out by the fridge until he gets some. Daddy Bo thinks he’s a cat you see. He will wave his tail about just like a cat and creeps around like one so salmon is always a big, big favourite. Result? He scoffed the lot. I don’t think I’ve seen Bo eat all his dinner as speedily as he has on Wellness. It certainly ticks all the boxes with what I think food should be like and what it should contain. So far, so good.
Looking at the complete range Wellness® produce, it’s clear that they’ve thought of everything from puppy food to dogs with allergies or who have limited diets. I’m incredibly impressed and thrilled to have been asked to trial it with our rabble.
But you might be thinking, well I don’t have a dog! No fear. Wellness® also produce a whole range for cats. Cats always seem to get the rough end of the stick as there’s clearly not enough range on the market for them but now cats can get in on the act too. Real meat, fruit and veggies with lots more tastes and textures will give kitty a superb assortment that won’t hurt, or hinder their health.
Things cannot get any better than Wellness®, no, they truly can’t. Welcome to the UK.
If you want to try Wellness® for your little furry friends, then check out the range at Pets at Home.
Jacqui
If you’re still filling your trolleys with food for the festive period but are missing a few bits, then pop on over to the East of England Co-Op and grab some of their Sourced Locally festive goodies. Unfortunately our large Co-Op is shutting at the end of December (making way for an Asda sadly) so they didn’t have much stock on the shelves so we had to travel to a couple of different ones in our area to finish our shopping.
If you’re a fan of the Mallow Whirls, well they’ve jazzed that there firm favourite for Christmas with a little white chocolate and the cutest little holly making them look uber festive. If you don’t fancy that, then grab the hand crafted Mince Pies from Leggs Bakery, all crumbly shortcrust pastry hugging the sweet and juicy mincemeat below! Pour yourself out a glass of Golden Ale and pile your plate with Fairfield Crisps for an evening in front of the TV.
Sourced Locally is by far my most favourite of ranges that incorporates all of our amazing local producers in East Anglia, and shows what makes this county great.
For a quick snack, we popped the pasties and sausage rolls in the microwave from Hollybush Farm and for dinner used the leftover pesto from the sensational Butternut Squash and Feta dish we tend to eat once a week, smothering spaghetti in it’s fresh green creaminess piling the bowl high with the tomato and herb focaccia – again locally sourced.
If our largest Co-Op had still had their shelves stocked high then I’m sure we could have showed you many more delights to whet your appetite but sadly the small ones don’t carry very much.
I had been looking forward to trying “Tinsel Toes” seasonal brew from Woodforde’s, the Sage and Onion Scotch Egg from Wolff Evans and Sons, and Cranberry Sauce from Stokes Sauces. All total favourites in their regular everyday forms and which look so mouthwateringly good in their festive forms, but I guess it wasn’t meant to be this time around.
Happy Christmas Everyone!
Jacqui xx
We mustn’t forget our little furry friends this festive season, so we’re going to take a look at what’s available for them in a bit. First, it was my little fur boy’s 1st birthday on Thursday so we decided that we’d organise a little party for him and the furries so they could have a bit of a treat.
I ordered a cake from Pets Pyjamas a few weeks ago and it arrived Wednesday morning via Doggylicious and unfortunately didn’t look as neat as the picture that promotes it. The yogurt icing was quite messy and it actually looked like they’d kicked it about a bit before putting it in the box. It was incredibly dry too which was a shame. I actually wish I’d purchased the cupcakes or birthday cake from Barkers of Suffolk because they look more moist and scrummy. But nevertheless, once we put it all out on the table, Pea couldn’t wait to try everything.
Armitage Pets so kindly sent Pea some Christmas presents, but we thought that we’d use some of them for his special day, so we poured out for him:
Pack of Good Boy Succulent Festive Bangers
Pack of Duck Bites (from the Doggy Deli Pack)
Pack of Chewy Chicken Strips (from the Doggy Deli Pack)
Pack of Good Boy Festive Cranberry Choc Drops
The Festive packs are taken from the Christmas Festive Range by Good Boy which include regular choc drops, Christmas Pud & Christmas Reindeer squeaky toys, Flashing Christmas Nose Balls, Mince Pies, Christmas Dog Stocking and Chocolate Orange Mini’s which were consumed the night we received the parcel as Pea and Ali wouldn’t leave the box alone so we had to open up a packet to quell their curiosity. They’re not that expensive either, so if you want to get your furry friend a little something for under £10 they’re pretty good value for money keeping them happy while you tuck into your Turkey.
Needless to say Pea’s party went down a storm, all bangers were consumed and albeit looking a bit dry, the cake went down a storm with Pea trying to steal his furry friends pieces for himself. Typical Pea really.
