Actimel healthy breakfast smoothie recipe

30 April, 2013 By 2 Comments

Actimel breakfast smoothie

Hmmm, it’s got bits in it – JD, 5

Here’s a quick, simple recipe for a health breakfast smoothie. It uses Actimel’s new mango and passionfruit flavour so it’s also packed with live cultures that are thought to be good for your gut (suitable for children aged 3+).

Ingredients

  • 1 Actimel mango and passionfruit
  • 2 inches of cucumber
  • 1/2 a ripe mango
  • 1/2 a ripe passionfruit

Instructions

  • Blend!
  • Sieve if the kids don’t like ‘bits’

It’s fresh-tasting, thick and yummy – let me know if you give it a try.

Disclosure: Actimel sent us some Actimel drinks, fruit and a blender to create some smoothies with. I am also a sponsored ambassador for the Actimel Family Wellbeing Index.

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Win an OXO feeding and weaning set worth £50

30 April, 2013 By 347 Comments

Tot selection

Mummy! Miss J has thrown her tea on the floor again! – JD, 5

If you’re little one is ready to start weaning, you might want to do it in style. Ok, ok they’ll still be empting spaghetti all over their heads, but this set from OXO will mean they look good doing it.

The OXO Tot range includes an innovative collection of feeding and weaning equipment. From plates and bowls, to snack containers and freezer trays, the range has it all and comes in three vibrant shades of green, aqua and raspberry. A selection of handy cleaning tools also feature, designed to make tidy up time that little bit easier.

Want to win £50 worth? Here’s what to do…

How to enter

To enter you must:

You are also entitled to up to five bonus entries, if you:

Please leave a separate comment for each entry.

The giveaway will close at 11.59pm UK time on 31st May 2013 and a winner will be selected at random.

See the prize draw T&Cs - Disclosure: OXO UK is providing this prize for the purposes of the giveaway. No payment was received by A Mummy Too. Please see my review/disclosure policy for more information. Listed on ThePrizeFinder – UK Competitions and Competition Hunter.

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Vegan breakfast pancake stack (recipe)

29 April, 2013 By 1 Comment

Vegan breakfast pancake stack

Oh, wow – Mark

As some of you know, I’m currently following a vegan diet in an attempt to get my IBS back in check. What that doesn’t mean, however, is that I now only eat lettuce!

Last Sunday, we started the day by chomping our way through this lovely egg-free and dairy-free stack of mini pancakes.

If you’d like to try them, here’s what to do.

Ingredients

  • 200g flour
  • 2 tsp sugar
  • 8g arrowroot powder
  • 500ml sweetened soya milk
  • 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
  • 1 tbsp soya margarine
  • 1 tbsp golden syrup

Instructions

  1. Mix all of the dry ingredients except the bicarb in a large bowl
  2. Stir in the milk bit by bit to avoid lumps
  3. Melt the margarine in a large, nonstick frying pan, then pour it into the batter and mix well
  4. Stir through the bicarb
  5. Heat the pan to a medium-high heat, and cook the pancakes with about a dessert spoon full per pancake
  6. They’ll need just 30 seconds or so before the bubble on top and brown underneath
  7. Flip over, cook for another 30 seconds then transfer to a plate, stacking as you go
  8. When all the pancakes are cooked, drizzle with the golden syrup and serve

These really did turn out great, and I think they’d work just as well with any type of flour, although we used the rather amazing  ‘Dutch style pancake flour’, which is a mix of organic buckwheat, wheat and rye flour. It’s worth checking out Tuxford Windmill‘s website if you get a chance – they’ve got a lovely range of flours, oats and grains.

Market grains

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4 fabulous Easter food craft ideas

8 March, 2013 By

4 fabulous Easter food craft ideas

*gasp* let’s melt some chocolate! – JD, 5

We love crafting with food – it’s fun to do, pretty, and you get to eat the results. What could be better?!

Today I’m sharing four ideas for you to get crafty with food this Easter.

Cadbury’s Creme Egg chocolate chicks

How to make chocolate Easter chicks

We love making these chicks at Easter and tend to get started as soon as Creme Eggs appear on the shelves. They’re great fun to make with the kids and were featured in Prima Magazine this month!

Get the step-by-step to making these cute Creme Egg chocolate chicks.

Kinder egg chick in a wheaty chocolate nest

Kinder egg chick in a wheaty chocolate nest

This craft could make a great centrepiece for your Easter get together and the best bit is that that whole thing is edible, so there’s plenty to go round!

Get the step-by-step guide to making this Kinder chick and a wheaty chocolate nest.

Easter bunny sugar paste cake decoration

little-rascal-reviews-easter-cake

No tutorial for this one, sadly, but it was sent in by the lovely Little Rascal Reviews and I think you’ll agree it’s a fabulous idea for an Easter cake.

We’ll definitely be giving it go – how cute is that bunny??

Make your own Easter egg

easter egg making

Lakeland kindly send us some egg moulds, a melting pot, spoon mould and chocolate this weekend, and we had a wonderful time brushing chocolate onto the moulds, layering it up and ultimately producing two perfect Easter eggs!

I’d thoroughly recommend trying it for yourself. There’s a trick to getting the chocolate to layer up perfectly: let the chocolate cool and thicken a bit before you start brushing it on. As long as it’s cooled a little and you do it in thin layers (we did 5), allowing it to fully set between each layer, and then leave it in the fridge for 20 mins, it should pop out perfectly!

Disclosure: we were sent the Lakeland items for review. No payment was received. All posts are 100% honest.

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Learning what makes a healthy, balanced plate – a printable activity sheet (ambassador post)

20 February, 2013 By 6 Comments

Learning what makes a healthy, balanced plate – a printable activity sheet

My favourite vegetable is carrot sticks…with houmous – JD, 5

If your children are starting to learn about what makes a balanced diet, now is the perfect time to introduce them to the Department of Heath’s ‘Eatwell Plate’, which sets out some basic rules about the proportions of different foods we should have on our plates.

It’s a simple way to make sure the whole family gets the nutrition they need, while keeping things like sugary, fatty treats to a sensible minimum.

Healthy plate printables

I’ve created an activity to help learn more about healthy meals. Just click on the image below to download this printable healthy eating plate, along with printable foods for each category.

Learning what makes a healthy, balanced plate – a printable activity sheet

How to use your healthy plate activity sheets

  1. Download the PDF file to your computer
  2. Print the sheets – there are 6 pages in all
  3. Colour in the foods on each sheet
  4. Cut out each of the food wedges
  5. Use them to build as many healthy plates as you like, mixing and matching to create varied, healthy meals

You can even use the sheets to make wall displays. It’s a simple way to start learning about food and is a great kickstarter for further discussion about health and nutrition.

Please note: These printables have all been created by me, based on the ‘Eatwell plate’ proportions, though the sheets themselves are not officially endorsed by the Department of Health.

Learn more about family wellbeing

As you may know, I’m working with Actimel this year as an Ambassador for the Family Wellbeing Index – a great resource designed to support your family’s wellbeing in relation to food, play, learning and more.

As the EAT Ambassador, I’ve been working to create more tips just like these, which will soon be available online for you to look through. I’ll post the link as soon as they’re live, but in the meantime, do please check out the Family Wellbeing Index website for lots more great tips.

Disclosure: I am a sponsored ambassador for the Actimel Family Wellbeing Index.

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New York Bakery Co Bagels. Turns out they’re as good as they look on the ads

16 February, 2013 By 3 Comments

bagel

Baaaa-ghul. More. Yes! – Miss, 1

I flippin’ love bagels. Might be down to my heritage, might be down to the fact that they are, in fact, flippin’ gorgeous.

Some supermarket bagels, however, are god awful – rubbery, flvourless, yuck. The new range of New York Bakery Co Bagels, thankfully, are everything a bagel should be – chewy on the outside, fluffy in the middle. I am highly impressed.

The dough of the new Fruit & Oat flavour bagels is generously laced with cranberries, raisins and sunflower seeds, and topped with crunchy oats. I’ve been eating mine halved, toasted, spread with a little salted butter and topped with sliced banana. It is heavenly with a cup of morning tea.

Also new to the range is the Red Onion & Chive bagel, which I found less appealing on first whiff, but is really pleasant with a generous filling of cheese and salad at lunch. Again, I prefer it toasted – it feels like more of a treat that way.

The new flavours are available in Tesco and Morrisons, priced at £1.55 for a pack of four. I’d also recommend trying the equally yummy limited edition Blueberry flavour, which is so fresh and fruity that it can be eaten straight out the pack with your toddler daughter on the bus home. Not that I did that *cough*

Ways to enjoy bagels

Here are some other ideas on ways to enjoy a good bagel, courtesy of the New York Bakery Co Bagels team:

  • Diner Breakfast – Toast a Wholemeal or Plain bagel and top with creamy scrambled egg, cracked black pepper and crispy NY style bacon
  • Classic Brunch – A true classic: top your Sesame bagel with smoked salmon, smooth cream cheese and sprinklings of dill and watercress
  • Deli Lunch – Fill your Red Onion & Chive bagel full of meaty pastrami, crunchy gherkins, and fiery Dijon mustard
  • Healthy Deli lunch -Wholemeal bagel bursting with mouth-watering avocado, crispy bacon, lettuce & juicy tomato
  • Cheesy Treat – Create a yummy pizza bagel by melting mozzarella on a Sesame or Plain bagel and topping with juicy cherry tomatoes and freshly cracked black pepper
  • Afternoon Delight – Spread lashings of butter on a toasted sweet Cinnamon & Raisin bagel
  • Tea Time Feast – Devour a Plain bagel with spicy chorizo, sundried tomato and peppery rocket

Disclosure: I was sent some New York Bakery Co Bagels for the purposes of this review. No payment was received. All posts are 100% honest.

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Recipe of the week (8-14 Feb)

8 February, 2013 By 2 Comments

recipe-of-the-week

Mummy! We need to do more baking! – JD

Hello, hello.

It’s that time of the week again when I invite my bloggy friends to share their best recipes – you can pick one from the past week, or any time at all, just as long as you haven’t linked it up before.

I had a wonderful time last week going round and commenting, Stumbling and Pinning everyone’s entries, so just link up below and let’s share the love.

Mwah!

  1. Link up your post using the Linky tool below
  2. Add the “Recipe of the Week” badge to your post so that readers can find other great recipes.
  3. Take a little time to read and comment on each other’s recipes.
  4. Come back next Friday and we’ll do it all over again.

Enjoy!

Link up your recipe of the week
<div align="center"><a href="http://www.amummytoo.co.uk/2013/02/recipe-of-the-week-8-15-feb/" target="_blank"><img alt="Link up your recipe of the week" src="http://www.amummytoo.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/recipe-of-the-week.png" /></a></div>



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The MAD Blog Awards are open – will you nominate A Mummy Too?

6 February, 2013 By 1 Comment

vote-mads

You do quite good work on your blog – JD, 5

First up, thank you for all your support. Since this blog launched 18 months ago, it’s grown and evolved hugely. Your comments, shares, contributions and feedback have helped shape it, so THANK YOU!

Next up, I want to tell you about the MAD Blog Awards, which recognise the best of UK parent blogs each year.

I would love your nomination in the ‘Best FOOD blog‘ category – and perhaps ‘Best Blog Photography‘ if you’re feeling particularly generous.

Blogs with the most nominations go through to the voting stage, so every nomination counts.

You can vote here. Thank you!

Filed Under: Fun, photography and miscellaneous Tagged With: , , ,

Introducing Recipe of the Week – come and link up! #recipeoftheweek

1 February, 2013 By 7 Comments

recipe-of-the-week

Can we do baking everyday? – JD, 5

At the end of 2012, I invited bloggers to link up their best recipe of the year and the response was great, so Hannah from A New Addition To… and I have decided to make it a weekly event.

If you blog, this is your chance to share your best recipe of the week. Even if you don’t blog, this is your chance to discover lots of amazing bloggers with amazing recipes.

So, here’s what to do:

  1. Link up your post using the Linky tool below
  2. Add the “Recipe of the Week” badge to your post so that readers can find other great recipes.
  3. Take a little time to read and comment on each other’s recipes.
  4. Come back next Friday and we’ll do it all over again.

Enjoy!

Link up your recipe of the week
<div align="center"><a href="http://www.amummytoo.co.uk/2013/02/recipeoftheweek" target="_blank"><img alt="Link up your recipe of the week" src="http://www.amummytoo.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/recipe-of-the-week.png" /></a></div>



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