The Crazy Kitchen

12th March 2012 - 72/366

2012-03-12T16:02:00.000Z

Today I have 2 photos...although it's a Picnik collage so it could be classed as one photo....I needed to use both to tell the story though.

Jack was sitting at his table having a drink this morning and Poppy came out of her house and was scratching at the side of the cage as though she was trying to get to him - she knew he was there but couldn't see him....until he popped his head around the corner and the friends were reunited.

11th March 2012 - 71/366

2012-03-11T15:39:00.000Z

Favourite 366 Photo - Week 10

2012-03-11T10:26:00.000Z

My favourite photo for this week has to be this one of Jack making his sandwiches. He loves to spread the butter on the bread and manages to cover every scrap of bread now, although the butter is slightly too thick in places, but he concentrates so hard and it gives me a few moments peace to make the rest.

10th March 2012 - 70/366

2012-03-10T19:14:00.000Z

I love the face that Jack is pulling here...that look says so many words! Taken just before I took him to a birthday party this morning, he was refusing to look at me and smile for a photo for Nanny...we got there in the end with a 'cheese' face which I posted here .

New Party Clothes

2012-03-10T13:25:00.000Z

Jack was off to yet another party this morning and I thought it was time I got him a new party outfit, after all he had worn his last one to almost every party he's been to so far this year. I've never bought him a shirt with a tie before but when I saw this pink gingham one in Next I couldn't resist. I wanted to take a photo of him in his new party gear with his freshly cut hair to send to Nanny but he refused to smile until he'd had a good fiddle with the present and pulled a variety of faces.

Pink Gingham Shirt & Tie Set : £10
Vintage Skinny Jeans : £12
Green Riddler Converse All Star £20 (Sale)

All from NEXT

I am linking this up with Trendy Toddler Tuesday (yes I know it's not Tuesday) on Mummy's Busy World

Ravensburger 3D Puzzle - Empire State Building

2012-03-09T21:41:00.000Z

I will be the first to admit that we're not great fans of puzzles in this household. We had a cupboard full of puzzles for the kids but they just never seemed to be into them, and I don't really have the patience - if something is going to take too long then I'm not interested. I was however intrigued to see a 3D puzzle when I was asked to review one.

We were sent the 3D Ravensburger Empire State Building and decided that we would have a family building session once Jack was safely tucked up in bed.

I was surprised to see that the pieces were all numbered, as I expected it to be like a regular puzzle, and this pleased me a lot. We may not have patience but we excel in organisation so we sorted all the pieces into groups of 10, lined up in number order ready to be fixed together.

The instructions are very straightforward, telling us the range of numbered pieces that should be fixed together at one time, before a plastic support was inserted. Eleven year old Sam did find it a bit fiddly in places but once a few levels were built soon got the hang of it.

The plastic interlocking pieces are quite sturdy and some of them are hinged to go around corners which gives the building stability. There are 216 pieces in total and the finished building stands 46.5cm high, and we built in around 1.5 hours.

The puzzle is recommended for children aged 10 years and up and retails for around £20 and is also available in The Eiffel Tower, Big Ben and a Lighthouse, with Tower Bridge coming soon.

9th March 2012 - 69/366

2012-03-09T13:31:00.000Z

Jack wanted me to wrap him in a blanket whilst he watched TV.....so I decided to swaddle him!

Lets Cook - Chocolate Rotator

2012-03-08T21:39:00.000Z

Nine year old Hanna was really excited to receive the Chocolate Rotator from the Let's Cook range to review, it's the kind of item that she always has on her birthday and Christmas lists, but never receives.........a bit like myself when I was her age and I asked for (and never received) a Mr Frosty.

She was a little disappointed to find that the set didn't include any chocolate, but lucky for her I had a supply of cooking chocolate in my stash.

The set is fairly straightforward to use and the rotator comes ready assembled. It comes with a chocolate melting pot and stirrer, 6 two-part moulds - egg, teddy, car, shell, lion and ball, along with 3 sheets of coloured foil, stickers and strings (to make into a decoration).

It seemed to be going so well, but after leaving the filled moulds to set fully in the freezer (as per instructions) it became apparent that we needed to rotate for longer than the 3 minutes as the chocolate had mostly dripped down to one side, leaving the other side very thin and fragile. The chocolate had also seeped into the sides of the moulds slightly leaving some excess chocolate around the joins. Some of the shapes fell apart when we took them out of the moulds as the chocolate was so thin.

We found it quite tricky to wrap the chocolate in the foil neatly and can't see with foil of that thickness that the chocolates could be wrapped as neatly as shown on the box.

All in all the set is fun to use and with a bit of practice I think we could make some nice chocolate gifts to give as presents. It's a shame that there are only 3 foil sheets included though, especially as the box pictures four (very neatly) foil wrapped chocolates next to an additional 3 sheets. Hanna enjoyed using the set although she did say that it wasn't as good as she expected it to be.

The Chocolate Rotator is available from Character online for £14.99.

8th March 2012 - 68/366

2012-03-08T18:20:00.000Z

So now that Picnik is closing I finally decide to use it, funny that...oh well, I'll make the most of it until it's gone I suppose. This photo was taken this afternoon after Pre-school pick-up whilst waiting for the big ones to come out, Jack was having a run around with his friend, playing hide and seek and attempting to climb a tree! What isn't clear is that he was absolutely covered in yoghurt - all over his face, his jumper & trousers....apparently they had yoghurt dip for their snack.

BRITA Inline 3-Way Water Dispenser

2012-03-08T12:34:00.000Z

Where we live we are in a hard water area which means, as well as having to increase the amount of detergent we use when washing, we also have problems with limescale build up in the kettle. We overcame this for a while when we had a new fridge / freezer two years ago with a BRITA water filter built in and used the filtered water to fill the kettle. The only downside with this was remembering to keep the tank filled up, which, mainly in the Summer, is an ongoing task when there's five people in the house all filling their glasses with chilled filtered water to drink. This then led to us filling the kettle up straight from the tap again, with the limescale build-up quickly returning.

BRITA have come to our rescue now though with a solution to our problem. The Crazy Kitchen has been fitted with a 3 way dispenser on the side of our sink, in the place of our regular mixer tap. The dispenser not only dispenses hot and cold running water but also a supply of cold BRITA filtered water. Filling the kettle up now is so simple as we can just place it under the tap and turn on the small BRITA tap.

We have been fitted with a modern Torlan dispenser, attached to a filter under the sink which filters limescale, chlorine, metals and organic impurities, giving us lovely pure water. The filter cartridge lasts for 3 months and is very simple to replace. It can stand under your sink or be attached to the side of your undersink cupboard on a bracket (supplied). All the necessary fitting instructions are included in the box, and there is an online fitting tutorial on the BRITA website. If necessary they can book you an installation with their partner company Streamline.

Now, thanks to BRITA, we can enjoy tea and coffee again without any nasty tastes or scale in the cup, the kids can drink pure filtered water straight from the tap without being put off by any nasty after-tastes and hopefully our kettle will last us a few more years.

I was provided with the dispenser and installation for the purpose of this review

Quorn Burritos

2012-03-08T10:22:00.000Z

We all know that we're supposed to eat healthier, cut down on bad fats and have a balanced diet, but sometimes when we lead busy lives it's easier said than done. Using Quorn instead of meat in recipes is a great way to cut down on fat and calories, yet still being able to enjoy favourite dishes.

I usually buy lean minced beef for one of our favourite Saturday night dishes, Burritos, but even though it's lean it still has a lot more calories and fat than Quorn mince, as well as not having as much fibre.

Comparison between Quorn mince and my usual lean beef mince (per 100g)

	Quorn	Beef
Calories	105	193
Fat	2	10.8
Saturated Fat	0.5	4.3
Fibre	5.5	0.5

This week I replaced the lean beef mince with minced Quorn, and I don't actually think the family noticed! If they did they never mentioned it and cleared their plates as usual.

Spicy Quorn Burritos

1 tbsp oil

1 onion, chopped

300g Quorn mince

1 tsp cayenne pepper

1 tsp ground coriander

1/2 tsp chilli powder - adjust to suit your taste

1 tsp smoked paprika

can of chopped tomatoes

can of red kidney beans

1 tbsp tomato puree

Fry the onion in the oil until softened in a large, lidded pan
Add the Quorn mince and spices and fry for 2 minutes, stirring constantly
Add the tomatoes and cook for 5-10 minutes
Add the kidney beans and tomato puree, cover and cook for a further 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Serve with flour tortillas, grated cheese, salad, rice, natural yoghurt and nachos

Quorn have lots of products in their range that can be used to replace meat or chicken in your own recipes, as well as a large range of ready prepared meals and snacks.

To find out more about the health benefits of eating Quorn and to see their great selection of recipes head over to their website : www.quorn.co.uk

This is a sponsored post although the recipe is my own.

Dairy Free Chocolate Hazelnut Ice Cream

2012-03-07T21:09:00.000Z

On Monday I had the pleasure of attending an event hosted by Alpro, where we were introduced to some of their new products which included some new nutty drinks.

I was given a carton of the Hazelnut Drink and the Almond Milk to take home, and today I decided to make some ice cream/frozen dessert using the Hazelnut variety. I've got an ice cream machine which makes life easier but if you don't you can freeze in a large container and stir around every 30 minutes or so to break up the ice crystals and prevent it freezing into a lump.

Dairy Free Chocolate Hazelnut Ice Cream

4 tbsp Cocoa Powder
2 tbsp (approx) boiling water
4 tbsp Honey
500ml Alpro Hazelnut Drink

Beat the cocoa powder with the boiling water to make a paste, stir in the honey and allow to cool
Stir the Hazelnut drink into the cocoa mix, a little at a time until all combined
Churn in an ice cream maker until desired consistency is reached
Place in a freezable container in the freezer until firmed up

This dessert doesn't freeze completely solid and is quite 'icy' due to the water content in the Hazelnut milk, however it passed the test with my 9 & 11 year old taste testers so it must be good.

7th March 2012 - 67/366

2012-03-07T11:30:00.000Z

I try and make the packed lunches in the evening, but mostly I forget. As Sam leaves early to walk to school he makes his own lunch if I haven't made it the night before.....and now Jack wants to be like his big brother so, whilst I make Hanna's sandwiches and pack the rest of the lunch, I let him make his own. He's turning into a real perfectionist and spreads the butter so carefully. At this rate I might be able to have an extra 10 minutes in bed before long!

The Gallery - Light

2012-03-07T11:06:00.000Z

I don't for one minute claim to know what I'm talking about when it comes to photography, but I am improving, and I do try to take my best shots at all times with my camera that's held together with an elastic band, or my phone. More recently, because my camera is so fiddiy to use (due to the positioning of the elastic band), I have been using my phone a lot more, but because it doesn't have a flash I do have to depend on natural light for better quality shots. I don't, however, look at my photos and think 'wow, the light in that shot is great', I just don't seem to notice that in my photos, so for that reason, my 'light' photo for The Gallery this week is this :

My Light

This is my conservatory light, taken this morning during a break in the cloud, just after I'd brushed the cobwebs off it. It's the favourite light in my house and I love it....if only it didn't collect so many damn cobwebs!

6th March 2012 - 66/366

2012-03-06T18:38:00.000Z

Watering the new tree...

Dining In The Dark With Alpro

2012-03-06T13:45:00.001Z

Yesterday afternoon I set off to London for a restaurant meal which I had been invited to by a lovely PR that I'd worked with before. I was a little bit nervous to say the least, firstly because I didn't know anyone else that was going (apart from the PR, whom I had never met before) and secondly because the restaurant that I was going to served the meals in complete darkness!

photo courtesy of www.danslenoir.com

Dans le Noir is situated in Clerkenwell, an apparently very trendy area of London, and offers a dining experience like no other I've had before.

I arrived at the restaurant a little early but was going to go in anyway as there was a few people milling around....and then I spotted a camera crew filming the restaurant from across the road, and stopped dead in my tracks. Instead I opted to wait a while in the comfort of a bar next door, with a glass of wine for Dutch courage....

Boosted by Mummy and the Beastie who told me to 'sup up' and go inside, I entered the brightly lit entrance of the restaurant, where I was met by our hosts. After a couple of glasses of some fizz, and packing our valuables (and sources of light) into lockers provided, we were led in procession by our blind waitress, Nadine (it's a good idea to remember the name of your waiter in case you need anything!), up a ramp and through 2 sets of black curtains into an extremely dark room - so dark that you couldn't see your hand in front of your face. We were led to our seats and quickly got acquainted with our fellow diners, one of them being the lovely Kate from Fabric of My Life, whom I had the pleasure of walking behind in and out of the room, holding onto her right shoulder, a method used to make sure no-one got lost in the dark.

The whole eating part was a very weird experience and one that I don't think I would try again as I didn't feel as though I enjoyed the food as much as what I would've done had I seen and known what I was eating. I also felt that, because the only way to find out what was on the plate was by locating and eating it, I possibly scoffed my food down a little too fast, resulting in a very bloated feeling - nothing to do with the 2 tumblers of red wine consumed with dinner of course!

During the meal we had the pleasure of being filmed, which I can't wait to see, but I'm pretty sure I won't be sharing any links to the final cut on my blog!

Afterwards we went into a room upstairs where we our hosts for the evening were revealed to be Alpro, best known for their soya products. Details of the food that we had eaten were given to us on menus showing that the meal was cooked using many Alpro products instead of their dairy equivalents.

Alpro introduced to us some of the new products in their range, which included Alpro Fruity & Creamy, a luxury soya yoghurt alternative as well as their new nutty drinks - Almond Milk and Hazelnut drink

The new drinks are a healthy alternative to dairy milk and can be used in many ways, such as on cereal, in cooking, and in coffee - anywhere that you would normally use dairy milk you can replace with the nutty drink, which is naturally low in saturated fat and a good source of calcium and vitamins. We were offered some delicious looking cakes, pastries and truffles made with the new products but I let the side down and could only manage a single truffle and a sip of hazelnut drink before speeding off in my cab in time to catch the train home - which I made by the skin of my teeth!

I haven't decided how I'm going to be using my nutty drinks yet but if I come up with a recipe I'll make sure I post it here first.

As well as my cartons of almond and hazelnut drink I received some of the new Fruit & Creamy desserts and a lovely little Cobnut tree and a watering can that matches my lounge perfectly!

5th March 2012 - 65/366

2012-03-05T23:54:00.000Z

Watching & waiting for the camera crew outside to disperse...

There's a new Blogger on the block...

2012-03-04T21:18:00.000Z

My eldest is football mad, if he's not watching it on TV or having a kick about with his mates he's practising his skills with a ball on the trampoline or performing keep uppy's in the kitchen with his little brother's Peppa pig ball. He also plays for a local under 11's side as well as following his favourite football team, often going to watch with his Dad and little brother, and was recently lucky enough to be a mascot.

His love of sport doesn't just end with football though, like his Dad he can watch any sport and has an interest in all of it - from beach volleyball to archery, you name it, they watch it.

Sam also likes to write, from an early age he has formed teams and leagues with his microstar football collection, leaving scraps of paper all over the place with teams and scores scrawled all over them. When he finds something he's passionate about he loves to write about it, and three years ago wrote an amazing project about the FA Cup run of Coventry City, in which he went to every game and wrote brilliant match reports for each.

Recently he was one of four pupils from his school chosen to attend a writers workshop as his teacher spotted potential in his writing, which came as a bit of a shock to Sam as Maths has always been his 'thing'. I think this has made him realise his ability and he has now decided to start a blog where he plans to write about any sporting event that interests him.

I'm very proud of him and I hope he continues to write as I love to see his enthusiasm when he talks about something that has really captured his interest, and it will be great to look back on in the future, as well as potentially earning him some much needed brownie points with his teacher!

If you want to read about sporting events from the perspective of an 11 year old then have a quick look at Sammy On Sport...there's not much on there just yet, but hopefully there will be more soon.

Oh and the header, that was designed by the wonderful Alex at theiproject

4th March 2012 - 64/366

2012-03-04T20:31:00.000Z

Making Banana bread together....looks like I'm being made redundant!

VUP Baby - RICE Tableware

2012-03-04T20:23:00.000Z

VUP baby (very useful products) has a very comprehensive website, full of non toxic baby products from around the world. We have previously reviewed a becopotty and Melissa & Doug musical instrument set for them, and now Jack has been sent a gorgeous Rice Dinner plate and cutlery set (in red) to put through their paces.

The melamine dinner plate is 25cm in diameter, being a good size for growing appetites and has a lovely vehicles design which Jack loves. The plate is BPA, PVC and Phthalate free and is safe for dishwasher use.

The fork and spoon set is also BPA, PVC and phthalate free and is a good size for little hands when they start to feed themselves. It would be nice to see a knife within this range as we're starting to introduce Jack to a knife and this would complete the set nicely.

Both items are made by Rice, a Danish homewares and accessories company, known for colourful melamine, handmade baskets and storage as well as hand glazed Italian tableware, and they are lovely quality.

The cutlery set had a small label attached explaining how it had been produced with a clear conscience in the third world with respect for people. Child labour is not used and the workers employed are treated properly, enabling Rice to obtain the SA 8000 certification, a Social Accountability standard, proving their commitment.

great for larger appetites

Jack showing off his new cutlery

VUP baby can also be found on Facebook and Twitter.

Double Chocolate & Lime Cheesecake

2012-03-04T09:09:00.000Z

I have had the pleasure of being chosen to be part of the Appliances British Ovens Rainbow Cookbook, where, along with six fellow bloggers*, I will be posting a recipe relating to a colour of the rainbow. My colour in this wonderful task is green, with my chosen ingredient being limes.

Double Chocolate and Lime Cheesecake

250g Chocolate Bourbon Biscuits
50g Butter, melted
450ml Double Cream
100g Good Quality Dark Chocolate - I used 72%
300g Full Fat Cream Cheese (Philadelphia)
Juice & grated Zest of 4 limes
50g Icing Sugar - if you have a sweet tooth you may want to double this

To Decorate
Plain chocolate, melted
Lime zest

Crush the biscuits to a fine crumb and stir in the melted butter.
Press the biscuit mix into the base of a loose bottomed or springform cake pan
Refrigerate until set
Warm 150ml of the cream in a pan over a low heat until almost boiling.
Remove cream from the heat and stir in the broken chocolate, whisk until smooth and glossy
Pour over the biscuit base and return to the fridge until set.
Beat the cream cheese with the zest, juice and icing sugar
Whisk the remaining cream until it forms soft peaks
Fold the cream into the cream cheese mix until well combined
Pour into the cake pan over the chocolate and return to the fridge until set.
Decorate with melted chocolate** and lime zest

**To pipe the lines of chocolate on the cake it's easy to make a small cone, I found a good tutorial online with instructions how to make one.

*The other bloggers forming the rainbow of recipes are :

Red - Home Baked

Yellow - Pebble Soup

Pink - Kitchen Goddess (in training)

Orange - We Grow Our Own

Purple - Nelly's Cupcakes

Blue - Seasider In The City

This is a sponsored post although the recipe is my own.

Favourite 366 Photo - Week 9

2012-03-04T09:04:00.000Z

This week the favourite photo has been chosen by Sam...an obvious choice I think

Taken last Sunday at the end of a football victory...

3rd March 2012 - 63/366

2012-03-03T19:40:00.000Z

My little Monkey having a sneaky nap on the sofa this morning....a very rare occurrence these days

2nd March 2012 - 62/366

2012-03-02T23:28:00.000Z

It's Chico time......a good night out with the girls

Cooking With Your Toddler - Chocolate Peanut Butter Flapjacks

2012-03-02T15:43:00.000Z

Peanut butter is one of the staple foods in our household and we all love it...well all but the husband...but he does eat it from time to time unknowingly! I use it in cookies, sandwiches and even in curry, and this week myself and Jack are adding it to Flapjacks.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Flapjacks :

100g butter

100g demerara sugar

200g Golden Syrup

150g Crunchy Peanut Butter

250g Jumbo Oats

200g Quick Cook Oats

Topping

100g milk chocolate chips

50g smooth peanut butter

Melt the butter, sugar, syrup & peanut butter over a low heat

Stir in the Oats

Mix well

Press into a large greased baking tin - mine was a 9" x 13" - tip: put a sandwich bag over your hand & press down, that way it doesn't stick

Bake in a 180 degree (C) oven for 15-25 minutes, until golden brown
Melt the chocolate chips and peanut butter in a glass bowl in the microwave for around 1 minute - stirring every 20 seconds until just melted, stir until smooth
Spread chocolate over the warm flapjack and allow to cool completely & the chocolate topping firms up
Cut into squares or bars

Chocolate Peanut Butter Flapjacks

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