Ella's Kitchen - My Little BIG Meals Review

I am a passionate about feeding my children good, healthy home cooked food.

However in our busy lives having a ready made meal to hand is a huge help. I always made the children's baby food when they started weaning. Now that they are bigger I feel happier giving them a pre made meal but it must be from a trusted brand.

When I looked at children's meals one brand did stand out.

That brand is Ella's Kitchen.

This is the only brand of meals that I will buy for my children because all of the ingredients are organic and they contain no artificial colours, additives or preservatives. On the back of the packets it lists clearly what is used and the quantities. This is something that is important to me as I want to know exactly what my children are eating when I give them a pre made meal.

When the opportunity came to test and review their new “My Little BIG Meals” I jumped at the chance.

We received to try:

• Chuncky Pasta Bolognese Bake with a Handful of Herbs
• Full of Beans Pork Stew with Hearty Veg
• Stacked & Packed Veggie Moussaka topped with Creamy Sauce

The twins enjoyed all three of them and ate the lot!

The portion sizes are also good. I found that one pot fed both of them and they had room afterwards to finish their meal with some fresh fruit and yogurt. But the meals could easily be bulked up with any vegetables if I wanted to. For one child there is more than enough!

Chunky Pasta Bolognese Bake with a Handful of Herbs

The twins love pasta so I knew that they would love this one too.

The sauce is lovely, however my twins are used to a few more spices so I did add some black pepper and a few more herbs to it for a little more flavour. That is the great thing with these dinners if you want to add anything you can. The pasta was regular sized pasta which I chopped up a bit but is ideal for them as they learn to cope with bigger bits of food.

This meal contains

Organic vegetables 63% (tomatoes, yellow peppers, red peppers, carrots and onions

Organic vegetable stock 15%
Organic beef 12%
Organic pasta 8%
Organic sunflower oil 1%
Organic garlic <1 font="">
Organic cornflour <1 font="">
Organic mixed herbs <0 .1="" font="">
Other stuff 0%

Full of Beans Pork Stew with Hearty Veg

This is a new one for the twins.

They haven't had a pork stew before so I was unsure whether they would like it. But they did! They even enjoyed the beans, which I was expecting them to be fussy with. This meal is a great way to get the added fibre into the children that the beans provide. Having this meal the twins discovered new flavours and I discovered new foods that they like.

This meal contains

Organic fruit and vegetables 48% (tomatoes, onions, carrots, sweet potatoes, apples and green beans)
Organic vegetable stock 23%
Organic haricot beans 17%
Organic pork 10%
Organic garlic <1 font="">
Organic cornflour <1 font="">
Organic mixed herbs <0 .1="" font="">
Other stuff 0%

Stacked and Packed Veggie Moussaka topped with Creamy Sauce

This was to be another new meal for the twins and as with the Pork Stew I was unsure what their reaction would be. They have not had lentils before. However as with the Pork Stew I needn't have worried, they loved the new flavours! This meal is packed with vegetables and lentils so is full of the goodness that they need plus the added fibre!

This meal contains

Organic vegetables 57% (tomatoes, aubergines, carrots, potatoes, red peppers, yellow peppers, onions)

Organic whole milk 22%
Organic vegetable stock 12%
Organic lentils 3%
Organic cheddar cheese 3%
Organic cornflour 1%
Organic garlic 1%
Organic unsalted butter <1 font="">
Organic mixed herbs <1 font="">
Other stuff 0%

Our Verdict! 

Both the twins and I loved Ella's Kitchen My Little Big Meals. The only negative comment that I would make is that the meals could do with a little bit more flavour. However these can be added to taste, so this is not something that would put me off buying them. On the contrary, I have been and purchased more as they are going to be ideal to take away on our holidays!

The Ella's Kitchen My Little BIG Meals available are:

Creamy Coconutty Chicken Curry with a sprinkle of spice

Full of Colour Chicken Paella-ella-ella

Beefy Beef Stew

Chunky Pasta Bolognese Bake

Full of Beans Pork Stew

Stacked & Packed Veggie Moussaka

We give Ella's Kitchen My Little BIG Meals a 5 stars!

 

Disclaimer: I am a Monter Mummies VIP and this review was done on behalf of Monster Mummies. We recieved the three dishes from Ella's Kitchen to try and review. The opinions and views are 100% honest.

 

For more information on Ella's Kitchen My Little BIG Meals visit

http://www.ellaskitchen.co.uk/ellas_range/my-little-big-meals/

 

Visit Monster Mummies to read reviews, news, lifestyle, blog posts and competions.



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Wednesday Words (on a Thursday!)

Yesterday was so manic I didn't get round to writing my Wednesday Words post.
I had my quote all ready but did not stop until 10pm.
That's why this week we have Wednesday Words on a Thursday!
This week is so busy with all of the Christmas preparations, run up to the end of term along with the everyday jobs and challenges that being mum brings.
I am starting to get really excited about Christmas.
The twins are going to be so much more aware of what is happening and their presents.
Joseph has got a huge surprise (his wish list from Compare4Kids)
I'm cooking my first Christmas dinner.
My hubby is going to be getting so presents that I know he is going to love!
It is just going to be a great day.
So this week I have chosen a Christmas quote.
This quote is about the magic of Christmas.

"Christmas waves a magic wand over this world,

and behold,

everything is softer and more beautiful."

Norman Vincent Peale

 

This season, everything does always seem better, I just it to continue throughout 2014.

This year has been a hard year and I hope the next is better.

Wednesday Words is hosted by Emma at Crazy With Twins. This week Emma has shared a great Christmas song!
http://www.crazywithtwins.com/2013/12/18/wednesday-words-14/

Festive Maids of Honour

My hubby loves Christmas treats and particularly loves traditional Christmas bakes.

He knows how I love trying out new bakes and putting my twist on things so we have compromised, I will bake traditional bakes as well as my new ones!

So when he asked me to make some maid of honours I knew I had to do my own style!

No traditional raspberry jam in these!

I have made 3 different filled maids of honour.

I have used homemade plum jam, cranberry sauce and marmalade.

I have not made a traditional sponge either.

I have gone for a festive spiced sponge to make them even more Christmassy!

Here is what I got...

 

Festive Maids of Honour

 

Ingredients

 

Pastry

 

165g plain flour

25g ground almonds

120g unsalted butter, chilled and diced

55g caster sugar

1 medium egg

 

Filling

 

100g baking spread

100g caster sugar

2 eggs at room temperature

100g self raising flour

1tspn mixed spice

Jam/Marmalade/Cranberry sauce

 

Method

 

1 - Put the flour, ground almonds, sugar and butter into a food processor and blitz until you have breadcrumbs

 

2 - Add the egg and blitz until it the ingredients come together

 

3 - Remove and work a little and make into ball, wrap in cling film and chill in the fridge for about 3 hours

 

4 - When your pastry is chilled roll out and cut out the bases. With this amount of pastry you should get about 24

 

Pre heat the oven to 180C

 

5 - To make you spiced sponge cream the butter then add the sugar and continue to mix until light and creamy

 

6 - Gradually add the eggs along with a little flour to prevent curdling

 

7 - Sift in the flour and mixed spice and mix until evenly combined

 

8 - In the pastry case place a teaspoon of the jam, marmalade or cranberry sauce

 

9 - Place on top of the jam a teaspoon of the cake mixture

 

10 - Place in the pre heated oven and bake for 20 - 30 minutes

 

11 - Remove from the pie tray and cool on a cooling rack

 

Once the Maids of Honor have cooled sprinkle over some icing sugar and decorate how ever you like.

These are delicious little treats and are a great, lighter alternative to mince pies.

My favourite is the cranberry Maid of Honor, I love the light sponge with the sharpness that the cranberry adds. But they are so versatile and you can add what ever fruit filling that you like.

Enjoy x

 

 

 

The Christmas Great Bloggers Bake Off is hosted by the lovely Jenny at Mummy Mishaps and Helen at The Crazy Kitchen

http://www.mummymishaps.co.uk/2013/12/christmas-great-bloggers-bake-off-berry-white-chocolate-panettone.html

http://www.thecrazykitchen.co.uk/p/the-great-bloggers-bake-off.html

Stressful Morning

What has happened to my children?

They have gone from sweet, angelic little children into little devils!!!

Since getting up this morning they have been on a mission to drive me crackers!!!

Before 7:30 Isabella had been in time out twice and Taylor was a teething grump. Then to finish the morning off, while I was getting Taylor ready to go on the school fun Isabella thought it would be fun to empty out all of her clothes and Taylor's pyjamas onto the floor!!!

Arrrrrrrr!!!
Give me a break!!!

We have started using the time out technique with the twins. I have started to put one of their chairs behind the lounge door so when they are in time out they are removed from the main area of the room, they are behind the door so they cannot see television or get any toys. I feel that the only way to really make them realise when they are doing wrong is to bore them!

We'll see how it goes.
It worked with Joseph and I think that it will work with Taylor, but little Isabella has a defiant streak so we will see!

Thankfully we had a nice walk to school and on the way home I had some chatting time with friends.
Plus making bread gave me a great way to ease my tension, kneading dough for 10 minutes it a great stress reliever!

The twins are now having their morning nap and I have had some "me" time, I have been enjoying some festive cooking programs and now I may have rethought my turkey ideas!

After lunch it is Joseph's school carol concert so it should be a lovely afternoon with lots of singing and Christmas thoughts.

Fingers crossed the terrible twosome, as they have been named this morning, will have transformed back into my little angels!

Visiting Santa's Winter Wonderland



We had a lovely day out on Saturday and took the children to see Santa's Winter Wonderland!

Every year a local garden centre creates a beautifully magical winter wonderland for the children to visit Santa.

We were not sure about taking the twins as we did not know what their reaction would be.

We knew that they would be mesmerised by the lights but as they are both very shy we were expecting tears when they saw Father Christmas.

Luckily the garden centre said that it was ok to walk the twins around the winter wonderland without actually going to see Father Christmas.

This year Joseph stills believes so we was extremely excited to see Father Christmas. The closer we got to the garden centre, I too, got excited however as we got to garden centre Taylor fell asleep!

Bless him he was flat out so we left him to sleep!

 

 

So unfortunately he missed most of the winter wonderland however Isabella was wide awake and was fascinated by all of the lights, stuffed animals and music! She loved it!

Her face was a picture as she gazed around.

 



I loved watching Joseph showing his sister the different animals and lights. He is such an attentive big brother!

I will particularly treasure my memories of Joseph's visit this year as I feel that this year may be the last year that he will believe in the magic of Father Christmas. However I do know that even if he doesn't believe anymore he will continue to help us to create the magic for the twins!

He may be growing up, admittedly quicker than I would like, but it was lovely to see him enjoying the winter wonderland and being a child!

 

 

 

Towards the end of the winter wonderland we woke Taylor up so that he didn't miss it all and made our way to the sleigh ride to Santa's grotto!

When it was our turn to see Father Christmas we realised that our double pushchair was too wide to get in! So I took Joseph in while hubby stood at the door with the twins. Isabella did start to get upset when she saw him so it was probably a good job we couldn't get them in!

When Joseph was asked what he would like for Christmas he just said "a surprise!" which I thought was such a lovely answer! So many children create huge lists asking for every single expensive item that they can think of but Joseph has said he'll be happy with a surprise!

After posing for a picture we continued to see the real reindeer while the children munched on their chocolate coins.

The chocolate coin was Taylor's favourite part, bless him!

 

We had a lovely family day out and really got into the Christmas spirit!

Halos N Horns Toothy Fruity Toothpaste Review

I recently got a tube of Halos N Horns Toothy Fruity Toothpaste to try with my 19 month old twins.

This is a product that I have not previously heard of but was immediately drawn to it thanks to the funky logo and colourful design on the tube. It certainly stands out and makes you look!

The tube is a practical stand up tube which stops the annoying times when the toothpaste gets stuck at the end!

It has a handy, easy open flip top that can easily be opened one handed. This makes life that little bit easier during the morning rush getting the children ready!

 

The twins, who often curl their noses up at minty toothpaste, love the fruity flavour of Halo N Horns Toothy Fruity. Once I have brushed their teeth I let them chew on the toothbrush and have a go at brushing themselves. Thanks to the lovely fresh fruity flavour getting the toothbrushes back from them has become a battle! They love brushing their teeth!

I noticed on the front it says that it is SLS Free. This is something that I have never heard of. I read on that back of the tube what SLS actually is, SLS is Sodium Lauryl Sulphate. I wasn’t too sure what it was for and what, if any, are the benefits of it so I decided to do some research.

Sodium Lauryl Sulphate is a synthetic detergent, or cleaning agent, and surfactant, which means it makes bubbles. I was shocked to read that it is used in industrial products such as car wash soap and floor cleaners! SLS is also an ingredient in a range of personal care products such as soaps, shampoos and toothpastes! Straight away this caused me concern as toddlers and babies do not understand that they cannot swallow toothpaste. SLS is added to soaps, bubble baths and toothpastes for its thickening effect and its ability to create bubbles. Knowing that Halo N Horns toothpaste does not contain this ingredient has won me over! Just because a product makes bubbles does not mean it works any better. Halos N Horns Toothy Fruity toothpaste also contains 1450ppmF (Parts per million Fluoride) so you know that their teeth are getting the protection that is needed.

I had a look at Halos N Horns website, which I easily found, and was excited to see that they have a wide range of children’s toiletries which I will be keen to look at in the future. I have also found which shops and supermarkets stock their products so I now know where I need to be looking. Their website has a section which explains what “nasties” have been removed. It is so refreshing to find a brand which tells us why certain chemicals, that are often used, are not too good for our little ones!

Our verdict:

Halos N Horns Toothy Fruity Toothpaste gets huge thumbs up from us! Thanks to reading the back of the tube I have done research and will now only buy toothpaste which is SLS free! The price, £2.34, is a little bit more than other children’s toothpaste but I honestly do believe that it is worth paying a bit more to have a SLS free toothpaste.

Halos N Horns is a brand that was new to me but after researching further it is, now a brand which I will trust!

 

 

 

Disclaimer: I am a Monter Mummies VIP and this review was done on behalf of Monster Mummies. We recieved a tube of Halo N Horns toothpaste to try and review. The opinions and views are 100% honest.

Visit Monster Mummies to read reviews, news, lifestyle, blog posts and competions.



http://www.monstermummies.co.uk/