Christmas Chocolates and an Advent-ure Heroes Calendar with Cadbury

Who doesn't love chocolate at Christmas? It is this time of year that you can get away with eating just one more. So when I was asked if we would like to try some of the new Christmas products that Cadbury were bringing out how could I resist?

I received a delicious box full of family favourites, including:

• Special edition Help the Heroes tin of Heroes
• Cadbury's classic dairy milk collection
• Oreo tree decorations
• Mini fudge cracker
• Dairy Milk father Christmases
• Snowballs
• Snow bites

With a tin of Heroes in the house you know that there is going to be a chocolate treat that everyone will enjoy. My favourite has to the the classic collection of Dairy Milk bars, that even come in the original design of packaging!

Pheasant and Prosciutto Ragu and Homemade Gnocchi

A few weeks ago I was asked if I would like to enter a cooking competition by creating a recipe that uses Prosciutto di San Daniele and Grana Padano cheese. Unfortunately I did not win, but I did create a delicious recipe and even made my know gnocchi, hence why I am sharing it today!

I decided to create a recipe that embraces the origin of both Grana Padano and Prosciutto di San Daniele. After doing some research I found that gnocchi is a popular dish in that area so I knew that it would be a perfect addition to the meal. Instead of buying some gnocchi I decided to make my own and was delighted with the results. Ragu is a firm favourite in our house but I wanted to make it extra special so I decided to use pheasant, which is in season at the moment. The rich game flavours complimented the prosciutto perfectly and combined with the tomato ragu, cooked with red wine we were left with a rich, full of flavour meal. I served this meal with a bottle of Collio Rosso red wine which is also from the same region and finished the meal off perfectly. When it came to sourcing the Collio Rosso we did struggle until we came across Bat and Bottle who specialise in Italian wines.

3 Reasons Why You Are Sleepy After Eating Lunch - Guest Post

Ever found yourself back at your desk after lunch desperately trying to hide a mega yawn from your boss?

Don’t even answer that. We already know what you are going to say yes. The post lunch sleepy feeling is universal. If it wasn’t the Spanish would’ve never invented the siesta now would they?

But why does it happen? You may have had a great night’s sleep, free from any bad dreams, and woken feeling great the next morning. But without fail after lunch the sleep feeling slowly begins to kick in. What a nightmare!

Well, if you’d like to know why, please read on and we will give you three of the top reasons. And don’t worry it’s perfectly normal.

Weekly Meal Plan - #MealPlanningMonday

Hello and welcome to week 48 of MealPlanningMonday.

We are now on the countdown to Christmas, four weeks today we will be feasting, drinking and spending quality time with our family. For once we are all ready and prepared for Christmas and are looking forward to a couple of weeks at home. Now that the countdown is on I am starting to think about foodie treats. I know that I am a bit late, but I have got a Christmas cake to make, all of the ingredients are in so I am good to go. I was going to make it last weekend but a cold struck so I did not get up to much over the weekend. This year I am basing our cake on a recipe that I found in Nigel Slater's The Christmas Chronicles. It is a cake that is full of more than just raisins and sultanas and I am really looking forward to making (and eating) it!

As I was feeling under the weather the hubby cooked a delicious meal using one of our favourite meats, pheasant. We love this time of year as it is game season, he cooked the breasts wrapped in bacon. I have shared the recipe in the past but it is always so much better when someone else cooks for you!

Last week I told you about a new recipe and giveaway well I am pleased to say that the post and giveaway is now live! Please head on over and have a look at my Smoke Dust Chilli and Nifty Kitchen giveaway post and enter!

Now on to this weeks meal plan. This is what we will be enjoying this week...

Smoke Dust Chilli and Nifty Kitchen Giveaway!

I love adding herbs and spices to dishes but sometime I like to be able to grab a jar, or bag, with them already mixed to perfection for me. So when one of the owners from the Nifty Kitchen asked me if I would like to try some of their spice mixes I knew that it would be a product that I would love.

Nifty Kitchen produce three pre mixed spice packs:

• Magic Dust - This mix is made up of paprika, chilli powder, cumin, garlic, pink salt, light muscovado sugar, mustard, black pepper and cayenne pepper.
• Smoke Dust - Ideal for smokey dishes, full of smoked paprika, light muscovado sugar, pink salt, garlic, black pepper, mustard, cumin and ginger.
• Devil Dust - I will admit that I have not tried this one yet, but this is one for the hot spice lovers, mixed with hot paprika, chilli powder, cayenne pepper, garlic, cumin, pink salt, light muscovado sugar, black pepper and mustard.

Today I am going to share a meal that was a huge success in our house, everyone had seconds and it has been requested again. Best of all this is a great one pot meal that is perfect for a busy midweek dinner. The magic dust made spice mixing a doddle, all I needed was the bag of spices, there was no time spent trying to get the perfect combination. With these mixes all of the hard work is already done!

This is what I did...

Weekly Meal Plan - #MealPlanningMonday

Hello and welcome to #MealPlanningMonday!

Last weeks meal plan was a huge success, I made every meal that was planned except for the sausage casserole. However as it was planned for the weekend I am happy as I know that we often change our minds by the end of the week. We had been out and as I had already got the sausages the casserole became a good old grilled breakfast. We had sausages, bacon, eggs, mushrooms and beans and it was so good!

When I was doing our shopping last week there were plenty of offers on fresh meat so I have got a freezer full of lovely meats. I did spend more than I had planned but when meat or fish is reduced I do tend to stock up as it will save us money in the long run.

Last week I had a really productive week with blog posts. I shared how I like to make my soup extra special with Cully and Sully Soup, I shared a great infographic all about how to select the best olive oil and the CookBlogShare was as busy as ever! 

This weeks meal plan is going to be full of comforting meals that are perfect for this time of year.

This is what we will be enjoying this week...