#FoodieseekerFriday - Fun Around the Pool and Food!

Before we went on our holiday with Carnival one of the things that the children were looking forward to was playing in the pools. I knew that the outside areas would be where we would spend a lot of our time while onboard Vista.

The main, central hub of the ship was on deck 10 at the Beach Pool. This was where the majority of the activity was. There was a quieter pool on the same deck at the rear of this ship, Tides Pool.

This was our favourite pool. As it was a quieter pool it was ideal for the twins to become more adventurous in the water. However J spent most of the time at the Carnival Waterworks water park. This was the place for water slides, water fall and splashing fun!

J is a confident swimmer so he loves to be off. In the past Little I was the more confident in the water so I did not have any real worries but Little T, on the other hand, really was not sure. When he was smaller he did not like loud noises and seemed to have sensitive ears, he hated water being near them. As he got older he became more tolerant of water and even enjoys showers. So before we left for our holiday I got thinking about how I could make swimming more exciting for him. What would give both the twins more encouragement to get into the water. This led me to SwimFin.

#FoodieseekerFriday - Ji Ji Asian Kitchen

While we were on holiday on Carnival Vista in the summer we had the opportunity to try the speciality restaurants. Before we set sail I wrote a post about the restaurants and even selected what meals I planned to have at each location.

When it came to selecting what we would have when visiting Ji Ji Asian Kitchen I will admit to not really knowing what the dishes were on the menu. There were aspects of dishes that I recognised but all in all I knew that it would be quite a new eating experience for all of us. I also did not know what the children would want to try.

Ji Ji Asian Kitchen was the second speciality restaurant that we visited and we were well and truly in holiday mode. We decided to have our tables booked for 5.30pm when dining with the children. For families with young children this is an ideal time to dine as it is often the first sitting and the quietest time. We found that we were often one of the first families in and the service was impeccable as the restaurant was so quiet.

The staff at Ji Ji Asian Kitchen were so welcoming and interacted fantastically with the children. We were shown to our table and left to look at the menu.

While we were waiting for some drinks to arrive our waitress arrived to explain to us how the dining experience works in Ji Ji's and little bit about the foods. We were told that we would be having a true Asian style family meal. We would be selecting a variety of appetisers, entrees, sides then desserts. The dishes would be served in the middle of the table allowing everyone to dig in and try a bit of all sorts. As soon as we heard this we had a feeling that we would enjoy dining here. Before we could order we needed to decide who would be the lucky host. Ji Ji means lucky lucky and the dice would show us who the lucky host would be. The waitress rolled the dice and it came up with the number one, that was to be our lucky number. We were then told to take it in turns to roll the dice and whoever rolled a one first would be the lucky host. The dice was passed to J and he immediately rolled a one, making him the lucky host.

#FoodieseekerFriday - Green Eggs and Ham Breakfast and Fun with Dr Seuss

Hello and welcome to another FoodieseekerFriday!

This week I am excited to be telling you all about our experience with the Dr Seuss themed activities. Before we went on holiday we introduced the children to the magical world of Dr Seuss as we wanted them to be familiar with who they were going to see. This worked fantastically. The twins were so excited when they saw the Dr Seuss Bookville that is situated at the entrance to Camp Ocean, the children's club. They immediately dug into the variety of books that are available for families to read. While they were in the kids club they did take part in some Dr Seuss themed activities but I was delighted to find that the main activities were ones that the who family could enjoy together. While we were onboard Carnival Vista we indulged on the Dr Seuss breakfast of Green Eggs and Ham and reveled in the madness that was the story time, Seuss-a-Palooza, which I was one of the chosen parents to take part in telling the story of The Cat in the Hat. Today I am going to tell you all about the weird and wonderful dishes that we tucked into during the Green Eggs and Ham Breakfast and show you how we retold the story in Seuss-a-Palooza!

On our final full day onboard Vista we woke early and ventured up to the Reflections restaurant. Just the title of the breakfast left us all curious to see what culinary delights would be waiting for us. I had taken a sneaky look at the menu before we left home and so I knew that we would be experiencing a breakfast like no other. This was to be a truly unique feast.

In the words of Carnival...

 The Green Eggs and Ham Breakfast

With The Cat in the Hat and Friends

It's a mouthful when it is said,

But delicious to enjoy,

Whether you're a mom or a dad,

Or a girl or a Boy!

The menu contained a wide variety of wacky dishes that really brought out our inner child. You could start with cereals if you wanted to but we decided to skip the regular and go straight to the dishes that we had gone for! The meals on the menu included:

Do You Like Green Eggs and Ham?

"Would you, could you, on a boat? Try them while you float. Try them and you may, I say."

Truffla Tree Pancakes

"Those pancakes! Those pancakes! Stacked high as the trees. I've been searching my whole life for stacks such as these."

#FoodieseekerFriday - A Taste of Carnival Vista - Guy's Burger Joint

Welcome to this weeks FoodieseekerFriday post. This week I am sharing my first "A Taste of Carnival Vista" recipe posts. Before we even boarded Vista I knew that I wanted to rekindle the holiday magic as often as possible once home. The best way for me to do that is to recreate some of the spectacular meals that we indulged on. Carnival pride on supplying food to please everyone and they certainly do not disappoint. They provide a wide variety of dishes that change daily in the Lido self service marketplace, have their speciality restaurants and the pool side, made to order, diners.

Today I am going to tell you about one of the inclusive diners, Guy's Burger Joint. As soon as we took one bite of the epic burgers that were served here we were hooked. They were unlike any burger that we have had before! Carnival have designed an authentic burger bar with the help of American best selling author, Food Network television star and restaurateur Guy Fieri.




Guy Fieri owns a host of all American restaurants that specialise in a variety of cuisines from a good old barbecue to Mexican burritos, from American kitchen to the burger joint. So when it comes to a good, authentic burger Carnival certainly went to the man who really does know his stuff!

#FoodieseekerFriday - Our Cruise Experience

I cannot believe that it has been a week since we left Carnival Vista. As Carnival Cruise Lines Foodieseeker Family we had an incredible 8 nights onboard their newest vessel, Vista. While we were away I kept a written diary to document our journey. Today I am going to share with you the start of our experience. So many things happened during our time onboard Vista I simply cannot get it all into just one blog post. Over the coming weeks I will be telling you all about our foodie experience, the restaurants, recreating some of the cuisine that we feasted on during our holiday and sharing with you our thoughts after taking our first ever cruise and holiday abroad with the twins.

This holiday was always going to be a big step for us as a family. It was the first time that both the hubby and the twins had flown, our first holiday abroad as a family of five and our first ever cruise. After an early start we got checked in at the airport and before we knew it we were sitting on the plane waiting to take off. The twins were so excited, I really was not sure how they would find flying, especially during the take off and descent but they took it all in their stride. When we landed in Barcelona they were beginning to get tired but they kept going. When we arrived at the port in Barcelona we were awestruck but the sheer size and immensity of Vista. As we flew over the port we did catch a glimpse of her and she looked big from the skies but when we were stood next to her, she left us all gobsmacked! Once we had been cleared through all of the high level security, and checked in we were given our Sail and Sign cards. As Carnival operate with no cash on their ships all purchases and charges are logged using easy to swipe cards. When you are given your cards you have your picture taken so even if you loose your card nobody else can use it to charge to your account.

As soon as we stepped onboard we went to look at our cabins. Being a family of five we needed two cabins which were interconnecting. This gave us some much needed extra space, we were able to put the twins to bed and spend time with Joseph in the the other room. We were surprised by the size of the two cabins, I had imagined them to be smaller than they actually were. Each room comprised of two bathrooms, one with a toilet, sink and shower while the other had a mini bath with a shower over and a sink, three wardrobes/drawers for clothes storage, safe, hairdryer, desk, sitting area, table, television, beds and even some lovely mini Elemis toiletries. In the children's room there were two single beds and the settee had been made up into a third bed, while in our room we had a king size bed.

CookBlogShare Week 35 Plus a Sneak Peek at some Carnival Vista Food!

Hello and welcome to week 35 of CookBlogShare. Having been absent from the linky for two weeks it is lovely to be back. I hope that you have all had a great couple of weeks.

After our holidays I simply have not had time to cook let alone write a recipe. So for this weeks linky I thought that I would share with you four sneaky peeks of just some of the meals that we enjoyed while onboard Carnival Vista. As you can probably imagine the food was fantastic and we were always full! There was so much to choose from and even now I am realising that there were places that we missed. I am going to be sharing more posts over the coming weeks telling you all about the food that we enjoyed as well as what we got up to during our cruise. But to get your taste buds going I thought that I would share with you today a bit of a taster of the speciality restaurants that we visited.

Weekly Meal Plan - The Carnival Cruise Edition

This weeks meal plan is certainly going to be the most exciting meal plan that I have written to date. This weeks meal plan is brought to you via Carnival Vista!

Finally, our holiday with Carnival has arrived and I cannot wait to tell you all about the foodie delights that can be found on board Vista. Being their Foodieseeker Blogger gives me the perfect excuse to explore what food there will be on offer.

This week we have got some meals pre booked which I will tell you about in my meal plan. The other days we will be quite spontaneous and decide what to eat when meal time arrives. I am looking forward to having a week off from cooking and house work. It is going to be lovely having someone else do all of the hard work for me!

I have written a list of restaurants that we would like to visit. I just hope that we manage to visit them all! Check out the list:

• Seafood Shack
• Blue Iguana Cantina (Mexican cuisine)
• Gut's Burger Joint
• Lido Buffet
• Horizons Dining
• Fat Jimmy's C-Side BBQ
• Bonsai Sushi
• Mongolian Wok
• Pizzaria del Capitano
• Room Service

Last week we visited the Italian speciality restaurant Cucina del Capitano and Ji-Ji Asian Kitchen which I will be telling you all about once we are home.

This is what we will be enjoying this week thanks to Carnival...

#FoodieseekerFriday - Our Carnival Journey So Far and Expectations!

Over the last eleven months we have been counting down to our holiday on board Carnival Vista and now the time for us to enjoy this amazing vessel has arrived. For today's Foodieseeker Friday I thought that I would look back over the last eleven months and reflect on our Carnival journey so far.

Back in June 2015 I met the lovely Carnival team while at my first BritMums Live conference in London. I nearly did not apply to be an ambassador as I honestly believed that I would not get selected. But on the second day of the conference I went and had a look and after speaking to Carnival's Lucy I decided to have a go, at the end of the day I had nothing to loose, did I! So I filled in the application form and kind of forgot about it. That was until I received an email that had had the title of...

"Winner! Carnival Cruise Line Fun Seeking Family Competition"

I sat down before opening the email. I simply could not believe that we had been selected as their Foodieseeker Family! Keeping it a secret was so hard but I was over the moon when I could finally make the big announcement on my blog. At that time Vista was still being built and we had the pleasure of following her development. Watching Carnival's videos on their You Tube channel as the development progressed have only added to our excitement. It has been a privilege to watch her go from the ship building yard to water, from completion to her launch.

#FoodieseekerFriday - What To Pack!

Now that we are getting closer and closer to our holiday my mind is constantly thinking about what we need to take with us. What I will need, what the hubby will need and what all three kids will need. What they will need to occupy them on the plane and what they will need on the ship.

I will admit to getting stressed before we go on holiday. I am fine once we have left home but the build up to leaving can leave me quite stressed and anxious. So to help alleviate the stress I make lists for everything. Now we are really getting closer I have actually got items on my "things to buy" list ticked off at last. Clothes wise we are all sorted we just need to added extras.

Today I thought that I would share with you my top must haves when going on holiday...

#FoodieseekerFriday - Seuss at Sea and Fun for the Kids

For this weeks Foodieseeker Friday post I thought I would tell you all about the children's activities. As I am sat writing this I have two excited twins telling me to click here and there! To prepare the children for the Dr Seuss adventure on board Carnival Vista they already have Dr Seuss teddies and books so they are already familiar characters. In true Carnival style there are so many Dr Seuss themed activities, including the legendary Green Eggs and Ham!

The Green Eggs and Ham Breakfast with the cat in the hat and friends is going to be a breakfast like no other. The dining area will be brightly decorated and filled with all of the fun of Dr Seuss.

The menu makes this a truly unique breakfast. The menu is full of classic Dr Seuss style poems to describe the culinary delights that await, such as...

• Do You Like Green Eggs and Ham? "Would you, could you, on a boat? Try them while you float. Try them and you may, I say."
• Scrambled Super-Dee Dooper-dee-Booper, Special de luxe a-la Peter T Hooper Omelette's "We'll crack'em and shuck'em and chuck'em in pans. We'll mix in some beans and use fifty five cans. We'll mix in whatever you wish; feel free to create your own stupendous egg dish."
• Truffula Tree Pancakes "Those pancakes! Those pancakes! Stacked high as the trees. I've been searching my whole life for stacks such as these!"
• From There to Here, From Here to There, Funny Belgian Waffles are Everywhere "One berry, two berry, red berry, blue berry. Waffles with whipped cream, waffles without. Just tell us which one; no need to shout."
• Fox in Socks Steak and Eggs "Don't blab such blibber blubber! Try to say filet mignon topped with two fried eggs, Bearnaise sauce, chopped potatoes and grilled tomatoes. Now is your tongue numb?" 

Foodieseeker Friday - All About the Food and Drink!

Being the Foodieseeker Blogger for Carnival Cruise has meant that I have spent a lot of time looking at what food Vista will have to offer. I have already told you about the places to eat on Vista but today I thought that I would tell you about what meals I am looking forward to tasting!

We now have our tables booked to visit three of Carnival Vista's speciality restaurants Cucina del Capitano, Ji Ji Asian Kitchen and Fahrenheit 555 Steakhouse. You may remember that in April I told you about Cucina del Capitano and made my own version of Nonna's Linguine and Meatballs so this is a meal that I will definitely be ordering when we visit.

As I am terrible at ordering when in a restaurant I have decided that a bit of forward planning is needed. I simply cannot make my mind up when faced with so many delicious meals to choose from. I am known for taking a long time to decided and for changing my mind!

The first speciality restaurant that we will be visiting is Cucina del Capitano. As we all love Italian food I just know that we are going to love eating there. I have looked at the menu in the past but have revisited it and am planning to order:

• Appetiser - Antipasti - This is a favourite dish of ours, we love to start a meal with breads and olives so this will be a must have!
• Entrees - Nonna's Linguine and Meatballs - I cannot wait to try this dish, especially after I cooked how I imagined it to taste!
• Dessert - Magic Tiramisu - In my mind tiramisu is the ultimate Italian dessert and Vista's Cucina del Capitano's tiramisu sounds amazing!
• I am planning to accompany the meal with a glass of Cucina Chianti

Foodieseeker Friday - Making Plans

From now until the big departure I will be posting a weekly Foodieseeker Friday post. We are now counting down the sleeps until we go.

Now that the holiday is getting closer I am thinking more and more about what we will need for our holiday. Being a family of five, and someone who does not pack lightly, I have a feeling that my lists are going to be long. But it is going to be important that I remember the holiday extras such as sun hats, sun cream and swimming aids for the twins. So far I have got the sun protection sorted and swimming aids are due to arrive. I will be telling you all about them in a future Foodieseeker Friday post!

Today I thought that I would tell you a bit about our accommodation on Carnival Vista and activities that we are most looking forward to.

Having children with a big age gap it was important that we would be able to have connecting rooms. This is exactly what the Ocean View Staterooms offer. So we will have the three children in one room and us adults in the other. This will enable us to let the twins go to bed before J and have their own space. It is important that J has this time with us in the evening as the twins do tend to take over.

#FoodieseekerFriday The Vista Countdown!

In just over two months we will be stepping on board Carnival Cruise newest and most impressive vessel Vista. I still cannot believe that we are going and do not think I will fully accept that this dream is going to become a reality until we are actually there, in the port looking up at her. Just thinking about it my tummy starts to go over with excitement.

Last month Vista's big launch day arrived and she took her maiden voyage and since then she has been impressing her guests. Carnival's vision has become a reality and I am in awe of what they have created. Just watch this video for yourself!

As you know we are the Foodieseeker Family and during our stay on Carnival Vista I am going to share with you all the food and drink that she has to offer! Which I can tell you is a lot! There are so many different places to eat and drink on Vista! They are:

Foodieseeker Friday - Meatballs Carnival Style

This week we have enjoyed our first Foodieseeker meal. You may remember in previous Foodieseeker posts I have said that I am going to be recreating some of the dishes from the Carnival Vista dining menus. I started this feature by looking at the menu from Cucina del Capitano. We love Italian food and this is one of the restaurants (one of many!) that I am looking forward to visiting.

This is how Carnival describe Cucina del Capitano...

"Say arrivederci to ordinary and ciao to an exciting dining experience at the restaurant that pays homage to our unique heritage. Italian-American dishes inspired by the recipes from our Italian captains’ and officers’ childhoods are served up family-style in a comfy, eclectic environment decorated like an Italian country home. Vintage images of our captains and ships adorn the walls, and there’s even a Captain’s table where you just might see the man himself dine."

Doesn't it sounds fantastic!

After examining the menu and changing my mind on what to cook quite a few times I eventually decided to make my own interpretation of Nonna's Linguine and Meatballs. We all love meatballs, especially the children so I thought that this would be the ideal recipe to introduce them to some of the types of meals that we will be able to enjoy whilst on Carnival's newest vessel, Vista. Vista will be embarking on her maiden voyage in just over a week which I am so excited about and will no doubt have an exciting post to write about the event!

Anyway, back to today's recipe. This is how Nonna's Linguine and Meatballs is described on the menu...

"Handmade with olive oil sauteed garlic and onion, baked with fresh mozzarella, served over linguine al dente with the Captains tomato sauce."

Now that I had the idea of what to expect it was time to get cooking. This is what I did..

Foodieseeker Friday - Dreaming About Afternoon Tea on Carnival Vista

Now that we are down to just four months to go until we embark on our once in a lifetime family holiday I am thinking more and more about what food we will be enjoying while away.

A few weeks ago I travelled down to London to meet with the lovely Carnival ladies and my fellow Carnival Family bloggers. I have got to admit that this was my first afternoon tea and wow, we were in for a treat!

We met up at the luxurious, 5 star hotel, The Berkeley Hotel in Knightsbridge, London to experience their exquisite Pret a Portea fashionista themed afternoon tea. Each of the delicately decorated treats are based on key items from the autumn winter catwalk.

12th March - 18th March 2016 - One Picture Everyday for One Week

This week has been a strange week. The days have sort of mingled together. The hubby has been at home so we have both been out of routine but it has been nice and a bit of down time was needed. But from Thursday my work head was back on and looking towards the future.

This week has seen a lot of cooking, a coffee date, time with the hubby and a day out in London!

Here is my week in pictures..

Saturday 12th March 2016

I feel honoured to have been approached by the Children's Food Trust and asked to promote their Big Cookathon that is being run on 22nd April until 25th April. The Big Cookathon is being run to promote more families to cook from scratch at home. I made the vegetarian dish on Saturday and will be writing more about it next week.

Sunday 13th March 2016

The only pictures that I took on Sunday were of review products. These delicious raw bites from Bioglan will be on my shopping list from now on!

Foodieseeker Family Fun Day

Now that the countdown is well and truly on for our amazing holiday with Carnival Cruise they thought that it would be a great idea for us, as a family, to go out and enjoy some Italian food to really get us in the holiday mood. One of the restaurants that I am most looking forward to trying while on board Carnival Vista has to be the Italian restaurant Cucina del Capitano. What better way to get an idea of what the food will be like than for us to visit Prezzo Italian restaurant.

As Carnival Vista is still being built I thought that I would show you a video of what Cucina del Capitano looks like on their Breeze vessel. 

FoodieSeeker Friday - Carnival Vista Countdown!

Ok, it is official, the cruise excitement has well and truly begun! It is now less that 200 days until we set sail on Carnival Cruise's brand new liner for 2016, Vista! To say that I am excited is a slight understatement!

Preparation for the big holiday has really begun. Our passport photographs have been taken, our forms have been completed and they are ready to go in the post. If I am completely honest I still cannot believe that this is happening. This is going to be a dream trip come true. Italy is a country that I have always wanted to visit and I never thought that we would be going on a cruise together as a family.

As you probably know, Vista is Carnivals newest vessel. At the moment it is in the indoor preparation phase and soon to be going to sea trials. Then in April it will be delivered and ready to set sail with guests! Now that the vessel is almost ready we have got thinking about excursions.

When we set sail in the summer we will be going from Barcelona to Messina, Sicily Italy to Naples, Campri and Pompeii Italy to Rome, Civitavecchia Italy to Livorno, Florence and Pisa Italy to Marseilles France to Palma de Mallorca, Spain and back to Barcelona. As I type these destinations I am getting so excited. These are paces which I have wanted to visit for a long time. I used to live in Spain but I have never visited Barcelona. It has always been a must see for me as has Italy. So knowing that we will have the opportunity to spend time in these places certainly has got me thinking as to what we can do.

Whatever we decided to do will have to be child friendly. It has been a dream of mine to visit the Vatican, but unfortunately I do not think that this holiday will be the time to visit. The twins will only be four and will not thoroughly appreciate where we are. After all, they are children at the end of the day, so whatever we decide to do must be family friendly. As most children. the twins always need toilet stops and often want to do their own thing. So when it has come to excursions the ones that let you do as you want, in your own time certainly have been our preferred option. I envision us exploring the town or city where we are, the five of us, showing our children new cultures and simply taking in the atmosphere and discovering authentic places to eat. Who could possibly visit Italy without eating some authentic pizza, pasta and of course their tirimisu dessert!

When I sat and looked at the excursions that Carnival offer for our holiday I was amazed to see that they will be doing a whopping 75 excursions over the 8 days!

How will we be able to narrow it down?

There are so many places that I want to see and visit. I thought that today I would tell you about the tours that I think would be best suited to us as a family with an older child and smaller twins. Having children with a 7 year age gap it is essential that we do activities that please everyone and I truly believe that Carnival will definitely have what we are looking for!

Here are my favourite excursions that will be available...

Slimmerseeker Thursday Week 4

January is over and that means that my Slimmerseeker journey has been going now for 1 month. This week has seen my fourth weigh in. It was not what I had hope but, not all bad!

This week my healthy, clean eating has continued. After last week, I found that I have been enjoying my meals so much more. I have cut out the majority of dairy products, I cannot cut out cheese completely, I love it too much, but have made it my treat food, I am not eating bread and have not had meat. This is not due to ethical beliefs, but just a health belief. I feel healthier eating more meat free meals but will still enjoy meat, as a treat and will only eat the best quality of meat that has been reared organically.

I will admit to not getting my exercise regime up and running again. Since having a week off I have found it hard to find the motivation to get back to doing it everyday. However I am going to my weekly keep fit class and am walking the school run a lot more. 

This week I have started to notice a few changes in how some of my clothes are fitting. Trousers are becoming looser around the waist, some tops are feeling baggier and I can do up gilet again. Last year I was suffering with my back and as my weight is reducing I am noticing less pain which means I am finally not using morphine patches for the pain and have significantly reduced the amount of pain killers that I am taking. Loosing weight certainly is having a huge effect on my body and well being. So after one month I can see that I am going in the right direction.

Before I tell you how the scales went for me this week let me tell you a bit about the posts that were shared last week...

Slimmerseeker Thursday Week 3

This week has seen my third weigh in to see if I am loosing weight and improving my health. I have noticed quite a few changes this week in how I am feeling towards food and what I am putting into my body.

Last week I bought Delicious Ella's new book and found so many delicious recipes. That is how this weeks meal plan began. After reading all of the health benefits from a cleaner way of eating I decided to give it a go for a week. This is something that I have wanted to try for a while and after reading the book it gave me the urge to go for it.

Today is day 4 of my clean, vegan diet and I am surprised to be able to say that I am loving it! I have never enjoyed each and every meal as I am at the moment. I actually look forward to breakfasts, they have become my favourite meal. I wait to have my breakfast until the children are at school then I sit in peace and quiet and enjoy! This week my Slimming World eating plan has been put on hold to see what my weigh in will be like on Monday. I know that avocados and nuts have a high syn content but I have been eating them as they contain "good" fats and are a part of a balanced vegan diet so I have been eating them, and enjoying them! How this will effect my weight loss is yet to be seen. But I am enjoying my food and feeling great and am not missing meat and processed foods at all!

Before I go on and tell you about this weeks weigh in. I want to say thank you to the people who joined in with Slimmerseeker Thursday last week. Here is a quick round up of what was shared...