Blog - Munchies and Munchkins

The Week (and a bit) That Was…4

May 27, 2015 · by munchiesandmunchkins · Leave a Comment

I’m a little late with my week that was post, mainly because we have had such a crazy week and a half so this is all about the last ten or eleven days..

What We’ve Been Doing…

It’s been a really, really busy time. First up was my birthday and I was spoilt..really spoilt by my family. A meal at a gorgeous local restaurant. I had a Zatchel ( something I’ve been lusting over for ages ) a new desk chair, a Kilner dispenser, food styling bits..candles..lots and lots of goodies and of course birthday cuddles with the girls.

We spent Saturday night in Birmingham Hilton Metropole as part of a blog review where we had a delicious afternoon tea and met lots of furry people.. There was a convention on!

We visited Alton Towers the following day for a very special birthday party – The In The Night Garden Birthday Party.

We met some special friends and enjoyed the experience although not the huge queues for the rides!

The girls were brilliant on the long car journeys – thankfully we had Peppa Pig and In The Night Garden DVDs on hand to while away the boredom! Although Chloe did throw up 10 minutes into our journey to Birmingham which wasn’t much fun for anyone.

On that note her health hasn’t been great this week, she’s alternated being vomiting and crying most nights and it’s awful to still see her in pain. Hoping this week is the week we get answers. Izzy on the other hand has had a ball on our trips and spending time with her cousins enjoying the half term holidays.

On Monday still exhausted from our weekend we headed to The Vale Resort for a much needed relaxing break. We were truly spoilt by both the surroundings and the staff. You will hear more about our stay over the coming weeks.

What I’m Reading..

I’m re reading Jodi Picoult Sing You Home – it’s an ok read, I didn’t finish it last time so it’s clearly not an on the edge of your seat book but it’s interesting and I’m almost done.

I’ve also been slowly re reading a years worth of Jamie Oliver magazines as I love them so.

What I’m Watching..

I haven’t really watched much of anything this week.. Some bits of Greys Anatomy and a few hours of Cbeebies zzzzzzzzz but nothing of note.. Orange Is The New Black returns in a few weeks though..woop.

What I’m Wearing..

Ha I got you there didn’t I? I’m not about to become a fashion blogger don’t worry.. I wouldn’t have much success there but I’m loving that it’s finally ( almost ) getting warm enough to go without socks..bye bye boots, hello flip flops, skater shoes and all my flats! Yay.

What I’ve Been Eating..

Lots of food I haven’t cooked myself.. Afternoon tea and dinner at the Hilton, Party food at Alton Towers and more dinner/breakfast and snacks at The Vale Resort. I’ve barely turned my oven on and I am missing it!

Although I can’t say I haven’t enjoyed being waited on and oops did I forget we also went to Cowbridge Food Festival and I had this amazing meatball grinder from Hangfire Smokehouse:

And drank..

These Berry and Banana smoothies..

And this Mello Juice which is so delicious!

News:

Not much news but lots of exciting things coming up on the blog so watch this space…

InstaSpam

May 27, 2015 · by munchiesandmunchkins · 1 Comment

I have a secret to share. It’s not really a secret. In fact you probably knew before I admitted it to myself. I’m obsessed with Instagram. I am in fact an Instaspammer.

Are you an Instaspammer? Do you find yourself itching to take a photo of every meal you take, every funny/cute/weird thing that you see and then share it with the world? Yes. Well read on and decide for yourself.

Have you in the last month:

1. Shared a photo of your breakfast?

TICK.

2. Shared 10+ photos of your child and/or pets.

TICK.

3. Shared a photo of an item of clothing.

TICK.

4. Shared a photo of a glass of wine/cocktail or beer.

TICK.

5. Shared a photo of a cup of tea/coffee/hot chocolate.

TICK.

6. Shared a photo of chocolate and/or cake.

7. Shared a photo of flowers or trees.

TICK.

8. Shared a photo of your child or partner or you..sleeping.

TICK.

If you tick 5 or more of the above then you are in fact an instaspammer. Don’t worry it’s not a bad thing, some of my favourite people are instaspammers. And don’t let anybody tell you it’s weird to know exactly what certain people eat each meal of the day or what outfit they are wearing..ok put like that it does sound a bit odd but I can’t deny it anymore. I’m an Instagram addict and worse I’m an Instaspammer myself.

BBC Good Food Show Summer Ticket Giveaway

May 26, 2015 · by munchiesandmunchkins · 24 Comments

It’s that time of year again..yes in a few weeks it will be time to get your shopping bags ready, expanding waistline trousers and your comfiest shoes and head on over to the NEC for the BBC Good Food Summer Show 2015.

Today I’m sharing a little bit of info about this years show and a sneak peek of what I’m looking forward to the most. Make sure you read all the way to the bottom of the page for your chance to win one of 5 pairs of tickets to the show.

Celebrity Chef Line Up:

Tom Kerridge
Mary Berry
John Torode
James Martin
The Greedy Italians
Michel Roux Jr
John Whaites
Jo Wheately

And more….

New Features:

Lakeland interview stage – a place to ask your favourite chefs the questions you are dying to know the answer to.

French Goats Cheese Feature – an interactive area where you can find out all you need to know about goat cheese.

Met et Vigne French Market – the best in French food and drink in a bustling marketplace.

Old Favourites:

BBC Good Food Champions – find out about the producers we think are really flying the Good Food Flag such as Urban Herbs and Flapjackery.

Ludlow Producer Market – an area with a food market style, the best local produce from Ludlow and the Marches.

Producers Bursary Award Winners – see this years winners: Blackberry Cottage, Chazwinkles and Gregor’s Umami Dressings in this area of the show.

What I’m looking forward to:

I’ve been to 4 ( possibly more) shows now and loved each one. It’s a pretty exciting place for any food lover. This year I’m really looking forward to seeing Tom Kerridge in action as I love him a little bit. I’m hoping I get to say a quick hello to him too? A bit much to ask maybe .. Well I did get to chat to Paul Hollywood and The Hairy Bikers last year and a sneaky photo opp with Mary Berry.

I’m excited to meet the Bursary winners, the GFS champions and all of other brands on offer at the show. I want to try funny flavoured vodkas and chocolate truffles..eat pastries and cheese and taste all the oils. Looking forward to going home afterwards and sorting through my goodies and coming up with new recipes on the back of it. To being inspired by the chefs I love. To all the FOOD.

Now onto the most exciting part, you could win a pair of tickets to the show. Just enter my very simple rafflecopter form. Be sure to read the terms and conditions too.

And..if you aren’t a lucky winner you can get 15% off using the discount code BL15 up until the day of the show.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

* I am an official blogger for the BBC Good Food Show and as such I receive a press pass to each show.

Slow Cooker Golden Syrup Suet Pudding

May 22, 2015 · by munchiesandmunchkins · 13 Comments

My second most popular blog post EVER is for a microwave suet pudding that I made on a gloomy afternoon about two years ago. The photos on the post are terrible. The pudding however is awesome and it seems a lot of people search for this recipe!

I decided today to give it a whirl in the Slow Cooker and I’m happy to say it worked. I didn’t take any fabulous photos of the process yet again…sorry.

You will need:

100ml of Lyles golden syrup
50g of Suet
50g of caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract/paste
125g of Self Raising flour
1 large egg
100ml of semi skimmed milk

Grease a small Pyrex bowl well. Place 60ml of golden syrup in the bottom of the bowl. Mix together your suet, sugar and flour. Beat the egg, milk and vanilla together in a jug. Combine the dry and wet ingredients. Pour half of the mixture on top of the syrup and then add the remaining syrup and top with the remaining mixture. Place in your slow cooker and turn on high for 2 hours 15 minutes. Check if it’s done, mine was done at this point. Remove carefully and turn out onto a plate.

Serve whilst still hot with lashings of custard.

Delicious.

Berry & Banana Smoothies – My First Vlog

May 22, 2015 · by munchiesandmunchkins · 4 Comments

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #CollectiveBias

Arrgghh so today is my first Vlog.. Judging by how nervous I was making it ..it’s possibly my last. We shall see! I used my camera from my Iphone 4S to make these short videos of me making a berry & banana smoothie. I’ve made this recipe a few times as I always buy fruits such as bananas when they are reduced to clear and dice them and freeze in bags ready to blend. Adding the berries stops it becoming overpowered by the banana flavour and you can’t even taste the carrot or spinach so perfect for little ones who moan about veggies. My children love it.

I often use my phone to take images of my food because sometimes I only get a few seconds to do it.. Children aren’t exactly happy to wait while you stage the perfect shot and set up your proper camera so most of the photos you see on here and all of the photos you see on Instagram are from my phone.

Anyway without further ado here is a short video telling you what is in the smoothie:

Before you watch… Yes I know I say chopped, diced banana.. I meant frozen chopped banana..

Whats In The Smoothie?

The second video shows the end result and I managed to cut off the end of what I was saying which was that you could pop the leftovers into a lolly mould as they make fabulous lollies.

How Did It Turn Out?

So I have a lot to learn about vlogging BUT I think for a first attempt it wasn’t too bad. Now I just have to learn how to stop cringing every time I hear my own voice on video.. Any tips?

Do you use your camera phone to take videos?

Its worth noting that I haven’t got the most up to date model on my phone, in fact I’ve had it for a few years now and I bought it second hand but it works perfectly well. I love the fact that I can use it to take Instagram shots so they can be heavily filtered if I need them to be .. Most days right now to cover my huge eye bags! I use it to capture funny moments with the girls. Izzy in particular loves the front facing camera to take a selfie of herself with her dolls 😉

I’ve currently got 3,300 photos stored on my phone – wow I think it’s probably time for a clear out!

Both girls enjoying their smoothies..I popped Chloe’s into a cup with a closed top..for my sanity.

Eat, Sleep & Spa Breaks At The Vale Resort

May 21, 2015 · by munchiesandmunchkins · Leave a Comment

We have recently been invited to review a stay at The Vale Resort. The Vale is a beautiful hotel nestled in the Vale of Glamorgan:

Set within 650 acres of beautiful Welsh countryside, the resort has first class spa and golf facilities as well as fabulous restaurant and bar choices. I’m especially looking forward to The Vale Grill and the Salamanza champagne bar. Our break which would normally cost from £99 per person includes dinner, breakfast and a spa treatment. Trying to decide now what treatment to have….facial or massage?

Then there’s the menu…Wild Mushroom and Thyme Arancini or a Trio of Lamb perhaps? Ah how will I decide??

Check back in a few weeks to see what we thought.

The Week That Was #3

May 17, 2015 · by munchiesandmunchkins · Leave a Comment

It’s been a long week. A hard week. Last weekend we started Chloe on her medicines to prepare her body for the procedures she was due to have on Monday. Saturday was ok but Sunday was really difficult, she was miserable and hungry and sore. I would have swapped places with her in an instant. Monday morning dragged. Chloe was so fed up and we were all stressed and worried about the afternoons procedure. She actually dealt with it all so well.

I’ll tell you more about how it went again but for now it’s enough to say that she is ok and we are waiting for results. That night Chloe actually slept for the first time in a long time.. Pity it was only because of the anaesthesia and the ordeal her little body had been through. The rest of the week she has again slept very poorly and been out of sorts. Fingers crossed we get results soon.

What we did: We haven’t done an awful lot this week but we have managed a few strolls, some visits to great grandparents and I popped to London for an amazing event with Panasonic and Rachel Allen at the end of the week: This rather cool funghi infested tree we spotted on a walk: Cuddles with great grandad: In the Ideas Kitchen with Panasonic & Rachel Allen:

What We Ate/Drank: Hassleback Potatoes with Herby Lamb: Mojito Fizz from Marks & Spencer:

Dulce De Leche Brownies – made by Rachel Allen:

Fruit & veg smoothies ..to make myself feel better about the over indulgences: Lamb Sausages tucked inside brioche buns:

What I read: I’ve started re reading Me Before You by Jojo Moyes. This incredibly sad but uplifting book is definitely worth a read. I also read a great article about Stephen Fry and mental health in All About Health magazine.

What I watched: I’m still watching Greys Anatomy and I’ve also watched the movie Chef again. I love films about food. Julie and Julia is my favourite but Chef is pretty good too.

News: Really exciting blog news again this week with an invite to spend a day at River Cottage in September and a review break with Forest holidays coming up later in the month.

Off On An Adventure…With Forest Holidays

May 16, 2015 · by munchiesandmunchkins · Leave a Comment

In a few weeks we are off to the Forest of Dean to review a break at a gorgeous cabin amongst the trees courtesy of Forest Holidays. In preparation for our stay I am of course spending many evenings exploring the website, reading reviews and looking at all of the gorgeous photos of the quite frankly beautiful area of Gloucester.

Forest Holidays offer the freedom of the forest with simple luxury in stunning locations – sounds good right?

I have grand ideas about what we want to do while we are there and they mostly involve.. Bike rides..picnics..bug hunting..reading books.. exploring the forest and ended every day in the hot tub with a good glass of wine. There are lots of things you can do if you want to be active such as forest ranger experiences, bike hire and plenty you can do if you just want to relax.. with a hot tub outside each cabin, spa treatments which can be carried out without you having to step out of your lounge and wood burners just perfect for lounging next to with a book.

Every aspect of the holiday looks just idyllic and we can’t wait to go. Above all I’m excited to see the girls away from screens and electronic toys and enjoying the freedom of the forest. I’m also hoping all the fresh air and running around tires them out so we can get a good nights sleep tucked up in these beds.

Expect to hear lots about our stay and maybe even see some video footage of Izzy and Chloe telling you all about their favourite parts of the stay.

Chocolate Fudge Cookies

May 15, 2015 · by munchiesandmunchkins · 9 Comments

I love making cookies. They are deeply comforting and fairly easy to make, the dough tends to freeze well so you can make a few batches ahead of time and pull out when the time comes when you just NEED a cookie now. Oh you could plan to do that and just end up baking them all in one go.. Oops.

These fudge cookies came about when I had a leftover stash of Baileys Chocolate Fudge after making a Baileys Cream Pie last month. I know …leftover fudge. I can’t imagine how I didn’t just eat it all in one go.

Anyway I had this leftover fudge and decided to use it in my usual cookie recipe instead of the chocolate chips and wow it was delicious. These are soft, crumbly, gooey cookies. Proper cookies in my book. I hate cookies that have the same texture as biscuits.

You could use any type of fudge here but I used dark chocolate fudge flavoured with Baileys, you can find the recipe for this here.

Chocolate Fudge Cookies

You will need:

100g Chocolate fudge (chilled and cut into small cubes)
100g Butter ( softened)
75g soft brown sugar
30ml of golden syrup ( I’ve also used maple )
175g Self Raising Flour
25ml of milk

Preheat your oven to 180/gas mark 4.

Cream your butter and sugar together. Add your flour, fudge, milk and syrup and mix well. Using your hands ( easiest way I find ) put small dollops of the mixture onto a greased and lined baking tray. This makes about 12-14 large cookies but you could make smaller ones or bigger ones of course. Bake for about 8-9 mins. These do bake fairly quickly and can burn easily so keep a close eye, they will still be very soft when you take them out of the oven so carefully place onto a wire tray to cool.

Enjoy.

Some of my fellow food bloggers have great biscuit and cookie recipes, check out their links below:

Choc Berry Bakewell Crackles
Middle Eastern Shortbread Cookies
Chocolate Chip Skillet Cookies
Matcha Spelt Choc Chip Cookies
Chocolate Melting Moments
Lemon and Cardamon Cookies
Inside Out Cheesecake Cookies

What’s In Your Glass?

May 15, 2015 · by munchiesandmunchkins · Leave a Comment

Up until about 3 years ago the only time I bought wine was when I needed it to cook with. If I wanted to drink something alcoholic, I would have a fruity cider..a cocktail or a vodka, lime and soda if I was watching the calories.. Wine was for my Coq au Vin or Chicken and Leek Stroganoff.

But isn’t it funny how over the years your tastes change or perhaps mature? These days I drink far less than I did in my twenties but when I do drink it’s much more likely to be a good glass of wine than anything else.

I enjoy a glass of Red with Italian dishes, White with a roast chicken dinner and a cool glass of Rose on a hot, sunshiney day is perfect. I normally only have a glass or two at most so I want it to taste good. Tesco Wines have a fabulous selection of wines to suit all tastes and budgets. You can buy wines by the case if you want to fill your cellar..ha or maybe just the bottom shelf of your pantry like me. Just in case of emergencies. As a family member of mine said today.. It’s practically fruit after all. A good offer that’s currently available is a case of Lindeman’s Bin 50 Shiraz at just £48 for 6 bottles…and tastes rather good too.

From bargain whites to superior reds and my latest discovery..fortified wines. I am quite partial to a glass of Port these days. I discovered it for the first time on holiday in Portugal a few years ago where it’s served at the end of every meal and then just wrote it off as a holiday drink but at Christmas I bought a bottle and ahh it’s so good. It’s strong and rich and you really don’t need much so it’s perfect to serve after a long, delicious dinner.

What kinds of wine do you enjoy? Are you a red, white, pink or even sparkly?

You can find out more about how alcohol converts into units and how much you should be drinking here.

* This post is written in collaboration with Tesco.

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