Blog - Munchies and Munchkins

A Lush Hamper Giveaway With Bathrooms.com

April 6, 2015 · by munchiesandmunchkins · 18 Comments

Did you know that over half of all Brits use the bathroom as an excuse to hide away from their partners or children??

I don’t know about you but my children will find me anywhere I go so I can’t do that but I do use my bath as a forced relaxation time. Since I’ve been unwell I’ve found it really hard to unwind and I’m retraining myself and my body to relax and bath time is my only absolute way of doing that. I HAVE to clear the bath of all bath toys – I can’t chill out with a giant turtle and 100 rubber duckies floating by and I normally like to light a candle and add some bath oils. I make myself stay in there for at least twenty minutes because apparently baths are not relaxing unless you are in for that time or more. I don’t mind a shower but typically I only shower on holiday or if we have been out somewhere muddy with the kids and I don’t want to sit in a bath of dirty water. We often share baths with the kids which they love and during pregnancy it was the only way I could find pain relief in the later stages.

Take a look at the research below from Bathrooms.com about whether people prefer showers to baths.. You may be surprised!

I’d love it if you could share your relaxation tips with me and enter my competition below for the chance to win a £50 box of Lush Goodies.. This is one you want to win. I have this box of goodies in the house and it smells divine.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

* I was gifted with a hamper of goodies.

Silent Sunday

April 5, 2015 · by munchiesandmunchkins · 5 Comments

Slow Cooker Hot Cross Bun & Butter Pudding

April 4, 2015 · by munchiesandmunchkins · 16 Comments

I wasn’t planning to write a blog post today but I whipped up this easy Hot Cross Bun pudding this morning and it was so good I thought I just had to share especially at this time of year when most houses have a pack or two lying about.

This recipe is made using your slow cooker and it’s so simple to prepare (10 minutes max) and then you leave it untouched in the slow cooker for 2.5 hours. And voila you have a gorgeous, warm pudding to serve after your Easter Sunday roast…or your midday snack today like me.

You will need:

250ml of semi skimmed milk
100ml of double cream
3 eggs
4 Hot Cross Buns – sliced vertically each into 4/5 slices & buttered on one side
4 tsp of dark brown soft sugar
1 tsp of vanilla paste
1/2 tsp of nutmeg

Arrange your hot cross buns slices in your slow cooker. Depending on what size/shape you have you made need to layer them creatively 😉 Now in a jug beat together your eggs, milk, cream, nutmeg and vanilla – ( this is your custard ) and pour over your hot cross bun slices. Sprinkle over your brown sugar, some should go into the custard and some can stay on top of the hot cross buns.

Now place a tea towel under your slow cooker lid – I secure mine around the handle with a bobble and cook on high for 2.5 hours. At this point remove the lid and use a skewer or knife to check it’s thoroughly cooked – it should be moist but the knife should come away cleanly.

You could serve this with cream but it’s perfect just on its own.

Got Beef Cardiff – Review

April 2, 2015 · by munchiesandmunchkins · 2 Comments

Three years ago I attended a food festival in South Wales called The Welsh Menu. It was the first of its kind in my area and it was just four months after I’d started writing my food and family blog. I remember being amazed when I had an invite to the launch dinner – a pretty swanky affair where I sat with food journalists and other far more established bloggers. I felt lost and totally not one of the gang..although everyone on my table was lovely. Their stories and funny anecdotes made me feel I was a little mad for thinking I could do this. The following day I attended the actual food festival and it swallowed me up. The food, the flavours and the atmosphere. Although the festival is now probably one of the smallest I’ve been to, I look back on it fondly as that day made me realise that I could do it. Even if I only ever had 100 page views per month .. I would write it. For me.

In my review of that festival I mentioned a new ( to me ) street food type burger van called Got Beef. They had an amazingly cool van ( sadly no longer with them ) friendly staff and THE best burgers I’d tasted in .. well forever I think. I wrote about them in this post here.

Me munching away..a good stone or two heavier here I think! Baby weight obviously…

A lot has changed in three years. Aside from the fact that personally I have another baby now, my little old blog that I wrote just for me is viewed by tens of thousands every month. Over five thousand of you loyal people follow me on Twitter me and seem to enjoy what I do – thanks for that.

A lot has changed for Got Beef too. Three years on they aren’t just hopping in and out of food festivals in a van. They have a restaurant which has just celebrated it’s one year anniversary and we have just paid them our first ( won’t be last ) visit. The restaurant is a MUST visit if you are in the area. It’s thriving and bustling with full tables and the buzz of happy chatter on a road which is literally full of restaurants and takeaways. With a multitude of choice people are continuing to choose Got Beef and it’s easy to see why.

To find out more about the Got Beef story click here.

Above image courtesy of Got Beef.

Let’s start with the restaurant, it’s simple in decor but cool, hipster even. There is an open kitchen – which I always love. It’s a foodie thing I’m sure but seeing and smelling my ( always ) fresh food being cooked is a definite winner for me. The staff are friendly, chatty and eager to advise on what you should eat, I questioned one staff member on the heat of a certain burger ( Dirty South) and was answered ..”Well it didn’t make my nose run or my eyes water so you should be good” and he was right. There was heat but the right heat. They have a great selection but not an enormous menu and this is typically a good thing – a menu three pages long often means that items aren’t always fresh or are pre cooked. Here it’s cooked to order and everything from the brioche rolls to the accompanying mayos & sauces taste so good.

This is what we ordered:

For me:

Dirty South Burger with Sweet Potato Fries & Wyldwood Pear Cider

My burger contained…6oz Welsh black beef patty, Cajun Mayo, BBQ sauce, jalapeños, Cajun onions & American cheese.

For him:

Bombay Burger with Dirty Chips & Ginger Beer

His burger contained ..

6oz Welsh beef patty, curried bacon, coriander & lime mayo with curried haystack potatoes.

For Izzy:

A Bacon & Cheese Burger served with fries & Elderflower Cordial

Izzy of course deconstructed her burger 😉

My burger was cooked to perfection, there was hit of fire from the jalapeños but nothing I couldn’t handle and left a lovely tingle. The sweet potato fries which are so hard to get right were absolutely awesome – so awesome in fact that my three year old stole most of them. The brioche buns were soft and sheeny and just doughy goodness.

I loved that as much care and attention was put into Isabelle’s food as ours. Served just as ours was and she devoured most of it which considering her new thing is that she just doesn’t like burgers is an achievement in itself.

Andrew had a Bombay burger which was so full of flavour and left a perfect spicy taste in your month – yes I stole some. He also had dirty fries which were a revelation. I’m torn between getting these next time or asking if they could do a version of this with the sweet potato fries because they were great.. Topped with cheese, bacon, jalapeños and ..sauce. Oh My!

Their drinks menu is another huge pull for me.. They serve Wyldwood cider which I love as well as various wines, lagers and beers..ooh and San Pellegrino which is one of my favourite soft drinks.

They also sell ice cream tortes on their dessert menu but to be honest we were a little too full and Izzy was a little too tired to attempt it. The flavours sounded great though – I definitely could have tried to squeeze a bit of cherry bakewell in.

It’s all about the burgers at Got Beef so don’t go there expecting a steak or curry. But I would say even if you don’t think burgers are your thing it’s worth a whirl. You may just be a convert.

Above image courtesy of Got Beef.

To Cai and all the staff at Got Beef I can’t tell you how thrilled I am that you are doing so well and I see so many great things going forward for you. It was an absolute pleasure to visit and please open one a little closer to us!!

* Our meal was provided free of charge for the purpose of a review.

Easter Afternoon Tea At Park Plaza Cardiff

April 2, 2015 · by munchiesandmunchkins · Leave a Comment

Afternoon tea for me always makes me think of Alice In Wonderland and the Mad Hatters party. Mounds of cakes, tea cups and smiles.

Today was all of the above. We spent a very enjoyable two hours at the Park Plaza Cardiff sampling their new Easter afternoon tea.

First up let me tell you what’s included:

We made a rather big and possibly silly decision to take a 3 year old for afternoon tea at a posh hotel BUT it was all good. Not only did Izzy think it was pretty amazing that she got a whole stand of food just for her..and that we weren’t limiting her intake of cakes or jam but she behaved impeccably.

Apart from sticking her fingers into the cream.. and the jam and to scoop the marshmallows out of her hot choc of course but hey she is only 3 after all. Her hot chocolate which they gave her in place of tea/coffee was amazing..full of marshmallows which she loved and it even looked like it and a smile on the side 🙂

In fact I heard two elderly ladies discussing that polite, pretty little girl and how good she was and I did that little smile when you know you shouldn’t be listening but you are so proud you can’t help it.

Izzy doesn’t often get one on one attention these days with a demanding little sis who hasn’t got very good health right now so it was nice to spend a day just enjoying her and her funny little personality. Nice to not hear me telling her to watch her crumbs because Chloe is allergic and to just listen to her random chatter.

Anyway back to the food. Ah the food. This was our second visit to Park Plaza – our first for afternoon tea and I was wowed. I’ve had a fair few afternoon teas and this is high up there amongst the best.

Each tea is prepared fresh to order so you can expect a short wait but you can start enjoying your tea/coffee or champagne in the meantime.

I love that the tea is served in a proper tea pot with a tea strainer and they instruct you on how long to leave it before removing depending on what strength you like. My tea was perfect. I had four cups!

We had four varieties of sandwiches – we opted out of the salmon and instead had an extra ham with a delicious mustard.
Each sandwich was fresh, without that slightly crisp texture bread can get when left out for more than 10 minutes. There we several different types of breads and they also cater for allergies and we were asked before being served if we had any special requirements – a major plus in my book.

The scones and hot cross buns were clearly freshly baked and the jam, clotted cream and butter were lovely additions. In fact the hot cross bun was one of my favourite parts.

A nothing thing I really enjoyed which I didn’t expect to was the lemon jelly topped with meringue. I imagine the meringue would be too sweet for my taste and the jelly too sharp but it was neither of those things. The meringue was caramelly ( I made that word up ) and the jelly had subtle lemon flavour but was not at all sharp. In fact it was incredible. Just the right size too. Delicious.

The cupcakes and macarons looked and tasted amazing.. I shared some of Izzys but there was no way we could finish all of ours too so they thoughtfully provided boxes for us to package it up to take home. Looking forward to enjoying them with a cuppa this afternoon.

The Easter afternoon tea is only available for the month of April so I would highly recommended making a booking soon. It was busy there yesterday so definitely check for availability in advance. Also the staff are incredibly friendly and seem to enjoy serving children so don’t be afraid to take your little ones with you.

*We were provided with our afternoon tea free of charge for the purpose of this review.

Sisters ..18 Months On

April 1, 2015 · by munchiesandmunchkins · Leave a Comment

I should warn you now ..this is pretty much just a visual post. If photos of incredibly cute and occasionally stroppy sisters bore you then look away. It’s really just for me to look back on in years to come but it’s also an update for those of you who like to know how we are doing. For now it’s just a few pics, next week I’ll share with you how we are doing as a family and how we manage to get through each day with two totally beautiful yet clever and demanding little girls.

I will share one thing with you now.. I have a feeling these two are going to be thick as thieves. We are in for trouble in the teenage years!

Making The Most Of Our Home. Part 1

March 31, 2015 · by munchiesandmunchkins · Leave a Comment

I think whatever home you live in there is always a little part of you that wants a bigger home, a better garden ..a jacuzzi bath..an en suite or in our case just an upstairs bathroom sure you can move although it’s not always possible for various reasons but for the most part you need to just re embrace your home,

There are so many ways to transform a home and we are making a lot of changes over the next few months in order to make our living space less cluttered..more comfortable and ultimately a place in which we can relax at the end of the day.

Our home is fairly small, not teeny but the kitchen is small ( major bugbear of mine) and the bedrooms aren’t particularly spacious. This means storage is a big focus of ours when it comes to making changes. I’m very lucky in that I have a very ‘handy’ man who has found a hundred and one ways to create new hoarding spaces for us.

So far we have a cupboard built into the wood panelling in our bathroom – perfect place to store my stocks of bubble bath, moisturisers and oils that I just seem to accumulate. He’s built a huge floor to ceiling fitted wardrobe/cupboard in Chloe’s bedroom which fits all of my clothes as well as most of the two girls and our shoes with some space at the top for secret gifts/things which need to be kept out of little hands.

He’s now working on a similar project in our bedroom – one wall now has a shelving unit which he has made look pretty incredible with some gorgeous patterned wallpaper and the other wall is going to be an open closet for all of his clothes with a mirror attached to the side..

Ooh and we have a new ottoman bed which is already full but our house is starting to feel so different. A house which is a little less cluttered feels calmer and I’m naturally starting to declutter as we sort things out. Large bags of clothes that haven’t been worn for more than a year have found their ways to the charity shops. Baby clothes passed on to friends and relatives.

I’ll be sharing lots of photos of our home as we complete projects. I’m quite excited. There’s a lot of change. Bursts of colour where there were once pale walls..art..photos..memories. Coming up soon will be our conservatory renovation, kitchen makeover and a feature wall created upstairs.

I’m a bit in love with our new tiles:

You can find lots of storage tips and ideas from other bloggers on the Safe Store website including some from me 🙂

Do you have any inventive ideas for storage? Toy storage ideas would be especially welcome here!

* This post is in collaboration with Safe Store.

Sykes Cottages Holiday Review – Llanbister

March 31, 2015 · by munchiesandmunchkins · Leave a Comment

In February on a rather gloomy and extremely cold morning we set off for Llanbister, a small village in mid Wales that until about a month previously I’d never even heard of. We were heading to a holiday cottage let on a 600 acre working farm literally in the middle of nowhere.

When we pulled up this was all we could see:

There wasn’t another building or person in site. There was no internet signal, not even any mobile phone signal ( O2 at least) ..no landline. Not a sound. At first it was ever so slightly eery and I felt a bit out there but within minutes I felt safe and peaceful. There was a sense of calm in the air that I haven’t felt in a while. In fact the last time I felt like that was when we stayed in The Gambia about 6 years ago. In a village with no electric or hot water let alone wifi. That same sense of isolation from the harsher world we live in.

Anyway enough of the deep stuff.

Back to our cottage:

The ground floor is open plan with a spacious kitchen and wonderfully cosy lounge area with a log fire. The kitchen has everything you need from utensils to pots/pans and all the mod cons including microwave – although no dishwasher. Not an issue for me but for some it could be I guess.

It does however have a separate utility building which has both a washing machine AND a dryer which I find a necessity when away with small children.

While we are talking about the outbuildings..I have to share with you one of our favourite parts…THE HOT TUB:

It was amazing sitting in one of the barn type buildings with the door wide open onto the very cool yet sunshiney mornings tucked into our warm, bubbly giant bath as Izzy called it. We didn’t keep the girls in for too long but they were fascinated by it and it was an amazing daily treat. There was also the gym and then the games room which housed a pool table and ping pong table – we didn’t use these as the girls are still a bit too small but ideal for older children or as a hangout for teens.

Inside the lounge/kitchen area there are book shelves and DVD collections as well as board games and even a cupboard full of toys for small children. My girls were enthralled by NEW ( to them ) toys to play with. They also provided a travel cot for Chloe and a highchair which saved having to overload the car!

In fact pretty much every detail had been well thought out. There was cake to welcome us, beautiful bedding, toiletries and towels in every room. Our double room had an ensuite with shower, there was a separate bathroom with shower as well as a cloakroom toilet downstairs. I can only really pick out two flaws in the whole cottage. 1. There was no bath – I LOVE a good soak in the bath but you know there is a hot tub so swings and roundabouts as they say and secondly I think it would be an idea to have a fire guard for when toddlers are staying. We made a make shift guard using chairs but I think this would be a good addition to any property with a fire. Otherwise it was a seriously pretty home. It had lots of modern touches yet still held it’s charm. It stole my heart a little.

Outside the property there are a million places to walk and hike or just amble. Right outside there is a swing set which Izzy adored and I think staying there in the summer would be just amazing. Barbecues outside the cottage, late night strolls in the calm fields and a dip in the hot tub with a glass of wine – bliss.

The property is owned by a hard working family who are incredibly friendly and were more than happy to let us have a nose at their newborn calves and lambs. I even got to cuddle one of their very new lambs which was pretty sweet. We all got incredibly mucky but had so much fun together. It was lovely to see the girls away from TV channels and noisy toys and just get into the great outdoors.

Ooh I almost forgot the beds! They were so incredibly comfy.. Now if only Chloe had actually let us sleep. There’s always next time.

Sykes Cottages have a million ( ok maybe not that many ) properties to choose from and they are helpful, friendly and eager to make sure you get the right one for you.

I highly recommend them as a company – their customer service is superb and also White Walls Llanbister as a choice of cottage for a totally calm and special holiday experience.

*Our stay at Whitewalls was free of charge for the purpose of a review.

Allergy Friendly Truffle Style Sweets

March 30, 2015 · by munchiesandmunchkins · Leave a Comment

I made a batch of these rather tasty muffins for Chloe a few days ago and after filling 6 muffin cases there was about a tablespoon of mixture leftover. I could have just eaten it as raw mixture but I thought I would make some experimental truffle type sweets for her to eat as a calorie laden snack ( she needs to gain some weight) or occasional treat. I simple rolled the mixture into four small balls and rolled onto a plate which had a mixture of raw cacao powder and icing sugar on it to coat. AND they tasted so good. Well you know maybe not like a proper truffle but for multiple allergy type food..it was good. I’ve since made a second batch of the mixture just to make these sweets. It makes around 30.

150g Dove Gluten free SR flour
100g caster sugar
1 small mashed banana
1.5 tsp of vanilla paste or extract
75ml water
15 ml of coconut milk
6 tbsp of melted coconut oil

Mix together the sugar, oil and vanilla in a high speed stand mixer – I advise this because coconut oil solidifies quickly so you need to move fairly fast. Add your mashed banana, flour, water and coconut milk. Blend until smooth but still slightly firm.

To coat:

4 tbsp of icing sugar
3 tbsp of cacao powder

6 tbsp of Shredded coconut

Roll into balls then roll in the coating of choice and onto greaseproof paper then chill until firm. Enjoy.

I prefer them rolled in coconut but Chloe prefers the texture of the cacao/icing sugar. If you have a suitable dark chocolate you could try melting it and dipping the balls into it. I imagine this would taste pretty good!

These are dairy free, gluten free, soya free, egg free and vegan.

Justin & Friends: Mr Tumble’s Circus Arena Tour

March 30, 2015 · by munchiesandmunchkins · Leave a Comment

Roll up, roll up.. Mr T is coming to a town near you with his Justin & Friends Circus Show.

If you have a child aged between ummmm 0-7ish?? Then you will certainly have heard of the King Of CBeebies Mr Tumble. We have seen him live at a few festivals over the years and the man puts on an incredible show.

Here’s a little info about the new tour:

Come and join in the excitement of this arena spectacular with Mr Tumble – as well as a host of other Tumbles from Something Special, including Aunt Polly and Grandad Tumble! See Cat Sandion and Swashbuckle presenter Gem, in their first CBeebies Live! show, along with the adventurous Andy Day!

But uh‑oh! Mr Tumble’s Circus is delayed en route! The CBeebies mega‑stars with the help of Gigglebiz favourites, including Keith Fitt, Dina Lady, Gale Force and Arthur Sleep – must swing into action and save the day! In doing so, they discover that they too have some pretty amazing talents as well!

But with Robert The Robot insisting that everyone do their chores and Little Monster just wanting to cause mayhem and mischief… Will Justin and the CBeebies stars help get Mr Tumble’s Circus to town on time?

Book your tickets now for CBeebies Live! Justin & Friends: Mr Tumble’s Circus. It’s going to be one of the greatest shows this Easter, with unicyclists, tumblers, jugglers and lots of interactive fun!

You can book your tickets here: Justin & Friends Circus Show.

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