Cutey: Shamballa Bracelets (Giveaway)

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I used to wear jewellery all the time before I had The Boy; my bracelet watch, bracelets, necklaces and my engagement ring would be a regular occurence. When he was a baby, I stopped wearing everything bar my wedding ring because we all know the gunk that ends up in engagement rings and are too often garroted by babies grabbing that shiny thing around our neck.

Recently, I've rediscovered my love of the shiny and glittery things locked away in my jewellery box and they are starting to sneak back on a bit more. When I was asked if I'd like to review a shamballa bracelet by cutey I was more than happy to accept; anything to bring a little colour and sparkle into these grey Winter Summer days.

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Little Charley Bear on Safari DVD (Review)

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We've reviewed a couple ofLittle Charley Bear DVDs in the past and have always really enjoyed them. We both love the imaginative play element, the visual element is excellent with plain backgrounds that draw the viewer's atention to the main focus of Charley, and James Corden as the narrator is genius.

Which is why I was more than happy to review the new DVD: Charley on Safari.

Included in this DVD where Charley and friends set off on a voyage of discovery through a series of magical jungle adventures, is a small Little Charley Bear figurine.

Featuring 56 minutes of Charley fun in the following episodes:

  • Charley on safari
  • The Charleysaurus
  • Monkeying with Midge
  • Charley Snaps
  • Castaway Charley
  • Sandcastle for Caramel
  • Bear at sea
  • Underwater explorer Charley

This is another winner with the added bonus of the figure which now goes everywhere with us!

‘Charley on Safari’ on sale at the RRP of £12.99.

I was sent this DVD for the purpose of this review. My opinion is honest and unbiased.

Little Dish Meals (Review)

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I have spoken before about how important it was to me when weaning The Boy to ensure that he had the best quality food, home-made as much as possible. When I returned to work after my year's maternity leave, I still cooked in bulk for him but I soon discovered the wonders of Little Dish meals and was happy to supplement his diet with them.

Why do I like Little Dish?

  • 100% natural ingredients
  • no added salt or sugar
  • no additives or preservatives
  • taste tested by a panel of real-life little people who are selected to approve new recipes
  • suitable for home freezing
  • damned tasty!

Little Dish has sent a few meals for The Boy to test, and me their cookbook with over sixty recipes in it.

Chicken Risotto

This tasty meal contains bite size British chicken breast, tomatoes, butternut squash, sweet potato and cheddar cheese. Risotto is one of his favaourite meals, and this particular dish went down a treat. Like many infants, he doesn't like the texture of proper meat and finds it difficult to chew. The chicken in this meal is tenderly cooked and small enough that he manages it with no problem.

With the sun shining, he wolfed it down enjoying the balmy weather on the patio! It's a large portion and he ate three-quarters, which bearing in mind his main meal is at lunchtime, was a lot. He sat there, looking around the garden, took a big mouthful, smiled and declared (after he'd swallowed), "It's lovely, mummy!"

Beef Lasagne

Beef. He's not a fan of it and I can't cook a single thing with it that he will eat, and I didn't hold up much hope for the beef lasagne that I placed in front of him with extra cheese on top (because that always works).

He absolutely wolfed it down! The bechamel sauce was thick and creamy, the tomato ragu wasn't strong and complimented the beef well (or so my non-vegetarian husband informs me!). The above portion is half of what's in the packet so you can see that there's a fair amount.

Chicken and Butternut Squash Pie

The Chicken and Butternut Squash pie is one of The Boy's favourite Little Dish meals as it is an incredibly tasty meal. The chicken has been diced into small chunks and is easily chewed, the butternut squash is a sweet addition and the mashed potato topping is creamy and smooth. I served it with wedges and peas, knowing that he was going to be getting several of his five-a-day in the meal.

Little Dish meals are great quality and are always guaranteed to go down well with The Boy. It is reassuring to know that the ingredients are quality and natural, and the price is very reasonable especially if you split them and serve them with vegetables as we do.

I was sent three Little Dish meals for the purpose of this review. My opinion is honest and unbiased.

Slow-Cooker Sunday: Rainbow Vegetables & Goat's Cheese Wrap

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While the marvellous Mediocre Mum is off in the pursuit of lasting sunshine on the other side of the pond, Aly from Plus2Point4 and I will be taking care of her popular linky so she can enjoy the Canadian weather while we dodge the rain showers.

Recently Mediocre Mum put out an appeal for Summer recipes, and it's with that in mind that I'm using this recipe which was inspired by something that The Crazy Kitchen posted.

Rainbow Vegetables & Goat's Cheese Wrap

slow cooker vegetables

Ingredients:

  • peppers, carrots, leeks, mushrooms, courgettes
  • mango chutney
  • stock cube
  • soft tortilla wraps
  • hard goat's cheese
  • caramelised onion chutney (optional)
  1. I sweated down chopped mushrooms and stipped leeks in a knob of butter in the slow-cooker first, before adding pepper, courgette and carrot strips. To this I put two tablespoons of water, a stock cube and my old faithful of two tablespoons of mango chutney. Stir and cook on high for two-three hours.
  2. Drain off the liquid and put a good spoonful onto the middle of each wrap in a rectangular shape.
  3. Place a layer of goat's cheese on top, then a smearing of caramelised onion chutney on the top again.
  4. Fold up the wrap, use cocktail sticks to hold it in place and place in the over for ten minutes to crisp it up, maintain its shape and allow the cheese to melt in.
  5. Serve with ranch salad and onion rings.

Please join in below with your slow-cooker recipes: either savoury and sweet.

TheBoyandMe's Slow-Cooker Sunday

Country Kids: Fun In The Sun

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With the cobalt blue sky and the sun shining so beautifully all week, getting out and about has been an absolute must for us. It coincided brilliantly with the start of the holidays, and has ensured that we haven't wasted our time together!

Sunday – Gruffalo Hunting

On the way back from Silverstone on Sunday, we stopped off at an RSPB nature walk to stretch our legs. While we were hunting for The Gruffalo and calling out to mouse to see if he knew where he was, we came across a cave and The Boy just had to explore it to see if anyone was inside!

Pebble Plopping

After Mr. TBaM got home from work on Monday, we nipped down to our local beach to partake in some pebble plopping. Mr. TBaM was determined he'd be able to skim stones, whereas The Boy just wanted to make the biggest single plop possible.

Sandplay

We met up with our toddler group down at Barry Island beach and managed to avoid high tide, but only just. Then, because we hadn't played with enough sand, we came home and built some more sandcastles.

Clifftop Picnic

On a Friday morning The Boy goes to nursery. While he's there he has lunch, but because he has so much to say for himself, he never eats well and quite often doesn't like what they give him anyway (spinach and potato pie for example). I'm not bothered because the socialisation is more important for him, but when I pick him up we always have to have a second lunch to make sure he's had enough to eat. I decided to take him to the clifftop park for he could burn off some more energy and eat a picnic lunch.

Pirates at Barry Island

The sun today heralded more outdoor play so we headed for the beach again. We originally went further down the coastline to Southerndown beach, but the problem is that when high tide is approaching there it covers all the sand and only leaves a swathe of rocks. Cue an about turn and off to the old faithful of Barry Island! More sandcastles, more buried The Boy, and finishing up with a round of pirate mini-golf!

Hope next week is just as activity filled!

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366 #30

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This week has been beautifully sunny and warm, and because of that you've all hopefully got a fantastic 366 collection for the past seven days. It's like I said months ago, when it's sunny everything is so much easier to photograph because the photographer's friend is light and natural, warm, sunlight is the best.

I've decided during these Summer holidays to extend the linky opening hours until Monday's midnight because I realise that many people will be busy on the Sunday. Only 'til we're back to school though!

And so it's time for you to link up your favourite photo from week 30!

  1. Choose your favourite photo from the past week and link it up below.
  2. Please add the badge to your linked-up post so that other people know how to find all the other fabulous entries.
  3. If you can spare five minutes to comment on just a few other entries I know they'd appreciate it!
ShowOff ShowCase

#30:52

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'Mummy's shoes'

TheBoyandMe's 366 Linky

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