More On Monday: Rainbow Pizza

by 9 Comments

Yesterday I posted this as my Silent Sunday, and I had many people asking what The Boy was making so I thought I'd share with you.

Aware that the cooking experiences that he'd had so far had revolved around cake, I decided we'd make pizza together. A relatively simple main meal to involve your child in, and promoting healthy eating along with encouraging to eat his tea. I won't lie, it wasn't without stress. I am never making pizza dough ever again. Next time, I shall buy a ready-made base from the place where 'every little helps'. Because they're not wrong, it would have helped a lot!

Oh, and the Silent Snday picture was of him sprinkling on parmesan cheese.

He needed a little help with the tomato puree because he hasn't quite got the concept of him spreading with the back of a spoon, what with him being two and all that. However, the rest of it, he did himself with me just pointing at blank spaces to put a topping on. It turned out to be quite a quite a large pizza for him and so he only had a quarter of it, but he wolfed it down.

Just goes to show how tasty home-cooked food can be, doesn't it?

—

I'm linking this up to The Crazy Kitchen's 'Cooking with your Toddler' linky and the 'Recipe Shed' over on Reluctant Housedad

The Crazy Kitchen

Recipe Shed

Listography: Top Five Searches

by 13 Comments

The inimitable KateTakes5 has set us the challenge of revealing the top five searches on our blog.

Some people have exciting results like "surfing on jelly" or "nakes bananas". I don't. On WordPress, I have three variations of my blog name and twelve variations for a cosmetic review I did. Oh and an ostrich.

I'm going to check Google Analytics instead…

They're just as bad!

I'm going to sift through the review referrals and pick out the next five that are about content instead.

  1. Learning Through Play: this makes me happy as it's one of the things that I'd like my blog associated with.
  2. Composterium: and now it's going through my head again! Thank you Mr. Bloom!
  3. We Went To The Animal Fayre: ah, that was a good weekend.
  4. Helen Jessup: I kid you not.
  5. I Need a Wee-Wee: ah, famous for my potty-training posts.

I can't believe number four…
Photobucket

Review: Pure Beginnings Toiletries

by Leave a Comment

I'm quite fussy about the toiletries that I use on The Boy. With both of his parents having various skin sensitivies and eczema, it was almost guaranteed that he would have sensitive skin and as a result I tend to try and use natural or organic products on him, especially formulated for baby's delicate dermis.

When I was asked if I'd like to try a range of products that fit my criteria, I was more than happy to give them a go. Pure Beginnings are South Africa’s most trusted organic personal care brands. The range of eco and vegan friendly skincare pH-balanced products are manufactured to organic standards without the use of petrochemicals, parabens, synthetic fragrances, colourants and sulphated surfactants to care for little ones sensitive skin.

Which is good because I spent too long growing something close to perfection to have it marred by nasties!

Pure Beginnings products combine certified organic and native fair trade African ingredients that have been ethically sourced from Fair Trade Initiatives in Sub-Saharan Africa, with traditional herb botanicals. They are also endorsed by Beauty Without Cruelty (South Africa). More on the ethical note is that they are also accredited by Phytotrade Africa, a non-profit trade association whose purpose is to alleviate poverty and protect biodiversity in the region by developing an industry that is not only economically successful but also ethical and sustainable.

We were sent two products from the range to review:

Baby Bum Cream with Baobab (£10.15) and the Baby Wash & Shampoo with Baobab (£8.15)

Even though The Boy is now nappy-free during the day, he still wears a pull-up nappy for bedtime. I have recently discovered that he can be a little bit sore and have needed to apply a cream to soothe him. The Baby Bum Cream is not only an effective daily barrier cream made with baobab fruit extract and tea tree leaf oil, but can also be used to relieve sores, stings and bites, as it has natural anti-fungal, anti-bacterial and anti-viral properties. The shampoo and bodywash not only smells scrummy (I think it smells a little bit like rose Turkish Delight because of the rosemary and geranium) but is also effective on cradle cap, which is something that he can still be susceptible to from time to time.

There are three other products in the range: Baby Body Lotion with Baobab (£10.15), Bubble Bath (£7.50), and Berry Toothpaste (£3.60). Pure Beginnings can be found in most John Lewis department stores and online at johnlewis.com.

We were sent these samples for the purpose of the review. My opinion is honest and unbiased.

ShowOff ShowCase: The One That Should Have Done Better

by 2 Comments

There's always one post that we've written that we were proud of, that we put the final punctuation mark to and thought "yep, that's a good one! They're going to love it!"

And then either no bugger read it, or, like I've had before, about 50 people read it but no-one commented!

I used to think it was the stats that counted, but it's not; it's the comments. They confirm that your writing is decent and that your readers find your ramblings enjoyable.

Hence this linky to help other ShowOff the posts that were underappreciated. This weekend, I'd like you to help those posts to hold their heads up high! Brush them off, stick my badge at the bottom of the post and show them off for everyone to see. Don't be ashamed of them, help them shout at everyone: I SHOULD HAVE DONE BETTER!

ShowOff ShowCase

Gingy's Makeover

by 4 Comments

Last year my dad bought one of those gingerbread house kits from that well known Scandinavian shop. He was really excited to make it for all the tiddlers in the family. He got home, opened up the kit and inside were the sides and the roof. That was it. None of the decorations were in the box, and forgive me for thinking so, but I do think if something being sold as a kit then the vast majority of the components need to be there. He went and spent £15 on the icing sugar and decorations for the gingerbread house.

Oh and because the pieces were so hard and brittle and the flimsy box had been on a big crate, one of the sides was broken. He wasn't a happy bunny.

We've recently been sent this gingerbread house kit (by Bespoke Foods) to review:

A 'kit' it is indeed, because everything you see in the picture is included in the box. I mean everything; the soft and thick gingerbread, the icing sugar (pre-mixed in a piping bag, snip off the end to use), smarties and even a little sugarcraft Father Christmas to put on the porch!

This would be a marvellous activity for your not-so-little ones to do in the run-up to Christmas; I suspect that Mr. TheBoyandMe and I will have great fun making the house for The Boy to decorate. And on Christmas Day (if it lasts that long), it's going to taste delicious as we do an impression of the Big Bad Wolf.

We were also sent Bespoke Foods Gingerbread Man kit and didn't waste any time in decorating Gingy. The Boy had the most fabulous time, although he did need help to squeeze the icing out.

Christmas is also a time to spend playing board games with your family. Usually these end up in sulking and tantrums, and that's just from the grandparents. What if the game you were playing involved chocolate counters? Bespoke Foods have a range of traditional family board games involving chocolate money or counters, Twister is just one of them.

"For family fun that will tie even the most flexible up in knots, Twister’s Chocolate Edition adds a sweeter dimension to Christmas. Perfect for parties of all ages, the rules are easy – pick your move, twist and win chocolate!"

With the festive season fast approaching, Bespoke Foods’ traditional gifts are the perfect stocking fillers to add a creative twist to your Christmas shopping list.

Chocolate Twister (RRP from £10.00), Gingerbread House Kit (RRP from £12.50) and Gingerbread Man (RRP from £6) are available to purchase from a range of department and independent stores (Debenhams, House of Fraser, Heals, Bentalls, Selfridges and Amazon)

We were sent these items for the purpose of the review. My opinion is honest and unbiased.