OXO Shake & Flavour - Southern Fried Chicken & Garlic and Herb Wedges!

This post is part of a BritMums project with OXO Shake & Flavour. Shake & Flavour seasoning granules can be sprinkled into food during cooking or before serving. Find out more about the Shake & Flavour varieties.

We were sent some of the new fabulous OXO Shake & Flavour to try and 'shake up' our family meals!  

Inside the kit were:

7 flavour varients, an OXO recipe card box, Vintage style OXO bunting, recipe cards and 2 glass jars with straws! 

The kids jumped at the chance of Garlic and Herb wedges so we worked our meal around those with Southern fried chicken burgers too!  This way we got to try out 2 of the new flavours together. 

First of all, cut red skinned potatoes into wedges and sprinkle with semolina and the garlic and herb Shake & Flavour. 

 Pour a little oil into a roasting tin and bake the wedges for around 20/25 minutes on 180o.

Cut 3 chicken breasts in half (there are 6 of us - obviously if your family is smaller you wont need as many!) and wrap in cling film.  Take your frustrations out on the chicken by clobbering it until its thinner (this will help it cook quicker and make it more tender too)

Dip in egg wash and then into the Southern Fried Chicken crumbs.  Shallow fry for around 4 minutes on either side then transfer to an oven tray.  Place in the bottom of the oven with the fries until baked through.

Dish up and enjoy! 

(oops - remember to take pictures before you tuck into dinner and the plates are empty...the fact ALL the plates were empty speaks volumes in this house!!)

I cant believe how flavourful these little tubs are and we cant wait to try out the rest ..... im thinking Chinese style belly pork for tea tomorrow!! 

Mmmm!

TTFN

Debbie

x

Quick facts about the products:

OXO Shake & Flavour is a handy shaker pack is filled with fine seasoning granules that can either be sprinkled into food before or during the cooking process or added as a finishing touch before serving

Products are MSG free

Flavour Variants: Chicken, Beef, Garlic and Herb, Tikka, Chinese Style, Southern Fried (available in all supermarkets) and Italian (ASDA only)

Amelia Grace is here!

Full story to follow but for now......

Falling in love all over again!

TTFN

Debbie

x

IF......

If Amelia is following in her big sisters footsteps she will be packing her bags right now...

If Amelia is like Evie she will arrive today! 2 weeks early! 

If Amelia is going to take us by surprise (like Evie) she will give me 9 minutes between getting on the table and saying hello to our newest family member!  

EEK!!

If Amelia wants to stop her mummy worrying she will give her a little more time to get to the hopsital...

Not long now!

See you soon baby 

Mummy 

x

Cot2Tot Baby Gifts Review.

I love Babies!

I love handmade!

What could be better for a momma to be than some handmade goodies for little one and to keep forever! 

Cot2Tot offer a wide range of handmade paper roses and rose bouquets which incorporate teeny baby socks, scratch mits, vests, slings etc - these are all part of their Round and Round the Garden range which can be found HERE 

I was lucky enough to be sent some items to review which included The Personalised Petalgram, Personalised Confetti and Baby Bloom.

Everything arrived well packaged with tissue and brown paper inside a large cardboard box - nothing was squashed or falling apart which is a miracle as i have posted paper products myself before and you just know they are so fragile something will happen! 

After taking off the tissue i was faced with a lovely little Welcome Amelia Grace sign - it made me fill up!! My little girl isnt here yet and already shes being welcomed! 

We got the confetti (rrp. £6.95) so that Evie can throw it at us when we come home from hospital. 

Shes a real little party girl and any excuse for a fuss to be made so when i suggested this to her she jumped at the chance and said 'can we have balloons and cake too'  - yes, im certainly looking forward to coming home with Amelia!! lol 

The Personalised Petalgram (rrp. £7.99) is just adorable and such a wonderful keepsake if you are wanting to give that personal touch to a new mum. 

Everyone buys bibs, socks and vests but how nice would it be to have something you can keep forever!  Especially in flower form too! The petals can be personalised with whatever details you like too which makes them a one of a kind gift.

The Baby Bloom (rrp. £13.99) bouquet is fabulous! 

Inside each of the bloom petals is a little sock or scratch mit and this really makes the colours pop. 

The carefully folded inserts in the flower hold everything in place and a little vest is wrapped inside the cone, finished with spotty ribbon and a personalised tag, every new mum would be thrilled to receive this as a gift.  

I wanted to keep the bloom once it had been dismantled too so i wrapped the ribbon from the outside of the gift around the base stem and fastened into a bow - finished with the personalised tag, this will now take pride of place on the top of Amelias drawers as a permanent reminder of this lovely gift :) 

TTFN

Debbie

x

Thank you to the lovely ladies at Cot2Tot who supplied me with these items for review.  All opinions and photographs are my own.

Being a Morrisons Mum. Post 1 - Homemade Pizza. #MorrisonsMum

When I received and email through from Britmums asking those who were interested in taking part in a project with Morrisons I jumped at the chance.

Mum has a Morrisons near her home and she is always saying how fresh things are and how good the produce is that she buys from there.  Due to convenience of having both a Sainsburys and a Tesco on the doorstep I have never really gone further afield so this was my first trip to our closest Morrisons (approx 20 mins further than local supermarkets)

However, now I have been once I will certainly be back!  In fact I think hubby is getting a little tired of me keep saying 'ooh and this was xx cheaper' and 'this would have gone off by now if we had gotten this from xx' lol 

This is helped by the fact Morrisons have just launched their I'm Cheaper campaign.  Not only is it on basics but on branded products too - jammy dodgers down to 49p a packet - ive paid more than twice that at our normal supermarket!!  THESE PRICES ARE PERMANENT too - not just a promotions for a week or so - how fab is that! 

We were sent £80 worth of vouchers and asked to do a shop for the bank holiday and see how far we could make it go.  No obviously having both me and Stuart plus 5 children and another on the way our weekly bills are rather large!  It doesnt matter how much i plan and prep we seem to end up well over £140 a week - and thats scrimping on treats and extras! 

As you can see from the fridge its rather full and I was very impressed at the freshness of the fruit and vegetable section.  Everything was well stocked in store and there were at least 4 members of staff constantly restacking the baskets and crates. 

 I was more than impressed that we could buy punnets of blueberries, raspberries and strawberries for 99p each (they are generally £2+ in our normal supermaket) Very impressed too at the cleanliness of the store and how well stocked the shelves were.

The store cupboard essentials were just as impressive with Tate & Lyle sugars and Pink Wafers being part of the permanent Lower Price pledge!  Kids bottles of fizzy juice 50p each and bread etc for 59p a loaf! 

Concidering we use almost a whole loaf each time we need to make lunchtime sandwiches for the family this lower price is a godsend! 

Tonight we made homemade pizza with the kids - i love to involve them as much as I can in the kitchen.  They all love baking and making things and its a good way for them to know whats going into their food - they seem to eat a lot more too when theyve made it themselves! 

We got everything out that they wanted on their pizzas and decanted them into bowls etc - I was pleasantly surprised with how sweet the peppers were! 

We bought par baked bread bagettes to create our pizzas with so popped them on a rack in the oven for 8 minutes before splitting in half and creating! 

The kids had a choice of either plain tomato paste or garlic tomato paste.  Thats why I prefer homemade pizza - im not a huge tomato base fan so like to put my own on and scrimp a little on the tomato but stack the vegetables as much as i can! 

Evie enjoyed helping to make her own, mine and daddys and the boys made their own. 

Gilled to the brim with tuna, peppers, sweetcorn, mushrooms and cheese they were ready to hit the grill...

This was mine and I have to say it was delicious - was that because of the fresh ingredients....the fact it was homemade by Evie...or the fact it only cost £1.47 per person!! (...breakdown below!)

Total breakdown for the meal for 6...

bread x3 @ 45p = 1.35
tuna x 2 @ 79p = 1.58
peppers x 1 @ 1.59
mushrooms x 1 @ 99p
cheese x 2 @ 1.00 = 2.00
sweetcorn x 1 @ 35p
tom puree x 1 @ 49p
tom & gar puree x 1 @ 49p

total = £8.84

£1.47 per person

Plus there is still 2 peppers, half a box of mushrooms and almost a full tube of garlic/tom puree to use!

I have more recipes to pop on here and more than enough food to last us for the week so I would say the Morrisons I'm Cheaper pledge really does work for our family! 

TTFN

Debbie

x

We were given £80 worth of Morrisons vouchers to spend instore. All opinions are my own. 

Fruit Scones from Little Miss Evangeline!

What better to do on a bank holiday than bake: 

What you need: 

Mixing Bowl

Rolling Pin

Circular Cutter

(A little helper is optional...)

16oz Self Raising Flour

2 pinches of salt

4oz Margerine

2oz Caster Sugar

4oz Sultanas/currants

2 eggs beaten (milk to make it up to 1/2pt)

Preheat oven to 220oc 

1.  Place flour, salt and margerine in a bowl and rub together with fingers until breadcrumbs.

2.  Stir in sugar and currants.

3.  Mix in egg/milk mix (leaving a little for brushing the tops)

4.  Roll out onto a floured surface and cut into circles.

5.  Place on a baking tray and brush the tops with remaining egg/milk wash.

6.  Bake for 10 minutes.  Remove from oven and cool. 

Lashings of butter, fresh strawberries and cream! 

Quick and easy dessert made in 20 minutes max! 

TTFN

Debbie

x

Looking for a Sponsor for Britmums Live 2014 - Can you help?

What is BritMums Live I hear you say???

 "The UK’s biggest, two-day social media conference and blogger event — is where lifestyle bloggers and social influencers  meet. We share success stories. We create relationships with brands. We become better bloggers."

BritMums Live! is a blogger event that has grown out of BritMums, the UK's largest collective of lifestyle blogger and social influencers, made up of more than 5,000+ members representing 8,500+ blogs. Our members write about lifestyle, travel, education, health, tech, beauty and much more.

 

I'm looking forward to attending my first BritMums Live event as a mummy/lifestyle blogger.  Having run my blog for 8 years i am ready to take the leap into making it bigger and better!  

With over 3000 followers via social media outlets already this is a surefire way to guarantee mass advertising.

So what am I looking for? 

• Ticket for BritMums Live (Early Bird Rate) £98
• Return train fair to London from Durham approx £120 (the sooner its booked the cheaper it will be)
• Two nights accommodation in central London during the two day event 

What can i offer your brand?

• A blog post introducing you as my Britmums Live 2014 sponsor
• An ad/badge in my sidebar for the year with a direct link to your website.
• I will mention your brand name in all posts, tweets about Britmums Live 2014
• I will review your products, run competitions, publish press releases and brand news. 
• I will hand out business cards at Britmums 2014 that show you as my sponsor. 
• I will wear promotional t-shirt etc (...not full fancy dress though!) lol 
• I will continue to support your brand during 2014, such as on social media platforms including re-tweets, posts on instagram and Facebook etc

I am more than happy to discuss any other way we could work together as part of the sponsorship package. If there is something in particular that you require that isn't listed please don't hesitate to contact me on debbie@countryheartandhome.com

TTFN

Debbie

x

Congratulations to the Pipii £30 voucher winner!!

Huge congratulations go to:

AMBER H

The winner of the £30 Pipii vouchers to spend on party prep and lots of other goodies!!

CONGRATULATIONS!! 

Thank you to everyone who took part and please keep checking back as we have lots more competitions coming up!! :) 

TTFN

Debbie

x