A Great Sprout Alternative

I love sprouts, they are a wonderful source of vitamins and minerals and I could eat them with every roast. But my family are not so keen, my son will eat brussels but only one or two, so when I was asked to tryFlower Sprouts I was intrigued to see whether I could get the whole family to give them a go, by incorporating them into every day meals.

First of all what is a Flower Sprout? 

"The inspiration behind the idea for flower sprouts came from a desire to create a Brussels sprout with a more subtle flavourwhich was versatile and looked great. The result - a brand new vegetable which looks a little like a tiny cabbage with green frilly leaves and streaks of purple. Just 100g of Flower Sprouts® contain double the amount of vitamin B6 the vitamin that helps us use and store energy from the food we eat and twice the amount of vitamin C than standard Brussels sprouts."

Well we've tried them in many variations, steamed with a roast dinner, with meatballs and pasta which was one of the recipes from Flower Sprouts.

And probably one of my favourites was as a smoothie, this is a super way to get all the vitamins in one go, whizzed up with some coconut water, banana, a handful of spinach, some cacao, almond butter and a squeeze of agave syrup it is a suitably yummy way to enjoy flower sprouts.

For me, I really enjoyed eating the Flower Sprouts in every form, when cooked they have a wonderfully soft texture, a mix between kale and a sprout, they have a subtle taste and are easy to eat.

My son tried one and said it was excellent, my husband, the veggie hater, tried one raw and said he thought they were better that way than cooked and my daughter tried a bit of one and didn't want anymore. But she is four and still at a slightly fussy stage in her diet, she tried it though and we will persevere to get her to eat them.

There are some wonderful recipes on the Flower Sprouts website and I will be buying more to try with them, I buy normal sprouts even though the rest of the family aren't too keen. Usually if I have them on my plate they will give them another try.

Certainly with the festivities of Christmas these wonderful little veggies make the perfect and pretty alternative to Brussels sprouts. With them looking like flowers they are sure to be a hit with children who don't like the look of normal sprouts. There is certainly place for all types of sprouts on my dinner table though.

NB: This is a collaborative review post, all words and opinions are my own.

Healthier Halloween Treats

Halloween is a time where there are lots of sweets and treats. So, to try and cut down our sugar intake, Sykes Cottages have invited me to come up with some healthier options to serve this Halloween.

For the younger children, these banana and choc chip eyeball cakes are the perfect afternoon treat at Halloween. They are really easy to make, so it's a good time to get the children involved with the baking.

For the cake:

100g Butter, softened

2 eggs

175g Light brown sugar

225g Self-raising flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

3 tablespoons milk

2 ripe bananas, mashed (use a fork to mash the banana)

50g Chocolate chips

For the decoration:

125g icing sugar

15ml warm water

Smarties, buttons, icing

1. Pre-heat your oven to 180ºC/160ºC for fan assisted and line a muffin tray with 12 cases (spooky ones if you have them!).

2. Place the butter, eggs, sugar, flour, baking powder, milk and banana in a mixing bowl and using a hand held mixer, blend until smooth, add the chocolate chips and stir in with a spoon.

3. Spoon the mixture equally between the cases and place in the oven for 20 minutes.

4. Remove from the oven and allow to cool.

5. Once cooled, make the glacé icing. Mix 125g icing sugar with a teaspoon of water at a time until it reaches a smooth and thick consistency. Try not to make it too runny or it won't stay in the centre.  Place a teaspoon full of your thick icing on the middle of a cake and spread into a round(ish) shape.

I used some renshaw candy melts for the iris and a chocolate chip for the pupil, but you could use a smartie and some black icing, or a raisin. For the red around the eye I used a streak of red food colouring on the end of cocktail stick and just squiggled it through the icing before it set.

Once you have done this with all of them, there you have it, a spooky healthier cake.

Next up is a recipe I have made several times, it is a mix of raisins and nuts blended up. These bites are full of natural energy and perfect for slightly older children, although my three and six year old both enjoy them, I know some people like to be careful with nuts. They are blended into tiny pieces though so should be fine.

Ingredients:

100g Raisins
30g Cranberries
30g Cashews
30g Brazil nuts
30g Flaked almonds
20g Mixed seeds
1-3 tsps Honey
Liquorice Catherine Wheels for decoration.

1. Line a baking tray with baking parchment.

2. Place the raisins, cranberries, cashews, brazil nuts, mixed seeds and flaked almonds in a mixer or chopper and blend until chopped and mixed, add a little honey at a time until it becomes wet enough to roll into balls without breaking apart.

Once you've rolled out the spiders bodies, cut the liquorice in half lengthways so you have thinner strips to make the legs. Add these to the tops of the bodies whilst still squidgy, once you have done this you can add little pieces of cranberry as eyes or leave as is. Place in the fridge to firm up and then  serve.

Together these treats look great displayed next to a pumpkin and some cobwebs...

This is my entry into the Sykes Cottages Healthy Halloween Treats challenge.

Yumbox Panino Review

I loved the original Yumbox, so I was super excited to get my hands on the Panino. With one large compartment, two smaller compartments and a dip well, it is a perfect lunchbox for older children and adults although it also makes the perfect bento box for younger children.

I particularly love the background with the French and Italian wording, you get to learn something new with lunch too.

I love salads and this is the perfect lunch box to fill with plenty of health and not so healthy food.

With the silicone lid it offers the same spill proof storage as the original, allowing you to pack a lunch with whatever you fancy.

The proof is, as they say, in the pudding and this chocolate pudding was certainly good for testing the seals on the lid, after a few falls off the car seat on the way to work it was still within it's compartment and had not leaked.

This is another great box and the colours are beautiful too, I love the Tutti Frutti Blue as well as this one the Anguira Pink.

Again I have nothing but praise for the Yumbox, it is such an ingenious solution allowing you to produce great looking healthy lunches.

With the lighter colours I have noticed any scratches show up a bit more, this isn't a problem and hasn't stopped me buying more, it was just something I noticed (and am probably being picky over) but felt I needed to mention. Having spoken with other Yumbox owners though, they haven't noticed these and have the darker ones so. They don't show up on the pictures so aren't 'bad', i'm just here to give an honest opinion.

NB I was sent the Yumbox Panino for review, all pictures and opinions are my own.

Yumbox Review

My son has been having a packed lunch for the last few years and it is something I enjoy making for him, what I don’t enjoy as much, is washing all the containers out each evening.

So, imagine my joy when I saw a bento style box that was not only air tight but also spill proof and was coming to the UK! The Yumbox is currently available in the USA and Australia but from June/July will be here.

Silicone lid and compartments

This isn’t just a lunch box though, it is a convenient and easy way to deliver a healthy, balanced and nutritious lunch. Each compartment is labelled with a fun picture of a different food group, not only does this enable the maker of the lunch box to easily see what to include, it also helps your child understand the importance of a balanced diet.

Being compact and spill proof (with it's special silicone lined lid) it also makes a great picnic box, whether you are in the garden, at the park or the beach it is a great way to transport a packed lunch with everything contained in one place. One thing I find when taking a picnic for young children, is that getting their food to them quickly is a must, they are usually so excited about where we are, they just want to get on and play. With the Yumbox, there is no need for separate plates or passing around of food to everyone.

I'm happy to say that this box is not just for children, I have been using it to take my lunch to work in. It does what it says, it is airtight and even apple packed the night before is still fresh. I have taken hummus and strawberries in the box together and the fruit hasn’t been tainted by the strong smelling garlic.

A few people have been put off by the price but for something so versatile I think it is well worth the money and I have already placed an order for one in the first shipment in June, more for the picnic aspect of the box than anything.

Whether it is a coincidence or that she is a growing girl, my daughter has eaten everything she's been given since she has been using the box. I think the fact it is her favourite colour helps, the one time I tried to give her just the tray she was pretty upset and I had to put it in the box.

Reading some of the reviews on Amazon I did notice a few people said there wasn’t much room for food and that their older children didn’t find it filling enough, however, for my six year old I can fit exactly the same amount of food in this as I could in his normal lunch box.

This type of lunchbox is also kinder to the environment, as you are cutting down on waste, I haven’t ever sent plastic bags, clingfilm, or tin foil for his lunch anyway but definitely won't have to now :)

I am hoping the box will last a long time but as it has been myself and my daughter using it and it has not been chucked about the place by a six year old boy, I cannot comment on its durability as much as I would like. I am informed that it has been stress tested by the manufacturer and a fellow blogger has thrown hers down the stairs (not on purpose) and it survived, so hopefully it will do the trick.

One of my favourite things about these boxes are it allows you to see everything at a glance and is a fun way to store lunch, the fun element I think is important no matter how old you are, no one wants a mess of badly presented and squashed food!

I have tried to find something wrong with the Yumbox but I can't, I really love it and so does my daughter. My son is looking forward to getting his too and for now I will just use their's when they aren't looking.

If you like what you see they are now available to pre order from the Yumbox website and will be available properly from July.

Fruit, Nut and Seed Bites

I am currently suffering with all sorts of health problems, the doctor has diagnosed me with possible fibromyalgia and I have reduced kidney function so things are breaking all over the place.

On a mission to get healthy and to stop snacking on rubbish I spotted these over on Instagram and decided to give them a go with whatever I had in the cupboard.

I don't have any measurements it is basically a whatever you have in the cupboard kinda recipe and chuck in as much as you like of each thing.

These have raisins, dried cranberries, coconut, flaked almonds, brazil nuts, cashew nuts and some mixed seeds, 1 tsp cocoa and 1tsp of honey, all blitzed together until it becomes a sticky mess.

They don't look that attractive and even less so in ball form but you could put them in a baking tray and cut up if you so desired. Once rolled pop in the fridge to firm up and voila, Nakd style bites of loveliness.

Not only are these a healthier snack but they do seem to fill me up for longer to stave off the cravings till lunch and tea, plus they are really quick and simple.