Food

Review- Appy Kids Co Drinks

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Jess recently has become obsessed with the gruffolo which really hard because of the fact that you struggle to find much with this on it when it is not Christmas time. However, recently we were contacted by the lovely people at Appy Drinks Co asking use if we would like to try some of their drinks. One of them included the Gruffolo, Matilda and a Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

If you have not heard of Appy Drinks Co they are a company who are on a mission to create healthy drinks which are affordable for children. To make children want to do to drink this they have used well-known characters to encourage children to do drink these instead of wanting fizzy or unhealthy drinks. Jess when she is at home usually has a small amount of no-added sugar cordial into her water which she loves but when we are not at home she ends up having to drink fruit shoots when she is travelling or on a day out.

They come in a range of flavours we were kindly sent the orange and carrot, mixed berries and also an orange. I was actually worried that Jess was not going to enjoy the gruffolo ones due to the fact that they were the orange and carrot. However, I can report that she really did end up loving them because they were the ones which she ran out of first. This reminds me I need to order her some. I have actually tried some of the juice and can admit that it is very nice to be honest I thought that they would be weak and not full of flavour. I for sure can see why Jess really enjoys them.

They come in cartoons which means that they are very easy to be able to put in the bag when you are going on days out or if you are like us we do have some in the boot of the car. However, we need to make sure that we open the for Jess because she can’t actually open them by herself because it is a little bit tricky to pierce the pouches with the straw even for me.

The Appy Kids Co drinks are available to buy from Tesco, B&M,  Wholesale Foods Market, Spar and Poundland. If you are like me and like to shop online you can actually purchase them from Amazon as well there even on Prime which means that you do not have to wait.  For 24 of the 200ml cartoons they are between £15 and £24 depending n the flavour and the pouches which they also do are around £18 for 40 on amazon.

Overall Thoughts

I’m really pleased with these drinks! They taste nice and Jess seems to enjoy them a lot too. Appy Kids Co have a huge range of juice drinks available and you can find where to buy them here, and they’re all healthy. These drinks are perfect for the whole family and I would definitely buy them myself in the future.

 

Have you tried these drink?, If so what were your thoughts

Charlotte xxx

Disclaimer: We received products for the purposed of this post. All opinions are our own. 

 

Vintage Inns – The Three Cups – Stamford Bridge Food Review

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A few months ago now after a day at the beach, we were heading back towards York in need of food. When we drove through a village called Stamford Bridge which is close to York. I think we had a couple of moments to have a look at the menu before they stopped serving food as it was around 9 pm. The food which we choose was of a very high standard that we decided that we would return in the future.

A couple of weeks ago now we actually made the returning visit. As we were child free for the night and looking for somewhere to have some high-quality food and we knew this is something which would find at the three cups in Stamford Bridge. As you can see from the menu they do have a vast array of food which you can choose from. All which is cooked fresh when you order as you would expect. One thing which I would state is the food is not that expensive I think for a two-course meal for two it came to around £40 this included drinks.

I choose to have the pate as a starter which is something that I am highly fond of anyway. It came with a small amount of toasted bread which of course was delicious I managed to spread it over the bread. However as with pate when you have eaten it you walkways wish there was more this something which I really enjoy. This for sure is something which I would have again if I returned I think it might have been what I had on my initial visit as well.

My partner, on the other hand, a prawn cocktail which is something that I am not a huge fan of anyway. However, this did make me jealous because I think for sure I could have had this. It looked like it had the right amount of sauce this is something which I find rare when you order a prawn cocktail as usually, you get either a large number of prawns and a lack of sauce or the other way around. This is for sure one which he would recommend as it is the second time he has had this meal when we have dined at this pub. I think if we returned it may be something which I order because of how nice it does look which say a lot because I really do like the pate.

Burgers are something which a lot of restaurants/pubs serve, however, it can be hard to find one which is of high quality with succulent meat. This is for sure something which you can find at the three cups as you see the size of the burgers are large enough that they should fill you up. For example my partner who can eat so much found this filling even if I did steal his onion ring which was amazing as it was made with proper onion which means that it was so fresh. I think I could just have consumed a bowl of them on there own and not even been sorry. I think that this is something which most people would enjoy no matter if they are a picky eater or not.

Me on the other hand fancied something different this is why I choose the salmon as it is a dish which I do not have often. This came with potatoes and vegetables and a lovely source which for the life of me I can not remember what it was at all. This is something which I would recommend because of you are someone like me who does not always want something so filling like a burger, of course this is a little bit more of a healthy option. I think this for sure is something which I which I would have again in the future should I be returning to this restaurant. We can not comment on the drinks because of the fact that the fact that we both had a pint of coke.

Conclusion

This for sure is a place which we would visit again due to the fact that we have had great service both times we have been. The food had been of amazing quality which made up really want to go back I think there is still so much which I still want to try on the menu.  This means that I am going to have to go back there I think this meal actually only cost us around the £40 mark and this was for drinks and a two course meal. I know that the vintage inn is a chain so I might have to visit some of the other branches.

Have you been to a Vintage Inn for food?

Charlotte xx

Do Our Eating Habits Depend On Our Location?

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How do our eating habits differ by region?

Something which we enjoy as a family is good food whether it be a takeaway, cooking it ourself or going out for a nice meal. It’s seems that we are not alone.

Britain is a nation of foodies, with 66% of UK adults describing themselves as passionate about food and drink. It comes as no surprise then that 50% say they are passionate about home cooking and 53% of millennials eat out at least once a week.

Brits spend a small fortune on food – whether it is takeaways and restaurants or luxury food from the supermarkets. On restaurant bills alone, the average Brit spends around £44 per week. But what does our money get spent on? Designers of modern kitchens , Harvey Jones, takes a look at the UK’s eating habits by region.

Takeaway lovers

According to a survey by Payment Sense, the average Brit spends around £9.75 on eating out or takeaways for themselves at least once a month. Annually, this works out at £117 per person!

Whilst Bristol is named the Takeaway Capital of the UK with a reported 279 takeaway restaurants, Leeds appears to be the greatest lover of the takeaways. 77% of Leeds folk admit to having at least one takeaway a month.

This love of ordering in isn’t reflected across the whole Yorkshire region, however less than 25 miles away, people in York don’t dine as regularly on takeaways, with only 25% of them ordering a monthly take out.

Chinese appears to be the favourite cuisine too – a favourite across the whole country. Only 3 out of the 30 cities questions didn’t crown Chinese as their favourite takeaway – and of all respondents asked, 35% voted Chinese as their favourite. This trend is mirrored between male and female respondents too.

Indian takeaways follow closely in second place with 24% of the votes – and it stole the crown as the number one favourite in Aberystwyth, Coventry and Wolverhampton.

Eating out

According to The Sun, the average Brit can spend around £288,000 in their lifetime eating out at restaurants, which many people claim is because they are simply too lazy to cook at home.

Whilst Millennials are expected to eat out more than any other demographic, the average Brit now eats out twice a week with pub grub steeling the title as their favourite option. 18-29 year olds spend double the amount of other demographics on eating out – with an average spend of £88 per week!

London is the city of eating out according to The Chronicle, with the capital consuming the most Indian, Chinese, Thai, fish and chips and pizza meals at restaurants than any other city. The South East and Northern Ireland aren’t far behind the big city though, whilst Scotland appears to be the region that eats out the least.

Birmingham is also known as the Curry Capital with 43% of Brummies claiming curry restaurants are their favourite, and 34% of Londoners seem to agree. Glasgow prefers authentic Spanish tapas (14%), while 14% of Edinburgh folk loving Sushi.

Pub grub is one of the most popular choices in the UK – and Liverpudlians couldn’t agree more; 49% would choose traditional pub grub.

Home cooking

With busy work schedules and family life, dinner time at home has become far less formal and structured than previous decades. In 2017, just over 20% of British families said they sat down to dinner together once or twice a week, and one in five have their ‘family meals’ whilst sat in front of the television. However, some people prefer to cook their own meals at home, as they can control their own ingredients (49%).

According to Statista, 64% of people enjoy cooking, whilst 55% describe cooking as something they have to do but don’t. There has also been a 10% increase in the number of people preparing meals from scratch at least once a week from 2005. But which regions are most likely to cook homecooked meals?

Judging by how much London, the South West and Northern Ireland eat out, we can assume that they are the regions that are least likely to stay home and cook meals. However, Scotland, Wales, the North West and North East were the regions that appeared to eat out the least, leading us to the assumption that they are more likely to stay home and prepare home-cooked meals more often.

The kitchen, for many, has become the heart of the home meaning we now tend to spend more time there. Now that open-plan living is on the rise, cooking a meal doesn’t have to be a lonely task; you can prepare a family meal in your kitchen whilst catching up with the family.

What is your favourite meal?

Charlotte

This post is a collaboration

Little Dish- Cupboard Essentials Review

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As busy parents sometimes we don’t have time to cook nutritionally healthy meals from scratch every single day. We try and make a couple of meals a week this kind however there is times when need to grab something from the cupboard and use that instead. We all know about the sugar and salt levels which are reported in some of these items for adults. I dread to think how bad they would be for a child like Jess. That’s where Little Dish come in they have a range of products which can be put in the cupboard which are suitable for children without half of the nasties in them.

We have seen them in a range of the big supermarkets which is great. As this means that you can just pop them in your trolley in your normal weekly shop which great. I for one like to try and get as many things from the same shop as possible. So these been available like this is a time saver for me.

The three from this range that we have tried are baked beans, korma curry sauce, and a tomato pasta sauce. All very normal and basic food based which you can use for creating a meal quickly.

The first one Jess tried was the curry sauce as family we like our curries however they can be too hot to feed Jess. Or we want to eat later than when she need feeding these little dish curry sauces are amazing because all you need to do is cook the chicken and then stir the sauce in for around 1 minute. I have added rice because this is something which Jess loves to consume even on its own.  The sauce was big enough for a medium/large portion of chicken and it was saucy enough for Jess. I did try a little bit off and found that it was tasty without the spices this is something which I am glad of because I did not want Jess to be eating a bland meal. This in total took us about the 15 minutes including cooking the rice which of course is great because Jess sometimes is not the most patient person.

The beans come in a pouch which is big enough size for Jess without there been any waste as if I put them in the fridge I don’t always know when she would finish them. These are can easy go on toast and she can have a small potion of beans on toast sometimes she does like to copy her mummy. Or they can be added as a veg element of her tea when she has something like fish fingers. They take next to no time at all if I remember correctly around 1-2 mins great when you have a grumpy toddler nagging for food.

The final one which Jess has tried is the tomato pasta sauce this is something which is her favourite food anyway so having a good quality pasta sauce means so much to us.  This again is one which you have to stir in your pasta when it is cooked which means again it takes about 15 minutes and the sauce does get warm. My brother actually tried some of this when Jess had it and said again it was a little bit bland it was more like tomato puree. It does mean that it does have the flavour for your toddler however, it will not have as much sugar and salt as an adult version would do. This is great for if we are not having pasta but Jess wants it she sometimes even adds cheese to the top as a treat.

Conclusion

The sauces are £1 and baked beans are around £1.25 these can be purchased from the major supermarkets as well as  Boots. This is great because you can purchase them easily which is great because you never want to have to think about having to go to additional shops.  You can even click and collect them from boots which I have done because I have not seen them in a lot of the shops. I am going to purchase these again in the future because of the fact that they are super easy and when we move into our own house these will be handy because Daddy will still be working away. I would love to try more of these essentials. Jess already loves the ready meals which are usually on offer in Morrisons so they are a brand that we would recommend for sure.

Have you tried any of these little dish items?

Charlotte x