Monthly Archives: May 2020

Paper, Lace and Love Wooden Decorative Rainbow Review

Posted on by
Reply

Paper, Lace and Love Wooden Decorative Rainbow Review

Paper, Lace and Love is a company that I have admired for many years. I first discovered it on Facebook and I made several purchases for friends and also for my godson, a special framed Christening gift. Everything I ordered was beautiful, the paper cuts were great quality and presented in an excellent way too.

It had been a while since my last purchase but I had been admiring their new works from afar. During Lockdown with all this terrible virus problem affecting the world, Paper, Lace and Love have been hard at work designing and creating brand new wooden designs, so that people could hang them up in their homes. Not only are these excellent quality and made to such a high standard, they are also unique, and help to bring some hope and cheer back to people across the world who have been lucky enough to buy one.

I was one of those lucky enough to purchase one of their limited edition Rainbow pieces. Because my son is a Rainbow baby, the idea of the Rainbow has been at the forefront of my mind for years now. I always wanted to find something that I could display at home, that I loved enough for it to represent what he means to me and the struggle I had to get him.

I always said I would have Rainbows decorating my house, and when PL&L made this particular design, I knew it was the one for me. Here is one of my photographs of it, just look at all the beautiful details and the craftsmanship. The quote is easy to read and the glitter in the Rainbow really make its colours stand out.

I love positive quotes regarding Rainbows, my favourite one is this, “When it Rains look for Rainbows, When it’s Dark look for Stars”. There is also “You have to survive the storm in order to find the Rainbow”. Both are very true to my life. My son loves to find stars, moons and rainbows, usually in his books but also on television and when we go out and about.

Now when we take a little stroll around our street some afternoons we see lots of Rainbows in peoples windows due to the pandemic. But what I want him to know is that he is my shining light and my Rainbow of Hope, he was the incredible product from what was a very dark time in my life… Rainbows will always be important to us, all the more so now.

Overall I would highly rate the service I have received when ordering from PL&L and I would recommend them to friends and family and practically anyone. If you want well made, unique pieces to treasure forever, then this is the place to find them.

I have chosen to support some small British Businesses during this Pandemic Lockdown. This item was purchased by me with my own money and this review is my own and totally honest opinion.

Paper, Lace and Love and all their incredible works of art can be found here at the following places. Some are limited editions and only a certain number will be made, so it is best to follow them on social media for regular updates.

Paper, Lace and Love Website HERE
Paper, Lace and Love Facebook page HERE

Thank you for joining me for this review today, I hope you have enjoyed it.

Have a lovely bank holiday weekend! I’m off to bake some cookies!

✩ Sabrina ✩

Gardeners Dream Purchase Review

Posted on by
Reply
Freshly potted and watered.

Gardeners Dream Purchase Review

I ordered some Strawberry plants from a website online, the company was called Gardeners Dream Ltd. A friend of mine recommended them to me. They had a wide range of things to choose from and I browsed at length. That day I was only looking to purchase one thing though, that was Strawberry Plants.

My son adores this fruit and I thought why not invest in some plants that I can keep in pots and they can give us fruit every summer (when looked after appropriately of course).

They send the dried plants in the post in a few days, I even had free delivery which was an added bonus for me. Each time you choose an item you receive 5 plants. I chose two different types of Strawberry plants, but those with larger fruits and hardy plants against disease and bugs.

Due to lockdown they took a few days to arrive but I didn’t mind. They were well packaged and I followed the instructions that the website had given me. I saved them on to my phone when I chose which I wanted to buy.

After I had soaked them overnight in lukewarm water they were ready for planting. I once again followed the websites instructions for this as well. Ensuring I planted up to a certain part of the plants.

Within days they were revitalised, green leaves began to grow, it was with the help of all the compost and soil I had prepared before getting them. They looked healthy in the compost (that I luckily had in the garage because I couldn’t get any from anywhere right now if I needed some!) but I still gave them a little plant food as well when I watered them well for the first few days.

Now they look very healthy and have tripled in size, growing lots of fresh new leaves as well, as you can see in my image below.

Overall my experience using Gardeners Dream has been a good one and I would recommend their service, their plant advice and their website as a whole to anyone looking to grow their own this summer.

Baring in mind that it’s too late to plant some things now because I did these in early April and some things require planting even earlier in the year. But they also do other plants and flowering ones too if you’re looking to brighten up an area of your garden this year.

Here is the link to the Gardeners Dream website if you wanted to take a browse for yourself.

Here is the direct link to what Strawberry Plants they have for sale on their website.

Thanks for visiting my blog today, have a lovely evening!

✩ Sabrina ✩

Sabrina’s Recipe for Dark Chocolate Chip Dairy Free Cookies

Posted on by
Reply

Sabrina’s Dark Chocolate Chip Cookies

These cookies of mine are not only delicious, but dairy free and made with dark chocolate chips which add a real depth of flavour too! I haven’t baked anything else since I perfected this recipe! I can guarantee you’ll love them too! I have been trying and testing my cookie bakes for years and I have finally found a bake that I am totally happy with, I was so happy with the recent batches of cookies that I just had to share them with you. Did you see my images and videos all over my social media?

Trust me when I say you’ll love these cookies, I don’t even contemplate buying cookies anymore because these are just as good, in fact they taste even better in my honest opinion! So why don’t you give them a go and see what you reckon? If you need them to be GF then change the Flour, if you don’t need them to be DF then alter the spread to regular butter. Just make sure you follow my other ingredient amounts and the method exactly!

The trick with these cookies is to refrigerate the dough for a minimum of 20 hours, and then you must bake all the cookie dough batches within 3 days of making the dough. It will keep for a couple of days in the fridge if it’s well wrapped and air tight. This time around I baked one batch of cookies at 20 hours and the next batch the morning after around 36 hours after I first mixed my dough. The second batch tasted the best!

The longer you refrigerate the dough for the chewier the cookies will be. You could freeze some dough if you weren’t going to use it all in the time frame, but make sure you use it within a month if you do that. You will also need to add extra minutes to the cook time if you’re baking the dough from frozen too.

Because this is one of my quicker prep time recipes I used an average sized Mug as a measurement for the ingredients instead of scales and grams. Sometimes I don’t get a lot of time to bake with my toddler in tow! So if you want a recipe that is fast to prepare in an evening, ready to bake the following afternoon, then this is the one for you! This amount of ingredients made approximately 14 Cookies. If you make my cookies please share and tag me on social media.

Author: Severn Sabrina
Prep Time: 15 Minutes
Refrigerate Time: 20 to 40 Hours
Cook Time: 8 to 10 Minutes
Serves: 14 Cookies
Allergens: Contains Egg, Gluten, Soya Lecithin.

Ingredients

½ a Cup of Dairy Free Spread (softened in the microwave in a small bowl)
1/3 a cup of Caster Sugar
2/3 a cup of Soft Brown Sugar
1 Egg
1 Teaspoon of Vanilla Essence
1 Teaspoon of Baking Powder
½ Teaspoon of Salt
1 and ½ Cups of Plain Flour
A Bag of Dark Chocolate Chips (100g ish)

You Will Need

Two Bowls – 1 Large and 1 Medium
A Sieve
A Tablespoon and A Teaspoon
A Wooden Spoon
A Flat Oven Tray
Baking Parchment
A Microwave and a Small Microwavable Bowl

SABRINA’S TOP TIPS! Don’t over microwave the spread, just twenty seconds should be enough and then stir it gently until it melts and is smooth and pourable. You can use the same piece of baking parchment if you’re baking two lots of cookies, just place the next set of cookie dough mounds in the gaps that weren’t touched on the paper on the previous bake!

Method

1. In a large bowl you need to mix up the two sugars with the softened spread. Mix with a spoon until it is all smooth.

2. Next you add the egg and vanilla and once mix until it’s smooth and combined. I always do it by hand because this is a quick recipe, just put some effort into the hand mixing for a good 60 seconds. It should look smooth and pale.

3. In a separate bowl, sieve the flour to remove any large lumps, and then add the baking powder and the salt. Mix together well.

4. You now want to take your time combining the wet and dry ingredients. So use the sieve once again to sieve the dry ingredients into the wet, do this a quarter at a time, and between each quarter you want to stir the bowl and combine them. Once that quarter is mixed in to the wet ingredients you start with another quarter of dry, and so on. Once you have mixed all the ingredients together you will be left with a smooth and pale dough.

5. Now it’s time to add the dark chocolate chips or chunks, I prefer chunks because they stay a little more stable in the dough.

6. Refrigerate the dough overnight at least, and when it comes to baking you can do as little or as much as you’d like. It’s best to test a couple of cookies on your oven for a time frame before doing a full batch. Everyone has a different oven.

7. When you get to the baking stage I always recommend you take a Tablespoon size of cookie dough, using two spoons to press the dough together, and then gently make a little round mound of it as your cookie size. I use baking parchment over a flat oven tray so as to stop the cookies from sticking. Leave a space of approximately 6cm between each mound so they have space to spread out.

8. Bake for around 8 minutes, the best way to tell if they are done is that the colour changes around the edges of the cookie. You don’t want them to go too browned otherwise they will be overdone and more crunchy than chewy. I do mine at 180’c fan assisted oven for around 8 minutes. Set for 6-8 and then check them, some cookies could take up to 10 minutes.

9. Once they’ve begun to change colour on the edges remove them from the oven and leave them to sit for five minutes. Then you can gently pull them off and let them cool completely before eating them or storing them in an airtight container. They will last for 3 days if you make them air tight about an hour after baking.

Before…

You Can Make This Recipe Gluten Free by Using Gluten Free Flour!

After…

Thank you very much for reading this post today, if you do try my recipe please let me know how you got on. If you have any questions about my bakes then feel free to leave a comment, I’m more than happy to answer them and give you more tips.

You can keep up with all my cooking and baking by following me on my various social media pages.

Have a lovely weekend!

✩ Sabrina ✩

You should refrigerate the dough before baking it!
Freshly Baked!

Thanks for visiting Severn Wishes blog! See you soon!

May 2020 Treatbox Reveal

Posted on by
Reply

I’m Sabrina of Severn Wishes Blog, and I give honest reviews on a wide range of products and subscription boxes that I purchase, today it’s the turn of Treatbox UK.

Hello readers! How are you?
It’s time for me to discuss the May 2020 Treatbox Reveal.

Remember to follow me on my social media for more Treatbox photos, with the products in use and updates on my individual thoughts and reviews too!

Here are the contents of the May box, this month there are 7 items plus the Treatbox Original A5 Print.

Print “It’s not selfish to love yourself, take care of yourself, and make your happiness a priority. It’s necessary.”
“You Got This” Emery Board
Seacret Mineral Soap 30g
All Earth Natural Bath Accessories Skin Scrub Heart
Relax Pink Himalayan Bath Salts – Pure and Unscented
Bee Good Vanilla & Honey Lip Balm (Made with Honey from British Bees)
JeJu Korean Beauty Intensely Hydrating Coconut Oil Hair Mask
Korean Beauty Replenishing JeJu Island Hydrogel Face Mask

My Honest Opinion

I really loved the print this month, the quote was great and appropriate for everyone who is struggling with self care during this most difficult time. I totally believe in being kind to yourself, this is one of the reasons why I buy a Treatbox for myself each month, it is my gift to me, from me.

The Lip Balm was nice when I used it, it made my lips lovely and smooth. An extra emery board around the house isn’t a bad thing either, loving the quote of “You Got This” and the cool pattern on it!

I had a Seacret Soap in a Treatbox a couple of years ago and I still haven’t used that! So I now have two!

The Relax bath salts sound lovely, if I had the time to have a bath! Ha! Ha! They will go in my drawer that I call “to do and try when I have some time to herself” in other words my self care drawer!

I don’t like the fact that we have yet more Korean Beauty items this month. I still have ones that I haven’t used, I just don’t have time with a toddler in tow and trying to work from home.

So Treatbox used to be a box of treats, a mixture of items, a pick me up, sometimes a snack or a drink, something self care related, some stationery, something random but often inspirational, a piece of homeware, maybe even something to wear like socks or a scarf and occasionally a beauty item. But lately I feel like Treatbox has lost it’s identity and is moving towards being a pick me up box of self care and beauty. Where as I used to love the box because it wasn’t like so many others on the market. Lots of people would disagree with me I’m sure, and love getting items like the ones this month. But they are usually the people who have the time to relax and enjoy them all each and every month. I know it’s hard to get things to include in boxes right now, with lockdown and so many people not working, so I wasn’t expecting anything wild and amazing. But I would once again like to see a mix of items in the boxes, if it continues to be masks and soaps and bath items I just cannot justify the spend each month for items I am simply just not using or enjoying.

I hate having to be so brutally honest but I have always been the same. I cannot hide my overall disappointment in the May box.

Thinking of ordering a TreatBox for yourself or as a gift for someone?
Then you can find Treatbox subscriptions and also build your own box at their website

Check out my previous Treatbox unboxing posts in this unique category of mine called ‘Treatbox’ it is specifically for these box reviews and reveals – Severn Wishes Treatbox.

Thank you for visiting Severn Wishes today, I hope you enjoyed the Review of this Treatbox and I hope to see you here again soon. Have a lovely day.

✩ Sabrina ✩

Sabrina’s Dairy Free Chicken Tikka Style Curry Recipe

Posted on by
Reply
Sabrina’s Dairy Free Chicken Tikka Style Curry

Good Day All! It’s time for a cookery related blog post today. If you follow me on social media you will have seen me share images of this one already, it’s a great alternative to a take away, and it costs a fraction of the price of one too! It’s a simple recipe, easy to make and complete in just a few minutes. Of course I am making mine dairy free because of my sons allergies, I have worked on this recipe for months. You can use alternatives and I will outline those in my recipe below if you want to alter it.

So why am I sharing this particular recipe? Well, I really miss a proper Chicken Tikka, and I thought with a little experimenting I could make a recipe I would really enjoy. Coconut is often used in curry sauce anyway, so by using coconut yoghurt as part of the base it eliminates the dairy aspect and allows me to play with the spices. This recipe I have made is great, although proper Tikka has nuts and dairy in, usually Almonds, and I can’t have either because of my son. It is also more red in colour, so I am considering adding some Paprika next time! So I will be continually trying to better this recipe and cooking in every aspect of my life, but this is the best I have so far. If I make an awesome adjustment I will edit this post! But for now my Curry is both Tasty and a little spicy too!

This is my Dairy Free Chicken Tikka Style Curry Recipe

Author: Severn Sabrina
Prep Time: 20 Minutes
Cook Time: 40 Minutes
Total Time: 60 Minutes
Serves: 2 for Curry & Rice OR 4 (if you add sides)
Allergens: This Recipe is Dairy Free unless you change the Yoghurt

You Will Need

A Teaspoon
A Wooden Spoon
A Bowl for the Marinade
A Medium Saucepan
A Knife for Chopping
A Flat Oven Tray
Scissors for Cutting the Chicken

INGREDIENTS

Pilau Rice (it compliments the flavours of my sauce but you can have plain white rice if you would prefer) I sometimes just use a microwave rice packet for convenience.
300g Chicken or for a Vegetarian Alternative use Quorn Chunks
White Onion – 2 Onions chopped two different ways, large chunks and diced
2 Pots of Coconut Yoghurt (average size from a usual pack of 4 pots)

Optional Extras (to increase it for the amount people you’re serving)
1 Pepper diced into bite sized cubes and fried off with the onions
1/2 Tin of Chopped Tomatoes (if you prefer a more tomato based curry with less spice)
Poppadoms and Chutneys
Naan Bread (Shop bought usually contains Dairy)
Chips

For the Marinade
1 Pot of Coconut Yoghurt
1 Teaspoon of Tikka Curry Powder (or something similar)

For the Sauce
6 Teaspoons Tomato Puree
1 Small Pots of Coconut Yoghurt (You can use regular yoghurt if not doing DF)
2 Tspn Tikka Curry Powder OR 1 Tspn of Garam Massala + 1 Tspn Cumin
Salt and Pepper to taste

(If you want to make a more complex curry sauce look through my blog for my other recipes).

METHOD

1. Start by chopping your onions and frying it off in a saucepan with a little oil. You want the onions to be softened but not caramelised. Once they are cooked you can start to build the sauce up. Start by using a teaspoon to measure out the other sauce ingredients and add them into the onions. Including the spices, yoghurt and tomato puree. Stir gently to combine. Leave this on a low heat stirring it frequently. Your sauce should resemble mine in the image below.

Onions Ready to Fry, Chicken Marinade and Ready to Chop Fresh Chicken.

2. Then take your chicken, cut it bite size pieces, try and get them all roughly the same size so they cook evenly. You want to marinade the raw chicken for as long as possible before cooking it, so I would often do this as a first step and then go ahead to chopping and cooking. But it all works the same way and it will be just as soft and tender but slightly less flavoursome than if you marinaded it for a few hours! So if you’re planning to do this recipe and have some time on your hands, marinade the chicken in the fridge for a couple of hours before putting it in the oven. (With a toddler in tow I often just get a short window to cook!) When you do get to this stage you should lay the chicken pieces out evenly on a tray and oven them for around 20 minutes at 180’c. They should look baked and coated, cooked through and still tender. See my images below as a guide.

3. For the next step you want to remove the cooked chicken pieces from the oven tray gently, and set them down in the sauce, try not to lose much of their tasty marinade coating! This will add extra flavour to your sauce. Stir all of the chicken up with the sauce and then leave it on a low heat for around twenty minutes.

Mix the oven cooked chicken with the sauce you made earlier.

4. Serve the curry as soon as your rice is cooked and hot, half and half works well, you could even accompany it with some poppadoms and chutneys, a naan bread to tear and share or even do half rice and half chips while the oven is hot – if you’re that way inclined! 😉
There should be plenty of that tasty sauce for dipping things in whatever way you decide to serve it!

The Final Curry Dish Served with Pilau Rice

Thank you very much for reading this post today, if you do try my recipe let me know how you got on. If you have any questions feel free to leave a comment, I’m more than happy to answer them.

Have a lovely evening,

✩ Sabrina ✩