Sabrina is a Lifestyle, Parenting and Product Review Blogger. A Writer, Photographer, Reviewer, Home Cook, Crafter & Nature Enthusiast. You will find a bit of all those categories here on Severn Wishes Blog, Welcome to Sabrina's Lifestyle Blogging & Honest Reviews.
My Delicious Red Wine Casserole Recipe is a winner for the whole family to enjoy. And it’s got plenty of vegetables in it too, with a rich red wine gravy sauce.
You can have a tasty dinner in 3 hours, with a 30 minutes preparation time and a 2.5 hour cooking time. Easy to do and leave in the oven while you do something else! It is a very handy recipe to have when you have to help your children with homework this Autumn.
I will do my ingredients list as if you were serving 4 people. I do this meal for my son and I, and it then reheats well the next day when stored in a fridge once it has cooled from the original cooking. I do it in a Pyrex Casserole Dish with a lid, and it can then be cooked and stored easily.
Ingredients
Vegetables 4 Carrots (1 Medium Carrot per person) – finely diced is best. 2 or 3 Large White Onions (at least half a large onion per person) – finely diced or small pieces. 1 Tin of Chopped Tomatoes 400g (Make sure to add some warm water to the tin, add this in to the dish in order to create your liquid for your stock). (Optional) Mushrooms – Small Washed Button Mushrooms are best.
Accompaniment / Side
Long Grain Rice prepared per person. 1 Tin of New Potatoes 600g (serves 4 people) This can be added to the Casserole and they will cook during the time frame. 500g Mashed Potato prepared during the final half an hour of cooking.
Meat / Vegetarian Alternative
300g – 500g of Casserole Meat of your Choice – I use Beef or Chicken or Quorn – all of which go really well with the Red Wine Sauce. Plain Flour for Coating the Meat (Contains: Wheat)
Sauce Tesco Red Wine Stock Pot – 1 for a 4 person Casserole. (Contains: Sulphites)
Tesco Stock Pot Red Wine Packaging 4 x 28g
Method
1. Start by preparing your meat, it will require 2 hours or up to 2.5 hours of cooking time. Mix your cut up raw meat with some plain flour in a bowl. You want bite size pieces and all coated in flour. Then you want to fry these off in a tiny bit of oil until sealed but not overcooked, you don’t want the meat to go dry.
2. Next you need to prepare your vegetables. Dice and Fry your Onions after you finish with the Meat/Veg Option. Dice with a knife or throw them all into a food processor to chop them up, it won’t matter to the end result, but you don’t want too big pieces. Don’t cook the Carrots, there is so need, you just want to chop and add them to the casserole dish, they will cook in the stock.
3. Speaking of Stock, that is your next thing, pop your chopped tomatoes in the dish, add water to the tin, and then add that to your dish. You need to add the stock pot, mix thoroughly.
4. Add the rest of whatever you have, vegetables, fried onions, sealed meat, mix together in the stock and then pop the lid on. Preheat your oven and cook at 160 degrees (fan oven) for 2 hours. Check and stir the casserole at that point and then pop it back in the oven for another 30 minutes. (You can do your mashed potato or rice during this half an hour if you didn’t add potatoes to the dish).
5. Be careful when you remove it from the oven as it will be very hot. Serve in bowls with your chosen accompaniment, and enjoy!
Thank you for reading this Recipe post today, I hope you will give this one a go if you can find the stock pots. I love Tesco own products and I love to shout about something if it’s an excellent product, and these most definitely are! They are affordable and allow you to make something that is both delicious and healthy. Please let me know in the comments below if you do this recipe and how it turns out! I hope you like it!
If you’ve been following my blog for a while then you’ll know that food is a huge passion of mine. Coming up with new recipes and experimenting is a hobby of mine. But today, with all this talk about panic buying amidst this deadly virus, I couldn’t help but think, what can I do now to help others…
My epiphany was this! My Ideas On How To Make Your Food Go Further!
There are certain things that most of us keep in our kitchen during week to week shops or our larger monthly stock ups, so I wanted to focus on those to begin with. The issue right now is that due to bulk panic buying some of our staples are very hard to get a hold of. Take a look at the meals below to see if any of them would appeal to you or your family. Then see how you can make them go further with my recipe adjustments.
All of these recipes are my own, so if you wish to recreate one please credit me and notify me on where you have used it, thank you.
Keep those handy takeaway boxes ready to freeze any leftover freshly cooked meals, extra vegetables or leftover homemade sauces.
Author: Severn Sabrina Prep Time: 45 Minutes Cook Time: 40 Minutes Serves: 4 to 6 people Allergens: Wheat Flour, Barley and Soya in the Gravy Granules
COTTAGE PIE Serves 4 to 6 people (sometimes with leftovers if its children’s portions) Ingredients 1 or 2 Large White Onion – Diced 3 or 4 Large Carrots – Diced 500g Mince Beef – Cooked & put through a processor to make smaller pieces 1kg Potatoes – Cooked and Mashed Gravy Granules – I use the Bisto Onion Gravy Granules Additional foods to add to make it go further… Baked Beans x 1 Tin Mixed Dice Vegetables x 1 Cup ~~~ Most people will have a bag of frozen veg or veg that needs to be used up. Dicing it up small and adding it to your cottage pie gravy is a great way to get extra veg into children as well as help an adult get their 5 or more a day! Same with the tin of beans! Pour off a little sauce if there is lots in the tin, but the tomato sauce actually helps you to get a lovely gravy. The beans bulk out the cottage pie filling while adding your veg in take. You can even add all of this into a large casserole dish, and cook it in the oven for an hour, even the veg if cut small enough will cook in the gravy, locking in all the vitamins…
My Cottage Pie is a family favourite! If you cannot get fresh meat then using a tin of Minced Beef and Onion would work just as well!
Author: Severn Sabrina Prep Time: 30 Minutes Cook Time: 30 Minutes Serves: 4 to 6 people Allergens: Dairy will be present in Naan Bread if you choose it as a side
CHICKEN CURRY (You can use one of my Recipes already on my blog for the method) Serves 4 to 6 people (sometimes with leftovers if its children’s portions) Ingredients 2 Large White Onion – Diced and Chopped into two sizes 50g Tomato Puree (this is for your homemade sauce) 2 Tin of Chopped Tomatoes (for your sauce) 500g of Chicken cut into bite size pieces 100g of Yoghurt, I use Dairy Free Coconut Yoghurt Serve with Rice and / or Naan Bread Sauce – I prefer to make my own to my taste but you can use a jar of sauce, but if you do use a jar you only need 1 Tin of the Chopped Tomatoes. You then add curry spices like Cumin, Paprika, Garam Masala and Chilli. As well as Garlic and Coriander usually! (See my Recipes for more on making sauce and a method for the curry too). Additional foods to add to make it go further… New Potatoes x 1 Tin (They’ll cook in the sauce on a low heat for 20 mins) 1 or 2 Peppers Sliced thinly (fry these a little with your onion then add) Cauliflower Diced up x 1 Cup (Chopped small it will cook in the sauce)
Here is one of my recent Curry dishes, this one was with extra Peppers and Potatoes
Author: Severn Sabrina Prep Time: 25 Minutes Cook Time: 40 Minutes Serves: 4 to 6 people Allergens: Check Jar if you purchase a sauce, otherwise none.
CHILLI CON CARNE Serves 4 to 6 people (sometimes with leftovers if its children’s portions) Ingredients 2 Large White Onion – Diced 4 Large Carrots – Diced 1 Tin of Plum Tomatoes (they are sweeter but you need to chop them) 1 Tin of Chopped Tomatoes (you could use 2 of these and no plum if easier) 500g Mince Beef or Pork or both – Cooked & then put through a processor to make the pieces of meat smaller – or use Quorn or Soya Mince 1 Tin of Red Kidney Beans Serve with Rice Sauce – I use a packet or a jar for convenience but you can make a sauce, you have done the basics with the tomatoes already. So add the tomatoes to a bowl, then add Cumin, Garlic and Chilli to your own taste. Additional foods to add to make it go further… Baked Beans x 1 Tin (some people don’t like Red Beans so you could use Baked Beans (Haricot Beans) instead. Peppers – as many or as little as you like, if one needs using up do it! Mixed Dice Vegetables x 1 Cup (You can add other basic veg if you don’t have enough or you want to do a vegetarian style chilli).
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Author: Severn Sabrina Prep Time: 25 Minutes Cook Time: 30 Minutes Serves: 4 to 6 people Allergens: Check the Jar of Sauce if you buy one.
SWEET AND SOUR CHICKEN Serves 4 to 6 people Ingredients 500g Chicken Breast (Diced) or a Vegetarian Alternative Tin of Pineapple – Cut into Small Chunks – 1 Ring per person Peppers – 1 Yellow and 1 Red Cut into Small Long Pieces 1 Large Onion – Diced into Small Long Pieces 2 Carrots – I Peel and Slice them with the Peeler into long thin shards! Serve with Rice Sauce – I always buy a cheap jar of sauce, the cheaper the better! Alternatives This dish is so easy to make and these flavours are quite specific, if you aren’t keen on that much pineapple then do one ring total or leave it out but then you should add more of the other ingredients.
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Fresh meat, fresh fruit and fresh vegetables are hard to get hold of in my area right now. When I did a home delivery order most of what I asked for was either out of stock or I was given a substituted alternative closest to what I wanted. This was very inconvenient and I have ended up spending 4 hours in total, chopping, peeling and bulk freezing some of the fresh veg before it went bad. I created mixed veg bags including a stir fry mix!
TOP TIP: Only make a freezer portion size for what you or your family members would eat at a meal time! Then there is no waste when you defrost it to use!
Washed, Chopped and Sliced, Ready to Freeze. MY TOP TIP always squeeze the air out of the freezer bags before popping them into the freezer to save space!
You can make 6 portions of Vegetable Stir Fry using the following raw vegetables, washed, chopped and ready to cook or freeze: 3 Coloured Peppers – 1/2 a sliced pepper per portion 1 Broccoli Head – cut into thin stems 1kg Carrots – I use a peeler to slice mine into strips 1 White Onion for every 2 Portions – Diced into small chunks ~ Add any of the following to make it go further and become 8 portions~ Water Chestnuts – I use Tinned x 1 Bamboo Shoots – I use Tinned x 1
Adding Noodles OR Rice on the Day you make the Stir Fry for extra bulking out of your food. Either use 1 Packet of Stir Fry Noodles once your veg is cooked, or a packet of Microwave Noodles or a Microwave Rice (all down to your preference) and one of these makes this meal double in amount.
Using a bought Sauce or Making a Sauce?
Adding a bought sauce to this stir fry is great, but if you’re feeding more than 4 people then 1 jar is only just enough. TOP TIP: Make sure you add 2 cm of warm or hot water to the bottom of the jar, replace the lid and give it a good shake, add this to your stir fry, no sauce left in the jar and wasted!
Don’t be scared of not using all the sauce, you can you half, replace the lid and use the rest within 2 or 3 days usually (always check the label).
Alternatives for Sauce… Make your own! You will need… Garlic fresh or paste, Ginger fresh or paste, Sweet Chilli Sauce or Chilli Sauce (if you like it hot!) Salt, Pepper and Chinese Five Spice! I prefer the pastes as it makes things so easy!
In a small bowl mix up a tablespoon of everything above! Less of the hot chilli though unless you like it spicy! Add more or less and experiment with the taste until it’s to your preference. Add this to your stir fry when you add the noodles. One of each paste does me around 7 or 8 stir fry’s or Chinese orientated meals. Chinese Five Spice goes a long way too!
A Pasta Bake is also a great way to use up Vegetables about to go stale and any leftover sandwich meats or leftover sausages for example. This is a firm fave of mine, bacon chunks, peppers and tomato!
I really hope I have given you some inspiration on some family favourites and ideas on how you can make them go a lot further during this difficult time. You can of course substitute the meats for vegetarian alternatives or swap out the vegetables you don’t like for others too.
Experiment with what you’ve got to use up and so long as you’re making healthy meals with vegetables in you’re already winning for the day! If you liked any of my meals after making them please leave me a comment, I would love to know how you got on.
Is there anything you would like to cook but need some help with? I’m an experienced cook and perhaps have experience of the dish, please comment and ask me 🙂 I’m happy to help!
Stay In and Stay Safe Friends. I might go do some baking now I’m done with my savoury cooking! If you’re after sweet treats check out those recipes that are on my blog already too!
What makes my recipe different to others? My “Special” Curry is Free From for my family! The great thing about my recipe is that you can put any meat with it or even vegan alternatives such as Quorn with it. Whatever protein you fancy really! Even fish if you’re that way inclined! The combined flavours work well with everything, but I prefer Chicken and… Potato! Yes… you’ll see!
I use my nifty little food processor (Russel Hobbs Mini Chopper) to save chopping time but if you don’t have a processor then just chop the vegetables as small as possible with a knife and watch those fingers!
The Free From Bit! This curry recipe is DF, NF and GF and it serves 4-6 people. So many curries in the supermarkets contain dairy and nuts. Even local take away restaurants cannot guarantee things being free from certain ingredients. Our family has a wide range of allergies so I’ve learnt to cook my recipes alternatively and figure out what works without it including an allergen. This has been my best recipe to date! You can follow this and it be great for you and your family as well! Plus it’s 3 of your 5 a day!
What can you serve with it? You can serve this curry with a nice Rice, Basmati is a good choice or Pilau, and you can easily get GF rice these days, I recommend Tilda or Tesco’s own brand rice for their flavour! Naan Bread is delicious but obviously it’s not DF or GF so do be careful there! Poppadoms and Chutneys are a great accompaniment but again some of these will not be GF and some even contain Nuts! If you don’t have any allergies then you can have any of these (or all of them) with the curry! If you choose all of the above you will serve at least 6 people…
Sabrina’s Special Free From Curry Prep Time: Up To 60 Minutes Cooking Time: 90 Minutes Serves: 6 People (8 if you include side dishes)
Ingredients
500g – 600g of your chosen Protein into bite size pieces for frying
400g Tomatoes – use a tin of Plum Tomatoes for the Sauce, pop them into a food processor until smooth and a sauce like consistency, use plum will taste sweeter
1 Large Onion Diced Finely for the Sauce, you can pop this in the food processor before you prepare the tomatoes until shredded very fine
1 Large Onion Chop into bite size pieces ready for frying
2 Peppers – Chopped into short slices (Red or Yellow) ready for frying
4 Tablespoons of Tomato Puree for the Sauce
The Sauce needs to be made of the following spices and seasonings; 4 Tablespoons of Garam Masala 1 Tablespoon of Cumin 3 Tablespoons of Coriander Leaf 1 Tablespoon of Garlic 1 Tablespoon of Paprika 2 Tablespoons of Chilli Powder (Mild) (Use Hot if you can handle it) 30ml of warm water Salt and Pepper to your taste.
Oil for Frying
400g – 500g Potatoes – Cut into bite size chunks and washed
Method
Prepare all of the ingredients as stated above, diced and chopped.
You need to have a large saucepan and a frying pan warming with a little oil in each. First begin by adding the chopped onion and peppers to the frying pan. Add the tiny diced onion and some garlic to the large saucepan.
Fry off all the ingredients, once the saucepan with the diced onion is nicely caramelised, you can add the sauce ingredients from the list above and mix well. Leave the Onion and Peppers inside the Frying Pan to caramelise and then add the chicken.
Put your plum tomatoes in a food processor and then once blended add them to your saucepan. Next you’ll need to continue frying off the protein and vegetables in the frying pan until thoroughly cooked.
Add anything additional you require for the sauce, that includes the tomato puree and seasonings. Taste it before you add your meat and vegetables so you can tell if it needs more chilli or more salt and pepper.
Simmer your sauce on a low heat, adding the contents of the frying pan which should now be nicely cooked and combined in flavour. You need to continue to simmer this for at least an hour for the flavours to coat everything and for the sauce to thicken up.
Now is the perfect time to add the Potatoes! They will cook inside the sauce and do not need boiling before hand. Use fresh or tinned whatever you have at hand. Leave it to simmer for a while…
Taste test at one hour to ensure the potato are cooked and the chicken is tender, stir occasionally during this hour of cooking time to ensure it’s not getting stuck to the bottom or sides. It should gradually thicken. If you don’t think there is enough sauce when you add all the contents and mix it then add 10ml of water at a time and mix in until the sauce covers everything.
Serve immediately with Rice and any of the other sides I suggested.
Here is my curry when I served it with Pilau Rice and No Potato in this one either… you don’t have to add them it’s optional.
Thank you reading this post today, I really hope you like the look of my recipe, if you give it a go yourself then please tag me on social media to let me know and show me the end result too!
Our Weaning journey began delicately due to our son having suspected allergies. He is exclusively breastfed and he cluster fed for the first 5 months of his life. He was born slightly premature at 37 + 5 and after having bad jaundice at birth, it took him many weeks to recover. We spent so much time in hospital at the start that our first month with him went by in a blur. Problems with allergies began at around 12 weeks, so it was a steep learning curve in the next 10 to 12 weeks that followed.
Then, when it came to Baby A reaching the 6 month milestone he was still in size 3-6 month clothing and breast feeding up to 14 times in 24 hours. We hoped that Weaning would satisfy him more so and because we could introduce cooled boiled water with his meals, it would take a bit of pressure off me. This did work, but he had such an appetite that he continued regular breastfeeding including a minimum of two feeds a night, plus day times and extra weaning snacks. We had ourselves one hungry baby!
I recall the health visitor questioning how much I was feeding him at our 6 month visit… she couldn’t believe how much I was saying he ate, I’m almost sure she thought I was lying. I had read in a parenting book that you cannot over feed a baby, because they will simply refuse to eat it. Our son wanted more and more food as the days went by, so I used motherly instincts and I watched my baby for cues. So I continued on with my busy breastfeeding schedule plus I began our weaning journey in a rather swift fashion.
We Tried A Range Of 4 Month Plus Puree, These Are A Few Of Them Little One Loved.
Baby A enjoyed many things that we tried first off, including individual vegetables such as Carrot, Potato, Parsnip, Sweet Potato, Apple and Strawberry. There were only 2 things he spat out which were Prune and Peas. And I don’t blame him for either! Ha!
After doing some reading and noticing how keen Baby A was with eating and being fed, we decided to do 6 weeks of Purées to start with. We maintained that he was to ingest nothing dairy of course, I checked packaging meticulously or I made my own. This worked well, starting with a few mouthfuls twice a day for the first week, followed by doubling the amount in subsequent weeks. By the time we got to week 6 Baby A was eating 70g of fruit purée for breakfast and 70g of vegetable purée in the early evening. He also tried Melty Puffs around this time too.
Prices of Purée vary, but they usually cost anything from 40p all the way up to £1.50. They also range in size so look out for that. We made the most of any offers that were on in supermarkets and also used any store credit points and vouchers we had picked up to get our initial 6 week stash of purée. Boots vouchers can go a long way if you sign up to the Clubcard and baby club before hand. Keep a look out on social media for offers too.
Minced Beef and Onions with Mashed Potato (7M)
He was enjoying the food we were giving him and he was obviously hungry. We were approaching his 8 month mark when we began moving to thicker purées and food with more textures. I was bulk cooking mashed vegetables at this point and freezing them in small pots (roughly 80g each). Some combinations included Potato and Carrot, Carrot and Swede, Carrot and Parsnip and Parsnip and Sweet Potato.
At 8 months Baby A was eating between 70g and 100g for breakfast, between 100g and 130g for his lunch and between 130g and 150g of food in the evening. This was on top of 12 breast feeds still most days, and we had began to try him on some more snacks. The melty puff kind that melted on his tongue were a real hit! Luckily they came in many flavours.
We also gave him fruit such as Raspberries, Strawberries and Melon as an evening pudding if he was feeling particularly hungry.
Minced Pork and Onions with Carrot and Potato Mash (8M)
Baby A ate most things from Day Dot but turned his nose up at the taste of Cucumber and also highly disliked the taste of Peppers. Some foods took a couple of times before he decided that he liked them, usually very strong tasting food groups. He was unsure about things like Tomato, Scrambled Eggs and Pasta, but we persevered and he eats them now. The trick is to leave a food for 2-3 weeks then try it with them again.
One thing I loved about Weaning was the way he learned and every day you saw him remember. Within two weeks he understood that cutlery went into his mouth, he began to chew even when food was super soft, and he was also cutting several teeth while we were trying most new foods. He did so well with all these milestone changes and I’m very proud of him.
Mashed Carrot and Swede with a Small Chicken Steak and some Rice (9M)
One thing I would recommend to mum’s who want to cook healthy meals for their little ones is to invest in a good strong vegetable mash utensil and a mini food processor. Mine is called the Russel Hobbs Mini Food Processor 22220 Mini Chopper and I cannot rate it high enough! It was used every day for 3 months and I still use it to dice up chewy meat because it saves me so much time. I still use it for my now one year old boy.
Russel Hobbs Mini Chopper In Use
At nine months Baby A began eating some more of the food I prepared for us adults. This includes the meat and sauce of bolognese but we gave him mashed vegetables and not much pasta. He ate my cottage pie (all of it), we had chicken steaks that I had diced in a blender with soft vegetables and rice, sausages were diced and served with mash and veg, and he even ate flaky white fish with rice and veg too!
I also used a weaning book that my mother had bought for me that had some great ideas inside for weaning recipes and snacks. I altered most of them to suit the various allergies in my family of course. Homemade Veggie Nuggets were by far my favourite thing to make, I bulked cooked them which was time consuming but then they’re frozen for convenience.
Minced Beef and Onions, Carrot and Swede Mashed with a Homemade Veggie Nugget
By the time he reached 10 months of age Baby A had 8 teeth and was eating 80% of what we were. He still loves his baby related snacks too! These include Vegetable Puffs, Rice Cakes and Flavoured Shaped Corn Snacks. A lot of these are Organic too.
Some Of The Baby And Toddler Snacks We Buy Regularly.
A Few Of The Pouches We Tried And Tested From 7 Months Plus
These snacks are very affordable from places like Aldi who have their Mamia range. If you sign up to Ella’s Kitchen on their website they will send you a pack and a voucher to try bits from their range which are purchasable at most large supermarkets and Boots stores.
Our little one loves to feed himself firm snacks but has been more than happy for us to feed him things that require a spoon such as fruit purée, cottage pie, mashed vegetables and the like. It’s so important to get your little one to eat their fruit and veg, and it doesn’t matter if you have to create a mashed version in order for them to eat it. Try different combinations and see what your baby likes. Keep a food diary to keep track!
Some of the 7 month snacks are little one loves.
Sabrina’s Weaning Tips For Parents
My top 4 tips for any parents about to wean a baby would be these…
1. Take it slowly and calmly. Your Baby will be intrigued but it can also be a stressful experience for all of you. All healthy Baby’s generally have a good gag reflex and don’t confuse this for choking, stay calm if they cough or spit things out and take all foods – even the purées – at a slow pace!
2. Start with Veg! You don’t want your little one to have too many sweet flavours in those first weeks, this is because when it comes to the savory kind they are less likely to want it. Start with Veg Purée or Mash and go from there…
3. If you plan on doing Baby Lead Weaning, then you must let your little one use their hands. Be prepared for mess! Get a good highchair, get a mat for the floor and keep plenty of baby wipes at hand too!
4. Keep a Food Diary! This is a useful tip for all new parents. It’s a great way to keep track of what baby has eaten, if your little one was to have a rash or reaction to anything they had eaten you can go back and check the diary before trying the substance again. Those first couple of months are critical in preparing baby for stronger tastes and good food habits, so start them early on the main products that your household enjoys together and move forward from there.
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All Parents Should Definitely Sign Up To…
1. Ella’s Kitchen via the Website You get a free pack in the post with tips, a board with stickers, ideas for foods and even some vouchers for baby snacks.
2. Boots Parenting Club Using your Boots Advantage Card on the Boots App or Website you can add the addition of the Parenting Club which gives you bonus deals, free products and vouchers every month. For example we got a free bottle, a free weaning book and some promotions on nappies and baby food. Check the app each month for new promotions and deals. You also get extra points on your card when purchasing certain products in store and online too.
Ella’s Kitchen Have A Great Website and Their Melty Puffs Are A Real Hit!
✩ Russel Hobbs Mini Chopper Review ✩
I would highly recommend this chopper to any parents who want to make a lot of their own food for their baby. Not only is it simple to use, easy to clean and maintain, but it allows you to make just enough food for a large portion that can be good for a day, or if you’re bulk cooking into baby sized pots it made 6 pots of food no problem. The best thing about this mini processor is it’s size, it takes up very little room in my cupboard and is portable enough to take away for a weekend to a relatives house without being a burden.
Design 5/5 Features 5/5 Value for Money 5/5
RRP £16.00
✩Joie High Chair Review✩
We highly recommend the Joie High Chair because it is affordable and also has some great features. These include the large sturdy tray, the beautiful animal design on the seat itself and the large fabric basket underneath which is great for storing extra bits and pieces close by for when you need them, such as bibs, wipes and toys. We only have one suggestion, that the straps could either be entirely removable for cleaning purposes or that they be a different colour than white, because they really show up every bit of food dirt.
Design 5/5 Features 4/5 Value for Money 5/5
RRP £55.00
✩Munchkin Products Review✩
We have been really impressed by the Munchkin Apple Bowls and Plates, as well as their range of Spoons too. We picked most of them up at various baby events in Supermarkets and on Amazon UK. They are affordable and well made. They are designed for different stages of Weaning and further interactions with food, ranging from 4 months right up until Toddler ages. Our son found the spoons easy to eat off and the divider apple plates are a great idea when trying different foods at meal times. Or for separating the meal and the dessert when you get to that stage.
Designs 5/5 Features 5/5 Value for Money 5/5
Thank you for reading this post today, I hope you have found it interesting. If you try any of the products that I have recommended then please let me know in the comments below if your little one liked it.
If you have any questions about any of the products I have mentioned then feel free to also comment and ask me anything, I will do my best to answer you honestly.
Welcome to today’s post as I discuss Free From Easter Eggs with a Taste Testing and Ingredients Comparison.
This Easter time I might be on a Dairy Free diet, but that hasn’t stopped me hunting for treats! I wanted to share my findings with you all, my opinion, product information, photo’s and all! Here is my Review of several Free From Chocolate Easter Eggs.
So I’m trying a few chocolate eggs that are known as free from, I require dairy free but a lot of these eggs come as free from several allergens. Wheat or Gluten or Dairy, most of these go together. I will be outlining Allergens and Ingredients with each egg below.
Number 1. The first egg I have is an Asda Free From Easter Egg with Chocolate Orange Flavour Disks. The pack is available for £4.00 for it’s 200g. LINK
This Egg is Vegan, Gluten Free, Wheat Free and Dairy Free. The Asda Chocolate also has No Artificial Flavours, Colours or Hydrogenated Fats.
Ingredients and Allergens Sugar, Cocoa Butter, Cocoa Mass, Rice Syrup, Inulin, Coconut Oil, Rice Flour, Flavourings, Emulsifier (Soya Lecithins). Soya is the only allergen present. This Egg should be suitable for those who have Nut allergies because Nuts are not part of the ingredients. The Pack provides 6 servings. 1/6 of the pack (1 serving) Energy kJ 778, Energy kcal 186, Fat 12g, Of Which Saturates 7.1g, Carbohydrate 19g, of Which Sugars 12g Fibre 0.9g Protein 0.8g Salt 0.02g.
Egg Design – The Egg design has lines similar to tree bark or waves. It’s an appealing looking Egg and smells strongly of cocoa. It’s presented inside a piece of plastic (which says is recyclable on the packaging) with disks in a plastic bag at the base. The Egg size and pattern is view able through the mostly clear plastic which is good, you can see what you’re getting. You receive 6 Chocolate Orange disks in orange foil, this is one disk for every serving. The disks are round with lined tops. The foil from the disks is recyclable but the plastic bag they come in is not.
Egg Taste – The Egg tastes very nice, it is quite a strong cocoa taste but leaves a nice aftertaste of sweet chocolate. The sugar content is very high though, and after a couple of bites I had had enough. The Chocolate Orange disks are very tasty, they have a strong natural orange taste to them.
Egg Quality – The Easter Egg itself measures 3mm in thickness at the smallest sections and 6mm at the thickest sections. The chocolate orange disks are 5mm deep and taste great, a nice addition to this Easter Egg treat.
Egg Value – A very tasty Egg and a nice treat for anyone requiring a Free From Easter treat. I would say you get a lot for your money with this considering you get the Egg itself plus the Chocolate Orange disks. Because it’s so sweet you wouldn’t usually eat all of this Egg in one sitting, meaning it will last you longer too.Most of the packaging is recyclable except for the film and carton the egg comes inside.
Asda Free From Chocolate Egg
Number 2. The second egg I have is a Moo Free Easter Egg which cost me £3.00. This pack is only 110g. You can find these Eggs at most stores, I have seen them in Aldi, Asda and Tesco.
Organic Cheeky Orange Egg that is Dairy, Gluten and Soya Free. This pack contains a Chocolate Egg that is a Milk Chocolate alternative made from a combination of Cocoa, Sugar, Rice and Orange Oil. Moo Free are an ethical and family owned manufacturer based in Devon in the UK. They use high quality ingredients that have a single origin, including organic cocoa mass from plantations in the Dominican Republic.
Despite no allergens being present in the ingredients the packaging makes the customer aware that the product is Dairy, Gluten and Soya Free. It doesn’t mention Wheat, and it also states that is is made in a factory that handles Hazelnuts. This pack contains 2 servings it states, 1/2 of an egg is classed as a serving. The values per serving are as follows; Energy 1334 kJ Fat, Total 21.2g Of which Saturates 12.5g Carbohydrate 29.9g Of which Sugars 20.8g Protein 1.8g Salt 0.17g
Egg Design – The design of this Egg is nice, hexagonal shapes are all over the surface of the oval shape and all link together.Taste – The Orange taste of this Egg is very prominent and along with the sugar content makes it rather sweet, almost sickly. I couldn’t manage half of my half (serving) and stopped at a quarter. It’s meant to be a milk chocolate alternative however it’s quite a plain and strong chocolate flavour.
Egg Quality – The Moo Free Egg is only 3mm thick all the way around the oval. It has been the thinnest of all the eggs I have tried, and is also the most rich. The taste is nice but very strong in comparison to others. Moo do several eggs but I chose to try this Orange one, so perhaps the other flavours are not to overpowering.
Egg Value – This Egg is small and you don’t get much chocolate for the amount of money that you pay. Considering most other Dairy Free items are made with Soya products though, this item gives those who suffer with a Soya allergy a way of eating chocolate this Easter. I’m very happy to see a notice on the Moo Free box which says the plastic that their egg comes inside was made with recycled plastic, and could we please recycle it again. The box is also recyclable, so of course I will do that Moo Free Company! I’d be happy to because I’m big on recycling and it makes me happy to!
Moo Free Egg
Number 3. The third egg I have is a Trio of Flavoured Chocolate Eggs. This one is a little more indulgent, I had it from Asda in their extra special range, it cost £4.50 for its tiny amount of chocolate at just 150g. LINK
There are three eggs inside this Easter Egg Selection, the first is a Chocolate Egg with Raspberry Pieces. This one tastes delicious, there are sweet and tangy raspberry pieces in every bite. The second egg is a White Chocolate Egg with vanilla, and you can see the flecks of vanilla all inside the white chocolate. The taste is surprisingly similar to white chocolate and has lots of vanilla flavouring too. Finally the third of the set is a Dark Chocolate Egg with cocoa nibs inside. This one tastes delicious because of the dark, rich chocolate flavour combined with the cocoa nibs which give boosts of taste, it’s rich and indulgent but also has a really nice after taste.
Soya is the only allergen present. This Egg should be suitable for those who have Nut allergies because Nuts are not part of the ingredients. It also states that there are No Artificial Colours, Flavours or Hydrogenated Fat.
The Pack provides 6 servings, half of each egg which would be about right considering the different tastes. 1/6 of the pack contains (1 serving) Energy kJ 583 Energy kcal 140 Fat 8.9g Of Which Saturates 5.5g Carbohydrate 14g of Which Sugars 9.9g Fibre 1.0g Protein 0.7g Salt 0.01g
Easter Egg Selection Trio
Trio Eggs Design – Each of these Egg tastes great, I would say that the Raspberry combination is my favourite, closely followed by the Dark Coca Nibs. The White is some of the nicest Free From White Chocolate that I have tried however, which gives this Egg a bonus point in taste design. The Vanilla definitely makes a big difference. Over all the set is nicely balanced in flavours, you have the fruit combo which is both Sweet and Tangy, you have the Classic flavours of the Vanilla and then you have the Rich and Indulgent Dark.
Trio Eggs Quality – The Easter Eggs were not hugely thick, however they were consistent at around 4mm. The Cocoa Mass was pretty high within this chocolate, dark chocolate has 58%.
Trio Eggs Value – Although they are the more expensive per 100g these eggs also have the better quality. Over all I would go for the taste and these have that in abundance. You don’t feel like you’re eating something that has been designed to not have Allergens in it, but instead you are enjoying a delicious chocolate treat of high quality cocoa and its adjacent flavourings to match. I have to ask myself, would I buy these again because of the taste and quality? Yes in fact I would do. Only as a treat, and Easter is that sort of one of time where I would allow it. I only wish the eggs were a bit larger, I would pay another £1 for larger ones of this quality and deliciousness!
Easter Egg Selection Trio
Of course there are plenty of other Free From Eggs out there, however I needed to avoid any that definitely contained Nuts due to my husbands allergies. And there were others that I didn’t think I would enjoy due to their flavour combinations…
I loved the flavour of the Orange Disks from Egg Number 1, and I loved Eggs Raspberry and Dark from Number 3 the Trio.
Thank you for visiting Severn Wishes today, I hope you have enjoyed this Review and that you all have a great Easter Bank Holiday!
A great way to enjoy some tasty Chinese style cuisine this week is to do it yourself. To celebrate Chinese New Year I thought that I would share my own recipes with you all. Many people think it’s a complicated type of cuisine to make but if you’re good at following step by step recipe guides like mine, then you can create my delicious dishes in your own kitchen!
In today’s blog post I’m going to outline some of my own tips and tricks, as well as share my own recipes on how to make some flavoursome Chinese meals. Follow my instructions as much as you can, and substitute the meats for other meat or fish or a vegetarian alternative where I indicate you can with this symbol ⇕ . You can decide which of the sauces you’d rather make too, I will show you a few.
Why not give some cooking a go this Chinese New Year week! I’ve worked out that you can make 4 of my dishes for 4 people, plus a bowl of Sabrina’s Special Egg Fried Rice, for around £6.50 per person. That’s a heck of a lot cheaper than ordering in! On average a dish from a Chinese Takeaway comes in at around £7.00 in most parts of the UK. You can have 3 dishes and a rice for the same price! All you have to do though is cook it!
SHOPPING LIST
Stir Fry Pork ⇕ 500g is £2.75 at Tesco Stir Fry Beef ⇕ 375g is £3.50 at Tesco Chicken Fillets ⇕ 500g £4.00 at Tesco Rice Wine Vinegar – £1.99 for 150ml Reduced Salt Soy Sauce 65p for Tesco own brand or £1.30 for Amoy Egg Noodles – Range from 80p to £1.40 – You need 150g for 2 people Rice Noodles – Range from 90p to £1.80 – You need 300g for 4 people Spring Onions – 55p for 100g at Tesco Peas – Petit Pois Frozen at Tesco for £1.60 for 1kg 6 Free Range Eggs – Medium are 85p at Tesco 4 Peppers 2 Red 1 Green 1 Yellow 55p each at Tesco 2 White Onions – 85p per kg at Tesco Carrots 59p per kg at Tesco Jasmine Rice – Thai Jasmine Rice 1kg £2.00 at Tesco Chinese 5 Spice Jar 85p at Tesco Cornflour £1.30 at Tesco Sunflower Oil 500ml 80p at Tesco Seasame Oil – 250ml £1.80 at Tesco Sweet Chilli Sauce – don’t have this at home buy supermarket own Tomato Sauce – don’t have this at home buy supermarket own Garlic – if you don’t have this at home buy supermarket own or jar Ginger – fresh or jar or paste all work the same Chilli – fresh or jar of flakes is fine but fresh taste better Black Bean Sauce – Various Brands and Sizes Available
Remember that for some of these items you will have leftover amounts of them that you can use the next time that you cook Chinese food, such as the Petit Pois, the Rice Wine Vinegar, the Cornflour and the Soy Sauce.
Optional Extras
Bean Sprouts for the Stir Fry & Chow Mein Dish – 300g for 50p Tesco White Cabbage are 79p each in Tesco Water Chestnuts 225g Tin at Tesco for £1.10 Button Mushrooms – 90p for 200g at Tesco
I have worked out that your shopping list will cost between £27 and £30 depending on supermarket offers and whether or not you pick those offers or brands versus own brand. I shopped at Tesco but prices are similar else where when I looked online. For 4 people this equals approximately £6.50/£7.00 each, that is for the 4 people to have 3 Chinese Dishes and Rice.
TIME TO COOK
How To Make The Crispy Meat Element of the Dishes.
One of the most delicious parts of Chinese food is crispy strips of meat seasoned with Chinese spices. You can pick up a jar of Chinese 5 Spice for less than £1 in most supermarkets, and because it’s so strong in flavour it goes a long way.
Options for this type of meal are… Crispy Beef in Sweet Chilli Sauce Crispy Pork in Sweet and Sticky Sauce
Ingredients
Meat In Strips (your choice from Shopping List) Cut It If Not Already 5 Tablespoons of Cornflour 3 Tablespoons of Chinese 5 Spice
How To Prepare
You need a small saucepan that you pour oil in to until it is around an inch deep. You need to heat this on a hob until it’s very hot before you place meat inside to fry. The Meat Strips take around four minutes to cook through depending upon their thickness, so always test one piece before you do the remainder. You will also need several pieces of kitchen roll/towel to place your fried goods upon to drain and soak up any excess oil.
In bowl number one you need to place the cornflour and Chinese 5 Spice, mix it using a spoon. You need to coat each piece of meat in this mixture, by adding meat slowly a few at a time, once coated place them into the hot oil and time them frying. Remove them from the saucepan using a spoon or spatula with holes so as to drain the oil. Dry the strips on some towel until they are ready to mix with your chosen sauce.
A great way to use up those Takeaway Sauces you get given is to use them like I did to make a Chinese Sauce. See my image below…
How To Make Chinese Sauces
Here are my recipes for some sauces and stir fry meals I love to make. They are easy to follow and take around half an hour to prepare and cook.
There is one sauce that I always buy because it is more expensive to try and make it, that is black bean sauce. You can pick this up in most supermarkets for between 35p to £1.50. Packets or Jars depending upon if it’s for a one off dish or for several if you wish to make it again. Black Bean Sauce is the Perfect accompaniment with Chicken.
Chicken in Black Bean Sauce Serve this with chunky chopped Onions, ribbons of Carrots and sliced Green Peppers.
Crispy Meat in Sweet Chilli Sauce Serve with Carrot Ribbons, Onions and a chopped Chilli Pepper. 2 Tablespoons of Soy Sauce 2 Tablespoons of Tomato Sauce 4 Tablespoons of Sweet Chilli Sauce 4 Tablespoons of Rice Wine Vinegar
Crispy Meat in Sweet and Sticky Sauce Serve with fried peppers and onions. 1 Tablespoon of Garlic 2 Tablespoons of Soy Sauce 3 Tablespoons of Tomato Sauce 3 Tablespoons of Sweet Chilli Sauce 4 Tablespoons of Rice Wine Vinegar
Chicken Chow Mein Sauce with Onions 1 Tablespoon of Garlic 1 Tablespoon of Ginger 3 Tablespoons of Soy Sauce 2 Tablespoons of Sesame Oil 5 Tablespoons of Boiling Water 1/2 A White Onion Chopped Chunky & Fried Add other Veg as Optional Extras
Add the Chow Mein Sauce to pre-cooked Rice Noodles or Thin Egg Noodles and your already fried and seasoned meat. If you want a richer flavour then marinate the chicken in soy sauce for an hour prior to frying it.
Homemade Sweet Chilli Sauce
Crispy Beef in Sweet Chilli Sauce
As Delicious As It Looks!
Sabrina’s Delicious Stir Fry
You need 2 pans. Once prepared fry all your Vegetables together in a little oil. In the other pan, take some of the garlic, ginger and spices and add them to season your main element while you cook it, don’t forget to season with pepper and salt. Once everything is cooked combine the main and the vegetables. Add your noodles and a splash of boiling water to the pan. Stir fry until cooked, serve immediately.
Meat / Fish / Vegetable of your choice (Main Element) Shallots OR White Onion 2 Tablespoons of Ginger 2 Tablespoons of Garlic 2 Peppers – 1 Yellow & 1 Red – Sliced Long Ways 1 Tablespoon of Chinese 5 Spice – Season Chosen Main Noodles of your choice Add Spring Onions too if you like Onion as much as I do for a pop of colour!
Fry all these tasty vegetables together to begin your Stir Fry.Soy and Chilli Chicken Stir Fry with Onion, Yellow Pepper & Egg Noodles.
How To Make Sabrina’s Special Egg Fried Rice
Egg Fried Rice is relatively easy to make and is a great accompaniment to lots of Chinese dishes. You can partially cook this dish too to save time! Cook the rice either on the hob or preferably in a Rice Cooker if you have one. Then you’re ready to begin.
Ingredients
Jasmine Rice – 300g – 400g Cooked 2 Tablespoons of Oil 2 Tablespoons of Soy Sauce 1 Teaspoon of Garlic Peas or Petit Pois – 1 Small Cup – 150g approximately Spring Onions – 4 to 6 Chopped Up – 100g plus Scrambled Eggs – 3 Medium Eggs season with Salt, Pepper & Soy Sauce to your tastes
Method
In a large frying pan add oil soy sauce and garlic, then fry the Spring Onions and Peas together. Add the Eggs (previously whisked in a small bowl) and scramble together using a wooden spoon on a high heat. Turn the heat down and add the cooked rice. Mix thoroughly and add any more seasoning to taste. Fry until hot and all flavours are combined. Serve in a large bowl so people can help themselves and scatter some fresh spring onion on top.
The Final Dishes
Your final options for the Chinese Dishes are…
Main Dish 1. Crispy Pork with Sweet Sticky Sauce & Stir Fry Vegetables Main Dish 2. Chicken in Black Bean Sauce with Vegetables Main Dish 3. Chicken Chow Mein with Rice Noodles Main Dish 4. Crispy Beef with Sweet Chilli Sauce & Stir Fry Vegetables Main Dish 5. Soy and Chilli Chicken Stir Fry with Egg Noodles Side Dish. Sabrina’s Special Egg Fried Rice Side Dish. Stir Fry Vegetables
Thank you for joining me on Severn Wishes, I hope you enjoyed this lengthy food post! Let me know in my comments or tag me on social media if you make any of my recipes!
✩ Sabrina ✩
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