Bonfire night with Princes HotDogs

I was asked to try out a few different ways to serve Hotdogs for bonfire night parties, everyone must have herd of the good old classic Tomatoe sauce, mustard and onions but with a HotDog mad son it has slowly got boring and i find myself cooking something different for myself.

I was sent some Princes HotDogs and a few different ways to try them we chose to do ours using part baked baguettes once they were fully cooked I cooked up some baked beans and put them at the bottom of the roll, I the cooked the Hotdogs and put one on top of the beans and then sprinkled on some grated cheese and then served.




These went down a big hit with the kids that I didnt get to try any of the other recipes and now when the kids want hotdogs they always ask for the special ones, Hopefully I will be able to test a few of the others out sometime soon and when I do I will let you all know how they taste.

Hulk Vs Wolverine DVD

Those of you who may be thinking that this is another live action feature length movie will be very disappointed. Hulk vs Wolverine is an animated movie and is not for children of a young age, the age rating of 12 should be enough to make you aware of that but for those who think it will be a cutesy film need to be made aware that this is Marvel at it's visceral best and featuring 2 of the worlds most recognisable anti-heroes.

Drawing from Wolverines back story the mysterious Canadian governments Department H has called Wolverine back into action to track down and kill if necessary somebody who destroyed a town that is on the US – Canadian border. After a few hours he comes upon a scrawny, semi clad man sitting on a log. Not knowing that the man is Bruce Banner Wolverine doesn't heed any warnings not to “Make me angry” and this queues an epic battle between Hulk and Wolverine.

Whilst they are keeping each other busy unbeknownst to them other members of Department H are closing in a ready to take both men alive and shoot them full of tranquillisers.

It is really nice to see some of the not quite so popular characters of the Marvel Universe being featured as members of Department H, Lady Deathstrike, Deadpool and Omega Red are featured along with the more familiar name of Sabre-tooth, and it is during this part of the film that Hulk stops being against Wolverine and both of them team up to try and escape the clutches of Department H (headed by Professor Thornton) as potentially deadly experiments are being planned for them so an ultimate weapon can be created. For risk of spoilers I wont go into who or which side are victorious but this animated feature is left on a cliffhanger.

From a technical viewpoint the animation really is amazing and if you are a fan of modern graphic novels or just the Marvel universe in general it will suit you down to the ground, as will the choreography of the spectacular set pieces. Voice actors have been well cast too especially Fred Tattasciore as the screaming rage machine that is Hulk and Steve Blum as the ever growling Wolverine.

Those who have only really experienced Marvel from the slew of recent live action movies along with those who have grown up loving Stan Lee's characters will love it in equal measures, however unfortunately I can see the former group looking over it while browsing the shelves at their local DVD retailer and dismissing it as just another childrens movie, they will do so at their loss as it really is a great film.

You can buy this DVD now in all good retailers.

Shelby's Snack Shack Game

I was sent the Shelby's snack shack game to try out and review with my kids, When it arrived my first thought was that the box looked very old fashioned, But it really attracted my attention, I think if I saw this in a shop I would have to go and take a look at it,

The game comes with a game board (which is also the box) 1 shelby squeezer, 40 bones, 4 bowls and 1 double game spinner, The aim of the game is to get the most bones, This game really helps the younger players count as they spin the spinner and if they have to collect bones they have to spin a number to see how many they need to get, my 4 year old son managed to count out his bones really well and even went on to winning the game.

The only problem my kids had with this game was picking up the bones with the squeezer but after a while they soon got used to it and managed to do it fine, My kids really enjoyed playing this game together and wanted to play it again and again.

NashVille Season 1 out on DVD 15th July

Being forced to listen to country music as I was growing up sort of put me off the genre for a good few years, however as I got older I found my tastes have changed and now for some reason I quite like it. Which is a good thing as I'm sure you have guessed by the title of the show Nashville is all about country music.


The main focus of the show is about 2 characters, Juliette Barnes (Hayden Paniterre), the new face and mega star of country music and Rayna Jaymes (Connie Britton), former country queen whose fame and fortune are now on the decline.


After finding being told that her music is no longer selling as much as record executives would like former country music mega star Rayna Jaymes has been told that instead of headlining her own tour she must now support and open for the new, younger fresh face Juliette Barnes who instead of having a more traditional style of music records what Rayna Jaymes classes as bubble gum pop.


Seeing as there is quite the clash of characters Rayna dismisses a joint tour out of hand and has the idea of touring with just her lead guitarist and former love Deacon Clayborne (Charles Eston), which wouldn't be a problem if not for the desires of Juliette to have him joining her band and touring with her.


What isn't helping either ladies fortunes is Rayna's estranged, millionaire father pushing her husband to be mayor of Nashville for his own purposes and Juliette's drug addict mother reminding her of a past she has long tried to forget. At least all of this turmoil is giving both stars great writing material for new songs and for me the music is the real star of the show. The majority of the songs featured are stripped back to the bare bones of just honest to goodness lyrics and basic guitar accompaniment, especially those of aspiring and somewhat reluctant songwriter Scarlett O'Connor and her writing partner Gunnar Scott. If you are a fan of country music or not you cannot help but be moved by their words and voices.


I would highly recommend this series to anybody if they are fans of the musical genre or not as the side stories and characters are sometimes more interesting than those of the main characters and it is extremely refreshing to hear just music without any of the synthetic enhancements that seems to populate the charts these days.

Munchkin, Disney toddler dining set

The Munchkin Disney toddler dining set is a must have for any Disney fan, You can buy a choice for designs, My daughter is a huge Minnie fan and we was lucky to get the Minnie set sent to us to review, I opened the box and pulled it out and as soon as my daughter saw what was in there she started shouting mine mine, Lucky for us the post arrived just before breakfast so she was able to try the spoon and bowl out right away.

Both the bowl and plate have a grippy base and this has been a big floor saver as my daughter loves to push her plate around the table and it always ends up on the floor, But with this set she hasn't been able to do that, The plate is divided into 3 sections which I love the idea of this as it makes sorting her food out so much better, The fork and spoon that comes with this set is rounded for safer feeding and has a curved handle for easy holding.

I have found that since my daughter has started using this set shes eating more of her dinners as she likes to see the picture on her plate, I have also noticed that shes been using her fork a spoon a lot more than she was her others that we brought her.
The toddler set we was sent is suitable for 12 months plus and I think its perfect for getting your little one eating by themselfs.

To find out more about there Disney range please click here

Water

It's something most of us take for granted but two days with in a week our village has been without water all done to two burst pipes, When the first one went we was without water from the moment we got up and we had the kids home from school as hey also had no water, It was a nightmare,
The water came on again at about 9am so I quickly filled the sink so I could wash up and filled the kettle and some pans with water incase it went off again and it did about 30 mins after it came back on, we decided there was no point in staying in with the kids so we packed a picnic and took them for a walk along the river, we finally came home about 3pm and we still had no water, it's not till you don't have any you realise how much you rely on it, we couldn't have a wash or flush the toilet, but luckily thanks to my quick thinking we had water in pans for drinks which was a good job as it was a hot day.

Well today we had water most of the day but when I went to get my daughter from school I came home to find we had no water yet again only this time I really didn't have much water around, but I noticed my kettle still had a full amount of water and I had a bottle of water left over from last time in my cupboard, my husband was at work so I rang him to see if he had some money to pick up some bottles of water, luckily he works in a bottle factory so he grabbed some bottle and filled them with tap water and brought them home for us, he even had enough for some of the neighbours to take some too, but still as I'm writing this we have no water, a toilet that needs flushing and some very grubby kids that will need a good wash when the waters back on, but at least I have some coffee to drink with out it I would be lost as I normaly have a bath every night, but after having no water it has made me think about how much I use and how I can cut it back and one way is instead of having my nightly bath have a shower every night instead and just have a bath once a week.

Now I'm just hopeing that the water will be back on in the morning as I really wouldn't like my kids missing another day at school.

MAM Perfect Soother 12+

You might remember my review for the MAM perfect soother, If you can't it can be found here, The MAM perfect soother 12+ has a bigger teat more suited for older babies and toddlers.


It took a little while for my daughter to get used to using her new 12+ perfect soother but once she was finally used to it, Its the only one she will now take and it travels everywhere with her.
If you want to buy a MAM Perfect soother 12+ you can do so from here, There is 4 different designs to choose from 2 for a girl and 2 for a boy, The one we was sent was the lilac butterfly and out of all the MAM soothers we have this has to be my favorite design yet.

Crosse & Blackwell Soups

On cold days I just love to have a bowl of soup for my lunch I find that soup really warms me up, So being asked to review some Crosse & Blackwell soups was really great, I was sent the chunky tomato and basil soup and a pea and ham soup, I'm not a huge fan of pea and ham soup but I have to say this one is so much better than ones I have tried in the past, It was full of flavour and had really nice sized chunks of ham in, I really feel this is a pea and ham soup I could eat more of.

I next tried the chunky tomato and basil soup, I know it says chunky but I really wasn't expecting really nice sized chunks of tomatos in it, Tomato soup normaly doesn't feel me up but I feel the chunks of tomatos really helped fill me up not only did it fill me up but I also found that it had a really nice rich taste.

You can buy these soups and many others by Crosse & Blackwell from all major supermarkets and prices start from £1.29

Branston Bean Meals

I was asked to try out some of the new Branston bean meals, Now I love my baked beans so was very excited to try these meals, The first one I tried was baked beans with spicy spanish chorizo, We only had it on toast but it was a perfect lunch it tasted great my only downside was that I had to share with my husband.

I next tried baked beans with large Lincolnshire sausages, Now I know it says large but I really wasn't expecting full sized sausages again we just had this on toast and it had two sausages inside plus plenty of beans, The sausages inside had a really nice flavour to them unlike some Lincolnshire ones I have tried in the past.

These new Branston Bean meals are available to buy from Sainsbury's stores in 390g cans and prices start from £1.09
Aswell as these two that I tried they also have one more baked beans with hot and spicey chilli, if they are anything like the others i'm sure they will taste great.

Hello Canvas

I was asked if I would like to review a photo canvas from Hello canvas, I was over the moon as I had been wanting to get the photo at the top of this post blown up and put on a canvas but I hadn't got round to it, So I was very quick to reply with my photo that I wanted putting on canvas.

I got the canvas just 4 days after I sent them my photo and that was including the weekend so it didn't take long at all, The size of the canvas £39 which I think is a great price, I was excited to see what my photo looked like blown up as I have had problems in the past with companies when getting photos printed off with them looking blurry, But this canvas just looks like the original photo only bigger.



After seeing how nice this photo has turned out I will be going back to buy two more one of each of my other children, Should you want to buy one you can do so from here they do all sorts of sizes and prices starting from just £13 well worth the money and I look forward to sorting out buying another two.

Magic Moves Electronic Wand

I've always liked getting my children up and moving around so getting the chance to review the Magic moves wand was another chance for me to make it fun for my kids,
The Magic moves wand has 90 fun, creative movements and 26 different musical tunes to help get your children moving around and to make it even more fun there is a light at the top and bottom of the wand that lights up in different colours,

Me and my 3 year old son (nearly 4) have had lots of fun times playing with this not only has it had him moving around he has also made me join in too, even my 21 month old has tried to join in with the movements.

Its definately a great toy for both child and parent to join in the play time together.



The lovely people over on learning resourses facebook page have a competition up at the moment to try and win one of five magic moves wands, The competition closes 1st march and you can find it here.

If you have no luck with the competition you can always buy one from here

We have a date

Finally after a while of waiting we have a date for our sons operation, it's made it even more real now and making me get a little worried yet I know he's in the best care,

His operation will be on the 26th February and he has to be nil by mouth from 2:30pm the afternoon before, and as we live outside of London my husband and son will be staying in accommodation provided by Great Ormond street hospital the night before as he has to be at the Dinosaur ward for 7:30 the morning of his operation,


The good news is he will only have to stay in one night after his operation, but annoyingly he has to go back after two days for a check up and a few more check ups after that.

Lucky for me my family have offered to look after my other two children the day of my sons operation so I can go down early morning to be with my husband and son, but I know it will be hard leaving them both that night.

MAM Snack Box

I'm a huge fan of MAM products and when I was asked to review the new MAM snack box, I was a little excited as this was one thing we was lacking for my daughter,

The MAM snack box is so easy to use for both parents and baby, The lid comes right off for easy filling for the parent and then once the lid is back on there is a smaller lid that you can take off that stays attached to the main lid so you can fold it under the main part of the pot and attach it to create a little handle for your child to hold it easily, As with all MAM products its BPA free.
The only problem I have had with it is my daughter caught me clipping the lid to the base to make a handle and she now liked to try an look to see if she can take it off, but other than that its been getting lots of use and comes everywhere with my daughter now so she always has something to snack on when she's hungry.

You can buy the new MAM snack box from there online store here there is 3 colours to choose from Pink, blue and green and they only cost £5.99

The ask Italian Cookbook, In Support of Great Ormond Street Hospital Childrens Charity

As most of my readers already know my son is under the care of Great Ormond street Hospital, So I have been doing my bit by donating money and buying gifts from there Charity gift shop, When I got offered the chance to review the Ask Italian cookbook where proceeds go to Great Ormond street charity, I couldn't turn it down as it was another way I could try and help.

I really love this cook book I have a few other Italian cook books but have found this one the easiest to follow when cooking, There is 8 main chapters in this book ranging from starters to making your own pasta.

The one recipe that really caught my eye and made me want to give it a try was Frittata Di Pasta Avanzata/ Firttata of leftover pasta, I think this one caught my eye the most as I always cook way to much pasta and end up throwing loads away, I gave this one a go but I forgot to take a photo of it before it all went, It's a really simple recipe and all you need is eggs, cooked pasta with any sauce, parmesan cheese ( I just used cheeder cheese though), Butter and salt and pepper, It only takes 15 minutes to cook so its a very quick and easy recipe to make and it was a big hit with my pasta loving kids.

Ask Restaurants will donate £4 of the retail price of every Ask Italian cookbook sold there restaurants and a minimum of £1 of the retail price of every Ask Italian cookbook sold through bookshops and other 3rd party retailers to Great Ormond street Hospital childrens charity, The retail price of the book is £15

Napolina

I love cooking and trying out new things on my kids, when I was asked to review some products from Napolina I was trying to think what I could make with them for the our dinner, When they arrived I was excited to see just which products I was getting, I was sent red kidney beans, cannellini beans, chick peas and butter beans, So I got my thinking cap on and finally worked out what I was going to cook,

I went for a simple choice and it ment we could try them all out at the same time, I made up a basic tomato sauce and added all the beans and chick peas and cooked until the sauce had thickened, To go with this I cooked up some pasta.

I was really pleased with how this turned out and even more pleased that it tasted that good two out of my 3 children wanted more, I will be buying more of these now I know Napolina do more than just tinned tomatos and pasta, And there is endless of things you can do with them.

The RRP of these are just 79p and you can buy them from most supermarkets.

Manuka Honey from Aldi

I love Honey on toast and when I was asked to review the Manuka Honey I was eager for it to arrive.
When they asked me if I would like to review it they told me a little about Manuka honey, Manuka honey contains more vitamins, minerals, amino acids and antioxidants than other type of honey and can be used to improve general health and wellbeing. Meaning it's perfect to use when colds and sore throats start to set in. The honey can also help relieve allergies, improve skin care and has properties that can aid with a good night's sleep, so it's perfect to use all year round.

Now I have had a cold for the past few weeks and its only just started to get better, Could it be the honey really does help, I have to say though I have had trouble sleeping the last few months but since having this honey I have found that I'm not tossing and turning at night instead I have been going strait off to sleep.

This honey tastes very nice and makes you want to have more, and even better my kids really liked eating it on toast too.
You can buy this honey from all Aldi stores and it only costs £3.99 for 250g

Anger Management, TV series Season One

I had herd of the film Anger Management but didn't know about a TV series so I was very excited to be asked to review it, Its starring a few well known actors/actresses Charlie Sheen, Selma Blair and Shawnee Smith, There was even guest appearances from Denise Richards and Martin Sheen.

The series is about Charlie (Charlie Sheen)as an anger management therapist who also has his own anger issues and sees his own therapist Kate (Selma Blair)but he also kind of has a relationship with her aswell.

I wasn't sure what to expect with this but when I put the DVD on I was instantly glued to the tv, I foolishly put the DVD on around 10pm and kept saying to my husband I will go to bed when this episode has finished well that never happened I kept wanting to see what was going to happen next, I ended up watching the first disc that night and couldn't wait to start on disc two.

Both me and my husband really enjoyed watching this and now we can't wait to see season two we just hope its as good as the first one is.

You can buy Season one of Anger Management now from most supermarkets.

Ape Escape

When I have lots of housework to do I often put a DVD on for my kids to watch so I'm not being pestered by them to change the channel as they don't like the next program on, So when I was offered Ape escape to review I thought I would give it a try with my kids while I did the housework.

My son was a little unsure of it at first as its not the normal things he would watch but all 3 of them sat down and watched it and only pestered me when the DVD had finished as they wanted it played again.
My oldest daughter enjoyed it that much that she asked if she could take it to her nans house for her sleep over and has since had it on her DVD player most nights of the week since it arrived, So I think its safe to say its a big hit in our house.

Specter the leader of the ape world, was just an ordinary ape at the zoo, until an intelligence boosting helmet was accidentally dropped into his cage and he put it on, when he put the helmet on he is suddenly given the intelligence of a human and even starts to look human.

Ape Escape is base on a popular Playstation game and has 19 episodes on this DVD and is released on DVD on 18th February, The RRP of this DVD is £7.99

Cupid Dog

I love a good movie night with my husband and when I was asked to review Cupid Dog, I wasn't sure my husband would like it, Cupid dog is about a dog called Gabe who tries to set his owner up on his ideal date in the hope that he will find love and change his mind about moving to another country.

I found Cupid Dog a little hard to get into at first but I carried on watching and found it to be a really good film in the end, Its not the normal sort of film I would go for when out shopping for a new DVD to watch, But I'm glad I had the chance to review it as it has now made me think twice about passing this sort of film up .

Cupid dog is available to buy on DVD and download to own and rent on the 4th February Perfect timing for a nice romantic film night with your partner this Valentines day.
The RRP is £9.99

The Possession

I love watching a good horror film, So when Lionsgate told me they was sending me a copy of The Possession to review I couldn't wait, The Possession is rated 15 and is about a girl who buys an antique box at a yard sale, Unaware that inside is a malicious ancient spirit that possesses the girl, And her dad and his ex-wife (her mum)try to find a way to end the curse.

I always like a good horror that makes me jump and I have to admit this did make me jump a few times, I was also glued to the TV the whole time it was on, My husband also watched it with me and after it had finished he said I really enjoyed that.

This is definately a film that I will watch again and again.

Its available to buy on DVD, BLU-RAY and to download from Monday 21st January.

Crosse & Blackwell, 4 Kids pasta range

I was asked to try out the Crosse & Blackwell 4 Kids range with my kids, My son is a really fussy eater now so when I saw they did Disney cars pasta, I couldn't wait for them to come so I could see if my son would eat them with out any fuss,

The Crosse & Blackwell 4 kids range is low in fat, low in sugar, has no artificial additives and no artificial colours, perfect for lunch or as an extra part of dinner.

Before I cooked some up for my sons lunch I showed him the tin and he got very excited seeing Disney cars on the tin, I made him some toast to go with it, A very quick lunch to make if your really pressed for time, After giving my son his lunch I was expecting the normal thing from him that would be yuk followed by him pushing him plate away, But that didn't happen infact he ate all the pasta and left a little toast, as he was eating it he kept pointing out that it was cars.

From now on I will be stocking up on more of the 4 Kids pasta range as I know its something my son will now eat and its a nice quick lunch to make for him too.
You can buy the Crosse & Blackwell 4 Kids pasta range from most supermarkets, I have seen it in one supermarket on offer at the moment too so that was even better for our pocket.