I don’t miss much as a freelancer. I don’t miss having to be at an office by 9am every morning, I don’t miss being told what to do by people who I can’t help but feel are essentially stupider than me, and I don’t miss the politics of who said what to who.

I DO miss the office Christmas parties though. Free food, free drinks, photocopying each other’s bits. (Okay, so I never did that, but it’s always what happens in films.) It’s FUN. It’s the one time of the year when everyone gets that war time spirit and bands together, like ‘you know what? It might be awful here, but we’ve got each other! I love you guys!’

Etc etc.

When I get invited to Christmas blogger events then, I’m all over them like a hungry kitten with a can of tuna. You know that bit at the end, where a kitten is so desperate for the last scraps that they’re licking the tin until it’s sliding around the floor? That was me at the thought of the Iceland Christmas event I went to last Saturday.

Iceland Christmas food

I was extra excited because I already KNOW how ace Iceland’s Christmas range is. I’ve been working with them for around six months now and I’m sure you’re bored of me telling you over and over how impressed I’ve been with the quality of the food, but what can I say? It’s ALL TRUE. View Post

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A couple of weeks ago I introduced you to the FoodSaver Fresh preservation system. Remember? The cool vacuum packing system that keeps your food fresh up to twice as long?

Well, having shown you how it works, I’m now going to tell you if it works

EXPOSÉ!!

(Except it’s not really, because I’m assuming you don’t get to be the world’s number one vacuum sealing system without actually being good at it*.)

The first thing to note is that although in my original post I loved the idea of using the FoodSaver Fresh bags to turn all my food into funky looking space food, we have actually used the canisters much more than the bags. The main advantage of the canisters is that you can reuse them again and again. I expect you could wash the bags and reuse them if you really wanted to, but it’s trickier. Fragile things keep their shape better in the canisters too. (Top tip – don’t try to vacuum seal a malt loaf in a FoodSaver Fresh bag.)

So, does the FoodSaver Fresh preservation system actually work?

Yes.

Let’s start with a simple example – avocados.

I love avocados, but I wouldn’t want to eat a whole one at once. Belle does not like avocados, unless I mush them up and pretend it’s guacamole that I bought in a tub in Sainsbury’s. (I know.) So what happens is that I eat half an avocado, wrap up the other half in cling film in the fridge, and then a couple of days later I throw it away because it has turned black.

Well, not any more. I conducted a FoodSaver Fresh experiment, cutting in half an avocado and wrapping one half in cling film and vacuum sealing the other half in a FoodSaver Fresh bag.

FoodSaver Fresh food preservation View Post

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This week I popped my 2017 mince pie cherry.

To be honest, this is pretty late in the year for me to be starting on the festive themed snacks. Come to think of it, I’ve not even had a glass of mulled wine yet. Honestly, what’s the matter with me? The more I hear people complaining about Christmas songs playing in shops the more I want to crack out Slade and whip up an eggnog, so you’d think I’d be onto chocolate yule logs at least by now.

You can probably imagine then that my arm didn’t take a great deal of twisting when Iceland asked if I fancied hosting an elegant Christmas party to showcase their luxury foods range. Plus, having been up to London to for a preview of Iceland’s Christmas food earlier in the year, (in a heatwave), I already knew how tasty their luxury range is.

Festive no brainer really.

It got me thinking though about what makes a good Christmas party – how do you put on an impressive party over the festive season? What’s the secret?

I’m slightly strange in that although I love GOING to parties, now I’m at the age where I own decent carpets/am pretty lazy, I’m not massively keen on HOSTING parties. Ditto Christmas – I’ll happily turn up anywhere with a sack of pressies and a bottle of Harveys Bristol Cream, but please don’t make me baste anything. (Thinking about it, perhaps that’s not so strange really.)

Christmas parties then. Here’s what I think you need:

Christmas decorations

Oh look! The Christmas wreath has ACCIDENTALLY fallen out of the cupboard and hung itself on the front door, even though it’s only November. What a shame!

One of my favourite things about my new house is that it has a fire place in the living room. It’s not for the open fire – I’ve had to stick a cushion up the chimney as an anti-cat climbing measure – it’s so that I have a mantelpiece to decorate at Christmas with festive twigs and snow globes and what not.

If you’re hosting a Christmas party this year and want to impress your guests then you MUST have good decorations.

Christmas party decorations View Post

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Last year I discovered the joy that is vacuum packing a duvet. I’m a woman of simple pleasures, one of which, it turns out, is watching all the air get sucked out of bedding.

IMAGINE MY DELIGHT then, when I realised you could do it to food too!

The idea behind the FoodSaver Fresh preservation system is simple – keep food fresh for longer and so spend less on shopping and throw less food away. As someone who hates food waste, and will eat out of date yogurt rather than put it in the bin, you can see the appeal.

You can use your FoodSaver Fresh for anything where you want to keep fresh food fresher for longer, whether it’s that second half of your avocado in the fridge, or baking supplies in the cupboard. Air is the enemy of freshness, so the FoodSaver Fresh locks out air and moisture, meaning your food doesn’t spoil as quickly.

The FoodSaver Fresh preservation system has two elements. First up you have the machine itself, which I’m guessing is essentially a mini hoover. It’s a nifty size, and doesn’t take up a huge amount of space on the worktop: View Post

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In association with Princes

So go on, tell me, what did you think of my overnight slippy peach pancakes?

I mean presumably as soon as you saw the post this week you whipped up a batch ready for breakfast the next day? Good. Glad to hear it.

In case your tinned fruit stocks are running low, and you’re getting worried about your next batch, then I’ve teamed up with Princes again today to offer you a super cool prize – a week’s shopping at Morrisons and a Princes tinned fruit hamper! Specifically, the lucky winner will get an £80 Morrisons voucher, plus a selection of 14 different tins of Princes tinned fruit, which you’ll know from my pancake recipe post counts towards your five a day. Tinned fruit is packed fresh at source, and helps to cut down on waste – no more festering bananas in the fruit bowl for you.

And then THIS can be your breakfast every day:

tinned peach recipe

Hoorah!

They were REALLY good.

If you’d like to win an £80 Morrisons voucher and hamper of Princes tinned fruit then it couldn’t be simpler. All you have to do is complete as many of the entries in the widget below as possible. The more you do, the greater your chances of getting to go to Morrisons, supermarket sweep style.

The competition will close at 11.59pm on 1st December 2017 and is open to UK residents only. Full T&Cs apply.

Good luck!

Princes

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In association with Princes

We all have those tinned staples that are always in the cupboard. For us it’s kidney beans*, tinned tomatoes, baked beans and slippy peaches.

Slippy peaches, just to clarify, are tinned peach slices, so named by our family because when they come out of the tin they are slippy. Dur.

tinned peach recipe

I always buy tinned fruit in juice because then it properly counts as fruit doesn’t it? Genuine fact there – a tin of slippy peaches like these count as two of your five a day. And tinned peaches are so GOOOOD.

Let’s face it, how often do you buy fresh peaches and get them just at the right level of ripeness, and THEN be bothered to cut them into slices to go on top of a pancake? Never. What’s more likely to happen in my house is that I buy a load of fresh fruit because Belle has watched some kind of ‘how to peel a mango with a pint glass’ life hack video on Instagram, and then two weeks later it’s sat in a mouldy pile in the fruit bowl.

For me, tinned peaches are like the frozen pea of the fruit world – why would you even bother with the faff of fresh when they taste so good and are so easy to prepare?

For the last week Belle and I have been experimenting, in partnership with Princes, switching fresh fruit for tinned. Princes tinned fruit is packed from fresh, counts towards your five a day, and means you always have fruit handy at perfect ripeness, with no waste. What’s not to love about that? As part of our challenge we’ve been making some simple breakfast recipes using tinned fruit, including slippy peach pancakes.

A weekend style breakfast for weekdays

Now when you think of homemade pancakes and fruit, you’re probably picturing a leisurely Sunday rather than a hectic weekday morning. I mean weekdays, it’s all about the school run, trying to juggle everyone leaving the house on time – no way you’d have time to make slippy peach pancakes right?

WRONG! View Post

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When you read Charlie and the Chocolate Factory as a child, how desperate were you for the three course meal in one piece of chewing gum to be a reality? I wanted it so badly. As I read it I swear I could feel the hot tomato soup at the back of my throat, followed by the rich, roast beef.

(I stopped imagining before I turned into a blueberry obviously. No one wants that.)

I’ve always been kind of fascinated by the idea of meal replacements. In old school science fiction people of the future were forever knocking back tiny pills as substitutes for entire meals and the principle really appeals to me – I’d never have to worry about ‘accidentally’ eating 14 Oreos ever again. Everything would be so simple. I’d be so slim…

Of course despite what the stories would have us believe, a meal in a pill could never be a thing. You just can’t get the calories you need into such a small thing. Back to the Oreos for me then.

Or is it?

For the last couple of weeks I’ve been trialling a meal replacement system called Solo. Solo is a vegan, allergen free, dairy and gluten free meal replacement powder that you mix up with water to make a shake. It contains all 26 essential vitamins and minerals, 100% of your recommended fibre intake, and can in theory entirely replace regular food.

I say ‘regular food’, but Solo IS food. That’s key here. It’s not some kind of artificially produced powder, it’s made with natural whole foods – wholegrain gluten free oats, pea protein, flaxseed, coconut – real food. There are 42g of protein in each serving, so it fills you up too. I’m genuinely not hungry for several hours after a Solo shake, and I can eat pretty much anything, any time. (See above about the Oreos.)

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Post in association with Iceland

They say there’s no such thing as a free lunch but they, whoever they are, are wrong.

Wait what? You CAN get lunch for free?

Why yes. Yes you can. With the Iceland bonus card.

Iceland Bonus Card

Let me explain.

You will have realised by now, if you’re a regular reader, that I’ve become a bit of an Iceland convert, ever since I realised that Iceland was about more than frozen kebab pizzas. I’ve been educated about the benefits of frozen food in terms of freshness and not needing artificial preservatives and let’s be honest, it didn’t take much to convince me on the convenience front either.

So what is the Iceland Bonus Card then?

The Iceland Bonus Card is a savings card. You pick one up in store, register it online, and then every time you go shopping, and fancy tucking a bit extra away, you can ask the cashier to top it up. You can add money to your Bonus Card through the Iceland website too. Easy.

Then, when you’re next shopping, either in store or online, you can choose to use some or all of your balance to pay your bill. Pretty straightforward yes?

Except here’s the bonus aspect of the Iceland Bonus Card – for every £20 you save, Iceland will give you an extra pound for FREE. Just like that, automatically. Greggs sausage and bean melts are on offer at the moment in Iceland – 2 for £1 – so that bonus pound could LITERALLY buy lunch for you AND a friend.

(If you have never eaten a Greggs sausage and bean melt before then WHAT IS THE MATTER WITH YOU?? That’s the food of the Gods right there. Oysters? RANK. Greggs sausage and bean melt? HELL YES.)

What could I use my Iceland Bonus Card for?

CHRISTMAS! View Post

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In association with Maryland Cookies

recipe cookie butter spread Maryland Cookies

In the important cultural debate that is ‘cookies or cake?’ I am very much in the cookie camp.

For me, it’s a question of consistency of experience. Sure, you can get some amazing cake, no denying that. Sometimes they’re just right – moist and delicious and full of flavour – but all too often I’m left disappointed by cakes. They might LOOK lush, but then the sponge is dry, or the frosting to cake ratio is all wrong, and you eat it reluctantly, thinking ‘for God’s sake, what a waste of calories, I could have had four gins for that.’

(And yes, you could just NOT eat it, but food waste remember?)

With a cookie though, or a good plain biscuit, you know what you’re getting. No one ever cracks into a packet of Maryland and comes away feeling like they’re had anything other than the exact cookie experience they were expecting. No snack-time risk, no worry, just mid-afternoon cookie fun times. View Post

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Post in association with Metis®

Metis® fruit recipes

Imagine if you will that a plum and an apricot go on a date.

They get on well as they have a lot in common – they both like classic crime fiction, they love to travel, and they both have a stone in their middle, that sort of thing. One date leads to another. On the second date they crank it up a notch and do an activity – segway maybe. Or pottery painting.

Time passes, stuff happens, and they have a baby. They call it Metis®.

Metis® fruit recipes

Ahhh!

Oh how I wish that’s how it happened! View Post

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What does tea time look like for your family?

This is dinner time in our house:

typical family dinner time

Ha ha! Not really.

Who has family dinner times like that?? Everyone is so attractive! And all those white units and place mats and teeth? What I love most though about this picture is that the caption is ‘family laughing around a good meal in the kitchen.’

I do my own voice over as I look at it:

MUM, laughing: Oh look everyone at how big our bowls of peas and carrots are!

DAD, laughing: Ha ha! That’s so funny! I love vegetables! Isn’t that funny kids?

DAUGHTER, laughing, but also crying a bit: But Daddy I hate peas!

DAD, laughing: Just keep laughing Angelica!

DAUGHTER: But it hurts my cheeks…

MUM: Ha ha ha! What a lovely family dinner we’re all having!

ANYWAY.

Family meal times in our house don’t look like that. In fact, weekdays are pretty quiet. Bee has long since left home, so it’s more often than not just me and Belle.

That’s okay though. That’s the beauty of a modern family – it can be anything you want it to be.

(DUM DUM DUM!!)

According to new research from potato brand McCain, as part of their We Are Family campaign, we often find it hard to identify with the portrayal of family life as shown in the media. 84% of families surveyed claim they haven’t seen anything in popular culture that depicted a family like their own in the last six months and 45% of Brits think more needs to be done to show the reality of everyday family life.

I agree, and to illustrate the point, Belle and I created a mini fly-on-the wall documentary of tea times in our house. (Does this video count as popular culture?? It definitely shows the reality of family life…)

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I have to admit that until I started working with Iceland a few months ago, I would have never thought to order my weekly shop online with them. To be totally honest, I didn’t even know you COULD shop online at Iceland. I thought it was just one of those places you went to buy a six pack of cornettos for a pound when you were in town with friends and didn’t want to spend £2 each on a Magnum.

(It IS good for that mind, it’s just more too. In fact, without wanting to get you over excited, if you wanted to splash out and get five ice creams for £1.50, you could get five mini Viennas on sticks. Follow the link and take a look. It will CHANGE YOUR LIFE.)

I feel like this year though, after going to Iceland’s autumn/winter launch and then getting to go up to London and spend Christmas with them, (in July), Iceland has blossomed in my mind from rows of freezer cabinets to somewhere where you can actually SHOP properly. For actual things that aren’t just frozen Slimming World meals. (They do loads of these – top tip if you’re on Slimming World.)

Turns out Iceland online is an awesome place to shop.

Hold up though, I know what you might be thinking.

‘Yeah, yeah,’ you’re muttering, ‘she would say that wouldn’t she? Everyone knows you can’t get EVERYTHING you need from Iceland – you can’t exactly buy frozen toilet roll can you?’

No, obviously no one wants frozen toilet roll, but despite the name, the majority of things that Iceland sells aren’t actually frozen.

*MIND BLOWN* View Post

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