Good Food Sorted by Chris Bavin

I was sent Chris Bavin's debut cookbook to review, and also asked my friend who isn't an especially keen cook to try a few recipes and tell me what she thought of the book. 

Chris Bavin is an award winning greengrocer turned TV presenter, best known for appearing on Eat Well for Less and Britain's Best Home Cook. He has a young family and is a keen cook, so he knows the challenges of getting healthy food on the table to please hangry children when you're knackered.

The cookbook contains over 100 family friendly recipes, the vast majority of which are accompanied by a photo of the finished dish, and plenty of useful tips and tricks to save money and make cooking quicker and tastier.

There's a 'Feed the Freezer' and 'Love Your Leftovers' tip at the bottom of most of the recipes, as well a 'Flex Your Flavours' tip for alternative ingredients or additions to maximise taste with minimal effort.  

The book is divided up into sections: breakfast, pasta rice, noodles, meat, chicken, fish and shellfish, vegetarian, puddings, snacks, and feasts. It's written in a practical and accessible style with clear instructions and recipes are fairly straight forward.

The beginning of the book has advice on organising your store cupboard, freezer, etc which most families would find useful. There's also double page spreads with useful hints and tips designed to save time and money such as: 10 top tips for batch cooking and freezing, 5 handy herb and spice mixes, 10 ways to freeze flavours, 5 ways to use up fruit, 5 ways to keep ingredients fresh and 10 ingredients to freeze not throw.

The recipes use easy to source and fairly thrifty ingredients. Flicking through the recipes and pricing up the ingredients in my head, about 75% would fit within our family meal budget which is pretty good going for a cookbook that doesn't claim to be aimed at budget conscious cooks.

My friend who isn't a keen cook was able to try half a dozen recipes over two weeks, three on busy week nights. The recipes were all easy to follow, the dishes were tasty, and cooking from scratch didn't stress her out as much as she thought it would. She's even got a couple of meals stashed in the freezer because she made double quantities of the dinners she cooked on the weekend.

I think the book is well written, the recipes are well set out and easy to follow, and the many hints and tips are useful and practical. It would be a good resource for busy families stuck in a cooking rut of making the same recipes on rotation, as well as those just wanting a bit more inspiration and variety. The many tips and hints are sure to save money, and cut down on food waste.

The tag line on the cover is "Save time, cook smart, eat well" and that sums up the book perfectly.  I'd recommend the cookbook to other families who want some tasty and quick meal inspiration, and have already loaned my copy to my friend until Easter so she can try more recipes and get her husband and children to cook a few to give her a rest.

Good Food Sorted by Chris Bavin is released on 7th March and rrp is £18.99, it's currently on offer for £13.99 on Amazon.

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My Fussy Eater App Review

My fabulous blogging friend Ciara, who blogs over at My Fussy Eater, has developed an app which has been available on the Apple App Store for a while, and there's a newly released Android version available on Google Play. The app costs £3.99. 

The App contains over 160 recipes, 120 of which are her most popular blog recipes, and another 40 brand new recipes exclusive to the app. 

I was asked to test out the recently released Android version of the app and give my honest review. I think it's brilliant! Whether you want to encourage your family to eat a healthy balanced diet, or need ways to provide nutritious meals for fussy eaters, this app has so many delicious options.  It's a really well designed, user friendly app, easy to find the recipes you want, and with lots of handy features.

The 160 recipes include a selection of breakfast, lunch, dinner and snack ideas, with plenty of fruits, vegetables, pulses, and wholegrains. You can make weekly Meal Plans, which is really useful, and create shopping lists. There's also a favourites function for bookmarking your most liked recipes, and you can search by dietary need such as gluten free, dairy free, etc. 

I really like the fact that you can choose UK or US measurements in the settings. Being able to view the recipes in UK measurements (grams, millilitres, etc) or US measurements (cups, ounces, etc) is so useful, particularly as it makes it easy to prepare the delicious recipes no matter where in the world you are.

I'd recommend this app without hesitation to families wanting to change up their dinner recipes, and expand breakfast and lunch options.  The recipes are really handy for adding more nutrition to meal times, for kids and adults alike.  My children, and my husband, have enthusiastically devoured every recipe we've tried.  For less than the cost of a cuppa and muffin you could have 160 recipes at your fingertips. Give it a whirl!

** I was gifted the app but all opinions are my own, I was asked to give it a thorough testing and honest review **

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Baghrir - Moroccan Pancakes

I recently purchased the "Together" cookbook, proceeds from the sales of the book go to help the Hubb Community Kitchen which serves those affected by the Grenfell tower fire.  It is a beautiful book, with delicious recipes, a mouthwatering photo of each recipe, and lots of information about each dish.  I totally love this cookbook, and would thoroughly recommend buying a copy.

When I first read through the cookbook I wanted to cook everything.  I've been slowly working my way through the recipes, and each one has worked brilliantly and tasted delicious.  We decided to try making some Baghrir, Moroccan Pancakes, for breakfast one Saturday morning. They are kind of a cross between a pancake and a really thin crumpet.  Very easy to make, and delicious with honey/golden syrup, chocolate spread, or jam.  I made a double batch to freeze some for later in the week.  The pancakes are dairy free, egg free, and vegan.

Baghrir - Moroccan Pancakes

Recipe from the Together Cookbook

150g fine semolina

75g self raising flour

3.5g fast action yeast (half a 7g pack)

1/2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp caster sugar

pinch of salt

375g warm water

Put all the ingredients into a large bowl and mix until a smooth batter forms.  Leave to sit, covered with clingfilm for around 45 minutes.  The batter should have risen and plenty of bubbles should be visible in the batter. 

Heat a non-stick frying pan over a low-medium heat and add about 1/4 cup of batter to the pan.  Cook for 3 - 4 minutes, until the surface has lots of bubbles and has dried.  Don't flip the pancake.  Transfer to kitchen towel and continue making the other pancakes, this batter should make around 12.

Let the pancakes cool for a few minutes before you stack them up, otherwise they will stick together.  Serve warm.

Leave a Comment Breakfast, Dairy free, Review, Vegan

Froothie Optimum Vac2 Air Vacuum Blender Review

I was sent this very snazzy looking blender from Froothie to review, and I am a very happy cook indeed!

We had one of the original Froothie blenders for over a year, I've loaned it to the local Church cafe where it's used very regularly, and it's still going strong.  I was very interested to see what features the new model has, and whether it would stand up to heavy use in our family kitchen.

The new Optimum Vac2 Air Vacuum Blender is unique in that it has a pre-blending vacuum function which minimises oxidation and destruction of nutrients in juices and smoothies.  This means that if I made juices and smoothies the night before, they're still lovely and fresh the next morning retaining most of their original colour, texture and taste with minimal nutrient loss.  This is a brilliant feature for a busy family like ours.  I can make breakfast smoothies the night before, and clean the blender too, so we can just grab and devour the tasty smoothies in the morning.

The blender has four diffferent pre-sets for quick jobs - Smoothie, Nuts, Veg and Fruits, and Soup.  There's a handy guide to each function in the instruction booklet.  You can of course just use it as you want without using the presets or the vacuum function.

As well as the instruction manual the blender comes with two spare air valves, a tamper to help the blending process, and a recipe book containing mainly vegan recipes.

I've made seed butters, nut butters, countless smoothie and juices, sauces and soups.  It's a really powerful machine, and as you'd expect makes a bit of noise when blending but that's fairly standard with this type of blender.  It's a proper workhorse in our kitchen, so useful and I use it often.  Really handy during the heatwave for blending frozen fruits to make slushies, sorbets, etc.

If after reading my review you would like one of these fabulous gadgets for yourself, just click here. This is an affiliate link, and if you buy through this link then I may get some commission.   Simply add 1766 Ambassador Code in the comment box when purchasing online, or mention the code to the customer services person if ordering via phone.  There's also a 0% finance offer on all machines over £299.

There's a Crazy Special on at the moment too.  If you buy a Froothie Optimum Vac2 Air Vacuum Blender and enter one of the codes on the graphic above, then you will receive that item FREE! 

The blender comes with a 5 year warranty which means peace of mind when purchasing this fabulous kitchen gadget.  The blender comes in black, red and silver, colours which would fit in with most kitchen colour schemes.  

Froothie also offers 30-day money back guarantee too, if you're not satisfied.  Just pack up the blender and return the product in its original packaging without paying shipping charge and Froothie will refund the total cost.

1 comment Review

Living on the Veg - Chocolate Mousse

I was sent a copy of Living on the Veg, co-written by my blogging friend Jac, and Clive a children's author. The book is aimed at kids aged around 9 - 11yo who are new to or thinking about becoming vegetarian. All my three older girls, aged 11, 15, and 18yo read the book and thoroughly enjoyed it.

The book introduces famous vegetarians throughout history, exploring the reasons why people would choose to be vegetarian such as religious, environmental, animal welfare, or healthy lifestyle choices. There are good definitions of what it means to be flexitarian, pescetarian, vegetarian, and vegan. 

The most common questions that vegetarians face are answered, such as sources of protein, whether vegetables feel pain as well, whether we as humans were born to eat meat, etc.  As well as tips for getting your family onboard and help with eating out as well as quick one pan meal ideas and store cupboard ingredients that make vegetarian meals quickly and easily. 

There's information on vegetarian ingredients like Quorn, tempeh and TVP, as well as natural foods that can replace meat and provide a healthy and varied diet. There are several delicious recipes to try and a lengthy list of helpful websites for further information and research.

What I liked most about this book was that it was primarily an informative guide to becoming vegetarian, with simple and scrumptious recipes included at the end, rather than a cookbook with scant information put in as an afterthought.  

We tried several of the recipes, all were very tasty indeed.  The Chocolate Mousse went down particularly well with everyone - despite my husband's scepticism, as he doesn't usually like tofu.

Easy Chocolate Mousse

250g silken tofu

3 ripe bananas

3 heaped Tblsp cocoa powder

a generous squirt of honey or maple syrup

Drain the tofu well and put into a blender with all the other ingredients.  Whizz until smooth then pour into small glasses or serving bowls and chill until needed. Top with whipped cream/coconut cream and sprinkles if you want.

3 comments Dairy free, Gluten-free, Meatfree Monday, Puddings, Review, Vegan, Vegetarian

YumBox and Lunchbox Love Notes Review

My youngest daughter was sent a Yumbox by EatWell-UK to review and she absolutely loves it! There's two designs, Classic and Panino, we tried the Panino as she thought it would suit her school packed lunches better than the classic design.

The Yumbox comes in a wide variety of colours and is very sturdy, as well as being easy for small hands to open.  It also fits into most standard insulated lunch bags.

The Yumbox has a removable tray which has an illustrated guide to help you pack healthy portions of different foods.  Handy for ensuring a balanced lunch when in a rush, and also good for avoiding a lengthy debate with children about how much of each food group they should be having.

The Classic Yumbox tray is divided into five ½ cup portions of the key food groups: Fruit, Vegetable, Grains, Protein, Dairy. Plus a small well for a dip or a treat.

The Panino Yumbox tray is divided into a large (2 cups) portion (perfect for a sandwich or salad), 2 (1/2 cup) portions and a dip well.

Even better, the Yumbox has a leak proof lid that also means that food will not cross the portion sections.  I am so glad that it means there's no need for numerous plastic bags, multiple containers, clingfilm and snack packs, everything is contained in the one leakproof box. 

The Yumbox can be packed the night before, the silicone lid keeps everything fresh, if it is stored in the fridge overnight.

We were also sent some LunchboxLove notes. The handy 12 pack of cards has positive messages and trivia on them, you pop them into your child's lunch bag to remind them you are thinking of them throughout the day.  I thought my 9yo might be a bit old for the cards but she was delighted with them, as was one of my older daughters.

Eat-Well-UK was set up by Bouncy Jam who are importers and distributors of a range of unique and stylish products including Yumbox (the leak-proof lunchbox) and the Tidy Table Tray (bringing babies to the table).  There's a fab blog on their site along with a wealth of useful lunch and dining products for both adults and children alike.  Do take a look.

1 comment Lunches, Review

Actifrydays Challenge - Actifry Kebab

Actifry Express XL RRP £249.99

I was recently sent the new ActiFry Express XL by Tefal to try out and asked to recreate one of their recipes, an Actifry Kebab.  Tefal’s have launched an ActiFryDays challenge to encourage us to cook a dish in their Actifry instead of ordering a takeaway.  

Tefal undertook a survey of 2,000 people and found that their favourite takeaway option was Chinese.  Apparently, as a nation we eat 12,000 tonnes of fat each year from takeaways alone, this is of course very worrying as obesity levels are high in the UK population.

Unsurprisingly, according to the survey, Friday is the most popular night when we crave a takeaway.  Unfortunately most of the time we tend to order too much and also ignore the fat and calories in takeaways.  I know that I am always exhausted by Friday so always Meal Plan a low faff option as we can't afford takeaways, either from a financial or dietary point of view.    

I was delighted to be asked to try out the Actifry as it air fries with a very small amount of oil which means dishes are cooked with little added fat and therefore dishes will be much lighter on the waistline and wallet than traditional takeaways.

I cooked the Actifry Kebab and it went down very well indeed with my family.  I amended the recipe slightly as it served 4 and there are 5 of us.  I used lamb instead of veal, added 2 chopped peppers, an extra carrot, added 500ml of passata, cooked the dish for 5 minutes longer, and served the kebab on cooked Basmati rice.  The only preparation is chopping the vegetables and lamb, the Actifry does everything else.  You could serve the kebab in a wrap or with couscous if you didn't want to cook rice.  

We found that the carrot, although it was fairly finely diced, was still quite firm.  I would substitute the carrot for some diced peppers, courgette or aubergine, this would be easier to soften in the cooking time.

The ActiFry Express XL comes with a recipe book filled with delicious ideas which we will try out in due course.  You can cook so much more than chips in the Actifry! That said, we do enjoy some spicy sweet potato wedges cooked in the Actifry and accompanied by a homemade (reduced fat) sour cream and chive dip.

1 comment Dinners, Lamb, Review, Rice

Froothie Optimum 9400 Blender - My favourite kitchen gadget!

A while ago we were sent a fab Froothie Optimum 9400 blender.   We've always had cheaper, much less powerful blenders.  This blender is the best I have ever tried by far!  It is really powerful and very easy to clean.  It is also quieter than some of the cheaper models we've had in the past.  

You can see how the Froothie compares to the Vitamix here.  You can also check out how it compares to the Nutribullet here.

We have used the Froothie to make smoothies, soups, nut butters, dressings and sauces.  It came into it's own when bubs started weaning as I could whip up super smooth purees very quickly.  The Froothie is also fab at making a quick and healthy soup for my lunch, everything goes into the Froothie and gets whizzed for around on high speed until you have a piping hot soup.  You can check out my 5 Minute Soup recipe here.

Speaking of recipes, you do get a fab recipe book supplied in the box and it gives a lovely range of recipes that will get you started with your blender  Very handy if you're new to power blenders and are unsure what they are capable of.  I’ve also used the Froothie Optimum 9400 to make fruit couli, caramel and chocolate sauces, passata and other savoury sauces such as a smooth hidden vegetable lentil Bolognese, Hollandaise and cheese sauce.  A great tool to have in the kitchen when a quick dinner or lunch is needed.  

Here's a clip showing just what the fab Froothie Optimum 9400 is capable of:

Leave a Comment Drink, Review, Sauces, Soup

Spicy Chicken Stew to celebrate 20 Years of Freedom Food with Sainsbury's

I always try to buy higher welfare meat, especially chicken, and preferably free range chicken at that.  The meat always tastes better and I am able to utilise what we buy in several meals to spread the cost and make it more affordable.  

I was asked by Sainsbury's to develop a recipe to help them celebrate 20 Years of Freedom Food with Sainsbury's and came up with a Spicy Chicken Stew which served 5 generously for dinner, with leftovers making a tasty lunch served with homemade tortilla wraps.

Sainsbury’s sells more Freedom Food labelled products than any other supermarket, and more than 60 per cent of all Freedom Food sold in the UK.  In fact, they stock more than 368 different products, including chicken, eggs, pork, salmon, trout, turkey and veal.  The RSPCA's Freedom Food label gives consumers confidence that the food they're buying has come from an animal that has been cared for to strict RSPCA welfare standards, for the whole of its life.

Spicy Chicken Stew

1 Tblsp oil

8 - 10 chicken portions, bone in and skin on

2 large red onions, diced

2 cloves garlic, crushed

1 chilli, finely diced (or more to taste)

1 tsp ground cumin

6 ripe tomatoes, roughly chopped

300ml - 500ml chicken stock

3 Tblsp fresh oregano leaves or 3 tsp dried

420g tin kidney beans, drained and rinsed

2 peppers, deseeded and diced

Heat the oil in a large saucepan, brown the chicken in batches then set aside.  Add the onions, garlic, chilli and cumin to the pan and cook until the onion starts to soften.  Return the chicken to the pan with the tomatoes, stock and oregano.  Bring to the boil then reduce the heat so the stew simmers.  Cook, covered for 30 minutes.  Add the kidney beans and diced peppers then simmer uncovered for a further 20 minutes.  Serve the stew with rice, quinoa or mashed potato and steamed greens or mixed vegetables.  Sprinkle with a little more fresh oregano if you like.

I was asked to provide a cost breakdown for this meal which served 5 generously for dinner and lunch the next day.

Free range corn fed Freedom Food Chicken (10 pieces) £6

2 cloves garlic 5p

1 chilli 20p

2 red onions 40p

6 tomatoes, free from our allotment or £1 from supermarket

Chicken Stock 10p

Fresh Oregano, free from our back garden

400g tin Kidney Beans 30p

Basics Peppers 50p

Total Cost £8.55 or 85p per portion for 10 portions, not including the cost of accompaniments such as rice, mixed vegetables, tortilla wraps, etc.

5 portions rice 25p

5 portions mixed vegetables 60p

Mixed greens, free from our allotment

10 homemade tortillas 50p

Total cost of both meals with accompaniments £9.90 or 99p per serving for 10 servings.

** Disclosure: I was compensated for my time, expertise and ingredients used when developing this recipe **

4 comments Basics, Chicken, Dinners, Lunches, Review, Rice

Mega Veg Pizza/Pasta Sauce

I was sent an Optimum 9400 from Froothie to try out.  It is brilliant! I will be blogging more about this fab gadget along with a few smoothie recipes, a chocolate mouse recipe and several soups all made in the blender.  I thought I would blog this delicious and versatile pizza/pasta sauce first though as I made a huge vat of it to freeze.  This recipe is great for hiding vegetables, should you need to, and also useful for using up vegetables languishing in the vege draw of the fridge.  

We use this sauce as a pasta sauce, pizza sauce or thinned down with a little vegetable stock to make a delicious and flavoursome tomato soup.

I decided to soften the vegetables before blending, however you can make a sauce or soup by putting raw vegetables in the blender as Jac from Tinned Tomatoes has done with her delicious Rich Tomato Blender Soup.  

Mega Veg Pizza/Pasta Sauce

2 Tblsp olive oil

1 onion, diced

2 peppers, diced

2 celery sticks, finely diced

4 cloves garlic, crushed
3 carrots, peeled and diced
2 courgettes, finely diced
1 large sweet potato, peeled and finely diced or grated
1 Tblsp dried Italian mixed herbs
1 Tblsp light soft brown sugar
1 Tblsp Balsamic vinegar
4 Tblsp tomato paste
2 x 400g can crushed tomatoes

In a large saucepan over a moderate heat, saute the prepared vegetables until softened.  Add in the herbs, sugar, vinegar and tomato paste along with the tinned tomatoes.  Mix really well to combine then cover and simmer for 10 - 15 minutes.  Cool the sauce for a few minutes.  Blitz the sauce up and use on pizza bases or mix through cooked pasta.  This recipe makes a large quantity of sauce which freezes well and is perfect for a quick supper option.  

I used the Optimum 9400 from Froothie to blend the sauce in two batches, so much easier than a stick blender which I previously used.  

I'm linking this recipe up with No Waste Food Challenge as we used up the remaining vegetables in our fridge before before our next weekly shop was delivered.  The challenge was created by Elizabeth and is being hosted this month by Laura.

I am also joining in with Extra Veg, a monthly blog challenge devised by Helen and I and hosted this month by Sarah.  Extra Veg encourages us all to add extra vegetables to our meals.

5 comments Basics, Budgeting Tips, Dairy free, Dinners, Lunches, Meatfree Monday, Pasta, Review, Sauces, Soup, Vegetarian