Recovery Degustabox (January 2019)

Many people tend to think of January as a start of their wellness journey, making healthier decisions when it comes to food, cooking and mealtimes. Dry January and Veganuary seem to have become a trendy fixture of our times.
To help you with your personal wellness goals, Degustabox's latest food box - Recovery - is set to inspire you and guide towards making healthier food choices.

This food box arrives every month and is full of foodie surprises. This monthly food and drink subscription box is an excellent way to discover products which have only just appeared in the shops or those which might have been around for while, but you haven't had a chance to try them yet.

Thanks to Degustabox, I have found new favourites to add to our shopping list, including some products which I probably wouldn't have tried otherwise.

Each time the box arrives, it's a total surprise. You get a good selection of foods and drinks.

If you haven't tried Degustabox subscription box yet and would like to have a go, I have a whopping £7 off discount from your first box (and you can unsubscribe any time) - just use a code 8EVI8 when you place an order.

What did we receive in the January'19 Degustabox? Let's have a look.

YES! Fruit and Nut bars (£1.20) are delicious wholesome snacks, great for packed lunches and for long walks, when you need a little something to keep you going.

The fruit bars contain no added sugar, besides naturally occuring sugars) and are 1 of your 5 a day.
Nut bars contain 5g of sugar and are a good source of protein.

Both coffee dark chocolate and cherry nut bar & dark chocolate sea salt and almond nut bars (189kcal per bar) are tasty treats.

LioBites Freeze Dried Strawberry Crisps & Apple Crisps (£1.50) are healthy fruit crisps. You will receive one of two flavours in the box. Made from fresh fruit, picked in season and freeze-dried, they are full of flavour, vitamins and antioxidants.
1 pack of LioBites crisps counts as 1 of 5 a day. A great addition to any packed lunch, they are a good source of fibre.
We have enjoyed LioBites smoothie bites in the past (also courtesy of Degustabox).
Apple Crisps (as well as the other products in LioBites' range) are also suitable for home baking and cake decorations.

Pick Up! Milk Chocolate (£1.69) by Bahlsen are a tasty combination of a smooth milk chocolate with ground hazelnuts, sandwiched between two crunchy biscuits. They are individually wrapped, so a good option for a treat on the go.
Nutritional values: 143kcal and 9.8g of sugar per bar.
My guys love chocolate cookies, so this pack was demolished pretty fast.

We are big fans Hartley's 10 Cal Jelly Pots (£0.75) - mostly berry-flavoured ones - and were glad to try new dessert inspired flavours. Black Forest Gateau and Lemon Cheesecake are lovely sweet treats, and are dieters-friendly, being under 10kcal each.

Miso Tasty Original Ramen Noodle Kit (£3.50) is a take on the classic Japanese dish, hailed as one of Japan's top inventions - the Ramen noodle.
The kit includes two servings of non-fried noodle nests, white miso pastes, seaweed and spring onion garnishes and sesame oil pouches.

Miso is a great source of plant protein, antioxidants and fermented goodness.
These are vegetarian meals, to which you can add any toppings (vegetarian or flexitarian).
One serving comes at 334kcal (without toppings).

Pipers Crispeas Matar Paneer (£1) are a low calorie, vegetarian snack, offering protein and fibre. At 91kcal per pack, they make a tasty snack for those who keep count of calories.
These pea snacks are gluten-free, wheat-free and barley-free.

Ryvita Protein Red Quinoa & Sesame (£1.59) are crunchy, crispy slices, baked with pea protein and rye. As the name suggests, they are high in protein and fibre, and are suitable for vegans.
Add any toppings you like for an easy snack or light lunch.

Kallo Lightly Salted Organic rice cakes (£1.30) are wholegrain & low fat. At 29kcal per rice cake, they are a favourite among many dieters as a low cal snack.
Kallo Protein Packed Lentil Cakes are a high source of protein. At 30kcal per lentil cake, they are also vegetarian, vegan, coeliac friendly, contain no artificial colours, flavours or preservatives.

You will receive one of the two flavours in the box.

PBfit Peanut Butter Powder (£0.75) is made with whole-roasted peanuts, pressed to perfection. The powder contains up to 90% less fat than traditional peanut butter, and about 1/3 the calories, which is great news for anyone on a diet.
Useful for smoothies, shakes and in baking.

As I'm not a fan of protein shakes or smoothies, I used the peanut butter powder in cookies. Oat peanut butter cookies made with PBfit proved to be a great success with my guys.


And finally, Willy's Apple Cider Vinegar (£2.95) is a raw and unpasteurised ACV which contains the mother. It will make a great base for salad dressings. Or add a glug to a tray of roasting tomatoes, radishes or grapes.
In the cold weather make a hot reviving drink of 2tsp of ACV to 2 tsp of honey, diluted in a mug of hot water.

Photo diary: week 5, project 365

Thank goodness it's finally February. January seemed never-ending. The spring flowers are already starting to appear in the garden.

Last week was a mix of warm and cold here. We've been shivering on what appears to be the coldest day for the last seven years, and we've got snow as well.

Every Sunday evening Eddie has a guitar practice before his lesson on Monday. This time he was learning Seven Nations Army chords. We even watched a video on Youtube on how to play it.

Monday was another abysmal day for me, as I had to go back to the "demon dentist". Friends saw me moaning on Facebook about how awful I felt afterwards. As the tooth is very much at the back, the access is quite tricky, and the dentist put some sort of contraption in my mouth. If you've seen the Willy Wonka film with Johnny Depp, it was similar to that, a terrible frame to keep a mouth open wide. Plus there was a plastic sheet on top.
I couldn't breathe properly, was panicking, and it made me gag. On top of that torture, the local anesthesia has frozen half of my face, including the muscles of one eye, which has totally freaked me out.
There is still one more visit to complete the job. I don't know how I will find any courage.
I have a phobia of dentists as it is, but after this treatment I am even more terrified of them.
Didn't take any photos on Monday, as I was feeling crappy.

On Tuesday I cooked a ready-made French meal - Cod loin with black rice. It wasn't too bad, but nothing "to write home about" either. Won't be buying it again.

The crocuses in the garden are beginning to shoot spears out of the ground. I picked a little bunch of crocuses and snowdrops, and the scent was so wonderfully delicate when they started to open up indoors.

Eddie enjoys reading the Beast Quest series. I've spotted this bunch of BQ book in the Oxfam shop and took a photo for Eddie to decide if he wants me to buy any of them. I did buy only one book.
When we visited the shop today, all the books were gone.

Friday, yay! Finally we have got snow. Eddie's been wishing for snow for a few weeks. Ever so hopeful that he'd be able to have a snowball fight.

I woke up on Friday morning, checked up the school websites, both were closed. I went back to bed, telling Eddie to keep sleeping, as there was no school. And of course, he couldn't go back to sleep after that, too excited about the snow.
Before we even ventured in the garden, I could see a lot of trails in the snow. That must have been a cat, who wandered everywhere in the garden, then left over the wall.

And another photo from yesterday. We found these two foodie snowmen by Cafe Rouge.
When we walked there today, they were gone. It's not because they've melted, no, it's some nasty b^*&%^$s who demolished them.

Today Eddie got his much-coveted snowball fight.

An InLinkz Link-up

Photo diary: week 4, project 365

I've realised I have only done one blog post in the last week after the previous Photo diary, and that was prepared in advance. I've not been feeling well in the last ten days or so with a toothache.
Went to the "demon dentist" twice. The first time he put some bio-composite thingy, which didn't help at all, and started crumbling on the same day. I could barely survive the weekend, and asked to be seen on Monday.
Alas, I need to have the root canal work done, which means going back to be tortured again and again. I'm rather peeved with them, as he said looking at the x-ray that there was a tooth problem when they did the x-ray over a year and a half ago. Why the heck didn't they flag it up then? It would have saved me all the pain and expense.
Now I will have to pay £648 on top of the £67 initial visit plus £50 for the x-ray. It might be pretty normal for the private dentist, but if you compare it to my carer's allowance (£268 last month which included £10 bonus for Christmas), this is extortionate.

Last Sunday our favourite Costa was closed for refurbishment. Instead of going to the M&S cafe we decided to try Starbucks. The latte was awfully bitter. I haven't been to Starbucks for over a year, and forgot just how bad their coffee is. Eddie was not impressed with his ham and cheese panino either, as it had mustard inside.

On Monday I was in too much pain after the visit to the dentist. It was Sasha's night away at the respite centre, and the original plan was for us to go to Oxford with Eddie. My husband booked a table at the game cafe, where you can play any board games. It's super popular, and you need to book in advance.
I was way too poorly to travel to Oxford, so my husband and Eddie went without me. They also went to McDonald's afterwards, and I didn't have to cook dinner.
I spent all the afternoon and evening, nursing a sore jaw. I even had a fever. In a way, I'm glad Sasha was not at home, and I didn't have to think of his dinner, reading time etc.

As I was too unwell to take photos on Monday, here are two pics from Tuesday.
I had to pick up a packet from the depot, and walked by St Mary's church. Since our Sasha's obsession with the churches continues, I took a few snaps of the church.
The morning was beautiful, with blue clear sky.

And then, when I was having a late-ish lunch, I saw that it was snowing. Big fluffy snowflakes kept falling, but melted on the ground.
Eddie later told me that his teacher let them all get outside to look at the snow.

A frosty morning - and a walk through the fields on the way to school, with Eddie's friend.

Here is another of my charity shop finds, a Wedgwood cup and saucer, which costed £4 and will come handy for my food and drink styling photos. I also haven't seen a Wedgwood cup like that before.
It's in pristine condition. I will most likely gift it to my Mum, who loves this brand.

Still not feeling all that well, I thought we'd have an easy evening. With my husband being away, we ordered two pizzas from Domino's, and bought a film to watch on Amazon - The house with a clock in its walls. There were some pretty macabre characters, and those creepy dolls and mannequins, arrgh, they are going to haunt me in my dreams. Quite a few times we kept turning away or closing our eyes, and laughing at ourselves for being such wusses.

At home all day today, just lazing about. I had a grocery order delivered, and while taking some stuff to the summerhouse, snapped these cyclamen leaves. They seem to spread like fire in the garden. I don't mind, the leaves are so decorative.

Talking of groceries, are you planning to do any food stockpiling before Brexit? I haven't done anything, but reading some discussions on Mumsnet, not sure if it might be a good idea.

An InLinkz Link-up

The Hairy Hand by Robin Bennett #BlogTour

Children's literature is experiencing a renaissance nowadays. There are so many books published each month, it is easy to get lost in an avalanche of the latest releases.
When you come across a real gem of a book, it's a genuine joy.

The Hairy Hand by Robin Bennett is one such splendid discovery.
Eddie and I have been reading it for several evenings at bedtime, and every time I had to stop, he begged me to continue.

The story begins with Septimus (or Sept for short) ruminating about his lot in life:
"He always knew he was very different from everyone else in the village and Septimus often wondered if that was why his mother seemed not to like him very much."

The Plogs, his parents, are a terrible, revolting couple. They could be the twins of The Twits.
Sept and his parents live in a village called Nowhere, which is a sad and abysmal place to exist.
Sept has no friends, and his parents don't care for him either. They hardly notice him, that is, until the day when a letter arrives, informing the family of Sept's uncle's demise.

Sept didn't even know that he had an uncle.
"Of course you do!" exclaimed Mistress Plog... "Everyonesies got an Uncle, imagine not having one of them!.. and, ooh, yer uncle... such a fine man and a great wizard. But a real gent, too - a Gentiman Warlock, whichesies a wizard wot doesn't wear a hat. And a bootiful house he's got by the sea, all tall'n elegant, just like him, and it sits above the frothy waves and the wild winds."

The letter includes instructions which allow Sept to choose any three items in the house, and once three treasures are chosen, he must leave the house, never to return.

After surviving the long, perilous journey to his uncle's house, Sept makes his choices. He feels drawn towards a quite ordinary wooden box, which was wedged between the volumes of magic books.

"The point was, Sept's hand felt drawn towards the box, as if pulled by an invisible string, and he reached forward. Time slowed as a warm wind sprang up from nowhere in his uncle's study, carrying with it the smell of hot sand, rich spices and whispering voices - like the dry pages of a book having a conversation with itself."

As you might have guessed, this is not an ordinary box with some banal keepsakes. It contains the eponymous Hairy Hand, a magical scary thing, with a soul and mind of its own. One of its uncanny abilities is a talent for finding the buried treasure. This suits the greedy Plogs just right.

There is a special bond developing between Sept and the Hairy Hand.
Will Sept find his destiny with the help from his supernatural friend?

A battle between good and evil takes this story to the realm of the classic fairy tales. I can easily see this book becoming a modern classic of children's fiction.

The book design deserves a special mention. The sturdy cover with a spooky image of a dark hairy hand catches your attention and intrigues you. There is a tiny metal pendant on the spine, which is a great detail.

The illustrations in the book are an eclectic mix of styles - from a style imitating a child's drawing to black silhouettes, from colour-your-own mandala to images reminiscent of the first printed books on alchemy.
The illustrations support the storyline organically, adding all in all to the eerie atmosphere.

This quirky and wonderfully bizarre story with a Gothic twist will appeal to children and grown-ups alike.
We're hoping there will be a sequel.

Author Bio:
Robin Bennett is an author and entrepreneur who has written several books for children, adults, and everything in between. Listed in the Who's Who of British Excellence at 29, his 2016 documentary "Fantastic Britain", about the British obsession with fantasy and folklore, won best foreign feature at the Hollywood International Independent Documentary Awards, and his first book for young aduts, Picus the Thief, won the Writer's News Indie Published Book of the Year Award in 2012.
You can find Robin Bennett on Twitter as @MonsterBooksRaw

This review is part of the blog tour. You can visit the other blog stops following the route below:

Disclosure: Many thanks to Rachel's Random Resources and Monster Books for sending me a copy of the book for the purposes of reviewing.

Photo diary: week 3, project 365

After watching Hotel Transylvania 3 on DVD, Eddie's new catchphrase is "Holy moly, that's a lot of guacamole". He was repeating it again this morning, jumping on the bed, while I was ironing. In comes my husband and says: "That's what your mother used to say when we lived in the States". I said: "Actually, that's not true. I used to say Holy Cannoli then".

We're on week 3 of January already, holy moly guacamole! It feels like we were only just getting ready for Christmas, and now it's all about Easter eggs and chocolate bunnies in the shops.

Last Sunday I bought a new French cheese La Baguette. It's a lovely creamy cheese - an absolute treat with oatcakes and muscat grapes.

A quick coffee in the Blue Boar after the school run on Monday morning... This pretty posy was a welcome splash of colour on the otherwise very grey dull day.

Eddie loves Domino's pizza, but the prices are pretty much extortional for a takeaway pizza. I only rarely order it on Tuesdays, when they have a two for one deal.
Eddie fancied trying their new Cheeseburger pizza. It does sound somewhat revolting, but actually is not too bad, if you're a meat eater. Pickles were the best bit.
They have changed their menu a few months ago, removing some of the tastier vegetarian Italian style pizzas. Now the range of vegetarian pizza is a bit on the boring side.

Rather than taking photos of what we eat or Eddie's pics - though he is usually happy to oblige, I tried to do some abstract-ish photos. This is a part of the rain-washed road, with a little reflection in a mini puddle.

A lonely football got stuck in the empty branches of the tree in the school yard.

More of the wet weather shots...

Our favourite Costa is getting closed for refurbishment for a few days. Eddie and I popped in for a drink and a treat before doing the grocery shopping.
We also popped in to the library to check out if they had more books in the Raven's mysteries series by Marcus Sedgwick. I bought the 1st book in the charity shop recently for 99p, and Eddie loved it very much - especially that the main character, the old wise raven, is called Edgar. We were happy to see that they have books 2 and 3 in the series, so we borrowed the 2nd one.

An InLinkz Link-up

The Secret by Katharine Johnson #Blogtour

The Secret by Katharine Johnson is an absorbing novel which has managed to capture the particular time and place with great authority and genuineness.

This is a story of two friends, whose lives were damaged by secrets and lies. This is also a story of the country, complicated and intense.

Martina and Elena grow up in Mussolini's Italy.
Martina is a beautiful spirited girl, who marries into a wealthy family. Her new in-laws consider the union of their only surviving son with her a mesalliance.
Irena is a plain but smart girl, who values books and education and wants to become a teacher.

Martina's life at Villa Leonida, the most prestigious house in their Tuscan mountain village, is far from a dream come true. Martina feels stifled and oppressed by her disapproving in-laws. Her only purpose in life seems to be giving birth to a new heir.

There is a whole set of characters introduced as the story unravels. Some are mentioned en passant, some return back to the narrative.

There is a tragic Sonia, whose childhood is blighted by being ostracised as the child of the traitor.
Sonia has a big secret of her own. From the first pages of the book you discover that she finds a baby abandoned in the church, and claims him as her own. She lives in fear that her secret will be revealed, and the child taken away by his parents.

Carlo comes back to his home town to restore the old restaurant. His elderly mother Irena is a bit of a  termagant. Her memory and perception of reality are not what they used to be.

"Some of the stories he'd heard so often that he'd stopped paying proper attention. He'd found himself recounting them to his daughters, and recently his grandchildren, but he'd doubtless embroidered these with a few details of his own so that he was no longer sure he could trust his memory. He was a little ashamed now that he'd not paid more attention".

Carlo's thoughts could resonate with many of us. How often did we only half-listened to our parents and grandparents' stories from the past, trying to cut them short: Yes, yes, I remember that, you've already told it to me many times. But then you forget, and you would love to hear those stories, however, it's too late.

The innocent recording device given to Carlo's elderly mother to tell her stories brings with it a dramatic denouement, like Chekhov's gun on the wall (If in the first act you have hung a gun on the wall, then in the following one it should be fired). It might not be an instrument of murder, but it surely is as lethal, uncovering the tragic deceit and unpalatable truth.

This novel made me think of my own family. My great grandma and grandma lived under the Nazi occupation in the South of Russia. Just like in the book, loyalties were tested, families divided, and the survival depended on so many factors. Some residents managed to accommodate to the new forced regime, some tried to fight the terror and violence.
My Mum is a war child, born in 1944, she remembers playing in the fields outside town after the war, in the deep trenches overgrown with rose bushes (the Germans planned to stay, and planted the rose bushes everywhere).

Katharine Johnson writes with a deep psychological insight. The Secret is an engaging story, that will captivate and engage you to the very last page.

My review is part of the blog tour. To see what the other bloggers thought about the book, you can visit the other stops of the tour.

Author Bio:
Katharine Johnson likes writing about ordinary people who through a character flaw or bad decision find themselves in extraordinary situations. She's a journalist living in Berkshire, England, with her family and springer spaniel. When she's not writing, you'll find her exploring cities, visiting old houses, playing netball, eating cake or restoring her house in Italy, which is nothing like Villa Leonida.
You will find all about Katharine and her books at these social media links:
www.facebook.com/Katharinejohnsonauthor
https://twitter.com/@kjohnsonwrites
https://katyjohnsonblog.wordpress.com/

Disclosure: Many thanks to Rachel's Random Resources for sending me the book for the purposes of reviewing.

The Sinister Gathering (Sophie Brown Book 3) by Diane Ezzard #BlogTour

Any venture calling itself a find-yourself retreat would send me running for the hills. Personally I can't find anything more tedious or pretentious. But that's just me.

Sophie, the main protagonist of The Sinister Gathering, hopes that the healing female-only retreat in the Scottish Highlands is exactly what she needs.
The programme is focused on meditation with gentle yoga classes and promises "In just a few short days, you can transform your life".
Unsure about her relationship, Sophie is trying to discover who she really is. Opening up her vulnerable side and getting the demons of the past exorcised sounds like a great motivator.

And Sophie needs it. She is insecure about her boyfriend - Jack is a private investigator - and does appear as rather clingy, and gets suspicious when her texts are not answered the next minute.

In search of inner peace and harmony, Sophie goes to Scotland. On top of her own problems, she has to deal with a whole bunch of insecure women who have issues of their own, from OCD to alcoholism, from a toxic friendship to jealousy and a nervous breakdown.

The scene of arrival to the respite centre doesn't bode well:
"I wanted to appreciate the beauty of the scene but all I felt was discomfort. I turned back towards the front door and shuddered. As I crossed the threshold of the great manor house, a sense of foreboding came over me.
I should never have entered that property."

Even before we are introduced to Sophie, there is a disquieting prologue.
The book starts as something belonging to a horror or ghost story. An unknown woman is running through the dark woods during the storm. Who or what is she trying to escape? What is she sorry for?

Despite working as a counsellor in a women's centre (and thus supposedly well-equipped to tackle issues of low confidence, relationship difficulties etc), Sophie is not very good at dealing with the other women at the respite. She is easily provoked and prone to aggressive outbursts, not the best recommendations for her job.

Instead of finding peace and harmony, Sophie stumbles upon a dead body on her run through the woods. Glenloch Hall turns out to be nothing as described in the ad. It's a sinister place, a nest of vipers, if you've ever seen one.

The group attending the respite week is a colourful eclectic bunch. There is only thing that they have in common - and that is they are all seriously messed up and have psychological problems, due to dysfunctional families, cheating husbands, being survivors of childhood abuse and other traumas.
It transpires that everybody at the retreat, including the organiser Olivia and Bobo the chef has a secret and skeletons in the closet.
The power of the past is affecting the present of all the characters.

You're left in between feeling sympathy for them, and also shaking your head in disbelief at how self-centred and selfish they are.
Despite going through depression and having gone through counselling myself, I couldn't relate to any of the women, they are just all unpleasant and bordering on caricature.

Even Sophie herself is not particularly likable. As it is book no.3 in the series, I presume her character and backstory are more clear, if you've read the previous two books, though this story reads as standalone pretty well.

Acutely observed, this book deftly blends the mystery and suspense with domestic drama themes.

Author Bio: Manchester-born Diane Ezzard writes emotionally charged psychological thrillers and mysteries about everyday people in seemingly ordinary circumstances until something goes badly wrong in their lives.
Before taking early retirement to concentrate on her writing, she worked as a HR manager, a counsellor, owned a cafe and managed a charity.
She now lives and writes in South East London close to her daughter and grandchildren.

You can find more about the author following her social media links:
dezzardwriter.com
www.facebook.com/dezzardwriter
and
https;//twitter.com/diane_ezzard

Disclosure: Many thanks to Rachel's Random Resources for providing me with a free ebook for the purposes of reviewing. All opinions are my own.

Photo diary: week 2, project 365

It's almost two weeks into the new year, and we're back to school.

We usually walk into town through the flood fields (but return home via town). This cat lives in one of the houses next to the fields, but is often wandering around. Just the other day we saw it walking proudly with a mouse dangling in its jaws.

In this photo it's lying in the dry grass and bramble, so camouflaged, that you can hardly spot it, like a Where's Wally character.

Monday was the last day of holidays (Inset day at school), and we popped into Greggs to have the consolation treat. Eddie has chosen a donut. I've asked for their famous vegan sausage roll, as I'm very curious to try it, but they said they don't sell it in this particular cafe. 

Morning walk to school through the fields, and a beautiful sunrise.

I haven't done a charity shops' crawl since before Christmas holidays, when I visit around 5-6 shops around the town centre. Found this gorgeous Spode plate for a fiver, reduced from £10. It's in pristine condition, and I love Spode. I have quite a collection of mismatched Spode plates, all from charity shops. 

On Wednesday Sash went to stay overnight at his respite centre. My husband was away, so it was just Eddie and I on our own at home. We spent the evening, watching Netflix, reading and stuffing ourselves with pizza.

In the morning we went to Bill's for breakfast, as Sash was arriving to school from his respite centre, and we didn't have to get him ready for school. Eddie loves the Bill's breakfast on the kids' menu, which is as big as a grown-up's portion. I had a dish of scrambled eggs with smoked salmon, and very nice it was too.

On Friday I met up with a friend for a quick coffee in the morning. We went to the UE Roasters cafe, as their coffee is one of the best in town, and their banana bread is to die for.

I love the display of the vintage books on the window sill. Maybe I should come on my own to have a coffee and read Voltaire's biography. 

I had to get something from the summerhouse today, and on the way through the garden spotted that the hellebore started to flower. It always comes very early in the year, and has such an intense deep purple colour.

An InLinkz Link-up