Join Rusty Rivets Twitter Party on 16 March

- Eddie, we are going to have a Twitter party with your friends!
- Mummy, you are amazing!

Save the date for the forthcoming Rusty Rivets Twitter party - on 16 March, from 4.30pm to 6pm @UKMumsTV will be running a Rusty Rivets Twitter party, and you're cordially invited to join in.
During the party there will be online spot competitions and more fun and games to take part in, so make sure your laptop or gadgety thing is ready to join in.
The hashtag to follow is #RustyRivetsUK

We will be there, taking part along the other bloggers-hosts. It is always very chaotic, but great fun.

I can't wait to show Eddie the big parcel which was delivered this morning, with all the activity packs (four of them), Rusty Rivets invitations and goodie bags.

It takes a lot of organising and planning, but my son Eddie and I enjoy creative challenges.

This party is celebrating the brand new Rusty Rivets episodes on Nick Jr.
Visit nickjr.co.uk for more fun Rusty Rivets activities and games.

Disclosure: We received a parcel of Rusty Rivets goodies to host a party.

February Degustabox

"Mummy, I like it when Degustabox arrives, there are always treats for me in there..."

We are always looking forward to our Degustabox delivery, which 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.
For example, after sampling Little's Vanilla-flavoured coffee in the previous food box, I am now on the 3rd jar of this lovely instant coffee. I liked it so much that I drink it every day now.

Each time the box arrives, it's a total surprise, as you don't know what you might find there. 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 February Degustabox? Let's have a peek.

There were no prizes for guessing which products would be snatched first. Sweeties, of course. There were two bags of candy - Bebeto Cheese Cake jelly gum and Candy Crush soft candy.

Candy Crush was greeted with great enthusiasm, and I imagine it will win Candy Crush fans all over the world.
Bebeto Cheese Cake gums were cute little slices of cake. I tried one piece and wasn't very enthusiastic about it, the rest was polished by my family.

It so happened that I was invited for coffee by a friend who lives down the road. It was bucketing outside, and I didn't fancy running into town to grab a little something to take with me. These Maui & Sons Dark Chocolate Coated Banana Chips were very handy. My friend opened the bag, and I have sampled a piece or two. These banana chips are cooked in coconut oil and coated with Belgian chocolate for a satisfying crunch.

Willy Chase's Fit Popcorn is produced and supplied fresh from a farm in Herefordshire. They come in grown-up flavours with real pedigree. Free from GM and gluten, this low cal popcorn (at only 94kcal per serving) is almost guilt-free too. we received an Apple Cider Vinegar flavoured popcorn.

New York Delhi's Americanos are top quality Guatemalan coffee beans, roasted and ready to eat, covered in dark chocolate. They have a rich and intense taste. A lovely perk-me up snack for a later afternoon, or post-lunch slumber. They would also make a great topping for grown-up brownies.

I don't often buy chewing gum or mints, but they are handy to carry with you, especially if you had a snack in a cafe and would like to refresh the palate. Sweetened with 100% xylitol, Peppersmith mints and gum keep the mouth fresh and healthy all day long, with no sugar or aspartame.

Heinz  No Added Sugar Beanz have been launched earlier this year; they are naturally high in protein and fibre and low in fat, gluten free and vegetarian friendly. They also contribute to one of five a day.
Another plus - No Added Sugar Beanz is produced with 25% less salt than standard Heinz Beanz.

Last year I have tried one of Kabuto products, and wasn't very impressed with it. That's why I was a bit wary trying another product from the same range. But I was proved wrong.
Kabuto rice noodles/Vegetable Laksa are a flavourful noodle pot, with a good balance of heat.
This time I really enjoyed Kabuto rice noodles, with coconut, chilli, peppers and sweetcorn.
These are gluten free noodles, at 274kcal per pot.

Coldpress Berry Beets juice is packed with natural goodness (apple, raspberry, beetroot, pear, lemon).
This is a delicous way of getting one of 5 a day. Both my husband and I found very tasty.
Calorie count: 65kcal per 150ml serve.

And more drinks to discover:

I have first discovered Just Bee Honey Water as a brand on Twitter, when they were running a competition. I didn't win, but I was curious to try it, and bought one of the cartons in Waitrose. It is a lovely honey-flavoured refreshing spring water drink. It contains no refined sugar, nothing artificial and is less than 50kcal per carton.
What's even better, it is created by a family of British beekeepers, and 10% of profits are donated to help Save the Bees.

Blossom Hill is a fresh and fruity twist on wine. With light bubbles, it comes in natural fruit flavours. We received a bottle of Elderflower, a classic flavour reminiscent of English summers.

Double Dutch is a new range of premium low calorie soft drinks. Combining unusual flavours, these drinks have been specifically designed to enhance the taste of higher quality spirits.
made with 100% natural ingredients, they contain no artificial flavours, colouring or preservatives.
Each bottle contains 66kcal, and has 30% less sugar than a regular soft drink mixer.

Koko Dairy Free Original is a fresh tasting milk alternative made from freshly pressed coconut milk. It is lovely with cereals or blended in smoothies. You can also use it in tea or coffee, though for me it doesn't quite improve the taste of coffee. At only 27kcal per 100ml it is lighter than skimmed milk.
You can use it as an ingredient in making pancakes or blini, see my recipe for coconut milk blini.

Willy's Apple Cider Vinegar with The Mother was a free gift sample. It is crafted from apples picked in 300-year-old apple orchards. It offers health benefits from weight loss to immune system support.

Disclosure: We receive Degustabox every month for the purposes of testing and reviewing. All opinions are our own.

Regrowing lettuce from a stem: is it worth it?

I often grow spring onions from onion bulbs on the kitchen window sill. When I was a kid, seeing these bright green spikes on the window, in the middle of winter, when everything outside was buried under a thick layer of snow, seemed like a mini miracle.
During the recent lettuce-gate, when lettuces and courgettes seemed to be in short supply in many supermarkets, I thought: why don't I try to re-grow lettuce from the stem, as I have seen online before. My point of reference was a blog post How to regrow romaine lettuce on Getty Stewart's blog.
It will be an interesting experiment. Just how difficult might it be and is it really worth it?

I go through phases, of when I crave fresh lettuce, and will happily eat it for lunch every day for a couple of weeks, then I lose any enthusiasm for it until the next time I fancy it again. Munching trough a small head of lettuce every day, I had plenty of material to play with, both cos and gem lettuce varieties.

The instructions seem to be pretty simple:
Take a fresh lettuce (cos, romaine or gem), and cut off the bottom part/stem at about 3-4cm high.
Place the cut off part into a shallow dish or cup, filled with water. Water must reach at about half way up the stem.
Place the dishes on the window sill, where there will be a bit of sunlight.
You will need to change water every couple of days.
In the first couple of days nothing is happening, but then you will notice new tiny shoots appearing in the middle of the stem.
Wait for about two weeks for some leaves to develop "properly". Don't expect a lot of salad.

This is the result of re-growing lettuce for 15 days or so. I have waited for another week to see if it is going to grow more, but the difference was minimal.
Enough to add to a bowl of salad with lots of other ingredients, or in a sandwich, though not for a whole family.
It was a fun experiment, and you might like to do it with children. This is also a lesson on patience.

Is it worth it? perhaps not, though you get some food for nothing.

Have you tried re-growing lettuce from a stem?

Heinz No Added Sugar Beanz

"Heinz beans made their UK debut in 1886. Little wonder that, 130 years later, its baked beans remain the nation's favourite.
The recipe has evolved over time (pork was dropped during WWII), but Heinz still sells 1.5 tins of beans a day in the UK, and domninates 65-70% of the British market" (The Guardian, 27 April 2016)

That's a whole sea of beans. Difficult to imagine such a huge number of tins. Baked beans is not a food I was familiar with, growing up as a child in the Soviet Union. I most likely first tried it in my 20s, when I arrived to the UK as a student. One of the girls with whom I shared the house, used to have beans on toast for dinner almost daily.
I can't say I often buy them, but I do enjoy beans as part of the full English breakfast. I sometimes fancy a little bit of beans, and would have them for lunch with a side dish of roast tomatoes and mushrooms. Add sausages or a bacon rasher, and it's a proper feast.

Full English breakfast, minus bacon and fried bread

This January Heinz has launched No Added Sugar Beanz, a brand new variety of beans, which is available in supermarkets from February.

The new variety will sit alongside standard Heinz Beanz.

"With 34% of the UK households cutting back on eating sugary foods too often and, of those, 92% trying to actively reduce the amount of sugar in the foods they buy, it is clear that Brits are becoming increasingly concerned with overall sugar consumption".
The new recipe from Heinz will replace the 50% Less Sugar variety.

The amount of hidden sugar in many products is quite scary. As a consumer I am all in favour of famous brands working on the issue and introducing products with less or no sugar.

Heinz Beanz are naturally high in protein and fibre and low in fat, gluten free and vegetarian friendly. They also contribute to one of five a day.
Another plus - No Added Sugar Beanz is produced with 25% less salt than standard Heinz Beanz.

Francesca Mattiussi from Heinz Beans comments: "With health concerns high in consumers' minds, we are delighted to launch a No Added Sugar variety to meet the needs of families across the country that are looking for even lower sugar options. We have dedicated years of expertise to carefully crafting the new and delicious Heinz No Added Sugar Beanz without compromising on the much loved great taste of Heinz".

Where does the sweet note in No Added Sugar beans come from? These beans are naturally sweetened with stevia plant extracts.

Heinz No Added Sugar Beanz are available in different sizes, cans, multipacks and snap pots.

I received several tins of new beans to try. As I'm not a big expert on baked beans, I shared tins with my friends and asked them to give me feedback, which was all very positive.

I probably should have done a blind test, and compared the new variety with the original one, but it does taste very similar.

How often do you eat baked beans?

Disclosure: I received several tins of No Added Sugar Beanz for the purposes of testing and reviewing. All opinions are our own.

Cooking with kids: Fish pie

Sainsbury's Active Kids promotion is back, and many parents like me, collect the vouchers for our kids' schools. The more Active Kids vouchers you collect, the more your school will benefit, as they will be able to exchange the vouchers for Active Kids equipment and experiences.
Even if your children are no longer in nursery or school you could check out who's collecting near you at Sainsburys.co.uk/ActiveKids.
Sainsbury's Active Kids recently released an "Eat well. Move well. Live well" report. It delved into the current issues surrounding young people's attitudes to their nutrition, health and fitness.

Image credits: Sainsbury's Active Kids

The report showed some thought-provoking stats about the health and nutrition beliefs of children.
- Over one fifth refer to social media, YouTube stars and bloggers to find information on healthy eating.
- 41% of kids believe they should "probably do more" when it comes to exercise
- 43% of kids think that cutting out a food group will lead to a healthy lifestyle.
There is considerable evidence that the UK's children are living increasingly unhealthy lifestyles, for a number of reasons, including the rise of social media, the increased availability of cheap fast food and the move away from home cooking.
Sainsbury's Active Kids programme is now in its 13th year. Every year it donates millions of pounds worth of equipment and experiences to UK schools, nurseries and clubs.
Both of my sons' schools have boxes in the offices, and encourage parents to collect the vouchers.

What needs to be done to encourage our children to live healthier lives? Is it a school's role or parents' responsibility? Also it it up to a school to police what children are eating?
I regularly read discussions on Mumsnet about how confusing and contradictory the policing of what children eat at school is. Some of the schools implement stupid regulations on what is allowed in the lunchboxes, confiscating yogurts or homemade flapjacks, at the same time offering calorie and sugar-laden desserts to children who eat school lunches.

My children's schools are quite laid-back about what comes in the lunch box.
Looking at Eddie's school menu (he eats school lunches four times a week, except on Wednesday when he takes a lunch box, as he doesn't like roast meat), it is quite varied and includes a good selection of meals. However, almost every dessert (or pudding, as my son calls it) is pretty sweet - iced buns with fruit, strawberry jelly with peaches, sticky toffee sponge with cream, iced cream with fruit, chocolate and pear brownie, fruit salad waffle and chocolate sauce, apple turnover with custard etc.
A treat once in a while is absolutely fine, but I would have liked them to include more fresh fruit as a dessert, or a fruit salad without cream or sauce.

I know it is easier to say we should all have a balanced diet, than actually follow your own advice. My children are both fussy eaters.
Teaching children to cook is one way of encouraging them to eat healthier.

Both of my sons show interest in cooking, though they prefer to help me with cakes and bakes, and understandably so. Decorating a cake is much more fun than cooking steamed broccoli.
Sasha loves to watch while I'm chopping and mixing. Eddie loves to help with beating the cake batter.
I should be more relaxed about them getting it wrong, or making a big mess, otherwise how will they learn.

Last week, I asked Eddie to help me to make individual fish pies. He was in charge of mashed potato topping, and he was very enthusiastic about it.

Individual fish pies (serves 3-4, depending on the size of ramekins)
Ingredients:
2 medium to big potatoes
4 heaped tbsp Greek style yogurt
a squeeze of lemon juice
1tbsp olive oil
350g fish pie mix (salmon, haddock, etc)
2tbsp chopped fresh parsley
2tbsp chopped fresh spring onions
a handful of sweetcorn, defrosted
a handful of peas, defrosted

Make the potato mash first by boiling the peeled and chopped potatoes in a medium pan of boiling water for about 15 minutes until tender. Drain the water, leaving a little bit in a pan. Mash the potatoes, allow to cool, then stir in the yogurt and lemon juice.
In a frying pan, give fish mix a quick fry for a couple of minutes, turning over. Add the chopped herbs, sweetcorn and peas, and put into the slightly oiled individual deep ramekins. Top up with the mashed potatoes, and put the ramekins in the oven preheated to 180C for 20 minutes.
Serve hot, with some steamed greens, like tenderstem broccoli or green beans.

This is a healthier version of the fish pie. We didn't use butter or whole milk in the mash, adding the low calorie Greek style yogurt instead. Usually I would top up the fish pie with grated cheese, but we skipped it this time. It was a lovely fish pie nevertheless, but I think next time we'll still add a bit of grated cheese.
Eddie liked being in charge of the mash, and pronounced it delicious (even if it was quite lumpy).

Disclosure: I received a Sainsbury's voucher for the purposes of cooking a healthier meal with my kids. All opinions are our own.

Our #PJMasksToys party

Meet Catboy, the leader of the PJ Masks gang. He has amazing super powers, and is ready to rescue you...
Eddie was very excited to have an opportunity to host a #PJMasksToys Twitter party.
If you were with us on Twitter on Wednesday, you might have seen our party in action.

Before the party we received a big box with PJ Masks-themed goodies, which Eddie was very eager to explore. I had to stop him from unwrapping. Imagine his impatience, he couldn't wait for the party to begin.
Our pack included everything for a successful party at home, including toys, snacks and party bags.

The PJ Masks toys and costumes range was launched at the start of February. It includes a variety of role play, plastic and plush toys. The range is going to be expanded later this year.

One of the first boxes we opened was a PJ Masks costume set (Catboy). The costume is well packaged, though a child would need adult help to remove all the packaging.

It was just the right size for Eddie. He loved it so much, he wanted to wear it to school for the World Book Day.

As you can see, the set consists of a one-piece full body suit with fasteners at the back and a mask. The outfit is made of soft fabric, for the ease of movement. I appreciated that there were no padded bits on it, as we have a couple of superhero costumes with padded chests, and they're not comfortable to wear.

The costume is bright in colour, and is big enough to wear a cotton vest and undies under it. The costume fasteners are Velcro, which allows a child to get in and out of the outfit independently.

There are two other costumes in the range - Owlette and Gekko. Judging from the photos posted during the Twitter party, all children loved wearing them. Each costume costs £24.99.

If you don't want to buy a costume, there are free character masks and colouring sheets to download. The masks are pretty easy to make.
In fact this was our first party activity. We received printed template cards, ribbons and scissors. The ribbons even matched the colour of the masks.

I did help a bit after hearing "I'm not very good at making masks".

The next activity was to Match the item with the character game. There were three plush toys of Catboy, Gekko and Owlette, a drawstring bag including character bio sheers to help with the answers, some pictures of random objects and items as well as coloured paper rings for the game.
Each child took turns picking a picture out of the bag and decided which PJ Masks character it suited the best.

The game finished, I have suggested to do a bit of colouring. I made a mistake though, showing the cake for the party. The cake was calling them.

My original plan was to bake my own cake and decorate it. But as the previous day happened to be my birthday, when I spent a few hours attending a school concert rehearsal, I had no energy to do any baking. I got a plain vanilla cake from Waitrose, already covered with the white icing, and decorated it with the blue sugar paste and icing pens.
It was pronounced delicious.

Children were happy to explore the new PJ Masks toys. We had three different PJ Masks vehicles. Each comes with a mini-figure.
The vehicles easily zoom around the room, taking their drivers "into the night to save the day".
You will find Catboy and his Cat-Car, Gekko and his Gekko-Mobile and Owlette with her Owl Glider.
The figures can be swapped around, and the cars can fit in the whole gang.

The vehicle and figure sets costs £13.99.
There is also a range of mini-collectibles, perfect for pocket money. They come in blind bags. You can collect 12 characters, including a super rare Connor figure.

Catboy was our favourite.

A memory game is always a fun activity. If you want to play the same game with your children, the rules are:
- each child is to stand up in turn with their mask on and say "If I was a PJ Masks Hero I would be able to..." The line is then followed by a superpower. Then the next child stands up and repeats the line, the previously named power and adds another power. If the child is unable to remember all the mentioned powers in correct order, they are out.
Just like the "I went to the shops and bought.." game, the winner is whoever the last one standing.

No party is complete without a game of Pass the parcel and party bags.
We all enjoyed the party, loved the toys and stuffed ourselves with the cake.

Find out more about PJ Masks and meet the heroes at PJ Masks and FlairPLC.

Many thanks to Evolution PR for sending us the PJ Masks goodies!

Spring beauty giveaway (c/d 22 March 2017)

The spring is here finally. Yesterday the day was gloriously sunny, with a fresh breeze. The plum blossom in town is trembling in the wind, and there are more and more flowers around - crocuses, daffodils, snowdrops. This is one of my most favourite times of the year, when the first spring flowers appear.
Our garden looks like a beautiful floral tapestry, with thousands of snowdrops and hundreds of crocuses, they seem to reproduce in geometric progression, and every spring there are more and more of them.

After the harsher winter weather, I feel like having a spring makeover, and trying new beauty products.
It was my birthday earlier this week, and I have treated myself to a few products from the Korean cosmetics' ranges which appeared in Boots.

To cheer up myself - I don't like birthdays - I also wanted to offer a small selection of beauty products as a giveaway prize for my blog readers.

One lucky winner will receive:
- Clinique Matte Crimson lipstick
- Lancome La Vie est Belle l'eu de parfum (4ml)
- No.7 Limited edition nail colour (Nude)
- Percy Reed Wonder Balm for hair (30ml)
- and a powder brush.

You could find a Lancome La Vie est Belle in the recent BAFTA goodie bag. It is sweet, warm and fruity.
Please note that none of the goodies on offer come in a box, the perfume was one of the products in a gift box with the other things I ordered recently, the lipstick was a promotional gift with the set I bought for Christmas.

To be in with a chance of winning, please enter using a Rafflecopter form.
The only mandatory step is answering a question - What are your must have beauty products?

T&Cs:
The giveaway is open to the UK residents only.
Once the Rafflecopter picks the winner, I will contact them regarding address details, if they do not reply within 28 day, the prize will be allocated to another person.
Please don't forget to leave a comment, as it is the only mandatory step, I will make sure the winner selected by Rafflecopter has complied with T&Cs.
I will post the prize to the winner by signed for mail.
The giveaway will close on 22 March 2017 (at midnight) To be in with a chance of winning, please enter using a Rafflecopter form. The only mandatory step is answering a question - What do you grow in your garden/greenhouse, on your balcony, patio? If you don't, what would you like to grow given a chance? Also if you win, would you like some seeds of bronze fennel (a must for all fish dishes) and borage (edible flower, lovely in Pimms or gin cocktails). Just say Yes next to your answer. I will gladly share those with you, as both packets I have bought have 100 seeds. T&Cs: The giveaway is open to the UK residents only. Once the Rafflecopter picks the winner, I will contact them regarding address details, if they do not reply within 28 day, the prize will be allocated to another person. Please don't forget to leave a comment, as it is the only mandatory step, I will make sure the winner selected by Rafflecopter has complied with T&Cs. The giveaway will close on 12 March 2017 (at midnight)

Good luck! a Rafflecopter giveaway