Make Thai Food at Home With Thai Taste*

As you may well have noticed from my blog or my Instagram account, I love food! I love trying foods from around the world and there are very few things that I won’t try out. When I was asked if I wanted to try and create some Thai recipes at home with authentic brand Thai Taste, I jumped at the opportunity to try out something new. Thai Taste has partnered with Thai restaurateur Seb Holmes to inspire people to create restaurant-quality Thai food at home. It is not often that I cook Thai food so I was excited to give it a go.

Seb has devised four recipes that allow consumers to maximise the creative potential of the Thai Taste range. All of the Thai Taste products are authentically Thai and can be found in the majority of supermarkets in the UK. The recipes that have been devised include Crab & Prawn Vermicelli Noodle Salad, Coconut Braised Pigs’ Cheeks with Lemongrass, Galangal and Kaffir Lime, Mango Sticky Rice and Pumpkin, Galangal and Coconut Soup. I was kindly sent the ingredients to create the Crab and Prawn Vermicelli Noodle Salad and I have outlined the recipe below, credit to Thai Taste.

Crab & Prawn Vermicelli Noodle Salad 
Serves: 2 (Gluten-free)
Preparation: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 10 minutes

Ingredients:
6 fresh tiger prawns, de-veined and sliced lengthways in half
50g fresh brown crab meat (white meat or a mixture is also delicious)
100g Thai Taste vermicelli noodles, blanched in boiling water for 10 minutes and then refreshed under cold water
6 cloves garlic, peeled
1 tablespoon coriander root (leave out if you can’t find it)
1 tablespoon Thai Taste galangal
1 tablespoon Thai Taste turmeric paste
200ml, Thai Taste coconut milk
10g coriander, picked and washed
1 tsp Thai Taste Red Chilli paste
10g chives, chopped into 1cm pieces
10g mint, leaves torn slightly
20g peeled Thai shallots, sliced (any sweet shallot will be nice)
2 spring onion, cleaned and finely shredded
1 lime, chopped into cheeks
1 teaspoon coarse sea salt
1 tablespoon Thai Taste fish sauce
1 teaspoon Thai Taste palm sugar
2 tablespoons vegetable oil

Method:
1. Mix the garlic, galangal, turmeric and red chilli paste together
2. In a large pan or wok heat the vegetable oil on a medium to high heat and then fry this paste out, moving constantly to avoid it sticking to the pan. When the paste begins to turn golden brown in colour add the prawns and brown crab meat and continue to fry for a further 2-3 minutes until they are completely pink and hot throughout.
3. At this stage add the fish sauce and the palm sugar and fry for a further 30 seconds to caramelise the sugar, you will notice that the paste begins to darken at this stage. Next add the coconut milk, blanched noodles, shallots, mint, coriander and chives and delicately toss everything together in the pan allowing the noodles, salad and prawns to all mix and be coated by the coconut sauce.
4. Serve the noodles straight away in bowls with spoons and chop sticks and a cheek of lime, it’s also great with a good helping of Thai Taste sweet chilli sauce. This recipe makes enough for a hearty lunch, however this is an awesome dish to serve at dinner too, double the recipe if you want a bigger feed.

This dish was absolutely delicious and went down a treat. The only thing I didn’t have was coriander leaves but the dish worked well without them. Not only was this so simple to create, the food was amazing and tasted very authentic. Now that I have the store cupboard staples at home I can recreate this dish whenever I like.

If you like the look of this recipe, head over to Thai Taste to find out more.

*I received some of these items free of charge in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own and I was not influenced in any way.

Perfect Summer Dessert With Alpro’s NEW Ice Cream!*

I love a dessert on a hot summers day, but I want something a bit more natural that still tastes amazing. When I heard about the new Alpro Ice Cream, I couldn’t wait to get my hands on them and I headed to my local supermarket to pick them up in every flavour. The new flavours include Hazelnut-Chocolate, Coconut and Vanilla and I can’t even tell you which one is my favourite as they are all absolutely delicious. Alpro’s plant based ice cream contains 30% less sugars that the market reference in ice cream. They are 100% plant based too and its great to know you can enjoy a delicious dessert without any of the guilt.

First I tried the soya based vanilla ice cream. This uses real vanilla and is very sweet and tastes very indulgent. It’s a fantastic alternative to dairy ice cream. It’s an off-white colour with little specks of vanilla running through it. the vanilla flavour is rich but not too sickly. I actually preferred this to my usual brand. I balanced the sweetness of the dish by adding some pistachios to the ice cream. So tasty!

Secondly is the Coconut ice cream. The texture was so creamy but not heavy. It was a real delight to eat! It tasted almost exotic in a way. I think if you served this to someone and didn’t tell them that it was dairy free, they really wouldn’t be able to tell! It tasted just as delicious as any other coconut flavoured ice cream product I have tried in the past.

Finally is the Hazelnut-Chocolate flavour. This ice cream blends flavours of intense chocolate with a very subtle hint of nuttiness due to the hazelnuts. The flavours are perfectly balanced for a delicious experience. I completely lost myself when eating this, I simply did not want my bowl to be emptied! What I love about it is that it isn’t icy or watery, it’s just the perfect consistency. Just to make the experience even more indulgent, I topped the ice cream with chocolate covered ginger and it was gorgeous!

Overall, I am really impressed with the new range of Alpro Ice Creams which retail at around £3.50, and definitely recommend that you try them out. Find Alpro’s new range of Ice Creams in your local supermarket. For more information, head over to their Website or Facebook. Will you be trying one of these flavours out?

*I received these items free of charge in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own and I was not influenced in any way.

Luxury Fairtrade and Organic Chocolate from Chocolate and Love*

The one thing I enjoy more than any other sweet treat is chocolate. I like all different kinds of chocolate so when I was offered the chance to review a brand I’d never heard of before, Chocolate and Love, I said of course! How could I resist?

Chocolate and Love is a luxury Fairtrade, organic chocolate brand set up by husband and wife team Richard and Brigitte O’Conner. The collection includes seven different flavours so you can indulge every day of the week! The flavours include Coffee, Creamy Dark, Rich Dark, Mint, Orange, Panama and the popular Sea Salt and Caramel. Ingredients include cacao sourced directly from Peru, The Dominican Republic and Panama, cane sugar from Paraguay and Costa Rica, and bourbon vanilla from Madagascar.

I received four of the seven flavours in Sea Salt and Caramel, Panama, Orange and Rich Dark. Each bar has more cocoa and less sugar than most other bars on the market and has the added benefit of being gluten free, GMO free and contain no additives. Apart from the Creamy Dark and Sea Salt variants, the rest of the bars are also dairy free making them ideal for vegans.

Firstly I tried the Panama flavour, with single sourced cocoa from Panama (80%). This rich high percentage dark chocolate is very rich and incredibly smooth. I was surprised that this was not at all bitter considering the high cocoa content and very easy to consume.

The second bar, Sea Salt and Caramel was my absolute favourite of the lot. I love salted caramel and find that a lot of bars in supermarkets are either too salty or you cannot taste the salt at all. The caramel and salt in this bar was perfectly balanced and the combination between the sweet and the salt is absolutely divine. So far the company has won a staggering 15 awards for the range so far, this bar in particular has won Gold 1-star award in Great Taste Awards 2014, 2015 and 2016.

The third bar I tried was the Rich Dark flavour. This bar contains cocoa from Peru and The Dominican Republic (71%). It also contains refreshing hints of red berries naturally coming through the cocoa. I love dark chocolate and this one is delicious and something I would definitely reach for over other brands. The chocolatey finishing notes are welcoming and this does not leave a bitter aftertaste in my mouth.

Finally I tried the Orange which really did not disappoint. Chocolate and orange is a delicious combination and the zesty flavour comes from natural cold pressed oil from real oranges. The flavours in this bar are well balanced and complement each other beautifully. I also thought I would mention the packaging which really did catch my eye. The designs are bespoke and hand painted, I think they are lovely and would make the perfect gift.

Chocolate and Love is available to buy in Whole Foods Market, Planet Organic and Amazon. The seven flavours will be launching in Sainsburys online and in store from the end of February.  Each 100g bar retails at £3.00. For more information head over to the Chocolate and Love website.

*I received these items free of charge in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own and I was not influenced in any way.

Save a Life - (C)HECK Sausage Cassoulet Recipe*

Being on slimming world it’s hard to find a decent sausage that is not only low in syns but doesn’t taste of  cardboard. I absolutely love the Chicken Italia HECK sausages at only 0.5 ‘syns’, they are super tasty. When I was asked to review some of these sausages I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to share my sausage cassoulet recipe with you using these sausages and the great thing is I get to share this with you for a good cause.

With Movember in full swing, food company HECK have announced they will be renaming their brand as CHECK for the month to join the fight for men’s health. HECK are hoping to raise £25000 for Movember Foundation through sales and hope to encourage more men to take action when it comes to their healthy and ensure they check themselves for signs of testicular cancer.

This campaign has come about due to the incident earlier this year when Jamie Keeble, co-founder and eldest son of the family behind HECK found a cancerous lump in one of his testicles. Thankfully he caught the cancer early but this is not the case for a lot of men who aren’t aware that testicular cancer is more common in younger than older men. Unfortunately too many men feel something unusual but do not head to their GP for a second opinion. HECK want to make it easier for them to say when they feel something isn’t quite right. The packs of CHECK sausages will hopefully start some conversations which will raise awareness, and funds and maybe even save some lives.

I love a sausage cassoulet and using this Chicken Italia sausages really enhanced the flavour of this meal. Each pack contains 10 sausages and they are gluten free. Keep reading to find out how I made this dish.

Ingredients: (serves 2)
6 Chicken Italia CHECK Sausages
1 tin of baked beans
250ml Chicken Stock
1 Onion
1 Carrot

1 Celery Stalk
Herbes De Provence
Potatoes

Method:
The first thing I tend to do is to peel and chop my potatoes and get them roasting in the actifry as they take 45 minutes and I can get on with the rest of the meal whilst they are cooking. I spray my potatoes with a bit of frylight before popping them into my machine so they crisp up nicely. You can also add oil, however if you are on Slimming World this will need to be synned. You can of course serve this cassoulet with mash, rice or simply have it on its own – it’s completely up to you. Try serving it with sweet potato mash for a delicious alternative.

Chop your onion, celery and carrot and pop these into a saucepan. I spray a little bit of frylight on them to stop them sticking and fry off until everything starts to go soft. When this happens, add your chicken stock, baked beans and one teaspoon of Herbes De Provence. Let this simmer away on a low heat so the vegetables can continue to soften.

Meanwhile cook your sausages as per the instructions on the packaging. I grill mine as they only take 12-14 minutes, just remember to turn throughout. When they are nearly cooked, add your baked bean and vegetable mixture to a baking dish and let this cook for another 5 minutes. Pop your roasties on a plate then add the sausages with their sauce for a delicious hot meal. If you’re on Slimming World this is only 1.5 syns a serving!

Men – don’t forget to CHECK your testicles. If I can write and talk about it on my Lifestyle blog then you can certainly talk about it with your GP. More than eight out of 10 men (82%) find it embarrassing to discuss their testicles with a parent or GP. It’s extremely important to check and seek medical help right away if you notice something unusual.

So if like me, you can’t grow a moustache for Movember – pick up a pack of CHECK sausages and spread the word to your brothers, partners, uncles and all the men in your life. Do your bit this month to combat testicular cancer. CHECK sausages are available throughout November and will cost £2.99 a pack and 5% from each pack will go to the Movember foundation.

*I received these sausages free of charge in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own and I was not influenced in any way.

*I received these sausages free of charge in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own and I was not influenced in any way.

Jim Jams Chocolate Spreads*

I love chocolate spread, I eat it with pancakes, on toast, on the spoon, drizzled on ice cream and any way I see fit. When I received these delicious spreads from Jim Jams I stuck a spoon in and dug in straight away. Jim Jams are the award winning creators of a range of reduced sugar jams and chocolate spreads. Mother Kellie Bath wanted something healthier for her children so, with husband Kevin, launched a range of healthier spreads. I received the Milk Chocolate Spread and the Hazelnut Chocolate Spread. 

The Hazelnut spread has 83% less sugar than standard chocolate spreads. This has even won a Great Taste Award and I can see why – it’s super tasty. On first impressions this tastes just as good as other chocolate spreads I have tried and you’d never know there was less sugar in them. If anything these are less sickly and you can taste the flavours a lot more. I decided to try both spreads on toast and this spreads like a dream and has a perfectly smooth consistency. 

The Milk Chocolate spread also contains less sugar than other brands. On average these jars contain around 494kcal per 100g with the rival brands coming in at approximately 550kcal. These spreads come in a 350g jar and as soon as I opened the lid I could smell the rich chocolatey flavour. Once opened you can store this in the cupboard for 3 months, although I don’t think it will last that long before I eat it all! I can’t wait to try this on porridge and between layers of pancakes.

Other varieties of Jim Jams include Raspberry Jam, Orange Marmalade, Strawberry Jam and Blackcurrant Jam, all with reduced sugar. If these are as nice as the chocolate spreads then I will definitely be giving them a go. Pick up your jar of Jim Jams in Tesco, Ocado or Holland and Barrett. 

*I received these products free of charge in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own and I was not influenced in any way. Please see my disclaimer for more information.

Planete Chocolat Handmade Truffle Review*

I am a huge fan of chocolate, what girl isn’t? I love luxurious rich tasting chocolates. I received a delicious box of Handmade Belgian Chocolate Truffles from Planete Chocolat and this was exactly what I needed and craved whilst settling in to watch a film when relaxing in the evening. 

The box arrived beautifully packaged. It was wrapped in thick bubble wrap casing to fully protect the parcel and I was astonished when I opened the box to see a gorgeous suede bag with a greetings card in the front. You can have any message you like customised in the card so it makes a lovely gift.

The assortment of 21 truffles comes beautifully presented in a box specially made for them and costs just €44.90. This box could be the perfect gift for someone you love. The truffles follow the traditional recipe based on a mix of cream, vanilla and cocoa powder with the addition of some intense flavours such as coconut and pistachio ganache. You can even add an extra layer of truffles for €22.45 if you are feeling even more generous.

Planete Chocolat offers the best quality Belgian chocolate possible and all of their products are made from 100% pure cocoa butter. They offer free delivery within 24hrs to Belgium, France, the UK, the Netherlands, Germany, Luxembourg, Denmark and Monaco. My parcel arrived promptly and I received text updates from the courier when it was on its way.

My favourite truffles were the coconut and white chocolate ones. They were so rich and creamy with the perfect coating of coconut goodness around the outside, I have never tasted a truffle so divine in my entire life. All of them were delicious in their own way. The pistachio truffle was rolled in crushed pistachio flakes and tasted different to any truffle I have tasted before. The unique flavours are what made these really special.

Head over to Planete Chocolat to purchase the box I received and browse many of the other options available. They made my night all the more special!

*I received these chocolates free of charge in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own and I was not influenced in any way.

Just Lobsters Norwich - Review*

A couple of weeks ago I was invited to Just Lobsters in Norwich for a complementary meal via their twitter account. I brought James along with me as a paying customer. The restaurant is on Tombland in Norwich and is clearly visible by its bright red Samson and Hercules statues either side of the door. They even use Lobster font for the boards outside! The building previously used to be a nightclub that my parents remember as ‘Ritzy’s’ amongst other things and was built around 1656. Beneath the site there is said to be 5000 victims of the plague buried. Just Lobsters is the newest business to take hold of this building and I couldn’t wait to try it out.

We arrived at 7pm and were promptly seated by a friendly member of staff. We were offered the choice of 2 tables which was nice so we picked the bigger one so we could fit more food on the table! I wouldn’t say the restaurant was jam packed but there was a steady flow of people coming and going from the tables. The restaurant has been designed and decorated with great care and attention to detail There are lots of ‘lobster red’ colours and lobster themed artwork hanging around the room. Our drink orders were taken. I went for a frozen lemonade which was served in a mason jar style glass and James went for cranberry juice. Shortly after the waitress took our food order.

Having never had lobster before I was excited to try it. The menu is packed with tasty options ranging from just plain lobster to lobster rolls, steak and burgers. There is something for everyone, even those who aren’t too keen on the thought of lobster! Just before our main course were served the waitress asked if we wanted to wear a lobster bib. I love this little touch! I was happy to protect my clothing from any mess regardless of how silly I looked and besides, everyone else in the restaurant was wearing one.

The food arrived very quickly which was good as we were both hungry and could smell the delicious food cooking in the kitchen behind us. James went for the Surf and Turf – Just Lobster Style. This consisted of half a lobster and a juicy 8oz sirloin steak served with fries, salad and coleslaw. I must say it looked delicious and very filling. This is priced at £25 which I think is very reasonable. He said it was really nice and cooked to perfection.

I went for a dish called Lobsters & Crab Au Gratin. This was half a lobster stuffed with creamy crab claw meat and baked with breadcrumbs. This was served with chips and a corn on the cob. It was really delicious. Creamy is a good way to describe the filling and it all came served lovely and hot. The chips came in a silver bucket and were piping hot. Everything was really delicious. My only quibble was that as a complete newbie to the lobster thing I had no idea how to crack the claws or what you could or couldn’t eat. James just made it up as he went along and ate everything he could scrape out. I gave him my claw in the end too!

As we were paying the bill I briefly chatted to some of the chefs who were all very friendly and asked if we enjoyed the food. There was also a man walking around in a suit who I assume was the manager and he was chatting to some of the diners on the other tables. He told us that there is also a new bar section to the restaurant in another room serving cocktails. I had a quick peek in there and it seemed to be quite popular and somewhere I would like to visit again.

As previously mentioned, I was invited by the Just Lobsters Twitter account which isn’t actually run by the restaurant but a management company. This caused some confusion when it came to get the bill and an awkward moment of not wanting to tell them I was offered a free meal. I hate awkward situations like this and the manager had no idea I was coming. Despite all of this, it was all sorted in the end and as James was paying for his meal they even gave him a discount which I thought was nice. I think the fact they thought we were paying customers and not just there to review the food showed them in a truer light which was good. I didn’t receive special treatment to sway my review as they had no idea I was there for that reason.

Overall I had a really nice meal and James and I will definitely be going back. There are so many options on the menu that I want to try. What do you think of lobster?

*I received my meal free of charge in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own and I was not influenced in any way.

Love Chin Chin*

Have you ever heard of Chin Chin? Before I started to write this post I hadn’t heard of Chin Chin, now I wish I had heard about them sooner. Love Chin Chin is a West African sweet snack that has taken the UK by storm. Why the name ‘Chin Chin’ you ask? I’ve heard it’s because it's so delicious it makes your chin move up and down with excitement.

Love Chin Chin kindly sent me a pack of each flavour and I absolutely love them. The Love Chin Chin crunches like a biscuit, yet tastes like a cake. I am a great lover of anything sweet and these were really different to anything I have ever tried before. I absolutely love the fun and colourful packaging. Each flavour has its own unique design and it is clear from the packet which flavour you are picking up. The see-through window on the packet also gives you a sneak preview of the snack. I would definitely be drawn to this in the supermarket if I saw it on the shelf. The packets are the perfect size for eating yourself or sharing (if you absolutely have to share!). 

Chin Chin comes in four flavours, cinnamon, chilli, lemon and vanilla. My favourite of the four is definitely the cinnamon but they are all absolutely delicious. The cinnamon had a cinnamon bun scent when I opened the packet and they were divine. The lemon was like a crunchy lemon drizzle biscuit and probably my second favourite. The classic vanilla flavour also went down a treat with friends and family. This was the first one I tried and I loved the texture and flavours and how everything combined together to make such a yummy snack. The chilli was the most interesting one for me. I just wondered how it would taste, a chilli biscuit cake? I had nothing to worry about – it was absolutely delicious and had the perfect amount of spice just to give it that kick. These are the perfect little nibbles to have on the go in your handbag as well.

Love Chin Chin can be eaten as a snack on its own but it can also be used as a dessert topping or even crushed down for a delicious cheesecake base. I popped mine in the microwave for 5 seconds and served warm these feel like a really indulgent homemade treat. The innovative recipe means that these snacks are made from natural ingredients and are dairy free and even suitable for vegetarians.

Love Chin Chin is available in some Asda and Tesco stores, you can find the full supplier list over on their website. I vlogged my experience of trying Chin Chin for the first time and I was not disappointed, you can watch this video here.

Is this the sort of snack you would love to try?

*I received these items free of charge in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own and I was not influenced in any way.

Mars Bar Rice Crispy Cake Recipe

A couple of weeks ago I was looking for an easy sweet treat to make for my colleagues that didn’t need much preparation and I came across a recipe for these mars bar rice crispy cakes. With the perfect amount of gooeyness and crunch I couldn’t wait to knock up a batch of these and they literally took minutes to do.

Ingredients
8 mini mars bars
2 tbsps golden syrup
50g butter
Rice crispies
200g milk chocolate

Method
Combine the mars bars, golden syrup and butter in a pan and heat on low until melted. When you have a liquid consistency, stir in rice crispies until they are coated in the melted mars bar mixture. Once coated, press into a pan. Cover with 200g melted chocolate and pop in the fridge. Once cooled, slice into squares and enjoy!

These are so easy to make and take no time at all. They went down really well with my colleagues. I bought the mini mars bars from pound land so it’s a great value treat too and would be great for a bake sale.

Have you ever made these?