What an Easter! Poorly boys and poorly husband. We were struck down with the lurgy and that, combined with the weather, meant only one thing – staying in. Luckily I’d been sent the new Mike the Knight and Thomas DVDs to review just in time for when the bugs struck and my was I pleased. My 2 year old is Thomas obsessed and this DVD only served to strengthen his addiction. He loved it. We watched it once, we watched it twice, we watched it on a loop whilst drinking warm squash and sitting under blankets. Then when he was better he wanted to watch it some more. We’re rationing his exposure now.

The Mike the Knight DVD had a similarly hypnotic effect on my 4 year old. For the die hard Hit entertainment fans here’s a bit of info on both DVDs. Just so you know what you’re letting yourself in for if you enter this giveaway:

Go Go Thomas: Thomas and his friends are charged up and ready to Go, Go! Thomas shows Gordon that being quick is as useful as being strong, while Flynn, the fire engine, learns to put his pride aside and race to the rescue. Thomas causes some trouble on the tracks trying to be a model engine for a new photographer, while Spencer’s on the move, ignoring warnings about electric engine Stafford’s battery. Thomas pumps his pistons to Misty Island to help fix Ol’ Wheezy. Will the number one blue engine be on track and on time? £12.99, certificate U. Running time 68 minutes.

Magical Mishaps from Mike the Knight: Mike’s younger sister is a haphazard wizard in training. Wishing to become a full-blown wizard, she practices her magic at every opportunity. Accompanied by her pet frog, the master of mayhem Mr. Cuddles, Evie uses spells to help Mike with his missions. But things do not always go to plan resulting in a series of magical mishaps and Mike thinks his missions would be far better resolved using knightly skills,  aided by his rallying cry ‘Be a knight, do it right’. £12.99, certificate U. Running time 72 minutes.

Lucky for you I have a copy of each to giveaway for one lucky person – worth £25.98. There are lots of ways to enter – see the Rafflecopter form below. The first way is just to leave a comment on this post. Easy peasy. Closing date 12th July 2013.

How to enter:

• Complete the Rafflecopter form below to confirm your entries made via blog comments, Twitter, Facebook etc.
• This giveaway will close on 12th July 2013.
• Please read the rules below.
• Winners are announced on the Rafflecopter form after the prize has been claimed by the winner.
• First timers: Please watch how Rafflecopter works (video)! It is 46 seconds long. It explains everything.
• If no form is showing, hit refresh and it should appear.
• Complete the form – or your beloved entries will not go into the draw. And that would be such a waste of time.
• Mandatory entries need to be completed first – so leave a blog comment before you try and complete any of the other methods of entry.
• Want more chances to win? Come back daily after tweeting about the giveaway and fill the form in again.
• If you are viewing this by email you will need to click through to enter.

Rules and things:

• Only open to people who live in the UK including islands and NI, over the age of 18. Sorry to those who are younger or who live further afield.
• There’s one prize worth £25.98 of the 2 DVDs. There’s no cash alternative to the prize and the prize is not transferable. No part or parts of the prize may be substituted for other benefits, items or additions.
• Instructions form part of the terms and conditions. Entries using any software or automated process to make bulk entries will obviously be disqualified. The winner will be picked at random using software and then contacted by email. If you win and then don’t respond to this email within 7 days then another winner will be picked so check your emails and your spam! The goodies will be delivered to the winner as soon as possible after you have sent me your delivery address.
• I am running this giveaway on behalf of Hit entertainment who will be responsible for sending the prize to you should you win. Their decision is final and binding and no correspondence will be entered into. So there.
• This is where I get all stern – please don’t say you have liked the post and followed me on Twitter and Tweeted away like a Tweety thing if you haven’t as guess what? If you win I will check you did do the things you said you did. It’s only fair after all. And I do like fairness.

Good luck everyone!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Cleaning was not something I really thought about until I had children. I was too busy being out and about and not getting my flat dirty. Then I has kids and guess what? If you spend time in the home it ends up in a right old mess. Now I have an unhealthy interest in cleaning products. I want stuff that cleans easily, doesn’t smell like a chemical bomb has gone off in my house and that doesn’t cost the earth.

I’ve been trying out some cleaning goodies from Bar Keepers Friend. They first launched in 1882 but have recently added new lines like the Power Cream and Power Spray, both of which made short work of my sink.  They also don’t smell toxic, which is a pet hate for me in anything cleaning product related. 

Here’s the interesting bit – Bar Keepers Friend has oxalic acid in it – found in rhubarb and unique to Bar Keepers Friend and well, rhubarb (I guess.) A chemist in the USA noticed how his pans were incredibly clean after cooking rhubarb in them. He worked out the reason, extracted the acid and sold it on to tavern owners. Hence the name.

I have a hamper of Bar Keepers Friend goodies to giveaway worth £50 – enough to keep your house clean for about a year. There are lots of ways to enter – see the Rafflecopter form below. The first way is just to leave a comment on this post. Easy peasy. Closing date 12th July 2013.

How to enter:

• Complete the Rafflecopter form below to confirm your entries made via blog comments, Twitter, Facebook etc.
• This giveaway will close on 12th July 2013.
• Please read the rules below.
• Winners are announced on the Rafflecopter form after the prize has been claimed by the winner.
• First timers: Please watch how Rafflecopter works (video)! It is 46 seconds long. It explains everything.
• If no form is showing, hit refresh and it should appear.
• Complete the form – or your beloved entries will not go into the draw. And that would be such a waste of time.
• Mandatory entries need to be completed first – so leave a blog comment before you try and complete any of the other methods of entry.
• Want more chances to win? Come back daily after tweeting about the giveaway and fill the form in again.
• If you are viewing this by email you will need to click through to enter.

Rules and things:

• Only open to people who live in the UK, over the age of 18. Sorry to those who are younger or who live further afield.
• There’s one prize of Bar Keepers Friend cleaning goodies worth £50. There’s no cash alternative to the prize and the prize is not transferable. No part or parts of the prize may be substituted for other benefits, items or additions.
• Instructions form part of the terms and conditions. Entries using any software or automated process to make bulk entries will obviously be disqualified. The winner will be picked at random using software and then contacted by email. If you win and then don’t respond to this email within 7 days then another winner will be picked so check your emails and your spam! The goodies will be delivered to the winner as soon as possible after you have sent me your delivery address.
• I am running this giveaway on behalf of Bar Keepers Friend who will be responsible for sending the prize to you should you win. Their decision is final and binding and no correspondence will be entered into. So there.
• This is where I get all stern – please don’t say you have liked the post and followed me on Twitter and Tweeted away like a Tweety thing if you haven’t as guess what? If you win I will check you did do the things you said you did. It’s only fair after all. And I do like fairness.

Good luck everyone!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Envy is a dreadful emotion. It’s the nicer little sister of jealousy but still I think it’s a little ugly. My heart slightly sank as I opened this book up for review as I kind of knew how I’d feel. This is a book I’d like to have written. There, I’ve said it. I think it’s top.

Proper step by step instructions and lots of explanation of the science of baking to help home bakers get great results. Maybe I’m a geek but I really like that kind of detail. When things go wrong I want to know why. The recipes look great – some classics, some interesting new ideas. Some appeal more than others – jam bakewell cuppa cake sounds great as does the ginger and lime drizzle. The rhubarb and custard bombe is not my kind of thing but I guess a lot of people will like it. This book is beautifully shot, nicely designed and is sooooo much more Ruth’s kind of book (in my humble opinion) than her first one. I’m chuffed to bits for her. Well done Ruth on an excellent baking book. Roll on the release of the bread version of this book.

Lucky for you I have 3 copies for 3 lucky readers worth £12.99 each to giveaway. There are lots of ways to enter – see the Rafflecopter form below. The first way is just to leave a comment on this post. Easy peasy. Closing date 19th April 2013.

How to enter:

• Complete the Rafflecopter form below to confirm your entries made via blog comments, Twitter, Facebook etc.
• This giveaway will close on 19th April 2013.
• Please read the rules below.
• Winners are announced on the Rafflecopter form after the prize has been claimed by the winner.
• First timers: Please watch how Rafflecopter works (video)! It is 46 seconds long. It explains everything.
• If no form is showing, hit refresh and it should appear.
• Complete the form – or your beloved entries will not go into the draw. And that would be such a waste of time.
• Mandatory entries need to be completed first – so leave a blog comment before you try and complete any of the other methods of entry.
• Want more chances to win? Come back daily after tweeting about the giveaway and fill the form in again.
• If you are viewing this by email you will need to click through to enter.

Rules and things:

• Only open to people who live in the UK, over the age of 18. Sorry to those who are younger or who live further afield.
• There are 3 prizes of the Cake Making book for 3 readers worth £12.99 each. There’s no cash alternative to the prize and the prize is not transferable. No part or parts of the prize may be substituted for other benefits, items or additions.
• Instructions form part of the terms and conditions. Entries using any software or automated process to make bulk entries will obviously be disqualified. The winner will be picked at random using software and then contacted by email. If you win and then don’t respond to this email within 7 days then another winner will be picked so check your emails and your spam! The goodies will be delivered to the winner as soon as possible after you have sent me your delivery address.
• I am running this giveaway on behalf of David & Charles who will be responsible for sending the prize to you should you win. Their decision is final and binding and no correspondence will be entered into. So there.
• This is where I get all stern – please don’t say you have liked the post and followed me on Twitter and Tweeted away like a Tweety thing if you haven’t as guess what? If you win I will check you did do the things you said you did. It’s only fair after all. And I do like fairness.

Good luck everyone!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

If you like your coffee with a conscience then you’ll be in for a treat with this review and giveaway. The folks at Puro sent me lots of their fairtrade ground coffee to try along with some very delicious hot chocolate too. You’ve probably already tried their coffee as Puro supply every National Trust site, all the Royal Parks in London (the Queen actually had to sign off the cup design to allow it in the parks), Le Pain Quotidien, Leon and lots of garden centres and golf clubs. The parent company who make Puro have been roasting coffee in Belgium for 212 years so I guess they know a thing or two after all that time.

Puro use a percentage of their sales to purchase and protect rainforest reserves in the countries that grow their coffee, they’ve even made a little film about it that you can watch here. Now this is all very well and good but what does the coffee taste like? Well out of the three varieties sent to me my favourite was the Puro Organic, from Peru and Honduras. It had a kind of creaminess to it that I tend to only experience in posh coffee shops with very expensive machines. It also faintly reminded me of my fave tea, Lady Grey… but I think that would be the citrus notes, not that this coffee tasted like tea at all. All in all, I would heartily recommend. I have even managed to wean my Dad off his decaf to take home half a bag of Fuerte.

If you would like to try this delicious coffee along with winning some nice cups and a cafetiere worth £50 then read on. There are lots of ways to enter – see the Rafflecopter form below. The first way is just to leave a comment on this post. Easy peasy. Closing date 28th June 2013.

How to enter:

• Complete the Rafflecopter form below to confirm your entries made via blog comments, Twitter, Facebook etc.
• This giveaway will close on 28th June 2013.
• Please read the rules below.
• Winners are announced on the Rafflecopter form after the prize has been claimed by the winner.
• First timers: Please watch how Rafflecopter works (video)! It is 46 seconds long. It explains everything.
• If no form is showing, hit refresh and it should appear.
• Complete the form – or your beloved entries will not go into the draw. And that would be such a waste of time.
• Mandatory entries need to be completed first – so leave a blog comment before you try and complete any of the other methods of entry.
• Want more chances to win? Come back daily after tweeting about the giveaway and fill the form in again.
• If you are viewing this by email you will need to click through to enter.

Rules and things:

• Only open to people who live in the UK and Europe, over the age of 18. Sorry to those who are younger or who live further afield.
• There’s one prize of kit as seen in the picture worth £50 from Puro. There’s no cash alternative to the prize and the prize is not transferable. No part or parts of the prize may be substituted for other benefits, items or additions.
• Instructions form part of the terms and conditions. Entries using any software or automated process to make bulk entries will obviously be disqualified. The winner will be picked at random using software and then contacted by email. If you win and then don’t respond to this email within 7 days then another winner will be picked so check your emails and your spam! The goodies will be delivered to the winner as soon as possible after you have sent me your delivery address.
• I am running this giveaway on behalf of Puro who will be responsible for sending the prize to you should you win. Their decision is final and binding and no correspondence will be entered into. So there.
• This is where I get all stern – please don’t say you have liked the post and followed me on Twitter and Tweeted away like a Tweety thing if you haven’t as guess what? If you win I will check you did do the things you said you did. It’s only fair after all. And I do like fairness.

Good luck everyone!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

I have a lovely giveaway for you – one that’ll be very popular for anyone with a little (or big for that matter) pirate in their life! The nice chaps at Bakestore have offered a great kit worth £44.78 for one of you to win.  It has a Wilton pirate ship pan worth £13.99 in it,  a melamine mixing bowl worth £14.99, a silicone mixing spoon worth £7.90 and a silicone spatula worth £7.90. A great kit perfect for tackling the perfect pirate ship cake.

There are lots of ways to enter – see the Rafflecopter form below. The first way is just to leave a comment on this post. Easy peasy. Closing date 21st June 2013.

How to enter:

• Complete the Rafflecopter form below to confirm your entries made via blog comments, Twitter, Facebook etc.
• This giveaway will close on 21st June 2013.
• Please read the rules below.
• Winners are announced on the Rafflecopter form after the prize has been claimed by the winner.
• First timers: Please watch how Rafflecopter works (video)! It is 46 seconds long. It explains everything.
• If no form is showing, hit refresh and it should appear.
• Complete the form – or your beloved entries will not go into the draw. And that would be such a waste of time.
• Mandatory entries need to be completed first – so leave a blog comment before you try and complete any of the other methods of entry.
• Want more chances to win? Come back daily after tweeting about the giveaway and fill the form in again.
• If you are viewing this by email you will need to click through to enter.

Rules and things:

• Only open to people who live in the UK and Europe, over the age of 18. Sorry to those who are younger or who live further afield.
• There’s one prize of kit as seen in the picture worth £44.78 from Bakestore. There’s no cash alternative to the prize and the prize is not transferable. No part or parts of the prize may be substituted for other benefits, items or additions.
• Instructions form part of the terms and conditions. Entries using any software or automated process to make bulk entries will obviously be disqualified. The winner will be picked at random using software and then contacted by email. If you win and then don’t respond to this email within 7 days then another winner will be picked so check your emails and your spam! The goodies will be delivered to the winner as soon as possible after you have sent me your delivery address.
• I am running this giveaway on behalf of Bakestore who will be responsible for sending the prize to you should you win. Their decision is final and binding and no correspondence will be entered into. So there.
• This is where I get all stern – please don’t say you have liked the post and followed me on Twitter and Tweeted away like a Tweety thing if you haven’t as guess what? If you win I will check you did do the things you said you did. It’s only fair after all. And I do like fairness.

Good luck everyone!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The lovely folks at COOK sent me a box of their frozen ready meals to try. Unlucky for them that they arrived on my doorstep as the horse meat scandal first came to light, putting a whole new slant on ready meals. However these are not the stuff of equine hell… rather these are meals made by chefs, frozen and then delivered to your door. I chose to try out the kids meals as I’ve had a bit of a rubbish time recently and thought I could really do with a break from cooking now and again. My husband gets home pretty late so the boys often eat together earlier. Meaning two lots of cooking, or at least one lot and then some reheating.

I should set the scene that my sons have never had a ready meal (well maybe in some cafes/restaurants but not knowingly) so they were very suspicious seeing plastic containers going into microwaves and the oven switched on and used without the clatters of knives and chopping boards. My first rookie error was to serve the food in the containers. I was in a minimum effort mood and wanted to save on washing up. Big mistake. Huge. They were deeply unimpressed and refused to eat their fish pie or salmony pesto pasta. So I ate them instead, in the interests of reviewing the food and also as I hate waste. They were delicious. And despite not being laden with salt were not bland.

The next day, having learnt from my mistakes the boys tucked into chicken goujons and lasagne with home steamed carrots and baked potatoes. Big hit. Clean plates. And the goujons were lovely – very crispy, which for a crispy food addict like youngest son, is a must when it comes to anything breaded.

Price wise they’re very reasonable, £2.50 for the salmony pesto pasta, £4.99 for 4 servings of the goujons. What did I like most? The packaging was excellent – you could have this delivered to your house and left outside all day and I very much doubt it would defrost due to the super frozen wrapped packaging. I loved the fact each ready meal had the name of the chef on the box. It made the cheating feel less grubby. I also liked how quick the meals were to cook despite being frozen, oh and I liked that each meal has at least one portion of veg in. Sometimes obvious, sometimes hidden. In short, I would use them again and I don’t think the boys would mind at all.

They also make very posh dinner party food, diet food, Sunday roast food and everyday week night food. On my budget I would not be able to afford to eat from COOK regularly but I’d happily order a few meals to have in the freezer as a treat rather than popping to M & S for a meal deal. When I had a proper job that involved wearing a suit and enjoying a hefty pay packet I would have killed for these COOK meals. Back in my 15 hours of work a day world meals were either takeaway or kind of simple.

I have a weeks worth of kids suppers worth £38 to giveaway – that’s based on you having 2 kids – so altogether 14 meals. (If you chose the goujons they count as 2…) So if you fancy a break from cooking read on but please check COOK deliver to you before you enter.

There are lots of ways to enter – see the Rafflecopter form below. The first way is just to leave a comment on this post. Easy peasy. Closing date 14th June 2013.

How to enter:

• Complete the Rafflecopter form below to confirm your entries made via blog comments, Twitter, Facebook etc.
• This giveaway will close on 14th June 2013.
• Please read the rules below.
• Winners are announced on the Rafflecopter form after the prize has been claimed by the winner.
• First timers: Please watch how Rafflecopter works (video)! It is 46 seconds long. It explains everything.
• If no form is showing, hit refresh and it should appear.
• Complete the form – or your beloved entries will not go into the draw. And that would be such a waste of time.
• Mandatory entries need to be completed first – so leave a blog comment before you try and complete any of the other methods of entry.
• Want more chances to win? Come back daily after tweeting about the giveaway and fill the form in again.
• If you are viewing this by email you will need to click through to enter.

Rules and things:

• Only open to people who live in the UK mainland, over the age of 18. Sorry to those who are younger or who live further afield.
• There’s one prize of 14 kids meals to giveaway worth £38 – please check COOK deliver to you before you enter! There’s no cash alternative to the prize and the prize is not transferable. No part or parts of the prize may be substituted for other benefits, items or additions.
• Instructions form part of the terms and conditions. Entries using any software or automated process to make bulk entries will obviously be disqualified. The winner will be picked at random using software and then contacted by email. If you win and then don’t respond to this email within 7 days then another winner will be picked so check your emails and your spam! The goodies will be delivered to the winner as soon as possible after you have sent me your delivery address.
• I am running this giveaway on behalf of COOK who will be responsible for sending the prize to you should you win. Their decision is final and binding and no correspondence will be entered into. So there.
• This is where I get all stern – please don’t say you have liked the post and followed me on Twitter and Tweeted away like a Tweety thing if you haven’t as guess what? If you win I will check you did do the things you said you did. It’s only fair after all. And I do like fairness.

Good luck everyone!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

I have a lovely giveaway for anyone who likes to display their cakes in style! I have not one, not two, but three of these beautiful pink cake stands with little birds tweeting around the rim. They’re from the Dotcomgiftshop which is a positive treasure trove for trinkets and pretty, gorgeous things. I lost an hour of my life just browsing. Let’s not talk about the buying. Worth £11.95 each, just don’t chuck them in your dishwasher as they don’t like that.

There are lots of ways to enter – see the Rafflecopter form below. The first way is just to leave a comment on this post. Easy peasy. Closing date 7th June 2013.

How to enter:

• Complete the Rafflecopter form below to confirm your entries made via blog comments, Twitter, Facebook etc.
• This giveaway will close on 7th June 2013.
• Please read the rules below.
• Winners are announced on the Rafflecopter form after the prize has been claimed by the winner.
• First timers: Please watch how Rafflecopter works (video)! It is 46 seconds long. It explains everything.
• If no form is showing, hit refresh and it should appear.
• Complete the form – or your beloved entries will not go into the draw. And that would be such a waste of time.
• Mandatory entries need to be completed first – so leave a blog comment before you try and complete any of the other methods of entry.
• Want more chances to win? Come back daily after tweeting about the giveaway and fill the form in again.
• If you are viewing this by email you will need to click through to enter.

Rules and things:

• Only open to people who live in the UK, over the age of 18. Sorry to those who are younger or who live further afield.
• There are 3 pink cake stands as seen in the picture worth £11.95 each to giveaway.  There’s no cash alternative to the prize and the prize is not transferable. No part or parts of the prize may be substituted for other benefits, items or additions.
• Instructions form part of the terms and conditions. Entries using any software or automated process to make bulk entries will obviously be disqualified. The winner will be picked at random using software and then contacted by email. If you win and then don’t respond to this email within 7 days then another winner will be picked so check your emails and your spam! The goodies will be delivered to the winner as soon as possible after you have sent me your delivery address.
• I am running this giveaway on behalf of the Dotcomegiftshop who will be responsible for sending the prize to you should you win. Their decision is final and binding and no correspondence will be entered into. So there.
• This is where I get all stern – please don’t say you have liked the post and followed me on Twitter and Tweeted away like a Tweety thing if you haven’t as guess what? If you win I will check you did do the things you said you did. It’s only fair after all. And I do like fairness.

Good luck everyone!

a Rafflecopter giveaway