Review: Stardust T-shirt ~ Rags for Rascals!

Have you heard of Stardust? A funky and cool place to get stylish gear for your little rascals!

Geraldine over a Stardust HQ sent us a beautiful top for Lydia. 

I call the top 'Moriss Hepburn' as the cat looks like my old cat with an Audrey Hepburn hair do! The design was instantly appealing to us both, as Lydia and i both love cats and i am a fan of Audrey.

It arrived beautifully packaged in a white paper shopping bag, white tissue paper and a really cool sticker. We opened it to find the t-shirt very neatly folded with a funky tag on.

Lydia instantly grabbed it off me saying 'Cat!' and attempted to dress herself in the t-shirt, then she realised the print was shiny and had glitter in so she was stroking it saying 'Wow' and smiling :)

Oooh shiny!

Cool Toddler Clothes : Audrey Cat T-Shirt, is its real name and where to find it.

You have choice of six different colours to have it in, and i presume that the pattern colour will vary depending on the colour of your chosen t-shirt.

Sized from 0-6mths right up to 11-12yrs, we went for fuchsia in aged 1-2yrs. Lydia is 16mths and quite heavy, however this t-shirt was the right size for her with enough room to grow.

 

The t-shirts have been....

- Made in India by an ethical ETI Basecode compliant family factory.
- Made from premium 100% interlock cotton which is gentle and stretchy.
- Nickel-free poppers on the neck of baby sizes for simple dressing.
- The garment washes and wears beautifully and has been tested on our own kids!
- Hand printed in our London workshop with bold durable graphics.
- Machine wash up to 40°C, tumble dry on low.

I love how soft and thick the fabric is, a really quality about it unlike mass produced in store high-street purchases. Also i find it to be a lovely length, some tops are to short for toddlers little pot belly's but this was great! I was very pleased to see that the age 1-2yrs top was still classed as a 'baby' size and therefore has poppers on the left shoulder this allowed for easy dressing of my fidget bum toddler.

Priced at £14.99 i found was a bit steep to be buying them as everyday wear. They're more as a one off present or treat, but for the quality and individuality it is worth it.

Gweneth Paltrow is a regular customer of Stardust, but she can afford to be. Lol :)

They also make custom printed items, so if your looking for a one off gift, or feeling as plush as Gweneth then head over to Stardust's facebook page for 10% discount code and then onto their website to purchase! :) Also don't forget to check out the sale items!!!

 

Guest Review: Mothers en Vouge ~ Bonita flutter sleeve top

Mothers en Vouge sent me a beautiful top to review. Unfortunately i just looked ill in it with my super pale skin tone, I'd have loved it another colour. However my sister-in-law Margaret is also pregnant, at 24wks, (4wks ahead of me) she has a lovely bump and was a bit unsure on how to show it of in style. A perfect candidate for the review of this top.

Here's what she thought of it....

Bonita flutter sleeve top in golden amber

At 24 weeks its a good top if you want to show off your bump. Both the fabric and back ties help to support and flatter the bust, overall giving the top a nice fit. The fabric is 92% Rayon and 8% Spandex, making it a very soft and comfortable fit with room for a growing bump.

I love the fact that its also suitable for breastfeeding, which i intend to do when my baby boy arrives. The top will offer me great coverage allowing access to only the necessary area without me having to flash to much flesh, which is a concern of mine being a first time mum. 

I think its suitable for both day and evening wear, you could add a simple pair of jeans or a smart black pair of trousers/skirt for a more dressy feel. 

The colour certainly suits the darker skin tone and I'd like to know what other colours are available.

At  around £29 this top is a little bit more expensive than similar items I've seen that are available, but i do think that this was the most comfortable and stylish. So you get what you pay for really. Based in Singapore you can only get their products online here....Mothers en Vogue

Review ~ Isabel's Naurally free from: Dough Balls

Isabel over at Brazilian Flavours sent me a box her gorgeous cheese dough balls to try.

Being a Coeliac is hard to find tasty, healthy quick snacks for party's or for just enjoying. Well Isabel's Cheese dough balls are gluten and wheat free, and they fit the requirements just great! Also they're low in salt, sugar free and vegetarian :)

They won last years 'Free-from food award', and i can see why....

Just after they'd been cooked

When i first opened the packet i felt a little disappointed that all it seemed was that you'd just paid £2.69 for a small bag of flour. I was very wrong. When i opened the bag i could smell a subtle hint of cheese and the flour was very smooth and soft, like it have just been sieved.

I followed the preparation instructions which i found very clear and easy to read and follow, A simple four step job. Isabel said to make sure i used the exact amount of water shown in the recipe and not to guess as this will alter the results. I whizzed mine up in the food processor which made less mess and was much quicker than by hand. However if i was making these with children i would do it by hand, get your hands messy and have fun. They'd love it! And its very simple that not much could go wrong really.

I love how versatile this product is, you can add in your own favorite flavours to the mix. I added in some cheddar and mixed herbs. I LOVE cheese so i added a bit more than the recipe suggests :)

Next was to separate the mix into balls, the recipe says around 3cm in diameter will make you 26-28 dough balls. Mine made 27! :)

Now at this stage you have an option to cook now or to freeze for use at a later date, fantastic for preparation for party's/sleep-overs/movie night etc... Then all you'd need to do is pop them in the oven!?!

I put mine on a baking sheet with greaseproof paper, the oven was pre-heated to the correct temperature (180* fan assisted), if the oven is to hot or to cold the balls won't cook through properly.

These cook for 20-25mins until they've turned lightly golden in colour.

Once cooked i removed them from the baking tray and into bowl to serve, they kept the warmth in very well and were totally scrumptious to eat! My 16mth old daughter loved them to :)
The outside was crispy and golden with a yummy soft and slightly chewy centre, almost like ''normal'' glutinous dough balls would be.

Next time i think i will make them slightly smaller than the recipe suggests. Two reasons, one being that they were quite big to take your first bite from without squashing or ripping them open, and secondly purely so you get more :) yummy!!! These are an excellent sharing food, even though i could've eaten them all!

I will deffinatly be buying these for future gatherings, partys or just as something to keep in cupboard as a quick snack when i need one :) Mmm...i want more now!

Just before i devoured them!

Some ideas i have for future use of this product are; using dips, adding a small lump of mozzarella into the centre so it gives a melt in the middle effect, brushing the tops with milk or egg and sprinkling with sesame/poppy seeds before cooking, making them into tiny sandwiches for fun food for kids, adding garlic butter to the mix to create restaurant like dough balls to accompany pizza or pasta.

Also if you have an egg allergy you can use an egg replacer to make this mix, so get on it!

Dough balls can be purchased from ASDA and directly from the Brazilian Flavours website along with their other gorgeous products. The dough balls are priced £2.69 for 250gram box and are currently on offer, £2 off is you order a case of 8 box's. Yummy!!!

Also Isabel's products can be found in Waitrose and Ocado.

Review: Hale 'n' Hearty foods ~ Gluten and Wheat free products

Catarina over at Hale & Hearty sent me a box of treats, I was so excited as it contained lots of new yummy things for me and Lydia to try. Being Coeliac it is hard to find new tasty and good for you products, all i had to do was open the box and eat them!


Choco Jungle Pops

The first item that Lydia was immediately drawn to was the Choco Jungle Pops. A brightly coloured box with monkeys all over it, on the back of the box there is a little activity for children to do. Very similar concept of a leading brand product, making Coeliac children feel less left out at breakfast times :)

I was a bit supprised to find the box was only half full, it contained a freshly sealed bag with the cereal in. The bag was Almost half the size of the box, less packaging is needed i think.

The cereal is supposed to be chocolate flavour, i found that it was barely noticed in the taste at all. They were very hard and needed quite some time to soak in milk before they were soft/chewy enough to eat nicely. However, alike a kids leading brand again they did 'make the milk chocolatey'. More so in looks than taste. I found them to be quite sticky to your teeth after being hard to chew, with a very strong taste of the quinoa.

Priced at £2.75 (in Sainsbury's) for 275gram box, i feel is a little steep seeing as you can only get about three decent sized portions from the packet. I think a 350gram would be better value and last alot longer :) But if using them for a child i am sure you'd hear no complaints! (and they eat less)

Gluten-free Breadcrumbs

The next for us to try were the breadcrumbs. I was very impressed with these. A real loaf (gluten&wheat free of course) is cooked then used to make the breadcrumbs, this gives a very soft and tasty result.

I followed the recipe for breaded chicken nuggets. I adapted the recipe to my taste and added some boullion, herbs and garlic powder. Shallow fried them until golden brown and ate! They were so yummy that my non-GF/WF boyfriend wanted more than his share, to be honest so did i! He said he was very impressed with the results and generally doesn't like to eat 'my' food as it tastes different and is to dry, not these though, he said they tasted like 'real food'. They keep well if you seal them back up, i used a clip-grip on top of the original bag.

It was a few days later and i  had half a packet left over, so i decided to make some proper beef burgers. Using the meat, herbs and egg as usual i then was able to add some edible breadcrumbs to bind it all together. They made my burgers nice and sturdy, very tasty and filling for once!

A product idea for H&H could be that they make a few 'ready to use' versions of the breadcrumbs for certain recipes. A herby one, one with dried parmesan ready for the nuggets etc....

I am very impressed with these teeny crumbs, fish fingers are next on my 'to cook' list :)
At £2.79 (waitrose) for 250grams the price seems quite steep, but for the amount of use you get from them i think they are well with the investment! Yummy!

Mini Breadsticks & Mini Breadsticks with Parmesan



All i can say i is...they didn't last long! These breadsticks are so good!!! With a little help from my 16mth old daughter a whole packet of these were gone in about 1/2hr, so yummy and moreish.

If they lasted as long as to get them on the table they'd make a fabulous party nibble, add in a couple of dips and your off! Alternatively be a piggy like me and just devour the packet as it were a bag of crisps.

They're crunchy but not to hard, make you salivate so are not to dry and are cooked just enough to give you a satisfying toasted flavour.

The size of them is just great to, being the size of my thumb i could happily let Lydia munch away on them without fear of her choking on a small piece (before biting of course) or poking herself in the eye with a huge one.

I'd love to see multi-packs of smaller packets for snacking or to give to children to nibble, maybe 4-6pks of around 30-40grams.

That being said i would also love to see these in full sized restaurant style breadsticks for the adults, for dipping and enjoying the same way.

Priced £1.59 (Sainsbury's for the plain breadsticks) for 100g, fantastic price for a fantastic product! I always have an emergency packet stashed in my cupboard, not that they stay there very long....

Cassava Crisps

The last items we had to try were the multi-packs of Cassava crisps. Available in three yummy flavours; superbly spiced, perfectly peppered and beautifully barbecued. The spicey is just right, not over powering or to hot with chilli. And the barbecued is lovely and tasty, not burnt. And lastly the pepper flavour is a nice simple alternative to ready salted, plain and simple without being to hot.

Made with Cassava root rather than your usual humble spud these give a very different but tasty flavour. Its fantastic to know you can just grab them to eat and not have to worry about reading the label for that sneaky well known comment of 'may contain traces of wheat or gluten'.

The flavours are quite different to the normal flavours associated with crisps, and i would love to see more being made available. Two ideas i have and would love to see and eat are, plain salted and cheese & herb flavours. And making a larger 'to share' bag of the current individual flavours would make an ideal food for party's/film nibbles etc....

Priced at £2.59 (Tesco) for 6x30gram bags, i find is a good price. Average to what you'd pay for a normal multi-pack of crisps, but better because you know your safe to eat them and they're a healthier alternative. 

Over all i find Hale 'n' Hearty foods are of fantastic quality, value and a necessity to any healthy diet. I can't wait until my next food shop so i can find more of the range to try out.

The range is widely available to buy in these retailers; Sainsbury's, Waitrose, ASDA, Tesco, Holland & Barrett, Ocado, Booths, As Nature Intended, Planet Organic and Whole Foods Market.

Definatly a name to recommend to all your Coeliac or health conscious friends and family :) Yummy!

I miss you....

I Miss my boobie baby, i have even had a dream in which she comes back to me. She's so grown up and independent now that its hard to imagine that just over 2months ago she was with me all the time, having boobie and hugging me.

Sometimes she pulls a face when she is sleeping that reminds me of how she used to look whilst feeding,so sweet and 'baby-like'. Now she's all toddler and girly looking, with alot of mischievous looks about her.

I know i'm going to have a new baby to feed and love, i just miss my Lydia baby. I need to realise that she's growing up and needs me less than before, i can acctually have a little time off and give her to a friend or relative for a few hours.

She has recently started to give cuddles and kisse's which is really lovely. She is always happy and smiley, unless she's throwing a wobbly!

I am planning on trying to do lots more with her, toddler clubs, swimming again and finding out new games for us to play. Some 'us' time whilst we are still a family of three.

Flat hunting is still going on, what a STRESS that is, i never knew it was so hard? Everything i find has been taken already! I've been trying not to take my stress of that, hormones, sickness, tiredness and cheeky toddler-ness out on Justin and Lydia but its difficult sometimes.



Well i'm off to play with my cheeky little madam, and to try and relax. She can still be my 'baby', she's just not 'a baby' anymore :)