Cheese and Tomato Whirls

With the Mini Mes heading back to school on Monday I thought I'd make some yummy savoury snacks that will go perfectly in their lunch boxes as a simple alternative to the usual sandwiches or rolls. 

These take about 15 minutes to make then 20 minutes to cook and the recipe makes around 24. 

Ingredients
14oz self raising flour
4oz butter, softened
100ml of milk
Tomato puree/tomato sauce/tinned tomatoes
Cheese, grated

• Preheat the oven to 180 degrees
• Combine the butter and flour in a bowl and gradually add the milk to form a soft, yet dry, dough.
• Roll into a large rectangle of around 1cm thickness
• Spread over the tomato, we used the Peter Rabbit Organics Garden Vegetables Sauce, leaving a small space around the edge to prevent any filling running out when it's rolled.
• Generously sprinkle over the cheese
• Roll over the dough to form a log shape and slice whirls of around 1cm thickness. 
• Place the whirls onto a tray, leaving an inch or more between each one, and cook until browned for around 20 minutes

Scoff!

You can use puff pastry instead of dough if you wish and add other fillings too.

Tip: If you find cutting the roll difficult you can pop the dough in the fridge for around 30 minutes to firm slightly which will make slicing it easier.

Heinz FIVE Beanz

To celebrate the launch of another delicious Heinz product we were sent a Tea for Grown Upz package to enjoy ...and enjoy we did!

The package included a delicious variety of items from Tesco and a mini hamper with a tin of Alphabetti Spaghetti (for the Mini Mes) and a tin of FIVE Beanz for the Mr and I. I shuffled around the meal planner a little as I was keen to give them a go!

Heinz FIVE Beanz contains Haricot, Pinto, Cannellini, Borlotti and Red Kidney beans. Combined with the smooth tomato sauce within every tin, each portion is one of your five a day. Therefore they are not only tasty but nutritious too.

They are naturally low in fat, high in fibre and as there are no artificial flavours, colours or preservatives they are ideal for both the grown ups and little people too - even those that are weight conscious!

There is more variation in flavour when compared to Heinz Beanz. We thought they were really nice and a pleasant twist on the classic favourite. They still have the same great taste and low calories (87 per 100g) so I intend to have these quite frequently. We had them as an accompaniment with some juicy organic steak, sweet potato and swede but they are perfect on toast, with chips, as a quick snack or in main meals like casseroles and Chilli. I will pop these in the next one I make! (You can read my Chilli recipe here)

Heinz held a Tea Time for Grown-Upz event in London on 6th September  to celebrate the release of FIVE Beanz.

Sophie Ellis Bexter and friends joined 120 guests to taste a delicious menu including the new product. With 250KG of FIVE Beanz being shipped in especially for the event guests could choice from a yummy menu:

Heinz FIVE Beanz on Toast

Heinz FIVE Beanz Sitting on Toasted Focaccia with Fried Quail Eggs and Parmesan Crisps

Heinz FIVE Beanz with Fish ‘n’ Chips

Soda Water Battered Pollock with Twice Cooked Chips with Heinz FIVE Beanz

Heinz FIVE Beanz with Chicken Nuggets

Tarragon Chicken Goujons with Stilton Crumb Served with

Sweet Potato Wedges and Heinz FIVE Beanz

What would you eat yours with?

You can see more of the event here:

You can pick up your own 415g can of Heinz FIVE Beanz with a RRP of 84p from selected stores.

For more information on Heinz or their products you can head over to their Facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/heinzbeanz

*We were sent a Tea for Grown Upz package to review. The opinions stated are our own*

Warburtons Baked Naan Chips

I love to watch movies in the evening with the Mr accompanied by some delicious snacks (and wine), and we were lucky enough to be sent a variety of Baked Naan Chips from the lovely people at Warburtons to try.

The chips are made from a naan bread recipe and come in three delicious flavours; Creamy Korma (mild), Classic Tikka (medium) and Fiery Madras (hot) to suit a variety of taste buds. We are big curry eaters, including the Mini Mes, so we decided to open them straight away! The aroma was captivating, it really reminded me of the rich Indian dishes themselves. 

The chips are thick and crunchy and ideal to use with dips or as an alternative to poppadoms. We dived in and thought that they were very nice. The Mr who loves his food spicy was keen on the Fiery Madras whereas the Mini Mes and I preferred the other two milder flavours. We finished off the bags over a few days enjoying them with curry and a selection of dips.

The 150g bags are ideal for sharing but there are smaller individual sized bags available too. The chips are baked, not fried , and therefore contain 33% less fat than potato crisps. There are also no artificial ingredients.

We were also sent a packet of Pitta Chips to try and these were loved by us all too!

You can pick up your own bag of Naan Chips to try from Morrisons for around £1.79

You can find some great recipes from TV Chef, Monisha Bharadwaj, on the Warburton's Facebook Page to enjoy with them.

*We were sent a variety of Warburtons snacks to review. The opinions are our own*

Scones - Savoury and Sweet

We like to have scones as an alternative to sandwiches for lunch or as a dessert with cream and jam - yummy! This is a basic recipe that you can have either savoury or sweet. They don't take long to make either so are perfect for a last minute picnic or party.

Ingredients

8oz self raising flour
2oz butter
150ml milk
2oz cheese/sugar

Method

• Preheat the oven to around 180 degrees.
• Combine the flour and butter in a bowl and add the milk gradually to form a dough.You can add the sugar OR cheese too here.
• Split the dough into 8 balls and place on a lightly greased baking tray.
• Pop in the oven for about 20 minutes until the scones are browned lightly.
• Scoff!

Tilda Kids Review

It can be a struggle to get your child to eat vegetables at times so when products you wouldn't expect contain 1 of their 5 a day it's always a great bonus! Tilda's new rice for kids is not only delicious but it contains 1 of your child's portions of veg and is a perfect accompaniment for their meals.

Each pouch contains natural ingredients, are full of goodness without unwanted additives, are convenient as they can be heated in the microwave or on the hob, full of flavour and they contain vegetables in pieces and/or puree.

We were sent some Tilda rice to review and we were pleased with the product.





The packaging features cute animals which makes the product fun and attractive for children. There is a crocodile called Charlie, Monkey called Rupert, Jasmine a Tiger and Lottie a parrot. The base to the packets is transparent so you can see the rice before you buy it you fancy a nosey at what it looks like.



The rice comes in 4 flavours:

Mild and Sweet Curry 
Sunshine Vegetable
Sweet Vegetable and Wholegrain
Cheese and Tomato





It is very easy to cook, you simply tear the top slightly and heat in the microwave for 40 seconds (800w) or heat on the hob for 3-4minutes with a small amount of water. I was concerned that the rice would be dry but it was moist and fluffy as rice should be and it tasted very good. The kids enjoyed it with a variety of dishes, I had it as a snack and I feel it would be great to pop in your bag for work or to take on day trips to heat up whilst out and about with the family.

Nutritional bit
Each pouch is around 200 calories and is high in carbs - perfect to give your little people lots of energy!



Thumbs up all round!