13/02/201304/02/2014 by jo

We Love Books – Wagtail Town – Lulu and the Treasure Hunt by Emma Chichester Clark

We were sent a copy of ‘Lulu and the Treasure Hunt’ from the Wagtail Town series by Emma Chichester Clark to review, and it has gone down really well with H.

Her first impression was what won her over – the first page is a map of Wagtail Town and given H loves those parts of her Topsy and Tim books, we were given detailed information (by H) of what was in every building – like ‘Mount Fuji Sausage House’ (we’ve no idea either!).

I’m definitely more of a dog person than cats, and enjoyed reading the story – Lulu is taking part in the New Tricks School treasure hunt, and has promised to look after little Bonnie who can’t run very fast. What will Lulu choose to do when she’s faced with staying with Bonnie or finding a clue?

There’s a good lesson to be learnt here – and I’ve found this book to be perfect for H’s age (3.5 years). We’ve been collecting more of the author’s ‘Blue Kangaroo’ series and yet again there’s lovely illustrations.

Wagtail Town – Lulu and the Treasure Hunt by Emma Chichester Clark is published by HarperCollins Children’s Books in paperback, priced at £6.99. It is also available in eBook formats.

We were sent a copy of this book to review, all opinions are our own.

13/02/201304/02/2014 by jo

Dentyl Active Mouthwash – a Review

I’ve been using Dentyl Active Mouthwash for years now – since I first spotted it on the shelves in the supermarket however long ago that was. It has always appealed to me, mainly as I don’t have many teeth (small mouth!), and the ones I do have are packed together – so I have to regularly floss and make sure they’re looked after.

Dentyl Active has always appealed as you shake the bottle, pour a small cupful and swish it in your mouth – and voila! It does remove some of the yucky stuff in your mouth and around your teeth. I’ve always felt so clean in my mouth afterwards and for quite some time afterwards too.

Dentyl have recently brought out a new variant – Active Enamel Restore. Which does what it says – now whether it’s working is another matter as that kind of thing takes time, but the key things it does are important:

– helps to strengthen tooth enamel by replacing lost minerals
– helps protect enamel against acid erosion
– helps enamel become more resistant to acid attack

Now, back in my day we never used mouthwash, but statistics these days are shocking – young children being admitted to hospital for tooth decay is on the rise let alone adults. Enamel erosion is on the increase thanks to our eating and drinking habits these days, which is where this comes in – Dentyl Active is suitable for children aged 7 and up – as there’s no alcohol in the mouthwash (which generally can’t be used until age 12).

Dentyl Active Enamel Restore also has the ability to lift and absorb 99.9% of oral bacteria according to 2008 US independent laboratory trials, as well as debris like food particles, bacteria and plaque from the mouth.

What else do you need to know about Dentyl Active?

– It’s alcohol-free
– it contains double the fluoride of several other mouthwash brands
– helps fight plaque bacteria
– helps maintain healthy gums
– tastes great and doesn’t sting
– provides long lasting fresh breath
– lifts and absorbs 99.9% of oral bacteria and debris in the mouth

Also, I have sensitive teeth – and have found using Dentyl Active I don’t get a reaction – which is why we’ve used it for so long.

In summary, I’d buy it, it works for me, and I’d recommend it to you!

We were sent a bottle of Dentyl Active for the purpose of review, all opinions are ours.

13/02/201301/01/2019 by jo

Bio Oil – A Review

If you’re pregnant and you’ve a group of friends who’ve had babies, chances are you will have had Bio Oil recommended to you – this happened to me while pregnant, and indeed afterwards for any skin ailments you might have. BUT don’t assume Bio Oil is just for mummies, Bio Oil is for everyone – you too blokes (don’t worry it doesn’t smell of flowers and girly things) you can use it as well.

It’s really light and easy to apply, and I’ve found I never get too much when I’m using it. I have a really bad eczema/dry skin rash on my legs which never seems to clear, though Bio Oil does stop it feeling itchy, and definitely helps it feel much better.

Bio-Oil has been clinically proven to help with:

Scars: Improves appearance of new and old scars whether from surgery, accidents, burns, insect bites, scratches and chickenpox

Stretch Marks: Helps prevent formation of stretch marks during pregnancy and periods of rapid weight gain or loss and helps to improve the appearance of existing stretch marks

Uneven Skin Tone: Helps improve appearance of uneven skin tone caused by hormonal fluctuations, skin lighteners or excessive sun exposure

Ageing Skin: Helps smooth and tone ageing, sagging and wrinkled skin on both the face and body

Dehydrated Skin: Helps replenish the skin’s natural oils, stripped away by factors such as extreme weather, water with high chemical content, frequent bathing and the drying effects of central heating and air-con. Try massaging into dry patches such as nail cuticles, dry elbows and heels for targeted relief.

You can even apply Bio Oil to the face!

Alongside exclusive ingredient PurCellin Oil™ (which dramatically lowers the viscosity (stickiness and density) of the formulation to create a “dry” oil which is non-greasy), Bio-Oil’s Key ingredients include:

Vitamin A – helps improve the skin’s elasticity, texture and tone
Vitamin E – The most widely used antioxidant in skincare products today, Vitamin E increases the moisture content of the epidermis, thereby making the skin softer, smoother and more supple. Vitamin E also assists in the maintenance of healthy-looking skin
Calendula Oil – Calendula Officinalis, more commonly referred to as marigold, has been used for centuries as a natural antioxidant and has the ability to clarify and stimulates the growth of new skin cells
Lavender Oil – Lavender oil is widely known for calming and soothing benefits
Rosemary Oil – Rosemary oil helps to invigorate and it has a mild antiseptic capabilities and thus eases congestion, puffiness and swelling of the skin
Chamomile Oil – Chamomile has a calming and soothing effect and is particularly beneficial for sensitive skin

Bio-Oil is preservative-free and is not tested on animals and is available from all good supermarkets priced 60ml rsp £8.95, 125ml rsp £14.95, 200ml rsp £19.95

Follow Bio Oil on Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/biooiluk

We were sent some Bio Oil for the purpose of review, all opinions are our own.

10/02/201326/01/2014 by jo

Bramley Apple and Parsnip Soup

Well, there are many things I miss, but we got in just in time for Bramley Apple Week which ended yesterday. I know, there’s so many weeks, days, months for everything, someone somewhere has a ridiculously full calendar which is ready to explode. Lucky for us it was our local Farmer’s Market in Wallington, and the people behind it, Eco Local had a recipe to hand.

The recipe in question is a Hairy Bikers one. I’ve never watched the programme, but am seeing a lot of people talking about them at the moment. As we’re following Weight Watchers parts of the recipe had to be omitted (and partly too because we started cooking at 6pm and that bit takes about fifteen minutes in their version and we don’t have the time), and of course it was in the trusty soup maker anyway.

The original recipe serves six, there’s only three of us and one is a mere quarter of me so we halved the total amount and left out some bits (like gently frying at the start)

2 medium red onions (these are best in the soup maker for flavour)
300g parsnips
2 garlic cloves (we did the full amount there)
300g Bramley Apples
Stock
Milk

The onions need chopping, the parsnips cubing, as do the bramley apples. Everything was put into the soup maker with the water added, and bouillon on top (to make the stock while it’s in there). Shaun added the milk then as well (though the recipe says to do that at the very end).

The soup maker was set to blend, and when it was finished it was really sweet – we were advised to cut back on the apples a bit, and I think slightly more parsnip and less apples would work better. Shaun felt like it was a bit like a thick apple juice whereas I liked it and it was our first time trying a soup with fruit in it.

I spotted this recipe for spiced carrot, cardamom and orange soup earlier this year so may well try it out next weekend…

09/02/201326/03/2018 by jo

Weight Watchers Updates and Challenges

I’ve fallen behind a bit on updating, we’ve had a sickly child and not much sleep, but let’s cut to the good news – I am now no longer overweight! I’ve finally after I-have-no-idea-how-long (possibly since being a teenager) hit the point of being a normal healthy weight again. Given my health issues I’m giving myself a HUGE pat on the back, as this helps considerably lower my chances of getting diabetes again, as well as issues with cholesterol. BUT. The journey doesn’t stop here – this is an entire lifestyle change, I’m not about to relax and think I know what I’m doing, as I don’t. I’ve still got 6lb left to lose as I want to be comfortably in the ‘healthy weight’ zone. To help me celebrate this, WW have given me one less propoint, sob! So now I’m down to 27 a day.

To celebrate I’ve spent a bit of money at H&M and Uniqlo getting some clothes that fit me – including for the first time in years, ladies jeans! It’s all really good and quite weird. I still feel quite self-conscious, but I also have more confidence overall, and I’m hiding a little bit less.

So, we’ve some occasions coming up in the next week. I’d firstly like to say we don’t celebrate Valentines Day as I find it a terrible waste of money and a silly pressure to come up with something on a day which means nothing to me – I’d rather celebrate a birthday or anniversary (like my brother-in-law’s). BUT! Pancake day is coming, and I do like to celebrate that. I’ve found a WeightWatchers recipe (which looks the same as a regular pancake recipe, though less fat) and each pancake comes in at 1 point. Tuesday is also the day I do pilates, so I’ll earn a few activity points in the process, so may well treat myself to a chocolate filling.

I guess that’s what I’ve worked out since last September with Weight Watchers – you CAN eat your regular foods (unless you eat a Domino’s Pizza every day, of course), you just do it all in appropriate portion sizes. If you want to eat more, or foods with higher points, increase your activity. If you have a few days like we have where you’re stuck at home and not doing a lot activity-wise then keep to low point foods (we’ve had soups and stews). I was chatting with someone who did Weight Watchers before the Pro Points came in, who talked about having ‘Sin’ foods – and that (to me) is a bad way of putting it – yes, there are foods that aren’t great to eat, but with the Pro Points system you choose and if you happen to want to work things in, then there is a way. (Not every day, mind) Saying food is a ‘sin’ would probably make me want to eat it more.

So, this weeks challenge is about keeping track when you’re out and about. I’ve found that dining in restaurants that have free Wifi is my best option (I don’t have an iPhone, just an iPad and iPod) and I can work out what to eat that way – but not everywhere has that. I’m a creature of habit so tend to eat at Pizza Express, though I’m finding more restaurants are listing how many calories a dish has – so I then attempt to calculate it and ask Shaun (he’s the numbers man) – just divide your calories by 40 and there’s your Pro Points. You know what though? If I go slightly over my daily allowance I don’t stress about it – I just get off the bus to work a stop earlier and make sure I walk at lunchtime and it balances out (I’ve set up my points preferences to take my activity points first and use the 49 points everyone gets every week as a last resort – last week I used two of them).

The previous week’s challenge was about moving around more. I am the world’s worst at this. I start work at 8.30 and can quite often get to 12.30 and realise I’ve not moved for four hours. I do try to walk as much as possible when I can, and the new year has brought me meetings out of the office so I’ve done a bit of extra walking which has helped. I have no advice to make this better – don’t be like me! Or if you are, go for long walks at the weekend!!

I’ve been provided with six months of Weight Watchers Membership as a Blogger Ambassador, my opinions are just that, and are honest.

09/02/201304/02/2014 by jo

Bags We Love – Mia Tui

There’s a new bag from the lovely world of Mia Tui, and mine arrived this morning!

It’s their smallest bag at 23x23cm, the Lottie and is a good size for essentials particularly if you’ve moved away from carrying nappies and wipes around (also – you don’t have to be a parent to have a Mia Tui bag – it’s one that everyone will love). The bag fits my Mia Tui purse, my phone, keys (and there’s a handy key hook) and there’s still space for more – there’s a zip across the top, plus a zip pocket at the front – and both inner and outer are waterproof. I’m going to get some tiny reusable shopping bags and I think I’ll probably have everything I need. It’s also a great price at £15 – the strap is a fabric one, so different to the other bags. It’s made from ultra-soft faux leather too.

There’s currently an offer at Mia Tui for Lottie bags – head over to their Facebook Page for a fabulous discount code. There’s also some fine-looking bags for men being launched soon (I’m very tempted to get Shaun one) – so keep an eye out! Mia Tui will also be at The Baby Show in London in a few weeks, so make sure you pop by.

06/02/201326/01/2014 by jo

Easy Vegetable Stew – A Sickly Child Edition

H isn’t well at the moment – a high temperature that Calpol and Nurofen are barely containing – so I’ve been making sure she has plenty of good food to eat which is nice and tasty too. Tonight I asked her what she fancied for tea, she opted for a vegetable stew.

I get my weekly food delivery on a Tuesday, so by Wednesday anything that’s left from last week needs to be used – and this is a good recipe for doing just that; plus my trusty Morphy Richards Soup Maker means I can leave it to cook with minimal preparation beforehand.

So, I used… (Weight Watchers PPV in brackets)

3 sweet potatoes – diced (356g – 9 points)
one red onion (for flavour) (0 points)
frozen peas (1 point’s worth – I weighed until it went to 2, then took back each pea until it was at 1)
frozen sweetcorn (1 point’s worth – same as before)
one red pepper (0 points)
one teaspoon of Marmite Gold (I’d have used Aussiemite but we’ve almost run out – I think this would work too with the onion) (0.5 point)
one vegetable stock cube (we’ve run out of bouillon) (0 points)

Serves two adults – generous portions – plus one three-year old.

I chopped everything up into cubes and added to the soup maker. After that, water was added to the minimum line (I wanted to get plenty of onion in the juice as I knew H would pick those bits out) and I set it to the chunky setting, which takes a bit longer – 28 minutes.

While the soup is cooking I measured a good-sized portion of whole grain rice (250g – 7 points) and had that cooking (as it takes about 25 minutes). I hadn’t eaten a lot today being at home and H losing her appetite, so I needed filling up!

Once the rice was cooked I drained it and put it at the bottom of our bowls. When the stew was ready I added that on top, making sure the liquid came out first, then evenly putting the vegetables on top of each serving.

Weight Watchers points for an adult serving come in at 14 points which sounds a lot, and I have gone over my daily allowance (but I had activity points stored up). Yesterday I had 8 points left, so while I can’t get them back, I figure going into my activity allowance isn’t the end of the world. A lower point version would be to switch sweet potato for butternut squash which I think would work really well too.

The taste verdict? It worked pretty well – the onion helped give it a bit of a kick without being too overpowering (and H picked them all out)! It feels quite wintery, some ginger would have worked as well although might be better in a smooth soup. Give it a try – let me know how you get on!

06/02/201304/02/2014 by jo

Finger Knitting Good!

As part of my technology-free Saturday I did some finger knitting with H (aged almost three and a half) – and considering she’s quite a patient little girl I was amazed how quickly she picked it up (as you do need to be really patient!). Currently we have two bracelets, and she has a sense of achieving something “a bit like mummy”. She needed help but knew what to do once we’d done it a few times.

Finger knitting is new to me; I’ve knitted since I was young, though only followed my first pattern late last year. It follows the same principle as a knitting doll bobbin.

Hold the wool with the thumb of the hand you’re going to be knitting on and wind the wool around each finger alternately until you’ve looped them over each finger two times – remember to keep hold of the end your thumb is holding!

finger knitting

Then all you do is pull the lower loop over the upper one. Start again winding the wool around each finger until you have two loops on each finger, and keep going, making sure you start from the same finger each time you pull the lower loop over the upper (we started from the little finger). Eventually it’ll look like this :

finger knitting result

At some point you’ll want to cast off. Cut your wool but leave a good length on it, and thread the end through the wool on each finger. Remove the wool from the fingers and pull tight – and voila – you’ll have something which looks a bit like a large knitted bracelet!

The best thing about this is the lack of mess, and it’s something you can do quickly and easily – and you don’t need a whole ball of wool either. I picked up a knitting doll bobbin from Tiger for £3 recently so think we may make a start on that with H, see how we get on…

06/02/201304/02/2014 by jo

Dining Out at Zizzi

Sunday we were in central London and had every intention of going to Pizza Express – though we hadn’t taken into account that the Victoria Station one had been knocked down, so did a quick rethink as we didn’t want to walk too far, H was tired too.

Fortunately we found Zizzi – I’ve never eaten there before so it was a new experience for us all. We were shown to our seats quickly and served straight away – H was presented with her menu and some colouring pencils so she got straight to work doing her colouring in. I checked the iPad and they offer free Wifi via The Cloud, so was able to find a 25% off our food deal at Zizzi Deals (valid until the 13th February) – I liked we were able to do this, as we rarely plan ahead so would never have known had it not been for the free internet – and I love a good deal.

Zizzi Menu

Their menu had a good choice, especially the vegetarian options. They also had a low-calorie section (a smaller wholemeal pizza with a generous salad which came in around 14 points) and I quite liked how there were large oils on the tables – chilli oil too – my favourite!

Shaun ordered a pizza with potato on it (which looked really yummy), and H ordered a cheese and tomato one from the Bambini menu (starter, pizza or pasta and a dessert). Shaun and I had diet coke to drink and H had a juice. We ordered some dough sticks for starters.

The food came quickly and we didn’t have to wait too long – considering the restaurant was quite full we were impressed with this.

We skipped on dessert, though helped H with her two scoops of strawberry ice cream which was delicious.

After the discount, our food came in at £30 which is comparable to Pizza Express – possibly cheaper which again impressed us as we often go to the former as we know roughly what it will cost us.

Even better, with my low-calorie option I felt full for the rest of the afternoon. We’ll definitely go back!

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