Aldi waterproofs

This week from Friday 11th Aldi have a range of waterproof clothing! This is part of their "great outdoors" special buys! As per usual, it is while stocks last, so get in quick!

As a family we love camping, but I am always complaining about the cold, and wet! I do love the outdoors, but I'm not so keen on what the adverse weather of the great outdoors can bring!!

I decided to buy myself some waterproofs. Trousers and a jacket. 

I do love Aldi as their sizing is always what I need! Most shops stock 10-12 and 14-16. These always come up either too small, or too big.  But Aldi have it right for me, and what I struggle to find elsewhere, the elusive 12-14!!! Fab!!

Trousers

Jacket

The trousers - 

Price -

These cost £9.99, a bargain compared to what you would pay in the high street outdoors chains. 

The product design -

The fit/size was perfect, as I expected. 

They are not only waterproof, but windproof and breathable.

There is a zippered pocket on either side.

A reflective stripe down either side. This while being effective, actually blends into the trousers as it is grey rather than the usual glare of a bright white reflective strip!

Both waist & ankles are elasticated to keep the warmth in & wind out.

My thoughts-

As I've already said I'm chuffed with the sizing, something that actually fits me!!

I loved the dark black colour, I'd happily slip these on at camping to keep me warm & dry & not feel like I'm standing out!

The material is a little "crackly" when you walk. But you will get this with any waterproofs.

The jacket -

Price -

This cost £12.99. Again a bargain in comparison.

The product design -

There was a choice of 2 colours, I went for the pink.

As with the trousers, not only is it waterproof, but windproof and breathable.

There is a zippered pocket on either side, great to keep your hands warm.

Again, this also has the grey reflectives. This is so much nicer than the normal stand out bright ones.

The hood is adjustable.

And the bottom of the jacket can be adjusted to pull in tight around your waist, to keep the nasty mr wind out!

My thoughts -

The fit was a bit roomy when I tried it on with just a t shirt underneath. But once I'd have a jumper on, it would fit well.

I'm pleased with the pockets as I do like to put my hand in them to keep warmer.

The adjustable hood is great. I find a lot of jackets have hoods, but the slightest wind, it blows down. But I can adjust this to fit tight & keep my head/hair, wind free & dry!

And the adjustable waist is great too, to keep that wind out!

I'm really pleased with my purchases. I now have some great fitting, really useful clothing for camping. I will probably even use them here on wet/windy days as Mstr J wants to start football, and I've heard the stories of standing out on wet winding fields of a weekend!!!  Roll on the winter! Lol

Aldi haven't failed me yet again! Well done Aldi!!

Kenwood k mix km52 review

This week I was asked to review the kenwood K mix km52. To say I was excited is an understatement!  As you all know, I'm a bit of a baker, whether it be with the Mstr J or on my own, I love a bit of time in the kitchen creating delights!

The price :-

The km52 retails at roughly £400, but you can find it online for about £280.

The arrival:- 

Delivered by courier it came in a huge box! Wow! When you open it up, you realise its well packed to protect your mixer. 

Inside the box:-

When you open it up first you'll see your spatula, a little spanner for adjusting the mixer if necessary & a folder of info.  Inside the folder are some recipe cards, about half a dozen. I guess it depends what kind of baker you are. I thought these were for some quite fancy bakes. If you like that sort of thing, or want to try one out, they're great. I might try the focaccia. I think some people might like some simple sponge recipes etc. I guess the way they probably see it, is that if you're going to spend this much on a mixer, you're likely to be an avid baker & know how to make a simple sponge!! So no need to include it.

The next level below this was your attachments. The large whisk (very large), the K mixer & the dough hook. There is also something I found super handy and thought was a great attachment, a clear 'lid'. You put it on top of the bowl, to keep things from splattering out at you. It has a handy little flap so you can add ingredients while saving yourself from splatters!

Below this is the main act, the mixer itself! It weighs a ton! I found lifting it out of the box fun! But it definitely feels sturdy! This is something you buy to last, & it definitely feels like it will do just that! It has a huge 5 litre stainless steel bowl, plenty big enough for most people.

My Usage :-

Cupcakes :-

First, and an obvious choice for me, I decided to make some cupcakes. As there was no recipe card to try out, I went with my own chocolate cupcake recipe. It would also give me a good way of comparing what they normally come out like for me.

Setting up the mixer was very easy, the whisk was a simple 'insert & twist' to lock into place.

First I had to cream the butter & sugar. I found the whisk only moved around the centre of the bowl. I didn't feel like the edges were getting included, so had to keep stopping it to wipe the sides into the middle. This wasn't easy to do, as the large whisk made it difficult to get in there & get to the mixture.

I found adding the eggs difficult, I normally just break them into the bowl & mix, but you have limited space to get anything into the bowl. I even ended up dropping an egg in by accident while trying to squeeze my hands in to break it in. I would probably of been best breaking the eggs into a jug & pouring in, but this isn't how I normally do it, so was something I found difficult.  It did make mixing very easy, no hand work, or for me, electric hand whisk holding, just turn the nob & watch it whisk away!

When it was done, the mixture looked amazing. Much thicker than it usually goes. To get the bowl out, you have to raise the top of the mixer, then turn & lift bowl. I found that the whisk was so big, I had to tilt the bowl to get it out from under it. Which was fine with the small amount of mixture I had, but could be a problem with more.  Later my husband suggested a good idea, that you could unattached the whisk into the mix so you can remove bowl easily, then just lift whisk out of bowl. This would definitely make it easier.

The bake - The cakes come out perfectly flat on top, why can I never normally do that!! My husband & I both noticed a difference in the consistency. My cake normally come out quite soft & aerated. But this made for a more dense bake. This type of cake would be good for making larger cakes when baking a cake you want to stack etc. It would definitely hold the weight more.  But none the less, my recipe didn't fail & they tasted amazing.

Bread :-

I decided again to try a recipe I have done before. A good old loaf.  When I've done it myself by hand, I've struggled kneading it for so long, so I hoped the mixer would do the job for me.  I attached the dough hook.  Initially the mixture seemed to do what I found with the cakes, and sat around the sides. But I ignored it for a bit & it soon came together. I followed the rest of the recipe & left to proof over night. Baked in the morning the loaf was good. But as before, when I have made it myself, it made quite a stodgy bread that would be good for soups, but not sandwiches.  This must be the recipe.

I would definitely use the mixer again for bread as it made light work of kneading the dough for me.

Large cake :-

I decided to try 1 last bake for a birthday cake I was making. Again I used my usual recipe, but in much  larger quantities. This time, I found things much easier. As I knew where I stood & how to work around/with the machine. It made light work of a huge bowl of mixture. I even used it to make my buttercream, using the splatter guard to keep me clean from the usual icing dust cloud you get, great!!!

And as expected, the denser cake made for a great sturdy birthday cake. People loved it!

Overall facts - 

The huge bowl means you have plenty of space for the largest of mixtures.

The easy to clean ability of the whole thing is superb! The bowl literally wiped clean every time! No scrubbing, nothing.  The whisk & dough hook both wiped clean easy as anything too.

You need to get used to a different way of doing things, if you don't already pour ingredients in etc.

You can buy many attachments to add to your mixer to make it a multipurpose piece of kitchen equipment! Amazing!

Would I buy :-

Hmmmm, this is a tough one. The machine, once you get used to things, is amazing! It makes light work of anything! And if you're someone who bakes for a living, or a lot, you would love it.  I currently use a electric hand whisk, and I get by. Of course this would be great to own. But for me, who doesn't bake often enough, the price is just too much.   But if anyone is looking for something for me for Christmas ;o)

Last words :-  if you bake for a living, or very often, this is definitely for you, an awesome piece of kit that comes in numerous colours to match any living space! Even stripped!!  It's built to last. You will not be disappointed, or tired after you've used the K MIX KM52!!!

Miss Iz - cleft lip

Today I've decided to start composing a post I never thought I'd write. One about my beautiful little girl, and our 'journey'! I'm not sure I'll even post when I get to the end, but we'll see.

We found out we were pregnant with Miss Iz in Sept 2012. We'd lost a baby during pregnancy back in April, so she was a much longed for addition to our lil family.

I was monitored senseless after a premature birth with Mstr J, and losing my next.  I was on all sorts of medication & pessaries. Not a fun start to a pregnancy, but a necessary one for me. & if it was gona help me get my precious baby, I would do anything.

Other than the crazyness of medication & monitoring, everything was going pretty smoothly.  That was until my 20 week scan.  I told the scanner how we hoped for a girl to go with Mstr J. She did her job, then went to the computer. I remember thinking, 'well, tell me then'.  She came & sat down next to me & told me I was getting my little girl, I was happy, but in a millisecond I could feel that instinct of a 'but' coming my way.  She then told me from what she could see my baby girl was going to have a cleft lip & palate. I sobbed!!! I was devastated.  Not knowing what this meant for my baby I left in pieces. She booked me for an emergency scan at the hospital the next day.

I did what most of us would, & went home & googled it! Bad move! I spent the night varying from "she's fine, we can do this", to the opposite of reading things about how she would have various other problems, deformities, mental issues & be a very sick baby! I was scared to say the least. & the good old 'why me!' Came out a number of times. We'd been through hell to get Mstr J, nearly lost him a number of times. Lost our next baby, & now this!! Did I really deserve more!!!  I cried myself to sleep that night.

I took the next day off work so I could go to my appointment & get my head round things a bit.  I laid on that scanning bed almost in tears the whole time.  The scanning specialist told me how she would do a more detailed scan of her heart & brain as cleft babies often have more problems in these areas. It felt like it lasted hours & I watched every inch of movement on her face trying to gauge what she was thinking. Listening to every measurement she told the other lady, not knowing what the hell they meant, but wondering if each was a good or bad one.  Then she turned to me and said "I would like to offer you an amnio to see if there is anything else wrong with your baby, you may want to terminate the pregnancy". "WHAT" terminate?? Why? Why??  I sobbed. Then I asked her if she had seen anything while scanning that gave her concern. She said no. So I told her that there was no way I was risking losing my baby if she couldn't see anything. And I certainly wasn't going to terminate because of her cleft!!

Over the coming weeks & many more scans, they still couldn't see anything of concern to them, but told me it didn't mean there wasn't going to be anything else.  They measured the size of her cleft lip & palate & thought it would be quite large/wide.

I spent the weeks with my head all over the place. I'd go from crying days, worrying about my 'poor' baby girl. To days where I thought 'it's only a cleft, that can be fixed & she's fine inside'. I hated people calling it a 'deformity' and I still hate that word now. I asked myself all the questions under the sun. What will family think? Will people blame me? Will people think she's ugly? I'm gutted I can't breastfeed? How will I cope with comments from strangers? How will I deal with surgery? What if something goes wrong at surgery? What if she has something else wrong with her? How will I cope with feeding her? And even how would I feel? Would I find it horrible? etc? And many many more!!

I met my local cleft nurse who explained how everything would work once she was born. She provided me with a special bottle to feed her with. And she showed me pics of before & after surgery. That really helped me understand what I was dealing with. Images on google had scared me. But now, it felt real, and I could see the difference an operation could make.

Cleft lips and palates

I was still monitored for premature labour two weekly.

Through CLAPA, the cleft lip and palate charity, I was able to arrange a 4d scan for free. This was meant to help us see what our babies face would like & help us prepare ourselves a little more for birth. I don't think anything, pictures of other babies etc can ever truely prepare you, but it would definitely help a bit.  Unfortunately Miss Iz was not playing ball & decided she liked to look at my back. We couldn't really see much of her cleft.  It was nice to take Mstr J & show him that there was a baby in mummies tummy & that on the big screen was her.  He loved telling everyone after how the special camera let him see inside mummies tummy to see his baby sister!!

Miss Iz in 4d, you can just see her lip among her hiding!!

I'd be lying if I said I enjoyed my pregnancy. I spent it either worrying I would go into premature labour again, or worrying about various implications of her cleft, or what else could be wrong.

At 34 weeks I went into labour early again! Although not as early as Mstr J!  I went into triage with pains & they wanted to send me home saying they were braxton hicks!! I was in agony! I asked if I could have these pains the rest of my pregnancy as they were really bad & I wasn't sure how I'd cope. Disgruntled, the nurse said she'd get a doctor to come check me.  When the doc checked, my waters broke & I was 5cm dilated already!!  Panick stations kicked in. Miss Iz was breech, so I had about 20 doctors around me within seconds. Arranging my emergency section. I was scared. I wasn't ready, I hadn't prepared myself for my baby. Just minutes before they were sending me home with braxton hicks! What happened!!  Lying on the bed, I was freaking out, I couldn't mentally cope with the numbness.  It all flew by in at rush, and at 7.14am Miss Iz arrived. There was a scary moment of silence in the theatre as they had to help her get her breathing going, then we heard her cry. 

They brought her over and put her in my husbands arms. My god she was beautiful! I had never seen anything like it! My gorgeous baby girl looked just perfect to me! I felt relieved, the fear of how I would feel when I saw her face disappeared in an instance! And to top it off, her palate was submucous, so no need to go to nicu, she could come with mummy to the ward & be tried on bottles. As long as she coped, she could stay with mummy.

We stayed a few days while she sorted her body temperature out, but all was good.

We went back a few days later & stayed a couple of nights due to jaundice.

My baby girl a few days after we got home looking rather yellow!

I think I'll conquer the from birth story in another post as this has become quite an essay.  And Miss Iz has had quite a long rough road!  Miss Iz part 2 coming soon!

I guess my main thought in writing this was for people to understand.  Many people I'm sure have not even heard of cleft lip and palate before. And for people who are in similar positions maybe to not feel alone.  You will go through a rainbow of emotions when you find out there is/might be something wrong with your baby. But you know what, it's ok! We all have those feelings and moments. It doesn't make you a bad person for thinking of negatives. I think it's our way of preparing ourselves.

I wouldn't change my little girl for the world! She's perfect in every way! And whatever her journey may bring, the stuff we know is to come, & the stuff we don't, were in it together! My lil family! XxxX

Breakfast bake or lunch

So today I thought I'd try something new for my lunch. Yes lunch, I've called this recipe a breakfast bake, but I made it for my lunch today and it was scrummy!! Go me!

I've seen similar things made before on the tv, but since I couldn't remember a recipe, I decided to wing it with what I had & make up my own!

You'll need -

A small oven proof dish (I used a small white rectangle dish I use to make single portions of shepherds pie)

2 slices of bread

2 eggs

3 cherry tomatoes

3 bits of crispy streaky bacon

1 slice/some grated cheese

First I put oven on high. You just want a quick bake, temperature isn't paramount.

I placed 1 slice of the bread in the dish first, so it sat up the end & sides & just over half way along. Then the next slice the other end. You want to create a bowl effect with the bread. Flattening it into shape.

Next I thinly sliced the tomatoes & scattered them in.

Then the bacon. I used shop bought already crispy streaky bacon. A few slices broken into bits. Sprinkled into the bread 'bowl'.

Then I broke the 2 eggs in.

Lastly I broke up a slice of cheese & placed the bits over the top. You could always grate it on.

Now place on top shelf of oven.

Again, as I was just winging this for my lunch, I didn't time it, I just kept an eye on it for it looking like cheese had melted & eggs had cooked enough. You ideally want the yoke to be a bit soft still so you get a ooze!

When I got it out it doesn't look fancy, but I was excited to taste.

I slid it out the dish & onto my plate. Here's a picture of the result...

Well, it tasted amazing! The egg yolks oozed & the flavours were great! This would definitely make a yummy brekkie or lunch! Even Miss Iz enjoyed sharing it with mummy! She loved it & kept screeching for more!

My favourite factor is the fact you can make these as big or small as you like, ie. little kiddie sized portions!  And you can add whatever you fancy to it. Even leftovers. Some mushrooms, leftover roast potatoes, leftover chicken, anything can go.... Enjoy baking everyone!!

Aldi - Christmas in July

On Wednesday 9th July I got to attend Aldi's Christmas in July event! These events are held by companies to showcase the products & range they have coming out for Christmas! I was very excited to be asked to attend.

The event was held in a London hotel. The set up was a room by room basis. The first I entered was the homewares section. The team talked about Aldi's theory of seeing Christmas through in luxury from start to finish! Not a bad idea I think. They will be stocking luxury duvets & towels so you can wake up feeling great & starting Christmas Day with smile on your face! Luxury at a great price!

They will be selling real & fake Christmas trees this year to suit everyone tastes. They have cute reindeer planters, plants, candles, to name a few things!

My favourite in this room was the wrapping paper selection, they have something for everyone, from the luxurious looking black & gold Christmas tree design paper, cute kid designs, and my personal favourite, the Nordic designs. Lovely reindeer & tree patterns, I'll definitely be buying!

Then onto the next room. The first stand was beauty. And here's a NEWS FLASH - Aldi are going to start doing make up!!! Quality make up at bargain prices! I spent ages talking to a lady there who is a make up artist to the stars & she has added a number of the products to her box! What an accolade for Aldi! Why spend top dollar on the big names when you can get quality from Aldi! Not many brands manage to cater for my pale complexion, but she showed me a tinted moisturiser & powder that both worked great for me, I'll definitely be in there stocking up when it hits the high street!

The next stand was their weekly specials / gifts section. There's ton coming your way! Things for all the family. If you didnt get in there last year, they are bringing out another tablet! The spec has been promised to be greater than the last, but as always will keep to Aldi's great price strategy! I can't wait to see it! There was loads of tools for the men you love. And my fave, tons for the kiddies! Some awesome character pyjamas (for the Frozen fans there was a lovely set to make a little girl very happy!). And some fab character onesies! I know Mstr J will love a super hero one!  I loved the little soft dollies too. Miss Iz would love one of those!

From the first 2 rooms I was buzzing in a Christmassy excited bliss! I couldn't wait to see more of what Aldi had to offer!

The next room was the wines & spirits! Mmmmmm I couldn't wait! Most people wouldn't know the number of awards that Aldi have won for its excellent wines & spirits selection! I tried a sample of a cocktail called Cranbellini. It was not what I would have put together, but tasted scrummy! If you'd like to try it yourself you can by following the recipe below .....

The next I tried was Ballycastle! Aldi's version of baileys. It tasted lush!!! In my eyes you would never know the difference. And at only £4.29, it's a mere snip of the price of alternatives!  I also liked the look of the amaretto, I'm a big amaretto & coke fan. Only £4.99 a bottle, bargain! 

I was very lucky to meet the famous Olly Smith at the event. As not a real wine drinker I asked for him to talk me round their selection of wines & what I might enjoy! You can see from talking to him and his enthusiasm, that Olly is a big fan of Aldi wines. He suggested I try the Toro Loco rosé, at only £3.79, I'll be popping to pick one up! 

He explained how the Caversham cream sherry tasted like Christmas puddings! Im not fan of xmas pud, but at only £5.25 I will be buying a bottle for my pud loving hubby to try!

He told me about the Philippe Michel Cremant Du Jura Chardonnay (£7.29), which can stand up against others stores bottles of champers!  

The last he suggested to me was the Prosecco (£7.49). He suggested adding it to some elderflower cordial. Once we were done chatting I headed to the bar to sample it myself. True to Aldi form, it was yummy! As I said I'm not a wine drinker, but this delight will definitely be making an appearance in my home!

Aldi also have a new range of wines called the Ventura collection. These are Aldi's mid range wines, but at a mere £4.99, I call them a bargain! Worth a try if you fancy something different.

The final room was the food room! Where was hubby when u need him, he would of devoured the lot I'm sure! I spotted Jean Christophe Novelli but wimped out on talking to him! The thing that wowed me the most was the selection! I truly believe Aldi are giving other stores a real run for their money! They have it all! The luxury of five bird roasts, caviar, lobster! Down to the mini buffet items the likes of you and me would be proud to dish up to our families! Outstanding!  Talking of the buffet items, I tried my fair share! I was so impressed with the innovative creations they had come up with! I don't know about you, but I get bored of dishing up the same old spring rolls etc every time. Well, get your bottom to Aldi when they bring out their Christmas range! I got to sample duck straws, chicken pyramids, and mini Chinese steamed buns!! The likes of which I've never seen before, and I can tell you now, you will not be disappointed!

I'm feeling a little like all I'm saying is how great things tasted, but I can't lie, they really were great!

Dessert wise they have an extra special Christmas pudding coming out. Not my thing, so I didn't try it! They have some great desserts too. They have joint the trend in people wanting individual mini servings. Left in pic below. I tried the the chocolate mousse. For me it was a winner. I love chocolate (there's a shocker!), but I do find a lot of chocolate based desserts a bit rich & over kill. This was delightful! Smooth, creamy & just the right about of chocolate. Perfect in my eyes! I'll definitely be getting these, just for me! Lol. They also have the new favourite macaroons coming out. I tried a couple, & these were very tasty!

I also noticed a range of make at home cakes. I great selection. I'll definitely be trying some out with Mstr J.

I brought home some gooseberry & elderflower pies. I tried a bite & these were not for me at all. I found the flavour very odd, but hubby loved them, and destroyed the box full, so each to their own on this one.

At the end they had an example of the Christmas flower bouquet. For a mere £10 you got a huge bouquet of beautiful flowers! I just hope they can get such beautiful flowers still in season by the time it gets to Christmas.

I had such a lovely time at the event and was pretty wowed by what Aldi had to offer. I think shops like Aldi get a bad running as people see them as a bit 2nd rate & bargain shopping. But they are definitely giving their critics a swift one round the chops! They're bringing out all the stops & screaming from the roof tops, 'we're here & we can offer what other stores can & more, & all for a great wallet saving price!'  All I can say is, "go Aldi!"   

Keep an eye out for on sale dates & get to the stores! 

Skribbies - the trainers YOU design

The other day I was invited to POP at HOF.  A number of pop up stalls in House Of Fraser in Oxford street. They will be there until 26th May, so if you fancy a visit, check it out!

I was there to meet Jenny from Skribbies! A new hi-top trainer for kids!

When I walked up to the stall it looked exciting from the outset! Lots of bright colours & characters from the brand.

Skribbies are hi-top trainers kids can design themselves! They come in a choice of 3 trims, pink, blue & black with neon. The main surface of the trainers is white, ready for your child to be as creative as they possibly can. Whether it be writing their name, their favourite band, or drawing pictures! Their imagination can run wild!

While I was there, I had a play. I'm not the most imaginative of people, but here's my efforts.....

Skribbies sizes range from 10-3. I ideally wanted a 9 for Mstr J, but 10 was the smallest. I asked why, and their explanation was, that they thought parents would feel, that with smaller children, it might be hard to get across to them that they could draw on these shoes, but not anything else! I must say, I agree! I have never bought into the 'draw on yourself' or 'draw on your doll' toys, as I think exactly that, how does a small child understand when drawing on something is allowed & not!  Starting at a size 10 means they are for from roughly a 5 year old upwards. By that age, they know & can understand what is allowed.

Jenny herself said she regretted them not going up to a size 5. And again, I agree. Stopping at a 3, cuts off before you reach your 'expressive' teens, & even those adults like myself who can still fit into a child's size 5, & may of bought into the brand!

I got a size 10 in the black neon for Mstr J. In the box, they get the trainers of course. But also...... Some fun stickers that can be stuck to the trainers, or wherever they like. A pack of pens which can be used to write on their Skribbies. And a wristband/sweatband which can be worn for fashion & is great for rubbing off your designs!

The great thing about Skribbies is that nothing is permanent! When your bored of your design, or if you go wrong while drawing, you simply rub a bit, or all of it out & start again!!  The fun is endless!!

Mstr J's opinion...

Mstr J was super excited when I picked him up from school & told him what I'd got for him! His face when he opened the box was a picture! He loved the stickers & spent ages looking through them all & picking his fave & asking me which was mine. Then we checked out the pens. He was a bit disappointed that he got 2 pink pens in his lot, but no blue or red! "I don't need pink mummy, why they given me 2!".  He loved the sweat band, swaggering about the room in it stating "I'm a cool dude!". Then the trainers, his face lit up! "They're big boys ones mummy" he said!  I think his only disappointment was that him being only a size 9 still, he wouldn't fit into them yet.  We had a little play.....

My opinion.....

I think they could definitely rethink their sizing structure, and maybe go down to a 8, or at least 9 for those petite 5 year olds like Mstr J.  And of course I think they should go up to the 5, instead of stopping at a size 3!

Price wise, they were £39,99. For a mum like me who mainly shops in Tesco & Asda for Mstr J's footwear, this was a lot of money. But for parents who are used to buying in higher end footwear shops for children, like Clarkes, this price is inline.

The trainers themselves feel & look strong & long lasting. At this age children's feet don't grow as quickly, so they will last them a fair while.

The box itself with the characters & all you get is fun & exciting for kids. Who doesn't love some goodies inside.

But best of all is the trainers themselves! I think the idea of designing & redesigning over & over again your own unique trainers is fantastic! Which child wouldn't want to do that!!  I can see an army of girls in their 'I love 1D' pairs, & boys with their super hero designs etc! Awesome!

You can check out & order your Skribbies from their website...

Www.skribbies.com

Or pop along to House Of Fraser Oxford Street & visit their stand until 26th May!

Im off to play with Mstr J's Skribbies now..... Shhhhh don't tell him!!! 

Stromboli - pizza wrap! Baking with kids

Now I'm back at work part time, I try to savour every moment I can with Miss Iz & Mstr J.

So, today I decided me & Mstr J would make a dinner. I've taken a real liking to Pinterest lately, & the wonders you can find on there! I've been 'pin'ing things left right & centre!  I had a browse last night at my recent dinner pins & wondered which we could attempt! Then I spotted the Stromboli! Or as Mstr J named it when I showed him what we were going to make, the Pizza Wrap!!

There is so many versions on Pinterest that I decided to make our own dough, & wing the rest of it! My usual baking style really!!

So, I found a recipe for some dough.....

1 cup of warm water

2 & 1/4 teaspoons of yeast (roughly a sachet)

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons olive oil

2 & 1/2 to 3 & 1/2 cups plain flour

Yes this was an American recipe, so it's in cups! You can either find a converter online, or buy a cheap set of cup measures. Think mine came from a £1 shop!

So, here you go....

Put the warm water & yeast in your bowl & stir to activate it.

Then add the salt, oil & 2 & 1/2 cups of the flour.

Use your mixers dough hook to mix.  

Once all mixed together add up to 1 more cup of the flour. (Think I used slightly under & it was prob still a lil too much).  Then mix again.

Give it a nead with your hands, & cover bowl & put somewhere warm to rise for about 1 hour.

Once it was risen I actually stole a little of the dough & made some little balls to have with some garlic butter! Yummy! The rest we split in 2 to make our 2 Pizza Wraps!!

The First half we rolled out into a rough rectangle.. (Ok, not much of a rectangle, but we tried!).

Mstr J spread with our homemade sauce. This being, some ketchup, some BBQ sauce & some tomato purée mixed together.

Then I grated some cheese on top! We didn't want any bits of little finger in our wrap!

For our filling, we used some sliced chorizo & some bacon lardons. (The second one we even added some sliced thin chicken mummy found in the fridge).

Now the fun part! Rolling it!!

Mstr J loved this! You don't just roll, you lift & roll if that makes sense. If you just roll it you will push all your filling out! So lift & roll & kinda tuck it in.

When you get to the end, fold in either end & put upside down (with your rolled edge on the bottom), onto a lined baking tray.

You then repeat for your 2nd Stromboli.

2nd half of dough in the bowl.....

Once both made, cut a few lines in the top to release any air while cooking.

And in it goes. About 30 minutes at 200.

I'd spin your tray half way through so the back Stromboli is then at the front.

And...... Ta da!!! Enjoy!!

Here is a picture of the inside!!

It was very yummy!  You could do any number of different fillings. A few I saw were using pesto, mince, etc.

We all enjoyed it. I ate mine with a knife & fork, but daddy picked his up just like a Wrap & munch his way through it!