Festive Tea Time Treat.

With a fussy four year old to feed, quite often we find he gets bored of eating the same thing so when I spotted these in Tesco I decided to buy them to keep him interested and to offer something different to spelling with potato letters as a quick midweek meal.

They currently retail in most Tesco stores for £1.00, previously my son has enjoyed Tesco's Zoo Potato Shapes but we were not in luck on our last visit.

Contained within the bag are the following shapes:

Christmas Tree, Snowman and Star

 

The bag is 500g and claims to have approximately 4 servings, we tend to provide 2 of each shape to our son which we find enough when used as accompanying side. 

We cook in our oven Fan 200°C for approximately 20 minutes.

I was expecting them to come out a little bit more golden brown as they still looked very pale in colour but had fluffed up in size.

They were not too crunchy and the potato inside was fluffy, they seemed to go down very well with our son who enjoyed eating them and recognising what the shape was that he had been given.

Brilliant Bioskin Junior

As a mum I am always on the look out for products that can help with my son's skin. During the winter months, his skin becomes extremely dry and he suffers with itching which then leads to him drawing blood from the constant scratching.

Having tried products such as Diprobase, Oilatum and Aveeno, we have struggled to find something that doesn't cause our son additional discomfort.

Recently I came across Salcura Natural Skin Care, well to be exact the BioSkin Junior range. I received a small sample pack in the post which consisted of a trial version of their

Daily Nourishing Spray & Outbreak Rescue Cream.

The Bioskin Junior Range appealed to me as it stated it was ideal for severe skin dryness which is what the main problem is for my son. At 4 years old we had been told that it would likely improve over time and eventually be no longer problematic to him but each year we find ourselves trying to find something to deeply moisturise his skin.

The product claims to be 92% natural and no steroids which for me is important as having used steroid creams on my son previously the Doctor had advised that prolonged use was not advised so we have been desperate to find a suitable alternative.The spray was absorbed into the skin quickly and appeared to offer relief a lot quicker than other creams we had used.....so far so good.

The Outbreak cream has no limit to the amount of times that it can be applied to the skin, again an ideal solution for us knowing that we can apply it when the skin condition worsened and needed some additional soothing relief it can also be used from the age of 3 months.

Since we have started using the Bioskin Junior range there has been a reduction in the amount of itching my son has experienced and we continue to spray to ensure his skin remains moisturised, his back looks practically normal, as the cuts from scratching has disappeared.

We plan to purchase additional products and continue to use them and will also try the Bioskin Junior Bath Milk.

The Daily Nourishing Spray is available in 100ml and 250ml sized bottles retailing from £9.99 and the Outbreak Cream in 50ml and 150ml sized tubes retailing from £8.99.

I saw the light...

When it comes to coughs and colds, for me personally it is the one thing I dread getting, when my son gets poorly I feel even more helpless!

This is the 2nd time in the space of 3 weeks that my son has developed a troublesome cough which he has struggled to clear. As any mum I try anything I can to try and offer him some relief, including calpol, vicks and vicks on the feet with socks on top!

However Friday evening our son seemed to really be suffering the cough was relentless and he was so tired he just wanted to go to sleep but the cough kept disturbing him.

Then I remembered.....

The Calpol Vapour plug.

I had purchased this after a recommendation from my brother that it had worked wonders with my nephew when he had last been ill. I had bought one at the tail end of his last bout of a cough so I still had some of the refills left.

The plug acts as a nightlight whilst releasing lavender and camomile vapours into the air. The plug has a small refill that lasts for around 8 hours. It is suitable from the age of 3 months and I think that it is well worth investing in after our experience this weekend. 

As our son was bed hopping it was difficult to really know if the plug was offering any benefit as it was left in his room when he came into our room in the middle of the night so he wasn't really getting the full benefit.

Friday night we placed the plug into the main bedroom and my husband shared a bed with him. As I am currently 29 weeks pregnant we agreed it would be better if he looked after him rather than me catching the infection. After spending hours downstairs in the evening within 40-60 minutes of him being in close proximity to the plug he was settled and able to get to sleep.

The next day the cough remained and although he initially seemed much better in the morning, by late afternoon he was coughing constantly once more, we gave him a warm bath and placed vicks on his body and feet and decided to plug in the vapour plug in the living room with us all to see if that helped ease the constant coughing.We replaced the refill, which was easy to do, simply push the old one out with the new one as shown below.

 Again within the hour the coughing eased and he was able to drift off to sleep.

I genuinely believe that it was this product that helped him to breathe easier and allow him to drift off to sleep, the soothing blue nightlight is not overpoweringly bright in the room but is ideal as it is only activated when the room is dark. This for us will remain a key investment for the winter months as we had previously thought about investing in a humidifier as well as other products when in fact it seems this little plug does all we need it to.

A great product that actually works and helps to soothe your child to sleep and alleviate the troublesome symptoms caused by colds and coughs. 

The plug with 5 refills retails for approximately £6.99 and a pack of 5 refills for approximately £5.99 available in most larger supermarkets and pharmacies.

An 'Extra Special' Treat at Christmas.

Being almost 8 months pregnant and with Christmas coming up, we spent this weekend in the supermarket looking for bits for Christmas at Asda. 

Browsing the Seasonal Aisle nothing really appealed and I wanted something nice as a treat as I would be missing out on my regular Christmas treat of Brie and Alcoholic beverages. As we ventured past the bakery section there was a lady offering some samples of the Extra Special range and something new which I hadn't spotted before.

These little beauties.

Asda Extra Special Salted Caramel and Ginger Tarts

I think if I hadn't been convinced to give them a try from the sampling station then they wouldn't have been purchased. The flavour and texture had me sold from the moment they went into my mouth.

You can find these in the cake section located within the bakery, in my store there was a specific section for the Extra Special Range and we also purchased the Extra Special Italian Pandoro which I will review at a later date.

My only disappointment was that they went out of date before Christmas actually arrives! Such a shame as I would have to stock up again with a pack or two......

The small tarts are literally 2 bites but are packed with flavour the salted caramel is creamy and not too sickly, paired with the delicious crumbly pastry. The ginger is not at all powerful and you are left with a slight aftertaste of the ginger which combines perfectly with the salted caramel. The white chocolate star to top the tart adds an extra layer of flavour.

If you are following a healthy diet then these scream red on the front of the box in terms of Fats, Saturates and Sugar levels but as it's christmas if you are going to have a treat then I do highly recommend these.

So the box lasted the weekend, in my defence it does state on the box that once opened they should be consumed within 3 days so I did not want to exceed this timeframe did I!

A lovely little product from Asda that will certainly be finding its way into my basket on my next visit.

Let me know if you decide to give them a try and what you think!

Enjoy!!!