Ella's Kitchen Big Taste Menu

A couple of weeks ago I went to an event hosted by Ella's Kitchen at Food at 52 and I was rather intrigued that we were going to dine on a menu whereby we would taste food the way that our babies taste it - I was promised that the flavours would be BIG!

On arriving I met the Ella's Kitchen Team including the Ella's Kitchen founder Paul Lindley and  Taste Psychologist, Chris Lukehurst. It was a fun evening where we tasted food that had it's flavours amplified in order to replicate how food can taste to babies. I learnt that babies have three times as many taste buds in their mouths as adults, thereby making them experience flavour in a much heightened way. It explains why they react so strongly to some flavours, and pull such funny faces when they taste things that are extremely bitter or sour! The Taste Psychologist pointed out that evolution is responsible for babies avoiding bitter flavours as this would have helped them to reject anything poisonous.

As part of the Big Taste Menu we tried the following:

The Red One Lolly
Brussels Sprout Ice Cream
Cheery Chicken Roast Dinner with Stuffing
Full of Sunshine Thai Curry With Lots of Veg
Cheese and Apples Munchy Biccies
Apples & Bananas Dessert

Well it was no surprise that the Brussels Sprout one was absolutely disgusting and if you wanted to see a whole room of adults pull faces then this was the place. The flavour filled my entire mouth, it was like an invasion and it just spread. I had to quickly wash it away with water - almost a whole glass. Quite understand now a babies reluctance to tuck into the green veg!

Brussels Sprouts and Strawberries!

On the flip side the Apples and Banana dessert was absolutely delicious - the bananas were like banoffi pie, so sweet and delicious, I wished my knackered adult taste buds would give me the same banana extravaganza as babies get.

Thai Curry - HOT HOT!

In between those two totally different taste experiences the Chicken Roast dinner had lots of flavours and the Thai Curry was HOT! So sometimes when us adults try some of these pre made meals we might think that they are a bit bland but it seems that this is not the case for babies, especially with their extra taste buds that fill their entire mouths.

At the end of the evening I couldn't wait to get my photo taken in this giant highchair - I was the only one!

I came away from the evening feeling a bit like I shouldn't put too much pressure on my kids if they don't eat certain things. Celebrate the victory if they at least try something was a great piece of advice that I took away from the Taste Psychologist. Also getting an insight into how children taste things so much more than we do will help me to reset my expectations of what they will eat.

The Big Taste Menu has been unveiled to the public this weekend at The Hackney Homemade Food Market this weekend and tasters will be offered free for a trial period. Ella's Kitchen are also running a great competition on their website at the moment where you can win a year's supply of Ella's food. All you have to do is upload a photo of your little one's big taste face! http://big-taste-face.ellaskitchen.co.uk/

Thanks to Ella's Kitchen for inviting me to such an enlightening evening.

The Endless Round of School Visits

I'm nearly at the end of the seemingly endless round of school visits to potential primary schools for Isla for next year. In our borough we have to put down 6 school choices and so over the past few weeks I've been visiting the 6 nearest schools to us to get some sort of sense of order I might put them down on the form. The visits have  all been very different. Each Headteacher seems to take a different stance on how best to show parents their school. Some have favoured the method of getting the kids to show us round, which I quite liked, others the Head or Deputy Head took us round personally. Some have done a formal presentation to parents and others have been more informal and chatted to parents on their way out (I liked the formal presentation personally). 

This whole process gives the illusion that you somehow have a real choice in where your child will go to school. The likelihood of getting your first choice though when you live in a borough where the schools are heavily oversubscribed is low. I have liked aspects of all the schools I have seen over the past few weeks but there is one school that in my eyes really shone out for me and I would love for Isla to go there. The facilities were amazing, I had a good opinion of the headteacher and the children seemed happy. However it's third nearest to our house (as the crow flies), so locality is against us - which seems ridiculous as we're only 0.74 miles away from it but looking at last year the furthest they took children was 0.6 miles. Before distance is even considered priority is given to looked after children and children with medical conditions. Then you also have to factor in siblings - last year this school had 31 out of 60 places taken by little brothers and sisters. 

One thing I noticed about all the schools that I have seen is that the children are mostly very proud of their school and they are amazingly confident and articulate. I loved it when a school let the children show us around - after all they know the school best don't they and will be more candid? It really helped me to imagine Isla in a years time in her school uniform and to visualise her in the future being part of a class.

I will put my preferred school as first choice but I feel sure that we will get the one which is 2 minutes walk from our house and it's not a major problem as I did like it too. It's just that when you find somewhere that you totally fall in love with and you start to imagine your little one going there, it's hard to convince yourself that other places will be just as good. Anyway, one more school to visit and then time for the form filling and the dreadful wait until April!

Myro, the Smallest Plane in the World Apps & Audio Books

KING OF THE JUNGLE CHRISTOPHER BIGGINS TO NARRATE NEW AUDIO BOOKS & APPS SET IN AUSTRALIA

- Myro, the Smallest Plane in the World, Launches in the UK -

The Nation’s King of Pantos and I’m A Celebrity winner, Christopher Biggins is taking on a new role as narrator for a series of Children’s Audio story books and iPad story Apps set in Australia called ‘Myro, The Smallest Plane in the World’.

The series follows the adventures of a little British Microlight called Myro – mischievous, curious and prone to disaster – as he settles into his new home ‘Down Under’ in Australia. The stories have stunning images and great story lines and are packed with songs and sound effects, all brought to life by a cast of actors led by the energetic Christopher Biggins.

 

The stories of ‘Myro, The Smallest Plane in the World’ are fun, exciting and link into school curriculum themes such as Technology (Aeroplanes), Science (Australia and Animals), Literacy and Music. They also cover important social and developmental themes such as teamwork, culture, friendship and organisational skills.

Commenting on Myro, Christopher Biggins says,

“I’m very excited to be narrating Myro, The Smallest Plane in the World. I had such a great experience in the Australian jungle, and now it is time to bring my love of the country to a new generation of children.

“The main characters are often getting into and out of scrapes– and there are subtle lessons and happy endings at the end of each story, which I love. My aim is to see Myro move onto the small screen as a TV series and then into theatres as a stage play – so watch this space as like Myro, I think these exciting new productions will take off!”

Myro School’s Story Sacks and School’s Musicals are also launching up and down the country, with the first musical recently being performed in Edinburgh with 120 children on stage dressed as aeroplanes and animals.

Myro is created and published by Nick Rose, who bought a Microlight in 2004 and flew it around Australia. He then began developing the series when he realised there was a gap in the market for a quality series of children’s story books and iPad story Apps about aeroplanes that encourage children (particularly boys) to read at an early age.

What did we think of Myro?

We started with the Myro and The Jet Fighter Story App first which was pretty exciting as we've only just got an iPad and Isla is loving using the 'big phone'. I uploaded it and then we read it for the first time at bedtime. I chose to turn off the narration as I like to be the one who reads to Isla at bedtime. If she was to look at it herself then the narration is perfect and the characters all have a voice as well. I was really impressed with the illustrations, they're so bright, colourful and cheery. I also liked that on each page of the story there were these blue hotspots where you can touch them and a character will speak, Isla especially loved that. I really like how interactive it is. The story is sweet and Myro proves to be a very courageous little aeroplane. I was initially worried that a story about an aeroplane wouldn't appeal to my Barbie obsessed little girl, but I needn't have as she loved the story. At the end there are a few extras, including a bit where you can learn the phonetic alphabet.

We also received a copy of Myro Arrives in Australia Audio Book. We've listened to it once so far, but it was good because there was some recognition of Myro from the app. The car stopped being a place where I got to listen to my music or my radio shows a very long time ago, so when we have something new to listen to it's a relief, as kids LOVE repetition, Hokey Cokey 20 times anyone? I think that we'll enjoy listening to Myro and I'm sure that more Myro stories will be on someones Christmas list.... I totally agree with Biggins comments above that Myro would be great as a TV series, it's a modern day Jimbo and The Jetset!

With their gripping stories, beautiful images and irresistible characters, Myro, The Smallest Plane in the World is sure to find a place in everyone’s heart. For more information on ‘Myro, The Smallest Plane in the World’, please visit www.myro.com or become a fan of Myro’s on Facebook and on Twitter @ MyroAdventures

Launched on 30th October, the iPad / iPhone Story Apps are downloadable from the App Store, with the Audio Story Books + CDs available from Waterstones, Amazon.com and Independent Booksellers.

Willy, Poo, Bum....and Other Toddler Speak

As recently as the last month Isla has started to be a bit more cheeky and is using some words that I know she deems to be naughty as when she says them she's laughing but I know she's also testing out whether she's allowed to say them. We've had bum head, poo head and maybe even a combination of willy, poo, bum head. Inside I'm laughing my head off as I do remember doing all this with my little sister (pig bum I seem to remember as being one of my favourites...) but I'm also hoping that not too many people outside of our house get called these names. I've obviously told her that it's rude and she shouldn't say it but I guess it is par for the course. 

Another conversation that I was hit with last week was about willies. I really couldn't contain myself on this one and did end up howling with laughter:

The scene, in the bathroom, bathing Isla:

Isla: I haven’t got a willy mummy.

Me: no you haven’t

Isla: have you got a willy?

Me: no, boys have willies

Isla: does Noah have a willy?

Me: yes

Isla: does he have a big willy or a little willy?

Me: a little willy

Isla: does daddy have a willy?

Me: yes

Isla: Does daddy have a big willy or a  little willy

*lots of stifled laughs from me*

Me: I would say its medium sized……

Sorry to my OH but I *had* to share this as it is a classic! She is fascinated by our bodies and all the different bits, so I guess we've probably got a bit more of this kind of thing to come in the future!

Soft Talking Poppy Cat Review - Great Christmas Stocking Filler

I was recently sent a Soft Talking Poppy Cat for the kids to try out and for the first time since I started my blog I had a dilemma about what to do when it arrived as Noah is now a lot older and takes an interest in everything, especially things Isla is playing with. He has also developed quite a soft spot for Poppy Cat as for the last few months we've been reading a pop up Poppy Cat book at bedtime. He's not quite into TV yet so he doesn't really know her from the TV programme. I knew that Isla would assume it was hers, so I just decided to tell them they had to share. Obviously this means zilch to Noah, he doesn't understand sharing, but Isla does so I was interested to see how this went! It went something like this: 
"I'll play with it first mummy and then Noah can have it", I had to remind her after a long while that her turn was up and it was his turn now, this led to a bit of snatching on Noah's part, but on the whole I think she got the idea that it wasn't solely hers.

Back to the toy. This is part of a new small collection of Poppy Cat toys that have sprung out of the popularity of the fab animated show that's on Nick Jnr. The series is great for pre-schoolers we reviewed it here when it first came out and Isla loved it. It's based on an award winning book series by Lara Jones that has sold more than 2.5 million copies.  We were sent a 22cm plush talking Poppy Cat. She says 5 different phrases when you squeeze her tummy and is of course voiced by Joanna Page. Since Poppy Cat arrived she has mostly spent her time in Isla's clutches but when Noah does get his hands on her he loves hearing the phrases. He really does love talking toys - but funnily enough now I think about it I don't think they make many talking toys aimed at boys - he's always loved Isla's talking Dee-Li from Waybuloo and her Princess Holly talking toy.....

This Soft Talking Poppy Cat retails at £9.99 and would make an excellent stocking filler for any PC fan! Also in the range are Poppy Cat dominoes, five piece figure sets and a wind up Poppy Cat amongst other things.

For more information on the pre-school series, please visit www.poppycat.com, or become a fan of Poppy Cat on Facebook (www.facebook.com/officialpoppycat) and Twitter (www.twitter.com/PoppyCat_).

We were sent the talking Poppy Cat to review, all views are our own

Tortilla Recipe - Using Up Eggs!

We're very on-off when it comes to eggs. We all eat them but sometimes they can be easily forgotten in the fridge and I sometimes find I have eggs that need using up ASAP and I've found the best way to use them up all in one go is to make a really tasty Tortilla. I made one recently and it was so delicious that I decided to share it here:

Ingredients:

It's worth me adding that my quantities are in relation to the size of the frying pan I used and that all my judgements are really done by eye!

6 small Potatoes, cubed
Red onion, sliced
2 Garlic cloves squished and chopped
8 Eggs, beaten
Cheddar Cheese, grated
Olive oil
Seasoning

* Firstly roast cubed potatoes for 30 mins at 200 degrees
* While waiting for the potatoes to cook fry off the onion and garlic in olive oil over a medium heat for 5 minutes
* Once the potatoes are cooked remove them from the oven and add to the pan with the onions, add a bit more oil if necessary
* Spread the potatoes and onions around the pan evenly
* Whisk up the Eggs, season with salt and pepper and pour in the pan
* Heat should be Low - Medium - keep an eye on the eggs that they don't stick and keep running a palette knife round the pan
* Once it seems like the tortilla is cooking through, and becoming one big pancake style thing, sprinkle your cheese over the top and move the pan to the grill so that the top of the tortilla cooks under there
* Keep checking on the tortilla and take out from under the grill once you think the eggs are cooked through and the cheese is nicely browned - slide on to a plate and cut a nice big wedge to eat with salad!

I love this recipe, it's simple and tasty and makes a nice lunch for the family. It can be eaten warm, but is just as delicious cold. I sometimes add a few other ingredients, sliced peppers and courgettes if I've got some that need using up, if you do this then reduce the quantity of potatoes. Enjoy!

This post is an entry for the #eggmainsinminutes Linky on BritMums. For more ideas on what to do with eggs check out Main Meals in Minutes site http://www.eggrecipes.co.uk/mainmealsinminutes

 

Brother Max Carry & Hang Bear Nightlight - Review

Nightlights are great little things I think. They can help to stop fears about the dark, they can help with night time trips to the toilet or to mummy and daddy's bedroom. This one by Brother Max is also particularly cool as it changes colour, from yellow, to orange, red, pink, green and blue (you can also have it on a setting whereby the colour stays the same - whatever floats your boat I guess) . The other thing I love about it and I think is the USP - is that it can hang on the bedroom door handle and it makes it easy for holding and carrying around. I love the design and I love that it just glows - it doesn't emit masses of light - just enough to see in the dark. If fully charged it will give 12 hours of illumination. You needn't worry about the light being warm to touch either - it stays cool. And that is it really, it is a really cool product. Oh and it puts a smile on Isla's face.....

Brother Max sent us this night light to try out and all views are our own.