Review: Tesco Finest cheese

A couple of months ago I heard about The Orchard at Tesco, a programme that allows you to sign up for certain projects and write about them in return for free money off vouchers for you and your family/friends. The first one that I was invited to participate in was a Tesco Finest meats activity that I didn't blog about, but you may have seen me mention on Twitter or Facebook. The most recent was for Tesco Finest Cheese and given my love of cheese, I just had to sign up for it.

My welcome pack contained lots of money off vouchers so our next task was choosing which cheeses to buy. Luckily our local Tesco in Winchester has a good range to choose from and I decided to buy my two favourite cheeses - feta and buffalo mozzarella - and compare how they are against my usual brand. The first thing that struck me was the detail that had gone into the packaging complete with details about the cheese's origin.

I chose to use the salty feta in a fresh but simple salad complete with cucumber, tomato, red pepper, spinach, lettuce, lemon juice and olive oil dressing, and my favourite thing to put in salads that contain salty cheese.... Dried mint. Try it, it's gorgeous! The feta crumbled beautifully and made what is a very simple salad, utterly delicious. This would be great as a lunch with a couple of falafel or bundled into a wrap with grilled chicken and a drizzle of Greek yoghurt.

The buffalo mozzarella was meant to be used to posh up a tomato and chilli pasta bake, but I ended up eating most of it out the packet! It melted so beautifully in the mouth and had this mellow milky consistency that for people who've only had its rubbery counterpart could prove a bit strange. I enjoyed some of this mozzarella torn up along with finely chopped tomatoes and some oregano that I stirred through some couscous for a great packed lunch friendly treat.

The remaining vouchers were given to my mum who chose the Stilton and apricot log that I understand she inhaled :)

I think for the quality of the cheeses they were fairly priced as you would probably pay more in a posh deli, but it would be nice to see the range increase further.

What do you think of these types of programmes? What cheeses would you have chosen to try?

*Disclaimer: I was given money off vouchers as part of The Orchard at Tesco in order to purchase the items mentioned here, but was not required to write a positive review and all words are my own

Review: Ummah Foods halal chocolate

Everyone that knows me knows how much I love chocolate, yet despite my husband being Muslim and the amount of time I spent in a Muslim country, the concept of halal chocolate was something I had never really heard of. So when Ummah Foods offered to send me a couple of bars of its halal chocolate to try out, I jumped at the chance.

The chocolate is packaged simply, but colourfully. We were sent two bars of the milk chocolate with peanuts and looking at the bar itself, you could see it was well packed with nuts. The chocolate is halal because no alcohol or animal products were used in the product itself, the making of it and its packaging. It is this that also makes it suitable for vegetarians. But how much, if at all, did this affect the overall taste of the chocolate? Well I found the taste very smooth and surprisingly - but not in an unpleasant way - a little more bitter than usual milk chocolate. The pieces of peanut were large and added a tasty bite to the chocolate itself.

I think it is great to see more halal products coming onto the market in the UK and would certainly look at buying this product again, especially for friends or family during Ramadan or Eid. The chocolate is also available in milk chocolate with raisins, mik chocolate with raisins and peanuts, milk chocolate and 60 % dark chocolate. Availability is limited at this time, but you can visit the site here to see if there is a store near you.


Disclaimer: I was sent this chocolate in order to write a fair review and was not required to write a positive one. All words and opinions are my own.

Review: Boots Nappy Rash Spray

We've always been quite lucky when it comes to the Mini Grumpy Egyptian's bottom in that nappy rash had never really affected her. And then she began teething. So it was perfect timing when Boots sent me through their Nappy Rash Spray to try out.

Basically it does what it says on the tin and is a spray treatment rather than a cream-based one. The idea is that you don't have to rub it in, just spray and pop a new nappy on. However I had a problem with the nozzle as each time I sprayed it shot out in a stream rather than the mist that I thought would have been more appropriate. I did leave a small review on the Boots site and having read what others wrote, wonder whether or not I had a dodgy nozzle. 

It does say on the bottle that you don't need to rub the spray in as the movement of the nappy will ensure even coverage, but I didn't find that to be the case. The areas that the spray did cover seemed ok, but the parts that weren't sprayed were easily identified and a bit sore. The Mini Grumpy Egyptian didn't however seem to mind it being applied and I assume that is down to the cooling effect the spray claims to offer.

I found this to be an interesting product on paper, but not one that really worked so well in reality. I may be tempted to try it again, but will be sticking with our usual barrier cream for now. What do you use to keep the dreaded nappy rash at bay?

Disclaimer. I was send this product free of charge to review, but all opinions are my own

Review: Ewan the Dream Sheep

Sleep is like the Holy Grail for all new mums and given that I remember breaking down in tears at least once a day due to exhaustion when the Mini Grumpy Egyptian was just a couple of weeks old, it was something that I and I'm sure most mums would give almost anything for. I've always struggled to get the Mini Grumpy Egyptian to sleep well because she believes that being help by her mummy (boob in mouth preferable) is the only way a Princess should rest. Unfortunately for the little Princess in this story, mummy is going to have to go back to work and needs to have a bit of time during the day to do things other than hold a sleeping baby. Just in time, I met Ewan.

I had seen Ewan the Dream Sheep on numerous parenting sites and forums, but it seemed like a bit of a gimmick. I didn't understand how a cuddly sheep would help my baby sleep so despite umming and ahhing about it, I didn't buy it. When the Mini Grumpy Egyptian reached six months last week, I popped into my local jojo maman bebe store and they had a lucky dip going where you could get 10%, 20% or 50% off your purchases. I got 20% and after a particularly rough nights sleep decided to bring Ewan home.

Oh. My. God. I don't know what possessed me to put it off for so long. The Mini Grumpy Egyptian fell asleep while feeding as normal and as I put her into her cot, I turned Ewan on (if you will excuse the expression!) and she stayed asleep! I stood frozen for a couple of minutes expecting her to start wailing at being put down, but she just cuddled up to Ewan and slept for 3 hours. A major accomplishment.

When she woke during the night, I initially tried activating Ewan and patting her gently, but if that didn't work, a feed followed by being put back in her cot with Ewan did. Ewan plays four different sounds that all have mum's heartbeat playing in the background. The Mini Grumpy Egyptian reacts well to three of the sounds, but hates the harp one so I have to remember not to press that at 3am! Ewan also emits a red glow that admittedly I found a bit creepy at first (especially when combined with a heartbeat going on in the background), but the mini one likes it so for a good nights sleep I can suck it up! The only problem I have with Ewan is that the sounds only play for 20 minutes and sometimes the mini one needs a little longer.

I have tried using Ewan to get daytime naps a bit more organised and much to my shock the Mini Grumpy Egyptian has fallen to sleep by herself (no boob or rocking) two or three times so I'm hopeful he will help her in learning to self-sooth.

Have any of you used Ewan or do you have other sleep aids you swear by?

Disclaimer: I paid for this product myself, but found it so good I wanted to offer another positive review