WIN a Month's Supply of Piccolo Pouches

If your little ones are starting school or nursery for the first time this September, or returning for another year, you may be looking for delicious and healthy meal ideas and Piccolo is perfect! 

They provide tasty and convenient pouches which are ideal for school lunch boxes, an afternoon snack or as a dinner, saving us busy mums and dads valuable time in the kitchen.

Rhubarb and Custard Tray Bake

The last few days of glorious sunshine certainly makes me think that summer is on the way and with that in mind I've been in the kitchen whisking up a few treats that are ideal for both lunch boxes and family picnics. 

This delicious tray bake is easy to make and features a traditional flavour combo - rhubarb and custard!

Ingredients

280g Rhubarb

220g caster sugar

250g butter

3 large eggs

200g self-raising flour 

400g vanilla custard

Naturelly Jelly Juice (PLUS Your Chance To WIN)

Hopefully by now your little ones will be settled in their classes and having a great time with new friends, delicious lunch box treats and plenty of fun in the playground. If you're looking for something a little different for their pack ups, an after school snack or fuel for clubs, then it may be worth popping some Naturelly Jelly Juice into your basket when shopping to enjoy!

 

 

 

 Naturelly’s Jelly Juice is a refreshing blend of real fruit juice and gellan gum - a natural

dietary fibre (Gelatine free) – Naturelly has been designed to help keep little tummies

hydrated and fuller until meal time.  It’s the perfect fun treat for health conscious parents

with active kids.

 

• Contains no added sugar of sweeteners

• We’ve added Vitamins A, C and E

• Only 7g of fruit sugar per 100g pouch

• Only 36kcal 

• Suitable for vegetarians and those practicing religious diets

• Approved by the Coeliacs society

• School Approved

Each 100g pouch is easy to squeeze and due to the consistency there won't be any spillages! They come in three delicious flavours; Summer Fruits, Tropical Fruits and Apple & Blackberry.

 

For your chance to win 3 boxes of Naturelly Jelly Juice worth £45 you can enter via the Gleam entry form below.

The giveaway ends at 11.59pm GMT on 26th October 2015.

Leaving a comment is mandatory but there are additional entry methods available also.

Good luck!

WIN 3 Boxes of Naturelly Jelly Juice (worth £45)

 

**** Find my other giveaways here ****

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Summer Fruits and Almond Tray Bake

We baked a traditional Victoria sponge cake at the weekend and I had an idea to make a little more cake mixture and pop it into a tray to slice then serve as cubes. After a quick rummage in the cupboards I decided to use some leftover nuts for a crunchy topping and some berries from the freezer for a boost in flavour.

This was the result...

Family Festival Fun and a Bear Inspired Bento

I do love to create a little surprise for the Mini Mes to discover each day at school. 

Something to look forward to and a nice reminder that I am thinking about them and their day even though I'm not there in person.

Such a small thing like making food fun can make such a big difference to a child - I do hope that my attempts put a smile on their faces every lunch time!

I certainly enjoy creating their meals and trying to come up with imaginative new ideas for them to explore.

Today's lunch is bear themed...

For the sandwich (ham) I used 3 different sized circular cutters to create a head, snout and ears.

The snout is made from cheese and I've added eyes and a nose of raisins.

The crisps are prawn flavour Pom-Bears

The dessert is a chocolate Barny bear sponge 

I've added a cheese bear (made with a shaped cutter) and some raisins into a pot which Jamster will no doubt pretend are bear droppings and find hilarious!

I've added apple slices on bear food picks

I've also added a yogurt and orange juice in their lunch bags.

We met Barny bear at Lollibop over the summer and this themed lunch box was inspired by the great day out that we had as a family at the festival.

What inspires you when creating meals?

*This post is an entry for BritMums ‘Little Adventures Challenge’ in partnership with Barny, the bear-shaped snack providing a little discovery in every bite. Find out more about Barny here: www.barnyworld.co.uk*

Encouraging Kids To Eat (At School)

When you aren't around to encourage them to eat or when they are eager to get outside to play with friends, you may find your little one brings a lot of their packed lunch home but there are ways around that!

Over the years, 5 now since Minxy started school, I've tried various methods to ensure the Mini Mes come home having eaten properly and hopefully my tips will help ensure your little ones get the nutrients they need each day too. Children can be fussy eaters at the best of times so whether your little ones are returning to school this September or starting for the first time it's a good idea to make their food fun...

Lunch boxes

Try to pick a lunch bag that is both practical (easy to clean and stores everything inside) and interesting. Let your child choose their favourite character if possible so even when school may be slightly daunting they have a recognisable figure nearby! There is a large selection available at the Internet Gift Store, some of which come with a water bottle too, which includes Moshi Monsters, Skylanders, Hello Kitty and Jamster's favourite; Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

Notes

Leaving little messages for your loved one is a nice surprise and will let them know you are thinking of them when you aren't around. They may feel a bit home sick after a 6 week holiday so this is a lovely way to let them know what fun you can have together after their day, that you care about them or that you are proud of their achievements.

Stickers

Rewarding good behaviour doesn't have to only happen at home, you can pop a well done sticker in with their lunch too as a way to praise them - another way to encourage them to eat! If you wanted to, you could even have a miniature chart on the inside of their lunch bag which they can fill in each day once a meal is complete then give a bigger reward at the weekend!

Get them involved

I've learnt from experience that children generally eat more if they have been involved with the preparation so let them give a helping hand if they want to. Preparing lunch the night before gives them time to butter bread or arrange items nicely inside their bag without a mad morning rush.

Variation

Providing the same food day in and out isn't particularly exciting so offer different meals each day. Even if it's a salad instead of a sandwich or a wrap instead of a roll, variation will make lunch time much more appealing. Try to offer different fillings and different flavours and test out a few new ideas over the summer to see what they do and don't like in advance. Making the appearance more attractive will help too - use cutters and food picks to make a meal they can't wait to see, and hopefully eat.

 

How do you encourage your child to eat?

*Sponsored post*

Crosse & Blackwell 4Kids Jelly *Review*

Combining food with fun is the best way to encourage children to eat from my experience, so the new Crosse & Blackwell Jelly Pots were bound to please.

 

Each of the 6 flavours has a specific Toy Story character associated with it and being BIG Disney fans this immediately appealed to a rather fussy eater - Jamster!

 

 

 

The 6 flavours:

 

Mandarin in mandarin jelly

Mixed fruit in strawberry jelly

Peach in peach jelly

Apple in raspberry jelly

Peach in strawberry jelly

Pineapple in pineapple jelly

 

 

 

Each pot is 125g making it the ideal size for picnics, lunch boxes or as an after school snack and as 1 of your 5 a day it's great for the health conscious too. A spoon is included with each pot which is very handy and the lid is easy to peel off, even for younger children, so you don't need to worry that they won't be able to tuck in at nursery or school without you to assist.

 

 

 

The jelly is easy to scoop with the spoon, we didn't have any real issues with it wobbling off, and the segment sizes are perfectly proportioned with the young in mind. I was pleased with the taste, as were the Mini Mes, as they were sweet without being overpowering and you get texture from the fruit chunks. The Mini Mes favourite was the mandarin, mine was the apple and the Mr liked the pineapple most - something to suit everyone! It's great that they are low in calories too so I didn't feel guilty enjoying them myself.

 

Each pot is made with no artificial preservatives or colours and contains real fruit juice. They are suitable for vegetarians and I was really impressed by the long life on them. Ours don't expire until December so they can remain in the cupboard without worrying that they will go off in a hurry.

 

 

 

Each pot is 65p which is perhaps a little more expensive than other snacks but as they are good for you, large in size and filling plus a great way to convince the kids to eat their fruit, I would definitely buy these again.

 

You can find out more about the Cross & Blackwell range here: http://www.crosseandblackwell.co.uk/our-pantry/4kids/fruit-pots/