Ever since I found my bread baking mojo a few weeks ago I have been making and baking my own bread, much to Todd's delight!  The other day I tried making my own Burger buns!



Which I then adapted to use for us. We are not Vegans so using Vegan ingredients was not necessary for us.  I figured out my own non-vegan ingredients.  Also her North American measurements were quite a bit off, so I have given the proper ones here.  If you are a vegan do use her ingredients . . .


But if you are a North American, use my measurements.  They are spot on.


These are great burger buns!  They turned out beautiful and just perfect for what I wanted!  We've been enjoying them in the days since with butter and cheese and all sorts.  Yummy!


As you can see they had the perfect texture!  Just gorgeous!  I will be making these again!



Their oven baked sweet potatoes are made using the best varieties of sweet potato from the best growers of sweet potato in the world. They have been specially produced with a Gluten-Free rice flour batter. They have also discovered the best way to give you a firmer and crisp fry with a real sweet potato taste.

• Gluten Free.
• Low Saturated Fat.
• Low Salt.
• Source of Fiber.


They also sent me some Quinoa and Kale Burgers to try.  I've never been a fan of Quinoa, but I am always keen to try something new!


 The Strong Roots Kale and Quinoa Burgers are a vegan friendly, low sugar and a low saturated fat alternative for your meals. With a crisp quinoa crust, mixed vegetables and no-artificial flavours, they bake to a tasty and crisp burger, and are suitable for a variety of uses such as a starter, a side or simply as a burger in a bun!  They actually had lovely bits of carrot and edamame beans in them.


I served them on my home made buns and they were so delicious.   I added some mixed rocket/spinach and watercress leaves, some mayo and sliced tomato.



Just look at how crisp those sweet potato fries were!  I can tell you with all honesty, that these were the best frozen bake at home sweet potato fries I have ever eaten!



The Oven Baked Sweet Potato Fries and Kale & Quinoa Burgers are both available at Waitrose and the whole range which also includes the Garlic Roasted Sweet Potato Cubes and Ripened Frozen Avocado Halves are available at Whole Foods.

Strong Roots Oven Baked Sweet Potato Fries (RRP £2.99)
& Quinoa Burgers (RRP £2.99)

Many thanks to Strong Roots for sending me these products to try.  I will write about the Sweet Potato Cubes and Frozen Avocado halves on another day.  Although I have been sent these products for free, I was not required to write a positive review.  I can say with impunity, and all honesty that these are great products. I love it when that happens!  Bon Appetit!

I adore Miso Soup.  Its not something I had ever heard of when I was growing up and in fact it is only something which I have come to enjoy over the past couple of years.  Japanese in origin it is a usually composed of  a clear broth made using Miso paste and containing noodles and other bits and bobs that you love to eat.  The important parts are the broth and the noodles, after that pretty much anything goes.  I love the flavour of Miso.  Miso is a fermented Japanese soya food made using the special koji fermentation culture and different types of grains.  It usually comes in paste form.


The Yutaka range of authentic Japanese food products was introduced to the UK market in 1995. The growing range now includes ingredients for sushi, sauces, soups, rice, noodles and “easy to use” meal kits. Having been the first in the market, the brand continues to be the leading authentic Japanese range in 16 countries across Europe and the Middle East.

Tazaki Foods, the name behind the Yutaka brand, was the pioneer of Japanese food in the UK when the company opened the first Japanese restaurant in the country over 35 years ago. Since then we have been the leading supplier to the Japanese restaurants, hospitality industries and food manufacturers in the UK. It is these many years of experience in dealing with authentic, flavoursome food of the finest quality that goes into the development of every Yutaka product – demonstrating the Japanese meaning of Yutaka being “Good Harvest”.

Note - I was sent several packs of the Yutaka range of Ramen noodles for review, but was not required to post a positive review.  Any opinions are my own entirely.

Its the same delicious fruit we have always enjoyed, but it just got easier.  Easier works for me!  Hey, when you were a child did you all try to have one of the few cherries in the tin?  We did! There never seemed to be enough to go around!  That wouldn't have been a problem with this pack I opened today.  There was plenty of cherries in it.  Oh I do love me some mixed fruit with cherry in juice.  Yum!

Simply fruit in juice, is available in Slices Peaches, Mixed Fruit with Cherry, Prunes, and Pineapple Chunks.  Deliciously ripe and convenient!

They have also recently come out with resealable frozen fruit packs are available as raspberries, Tropical Gold Pineapple Chunks, Blueberries, Sliced Strawberries, Triple Berry and Tropical Mix.

These new products take the peeling, chopping and general mess out of the smoothie-making, home-baking, breakfast-prepping or just general snacking occasions. They're great!

Note - I was sent a few packs to use, but in all truth I was already using them and like them.  I was not required to write a positive review.  Any and all opinions are entirely my own.

Boostball is now rolling out across the world and has also been launched into the skies as Virgins Atlantic's protein snack of choice for their customers.  The company recently contacted me and asked me if I would like to try them.  I am always game for something new and so I said yes!

I had some fresh ravioi in the refrigerator that needed using up the other day and so I created a delicious and quick casserole that went down a real treat. I used a spinach and ricotta variety and these flavours worked very well together, but I am sure they would also work very well with a cheese or a beef ravioli.

I was recently sent a jar of Yutaka Korean Kimchi to try and I decided to put it to good use in a recipe for Kimchi Mac and Cheese that I had saved some time back.  It sounded delicious at the time and I thought it would be a great way to showcase this great product.  I was not wrong!

I recently received a new Madeleine pan and I found a lovely recipe to bake in it.  I love French Madeleines . . .  tiny little moreish shell shaped little cakes . . . rich and wonderful for dipping into hot drinks.   I wanted to do Gingerbread ones because Todd really loves Gingerbread and I found the perfect recipe here.

This recipe is adapted from one which was in the May Issue of Delicious Magazine and accredited to Middle Eastern Chef Sabrina Ghayour.  From the moment I saw it I was intrigued . . .  dark chocolate?   Pistachio nuts?  Count me in!  I love both those things!

As I write this (Saturday morning) I am expecting a big crowd of youngsters to come later on today for a BBQ.  

I recently received a voucher to try Danone's new Light & Free Greek Style Yogurt.  I was able to pick some up at my local Asda and had a choice of two flavours in that shop, raspberry or cherry.  It also comes in Blueberry, Strawberry and Peach and Passionfruit flavours.  I chose the Cherry Charmer as I have diverticulitis and need to be careful of eating anything with a lot of seeds.  Delciously thick, sumptuously creamy with fruit pieces, with 0% sugar and fat, and coming in less than 60 calories per pot!  What do you have to lose?

What I thought:

It was nice and thick and quite creamy.   There were lots of bits of cherry, and it tasted really nice and fruity.    There is a slightly flavour of the sweeteners which are used (acesulfame K, Sucralose), but its not unpleasant like some artificially sweetened things can be.  As a diabetic I have to watch any sugars and at 7.7g for each 115g (1 pot) serving it was bordering on the high side for me, but was still within acceptable levels.   I loved that it was both low in fat and calories, and it is a yogurt pot I would definitely buy.  I would really love to be able to try the blueberry and peach and passionfruit flavours, as well as the strawberry, so I will be keeping my eye out for these!

They are available at Tesco, Morrisons (although I couldn't find them at my local one in Chester), Nisa, Asda, Waitrose and Ocado.

One of the things I love most about Spring . . .  other than the fresh asparagus, rhubarb and early strawberries . . .  is the Jersey Royal New Potatoes!   The Jersey Royal was not a potato I had eaten prior to coming over to the UK, but it is a potato that I have fallen in love with and basically this is the only time of year you can find them fresh in the shops!   But just what is a Jersey Royal?

This may not look like much  . . . its just rice after all, but don't let the simplicity of it fool you into thinking it isn't very special!  This is a fabulous side dish!