Peter Rabbit Organics - New additions to the range
A couple of new products in the very popular Peter Rabbit Organics ranges to tell you about: Apple fruit puree, and Apricot and peach fruit puree. Both come in a very convenient pouch with a resealable screw top, so they are perfect for taking on the road, or even putting in a lunchbox. As with all the other Peter Rabbit foods they are certified organic and contain no preservastives or additives, no added sugar or salt and no GM ingredients. At 85p each these pouches are already proving popluar in the shop here in Tavistock and I'm sure that they will prove equally popular with our on-line customers. These pouches are obviously fashionable at the moment as later this week we will be getting our first delivery from Ella's Kitchen who use the same sort of packaging for their Smoothies and Baby foods. Check back later in the week for full details.
Advent Calenders and chocolate coins
Christmas is fast approaching and new gift ideas are arriving daily at Kiddies Kitchen HQ. The latest are two brilliant fairtrade products - the Divine Fairtrade Chocolate Advent Calender and Divine Fairtrade Chocolate Coins. Both are perfect for Christmas and I can personally vouch for the quality of the chocolate - it tastes fantastic. I can't wait until December 1 to start opening the shop's advent calendar! Both the advent calendar and the coins are being offered with free postage and packing - what better way to could there be to celebrate Christmas?
Moltex Oko Disposable Nappies
Its all change at Moltex with re-desgned nappies now becoming available. The numbers in each pack have changed slightly and the absorbent gel within the nappy is now a mixture of conventional gel and an environmentally friendly alternative. There is now also a 5th size - XL plus which is bigger than junior and fits 16-30kg. The good news is that the pricing has stayed pretty much the same so its still £29.95 for 3 packs (plus £3.95 P&P), apart from Midi's which are now £32.99 for 3 packs. Sample requests are still being filled with old-style Moltex until I get my hands on the new ones.
Thermos Kids Food Jars
I've noticed some quite active discussions about sending kids to school with hot packed lunches on the parenting sites in the last few days, particularly about whether the Cool Kidz food jars would actually keep food hot for long enough so I thought I would just share my personal experiences of using the thermos food jars. The first thing to say is: Yes! The thermos coolkidz food jar will keep food hot for up to 6 hours. You need to follow the instructions to get the best out of them, but as all this involves is filling the flask with hot water for a few minutes to take the chill off it its not so difficult. The other thing is to make sure that the food is piping hot all the way through before you put it in. This sounds obvious but at 6.30 in the morning using a microwave is not always plain sailing (at least for me!). The second thing to say is - if you want to send a hot packed lunch, don't be tempted to opt for the cool kidz snak jar instead of the full-on food jar as the snak jar only keeps hot for an hour. (its good for a cool treat though!). As so often is the case, you get what you pay for and the all-plastic snak jar is simply not thermally efficient enough to keep food hot for as long as the funtainer food jar. Size wise the funtainer food jar is about 13 cm high, 8 cm in diameter and holds 290ml, which I reckon is the equivalent of about three quarters of a tin of beans or soup. When full its going to weigh just over a pound ( about 550g at a guess). It fits really nicely into the thermos soft lunchbox (scroll down the page) with room for one of the sports bottles a snack bar and (just about) a piece of fruit. Of course if you buy a fruity face that would free up some more room in the lunchbox! Full of great suggestions, aren't I?
Frozen Organic Baby Food
We have been road testing all the Truuuly Scrumptious and MiniScoff organic frozen baby meals available from Kiddies Kitchen on nursery days, and I have to say most have been a resounding success. The staff at the nursery had never seen anything quite like it (this is Devon after all) but were very happy when I explained that they all the frozen baby meals cook from frozen in the microwave without any faffing around. We have also tried heating the food up ourselves first thing in the morning and sending it to nursery in a thermos kids food jar. This was a big success (although it does take an extra 10 minutes in the morning, which is not always a great thing). Anyone who has read my previous blogs on the subject of the thermos kids food jars, or has had to listen to me talk about them in the shop will know what a fan I am of these cool little food jars that will keep food hot for 6 hours. The thermos food jars are the perfect size for the larger scoff and truuly scrumptious meals and I think the nursery staff were quite grateful aswell! Lukes favourites have been (from the Scoff organic frozen baby food range): Fruity lamb with apricots - which is not as Morrocan as it sounds but is really a slightly fruity shepherds pie; Planet spagetti which is pasta and meatballs, and (suprisingly since his mum can't stand salmon) the creamy salmon pasta. From the Truuuly Scrumptious range of organic frozen baby food his favs have definitely been the chicken and vegetable curry (he's a chip off the old block and although we send him with a bit of Naan bread for "dip-dip" he hasn't graduated to lager and popodums yet!), and the sweetcorn chowder (again he likes a bit of a "dip-dip" with some english muffin or toast) We have the entire Scoff and Truuuly Scrumptious ranges of organic baby food available for mail order and from our shop in Tavistock, Devon. For mail order we charge £10 delivery to cover the cost of a guaranteed overnight courier and the special insulated packaging that ensure that the meals get to you in good condition. Feedback from other customers about the frozen baby meals has been equally positive.
Some boring (but useful) food storage ideas
One thing I've found since Luke arrived and started eating us out of house and home is that you can't have too many little plastic boxes, bowls or containers for keeping food fresh. So at Kiddies Kitchen we stock a good selection of just these sort of boring but useful items. (As well as many more exciting things!) Top of my list would be these little plastic bowls with lids. They are freezer, microwave and dishwasher proof and just the right size for (say) taking a few snacks out with you or freezing the unused two thirds of a tin of baked beans after teatime. They double up as a decent serving dish for soup or mashed veg as well. At 3 for £5.99 they are relatively cheap and pretty durable (we haven't split a lid yet). My next recommendations would be anything from the thermos foodstore range. We have found the 220ml, 300ml and 520ml sizes particularly good for keeping fresh those left over organix fingerfoods or breadsticks , or for sending Luke to nursery with a few treats. the bigger sizes would be good for a little lunchbox for school (particularly with some soup or hotfood taken in one or our flasks or food jars). The containers are airtight and liquid tight when sealed and again are microwave, freezer and dishwasher safe.
Fruity Faces - now with free shipping
Great news - we are now selling fruity faces for £4.95 each including postage and packaging , so you don't need to worry about a large postage charge at the checkout. These inflatable fruit cases are proving very popular indeed and Kiddies Kitchen have now made them even easier to buy! Help your child get their 5 a day witha funky fruity face!
Gingerbread house kit
Thanks to everyone who has shown an interest in the new Gingerbread House Kit - I have been very suprised by the speed and enthusiasm of your reactions. This is probably a premature warning but please be aware that the house kits are literally hand-baked (in batches of 4 houses at a time) so there is a limit on the number of last minute orders we can process. When packed the shelf life is at least 2 months so there won't be any problems with ordering now for delivery in early December for Christmas presents, or even for making it as a Christmas decoration/table centrepiece. The kit comes with pre-baked gingerbread walls and roof plus icing and sweets for decorating. Its great fun!
More frozen food now available for mail order
Just to let you all know that I have completed uploading the Truuuly Scrumptious range of organic weaning purees and baby meals, so they are now available for mail order via guaranteed overnight courier service. A £10.00 delivery charge will be added to your order when you check out to cover the cost of postage and packing.
A day out at the beach
Once again our thermos funtainer saves the day, this time on a family day out at the beach. A perfect sunny day but quite chilly (especially after having been dragged across the "woks" and into the sea by Luke), so come lunchtime we were all in need of some cockle-warming hot food. Fortunately we had set off in the morning with a thermos funtainer full of hearty Beef and Barley (Cubed beef, carrots, onions, pot barley cooked together in some stock in the oven until the beef is tender, then frozen in the pea in a pod freezer trays). There were big smiles all round as the piping hot stew slid from the funtainer into Lukes bowl and he devoured it with gusto. Followed up with a new season organic satsuma (also now in store in Tavistock) and he was soon ready for more rockpooling and wave dodging. So much easier that having to find some cafe to eat, and we didn't have to leave the beach once.
Its coming!
The nights are drawing in, the clocks will soon go back, Tavistock Goose Fair has just taken place (OK, so that won't mean a lot to some of you, but it is a big deal around here at least) which all means just one thing - Christmas is coming! And, whilst I don't want to be accused of cashing in, it does mean that I am starting to add to the website more seasonal products and gift ideas. The first of these is a fantastic traditional Gingerbread House Kit. These kits are handmade in small batches just minutes from the Kiddies Kitchen shop in Tavistock by The Gingerbread House Company and we are delighted to be able to offer them to our customers. Luke and I spent some quality time assembling and decorating one of the kits and, whilst our efforts won't win the Stirling Prize, a great time was had by all! Oh, they taste great aswell, being made from 100% natural ingredients! The kit contains everything you need to make a lovely little gingerbread house - pre-baked gingerbread slabs, plus icing and sweets to decorate the house. We are taking orders now with most deliveries starting in December, but of course if you can't wait until then just request a quicker delivery on the order form. Please note, however that because they are handmade to order delivery times could be as much as 7 days.
Fruity Faces - now in store
I'm glad to say that the first consignment of fruity faces has landed in Tavistock so we are able to send them out to those of you who placed orders after my initial announcement. Sorry it took a few days longer than expected but apparently they are quite a hot ticket at the moment. Anyway we have them now, and I have spent a fun few minutes this afternoon trying them out by bouncing organic apples around the shop. By the way, they passed the test with flying colours!
Kiddies Kitchen Recipe Library
For those of you who can visit our shop in Tavistock we have a new resource for you - the Kiddies Kitchen Recipe Library. I am gathering any recipes I see published and creating a library file in the breastfeeding corner. You are welcome to take a copy of any recipes which take your fancy (free of charge) - just leave me the original cutting so that I can keep making copies. Of course anyone who has a really good recipe to share is welcome to email it in to me and I'll post it on the blog for all to see - Anyone fancy themselves to take on Annabel Karmel?
Recipe test - Chicken Balls
This one is from Annabel Karmel. She suggests serving with pasta and a tomato sauce. We tried them as finger foods at teatime and they were a raging success! Suitable from about 9 months. The recipe makes 15 balls : 2 chicken breasts, skinned and finely chopped in a food processor for a few seconds. Half a small onion, finely chopped A handful of parsley, chopped 2 tablespoons of breadcrumbs 1 small apple peeled, cored and grated, with the juice squeezed out half an egg, beaten Oil for shallow frying Method: Mix all the ingredients for the balls together and then shape into walnut sized balls. Shallow fry until golden and then crain on kitchen towel. Verdict: 5/5 - dead simple to make, very tasty when cooked and went down a storm with Luke. We also had great success freezing the cooked chicken balls to microwave when wanted, which made them very handy for teatime with sandwiches or soup. They lost some crunch on reheating but apart from that went down just as well as when just cooked.
Frozen baby and toddler food now available to mail order
Our ranges of frozen organic baby foods and toddlers meals have proved so popular in the shop that I have invested a bit of time in getting set up to take on-line orders. This has involved getting some special packaging and cooling packs to ensure that the meals get to you in the same frozen condition as when we send them out. It also means that we have to send the packages by overnight courier service to ensure that they are with you within 24 hours. Of course this means that the postage and packing charges for frozen food have to be a bit higher than our usual £3.95/£6.50 and I have, for the time being, set a flat rate of £10.00 regardless of the order size for frozen goods. All you need to do is select the "Frozen Food" delivery option from the shipping method box. The practicalities of sending frozen food mean that someone must be in to receive the parcel, and I will call you before we despatch your order to arrange a suitable delivery day. Unfortunately the basic overnight service does not allow us to be specific about a delivery time, but for an additional £5 we can narrow that down to a.m. only. You need to select the am/pm option in shipping methods for this. Enough of the boring practicalities, the really interesting bit is the food itself and I can honestly say that I think we have the best two ranges available: Truuuly Scrumptious for weaning purees and baby meals and MiniScoff for toddlers and childrens ready meals. Both ranges are completely organic and both taste like proper food! Which is all you want really, isn't it?
OK so its not quite as great as it sounds but, as our existing customers will know, Kiddies Kitchen sell Moltex Eco-Friendly nappies. However we know it can be a bit of a leap of faith to order 40 nappies in one go without seeing them first so we thought it would be a good idea to offer a free sample so that you can see how good they really are. Its dead easy to order a free nappy - simply select the size you want and checkout as normal - the website knows you don't have to pay anything so you don't need your credit card, just enter your address details and I'll post it out to you. If you're happy then I hope you'll order your nappies from us in the future. For visitors to the shop I have now stocked up the nappy changing area with a few of each size so that you can try them out when you are changing your little ones.
New products - Fruity Faces Fruit Carrying Cases
I'm pleased to announce another new product to Kiddies Kitchen - the full range of Fuity Faces fruit carrying cases. These innovative and fun items are a great idea for kids who want to take a piece of fruit to school. The idea is that you put the fruit in the case and then inflate it in order to protect the fruit from bruising or crushing. Hey presto, come lunchtime your fruit comes out of the case in perfect condition. Made from food grade plastic (with no phthalates) they comply with all EU regulations. There are 4 different designs, all named after African fruit - a yellow on for Bananas and green blue and pink ones for round fruit. They are priced at £3.95 each. Take a look on the website and see what you think.....
Recipe test - Lamb crumble
This recipe comes from the Sainsbury's website where it was recommended as being ideal for toddlers and the whole family.
The recipe apparently serves 12-14 - we pretty much halved the amounts and had it for tea for the three of us and froze the remainder for Luke for future lunches (using our pea in the pod freezer trays, of course). I reckon there was enough for 3 or 4 of his meals left (he's nearly two).
Prep time was said to be 20 minutes but I would work on a bit more than that. You would need a huge pan to brown 1.5 kg of lamb mince in one batch and I took three batches to brown half that amount. You can chop the veg whilst waiting for the mince to brown.
Here's the ingredients list:
For the filling:
2 tablespoons of vegetable oil
1.5kg lamb mince (the recipe says frozen mince, personally I blitz lamb from my butcher in the food processor unless I can get decent mince)
2 sticks celery, diced
3 medium onions, finely chopped
2 carrots, diced
50g wholemeal flour
2 tablespoons worcestershire sauce
500ml lamb or beef stock
salt and freshly ground black pepper
For the topping:
180g wholemeal flour
150g butter, diced
150g cheshire cheese, grated
chopped thyme, a teaspoon full
chopped rosemary, a teaspoon full
instructions:
preheat the oven to 190C (gas mark 5)
heat the oil in a saucepan and fry the veg for about 5 minutes
add the lamb and cook until brown (another 5 minutes, according to the recipe)
mix in the flour, tomato puree worcestershire sauce, stock and seasonings
turn out the mixture into 2 shallow dishes
Place the flour and the butter in a bowl and rub until it resembles breadcrumbs
Add the cheese and herbs and mix thoroughly. Sprinkle over the filling and bake in the oven for 45 minutes.
Verdict:
3 out of 5. Pretty tasty, overall, especially if you use decent qualify meat not cheap watery mince. We thought that the crumble topping was a bit too short and maybe less butter would be good, but it made a nice change from mashed potato. Luke seemed to enjoy it, although his favourite bit of the meal was the baked potato. For all the benefits of cooking in big batches, this was not fun to make on this scale given the amount of mince to brown.
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