Enhance (Water Flavouring) Drink

Water is good for us and but we generally don't drink enough of it. This could be due to the fact we are drinking something else such as sodas or tea/coffee or juice or because we just don't like drinking it. The main reason I fail at drinking enough water is that it can be boring.

How many times do you get a huge craving for a glass of water? Mmm water, I know I don't.

Enhance drink

We can always add diluting juice to our water but these are usually just kept at home, as they are big bottles and we stay away from water when out and about, as it can be expensive to buy.

Due to water being expensive, more of us are carrying our own bottles but this still doesn't get away from water being a unappetizing drink.

This last year I have noticed a rise in mini concentrated drinks. These little packs allow you to add a splash of flavoring to your water wherever you are.There are quite a few to choose from now.

The one I have tried is from Enhance, which I received in my last Degusta Box. It was the strawberry and kiwi flavour.

Enhance drink. Very light color and taste.

When you have a glass of water just add one squeeze of the bottle into your drink and then you have a flavoured drink. Enhance state that it is only 1 calorie per drink, so there is no need to worry about it affecting any calorie intakes.

Also Enhance are doing their bit for charity by partnering with Just a Drop water charity. Just a Drop work towards making sure people in poorer areas have clean drinking water. Enhance state that they make a donation from every bottle sold.

Overall thoughts are that the flavour is weak however it does add enough taste so you don't feel like you are just drinking water.

It's a good idea but it's not a fantastic product. I can't see me carrying one about. I have had more plain water than flavoured since I got it. It may be good if you really hate drinking just water.

Bread Meats Bread - not so sober version

Last weekend my friend and I went out for a catch up and at night ended up in Bread Meats Bread.

The food is definitely in the title. From burgers to sandwiches and melts they have you covered.

Bread Meats Bread. Chicken Burger

My friend highly recommends the place and she loved her chicken burger.

The Wolf Burger with Pastrami

I ordered The Wolf burger which is Double Bacon & Pulled Pork in BBQ sauce with tobacco onions and American cheese. Sadly, they had run out of the pulled pork, so I had it swapped for pastrami.
It was a very tasty burger. The burger was meaty yet tender and the pastrami just melted in your mouth and all together it was a great combination. Although, I will need to try The Wolf as it was intended.

The onion rings (friend's side) were good. Such big onions with a light and crisp batter.

Bread Meats Bread, Drinks and Sides

For my side, I ordered the caramelized fries, which is sweet potato fries with maple syrup and coconut and these are great. Soooo tasty. The fries had a slight crunch on the outside and were fluffy on the inside. The addition of the maple and coconut though different, worked and the sweetness cuts through the meaty burger. However if you don't have a sweet tooth they may get a bit too much for you.

Bread Meats Bread. It beat me.

The meal was great and I look forward to going again for another round, hopefully this time I'll be able to eat all my burger.

Fall Food - Pumpkin Baking

In October seeing so many pumpkins made me want to bake with them. I had never even cooked a pumpkin never mind baked with one but I had a very strong urge for some pumpkin baking and wanted to test both a pumpkin and a can of puree.

Pumpkin, fresh from the oven

Sadly, I think I had the pumpkin in the oven too long and it dried out. Thankfully I had enough puree for both baking batches.
 
I got the recipies for both of these from one of my favourite youtubers Laura Vitale from Laura in the Kitchen, check her out here; http://www.laurainthekitchen.com

The first of the baking was Pumpkin Bread.

Pumpkin Bread

This turned out well. Nice soft centre with a slight crust to the outside but overall it was tasty. I'm not a huge fan of cinnamon or ginger but this was lovely. It had a slight gingerbread taste, just in loaf form, but it was milder. I think the sweetness of the pumpkin mellowed out the strong spices. I would recommend this to anyone even people that say they don't like cinnamon just because the taste of the spices is reduced significantly.

The bread was good cold but is better warm. I would really recommend this as nice breakfast treat.

Making Cream-cheese Frosting

Pumpkin Cupcake mixture

Next was the Pumpkin Cupcakes. I loved these. They came out with such a soft light sponge and again the taste of the spices was mellowed with the pumpkin. I really enjoyed these and had to make sure other people got some or I would have eaten them all.

 Pumpkin Cupcakes

The cheese cream frosting on top may have been a bit much due to how much I added but they were treats.

Pumpkin Cupcake

Halloween may be over but Thanksgiving is still to come so there is plenty of time to still bake with pumpkin.

Frosted Pumpkin Cupcake

I wonder what I can do next?

Fall Food - Covent Garden Soup

I'll be honest I had never tried any of Covent Garden's soups but when I saw they had a limited soup of the month Pumpkin Ghoulash I needed to have it. So I bought it and the Butternut Squash & Pumpkin seed soup.

The Pumpkin Ghoulash with smoked paprika is lovely. It has a little chunk, which is exactly what I like. The taste is comforting, its a homey type of soup, lovely and warming. Perfect for this time of year. It is still available for a short time and I cant recommend it enough. I've stocked up.

The Butternut Squash & Pumpkin Seeds soup was quite watery. It was OK in taste, just quite mild. If you like a thin soup, sure give it a go but it's not one I recommend.This is one of the permanent range.

Covent Garden Soup Company have lots of options out and I am now keen to try many more.

Any recommendations?

Nando's

This is just a quick post on Nando's.

I went there recently for the first time and to be honest I was not happy with it.

We walked in and a girl came up to us and asked if we would like a table, yes we did. She sat us and got us menus and said she'd be back. Then nothing. We waited and waited a bit more and wondered what on earth we were meant to do. I had no idea it was a self serve type of thing. Why did she not ask if we had been there before or at least tell us how to order?

That being left alone really annoyed me and set me off on a mood against Nando's.

The burger I ordered was nothing special, the fries were fries and the coleslaw was horrible. We got a salad to share as a side and it was OK. It was overpowered by cucumber in my opinion.

All in all I do not get the fascination with Nando's. Can someone explain it?

Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween Everyone!

Hope you are all having a great day!


Enjoy your weekend. See you soon

Halloween Treats

Halloween Sweets

Each year in the run up to Halloween there are many treats to be had. Many products only get a Halloween theme packaging but others gain a ghoulish twist.

Fiendish Fancies

Below is what I've picked up and enjoyed so far.

Fiendish Fancies. I love these. I buy multiple boxes of these each year as they are only available in October. They have an orange flavour and taste amazing. They are not overly citrus but with the sweet sponge and cream filling, its a great combination. In my opinion the best French Fancies.

Fiendish Fancies

Milky Way Ghost - a hollow white chocolate ghost, too sickly if your not a white chocolate lover.

Smarties Pumpkin - a hallow milk chocolate pumpkin filled with mini smarties. Nice sweet treat.

Zombie guts - sweet laces in lime and cinnamon flavour. If eaten together meant to taste like cola. The cinnamon overpowers these and taints the lime but do make a slight cola taste when combined. 

Zombie Guts

Spider Chocolate - milk chocolate with popping candy. Mine was light on the poppy candy but its sorts a chocolate craving.

Scream Egg - Cream Egg with a green filling. Tastes just like the original one but its a nice change for the season.

Lindt Ghosts

Lindt ghosts - milk chocolate and hazelnut cones. These do not have any hazelnut chunks just a hazelnut taste. Think Nutella in a sold form. These are very nice and Tesco are doing these as 3 for £1.20.

Lindt Ghost

So far the treats are good however there are many more to be had. Check back here soon for some Fall Food Baking.

BBC Good Food Show

This weekend I attended the Good Food Show and it lived up to it's name. I had a great time seeing what everyone had to offer and trying new products. I decided I would pop on here and share what I got and initial thoughts on these.

Interview with Paul Hollywood

Firstly, this year I attended the Super Theater at the show. This is where you can go and see chefs cook and talk about what they do.
I chose the hour with Paul Hollywood and Mary Berry. I am a fan of both from The Great British Bake Off (more for Paul). They have a interesting dynamic together and are funny to see.

Lemon Curd Cake, Little Round Cake Company

My first purchase was a cake from The Little Round Cake Company. It had a nice light sponge but being a lemon curd cake, it lacked lemon flavour. The butter-cream was also a bit too much for me and I have a sweet tooth. Once the cake was finished I did feel a bit sick. However to be fair the cake was nice and I would try more from their range as they had lots on offer.

Seed and Bean Chocolate

My next purchase was chocolate from Seed and Bean. I tried a sample of the SeaSalt and Lime and thought it was soo good I had to buy it. It has the zesty flavour of the lime first then you get the creamy chocolate taste come in after. A combination I didn't think would be good but is. The salt isn't as prevalent as the name may suggest but rather the combining factor. It brings out the flavours and joins them together. 

Steak Pies from Cedar Cottage Country Food

The Cedar Cottage Country Food stall is one I have bought from each time I see it and I haven't been disappointed yet.  They sell great fresh items. I bought their steak pies this time and they were very tasty. They are packed with filling, lovely big chunks of beef with a good thick gravy. The pastry on top is also nice and flaky. If you prefer homemade burgers and pies try them out. If you see their apple and pork burgers, definitely give them a go.

Snowdonia Cheese

Next purchase went to Snowdonia Cheese company. This is a highly repeated purchase for me. Their Amber Mist (whiskey cheese) is divine. My favourite cheese ever. My mum and bestie don't even like whiskey but I have converted them onto this cheese. Snowdonia Cheese to me is great, from the flavours, to texture and price. I won't go on about cheese too much but these are really good (I love cheese, OK I'm done now). The other flavours I got were the Red Devil (chilli cheese) and the Black Bomber (extra mature). Both are very good but the chili certainly gives a kick. I plan to use it in a recipe soon.

Perfick Pork Sausages

Salami and Chorizo

After cheese, came sausage, lots of it. First stop was the Perfick Pork stand where I picked up two packs of 6. Black Pudding & Strawberry Jam and Mediterranean. These when sampled at show were really good. I look forward to trying them at home, freshly cooked.
The next stand was the Continental Cottage, where you got the deal of a bag of 7 for £10. I gave decided to give them ago and even though I have only tried the Chorizo, I'm happy with it. I look forward to trying each of them.

Lastly was the White's stand where they were giving out samples of their Toasted Oats. I tried the Apple and Cinamon there and it wasn't overpowering but would be a nice warming breakfast on a cold day. I decided to buy the other two flavours, Strawberry & Banana (mainly a banana taste) and Wild Fruit crunch (still to try). These are good with milk and would be great with yoghurt.

I also decided to buy their porridge. I was never a porridge fan but with a new obsession with oats and the weather getting cold, I decided to give them a go. Hope they are tasty.

The show this year was a must for any foodie fan. I recommend it and look forward to the next one.

Fall Food - Winter Squash

After the experience of the Onion Squash I knew I needed to try something again. On a recent food shop I found a 'seasonal squash' and had to have it. I'm sure you can see a theme now on anything Halloween or fall related, if not, you will. :)

I decided on a similar filling as last time but wanted a bit more of a kick. I struggle with spice but I love chorizo. When I was at the Good Food Show I managed to pick some up and what a better way to try it out. 

Winter Squash

Just like last time I cut off the top of the squash and took out all the seeds and fibers.

In a frying pan I made a quick tomato sauce. Just canned tomatoes, tomato puree, garlic powder, sugar, salt. black pepper, paprika and a couple bay leaves. I let this cook down for about fifteen minutes until most of the liquid had reduced. I then added in the chorizo for a couple minutes.

Meanwhile, in another pan I had pasta cooking and when it was done, added it to the sauce before stuffing the squash.

I then put it in the oven for 40minutes at 150C, possibly could have done with being at 160C but it's good to practice.

The outcome was good, had a pumpkin seed roll as a side to scoop up some sauce. The squash could have done with being cooked a bit more but it was nice. The squash wasn't too soft and had a natural sweetness however I think I preferred the onion squash.

I would definitely eat it again but I am now going to try and find more types of squash for a taste experiment.

Halloween Krispy Kreme

Halloween box with Bat Mask

Krispy Kreme - Choose your own dozen.

This year I properly discovered the joy of Krispy Kreme.

Before I had only tried the Original Glaze, then after visiting a store and seeing them all on offer, I had to try more. These are very tasty with such a lovely soft dough. When I heard that they do Halloween theme ones I had to try them too.

Halloween Krispy Kreme

Last Monday was day the Halloween ones were first on offer, so my friend and I drove over to a store and picked up a box.

Halloween Krispy Kreme

You get one choice for a Halloween doughnut but it could be one of two flavours. Just like the season you will either get a Trick or a Treat.

The Trick doughnut is filled with a Fizzy Lime creme. This is nice, very zesty. If you are a citrus fan you'll like it.

Halloween Krispy Kreme - Trick

The Treat doughnut is a Chocolate mouse. This is a lovely light chocolate filling. Although very tasty and my favourite of the two, it's not as different as I was hoping for. With these being limited I was hoping for something a little more special. America are getting Ghost Buster doughnuts just now as well as a Pumpkin Cheesecake doughnut. I wish we were. 

Halloween Krisy Kreme - Treat

Hopefully one day the UK will get the same types of doughnuts in our Krispy Kreme but in the mean time we can enjoy these. 

Onion Squash - Fall Food

To get further into the Fall feel I decided to try an Onion Squash.

On reading up on the gourd, it says it is best to have it baked or in a soup. So I decided to have it baked and stuffed. I read some recipes and decided on a format then went my own way with the ingredients. 

First I preheated the oven to 180C (fan) and cooked some rice and made a tomato sauce.

Rice/Mushroom Tomato Sauce

The sauce was very simple, canned tomato, basil, oregano, garlic powder, salt and black pepper. I also added some sugar and tomato puree. Usually I let it reduce and cook it slowly but since I knew it was going in the oven I put it all together and let it combine. I also like to make more than I need as then I can have it over pasta the next day.

De-seeded Onion Squash

Once the rice was nearly cooked, I chopped up some mushrooms and added them to my sauce, continued cooking until the rice was done and then mixed the rice and sauce.

For the Onion Squash, it had a quick rinse and then the top was cut off and it was hollowed out.

I placed a bit of cheddar at the bottom of the squash and then stuffed with the rice/sauce. The squash  overflowed but can you have too much filling?

Onion Squash - Pre-Oven

I replaced the top of the squash and then popped it in the oven for 40minutes.

The squash could have done with being cooked at a lower temperature maybe 160C for 45-50mins but it was good none the less.

Onion Squash - Post Oven

The squash itself was cooked well and was nice and tender. The filling was nothing fancy but it went well with the squash.

Onion Squash - Before

Onion Squash - After

Overall it was tasty as my first fall meal. It needs some tweaks but I'm sure I'll practice before the month is over.

Would you try a Baked/Stuffed Onion Squash?