I’m a huge fan of Jamie Oliver, whether it’s because of his apparent love for Mediterranean-infused dishes, or his simplistic approach to elaborate meals that can be replicated by many. But, his mantra towards advocating a healthy food education for kids was what touched my heart more than anything. As a father of four children, it’s clear that he has a strong intention to involve his children in his cookery, in order to set them up with strong, lasting knowledge of good and bad food. And, he’s extended those expertise towards parents, so they can, in turn, teach their children the value of nutritious and tasty food – yes, children, healthy food can, indeed, taste good!
So, of course, I was extremely excited to review Jamie’s Italian restaurant, situated in Westfield’s Stratford City, a bustling pace full of multi-culture, and see whether his passion for great, simple and healthy food had translated to his many restaurants.
Who’s Jamie Oliver?
Born on 27 May 1975, Jamie took an early interest in food. He grew up in Essex, where his parents, Trevor and Sally, still run their own highly respected pub/restaurant, The Cricketers, in Clavering. Jamie was frequently found helping out in the kitchens where his fascination for food grew and at 16 he left school to complete his training at Westminster Catering College. After spending some time working in France, followed by a stint at Antonio Carluccio’s Neal Street Restaurant (where he first met mentor Gennaro Contaldo), Jamie joined the acclaimed River Café where he worked for three and a half years alongside Rose Gray and Ruth Rogers.
In 1997, Jamie was featured in a television documentary about the River Café. Soon after the documentary was aired, Jamie was offered his own television show and The Naked Chef was born. By the end of 2001, Jamie wanted to ‘give something back’ to the catering industry and decided to open a training restaurant for young people who were not in full time education or employment.
In 2004, motivated by the poor state of school dinners in UK schools, Jamie embarked on one of his most ambitious ventures to date. He went back to school with the aim of educating and motivating the kids and dinner ladies to enjoy cooking and eating healthy, nutritious lunches rather than processed foods that they were used to. Jamie launched a national campaign called ‘Feed Me Better’ (www.feedmebetter.com) and launched an online petition for better school meals. As a result of the 271,677 signatures on the petition, which Jamie took to 10 Downing Street on 30th March 2004, the government pledged an extra £280 million to improve the standard of school meals, to provide training for dinner ladies and equipment for schools.
Jamie Oliver is a phenomenon in the world of food and one of the world’s best-loved television personalities, as well as one of Britain’s most famous exports. Jamie has inspired people to spend more time enjoying cooking delicious food from fresh ingredients.
And, so Jamie’s Italian was born
Jamie’s Italian was founded in Oxford in 2008. Since then it has grown to more than 30 restaurants worldwide, and there are plans to build more in towns, counties and countries around the world.
Jamie’s Italian is inspired by Jamie’s passion for the Italian way of life:
“Since I was a teenager I’ve been totally besotted by the love, passion and verve for food, family and life itself that just about all Italian people have, no matter where they’re from or how rich or poor they might be. And that’s what I’m passionate about – good food for everyone, no matter what… but the thing I love most about the Italians is that somehow, although they have some of the best fashion designers and cars in the world, they’ve managed to retain a unique sense of tradition and village spirit.”
Jamie’s Italian’s menu contains authentic, rustic dishes created using tried and tested recipes. Jamie’s friend and mentor, Gennaro Contaldo, has added substance to what is now the essence of Jamie’s Italian – tradition combined with current, innovative ideas and a Jamie twist.
The ingredients used are sourced from producers, both in Italy and around the UK, and the staff are trained to have a thorough knowledge of all the dishes served at Jamie’s Italian. The restaurant is designed to be accessible and affordable, where everyone feels welcomed and comfortable, no matter the time of day. Each restaurant is uniquely designed to incorporate the history of the building and personality of the city, as well as creating an environment where the focus is on exceptional food, good company and the relaxed conviviality of the “Italian table.”
Jamie’s Italian’s Website and Social Networking Sites:
Considering we live at the other end of London (North West), we figured it was going to be a long drive to Stratford City, but it was only a 50 minute journey by car, despite the heavy traffic. We initially struggled to find Jamie’s Italian restaurant, which was actually situated outside of Westfield’s centre, in the food court, and we had to walk around a little bit before we found the restaurant tucked away in the corner, opposite John Lewis’ large store.
As soon as we entered Jamie’s Italian restaurant, the rustic Mediterranean atmosphere was overcoming. The building is decorated with authentic Italian hams and other various condiments and the wooden flooring and glass frontage of the restaurant allows you to get away from the hustle and bustle of Westfield and relax by the window or alfresco in the Four Dials square in front of the restaurant. We were directed to sit in the middle of the restaurant downstairs, with easy access to the disabled toilet.
After a few hiccups with the booking reservation, which was quickly sorted out, we were handed our menus, including two 3D Image Binoculars for the kids that displayed the kids’ menu inside and some crayons, complete with colouring in sheets of paper (which hubby took a particular interest in).
We had lots of fun choosing the kids’ meals and we ended up ordering the following:
For the Kids
Nutritional and Meal Information
Price
For the Parents
Nutritional Information
Price
Starters
Artisan Italian Breads
308.6 Calories –Suitable for Vegetarians and Vegans
Homemade rosemary focaccia, sourdough, music bread & grissini with olive oil, balsamic & sun-dried tomato & olive tapenade.
£3.85
Main Meal
Spaghetti Bolognese
The old-school sauce made with beef and pork, tossed in homemade spaghetti.
£5.95
Superfood Salad with grilled chicken
367.7 / 502.1 calories – suitable for vegetarians and Gluten free.Avocado, fennel, garden leaves, shredded asparagus & courgettes with candied beets, cime di rapa & a mix of grains, shoots, nuts & seeds. Served with smashed cannellini bean, hummus, cottage cheese & fennel blossom harissa.
£13.95
Mini Sliders
Organic chicken & beef patties with soft lettuce and a tomato, served in a seeded bun with baked crinkle-cut wedges.
£5.95
The Jamie’s Italian Burger with chips
1033 calories – contains sesame, Milk, Egg, Gluten, Wheat, Lactose and Chilli. Suitable for gluten free if served without the burger bun.Prime British chuck & flank steak with smoked mozzarella, mortadella, balsamic onions, tomato, pickles & chillies.
£13.45
Chicken Lollipops
Three free-range organic chicken fillets, chargrilled & served with a lemony yoghurt, crunchy mixed seeds & baked crinkle-cut wedges.
The boys were apparently very hungry, so we decided to order three kids’ meals (the Spaghetti Bolognese, Mini Sliders and Chicken Lollipops) and share the third amongst ourselves in case the boys couldn’t eat it. The waiter was fantastic, offering healthy and attractive options for the boys and even adding on a little extra service, kindly informing us that the apple juices were free and that the boys would love the selection of breads – and so we went for that. The drinks were brought on first and the boys downed their apple juices, not listening to us parents warning them that they’d be full before dinner or that they’d have nothing to drink during their meal. The apple juice tasted fresh, but sweet and we considered ordering them another, but we thought better of it. I tucked my Limonata away, knowing full well the boys would drink it anyway, and enjoyed my Prosecco with a raspberry inside – it was quite strong!
Artisan Italian Breads, £3.85 (Starters)
We opted for the Artisan Italian Breads selection for starters, which were fresh and delicious and garnished with lemon juice, garlic and rosemary. There were a wide variety of breads displayed next to our table and Aron kept calling on the waiter to have him deliver the ’round’ bread on show. The waiter was very patient and calmly explained that they were just on display and that the Artisan Italian Breads they had ordered were much tastier. Six points to the waiter who had managed to steer Aron away, so that he could concentrate on his own starter, which he thoroughly enjoyed. I managed to try out a little bit of all of them and the soft bread went perfectly with the olive oil and balsamic vinegar, a pair that I’ve always lovingly complemented with my toasted bread in the mornings.
We had about a fifteen minute wait before the main meals arrived, which all came at once, and we were pleasantly surprised at the amount of food that we were provided on the dishes. I thought to myself that there was no way the boys could finish all of their three meals, but, boy, was I wrong!
(From top left to bottom right – The Jamie’s Italian Burger with Chips, Superfood Salad with Grilled Chicken, Posh Chips, Side Salad, Aidan tucking into his Mini Sliders, Grilled Chicken from the Chicken Lollipops Kids’ Meal, Mini Sliders, Mini Sliders Pattie, Aron enjoying Spaghetti Bolognese).
The Superfood Salad with Grilled Chicken, £13.95 (Main Dish)
Being Mediterranean myself, the food suited me to a T. The Superfood Salad was simply amazing and actually filled me up completely. The grilled chicken complemented the zesty salad and the avocado balanced the overall taste of the dish perfectly. I even struggled to complete the meal as I was quite comfortably stuffed. I don’t think I’ve ever been ‘full’ on a salad at a restaurant before. If I could feel this satisfied after a meal like the Superfood Salad – the healthiest main meal on the menu – then Jamie’s Superfood Salad is real nutritional value for money in my eyes.
The Jamie’s Italian Burger with Chips, £13.45 (Main Dish)
Hubby really tucked into his burger and chips and commented that the meal had a real home-made feel to it. The burger contained less salt and the meat was juicy. But, hubby mentioned that he struggled to understand why the burger was sitting on a paper napkin, which he cut into and almost ate a few times. I mentioned that it was probably the restaurant’s way of minimising the cleaning job afterwards and that the napkin kept the wooden platter clean. Hubby was unimpressed with this notion…
Aron’s Spaghetti Bolognese, £5.95 (Kids Meal)
Aron has always been a huge fan of Spaghetti Bolognese, despite not being a meat eater. It’s been the only way I can get meat into his diet at home, so I thought it was the safest option on the menu. I pictured a small dish with a few bits of spaghetti and a little bit of meat being brought out, so ordering the third kids meal was originally meant for Aron in mind. But, when the waiter brought over a large bowl of spaghetti, I thought that it was the perfect size for Aron’s large appetite. I snuck in a taste of the Spaghetti Bolognese and I found it to be slightly bland, but Aron polished the whole meal and even asked for seconds (see!) I offered him some of Aidan’s Chicken Lollipops, but he insisted on eating hubby’s leftover bread and the buns left on Aidan’s Mini Slider patties. Jamie’s Spag Bol had passed the ‘Aron Taste Test’ and scored a huge thumbs up from hubby and I.
Aidan’s Mini Sliders, £5.95 (Kids Meal)
Aidan took great enjoyment in tucking into the meat inside the patties. He left the buns to Aron as he’s not much of a bread eater (sometimes I wish I could marry the two boys’ protein and carbs preference to create one perfect appetite). The dish was presented really well with a cute ‘Jamie’s Italian’ flag skewing the patties to keep them upright. The meat was well cooked and the chips were gorgeous – soft and not greasy. Aidan even tried the Balsamic/olive oil sauce and enjoyed it – he is a true Mediterranean.
Aidan’s Chicken Lollipops, £5.95 (Kids Meal)
When I say Aidan is a chicken fiend, I mean that Aidan would choose chicken over chocolate (perhaps not ice cream). Aidan would meticulously pick out all the chicken bits in some of the meals I make at home and give the rest of the meal to Aron. So, it is but a mere understatement that Chicken Lollipops were the perfect choice for Aidan on the menu.
True to form, Aidan took his time carefully nibbling at the skewers to ensure none went to waste and when asked if I could try some, he pushed his patties at me. So, unfortunately I never got the chance to try the chicken, which did look tender, but cooked well. However, if Aidan had managed to easily polish off his four skewers of chicken, then the Chicken Lollipops were, no doubt, a success, even if they were being lovingly received by a loyal chicken fan. Four thumbs up from Hubby and I.
Dessert
After the meals were devoured, I thought that there was no way the boys had the stomach for dessert, but as soon as the waiter asked whether we wanted to see the dessert menu, the boys shouted in unison, ‘yes’. So, we were going to get dessert. We all chose quite quickly (I’m a sucker for Tiramisu, hubby loves the indulgent Epic Brownie and the boys always pick ice cream (chocolate for Aron and vanilla for Aidan). We waited quite a while for the dessert, so the boys decided to entertain themselves with a Uri Gellar trick – balancing a metal spoon on their nose. We were surprised that Aron could actually do this and wondered whether he had Uri Gellar’s magical touch.
The desserts finally came and we tucked into our sweet dishes.
Tiramisu, £5.25 (Dessert)
I absolutely loved the Tiramisu, although it wasn’t presented as beautifully – just a slice of cake thrown onto the plate. The coffee flavour complemented the alcoholic twist and the dessert tasted authentic. Tiramisu has always been my chosen dessert at restaurants and, although, the Tiramisu had a lovely rich flavour, it wasn’t the best I’d ever tasted. The dessert could afford a little more softness to the sponge and the other flavours were masked by the strong coffee and alcohol. But, still a nice dessert to enjoy with a creamy Cappuccino.
Epic Homemade Brownie, £5.25 (Dessert)
Hubby mentioned that his Epic Brownie was super rich, but he still managed to eat some before the boys took over and ate the rest. I managed to catch a taste too and I did really like the addition of the caramelised amaretti popcorn that offered a lovely crunch to the pudding. But, it was also too rich for me, the sweetness of the chocolate was too much for hubby and I. I couldn’t offer any of my Tiramisu to the boys because of its alcohol content, so hubby had kindly donated the rest of his dessert to the boys and they welcomed it after their unenthusiastic approaches to their ice creams.
Chocolate and Vanilla Ice Cream, £0.50p each (Kids’ Dessert)
I was a little disappointed with the boys’ ice cream and for 50p I shouldn’t have expected much more. I couldn’t understand why the one scoop of ice cream was offered with a large tablespoon in an ugly metallic bowl. They looked so second rate to our lovely adult desserts. Nevertheless, it’s ice cream and the boys did their best to enjoy every morsel. Naturally, they asked for more, but seeing how they demolished hubby’s Brownie, we thought that was quite enough sugar for them in one afternoon.
With all the dishes cleaned off the plate, hubby and I thought Jamie’s food was a raging success. Not only did we manage to get the boys to eat all of their food, but they shared three whole kids’ meals and felt satisfied, with nicely stuffed tummies full of healthy goodness. I was very impressed that they liked Jamie’s food and I was sure that we would be returning again as a treat for the kids.
What did I like most about Jamie’s Italian Restaurant?
The wait service was friendly and efficient, and the waiting staff were easily accessible. Our personal waiter was particularly attentive and helpful, offering us alternative options and advice on the menu that he believed the boys would like and we had a lovely chat after the meal about blogging and healthy food in general.
The restaurant’s main toilets are upstairs and round the back, which is quite far away. But, we were seated opposite the disabled toilet, which was only a few yards away. This was perfect for the boys and I wondered whether it was a conscious decision to seat us by the disabled toilet, so that we had easy access. It definitely came in handy after the copious amounts of liquid Aron had consumed during that lunch.
What to watch out for:
Ingesting paper napkins during your meal and choosing your dessert because if you’re going to order your children the 50p ice cream, they will certainly be tucking into your dessert too. On the flipside, it is probably the amount of ice cream I would offer to my boys at home too because you don’t want them to take so much sugar in. So, either hide your dessert or be prepared to give some of it away.
Other points to note:
We gave the boys a hearty breakfast and then no snacks at all until we got to Jamie’s Italian at 2.30pm. So, perhaps, the trick is to stave off food for just a few extra hours to ensure children eat most, if not, all of their food in order to increase chances of happy, full tummies after a great meal.
Rating:
5 out of 5 – Even though there were a few minor grievances, both hubby and I found Jamie’s Italian to be a huge success for the boys, who happily ate all three of their meals. The dishes were healthy, simple and delicious and the restaurant managed to emit a lovely calm and homely atmosphere, as we didn’t experience any complaints or tantrums from the boys. A very lovely and healthy day out with the kids – we will definitely come back for more.
*Motherhood Diaries was offered a £50 voucher to review Jamie’s Italian restaurant in Westfield’s Stratford City, whilst the children ate for free. The post about the restaurant has been 100% written by Motherhood Diaries and the opinions and statements are 100% our own.*
Organix No Junk Lunchboxes Campaign – Join us and say ‘no’ to junk in children’s food.
Children need sustenance to grow properly and excel in life and more parents are jumping on the bandwagon to ensure that children have a healthy and balanced diet from as early an age as possible. However, a survey of mums across the UK, to mark the launch of Organix’s No Junk Challenge Lunchbox Campaign, revealed that over 8 out of 10 mums believe that children’s food options marketed at parents for lunch boxes are often unhealthy, or of limited nutritional value. 87% of fed up mums think the food industry need to provide healthy nutritious food for children and a whopping 97% of parents say that they want to have more healthy options for lunchboxes for their children.
Organix launched the ‘No Junk’ challenge, a campaign to encourage parents to look into fresh natural ingredients and to challenge the food industry to remove the ‘junk’ from children’s food. The No Junk Challenge aims to offer parents advice on how to read ingredients on the back of packets and identify the dirty dozen. These are:
Peaches
Apples
Sweet Bell Peppers
Celery
Nectarines
Strawberries
Cherries
Pears
Grapes (Imported)
Spinach
Lettuce
Potatoes
(Image taken from www.greenhousepr.co.uk.)
Facts about children’s food
The ‘No Junk’ campaign responds to what is found in children’s food:
Official statistics show that one in five children starting school are overweight or obese.
Children’s food brands making health claims are found to be higher in salt, fat and sugar.
Artificial additives are widely used to disguise cheap ingredients.
Nearly half of the best-selling brands are high in fat, salt and sugar (HFSS).
“We know it’s not always easy to make good food choices. So, the Organix No Junk Challenge, with the help of blogger supporters and experts, like the Lunchbox Doctor, aim to help and inspire families to use real ingredients and to try to avoid foods with artificial colourings and flavourings, or foods high in added salt, fat and sugar. Statistically, one of the hardest elements of a nutritionally balanced lunchbox for parents is the veg portion…. Just 1 out of 10 lunchboxes has a vegetable portion in it.” Organix Managing Director, Anna Rosier.
It’s tough as busy parents to fit in being able to provide the best possible nutrition for your children. With tons of media from various sources advertising their brands heavily as decent children’s food, crossed with a busy parent’s daily lifestyle, finding the precious time to shop regularly to maintain children’s 5-a-day portions of fruit and veg can become a challenge. 61% of parents find it difficult to keep lunchboxes varied and interested. So, Motherhood Diaries has teamed up with Organix, the UK’s pioneering food brand, to come up with 5 days’ worth of healthy lunchboxes that are quick and easy to make, yet provide the vital building blocks for children to excel at school, as well as adopt a healthy approach and lifestyle to eating in general. 57% of parents say they need more advice on what should go into a child’s lunchbox, so here is 5 days’ worth of lunchboxes made from one bona fide parent with little time and amateur kitchen tools and skills.
Day 1, Monday
Food
Benefits
Banana
“A banana a day should keep the doctor away,” is the adage that all people should be chanting because a banana’s health benefits far outweigh those of the apple. One banana contains more vitamins and nutrients than their fruit counterparts.
2 x as many carbohydrates as an apple
5 x as much Vitamin A and iron
3 x as much phosphorus
Bananas provide energy because of the abundance of vitamins and minerals they pack – perfect for busy bees at school!
Rich in potassium and natural sugars – potassium is vital for performance and helps the body’s circulatory system deliver oxygen to the brain.
Bananas promote bowel health – Bananas contain fibre and can help stop constipation.
Banana is a “super food” that should form an integral part of a healthy daily regimen.
Bananas contain a chemical called tryptophan which contains a level of protein that helps the mind relax so you feel happier.
2 x as much protein (13 to 20g) as regular yoghurt (5 to 10g). The extra protein leaves kids feeling full and satisfied.
50% less sodium, which means much less salt added to your child’s daily food diet.
Easy to digest because it has less lactose (the sugar in dairy that can sometimes upset kid’s stomachs, i.e. lactose intolerance).
Contains probiotics, which are live bacteria that help improve digestive function and the immune system. Can help reduce side effects of antibiotic treatments.
Greek yoghurt is versatile and can go with many savoury and sweet ingredients. Children love sweet yoghurt and so Greek yoghurt can be complemented with sweet fruits like berries. Add a drop of Manuka Honey and you’ve created a super healthy dessert as a lunchbox treat.
Organix No Junk Pork, Leek & Feta Cheese Sausage Rolls
Pork contains Vitamin B12, which are key nutrients kids need for proper growth and development. Vitamin B12 supports the proper formation of red blood cells and promotes normal brain function.
Helps your child turn food into energy. Children aged 8 and younger require 0.9 and 1.2 micrograms (mg) of vitamin B12 per day. Older children require between 1.8 and 2.4mg a day.
Meat is high in iron, which means there’s less chance of children getting tired and/or feeling anaemic. Younger children need between 7 and 10mg of iron per day.
High in Zinc, an essential mineral that keeps kids’ immune systems working properly and aids in wound healing. Zinc also enables kids to taste and smell properly.
High in protein, which supports normal growth and helps kids maintain a healthy weight.
Leeks are about 90% water, contain dietary fibre, minerals, vitamins A (great for immune system, skin and vision), C (great for cell regeneration, organ health and wound healing) and K (promotes wound healing and building strong bones). Leeks also contain folate and some amounts of the vitamin B complex (B1, B2, B3 and B6), which is great for overall body health.
Feta cheese is high in calcium and contains nearly 140mg, making it one of the best dietary sources essential for healthy development of bones and teeth.
Carrots have a sweet, crunchy taste that kids love.
Carrots are good sources of vitamin B1, B2, B6 and K, biotin fibre, potassium and thiamine.
Improves vision – Carrots contain vitamin A, which the eye needs to function properly, especially at night.
Strong cleansing properties, which can nourish the skin.
Helps to clean teeth after meals, by triggering a lot of salivae that helps to take away stains from the teeth and gums. The minerals in carrots can also help kill germs and prevent tooth damage.
Can be accompanied with a healthy dip like the Greek Yoghurt.
Information and statistics taken from www.healthonlinezine.info.)
Day 2, Tuesday
Food
Benefits
Organix No Junk Sweet Potato, Leek & Goat’s Cheese Mini Quiches
Sweet potatoes are high in vitamin A and C, which is great for vision and the immune system.
Sweet potatoes also contain potassium which helps the heart and muscles to work better.
Sweet potatoes are high in fibre, which is important for the stomach and intestines.
Goat’s Cheese is high in calcium, low in fat and cholesterol, low in sodium and contains a sufficient amount of protein, vitamins and minerals.
The Organix Mini Quiches pack all of the above goodness in one bite-sized, cupcake-sized snack and can provide an interesting alternative to the bog-standard lunch staple, the sandwich.
Salmon is nutrient dense and an excellent source of high-quality protein, vitamins and minerals (including potassium, selenium and vitamin B12).
Salmon is high in omega-3 fatty acids, which contribute to a healthy functioning of the brain, heart, joints and the general body.
Seasonal leaves are high in fibre which prevent constipation and lower cholesterol levels. Kids can feel fuller after lunch.
Frequently eating greens will result in higher blood levels and powerful antioxidants including vitamin C and E, folic acid, lycopene and alpha- and beta-carotene, which help protect the body from damage caused by free radicals.
Sweetcorn is a very popular vegetable because of its sweet flavour.
Sweetcorn is a great source of vitamin B1, B5, C, phosphorus, manganese, folate and dietary fibre.
Organix No Junk Mini Pepper & Sweetcorn Tarts are a calcium-enriched, sweet and savoury snack, which can increase children’s palates and provide a healthy, but filling side, packed full of yummy veg.
Pasta salad with Crème Fraiche and Mixed Vegetables
Add some mixed vegetables of your choice and your children can enjoy a healthy and tasty pasta salad packed full of nutrients.
Pasta provides beneficial carbohydrates, which is a primary source of fuel for a child’s body. Whole-wheat pasta also provides a considerable amount of dietary fibre.
Pasta also contains selenium, manganese, folate (vitamin B9) and Carotenoids, which protect cells and regulates blood sugar.
Pasta is versatile and can go with almost any food ingredient. A variety of pasta dishes can be offered to children as part of their healthy ‘no junk’ lunchboxes.
Mixing vegetable into the pasta salads provides hidden nutrients and overall general wellbeing.
Cucumber Sticks
Cucumbers are known to be one of the best foods for a child’s overall health and rehydrates the body, as well as replenishes daily vitamins.
Cucumbers are 95% water and their skin can be used for skin irritations and sunburns.
Cucumbers have anti-inflammatory properties to help reduce puffiness and relieve bad breath.
Red Grapes
Grapes are sweet, which is why kids love them as a snack in their lunchbox.
Grapes are high in vitamin C, potassium and calcium, making them a great nutrient source, contributing to growth and repair of tissues in the body and aiding heart function and food digestion. Calcium is a critical part of a child’s daily diet, so complementing the sweet snack with some cheddar cheese could help boost their calcium intake.
Parmesan Cheese
Kids love finger food and providing them with grated cheese can offer them great enjoyment during meals.
Parmesan cheese is packed with protein, enabling the body to repair and maintain itself.
Rich in calcium, which is essential for proper growth and development.
Vitamin A rich, aiding good vision, particularly at night.
Grapes and cheese have been a well-known pair for a long time and offering them as a double snack for your children will enable them to open up their delicate palates and expand their knowledge on combinations of foods that go well together.
See above for more information on the benefits of the banana
Organix No Junk Pork, Leek & Feta Cheese Sausage Rolls
See above for more information on the Organix No Junk Pork, Leek & Feta Cheese Sausage Rolls.
Home-made sausage rolls offer a healthy alternative to meat-based products, by mixing almost any healthy ingredient into the minced meat that you create for the filling.
Sandwiches are one of the most common items in every child’s lunchbox due to its versatility, power-giving and nutritional benefits.
There are tons of different fillings you can add to any sandwich, but the nutrient-rich Salmon Cream Cheese and Seasonal leaves sandwich, coupled with the goodness of brown bread will provide your child with a healthy lunched, packed full of vitamins and minerals for their general wellbeing.
Salmon can be cooked in minutes and the cream cheese adds a nice cheesy flavour, which kids love. Shred the leaves if your child is not interested in/doesn’t like salad.
Tomato
Tomatoes are full of vitamins, including vitamins A, C and E.
They also contain flavonoids, which are natural anti-inflammatories, potassium and other salts.
Contain a high volume of water and provides additional hydrating benefits in a child’s lunchbox.
The antioxidant, Lycopene, removes free radicals that can harm children’s body cells.
Kids also love tomatoes, and they’re a lovely juicy snack to eat during lunchtimes.
Added as a special treat for a great source of calcium.
All lunchbox options are offered with water or milk. There are lots of other ways you could dress up a child’s lunchbox by chopping and changing all the healthy ingredients you have at home. If you have a little more time spare, you could use a biscuit cutter to cut the food into little shapes, like stars or fish.
Eats Amazing’s Top Tips for Making Lunchboxes fun:
Cut sandwiches into fun shapes with cookie cutters or a sharp knife. Don’t waste those crusts though – whizz them up to make bread crumbs and freeze until you need them.
For the fruity couscous, I packed it with some added side dishes to make a simple star-themed lunch. I cut tiny stars from raw carrot and sprinkled them over the top of the couscous. On the side I added half an apple with a star cut from the skin to decorate (dip any cut surfaces of apple in orange or lemon juice to prevent browning), stars cut from cheddar cheese and a few more raw carrot stars. I used a reusable silicone cupcake case to hold the portion of cheese, which also added an extra splash of colour to the lunch box. All of the star shapes were cut out using a mini cutter, but a small sharp knife would do the same job.
Use reusable silicone cupcake or muffin cases to hold smaller pieces of food. They’ll help with portion control and add a bright splash of extra colour to your lunch.
Food on a stick is always a hit with children! Try making sandwich ‘kebabs’ with pieces of bread, ham, cheese, cherry tomatoes and crunchy veggies like peppers or cucumber, or use brightly coloured fruit to make a rainbow.
Keep your lunches interesting by varying the contents as much as possible. Write a list of all the foods your children will eat (plus a few new ones for them to try!) and stick it to the fridge for inspiration when you’ve run out of ideas.
Try occasionally swapping sandwiches for pasta, rice or couscous salads. Add shredded meat, veggies and fruit in as many different colours as possible to make it a rainbow salad!
With a bit of imagination, you can turn your leftovers into fun and creative lunches. Turn a jacket potato half into a fun boat with a cocktail stick and ham sail, add pairs of eyes cut from cheese to a pasta salad or cut fun shapes from crunchy veggies such as carrots and peppers and hide them in leftover rice to make an edible treasure hunt!
Top Ten Tips for No Junk Lunchboxes by the Lunchbox Doctor
Provide water rather than fruit juice or squash in your child’s lunchbox. Try adding real fruit to the water for something different e.g. lemon or strawberries. Keep cool with ice-cubes added at the start of the day or freeze the water overnight.
Sweeten natural yoghurt with fruit/fruit purée instead of buying already sweetened yoghurt.
Wholegrain crackers or oatcakes will keep your child going for longer than white bread. Try serving with cheese and grapes or tuna and cucumber.
Calcium is important in kids’ lunchboxes. Include cubes of cheese or yoghurt, and seeds and green veg are also great sources of calcium. Try adding pesto to sandwiches or pasta salad for added calcium.
Protein helps build and repair bodies and comes from animal sources, such as meat, fish and eggs, and plant sources such as pulses and lentils. Include a variety in lunchboxes. For example a hummus dip one day, a boiled egg the next, then a tuna sandwich and a chicken drumstick the day after. You can add an ice pack to keep this cool.
A healthy lunchbox can include salad vegetables as they are but also baked foods with vegetables included, such as sweet potato muffins.
Mini versions of vegetables are great with children – baby beetroots, mini sweetcorn, cherry tomatoes. The size difference is sometimes enough to keep children intrigued.
Soup – add lentils for thickness and protein. These can be served in a mini thermos flask and eaten at school whilst still warm.
Children love the colour. It’s why foods for children are in the colourful packaging. A bento box style lunchbox can make real food look great and appealing. A box containing fresh fruit, vegetables, yoghurt, in sections is likely to get eaten where copious amounts of foil or cling film wrapped components won’t.
Try lunchbox bingo. The idea behind this is that your child can design their own packed lunches but they must be nutritionally balanced. Each day there must be each of the following groups represented in their lunch – protein, carbohydrate, calcium, fruit and drink. You can use the blank menu plan below to get you started. They like the simplicity, and it helps to plan and shop.
Lunchboxes are healthier than free school meals
Six out of 10 mums think a lunchbox is a healthier alternative to school food and more than half would rather their child has a packed lunch, so they know what they are eating and they can ensure quality.
“We know that parents want to give their children good, healthy and nutritious food, and we know that food marketed at parents for their children’s lunchboxes is a particular area for concern among parents across the UK. We want the food industry to take their responsibility seriously to make honest and nutritious food for children to support their health and wellbeing.” Anna Rosier, Managing Director of Organix.
If you would like to provide good food for your family and you want to help Organix and Motherhood Diaries to call on the food industry and government to do more in protecting children’s food, join Organix at www.organix.com/nojunk and join the conversation at #NoJunk.
Notes
The Lunchbox Doctor is Jenny Tschiesche (BSc (Hons) Dip (ION) FdSc BANT, a mother of 2 and one of the UK’s leading nutrition experts. Jenny is the award-winning author of ‘Not Just Sandwiches – 5 Ways to Improve Your Child’s Lunchbox’, and founder of www.lunchboxdoctor.com. Lunchboxdoctor.com is a free information website covering all issues related to providing healthy recipes for kids and advice for parents wanting to create healthy packed lunches. Mumpanel Survey – Conducted during July 2014. It examined the attitudes and eating habits of over 700 mums of children aged 6 months to 5 years, across the UK.
*Sponsored PR Collaboration*
PhotoBox Canvas Product Review
Personalising my home with wall décor is one of my favourite pastimes, having recently gotten into wall decals and bunting to decorate the walls in our flat. But, an all-time favourite are canvas prints and being able to showcase my husband’s unique photography talent at home is an added bonus. So, when PhotoBox generously gifted Motherhood Diaries one of their great quality canvas prints to enjoy in the comfort of our home, I felt compelled to provide a review on PhotoBox and our finished canvas.
PhotoBox is Europe’s leading online digital photo service with over 30 million members.
PhotoBox are market leaders, driven by their passion for photography and artistic keepsakes. They currently offer cards, wall art, mugs, and t-shirts, which are just a few of the options available from their service, and host an extensive online community that sparks much of their innovation and drive to engage with customers and their unique art.
Products for Review:
Premium Canvas 101.6cm x 76.2cm – £84.99
Additional format, ‘Premium Thickness’ is usually £25.00.
It took a long time to figure out which photo to print onto our large canvas and we finally whittled it down to two very different styles of art, both photographed by hubby. We finally went with our gut and decided to go with a very retro style photo of a busker playing the saxophone in London, but with the colours touched up by hubby to make the picture red and black. As we have dark red blinds in our lounge, we thought it would be the perfect option to blend in with the red tones that surrounded the room.
Picking the picture and ordering the canvas on PhotoBox’s website:
Choosing the image was the hard part, the easy part was actually uploading the picture onto PhotoBox’s website and choosing the size and feel of the canvas we wanted.
Click on ‘Canvas & Décor’ in the main navigation bar, at the top of the website’s homepage. You can also hover on the link and a dropdown menu will appear, showcasing all the different types of wall décor PhotoBox offers. I selected ‘Premium Canvas’.
You will be asked to choose the size of the canvas you want by clicking on ‘View Sizes’.
Here, you will then be shown all the different sizes available, plus the format you wish to have the canvas. I opted for ‘100cm x 76cm (39″ x 30″), the largest canvas available, and ‘Premium Thickness’. The largest canvas size you can have costs £84.99 and Premium Thickness (4.7cm) costs an extra £25.00. You are, helpfully, provided with the provisional cost of your option. Mine came to £109.99.
You will then be given the option to drag a photo from your files to a designated box on the website, or upload a file. Your photo will be uploaded to a new album or an existing album in your PhotoBox account. You can change the orientation of the canvas from portrait to landscape, and vice versa, and whether you would like the photo to wrap around the edges of the canvas (or not wrap the photo and have a white border.)
Once you have picked your picture, size and format (you can change the size of the canvas at this stage, if you need to), you head over to the top right-hand corner of the page and, either click on ‘Save’, to save your settings, or ‘Order’ to order the canvas to be printed. If your chosen image is of low quality, PhotoBox will warn you to check your image and confirm that the image you’ve chosen is your desired photo.
You’ll be then taken to your basket to check over your order and proceed to checkout where you pay for the canvas to be printed.
You will receive a notification email of your order and a further email to let you know that the canvas has been dispatched.
We received our canvas exactly a week later and got to work straight away putting up our work of art.
We also ordered some 3M Command Strips in Medium, to affix our canvas to the wall. These strips promise to protect your wall and your canvas, and since we have quite weak plaster walls, we thought that the Command Strips would be a much better option than drilling a hole into our wall.
The packaging that came with the delivery of the canvas was very strong, sandwiched between two hard pieces of cardboard to protect the print.
Below is the back of the canvas print. You can see the picture hanging strips that we secured to the canvas, with the counterpart strips already affixed to the wall.
Securing the canvas to the wall was tricky, even hubby struggled to keep the canvas straight. We didn’t have a wall leveller to hand, so it was up to our untrained eyes to ensure the canvas was in the right position. The finished product wasn’t straight…
When we saw the canvas and the red saxophonist on the wall, we both agreed that we should have gone with the other image we had in mind, a picture of London Bridge and some warships on Thames River (below).
This was our canvas:
I was so impressed with the print quality of the canvas that I know the picture of London would have been a much better option, simply because the print would have been able to capture all the minute detail in the picture. Having said that, I’m still happy with the choice we’ve gone with and I will definitely look to buy a canvas from PhotoBox again.
What did I like most about PhotoBox’s Service and Canvas?
PhotoBox’s website is very easy to navigate, but they are missing a search button, which may help in finding a particular item you already have in mind. Although we picked the wrong image for our wall, the print quality is excellent. I think you’d be hard pushed to find a better quality print for such a large canvas, unless you’re willing to pay well within the hundreds to get it.
What to watch out for:
Use a wall leveller before you put up your canvas. Ours is not straight and it’s driving me mad!
Other points to note:
There are other canvas sizes available. Check out http://www.photobox.co.uk for a full selection of what PhotoBox can offer. The 3M Command Strips are a useful tool to couple the canvases too as they’re strong, sturdy and safe for use on weak walls like ours.
Rating:
5 out of 5 – It was our fault for not choosing the right image, but that’s it. There is nothing bad to say about PhotoBox. The online service is easy to follow and quick to use, with regular updates on when your canvas will arrive and swift delivery afterwards. I will definitely look to buy from PhotoBox again.
*I was gifted a canvas from PhotoBox, but the review and my opinions are 100% my own.*
Sarson’s Cookery School – A Vinegar Kick to 3 Traditional Recipes and a Fun Day Out!
It’s no secret that I’m a huge fan of cooking and when I was offered the chance to attend Sarson’s Cookery School event at Central Street Cookery School in London, EC1, I was more than pleased to go and learn some invaluable lessons from Nick Coffer, this generation’s best loved Daddy Food Blogger and a very talented and personable chef.
Sarson’s Cookery School’s Chef, Nick Coffer from My Daddy Cooks
Nick found himself as a stay-at-home dad after losing his business in 2009. Stemming from his love for cooking for his children at home (6 year old Archie and 2 year old Matilda), Nick set up a hugely successful blog, My Daddy Cooks, which features videos of Nick cooking recipes with his children, with the focus on being fresh, healthy and interesting meals cooked on a very modest budget.
In 2010, Nick published My Daddy Cooks book which is a best-seller in its category. Nick also presents a daily show on BBC Three Counties Radio from 12-3pm and weekly food show, Nick Coffer’s Weekend Kitchen, on the same station on Saturday lunchtime. He appears regularly in national newspapers and lifestyle magazines and on national radio and television, talking about issues ranging from food to parenting.
What is Sarson’s Cookery School All About?
As part of a new campaign focusing on families, Sarson’s vinegar has teamed up with Nick Coffer to create a selection of fun and healthy recipes that are simple and enjoyable to cook with the kids. The emphasis is on making cooking fun and encouraging children to get involved with creating healthy and tasty recipes that they will enjoy creating as well as eating.
The recipes are all prepared using Sarson’s, demonstrating the versatility of the nation’s favourite malt vinegar and proving it doesn’t just taste great on a portion of chips! The four recipes below especially created by Nick include salt and vinegar popcorn, a healthy twist on traditional fish and chips, a barbeque marinade with a kick and crispy meringue pavlova.
“I am absolutely delighted to be working with Sarson’s. Not only is it an iconic brand, I have memories of using it from when I was barely knee high to my mum in the kitchen! For me, fish and chips is one of the ultimate family meals and it is never eaten without Sarson’s in my house. I have really enjoyed creating a delicious twist on traditional fish and chips and I can ensure that my tasty barbeque chicken wings with a kick will be a hit with parents and children alike.”
Sarson’s Cookery School Event
I was excited to get started and attend the Sarson’s Cookery School event. I planned to take the boys, but they had terrible sleep the night before and were very grumpy when they woke up in the morning. So, hubby agreed to look after them and I would go to the event alone. I was gutted to have not brought them, though, because when I had arrived, mums were already there with their children, sitting around a large kitchen table, listening to Nick talk about his cooking background. I was hugely impressed by the kitchen, secretly wishing that my own kitchen could look remotely like the counters that were neatly lined around the entire room, stacked with tons of amazing cooking utensils.
Nick got started straight away, conscious of the time we had allocated for cooking 4 recipes and talked about how to get the kids involved in the kitchen. Nick briefly talked about what we had available in front of us to make these recipes and how we could get the children involved too. I would have to make a mental note of this as I was on my lonesome this time.
Barbeque Marinade with a Kick – for Chicken Wings
We started off by learning how to make a very delicious, sweet and zingy marinade for the chicken wings set out in front of us. Nick taught us how to trim chicken wings, first by cutting the wings’ tips and then the main wing in half, finishing off with trimming off any fat along the sides.
The marinade smelled gorgeous and I made a quick note of all the ingredients, so that I could try them out at home. We gave our marinated chicken wings to Nick’s assistants, who then placed them all in the fridge to set for about an hour.
Once the chicken wings were out of the oven, we all got to taste everyone’s masterpieces and, boy, did they taste good! The honey provided a fantastic sweet taste to the chicken and the vinegar offered a lovely kick at the end.
As part of the recipe, A healthy Twist on Traditional Fish and Chips, we made some salmon goujons, covered in panko breadcrumbs, lemon and sundried tomatoes, which Nick believes to be a very healthy and equally gorgeous way to bread fish or chicken for the family. I was amazed at how quickly you could prepare these goujons and pan fry them in literally 5 minutes! Perfect for the busy parent.
I almost burnt my goujons, not realising that the salmon cooks itself for a few minutes after you take them off the pan. Nick ran round to my aid and quickly whisked the goujons off the pan, to which I replied with, “But, I’ve only had them in the pan for 3 minutes!”
I was shown how to effectively slice the potatoes for the chips and they were taken away to be cooked together with the others.
This was going to be my favourite recipe, I just knew it. I love Pavlovas, but I have never made them before. I was very surprised to learn that you add vinegar to the recipe, which I later found out was common knowledge for most folk. Adding cornflour folded in at the last minute ensures that the inside of the Pavlova is all soft and chewy and having known before that Pavlovas were round desserts, we ended up making a rectangular version instead. I really struggled with making the cream, twice overbeating the eggs, resulting in curdled cream. Nick took pity on me and helped me make the third batch, which thankfully came out all nice and fluffy.
We decorated our Pavlovas with tons of strawberries and kiwis, flowing around the table, and I couldn’t help but sneak in a few bites of the gorgeous fruit.
Now, I normally like my popcorn sweet or salted, but I’ve never tried salt and vinegar popcorn before and I felt like I had missed out all these years. I absolutely love very salty and vinegary fat chips, so of course I was going to love salt and vinegar popcorn. I make popcorn all the time at home for the boys as they are huge popcorn lovers like I am, so I knew how to make popcorn quite well. Simply add 100g of popcorn kernels to a heated and oiled pan and close the lid tightly, shaking regularly to separate the kernels and holding the lid closed when the popcorns pop up inside the pan. As soon as the popping subsides, you take the pan off the heat and into a large bowl.
100g makes LOADS of popcorn, so opt for a large bowl.
Here is the recipe for Sarson’s Salt and Vinegar Popcorn.
On the whole, I had a fantastic time with Nick Coffer and the other mummy bloggers, and I learned so much about the versatility of Sarson’s vinegar. My favourite part of the whole day was making the summer fruit pavlova and I will definitely be reproducing all of these recipes at home.
Sarson’s invited Motherhood Diaries to attend their Sarson’s Cookery School in London, and have not paid me in any way to create a post about the event. The post is completely my decision because I wanted to share with you how awesome Nick Coffer and the Cookery School are and how easy it is to make these great and healthy recipes.
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Personalised, timeless gifts are always a fantastic way to show someone you love them and personalising your children’s gifts will mean that they can treasure these gifts for life. When Motherhood Diaries was offered the chance to review some products from the ‘My 1st Years’ range, as a bona fide musician, I decided to review the Personalised Wooden Xylophone for my two boys. Here is how we got on:
My 1st Years was founded in January 2010, when the founders realised that they couldn’t find anything unique enough as the perfect baby gift. They found a gap in the huge baby market for a new company that could provide lovely baby giftsthat were unique, fashionable and affordable.
Personalisation became the key to My 1st Years, whose aim was to become the No. 1 Baby personalisation brand, retaining their core brand values and focusing on providing the highest quality personalised products.
The stock a whole range of personalised baby essentials, but at the heart of their array of products are outfits for newborn babies and products that built the brand – My 1st Shoe, My 1st Outfit, My 1st Bear and My 1st Accessory.
Nearly all of the products on their site can be personalised online and sent straight to the customer or directly to that special someone. Every order will arrive gift wrapped inside their complimentary luxury gift boxes, with a large white bow.
“Introduce baby to the beautiful sounds of this gorgeous pine wood personalised xylophone. This lovely instrument makes a gorgeous decorative accessory for baby’s bedroom until he/she is old enough to play it (36 months). And what’s better than a tuneful colourful xylophone made from pine wood? One with baby’s own name on it! Indeed, our colourful personalised xylophone can be customised with your little one’s name for a unique gift. Simply let us know what the lucky baby is called and we’ll engrave the xylophone using your chosen font style.”
Features of the Xylophone:
Measurements: 32cm x 22cm x 3.5cm
Can be personalised with up to 12 characters
Made from Pinewood
Suitable from 3+ years
When we received our personalised wooden xylophones, I was immediately impressed by the beautiful packaging, which was a lovely baby blue, dressed with a cute white bow.
It’s clear that My 1st Years understands how important the packaging is as well as the product itself, as these personalised gifts are given to that special someone, so it’s worth making the effort to present the product I think.
The boys were very eager to open their magical gift boxes and were a little perplexed at this colourful wooden instrument that was waiting for them inside the box.
Unsure of what to do, I took the wooden xylophones, personalised with their names and showed them how to ‘play’ the xylophones using the two sticks provided. Even though it is clearly stated that these items are not musical instruments intended for educational use, it would have been nice for them to be tuned in order to play them. The boys had a great time bashing their high quality wooden instruments, but I was secretly miffed that I couldn’t show off my musical skills on the xylophone. 🙁
The personalised xylophone is the perfect gift for a special birthday and the gorgeous pine wood and colourful bars looks so beautiful on display in the bedroom. I had both xylophones personalised with the boys’ names, ‘Aron’ and ‘Aidan’, so they will get to treasure their xylophones for life.
And they really enjoyed bashing the xylophones and making very wonderful music in the Preston household! 🙂
Here is a video of the boys getting quite inventive with their new xylophones!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y2vyDKESSTg
What did we like most about the My 1st Years Personalised Wooden Xylophones?
They really do look lovely and the pine wood is very strong and sturdy against the boys’ beating of the bars with the two sticks provided. I love the fact they both have their names on the xylophones too.
What to watch out for:
Unfortunately, this xylophone is not tuned perfectly, so if you wanted to play music with it, it wouldn’t come out very well.
Rating:
4.5 out of 5 – I’m going to be a little harsh with the 0.5 I didn’t award the wooden xylophones because they don’t play properly. But, 4.5 goes to the great quality and lovely packaging provided by My 1st Years, which will guarantee these products to be timeless, sentimental gifts
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Turkish Flatbread, or Gözleme, is a really quick and easy way to add healthy fillings into homemade bread to make the ultimate sandwich for growing kids. You can pretty much add any filling you want, but my eldest is not a fan of meat or chicken and my youngest isn’t a fan of green vegetables. So I added both to the filling and the boys enjoyed the result. Gözleme can be eaten as a hearty snack for when you’re on the go, or as part of the main dish, and it’s pretty much versatile enough to go with any side. Traditionally, you would add lemon wedges or pickled chillies as a complimentary side, but the world is your oyster!
Here is the recipe.
Ingredients
For the Dough
500g Plain Flour
60ml Extra Virgin Olive Oil
200ml Warm Water
For the Filling
2 Large Chicken Breasts, cut into strips and then halved.
1 Onion, finely chopped.
2 Cloves of Garlic, finely chopped.
Small Bunch of Fresh Parsley, finely chopped.
Small Bunch of Mint Leaves, finely chopped.
Small Bunch of Dill, finely chopped.
Small Bunch of Spinach, finely chopped.
200g Feta Cheese, crumbled.
2 Ripe Tomatoes, peeled and finely chopped.
Seasoning, Salt and Pepper to taste.
To Serve
1 Lemon, cut into wedges, and/or some Pickled Chillies.
For the dough:
Sift the flour and 1 teaspoon of salt together into a large bowl.
Make a well in the centre, pour in the olive oil, and then gradually stir in enough water to make a nice ball of dough.
Turn the dough onto a floured surface and knead for about 5 minutes, or until smooth and elastic.
Split the dough into 6 equal balls and leave to rest under a tea towel for about an hour.
For the filling:
Fry the chicken in olive oil until golden brown.
Add the chopped onion and garlic and fry until soft.
Take off the heat and leave to cool.
Mix the chopped parsley, mint, dill and spinach with the crumbled feta in a large bowl and add a pinch of pepper.
Lightly dust a surface with flour and use the longest rolling pin you can find in the house to roll each dough ball as thinly as possible into a rectangular shape – somewhere around 30 – 40cm.
For each flatbread, fold the top third down towards you to cover the middle third.
Fold the bottom third up to cover the middle third too, so you have a long rectangle. Sometimes it’s worth going over the rectangle with a rolling pin to elongate and thin out the rectangular shape further.
Add just enough filling mix to fill one half of the rectangle, but leave some space around the edges to fold the other half of the dough over.
Brush the edges with water then fold the other half of the pastry over the filling ingredients, pressing it down lightly all over, especially at the edges.
Heat your frying pan over a medium heat and cook one or two at a time dry (the dough has olive oil, so no need to add oil to the pan).
Fry for around 3 – 4 minutes on both sides until browned and crisp.
Cut in half and serve with lemon wedges and/or pickled chillies.
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Postman Pat lovers, young and old(er), lend me your ears and take heed. As part of the Postman Pat movie, Motherhood Diaries got to review one of the Postman Pat toys, this time Showbiz Pat!
I have fond memories of growing up to Postman Pat and his black and white cat (I still remember the Postman Pat theme), and it’s nice to see that he’s still going strong after all this time so that my boys get the chance to grow up with him too.
To celebrate Postman Pat: The Movie, Character Options released Showbiz Pat, the Postman Pat soft toy. In the movie, Pat was seduced by the bright lights of the big city and auditioned for an X-Factor style singing competition, but found that in his absence the post did not run smoothly.
Postman Pat is a British stop-motion animated children’s television series that is aimed at preschool-aged children. The series follows the adventures of Pat Clifton, who is a postman in the fictional village of Greendale.
Who is Showbiz Pat?
Showbiz Pat is a Postman Pat soft toy, which sings, dances and grooves to the music in his glitzy new stage outfit, which is a glittery blue suit. The cuddly animated soft toy features:
The SDS Postman Pat Theme Tune from the TV series
Please Mr. Postman song
You can always count on Postman Pat!
Press Pat’s left hand to hear a sample of the music. Here is Showbiz Pat in action! The boys loved playing Postman Pat games with each other!
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Eye See a Dragon in the Glen (Includes 3D Glasses and Child’s Vision Test) Product Review
Optical Express recently supported children’s charity, Children 1st, to produce a book called, ‘Eye See a Dragon in the Glen,’ which is aimed at detecting early visual problems. Motherhood Diaries was offered the chance to review the visionary book and this is how we got on:
Review:
Optical Express/Children 1st Website and Social Media Links:
Eye See a Dragon in the Glen (Includes 3D Glasses and Child’s Vision Test) Product Review:
A brief insight into my family’s eye history. My dad wears very strong glasses (he’s short-sighted (where you can see things closer to you, but your sight struggles as the object moves further away. The technical term for short-sightedness is Myopia)). My mum is also short-sighted and wears very weak glasses, so she’s not too bad. This has resulted in all 4 of us siblings needing to wear glasses/contact lenses for Myopia, ranging from very weak (my brother) to very strong (my sister).
My husband’s dad is very short-sighted but has recently had laser surgery (which was successful), and his mum has perfect 20/20 vision. This has resulted in my husband and his brother being blessed with perfect vision (lucky them!). However, my husband may suffer slightly from colour blindness, which is the inability or decreased ability to perceive colour differences under normal lighting conditions.
Therefore, it may be inevitable that at least one of our kids will suffer from either myopia (most likely) or long sightedness (where you struggle to see things near to you, but the sight gets better as you look at the object from further away. The technical term for long-sightedness is Hyperopia)). Just to add to the mix, all of my immediate family also suffer from Astigmatism, which is a minor optical defect where our vision is blurred due to the shape of the eye resembling a rugby ball or a doughnut. This means that we end up with two focal points to focus the object’s image on the retina (those who do not suffer from Astigmatism should only have one focal point.)
So, to say that I was glad to receive Eye See a Dragon in the Glen to review is an understatement. It has been weighing heavily on my mind for a while now that Aron may be short-sighted. He holds my phone up very close to his face when he’s watching something, or he stands right in front of the TV (something I am later told is quite normal for kids his age). Also, his eye sometimes turns inwards after he has been focussing on something for too long. Optical Express were very generous in offering me, my husband and two boys an eye test (with an appointment made for my contact lens fittings), which I will be reviewing shortly. But, for now, I felt reassured that I was doing something about my sons’ eyes, even if it was in the form of a book for now.
Eye See a Dragon in the Glen tells the story of a troll hunting in The Highlands and was designed with two visual eye checks to detect vision issues in children from an early age. The checks include a Visual Acuity Test (VAT) to check that both eyes see clearly, and a Suppression Test (ST) with 3D glasses to check both eyes are working well together. The tests were designed, developed and validated by Vision Sciences at Glasgow Caledonian University.
Optical Express jumped at the opportunity of supporting the book, which was introduced as a unique charity initiative by Anne-Marie Cairns, Vice President of Clinical at Optos, and Ken Lewandowski of the Scottish Business Challenge.
“The idea to create a fun and interactive book for children to enjoy that will also help to detect any vision issues early on is a stroke of genius, which is completely aligned with our own mission to improve the standard of eye care across the UK.” John Morgan, Optical Express’ Business Development Director.
Optical Express is supporting the overall aims of the book by funding a large-scale print run and all proceeds from the sale of the book go to Children 1st.
When I first cast my eye over this book, it immediately took me back to a book I used to read as a child, but its name escapes me. It was about a friendly dragon in the forest and I thought this book would be about the same. But, when I turned the pages, I was very impressed with the clever graphics on display, expertly illustrated by one Holly Jameson.
Immediately Aron got to work, trying to phonetically read the title, but not quite understanding why ‘Eye’ was used instead of ‘I’.
Aron followed the wavy pattern of the words on the first page as I read them out slowly. I wondered whether the wavy pattern was designed to test whether the child can follow words that are not in a straight line.
The story starts with a red dragon, Mirren, whose eyes work best in the light and dawn is the time when dragons fly high and the sun is never too bright.
But, Trolls’ eyes are made for the shade as they live deep underground. Lochy the Brave decides to come up to the surface to play, but the light is too bright for his eyes, so he panics and can’t move away.
Aron was very intrigued as to why the light bothered Lochy’s eyes, and asked a series of questions related to the sensitivity of eyes:
‘Why did Lochy’s eyes hurt when he looked at the light?”
“Why did he cover his eyes?”
“Why is the sun so bright?”
“Why do Trolls live underground?”
Ok, maybe not the last question, but a perfectly acceptable question! Aron was actually quite empathetic towards Lochy, explaining that Lochy’s eyes hurt and that he needs to see a doctor. “Ah,” I said, “Well that’s what we need opticians for, to test our eyes so that we can check whether our eyes are hurt. They are doctors for the eyes.”
That sparked off a whole series of questions about opticians… we talked about testing eyes for about 5 minutes before I was able to get Aron to turn the next page, but I was secretly proud that I had sparked Aron’s interest about the health of his eyes and how he needed to look after them. On to the next page!
Mirren the dragon hears Lochy’s’ sad cry and, concerned that Lochy is in trouble, she ushers Lochy to the Eye Clinic at once for his eyes to be seen.
Aron agreed.
“Yes, he needs to go to the Eye Clinic!”
“Why?” I ask.
“Because he needs to check his eyes are not broken!”
That’s one way of putting it…
Mirren assures that even though Lochy can’t see her, help is at hand by a friend that lives far away. Mirren wants to take Lochy away from this glen and count to ten.
I asked Aron to point out the numbers as he counted to ten, which he completed correctly on the page. However, Aron is very proficient with numbers, so whether he can see the print or not is inconclusive. Nevertheless, he enjoyed counting to ten many times over!
Swoosh whoosh POP! Mirren and Lochy arrive at the Eye Clinic and EyeRon gets to work explaining the fun eye exams available. Lochy is still covering his eyes and Aidan is still fixated on the word, ‘POP!’ which he repeats over and over again with a huge grin on his face.
“What makes you happy…?” EyeRon asks.
“Hunting Dragons!” Lochy exclaims, which sends Mirren into a state of terror.
Nevertheless, the tests commence, starting with a fun game counting some broken rings on Mirren’s tummy, complete with some instructions to the parent/carer on how to administer the test to the child.
VAT Instructions to Parent/Carer:
Hold the book normally (30 – 40cm in front of your child).
Cover one of your child’s eyes with your hand.
Ask your child to point (or count) all of the broken rings (Alternatively, point to the rings and ask if they are broken).
Now cover the other eye and repeat the test.
Vision Test Results
“Searching for the Broken Rings.”
This will test the ability to see fine detail. Your child should be encouraged to find the smallest “broken ring” and should do equally well with the right and left eyes. A 3-year-old child should accurately identify 5 or more rings. From 4 – 5 years of age they should see all 7 correctly.
Aron had great fun counting and pointing to the broken rings, which he completed very successfully. He refused point blank for me to cover his eye, so he covered his left eye and then his right eye, following all the instructions I relayed to him. Aidan’s ears pricked up at the sound of Aron’s counting and decided to have a go himself. It was virtually impossible getting him to listen to me explain that I needed to cover one of his eyes before he started counting, so I just left him to it… This lasted for about 5 minutes before we could turn the page.
The next page was by far the most enjoyable page for the boys as they got to use the 3D Glasses supplied at the back of the book to test their colour vision.
ST Instructions
Make sure to put on your 3D Glasses.
Now point to or count the dragons on the test card.
Vision Test Results
“3D Glasses Find the Dragons.”
This test checks that both of your child’s eyes are working well together. All 3 dragons should be visible with the glasses on. (Your child will see only two if his/her eyes are not working as well together).
I wasn’t surprised that the boys had the most fun trying out the 3D Glasses, but I did manage to get them to take the test properly. Aron successfully saw all 3 dragons and I even added a bonus game where if he covered the blue lens the blue dragon would disappear and if he covered the red lens the red dragon would disappear and there would be only two dragons left. Aron was intrigued! So, he took the test over and over and over and over again, even demanding Aidan take the test and yelling orders at him to “Cover the glasses!”
Aidan walked off to test other parts of the flat with the 3D Glasses…
EyeRon was happy that Lochy had completed all the tests and diagnosed that sunglasses were the best option to protect his eyes from the bright light, “to keep your eyes working their best!”
I repeated to Aron that wearing sunglasses during the day when the sun is out will protect his eyes from the bright light and I was happy that the book had delivered that message very well through fantastic illustration and easy to understand sentences.
The book concludes with Lochy realising that his rescuer was Mirren the dragon and he vowed to never go hunting for dragons with the trolls again. So off they went to play together as best of friends now that Lochy’s eyes were protected from the bright light.
What did I like most about Eye See the Dragon in the Glen?
I liked the clear message the book sends to parents and children about the importance of testing vision from an early age. Each page illustrates this message and respective tests beautifully, whilst maintaining that fun factor to keep the child focussed and entertained. The book also offers some very insightful information and guidance on testing your child’s vision at home and what the results may mean.
What to watch out for:
The book offers a caveat that, although its mission is to promote the importance of early vision testing in young children, it should never be used as a substitute for a comprehensive eye examination. Nevertheless, all of us thoroughly enjoyed the book and the lessons we learned were invaluable.
Other points to note:
If you have any concerns regarding your child’s vision you should contact your local optometrist straight away.
Rating:
5 out of 5 for so many reasons, one of which is that the book offers a fantastic way of educating your child on vision testing and invites an interest into looking after their eyes to set them up for the future.
I’d like to thank Children 1st, OneVision and Optical Express for coming up with such a fantastic book to support children’s eye health and I will be supporting them wholeheartedly from now on – well done!
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Motherhood Diaries recently received a £30 voucher, which couldn’t have come at a better time as my youngest, Aidan, goes through shoes like his dinners, quickly and with no remorse. So, I decided to use them to buy some Clarks my first shoes for Aidan and this is how we got on:
In the Somerset village of Street in 1825, James Clark was busy working at the tannery owned by his brother, Cyrus. Among the sheepskin rugs, the off-cuts and cast-offs were piling up when James had a brainwave: “Slippers!”
And the rest, as they say, is history. A few stitches here and a few years later, the sheepskin slipper was born.
The sheepskin slipper was the very first Clarks shoe and Clarks have been going strong ever since. Clarks stock all kind of shoes, from court shoes and winklepickers to wedge heels, sandals and sneakers.
Clarks rebranded in the noughties to keep up with competition and moved their manufacturing to overseas to maintain their stance in today’s high street.
New technology, state-of-the-art facilities and love of shoes means they’re not only the number one shoe brand in the UK, but they’re also the world’s largest casual and smart shoe company, and the fourth largest footwear company on the planet!
The shoes you can get from Clarks are:
Women’s shoes
Men’s shoes
Kid’s shoes
School shoes
Baby walking shoes and boots
Babies pre-walking shoes and cruising shoes
Reviewer:
Aidan (2 years old)
Which shoes did we pick from the Clarks range and how much did it cost?
Minnow FST Clarks Boys Shoes in Brown Leather. I couldn’t find the shoes on Clarks’ website, most likely because they have been discontinued, but we got the pair for half price and on sale at £17.99! We really liked the Clarks Roamer Craft* and Clarks Converse Crocs shoes, but we ended up going for the Minnow FST Clarks Baby Shoes.
Where can you buy Clarks baby shoes?
In all Clarks* and participating shoe stores in the UK.
The Clarks ‘First Shoes’ range offers different shoes to fit the rapidly growing feet of a baby/toddler.
The ‘Pre-walking’ Range
Clarks’ Pre-walking range* offer shoes for non-walkers, with a firm but gentle heel stiffener to cradle unstable feet. The shoes offer ultra-soft lining, which is easy on a baby’s feet and skin, and fully adjustable rip-tape fastenings to provide a secure fit to allow parents to remove and put on shoes – even with constant motion!
The pre-walker shoes are made of breathable premium leather to ensure the baby’s feet never get too hot or cold. A built-in toe protector combines with soft and squidgy leather for comfort, flexibility, and allowing the baby’s feet room to wriggle and grow.
The sole has strong gripping rubber which helps give confidence with every movement and a strong yet super-flexible sole provides all the support baby will need. Whole and half sizes are available with a range of widths to ensure the perfect fit.
The First Shoes Walking Collection
The First Walkers Collection* offers shoes for the baby who is taking their first wobbly steps. The heel is specially designed for babies learning to walk and features a firm, but gentle heel stiffener to cradle unstable feet. The shoes offer an ultra-soft leather lining, which is easy on baby’s feet and gentle on baby’s skin.
Fully adjustable fastenings provide great security and ensure the best fit and the design that enables parents to open up the shoes easily, putting them on and taking them off with no problems. These first shoes offer contrasting materials, stitched details, on-trend colour and colour combinations to mix and match with the baby’s wardrobe.
The shoes offer breathable, premium leather uppers which mean little feet are never too hot or cold. The toe is soft and squidgy for comfort and flexibility, yet with growing room built-in, allowing baby’s feet to wriggle, wiggle and grow naturally.
The sole is developed to be super flexible while giving all the support wobbly walkers need. Soles also feature strong gripping rubber, giving confidence with every step. Shoes are available in whole and half sizes and a range of widths to ensure the best fit for growing feet.
Both of my boys go through shoes so quickly because they are very active and play outside on multiple terrains every day. So, when I was offered the chance to review Clarks shoes for Aidan, 2 years old, it was very important to find a pair that not only withstood the test of time, but as spring/summer was coming up and there would be days when it could still get cold, I wanted to find a pair that was versatile enough to withstand the test of UK weather too.
It was coming up to that time to measure Aidan’s feet* again, so we ventured to Elephant & Castle’s Clarks outlet store, hoping there would be more variety of shoes on offer than our local store in Stanmore, which is tiny.
It was a bit of a trek to get there, but we had to be at London Bridge for Aidan’s dental appointment anyway, so it was only a 25-minute walk to Elephant & Castle Shopping Centre, where we found the surprisingly big Clarks outlet store quickly.
A very helpful staff member ushered us to sit down by the kids’ shoes and, as Aidan was fast asleep and snoring away after our long journey, the lady quickly measured his feet before he woke up. I was surprised at how much his feet had grown! His left foot was 6 ½F and his right foot was a 6G, so the lady advised us to find a 6 ½F to accommodate both of his feet.
Having a look at the variety of shoes on display, we only found one pair of shoes in a 6 ½ F and I actually really liked them. They were half price at £17.99, so I tried them on Aidan’s feet, they seemed to fit, and I bought them with the vouchers.
So, what are the Minnow FST Clarks Boys Shoes in Brown Leatherlike?
The brown leather Minnow summer shoes have adjustable Velcro fastenings, complete with a full heel cup to easily place the shoes on Aidan’s feet. The shoes’ leather material upper felt strong and sturdy, with attractive stitching detail to add to the quality. The casual summer shoes have open panels and padding to the collar and insole.
These Clarks shoes are very versatile with a lovely brown colour to suit most outfits. Aidan could run about quite easily in these shoes and didn’t seem at all uncomfortable when wearing them.
Sadly Clarks don’t make the Clarks Brown Leather Minnow First Shoes.
What did I like most about Clarks Brown Leather Minnow First Shoes?
The great quality of the leather material on these baby walkers shoes and the open panels ensure the feet breathe inside the shoes. The Velcro fastening made it really easy to slip the shoes on and off my busy boy.
What to watch out for:
I haven’t noticed anything negative about these shoes yet, as they are still quite new. Aidan has been out to the playground, the shops, and in the garden with these shoes and they still look remarkable. There is definitely a great range of quality Clarks shoes for toddlers at a great price, and if you can catch them at half price like we did, you’re onto a winner!
Clarks’ website offers a bank of information* on how baby’s feet grow and the different styles of shoes available, so it’s worth looking and educating yourself on the shoes that are ideal for your baby’s feet.
Rating:
5 out of 5
Great quality shoes from Clarks who seem to be very knowledgeable on how to look after babies’/toddlers’ feet, so I would feel reassured to go back to them and buy the next stage shoes for both of my boys. I am now on the lookout for baby girl Clarks shoes for my daughter!
If you are still struggling with measuring your toddler’s feet, you can contact Clarks’ customer service*. I couldn’t find an email address but they have a live chat service you could use. Prewalker shoes should be correctly fitted and the right size for baby’s feet to grow.
You could go into the store too and have a proper fitting done for free.
*We were gifted the Clarks shoes as part of a 100% honest review – all thoughts and opinions are our own
*Links marked with a ‘*’ are affiliate links which means I may earn a small commission on qualifying purchases
