Ella’s Kitchen Cereals Range And Kids’ Snacks Range Review

Posted on April 27, 2016 by Catherine Balavage

My son loves Ella’s Kitchen so much that his little legs start kicking when we pass that section in the supermarket. When I heard about the new cereals range I got very excited indeed. So did the little one. He has been a happy little tester. Here is what we thought:

The cereals have a range of textures for the weaning journey and are all organic.

Multigrain Baby Rice

Super smooth and deliciously scrummy, these two taste-tingling multigrain baby rice products offer bags of flavour + can be enjoyed any time of day. Suitable for tiny tums 4 months+, the carrot multigrain baby rice is a great way to teach little ones to love veggie tastes, right from the start of their weaning journey! The little one loved these. We don’t give him too much rice so it was a new experience for him. Both samples ended up with a clean plate.

Porridge

This berry good breakfast will help introduce little ones to more exciting flavours + is jam-packed with delicious strawberries + raspberries! Textured with yummy crispy bits and not too lumpy, the consistency is perfect for tiny tots from 7 months+. The LO loves porridge. This one did not go down as well as I thought it would. Babies are fickle. Strawberry porridge was his favourite but I think he has gone off it now. He still eats it though.

Muesli

Made to help little ones learn to chew, this new cereal for 10 months+ is the perfect next step on their weaning journey. With a chunkier + lumpier texture, this yummy muesli is full of scrum my banana + cinnamon to tickle tiny tastebuds. This was LO’s favourite. His mouth was wide open every time. No matter how big the portion was, he wolfed it down.

Easy-Peasy

The cereals range comes in great packaging which allows you to easily reseal the pack. It is also easy to pour, making it mess-free. I love the range and the little one did too. Thumbs up.

The Ella’s Kitchen’s cereals range is available in-store now with a RRP of £2.30 for Multigrain Baby Rice (125g), £2.50 for porridge (175g) and £2.70 for muesli 175g).

Also new from Ella’s Kitchen.

Look out! Our super tasty + super cool Kids’ Snacks range has landed – yippeee! Created especially for big kids from three to five years, these delicious snacks are not only super tasty, they’re super fun too!

Featuring two scrummy products and seven BIG taste combos, the 100% organic range provides bigger kids with snacks that are lower in sugar and introduce exciting veggie flavours to encourage healthier appetites.

Smooshy Snacks

Representing one of your five a day, these four taste-tingling smoothie combos feature a mighty VEG ingredient to show big kids just how cool veggies can be!

– mango + pumpkin

– orange + carrot

– strawberry + beetroot

– apple + cucumber

These are a great addition to the Ella’s Kitchen pouch range. The flavours are interesting and work well together. The little testers were fans.

Fruity Bars

With three exciting taste combos on offer, new Fruity Bars are completely unique and

includes tasty additions such as crisped rice, oats, flaxseeds and coconut.

– briiilliant banana + raisin

– pow powww pineapple + coconut

– rrrocketing raspberry + mango

The fun doesn’t stop there though! Featuring super cool comic strips on pack, kids will meet an entire cast of superhero characters, including a cheeky rabbit causing mischief with a crew of fellow superhero animals. To join in the superhero fun, simply use our pull-out superhero masks + collectible pop-out finger puppets. Snacking has never been so cool!

These are a brilliant idea. The packaging is fun and gets kids interested while the snack itself is yummy and nutritious. Super cool indeed.

How to find us

Ella’s Kitchen’s Kids’ Snacks range is available in Sainsbury’s and at sainsburys.co.uk with a RRP of £3.49 for Smooshy Snacks (4 x 100g) and £2.50 for Fruity Bars (5 x 20g).

Top of the Potts: Jason Manford Talks to Vicky Edwards

Posted on March 16, 2016 by Vicky Edwards

Currently starring as Caractacus Potts in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Jason Manford talks to Vicky Edwards about musicals, being a dad and why ibuprofen is his new best friend…

Photo: Alastair Muir

There’s more to Jason Manford than being funny. Warm, articulate and astute, he also happens to have been born into a family of talented singers. Trilling for longer than he’s been cracking gags, the 8 Out of 10 Cats star has notched up some impressive credits, not least playing Pirelli in Sweeney Todd with Michael Ball and Imelda Staunton, and Leo Bloom in The Producers with Phill Jupitus, with whom he also stars in a brand new touring version of the classic musical story Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

“My family are all folk singers and we have been singing together for a very long time,” Jason explained. “I was always interested in musicals; I was always in productions at school, then at university I directed shows like Bugsy Malone. I wrote a musical, too.”

Offered the role of Caractacus Potts, Jason says that while he didn’t want to over-think the characterisation, he nevertheless gave careful consideration to what he could bring to the role.

“I re-watched the film and what I saw was someone who was not dissimilar to me: a dad who would do anything for his kids. He keeps trying and failing and he’s reached a point in life where he thinks that something just has to go right for him. He really is that heartbroken, lonely, lovely man that Truly Scrumptious sings about.

“The setting is 1919 and my idea of him was that he was in the Navy but that he had to leave when his wife died to look after his kids. I like his journey. He’s optimistic, although he has his darker moments, and he’s a man who doesn’t like confrontation. But then suddenly the kids are taken by the Childcatcher, Grandpa is kidnapped and the car is stolen – everything that he knows and loves about his life is gone. He has to man up,” said Jason, who while mindful of driving himself bonkers by fleshing out a complex character history, knew that he needed to give Caractacus a back-story. (“You need that weight otherwise it’s just a musical about a flying car.”)

Although Jason is perhaps better known as a comedian than he is for his musical theatre talents, in terms of being the source of all things comedic, Chitty gives him a bit of a breather.

“What’s nice for me is that no one is counting on me to be funny. If I’m funny it’s a bonus, and Caractacus does have some funny moments, but you’ve got the spies and the Baron for laughs. I just have to play the heart and soul of the piece to keep it interesting and I love that.”

As for Chitty’s enduring qualities, Jason cites the film rather than the original book as being responsible for inspiring such huge affection across the generations.

“The biggest thing for me isn’t the Ian Fleming story, but the Roald Dahl film adaptation. The original book is actually quite linear; quite similar to his writing for James Bond, and there was no Childcatcher or Truly Scrumptious. But the film is much more magical and for many the Childcatcher was probably the first time you were scared by something on the telly. Nostalgia and magic is what I think does it for people.”

It is a highly physical show for Jason and he confessed that the number Me Ol’ Bamboo, in particular, is a bit of a killer. Part manic Morris dance and part frenzied tap routine, it is certainly breath-taking to watch and, one suspects, leaves even the fittest dancers out of breath.

“I’ve lost a stone and a half – it’s unbelievable!” he said, shaking his head in disbelief. Joking that he has thought about releasing an exercise DVD based on Me Ol’ Bamboo, he added: “It takes a lot of work but it’s so spectacular and to get it right is just brilliant. It’s the one moment of the show when I take the applause and let the audience clap until they stop.”

Does such a frenetic routine result in a few aches and pains? A heartfelt groan said it all.

“My poor knees and lower back! Ibuprofen is getting me through and I have to go for a swim between the matinée and evening shows because if I sit down I seize up,” he sighed.

And when he staggers off the stage and back to his digs he’s got fellow cast member Phill Jupitus [who plays Baron Bomburst and Lord Scrumptious] to look out for him and, it transpires, to rustle up some top-notch grub.

“We’ve been pals a while and we enjoy each other’s company. He’s also a great chef and cooks some brilliant meals. We look after each other. You need that when you’re away from home.”

Talking about being away from home, with a partner, and five children, Jason’s got plenty to miss.

“The thing about this show is that it’s all about family and the kids in the show [three pairs of Jeremy and Jemimas tour with Chitty] are roughly the same height as my two oldest girls. At the end when I’ve rescued them and they run over to me for a big hug there’s that moment every night when my kids flicker into my head.”

And it’s home and family that is part of the reason that Jason is taking a well-earned break from Chitty between 4 May and 18 September, when Lee Mead will be playing the part of Caractacus Potts.

“Having young children you can’t be away too much, but as well as the children I’ve also got to write my own tour for 2017 and then I’m writing a sit com and also a musical. It’s lovely to know that I can do all that and then come back to Chitty.”

Touring the country, working on several writing projects and keeping his successful comedy career on the boil, not to mention family life – it is certainly an impressive juggling act. How does he find the energy and stamina to sing and dance his heart out at every performance of Chitty? Shrugging, he referred me back to his friend ibuprofen, although just being in such a stupendous show seems to be the real spur. Even if it does mean that his joints creak like an old banger in need of the oil can.

“A lot of effort goes in but it’s a great show so it’s really worth it,” he told me as we said goodbye.

And so it is. Prompting standing ovations wherever they go, the audience reaction is unified: “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang we love you!”

For more information, visit www.chittythemusical.co.uk

Facebook: Chitty Chitty Bang Bang The Musical

Twitter: @ChittyMusical / #chittymusical

Vicky Edwards

Gardening Fun for the Kids

Posted on March 10, 2016 by Jack Shamash

The Children’s Garden

There are two ways of getting your children into the garden and away from their Xboxes and Playstations. Either you can lock them outside and ignore their frenzied screams, or you can buy them a book like this.

The Children’s Garden is written with parents in mind. it has lots of great ideas and projects, so that youngsters can actually enjoy their time in the great oudoors. You can have a lot of great fun, with very little money if you do simple things such as pond-dipping or going on bug hunts to uncover beetles and woodlice and other creepy crawlies

The book has chapters devoted to simple things such as growing vegetables, including potatoes and spring onions, which can all be done in just about any container. And it makes the very valid point that children are more likely to eat things that they’ve grown themselves. And they can have lots of fun growing flowers from seed such as nasturtiums and sunflowers – which are really great because they are completely edible so even if the seeds end up in a toddler’s mouth, they won’t do any harm.

This book is a handy size – not too big – and has lots of great pictures. And if you want to inspire your child with a lifelong love of gardens and gardening, this is a great place to start.

The Children’s Garden by Matthew Appleby is published by Frances Lincoln, £14.99

30 Days of Gratitude Day Six #30daysofgratitude

Posted on March 6, 2016 by Catherine Balavage

Today I am grateful for mothers. Not only my amazing mother, but mothers everywhere. Most of whom work 24/7, seven days a week and not only don’t get paid, but sometimes don’t even get any gratitude. Mothers are amazing, here is to them.

Catch up on other days:

Day 1.
Day 2.

Day 3.

Day 4.

Day 5.

What are you grateful for?

Playmobil creates another winner by Margaret Graham

Posted on February 19, 2016 by Margaret Graham

At Frost we love Playmobil’s products. The company seem to have a great understanding of what children want.

At Christmas we gave their long-lasting ‘alternatives to chocolate’ advent calenders. The children are still playing with the characters, happily creating worlds of their own.

We at Frost are really pleased then, to see the new Playmobil Gift Eggs for Easter 2016

This year there are four new themes:

Mermaid with Seahorses

For those into football

What about the Pirate hunting for Treasure?

Our personal favourite is the Zookeeper and his alpaca.

Partly because one of us lived near an alpaca farm and the farmer would walk them along the cliff path as he took his family for picnics. Gorgeous.

One of these eggs will find their way into the lives of our little ‘uns this Easter. Such a lovely time of year, and these eggs will go on giving pleasure until the figures can be added to next year.

All eggs @ £6.99 each.

http://bit.ly/PLAYMOBIL_UK

A gentleman and a scholar: Vicky Edwards Meets Stephen Boxer

Posted on February 16, 2016 by Vicky Edwards

About to play the great author C.S. Lewis, Stephen Boxer takes a break from rehearsals to talk to Vicky Edwards about touring, making an ass of himself and his own connection with Narnia’s creator
Having played everything from soap opera to Shakespeare, as well as appearing in movies such as The Iron Lady, Stephen Boxer is packing his suitcase and hitting the road with a new national tour of Shadowlands. Arguably one of the best plays ever written, Stephen plays Narnia creator C.S. Lewis and, he reckons, the story’s central themes of grief, belief and love will resonate with audiences.
“It’s a beautifully structured play and it’s very poignant, so we can all relate to it. But it is also very entertaining; very witty with some real belly laughs,” he said.
Having cleaned up on the awards circuit (the subsequent film version also collected gongs) William Nicholson’s play charts the developing relationship between Lewis, an Oxford don and author of The Chronicles of Narnia and The Screwtape Letters, and feisty American poet Joy Davidman. Finding his peaceful life with his brother Warnie disrupted by the outspoken Davidman, whose uninhibited behaviour is at complete odds with the atmosphere and rigid sensibilities of the male-dominated university, Lewis and Joy show each other new ways of viewing the world. But when Joy is diagnosed with cancer Lewis’s long-held Christian faith becomes perilously fragile.
But, Stephen pointed out, Lewis’s struggle with his faith resulted in the beautiful book A Grief Observed, an extraordinary collection of the author’s reflections about bereavement.
“It is a kind of bible for both religious and non-religious people,” said Stephen. “It rises above religion and belief and talks about how we deal with loss and how a theory of life is tested by reality.”
As for the relationship between Lewis and Davidman, Stephen explained that while there were some fundamental differences between their characters and life experiences, there was also a definite meeting of minds.
“Their intellectual acuity was an absolute meeting place for them both – they could both spar in the same intellectual boxing ring and they enjoyed that; they enjoyed the cut and thrust of intellectual debate. That’s how their relationship started,” said Stephen, adding:
“He was a classically repressed quite conservative thinking Englishman who lived a classic ivory tower life. Part of his emotional repression, I think, was that he was sort of cushioned by the Oxford life you could live as a don. She was an ex-communist Jewish American who told it how it was and shot from the hip. Yes, they were very different, but mentally they were perfectly matched.”
As for his own connection to C.S. Lewis, as a direct result of being an ex Oxford choir scholar and school boy (“I wasn’t an undergraduate but it was my academic home for eight years from 1960 – 1968”) he is in the position of knowing exactly where he was the night that the World lost two great men.
“I was at Magdalen college school, the school that was related to C.S. Lewis’s college. It was the evening of the twenty-second of November 1963 and I was walking back from chapel, in my gown and mortar board, having sung a service. An undergraduate stopped me, which in itself was quite unusual. He told me that President Kennedy had just been killed. It was the same night that less than a mile away C.S. Lewis died, so not only do I know where I was when President Kennedy was shot, but I also know where I was when C.S. Lewis died because I was right on his doorstep.”
Admitting that the insight into Oxford life has proved useful in preparing for the role, what appealed most to Stephen about the play?
“Firstly it’s a whacking great part – I’m never off the stage. In rehearsal I’m finding that a bit daunting,” he laughed.
“At the moment I’m at that stage of running before I can walk and falling over a lot, metaphorically, but that’s a necessary part of the process. Making an ass of yourself and feeling like a fool in rehearsals is a prerequisite.
“Another reason I wanted to do it was that I’ve just done a year of television. I’ve done some lovely stuff which I really enjoyed, but there’s no real rehearsal culture in television and I was dying to get back into the rehearsal room and that organic way of creating on the shop floor.”
Thoughtfully, he added: “And getting to know people, too. You develop very warm relationships in theatre and after a year I missed that.”
With the tour of Shadowlands he is certainly going to have plenty of time to bond with his fellow cast members. Not that life on the road bothers Stephen one jot.
“It’s a great way to catch up with friends, but touring is also a great way to see the country. I visit the galleries and museums and do the walks and whatever else there is to do or see. It’s part of the fun and I’ve seen the world that way. I love working and travelling at the same time.”
Playing opposite him is Amanda Ryan (The Forsyte Saga, Shameless) as Joy. “She was made to play the part,” said Stephen, who doesn’t look too far into the future when it comes to his own career.
“I don’t really plan and the things that come along always surprise me. I wasn’t expecting to play Titus Andronicus at the RSC for instance. It was a play I didn’t know but I loved doing it; it was intriguing, absorbing, and demanding. I think I’d like to play Lear when I’m about seventy,” he mused, before laughing and saying: “Not that long to go then!”
But for now this charming gentleman and scholar is delighting in Shadowlands. Go to see it and you will too.
Official website: www.shadowlandstour.com
Twitter: @shadowlandstour
Facebook: shadowlandsthetour

Jolly good show, chaps! Vicky Edwards meets actor Graham Seed

Posted on February 16, 2016 by Vicky Edwards

Vicky Edwards meets actor Graham Seed to talk about Rattigan, romance and how wearing a uniform might give his wife ideas…
With the tractors and traumas of Ambridge well and truly behind him (he played Nigel Pargetter in the radio soap The Archers for an incredible 27 years), award-winning actor and broadcaster Graham Seed continues to work extensively. Just starting out on a national tour, Graham plays Squadron Leader Swanson in Terence Rattigan’s Flare Path, directed by Justin Audibert.
“It’s going very well and we have a terrific cast,” beamed Graham, a self-confessed Rattigan fan.
“As an actor I am really enjoying it because Rattigan writes such good characters; he just didn’t write bad parts. One of his best plays is The Deep Blue Sea and this has early elements of that. It’s rather delightful and I like the play enormously.”
Based on Rattigan’s own experiences as a tail gunner during World War II, the play is rooted in wartime Britain, where the life-and-death existence of the RAF bomber crews, and their wives and sweethearts who were on tenterhooks awaiting their return, created a permanent state of high anxiety. The story tells of former actress Patricia, the wife of RAF pilot Teddy. When Patricia’s ex‐lover and Hollywood idol Peter arrives out of the blue her emotions are thrown into turmoil and the survival of her marriage to Teddy becomes uncertain. As the conflict rages in the skies above, on terra firma feelings simmer, threatening to become every bit as explosive.
A romance with shades of Brief Encounter then? Graham nodded. “She has to decide what she’s going to do, but it does have humour, too. It’s a very evocative and powerful play.
“My character is quite funny and rather charming. He’s a frightfully good chap; full of that stiff upper lip phlegm.”
But in pitching his performance Graham has had to take care not to stray into parody. “If you did it wrong you’d be into Black Adder or Monty Python territory, which you don’t want at all.”
But it’s not just the good of the play that Graham is mindful about; he clearly has great respect for the real life pilots who carried out such dangerous missions.
“These boys were incredibly brave and they understated the danger always. The play is set against the backdrop of planes taking off and not coming back and at one point my character says: ‘we do owe these boys something.’ You can see why Churchill loved it. The Great War was so ghastly that it became romantic, but in the Second World War far more civilians were bombed.”
Mixing history with an intriguing story gives it broad appeal and the cast are delighted that Flare Path is attracting audiences of all ages.
“It’s definitely a play that is suitable for all the family and I do hope that lots of young people will come to see it,” said Graham, who admitted that these days he isn’t feeling as sprightly as he once was.
“I am suddenly feeling my age,” he confided. For years you’re the youngest in the company and now I’m suddenly the oldest – I’m about twenty years older than everyone else!”
But there’s something about this particular production that has had a rejuvenating effect on Graham. Botox? A bit of a nip-and-tuck? As it transpires nothing so drastic.
“I know it sounds slightly immature for a sixty-five-year-old man to say it, but it’s quite nice to put on an air force uniform. I look pretty chipper,” he teased, agreeing that any fella in a military uniform looks instantly dapper, even if they look like a bag of spanners. Not that Graham does, I hastily reassured him. Laughing off the unintended insult he said:
“It’s like evening dress – if you’re a woman and you suddenly look at your old man in evening dress you say ‘goodness he polishes up well!’ When my wife sees me in my RAF uniform I hope she thinks that there’s life in the old dog yet!”
Certainly on the work front he continues to have offers lined up and, although he is best remembered for The Archers, his CV is crammed with credible theatre, film and TV credits. “That’s because I’m so old,” he twinkled. “I’ve ducked and dived; I’m what they call a jobbing actor.”
As for life on tour, Graham doesn’t mind living out of a suitcase in the least.
“It’s rather romantic and like being with a family. For me, as an older member of the company, there’s a responsibility to make sure that everyone’s happy. But it’s a lovely way to see friends in other parts of the country and to visit wonderful theatres.”
With all the schlepping about he does for work, how does Graham relax?
“I find it very hard to relax,” he confessed. “I do What the Papers Say every other Sunday, so don’t get many Sunday’s off. You always worry about your next job and even at sixty-five I’m always worried that I’ll be found out. But I’m actually pretty content. Getting older makes you less ambitious; there are more important things, like your health. So now I am absolutely thrilled to play good supporting roles and to really enjoy them.”
Anxious that he doesn’t come across as “worthy” (he doesn’t), Graham believes that there is a duty to tour good plays around the country, especially to unsubsidised theatres.
Speaking of which, it was time for him to head off to transform himself into a fine young man in uniform for the evening performance.
“I’m revving up for chocks away,” he grinned, before adding: “It’s not a bad life.”
Indeed. And he’s a jolly good egg. A jolly good egg in a jolly good show. Go and see for yourself.
Official website: www.flarepaththetour.com
Twitter: @flarepathtour
Facebook: flarepaththetour

Shoe Aid – Because Walking Barefoot Should Be A Choice…

Posted on February 9, 2016 by Corinne Tuddenham-Finn

‘We’re shoe people….that’s what we do.

Can you imagine a life where you and your family cannot afford a simple pair of shoes? For 300 million children worldwide, this is a reality. They do not have a choice to be barefoot because their families are too impoverished to afford an essential pair of shoes. We’re working to change that, and you can help’.

Shoe Aid UK

In 2004, Lee Todd, who had created a career in the shoe business for himself watched on television a video of a single shoe washing ashore after the calamitous 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami. It was an image he never forgot and it moved him to develop the Shoe Aid charity in 2010.

With Lee’s leadership and Shoe Aid’s core team, Shoe Aid has collected tens of thousands of shoes for people in need. In partnership with The National Police Aid Convoy the shoes collected have benefited and helped improve the lives of people in the UK, Malawi, Gambia, Uganda, Zimbabwe, Russia, Albania, Pakistan, Ghana and Rwanda.

Strategically placed shoe bins are used to collect used and new shoes. These can be found in participating schools, offices, factories and religious and retail establishments. Shoe Aid is working to establish itself as a leading global charity that will continue to provide needed shoes to people in the UK, developing nations, disaster zones and refugee camps. In addition, Shoe Aid aims to help develop micro-businesses in developing countries where they will teach people how to create commerce on gently worn shoes. Any newly donated shoes will be proudly allocated as designated by Shoe Aid.

Shoe Aid is also doing long-term planning to help those in poverty in the UK with a vision of establishing charity shops throughout the UK for people in need of re-purposed shoes at a nominal price.

Why Shoe Aid?

As a UK charity, Shoe Aid are passionate about what they do. Every day, they are seeking ways to help improve the lives of children around the world by working with global partners to collect donated shoes. The shoes that are collected are sent to parts of Africa and Eastern Europe. The pieces are then repurposed and provided to impoverished families.

‘We need you to join us. We have a lot of work to do and we need businesses, companies, charities, schools and individuals to add their voices and efforts to our movement. Together, we can make a difference, not only in Eastern Europe and Africa, but also right here in the UK. Help support our efforts and make a difference in a child’s life today’.

12 New Terrace
Sandiacre
Nottingham
NG10 5PU

Phone: 07947 686333

E-mail
lee@shoeaid.com

About Shoe Aid…

Shoe Aid is a charity (in the process of registration) established to raise awareness and help the 300 million children worldwide who do not have the ability to obtain a pair of shoes, which are necessary for hygienic and health reasons, for work and school, due to the devastating ills of poverty. Shoe Aid believes that walking barefoot should be a choice, not a hardship.

www.shoeaid.com

@ShoeAidUK

Facebook: ShoeAidNottingham

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