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Making Kombucha With Freshly Fermented #Ad

November 19, 2020 by Erica Hughes 20 Comments

kombucha kit

My first experience of kombucha was at a vegan restaurant event for food bloggers in Birmingham. I quite liked the taste, although my plus one on that occasion was less keen on it. I’d taken the odd glass since then, but I’ve never drunk kombucha on a regular basis until very recently.

Freshly Fermented got in touch and asked me to try out making my own kombucha with one of their kits. Whilst I was waiting for my own to brew, I could drink some of their ready made kombucha. Freshly Fermented offer the largest selection of organic & vegan fermented food cultures in the UK. I was sent one of their organic kombucha starter kits to try.

The kit

In the organic kombucha starter kits there is everything you need to start fermenting. To be honest you don’t need anything else at all really: the ingredients are all there, as are all the utensils. There’s no danger of you not having the right tools for the job. The kit comes with a high quality Kilner jar for fermenting in, plus some glass bottles for your produce. The remainder of the utensils are plastic (a stirrer, funnel, measuring jug and strainer), but of good quality and they were the right size for the job too. As well as your ‘hardware’ you’ll get sugar, tea and the magic ingredient: your scoby with starter tea. The instructions are on the website and you can either read them online or print them off (they print off nicely: no odd words on a separate sheet or any margin problems).

kilner jar

Making kombucha

Getting your kombucha started takes a couple of hours in total. Just to be clear this isn’t because there’s a lot of work, but you do have to wait for the mixture to cool down and I found that was the most time consuming part of it. The actual work is only a few minutes in total. First you heat up your sugar and water mixture – this only took a few minutes on the hob in a saucepan. I did use a meat thermometer to check the temperatures, but it’s not essential. Next you add tea leaves and let your tea brew. I did this for 15 minutes, but you can go for a stronger brew if you prefer. It’s a good idea to set a reminder on your phone or use a kitchen timer, so as not to overdo it.

Then strain off the tea leaves and allow the mixture to cool to room temperature – this is where the waiting comes in, but obviously there’s no need to sit there watching it, you can just get on with whatever you want. I was surprised how long it took to get the temperature back down. Then you transfer your mixture to the kilner jar and add the scoby with starter tea. You close the lid and leave for five days (or a bit longer if you prefer).

fermenting kombucha Obviously, I knew I would have to wait to try my kombucha, but you can buy kombucha drinks to tide you over till your brew is ready. Alternatively, some will prefer just to buy the drink and not bother with making their own. I was sent some bottles of the Organic Black Orange Kombucha to try out whilst I was waiting. As it’s a real, unpasteurised kombucha, it continues to ferment when bottled meaning it has a short shelf life and murky appearance (the stuff you can buy in the supermarket really isn’t the same thing at all). You’ll also need to take some care when opening the bottles as the kombucha is quite fizzy. Kombucha may also contain low levels of alcohol (less than 1%).

Drinking kombucha

So whilst my kombucha was brewing, I started drinking the organic black orange kombucha every day. I liked the taste: quite sweet and fruity. I liked the fizz. Drinking it became part of my daily ritual. The first two days I tried it, my stomach made some very loud gurgling noises (apparently this is quite common) for half an hour to an hour. I have never heard my stomach make so much noise for that length of time before. So probably best to start drinking when you are at home for a couple of days or drink it after work, just in case it happens to you.

After two days my system seemed to get used to it and my stomach was silent from then on. I did notice a difference though. It felt like my whole digestive tract had eased and I felt lighter. I wasn’t suffering from any particular problems before started drinking kombucha, but there was a definite feeling of ease. Everything seemed to slip along much more smoothly. I was surprised at the difference it made. It made me want to continue drinking kombucha.

Organic Black Orange Kombucha

The results

How was my kombucha getting on? It sat there for 5 days without much obvious difference occurring. Maybe the scoby had grown a little and the mixture was slightly murkier. After five days I took out the scoby and the top 10% of the mixture to use for setting up my next batch. The remainder I transferred into my glass bottles ( I filled about one and a half bottles). The mixture is ready to drink. I liked my home brewed kombucha. If anything it was a little sweeter than the organic black orange kombucha and it was less fizzy, probably because it hadn’t been bottled for as long. I’ve already set up my next batch to ferment and I think kombucha will be a regular habit for me. I like the idea of experimenting with different types of tea and a variety of flavourings too.

Allergies And How To Overcome Them #Ad

November 6, 2020 by Erica Hughes 2 Comments

Photo by Brittany Colette on Unsplash

Some allergies are simple and obvious to identify. An immediate reaction after coming into contact with something say makes it all pretty clear. Sometimes though it’s more subtle, not as immediate, but still painful, uncomfortable or worrying. An allergy occurs when the immune system reacts to something in the environment that is usually harmless. In the case of food allergies, the immune system sees certain chemicals found in foods as ‘enemies’ and launches an immune response. It’s that immune response that means we experience the symptoms usually associated with allergies, like sneezing, rashes, watering eyes, runny nose etc.

Allergies can have such a negative impact on your life. If the allergy is severe or life threatening, it will overshadow a lot of everyday life. If it’s milder it’s less frightening, but if can still have a major impact on your life and how you live it. Some allergens are easier to avoid than others e.g. I have a friend who is allergic to strawberries and she finds them fairly easy to avoid, as they are usually in sweets and desserts. If she does make a mistake it isn’t the end of the world, as it’s a fairly mild reaction in the grand scheme of things, but still uncomfortable enough to avoid if she can.

Before you can tackle the allergy and the symptoms it causes, you need to identify it. There are two main ways to find out which foods are causing allergy symptoms: an elimination diet or allergy testing . The elimination diet works by fasting, or consuming foods which have a low allergic rate such as rice, lamb, cabbage for 4-7 days until symptoms clear, then reintroducing foods one at a time may point to the culprit. It obviously only works for food allergies and not other allergies. It’s not a quick process either. Allergy testing can be a skin test, a patch test or a blood test.

An allergy blood test is one of the most comprehensive ways to test for a wide range of allergens. The NHS offers a limited number of allergy tests as part of its service. So it’s no wonder that so many sufferers choose to try a private test. Many really like the idea of being able to carry out a test in the comfort of their own home, so home allergy tests are very popular. Test kits usually contain everything you need to take a test and then the sample is sent away to a lab to be processed.

Once you have the results of your home allergy test, you can take the next step to overcome your allergies. The results of any allergy test need to be interpreted by a doctor alongside your symptoms and your medical history. Your doctor will be able to advise you on any necessary follow-up action to fully diagnose you and come up with a treatment plan. But, the knowledge that that home allergy test brings gives you the power to do something about your allergy and eliminate the symptoms that come with it from your life.

Gin Tasting Kit From The Little Gin Company Giveaway #Ad

October 26, 2020 by Erica Hughes 58 Comments

home gin tasting kit
The Little Gin Company was launched at the start of 2015 by old school friends, Emma and Nicola…
They’re gin loving ladies who have spent many a time sampling the gin delights on offer in their local town of Stratford-upon-Avon. Now a little older (and wiser?), in 2015 they decided to turn their love of gin into an exciting business venture, to share the passion for gin with others through The Little Gin Company.

Building on our unique and creative style they lovingly converted a retro-style horse trailer into their mobile gin bar, to serve the gin-loving community with a selection of locally distilled and speciality gins. Launching their own range of gin in 2017 with the Trailer Made Gin Range now including a classic London Dry Gin, a fresh Elderflower Gin, a warming Old Tom Gin and a Rhubarb Gin with a Twist of Lime.
Their gin experience now extends beyond the horsebox bar as there’s also have a pop up gin bar and gin tasting experiences suitable for any occasion; be that a corporate function, hen do or just an excuse to get together and drink gin. Since March 2020 they have also been offering virtual gin tasting experiences, taking the popular face to face tasting experience and tailoring it to a virtual setting when it isn’t possible to get together in person.

The Trailer Made Gin Tasting Kit lets you host your own gin tasting experience from the comfort of your own home. Perfect to enjoy solo or with a partner of choice!

Your Trailer Made home tasting kit includes the following:

5cl bottle (double measure) of our London Dry Gin, Old Tom Gin, Elderflower Gin and Rhubarb with a Twist of Lime Gin.

A selection of complementary mixers to enjoy with the gins.

I’ve been enjoying gin at home during lockdown and more recent partial lockdowns. I love the idea of gin tasting at home, so I’m pleased to team up with The Little Gin Company to offer one of their Trailer Made home tasting kit to one lucky reader. Enter via the Gleam widget below.

Competition Terms and Conditions

1. No bulk, third-party or automated entries allowed.

2. Entrants must be aged 18 years or older and resident in the UK.

3. The winner or winners will be chosen by a random draw using the competition widget.

4. Promoter is responsible for fulfilling the prize and full contact details of the winner will be passed onto the promoter to enable prize fulfillment.

5. The winner’s name may be published on this site.

6. Competition closes at the end of Sunday 15th November 2020.

Trailer Made Gin Tasting Kit

Ink & Drop £30 Voucher Giveaway #Ad

October 14, 2020 by Erica Hughes 64 Comments

ink & drop prints Prints make such a difference to a room, especially if you have opted for a plain wall covering like a one colour painted wall or simply have a large expanse that looks a bit bare without some visual interest. I love that prints are a way of reflecting your personality into a room, as the choice of images is very individual. Not only that, they are a great way of bringing a new look to a room to suit the seasons, or simply ringing the changes a little when you get bored of an old look. Styling your home with art prints allows you to express your creativity and create a beautiful and compelling narrative in your living space.

Ink & Drop is a small family business, born from a passion for all things interior, and in particular, unique cool art prints with a belief that every home should have great artwork, regardless of budget, style or theme. A collection of artwork unlike anything else on the internet, Ink & Drop prints can transform your room and freshen up your walls regardless of interior style and for a very small budget.

ink & drop prints So whether your style is minimal Scandinavian or maximalist dark decor, Ink & Drop have artwork that is sure to draw attention in your home.

If you’d like to win a £30 voucher to spend at Ink & Drop, enter via the Gleam widget below.

Competition Terms and Conditions

1. No bulk, third-party or automated entries allowed.

2. Entrants must be aged 18 years or older and resident in the UK.

3. The winner or winners will be chosen by a random draw using the competition widget.

4. Promoter is responsible for fulfilling the prize and full contact details of the winner will be passed onto the promoter to enable prize fulfillment.

5. The winner’s name may be published on this site.

6. Competition closes at the end of Sunday 8th November 2020.

Ink & Drop £30 Voucher

Buzzy Blends Giveaway #Ad

October 2, 2020 by Erica Hughes 61 Comments

honey buzzy blends Buzzy Blends is an independent, family-owned business based here in the UK. It was created to bring honey to the table with a tasty twist. Buzzy Blends’ unique range of handmade honey is seriously big on flavour without compromising on quality. With their bees at the heart of everything they do, their honey is collected by ethical beekeepers who care for and protect the bees, and the blends are made with absolutely no additives or preservatives, just 100% natural ingredients that deliver all the nutritious goodness. There’s a great mix of flavours such as peppermint, chocolate, right through to lemon and ginger and cranberries. Buzzy Blends use nature’s best ingredients, such as berries, alongside their incredible, natural, raw, spring honey. They lyophilize (a freeze-drying process) their ingredients to keep as much of the goodness in, so that they boost the health benefits.

You can eat Buzzy Blends’ honey just by the spoonful, on toast, or to mix into hot water and create a warming drink, plus you can use it in a wide range of recipes. If you need some culinary inspiration, check out their blog.

I’ve pleased to say that I’ve teamed up with Buzzy Blends to offer one lucky reader the chance to win a fabulous Flavoured Raw Honey Gift Set worth £24.50. Enter via the Gleam widget below if you’d like to win.

Competition Terms and Conditions

1. No bulk, third-party or automated entries allowed.

2. Entrants must be aged 18 years or older and resident in the UK.

3. The winner or winners will be chosen by a random draw using the competition widget.

4. Promoter is responsible for fulfilling the prize and full contact details of the winner will be passed onto the promoter to enable prize fulfillment.

5. The winner’s name may be published on this site.

6. Competition closes at the end of Sunday 25th October 2020.

Buzzy Blends

Dermoperfection and Metro Spa Reopen After Lockdown

September 4, 2020 by Erica Hughes 1 Comment

metrospa edgbaston Just before lockdown I booked in to have my second ENVY facial at Metrospa in Edgbaston. For those not familiar with ENVY facials, it’s the only face and body skin resurfacing treatment to effectively exfoliate and extract damaged skin cells gently and deliver infusion into the skin at the same time. This is thanks to its patented breakthrough 3-in-1 technology. ENVY drives serums deeper into the skin at the same time as it is exfoliating and extracting. This means that maximum depth is reached with maximum absorption of the serums. The 3-in-1 technology removes dry and damaged skin cells, deep cleanses the skin surface and directly cleanses the pores.

envy facial dermoperfection Having the ENVY facial just at that point really set me and my skin up for lockdown. It gave me confidence in my skin and much of the time in lockdown I didn’t bother with makeup. So now lockdown is over, it seems like the perfect treatment for a little skin pick me up, as both a confidence boost and to help my skin cope with the ravages of everyday life. Of course, it’s only one of a range of treatments available at both Metrospa in Edgbaston and Dermoperfection in Birmingham city centre. Thankfully both Metrospa and Dermoperfection are now reopen after lockdown and are offering their usual range of treatments. Pop along to Dermoperfection for all your aesthetics needs or to Metrospa for aesthetics and spa treatments.

There’s always a friendly welcome to be had when you arrive for a treatment and Metrospa is comfortably and stylishly decorated, so it’s very much a pleasant place to spend time. New treatments are regularly being introduced so you can have access to the latest skin care innovations. Maybe you’d like a Profhilo® treatment to give your skin some TLC. Profhilo® is a revolutionary ‘beneath the skin’ hyaluronic acid moisturising treatment, made with the patented NAHYCO® technology. This results in a unique hyaluronic acid injectable gel, which has a prolonged stimulating activity on the dermal cells. When injected into skin, Profhilo stimulates the skin cell receptors to counteract skin laxity and improve and restore firmness of the skin.

metrospa edgbaston Or maybe you’d be tempted by ULTRAcel Q+ which is a new type of High Intensity Focused Ultrasound (HIFU) that promotes the formation of new collagen, suppression of stubborn fat cells, and skin tightening in various parts of the body. It’s a great way to enhance the tone of your jawline, but you can have the treatment on a range of areas of your body and face.

It’s great to see a local business coming back strongly after lockdown and I think that the innovative approach will be a successful one.

Win A Hamper

August 24, 2020 by Erica Hughes 1 Comment

Photo by Dmitry Mashkin on Unsplash

I’m getting a bit bored now about the idea of staying in so much. I totally understand why we have to mix with other people less, but I’m starting to miss the social interaction despite the Zoom calls and Whatsapp messages. One way to cope with that is to have more fun at home and I do think having some treats makes this trying time so much easier. A takeaway once a week say, or some new toiletries. I think what would be a lovely thing to receive would be a lovely hamper packed full of goodies – something like that would really make my day. That’s why I’ve teamed up with some other bloggers to offer one as a prize to our readers.

The Bloggers

The following bloggers have all teamed together to contribute towards this competition, offering you a fantastic prize.

Please show your support by visiting some of the bloggers taking part just by clicking on the name of the blog below.

The prize

Up for giveaway is a £100 M&S hamper of your choice.

With plenty to choose from you can choose yourself a lovely treat!

Rules & Enter

1. There is one top prize of a £100 M&S hamper of the winner’s choosing.
2. There are no runner up prizes
3. Open to UK residents aged 18 and over, excluding all bloggers involved with running the giveaway
4. Closing date for entries is midnight on 31.08.20
5. The same Rafflecopter widget appears on all the blogs involved, but you only need to enter on one blog
6. Entrants must log in to the Rafflecopter widget, and complete one or more of the tasks – each completed task earns one entry in the prize draw
7. Tweeting about the giveaway via the Rafflecopter widget will earn five bonus entries into the prize draw.
8. 1 winner will be chosen at random.
9. The winner will be informed by email within 7 days of the closing date and will need to respond within 28 days with their delivery address, or a replacement winner will be chosen.
10. The winners’ names will be published in the Rafflecopter widget (unless the winner objects to this).
11. The prizes will be despatched within 14 days of the winner confirming their address.
12. The promoter is www.EmmaDrew.info
13. By participating in this prize draw, entrants confirm they have read, understood and agree to be bound by these terms and conditions

To enter simply complete any or all of the Rafflecopter entry widgets below

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Good luck!

Lola’s Coffee Bags From The Specialty Coffee Company Giveaway #Ad

August 7, 2020 by Erica Hughes 70 Comments

thespecialtycoffeecompany.com coffee bags

Coffee bags seem like such a simple idea, so it seems surprising that they haven’t been around for that long. One bag makes one cup of coffee: no mess, no faff. It’s a great idea for a coffee lover with limited time or even limited kitchen space – a coffee maker takes up quite a lot of work surface.

In terms of convenience coffee bags really deliver as they are as easy to use as tea bags with the delicious taste of fresh coffee. Simply add boiling water to your favourite coffee cup, add the coffee bag and wait a couple of minutes. Add sugar, milk or cream if you like and enjoy. Lola’s coffee bags are the perfect combination of coffee blends carefully combined to create a delicious cup of coffee. The rich dark blend in Lola’s coffee bags exhibit notes of smoke and black pepper and a high caffeine content to deliver that boost you need in the morning.Each coffee bag is individually wrapped to ensure freshness as well as convenience. Every single Lola’s coffee bag makes a great cup of coffee every time.

Lola’s coffee bags are made by The Specialty Coffee Company. Their coffee experts travel the world sourcing, tasting and grading to select only the finest speciality coffee directly from the grower. This way, they control all the variables every step of the way to make sure the coffee they deliver is perfect.

If you’d like to try some of this tasty coffee I have 5 packs with 10 coffee bags in each to give away to 5 lucky readers. Enter via the Gleam widget below.

Competition Terms and Conditions

1. No bulk, third-party or automated entries allowed.

2. Entrants must be aged 18 years or older and resident in the UK.

3. The winner or winners will be chosen by a random draw using the competition widget.

4. Promoter is responsible for fulfilling the prize and full contact details of the winner will be passed onto the promoter to enable prize fulfillment.

5. The winner’s name may be published on this site.

6. Competition closes at the end of Sunday 30th August 2020.

Lola’s Coffee Bags

Diary Diary and Cookbook Giveaway #Ad

July 28, 2020 by Erica Hughes 54 Comments

zest for life cookbook

I’ve certainly been cooking a lot more from scratch during lockdown. The extra time available to me has meant that I’ve had more time to experiment. I’ve tried some new things from existing recipe books and I’ve looked online for specific recipes, but I’m in need of some inspiration. A new cookbook is a great way to get that inspiration. I love reading cookbooks especially when they have lots of illustrations so I can more clearly imagine the dish and dream about what it will taste like.

A Zest For Life is the new cookbook from Dairy Diary. At a time when we are very conscious about our health, what we eat is very important. The fresh and tasty food in this brand-new cookbook will put a real spring in your step. It’s packed full of colourful, energising recipes, made with ingredients that taste great and also help you to feel great! More than just five-a-day; cooking from this book could give you at least seven of your daily veg and fruit, plus plenty of wholegrains and healthy protein. With superfoods galore and meals that keep you full for longer, this collection of delicious, nutritious recipes is one that you’ll turn to time and again.

zest for life page There is a plethora of useful tips, serving suggestions and nutritional information, as well as a glorious photograph for every recipe. There’s even space to add your own notes.
And this superb book is beautiful too, so it’ll take pride of place in your kitchen.

To add a little Zest to your life, get your copy of this fabulous cookbook at www.dairydiary.co.uk or, if you have a milkman, put a note out asking for it.

Many of you will be aware of the Dairy Diary. Culinary enthusiasts look forward to the new edition each year as it’s packed full of cooking ideas. You’ll love the recipes because they will be delicious, will always work (each one is triple-tested) and they use easily accessible ingredients, so there’s no need to visit countless shops for obscure foods. The 2021 edition is no exception, with the photography team raving about the recipes as ‘the best yet’!

Of course, Dairy Diary is not just a recipe book; it’s a super-practical diary that’s ideal for planning your busy life. It has a week-to-view layout, clever spiral binding so that it lies flat and has lots of useful features, such as a notes pocket, planners and memorable dates stickers. Diaries preserve special memories forever and, in our technology-dominated world, writing with a real pen on real paper is a pure pleasure.

Begin documenting your memories now with Dairy Diary. Buy online at www.dairydiary.co.uk or, if you have a milkman, put a note out asking for it.

I have a copy of each to give away to one lucky reader. Enter via the Gleam widget below.

Competition Terms and Conditions

1. No bulk, third-party or automated entries allowed.

2. Entrants must be aged 18 years or older and resident in the UK.

3. The winner or winners will be chosen by a random draw using the competition widget.

4. Promoter is responsible for fulfilling the prize and full contact details of the winner will be passed onto the promoter to enable prize fulfillment.

5. The winner’s name may be published on this site.

6. Competition closes at the end of Sunday 23rd August 2020.

Diary Diary and Cookbook

Charlie Bigham’s Meals Review #Ad

July 22, 2020 by Erica Hughes 12 Comments

fish pie Recently Charlie Bigham’s got in touch and asked if I’d like to try out some of their meals. I popped along to our local Waitrose where they have a good selection, but you can get them at a range of different supermarkets. You’ll find them in the chilled aisle and as soon as you see them on the shelf you realise they are a cut above the average ready meal. Another thing I liked about them is that you buy a meal for two rather than having to buy separate meals for each person (although they do also make meals for one).

Charlie Bigham’s meals are created for foodies by foodies and are made with the same level of attention to detail that you’d expect in a lovingly prepared home cooked meal created from scratch at home. The idea is that you can have the quality without all the work. The Fish Pie we tried was very similar to the ones I make myself with a fraction of the work for me: I just needed to prepare some vegetables to go with it. There’s a wide range of dishes available from some classic British favourites like Shepherd’s Pie, and a range of dishes from round the world. You can eat Italian with Lasagne; or Spanish with a Paella with Chicken, King Prawn and Chorizo; or Chinese with Sweet & Sour Chicken with Egg Fried Rice. You can even pick out a pudding from the range to finish your meal off in style. How about Chocolate Fondant, Cherry Bakewell or Sticky Toffee Pudding?

We tried out a couple of dishes: the Fish Pie I mentioned earlier and one of their new range of curries Thai Green Curry. The advantage of the curry one is that it came with rice, although it was less rice than I normally serve for two people (this is something I always find with ready meals including rice, so if you like less carbs, you’ll probably find it right for you). The fish pie obviously needs to be served with vegetables. There is a reasonable helping of mashed potato on top of the pie, but I did some extra potatoes too.

how it works charlie bigham

Inside the Thai Green Curry pack there are two wooden trays containing the food and you can cook the dishes in them. There was some foil provided to go over the rice to stop it drying out. You can’t microwave the food as some of the recipe is made with raw ingredients. The trays stand the cooking remarkably well. Although one did show some minor scorch marks after use. I’ve reused mine as containers for harvesting veg in the garden, but I think seed trays would work well too. Once they are past their useful life, you can pop them in the garden waste or on the compost heap.

thai green curry

The Thai Green Curry certainly had a bit of kick and was spicy, yet fragrant too. You could tell that it was made with good quality, fresh ingredients and it was of comparable quality to a good home cooked meal. Obviously the cooking time means that the food isn’t ready instantly, but the dishes taste significantly better than that sort of ready meal. It’s not so long to wait anyway, if you pop the oven on as you soon as you come in the door, it should be up to temperature within a few minutes. Pop your dinner in and sit back with a cuppa or a glass of wine.

I loved the Fish Pie. It was very moreish and I’d be very much tempted to buy one again rather than get all the ingredients separately and spend a long time in the kitchen. I suspect I’d save money as well as time. I liked that it had a mix of fish including haddock and salmon which are amongst my favourites.