Category: Reviews

As a new ambassador for Froothie UK, I’ve had the lovely opportunity to try out one of the newest gadgets in their range.  I’m letting you all know about the fabulous Optimum Vac 2 Air Vacuum Blender.

I know, some of you will have some questions as vacuum blending isn’t a term that is commonly used for in home blending.

Note:  This post contains affiliate links.  These are marked by an asterisk next to them.  If you buy anything from using these links, I will receive an ambassador commission, which lets me keep this blog running.  The price is not altered for you in any way.  

What is vacuum blending?

It’s very much like ordinary blending, but with the vacuum ability, the air is removed, to reduce the risk of oxidation, which is especially great for fruits and vegetables.

Oxidation

When we blend food, the chemicals are exposed to the elements, otherwise known as oxygen.  The food changes colour and starts to break down, very much like a peeled banana or apple starts to turn a brown colour when left open to the air.  When fruit and vegetables begin to turn brown, they also begin to lose their value as a nutritional source.

Find out more in this video from Froothie, which is a fabulous way to picture it.

And a little more about the vacuum abilities of the Optimum Vac 2 Air Vacuum Blender.

I made my first smoothie with the Vac 2 in the morning and popped it in the fridge for later, which was great, as later that afternoon, I was still able to go back and drink it.  With my old blender, it changes colour so much, that I end up pouring the smoothie down the drain and making a new one.

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), said:
“Vitamin C is destroyed by oxidation, and is the vitamin most easily lost during processing, storage, and cooking.”

So, what do I think?

Optimum Vac 2 Air Vacuum Blender *

It’s big.  Not too big, but solid, and comforting that it will be up to the job for many years to come.  It’s like the daddy of my current blender from a different brand, which if I’m honest, is just not up to the job.  I’ve used my new gadget a few times, and it’s been fabulous.  I’m looking forward to sharing my recipes with you all, and my raw ice cream recipe will be the first one I post with this fabulous gadget.

I’d been thinking about buying an all signing all dancing blender for a while, but it’s not easy to decide on which brand, as it’s a commitment purchase.  Now I have this one, I won’t be looking any further, as the vacuum function is incredible.

The main points are:

• Easy cleaning Froothie Blender * with clear cleaning instructions in the user manual.
• 4 preset functions, which are:  Smoothie, Veg & Fruits, Nuts, Soup & a Pulse function to choose your own.  Find out more on the Froothie UK website *.
• High speed settings from 1-8, with a Pulse option for blending thick ingredients or for cleaning.
• Vacuum setting for use with the Smoothie & Veg & Fruits preset functions.
• Heavy duty tamper tool for easier blending and mixing.
• Choose between traditional blending or vacuum blending.  Soup and Nuts settings are not suitable for vacuum blending.
• Smoothies and blended fruit are smoother and more creamy looking, and look better for longer if the lid is kept on the blender.  It’s easy to make, pop in the fridge and enjoy later.
• It’s a one jug does it all blender, which is 2 litres.  That’s a lot of blending potential.
• It’s noisy.  If you’re not used to a high speed blender, be prepared for the sound.  It’s a powerful blender *, with a 2238W motor, to tackle the toughest of blending tasks.

How to get one:

• Currently, the Optimum Vac 2 Air Vacuum Blender has a RRP of £499.00.
• There is a short time promotion on, with the blender currently available for £389. This is at the time of publication of this post. 
• Click through from my affiliate link*
• You also get a 30 day money back guarantee, which includes return postage, plus 5 years warranty as standard.
• Access to expert support team.
• 0% finance could be available on purchases of £299 or more, spread out over 6 months with a 10% deposit.

Recipes

Raw Strawberry and Banana Ice Cream

Highland Spring is one of those brands who like to highlight the benefits of healthy hydration, especially for kids.  When back-to-school comes, it’s always a worry for us parents, to know if our kids have had enough to drink or not.  It’s not as if we can tag along after then during the school day, and mark up what they’ve had to drink.

As a parent, I tend to think that under hydrated children get grumpy.  I doubt there is much in the way of evidence, but I know how I feel if I’m thirsty.

Highland Spring says:

When you’re 100% hydrated, you’re much more likely to be on top of your game – mentally, physically and emotionally.

I’d have to say, that I very much agree with that.

With back-to-school season just past, it’s the perfect time to encourage kids to give every day their all, with the help of great hydration.

Highland Spring ran a #BravebyNature project, which was all about that natural drive in children to let nothing get in their way and for us parents to help our kids stay naturally hydrated enough to wield it.

That’s why Highland Spring is one of your most important #TermTimeEssentials right now.

For me, I have a special needs boy, whose idea of fluid has to come in flavoured varieties.

To get him to be #BravebyNature, I tend to mix it with other things.  it could be diluting juice, or fresh orange or strawberry, or anything I can get him to drink, that isn’t just sugar in a glass.

Water is actually great for lunch bags though, so at school, it’s a bit of a no brainer.

Our schools do pretty well and will remove fizzy drinks from the kids, and ask for parents to send in healthy options.  At our local secondary, the kids are allowed to take in water for their desks, but aren’t allowed any other drinks.  It’s a positive step for hydration.

From Highland Spring, I learned that staying well hydrated  can boost attention by almost 25%. Its even nicer when you know the plain natural source water you’re giving drawn from organic land in Scotland’s beautiful Ochil Hills!

Where do you get your hydration from?

Thanks to Highland Spring for our water.

My last coffee machine was on it’s last legs, and being ever thrifty, I’ve just let it limp along, sometimes working and sometimes not.  I’ve meant to look for one for a while, so the offer to try Nespresso coffee pods came at the right time.  We didn’t have a compatible machine to try the pods in, so they sent us a wee one to use with the pods.

To be honest I was just expecting the wee Nespresso Essenza Mini and some iced coffee pods.  What arrived was a bit different.  Along with the little machine, came a whole box of iced coffee pods, two coffee glasses, a travel mug, and an ice cube tray.

The machine is very neat, and takes up little room on a worktop.  It’s not very wide at all and seems to make enough for two larger coffees, and several expresso sized beverages.  It took me a while to figure out the different coffee names, but I got there in the end.

The two new flavours of iced coffee, are:

• Intenso on Ice
• Leggero on Ice

Intenso on ice, is a rich, roasted coffee, with cereal notes, whereas the Legeero on ice is subtle, with lemony notes.   I did have to look up their website to figure out how to make iced coffee with a coffee maker.  Call me an iced coffee numptie, ahem, newbie.

I’d like to have made the iced vanilla coffee from their recipe, but my wee machine doesn’t have a milk frother, and I don’t own a milk frother.  Yes, I know, I have almost every type of gadget under the sun, but a milk frother isn’t one of them.  I did half wonder if putting some milk into my blender on a high setting might do the trick, but I didn’t take the chance.   I am making a mental note to get a milk frother however.  Having milk frothed latte needs to be in my future.

I did have a few cheeky cups of coffee to test out the machine, and to be honest, it’s fairly simple and doesn’t have excess bits on it to take up space.  I might even give this one to my mum so that her carers can make coffee up in her room, and don’t have to come downstairs a dozen times a day.  I might earn some brownie points there…and I can get myself a gadget with a built-in milk frother.  See, there is some method to this chain of thought….

Ok, now the coffee part has been well figured out, it had to go to the iced coffee version.

This is what I did.

• Fill glass with ice.
• Pop Leggero on ice pod into machine and choose expresso setting.
• When expresso shot has finished, I poured cold milk over the back of a spoon, and into the glass, then stirred at the end.  I did manage to achieve a little froth on top of the coffee, which went down pretty well on a warm Aberdeen day…

What did I think?

To be fair, iced coffee isn’t ever going to be my thing, apart from the odd glass as a change.  I’m pretty much a traditional girl, and a hot latte is my bevvy of choice with caffeine.

Can I see this being popular?

I can.  I’ve always thought of iced coffee as being an American thing, but my kids tend to buy themselves iced coffee shots in a coffee shop, so now I just have to figure out how to use these pods for the same effect at home.  I suspect lots of crushed ice will do the trick, along whipped cream and some chocolate powder, but the possibilities are wide, as is the variation in the type and strength of coffee for the little machine.

Future

Our machine is going to be well used, whether by us, or my mum and her carers, so for that, I am grateful.  I doubt I’d buy iced coffee pods personally, but that’s just me, although my youngest is planning how to use the Caramelito and Vanilio pods instead of the Intenso on ice and Leggero on ice for whipped cream iced coffee.  He’s a teen, and I guess for teens, iced coffee really is a thing…..  Ok, this old woman is off to settle for an old fashioned cup of hot caffeine…

Thanks to Nespresso for our samples.

As part of the blog, I tried a couple of new products recently.  One thing I have never actually owned was a standalone Citrus Zester, so I was intrigued by the new new one from Deiss, that also doubles as a cheese grater with a multitude of uses, from grating lemon, garlic, ginger and nutmeg too.   As with all graters, you have to watch your fingers when you use it, and I’m grateful it comes with a blade cover, as it’s a much more substantial tool that the ones I’ve seen for sale in my local supermarkets.  I write more about it below.

Castle McLellan Pate

I do like a bit of pate, though mushroom is usually my stretch.

They say:

Castle MacLellan Foods Limited in Dumfries & Galloway has been established for over 30 years and is renowned for its high quality range of pâtés. Today we continue a tradition of excellence and the reputation as the pâté experts. It is our attention to detail and sourcing of authentic ingredients which enables us to create the finest recipes.

Castle McLellan sent me some samples of their pates’ to try, and as my kids also like it, I accepted a selection.  The ones we received were.

• Oven Roasted Mushroom Pate, with garlic and thyme.
• Smoked Salmon Pate, with lemon juice and horseradish.
• Chicken Liver Pate, with Scottish heather honey.
• Rannoch Smoked Duck Pate, with apple jelly.
• Luxury Orkney Crab Terrine, with lemon juice & mustard.

We haven’t opened them all yet, as we couldn’t eat them all at once, but we have broken out the Mushroom and the Smoked Salmon.     I absolutely loved the mushroom one, as it’s a rich, creamy, over roasted mushroom pate, with full fat soft cheese, creme fraiche, and seasoned with a hint of garlic & thyme.

I was quite surprised to find that inside the outer cardboard wrappers, there are recipe suggestions for the pate.   Our Mushroom pate contained a recipe for wild mushroom soup, with garlic croutons, which would make 1 large bowl or 2 smaller bowls.  By that point, I’d eaten half the pate, and my middle child had eaten the bagel in the image, so we had none left to make the soup with, but I’d love to try making it.

There are lots of other recipes on their website at castlemaclellan.co.uk

My kids polished off the Smoked Salmon Pate, and I don’t think the other ones currently sitting in my fridge are going to last for long.  You don’t get the real colour of the smoked salmon pate below, but it was a lovely pale shade.

Castle MacLellan and proud makers of Scottish Pate, and are owned by the Kavli Trust, which supports good causes in the UK and abroad.  Part of the profits from the Kavli group are reinvested in strengthening and developing the groups operations, which the rest is donated to good causes in research, culture and humanitarian work, by supporting poor and disadvantaged people in the global south and in the Kavli countries.

Available to buy in Sainsburys, Aldi, ASDA, Morrisons, Co-operative, Booths, NISA, Budgens, Local Independent Stores.

Deiss Pro Citrus Zester & Cheese Grater

For the pictures on this post, I used the Deiss to grate some lemon peel to sit over the Smoked Salmon Pate from Castle McLellan.  Deiss is a small kitchenware company, and the Citrus Zester and Cheese Grater can be found on Amazon at a great price at the moment.  As of 23 April 2017, the price is £9.98 with free delivery.  That’s a pretty great price for such a nifty gadget.

The Zester & Cheese Grater are well presented and looks like a professional product from the word go.  It is very sharp.  I’ve already said this, as I ran my fingers across it to wipe away the lemon zest.  Big mistake.  Thankfully, I didn’t press, and my fingers recovered, but keep your hands well away from the blades when you are cleaning it, and if you put this in a kitchen drawer, make sure you use the purpose designed blade cover that comes with it.

Actually, I’m pretty pleased with this.  It’s far easier for me to hold and grate cheese, than my old traditional style grater, and I have more control it.   It’s made of a premium quality stainless steel that won’t rust, and has a non-slip grip, which is always important for any device with a blade.

I like it so much, that I’ve given my old graters away.  I guess that says it all.  It’s very light, and comes with a lifetime warranty, as well as being dishwasher safe.

Thanks to Castle McLellan and Deiss for our samples.

We received some new samples this week, of the Bahlsen Mini range.  My kids tend to like these as they’re easily eaten, and we loved our Christmas samples, so although my boys had to wait a few days until I had time to take some pictures, the packets didn’t hang around for long.  My youngest had some pals around, and for early evening snack, these did the job perfectly, although I had to grab some of my favourites before they were demolished by teenage boys.

My favourites were the Waffle Minis, which are crispy mini wafer rolls, the ones in the centre in this picture.  Light and crispy, they’re more like a sweetie than a biscuit.  Perfect.

My eldest preferred the Messino Minis, with the soft sponge, orange fruit filling and dark chocolate on the top.

Available in Tesco.

Thanks to Bahlsen for our samples.

And when I say kids, I mean of the big variety too.  My teens like anything wrapped in breadcrumbs or battered, and lets face it, there are times when the easiest option is indeed the best option for us on a day to day basis.  Yes, I make lots of fresh and home cooked meals, but I’m not adverse to also grabbing something from the freezer on a day where I’m rushed, and throwing something hassle free onto an oven tray, to quickly feed the ravenous hordes.

I also have to say, that mashed anything is one of the hardest things I take food photographs of.  Dollops of food just never looks great on a plate, even though it tastes awesome on the way into your belly….

My mother, is very fussy with her food, and for me, looking at a plate of haggis, while traditional, isn’t the most attractive of dishes.  But realistically, that’s not what Burns Night is all about, and that’s the occasion when us Scots celebrate the birthday of the bard, Robert Burns, poet extraordinaire.  If you want to find out more about it, click here.

Mash Direct sent us some samples of their Burns Night Fare, which included traditional Neeps and Tatties (mashed swede and mashed potatoes), and Burns Bites, or a mix of Haggis, Neeps and Tatties, coated in a crispy gluten free crumb.

I quite liked how Mash Direct quote Robert Burns, or who I know more as Rabbie Burns, as do many of us up in Scotland.

Fair fa’ your honest, sonsie face,
Great chieftan o’ the puddin’-race!
Aboon them a’ ye take your place,
Painch, tripe or thairm;
Weel are ye wordy o’ a grace
As lang’s my arm.
(From the poem, ‘To a Haggis’ by Robert Burns)

These Burns Bites are cooked in the oven at 180 Degrees for 10-12 minutes, while the neeps and tatties can easily be popped into the microwave, so it’s an easy take on a traditional meal, and very very quick.  I added a little ground peppercorn over the top, actually forgetting for a moment, that haggis can be quite spicy, but it was fine.  I’d recommend churning up the tatties before serving, by mixing in the tray, which softens them up, and of course, neeps and tatties would never taste the same, without a generous blob of butter melting into the top.

The Burns Bites would also do quite well as finger food, with neeps and tatties mixed in with the haggis.  It softens the flavour, so the bites aren’t overpowering, and make them quite easy for little ones to manage.  Three Burns Bites is 181 calories, so that’s a perfect amount for me, who always watches what she eats.  We had ours with that other national drink, Irn-Bru, in place of a good dram.

The Burns Bites are a new product for Mash Direct, and in celebration, they wrapped their John Deere tractor in Tartan.  What a fitting sight….  Burns night is the 25th January this year, and the 258th since Rabbie Burns was born.

Many of us here, do celebrate, with a Ceilidh, a meal at home, or with friends, and Scottish communities everywhere seem to enjoy the celebration.   With the neeps and tatties, grown on their Farm, Mash Direct decided to bring out a product mixing it all together.

Mash Direct Burns Bites and Neeps & Tatties can be found in Tesco Scotland, Morrison’s Scotland, Nisa Scotland and Independents throughout Scotland.

Find out more at Mash Direct.  Thank you for our samples.