Gourmet Chocolate Pizza for Father’s Day

Pizza’s are our families go to Saturday night food, so it goes without saying that a pizza from The Gourmet Chocolate Pizza Company would be an amazing gift for anyone especially this customised one with a Happy Father’s Day chocolate logo in the centre.  What dad wouldn’t want to receive one of these this Father’s Day? (the bonus being he can share it with you too!)

We received a seven inch pizza from The Gourmet Chocolate Pizza Company complete in a sturdy pizza style box, with cheeky cut outs on one side so you can see the luxury chocolate gift that awaits you.

There is a cellophane layer over the pizza to keep it sealed but once you peel this back the smell of the chocolate just oozes out at you – this is when I knew we were onto a good thing that is clearly made from high quality chocolate.  They use smooth Belgian chocolate that just melts in the mouth and this is evident when when we came to the taste test.

For Father’s Day the pizza has an extra chocolate plaque in the centre with a message perfect to give to your dad at this time of year.  The pizza is pre cut into eight slices, although they are generous in size so you may want to break them into smaller pieces to make it last longer (should you have the willpower!).  The smooth Belgian chocolate base is a good thickness and decorated with milk chocolate curls, red, blue and purple rainbow drop buttons, and milk and white chocolate rice balls

Everyone was wowed at this when I showed them and I certainly think it’s a brilliant gift to hand out for Father’s Day.  It tastes utterly delicious and it definitely impressed me more than I thought it would particularly in it’s quality, taste and presentation.  The Gourmet Chocolate Pizza Company is well worth checking out for gift ideas whatever the occasion and they also do a variety of flavours so there really is something for everyone’s tastebuds.  Go check them out now!

All reviews are my own and my family’s opinions and we received the product in order to write an honest review.

The Pizza Kitchen Pizzas from Chicago Town

When you mention the word pizza my families eyes all light up – it’s their favourite dinner option so we couldn’t wait to try the new range from Chicago Town called ‘The Pizza Kitchen’.  With four flavours in the range there is something for everyone and with me being vegetarian I was pleased to see that two of the choices, Cheese Medley and Garden Vegetable would be ok for me to try out.   The other flavours Deli Pepperoni and Roasted Chicken are great for meat eaters.

One of the key features of this new The Pizza Kitchen range is the deli crisp crust.  A crispy edging that reminds you of Tiger Bread and that is my families favourite choice of fresh loaf so to have something similar as a pizza base is almost too good to be true. The toppings are all loaded generously too so you can be sure to get plenty of flavour however big or small your slice is.

First choice by the children was the Deli Pepperoni, the 7yr old’s favourite.  He loves a bit of pepperoni and with the delicious base, this pizza from Chicago Town certainly hit the mark with him.

I tucked into the Cheese Medley and Garden Kitchen which were both lovely to eat.  The base is crisp but light and just right for the toppings.  This is definitely a pizza base we’ll all be back for more of.  I found the toppings to be juicy and flavoursome, a great match against the base and between us all the pizzas disappeared rather quickly.

Overall The Pizza Kitchen range of pizzas from Chicago Town have been a hit with both adults and children alike and being the sort of family that enjoys pizza on a Saturday night in, we will be adding these to our weekly shopping list!  Why don’t you give them a try too?

All reviews are my own and my family’s opinions and we received the product in order to write an honest review. 

Win a Dinosaur with Chicago Town Pizza

Chicago Town pizzas are regularly eaten in this house, my children love The Deep Dish and I find The Sub handy for a lunchtime treat.  At the moment every time you buy a Chicago Town pizza, you will find a special code on the inside of the box which you can enter online in the hope to win one of six Jurassic World dinosaur toys.

chicago town

Available are:

  • Indominus Rex
  • Ceratosaurus
  • Dilophosaurus
  • Dimorphodon
  • Tyrannosaurus Rex
  • Velociraptor

Every 15 minutes between 8am and 8pm a different dinosaur is released so you can try your luck to win every dinosaur.  It’s definitely worth a try as we won on our third attempt which my son Mister B is very happy about.

If you are unsure what pizza to buy, then I am going to highly recommend The Takeaway Four Cheese Melt.  With a stuffed tomato sauce crust and topped with a combination of Mozzarella, Monterey Jack, mature Cheddar and Emmental cheeses, this pizza is pure heaven.

chicago town 2

We hadn’t tried this pizza before but got it in for all the family on Saturday night and it disappeared within minutes with everyone saying how delicious it tasted.  The crust rose up beautifully to a soft but crispy edge that just melted in the mouth.  This will definitely be our go to pizza in the future for weekend family treats!

chicago town 3

All reviews are my own and my family’s opinions and we received a dinosaur and some vouchers in order to write an honest review.

Chicago Town Pizza – Review

Pizza is our family’s favourite Saturday night treat for dinner so we were keen to try out some pizza’s from Chicago Town who have a new style pizza out, The Pizza Melt along with The Deep Dish and The Sub which have new flavours for 2015 available.   Being vegetarian I stuck to some of the more traditional cheese and tomato flavours although other family members did try the Meat Supreme Pizza Melt.

pizzaxWe had the The Deep Dish Four Cheeses first which was a hit with all of us.  Containing Mozzarella, mature Cheddar, Monterey Jack and Emmental cheese this pizza was simply bursting with cheese which balanced well against the thick deep crust of the pizza but also had the right amount of tomato sauce inbetween to keep it juicy and easy to eat.

pizzaNext up we tried The Pizza Melt, a snack style pizza which can be eaten in two halves or put together like a pizza in a bun!

pizza 3 pizza 4

The Pizza Melt is loaded with pepperoni, ham, mushrooms, Edam and Cheddar cheeses all tucked inside a crispy bun.  This was enjoyed by those that ate it, my daughter Miss M particularly likes a bit of pepperoni on her pizza.  The Pizza Melt is designed more for a quick snack and is a generous size which would ultimately fill an adult up at lunchtime!

My personal favourite was The Sub, a long french bread style pizza topped with tomato sauce, three cheeses, Edam, Cheddar and Mozzarella, and herbs.  These are ideal for lunchtime with a side salad for a really tasty meal.

pizza 2We all really enjoyed trying out the Chicago Town range of pizzas with most of the family favouring The Deep Dish, but for me The Sub.  There are so many flavours available now, that there really is something to suit everyones tastebuds, so why not check them out!

All reviews are my own and my family’s opinions and we received the products in order to write the review.

Yummy Nummies Mini Magic Pizza & Cookies

Yummy Nummies  from Character Options are the latest craze from Japan, where kids get to create mini food treats that taste and look just like the real thing!

Yummy NWe received the mini Pizza and Cookie sets to try out.  Each pack consists of sachets of powder constitute, a plastic mould, and the relevant miniature utensils that are required.  All you need to add are scissors to open the sachets and cold water to add to the powders.

yummyEach kit is simple to put together and just requires the powders to be mixed with water and placed in the appropriate moulds which are then microwaved for anything between 10 and 30 seconds.  Various toppings are added to complete the foods made.

yummy 2What is really unusual about this craft is that it is edible, and not only can you eat it, but each part of the food, tastes like it actually should.  My children loved creating these and with each pack making up to ten items, meant they could both have a go at creating the miniature foods.

yummy 3Once we’d finished, the children couldn’t wait to try them.  I think their faces in the picture above shows how much they enjoyed them, the cookies in particular were their favourite.  I did taste them myself and although they are edible, they are just a bit of fun and a craft that the children enjoyed.

Here is a video of us making the Yummy Nummies:

Yummy Nummies are sure to be the latest craze to hit the UK and I’m sure children will be keen to have a go too when they see it advertised.  There are lots of different things to make such as chicken nuggets, cupcakes, doughnuts and even chocolate bars.  Why not check them out, available from Toys R Us as well as other retailers.

All reviews are my own and my family’s opinions and we received the products in order to write the review.

A Night in with Friends!

Last Saturday I left my family and travelled 225 miles to meet up with nine other bloggers for the first time, all of whom I’ve chatted with online for the last year or so and got to know rather well but would it be the same in person?  Well I took the risk and said goodbye to my husband and children for the weekend. After a train journey full of sea views and sunshine, I finally arrived to a huge welcoming by everyone.  The lovely Eileen was our host and very kindly allowed her house to be the venue for the night and accommodated us all for the night.  It was like meeting a bunch of old friends, everyone got on, and there was a very pleasant atmosphere all evening.

Cotton on group L-R  Me – Fiona, Eileen, Mary, Anna, Pippa, Jenny, Zoe,Tina, Angela,Tami

As well as the great company, we were lucky to have the evening sponsored by some wonderful brands and got to try some new and interesting products for us to review.

We started off with some drinks, a lovely selection of wines from I Heart WINES, whose Prosecco was particularly appealing, a light crisp taste that was easy on the palate.  To add some interest we tried making some Bellini’s with Funkin White Peach Bellini Cocktail Mixer and found this to be the perfect combination, everyone enjoyed it, even the non drinkers with their non alcoholic wine.  We also had some frozen cocktails courtesy of My Cocktail and the rather limey flavoured Mojito tasted divine, out of the freezer is was quite slushy and proved the perfect fit for our Party Pieces pirate accessories!

Drink cotton onWe were lucky to have Domino’s deliver pizza and dessert for our evening meal, and to be fair,  pizza is one of my favourite takeaways!  With Domino’s not being my the one I usually try, I was keen to see what it was like.  Being vegetarian I had the choice of the cheese & tomato or vegetable supreme.  I do kind of prefer my pizzas plain but what really sold it to me was the golden finish to the cheese on the cheese & tomato.  I love anything well cooked, with a crispy finish and the cheese and tomato was just crying out to be eaten – it was delicious!

Dominos cotton onFor dessert we were fortunate to try the New Chocolate Twisted Doughballs, which were rather divine, something my children would be sure to love.  Moist dough twisted with Belgian chocolate inside and sprinkled with icing sugar is sure to be a hit.  This is a great dessert for sharing as it can easily be pulled into pieces.   Definitely worth a try!

I had a lovely weekend with friends getting to know them better and trying out new things.  I’ve definitely found a few brands in the future that I want to try, and gained some lovely friendships along the way.

All reviews are my own and my family’s opinions. We are not paid for reviews although we do receive the product to try out and enable us to write the review.

A Family ‘Big Night In’ #MSMbignightin

Everyone likes to have a good night in without leaving the house so I was excited to take on Money Supermarket’s Big Night In challenge.  We were given £50 to spend in any way we chose to have a good night at home.

We decided to have a family night and with two young children we wanted some fun things to do and play.  I went into town with Miss M for some inspiration and we soon came across a Hello Kitty version of Twister for £9.99.  I remember playing Twister years ago when I was younger but we’ve never owned a version so we bought this as I knew we’d all have lots of fun with this.

Hello Kitty Twister

This proved to be a big hit with Miss M and Mister B who thought it was hilarious getting tangled up together and giggled the entire time.  They were full of energy game after game and we found it a fun interactive game for us all to play.

Twister 1Twister 2Just as the children were starting to get a little too excited the doorbell rang…  It was the pizza man with our favourite takeaway!

PizzaThe children loved the pizza, and I took a night off of my meal plan for ‘Porridge on Tuesday’, the lovely online healthy eating plan that I’m following.  We had a couple of pizza’s, cheesy garlic bread and Nacho’s which with a discount code was delivered for £17.40.  It was all very yummy and we tucked in until we were full.

It was then time for dessert.  As it was still quite early, and very bright and sunny, Miss M and Mister B went in the back garden to eat their Peppa Pig ice creams that we picked up on offer in Tesco for £1 for a box!

Peppa Pig ice creamOur next entertainment for the night was a new Wii game, Wii Party which after seeing online for £28.99, we found a second hand version in a game shop on the high street for just £12!!

Wii Party

This proved lots of fun and giggles as we played both together and against each other in a series of mini games to complete the task of balancing Mii’s on a pirate ship!  There was a whole host of games to be played on Wii Party providing entertainment for young and old.  Mister M loved hide the Wii remote which was then found by the remote making animal noises and Miss M loved any game where she was the winner!

It was soon bedtime for the little ones, who had a throughly enjoyable evening.  Miss M said as I tucked her in bed “That was a really fun party mummy, can we do it again one day?”.  I’m so pleased they appreciated it and it was nice to spend an evening together rather than occupying ourselves separately.

With the children drifting off to sleep, mummy and daddy settled down on the sofa with a couple of bottles of wine that we got 2 for £10 at the supermarket.  A relaxing end to a lively evening.

Overall we spent £49.39 and still have two games to play on future family nights!

We received £50 from Money Supermarket to show how we’d spend our Big Night In.

Homemade Pizza with Miss M

Miss M loves to help out with cooking and baking whenever she can, so when I mentioned that I was making a  homemade roasted vegetable pizza for dinner the other night, she jumped at the chance to assist  mummy in whatever way she could.

She started off by kneading the dough for the pizza base and rolling it out, then was keen to put the toppings on herself.  So in the end I let Miss M take control while I took a little video of her preparing the pizza to go in the oven.  I just love the constant smile on her face as she tackles each stage of the preparation, carefully placing the roasted vegetables in neat little rows one by one, showing her enthusiasm and just how much she is thoroughly enjoying her little pizza making project.

I think it is important to encourage and engage children in the preparation of food as they not only learn about the ingredients that are used and how they are put together but it gives them more of an incentive to eat their dinner and try new foods that they may have been apprehensive about.  And most importantly they gain many valuable new skills that will be used not only in their childhood but throughout the rest of their life.

Here is Miss M in action: