JML Sale

JML are having a flash sale from 12.30 until 2.30pm this afternoon.

If you go onto www.JMLdirect.com you will find that there is 25% off everything for those 2 hours. 

That’s 25% off everything !! Quick !!

Tefal Actifry

Tefal Actifry

I have looked at the Tefal Actifry in the shops and umm'd and arr'd about buying one, would I use it? do we like chips that much? luckily for me I have had the chance to try one out ... and I have to admit - I love it!

The Tefal Actifry makes real chips using only 1 spoonful of oil.  When you compare this to a regular deep fat fryer you can see how much healthier the Tefal Actifry is.  The food is crisp on the outside, yet fluffy on the inside - but not dripping with oil or full of fat.

The actual parts of the Tefal Actifry are very sturdy and well made.  All parts (the basket, paddle and spoon) can be put in the dishwasher to clean, I just pop mine in the washing up bowl and give them a rinse as being non-stick they clean really well.   My only complaint is that food can get trapped in the underneath parts of the paddle, but if you get a scouring sponge the bits of food come out easily.

The unit works by blowing hot air over the food in order to cook it.  As the air blows it picks up a mist of the oil which 'frys' on the outside of the chips (or onion rings, wedges, roast potatoes etc..) and crisps the outside.  As the food cooks a large paddle turns the food slowly so that nothing gets squashed but all food is evenly cooked.  I am very impressed with the paddle as it rotates the food not only around the bowl but also turns the food so that the bottom batch comes to the top etc...

We have had chips most nights since trying the Actifry, I was worried at one point that we would get sick of them, but Andy insists that as we have not had 'real' chips for years its a treat to be able to eat them whenever we like and not worry about weight gain 

I have tried various variety's of chips in the unit, frozen thin cut 'french fries' cooked quite quickly and tasted good, frozen crinkle cut chips took 20 minutes to cook but tasted a little dry.  We have all agreed that the best chips have been from fresh potatoes - I found that soaking them in water while peeling and chopping, then drying them with kitchen roll before cooking in the Actifry made the best chips.  They took around 20 minutes to cook, but were crisp and fluffy - very tasty!

You can use any oil of your choice, I prefer to use olive oil but vegetable is fine. 

Now what really surprised me was what other products you can cook in the unit, you get a good recipe book with the product but there are also other recipes online if you do a quick search.

Chicken With Pineapple

• 600 g (1 lb 5 oz) skinless boneless chicken breasts, cut into thin strips (about 1 cm x 3 cm/1/2 x 11/4 in)

• 1 spoon cornflour, plus extra to coat the chicken strips
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 2 spoon sunflower oil
• 1/2 spoon ground ginger
• 1/2 spoon mild curry powder (or choose medium, if you prefer)
• 250 g (9 oz) canned pineapple pieces (drained weight) in natural juice, drained (reserve the juice)
• 2 spoon light soy sauce
• 250 ml (9 fl oz) cold water
• 1/2-1 spoon light soft brown sugar, or to taste
• 2 spoon reserved pineapple juice

In a large bowl, lightly coat the strips of chicken with a mixture of cornflour, salt and pepper. Place the chicken in the ActiFry pan, then drizzle the oil evenly over the chicken. Cook for 5 minutes.

Mix the ground ginger, curry powder and pineapple pieces with the soy sauce in a bowl, then pour this mixture evenly into the ActiFry and leave to marinade for 5 minutes. Add the water and sugar. Mix 1 ActiFry spoonful of cornflour with the pineapple juice in a small bowl, until smooth. Add this to the ActiFry.

Cook for a further 10 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked and tender. Serve with cooked, seasoned basmati rice.

Roquefort Dip

• 200 g (7 oz) Roquefort cheese, crumbled
• 3 spoon milk
• 115 g (4 oz) crème fraiche
• 1-2 spoon snipped fresh chives, plus extra to garnish
• Salt and ground pepper

Place the Roquefort cheese in a bowl and mash with a fork. Add the milk and mash together until well combined, then stir in the crème fraiche.

Stir in the snipped chives. Season to taste with salt and pepper, if desired.
Spoon the mixture into a small serving bowl, garnish with extra snipped chives and serve with cooked potato wedges or chips.

Variations
Place all the ingredients, except the snipped chives, in a blender or food processor and blend until well combined. Stir in the chives, adjust the seasoning to taste and serve as above.
Use other blue cheese such as Dolcelatte, Gorgonzola or Stilton in place of Roquefort.

All in all I am very impressed with the Tefal Actifry, I have used it most days and looks pretty swish on my worktop.  A highly recommended product!

For more information:

The RRP for the product is £199 
 www.tefal.co.uk

Fab JML Birthday Giveaway

JML are celebrating their 25^th birthday!!

To celebrate, they are offering one winner from my blog a prize package of 4 of their most popular products !!


Now Closed


WINNER: LEGS21 :)


Winner contacted via Twitter

Fast Fit Ironing Board Cover

Great fit and very hard wearing according to 

online reviews. 

Doktor Power Magic Eraser

I have one of these and its brilliant - I use it to get rid of mucky finger marks on paintwork

Ped Egg 

To create salon soft skin on your feet

Sit Right

Align your spine when sitting to help improve 

your posture. 

How to enter:  

You must LIKE JML's Facebook page in order to enter, as its their 25th birthday they would like to gain followers on their page to help them celebrate.  

Plus they may be releasing great deals and offers for their birthday and you'll hear about them first via https://www.facebook.com/JMLDirect so its good to be involved.

Please LIKE their page and then comment below to let me know.

Additional Entries (optional), please leave separate comments below to let me know if you have also completed any of the following:

2 x extra entries:  Wish JML a Happy Birthday on their Facebook wall and tell them I sent you https://www.facebook.com/alittlebitofeverything?ref=ts 

1 x extra entry: Tweet about this giveaway on Twitter.

1 x extra entry: Follow my blog.
1 x extra entry: Follow my FB Page 

1 x extra entry: Comment on any of my previous blog posts (let me know where you posted).

Remember to leave me a way of contacting you if you win for example your Twitter ID or Email Address
  [please space out the address so that its safer eg.. peter at neverland dot co dot uk].

Good Luck !!

Giveaway closes on the 4th July 2011

Curvaceous Beauties Shambles Not Sexy

Curvaceous Beauties - Never Again!

I am a plus-size, so to buy nice underwear and sexy nightwear I find it quite hard to find clothing that either fits properly or actually looks nice.

On the Internet I stumbled across Curvaceous Beauties a plus size lingerie and sexy nightwear store ... bingo! I thought and placed an order.

I placed my order online and paid £37.93 via Paypal for ....
1 x Suspender Chemise - Plus Size -  £29.99
1 x Sexy Sheer Stockings - Colour: Black - £4.99
P&P £2.95

Then sat and waited patiently for my order to arrive ... I was actually quite excited as I haven't treated myself (or Andy!) to some sexy undies for well... urm ... ever!

Anyhow - my order came and I was very disappointed.  For a plus-size garment it was poor fabric, yes it fit around my middle but the cup sizes were very very small (there was no way that my big bazookas were going to fit in them).  So I repackaged the dress without even having to open the stockings packet and put them both back into the postal bag to be returned.

Here is where the fun starts!

You have to have a 'code' to return items.  I emailed twice for a code and telephoned - it is always an answerphone but at this point I didn't leave a message.
My emails didn't get a reply for over 10 days! by this time I had already returned the package with my order number and copy of the emails inside.

Basically you have to contact them for a 'return code' as stated on their website ... all the code is is your original order code but written on the outside of the packaging that you return your goods in .... how pathetic! why not just put that on the website.

So .. order returned Recorded Delivery (at my own cost) I sit and wait for my refund. 
They do state on the website that it can take up to 30 days for the refund to be processed - I understand this as with the items they sell they have to check every items for wear or use, plus you can only return certain items due to hygiene etc... which is great and a good point for the company.

After nearly a month I telephoned them just to check they have received my package as I have had no contact from them - I left a message on the answerphone - no return call from them.  So I emailed and someone emailed back stating their 30 day rule - no problem.

Today I received my refund .... £29.99 ???? my original order (minus postage) was £34.98
Where has the other £4.99 gone ??

Well I have emailed (again) to ask why I have been shortchanged.  After 2 lots of postage coming to around £6 in total ... why charge me a further £4.99 ?

I am not happy - which is why I am writing this blog review of the company to warn other plus-size ladies about what bad customer service I have received ..... I would have been better off shopping on eBay!

If/When I get a reply I will update this blog post (22/04/11).

The moral to my post is - DO NOT USE  www.curvaceousbeauties.com for your sexy pants - shop elsewhere.

HEALTH OFFER Try Lifegain for 45 days for FREE

Calling All Health Enthusiasts

The creation of an innovative drink using soy beans heralds the birth of a new breed of lifestyle supplement in the UK and you could be one of the first to try it!


Whether you’re hoping to keep your body in tip top condition year round or get back in shape after some time out or a bout of illness it’s hard to know what supplements you really need. With hundreds of health products now available it is becoming increasingly confusing to stay healthy…which is exactly why Lifegain has been launched in the UK.


The lifestyle supplement has been available in South Africa for over ten years where it has helped thousands of individuals get the body they want, keep themselves in tip top condition and recover from illness. Now Lifegain has arrived on our shores with its unique formula providing a whole host of important nutrients to help maintain good health, including essential and non-essential amino acids, calcium, iron, zinc, phosphorus, magnesium, a range of vitamins, fatty acids and fibre.


The vanilla flavoured drink also contains a powerful triple formula of soy, whey and milk proteins combined with 19 amino acids, essential for body repair, growth and fat metabolism, a must for anyone wanting efficient recovery, whether from a hard session in the gym or a bout of the flu.


What really sets Lifegain apart from the pack however is that it’s jam packed full of substances called soy isoflavones, which have been seen to have a large range of benefits.


Just one serving of Lifegain contains 66mg of isoflavones. These miracle molecules are well known for helping with osteoporosis1 and promoting a healthy circulatory system2,3, and just 25g of Soy Protein a day (40-90mg isoflavones) can help control blood cholesterol and therefore promote a healthy heart4


Combining soy with the other nutrients and vitamins means Lifegain provides everything your body needs to stay healthy…keeping your body in tip-top condition has never been so easy.


But the team behind Lifegain don’t want you to just take their word for it, so they’re setting up a UK trial to ‘show’ us.


If you want to be one of the first people in the UK to try Lifegain now’s your chance.

The company behind the UK launch, Verdure, are giving away 45 days worth of product, worth £89.55, to 200 volunteers. In return all you have to do is jot down how you feel each day whilst using the product and fill in a questionnaire after the 45 days – simple.


To be one of the 200 participants to receive the free product simply visit http://www.verdurehealthcare.com/newsletters/lifegain_study.html and fill in your details.


For more details on Lifegain visit http://www.verdurehealthcare.com/

Smarties Chicken and Egg

Smarties Chicken and Egg

We have pet chickens at home, so to review a chocolate chicken for Easter is quite funny for our family.

Smarties have produced a chocolate chicken, the chocolate of the chicken shell is quite thick and solid ... you have to give it a good bash to break it into chunks.  I was a little disappointed at the size of the chicken though - the recommended retail price is £2.50 which for the size I feel is a little steep.

Inside there is a chocolate egg :) the chocolate is quite thin but when you break this open there are mini Smarties inside.  We had 6 mini Smarties in our egg ... giving the price and the size of the egg this is a bit stingy - they could of at least filled it up!

I like the chocolate taste, its not too sweet, but giving the size of the chicken it is not a chocolate treat that could be easily shared between children.

Its a nice idea, but too much money for the amount of chocolate included.  With the deals on regular Easter Eggs in the shops I feel this product could easily get overlooked.

So Smarties - here's the answer: Make it bigger next year and include more Smarties :)

Available from all good supermarkets
RRP: £2.50

Heinz Salad Cream with Cucumber and Dill

Heinz Salad Cream with Cucumber and Dill

The weather is getting warmer and I'll bet that most of you had the BBQ out last weekend ... well whats a BBQ without Heinz?

Heinz have produced a limited edition Salad Cream with Cucumber and Dill.  Do you remember when they launched their Lemon and Black Pepper variety? A lot of people decided that Heinz Salad Cream was such an iconic brand that you couldn't 'mess' with the taste .. oh how wrong they were, people loved it and it soon became a regular on the supermarket shelves.

Heinz Cucumber and Dill Salad Cream can be used with your regular salads, sandwiches, fish and even burgers!  I actually like to put salad cream on sausages so I know that salad cream isn't just for salad!

The Lemon and Black Pepper variety was blended to compliment chicken and tuna, Cucumber and Dill has been specially prepared to match oily fish dishes such as salmon and mackerel, it even tastes great with red meats such as BBQ burgers and lamb.

The taste is quite sharp on first taste (as Salad Cream is), but it has a nice pleasant aftertaste which is quite soothing.  I certainly can't wait to use it when we next have a BBQ as I am not a great lover of red sauce and so prefer to use salad cream instead.

Available from all major supermarkets RRP £1.15 (295g)