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Sainsbury’s enters the baby food market
As any parent knows, weaning your child onto solids is not an easy path!
With my little one now 11 months, it’s a trauma/joy/drama (delete as appropriate) we’re currently enduring.
So I was interested to hear that leading supermarket Sainsbury’s has entered the baby food market with their own branded goods.
Strapping my boy into his sling, we jumped on the tube and headed into central London to road test the Little Ones range.
Developed with the help of registered nutritionist (and mum!) Fiona Wilcock, the range appears well thought out and, competing with other popular baby food brands, uses organic products up until those created for children over a year old.
So far the dishes have been a hit with my boy, who gobbled up a portion of the Beef Casserole. The next day he also enjoyed the Lamb and Chickpea Tagine with Prune and Couscous.
There are also classics like Spaghetti Bolognese, fruit and vegetable purees and breakfast cereals.
Like any mum, I want the best for my child and in a perfect world it would be home cooked meals three times a day – but, in reality very few of us have the time or energy!
Instead I don’t beat myself up about giving them the odd ready meal every now and again, so it’s good to see the range is also reasonably priced with products starting from 70p.
There are already 50 items in the range which also caters for toddlers up to three-years-old, with another 14 launching over the summer.
Fancy throwing shapes with the kids? Get down to Ladybird Live: Rhyme and Rave
What better way to spend time with your kids than getting down to some club classics at a bar in east London?
No, I’m completely serious here! To celebrate the relaunch of Random House children’s book brand Ladybird, they’ve teamed up with family party animals Raver Tots to present Ladybird Live: Rhyme and Rave.
I’m getting excited just writing about this and can’t wait to take my kids to the event at Hoxton Square Bar and Kitchen on Sunday May 19 from 2-4pm.
The afternoon will consist of theatrical storytelling from Ladybird’s brand new range, combined with a rave room hosted by club classics masters, Wideboys as the headline DJ act. Not to mention glow sticks, Ladybird themed face painting, CONFETTI CANNONS(!), giant parachutes, colouring and mini play areas, all in a family friendly venue.
How can you not want to go to this!!! Tickets are only £3 for adults and children are free, available for purchase from skiddle.com/e/13504079.
Keep an eye out for my review!
https://www.ravertots.co.uk/event/ladybird-live-rhyme-and-rave-london
So chips DON’T count as one of your five-a-day..?
IT was interesting to read details of a new survey which discovered only 10% of children are getting their five-a-day and that 1 in 10 parents think chips count as one of their children’s five-a-day.
Look, I’m the last to sit here to shame anyone on their parenting skills – particularly as my response to reading that was ‘aren’t potatoes vegetables?!?’ (FYI, they are classed as a starchy food, LOL.)
The research helpfully carried out by children’s fruit snack supermarket brand Fruit Bowl, also noted that 1/3 of parents think fruit yogurts count, while 1/5 parents mistakenly believe a strawberry milkshake contributes – I mean #desperatetimes, right?
I personally battle to get my kids to eat most vegetables, so its interesting that less than half of parents know that tinned veg, frozen fruit and sweet potatoes count towards the recommended daily amount.
Additionally 4 in 10 parents think their child gets only 2-3 portions each day.
FIVE unexpected foods that DO count towards our five-a-day:
Baked Beans
Guacamole
Onions
Hummus
Spaghetti Hoops
FIVE foods that DON’T count towards our five-a-day:
Onion rings
Ketchup
Potatoes
Vegetable Crisps
Pickled Gherkins
Nutritional Therapist, Filomena Komodromou has shared her tips to get children eating fruits and vegetables;
- Think colour – chop up some crunchy crudités such as carrots, pepper, cucumber, cherry tomatoes, radish, celery and serve with hummus or cream cheese for a healthy filling snack
- Get them to help in the kitchen – even toddlers can help too. Peeling, chopping or grating can be done quite safely by children supervised by an adult.
- Blend it up! Homemade smoothies are a great way of getting their five-a-day and sneaking in some veg too.
- Add mashed banana or grated apple/pear to porridge
- Make frozen fruit lollies or banana pancakes
Susanne Fraser, Marketing Manager of Fruit Bowl, added: “Here at Fruit Bowl we are a team of parents and know firsthand how difficult it can be to make sure our children get their five-a-day, every day, and we know it’s a struggle that lots of other parents have. By conducting this survey, we aim to highlight this and also show busy parents that there are easy solutions, tips and tricks they can use to give their children five-a-day.”
Fruit Bowl create everyday fruit snacks and treats – many of which contribute towards your 5 a day. #bonus
Available at Morrisons, Sainsbury’s, Tesco, The Co-Op, Asda, Waitrose and on Ocado.
Foreo Mikro launch event
HANDS up who usually gives up the battle when it comes to brushing their little one’s teeth?
I mean, who would have thought it could be so difficult when this human being you created is less than half the size of you….
Therefore when I got an invitation to an event which sounded like it could make brushing your teeth – gasp – fun, I couldn’t resist.
So on Thursday we wore white coats and played at being dentists at the Foreo Mikro Dentist event in Central London.
Obviously there was a ball pit involved, but I also received tips from Harley Street Dentist Dr Mark Hughes on oral hygiene for both my kids – even for my one year old, who I learnt can also use their specially designed sonic electric toothbrushes.
The silicone toothbrush head is soft enough for his gums AND can also help with the dreaded itchy gums caused by teething – the Mikro brush has two settings, brush and massage mode.
He’s 18 months and it seems like the majority of his teeth have decided to come at the same time, so anything that soothes the pain is a God send.
Other pluses include a looong battery life, as well as a happy or sad face to encourage little ones to brush for the recommended two minutes.
We’ll see how it goes, but so far, so good. I mean, at least he’s not running away every time I bring out the toothbrush now… In fact it’s the opposite – he’s now dashing off whenever I try to take it off him!
Find out more at www.foreo.com/issa-mikro