Review: Handmade Cheesecake Company

The Handmade Cheesecake Company make a range of 

mouthwatering delicious cheesecakes and more. 

All of the cakes are handmade in their premises in Ayr,

and come in a range of funky and traditional flavours. 

The cheesecakes are suitable for any occasion

and can even be personalised. 

I was given the chance to try one of there yummy cheesecake flavours. 

The cheesecake came within 2 days of ordering and was delivered

in a polystyrene box with an ice pack to keep 

it nice and cold as well as fresh and then in another

box to keep it protected. 

  

I didn't know what cake I was going to be getting so it was all a surprise for me. 

The box said that it was a Millionaires cheesecake and I was excited to open the box. 

As you can see it is very chocolaty and looks quite delicious. 

The Millionaires Cheesecake is very rich and indulgent 

with a creamy caramel cheesecake on digestive biscuit base,

finished with milk chocolate ganache and white and milk Belgian chocolate shavings.

Making this an chocolate lovers dream. 

The cheesecake retails at £16 and serves 12.

I took this wonderful cheesecake over to my mother in-laws for dessert

after a lovely Sunday roast with the family. 

As I am on a diet I had a little slice and found it to be very sweet

and just a tad sickly. 

But my husband managed to finish all of his up and my mother in-laws

partner finished up his rather big slice. 

Review: Aldi The Baby and Toddler Event Products

Sorry I not been posting that much this week 

but I decided to have a break from blogging

for a bit. 

Anyway, we all love bargains and when it comes to having children not all of 

us have a budget for expensive items for the little ones. 

Although I don't have children myself (yet) Aldi agreed to send me 

some of their Special Buy products to show you, as I know

quite a few of you are mothers yourselves or are at least expecting. 

On 28th February Aldi is holding a Baby and Toddler Event instore

 meaning you can buy a range of essentials for your

little one at great prices. 

But you will have to be quick as they are sure to be 

snapped up pretty fast. 

Fleece Blanket

This gorgeous fleece blanket comes in four styles 

a pink one with a flower, a blue one with a puppy

(pictured above), white with a lion and a cream ABC one 

I love how soft this is and feel that this would be fab at keeping

your baby/toddler wrapped up warm especially in these cold months. 

and

Baby Pillow

This pillow is soft and looks comfy enough to be used when 

breastfeeding or just laying your baby on when you have

them on your lap.

Here is some more info on some of the other products that you

will be able to purchase from the 28th until stocks last.

Tommee Tippee Feeding Bottles 

2 bottles per pack, £5.99

Tommee Tippee’s  bottles are easy to hold and come with soft-flow shaped teats that are designed to feel natural for your baby. 

The bottles hold 260ml and have a super sensitive anti-colic valve, making them an  effective preventative against colic. 

Avent Newborn Starter Set 

 £9.99 each

This Avent New born starter set is suitable to be used through the early weeks/months.

 The set contains two 4oz bottles for newborns, two 9oz bottles and  a teat brush for maximum hygiene

 and not forgetting  a newborn soother.

Motorola Digital Video Baby Monitor 

 £79.99 each

With two camera this is an ideal way to 

Keep your eye on your little ones  from anywhere in the home.

Unlike most analogue monitors this handy device has a secure signal and high quality sound and pictures

to keep your mind at rest knowing your little one is safe and sound.

Lindam Baby Safety Gate

 £16.99 each

Keep your little one safe with this safety gate enabling you to feel 

calm knowing your child will be safe. 

Mamia High Chair 

When it's time to feed your little one use Aldi’s  Mamia brand to keep your baby safe and comfortable.

It's designed so that your baby can sit comfortably to eat with a tray and foot rest

and folds flat so is suitable for storing and is suitable for 6 months and over.

Tommee Tippee Super Sipper 

 £1.99 each

This is a Tommee Tippee favourite, easy to grip and suitable for independent drinking

its also recommended by health professionals due to being leak proof. 

Griptight Flexi Folding Bib 

 £1.89 each

Perfect for feeding when out and about for catching spills and crumbs 

this wipe clean bib rolls up neatly and can be used again.

 Available in pink, orange, green or blue.

Tommee Tippee First Cup 

99p each

Prefect for making the tranisition from bottle to cup with a flip lid this cup is suitable for 4 months plus.

The cup also has an excellent added feature of a juice dilution indicator, so you know how much juice and water to add. 

Amazon Purchases

I've been meaning to write this for ages but never got round to 

it due to having so much to review amongst other things. 

First of all for Christmas I got a £20 Amazon gift voucher from my 

mother in law, so I decided I wanted to buy some books with it. 

I decided to get my own Bible I had one as a child

but children being children it got ruined.

Now I am not extremely religious but I do however like to

go to Church occasionally, so I decided it would be nice

to get my own little bible. 

The other two books I decided to get were 

- The Ultimate PCOS Handbook 

and 

- Katie Piper Things Get Better

Now if you started reading my blog last year before

I got really passionate about it, you would 

have read my post about PCOS awareness ( you can read it here) 

so you would know I am a sufferer. 

Now I've read up about PCOS for years but never really done anything about

it and there being so much to digest about my condition 

I decided that way to go would be to get a book about it. 

This book is very informative and very helpful 

so if you or someone you know suffers from PCOS than 

I do really recommend this book. 

I also decided to get Katie Piper's book as I had heard

so much about it and how inspiring it is. 

I am yet to read it as I have so many books to get through atm. 

I was also lucky enough to get a £50 Amazon voucher for signing

up to be part of the Daxon group so here is what I decided to buy. 

First of all I got some bits for my lovely husband 

He is Sonic The Hedgehog obsessed so it was 

only natural that when I asked him what he would 

like he decided to choose something Sonic.

The encyclopedia is filled with info about the characters. 

Now this other thing is kinda a little weird 

its called a NEODYMIUM NEOCUBE 

its meant to be excellent for stress relief, and great for 

educational uses. 

you can make loads of different shapes out of it 

and its kinda fun.

 I would recommend it for adults who like to

play around with play dough when your with the kids 

as it has that kinda fun factor but for adults. 

Be careful with this around kids if you do buy one 

due to small pieces. 

Now for what I got myself 

a lovely new floral duvet and pillow 

case cover set and a lovely Sass and Belle 

owl cushion. 

I love shabby chic type items and the whole floral theme.

Lucky for me my hubby lets me get away with this so our bedroom 

is starting to get more into that theme. 

Here is a close up of the lovely floral pattern. 

The Sass and Belle owl cushion has to be my favourite 

out of all the bits I have brought. 

Stuart says it looks freaky with the eyes made out of 

large buttons but I find it rather cute. 

I hope you have enjoyed this post I'd love to 

know your thoughts on the bits I have brought. 

Slimming World Porridge Pancakes

Morning all, I know pancake day was yesterday 

however I just had to share this pancake recipe with you. 

What you will need: 

35g of plain porridge oats

1 Muller Light Yoghurt

x2 eggs

Fry Light Spray 

What to do: 

1. Mix in the Muller light yoghurt ( in can be any flavour you fancy) 

with the porridge oats and leave overnight. 

2. when ready to cook your pancakes mix in the two eggs 

3. Spray your frying pan with frylight 

4. and just cook the pancakes how you normally do

5. Dish up and top up with whatever topping you want I used lemon 

Tips: 

1. I found mixing in the eggs easier using a food processor

and from what I have heard it makes them more pancake

like as is more smoother this way. 

2. If you have a sweet tooth it maybe worth mixing some powdered sweetener 

such as Splenda  as well when you put the eggs in. 

3. I found that the pancakes cooked more quicker than the usual ones too 

Review: Hello Canvas Prints

Hello Canvas was founded back in 2004 and is the largest canvas printing

website within the UK and Europe. 

Hello Canvas strive to provide high quality prints at a low price. 

The frames are 1.2 inches deep and the canvas is made from 

100% cotton. 

Hello Canvas print using the most advanced printing techniques that exist 

 and their  inks are UV resistant therefore never fade in the sun.

During the shipping process the canvas prints are wrapped with a protective foil 

and packed in a sturdy cardboard shipping box so that damage during

transport is reduced to a minimum. 

I chose to have one of our wedding photo's to be put on to canvas.

I chose this one not just because a lot of people have said its

such a canvas worthy photo, but also because

it shows off our rings and my wedding bouquet. 

The above photo of the canvas is a close up but

 I can honestly say the photo's I have taken

do not give the photo and canvas's quality any 

justice at all. 

The size I received was 20 x 28 inch which retails at £39 

you can see the sizes and price chart here.

I am very thrilled with how well the canvas has turned out

and certainly recommend them if you ever want to 

buy a high quality print at a reasonable price.

Original Photo

An Aldi Surprise

Some of you may remember back in December I did a review on some products from

Aldi's Christmas Range. 

Well on Friday I was waiting in from a parcel from another company 

when the postman arrived. 

The package was rather large and I wasn't expecting anything else 

so was a little confused, anyway I opened

 it up to see this box. 

I then was very excited to see what was in side so opened it up

to find a letter from Aldi and a product info guide. 

The letter said they had sent me a some of there lovely products 

as a Thank You for my Christmas review.

On tearing back some red tissue paper I reviled the contents. 

As you can see I got four lovely goodies from them.

Moser Roth Chocolate, £1.09

This chocolate is sold all year round at Alid

and comes in 5 different  flavours in total. 

Chilli, Mint, Orange, Milk and Caramel. 

I was sent the delicious Caramel one to enjoy.

As you can see from the photo below they are small little bars

and they come in a pack of 5. 

Which is more healthy for my waistline since I wont be tempted to

stuff my mouth silly of it. 

Valentines Ladies Bracelet, £3.99. 

This bracelet is an ideal gift for any women who loves a bit of sparkle. 

Like most women I can tell you receiving a lovely piece of jewellery

certainly puts a smile on my face.

I love the  heart lock clasp and the pale pink 

design with a pretty sparkly heart detail. 

This is perfect if you don't want to spend much but want

to treat you loved one this valentines day with a nice piece of bling. 

This lovely bracelet is currently on sale only while stocks last so be quick. 

Now I was also sent two products that are not in Aldi stores

until 24th Feb and are a special buy item and only 

sold until stocks last. 

First of all this lovely 

Ladies Real Leather Purse, £4.99

They come in a range of styles and you can choose

from Black, Tan or Brown. 

I love that these are a great size so will fit all my cards in 

as well as my notes and coins. 

The purse also has a magnetic clip so is easy to close 

and a zip section for keeping your coins in. 

Last of all is this gorgeous 

Ladies Ruffle Scarf, £3.99. 

They are available in three colours 

red, black and grey. 

They are so warm and are stylish too. 

All you have to do now is make sure you head to your local store asap once the products

are out as I am sure they are to get snapped up pretty fast. 

Review: SoakYourself Love Soak

SoakYourself was founded in 2006 and was brought to life in 2012 

by Jackie Hope who dreamed of escaping  the commute and the 

9-5. 

Her aim is to encourage us all into realising how important it is for

everyone to take some time out to relax. 

Jackie's other priority is to ensure as much as possible that 

all materials and labour that go into SoakYourself products 

are from the UK as well as natural and organic. 

All boxes are handmade and packed with care by

one their friendly team members and signed on the back

by them as a mark of quality. 

50p of each of the sets sold goes to charities that are in need of support. 

As Valentines is fast approaching I chose to go with 

the LOVE Soak set, £40. 

The box is a lovely shade of burgundy and looks 

very professional and I was excited to look inside.  

As you can see on opening the box the whole lot of items 

are wrapped in burgundy tissue paper with the SoakYourself 

logo sticker attached and tied with a burgundy ribbon.  

Underneath the burgundy layer of tissue paper 

is the LOVE Soak Bath Ritual recipe kit information

booklet and a ticket which says

"This ticket entitles you to One Hour To Yourself (or longer, if you so require)"

along with some bright red shredded paper. 

Underneath the shredded paper (well most of it) is the lovely items themselves. 

The LOVE Soak kit contains: 

- Essential Oils to make your bath smell fab 

- Bath Powders to add some lovely bubbles

-Lovers blend Massage Oil

-  Patchouli and Vetiver soap

-  Candle and Candle holder

and 

- x2 Chocolate flake teabags

I love how most of the items are tied with burgundy ribbon 

with little tags attached which kinda reminds me of Alice In Wonderland. 

The Essential oil is in a 5ml bottle and is a blend of sandalwood, frankincense,

 patchouli and cedar oils.

The bath powders are wrapped in a muslin bag and contains silk and spice fizzing 

and foaming bath powders, salts and oils, making your bath full of bubbles which are

 long lasting and kind to your skin. 

So if your stuck for some ideas of what to get your loved one this Valentines Day 

I recommend you buy one SoakYourself's bath kits.

They don't have to just be for Valentines either as they do a range of sets that 

you, a loved one or a friend can enjoy. 

Review: Baker Days Valentines Cakes

Today is the first of my Valentines inspired posts of 2013. 

Baker Days are a cake company that specialise

in personalised cakes for any occasion. 

Their vision is to show the world that you don't have to spend 

a fortune on a unique cake. 

They also wanted to make cakes that are small enough for 

one or two people and are just as grand and lovely as 

larger cakes. They even fit through your letterbox!

Their letter box cakes are the worlds smallest personalised

cake in a tin . 

A perfect gift for friends and family as it's petite, personalised and postable. 

As Valentines Day is fast approaching I was contacted by Baker Days

asking if I would at all be interested in having one of their personalised

Valentines cakes. 

Of course I jumped at the chance; everyone loves a bit of cake! 

Trying to choose which one to have though was a tricky 

as they have so many lovely designs.

Once I had finally decided what one I wanted to go for 

I had a chance to choose which type of cake I wanted from the 

5 choices they offer. 

- Sponge Cake

- Carrot Cake

- Fruit cake

- Gluten and wheat free cake

 or 

- Double chocolate chip cake. 

I of course decided to go with the chocolate chip one, 

then I got to personalise it in the words of my own. 

I received the cake a week later, which was packaged really well in a secure tin

and box to guarantee safe delivery and keep the cakes freshness. 

The cake serves 4/5 portions and starts at £14.99. 

I chose to go with the traditional Happy Valentines day cake

and chose a loving message for my husband. 

In case you are wondering Shmoopsy is a nickname my hubby has given me.

The icing was perfect not too sweet and sickly as I normally find to be. 

The double chocolate cake was fab packed with flavour, light and moist 

and is one of the best cakes I have had and the hubby also agrees. 

Baker Days cakes are delicious and would make a fantastic gift

for friends and family and as they can be personalised makes 

these cake a special treat making the recipient 

feel extra special. 

Review: Olivia Accessories Black Snake Skin Clutch bag

Olivia Accessories is a unique online jewellery and accessories boutique. 

They offer a range of low cost quality items that combine

up to the minute fashion with timeless classic appeal. 

They are a small independent company who's philosophy is to keep prices 

as low as possible. 

I got to choose an item off the website and chose to go with this

gorgeous classic black snake skin clutch, £15.

The clutch comes in three colours Black, Brown and Red, and is a

must have fashion accessory. 

With an elegant snake skin exterior and age old rectangular shape

along with a removable silver shoulder strap 

and magnetic snap this is a must have

for the evening. 

As it was mine and Stuart's anniversary last night 

and we went out for a meal I chose to take this clutch 

with me to glam up my outfit a bit more. 

The only issue I had is that there was only room for

my mobile and a little card holder otherwise 

I found that it wouldn't shut. 

Other then that its smart and is ideal if you

don't want to carry much around. 

Our First Wedding Anniversary

Slimming World #1

The beginning of January I started my slimming journey by joining slimming world. 

I have been wanting to loose weight for so long but I was constantly making 

excuses and it's got the point where I am so over weight that when I look

at photo's of me I feel ashamed. 

I've never joined a slimming group before so was unsure what to expect but 

I did my research beforehand and am glad that I have chosen slimming world. 

Slimming world for me is simple once you get your head around food optimising 

and understand the whole free foods, healthy extras and syns. 

I go to my local meetings every Thursday evening and have meant such lovely

people within the group and its great to have that little extra support. 

My second week I was unsure if there was things I was doing wrong 

as I had only lost 1/2lb but by the third week I lost 3lb 

which thrilled me to keep motivated and on week four I lost 1lb 

this week I have lost another 3lb making my total weight loss this month 

7 1/2 lb meaning I gained my first slimming world award 

and on top of that I also gained my bronze body magic award. 

Even though I have only lost 7 1/2lb and have a long way to go 

to get down to my ideal weight I am thrilled with out good 

I feel and how much my husband and my family can notice the difference already

with my body shape.