Author: mainy - myrealfairy
A One Off Christmas Week Linky #mainyloveschristmas
I do..I love christmas and I have decided to host a one off christmas linky where you can add up to 3 posts on whatever theme you like. As it’s a one off christmas week linky #mainyloveschristmas you can add old, new or trial posts just for this link up.
One of the other christmas bonus points to this link up is that you don’t have to add a badge, just link and promote yourself and your fellow bloggers. This link up is just for this week and you choose how much you want to participate.
This is a random link up so the posts shuffle around and are not listed in time order.
The link up starts Sunday December 18th at 6pm GMT and closes Friday December 23rd at 6pm GMT.
Tweet here to tell others about this link up, the more the merrier! Happy Christmas! #mainyloveschristmasClick To TweetSuggested guidance for participating:
- I’d love it if you commented on the host post and at least one more for every post you link up.
- Tweet using the hashtag #mainyloveschristmas @myrealfairy when you link up and you’re away!
- Tweet, pin, stumble and share using all the wonderful ways you wish and let the blogger know when you comment how you have shared their post.
- Use the hashtag #mainyloveschristmas
- Enjoy and read something you wouldn’t normally click on.
- Have fun
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Easy Cranberry Sauce Recipe
This is a great easy cranberry sauce recipe as it is so quick to make. Also it has just 3 ingredients. It couldn’t be simpler to prepare, even at short notice as it only takes 15 minutes. Super tasty and looks great too. I love it with any of my christmas roasts and it can be used with your desserts too. I enjoy putting it with mince pies and cream.
What you will need is:
12oz cranberries
1 cup of sugar
1 cup of orange juice
Start by washing the cranberries in cold water and drain.
Place the orange juice and sugar in a large saucepan.
Stir together and bring to the boil.
When it’s reached boiling point turn down the heat to medium and stir until the sugar is dissolved.
Add the cranberries and bring to a gentle simmer. You will hear and see them pop a little. Be careful of splashes so don’t get too close. Simmer for 10 minutes.
Remove from the heat.
Leave to cool until they reach room temperature.
Place in jars. It can be stored for up to 2 weeks in the fridge.
It can also be frozen. If you want to do this then pop it into a freezer bag or appropriate plastic container and freeze when cool.
Want to share this easy recipe with your friends? Go ahead and tweet away:) Thank you!Click To Tweet
Putting Up Our Christmas Tree in 5 Photos
We enjoy celebrating Christmas in our house. We always wait until after big M’s birthday on the 3rd December before we put any decorations up. This is so that he can enjoy his birthday without sharing it with Christmas.
I love getting the boxes down from the loft and seeing all of our little nick knacks from the previous years. It’s great to sit and go through the tree decorations the boys have made while they have been growing up.
This year I brought a new artificial tree as I have used one I borrowed from a friend for the past few years. I thought that it was about time to get us one of our own.
The boys and I agreed we would like to share the moment on the blog…
There was great relief from me and whoops of delight from the boys when we turned the lights on.
Have you put your tree up yet or do you do something a bit different?
Easy Pickled Onions
It’s coming up to Christmas and one of the things that we love in our house is pickled onions. They are just beautiful when served up with leftovers such as gammon ham and bubble and squeak on boxing day. They are also nice and easy to do and if you have a day spare a few weeks before christmas then you can get a some jars ready. You can take round as a pressie to friends when you are visiting, it’s nice to turn up with something a bit different.
I was lucky enough this year to have the help of my two boys and we had a great time sitting together peeling the onions.
Hope you enjoy the recipe and the joy of making them.
What you will need:
1kg small onions for pickling
Tablespoon of salt
800ml malt vinegar
Black peppercorns (optional)
Dried chilli flakes (optional)
Glass jars
Sieve/colander
Some little helpers (optional but lots of fun)
What you need to do is:
*top tip…. Your house and your clothes are going to smell of onions, think about what you are wearing and even consider putting on plastic gloves.
Ensure your jars are clean and sterile. I washed my thoroughly then popped in a preheated medium oven for 5 minutes then left to cool.
Now the next task is either pretty mundane or pretty therapeutic depending on how you view it. You have to peal each individual onion and gently slice off the base so that it still holds its shape but loses the tough root area.
Once they are all peeled, place in a colander and sprinkle the salt over them. Leave for 6hrs or overnight if possible. This will draw out excess water and give you crunchy pickled onions.
Rinse well in cold water and pat dry with kitchen roll.
Take your jars and pop the onions into the jars. You will need to push them about a little to get the maximum amount in and utilise the space well.
This is the time you can use some extra spices depending on your taste. I did one jar with a quarter teaspoon of dried chilli flakes to add some heat to the onions. Peppercorns are also a good addition.
When you have filled up all of your jars you can pour over the vinegar right to the top making sure they are all covered.
Put the lid on tight and you are then ready to label them.
Pop on the date, type of vinegar used and any little extra spices you’ve added to the mix.
Leave to mature for at least 4 weeks but best after 6. They should keep for up to a year unopened. Once opened store in the fridge and eat within 4 weeks. It’s home-made so times may vary slightly depending on your own preserving conditions. The main thing is…enjoy!
Click if you would like to let other people know how easy it can be...Click To Tweet
The Shack …. flavours of America. Review and Giveaway
As my eldest son big M has been growing up he has developed a taste for foods with a bit of spice in them. This has mainly come about because my OH loves hot and spicy and can often be seen sneezing and sweating over a curry as he defeats the chillies to become the ultimate hero. This was one of the reasons I came up with the pickled green chillies post as I had so many home-grown ones that I had to start preserving them just for him.
So, when I had the opportunity to test the new range of meals from The Shack, I jumped at the chance as I knew it would go down very well with the family.
‘The Shack’ has launched nine big and bold meals inspired by the flavours of America. They are available nationwide exclusively in Iceland, and are priced between £2 – £2.50.
The range includes these:
Penne Pepperoni and Chicken Melt, Smoky House Beef Burritos, Mac & Jack, Chicken & Buffalo Sauce Waffle, Smokey House Pulled Chicken Burrito, Smoky House BBQ Pork Wedges, Chilli Beef Wedges, The Chicken Fajita and The Ultimate Burger.
So when our delivery arrived there was much excitement about which one we would have first. Big M was going to have the first pick as he was eager to be let loose and try as much as possible. He eventually went for the Chicken & Buffalo Sauce Waffle and my youngest – little G went for The Ultimate Burger.
The meals are easy to cook and all have simple step by step instructions to follow. The burger comes with a little briosh roll and the burger is in a mild sauce with cheese and bacon. It’s an upmarket burger in a roll and went down a treat with little G. The chicken with waffle and buffalo sauce was really unusual; the chicken was nice and moist, the waffle pretty sweet and the buffalo sauce had a kick to it.
The next night I managed to get my hands on the Mac and Jack which is a luxury macaroni cheese with Jalapeno Chilli Peppers and Monterey Jack Cheese. Big M went for the pulled chicken burrito complete with dips.
The burrito was massive and a real feast for one! I also managed to share the macaroni cheese with little G. As you can see from the pictures, the boys enjoy their food!
Friday night saw big M chill out with Smoky House BBQ Pork Wedges by the tv. Just right after a hard week at school, feet up and his big bowl of wedges and pork in a smoky sauce. He gave me a thumbs up and curled up on the sofa. You don’t get much better than that from my grown up 10 year old!
My OH and I are going to be having the fajitas and the second chilli wedges when the kids have gone to bed and we will crack open a bottle of red. That’s one of the things that I like about this range, it’s suitable for the kids tea and fab for the grown ups tea or supper.
Iceland is really accessible and there are lots of them about so its easy to add to my shopping habits.
I am pleased to also be able to offer you a great giveaway from the lovely people at The Shack.
We have 10 selfie sticks to give away and you could be the winner of 1!
Great for the festive season when there is lots going on, here they are…
[metaslider id=2104]
Enter using rafflecopter below.
Open to UK entrants. Prize supplied and delivered by The Shack. See contacts page for guidelines.
The Shack is available in 789 Iceland stores nationwide. Have a look over at The Shacks social media sites for more information.
Twitter @ShareTheShack
Facebook ShareTheShack
The Season of the Sneeze! Stérimar Review and Giveaway
It’s that time of year again when it’s getting colder, the clocks have gone back and people are starting to ask me if I’ve begun to get my Christmas presents yet. Well the answer to that one is easy enough as I haven’t just yet but it’s very high on my to-do list!
Also around now it seems as if more and more people are getting some sort of sniffles, flu and other winter type ailments. I’ve been getting the flu jab done either in boots or Asda for the past few years and as part of the NHS keep well scheme I have been promoting it with the people I work with. My OH has also started to get it done too although he hadn’t done for many years previously. For the kids, I’m lucky that little G is in the catchment age which means that he gets the free nasal inoculation at school which is happening in November in our area. I’ve had to start paying privately for big M as he’s not in the age group which qualifies at school as it only goes up to year 3. I couldn’t bear to leave out big M and have that nagging feeling that if he got a bad case of the flu it would be my fault for not sorting something out. My mum guilt would go into overdrive. So last week we popped down to a local private hospital and paid to get it done. It was pricey but the upside was that we got a nice hot chocolate to sip at we were waiting, oh wait…the real upside was that we we’ve all now had the flu jab in some form or other and I cross my fingers that we wont get a bout of some strain or other.
But of course it doesnt stop the general sniffs and bunged up noses that the boys and us will probably have at some point over the next few months. I’ve got my fail safe products in the cupboard of Vic in the bathroom for chests and honey to make the warm drinks in the kitchen. I also like to use the nasal sprays for really bunged up noses and remember really appreciating them when the boys were tiny and couldn’t get a good sniff in our out of their noses. Bless them, it’s gotten easier as they have got bigger but I still use the sprays now which makes them giggle more than anything and they appreciate the feeling when the congestion in their noses eases.
This year I have come accross a new product to me, you may well of heard of it, it’s called Stérimar and they have a range of products which can help to relieve congestion and blocked noses in adults, children and babies.
They have a great website with loads of information on how it works and who can benefit. If you have a few moments please have a look at the video below which shows how easy it is to use the sprays.
When it comes to using any sort of new product of my boys I like to really check it out to make sure that I am happy with what I am going to use. Sterimars website really does go into loads of detail and I found it very reassuring. That’s why I’ve included lots of links below so you can click around and have a look.
They also have the online Stérimar Academy – which is an online educational resource. This is dedicated to helping healthcare professionals to develop their knowledge of the inner workings of the nose, specific nasal conditions, and the importance of maintaining nasal hygiene.
In my opinion nothing can take the place of going to the GP when I am worried and I’m not suggesting that anything can replace that. As parents we all do whats best and for me, when my boys get the sniffles a spray like this has worked well in the past and I’m so pleased that I now have some in the cupboard for the winter.
Stérimar have been kind enough to send me the products for review and have also made a bundle of products available which I’m very pleased to be able to offer you the 3 sprays in the range for babies, toddlers and adults in my rafflecopter giveaway below.
Open to UK entrants only. Prize will delivered to the winners postal address directly from Stérimar. The winner will be randomly generated. Please see full policy on my contacts page. All entries will be checked to ensure they have complied with the entry requests. Good Luck!
The Liebster Award
I was so pleased to be nominated for the Liebster Award by Ali over at Ali’s Upside Down World please go over there and check out her great blog. Thanks so much Ali:) It’s so nice to be put forward by another blogger for the work you put in and Ali is someone who’s blog I admire.
So, for those of you who might be wondering what the Liebster Award is, it’s a blogging award, given by bloggers to other bloggers to give recognition for their work. It’s designed to showcase blogs and promote their online community presence. You can discover lots of new and brilliant blogs out there from going through the list of Liebster Award winners. From the research I have done the questions you have to answer change slightly over time which I think is great and reflects the creativity of writing and passing the baton on from blogger to blogger.
If you go to the end of my post you will see the 7 tasks I need to complete in order to complete my Liebster Award and these will be passed on to the people I nominate.
So, onto number 1 which I have completed above; thanking the person who nominated you. Number 2 is the Liebster Award badge which is proudly shown in my picture header.
Number 3 is to say a few words about my favourite blog. This took some time as I have quite a few favourites so I am going to talk about one which I love and I’m going to nominate the others.
It’s Carol over at Virtually All Sorts . She has a such a good view on life and this shines through on her blog. In her own words “My blog focusses on the good and happy in life, and if it’s not all good and happy, I turn it around to see the bright side.” Carol has some great flash fiction pieces that are well worth a read and I would recommend popping over to her to have a look. Carol has also been supportive of my writing and I’m glad to have her as a blogging buddy. Thanks Carol!
Number 4 is also tricky. I think that it’s pretty difficult to think of some facts about myself which wont make me sound too odd but here we go….
- Today I’m wearing odd socks and I squeezed my sock coated feet into flip flops to hang out the washing…classy!
- I’ve got an underactive thyroid.
- Blogging is my new chocolate.
- I still eat a hell of alot of chocolate so I guess I blog a fair bit too.
- I can’t save money, I spend every penny I earn, but I’m not in any debt.
- I keep forgetting I’m in my forties.
- When I eat strong cheddar cheese the hairs on the back of my neck go up and my neck tingles.
- I cannot abide celery…
- or the sound of polystyrene, it makes my mouth water.
- I am amazed and very pleased that you read to the end of this list, well done:)
So I have been thinking who to nominate and who I love to read. I would like to make it clear that being nominated by me comes with no pressure to do it, it means that I love your blog and think you deserve to know that:) Complete if you wish and feel free to copy and paste the rules from this post.
Andrea and Paul Topsy Turvy Tribe
The Rules
- Thank the person who nominated you, and post a link to their blog on your blog. Try to include a little promotion for the person who nominated you. They will thank you for it and those who you nominate will also help you out as well.
- Display the award on your blog — by including it in your post and/or displaying it using a “widget” or a “gadget”. (Note that the best way to do this is to save the image to your own computer and then upload it to your blog post.)
- Write a 150-300 word post about your favourite blog that is not your own. Explain why you like the blog, provide links.
- Provide 10 random facts about yourself.
- Nominate 5 – 11 blogs that you feel deserve the award, who have a less than 200 followers.
- List these rules in your post.
- Once you have written and published it, you then have to: Inform the people/blogs that you nominated that they have been nominated for the Liebster award and provide a link for them to your post if you don’t have all the information so that they can learn about it (they might not have ever heard of it!)
It’s A Winner!
The online world has made it so easy to enter competitions and you also get some instant gratification that your entry has been received. Back in the day when I was a child we had our saturday morning programme ‘Swap Shop’ and we would wait all week for it to come on our screens. Then if you wanted to enter a competition you had to write the answer on a postcard, post it and wait until the following saturday to find out if you had been lucky and won. Just imagine all of those huge mail bags full of slips of paper, it seems crazy now to think that all over the country people were walking down to their postbox clutching their ‘hopefully’ lucky entry ticket. Fast forward to now and look how easy it is. Click of a button and you’re in it to win it, amazing!
I was doing a little research a couple of months ago on how to host a competition on my site as I thought it would be something fun to do. Now, I don’t know if this ever happens to you but I normally start out with one thing in mind and then the internet lures me somewhere completely different! This time wasn’t so bad but I did find myself entering a whole host of different competitions on different sites and platforms. The thing is, a week or so later I had an email and I had actually won something; a £50 voucher from first choice lighting. Now this isn’t a sponsored post, I have put the link in there because a) I actually won and I’m still over the moon! and b) I was really pleased by the lovely emails I received from Amy who contacted me about my win.
One of my winning lamps!
I ordered the most stylish lamps I’ve ever owned and it all came out of the blue from that whirl of entering a few weeks ago.
Since then I’ve been having about an hour a week entering different competitions and giveaways and guess what…I haven’t won again! But..I do keep trying:)
I have also really enjoyed hosting the competitions on my site and they have been so successful that I’ve even put in a new menu header on my blog so they can be found easier. Have a little look if you have time. There are loads of ways to host competitions and giveaways and I’m enjoying using the different programmes to make this happen. This is one of the fun sides of blogging for me, finding out new ways to enhance my blog and to bring something fun to my readers. I will follow this post up over the next couple of weeks with one which lists the sites to promote the competitions and the different methods that are available to use.
I’ve also virtually met some great online compers who really know a thing or two about how to seriously go about it. One of them is Tracey and I first saw her online when she entered one of my competitions. I saw on her twitter page that she focused completely on entering and sharing competitions. She agreed to contribute to this post and I’ll hand you over to her now where she will tell you a bit more about it…
“I’ve been entering competitions for the last 5 years or so and soon found out that I love entering blog competitions the most. I have won lots of amazing products over the years including my highest value win a designer double bed & mattress worth £1,500. I don’t have a favourite win because I truly love everything I’m lucky enough to win whatever the cost of the prize.
My top tip is to be organised, find a competition website to enter competitions from, my favourite is Competition Database for it’s sheer ease and speed of entering and being able to customise the website to what competitions you want to enter. Then go free-style and search yourself for competitions. Usually ones that have not been picked up by competition listing sites have fewer entries.
I have shared blog competitions on competition listing sites, I tweet every blog competition that I come across so please feel free to follow me and enter from my tweets”.
You can follow @Tracey_Peach on twitter to see more and maybe strike it lucky.
So, go forth and see what’s out there to win, most of all enjoy it!
Casemade – Review & Giveaway – Phone and Tablet Cases
Wow today was such a good day, first off, the sun is still shining even though we have just jumped into November and secondly and as a real bonus, my gorgeous new iPhone 7 leather case turned up courtesy of Casemade. I have teamed up with them to promote their #giftacasemade campaign which I am proud to be part of.
The cases came beautifully packaged which is always such a plus for me, I love to take my time over opening my new buys. It’s probably still the child in me but it does make a difference to how I feel about gifts by post.
For me I had chosen a brown iPhone 7 case as I have just upgraded and treated myself to the newest release. It’s one of my treats and it really deserves a great case. I had looked around but alot of the cases out there where pretty cheap looking and felt like they had been rushed into production. The casemade one is very different. It fits very well and the texture is very easy on the hands. It looks stylish and I think that phones now are worth looking after and this case pairs well with the feel of the iPhone.
As part of the #giftacasemade campaign I also have the iPad case for my OH as quality means alot to him and buying him anything is normally a real struggle. He will only have something if he has researched it and is satisfied it will fully meet his needs. Luckily this does so Christmas is now that bit easier!
The founders and designers are Toby and Alex and they are committed to providing great customer service and have the personal touch to their business.
Over time our range has grown. All cases in the range follow two core principles – simplicity of design and the use of high quality materials. Toby and Alex
You can catch up with them over on twitter @CASEMADE
Please also check out their website case-made.com
As you can see here from their site they have made a point of making sure their customer service is spot on, feel free to contact them and say hi!
As part of this promotion I am delighted to be able to offer you a chance to win an iPhone 7 case in the colour of your choice in the giveaway. It’s a great prize – Good luck!
Open to UK entrants. No cash alternative. Please see full policy on the contacts page. Casemade will be responsible for sending the case direct to the winner within the UK. Thanks!
Look out for their sign:
Disclosure: I was gifted the products for the purpose of carrying out this review. All thoughts and words are my own.