Sneak Those Veggies Into Dinner Time with Pop Chef for only £9.99

Remember going to the Ideal Homes Exhibition when you were a kid? There was always a fun cutting novelty for making food shapes that Mum wouldn't buy. Well now you can get the Pop Chef for only £9.99 and it's safe for over 3 year olds to use as it doesn't have blades. Affordable, safe, quick, easy, dishwasher safe.

You can make appealing, party fruit kebabs (sticks are included in the pack). Or how about saving some pennies and shaping toast, cheese and ham and sending it to school for break instead of packs of Dairylea Lunchables. This way you can use fresh produce with no additives. 

As you can see above the Pop Chef is also useful for pretty and simple bun or cake decoration. I was very excited to try this product out; I'm the sort of adult does buy Lunchables, for themselves! 

You have six different shapes and the ends are incredibly hassle free to swap over. I tried cutting Apple, yellow pepper and toast. All cut easily. When I went to pop them however, I came stuck a little. I squeezed the orange pump and the apple didn't budge. I worked out there's a trick to it. You smack the palm of you hand down on the top of the orange part like you would to get tomato sauce out of the end of a ketchup bottle. This works a treat and the shape literally pops audibly out of the tube. So if you child is using the Pop Chef themselves, they may need to practice that part or have your help.

As it is my son is a fussy eater, so the Pop Chef will be getting used regularly from now on. 

Trolls With a Positive Message- Love Your Zelf

Remember when trolls were collectible, big haired toys, and not nasty online beings? Zelfs are spiky haired creatures of the troll tradition, with the positive tag line, 'Love your Zelf'.

This month in my Junior column I talked about gender stereotypes with toys, and Zelfs are a good example. They are certainly what you'd expect to be a 'girl's toy', with feminine colours, hairbrushes as accessories and charms that come with each figure. However my son loves Zelfs, and already owned a number of them from the original collection that came out last autumn. 

In fact when I mentioned to him some Zelfs would be arriving for him to help me review, he was more excited about them than any of the traditional 'boy toys'  we've featured.

We played with the Toadstool Twirl and Swing Playset, priced £14.99, which comes with an exclusive, very cute, green Zelf. No batteries are required and it holds three medium Zelfs.

We also had one of the series two Masquerade Zelf figures. As I expected, Michael loved both. I'll even admit I wouldn't mind owning a few Zelfs for my toy cabinet, and they've sent me on a 1990s' troll doll hunt on eBay. 

50 Filmmakers Remade the Original Full-length RoboCop, scene-by-scene. "Because if anyone is going to ruin RoboCop, it's us".

You can watch it online at OurRobocopRemake.com I'm fifteen minutes in and I just had to stop to share it with my readers. 18+ for language, violence and (so far) computer-image nudity, puppets and pasta.

The Quest For Your Home's Signature Scent, With Help from ScentedCandleShop.com

My name is Claire Smyth and I'm a scented candle buying addict. It started when Yankee Candle started appearing in shops and garden centres. At last there was a brand of candle that actually filled a room with the smell it professed to be. Over the years I must have spent hundreds and hundreds of pound on the Yankee Candle range. Jars, votives, tea lights, always trying the three new released scents each season, and even buying rare, retired and US-only varieties off eBay. I can tell you my favourite, The House Scent of the Smyth household each Christmas, a retired scent called Silver Bells, which smells like Christmas tree.

To save money, I swapped from large jars to Yankee tarts. This allows me to try dozens of scents without having to burn through a whole jar before I can swap smells. The wax tarts are little discs of highly fragranced wax, which melt in specialised tart burners. 

So I've found my Christmas scent, but an all year round favourite candle smell still hasn't been found.  ScentedCandleShop.com decided to help me out by allowing me to try out twenty eight different wax tarts, mostly Yankee a Candle brand, but also Bridgewater and Colonial scents. Their easy to use store allows you to browse by candle colour too, great for toning in with your colour schemes. 

Here is what I tried, and what each of the tarts smell like. 

I began with Yankee Candle's Christmas varieties that I hadn't tried beforehand myself. Red Berry & Cedar - a little touch of berry against a rich Christmas tree scent. Spiced Orange- fruity cinnamon, like a delicious big scone. Red Apple Wreath- similar to red berry, but with a crisp apple smell. Snowflake Cookie- like sugary shortbread. Season of Peace- a soft freesia scent. Snow in Love- clean, soap-like, fresh. Merry Marshmallow- as you would think, fluffy, soft, sugary mallow scent. Christmas Memories- like a holiday season kitchen smell, baking sweet treats. 

On to the floral themed wax tarts, again all from Yankee Candle. Vanilla Satin- I always find pure vanilla too sickening, this is a clean, subtle vanilla, very nice. Turquoise Sky- this reminds me of a perfume I used to use, Ocean Dream. A pretty, floral, fresh scent. Under the Palms- I swear I can catch a hint of coconut in this natural, greenery smell. True Rose- a strong traditional Rose candle. Waikiki Melon- smells exactly like melon, but isn't sickeningly sweet. White Gardenia- smells of summer holidays abroad, heavy floral scent.

Champaca Blossom- I'm not sure I've ever smelt Champaca, but it's a beautiful, floral perfume that wouldn't over-power your room. Midnight Oasis- not for me, a bit too much like men's bubble bath. November Rain- an unusual one, I'm nearly sure I can smell liquorice and mint. Pink Hibiscus- a little like Rose, but more tropical and exotic. Lake Sunset- a sugary, floral, subtle scent.

Moving onto non-Yankee tarts. Holiday Keepsake- candy canes and Christmas dessert smells. Ripe Mango- not keen, smells like orange dilute juice. Chestnut & Nutmeg- very subtle, you can definitely tell these tarts are as high quality as Yankee. Lily of the Valley- smells accurate but very synthesised. Clean Caress- now this one is good, clean laundry. Sweet Magnolia- accurate but not strong, maybe Colony Candles are suited for those who like scented candle but not for their room to be overwhelmed by it burning. Midnight Iris- a tropical floral. Pineapple & Coconut- accurate, but lacking the natural quality of Yankee. Fruit Sorbet- I like this one, smells like frozen yoghurt.

So which will become my favourite, house signature smell? I think the answer will come from the burning. I'll keep you updated!

You Too Can Become a Ninja Turtle!

Back again with some new releases from the Flair Turtle's range. The Ninja Combat Gear dress up set is available in each of the Turtles' colours with respective weapons. Michael was very excited about this, and has spent a lot of time in front of the mirror with his mask on this afternoon!

You better believe my husband and I have tried it on too, we were fans the first time around! 

Our second review surprise was the Leonardo from the Sound FX figures range. The 5.5 inch figures each say a range of phrases, activated when the arms or legs are twisted. A novel factor in the design means if you hold the limb, you can stretch out the length of the audio that plays. Great for battling the baddies. Incidentally, Shredder is available in the Power Sound FX line up too. All these are available for £14.99 each on the Flair Store.

Savvy parents, there's a Turtles film currently being made, by Michael Bay, which is released in October 2014, so it might be wise to beat the rush and stock up on bits for next Christmas when Turtles will be even more popular. 

Have You Ever Seen Such an Inviting Dystopian, Nuclear, Retro-Future?

I love Steven Quinn's collages. Stark landscapes and vintage humans.  

Steven has also designed a range of wall clocks, called Time Flies, which are available via his website.

The Wolf of Wall Street- In the Pink

 Marks and Spencer's have some very smart, pink, feature accessories for business wear this spring. 

Braces-  £12.50

Cable knit- £29.50

Tie- £19.50

Is January EVER Going to End? Lidl Bargains to Tide You Over to Pay Day.

Seriously, January? Christmas was about twelve weeks ago and it's STILL JANUARY. Overdrafts are emptying, tinned cans are being used up for dinners like it's the the end of time, takeaways are but a fleeting lustful thought as we tuck into baked potatoes or stew. 

Hopefully your payday is this week, but here are some every day bargains from Lidl which will save you money on your weekly Big Shop, money left over for their equally well priced wines as a farewell-to-January treat. 

The veg is noticeably cheaper, and the same, or better quality than the big chain stores. 

Chocomoons cereal has a special place in my heart as I was addicted to it when I was pregnant with our son. Eat three bowls in a go. An online friend, Nick, decided to do his big shop at Lidl last week after reading my Lidl Deli post. He says he saved around £30 off his bill, and that the big test would come when his two children tried the cereal. They loved it!

The pre-cooked wings and legs are like the packs you get in M&S. Handy if you can't be bothered cooking. Sit with the tv on and a bowl of wings on your lap. Don't forget the kitchen roll for your hands!

These salsa and sour cream pots are identical to Doritos branded ones. The Lidl version of Cheesestrings are nicer than the real ones, for me. 

The fresh meat and fish selection in store is vast. They use local producers, which helps our local farmers.  Both these packs cost £3.59 each. You'll also find some exotic meats, like partridge and veal. Keep an eye on the freezers.

Go forth and save money!