July 15, 2016

National Cherry Day Made Sweet With Forest Feast

July 15, 2016/ Claire Spence

Forest Feast, the premium dried fruit and nut snack company, will join cherry lovers all over the UK to celebrate national cherry day on the 16th July, honouring the delicious, crimson fruit.

Ann Woods, Product Development Manager at Forest Feast said: “People still want tasty and convenient snacks but there is an increasing consumer demand for healthier snack alternatives, which has seen our cherry category grow significantly.”

“Cherries are not only delicious, they are bursting with vitamins and anti-oxidants, which is very appealing to consumers who want snacks thatdeliver on both taste and nutrition. Sour cherries taste amazing on their own, but can be transformed when you combine this unique-tasting fruit with other ingredients such as Belgian dark chocolate, other dried fruits or when added to savoury or sweet dishes.”

To help celebrate National Cherry Day, cherry lovers can enjoy a number of delicious cherry snacks options from Forest Feast, including:

·Forest Feast Belgian Dark Chocolate Sour Cherries - This decadent snack creates the perfect marriage of the intense flavour of the bittersweet chocolate and cocoa matched with the unexpected tartness of the cherry. RRP £1.99

·Forest Feast Scrumptious Sour Cherries - Low in fat and packed full of antioxidants, sour cherries are a tart version of regular cherries and can be enjoyed on their own but also give a delicious tartness when added to sweet and savoury dishes. Sour cherries hold their shape better when heated making them a firm favourite with cooks. RRP £1.70

·Forest Feast Berries & Cherries – Bursting with authentic fruit flavour, Forest Feast Berries & Cherries is a delicious mix of sour cherries, dried blueberries, cranberries and jumbo raisins which also packs a nutritional punch as 25g or one small handful of dried fruit equates to a serving in the government recommended 5 a day campaign. RRP £2.69

All Forest Feast products are available online and from leading retailers nationwide. For more information and recipe suggestions, visit www.forestfeast.com or find Forest Feast on Facebook and Twitter.

July 15, 2016

Dine In the Dome: Yo Sushi With a View This Weekend

July 15, 2016/ Claire Spence

YO! Sushi Belfast have teamed up with Dining in the Dome to offer you the ultimate sushi dining experience.

With panoramic views that stretch for miles across the city, indulge with a 4-course meal, including hot and cold Japanese dishes made fresh by our talented chef. You'll also get to experience an interactive sushi-rolling demonstration with Head Chef Andrew Lee.

The Exclusive Dining Package is £70 per table of two including a glass of red, white or rose wine or a bottle of Japanese beer or a soft drink.

Check out the tempting menu.

Places are limited, so book now for Saturday 16th & Sunday 17th July by emailing yo.belfast@yosushi.com

July 11, 2016

M&S Picnic Offer: 4 Food Items for £10 Plus a Free Picnic Bag, Cutlery Roll, or Bottle of Wine

July 11, 2016/ Claire Spence

New York Wings : Bourbon Wings : Sparkling Fizz : Wings 4 for £10 : Fizz free

It's holiday time in Northern Ireland tomorrow, and whether you are heading towards or away from the Twelfth Celebrations, a picnic could very well be on the cards. This current M&S deal isn't listed in the food offers on their website, but I can fill you in on how this one works so you can decide if it's a good deal for you.

Sadly the Bangor Bloomfields store was out of picnic bags, but when you buy the four mix and match items you can choose either the cutlery roll, or a bottle of red or white wine, or a fancy Spirit of Summer fizzy. I got two versions of the deal with one set of cutlery and one fizz. The drink to buy alone is £6 so it's a great freebie, you know how much I rave about the dine in for £10 deal.

I chose quite a lot of meat and fish as my 'four items', and it's worth noting if you are on the Atkin's Diet, or eat a lot of protein for training, this deal is a great way of getting a lot of snacking meat at a good price. There are half a dozen flavours of cooked chicken including tubs of wings ready to eat.

If someone took me on a picnic and instead of pulling out some sandwiches they whipped out a colourful bottle of bubbly and a tub of bourbon chicken wings just for me, I would fall in love with them on the spot.

If you want something more carbsy for the whole family there are little wraps, quiches, that sort of thing to mix and match four for £10 too.

LOOK AT THE COCONUT! There are two drinking coconuts, £3 and £3.25, and one has a ring pull! I don't like coconut water but it's so kitsch that I couldn't resist. I wonder would the browner looking one (further down this post) keep for a few days after use? They would be class for serving cocktails in, or even as decor in a home bar.

I buy the calamari rings in the picture above quite regularly. They make a tasty snack rather than a bag of crisps. These are the mix and match four for £10 cooked meats and fish I mentioned. Then you pick your wine, fizz, picnic bag or cutlery.

The cutlery included is plastic, but of course you could use your own.

I'm a fan of the 'Just Add' salad pots. They also do pots of hard boiled egg, tomatoes, red onion, crispy bacon, croutons. For £1.50 that little pot is a lot more handy than guessing when your whole avocado is ripe, then trying to get it cut up.

So here us my little plate of picnic lunch. As you can see I monopolised the calamari. I just love squid. The pulled pork wrap was my other favourite.

If you are reading this hungrily but only need to feed one person, the Spirit of Summer lunch deal can allow you to join in with the exotic tates during your lunch hour. You get a sandwich, pasta or salad main, a side or dessert and a drink for £4 or under. It's also mix and match with the all year round lunch items included in the deal (look for the price label or sticker on the product, because unlike Boots, some of the lunch items aren't included in this deal).

I chose a pulled pork and apple brioche bap, a fruit salad and a pineapple juice. There's also a gorgeous watermelon juice in the deal to try.

Carrying on the snacking, Spirit of Summer migrates to the savoury snack aisle too. There are packs of nuts, sweet potato crisps, and these hearty corn chips for around £2 a pack. Pick up the Spirit of Summer salsas for a really authentic taste. I love the heavy-on-the-sweetcorn dip in the £2.50 Three Salsa Selection, it reminds me of the corn salsa from Boojum.

Fruit is always summery and melon is my favourite fruit. The shaker and platter are both £2 each. This is the coconut with the ring pull!

Now I featured a lot of the Spirit of Summer dessert range last week, but not all of it is suitable to travel to a picnic. These 85p yoghurt are, and you've little spoons in the free cutlery roll, so you are ready to go.

A little heads up- M&S fudge is terribly good. They've a lemon meringue variety right now in these £2 sized packs, it's not Spirit of Summer, so I didn't pick it up, but if you see it, I highly recommend it.

Enjoy your holiday week! Follow me on Snapchat to see what we get up to. I post there daily. Username Rudedoodle, or scan the image on the left with your Snapchat app.

I will try to follow everyone back to nosy at your holidays too.

Also tell me what you like from the M&S Spirit of Summer range, on there or on Twitter, also @rudedoodle

And if you want to follow our vlog channel, that's over at Smix Brix YouTube. Thanks!

July 11, 2016

How To Download Your Kids Pokemon Go For Free TODAY Even If You Live In the UK- It's So Easy, Even I Managed It! Plus the Pikachu Manicures To Wear While Catching 'Em All!

July 11, 2016/ Claire Spence

I don't know about your timelines, but it seems like all my friends are playing Pokemon Go, not their kids. However now Youtuber favourites like DanTDM have featured the game on their channel, it's only a matter of time before you are pestered to death to download the new augmented reality game to your kids tablet, iPod or iPhone.

The game is free, but isn't available in the UK iTunes Store yet, so to download the game you need to fool your phone into thinking you are in the US. You don't have to jail break or do anything mad, just follow this step by step guide I've pinched from imore.com, then switch back to UK mode.

They note that places like South East Asia don't have too many Pokemon 'on the ground' to find, but here in the UK the game seems to be ready to go, with lots to catch via the GPS gaming, already in place.

The first thing you need to do is set up a throw away email address to create a US iTunes account with. You do need a real one, as before you can download anything you have to verify the email account. I just set up a quick account with outlook.com

Then, follow these steps:

Pokemon Go Direct App Store Link

You have to set up a Club Pokemon Trainer account, and I found the form to do so in the app kept crashing, so you might want to use Safari to set up an account first, then just log in via the app, not try to sign up inside it. The traffic must be crashing the sign up form within the app itself.

Then you should be good to go. Return to UK iTunes by signing out and then back in with your regular iTunes account. Remember your US account details for future US app purchases you might fancy.

One last little trouble shooting tip- should the app say GPS not found, check your location services are on in the phone settings. You can also get that popping up if you are playing inside, it works far better outdoors. Finally if you are still having problems, download Google Maps & open it and allow it to run in the background.

Good luck!

July 05, 2016

Swimsuits Making You Feel Too Self Conscious to Enjoy the Pool with your Kids? I Found a Fab Alternative, a Swim Dress from Peacocks

July 05, 2016/ Claire Spence

Taking your kids to the pool is some serious fun it's all too easy to talk yourself out of. It's expensive, you all need swim wear, it's a hassle, you'll get in shape and THEN you'll take them. Well the time is now. You'll soon realise everyone else there is too busy having fun to even notice your lumps & bumps, and if they ARE worrying about them, they are probably more interested in their own!

I'm a size 14 on top & needed a 16 in this. Worth trying on instore, or buying one size up I think

There is also the bothering of having to shave your legs, bikini line etc every time. Well the swim dress I found means you don't necessarily need to be waxed to the nines every time you swim either.

It sits like a little dress, which is so forgiving for 'pregnant shape' people like me, constantly looking three months pregnant in something as tight as a swim suit. This amazing modesty saving swimsuit from Peacocks also has 'tummy control' that sucks you in like Spanx.

We were in the fun, leisure waters in Bangor this morning. That's slides, wave pool and hot tub and we stayed almost two hours. I was so comfy the whole time. It didn't ride up or hurt in the bust. I'm really happy with it.

Back view, bust is structured but comfortable

I thought I would feature the swimsuit here on my blog as so many people said this was exactly the sort of thing they were after when they saw it on my Instagram.

Peacocks also has click and collect for orders over £25, and 20% off most of their online stock, so go forth and shop!

June 30, 2016

Nosy Inside Northern Ireland's Most Grand, Unusual, Quirky, Kitsch, Plush and Opulent Homes with the Property Pal & Property News NI Instagram Feeds

June 30, 2016/ Claire Spence

Everyone loves nosying inside other people's homes. Getting decorating ideas, or quietly judging the taste of the owners be it good or bad.

Thats why the Property Pal and Property News NI (@propertynewsNI) Instagram accounts are fun to follow, even if you aren't looking to buy or rent a property in the new future.

North Coast properties are always blessed with great views

This reminds me of Ferris Bueller's friend's Dad's house, it's actually just outside Holywood

June 29, 2016

Pizza & Prosecco £10 Deal & a Summer of Sweets at M&S

June 29, 2016/ Claire Spence

I LOVE a good Marks & Spencer Dine In offer. It's like buying a bottle of wine & getting a free meal with it. This week they have another amazing £10 meal deal but this time you can choose a bottle of Prosecco with a scrumptious, deli style, wood fired pizza.

Even a cheap bottle of Prosecco is hard to find for a tenner, but getting some grub too is an offer not to be missed. You could even stock up, dare I say it, for Christmas, by buying several of the deal, and the pizzas can be frozen so it's win win.

Whilst the deal is being advertised as Pizza & Prosecco, you can choose from sparkling Rosé, two beers, white or red wine, and the non-alcoholic alternative is a box of Swiss chocolates!

If you don't fancy that deal, there are also mini versions of the wood fired pizzas for one person.

Plus it's not the only pizza deal in store right now. If you purchase any two pizzas, either from the wood fired range or regular selection, you get a free pizza cutter. It's really good quality & evey home should have one. The classic pizzas are £4 each.

I chose two of the Spirit of Summer variety pizzas, Bbq Pulled Pork and Tinga Chicken & Chorizo.

The Spirit of Summer range is spread throughout the entire Food Hall in all departments, and I decided for this blog post to hone in on the dessert selection. Spirit of Summer is inspired by classic dishes and ingredients from the Americas.

As you can see I went a little sugar crazy!

There are so many tempting treats to choose from, super for throwing an afternoon tea or summer's day picnic.

Dulce de Leche tea cakes are only £1. The £2.50 summer tartlet selection has cute little Mississippi mud pie, coconut & lime and dulce de Leche & pecan treats, and there is dulce de Leche on offer again in a mini cheesecake for £3.

There are more mini desserts in the carnival cupcake selection, with rocky road, key lime and coconut buns for £3.50 . There is a sharing size Key Lime Pie for £3, and individual lemon & ricotta cheesecake slices for £2.60. The latter falls into a mix and match dessert offer where you can buy two sweets for £4.

The American taste influence continues in the biscuit & snack department. The cookies are mix and match, 2 packs for £3.50. The dark chocolate & mango Jaffa cakes are only £1. If you really want to spoil yourself then try the summer macaroon selection which has 12 bite size delights for £6.