Treat Your Dad to A Taste Tour of Ireland at IndieFude.com

Indie Fude is your online deli destination for the top picks of independant Irish food products. They bring together award winning brands like Suki Tea, Abernethy Butter and Red Rooster Coffee in one place, allowing you to pick products separately, or put together a hamper or gift set. 

Primarily an online store at www.indiefude.com , they can also be found at the new Bank Square Market every Thursday from 11am-8pm.

If you want to treat your Dad to some tastes of Ireland, Indie Fude have put together four gift collections for you to choose from. There is also an option to view products by region, so you can try the best of Ulster one month, and the best of Leinster another, a bit like a foodie tour without having to leave your home!

 I love the idea of the chocolate orange marmalade, and bacon jam, so I think I'll take advantage of their 10% off offer, when you sign up for their mailing list, and treat myself.

Autumn Grub at M&S

As the leaves turn orange we find ourselves craving Sunday dinner comfort food, warm pies and stews, sweet, golden crumbles. This September however has given us some peculiarly mild weather, so you can still enjoy cool, fresh salads packed with autumnal colour schemes in the range at Marks & Spencer.

Set your table on fire with these brightly coloured, crisp side salads two for £3 : Spanish Style Chicken lunch £3.80

The reds and oranges continue in the meal deal salads, three items for £3.50

But Sunday lunch is Sunday lunch and with big, hunks of lamb, pulled pork, beef and chicken you can quickly cook up for the whole family for as little as £6.50 for your meat : How delicious does sour cherry & almond crumble pudding sound? Serve hot with a big scoop of vanilla icecream £3.00

Lastly some sweet treats from my little M&S autumn haul. Pecan & Maple cookies which will be a delight with big, builders' mugs of tea £2.00 : Millionaire's Crunch Cereal. Like Cocopops for kids £2.60 : Huge family size Cinder Toffee yoghurt £1.75 There was also a cinnamon and apple variety which I'm going to try next time.

And here is the lamb all cooked up in 40 minutes.

Marks & Spencer's Super Summer of Flavour

Have you been in Marks & Spencer lately? As usual they are pushing the boundaries of unusual culinary delights to be found on a supermarket shelf, with their Summer of Flavour. 

They've put coconut, pineapple, watermelon, chipotle or wasabi on EVERYTHING, and this is the BEST THING EVER. It's like a range invented by me, with all meats pulled, everything fruity & tangy and beautiful.  

You know where I do my big shop, but I'm no stranger to M&S either. Their food can be a little more pricey, but it's actually WORTH IT, so you don't mind. We aren't talking stupid prices either, and their Meal for Two for £10 is still one of the best value meals from any supermarket. 

We visited the Sprucefield Marks & Spencer, Lisburn, just outside Belfast. It's gigantic. It must have everything from the website and more. Stationary, clothing, food hall, then another massive shop of M&S Home.

Here's what I think must have gone down in the M&S kitchen when they invented this product.

"Okay, chocolate covered... we've had coconut before... pineapple? ....watermelon? too messy I suppose... what other flavours have we included in our Summer of Flavour, Jim?" 

"WASABI. WASABI PEAS." 

"Oh, Jim. I don't think so" 

"MAKE IT SO." 

(I'll let you know on Instagram later in the week what I think of them).

They may sound weird, but products like this is exactly why I love M&S. 

So what did we pick up to try through out this week?

I'm giving coconut water a second chance. I've tried it plain and thought it tasted too much like sweat. But this carton has a whole juiced watermelon in there too, so it's bound to taste nice. Plus I picked it up on the 3 for £5 offer, so it's a bargain. 

If you look closely at the yellow carton you can see the pineapple juice has hints of lemongrass and jalepeno chilli in it! Another curious creation.

The fruit snacks are very summery, the Tropical Paradise tray includes little, yellow, coconut & pineapple flavour jelly shells. Tropical Triumph has mango sauce and a shaker of coconut flakes included. 

There's my Wasabi Peas again, and a bound-to-be beautiful, £3 coconut and pineapple cake. If you've never tried M&S's £3 round cakes, you are missing out. They are the moistest, most delicious cakes you can buy from a supermarket. Try the toffee one and it'll change your cake buying habits for life.

If you're a macaron fan there is a special summer version of their mini desserts for £5.50. 

The Summer of Flavour range has tonnes of picnic food to choose from, and buy four items and you get a free bottle of wine, or if you're teetotal like me, a non-alcoholic alternative. Rather than use these for a picnic, I chose them for some night when I want to make a 'lazy tea'. A little platter of tasty bits and pieces to share, and with 3 packs for £6 it's a good deal.

The Summer of Flavour has reached the takeaway sandwich aisle too. Marks & Spencer have caught onto the trend of all meat being 'pulled'. It's strange, meat didn't seem to be pulled before 2013, now it's like you can't buy pork without it being yanked first. It's like paninis. Before 2005 they didn't exist in the UK, now they are everywhere. See also pizza pre-1985.

Back to the point though, these soft baps are made from a sweet, brioche type recipe and I love them. The sweet, soft baps are available from the bread & bakery section, called Posh Dog Baps they'll impress the neighbours at your next BBQ.

More from the picnic range, these Firebreads are only £3 each, which seems like a great price to me. These do need cooked before you eat them, so bear that in mind if you are dropping into M&S for something to take to a park to eat 'now'. We are going to try these tonight, so again if you want to know what I think & how they look cooked, see my Instagram later.

We Smyths love a wee multi-pack of dips, and I'm looking forward to testing out this smokey selection. 

Another item I've tried before, but simply had to include because it's out of this world, their Wasabi Potato Salad. It's part of their 2 for £3 salad pots which includes a great Crunchy Mango Salad pot and a lovely version of Waldorf Salad.

Another wasabi fuelled Summer of Flavour item I've noticed in the past few weeks included wasabi popcorn. Annoyingly it slipped my mind to look for it when I was there today. 

The Grill collection is the BBQ type section of the a Summer Flavour menu, and there's lots to choose from. I went for three items from the 3 for £10 range. These sweet potato wedges would make a gorgeous BBQ accompaniment. Also good for making your own at home, pretend Nandos.

The coconut, lemongrass  & lime chicken should be amazing, and again the night we do cook and eat these I'll give my opinion on Instagram.

Finally, way-hey it's the pulled pork! My mouth is watering just looking at the picture on the front of the box. Apple BBQ sauce sounds like the thing dreams are made of.

This shop came in at around £45 and you can really make some good savings by reading up on the offers in store.

Oh, and I tried these cashews earlier in the week, coconut & chilli ones. Don't laugh, but the taste reminded me of sugared Shredded Wheat​ (descriptions like that is probably why I'm not a full time foodie blogger). They are totally yummy.

Check out the M&S website for recipes using their current ranges.​

This post was sponsored by M&S supplying the food for review. Thanks, guys! 

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. 

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!

12 Reasons Why Lidl Should Become Your New Local Deli in 2014

Everyone is too broke to be snobby about Lidl anymore. But take a trolley around the cut price supermarket & you may be pleasantly surprised at the range of products available. One of the reasons I visit Lidl once a month, is to feed my habit for loving the new and unusual. Each visit to my local Bangor store brings a new selection of treats I haven't seen elsewhere. As well as European foods, Lidl NI offer great priced local produce, their meats are especially good quality.

Here are 12 products that may tempt the foodies amongst my readers to try their local Lidl store. 

1.  Pear Balsamic Vinegar, also available in Apple.

2. Jalepeno pepper relish. This would be awesome on crackers with mature cheddar.

3. Irish Pea and Ham Soup. This is amazing, one of my repeat purchases. Probably not a suitable soup if you're on a diet (such as the Limmy porridge and soup diet) as it's made with cream. 

4.  Lemon Curd Yoghurt.

5. Devon Style Toffee Yoghurt. These are 59p each. If I've been at Lidl before you there will be no toffee variety left because I LOVE them. They have little toffee pieces through it. 

6.  Toffee Spread

7. Coconut Spread. If you follow me on Twitter you'll know I'm addicted to this stuff. You know the white versions of Ferrero Roche? This tastes like the inside of those. I currently have three jars of this stock piled. 

8. A big pile of smoked salmon for £2.69, yes please.

9. Smooth Irish Cheddar with Seaweed. SEAWEED! 

10. Black Forest Ham. This is a Parma ham style meat and at a fraction of the price you would pay in a deli or posh supermarket.

11. Honey cure bacon

12. Lardons. I honestly can't get these anywhere else. Super handy for in omelettes or pasta dishes.