Sometimes review products land on the PlayPennies desk that we just don't want to part with - generally anything to do with food.

QVC really tested our resolve for spreading around the 'food love' when they sent us a selection of DeviliShh desserts to review; it was with heavy hearts, and tears and tantrums from some, that we sent them off to PlayPennies mum, Tracy, to try out.

"I was, naturally, very keen to review the desserts for PlayPennies," Tracy said, "especially as the name 'DeviliShh' suggests something rather scrummy and indulgent was heading my way."

Tracy also told us she was rather intrigued as to how they were going to arrive.

Were they going to come presented by waiter on a silver platter a'la the cooking competitions on TV?  Were they cold puddings that were ready made and could be eaten hot or cold? What?

"I must confess to being taken by surprise when the DeviliShh desserts arrived," Tracy told us, "there were about eight boxes of Creme Caramel puddings, one box of panna cotta, four boxes of pot au chocolate, four glasses, four bowls, two chocolate syrups, one rhubarb and strawberry coulis, a sour cherry one AND a raspberry one too!"

Now you understand why the sighs of remorse about not keeping the DeviliShh desserts in the PlayPennies office were as loud as they were.

You really can't beat wrapping off a meal with some sort of dessert; hot or cold, sweet or sharp, it makes no odds as everyone loves a little something else after dinner.

BUT, not everyone has the time, the inclination, or the skill sometimes, to knock up something fabulous. Sometimes you need a little bit of a helping hand and that's exactly where, according to Tracy, these DeviliShh desserts come into their own.

Chocolate Lovers Indulgence Selection - £22.25

The Chocolate Lovers Indulgence Selection was the first of the DeviliShh deserts that Tracy tried - we would have gone for the chocolate first too.

Following the instructions on the box all Tracy had to do, to make what she described as a 'delicious choccy desert', was pour everything into a pan, heat it until boiling, stir continuously, pour into heat resistant bowls/glassses and chill for one to two hours.

"This was so easy peasy," revealed Tracy, "that it almost felt like cheating! The pudding whips up quickly, smells utterly heavenly and sets REALLY FAST."

Tracy went on to say that by the time she was pouring the mixture into the last glass it was already starting to set.

"I served the glasses of chocolate pud' with sour cherry coulis and even my extremely fussy husband really liked the flavour and texture of the dessert."

Both Tracy and her husband felt the coulis was a nice touch and made a super contrast to the sweetness of the chocolate.

"I liked the fact the entire dessert was done and dusted in under five minutes and that there were precisely three things to wash up afterwards - bowl, spoon and jug," Tracy concluded.

She does have a piece of advice for anyone who decides to give the Chocolate Lovers Indulgence Selection a go, "The only thing that would be a minor problem is the one to two hour wait, but with a bit of forward planning this won't be a problem."

Create Your Own Creme Brulee Dessert Kit - £23.32

Along with all the various dessert making ingredients and paraphernalia comes a recipe for Bread and Butter Pudding; you use the ingredients from the Create Your Own Creme Brulee Dessert Kit to make it.

"You need the creme brulee mixture along with bread, sultanas, cinnamon and nutmeg to make this bread and butter pudding," explained Tracy. "Simply butter some bread, make the creme brulee mixture, pour it over the top and plonk in the fridge for 1-2 hours!"

Again, this seems wonderfully straightforward, faff-free and great for Bread and Butter Pudding fans.

Tracy told us she was a bit suspicious of the non-baking element to this particular DeviliShh dessert. However, the eating element of it seemed to go down well.

"My husband, who loathes bread and butter pudding, really liked this," Tracy told us, "he finished it off when I wasn't looking! It was very more-ish, very filling and incredibly tasty."

Tracy has another tip - I think I shall call them 'Tracy's Tips' - she says, "Just make sure you really cover every inch of bread or it is seriously weird and just like bread and butter with a bit of cinnamon sprinkled on it."

Create Your Own Panna Cotta Dessert Kit - £16.50

Now this is one dessert I'm happy to pass on to anyone else who will take it, it was also the one Tracy was looking forward to most and, as a result, she went a bit 'Master Chef' on us.

"I decided to get adventurous for the Panna Cotta DeviliShh dessert," she boasted, proudly.

"I crumbled chocolate brownies into the bottom of the glasses and then poured the Panna Cotta on top.  When they'd set they were super scrummy and delicious with that distinctive panna cotta taste on top."

The same basic principles apply to the DeviliShh dessert Create Your Own Panna Cotta Dessert kit as the others: mix it, pour it, chill it, eat it!

The Panna Cotta was Tracy's favourite by far and the chocolate, creme brulee and the creme caramel were huge hits with the kids and the fussy husband.

And finally...

Tracy was completely won over by the DeviliShh desserts we sent her.

"All the desserts are seriously easy and really tasty," Tracy said, "there was a hint of 'Angel Delight' in the chocolate dessert but, really, that only added to the awesomeness."

All of the family agreed that they loved the easiness of making the desserts and how, in spite of this, they tasted amazing rather than plastic and rubbish.

"I have to say I am very impressed," concluded Tracy, "as most instant desserts are a bit yuk and these, while not what you'd find in Gordon Ramsay's kitchen, are really good; I don't see anyone turning their noses up at them. "

So, ideal for busy parents who fancy a treat without the agony of having to slave over something for hours in the kitchen, then further hours afterwards washing up all the chaos and carnage.

Tracy told that on a scale of one to ten she'd give the DeviliShh desserts a nine and a big thumbs up.

Click HERE to see the full range of DeviliShh desserts available at QVC

I’ve always had a bit of a sweet tooth, but since my daughter’s birth, it has been chronic and often insatiable. I have been known, especially in the early days of breastfeeding, to eat a whole chocolate bar and immediately get up for another. It’s not helpful for returning to pre-baby weight, it’s not nutritious and it’s not healthy.

So, when I realised that I have actually found something that can happily replace chocolate and actually fulfil that craving for me, and have that something be all natural, all healthy and not in pill form, I was elated.

Nakd bars are 100% fruit and nuts – I know what you’re thinking, but you wouldn’t believe that it’s fruit if it didn’t say so on the ingredients. They aren’t baked either, so all the nutritional value remains. They don’t contain any additional sugar or additives, but are low in saturated fat, suitable for vegetarians and vegans and count towards your 5-a-day. They are gluten free and dairy free too, and diabetics can have them as part of a controlled diet.

The flavours available are Berry Delight, Cashew Cookie, Cocoa Delight, Cocoa Orange, Ginger Bread, Pecan Pie and my personal favourite, Cocoa Mint.

My husband actually commented that the Cocoa Mint flavour tasted like after dinner mints, although the texture of the bars is more like a brownie than chocolate, so you don’t get that creamy melt in the mouth thing you do with chocolate. But still, at a fraction of the calories, I can live without it.

Also, health bars disguised as something nice often hit you with great flavour initially, but by the time you’ve swallowed, the taste has changed and there’s either a bitter,  fruity or carob aftertaste – these don’t have that (except the Berry Delight, of course.)

And, what really makes these a winner is that my 19 month old drags me into the kitchen, points at the cupboard and says ‘sweets’, oblivious to the fact that it’s a healthy snack.

Nakd bars are available from pretty much all major retailers, including Asda and Sainsbury’s, but for the full range, you’re best just buying Nakd Nudie Fruit Bars direct.

In Asda's Little Angels range of baby products, they sell packets of organic ready-to-eat baby food. I got 3 flavours to try out with my little girl, she's 10 months old. It's the stage 3 food, which is suitable for 10 to 12 months. Here's what I tried:

• Chicken and Mango Curry
• Cottage Pie
• Tomato and vegetable pasta

I just gave her the food as normal at dinner time and I tasted them all myself too, for testing purposes.

Chicken and Mango Curry

As baby is only 10 months old, I've never given her any curry type products yet, as I have been making most of her baby food myself with fresh vegetables and meat. I was a bit worried as to what she was going to make of her first curry!

It is a rich sweet curry, with a nice texture for baby. It was quite smooth, not a lot of large lumps in it.

I liked this flavour a lot, and so did baby. She could not eat the curry fast enough! I was very surprised at her reaction, and I even had to decant some more of the food and keep on feeding, as baby started to cry when she had finished the small portion.

This product led to a conversation in my house about what babies in India and Asia eat when they're weaning. They must move straight on to spice-rich dishes like curries, rather than just the veg, meat and potatoes that we tend to wean with here. I'll be researching which curries will be good for my baby, when I am having one as a main meal.

The chicken and mango curry was such a hit with baby that I will be buying it again.

Tomato and vegetable pasta

I was a bit worried about trying this one. I've tried fresh chopped pasta and sauce with baby a few times, and she has never been enamoured. The first time I tried pasta, she was even gagging on it, and I had to stop feeding. So that led to a bit of apprehension when I opened that pack and saw the tiny bits of pasta. But I needn't have worried, it was chopped quite fine and the sauce was tasty, and baby enjoyed it a lot. There were a few larger lumps of carrot through the mix, but they were quite soft and easily palatable for baby. You can see a pic of the tomato pasta in the bowl, the photo is at the bottom of this review.

The flavour was quite herby, quite strong, but she liked it. I will be adding this flavour to my shopping list in the future.

Cottage Pie

The Cottage Pie was the last food that we tried, out of the above 3. This was by far the lumpiest of the 3 flavours, with full-size peas and soft cubes of potatoes through the mix. I was quite concerned about that as it is probably the lumpiest food I have ever given her. She managed fine though, there were no problems at all.

Flavour-wise, I did not love this particular taste. The cottage pie had quite a processed smell and taste, and I don't think I would buy this one again.

Stainage

One thing I really detest about shop-bought baby food is the potential for stainage on light coloured bibs. As I've been feeding baby with homemade food, I've never really had a huge problem with stains (except for persistent banana stains)! On seeing the colour of the Asda baby curry and the tomato pasta, the potential for stainage immediately entered my mind.

I dropped a bit of each on the white bibs, accidentally of course. Straight after feeding time was finished, I immediately hand-rinsed the worst of the stains, and left it to go in the wash. After washing, the curry bib in particular still had noticeable stains. I have a few bibs made from a darker material, so I will be using those when I next try the orange coloured baby foods.

Packaging

One annoying thing about the Asda Little Angels organic baby food range is the packaging. They come in sachets, which you have to cut the top off with scissors, and they are not re-sealable. There is 190g of food per portion, and my little one wouldn't eat as much as that in one sitting. This means I have to decant the remainder of the food into another dish, to store in the fridge.

I am comparing this to the likes of the Ella's Kitchen range of baby food which is quite similar, but they come in a pack with a little squeezy spout at the top. That means you can simply put the lid back on and pop it in the fridge - not so easy with some of the Asda products. Though, on looking on the Asda website, I see that some other flavours in the range have the squeezy tops, so it must depend on which flavour you choose.

Cost

At the time of writing, the cost of a 190g baby food pack is £1.34 on Asda's website. To compare that with the similar packages from Ella's kitchen, they're coming in at around £1.61. So I do think that the Asda Little Angels baby food is a good price.

Conclusion

All in all, I think the Asda Little Angels organic baby food range is well priced, very tasty for baby, with good flavours and variety. I will definitely be buying some of it again in the future.

Hopefully mums around the country will get treated to a lovely meal this Mothering Sunday (increasingly getting known as Mother's Day). While I love the idea of getting a meal out, getting a table for lunch on Mother's day is a bit like getting a table for dinner on Valentine's Day. Another option is to have a family meal that, ideally, mum doesn't have to cook.

There's also the traditional breakfast in bed, and a few other special treats you might like to consider for the mum in your life - your own, your mother in law, or your partner.

Breakfast Ideas

If you're letting the kids do the breakfast themselves, then you might want to limit things to toast. As a way of dressing it up a little you could use a toast stamp. I'm a new convert to these having only just used one for the first time when reviewing some Valentine's Day products. I have to say I didn't really think it would work! This one looks fab, it's a Best Mum stamp for £2.49. Although you can find lots of different toast stamps online for mum.

Can you go wrong with pancakes? Personally I think not. I love mine lathered in maple syrup. It doesn't matter whether you buy the mix ready made, or make it yourself (really it is just milk, eggs, sugar and flour). The important thing is that you find out in advance what mum's favourite topping is!

For a bit of a difference, you could have a go at making a banana pancake. I'd love it if I got one of these - I found this recipe on the fruit and veggie guru website.

Breakfast pizza anyone? Researching this article is the first time I'd heard of this. No doubt it is something everyone else has been eating for years. It is simply a pizza base with bacon, eggs, cheese, maybe some onions and herbs on top. I'm linking to this recipe here to show you an example as it includes the dough. But really for simplicity, you could just buy a pizza base.

If you've the time and the ability then try out the BBC Good Food Guide's Spoilt rotten Mother's Day menu. Now this would be a real treat. Chive bread with smoked salmon. With a pot of fresh coffee. And the Sunday papers. With the kids bouncing around the bed. The perfect morning.

Baking

Personally I'm a big fan of chocolate cake for breakfast. Anyone else of an age where they read books about teenage delinquents instead of vampires? You'll know what I mean then if you've read the book or seen the 80s brat pack movie The Outsiders. SE Hinton could teach Katherine Meyer a thing or two about tortured teens I reckon! But I'm going off topic now.

Cake is always good for any occasion, and this is something you can get the kids involved in. Some cupcakes made for mum, and iced. You can have a great deal of fun with this. Or make some cookies and use writing icing so the kids can write messages on there. We did this last year for Father's Day and my husband was thrilled to bits. The only downside is that it makes eating the cookie very difficult.

Asda sells its Writing Icing for £1.74. There's three types - the glitter one could be a lot of fun. Other supermarkets will sell something similar too. I've used these types of products before, and they are a great way to add some fun to icing cakes and cookies. However, I have found they are always quite stiff. You might find it easier if sit them in a cup of very hot water for a while before using.

For something a bit different you could try getting a photo printed onto edible paper, using edible inks. I remember when these first started to appear on the market, and it cost an arm and a leg to get a cake made with photo icing. Now, it seems, you don't even need to get a specialist printer.

Home printers can be used. It would seem that you can get edible ink cartridges for the Canon iP4700, for example. Now, I have to warn you I've never actually tried this myself. But in theory I can't see why it wouldn't work. I would probably keep the printer just for printing edible inks myself.

Edible ink cartridges, like ordinary ink cartridges, cost almost as much as the printer itself. You can buy them online from websites, like AnyCake.com. Then you'll need something to print on. Rice paper, or sugar paper, or specialist icing sheets are good. A pack of 24 A4 sized sheets on the same website cost £23. Don't limit yourself to cakes, photos can be printed for cupcakes and cookies. Now that would make a fabulous take home gift for a party, if you are having a smallish one (I'm not sure I'd want to try and print out individual photos and put them on cookies for a party of 20 to 30 kids!).

If you just want to do this for a one off, you can order a photo icing sheet online. Typically prices for this seem to be around the £7 mark. You'll need to make sure you do this in good time for Mother's Day though. All you have to do is email them the photo, and they will send you the icing sheet with photo printed on it.

Sainsbury's have a meal deal for £15 that includes a starter, main, side, dessert, drink and chocolates.

• Valentines Dinner on a budget at Sainsbury's

While on the one hand there's something a little sad about getting your Valentines dinner ready-made at a supermarket, the fact of the matter is that we can't all be whisked off to Paris and Rome for picnics under the stars. And, as I've realised since becoming a mother, babysitters can cost you more than a night out.

If you're trying to be frugal this Valentine's day, a £15 dinner for two can be made as romantic as you wish. If it were me and I'd been out working all day, for example, I'd stop at Sainsbury's on my way home and pick up the Breaded Camembert for starters (add in a bed of salad for the pretty factor), Sea Bass Fillets With Ginger & Lime for main, with a side of Potato Dauphinoise and a chilled Pinot Grigio. For dessert, I'm not able to resist the Gü Chocolate Melting Puds, with maybe a bit of icing sugar sprinkled over, again for the pretty factor. To top off the evening, and if we had any more room, some of my favourite chocolates , the After Eight Dark Chocolates.

My meal choices would have cost £23.82, but with the Valentine's deal I'd only pay £15 – and I certainly didn't choose the most expensive options.

It may not be ideal, or the most romantic starting point, but with a few candles, some music and two people who love each other, it can still be a beautiful evening. Unless, of course, you're like me and your other half isn't around for Valentines day, or you don't have one, then it's still a great price for dinner for two nights.

The most surprising thing I've learned in the last year is just how much food you can pick for free right here in the city. Foraging for wild food in the city or the countryside is increasingly becoming a very popular pastime. And we're coming up to the fruitiest time of the year to harvest food. In fact in the last two weeks I've discovered a bonanza of free, fresh, organic (possibly) food just waiting to be picked.

And what could be the best way to save money than doing a little of food foraging?

Obvious pickings

A chance visit to the Imperial War Museum last week introduced me to a fruit I have never tasted before. Mulberries! In the community garden located behind the tennis courts is a huge mulberry tree. These squishy berries taste as sweet as strawberries, and have the texture of soft raspberries. Too soft to be sold in supermarkets, you really do need to get them off the tree.

I was also the lucky recipient of the last of the vegetables maturing in the patch planted by the local school, which had broken up for the school holidays. Dinner that night included roasted courgette, and steamed swiss chard. All free, and picked fresh that afternoon. Just in case you think I'm nicking food, let me reassure that the Park Rangers were handing out the veges.

Then over the weekend I made two large apple pies, and I still have enough cooking apples left over for another. Or maybe a large apple crumble. The apples came gratis, picked off a large apple tree in the back garden of a friend's house. They've just moved in there, and the two apple trees are filled to the brim with green cooking apples ripening in the summer sun. Delicious.

Next weekend, I'm off with the same friends to go blackberry picking in our local park. It is full of quite accessible brambles and last year they got enough fruit to fill a cupboard full of jam jars. Later in September I'll be off to a little park area that fringes the local cemetary to pick a sweeter variety of apple. I know a lot of people can't handle the idea of eating food that has grown near a grave site, but honestly, these graves were filled decades ago. Or longer. The biggest apple trees are located in the old Victorian part of the cemetary.

Recognising food

There's lots of edible plants and herbs that are actually very tasty. But most of us have no idea that they can be eaten. Or we know that they can be eaten by their name, but have no idea what the actual plant looks like. Last year I found out what rosehips look like. And was really surprised as there's a wild hedge of this growing up against a wire fence alongisde a railway embankment. Rosehip contains more vitamin C than any other fruit, and the syrup makes a tasty topper for desserts like ice cream (so I've been told by a friend who made some last year).

There aren't many books devoted to British wild food. I borrowed this one off a friend's bookshelp, the Collins Gem: Food For Free, and it is still available on Amazon. Two other books recommended to me were Roger Philips' Wild Food and Richard Mabey's Food for Free.

You can download the Wild Food School's Urban Foraging Guide for free. This contains clear descriptions and photographs of the edible plants you will find in the wild in cities. I've identified quite a few plants from it in and around the woods, parks and commons near me, but so far I've not quite had the courage to pick and cook any. Partly because some have look-alike poisonous imitators, but mostly because well... it is the city! Stuff out on the ground in the open - well even with cooking how comfortable would you feel about eating it?

How safe is it?

Plants and trees in public places have one fairly signifcant drawback - they may have been sprayed. Signs to look for, according to the Wild Food School, are wilting and chemical residue on leaves. It also suggest that you "study the landscape for signs of contamination - factory fallout, water run off, effluent seepage etc. Avoid plants from busy roadsides, near landfill sites or foul water."

My worries about foraging for food in the city aren't shared by the experts. That is, they do recognise natural polutants as legitimate hazards, but reckon they're pretty much the same in the country side. The 'roadkill chef' Fergus Drennan says, in an article in the Guardian, that other than the plants being muddled up in the city, where you'd find them in specific areas in the country like marsh, seaside, meadow etc, there's really no difference when it comes to foraging for food.

"But in cities the hazards are the same" says Drennan, "misidentification; pollutants, whether they're natural, like dogs, cats, foxes or people peeing on plants, or pesticides and herbicides. And if your identification skills aren't up to scratch, there's all sorts of introduced species and ornamentals that could trip you up."

And Finally

Is it legal? What can you pick and what can't you? It is a bit of a vague area to be honest. The Wild School sums it up best, and this is a good rule of thumb to use.

• it is illegal to uproot ANY wild plant without permission
• it is illegal to disturb or collect plant material from any protected wild plant
• the law of trespass exists, so gain permission before entering someone's land
• a plant is the property of the landowner even if it is a week

So even if those juicy plums are so heavy the branches of the tree are almost to the ground over the fence, you still need to ask permission before picking them! Although technically... OK we didn't. They grow right down into a little playground near us, and are great for tarts. I won't tell if you don't.

Today's guest post comes to you from the pen of Nickie, owner of Typecast.

In five weeks time I will only ever be making a school packed lunch for the purpose of a day-trip away from school.  My youngest is off to high school and has expressed a preference for buying his lunch rather than taking a pre-prepared lunch from home (plus I think the biometric fingerprint scanning is the main reason for his decision – very Matrix-esque!).

Over the last * mumble * fourteen *cough * years of making packed lunches for my three children I have found out what works and what doesn’t, especially if you are making healthy packed lunches on a budget.  We all know that it is a bit of a strain getting children to eat healthily at the best of times, even more so when you’re not leaning over them, supervising every mouthful.

My first tip is let your child choose their own lunch bag as they are much more likely to want to carry it themselves and actually use it.  A few well-known supermarkets do a varied range of the more popular character-blazoned bags for a few pounds but make sure a flask/juice bottle is included or you buy one that fits into the bag.

Only you will know how much food your child is capable of eating in the middle of the day, but be aware that of the 40-minute lunch break, approximately only eight-and-three-quarter minutes is actually spent eating before they want to rush out into the playground to run off the pent-up energy that was stored in the classroom.  For this reason alone, I have always provided food that served as a finger buffet – easy for small fingers/hands to manage, quick to eat, easy to digest.

Firm favourites are wholemeal bread or pita wraps with various fillings: tuna, chicken or chopped ham with mayonnaise and sweetcorn – easy to make up and store in a bowl in the fridge for a couple of days, half a bagel with cream cheese and pineapple, mashed egg (although we all know this can get a little smelly), humus and cous-cous have all appeared in our lunch boxes.  I also invested in a few tiny Tupperware boxes from the local pound shop.  These are just big enough to hold a few slices of raw carrot, cucumber and mini tomatoes or some chucks of cheese.  I have also sometimes made up pasta the night before, left it to cool down and mixed with the sandwich filling for a little variety.

Treats (or desserts) can be a yoghurt (don’t forget to include a plastic spoon, then you are not too bothered if it gets thrown out with the rubbish – again, a great pound shop investment) or a small tub of raisins and grapes – I have also discovered that if you cut up fruit (bananas, apples) it tends to brown at the edges and will come home uneaten.  On occasion I have put a bag of crisps in but these usually come home unopened as they take too long to eat!  One massive hit was to conduct a mammoth baking session with the children at the weekend (fairy cakes, flapjacks) and include the fruits of their labour as a treat.

Finally, don’t over-face your child with too much food and expect them to eat it all.  They are always “STARVING” when they come home from school anyway and you can make sure they are topped up snacks and a larger meal in the late afternoon/evening at home.

Photo credits: Gooseherder, alex_smith1, Pink.

Today's post comes to you from guest author Michelle who writes Babydinesout, a blog about seeing friends, dining out and travelling.

I have a confession: when I was on maternity leave I needed to get out of the house.  A lot. Being at home all day with a baby is a challenge in lots of ways.  Finding baby-friendly places to hang out in proximity to, or with, other adults that are also purse-friendly was a challenge all of its own.

And if like me, you are desperately trying to hang on to the fantasy that you can do things just as you did before, the challenge is even bigger.  It can bring you down to earth with a baby-sized bump!

If you’re looking for somewhere to pass a little time over a coffee and perhaps an indulgent snack you could do worse than some of the chain coffee shops. True, the coffee is not cheap, but many branches have a comfortable spot where you can take your time over a drink, and (luxury of luxuries) even read the paper if your tot is napping.  And they often have decent baby changing facilities.  My local Starbucks were, and continue to be, a dream.  Many Pret A Manger cafés are actually great mid morning when the breakfast rush has passed and the lunch one has yet to start.

Before you start weaning, eating out with a baby is cheap.  Your only concerns are whether anyone will mind you breastfeeding and whether there will be anywhere you can change the baby.  Once I started weaning Jack I never went anywhere without a ready-made pot of mush.  I’ve recently discovered the ‘weanie’ which I wish I’d known about back then.  It is a genius portable masher so you can just mash a little of whatever you’re eating for your tot without any need to order something specifically for them.

Once they get a bit older you have a choice of some great child-friendly chains which do excellent value kid meals.  My favourites are Carluccio’s, Jamie’s Italian and Wagamama.  I have to admit to having an aversion to places which are only packed with mums and babies, preferring places with a more mixed set of diners.  They tend to have better food and service.

When you’re eating in places which don’t have a specific kids menu don’t be frightened of just asking for an extra side place and sharing some of your food with your tot, rather than ordering an entire plate of stuff you know they’ll simply chuck on the floor.

If you always have a container of whatever it is your tot prefers to drink (water, juice rather than the hard stuff, obviously), that will save you paying for anything more than your own.  Oh, and always, always have a bag full of snacks.  That way when they turn their noses up at the food you won’t need to order extra dishes just to ensure they’ve eaten something.

With the Summer now finally here, dining out cheaply with a tot is even easier.  Picnic in the park anyone....?

[Photo credits: TheGiantVermin, eyeliam, Tobyotter, juhansonin, kennymatic]

I'm ridiculously over-excited about this review. Apologies in advance for gushing.

All too rarely, an email pops into my inbox offering me something for nothing. This week, it was a discount code for a company I'd never heard of before called graze.com.

I LOVE the premise behind this clever little outfit. For just £2.99 a week you can get a nutritionally balanced box of healthy deliciousness delivered to your desk and personalised to your own fine tastes.

First, you choose the type of box (graze nibble or graze fruit, each with four punnets of healthy treats), which day of the week and how frequently you'd like it delivered. Next you browse the taste-tastic virtual aisles of the Graze online store to give them an idea of which natural foods you love and which you loathe. Then they'll hand-pick a box based on your preferences and deliver it to your door with free first class delivery. Genius!

The menu is a mouth-watering array of healthy, natural food; everything from fresh fruit, nuts and seeds to  dried fruits, natural treats and the best olives I’ve ever sampled. There's plenty on offer for the chocaholics among us, too. The 'eldorado' mix of cranberries, hazelnuts and dark chocolate-coated cocoa beans is  quite literally a little bit of a heaven in a box. And all items are free from artificial colourings, flavourings and preservatives .

I signed up for a free trial which involved my first box being free, and 50% off the second box. I vowed to cancel my account after that, since it doesn't really pay to write these reviews if you end up spending everything you earn on every product or service you write about.... but I'm hooked. My husband and I LOVE our little box of nutritional deliciousness too much to do without it now. We get ours delivered on a Wednesday night which is officially date night in our house, and in two short weeks it has become something of a wind-down ritual to uncork the wine and crack open the Graze box while we make dinner. I look forward to opening the Graze box with an almost irrational sense of excitement; not knowing what you're going to get to eat is bizarrely good fun, and we've discovered foods which we love but didn't know existed before. Green raisins, anyone? Or how about ones infused with pineapple juice? Awesome.

There’s no nasty upfront financial commitment or lifetime contract. You only pay per box and they only charge you on the day they send the box. You can cancel your weekly deliveries at any time and if you’re going out of town you can add a ‘delivery holiday’ for a week or two, or change your delivery day from one week to the next.

According to the Graze nutritional team, ‘grazing’ on natural foods throughout the day instead of fixed meal times provides slow release all-day energy, making it a great way to lose weight by controlling your blood sugar. All day grazing is also a good way of getting more balance and variety into your diet, helping you eat plenty of the stuff that’s good for you.

I don't know about all that but I do know that if you sign up and enter the code DNLHWLZ you'll get a free box too, and we'll donate £1 to the Rainforest Alliance in your honour! And of course no obligation to pay for any further boxes after that... although be warned, you might find yourself powerless to resist!

If you do sign up you can add other addresses to your account if you'd like to lavish a little graze love on a friend or colleague, and you can even buy gift vouchers for friends, who can choose when they get their boxes delivered without having to set up a weekly order. You can also order a one-off box if you feel like sending someone a quirky little thank you in the post.

This is an indulgent treat rather than a money-saving deal but I do think it represents brilliant value. The quality of the food is exceptional and £2.99 a week seems like money well spent in this case. The portions are small but perfectly formed - just enough for a day's grazing for one, or ideal as pre-dinner nibbles for two or even for sharing with friends. On that note I'm off for the ultimate Saturday morning indulgence; an episode of Grey's Anatomy with the remainder of my delicious graze box... I only hope someone saved me some of those chocolate-coated cocoa beans!

*Disclaimer* PlayPennies cannot be held responsible to the damage done to your waistline if you use this Natoora promotion code.

Click HERE to drool over to Natoora

Never heard of Natoora?  Well let me enlighten you!

Sometimes Tescos, Asda and even Waitrose just don't have those special 'scrummy  somethings' that you want for a special night in for one, two or maybe a dinner party.  Natoora do and BOY do they do it in style too!

I will try and sum them up and what they have to offer in less than 1000 words but there is SO much!  At their core is a passion for natural foods of exceptional quality and this belief:

"We believe that food is more than just fuel; it is something to be enjoyed, relished, celebrated, and most importantly, eaten!"

Even with so many things to choose from, the Natoora website is v e r y easy to navigate - everything is split into ever- more-specific sections: fruit, vegetables, butcher, fishmonger, cheesemonger, dairy, deli, bakery; the list just goes on and on!

Then on top of that there are the special offers, what's new, weekly picks, easy eating (like I need any more help with that!) and recipes sections.

I can't even begin to narrow down super-scrummy things to show you, click on the links above and even that will be enough to have you wanting to blow your weekly shopping budget with these guys!

OK, so expensive for weekly shopping (but admit it you would if you could - well I would!) but perfect for special occasions - there is a minimum spend of £40 and you need to spend over £50 for the £10 discount to kick in.

There are a whole range of delivery options available, orders over £80 qualify for free delivery and a buffet of different delivery charges for orders under that.

Go and have a look around and prepare to drool over some of the most wonderful foody-treats you'll have seen for a while.

Thanks (I think!) to Edi over at HUKD!