Doves Farm {Review}

Hello! Good day? I went to the gym and swimming while Toby was in creche again this morning - it feels so luxurious to be able to exercise during the day!! We nearly didn't go as there was really bad fog and my Mum/sister were a bit worried about me driving over, but I took it slowly and it was fine. Good experience, and having my sister in the passenger seat was, yet again, a calming influence (even if she wasn't actually that calm herself, haha!) Toby did really well again at the creche - obviously this time he did realise I was going to leave, but he said goodbye happily, no tears, and carried on playing. I wish I'd known about this creche before! Great experience for him, and great for me to have a couple of hours to exercise before evening tiredness hits!

When I got home I had a bagel for lunch, this time with blue cheese and grapes:

Not quite as amazing as last week's mashed avocado bagel, but still really tasty. Bagels are a good option for days like this. I have breakfast then do the school run, drive half an hour, about 45 minutes in the gym (although only 20 minutes cardio and the rest weights), 40 minutes swimming and another half an hour drive home...so by the time it is time for lunch I am starving and need something quick and easy! Bagels do the job perfectly!! :)

Liam is doing lots of overtime this week so we ate dinner before he got home tonight. I didn't feel like cooking and the children were more than happy when I suggested porridge. Toby hardly ever eats much dinner in the evenings but he gobbled this up! Mashed banana porridge with cocoa-peanut flour sauce (they had blueberries, chocolate chips and golden syrup as their toppings instead - Izzy's choice!!)...

I made rather a lot of sauce...not that I'm complaining!! I normally use 15g of peanut flour to make dipping sauces, but this was 10g of cocoa and 20g peanut flour (plus milk and a little agave). I didn't use as much agave as I normally would, just enough to bring the chocolate out, so it was like a really dark chocolate peanut butter sauce, mmm!

Anyway, on to the title of this post. A little while ago I was contacted by Doves Farm to see if I would like to review some of their newly repackaged cereal bars and flapjacks, all of which are organic and fairtrade. I love cereal bars for carrying around in my bag for when hunger strikes (either mine or the children's!) so I was happy to say yes! Thanks you so much for your generosity Doves Farm...I was very happy when this box was delivered!! :-D

There are three types of cereal bars in the range - banana mango & brazil, sultana apricot & apple, and crispy chocolate & rice:

The first cereal bar that I tried was the banana, mango & brazil:

I always find banana flavoured things to be a bit hit and miss - sometimes they can taste quite artificial, however this one was pretty good. It had pieces of mango, pineapple and brazil nut running through it, and whilst I might have liked the chunks to be a bit bigger, the size of them did mean that they were consistent throughout the bar without it falling apart. The bar itself had a great consistency - chewy whilst still having some bite to it. I enjoyed this bar and would happily eat it again, although as you will see further on in the review it wasn't my favourite - better are still to come! :)

The next bar I tried was sultana, apricot & apple:

I wasn't a fan of this bar to be honest. I like my cereal bars chewy, whereas this one has a really crispy texture. After taking my first bite, I checked the ingredients list and wasn't surprised to find cornflakes as the third ingredient. It doesn't taste bad, but it just isn't for me. A shame, it was the only bar I didn't like, but then I suppose they can't please all of the people all of the time! ;-)

The final cereal bar that I tried was the crispy chocolate & rice:

Chocolate flavoured things aren't normally my first choice when it comes to snack bars, so I was very surprised to find that I loved this! I love the appearance - the two different layers (one cocoa rice, one just sweet crispy rice) and the mini chocolate chips on top make this look really fun. I'd originally planned to share this bar with Toby, but after taking a bite I gave this one to Toby...

...and got a new one for myself! Yum. I can't believe the chocolate flavour is my favourite, but it's so good!! It is sweet enough for me, but not too sweet (Liam would've liked a bit more sugar) - you can really taste the cocoa in the bottom layer. Delicious. I've only got one bar left in this box and will be definitely be buying some more once it has gone!

Doves Farm also sent me a couple of boxes of flapjacks - plain butter flapjacks and apple & sultana ones:

These are really tasty, and great for lunchboxes too! The first time I tried the apple & sultana ones I cut it in half and put some in Izzy's lunchbox:

I really like these - in fact I'm eating one now as I type this - they are definitely taste more sugary than the cereal bars although actually I just checked and these have 12.3g of sugars per bar, compared to 16.9g per sultana, apricot and apple cereal bars. Another reason to love the flapjacks - they taste even more "treat-like" than they actually are! The flapjacks don't have a hugely strong apple flavour, but there are small chunks of cooked apple dotted through them alongside the sultanas. I love the texture of these flapjacks. Perhaps not as chewy as homemade ones, but lovely and soft.

There are also plain butter flapjacks for those of us (*ahem* Liam!) who don't like dried fruit in baked goods:

As the name would suggest, these flapjacks use butter whereas the apple & sultana ones use (sustainably grown) palm oil. I really enjoyed these flapjacks too, again they have a lovely texture and a luxurious taste. They are perfect for Liam to take to work too - I won't let him take anymore of the chocolate cereal bars as I love them so much (!) but whilst I like these, I prefer the apple & sultana flapjacks so Liam might be able to sneak a couple of them out of the box!!

I was really impressed with (most) of these bars. The calories range from 142-196 calories per bar, which, for me, makes them ideal for a mid-morning snack with a latte, or just to have in my bag for if I get hungry while I'm out. The only one I wouldn't buy again are the sultana, apricot & apple cereal bars, but if you prefer crunchy cereal bars then you may well like these as well - it was only the texture I objected to. Thanks again to Doves Farm for giving me the opportunity to try these - I will definitely be picking up some again when I go shopping! :)

Have you tried any of Doves Farm's cereal bars or flapjacks before? Or any of their other products? I guess a lot of us will have used their xanthan gum (great for thick smoothies!) and I have also enjoyed their gluten free pasta before. This was my first time trying their snack bars though and I was really impressed. I often regret eating pre-packaged bars - wishing I'd taken the time to make my own snack - but these bars tasted really fresh so definitely make a great portable/quick alternative to home baking.

Re-vamped apricot & almond flapjacks, take 2

I started off today with a great gym workout. There were only 2 other people max in there at any time, woohoo. I did 45 minutes cardio (rowing, cross trainer, wave) and then some free weights arm exercises using 4kg weights (I usually use 2.5kg so this is good for me!) and some leg weight machines.

By the time I walked home, showered etc it was almost 11am, so I kept breakfast light. I picked up some kiwis on offer in Lidl the other day - they don't have a furry skin and they have golden flesh...

they look so vibrant! I will enjoy one whole soon, but these were chucked in the blender with half a banana and an apple...

plus a little leftover kale, some milk and a pinch of xanthan gum...

whilst this was blending, my daughter asked what colour it would be. She thought green, I thought yellow, we were both kinda wrong. This was a creamy colour with flecks, not really thick enough - very foamy!

despite the fact that the bowl was pretty full, I topped it with a packet of Bear tropical granola...

Those arms you can see in the background? That's my daughter, waiting not so patiently for me to finish. She likes me to save her the last few spoonfuls, making sure there's still some "crunchy" bits left...what can I say, the girl's got good taste! She's also never not hungry - she'd already had a me-sized bowl of banana porridge topped with almonds & golden syrup while I was at the gym, and she was already by this time asking what was for lunch & dinner. Ooops, not such a good habit of mine to pick up!

Lunch time soon came around though. I try to cook a slightly bigger lunch on Fridays as Liam has work in the afternoon/evening. Today I made a frittata using 6 eggs mixed with frozen broad beans and sweetcorn...

topped with baby spinach and goat's cheese (I'm loving this combo!)...

before grilling to finish it off...

Served with a blob of ketchup (and bread rolls for the others)...not the prettiest meal but delicious nonetheless...

I love having a warm lunch, so much more filling and interesting than a sandwich! (although some sandwiches can be delicious too of course!)

This afternoon I did some baking. First off, flapjacks. After making my Mum some healthier apricot & almond flapjacks a couple of weeks ago, she asked me to make her another batch with a few adjustments. This time I did x1.5 of the recipe to fill the pan, added some sultanas and substituted the molasses with honey, using slightly more honey and slightly less apricot fruit spread than the original version.

These turned out really good so I'll write down the recipe for me to follow again!

Apricot and Almond Flapjacks
(makes 12)

• 225g butter
• 120g apricot fruit spread
• 90g honey
• 275g porridge oats
• 100g apricots, chopped
• 30g sultanas
• 45g almonds, chopped

 Same method as before. For a more detailed step-by-step method see the original recipe post, but briefly - melt the butter, apricot spread and honey in the microwave/in a pan. Then stir in all the other ingredients, this time I had the help of a toddler to stir the mix...

this is what they looked like before going into the oven at 175C...

and 25 minutes later...

Mum let us keep one to try...

before taking the rest home with her...

Verdict: nicer than the molasses version (which had a slight tang/aftertaste) but still soft & crumbly rather than the soft & sticky I was after. Mum loved them though, she likes the subtle sweetness so I think a sticky version would probably be too sweet for her. Next time I think I'd add slightly more sultanas too.

Whilst the flapjacks were baking, I got the blender out again to whizz up some of Katie's cocoa fudge babies. I made about half the amount of her original recipe, and used cashews instead of walnuts as that's what I had in - these were not planned at all, I read a reference to them earlier which jogged my memory that I wanted to give them a try!

I'm so glad I made these!

A little sticky to roll out but absolutely delicious! The only downside is that they're too easy to eat! I've eaten 6 today already! My Mum had one (and added them to the list of things she wants me to make her!), daughter had one and I've put the remaining 4 in the freezer to hopefully keep them safe from me until tomorrow at least! So chocolatey, these reminded me almost exactly of the chewy chocolate oat cookies I've been making recently, although a lot healthier without all the added white sugar obviously!

Luckily I managed to stop myself eating any more babies before I completely ruined my appetite for dinner! Simple roast butternut squash and red pepper...

topped with a big blob of sweet potato houmous...

Yum. I love roasted butternut squash, so glad I rediscovered it! & the sweet potato houmous is still lovely, almost all gone now, time to get thinking of other variations!

Healthy(ish) Friday vs Sugary Saturday

I had been planning to do this as a comparison style post for each meal, but realised that would limit my inane chatter...can't have that! Let's just say the last 2 days have been very different to each other. And as I'm currently sitting here feeling very bloated and yucky, I think it's safe to say my body prefers me to eat more healthily!

Yesterday's breakfast was a gorgeous bowl of porridge. I kept the porridge simple - just oats, milk and vanilla extract - then topped it with (ugly but yummy) grilled banana, flaked coconut and Meridian peanut butter...

I got this idea when searching blogs a while back for porridge combinations, from Clean Eating Chelsey, looking at it again just now to find the link...a) her's looks way better than mine and b) it was a pumpkin porridge version...I'd only remembered the topping. Healthy, filling and delicious nonetheless...this kept me going until lunch...

...which was an amazing salad...most of a bag of Co-Op's Beetroot Salad - shredded beetroot, red chard, spinach and apollo leaves - topped with a huge chopped avocado and prawns mixed with mayonnaise...

this was so pretty! And tasted divine! I love the combination of creamy avocado and prawn mayonnaise anyway, but the addition of interest salad just made it even more special! :) I discovered after eating (doh!) that it was 600 calories due to the size of the avocado - it was filling but not that filling! It was still pretty healthy though so all good :)

Unfortunately when Liam went to work, my afternoon descended into a sugar spiral...

the chocolate was lovely, the flapjacks unnecessary...especially as I ate all 4 in about 15 minutes (doing the trick of leaving the box on the table each time so I had to get up to get another one, else it would've been quicker!) oops! I'm calling it research though - my Mum bought these for me and asked me to make her a healthier version...so I get to eat the flapjacks laden with condensed milk, demerara sugar, honey and  golden syrup...before making a healthier version not for me...thanks Mum!! :-p

Last night I had planned to make Laura's Socca for dinner, but after all that sugar I wasn't particularly hungry and didn't have the energy to cook dinner and do baking for Mum...so baking won. I did lots of picking on leftover vegan fudge etc though so didn't go hungry!

So, baking...

Re-vamped apricot and almond flapjacks

150g butter
100g apricot fruit spread/jam (I used Meridian's which is sweetened with fruit juice rather than sugar)
40g black strap molasses (although this gave a bit of a funny taste so will try something different next time...is Sweet Freedom ok in baking?)
250g porridge oats
75g apricots, chopped (I used Organic ones my Mum had "donated" for her baking, so lovely natural colour)
30g almonds, chopped

First, get the butter, fruit spread and molasses...

and melt in the microwave until smooth (you could do on the hob, but pans are harder to wash up and we have no dishwasher!)

while this is melting, chop up apricots and almonds...

add oats, fruit and nut into melted butter/jam/molasses mix and mix it all together...

into a greased cake pan (mine always seems to be too big!)...

and into the oven at 175C for about 25 minutes until it comes out looking like this...

score into pieces (mine made 8 flapjacks for Mum, plus a rough edge for me!) and leave to cool before storing in cake tin...

I'm really pleased with how these turned out. I don't normally make flapjacks at all, let alone experimental ones! Mum informs me that these were really yummy, not particularly sweet which she liked as she's not a sweet fan. She'd like me to keep experimenting until I perfect them though (!) suggesting that next time I try adding some honey to make a stickier consistency!! Lol. It's very frustrating baking and not getting to eat it, but I suppose it is good for my waistline, and she does pay for the ingredients so I can't complain!

Whilst I was making flapjacks, the blender was also whizzing...

making another batch of Katie's sugar free chocolate fudge...

multi-tasking at it's best! This was for Mum again, next time she'd like me to add raisins please!! I don't mind really, her and her partner are both running in the London Marathon this year so are wanting healthy snacks to go alongside their training. I like experimenting and as I'm the only one in my family who would eat these creations, its a good thing they head my Mum's way instead - unlike them I'm not running miles and miles each week to earn the calories to snack all the time!! :)

After all that baking, I was exhausted though so off to bed I went, ready for a "family day" today. It was my first Saturday since I left work - so the first day all 4 of us could spend together since New Year's Day (when the shop was shut), my daughter was so excited to do lots of things together!! And on that note...

...on to Sugary Saturday...

Unlike yesterday's healthy bowl of porridge, today's breakfast was my daughter's choice - pancakes! I only had one as we didn't eat until 9.30am and I was going out for coffee at 10am (more on that in a minute). I had my pancake with lemon juice and sugar...

Yum. I remember as a child my Mum hardly ever used to make pancakes. But on pancake day she would make them before school and after. I used to scoff between 5-8 pancakes (depending on how much batter she made!) and still be ready for more when I got home later! I think my daughter is taking after me - she had 2 pancakes this morning and was very disappointed to learn there were no more left! (she's only 4 so is a slow eater - Liam had scoffed the rest by the time she'd finished her 2nd!!)

This morning, as mentioned above, I went out for coffee and cake. With my Grandma and my little sister. I had a latte and some kind of chocolate-raspberry cake...

this cake was amazing, so rich and chocolatey...

Delish!

After coffee we hit the food shops - Waitrose and Lidl. I bought lots, more than my Grandma and my sister (doing shopping for my Mum) combined! Some of the things I bought...

reduced Bear Granola Nibbles, Sweet Freedom, Vanilla Chai Latte, Agave Nectar, Xanthan Gum, plus some over-packaged veggies...

satsumas, raspberries, mushrooms, peppers and broccoli...as well as the usual milk, cream, kitchen roll, potatoes, bread etc. I seem to have been buying loads of food recently...and this month is the first month in a while that we've gone back to writing down everything we spend...not looking forward to finding out the end of month total!!

This afternoon the 4 of us went swimming, something we haven't managed to do in quite a while. We all had a great time - the baby managed to last about 25 minutes before shivering so much that Liam took him out, and our daughter was even more excited than usual as she was bought her first ever pair of goggles (pink and purple of course!!) so spent lots of time underwater until she began to feel a bit ill!!

After stopping off at Mum's to sample the flapjack (verdict - yummy, but not sweet enough for me) it was time to go home and get on with some more cooking & baking - sugary baking this time! To round of "family day" we had a special dinner planned (including the rarity of pudding other than fruit or yoghurt!) - roast gammon...

and dauphinoise potatoes...

served with broccoli...

followed by a chocolate chip version (Liam doesn't like fruit in puddings) of bread and butter pudding...

mmm stodgy goodness...

Yum!

We've all had a really good day. I'm definitely looking forward to getting back to healthy eating tomorrow though!

And with that I'm going to finish my post abruptly. I'm finally feeling less bloated, 3 hours after stopping eating! But I've just noticed that my laptop's battery power has been slowly decreasing - it says "18% available (plugged in, not charging)" Any ideas?? I've had it before when a power cable/box has died, that the laptop doesn't recognise that it's plugged in at all. But I find it slightly worrying that it recognises that it's plugged in to the power, but isn't doing anything about it?!! Off to back-up all my photos in a panic!!!