I have been trying some really interesting products recently; it always makes for a brighter day when your lunch includes something new and different. Always welcome in my kitchen is something delicious and easy to make a tasty dinner in a flash. This month I’ve been trying out a new range of curry sauces, puffed chickpeas and chocolate chock full of good stuff; some new store cupboard ideas.

I tried out two of the Funky Elephant products; the Karahi Curry Sauce and the Spiced Tikka Marinade Paste. I have to confess that I had to decant the paste into another container as I knocked it off the kitchen worktop by accident and broke the tub! But the packaging on the paste was as lovely as the one for the sauce. The Karahi curry sauce was really easy to cook with; fry some veg, add a bit of chicken, pour in the sauce, simmer and voila. It had a lovely fresh flavour and wasn’t too salty. The paste I have used as a marinade twice; once I mixed it with yoghurt and the other time with oil and both worked well. It’s got a chunkier texture than other pastes, it’s not completely smooth and I like that and is so full of flavour. The other good thing about this paste is that you’ve got six weeks to use it once it’s opened! Funky Elephant sauces are available from independent retailers. read more

This year’s Christmas food and gift guide is full of different products to try! A little collection of tasty treats and foodie gifts to give you a few ideas. If I find anything else I think is worth popping on I’ll be adding to this list over the next few weeks. I’ve got wreaths, crisps, chocolates, prepared veg, dessert tea and a hamper to get you started.

Herb wreath from Rocket Gardens

I love this, I think it’s such a lovely idea and something different to hang on your front door. Made from bay leaves, rosemary and chillies and made in Devon you can actually use the herbs over the coming weeks in all sorts of recipes. RRP £29.99 deliveries available from w/c 12th December. read more

You might have noticed that autumn has arrived. We’re still lucky to be enjoying sunny days and there are still green leaves on the trees but as things get cosier, the food I eat changes. Here a some of the things I’ve been trying which I think make the move into autumn tastier: my new products for autumn.

I’ve had a few things with matcha tea, mostly desserts, but I hadn’t had the actual tea itself many times. I took on the TeaPigs Matcha Tea Challenge to have a cup every day for a month. I have to admit that I didn’t manage every day but I certainly did most. I like how fresh the tea tastes and it’s so green that you feel healthy just sipping it. I also like that a waft of green smoke seems to rise from the pot each time it’s opened. I enjoyed the tea prepared in hot water and also tried a sprinkling on my porridge and yoghurt with some dried fruit. For a small pot it lasts an awfully long time. read more

If you’ve been reading my blog for a little while you’ll know I’m a fan of recipe boxes. To come home and find everything you need ready to cook a meal, all pre-weighed and everything, is music to my ears for a busy week. It’s meal planning but the hard work has been done for you. Riverford have started to do some of their recipe boxes with guest chefs and this month it’s Sarah Raven. When they asked me if I would like to try one out I was looking forward to its arrival, the recipes sounded delicious. read more

It’s a funny time of year at the moment. I’m not sure whether to make myself a cold drink and sit outside or have a nice cup of tea and snuggle down on the sofa. Luckily enough with the bits and bobs I’ve been trying for this month’s ‘New in the Kitchen’ I have had all sorts of things to try no matter what the weather!

First up I tried a selection of Dutch treats and sweets from Hema. The bag of multicoloured sweets are called Old Dutch and were made up of hard and soft sweets in all sorts of flavours; notably cinnamon, raspberry and cream. They were quite intense to start with and then mellowed; I wasn’t that keen on the cinnamon (but that’s a personal cinnamon thing) but I enjoyed the others. There were also stroopwafels, which I really like, and these had a bit more spice in than some others I’ve had before; great with a cup of coffee. The last thing was a little tub of liquorice; full of tiny squares of deepest liquorice this is not for the faint hearted! It’s really intense, even just one square, but if you like your liquorice strong this is the one for you. read more

I know it’s technically May but the end of April crept up on me somewhat and before I knew it I’d run out of time to post this in April. It’s been a busy month again this month and new in the kitchen were some gluten free products, soft drinks and Belgian waffles. This month has been a bit less about me experimenting with new products but rather enjoying some that are ready to go.

First up I tried a couple of gluten free products from B Free. I made some bean and veggie wraps with their fajita kit. The kit contained wraps, spice mix and salsa and had a really good smoky flavour, I honestly wouldn’t have known the wraps were any different to standard ones. I also tried some of their other seeded wraps and pitta bread. The pitta bread warmed and dunked in hummus was good, if ever so slightly sweeter than other pitta breads and the seeded wraps made a nice change for my lunch filled with chicken and salad. A friend of mine has recently been diagnosed as a coeliac so I gave her a couple of the wraps to try for herself, after a couple of disappointing products she had tried from other brands, and she really liked them. read more

So you’re thinking of trying out a recipe box. There are a few different ones to choose from and if you’re wondering where to start, who to choose and whether it’s worth it, do read on. I have tried six of the recipe boxes available and every one of them was tasty, delivered nicely and I cooked something I hadn’t tried before. This recipe box comparison will look at all sorts of things: price, flexibility, ease of recipe, quality and more based on the meals and experience that I had at the time but I have included the prices as of today. read more