No More Stinky Smells

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When little J was born I was actually overwhelmed with what you can buy for babies these days. It was so long since we had big J that I actually forgot how much stuff a little one needs. On top of all the 'must haves' we did get a little carried away with buying stuff we didn't actually need.  Not once did it cross my mind to buy a nappy bin. I'm not sure why but I didn't actually think we would need one. Since having one for just a week I realised that a) We did need one and b) We should have got one from day one.

We were given the chance to review the Tomee Tippee Nappy Disposal System and like I said I had never thought we needed one so I wanted to give it a go. The nappy bin comes in two new colours, pink and blue and are exclusive to Mothercare. I chose blue for my monkey.

When it arrived it was smaller than I imagined and was a nice soft baby blue. It was already set up and ready to use in the box but I'm not sure whether all bins come like that. If not there was a step by step guide on how to get it ready and it does seem quite easy to fit the nappy bag refill. I will need to refer back to it when its time to refill the nappy sacks. So its not rocket science really what the nappy disposal system does, basically your little one does a stinky and you pop it in the bin. It is however quite clever so let me explain. You pop the nappy in the bin which is lined with a nappy sack.

Once the nappy is in the bin you need to twist the outside wheel which is grey with a little handle to grasp.

As you twist in a clockwise direction you will see the nappy sack start to close with the nappy inside.

Once you have have turned the wheel clockwise in a 360 degree turn the sack should be completely closed.

Then all you need to do is close the lid. This then pushes the nappy and sack down in the bin.

When you open the lid again a new fresh nappy sack is waiting for the next nappy.

I thought the nappy would just fall to the bottom of the bin but it doesn't it hangs onto the fresh nappy sack and so on. It reminds me of a string of sausages. 

The nappy bin came with a free refill which is just a cartridge which like I said earlier seems easy to fit.

So that's it. Very simple but very useful and easy to use. 

There is a  list of key features on the website HERE but a few points to mention are

The system holds 28 nappies at any one time (based on size 1). I can't imagine letting it fill up with that many nappies though.

The system comes with a nappy cassette pre loaded.

The Blue and Pink version are exclusive to Mothercare at the moment and are currently priced at £15.50 although it does say original RRP is £31 so if you are wanting to buy one I would suggest sooner rather than later as the price may go back up. This does include two refills.

For more information you can visit Tommee Tippee HERE

I am really pleased with the nappy disposal system. It has saved me going back and forth to the bin and there has been no nasty smells lingering since we have been using it so I would definitely give it a Mummy2Monkeys thumbs up.

*we were sent the nappy disposal system to review in return for a honest review. all the thoughts and opinions above are my own*

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#Win 27 Polaroid Style Images from Square Snaps (3 winners)

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When you are a blogger taking photos becomes a huge part of your life. I always have my camera ready to catch a special photo of my monkeys. I also like to choose my favourites and have them printed so I also have them at home to look at.   I have just been introduced to Square Snaps and I love it. They offer to print your photos either from your computer or instagram.   They have mini snaps, standard snaps, super snaps and polaroid snaps which I am lucky enough to give away in my competition.  

Three winners will each win 27 polaroid style images from Square Snaps.   Each photo is 3.5" x 4.2"   To enter all you need to do is LEAVE A BLOG COMMENT telling me which website is giving away this amazing prize?    Once you have left the comment, more options will be available for you to enter with.   GOOD LUCK   Square Snaps Competition     To view all the available prints available visit the website HERE     for more competitions visit Loquax   Terms and Conditions Competition closes on Tuesday 21 October 2014 at 11:59PM Entrants must have a valid UK address Bulk, third party or any other entries using automated software will be disqualified  All entrants and entries are checked and verified. All entrants must follow the mandatory step and answer the question as a blog comment. 3 lucky winners will be chosen at random by the Gleam application. Mummy2Monkeys will contact the lucky winners within 1 day of the competition closing The winners must respond within 28 days. If no response a new winner will be chosen. The prize is 27 Free Polaroid Style Images from Square Snaps.  There is no cash alternative. It will be the responsibility of the representative of the company representing the above to issue the prize.  The winner must consent to their name and details being passed on to the representative so their prize can be distributed. This promotion is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with, Facebook.

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September Degustabox

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This months Degustabox was a great mixture of items. There was a few brands I hadn't heard of before, Little Miracles and Righteous and there were some brands that have appeared in Degustabox before. There was option this month for non alcoholic or alcoholic products and we received both to try. As always I am usually last to have a look inside the box as big and little J normally dive right.  This month was no different and they both jumped on the Bahlsen Pick Up biscuits. Bahlsen Pick Up Biscuits  RRP £1.69 per pack of 5 These are delicious and we have tasted them before but not the Black N White flavour which is new. You have two biscuits on top of each other separated by a layer of thick chocolate. The Black N White was cocoa biscuits surrounding white chocolate. As expected these went down well but I prefer the milk chocolate version. Burts Lentil Waves RRP £2.07 Avaialble from Waitrose in three flavours, Sour Cream and Chive, thai Sweet Chilli and Lightly salted. We havent tried these yet but I cant wait. They sound and look delicious. Jordans Simply Granola RRP £2.69 My mum loves granola so I gave this to her to enjoy. She eats it on its own or with milk and she loves it. These crunchy oats have a hint of honey to add to the flavour. Crabbies Alcoholic Fruits  RRP £1.50 (normally sold in 4 packs for £5.99) We have actually tasted these before. Daddy enjoyed these throughout the summer as they are very light and refreshing and made with upto 10% natural fruit juice. Three flavours to choose from, black cherry, zesty lemon and raspberry and rhubarb which is Daddy's favourite. Carnation Cook With it. RRP £3.30 I don't cook with cream so I wasn't too excited about this but after reading that it actually has 68% less fat than single cream i may give it a go. Its made with fresh milk and might be good for my chicken korma. Crabbies Lemonade RRP £1.20 This was the non alcohol option and it went in seconds. Big J absolutely loved it. It had a hint of ginger and he is excited to try out other flavour Raspberry. Little Miracles RRP £1.59 Like I said earlier I've not heard of Little Miracles before. Its a blend of organic tea and fruit juice. Sweetened with Agave and less than 90 kcals. We've not tried it yet but will be happy to give it a go. Elizabeth Shaw Dark Chocolate Mint Thins RRP £2.50 We have received Elizabeth Shaw items before in Degustabox and we have also bought some ourselves. These are absolutely delicious. Righteous Dressings RRP £2.19 Made with 100% natural ingredients Righteous have created some lovely salad dressings. Mild English Blue cheese in cider is my favourite out of the three. Very tasty and perfect on my salad. The other flavours were lemon and mustard seed and raspberry and sweet basil. Both very tasty but I did have to pick a fave. As always you can click on each of the above to get more info and if you want to sign up to Degustabox you can by clicking HERE and as a special treat I have a £3 discount code for you to enter 4784591  

we were sent Degustabox to try in return for a honest review

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#Win Dr Oetker Baking Goodies #Competition

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I love spending time in the kitchen with my monkeys, baking cakes or trying out new recipes.   If you like to bake with your little one then I have a lovely competition for you.  

Enter below to win a selection of Dr Oetker Baking Goodies. All you need to do is ANSWER THE QUESTION by commenting on the blog below.

Q. What do you like to make or bake?

All entrants who leave a blog post will be entered into the draw. More ways to get extra entries will become available once a blog comment has been made.

GOOD LUCK

    Dr Oetker baking Goodies     for more competitions visit my competitions page HERE or Loquax  

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Back To School Meals with Birds Eye

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Last week we have been trying out some Back To Meals thanks to Birds Eye.   Birds Eye recently enlisted a panel of mini-chefs aged between 7-12 years to develop a range of delicious kids approved recipes and we gave a few a go.   We are not the greatest chefs and I often read recipes and think wow - that looks amazing but I know it wouldn't be if I gave it a go.  

These recipes looked good and easy to make and I know my monkeys would enjoy them because its what we eat.   First we created   WAFFLE NACHOS  

Pre heat the oven and cook Birds Eye mini potato waffles (4 per person) as per instructions on back of packaging   Heat baked beans as directed   Place shredded lettuce on a plate and top with waffle, beans and salsa   Sprinkle grated cheese on top   Place under the grill until cheese is nicely melted.   **********   Chicken Finger Pizza (we substituted fish fingers for chicken fingers)   

Cook Birds Eye Chicken fingers (2 per person), Birds Eye Fresh Supersweet sweetcorn and Birds Eye field fresh Garden Peas as per instructions on packaging.   Spread tomato sauce ( tinned chopped tomatoes or a tomato puree) over a naan bread and scatter peas and sweetcorn over the top.   Chop Chicken Fingers and place onto naan bread - scatter a little grated cheese to finish   Place in the oven for 12-15 minutes at 200 degrees.   **********   We haven't tried this one yet - but really looking forward to it.   Chicken Dipper Fajitas   Pre heat oven and cook Birds Eye Crispy Chicken Dippers ( 4 per person) as per instructions on packaging   Finely slice onions and peppers   Fry the onions and peppers with a dash of oil and a pinch of seasoning   Heat tortilla wraps as directed   Dollop tomato salsa onto your wraps, add the peppers, onions and dippers   Wrap up tight, cut in half and enjoy   **********  

We are big fans of Birds Eye anyway and we do buy lots of Birds Eye products but it was nice to use them as ingredients to create some teatime meals.    My favourite was the waffle nacho's they were so yummy. Daddy, big and little J enjoyed the chicken finger pizza. It was strange putting tomato puree on a naan bread but somehow it worked.   For more yummy recipe ideas visit Birds Eye Website HERE     *we were provided with birds eye vouchers to buy ingredients to create the birds eye recipes. recipes above belong to the mini chefs who created them - all photos above are our own* 

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Breakfast With belVita #MorningWin

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Daddy has never been a breakfast eater but since I found belVita breakfast biscuits he will always make sure he grabs a pack. He will either sit down with a cup of tea or eat them on the go. We all like them but me and big J will have variety during the week, cereal or toast but for Daddy if there is no belVita he has no breakfast.  

This week we were sent some belvita crunchy biscuits in three new flavours to try. Apricot, hazelnut and chocolate chip. Belvita crunchy are different to the biscuits we usually buy. They are thicker and there is only three biscuits per pack instead of the usually four.   

There are a few flavours Daddy already likes, cocoa, milk and cereal or honey and nut. I like the fruits of the forest or fruit and fibre. We tend to stock up when they are on offer in the supermarket.    So it was time to give them a try, Daddy tried Hazelnut, I tried Apricot and Big J tried the chocolate chip.   I have to say the flavours were very tasty and the thickness of the new biscuits made me feel fuller just after two biscuits. They are harder than the normal belVita but I usually dip then in my cup of tea anyway.   One of the reasons we like belvita so much is that they slowly release carbohydrates over 4 hours. I never want to have a mid morning snack after I have ate the biscuits. I am full till lunch.  

The new belVita crunchy also kept me full even though there are only three biscuits in the pack. If you see above the 3 biscuits are about the same in thickness as four of the regular belVita biscuits.   Like I said before we are a big fan of belvita and it was nice to try out new flavours. I would definitely add the crunchy versions to my shopping list but I would buy if on offer like I do now with the normal versions.   *This post is an entry for #MorningWin linky challenge sponsored by belVita Breakfast, Learn more at Belvita UK*   *we received the new flavours to try*

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#win a Loop Journal Download Code

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Every year for Christmas I always get a new diary and I always get excited and start filling it out but by the middle of January I get bored and give up.

I have recently started using Loop Journal and I love it. It's an online app that I have on my iPad and every day a question pops up that I answer. It's a quick way to complete a diary and you can look back at what you have wrote in previous months.

I have 5 codes to give away to 5 winners so you can download the app for FREE.

All you need to do is complete the entry form below. good Luck

Loop Journal

Competition closes on Monday 13th October 2014 at 12AM Entrants must have a valid UK address Bulk, third party or any other entries using automated software will be disqualified All entrants and entries are checked and verified. All entrants must follow the mandatory step and answer the question as a blog comment. 5 lucky winners will be chosen at random by the Gleam application. Mummy2Monkeys will contact the lucky winners within 1 day of the competition closing The winner must respond within 28 days. If no response a new winner will be chosen. The prize is a Code which is redeemable on the App Store against the purchase of Loop Journal There is no cash alternative. It will be the responsibility of the representative of the company representing the  above to issue the prize.  The winner must consent to their name and details being passed on to the representative so their prize can be distributed.

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Italian Meals from Aldi

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Today we went on a shopping spree in Aldi specifically looking for some ideas for Italian meals. As you may remember I have reviewed some of Aldi's tipples in the past (which you can read HERE) and I was pleasantly surprised at the quality for the price.   I was hoping I would be as happy with the Italian range as I was with their beers, wines and spirits.    I asked big J to choose some products from the range so we could make some nice meals for the upcoming week.  

Big J loves his pasta and will have it mixed with bolognese sauce, tuna or chicken and sweetcorn.  I usually make a big pan of pasta and he will eat it that night warm and then he will take it to school the next day in his packed lunch cold.    So the first two items he put it the trolley was pasta, Fusilli and Penne. He likes fusilli with tuna and penne with chicken and sweetcorn. I'm not too fussed which type of pasta goes with what really to me it all tastes the same.    Then we got some spaghetti and a bolognese sauce. I bought two jars of sauce because I don't like it when it's dry.    Big J noticed a reasonably sized margherita pizza in the chilled section and asked could we also get that with some garlic breads.    So we put them in the trolley and he then saw a large lasagne. As you may have read in previous blog posts I like to make a Quorn lasagne but as treat I said he could also add it to the trolley.   Just as we were leaving the chilled section he put in some fresh tortellini filled with tomato and basil.    So that was our shopping done for now until on the way towards the till big J noticed some Italian style grated cheese so that was added too. I was really happy with the variety available and it was really reasonably priced too.   So I was looking forward to making some yummy Italian themed dinners this week.    So far we have tried the pizza, garlic breads, Lasagne and the pasta. We have also used the grated cheese on top.   The pizza is delicious. There is a pizza restaurant in Disneyland Paris called The Outpost and if you have been and love the pizzas then you will love Aldi's. It tastes just the same but its not in the shape of Mickey Mouse. haha.   Overall I was really impressed with the quality for the price. Everything in the photo above was bought at the same time and came to just over £10.   To view each weeks special offers available at Aldi visit the website HERE  

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So Glad I Found Berry Clever

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Yesterday I was introduced to Berry Clever and I am so glad I was.  Berry Clever is a website which allows you to put tips on products for kids or pets. It's like a review site but the tips are only 150 characters so straight to the point.

When you have logged in it brings you to the home screen which highlights the most loved products. Here you can browse products that parents think are great.

If you want to search for something in a specific area you can use the tabs at the top of the screen

Move

Feed

Care

Sleep

Fun

Once you click on a tab it will highlight a drop down menu

When you find a product you get two options of want it or have it. When you click have it you get a further two options of love it or meh.

So the idea is simple you write a tip for other people to see. If you love a product and want to write a great tip you get the chance to on Berry Clever and also if you are not to impressed with a product give it a Meh and tell the readers why.

You can also create lists for viewers to read so for example Feeding Must Haves. It's very simple to add a product to your list. When you click the product just click add to list and done. There are a few products I use that are not listed which I would love to tell the world about and that's fine because they have an option to email them telling them about the product, and fingers crossed they will add it. It's simple and easy to use and is a must have website for parents to use.  You can visit Berry Clever by clicking HERE

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Naanster - Indian On The Go

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I am not a huge fan of microwave meals or snacks. I used to buy them but since being on maternity I have had the time to prepare and cook meals from scratch.  Now I'm back at work it really is more convenient sometimes to throw something in the microwave. If you have to make four dinners for four people all eating at different times due to after school clubs or work it can make it just that bit easier.   Sometimes big J doesn't feel like a big dinner and will just want a snack. This week he tried Naansters. Naansters come in a choice of four flavours chicken tikka,  vegetable tikka,  balti chicken beef madras.   Each naanster is a light fluffy naan bread with the choice of flavour inside, pilau rice and mango chutney. You pierce the packaging and pop it in the microwave as it comes for 90 seconds. I have to admit it did smell nice and big J was looking forward to giving it a go. He loves his food and is always happy to try foods he's not tasted before.

When it came out the microwave it was very very hot, it is recommended to leave for one minute but I left it for five. I also opened it up to take a peek inside. Big J tried the vegetable tikka and he did enjoy it. He said it was very tasty. I was impressed the naan bread didn't go hard in the microwave but I would have liked to see a bit more filling inside. I think there was one very small piece of broccoli and one very small piece of cauliflower. There was quite a lot of rice. I am hoping the meat versions will have more in than the vegetable one.  Each pack is 185g and the nutritional information below is per 100g 212kcals 4.2g fat 0.9 sat fat

I think they are great for a snack and big J is looking forward to trying the other flavours which we will do over the weeks.  You can visit the Naansters twitter page for more information or where to buy.

*we were sent a selection of Naansters to try in return for a honest review*

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