New York Soup Company. Review

Thanks to the New York Soup company, we have been sent some lovely new soups to review. I very often eat soup for my lunch as it is quick and easy and anything to save time when you have a toddler is helpful. I like to try different flavours and try new things. So when I got the chance to try some really lovely flavours I was really looking forward to it.

The flavours from the fully loaded range I have been sent are:

Tomato and Meatball
BBQ pulled Pork and Bean
Chunky lentil and bean
Nacho Chili Chicken

The ones that I have tried so far are Nacho chili chicken and Pulled Pork and bean soup. I have not yet had chance to try to other 2 flavours, but I will let you know within the next week about them.

The first one I tried was Nacho chili Chicken.  It was a really lovely tasting soup with a great bit of spice to it. The spice isn’t hot where it leaves your mouth burning, it is an after taste kick which is lovely. T’his soup is made with tomato, cooked chicken, tortilla chips and a dash of sour cream. I would really recommend this soup I really enjoyed it and loved the flavour. The soup is thick ish which is great as I hate really runny soup. It goes down nicely with some toast to dip in it. Yum!  I would give this soup 5 out of 5!

The second one I have tried was BBQ Pulled Pork and Bean.  Personally I didn’t like this one as much as the Nacho Chili Chicken but I did like it. For me the BBQ flavour came through to strong. That is my personal taste though. I am not a massive fan of anything BBQ flavour, whether that be crisps, soup or flame grilled burgers. The New York Soup company say… This flavour has been inspired by some of New York’s Finest BBQ joints. Within the soup there is… Pinto beans, red peppers, smoked bacon and pulled pork, this is all cooked in a very secret BBQ sauce recipe. I would give this soup on my personal taste 3.5 out of 5 but overall for the soup 5 out of 5.

Once I have tried the other 2 soups I will let you know. In the mean time, if you would like to try any of the New York soups
then just either order online at Tesco or go to your local Tesco and pick some up. They currently retail at £2.20 each and there is enough in one pot for 2 people. I think the price is very reasonable for amount of soup you get and the good quality tasting flavour you will get to experience.

Please take a look HERE at the New York Soup website. It is full of great information from where the inspiration came from for these soups to nutrition values of each soup.

 

Farmison & Co Butchers Review

Last week we were lucky enough to be sent some lovely fresh meat and cheese from Farmison & Co. We were sent One Corn fed whole chicken, 2 Rib eye steaks and 3 different cheeses. The chicken and steaks were labelled with, the farm they both came from, use by date and the meat IE Corn fed chicken and rib eye steak.

Chicken and steaks

Three different cheese

The arrived really well packed and ice-cold. They were in a cardboard box and inside was a polystyrene box with the meat and cheese in it. There were ice cubes in packets inside to keep the meat really cold. The cheese was wrapped in wool which was inside a plastic bag to keep it cool.

I was really impressed with how well packed all the meat was. I was little concerned due to the fact that the meat was being sent by courier Parcel Force. I wondered how cool it would keep, but the meat and cheese was really cold, in fact colder than being in my fridge I think.

Wool Cool

Ice Cubes

Chicken

We decided to have the chicken for our Roast last week. All I can say is wow. It was really yummy. I put butter and Rosemary on the chicken and cooked it to perfection. It was so tender and juicy and the taste was lovely.  I need to apologise to you though. I did have pictures of this beautifully cooked chicken, however the other half deleted them before I put them on my laptop. So unfortunately  I am unable to show you a picture.

The Steaks

The steaks were so big I originally thought we had been sent 4 steaks, but no I was wrong they were just 2 really big thick yummy steaks. Both steaks had a see through paper around them to keep them in shape until they were cooked.

Really thick steaks

I cooked the steaks medium/rare. They took about 8 minutes to cook as they were so thick and they turned out perfect. I have to say it is prob one of the best steaks I have ever tried. That includes home cooked and restaurant cooked. The meat is such great quality, which is why it tastes so good. The steaks literally melted in our mouths. Both my partner and I love steak but we rarely have it.

Our overall opinion of Farmison & Co is… The meat is of really high quality and is really lovely. You do get what you pay for and I would highly recommend Farmison & Co. There are all sorts of meat you can buy from the website. There is a massive selection of Chicken, beef, lamb, pork, veal, game, bacon, sausages, burgers and ham joints. They also do a big selection of fresh fruit and vegetables and cheeses. We think for the quality of the meat the prices are really reasonable. I would highly recommend you try something from the website. Take a look HERE.

Monday 11th February 2013. Meal Planning Monday

We haven been planning our meals for some time now. It saves us a lot of money and time. Here is this weeks meals.

If any one is ever interested in how I make anything, or if you would like to try something I’ve made. Please get in contact and I can let you know how I make it and give you the recipe.

Monday
Chicken Madras Pie with homemade wedges

Tuesday
Sausage casserole

Wednesday
Healthy stir fry

Thursday
Homemade pizza , we make the base in our bread maker (it’s the best) 🙂

Friday
Chilli Con Carne

Saturday
Homemade Lasagne

Sunday
Beef with roast potatoes, roast parsnips, carrots, brocoli, leeks and green beans. Oh and lets not forget the Gravy and white sauce for the leeks.

Wednesday 6th February 2013. WoodGreen Animal Shelter.

As some of you may know, every Wednesday little man and myself attend Mini Movers. It is a playgroup in our area and its the best one I have ever been to. It’s not clicky like most playgroups I have been to. Every week there is a different craft to do such as , painting, play doh, making and sticking, drawing or colouring. Little man really loves going and better still its only 50p.

This week Wood Green animal shelter came in and bought in some little mice. The lady did a really good presentation, even though she had to battle through screaming, crying and rude mums who were chatting. She bought some teddy animals in, to show all the animals that they have at Wood Green. My little man was so pleased when the lady asked him to hold the chicken. He thought it was great, and had a massive smile on his face. At the end the lady had some real mice, she let the children touch them and give them a stroke.

I would like to thank Wood Green for the lady coming in (I don’t know her name) she did a great job. Even though I assume she’s probably needed a lie down when she got back.

Little man with the fluffy Chicken