Sunday 10 December 2017

Gifts for Pokémon Loving Children This Christmas *Gift Guide*

Pokémon gift guide 2017

Our 4.5 year old son Bert has just discovered Pokémon - since starting full time school in September his taste in tv, films and toys has really matured. He's gone from still loving Peppa Pig and Bing Bunny to watching Horrid Henry and Pokémon in what seems like a matter of weeks. Where has my little boy gone? 

This Christmas, we were kindly sent a selection on the brand new to the market Pokémon merchandise for Bert - I'm so excited to see his face on Christmas morning when he opens all of this... 

Pokemon gift guide age 4-6
Pokemon Gift Guide for little ones this xmas.

I'm not usually a massive fan of heavily branded merchandise, especially for children, tending to prefer simple block colours, stripes (of course!) and more subtle designs. But I have to admit that I've been pleasantly surprised with the pyjamas and beanie hat that arrived from the new Pokémon ranges - the pyjamas, available from Next from £14 are lovely quality and beautifully designed. Bert will look super cute in them! We've also bought him his own dressing gown and slippers this Christmas, so it will be super cute to see him all wrapped up and snuggly!

The beanie hat is again, staggering quality and I am just totally in love with the beautiful shade of blue - the pictures don't even do it justice, it is so pretty. I love that the emblem is small, and the knit is so lovely and chunky, making it the perfect hat for winter (I'm in a house surrounded by 5" of snow as I write this!!). 

Pokemon gift guide age 4-6
Pokemon Battle Action Figures Pichu vs Komala

As well as the pyjamas and hat, Bert was also sent some lovely Pokémon toys from TOMY including a Popplio plush toy (SRP £9.99) and a lovely set of Pokémon Battle Action Figures (Pichu vs Komala) SRP £5.99 - these 3" figures with four points of articulation make it easy to create action poses that capture the emotion of battle. Perfect for our little 4 year old who adores imaginative play with little figures - these will be his favourite of all the items, I'm sure of it. 

Pokemon gift guide age 4-6
Pokémon Popplio Plush Toy from TOMY

Pokemon gift guide age 4-6
Pokémon Beanie Hat

Finally, we were sent a brilliant Pokémon Trading Card Game - these theme decks are 60-card pre-constructed decks and are designed to introduce players to the Pokémon Trading Card Game by enabling them to play right away. We think the cards are slightly above Bert's level at the moment (he's only 4 years old and only just beginning to read) plus they have a recommended age of 6+. So instead we will be gifting these to Bert's little cousin who is a year older than him is also into Pokémon (name a 4-10 year old who isn't??) this will be a little extra gift for him from us this Christmas. 

Pokemon gift guide age 4-6
Pokémon Trading Game

Pokemon gift guide age 4-6
Pokémon Loot!!!

Do you know a Pokémon mad little one who would love to find these under the tree this Christmas? 

I cannot wait to see Bert's little face when he opens this lovely lot on Christmas morning, he's going to be a happy boy, that's for sure. 

I hope you're not all too stressed in the run up to Christmas. I'm trying to be super organised this year - all my gifts have been bought (we buy for 49 people at Christmas!!), I've written 80+ Christmas cards with just a few more left to write and send, and now I need to begin the mammoth wrap-a-thon!  

Mrs B

xxx


Pokémon gift guide 2017
We were sent this selection of Pokémon merchandise in return for this post. All opinions are my own. 
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Monday 4 December 2017

What was in our November Degustabox?


It's time to share the contents of our November Degustabox with you! Another cracking box - full of new to the market items for us to try out. 

There was definitely quite a treat vibe to this box - which is great in the run up to Christmas - it's the right time of year for tasty treats after all. 
Degustabox November 2017 box
Kallo Organic Stock Pot - Beef £1.80

Introducing the NEW Kallo Organic Stock Pots. Made with organic, natural and high-quality ingredients, the flavoursome stock pots enhance the taste of your favourite recipes; soups, stews and traditional pasta dishes. Available in three flavours - chicken, beef and vegetable, just stir into your cooking to unleash your flavour pot-ential.

The English Provender Co.'s Caramelised Red Onion Chutney £1.99

The English Provender Co.'s Caramelised Red Onion Chutney is the perfect accompaniment to your festive cheese board and ideal to add flavour to sandwiches. The brand's signature chutney uses sweet red onions to create a delightfully sticky savoury chutney which will brighten up any dish. 

Taylors of Harrogate - Cacao Superior Columbia Coffee £4.49

Taylors of Harrogate is an independent family tea and coffee company from Harrogate. Our single-origin coffee explores extraordinary flavour from the world's great growing regions - carefully roasted to bring out the flavour profiles unique to each country. You can find the range at Morrisons, Sainsburys, Waitrose, Ocado and Amazon. 

ALŌ Aloe Vera Drink £1.99

Alō is the only quality-proven brand of Aloe vera drinks in the UK drinks market today. We take pride in and are confident of our premium quality, taste and experience.  This Aloe vera drink works brilliantly alongside Asian dishes. 

Planters Fruity Chocolate Crunch £2.00

Planters are making this festive season even more exciting with the introduction of two deliciously indulgent nut mixes. Planters Fruity Chocolate Crunch is made with crunchy peanuts, juicy cranberries and deliciously creamy milk chocolate buttons, guaranteed to get those taste buds tingling. 

The Jelly Bean Factory Super Sours £1.79

The Jelly Bean Factory Super Sours Jelly Beans come in 9 fantastic flavours to tickle your taste buds! Each Super Sour Gourmet Jelly Bean is made using natural flavours and colours. They're also gelatine free, gluten free and nut free as well as being suitable for Coeliacs and Vegetarians. 

Ryvita Multigrain Rye Cakes £1.39

Made with popped wholegrain rye, Ryvita Multigrain Rye Cakes are naturally high in fibre and low in fat, making them a delicious and wholesome snack. Get creative with your favourite toppings or enjoy them on their own. The choice is yours! 

PROPERCORN Perfectly Sweet Popcorn £0.89

Hand-popped corn, sprinkled with unrefined, Fair-trade sugar for a perfectly sweet, caramelised flavour. PROPERCORN pride themselves on making sure their popcorn is delicious and guilt-free. With a dedication to detail, they try to make everything the best it can possibly be. 

Dalston's Fizzy Apple £1.89 

Our fizzy apple sodas are packed with Jonagold, Idared and Bramley apples from farms in Kent. We work with the Nightingales farm - Gibbet oak - to make this soda. The Nightingales have been growing apples for...a long time. And they're pretty good at it!

Weetabix Additions Apple & Raisin £2.99

Our new Weetabix Additions range is high in taste: 100% whole grain with a burst of delicious fruit. Delight your senses with a nutritious breakfast that's packed full of flavour with delicious apple, juicy raisins and warming cinnamon promising temptingly tasty goodness in every bite. Have you had your Weetabix? 

Cadbury Picnic Bites £1.99

Nobbly nibbles of crispy wafer, chewy caramel, crunchy peanut and juicy raisins, all wrapped in Cadbury milk chocolate. Shake it up with new Cadbury Picnic Bites!

Filippo Berio Classic Pesto £2.00

Authentic Classic Italian pesto made from the finest traditional techniques, using time honoured ingredients.

Filippo Berio Rio Mare Tuna in Olive Oil £3.00

This high-quality tuna comes packed in Olive Oil for a healthy and tasty snack or lunch.

Filippo Berio Formaggio Crostini £1.99


These bite-sized Crostinis are made from freshly baked br. Savoury and crunchy, they are delicious with dips or drinks. Discover the delicious taste of Filippo Berio's mouthwatering Crostini snacks. Inspired by our favourite Italian flavours, and made with freshly baked bread, these cheese flavour Crostini are then drizzled with our signature Filippo Berio Extra Virgin Olive Oil.
Degustabox November 2017 box

Degustabox November 2017 box

Mrs Bishop's Top Picks from the November 2017 Degustabox
My absolute favourites this month were the delicious trio from Filippo Berio: the tuna by Rio Mare, it was seriously the tastiest tuna I've ever had - far superior to any other tinned tuna I've had before. I also adored the cheese crostini - they are ADDICTIVE!! I think we'd eaten the whole packet within 24 hours of the box arriving. My third and final favourite was the classic pesto - I think traditional basil pesto is one of my favourite flavours in the whole world, and this Filippo Berio one was perfect. 

Of course, Bert adored the jelly beans, picnic bites, nut/chocolate mix, and popcorn - which nicely filled up his treat box (he calls it his 'hungry box') for the month. 

I've already used some of the Kallo stock pots, which worked brilliantly in a beef chilli. We're keeping the chutney to enjoy over Christmas, and gifting the coffee to some family members as we can only use fine-ground espresso powder in our coffee machine. 

I'm working my way thought the Weetabix - they're tasty and it's nice to enjoy them with the sweet addition of apple and raisin rather than the plain Weetabix I used to have as a child.

I've almost finished the Ryvita Rye cakes - I love them! I regularly buy things like this in my weekly shop as an alternative to bread: I like them at lunch time to dunk into soup or as a quick snack. 

We weren't overly keen on the Alō aloe vera drink - it tasted nice, but it had jelly-like globules floating in the liquid that neither Liam or I enjoyed very much - it was an odd texture to drink. It tasted like a flat Lilt (remember Lilt!) so it was sweet and refreshing, just odd in texture. 

The only thing we haven't yet managed to taste in this months box is the apple soda, which I'm sure we'll enjoy in the lead up to Christmas at some point. 

I'm super excited to see what will arrive in our December box! :-)

Would you like to give a Degustabox a try? 

If so, you can receive a whopping £7.00 off your first box by using code:

1VRVA

at the checkout! 

Enjoy you lovely lot...

Mrs B

xxx

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