Get FREE photogifts from McCain #freebies

McCain Smiles and Mini Jackets are currently running an on pack promotion where you can send off for a personalised plate, bowl, cup or coaster featuring a favourite photograph.  All you need is two promotional codes (and a 50p contribution to the p&p).

These photo gifts will make a lovely dinner set for a child.  The tableware is made from durable, high quality melamine and is dishwasher safe at low temperatures.  There are three fun frame designs to choose from, including this sunflower design that I picked to make a plate for Freddy.

The promotion runs until 2014, which gives us all plenty of time to collect codes to get a full set of personalised tableware.  You could collect some for stocking fillers (it's never too soon to start planning for Christmas!!)

Find out more here:  www.mccain.co.uk/smilesonplates

I received a free code to make Freddy's plate.

My Vegetarian Cooked Breakfast

We love a good veggie fry-up here Inside the Wendy House!  It makes the perfect breakfast (or brunch if you have a lie-in).  This weekend I was treated by the lovely folk at McCain to the ingredients for the perfect fry-up, and Kizzy did the honours of making me a wonderful Full English, vegetarian style!

With McCain Hash Browns, Quorn sausages and bacon slices, fried mushrooms, baked beans, fried eggs, tomato sauce and buttered toast on the menu, we had everything we needed for the ultimate veggie breakfast.

McCain have recently improved their Hash Browns so they are now even better.  The chunky, crispy, golden hash browns have a tasty new recipe with added onion and seasonings so they are full of flavour.  They are a great addition to any fry-up and are just the thing to mop up egg yolk or baked bean juice!  They take just 20 minutes to cook from frozen so are quick and easy to prepare.  They are an essential addition to the line-up of my perfect fry-up.

Kizzy did a brilliant job making the breakfast and was very proud of the end result.  Everything was absolutely delicious.  The only thing that went wrong was when we realised that the sausages had been put in the oven to keep warm, and had been forgotten about when the cooked breakfast was served!  So we had them later.  But that didn't deter from the fabulous fry up that Kizzy served me.  DELICIOUS!

McCain Hash Browns are available in all major retail outlets priced at £1.65 RRP for a 700g bag.

McCain's Summer of Sharing Tapas Recipe

Spanish Patatas Bravas, Tortilla and Almond Green Beans Recipe

McCain have launched their Summer of Sharing website where you can find recipes, party tips, games and a calendar of events for this summer as well as the chance to win one of 100 party packs, that McCain are  giving away each day, as well as the opportunity to win the ultimate party to share with your friends and family.


I was given the chance to have a go at one of the Summer of Sharing recipes and McCain kindly provided the ingredients for a tasty Spanish Tapas meal...perfect for sharing with friends and family!!


We made Spanish Patatas Bravas, Tortilla and Almond Green Beans which we served up as a Tapas inspired meal rather than as the Spanish do in little bite sized pieces in bowls!

Tapas Recipes

For the Patatas Bravas

300g McCain Lightly Spiced Wedges

1 tbsp olive oil

1 small onion chopped

1 clove garlic chopped

1 small red chilli chopped

225g can chopped tomatoes

1 tbsp tomato puree

a pinch of sugar

1/2 tsp paprika

Method

Cook wedges as per instructions.

Make sauce by frying onion for 3-4 minutes, add chilli and garlic and cook for a further minute.

Add chopped tomatoes, puree and paprika and cook for 5 minutes.

Simmer for 10 minutes until sauce is thickened.

Serve over the wedges.

For the Tortilla

300g McCain Lightly Spiced Wedges

1 onion sliced

50ml virgin olive oil

6 eggs

3 tbsp chopped flat leaf parsley

Method

Cook wedges as per instructions.

Heat oil in heavy based 20cm frying pan. Add onion and cook for 20 minutes until caramelized.

Beat eggs in jug and add chopped parsley and season.  

Add cooked potatoes to the onion.

Pour over egg and cook for about 20 minutes.

Finish off under grill.

For Almond Green Beans

150g green beans

100g unsalted butter

75g blanched almonds

Juice of one lemon

Method

Cook green beans in boiling salted water.

Put butter in pan with almonds.  

Heat up gently.

Toss in green beans and heat until butter goes golden brown and foams.

Remove from heat and add lemon juice to stop the cooking process.

The meal took about 20 minutes to prepare and 25 minutes to cook and served five of us with leftovers to spare for Ian's lunch the next day.  We improvised slightly by topping the tortilla with grated hard goat's cheese before finishing off under the grill.

Kizzy enjoyed helping me out in the kitchen preparing the dishes!

There are lots more recipes that include McCain Wedges on the Summer of Sharing website, plus ideas for throwing a summer party.

McCain Ready Baked Jackets

There’s nothing quite like the smell and taste of a slow oven-baked jacket potato, but the downside is waiting ages for it to cook. The rush of family life means we sometimes need meals to be ready in minutes, so getting dinner on the table quickly takes priority.  Unless we have planned our meal well in advance, oven cooked jackets are off the menu!  

Microwaves have made it easier to cook a single spud, but the flavour and texture is lost.  Cooking enough jackets for a big family is impossible in a microwave and often ends in a microwave /conventional oven juggling act.  The average time people take to cook their jacket spuds, using oven, microwave or both, is 40 minutes!  That's a long time to wait for your dinner if you are in a hurry to feed the family. 

Now the wait is over with new McCain Ready Baked Jackets. Ready in just five minutes, they will make a delicious slow-baked taste and smell possible in a flash.

There has always been a constant compromise between oven baked taste and wanting to speed up the process, which is where McCain Ready Baked Jacket Potatoes win!  In just 5 minutes  you can be enjoying a fluffy, comforting and delicious baked spud that tastes as good as one you have slow baked from scratch. You get the smell, the taste and the fluffiness in a fraction of the time.


McCain have taken the best British potatoes, they cross cut the top and drizzle them in Sunflower Oil before slow baking them in the oven.  All you need to do is pop them in a microwave for 5 minutes which is enough time to prepare a topping and voilà...you have a healthy, satisfying meal in a jiffy! 


McCain have come up with some serving suggestions for enjoying your Baked Potato.  How about cooking as per instructions, then scooping out the flesh and combining it with 50g of soft cheese, 50g of grated cheese and chopped spring onions.  Refill the skins then grill until golden brown.  Delicious!  You can experiment by using different cheese...Cheddar, Blue Cheese or even Parmesan. (meat eaters can add chopped ham...and veggies could add chopped Quorn for a tasty twist).  My kids enjoyed them with baked beans and grated cheese...quick, easy and very yummy!

Cheese Stuffed Jackets

The McCain Ready Baked Jacket Potatoes have an RRP of £1.29 for 2 and £1.99 for 4.  They are a great freezer standby allowing you to knock up a quick, healthy meal in minutes...perfect for those busy times!


*No compensation was received but we did have some spuds for lunch.*