Helping children to #DreamBig with Primula and the NSPCC

Primula believes that every child should have the freedom to Dream Big about their future, so they will be donating 20% of the profits from their new, limited edition green tubes directly to the NSPCC.

Buying a limited edition tube of Primula Cheese will help support the NSPCC to help children across the UK grow up free from abuse, fear, anxiety or loneliness.  Every child should have the chance to dream about their future with confidence, positivity and optimism. The NSPCC is helping children to do this, replacing their fears with hopes and dreams.

Look out for the new green coloured Primula tube design in stores and join in the fight for every childhood by raising funds to help some of the most vulnerable children in the UK. 

Pick up your limited edition tube in Asda, Morrison’s, Tesco and Sainsbury’s now.

We can all help spread the word by sharing our own childhood dreams, big or small, with Primula on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram with the hashtag #DreamBig. So whether you dreamed of becoming a rock star, an astronaut, a scientist or a footballer share those dreams and join in the conversation to help raise awareness of the Primula campaign to support the NSPCC.

Vegetarian Cheese and Ham Swirls #ChristmasSnackHack

I really enjoy entertaining over Christmas and have a stock of recipes perfect for making quick snacks for unexpected guests (or for treating ourselves over the festive period!) It is reassuring to know that I can knock up something fast and tasty especially when those #LittleMomentsofChristmasChaos occur!

Here is a really simple but impressive festive snack hack that is so easy to make using just three main ingredients including a tube of Primula Cheese with Chives. This recipe for Tear and Share Vegetarian Cheese and Ham Swirls makes a snack that looks amazing and tastes even better. Tearing and sharing is a fun, informal and sociable way to eat - absolutely perfect for Christmastime.

Vegetarian Cheese and Ham Swirls

Ingredients

1 can of Croissant Dough (makes 6)

1 tube of Primula Cheese with Chives

1 pack of vegetarian thinly sliced 'ham'

egg to glaze

Method

Open the tin of croissant dough and unroll it. It is perforated to make six triangles with each pair of triangles making up a rectangle. Gently press the dough across the diagonals to re-seal the perforations and then cut the dough to make three rectangles.

Spread a third of the tube of Primula over each dough rectangle.

Top with slices of vegetarian ham.

Roll up from the long side to make a sausage shape. 

Repeat this with the other two rectangles of croissant dough.

Carefully cut into inch slices and arrange in an 8" ovenproof dish. 

Leave space around each swirl for them to rise and expand in the oven.

Any extras can be placed on a baking tray individually (use greaseproof paper to stop them sticking). 

Glaze with beaten egg.

Cook in a pre-heated oven at 200 degrees for about 12 - 15 minutes until golden brown.

Serve warm straight from the dish.

My family absolutely love these Vegetarian Cheese and Ham Swirls. They would work equally well using whatever veggie meats you have in the fridge, so you can adapt them to suit your needs. Just make sure you have a tube of Primula and a can of croissant dough to hand (I always buy a few tins over Christmas for impromptu breakfasts or snacking) and you can make a batch of these in no time at all.

Celebrating those Little Moments of Christmas Chaos

Christmas is a wonderful time of year and I spend hours making lists, researching recipes, buying thoughtful gifts and getting myself organised to ensure my family have the best day ever...but that doesn't necessarily mean that things always go to plan!

However well organised you are, sometimes fate just comes along and tramples all over your best laid plans. It's at times like this that you either crumble and burst into tears or you pull up your festive socks and initiate Plan B!

Two years ago I had my house full with all the family joining us for Christmas Day. Making Christmas dinner for twelve people is always a juggling act, swapping things around in the oven to try and get everything cooked evenly and on time. Packing the shelves with nut roasts, stuffing, roast veg, potatoes, parsnips, Yorkies and veggie pigs in blankets is a test for any oven at the best of times. But this year, my oven decided enough was enough. It took me a while to realise that things were not cooking very well and then it dawned on me that everything was in fact getting colder. The heating element had lost the will to live. The oven was stone cold dead!

With twelve people hungry for their festive fayre, panic began to set in. Visions of feeding them Primula cheese spread sandwiches and a bag of crisps went through my mind. (That might be a yummy emergency lunch at other times of the year but not on Christmas Day!) What a disaster to happen on this day of all days!

 However, the spirit of Christmas was with us that day. My next door neighbours, who were away visiting family, saw my pitiful social media updates and came to the rescue. We had a spare key to their house to use in case of emergencies and this was definitely deemed as one of those times. We were told to go ahead and use their kitchen - their double oven was ours for the day. It was a Christmas miracle!

To add to the drama, it was raining. I gathered my troops to help, and clad in their festive jumpers and new slippers, we paired up. One of us carried a partially cooked tray of food while the other held an umbrella over head. There was lots of to-ing and fro-ing as we kept popping back and forth to check on potato roastiness and stuffing crispiness. Goodness knows what our other neighbours must have thought! Eventually, through top teamwork, our dinner was cooked. We carried it all back to our house and we were able to sit down together and eat Christmas dinner as a family. Only slightly later than planned and slightly chilled from being carried down the street in the rain.

When things go wrong, you have to find the humour in the situation. You've got to pull together and laugh about the broken oven or the smashed Christmas baubles or the inappropriately drunk auntie or the bout of ill timed gastroenteritis or the embarrassing moment when you realise you have forgotten to buy a present for one of your guests (yes all these things have happened to me.)

You can't avoid the unavoidable, but there are things you can do to help the day go smoothly. One of my top tips is to do all your food preparation on Christmas Eve. It's a family tradition for us to don our Christmas jumpers, whack on our favourite Christmas tunes and get peeling, chopping and prepping whatever we can in advance. This leaves Christmas morning free for the fun stuff like opening presents.  Speaking of presents - always keep a couple of extra wrapped gifts under the tree, just in case of unexpected visitors. Boxes of biscuits or bottles of wine are perfect choices, because if you don't need to gift them, you can enjoy them yourself. And don't forget to have plenty of batteries and a screwdriver available, so any new toys found under the tree can be powered up or assembled. There's not much worse to a child than having a new toy that can't be played with!

Even if the day does end up going completely pear shaped, remember that the 25th of December is just one day out of 365. Do a re-run on another day if need be. In the future, it's the laughs, the smiles and the fun that comes from being a family that will be remembered. We don't need everything to be perfect to have a great time. Embrace the chaos, keep a laid back approach and enjoy every moment.

Primula have a campaign this Christmas to encourage us to celebrate the big day in all its chaotic glory. They have teamed up with bloggers to share their own tales of Christmas woe alongside some top Christmas hacks to help you survive the day.

You can view or download the 'Primula Little Moments of  Christmas Chaos' booklet for free at https://issuu.com/primulacheese. Inside you can also find recipes, ideas for games and hints and tips for surviving and embracing the little moments of Christmas chaos!

You can join in and share your own moments of chaos or some of your own Christmas survival plans using the hashtag #LittleMomentsOfChristmasChaos on social media. Together we can celebrate Christmas 2016 without the stress!

Primula Cheese and Chive Oaty Biscuits for Autumnal Snacking

This autumn, Primula have challenged me to come up with a tasty autumnal snack using their famous squeezable, spreadable cheese.

My family love Primula in lots of ways, but I'd never tried using it as a baking ingredient. I really enjoy baking for my family, making healthier and higher quality alternatives to the products found on the supermarket shelves. So I decided to create my own take on the humble oat cake: a crumbly, oaty, wholemeal savoury biscuit, made using Primula Cheese with Chives, that can then be topped with some more squeezy Primula. The cheese and chives give an added richness and flavour to the oatcakes. A delicious cheesy treat for snacking.

This is such an easy recipe, using just four simple ingredients. You can quickly knock together a batch and serve them warm from the oven. Perfect for an after school treat, an evening snack or even for a grown-up cheese and wine party.

Savoury biscuits are a great alternative to sweet snacks that the whole family will enjoy. The wholemeal flour adds extra fibre and nutrients and oats are a good source of slow release energy. They will keep for a few days in an airtight tin, so will be great for the kids' lunchboxes. Just add a little pot filled with Primula for the little ones to dip their savoury biscuits in.

Primula Cheese and Chive Oaty Biscuits Recipe

Ingredients

2 oz of Primula Cheese with Chives 

1 oz  oats

4 oz butter or margarine

6 oz wholemeal SR flour

Method 

Cream Primula and butter together in a mixing bowl.

Add oats and flour and mix with your hands to form a dough. Bring together with a little extra flour if too sticky.

Roll out dough on a floured surface and cut into twelve equal shapes using a cookie cutter.

Cook at 180 degrees for 15 minutes.

Serve topped with Primula and garnished with tomato, cucumber, sweetcorn or any other seasonal salad vegetables for a colourful, tasty snack.

For a really grown up, sophisticated snack, in keeping with the Primula idea of adventurous pairings, how about topping a Primula Cheese and Chive Oaty Biscuit with a good squirt of Light Primula cheese and finished with a slice of juicy fresh pear and a twist of ground black pepper? It is a great combination of flavours and textures. 

I am a member of the Primula Blogger Club, a paid for partnership with Primula.

Celebrating National Picnic Week with Primula

With this current spell of lovely weather, nothing beats some al fresco family dining, with a picnic being the number one choice for fun, outdoor eating. From the 13th to the 21st June it is National Picnic Week, which is being proudly sponsored by Primula. Primula have a really informative Picnic Week Hub, giving families some great ideas for picnic friendly recipes, top picnic spots and for things to do. It is well worth taking a look to get some ideas if you are planning a family picnic.

Primula also sent us some goodies so we could host our own family picnic. The beauty of a picnic is that it is perfect whatever your age, so I invited the grandparents who are both in their eighties, to join me, along with 19 year old Ella (who is home from university), 12 year old Kizzy and 5 year old Freddy. We had ourselves a wonderful three generation picnic, which we all enjoyed.

There are some beautiful picnic spots to be found around the UK, but you can equally enjoy a picnic in your own back garden. All you need is a picnic blanket, family, fresh air and a spread of easy to eat picnic food and you can turn an ordinary day into something special. Picnics are also brilliant for days out - you can save a small fortune by taking your own food instead of paying theme park or zoo restaurant prices. Plus it will be so much nicer and much more fun.

The food we enjoyed was very simple and easy to get together. Picnics needn't be complicated. In fact, using food that is easy to eat with the fingers, easy to package up and that minimises mess and hassle is a bonus when eating out of doors.

Primula is a great addition to a picnic as it can be squeezed straight from the tube onto cut bread or crackers without having to use a knife to spread it. I always prefer freshly made sandwiches so this is perfect - simply squeeze and eat! Plus it is fun. Freddy squeezed Primula onto carrot sticks and even grapes as he explored different ways to enjoy the cheesy goodness.

Original Primula is a blend of Cheddar and Gouda made into a squeezable cheese, which is naturally high in protein, a source of calcium, free from artificial colours, flavours or preservatives and is gluten free. It is suitable for vegetarians and, as it is pasteurised, is safe to eat when pregnant.  It comes in a variety of flavours including one with chives, a mild Kids blend with lower salt and added calcium and a light version with 40% less fat. (There are also ham and prawn flavours for non-vegetarians.)

Nana and Grandad loved trying out the different varieties of Primula on pieces of baguette along with some yummy strawberries and grapes, carrot sticks, hummus and a delicious dessert of profiteroles. Eating together in the fresh air, laughing, chatting and spending quality time with their grandchildren made for a very lovely day. It is a simple and cheap thing to do, but the memories shared are priceless.

The picnic setting proved to be a great incentive to encourage my picky eater Freddy to tuck in. He loved the freedom and the hands on style of eating, and ate more than I've seen him eat in a long time. He enjoyed being in charge of making his own food using the Primula to make faces, love hearts or spots on his bread.

One thing I didn't realise about Primula is that a proportion of the profits go to good causes, donated through the Kavli Trust to support humanitarian, research and cultural projects around the world and in local communities. In 2012, £2.5 million was donated to good causes.  This is just one more good reason to buy Primula.

Find out more about the Primula brand, the Kavli Trust, the product range and also visit the Primula Picnic Hub at www.primula.co.uk.

I hope you all get to enjoy many lovely family picnics over the summer!