Is Breakfast More of a Breaktask?

Breakfast here Inside the Wendy House during term time is not a pretty affair.  Ella, who catches a ridiculously early bus for college, grabs a cereal bar and is out the door by 7.15am while I am still in bed.  Freddy will undoubtedly be lying on my head at this time, as he still ends up bed-sharing and has never slept through the night to date.  At 8am I have to wake him up and coax him into getting out of our comfy kingsize and downstairs for breakfast.  Thankfully, Kizzy is a very independent 10 year old who gets up and ready for school without any need for nagging, but the occasional hunt for discarded school sweatshirts, tights without holes, swimming kits and a matching pair of shoes can pose an unexpected early morning problem.

Eventually we make it downstairs to the kitchen where the standard item on the breakfast menu is toast and apple juice for the kids, black coffee for me.  Thankfully my husband is in charge of packed lunches which he makes before dropping Ella at the bus stop on his way to work. That means one less task for me (I love that man!!)  Getting Freddy to eat is quite a task as he is too busy playing some imaginative, make-believe game involving zapping power and shrinking spells.  I try to put on his shoes and coat if he stops moving long enough for me to do so.  If we are too pushed for time, the toast comes with us in the car to school and nursery.  I often find fossilised crusts down the back of Fred's car seat!

Warburton's have commissioned some research that has proved that mums juggle twice as many challenges in the morning than senior businessmen and women do in the first 73 minutes of the day.  There are an average of 9.8 chores during the average breakfast hour which can prove very taxing.  In fact 27% of mums say they find the breakfast rush hour and school run more stressful than a visit from the in-laws!  Breakfast time is all about multi-tasking in an effort to get all the jobs done and the kids off to school on time.

Warburtons are in the process of compiling a book of  useful tips, ideas and recipes to help families across the nation make the breakfast rush-hour less stressful and more enjoyable. Check out the Warburton's Facebook page where you can give your own advice and have a chance of winning prizes!!

Warburtons sent us a hamper of their baked goods to inspire us at breakfast time.  Having different loaves such as the half and half, the seeded batch or the farmhouse white, makes breakfast time more interesting. Just to have a change from toast in the mornings now and again is nice, so switching to crumpets or brioche makes a great alternative and takes no more time to prepare.

My top tip for breakfast times is definitely to delegate.  With Ian preparing the lunchboxes, the kids getting their school stuff ready the night before and Kizzy popping the bread in the toaster for Freddy and herself while I get Fred dressed, the stress levels are greatly diminished!

At weekends when time is not an issue, we have a later breakfast and enjoy egg or beans on toast....lovingly made by daddy!

Bakestone Bread...Win A Year's Supply!!

I am one of the Bakestone's Bakers Dozen, a lucky bunch who get to test out a delicious selection of baked goods every month.  From rolls, muffins, potato cakes, loaves, barms, baps and fruity buns, Bakestone's treats are utterly delicious!

This month, Bakestone are proud to announce the launch of their brand new Facebook Page at www.facebook.com/bakestonebread

It will be featuring recipes, competitions, chat and news from Bakestone HQ!

To celebrate, they are running a competition to win a year's supply of bread (it closes on May 31st so be quick!)  Just check out the WIN tab on their Facebook page.

This month we were also sent a selection of all time favourite baked treats.  This included a four pack of Bakestone Jubilee Fruited Teacakes.  With the Diamond Jubilee coming up, these will make a delicious tea time treat.  Generously studded with dried fruit, they are perfect toasted and buttered. Kizzy tested them out and thought they were delicious!  Soft and light, the raisins, currants and sultanas added a rich fruity flavour.

Jubilee Fruited Teacakes

The 400g Sliced Seeded Loaf and the Sliced Tiger Loaf are both great for toast or sandwiches.  The generously cut slices are soft and keep fresh and they have a good flavour.  The Seeded Deli Rolls were my favourite and included poppy and sunflower seeds which added a lovely taste and texture.  We had a BBQ and used the deli rolls, adding a veggie burger and some salad.  Perfect al fresco dining!

Find Bakestone goods in local shops across the North of England...great value and the finest bread for your dough!!

Bakestone's Baker's Dozen

I have always been a fan of baked goods!  Bread, cake, buns and rolls hold a special space in my heart.  This is one of the reasons why I was very excited to become one of Bakestone's Baker's Dozen!  This means I am part of a team of bakery taste testers, who get to sample a monthly selection of delicious bready products that have been lovongly developed by the team at Bakestone.  It's a tough job but someon'es got to do it!

My first box of baked beauties arrived just before Christmas, so we had to scoff them quickly before we left to go on holiday.  But with my eager taste testers this was not a problem!  The box contained fruited teacakes, a brown and white sliced premium loaf and a selection of potato cakes.

The loaves were good medium sliced loaves that toasted well, made good sandwiches and lasted well. Each bag contained 24 slices plus crusts and were a good regular shape.  The bread didn't dry out over the 3 days that we used it.  That is pretty much what you want from sliced bread...so it ticked all the boxes required!  The premium loaves appear on shop shelves within 18 hours of baking, making it fresher with a taste that is second to none!

The fruited teacakes were Ian's favourite product.  The light doughy teacakes toasted up perfectly and were lovely served with butter.  Ample fruit ran through the teacake.  They were not spicy like a lot of teacakes are, which Ian really liked.  The taste of the dough and the dried fruit were the predominant flavours in these teacakes.  The quality of the ingredients shone through.

My favourite were the potato cakes.  In a twist of tradition, the potato cakes came in three flavours: Spring Onion, Leek and Bubble and Squeak.  They were amazing!  The addition of pieces of vegetable made them really tasty.  The Bubble and Squeak flavour were my top choice.  They tasted authentic and were an excellent accompaniment to my veggie fry up.  Sometimes potato cakes can have a tendency to being bland or heavy, not these ones!  They were light, tasty and perfect served toasted with butter, or topped with melted cheese or fried eggs.  The innovative addition to the potato cake market is definitely something that has excited me! Yum!!

I'm looking forward to next month's selection when we will have more time to savour the goodies and photograph serving suggestions etc!  Roll on my next delicious box of top-notch baked goods!