The Jucee Crew Blogger Challenge

We are always up for a challenge, so when Jucee invited us to take part in a fun craft activity, recreating some of the Jucee Crew characters from fresh fruit, we jumped at the chance. Supplied with an assortment of fruit, art materials and some Jucee sugar free drinks to quench our thirsts while we worked, we set about making our own Ozzie Orange, Archie Apple, Lizzie Lemon, Peggy Pineapple, Luigi Lime and Maisie Mango!

Jucee juice drinks, Jucee squash and Jucee 100% pure fruit juices all contain no added sugar. They make up a great tasting, great value range of drinks, made extra fun because of the cute, fruity characters on each bottle or carton. The individual juice boxes and sports top bottles are perfect for when on the go with the kids. They contain no artificial flavourings or colours, and like the rest of the range, are 100% sugar free.

The fruity characters that make up the Jucee Crew are a super cute way of introducing fruits to young children, making drinking juice drinks even more appealing. My crew of Freddy along with his cousins Addy and Dyl were very excited about getting creative to make their own Jucee Crew fruity friends.

Armed with a selection of fruits, some googly eyes, Sharpie markers, glue and other arts and crafts bits and bobs, they made some lovely characters. (they also enjoyed eating the fruits afterwards so nothing went to waste!)

According to the kids, Ozzie Orange is a fruitastic character who loves playing football with his little kicking legs. Archie Apple loves Kung-Fu and Lizzie Lemon wears a pretty blue hat and always smiles. Peggy Pineapple is a crazy character who looks after the little ones! I loved the kids' imagination when it came to making the characters and playing with them, giving them their own personalities and voices.

Find out more about the range and meet the Jucee Crew at www.jucee.co.uk.

Research reveals parents' confusion over sugar in kids' diets

New research conducted by Fruit Heroes, the newly launched lunchbox snack brand in the UK, shows that the recent focus on the health implications of too much sugar has left some parents so confused that they don’t know what they should be feeding their children to give them the healthiest diet. Almost half of the parents surveyed say the UK's dietary guidelines for children are unclear and confusing.

Three quarters of parents say they now find it difficult working out what is and isn’t healthy for their children and a huge 84% of parents are concerned about their child’s diet

Sugar is now seen as the dietary public enemy number one when it comes to the fight against obesity and disease, but the ever changing advice and guidelines have left parents so confused that many now don’t even know if they should be giving their children fruit to eat at all.

The study saw one in seven parents say they didn’t think fruit was healthy or were unsure if it was or not, and almost 40% were unsure of which are good sugars and which are bad sugars. On the whole, three quarters of parents generally don’t know what they should be giving their kids as part of a healthy diet.

A quarter of parents surveyed by Fruit Heroes say they are confused by front of pack nutritional labels like the traffic lights and general daily allowance percentages, while a third did not know that five a day means five pieces of fruit or vegetables.Worryingly, some parents thought that a packet of crisps counted towards one of their child’s 5-a-day.

My family are all vegetarians, meaning that most of our nutrients come from plant based foods. Therefore fruit plays a big part in my children's diet. Freddy loves grapes, apples, oranges, melon - you name it - he loves it! I am happy for him to eat fruit and snacks made using fruit, but try to avoid too much refined sugar in his diet on a day to day basis.  Fruits contain so many nutrients, so in their whole form are a great way of getting vitamins and fibre into children. My rule of thumb is that if food is naturally plant based, then it's got to be good.

Fruit Heroes are made using all natural ingredients such as dates, fruits and juice and contain no added sugar or artificial additives. They are naturally high in fibre and are a healthy lunchbox treat or on-the-go snack. Each 20g Fruit Hero bar also counts as one of a child’s “five a day”, proving that treats can be incorporated into a healthy balanced diet. They are a great alternative to sweets and unhealthy snacks.

             

www.fruitheroes.co.uk

Facebook : FruitHeroesUK 

Twitter: @fruitheroesUK

Christmas Planning

It's hard to believe that we have reached the end of October already.  The year that has been 2012 has flown by making a myriad of memories.  With a matter of mere weeks before Christmas comes, I am starting to make mental lists to ensure we have a fabulous time as the year comes to an end.

We have spent many recent Christmases holidaying away from home, which is something we love.  We enjoy having our Christmas meals made for us, we like having a range of activities available for everyone and we like that holiday feeling adding to the togetherness of the season.  This year, because my grandson is due on the 18th December, we have decided to stay at home ready for when the call comes to tell us that the baby has been born.  So I am having to think hard and make plans to ensure we have a wonderful Christmas.  I am quite excited about having a change.

Food is a big part of our family traditions at Christmas.  We love eating the festive fayre that is available at this time of year.  Being vegetarians means that we have to be a bit more creative with our Christmas dinner but there are some traditional foods that we love as much as the next man!

Cheese and Christmas go together perfectly. There is nothing as evocative of Christmas than a cheeseboard, loaded with fabulous blue cheeses like Stilton and Shropshire Blue, alongside a smooth Brie and Camembert, a tangy goat's cheese, a traditional Cheddar and a crumbly Lancashire.  I also love Austrian smoked cheese which reminds me of being a little girl at Christmas.  It was always my favourite and my children now love it too.  Add some top quality crackers and a bunch of grapes and you have the perfect Christmas tea time treat.

A Premium Cheese Selection from Waitrose

A fruit bowl is also synonymous with Christmas.  I love buying a crate of Satsumas which still have the leaves on, making them somehow more special!  I also buy the usual assortment of apples, oranges, bananas, grapes and plums, which the kids can dip into whenever they fancy a fruity snack.  It's much healthier than having mountains of chocolates and sweets permanently accessible!

I love baking for special occasions.  At Christmas, it is wonderful to make traditional gingerbread with the children, yummy frosted cupackes and festive muffins.  It is lovely to cook together and even lovelier to enjoy the spoils of a day's baking while sat down together enjoying a Christmas family movie.

I've definitely got lots to look forward to this year and I'm excited about making my plans to ensure we enjoy lots of fun activities together.   Having my family around is what really makes Christmas special, sharing traditions and indulging in the finest festive fayre.  Plus I'm about to be a Grandma...it doesn't get much better than that!

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Fabulous Bakin' Boys Fruit and Oat Slices

I was very excited to hear that the Fabulous Bakin Boys had brought out a snack bar that contained one portion of fruit, one whole fifth of your five a day!  As a mum with two children eating packed lunches at school, it is really important to me to find healthy options for their lunch boxes.  This sounded like an ideal choice!

I had the opportunity to try the Fruit and Oat Slices and received a box containing one packet of each of the three flavours:


Strawberry 'n' Oat
Apple 'n' Oat
Blackcurrant 'n' Oat

Each box contains five individually wrapped, delicious fibre-packed snack bars consisting of two layers, with a fruity base crammed with succulent sultanas, apples and apricots, topped with oats and sprinkled with strawberry, blackcurrant or apple pieces.

My tiny tester Kizzy was very excited by these oat slices.  She loves dried fruit and is always keen to try new things.  We popped one in her lunch box.

With a high fibre white, cheese and cucumber sandwich, a satsuma, a banana and a carton of pure orange juice, the Fabulous Bakin' Boy's Fruit and Oat Slice completed a really healthy lunch box.


Kizzy said:


"It was really nice and delicious and fruity.  I expected it to taste like a flapjack with a hint of fruit, but it was much more tasty.  It was much better than a bar of chocolate!  The Strawberry flavour was ever so good and it's part of my five of day."


A definite 5/5 verdict from Kizzy.

The new Fruit 'n' Oat Slices are available at  Asda and Sainsbury's and are coming to Tesco on February 16th RRP £1.49 (Introductory price of £1.00).


Perfect for lunch boxes, after school snacks, picnics, in the car or as a tasty treat.  As a mum they are an ideal choice to give your children, content in the knowledge that they are a much healthier alternative to other cereal bars, biscuits or cakes on the market.  


I've tried a few myself (in the interests of reviewing of course!) and they really are intensely fruity, packed with goodness, filling and satisfying.  18 month old Freddy has also tasted the Fruit 'n' Oat Slices.  I sliced a half of one into bite sized pieces and gave it to him as a snack.  He positively gobbled it up!


There are plans to launch bigger sized bars of the strawberry and apple flavours for adults on the go!

The Fabulous Bakin' Boys is an established family run bakery brand which adds fun and innovation to the art of baking, producing fabulous bakery products for the whole family.

Check out their website or find them on Facebook  and don't forget to say Inside the Wendy House sent you!