Tag Archives: Fruit

Pale Green Dot Fruit & Veg Box Review | Win A Fantastic Food Box

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pale green dot, fruit and veg box, fruit, veg, vegetables, box, food, London, We reviewed a fruit and veg box from Pale Green Dot and we loved it so much that we are now running a competition for one lucky reader to win one of their own. All you have do is follow us on Twitter and then tweet at us, or follow us on Facebook and leave a message to let you know you have entered the competition. The closing date is the end of June and you have to live in London, Surrey, Sussex or Kent.

The fruit and veg box is definitely the best fruit and veg box I have tried. The spring onion is sublime: so unlike the ones you get in a supermarket. It has lettuce still attached to its roots and Sussex chard. The tomatoes are ripe and juicy. It even has asparagus and delicious aubergine. The box is filled to the brim with healthy deliciousness. We love. Pale Green Dot have more food boxes now including a BBQ one. Have a look below.

pale green dot – even more food boxes now available for home delivery across London and the South East

 

Pale green dot, sustainable suppliers of home delivered fine quality fresh, seasonal and local produce, dairy basics, meat and cheese, are now launching an even more extensive range of boxes.  Becoming quite the ‘one stop shop’ the pale green dot home delivery website features a new premium vegetable box, a fruit box, beer box, wine box, Italian box, and coming soon, a curry box.

 

Previously operating in the hospitality sector, pale green dot has managed an incredible turnaround in order to ensure that those living in London and the South East are able order online and enjoy fresh produce delivered to their homes.

 

Response to the boxes has been so positive, the company will be delivering to homes post lockdown to customers who have come to enjoy the quality, convenience and variety of what they are receiving.

The new premium vegetable box at £25.00 contains a greater choice and twice the amount of seasonal fresh produce than the company’s standard box, including ingredients such as new season Cornish mid potatoes, Sussex chard and Bobby beans from Jersey.

The fruit box at £15.00 is full of fresh and colourful fruits. Perfect to eat, drink and preserve it usually includes mango, pineapple, pomegranate, melon and kiwis as well as apples, grapes, oranges and blueberries.

The BBQ box contains meat and poultry sourced predominantly from small farms rearing free-range native breeds. All items are vac packed and can be frozen. The box includes steaks, burgers, sausages, marinated chicken legs and lamb koftas.

 

The Italian box  has everything you need to make flavour-packed pasta without having to leave the house. It includes pasta (wholemeal and white), pesto, fresh garlic, herbs, olive oil, parmesan cheese and passata and tomatoes at £25.00.

 

Two Tribes have partnered with pale green dot to supply their beers for beer boxes from £13.50.

 

There are three wine boxes, red, white and mixed, the boxes contain a curated selection of six bottles, familiar and new, old world and new world from £56.00 each.

 

All the boxes are available to order online at https://www.palegreendot.co.uk/home-deliveries and can be set up for regular deliveries, or one-off orders. Pale green dot aims to deliver boxes by the next working day.

 

To keep minds at ease, pale green dot are implementing the highest safety and hygiene standards across the board when it comes to both packaging and delivering in order to prevent the spread of the virus.

 

Orders can be made via this link –  https://www.palegreendot.co.uk/home-deliveries

 

www.palegreendot.co.uk

 

Easy Ways To Cook Vegetables. How to Get Your 5-a-Day.

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Getting our 5-a-day is hard. Or at least, I have often found it so. It is easy to grab a piece of fruit but eating vegetables requires more effort. At least that is what it feels like sometimes. Since lockdown it has been harder to get some foods. We have had a weekly delivery of fruit and veg. There are a number of companies that do this.

It has set a challenge to use everything up as I refuse to have food waste. This has always been the case but even more so now. I will be sharing tips on the coming weeks but here is what I am doing at the moment.

Every few days I make a a huge salad or a traybake of roasted vegetables. This does as a lunch for a few days and also a side for supper. It is very easy to do. Sure there is a lot of chopping, and my children are usually trying to get my attention, but because you only have to do it every three days it is not that bad.

Salad potatoes can be boiled for 15 minutes. I add rosemary or parsley to them.
potatoes with herbs, cooking vegetables, how to cook potatoes,

Cauliflower can be boiled in 15 minutes. Carrots take 5 minutes. I add as many herbs and spices to the various vegetables as possible. A lot of  fruit and veg boxes come with a bag of fresh herbs. You might also have some in your cupboard. Five spice anyone?

Aubergine can be roasted for 20 minutes in the oven. I tend to add olive oil and salt and pepper. It tastes delicious. You can also pan fry it. Beetroot is great baked in the oven for 45 minutes. You can even bake it whole. Add olive oil and wrap in foil. I tend to cook things at 180. The roast vegetables can be added to the salad and vice versa. I love adding fruit to veg. Oranges go great with aubergine. It is a lot of work cooking and, lets be honest, tedious, but when you make a lot you only have to do it every three days. That is for a family of four.

Eating raw food is great and retains nutrients. I find raw cabbage tastes amazing and has a satisfying texture. I have a large Mason Cash baking bowl which I make a huge salad in. There was one week where we did not get a fruit and veg box and my husband and I really noticed the difference to our health. A plant based diet is the easiest way to great health.

In the evenings and weekends I write in the kitchen while my husband looks after the kids. I am right near the fridge which is not good, but instead of snacking on unhealthy foods I just dip into my huge bowl of salad. Try it, put all of your favourite fruit and veg in a big bowl and pick at it when you are hungry. It will change your life and your health.

Please share any cooking tips or recipes with me. Lots of love and stay safe, Catherine xx.

 

 

Pale Green Dot Start Fresh Fruit and Veg Box Home Delivery Initiative

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veg delivery, fruit and veg delivery, food delivery, coronavirus, COVID-19, fruit, veg, vegetables, London, delivery, food delivery, Pale Green Dot supply the finest quality fresh, seasonal and local produce to some of London and the South East’s finest restaurants year round. In light of the Coronavirus pandemic, with so many restaurants sadly having to close for the foreseeable, their premium quality fruit and veg is now available for the public to order for themselves to be delivered straight to their door.

 

The quality of produce is sensational, and allows  members of the public to avoid supermarket shopping, perusing empty shelves and bringing home simply whatever might be left available.  The Essential Fresh Produce Box (£12.50) includes traditional root veg (onions, swede, beetroot, carrots, potatoes), leaves and green veg (salad bag, Savoy/Tundra cabbage, leeks), coloured veg (peppers, vine tomatoes, aubergines) and local fruit (apples, pears). The Veg and Staples Box (£20) includes all of the above as well as milk, bread and eggs as well. Boxes can be delivered as a one off or even weekly.

“We are getting amazing quality fresh farm produce to people in their homes at an affordable price.  We’re so proud to be doing our bit to keep British farmers and our Pale Green Dot family in work whilst supplying the public with fantastic quality produce at this time.” says Jo Farish from Pale Green Dot

 With supermarkets running low on fresh produce as it is, this new initiative gives people a fantastic opportunity to stay healthy and nourished with restaurant quality fruit and veg at a fair price.  As well as this, the initiative also gives security to their farmers who at this time may feel incredibly anxious about supply and demand in the hospitality industry.

Thanks to this initiative, the farmers and growers who work for and with Pale Green Dot have new clientele through these times to keep business going until things return to normal and supply can begin again for the hospitality industry.  As well as growing and farming, Pale Green Dot employees are also helping to deliver these fresh produce boxes around London and the South East to those who aren’t just running low on fresh supplies but also those who cannot leave their homes at this time.

Orders can be made via the website.  Pale Green Dot aims to deliver boxes by the next working day but of course delivery times will be determined by demand and capacity during these unprecedented times.

To keep minds at ease, Pale green Dot are implementing the highest safety and hygiene standards across the board when it comes to both packaging and delivering in order to prevent the spread of the virus.

 

Orders can be made via this link – www.palegreendot.co.uk/veg-box

www.palegreendot.co.uk

THE RIGHT DRIED FRUIT SNACKS CAN FILL NUTRITION GAPS, REPORT REVEALS.

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Fruit Bowl pic Sadly, it appears that the five-a-day health message is failing and we are falling short of the latest guidance on fibre, according to a new report. So maybe it’s time to rethink healthy-eating messages and look for fresh strategies to ensure children, in particular, eat their five-a-day and hit the fibre targets. A review just published in the journal of Complete Nutrition suggests one simple step would be to swap a sugary snack for dried fruit or a fruit-based snack, which doesn’t seem like rocket science . Dr Emma Derbyshire, a public health nutritionist, mum and one of the report authors agrees: “Putting the new UK fibre guidance into practice will not be easy. This is why brands like Fruit Bowl have looked at how children in particular can increase their fibre and indeed their fruit and vegetable needs. They have just introduced the new Picked and Pressed range which provides a natural source of fibre and counts as one of our five-a-day. So, simple changes such as replacing one item of confectionary with a fruit-based snack such as Picked and Pressed will provide an immediate benefit in terms in increased fibre consumption.” It seems to Frost Magazine, and one of the high points of the Fruit Bowl snack is that it has no added sugar, which seems to be a bugbear in many lunchboxes. As well as fruit in the snacks, there is milled flaxseed which is rich in fibre, and doesn’t overlay the flavour of the fruit. The Picked and Pressed Bars are available in three flavours, strawberry, orange and apple and pear. And for the grown up, only 60 calories per bar. Can't be bad. Fruit Bowl® Fruit Bites (RRP £2.00 for a pack of 4 individually wrapped 19g packs of Bites)Sadly, it appears that the five-a-day health message is failing and we are falling short of the latest guidance on fibre, according to a new report.

 

So maybe it’s time to rethink healthy-eating messages and look for fresh strategies to ensure children, in particular, eat their five-a-day and hit the fibre targets.

 

A review just published in the journal of Complete Nutrition suggests one simple step would be to swap a sugary snack for dried fruit or a fruit-based snack, which doesn’t seem like rocket science .

 

Dr Emma Derbyshire, a public health nutritionist, mum and one of the report authors agrees: “Putting the new UK fibre guidance into practice will not be easy. This is why brands like Fruit Bowl have looked at how children in particular can increase their fibre and indeed their fruit and vegetable needs.

 

They have just introduced the new Picked and Pressed range which provides a natural source of fibre and counts as one of our five-a-day. So, simple changes such as replacing one item of confectionary with a fruit-based snack such as Picked and Pressed will provide an immediate benefit in terms in increased fibre consumption.”

 

It seems to Frost Magazine, and one of the high points of the Fruit Bowl snack is that it has no added sugar, which seems to be a bugbear in many lunchboxes.

 

As well as fruit in the snacks,  there is milled flaxseed which is rich in fibre, and doesn’t overlay the flavour of the fruit.

 

The Picked and Pressed Bars are available in three flavours, strawberry, orange and apple and pear. And for the grown up, only 60 calories per bar. Can’t be bad.

 

Fruit Bowl® Fruit Bites (RRP £2.00 for a pack of 4 individually wrapped 19g packs of Bites)

 

 

Interesting, And Not Just For Children

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Should I re-think my snacks perhaps?

New research by Fruit Bowl, the brains and creators behind the leading brand in dried fruit snacks for kids, found that more than half (52%) of Britain’s four to 12-year-olds are often tired after school, with a quarter of parents reporting their child had difficulty concentrating when they got home from school but at the opposite end of the energy spectrum almost one in ten (9%) is “almost hyper” towards the end of the day, a survey of 1,000 parents has revealed.

 

The Fruit Bowl research suggests that fluctuating blood sugar levels are an important factor in these mood and motivation issues. Just over a third (34%) of parents reported their children “always” complained of being hungry when they got home and almost half (44%) said hunger was a problem.

There is good evidence to show that growing children are more reliant on snacks than adults to ensure steady energy levels.

Fruit and vegetables are the favourite snacks for restoring children’s energy levels, with almost a third (29%) of parents putting this healthy option at the top of their list, followed by biscuits or cake (12%) and a sandwich or toast (10%).

 

More than a quarter of parents report that their children can be fussy about fruit with one in five (22%) saying their offspring stick to one or two favourites and 5% saying it’s a struggle to get them to eat any fruit at all.

 

Dr Carrie Ruxton says: “Every parent knows how fussy children can be, and how difficult it can be to encourage them to try new flavours. Fruit-based snacks are a great way to encourage picky-eaters to try new flavours

 

“Fruit-based snacks, such as Fruit Bowl® School Bars, Fruit Flakes and Fruit Peelers for example are made from the juice and/or pulp of fruits and typically count as one portion of 5-A-DAY depending upon the product.”

Fruit Bowl® Fruit Peelers (RRP £1.50 for a pack of 4 individually wrapped 16g Peelers

 

 

September’s Food & Drink Picks

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Fruit Heroes

fruitheroes

These are delicious and healthy. Perfect for lunch boxes. They come in a variety of flavours. Even the adults at Frost loved them. Fruit Heroes are a healthy, natural, fruit snack bar for children. They have now uncovered and addressed parents’ most popular questions regarding their children’s health and diet.
 After conducting a hugely successful research study in March, Fruit Heroes wanted to further their campaign to encourage children to eat fruit and clear up parents’ concerns about their child’s nutrition. Therefore, Fruit Heroes,  with the help of Dietician and Nutritionist Dr Sarah Schenker, held a live Facebook web chat to answer parents’ questions and healthy queries. Here, Dr Schenker clears up the difference between the difference between good and bad sugars.

“Good sugars, also known as intrinsic sugars, are naturally found in food. These are mostly fructose found in fruit and vegetables as well as lactose found in milk and dairy products. Most other sugars found in food are artificially added such as glucose and dextrose. These are termed free sugars and too much of these types of sugars can cause problems with blood sugar and insulin levels which is linked to obesity and diabetes so these are the ones to watch out for.”

Two Chicks

whole_egg_pack_NEW

Two Chicks has launched a new product called Liquid Whole Egg –  a carton of pasteurised free-range eggs in liquid form. Following the success of the original Two Chicks Liquid Egg Whites. The carton has the equivalent of 10 liquid whole pasteurised eggs and is very convenient. It makes great scrambled eggs, is perfect for anyone looking for short-cuts in the kitchen and ideal for any bakers (especially as Bake Off season has just kicked off!)  – You literally just pour out of the carton and get baking.  It’s also ideal for quick and easy meals, such as scrambled eggs and omelettes.
Echo Falls Fruit Fusions

echofalls

Echo Falls has launched two new sparkling varieties to its delicious Fruit Fusions range, offering a light and refreshing drink option ideal for summer picnics and garden parties. These are great as you don’t need a glass, they are ready to drink and come in cartons of four. They taste great and are perfect for parties and festivals.

Bottled in vibrant and colourful illustrations, Echo Falls Sparkling Fruit Fusions are the perfect bubbly addition for summer celebrations.

These exciting new options come in two distinct flavours including White Peach and Mango, a refreshing and tropical fusion with a crisp, smooth finish and Summer Berries, a sweet fruity rosé with aromas of raspberry and strawberry.  Why not try White Peach and Mango Sparkling on ice with a slice of lemon for a citrus hint and a sprig of mint for freshness, and serve Summer Berries sparkling in a flute with a strawberry to really bring out the flavour.

Both flavours are available in ready-to-drink 275ml bottles which can be purchased as a handy 4 pack; providing the ideal drink to take to festivals and summer parties.

The range is currently available in Asda.com, £5.45.

 

 

This Month’s Health & Beauty Picks

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Here are our top health and beauty picks for this month.

Cawston Press Juice

cawstonepress

Three new juices from Cawston Press. Sweet Greens, Sunshine Blend and Radiant Roots. These are a delicious and unique fruit and vegetable blend. They taste great and are super healthy. They are free from added sugar, sweeteners, preservatives and colourings. What more could you want?

£2.99 from the chilled drinks cabinet in Tesco.com

Proactiv+

proactivreview

proactiv+

proactivbox+review

A classic for people with sensitive and spot-prone skin. It leaves the skin hydrated whilst reducing the appearance of spots and blemishes. Now new and improved from skincare experts Dr Katie Rodan and Dr Kathy Fields. It’s superior Smart Target Technology is specifically developed to deliver more salicylic acid straight to the pores, leaving skin fresh, healthy and spot-free. Ola Jordan and Nicole Scherzinger are fans. We have tested it and are very impressed with the results.

Eye of Horus Husk Brow Define
huskbrowdefinereyeofhorus

eyeofhorus brow definer

brow liner

Australian make-up brand Eye of Horus has just launched its own brow offering: the Brow Define. This is a brilliant brow definer. Slimline to make realistic strokes and it lasts. We were very impressed. Even better, the formula is enriched with Castor Oil, known for its hair growing properties. There is a handy brush on the other end to blend and it is long-lasting and smudge proof. It is also paraben-free. Win-win.

horus

£15 from beautybay.com

 

Biotrue ONEday Contact Lens
biotrueonedaylenses

New to the market is Biotrue ONEday, a premium disposable contact lens developed by Bausch + Lomb.

The Biotrue lens is made from HyperGel™, a new material which helps maintain eye health because it works like your eyes:

  • Matches the water content of the cornea
  • Allows optimal oxygen transmission
  • Mimics the protective lipid layer of the eye to eliminate friction and improve comfort

Biotrue ONEday is available from Asda.com and independent opticians.

 

 

 

Fruit & Veg 4 Port USB Hub | Cool Things

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Mixing the kitsch with the cool, we love these fruit and veg USB hubs.

Get your five a day a different way with the 4 Port USB Hub.

4 Port USB Hub allows quick access to power up your external drives for fast and simple communication & connection.

redhotchillipepperusbhub

The portable power port that allows you to get geeky and surround yourself with genius tech. Great for a splash of summer in the office, or just a fun stocking filler.

peausbhub

Make your work place & home life more efficient – charge up your music device with the ‘Red Hot Chilli Pepper’, find multiple charging ‘easy peasy’ & ‘go bananas’ over the simple way of charging your entire tech at once.

banana4portusbport

Are you a gadget gizmo but just don’t have enough plug sockets? Got so much equipment it’s coming out of your ears? Maximise productivity in the workplace and keep on the go with fully driven devices.

This multi-socket will splash colour amongst your gadgets, funking up that drab desk.

Compatible with both MAC and PC and compliant with USB 1.1 and 2.0 specifications, this port will bring fruitfulness to your gadgetry.

Funk up with fresh fruit for only £9.95 from www.prezzybox.com