Fancy a #Free Bowl?

Mccain Wedges fans are being invited to collect limited edition McCain Wedges sharing bowls in an exclusive on pack offer available in supermarkets across the country, the promotion started in July and will continue until late September 2013.

The Caribbean-inspired bowls are made from stylish ceramic making them the ideal centre piece at every barbeque, party or al fresco meal!

To start your collection, simply purchase any two 750g promotional packs of McCain Wedges, then log onto www.summerofsharing.co.uk to enter your unique codes and to claim your exclusive bowl, completely free of charge!

The McCain Wedges range includes Lightly Spiced, Sea Salt and Black Pepper, and Mexican flavours as well as limited edition McCain Caribbean Wedges which launched earlier this year...

The lovely folks at Mccain are sending me a bowl to enjoy some summer dining in and have offered me one to give away too.

Simly follow the rafflecopter instructions below....

Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

A Summer BBQ - The #charcoalchallenge

The weather we have had recently is just perfect for al fresco dining so when moneysupermarket invited me to take part in their charcoal challenge I jumped at the chance to host a Summer BBQ!

We were given £50 to show how creative we could be and throw a good old out door shindig for family and friends! I wanted to show just how creative you could be on a budget, so set out to create a varied selection of outdoor culinary delights that catered to both our vegetarian and meat eating guests...

I like to support our local community so although we did visit the supermarket to buy some of the food, we also paid a trip to our local Deli to buy the hummous, feta and halloumi cheeses and some bread.

For the meat eaters we had burgers, sausages and chicken drumsticks to go on the barbecue. These were all purchased  fresh from the supermarket, although there was a variety ready marinated meats to purchase these were much more expensive, so I bough plain drumsticks a threw together a marinate myself using olive oil and herbs and spices that we already had in! Saving some pennies and (i'm told) they tasted fab!

When it comes to vegetarian burgers and sausages I find that I actually prefer the frozen ones so for just £3 later we had six Glamorgan sausages and 4 bean burgers.

I also chopped up some peppers, mushrooms, cherry tomatoes and halloumi and laid them out with soaked bamboo skewers ready for guests to create their own Veggie Kebabs! These were a huge hit with adults and children alike, I must admit I went back twice (but no mushrooms on mine! Urgh!)

To compliment the food from the BBQ I made a delicious Cherry tomato and Goats cheese tart, a mouthwatering Feta and Beetroot Salad, Hassleback potatoes, a selection of crudites and dips and some crisps and popcorns to nibble on, yum!

Of course we couldn't forget about those with a sweet tooth so the children came on board to help me make some gorgeous but simple summery deserts including fresh fruit and milk frozen ice-lollies, caramel covered popcorn and mini strawberry ice-creams with multi-coloured sprinkles and fresh strawberries.

Can you believe  all of the above came to just £30?! That left us £20 to spend on drinks! We had just received our brand new Sodastream that I was lucky enough to win from Britmums Live so the children had some great fizzy fun with that and the sample syrups that were included, while I bought a nice  of Rose Wine and a case of Carling zest with some fresh limes for the adults! 

Perfect for sitting in the sun and enjoying one of the hottest days of the year!

We had a really lovely time, enjoyed the food and drink and the sun provided the entertainment! We had the paddling pool out in the garden, a ball to kick around and a water-pistol to cool us down (this was particularly popular with the adults!

Thank you Money Supermarket for giving us the chance to show that you can throw a great BBQ on a budget!

We were sent £50 by moneysupermarket.com to take part in the challenge.

Feta & Beetroot Summer Salad Recipe with Fresh Gourmet

So Summer is here! And what better food for al fresco dining than a yummy salad? The lovely folks at Fresh Gourmet sent me a selection of their range of croutons and toppings that are perfect for summer salads, they include three delicious crouton flavours – Basil Pesto, Cheese & Garlic and Cracked Black Pepper as well as crunchy Crispy Onions. They challenged me to create an experimental salad recipe using at least one of their products and of course I accepted!

As a vegetarian I find that salads feature in quite a lot of my meals, especially over the warmer summer months. I absolutely love a traditional Greek salad and have developed quite a few variations over the years that our whole family enjoy!

I decided to keep a Greek or Mediterranean feel to my salad but create something a bit different. One of my favourite root vegetables is beetroot, it's just so versatile, I love it roasted in the winter, in salads in the summer and in chocolate cake all year round!

I decided to team beetroot with Greek Feta for a yummy summer salad with a twist!

Ingredients:

50g of fresh peppery rocket

3 large salad tomatoes 

1/2 cucumber

100g Greek Feta Cheese

100g Sweetfire Baby Beetroot

80g of green Halkidiki Olives

Fresh Gourmet Sea Salt and cracked Black Pepper Croutons

For the dressing:

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Balsamic Vinegar

Oregano

(quantities to taste)

Preparation:

After washing all of the ingredients and chopping roughly into large chunks, I started with a bed of rocket in the serving bowl, then took the tomato, cucumber, feta, beetroot and olives together and tossed them together in a colander before adding on top of the rocket. I then completed this this tasty offering with a generous sprinkle of of the fresh gourmet croutons.

For the dressing I mixed Extra Virgin Olive oil with Balsamic vinegar and added Oregano to taste, a light but tasty dressing for this summery salad...

Tasting:

All that was left was to taste it! It looked so pretty I didn't want to spoil it, but I soon gave in and I can honestly say it tastes even better than it looks!! I was a bit concerned that the multitude of strong flavours would be a bit much and overpower each other but that was not the case! The sweet beetroot and salty Feta complemented each other perfectly and the peppery rocket was a lovely contrast with the refreshing cucumber and tomato. The well seasoned crispy croutons were an ideal topping, giving the extra bite needed to complete this summer delight. I can see this being a regular for us over the next few months! But don't just take my word for it, my children gave it the thumbs up too... 

Ben, 5 said..."It's really cool and tasty" while Elizabeth, 2 simply went with "More, please?"

The Sea Salt and Cracked Black Pepper croutons are just one of the new range from Fresh Gourmet, I also really enjoyed the cheese and garlic croutons, which were a lovely addition to a butternut squash soup adding a bit of Italian flavour and extra crunchiness while still taking on the yummy taste of the deliciously sweet squash. The Ciabatta croutons  had a really light and crispy texture and although these were yummy with a more traditional Caesar salad they also made a moreish snack on their own and I found myself eating them straight from the packet!

The final product in the range offers something a bit different but just as delicious! The crispy onions were the perfect addition to our burgers and sausages at a recent BBQ they gave added texture and helped to bring the flavours of the meat to the forefront (so i'm told, I had some on a veggie burger!)

Overall I was really impressed with the products on offer from the Fresh Gourmet range and I can see them becoming staples in our cupboard as they are so versatile! Also being baked and not fried makes them a healthier alternative.

At just £2 per large 80g pouch (that is easily resealable for freshness) from most supermarkets, they are a great way of adding some extra texture and taste to a variety of different meals.

So what salad will you be trying them with? Do let me know what you think of my Feta & Beetroot Salad recipe if you try it...

Keep cool x

                                                                  I've linked up with... 

Click on the badge to check out some more great recipes x
I was sent a selection of fresh gourmet products to use in this recipe.