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Kuxxin Subscription Box- A Review

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As you may know, I have been trying for the past few months to eat better, exercise more and generally, treasure the body I have been given so when Kuxxin approached me, enquiring if I would like to review their organic subscription boxes, I knew I was onto a good thing.

You see, I tend to overlook myself and almost never indulge in healthy, organic snacks on a regular basis as they do tend to be quite dear and I always prefer to see that money going towards something that will benefit us all as a family.

The Kuxxin subscription boxes are a treat in a box, for sure. Their 120g pouches of dried, organic fruit, granola and coconut, cranberries and chocolate drop trail mix come in handy for breakfast and also for mid-day snacks. They can easily fit into your gym bag (if you are the gym bunny type!) or be handed into small, grubby hands when out and about exploring. I am sat here, nibbling on my delicious dried mango so I guess they work perfectly for office folk too ;-).

How have we been using our Kuxxin?

The Flaxeed and Hemp Granola is absolutely lush and has been making for delicious breakfasts on its own. Some mornings, we have added the trail mix on top of our porridge for that extra flavour kick but the mix can be added onto salads as well, as you can see in the picture below. As I said, the dried fruit is a very handy snack to take and have everywhere.

Salad Kuxxin

Photo courtesy of Kuxxin

The boxes are priced at £24.95 per month and the lovely people at Kuxxin are offering a generous 25% discount with the discount code HM25 if signing up for a Kuxxin snacks subscription following this post. The 25% discount applies for month to month subscriptions. A 3 months subscription will receive 1 month free and a 6 month subscription will receive 2 months free.

If improving your snacking and consequently your general health is on your priority list, do give Kuxxin a try, we have found the products brilliant!

Disclosure: we were sent a Kuxxin subscription box for the purpose of this review. The opinions expressed are entirely our own.

On Pan, the movie and the fear of Death

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On Sunday, Emma and I took the car into Belfast, on a very quiet and bright morning and went to see Pan, the movie released last year.

Emma knew of Peter Pan, of course and had watched the classic version of the film several times but you can never beat a Disney movie!

We had booked our tickets online via the Odeon Kids’ Cinema and paid £3.00 for both of us, so it was an extra bonus realising that we were the only ones watching Pan, as we got to sit in the comfy seats and chatted to our hearts’ desire, without disturbing anyone.

Emma was engrossed from the word go and although she found some elements spooky, like the pirates kidnapping the boys from their orphanage dormitory at night and of course, cruel Mother Barnabas, she thoroughly enjoyed it and spoke about it for the rest of the day.

What did I come away with myself, as a bereaved mother?

I picked some golden nuggets that continued to simmer in my head over the weekend and came to some very interesting conclusions.

First of all, Blackbeard and his Utopian kindgom, built on the intense labour of thousands of boys and grown up men, made me question our fear of dying.

Bleackbeard, just like the wicked witch in Rapunzel, is obsessed with staying young and stops at nothing in his pursuit of eternity.

Child labour. Manipulation of ideologies and promotion of a fake “free” land in exchange for personal gain. Abuse of power, control and killing of anyone who shows noncompliance.

Blackbeard does it all and more.

Why?

Because he is afraid of what lies beyond the grave. As simple as that.

In complete contrast, the native population of the island he had decimated systematically, has another view of life. When faced with death, the wise old man of the village proclaims it as “the biggest adventure yet.”

I am not writing this to encourage or promote suicidal thoughts. I am writing this because it has dawned on me, on Sunday, while watching a kids’ movie with my daughter , that I have had this wrong all along.

Death is not to be feared. Death is never the end but the mere beginning of the biggest Beyond adventure.

Yes, I still fear the pain of leaving or seeing a loved one dying. I now know very well the devastating impact the separation has upon the ones left behind.

And in the same thought thread, I also know why God never intervenes to “save” us from Death.

I understood this clearly last night, while I was modeling clay and painstakingly creating visual reminders of my grief journey in the Belfast Children’s Hospice.

The pleasure for God has always been in creating, in giving breath. That is His ultimate talent and life is to be seen simplistically, if you choose, as a gift.

Death, in the same consequential pattern, is part of the process. What is born must die. What had breath must cease existing one day. Laws of life.

Our calling, if you want to see it as such, is to accept both aspects.

So stop praying. Stop begging. Stop tormenting yourself with thoughts of death as punishment.

Instead, just choose to live fully and beautifully what was given to you. No matter how long or short your journey will be, make the most of it by simply being in it, consciously and intensely.

As for me, I dream of a boy with light hair and blue eyes who, just like Peter Pan, is proud to be “his mother’s son” and whom I will meet again one day, with plenty of tales of life well lived. Because his death has opened my eyes to life.

An Easter Egg Hunt with Monty Bojangles

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This year, March will be full of celebration and cheer: first, we had Mother’s Day and now, we are all getting excited about the fast approaching Easter school holidays and the compulsory chocolate eggs :-).

When Monty Bojangles approached me and asked if we would like to review their new Easter egg range, what do I think I said?

Of course, a big resounding YES, what else?

So, what are the flavours we were enticed with, first of all:

  1. The Flutter Scotch  combo is a delicious Easter egg, made with Belgian milk chocolate which accompanies a selection of Flutter Scotch cocoa dusted truffles.This is by far my favourite and the truffles, which I had to smaple for the purpose of this review 🙂 are absolutely divine! IMG_0326
  2.  The Scrumple Nutty Truffle, comes also with a chocolate egg and a selection of Scrumple Nutty cocoa dusted truffles this time.IMG_0321
  3. The Berry Bubbly: the chocolate egg accompanies a selection of Berry Bubbly cocoa dusted truffles. IMG_0345
  4. The Choccy Scoffy, finally, is again, the same delicious milk chocolate egg which comes is a very pretty box, just like the previous 3, along with 80 g of  French cocoa dusted truffles this time! I think this will be Emma’s favourite, for sure, she is a hard core chocolate addict and this is definitely up her street! IMG_0337

I have been waiting for almost a week for a good, sunny day and this morning, when I saw the clear skies, I knew I had to make the most of the opportunity.

Emma was supposed to accompany me on this Easter egg hunt but you know what, we will simply have to do it again, closer to Easter!

As you can see, the eggs come packaged in absolutely beautiful boxes, the bright colour scheme and design have already earned recognition and Monty Bojangles the Red Dot Design Award in 2015. The stunning and intricate decorations is what makes them stand out from the crowd!

The Monty Bojangles Easter egg range can be purchased on the website. They each retail at £6 per box and are worth every penny, in my humble opinion!

Disclosure: we were sent the chocolate eggs for the purpose of this review. All opinions expressed are entirely my own.

A Mother’s Day surprise from Tesco

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Since it is International Women’s day today, I find it appropriate to write about the absolute treat Tesco organised with Alex’s help as my special Mother’s Day surprise.

It all started with a lovely email from their marketing team, asking for Alex’s email and having all to do with Mother’s Day. I am not daft, who does not like surprises, right, so I was quick to connect the two parties and let the whole thing in their apt hands.

Last Friday afternoon, a beautiful parcel arrived but I was not allowed to have even a peek in, as it came with strict instructions to be opened by Alex and Emma, close to Mother’s Day.

Saturday morning they decided to organise a rehearsal for Mother’s Day and I got treated in bed with beautiful porridge, loads of fresh fruit and freshly squeezed orange juice and loads of grins from both of them 🙂

Sunday was even better!

With the other bits that arrived in the hamper, Emma wrote me a beautiful card and delivered a hand decorated cookie while Alex used the bagels and one of the recipes included to treat me to cooked breakfast in bed again!

When I thought things couldn’t get any better, Alex announced that he was going to cook lunch too and so he did! A beautiful roast chicken and potatoes in the oven, all bought with the gift card the Tesco team had generously included in the hamper as well!

I am sorry, my photos were all taken with my iPhone, I am afraid, as I did not want to stage a photo shoot and spook the cook :-)!

Thank you, Tesco, for allowing my family to express their love on Mother’s Day in this way! I have truly appreciated all the pampering and your kind gesture made our day beautiful!

The Way Back Home with The Belfast Children’s Festival

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If you remember, back in February the lovely people at Young at Art invited me to the launch of their 18th annual Belfast Children’s Festival. I found out loads about what was planned for the festival this year and we were also invited to attend and review one of the shows in March.

Time flew by fast and last Friday, on a gorgeous spring day, Emma and I took the train into Belfast and went to see the adaptation of The Way Back Home, by Oliver Jeffers at The Lyric Theatre.

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Gorgeous day

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In all honesty, I should have been better prepared. I should have bought and read the book with Emma before we went to see the show but it had been a busy week for this mummy and it just didn’t cross my mind. We love Oliver Jeffers, we have several of his books already and like his work and original illistrations. The Way Back Home is beautifully illustrated as well and has so many subtle messages for the young reader, about friendship and camaraderie in front of adversity.

Here is the initial story read on the CBeebies Story Hour:

The show, put together by Branar/Teater Refleksion was an absolute delight in itself. The puppets looked amazingly true to story, so to say, and were the very embodiment of Oliver Jeffers’ rich imagination. The bits the two artists had added, as their own interpretation of the story, complemented and never clashed with the original version. The magic bed scene was adorable and had the children in giggles of laughter.

If there is one thing that maybe could have been adjusted was the admission age. The show had to be played in absolute darkness, so the special effects can be fully visible and some of the younger audience found that spooky. The show captured the imagination of older children while the young ones found it hard to keep quiet and still, as we had all been required at the start.

Emma struggled with the additional noise and got distracted several times. She was also unsure of the dark but afterwards, on our own way back home, she kept mentioning “favourite bits” from the show, a sign that it had all been internalised and most importantly, enjoyed.

Thank you, Young at Art, for having us over and for such an imaginative and beautiful show!

Disclosure: we have been given two tickets to the show for the purpose of this review. All opinions expressed are entirely our own.