Schwartz 2 in 1 is a new range of spices you can add to dishes. They’re simple to use, there’s clear instructions and the Mediterranean Chicken Pasta and Cheesy Crumb is suitable for vegetarians, so I gave it a go.

Schwartz 2 in 1 is part of a BritMums challenge to use it in a dish you’d normally eat, but as we’ve been off our food for the last week we’re late. The Schwartz 2 in 1 range has some spice to cook with your food and a second sachet which you use as a topping – easy – even I can do this one.

I bought some Quorn fillets over the weekend with this in mind, and realised I needed more, so raided what was left in the freezer – which were two veggie burgers.

I chopped them up, and cooked them, adding some red pepper (the recipe suggests yellow but we had none). I also added a courgette and some carrot so it wasn’t too pasta and cheese-based and had more veg.

After that you’re meant to get the first sachet and mix it with some tomatoes and water – I used passata and didn’t read the instructions properly, adding it straight to my quorn and vegetable mixture – fortunately it wasn’t a disaster!

200g of pasta was being cooked, and once ready I added it to the mixture and transferred it to one of my favourite oven dishes.

After that it was a case of adding the other sachet of topping as well as some grated cheese (I used some Tickler Extra Mature – we discovered Tickler at the Devon County Show and I’ve been buying it since – and you don’t need as much as it’s really strong) , popped it under the grill for a few minutes and let it cool down.

Then we sat outside and stuffed our faces! (actually, we ate half, it’s really filling and very yummy). As a sidenote, Schwartz, if you read this, I’d never have bought this, assuming it wasn’t suitable for vegetarians – so I’m happy it is!

This post is a (very late so doesn’t qualify) entry for BritMums ‘What’s for Dinner Tonight?’ sponsored by Schwartz. Find out more about the new 2in1 mixes here. We were sent two different varieties to try, all opinions are our own.

We were given an opportunity to review the James Martin Spice Grinder from Wahl – and the most appealing thing to me was making my own spice mixtures and being in full control of what’s going in our food.

Firstly I checked through the various mixes in the recipe booklet. I’m vegetarian, but Shaun and H eat meat so it needed to be compatible for both.

Actually – and this is where something like cookery or chemistry would have interested me had they taught it like this at school – I was really impressed how the same spices can make such different flavours.

We’ve tried the Garam Masala and the Spicy Cajun recipes – though we adapted the latter so it wasn’t too much for H (and I didn’t have any oregano) – and was impressed with the results.

My next plan is to work out the ingredients and quantities in spices we use a lot such as the Schwartz Garlic Italian and make our own – my problem is time and having any, so it needs to be quick. My herb and spice collection is looking pretty good right now and is being used a lot more.

This morning we used it for some coffee beans and found it ground them up as finely as you’d get if you bought from a shop – and all the way through. This took 30 seconds of pulsing. Lovely!

The Spice Grinder is small and doesn’t take up space in the cupboard, the power cord wraps around the base and stores away with no bulk. As far as cleaning goes, it’s really simple to clean – though I wish there was a spout to channel your blended spice into containers (as I get it all over the counter). There’s a small attachment which can be used for smaller quantities too.

The question is, why have a spice grinder if you have a blender? I like how compact it is, you can do small batches (using the attachment on the top) and it also works on coffee beans. The spices will be blended finer too, and of course buying your spice in fresh means it smells better too. We used to use a pestle and mortar but time was our biggest issue. It grinds cinnamon and cloves well too and is controlled by pulsing rather than you leaving the mixture to blend.

The James Martin Spice Grinder retails for £17.49 and is available now.

We were sent the grinder for the purpose of review, all opinions are our own.

H is becoming quite obsessed with the Magic Belles – six really lovely little fairies who sprinkle their magic dust as they go, each with their own ‘wonder’. She’s been signed up with the FREE Flutterbud Club – yes, you read that correctly, and if you have a young girl then really truly sign them up as it’s lovely – every month H gets a picture, badge, sticker, book to make and loads of activities within that.

We were lucky to be chosen as one of a few bloggers to receive a special treat from Cupcake Belle – a recipe and of course the all-important things you need to make cookies.

Wednesday is my day off, so H and I headed to the shops and got to work…

When we got home I weighed out the main ingredients – so that’s 125g of unsalted butter, 125g of caster sugar, 250g plain flour and had a medium egg and some vanilla extract ready. In the meantime H laughed at me a lot when I told her to “put her pinny on”.

So H mixed the butter and sugar together

We cracked and added the egg together and she carefully measured the vanilla extract with her special measuring spoons

I helped a little bit with mixing, mainly guiding her to make sure she did it right, as she seemed to want to rush it rather than do it slowly and carefully. H was in charge though, never let it be said otherwise.

After that we sifted in half the flour and mixed, then the other half and eventually made the mixture into a dough. I then wrapped it in clingfilm and left it in the fridge for about four hours while we went out to soft play and swimming.

We got back and I needed the bigger rolling pin to get the dough rolled out, once we’d done it H cut a few cupcake shapes, and we laid them out on a tray to be baked – 20 minutes later and they were done.

Then all we had to do was roll out the icing and cut out more shapes and roll pink icing and trim it for the cupcake top (which I did as it’s a sharp knife) then get some water and make sure the icing was stuck to the biscuit, add sprinkles and a small circle of icing on top and voila! Sugar treats for us (which will be shared with my mum at the weekend as there’s lots of them!).

Thank you Magic Belles – the key thing I spotted with this was how much H felt like this was ‘hers’ – she had her special mixing bowl and measuring cups and tools as well as a hat and pinny, and she did the majority of the mixing and making – the recipe is simple enough for a three year old to manage (like H) without being complicated. Add to that she thinks Cupcake Belle is her favourite and really you’re on to a winner.

I like to work her hard 🙂

For more Magic Belles information head here

To join the excellent Flutterbud Club head here

We were provided with money for ingredients and goodies to make the cookies, all opinions are our own.