Yu! - Jus Fruit Chews

Anytime we get in food samples to try out, there is an excitement that fills the air; we lose all manners and turn into children ready to devour our favourite sweets. With the these samples in particular, I was easily fooled into thinking it was a sweet and not a healthy fruit snack, better yet it tasted fresh off the tree. We here at The Amazing Blog love to find snacks that are just as delicious as they are healthy for us so when we heard about the Yu! brand, we just had to share them with you!

 The Yu! Jus Fruit bite-sized chews are made of 100% real fruit and are all under 90 calories per pouch! (Our bodies thank Yu!) They come in five delectable flavours like Blackcurrant, Blueberry, Cherry, Strawberry, and Mango, which was the office favourite. The Yu! brand offers a variety of healthy products that include dried fruit pieces, yogurt-dipped fruit bars and granola-style treats all loaded with 100% real fruit, giving you all the benefits and flavours of fruit while on-the-go. These fruit pieces are great for a quick snack, cereal topping, or even for baking.

The Yu! company got its start when mates, Philip O'Connor and John Toomey got the idea to create snacks that would appeal to children and adults alike, by sneaking in a full serving of fruit into these yummy snacks. So trying to fool your children into eating their fruits just got a bit easier for all you parents out there. The company also makes it a priority to stay away from those artificial ‘nasties’  like sugars, colourings and preservatives. Yu! is currently allowing fans of the snacks to vote online and  have a say in the next flavour to be offered by the company. Personally, I am rooting for Pomegranate but let’s see how that plays out. If you want to get your hands on these amazing snacks, the Yu! products are easily available in-store (in the home baking aisle, next to the dried fruit) or online at your local Tesco. And since the doctor recommends having your five a day, why not knock one out with these tasty snacks!

SKN_RG Enzyme Kit

edwinas thursday

Once again, here we are buzzing about another wonderful bee product. As you know, we here at The Amazing Blog are passionate about bringing awareness to a growing issue in the UK; our native bee population is on the decline and that can be detrimental to our future generations. Therefore, we are always excited to bring to you products that are made with bees in mind that give your skin that sweet, honey love.b2 Performance Skinwear is a British company that merges Buddhist inspired apothecary with scientific research using ingredients from ‘Earth, Sea and Bee' realms all the while  staying paraben and toxin-free.

We were lucky to try the b2 Sknrg Enzyme Daily Essentials Trio Mid Kit and this wonderful kit includes three products: AHA & Enzyme Cleansing Melt, Enzyme & AHA Toner and M+Collagen Day Cream. The treatment has anti-wrinkle properties as well as helps reduce skin irregularities (like scarring, pigmentation and pore size) and can improve skin tone and texture without leaving your skin dry. Whether you are trying to minimise wrinkles or prevent them, the treatment works well at renewing your skin to give it a youthful and healthy appearance.

The creators of the b2 line, husband and wife duo, Robert and Deborah Scott along with their team of researchers created this product with all natural and organic ingredients such as antioxidant packed seaweed, fruit enzymes, Alpha Hydroxy Acids (AHA). In order to ensure that their ingredients remain as organic and toxin-free, b2 follow organic farming standards when cultivating the plant extracts used in their products. The bee ingredients they use include seasoned honey, pollen and beeswax.  These ingredients are cultivated from the b2 apiaries housing various bees, but most importantly our native black honeybee.  b2  Sknrg  Enzyme  Daily  Essentials  Trio  Mid Kit is available here  for £39.50. Why not have your skin 'bee'  its very best and have all your friends buzzing about how you did it!

Friday Favourites - Chinese New Year

Kung Hei Fat Choi (Happy New Year) from all of us here at The Amazing Blog! This celebration marks the commencement of the year of the Wooden Horse.  The wooden horse can be seen as good or bad depending on our beliefs. Wood is seen as additional fuel for the already energetic horse, meaning it can inspire those to follow through with goals but can also spark conflicts. Whether you celebrate the date or just want to partake in the festivities, here at The Amazing Blog, we have found all you need to get your New Year’s celebration underway.

First off let’s address the superstitions surrounding the entry of a new year to the Chinese and what one should and should not do. Starting with the home, families clean the home as a way of saying out with the old and in with the new, as well as eliminating bad energy. Also remember to avoid any unpleasant situations or crying on this day since the first day of the year is said to be a precursor of the year to come. For you fashion conscious folks, be mindful not to wear black since the colour relates to death and instead opt for red as it represents luck and fortune. Also if you want to have some fun with ghosts and spirits, pop some firecrackers to scare the bad ones off. Your neighbour may not appreciate it but it’s a sure way of starting the year off with a bang!

chinese-new-year-cake

Regardless of your plans, let us suggest a themed recipe because clearly we here at the blog love anything in regards to food! We have found a Chinese New Year Cake Recipe Kit by Sous Chef.  Sous Chef is an online store dedicated to supplying hard-to-find ingredients and equipment to ‘adventurous cooks’ interested in exotic cuisines.  The cake mix kit includes the ingredients needed to make traditional New Year ‘sticky cakes’ known as Nian Gao, which consist of Chinese brown sugar, glutinous rice flour, coconut milk and the recipe card with instructions. These cakes have the consistency of Japanese mochi balls but can also be pan-fried and transform into tasty, eggy ‘bread’. The kit is available online here for only £5.00. Thanks to our friends at Sous Chef who have given us the recipe to share with you!

Ingredients:

225g Chinese brown sugar in pieces (half packet)

200ml water

200ml coconut milk (half can)

225g glutinous rice flour (half a bag)

Optional gold leaf, to garnish

This recipe makes 3x10 cm cakes, to serve 6 people.

Recipe:

1. Break down the brown sugar into small pieces, and place in pan with the water. Heat, stirring until dissolved and simmer for 5-10 minutes.
2. Remove the pan from the heat, and whisk in the coconut milk.
3. Measure out the glutinous rice flour into a large mixing bowl, and pour over the coconut milk and sugar mixture. Whisk well, until there are no lumps. The texture should be similar to a runny pancake batter.
4. With a little cooking oil, grease 3-5 small ramekins, remembering that 4 is an unlucky number! Pour in the batter, dividing equally between dishes.
5. Sit the ramekins in a large saucepan with a lid, and add water until it comes to half way up the sides of the dishes. Cover with lid, and simmer for 30 minutes on a low heat.
6. Remove from pan and leave to cool (they are also tasty at this stage!). Refrigerate. They will keep well wrapped in the fridge.

7. Optional: If you’re giving the cakes as presents, run a knife around the side of the cake, and lever it out. Place upside down on a circle of grease-proof paper, tie with string, and top with a little gold leaf.

Next we have the Wing Yip Five Beer Gift Pack, because what is a celebration without a little alcohol!  Perfect for any occasion and festivity, the pack contains beers from all over Asia in areas like Kirin Ichiban, Tiger, Sapporo, Tsing Tao and Singha. The supplier of the beer pack, Wing Yip, is the UK’s leading retailer of Oriental products with four locations in Birmingham, Manchester, Cricklewood and Croydon. The beer gift pack however, is only available online here for £7.98.

Minolta DSC

PandoraCharm

Food and drink are a must but not always enough to entertain your guests; we want your celebration to be everything but boring.  Amuse your guests and bring good fortune by flying a traditional Chinese dragon kite.  Airdynamics,  a UK based company specializing in hand-made kites imported from China, suggests that under Chinese tradition flying a kite during the celebration brings growth and good fortune in the upcoming year.  If kite flying isn’t your speciality, no worries!  These carefully crafted kites dual as entertainment and home decorations in the form of dragons, snakes and other animals.  Prices very based on size and selection, but orders can be placed here.

Finally we have a gift from us to you; well, it’s actually a gifting idea. Traditionally in Chinese New Year culture, a charm is given to family members and friends to optimize good fortune in the upcoming seasons.  Seeking good fortune themselves, the Pandora bracelet company has designed the Chinese Zodiac Horse Pendant Charm.  Yes, it is unique to 2014 but we find the Zodiac Horse doubles as an everyday “good luck” charm.  Even better, the horse charm will fill another space on the bracelets of your family and friends!  Find the charm at a local Pandora store or on Pandora for £35.00.

If you’re not hosting or attending a Chinese New Year party, pop by Chinatown to experience ‘the largest Chinese New Year party outside of China.’  Chinatown entertainment will include dancers, musicians, food and more!  Go here for more details.

We hope this has given you some inspiration for your Chinese New Year festivities!

Sparcel - Vitality Box

As the January blues are now coming to an end and our New Year’s resolutions are well underway, some of us at The Amazing Blog  are continually on the quest for a healthier lifestyle. Bearing this in mind we have searched out something rather special. We have discovered the Vitality Box, an organic detoxifying spa treatment by Sparcel. It is a blend of Pink Himalayan Salt, Cypress, Frankincense, Geranium, Grapefruit and Juniper which help get your lymph system flowing in order to enhance your body’s natural detox process. The Himalayan salts alone are loaded with Calcium, Potassium and Iron which are necessary to lead a healthy lifestyle.

 The Vitality Box is only one of five other detox boxes; Vitality, Relax, Smile, Ache and Cold+ Flu. Sparcel also offers customers the opportunity to request detox boxes tailored to their personal needs.

 These Natural Organic Spa Detox Treatments are delivered on a weekly or monthly basis to the luxury of your home. ‘Prepared by hand with love’ Sparcel products are created with 100% Pink Himalayan Salt, Olive and Sunflower Seed oils. 

 The Sparcel box includes a full body scrub and body or foot soak, an organic cotton muslin t-bag, natural loofa and organic wash cloth. Also included are tips and instructions for a clean lifestyle from The Book, which was written by Linde, the creator of Sparcel. The Book explains the foundation and philosophy for all Sparcel products.  The box sets are great gifts for both men and women since they are unisex. Sparcel products can be found here with the Vitality Box at £12.50 weekly or £14.00 for a monthly subscription. What a great way to kick start the New Year with a cleaner, revitalised you!

iWhite Instant

As a tea and coffee drinker myself, I often find myself with teeth envy a lot of the time, especially as so many celebs at the moment have perfected that pearly white smile. The Amazing Blog girls have been trying out a teeth whitening kit designed by iWhite to try and get our grins as striking as those individuals that caused that teeth envy in the first place…

iWhite is a gradual and gentle whitening solution due to its lack of peroxide, which is ideal if you have sensitive teeth, this often happens as we age or as we expose our mouths to things like fizzy drinks and sweets. It only takes 20 minutes so isn’t a hassle to slot into your morning and evening routine. There are lots of kits out there which require a much longer setting period, so that’s an issue iWhite have successfully avoided. The product is composed of 10 thin and flexible trays which are designed for a comfortable fit. I think it really depends on how badly stained your teeth are before hand, but don’t expect immediate results. It’s the kind of product that needs patience, and eventually you will be presented with those pearly whites you were after.

This is a great set if hygiene is important to you as it contains a new and revolutionary whitening gel which has been clinically proven to be dental safe and instantly effective. There is an 8 shade scale you can compare with, and our testers at The Amazing Blog noticed an increase of about 1 or 2 shades after the first 5 consecutive days, but if you stick with it you may see stronger results. The product is based on a unique Filmo-Crystallized Calcium technology and this is what encourages the speedy whitening effect. I am a big drinker, tea that is… My teeth aren’t naturally white either, so this is perfect for giving them a little gloss and boost of sparkle. I also have sensitive teeth, and the formula that creates this product helps to strengthen them and make that sharp sensation when eating ice cream, a little less unbearable. Both the front and the back of your teeth are whitened with this set so no strange patches to get your smile noticed for the wrong reasons.

You can read more about the iWhite on their website here and you can purchase the product at Boots and various good pharmacies  online here.