It's a prawn thing!!

This months Degustabox contained 'Carnation Cook with It', which Nestle claim:

"Made using fresh milk, and with half the fat of single cream*, Carnation Cook with it! is a fantastic, low-fat cooking crème that's great for your favourite savoury dishes – from hearty soups and casseroles to pasta bakes and sauces."

So I decided to rustle up one of my favorite dishes 'prawn thing'. My friend Jen passed the recipe to me and over the time I've been doing it I've tweaked it and this is one of the final forms. Sometimes I add some spinach in at the end too. 

Ingredients: prawns (cooked or raw), 5-6 mushrooms, garlic (as much as you can handle), chilli (ditto), red onion, salmon (optional) and some sort of pasta/spaghetti, (I used chilli linguine that mum had brought me home from Rome) - we love a bit of spice.

This is one of the easiest, but tastiest dishes. Great for when you get home from work and just feel like laying on the sofa. Just a few simple steps. 

1. Pop a pot of water on the boil and add your chosen pasta to cook away whilst you do the 'hard work' 

2. Gently fry the garlic and chilli - top tip, put the garlic in whilst the pan heats, it stops the garlic hitting the pan hot and burning straight off. 

3. Add in the onion and gently fry until the onion softens slightly. 

4. If you're prawns are raw add them now to give them a few minutes to cook, otherwise add in the mushrooms for 1-2 minutes, followed by the cooked prawns (and salmon if you're going the whole hog).

5. Let this cook for a further 2-3 minutes before adding your cream, usually I'd use Créme Fraîche but as we're giving the Carnation Cook with It a go I added this. 

6. Lastly, if you're adding spinach now's the time, give it a minute or so before draining your pasta and mixing it through. 

Voilá, you're done. 

And the verdict on the Carnation Cook with It? I couldn't tell the difference if I'm honest. As this can be kept in the cupboard and has a good shelf life I think it's something that would make it's way into our monthly shop. 

This months box came with two of these so I'm keen to try something new, Carnation have a few suggestions on their website but if any of you lovely lot have any suggestions do let me know.

Degustabox - July Review

If you would like to try Degustabox for yourself and get a cheeky £3 off your first box just click here.

So I enjoyed my first Degustabox so much that I decided to stick with it for another month. In this months box I received: 

• 3 bottles of ZEO drinks (peach & grapefruit, citrus crush & lime zest) 
• 3 packets of Portlebay Kracklecorn (popcorn) (crispy bacon & maple syrup, sweet & salt, chilli & lime)
• 6 packets of Maggi sauces 
• Dr. Oetker Eton Mess and Violet Crystals 
• 2 Hornsby's Apple & Blueberry cider 
• Green & Blacks Dark Chocolate & lemon chocolate

Unfortunately a lot of this box won't get used straight away (Maggi's and Dr Oetker) and the popcorn will need to be sampled and reviewed by Jamie.

What I can review: firstly the chocolate. Dark chocolate isn't my thing BUT this was lovely, just a square or two totally satisfied any sweet craving I had. This I would possibly buy again. 

Secondly, Hornsby's apple & blueberry cider. At first I thought this was very 'odd' tasting but I have to admit half way through a cold bottle on a Friday night I was quite enjoying it. Would I buy it? Potentially. It makes a bit of a refreshing difference from my normal Rekorderlig mixed berry or strawberry & lime. 

Rudi enjoying the box again - pretty sure he's looking forward to it more than me!

My First Degustabox

Almost a month after receiving my first Degustabox I've gotten round to writing about it. 

(I actually get my second one next week!) 

A while back the lovely Laura over at TheLikelyLady did her own post on Degustabox and I was immediately interested. For £12.99 a month you receive a box of 9-12 food & drink items delivered to your door, what's not to love!? 

I'm always up for trying new things and this way it could be something I wouldn't have thought about trying before. 

My June box contained the following: 

Elizabeth Shaw Milk Chocolate Amaretto Flutes   
Urban Fruit - Pineapple

Be Fast Breakfast shakes - banana (2)   
Bear Alphabites cereal   
Strawberry Lambrini

Dr. Oetker Madagascan Vanilla Grinder
Veetee Egg Fried rice
Estrella Damm

and as an extra, Earl Grey Tea:Latte

 

 I found June's box was a nice mixture. You may notice that the Milk Chocolate Amaretto Flutes aren't pictured, these may have been consumed by my colleagues & I....

In a quick rating: 

Milk Chocolate Amaretto Flutes - 5/5

I'm not a massive chocolate fan if I'm honest. I have to be really in the mood but these....very tasty, very moreish and the calorie intake was pretty low, shame you want to eat a whole box at one.

Urban Fruit - Pineapple 

These are still in the cupboard unopened unfortunately. I'm not a huge lover of dry fruit and will probably keep these until one of my friends with kids visits as I'm sure they'd make a great healthy snack. 

Be Fast Breakfast shakes - banana (2) - 4/5

I had one of these shakes when I was in a rush and too busy one morning and failed to  have breakfast. It was very nice, great banana taste, a bit like a Yazoo milkshake, not too sweet and it didn't taste like it had 'stuff' in it. I'd definitely have these again.

Bear Alphabites cereal 

Neither J or myself are huge cereal fans, the occasional bowl of coco-pops once in a while is about as far as it goes. So, these are also in the cupboard awaiting the day that I crave some cereal again. 

Strawberry Lambrini

Currently chillin' in our beer fridge waiting for a summers evening to be be popped open. I enjoy strawberry flavored drinks and I'm sure I've had some other fruity Lambrini in the past that wasn't hideous so I am looking forward to trying this.

Dr. Oetker Madagascan Vanilla Grinder - 5/5

Getting this for amongst my box I was pleasantly surprised, vanilla is not cheap and to buy this alone would probably be about half the price of the box. So I'm squirreled this away for my next baking day. 

Veetee Egg Fried rice - 3/5

Rice, oh rice! As much as I think of myself as a decent cook, cooking rice is my MAJOR downfall. Want a home-made lasagna including pasta, sure. Steak, peppercorn sauce & home-made fries, def. Want fluffy tasty rice with that shredded chilli chicken I whipped up, no danger.

So you get the idea, micro-rice is my calling. And this was decent. I wouldn't favour it over good ol' Uncle Bens, it was a little on the dry side for my liking. But all in all, a good rice. 

Estrella Damm - 5/5

Now we're talking. 

A light, crisp, cold beer, perfect for these Summer evenings. This I would 100% purchase, no ifs or buts. 

Earl Grey Tea:Latte - 0/5

Lastly....I don't mind an earl grey tea, but this wasn't nice. The mixture didn't well, mix, as you can see from the lumps on the bottom picture. And it didn't taste very nice either, a few sips and it went down the sink.

Maybe it was my tea making skills, maybe different flavours would be nicer?! Either way this wasn't for me.

And finally - even the box went to good use. Rudi loved it and spends a lot of time in it with his toy mouse....he is an odd kitten. 

 

If you would like to try Degustabox for yourself and get a cheeky £3 off your first box just click here.