I am forever trying to come up with different dinner ideas, because I don’t know about you lot, but it always feels like we have the same meals every week and it gets sooooooooo boring. Part of the problem is the kids, in that one likes one thing, the other doesn’t, one doesn’t like things too spicy, the other does; one doesn’t like this veg, the other one does… I’m sure you get the idea.
I refuse to make different meals for everyone and I can often be heard yelling, “this isn’t a restaurant!” while trying to pass butternut squash off as carrot or hiding mushrooms in pasta sauce. My kids aren’t stupid, they can sniff out what they don’t like before I’ve even placed the plate on the table. But I’ve had enough of slightly tweaking meals, and I am determined to get them eating something other than tuna pasta bake and pizza. To be fair my 12 year old son is pretty good when it comes to food, although he has now decided he doesn’t like most healthy stuff, but I’m pretty sure that’s a choice thing rather than him not actually liking it – let’s face it we’d all choose cake over courgettes if we could get away with it right? My 10 year old daughter on the other hand has always been a fussy little blighter and so she is the one I need to convince to try new things and to try and up her spicy food tolerance in a bid to move her on from ‘plain food’.
One of the perks of being a product reviewer is that I, and therefore the rest of the family, get to try out products that we may not perhaps have chosen to buy ourselves. And because it’s all in the name of ‘work’ the kids basically just have to go along with it… result!
The latest products to be sent to me are a selection of spice mixes from Green Saffron, giving me the perfect opportunity to try out some spicy offerings on my brood.
The Green Saffron Spice Mixes
I was sent a selection of different spice mixes from their range, which included:
- Madras (medium)
- Tikka (medium)
- Korma (mild)
- Red Lentil Dahl (medium)
- Tikka (medium)
- Tandoori (medium)
- Bombay Potatoes (mild)
So to kick things off I went with the mild ones, because well I didn’t want to blow her taste buds too early on! What I mostly love about packet mixes is the convenience and the fact you get a really tasty meal with not a lot of effort. For example, the Bombay potatoes didn’t require any par boiling, it was simply a case of peeling, chopping, coating in oil, stirring in the spice mix to cover and then whacking in the oven for about 30 minutes. Seriously simple. And as you can see from the photo below, they look pretty darn decent even if I do say so myself.
Alongside this we had Chicken Korma and some Green Saffron Basmati Rice. Now I’ve got to admit, when I was cooking it I fully expected it to go down like a lead balloon with Miss fussy eater. She turns her nose up at onions and tomatoes, so knowing these had been added to the dish I felt certain she’d be having none of it. But how wrong was I! Amazingly, both kids demolished it….. ALL. Not a single scrap was left on their plates and not a single moan was had between them. There was no huffing and puffing, no waving their hands over their tongues to fan away the spice. They blinkin’ loved it!
Very High Praise Indeed!
It was so lovely being able to serve up a) a dinner that got eaten and b) something that was as equally tasty to the kids as it was to the adults. Obviously, you need to add a few ingredients yourself, for example the Korma also needed natural yogurt and some veggies etc. but it’s nothing you wouldn’t have knocking around the house anyway and you can adapt it to suit what you have got in your fridge. I was so impressed with the standard of meal it produced and if you’re looking for a bit of a Friday night fakeaway to help save a few pennies and a few calories (lockdown hasn’t exactly been kind in either respect has it?) then these spice mixes are absolutely perfect.
We have since tried out a couple of the medium spice mixes and I’m pleased to report that they too were met with smiles and empty plates, so as a mum I literally couldn’t be more happy with that. I’m going to save the other packets to cook up some kind of Indian extravaganza so that we can try a bit of them all and I can then bung any leftovers in the freezer for when I need some quick dinner options. After all with the return to school imminent, us parents could do with a few dinner tricks up our sleeves, right!?!
You can buy the spice mixes for £1.00 in Waitrose who currently have them on special offer for just 66p, which I think is an absolute bargain considering taste factor and the array of spices that are actually included within each packet. There’s no denying that putting together your own spice mixes is the ideal way to go about things and you’d be hard pushed to beat that in terms of quality and taste, but as a busy working mum of two I have not got the time nor the inclination to be faffing about with separate spices, when all I need do is tear a packet open and pour.
I was gifted these products to give an honest review and if you know me at all you’ll know I am always honest. So I can hand on heart say that I will be buying these spice mixes in future (if I can find them in the supermarkets of course) because any dinner that doesn’t cause arguments is a dinner worth hanging onto in my opinion.
For more information about these and all of the other products from the Green Saffron range go to https://www.greensaffron.com/
*products gifted for review
