OTONE Aporto USB Powered 2.0 Speakers Review

OTONE is a UK founded company that are rapidly becoming a leading name in audio world with products designed to please gamers and hi-fi fanatics. 

OTONE have just released a new portable speaker that was distinctively designed for travelling and is also cleverly disguised as a micro system. The unit can be easily connected via USB and 3.5mm connection cables that are supplied. Aporto will be available online from www.otoneaudio.co.uk for £34.99.

Gadget Dad Verdict:

A lot of speaker systems claim that they are versatile and meet the needs of their users but don't always meet those needs. These speakers look stylish and I have had a couple of friends ask where I got them from.

Setup was easy and it is only a simple matter of plugging the sleek cylinder type shape speakers into the USB port of your laptop or computer for power and the 3.5mm jack for the sound to find their way through the good quality speakers. You can alternatively power the unit with batteries if you would like to use these on your iPhone or iTouch while in the park or on the move, wherever you need music to lighten up a cloudy day.

The clever design team of OTONE made sure this speaker unit will surely not go unnoticed. With a light pull the two speakers separate from the unit and presto you now have a micro system! I really like this clever design feature and i am sure other users of this product will love this feature too. It surely sets it apart from the rest.

The speakers do what they are supposed to do for the size and play good quality sound when you need to go portable!

Pros:

• Very clean and unique tube shape speaker unit.
• Truly portable where some other manufacturer units fail, you can also use batteries.
• Cleverly hidden "Micro System" setup.
• Clever little pull out stand.

Cons:

• Could improve a bit on the quality of the plastic grey bit that is exposed when the speakers are pulled apart.

Gadget Dad Rating: 7/10

Till next time
Gadget Dad

Sainsbury's Erica bakes Mini Double Chocolate Muffins Review

The first in a series of Sainsbury's new kids baking goodies reviews...

Sainsbury's Erica bakes Mini Double Chocolate Muffins with dark chocolate drops

Yummy mini muffins in less than 10 mins!!!

I got this to try out a few days ago, Funny Bunny has been excited and nagging me to let him make the "elephant cake boxes", I have been putting it off as I have been busy and thought this was gonna be a bit of a messy and lengthy process.

Poor kid... it was actually quite quick and not very messy, I didn't need to put it off at all!

Ready to go in the oven

The box has super simple instructions at the back, I read them out and my 4.5 year old carried them out like a breeze...all we needed was 1 medium egg, 10ml of milk and 5ml of oil in addition to the muffin mix in the pack! He stirred it all in a normal bowl and I helped him spoon the mixture into the little muffin cases that came in the box.

The box said 12 mins but we have a fan assisted oven so it was not even 9 mins and they were ready!!

Funny Bunny was very proud of the muffins he made, in between him and his little sister they disappeared in a flash! He did give me one and also saved the biggest one for daddy as he was so proud of his yummy muffins :)

Pros:

• Super easy to make
• Yummylicious
• Mini muffin cases included
• Packaging is exciting for the kids
• Dark chocolate instead of regular chocolate drops

Cons

• They could reduce outer packaging by about a third
• plastic used for inner packet is non recyclable

Verdict by my 4.5 year old: "They are yummylicious and I made them mummy!"

Monica xx

Plum Baby Organic Snacks Review

Last week I woke up (mighty early) with the postie delivering me a box full of yummy Plum Baby food!
I was delighted with the selection and couldn't wait for the kids to try it :)

We tried...



Multigrain Rings with Gouda & Cheddar
We only had a packet of these and as a result a lot of "it's mine!" and "Da da da da" *baby talk* and me *stealing* it on the sly from the kids (sshhh... don't tell anyone!).

The kids loved to pop their little fingers in the whole in the middle to eat them so it was a whole lot of fun and laughter eating these too!

These are a great alternative to all the other cheesy puffs that are full of nonsense and make your kids hyper. I love the ingredients, simple, organic, and with grains like quinoa and teff which you would normally not be able to get your little ones to eat :)

Organic corn 66%
Organic palm oil 10%
Organic Gouda cheese powder 7%
Organic Cheddar cheese 5%
Organic quinoa 4%
Organic teff 4%
Organic rice 4%

Not forgetting these totally gluten free too, so easy on those sensitive tummies!

Spelt Breadsticks with tomato and herbs & Spelt Breadsticks with mild Pecorino cheese

These came in a little box with 3 sealed packets inside, this is a great idea because I could pack an individual packet in my bag for when we went out.

For those that don't know spelt is the 'original' wheat, its what our ancestors ate back in the bronze age! Spelt contains more protein than wheat, and the protein in spelt is easier to digest. This means that some people who are allergic to wheat may be able to tolerate spelt. ( I learnt this in my days working as Manager in an organic haven Planet Organic)

Both of these were tasty, yummy and the kids loved them too!! Ok ok so I "stole" some of these too... guilty as charged! lol (Great with hummus by the way ;) )

And both again with simple and healthy ingredients:

Tomato & Herb
Organic wheat flour 46%
Organic spelt flour 28%
Organic wholemeal wheat flour 19%
Organic tomato powder 2%
Organic extra virgin olive oil 2%
Yeast 1%
Sea Salt 0.7%
Organic herbs 0.6% (rosemary 0.5%, oregano 0.1%)

Pecorino Cheese

Organic wheat flour 46%
Organic spelt flour 27%
Organic wholemeal wheat flour 18%
Organic mild Pecorino cheese 5%
Organic extra virgin olive oil 2%
Yeast 1.5%
Sea salt 0.5%

These are for 12+ months so the salt in it is minimal and it didn't bother me, love the fact it has olive oil in it as its beneficial and we use it a lot in our house.

Savoury Bakes with carrot & Savoury Bakes with Parmesan

These are big packets with 4 little packets inside, again this was handy to put in my bag for days out and also very handy for Funny Bunny's preschool lunch boxes, he is a very fussy eater but these went down a treat!

Hidden in the carrot ones is carrot juice, broccoli and fennel which are things that my fussy eater won't always pick up, he hasn't even ever touched fennel, so it's nice to see them in there also pleasing to see that they have vitamin B1 in there too.

Carrot Bakes

Organic spelt wheat flour 35%
Organic wholegrain wheat flour 35%
Organic spelt syrup 8%
Organic sunflower oil 8%
Organic palm oil 7%
Organic carrot juice concentrate 5%
Organic broccoli 2%
Raising agent sodium bicarbonate
Organic fennel
Thiamin (Vitamin B1)

Again, nice to see spring onion and vitamin B1 in there.

Parmesan Bakes

Organic spelt wheat flour 36%
Organic wholegrain wheat flour 35%
Organic spelt syrup 9%
Organic sunflower oil 8%
Organic cheese 7% (Levanto hard cheese 5%, Parmesan cheese 2%)
Organic palm oil 4%
Organic spring onion 1%
Raising agent sodium bicarbonate
Thiamin (Vitamin B1)

So that is it for the snacks! We will let you know about the Plum Baby food we also got soon.

Pros: 

• Tasted great!
• No nonsense ingredients
• Organic
• Hidden veggies & super grains
• Handy packaging

Cons:

• Outer packet of the savoury bakes could be made of fsc certified paper/ cardboard instead of plastic

I also learnt that these are great healthy snacks for adults too, so when you go and buy some for the kids do them a favour and buy a packet for you too so you dont "steal" from the kids packets like I did!!!

These are stocked in most UK supermarkets and health food stores, you can also get them directly from www.plum-baby.co.uk

If you want to be a Plum Mum or apply to be a Plum Super Mum too go here an put my name in the code box Monica Strydom and you too can reveive special offers in their newsletters and get some free goodies by being a Plum Super Mum too! ;) 

Monica xx

Plum Super Mum ;)