This month Feeding Boys loves…

Gran Luchito new product alert

I’m already a fan of their products using rare Mexican chillies. The paste is incredible stirred into mayo and brushed onto meat or halloumi and griddled, or mixed with butter and slathered on corn on the cob… there is no end to my experimentation.

Their new lime chutney is even tangier so you can do all of the above and more! I splatted it around a salad of feta and parma ham when I had a stinking cold this month and it thoroughly cleared my tubes and gave me a much needed flavour hit having not been able to taste anything for 24 hours!

The new oil is a classy affair, so perfect for making salad dressings with a spot of lime juice and chopped coriander, for the basis of pasta sauces to give them a spot of punch or how about drizzled on top of pizzas?! We took it camping and as you can see it made our sausage supper something a little bit spesh.

If you have friends who love their chillies, get them these as a gift and they’ll love you forever!

The oil is £7.99 for 250ml and the Lime Chutney is £5 for 140ml jar. Both available from Amazon

Veronica’s Crunchy Creatures

Arlo and I are the crisp fiends in the Feeding Boys house, so we were very keen to munch our way into the bags of Crunchy Creatures that go sent our way. Pleasingly big bags packed with bold cheesy flavours, they certainly hit the spot for me. Nutritionally they’re Gluten Free, Organic and have 40% less fat than regular corn snacks – whichever ones they are! AT 152 calories per bag they’re a bit out of my weight watchers league of acceptable snacks… I tend to stick to French Fries and Quavers as they’re only 2 points. However this means Arlo won’t have to share them with me, which is good news for him coz they’re delicious!

RRP £1.99 for a pack of 5. You can buy them online in boxes or find them at shops like Tesco and Spar.

Angela Malik’s Modern Asian Deli – the new place to lunch

A new and welcome addition to Ealing Green, on the corner where the Spar used to be that burned down in the riots a few years back.

I’ve been a couple of times now and my favourite thing is the salad bar where you can pick your protein – chicken tikka, chicken satay, bean burger – and then choose two of the available salads. Fresh, packed with flavour and a really healthy lunchtime pick-me-up. If you’re in Ealing and fancy a vibrant lunch, definitely check it out!

Angela also runs courses at the cafe which becomes a cookery school by night – it kind of folds out like one of the boys’ transformer toys with extractor fans coming out of the ceiling and worktops folding out of the walls – amazing!

Modern Asian Deli
26 The Green, Ealing, London W5 5DA
020 840 6799

Sainsbury’s wine in boxes…

I think wine in boxes can be too quickly dismissed as being naff, but there are some real gems lurking in those compact cardboard boxes. We took the Pinot Grigio Blush  and the House Shiraz on our first camping trip of the season and they were highly drinkable. The Blush was pleasantly dry and crisp without the sickly sweetness of some pink wines. The Shiraz was smooth and not headache inducing. Great value and perfect for camping trips and BBQs when volume is the key!

Both wines are £12.50 for 225 cl

A few weeks later, Sainsbury’s sent me wine in actual bottles – result! We tried…

Rose d’Anjou – a fruity French pink number from the Loire Valley that’s described as brimming with red berry fruit flavours with a herbal edge that balances things out. Think summer barbecues and picnics and you’re onto a winner with this one.
It’s a very reasonable £5.00 a bottle.

Priorat – a Taste The Difference Spanish red from Catalunya that’s powerful yet smooth, with rich vanilla, black fruits and hints of tasted almonds. It’s recommended to be drunk with game, roasted meats or a cheese board. We sank ours with an episode of Hannibal, who constantly seems to be drinking red wine too!
This wine really won us over and we’ll definitely be buying it… £11 a bottle.

Conegliano Prosecco Superiore – a lovely Taste The Difference Italian sparkler that we often buy for its light and lemony finish. It’s perfect for celebrations, goes well with vigorous canapé shovelling, or just a Friday night tipple for celebrating making it through the week!
At £10 a bottle it’s more attainable than full-on champers.

Thanks @SainsburysWine for sending it all over for us to try!

Metcalfe’s Skinny Topcorn

Popcorn has literally exploded onto the snack scene in the last year or two, with a myriad of gourmet flavours. I’m partuularly enamoured with Metcalfe’s Wasabi Glaze. Just enough wasabi to give you a sharp tangy hit, but not so much that it ignites your nasal hair. At 118 calories a bag it’s summer diet snack-tastic.

RRP £0.85, available From Ocado

Feeding Boys not so keen on…

Stinking summer colds, the fact that Sam has gone off oven chips and food styling in the heat.

Disclosure: Thanks to everyone for sending us this month’s samples to try… all opinions are our own and we have not been paid to write these reviews. I only include the products I feel strongly enough about to recommend.