Create Your Own Halloween Freakshake

There has been a huge trend in 'Freakshakes' over the last few years. These super-sized, sugar-loaded milkshakes have proven to be very popular in tearooms, cafes and diners across the country. My children have been nagging my for what feels like forever to try one but I am never keen on their price tag (usually around the £7-£8 mark) and know they will take FOREVER to finish them. So when Marigold challenged us to create a Halloween recipe, I thought this would be the perfect chance to indulge my children and let them create their very own freakshakes after school. I already had most of the ingredients in my cupboard so our homemade freakshakes only worked out at around £2 each which is a bargain. 

Ingredients

The beauty of making your own freakshakes is that you can pretty much use anything you have in the cupboard or fridge. Here's what we used to make ours:-

• Chocolate milk
• Mint flavoured Angel Delight
• Vanilla Ice Cream
• Cream
• Popcorn
• 'Ghost' Marshmallows (from Sainsburys)
• Mr Kipling Slime Cake Slices
• Strawberry Sauce
• Halloween Cake Sprinkles (from Waitrose)
• Doughnuts

Creating your own freakshake is a very messy business indeed but luckily I had my stash of Marigold Cleaning Products on standby in case of any emergencies......

Method

Now there isn't any real method involved in creating your own freakshakes - you just have to sit back and let the kids get on with it. It's a chance for them to indulge their inner-chef. Here are some of the ideas we had........

Why not draw a scary face on your glass

Use Angel Delight as your base

Crumble up a piece of cake and sprinkle on top of your freakshake

Use Strawberry Sauce as 'blood'

My children really went to town with their creations. I know it's a lot of sugar but for a one-off Halloween treat, I think it's fine (just make sure they brush their teeth afterwards). Plus if your children are anything like my three are, they won't actually eat most of it - the fun is all in the creating.

Things did get a little messy

I will be completely honest when I say that freakshakes aren't for everyone - they certainly aren't something I would ever indulge in. I think they are kind of like marmite - you love them or hate them. I'm in the hate camp but my three children are firmly in the love camp.

Harry, Heidi and Jack honestly said I was 'the best mum ever' for letting them loose on their own creations. Just look at their happy faces.

I would say we spent around 30 minutes creating our freakshakes and then another 10 minutes dissecting them to eat then before I knew it, the kids had ran outside to play with their friends and had left me with the aftermath (which wasn't pretty).

I got to work straight away with my Marigold Wiper Upper which is a super absorbent and deep cleaning cloth with microfibre power. I have to say I was impressed and this cloth is a super all-rounder.

Next up for the larger spills, I went for the Marigold Thirsty Sponge which is extra absorbent and perfect for wiping spills - I was VERY impressed that it wiped up this ice cream, sticky strawberry sauce and sprinkles in one go.

Then it was a quick once over with my Marigold Squeaky Clean which gives a fabulous streak free finish - again I was impressed at how quickly my dining table had been returned back to normal and all without the need for any liquid cleaners or sprays.

Oh my goodness! Look at the dishes! I was not looking forward to this. However I picked up my trusty Marigold Wash and Wipe and was good to go - my glasses were squeaky clean in no time.

I will admit, I was scared at the prospect of letting the kids go crazy with their creations. There was mess EVERYWHERE but you know what, it's just mess and it soon wiped up. It was 100% worth it to see them happy and having fun. The kids gave their freakshake recipe a massive 10/10 so it gets the huge thumbs up from us.

Let me know if you ever let your children loose in the kitchen and if you have any ideas for your own Halloween Freakshakes. 

Disclosure: This is a Collaborative Post

The Little Fishy | Mobile Fish & Chips with a Modern Twist

This weekend we headed across the North East on a mission to hunt down as many Great North Snowdogs as we could find using public transport. We were pretty successful (blog post coming soon) but let me tell you - Snowdog hunting is tiring and hungry work. We ended our afternoon with a walk from North Shields Fish Quay (where we ticked Guide Dog & Skipper from our list) to Tynemouth - it's a beautiful walk and nice and short for little legs. It's also a chance to appreciate the stunning North East coastline.

Before we knew it we had arrived at Tynemouth Station. There is a popular market here every weekend selling everything from homemade crafts to children's toys, antiques, collectibles, books and food. It's definitely worth a look around and the sort of place you can find unique & quirky gifts or treats. 

There are a few different places selling hot food in the market but on today's visit we had been invited to try out Fish & Chips from The Little Fishy.  You'll find this mobile Fish & Chips van at Tynemouth market most weekends (on the Tynemouth village side) and also at Gibside, Staithes Cafe and other food events throughout our region (keep an eye on The Little Fishy Facebook page for exact details of where they'll be). You can also hire The Little Fishy for weddings and events.

In my opinion, all the best places pick one sort of food to focus on and do it well and The Little Fishy is the perfect example of this. Serving up a selection of modern twists on fish and chips, I think they are certainly onto a winner.

We ordered their special cod bites, chips and drink deal which was a BARGAIN at £4.50. Fish is locally sourced from North Shields Fish Quay up the road and then coated in panko breadcrumbs before being fried in rapeseed oil. The result is a what feels like a lighter version of fish and chips and doesn't leave you with that horrible bloated feeling you can sometimes get when indulging in this treat.

Michael and his team are super friendly and really passionate about what they do. It's certainly not my idea of fun standing in a van cooking hundreds of portions of fish and chips every weekend but these guys make it seem like fun and are happy to chat and give recommendations.

I would love to give a special shout out to their homemade tartar sauce (which was recommended as a side). Absolutely divine and so much better than the version we have in a jar at home.

Everything is cooked to order so as fresh as can be. Some people were ordering and then popping back in 10 minutes or there are tables and chairs nearby and the staff will shout you over when your food is ready. We ordered 3 portions of the cod bites and chips between the 5 of us and it was the perfect amount for a lunch time snack.

The Little Fishy receives a huge thumbs up from us - fresh, local, delicious and budget friendly. What more could you ask for?

After lunch we had a quick browse around the market and picked up a couple of treats for the weekend at home before catching the metro back home.

If you are heading to Tynemouth Market or spot The Little Fishy at any events across the North East, I would highly recommend giving them a try. In fact their fish and chips are so tasty, I would make a special trip just to see them. We have our eyes on the ultimate fish finger sandwich next time.

Disclosure - we received a complimentary lunch in return for an honest review.