Cheesy tuna spaghetti including giveaway

My boys are both very messy eaters. They will often use their fingers instead of their cutlery for food which I definitely don’t consider to be finger-food. So I was very interested to hear that there is a product targetted at children who find cutlery tricky to use. Although in my boys’ case, I think it is more down to laziness than difficulty.

This product is CleverstiX which are chopstick style child development cutlery and I have been sent a pair free to review. They come in three designs – Hello Kitty, Kung Fu Panda and this Science Museum one.

So I decided to cook a spaghetti meal for the boys to test the CleverstiX out, although they are also recommended for chips, fruit and vegetables.

Ingredients (serves 3)

225g spaghetti
125g garlic & herb soft cheese roule
40g sugar snap peas
100g broccoli
40g frozen sweetcorn
80g basil infused tuna
salt and pepper
1 tsp olive oil

Method

Chop the broccoli into florets.
Fill a large and medium saucepan with water.
Add olive oil to the large saucepan.
Bring pans of water to the boil.
Add spaghetti to large saucepan.
Once spaghetti is pliable enough, push under water with spoon and simmer for about 8-10 minutes.
Meanwhile add broccoli to other saucepan and simmer for about 6-8 minutes until tender.
After about 3 minutes add the sugar snap peas to the broccoli pan.
Defrost and heat the sweetcorn in microwave.
Drain the spaghetti and immediately mix the soft cheese and tuna through.
Drain the broccoli and sugar snap peas, then stir them into the spaghetti with the sweetcorn.
Season with salt and pepper.
Serve hot with grated parmesan and enjoy.

I demonstrated to the boys how the packet showed to hold the CleverstiX and then as we only had one pair, they took turns to try and eat their spaghetti with them. Although I had found them simple to use, apart from my fingers being too large for the rings to hold them comfortably, the boys found that the spaghetti fell out of their grasp initially. Both commented that it was actually easier to use a fork. However I think this is due to the boys now being experienced with cutlery and that these would be ideal for much younger children who are only just starting to develop the hand-eye coordination for cutlery. The boys both loved the design though.

Certainly son2 had difficulty when younger at nursery developing his grip for holding a pencil and again I can see how these would help with that issue too.

But I’ve promised son1 that he can take them with us next time we go out to eat in a Chinese restaurant, so he can copy me with chopsticks and get one up on his dad who always asks for a knife and fork.

The CleverstiX retail at £7.99 a pair which is a good value price in my opinion. They are currently only available in a right-handed design but left-handed will be launching early 2016. They are targetted at children age 3-10, although I would really recommend they are best just for children age 3-5 but great for older children learning chopstick control. And they are dishwasher safe.

CleverstiX have been endorsed by Ken Hom, occupational therapists and the National Handwriting Association.

And I’m hosting a rafflecopter competition to giveaway 5 pairs of CleverstiX chopstick style child development cutlery.

a Rafflecopter giveaway – Please click on the link to enter.

And you may see my other giveaways here.

CleverstiX is one of the brands of the Forma House portfolio of homeware and giftware. Take a look at their wide range of other products. I’d love to hear what you like best.

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Disclosure.  This post is a review of a product I was sent for free.  All opinions are my own.