"Food for the body is not enough. There must be food for the soul."

The food we eat is so important in our house, not only for the change in lifestyle and weight loss for me and Mrs M but also for making sure the boys stay fit and healthy, we never eat take away and spend a lot of time preparing food daily, especially fruit and veg. I'm sure it can be quite annoying for the boys sometimes when we're in the kitchen, especially for Opeie as he can't really join in due to sharp knives and other dangerous objects. That was at least until the postman came last week with a special package for the boys.

We try our best to involve the boys in everything we do and  the boys are treated and spoken to like adults which we both feel is really important when communicating with your children. Anyway back to special package. We've really been enjoying our time writing for The Toadstool and we've been lucky enough to review some great items. The toys are timeless and classy and clearly a lot of thought has gone in to the items they have chosen to stock, Which as a blogger makes writing about the products very easy.

This time round was a great selection of Haba play food and as I expected, the arrival of the new playing items caused excitement throughout the house and the boys couldn't wait to get playing. The new play food has recieved plenty of attention, especially the Haba play food bread which has definitely become Opeie's favourite, he loves chopping it up and then sticking it back together.

The Haba food has been great for getting the boys to join in with our food preparation too. Chopping carrots together was lots of fun. It means that while the weather is great at the moment we can prepare our meals outside while the boys play and prepare their own food next to us giving us the chance to spend more quality family time together as a family (who wouldn't want that). The food itself is great, unlike wooden play food (that can be dangerous when thrown about if you have very young children) the Haba range is soft and safe and because of this the fruit and veg has a great texture. The Farfalle pasta, cheese and cooked meats selection are made of felt and are great when making a play sandwich or laying out a cheese or meat platter

The new play items had the boys straight on to thetoadstool.co.uk after play, looking at what other foods they stock and they were not disappointed by the extensive range that they offer, everything you need for setting up shop or your own michelin star restaurant. The role playing session has pushed us closer to the purchase of the ultimate play kitchen but as we are saving for other things at the moment we may have to hold off until Christmas. You may see another post cropping up soon where we have designed and made our own out of lingering boxes.

After dinner was prepared Seth tried his hand at a little food art and created a very handsome looking Stepdad using his new food. I especially love my meaty cheeks with piercings and the fish mustache (although I'm not sure it would smell nice under my nose).

Our healthy eating and food education continues and thanks to The Toadstool and Haba our family role playing just got a little more food orientated, yummy.