Three Days of Kindness with Kindness & Co

It's cold. It's grey. It's wet. Ugh… January blues. It's easy to look past the rubbish weather as you near the end of the year; all the twinkly lights and dazzling decorations are a good distraction whilst you count down the days until there's "NO MORE WORK." Get your coat, you're on holiday.

Christmas is all fun and games - fine foods and festive drinkies galore - but you don't come out the other side unscathed. It's the extra glug of brandy and the extra pour of cream - 'cause Christmas - not to mention the mountain of chocolate that could be rationed for the entire year (definitely won't), the never-ending cheese board (not another cheese sauce?), and the open bottles of port and sherry that demand to be drunk before they go past their best (yes, that's a thing).

And so we find ourselves in The New Year Awakening. The merry mischief's over and you're noticing a few more of those unwanted lumps and bumps. "Curse you mince pies!" *shakes fist* Thankfully, Cheltenham's health food gurus Kindness & Co are here to prise you out of that post Christmas gluttony rut with their new food program.

Branded as Three Days of Kindness, the town centre café prepares you three days of nutritious breakfasts, lunches and dinners, with snacks to curb those hunger pangs. Everything is made fresh daily, boxed up in recyclable packaging, and you can either collect or have it delivered.

Health kicks are all the rage at this time of year, and as we see the back of dry January - phew - it's about now that people give in to their fad diets. Whilst you're encouraged to avoid caffeine and alcohol over the three days, Kindness & Co's package is more of a focus on wellbeing rather than restricting yourself. The time you'd normally spend planning, shopping and cooking meals is now free to concentrate on your own health, and taking the decision making out of eating means you're more likely to stick to the plan (the £105 price tag is a good incentive too).

They say that by eating three balanced meals a day - no coffee, sugary snacks or post-work glasses of wine - and drinking 1.5-2 litres of water a day should not only help you get a better nights sleep, but you should feel lighter, energised and more alert. So before Kindness & Co officially launched their plan, I got the chance to test it out to see if it was as good as it sounded.

I'm no stranger to these kinds of programs, I've done juice cleanses with Jay Halford at The Core before (who's coincidentally now working with Kindness & Co) and also with Applebar in the centre of town (which I'd highly recommend). I'm used to cutting out the crap when I need to, and in doing the 5:2 Diet, I can feel satisfied on not a huge amount of food. And that's the first thing I noticed; there was quite a lot of food! Here are my Three Days of Kindness menu boxes:

Breakfast: Muesli, yoghurt, fresh fruit
Lunch: Quinoa Tabbouleh with coriander, mint, tomato and red onion
Dinner: Veggie chilli served with roasted sweet potato

Breakfast: Raspberry smoothie bowl with nuts and banana
Lunch: Butter bean puree, tomato salsa, wilted kale and roasted courgette
Dinner: Sweet corn fritters with baby spinach and tomato salsa

Breakfast: Fresh berry overnight oats
Lunch: Baked cauliflower, chickpea, rocket and cranberry salad with tahini dressing and pistachio
Dinner: Garden pea and mint soup

Snacks each day: A piece of fruit, a pot of nuts and two Kindness Energy Balls... I'm a sucker for an energy ball.

I looked forward to picking up each day's food; there's something exciting about being cooked for (The Chap should take note). And not having to think about meals for a few days felt like I gained some freedom (because I basically think about food 24/7). What a luxury. 

None of the boxes contained those free-from substitutes or lengthily-named ingredients, they were all just packed with familiar, inherently healthy foods. The cauliflower, cranberry and tahini salad was a joy to eat - I'm going back to Kindness & Co to get my hands on some more - and there was no chance you'd miss meat in the spicy bean loaded chilli. 

I tend to eat a lot of these things at home anyway, so for me it's not something I'd splurge on, but for those that want to hit the ground running, it's a great way to get a head start. That said, I was inspired to make a big batch of overnight oats for the rest of the week's breakfasts, and tomato salsa has been creeping into our dinners much more than it did before.  

I personally didn't lose any weight, but Kindness & Co isn't really about that. I did, however, feel more in tune with myself and really enjoyed having some "time off". Healthier and happier; that's what it's all about, right?

If you're interested in the Three Days of Kindness program, then check out Kindness & Co's website or pop in to chat to them. It's £95 if you collect - they're pretty flexible - or £105 to be delivered within a certain radius of Cheltenham. Easy.

KIBOUsushi via Deliveroo Cheltenham

Do you remember me telling you about Deliveroo Cheltenham's expansion at the end of last year? After spreading themselves further across Cheltenham, and adding a number of new cafés and restaurants, they ran a Christmas themed competition to get people talking about them… And talk about them they did.

Hypocritically, despite writing about Deliveroo's #SpotaSanta Campaign, I'd never actually used the service before - terrible, I know. But with a new account set up (along with a little thank you credit), I took the plunge.

Having to decide what to order in one restaurant alone is bad enough for someone like me, but with the Deliveroo App you have up to 27 menus at your fingertips at any one time! Luckily The Chap and I were on the same page, and it was only ever going to be KIBOUsushi.

I was given free reign with the ordering, with the only stipulation being that Chicken Katsu Curry had to be on the list. Picking out a few faves, and impulse clicking a couple of random dishes, our order was processed, and the countdown began.

On the app, like some sort of backwards sat-nav, we watched as our Deliveroo driver left the restaurant and headed over to our house. Peering out of the window in excitement, there he was! In just over half an hour, for a small delivery fee of £2.50, we were feasting like kings.

First up, Pork Gyozas (£5.70) - a personal fave - the chewy dumplings, with a crisp base, were tightly packed with fragrant pork mince, and came with an addictive vinegary dipping sauce. Another starter, Takoyaki (£5.95), was a first for the both of us; five deep fried batter balls with octopus in the centre, dressed with a Japanese-esque mayo and ginger. I don't think I've had anything quite like it before. I imagine they might be even better straight out of the kitchen at the restaurant, but nevertheless the bitesized spongy spheres will always be a must from now on.

We thought that eating the hot food first would probably be the best option, seeing as sushi isn't going to spoil if it hangs around for a while, so next we attacked the Chicken Katsu Curry (£13.95). It's not a something that I'd choose for myself - it's all a bit beige - but I do like the salty-sweet curry sauce,... And the fact that it's essentially a giant sliced up chicken nugget with rice.

With the volume of food we ordered, sharing a main course dish was definitely the right thing to do. Crunchy breadcrumbs encased the juicy white flesh, and there was more than enough sauce (which came in its own little tub) to coat every piece of chicken. I think it's the zip of acidity that I often miss in Japanese cuisine, but by pouring our leftover gyoza dipping sauce over the rice, it really hit the spot. I should say that The Chap was perfectly happy without my adjustments though.  

A variety platter - Jo Moriawase (£14.25) - is a good way to try a few types of sushi without committing to one particular roll. Our 12 pieces comprised of 4 slices of sashimi (2 salmon and 2 tuna), 4 nigiri (squid, prawn, salmon and tuna), and 4 California rolls (I'm pretty sure the menu said eel, though my photo looks more like seabass). Pickled ginger, sachets of wasabi and soy sauce accompany all of KIBOU's take out sushi too. Apply too much wasabi at your own risk!

As an off-the-cuff-pick, we had Ikura Gunkan (£5.50); 2 pieces of oval shaped sushi, wrapped in a strip of nori and generously topped with pearls of salmon roe. The Chap wasn't too convinced, he found it a bit too salty, but I thought it was a welcome alternative to the other things we had. Not only did the rolls look luxurious, but with the delicate salmon roe bursting in your mouth, they felt pretty extravagant too.

8 pieces of Spicy Tuna Iso (£8.95) were our final sushi choice, probably because we're a little obsessed with raw tuna, though feeling a little full we grazed our way through them whilst watching crap Saturday Night TV and sipping Champagne... Fizz goes very well with sushi by the way! And speaking of drinks, I noticed that you can order beers from KIBOUsushi via Deliveroo - yay - but their amazing Plum Wine isn't available *cries*. Maybe one day... Hint hint.

Although I'd generally prefer to go out to restaurants to eat, when it's blowing a gale and pissing it down outside, or when you're feeling under the weather and are quite content in your pjs, I can see that this is where Deliveroo comes into its own. I'm betting that hangovers are quite a popular reason for people using the service too, and with that in mind, I'm already eyeing up the menus for the next time I've had a heavy night!

Cheers Deliveroo & KIBOUsushi for giving me a little slice of Japan in the comfort of my own home.