WHILE it has been a challenge to keep busy with something interesting and unique every day as the lockdown drags on, a self-assembly meal kit delivered to my home by a Clacks catering firm did just that for me.

I've previously had the pleasure to try a tasty treat whipped up by Liam and Beth at Stag Bites The Hog when they brought their iconic food truck Ronnie down to the Alloa First market on the High Street.

Our daily lives have changed since then, but rather than lamenting the fact they will be missing out on catering at events and festivals, the local duo decided to innovate and have started bringing their unique dishes right into people's homes.

I was offered a chance to try one of the Stag Bites The Hog self-assembly meal kits and I was not disappointed.

The idea that the ingredients for your meal are delivered and you just cook it up and put the final touches on may turn off some people who are used to a hot food takeaway, but during this time in lockdown it was genuinely a fun wee thing to do in the kitchen after a day of working from home.

And if you are even lazier than me, which is hard to imagine, Liam and Beth can also deliver oven-ready meals that really go the extra mile, compared to the frozen stuff from the supermarket.

I was sent a Chilli Hot Dog with Pulled Pork Con Carne & Fries kit last week and duly devoured it all after following the cooking instructions.

After around half an hour in the kitchen, I ended up with a brioche bun filled with absolute goodness.

In a vacuum pack I found a very appetising chilli hot dog, think of something that is closer to a quality sausage rather those cheaper canned dogs.

I liked how I had several options to prepare that and the instructions even came with some top tips that really made me feel like a kitchen pro.

And so I thought I would go all out and cooked the dog in an oven dish filled halfway with beer I had sitting around in the fridge.

I love cooking with beer, not just because it does amazing things to pretty much whatever meat you use, but also because you never really need the whole bottle.

The oven did the job from there and I swiftly moved onto heating up the pulled pork and adding the chilli base, which was pretty straightforward.

I popped the fries into the oven too and other than occasionally stirring the pulled pork as it thickened all I had to do was sip on the rest of that beer.

In the end, I just loaded it all into a lovely brioche bun, added the seasoning to the fries from the pack and I had an amazing meal I never could have made just on my own.

Added to the dish from the pack was some grated cheddar, jalapeños and soured cream – which I all love as they just work to balance each other out so well.

I could hardly complain about the kit, the dogs were certainly unique and something completely different.

And thanks to the pulled pork it was extremely filling too – all while satisfying my taste buds.

If you can afford it then certainly give it a go, putting the kit together was great fun and the aromas in the air certainly brought my appetite out.

There is something different on offer each week, see the website for more info.