Thanks to BNZ for partnering to help make this post possible. It’s true, “you are never ready” is more often than not my response when friends and I discuss the age-old question of now, or, later, especially when it comes to having a baby. My feeling is …
There’s something about adding a little bit of heat to winter meals that works so well. Thai dishes can be exactly what you need to warm the family’s bellies on these dreary, dark nights.In saying that, I’ve always been a little intimidated by Thai, I think …
Dave and I love cooking. We are constantly looking for meal inspo, experimenting with different techniques or twists on old faves and frequently testing and re-testing our own recipes to share with you guys here or on FB or IG. But let’s be clear, this ‘fun in the kitchen’ does NOT happen Mon-Fri at 5pm. At that time of day, as in most households with children present, dinner time (or the ‘Witching Hour’ as it’s more commonly known), is when we parents enter survival mode. Kids are tired after busy days, hungry, often ‘hangry’, being rushed around to sports practices or after-school activities and with zero patience. “FEED THE KIDS” becomes priority Number 1 but often at the expense of our lofty (or even just basic!) aims in the nutritional department!
We’ve all seen the proliferation of food delivery services over the past few years; magical meal kits that arrive with recipes, ready to cook and assemble, or simply reheat if you’re really time poor. Our family has tried and enjoyed most of these offerings and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a massive fan, but………there is obviously a significant cost involved, a lack of choice around products, brands and ingredients used and an inability to cater for multiple, different dietary requirements in each meal.
Until now that is.
Over the past 10 days, we’ve been in the kitchen, getting to know How2Food – an online platform dedicated to providing completely customisable meal plans that work with your family’s nutritional needs and give you back the power to shop when and how you want.
The beauty of How2Food is in it’s simplicity;
That’s it! Done. Your weekly recipes and shopping list will be generated on your chosen delivery day and then making magic in the kitchen is all up to you and your family.
We generally shop at Pak ‘n Save but as we’ve been away in Queenstown all week, having our weekly meal plan completed by How2Food meant we were able to shop online at Countdown and have a food delivery set-up for Saturday afternoon – organisational convenience at its finest right?!
So what’s on our menu for next week? Two Mexican dishes (our family fave!) and shrimp pasta. The recipes sound amazing and perfectly suited to our family’s tastes and time available to spend in the kitchen on meal prep.
So what do you guys think? I’m in love with this concept; it’s completely different to anything on the market right now, provides the benefits of meal delivery services with the freedom to shop how and when you choose, ultimately saving you money.
To celebrate their launch, How2Food are offering a one-month free trial as well as a referral incentive which could see your monthly subscription reduced from $19.95 to just .50c if you refer up to 5 friends!
Let’s get cooking guys and get our families back in the kitchen and back to our dining room tables in 2017.
(The irony of what I’m writing right now doesn’t escape me as we are on what I call, ‘hospital watch’ with Nixon after a day of vomiting and 2 days without a bowel movement. Fingers crossed x). I’m sitting here blogging and thinking back to …
Is Macaroni Cheese the unofficial king of comfort food? The champion of family-friendly, fill-you-up deliciousness?
Absolutely. There are few challengers who would take on the magical combination of cheese and pasta, plus, throw in some bacon and there’s just no contest.
Made in the traditional way, Macaroni Cheese can be a multi-pot explosion of dishwashing. One pot to make the cheese sauce, one to boil your pasta, the colander to drain it and the baking dish to throw it all together in (from which you can expect to still be scrubbing burnt cheese off 3 days later).
Move on from the sink and get creative with this easy-peasy Crock-Pot recipe for Macaroni Cheese. It’s a total 1-pot winner in which you add the ingredients and get on with your day……..for 2.5 hours at least!
This recipe makes a pretty jumbo sized batch, so get ready for a cook-once-eat-twice meal – I love it when this happens!
For the Macaroni Cheese;
1 x 500g bag of macaroni elbows
50gm butter
3 ½ cups hot milk
1 small onion finely chopped
300gm chopped bacon
½ tsp paprika
1 ½ cups water
Salt and pepper to taste
½ cup shredded mozzarella
1 cup grated cheddar cheese
1 pack of Tatua cheese sauce
For the Dukkah Chicken;
Diced chicken thighs/breast as much as needed for your family
1tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 ½ tsp olive oil
Pepper & Me The Mother Dukkah to coat the chicken
Combine all ingredients for Macaroni Cheese in your Crock-Pot.
Stir well.
Cook on high for 2.5 hours.
Dice chicken.
Toss in Worcestershire/soy sauce. Leave to marinate for 10 minutes.
Add oil and chicken to pan, shake over The Mother Dukkah to coat and cook until chicken is ready.
Serve with some fresh chopped red capsicum and enjoy!
Win a Crock-Pot® Lift & Serve – CHP450 worth $159.99!
If you want to get inventive in the kitchen with your own amazing Crock-Pot then you’re in luck as I’m giving one away – actually I’m giving THREE away, so keep you eyes peeled for two more posts in my Crock-Pot series and two more chances to win! (First post here)
Thanks to Crock-Pot for making this post possible.
> To win the Crock-Pot® Lift & Serve – CHP450, leave a comment below and tell me one of the awesome features on this innovative Crock-Pot model (psssttt, have a look here).
Competition closes 11/6/17, NZ residents only.
After a gorgeous, wonderful, fabulous, first-time-I’ve-ever-had-a-girls-trip, trip to Melbourne, I’ve been thinking a lot about this ‘me time’ business, as after four days without kids in tow, my cup was certainly running over with Me-time. But what I’ve discovered is that ‘me time’ for one …
It’s Mother’s Day season again and like (I’m guessing!) 99% of you, I’m staring at the calendar and my multiple to-do lists wondering how it can be that we now find ourselves in MAY, on the cusp of winter and racing through 2017 at such a …
We had just landed in Melbourne last week and loaded into our taxi when I realised it was my phone that was ringing – a different kind of ring I didn’t immediately identify. My brain fog cleared, I remembered my new Ring Video Doorbell app and opened it up to reveal one of our dogs caught on camera at our front door – where he was NOT supposed to be, imagine if that was Nixon?!
Heart attack.
After shooting off a text to Dave along the lines of, “Louie is roaming in the yard, trying to ring the doorbell BUT HAS NO THUMBS! Please let him in”, I showed my girlfriends how our amazing new, Ring Video Doorbell works.
In a nutshell, the Ring Doorbell is a wide-angle HD camera, mounted by our front door that streams live video via your home WI-FI to your smartphone either when someone (or Louie lol) activates the customised motion sensor or presses the unit’s doorbell button. This triggers a notification on the Ring smartphone app that someone is at the door! How awesome is that?!
But we’re not done yet. Once triggered, the HD video camera turns on so you can see who’s at the door and the two-way audio means that Louie and I can discuss the repercussions of small dogs escaping from the backyard – or I can just tell the courier that it’s fine to leave the package. Either way, it’s amazing!
Install was easy, Dave had to pack out our door frame with some extra wood for mounting and he still had it up and operational within 30 minutes!
Aside from the obvious convenience of being able to communicate with someone who’s at your door when you’re not home, I LOVE the security features that are included with Ring. Night Vision captures motion and activity around the clock, the unit’s design is weather resistant, there’s lifetime purchase protection if your Ring Video Doorbell is stolen plus, video recording is an optional add-on.
This incredible (easy to install, totally sensible) piece of video tech is now available in New Zealand from leading retailers Noel Leeming, Mitre 10 and Harvey Norman, RRP $349, but I have one to giveaway!
I love, love, love our Ring and am super excited to have one to share with you guys.
If you would like to experience the awesomeness of a Ring Video Doorbell at your home, leave me a comment below and tell me which feature of Ring you think is seriously amazing > find out more here
Competition closes Sunday 21st May, NZ residents only.
The Ring Video Doorbell was sent to The Best Nest for editorial review. All opinions are my own.
Ooohhhh yaassss, come at me chicken wraps! PF Chang’s is a popular restaurant chain in California that serves a lettuce wrap dish and people go gaga over them. I ate there once and wasn’t flipping out over them to the point that I felt …
