Hopefully you caught my first Smart Money topic where I ran you through the importance of owning insurance and knowing when and how to use it (catch up here if you missed it). This week we’re going to talk credit cards, which can surprisingly, be …
I came to the realisation this week that, despite being a born-and-raised Kiwi mummy, there was something that was missing from my life. Something so quintessentially ‘New Zealand’ that I’m pretty embarrassed to have been overlooking it for so long. I couldn’t remember the last …
It’s warming up here in New Zealand. Spring’s been doing it’s thing and out in my neck of the woods – North West Auckland – the berry farms are in full swing as they prepare for the picking season to begin. One of my favourite summer traditions is a throwback from when I was little; I LOVE taking the boys berry picking at one of our local farms. To me fruit picking is synonymous with summer, but as a Mum, it’s also totally economical. Last season we picked 5kg of strawberries in 30 minutes one day and paid just $20! For those of us that whip up smoothies each morning, just one kilogram of frozen berries will cost you around $10, sometimes more. Picking and preserving what’s in season makes so much sense.
This year I plan on stocking the freezer with berries and stonefruit that we have picked ourselves from farms in our local area. We’ll be cutting down our food miles, cutting down our food costs and also benefitting from actually knowing the origin of at least some of what we consume as a family – all great lessons for the kids.
I’m going to either, free-flow freeze and then vacuum seal, or vacuum seal then freeze (depending upon the fruit) around 90% of the summer fruit we pick this year using the Sunbeam FoodSaver.
That’s my long-term plan lol – YES, this gadget is that amazing that I’m actually planning out how I’m going to use it in the kitchen for the whole growing season ahead! There’s a myriad of other, non-food related ways you can use the FoodSaver too but that’s a whole post in itself.
On a day-to-day basis you’ll find the FoodSaver at home on our bench helping us keep our pantry and standard fruit and vege fresher for longer. Produce previously lasting only days can last weeks and the freezer life of meat can be extended to 1-3 years when sealed with the FoodSaver!
Right now there is an awesome Gift with Purchase running, receive Bonus FoodSaver accessories with any purchase of a FoodSaver machine! Check out the full range here and find the Sunbeam FoodSaver in all leading appliance stores, including Farmers, JB HiFi, Smiths City, Heathcotes, 100% Your Electric Store, and Harvey Normans.
In the video below I’m going to show you two super easy ways to use the Sunbeam FoodSaver.
I love the canisters for use in the pantry for crackers and for storing leftovers, fruit, salad mixes and cheese in the fridge. You’ll notice in the video we popped a paper towel in the vacuum bag before sealing it. If the berries had been slightly melted, the vacuum action would have sucked moisture out of the berries and up the sides of the bag, preventing a good seal. The paper towel absorbs the water and creates an airtight package ready for the freezer.
I am SO excited about being able to giveaway one of these amazing machines! I know you will love the Sunbeam FoodSaver as much as we do so make sure your entry is valid by telling me in the comments below how you would use your new FoodSaver VS5000 Seal + Store RRP $369.99.
Comp closes 18/12/16 NZ residents only.
Coming up with super-stylish, innovative products is something kiwi women do amazingly well so it was no surprise to me to find out that the uber-cute range of Undercover Sleeping Bags for kids are designed, manufactured, and distributed right here in New Zealand by Marlborough resident, Kate Guthrie. …
Location, location, location. It’s everything when you’re deciding where to escape for a little R&R and even more crucial when you’re holidaying with the kids in tow. We’ve travelled with the kids a wee bit internationally and A LOT around New Zealand and after a …
Imagine, as a Mum, if every time you said – ok SCREAMED – “Dinner is in ONE minute!”, you were actually telling the truth. What if the ravenous hordes could literally smell dinner cooking within moments of you opening the fridge to begin dinner prep?
Like, really, are you imagining this because it’s a sweet, sweet dream ya’ll. A dream of mums everywhere and, the best part is, you can BUY this dream for yourself. Anytime you want.
Like magic.
From………..the supermarket.
My Main Course has just launched in New Zealand so Dave and I ran the Pulled Pork variety through the Jack Family Dinner Gauntlet with baited breath;
Stressy! Going rogue at dinner time with our two bottomless pits is a major risk! Luckily our gamble paid off, dinner time was amaze and we all loved the Pulled Pork in Smokey BBQ Sauce from My Main Course – and by loved, I mean inhaled, same same.
You will need;
1 pack of My Main Course Pulled Pork
Tortillas
Shredded lettuce, chopped tomato, avocado etc
Sour cream, corn chips and hot sauce or salsa to serve.
Optional – try rice and black/refried beans on the side!
You just smashed out an amazingly delicious dinner, using quality ingredients that (I’m sure!) your family loved! You just won parenting today, take a bow!
The My Main Course range (Thai Green Curry, Mexican Chicken, Pulled Pork, Savoury Mince, Baked Beans, Green Lentil Dahl) is perfect for helping busy families whip up great tasting meals with minimal prep time. Your meal base is all done, you just choose your sides and get creative – or not lol, totally up to you.
WIN > I have a $50 supermarket voucher to give away thanks to My Main Course! Just comment below and let me know which variety you and your family would love to try first. Check out another awesome recipe using My Main Course and enter to win ANOTHER $50 voucher here > Thai Chicken Pies
Competition closes 9/12/16, NZ residents only. This post was sponsored by My Main Course – thanks guys!
Shop the Look > Busy Chic Maya Spliced Stripe Skirt RRP $25 (available instore), Maya Chambray Shirt Dress RRP $39 (selling fast!), Garage Anglaise Bardot Top RRP $39, Garage Chambray Shirt RRP$30, Amco Knit Boyfriend Jeans RRP $49 (low stock, 2 sizes left online!), Debut …
This post is sponsored by Johnson’s Baby, all copy and opinions expressed within are my own. For an expectant parent, the 9 months prior to the arrival of a new baby is one filled with choices. To find out the gender of your most awaited …
On Friday afternoon I was asked to fill in for a touch team that night at 6.30pm.
I’d never played for this team before.
Didn’t really know who was in it.
Playing meant delaying Friday drinks. I say that like it’s an ‘occasion’ but it’s really Dave and I avoiding the children’s bedtime with a can in hand and pretending we’re loving life at the minute until we can’t stand the kids fighting a moment longer! So yes, playing meant delaying drinks for an hour or so as my mediocre skill level doesn’t really need alcohol impeding my performance anymore than natural selection already has.
However, playing meant leaving the house at 6pm and avoiding bedtime altogether.
Naturally I said yes.
So our touch rugby team plays at the club on Thursdays, it’s a busy night, lots of teams and lots of our friends. Friday touch is still at our local club, literally a stones throw from our house, but has a smaller league of teams and I had no idea who would be there.
I left the house in a usual ‘Mum-dithery-rush’ carrying nothing which was entirely refreshing as I’ve had to lower myself to using an Iphone 4s whilst my beautiful Samsung is getting a new screen installed. LIFE IS SO HARD RIGHT NOW, DAMN YOU TINY PHONE!
Needless to say the phone stayed at home and Dave ended up chasing after me with $20 in case I wanted to stay for a drink. Some people won $44 million in Lotto this week, we won $109!!! Cash rich yo.
The point to this schpiel is thus; you might have daughters, in which case, a place you might find yourself often could be a ballet studio, or slumped in the stands watching hours on end of gymnastics, or freezing your tits off alongside a netball court all winter. I have two boys and live one street over from a rugby club, ergo, we are there ALL the damn time. Wherever you find yourself because of your kids or your job or your husband, or your parents, make friends, make those people your people. Take the opportunity to get out of the house on a Friday night when the last thing you want to do is run around wondering if your muffin top is escaping the compression tights yet and throw a freaking ball!
Because the person catching it just might want to sit down afterwards and have a beer and talk about Donald Fucking Trump or tattoos, or kids – subjects you could go on about for hours.
Find your people wherever life has landed you. They are there, I guarantee it. They might not look like you or your preconceived notion of what your tribe should look like but they are there and they are quite possibly awesome.
Let me know when you find them xx
PS love you Old Spice, On Target and all you other westie randoms that make our club so rad x
I’m seeing a lot of awesome new products each week so thought it was about time I curated these new releases into a weekly ‘Hot List’ that’s short and snappy, giving you guys the lowdown on the latest and greatest from brands we love. What’s …