Does parenting through a lockdown get any easier? Have you adjusted to the ‘new normal’ or has your adjustment just felt like a slippery slide into a very average, daily grind like mine?Stepping outside of my own feelings and frustrations during Auckland’s extended lockdown and I can see 8yo Nixon experiencing the same emotions and lack of motivation that has …
Cook, Eat: The BEST Country Chicken Pie Recipe – Ever!
The seasonal rain hasn’t yet arrived here in New Zealand but there’s no denying that Winter is here. We are currently enjoying bluebird days but the temps aren’t playing around – she’s cold mate! Along with buying too many jackets and woollen socks (my winter fashion weaknesses!), when the days get shorter I love, love spending time in the kitchen …
Kids Parties: Garden Glamping + Movie Night
Ethan turned the BIG 13 at the end of November and though we celebrated at the time with a Breaker’s game and burgers with his friends, we really wanted to do something a little more special at home to mark the occasion. The end of the school year is a super busy time for everyone with summer quickly approaching here …
Food for Thought : Kids Nutrition + Super-Dad Kieran Read
As the junior club rugby season wound to a close here in Auckland last week, I was privileged enough to spend a morning with some ecstatic Kiwi kids and their idol, All Blacks Captain and Swisse Ambassador, Keiran Read. Verran Primary school played host to the Swisse team and media as students participated in a super-fun event, the ‘Swisse Kids Cup …
Crock-Pot Asian Chicken Lettuce Wraps Recipe
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 I would never be able to recreate them at home. I mean, they were totally …
Beauty Review | Smile Brilliant Professional Teeth Whitening
I always thought I had white teeth. I know I have great, strong, cavity free teeth (yes it’s true!), but after living in America for 6 years where at-home whitening is something that everyone does, I realised that my teeth were definitely not as white as I would like. Whitening products in the states are relatively inexpensive and easy to …
Munch Reviews | Baby Food Tray + Giveaway
I’M SO PLEASED TO HAVE JOINED MUNCH COOKING THIS YEAR AS ONE OF THEIR MUNCH MUMS! LOOK OUT FOR MY REVIEWS AND GIVEAWAYS EACH MONTH AS I INTRODUCE YOU TO SOME AWESOME {AND PRETTY INNOVATIVE} PRODUCTS FROM THE MUNCH CUPBOARD. We get to see a lot of the ‘latest and greatest’ kids products here at The Best Nest so I …
Cook, Eat | Chorizo, Tomato and Paprika Free-range Egg Bake Recipe
Chorizo, Tomato and Paprika Free-range Egg Bake Download recipe card here Serves 2 Ingredients: 1 tablespoon olive oil 80g chorizo,diced 1 clove garlic, crushed 1 small onion, fine dice 250g cherry tomatoes 4 free range eggs 1 cup cannellini beans with juice Handful parsley,chopped Smoked paprika 1 French baguette Method: Sweat down the chorizo in the olive oil for a …
Gunny Sack Gardening & Purposeful Gifting this Mothers Day
Nixon and I made the most of a break in the rain this morning and headed outside to create our own gunny sack garden and plant it with kale seeds. ChildFund New Zealand are using this innovative and eco-friendly initiative with families in Kenya to help address severe malnutrition in children. I’m fighting an ongoing battle of wills with Nixon right …
Why am I trying to be a 1950’s housewife in 2015?
As 2015 unfolds, I’m noticing the ‘slow it down’, ‘rewind’, ‘simplify’ phenomena becoming more and more prevalent, none more so than in the area of homemaking. But is this trend actually making our lives simpler/easier/more fulfilled? Whether you are a SAHM or a working Mum or not even a Mum at all {maybe you’re a Dad, an Uncle, a serial …