Review: The Swag reuseable produce bags

Recently I've been using something new to keep my fruit and vegetables in. We've never been a family that produces lots of waste, and even if we do, I'm very eco conscious and odds are it will end up being eaten by the dogs or the chickens, or the compost heap will get it. However, I am also conscious of the amount of plastic that is used these days too. It particularly irks me when I see fruit and vegetables pre-wrapped or portioned into plastic containers, and I will deliberately go out of my way to choose to fill my own (reusable) bag with the portion I want to buy.

The Swag is an Australian product for storing produce. It's made of three layers of natural unbleached cotton - the outer layer protects the fruit and veg and stops the water in the middle layer drying up. The middle later absorbs and holds water, but draws moisture away from the inside produce, therefore increasing the storage life. The inner layer is a dry barrier which sits against the produce but allows them to absorb the water and air through the fabric too.

I have them in a few different sizes - the green one is a longer size which is great for things like celery and spring onions. The white one is the large size, and pretty much anything fits in there. The red and blue ones are small bags, and I love that they're colour coded so I can identify individual bags in the fridge.

They're super simple to use, and in fact, the instructions are sewn onto the bag! All you have to do is make sure the swag is a little bit wet, but not dripping. Put the produce in and then store it in your fridge. Make sure the Swag is a bit damp and there you have it! I need to sprinkle them with water every few days but that's not a big deal for me at all.

I don't even have to separate different types of veggies and fruits, in fact, I find it convenient to store all my veggies together, all my fruits together etc. I even use one of the bags to store my potatoes in (but that one lives in the cupboard, not the pantry, and isn't kept damp at all).

I've been using my Swags for a little while now and I love them. Here's some carrots stored in one of the small bags. They're just loose in there, but they're perfectly happy and still crispy and good. I definitely think that these bags are helping to prolong the life of my fresh produce - and actually, my mushrooms are quite happy to be stored in a Swag as well (although like potatoes I don't wet their bag).

I'm very happy to be cutting down on plastic storage bags, saving money by not having to discard food (although the chickens might not agree!). I think it's a great product.

Note that this review is not sponsored, I just love the bags and wanted to show how I keep my fruit and vegetables fresh for longer.
 

In My Kitchen, October 2016

I said something in a previous post about time having gone so slowly, and yet so fast at the same time when pondering my daughter's birthday. The same rings true for months and here we are, well and truly into Spring (in the Southern hemisphere) and also, apparently the sign for shops to begin bringing Christmas decorations out! At the end of this month, my 'baby' boy will turn two. I still remember when I announced his birth, and it honestly doesn't feel that long ago at all. Time. It's a funny thing. Anyway, without further ado, here are some things in my kitchen. Lots of bought things actually, but bought with the intention of turning them into something else! (which I will do... when we get over birthday season, and being the house of sick, which does tend to make for lazy meals)...

In my kitchen is...

Chia seeds galore. 1.5kg of them actually, which is really a bit obscene, but at $14.89 for the bag at Costco I couldn't pass it up. I've been having them sprinkled over oats, in smoothies and adding them to my baking. My uncle recently told me that he ground up chia to use as a coating on meat, so I was thinking I might attempt something similar with some firm tofu slices.

In my kitchen is...

Another Costco find, Eco Organic Pasta. There are three flavours - Mung Bean fettuccini, Black Bean spaghetti and Soy Bean spaghetti. These were a bit pricey at $8.89 for the pack, but I couldn't really resist them either. When I walk past something that is vegan, and organic to boot, at shops that aren't always very vegan friendly, I like to support them in the hope they'll continue to source such things. I haven't tried any of them yet (did I mention we've been sick?) but I have grand plans, although I'm not really sure which sauces would best complement each pasta type.

In my kitchen is...

Some Hidden Orchard wines sent to me by Hardy's. They're a new(ish) range of wines blended with natural flavours and juices, which are meant to be refreshing and delicious chilled.

Now that the toddler is finally well on his way to weaning, I can indulge in wine a little more, so I started with the Ripe Raspberry & Rich Cassis bottle (the dark red one). First sip saw me hesitate a little as it was so rich but after I added ice it was much more drinkable. Honestly, I'm a little weirded out adding ice or serving a red wine chilled but it made it much better (it tastes like Ribena in wine form actually).

Our guests preferred the Pink and Zesty White Grapefruit wine but it was a bit sweet for me straight out of the bottle. Diluted with soda water was much better.

I'm unsure if my tastebuds are out of commission from non-regular wine consumption or whether these wines are just so sweet and fruity, but I found them best mixed and diluted. I have yet to try to Peach, Mango, Passionfruit and Pineapple bottle, but it sounds awfully like something university-aged me would drink actually.

In my kitchen is...

Home made raspberry jam, although not made in my home unfortunately. This pot of delicious jam was gifted to me by a friend who had too much. It's a delightful mix of sweet and tart and perfect for eating by the spoonful (ahem). My kids like it with peanut butter between slices of fresh bread, but inspired by Kari's recent post about porridge toppings, I've been adding it, with chia seeds and some Mayver's dark roasted peanut butter to my oats, making a delicious bowl of peanut butter and jammy oat goodness.

I note my photo looks like there is a big glob of peanut butter inside the jar but insist that is just the bench showing through a gap in the jam and not due to double dipping!

In my kitchen is...

Dumplings. Lots and lots of dumplings. We go through phases of food in our house, and it has recently been the phase of dumplings. Which is handy because everyone in the household loves them, they're quick and easy to prepare (once made that is), and make a delicious meal.

My mother in law made me a batch of vegan dumplings which had been pre-steamed and I wasn't able to eat them at the time so I froze for later. It was a time poor night so I unearthed them from the freezer and pan fried those beauties in a little oil until they were the right combination of crispy and chewy. Served with a mix of soy sauce and red vinegar (and a bowl of edamame on the side for greens), everyone was happy. (Well, I should say that Mr Fork had made himself a separate batch of prawn dumplings as he insists on meat versions, but I neglected to photograph those).

Tell me, what's been happening in your kitchen lately? Any tips for using chia seeds? Ideas about how to best enjoy my bean pasta?

In my kitchen has a new host, Lizzy, of Bizzy Lizzy's Good Things. I am linking in to her monthly IMK roundup.

Creative play with Bunchems

Brought to you by Nuffnang and Funtastic

Some days, I just can't seem to do anything to amuse my children for any length of time. On days when I'm home with them, we usually bake something, we clean up, snack, play outdoors, read and do some drawing, but I guarantee you, despite providing plenty of entertainment, I will inevitably get asked if the TV can be turned on or if the iPad can be used.

I am always on the look out for fun things to do with the kids and keep them away from electronics (not that there isn't a time and place for those too!). My children love craft, but it often ends up with Jimmy trying to draw on Ellie's artwork, the pens get used to paint fingers, people or furniture, or playdoh ends up in places that playdoh should not be. Thanks to well-meaning friends (you know who you are), there are stickers on pretty much every surface in my house, including the floor and the dog. Never let it be said that I do not support artistic activities! To my chagrin, often as soon as it's set up and they get started on an activity, one or both of them will go running off and spread mess fun all over the house. I love to foster creativity and fun, but why is it so messy?!

Enter the postman (who did not knock at all!), fortuitously bearing a box of Bunchems. We got a Mega Box, which comes with 370 Bunchems, a heap of accessories to personalise the creations and a book with ideas to start you off (rrp $39.99). As soon as she saw what was in the box, Ellie asked could she play with them with me. Jimmy took the box they came in and sat in it humming Row, Row, Row your boat. I count that as a win; everyone wanted to play!

Bunchems are furry little plastic spheres that have "burrs" all over, meaning that can be squished and connected together to create whatever you can imagine. They're quite nifty and feel nice from a sensory perspective - I liked rolling them around. Best of all, there is no glue required, and in a tribute to my eco consciousness, Bunchems are reusable, so the possibilities are endless.

I wanted to make the octopus, but I was overruled by the kids who just wanted to squish things together and get creative. It was a fabulous mix of construction and craft, and there are so many possibilities. We made a monster:

Which Ellie then insisted we turn into a Mike Wazowski interpretation:

We also attempted a unicorn from the book:

Ellie made a tiger. I don't see it, but she does, and that's good enough for me:

Jimmy might be too young to really 'get' the concept yet, but we were also learning colours, counting and patterns while we played. I quite enjoyed playing myself, and I definitely enjoyed spending some quiet, screen-free time with the kids too. Although the product is marketed at ages 4+, with supervision, we didn't have any issues. I have heard reports that the burrs can stick to hair and clothing, but we didn't experience that at all.

I suspect these will be a favourite in our house, as a few hours after we'd packed everything away (the perfectionist in me insisted on separating the Bunchems back into colour groups, which irritated my children who wanted to be onto the next activity), they wanted to play again. How can I say no to such creative fun?

What would you create with Bunchems?

Have you heard of Tsum Tsums?

First of all, let me start off this post by saying it isn't sponsored. I'm writing this because I had a bad purchase experience, which actually ended up turning into something extremely lovely.

Let me back up. Last weekend I was shopping for a birthday present for one of Ellie's friends at a store I won't name. There was a promotion at the time on toys where if you bought one thing, you could select another toy for 50% off. I thought, she's been well behaved and they look cute, so I bought her a pack of Tsum Tsum Squishy figurines (Tsum Tsum roughly means 'stackable' in Japanese). She chose Cinderella, and there was a mystery one included that you could only see when you opened the pack. Hooray (for my Frozen obsessed threenager), she'd gotten Anna! Except well, Anna has no eyes.

When I took this picture, I'd bought it a few hours previously, so I hardly think that she could have possibly played with it enough to wear off the eyes already. Cue disappointed threenager, throwing appropriate threenager sized tantrum. As we couldn't see Anna when we chose the pack, I admit to being sad and disappointed myself, and figured head office would like to know that there was a possible faulty batch out there. I also planned to take Anna back to the store and swap her over.

I had a quick google, and (although I didn't purchase it from them), wrote to Tsum Tsum Australia to let them know what happened, and to give them the feedback about product quality.

What happened next is a lovely experience.

I got a reply saying that Tsum Tsum Australia aren't associated with Disney, they are just a passionate parent who decided to import official Tsums themselves after having trouble purchasing them online. They don't stock the Squishys on their site but advised me to take it back to the place of purchase for a refund, and went on to say they wished they had an Anna to offer as compensation for me.

I wrote back saying, thank you for the information, I did intend to take my purchase back and thank you for responding. I also said the offer was lovely and appreciated, but unnecessary, especially given I didn't purchase it from them. I said that I would make an order through them later though as Ellie had by now become Tsum Tsum obsessed and they obviously knew their Tsums.

To cut to the chase. I arrived home on Wednesday to find an envelope in my letter box with a tiny Marie (from the Aristocats) Tsum inside, and a note saying that they hoped this made up for a disappointing prior experience. They had tracked down my address from the contact form submission and sent an official fluffy Tsum Tsum out of the goodness of their heart!

Marie is not plastic like the Squishy, but tiny, fluffy and a very cute stuffed toy. Look at her! She even has a fuzzy tail (you can see some of the fluff in the picture below, as well as on her head).

That is customer service, above and beyond, for someone who wasn't even their customer. It made mine, and most certainly Ellie's day too.

So, if you ever want to expand your Tsum Tsum collection, and you want something that is authentic, from a business who is passionate about quality and service, may I suggest you look to Tsum Tsum Australia, for all your cute, stackable needs!

Acknowledging good customer service

If I receive shabby service by a business, I'm not backward about coming forward. I will often, if I have time, raise it at the time, and failing that, will write directly to the business management to let them know what happened. If there is no way to contact them privately, I'm also ok posting about my experience on social media and tagging them appropriately.

Having said that, I find that lots of people don't feel the same about acknowledging when a business does something good for them in a customer service capacity. Which is a shame, as if someone does a good job, I think they need to know about it. I'm certainly praising my children every time they do something remotely wonderful.

With that in mind, I wanted to share my recent experience with FitBit.

Back in 2013, I talked about getting my FitBit Flex. I've pretty much worn it fairly regularly ever since, although I have stopped tracking my sleep as it's just depressing with Jimmy.

I had a bit of trouble finding a picture of myself wearing it actually, but here is a sad example focussing on a large bunch of parsley harvested from the garden...

Last weekend I noticed that it wasn't on my wrist. I could pretty much narrow down when I lost it, as I remember trying on a bracelet at a shopping centre, and it was definitely on then. We then went back to the car, I unwrapped Jimmy and put him in the car seat and then we drove home. It wasn't anywhere in the car or at home, and I couldn't find it using my phone to try and sync, which meant I never got into BlueTooth range of it. As a last resort, I emailed FitBit, knowing the device was low on charge, to ask if there was any way to locate it while there was a tiny bit of juice left.

They responded a few hours later saying, well no, not really. But could I please upload a copy of my receipt and a few other details, and they'd see what they could do about "getting me back on track".
Lo and behold, despite my receipt showing that I purchased the device in July 2013, as a gesture of goodwill the company is going to send me a gratis replacement. In fact, it's already been processed and is on it's way to me.

Completely over and above anything I expected for something well over two years old. Well done FitBit - that's outstanding customer service right there and I'm a very happy stepper!

Have you had a great customer service experience lately?

Meals wrapped up

Brought to you by Nuffnang and Mission Foods.

I've written before about the lengths I'm prepared to go to in order to make lunch exciting for Ellie. If I'm honest, I just like making sure people around me are eating good food. It's why I use refillable pouches instead of buying ready-made. It's why I'm happy to spend ages boiling and shaping eggs, and cutting shapes into sandwiches.

When it comes to food, my philosophy is everything in moderation, and mostly whole foods. In practice, this is actually pretty easy. If a product has too many ingredients and I don't recognise most of them; I'm probably not going to eat it. If I have a choice between buying a commercial cake, or whipping something up at home, I'm going to (usually) whip up the home version. And I'm going to use good quality, real, whole food ingredients to make it. Sure, I'll switch some things around. Probably use something a bit more nutritional than plain white flour. Switch copious amounts of regular sugar to a smaller amount of rapadura, coconut sugar, maple syrup or the like. If it's for me, I'll switch eggs to something else, and more than likely I'll add a bit of this and a pinch of that as well.

In our house, fat is not a bad word. Fat is a good thing. Avocado and good quality oils are encouraged in our house. Those that eat it get real butter slathered on toast. So, my home made cake will be good. It'll be chock full of yummy real ingredients with minimal processing. Then, I'll just make sure I have people on hand to help eat the delectable creation. Or, I'll freeze half of it for later. Because… no one NEEDS an entire cake… and everything in moderation right?

Real food to me is recognisable. It's a tomato that is red because it was ripened in the sun and is bursting with flavour. It's nuts, and grains and gorgeous colourful fruits and vegetables. Although I make my own bread at home, if I'm out and I get a choice, I'm always going to pick the seedy loaf because I just think, if I can see seeds and grains and goodness because it isn't too processed, then YAY!

So I was delighted when asked to try some of Mission's Red Quinoa and Chia wraps (available in WOW and selected supermarkets for $4.79). Hello! Chia! Quinoa! Wraps! Wraps are a great excuse for everyone to do a make-your-own lunch or dinner. No excuse for not eating what's on your plate when you constructed it all yourself. And something about a wrap just screams EXOTIC over the poor old sliced bread. Especially when you can see the seedy goodness!

I have to be honest. These wraps are amazing. There's no artificial colours or flavours. They had visible seeds all over so I just felt extra good about getting lots of omega-3 fats, calcium, dietary fibre and protein (from the chia version) and plenty of amino acid goodness from the red quinoa. Sure, it's probably a negligible amount but every bit helps and THEY TASTE SO GOOD!

Red quinoa seediness

I had mine stuffed full of avocado, fresh tomato, refried beans, fresh greens picked from the garden, corn kernels and some hummus. For extra decadence, when I took some to work the next day, I also tried toasting it in the sandwich press. So good, and a tasty, healthy lunch to boot.

Ellie and Jimmy didn't eat theirs as a traditional wrap. Jimmy doesn't have the dexterity and Ellie likes to deconstruct everything. But the both loved the meal and ate everything in front of them. That's a win, wrapped in a great big dose of healthy!

I envisage these would also make a great treat option too, served with some banana and Nutella, then cut up into little mini scrolls. I'm sure they'd be devoured in no time.

Are you a sandwich or a wrap person? If you love wraps, I highly recommend Mission. I'd love to hear what your favourite filling is in the comments.

Too Busy Sleeping!

Too Busy Sleeping is a children's book written by Zanni Louise, illustrated by Anna Pignataro, and published by Little Hare, 2015.

What I first noticed about the book is the lovely cover art, full of patterns, hues and smiling new baby illustrations. Next, the inside cover, a fabulous double spread of colours, textures and cupcakes. This reflects beautifully the illustrative use of watercolours and collage throughout the pages - all great for visual literacy and discussions ("and cupcakes, mama, cupcakes!"), and we haven't even started reading yet!

The story of Eleanor, who longs to play with new baby brother Reuben on his first day home. It's one that I can surely relate to. I remember well telling my toddler "I need to feed him and then he needs to sleep again" more times than I can count. My toddler Ellie kept exclaiming, "poor Eleanor!" as we read, and talked about what it was like when her own brother Jimmy came home.

We tried lots of things to prepare Ellie for being a big sister, but nothing compares to the reality. I think I'd assumed that my older child would have a hard time and feel jealous, but honestly, she was just excited to meet the baby. In fact, first day home, it was me who was frazzled and worried about coping with two children!

The combination of Louise and Pignataro is perfect - Louise tells a story that many toddlers and second time mothers can relate to with sensitivity. Pignataro's illustrations show poignant emotion and include so many interesting treasures and details that my toddler insisted on reading the book over and over to check for things she might have missed.

I personally was chuffed that there was coincidentally an illustrated toy in the book very similar to one that Jimmy was given when he was born!

Too Busy Sleeping is a beautiful story, full of the excitement and frustration of bringing a new baby home and introducing them to siblings. It's a great book for new and experienced mothers alike, brimming with gorgeous illustrations, loving words, and most importantly, a fun and enjoyable read!

*Disclaimer: I was given a copy of the book by the author to review, but all opinions are my own.

Sinchies review

Being picky about what I eat myself, I'm definitely in the habit of checking out what goes into my food before it goes into my shopping basket. This naturally has extended into monitoring my children's food. Many of the convenient snacks and items marketed at children are chock full of sugar, preservatives, artificial colours and so many unnecessary ingredients. I much prefer to make their food myself, at least then I have visibility of what goes into them, and they start learning good habits about how to cook real food, and what it means to be a 'sometimes' food versus a 'healthy' food. Of course, making their food leads very nicely into the best ways of storing it. Being me, I was just not down for plastic wrap and disposable solutions, so I looked to reusable and eco friendly options.

I found Sinchies. I was particularly taken with the fact that they made more than just spout pouches, so I could use their sandwich, snack and wrap options for Ellie and I as well. I should be clear, that there are two types of pouches I tested. The first were the squeezy type pouches, similar to the baby food pouches sold in the supermarkets. These are made of flexible plastic, and mine were decorated with fun smiley fruit and vegetables and with a lid opening to the side for squeezing the product out.

Sinchies also stock great sip-n-lids, made of silicone that you can add to these pouches. They're  perfect for protecting soft little teeth and gums, and helping Jimmy feel independent when learning to eat.

As I have recently gone back to work part time, my first priority was making sure that Jimmy would have some things to eat while I was away from him (Ellie's daycare supplies her food). I packed him some yoghurt, with some chunks of banana in, for both flavour and sweetness.

I didn't want to pack big amounts of yoghurt, so although I have a large 1L pouch and a collapsible funnel perfect for dispersing, I used a tablespoon to fill the 140ml yoghurt pouches. It was a fairly easy and mess free task, thanks to the nice wide opening. I really liked that the base of the pouch folds out so that it stood up nicely when being filled. I can't begin to tell you the number of times I've cursed cheap and flimsy breastmilk bags for falling when being filled, so Sinchies were a great performer for me here. The double ziplock part is suitably firm so that little fingers can't open it easily, which is great. I also liked that the lid opening was to the side unlike with commercial baby pouches, so it didn't get in the way at all when filling.

I've found that the 140ml pouches are great for jelly as well. I mix the jelly up and then decant into the individual pouches to set. Genius and an absolutely hit with Ellie and her friends!

I quite liked the fact that the pouches had characters and decorations on them, as sometimes children feel let down by plain packaging. In this case, both of my children liked the designs and I was quite chuffed with the way there is still a lot of clear window on the fun pouches so you can still see where any product is located. Not only did this come in handy for eating, but also when cleaning so I could make visibly sure I was definitely cleaning all traces of food away.

I also discovered that the 1L pouch is awesome for putting pancake batter in (even storing leftover batter overnight) and perfect for dropping little circles into the pan. Hurrah!

The other type of pouch I tested out were the sandwich/snack/wrap pouches which are clear and a bit more rigid than the yoghurt ones. They are clear plastic with a small section to write content details on, and all open with a double ziplock fastening. I found them great, really sturdy, especially when compared to disposable snap lock bags. Ellie didn't find them very easy to open, but at not quite 3, I'm ok with her not being able to open everything she sets her mind to. I found the snack sized one perfect for packing a few lactation cookies to take with me to work each day.

Pumping essentials!

The wrap/sandwich/snack bags all could have been difficult to clean with the slightly rigid plastic and square corners, but the task was made very easy with the Sinchies brush. Of course, Sinchies are dishwasher safe, so you could easily wash them that way, but it takes us a week to fill our dishwasher, and I was eager to reuse my pouches! I found I got the best cleaning results when I:

• Rinsed any product before it had a chance to dry
• Used hot, soapy water and the brush in a twisting motion
• Dried pouches (with lids off) upside down over knives I had standing in the cutlery drainer

Sinchies are BPA free and reusable, so you are doing your thing for the environment by using them.

** Disclaimer: I was sent an assortment of Sinchies products to trial and review. All opinions are my own however. I was not paid to write this review.

Life is too short to waste on bad cheese

This post is brought to you by Nuffnang and Frico Cheese

One of my guilty pleasures is cheese (aside, I'm no hedonist, but why should pleasure be described as guilty?). Anyway, I like it sprinkled atop pasta, cooked into sauces, toasted into sandwiches and especially paired with an assortment of fruit, nuts, olives and a glass of very good wine (life is too short to waste on bad wine!).

Life is also too short to waste on bad cheese, so on that note, let's put aside the regular Tasty, Feta and Haloumi varieties for a moment (not that they don't have their - very delicious - places) and take a look at some Dutch favourites.

Enter Frico cheese, produced in Holland by experienced Dutch cheese makers since 1898. The cheeses are made from fresh Frisian cow milk using original recipes which result in quality cheese that can be used in a number of ways. Apparently, Holland, where Frico is based, is a mecca for delicious, quality cheeses. And clogs. I do like clogs.

Here are some of the delicious semi hard Dutch cheeses that I've been playing with lately:

Maasdam - I have to say I'd never heard of Maasdam cheese before this, but it's got a slightly sweet and nutty flavour. I'm told it makes a delicious cheesey fondue, but we had it served on a cheese board. That's it there on the right, in front of a glass of good red wine. I ask you, is there a better pairing out there?

Gouda - Good Gouda! This cheese was delicious, creamy and smooth and perfectly melty! Ellie particularly enjoyed it in grilled cheese and asparagus sandwiches. Let's all take a moment to appreciate that oozy goodness shall we? That's the way all cheese sandwiches should melt!

Spiced Gouda - All the characteristics of plain Gouda, with the addition of some aromatic cumin. This was delicious as an addition to a cheeseboard (see above on the left)... and was also delicious eaten with freshly baked sourdough.

Smoked Cheese - I have to admit, on opening this packet, Mr Fork was practically drooling, as he said it smells exactly like bacon. Apparently, it tastes delightfully mild and smoky too, and it was a tough feat to bat away grabbing hands (Mr Fork's and Ellie's) so that toasted cheese sandwiches could be constructed. This cheese didn't melt nicely, but glowing reviews mean that we will definitely be buying it again, probably to use for snacking as it was a big hit that way too.

If you consider yourself as a cheese lover, Frico cheeses should definitely be on your radar. Each cheese has a unique taste and texture, and is accessible and versatile to partner with whatever is cooking. With so many types of cheese available, the options are nearly endless! 

Frico cheeses are available in the deli section at Woolworths nationally.

Disclosure: I received four packs of Frico cheeses via Nuffnang to review. All opinions expressed in this post are my own and I received no payment for this review.

A bit Hippy haircare and nappy balm

In addition to the sweet Winter Warrior skincare essentials from A bit Hippy I recently posted about, they were kind enough to give me a few extra samples to try as well.

I was particularly interested in the samples of Ditching' the Itching' Scalp Loving Shampoo and Say No to Silicon Scalp Loving Conditioner. With some natural shampoos and conditioners I find that the shampoo isn't foamy and I need miles of conditioner to make my hair soft. Not with these babies! My hair was left lovely and clean, with no itchy, flaky bits. Again, I'm really impressed that I can use these products on everyone in the house so there is no need to clutter up the shower with specialty products for each person.

Jimmy obligingly needs a couple of nappy changes daily, so I've also had a chance to use the Happy in my Nappy rash balm. I don't always use cream on him, but because he's been sick recently he's needed a bit of extra protection in the nappy area. His irritated red skin has disappeared and he's back to being smooth as a babies proverbial there! I do have a few tiny little annoyance with the cream though. Maybe because it's been so cold, and the cream is just packed full of natural oils, but I found it quite hard and needed to really dig it out of the container to use. It probably wouldn't be a problem in warmer months, but this did make spreading it a bit painful. Also, it contains zinc, which means I can't use it with my cloth nappies. Otherwise, I really loved it for use with disposable nappies

Disclaimer: Thanks to A bit Hippy for providing these gorgeous natural products for editorial consideration!

How to nurture your child's inner artist

This post is brought to you by Nuffnang and Crayola.

Now that I have both an infant and a toddler, I am constantly looking for ways to entertain Ellie so that I can tend to Jimmy without distractions. There's only so much reading we can do, and I'm guilty of putting on a Disney movie more often than I'd like to admit (I know all the words to Frozen, not to mention Nemo, Despicable Me, Monsters Inc and Shrek!) but I also like to let Ellie bust out her inner creative as often as possible too. One thing Ellie loves to do right now is to draw (look at her first recognisable drawing here!).

However, as parents with toddlers can probably attest, my house is also littered with evidence of her growing attachment to adding artistic flair to everything! See some examples below:

Spot probably didn't have as much fun as Ellie did - 

Her couch - 

Biro, and assorted food stains too, on my dining chairs -

Marker which I noticed too late to remove so now permanently on my dining table - 

There are also drawings on my ugg boots, the shelves in her playroom, several of my quilt covers, uncountable items of clothing, and at one stage, Toby our white dog sported some lovely pink highlights throughout his fur. It doesn't matter if I give her markers, pencils, crayons... she finds a way to transfer art to something she shouldn't. It's very hard to be too cross with her when discovery goes something like this:

Me: Ellie, did you do this?
Ellie: Yes, I did
M: Why did you do it?
E: I was drawing and I was naughty. Mama, can you please clean it off now?

I love that my toddler still believes I can fix everything for her, but I am getting tired of trying to remove drawings from lots of things in my house. I was therefore over the moon when Crayola offered to send me some of their Color Wonder products. Whoever came up with the concept obviously was a parent with a toddler I'm thinking! The markers have a special non-toxic ink in them that only appears when used on the Color Wonder paper. Hurrah! That's right, it doesn't show up because it's clear on skin, furniture, carpets and regular paper.

Ellie was super excited to receive a Disney Frozen pack. Each pack comes with 5 different coloured markers in colours to suit and 18 pages to colour in. When you use the marker on the special paper, the colours appear on the page. It's a bit hard to explain, so I took a little video of her doing her colouring in thing to demonstrate - probably best not to have the volume up too loud as it ends with her doing a triumphant  "There!" exclamation.

She really wanted me to put up the video where she is colouring AND singing Frozen's "Let it Go" at the same time, but I don't think the Internet is ready for that just yet!

I have to say, this is one of my favourite products at the moment, so much so that I've hidden all of her regular pens away for awhile. I love that I can sit her down to do colouring, and the fact that she's being quiet doesn't mean trouble and random colouring, just that she is really getting into the moment! If you have an indiscriminately artistic child and you need a pack of these, you can find stockists via the Crayola website.

Do you have an artist at your house? Let me know in the comments where your little artist has created somewhere they shouldn't!

Disclosure: I received two packs of Crayola Color Wonder via Nuffnang to review. All opinions expressed in this post are my own and I received no payment for this review.

A bit Hippy - Winter Warrior Skincare

I talk a lot about food on this blog. Mr Fork and I may live on a tiny suburban block, but I'm a country girl at heart. I love to be sustainable and eco friendly (read a bit more about it all here). I especially love to grow my own food - it's healthy, it's cheap and I like knowing what I put on my plate. I feel that eating and sourcing local ingredients where possible is so important, both for the environment and for the local economy. I like knowing that I'm a bit self sufficient, growing vegetables and making my own bread, but I'm also ok buying kitchen staples from the grocery store too. It's about taking small steps to do what you can isn't it?

I'm not into labels, not really. I'm a vegetarian who eats vegan at home. I'm married to the biggest carnivore I know. Why label it?

Living an eco friendly and sustainable lifestyle is more than food just though. It's caring about the ingredients in other things too. Like skincare. Did you know that our skin is our largest organ and absorbs up to 60% of what we put on it? Yeah. So you'd want to be using stuff without any nasties if you can right?

Coming into winter, my skin can get dehydrated and just plain freak out (I'm looking at you, big chin pimple!), so sometimes a bit more love is needed to help maintain that summer glow.

When the team at A bit Hippy, asked if they could send me some winter warrior saviours, I jumped at the chance. A bit Hippy is a natural skincare company in Burleigh Heads. So, they're local AND they are 100% pure and natural, plant based, vegan friendly and totally affordable. Shut the front door!!

Let's talk about Rosehip oil shall we? I love the stuff. It's like a miracle oil that helps with pigmentation, dry skin, scarring, stretch marks... the list goes on. I'm also picky about the sort I use, because it can oxidise and lose effectiveness if it's exposed to air. I was super chuffed to see that A bit Hippy's Rosehip with Benefits is packed into an airless and lightless pump to keep it fresh. There's also some Vitamin C (that's the 'benefit') in the mix to help new cell turnover. It's a lovely strong yellow colour and has a fresh smell so I know it's been treated and stored correctly. I've been using it morning and night after cleansing (and before moisturiser in the morning) and I have to say I'm feeling moisturised and maybe even a little bit less pigmented (pregnancy is awful to your skin I have to say!). While I had some problems getting the pump to work at first, once it got going, I had no other issues.

I also tried the Soothing and Improving moisturiser. Usually I have a couple of moisturisers on the go at any one time, but since giving this one a try, I haven't been reaching for anything else. There is plenty of liquorice root extract, aloe vera and almond oil so it's super soothing and a great texture for keeping that dry and scaly winter skin at bay without feeling greasy or taking forever to soak in. My skin just drank it up. I also tried a little on Jimmy as his skin was a bit dry after the pox/HFM incidents and it worked really well on him too. I'm big on products that are multiple use and for multiple people!

And just as a little aside, how cute is this delivery box? There were also some seriously sweet badges included which miss Ellie has claimed for decorating her daycare bag.

This post is getting a bit long, so I'll talk about the other goodies in a separate post. 

Disclaimer: Thanks to A bit Hippy for providing these gorgeous natural products for editorial consideration!

Candle, candle burning bright

I adore candles, and have them strategically placed around our home - in the kitchen, in the bathroom, and even in the bedroom. Not only do they look lovely, but if you get the scented ones, they smell amazing.

Have you ever noticed that memories can be tied very strongly to a sense of smell? For example, whenever I smell the ocean, I'm immediately taken back to my childhood when the beach was a short walk away and I practically had a mermaid tail I was in the water so often! The smell of fire reminds me of camping and huddling around the fire after dark eating sugary treats and hot chocolates. When I was studying, I made it a point to wear the same scent to exams that I used when I was revising content, hoping to trigger an association so that I would remember things!

So, I think it's pretty clear that I love yummy scents. I have candles burning in the kitchen when I'm home during the day to make the house smell delicious. If I need to unwind and have a bath (on the rare occasions I can use the bathroom on my own) I love to turn off the lights and just use candles. And while technically not a candle, I have an oil burner in the bedroom where I use essential oils depending on my mood - usually it's just a lavender to relax and help me sleep, but peppermint helps when I have a headache or need a little energy boost.

Also, look, let's be frank here, kids and dogs smell. Especially coming into winter when they refuse to go outside to play much and the house just starts to smell more, how shall I put it... lived in. That's when scented candles definitely come in super handy!!

One of the frequent candle varieties in my home at the moment is Airwick. It's available where I do my grocery shopping, which, for this time poor mama, is a big plus. They've really got some nice scents such as French Vanilla, and Mandarin Glow, and funky decorative candles that are made with natural essential oils. A favourite at the moment are the silhouette ones that change colour as they burn - fancy!

Airwick also have reed diffusers, automatic sprays and car diffusers available, so you can make sure that you have lovely scents around all the time.

Do you burn candles? What's the smell associated with your favourite memory?

Disclaimer: I received samples of Airwick products to use. All opinions are my own.

Soft as a baby's bottom

This post is brought to you by Nuffnang and Baby Bumkins.

One thing that has always amazed me about babies (apart from that delicious newborn smell) is just how soft and smooth their skin is. I suppose the term 'smooth as a baby's bottom' didn't come about for nothing! Babies are so new and soft and perfect, that I'm loathe to put anything either in or on them that isn't as natural and gentle as possible.

I was recently given the opportunity to try the Baby Bumkins range of baby wipes, which are sold through IGA Supermarkets nationally at a very affordable price point ($3.99 for a single pack of 80 wipes, or $9.99 for a pack of 3).

About Baby Bumkins

• Baby Bumkins is committed to being not just another brand on the shelf, but THE brand to care for your precious bub as they grow and develop.
• Created by professionals with experience, knowledge, scientific expertise and a genuine understanding of a practical product, Baby Bumkins hold themselves to high standards in crafting baby products.
• Using gentle dermatologically tested ingredients, there is no Methylisothiazolinone (MIT) in any of their products. MIT is a preservative which has been linked to an increase in reported incidents of contact allergy and adverse skin reactions, so it's certainly not something you want near that soft baby bum!
• They have both a lightly fragranced and a fragrance free wipe option for bubs with sensitive skin.

I'll admit in the past I have been guilty of grabbing whichever wipes were on sale, because you know, babies go through a lot of nappies, and there is always lots of wiping to be done! But then I started to think about it more - much of what is placed on the skin is absorbed into our bloodstreams. I don't put just anything on my skin because of that, so why should it be any different for my children who I use nappy wipes on multiple times a day? The Baby Bumkins wipes bring superior quality at an affordable price. I was pleasantly surprised to find that the ingredient list on the wipes wasn't all numbers, alcohol and chemicals - I could clearly understand the ingredients and there was no real nasties included.

The day the wipes arrived, Jimmy was most obliging about helping me test them. He's been sick, and what with all the mucus he'd been swallowing, his nappies were just a bit awful. I was hesitant about using an untested brand but I needn't have been. The Baby Bumkins wipes are lovely. Not too wet, not too dry. Thick enough to protect my fingers and get all the waste, but not so thick that they aren't flexible enough to get into all the little crevices. The handy little snap opening was easy to use one handed, and the wipes didn't get stuck and clumped coming out (a pet peeve of mine!). The lightly fragranced ones were scented just enough, but certainly not overpowering. I couldn't detect any smell (as you'd expect) in the fragrance free pack.

I don't think anyone can honestly say they look forward to nappy changes, but when I need to do it, I like to know that I'm using a quality brand that nurtures, cleans and cares for my baby's delicate bits.

After all, a happy baby is a lovely snuggly one, and that makes for a happy mama too!

Tell me, do you read the ingredient list for the things you use on your skin? Do you have a bub who reacts to the touch or smell of perfumes? (if so, you should totally try out the Fragrance Free version!)