My Food Bag

As a wife and a mother, I (like many others, I'm sure) have come to dread those age-old words "what's for dinner?". If I'm perfectly honest there are about a million things I'd rather be doing than cooking a meal night after night, but the health of my family deems it necessary ;) Now, if someone told me what to cook each night and delivered all the food to my door, that would be half the battle. My Food Bag to the rescue... the concept is brilliant - a nutritious weekly menu with all the ingredients and step-by-step recipes for four to five meals, delivered to your door at the start of each week.

Head chef and dietitian, Nadia Lim, works with a talented team to design delicious, easy-to-follow recipes each week. There are five different food bags to choose from:

My Classic Food Bag: 5 recipes to feed 2 adults and 2-3 teens, or 4 adults. 

My Family Food Bag: 5 recipes to feed 2 adults and 2-3 younger children. 

My Gourmet Food Bag: 4 recipes to feed 2 adults. 

My Veggie Food Bag: 4 vegetarian recipes to feed 2 adults.

My Own Food Bag: 4 recipes for 5 meals to feed 1 adult (1 recipe feeds 2 adults).

Once you've chosen the Food Bag that suits you can choose to have it delivered every week or every fortnight, and either on Sunday or Monday. A few days before the bag arrives you'll be emailed your menu and notified of any staple ingredients you'll need eg: flour, olive oil (things you generally have in your pantry already). This gives you time to pick anything up you don't have. Your Food Bag is then delivered to your door with the freshest ingredients, and all seasonal produce (free-range and sustainably farmed products are used whenever possible).

My Family Food Bag

My Classic Food Bag

Hawke's Bay is one of the latest areas to receive My Food Bag deliveries, so Dael and I were super excited to try it out. Dael chose My Classic Food Bag, and I decided to try My Family Food Bag so that we could compare the two. We were emailed our menu for the week ahead and on Sunday afternoon everything was delivered to our door.

There was a large chillbox holding all the meat and deli items, and two paper bags filled with everything else - delicious, fresh veges, eggs, spice mixes, bread crumbs, rice etc. You also get a free recipe folder with the week's recipes. The recipe cards are fantastic and really easy to follow, including the prep and cook time, and nutritional information.

It was lovely to feel so organised and know exactly what was for dinner each night. I really enjoyed the cooking experience and trying new ideas, and there was much excitement, as well as critiques from my family when they sat around the table in the evening.

Dael's family loved their meals too. Her husband, Lee, had taken the week off work to look after their two girls during the school holidays, so for them the delivery of My Food Bag was perfect timing. With everything he needed on hand and instructions, meal time was a breeze, and it was lovely for Dael to come home to. One night when they had friends over for dinner they gave the kids something simple and served their guests 'Char Siu Pork with Sticky Sesame Pea Rice and Veges'. Needless to say the guest were most impressed!

After trialling My Food Bag for a week, Dael and I both highly recommend it to anyone who wants to take the stress out of meal times. With the busy lifestyles most of us live, it's a fantastic way to make sure your family is getting a beautiful, healthy and delicious meal. You don't have to be a Master Chef either, if I can do it, you definitely can. Why don't you give it a go.

NutriBullet Goodness

There was much excitement in our household this weekend as we tried out our amazing NutriBullet for the first time. I have heard a lot about how fantastic this machine is, and with the amount of processed/convenient food available these days, I love the idea of getting extra nutrition into my family's diet.

The NutriBullet is a powerful superfood nutrition extractor that completely blitzes and blends any ingredients, including fibre, pulp, seeds and skin of whole fruits and vegetables. This means you extract the highest degree of nutrition from your food, and the silky smooth texture makes it easy to digest. No more partially blended spinach leaves or berry pips. There are so many ingredients you can use, and we've had a lot of fun making up recipes to please the whole family.

We started with a couple of handfuls of baby spinach leaves, a green apple, a pear, and chopped pineapple topped up with coconut water. It's amazing how quickly it blends into a smooth and super healthy drink.

The NutriBullet comes complete with a tall cup, two shorter cups (one with a handle), two resealable lids, the extractor blade, and a milling blade which turns dry ingredients into powders (perfect for milling oats, nuts and seeds). So next time you're running late and don't have time for a sit-down breakfast, you could simply throw your favourite fresh ingredients into the NutriBullet, pop a lid on and take it with you. Now that's what I call "fast food"!

I whipped up a ginger and citrus flu-fighter recipe from two whole oranges (skin removed), the juice from half a lemon, a teaspoon of fresh ginger, and a couple of teaspoons of maple syrup to sweeten. You can tweak these recipes to suit your taste - less ginger, more maple syrup... it just takes a bit of experimenting.

The kids wanted a berry smoothie so we went quite traditional with a banana, lots of frozen mixed berries, yoghurt and milk. I added a dash of vanilla and organic carob powder. Needless to say, they loved it. It really is a fabulous way to get fussy eaters to get their fruit intake. My eldest doesn't like bananas, her favourite recipe so far includes mango, pineapple, coconut flakes, almonds, almond milk and yoghurt - delish!

The last drink I made was a mix of some of my favourites, and was just like a healthy dessert. I used almond milk, a shot of cold coffee, vanilla extract, cinnamon, and two tablespoons of organic rolled oats. Once blitzed I added two tablespoons of chia seeds and let it sit for ten minutes, stirring regularly. Topped with coconut flakes, slivered almonds, and chocolate chips, it was a delicious guilt-free treat.

I would highly recommend a NutriBullet to anyone wanting a quick and fun way to create exceptionally healthy drinks and meals. Check out the website to see where you can buy yours, and lots of great recipes.

My Veggie Patch

You know how I love seeing other women succeed in creating a business out of their passion, and My Veggie Patch is extra special as it's a local Hawke's Bay business. Founder, Anna Curtis, has channelled her love for gardening and healthy eating into a unique business opportunity.

With years of experience in tending her own garden, she's passing on her enthusiasm to her children, and teaching them that veggies don't grow in the supermarket. And if you, like me, are also keen to provide your family with fresh, nutritious veggies, but are perhaps short on time or gardening know-how, Anna will create a garden for you.

If you live in Hawke's Bay you can hire Anna to come and create your very own veggie garden and give you expert advice on how to maintain it. Or you can purchase a veggie crate as an instant garden solution, lined, filled and planted out with seasonal veggie seedlings. These recycled crates are also available to purchase lined and waiting for you to fill and plant, and can be delivered throughout the North Island.

If you're short on space, or have a wall that needs beautifying, the vertical pallet garden is for you. You can plant most small veggie varieties and small plants, anything that likes growing in pots will love the pallet environment. They're great for apartments, offices, shop fronts and more. And the industrial wheel at one end means they're very easy to move around if needed.

As well as gardens and gardening services, Anna has also created a fun and colourful range of My Veggie Patch products. This includes tea towels, harvest hats for adults, and cute bucket hats for the littlies, tote bags, and big spotty Euro-sized cushions - great for your bed or your sofa.

I'm a huge fan of fresh, healthy veggies, but also happen to be slightly challenged in the art of gardening, so I love the idea of having an expert create a garden for me. If this appeals to you too, go and check out Anna's website now. You can also commission her to create customised gardens to suit your space requirements and style preferences. You can keep up to date with all the news on the My Veggie Patch Facebook page.

Favourite Finds

I keep a folder on my desktop of my favourite finds during the week, and this time they seem to have, unconsciously, fallen into two distinct categories - healthy & wellbeing, and cute & cuddly.

I'm a big fan of Lorna Jane activewear, and they usually have a free gift when you spend $150 or more. Currently you get this great citrus squeeze water bottle to give your water that extra zing. We all know that we're supposed to drink lots of water to keep us healthy and hydrated, and I always have my water bottle on hand. But for those who struggle to drink their quota, this is a brilliant idea - a bit of flavour may be all they need to make it more appealing. Be quick though, this particular offer only runs until 25th February, or while stocks last.

One of my young daughters is having trouble getting to sleep, with her overly active imagination fueled by a scary movie she saw at her friend's place recently. So to relax her before bed I've been doing a simple yoga routine with the twins. Although this is called 'good morning yoga sequence' it seems to work in the evenings to stretch out their little bodies and leave them with a sense of wellbeing. They absolutely love it - I may have created a couple of yoga addicts!

If you're looking for something beautifully delicious for you or your friend's baby, Coast New Zealand have created The Baby Mac. It's a smaller version of their Mackenzie Throw, and made out of 100% NZ wool, it's light and breathable while still being snuggly and super warm. You can also have your choice of initials embroidered onto your blanket turning it into a family heirloom.

I happily stumbled across the most gorgeous Danish online shop called De Winkel Van Woonblog (super cute name!). They have some some adorable products and they ship to New Zealand.

As the owner of two cats I can tell you they would love these cute hideaways - the CatCube and the Cat Tipi - and because of their cool design, I'd be happy to have them in our home.

Lucky last (my favourite), my Mum bought the book Quake Dogs for my niece at Christmas time, and my girls loved it so much she bought them their own copy this week. It's a collection of stories about dogs that were affected by, and survived the 2011 Christchurch earthquakes. Some were rescuers, some were rescued, some of the stories will make you chuckle, and as a hopeless dog lover, some made me cry!

If you're a fellow dog lover I highly recommend this book by Laura Sessions with simply beautiful photography by Craig Bullock. Part of the proceeds from the book go to support HUHA, a national organisation that works to rescue and re-home animals around the country. They went to Christchurch three times to take more than 70 dogs, plus numerous other animals, to safe and loving homes elsewhere in the country.

Favourite Finds

This is the first of another new blog series - Favourite Finds. Once every week or two I'll be bringing you a selection of favourite things I've discovered - maybe a new website I've found, or a movie I've seen, a delicious recipe, or cool product... an eclectic collection. Hopefully there'll be something in there to inspire you to.

I've recently taken the Meat Free Monday pledge. The concept to cut meat out of your diet for one day a week is taking the world by storm, and little ole New Zealand is jumping on board. I quite regularly cook vegetarian meals for our family, so it won't be a hard concept for me at all, but I'm most excited to try the yummy recipes you can find on the website. Pop over and read all about why you should take the pledge with me.

Autumn fashion is hitting the shops already and my favourite label, Moochi, has lots of cool new stock to entice me. I have a long list, of course, but at the top are these awesome Lead Pants. Tapered at the ankle and with an elasticised waist they look really smart and super comfy - a brilliant combination!

I've just discovered the TV programme Offspring. I know what you're saying... "Where've you been?! Offspring has been around for ages!". Yes, I know we're about to start season 4 here in NZ, but before a few days ago I'd never watched an episode. Thanks to the wonder of TVNZ On Demand, I was able to watch the last three episodes of season 3 back-to-back on my iPad in bed. Now I can't wait for the new season to start so I can see more of the craziness and of course, Patrick - sigh!

I'm always happy to add another interior book to my collection, and I love the look of Creative Family Home. It addresses both the practical and decorative issues involved in creating a stylish home for your family, whether you've got one tiny baby, or a tribe of teenagers.

And last, but certainly not least, my favourite new find... get ready to have your heart wrenched! I follow an incredible instagram account called mommasgonecity. Owned by Jessica Shyba, her blog by the same name was initially started as a way to keep in touch with family when they moved from California to Manhattan. Jessica moved back to Santa Cruz, California with her husband, three adorable children, and their latest addition, a rescue puppy called Theo.

A very special bond has formed between Theo and Jessica's youngest child, Beau - there is nothing quite like the love between a boy and his dog. Read Jessica's full story here about how the pair became such close buddies, and how nap time is no longer Jessica's most productive time of day! She spends most of it watching this remarkable love story with her heart bursting. As a massive dog lover, this just makes me want to cry with joy! I'm a bit of a sook when it comes to animals, if you are too make sure you follow Theo and Beau's journey, as well as the rest of the family, on instagram.

Little & Loved

I am very happy to introduce you today to a fantastic company that's looking out for two very precious things - our kids and our planet. Little & Loved is owned and operated by Zoe Salmen, who is passionate about living sustainably. With two beautiful wee boys of her own, Zoe knows the importance of natural and organic products. She carefully selects suppliers who share her values, and stocks a large range of quality New Zealand made products, as well as internationally recognised brands.

Adorable cushions, garlands, and mobiles by Needle&I feature happy clouds, plump bunnies and friendly ghosts - even the skull and bat are cute! Some of these are limited editions, so be quick to secure your favourite.

Hours of fun will be had with the Flatout Frankie range, designed in New Zealand and made from natural kraft board. They easily pack down for storage and travel.

I'm a huge fan of Lindi Kingi jewellery, and Little & Loved stock a range of divine bracelets lovingly handmade by Lindi. It's never too young to be stylish.

A beautiful range of wooden baby products are made by Zoe's Dad with Zoe's design input. With gorgeous organic forms, these tactile pieces are perfect for tiny hands and mouths.

This is just a small selection of the Little & Loved products. Pop over to their website to see the full range, which includes Zoe's own range of baby care products. And 'like' them on Facebook to keep up to date with all new products, special offers and giveaways.