The Munchbox: A review & Giveaway!

I really do enjoy the wide range of monthly subscription box programmes that have cropped up over the past couple of years. It seems like you can sort your life out in style nowadays, using just monthly subscription services and, heck, I like that idea. Anyway, let me introduce you to a new kid on the subscription box service block, The Munchbox. I’ve also got a Munchbox to give away to one lucky reader so check out those details below!

What’s in the box?
Made with families in mind, The Munchbox sends you and your kids a box a month, which contains: 3 recipe cards, a shopping list, some fun resources and some of the utensils you need to create the recipes. If you’re looking to make funky additions to your family kitchen arsenal, this could be a sweet way to do it too.

Yes, but what’s it like?
We took to trying out The Munchbox on a Saturday afternoon, after my kid had completed her exam studying for the day. Heading into the kitchen to make a delicious mess does definitely help you to shrug off the exam anxiety! After assembling the ingredients we needed, to make the scrumptious looking Apple Squares, it was pretty easy to let my kid at it, with the easy-to-follow, illustrated instructions and cute utensils to use. For the record, I did a price comparison: adding the cost of the good quality utensils the team sent, combined with the cost of a family recipe book and a puzzle or wordsearch magazine, this works out to be a pretty darn reasonable to have some kitchen fun with the kids.

What we liked about it:

First off, my kid loves to create in the kitchen, but I’m more of a box-mix mom or, you know, the type that sends a box of biscuits on cake sale day (cringe, those things always creep up on me like a surprise clown, and clowns scare me). So, for me, I liked how this recipe didn’t require any exotic ingredients and was made up of things we’d usually find in our kitchen anyway.
Secondly, the easy to follow instructions meant I could stick the recipe card up on the wall and let my daughter at it, only jumping in to help when the oven needed turning on. Also, the recipe’s simplicity means that it’s pretty easy to add your own twist to it, so we popped a sprinkling of cinnamon into the mix for that extra apple-pie-type-vibe.
And, of course, the final product – man, these apple squares are yum! I can see these becoming a regular feature in our school and work lunch boxes. I also really like that you can buy the utensils individually via The Munchbox online shop.

Where can I find out more about The Munchbox?
You can check out The Munchbox website, follow them on Twitter or check them out on Facebook here.

What’s in it for me?
And now that you know what The Munchbox is all about, I’ve got one to give away!

THIS COMPETITION IS NOW CLOSED – WELL DONE TO OUR WINNER ANIB79!

Here’s how to enter:

Simply comment below to tell me the name of your favourite family recipe. A winner will be randomly picked from a hat (be warned, there’ll be a cute Flipagram!) and we’ll get The Munchbox team to send you a box as a prize!
This competition is open to residents of South Africa and entries close on 29 May 2015. A winner will be announced on 1 June 2015.

Disclaimer: I was sent a Munchbox kit by The MunchBox team to review for the purposes of this post.

Durban tastes delicious!

Suncoast Casino is coming to life from 25 to 27 July 2014 with the annual Pick ‘n Pay Taste of Durban festival!

Now, if you know anything about me, it’s that I have a not-so-secret desire to become a restaurant critic, and an all round foodie. I am the latter, because – seriously – just hand me the food, and we’ll worry about the rest later, but – maybe one day – I’ll get the former right! I guess it says a lot that I once (as a part time job in school) delivered pizza on rollerskates, and completely failed on my first day. That’s why I’d rather leave it to the experts, and just enjoy the food!

As you know damn well though, I love my home city, so a food celebration that’s Durban-proud, sounds like a little piece of heaven to me!

Except, this year, Taste of Durban is anything but little!

Chefs from nine of Durban’s top restaurants will be on hand to create special menus of starter-sized dishes, including their signature dishes. Each menu will be designed to reflect their individual restaurant’s philosophies, whilst showcasing seasonal and premium ingredients. So, what Durban restaurants are participating? Here’s a list:

Not only that, but the three day festival will play host to an incredible bunch of exhibitors and I deeply suspect I’ll need to add on another few kilometres to my daily run routine for a few weeks thereafter!

Having been lucky enough to sample the fare of most of these establishments, I’d make a one recommendation to you if you’re keen on attending Taste of Durban this year:

So, if you’d like to foodie it up, book your tickets for Taste of Durban here, check out their website for full festival information here or like their Facebook page.

Lucky for you, the organisers have offered me 5 sets of double tickets to give away, so you can get your foodie on!

To enter this lovely little competition simply:

This competition is only open to South African residents and will close on 10 July 2014. Winners will be drawn from a hat, and winner announcement will be made via video.

Let’s get the good food on!

This competition is now closed. Congratulations to all the winners!

The 5 Love Languages of Children | Book Review (and a giveaway)

I’ve always been a little skeptical of self-help books and courses. Granted, there was a time in my twenties when I was all about the self-help books but, much like Bridget Jones plunged her pile of books into the bin, so I (somewhere near my thirtieth birthday) packed all of them into a box. Yes, even “He’s just not that into you” (it may have had something to do with the fact that, when I was reading that, he was actually that into me. Haha).

Anyway, I digress. Earlier this year, my kid had to do a set of worksheets that centred on figuring out her own Love Languages and those of her family . I really enjoyed the experience and it piqued my interest in the whole school of thought. Our individual quiz results that ascertained our particular love languages were pretty interesting – mostly because – as it turns out – my kid and I share the same primary love language.

That’s why I was thrilled when this book got delivered to me – The 5 Love Languages of Children. Since doing those quizzes, I’ve tried to remember my kid’s primary love language more and more when considering my parenting, and I’ve enjoyed keeping that perspective.

Penned by Gary Chapman and Ross Campbell, The 5 Love Languages of Children focuses on applying the principles of love languages to your parenting and raising children in accordance with their primary love languages. It also includes nifty, short tips on how to deal with particular situations, in a supportive way that aligns with your children’s love languages.

The authors also cover a more-important-than-ever topic – discipline. As a parent, I’m known for being a helicopter-strict-mom (and am unashamedly so!) but I also believe in discipline, not punishment. What’s the difference? That’s easy – discipline, to me, is an act of love that seeks to train a child in the ways of life (and, yes that does include actions being linked to consequences). It is a way to teach, not to punish. I appreciated this book for its approach on discipline, especially in light of the love languages. This line struck home for me:

“Love looks out for the interests of others, so does discipline”.

There are also sections on “Learning and the Love Languages” and a very on-point section on “Speaking the Love Languages in Single Parent Families”.

As a parenting resource, I’d recommend this book a thousand times over. I enjoyed its exploration of applying children’s love languages in a variety of situations and I’m really quite glad I got to read this!

Thanks to the lovely Cherilyn Murphy for arranging me a copy of this great book to review! You can purchase the book here.

And here comes the best part – I’ve got two copies of this fantastic book to give away to my lovely readers. To enter, simply leave a comment below, telling me what your favourite childhood memory is. Winners will be chosen from a hat by my kid and I’ll put up a video announcing the winners. Please note that this competition is open only to South African residents. Closing date for this competition is 26 May 2014.

This competition is now closed. The responses I received for this competition were so heartrending. Some made me grin, some made me sob! Thank you for sharing your precious childhood memories with me!

The winners are:

Stacey and FabulousMommy!

I’ll be in touch shortly via email to arrange

delivery of your prize!

Beauties from Beier! (and a giveaway)

I’m short, and by short I mean…people are surprised when they meet me, short.

As a result, I have really small feet. Moreover, I have really wide feet! It makes it near impossible for me to therefore buy shoes, or pants that fit nicely. I’m usually buying one size up on shoes, and having to tack up pant hems by like a metre at a time.

It’s funny though, because – somehow – people step on my toes ALL THE TIME. It’s not like they’re big and getting in the way! Heh. I’m really quite the squished toe, weird-footed two feet and a brick high chick.

This week requires me to be able to kick ass, in a lot of ways. And everyone who knows me, knows that I have asskicking shoes. They’re usually boots, but I think I’ve just changed my mind on this.

I spied a new range from Beier Safety Footwear when I was on their Facebook page the other day.I know, I know – you’re saying, “But Beier make safety boots!” Yes, I know. But did you know that safety boots don’t have to be ugly anymore?

They’re most definitely not anymore! Beier have created a range called Sisi. Made especially for women in the workplace, these little babies look good in a workshop, fab in a factory and super on a construction site. I really love how they’ve added an interesting, feminine flair to their range and, as I type this, I’m wearing mine. They’re comfortable and I feel powerful enough to seriously kick some ass in these, whilst not having my toes trodden on anymore. Best of all, these babies are South African made!

20140217_150531 — Cute packaging. I’m a bit of a sucker for cute packaging.

Lucky for you, you don’t have to just read me talking about these comfortable asskickers anymore!

The lovely people over at Beier have given me a pair of these beauties to give away to you!

IMG_20140217_165434 — Disclaimer – not my feet. My kid and I wear the same size shoe. Gulp.

To enter, simply answer the question below in a comment. This competition will close at midnight on 24 February 2014, and the winner will be announced on 25 February 2014. This competition is open to South African residents only.

You can also check out the full SISI (and other!) ranges on the Beier Safety Footwear Facebook page or follow them on Twitter.

The question:

Tell me how you’re kicking ass this week (and feel free to tell me whether or not you’re taking names and/or chewing gum too:P).

And the Winner is…number 4, Being Angel!

**This is a sponsored blogpost**

Tag: giveaway