Sleepless Nights

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  • Aiming for rubbish free lunchboxes? + Giveaway

    Amy’s class has been talking a bit about rubbish recently and how to reduce rubbish in their lunchboxes. Of course, I didn’t realise this until I was at the swimming carnival with the Kinders and heard one boy proudly telling the teacher that he had “no rubbish today!” and being praised for it.

    I know that Marita’s school has been doing similar things and so I started to think about how to reduce rubbish in our lunch boxes. I use reusable containers for as many things as possible, but I am guilty of just quickly wrapping things in cling wrap and sending them, because it’s easy.

    Imagine how pleased I was when the lovely Rebecca from 4 My Earth expressed interest in running advertising on my sidebar, and having me review her products as well. 4 My Earth sells all kinds of things, but I was really interested in the lunch wraps and pouches, that allow you to wrap sandwiches and keep them fresh.

    Not to mention that they are super cool looking.

    I’ve been sending these to school with Amy’s lunch for a week now with no problems whatsoever. I was a little worried that they wouldn’t make it home again, but Amy has adjusted really well and they are making it home at the end of the day perfectly.

    They’re really simple to use and according to Amy, they’ve kept her lunch “yummy and delicious!” as well. You place the sandwich in the middle and then wrap it, using the velcro to hold it closed. Plastic lined, but woven material on the outside means that they look great and they keep everything fresh.

    To clean, I’ve just been rinsing them in the washing up water at the beginning of the washing up and then hanging in the window to dry, which seems to be working well for us.

    The pouches are exactly what they sound like and are pouches for placing food in. I haven’t tried these out properly yet because I’ve been too slack to bake, but the large pouch would hold a piece of quiche, or a slice quite well, whereas the smaller one looks perfect for putting crackers, or sweet biscuits into, or even slices of cucumber and olives.

    ***

    Giveaway!

    Because Rebecca would like you guys to try out these eco-wraps and see how amazing they are, she is offering two Eco-Packs to give away, including one large sandwich wrap, one small wrap, one large pouch and one small pouch.

    You MUST enter through the Rafflecopter widget.



    To enter, tell me, what is your favourite lunch box food?

    ***

    This is a sponsored post.

     

  • These are intolerable working conditions.

    [Video: Now with captions]

    Internet, I give you the baby birds that are screeching above my desk. BECAUSE I WANT YOU TO SUFFER WITH ME.

    These working conditions are intolerable. I’ve tried complaining to the groundskeeper and maintenance man (Nathan) but he tells me his hands are tied and I need to discuss the issue with pest control (The Cats).

    Either way, nothing is getting done and my ears are hurting.

  • Wedding plans. I appear to be running out of time

    With a wedding set to happen in 23 days, I’ve realised that days are not as long as I thought they were and that months will fly by if you give them a chance. Just because whining grumpy children make seconds feel like minutes, they don’t actually appear to have the power to extend time.

    I’m not sure if that is a good thing, or a bad thing.

    It’s probably good.

    From being a little stressed about wedding things a week ago, now I’m feeling quite zen about the whole thing. Sure, I need to buy stacks of paper plates and work out where I can buy wooden forks from, but the spit is organised, an old family friend has gifted me the sheep to go on it and I have friends and family descending on the house the day before in order to help with preparations.

    If we can’t get things organised with all of the extra hands, then we deserve to have things left undone.

    There are a few things that I absolutely need to do before the wedding and one of them involves buying a new bra.

    [insert music of doom here]

    I hate bra shopping. Hate hate hate. But as the ever so lovely Renee pointed out when we were discussing bras at the Problogger event (as you do) – I need to be wearing a different size bra. I gained weight and it seems that a good portion of that weight landed on my breasts. Nathan is thrilled to bits about this, but I’m not convinced.

    The other thing I need to do is start seriously preparing my children for the sheer amount of relatives that we’re going to have up here – something that I’m not sure the kids are going to cope with. Isaac hides in the bedroom whenever his cousins come to visit, and he LIKES them. Amy sort of understands that the wedding is a party, but she just wants to put up the wedding tent and “live in it Mummy!”

    It’s going to be interesting, at the very least.

    And, both children need a haircut. Amy will be fine, but Isaac has a tendency to scream blue murder and require a straitjacket type approach in order to get his hair clipped.

    I visualise lots of flying time in my future.

    Anyway.

    I’m getting married Internet!

    PS, I have completely forgotten to invite a bunch of people. This is a bad thing.

  • Showcase Tasmania: Summer Kitchen Bakery

    I was down in Salamanca for the markets on Saturday, and it was recommended that I go and see the stall that Summer Kitchen Bakery run. Hiding at the very southern-most point of the markets, I found them in their caravan. We got to talking and I asked the lovely Maria if she would like to be part of Showcase Tasmania.

    I didn’t have my camera with me, or I would have taken a photo of the inside of the caravan. Firstly, the shelves of fresh bread – then the pies and pastries sitting up the front. Finally I would have photographed the crowd in front of the van, neatly lined up and waiting for a chance to buy some bread.

    I had been told that they baked the best bread in Southern Tasmania and so my standards were high when I walked away with a lovely heavy loaf of sprouted rye bread.

    Getting home later, I sliced it and wasn’t disappointed. Even with only butter, the flavour was amazing, soft and sharp and very very moreish. I was hungry by that point and so made myself a plate of odds and ends to nibble on.

    Including blueberries from Blueberry Boost and cheese from Grandvewe.

    It was delicious and so I kept eating it. Of course.

    But, I think the biggest critics of any food are my children. They’ve both got sensory issues surrounding food, which makes feeding them the most frustrating job in the world.

    Amy declared the bread delicious and ate most of her slice, with soup. Isaac is a tougher kid to please and I was shocked (pleasantly) when he ate his entire piece of bread and asked for another, to dip in his soup.

    I was impressed.

    Summer Kitchen Bakery don’t have a website, or facebook, but you can find them at the Salamanca Markets every week. If you’ve not tried their bread, you absolutely should and you can tell them that you heard about them on Showcase Tasmania if you like.

  • The juxtaposition of both happy and sad

    I got some amazing news today. Throw your hat in the air and shout kind of news, run around the house squealing, tell everyone in sight kind of news.

    (No, I am not pregnant.)

    It was amazing news. I poked Nathan until he woke up – lazy bones was napping on the couch – and told him. I rang my parents, and spoke to my father and told him the great news. Mum wasn’t home.

    I was so over the moon that I caught myself for a split second starting to dial the number for my grandmother.

    And then I burst into tears because she is dead and I can’t ring and tell her. Suddenly I wasn’t so excited, I was just bone crushingly sad.

    Death is hard. Death hits you at the strangest of times, when things are going well. You’ll be travelling along, and things will be just fucking perfect and then your brain will collapse in on itself and you’ll be left sobbing. Death is so final and I think that is the hardest part to live with.

    I cried for an hour and then I rang my mother and we celebrated and cried together, because that is what you do.

    Knowing that Nan would be excited and proud isn’t the same as ringing and speaking to her. Knowing that she would be cheering me on from the sidelines is nothing like sitting down and telling her about it. It’s just not the same.

    Things are going well for me. They’re going really really well. I got another couple of businesses to sign on to Showcase Tasmania, I’ve got a few more interested and in the process of confirming and deciding and (the biggest thing I suspect) it’s finally Not Winter anymore.

    I am happy. I am truly truly happy. And in the same breath, I am so terribly sad, because I am getting married in a month, my blog is doing well, things are happening for me and my grandmother is still too dead to share this with.

    And that is the problem right now.

    ***

    Ghosts and the possibility thereof aside, death is death. It’s final and I can’t change that.

    I should hopefully be able to share my news with you in the next week or so. I am really excited about this, but you know, pass the tissues. I’ll cry and dance at the same time.