General - Nightwolf's Den

Table of Plenty Mini Rice Cakes

I am not a huge fan of rice cakes. In fact I remember mum buying a packet when I was younger, me taking one, taking a bite and spitting it out. They were bland and had the texture of cardboard. So when I was asked if I would like to try Table of Plenty Mini Rice Cakes I was a little hesitant. Would they be bland? Would they have no flavour? Would they be as yuck as I remember rice cakes from my youth being? Did I want to subject Miss K to them if I myself wouldn’t eat them?
I can say I’m glad I did agree to try them and I was pleasantly surprised.

When the rice cakes arrived we dove into the milk chocolate ones first. Cause, well they were chocolate. Hmm not bad. Hubby thought they were a bit bland so didn’t have any more. No biggie – more for me & Miss K. Triple Berry was next. OMG yum. Nice berry flavour. They went in a day. Last but not least was the dark choc. Nom nom. The chocolate was scrummy.

Table of Plenty are an Australian owned company established by mum, Kate Weiss (you can read more about Kate here) ‘to bring top quality products into the supermarkets; products with life, education, innovation and style that stands out from the ordinary’.

The Mini Rice Cakes are only 15 calories per cake, have no preservatives, don’t contain any palm or vegetable oils AND are gluten free. The chocolate on both the milk & dark is Belgian (yum) and the Triple Berry topping is made from yoghurt and berry powders. They are also mini and cute. Perfect for a snack for littlies or Mum while putting your feet up with a cuppa (yeah right). A great on the go snack. I found it hard to just have one or two.

Overall I was very happy with the rice cakes and can see the dark chocolate and berry flavours making their way into our groceries as a healthy snack for me & Miss K. I gave a couple of packets to Mum to try and apparently Dad ate the whole Triple Berry packet (minus one or two) and that’s pretty impressive for someone who doesn’t eat yoghurt. Mum agrees they taste better than the old plain rice cakes. So there you have it, a great healthy snack that actually tastes good.

100 days til Christmas

(well it was actually yesterday but I was busy)
OMG really? It can’t be that close already can it?

This year I’m aiming to try and be a bit more organised. Last year I had all the pressies bought weeks before Christmas and it felt great. This year I hope to do the same, especially as we’re having an early Christmas with the in-laws.

This year I’m going to be following along with List Plan It’s 100 Days to Christmas

(I’ll most likely still use Organized Christmas like last year too)

Are you organised for Christmas or do you leave things til the last minute?

Cool Gelmat & Toasty Buns

Disclaimer – I was provided a Cool Gelmat pillow size & a Toasty Buns to try. All opinions are my own.

So a cool mat is probably something you would think wouldn’t be that useful in Tasmania, especially in winter when it does get very chilly BUT this little gelmat has been a saviour on a couple of occasions recently. I, like many others, am one of the unfortunate sufferers of migraines. You know the ones that get so bad that you have to go into a dark room to get any relief.

The last time I got a migraine I decided to give the Cool Gelmat a try. Usually, I’ll lie down in our bedroom, with all the curtains shut, some essential oil burning (anything but lavender as I’m allergic to it) and a cold face washer over the temples. After about 10 minutes, I’ll be yelling at hubby to cool the face washer down again. This time I popped the Cool Gelmat on my pillow and lay down. It’s quite comfy and doesn’t feel like there is anything bulky on your pillow. Bonus. Hubby came to check on me after about 15 minutes, apparently – don’t remember it as I’d fallen asleep! I woke about an hour and a half later feeling much better and refreshed. Not the usual drowsy I’ve-just-had-an-afternoon-nap feeling. Another bonus.

I also suffer from lower back problems and after doing some lifting over the last few days of boxes that were a little too heavy (yeah I know bad me) I was suffering from the tell tale back twinge that was a sign of worse things to come. After a nice relaxing bath (well as relaxing as a bath can be when Miss K decided to join me lol) I thought I’d give the gelmat a try to see if it offered any relief. I was very surprised to say it did. Cooled the sore regions and left me feeling a lot better than just a bath alone. Was still sore the next morning but not as sore as usual when I do something silly – like lifting stuff that is too heavy.

Cool Gelmats are advertised to provide heat relief from Headaches, Fevers, Migraines, Hot Flushes, Menopause, Radiation treatment, Oncology, Multiple Sclerosis, Sun Burn (look forward to trying it out if I get sunburnt this summer), Sleeping Hot, Heat Stroke, and Diabetic side-effects. You can find out more on their website http://www.coolgelmat.com.au/

Toasty Buns are such a cute idea. I spent the first couple of nights using it to warm my bum. Hey it was cold lol.

Toasty Buns “Works by retaining your body’s own natural warmth. Thousands of isolated bubbles capture and accumulate body heat and prevent cold air from circulating. Doesn’t rely on electricity making it safe and portable. No expensive power bills makes Toasty Buns cost effective and environmentally friendly. Perfect for on the couch, at the office, in the car, going camping, at the footy or anywhere you feel the cold!”

It’s now being used in Miss K’s bed to keep her warm. She (like her mother) feels the cold of a night. I don’t like the idea of having an electric blanket or a hot water bottle in kid’s beds (I recently saw a child’s electric blanket advertised with pretty patterns on it) so Toasty Buns sounded like a great solution. It seems to work well. Miss K is sleeping a lot warmer and her bed doesn’t feel cold if I have to give her an overnight feed. I do know I’m looking forward to taking it to the footy next year. That’s if I can get it away from Miss K.

More information on Toasty Buns can be found at their website

10 on the 10th

This month I’m sharing my 10 favourite recipes at the moment.


Shepherd’s Pie	Brownies

Jamie Oliver lamb roast	Lemon Slice

Quick pork stir fry	French Onion Soup

Choc Chip biscuits	Cinnamon Scrolls

Chocolate Self Saucing pudding	French Toast (I like mine with cinnamon sugar)

Learn Something New 2011 (Days 1 to 4)

This year I’ve decided to just jot down some Twitter like observations. I’m hoping this will mean it will make it easier for me to keep up with it. AND it means I will start using my Observations notebook I made way back in the Mouse, Paper, Scissors class (hope there will be another soon). Mental note to self – find Observation notebook & a nice pen and put in my bedside draw. Will try and update my blog with my week’s observations each Sunday night.

Day 1 – Today I learnt that Miss K loves chocolate as much as I do.

Day 2 – Sometimes I need to relax and not sweat the small stuff

Day 3 – Wear comfy shoes when doing housework! You will thank yourself later

Day 4 – I love spending time with family. Don’t get to do it enough.

I’ll be back next Sunday with some more observations about what I’ve learnt through the week.

What have you learnt so far this week?

August 2011 Roundup

(The idea & questions for my round up come from Katie the Scrapbook Lady.)

What books and/or magazines did I read this month?

The $21 Challenge by Fiona Lippy & Jackie Gower (thanks to Muddled Up Mumma for this one)
Art Journal Workshop by Traci Bunkers
What movies, television shows, plays, etc. did I watch this month?
Tv – lots of sport, Doctor Who
What fun things did I do with my family and/or friends?
Spent some time with Mum (no scrapbooking though). Took Miss K to first playgroup.
What gifts did I give and/or receive?
Bought some stuff for hubby
What special or unusual purchases did I make?
Nothing unusual. Bought new glasses. Bought new modem router
What illnesses or health concerns did I have?
We all got hit by the late winter bug.
What were my accomplishments this month?
Doing more baking. Finally took Miss K to playgroup
What were my disappointments this month?
Still no scrapbooking. House still not getting tidy.
How did I do on my goals for the month?
Journal every day Check Do some scrapping & art journaling Started a page Exercise at least 3 times a week. Nope Try and keep the house a bit cleaner Still failing Organise at least one scrapping day with mum Didn’t happen
Anything else noteworthy to include?
Did the Census. Starting to get warmer. Mum bought an iPad & has finally got broadband (yay). Caught up with an ex-housemate.

Back up all digital pictures. DONE
Format memory cards. DONE
Sort all August photos into 2011 folder. DONE
Make a backup copy of the photos onto my desktop computer and EHD. DONE
Backup any other documents or files as needed. DONE
Backup my blogs. DONE
Clean off my work area, empty my inbox, and clean up my computer files. DONE
Update LYM Logbook from Momento app DONE
Print September pages for LYM Logbook DONE

Goals for September
Journal every day.
Do some scrapping & art journaling
Exercise at least 3 times a week.
Try and keep the house a bit cleaner – start Habit Hacker again (started on the 3rd)
Organise at least one scrapping day with mum

Wow September already

Well it’s been a busy week here for us so I’m finally getting around to posting a few things.

I’ve got a few new reviews coming up soon, one involves this cute little critter who has joined our household.

I’ve started Learn Something New over at Shimelle (first four days coming up soon)

I made some cards (& forgot to take photos *sigh*)! I haven’t made cards in ages. They were for Father’s Day. So happy Father’s Day to all the Dad’s out there & hugs to the single Mums who can find this time of year hard & hugs to those who have lost their Dad.

Today I celebrated with the special man in my life & our gorgeous daughter (who took great delight in jumping on her Dad in bed this morning before giving him her present) before spending the afternoon with my parents & the in-laws.

(one of my favourite pics. Miss K was only a day old)

I cooked a roast lamb for lunch (thanks Jamie Oliver for this recipe) with piles of roast veg then Mum made a pav with cream and …. banana!! (yeah, we splurged).

Didn’t do much baking this week. Made more Lemon Slice (recipe) cause it was such a hit last week & this mint slice thing (note to self – make mint filling a bit runnier next time).

Ok off to grab myself a drink, some mint slice and back to finish off 2 more blog posts Smile

Learn Something New

Well it’s nearly September (OMG where has the year gone!!) and it’s nearly time for Shimelle’s Learn Something New class.

I’m ashamed to say I have NEVER completed one of Shimelle’s classes (I’ve taken a few). I am a huge fan but never seem to keep motivated to keep scrapping. This year I plan to blog each day and then I have a record to scrap later, should I choose.

I do plan on slowly working my way through all the classes I’ve started. That’s the joy of Shimelle’s classes, once you buy them, if they are repeated, you have have access to future version.

Have you ever signed up a class and never finished it? Are you taking part in Shimelle’s class (would love you to say hi)?

Cherish Your Cherubs Project – Record

I’m taking part in Seven Cherubs Cherish Your Cherubs Project.

The ‘challenge’ for this week is to Record what our cherubs re like right now.

Well Miss K has just hit 18 months (wow that went fast!) and ’chats’ no stop. She’s picked up her mum’s habit of being able to talk under water lol. We’ve been getting lots of new words in the last month but we do have a few favourites.

1. What are your cherubs interests? playing with my iPhone, trying to play on my laptop, pretending to cook, playing with our cats.

2. What do they like? music, cuddles, Talking Tom on my iphone

3. What do they dislike? strangers, sleeping during the day

4. What is their favourite food? eggs, preferably scrambled; pate (has to be chicken); rice

5. What is their favourite game to play? round & round the garden

6. What is their favourite saying? gain (as in again), drink, car

7. What song do they love the most? anything. Miss K LOVES music of any kind and is often found dancing to it if I have the music channel on

8. What is their favourite television show? Doctor Who (yup we have a Who geek at 18 months). Has shown no real interest in any children’s shows. Cries at The Wiggles & Dora

9. What is their favourite book? Where is the Green Sheep. Anything with Hairy Maclary

10. Who is their favourite friend? my Mum at the moment

10 on the 10th

This month I’m sharing 10 of my favourite scrapping tools right now.


We R Memory Keeps Seweasy	Making Memories Slice

Martha Stewart Score Board	BasicGrey Precision File Set

Tim Holtz Tiny Attacher	Making Memories Tool Kit

Fiskars Threading Water punch	Fiskars Squeeze Punch

Copic Markers	Heidi Swapp Edge Destresser

What’s your favourite tool/s at the moment?