Nightwolf's Den

We have recently had a new addition to our family. And quite a cute little thing she is too. Her name is Rori (& *squee* she’s purple – my favourite colour).

When Rori arrived I think I had more fun playing with her than Miss K, but she has slowly taken a shine to her new ‘pet’ and Rori has been out and about with us a couple of times now. Zhu Zhu Pets are recommended for ages 4 & up but Miss K is only 18 months and is quite happy to play with Rori, supervised of course. She wasn’t keen to pick her up to start with but now carries her Zhu’s around most of the day and find various play spaces for them. The kitchen is the favourite at the moment and it’s nothing unusual to see our three Zhu’s scooting around the kitchen. Oh yeah, I should warn you – Zhu Zhu’s are addictive, since Rori came to live with us we’ve acquired Kacee & Harlow.

We share our house with a couple of cats (or more they share their house with us) and they have both taken an interest in Rori and the other bhns with one even coming up to give Rori a lick when she’s not running round the kitchen.

Here’s two of the Zhu Zhus doing what they do best, running round the kitchen being chased by Miss K (please ignore the mess. And the high pitch squealing from Miss K)

Zhu Zhu Pets are the cutest little plush robotic hamster toys. They can be put in either of two play modes: “nurturing mode,” in which they coo and purr, or “adventure mode,” in which they explore their habitat and respond to various stimuli.

Things I like:
* Runs well on a variety of surfaces
* Keeps Miss K amused for awhile
* Is cute and a good replacement pet if you can’t have real pets
* Not overly expensive
* The website – The Zhu-niverse – is a great place for both parents & children to learn about the Zhus and play games in a safe online area. And create a list of what Zhus and accessories you own or want to own.

Things I’m not to keep on:
* The noise. It’s cute but after awhile can get a little annoying
* No off switch. You have to let your pet go to ‘sleep’ and ours seem to chat for ages after we press the buttons.

Hubby has decided there should be one called Harvey. Hmm yup, a Weird Al fan.

Update: I can see more Zhu Zhu Pets and accessories will be on the wish list for Christmas this year. So much so we bought the Burger Overpass set. And I’m sure I’ll find another couple of Zhu related things for the stocking

Disclaimer: I was given a Zhu Zhu Pet and accessory pack for Miss K to have a play with. All opinions are my own.

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.