Product Review: Bar Keepers Friend

I'd never ever heard of Bar Keepers Friend until I unpacked a lovely box of goodies from fantastic blog sponsors Everten.

Since 1882 this brand has been on the market, definitely giving tried and true real meaning!

BKF Soft Cleanser $15.00, BKF Cleaner $8.00

So what does Bar Keeps Friend do you might ask? In the short time that I've had these two little containers in my possession I've converted dull, old stainless sinks in both the kitchen and laundry into shining sinks that look brand new. I've also made the shower base in our bathroom the cleanest I've ever seen it and has ever been since we moved here over 2 years ago. Oh and the oven. I'll let the pictures show you :

VERY dirty oven: Before

Sparkling clean oven: After 

Bar Keepers Friend is a premium household cleaner making surfaces clean and shiny like new. It's the best top-selling cleanser for removing rust, tarnish, hard water stains and lime scale. BKF is also a non-bleach formula, making it perfect for cleaning in and around the kitchen. It is recommended for cleaning stainless steel cookware and sinks, glass and ceramic cooktops, solid surface countertops,
as well as porcelain and acrylic bath tubs.

Bar Keepers Friend can be used to clean on the following surfaces:
:: Stainless steel
:: Enamel
:: Enamelled cast iron
:: Bare cast iron
:: Carbon steel
:: Porcelain and ceramics
:: Copper
:: Brass
:: Tiles
:: Grout
:: Glass
:: Fibreglass
:: Chrome

Seriously this is awesome stuff. Thanks Everten for introducing me to a great household cleaning product.

Find Everten here: facebook | online store

Disclaimer: Everten are sponsors of THSM, however I was not paid for this post. I was sent both of these products to review. All opinions shared are my own honest opinions. 

Curried Carrot Soup Recipe

I love the cooler weather. And there's nothing more enjoyable than snuggling on the couch by the fire with a warm bowl of soup.

I remember my Mum first making this when I was a teenager and it's now a soup my own family enjoy. Even better, it fits perfectly with my current 4 week fat flush regime - minus the cream of course.

Curried Carrot Soup

1kg carrots, peeled and chopped
1 brown onion, diced
2 tsp curry powder (I like Clive of India)
2 tsp minced garlic
1.5L chicken stock

1. Sautée carrots and onion in heavy based saucepan.
2. Stir through minced garlic and curry powder and cover in chicken stock.
3. Simmer slowly for a few hours until carrots are soft - Add more liquid stock if necessary.
4. Blend until smooth.
5. Serve piping hot.

NB: Add more or less curry powder to suit your taste. If desired, stir through a cup of cream prior to serving, but is equally as delicious without.

Product Review: Murchinson-Hume 'Luxury' Laundry Soak

As you can imagine with two little people very active in and around the home and farm, we constantly have a soaking bucket on the go in our laundry. And because of our locality, I rarely go to the extended effort required to get our delicates dry cleaned. So enter the 'Luxury' Laundry Soak from internationally renowned luxury cleaning brand Murchison-Hume. The soak acts like a shampoo for your garments be it your treasured delicate items or your daily wears.

The soak is both effective and beautifully scented, it was perfect for giving my usually dry cleaned items a refresh before the cooler weather hit, and certainly budged those stubborn marks that seem to accompany all our little boys clothes! Just a few capfuls into my soaking bucket with tepid water and soak away.

Fragranced with Australian White Grapefruit the laundry soak is completely free of bleach and other harsh chemicals that would normally be damaging to your clothes let alone to the environment.

Murchison-Hume brand is the brainchild of Max Kater; a mother of two boys, frustrated by the uninspiring and ineffective range of products available, she created her own super-premium, beautiful, housekeeping product range. Uniquely identifyable by the sleek and sophisicated packaging, the Murchison -  Hume range are designed to be the finest, most safe and effective home cleaning products on Earth.

Who said you can't have effective and pretty home cleaning products, that are envirnomentally friendly?

Find Murchison-Hume here: website | facebook 

Disclaimer: 

I was sent a 1L Murchison-Hume 'Luxury' Laundry Soak to review, but was not paid for this post, All opinions shared are my own. 

4WFF Journey: Post #3 Ten Days

Tens days I've been on this journey and I can't tell you how much better I feel.

I wake up in the morning and am ready to start the day - I don't lie there anymore thinking how tired I am and am no longer yearning to go back to sleep.

I have energy; more energy than I've had in years; many of my days are busy but I'm getting though the days without struggling and longing for a rest come 2pm.

My head feels 'clear' and far less 'cloudy' for the first time since I can remember.

I'm enjoying keeping my body moving and am seeking out opportunities to get moving and exercising.

I am looking at food in a completely different light; it's like I've been wearing blinkers.

I managed to bake three lots of lunchbox snacks for my children and husband yesterday and have not been tempted once, to eat any of it.

I'm kicking myself that I've waiting this long to take control of my well being.

It's a new life, for me. And I'm feeling good...

Follow my Journey here:
4WFF Post # 2: Breaking habits 
4WFF Post #1: Time for change 

4WFF Journey: Post #2 Breaking habits

One of things I've been most conscious of during my 1st week of 4WFF is how many bad eating habits I actually had (past tense). You know I used to sit back and think, well we don't eat takeaway (largely because it's a 160km round trip to get it); we don't eat copious amounts of fried or really fatty foods; and we always have plenty of vegetables or salad with our meals. But I've discovered this week about making good and better choices when it comes to what I eat.

It never ever occurred to me that along with my 4 coffees a day, I was having nearly a cup of full fat milk with each one, so each day I was consuming about a litre of full cream milk! And that's just my coffee habit, let alone the amount of times I used to 'finish off' my kids abandoned snacks and meals. So often I would see a half eaten sandwich or share pack of biscuits, and instead if throwing it, I would eat it! And the same goes when I prepare meals. It was only on Friday night at a dinner after my child's sport when helping prep food in the kitchen, I realised how I often I would sample food whilst I preparing it and again after eating a meal, snack on the leftovers!

Just for my own tracking, as well as menu planning the entire week, I've been keeping a food diary to record exactly what I do eat each day. I'm finding this is helping particularly when I'm tempted by hunger pangs. I look back over my daily tracking and refer to my plan to see what would be the best choice instead of the trying now and paying later attitude that I had before the 4WFF. I'm learning to make conscious choices, and tell myself NO.

I'm actually a pretty determined person, once I make up my mind about something I'm focused on achieving it. I really don't think the food part of this challenge, is going to be the issue for me. I'm certainly not saying it's going to be easy, but I think the exercise component is going to be my struggle element. Don't get me wrong I love the endorphins buzz after getting your heart rate up and pumping, but I really do struggle with motivation to move. This is partly circumstantial at this point too, I know that it's really hard trying to exercise when you have little kids solely in your care. Hubby is in a really busy season on the farm at the moment, counting him out. So it's the mum show 24/7 these days. I'm realising it's going to be hard to schedule my workouts, because I'm going to have to seize the day when and if our 3 year old decides to nap in the afternoon, and bust out the Super 700 or have him tag long with me when he wakes.... FYI: he's not your sit still with a puzzle or book kind of a kid, neither of my children are, in fact they're energizer bunnies without batteries... they both run full on, all day, every day!

I really think I'm going to have to make sure I get moving everyday for walks with him in-tow to keep moving. And might find myself having to do shorter workout bursts more often throughout the day, so it's not all in one chunk. That's what I'm aiming for this coming week in 4WFF - 2 x 15 minute sessions, 3 days a week.

This program is definitely making me change my mindset and kick bad habits and I'm actually really starting to believe that I can actually do this. Not just to lose weight, but to become a healthy and active person, long term.

I'm excited! Can you tell?

Product Review: Philips HomeCooker + Curry Recipe

I love food. To those of you that have been in these parts for a while, this must be pretty apparent. I grew up with a Mother and Grandmother that were great homestyle cooks and that has definitely influenced what kind of a cook/baker I am. I certainly wouldn't go so far as to say I make the best or fanciest food going nor will you see me lining up for the next series of Masterchef or My Kitchen Rules. But what I will say, there's always a lot of love that goes into everything I make in my kitchen. Typical and at times old fashioned cooking and recipes are what is the go in this household. I plan out my weekly/fortnighly menu with about 16 choices so it makes it easier for shopping purposes and then  make those planned meals for those 2 weeks. During this time of the year particularly it involves lots of casseroles; stews and hearty dishes. Obviously I'm currently taking part in a lifestyle/weightloss journey but I am making this fit with the tried and true recipes I make, and adapting them for my needs. As a child one of my most favourite meals was the curry my Mum made using my Grandmother's recipe. It is so simple but is delicious and heartwarming and is enjoyed by our entire family.

A few months back I was asked if I'd like to review a new product on the market: Philips HomeCooker, and the timing couldn't have been more perfect. In my arsenal of appliances I have a rather small slow cooker which I often use, but really wanted an all in one that had the abilility to braise/cook off and then slow cook. Well wasn't I a lucky girl then with a brand new, Philips HomeCooker and Cutting tower being delivered to my door!

I have got many friends that are lucky enough to be the owners of a Thermomix. Now, I'm not saying this is exactly the same as a Thermomix because it's not but at nearly a quarter of the price, it certainly has many of the same functions. No I don't own a Thermomix, but I was lucky enough to babysit one for about a month, and certainly enjoyed using it. But for me personally, I couldn't justify the expense and the thought of all my other relatively expensive kitchen appliances becoming redundant. And those kitchen needs have now been met in having the Philips HomeCooker.

In the few months since having it, I have used it to make: entire stews and curries from start to finish; desserts; cake batters; slice fillings; sautee vegetables; melt chocolate and the list goes on. Seriously it is a great addition to my kitchen.

Rather than me spend hours trying to perfect a video to show you the components of the HomeCooker here's the man himself, Jamie Oliver explaining the features:

Another big plus is the cooker is really quiet, unlike the expensive magical kitchen wizard mentioned above. It certainly wouldn't be noisy enough to wake up a sleeping baby or become so annoying to the point you have to leave the room for the duration of the cooking process. Don't believe me how quiet it is? I made a video to show you it par cooking/stiring the vegetables for my curry recipe below:

As mentioned above I have used the HomeCooker many times to make that favourite but simple Curry recipe and I thought I'd share it with you.

---------------

Beef Curry
1.5kg diced beef
1 heaped tbs Keens curry powder
2 tbs plain flour
1 tsp ground ginger
2 tbs sugar

1. Mix these ingredients together and coat meat in it.
2. Melt butter and oil in pan and brown the meat, then remove from pan.

1 brown onion diced
4 sticks of celery, chopped
4 carrots, peeled and chopped
1 green apple, peeled and chopped
2 potatoes, chopped
Approximately 1L of chicken stock

1. Place all vegetables and apple into pan and par cook.
2. When vegetables slightly cooked/browned off, add meat back in, and cover with chicken stock.
3. Simmer slowly for 2 -3 hours.
4. Season with Salt + Pepper and use plain flour to thicken if needed.

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The Philips HomeCooker is available from electrical retailers in Australia. Philips HomeCooker with Cutting tower retails for: $529.95 and the Philips HomeCooker retails for: $429.95

Find Philips HomeCooker here: facebook | website 

Disclaimer: 

I was not paid for this post but was sent a Philips HomeCooker and Tower to review. All opinions expressed are my own honest thoughts. 

Product Review: Fridge-to-go

We thoroughly enjoyed our school holidays, I didn't want them to end. My son on the other hand, was busting to get back to school! This is a good thing I suppose, being eager to learn and get back to seeing all his little friends on a daily basis. And to kick off the new school term, I let him road test a great lunch bag/cooler that I'd been sent from Fridge-To-Go.

As you'd know we live on a farm and our son spends about an extra hour and a half in total each day travelling to school on the school bus. So it's super important for us, that he takes an ample supply of food with him each day for school and on the way home on the bus. I'd hate to think of him ever sitting there really hungry and having nothing in his bag. I also like to send him with a variety of foods to have. I try to make his lunch as varied and as healthy as possible, but he is a kid at the end of the day, so I'm not insanely strict on making sure he only has fruit and a sandwich. He enjoys having things like yoghurts; juice box; cheese cubes; cold meat etc. But these aren't always practical for school as packed lunches spend hours sitting in a school bag exposed to the elements. But that's where this cooler comes in handy. The Fridge-To-Go bag is the removable freezable cooling panel. It slides into the base of the cooler in its own compartment with a zipper. This is great meaning no more soggy biscuits when the cooler panel melts, because it's not actually touching the contents of the cooler.

I also like the Fridge-to-Go cooler because it is quite thin, and fits nicely standing upright in his school bag. Again travelling to and from school on the bus means his bag has to hold everything and at times they have lots to bring home. He is only a little dot and a huge backpack wouldn't be useful at this stage, so the smaller space the cooler takes up the better.

Definitely a good purchase for kids school lunches or for yourself for taking lunch on the go. Here's some more specifics about the Medium sized bag available in these 4 colours:

- Fully collapsible to flat
- Easy-tote handle
- Velcro sealed storage pocket
- BPA-free, lead and PVC-safe
- Wipe clean with soap & water
- Liquid is non-toxic purified salt water
- Panel contains 290ml of liquid
- 20W x 8D x 23H (cm) - internal measurement
- Weight 650g

Find Fridge-To-Go here: facebook | website

Disclaimer: 

I was sent a FTG medium sized Lunch Bag to review. I was not paid for this post. All opinions shared are my own.