Little Boys Toys – Blog and Shop

I have had so much fun writing this blog and have so much to talk about that I have decided to setup a hosted WordPress blog with my own domain name.

You can now see this blog at www.littleboystoys.co.nz/reviews. I will still be writing reviews of my boys toys, books, games, dvds, activities etc and talking about places we have been in New Zealand.

I have also set up a shop linking to the little boys toys, books etc I write about. View at www.littleboystoys.co.nz.

Healthy Food Guide Magazine

I first bought a copy of the Healthy Food Guide magazine when I got back from Australia last year. I can’t remember which issue it was, but everything in was so relevant to the healthy lifestyle we were trying to achieve. I am not one for following recipes, but I have since kept every magazine and regularly follow their recipes. My favourite is “Banana Chocolate Cake” with has a tablespoon of oil (no butter) and yoghurt instead of milk. It’s gorgeous.

By reularly reading their “Food Makeover” section where they take popular dishes and make them over using healthier ingredients, I now know which ingredients to use in my everyday cooking to reduce fat etc. I have also discovered numerous new food products in the magazine and get ideas for things my boys will like in nearly every issue.

This is the only magazine I subscribe to and I am hoping to attend one of their healthy cooking classes soon too. You can subscribe to Healthy Food Guide magazine (only $26 for 6 issues) at Isubscribe by clicking on the banner below.

Natural Products for Your Skin & Home

We started eating healthy or at least trying to many years ago now. However, it wasn’t until recently that we realised we were still absorbing a lot of nasty chemicals through soaps, shampoos and other skincare items, not to mention the remnants of those items going down the drain pipe.

We now buy Eco Store shampoos and conditioners (they seem to go a really long way and the vanilla one leaves your hair smelling amazing) and Eco Store soap (again vanilla is my favourite). These use all natural ingredients and most can be bought at the supermarket these days. They also have a great range of baby skincare products. Visit their website at www.ecostore.co.nz to find out more and purchase products or visit the Eco Store shop next to Victoria Park Market in Auckland city.

The next item we use on a daily basis is sunscreen so we searched around for a natural version and found several all of which have done an amazing job this summer. My boys have not got red once during the 5 weeks we stayed in our caravan on the beach. The first one we used was Dr Hauschka Sunscreen for Kids is quite thick so perfect for faces (buy on the NetPharmacy website), I have started using Living Nature’s sunscreen (order online at www.livingnature.co.nz or visit their shop just outside KeriKeri) on my face and we recently purchased an organic sunscreen at the Organix shop in Clevedon. The best option if you don’t want to order online, is to visit your local health food shop where they should have a couple you can choose from. I am using Living Nature cleanser and moisuriser at the moment and they are brilliant.

We have also replaced all our household cleaners with Eco Store versions – Cream Cleanser, Orange Spray, Dishwashing Liquid, Laundry Liquid and Toilet Cleaner. They all work just as well as their chemical counterparts and it nice to know that surfaces and dishes in our home are not covered in remnants of toxic chemicals.

Best New Zealand TV Show

After a long day looking after small children, you need to do something to wind down before you go to bed and it starts all over again. Hopefully your kids go to bed at 7 – 7:30ish which gives you about 3 hours of total adult time. We mostly eat dinner with the boys at around 6pm so not only is dinner over but we can go for a run or go to the gym without having to wait until dark.

Of course, it’s easy to sit in front of tv, but lately we’ve started setting aside time to watch our favourite shows on dvd together.  We get lots of laughs and really look forward to it. Here are my two favourites:

Outrageous Fortune – This is the most fantastic kiwi show. You can identify with some of it, laugh at all of it and it’s totally addictive. We didn’t realise how great it was until it had been on air for some time so are now going back and watching all the original episodes on dvd. Buy Outrageous Fortune dvds…

The fourth series of OUTRAGEOUS FORTUNE is currently in production and is due to screen in mid 2008 on TV3.

Series 3 of Outrageous Fortune is now available on DVD

Scrubs - There are millions of them so you can pretty much watch one every night for ever and ever. They are hilarious and generally leave you in a good mood. Best watched in order as they actually follow on from each other. The last dvd we bought had about 29 episodes on it so is pretty good value. Buy Scrubs dvds…