Brothers Blend Nuts Review

This collection of goodies came in the mail for me the other day.  I purchased it for myself, this is not a paid presentation and the products and companies displayed have no idea I'm doing this product review.

The first thing I did was eat the Brothers Blend entertainer nuts and OMG! they're delicious.  It could be the dash of natural maple syrup they use to light coat the nuts or the dusting of sea salt.  Either way they're easily the most yummiest nuts I've ever had.  They're light enough that you don't have that usual heavy feel you (well I) get from eating nuts and moreish enough that you're not actually thinking about them being good for you - especially the sunflower kernels.

I liked that they came in a 35g bag because if the bag had been any bigger I might have just kept on eating.   A good guilt free snack size pack.

The company is Brookfarm, an Australian company situation in Byron Bay NSW.  The entertainer Brothers Blend are peanut free, gluten free and preservative free.  Visit their website and find a store near you and let me know what you think if you manage to eat some.

  

November Gift Box Competition

JOLI are giving away another one of their famous Gift Boxes. In this box you get a stack of really awesome products:

• A box of Naturally Good Gluten FREE Munchy Muesli COOKIES.
• A stunning black and pearlescent necklace with matching earrings.
• A gorgeous embroidered quality face washer with cute sea creatures - from Your Cheeky Monkey.
• A beautiful red, white and black notebook with a blue pen.
• Pure Olive Oil Soap Bar ~ Charcoal & Poppy - made by JOLI and great for use in the kitchen and after gardening.
• A 220g block of Cadbury Diary Milk Fairtrade chocolate.
• A box of Higher Living organic green chai tea - 20 tea bags.
• A useful travel size nail file and cuticle stick.
• A box or Oriental Garden notecards - 15 cards and envelopes. 2 cards are decorated, the others are blank for your own decoration. Comes in a gorgeous silver keepsake tin box.

To win this really awesome prize we're asking you to submit really awesome pics of you and your JOLI product(s). Actually you don't have to be in the picture. The most creative photo will win, with runners up receiving gift vouchers.

Winners will be chosen by JOLI and the team and notified by email - with a mention on FB, Indulgence and our website.

The competition will be held on the JOLI website. Pop over for entry details and conditions.

  

Things We don't See Often Enough

The world is changing quite rapidly, more rapidly than people are able to easily adjust to. For example how relationships have changed with women doing more outside the house and men having a more hands on role - yet many expecting the same relationship their parents had even though times were different then.

For what ever the reasons some changes that are taking place aren't necessarily for the better (in my opinion). There are a bunch of things we just don't see happening openly anymore which is a shame:

Openly sharing preggy bellies without judgment or competition for whose is better or worse so that other women now experiencing pregnancy can see they come in all shapes and sizes.  We are only ever shown nice looking pert preggy bellies on young sexy mothers.

Openly breast feeding. Over the years breasts have became more about sex and less about feeding our babies. Only weeks ago my young sons were amazed to find that breasts supplied milk to babies because they'd never seen it happening (or were too young to remember). On that note I'm always amazed when I talk to women who say they would hate to see a woman get her breasts out in public to feed her baby and yet have no issue with their husbands reading men's mags or visiting strip clubs... ??

After birth belly. Believe it or not, once you've had your baby your tummy kind of resemble a basket ball slowly deflating. It is soft and wobbly and squishy. It doesn't bounce back to flat in a matter of days or even weeks like the celebrities would have us believe.

Women wearing cold cream face masks. I miss that 'beauty eternal' image of ladies wearing a cold cream mask (picture Elizabeth Taylor). It was a classic sign of pampering and caring for your skin.

Openly accepting stretchmarks and cellulite and generally accepting all the differences and changes in women's bodies, shapes and sizes. We are more concerned than ever about healthy vs unhealthy - which is a good concern to have. Yet we need to understand that we're all different and that is ok, in fact it's normal.  In fact we NEVER see images of cellulite in women unless it's to make fun of them for having it!

Having groups of women help other women who are struggling with children, marriage, work or life. These days women tend not to admit they're struggling let alone ask for help and sometimes they feel put down if advice is offered. Pity because it's a wonderful thing being able to help another woman in need.

Cooking from scratch has almost become a rarity - buying ready made foods has become a lifestyle choice. I miss those days when women cooked in groups; such as cooking scones together for morning tea or making large batches of pasta sauce.

Ageing. Yet another thing that happens, and yet it is shunned and shied away from and it's a pity because we've because so obsessed with youth and beauty that it puts the older women into some limbo category. Becoming older and ageing is treated like a bad thing and yet there is beauty and wisdom in older women.

Seeing other women give birth would have been normal when we lived in smaller communities. We watched and learned how to do it, how to breathe, when to push, when not to push. We learned that crying out because it's painful was normal. We learned that each woman handled birth differently. These days we've got bunches of women who boast about how they went through birth without any pain killers as though it's a competition who can 'take the pain' the best. We've got bunches of women wanting to have cesareans because they don't want to experience a normal birth. We have situations like mine where when I started making loud noises during my labour the midwife told me to stop yelling and my husband thought I did a 'bad job'. When did pregnancy and labour go from being a normal natural wonderful thing to being a competition about who can do it best?

The reason I think we should see more of these things is because many a new mum / parent is struggling with things like breast feeding because they've not watched many (if any) women do it. Many women body shame because they feel bad about imperfections (theirs and others). Many women struggle with raising their children because we no longer have a community of women around them to help.

The good news is a number of these 'old ways' are coming back into fashion with more and more women rebelling against these changes and that is a good thing!

Do you do or experience many of these with other women? Is there something else you'd add to things we should see more of?

  

Giving Your Bathroom the Green Clean

You might be wondering what Green Cleaning has to do with skin care so I'll start by saying that majority of overexposure cases begin or are caused by household cleaning products. There are SO many hazardous chemicals in household cleaning products and we expose ourselves to them every time we choose to purchase a product from the supermarket cleaning isle.

The worst culprits are bleach and domestos, however most of them are hazardous to varying degrees and getting them on your skin or breathing in the fumes is NOT GOOD FOR YOU.

When it comes to Green Cleaning... what does a natural skin care specialist do?

Use green products such as Enjo cleaning cloths that are washable and reusable, Nature Direct cleaning liquids made with essential oils and DIY cleaning products. The odd scrub brush and shaggy dog toothbrush.  Use cotton gloves underneath your rubber gloves and moisturise hands when finished cleaning.

To clean the basin, cabinets and mirror use an Enjo cleaning cloth with plain cold water along with an Enjo buffing cloth (dries surfaces and shines and polishes without leaving lint behind). You can clean with your household cleaning products if you like those lovely 'clean' scents.

To clean the shower use an Enjo cleaning cloth with Nature Direct Heavy Duty Cleaner (or your own DIY cleaner). For more baked on grime use a scrubbing brush and use a shaggy dog toothbrush to clean tile grout. You can make a tile cleaning paste by mixing bicarb soda and water into a paste. Add a drop or 2 of lemon or eucalyptus essential oil for a nice scent (both are safe to use on marble).

To clean the toilet again use your Enjo cleaning cloth and Enjo buffing cloth along with Heavy Duty Cleaner [yellow] for the outside parts of the toilet = seats, sides etc. A standard scrubbing brush for the inside of your loo is good... but AVOID bleaches and toilet cleaners. Firstly they're washed down our drains which is NOT good, secondly they're not good to breathe in and they're full of chemicals that are harmful (why buy into the manufacture of that??)

Nature Direct also have a Glass Cleaner [green] suitable for shower screens and mirrors.

For carpets make yourself a DIY carpet cleaner with bicarb soda and a couple of drops of your favourite essential oil. Store in an empty spice jar with holes in the top to sprinkle the powder onto your carpet.

You can see it is quite simple and easy to clean green. So DITCH all those toxic chemical cleaning products that are harming you and your family, not good for asthma and skin conditions, not good to inhale or come in contact with your skin, and not good for your pets to breathe in either! Choose to clean green and look after your skin, your body, your loved ones and the environment.

  

Apple Sable with Caramel Sauce

Apple Sable is French though I'm not sure what it means. What I do know is this recipe is yummy and because it uses apples it's practically, almost, nearly good for you ;)

You will need:

• whole apples, one for each person
• 6 cloves
• 6 peppercorns
• 1 cup sweet white wine
• 1 cup water
• 1 cup brown sugar
• dollop of butter
• 300ml cream
• ice cream [optional]

Core and peel the apples leaving them whole. Pore 1 cup of sweet wine and 1 cup of water into a pot large enough to sit all the apples in (standing upright). Add the cloves, peppercorns and apples. Put the lid on the pot and bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer until apples are tender all the way through.

To make the caramel sauce place the fry pan on the heat until you can feel the heat coming off it. Add the sugar and let it melt. Make sure it doesn't get too hot and burn. When fully melted remove from heat and allow to cool a little. Add a dollop of butter, pore in around 1/4 cup of cream carefully as the toffee will bubble and spit if still too hot. Stir well. Add more cream or butter if necessary. You're looking for a caramel coloured running sauce that doesn't set at room temp.

To serve strain the apples and make sure there are no cloves or peppercorns sticking to the apples. Place apples upright in separate bowls and pore the caramel sauce around the sides. Pore extra cream in the center of the apples allowing it to over flow down the sides and into the caramel sauce.

Serve with a scoop of ice cream and a glass of white wine (for he adults) [optional]

  

Media Watch For Savvy Consumers

One thing my son and I enjoy is watching commercials or infomercials and picking apart what they present.  I mean lets face it their claims can be pretty far fetched, if not bold faced lies, and they're allowed to tell all sorts of non-truths in order to sell a product.  There is no governing body holding them accountable to keep it real.

As far as governments and officials are concerned it is up to us savvy parents to protect our children from these ploys and we're meant to be smart enough to know a fraud when we see one.

We often hear things like:
If you don't want your children watching it turn it off.
If you don't want retailers selling sexy clothing to children don't buy it.
If you don't want your children to eat unhealthy don't buy fast food.
Put your money where your mouth is.
Vote with your money.

It seems easier said than done... because for the most part parents/adults are NOT making these important stands with their money by not buying this stuff.

Here are some of the commercials for example.

Detol - it's the little thing we do that make up our mission for health.
Sounds good enough.  Yet what Detol don't mention is that their products are anything but healthy.  They contain so many harmful chemical ingredients it's not funny!  These ingredients kill off our bodies natural defense systems and can cause contact dermatitis (aka overexposure).

Sensodyne - have an ad where the 'creator and developer' professes to people 'coming up to me' to thank him for inventing the toothpaste.  Really?  How the heck would anyone know who Sensodyne's developer is let along being able to recognise him on the street to say thanks.  If they're lying to me about that how can I trust them?

Neutrogena 'naturals' - again are anything but natural.  Neutrogena used harsh chemicals in their products and are tested on animals.  There is nothing 'natural' about that.

Age perfect extraordinary oil by L'Oreal.  Well I don't even know what the heck that means let along what extraordinary oil is but apparently it's going to make me 'age perfect'.  Hmmmmm?

Cornflakes - have a new ad where they tell us Cornflakes are high in iron, and with calcium (milk) "Imagine what Kelogs Cornflakes can do".  They neglect to mention their cereal is high in sugar and no amount of iron will counteract the damage all that sugar does to your children's (and your) bodies.

Colgate Total toothpaste commercial where a man and woman are approached and asked how clean their teeth are.  They're asked to go away brushing their teeth as normal except the lady it to use Colgate Total and they'll note the difference.  The following day their teeth are scanned and her teeth show less plaque.  The silly thing is when they show his and her teeth in the scanned pics they are exactly the same set of teeth.

Easy Off BAM - an interview with a woman starts off with her talking about how her children draw on the bath with soap and it's really hard to clean, spray on Easy Off BAM on the shower screen, love how it foams up with a wide spray, and just wipe off.  Hang on!  Thought she was talking about how the bath is hard to clean and now she's talking about how well the product cleans the shower.  Did it clean the bath or not?

Consider also the new free to air channels we now have.  All of them are about being 'better than you are' such as; a domestic goddess (vacuums, steam mops etc), beautiful (hair care products, skin care products), looking glamours (jewellery, clothing) and being FIT (exercise machines designed to sell to those who sit at home gaining weight watching infomercials).

Sarah & Jess are the same person, with one side altered to look like saggy boob.

Feeling crap about yourself yet?  Because that is what these ads are designed for.

It's all lies and manipulation designed to have you believing you're not good enough and all these gimmicks will have you looking GREAT in no time.  Take the Soup Diet man for example.  The picture of him before his soup diet is exactly (and I mean EXACTLY) the same and his after picture except for a computer generated gut drawn on to his body.  His arms are exactly the same fatness (in fact they're lean and muscular), as are his head, neck and legs.  Yet we're meant to believe (tricked) he lost all that weight from eating yummy soups day in day out for a week.

I would LOVE (with capitals) for more and more people to start voting with their money. 

So I ask you, how savvy are you as a parent or as an individual?  Do you buy into the bogus false ads?  Or do you see right through them and see them for what they truly are (lies and deception)?

That being said my son and I love these ads because it gives us something to chuckle over together and I'm teaching him how to be a savvy consumer.

  

Spelt Flour Pancakes with Toffeed Apple and Fresh Bananas

Ingredients

1 cup wholemeal spelt flour (plain)
1 cup milk (any type - I like to use coconut milk)
1 egg
1 apple
1 banana
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 lemon

Directions

1) Mix flour, milk and egg together in a medium bowl to make a smooth batter. Add a dash more milk if batter is too thick.

2) Peel and core apple, dice into approx 1cm pieces.

3) Add a dollop of butter to a fry pan over medium heat.  Add apple pieces and stir now and then until apples are golden and soft, lightly stewing apple.

4) When the apples are soft, add the brown sugar around the edge of the apple pieces and leave on medium heat to let the sugar melt and turn into toffee.  Squeeze the juice of one lemon over the apples and sugar (this stops the toffee becoming hard and burning).

5) Remove toffeed apples from heat and pore into a bowl.

6) Add a dollop of butter to fry pan with a dash of oil (to stop butter from burning).  Scoop pancake mix into pan and cook in batches.  Repeat until all the batter is used up. 
The good thing about spelt flour is it can take heat and takes a while to cook each side so you don't have to worry about being side tracked while cooking (which is usually what happens in my world).

7) To serve place pancakes on plate(s).  Dollop toffeed apples onto stack.  Peel and slice banana and sprinkle over pancakes.

Makes about 15 medium sized pancakes.

Create & Win YOUR own Gift Pack ~ Competition

JOLI Customers, it's PARTY Time!!

We're celebrating 5 years of online retail :-)

PRIZE
 - WIN your very own specially created Gift Pack*
- 3 x $15 vouchers for the runners up

How to Enter:
1) Have a look through our current catalog to see which products you'd love to have in your very own Gift Pack. {Make sure you check out our current Gift Packs to see whats already available.}

2) SUBMIT your Gift Pack idea(s) to JOLI.

3) You can submit up to 3 gift pack ideas.

NOTE: you also have the chance to have YOUR winning Gift Pack listed on the JOLI website.

Conditions:
1) Open to JOLI Customers only. If you wish to enter this competition you can become a customer HERE.

2) *Gift Packs must be a maximum of $80.

3) Submissions start Friday 1st August until Friday 15th August.  Plenty of time to research and get your pack ideas together. Feel free to ask me questions (you've got my email).

4) Gift Pack ideas will be posted on the bottom of this blog as they come in and guests are invited to vote on which pack they like the most on this blog (leaving their initials).  Just write the word VOTE on the pack you like best.

4) Voting starts Saturday 16th August, until Friday 22nd August.

5) Entrants will be asked to encourage votes from the public, family or friends for their Gift Pack to win!

6) Winner announced (first name only) Friday 22nd August 6pm here and on Facebook (and via email to the winner and runners up).

Some Gift Pack Ideas to get you thinking:
Gift Pack of all three Moisturising Lip Balm colours
Design you own Bath Time gift pack
Design your own For Him gift pack
Gift Pack for little boys or girls
Soothing Pack
Bub Travel Pack

Subscribe to JOLI's e-news Indulgence

AND THE WINNER IS BEC WITH HER FANTASTIC FACE GIFT BOX!!!!