Tag: wellington

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Family

Preparing for Baby: Meal Preps

I’ve always liked preparing for things – events, holidays, school, projects, etc. It’s no surprise I carry the same enthusiasm in preparing for baby’s arrival. I’ve been reading books, forums, Mum groups, so that I’d know what to expect and what can make our lives way more manageable. One of the things I read was that it could tremendously help to have frozen meals ready for the first few weeks once the baby arrives.

And that’s exactly what we did! Last weekend, we were able to produce double serve of 43 frozen meals!

Here’s how we did it:

  1. Have a list of the meals to be cooked and prioritise the order of cooking

I had to have varied choices of meals because I get tired of eating the same things over and over. We chose Filipino foods, a mix of vegetable and meat dishes. While completing the list, I have also factored in the time every dish cooks and which equipment I can use so that I can prioritise which to prepare first.

2. Do grocery shopping – preferably in places where you can bulk buy, especially the meats

We are fortunately located in the city centre so we are spoilt for choice with vegetable and meat shops so we were able to get the best prices for the ingredients we needed.

3. Clear a working space for chopping ingredients

We cleared 2 tables and the kitchen counter so that everything is organised. All cooking utenstils and equipment were washed as soon as they were used.

4. Have all cooking equipment ready.

Here is a list of the useful equipment we used. I don’t think it’s completely necessary to have these but it definitely did help for us to get things done.

Crock-Pot (for slow cook and pressure cook)

Vacuum food sealer

Upright freezer

Freestanding oven

5. Lay down and sort ingredients for each dish that needs to be prepared

6. Howell did the chopping of ingredients and packing of the cooked meals while I cooked up a storm and did the dishes

Having specific assignments for tasks makes everything easier. We also did assignments based on our strengths. Howell is great at organising things and dealing with spaces so he did the packing and clearing space in the freezer for storage while I cook well so I took it on.

We cooked 11 dishes for about 6 hours. Howell did the packing of meals for about 3 hours. Next time, though, I wouldn’t recommend doing this all in one go. It was too exhausting for both of us but I’m glad it’s all done now. We’re hoping these meals would tide us through for about over a month after baby arrives.

Ta-da! Our frozen meals all packed and ready!
Categories
Family

My pregnancy journey thus far

Happy to say I’m at 23 weeks now and the reality of the having the baby is finally sinking in! As I previously shared, I function as normal and didn’t have the usual aches and pains a pregnant woman can expect, which I’m so happy about. In spite of this dealing with pregnancy is not a walk in the park still.

Here are the things I have been experiencing so far:

Diabetes and my medications

I was diagnosed with diabetes in 2019. It has been controlled so far with proper diet, exercise, and metformin. However, I learned that as a pregnant woman, it can be expected that my blood glucose levels can get out of whack so apart from metformin, I had to take both fast and long acting insulin.

I record my blood glucose levels before a meal and 2 hours after a meal, which meant pricking my fingers for a minimum of 6 times a day, not counting the times I go hypoglycemic. With my insulin, I take 1 fast acting one before every meal and twice a day of the long acting one, for a total of 5 injections a day.

It has been a challenge for me since I had to plan all my meals, time them, and adjust my day’s schedule to get my sugars in control all the time. I empathise with mums who work full time! I work from home and yet this challenges me still!

A diabetes nurse monitors my sugars once a week and adjusts my meds depending on my readings. Happy to note that my numbers have been really good the past few weeks.

Food

Apart from all the food you need to avoid while pregnant, I had to adjust my meals to suit the baby’s nutritional needs and my carbs and sugar requirements. This one has been a biggie since day 1 I learned about the pregnancy because I am not used to eating vegetables and I also get hungry all the time! One thing that helped is having a plan.

All my meals and even snacks are planned. I have a limited choice of snacks I can choose from so I didn’t have to think about food all the time and so they’d always be ready when I need one. It’s a great thing that my husband has been cooperating with this diet in a sense that he eats what I eat. It would have been way more difficult if he’s a picky eater who’d want to eat what he wants when he wants it!

Exercise

To manage my blood glucose levels, I also incorporate exercise into my day. Even prior to getting pregnant, I have been walking twice a day with my dog and swim about 3 to 4 times a week. I have kept this routine to this day but I give myself permission not to exercise on days I feel tired. I also do resistance exercises recommended by my trainor who’s a mum herself.

It has kept my moods in control and I found that my energy levels are consistent throughout the day because of this! Bonus is that it keeps me from experiencing aches and pains I’d normally have if I didn’t exercise!

Sleep

One new thing I have been dealing with at the moment is difficulty sleeping. I usually sleep face front and I just learnt that you are suppose to sleep on your left side when you are pregnant because it’s best for the baby and man it has been a challenge for me! To help with my sleep issues, I’d usually keep a book beside me that I can read when I couldn’t sleep and if it doesn’t work, I just sleep sitting down!

Preparations for the baby

We are blessed to have friends and family who already have kids. My sister-in-law has 2 boys and we have seasoned mums at church who have all been so generous giving away their baby stuff to the point that we only had to purchase a pram and a bottle sanitiser for baby. Everything has been provided for by these wonderful mums!

I am already halfway there and each day, I grow more confident that this is doable. It is challenging but I have an entire village who would be there rallying with me and supporting me any way they can.

Categories
Work

Trade a Book for a Look at Staglands!

Trade your pre-loved children’s books for a half-priced child’s entry to Staglands.

Staglands is celebrating Conservation Week by giving children the opportunity to learn how they can help nature in their own unique way. The pre-loved children’s books that will be collected will be given to the children that the Salvation Army – Upper Hutt is caring for.

This offer is available for kids aged 4 to 16 from 14th September to 13th October 2019. One half-priced child’s entry ticket per book received on the day of visit.  Not valid with any other offer, including Entertainment Book.

Visit www.staglands.co.nz for more information.

Categories
Work

Go Mad for Marshmallows these School Holidays!

Staglands yummy winter marshmallows are back and for a limited period only, during the July School Holidays, they will be given away FREE to all visitors!

Toast your own on the cosy Barn campfire and enjoy some wild cooking in the great outdoors.

www.staglands.co.nz 

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S K-Beauty NZ Settling in NZ Uncategorized

Startups and the Entrepreneurial Spirit

I have always been fascinated with starting things up and building on it. This is one of the reasons why I love getting into new business ventures.

In the past, I ventured into events management, consulting, and even real estate. I also dipped my toes a little onto tutoring piano with kids and adults. The most successful venture I have had so far was events management but I had to pull the plug when we migrated to New Zealand.

Two years in our new home country, my brain and my hands were already itching to get into a new venture. Given that we are in a totally foreign country, I will have to build everything from the ground up. My planning stage consisted of learning the culture of the people here (which I still have not fully figured out), their purchasing patterns and behaviour (online shopping is popular here since there are a limited number of shops, which meant a limited number of products as well), and what item or service I can provide to fulfill a need.

I did not look far. I looked into my own needs. I got hooked with Korean beauty products in 2016. I found their products effective yet inexpensive. I made sure I was fully stocked when we moved here but I soon found myself needing to restock my items and purchasing from the online shops here meant I do not always have my go-to items available. I would purchase from different sites so I will get the best price for the product that I preferred but it was not sustainable for me.

And so my idea for a new business began. I looked for wholesale suppliers who can provide for the products I needed. After several attempts to contact an efficient supplier with the best price, I eventually found one.

The Website

Having found a supplier, I knew I was ready to start my own online shop (as a physical shop will take more effort and capital which I do not have). I purchased a domain and a subscription for an online shop and I thought it will already get easier form there.

Nope. It did not. I had to learn a lot of other items I did not know I needed. I needed to learn about online security, payment options, etc., etc. The list was incredibly wrong. Being the perfectionist that I am, fear started creeping in because my online shop may not be “good enough” until two years in, I already had to renew all my subscriptions, without ever having sold any item because of the things I feared.

The Movers

Fortunately, I am surrounded by Movers. My boss (at my day job), who is ever-supportive of all my crazy ideas, suggested that I can sell on TradeMe first. TradeMe is an online shop/ auction where you can list the items you want to sell. Given that they already have an established customer base, you are bound to sell no matter how long. I started selling in November. My sales were not astoundingly successful but my products are nevertheless moving.

My second mover is no less than my dear husband. Howell has been assuring me that no matter the turnout, what matters is that I did what I wanted to do, which is an achievement in itself already. I did not need to prove anything to anyone, so I do not have to pressure myself into succeeding with this business. I have the products, anyway and I can always just use them if they are not sold. With this encouragement from him, I launched my website on 1st April this year – indeed a good date to launch a business venture!

The Aftermath

Was my launch successful? Far from it. Yet, I am building myself up everyday. I am learning more about the field I chose to be in (Marketing). I am learning more about managing my own website, managing inventories, managing customer expectations, and more importantly, the culture of the people I interact with daily. I call it the aftermath but I am definitely not done yet. There are still a lot of things to do and learn. I still fear but I shall keep on moving!

The Online Shop| S K-Beauty NZ

So then let me introduce you to my online shop! It’s called S K-Beauty NZ. Given the previous issue I had with ordering K-Beauty items, I designed my products and services to fill the need that most similar shops do not provide here in New Zealand.

Store Pick-Up: Residents in Wellington can pick up the items they purchased. This means no waiting time for delivery for those who need their beauty quick fix!

Product Requests: As limited variation of products is an issue here (merchants here do not really have that much of an option as importation expenses are expensive, mainly because we are literally at the edge of the earth), there is an option for customers to request for products which they wish to purchase for me to include it in my next batch of orders. They can just shoot me an email at info@skbeauty.co.nz or use my website’s contact me form. Easy as!

Best-Priced Beauty Products: Last and the most important bit, whether it be a skin care or makeup product, our prices are competitive, and I dare say, the best-priced items there are. That’s a sure win!

With that, I hope anyone who is interested may find their time to visit my online shop and check out the wonderful offerings we do have!