GIVEAWAY + Saturday Spotlight: Wellaby's

Yep, that's right! This Saturday Spotlight is a little different from usual! I'm still showcasing a fabulous gluten free brand with amazing products, but I also wanted to give you all a chance to try them too!

 

What's that?! You heard right - you may get the chance to try what I'm sharing - in fact, seven of you will! 

 So let's talk about what you could win, right?

 Wellaby's is a relatively new brand in Australia, specialising in gluten free products. Wellaby's is a family run business, which started out of an idea of using real cheese as a base for a gluten free product and adding only natural ingredients. 

The cheese ups were the first product to come out of this idea. Cheese ups are made from 43% real cheese and come in Classic Cheese, Smoked Cheese and Parmesan Cheese flavours. They're crisp and crunchy and full of cheese flavour and make the perfect snack for parties. Both gluten free and non-gf guests will love them! 

 Left: Cheese Ups - Right: Crackers

The cheese ups don't taste "gluten free" in the slightest and no one would have a clue unless you told them! 

The cheese ups are baked, not fried and contain no added preservatives, transfats, GMO's or MSG. They're super easy to get your hands on too as you can pick up a packet at your local coles store.

After the success with their cheese ups, Wellaby's introduced a new line of products with their crackers.

These crackers are gluten free but still full of flavour and taste delicious! The larger crackers come in three flavours - Feta, Oregano and Olive Oil, Parmesan and Sun Dried Tomato and Classic Cheese. 

They're delicious on their own or perfect to have with cheese or dips and make the perfect addition to any gluten free friendly party! Just grab a pack from the gluten free aisle next time you're at Coles!

The crackers also come in mini crackers which are perfect for snacking! They're available at Coles in Grated Parmesan.

Thanks to Wellaby's, I'm giving away seven gluten free Wellaby's prize packs - that's one for every state! 

Each prize pack contains:  seven winners!

• 1x Grated Parmesan Mini Crackers
• 1x Feta Oregano and Olive Oil Crackers
• 1x Parmesan and Sun Dried Tomato Crackers
• 1x Classic Cheese Crackers
• 1x Classic Cheese Ups 
• 1x Smoked Cheese Ups 
• 1x Parmesan Cheese Ups  

 How to enter:  Australian residents only!

Leave a comment letting me know Which Wellaby's product you'd most like to try? and you're entered in the draw to win!

Gain an extra entry by following Southern In-Law on Facebook and leaving a second comment with your facebook name! 

Be sure to either leave your email address or a way to contact you or send me an email (ksayerphotography@gmail.com) with a copy of your comment so I can let you know if you win! :)

Giveaway closes: 11:59pm July 31st, 2012 (EST). Winners will be chosen by random generator and announced on Southern In-Law on August 1st. Winners will be contacted via email so that arrangements to send the prize can be made. 

 This competition is now closed, congratulations to the lucky winners! If you weren't one of them, stay tuned for more giveaways!

25 years of Red Nose Day - 28 June 2012

 A little break from my usual blog posts to raise awareness and talk about a very important day and event happening tomorrow in Australia.

Tomorrow is SIDS and Kids Red Nose Day, the major fundraiser for SIDS and Kids held annually. SIDS and Kids is dedicated to saving the lives of babies and children during pregnancy, birth, infancy and childhood and also work to support bereaved families. 

 I feel that SIDS and Kids is one of those charities that are incredibly important. Their areas of focus include education, research, national awareness campaigning, advocacy, fundraising and bereavement support. While I personally have had no experience with SIDS (sudden infant death syndrome) I know of so many heartbreaking stories of people who have. 

As a child, I had a giant bear (I mean, over 1.5 metres tall and wide) called Theodore who every year got a Red Nose Badge for his vest, so I've always known about Red Nose Day and as I got older I understood what it meant. 

I don't have a child yet, but I know that I will in the future - and research through organisations like SIDS and Kids save millions of lives. The funds raised through Red Nose Day go towards providing vital services and programs in the community such as; 

- Free ongoing bereavement support to families and the community following the sudden and unexpected death of a baby, infant or child

- Education on how to reduce the risk of SIDS and fatal sleeping accidents to thousands of parents, carers and health professionals 

- Research into the causes and prevention of sudden and unexpected death of babies during pregnancy, birth, infancy and childhood. 

SIDS and Kids Safe Sleeping

SIDS and Kids' safe sleeping program is evidence-based and recommends you; 

- Sleep baby on the back from birth, not the tummy or side

- Sleep baby with head and face uncovered 

- Keep baby smoke free before birth and after

- Provide a safe sleeping environment night and day

- Sleep baby in their own safe sleeping place in the same room as an adult care giver for the first six to twelve months

- Breastfeed baby if you can 

How can I support Red Nose Day?

-  Order Red Nose Day products online 

- Buy a Red Nose or Red Nose Merchandise from your local shopping centre or someone in your community

- Follow on Facebook or Twitter and find out more about how you can help!

Tomorrow I'll be back with Friday Favourites and expect some delicious recipes and goodies this weekend!

Wedding Wednesday: Engagement Story

Originally posted at ksayerphotography but adapted for this blog!

Your ears are filled with the sound of birds chirping,

your lungs are filled with the clean air with the scent of pine, 

there's nothing but trees around you.

That's what it was like when we walked into the Kisatchie National Forest, off Camp Claiborne in Forest Hill LA.

There were trees as far as the eye could see and my photos don't do it justice to how gorgeous it was. We were in the forest in the late afternoon and there wasn't a sound but birds chirping. 
 

In total, the Kisatchie National Forest covers over 600, 000 acres across seven different Louisiana parishes.

It's filled with gorgeous long-leaf pine forests with camping facilities and 400 miles of trails for hiking and ATV riding. In different areas you can also go swimming, boating and fishing. 
 

That day we had plans to go out for lunch with his mum, her husband and my mum but Jesse told me that we'd be going "somewhere pretty" once we got back so that I could "take photos" (I'm lucky to have a fiance who understands my photography-inclined brain).

 We finished with lunch and got back to the house and waited til it got a little cooler before we left. I asked Jesse where we were going and the conversation went a little like so; 

Kristy: So, where are you taking me?
Jesse: To the forest
Kristy: The florist? Oh.. who are we getting flowers for? Wait... did you say florist or forest?
Jesse: Forest.
Kristy: Oh.. haha, I thought I hadn't seen any florists around

In case it wasn't obvious, when I was born I was pure blonde. While my hair colour has changed, at times my brain doesn't know that. 

 Once it got a little cooler, Jesse told me to change my shoes (and thus my outfit - pretty dress and sneakers? no thank you) and while I was talking to my mum, he came out with a backpack and started putting water bottles in it - because it was "hot out" and then I had "somewhere to put my camera". But there was something else in the bag and it wasn't trail mix. 
 

 We drove through the forest to find somewhere we could get out and walk through the forest. We stopped the car and walked out into the trees. I took photos for a little while before turning around and Jesse was on one knee asking me to marry him. I said yes (about 310 times!) and finally I had my pretty little ring on my finger!
 

 Oh I know, major PDA.
 

Did I know? I suppose you can say I was hoping. We'd had the ring since the Thursday, but Jesse had asked my Mum whether he should take it in his carry-on on the plane back to Sydney or if it was fine in his suitcase and that threw me off. 

Actually, I heard it and thought.. WHAT?! He's going to make me wait that long!? That reaction sounds totally selfish, but if you've read how we found the ring - you'll understand.

So what do you do when you're 10, 000 miles away from friends and family but you still want them to know the news?! You do the modern thing and post it on facebook, of course!

My friends and family woke up to the news and we were flooded with emails, comments and messages.

So tell me, If you're engaged/married - what was your proposal like?
If you're not - what would your dream proposal be?Would you like a big song and dance, or something more romantic and intimate? 

Find out more about us here!

Recipe: Baked Banana Ricotta Cups

When the weather is cold, I always seek out warm foods. It was on one of these days I discovered just how delicious baked ricotta is. For a long time I've been baking ricotta for an afternoon snack or warm dessert, but it takes around an hour for it to bake completely and sometimes I just don't have the time - or the patience. 

I decided I needed a warm dessert for winter nights - so I broke out my silicone baking cups, grabbed the ricotta and got to experimenting. What came out of my experiments was one of the simplest, but most delicious recipes I have made. It can easily be multiplied and made into a full sized cake and if you prefer a crust on your cheesecake, that can be added too! 

This version has only three ingredients and each ricotta cup has around 10 grams of protein! They're a delicious and healthy dessert or snack option that's so simple to make! The banana caramelises, making the ricotta sweet and full of flavour.

 Baked Banana Ricotta Cups - makes 3
A quick and healthy dessert that can easily be multiplied for bigger batches and freezes well. It's like a healthy gluten free cheesecake - add a crust if you prefer!

1 medium ripe banana
250g/9 oz ricotta cheese (I've used both full fat and reduced fat with equal success)

1 egg 

Preheat oven to 190°C/375°F.

In a mixing bowl, mash the banana thoroughly. 

Add ricotta and egg and mix until combined. 

Pour mixture into silicone muffin cases or greased tins*

Bake for around an hour, or until edges caramelise and the ricotta cups are set. 

Leave to cool slightly, serve warm or chill in the fridge. 

Notes: When you take them out of the oven, the do shrink a bit - but this is normal!

*I haven't tried making them in anything other than the silicone cups as they are the easiest to get the delicate cheesecakes out of. If you try this recipe in muffin tins or any other tin, let me know!

Dessert doesn't get much simpler than that - does it? Plus they're healthy too, so what more reason do you need to give them a try! Feel free to add sugar if you have more of a sweet tooth - or whatever other additions you might feel like.

 

I have other versions of these ricotta cups that I make that I will be posting in the future, let me know if you have any ideas that you'd like me to try! 
 

But first tell me, What's your favourite wintery dessert? 

Also, my new ipad arrived, so I've signed up to instagram - follow me by searching @southerninlaw 

 

The story of Kirk's Dik Dik

I'm a researcher by nature. Before I go anywhere new I like to know some of what's there and what to expect. When it comes to vacations, I like to research fun things to do and interesting things to see.

Before we left for Louisiana, I started researching. I looked at different clothes stores, shopping malls, restaurants, where I could buy food I could actually eat (food intolerances + coeliac = a tonne of food planning) and of course I looked up where the closest Wholefoods was. At the time I thought Baton Rouge would be too far away, since we never drive more than 30 minutes - but I later realised we were one block away from Wholefoods and I had completely wiped it off my list (though I bet I saved myself a fortune!).

The main place of interest I found was the Alexandria Zoo. I'm a zoo person, always have been. I could spend hours walking around looking and different animals - and of course the ability to photograph them all in such a small space is perfect.

The Alexandria Zoo had a list of their animals on their site. While scrolling through, I came across "Kirk's Dik Dik" and with a name like that, of course my immature self had to find out more.

Kirk's Dik Dik is a type of small antelope that is native to eastern and south-western Africa... Although they have a slightly unusual name, this was coined due to the fact that these animals make quick zig-zag leaps as they dash for cover when making a call that resembles a “zik zik” or “dik dik”.

I told my Mum and Jesse who thought that Kirk's Dik Dik was equally as hilarious as I did and we began telling friends who asked "What are you going to do in Louisiana?" that we were planning to see Kirk's Dik Dik. Everytime, we got the same reaction...

"Sorry... WHAT?!"
"Did you say.. ahem... what did you say?!"
"Wait... you didn't just say..."

Kirk's Dik Dik became a running joke and on the second Wednesday we were there, Jesse's Mom, my Mum, Jesse, his two youngest nieces and I all set off to go to the zoo.

We got the little girls a wagon so that they didn't have to walk around the zoo and we started our way around.

 click to see larger images

We saw flamingos, macaws and tortoise too

We saw lions and tigers and bears

 We even came all the way from Australia only to see emus, kookaburras, wallabies and kangaroos - and a monkey that looked a little like me after a glutening mishap. Yeah, this is why I've coined the term "gluten baby".

We saw animals that looked a little like distant cousins of Kirk's Dik Dik, like the Patagonian Cavy - but when we got to Kirk's Dik Dik we saw...

Yep, we came alllllllllll the way around the world and Kirk's Dik Dik was no where to be found. The elusive creature we had joked about for months was MIA so I did what any normal person would do.. I took a picture of the sign. At least I could say I saw Kirk's Dik Dik on a sign, right?

Sometimes you can research and plan to the nth degree, but some things just don't work out the way you'd like them to. Though, next trip... I will find Kirk's Dik Dik!

So tell me, are you a researcher by nature?
and what's your favourite zoo animal?

I'm kind of partial to animals I've had experiences with - I've fed elephant's at Steve Irwin's Australia Zoo, snuggled Koalas and walked alongside baby tiger cubs at Dreamworld. Elephants are definitely a favourite though.

    

   

Recipe: Carrot Cake Oatmeal

In this post, I briefly mentioned my obsession with carrots. I don't know whether I was a rabbit in a past life, or my body just needs more beta carotene than most - but I can never have enough carrots. 

Carrot cake has always been one of my favourite cake varieties, so in recent years I went on a quest to incorporate carrot cake into different meals. Carrot cake pancakes, breakfast bakes, oatmeal, rice pudding (I'll post a recipe for this because it's my favourite!), muffins - whatever I can possibly come up with that could work with carrot cake flavours, I'll try. 

Whenever we go to Costco, I purchase the giant 3kg bag of carrots. Now, this would probably last a normal family quite a while - but I manage to go through it in little over a week... on my own.  

No wonder the doctor thought I was turning orange from carrots, right? But hey, at least my Mum can't complain I don't eat my vegetables! 

My family and my fiance aren't convinced by the whole vegetables with breakfast deal. The first time I made a bowl of carrot cake oats I got some pretty weird looks. 

"You put what in your oatmeal?"

"Wow.. you're a special one, Kristy"

"Carrot cake whaaaaaaaaaaat?" 

But really, they're just missing out. This creamy bowl of oatmeal has all the flavours you love from carrot cake, is warm and comforting and a delicious healthy breakfast!

Carrot Cake Oatmeal serves one

A delicious, healthy breakfast with the flavours of carrot cake.

1/2 cup rolled oats (I used GF oats)

1 cup milk of your choice

3/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp mixed spice (or nutmeg/more cinnamon)

1 tbsp raisins

1 tsp maple syrup (add more if you prefer things sweeter)

1/2 tsp vanilla 

1 medium carrot, grated/shredded*

1 tbsp coconut (optional)**

2 tbsp pecans/walnuts

In a small saucepan bring oats, milk and cinnamon to the boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and add raisins.

Once most of the liquid has absorbed into the oats, add maple syrup, vanilla, carrot and coconut. Keep stirring until you reach your desired consistency.

Pour oats into a bowl, topping with nuts and extra maple syrup, if desired.

*To make this breakfast quicker to put together, I just throw a peeled carrot into my magic bullet and process it until it's shredded. Also known as, I really hate grating.

 **I also toast my unsweetened shredded coconut in the microwave before putting it into the oats to give it more flavour.

So tell me, do you make any weird food combinations that others gawk at but you love?