Back to School Lunches with StenLock

StenLock Stainless steel Tupperware

 

 

I can’t belive it’s already time for back to school!

My son spent the summer in camp at his Montessori School, and will be heading back there next week after a break, and I’ve been preparing by picking up new fall clothes for him, and gathering supplies like a new backpack and lunch bag.

I’m lucky because I don’t need to make my son’s lunch every day because his school takes care of that, but for class trips and events I need to put something together.

It’s easier when I’m with him to convince him that he needs to eat everything, and remind him of what he likes. He often says “I don’t like that!”, but forgets that he actually does! This means that when I’m packing his lunch for days I’m not there, I need to be creative with his food so he’s interested enough to eat it.

StenLock contacted me to give their Tupperware a try for my son’s back-to-school lunches, and I jumped at the chance to see what I thought of the Tupperware, and what my son thought of it as well!

All StenLock containers are made of food-grade stainless steel, which resists bacteria and germs more effectively and will not impart peculiar tastes or smells to your food.

StenLock is 100% BPA free, stain-resistant, light, and has a leak-proof airtight seal.

 

 

StenLock Tupperware review

 

 

StenLock Tupperware review

 

 

With all of the different sizes of StenLock I tried out, I was able to create a fun lunch for my son. He loves having his sandwiches cut up into shapes, so I used fish-shaped cookie cutters to create is sandwiches.

I picked up some mini-grapes from Farm Boy which are perfectly bite-size for toddlers to mix in with his blueberries, and I cut up lots of green and orange pepper and cucumbers. I finished off his lunch with crackers and pretzels fit together in different patterns and a pasta salad. Very easy lunch, but organized in a fun way so he would be interested in eating.

 

 
StenLock Review

 

 
StenLock Review

 

 

StenLock Stainless steel Tupperware

 

 
StenLock Review

 

 

StenLock Review

 

 

My son was easily able to open all of the StenLock containers, and close them back up when he was finished. The containers were lightweight enough that he could stack them up, and they hit the ground a few times during clean up and they weren’t damaged at all.

Although it’s suggested the lids are washed by hand, the rest could be thrown in the dish washer which was handy! Any excuse not to do dishes works for me.

For more information visit http://www.stenlock.ca.

 

 

Mandy Furnis

 

 

Versatile Blanket Scarves for Fall

Versatile Blanket Scarves for Fall

 

 

Last fall on the blog I was raving about plaid blanket scarves, and I spent the chilly months wrapped up in these oversized comfy but stylish scarves until spring.

This fall blanket scarves are back, and although many of them are back in plaid, there are also some pretty great patterns that I can’t wait to wear. What is so great about an oversized scarf? How versatile they are! Most of the time it doesn’t matter what you are wearing under them because they end up being your actual outfit, or at least the top part of it! I loved either wearing a large scarf as the main staple of my outfit, or on the really chilly days wrapping myself up in the scarf to keep myself warm when it got windy and snowy.

 

 
Versatile Blanket Scarves for Fall

 

 

Versatile Blanket Scarves for Fall
 

 

Versatile Blanket Scarves for Fall

 

 

Versatile Blanket Scarves for Fall

 

 
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I am wearing the Wilfred Diamond Mosaic Scarf from Aritzia ($85), and I love how big and cozy it is! I can wear a very plain top beneath it and have the scarf as my outfit which is great because I really like the pattern, and how it’s a different color on each side of the scarf.

Wilfred Diamond Mosaic Scarf

 

 
Here are a few more of my favourite versatile scarves below!

Asos Oversized Scarf

ASOS Oversized Scarf In Herringbone With Tassels

 

 
Zara GEOMETRIC JACQUARD SCARF

Zara Geometric Jacquard Scarf
 

 

Dynamite Plaid Blanket Scarf
Dynamite Plaid Blanket Scarf

 

 

Anthropologie Chinchero Scarf

Anthropologie Chinchero Scarf
 

 

Forgotton Cotton Plaid Blanket Scarf

Forgotten Cotton Blanket Scarf

 

 

Mandy Furnis

 

 

Winner of the $200 Dixie Outlet Mall Gift Card Giveaway!

She who hunts finds

 

 

Thank you to everyone who entered the Dixie Outlet Mall $200 Gift Card Giveaway! The winner of the gift card is Betty Spry!

Congratulations Betty! We will be contacting you shortly to claim your prize.

 

 

 

 

Mandy Furnis

 

 

Winner of the Little Monkey Designs Giveaway!

Little Monkey Designs giveaway

 

 

The winner of the Little Monkey Designs Giveaway is Courtney Fudger! Congratulations Courtney – we will contact you shortly so you may claim your prize.

Thank you to everyone who entered!

 

 

Mandy Furnis

 

 

Join Me at the RBC RESP Twitter Party September 17th at 9:00pm!

RBC RESP TWitter Party

 

 

This year I hit a pretty major milestone – I paid off my OSAP debt!

It took me ten long years, but I finally did it. When I started university I didn’t have an RESP, and so I worked throughout the school year and summer paying for my education.

The cost was too great, and I needed to rely on OSAP to have enough money to pay for school. The debt plagued me for years – months and months of payments for a debt that I couldn’t help but accumulate.

Now that it’s gone, it’s been a huge weight lifted off my shoulders!

 

 

RBC RESP twitter party

 

 

I never want my son to feel the weight of that debt, so my husband and I set up an RESP for him right after he was born. We have been putting money into it every month for years, and by the time he reaches university he won’t need to worry about student loans – he will have the tuition money he needs!

Our ‘Someday’ dream for him is to go to the university or college of his choosing, and not need to worry about debt because the RESP we have set up for him will give him the security of being student-loan free.

 

 

 

 

Are you starting to think about opening an RESP for your own child? If you are thinking about it, or have one set up already and want to ask the experts questions, then join me at the RBC RESP Twitter party on September 17th at 9:00pm EST!

Participants of the party can win one of 6 $150 Visa gift cards, and you can follow along with #RESPwithRBC

It’s the perfect spot to ask some of the questions you may have about setting up an RESP.

Maybe you have already set up an RESP but were too embarrassed to ask a few questions at the time, or thought of questions later that you wanted to ask? This is a great, friendly forum to get answers to your RESP questions.

RBC has some great resources to answer some of the questions you may have online as well!

What exactly is an RESP? Why is it important to set up? All the information you need, including FAQs and benefits of an RESP, can be found at http://www.rbcbanqueroyale.com/reee/.

What are your options if your child doesn’t pursue postsecondary education? Find out at http://www.rbcroyalbank.com/resp/resp-matic.html.

How much and how often should you contribute? Well, as much as you want, and frequencies of weekly to annually! Learn more at http://www.rbcroyalbank.com/resp/resp-matic.html.

How convenient can your payments be? Opt to save automatically and easily with RESP-Matic. Learn more at http://www.rbcroyalbank.com/resp/respmatic.html.

Did you know that saving for education doesn’t have to be overwhelming because of the options and assistance available, as well as “free” money e.g. government? Learn more at http://www.rbcbanqueroyale.com/reee/resp-benefits.html.

It’s easy to book an appointment with an RBC advisor to open up an RESP – you can do so online here!

For expert answers to your personal questions about RESP’s, be sure to join the RBC RESP Twitter party with me on September 17th at 9:00pm EST!

 

 

Mandy Furnis