IN THE SACK with Agent Mystery Case! Helping you survive the silly season one blog post and giveaway at a time.
Today, I’m all about keeping it real and have a bit of a FOMO (fear of missing out) confession to make…….
What exactly is FOMO?
If you consult Wikipedia you will find this…..
Fear of missing out or FOMO is a form of social anxiety, whereby one is compulsively concerned that one might miss an opportunity for social interaction, a novel experience, profitable investment or other satisfying event.[2] The fear is especially associated with modern technologies such as mobile phones and social networking services such as Facebook and Twitter, which provide constant opportunity for comparison of one’s status.[3] Through an increased reliance on the Internet, a psychological dependence to being online has developed and results in anxiety when one feels disconnected, thereby leading to a fear of missing out.[4]
I must confess I have it bad. After more than a year of needing to take things slow, due to ongoing health issues, I’ve developed a huge case of FOMO. While I’ve managed my best to live vicariously through other people via social media, that’s where the buck stops. I’ve long since stopped the comparisons and I thought I’d accepted how things need to be for the time being.
I’m not sure what changed this month but already 8 days in I’ve attended nine events. It was much the same last week. I’m not saying YES to each and every invite that lands in my inbox or letter box but I’ve been finding it hard to say NO to a lot of things and most events are back to back or overlapping on the same day. Only a small snippet of what I’m actually getting up to is making it on Instagram.
Always on the Case! Light Up Leederville Carnival
While I’m thoroughly enjoying myself and it’s been a fantastic opportunity for Mr C to join me while he is momentarily back in town, cracks are beginning to show. This time round it’s not just my health issues that are under pressure.
The home front is looking and feeling unusually chaotic. Meal planning and preparation is out the window and my girls (13, 14 & 16) have on far too many occasion, in the last fortnight, been left to fend for themselves.
You could argue the fact they can fend for themselves is a good thing but If I’m completely honest, It’s not how I like to run my house. Especially when my girls are feeling the pressure of end of year exams.
Yes I’m feeling more than a tad guilty here. Yes I need to get over my FOMO and start limiting the events I attend but more importantly I need to get back to being super organised on the home front which also means having a number of back up plans.
One of the huge things I’m struggling with at the moment is menu planning and cooking meals in the first place. Possibly because my diet is fairly limited and cooking food I can’t actually eat makes me miserable.
When hubby isn’t at sea, I try to leave the cooking side of things to him but he does have a tendency to plan the evening meal five minutes ahead of time. On the nights he joins me for back to back events, it is a case of left overs or quick and easy rather questionable meals for our girls. I’m ashamed to admit, there has been more than one occasion where the girls have had eggs on toast or worse for their evening meal.
While I’m going to be more hands on with at least the menu planning side of things from here on in, with Christmas approaching I’m trying not to think about my normal Christmas Eve Menu Plan:
Each year, I cook up a huge Christmas Eve feast and we then feast on left overs till Boxing Day. On Boxing Day we generally have a massive BBQ and work our way through leftovers for the next few days. Yes it does involve a lot of effort on my part initially but it means on Christmas Day I can just put my feet up and relax.
This year, I honestly don’t think I’m up to keeping up the tradition and as Mr C isn’t due home till late Christmas Eve, I’m not keen to burden him with the responsibility. I’m also not keen for everyone to be following my green smoothie and salad style of eating. I should add my diet limitations are not weight loss related, although if that was an eventual side effect once my latest meds start working, I wouldn’t have any complaints.
Looking for alternatives for Christmas Eve, something that was quick and easy but still relatively healthy, I turned to Menulog, who are No. 1 for online takeaway here in Australia. They also have a best price guarantee and you can download their app for FREE.
Through the Menulog website, you can easily search for takeaway restaurants in your local area that deliver. You can also read the online reviews left by real people and ‘case’ any specials or discounts that might be available.
The online ordering system is easy to use and the menus for the majority of restaurants I cased in my local area were extensive and reasonably priced. It was handy to have everything in the one place.
Yes it is takeaway food but that doesn’t mean we have to go with unhealthy choices. For me, it’s a quick and easy way to put a restaurant quality meal on my Christmas Eve table this year for my family without the need to slave for a day and a half in the kitchen. In fact, I think, provided the restaurants are open over the Christmas/New Year break, we will be taking advantage of this service more often.
Of course I still haven’t broken the news to my family but after casing some of the restaurant menus, I’m convinced they will quickly come around to my way of thinking.
GIVEAWAY TIME
Thanks to Menulog I have 5 X $50 vouchers up for grabs. Four vouchers for today’s GIVEAWAY and a fifth voucher which will make up a mystery prize hamper throughout our giveaway campaign (so make sure you enter all our IN THE SACK giveaways).
To enter, you just need to leave a comment below letting me know what restaurant you would ‘case’ if you WIN and tell me about the worst meal you’ve ever served up or eaten.
GIVEAWAY TERMS:
2 winners each receive 2 x $50 gift vouchers from Menulog (refer to Menulog for voucher conditions)
Game of skill
Not associated with Facebook or any third party
Entries Close 15/12/14 (9pm WST – Perth time)
Australian Residents Only within the Menulog delivery area check HERE to confirm there are restaurants in your area.
Sultan’s Table – we live there!! I also get them to deliver when we have parties – and there’s never a scrap of food left! I didn’t realise they were on Menulog!
Make sure you check Menulog next time, they may have a special or discount you can use. Thanks for entering Lydia.
So do tell Lydia, what is the worst meal you’ve ever served up?
Wow, the list is so long I wouldn’t know where to start -but once tried to make something (forget what) and then the next night by coincidence we went to a restaurant and had the same thing and my son said “This is like what you made, but yours was disgusting”. I would have been insulted but it was true!
Sorry to say Lydia, that is hilarious.
BTW, I thrive on FOMO – it see it as a good thing. You may be interested in my take on it (http://pandoraandmax.blogspot.com.au/2012/08/fomo-is-not-dirty-word.html) Delete if not interested – not trying to blog-jack your page 🙂
I think it would be our local Vietnamese. We’ve lived here for six years and never tried it, even though it’s hugely popular. We’re always “casing” the joint as we walk past though and surreptitiously look at the menu. One day… I’ve served up some horror meals in my time. I think the worst one was a sweet and sour chicken thing in the Thermomix. I forgot to set the temperature so at the end of cooking time, it was stone cold. Undeterred I set it to cook again, but by the end, the chicken was shredded to bits. It was unrecognisable and inedible. I served it up anyway (because I have a “thing” about wasting food) but despite our best efforts, we couldn’t eat it and had to go out and get take away instead! Your Christmas Eve menu looks ace, such a great idea to keep the food flowing over the festive season. Your tastebuds may not love you for all the salads and green smoothies, but your body will!
I’m envious, you own a Thermomix. Do you use it much?
I’m hoping my pancreas and digestive track start playing a better game thanks to the smoothies.
I use it ALL the time – it’s so handy, especially when you have specific dietary requirements. It totally saved my bacon when I was on a low iodine diet for my radiation treatment. We make smoothies in it all the time and everything else from salads to curries to pizza dough to sorbets. It’s saved us so much time and money and I love that we can make so much of our food from scratch without slaving over the stove (ain’t nobody got time for that!)
I wont enter the comp because there aren’t many places that deliver to my suburb, but I just wanted to say don’t feel too bad, I remember a day when I was in primary school (mum was a single parent) and we had mcdonalds for lunch and dinner the same day. It was the best day of my life.
Oh that is rather funny Toni, thanks for sharing.
I would ‘case’ any and every restaurant in the city. Please just get me out of the suburbs!! But seeing as they deliver, I have to choose a local. I’ve been meaning to try Shavan since we moved here five years ago. Maybe this would be the impetus.
What an interesting name for a restaurant. Now do tell Sarah… what is the worst meal you’ve ever served up or eaten?
um, I’m highly critical of my cooking. I added 1 tbsp of salt to a meal rather than 1 tsp, I cried and cried as it was inedible. Then there was the cake that turned out rather floury. Worst meal was probably a cake my sister made as a child where she added 1 tbsp of bicarb rather than 1 tsp. Our mother made me eat it anyway. There are lots of meals that are really not worth remembering.
When my mother was first married, she thought you ate the outside leaves of a lettuce and threw the middle. She would also boil eggs for an hour. I only knew one real dish when I met hubby and I remember a meal when I misjudged the potency of fish sauce. OMG it was really bad but we still ate it. It took me years before I could look back and laugh at that one.
Hubby cooked me my favourite dish Steak Dianne for our first Valentines Day. He mistook 3 cloves of garlic for 3 whole garlics. It wasn’t pretty and we the aroma remained for many months after the event. He never made that mistake again.
bahahahahaha!!!!!! That is so funny!
I think ordering in on Xmas Eve is a great idea go for it!
I would love to order from Saffron Indian, it has been way too long since my last butter chicken!
The worse meal I ever served was a chicken hot pot that I slow cooked all day long and accidentally used a few cups of vinegar instead of rice wine, I hoped nobody would notice but when my partner walked in the house and asked if I was using a new cleaning product because it smelt disgusting I knew no amount of soy sauce or stock was going to get rid of that vinegar smell or taste – yuck!
Thanks Michelle. Oh no to the slow cook meal. Hubby has done something similar, the smell was awful.
Since moving to Australia FOUR YEARS AGO, we STILL haven’t found a good Indian Restaurant, and yes, the capitals are intentional as I feel THAT STRONGLY about it! I’ve just had a mooch through the list and a place called the Chilli Farms sounds amazing – it’s got our name written all over it!
Well that’s interesting. Is it the way of cooking here, the customer service or something else? What makes a good Indian Restaurant? My family all love Indian, perhaps they need to case this one for you and find Perth’s best Indian Restaurant.
So do tell Vicki, what is the worst meal you’ve ever served up or eaten?
Tuk Tuk Thai, which is near us because I’ve never eaten there and am a sucker for satay sticks! That Xmas Eve cooking idea does sound smart but I’m glad you’re going to be kinder to you this year. You’ve had a frantic 2014, I hope next year is kinder to you.xx
I’m a huge fan of Thai. So do tell Emily, what is the worst meal you’ve ever served up or eaten?
I am known for a great stuffed chicken breast, sun-dried tomatoes, garlic, cream cheese, basil, pesto and then wrap in bacon, sear on stove and then bake. WELL I was checking them in the oven and got a bit excited and pulled the tray too vigorously and all the breasts fell on the floor – worst thing – everyone saw!!!!!!!! xx
That sounds divine. Shame about it ending up on the floor with everyone seeing. Perhaps a 2 second rule applies here when so much work has gone into it. The insides would have still been ok to eat?
I would love to try Meh Wah in Hobart – everyone I know raves about it and I have even contributed to vouchers for friends for birthdays etc but never made it there myself. The worst meal I have ever eaten was a Chicken Caesar salad over 10 years ago – the food poisoning was so bad I almost ended up in hospital – I have NEVER had a Chicken Caesar salad again!!
Oh no to the food poisoning. We are hoping to head to Hobart as a family for our next big holiday, although I have no idea when that will be. Hubby can’t seem to get leave approved for anything big at the moment and Hobart is way too far for an extended weekend.
I would have Sultans Table in Enmore – it is sooo delish! As it turns out my worst meal was also in Enmore on Valentines day – an Italian restaurant where the pasta was worse than I could make myself (and that is saying something given I am a rubbish cook) and it was so bad that my 6 foot 6 eat anything and everything Maori husband refused to finish it. Lovely!
Oh how I miss Sydney. We use to live at Crows Nest but would head over to Enmore and Newtown for date nights. I imagine it has changed a lot in the five years we have been in Perth.
Also thanks for entering. Make sure you enter all our comps. We have a lot of fantastic prizes up for grabs this year.
I would head to Outback Jacks as there is a crocodile on the ceiling, good food and a games room for the kids (win!) The worst meal I remember having out is years ago as a teenager, ordering a steak medium rare (as that’s how they order them in the movies) and then nearly vomiting when it came out oozing blood. Completely inedible! I never made THAT mistake again!
I don’t think we’ve ever been to Outback Jacks, I might need to case it in the holidays. My problem is my three are now 13, 14 & 16 and the youngest don’t have much of an appetite so adult means are wasted on them and they are too old for kids meals.
LOL to your rare steak, pretty sure I did the exact same thing and it was that awful I’ve blocked it out.
I would grab all of the cheese from the french food stall at the markets, champagne, crusty bread and have a PICNIC! Or Thai.. thai does me very well too!!! I had Thai from menulog last week and I had a huge smile on my dial!
Actually we are heading to a place called the cheese shed and buying up big for Christmas. Starting with a kilo or two of bococinni.
Now do tell Rebecca… what was the worst meal you’ve ever served up or eaten?
As a vego I have had my fair share of soggy lettuce and 2 slices of tomato ‘salad’ {$12} It just encourages me to order hot chips every time!
I’m just so OVER cooking food and planning meals at this time of year! Takeaway via Menulog sounds great. I’d probably opt to try Gold Leaf Thai, as it is mostly Indian restaurants (and McDonalds, ugh) listed in my neck of the woods and I hate spicy food. The worst meal I’ve ever served up or eaten? See previous sentence – anything spicy. It makes my nose, eyes, everything start streaming apart from the mouth burning!
Me too Janet. Over cooking and planning meals and spicy foods are not agreeing with me. I think Thai might be our best option too.
I am lucky my Hubby is the chef but he is always up for anything “takeaway” Blue Jasmine Thai, looks like my pick for close by and something other than pizza and pasta. That is our staple takeaway and its time for a change.
Our entire family love Thai but we are still trying to find a good Restaurant nearby.
I would love to have a chef for a hubby.
So do tell… what is the worst meal you’ve ever served up or eaten?
We’re pretty limited here with Menu Log. Having tried all of the delivery options available I’d have to go with Wok Me. It’s nice to.have something that isn’t pizza available for delivery. I wish more local restaurants would get on board though.
Probably the worst meal I’ve ever been served was actually the most expensive too. Paul, his daughter, her partner and my self decided to have a bit of a treat before going out one night and went to a restaurant that is attached to the theatre. The meals were brought out and most of them were cold. I got a prawn ravioli and it was just one piece of pasta sheet draped over about 5 prawns. We’d already waited nearly an hour so we ate, paid and left. The absolute highlight of the night though was when Paul asked me to have a look at the receipt to check how much it was and at the bottom of the receipt in huge bold letters was ‘declined’. The eftpos machine had glitched and we managed to get a $400 meal for nothing.
I hope more restaurants get on board in your area. It’s such a handy service.
Sounds like you deserved to have the meal for free. I’m guessing you have never been back?
Menulog don’t deliver in our postcode, but they do in the nearest big town, 50 kms away. My hubby made chicken and gravy rolls one night, it was so salty I didn’t even finish the first bite! It was terrible.
Oh what a shame Alicia, make sure you enter ALL of our other giveaways.
We tried Menulog a little while back is was really efficient.
Unfortunately there was only 1 restaurant that delivers in our area, but had we been prepared to pick up there were loads more options only 5 minutes down the road.
Well I’m pretty sure you can use the vouchers if you win for pick up as well.
That’s fantastic – fingers crossed
Uncle Les’s Smokey BBQ & Pizza. The worst meal I have had was dinner which cost $100 from an Ethiopian restaurant. The ‘meat’ was essentially all bone, the vegetables were tasteless and lacked variety, the bread was incredibly tangy. Good times.
That really does sound like an awful meal. Thanks for entering Benjamin.
Gold Leaf Thai restaurant in Alexandra Hills. I have looked at its menu and drooled over menu items. It would be great to buy Christmas dinner instead of slaving away!
Gold Leaf Thai restaurant in Alexandra Hills. I have looked at its menu and drooled over menu items. It would be great to buy Christmas dinner instead of slaving away! The worst food I have eaten was Ding DIng Muk Mud – pig snouts covered in a creamy sauce. Yuck!!
Urgh pig snouts in creamy sauce just sounds bad. Thanks for entering Vanessa, if you have the time pop back and enter all of our giveaways, we have some amazing prizes up for grabs this year.
There are so many to choose from I wouldn’t honestly know where to start. We are new to the area as well, so the review side of things is really helpful. I wouldn’t mind finding a Chinese restaurant that delivers.
Worst Meal, possibly the cake that flopped. I may have used salt instead of baking powder.
Are you NOR or SOR Ange? I might be able to suggest somewhere for you.
Oh dear, I’m not sure I want to recall my worst meal, it involved sushi and a trip to ER. I really want to try Kharma Indian Restaurant in Subi
I might need to try that one myself Mel. Thanks for entering and sorry to hear about your sushi/er misadventures.
I’m living remotely at the moment, so this is lost on me but can I nominate a friend who is going through a rough time if I’m selected? They are in Perth and it would be a wonderful way to surprise them and support them.
Worst meal involved a gas leak and having to evacuate our townhouse half way through cooking. By the time we were given the all clear and allowed to return the meat had been in the oven half cooked for five hours.
Oh no to the gas leak. Thanks for entering Andrea.
What a great idea. We all like Chinese and there seem to be a few to choose from.
Worst meal was a one served with garlic in it, even after explaining to staff that I was allergic to the stuff.
It must be hard eating out, garlic seems to be in absolutely everything.
We’ll be at my Mum’s I’d love to surprise her on Christmas Eve with no cooking , since she goes all out Christmas Day . I checked menulog 23 different options to cover her favourite wish in a dish.
My worst meal was on a youth camp at 19 – food poisoning from takeaway chicken – 4 boys and myself out of 30 people. The 6am joke in between toilet runs was who did I kiss first.
WOW 23 options, it would be hard to know where to case first. Oh no to the food poisoning.
Id love to try Green Coriander, ive heard great things about the curry place, its nice and local too, just need to get a baby sitter :/