Vodafone burst into the cheap mobile scene with Huawei Ascend G300. This phone proves that you don’t have to spend lots of money on a phone for it to be impressive. It has some of the best performance for its price.

Design: The Huawei Ascend G300 is aesthetically pleasing with a modern design. It is slim design, weighing just 130g. The rounded edges make it extremely comfy to use and design wise it looks like a much more expensive phone. There are three controls at the bottom for menu, home and back.

Screen: The screen is 4 inches with a resolution of 480×800. The screen is crystal clear and the colours stand out. It is a nice screen but the touch responsiveness wasn’t very good. Sometimes I would have to touch it a couple of times to make it respond. This was the only negative that I found about this phone for the price.

Performance: It has a 1Ghz single core processor so it is going to lack the performance of the newer dual/quad core alternatives but it is quite responsive. It runs tasks and various apps excellently but doesn’t handle videos overally well. There is a slight lag when swiping between screens but at this price you can’t really complain.

Camera: It has a reasonably good 5 megapixel camera with 2.5GB of storage. It can lack a bit of detail but it is adequate for this type of phone.

Battery: It is a great battery. I fully charged it and then left it on standby with Wifi enabled for the day and when I looked at it again the battery had hardly been used.

The Huawei Ascend G300 ticks all of the basic boxes and it is the best budget android handset running that i’ve seen. If you are looking for your first Smartphone, this is your perfect match!

Are you looking for a pair of new glasses? These may be for casually driving in your car or special prescription glasses. There are a few things to take into consideration when you are purchasing your glasses.

Face shape: Everyone’s faces are different and your face shape is one of the most important considerations when selecting glasses. The shape of your face will determine which styles will suit you.
Oval: Oval faces are softly rounded with balanced proportions. They should try modern geometric styles but they generally suit most styles.
Rectangular: Rectangular faces have high cheekbones and a deep forehead. Square frames suit are best as they help make the face appear shorter and more balanced.
Round: A round face as full cheeks and a round chin. You should consider angular or geometric styles.
Square: A square face has a wide jaw and a square chin and should consider oval frames.

Frame Size: the size of your frames can affect how they look and how comfortable they are to wear. The top edge should not be higher than your eyebrows, the lower edge should not sit on your cheeks and the width should not be wider than your temples.

You may also like to take a friend along for a second opinion. Check out Specsavers on Lasoo for a wide range of glasses. Happy shopping!

The days are getting shorter, the jackets are getting pulled out of the wardrobe and the chilly weather is starting to set in. The upside is now we can have those delicious winter soups! There is nothing nicer than coming home to a hearty soup with some rustic bread on the side.

Pumpkin Soup:
• 1 butternut pumpkin, peeled, seeded and cut into chunks
• 3 potatoes
• 1 red capsicum, seeded and chopped
• 1 large onion, thinly sliced
• 3 garlic cloves, crushed
• ⅓ cup cream cheese
• 30g butter
• 1½ tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
Bring 1 litre of water to the boil in a large saucepan. Add the pumpkin, potatoes, capsicum, onion, garlic and a pinch of salt, then cover and cook gently for 30 minutes. Once the mixture has cooled, tip it into a food processor and purée until smooth. Add the cream cheese and blend once more. Return the soup to the pan, stir in the herbs and reheat gently.

Chunky Vege Soup
• 1 tablespoon canola oil
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1 small leek, white part only, thinly sliced
• 1 large carrot, thinly sliced
• 1 fennel bulb, sliced, leaves reserved to garnish
• 250 g kumara, peeled and cut into cubes
• 250 g potato, peeled and cut into cubes
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 cup of peas
• 2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
• 600 ml vegetable stock, preferably homemade
• 1 can chopped tomatoes (about 400 g)
• salt and pepper
Heat the oil in a large saucepan and add the onions until they are softened. Add the stock and then add the leek, carrot, fennel, kumara, potato and peas. Simmer for around 15 minutes then add the bay leaf, garlic and can of tomatoes and simmer for another 15 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

Enjoy these delicious soups and feel free to share your own yummy recipes!

Lasoo is packed with the latest mobile phones. If you are looking at buying a phone or upgrading then now is the time.

Below are some of my favourite phones on Lasoo right now.

Samsung E1081T Bundle from The Warehouse ($29)

Nokia Asha 200 QWERTY Dual SIM from The Warehouse ($139)

HTC One X Mobile Phone from Vodafone ($149 on a 24 month Business Smart Data)

Samsung Galaxy SII Mobile Phone from Vodafone ($249 on a 24 Month Smart Data $90 Plan)

HTC One X Telecom Mobile Phone from Dick Smith ($999)

Sonim XP1300 Core Unlocked Mobile Phone from Dick Smith ($599)

Telecom R1 Mobile Phone from Warehouse Stationery ($109)

Nokia Lumia 710 Telecom Mobile Phone from Warehouse Stationery ($399)

Now there is no excuse to text or ring your loved ones!

Decorating a childs room can be a lot of fun and can make your child feel important if they are involved in the decorating process. When planning a bedroom consider a childs age and remember that what they like now might not be what they like in a couple of years. Important things to think about are the colour of the walls, the bed, suitable storage areas and desks to facilitate study.

Colour: If they are old enough you can ask them what their favourite colours are. However keep in mind that if you will be putting the house up for sale one day then having a bright pink and lime green room may not be the best idea. You might also want to consider a colour wall rather than the whole room. These are a great way to add your child’s favourite colour to the room without colouring the whole room.

Bed: One of the most important purchases is the bed. This is where your child will sleep and you want it to be comfortable and safe. The childs age, personal preferences and available floor space will help determine the best bed for their room. However for most children a single bed will be adequate for many years.

Storage: Shelving and drawers for storage are also important to think about. This is important to try teach your children clean habits from a young age and to get them to put their toys back into the shelves/drawers after they have finished. Make sure that the shelves and drawers are at a height that they can use.

Other important things: Consider the activities that will take place in your childs room. A desk and chair might be appropriate for a computer or for homework and drawings. Make sure that there are a few electrical outlets around the room so that they don’t have to have heaps of cords going to one.

Decorating a child’s room is a great way to bond with your child and get them to feel like they have some responsibility. It is also a great way to give them a place that they can call their own. Have fun decorating!

Feijoa season is in full swing. The taste and smell of feijoas instantly remind me of my childhood. When I was a child I used to sit in my backyard surrounded by feijoa trees, cut them in half, scoop out the flesh and then throw the skins over the fence. There are so many things that you can do with feijoas, sauce them, jam them, add them to yoghurt, and even my favourite a good old apple and feijoa crumble. Below are three different recipes that contain feijoas.

Feijoa Smoothie – these are great for a fast nutritious breakfast.
1 banana
4 scooped out feijoas
1 tablespoon honey
1 cup milk or so, depending on how thick you like your smoothie
Some crushed ice
Blend it all together in a blender and you have a delicious drink.

Feijoa Ice Cream
18 ripe feijoas
1 tin condensed milk
A few drops of lime juice
1 cup of thick plain Greek yoghurt
Put it all together in a blender, pour it into an icecream container and place in the freezer for a few hours.

Feijoa and Apple Crumble
Crumble
80 g butter, diced
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup coconut
1/2 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup brown sugar
Fruit Base
14 feijoas, peeled and sliced
2 apples, peeled and sliced
1/4 cup sugar
Put all the crumble ingredients into a food processor and blend together. Place the fruit in a dish and sprinkle the crumble mixture on top. Bake for 35-40 mins at 180 °C.

If you love feijoas, make sure that you try out some of these yummy recipes. Check out Nosh for their special on feijoas.

Want something sweet and delicious? They are made up of two dome shaped cakes which are sandwiched together with sweet fillings.

Thanks to our friends at Whoopie we have one voucher for a box of six Whoopie cakes to give away to a lucky fan. All that you have to do is tell us what your favourite Whoopie flavour is. Hint – have a read here.

Competition closes Wednesday 23rd May at 5pm.

Congratulations to Kristal Merry who is the lucky winner of the voucher for a box of six delicious Whoopie cakes.

Brushing your teeth is one of those essential tasks for good oral hygiene. It is recommended that you brush your teeth at least twice a day for two minutes. It is a good habit to teach your children from a young age to make sure that they grow up with beautiful white teeth.

It is important that you replace your toothbrush once every three months. Worn out bristles are also less effective at cleaning your teeth. It is also important to replace your brush after you are sick as the brush can hold germs for a long time. The firmness of the bristles is one of the most important factors to consider. A brush with soft bristles is best as if won’t irritate sensitive gums. Small headed brushes are preferable as they can reach all the areas of your mouth.

Manual Toothbrushes: A manual toothbrush is cheap, light and easy to travel with. Most of them come with tongue scrapers. The negatives of manual toothbrushes are that there is no built in timer to tell you when two minutes is up. Manual brushing is around 300 strokes per minute so it is still a good basic toothbrush for everyone.

Electric Toothbrushes: Electric toothbrushes have larger ergonomic handles and some have built in timers to let you know when you have brushed your teeth for two minutes. They also feel like they are giving your teeth a better brush. However they can be quite expensive and require charging or battery replacement. Some of the children’s toothbrushes play music which is great because it will help make them brush their teeth. Some research has suggested that electric toothbrushes are slightly more effective at removing plaque from teeth. Electric toothbrushes provide from 3,000 up to 40,000 strokes per minute. They are also great for people who have limited hand movement or arthritis.

When you are deciding on whether to buy an electric or manual toothbrush it should come to what you desire and what you can afford. The best toothbrush is the one that fits in your mouth and can reach all of your teeth easily. The most important thing is that you actually use it to keep your teeth and mouth clean and healthy.

Sick of cupcakes? Want something sweet and delicious? Try New Zealand’s first “Whoopie Pies” made fresh with natural ingredients. Each one is filled with delicious fillings and toppings. Whoopie have just launched their first flagship store in Grey Lynn and they also have an online shop.

Whoopie pies are made up of two dome shaped cakes which are sandwiched together with sweet fillings. You can order the online and have them delivered to your door. Whoopie’s mouth-watering flavours include banana, walnut and salted caramel, red velvet with cream cheese icing, peanut butter and chocolate chip and many more.

It is a kiwi operated company and they are the perfect treat for any occasion. They can be eaten on their own or severed with ice cream. Order a box for a friend, work meeting, someone special or a sneaky treat for yourself. They can be personalised to make the perfect for your event.

Is your mouth watering just thinking about them? Take a bite into one and you will be addicted, I know I am!

Are you looking for a new gym? Want to get fit and healthy? Check out this new gym, Muscle and Fitness. Don’t forget those new years goal you made!

With top trainers, friendly staff, the best equipment and long hours… what more could you want. I went to go check it out and it is definitely the place to be. The equipment is state of the art and had machines that I had never seen before. Everyone was very friendly, welcoming and helpful.

Muscle and Fitness is located at 8 Bishop Lenihan Place, Botany. At the moment they have a special running for $500 for a 12 month membership, check out their Facebook page for more information.

Time to get fit, healthy and achieve those new years goals!