Monday, July 1, 2013

Flower Power

My girls are talking pretty much all day long about this and that, most things they are pretty decent at pronouncing but one particularly humorous miss-pronunciation is 'flower' for which they say 'power' this results is hilarious statements such as;

'Does your shirt have powers?'

 

'I see the powers'

 

'I want some powers'

 

'I am wearing my power skirt'

 

'Mommy is wearing her power belt'

 

'I love powers'

 

'This is my power shirt'

 

'Cosette has powers too'


Ect. 


I like wearing my power belt :)

Tuesday, June 25, 2013

Reasons my Girls Could be Freaking Out

Incase you are ever babysitting and are at a loss as to the reason for a melt down here is a quick reference guide for you.

Reasons my 2 year olds could be freaking out:

  • You poured the juice into their cup first instead of water
  • They heard a dog
  • You gave them the wrong coloured plate/cup/bowl
  • You gave them the wrong monkey
  • A sock is falling off
  • They found a hair
  • The blanket is the wrong side up
  • A second backyardigans automatically started playing
  • A sister is touching them
  • You cut the apples too small
  • You called their 'coffee cup' a water bottle
  • They bonked something
  • Someone stole a raisin
  • Their sister would not let them steal a raisin 

Hope that helps!

They might be unreasonable at times but usually they are sweet and hilarious and really cute.


Friday, June 21, 2013

Foodie Friday - Dill Potato Salad

It is BBQ season! Here is a great egg-less potato salad that goes great with your burgers and keeps well in the fridge a few days since it does not have eggs in it.

Dill Potato Salad

2.5 lbs Potatos - peeled, chopped and boiled until soft

1 Cup mayo
2/3 Cup finely chopped dill pickle
3 Tbsp Dill Pickle Juice
3 Chopped Green Onions
1 tbsp Mustard
1/2 tsp of dill weed OR 2 tsp chopped fresh dill
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper

2 tsp chopped parsley for garnish ontop

Mix it all together and put it in the fridge to cool.

Tuesday, June 18, 2013

Monkey Ergos

Lots of people have asked me about these monkey (doll) ergos I made for my girls. They are super cute and were fairly easy to make. I bought the pattern off of Etsy here. 

If I made them again I would make the waist strap a little smaller and possibly rig up a chest buckle since the shoulder straps often fall off but they love to carry their monkeys around when I carry C

Friday, June 14, 2013

Foodie Friday - Banana Bread

Ok, summer is here, enough crockpot recipes, it is getting too hot for that. On colder days when my bananas are going bad I like to make a few loaves of banana bread and put them i the freezer, they make for an easy picnic with fruit and cheese sticks on summer adventures.The gilrls love to help with these and mash the bananas.

Banana Bread

1 3/4 C Flour
2 tsp Baking Powder
1/4 Baking Soda
1/2 tsp Salt

1/3 Cup Butter
1/3 Cup Suger
2 Eggs
1 Cup mashed banana (about 2)

I like to add 1/4-1/2 cup of hemp hearts as well as sprinkle a few on the top.

Bake 350 for 1 hour. Presto.

Wednesday, June 12, 2013

Fabric Covered CorkBoard

I am not the most crafty person, but I like to fake it sometimes.

There was a gap on the wall by my desk just screaming to be filled with something and clutter on my desk of things that could really use some sort of cork board. I found some cork board squares at the dollar store and picked out some fabric I had that I liked. I really liked the fabric but the small peice I had was not quite big enough to wrap around the edges, so I added ribbon around the edges to give it a more finished look.

I cut one board into two smaller pieces and let the glue gun the work! I like how they turned out, I still need to pick up some thumbtacks so I can get some stuff off my desk :)



Tuesday, June 11, 2013

Good Food Box

I don't know about you but we go through so many fruits and veggies here. I was naturally pretty excited when I discovered the 'Good Food Box.'  About once a month you can order a small/medium or large box of fresh produce, you pay in advance for whichever size you want then pick it up on a designated day. When I added it up I figured I was getting things for about half price and it was making me experiment with new things I never buy like eggplant and beets. You can find more info for Calgary locations where you too can get cheap produce here.There are no pick-ups through the summer but it will be back up and running in the fall.


Friday, June 7, 2013

Foodie Friday - Scones

These scones are one of my favourite things to put in my baking jars, when we have soup it is so easy to throw together a batch and have some fresh scones. mmmmm. The recipe is really simple but lately I have been adding things like basil or chopped up spinach to make them even more tastey. Without further adieu.

SCONES

4 Cups Flour - I use at least half whole wheat
4 Tbsp Suger
1 tsp Salt
6 tsp Baking Powder
1 tsp Baking Soda

1 Cup Butter (you can cut this down if you feel so inclined, just add a little more milk or water)
1 1/2 Cup Milk (you can substitute half of it with water if you feel like it)

Bake 450 for 12-15 minutes.

Slather with butter and enjoy.

Tuesday, June 4, 2013

Chalkboard Cupboard



 
I bought myself chalkboard paint awhile back and started dreaming up things I can paint with it. I seem to have a re-occurring problem that when I run out of something I think I will magically remember I need it when it comes to grocery list making time, this does not usually work out great. This led to project #1: a chalkboard inside one of my cupboards so I can write things down right away when I run out.

I taped off the edges and painted away!


I had seen this idea on pinterest that you can put an elastic around you paint can and use it to wipe off instead of the side of the can and therefore keep the sides cleaner. I gave it a try and it works great! 


 All my bamboo needed a new home so while I had the paint out I painted this terracotta pot and will transplant my bamboo to it.

 I have way too many other plans for my chalkboard paint but am pretty happy with these two, I use my cupboard list all the time and have my pot on my desk with one of my favourite sayings on it for while I am working, 'Workflow not work-slow.' I bought a chalkboard marker (don't ask me how it works) and it writes great without all the dusty mess. Win-win.








Sunday, June 2, 2013

Photoshoot Gone Wrong

Sometimes photoshoots with my girls work out great and sometimes, not so much. I've learnt to never have my heart set on anything inparticular but to just have fun with them and roll with it.

What is going on? - If I can't see you, you can't see me - So bright!

Unamused - Unamused - Trying to be amused but it is so bright

mmm, sucking my food - Look a tree - Sttiiiiiilll Bright

Mmm, suck, suck, suck - Hi, I am the cutest thing ever -  I think I might be done

Sucking on my food still - Where is K going? - I am done

Still sucking my food - horray- hooray, I still don't like the sun


Here is a photoshoot that did go well :) 

Ever have trouble getting pictures of your kids?


Friday, May 31, 2013

Foodie Friday- Crockpot Chicken Chowder

Ever since you read this post about me putting crockpot meal sin ziplocks I bet you are dieing to know what the other recipe was, well your wait is over! Here it is!

Chicken Chowder

1/4 Butter
1/4 C Flour
1 Tbsp Garlic Salt
1 Tbsp Thyme
1 Tbsp Paprika
1/2 tsp Pepper
2-4 Chicken Breasts (depending how chicken-y you are feeling)
2 Cans (14.5oz) cream corn (typing this out I realize I only put one in last time I made it, it worked out fine)
1 Can Condensed Chicken Broth
1 1/2C Diced Onion
1 cup Diced red pepper
1 cup diced green pepper

Put all that in the crockpot and cook on HIGH for 3 hours, or until the meat is cooked 
Pull your meat out and rip it apart into bite size pieces and return to crockpot
Add:

1 Pound chopped mushrooms
 1 can (14.5 oz) Diced Tomatos

Cook on HIGH for 30 minutes
Add:

1 1/2 Cups Heavy Cream
1.2 cup chopped cilantro or parsley

Cook about 15 minutes to reheat and add salt and pepper if needed.

Enjoy!

Sorry, I generally am too excited to eat to take pictures of my food so I guess you will have to make it to see how creamy and delicious it looks!




Wednesday, May 29, 2013

Go Bag

Once upon a time quite a long time ago we took our young twins to see my younger siblings Christmas play, I brought my diaper bag full of the essentials: diapers, wipes, garbage bag, water, etc. But it was my mother who had what we needed that night. The girls, being quite young, were not that interested in watching and quickly got restless and out of my Mom's purse came a little ziplock bag with a couple little books, then crayons and paper, then a little toy to play with. You would think that first, since her children were far beyond needing to be entertained like this she would no longer carry this little bag but that is not how she is and second that I would be more prepared. I resolved I would also have a bag of goodies in my purse and FINALLY got around to putting something together, it took all of 5 minutes and I have already used it a couple times. The great thing is it hardly takes up any space so I can carry it all the time in my purse without adding unnecessary bulk, which I hate. So here it is!

Here is what is in it:

-Pad of post-it notes
-a few stickers
-a few crayons
-2 tiny books
-2 hotwheels cars
-a handfull of these bracelets, they were cool a few years ago and now I found them on clearance at Staples for next to nothing and my girls love them!

 That is it! Do you have tricks or treats you carry along with you everywhere for when you are ina  situation where kids need to be entertained?


Monday, April 29, 2013

Playing With Their Food

My twins are all about family structure and pretending lately. This especially comes out at meal time and it quite amusing to watch. Here is a sampling of what goes down at meal time at our house;

'This is my mommy raisin, and my daddy raisin and my baby raisin, and my mommy raisins ladybug (also a raisin) and my daddy raisins ladybug'

'My owl (slice of apple) is hungry, he is going to eat my daddy perogie, nom nom nom'

'These are my guys (popcorn) walk, walk, walk, jump into the bowl!' 'My guys are in quiet time'



Food becomes daddys, mommys, babys, guys, owls, porcupines, deer, bunnies, etc etc etc. The best part is when they eat them, 'I am going to eat my mommy now'

Tuesday, April 23, 2013

For Your Reading Pleasure

There are a million parenting books out there and a million things people say you should do with your babies


I am not a big reader but have read a couple parenting book and my all time favorite that I recommend to everyone is Loving the Little Years: Motherhood in the Trenches by Rachel Jankovic (you can buy it on Amazon for only $11 using that affiliate link) One of the best things about it is that it is readable, with short chapters that I could usually read in one feed when Cosette was little. She talks alot about our attitudes as mothers and is very encouraging and challenging. I have three copies so I can lend them out to friends, you can borrow one.

I recently started reading her second book Fit to Burst, and it has been as relevant, encouraging and challenging as the first book.

'We are a sisterhood of people who know about long days. That is true. But the fact that we all face the same temptations should give us a burning desire to conquer them, not wallow in them'
I only have one copy of this one, you can borrow it when I am done reading it, and I think I will buy a couple more, that is how much I love these books!

If you buy both the books from amazon you are only a few dollars short of getting free shipping so throw in something fun like this or this or this


 Happy Reading! 

Friday, April 19, 2013

Foodie Friday - Mango Chicken

This is one of my favourite GF-DF Crock-Pot meals, typing it out makes me want to go make it right now!

 6 Boneless, skinnless chicken thighs or breasts
1 bag (8 oz) frozen mango chunks
2 Red bell peppers, diced
1/3 cup raisins
1 shallot (I use an onion)

3/4 Cup chicken broth
1 Tbsp cider vinegar
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
4 thin slices of fresh ginger (when I don't have any I use the powder)
1 tsp cumin (I at least douple this, I love cumin)
1/2 tsp curry powder (again add to taste)
1/2 tsp whole cloves
1/4 tsp group red pepper 
Salt & Pepper to taste

The recipe says to brown the chicken and mix the broth and spices first before adding them but I just throw it all in the crockpot, mix it up and turn it on. I usually shred the chicken when it is cooked and serve over rice or quinoa. Cook on low 6-8 hours or High 3-4 hours. Garnish with cilantro if you are into that.

This is one of the recipes I put in a zip-lock for a even easier meal prep later!


Enjoy!

Monday, April 15, 2013

Even Easier Crock-Pot

You know that day I put baking in jars? Well my efficiency did not stop there, my Mom had sent me a blog post last summer about pre-making crock pot meals and I thought it was brilliant, so I donned my goggles (because onions make me cry) and started chopping.


I chose two crock-pot recipes I love and, like the jars of baking, wrote out all the ingredients I won't be freezing on a card. I chopped and measured out everything that can freeze and put it in a zip-lock bag, labeled and stapled the remaining ingredient list to it. Four crock-pot meals prepped in one afternoon, yes, please. Now, when I need an easy supper I just need to dump the bag in the crockpot in the morning and turn it on.




Thursday, April 11, 2013

Two Things and Jars of Baking

Remember a few years ago when everyone was posting `25 random facts about me`on Facebook? Well here are two random facts about me:

1. I love recycling

2. I love efficiency (but need to use spell check to spell it right every time) 


Recycling really makes me happy, I throw every little piece of paper and plastic in the blue bin. When I lived at home I put a second bin beside the garbage in the kitchen so it would be just as easy to recycle as throw things in the garbage. When I drive around on garbage day and people have their black bins out and no blue bins in makes me sad. RECYCLE PEOPLE! It is really easy, especially if you live in Calgary and have curbside pickup. Here is a cheezy video to show you just how easy it is.





Even more exciting than recycling however is efficiency. Assembly lines. Stack of paper to get through. Speed without sacrificing quality. Baskets to organize. Checklists. I get happier just writing about it all. Honestly working on an assembly line would be up there in my list of jobs I would love to do.

Last week I was feeling particularly ambitious and home-maker-like so I put my love for efficiency to work.


I had recently picked up an assortment of canning jars from the thrift store and I had lids for most of them in my stash of jars for baby food. I chose three recipes, Scones, Raisin Muffins and Brownies and measured out all the dry ingradients into jars, I wrote out what I need to add and how long to bake them on a card and put it on top in the jar and PRESTO! Easy peasy baking, when I need to make something I just dump my jar in and add the wet ingredients and I love it! I decided to make scones the other day to go with soup that was almost ready to eat and it was so quick, the slowest part was waiting for the oven to heat up. Efficiency people, so good.






Friday, March 1, 2013

Adventure Week

After a week of three little sick girls and with only a week left of having a extra vehicle I decided to be an adventurous, ambitious and exciting mom in what I dubbed:

Adventure Week!

Now, this took place a few weeks ago and I am just getting around to writing about it so I do forget somethings, but the highlights I remember. 

Day 1.

 A morning full of errands, I usually only do one more maybe two errands in a row because it is a hastle getting three little ones in and out the of van and their carseats BUT ambitios Mom does not care, she ventures out across town for a bunch of errands. 
Stop #1: drop off lunch for Mike who had forgotten it at home. 
Stop #2: Drive across town to take the bumbo back to the Twin Club office.
Stop #3: WestCoast Kids to buy a carseat, that is right in addition to being adventuerous I also made an executive decision. I let K&J walk and told them to stay close and obey and put Cosette on my back, they behaved so well and enjoyed helping me choose a carseat colour. 
Stop #4: Ikea. As you may or may not know there are few buggies with 2 seats and none with three so K&J sat in the buggy and Cosette went on my back again. Our successful shopping trip ended right before lunch and I figured the drive home/arriving home would be not so fun with hungry bellies so we grabbed hotdogs and ate at Ikea.  


While eating I was texting my sister to tell her about my new ambitious self and she told me that the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra had a mini-concert at the library near our home at 2:00, I figured all this running around would make my girls tired and they would nap long past then so figured we would not make it out. I was wrong. We drove home and the girls went for nap/quiet time while I tidied up and checked my email. C woke up shortly before 2 and ambitious me said, why not go to the concert with three little children who might be grumpy and noisy? And I did, and they weren't. We arrived after the concert had began and lucked out being able to sneak into a seat where the girls could see, K&J were mesmerized by the two violin players who made up the concert and C was very happy in her stroller with a cracker or two. After the concert we went to look at books and headed home to make some supper. 


Day 2. 

Recently my Mom sent me this list of the top 15 playgrounds in Calgary, so after a unmemorable morning when we were probably doing groceries or something else like that with no photo evidence and nap/quiet time I decided to hit up the park closest to us. On our way over we stopped at Staples to pick up some printing. The park was pretty awesome, it would be nicer without snow (as most parks are) and with a baby swing but it was still fun and had lots of different things to play on.






Day 3.

Wednesday found us a friends house all morning, home for nap/quiet time and out somewhere I can't remember in the afternoon, or maybe we stayed home? You'll never know.

Day 4. 

This was one of my favourite days, we were up early so we had lots of morning time to get somewhere. I was out of ideas in the morning and was trying to think of something fun, indoors and low-cost. There are not tons of options other than walking around the mall or library where we had just been. Mike and I had been downtown for his grad recently and had walked through the new and improved Devonian Gardens, there is a park and fish ponds and lots to look at so I figured we would give it a shot. I didn't want to figure out where to park downtown so brave adventurous me decided to take the train. I packed some snacks and we drove over to the C-train station. After a little bit of drama and loading and unloading twice because I parked in the wrong area we get on the train. The girls were pretty excited to go on the train, it would have been enough of an adventure on its own! The playground at the Devonian gardens is designed for older kids and even the 'ladder' up to the slide made me nervous, there was not lots they could do at the park but it would be fun for older kids. We walked around and checked out the plants and carvings, they enjoyed being able to explore and walk around somewhere new, the fish ponds were a big hit, they could have watched the fish all day. We hopped back on the train and headed home for lunch/nap/quiet time. Right before supper we had some time to burn while waiting for supper to be ready, generally I stay inside and try to entertain/clean ect during this time but that is not good enough for adventure week so we went out the park out front for a bit while waiting.




Day 5. 

We spent the morning with other mommas and their kids at our church mommas group, I can't remember what we did in the afternoon, I think we may have just stayed home and gotten ready for company coming.


Adventure week taught me to do new things, be adventurous and it almost always pays off. I like being a home-body sometimes (and have no choice often) but getting out and exploring is lots of fun. Also, sometimes I get in my head that I have to wait for summer and warm weather to get out of the house and do things other than shopping but between bundling up and being a little creative there is lots to do in the winter as well. Also, the girls don't care how extravagant a trip is, they enjoy a walk to the park, a train ride, a trip to the zoo, the library, grocery shopping etc etc, so no more excuses, just get out and enjoy being with your kids!

What do you do when cabin fever hits in the winter? Have you gone on any particularly adventurous trips lately? Ever done something with you kids you weren't sure how well you could pull off?

Friday, February 22, 2013

Foodie Friday - Best Brownies You Will Ever Eat

The best?

Yes, the best.



EASY VESTRUM BROWNIES

3/4 Cup Butter, melted
2 Cups Sugar
2 tsp Vanilla
1/2 Cup Cocoa
1 1/2 Cups Flour
4 Eggs

Mix it all together. Grease 9x13 Pan. Bake 350 for 35 min. Cool then cut. Easy Peasy.

They taste best the next day.


Wednesday, February 20, 2013

Snapshot : Take Out Your Real Camera

Having a camera on my phone has been a blessing and a curse. I find myself not taking out my 'real' camera to take photos of my girls for weeks because I always have my phone handy. I like to instragram and easier share photos with Mike and my phone works great for that. Sometimes the point of taking the photos is not to have amazing photos but to document some funny/cute moment and the phone just does the trick. BUT it is worth carrying around my camera and taking good photos of my girls. Last week on a trip to the park I took both my phone and my 'real' camera along to prove to myself it is worth taking out the camera.

Maybe this will encourage you to get your camera out, hangout with your kids and take some pictures!



Friday, February 8, 2013

Foodie Friday - Sweet Potato Soup

On Friday evenings we host some friends for dinner. Because of some allergies these meals need to be dairy and glutton free (among other things.) So watch for some allergy friendly meals here beginning with this one.

Having supper ready at 10:00 is one of the best feelings ever, I love my Crock-pot. I make this soup often on Friday nights and whenever someone is feeling a little sick. I'll give you the amounts the recipe states but I never measure my veggies, I just fill my crockpot but this will give you an idea of where to start.

CURRIED SWEET POTATO AND CARROT SOUP

2 Medium-to-large sweet potatoes, peels and cut into chunks
2 cups baby carrots (or peeled/chopped carrots)
1 small onion, chopped
1 apple, chopped

3/4tsp curry powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground ginger (or a few slices of fresh ginger)
4 cups of veggie broth

1 Tbsp Maple syrup
3/4 cup half-and-half (optional)

Throw everything except the maple syrup and half-and-half in the crockpot, stir. Cover; cook on low 7-8 hours


Puree soup with a blender or immersion blender. I usually mash mine first to make sure I don't miss any chunk then take some out and blend it in batches, returning soup to the crockpot after each batch.




Once it is all blended add Maple syrup and cream (if you are not worried about dairy) Add salt and pepper if desired. Cook on high for 15 minutes to re-heat.


As usual I don't measure my spices (or anything in this recipe really) and I use more then they call for on almost all the spices.

ps. Throw all your peels and clippings in a pot with water and simmer for awhile to make veggie stock. I usually make mine and freeze it and/or keep some in the fridge then I always have some for making soup or adding water to any recipe.

Enjoy.