Whats for Dinner?

I have never been a big cookbook girl. I have many and I have flipped through them and made the occasional casserole but I generally found the food either to forgein, or I didn't have half the very large amount of ingredients.

Until now...

Right after Max was born my mother in law introduced me to Clean Eating when she gave me the Eat Clean Diet Cookbook, by Tosca Reno. Having just had Max, healthy eating was just what I needed but I had no idea that this cookbook would shape the way my family ate from that point on. We break out this cookbook at least once a week and have even memorized some recipes.

So what is clean eating? Clean eating is basically eating without using processed, packaged food. If you ever watch Dr. Oz, you may have heard him say that you should shop the perimeter of a grocery store. The perimeter is where you find, fresh vegetables, grains, meats, and dairy. Now don't get me wrong, we still eat some processed and packaged food but this way of cooking our meals has taught us ways to prepare dinners without pre-made sauces, spice mixtures, etc.

Now I have tried some recipes that I won't make again (the homemade mac and cheese - not good) and the downfall to this eating is the initial need to purchase some ingredients that you likely don't already have but then you have them and they last for a long time.

But let me give you a taste for yourself. The next time you make a stir fry make your own sauce:

Chicken Szechuanese (sauce)
Sea Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
2 tsp potatoe flour or quinoa flour (i use regular flour)
3 tsp soy-sauce
3 tsp rice vinegar
1 tsp organic honey
1 cup vegetable or chicken broth

Mix together in a small bowl and when your stirfry is almost cooked, add the sauce and let simmer for a few minutes so the sauce soaks into the meat.

I have recently added Tosca Reno's Eat Clean Cookbook to my collection and once again, not disappointed.

If you want to make a lifestyle change, try this out. I think you'll like it.

Happy Mothers Day!

Hi Everyone. I hope you all had a great mothers day weekend. I sure did! We worked and played outside in the beautiful weather all weekend.

I promised Guy that Had i been on Facebook still I would have tooted his horn for giving me a wonderful mothers day so I will toot it here.

Friday he came home with a dozen pink roses (from Anna). they were bought as a fundraiser for breast cancer so the money went to a good cause which was an added bonus. (note Guy cooking dinner in the background)

Then While I took the kids swimming Saturday morning he installed my new clothes line (from Him).


Then on Sunday morning I got to sleep in for 2 extra hours and then i came downstairs to a cute card from the kids and a gift card to Lululemon to buy a new coat (from Max).

I have to say that Max has given me the hardest year of My life, so its fitting that his is the best gift of all. LOL.

Thats it thats All!

Are you a bad driver? No I am a parent!

I have always gotten openly annoyed with bad drivers. I hate tailgaters most of all and then there are the plain ignorant drivers who either just slept through drivers ed or are so confident in their skills that they try to multi task to an extreme. Either way, I go insane when in the presence of bad drivers.

Now may I present you with my hypocritical side. Lets take June 6th, 2010 for example. I went in to labour suddenly with my contractions starting at 2 minutes apart. With a 40 minute drive to the hospital ahead of us, my husband flew down the 416. He flashed lights at trucks that where in our way and dodged cars as necessary. I am sure the other cars where cursing him like I would normally be doing but he had no plans on delivering a baby on the side of the highway. Hmmm maybe next time I see such a scene I should consider what the circumstances may be.

Example number 2 of hypocritical me. As a sleep deprived mom, I often forget my head at home. I never drive if I am THAT tired but I have been less than all present driving through Kemptville to runs errands. A few weeks back I got a finger wave and head shake by a clearly annoyed gentlemen because I forgot to signal my turn and he sat waiting. I have been him and I felt terrible. I wanted to jump out of my car and explain myself and apologize. But instead he went on his Merry way thinking I am just a bad driver.

My final example came this past week. During the pouring rain I drove through the grocery store parking lot. I usually consider myself to be a thoughtful driver but when I was in my zone, it never occurred to me to stop and let the family leaving the video store who were standing in the pouring rain while I sat dry in my car cross the way. the light bulb noting my ignorance only came on when the dad looked at me (I saw through my rear view mirror) and shook his head. In this instance I wanted a do-over because to them now I am rude but the fact is I am generally very thoughtful in this matter.

So this is my apology to all drivers who have been the victims of my poor road skills lately. I am not a bad driver, I am just an exhausted parent.

Maybe I should just let Max drive from now on!


P.S - going off facebook is like leaving a party that is in full swing to go home alone. I seriously feel like I am missing a party. Liberating but lonely.

Bringing back the Art of Conversation!

Social Media has taken over our lives and recently I have realized that it has also taken away parts of our lives too. Therefore I have decided to stop using facebook.

Reason 1: The other day I was out with some friends and I realized how annoying it is to have someone check their facebook via smartphone in the middle of conversations. While noticing how annoying this is, i also realized that this is totally something I do. I have gotten to the point where i cannot go anywhere without my phone. A while back I read a blogpost about "mom, put down your damn iphone" or something like that and when i saw Anna breastfeed her child and needed to have her phone in her hand I had my eyes opened up. Surely she thinks that "damn Iphone" is as important to me as her.

Reason 2: When I run into someone from highschool or college or anywhere for that matter I feel like facebook has ruined the art of conversation. We already know everything about eachother right down to how much weight we need to lose. I have started a few conversations by asking "how is...." and realized it was a stupid question because thanks to facebook I already know. I have also wanted to share something about me but it is redundant because thanks to facebook they already know.

Reason 3: I have an addictive personality, a trait that was likely passed on to me by my father, and when I am addicted to something it seems as though I either need all or none. Now before you start sending me AA cards, I am talking more like Chocolate and Facebook. In an attempt to get physically healthier I have been cutting Chocolate out cold turkey so now in an attempt to get mentally healthier I am cutting out facebook. Facebook puts everything out there for everyone, especially if you are me. I started by disabling my wall to try and decrease my sharing. then I cut my friend list in half because I was incapable of not oversharing.

Simply put I appear to be unable to use facebook minimally so I am going to stop. I need to work on the most important relationships I have without the distractions of my overly obsessive curiosity with what everyone is up to. While Max has his evening bottle I am going to read to him instead of search facebook. When Anna wants to do a puzzle I am going to keep my phone in the kitchen instead of my pocket. After the kids go to bed I am going to work on my scrapbooks instead of stare aimlessly at my computer. And while Guy and I are in bed I am going to....Use my iphone to play scrabble with him. :) And when I see someone I am going to Ask "What have you been up to?" and actually be curious!

But I still want to stay in touch with my facebook friends. I am on Linked In for work and I have a twitter account (mostly so i can pretend I am friends with celebrities and reality TV stars) and I still use old fashioned Email, Phone, and Text. And of course I have this blog which I will continue to write in and share photos. So please follow it so that i am actually sharing with someone other than myself.

So there you have it in a nutshell. Guy thinks this is a phase and doesn't think i am serious. Who knows, maybe you'll see me back here later but definitely will be a long while. I will stay live for tomorrow so that I can hopefully get some blog followers but then after that I am shutin' er down for atleast 28 days (they say thats how many days it takes to break a habit, hense 28 days rehab...facebook rehab in my case)