Monday, March 23, 2009

meal plan monday

I found a recipe for crockpot falafel through my friend Kate and gave it a try last week. They were delicious!!! My hubby the carnivore even gave them rave reviews so they will definitely be on our menu again.We ate them in spinach wraps that I had on hand, topped with cheese, peppers, baby spinach and some light ranch dressing, delicious! Next time I hope to make homemade tzatziki and pita bread to go with them.

For this week we'll be enjoying:

Monday: leftovers

Tuesday: mexican pile-up

Wednesday: slow cooker pot roast with potatoes and veggies

Thursday: grilled shrimp with veggies

Friday: baked beans with homemade molasses brown bread

Saturday: leftovers

Sunday: homemade pizza and salad

For more meal plan ideas head over to organizing junkie .

Friday, March 20, 2009

happy spring!

Thanks for stopping by, I'm serving tea and coffee today so grab a mug :)

Spring has sprung, yay!! I'm not really a huge fan of spring with the freak snow storms and slushy muddiness everywhere but it gives me hope that summer is on its way! I only had to scrape one window on the truck this morning, so very exciting.

This week has flown, mostly because I worked in the mornings, which is great. When I came home this afternoon the doorbell rang and there was a beautiful bouquet of pale pink tulips from my mom all the way on the other side of the country. She's so sweet, tulips are my favourite!
I'm looking forward to the weekend to catch up on housework and start my hubby's days off, ah let the spring cleaning begin!!

Friday, March 13, 2009

sponge dog square pants


I love my dogs, I really do. They are fantastic company and are great at warning me of such impending dangers as...the cat up the street or the mail man dunh dunh dunh. Seriously though I've never owned a dog before we got these two a year ago and I've always wanted one. I just can't wait until summer when the snow and dirt won't be all over my house. Oh summer with your green grass and lack of snow and gravel mmm.

Crosby our lab is not so bad as long as I wipe his feet but Nugget, poor Nugget is the silliest mix of breeds so that he is a low lying sponge. Just a few minutes ago he was in the back yard and he didn't come when I called, I pulled on my boots and trudged through the snow and had a moment of panic when I didn't see him (let me just say the day we found him he was running down the middle of the highway) but then I saw movement up up in the garden on our retaining wall. The poor dog was stuck in the snow and couldn't move as it was deeper than his little legs, I burst out laughing then composed myself long enough to reach above my head and lower him to the ground.
Why didn't anyone tell me dogs were so much work...?

Anyway onto my gratitude list for this week

1. My wonderful husband, he works so hard.

2. Melamine paint: has anyone used this stuff? We've been painting our trailer and chose it for its durability. Proof: There is a a green spot under my thumbnail that I can't get off...we painted on Monday...

3. Friends, I love visiting and having tea with friends

4. Tea: see number 3

5. The time change, yes I said it. I do enjoy how much lighter it is in the evenings.

6. My down comforter, so warm and cozy. I think I'm going to go curl up now.

See you soon

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Meal Plan


Brunch, what a wonderful meal, my favourite in fact. I love breakfast foods and on my hubby's last days off we made a wonderful spread of crepes with strawberries and yogurt and homemade biscuits with eggs and bacon. Oh it was soo good. If you've never made crepes, they are so simple and delicious plain or when served with fresh fruit. My favourite recipe is vanilla crepes they smell heavenly when they're cooking and taste just as good. The recipe is from all recipes and I modified it just a bit

Vanilla Crepes

  • 1 1/2 cups milk
  • 3 egg yolks
  • 2 tablespoons vanilla extract
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
  • 2 tablespoons sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 4 tablespoons melted marge
1.Stir milk, egg yolks, and vanilla together. Stir in flour, sugar, salt and marge.

2. Heat crepe pan or large frying pan over medium heat, pour 1/3 cup of batter in the pan then tilt the pan to spread. when edges begin to curl and middle looks set flip and cook for another minute. Keep warm and serve.



On the menu for this week is:

Tuesday: brown bag burritos (making extras to put in the freezer for lunches)

Wednesday: homemade pitas and crockpot falafel with tzatziki

Thursday: linguine with garlic sauce (whole wheat linguine, low fat cream cheese and skim milk)

Friday: bbq chicken on buns with veg

Saturday: pizza (making pizza pockets for the freezer)

Sunday: refried bean nachos

Monday: veggie pot pie

For more great ideas go see Laura

Friday, March 6, 2009

sunny days...


Thanks for stopping by, grab a mug of something warm and get cozy in the sun.

I love the sunshine and this week has been beautiful!
On Sunday after church we had an outdoor bbq, we stood around in the sun while the kids played with snowshoes, sleds and got pulled around by a snowmobile. What a great afternoon, it was so nice to enjoy the weather outside after a long winter.

I've been able to get out and walk the dogs and still feel my fingers at the end of the walk, so nice.

Our driveway is almost clear again, the ice is melting and our car hasn't slid down the driveway in weeks!

I just can't wait for spring and I know the dogs are loving the sunny weather too. Anyone else had their fill of winter?

Thursday, March 5, 2009

pvc dryer balls?


I found this from Norwex which is a largely chemically free company who makes dryer balls which are also made with pvc like the ones I posted about.

QUESTION: WHY ARE NORWEX DRYER BALLS MADE OF PVC PLASTIC, WHICH IS THE MOST TOXIC PLASTIC ON THE PLANET?

CANDI'S ANSWER (from Norwex Canadian Headquarters:
Yes, during the manufacture of pvc, there is a small amount of dioxin generated. This is definitely a cost, however, dioxins are not released upon use of the product – only if they were burned (i.e., by fire). It would be very nice to eliminate all environmental costs – so they tried to make them from different types of material, but so far, none have been successful (i.e., other types of plastic simply aren’t effective and don’t work well). Another potential issue with regards to them being made of pvc plastic are phthalates, which are ingredients added to plastics to soften them. These can leach out in water, especially under high heat...this is a problem if you are drinking the contaminated water. Such leaching is unlikely to occur to any appreciable degree in the dryer as they are not sitting in water...and also, we are not drinking the water they are sitting in. The amount of residue, if any, they would leave on clothing is exceptionally small. One study done on the absorption of phthalates into human skin found that, even when added as a concentrated liquid directly onto the skin, that very little penetrated the skin - skin is largely impermeable to them. Also, the amount, if any, on the clothing would be so small as to be immeasurable. Certainly, dramatically better than any other products used to soften clothing and reduce static, which leaves a lot of chemical residue...and for a wide variety of chemicals!

For now, this issue requires additional research, but for those using dryersheets or fabric softener – we are dramatically reducing their exposure to chemicals that are far worse and more likely to affect them than by using dryerballs. Also, the dryerballs reduce energy consumption. I certainly acknowledge that there is some environmental cost, as there is with all human activities…but in my mind, the cost of the manufacture and lifetime use of this product would be dramatically less than that of using fabric softener or dryer sheets. I still give them a thumbs-up on user and environmental friendliness over their lifetime, as compared to other products used for the same purpose.

It may also be worthy of note that there are very large uses of pvc in homes, dryerballs are a very small component of that – i.e., most piping and newer windows are composed of pvc (I do note, however, that this in no way negates the additional cost of having yet another product made from this material – if a better option becomes available, I’m sure we’ll be on board!).

Wednesday, March 4, 2009

dryer balls


I have some articles of clothing that can go in the dryer but cannot have fabric softener. Now you see I'm anti static cling and my husband seems to be the king of static electricity so I like to use something to keep things from sticking together in the dryer. That being said, I'm not a huge fan of unnecessary chemicals so when I was wandering the aisles of the dollar store I came across packs of these spiky little guys. They were 2/$1 (cheaper than tennis balls) so I thought I'd give them a try. They're quite hard plastic so if you can stand the banging around in your dryer for the first few minutes until they warm up and soften they are a fantastic little creation. They fluff up and separate the laundry without chemicals so I can use them on the wicking clothing, microfiber things, and down filled things that would get clogged with fabric softener. The box recommended 4-6/ load so I bought 4 for a grand total of $2. That works for me :)

Check out Works for Me Wednesday for more things that work.

Sunday, March 1, 2009

Meal Plan Monday


Yay it's March! that means we're one month closer to summer!! woot! Mind you we've been having some beautiful weather here, bright sunny days that are very motivating and the dogs and I have been enjoying walking in the sunshine after what seems like a long winter.

My brother-in-law is visiting for his March break so as I've been planning my meals I've been trying to keep in mind that I am feeding two men and me. That means moooore food. This week has gone well so far so we'll see what next week holds, I'll try not to kill him with veggies :).

Oh I almost forgot to mention that last week I made my very first pot roast, this recipe really is awesome, if you've never made one you should try it!

So on the menu for this week we have:

Monday: Chili

Tuesday: Chicken a La King

Wednesday: Chili dogs and salad

Thursday: Stacked Enchilada Pie

Friday: Homemade pizza

Saturday: Veggie Pot Pie

Sunday: Spaghetti

For more great meal plan ideas visit Organizing Junkie
 

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