Weekending

The last couple of days have been out of the norm for me, but in a good way.
Friday night we had a friend over to visit, Phil, and we all ended up staying up 'til  about 5am just hanging out and talking... as well as a couple of delicious mango guava rum beverages.
It's been a good time, but after such an event we decided to start our morning today with some healthy alternatives.
I just recently made Sole so today was the first time we used it.
I also made us a delicous orange mango juice!

It was SO delicious. The recipe went as:
2 large mangoes (I was lucky enough to have organic ones... however they were from my trip to Victoria lol)
5 small navel oranges
2 apples

It was so delicious. I love starting my day with juice. Often I start with a smoothie instead and then have a second breakfast a bit later, but this affords me the ability to drink something nourishing and quick, do some house chores or exercise and then have a real hearty breakfast... What can I say, I eat as often as a hobbit. Hah!


Today was wonderful, I was awoken to bright and glorious sunshine! Despite the reason I awoke was because the cats were wrestling between the bedroom curtains, it was a great morning.

On days like this, you simply can't stay in doors! I took the kittens out for a walk first thing in the morning... Their last walk for a few days.... and then, Freedom! Monday morning they will be going to the Vet. It will be such a relief to let them outside. No more worrying about them racing to the door to get out, and boy do they want out on their own!

Later in the afternoon, Mom came by and we went for a walk of our own in the neighbourhood and surrounding trails.

Happy Sunday ^_^

Friendly Cleaning

Cleaning! I did a lot of it today. Especially in my bathroom, and I know a lot of people still use the all so familiar chemical products sold to us on TV.

So I'd like to offer a couple of alternatives!

My bathroom clean up concoctions!

The one in the middle is an all purpose cleaner. I use it for anything, really... straight up half vinegar, half water. I use it mainly for windows and mirrors so far, but vinegar in general I use for many many things. There is a vast array of uses for vinegar, you can just check out this website if you'd like to know more.

The one on the right is a mixture 1/4 to 3/4 Nature Clean Oxygen Bleach (hydrogen peroxide) and water. I use this mainly for the toilet and other really gross cleaning type projects. I enjoy the bubbling action (lol).

Last but definitely not least, my favorite cleaner, Tub Scrub!
Recipe courtesy of Mary Jane's Farm Magazine. (Vol.8 #5 August - September '09) "Recipes for green house keeping"
It is so simple and smells SO good to clean your bath tub and sink with. I even use it in my kitchen to scrub gunk off stainless steel surfaces like my bread box, kettle and kitchen sinks.

Tub Scrub
1 cup baking soda
1/4 cup salt
10 drops citrus essential oil (any work and all smell fantastic)
5 drops tea tree oil
Combine all ingredients in an airtight container (I shake mine up in a maison jar).
To use: Sprinkle around tub and scrub. Rinse.

Among this fantastic recipe, this issue has so many cleaning recipes, such as: Laundry soap, Lavender Laundry Softener, Lemon Dish soap, Gentle Wool Wash, Dishwahser Detergent, Oven Cleaner... and a few more that I just don't feel like typing. (but if you'd like to know, just ask me, I'd love to share some recipes)

Weekending

Looking forward to a trip down island to visit my siblings and friends this afternoon.

Hope everyone has a great weekend! <3

Food

Some days just seem to revolve around food. This used to happen a whole lot more in later times, but I feel I'm getting back into the swing of things in my new home with my new life and I'm enjoying it!

Today I made Ryan and I some fantastic juice with the juicer he got me for Christmas! Oh my I have been enjoying the goodness of fresh juice so much!

Specifically orange juice, but I like to mix it up a bit too. Today's juice was made of:
3 blood oranges (which make any juice a vibrant gorgeous red-pink colour)
2 bananas
3 naval oranges
3 apples

Enough juice for me to have a tall glass and him a short glass and a bit extra to top it up! (he requested a smaller glass, I'm not just greedy ^_~)

The banana adds some real sweetness to the orange juice... he wasn't as much of a fan when I had made the juice with just oranges and grapefruits! A bit of an acquired taste I guess, but I loved it!

This afternoon I got creative and made my first ever savoury Crepes! 

Now, when I was in Jr. High to Highschool, I was a crepe master. I made crepes almost every weekend for breakfast for whoever I had sleeping over or just my family. I even knew the recipe off by heart... But in recent years, what with traveling all over Canada and living in hotels, I haven't made them!

This was kind of a wing it type of cooking adventure.

I made the basic crepe recipe minus the sugar.

Crepes
1 cup flour(I used whole wheat)
1/4 cup sugar(ignore this if making them savoury)
pinch of salt
3 eggs, beaten
1 1/2 cups milk
1 Tbsp oil or melted butter

In a medium sized bowl combine flour, sugar and salt. In a small bowl, combine eggs, milk, and oil. Pour into dry ingredients and beat until smooth.
Coat pan in oil on medium heat. When pan is hot pour a bit of batter(I use a ladle full) onto the middle of the pan and tilt the pan in a circular motion to coat with a thin layer of batter. Flip when browned and keep warm on a plate in oven until all are ready.

Meanwhile make a filling! You can make any type you can imagine. Mine was totally improvised based on the ingredients I had in the fridge...
It went a bit like this.
1 lb ground turkey thigh meat
1 small potato, finely chopped(so it cooks quickly)
1 onion, diced
1/2 each red, yellow, green bell peppers, coarsely chopped
3 leaves dinosaur kale, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed and chopped

Fry turkey meat on medium heat, when beginning to brown add potato and onion, spices, salt & pepper, etc.(I used some random things.. thyme, braggs, cumin, italian spice mix, chili peppers... whatever you like, really). Fry with lid on, stirring often, until fully cooked. Add peppers, kale and garlic, cook with lid on until peppers are bright and kale is wilted, stirring occasionally. Serve in crepes! Mmmmm, wish I had taken a picture of this!

Then this evening around 7:00 I got the awesome idea to bake cookies! Whipped Shortbread this time! Usually a Christmas time cookie, but as I had done no baking over the holidays I felt that it was suiting.

Whipped Shortbread
1 lb Butter
1/4 cup cornstarch
3 cups flour(I used whole wheat again)
1 cup icing sugar(eventually I'd like to find a delicous healthy alternative that still results in the same smooth texture)
1/2 tsp vanilla(I used almond extract for fun)

Preheat oven to 325. Cream butter. Gradually whip in icing sugar, vanilla, cornstarch, and flour. Drop by tsp onto cookie sheets. Decorate with bits of candy cane, nuts, chocolate chips, raisins, cranberries....etc. Basically anything you want, but those are the things I used.
Bake for 10-15 minutes. Cool and enjoy!

Birthday Partying

We're getting very excited about my birthday party this evening!

Cozy Wintry Days

 We have had a pretty good amount of snow here since yesterday! I am such a winter snow fan so I really love this!

Yesterday I went to the Antique store with my mom in search of a fancy hat for my birthday party and the whole time it was super lightly lightly snowing in tiny sparkly flakes. It was pretty fantastic! But in the end I didn't find a hat and at the same time also realized that I already had a hat, but I had never had a reason to wear it! I'll save photos for the party because my outfit will also be fantastic!

After that we came home and I made a right feast. I had taken a pork roast from the farmer's market out of the freezer a couple of days before my birthday, intending to cook it for my bday dinner. The next day Ryan's mom invited us to dinner for my bday after that idea had come, so I didn't end up cooking it. 

It turned out well for us,  because we got to have something I would normally make on a random day. So I spiced the roast with steak spice and made a baste for it out of Diana's Pork and Chicken bbq sauce, worcestershire sauce, sambal oelek(aka chili paste) and water.

It turned out really good!

I also roasted some squash, yam, carrots with whole garlic cloves and chunks of onion. It was also delicious.

And I made brown basmati rice to go with.

I really enjoy good hearty meals like that... I also wish I'd had the idea to take a photo of it all.

I did, however, remember to take the camera out with me and Mom when we went for a snow walk that evening after dinner!

 It was really cold out! (Can you tell?^_^)

 The view across the river, from the River Rd. Park.

View from the same spot toward River Rd. It was such a beautiful night, and damn the snow was coming down good!

Today Ryan took the kittens out in the snow. We got them harnesses and retractable leashes so that we can take them outside! They cry soo much to go outside, and we feel so bad not letting them.(We don't let them out yet because they are too young to get fixed and we know for a fact the neighbour's male cat is not fixed)

I think the deep snow was a bit of an adventure for them! They sunk in right to their bellies!<3 So cute ^_^

We had a pretty good day here. Ryan is enjoying a new game of his and I have done lots of good things! I searched online and found some really good beginner's beats and practices to play on my djembe drum and had a lot of fun with that!

I am very much so enjoying having a camera again! Can you tell?

And I must share the fantastic soup I created for dinner tonight.

Potato, Bacon and Kale Soup

It was so good! I made it like this:

Butter

1 onion, roughly chopped

5 good sized potatoes, peeled and cubed

6 strips of bacon, cut into 1/2 inch pieces 

4 leaves of kale, chopped(we used dinosaur kale, but any kind would work)

Water or Broth, enough to cover potatoes( didn't have broth so I used water)

4 cloves of garlic, crushed and roughly chopped

1/2 tsp fennel seed, pulverized in mortar and pestle

Braggs, to taste

 Salt & Pepper to taste

Dash Cayenne pepper (optional)

2 Tbsp worcestershire sauce (optional)

First sautee onion in butter (I use lots), season with salt and pepper and fennel. Sautee until onions start to soften, add cubed potatoes and stir... Let sautee for a few minutes. Add water or broth, Salt, Pepper, Braggs, worcestershire and dash of cayenne if desired. Bring to boil and simmer 20 to 30 minutes, or until potatoes are tender.

Meanwhile, fry bacon and set aside. 

When potatoes are done, remove from heat, spoon out 1/3 to 1/2 of the potatoes from the pot and set aside. Add garlic to the soup pot and blend until smooth. Add kale and bacon as well as the potatoes that were set aside and replace pot on stove top to simmer again for about 5 minutes. Adjust taste if needed... Serve!(I added a bit of cream to my bowl... mmmm)

It was so yummy!

I realize this post is getting long, but I had a rather good day and have just one more thing to share.

I just finished reading Taking Charge of Your Fertility by Toni Weschler. 

A couple of months ago I found myself running out of birth control pills again and really didn't want to continue taking them once I ran out. So I decided not to. 

After that I was on the look out for a natural birth control, because I knew there must be something out there!

So I was in the bank line up one day and looking over the books on the donation table, and just happened to find a brand new-looking copy of this book. After reading the full title, Taking Charge of Your Fertility: The Definitive Guide to Natural Birth Control, Pregnancy Achievement and Reproductive Health, I grabbed that book up, tossed $5.00 in the donations bin and stuffed it in my bag. I knew I must have finally found my answer!

Awesomely enough I had! What an amazing book! I recommend anyone with a uterus seek out and read this book! I learned so much that I didn't even know I didn't know and feel so confident now! I even bought people this book, and would buy more people this book, so that all women can finally know!

*sigh* Enlightenment is fantastic.

Wow! What an amazing birthday I had!

Honestly, I don't know why I don't have myself feel that special and fantastic every day.

Since then I have been trying.

I started my day with fantastic music and danced about the house while sweeping.

This was my morning view outside.

I made myself and Ryan an excellent breakfast! Breakfast sandwiches with spiced fried onions, egg, bacon, cheese and mayo on english muffins... Just slightly fancier than the average breakfast sandwich I make fairly often. Yum! With a pot of Organic Wild Blueberry tea.

After that, I showered myself up, perfumed myself with Lavender and continued to dance about while I dressed myself in a most fantastic manner.

Then I played about online and found in my email that my mom had sent me a small album of photos from when I was a baby!

This is just a small taste of the cuteness of the album she sent me! After this, it inspired me to dig out my baby book and flip through it. Reading my baby book made me feel SO LOVED. It was amazing to read the messages from my parents as well as the "firsts". Such as: first words "kitty kitty" (I had to laugh because, really, have I changed much at all? Nope.) As well in my baby book, I discovered some photos that my mom didn't have and felt she was missing!

In the afternoon, my Mom and Dad came over and we looked through the baby book together as well. My mom brought me some beautiful spring flowers(bulbs) for me to plant in the ground next spring and put them in this adorable sailor bag! And my dad's gift to me is our fireplace mantle! We spent the latter part of the evening google searching and designing its look! I am so excited for this to happen! I am so tired of looking at it's framing!

And so excited about what it will become!!! We are aiming to go shopping in Nanaimo for supplies on Monday. ^___^

We were also invited for dinner at Ryan's parents place,(2 blocks down the street) so we went for a lovely wintry walk in the frosty light snow.

We had a fantastic dinner, lovely red wine, birthday cake, berries with whipped cream, and good company with Ryan's parents, sister and Papa, as well as my parents. It was really a fantastic day and evening and Ryan's sister, Dawn surprised me with a book of Nana's I'd been looking for! She had found it in their bookshelf in the basement. I was so excited! 

I could not have asked for a better first birthday at home in 3 years!

Music

I am so excited today! I am going to learn to use an instrument! Something I have been inspired to do since Sarah took me hitch hiking when I was 19 and taught me how to play one beat on a really beautiful drum.

Mom and Ryan took me on a special early birthday trip to Qualicum this afternoon to pick out a drum for myself! It was so exciting to go see them and hear them, but this big beautiful drum was definitely it.

It has a beautiful sound, and I can't wait until I have practiced enough to keep a beat and learn new ones and make ones! Woohoo!

Productivity

I've been trying to get back into the swing of life lately... I find myself getting sucked into the computer far too often and haven't been doing things that are necessary around the house as well as things that I truly enjoy... It's silly, but it's so easy to get distracted with the internet.
So today I actually did the things on my chore list that I'd been meaning to get to but hadn't since I'd made that fantastic chore list, which made all my house chores seem so much less daunting... Silly, isn't it?
I washed the floors, which needed to be done quite desperately since we'd had our oil furnace removed and wood stove installed!(love)
It took a bit of work... a bit of washing the floors two or three times, but eventually the mop was not black with soot and the floors were not streaky and that was very pleasing to see. I was a getting tired of blackened socks and dirty kitten paw prints in the sink and bathtub.
I also finished the task of switching all the dishes into the pantry and all the pantry food into the cupboards... Why, you ask? Well, this house was built in a rather silly fashion with the chimney snuggled right next to the pantry, warming all the contents of the pantry... Not so ideal for food storage in my opinion...

 I like it.

It will take some time getting used to where everything lives, but I feel I did a decent set up job and it should flow smoothly.

Here's hoping everyone is having a nice warm snuggly evening... We are.