Friday, April 28, 2017

Easy Reusing and Repurposing around the house

My second grader is studying reusing items in Social Studies and what we do as households to re-purpose and reuse items .  So it got us thinking about our favourite (see what I did there?!) ways that we do our bit to reuse items. 

These are all pretty simple. You're not going to find ways to change a lego into a keychain or kitchen utensils  into hooks or anything. Here are a few of our easy to-dos.

1- I keep a big stash of reusable bags in the trunk of my car for grocery shopping. It helps that I'm 'thrifty' and in Canada a lot of stores charge 5c per plastic bag. In the event that I do get plastic bags, I use them as kitchen garbage bags.

2- I save the nicer glass jars from jams, jellies, yogurts and other condiments for when I make our freezer jam or homemade hot sauces. One run through the dishwasher and it's as good as new. I even used the yogurt containers with new lids as jelly bean party favours for C's eighth.

3- Speaking of containers, all those old perfectly good plastic takeout containers? I save them for  giving others leftovers or if I'm taking just a bit of food for family/a friend. That way I'm not giving them a good container of mine that they then have to remember to give back to me!

4- Okay, this sounds weird and I'll own it. When I'm emptying the girls' or my water bottle to replace it with fresh water (bacteria be gone), I usually empty it into a plant instead of the sink.

These two close to the kitchen are the main recipients.

5- I love those BBW candles and the containers they come in are lovely for storage of beauty items. I freeze the empty jars and then just chip the candle away. One run through the dishwasher and it's as good as new.

6- Old towels make great floor rags!

7- My kiddos have lunchboxes that we use instead of ziplocs.

8- For parties, I keep the tassels and party decorations that are still usable and store them in my huge "party' container. I know they're cheap but it's about the wastage.

9- At Christmas time, we've wrapped a couple boxes (both top and bottom so they open) to use again and again and I save some of the boxes, fancy ribbon and bags to reuse. 

10- Those older veggies  that we don't want to eat raw anymore, like peppers, tomato and carrots, I put them in soups, beans and stews to add more flavour. A friend of mine also saves her peels to put into veggie stock.

What about you? Do you do any of these? Any repurposing tips/tricks to pass along?
 
Linking up with 
AndreaErika and Narci for Favourites on Friday
  and Amanda for Friday Favourites

Happy Weekending, lovelies!

Wednesday, April 26, 2017

What's Up Wednesday?

The last Wednesday of the month as we approach warmer spring temps is a good one :-). Here's what we're up to...

What we're eating?
Tuesday: I'm out for a school dinner so D and the girls are making mini pizzas. A wants olives, basil and mushrooms on hers and C wants sundried tomatoes. #littlegourmands
Wednesday:I'm thinking this ground turkey sweet potato skillet- a new recipe
Thursday: TBD- Some sort of beans and rice. 
Friday: Friends are coming to dinner. I'm thinking portuguese rice and chicken with a few veggies.

What I'm reminiscing about?
These pictures showed up on my FB memories. Oh my heart!







What I'm loving?
Beets! I'm making this salad again this week!


That my six year old planted a flower for Earth Day. Oh and that our landscaper gifted her said plant.

What I'm dreading?
I'm not eating 'dirty' lol but I need to really, really step up the clean eating to new heights. I'm thinking of doing the Shakeology 3 day cleanse.

What we've been up to?
Long walks in our hood and getting ready for spring.


Can you tell that it's time to throw these tights out? She was asleep and I took this pic.
 
What I'm excited about?
Can I say summer fast enough?! I can't wait for the kiddos to be home from school.

What I'm watching/reading?
I'm still watching Grey's, super scary Scandal (gosh, last week's bludgeoning was insane!) and DWTS- I can't believe Heather Morris is OFF!! Oh and I'm watching Gilmore Girls while I clean or I'm on the elliptical. 
I went on a Colleen Hoover binge- reading spree but sadly that included some of her earlier not so great hits (I'm looking at you, Slammed #3). So now we're on a break! 

What I'm listening to?
Podcasts and violin music. Jealous?

What I'm wearing?
My spring jacket and flats!!

What I'm doing this weekend?
Dinner with friends on Friday. Skating and family time on Saturday and then Sunday we have two trampoline parties to go to.

What are you looking forward to next month?
We have a daddy birthday, lots of parties and events and the Victoria Day weekend.

What else is new?
I've started spring cleaning with the girls' clothes--- eesh! Girlfriends have so.much.stuff.
What's my favourite spring/summer shoe?
Give me all the ballet flats, Toms and mules! I got a new pair of TB flip flops that I'm loving too. #yayfor40off


Have a wonderful day!!
Linking up with the lovely Mel, Shay and Shaeffer



Monday, April 24, 2017

Canada's Wonderful Wonderland

For the third year in a row, we went to Canada's Wonderland yesterday to their Scotiabank Family Day. The weather was warm and wonderful and the kids had a blast. I'll let the pictures do the talking!

We hardly ever take a stroller anywhere anymore but I'm so happy we did! Lots of walking and layers of clothes to store as the temp climbed to new April heights.

 

Riding the old jalopy. Mom and Dad were in the back-seat.





The kids all wanted to pile into my friends' $30 rental stroller so here all 4 of them!




Our friends who always get us the tickets, thanks Amra and Sean!

I actually made it into one pic!!

Matching lovelies

The kids got tired of waiting in line so instead ran up and down this hill for ages. 




We split this funnel cake as a family as our mid afternoon snack

One last carousel ride for the road.

And just like that, it's Monday! And we're just a tiny bit exhausted from the weekend fun!

Linking up with Biana! Happy week ahead!

Friday, April 21, 2017

Five Friday Favourites



Happy Friday, loves! Here are the bits of happy around here lately.




1- I love these Brain Quest books for my kids. It makes learning that much more fun. I try to level up one to make it just a bit challenging.


2- A was at a play-date so C and I snuck off to the bookstore and to see the Smurfs movie yesterday. It was a fun little outing on a random Thursday!

3- These banana oatmeal breakfast bars are such a filling treat for when I've had enough of my tea, boiled egg, slivers of hard goat cheese and melba toast for breakfast.

4- Who loves The Game of Life--- the board game, not the literal game of life? I bought it to try with our family. C has been loving learning adult games recently. She's added chess, checkers, scrabble and bananagrams to her wheelhouse recently. One more than her mama :-)

Sidenote and mini rant--- I bought it at a Canadian bookstore and Amazon has this and the brain quest book for about half the price--- grrr! And not the amazon.ca, the .com one. 

5- I ate this beet salad like it was my job this week! So flavourful and SO good. 


Have a wonderful weekend. Apart from a little visit to Canada's wonderland and our first skating lesson, we're just chilling! 
 
 
 
Linking up with 
AndreaErika and Narci for Favourites on Friday
  and Amanda for Friday Favourites


Thursday, April 20, 2017

Beet Salad with Feta and Cilantro



I've never been a fan of beets. In the past, to me they've tasted like the ground. You know.. dirty and earthy. I mean, I wanted to like them as they are so good for you- chockful of nutrients, fiber filled and low calorie. 
Recently though, I've had some salads that have been knocking the beet game out of the park! I had one the other day with feta and cilantro and I was determined to recreate it at home. Here's what I came up with:

Ingredients

3 cups of beets cubed (that's about 4 large beets or 8 small). I used precooked.
1/2 cup of cilantro (or parsley if you aren't a cilantro fan)
1/3 cup of feta
3 tablespoons of olive oil
2 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon of  maple syrup (optional if your vinegar is tart)
salt and pepper to taste

Method:
1- Mix the oil, vinegar and maple syrup together
2- Add to the beets, cilantro and feta and stir to combine properly.


Done. Less than ten minutes of your time. I would leave it for a while so that your flavours combine but I couldn't resist and I ate a half cup right away. It was delicious!

Linking up with  Natalie for  Thoughts for this Thursday and The Blended Blog for Tasty Tuesday.


Tuesday, April 18, 2017

Easter 2016- Blue Mountain getaway


I'm back from a long and lovely, relaxing and hectic Easter weekend away to Blue Mountain Resorts with some family friends. I'll let a few too many pictures do the talking. 

Good Friday road-trip and a burger stop off with our crew. It was a long winding and oh so scenic drive.


We walked around the village when we got there, had some warm beverages and shared a donut four ways.

So many quaint, pretty shops and such a beautiful place. 






We hung out with our crew after that, walked around a bit more, had a few snacks and beverages and played games and cards before calling it a night.


Notice the birdhouse on the light post. 

The next day was a rainy one so we hung out indoors a bit, headed to the pool and hot tub and then a big group of us went out to dinner at Alice and Olivieri. 


 The kids got a table to themselves and were very pleased with the situation! So was the waiter-- as he totally upsold them Shirley Temples, $15 mac n' cheese and $5 smores.










 On Sunday morning, the Easter bunny found us in Blue Mountain. After collecting their sugary treats, the kids had breakfast and went to another hunt. Some of the adults went to the Scandinave Spa for very relaxing bath treatments and a massage.


Easter Sunday lunch, some more cards and another walk in the village ensued. The kids then watched a movie, got fed and bathed before we heading home later that night.

This dress was her sisters so I was so glad to have gotten another wear out of it!

These two get along soooo well!

On Monday, us four woke up late. I unpacked, D taught C to play chess and in the afternoon we went to get our eyes checked-- spoiler alert, looks like two out of the three of us may be a bit near-sighted!

We then headed to the park, the toy store and a sushi dinner before heading home for an early night!


Have a wonderful week everyone!

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