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Reflect and Re-Set for 2020

In all honesty, by the time Christmas arrived this year, I’d hit a wall. These past few months have been super busy as I pushed through my first Christmas season with my new youtube channel and did all the normal preparations for Christmas. My house was a disaster and I wasn’t as ready for our big Ukrainian Christmas Eve meal, as I usually am. In fact, Tim and I were still pinching perogies on Christmas Eve! When the dust settled, I knew that what I really needed during this holiday season was some time to relax, reflect and recuperate from the crazy hours I’d been pulling since mid November. When I finally slowed down and began to take stock of 2019, I was blown away by all the blessings!

When life is busy, it is so easy to lose sight of all that we have to be thankful for. It seems that the obstacles in life are what garner the most attention. When we zoom in on the challenges and storms we are going through, there is no room in the lens for all of the blessings.

I’m all for New Year’s Resolutions and goal setting, but I encourage you to stop and reflect on 2019 before forging ahead into 2020. Like me, you might be surprised at all the great things that happened in 2019.

So Thankful!

I know for sure that there are so many more blessings, but here is the list I came up with this morning! You’ll notice that some are big and some are little or at least seemingly less significant things, but I can assure you together they make me feel super thankful!

  • December 2019/January 2020 ~ We renovated our upstairs landing so the kids would have a place to hang out with their friends. Our prayers were answered and our house became the place to be! On any given night we might have up to 10 teenagers over. Love having them here! So blessed that the kids have such awesome friends and that they choose to be here. So nice to know they’re safe!
  • January 2019 ~ I had a huge personal/spiritual revelation that I believe eventually led to my daughter’s healing
  • Shelmerdine’s Shopping Spree ~ First time clothes shopping there. Went with $50 gift card and spent $52 of my own ~ walked away with over $500 in clothes! I love great deals.
  • March 2019 ~ Discovered Pastor Gary Keesee and his Faith Life Church app which has totally transformed the way I think.
  • April 2019 ~ trip to Mexico with free upgrade to massive 2 bedroom suite with a panoramic balcony with a private jacuzzi (rents for $750/night) Wowza! It was incredible!
  • May 2019 ~ After approximately 30 years on night shift, Tim got a permanent day position. He now works three 12 hours shifts per week and no lost time for sleep recovery! It’s awesome!
  • May 2019 ~ Eden proclaimed that she was depression free for the first time in 3 1/2 years
  • June 2019 ~ Got last minute Carrie Underwood tickets – 2 tickets for under $100 – 6th row centre stage ~ Amazing show!
  • Summer 2019 ~ 3 girlfriends and I decided to set-up a weekly pickleball game throughout the summer. We have been friends for many years, but would often only see each other once or twice a year. Our games are full of flubs and lots of laughter. I’m so thankful for my pickleball gals and all the fun!
  • Home Outfitters ~ dropped in to see if there were any great deals on housewares as they were going out of business. Shocked to find clothes and shoes as well. Got over $700 of shoes, boots and clothes for $87….score!
  • September 2019 ~ Having an amazing year at school. One of the nicest groups of students and parents in my career and an incredible student teacher as well!
  • September 2019 ~ Eden is medication free and completely symptom free! Yay!!
  • Eden changed schools for grade 12. Scary decision, but for the first time since grade 6….she loves school and has made so many great friends there!
  • My dad is over 80 and has hardly been sick a day in his life. In December he became quite ill with a UTI. It was so hard to see him sick. I am so thankful that his spark is back and he feeling so much better.
  • December 2020 ~ Shay and I upgraded our phones and were forced to give up our total internet plan ~ to our amazement….we are going to save over $50/month! There was a pretty incredible deal if I were to change #’s. I wasn’t keen, but it was about $500 worth of savings so I went for it. I had asked for a number that would have the same last 4 digits as my current #, but it wasn’t available. I was disappointed and picked another. Got home and was having issues with the new number. Evidently it was some how still in circulation (a problem the phone company could not even explain). They said they’d have to give me another number. This wasn’t a big deal because I had only given it to one friend and my immediate family. The one and only number they offered….had the last four digits that I originally requested but was denied. Yay! May seem insignificant but not to me!!
  • Feeling so blessed with awesome kids, a great husband and incredible friends old and new.
  • The Source Church Ministry, Pastors and of course our church family.

You may be asking how I remember all this stuff. Well, I must confess, I literally count my blessings! I keep track because when times are tough and I’m up against something difficult, I can always reflect on all that God has done for me and know that he is and always will be there. Some may call it coincidence and that’s fine, but I know he’s behind the scenes working on my behalf. You can’t make this stuff up!

What I know is this, the bible says to “Seek first the kingdom of God and all good things will be added unto you”. (Matthew 6:33) .  

Sometimes life throws you curve balls. It’s what you do in those situations that makes the difference. Over the past 3 1/2 years, we have seen our share of difficult times, especially as we navigated the stress of Eden’s depression. However, it was during this battle that I finally came to the end of myself, my abilities and my endless striving to figure it all out. It is in this place of desperation that I sought help. When I looked for help beyond myself, I not only found answers, but peace and great favour. I’m truly a work in progress and constantly have to realign and re-set, as it is so easy to fall back into my old habits, but when I truly seek first to know God, his kingdom, his heart and how he operates….life is better! So. Much. Better.

Re-Set for 2020!

Keep it Simple: Daily Routines are Key

As we head into 2020, I can’t wait to see what lies ahead. I believe that 2020 is going to be the best year yet. As I set my own goals for the coming year, I can’t help but think about how so much in life is about the little things. It is the little daily habits that make all the difference. Some days I don’t have more than 5 or 10 minutes for devotions/meditation, but that simple daily habit has the potential to totally change my focus, expectations, motivation and energy for the day. On the days when I’m not as pressed for time, I can sometimes spend the first few hours just re-charging my spirit. There is no better way to start your day. I’m not always faithful, but daily Yoga is another game changer for me. Even if I can only squeeze in 15 minutes…I feel so much better. If I have to make dinner, I can choose to make salad or pasta. It really comes down to a simple choice. I still have to put in the effort either way. I have so many different salad recipes, I can honestly say that nothing beats a great salad in my books. Remember, it’s the little decisions we make and our ability to discipline ourselves to stick to our daily routines. Just take one day at a time.

Goals:

Lofty goals can be overwhelming and end in aborted missions. Your goals have to stretch you, but make them achievable too. When I started my Youtube channel BOWhemian WRAPsody, it was super overwhelming. I absolutely hate having my picture taken, let alone be on video. In fact, this is so far out of my comfort zone, I truly believe it was a God inspired idea. Not only was it a stretch for me to be on video, but also difficult because I had absolutely no idea how to tape, edit, publish or market my channel. I knew my fear could stop me in my tracks, so I had to set very specific, measurable goals that were achievable. Starting something new is often the hardest part. Everyone has good ideas and concepts, it’s the follow through that is hard. My initial goal was to publish 60 videos in my first year. I figured that was a little more than one per week. It was still a scary commitment, but I knew it was achievable too. I launched my first video in June and published 55 before the end of 2019, obviously far exceeding my initial goal. The key is to not give up before you truly get started. Don’t make your goals too hard to achieve.

Multi-Tasking:

For me, multi-tasking is key. I have a 35+ minute drive to work. Instead of listening to the radio, I capitalize on the time by listening to apps and podcasts that feed my spirit and attitude. Look at your list of goals and aspirations and try to figure out how to get the best results for your efforts! In 2020, I’m determined to end my struggle with digestive issues and sleepless nights. In addition, I would like to drop a few pounds. Well, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that daily exercise would have a positive impact on all three. If I listen to something uplifting while exercising, I would actually be working on 4 goals at once! Here is the key….I don’t make the goal so crazy that I give up before I ever start. Make it achievable. I know I can 100% totally commit to 15 minutes per day. On days I have the time and energy, I will obviously do more, but I function better on a successful track record. If I were to say I’ll do 45 minutes/day and miss a day or 2, I’ll feel defeated and am apt to throw in the towel. I look at it this way. 15 minutes is nothing really. In fact, probably not enough to make much difference, but if I am not doing anything right now that is 15 times as much as my current activity level…that seems pretty fantastic! Don’t compare yourself to others. 15 minutes might seem comical to someone who sets working out as a priority and dedicates significant time to their exercise program. That is not me. I hate working out. Period. I’m not going to lie. I love activity ~ volleyball, pickleball, tennis, bike riding, etc. but I do not like exercising for the sake of exercising. Yoga might be the exception. I really do enjoy Yoga.

Summary

Your goals are your goals. No one else’s. If you want to succeed, make goals that stretch you, but don’t break your spirit when you fail to live up to standards that are beyond your capacity. Make them achievable. Invest time in devising a daily routine that you can stick to. It is the simple daily habits that make all the difference when it comes to making lasting changes. Figure out ways to multi-task to capitalize on your time, energy and efforts. Many of the little things we do, can serve more than one goal.

Positive results aren’t about luck. It’s about forward thinking, planning and of course, execution. You’ve got this! Make the right choice right now, in this moment. Keep it simple and go for it! Happy 2020!

Summer isn’t all fun and games!

Well, it’s been a few weeks since my last post, but I’m back from my short holiday and ready to roll. I have big plans this summer and am trying desperately to stick to some sort of a schedule. Obviously, it’s my vacation time as well as the kids, so we definitely need to book in some fun, but I have a very daunting list of “to do’s”. Last year, we tackled Eden’s room and did a complete make-over of her space. It was a big undertaking and took up most of our down time. Of course, we were away for 3 weeks, so between our holiday and her room there really wasn’t time for much else. With Eden’s fresh new space, it didn’t take long before Shay was begging for changes in his room as well.

So aside from all the things I want to get done, I’ve added Shay’s room to the list! I can’t imagine that I can complete even half of what is on my list, but here are some of the things I’ll strive to get done this summer and of course, I’ll keep you posted!

  • Shay’s bedroom make-over
  • Dining Room table – Refinish our old antique table to replace the glass one we’re currently using.
  • Living Room – We are finally going to replace our couch! We all know what that means….we’ll also need a new coffee table, lighting and of course, accessories!
  • I am super behind in my scrapbooking, so I have set a goal of one lay-out per week during the summer. This won’t catch me up completely, but would certainly help to get me on track.
  • Have I mentioned purging ~ well, we can’t forget that! My plan is to tackle one “collection” per week.  Some tasks will be very manageable, but others will take several hours of commitment to get through. I have already gone through my recipe cupboard and have it looking more organized. I was able to purge 6 cookbooks and clean-up the clutter of photocopied recipes. I can’t say I’ve gone through all my recipe binders and removed those I don’t use, but at least the cupboard is looking much better. Still on the hit list are: towels, linens, Christmas decorations, photos, books, toys and the kitchen (yikes).
  • Prep, prime and paint the new laundry room space (I’d love to see it all set-up and ready to go, but I’m not sure we can pull that off this summer.)
  • Mud room make-over ~ this is a bit of a pipe dream and I really have no idea if I will get anywhere with this project, but it is also the area I hate the most in our house. It is completely dysfunctional and very ugly. There is inefficient (or should I say non-existent) storage and it’s completely void of any design elements. Let’s just say it’s a sore spot with me, but the biggest issue is that it will be a huge job and one I can’t do alone. We’ll have to see what’s left in our budget and how much stamina I have left after attacking some of the other items on my list.

So with that said and my goals shared, I’m off to accomplish them.

Pantry Make-Over

I suppose calling this a pantry make-over might be a bit of a stretch, but living in an older home means that storage is always at a premium. We have two staircases leading to our basement ~ one from the kitchen and one from the back door. I know ~ weird. The stairwell off the kitchen had slowly become a dumping ground for items that might be found in the pantry of a newer home. We did have some insufficient wire shelving on the wall, but it held very little and thus it seemed that items would slowly collect on the floor along the wall as well as on a large shelf in the basement. There was no rhyme nor reason to how things were stored and therefore, we often missed buying things we needed and over bought things we didn’t need. It was one of those things that constantly drove me about our house.

On the first Saturday of spring break, I was taking laundry down to the basement when the solution suddenly came to me. For months (maybe years) I had been trying to figure out how to solve this ongoing storage problem. I had measured and searched the web and just couldn’t come up with what I thought was a viable solution. It’s funny how ideas come to you at the strangest times. Such was the case with this. It was literally something I had tossed around for sometime, but just couldn’t seem to figure out how to make it work. The stupid part was there really wasn’t anything to figure out. The answer was right in front of me, I just had to shift my thinking.

The best part was that I had everything I needed to make it happen immediately and so that’s exactly what I did. I came up from putting the load of clothes in and set to work on transforming the dog’s breakfast at the top of the stairs.

You may remember the sliding spice storage racks I made to fit between my wall and fridge. I used old book shelves that were being discarded because they weren’t stable enough to be safe. They worked perfectly in the space and made for great storage.

An old book display rack was where this project all began.
Here is a “before” shot of the book display rack.
Here is the spice rack with holes filled and ready for sanding.
Here is a shot of both shelves.
I love the way the two pieces line-up so nicely and fill the gap between the wall and fridge.

I had two more sections that I had considered for can storage, but the depth of the shelves was too shallow and wouldn’t work. Over the last few years, I measure and tested cans again and again hoping I could somehow use the shelves as a pantry, but I just couldn’t figure out a solution….until this day! It finally dawned on me that the peg board backs on the shelves simply slid inside a groove about a quarter of an inch inside the top and bottom shelves. All I had to do was remove the back and let the wall of the stairwell become the new back! This quarter of an inch was all I needed to fit the cans and other small pantry items. I set to work and it was literally as easy as removing the screws from the tops and sliding the backing out. I planned on sitting the shelves on the floor and then securing them with an L bracket or something for safety, but when Tim learned of my plan, he offered to mount them up off the floor. I can not believe how well they work and it was such an easy fix in the end. The stairwell is now free of clutter and works perfectly for our needs. Our basement isn’t finished and so we don’t have to worry about company going up and down the stairs. If and when we ever do finish the basement, we plan to make the back stairs the main entrance to the basement anyway. So happy!

BEFORE: Disfuntional kitchen storage at the top of the stairs.
BEFORE: A nasty space that simply did not work.
The pegboard back simply slid out of the grooves once the top was removed.
WIth the back removed.
Mounted and ready to fill. They work so great because they were originally made with a small lip along the front edge to keep books from sliding out. The same is true for the cans and boxes I’ve now had stored on them.
AFTER: Upcycled book racks make awesome new kitchen storage area.

Road Trip 2015: Chapter 4

Day 8: California Here We Come!

After checking out of the hotel, we stopped by an outlet mall to do a little shopping. We picked-up a few things, but with the dollar being so weak, there weren’t many deals good enough to make it worth shopping.

By early afternoon, we were on the road and headed for Vista, California. We rented a pool side guest house from a family through VRBO. The pictures on the website reflected a cute little pool house with all of the basic amenities. It’s always a little nerve racking when you rent through sites like VRBO or airbnb because there is always the fear that the pictures make it look way better than it is or that the property is located in the middle of a very bad area or worse yet, you are renting a place that doesn’t even exist! It “feels” a bit risky, but the pay off can be fabulous. It is suggested that you don’t pay with cash and that you speak directly to the owner, as a safe guard. Also, read the reviews…they speak volumes. (You usually have to pay up front and that can be scary. We paid with Visa as there is some insurance through our card.)

We were so excited when we arrived and found that the quaint little guest house was even better than the pictures revealed. The property is located at the top of a hill and we have great city views. We felt super safe and almost a bit “remote”. They have a gate yard and we were able to park on the property which was a huge bonus. It was very clean and the owners gave attention to even the smallest of details. It was extemely economical and offered great value. The decor was warm and cozy and beautifully decorated with a cottage feel. We loved not only the house, but the host family was very friendly and welcoming. 

We actually arrived after dark and it was so cute with little white lights on the front deck.
Sitting area off entry.
During the day, the cottage is super bright as it has lots of natural light.
Fridge and pantry in front “sunroom” area.

The guest house is small, but super quaint and perfect for crashing at the end of a busy day. In the listing it says it accomodates up to 3, but the family was fine with one of the kids sleeping on the floor. We had our camping gear with us, so it was nothing to set Shay up on the floor and he was really comfortable there. His entire set-up slid right under the bed, so we didn’t have to pack it up during the day. Eden slept on the couch. For us, the size was not an issue, but it would be perfect for a couple. We are totally self-contained with a full kitchen and access to the pool. We booked 6 nights here and are really enjoying having a “home base” for the week. Vista sits about 30 miles north of San Diego. It is located close to the coast and is a pretty central location for visiting San Diego and other attractions along the southern coast.

Vacation Planning Tip:

*Finding a place with a full kitchen is really important when you are trying to travel on a budget. For extended vacations it really makes sense. I can’t really say that we have eaten super healthy, as we do end up purchasing some convenience foods that we would not normally purchase at home. (Who wants to slave over a hot stove when they’re on vacation?) However, it allows us to stick to a pretty tight budget of $50 US dollars per day for food. That may not seem like much, but it is actually quite attainable. We brought some food along with us and purchase groceries every few days. Unlike home, you are not purchasing any extras, only what is needed for the next day or two. We always have breakfast at “home”, pack a lunch and then dinner really depends on what we’ve been doing and when we get home. Because it begins to cool off and get dark pretty early in Southern California, we’ve been home in time for dinner almost every night. We’ve really only gone out once so far on this trip and that was in Vegas for Tim’s birthday. Even with that splurge, we’re actually still about $75 under budget right now. This nice thing about being able to cook at “home” is that you have extra money in the budget for those nights you want to eat out. It all balances out in the end.

Basement Blitz

Yesterday I mentioned the great date my hubby and I had on Thursday. What I didn’t explain were the details surrounding our “date day”.  About 3 or 4 years ago, we had hydro come out and do an efficiency test on our house and it failed miserably. That was not surprising since our heating bills for our first winter surpassed our monthly mortgage payments. Once the test was done, we were given an outline of suggestions that would help to make our home more efficient. The number one suggestion was insulating our basement.

The basement of our 1921 home had no insulation, but there were a few rooms that had been roughed in. Obviously, these were primarily used for storage and laundry and looked to be at least 70 years old. It was in a very sad state, but provided adequate space for all of our tools and stored items. We had everything put away and organized and although the basement was really only used for laundry, it was tidy and functional.

However, when we decided to insulate and drywall the space to help lower our heating costs, we had to remove everything from the exterior walls and place it in the center of the space, so that Tim could work his way around the exterior. This project seemed to progress in spurts with most of the insulating completed a few years back, but it was at this point that it seemed to stall out. Now, for an organization freak like me, this became a huge issue. It wasn’t so much that the basement wasn’t finished, but more an issue of not being able to find what I was looking for. I absolutely hate wasting time and sorting through a “pile of rubble” was not scoring high with me. Although my husband won’t admit it, I think that he felt somewhat overwhelmed by the job. We have pipes hanging awkwardly from the ceiling and wires that need to be moved as well as bulkheads that need to be built. Between the mess from the renovation, the pile of storage tubs and the construction materials themself, he just kind of shut down and really no progress has been made for a long time. It was a bit of a “hot topic” in our house, but last fall I finally decided to temporarily let go of the idea of having a finished basement and just focus on what was stressing me out the most ~ THE HUGE MESS! So, this is where the date comes into play.

The Best Date Ever:

So, you can imagine my excitement when I got my husband to agree to “a date”. No, this date didn’t involve a romantic dinner or flowers, but something much more meaningful to me. A special date marked on the calendar that would be dedicated to the basement. We would clean, purge and organize as much as we could in one day. That is all I requested…just one day to see what we could accomplish. So, on April 3rd, shortly after lunch, we took the walk of shame and headed down to the dungeon. Honestly, it felt like a clip from the TV show “Hoarders”. There was stuff everywhere and I simply could not live with it any longer. Although we have a large basement of about 1500 square feet, there literally was hardly any floor space. Construction materials, tubs of storage items, tools and sporting goods seemed to be everywhere. So, without much of a plan, we set to work.

  • We sorted out our pile of reclaimed wood from the tear down to determine what we should keep and what should be tossed.
  • We organized all of the scrap wood we were keeping for future projects and placed all of the large garbage items at the base of the stairs. We need to get a BFI bin or something for all of this, but wanted to have all of the garbage ready before we actually order it.
  • I went through all of the cans of paint to determine what was still good and what needed to be tossed.
  • Tim vacuumed and cleaned all of the floor space and moved all of our storage tubs against one wall, so that they are more out of the way.
  • I spent about 6 hours going through all of our “hardware” stuff: screws, nails, tacks, plumbing, electrical and painting supplies. I sorted, vacuumed, organized and labelled until I was almost delirious.
  • I bought a Casio label machine and was so excited as I began to unpack boxes of supplies that had yet to be unpacked from our move to this house in 2008. I think Tim just kept waiting for the day he would have his basement “workshop” set-up and never really bothered to go through some of the boxes. Normally, I would just go do it myself, but I knew that it was impossible. I had tried a few times, but this was his stuff and I was unable to determine what some items were and how they should be sorted or if they even needed to be kept. I knew that the only way to get this done was to work together.

So, after about 14 hours of work (times two bodies = 28 hours), our basement is in much better shape. I was disappointed when the sample roll of label tape ran out and I hadn’t finished my job, but overall it looks much better. There are still many things that need to be done down there, but I can live with this. It is organized and there is once again ample usable space. My hope is that now that the mess is cleared, Tim will feel more optimistic and once again begin to complete one task at a time. We don’t really have a design plan in mind for the “family room” type of space that will eventually be down there, but we have already got the walls up and drywalled for the storage room and we’ll keep the existing laundry room walls. Of course, I have my wish list and even a preference for the order of completion, but for now I will relish in the fact that a job that was long over due is finally done. As I looked around the basement, I seriously got a bit teared up. This basement has been a huge bone of contention for me and the disarray of this space just seemed like a weight on my shoulders. Every time I walked down the stairs, my annoyance would resurface. This was a huge amount of work. It was dusty and dirty and tedious and long, but none the less, for me, the best date ever! My husband scored huge points with me this week. I can find what I need and now have the space to work without feeling like I need to drag everything up to my scrapbook/project room.

If and when we proceed with our basement plans, I will keep you posted. If I had my wish, we would begin by finishing the storage room. Although it still needs a ceiling, flooring, mud and sanding, and electrical work done, it still seems like the most logical space to complete first. Finishing this space, would allow me to move all of the tubs of storage items into their permanent home. It would literally clear-up most of the basement clutter and because it will only be used for storage it seems like a great space to fumble and learn. I’m not really worried about perfect seams and the finished look in this space. I’m merely looking for a clean, organized room banked with shelving and hooks to store our Christmas decorations, off-season clothing and other off-season items. Finishing this room will be another great reason to celebrate.

Now, I had to dig deep to actually have the guts to share these BEFORE/AFTER pictures with you. Anyone who knows me well, would be astonished that my basement looked like this for so long. I certainly didn’t keep it a secret, but few ever saw the state of affairs. The makings of this mess began innocently enough, but I just didn’t know how to get things back on track when I really was not able to do the work. I would love to think I am capable enough to be a great helper or assistant, but the reality is I don’t know the first thing about basement construction and my hubby really does have to take the lead on this. You know what they say about couples and how opposites attract ~ I am a total “get ‘r done gal” and Procrastination is Tim’s middle name. Ugh! I love him to pieces, but sometimes, I can’t figure out how we manage to make it all work. I’ll give God credit for that!

Brace Yourself for the BEFORE Shots:

Basement Before
Basement Before
Basement Before
Basement Before

Basement Before

 

28 Hours and Two Back Aches Later:

AFTER: This still looks pretty bad, but it should. This is the sorted garbage pile ready to be taken out. Yay!
AFTER: This was where the laundry sink was previously standing.
Here is the space where the sink used to sit, but we removed the green board so that we could add it to the junk pile. Don’t you love the old wood planks on the walls.
Hey! There’s the work bench or should I say examination table. A doctor used to own the house and this was converted to a work bench somewhere along the way.
AFTER: This is a close-up of the examination table/work bench. I opened the end drawer just to show you they were there. We didn’t even know there were drawers there until Thursday!
AFTER: I used the drawers at the end of the bench to house the screws. Any that were in little labelled boxes were arranged by size. There are three drawers full!
AFTER: The table, door and piano pieces were moved to the rear of the grey storage tubs which makes much more sense don’t you think?
AFTER: It is really hard to appreciate the hours I spent going through the odds and ends that ended up sorted into these bins.
AFTER: This is the same shot of the length of the basement. Notice the open floor space in the middle.
AFTER: This is where the original pile of wood from the tear down was, but now all of our storage tubs line this wall. The door way leads to the “someday” storage room.
AFTER: The old wood that we want to repurpose is now neatly leaning against the pillar in the center of the space.
AFTER: The sink is temporarily sitting in front of the now organized paint shelf.

Still so much to do, but I think we might actually be back on track. What a relief!!

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Spring Cleaning Gone Mad

Tuesday, I spent the entire day cleaning and organizing my kitchen. You know that kind of cleaning you do when you actually take the time to look beyond the forks and knives and notice all the little crumbs that have fallen to the bottom of the tray. I must admit that juggling work, family and daily blogging has taken a bit of a toll. I have had to become even more effective at managing my time and despite all of the projects I have been doing, for the most part my house has never looked worse. I just don’t have the time to clean in the ways I am accustomed to. I tidied up the fridge freezer and found a mind-boggling 22 frozen bananas…Yikes! Let’s just say my kitchen really needed a “behind the scenes” cleaning. After having spent all day in the kitchen, I am sad to say that the kitchen isn’t even done and to the “onlooker” it looks like I haven’t touched a thing because most of it is behind closed doors. Don’t you hate that?

I called this post Spring Cleaning Gone Mad because I actually felt like a mad woman yesterday. I went from cupboard to cupboard vacuuming drawers, wiping out shelves and re-organizing their contents. I did odd jobs that had been avoided for way too long and after a very long day of slaving away I was left with a longer list of “to do’s” than when I started. Isn’t that the way it goes…you take on one project and it seems like you’ve opened up a can of worms. Every space I attacked revealed something else that needed attention. The good news is I have lots of blogging ideas, but the bad news is I don’t have the time to do it all! Although I am not done, it is looking much better.

Here is what I got done:

  • Finally filled up my new sliding upcylced book shelf storage rack.
  • Finished the job of cleaning spice jars and organizing the drawers. I must admit that I was a bit surprised that even after all of that work, I still have two drawers, a cupboard and now a pull-out rack that contain spices! How is that even possible? The great thing is that it is neatly organized and streamlined, but I didn’t really create the extra cupboard space I was hoping for.
  • Managed to fit my cereal into a drawer and store the accessories for my manual food processor (that I absolutely love) behind the cereal boxes to make better use of the space.
  • Re-configured the cupboard beside the stove, so that all of my Epicure jars are not hidden in the back, but rather neatly stored and much more visible in the second spice drawer.
  • Removed all of my baking sheets and muffin tins, cleaned the cupboard and organized the space better. This cupboard is like a thorn in my side. I honestly get so mad taking things out and putting things in there that there should be an alarm that sounds warning my family it is not safe to enter the kitchen when I open that cupboard. Let’s just say it does not bring out the best in me. Although I straightened it out. I already know I will be in a rant by Sunday if something is not done. This project is next on my list and hopefully will get done today….I have a plan and am a woman on a mission!
  • Hung the cord from the under cabinet lighting that came loose about 3 years ago. Every time I noticed that sucker hanging down, I would be annoyed that it hadn’t been put back-up. Not yesterday….I finally took the 5 minutes necessary and did it myself. Perhaps not the way my husband would have done it, but clearly he was okay with it hanging down loosely over the stove, so his standards weren’t getting in my way. It’s done, my way and looks way better.
  • We had mounted an old grate for school mail and notes at least two years ago. When we originally attached it, the holes were drilled too high and we had to lower them. That was fine, but the holes never got filled. Yesterday, I filled the holes and will sand and paint them today….yay!

Here are some of the before and after shots:

Spice Drawer Insert

SPICE DRAWER INSERT: I’ve had one of these all along and still love it. It is actually hard to believe that the drawer was in such disarray because this really does help to keep things organized. I think that’s why the “before and after” shots don’t look that dramatic, but believe me it is so much easier to find what you are looking for now. (I had to saw the edges off of mine to fit this drawer as it was actually bought for a larger drawer.)

Spice Drawers

It may not look like much work, but scrubbing labels, washing bottles, filling and re-labelling took me hours!! (Just noticed the T missing from the word “yet” and I’m choosing to let it go. Not really my style, but even I have my limits. I have been working on this post for way too long and have re-done the screen shot of this collage about 4 times too many already. Oh well! I’m sure my readers can figure it out – consider it a fill in the blank lesson from grade school. I am absolutely not changing it.)

It seemed like we had cereal boxes everywhere! Hard to believe we were Paleo at one time!!Cereal Storage

So glad to have this eyesore taken care of…finally!Mounted Cord

These spice bottle look so much better and love the new rack!

Spice Bottle Update

Spice Space: Re-structured

We have a lot of spices and seasonings in our kitchen. In fact, we have them in the small narrow cupboard beside the stove as well as two drawers. They are a complete mess with doubles of some bottles and extra packages for filling up old containers. I really have only ever had one spice rack set. I used to have one of those spinning racks that hold the serving spoons in a large canister in the center. I trashed that years ago as I hated the clutter on my counter. Although we have the cupboard and drawer space for all of these spices and seasonings, the mess means that the space can’t be used for other things I would like to store more effectively. So, my book display rack upcycle has kind of taken on a life of its own. As I worked on it, my mind was literally flooded with ideas on how to make my kitchen space work better for our family. I have a feeling this will be a bit of a journey as many of the projects I have in mind will take some time to build or reconfigure, but I’ll just add them to my already lengthy list of “to do’s”. Here are some before shots of my “spice space” ~ Yikes! How embarrassing!

Spice Bottle Upcycle:

The first thing I did was remove all of the tops off of my old rotating spice racks set of bottles. I got this rack about 20 years ago and you can see how some of the tops have yellowed over the years. Besides that, there are literally spices/seasonings in those bottles that have never been touched, so part of this overhaul involved tossing the contents of those bottles that never get used. In fact, two of the bottles still had the original seal under the lid! Once I did this, I was able to free up about 4 bottles and add spices that we use on a regular basis. The original set of spices had clear labels on them. I left the labels on those spices that remained the same, but peeled them off of those I was changing. I used “Goof Off” to remove the stubborn adhesive from under the sticky label. I then washed and dried the tops throughly and spray painted the tops. I used chalkboard paint, but regular flat black spray paint would work just as well for this project. I then began to top up the existing bottles if I had packages on hand and filled the empty bottles up with spices we use on a regular basis. The final step was labelling each lid. I did this free hand and without much thought or plan for design. I basically tried to print evenly and neatly. I wanted a “chalk” look without the hassle of smudging every time you open a bottle.  The solution was using a white Crayola Twistable for the printing.  This really helped to give the bottles new life and tidy-up this big mess. The bottles inside the drawer are still a mish-mash of sizes and shapes, but there are no duplicates and they are arranged in alphabetical order. This is a big improvement, but I have a new plan that will make this even better.

Here are the materials I used. I also painted a few old baby jar lids for this project. I included a finished bottle in the shot as well.
Old discoloured lids/bottles.
Painted lids.
Spice jar lids.

When I upcycled the book display rack, the height of the cabinet was over a foot shorter than the fridge. I would have loved for it to align perfectly, but that was not the case. I have decided to make a pull-out spice rack in the “dead” space above the cabinet. I think I can use drawer sliders, so that it can slide in and out easily. I can also make the rack much narrower than the bottom piece so that it fits all or most of the way back and closer to the wall. If I do this, I think I can actually fit all of my spice bottles in one spot!  Wouldn’t that be nice? I am not sure when I will get to this, but hopefully when I sit down and actually figure it out, it won’t be too much work and I can get on it right away. We’ll see.

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Riced Cauliflower: Yay or Nay?

Riced CauliflowerI am not sure about you, but I grew up in a meat and potatoes family. My mom served meat, potatoes and a vegetable for dinner almost every night. It seemed like an unwritten rule that meals were served in three’s. Over the years, we have moved away from this, but I still often feel like something is missing when we only have two dishes instead of our traditional three. One of the things I like to do is serve Riced Cauliflower in lieu of potatoes or rice. We had it last night, but I was still in recovery mode with it only being my first day of holidays and I didn’t even think of taking a picture. This picture was borrowed from another blog with a great post on cauliflower rice that includes thorough instructions and some great cooking tips. Click on the image to visit the site.

Riced Cauliflower:

This really isn’t so much a recipe as an alternative cooking method.

  • Break the cauliflower into florets
  • Drop them in your blender or food processor and chop until the pieces are small and rice like.
  • Sauté in butter or oil. (I like coconut oil.)

What I love about this is that you can spice it up however you want or just serve it plain. We have eaten it with soy sauce just as you would rice or topped with a sauce from the meat, if applicable.  I also love to use it as a bed for a stir fry.

One of our favourites is to chop cabbage and an onion in the blender with the cauliflower. I season it with salt, pepper and lots of dill as it cooks. (I sometimes will add a drop or two of lemon juice, as well.) The finished dish is very much like Lazy Cabbage Rolls, but with cauliflower instead of the rice.

Cauliflower and The Plan:

Now, I can’t feel good about sharing this great idea for reducing the grains in your diet without also sharing that in Lyn-Genet Recitas book, The Plan, she identifies cauliflower as being highly reactive. So, if you are in the midst of trying to lose some weight and you think this is a fabulous alternative to rice, I don’t want to be the one to steer you wrong. In her book, she teaches you how to read your own body and know how your body reacts to different foods. She states how so many people who struggle with weight loss do so because they truly believe they are doing everything right. I have done several posts in which I have referenced her work and I believe it is the key. I don’t think there is any single diet or plan out there that works for everyone because we are all different and the ability to digest foods properly varies from person to person. So many of the foods that have been coined “super foods” or healthy choices do in fact provide the nutrients and benefits they claim, for certain people, but not everyone. So you may read this and say to yourself, “Riced cauliflower, what a great idea!” (like I did), without realizing that there is a good chance that you will fall into the category of those that find cauliflower “reactive” and cause weight gain. Through her practise, she has found that approximately 85% of the population react negatively to cauliflower.  According to Lyn, cauliflower is one of many goitrogenic foods. Foods containing goitrogens have been shown to interfere with thyroid function by blocking enzymes responsible for producing hormones. Although not all people with thyroid issues react to all foods with goitrogens, she does say that raw foods seem to be more problematic.

If you love cauliflower and are looking for some new ideas on how to serve it – go for it. I love riced cauliflower. However, if you are careful about what you eat and/or trying to lose weight, just be aware and watch to see how your body reacts. I know that I sometimes will find a great “healthy” alternative and begin to incorporate it into my diet on a regular basis and it used to take me months to figure out what I was doing wrong. I love how Lyn’s plan taught me how to read my body and determine what foods agree with me and as well as those that don’t, as soon as the next morning. It may seem crazy to weigh yourself everyday, but even the slightest weight gain indicates that my body is reacting to either my sodium intake, my level of water consumption, lack of sleep or a specific food I have eaten. I can look back on the previous day and often determine the culprit right away! Her system really allows you to take control. You can eat what you want, whenever you want and then get right back on track with “friendly foods”.

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Spicy Avocado Grilled Cheese Sandwich

I grew-up on a very limited menu. My mom was a good cook and a great baker, but we always seemed to have the same things.  Some of you 70’s kids might have had a similar menu:

Lunches often consisted of:

  • soup from a can or box ~ the choices included chicken noodle, mushroom or tomato soup with crackers
  • sandwiches ~ one slice of processed meat and butter, peanut butter and honey or jam, cheese whiz or egg salad
  • hot dogs
  • grilled cheese sandwiches ~ with processed cheese slices, of course
  • “black” buns ~ this was actually one of my favourites…open faced buns with Cheese Whiz smeared on top and then broiled until they turned all black and bubbly on top
  • Kraft Dinner
  •  Alphaghetti (and toast)

I won’t go into our dinner menu, but I am sure many of you also ate things such as liver and onions, fried bologna and pork chops that were cooked in such a manner that you had to use a chain saw to cut through the suckers!

Although I don’t consume a ton of grains, I do still like the odd burger or sandwich. I stick with whole wheat bread as it seems to agree with my body the best. Generally speaking, I stick to one or two slices of bread per day. Over the past year, I have been doing lots of experimenting with food. I discovered many of my “friendly” foods by following a book called The Plan. However, in doing so, I eventually found that I became bored with some of the foods I was eating on a regular basis and was looking for alternative ways to consume them. One day, I decided to combine a few of my very favourite foods to make my own version of a grilled cheese sandwich.

Spicy Avocado Grilled Cheese Sandwich:

  • 2 slices of bread, buttered on the outside for grilling
  • hot peppers (from a jar ~ I always have a jar of Bick’s Banana Pepper Rings in my fridge.)
  • cheese of your choice
  • 1/2 an avocado, mashed with a fork
  • Bacon (optional)

Yummy avocado grilled cheese.
Mashed avocado.
Melted cheese and peppers, opened up and ready for the avocado.

Place the cheese and peppers inside the sandwich and grill as you would a regular grilled cheese sandwich. (I find that the cheese melts more effectively, if you cover it.) Once the bread has browned on the outside, and the cheese has melted, remove the sandwich from the pan.  Open the sandwich and add the mashed avocado. Close the sandwich back-up. You can either eat it right away or return it to the pan on low heat to heat the avocado slightly. Either way, it is super delicious. This is hands-down one of my absolute favourite sandwiches.  Although I rarely have the time or energy to cook up bacon to go with this sandwich, I have tried it and it is a fabulous addition.

If you have a chance to give this a try, please let me know if you like it as much as my husband and I do. (My children have never tried it as they will only eat “Fake Grilled Cheese Sandwiches” and yes that is exactly how they request them….”Fake cheese, please!”  (They aren’t fans of avocado either…..at least not yet!)

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Roasted Carrot and Apple Soup

You all know how much I love Lyn Genet-Recitas and her book The Plan. I have posted about it often and have been feeling the need to need to give my body a break and what better way than with carrot soup. I had stopped taking my Omega 3 supplements months ago because I have been so “reactive” to fish. I thought I would give it another whirl for two weeks to see if it made a difference or not. Now I must admit my body has not been in a purely “friendly” state for testing the supplements, but I can say that the scale has steadily climbed and they might just be the culprits. I quit taking them again today and will wait and see what happens over the next few days….interesting?? 

So, this brings me to today’s recipe. I have made the Carrot Ginger Soup from The Plan many times, in fact I’ve had it so much that I am a little tired of it. Although it is good, I never really loved it. I think the problem is that the recipe doesn’t give much direction in the form of how much of each spice to add. I am not great at figuring things like this out and don’t write down how much I added as I am often trying to add a bit more of this or that to tweak the flavour.   The result is that I ended up with a different flavour every time I make it and even when it is really good, I can’t seem to match it the next time. So, I decided to go in search of a recipe that was similar, but perhaps more thorough or with a splash of something different. I had to be careful because I need this to remain a “friendly” food that can be a great alternative for the recipe I had.

Ginger and Roasted Carrot Soup

This is a picture of Lily’s soup from Big Bang Studio.

Roasted Carrot Soup with Apple:

I found this awesome sounding recipe at Big Bang Studio and decided to see if it would serve both of my purposes – provide the same nutritional value and be outrageously delicious, as claimed in the post. I have to start by saying that this soup was “souper” easy to make and it is my absolute new favourite ~ unfortunately I’ll have to wait until tomorrow morning to see if the rest of my body likes it as much as my taste buds….it is in fact outrageously delicious as claimed!! I followed the recipe quite closely, but made a few minor changes.  Here’s Lily’s recipe with the few changes I made.

Ingredients:

olive oil
salt and pepper
Jumbo bag of  baby carrots (I used just under two pounds of regular sized organic carrots and chopped them in about 3″ chunks and halved the shaft if it seemed too big)
1/2 zucchini cut into thick chunks (I added this because my recipe from The Plan had zucchini in it and I wanted to keep it as close as possible).
1 MacIntosh apple
1 good-sized sweet onion, diced (Maui, Vidalia, or Walla Walla)
1 clove garlic, minced
1 to 2 tablespoons fresh ginger, minced
2 32 oz. cartons of good chicken stock
few sprigs of thyme
curry powder
orange juice (optional)
cream (optional)

In roasting dish: Mix a little olive oil and salt and pepper over the carrots, apple and zucchini. Roast on the middle rack for 1 hour at 400 degrees, tossing once if you remember. You seriously could stop here. The roasted carrot, zucchini and apple was unbelievable. I will be making my next roasted veggie dish exactly this way.

In large stock pot, sauté the onion,  garlic and fresh ginger. Place the onion mixture and the roasted veggies in a food processor or blender. Don’t over process into mush. (I actually used my little manual processor so mine ended up being very finely chopped, but not puréed) .

Add the chicken stock to the large stock pot you used for the onions and turn the temperature to medium.  Throw a few sprigs of thyme in and a dash of good curry powder. (I couldn’t find fresh Thyme, so I used some ground Thyme that I had at home). Stir occasionally, letting soup thicken and the flavours ripen. Add a splash of orange juice if your carrots aren’t sweet enough. Just before serving, add a cup or two of cream if you like. I didn’t want to add the cream to the base and it was very good without, although I am guessing it would be over the top with the cream. However, I absolutely couldn’t resist giving my freshly made Crème Fraîche a try. I added a blob to my bowl of soup an stirred it in . They must serve this soup in heaven. I am sure of it! 

Serve hot. For an A+ presentation: in each bowl add a wee swirl of cream, sour cream, Greek yogurt or Crème Fraîche with a crack of black pepper, and a leaf or sprig of whatever live herb you have on hand. Crusty rustic bread is a must. Enjoy!

Comparing the Two Soups:

The Plan recipe calls for carrots, zucchini, onion, garlic, raw ginger, cinnamon, cumin, onion powder, pepper and water.

This recipe also contains carrots, zucchini, onion, garlic, pepper and raw ginger. However, it also has an apple, chicken stock and a few different spices. The other possible issue in terms of being “cleanse worthy” is that the veggies are roasted. Although The Plan recommends roasted vegetables for other meals, I am not sure if it alters the “state” of the soup and thus may impact its effectiveness.

So here is my summary – Who cares?  This soup is to die for, I absolutely loved it. Having said that, it would be so sweet if I were able to get similar results to that of Lyn’s recipe from The Plan.  Here’s to being hopeful that I pass the scale test tomorrow a.m.! Be careful with the cream as that is where the danger is. It really is very good without it, so you may want to omit the cream from your shopping list on purpose, so you won’t be tempted. I ‘m doomed. I have a full jar of Crème Fraîche in my fridge and I already made the mistake of testing it in the soup. Most likely a big mistake ~ it was so good! Let me know what you think of the soup. Hopefully you’ll enjoy it as much as I have. (I made it for dinner, but have already had 3 small bowls – I hope it last until dinner time!)

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