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One Stop Bake Shop: “Sweet Treats” Kindergarten Bakery

 

Cookie sheets, muffin tins, pie plates, bowls, mixer, rolling pins, cookie cutters, etc. Everything you need to bake!
The front counter was transformed with a custom awning and fabric skirt.
The tray was created using old wood candle sticks and stove element covers. Glued it all together and painted white for a sturdy display in the bakery.
We also made one rectangular felt cake.

I’ve taught kindergarten for many years, but I never feel like my program has become boring or repetitive. I strive to keep things fresh and always try to enhance the activities, lessons and play areas to keep things fun and engaging. I definitely have a creative side and luckily teaching is a job that allows me to infuse my program with creativity and frankly, its what keeps me inspired. Every year or so, I try to create a new dramatic play space for my kinders. We have a Boston Pizza Restaurant, Vet, Post Office and Deli that we rotate through along with our standard house center. The students love dramatic play and these areas are always a hit. A few years ago, I decided I would love to create a bakery, but knew that it would be a huge undertaking because I just didn’t have enough pretend items to stock the bakery. This past winter, I finally took the plunge and with the help of my student teacher and a few volunteers, we set to work.

Salt Dough Bakery Foods:

We created salt dough pastries, breads and cookies. Originally, I tried colouring the dough by mixing variations of instant coffee, tea and cinnamon with the water added to the dough mixture. This created beautiful earthy coloured dough that we formed into the items shown below. They looked so amazing when we finished, but we were so disappointed when all of the dough dried much lighter and virtually looked the same. So in the end, each piece was carefully painted to look as authentic as possible and then little embellishments were added as needed such as sesame seeds to the bread sticks, icing to the hot cross buns, cinnamon dusting to the cinnamon rolls, and a bead to the imperial cookies. All of the items were given several coats of podge. For the most part, they turned out great (with the exception of how the podge yellowed on the imperial cookies). They are hard and sturdy, but would not with stand heavy duty play. When we set up the bakery and explained the centres to the students, we emphasized that unlike toys you buy in the store, these will break. Although the kids were certainly allowed to play with them, we also talked about how some of the items in the bakery would act more as display items that wouldn’t be handled quite as much. The students were really great about handling these carefully and they all survived the first year!

Salt Dough Recipe:

  • 2 cups of flour (plain)
  • 1 cup of salt
  • upto 1 cup of water

Create your items and then let air dry. We actually left ours over the weekend. Turn them over to dry the bottoms, once the tops has thoroughly dried. Paint and seal with Modge Podge or a similar product.

The imperial cookies were one of my favourites with a layer of red felt in the middle for jam. Unfortunately, they yellowed when the podge dried. 🙁

Cake PopsCake Pops:

The cake pops were a bit finicky and the sprinkles were not adhering well, so in the end, we told the kids they would be for display only. They were made with dowel and wood balls. We drilled a hole in the ball and then secured the dowel in the hole with glue. They were then spray painted and podged (the stripe was created with the narrowest painter’s tape). The sprinkles (tiny beads) were glued on and then podged over top.  They looked great, but any little bump and the sprinkles would fall off. There were so many things to do in the bakery, the kids really didn’t mind that these weren’t to be used. As a result, they held up really well and are ready for next year.

Classic Chocolate “Sponge” Cake:

Classic Chocolate Layer Cake

The Classic Chocolate Cake was made using regular yellow sponges we bought at the dollar store. I took them home and spray painted them all brown. We then glued a layer of felt between the layers for icing and covered one end and the top with additional felt for the frosting on the outside. Small pieces of felt were cut out and glued on to embellish the cake and then fabric glue was used to add sprinkles.

Felt Cakes:

We also used felt to cover round cylinder shaped boxes (and one rectangular box) that I picked up from Dollarama. We simply covered the entire surface with white felt and then cut out various felt strips for decorating the cakes. In addition, we bought cheap little silk flowers from the craft area at the dollar store and added velcro to the bottoms. The velcro stuck beautifully to the felt, so that the kids could “dress” and “undress” the cake for any occasion. I also made two sizes so the cakes could be stacked for a wedding cake. I was lucky to find some old spools of felt ribbon I had bought for scrapbooking years ago, this also made beautiful decorations for the felt cakes.

Cylinder boxes from the dollar store were covered in felt to make cakes that the kids could decorate.
This felt cake was combined with a tin cake to create a double decker!
We also made one rectangular felt cake.

Cookie Tin Cakes:

I spent many sleepless nights trying to figure out how to incorporate as many hands-on bakery experiences as possible. Eventually my mind settled on magnetic cakes. I went to a local thrift store and picked up several round cookie tins of varying sizes for 50 cents each. I took them home and spray painted them and then using a brush added a few details that would be permanent decorations on the cake. From there, we just took some of the many flowers I had bought from the dollar store and added magnets to the bottoms. The kids loved the ease with which they could change a cake according to the orders made by customers at the bakery.

Basic cookie tins were spray painted and then some painted details added to create basic cakes for the bakery.
Dollar store flowers with magnets glued to the bottom to create many cake decorating options for the kids.

Play Dough Baking Station:

I wanted to extend the students’ bake shop experience beyond decorating to the actual prep work behind those beautifully finished cakes.  I had a parent volunteer make a batch of my favourite play dough (omitting any colour as I wanted it natural):

Mrs. Roy’s Play Dough Recipe

  • 1 cup flour
  • ½ cup salt
  • 2 Tablespoons cream of tartar
  • 1 Tablespoon oil
  • 1 cup water
  • food colouring (Kool Aid also works great for colouring)

Mix oil, water and food colouring in a pot. Add the dry ingredients. Stir. Cook over medium heat for 3-5 minutes, stirring constantly. When the mixture is very thick and dough like, remove it from the pot and let it cool a bit. Transfer to an air tight plastic container and chill.

We then set up a table in the bakery where the bakers could knead, roll and cut the dough as they chose. I have cookie sheets, muffin tins, pie plates, pastry cutters and cookie cutters, so they had everything they needed to bake. In addition, I put out some small beads and dried beans that they were able use to decorate and/or add to their baking (eg. chocolate chips, raisins, etc)

Natural Coloured Play Dough

We set up a station in the bakery with natural coloured play dough. The kids used rolling pins, cookie cutters and small beads/beans to embellish their creations.

Donuts:

I found several good tutorials on how to make sock donuts. I followed the instructions for making the basic donut shape, but was having trouble collecting socks that were authentic donut colours, so I ended up covering most of the sock donuts with panty hose to create more of a natural donut look. We then added the felt icing and fabric paint sprinkles to some. The donuts turned out great an were very durable. I picked up all of the wicker baskets at a local thrift store for no more than a dollar each.

Who knew donuts could be made with old socks and panty hose!!

Our kindergarten bakery created hours of fun for the kids. In addition to all of the homemade items, I also have a set of wooden Doug and Melissa Cookies and a set of commercially made cupcakes, as well as a few other random pieces from classroom sets. Of course, we also had a till and a telephone for taking orders and a table set up if you wanted to stay for coffee and a “Sweat Treat”. This was lots of work to plan and create, but the hard work is now done and next year the set up with be easy. The students get so excited when there is a new play area created for them. I love to see them step into these roles and see their own creativity emerge.

I love kindergarten!!

 

 

Chocolate Mocha Trifle

Chocolate Mocha TrifleI’m not gonna lie….this dessert involves several steps and is a bit time consuming. Having said that, it isn’t hard to make and can be made over several days because of the various steps. If you love the meshing of chocolate and coffee flavours…I think you’ll find it’s worth the effort! I had never really tasted a Chocolate Mocha Trifle before, but I had to make a dessert for an event and I love making trifles because they taste good and are relatively stress free. Seriously, not much could go wrong with a trifle!

I somehow got it in my head that I would love to make a Chocolate Mocha flavoured trifle, so I began scouring the internet for that perfect recipe. There were several, but one comment that surfaced more than once in the reviews was that many of the recipes had a “processed” food taste…yuck! I decided that instead of searching for an actual trifle recipe, I would instead look for what appeared to be good Mocha and/or Coffee flavoured desserts. This dessert is completely from scratch (other than the Coffee Crisp Chocolate Bars) and combines several recipes (all of which I tried for the first time for this trifle).  The good news is that some of the recipes can be made ahead and frozen until the day you assemble the dessert.

Chocolate Mocha Trifle Layers:

  • Chocolate Cake with KahlĂşa drizzle
  • 8-10 CafĂŠ Coffee Cookies
  • Chocolate Mocha Mousse
  • Mocha Whip Frosting
  • 2 Coffee Crisp Chocolate Bars, chopped

Chocolate Cake:

For this trifle, I used one of my go to Chocolate Cake recipes. This cake is super moist, but a bit denser than some. I like it for a trifle because it is a heavier and holds up better in the layers. For this trifle, I doubled the cake recipe. I did end up with some left over cake, but didn’t want to end up short and not have enough cake for the trifle bowl. My bowl isn’t overly large, but I’m glad I doubled it up, despite the left-overs (which make great cake pops)! I made the cake several days ahead; cooled it completely, cut it into 1″ squares and then froze it in a zipper bag until the day of assembly.

KahlĂşa – I used about 1/2 cup of KahlĂşa and drizzled it over the layers of cake, as they were added to the trifle bowl.

Chocolate Mocha Mousse:

This recipe was adapted from the recipe found on page 181 in Enjoy! from The Best of Bridge cookbook series.  I can’t find the recipe online to link it to, but their recipes are very good and I have several of the books from the series. The original recipe uses chocolate wafers for the base of the dessert and I didn’t need a base, so the recipe is not exactly the same as is in their book.

Ingredients:

  • 6 cups (small bag) of miniature marshmallows
  • 1 cup of boiling water
  • 4 teaspoons of instant coffee
  • 1 cup of whipping cream

Method:

Melt the marshmallows in the top of a double boiler (or in short increments in your microwave – that’s what I did). While the marshmallows are melting, stir the coffee into the boiling water. Once the marshmallows have melted, stir in the coffee mixture. Cover and chill at least an hour. (I did this step the day before I planned to assemble the dessert.) This is super quick to do, but waiting for it to chill can really slow down the process, so plan ahead.

On the day of assembly. Whip the cream. Remove the marshmallow/coffee mixture from the fridge and whip. Fold in the marshmallow/coffee mixture. Place back in the fridge until all of the trifle layers are prepared and ready for assembly.

CafĂŠ Coffee Cookies:

CafĂŠ Chocolate CookiesThis recipe was found on the Betty Crocker site. The cookies turned out great, but I did make a couple of minor changes to the original recipe. I reduced the chocolate chips and omitted the pecans. The recipe calls for one 12 oz. bag of chocolate chunks (I used chips instead). I felt like this was too much, so I only used half a bag (and still felt like that was more than enough). The cookies are very much like a regular chewy chocolate chip cookie with a coffee twist. The recipe says that it makes 15 servings. I made my cookies 1/3 to 1/2 the suggested size and baked them about 10 minutes. Yielded about 3 dozen cookies, give or take (I didn’t actually count them). You can find the original recipe for the CafĂŠ Coffee Cookies here. I made these about a week before I needed the dessert and frozen them.

Chop/break 8-10 of the cookies for use in the trifle.

Mocha Whipped Frosting:

Again, this recipe is taken from the Best of Bridge Series. I found it on page 196/197 of Grand Slam. The recipe is actually called Mocha Whipped Cream Cake, but I only used the frosting portion of the recipe.

Ingredients:

  • 2 cups whipping cream
  • 2 Tablespoons brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup strong, cold coffee
  • 2 Tablespoons KahlĂşa

Method:

Whip cream with sugar until soft peaks form. Add the coffee and kahlĂşa. Beat until stiff.

Chocolate Mocha Trifle Assembly:

  • 1/3 of cake, drizzled with kahlĂşa
  • 1/2 of Chocolate Mocha Mousse
  • Cookies
  • 1/3 of cake, drizzled with kahlĂşa
  • 1/2 of Chocolate Mocha Mousse
  • 1/3 of cake, drizzled with kahlĂşa
  • Mocha Whipped Frosting
  • Top with broken Coffee Crisp Chocolate Bars

Enjoy!

 

Yummy Chia Seed Breakfast Porridge

Chia Seed Breakfast PorridgeI’ve struggled with digestive issues for most of my adult life.  As I’ve gotten older, it seems like a constant battle just to maintain some sort of regularity. I am always assessing what works and what doesn’t and analyzing the variables that may have contributed to my frequent states of constipation. It is very frustrating (and uncomfortable) to say the least! I do take supplements when desperate, but prefer to try and manage through diet and exercise. Sometimes I feel like my whole life revolves around choosing foods that “work” and I’m embarrassed to say that “poop talks” now seem like normal conversation.

Over the years, I have tried many different foods, supplements and diets to help me stay regular and although I have found success at various times in my life, it always seems to evolve into a routine that only works temporarily. In the past, Fibre 1 cereal was always my “go to” breakfast because my digestive system seemed to really like it. I would double-up on the recommended serving size and consume my entire daily fibre goal in one shot. Although I still enjoy it, I found that over time, it became less effective.

I recently tried a simple recipe recommended to me by a friend. I have never been much of a porridge lover, mostly because I’m fussy when it comes to certain textures.  For me, porridge had to be prepared just right in order for it not to trigger my gag reflex. So, when my friend suggested I try eating chia seeds for breakfast in a porridge-like recipe, I was skeptical. In fact, it took me at least a year before I actually gave it a try. Feeling desperate to get my digestive system back on track, I decided to test her recipe out and was surprised that I enjoyed it! The texture hasn’t bothered me and I really do think it has been instrumental in helping me to become more regular once again. It is the perfect way to start your day as it is not only high in fibre, but also a great source or protein.

Chia is the new nutrition powerhouse on the block! It’s 100% gluten free, and high in omega 3 fatty acids, fiber, and antioxidants, too.It’s a great addition to any diet for the health benefits, but particularly helpful in gluten free and vegan baking as a both binder and as an egg substitute. (Harris Whole Health)

Chia Seed Breakfast Porridge

  • 1/4 cup chia seeds
  • cinnamon to taste (a generous amount ~ but I don’t measure)
  • 1 cup of boiling water
  • fresh or frozen blueberries (or fruit of your choice)
  • 2 to 4 T. of Cracknola (optional, but necessary if you ask me ~ AMAZING homemade grain-free granola recipe)

Place chia seeds in a cereal bowl and sprinkle with cinnamon. Stir to coat. Pour the boiling water over the seeds and let stand for 3 minutes. Stir well, as it will be lumpy. (The chia seeds will break open and gel in the hot water.) Add the blueberries and Cracknola for extra flavour. Enjoy!

What is really great about this recipe is that the main ingredient is chia seeds which are not only gluten free, but also considered a superfood because of their high nutritional value. They are not only high in fibre, but also packed with many other nutrients and offer significant health benefits. Dr. Axe has written a comprehensive article on the health advantages linked to chia seeds including anti-aging properties, digestive support, heart health, energy and metabolism booster, diabetes support, weight loss, cancer and dental health. Check out the nutrition profile from Dr. Axe’s article ~ 9 Chia Seeds Benefits + Side Effects:

Chia Seed Nutrition Profile

The reason chia seeds are so beneficial is due to them being rich in fiber, omega-3 fats, protein, vitamins and minerals.

For example, one ounce (28 grams) of chia seeds contain about: (1)

  • 137 calories
  • 12.3 grams carbohydrates
  • 4.4 grams protein
  • 8.6 grams fat
  • 10.6 grams fiber
  • 0.6 milligram manganese (30 percent DV)
  • 265 milligrams phosphorus (27 percent DV)
  • 177 milligrams calcium (18 percent DV)
  • 1 milligram zinc (7 percent DV)
  • 0.1 milligram copper (3 percent DV)
  • 44.8 milligrams potassium (1 percent DV)

Chia seeds also contain essential fatty acids alpha-linolenic and linoleic acid; mucin; strontium’ vitamins A, B, E and D; and minerals, including sulphur, iron, iodine, magnesium, manganese, niacin and thiamine; and they’re a rich source of antioxidants.

The benefits are so numerous it seems almost criminal not to be incorporating them in your diet. They’ve been a staple in my pantry for a few years now, but up until recently I only sprinkled them on salads or added them to my smoothies. This is the first time I used chia seeds as a main ingredient in a recipe and I’m so pleased with the results. Check out this short video of Dr. Axe’s to learn more about chia seeds:

For more great information and recipe ideas, check out Dr. Mercola’s site as well.

Let me know if you decide to give this recipe a try. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

Upcycled Nanaimo Bars? I Can’t Believe They’re Gluten Free!

Nanaimo Bars have been a favourite dainty of mine, since I was a child. Over the years, I have tasted many versions of it ~ both homemade as well as store-bought. I have attempted to make them several times, but must confess that my success rate has not been great. I don’t think I’m alone in my struggle to achieve the perfect base layer. I often find the base to be too dry and crumbly. There is nothing as frustrating as trying to cut a dainty that crumbles apart when you go to serve it. I also found that many times the crust actually tasted dry and lacked flavour as well. I always prefer home baking over store-bought, but eventually gave up on the idea of ever finding the perfect recipe. Eventually, I was served a piece of Nanaimo that seemed to have the perfect base. It was more fudgey and served up beautifully. When I asked for the recipe, I was extended a smile and told it was the “Robin Hood” box mix. I was sold and proceeded to buy the mix and make it as one of the dainties on my annual Christmas baking list. Sadly, Robin Hood discontinued their Nanaimo Mix a few years ago and so I simply omitted it from my baking list. This year I embarked on a mission to find a recipe for the base that would be similar to that of the mix. I googled and searched, but was unable to come up with a recipe. It was then that I decided to come up with my own. I was shocked when my very first attempt came out not only delicious, but held together and served perfectly. I was so excited I just had to share. In addition to it meeting my high expectations…my version is also GLUTEN FREE. I didn’t really intend to create a gluten-free Nanaimo Bar recipe, but as I worked on the recipe, I quickly realized that none of the ingredients I used contained gluten…bonus! So, for all you gluten-free people, here is a delicious gluten-free recipe that does not make you feel like you are sacrificing flavour or texture ~ in my opinion it’s better than some of the more traditional recipes! Obviously, not everyone will agree ~ but I really love my new base recipe which is more like a fudge.  I can’t wait for others to try it and let me know if they like it as much as I do!

Incredible Gluten Free Nanaimo Bars

Ingredients:

Base:

  • 2 1/4 cups semi-sweet (or dark) chocolate chips
  • 3/8 cup of coconut oil
  • 1/2 cup plus 1 Tablespoon of *thick and creamy coconut milk
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons of vanilla
  • 1/2 cup of chopped walnuts
  • 1 cup of medium shredded coconut

Filling:

  • ½ cup unsalted butter
  • 2 Tablespoons Bird’s Custard Powder
  • 2 Tablespoons cream + 2 teaspoons
  • 2 cups of icing sugar

Top Layer:

  • 3/4 cup chocolate chips (or 4 oz semi-sweet chocolate squares)
  • 1/2 teaspoon coconut oil

Directions:

  1. Line a 9″ X 9″ square pan with parchment paper (or wax paper) and be sure it extends up over two of the sides so you have something to hold onto to remove the set dainties
  2. BASE:  Melt the chocolate chips and coconut oil in a microwave safe dish. (My microwave has a setting for melting chocolate, so I would do it in very short increments of 15 seconds or so and stir in between, if you don’t have a setting.) The chocolate does not need to melt completely in the microwave it will continue to melt as you stir it. DO NOT over heat.  Once melted, stir in the coconut milk and vanilla. Finally, add the coconut and walnuts to the mixture and stir well to combine.
  3. Spread the chocolate base mixture into the parchment lined pan. Chill in the freezer while you make the yellow filling, but do not allow to set completely or the two layers will separate when you serve.
  4. FILLING:  To make the yellow filling, cream the four filling ingredients together and beat until light. Spread over the chilled bottom layer. Transfer to the fridge to cool while you prepare the top layer. It should set about 10 minutes or so.
  5. TOP LAYER:  Melt the chocolate chips (or squares) and coconut oil in the microwave as in step 2. Once all lumps have been melted, immediately spread an even layer over the yellow filling. I will often spread quickly with a knife and then slide my pan back and forth on the counter to create a smooth even layer, but you have to work fast so the chocolate doesn’t begin to set before you do this.
  6. Transfer the finished Nanaimo Bar to the fridge to set the chocolate. Monitoring the setting is key ~ you want the chocolate to set enough that it is no longer gooey, but not so much that it will crack when you cut it. I usually set my timer and check it after 10 minutes and then about every 5 minutes until the top looks “just set”. I then remove it from the fridge and score the top layer. You may or may not want to slice right through to the bottom, but you want to score through the top layer so that it will not break and separate from the filling when you go to serve it. When I go to cut it into squares, I pull the entire piece out of the pan using the edges of the parchment paper to remove it. This allows me to cut nice even squares.
  7.  It can be stored in either the freezer or refrigerator. The freezer will give it more of a candy bar consistency while the fridge will make it more like fudge.
 
*The “thick and creamy coconut milk” is made by keeping the can of coconut milk in the fridge, so that the water and cream separate. When you open the can, discarded half the water and blended the remaining water with the milk to create a thick, creamy coconut milk.
*I substituted 1 tablespoon of cream with the thick and creamy coconut milk in the filling layer and loved it. I was tempted to try the whole amount, but didn’t. I might try that next time!

This might seem like several steps, but it is really quite quick and easy to whip up. If you decide to give it a try, please let me know how it turns out for you. I hope others enjoy it as much as we did!

Laundry Room Project: Part 1

Quick share! I am excited beyond words…the first major steps in converting my old scrapbooking room into our new main floor laundry room are done – plumbing, electrical, patching, priming and paint. I don’t even have my appliances in yet and I am bursting with excitement. The room looks amazing with a fresh new paint job and just the thought of having MAIN FLOOR LAUNDRY has me giddy. Maybe if I get really courageous, I might actually share what my current laundry room in our cave of a basement looks like. I’ll feel like Cinderella going to the ball when I step into my new laundry room!

This room was in desperate need of an update. The original colours made the room look dark and drab. The fresh paint brightens the room and makes it look so much bigger! Can’t wait to pull it all together and get this room functional. I am absolutely in love with this colour ~ Sherwin Williams: Tidewater (I actually get Benjamin Moore to do a colour match for me because I love their paint so much.)

Huge shout out to my husband who can do all things handy! He is amazing and even took holidays to help pull off some of the many projects on our list. We hired someone to drill the dryer vent hole, but other than that he has done all the plumbing and electrical – he rocks and I feel so blessed to have him!

Check out these BEFORE and AFTERS!

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Spare Room Make-over Continued: Office Chair

BEFORE: Old grey office chair
Reupholstered office chair with arms still on.
I love the print on this chair and with the arms removed it is so much more functional.
The chair tucks in nicely under the desk with the arms removed.

Slowly but surely, we got everything moved from the old scrapbooking room over to the newly painted spare room.  I had a hard time figuring out how I wanted the shelves put up and my indecisiveness definitely held up the process. I insisted on cutting, staining, urethaning and mounting one shelf at a time and this was a bit frustrating for Tim as he was helping me out with the shelves. I needed to see it all together to be able to assess what needed to go where, as I was determined to create a work space with minimal clutter. While Tim was working on the shelves, I decided to give the old office chair a facelift that was more in line with the new look of the room.

TidewaterFor the most part, the room is quite a subdued colour palette. All of the walls are painted tidewater (LOVE! LOVE! Love it!) and the trim was given a fresh coat of white paint. The armoire and bench are both white, and the antique desk is stained.

The old office chair was functional, but a drab grey colour that really didn’t work in the new space. I really wanted to update it with a printed fabric that would bring a hint of colour to the space. I was so excited when I found this material! I’m usually quite conservative and shy away from multi-coloured prints, but this splash of colour seemed fun and goes beautifully with the overall look of the room. It was pretty easy to re-cover (although the finished product isn’t as professional looking as some projects I’ve done).  It really just involved the removal of some screws and staples, and then replacing the existing fabric with a staple gun. My favourite upgrade was actually not even planned, but once I began changing  the upholstery, I discovered that the arms were not an integral part of the chair design and could be easily removed. This wasn’t so much about the look of the chair, but rather the function. The arms not only prevented the chair from being pushed all the way under the desk, but also meant I couldn’t slide the chair in as far as I would have liked when working. I can’t believe I never thought of removing the arms before. The chair now slides nicely under the desk drawer and is a more subtle piece in the room. So pleased with this project!

Spare Bedroom Make-Over

I find that my relationship with our house is a bit of a love/hate one. It was built in 1921 and exudes character. I love the high ceilings, oak beams, mouldings and built-ins, but in most rooms, the lay-out is a bit of a nightmare. Being such an old home, there is nothing “open” about the design. In our 2300 square feet, we have 2 bedrooms, a large landing and bathroom upstairs and the main floor has a total of 9 rooms (kitchen, mud room, bathroom, scrapbooking room, spare bedroom, master bedroom, dining room, living room and library). Obviously, each room has at least one door/entrance, but many have multiple. For example, our kitchen and living room both have three entry points. In addition to the doors/entrances, each room has a radiator and most have multiple windows. I know this may sound pretty normal, but trust me….it’s not. Almost every room, is tricky to make functional because there are literally no free walls to work with. On my entire main floor, there is exactly one wall that is a full wall without any obstructions! This makes furniture placement extremely difficult. Such is the case with our spare room. The room is 12′ X 8 1/2″ feet. It has a total of 3 doors (entrance, closet and former scrapbooking room entrance) as well as a window with a radiator below it.

Despite the fact that both of our kids have walk-in closets in their upstairs bedrooms, our master bedroom is limited to two very small closets. As a result, my clothes were dispersed as follows…..one closet in the master bedroom, one dresser in the master bedroom, one closet in the spare room, a portion of the armoire in the spare bedroom and a large tub of off-season clothes in the basement, as well as outdoor clothing in the basement, front closet and at the back door. Yikes!  On top of the chaos of my clothes literally being all over the house, the spare bedroom was anything but a spare bedroom. For starters, there is no bed! Because the room never really had a designated purpose it slowly became a dumping ground for anything and everything that didn’t really have a proper home. It was also the place I would often do small projects like furniture painting. It housed the vacuum, linen, board games, some books, my sewing machine and sewing paraphernalia, some of the kids old school work/projects, picture frames that were yet to be hung and let’s not forget the old piano that I had hopes of some day upcycling. It was a disaster and I absolutely hated it!  Life had been so busy and I just hadn’t had the blocks of time needed to attack this space, but on the first Saturday of spring break, my husband and I devised a plan…finally!

This was one of two rooms that we never bothered to paint when we moved in. Do you have any idea what it’s like to start everyday getting dressed in a room that is drab, ugly and cluttered. I’m not sure what the paint colour was, but it was a yucky brown that never appealed to me … even for a minute!

Yes, this is pretty much how it looked. You can see my pile of mending on top of the sewing machine that is sitting on one of those tiny little kids play tables. The next picture actually shows the little black stool I would sit on to sew ~ are you kidding me? I didn’t realize how ridiculous this was until just now.
Don’t kid yourself, the room never looked this tidy. This is post piano destruction and removal!!

So, armed with a plan and some tools, I began step one which was taking care of the old piano that had become a thorn in my side. I had to look at that beast in the corner of the room every day.  Although I find upcycling super therapeutic, in this case my therapy came from destroying that piano and reducing it to a pile of rubble. I’m actually surprised I didn’t take any pictures of the process. I’m not sure if anyone has ever really tried to take a 100 year old piano apart, but let’s just say they sure don’t make glue like they used to. At first, I tried to salvage some of the wood, but I quickly realized that number one, it was all laminate and not solid good quality wood and number two – no amount of strength and elbow grease was going to take that thing apart. In the end, I called in the reinforcements and Tim attacked it with our saws-all. After about 3 hours of prying, sawing and unscrewing, we had it in small enough pieces that we could remove the rubble. Just having it out of the room felt totally amazing!

TidewaterWith the piano gone, I was off to the paint store to pick-out colours and get this project started. I patched, primed and painted the room a beautiful shade of light blue called Tidewater.  I found the colour in the Sherwin Williams paint store, but decided to stick with my trusty Benjamin Moore Regal paint. They took the colour swatch and made the colour up for me. I absolutely LOVE how the paint colour transformed the space!

With the walls painted, the list other projects seemed to grow daily. Our plans included changing the light fixture, creating storage for all (most) of my clothes and relocating my scrapbooking/project room to the spare room, so that we could eventually move our laundry from the basement to my former scrapbooking room. In addition to the above, there were some basic things that had to be addressed to make both the spare room and the new laundry room more functional. The first being changing the door swing. If you look at the first picture, you’ll notice that the door swings open in such a way that the light switch is hidden behind the door – this has been a “bee in my bonnet” since the day we moved in. Why? That’s all I have to say ~ Why? Why would you install the light switch behind the door? It makes absolutely no sense. Fortunately, my husband is super handy and can pretty much do anything. He changed the swing for me, so the door now opens the other way. I also wanted to get rid of the laundry room door. Again, the room is super small and the door swing is a huge pain in the butt. When it was my scrapbooking room, I always had to go in and close the door behind me as it was constantly in the way. This was especially annoying because the room is super hot in the summer with a wall full of windows and chilly in the winter because most of our house is insulated with air. Yes, seriously. Despite the fact that our house has stucco, we discovered during a former renovation that our exterior walls are actually two layers of brick with a small air gap between that is supposed to serve as an insulating barrier. (In choosing insulation, I would suggest picking something other than air. I think the R value is quite low on air!)  My solution, a barn door! So, Tim agreed to build and install a bar door so that we no longer have to deal with the cumbersome door in such a small space. Of course, this meant the light switch for the laundry room had to be moved from outside the room (where the barn door will slide) to inside the laundry room. Thank goodness Tim does electrical too!

So with plans in place, my week off turned into a week of 8 to 14 hour days of working like a dog.  Strangely, for me ploughing through my “to do list” equals a fantastic holiday, so all is good. I got so much accomplished and am totally loving my space despite the fact that it hasn’t been completed.

Watch for upcoming posts in which I’ll be sharing the various projects that went into transforming this space from drab to fab!

Meals in Minutes ~ Well kind of!

Sausage & White Bean SoupOur schedule, like so many other families, is crazy busy. I’m finding it harder and harder to stay on top of things and one of the areas I feel like I’m failing is in providing my family with good quality meals on a regular basis. I would say we eat well most of the time, but lately I’ve been feeling as though we are having more last-minute pulled together meals and I’m just not satisfied. Last weekend, I decided to find more slow cooker meals because I find it so much less stressful to come home at the end of the day and have our meal ready or at the very least close to it. In my search, I ended up on a great site called Who Needs a Cape (love the name). On the site, Katie shares how to make 40 slow cooker freezer meals in 4 hours. No way! I was intrigued and spent quite a bit of time exploring the site. What fascinated me the most was that I could pre-make the meals, freeze them and then just dump them in the slow cooker without having to spend time preparing the slow cooker meals in the morning before work. It almost seemed to good to be true.

In my reading, I discovered, that she also posted different options including how to make 7 meals in one hour. This seemed like a great place to start because some of the larger meal plans (30 and 40) involve doubling recipes and making enough for two separate meals. This makes great sense if your family likes the recipe, but if not, it could be a big waste of money. (I was also a bit concerned about the recipes tasting watered down because in my experience, freezing sometimes does that.)  So, on my last day off, I spent the morning grocery shopping (using the shopping lists she provides on the site – so great!!) I got home at noon and by 12:10, I was making the first slow cooker freezer meal. I can’t say I was super organized. I was taking ingredients out as I needed them and labelling bags as I went. In the end it took me an hour and half to complete all 7 of her meals. However, I was “on a roll” and ended up making a few other recipes that I had found on-line. In the end, I made 13 meals in 3 1/2 hours. I was so excited (and exhausted), but the true test will be when the meals are served to my family. I must say I was pretty proud of my accomplishment and the fact that I tried 11 new recipes in one day seemed like one of the craziest things I’ve ever attempted in the kitchen.
Last week, we ate the first slow cooker freezer meal and it was a huge success! The whole family gave the Sausage & White Bean Slow Cooker Soup a thumbs up. I didn’t adapt the recipe at all, but in the future I’ll be sure to double it. The only complaint was that there wasn’t any left! I was even more excited about my 3 1/2 meal marathon after we’d tested the first one and it was hit.  I can’t wait to try the next recipe and see how it scores with the family.

 

Sausage & White Bean Slow Cooker Soup

Ingredients:

  • 1 lb breakfast sausage, crumbled, cooked & drained
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1/2 cup finely diced onion
  • 2 celery ribs, diced
  • 2 14 oz. cans Great Northern Beans, drained
  • 1 28 oz. can diced tomatoes
  • 3/4 t dried rosemary
  • 1 t dried oregano
  • 1 t dried basil
  • 1 32 oz. carton chicken broth

Instructions:

Crumble breakfast sausage into pan and cook thoroughly, drain & let cool if freezing.  Place all items into slow cooker, stir and cook on low 6 hours. If freezing, add all ingredients EXCEPT chicken broth into gallon-sized freezer bag. Thaw overnight in refrigerator before placing into slow cooker. Add chicken broth & cook on low 6 hours.

Taken from Who Needs A Cape (which she adapted from: Sausage & White Bean Soup)

I can’t say how much the meals cost because I bought items far beyond what was needed for the meal preparation and had many of the required items on hand already. What I do know is that it will help reduce the stress of not knowing what to make for dinner, the frustration of having to run to the grocery store for items we don’t have in the house or even worse, the feelings of defeat when you accept the futility of being at a total loss and order-in or pick-up fast food as a last resort. Obviously, the few hours spent preparing seems like a miniscule sacrifice in comparison to the rewards of convenience, stress free meal times and the peace of mind knowing that your family is getting a well-balanced home cooked meal. I’m feeling blessed to have found Who Needs a Cape ~ this might just be life changing… can’t wait to taste the remaining meals!

PS We’ve tried two of the other new recipes that I found and used that day, but will far less success. Both were found on a different site and although super easy to prepare, the results were less weren’t very impressive. The Chicken Broccoli Alfredo  and Hawaiian Chicken had mixed reviews, but no one thought they were great. I am still very optomistic and can’t wait to try the remaining 6 meals from Who Needs a Cape. I’ll keep you posted.

Road Trip 2015: Chapter 9 ~ The Final Chapter

Day 19

My dad has travelled to several places throughout the world and he’s always said that of all the places he’s been Lake Tahoe is one of the most spectacular, so it’s been on my bucket list for years. Although it meant a significant detour, I really wanted to visit Tahoe. We arrived there in the early afternoon and were blown away by the amazing views. It is truly a magnificent place, but we only had the opportunity to explore a very small portion. The lake is quite large and the water is the most amazing colour. It’s nestled in the mountains, so the atmosphere is serene and relaxing. The plan was to spend a few hours on the beach and then begin our trek back to the coastal highway. We had only been there a short time, when it was unanimously decided that we would all happily abort our original plan to drive the rest of the Pacific Coast Highway, see the Redwood Forest and visit Fort Bragg, in exchange for more time in the beautiful Lake Tahoe. We were lucky enough to find a great campsite and ended up staying the night and most of the following day enjoying the lake. It is the most beautiful, clear, clean lake I’ve ever been to. We will definitely be back to Lake Tahoe. We stayed at D.L. Bliss State Park. The campsites were large and had flush toilets and showers (although not usable because of the drought conditions.) One thing that was different was the “bear locker” in each site. You were required by law to remove all scented items (food, lotions, soaps, chapsticks, sunscreen, etc.) from your tent and vehicle and place them inside your campsite’s bear locker. This was a bit of work, but well worth the effort.

We entered the Lake Tahoe area from the south and then headed up the west side towards Tahoe City. The campground was located just a bit north of the spectacular Emerald Bay. We were close enough to hike to Emerald Bay and did do a portion of it, but didn’t have the time to do the whole 4.5 mile hike each way. Instead, we spent the time relaxing on the campground beach and playing in the water. The water was cold, but nice once you got in and super refreshing. We all loved Lake Tahoe!

 

Days 20 to 22

The last 3 days were mostly spent on the road. We planned to drive about 8 hours per day and really only stopped for food and gas. We took I84 East to Pocatella, Idaho and then took I90 across to Billings, Montana. Just after Billings, we continued our journey east on I94 to Fargo and then straight up I29 to Winnipeg. We stayed in Twin Falls, Idaho at a really nice Best Western and then camped the following night in Billings at Yellowstone RV Park. It was a little more expensive at $36 (similar to a KOA), but had flush toilets, showers, pool, hot tub, laundry and of course, the crown jewel…..wifi! We had planned to stop for our last night just west of Fargo and then do a bit of shopping before completing the short drive home on the last day. By the time we reached our planned destination, it was still early and we were all feeling excited to get home. We weren’t expecting the shopping to be that great and all agreed it would be worth it to push through and drive the rest of the way home, so we ended up arriving home at 1:30 a.m. on the 22nd day. We had just driven through the “time change” in the last day, so we were still on California time and to us it seemed more like 11:30. 

The trip was fabulous, but we were all glad to be home. We were so fortunate to have had such great weather, no sickness or injuries, safe travels and a life time of great memories. We are so blessed!

Road Trip 2015: Chapter 8

Pacific Coast HighwayDay 17

The 17th day was spent driving up along the breath-taking Pacific Coast. We were on the road most of the day, but the hills, hairpin curves and incredible views captivated our attention, so it went quickly. Of course there were lots of photo opportunities, so we made several “vista stops” along the route.

The highlights of the day included our stop at San Simeon Pier where we spent about half an hour watching the otters play and the humpback whales hunt in the open water close to the shore/pier. I don’t actually have a pictures of the pier. I think Eden edited right out of the photos, but it really is beautiful and there is a beach at the base of the pier. (If you head east, up the hill, you can visit Hearst Castle. Tim and I did this tour years ago and the kids weren’t that interested so we didn’t do it this time.) 

I’m not really sure what type of whales these were, but someone said they were humpback whales.

Just a short drive north of the pier, we stopped to see the Elephant Seals basking in the sun along the shore. There are signs that direct you to them, but the area is only a few miles from San Simeon.

Big Sur area is also incredible. There were many spectacular things to see along the road, as we drove through this section of the highway. Our final stop before Carmel/Monterey was at the Bixby Bridge just south of Carmel. It is truly a beautiful bridge, but we didn’t get very many good shots. The drive north was very hazy and this made it really difficult to capture the beauty of the drive.

Besides the haze, I have always been a bit afraid of heights and must say having my kids and Tim explore the views from the unguarded cliff edges had me very uptight and anxious. To be honest, I didn’t expect to be so scared and was taken off guard by the level of anxiety I felt. We snapped a few pictures and a man took a few family photos before I escaped  and got back to the comfort of the van. The irrational fear of dying or losing a loved one over the cliff,  kind of ruined the moment for me.

We stayed in Monterey for the night, knowing that we would be paying top dollar at a hotel, but that finding a camp spot would be nearly impossible.

Day 18

We began the day by heading back to Carmel and doing the famous “17 Mile Drive”. Tim and I had done it before, but really wanted to drive it again with the kids. Of course, this is the drive on which you find the famous “Lone Cypress” resting on the cliffs by the sea. They say it is one of the most photographed trees in the world.

17 mile drive

The Lone Cypress

The views were spectacular, but none could compare to the site we saw when we pulled into one of the vista points along the highway.

One of the items on Shay’s road trip bucket list was to see some high end cars: a Ferrari, Lamborghini and Bugatti. We had told him there would be many expensive cars on the road, especially in California. He saw two Ferraris and 3 Lamborghinis. (Tim saw more, but Shay often missed them by the time he looked in the right direction.) Although it wasn’t on his list (he’d never heard of it before), he was also lucky enough to see a Maserati on Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills. We knew the chances of him seeing a Bugatti were slim to none, but he and Tim kept their eyes peeled. (I wouldn’t know a Bugatti if it ran over my toe.) So, we pull into this vista point on the 17 mile drive and what do we see parked in the lot (gaining much more attention than the beautiful scenic views)…..not one, but two Bugattis! Tim and Shay couldn’t believe it! We aren’t sure who the 3 guys were, but they all had Bugatti jackets and hats and what seemed to be British accents. They were really nice allowed Tim and Shay to take several pictures. Shay asked how much the cars cost and was told the new Bugatti is worth $1.5 million and the 1926 model beside it is worth $10,000,000! The guy told Shay, “If you put $5 a day in your piggy bank, you’ll be able to buy a Bugatti when you are about 1000 years old!” I’m not really a car person, but I can appreciate that seeing a Bugatti out and about (not in a show room) is probably a once in a life time thing and seeing a 1926 model is a true privilege. One of the highlights of the trip for the boys! (When we got home we googled it and learned that there was a Bugatti event being held a Pebble Beach when we were in the area. Obviously, these fellows were associated with it.)

As we were passing one of the beaches near Carmel, we noticed many people with their cameras out and they were clearly looking at something along the shore. We got out and once again were lucky enough to witness a “school” of whales hunting/swimming near the shore. It was so neat to watch them. On several occasions, they actually dove up to the surface in unison with their noses together almost like they were performing or playing. At one time, we counted a group of 4 jump out together. It was pretty cool!Whale Watching near Carmel

We pulled into San Francisco in the late afternoon. It was a cold day and although we had initially planned to do Alcatraz, we hadn’t confirmed our schedule and thus I hadn’t booked a tour. Alcatraz sells out in advance, so we knew we risked not getting tickets if we didn’t pre-buy. In the end, we were thankful we hadn’t bought tickets. I think we were all ready to slow down a bit. Tim and I had done the tour before and the kids were fine with missing it. We did go to Fisherman’s Wharf where we visited the Ghirardelli Chocolate store, took some pictures of Alcatraz Island and the Wharf, and then made the strenuous 4 block hike up the hill to the famous curvy road ~ Lombard Street. We also opted to skip the long line and take pictures of the cable cars instead of riding. This was the one and only cold weather we experienced. It was very windy and cool on the wharf, so our short stay was long enough to show the kids a few of the sights and then we were all happy to get back in the van and carry on. We left the city via the Golden Gate Bridge and managed to snap a few pictures en route.

One of the few disappointments of the trip was the amount of haze there was on many of the days…..especially those days when we were doing the coastal drive. The weather was great, but the haze just meant we couldn’t get really great clear views or photos. Too bad.

We only drove a few more hours before stopping to set-up camp in Placerville, California. We had a nice stay at the KOA there and were up and away in good time the next morning.