Friday 30 January 2015

Friday Update (plus an amazing video)

Sorry, I know my posts have not been as frequent lately. This month has been a wild one! My job has been very busy. I have been working on the creation of an internal blog for us to use at work. It launches next Monday, and I am pretty excited about this!

Family life has been kind of crazy and took an unexpected twist. My Stepfather was placed into a long term care facility. He has Alzheimer's, and in the last couple of months the devastating and cruel effects of this disease increased significantly. We are all adjusting to this transition.

Trying to fit everything into a day that I want to accomplish has become a bit of a challenge. I am extremely happy to see that the days are actually starting to get a bit longer though. It is now daylight opposed to pitch black when we are eating our supper now.

I am sure most Canadians would agree that this is a tough time of year for all of us. It's extremely cold and these next couple months of winter seem to draaaaaag on!

I thought I would share a video with you today. I saw it a while ago and fell head over heels. If this video does not warm your heart then I don't know what will (wink).


Happy Friday Everyone!
xoAngela


Tuesday 27 January 2015

PC Cooking Class.

Winter got you down? Feeling a little caged in? Well let me introduce you to my fun little night out! PC Cooking school! I know what you are thinking.......Fun? Really? YES!

It's more like a dinner club and it's held once a week in the evenings. You walk in and grab a seat, then help yourself to tea or coffee. After this sit back, relax and prepare to watch and learn how to cook an amazing meal.

Once the cooking is complete you are then served the two or three course meal. They also provide you with all the recipes to take home. While the chefs are cooking you are free to ask questions and they also offer lots of tips and tricks. It's a very informal, relaxed and casual atmosphere.

It's a wonderful break from the norm. The classes are now posted online for the next few months, you can go on and see what meals interest you. Some nights are seafood, some International, Italian and my favorite the Indian delights.  All are fab and leave your belly happy and your mind inspired. Well worth the $20 it costs to attend! You simply sign up online or by calling (see link below).

Here are some pictures from the last class I attended, Northern Indian Delights, Part 1. You can see there is a mirror placed above the counter so you can see everything the chefs are doing.
Above is Dhaba Dal Makhani (lental and red kidney bean soup). Soooo yummy

Adraki Murgh (chicken infused ginger). YUM!
 Navratan Korma (curry of veggies, fruits and nuts), served with Naan. Delish!

Click here to see upcoming classes.

Although you are out enjoying a meal and some peace quiet you are also learning meals that you can share with your family. No guilt here! Win, win! (wink)



Friday 23 January 2015

Brownies!

One of my closest friends is finally pregnant after anxiously waiting many, many years. As you can imagine they are thrilled and I am over the moon excited for the both of them. They are going to make amazing parents and I cannot wait to meet this little bundle of C and C.

This week she passed the three month mark! After this point the risks associated with pregnancy decrease significantly. I decided we should mark the occasion with some homemade brownies to celebrate. (brownies are the key to any pregnant women's heart) Who am I kidding brownies are the key to my heart too!


This is a very quick and easy recipe. Not so healthy, but they sure taste good. Some things are just meant to stay unhealthy (wink)!

Best Brownies Recipe:

INGREDIENTS:
1/2 cup butter
1 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
Frosting:
3 tablespoons butter, softened
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tablespoon honey
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup confectioners' sugar
DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour an 8-inch square pan.
2. In a large saucepan, melt 1/2 cup butter. Remove from heat, and stir in sugar, eggs, and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Beat in 1/3 cup cocoa, 1/2 cup flour, salt, and baking powder. Spread batter into prepared pan.
3. Bake in preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes. Do not overcook.
4. To Make Frosting: Combine 3 tablespoons softened butter, 3 tablespoons cocoa, honey, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, and 1 cup confectioners' sugar. Stir until smooth. Frost brownies while they are still warm.

Here is a link to the recipe found on all recipes 

Happy twelve weeks sweet Mama to be!

Wednesday 21 January 2015

Lost Memories

So the story goes....... a week or so ago my girlfriends and I were headed out for a nice dinner together. I ran out the door, started the car and realized I had forgot my camera. I ran back into the house, grabbed my camera and headed to dinner. We had a great meal and wonderful conversations although I did not take any pictures. Guess I was to busy gabbing to bother (wink).

After dinner we said our goodbyes and I headed to the grocery store to pick up a few things before heading  home.

The next day I went to get something out of my purse and realized my camera was no longer there. I began checking all the obvious places and then called the restaurant to see if I had left it there. No luck!  I then called the grocery store and they hadn't seen any sign of it either. (sigh) My husband even went and looked in the parking lots to see if it had dropped out of my purse. Still no sign of my camera.
Life is Like a Camera Quote Print Photography Black White Home Decor Wall Art Photographer Gift Print Camera Lens
(print by KimberosePhotography can be found on etsy)
It's been almost a week now since I last saw my camera. I have to tell you, I am nearly sick over this. I really could care less about the actual camera but it's the thousands of missing pictures of my kids and family that's killing me. The sad thing is I did not copy these anywhere, nor did I print any of them either. Those pictures are gone forever.

Moral of the story, don't be careless like me. Transfer your pictures onto an external hard drive or print them often.  Do not risk losing them like I did. I am still praying that it will surface although I am very slowly and uncomfortably coming to terms with the loss of my precious memories.

On the brighter side.....guess we have some serious catching up to do! Let the good times roll. 
Say cheese everyone!

Monday 19 January 2015

Make Your Own Donairs

Donairs have to be one of my hubby's favorite treats. I don't know why but I have always been a bit leary about donair meat. I mean, what kind of meat is it? And how long has it been around? Well this recipe puts all my concerned questions to rest and I promise you it is just as good, if not better, than any restaurant or food truck donair. A close friend of mine has passed this recipe onto me. We both choose to use the food processor method and it worked out perfectly. (See below for instructions)

For those that are wondering what a donair is, they are made in the Maritimes and are served on a pita/flat bread with meat, lettuce, tomatoes, onions and sweet sauce. They are a very, very yummy treat!

Ingredients:
1 tsp salt
1 tsp ground oregano
1 tsp all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1/2 tsp Italian seasoning
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1 pound ground beef

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F (175C). In a cup or small bowl, mix the salt, oregano, flour, black pepper, Italian seasoning, garlic powder, onion powder, and cayenne pepper.

Place ground beef in a large bowl and use your hands to blend in the spice mixture. If you want the smooth texture of meat that you see in a real Donair shop, you must do this in a steel mixing bowl and on a sturdy surface. Pick up the meat, and throw it down with force about 20 times, kneading it after each throw. This also helps the meat hold together better when you slice it. (You can also use a food processor or sturdy stand mixer)

Form the meat into a loaf, and place it on a broiler pan. If you do not have one, a baking sheet will do.

Bake for 1 hour  and 15 minutes in preheated oven, turning the loaf over about half way through. This will ensure even cooking. Refrigerate the meat overnight before slicing. (or make in the early morning and refrigerate until dinner that evening). When you are ready to use, slice the meat very thinly and reheat in a frying pan with a little oil.

Makes enough for 5-6 pitas.

Donair Sauce

Ingredients:

2/3 cup sweetened condensed milk
1/4 cup white vinegar
1/2 tsp garlic powder

Directions:

Stir the milk and garlic powder together. Add vinegar then stir the sauce for a couple of minutes in order for the vinegar and milk to mix properly. Leave it sit for a few minutes then refrigerate. The donair sauce will last a few weeks in the refrigerator and I find that it is best served cold.

Doubles easily by using the whole can of condensed milk and doubling the other ingredients.

Tip: This meat and sauce would also work perfectly for a DIY donair pizza.

By the way, this recipe won over "the" donair connoisseur aka hubby.
Enjoy!



Wednesday 14 January 2015

New Year Renewals

It's that time of year again when we break out the ol' workout videos and swear ourselves off anything deep fried. It's New Year's renewal time! I know I am especially motivated this time of year to make some healthy changes.

My family and I began the New Year by booking our annual trip to Cuba (woohoo). With the -36C temperatures we have been having in Eastern Canada, Cuba is sounding pretty darn great!
So all girls know that you can't possibly go away without one, two or possibly three (wink) new bathing suits. Sooooo immediately after the trip was booked I went straight to the Victoria Secret website and spent some time going through the semi-annual sale. Needless to say I was successful in finding a few items I liked.

So now that the trip is booked and the bathing suit is ordered it's time to get beach ready if you know what I mean. I have always been quite petite but these past couple of months of late night munching has left me feeling a bit on the sluggish side. It's time to tone up!

Here is my plan:

My healthy goals are to stop eating after dinner which has actually been really hard. The weird thing is it's not that I am hungry, it's just soooo fun and enjoyable. I am doing pretty good with this goal, I starting drinking tea and that kind of gives me something to do with myself in the evenings.  I have allowed myself one cheat night, Monday BACHELOR night.  I am a huge fan of this show and I think this season's going to be quite entertaining.

I have also started exercising again. I am not brave enough to run in this crazy cold weather so I have broke out my Jillian Michaels and also YouTube for Zumba. If you love to dance Zumba is for you! If I only have a short amount of time I will do some short targeted toning videos by "Tone It Up"on YouTube as well. If you have not seen any of these videos I highly suggest you check it out. These girls do workouts directly on the beach, what more motivation could you ask for than that?
When making health related New Year goals it's best to kind of ease into a plan. Start small and make your goals achievable. I think the worst thing a person can do is set their expectations to high. When the bar is to high you will fail and when you fail you most likely will quit.

If you make a bad choice or have a  bad day, it's OK. Start over! A good friend of mine once said "If you have one flat tire you don't go around and slash the other three do you?"

Wishing you all a very healthy and happy New Year!

Monday 12 January 2015

Proof!

Parenting is not always an easy job. Quite often I find myself questioning the way I parent, did I say the right thing? Did I act the right way? My goal is to raise two girls that are kindhearted, respectful, loving and honest givers. Our family motto is BE SILLY, BE KIND, BE HONEST! While it's important for me to teach the girls to be caring it is also important to teach them to be silly and have fun too!

As parents we work hard to teach our children the qualities we feel are important. When we begin to see these qualities and attributes naturally flow out of our children it's pretty awesome. This is what my oldest daughter recently gave me. It is strangely on coffin shaped paper but it's the words that are written on it that really matter.

The left one says Mom I love you every time I look at you, and the other Happy New Year Mom, I love you. This is just two of the six notes I have accumulated. I have started writing her little notes back as well.

She did this on her own and it's truly a refection of the amazing young girl she is. This is proof that we must be doing something right(wink). Moral of the story...... eventually you will get to enjoy the magic moments making the bumps in the road, time, frustrations and few gray hairs all well worth it. I promise!

My girls are my world and because of this I choose not to mention their names or show pictures of them on here for their safely. Believe me, if I was 100% sure there was no risk I would plaster this blog with nothing but tidbits and pictures all about them. There are some wonderful blogs that I follow that focus primarily on their children but for me to rest my head peacefully at night, I choose not to.

I am one proud Mama!

Thursday 8 January 2015

Bahama Mama

The name of this Essie polish is me to a tee, bahama mama. I picked this up before the holidays and have been wearing it ever since. I love it! It kind of takes the blah out of winter and replaces it with a touch of zing. Oh my......  I think I may have just lost it folks. I think you get the point.... big hit in my world.

Essie Polish Bahama Mama

Santa also left me a few other Essie polishes in my stocking this year. I must have been a really, really good girl (wink). I got mint candy apple, tart deco, ignite the night (sparkles) and no chips ahead top coat. By the way, this top coat is fantastic. I am not going to let winter bring me down with these bright beauties.

Essie Polish

What nail color are you rocking these days?

Monday 5 January 2015

December Round up!

December was a very busy month for us so I want to take this opportunity and reflect back a bit on some of our holiday traditions.

Every year my girlfriends and I have a "girls only" x-mas party with a secret Santa gift swap. This year we choose a restaurant to carryout the festivities. We all look forward to this annual event and  I know this tradition will last a lifetime!
Another tradition is "spa day" with my kiddos and my very good friend. We started this a while back in lieu of gifts to one another. A few days before x-mas we visit our local aesthetics school for manicures and pedicures. We make a memory and give the gift of time and togetherness to one another.
Our x-mas eve and Christmas were amazing. We spent the night before stuffing our bellies with Chinese food and sweets with family. This year we decided to cut the grownup gifts out and instead give back to the community. I cannot even begin to tell you how great this feels and the stress seemed to almost vanish that is sometimes associated with gift giving.  It is hard to even imagine spending money on "stuff" when there are so many people without the "essentials". I loved including my kids in the actions that we took to give back and help others.

It has been a great year and a very special holiday. Here are a few randoms.



Good times, great friends and wonderful memories. What more could you ask for?
xoAngela