Cleaning Chart, Fun Fizzing and Witch Hats, oh my!

Hello my fabulous little blog, how I have missed you!

Well today I have 1 completed project, 1 fun rainy day activity and 1 sneak peak into a new project.

I decided the other day, that i  never use the weekly menu planner that I made, it is a fantastic idea, I just never think to use it. So I converted it into my weekly cleaning board!

I found this list on this website: http://tipsandpix.com/?p=76 and found ti to be pretty much exactly what I wanted in my own. So as always, credit goes to where I first found something and then I just made it all zazzy for in the kitchen. :) Thanks for the list Tips and Pix!

Next up, it has been raining for what feels like forever lately here in Calgary AB. My hometown Okotoks and surrounding towns are having flooding issues as well. Although we are lucky enough not to have it quite as bad as some places in BC are getting. On such rainy days, its always nice to do something extra fun with the munchkins. Today, Peyton and I played with some baking soda and color dyed vinegar!

Pretty tiedye baking soda!

Last but not lease, the sneak peek at the paper mache project I am working on, once it's finished, I will paint it black and let the babies into the paint to decorate it! :)

The first attempt was a little to tall, so I am down sizing it, lol!

I will post again once we have completed this little endevour!

An Egg-cellent Story and Magical Fun :)

Alright, today's post has a funny egg story and I will also be sharing a part of my life that is special to me but also tends to be a touchy subject: Religion or in my case a spirituality. If anything outside of your Religious beliefs sets you off, maybe just stick with reading the egg story. ;)

So first off, lets start with the funny story! Last night I had to run out to grab a few things for the project I'll be talking about afterwards and while I was out,  my hubby had an interesting and funny oops with the kids! My daughter loves to help me cook and she can now open the fridge and thinks that opening it and seeing whats inside, is very fun! Last night, while I ran to the store, my little girl decided she wanted to make some eggs...

My hubby knew that the kids were playing in the play area (which is beside the kitchen) and would look over to check on everything. In between his checking, P pulled out the eggs and proceeded to crack them open...on her little brothers head. T, to his credit, thought that this gooey game his sister was playing with him was fantastic! When hubby looked over again and realized the babes had migrated to the kitchen, he got up just to make sure all was well and walked in on the ahem...cooking class!

So I get home and hubby has the kids mostly wiped down and barricaded in the kitchen. He regales me with this story while I stand there giggling. Naturally this would happen when he was watching the kids, lol. The only difference between his reaction (which was good) and mine, is that I totally would have stopped to take a picture of the priceless moment! Needless to say, we took the babes upstairs and it was bath time.

Next up, magical fun! So for those of you who already know me, I have a HUGE interest in the world of Religion and can be quite opinionated. I myself am a Pagan.

pa·gan/ˈpāgən/

Noun:	A person holding religious beliefs other than those of the main world religions.
Adjective:	Of or relating to such people or beliefs: "a pagan god".
Synonyms:	noun. infidel - gentile - idolater adjective. heathenish - gentile - paganish - profane - infidel

I do not actually believe in any God or Goddess, I believe there are very likely higher beings, and that the Greeks came the closest to reality with there multiple Gods/Goddesses. I do not believe that any being higher or not, is infallible, nor that we were created by them. To a squirrel, we are a higher being, lol, and so yes, I do think there is more then meets the eye, but I think the human race is highly ignorant in thinking that they know all in each respective Religion. Religion to me, is man made and very likely the worst thing we ever invented. 

So on a lighter note.. I believe mostly in Nature, which is what a majority of the Pagan Calender celebrations are about.

 For those unfamiliar with this wheel, many of the Christian celebrations today were borrowed from many of these celebrations. Yule is celebrated as Christmas, Ostara is Easter, Samhain is Halloween, most of the meaning for each holiday has changed to suit the beliefs of the Religion that adopted them, but regardless of the changes, the main theme is love and celebrating life in one way or another.

So, I am doing up a binder for my daughter to teach her about the seasons and celebrations. Coloring, stories, etc will all be apart of this and I will do this with my son when he is older as well.

Although, while I will be teaching her these things, I also hope to teach my children about all Religions and Belief systems, so they will have the option to make up there own minds and follow there hearts, I don't believe in indoctrination.

My little witch, coloring her cover page. :)

Peyton's Magical Binder ;)

Life is about choice and questioning everything and finding what is right for ourselves. I went through alot of soul searching and actually ended up back where I started, back to being Pagan, I don't think I ever stopped, but I did alot of searching and research into other faiths. My kids will be encouraged to do the same. :)

Not sure who created this pic, but I love it. :)

Whatever you believe, do it with peace, love and acceptance. <3

Attempting Healthy...

So it's no secret that after having kids, most womens bodies take some time to get back into shape, except for those few naturally thinner frames whose bodies seem to bounce right back! Well, I am not one of those lucky few, lol. I have always had a curvy body and most of the time I don't mind, but since having my 2nd baby, I am finding it harder then the first time around to shed baby weight. So, I bought some running shoes and some very healthy eating conscience cook books and I'm gunna see how this goes!

It was just me and little P tonight for dinner.

Tonight I made my first healthy recipe! It was a Pork Chop Cacciatore, minus the Pork Chops. I used a cooked ham instead and just cut it into small squares.

Even P liked it and she is a pretty picky eater these days..

SO much flavor and healthy to boot!

Without any further delay, here is the awsome recipe!

Pork Chops Cacciatore

Canola Oil - 2 tsp

Flour - 2 tbsp ( I didn't use any flour)

Pepper to sprinke ( I just sprinkled it right over the meat in the pan)

Boneless fast-fry pork chops - 4 ( I cut up a small cooked ham instead)

Chopped red pepper - 1

Chopped Onion - 1

Garlic Cloves - 2  ( I just 1 1/2 tbsp minced garlic)

Dry White Wine - 1/4 cup

Can of diced tomatoes (with Juice) - 14oz.

Low-sodium prepared chicken broth - 1/2 cup

Brown Sugar,packed - 1 tbsp

Dried oregano - 1 tsp

Dried Basil 1/2 tsp

Heat the canola oil in a large saucepan on medium. Meanwhile, combine flour and pepper in a small shallow dish. Press both sides of pork into flour mixture until coated. ( I skipped this part and just put the cut up ham into the hot oil.)  Add to pan, cook for about 4 mins per side until browned. Remove to plate.

Add next 3 ingredients to same frying pan. Cook for 5 to 10 mins, stirrinf often, until onion is softened.

Add wine, scraping any brown bitss from the bottom of pan.

Add remaining 5 ingredients. Stir. Add pork chops to saucepan. ( I never took the ham out in the first place). Simmer, uncovered, for about 5 mins, until pork chops are heated through. Serves 4.

1 Serving: 263 Calories. :)

Anyways, thats all I have for today folks, enjoy! If you do try it, please don't be show, comment on my blog and let me know how it turned out and any changes you may have tried. :)

Outback Chicken & Cinnamon Buns, amazingly fantastic!

Alrighty, so recently I got the urge to cook an extra tasty dinner for my husband. He has been working his ass off to make life good for us and our beautiful babies. I am lucky enough to be a stay at home Mom to my 2 year old daughter and 8 month old son. Before marriage and our babies, I couldn't cook to save my life, no...seriously, I could burn water. Now, after trying, failing and then finally getting the hang of things, I can finally cook some fairly decent meals! I actually recently had the chance to reconnect with an old friend and she has been following my facebook, she made a comment about the seemingly sudden talent for cooking I have. Cook books and Pinterest are fantastic tools for someone who wants to brush up on cooking skills and test out new tasty recipes.

Anyways, enough babbling, i will post some pics of the process and list the changes I made from the recipes I used. The link below is the one I used and below the link are the few changes that I made.

http://www.ziplist.com/recipes/492190-Our_Version_of_Outback_s_Alice_Springs_Chicken

So basically the only changes I made were:

* Sauteed the mushrooms in some left over marinade sauce.

* Instead of the shredded cheeses, I just used  slices of Jalapeno Monteray Jack Cheese.

Outback Chicken, Shrimp Scampi and Ceaaser Salad, really tasty night!

Next up, warm, fluffy cinnamon buns! This is the first time I have ever made them from scratch, I was alittle worried they would be terrible, but extremely happy that they were fantastic!

http://www.food.com/recipe/jo-mamas-soft-and-fluffy-cinnamon-rolls-51405

I followed this recipe pretty much to a T and my whole family really enjoyed them!

Mmmmmm :)

I also started a new art project tonight, so I should have a new post for that in a few days to a week.

Monster High Birthday Goodies & Fingerprint Charms

Hello Ladies and Gentlebugs!

I apologize for the time gap in posts, but it has been none stop busy at my house. I think that it will likely be like this up until it's Winter time again and then we will be back to many more crafts.

So I had an order to do 2 Monster High themed wands and a name banner, for a little girls birthday. The wands were for the characters Draculaura and Laguna Blue. I apologize for the pics, I took them late at night shortly after they were done, on the kids craft table, lol.

Hopefully the birthday girl will like them!  :)

Also, a small project I did on the side while I was doing the wands, were little thumb print charms.

I did one of both my kids thumbs, painted them and turned them into a necklace. Check it out!

Anyways, that's all for now folks! :)