What's in My Shower!

Here's a post just for fun. 

Here is what's in my shower:

Cetaphil Body Wash.

Live Clean shampoo.

Head and Shoulders for those dandruffy days.

Dove conditioner.

St Ives Apricot Scrub for Sensitive Skin.

Venus razor.

Bath puff. And mine really is purple.

What's in your shower? I'd love to know.

My Favourite Casserole (+ update!)

Here's a recipe for my favourite casserole, which I made tonight for supper!

Sour Cream Noodle Bake
(originally found on The Pioneer Woman Cooks website)

1 lb ground beef
1 medium onion, diced
1 large can tomato sauce
4 cups whole wheat rotini pasta (or pasta of your choice)
1 1/2 cups cottage cheese
1/2 cup sour cream
1 cup shredded cheese
1 green onion, chopped
salt and pepper

Saute ground beef with onion, add tomato sauce, salt and pepper. Simmer.

Meanwhile, boil pasta. Drain. Mix with cottage cheese, sour cream, green onion and salt and pepper.

Layer pasta with meat sauce, topping with shredded cheese.

Bake at 350* for 25 minutes.

Deeeeeelicious!

In other news, Reid is absolutely awesome! He's crawling, pulling himself up to stand on absolutely everything, eating everything under the sun, but still can't sit up on his own yet! He doesn't have any teeth yet, either...still flashes that gummy grin at everyone!

Reid and I are flying to Killarney on April 3 and staying for 2 weeks! Sort of one last hurrah before my mat leave ends and I'm back to work. I'm looking forward to seeing my family, and for them to see Reid in all his glory!

My mat leave is over at the end of May, so I'm back to work at my daycare on May 21. I'm totally nervous about going back and being apart from Reid all day. But in reality it won't be all that bad! Reid will be in the baby room, and I'll be in the toddler room, so I'll really only be 50 feet away from him all day. Which is a lot better than across town. Still, I will miss my little baldie. I am praying for peace about this decision, which really isn't a decision at all, because we can't afford for me not to work. So I am praying for peace about this new reality that will begin in May. Praying for peace that my baby will be OK with strangers. Praying for reassurance that the crying won't last forever and he will be happy and love his new little friends and his teachers. Praying that I will love my job and my little toddlers and that I will survive each day. Praying for courage as our lives will change, become more hectic, and our time with Reid in the evenings will be brief. This last year of mat leave was like living in a bubble and I can't remember what life was like before Little Mister came along. It'll be a hard adjustment, but one that can't be avoided.

Since January, I've been trying consistently to watch what I eat, exercise more and loose weight. My motivation for this is to be a healthier mom to Reid and to have healthier future pregnancies without the complications I had last time. I started off on Weight Watchers in January and have just recently switched to the free online website My Fitness Pal. So far I've lost about 8 pounds, which is a healthy, steady loss, but of course I am impatient and wish it was faster! Maybe I shouldn't have eaten those M&Ms today......!

Well, that's about it!
Happy Easter!

Things I've been loving lately.

Wow, it's been a while.

Here are some things I have been loving lately.

I bought the High Liner Pan Sear fish on a whim because of a $4 off coupon at the grocery store. I've only tried the Lemon Pepper Sole but it was fantastic. I felt I was dining at a restaurant. Instead, I was eating on the couch watching old episodes of "Grey's Anatomy" and loving it. A bit pricier (I think $6.99 or more) per box, but it really was delicious, and the coupon made it more affordable. I'll definitely be looking for more coupons in the future. Reid loved it too - his first taste of fish!

This President's Choice Toasted Sesame Vinaigrette dressing is super yummy. Great with a mandarin chicken salad type meal. A bit pricier at around $2.99 for a skinny bottle...this is a sometimes splurge purchase that I thoroughly enjoy. 

I just finished reading "A Fine Balance" by Rohinton Mistry as suggested by Erica at our blog The Greatest Pleasures. A big read, for sure, but thoroughly enjoyable. I couldn't put it down.

Another book I just read (again, suggested by Erica) is "The Language of Flowers" by Vanessa Diffenbaugh. Thoroughly amazing and SERIOUSLY couldn't put this one down....read into the night to finish! Well, until 11:00 which for me is "into the night"!!!

I've also really been loving Pinterest lately. I even took one idea and did something with it: served dip in an open top pepper with my veggie plate at a baby shower over the weekend! I enjoy seeing what my friends have been pinning. So far I haven't done too much searching on my own, as I don't have any thing I want ideas for at the moment, but I know when I need to search, I'll hit the jackpot.

I've also recently been trying out My Fitness Pal, a free online food diary (amongst other things). I have been doing Weight Watchers since January, but have heard others using MFP and thought I'd try it out. I may make the switch! It's free (bonus!) and easy to use. It's online food database is WAY better than WW, making it super easy to track what you eat. Plus there's a sweet app for it for my Smartphone. It tracks calories, sodium, carbs, etc., and lets you track your exercise, too.

The weather is getting nicer, snow is melting and I can skip around town in my City Sneaks from Payless. I bought these last spring when I was preggers and had giant swollen feet. These fit awesome and were sweetly reminiscent of my Granny. I still love them and wear them when I'm getting groceries or doing other errands. I wear mine with just the white laces. And at only $19.99 (I think), they are a fabulous buy.

I am also enjoying this St Ives Sensitive Skin Apricot Scrub. I don't use it everyday, but once in a while it gives the ol' face a good buff. The smell reminds me of when I lived in Ireland which is always nice. Plus it's ridiculously cheap at only $3.49 or something like that.

Well. That's all I can think of what I'm loving right now.

What about you?

Parade of Lights

Josh, Reid and I were asked to be Mary, Joseph and Jesus (although not in that order) on our church's Christmas float! We participated in Halifax's Parade of Lights and also the Light up Bedford parade this past weekend. It was fairly cold (to us, not the rest of Canada), but people came out in droves to watch the annual parades. Reid did very well - the first night he did cry at the end of the route, but last night he was an absolute super star and didn't make one peep the entire night! We got a lot of cheering from the crowd about the "real live baby Jesus" on our float! And also a lot of "Happy Halloween" from the kids, which they thought was quite funny. One little boy also yelled, "There's God!" when he saw Reid. I thought that was just hilarious! Here are some pictures taken by other people!

Split Pea Soup

Yesterday I made Split Pea Soup and it was absolutely divine. Here's how.

Split Pea Soup

2 T oil
1 diced onion
2 t minced garlic
1 package split green peas, rinsed
2 carrots, chopped
8 cups chicken stock
1 ham hock (I did not have a hock, but I had some ham in the freezer, so I just chopped some and added it)

Make it like this:
Saute onion and garlic in the oil, about 5 minutes.

Add chicken stock, carrots, ham and peas. Bring to a boil.

Reduce heat, simmer for about 2 hours. Peas should be soft and "mushy" then. Add salt and pepper to taste. If using a ham hock, remove now!

If it's too thick, add some hot water (or more stock).

It's that easy and oh so delicious.

Reid and his trick or treat bag from Auntie Amy.

Making Applesauce!

Today I made applesauce for the first time! I had a ton of fresh apples from when my friend Rachel and I went apple picking a few weeks ago. The apples sat in my fridge for a few weeks until I felt courageous enough to tackle them. My goal was to make apple sauce to freeze for when Reid starts eating solids and today, I was victorious!

Reid played in his "office" while I peeled apples!

I bought this sweet peeler for $20. Reminds me of pie making day at Granny and Boppa's.

Peeled and sliced apples soaking in salted water.

Apples in the pot, ready to be cooked down.

Cooking down...getting broken up from the heat.

Reid and I while the apples cooked!

Finished!

Baby food cubes ready for the freezer.

Home Improvements (and mom and dad!)

It's been quite the eventful 2 weeks! Mom and Dad arrived on August 5 and we've been just going ever since. Mom has been especially busy...sewing blinds for my kitchen, scrubbing my bathtub, taking care of Reid, washing windows, cooking, grocery shopping and just doing everything for me...I feel quite lazy! But always appreciative. I love that my parents come to spend time with me here...maybe when I go home for Christmas it will be my turn to clean and scrub their house! Maybe. Here is our visit in pictures. 

Josh and Dad out for dinner in Eastern Passage.

Mom, Reid and I, out for dinner in Eastern Passage.

Mom and Dad, out for a walk on the Bedford Harbour front.

Our little family! That growth on my chest is Reid in his pouch under a blanket!

Self portrait...always amusing.

A nice passer-by offered to take our picture!

Dad and Reid!

I bought this "birth stat print" from Etsy. Cute!

Reid's change table area...the ribbons were Mom's idea and he does love them!

Mom made this hanging book display for me!

Reid's footprint art...2 sets of prints = 2 months of age!

Reid' s room...Erica, this is where I hung his name banner!

Close up of the hanging book display.

Lazy roman blind that Mom made, as per Auntie B's instructions.

We had extra fabric from the blinds, so Mom added some detail to the dining room curtains! What do you think?

The full view of the dining room curtains. 

Roman blind for the kitchen window.

If you are interested in making a hanging book display, click here. 

Well, there you have it! Our glorious visit. Mom leaves on Sunday and there's no doubt I will miss her! It'll suck having to do everything for myself again....! Just kidding. I will miss her for other reasons, of course!

Homemade dishwasher detergent

Quite a while ago I found a homemade dishwasher detergent recipe on Pinterest and since my current Norwex (which I love) detergent was almost empty, I decided to give this homemade one a go. I thought it would be cheaper - providing it worked as well as the commercial ones! 

Here's the recipe:

1 c. washing soda 

(I used baking soda, as some comments on the website said it worked 

just as well, and washing powder can be hard to find)

1 c. Borax

1/4 c. Kosher salt

2 packages unsweetened lemon Kool Aid

(I could not find this, and left it out completely - 

does not seem to affect anything!)

Mix these all together and store in container. 

Add 1 - 2 tablespoons of the mixture to dishwasher.

Add 3 drops (no more!) of dish soap to the detergent compartment. 

Splash 1/2 cup of  vinegar into bottom of dishwasher before turning it on. 

Some comments on the website recommended putting the dish soap in the Jet Dry

compartment of the machine, but my dishwasher is old and doesn't have one of those.

Splashing it into the bottom works just fine for me.

 

I've been using this homemade recipe for over a month now, and I am quite happy with it. The glasses come out clear, not cloudy, and plates and cutlery are clean as a whistle.