CANVAS

Sweet little canvas painting by Jamie and me.

11 WEEKS

Well folks, here are the first of many pictures to come! Took these photos last night before heading out to Mark's staff Christmas party. Nothing like an empire waist dress to accentuate the bump! I know they aren't the clearest of photos, but I'll get Mark to take some for me soon. 

LITTLE HANDS

 I know right? Super cute. We had such a blast painting last week that we even did some more today! Little hands just make the most wonderful creations. Plus, what little one doesn't like finger painting? 

And of course, I've been getting a little practice on working with little hair. I just can't get over how darn cute she is! Part of me wants to have a girl just so I can do her hair... (that is if she'll let me). 

In other news, things have been going well at the Westman house. Mark has been coaching lots of basketball and loving it, and I've been feeling OK... I think weeks 10 & 11 have been the worst for me so far when it comes to nausea. But it's nothing I can't handle! I might not feel great most of the time, but I sure feel blessed. We really can't wait to meet this little baby of ours!

We're also getting really excited for our trip to Ottawa for Christmas. The days are flying by and we are getting antsy to get on that plane! We only hope they slow right down once we land in Ottawa! We are going to drive to Saskatoon right after my next Dr.'s appointment (when we should hear the heartbeat!) and Mark's Aunt and Uncle have graciously offered us to stay with them. They even insisted on driving us to the airport and picking us up when we come back. We are so thankful to have such an awesome family!

In other news, I had a mad craving for JELLO so Mark picked me up an orange packet last night. It was a great midnight snack when I couldn't sleep! Can't wait to see what other cravings I am going to have! I think my daily latte craving is more withdrawal symptoms than a craving. Again - can't wait to get to Ottawa!

RECIPE: CHEWY CHOCOLATE CHIP OATMEAL COOKIES

Honestly... delicious. 

I think these are way better than the NY Times Best Chocolate Chip Cookies. Last week Jamie (the little girl I babysit) and I made these scrumptious cookies on an extra cold day. There's nothing like baking to warm up a house! She was an awesome little helper and we had a great time. Of course we were playing Michael Buble's Christmas album in the background too!

So as for the recipe, it can be found here on howsweeteats.com, one of my new favourite food blogs. 

Enjoy!

BABY BLANKET & UPDATE

It's been busy. Like crazy busy. 

I've started babysitting full-time for a little 2 year old girl named Jamie. She is adorrrrrable! But I'm also now 10 weeks pregnant and so dang tired I can't even explain. The nausea hasn't been terrible, but it also hasn't been great. Soda crackers and maternity pants are actually my best friends right now. Anyways, life with a two-year-old is awesome, but busy. But at least this a good taste of what it must be like to be pregnant with a second child! 

Anyhoo, Mark has also been super busy. His online course workload has really picked up, and he's pretty much coaching basketball almost every night of the week now. It's great, but again, tiring! Last night we were up into the wee hours of the morning as he worked on his paper and I made him some coffee. I eventually had to give up and go to bed, but he was a trooper and got it done.

Last weekend we drove to Cold Lake, AB to do some shopping. As mentioned above, I bought my first pir of mat pants and I am in love! Although I secretly wish I didn't have to wear pants at all... but that would be weird. And cold. It's been like -20 to -25 up here and it's only November! Yikes. So we did a big shop at Walmart and got bunches of food and other random things for our home. But most importantly, yarn. Yahoo!

And as you can see, I started to crochet my first baby blanket! And it's honestly been one of the only creative things I have been doing lately. I haven't even been cooking very much. I actually caved and bought KD last week... delicious though. I mean who am I trying to kid? But anyway it's a new pattern I learned off of good ol' Pinterest (slight obsession) and it's working out quite well. The baby yarn is so soft and lovely and I might have to make a large version for myself. But really, I just can't wait to wrap our little sweetheart up!

Speaking of, my first Dr's appointment last week was awesome. She felt my uterus and told me it was now about the size of a small grapefruit! And at my next appointment (13 weeks) Mark is taking the day off because we should be able to hear the baby's heartbeat! We are so so so super excited. And the next day we will be flying to Ottawa for the Christmas holidays. So that will absolutely be an exciting week. 

Anyway, it is Jamie's nap time right now, which means it is also my nap time!

xo.

STAR ✰ STITCH

I learned a new stitch yesterday and made this Christmas washcloth with the little wool I had left in my basket. I love the star stitch! It's so pretty. I was thinking I could have made a Christmas table runner or something if I had had more wool. Mark is away for basketball this weekend, but we are planning on going into Prince Albert next weekend where I can buy some more wool at Walmart. Then I can start making baby blankets and maybe even some baby booties!

Here's the beginner friendly how-to video I used for the star stitch:

HOT CHOCOLATE ♡

Just nothing quite like it on a wintery day.

It's cold and snowy here in Beauval and we are actually loving it. It's nowhere near as damp as we're used to back in Ottawa, so in a sense it seems pretty mild (so far)! Mark and I spent our late afternoon making snow piles and snow forts with the kids next door, and then after dinner I went for a walk around town with the mama of those little munchkins. I love watching the snow fall as it passes through the street lights shining.

Mark started his first online AQ course yesterday - Spec Ed. part 1. So far so good he says. And teaching is still going really well. He was in gym all day today and that was kind of a nice break for him. Also a nice way to go back after a long weekend! 

Pregnancy is going well for me thus far! I have my days, but the majority of the time I don't even "feel" pregnant. However, times like these when I can't sleep because I'm starving even though I ate right before bed reminds me that my body is working extra hard to make a nice home for baby. I'm 8 weeks now and looking forward to my first prenatal checkup next week!

We booked our flights to Ottawa for Christmas and we can hardly wait to get there and see everyone! And with that, I'll leave you with my favourite rendition of I'll Be Home for Christmas. 

See you soon!!

100

Well it's almost 5:30am and I've been up for about an hour now. It seems no matter what I do (even eating a whopping bowl of multigrain cheerios at 11:00pm) I always wake up at some awful hour of the morning with hunger pains. So bad that even though I'm physically exhausted, I must wake up and eat something. I just must! Today, however, was not such an early morning (as I'm averaging between 3:00 and 4:00am) so it just feels like I'm one of those early bird kind of people. So of course, I thought I should blog and give a little update! 

This just so happens to be my 100th blog post! I was hoping I'd save the big one for some preggo pics, but I haven't taken any yet. Soon though! Soon. 

Things are going very well around the Westman household. Mark is still loving every minute of his job, and I am loving every minute of being (7 weeks and 2 days now) pregnant. Even these early morning hunger pains. I know it could be waaay worse. I booked my first prenatal checkup here in Beauval and I'll be going in two weeks. I'm looking forward to it, but after reading about prenatal checkups I don't know if I should be... lol. 

Things are going to be picking up speed over the next two weeks as Mark starts his first online AQ course through Queens, and begins coaching 3 basketball teams. We've also been checking every day for flight deals to fly to Ottawa for Christmas. We've booked our flight back from Ottawa to Saskatoon, and we are just hoping and waiting to find a better deal pop up to fly from Saskatoon to Ottawa. We'll be visiting for about 11 days and I know they will be action packed! We are getting so excited to see our family and friends. 

In February, the school has a week break and Mark and I have started to plan a trip to Banff. We've found a lovely cabin with a wood stove and kitchen for a really really magnificent price, and we hope to book soon! It's right in the mountains between Banff and Canmore and we can't wait to visit these towns for the second time this year! (I know, I know, I still haven't posted any summer road trip pictures!) Well you know what here's some for you now!

At Moraine Lake in Banff

At Morraine Lake in Banff

In a coffee shop in Canmore on a rainy day

There. That makes this 100th post a little more interesting! So now you can imagine why we are so excited to go back in the winter. The winter! It will be fantastic. Although the only downfall is that I wish I could ski the hills! But at 5 months pregnant with a husband who's never downhill skied before... probably not a good idea. 

Anyway, to end this post, I promised Mark I would upload the pictures of his apple crisp! He made this one about a month ago, but he made another last night. Delicious!! He used this recipe. That man just loves to cook and bake I tell ya! And I quite like it too!

Until next time!

XOX

ON A SNOWY DAY

Crocheting away on a snowy day. Making a scarf out of fisherman's wool for a friend's birthday this weekend. I know she'll love it! 

I'm still feeling really great! No signs of morning sickness at any time of day (although I'm only 5 weeks so it's still a little early for that to kick in). Mark and I are so so so excited. We are slowly trying to figure out some details, but so much is so far down the road at this point that we know our plans can and likely will change. 

We feel so blessed to have family and friends surrounding us with support (and especially prayer) at this early stage of pregnancy. This was our main reason for spreading the news as soon as we found out! Thanks to everyone for all the wonderful words of congratulations and advice!

XOX

POSITIVE

We are SO blessed!!

5 weeks in now, due June 24th, 2013!

Thanks be to God!

THANKSGIVING

I have always loved autumn. It has always been by far my favourite season. And growing up so close to the Gatineau Hills, there wasn't much that could beat out the beauty of the changing leaves. However, I had also never experienced autumn in the prairies.

This was my first Thanksgiving (and first holiday) spent outside of Ontario, and it was truly lovely. We spent the weekend in LeRoy, SK, a very small town where Mark’s grandparents farm. We had visited them on our road trip to the West coast this summer, and at that time we had no idea we would be visiting again so soon! I was thrilled, because I think I fell in love with the farm on our last visit. Standing there in the fields is just indescribable. You can see sky all around. And I was lucky enough to experience a true prairie storm. You can see it coming for miles! And then there is all the treasure. Old barns, old houses, old cars, old farm equipment, old everything. I swear they could open a museum. I could just spend hours exploring and taking pictures. I can’t believe I haven’t posted any pictures from our trip yet – but they are coming! I took a few more of the farm this time around though!

On Sunday the whole family came over to the farm. Mark’s Aunts and Uncles, cousins, and puppies. It was wonderful to meet everyone and we were just so happy to be spending the holiday with family. And of course there was so much food! We had such an amazing time, and we look forward to our next farm visit!

We hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving as well!

xox.

TEA LATTE

Ecstatic about my new milk frother. (Thanks IKEA!)  Making tea lattes every day.

Now all I need is some sugar-free vanilla syrup and an espresso maker.

RECIPE: CHILI-STUFFED PEPPERS

This weekend Mark and I are heading to LeRoy, SK to visit Mark’s grandparents at their farm for Thanksgiving. Yeehaw! From there we are driving straight to Prince Albert for a 3-day teachers conference. We come home Thursday night, and head right back out on Friday morning to Edmonton for an IKEA trip and to hit up the West Edmonton Mall (for the second time this year!).

I am trying to use up our perishables before we leave, so for lunch today I made some more stuffed peppers. I had made some chili yesterday (in our new dutch oven from Mom & Dad! Holla!) and along with some rice and cheese, I stuffed those peppers full of deliciousness. Let me tell you I had one very happy husband at lunch time!

 Chili – Stuffed Peppers

1. Make some chili.

2. Cut, scoop out, and wash some peppers.

3. Cook some rice.

4. Grate some mozza cheese.

4. Combine chili, rice and cheese.

5. Stuff your peppers!

6. Grate some more mozza cheese, and sprinkle on top.

7. Line a 9x12 casserole dish with parchment paper.

8. Bake at 400F for 40 minutes et voila!

As I’ve said before, these are such an awesome, easy, and fast meal to make – especially if you are using leftovers like me! In fact, both times that I’ve made them, I’ve stuffed peppers with leftovers. Awesome solution to clean out your fridge! We also love these because they are so versatile. You can stuff them with anything!

If you like this idea, check out my stuffed sweet potato recipe!

BUFFALO NARROWS

This past Saturday we took a day trip and had a picnic up in Buffalo Narrows, about an hour North of Beauval. We went with our next door neighbours Andrew, Nicole, their kids Laura and Sam, and Nicole’s parents. We hiked the sand dunes, picked some shells and chased the birds. 

Here are some pictures!

RECIPE: NY TIMES BEST CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

You better believe these are good.

Nothing is more relaxing than baking cookies. The smell, the warmth, the chocolate… you know how it is. Well I’ve been meaning to make some cookies to eat and to share, and also to freeze and keep on hand for unexpected company. So I of course did some Pinterest research, and found way way down on my treats board a recipe for NY Times Best chocolate chip cookies. With such a prestigious title, I was sold and not disappointed. They are everything you would want in a chocolate chip cookie. Very chewy, but yet still just a subtle crunch as you take that first bite. Sometimes I can’t believe these recipes are given out for free! And, I didn’t even have to double the recipe in order to have tons of leftovers to freeze. Perfect.

See recipe below.

 NY Times Best Chocolate Chip Cookies

2 C minus 2 Tbsp cake flour*

1 2/3 C bread flour*

1 1/4 tsp baking soda

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 1/2 tsp coarse salt

1 1/4 C unsalted butter

1 1/4 C light brown sugar

1 C plus 2 Tbsp granulated sugar

2 large eggs

2 tsp natural vanilla extract

1 bag semi-sweet chocolate chips

Sea salt.

*I just used all-purpose flour

 

1. Sift flours, baking soda, baking powder and salt into a bowl. Set aside.

2. Cream butter and sugars together until very light. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Stir in the vanilla. Add dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Fold in chocolate. Press plastic wrap against dough and refrigerate for 24 to 36 hours. Dough may be used in batches, and can be refrigerated for up to 72 hours.

3. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a nonstick baking mat. Set aside.

4. Scoop dough onto baking sheet, sprinkle lightly with sea salt and bake until golden brown but still soft, 10-12 minutes. Cool, and enjoy!

{ original recipe }

RECIPE: STUFFED SWEET POTATOES

This is another one of those recipes that you could pretty much make any which way you would like. Simply stuff, bake, and then stuff your face (as elegantly or not as you please).

Stuffed Sweet Potatoes

1. Wrap sweet potatoes in tin foil (shiny side in) and bake at 350 degrees F. for 60 minutes, or until tender.

2. Chop up your favourite veggies, and marinade (marinade recipe below).  I used whatever veggies I had on hand: Green pepper, onion, celery, cucumber, & garlic. I also washed up a can of mixed beans to add to the stuffing.

3. About 10 minutes before potatoes are ready, remove your vegetables from the marinade and grill them (I used a George Forman and this works wonderfully!).

4. When potatoes are tender, scoop the sweet potato out of the peel, leaving a thin layer inside the peel so that it can stand up on it’s own. Mash the sweet potato and add some butter and orange juice to taste. Then combine the sweet potato with the grilled veggies and mixed beans.

5. Fill each skin with the sweet potato mixture and top with shredded mozzarella cheese. Bake again for 10 minutes, or until cheese is melted and filling is heated through. Enjoy!

Grilled Vegetable Marinade

2 Tbsp olive oil

1 Tbsp orange juice

1 Tbsp dried oregano

1 tsp  red pepper flakes

1. Place all ingredients in a large Ziploc bag. Add your vegetables and shake shake shake! Let sit in the fridge for 45 mins – 1 hour.

2. Remove veggies and grill!

RECIPE: PEANUT BUTTER & BANANA OATMEAL MUFFINS WITH PB FROSTING

Well that’s a mouthful. And a delicious one at that! I made these muffins on Friday night to bring over to our neighbours house. They were all gobbled up pretty fast! They are actually really healthy muffins, with really unhealthy frosting. So I made some without any frosting so we could eat them with breakfast and not feel guilty. Try ‘em and let me know what you think!

Peanut Butter Banana Oatmeal Muffins with PB Frosting

(muffin recipe modified from here)

1^1/2 C all-purpose flour

1 C old fashioned oats

1 tsp baking powder

^1/2 tsp baking soda

^1/2 tsp salt

2 Tbsp applesauce

^1/2 C honey

2 large eggs

3 mashed bananas

6 Tbsp creamy peanut butter

1 C skim milk

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. and grease 18 muffin cups.

2. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, oats, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

3. In a large bowl, mix together the applesauce, honey, eggs, bananas, peanut butter, and milk until smooth.

4. Slowly pour the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and mix until just incorporated.

5. Divide the batter evenly among 18 greased muffin cups. ( I like to use a ^1/3 C measuring cup to help )

6. Bake 18-20 minutes, until edges of the muffin tops are golden brown.

7. Let cool for 5 minutes before removing muffins onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Peanut Butter Frosting

^1/4 C butter (room temperature)

^1/2 C peanut butter

1 ^1/2 Tbsp milk

1 C icing sugar

^1/4 tsp vanilla

1. Whisk all ingredients until smooth.

2. Wait until muffins are completely cooled, and start frosting!

RECIPE: BAKED PARMESAN TOMATOES

As you now know, Mark gets to come home for lunch every day. And, I am unemployed (and loving it). So I have been dabbling in some new recipes for lunches, dinners, and snacks! And of course, I have every intention of sharing them with you on the blog. So today, we have baked parmesan tomatoes! We ate these delicious little fruits (I am still convinced they are vegetables though) with some toasted pita and hummus. Wonderful combination. I’d love to try these on a garlic baguette though!I saw a few recipes for them on Pinterest, but decided to go with this one. The only difference is that I didn’t measure anything, I omitted the salt and pepper, and I used dried parsley rather than fresh (and only because I didn’t have any fresh on hand). I also sprinkled some finely grated mozzarella on top for added deliciousness! I highly recommend you do so too! Mark loved them as much as I did, so this little lunch meal will be added on to our go-to meals. They are so easy and quick to make, and just incredibly tasty. Let me know if you make them and tell me what you think! Enjoy!

TO BEAUVAL

Our last few days at the Westman residence were very busy. We found out that our lovely car was completely rusted out where you would normally put a trailer hitch, so we had to figure out a different way to ship all of our stuff. We fit as much as we could in our car, and then decided to ship the rest on the Greyhound bus. We bought five 6 cubic ft. boxes, and stuffed all we could into every box. 3 of them were over 90lbs! I packed 3 all by myself while everyone else was at work (but I had a little bucky’s to give me that extra little kick hehe!), and then Mark and his parents helped pack the last two and drag them all into the garage.That same day, I made dinner! I have always wanted to try making stuffed peppers, so I finally did. They are so easy to make, and so so so delicious! The best thing about them is that you can make them countless different ways. You can pretty much stuff em with whatever you want! A great way to use up leftovers.Well now it’s been 5 days since we’ve arrived here in Beauval, and we are loving it! Our drive up was long, but a lot of fun. It felt as though we were on yet another leg of our road trip to the West coast. We bought the Adventures of Sherlock Holmes audiobook set and they were very entertaining. I highly recommend them! We also brought along some homemade chocolate chunk cookies made by our lovely almost sister-in-law, and they were delicious (as is all of her baking)! Thanks LS!! And of course we stopped for multiple coffees and teas to keep us awake. Unlike our road trip where we camped and stayed with friends and family, this time we got to stay in 3 hotels! Much more comfortable than sleeping mats. When we arrived, we drove around a bit and then did a home inspection. Everything was pretty good, except for the infestation of sand flies!! Luckily the maintenance guys came by and used a little Raid to help the problem. It’s been a lot better now. Mark also patched a hole we found in our front door where we think they may have been coming in, and that’s made a huge difference. Other than that, the place is pretty nice! We just got our boxes on Saturday, so I’m starting to decorate a bit and make it feel homey. Although to be honest, it already feels like home! Here are a few little pics so far:
That’s right – a REAL FRIDGE and a REAL OVEN! We are quite thrilled. No more mini-fridges and hot pot stands! We seriously feel so blessed. We have an awesome situation here, and that goes far beyond just our house. We have amazing next door neighbours. We went to their house for dinner on Wednesday when we arrived, and we had such a great time. We went over again on Friday night to play games, and ended up just talking until 1:00AM! We have really just clicked with them, and their kids are already calling us Auntie Rebecca and Uncle Mark.
Mark’s first few days at school have been great. All the teachers are so welcoming and helpful. He’s taught some grade 9 math and worked in the grade 2 class so far. Who knows what he’s doing this morning! He finds out what he’ll be teaching every day when he arrives at school. He comes home every day for lunch, as the school is just beyond our backyard.
We went to our first church service on Sunday which is held at the school, and there we met a lot of the other teachers. Again, we just seemed to click with everyone! I’m going to join the guy who does worship next week, so I’m excited about that. Luckily we were able to fit my guitar in our car (in my brand new mint condition case that was given to me!), so I can practice.  Anyway, there is still quite a lot to do, so I will update again soon. XO!

BEAUVAL, SK

Mark and I are about to embark on a new adventure. We had only just arrived home after a month long road trip to Vancouver and back, when we got a phone call from a family friend. That friend gave us the number of their friends, who gave us the number of their son-in-law. You follow? It’s a little confusing. This son-in-law, let’s call him “A”, is a teacher in Northern Saskatchewan and was in Ontario for the summer with his wife and kids. During a visit, “A” had mentioned to our mutual family friend that the school he worked at was looking to fill some full-time positions. Our family friend immediately thought of Mark. She looked up M. Westman in the phonebook, and left a message. However, that wasn’t us because we don’t even have a landline. When she didn’t hear back, she instead called my mother-in-law and left another message. Unfortunately, my in-laws were in BC visiting Mark’s Grandma. So when she didn’t hear back again, I guess God decided to speed things up. The very first day that my in-laws arrived home from BC, they went to Costco and ran into our family friends whom they hadn’t seen in months. When my in-laws heard the story, they knew God was at work.

So last Wednesday when we came over to our in-laws (the very day of the Costco event), we heard the whole story. Mark called our family friend right away, got the number of their friends, who gave us the number of their son-in-law, “A”. Mark and “A” seemed to hit it off right away. “A” told Mark about the job opportunities in Beauval, SK, and after some prayers, we decided to apply. You see, as I’ve said before, Beauval is in northern SK (about 4 hours North of Saskatoon), and is a small town of 800 people. That deserves some goooood prayer time.

(click the map for more info on Beauval).

The position Mark applied for is the full-time itinerant supply teacher. Because Beauval is so far North, they need a supply teacher who lives in town, and will cover any class that needs it. The school, Valley View, is a K-12 school. So the position covers all the grades and all the subjects. If there is no classroom that needs covering, the itinerant supply will work with kids one on one, in the resource centre, or wherever the principal needs them to be. The position is full-time and takes home the regular teacher salary.

So Mark applied position on Thursday morning, and everything started happening really fast. He received a call back from the principal late that evening, and had a phone interview on Friday morning.  We had a wedding on Saturday, and Mark was reading some scripture, an of course during the ceremony we see that his phone is ringing! The superintendent of the Northern Lights School District left a message, but unfortunately left the wrong phone number! We tried calling back all day with no luck of reaching her. At about 1:30am when we got home from the wedding, Mark sent her an email. She emailed back the next morning with the correct phone number, and Mark called her right away. And yes, she offered him the job!

The next few days consisted of a lot of phone calls, a lot of paper work, a lot of excitement, a few tears, and a lot of packing. We had to be out of our place by the end of the month, so that meant packing up our place in 4 days. It was pretty exhausting, but felt amazing to be done.  It’s amazing though how much stuff we have collected over the past 2 years, and even more amazing that it all fit into our small basement suite. But we purged and boxed and stored and tossed and boxed some more, and we were out by Friday. We had some amazing helpers along the way, and we couldn’t have done it without them. We will always have those memories of moving out of our first home, and all the friends and family who were there to help us. So now we are living with my in-laws for the week, and all the stuff we are taking with us is sitting in their dining room.

So now some more details about our move. Well you already know we’re moving for the full-time itinerant supply position at a K-12 school, but is it really worth moving o far up North? Well we sure think so! First an foremost, Mark will be getting full-time (salary!) teaching experience with every grade and subject. On top of that, they provide us a moving allowance, so it won’t cost us anything to move up there. We are getting a hitch put on our car, and towing a small U-Haul trailer. It’ll be a 3 day drive, and we’ll stay in hotels on the way (a little more luxurious than all the camping we just did on our trip out West!). The school also supplies us with subsidised housing, and we are in a two-bedroom duplex with a basement and all appliances. Our next door neighbours are, guess who! “A” and his wife and family, who by the way, are also Christians. Have I mentioned how good our God is?! Rent is incredibly low, and we also get a Northern allowance that almost cancels out our rent. We do pay our own utilities and internet, however. We make the big move early in the morning on Sunday, September 9th.

I feel like there is so much more to say, but I think I will stop here. If you missed it, you can click the map for more info on Beauval. I just want to conclude by saying how thankful we are for this opportunity, and how excited we are. We are stepping out in faith here, as we believe that this is where God wants us to be. And we find peace in that. (2Corinthians 5:7) We would appreciate all your prayers as we embark together on this new chapter of our lives. Keep checking back for lots of updates and regular blog stuff!

RECIPE: CHERRY CHIP CAKE WITH STRAWBERRY CREAM CHEESE ICING & ALMOND SLIVERS

Mark and I don't have TV. But this past week, we've been able to watch a few episodes of Cake Boss, and so I was inspired. I din't have a whole lot of ingredients, so I just used a Betty Crocker Cherry Chip cake recipe and made my own icing. This icing is my best frenemy, and it can be yours now too!

Rebecca's Strawberry Cream Cheese Icing

16 oz cream cheese

1/2 C butter (almost at room temperature)

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

2 C powdered sugar

1 C fresh strawberries, sliced

1. Whip together the cream cheese, butter, & vanilla extract until light and fluffy. 

2. Add powdered sugar and whip until smooth and fully incorporated.

3. Mix in fresh strawberries until icing becomes completely pink.

(refrigerated any leftovers)

I made 2 8-inch cakes and slapped some icing in the middle, and then covered the whole thing. Afterwards I placed a bunch of almond slivers one by one around and around the outside of the cake, leaving the top with icing alone. That took a while. I was running out of whole slivers (the majority were broken) so I layered the bottom with some remaining strawberry slices. I suggest you keep the cake in the fridge until you are ready to serve, as the icing will become very watery otherwise.

We had some friends over on Saturday night and after a 3-layered pan of nachos, the cake came out. It worked perfectly as an almost Canada Day cake. Everyone loved it, and I hope you do too!

RECIPE: S'MORE BROWNIES

S'more Brownies

1 box of brownie mix

Graham cracker crumbs

Mini marshmallows

Milk chocolate chips

Semi-sweet chocolate chips

1. Follow the instructions on your brownie box, and bake your brownies for only half the time it requires (mine was 15 mins).

2. Remove brownie from oven. Add graham cracker crumbs, mini marshmallows and milk chocolate chips on top of brownie mix. Put back in oven and bake for remaining time as directed on box (another 15 mins for me!). 

***I just estimated amounts***

3. Meanwhile, melt some semi-sweet chocolate chips on the stove top. When brownies are done, drizzle melted chocolate on top of s'more brownie mix.

***If I made these again, I would use A LOT less melted chocolate than I did, 
or simply eliminate this step. I found it to be waaay too much chocolate.***

4. Set in fridge until chocolate cools completely (at least 1 hour), and cut into small squares to serve. Enjoy!

TUB & SHOWER MAGIC - A PINTEREST CHALLENGE

I was SO thrilled when I finally tested out this popular pin. Scrubbing the shower with a magic eraser (as much as I love those things) is NOT my favourite chore. This DIY mixture of stuff you already have in your home is brilliant! Spray, leave for an hour, and wipe. DONE. And it seriously came off just like magic. Love it.

RECIPE: CHALLAH

Challah

(Jewish Egg Bread recipe from Nancy Sleeth: author of Almost Amish)

3/4 C warm milk

2 Tbsp butter

3 eggs

1 tsp salt

4 C white flour

1/2 C oat bran

2 Tbsp sugar

2 tsp fast-rising dry yeast

1. Mix all ingredients together & knead. Cover and allow to rise in a warm place until doubled. Once doubled, punch down & knead again. Divide into halves.

2. Divide each half into 3 equal pieces. Roll each piece into a long rope - making the ropes about the same length and thickness. Coat 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Braid 3 ropes together on each baking sheet. Moisten fingers and seal ends together where 3 ropes join.

3. Allow to rise in a warm place, uncovered, until doubled. Bake at 350F for 12-15 minutes or until the top is golden and the bread sounds hollow when tapped. Do not overcook. If desired, lightly rub top of warm loaves with butter.

This recipe worked out really well for me and was really simple to make. I thought the braids would be really challenging, but it wasn't too bad! My first loaf was kind of fat, so I just rolled out the next 3 braids really thin to get a thinner loaf. This is such a pretty loaf, and makes a good impression! 

Also, I think I took the "do not overcook" too seriously, and although they were by no means undercooked, they didn't turn out quite as golden as the pictures I googled after the fact. But they still tasted really really good - especially when right out of the oven.

You can pull the bread apart piece by piece (kind of braid by braid) to eat, or slice the loaf on an angle. Nancy says this bread makes excellent French Toast on the second day, so we're going to have to try that soon! 

Enjoy!

PS - I was talking with my Jewish landlady and told her I was making "Chhhaalla" (like with what you would think a "ch" sound would make, as well as some very Canadian "a" accents).. and she was like... "uhh... khallah" (you know... with the kind of gollum throat thingy, and more of a "au" sound like in cauliflower). It was embarrassing.

RECIPE: NO BAKE ENERGY BITES

So we all know these no-bake energy bites have been floating around Pinterest for months now. I've had the recipe saved for quite some time and I finally got around to making them! And they are wonderful. They taste almost exactly like my granola recipe, but with mini chocolate chips instead of cranberries. The recipe made about 25 bites, with a reasonable amount of crumbs left over. The left over bits were mostly chocolate chips, so I saved them in a container to put over my oatmeal or yogurt. I highly recommend making these. They are so easy, take no time at all, and are delicious! Enjoy!

FAKE CALLIGRAPHY

Today's project - simple dollar store table name cards for an upcoming wedding. I have learned how to fake calligraphy handwriting - not too shabby I'd say! All you need to do is bold each down stroke in your letters. Easy and pretty!

HOT & COLD COMFORT BAG

So I pulled my neck on Sunday trying to roll over on the couch. Pretty lame eh? Well I've been meaning to make these DIY rice bags, so I finally did - even if it was a little too late. I've only made one so far, and it was sooo easy! I used a pair of Mark's old (clean) flannel boxers, and followed this tutorial. I don't have a sewing machine, so I did it all by hand, and it was super simple for my first sewing project (other than hemming pants)! See the tutorial for the complete how-to!

HONEY BUTTONS

 Decided to try out some local honey which I bought at the Natural Food Pantry just down the block. This honey is made in Ottawa, and it is DELICIOUS. So rich in flavour! Mark and I use honey almost every single day in our favourite breakfast and in my tea. Never going back.

Yesterday I found a picture of some cute button bracelets, and they looked like something fast and easy to make...
and they were! Love it.

Have an awesome first day of summer!