Simply Delicious - Avocado Toast

The recipes I share are normally designed with my kidlets in mind, but today I thought I'd share an easy grown up recipe that could be tweaked for kids if you so desire. Sometimes Mama (or Daddy!) needs a quick, easy and satisfying bite, and this is my quick fuel obsession of the moment - avocado toast!

If you haven't previously been introduced to the deliciousness that is avocado toast, give it a quick google and you'll find dozens of mouthwatering pictures and recipes. It's simple, versatile, and well, have I mentioned how delicious it is?

Avocado Toast with a Guacamole Twist

1 slice crusty whole grain bread, toasted
1/2 small ripe avocado (or 1/4-1/3 of a large avocado)
1 tbsp chopped cilantro
2 tbsp cooked corn
2 tbsp chopped tomatoes
Squeeze of lime juice
Salt and pepper to taste

1. Mash avocado until spreadable but still a bit lumpy.
2. Add lime juice and cilantro; stir to combine.
3. Add corn and tomatoes, mixing until coated.
4. Spread on toast and season with salt and pepper.

Avocado Toast (with a guacamole twist!)... mmmm.....

That's it! Adjusting the toppings to your taste, mood and the contents of your fridge results in endless combinations. The carbs and healthy fats will keep you going. And, your taste buds will thank you!

Simply delicious!

Cutting Mama Some Slack

Monday was not a good day. 

We managed to get to play group and enjoy ourselves, but it was a battle to get out the door.  Then, it was a battle to get everyone on board with coming back home.  After lunch, Mini Muffin decided that her afternoon nap was not going to happen.  Little Smiling Man, after being awake all morning, slept less than an hour.  At 1:38, it was official.  Everyone was up, no one had any intention of sleeping, and everyone was miserable because they were tired.  As the afternoon went on my nerves got frazzled, the kids just roamed around playing at will, and my patience was soon in as short supply as structured and educational activities.  Little Smiling Man was teething hard, and becoming more distraught as the afternoon progressed due to fatigue.  Mini Muffin was sure that she wasn't tired, even though she was exhausted and irrational.  I briefly considered calling my husband and asking him to come home from work early; I felt like I was failing so badly at the whole parenting thing. 

By some wondrous occurrence of telepathy, he arrived home at 4:00; an hour and a half earlier than usual!  He found me trying to comfort Little Smiling Man in his room, and Mini Muffin in her room with pretty much every toy strewn on the floor.  I cried.  My husband jumped into action, he was amazing!  He made Mini Muffin and I a smoothie to help even us out, spent sticker time with Mini Muffin and when Little Smiling Man decided that five minute's sleep was plenty and woke up screaming he went to get him and kept him entertained.  All of this gave me a bit of time to compose myself, look around my disaster of a kitchen, and figure out what to feed the kids for supper.  Mini Muffin ended up with a peanut butter sandwich, glass of milk and an orange.  Little Smiling Man got a collection of whatever was in the fridge.  Hubby and I made due to cheese and crackers.  Thankfully everyone was asleep by 7:30, and by 7:45 the kitchen was somewhat straightened and I collapsed onto the couch with tortilla chips, salsa and a fluffy movie on Netflix.  I was in bed at 8:45, and doing a pretty good job of beating myself up over this failure of a day.  My husband, bless him, was his usual supportive self and assured me that it wasn't all that bad and that I was doing a good job.

After some rest though, I got to thinking.  Maybe he was right and it wasn't so bad after all?  In my working life, I accept that some days are better than others.  I have super productive days, and I have not so productive days.  I have days when I feel like I could conquer the world, and days when I just can't seem to win.  On the days that don't go so well, I come home, get some strength from my family, lick my wounds, and go on to face the next day.  Not the end of the world.  Yet, as a mama, I expect that every day is going to be great.  There will be smiles, fun, good memories, engaging activities.  Every day will be a win, and every day I'll conquer the mommy world.  Maybe the problem was not my bad day, maybe my expectations of myself are actually the problem.

At the end of the day, my kids still know that they're loved even if I'm short with them now and then.  They were safe.  They were dressed and fed.  Heck, they were even bathed.  I think I need to remind myself that all of those things are the most important wins on any given day, the rest is just gravy.

Tuesday was a whole new day.  I cut myself some mommy slack, and just went with it.  We had fun; we read stories, worked on puzzles and sticker activities, visited the Science Centre, and while Mini Muffin chose not to nap again (ugh), we all had a lovely afternoon.  There was playing outside, and a properly cooked dinner.  There were bedtime snuggles, and little angels tucked into their beds.  Tuesday was a day that I felt like I won.

The moral of this story?  Not every day is rosy, and that's okay.  So long as the kids have the basics and are loved, it's time for me to cut myself some slack and just go with it.  Even Mama is human and is allowed an off day every now and then, right?
 

Homemade All Purpose Cleaner

Ever since Little Smiling Man started enjoying solids as part of his diet four months ago, kitchen cleanliness has been a challenge.  He adores his food, and while he's getting neater, he still eats a bit like a Muppet with lots going into his mouth and lots coming back out.  Imagine Cookie Monster in a highchair next to your kitchen table, and then imagine what cleaning up after his meal would look like.  That is my reality.  Three times a day.  His hands, face, bib, clothing and highchair are soon coated in whatever he's eating (be it from a spoon or a finger food).  And just for good measure he likes reaching over and spreading it anywhere on the kitchen table that he can reach.  Clean up after meals involves a thorough wipe down of his highchair, his tray, the table, and sweeping and mopping the floor.  Then there are the messes that Mini Muffin makes; putting her food directly on the table because Little Smiling Man's food isn't on a plate either, toppled cups or spills from her spoon.  I think it's suffice to say that a quick swish with a dishcloth simply does not cut it for these kind of messes!

Luckily, I came across a recipe for a homemade all purpose cleaner (that isn't a chemical cocktail) on a blog I enjoy - Nashville Wife.  I gave it a try and found it to be very effective; great and cleaning and free of residue!  It cuts through all kinds of messes with ease; yogurt, grease, mashed fruit, and some messes I can't even decide how to describe.  I have made three batches so far, and I'm especially happy with my latest batch.  I think this time I got my recipe tweaks just right, so I wanted to share!  For your reference, the original recipe is here.

Homemade All Purpose Cleaner

1 part white vinegar
3 parts water
squirt dish soap
10 drops essential oil of choice per cup of solution

1.  Add vinegar and water to an empty spray bottle; I use a 1L bottle, so use 1 cup vinegar and 3 cups water.
2.  Add a good squirt or two of dish soap; I use the classic blue Dawn.
3.  Add essential oil; 40 drops for 4 cups of solution.  Lemon essential oil is my personal favourite, but you can find a wide variety of essential oils at health food stores.
4.  Seal, shake and use!  I give the solution a little shake before each use because the oil separates and I like an equal amount of lemony freshness throughout the batch!

The heavy lifter in this mixture is of course the vinegar, also known as acetic acid. It's been a staple for home cleaning for more years than I can imagine, and for very good reason. It's a powerful cleaner, cuts grease, and is even a disinfectant. In other words, it's fantastic for keeping kitchen surfaces clean and free of E.coli, salmonella and other common bacteria like pneumonia according to David Suzuki. The essential oil is basically for scent, but depending on which you choose (for example, tea tree oil) you can even up the antibacterial power of your cleaner with those scent filled drops.  Finally, the dish soap is there for a little more cleaning and grease cutting muscle.

I really enjoy that I know exactly what I'm spraying on my little man's highchair and eating surfaces, as well as around the kitchen.  And equally importantly, I find it works really well... even when it's a few hours before I get back to some of those caked on messes.  I hope you too can find this recipe a good way to reduce chemicals in your home, while keeping it shiny and clean.  As I think you can gather, I'm so happy that I came across that blog post and added this homemade cleaner to my everyday cleaning arsenal!

Toddler Craft - Potato Stamp Art

Yesterday was just one of those days.  Try as I might, I just could not get ahead.  Someone needed something at any given point in time.  Little Smiling Man surprised me and took his main nap in the morning instead of the afternoon, and so he was just ready to get up as Mini Muffin was going down for her nap, so there wasn't even a moment's respite.  And, Mini Muffin decided that it wasn't a good day for a nap so her mood was precarious throughout the afternoon.  To her credit though, she got up and read quietly in her bed for an hour without any prompting from me when it was her nap time.  Don't get me wrong, we had lots of fun; stickers, playing outside, puzzles, errands and so on, but I just didn't seem to have a moment to spare. 

As dinnertime approached, I was getting pretty desperate for enough time to empty and reload the dishwasher, and to make some special banana pancakes for the kid's supper.  The solution?  Set Little Smiling Man up in his highchair with lots of Little People toys to keep him occupied, and set up craft time for Mini Muffin.  Just giving her paper and scissors, or paper and crayons will keep her busy for a few minutes, but for a good chunk of time I've learned that we need an actual craft.  Wracking my brains for something that would be fun for her and easy for me to set up, I came up with an old 'un but a good 'un.  Potato stamp art!  Memories of preschool craft time anyone?

Ready to go...

Within five minutes she was busy stamping away; all we needed was a potato, some small cookie cutters, paint and paper... and a smock of course!  She had a great time dipping the potatoes in different combinations of paint colours, stamping them and adding some finger painting into the works.  It was a great sensory activity, and let her work on some new painting skills as she experimented with painting her stamps versus dipping them. 

Artist at work!

Before she announced she was done, I was able to achieve my goals - dishwasher emptied and reloaded, kitchen (sort of) straightened, and special banana pancakes well on their way.  Thankfully as we finished up washing Mini Muffin's hands, hubby got home from work so he was able to tidy up the paints and heated our supper of leftovers, while I got the kids sorted for dinner.  With a great sigh of relief, we all sat down to eat together!

Mini Muffin's Masterpiece!

This is definitely an easy and fun craft we'll be going back to in the future.  I'd say it's a timeless classic for a reason - it's simple, fun, allows for lots of creativity and is different every time!

Simply Delicious - Vegg'ed Up Pizza Sauce

Like so many little kids, Mini Muffin adores pizza.  With this in mind, we found ourselves making pizza over the weekend.  It's a fun family activity that Mini Muffin loves to help with - making the whole wheat dough, spreading the sauce and sprinkling it with cheese and pepperoni.  Of course I love my pizza with lots of veggies, but in her world pizza is only pizza if it's plain pepperoni pizza.  Sigh.

So, I made my sneaky vegg'ed up pizza sauce.  This is the second time I've made it, and the second time I've forgotten to take pictures!  It's also the second time that Mini Muffin has loved it.  It's super simple and easy, and is a great way to sneak a few veggies onto plain pepperoni pizza!

Vegg'ed Up Pizza Sauce

1/3 red bell pepper
1 medium carrot
1 small zucchini
1 - 1.5 c of your favourite pasta sauce

1.  Coarsely chop all veggies, and steam until soft.
2.  Purée steamed veggies and pasta sauce.
3.  Spread on pizza and enjoy the veggie goodness!

It makes me giggle that Mini Muffin, both times, has watched me cram as many veggies as possible into the pizza sauce, yet doesn't seem to register that there are extra veggies in there!  Both times, she's watched me whirl the sauce smooth, and asked me to taste.  After giving her a dipped spoon to lick, she has decided that she needs more.  So, on both occasions she's eaten a small prep bowl of vegg'ed up pizza sauce while we prep our pizza.  I suspect she enjoys it because the texture is nice and smooth, and the red bell pepper makes it nice and sweet. 

But whatever the reason, I call it a win for Mama!

Little Smiling Man's Nemesis

We just got back from an appointment with our nurse practitioner, so I thought I would share with you Little Smiling Man's new found nemesis... unknown allergies.  Ugh.  We've been on quite a journey for the last four months with no end in sight.  So now seems as good a time as any to write about what's been going on.

We were and are very lucky with Mini Muffin's skin.  Even as a newborn she could tolerate "normal" laundry detergent; no need for special hypoallergenic baby stuff.  She rarely got diaper rashes, and to date has had maybe three viral rashes in her life.  That's it.  It's safe to say that my experience with treating skin conditions from my first born was slim.

Little Smiling Man got off to a good start too.  He was more prone to diaper rashes, but they were always manageable.  He was more prone to baby skin conditions like baby acne, but we were still able to use our regular laundry detergent with him as well.

That is, until he turned six months old.  At his six month well baby check up I learned that the rough patches on his knees and lower back (which were starting to spread across his belly) were not from rubbing against the floor as he squiggled around, but were in fact eczema.  Our family doctor suggested that he was likely developing a sensitivity to our laundry detergent, so we should switch him to hypoallergenic detergent with an extra rinse, cover him head to toe in Vaseline nightly (as a barrier), and it should resolve itself quickly. 

It did not resolve itself quickly.  I ended up switching the entire family to hypoallergenic laundry detergent to no effect.  Since I had read that eczema can be a symptom of food allergy, and we were still early in the food introduction process, I also cut out solid foods from his diet and reintroduced them one by one.  I documented everything he ate, everything I ate (because of nursing), and his symptoms.  Eczema flare ups were lasting from days to more than a week, and it was almost impossible to quantitatively say if they were better or worse after a meal.  Especially since their condition is also influenced by temperature, contact, and humidity.  I gave up after about a month since there seemed to be zero correlation between either of our diets and his skin.  At about eight months, his skin suddenly improved and we had about a month's reprieve with only occasional flare ups, despite his diet continuing to expand and not having eliminated anything from it. 

Somewhere along the way we also started trying other skin soothing tips and tricks we received from those around us.  Oatmeal baths, which my mother swore by for my sensitive skin as a baby.  Minimizing use of soaps.  A hazelwood necklace, as a friend claimed it took care of her son's eczema as well as her own skin sensitivities.  Only wearing cotton to maximize breathability.  We tried each one because, goodness knows, it wasn't going to hurt!  None has had a significant impact to date, though we continue with occasional oatmeal baths and only rarely use soap on Little Smiling Man's skin.

Just after his nine month check up, a new rash developed.  It got worse over three days until it was raised, rough, angry, covered his trunk, and resulted in our Christmas Day visit to the emergency department for what we learned were hives.  We were told there was nothing that could be done, to keep them moisturised and give Tylenol for the discomfort.  They also suggested logging what he was eating and exposed to in order to try and figure out the trigger.  Argh!  The outbreak lasted a full week with nothing seeming to make it better or worse.  We had a two day reprieve, then another (slightly less severe) outbreak.  I'm so grateful that his allergy or allergies are not life threatening, that is an absolute blessing.  I do though find it is so frustrating that one outbreak lasts so long that it's nearly impossible to figure out the cause!

So, today, we went to see our nurse practitioner for help.  She was fantastic.  She gave me practical advice on caring for his rashes, and explained what's been going on.  Essentially, his immune system is maturing, and as it does it reacts to certain triggers.  They may include physical contact (e.g. detergents, soaps, etc), medications, foods, and so on.  Each reaction is complex, as its severity is impacted by the allergen itself, as well as his clothing, the weather, and so on.  She explained that it's not surprising I haven't gotten to the bottom of it, dermatology is a complex subject.  She also said that his sensitivities will change over time, and while both the eczema and hives are definitely related to allergies at this point, he will likely outgrow them.  As a result, there's no benefit to seeing an allergist at this time, as we're working with a moving target.  Comforting and incredibly frustrating at the same time - I just want my baby to feel better!

Perhaps the best part of our visit, in my opinion, was when she left to do a bit of research, and came back to tell me that contrary to what we'd previously been told, there are in fact antihistamines available to babies from six months of age!  She prescribed us one that is non-drowsy and lasts 24h!  It's to be used on an as needed basis, but should shorted the duration of hives from a week to a day, thus making him more comfortable and diagnosis of his triggers much easier. 

She suggested I keep a look out for high histamine foods, as well as suspected histamine triggers.  So, tomatoes, strawberries, citrus fruits, etc.  Now that we won't have to wait a miserable week of itchy skin between diagnosis opportunities, I'm feeling like this might actually be manageable!

So, at nearly ten months old and four months into Little Smiling Man's skin conditions, I can honestly say I have no idea what is going on or how to stop it.  I know a bit more about how to keep him comfortable, what to look out for, and now have tools to shorten the duration.  I also know that it's quite likely that as soon as I figure it out, his allergies will disappear and/or change, and it's just part of the process.  I'm blessed that he's such a happy baby; even when he's miserable he's calm and relatively happy.  So, we'll keep working on it and hopefully either his immune system will sort itself out, or we'll learn how to keep his immune system from going into overdrive. 

Wish us luck... We need it.

Baby Clothes Organization

In light of my 2016 organisational resolution I posted here, I thought I'd share an organisation project I did back in the fall - baby clothes!

When Mini Muffin was born, I had good intentions and a plan to keep all of her baby clothes organised and well stored for future use. As she outgrew each size I folded and bagged them, labelled and put them in a large storage bin. Easy! Until nine months that is, when her bigger clothes no longer fit in a single bag. I ended up just stuffing them into a storage bin, and the sizes started to be intermixed. Then the bins got full, and I resorted to a clear plastic yard waste bag. The clothes were definitely in a state of loosely organised chaos. And that's not to mention the outdoor gear, shoes and socks!

Fast forward to Little Smiling Man's arrival. At that point, I realised the problem with my original organisational scheme. The beautiful gender neutral clothes that I'd received at my baby shower were now mixed in with girl clothes.... in neatly labelled bags by size. Digging through it all was a pain, I missed a few items, and that was before I reached the nine-month-stuff-it-in-a-bin 'organizational scheme'. And now there were boy clothes being added to the mix that also needed to be stored in case a third baby should need them.  The baby clothes situation was quickly getting out of hand!

When Little Smiling Man was growing out of his six month clothes, and Mini Muffin's 2T clothes also needed to be packed away, I decided to take action. I'd been thinking about how to best organise them all, and had a plan that I thought would take an afternoon to complete. It took a few afternoons, but I'm really happy with the result!

Before I began, there were four large storage bins that were stuffed to the brim, two stuffed diaper boxes, and two yard waste bags. As you can see in the picture below, it was pretty out of control.

Before... Everything overflowing and disorganised

Conveniently, the week I started this project vacuum storage bags went on sale at Costco. Perfect! So, I started with the smallest clothes and worked my way up. First, I put all boys and girls newborn pjs together, since I'd want both options to be washed and ready to go prior to a new baby's arrival. I then sorted newborn girl and boy clothes into separate bags, since these I'd pull out and wash for use after the baby was born (and thus after gender was known). Next, I pulled out all gender neutral clothes and pjs, and stored them together; one bag for up to six months, and one bag for larger sizes. From there, each size got an appropriately sized vacuum bag for each boys and girls clothes. And, since I'll want to reuse these bags, I tucked a card with gender and size inside before vacuuming them closed; this way everything is labelled without the bags being marked. Also, as I worked I weeded out the clothing that was still in good condition, but that I hadn't really liked and so would unlikely use again. These were separated out for donation to charity.

Since outerwear is something we'll be digging into seasonally regardless, I put boys and girls outerwear together in a single vacuum bag. Baby Hallowe'en costumes also went together in a single vacuum bag. And finally, I sorted shoes and socks by size and gender in labelled kitchen freezer bags. 

And that was that! I packed away the sealed vacuum bags, and the end result is shown below. Two diaper boxes for donation, and four large storage bins containing newborn to 2T girl clothes, newborn to six month boy clothes, outerwear, shoes, costumes, and an 'on the go' bag for each gender of sizes in the process of being grown out of. Much more manageable and sustainable moving forward!

After - boxes for donation, bins for storage

To summarise my tips -

• Store gender neutral clothes separately for easy access regardless of gender.
• Just because it's in good condition, you don't have to keep it. Donate what isn't functional for you.
• Good quality vacuum storage bags significantly reduce overall storage space.
• Having a variety of vacuum storage bag sizes is a bonus; toddler clothes take up much more room than newborn clothes!
• Experiment with filling the vacuum bags before getting too far into the process.  How you fill them impacts their shape after being vacuumed shut, so you need to make sure that the final dimensions of the bags will work with your storage space (bins, closet, etc).
• One well labelled bag for each size and gender will make it easy to find what you need later.
• Store shoes separately from clothing as they don't compress, so will make everything take up more room.  One bulky bag of shoes is much more convenient than shoes interspersed amongst clothing.

All in all, it was a pretty fun organisational project.  It was certainly nice to be able to take some time to turn my learnings from Baby #1 into a smarter set up for Baby #2 and any subsequent siblings.  It even helped me rediscovered some larger size gender neutral pjs that Little Smiling Man will soon grow in to.  And of course, I am thrilled for the more efficient use of closet space now that the yard waste bags have been eliminated! 

Planning an Organised New Year

Happy 2016!  I truly hope that this year brings health, happiness and peace to one and all.

We spent a lovely New Year's Eve together, as a family.  We had a nice dinner with a set table, candles, and some of our leftover Christmas crackers.  Dinner is always more fun when wearing silly paper crowns!  After dinner, we played by the Christmas tree for a while, and did a countdown at 7pm.  Then, off to bed!  I'm glad we called it an early night since Little Smiling Man had a rough night, so every minute of sleep was precious!

Looking back, 2015 has been a very busy and fantastic year.  On the family front, of course the biggest change was the addition of Little Smiling Man to our family in March.  We are so blessed.  2015 also saw Mini Muffin turn two, and really grow into her own little person.  It saw me begin my maternity leave, and grow into being a mother of two.  We had three family getaways; a trip to Vancouver to visit my in-laws, some cottage time in the summer, and finally our trip  to Niagara and a water park just before Christmas.  2015 was also the year that my sister got engaged, and my cousin got married.  On the home front, we started and finished a basement renovation (which straddled Little Smiling Man's arrival).  It was a full and fulfilling year to be sure.

Looking forward, 2016 is shaping up to be pretty amazing too.  My sister's bridal shower and wedding are coming up.  I was honoured to be asked to be Matron of Honour, and look forward to helping make her special day perfect.  Mini Muffin will be Flower Girl, and Little Smiling Man will be the Ring Bearer.  It promises to be a wonderful occasion.  2016 will also see Little Smiling Man learn to walk, turn one, and develop some language skills.  Mini Muffin will turn three, and continue to be awesome.  We're undecided on family getaways, but I'm sure we'll figure something out.  And, I'm sure there's more exciting stuff coming in 2016, so stay tuned!

As part of looking forward, so many of us think about resolutions.  My resolution is to continue the organisational progress I made in 2015.  When our renovation suddenly started in late February (mere weeks before Little Smiling Man was due to join us), the house got turned upside down.  The large, messy, 'stick it in the basement' storage area needed to be fully emptied.  Most of our 'storage' (e.g. junk) space was lost, and everything needed to find a new home either in our home, the recycling center, the dump, or an appropriate charity.  It was a major undertaking!  I developed an overall vision of what would be stored where, and began the jigsaw puzzle of making it happen.  One closet needed to be cleared out to make room for another item, which in turn made space for something else, and so on.  In the weeks leading up to our new arrival, I made a point of cleaning out and organizing one thing a day - a closet, dresser, cabinet, etc.  A couple of months after Little Smiling Man joined us, I finally finished.  I can happily say that in 2015 I went through and organised every single storage space in our house.  It was very rewarding; clutter was reduced, we realised we had things we'd forgotten about and could make use of them, and I learned about more local charities to help me rehome quality goods.

Therefore, for 2016 (and each year going forward), my goal is to clear out and organise every storage space in the house at least annually.  One of the great things is that the more clutter I get rid of, the easier the task becomes!  In order to make my goal realistic, I decided to spread out my organisational endeavours over the course of the year.  This, led me to... organise my organisational plans!

So, in preparation for the New Year, I set about getting organised.  I started by listing every storage space in the house.  Then, clarified how many times I wanted to go through it.  The vast majority of spaces I plan to go through once a year, but there are exceptions.  For example, the front hall closet and bedroom closets need to be gone through twice a year as part of the seasonal clothing switchover.  And, I've committed to clean out my pantry once every three months to help minimize food wastage. 

With these details included, I defined which spaces would be small, medium, or large jobs.  And, finally started assigning them each a month during which to be completed.  I also front end loaded 'the plan', since I expect the fall will be a busy time for us.

My last step, was to transfer my plans onto the family calendar.  Rather than assigning a day or even week to the task, I listed them by month to give myself maximum flexibility.  I also added monthly tasks of catching up on filing (something I am so woefully behind on at the moment that I'm afraid to start), and cleaning out the snack containers, art projects, mittens and toys that seem to accumulate in my van at an alarming rate.

"The Plan"

And with that, my resolution was set.  I feel ready to tackle the New Year in an organised fashion, and hope to be able to report back on my progress!