little latte - week 13

Much happened between week 6 and week 13. My little latte grew from the size of a seed to the size of a peach, for one. And with that growth (although small) comes a bit of a belly. Myself, being quite excited to get pregnant, have been looking forward to having a preggo belly. So each little growth spurt and the slightest of swelling of my belly was exciting for me….but still presented it's issues emotionally as well. Perhaps it was more pride then anything. I had just finished a crazy diet in January where I lost 19lbs and was trim, flat, and loving my new body. Don't get me wrong, I wasn't sad that I had a baby growing in me now, but it was the fact that I couldn't tell anyone, and as far as anyone knew who saw me, I was just gaining all that hard lost weight back. And I couldn't defend myself. I had become so proud of my achievement that I didn't want anyone to think I had failed. Dealing with that, in my head and my heart, was a difficult hurdle, but I knew I just needed to get past the 3 month mark, and all would become clear.

I started showing abnormally early, 6 or 7 weeks actually, when for a first pregnancy, as well as being in good shape, one doesn't normally show until close to week 20. Well, there's just more proof that every woman and every pregnancy is different. For one, I have no body at all. I'm all legs. So baby has no where to go but out :) By week 10 I felt I was very noticeably protruding wondering how I was going to hide it for 2-3 more weeks before we spilled the beans!

Week 10 - little bump :)

I soon realized that no one even noticed yet. I was the one who looked at my belly everyday and could see the difference. I gave myself away too, not by the bump, but by the fact that I'm always absentmindedly cradling my tummy and rubbing it. Many a suspicion arose from such actions, so I'm now told. One really cool sensation I have been experiencing as of late, however, has been intense heat inside my belly. We will be driving, or I'll be walking and all of a sudden, this heat kicks on, from the inside! Like I have a little sauna or furnace and baby flicked on the switch. But not only is the heat crazy on the inside (but not uncomfortable in the least), when you touch my tummy, it's hot hot hot! it's so fascinating how our bodies are created to accommodate these little, growing beings. I love being a part of this miracle.

Besides the outward, physical changes, so were the inward. Emotionally and motionally. Emotionally speaking, I became more weepy, more confrontational (which if you know me, I'm not a confrontational person) and a bit anxious. The anxiety stemmed more from the fact that, other than not feeling super great and looking like a gained some mid-section weight, I didn't feel pregnant. Nor did I have my first appointment till almost 13 weeks. That's a long time to go, not knowing how baby is doing, how they're growing, if they're really and truly in there…you get the picture. I wasn't a wreck, which is good, but I could've easily become a wreck. Thanks God He helped me through that.

Now, motionally speaking, the nausea settled for a little bit, only coming to bother me once in a while, which was nice. Then I got a nice 24 hour flu bug or some such which threw me out of commission and that was followed shortly by a wicked head cold which progressed to an unpleasant chest cold! Here was one point of pregnancy that hit hard when I was hacking my lungs out, couldn't breathe, could barely sleep, etc….is that if you're pregnant you can't take ANYTHING! Or very little anyway. I went to the Safeway pharmacy, on the point of feeling like I was going to die if this cough didn't ease up. I walked up to the counter and spoke the words with hope "What can I take for a horrible cough/cold if I'm pregnant", to which the pharmacist looked casually at me and said simply, "nothing." I almost broke down and wept right there. But instead I pleaded "There's got to be SOMETHING, this cough is killing me," She offered some advice of something I could take, not saying the name of the product, just what was in it. At this point I was getting agitated with her non-helpfulness, but calmly was able to persuade her to come and show what that specifically would be. And I thought pharmacists were supposed to be helpful!

Well, I finally got through that and all was well….till about week 9 or 10. I can't say I had horrible morning sickness in the way of having to throw up all the time, but the queasiness became almost unbearable at times, as did the occasional heartburn. The slightest smell or sight or thought of certain foods would send me into a gaging reflux. Only now have I had a few days straight where I've felt pretty good. Hopefully we are onward and upward now! And boy I sure do love my garlic stuffed olives and pickles :) Speaking of which…...

Through the weeks Hayden has become quite attached to our growing little latte as well. It's been fun for me to see him welcome the role of daddy. He will gently rub my belly or talk to the baby (even though we know they can't hear just yet). It makes it so much more wonderful knowing he's all for this as well and just as happy and excited and nervous as I am. Periodically, throughout the first trimester, he would say to me "How much longer do we have to wait?" in reference to telling people our news. He was just as excited as I was to spread the word. At least our immediate family knew and we could talk about it with them. But Hayden is already protective of our little one and he makes sure I'm taking care of myself and therefore baby is being taken care of.

As we neared the 11-12 week mark we decided we could start telling some of our closest friends, and of course once we started telling them, we just started telling everyone because it felt so good to finally let it out! For me, though, it wasn't all quite real until I had my first maternity appointment. It seemed like July 19th was forever away and never going to get here. I wanted so badly to hear my baby's heartbeat and know there was something truly alive inside of me. I also knew the chances of hearing the heartbeat so early was also low and not to be discouraged or worried if we couldn't. But still, a mom-to-be can hope. 

Finally the 19th dawned, bright, sunny, and promising to be extremely hot. I wore a light dress to help stay cool, especially with my random hot flashes I get now and then. I arrived early, just to be sure I'd know where to go and how to find the maternity clinic at the hospital. My stomach was a knot of butterflies, and it wasn't baby moving butterflies either. Today would solidify that this is really happening. It's not imagined, there's no turning back, this is for real. Also, I had absolutely NO idea what to expect or what they were going to do, and of course was nervous about that as well.

The routine begins; pee in a cup, take your weight and height, check your blood pressure. Then comes the first appointment onslaught of questions about everything from marital status to health history, not just mine, not just my family's, but Hayden's as well. The nurse was pleasantly surprised at how healthy I was and the fact that I didn't smoke, drink or do drugs :) I aim to please. Of course, I had questions to ask. Many in fact, but could I remember any of them once I was there?….nope. I need to start making a list for my next appointment. That pregnancy brain can really get you. 

Then the Dr. came in. He was really nice and friendly and made me feel a bit more at ease, considering I'm sitting on the table in nothing but a gown, almost jumping with nervousness. He checked out the size of my uterus, which was good and then brought out……THE DOPPLER. A fun little machine that he uses to try to pick up the baby's heartbeat. Now my heart began pumping. I laid there, waiting and waiting. He moved the machine around my belly, here and there, trying to listen for a fast, small heartbeat. For the longest time all we could hear was my own heart and I wished I could turn it off, even for just a moment, if only to hear my baby. Then, there it was. A split second of baby heartbeat, and then baby moved, so the search continued. I'm glad the Dr. was persistent. He found baby's hiding spot again and then, for a glorious 5-6 seconds I heard the beautiful music of our little latte's heartbeat. I couldn't help the smile that spread across my face in that moment. It was real, baby was alive and well, and all this wasn't my imagination at all. The Dr. then checked me out to see if my date was accurate and I was basically right on schedule….13 weeks and counting.

Even after the appointment, when I had to go get blood samples taken, it didn't matter, because it was all for baby. I was floating on cloud 9.

So, we are week 13 + 1 day today and doing great. I think I'm going to go and have a few pickles now (my garlic stuffed olives are gone :( need to pick up some more) and get on with my day.

13 weeks, a definite bump is present already and I love it :)

Remember to enjoy this beautiful weather, no matter how hot (just remember the horrid winter we endured), and always stop to hear the whisper and taste the sun.

till next time!

A new journey begins

This was written many weeks ago, but due to the secrecy of the first 3 months, I'm only able to post it now. Here's a look back….


There comes a point in life when priorities change and those things that mattered, don't, and those things that didn't, do. It's different for everyone and can happen over time or change in the blink of an eye. I don't know exactly when the change happened for me, but one day I realized that I was ready for the next stage of life…..to start a family. Now, just because I was ready didn't mean my husband was. Therefore, patience is still key. I was on the pill and even had ppl tell me I should just go off and not say anything, but that didn't sit right in my heart. I couldn't do that to Hayden. It felt like it would be deceptive. So instead I took it one month at a time, approaching the subject before getting my next pack. I wanted Hayden to feel ready as well, and not just me. After all, it does take two to make and raise a baby!

We were getting ready for our trip to Hawaii and a few days beforehand I asked Hayden If I should get another pack or if I can go off the pill now. It was out of the blue that I asked and I think I caught him a bit off guard. But we were leaving in 3 days and I was heading to Costco that day and figured if I needed to, I would pick up another pack. He was silent for a while and then he spoke the words that caused my heart to race, "I think it's ok if you go off the pill." WHAT??? YES!!!! I had to ask him afterwards if he was completely sure, and he was. So off we went on vacation, not knowing what would happen now that we were playing with fire, so to speak. I didn't know how my body would react and if it would take me months to get pregnant or if it would happen right away. That's all part of the risk when you take away your only defence, and we weren't going to use other methods to hinder our chances. We weren't "trying" to get pregnant, we were just living life without a safety net, so to speak. I would have been happy to come home from Hawaii pregnant. I had this romantic idea of how splendid it would be, as we were engaged in Hawaii, to conceive our first child there. Well, this idea didn't pan out as my period came as soon as we got home. I was a little disappointed, but it was ok. I wanted to enjoy this stage of life still and not worry about what's to come just yet.

So the month continued on. It wasn't too much later that I started to get really bad bloating and cramps, unlike anything I've ever felt before. It was out of the ordinary and the first thought to pop into my head was "is this a symptom?". I asked a girlfriend who assured me it couldn't possibly be, as it was way too early for any symptoms to occur. So, I took that as I must have ate something that just didn't agree with me. Well, that soon led to me feeling nauseated…..day after day…..after day. Then my hopes started rising but I was still keeping silent on my thoughts. Then, one night I told Hayden, "I think I might be pregnant" and then held my breath for his response. He looked at me and say "oh yeah?" There was nothing for it but to do a test a couple days later, so I did. I could barely sleep the night before knowing that the next day could change my life forever.

I arose extra early and went to take the test. After it was over I crawled back into bed and looked at Hayden and said "Guess what?" and he said "What?" to which I replied…."You're going to be a daddy!!!"

it's a little blurry, but you can see the + :)

He smiled and said "Congratulations mommy." So, not even a month after going off the pill I was pregnant :)

The surrealness of this situation still hasn't hit most days. To think there's a living being that is forming in my womb is almost too amazing to comprehend. You always think about the day you'll be pregnant, but it's sure strange when it finally happens. The sense of nausea has not left me since that day. I feel nauseated almost all day from morning till night, but I feel, if this is the worst of morning sickness, I can deal with it. Fingers crossed. But I'm not that far along yet, so it could get worse.

I haven't had any cravings, but I'm definitely more moody now and more tired as well. I'm easily brought to tears and am agitated more easily as well. I'm doing my best to control the moods as they come, but sometimes that's easier said then done :P Being pregnant is like having PMS…on steroids. Plus, the upset stomach and constant tiredness doesn't help either haha.

So, that's the news for now. I'm six weeks along and looking forward to sharing my journey with you. Stay tuned!

Spring has Sprung!

There's a smell that hangs in the air once Spring has finally sprung. It's the smell that confirms that winter's grasp has finally slipped into the frigid past. It's the smell of freshly cut lawn, campfire smoke, an immense, sweet, freshness after the rain has fallen. It's all of these individually and mixed together. It reminds me of campouts, laughing with friends, sitting around the fire making smores, and bug spray…lots and lots of bug spray. For those that don't live in Alberta, let me tell you, if you don't put on that bug spray, you're getting eaten ALIVE! We have mosquitoes big enough to carry you off! Ok, that's a slight exaggeration, but I'm not far off the truth. The bugs in Alberta are all on steroids and not wearing bug spray here and like not wearing sunscreen in the Sahara Desert. You're tempting fate. Already I've captured an oversized wasp in my house. It was at least an inch long if not more. I was not impressed to find such a insect inhabiting my home. The next day a giant bumblebee found it's way into our house. It was the size of a cotton ball! And not the little ones either!

But of course, along with the bugs come all the pleasantries of Summer. The warmth, lazy days at the lake, running outside, picnics, ice cream and roadtrips. Here's hoping to a warm and lovely Summer this year, unlike last year. As I look ahead, I realize that I don't have much time left at the school where I work. I'm quite saddened at the prospect of saying good-bye to my kids. I love them all. Working at the school has been a most amazing experience, and one I am truly grateful for. We've hit the middle of May and are fast approaching the release of worries to care-free ways. Summer is the key to unlock the bonds of Winter…and here it comes! Adventure and change await and I look forward to seeing how that all turns out.

So, along with the beauty of the outside world, I've jumped on the Spring bandwagon in the food department as well. I always feel more inspired in the Spring, in my art and in life. So what better time then now to play around with some meals! A couple of lovely Spring meals I've created are as follows….

ALMOND CRUSTED CHICKEN STIR FRY 


Chicken breasts - thawed and cubed
mayan squash
eggplant
bell peppers
broccoli
almonds
agave nectar
sea salt

First, I cooked the chicken chunks and as it was cooking I drizzled the chicken with agave nectar and some sea salt.
I copped up the almonds really fine and when the chicken was cooked through I coated the chicken with the almond bits.

Then I chopped up the squash and eggplant

I put the broccoli in first to steam a bit, then added the peppers to let them cook 

I added the squash and eggplant last as they take less time to cook. 

I then mixed it all together and served it over rice.

Yummy!!!

The next dish is one of my favourites. I grew up absolutely LOVING sloppy joes. yum yum yum! I also changed the recipe to make it my own and I'm not going to say it's healthier, as it's probably not, but boy it sure tastes amazing! My only healthy switch was what I put the sloppy joe mix onto. Normally one uses buns or bread of sorts. Well, I wanted to keep the carbs down a bit for myself, so instead, I used eggplant as it has a bread sort of texture. 

SLOPPY JOES

extra lean ground beef

1 can of beans in molasses sauce (depends on how much ground beef you use. May need more)

1 can of Alphagetti (depends on how much ground beef you use. May need more)

Sloppy Joe seasoning

I sliced the eggplant a put it in the oven at 350 degrees for a few minutes to brown it up

My eggplant bread replacement 

With the Sloppy Joe mix on top. It was very yummy.

This is an extremely easy meal for those families on the go and it goes great with the Spring feeling :)

Well, I hope you're enjoying this Spring as much as I am. It's always a time of joy and love and everything and everyone are twitterpated! It's lovely. :) Get outside, savour the sun, breathe the warm, fresh air, and stay healthy!

till next time!

Baking: From Glitches to Glory

There are times in life when I'm so very glad to have the opportunity for do-overs. As much as one may like to think they can master anything the first time, it rarely happens. Thus was my experience this past weekend and also today. But thankfully, in both circumstances, my 2nd round went above and beyond and so redeemed the disaster of the first attempt.

We shall start with this past weekend.

Mission: Pancakes

Now, let me first tell you that those who have tasted my pancakes know that I make absolutely delicious pancakes. They are fluffy, delicate, melt in your mouth amazing. On Saturday, Hayden and I woke up early to take both our vehicles in to Fountain Tire for the summer tire exchange. My car was finished first, so I decided to treat my lovely husband to some Saturday morning pancakes. I raced home to get a head start so to be almost finished by the time he walked through the door. I was out of white flour (which I don't like using anymore anyway) and hadn't replaced it with any new baking flour, thus I went to my container of coconut flour, intending to mix some of it with a little bit of whole wheat flour, thinking it would do the trick. I started whisking my ingredients together with glee, as I too was craving some yummy pancakes. That is when disaster hit. May I just say right now, NEVER ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever (I think that's a good amount of "ever's") use coconut flour to make pancakes! Horrible disastrous mistake. The flour sucked up the liquids so fast, and that was only using half the amount the recipe called for! I attempted to try and fry them anyway, determined as I was, but the result was the bottoms cooking, but not cooking right through the pancake. When I tried to flip them, they fell apart into a heap of crumbly goo. Many things don't mix well together in my DNA, and today the recipe for disaster was…early mornings, mixed with emotional time of the month, mixed with crushed hopes of presenting a delicious breaky for my hubby, mixed with not getting that which I craved….all equals TEARS! Yes, that's right, I had a mini melt-down right there at the stove and there was nothing stopping it. Looking back it all seems quite silly really, but in the moment, those feelings are real. Those pancakes were a nuclear bomb on my heart in that moment. The world was ending.

Well, I knew I had to redeem  myself. I needed to find another alternative so that I wasn't forced to go back to using white flour. When one is trying to remain healthy, good choices are harder to find. Hayden has been in Calgary for a couple days with work, so I thought, perfect opportunity to try out something new! If it's a flop, only I will know. If you recall from a couple posts ago, I mentioned that little diner I ate at which inspired my maple squash butter. Well, that squash butter came served upon some buckwheat pancakes! So, that's what I looked for. I headed over to my rapidly rising favourite store, Bulk Barn. I found buckwheat and read that it was ideal for…you guessed it! Pancakes! Done and done. I left the store with my new flour and a light bounce in my step.

Tonight was the night. I decided to try, not just changing up the flour, but being inspired by that little diner, making my pancakes a filling and healthy dish. I want people to be full after eating only 2 small pancakes. Thus I gathered some extra ingredients and gave it a go!

On top of my normal ingredients (I don't use pancake mixes, I make it from scratch :)) I used the buckwheat flour and added some organic granola, hulled sunflower seeds and some blueberry flavoured craisins. Even the batter looked healthy. I also substituted normal white, refined sugar for organic palm sugar. It's a much healthier choice.

The consistency of the batter was much gooier then normal, stringy even, but it cooked faster then normal pancake batter and the best part, it cooked all the way through! I was delighted when I discovered I could flip with ease. They tasted amazing and were the very thing I hoped they would be….filling.

they smelled absolutely heavenly! 

Taking my first bite! 

Success! Yummy!!!

I have redeemed this one…phew! Now I just need to make them for my hunny upon his arrival.

The second do-over I had to worry about was this evening.

Mission:Chocolate Caramel Peanut Butter Cups

I follow a wonderful blog called Cotter Crunch and she has some of the most lovely recipes! I'm always trying out new recipes from her blog, and tonight was no different. I tried the Chocolate Caramel Peanut Butter Cups. Not only did they promise to taste good, but are healthier and a good after-run recovery snack. Done and done!

What you need….

1 cup sugar (I use the organic palm sugar. All natural, better for you)

1 cup organic peanut butter (I used natural chunky, but smooth would work too)

1 egg

1/4 cup caramel chips (couldn't find any, so I used butterscotch chips)

dark chocolate peanut butter (anyone living in Canada will have to forego this item as it's not available here. I opted for some Nutella)

preheat oven to 375 degrees. Lightly grease muffin cups. You can make regular sized ones or mini ones. I made the mini's.

In a medium bowl, stir together sugar, peanut butter, butterscotch chips and egg.

Roll the  mixture into balls. Press and flatten the balls into each muffin cup.

Then take the Nutella (or if you can find it, the dark chocolate peanut butter. And if you find it, please let me know where!) and place it in a ziplock bag, cut the corner and use as a decorating tube.

Bake for approx 15 minutes or until the edges are set and the bottoms and edges are lightly brown.

I took this 15 minutes literally and my first batch (yes, I had to make two) came out way too dark….ok, they were burnt, and tasted not so nice. The centres were ok, but to get to those centres was not a lovely experience. The fragrance, however, which wafted throughout my home was mouth-watering. Like peanut butter cookies, only better.

the first batch looking quite sad.

Thus, thankfully, I had time to try again and hopefully improve on this treat. Tomorrow is run day, so I wanted to have a little snack upon my return. On the 2nd round, I skipped the little paper cups and just greased the pan itself. I then only baked the cups for 10 minutes. This batch was much MUCH better. I don't have a good "after" picture of those ones, but trust me, they were almost perfect. :) I was so zealous in wanting them out of the pan, however, that I crushed a couple of them. I then took a breath, told myself to chill, let it sit, and the last few popped out with little effort. I'm definitely looking forward to my recovery snack tomorrow!

Feel free to give it a try. Obviously if you have allergy's, this is not the snack for you. Unless you want to try the No Nutz peanut butter. That would work too! 

Well, I do hope that you've been given the chance for do-overs in baking glitches and mishaps in your home. Feel free to share those moments if you dare. I hope this post finds you well and enjoying the sun which is finally turning our world green.

Till next time!

looking forward and thinking back

Today is Mothers Day. A grand day when we remember the amazing woman who raised us, loved us, and helped shape us into the person we are today. I love my momma and am sure glad she's mine. Of course one always has their ups and downs, who doesn't? But our friendship outweighs it all. I love spending time with my mom and savour the moments we share.

As I think on today I realize how ready I am to become a mom and to raise my own little latte kiddies (my husband is mocha, so our children will, naturally, be latte). Every time I see a little munchkin, I'm completely overwhelmed with the maternity tug. Especially today in church. We had a team go to Haiti and a guy go to Malawi. Both presented on their trips today, showing pictures and video of the beautiful children in those places. I was moved to tears with a longing, not just to have my own family, but to go to those places, to hold those precious kids and love on them. My heart strings were definitely tugged with full force. Family is a powerful thing and it's always fun being together and having each other.

Looking back just last month, Hayden and I were blessed to go on a trip with my family, spend some quality time reconnecting, laughing, making memories, and of course, sleeping on the beach. For those who don't know, my parents and my youngest brother, Bryan, live just outside of Sylvan Lake. Hayden and I live in Medicine Hat, about 4 hours away and my other brother, CJ, and his wife, Heidi, live way up in Fort Nelson, B.C., so family times have become more rare over the past few years. so, this year we said goodbye to the cold Spring and flew to Hawaii for a blissful 12 days. There we encountered sea life, enjoyed the ocean, ate good food, went snorkelling, toured around, shopped till no end….and just had some good quality fun.

in the limo on our way to the hotel. Let the good times commence! 

the siblings + 1 (Dustin was adopted for the trip :)) 

the boys went deep sea fishing. CJ spent the time on one side of the boat (in the striped tank) and Bryan spent the time on the other side…..chumming the waters. Dustin, Dad and Hayden are finding this funny. 

Hayden, snorkelling at Hanama Bay

me snorkelling 

Mr. Sea Turtle that we swam with 

enjoying the day! 

mom and dad at dinner at Tanaka of Tokyo  

Hayden and I went on a tour with the Samoans. The backdrop here is home to several movies, including Jurassic Park, George of the Jungle, Tears of the Sun, Mighty Joe Young, 50 First Dates…among others.

The last night together 

view of the ocean from our hotel

One of the most amazing discoveries of the trip, however, were these delightful things called "BUBBIES!!!!" Mochi Ice Cream to be more specific. They are absolutely amazingly delicious! Heidi and I discovered them half way through our trip and were addicted instantly! I had them almost everyday thereafter. Good thing I didn't discover them the first day! They are balls of flavoured ice cream wrapped in a sweetened rice confection which is chewy. A lovely combination. For anyone heading to Oahu, check them out! They are made locally!

 You can't go wrong with the amazing flavours they offer. yum yum yum!!!! Chocolate-coconut was my favourite and Lychee was Hayden's fav.

All in all, in a was a fantastic trip that was restful indeed. Much needed and honestly, it was just fun to be with the family for that time. Life becomes so busy and crazy these days, that to have these moments, these memories, is a breath of fresh air. So, take time with your family. Don't take them for granted or wish them away. Love every moment you have with them and savour those moments.

And especially today, give your mom a hug and let her know just how much she means to you.

till next time!

Decadent Squashes

I cannot believe how fast time flies. Here I am, writing my heart out so often, then next thing I know, 2 months fly by without a single word from me! It's not because nothing exciting happened, the opposite in fact. This is the reason for my blog tardiness….I just had no time. I've come to realize that I don't like having no time, but such is the reality of this life. What happened over the past 2 months, well, my birthday, a family holiday, and the beginning of a new adventure. That's all I'm going to say about it right now, as those are not the reasons for today's homecoming. I will be sure to write more in the near future.

Today's topic, however, is SQUASH! Growing up I never really cared much for squash of any kind. I don't know if it was the texture or lack of natural taste, or maybe the fact that I only was introduced to spaghetti squash and it was always baked with a sprinkling of salt and pepper, which growing up was not to my liking on any food. Whatever the reason, I never really went for squash…until recently. My taste buds have found a new friend. The first new squash I discovered this past week are Mayan heirloom squash. They are green and roughly the size of a tennis ball. (sorry for the bad pic)

The pkg said it was the best tasting squash in the world, so I dared to test this theory. I purchased a pkg of them at Costco (always a good deal for fruits and veggies) and took them home. I washed them, thickly sliced them, then fried them in a bit of coconut oil with a slight sprinkling of, you guessed it, salt and pepper and a dash of garlic powder. The outcome…utter deliciousness! I will be looking for these little lovely squash again.

My second run-in with amazing squash this week happened whilst in Calgary for a couple days. I spent the day with my friend, Stephanie, and she took me to her favourite little restaurant for breakfast. It's called Diner Deluxe and has a fun, retro, 50's feel about it. For anyone living in the Calgary area, I definitely recommend it. Not only is it a fun place to sit and visit, but the menu items are amazing healthy, organic and most importantly, delicious! I decided to have some buckwheat pancakes and it came with some maple squash butter. Not knowing what to expect, I awaited the arrival of my plate. Was I in for a pleasant surprise. With my beautiful looking pancakes was this mound of orange paste, which, when tasted, caused a smile to spread across my face. It was a lightly maple flavoured squash puree that I spread thickly across my pancakes. It was remarkable how good it tasted. I was determined to make this creation on my own, knowing it probably wouldn't be half as good as this.

On my Costco day, when I purchased those delightful little mayan squashes, I also bought some pre-cut, pre-pkged butternut squash and thought I would give it a whirl. I then went to my friend, the google search engine, to see what I could find. I came across this recipe for maple squash butter from Kitchen Opera. I gave it a try and the outcome was pretty good for a first go.

First I boiled the squash till it was soft. I then used my magic bullet to puree the squash and poured it into a large pot.

I then added…

1/4 cup 100% pure maple syrup
pinch sea salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla extract
I couldn't find whole cloves as the recipe called for 2, so I put in about 1tsp and a bit of ground cloves. I think this was bit much, but did give the butter a bit of a spicy edge to it that's not bad
1/4 tsp nutmeg
juice from 1/2 lemon

I added all this to the pot and stirred it all together heating everything up (although my puree was still piping hot, so it didn't take long).

I then turned it down to low for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.

When my husband came over to try it he said, with a smile, it smelt like his favourite cigars which have cloves in them. So I guess that means I created a cigar smelling squash butter haha.

Needless to say, it tastes amazing and I've put some in the fridge to have on toast or pancakes and froze the rest in small containers. As it's been in the fridge it's thickened up nicely.

I can see using a variation of this recipe for my kids' food when they first start on solids. That is, down the road when I have kids :)

Well, this concludes my squash excitement for the day. Try this out if you like. It's all natural and the only sugar is what is contained naturally in the maple syrup, which for the amount of squash butter this made is not very much. If you still don't want to use that sugar, you could opt for no sugar added maple syrup or I'm sure you could add a bit of sweetening using some liquid stevia and use maple flavoured cappella drops. That would probably work too!

Enjoy and I'll try not be too long before I write again!
Till next time

Oscars highs and woes

It's been quite a while since I was last here, laying out my thoughts in the written form. I have missed it. I was blessed to have last week off of work and thus, Hayden and I went home for the weekend and then he went up to Edmonton to do a tiling job for my aunt and uncle. I went up for a night with him and then went back to my parents house for a couple more days before venturing home. Since getting home, last Friday, life has been in the fast lane! I did get to do some fun blitz shopping whilst away, however. It was much needed as nothing in my wardrobe fits anymore!

When I arrived, I quickly surface cleaned my house and got myself pirate ready. It was my turn to host our girls "dress club" night and I made it pirate theme. Twas fun.

Saturday I had the cleaning frenzy descend upon me and I completely cleaned my room and purged my closet. Boy did that ever feel great! I love walking into my room and not stumbling over shoes and clothes and other "things" that were just laying about. I feel so much more organized. Now to finish off the 3 other shelves in my pantry.

But Sunday was what I was looking forward to the most. The night of The Oscars!!!

Now to some, this may not seem like such a big deal. But there's just something about this particular awards show that I just love. I watch them every year (or try to at least) and I print off the ballot and mark down my predictions and watch breathlessly to see if I got it right! A definite high point. However, this year, wasn't thrilled with the choice of hosts.

Anne Hathaway, bless her heart, tried so hard to make the evening enjoyable, even by changing her gown every 20 minutes or so, but James Franco just wasn't a good guy to bounce anything off of. He looked stoned the whole night. Maybe he was! :) Verdict: woe hands down.

Now for some of my favourite categories…

As far as best actor, actress etc goes, I hadn't seen any of the films represented, so I couldn't rightly judge the grade of acting. So I guessed. 2 out of 4. I got both leading roles correct, Colin Firth for The Kings Speech and Natalie Portman for Black Swan, but stumbled on the supporting roles. No biggie.

As far as Animated Feature was concerned, I knew Toy Story 3 would take the Oscar. How did I know this? Well, it was also nominated for Best Picture, and come on, we all know that a Pixar movie, no matter how great, is not going to beat out the  likes of The King's Speech, Inception or 127 Hours, just to name a few of the 10. But when nominated in both categories, it's going to win one of them. However, I was still disappointed with this win. Don't get me wrong, I love Toy Story and the third instalment is no exception, however, How to Train Your Dragon, in my opinion, should have won. It was creative, new, imaginative, funny, and well put together in all aspects. Plus, it was not the third part of a trilogy. Woe for sure.

The Animated Short Film was also a woe. I loved "Day & Night" and thought it brilliant and Oscar worthy. "The Lost Thing" beat it out. I have never even heard of this film…and it won the Oscar. Woe!

Inception did extremely well, as a movie of that caliber should. It took home the Oscar for Cinematography, Sound Editing, Sound Mixing (although, Tron equally deserved this Oscar, so I was torn over this a bit), and Visual Effects. All of these were well earned. A high point of the night. However, why Christopher Nolen was passed over for being nominated Best Director is beyond me. He deserved to be at least nominated for Inception, even if he didn't win the Oscar (for it was rightly won by the director of The King's Speech). I shook my head, and maybe my fist as well, at this outrageousness. Another woe where Inception was concerned was Original Score. Hanz Zimmer (my favourite composer of all time, just FYI) went above and beyond in the score for Inception. One of his finer compositions, to be sure. He got the Oscar nod, which is good, but he should have had his name called and accepted that Oscar. I would have been understanding is John Powell had won for How to Train Your Dragon, but the Social Network? Really?? Definitely a Woe of the evening. The biggest Woe actually.

Alice in Wonderland got my thumbs up, my vote, and the Oscar for Art Direction and Costume Design. Both were earned absolutely by this film, which was brilliant. A shining moment for Tim Burton.

Original Song went to Randy Newman for Toy Story 3's song "We Belong Together". I was happy to see him win, as this was his 20th nomination and only his 2nd Oscar win. If anyone has been Oscar teased, it's certainly Randy Newman. His win was a nice victory for all his hard work and contributions to many beloved films of the past (6 of which are Pixar films).

The final award of the evening, however, was Best Picture. The word of thumb with the Oscars is this, whoever wins the Oscar for Best Director, their film will 99% of the time win Best Picture. That's just how it works. The Kings Speech did just that this year and took home the most coveted Oscar of the entire night. Hats off to you!

All in all it was a great night hanging with some great girls, eating some great food, laughing, cheering, booing, enjoying, celebrating even, as this night went on. It was certainly one of the shorter Oscars I've ever watched. And it was so refreshing to not see Angelina Jolie or Brad Pitt even once. I don't even know if they were there. One year I'll be there…maybe. Maybe for a screenplay I've written, or just because I have a seat way up in the nosebleed section. But one way or another, I would LOVE to be at the Oscars, live, dressed to the max, surrounded by and participating in the reverberating, thrilling electricity that is The Oscars.

Till next time!