Ontario strawberries are almost in season! When they are, we'll eat them for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. There's nothing quite like them! Strawberry Spinach (or Field Green) Salad is our favorite way to incorporate the sweet, red berries into an evening meal.
Serves: 4-6 people Ready in: 15 minutes * For THMer's, this recipe falls into the Satisfying category. Ingredients:
6 oz. fresh spinach or organic field greens
2 cups, sliced strawberries
1/4 small, finely sliced red onion
2/3 cup slivered almonds or walnuts
1/4 cup goat cheese (chevre, or feta)
3 Tbsp olive oil
2 Tbsp plan-approved strawberry jam (Smuckers has a stevia-sweetened version)
2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper.
Directions: Mix first 5 ingredients together and set aside. Add the rest to a jar and seal tightly before shaking to make the dressing. Add dressing to taste and refrigerate the unused portion. Enjoy immediately!
It's Sunday morning. The alarm clock didn't go off like it was supposed to. Rolling over in bed, you squint at the red digital numbers and start to panic. There's an hour before you need to leave for church. You bolt out of bed, rudely wake your sleeping husband and try to scare him into action by telling him the time. Jumping into the shower, you realise you forgot your change of clothes and holler at your drowsy hubs to bring them over. You skip shaving your legs and conditioning your hair, dry yourself off in a hurry, only to discover that you had forgotten to iron your Sunday blouse. Having just had a baby, this is the only one that fits and is convenient enough for breastfeeding. You sigh as you button it up, promising yourself you'll keep your coat on the whole church service and nobody will notice.
You throw your hair into a quick ponytail. No time for anything fancy today. Running downstairs, you wake up your toddler and are too frustrated to enjoy her chipper morning spirit as she chatters away while you change her diaper. You rummage through her clothes, only to discover that her Sunday dress is still in the laundry room, probably hidden under the rest of the unfolded clothes. A skirt and tights will have to do. The tights have a hole in the toe. Oh well, her shoes will cover it.
Racing upstairs, you plunk her in her seat at the table and dash off to wake the baby, hoping he'll be alert enough for a good feed by the time the rest of you are done breakfast. While changing his diaper and trying to decide what he should wear to church, he has an explosive bowel movement leaving you no choice but to give him a bath. While you frantically wash the poop out of his hair, your husband calls from the kitchen to let you know that the syrup bottle is empty. Cheerios for breakfast on a Sunday. Again.
Placing baby in his bouncy chair, you wolf down your Cheerios, bouncing baby's seat with one foot, and feeding your toddler, who is highly distracted by the shadows the sun is helping to make on the dining room wall, with your empty hand. As soon as you're done your cereal, you ask (tell) your husband to take over feeding your toddler while you nurse your wailing baby in the messy living room you were too tired to clean up the night before. Trying to be as holy as possible considering the time, the rest of family gathers in the living room for devotions, where you pick the shortest Psalm and mumble a 20-second prayer so you can say you've done your duty.
After cutting baby's nursing session short, you lay him down on the floor, throw on your new white coat, and buckle your newborn into his seat. You had forgotten to burp him and he hurls all over the front of your new coat. No time to change. You pass the infant seat to your husband to place in the car while you hunt for your toddler's missing shoe. Where did she put it?! Already running three minutes late on the week your husband needs to hand out bulletins, you decided it's okay if she wears her rubber boots to church just this once.
Finally, you're all in the car and you race off to church. As your toddler begs you to sing "Twinkle, Twinkle" for the hundredth time, you scream "Shut up! We're going to worship!" The gas light comes on. Hubby assures you that even though you might be running on fumes, you'll probably make it back. And if not all the way back, at least you'll be stranded on a major highway where lots of other church folk will be passing by and will surely stop to help. Just as you remember you left the tithing cheque and diaper bags in the front entrance, you see cherries flashing in the rear view mirror and hear a siren wailing in your ear. Busted.
Have you ever had a Sunday morning like this? We haven't had one quite that bad, but pretty close. Even though we need to leave by 8:45am to be at church in good time, I've found there are several things I can do to make it fairly relaxing and peaceful for everyone. A good morning starts the evening before. Here's some things I try to make a habit of doing so that Sundays truly are a day of rest and I'm not running around like chicken with my head cut off or barking out orders like a drill sargent:
Things to do Saturday morning:
Decide what you'll be eating for each meal on Sunday. Make as much as you can ahead of time and slot in a trip to the grocery store if necessary.
Check to make sure all the Sunday outfits are washed and ironed. A good way to avoid ironing, is to pull out your clothes from the dryer as soon as it finishes and hang them neatly in your closet.
Make a trip to the gas station and top up the tank.
Things to do Saturday evening before bed:
Pack diaper bags. Include at least one extra outfit, three diapers, and wipes. Charity's bad also includes a cookie or two and a drink for in the baby-sit. Judah's bag is the bigger of the two as it also holds my nursing cover, extra nursing pads, a spit-up rag, and another shirt for me-just in case.
Lay out each person's complete outfit in where they normally get dressed. For us this means a onesie, dress shirt, socks, pants, coat and hat on top of Judah's dresser; an undershirt, tights, a dress, shoes, and coat on Charity's; a suit, dress shirt and tie on the bathroom counter for Brad to change into after his shower; and my skirt, a button up blouse, camisole, and head covering beside my bed.
Set the table for breakfast. If you're worried about flies pooping in your bowl or glass overnight, turn them upside down. We usually have waffles with Maple syrup, and orange juice on Sunday mornings which means three place settings including forks, knives, plates, and glasses. I also lay out Charity's bib and put two capsules of fenugreek next to my glass.
Shower. I've realized I don't have to have a shower Sunday morning. It saves a lot of valuable time and is a great way to wind down by taking it Saturday evening before bed. After my shower, I usually lay out my earrings, and hair accessories on the bathroom counter so I don't have to hunt for them the next morning.
Tidy the house. It's not the most wonderful thing to be doing on a Saturday night, but waking up to a tidy house is so much more relaxing for everyone! Set the timer for 10 minutes and you'll be surprised to how much you can accomplish. You'll be glad you picked up the toys even though you didn't feel like it.
Put anything you can into the car. Diaper bags, purse, tithing cheque. The more that's already in the car, the less you'll forget. And you'll save yourself a bundle of time.
Place all the footwear by the door. Make sure there's two of each. Unless of course, you happen to be missing a leg.
Things to do Sunday morning:
This is the order that works best for us in this season of life: wake up, do my hair, get kids dressed and Charity's hair done while Brad showers, have breakfast, family devotions, nurse Judah while Brad clears the table and gets Charity's coat and shoes on, get myself dressed, put Judah's coat on, out the door.
Get the kids dressed as soon as you take them out of bed. This saves having to go back into their rooms after having breakfast. If you're worried about them spilling on their clothes, invest in some good quality bibs and help the younger ones eat if necessary.
If you're nursing, dress yourself after baby's done his feed, burped, and in his car seat to save having to put together another outfit. You can get dressed in 4 seconds flat. I've done it.
Your husband wants to help. He might just need you to ask him what to do. Ask kindly and specifically instead of using body gestures and indirect commands. (i.e. Ask, "Honey, could you please put Charity's coat on?", instead of huffing loudly, "Charity's coat still needs to be put on and I've still got to get dressed, and I can't find Judah's soother!")
Give your hubby a really good kiss on the way out the door. No matter how rushed the morning was, this will erase any memory of it. :-)
Several months ago a food-loving group was created on Facebook. Its name was the "Cathedral Village Needs a Cheap Breakfast Place", or something like that. It seems that the Village just hadn't been the same since the Quality Tea Room shut down several years back.
I quickly joined the group, as did several hundred other Regina folks (What did we ever do before Facebook groups became the new face of activism, by the way?). The Facebook fan page continued to grow, many of its members calling for a cheap plate of hash browns and bacon... like now.
Well, some wishes do come true.
The Mercury Cafe and Grill opened its doors in April. The place seemed to spring up overnight on the corner of 13th and Robinson streets in a spot that has housed numerous other restaurants.
The Mercury is a diner, no doubt about that. From the bright red vinyl booths to the formica and chrome tables, stepping into The Mercury is like stepping back 50 or 60 years in time. The Mercury is also under the same ownership as Regina's well-loved Novia Cafe, another all-out diner. This is a good thing -- who better to start a new diner than the folks who run one of the city's oldest and best?
I've been to The Mercury twice now, once for breakfast and once for supper. It's hard to find the right word to describe both experiences. It wasn't fantastic, but it wasn't horrible either. Perhaps satisfactory is the right word.
Weekend breakfast bustles and hustles in The Mercury. If you're not there by 11 on a Sunday, you're going to wait in line for awhile. Granted, The Mercury could easily jam a few more tables into the dining room in order to shave some time off the waiting game.
Your choices for breakfast are classic standbys: bacon and eggs; hash browns; pancakes; an omelette. You get the picture. Now, is it cheap? That depends on your definition of cheap. Most items run around the $8-9 mark, plus the cost of coffee and/or juice. I've had cheaper, but I've also had more expensive.
Service can be a little disorganized, but hopefully the servers work that out amongst themselves as the restaurant irons out the operating wrinkles. We had to wait 30 minutes for any food to hit the table at breakfast, almost enough to push us to the breaking point, but not quite. Fortunately, our waitress took good care of us in the meantime.
Now let's talk about supper for a moment. Once again, there are few surprises on the evening menu. Nachos; chicken wings; chicken fingers; burgers; clubhouse sandwiches; and grilled cheese are a few of the choices.
We ordered up a plate of nachos to get things started. With a $10 price tag, we pictured a nice platter of cheesy chips and veggies. We couldn't have been more wrong. A dinner plate with a puny pile of nachos on it was what we got. Even worse: the scarce bits of cheese on the chips were overcooked and rubbery. Epic fail, my friends. Epic fail.
Next up: the burgers. Now this is where the action is at. Tender homemade beef patties are smooshed between fresh buns with all the fixins. I went for the Mushroom Swiss. Big Willie had The Mercury Burger (two patties with fried onions, mushrooms, shaved ham, Swiss and cheddar cheese). All burgers come with a side. We went for the french fries and they were done to perfection.
Big Poppa (my dad) went for the open-faced Hot Turkey Sandwich... which came with hot chicken, oddly enough. But he got past that.
All in all, The Mercury offers up decent food in a comfortable room. The motto seems to be: come as you are, eat what you will. Now if they'd only fine-tune the nachos and up the portion size for most of the breakfast menu, we might have a sure-fire winner on our hands.
This recipe is a low-fat, absolutely decadent-tasting, cheesecake-like dessert that keeps you full, healthy, and satisfies your sweet tooth! When I first discovered it in Trim Healthy Mama, I said, "Where have you been all my life?!"
I win The Best Mom In The World award when I serve this to the kids for breakfast. They think they're getting dessert!
This recipe comes from Trim Healthy Mama and is reposted with permission fro the authors. Cottage Berry Whip Time: 5 minutes Servings: 5-6 *For THMer's, this is an E, S, or FP.
Ingredients:
2 cups (1 container) low-fat cottage cheese
2 cups mixed berries
Truvia or NuNaturals to taste (when I make this for the kids, I use honey as the sweetener)
Directions: Put all ingredients into blender. Pulse until thoroughly blended. Serve and enjoy!
The whole family will enjoy this dish for breakfast, lunch, or dinner and because it's loaded with fresh spinach, this breakfast bake is an ideal choice for pregnant mamas who need an extra boost of folic acid! Maximize the health benefits by using farm-fresh eggs, raw milk (almond milk works great too), grass-fed turkey bacon, and organic produce.
An excellent source of protein, folic acid, calcium, and fiber. Gluten-Free and Trim Healthy Mama friendly! Ingredients:
6 eggs
1 cup milk
1 1/2 cups cheddar cheese, grated
salt and pepper to taste
10 bacon strips, fried and crumbled
8 cups fresh spinach leaves, washed and dried
1/2 an onion, finely chopped
Directions: Beat eggs, milk, cheese, and salt and pepper together in large bowl. Fold in bacon, spinach, and onion. Lightly butter a 9"X13" baking pan. Spread mixture evenly inside pan and bake at 375F for 25-30 minutes or until knife comes out clean.
This weekend I headed down to the Portland Antique Expo in beautiful Oregon! I planned to meet up for the first time with a couple of my favorite fellow bloggers. Let me tell ya, I was sooo excited!! I've read about so many of the Georgia bloggers getting together and I must admit I was more than a little envious *winks* And I would be meeting Isabel from Maison Douce who has one of the most fabulous dreamy blogs ever!! As well as her being an antiques dealer! (can it get any better? *winks*) Anyhoo, I took one look at Isabels booth and knew it was hers!! So full of wonderful things!! Here we are! And I must say, Isabel is just as warm kind and lovely as I thought she would be! She even took me to a few of her favorite booths... and boy howdy did I see why!
Then my new friend Michelle from Chocolate and Marmalade Tea joined us and we all had ourselves a good girl gab! Actually we "gabbed" so much we pretty much missed the show! That was actually OK because both Michelle and I had broken our budgets by about the third isle! Lol ! *winks* Anyhoo if you haven't visited her blog please do! She has the most beautiful pictures of comfort food! As well as her three wonderful kitties!
Me Isabel and Michelle (note to self black boucle is NOT slimming! Lol!)
Isabel had the most beautiful wedding dress in front of her booth! The front was lovely... but the back!! oohhh la la!! Soooo fab! Check it out!
Isn't it wonderful???!!!
And here is one corner of her booth, full of so many charming things! Isn't that a darling pink desk and chair? And that lampshade is a neat one too!
And isn't this the cutest dresser?!!! Well Isabel gives you instructions on how to make your own here as well as a few other wonderful projects. I know mine would never turn out as darling as hers because she is the QUEEN of fabulous old fabric!! And look at the sweet concrete statue of a deer.
This wonderful old vintage pillow with pink roses went home with Michelle.
In retrospect I wish this vintage barkcloth pillow had gone home with me WAAAHHHHH !
This little coffee table was in Isabel's neighbors booth and was only $65
This one was more than a little bit more... but oh so charming!! Don't you agree?
I loved the old fabric covered drawers!
I REALLY wanted this one to come home with me. It's a late 18th /early 19th century letter box. The seller even offered it to me for $200 less than the marked price... but I was really trying to be good!
I saw these quimper plates and thought immediately about Debbie at Confessions of a Plate Addict The seller told me I could have it for $35. I don't know enough about quimper to tell if that's a good price or not... but Debbie always has pairs with a boy and a girl... And there wasn't any boy... so I passed. Au revoir !
This sweet little dish reminded me of my dear friend Ann at LIFEATANNSPLACE I just know she would love it!
This italian tole candelabra was sayin ' my name... but I wasn't listening "LA LA LA LA LAAAAA " Sheesh ! Some of those items can really "scream at ya! *winks*
So did these sparkley warkleys !! And just look at the fabulous silk tapestry behind it! I might have to go back for that one. It has ME written all over it!
This spelter figural clock reminded me of my friend Gloria at Happy To Be She has a collection of the most amazing clocks... Don't think she has this one, and the seller said I could take it home for $100. It's a big one too!
Then I spotted this one out of the corner of my eye and I went a runnin "!! Only to find that she was $2400!! NOOOOOO !!! That's WAY TOO MUCH!!! And I really wanted to take her home!! Sometimes the sellers are smoking crack... or just really out of touch with our current economy *sighs*
OK so for what I DID get. I had to be good at the show and keep to a $100 budget because I found this on ebay !! It was $247 and it's absolutely gorgeous!! It's a 6'x9 aubusson carpet featuring the most beautiful pink roses! I will be using it in an upcoming project which involves a chandelier as well *winks* So keep visitin '!
But I did find this pretty little dresser jar/casket. It's lined in blue velvet.
Here it is with a couple of others that I have.
And just look at this sweet antique cherub clock! Well he HAD to come home with me!!
In the larger context.
And this wonderful vintage dresser tray come from Isabels booth. It will always remind me of our meeting!
Cute rose detailing.
And last but not least, this little Victorian syrup pitcher. I can't wait to use it for Sunday breakfast!
Well thanks for coming along with me! The Portland Antique Expo show was a winner! I can't wait to go back for the next one! Vanna
Some mothers don't believe it's fair for a young child to work. They say it deprives them of a fun childhood and is nothing more then an excuse for Mom not to do all the work herself. I suppose this could be true in some cases, but in our house we give Charity and Judah jobs to do because:
We are not raising children; we are raising adults. Hopefully, by God's grace, ones that will be responsible, capable, productive members of society.
They want to help. Seriously, they do. I can't clean the bathroom without one of them asking, "Mommy, can we have a rag too?" Giving into their request and praising them for hard work is not child abuse. It's capitalizing on a small window of a child's life where being "just like Mommy and Daddy" is fun!
Of course, I don't expect them to clean the same way I do at 2 and 3 years of age. Many times (most of thetime?) their jobs could use a re-doing. Sometimes I go over where they've "dusted" when they're not looking. If I know they've tried their best, I usually leave it and live with the imperfections that will naturally become more apparent to them as they grow older.
If it's obvious that they've been hasty in their work or have done a job half-heartedly, we go back and finish it together. They like working beside me and usually try to copy what I'm doing exactly, or I'll try to coach them through it with simple instructions. It might look something like this: Charity (3) is using a wet rag to wash the floor with me. Frustrated, she complains, "I can't get this dirt off!" I take my rag and wipe away the spot saying, "See? If you push hard and go up and down like this, it cleans up much easier." She runs off to find another spot on which to utilize her newly found information. Jumping up and down excitedly, she exclaims, "Look Mom! I just washed that spot all by myself!" She has just been taught how to effectively wipe up a spill and now the game is fun all over again.
One of our tots helping to wipe up his smoothie spill after breakfast. In addition to wiping away dirty spots on the floor (because something about carrying around a damp rag is absolutely empowering for little cleaners!) here is a list of other jobs we ask our tots to do:
Line up footwear neatly in the closet when coming in from outside.
"When you take something out, you put it back." If they're big enough to dump all their toys, they're big enough to put them all away.
Help Mommy put laundry in the washing machine or dryer (this works well if you have front-loaders. Top loaders are probably too difficult for them to reach).
Sort laundry by colors.
Fold wash-cloths, tea towels, socks, and small blankets (Our 3-year-old daughter loves to do this. Our almost 2-year-old's fine motor skills just aren't there yet).
Dust baseboards.
Bring dishes to the counter after they're finished eating.
Straighten the hand towel in the bathroom after using it.
Tuck chairs underneath the table after eating
Use a hand-held vacuum to pick up crumbs
Don't insist on perfection, be generous with praise, and specific in instruction. If you're understandably worried about getting your kids to clean with harmful chemicals, I highly recommend Simply Clean: DIY Solutions For A Naturally Clean Home. This book provides over 30 tried and true, natural, homemade cleaning recipes that actually work!
What other chores have you discovered your toddlers are capable of performing? Anything else you'd add to this list?
I saw a billboard today advertising the return of Regina's Farmers' Market. This now has me convinced that spring is really on its way.
The spring markets start March 6 in the Cathedral Neighbourhood Centre on 13th Avenue (across from Safeway).
True, the indoor markets are nowhere as exciting as the outdoor markets on Scarth Street. That being said, the farmers' market is still you best one-stop shop for local products. Plus it's an excuse to have breakfast in the Cathedral area on a Saturday.
