#13 Baking!

Wow! It's been 3 years already since my hubby and I got married and to celebrate each year, we head out for a fancy pants dinner.  This year, considering that I'm not working and S just started a new job, we decided to use our Christmas present from my sister-in-law to good use!  She and her other half gave us a experience certificate for a dinner for two at various restaurants around.  Offered through Samba Days, we had a couple nice places to choose from and decided to head to The Wine Bar downtown.  Ooooh man! It was fantastic! Never mind about the free steak plate we got because the food runner brought it to the wrong table, the rest was amazing too.  Being a tapas style restaurant, we shared 4 plates but ordered separate desserts. (Who are they kidding? How does one share a peanut butter crème brûlée?)  S ordered a warm chocolate chip caramel bacon cookie! HOLY MOLY it was amazing.  That brings me to today's entry:

I LOVE BAKING!  Never seem to get around to it enough, but I LOVE IT.

Today I decided to create some chocolate chip bacon cookies. With a little help from Anna Olsen, who I happened to catch on the Food Network earlier in the week, I had to try a couple things:  
1) adding bacon to my cookies 
2) adding corn starch.  She explained in her show that she adds the corn starch to create a crunchy outer and soft inner to the cookie.

So, with my goals for my baking session in place, and the butter softened, I embarked on an afternoon of baking and cooking that would see me create:
1) Frozen Greek Yogurt buttons (Thank you Pintrest)
2) Roasted Red Pepper alfredo
3) French Vanilla cupcakes for tomorrow
4) the most amazing Chocolate Chip Bacon cookies EVER!

After posting a pic on my FB timeline, I've had some people already ask for the recipe.  Here we go:

Ingredients
Chocolate Chip Cookies
6-8 stripes of bacon, more if you like to snack. I used maple bacon, but any kind would do.
3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup brown sugar, lightly packed
1/4 cup granulated white sugar
1 room temperature egg
2 teaspoons vanilla extract (or experiment with a different kind for more adventure!)
2 cups all purpose flour, sifted
2 teaspoons cornstarch (thanks to Anna Olsen for the idea!)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
8 oz or as many as you'd like,  bittersweet chocolate chips

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 F.
2. Dice bacon into bits and fry up on medium until cooked, but still chewy. Cool on paper towel to reduce grease.
3. Cream together butter and sugars until smooth. Scrape side of bowl occasionally.
4. Add egg and vanilla and blend in. Mix for about 3-4 mins or until its all blended.
5. Sift and stir in flour, cornstarch, baking soda and salt.
6. Add in any bacon that you haven't eaten and as many chocolate chips as you'd like. If you want, you can also add chopped nuts, flax, cranberries, or anything that you want.
7. Roll up batter into 1 inch balls. Place on a tray lined with parchment paper and freeze for 15 minutes.
8. Once they've cooled take them out and arrange on another parchment lined cookie sheet about 2 inches apart. Gently press balls to flatten a bit.
9. Bake for 10-12 minutes, until golden brown all around.

Let cool (slightly) on a wire rack and enjoy!

Now to pack some into my snack bag so that my mom can have some too. Have you seen my wetbags? If not, check them out here.

#12 Creating Things....

I've had a bit of extra time on my hands, so I've begun making more wetbags for E's cloth diapers.  (Thanks to LM for motivating me with a bag of material for her own bags.) I couldn't justify spending over $35 for an extra large bag, so I started making my own.  Then, through talking with friends and family, I find that more people use these neat bags than I originally thought! Swimsuit bags, snack bags, diaper bags, bags for medications, toiletries, beach bags, and wet/dirty clothes are just some of the many uses of these bags.

Wetbags are versatile sacks that can be used to keep wet things in. Picture yourself at the swimming pool. Where do you put your swimsuit and towels afterwards? Or what about clothes that gets messy on a daytrip?  Just pop them into a wetbag and you won’t have to worry about getting other thing wet or dirty. Also good for: cloth diapers, day at the beach and every other situation that you need to keep wet things away from dry and dirty things away from clean.

Available in a variety of sizes, you can have bags for snacks, diapers, wet clothes and towels!

Small/Snack size	18cm/7” wide Typically around the size of a medium Ziploc bag.	$6
Medium	23cm/9” wide.  Great for 2-3 cloth diapers or day bag for wet/dirty clothes for one.	$15
Large	35cm/14” wide. Fits between 6-8 cloth diapers or day bag for two.	$20
Swimmer’s Large	35cm/14” wide. Longer than the Large. Designed to fit a towel and swimsuit.	$25
Xtra Large	55cm/22” wide.  Perfect for a few days of diapers or a family of towels and swimsuits.	$30
Due to the nature of how each bag is created, not all are the exact same size. The width will be the same, but the length can vary by +/- 1”.

* Need a certain size, design or colour? Email me at: stuffmommyloves@gmail.com

Each bag comes with a guarantee on my work. If you have any problems with them, please contact me so that I can either repair or replace. Sorry, due to the nature that some of these bags will be used, I cannot guarantee wear and tear.

Care Instructions: Machine wash warm or cold. Hang to dry or put in dryer on air setting. Heat can ruin the laminate that keeps the bag reverse waterproof.

To place an order or if you have questions, please email: stuffmommyloves@gmail.com.

Thanks for looking!

#11 Friends & Family

So, it's been a while since I last wrote a post, and quite a few things have changed. I just wanted to take a moment to sit down and tell you how much I love my friends and family.  In the past 6 months I've:

- gone back to work from maternity leave

- been on jury duty for a murder trial

- had a death in the family

- discovered a thyroid issue (which isn't uncommon, but still irritating)

- and even lost my job

Through all this, my friends and family have been there to help and support us.  

It wouldn't be fair to start naming names, because I'd probably forget someone and feel like crap, so, if you've been a part of any of these, you should know by now how much we love you.  If you don't, then I'm sorry that I haven't told you.  Without you in our life, we wouldn't be who we are today. We wouldn't be the coolest people you know and would probably have healthier livers! :) LOL j/k.  But seriously, our lives would be a lot less boring and stressful. So THANK YOU.

Some of the ways that you've supported us, in no particular order, have been:

- Drunken hot tub nights

- Board game days/nights (because we're total geeks!)

- Lazy mornings that turned to afternoons

- Babysitting so we can have a date

- Adventures in pregnancy and mat leaves

- Sleepovers with our crazy baby

- Last minute babysitting while we're in out of town for a funeral

- And of course, just being there when needed

I know this isn't a normal post for me, but just in the past month, you've all made us feel so amazing, so much that it's really hard to figure out how to what to say to show you how much we love you! Have an ideas?

We've been blessed to have met such amazing people throughout our lives and love that though the good times and the bad, we know that we are never alone.  We try to do the same for you, so if there's ever anything that you need, please just let us know. Things can get really messy quickly, and it's even worse when you're alone, so give us a call!

#10 Getting Amazing Customer Service!

Each of us have had problems with products or services that we've paid for, and sometimes it can be quite a challenge to get help.  We've all dealt with customer service representatives or associates that have been unhelpful, condescending and sometimes outrageous.  But sometimes you have interactions where not only are your problems fixed, but you walk away and tell ALL your friends about it! 

Just this past week I had an AMAZING interaction, which actually sparked me to write this post.

Last week we decided to start E on cloth diapers.  (I know what you might be thinking, and really, the poop isn't that bad. They have awesome liners that make it a lot easier to get rid of it! And it's not like I have to scrub the diapers at the creek anymore; my washing machine does all the cleaning.) Any way, so one site I came across was Lil Helper.ca.  The creators of this product have an awesome sense of humor! Reading the description of the Organic Bamboo Diaper I found this:

"Remember the time that your kid removed his disposable diaper and went to town on your tempurpedic mattress. That wasn’t a freak accident. You have a lil tree-hugger for a baby." 

Continuing to read, it just gets better! In their FAQs, the first question is "Why should I choose cloth diapers as compared to disposables?" The response is written as if it was a real person talking to you.  You should just check it out here.

I decided to finally purchase a couple Lil Helper cloth diapers. They're a small company, and as Mohammed explained to me later, "we are a young company and what we lack in size, we make up in vigor and enthusiasm."  I decided to start with them for the following reasons:

• They have an awesome starter kit that gives you one of each kind so that you can try them all out and see which one you like the most. 
• For every 3 diapers you buy, they donate 1 to a family in need. 
• The diapers are less expensive (not cheaper as they explain here)
• They're from Toronto.
• They're real people with names and families, Nader and Mohammed. And they're funny!

Since I needed to see and touch the diapers before I bought them I went to Diaper-eez at 3290 Bloor Street West (at Windemere).  I ran home, washed them, prepped them and tried them out the next day. They were awesome! Lots of snaps to make sure they fit our big boy, and the inserts were really absorbant. 

The following day I was talking to my mother-in-law on Skype and I was showing her how awesome they were and when I pulled apart one the snaps, it tore out of the diaper!! I was pretty shocked considering it just tore right through the material.  So I jumped online and checked out the Lil Helper website (lilhelper.ca) to see what their return or exchange policy was.  I sent them an email and got a response a few short hours later.  Nader told me that he would absolutely send out a replacement right away. GREAT! So I was expecting to get it on Tuesday or Wednesday, thinking that they would ship it on Monday. 

The next night we were out for dinner and I just happened to see that I got an email from Nader letting me know that he had come by to drop off the replacement, but that I forgot to give him my unit number.  He came to hand deliver it!!! How awesome is that!??! I shot him back a response and let him know that which unit we were. The response I received from Nader told me that he'd leave it at our door and not only did he replace the cover, but also gave us a second one AND some awesome bamboo wipes too!! AMAZING!!! (I later found out that they hand deliver all orders within the GTA within 24 hours!)

We've had some great success with these diapers and we're gonna get more for sure!!

I have not received any payment for this review/post. I just want to share an amazing experience with an awesome company.

#9 Travelling

There's nothing like visiting a place you've never been, exploring the sites, meeting new people and trying different foods! I've been lucky enough in my life to have had the opportunity to travel to quite a few countries, provinces, states, cities, towns and villages and explore their cultures.

Road trips across Canada with my hubby, cruises to England from Ft Lauderdale, backpacking through Central America. My travel resume is much longer than that, but those are some amazing highlights from some of my adventures.

It's hard to narrow down my favourite place, because I've had some amazing memories everywhere I've been, but here are a few on the top of my list:

#5- Scuba Diving in Roatan, Honduras.  I spent 3 weeks diving here in 2006 as a part of my journey through Central America.  Originally my plan was to finish my advanced PADI course, but I just loved diving and being here so much that I stayed an extra 20 days to do my Rescue Diver certification.  (It took a little longer because we had some terrible weather) I met some wonderful people, had some amazing dives, and even had some of the best croissants I've ever had. Yup! There was a little bakery that was owned and operated by a baker originally from France!! Mmmmm.... 
#4- Cape Cod, Massachusetts. S and I took a road trip through some of the eastern US. We started from Mississauga at 11pm and drove through the night to Boston. Spent the day in Boston and went up to Sandwich, MA for the night. The following day we went up to Providence, MA and explored an beautiful little costal town full of colour, character and candy! (Mmm, fresh salt water taffy is AMAZING) I got to make a glass coaster at the Sandwich Glass Factory and then we went to Baltimore for dinner and continued to Washington DC for a night tour. The next morning went to the National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institute and then went home. A lot of driving in 4 days, but TOTALLY worth it!

#3- Camping on the beach in Costa Rica.  During my trip in 2006, we found ourselves dead smack in the middle of a teenaged spring break party in Tamarindo, Costa Rica.  It was just too much for us to handle hundreds of 18 year old brats away spending mommy and daddy's money while taking a break from school. I ran into a guy that I met earlier in my trip and he had a truck. So we climbed aboard and found an amazing beach to set up camp! A few days later we found a different beach. All in all we spent 5 nights sleeping in hammocks on the beach. What an amazing (and a little scary) adventure.
#2- Camping in Makoshika State Park in Montana.  S and I drove out to Calgary in 2007.  On our way out we went through the US and camped one night in Makoshika State Park. Located in the Badlands of Eastern Montana, this park was beautiful.  Sure, the flies were killer, but so was the view! Just looking at how the elements have weathered the rocks and imagining dinosaurs wandering through the same land was a moment that I'll never forget.

#1- Stonehenge, Wiltshire, England.  In 2009 S, I and my family took a transatlantic cruise from Ft Lauderdale, US to Southampton, England.  After disembarking we took a taxi up to Stonehenge.  We walked around the path that circled the stones, laughing at the tourists that were doing an audio tour with these little cellphone like things and totally blocking traffic.  We were just about to leave and S ran away! He ran to speak with someone that worked there, but I had NO idea what he was doing.  A couple seconds later he flagged me down and told me that he had just asked if we could get closer to the stones. The lady that worked there said that we couldn't at that time, but if we came first thing in the morning, or later in the evening, we'd be able to. Knowing that we couldn't hang around much longer, he just did it then and there. He got down on one knee, while we were surrounded by at least 100 people and proposed!!! :) Of all the moments that we had during our trip, I never thought he'd do it right then! He told me that he wanted to do it there because of the fact that it was the first place on the list of our 7 Wonders of the World that we got to see together and that he wanted to explore the other 6 as my husband, and me has his wife.  What an amazing moment!!

Our 7 Wonders of the World
- Stonehenge, England
- Great Barrier Reef, Australia
- Grand Canyon, US
- Angel Falls, Venezuela
- Great Wall of China, China
- Machu Picchu, Peru
- Great Pyramids of Giza, Egypt


What's your favourite place that you've travelled to or want to go to??

#8 A Day At The Spa

What's better than spending a few hours sitting in a comfy bathrobe, sipping hot tea, listening to calm music while someone pampers you with a manicure or massage?

Every once in a while, my friend Jen and I spend a couple hours at a day spa, where we usually get massages and either a mani or pedi.  It's a nice little escape from our every day lives, and kids! :) We've had our share of laughs too.

So far, we've learned the following:

• If you book massages for the same time, the people working there may assume that you're a couple. Not too sure why, but it's happened twice now.
• If you get a deal off of WagJag, LivingSocial or anything else like that, check out the spa BEFORE you buy it.  Look for a day spa that's in a good hotel, or one that has good user reviews online.  Try to avoid new places, unless you're up for a total adventure.  
• When booking a massage, check to see if your benefits cover a RMT massage.  It might cost an extra couple bucks, but it's TOTALLY worth it! You can ensure that your massage is done in a respectful and private manner, AND the RMT can work on trouble spots like your shoulders and neck.
• Show up about 15 mins early. It'll give you time to get undressed, and if you're lucky, even get a hot tea or something before your massage.
• If you're getting a mani or pedi, don't be afraid to tell them if your nails are too long, short or filed to the wrong shape. Even if you're getting a deal, you're paying for it.
• Generally you tip at the end of your services. But if you're not happy with your service, don't tip.
• And last, but not least, if you've had a facial, be prepared for them to try and sell you some products at the end. 

Our last spa day was actually quite successful. Nothing crazy or too weird happened! It was at the Zen Spa (www.zenspa.ca which is located in the DoubleTree Hotel in Etobicoke, ON).  I would recommend going.  Oh, and the best part was that our day included a mani, facial and RMT massage. We paid $80 I think, and we got a RMT receipt for $77!! 

So if you're looking for a relaxing few hours, do a little research to make sure that it ends up being just that.  www.wayspa.com is also a good resource (and if you get their gift cards at Costco you save $$$).

#7 The Olympics

Well, it's time for the Summer Olympics again! I love that every 2 years we get to see the world's best athletes compete in one location!  As we know, this year the Olympics are in London, England, and although Canadian's are known to be better at the Winter games, we still have some amazing competitors for the Summer games.

Why do I love the Olympics?  Because no matter what kind of terrible conflicts, events, or problems a country is having, everyone comes together to compete and celebrate TOGETHER.  As I type away about how much I love the Olympics, I'm watching the Men's 10m synchro platform diving.  The amount of practice, training, talent, commitment, teamwork, trust and discipline needed to even qualify for this event is amazing! (BTW- Congrats to China (gold), Mexico (silver) and the US (bronze).) If only we could put aside our differences for good, instead of just every 2 years!

Maybe it's because the Olympics is such a positive event that I like it so much.  Sure, there's a handful of negative news, but mostly it's about how amazing a team or individual has been and their success.  It's 17 days of happy things on TV! Rick Hansen has segment called "The Difference Makers". It takes an in-depth look at different athletes, challenges that they've had, and the special people that have made differences in their lives to help them get to the Olympics. 

I probably cry (tears of joy and happiness) more during the Olympics than I do watching Grey's Anatomy, but it's just because the amount of drive and ambition these athletes have is remarkable.  Not to mention the patriotism you see the athletes and crowd have. 

My favourite summer events are volleyball, diving, gymnastics, athletics, trampoline and of course swimming, but really, my tv doesn't change channels during the day, so I'll watch whatever is on.  Being on maternity leave for these games is awesome! I get to watch more events than I normally would.

What is your favourite event? C'mon guys, don't be afraid to comment. :)