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Sweet Chili Chicken Peach Wrap

Sweet Chili Chicken and Peach Wraps

EAT, family meals By April 16, 2014 Tags: , , , , , , 1 Comment

Instead of tortillas, try this gluten-free alternative. They’re easy to make, a super way to use leftovers and customize to your own taste.

11/4 cups (300 mL) cut into strips cooked chicken
3 tbsp (45 mL) Thai sweet chili sauce
1 (14 oz/398 mL) can California Cling peach halves or slices, in fruit juice concentrate or light syrup, drained and patted really dry
8 large rice paper round wraps
4 very small leaves Boston or leaf lettuce, torn in half
3-inch (7.5-cm) piece cucumber piece, cut into julienne strips
1/2 small red pepper, cut into julienne strips
8 to 12 mint leaves (optional)
Additional Thai sweet chili sauce for dipping

1. Have all your ingredients prepared. In a small bowl, stir chicken with sweet chili sauce. Fill a pie plate with warm water. Lay a damp smooth kitchen towel on the counter. Thinly cut peach halves into slices or use peach slices.

2. Working with 1 wrap at a time, dip in warm water until it is just pliable, 20 to 40 seconds. Place on kitchen towel. Place ½ a lettuce leaf near bottom of circle. Place 2 peach slices on top of lettuce, followed by 1/8 of chicken, then 1/8 of the cucumber and red pepper and 2 to 3 mint leaves depending on size.

3. Fold bottom (edge closest to you) of rice paper wrap over filling towards centre. Fold in sides to slightly cover filling. Then roll to totally enclose filling and form a roll. Set seam side down on a cutting board. Repeat with remaining ingredients. If sending for lunch, leave whole. If serving as an appetizer, slice in half diagonally. Serve with additional sweet chili sauce.  Best eaten right away but if storing, make sure they aren’t touching each other as they will stick. Cover with barely damp paper towel, then seal tightly with plastic wrap.

Makes 8 rolls

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11 Ways to Reuse Common Items to Make them Useful

FAM, self By April 10, 2014 Tags: , , , , , , 1 Comment

I’ve been exploring household items we can reuse. I thought I would stretch the whole family to use items around the house we don’t really need to create things that are either beautiful or serve a function needed to be filled. We are getting crafty. Of course there are many ways in which we already reuse items—pickle jars become Lego storage, coffee tins collect coins in the laundry room and broken terracotta pots become drainage at the bottom of other potted plants.

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My Family on Recycling

Uncategorized By April 4, 2014 Tags: , , , , 4 Comments

Recycling 30 Green DaysOf all of the weekly challenges in the SC Johnson 30 Green Days Challenge, recycling is my all-time favourite. It’s not the easiest task for our family, but it is definitely the most personally satisfying!  Living on an island 40 feet from the shore means that all groceries, gardening supplies and bags have to be brought across in a wheelbarrow on our boat. Recycling, garbage and yard waste have to be carted across the other direction to be disposed of properly.  For our family this has always meant two things:

1.  We purchase refillable containers and buy in bulk where possible. I have fancy jars with chalkboard paint on the front and feel very crafty when I fill them. The process also makes me prepare more home-cooked meals for the family.

2.  We compost everything (including dryer lint and egg cartons) so as to reduce the amount of garden soil we have to buy and bring across to bolster the gardens. It also saves us hauling garbage back across to put in landfills.

As with any goal, we do have a long way to go in terms of recycling. This week (and henceforth I hope), this is what I will focus on:

1. I am guilty of not removing labels and washing jars and cans properly.  I will fix this. Or have the kids add this task to the ways they can earn a few extra dollars.  Removing labels and washing cans ensures that items sent to recycling facilities are never rejected.

2. We also tend to toss beer cans and wine bottles into the recycling when we could be returning them to the store for a refund. I will set up a bin in my trunk for the returnable containers. Even though the family has always recycled these containers, we may consume less if we add in the extra step of returning the items.

3. I like to buy on sale and I’ll admit that when they are on sale, I buy premade, processed foods like family-sized lasagnas (that come in a foil pan inside a box). I will go back to my Sunday routine of cooking double and triple recipes and freezing family meals to pull out during the week. Eliminating packaging by cooking for myself and re-using my own dishes is always preferable. When I do purchase processed foods, I will try harder to make sure they come in fully recyclable packaging.

4. Birthday parties and Christmas always create masses of garbage – plastic from toy wrappings and cartons from all of the tech that I adore. I vow to gift in alternate ways: donate to charity or purchase unique and special items on Etsy that will be cherished and don’t come in exorbitant packaging.

5.  I have a confession. I do not actually know for sure if milk cartons and other containers made of something other than plastic, glass or metal can be recycled in my area.  I will make an effort to research the criteria in my city to ensure that I am recycling all that I can.

6. Part of recycling involves the reuse of furniture and necessities around the house. I just bought a new slow cooker and instead of tossing the older one, which still functions, I will list it as a free item on Craigslist. Looking around my home, there are many pieces of furniture, glassware and other ‘treasures’ that could be more appreciated and put to use by another family. Let the culling begin!!!

This past week’s water challenge got the family into a routine of putting the environment at the front and center of our consciousness.  Turning off lights, taking shorter showers and repurposing rainwater have become part of the norm. I am thrilled that the kids are becoming aware of each tiny step they can take to help our planet, and this challenge – even in two weeks – has forever altered our footprint on the earth.

While SC Johnson is the sponsor of the 30 Green Days Challenge, all opinions and comments within the post are my own.

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MATCH International

charity, FAM By April 2, 2014 Tags: , , , , , , , , , , No Comments

MATCH International Womens Fund.jpgMATCH International is a grant-making agency that raises Canadian dollars (non-government) that are put directly in the hands of the communities who are fighting against female injustice.  Is invests in social innovation by providing agency of change to those who need it most. MATCH believes that the ability for social change comes from within the community itself.  They believe that it is the people who live within these communities who are most capable of identifying what needs to be changed in order to create gender equality, and creative ways to do it. So to them, and to me, it makes sense that they directly support the people and the projects that are most affected by the struggle.

For example, in Malawi, young women were missing 3-5 school days a month when menstruating until MATCH funded a local program that allowed mothers to develop and produce locally-sourced cotton pads which were provided free to the students and sold within the community.  This project provided a source of income for the mothers and markedly reduced the numbers of school days the young women were absent.  On a larger scale, two years ago MATCH provided seed funding to the African Women’s Development Fund (AWDF) to foster programs working for social justice, equity and peace; today the AWDF supports 90 projects in 29 African countries.

I had the honour of speaking with Jess Tomlin today, the Executive Director of MATCH International Women’s Fund.  Jess was in Toronto this week promoting their newest grantee partner and project:  Boxgirls Kenya. This organization provides sport, leadership, and mentoring to over 800 Kenyan girls.  It gives the girls a feeling of empowerment.  It encourages them, their families, and the entire community to challenge the common perception of what girls can do, to see the world in a new light, and it allows them to think about how else their lives can be. This program yielded the first woman in Kenya to represent boxing for the Olympics games in 2012. This is the foundation of change that MATCH whole-heartedly strives to support.

Companies like MATCH and stories like these are the ones that inspire me to believe that we can change the world, that we can do more than just survive but thrive in bad situations.  However, for every project that MATCH was able to fund this year, 80 projects had to be turned down due to lack of funding.  MATCH was able to provide for 15 of the 1200 recent round of applications.  That leaves hundreds of communities who have created goal-directed projects still in desperate need.  Today I learned that of the money that Canadians spend on charity only 8% goes toward international causes: of that 8%, ½-¾ of this money is in response to a natural disaster – leaving 2% of Canadian donations going to all other international causes.

Jess Tomlin goes back to Ottawa today, in time to participate in the International Women’s Day on Saturday March 8th.  This venue provides an opportunity to raise awareness and increase donations to MATCH so that this organization can continue to grow and advance the rights and equality of women around the globe by providing agency of change to those who need it the most.

MATCH

– Colleen Docksteader

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jessica mulroney

An Interview with Jessica Mulroney

baby, FAM By April 2, 2014 Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , No Comments

Sometimes I just feel so tech-savvy. In Germany to visit a relative, I managed to purchase a SIM card for my android so that I could interview Jessica Mulroney by phone. While eating German kuchen. Speaking English on the phone and German to the waiters. It was quite the day!

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6 Minute Breakfast Frittata

EAT, family meals By April 2, 2014 Tags: , , , , , , , , , 3 Comments

6 Minute Breakfast Frittata

I love this recipe for a very quick breakfast frittata. It looks especially divine with fresh chives drizzled throughout!

Ingredients:

8 Eggs
10 tiny tomatoes chopped in half
3 slices cubed bread
1/2 cup chopped ham
1/2 cup grated cheese
1/4 c milk
1T olive oil
1/4 cup chopped fresh chives
salt and pepper to taste

Mix all ingredients in a bowl as you heat oil in a skillet on medium heat. Pour egg mixture into skillet and cook 4 minutes. Try not to touch it as it cooks. Using two spatulas, gently flip over your frittata and cook another 2 minutes.

Cut and serve.

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5 Ways to Keep Your Kids Safe in a Car Seat

5 Ways to Keep Your Kids Safe in a Car Seat

auto, FAM, GEAR, health By April 2, 2014 Tags: , , , , , , , , 1 Comment

Take a moment to consider this sobering thought – whether you’re driving around the corner or heading out on a road trip, accidents can happen at any time.

Results from safety checks across Canada reveal that between 30-80% of child car and booster seats inspected are installed incorrectly. Is yours one of them?
Fact: Car crashes are a leading cause of death and hospitalizations for Canadian children under the age of 14.

From using the wrong car seat at the wrong age, to relying on Dr. Google for instructions on proper car seat installation, parents are unknowingly making potentially deadly travel safety decisions.

Certified Car Seat Installation Technician and Parenting Expert Maureen Dennis is here to explain 5 Ways to Keep Your Kids Safe in a Car Seat:

1. Wrong Seat at the Wrong Age. A common mistake made by parents is not using the correct seat for the child’s height, weight, and developmental stage. This can usually be seen when parents move their child to the next stage too quickly (rushing to get them into a booster seat to accommodate a new baby when they still fit in their harnessed forward-facing seat, for example).

Solution: Know the guidelines of when to make a car seat adjustment and know your child’s height and weight.

2. Car seat not securely installed.  Another error often made is when attaching the car seat inside the car.  In many cases, the seat is too loosely installed and not tightly secured to the vehicle.

Solution: Your car seat should not move more than 2.5 cm (or 1 inch) in any direction at the base of the seat, right at the seat belt or UAS path.

3.  Harness on the child is too loose. How tight is too tight? A common mistake is leaving the harness too loose and not having your child secured properly.

Solution: Conduct the “pinch test”. You should not be able to pinch any of the harness webbing at the child’s shoulder.

4. Placing the chest clip. Another common mistake found is where parents place the chest clip.

Solution: The chest clip should always be at the armpit level – not too low, such as down near their belly button, or up too close- near the neck.

5. Improper placement.  Even if the car seat is installed and securely fastened, there are still errors that can occur which may harm your child.

Solution: Make sure that seats in a rear-facing position are at a 45 degree angle to support the baby’s head and neck. All forward-facing seats require a tether strap that hooks to a tether anchor in your car, so make sure you don’t forget that step.

Car seat safety cannot be taken lightly. It is important to install your car seat properly and securely in order for it to do its job in the event of a collision or crash. According to a report from the Canadian Paediatric Society, child seats, when used correctly, reduce the risk of fatal injury by 71% and the risk of serious injury by 67%. Using a booster seat instead of just a seat belt alone is a reduction of 59% in injury risk.

 

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Showing my Formal Disney Side

EAT, entertain By March 28, 2014 Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 1 Comment

DisneySideWhen the call of Disney becons, you jump for joy and begin sprinkling the pixie dust! It’s like somebody handing over lottery winnings or granting three wishes. What is a ‘Disney Side’? I think it is pure joy. Happiness. The innocence and wonder of youth. We all harbour these qualities within ourselves, and yet we all express them differently.  A Disney celebration does not have to include princess gowns or animation. In fact, our celebration took bits from many Disney ideals and moments and overlayed them all onto a formal dinner that celebrated kids and adults alike.

DisneySide

We set our celebration with eight adults and four children. The adult table was formal with crystal, linen and silver. Kids had many Disney inspired stuffies and themed napkins. I had the kids type names for place card adorned with Mickey Mouse faces and glue them to thick cards edged in black. The kids learned how to properly set a table and they were given ‘wine’ glasses for their Monsters Inc. juice.

As guests arrived, they were greeted at the door by our two sons wearing their Mickey ears.  We began our celebration with a run around our little island and the winner was awarded a copy of the new Frozen on Blu-ray. Of course, that is the soundtrack that played throughout. I may or may not have belted ‘Let it Go’ with Idina Menzel…

Next, we played Disney Bingo as we nibbled on snowflake-shaped cheeses covered in Ocean Spray Craisins.

Dinner was a huge hit, though I didn’t quite bank on the hours of cleanup necessitated by pulling out the good dishes!

Lobster Mickey Pappardelle

Our DisneySide Menu:

Snowflake-shaped hard cheeses sprinkled with Craisins
Lobster Mickey Cream Pappardelle
Homemade Mickey Cheese Sauce for the Kids
Mickey-shaped garlic bread sprinkled with kale
Mickey Trouser Cupcakes
Disney Sugar Cookies

DisneySide RunWe ended the evening by giving each guest a lithograph of Minnie and Mickey, along with a few personalized photos of the run around the island printed on HP photo cards. All of the goodies were served up in the American Tourister luggage that all of the party supplies arrived in.

And that is my Disney Side! All I can say is that I should have done a few more laps for the run to make up for the lobster cream sauce and sugar cookies!

Disneyside

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My Family on Conserving Water

FAM, health, kids By March 27, 2014 Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , 3 Comments

Waterwell Lemonade StandWell, it’s been quite the week. We were on Spring Break vacation skiing for the beginning but the family took the 30 Green Days Challenge all the way to a condo in Whistler, BC, and we incorporated all of the energy tips we could muster.

Turning off lights and even training the kids that they don’t need as many lights on in order to sleep was key. Our heat turned down or off, and we used a fireplace and sweaters to make up the difference. With towels shoved under door cracks and energy-efficient replacement bulbs stocked for the replacement of burnt-out lights, we felt pretty great about the week of energy saving. One of the best parts of this whole program is that we are focusing weekly on a different green initiative, and as we all know from improving our workout habits – focus and repetition create lasting habits.

Next week, our challenge is to focus on water consumption. My family could potentially be the worst water consumer on record, except for me of course. (As a mom, I somehow don’t find much time to bathe so I suppose I am saving a ton of water with my twice-a-week cleansing sessions. But I probably shouldn’t be proud of that.)

Here are the plans the fam and I came up with for saving water:

  1. Our house is quite large and the upstairs doesn’t get hot water immediately. We have to run water for a few minutes in order for hot to appear. I will delve into this phenomenon and see if we can remedy the situation. In the meantime, my husband and I will brush our teeth and shower on the bottom floor.
  2. We live in Rain-Couver. OK, Vancouver, British Columbia, but we pretty much have a monsoon from November until March. Rain barrels could be filled within a few days, so I have been reticent to invest. But in the dead of summer with no water in sight, I would be grateful for a few gallons of recycled water. I will commit to purchasing at least three barrels.  Maybe I can get a group discount with my neighbours and spread the environmental love.
  3. My son actually lambasted me the other day for letting the water run as we brushed his teeth. We will all heed his advice.
  4. Gardens are a personal passion. This week we planted organic vegetables in a cold frame and took advantage of the sun to plant hardier seeds in the garden. (Well, the kids planted pumpkins while I planed everything else). Starting from seed enables us to use water sparingly and we will also make a commitment to hand water the whole garden so as not to spray sidewalks and paths. And no more noon watering when most of the moisture evaporates in the sun.
  5. This may sound odd, but the family asks for drinking water all the time. We are blessed that tap water is full of nutrients and flavor, and yet I cringe at how many half-empty glasses pour down the drain. I vow to make our water more exciting by using ice and lemon slices. Maybe also put it in fancy glasses. The kids will sip it (and finish it) with awe.
  6. Our children’s school supports the Obakki Foundation to raise money for water wells in South Sudan. They have learned about the value of water to human beings and constantly come up with ways to fundraise for more water wells for communities where kids walk miles to fill a bucket instead of going to school. As it is our second week of March Break, the kids and I will come up with a fun idea that will support this fundraising initiative while we also try to conserve our own water.

I have found so far that the SC Johnson 30 Green Days Challenge has put the environment in the front of my mind at all times, and I am so excited by coming up with specific ways that my family can help.

Cheers to water!

While SC Johnson is the sponsor of the 30 Green Days Challenge, all opinions and comments within the post are my own.

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Natural Homemade Baby Wipe Recipe

Natural Homemade Baby Wipe Recipe

baby, FAM By March 26, 2014 Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , No Comments

There’s nothing as soft as baby skin. Especially if you are washing your diapers, throwing a few wipes into the laundry isn’t a big deal. When my kids were small I would fill a thermos coffee dispenser daily with warm water and always have cloths as baby wipes.  This Natural Homemade Baby Wipe Recipe would have made things even easier!

Natural Homemade Baby Wipe Recipe

Take a handful of dates and a handful of almonds and whirl in a food processor until finely ground. Add in handfuls of coconut, seeds (pumpkin, sesame, flax), 3 T cocoa powder, plus 1 T honey or maple syrup. Then drizzle in  2 T water while blending until it forms a paste you can roll. Then roll into balls and roll these in coconut, flax meal, sesame seeds or cocoa powder!
You can also add nut butters, dried apricot or any other flavours you wish.
Recipe courtesy of Sarah Juliusson, Birth Your Business
Hemp cloth wipes (shown) available through Curly Monkey on Etsy.
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