New Adventure: Fresh Salsa

This summer I tried my hand at growing a vegetable garden (which failed miserably when I went away for a couple weeks and hubby didn't water them once...)

We were hoping to grow some of our own food, but aside from a few handfuls of cherry tomatoes and some herb snippings, everything else ended up brown and fried. I'm sad, but we still got lots of *free* fresh veggies from the excess in my parents garden!

My parents went on a trip to the east coast for over a week, and while they were gone, I raided (I mean "maintained") their garden. I scored dozens of cucumbers, quite a few potatoes, only a couple heads of corn (it was ripe the week before they left, and then again the week they came back, but not in between), and a nice pail of beans.

Earlier in the summer I was able to pick (and make into jam) a TON of raspberries. I think they're monkey's favourite fruit, and they work quite well to bribe him to behave.

While my parents were gone, I took a trip with Monkey to the Kitchener/Waterloo area.

Let me say one thing before I continue. Travelling without a cell phone in a not-so-familiar area is not something I want to do again.

Our trip might have been short (2 days, one night) but we crammed a lot into that time. My favourite part was the trip I made to St Jacob's Market with a friend I met before Monkey was born. I scored some great deals on some excellent produce, and came home with tons more than we could eat ourselves.

My haul included:

-strawberries

-peaches

-plum tomatoes

-hot peppers

-sweet peppers

-creamed honey

I got the peppers and tomatoes to make salsa, and with a friend back in Kingston, we had a salsa making night!

We made 2 recipes, and since I cracked one open tonight (and pigged out on it) I wanted to share the recipe!

The book we used is called: the Complete Book of Small-Batch Preserving, and it was really easy to follow. I also liked that the size of the batches gave myself and my friend a couple jars of each recipe we did, so that we could try out something new but we weren't stuck with a ton of something we don't like.

Southwest Salsa:

4 cups chopped peeled tomatoes

1 cup chopped onion

3 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 cup chopped sweet red pepper

2-4 jalapeno peppers, seeded and minced (I used 2 hot banana peppers and kept half the seeds in for some spice)

1/2 cup red wine vinegar

1/4 cup chopped fresh coriander

2 Tbsp orange juice

1 Tbsp lime juice

1 tsp each: granulated sugar and pickling salt

1/4 cup tomato paste

1. Combine tomatoes, onion, garlic, peppers, vinegar, coriander, orange and lime juice, sugar and salt in a large saucepan. Bring to a boil over high heat, reduce heat and boil gently, uncovered, for 30 minutes or until mixture is thickened, stirring occasionally. Stir in tomato paste and cook 2 minutes.

2. Remove hot jars from canner and ladle salsa into jars to within 1/2 inch (1 cm) or rim. Process 20 minutes for half-pint (250 mL) and pint (500 mL) jars.

Makes 4 cups

For my first time making salsa (and my first time doing the whole canning process with boiling water) I had a lot of fun, and it was much easier than I expected. Of course, the apartment was super hot, and we did have to chase a curious toddler back to bed dozens of times, but overall I am definitely going to do it again.

For a link to buy the book in Canada go here. (After I return it to the library, it's going on my wish list)

I'm linking up with Alicia's Homemaking and her Thursday adventures. For other adventures, go here.

I think my next canning adventure might involve either applesauce, or apple butter... but we'll see if I get around to it when this baby finally makes an appearance (3-6 more weeks!)

~A

Choosing a Name (from 100,001 to one...)

Is there any more difficult decision to make about a baby than its name?

I'm not sure there is, and I'm really not sure why it's so much harder this time than it was with our first child. We had 3 names chosen (first and middle) and we went with the one we like the most...

This time around, I could almost write my own baby name book with all the choices I've "narrowed down" from the dozen name books I've gone through so far (not joking).

Some strategies used to choose a name:

-Go with a family name: grandparent, favourite aunt, deceased relative of importance
(now my grandmother was Gertrude... is that a good baby name?)

-Choose names that sound similar/have the same ethnicity
(Irish names: Briana, Fiona, Ciara, Colin, Teagan, Quinn)

-Choose a name starting with the same letter as that of your first child
(Conroy, Chandler, Carl, Cora, Camila, Camryn)

-Look for a name with a nice meaning: son of... strong warrior, blessed by God... and so on

(Isabella means "Consecrated to God", but there will be about 6 of them in her class because of Twilight)

-Flip open the book and point to the first name on whatever page you flip to...

(Nazahah? Vandani? Ladislas? Kirabi? this doesn't seem to be working very well)

None of these strategies have helped us much. I'm sure my list is a few hundred names long (and still growing), and there's still nothing that we LOVE or that jumps out to us. I'm not worried yet, but with only 6 weeks to go (I'm 34 weeks along now!) the "deadline" is fast approaching.

I'd love to say that asking for help from family has been useful, but the feedback I've gotten from my mom consists of name suggestions that I've deliberately removed, or the comment "Why on EARTH would you name your child THAT?"

Any suggestions? Name ideas might be nice, but ideas on how to cut down my list would be even nicer.

Right now we're just calling the baby "fetus" because we don't know if it's a boy or girl, but I'm not sure that name would stick very well after he or she is born.

Any tips or tricks would be great, thanks!

~A

Friday Wanderings

Here are a few articles that I've read and really found useful or entertaining:

Ways to Bless a New Mom (from Jessica of Life As Mom)

Also from Life As Mom, Shopping for Clothing that Works

How to Eat at Home to Save Money (a great article for my family! I love saving money!)

and from Giving Up on Perfect: 10 Tools That Make Social Media Easier




These past few weeks have been rough for the hubby and me. I'm trying to work things out so that I can start sharing my story, but at this point it's a little too tender.

There is a song that has been an amazing help to me called Strong Enough, by Matthew West.
part of the lyrics say:

"I know I'm not strong enough to be
everything that I'm supposed to be
I give up
I'm not strong enough
Hands of mercy won't you cover me
Lord right now I'm asking you to be
Strong enough
Strong enough
for the both of us."

That has been my prayer over and over again. Times when I'm having a lot of trouble, I'll turn on the radio, and this song has been repeated to me.

One Bible verse I read also says the same message.

2 Corinthians 12:9 says
"And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me."

This time is tough, but I believe that by relying on the strength I have in Christ, and not on my own strength, I will get through it.


On a positive note, our baby is now at 31 weeks, and we are so close to meeting him or her. My midwife says the baby is "not allowed" to come out before 37 weeks, so I've still got 6 more weeks (at least) of waiting.
We are no closer to any names, although Monkey's selections of "Cookies" and "Candies" are definitely on our "NEVER!" list...

We have a place for the baby to sleep, and a carseat, we also have diapers and wipes enough to last a few months, so as long as this baby weighs more than 5 pounds and is healthy, we will be set for all the baby's physical needs...
As for being mentally prepared, I don't think anyone is ever 100% ready, and I know that even if this baby is born after 40 weeks, I'll still need to rely on God for strength, so whenever God's time is for this baby to come, I'll trust that it's the RIGHT time...

Until next time,
~A

Waterfront Wonders

Tomorrow is Canada's birthday.

July 1st has always been one of my favourite days of the year. People all across the country stop what they're doing to come together and celebrate the amazing place we call home.

I grew up outside a small town called Cobourg, population of about 18,000 people on a normal day, but on the Canada Day weekend, the population more than quadruples...

Cobourg marina and midway

Festivities include live music at the bandshell, vendors of almost anything, art tents, food everywhere, craft tents, a midway, and the most spectacular fireworks display at night. Often Cobourg plays host to two amazing Canadian displays, the Snow birds, and the Sky Hawks. To add to all these fun things, the Victoria beach is (in my opinion) the best beach in the entire county, and as long as it's open for swimming, I could spend an entire day just enjoying the beach (and the play area and splash pad for kids).

The Snowbirds

Monkey playing on Victoria Beach last summer.

Monkey at the splash pad last summer.

Long story short, our first Canada day in Kingston last year was sadly dissapointing. There was one small amphitheatre, about 4 hot dog stands, a bouncy castle, and that's about it.... We did see fireworks, but nothing could compare with Cobourg for me.

So this year, Monkey and I are headed to Cobourg.

We leave tonight! (Daddy has to work, so we're leaving him at home), and we're looking forward to 3 full days of fun in what looks like it will be AMAZING weather. I'm packing lots of sunscreen, a nice big picnic basket, and our new phone which has a camera! After a few months of no camera, I hope we've taken enough pictures of Monkey in the last few days to satisfy family who live far away.

Scheduled activities for Cobourg's waterfront festival this year include:

Friday:

12:00pm - Canada Day Parade

10:00pm - Canada Day Fireworks

Saturday:

11:00am - Skyhawks Parachute Show

Sunday:

11:00am-2:00pm Teddy Bear Picnic

Each morning there is breakfast in the park from 7am to 10am.

The Rotary Craft show is open each day from 10am to 6pm.

The midway is open every day from 11am to 11pm.

I'm so proud to be from such a great country, and even more proud to be from a beautiful, vibrant little town such as Cobourg.

Happy Birthday Canada!

~A.

WILW: Mom's Week!

Mother's Day to me has always been right around my mom's birthday (May 12) and since it was so early this year, I guess I got distracted and missed celebrating my own mother.

So this weekend is my planned celebration with my mom.

I'm loving so much about this weekend, and I'm just really excited it's finally so close!

I'm linking up with Jamie, so head over here and see what others are loving this week!

{one}

I'm loving the plans with my mom: Dinner at a nice restaurant, a concert, and then a girl's night out in a hotel!

We're seeing Rainer Hersch, who is a British/German comedian and conductor. I'm looking forward to having an awesome time with my mom as we enjoy his show from BOX SEATS!

{two}

I'm loving the amazing gift my mom and sister gave me of a clean kitchen/living room/Monkey's room... We were so encouraged with their help cleaning that I cleaned the bathroom, and we started organizing our bedroom...

{three}

I'm loving the job fair that's happening this afternoon, and the possibility that I might find a job!

{four}

I'm loving the plants I got last week at the farmer's market, and on mother's day. I'm Also loving the amazing sunshine we've been having, and how I've had my plants outside overnight for 3 nights now, and they're growing!

Planters, some herbs, some tomato sprouts (which all died, so I bought tomato plants), and soil.

Herbs on the left (chives, chocolate mint, lemon thyme, and parsley).

Tomato sprouts in the round green containers.

Seeds I'd like to plant on the right (it's still to early for some)

{five}

I'm loving these new jeans from Old Navy (and that I got them on clearance for $16 instead of the regular price of $42)

The last pair of maternity jeans I got (I think from Thyme Maternity) ripped last week, so I needed new ones, and these are really comfy and have a lot of room for baby to grow!

I don't think this is the exact picture, but they're dark wash, low rise, boot-cut jeans... and they're on clearance so I couldn't find them on the old navy website.

BUT if you do shop right now, orders of $50 or more have free shipping! And they always have great sales. I LOVE Old Navy.

{six}

I'm loving that we get to see our little bean this Friday! Hubby didn't get to see any ultrasounds with Monkey, so he really wanted to come to this one.

I can't believe I'm 19 weeks along already!

The baby has been moving a bit. He/She is a night hawk just like Monkey, so I can usually feel kicks before I head to bed. Hubby hasn't felt any yet, but hopefully he will soon!

{seven}

And OF COURSE I'm loving my amazing Hubby, and my cute, trouble-making Monkey...

What are you loving this week?

~A

Plants and Coupons and Savings, Oh My!

Black thumb, Green thumb, Big Thumb, Small Thumb, Tom Thumb... whatever type of thumb I have, I could not seem to get my tomatoes to survive.

I was very blessed that as my mother's day gift this year, I got to shop at a garden centre (and also at the local Farmer's Market) so my gifts this year included tomato plants so I don't have to worry about the seedlings that I killed in the transplant process...

*NOTE*: Sorry about the backwards photos, the only "camera" we have is in our computer, and it flips the pictures. I can't figure out how to flip them back around... and hints?

The top photo is of the window planters I bought and the soil (which was supposed to be great for starting vegetables and for transplanted vegetables... but the tomatoes still died). You can see my SAD little sprouts in both pictures.

The only vegetables I've been able to grow from seeds are zucchini. They are in the large red container at the back. The healthy-looking plants in the yellow containers are the herbs I bought. Maybe someday I can grow herbs and vegetables from seeds that look that healthy...

In the front are seeds I'd like to grow when it gets a little warmer. They are cucumbers, radishes, peas, and carrots.

Plants and Herbs I've purchased include:

-3 tomato plants

-a cherry tomato variety (I can't remember the name)

-Juliette, a plum tomato variety

-Lemon Boy, a yellow variety

-Italian Parsley

-Chocolate Mint (I'm excited to use this in baking this summer!)

-Lemon Thyme (I love using lemon in cooking!)

-Chives

I'll be buying more, probably some peppers and some more herbs.

As for Couponing this week, I've had a TON of success.

Where I live in Ontario, there are no stores that match coupons, and there are no "double-coupon" days, so we can't get the same amount of extreme savings seen on the TV show "Extreme Couponing".

This doesn't mean that a shopper in Ontario can't have success, they just need to be smart about when to use coupons, and to take advantage of the price matching that most stores do.

My favourite place to grocery shop is NoFrills, because there's a location less than 3 km from our apartment, and they have great produce (most of the time). They also price match and have very reasonable regular priced items if I need something last minute.

My shopping process goes like this:

1. Read every grocery flyer and mark down the sale items of foods we love/need/would like to try

2. Search my coupon stash to see if I have coupons for sale items. (I don't use the coupons if the item isn't on sale.)

3. Write down my list of what I'm buying, how many, and how much I'll be saving with each coupon, and how many of each coupon I have.

This whole process can be done in less than an hour, and I often do it while I watch TV or listen to the radio after my son is in bed.

When I have my list complete, I fold up flyers that I'm using to price match, and put them into my coupon binder so that I can make sure to get the best deal possible. I always bring my complete binder with me incase I see a great sale that wasn't advertised in the flyer.

This week I saved 44.4% of my total. I would have spent $122.09 before coupons and price matching, but I only spent $67.80 ... so I saved $54.29!!!

My best sale items were:

Dove hand lotion (I use hand lotion like crazy while I'm pregnant)

- Regular price $5.99.... I paid $2.49

Pepto Bismol

- Regular price $8.99... I paid $3.47

Cheez Whiz (my Hubby's been asking for weeks, so I got 4 jars)

- Regular price $5.19... I paid $2.88

Lysol Toilet Cleaner

- Regular Price $2.5o... I paid $1.98 and got TWO bottles

Glade Freshmatic Odor Sensor Air Freshener (not a regular item, but I wanted to try it)

- Regular Price $9.99... I paid $3.99

There were more items, but before I started using coupons, I would regularly spend over $120 a week on groceries, getting just the essentials. I got much more than the essentials for a bit over half of what I used to spend.

Those savings don't include the toothpaste I got for $0.38 a tube instead of $1.27, or the diapers I got for about $9 off... but I had to go to a different store on a different day for those prices.

I just want to encourage people out there who think couponing is difficult. There are many free websites (even in Canada) where you can have coupons mailed to you, and if you get a free weekly paper (we get the Kingston This Week) every few weeks there are free inserts.

So even if you don't buy the paper, you can still find free coupons and save your family money.

And that's something everyone should love!

~A

Thankful for my Mother. Today and Every Day.

Happy Mothers Day!

Today was such an amazing day. I am so blessed to have a great husband who listens to my needs and whims and who lovingly gave me the day I really desired...

We started out the day by going out to breakfast at Denny's. I'd never been before, and while I wasn't blown away by the food, we had a great server, and we all received our meals quickly.

After breakfast, we had 90 minutes before our church service started, so we went to the garden centre at NoFrills to check it out.

I was happily surprised at the many different varieties of vegetables and herbs the greenhouse had. I'm just a newbie, so I just spent my time looking and walking and not making up my mind on anything.

We headed off to church, and I was supposed to be in the nursery, but the only child in the nursery was Monkey, so we were all very naughty, and Monkey, Hubby and I headed home after waiting until about 11:10 to make sure no other children were coming...

On the way home, we stopped again at the greenhouse, and I finally picked out 3 tomato plants. I struggled with the ones I planted from seeds. They had sprouted really nicely, and then I was gentle when I transplanted them, and I gave them plenty of water and sun... but they shriveled up like raisins... so instead of trying again from seeds, I decided to "cheat" a little with plants that looked very much alive.

I'll still be watering them and taking care of them, but this way I don't have to start from scratch.

We got home and had a simple lunch of leftover (homemade) pizza and other leftovers. Hubb tried to get Monkey to go down for a nap, and I sorted my coupon binder and set up my grocery list.

While Monkey was pretending to sleep, and Hubby was occupied with the computer, I headed out to the grocery store, knowing that my mom and sister would be at my house within an hour... I figured I had lots of time.

Monkey with my mom in her kitchen

I got back from my trip to an amazing surprise. My mom was doing my dishes, and she helped clean my whole kitchen... I'm so blessed!

On top of the clean kitchen, my sister played with Monkey, and had him help her clean HIS room! She even moved his bed and swept underneath!

What better gift could I have asked for than help cleaning my house, which then gave me the motivation to clean the bathroom and organize the bathroom cupboards... We're really on a roll now! Thanks mom!

After the cleaning, we had some tea, some snacks, and Hubby, Mom and I played a board game.

We had such a great visit, and I'm really excited that next weekend I get to surprise Mom with gifts and cards and concert tickets... There is so much she has done for me, and for our family over the last few years that nothing I give her can truly be enough.

I'm so thankful for a mom:

-who knows when to listen, and when to share her stories

-who calls me just because she feels like it

-who loves me unconditionally

-who taught me about Jesus from before I could talk

-who put me and my siblings before herself

-who showed me by example how to trust God in hard times

-who laughs with me, and cries with me

-who never gave up on me, even when I fought her every day.

There is no love that more clearly has shown me what God's love for me looks like, than the love my mother has given me.

Thank you mom.

Mom reading with Monkey (he's wearing a diaper)

"Who can find a virtuous and capable wife? She is worth more than precious rubies... She is clothed with strength and dignity, and she laughs with no fear of the future. When she speaks, her words are wise, and kindness is the rule when she gives instructions. She watches over all that goes on in her household and does not have to bear the consequences of laziness.

Her children stand and bless her..."

(Proverbs 31: 10, 25-28 NLT)

I love you Mom.

~A