Slow Cooker Chicken and Rice

(taken from the Crock Pot Recipe Card Collection)

I got a recipe card collection for Christmas last year for my slow cooker. You may have noticed that quite a few of the recipes I share are for slow cookers. Andre and I both work long hours at work, and the earliest either of us arrives home to start dinner is 6:45. Pretty late to start a traditional dinner that takes an hour to cook. Needless to say I cheat and use my slow cooker a lot so we can still have a good meal together at the end of the day.

This is one of my favourites. I was a little skeptical when I read the ingredients, but let me tell you, coming into your house at the end of a long day and taking a whiff of this great dinner will turn you into a believer! Just whip up some veggies, and dinner is done. In fact, this is cooking in my kitchen at this very moment.

Slow Cooker Chicken and Rice

Ingredients:

3 cans of condensed cream of chicken soup (we use the sodium reduced, or reduced fat varieties)

1 lb of chicken breasts or cutlets (can be frozen)

2 cups of brown instant rice, not cooked

1 cup of water

1/2 cup chopped celery

salt, pepper and paprika

Start by adding the soup, rice and water to the slow cooker.

Mix well, and then add the chicken. I always cheat, and add the chicken while it's frozen, you can always thaw it first.

Then season with a little salt and pepper, and paprika, and add the chopped celery on top.

Cover, and cook on Low for 6-8 hours (I find 6-6.5 works perfectly), or on High for 3-4 hours. This is how is should look:

If you are cooking your chicken from frozen, I would suggest checking to make sure the chicken is fully cooked with a meat thermometer (I'm a little bit of a freak like that making sure the meat is cooked properly, regardless if frozen or thawed from the start).

Make some veggies and dinner is done!

Enjoy! I know we will tonight!

Christmas Rundown

Christmas Eve already! Thankfully I booked yesterday and today off work to get the last minute things done.

This was all that we had to do, and what we still need to do in order to be ready to host dinner tomorrow:

• clean out upstairs hallway of all paint and reno supplies
• clean up main floor of all the misc crap that we've been collecting this week
• clean up the master bedroom to store coats tomorrow
• make belgian cookies for dessert Christmas day
• make dough for cinnamon rolls for breakfast Christmas morning
• clean out fridge to make room for yummy leftovers
• quickly wash kitchen and diningroom floor
• place all the wrapped Christmas presents under the tree

Saved for tomorrow before company arrives:

• vacuum carpet in the upstairs hallway and master bedroom
• clean bathrooms, and clear personal items off of counter
• make up guest bedroom for in-laws arrival
• close office door so our company can't see the mess that is this room
• sometime in there save a couple minutes to just enjoy the day with Andre before the craziness of company begins.

It doesn't seem so daunting now that I have it all written down!

I hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas, and enjoys this precious time with their families and friends!

Mean to Green (er)

Wow, I have really been slacking off with this haven't I? I promise that with the long awaited Christmas vacation that I have booked off work that I will add a few more of these little tips.

You may or not remember that with my last Mean to Greener entry I talked about my love of my steam mop. One thing that I love about the mop are the micro fibre cleaning cloths and how I can throw them in the laundry instead of throwing them into the trash. The one thing I didn't love is that clear as day on the tag of any micro fibre item is the warning not to use fabric softener! One of my vices is my:

I know, I know, but I love the smell! So I had a problem. But then I remembered something I had read about using some:

instead of fabric softener. After a little searching on the internet to assure myself that my laundry would not end up smelling like french fries, I gave it a shot. And let me tell you I was shocked! Not only were my towels soft and fluffy, but they were just clean smelling. No artificial scents!

All I needed was a couple tablespoons of vinegar diluted with water poured into the automatic softener dispenser in my washing machine. Just a word to those out there still using Chlorine Bleach that these two things do not mix, so do not use the same together in a load or you will create very toxic fumes.

So now the next time you just happen to be out of fabric softener, or you just want to switch to something a little less toxic just reach for the vinegar in your pantry and you will be set!

And we wait some more

Well I finished the dreaded two weeks of Provera. Overall not a horrible experience. I ended up spotting all but three days of the two weeks, but didn't experience any terrible side effects aside from the PMS and cramps from hell the last week.

I knew by the second week that I would be getting a period. There was no way my body could hurt that badly if I wasn't going to get a period. And sure enough the last day of the course of Provera the period to end all periods arrived. I was happy that my body achieved the desired result at least.

So now we wait. I am to now wait a month to see if the Provera will kick start my cycles. I don't have terribly high hopes, but my mother tells me to be optimistic. We have also decided that regardless of what happens, that I am not going back on the pill. Instead we are going to try for a baby. A huge step, and one that we are both on the same page about. It took some discussing. Andre, bless him, was hesitant because he thought that I would get pregnant right away. Once I explained that with my track record of one ovulation per year, this would be next to impossible to happen right away without the help of a miracle, he was more relaxed.

It's funny, but lately it seems like he's talking about children and babies more often. Even last night we were in church at their annual Christmas Candlelight Service and there was a young couple seated behind us with a newborn. At one point Andre turned to me and whispered that I had to turn around, there was a baby that was brand new behind us and he was so cute with a little Santa hat on. I thought it was the sweetest thing.

Who knows, maybe next Christmas we'll be busy planning for our own little baby on the way. One can only hope.

Guestroom makeover

I just want to start by saying I think this is my new favourite room in the house. I just love how it turned out. We had our doubts when we started let me tell you. To refresh your memory this is what we started with. It was less than fabulous.

First off we painted every surface of the room. We used the new Behr paint and primer in one, and let me tell you, I am in love. We have already bought the paint for the office makeover. We used "Simply Sage". I originally wanted a neutral colour for the room and just came across this colour and brought it home on a whim. Andre fell in love with it too and we went in a different direction.

We then had some oak coloured laminate installed to cover the horrible wood flooring we found under the carpet. Then we hung some curtains, assembled our Ikea sofa bed/futon, and threw down an area rug that we had lying around. This is what we ended up with:

We obviously still need to add some finishing touches and some art to the walls, but it still wows me every time I go into the room how far we've come from the horrible rust coloured carpet, and the beige semi-gloss everywhere. My mother came over this weekend and said she found it hard to believe it's the same room compared to how it looked the day we got the keys.

I hope that Andre's parents enjoy their new home away from home when they come to stay with us for Christmas!

Childless=Lazy

I'm afraid that this appears to be the opinion of one of my closest friends, or should I say "friends". This friend is actually my best friend, one of my closest, and longest friends. She has always come out with snippy comments as long as I've known her, but lately they have really been getting on my nerves.

Today's episode is courtesy of a message she left on our voicemail this morning inviting us over for tea to see their new house. Sounds harmless enough right? Wrong!

Now Andre and I love to sleep as much as the next person. Lately especially Andre because he rises long before the sun to get to work on time. My friend left the following message on our voicemail at 9:16 this morning:

"Hi guys it's *** calling! It's about 9:15 in the morning. I was just calling to see if you wanted to come over this morning for tea to see the new house. I know it's really early in the morning and you're probably asleep..." It goes on from there about how they're up early because of the "baby". Normally I try not to let this sort of thing bother me, but today it did. Maybe I can blame it on the artificial hormone induced PMS that I am no doubt experiencing for the first time in about 7 months. Yeah, we'll go with that.

It's her tone when she leaves messages like this on the phone. And for the record, this is not the first time she has left a message like this on our voicemail, every time we don't answer the phone when she calls on a Saturday morning the message begins with "Oh, you're probably sleeping..." in the tone. She might as well just say "It's 9:00 and you're not answering the phone?! How can you let the whole day pass you by like that?! We were up so early this morning with the baby. We are just so busy because of the baby" For the record the baby is almost a year and a half. More like toddler, than screaming infant.

The worst part is that I feel like justifying myself to her! When she leaves a message like that I feel like I have to tell her everything that I did that morning. "Oh I'm so sorry I couldn't answer! I was having a shower/cleaning the bathroom/vacuuming" I know, so glamorous! Today I couldn't answer because I was already at work. At my career. Something she wouldn't know about because she's never had a career. As much as I would love to tell her this, I know it would hurt her feelings, so I would never do that.

For now I think the next time she calls I'm going to respond with "I'm so sorry we couldn't come to the phone, we were having people over for brunch/hosting overnight guests/out shopping/at work/having fabulous sex in different rooms of the house or yes, sleeping, because you can still be busy and be child free!

*Disclaimer: I in no way intended to offend any mothers, working or stay-at-home with this rant. It is related to one specific person, and in no way describes my feelings about parenthood, otherwise Andre and I would not be trying to become parents.*

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas......

At least in our livingroom that is! Since we went from a small one bedroom apartment to a house, our decorations are limited. We really only have enough for some decorations on the table in the diningroom and in the livingroom. I was so happy this Christmas because I was finally able to have a 'grown up' tree! We had a pre-lit 4 foot tree that we had put out in the apartment, but I wanted a full sized tree.

Andre and I scowered through flyers, looked at the beautiful (but expensive!) trees at Costco, and were at a loss. I wanted pre-lit. After being spoiled by our little one, I was not willing to go back. I also wanted a nice looking tree. All this meant lots of $$. Something I wasn't really wanting to spend! I had almost given up hope when I was at a Card making Workshop and the host of the workshop mentioned that she was selling a 7 foot pre-lit tree. It was two years old, but it was too big for her space. They had bought it for $200, but she was willing to sell it for $60. Needless to say it didn't take me long to accept her offer! The only catch was that it was multi coloured lights, and I'm partial to white, but for $60 I was willing to live with it for a couple years.

So here is our bargain basement tree all decorated and lit up in our living room!

I'm from the school that your tree should be a collection of all the things that remind you of the season, or mean something to you rather than something that is out of the pages of a magazine (not that there is anything wrong with that!). You will notice that in the picture. Every year I also pick out a Hallmark Collectable ornament. I'm hoping to find one that I like when I go Christmas shopping this coming Monday.

One other thing in our living room is my little Christmas Village. My grandmother decided to start buying me pieces for a village a couple years ago. I think she did this mainly because she loves them, and has always wanted one for herself. To be completely honest I was less than thrilled when I started receiving them. I think my exact words to my mother (when my grandmother was out of earshot of course) was "what the hell does she want me to do with these?". This because we had NO space for things like this in the apartment. Now that we do have the space, I am more than happy to put stuff like this on display.

So there is a little bit of the decorating that we have done for the holidays. I have a little DIY that I had done, but I haven't taken a picture, so that will just have to wait!

Here goes nothing

I'm on day two of the Provera. I had some nausea and other bowel related symptoms yesterday. I also have IBS, so I'm hoping that was the cause otherwise it's going to be a very long two weeks. I have noticed today that my appetite has decreased, altogether this isn't a horrible thing, so we'll see how I feel over the next two weeks.

In other news Andre's 41st (!!!!) birthday is this Wednesday. We usually just do a dinner out and then get eachother a small gift to celebrate. I think I've decided to get him season 1 of Dexter as his gift. He became Dexter obsessed somewhere in the middle of Season 3, so he wants to catch up. I think my mother is going to get him Season 2 for Christmas, so we'll be watching some tv when we're both off over the holidays I think.

Busy Little Bees

That is what Andre and I have been lately. You may (or may not) remember when I mentioned that my sister (and her boyfriend, and his daughter and his dog) would be moving out of my parents house into their own home, and moving their stuff out of our house. Well they did, at the beginning of the month! Our plan was to get the guestroom, where they were storing their bed, painted, and the carpet ripped out to be ready for Christmas. This is where the busy like bees part comes in.

Now that Andre has started his new job I thankfully have him home all weekend, so he has gotten just a hint of what most of my weekends have been like since we moved into our house.

Here is what we started with:

This room was also known as the room where beige semi-gloss came to die. Every surface in this room was covered in beige semi-gloss. The walls, the trim, the closet doors, hell even the ceiling! It was horrible. Our first step was to choose a paint colour. My plan was to do neutral in here, I had visions of creamy yellow walls and crisp white trim. I picked a few samples that fit the bill, then found the sample for Simply Sage. I just loved the colour so threw it in the pile. I got home, put the samples up on the wall, and well Andre loved the green colour. So we went with it.

Now this is what the room looks like:

These pictures were taken before I painted the trim yesterday. It is all a beautiful white, not beige. While you're looking at those pictures, look at the bottom of the picture. That horrible brown/rust colour is (was) the carpet! It was absolutely horrible! As of this past Saturday it is history. Destined for the dump as of this Saturday when we drop it off.

Our plan for the floor was to just leave the parquet wood floors until we could decide what to do with the flooring on the entire second floor. Then we discovered a teeny tiny spot of mold when we removed the baseboards. Then we decided to pull up the carpet to see what was underneath.

::Le Sigh:: Gotta love old water damage! So back to the drawing board for us. We decided that we would put laminate down on the floors of this room and the office. We would eventually (when budget permits) replace the carpet on the stairs, upstairs hallway and master bedroom.

Now the room is waiting for the new floors to be installed. My sister is having new laminate installed at her house, and the guy that is doing her floors is coming to give us an estimate later on this week, or early next week. He is doing an amazing job at her house, so I hope he gives us a good price!

Stay tuned for some more pictures over the next couple weeks as this room is completed!

Being put back together--Follow Up.

I've been waiting to write this entry. Trying to let things settle in my brain a little bit.

So on Thursday morning I had the follow up with my gyno regarding my uterus. They had the results of my preliminary blood work (b/w), and my ultrasounds (u/s). All of my b/w was within the normal range. They had tested my TSH (Thyroid Stimulating Hormone), LH (Luteinizing Hormone), and my Prolactin levels, oh and a pregnancy test for good measure. Surprise, surprise, I am not pregnant.

Then they checked my u/s results. The purpose of the u/s was to rule out PCOS (Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome) and to check the thickness of my uterine lining. It turns out that all my girl parts are perfect (for someone who doesn't get a period) and they ruled out PCOS. I guess the silver lining of this is that they didn't find anything wrong immediately. We'll go with that.

So the next step in all of this is a Progesterone Challenge . I was given the prescription for Provera, and I am to take it for 2 weeks. I am waiting for some pesky random spotting to stop before I start the prescription. I was told that if I do not get a period at the end of it all I am to call immediately to book another appointment. If I do get a period at the end of it, then I am to wait another month in the hopes that the Provera will have "kick-started" my cycles again. If it doesn't, I have to go back and they want to put me back on the Birth Control Pill (BCP).

This was the point of the appointment that I was not happy with. I feel like going back on the BCP is a huge step back. I asked what would happen when we wanted to try to conceive (TTC) if I went pack on the pill; I would have to go back off the pill, wait, TTC, and if unsuccessful go back to Dr. A for hormones to help me ovulate. Andre and I have talked, and we're not too keen on having to go back on BCP for 3-6 months (they want to put me on Seasonale) only to have to do the 6-12 month unsuccessful TTC wait, and then start fertility treatments that well, could take years to be successful. Let's face it, Andre isn't getting any younger (and my biological clock is already ticking).

So we have some thinking to do. We have thrown around the idea briefly over the last few days about starting to TTC in March. By then Andre will be done his probation period at work, he'll be at his maximum pay, and we'll have a benefit plan (although they don't cover any fertility medications, I already checked). Most importantly, the 5th of March is my 31st birthday. We still have alot to think about, and some numbers to crunch, especially being I am self-employed and do not get maternity leave benefits.

The good thing in all of this is that the ball is rolling, more slowly than I had hoped, but rolling nonetheless.

"Patience is the art of hoping."

~Marquis de Vauvenargues

Changes, Changes, and more Changes

Hello Blog land!

I knew that it had been awhile since I did an update, but I didn't realize how long! Hmmm, well I'm a slacker, what can I say? Well that and there's just been so much going on around here, that blogging has been the last thing on my mind. There, that's my reason.

So, the last time I was here Andre had just gotten his new job. It is working out fabulously. Even with the stress of learning new things daily, and getting used to working with children everyday as a bus driver he is loving it. The one night we were sitting watching tv and I asked him how he liked the new job compared to his old one, and he said that even with the newness of the job and the different challenges it's less stressful.

What I do find funny is that his old boss was constantly doing things that I found suspicious or fishy. Even now, after Andre is gone from his old job, his boss is still doing things that are suspicious. Just two days ago Andre got his Record of Employment and last pay stubs from his old job. After looking over the ROE we realized that his boss had included the ROE from all of his chauffeur (occasional) work, but not from his shuttle (full-time) job. So according to his old company, the government of Ontario now thinks that in the last 2.5 years Andre only worked 149 hours. Andre called his old boss and after the office told him that his old boss had "forgotten" to do this.

Yeah.....likely story. Lets hope that things are corrected on the ASAP.

When one door closes another door opens

Have I ever shared with you all my total and utter frustration with Andre's job? I'm sure I have. If I haven't, well we both hate is job. His boss is a bully that routinely likes to yell and humiliate his employees, and well, there are just too many specific things to write.

Andre's dream job would be to work for the city as a bus driver. The only problem with this is that they only accept job applications about twice a year, and then once you go through the testing, then the interview process you could wait up to another year before there is a vacancy that needs to be filled. Andre's second runner up dream job would be to work for a private school in our city as a school bus driver. Benefits, a pension, and twice as much money as what he is making now. Not a bad deal in exchange for driving a bunch of rich kids back and forth to school everyday!

An old co-worker of Andre's that told the boss to shove it a little while ago, told Andre that anytime he got sick of the boss to let him now and he'd put in a good word for Andre at the school. So earlier this year he gave Ernie his resume. They were hiring. Well after getting our hopes up for weeks, the start of the school year came and went. No phone call, no nothing.

So about a month into the school year I run into Andre at the office I work at, and he says that they are really under-staffed, and Andre should give them a call. Andre decides to fax another resume in (you never know if it got lost in the shuffle). He does the follow up phone calls, and again nothing. We give up. Maybe it just wasn't meant to be?

Then while we were eating breakfast on Monday morning we get a phone call. It's the school. They're hiring. They want Andre to come in for a little talk and driving test the next day. Thankfully Andre has the day off. He goes in, and talks to the head of the Transportation Department, then has a driving test with another Supervisor. The driving test goes fabulously. The Supervisor tells Andre that she is "impressed with his driving". Andre tells her he is impressed with the bus (brand new 2010 model). He is left with a great impression.

Fast forward to the next night. No word from the school, and Andre has talked to jerk..erm, boss, and the boss tells Andre that the Shuttle run that he has been driving for over the last 2 years isn't a big money maker (not a huge surprise) and that it's being stopped at the end of November. After that he can give Andre a "few limo runs", but gone are the guaranteed hours and pay of the shuttle. He comes home heartbroken and breaks the news to me. I went to bed that night and prayed and cried.

Andre and I had been so excited. It seemed like everything was finally working out our way. This new job was the answer to our prayers. We had decided that if Andre found another job making at least the same wage as me we could start a family. We could afford it. With this new job he would be making the same as me, and be getting benefits, not only that but I was on the way to figuring out what was going on with my faulty uterus. How could God bring us so close to everything we had ever wanted, only to bring us to the point of Andre losing his job? I prayed that I would have the strength to get through the next few days. I prayed that I would trust in His plan for us.

Over the next few days Andre and I would try our best to get through the day. Both of us checking the messages at home for any word. Nothing. To make matters worse Ernie called and told us (twice!) that Andre had it in the bag. He had the job. Very frustrating to hear when you haven't heard this from the company themselves!! So I called Andre on my lunch on Friday. Gave him the number for the woman in charge, and asked him to call her and find out when we could expect to hear the results of the interview.

He called and left a message and the supervisor ended up tracking him down on his cellphone to tell him that they wanted to hire him! Not only that, but they wanted him to start on Monday! It was like a huge relief. Our prayers had been answered. Andre told his boss that he was leaving at the end of his shift on Friday. He was scheduled to work Saturday night and Sunday all day and then he was done.

Monday is for new beginnings.

Being put back together. (TMI warning)

Steps are finally being made to fix my brokenness. You can read about me being broken here and here. I finally had my first appointment with Dr. A last week. I was a little nervous as Dr. A had a foreign name, and I didn't know if this Dr A was a male or a female. My worst fears were that Dr A was a male with a horribly thick accent and a horrible bedside manor (totally had this before at my GP's office). I can now relax. Dr. A does not have a horrible accent, and he had a very good bedside manor. Phew! The weird thing is that his associate (also a Gyno) is my middle sisters ex-boyfriends father! Talk about small world.

It was a little weird sitting in the waiting room as I was the only one sitting there that was under the age of 50. I'm not kidding. The rest of waiting room was filled with empty nesters, that and there were about 10 clocks hanging on the walls. I want to know what the deal is with the clocks. The random things you notice when you're sitting uncomfortably in a specialists office.

So I went through a bunch of questions with Dr. A and a resident that he asked could join us. He seemed very concerned with my lack of a period. He was very adamant that I should be getting one period 4 times a year at the very minimum. The worry being a higher risk of certain cancers with the imbalance of hormones. I was relived that he seemed concerned with both the bleeding and the lack of periods instead of just ignoring one of the problems.

I had to do yet another vaginal exam (my third since January) and yet another pap smear (my second since January). He explained that I had my last in January, but he wanted to be able to rule out everything so he did another one. I'm getting to be a pro now. It makes me laugh every time a doctor does a vaginal exam now because they all say the same thing **TMI WARNING**

"Wow, you really do bleed alot" or "All I have to do is touch your cervix and you bleed" I feel like shaking my hands in the air and saying "No Shit! Now just figure out why and fix it!!!" It's like they haven't really been believing me until they see it for themselves.

This doctor seems to think the bleeding is caused by my transitional cells on my cervix changing location and moving too far forward, and because they are so fragile, every time they are touched I bleed. The root cause of this would be the lack of hormonal changes. In the meantime I was sent for some blood work "only three vials though", the lab tech told me. And another round of ultrasounds.

This time I learned that I'm a little more hydrated then the average person though because I was on the verge of being too full. Yes, too full. This was after I started drinking my water a whole 20 minutes later then they asked because my bladder was so full the first time I was in pain. I was practicing my deep breathing and she poked and prodded my bladder. The best part was when I finally got to empty my bladder. Heaven. But then I had to go back for part 2. The part I affectionately call the "dildo cam" Sorry Amy, I totally stole your name for it. The added bonus was when I had to hold my breath and poke my sides so she could get a good picture of my left and right ovary.

Now some more waiting. I have a follow up appointment in two weeks, so god willing Dr A will have been able to gleam something from my test results.

Halloween

It's hard to believe that as I am writing this it is already a week after Halloween! Soon we will have been in the house for a year. This year has gone by so quickly, it's hard to believe I'm already thinking about Christmas decorations.

So, our first Halloween in the house. Andre booked the day off work. Silly to have to book the day off, on a day that you're suppose to have off anyways, but whatever. He took it off. We were going to give out candy to the little neighbourhood kiddos, and then head off later on that night for a Haunted walk at the Hermitage Ruins/Dundas Valley Conservation Area courtesy of Haunted Hamilton. We did another tour with them a couple years ago, and thought that a moonlit ghost walk on Halloween would be fun.

Andre loves the holidays. Any holiday really. That's the hardest part about his job, being that he's had to work every holiday for over the last two years. Halloween is no different. He always makes sure that we have a pumpkin to carve and candy to hand out to the kids. This year we decided to go with a spider design for the pumpkin.
I wish that this design showcased our artistic abilities, but we bought a pumpkin carving kit a few years back that had a book of templates. We photocopy the templates and then copy and carve. Very easy, and very cool looking if I do say so myself.

It was so great watching Andre give out the candy to the kids. I have talked to quite a few friends about their husbands and Halloween and they would talk about how their beloved would lock themselves down in their basement until all the little ones were gone. Not Andre. I would go up for one group of kids, and then if I was going to go up for the next group, he would grab the bowl out of my hands and tell me it was his turn. He would ask all the kids what they had dressed up as and hand them the correct Jenna approved ration of candy then wish them all a Happy Halloween. It was so adorable to watch. It was one of those moments that reminded me why I love him as much as I do.

Then after all the kiddos were home safely in their parents homes hyped up on sugar we left for our Halloween adventure. The evening was a little cool, so I made sure to bring my hat and mitts. Andre on the other hand didn't think he would get cold so only wore his fall jacket. He froze his ass off. Men, god forbid they listen to us when we tell them they are going to get cold!

Here are some pictures of us as we waited for the walk to start:

Oh Andre, trying to look menacing and scary....my sister couldn't stop laughing when she saw this picture.

The walk lasted about 90 minutes as we wound our way down hiking trails in the middle of the night. It was a beautiful night for a walk. As the guide was finishing the last story of the evening on our way back everyone stopped as the clouds parted so the full moon could guide us back. It was beautiful.

We didn't really experience anything spooky while we were on the walk. There was no howling in the forest or anything like that. I did notice that for the most part the evening was very still, but as the guide was telling the stories every stop there would be a big gust of wind that would stir all the leaves in the trees. I thought it was just coincidence, but it happened on every single stop, during every story. We also noticed a little something extra when we were checking out the pictures later on that night. In this picture you will see the lights on the right shining on ruins from our flashlights, but there on the left through the open window, we can't explain the lights. There was nothing in the back except for branches and beams holding the side walls up. Kind of spooky don't you think?
*I'm writing this on my netbook, so I copied the pictures from facebook, hopefully later I will replace at least this picture with a higher resolution original*
Then at the end of the night as we were hearing some more stories and touring the back of the building (or what is left anyway), a couple offered to take our picture. She was very nice.
See what I mean about nothing behind the building? Very spooky.

I hope everyone else out there had a great Halloween!

Guilty Confession

I was kind of laughing to myself that I was doing this blog entry right after my Mean to Green (er) post, but oh well. It just goes to show that I am not perfect. I know, I can practically hear you all gasping in shock and horror. My name is Jenna and I am not perfect. (Although please don't tell Andre that, I have been working on keeping up that illusion for over the last 6 years.)

Although I like to do things that are more environmentally friendly I am guilty of doing many (many) things that are not. For instance. I use deodorant. True granola's would shun me for sure. But I am comforted by the fact that my pits smell like yummy cucumber and green tea. Theirs...not so much.

My most recent guilty obsession is the antibacterial soap from Bath and Body Works. I love their scents, especially in my kitchen. We're using this one currently. Andre picked the scent out. All you have to do is google Triclosan and you'll come up with a million and one hits about how dangerous it is for us and for our water ways. It also happens to be the main antibacterial ingredient in B&BW's antibacterial line of products. I just can't help myself. I blame it on the fact that I can finally buy this stuff in Canada after long last, and the recent H1N1 hype in the newspapers that is making me paranoid about killing germs.

Hopefully by the summer I will be back to using our regular non-antibacterial hand soap. Until then my hands will be smelling like Kitchen Lemon.

Mean to Green (er)

I have always hated mopping floors. I would rather clean my shower, clean my toilet, pretty much anything instead of mopping my kitchen floor. It's just a pain (literally a pain in my back) and it always takes FOREVER to dry. So you're either stuck in a corner or another room anxiously waiting for the floor to dry so you can move everything back.

I tried the bee mop:

But the bee mop takes forever to dry. And I would be using an all purpose or floor cleaner that would leave horrible streaks all over my floors.

I then moved on to the Swiffer Wet:

Let's face it. The Swiffer Wet is a good idea in theory, but not only is the scent a little over powering sometimes, it can leave horrible streaks all over the floor, and you're throwing out a one-use pad every time you clean your floors!

Then this wonderful invention hit the market:

This is the Bissell Steam mop. There are a ton of different varieties. The H2O Mop, The Shark Steam Vac, you get the picture. But I own the Bissell variety. Why do I love this product? It makes washing the floors simple. There is no cleaner needed, just plain old tap water. The cleaning pads are reusable, just throw them in with the dirty towels. Just regular steam cleans your floors. And as long as your husband isn't obsessed with pressing the steam button constantly, your floors will dry fairly quickly.

Now there is still no substitute for getting down on your hands and knees to scrub a floor, but for cleaning up food spills and everyday dirt, this thing is great. It even has the Mr M seal of approval (this mainly means there is minimal grumbling from him while completing a task with said product).

Hello out there!

I have not disappeared off the face of the earth. Nothing too exciting has happened to prevent me from blogging. Unfortunately it's just boring life that got in the way. Crazy work hours combined with fighting off a variety of viruses that clients have brought into the office I have just been too pooped in the evenings to do much more then have a quick dinner with Andre and then hop into bed.

I know, you are all incredibly jealous of my routine!! I do promise that at some point this week I will do an update, along with another Mean to Green(er) post. I don't dare give you a date though, so you'll all just have to wait patiently!

So Sad

Have you ever had one of those days where you have heard something that has stopped you in your tracks? Heard something that made you close your eyes and say a silent prayer for the person(s) involved, and then another one in thanksgiving for all that you have. I had one of those days today.

I have posted on a few message boards on The Nest for a couple years now. It was on one of these message boards that I came across When October Falls . You can read about their story here. They found out that their unborn child had a very rare chromosomal defect. The blog follows their journey. This morning I read that she felt the little angel kicking away at 5am, and by 10:30 that morning the doctor could not find a heartbeat. Their angel had earned their wings.

I'm sharing this so that anyone reading this can pray for this family. Pray that they have the strength to get through the labor, and the peace to get through the coming days and weeks.

Mean to Green (er)

Happy Thanksgiving my fellow Canadians! I hope that you all are either sitting back relaxing from your feast yesterday, or gearing up for all kinds of yumminess today.

In h0nour of the holiday today, I opted not for a product review for this edition but a tip that you could easily do if you were hosting your Thanksgiving dinner. It is simply really. Switch out these:

In favour of these:

It's that easy! Since we bought the house we have hosted two big family dinners, Easter and Thanksgiving dinner yesterday. Each of those times we have opted for our formal china vs paper plates. Would we use actual plates if we didn't have a dishwasher? Probably not. The thought of standing over a sink of dirty dishes for hours after dinner doesn't appeal to me.

For all of you that are sitting there thinking I am absolutely crazy for not using paper, there is something you can do too! Do not put those paper plates in the trash bag so they can linger for years and years in your landfill. Instead, put them in your household compost pile, or put them in your municipal compost bin. That's all you have to do to try and be a little more green this Thanksgiving.

That's all for now. I must get back to the mountain of laundry I have to complete today!

Helen

That was my great-grandmother's name. Yes, I got to know my great-grandmother. In fact, I even got to know my great-grandfather as well. I was 21 when she passed away. She never got to meet Andre, even though her wish was to see me married off. I believe she was with me though when Andre and I said our vows.


The reason for this trip down memory lane is that I've been thinking about her a lot lately. I've been burning the candle at both ends so to speak lately and I've been paying the price. It seems like every weekend my body has enough and I start to feel like I'm coming down with something. This past weekend was the worst. As I was doing my best to do nothing on my day off on Monday all I wanted was my great-grandma. I knew that she would give me a hug and make me a pot of her homemade chicken soup.


See she was the type of grandma that believed that the common cold or flu could be cured with chicken soup. The moment she found out that anyone had come down with a cold she would immediately hit up her arsenal (the freezer) pull out some chicken and in just a few hours you would be seated in front of a steaming bowl of homemade chicken soup with the biggest (and best) egg noodles. Her soup was the best. And all I wanted this weekend was her soup. It would make me better, I knew it would.

Instead I had to settle for copious amounts of water, COLD FX and sleep. It seemed to do the trick for the time being. But last night when Andre and I went to the grocery store, I picked up an extra whole chicken, they were on sale. I had big plans for this chicken. So last night after we had finished the roasted chicken dinner when the slow cooker had barely had time to cool I threw in the required ingredients for chicken soup.


Here is my recipe:
1 chicken carcass, pieces of chicken, whole chicken. whatever you have
1-2 carrots chopped in three
1-2 celery stalks (with leaves) chopped in three
2 bay leaves
1 onion, chopped into quarters
2-4 cloves of garlic (I love garlic, I added 6)
6-8 cups of water
salt and pepper
sprinkle of paprika (I've been searching for that little something extra, I think this might be it)

Throw everything into the slow cooker, and let simmer on LOW for 12 hours. She wouldn't be happy that I'm not standing over a simmering pot for hours, but lets face it, I just don't have that much time. I like to let my soup simmer overnight.

Take out the chicken and strain and compost the vegetables. Let the broth cool and skim off the fat. Chop up the chicken and add to broth along with cooked veggies of choice. Cook egg noodles, rice, whatever you like and add to broth. Voila! You have soup!

Now I am prepared for whatever the fall throws at me. I know that I can handle it as long as I have some soup just waiting in the wings (my freezer).

Here is a picture of my great-grandparents:


I hangs in our dining room. It's them in their garden in their home in "the city", because all of us that lived on the escarpment lived in "the country". Together with the picture of Andre's departed grandparents that resides underneath, they watch over us. Making sure that we eat our chicken soup and take care of us every time we get sick.

Things I love about Fall

I know many people out there aren't that thrilled about the change of seasons, but I'm not one of them. I big puffy heart the fall. I think the only negative part of this season I think would be the fact that in just a few short months it will all be over and it will be winter. Urgh. I don't big puffy heart the winter. But we'll save that for another time.

So some things I love about the fall:

~The crisp fall air. It's like Mother Nature just sucked up all the gross smog that hung over the city all summer and replaced it with mountain fresh air.

~Pulling my favourite sweater out of the rubber maid bin of fall/winter clothes.

~Coming home from work and walking into a house smelling of beef stew that has been simmering in a slow cooker all day.

~Cinnamon candles. Could there be anything that smells more yummy?

~The sound of fallen leaves crunchy under my feet as I walk down the sidewalk.

Mean to Green (er)

Welcome to the new feature! From here on out whenever you see a blog entry with the Mean to Green (er) title there will be a little tip, or product review from yours truly. This will hopefully happen every week!


First of all lets start off with a disclaimer: First of all I am not an environmentalist. I am not an expert on all things environmentally friendly. I am just a person like you trying to do my part to help this planet that we all share. Some of you that may read this blog may be thinking "this isn't green! There is something else that she could be doing that is better!" My answer to that: There definitely could be! My belief is that if everyone did just one little thing that was better for the environment then we could make a huge difference. Not everyone has to become all granola and buy only organic or second hand clothes, slap some solar panels on their roof and bike to work to be more environmentally conscious. You can start slowly with a few little things around your house. These are the things I am going to share with you. Do with them what you will.

Now for my first Mean to Green (er) entry!

Today I thought I would start with something that I have been doing around my house for quite some time now. I originally got the idea from the Hyper Homemaker Blog. Don't bother going to google it. It sadly doesn't exist anymore. She does however have a cooking blog Good Things Catered . Check it out!

The first little recipe that I am going to give you can replace this nasty product:


Oh Comet, I don't even want to know how many nasty substances are in there, but you are no longer welcome in my home!

You can use these two little products to not only effectively clean your sink, but deodorize the drain, as well as keep the drain running clear so you do not have to use other nasty things like Drano.

That's right folks, just a little white vinegar and a little baking soda is all you need!

First start off with a dirty sink. (I can't believe that I'm posting a picture of my dirty sink, but here it goes!) I thought I would make it as dirty as possible and leave some flour in the bottom from baking.

Then pour in some baking soda:

Then you're going to add the vinegar:

This should happen:

Use your handy dandy little cloth or sponge, scrub your sink with that foamy baking soda and vinegar mixture. The baking soda is a mild abrasive, so it will gently scrub all the dirty grossness in your sink, and the acid in the vinegar disinfects and kills the bad stuff in your sink. For a quick little article about how effective vinegar is go here .

Then you are left with this:

Ta da! A beautifully clean (disinfected) sink and all you needed was some ingredients from your kitchen pantry. Who would've thought that our grandmothers all those years ago had a good thing going?

Now go and clean your sink!

Two years and counting

That is how long Andre and I have been married. We celebrated our second anniversary this past Monday and Tuesday. Monday was our official anniversary and we celebrated with a romantic dinner of tacos in front of the tv, exhausted from the work day. Tuesday we both had the day off and celebrated with some shopping (for a new sofa bed for the guest room), a new coffee table/storage for the living room (pictures to come later), a couples massage at my favourite Aveda salon/spa, then a nice dinner at Milestones that evening. It was a full day, but a good day.

The entire time I couldn't help but think to myself about our wedding day. I can't believe that it's been two whole years since we did this:

Sometimes it feels like a lifetime ago, but most of the time it seems like it was just yesterday. This year I had the sudden urge to rip my dress out of it's little acid-free box and put it on, but I didn't.

So much has changed over the last two years, and God only knows what is in store for us over the coming years, but one thing hasn't changed; I am so blessed to be sharing my life with my husband.

On again, off again.....

On again!

In January my middle sister, along with her boyfriend, his 9 year old daughter and their 100 pound black lab moved in with my parents. I know, insanity, trust me, I know. Their plan was to save in the hopes of buying a home in a year. You don't even have to ask, that didn't happen. The good news is that everyone is still alive and kicking to tell the story. Honestly, that is a miracle.

About a month ago they decided after a major blow-up, that they were applying to rent a townhouse, and they were moving. They applied, were approved, were set to move November 1st. I was so excited. We have been storing a ton of their stuff and some furniture for almost a year. About a week after their announcement that they were moving, they said that they didn't have enough money, and that they weren't moving. ::insert unhappy face here::

Fast forward a few weeks later. There is a house in the complex that we all live in that had been rented out. The tenants had left (with the help of a sheriff), and the owner was undecided about whether she wanted to go through the hassle of renting out the house again. My sister tells the owner that if she is renting, that they would be interested in renting the house from her. The owner jumps on the offer. Now they're moving again. The owner has been working like a maniac trying to fix up the mess the previous tenants had left behind, and they are set to move in November 1st.

They seem to be going about this in a responsible way and have asked me what our utility bills are like so they have a good idea about what their budget is going to be like once they move in. I hope this works out for them, and that everything happens this time.

So our next project is the guest room. As soon as the queen bed that is currently residing in there is gone, we are going to repaint and rip out the carpet. Our plan (fingers crossed) is to have the change-over complete by the time Andre's parents come to stay with us at Christmas. I think this is a realistic goal.

Working on a new "feature"

I've been thinking lately about adding a "feature" to the blog. Not only would it force me to get on the ball and blog (somewhat) regularly, but I would get to impart some knowledge on my readers.

Over the last year or so Andre and I (well, really me, Andre just sighs, rolls his eyes and comes along for the ride) have been trying to be a little more environmentally conscious. I've been gradually trying to switch out some of the more harmful products that we've been using around the house for ones that aren't so damaging to Andre and I, or the environment. Trying to lessen our footprint if you will. We're by no means in danger of become all crunchy granola on you, but well, you get the picture.

So how many of you out there would be interested in some product reviews or tips? Anyone?

It arrived!

After over a month of waiting my very first etsy purchase arrived at the house. I was getting ready for work, and heard the screen door open, I went downstairs, opened the inside door and a package was waiting for me! I only had a few minutes until I had to leave, but I tore it open and was sooooo happy. The plaque is beautiful. Even nicer than I thought.


And here it is:

After it was on the wall I called my mother over to see it and she loved it. I think the next wedding she's invited to this will be a gift. Everyone that has been to the house too has loved it. I've even handed out one of the business cards that was shipped with the plaque out as well. I'd say this purchase was a success!

(oh, yeah, Andre liked it too ;o)

On a lighter note...

I have been anxiously awaiting the delivery of my very first Etsy purchase. I had started looking at something to hang on the one wall of our entry way shortly after we moved in. I thought about art, or vinyl decor, and then came across some "family name" plaques. I was on the search for the perfect one, and late one night I found it. I loved it, it was perfect (or well, perfect for me).

The link for the item can be found here . I immediately bellowed for Andre to get his butt up to the office so I could get his final approval (but who are we kidding, I would've ordered it anyway!!). So since August 11, I have been running up to the office every night to check if there has been any contact from the seller to see when the item had been shipped. To make matters worse the seller has been super busy lately, so I've had a longer than expected wait.

The good news is that I received word from the seller herself on Sept 2, assuring me that the plaque had been shipped and I would receive it sometime between Sept 11-17th. I'm hoping it gets here soon, I'm dying to see what it looks like with our colours!

Drama, drama, drama

Have you ever noticed that just when it seems like your life is running smoothly, and you sit and down and exhale that breath that you didn't even know you were holding that everyone around you seems to be in a crisis? Well if that has never happened to you, then please share your secret, I am dying to know what it is.

I was just thinking to myself last week that things are really coming along for Andre and I. The house is finally starting to feel like a home, the summer went fairly smoothly, everyone we know was doing really well, and then the crapola hit the fan. Drama with my parents and sister, drama with my co-workers at the office, drama with my grandmother and my uncle, drama with my best friend and her family. It's just been insanity lately.

I've found myself struggling with the decision to just let the voicemail pick up the message when someone calls because I just don't know whether I have the emotional strength to listen, or to just take a deep breath and just answer the call. I've been told by more than a few people lately that I'm just such a good sounding board, a safe person to talk to. Sometimes I think this is more of a curse than a blessing. It's hard being that shoulder sometimes, especially when with some of those people the favour is rarely, if ever returned.

Drunken Roast Chicken

As fall approaches I am slowly dragging out some of my favourite cold weather recipes. There is nothing better than coming home from work on a blustery cold day to a warm house smelling of deliciousness. This recipe was taken from "300 Slow Cooker Favorites" by Donna-Marie Pye (with some changes by moi).

No Frills happened to have a sale on President's Choice whole chickens this week so I have been stocking up. Tonight was suppose to be wish dish night (AKA Jenna is on strike, fend for yourself!) but I would be home earlier than my usual 8:20 from work, and Andre felt like chicken so I threw this in the slow cooker for dinner really quickly this afternoon.

It seems like a really fancy meal, but the beauty is that you can have it cooking in less than 15 minutes in the morning, and if you're just feeding two people (like us!) you will have dinner, and plenty for lunch the next day. If you're so inclined, you can also make some homemade chicken soup from the carcass!

Here we go!:

Drunken Roast Chicken (Slow Cooker)

1 roasting chicken (3 1/2-4 pounds)
6 cloves of garlic1 onion quartered
1 lemon (rolled on the counter while applying gentle pressure to loosen up the juices, then pricked with a fork)
1 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 cup sodium reduced (or homemade) chicken stock
1/2 cup dry white wine (can substitute more chicken stock)

Rinse chicken inside and out and pat dry with paper towels. With your fingers, gently loosen skin from chicken breast to form a pocket. Insert garlic halves under the skin. Place a few cloves of garlic and the lemon into the cavity of the chicken.

With kitchen twine, tie chicken legs together and secure wings to body, leaving an extra length of twine at each end. You will use the ends to lift the chicken from the slow cooker.

Spread the onion on the bottom of the slow cooker and place the chicken breast side up on top. Sprinkle with thyme and paprika. Pour in stock and wine.

Cover and cook on low for 8-10 hours, high for 4 hours, or until a meat thermometer inserted in thigh reads 170 F (77 C)

When finished cooking remove chicken and place under preheated broiler for 5-7 minutes to brown if you prefer crispy skin.


Skim fat from juices in slow cooker, transfer to pot, warm juices and add flour and water mixture to thicken for gravy.

Serve with mashed potatoes and veggies.

A small step in the right direction

You may recall me mentioning here about being broken. Well I'm sad to say that things haven't really improved much since that blog entry. In fact things have kind of gotten worse.

(*note* some may find this to be a bit too much information, so some may chose to stop reading now*)

Since going off the pill I have ovulated and gotten my period once in 11 months. That's a pain, but not really the worst part. I started bleeding during and after sex about 2 months in. That's the biggest problem. I put off going to the doctor (thinking everything would just get better on it's own) until my best friend made me call my doctor. That appointment led to swabs, blood work, and two ultrasounds (what an experience that was!). Thankfully everything came back normal. All of that was about two months ago. My doctors office very nicely called me (after I called them first for the results) and told me "Oh, we didn't call you with the results because everything seems to have come back normal." End of conversation.

I was fuming that day. So upset that they just dropped everything. No asking if the problems still persisted, nothing. I called the doctors office about 2 1/2 weeks ago to ask them for a referral to a gynecologist. The conversation went something like this:

me: Hello, my name is Jenna M. I am calling for a referral to a gynecologist.

receptionist: Oh, well you need to come in for that.

me: I was in for an appointment two months ago for blah, blah, blah. I was sent for swabs, blood work and two ultrasounds. Everything came back normal, but the issues haven't improved.

receptionist: okay, well I'm going to have to leave a request for Dr. W and then a nurse will have to call you back.

Finally after more than two weeks of waiting I finally have an appointment with some mystery gyno at the end of October. At least now I'm on the road to figuring out what the hell is going on. I told Andre that he might have to trade me in for a younger model that actually works. The joke of that being that I'm 10 years younger than him already. Just goes to show, age means nothing!

Cinnamon Roll Follow Up

After the cinnamon rolls were finished I quickly thought about who I could give some too to get at least 2/3 of the pan out of the house to other hungry tummies. I gave some to my mother who was going to visit my grandmother, I packed one for each of the girls at work, and then Andre scarfed one down after dinner last night.

The general consensus? They are the best cinnamon rolls ever! One of my friends at work said they were almost as good as sex (but according to her not as good because she really likes sex). Andre the man who hates Cinnabons, said they were the best cinnamon buns ever and I should sell them. Big praise from a man who isn't really a big baked good-type person.

So I think it's safe to say that my friends should like them. If they don't I know who will!

Cinnamon roll run through

I'm having some friends over in a few weeks for brunch pot-luck. We each take turns hosting, and I offered to host this next one. I was searching online for something new and exciting to make, and came across what looked like a very decadent Cinnabon Cinnamon Roll recipe on recipezaar.com. I had a recipe made with potato dough, but it was so time consuming, and this one could be made with the help of my bread maker, so I had to give it a try! Now that I have tried this recipe I will be making it again for the brunch.


With anything that involves a dough, I like pictures. There is something about being able to compare my product to the recipe that is comforting, so I snapped some pictures while baking this afternoon. The recipe that I am including below is to be used with a breadmaker on the dough setting, with a few little changes that I included after reading the reviews on the site.

Cinnabon Cinnamon Rolls

DOUGH
1 cup warm milk
2 eggs at room temperature
1/3 cup butter (margarine) cut into small pieces
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp salt
4 cups all purpose flour
1 (1/4 ounce) package dry yeast (2 1/4 tsp bread maker yeast)

FILLING
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 1/2 tablespoons cinnamon (I used Saigon Cinnamon, the one referred to in the comments section. It is the one I use regularly at home. It can be found at Costco.)
1/3 cup margarine, softened (butter does not spread as well on the dough)

ICING
1 block of cream cheese (I used light)
1/4 cup butter (1/2 stick)
4 cups powdered sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
3 tablespoons milk, enough to aid in spreading consistency (optional. I found it was not needed after being whipped into submission in my stand mixer.)

Directions
1. Add the ingredients for the dough in the order listed above (or according to your bread makers instructions. Turn on machine to dough setting and go and relax with a book. Here is what the dough looked like right before I took it out of the bread machine:
















2. Take dough out of bread maker and roll the dough out on a lightly floured surface, until it is approx 21 inches long by 16 inches wide. It should be approx 1/4 inch thick.
3. To make filling, combine the brown sugar and cinnamon in a bowl.
4. Spread the softened margarine over the surface of the dough, then sprinkle the brown sugar and cinnamon evenly over the surface.
















15. Working carefully, from the long edge, roll the dough down to the bottom edge. I cut the log in half, then in half again. Each one of those four logs can be cut into three rolls. Here is the the last log being sliced:

6. Cut the dough into 1 3/4 inch slices, and place in a lightly greased baking pan.

7. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
8. Cover the pan with a cloth and place on the preheating oven for 30 minutes or until the rolls rise to almost twice in size.

Here they are ready to go into the oven after the 2nd rise:

9. Bake for approx. 15 minutes or until light golden brown.

(Mine were slightly dark at after 18 minutes in the oven.)

10. While the rolls are baking combine the icing ingredients.
11. Beat well with an electric mixer until fluffy.
12. When the rolls are done, spread generously with icing.

It was a little close to dinner time when I finished everything. But I had to steal just a little nibble to be able to give an honest opinion. They are in a word, yuuuuuuuumy! They are very rich as the recipe predicted, and very addictive, so I will be giving some to my mother tonight when she goes to visit my grandmother so they can share, and then I will be taking some more to the office tomorrow for the girls there to enjoy.

Do you think my friends will like them?