Trying new things

In the past two weeks at this Sante home we have tried new things! It was my quest to find the perfect curls for my hair! I started with an upside down French braid bun.

As you can see.. no curls. Just poof. With my snow man nightgown...

Li'l Gal and I tried the Velcro hair curlers that Nanny gave us!  

I did not realise Velcro curlers are for more volumeus  hair and not big curls like I was hoping for. I still love them though...

Li'l Gal quite enjoyed the curls that lasted a total of 15 minutes before she tore them off. And stuck them on Li'l Guys head...

Of course daddy needed some curls too...

Li'l Gal was was pretty happy with herself by putting the rollers in her own hair too! Hehehe...

I needed something to hold my curls while I sleped  (I actually put the curlers in properly in this picture not like in the ones above)

Apparently, at around 2 am I took them all out since my neck was about to die with discomfort. And that is why I don't have a picture of the results...

I then bought sponge rollers from the Dollar store and these were way more comfortable to sleep with and I loved the results! 1.25$/4 rollers. I bought 20 rollers total it came to about 10$...

I watched a youtube video from the link below that explained how to install them properly...

https://youtu.be/Py_LJWRk4vg

I did not like my over sized scarf turban and didn't want to spend money on an "old lady" hair net so I found other video on youtube (from the other link below) that showed me how to make a hair net with nylons!

https://youtu.be/u6t8vTXc9t4 

It was very easy simply turn a pair of nylons inside out, make a knot under the white crotch part and pull really tightly then cut the legs off. And flip it outside in and VOILA! That kinda sounds bad...

See? fits like a glove!

The sponge rollers were the winners!

Although I don't always have 30 to 40 minutes to install them. (I did it when the kids were in bed) and I'm sure with time I could probably to it with my eyes clothed...

An other thing I tried learning this week is the art of doodling. There are so many ways to doodle, I didn't fully really realise it's and art that you can learn! Maybe I will teach my art class how to doodle once I have mastered it!

This is a picture of Li'l Guys first time sitting in a grocery basket! I'm so sad that he is outgrowing his carseat because he LOVES to sleep in it! On the other hand it's pretty nice that he is growing up because now he is starting to play with Li'l Gal and it's so much fun. (When they are not torturing each other). He has already take a few steps on his own!

He will be turning 1 on  April 19th! Already!

They like to hold hands in the car. Now that's cute.

 Jonny boy made some home made suit (bird feed for the winter time) with the same Ingredients as Nanny used when she made it while she was here.

Bird suit (we used)
2 Tbls shortening
2 Tbls peanut butter
More or less 5 cups of bird feed grain.
This made 4 large tennis sized balls and we stored the rest in the freezer until we need more!

Mix all and make sure it's wet enough to stay in a clump ball. We put it in one of the bags that onion come in and hung it in a tree! The little birds are small enough to pitch on it while the Blue jays whom usually scare the small birds away can not perch on it. Everyone is happy!

Can you see it hanging from the rope on the right of the huge bird feeder? 

My last experiment from the past two weeks has been trying to substitute carbs such as rice, noodle, and bread with vegetables as much as I can! We are so excited to start our garden this year because veggies can be so expensive!  

This one below is mashed cauliflower with 2 Tbls cream, salt, pepper and garlic powder. It was good!

The chicken was also awesome! All I did was add 3 or 4 huge handfuls of baby spinach, 6 garlic cloves and 1/4 cup of Parmesan cheese and cooked it until the spinach was soft. it was delicious!

 This one was sweep potato fries! So good! Salt, pepper, oil, 350 until crispy. It needs to be mixed a few times in the oven...

I also had fish with it. The fish sauce had 1/4 sour cream, 1 TBLS parsley, 2 Tbls melted butter, 1/2 cup white wine (I only had white wine vinegar was good too)  and 1 onion. 350 until fish pulls apart easily. 
                                         So yummy!

This baby was cauliflower rice! Simply grate a fresh cauliflower with a cheese grater, fry it with some oil, add salt, pepper, garlic powder and of course soy sauce it was lovely! There are different recipes on Pinterest, one has lime and cilantro. My sister tried it and said it's really good.

 Last but not least! Breakfast ham with egg omelet! I added what ever veggies I had. Cook 350 for about 15 mins until the eggs are cooked and not slimy! I have done this in the past with bacon,  that is also delicious!
                               

   Easy and healthy!  

I am doing my best to keep busy and enjoy my family. Trying new things is a good way to accomplish that. One day at a time!

Don't be so sensitive! Darlings.

I realize it's not Friday and I usually try to have my posts in by Friday but I had an epiphany. And I wanted to share it with you.

I find some days more than others I can be overly emotional or sensitive to what people say. I have a little blogging Journal that when I have an idea I write it down so that I don't forget what I had in mind. And the other night I was lying down over thinking about what someone had told me that hurt my feelings. 

(I will not say what happened or who said it, and do not be scared or think for a moment that it was you. This is not why I am writing this. It is most likely not you anyway.) And it was such a stupid thing that there was no reason to be offended. And this is why I'm writing this message... By all means don't be scared to talk to me.  I think it is very normal for anyone to be insulted by silly things... please read on... 

Be on top of it

This week has been a bit slower pace. I have some pictures to share of some activities that we did, but I think I will share them in my blog next Friday in a way that will sum up this week and next week.
I feel like I need to share what has been on my heart more then what my activities have been this week.

I find that every so often I have a "Learning week" where for some reason everything seems to be more difficult. Such as, cleaning, making decisions, smiling, being a mom, being a wife not snapping at my children or husband and becoming the Hulk.. I have no clue why this happens. (and this does not involve PMS-ing) I think it's just part of being human. I think it's a reminder that we need to depend on God all the time. When things get hard and when things are easier, we are constantly growing in our relationship with God. ( I guess I did have a clue after all :P ...)

I am not writing these things in order to receive pity from anyone. I am ok. I am learning, and I have more then I could ever need. I just need to practise patience and contentment. That's it.

Blogging is strange..

Here I am, sitting at my kitchen table trying to think back from the last blog I posted. My two children are napping. So I am taking advantage of my time not cleaning, but blogging! I'll clean later hehe

This was them the other day, I just thought it was a cute picture and I wanted to share it!!!

Snowy blizzard fun!

Although this week has been abundantly  "white", I tried making the most of it by trying new crafts with Li'l Gal,  by making a snow slide with her, trying new recipes, playing Ramoly (with our own house rules of course) helping the neighbour shovel their looooong driveway and by playing way too much Hay Day on my tablet.

My niece Everie encouraged me to start making crafts with Li'l Gal. We made these dragons out of 

Toilette paper rolls and tissue paper... Below is a picture of two crafts Everie made. They are So cute and So funny at the small time. "Don't loose is, reuse it!"

Li'l Gal and Nanny made snow men with potato head pieces.  I thought that was genius :).

 Once the storm had subsided for a while, I thought it would be clever to make steps with our fire wood so Li'l Gal could easily climb the sliding hill. Worked like a charm! We played for almost an hour. Sometimes I tend to rush time spent playing with my kids because I'm lazy. This time I thought I would put my whole heart into it and have fun with her for more then 5 minutes haha. (I prefer the summer....)

The peek of two mountains! 

Yup lotsa snow!

Olivia and I made a doll together. She wanted her to be brown which it super cute. Her name is Jolene.

Li'l Gal loves the backpacks grandma gave her and Li'l Guy ,  and Brutus is so kind to let her play with him...

Jonny boy and I made CAULIFLOWER CRUST PIZZA! I loved it! Although the children gagged and cried from the texture. It reminded me of when I had to eat cottage cheese. I gave in and gave them rice. Even though it has almost the same texture. haha! Weirdos! 

Here is how I made it:

Cauliflower crust pizza

1 Cauliflower shredded

1 cup or so of cheese shredded

2 eggs

Big pinch of parsley

Big pinch of Basel

 (What ever spices you want)

-mix and make the shape of a pizza. Top picture was twice as thick as the second crust because the Cauliflower was bigger. It just took a it longer to cook. 

I top it off with tomato sauce, any veggies I had and more cheese... chunks of garlic makes is so good...

375 degrees for 30 minutes or until everything  seems well melted...  

DESSERT!

We actually made these raspberry cheesecake brownies for valentine's day tea at the Sante's house, but a nasty snow storm did not allow us to leave our driveway...

We enjoyed it anyway ;P.

Jonny boy helped me make it while nanny was watching the kiddos. Here's how it's made...

Ingredients

For the brownie layer:

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar, lightly packed

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

For the raspberry cheesecake layer:

8 ounces cream cheese, softened

3/4 cup plain Greek yogurt

2 large eggs

1/4 cup granulated sugar

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons vanilla

1 cup raspberries, lightly mashed (I used thawed, frozen berries - it was 3/4 cup mashed)

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line an 8x8 inch baking pan (I use glass) with parchment paper and set aside.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, or with an electric mixer, cream together the butter, sugar and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs and vanilla and whip again until well combined. Add the flour, cocoa powder and salt and mix until well combined. Spread the brownie batter in the prepared pan, smoothing it out into an even layer.
3. Make the cheesecake layer. With an electric mixer, whip the cream cheese, Greek yogurt and eggs until smooth. Add the sugar, flour and vanilla and mix again until smooth and well combined. Fold in the crushed raspberries. Spread the cheesecake mixture on top of the brownie batter.
4. Bake for 50-60 minutes until set, and the edges are starting to brown. Place the pan on a wire rack to cool for about an hour and then chill for 2-3 hours before lifting the bars out and slicing into squares.

I hope you take the time and make these two recipes because they are really good. That's all...

Enjoy!

Dissapointments

I finally got my tablet back! It was a combination of my fault and Li'l Gal's fault that it fell and shattered. She obviously needed her mother's attention and I was on Pinterest looking for future kitchen renovation ideas... That's important isn't it?! Gladly "Terry's Tunes" on Inglis street in Truro only charged us 40$ to fix it!

Since my last post, I am (still) learning how to trust God through my disappointments. I will tell you a bit about my story and why I am disappointed.

For a little over 2 years, Jonny and I have had our eyes on this "log house" that had been empty for a very long time. It was on he market for 3 years. The house was a fixer upper. It needed a septic field and tank installed, a fixed foundation, insulation, new heating, new windows.... Most people wouldn't want a challenge like that because of all the risks there are. But Jonny boy and I were up to the challenge. We saw the potential in that house and the 2 brand new barns and 23 acres of land. And the fact that it was minutes away from family made it seem so perfect for us.

Naturally we planned/daydreamed in our heads how we wanted everything to look. And planned roughly how much everything would cost. We often prayed about it. That God would help us to be patient. And to understand and not be too disappointed if it was not his will but hoped that it was his will.

To make a long story short, everything seemed to line up for us. Jonny's new job doing roofing, we were trying to sell our home... but to our surprise some lucky person bought the house outright without any conditions. We were disappointed as could be expected. I will now have to move everything from my "log house ideas" from Pinterest to a different board. Haha.

Things do not always go our way. And it can be so frustrating. Our "perfect" plans are not always so perfect in God's eyes. When I gave my life to him when I was a little girl, it meant all my dreams, my future and my  stuff too..

Jonny and I watched a Bible series on right now media by Andy Stanly. He said (in my own words), what is it that we want to be remembered for when we die? Or even when we are old, what do we want our life memories to be about? About how we were unable to get our dream house and those yellow leather sandals that I should have bought at the 50 mile garage sale and think about every second day. Or that we spent our time and energy on the most importuned things like blessing other people, cherishing the time we have with our family and making things right with the people we have wronged. Or spending time with our children instead of always being on our telecommunication devices. Or what ever it may be. It is important to come back down to earth and focus on the big picture. Easier said then done...

To end on a delicious note, I need to share with you this yummy and easy recipe that I got from my mother. It is called curry cauliflower.

Curry Cauliflower

-1 Tbls milk 

-1 can   cream of chicken soup

-1/4 cup mayonnaise

-1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese

-1 tsp curry powder 

-1 big head of cauliflower

topping

-2 Tbls melted butter

-1 cup cracker crumbs

Directions

-boil cauliflower for 5 minutes

-mix the first 5 ingredients and add to cauliflower. Put in casserole bowl or smaller dish.

-mix butter into crushed crumbs and spread over cauliflower mixture. 

-bake at 350 for 30 minutes uncovered.

Enjoy it, I sure do!

Have a blessed day!

Christmas vacation 2016

The past few weeks have been quite eventful for this Sante family. We were blessed to be able to travel to Quebec to visit our family. We drove over night to avoid 12 hours of screaming, hungry babies. We started off at Jonny Boy's beautiful sister Trisha and her husband Gaetan's home for a little over a week. We hung out playing board games during the day and spending time with the family in the evenings.  We are always welcomed with yummy food and good company when we visit the Belleys.