A post about summer

These last few months have absolutely flown by, I can’t believe that fall will be here in no time! Pumpkin Spice Lattes are back at Starbucks and I’m itching to break out the tunics and leggings. However, the weather has been fantastically warm and it will continue to stay like this for the next week at least (I refuse to look at long range forecasts and get my hopes up). So summer will continue. They call this an Indian Summer, don’t they? Well whatever it is called, I’m happy summer finally showed up and I’m happy for it to stick around a little while longer. You can get that Pumpkin Spice Latte iced, can’t you?

Here are a few of my favourite photos from this summer:

What have you been up to this summer?

The Kitchn

Had a question of mine posted on The Kitchn today and I got great answers. Go check it out!

Best Make-Ahead Lunches for a Busy Work-at-Home Mom?

Busy days

I just can’t find the time to continue with this blogging thing on any sort of regular basis. So I’m not going to. Instead I’ll post when I have something fun to say or have the time!

I’ve got quite a few pregnant friends and I’m off to a baby shower tomorrow. I made a bunch of stuff (nursing cover, bibs, bloomers, pillowcase dress and diaper cover, stuffed animal) but I’m perhaps most proud of this onesie. I thought it up shortly after giving birth to my little man and thought it might be fitting for any new mom out there:

Teehee.

Hope you are all having wonderful summers!

Happy Canada Day (a little late)

Hi friends, I’ve been busy with work and so my posting hasn’t been as regular as I would like it. We were away this past weekend for Canada Day for a little family reunion with my in-laws complete with epic horseshoe battles, dance parties and many rounds of Jass (a Swiss card game). Needless to say, we had a blast. The kid took his first plane ride and was a champ!

Just wanted to say “Happy <belated> Canada Day” and “Happy Independence Day”

Here’s a few of my favourite shots from the weekend:

I’m away again this weekend so expect more sporadic posts. Hopefully life will get back to usual soon!

disgusted.

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I am shocked, saddened and disgusted at the events that took place in my city last night. I know it’s being said (at least here on local news stations), but it’s worth saying over and over again. This was the act of few, and in no way represents Vancouver and it’s people. Remember how wonderful we looked during the Olympics? That’s us. Really and truly it is. Watching the events unfold on TV last night I was glad to be home safe with my family (and that all other members of my family were accounted for). My heart hurts.

If you don’t know what I’m talking about, you can go here, here or here. Or basically any news source.

Busy busy busy

Had a busy last couple of days so there have been no posts… oops! I’ve got this week’s menu, a roast chicken recipe and a few other things to share. They’ll be up soon! In the meantime, here is a picture of me, the husband and the kid. We did a little family photoshoot a few weekends ago. I’m so excited to have my paws on the photos!

Here are a few things I’ve bookmarked over the last couple of days. Hope this keeps you busy until my next post!

How To: Pop Top Lamp Shade

A beautiful custom upholstered headboard

Deluxe DIY Sandbox

Summer Gingham (would LOVE to do this in my house.. but that’s not going to happen! Darn conservative husband.)

Mason Jar Meals: cute and functional!

What’s that? You want to see one more shot of my family? Well, OK, since you asked so nicely…

Little treat: Cinnamon Sugar

A little taste of childhood, well for me it is, anyways! We always used to sprinkle this yummy combo on top of buttered toast (still a favourite way to enjoy it, just minus the butter since I am dairy-free). This morning I decided I would stir a little into my Americano (with almond milk).. uh, YUM!

Here’s what I’ve been enjoying for breakfast lately – some sort of caffeinated beverage, two pieces of 12 grain toast with a smear of peanut butter and sliced banana.

Come to think of it, a sprinkling of cinnamon sugar on top of the bananas would probably be pretty yummy too. MUST REMEMBER THIS FOR TOMORROW!

What are you eating for breakfast these days?

Almond Milk Recipes

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Since going dairy-free I have been enjoying my coffee with almond milk. Just a regular, commercial brand that I picked up at the grocery store. I was trying to figure out what else I can do with it so I googled “Almond Milk Recipes” thinking it would return a bunch of results about cooking/baking etc. with almond milk. Boy was I wrong (in a good way, not like that time I typed “hotmale.com” rather than “hotmail.com” when I was about 14.. hah!) instead I got a bunch of recipes to MAKE YOUR OWN ALMOND MILK. I don’t know why I didn’t think that it was possible to do, perhaps because I think of it like milk and I’ve never once thought “oh, I’ll just go milk a cow so I can eat cereal this morning”.

The recipes look really easy, I’ve collected a few of them that I want to try over the next couple of weeks. I’ll update this post once I find one that I like!

The Creamiest Almond Milk + a dessert recipe <a side note, this looks like an awesome blog, she’s got a section called “Reskills” where she explores teaching readers how to re-learn forgotten living skills that people had in previous generations, sewing, growing your own food, cooking meals from scratch, very cool!>

A whole bunch of different almond milk recipes, with reviews

The ubiquitous about.com version of the recipe

Elana’s Pantry version + a link to a recipe for using the leftover almond pulp

I figured out I can probably just substitute almond milk for milk in virtually every recipe. First on the list to make will probably be these – Almond Milk Pancakes and here’s another recipe by the Non-Dairy Queen. I think I’ll be perusing her website on my lunch break today!

1 dress down, a few more to go

Success! I managed to make the Prudent Baby Most Flattering Shirt Dress over the weekend and it was pretty easy! I had a few fumbles, but for my first dress (first article of clothing, really) I think it looks pretty good. I wore it on the weekend to go see Wicked with my mom and sis.

I wasn’t able to get a full shot of me in it (no one home + no tripod = slanty half pictures of me in the dress) so I snapped a few on the hanger. All pictures were taken after the dress had been worn for about 8 hours and it got pretty wrinkly. I wore it with a funky gold/copper belt and strappy copper sandals. It was the perfect outfit to take in a matinee at the theatre. (By the way – isn’t Wicked the best show ever? Man, if you haven’t seen it and ever get the chance to, do it! I loved it to pieces).

The directions were very easy to follow and even though I had never sewn with elastic thread or bias tape I was able to figure it out with a little help from google. I found these instructions helpful:

Single Fold Bias Tape Tutorial (with photos)

Sweet Shirred Summer Dress Pattern (help with elastic thread sewing)

I messed up a bit on the elastic, so I would recommend you go slow. Like Jaime from Prudent Baby, I had to take in the sides of the top after sewing the middle with elastic as it was a little balloon-like. But after a little adjusting, I’m happy with it. A good start to my Summer of (Almost) no Pants. Next up some skirts!

Menu Planning Monday

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Sigh. Back to work this week, so the husband is going to be starting to cook a few meals to take some of the burden off me. Still going strong with the dairy-free meals!

Monday – (HUSBAND COOKING DAY) BBQ Steak with Corn and Asparagus
Tuesday – Appy night – chicken tenders, steak bites, green salad
Wednesday – Spaghetti with Sweet Cherry Tomatoes, Marjoram and Extra Virgin Olive Oil from Jamie Oliver
Thursday – Grilled Chicken Tostadas from Martha Stewart
Friday - Chicken Stir-fry
Saturday – Just me so I’ll do something with leftovers, maybe a salad since I never seem to eat enough of them!
Sunday - I’m out at Wicked with my mom and sis and the husband will be at his parent’s house, so no meal needed

Our favourite meal from last week was the roasted chicken with potatoes. I’ll post my adapted recipe soon!

Click here to download my menu planner and grocery list