Whole Life Challenge Update 2

I have been making an honest effort to not drink pop!  Last week I had pop on the weekend but not durring the week. Where as the goal for this week is no pop at all! I have been subsituting pop with lots of water and well VitaminWater!  I have tried the Restore and today I got the XXX.  They are both delicious!!

Plus on some of the blogs I have been reading, both Jenna and Kath talk about Amazing Greens.  Guess what I saw today! The actual product, I was excited to see this because I am here in Canada.  It was fairly expensive!  I am still reading up on it, I want to do my due diligence to research it.

Whole Challenge Update 1

Well to keep you all updated!  I have managed to go Monday to Friday popless… I have made an exception I can have one pop a week.  I did today with lunch!! I am happy with my ability to stop drinking empty calories.  I have been drink alot more juice and water.  I have had a couple teas for the caffine but I only put 2 sugar (not nearly as many as you find in coke or pepsi).  Did you know: * One can of coke contains nearly 10 teaspoons of sugar or the entire daily recommended amount of calories from sugar!!! Thats a crap load! Drink less pop & drink more water- CHECK

I have not been doing my yoga *slaps hand* I know I have to get into that! Tomorrow I am going to go get my mat from storage and make a post-it stick and put it on my laptop – DID YOU DO YOUR YOGA!! Plus I am looking for a good yoga DVD. Yoga every day – no check yet

Eating healthier! CHECK! I have been eating smaller poritions and trying to snack less.  But when I have snacked it has been peanut butter on 1/2 bagel or rice thins.  I even have had one apple a day (for monday to friday).  My hunnie, Curly has packed my lunch and thus the Apples! Thanks Babe.

** I will continue on my whole life challenge **

Maple Pecan Tart to Guerrilla Gardening

Earlier today Curly (my hunnie) asked me to make a dessert for his parents.  So we were looking on the Foodtv.ca and I found the Maple Pecan Tart recipe.  From there we rewrote it out went to the Metro got the ingredients and made the tart!  It was good! Note:  coke the tart for 35-40 minutes otherwise it does set properly.  While waiting for it to cook I was looking at the site, and noticed the banner for the 100 Mile Challenge (Food Network Canada Show),  I had wanted to do this before yet always got sidetracked.  This show is based on the book 100 Mile Diet, there is a site for that too.  Well with some further research I have found a whole slew of wicked sites/blogs that have great ideas.

While surfing the sites related to the show… I saw many neat things that I am going to start doing:

• Eat Locally (of course) I have already looked up the places within 100 miles of my home.
• I also found site that are related to CSA or Community Supported Agriculture in Ontario.  These are farms that will provide you with boxes of fresh fruits and veggies every week.  I have looked at the the prices and for my area they seem reasonable.  Let me know what you think.  When I get into my new apartment (which I have not found yet), I think this is something I might get into.
• Guerrilla Gardening?? Yes I said that too… what is it? Well Guerrilla Gardening is where local people spread seeds or start gardens in places where you would not think to see or find one.  These Guerrilla Gardeners have ideas like Seed Bombs.  I have decided to on the weekend make some… and carry some with me to beautify the urban space.

So researching a tart recipe led me to a new vision and new ideas for eating better.  I hope you see the path that I took and maybe you will join me in Greening the areas!

Back again with a Greener path

Being green can also equal being crafty!!! I will show you how, but first some apologize and explaining to do.

As I have stated in the past the the hiatus would be temporary it has not. This I am sorry to my readers… Even if they are only my family and friends!  I will be making an honest effort to blog more and to keep in touch, not just so you can see all the crazy hair brain ideas I get.  But this will be my journal… my family and friends have said that I should get back in to my blogging and writing because I am more level when I do so… Here are my goals (new goals):

1. Blog MORE!! I pledge to try and post every day or atleast a few times a week.  The reason why – well I have been hushing myself and I have to much knowledge and interesting finds to share with you all… (who ever you are – Please leave comments so I can engage you too)

2.  Get my personal finances in order.  Well I have already started to try to do this – JUNE: Month to notate all the I am spending so I can analyze it and save.

3. Lose some weight – Well more engage in a more healthy lifestyle.  I am doing this not to be more “beautiful” because I love me the way I am.  But I am doing this to ensure that I am healthy and today we see so many with Diabetes and or Heart issues and I do not want to push my luck.  There are sub goals in this one:

• Eat more healthy foods – I have decided Healthy also means Local so I am enrolling in the 100 mile challenge.  I pledge to eat more, and more, and more local food.  *I will do this as long as I am not going to become broke by it*
• Exercise – In accordance with my saving and personal finance revamp I am going to exercise at home and outside (posts on this to come)
• Drink more water and fluids other than POP (aka Pepsi or Coke *my weakness*)

4.  Help to support local merchants… So buying local food and items.  Plus I will support the Handmade merchants so I think I am going to investigate items on Etsy!

5. Make the world greener! and my family too… I am going to make some nice green changes to my life… so that means cracking out the sewing machine and making some nifty items.  I will make sure I will let you all know what works and what doesn’t

6. Continue with my passion of cooking and food!  There will be food posts of all kinds! Food is technically a craft (kinda) too… its an Art!!

7.  Too Be Happy!  This will come over time and hopefully will show in my posts.

8.  Take more pictures – and share them

9.  Travel: explore my local area !  This is important to many of my above goals!  By exploring I will find new local merchants, friends and areas that I can green!  Plus I would really like to see more of Ontario! and my local area!

10.  To Keep crafting – to learn some new Crafts

11.  More to come…

I, Little Miss, pledge to honour my goals and post along the way!  I hope you all will help me along this journey!

Creativ Festival

I went to the Creativ Festival today. I know I could have gone to the Knitters Frolic but I didn’t really want to just go to a show about knitting (as much as I love it). So I went to the Creativ Festival and the Food Networks Good Food Festival.

I got to the International Center at 1045ish and stood in line and chit chatted with some lovely crafters. A mother and daugther who sew and another woman who is a budding Entprenure with her scrapbook company. I had a great time in line for the 10minutes with the ladies. Did I mention that I did go to this by myself? I ran to one of the free workshops. It was all about Creative Spinning. I have to say I learned ALOT in the 40 minute session. I now understand 2 plys (which are the yarns I find the most attractive). Who knows maybe I will become a spinner. I would love to make my own Yarns!

I stopped and purchased some lovely sock yarn, Jitterbug. I am going to make my little sister a pair of socks (or two if I have enough).

I stopped at the MacFab booth and bought an Amy Butler pattern The Frenchy Bag. One of the employees was very helpful and aided me in choosing some Fabric. Amy Butler fabric of course! So that will be something I will dust off the sewing machine for.

I headed over to the Good Food festival and INDULGED in some great food! I have to say I had a really good day! Plus it ended excellently with a Salmon, Lobster and Shrimp dinner I made for my hubbie and my girlfriend.

Should I Etsy?

Well I have an Etsy account as a buyer right now. I am hoping that when I get my two funky sewing books and some experience under my belt I would like to sell my items on Etsy. I just don’t know what I would want to sell.

I have seen some food items such as Jams and spreads which I can make! Plus they are might good! Although I also see pretty sewn items that I want to make too. I just don’t want to step on anyone eles toes.

This was making Jam last summer – Note I would not do this if I were to sell the Jam! It was such an awesome picture. Everyone thought I actually licked the potato masher.

Happy Saint Patty’s Day

All about the Shamrock

In fact the first written mention of this story did not appear until nearly a thousand years after Patrick’s death. The shamrock, which was also called the “seamroy” by the Celts, was a sacred plant in ancient Ireland because it symbolized the rebirth of spring. By the seventeenth century, the shamrock had become a symbol of emerging Irish nationalism. As the English began to seize Irish land and make laws against the use of the Irish language and the practice of Catholicism, many Irish began to wear the shamrock as a symbol of their pride in their heritage and their displeasure with English rule.

Knitting Patterns:

• Saint Patty’s Day Dish Cloth
  
• Coffee Cozy
  

Crochet Patterns:

• St. Patty’s Granny Square
  

IRISH CREAM CHOCOLATE MOUSSE CAKE

This rich chocolate mousse cake was created by Geri Gilliland, the Belfast-born chef-owner of Gilliland’s, a cafe with an Irish accent in Santa Monica, California. On the inside of the dessert, chocolate mousse spiked with Irish cream liqueur is layered with espresso sponge cake that has been soaked in an Irish whiskey syrup. On the outside, the chocolate bands and a mound of chocolate curls give this treat a straight-from-the-bakery look, which we show you how to achieve at home. If it sounds too perfect, there is one drawback: This grand finale is certain to overshadow any corned beef and cabbage main course.

Mousse
4 large eggs
1/3 cup sugar
12 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
1 1/2 cups chilled whipping cream
1/4 cup Irish cream liqueur
Whisk eggs and sugar in large metal bowl. Set bowl over saucepan of simmering water (do not allow bottom of bowl to touch water) and whisk constantly until candy thermometer registers 60°F, about 5 minutes.
Remove bowl from over water. Using electric mixer, beat egg mixture until cool and very thick, about 10 minutes.
Place chocolate in top of another bowl over simmering water; stir until melted and smooth. Remove bowl from over water. Cool to lukewarm.
Combine cream and Irish cream liqueur in medium bowl; beat to stiff peaks. Pour lukewarm melted chocolate over egg mixture and fold together. Fold in cream mixture. Cover and chill until set, at least 4 hours or overnight.

Cake
6 large eggs
3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons instant espresso powder or coffee powder
Pinch of salt
1 cup all purpose flour
Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter 9-inch-diameter springform pan with 2 3/4-inch-high sides. Line bottom with parchment paper. Using electric mixer, beat eggs, sugar, espresso powder and salt in large bowl until mixture thickens and slowly dissolving ribbon forms when beaters are lifted, about 8 minutes. Sift 1/3 of flour over and gently fold into egg mixture. Repeat 2 more times (do not overmix or batter may deflate).
Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake until tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 35 minutes. Cool cake completely in pan on rack.
Run small sharp knife around pan sides to loosen cake. Release pan sides. Turn out cake. Remove pan bottom. Peel off parchment. (Can be prepared 1 day ahead. Wrap cake in plastic and chill.)

For the rest of the recipe go to: St Patty’s Day Recipes

Ultimate Blog Part 2008

HEY ALL YOU LADY BLOGGERS! LETS JOIN TOGETHER AND HAVE A BLOG PARTY! With the ULIMATE BLOG PARTY

What will you bring the party:

- Streamers, balloons, Pie, Cake, Chips, Pop, Adult Drinks, Games, A whole lot of ladies and of course FUN!!

ABOUT LITTLE MISS:

Well I am not officially a MOM to a human at least. I have two babies my cat Pearl and my Scottie Dexter. There are photos of them both on my blog and in Flickr! I look up to all that my mother has done for me over the years! I greatly appreciate all that you have done and will do for me Mom! I Love You! *For more about me check our the “about little miss“ page.

Let me know you stopped by and I will come have a BLOG party with you!

Earthy Project Spectrum

There have been many bloggers of all crafty-ness discussing Lolly`s Project Spectrum. Which now reading some blogs, and looking at the group discussion on Ravelry, I have decided to join along to. I love hoping on the craft bandwagon. Crafters here me come! So It is now March (and I am SO ready for the snow to go), and I am going to start planning for the April May – Earth – Green, Brown, and Metallics.  Earthy tones are by far my all time Favorite Colours.  Plus with spring Knocking it will be a great time for this spectrum!  I have a few IDEAs up my tiny sleves (t-shirt), you will all have to wait and see!

NOTE:  You do not have to knit everything in the above mention theme.  You are too, post anything in the spectrum: pictures, fibers, scrapbook pages, crafts and so on.  Read Lolly`s page above to find out more!

I hope you all join in on the fun!  Post a link of what you do so I can see all you great Ideas too!!

Yummy Valentines…

So yesterday Feburary 14, 2008 was by far one of the best Valentines Days. I had a nice relaxing day, I made a heart shaped pink cake for my boyfriend. I aced my midterm. Came home and recieved a LARGE envelope from George Brown College – I GOT IN!!!! So I have been accpeted to GBC!!! This was awesome… We had a lovely dinner and a lovely evening…. where Jeff and I ate 75% of the pink heart cake, watching lovey movies – Alot like Love and 50 First Dates.

Love you Hunnie & Thanks for a Great Day