My creative space: I've been bit!

By the creative bug, that is!

I spent most of the weekend cutting and hand sewing felt food. I've had in the back of my mind to create enough things to fill a table at one of the craft fairs that happen in my town throughout the year, or at the farmers market that we have here weekly. I didn't have as much time to devote to making felt creations, as I'm still studying for my holistic nutrition course, along with being a (mostly stay at home) mama and having a part-time job. But now I'm done the first part of my course (and I even completed it early at that!), so I have a little down time.

The kids and I had a nice relaxing weekend at home, with no plans, so I used the times when they played together quietly to fill up my plates with felt food :)

I even made the bacon bendy! The kids got a kick out of it :)

Kiwi and banana slices

I love how the pizza turned out! Stuffing and hand sewing the crust was more time consuming than I thought it would be. But so worth it! I posted these felt food pics on my personal Facebook account, and a friend of mine is interested in ordering some of these for her kids for Christmas :) I've been also toying with the idea of starting a little Etsy shop, but was too unsure of myself to do so. Now, I'm leaning that way, more and more. What do you think?

These last creations I made a little while back, but just realized I forgot to share them with you, so here goes...

I made Arianne a little lady bug peg person (she wanted it before I got to paint the hair ;). And I couldn't help myself but give her ladybug a matching sleeping bag :) I adore this one!!

And Ashton was so excited to see he had his own astronaut! I still have to make a space sleeping bag for it though. I guess I know what I'm doing today :)

Happy Memorial Day!

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Delicately Constructed Fridays

Rainbow birthday party and near disasters

I'm about a month late for posting this, but better late than never ;)

A few months ago, when I started talking with my then almost 4 year old little girl about her approaching birthday party, she said she wanted a "rainbow and unicorn birthday". She was very clear about it. So I googled rainbow birthday parties and found all kinds of inspiration online. But I'm not a professional party planner, with access to different tables, props, fancy plates and such. I'm not a chef, who's got an amazing cake recipe in her back pocket and who can whip up the most amazing frosting and make amazing curls with a piping bag.

I'm just a mom, who loves to put effort into details of my kids birthday parties. I stress myself out immensely twice a year with those (at both kids parties), but I still like to do it regardless.

So when Arianne said she wanted a rainbow birthday, I knew I wanted to make this cake. The problem is, that I only own 1 round cake pan, and didn't feel like buying more just for 1 day, and the cake might not be difficult, but takes time to prep, bake and assemble.

Thinking I was doing a good thing, I decided to simplify things and proceeded to colour the batter into rainbow colors. I even had the kids help me with this, and they loved it!

So pretty and colorful!

So far so good, right?

Wrong!

I had layered the colours in my bunt pan, thinking they would stay separated, but they marbled together and didn't stay vibrant like what I was hoping for. The cake also broke in about 4-5 pieces when I tried to remove it from the mold. Though I had some friends saying they thought it looked fun to eat and it could have been saved once the icing would be on, it was the evening before the party and I just could not see myself start over. In the heat of the moment, I could not even see myself fixing this one, I was a stressed out mess of a mama I tell you!

So off I went to the store and bought this...

And turned it into this:

I'm very proud of how it turned out! Arianne was SO happy too!

But you know what, it would have been quicker to bake a rainbow cake following the proper steps, than baking the one I made, then going to the store and spend another almost 2 hours coloring icing in 6 different colors, 1 at a time because I only had 1 piping bag and had to wash it in between each applications.

Note to self: Next time just buy the darn cake and save yourself some time and stress! LOL.

Next on my to do list, I wanted to make some play dough lollipops. Again, I wanted to make some in 6 different colors, so I though I would use my regular play dough recipe, divide it, and then dye it after. It didn't work out that way at all...

The colour would not take. So instead of very colorful dough, I was left with a ball of almost white stuff...

So I started over, did two halved batches and picked 2 colors instead of doing it 6 times. Blue and yellow with glitter were chosen by the birthday girl.

And the party favours turned out like this:

In the end, everything worked out, but I learned I need to stop putting so much pressure on myself. I need to remember than my kids are easy going , and that they are just happy with whatever they get.

She was happy to have a party with some rainbow colours throughout the house and on her cake. And she was mostly happy to have her friends to share this special day with!

I love these cute moments with her brother, and she was very excited to receive her first play silk ever! (Thanks to a friend of mine :)

But a rainbow party would not be completed without rainbow coloured tissue pompoms! (Sorry, the orange one was missing from the picture ;) (And thanks to my other awesome friend for making a crochet banner in rainbow yarn for me. We love it so much that it's still hanging in the kitchen a month later!)

These were very easy to make (you can find the instructions HERE), though I learned the hard way that they are more time consuming than they look. But well worth it!

Note to self #2: Do not start making these at 10pm the night before the party, or you may risk having bags under your eyes the day of the party.

Just saying ;)

I'm curious, so my question for you today is this: Do you stress over your kids birthday parties like me? Or do you have some trick to make them less stressful to prepare? Do you celebrate at home or do you just skip all the mess making/cleaning and rent a space?

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Blueberry and Wild Rice Salad

My girlfriends and I got together today for a playdate today. We've been doing this more consistently lately and it's been such a nice break! The kids all get along so well together and we get some time to chat, catch up and be silly between us moms... a perfect way to spend the day!

When we've been getting together, good food is always involved and last time, one of the girls requested this salad for me to bring. She saw it on my food photo album on Facebook (yes, i'm that much of a food nerd ;), and she really wanted to try it. So I made some for the girls today, and they loved it! Yay! I always make this salad when spring comes and throughout the summer. It's so light and fresh, yet very filling.

I know it looks a bit purple, it's because of the previously frozen blueberries. They tinted the rice salad when I mixed everything around and that's when I took the picture. But don't worry, once you let the salad sit a bit in the fridge, the rice regains most of it's normal colour :)

Blueberry and Wild Rice Salad

1 cup brown and wild rice

2 cubes vegetable broth (I use CelifibR brand, it's vegan, gluten and MSG free!)

1/3 cup sliced almonds

1/2 cup cranberries

3/4 cup dried apricots, chopped

1/2 cup red onion, chopped

1/4 cup fresh lime juice

2 Tbsp agave nectar (I prefer with honey, it makes the salad taste even better)

1 1/2 tsp grated fresh ginger *

1 tsp lime zest

6 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Salt and pepper, to taste

1 cup frozen blueberries, thawed

Follow directions on package to cook your rice until tender, making sure you add your veggie broth cubes to your cooking water, or substitute the water for liquid broth if that's what you use. Let cool and set aside.

In a small bowl, whisk together the lime juice, agave nectar, ginger and lime zest. Whisk in the olive oil slowly to emulsify. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Chop the red onion finely and add to the rice, along with the chopped dried apricots, dried cranberries and sliced almonds.

Slowly pour the dressing over the rice and mix well. I say slowly because you may not want to use all the dressing. I usually end up having a little extra.

Gently fold in the thawed blueberries and let sit for 10 minutes before serving.

* Quick Tip: When your not using your fresh ginger root, wrap it in plastic wrap and then put it in an airtight container or resealable bag and keep it in the freezer. That way, it will keep for a very long time AND when you want to use it, all you have to do is grate it while frozen. The peel will naturally pull away and since your grating it finely, it will thaw almost immediately. No more rotten ginger in your fridge or cupboards! And no more excuse to not having fresh ginger on hand :)

Now, go make the salad and find someone to share it with! Or keep it all to yourself. Whatever you choose ;)

Warm weather foodz and a special sun tea

It's not summer yet here, but the temperatures have been hovering around 20 degrees Celsius in the past week. This welcomed change in temperature and weather means I start craving different foods. Out with the soups, the curries and the heavier meals, and in with the sandwiches, wraps and frozen treats even!

Spring rolls have been my latest addiction! Even my girlfriends are addicted to them! We had a play date yesterday with all our kids and we made a huge plate of them just for us (shh, don't tell the kids! lol), and inhaled every single one of them in what I'm sure is record time :) I love that you can fill them with any veggie you have on hand. It's especially great if you have some veggies that need to be used up soon, you can throw them all in. The only thing that I always put in them, is a piece of lettuce (it helps the sheet of rice noodle to stay together as you pile the fillings into it) and hummus. But you certainly don't have to put hummus in them. I've had them so many times lately, that I can even make them for supper and my kids will eat them.

Not only will they eat them, but I don't hear them complain about what's for dinner AND they don't even ask what's in them. Bonus! It doesn't get any better than that!

But as delicious as spring rolls are, they do take some prep time. And sometimes, when I'm short on time or just don't feel like fussing in the kitchen, this sandwich is my favourite go to. Tomato avocado with some vegan mayo. I used to not like avocados. I wanted to like them, but the texture made me gag... until my best friend told me to try avocados in my tomato sandwich. I tried it, and loved it right away! Before I knew it, I was eating avocados by the spoon, right out of the peel! If you've never had a tomato avocado sandwich, you should really try it!

After I came back from vacation, I was in desperate need of a good grocery shopping to stock up on some fresh produce. After all, we were gone for a week and we ate our way through our fresh food before leaving. What I found at my local store surprised me, because they never carry these:

If you don't know what they are, these are fresh young coconuts. The main difference between these and the regular coconuts, is that their "meat" is soft, like flesh if you will, instead of thick and fibrous. If you take the coconut meat from a young one, and blend it, it will disintegrate! I knew exactly what I was going to make first with them!

Raw coconut cashew ice cream!

I got the recipe from HERE. It's SO delicious! My kids don't like it though (which means more for me!), because of the texture due to the cashews in it. But I do have a coconut ice cream recipe they LOVE (sans cashews). I'll share it with you soon :)

And remember the huge bag of hibiscus flowers I received in my bulk order? Well, I made Sun Tea with it yesterday and it was delicious! So if you ever get your hands on dried hibiscus flowers, try this tea!

Hibiscus Sun Tea

4 whole dried hibiscus flowers

2 cups water

1/2 Tbsp lemon juice

Sweetener (to taste)

In a glass jar, pour water and add dried flowers and lemon juice. Place cover and leave in a sunny place outside (or inside) for 1 to 3 hours (I waited almost 3). When ready, strain the flowers out and sweeten to taste. Serve immediately and enjoy!

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Vacation Part 2 (the butterfly show)

Here is the part 2 of the last post. While in Montreal, we went to see the butterfly show at the botanical garden after our visit at the Biodome.

At a time of year, where the weather was still chilly, (though warming up at the same time with Spring that was coming), when the skies were still mostly grey, where everything still seemed colourless from fading winter, vacation was a welcomed break. And a trip to the botanical was definitely the right place to be for someone who's been dying to take some nice colourful pictures!

There was no lack of butterflies in the "show room". They were everywhere. Sometimes, they even landed on you... which caused my daughter to panic at some point, but she still likes butterflies, so I don't think it traumatized her too much in the end ;)

These beautiful blue ones were very hard to catch on film, so I'm very proud of this picture. The main reason that they are hard to photograph, is that they are only blue when their wings are open. When closed, they are just brown. In the picture below, all these butterflies feasting on fruit are the type that have blue wings when opened... and they don't keep them opened that long. But opened or closed wings, I think they are pretty anyways.

To make it to the butterfly room, you have to walk through other parts of the botanical garden and this plant caught my eye. Sure enough, it's an agave plant... that's where the sweet nectar comes from that I use in lots of recipes! What can I say, I'm a food nerd and I got excited to photograph the cactus ;)

The show room was filled with fluttering life...

...oozing with delicate scents, and bursting with colours! And I loved every bit of it!

Just to show you how the butterflies really were everywhere. You had to watch where you walked as to not step on one. They mostly seemed to stay off the walkway, but once in a while, there was one there. I even had one landing on my arm as soon as we had walked into that room :)

It was a great vacation even if it was short. 5 days is not very long when your trying to tour for a day to show new things to your kids and then spend time with family and friends, but I made the most of the time I had there and I enjoyed every bit of it! And I hope you enjoyed the pictures!