pDisclosure: This is a partnered post with Tangerine Bank. However, all opinions and views on this post are 100% my own. Oh, mid January, how I dread you! It's dark when I leave for work and dark when I come home. The temperatures haven't seen the plus side of zero in weeks and all the fun family times and excitement of the recent holidays are a distant memory. And to add insult to injury...along with the normal monthly expenses, the holiday bills are starting to roll in. To prevent this … [Read more...]
Cranberry Orange Muffins
January 14, 2019 by · 7 Comments
I think by now you are all aware of my obsession with muffins. Honestly, I think I could live on muffins alone! That reminds me of something. I remember working as a nurse on some of the hospital units and physicians would occasionally admit patients, usually women, under the diagnosis of "Tea and Toast Syndrome". What usually happened was, these wee women were living on their own. They didn't have the will or inclination to go to the bother of preparing a nutritious meal, just for … [Read more...]
Oven Subs are Delicious & Simple to Prepare
January 11, 2019 by · 12 Comments
My husband first made these delicious Oven Subs several years ago, I have been hooked ever since! We will often have them on a Friday or Saturday evening when we are looking for a simple meal that requires minimal preparation and time. One of my favourite things about these is the ability to customize the sandwich to suit each person's individual tastes and wants. I am not a big meat eater, so I always make mine a "veggie" sub, my husband on the other hand is a meat lover, he always packs … [Read more...]
10 Easy Tips to Save on Your Energy Bill
January 6, 2019 by · 4 Comments
The cold winter months with tons of snow and bone chilling temperatures have officially arrived. I don’t know about you, but after all the fun, family and food that happens during the holidays, getting back to a “normal” life has been tough. My daughter and I bundled up and heading out for a cold winter walk. January, February and even March here on Canada’s east coast can be brutal. I’m already longing for the warm days when I can sit out on our deck...but with lots of snow and minus 21C … [Read more...]
The Top 10 Recipes of 2018
January 3, 2019 by · 5 Comments
As cliché as it sounds, I really find it difficult to comprehend it is now 2019. Can you believe it has been 20 years since 1999 has come and gone? Do you remember all the Y- 2000 millennium hype? I sure can! At that time, I was working in the Operating Room of our regional hospital and I remember we spent months preparing for any possible untoward outcome....and thankfully, there were none. Before totally engulfing myself in a new year of blogging and challenges, I always find it … [Read more...]
Bacon, Lettuce & Tomato Pinwheel Appetizers
December 27, 2018 by · 19 Comments
Last week I was going to a girls get together with some family and friends. I wanted to take some of the burdens off the host and offered to bring along an appetizer. (Although, that being said...there ended up being enough food on the buffet table to feed a small army for a week...lol, so I don't think I was much help!) A couple of Christmases ago, I made some Bacon, Lettuce, and Tomato Pinwheel Appetizers...but apparently, we were all quite hungry that evening. As it turned out, they … [Read more...]
Do You Prepare A Nativity Tray?
December 23, 2018 by · 8 Comments
Christmas Eve is tomorrow...YIKES...and I want to share with you a tradition in our home. This Christmas Eve will be our seventeenth year to prepare a Nativity Tray, which is actually a medieval English custom. I first read about this custom in the book, Simple Abundance by Sarah Ban Breathnach. I thought it was such a wonderful thing to do. To me, it epitomizes the spirit of, “goodwill toward men”. If you have the Simple Abundance book you can read all about the Nativity Tray on the … [Read more...]
Hello Dolly Squares {aka Magic Bars} ~ Special Edition
December 18, 2018 by · 4 Comments
This recipe has been around for as long as I can remember. Just about everyone I know has some version of the super popular, Hello Dolly Squares (aka Magic Bars). I have no idea where the name of these squares originated. However, in my active mind, I imagine this scenario: Fifty, sixty, seventy or one hundred years ago someone created these squares. She (yes...c'mon, it had to be a woman who created these delicious layers of yumminess!) had no name for them, they were just a layering of … [Read more...]
Top 5 Tips for Preventing the Spread of Influenza
December 12, 2018 by · 160 Comments
We’re now well into the fall of the year, in fact, where I live it actually looks and feels more like winter! Although we still try to get out in the fresh air as often as possible, unfortunately, we’re not outside as much as we are in the warmer months. Consequently, this is the time of the year when many of us are spending our days in enclosed spaces, such as classrooms, shopping malls and office buildings which makes us more susceptible to becoming sick with influenza and then bringing … [Read more...]
How to Make Peanut Butter Balls
December 10, 2018 by · 16 Comments
For as long as I can remember, Peanut Butter Balls have been a Christmas tradition in our home. We always make them, often a double or triple batch. Christmas just wouldn't seem the same without them. Back when I was first married, every December, I would spend hours pouring over recipe books and magazines in search of the perfect holiday treats. Then, my mom and I would get together a couple of days before Christmas for an epic, daylong baking session. By the end of the day, we would be very … [Read more...]
Confetti Squares ~ Recipe
December 5, 2018 by · 31 Comments
A good friend of mine used to make these squares often and I have always liked them. She gave me her recipe and I would often make them when my kids were younger. Coloured marshmallows + butterscotch chips + peanut butter = happy kids! They are definitely not difficult to make. Just a little melting of butter, peanut butter, and the chips, then letting the mixture cool a bit. Stir in marshmallows, put them in a pan, toss in the fridge and you are done! I let the butters/chip mixture … [Read more...]
