Baby Approved Smoothies

WARNING: HIDDEN VEGGIES!!!

How do you make both mommy and baby happy? You hide yo green in there! I had to write it like that because I couldn't help but think of this old SNL skit....You put yo weed in there!  It came out just when I was at the age to think weed was hip and cool but I hadn't actually seen it really knew anything about it.  Fast forward to today.....

WHAAA?!?

Penny is usually a great eater but can be picky about veggies so this is a fuss free way of getting them in her. The secret is to just add spinach or kale to any fruit smoothie but the recipe that Penny seems to enjoy best is:

1c Frozen Mango Chunks

1/4cVanilla Greek Yogurt

1/2 Banana

Handful of Greens (Spinach or Kale) 

Big Splash of OJ for easy blending

I love our Magic Bullet for these single serving smoothies and the clean up is super easy.
Now have fun tricking your baby or even yourself into eating those extra needed veggies!

The BEFORE House Tour

Before I can start showing you all the progress we made I have to first set up the before situation.  The following pictures are from the listing so the owners had the place in clean selling condition but when we viewed the house it was everything but clean and orderly as it was occupied by renters for we're not sure how long.  There were toys, dishes, underwear(!) and dog mess everywhere, they obviously didn't give two shits if the house sold.  It was probably better for them if the house didn't sell so they didn't have to move out.  We did end up giving them some time because buying a house takes time!  We had a little bit of financial problems because of our Fort McMurray house not selling and it is not as easy to buy a house like it used to be with all the new CMHC rules.  We also had an inspection which got us a little worried resulting in us having a contractor come in to assess some of the issues brought up in the report.  Things turned out to be  not as bad as we expected just normal for an older home but we ended up negotiating for a small sum off the purchase price anyways.  We knew we would need new shingles this year since they in cupping and in generally rough shape and eventually we will have to replace the 20% of windows that are not updated but we ended up negotiating over a few things like attic insulation(we were told the R rating was higher than what was really there) and "Stryker's room", a little addition which was built on the ground without foundation - in the long term it could pull away from the house causing quite a bit of damage.

Exterior
Need to Replace Shingles, Grass in area where they drove and create walkway.

*The kitchen, dining room and living room is all one room**

Kitchen
Paint cabinets and walls

Dining Room
Paint walls, door and remove blinds.

Living room - view facing entry 

Living room
Paint walls

Master Bedroom
Paint, Replace Flooring

Penny's Room
Paint, Change Flooring

Basement Bedroom
Lots of work-update later

Master Bath
GUT!

Entry
Paint, Change Flooring

Bedroom 1 (Smaller one of the three upstairs)
Paint, Change Flooring

Garage
Lighting, Shingles, Flower Boxes, Maybe Paint

Back Exterior showing Stryker's room - the section of the house to the right jutting out from the house.

So that's it! Just like most listings the basement wasn't shown because of the horrific state it's in...kidding it's not that bad to the trained eye anyways.  It is just unfinished - in the main room just drywall, flooring and a drop ceiling is needed and the rest of it....well it could use a bit more! I will update pictures of the basement closer to when we decide to tackle it.

In the picture captions I included the very basic plan of what is needed to be done but like every reno there is quite a bit more to it.  Let the projects begin!

We've Moved!

We moved......from my hometown (Fort McMurray) to Mr.Loonie's hometown (Fort Saskatchewan) - close to it anyways.  It has been our plan for a few years now to move south once we were established financially and had some careless baby-less fun. So since little Pen Pen was baking in the oven, Mr.Loonie has been on the job hunt.  Our luck finally came quite a few months back but because of the lengthy big company interview and testing process, our move was only official recently.  Our house hunt started all over the place....it covered Sherwood Park, Fort Saskatchewan and NE Edmonton with anything meeting our search criteria of an older bungalow in the minor renovation category backing onto green space.  You wouldn't think this would be so hard but it was.  After a month there was nothing, we weren't in a big rush as Mr.Loonie's company would have supplied accommodations for 3 months but I did not want to live in a condo during the summer with a baby, a cat and a dog.  Then a house came up.  We were going back to what we dreamt of years ago...an acreage.  But the house is the best of both worlds....country and city living.  We are 5 minutes from the Fort, 15 from Edmonton but our front yard is a river and the backyard is a farmers field.....it's amazing.

Remember the part where I said we were willing to do minor renos....HA! Scratch that, looks like we have abit of a project on our hands and I will be chronicling every step of it for ya'll.

So a bit of history....our house is an old school! Apparently we housed the classrooms for grades 5-8.  The main room was for grades 5 and 6 and the bedroom end of the house was for the 7 and 8's.  Now as for the basement, we are unsure of.  From the little bit of information we have, the school was turned into a house sometime in the 50s and then renovated in the 90s such as the windows, insulation, shingles and garage construction.  We hope to learn more as we get to know our neighbors.

Our move has been pretty smooth since Mr.Loonie's employer covers most moving expenses including the packing and transport of our belongings, Realtor fees (our Fort McMurray house is still for sale but fortunately 3 months of our mortgage is also covered by the employer) and house hunting trips.  What hasn't been easy is poor Penny's sleeping habits, which we have finally got back on track after 3 weeks of a pretty tough time - I guess she just didn't feel comfortable with her new surroundings. Also, our trip down with the animal farm was hell.  What should take us 4 hours took 6.5 hours due to a blown trailer tire and a crying baby.  The moving company wouldn't take liquids due to their terrorist policy (?) so our tent trailer was packed full of cooking liquids, bathroom and garage liquids...I guess liquids add up because our little old tent trailer tires couldn't handle the excess weight.  The cat was meowing, the dog was pacing and whining and the baby was crying all while the parents were calm....HA!

What matters is we made it and we have been working our asses off to make this old school our own.  Lots of updates to come....stay tuned!

P.S. And for those friends at "home"...I miss you tons!!

Bacon & Tomato Barley Risotto

I use the term risotto loosely here because although the end result is very creamy like a risotto, it does not require the time and effort needed for a traditional version of the dish.  Barley is a great alternative to arborio rice, the type of rice normally used for risottos.  It is packed with protein, fiber and complex carbs unlike white rice.  But hold up! It is not 100% healthy, there a half a pack of bacon thrown in there....WAIT....I made up for it with all the spinach!  Everything is in balance again.
I swear my Dad was just telling me yesterday that bacon is actually considered healthy now....suuuuure. He always goes on rants about what one doctor says is healthy today is not healthy tomorrow.  All in moderation I respond or else we would all be a dark chocolate, bacon eating, obese winos (red wine of course - white is not as good for you).

Bacon & Tomato Barley Risotto

Adapted from Oh She Glows - a vegan version

Ingredients:

1/2 pack bacon

1 cup dry pot barley

1 small onion

1 tbsp oregano

1 tbsp basil

1 large clove or garlic

14 oz can of diced tomatoes

2 cups of milk

1/3 cup spinach (we buy bags of small frozen cubes)

3/4 cup water

S&P to taste

1/4 cup parmesan or more/less to taste

Cook 1/2 pack of bacon which has been diced.  Remove bacon to a plate and most of the grease, leaving a tbsp or so.  

Rinse pot barley in strainer and place in pot that has a lid.  Coat the barley, onion and herbs in the bacon grease and lightly toast in pot on medium heat.  Reduce heat and add garlic, cook for one minute.  

Add tomatoes, milk and water.  Stir well and bring to gentle boil. Reduce head and cover pot with lid on the angle allowing air to escape.  Simmer for approximately 40 minutes stirring every 5-10 minutes or so making sure not to burn the barley to the pot.  Add S&P and parmesan to taste.

The barley tends to be a bit chewy so cook longer and add more liquid if desired.

Makes about 2 cups.  

Spring: Messy Babies and Geocaching

Spring is just around the corner! Yahoo!! We seriously got hit with one of the coldest winters this year, maybe not record lows but a record had to have been broken for the longest stretch below -20°C. It seemed like months I was stuck inside with little Pens, Mr.Loonie and I were taking turns walking pups as it was just too cold for sensitive baby skin.

It was Mr.Loonie's first day off shift today and with the sun shining and temperatures above 5°C , it was perfect to get outside. We even let Penny crawl around on the driveway, she was having a blast playing with rocks and water pouring out the downspout from melting snow. She was a mess but who cares! That's what being a kid is all about. And yes, by the way, Penny is a kid now not a baby! 

A kid most of the time until it is time for a nap or bedtime and then she is still a little baby with sleep issues.  Who knew it would be so hard to get a damn baby to bed.  Last time I spoke of our sleep "problems" it was during her four month sleep regression and now at nine months, it looks like we are back in it. It is honestly not that bad though because I have given up looking for answers and have decided to just be there for my girl. We are still in the family bed and don't really see our "situation" as a problem because we believe in "waiting it out". We see progress most days and and I feel good knowing that she will never be trained or put into any type of stressful situation. So in an attempt to get an afternoon nap in (we don't normally do this but desperate times call for desperate measures - there are also two top teeth busting through) we went for a geocache 10km out of town off of the main highway.  We have been meaning to get this one for awhile now so it was the perfect opportunity.  Surprisingly we got the FTF (first to find) which was a Chinese ear cleaning pick.....weird.

Bathroom Reno Reveal!

Once again I was in a love-hate relationship with this damn blog.  I must have been a deep hate because I am so proud of the bathroom renovation....you would think I would want to share it with you all.  I was even avoiding clicking on the "Two Loonies and a Penny" bookmark in my tool bar until a fellow blogging friend who I play volleyball with asked if we had even finished the bathroom since there were no pictures up.  So Lace, here ya go...thanks for the kick in the ass. It has been at least a month now we have been done.  It really was the longest bathroom reno of all time....about 9 months! But with babies and shift work, things get put off pretty easily.  So first let's have a look at the nasty before...

Blue counter tops, peach tile, green walls and white, blue and pink linoleum....YIKES.

And this was my inspiration picture.....

And now for the reveal.....

We finished tiling in November with the help of my Dad. I love the white hexagon tile with the lightest grey grout.  I realized that I LOVE WHITE! If we ever move (foreshadowing) I am seriously considering whiting out the whole house, by that I mean every. single. wall, WHITE! There are three rooms in our house which are painted a shade of white; the kitchen, Penny's room and this bathroom (which is mostly white) and they are all my favorite rooms in the house.  Nothing beats the cleanness of it. The dark greyish blue color we chose to compliment all the white is "grilled sardine" by Benjamin Moore.

The next step of the reno after tiling was the wainscoting and trim which Mr.Loonie completed effortlessly.  I really am so proud of him, it looks awesome.  Especially after I went behind him twice with the wood filler, silicone and white paint.  ;)

Then it was the accessories, the best part!! It could use a little more styling but I think that just comes with time.  I need to stroll through a vintage store or my Grandma's house to find a little tin or wall hanging for the wall opposite the towel ring, something to just give the bathroom that extra charm.  What we do have is an IKEA accordion mirror, storage boxes and white frames.  To add the needed punch of color I edited two corally colored flower photos that I took on our Oregon vacation.  The grey striped mat is from Crate and Barrel and the white waffle shower curtain and bathroom accessories (cup, toothbrush holder, soap dish, towel, garbage can) are from Superstore.  Hmmm....what else...toilet brush holder and shower rings from Home Sense; mirror from JYSK, cabinet hardware from Lee Valley and the rest I already owned (towel ring, and glass apothecary jars).
You also might be wondering what that silver thing is hanging off the toilet.  It's the cloth diaper sprayer where we spray out little Pen Pen's poop into the toilet.  At least with the toilet surrounded in white, if the poop splatters it is easy to spot and clean, keeps us extra diligent.

So that's it....all for under $4000. I don't have the exact bills in front of me but from what I can estimate we spent around $3500 so add a few hundred bucks for random items.
Approximate Expenditures: $1400 for tub, toilet  faucet and sink. $1000 for cabinet and countertop, $300 in tile and grout, $350 in paint, trim and wainscoting, $160 for lighting and $400 in accessories and finishing details.
What do you all think!?
To view all the bathroom posts while the reno was in progress click here.

Sugar Addict

The first step to recovery is admitting you have a problem right? Well my addiction is SUGAR. Now that I have cleaned the house out of all the Christmas treats it is time to that I get this under control.  It is really disgusting how much chocolate I have eaten. Part of the process is to be completely honest so I'm gonna lay it all out there for you. Since the holidays have been over the following is the junk I can remember consuming: two boxes of chocolate covered cherries, 2 big bags of M&Ms, a couple bars of salted dark chocolate, frozen Christmas cookies, one case of cranberry ginger ale and a tub of ice cream covered in Nestle Quik powder.  Also throw in there random treats at people's houses and cookies Mr.Loonie brings home from work.

There is also my morning coffee with vanilla creamer, cereal with vanilla soy milk, orange juice, toast with jam, pancakes with syrup, spoonfuls of Nutella, handfuls of sweetened cranberries and all those other hidden sugars.

I always liked my chocolate but I was able to control it.  Pregnancy was the addiction really started because all I wanted to do was sit on the couch with a bucket full of chocolate banana ice cream. I thought it was okay then but little did I know I was on a downward spiral into a full out problem.

So starting Monday that's it! Well not completely, just in reasonable amounts.  Little substitutions like milk instead of soy milk, water instead of sugary drinks and desserts will be a special treat not another meal in my day.  I was seriously replacing lunch with chocolate most days.  Thanks god for breastfeeding which helps me burn up to an extra 800 calories outside of regular activity.  Even though I am back down to pre-preggers weight I should be taking advantage of these extra calories burned and get on the treadmill to really get fit.  Limiting sugar and getting back to healthy eating is the first step.....baby steps.

Candy Shop = A Crazy Lady

From what I have read I'll probably experience headaches and feel lethargic and grumpy for a few days. The only way to combat these feelings and to avoid intense cravings is to keep my blood sugars consistent by eating protein and foods on the low end of the glycemic index like beans, lean meat, veggies and brown rice and pasta. 

Wish me luck!