Fill in the Blank Friday

Here they are my fill in the blanks Friday on a MONDAY! :)

I was having such a great time this weekend, that I've been slacking on the blog front and just remembered last night that I had a test tonight. So my post for today and then I should get some studying done....

Oh, and thank you everyone for all the warm and best wishes for our anniversary. I can't believe it's been already three years. It just felt like yesterday that we were all hanging out on the beach in the Mayan Riviera.

Well, they say time flies when you are having fun. Enjoy!

1.   Black Friday is   crazy. I always remember that incident at Walmart that other year. But I wish I didn't have to wait in line in the cold weather to get the good deals. Even though I live in Canada I was able to get some good deals online in the comfort of my own home.

2.  Christmas shopping this year will include   lots of gifts for little ones. We've been blessed to have so many new arrivals this year, and Katelyn is very fortunate to have many friends.

3.  Holiday shopping makes me       anxious and stressed. The idea of me picking out a gift for someone and wanted so bad for them to love it! But I love watching others and myself open gifts. The chaos of the opening of the gifts at our house is total chaos and I love it!

4.  This year my Christmas list will include   magazine subscriptions, sweaters, tops, kitchen tools and winter accessories. I would still love a Vitamix. But that might be on my list for awhile ;)

5.  Bargain hunter, or full price shopper?     Shopping ahead...Bargain shopper. Last minute additions...Full price shopper.

6.  The best and worst things about shopping is       I love finding great deals and the worst thing is not finding what you are looking for?

7.  Online shopper or in-person shopper?      Love shopping online for books and natural health care products ( only if I've used in the past, since I have a sensitive nose). And in person for everything else, I'll have to agree with everyone else. I have to feel it, try it on, smell it before I make my decision.

Hope you all had a great weekend! And I'll post our pictures of our fun weekend soon!!!

P.s. If you want to join in on the fun just link up at the little things we do

To my one and only

Happy anniversary!

Aloha

We are finally back from our annual family beach/anniversary vacation. We are still jet lagged and working on the laundry. But almost done. We were real happy to finally go away on vacation. It was a great vacation but a totally new experience. Travelling with an infant can be very trying at times and the packing. Let's just say it felt like we packed for a month long vacation instead of a week. Although the parents and in laws had packed a lot too! The shuttle buses were surprised with all the luggage but there were 8 of us travelling together. Trekking to the terminals, gates was a little tougher with all the extra baggage. We had the car seat, stroller, diaper bags plus our carry ons and luggage. We did it! And we have the tans to show for it :)

Here are a few pictures to share with you.

 Waiting for our baggage at Honolulu airport. Katelyn received her first lei.

Waikiki Beach sunset in front of our hotel waiting for the bus to bring us to the airport.

And this is her back in Canada in the cold weather.

Hope everyone had a good couple of weeks. My intention was to send out some posts over the vacation. But it just didn't happen.

I'll post more pictures and details of our trip later.

XOX

Fresh Baby Food Trays and Beets

Well today was another exciting day in our household. Our little girl was going to try beets for the first time. Growing up I never had beets which is understandable since my parent probably never had them either since beets don't grow in tropical areas where my parents are from. But I discovered them a couple of years ago and I love them. And I just realized that they are so good raw and are easily incorporated into a salad or coleslaw. Yum!

Photo credit

Beets are a root vegetable that are high in dietary fibre and are a rich source of B Vitamins and carotenoids, and minerals such as iron, manganese and magnesium. You can also eat the tops which are rich in Vitamin A. Vitamin A is good for maintaining healthy mucus membranes and skin and is also essential for vision.


And I've seen in cookbooks that you can use beet juice as an alternative to food colourings for your icings...and I just thought of it this morning. Since I've never made red velvet cake probably because of the high amount of red food colouring required to get the rich red colour of the cake that I could use some of the beet puree that Kate will be eating to make a cake in the future. Since I'll have the puree in frozen cubes to use later.


So this morning I peeled and cut the beets into approximately 2" squares with a little water and cooked them in a stainless steel pot. I cooked them until they were tender. Then I used a hand blender to puree the beets and the remaining water in the pot. I added more water for the consistency I wanted.

Before I purchased the Fresh Baby Food trays I was using regular ice cube trays, which don't get me wrong. They work. But I love the food trays because they come with their own covers and the frozen cubes slide out easily when I need them. I usually freeze the cubes and then place them into containers or freezer bags to store in the freezer until we use them. And they ease my mind since they are BPA-Free and Phthalate-Free. They are made in the USA and are also dishwasher safe. However, they are pretty easy to wash by hand.
The only con I can think of is the price but I'm sure you could find them for a lower cost online.
Overall I think it's a great product that I can use for the baby foods and breast-milk but I can also use it later on for pestos, beet puree, tomato paste, basically anything that I would require in small portions. I've also tried other brands and I'll post about those later.


Oh, and Katelyn loved the beets! I didn't want to post or take pictures because it was an absolute mess. Even more so because I decided to feed her in the contraband walker with the toys on her tray. But she liked them and it was worth it!




So if it is your first time trying beets. Just be aware of a couple of things...

• There is a harmless condition called "Beeturia" where one passes red or pink color urine after eating beets and its top greens. The condition can be found in around 10-15% of the population who are genetically unable to break down betacyanin pigment. This happens to me and the first time I actually called the Family Health Advisory Telephone Service and talked to an RN about it.

• Beet greens contain oxalic acid, a naturally occurring substance found in some vegetables which may crystallize as oxalate stones in the urinary tract in some people. Individuals with known oxalate urinary tract stones are advised to avoid eating excess greens.

Source: http://www.nutrition-and-you.com/beets.html

Trick or Treat!