PB + J Monday

It's a new year tomorrow!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

Wow this year sure did fly by!

Do you make new years resolutions?  Have you made any for the coming year?

I try to stick with just one or two a year.  That way I can give them my focus and really try to make them a habit and part of everyday life.  I don't do the diet, exercise more or drinking less ones.  Those seem to get off track really easy and they come up again throughout the year anyway. 

A few of years ago I decided to organize myself so I could be diligent in sending out birthday cards, anniversary cards and thank you cards to family and friends.  It worked really well and I'm still doing it.  And it's a small thing that brings a little joy to someone.  It's so much nicer to get a card in the mail than a bill or flyer.

Last year I decided I wanted to try really hard to use less wrapping paper to wrap gifts.  And instead come up with greener and more interesting ways to present a gift.  I was successful a few times and I will continue to try again this year to get more and more gifts wrapping and gift bag free.  

photo from www.freefoto.com

But my resolution for this year is to add more plants to our house and to better tend to our garden this summer.  For years we have only had three fake plants in our house.  That's it.  No real ones.  It's pretty sad.  They look nice but having real plants is so much better.  The problem is that I am the worst at decided what kind of plants would be good in our home and then keeping those plants alive.  This year I really want to put in a better effort so we can reap the benefits of having natural air filters and fragrances in our home.  

And the garden we had last summer was really good and could have been even better if it was tended to.  My excuse?  Well, I can come up with a pile of them but it really doesn't matter, the fact is I just didn't do the work.  This year I want to try harder to provide good food for our family from the convenience of our backyard.  It's fun for the kids to see the vegetables come from tiny seeds and seedlings too.

So, that's me and my changes for the year.  What about you?  What are your plans?  Are they big, small or nothing at all?  I'd love to hear them.

Have a safe and happy New Year!

PB + J Monday

I’t’s Christmas Eve!!!

I can’t believe it’s here already!

Ok, enough about that, back to PB+J Monday…

This week I thought I’d share with you an inspiring person and her very green challenge.  Several years ago Vanessa Farquharson decided to challenge herself to a year of becoming more “green”.  Her experience and determination to see the challenge through to the end was very impressive and deserves to be shared.

Here is an excerpt from her blog during the living green challenge, giving a brief explanation of what she was doing….

“Welcome to Green as a Thistle. My name is Vanessa, I'm a journalist at the National Post, based in Toronto. When I saw the documentary An Inconven— no, just kidding. Now that organic is the new bl— OK, no, seriously now. In short, this blog began somewhere between guilt and earnestness, between dissing Stéphane Dion's dog (named Kyoto) and finding myself amongst a group of eco-hipsters drinking hemp beer at an anti-styrofoam party. I decided to take on a bit of a challenge: Spend each day, for an entire calendar year, doing one thing that betters the environment. The idea was that everything I did, I kept doing (so if I switched brands, it was a permanent switch; if I turned down my thermostat, I kept it down), so that by day 365, I'd be living as green a lifestyle as it gets. It was a gruelling year, but in the end, it proved that being an environmentalist doesn't necessarily mean being a smug hippie, nor does it have to mean compromising aesthetic values or good wine. You can read more about what I learned in my book, Sleeping Naked is Green, or just keep reading this here blog. Now, I'm mostly writing about whatever the heck pops into my head (isn't that a novel concept for a blog?).”

Yes, she is sitting in an empty fridge.
Not using  fridge was one of her challenges.

She has since stopped posting to the blog and moved on to other projects but her living green challenge still sticks with me and you can read all about her amazing year on the blog and in her book “Sleeping Naked is Green”.

Available at Amazon

Take a look at her list of changes, all 366 (because it was a leap year!).  Some of her changes were small (like switching to Eco-dent floss) and some were pretty big (like turning off her oven for good).  She has continued with some of the changes but there are others that were a little too much and she had to let them go.  This list is a great reminder that changes don’t always have to be big, like not using a fridge or a car, but that the small things you do add up and can make a difference.  

Have a beautiful Christmas everyone!!

Foodie Friday

I found it!  I found it!

I have been looking for a cooking substitution list for a looooong time.  Ok, I'll admit, I haven't been looking very hard, but it's something that I think about when I want to bake or cook something and I don't have all the ingredients listed in a recipe.  That's when I realize that it would be really nice to have a food substitution list handy.  And then, I forget all about it until the next time. Sigh.

Well this one was delivered right in to my inbox the other day!  Can't get much better than that!  No need to go searching when someone does the work for you.  I receive emails a couple of times a week with recipes or tips to try and it's so convenient.  I feel like I'm being pampered sometimes.

The recipes, and this particular tip (what to substitute), come from one of my favourite sites for looking up recipes.  When I'm at a loss and can't find what I want in my cook books, I consult www.allrecipes.com.  They have everything!  And what's even better is they have great reviews.  I always read a bunch of the reviews from people who have tested the recipe, before I decide to try it myself.  It lets me know what other people had problems with and what they did to make the recipe just that much better, or if it's a recipe that needs to be avoided all together.  If you haven't already taken advantage of it, it's a fantastic resource that I highly recommend.

And...there's an app for it on the Iphone!  So, I don't have to keep running up the stairs (we keep our computer upstairs) to look up a recipe and waste paper to print it off.  I can just do a search on my phone, try the recipe out and if I like it then I can write it down to keep for the future.  Or, I can save it as a favourite in the app.  Ah, technology, what would we do with out you?

Ok, so here is what they sent me this week:

Healthy Ingredient Substitutions

and I then found:

Common Ingredient Substitutions

These are two very handy and useful lists to have around!  And now you don't have to search for them either!

Do you have favourite substitutions that you use regularly?  I'd love to hear what they are!  Please share them in the comment section below.

Wordless Wednesday

Early morning snowfall.

PB + J Monday...Tuesday

Some bloggers decided to take a break from the blogging world yesterday in respect for the innocent victims of the shooting in Connecticut.  I thought I would too and so my PB+J Monday post is a PB+J Tuesday post this week.

I seem to be in a sewing mood lately!  I recently came across this delightful idea for unique and fun ways to gift bottles of wine.   

Repurposed (recycled) sweater sleeves and dress-shirt sleeves!  I love it!  And just like furoshiki the possibilities are endless!

Here is a great little tutorial on how to make a wine bag from a sweater sleeve.  I love the cozy, festive feel of the striped sleeve and the addition of the trim.  It’s so simple and yet so great!  Who wouldn't be impressed when they see you coming to their party carrying this!

From Oh My! Creative

Here is another tutorial that shows a more stable bottom to the bag using an old sweater or pair of pants (the purple bag on the table). 

From Off Beat at Home

And here is another more sophisticated idea.  Great for the Christmas office party!  I love the idea of adding cufflinks to finish it off.  I can’t seem to find where this picture came from.  I think it originated on Etsy though. 

Can't find where this picture is from

And here's a few more to finish this post off and maybe get your creative juices flowing too.

From Kojo Designs
I love the pom poms on this one!

Sweater wine gift bags from Paper and Parcel
They don't sell these anymore but the picture is gorgeous

How do you hide Holiday Gifts?

We all use it but, the closet is not always the ideal place to hide holiday gifts from your children or even your prying spouse.

Here are some creative and fun suggestions

to keep your carefully chosen gifts a secret until the big day.

~Ask a friend or relative to store the presents for you at their house.  You can offer to do the same for them.

~Keep the gifts in the trunk of the car that gets parked in the garage.  Just be sure that the kids do not have access to your keys or have a tendency to go into the car unsupervised.

~Delay buying gifts until a couple of days prior to the holiday.  This way the temptation for children to look for their gifts is not there. 

~Check to see if any online retailers have the option to choose your own shipping dates.  This way you may be able to target your delivery closer to the holidays.

~Hide gifts in plain sight.  Place gifts in everyday boxes or items on the shelf that the kids wouldn't suspect would be hiding a gift.

~Wrap up a gift the recipient wouldn't normally care for and put their name on it. Leave the wrapped box in a place that is not-so-obvious but easy to find, like the top shelf of a closet or hidden under a blanket. That way if it is found the recipient will hopefully stop looking.  And they’ll be very surprised Christmas morning.

~Use unusual containers to hide the items. Empty food boxes, like cereal, granola bars, etc are perfect for hiding smaller items right under their noses.

~Think of places they never go or are not allowed to go like under the sink, a special room in the basement, garage storage or attic.

~One place most teenagers would never look is the parent’s underwear drawers. I think that’s a great place for hiding small gift items.

~Hide the gifts in your unused luggage. Empty suitcases can hold a lot of presents!

~If you have smaller gifts, use pockets of clothes that are hanging in your closet.

~Use the Christmas storage boxes. After you pull out the decorations you have lots of empty space just waiting to be filled.

~A friend of mine codes her gifts instead of tagging them.  Each year there is a different code that has to be cracked. One year the colour of the wrapping determined which gift belonged who which kid.  Another year it was the number of pieces of tape used.  It's fun and keeps them guessing right to the end.

 ~And if you are really serious, put the gifts behind locked doors. Some closets have locks on them and that might be your only option in the end.

Do you have more ideas on how to hide gifts?  What do you do at your house?  I’d love to hear it!

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