Baking and making...

So I decided to take the make-it-yourself plunge today. I really want to reduce the amount of processed junk B eats, and keep O from eating too much. At least when they are at home. I've been talking about it for a bit and reading and planning as I am one to do. Last night, I decided to just jump into it. Since we have a lot planned over the next week, I did not need to do too much grocery shopping so I decided we'd go to Organza and the Bulk Barn this morning. Checking their website I found that Organza opened at 10 this morning, which is awesome, because B usually naps around noon,which is when I would have gone. We got some good stuff like blood oranges and butter lettuce grown in Landmark and funny organic cookies shaped like Priuses (is that the plural of Prius?)and windmills. We had some time to kill between Organza and the Bulk Barn so we decided to go to the Forks and get some coffee and delicious cinnamon buns (I always want to try the roasted vegetable bread pudding, but always seem to be there between meals). Then to the Bulk Barn for some baking supplies. I needed stuff to start making stuff. I picked up some organic gummy bears for B, and they are really really good. Organic gummy bears might seem a little overkill, I know, but it's the junk they replace sugar with that bugs me the most. I mean, if my kid is going to go crazy on anything, it better be the gold standard in sweetness, not corn. Corn is barely nutritious in its unadulterated form other than the fiber, so I don't like to think about what they do to it to make it sweeten food. It just does not seem right. Anyways. Next weekend I think we'll go shopping at the Forks, it opens at 9:30 and has cinnamon buns.

So after we got home, I got to some baking. I took the "goldfish" cracker dough that I had made last night out of the fridge and all cut up. I could not find any fish cookie cutters, so I got a hippo, a triceratops, a squirrel, and a bear (which really looks more like a burly dog). And I cut and cut, till I had filled my two cookie sheets three times each. Which is a lot of little crackers. And I baked and baked while they puffed up. B helped by stealing all my kitchen implements and insisting I find more for him to pretend to cook with, while O giggled at me. And when they were done, I gave one to B, nervous over wasting so much time baking something he would not like. And then he left the room and brought me the crackers he had been eating earlier and said "No more this, more THIS!" and pointed at the crackers I had just made. Victory! Flour, butter, cheese, salt, and pepper, so simple but really really good. If you have a cheesy cracker lover in your house, you should make these. Then I got super hippy and made Ryan some granola for breakfast, because he likes it. With oats, brown sugar, raisins, cherries, almonds, coconut and honey. So good. Tomorrow I am going to try to make something Bear Paw like with the old bananas we have around. I can't find a recipe so I am going to wing it. It feels good to make things. Something about baking elevating your mood.

I also quickly sewed up some snack pouches. They are more prototypes, and I did not have much time to do them, but they turned out pretty good. I dig it. Easier, cuter, and less garbage making than ziplock bags. Especially the cuter part. And when you flip the top they form a nice bowl. After I do a few tweaks (and maybe a trip to Fabricland) I am going to make some more. Making wise, I am still working on the sweater. I just moved the sleeve stitches (I made them extra poofy) to some waste yarn, and don't have too much more to do. Mostly because I am making it short-sleeved. The flowers are a touch wonky, but they just need some fixing with a crochet hook when it's all done. Yup. And now I am going to relax and work on it.

Bye bye cable, hello pretty yarn.

We decided the other day to get rid of cable again. Ryan was working on our monthly budget, and I pointed out that he forgot the Shaw bill, and that made me realize that we should just get rid of it. We had only meant to have cable for a few months anyways, and then forgot to cancel it. Ryan had recently called Shaw to see if they would match MTS' current promotion by giving us a free PVR and some extra channels, which they did in order to keep us as customers. I was so excited to have a PVR again. Seriously. When I was in university, we drove down to Grand Forks just because Ryan decided that he wanted a TiVo. And me and that thing became BFFs. I always had something to watch (I'm one of those people who need the TV on when they do things), and not only did it record all of my favorite shows, but it recorded shows it thought I would like. And it made the cutest noises when I deleted things or skipped commercials. And the remote! With its thumbs up/down buttons! It was amazing. But then we got rid of cable, and with that TiVo. So when Shaw gave us a Pace Tahoe, to say I was excited would be an understatement (I am a TV addict!). And it sucks. And has really bad user architecture and seems fairly unintuitive.
(Sidenote: I heard the Mozilla guy on Spark today talking about how software should grow with the user, teaching it the skills needed to use it as they go along like a video game does and opening up as the user gains more skill. He went on to talk about how you don't need to read a manual for a video game, because you learn all the basics by playing the first level. I had never thought about it this way, but it's so true. More designers need to think like that.)
It just erases files or stops their recording for no good reason. It was really disappointing. Probably even more so after having a TiVo. Our first one was broken with the deleting problem so we returned it two days after getting it, only to get another one with the same problem. I called Shaw again, and they told me it's just an issue with the box that I'll have to deal with until a firmware upgrade happens. LAME. Not to mention our cable blips all the time which is just annoying. So instead of using something that just frustrates me a lot, I'll just go back to watching stuff online which works really well. Except that B's favorite shows, Team Umizoomi, and Fresh Beat Band are not really around yet as they are newer Nickelodeon shows, but he probably watches too much TV anyways.

I went grocery shopping yesterday. $108.96. Not bad! Especially since I spent 10 of that at Organza on blueberry perogies(!!!) and Veggie Booty for B. The greenness of them threw him off at first, but once I convinced him it was something tasty, he went nuts. They're like a healthier more natural corn puff coated in veggie powder. There is spinach and kale in the ingredients and he will eat it. It's a start. It's my goal to make O less of a picky eater than his big brother. See, I started out making all of B's baby food, with lentils and beans and real veggies and fruit of all kind, and applicable spices here and there. I bought Baby Cubes (which are really awesome) to put all the food in. But then our food processor broke, and I got lazy, and jarred mush it was. In my opinion, there are two kinds of mush: sweet mush and savory mush. It all just tastes like jars. But B loved it. And then came crackers and toast, and then when I was pregnant with O it was a lot of convenience stuff. It's not like he eats horrible though, he does get all his food groups in a day, but getting him to eat veggies is rough. Ryan even made these DELICIOUS Parmesan butternut squash noodles from Deceptively Delicious, but even that did not work. He is a smart cookie and fairly picky. I want to try making the pea mint popsicles in Toddler Cafe sometime soon, as he did like the pea pancakes a lot and loves popsicles. We have since gotten new parts for the processor, and little O is going to eat well when his time comes. And maybe if I try real hard, it will look this pretty.


After shopping, I went to Ram Wools. I got some beautiful yarn! I got a ball of Noro Silk Garden (my favorite!), and some black Lett Lopi to contrast it with to make some pretty mittens with. Well, I think all the yarns I got today are destined to be mittens. I also got a colourful skein of Mirasol Hacho, which is a beautiful hand dyed merino, as well as aubergine and pale blue balls of Sandnes Alpakka. So soft! I haven't been to Ram Wools since I lived with my mom. It was the only good place the 88 bus went other than to the 18 North Main. The new location is a lot brighter. It was so hard deciding which yarns to buy. They all felt so nice and were such pretty colours (although I did not find the perfect green I was looking for - I might have to make a Knitpicks order). And now between yarn for three pairs of mittens that I bought yesterday, and the yarn for the hoodie I bought last week, and the project I am currently working on, I'll be busy for a while.

Jeepers Creepers

While I was unsuccessfully trying to organize the pantry (we've been here since November and I STILL have no where to put the spices I don't really use these days anyways, which is another story all together), there was a knock at the door. Which excited B, and solicited no response from O, who was asleep in his cuuuuute owl swing (I seriously made Ryan drive me to Grand Forks to buy it and an owl-print Pack and Play). I was not really expecting anything except my new glasses, but I thought it was too soon for them to come yet. But behold! It was the DHL guy with my new glasses straight from China only a week after I ordered them. Which is the same time frame as the place in the mall, because I have bad eyes so it takes longer.

It's the 3rd time I have ordered from Zenni Optical, and I will order again. I have been pleased with my glasses every time. And the price! Oh my. Two pairs of glasses for 29.00 shipped! That is less than the anti-reflective coating I never get because it seems to wear off. I am a happy camper. As mentioned, I got two pairs. One is a black stylized half-rim pair ordered to replace a pair that B broke a while ago, and the other a clear bright purple frame. I figured my face needed a break from all the thick black glasses. And I love them both.

Now about those spices. I really need to find some of those windowed magnetic tins for them. I have a perfect space on my fridge for them. And then they will not be in a cardboard box labled "DO NOT TIP" even though I always do by accident AND I can finally find the right ones to use. Chili Powder is no Cayenne Pepper. One of these days.

Today in the mail I got the new issue of Everyday Food magazine. I heart Superstore. OMG Joe Fresh kids clothes! They are just too cute. And a good cosmetics and home section. It is trying-to-save-money kryptonite. So as much as I love Ben and my trips to Superstore, I think that once I get it all figured out, I want to get out to places like Organza and Delucas more like we used to. Because if we are eating for less, we might as well be eating better quality. And it might help eliminate some of the junk we buy. Which B loves all too much. It took me all day to get him to put the tiniest piece of a new food in his mouth. All he wants is fruit snacks, Bear Paws, and "Ger-goni" crackers. So my plan over the next few days is to come up with a good meal plan for next week. I just need some new ideas.

Time to get this party started.

The spring cleaning's coming

As we lose the cold weather, so

Put away your long johns

All your thick sweaters

And we'll cut off all our winter hair

Sit out on the lawn chairs

And the sun forgets that we're here

Forget our careers

I figured it's time to get back into blogging. I'll probably write about a lot of different things: the boys, who take up most of my time; things I am up to, such as knitting and sewing projects; food we eat, which has been mostly unexciting these days, but I really want to change that; and other things, like shopping, neat links, and various colours that end up on my nails. I paint them to de-stress, it works pretty good.

So in that vein, I will gloss over those topics.

• The boys are good, B is about 2 years and a couple of months and is doing very well. I am trying to get him over his juice addiction, into his Thomas bed, into real underpants, and all without his soother. It's good times. He lives and breathes Cars. Yes. Cars with a capital C, as in the movie. "Watcha McQueen," he runs around the house saying. What did parents do without pixar movies??? He has a healthy collection of toy cars and trucks of all sorts that he loves parking and putting in houses. It's pretty cute. O is about 6 weeks now, and a smiley little guy. He's pretty darn cute. And huge! He seems a lot more aware of his surroundings than I remember B being, and he is one tough little guy.
• I am knitting a sweater for O, a hooded cardigan based on the pattern in Debbie Bliss' Essential Baby (It's the one on the top left, but I am making a fair bit of changes). I just finished the ribbing and am now on the striping. I have not knitted in a while, and I forgot how fun it is. My ravelry ID is ohdessa if anyone is interested. Sewing not so much these days, as it's not something you can do while holding a baby, but I do plan to maybe sew up some quick sheets for B this weekend.
• Food is boring. I really hope to change that. We've been eating a fair bit of crap these days out of convenience. Ryan is working a lot, and I am busy with the two boys, so it just seems easier to throw in a pizza. On top of that, B is fairly picky, which makes things even harder. But sometime in the next couple of weeks I plan to go through cookbooks and come up with a plan.
• Other stuff is other stuff. Yup. I am pretty pleased with my nails right now. I painted them Revlon Grey Suede (such a nice colour, more of a nude-y pink with a bit of grey) and used a Kiss Beach Purple nail art polish to paint on zebra stripes. I've been trying to organize the apartment like crazy and it feels like it will never be done. And I could use a vacation! Ha.
• Now, I just need to pretty up this thing.