Cuisinart 9 Cup Food Processor ROCKS!!!

Last week I decided that I wanted to get back into cooking and preparing more raw and fresh foods. How we ended up eating so much processed/boxed food is a good question. I guess with my crazy schedule as well as my husband's, meals had to be quick and easy…thus the boxed/processed foods. I think it just snuck (is that a word?) up on us throughout the years. That and a few extra pounds!

I discovered a great site called chocolatecoveredkatie.com . Her recipes are easy and nutritious and I noticed that she has a Cuisinart food processor and loves it. That week in my Canadian Tire flyer, there was a Cuisinart 9 cup on sale! AND I had some $$ in the bank that was just for this type of emergency!!

It’s heavy base is very sturdy, the blades are VERY sharp and the DVD is a great tutorial. Also comes with an instruction/recipe book. I was really impressed with the durability of each piece and the easy clean-up of each piece ( I hand washed the parts but everything is dishwasher safe except the base).

Today, I did up some carrots ,an onion, a green pepper and the rest of my peppers for freezing. Once I peeled and cut my veggies up a bit, I had them processed in no time! It is SO fast but that’s what was promised in the info/DVD.

I plan on making some banana “ice-cream” later this week with the Cuisinart 9 Cup, as I’d like to make up a few servings of it. I had just been making single servings in my little Hamilton Beach food processor (which did a great job of making Skor Bar crumbs for my ice-cream pie I made today).

Excuse the pics of the processor but I had already taken the veggies out :-)

I did up the veggies, put them on some foil, added a bit of water, salt and pepper and a quick spray of olive oil.

 Then I wrapped them up in the foil and they're ready for the BBQ!

 Oh, and I also added some dried garlic! :-)

I'M DREAMING OF A CHOCOLATE-COVERED CHRISTMAS.....IN JULY!

I  know it’s only July, but I’ve got visions of sugar plums dancing in my head……actually I have my awesome peanut butter cherry bon bons dancing in my head! J

The reason being is that I’ve discovered some really neat recipes in the last few weeks whilst pinning away on Pinterest.

On one pin, I saw a recipe for Chocolate-chip Cookie Dough Truffles.  I saw that they had some similar ingredients as my pb bon bons and started thinking about how I could make these instead of my traditional ones. My bon bons are fairly high in calories and one year I didn’t make them because I figured we needed to eat healthier even at Christmas…….the tribe revolted so I’ve continued to make the bon bons.

The pin came from a site called Chocolate-Covered Katie (http://chocolatecoveredkatie.com/ ). Katie has a ton of great recipes but the Chocolate-chip Cookie Dough Truffles caught my attention!

So I got the processor out and started making them. I did omit the sugar though because the chocolate chips made them sweet enough and if you want to make them chocolate covered you really don’t need as much of the sugar. You could also substitute the sugar for a bit of stevia or agave nectar which will again save you a few more calories.

I did a taste test to see how they were before I formed them into balls and they were great without the sugar! I was actually able to make 9 from Katie’s recipe as I made them the same size as my bon bons. I didn’t put a cherry in the middle but even if I did, you use less of the dough to make them the same size. I did make nine but ate one before I took the pic :-)

So now I have to keep my secret “mum” and see if anyone notices that the bon bons are a little different this Christmas!

Happy and healthy eating everyone!!

FEED THE ANTS....TUPPENCE A BAG.....TUPPENCE...TUPPENCE...OK, EVERYONE SING ALONG!!!

FEED THE ANTS….TUPPENCE A BAG……TUPPENCE….TUPPENCE….OK, EVERYONE SING ALONG!!!!

ANTS!!! Just the word makes some people’s skin crawl. I remember watching a horror flick many years ago about ants invading a town. They ate everything in their pathway including people. On that lovely note, I don’t think we have any fear of being eaten by ants but they sure can do some major harm to your home, food cupboards, your lawn and garden.

A couple of years ago, we found out we had carpenter ants and that they were in the walls of our home. My husband found out that there was a spray that would combat the issue and it did work. However, we were gagged out for days and I was worried about our health and that of the cats as well. We also have little ants that eat through the grouting and mortar of our brick and tile in our home every year come warmer weather. What’s a person to do?! I was killing piles of ants on a daily basis and knew that there had to be a better solution.

Then one day, I was talking to a friend about it and she said to use cornmeal. Yup, simple, safe, edible cornmeal. I had some in my pantry and immediately put it in the crevices between my back door and the tile where they had eaten away the grouting. Then I put some near the brickwork on my front doorstep. Guess what?! It worked!  I did find a few ants over the next couple of weeks that were in the throes of death but that was it!! No chemicals choking us to death! At first, I felt a bit guilty about the fact that the ants were eating the cornmeal and then it would expand in their little tummies and then it would kill them. But then I remembered that the wonderful, chemical spray caused them to die in a bad way too.

One day my daughter mentioned to me that my little grand-daughter went through a fairly large nest of ants in our backyard. So out I went and looked for the nest so I could put some cornmeal in and around it. I was shocked at how many large nests I had in my backyard! I left some of the smaller ones alone and only did the area that my grand-daughter would be playing in. I left the really big ones out in our field alone as the woodpeckers like to feast on these and it’s cool to watch them.

So here’s to a chemical-free solution to ants marching two by two across your countertops. Oh, and if you get ants in your pants…….just add some cornmeal!

Yet Another Cheap Way to Clean!!!

YET ANOTHER CHEAP WAY TO CLEAN!!!!

Being a scent-sensitive, asthmatic myself, I like to use products that are not going to have me running to the bathroom closet for my puffer, allergy eye drops and saline nasal spray :-S……..really, who would?

A few weeks ago, I was looking for a home-made cleaner recipe.One product I use is a store-bought orange cleaner and it dawned on me that it was made from orange peel, so why not try to make it myself. So I did!

Found a few sites that have great recipes for home-made cleaners but the easiest one is:

2 cups of vinegar (1/2 litre)

Add orange peels (or any citrus peel)

I just cut my orange peels up a bit, added them to the vinegar and let them set for three  weeks to allow the citrus oil to leech out of the peel. Some sites said to let the solution set for 10 days and another said 4-6 weeks. So I checked mine after three weeks and it looked pretty good.

I use a spray bottle and I poured the mixture into a measuring cup through a strainer and some cheese cloth. Then I took the cheese cloth and put it in the funnel and poured it in my spray bottle.

Here’s the pics of my process. Excuse the not-so-pro pictures! 

 I know it looks like a lab specimen but you'll have to get past that yourself! 

And happy cleaning!!

A CHEAPER AND EASIER WAY TO CLEAN!!

A CHEAPER AND EASIER WAY TO CLEAN!

OK, so who likes to clean? Other than me? :-S……I love a clean smelling/looking house. It makes me feel good all over. I love to vacuum, clean my kitchen but to be honest, dusting is not at the top of my fav list.  I love the look of just-been-polished furniture but do not like the polishes that are on the market. I used to be able to purchase a scent-free polish by Pledge but it’s no longer available in my city now . :-( Apparently the dust polish companies didn’t get the scent-free memo that’s be circulating around now for years! So many people are now scent sensitive due to their asthma, runny nose, watery eyes, clogged, sore throat etc. that you’d think that someone out there would have clued into the scent-free furniture polish niche.  Alas, it’s up to the humble home-maker/Mum to come to the rescue and I found quite a few on-line who have easy, cheap (love that word!!), do-it-yourself, furniture polish recipes.

Here are a couple of the sites that I found and I can’t wait to try them out!

http://www.themakeyourownzone.com/2011/02/homemade-furniture-dusting-spray.html

&

http://homemademothering.com/2009/11/the-homemade-way-to-dust-furniture.html

These gals also got tired of paying high prices for products that are probably killing us and are bad for the environment to boot.

So…..cheaper, safer for us people and the environment and no spray can to go to the land fill site. I think I’ll buy me a spray bottle and I already have the other ingredients in my pantry J

Oh, and HAPPY cleaning! :-)

DON'T PAY AND ARM AN A LEG FOR YOUR SPA (PART TWO)

DON’T PAY AND ARM AND A LEG FOR YOUR  SPA! (Part Two)

Found another incredible spa in my area and just got back from my full spa pedi and half leg wax. It was INCREDIBLE!!!!!

My daughter showed me the Lilac Esthetics  Facebook page and I called and made an appointment. If you go to Angela’s fb page for Lilac Esthetics, go to her pictures and you’ll see her menu and on the main page is her address and phone number.

Angela has her spa on the main level of her home, lots of parking and easy access into the spa (one step to go up). As soon as you walk in you feel relaxed in the lovely, cozy room.  Calming colours (lilac is one of them), new, clean-line décor are pleasing to the eye and reminds you to leave your cares behind you! (At least for a while)

Lilac Esthetics gets a two thumbs up (or should I say, 10 toes up? ) in décor ,service, cleanliness and Angela makes you feel welcome as soon as you meet her.

So what are you waiting for? Go get pretty-ed up!          

Don't Want to Pay and Arm and a Leg for a Mani or Pedi?

DON’T WANT TO PAY AN ARM AND A LEG FOR A MANI OR PEDI?

What woman doesn’t like a bit of pampering every now and then? My 88 year old Mum just started having pedicures a few years ago and she can’t believe what she’s been missing all those other years! She feels  so pretty-ed-up and relaxed after having been pampered by Nadia our esthetician.

Now in all fairness, not everyone has a wad of cash laying around for all the pampering we girls would love to have. Let’s face it. The spa industry has really taken off in the last couple of decades and the prices have been going sky-high as well. I know that some spas in my area are charging an average of $80.00 or more for an hour pedi and that’s before the tax and tip! Ouch!.... on the pocket book!  Now if you do your homework and ask around, go on-line, call around  and Facebook, you might be surprised what’s out there for affordable spa services.

I was at a spa one time that is very high-end in my community as I received a gift certificate from two of my students. I was so excited! I made my appointment for an hour pedi. To cut to the chase……..it was the most expensive (I had to shell out almost the same amount of the gift certificate and it was for $50.00)  the worst pedi I’ve EVER had!  The esthetician was more interested in trying to sell me a product that she was peddling on the side (not from the spa)and she talked non-stop! I kept wanting to tell  her to concentrate on giving me the pedi I was paying for and let me relax……but I didn’t ……I know, I know. I should have said something.

After my Mum had gone to a couple of different spas in our area and was paying close to a hundred bucks a shot, I decided to call around and see what and who I could find that was more affordable. It took only a handful of phone calls but I found a beauty salon/spa just minutes from our home. Now, it didn’t have expensive décor but the décor is very tasteful and lovely. There is only one esthetician (Nadia) but she is full time and does the most amazing job we’ve ever had!  She’s not happy until she has done the most perfect job. Guess how much this half hour mini-pedi costs.  You ready for this?............. $23.00 taxes in! Yup, and her half hour pedi is far superior to any hour pedi I’ve EVER had!!!!!  Her full spa pedi is even more amazing and it’s only $55.00 taxes in. The salon/spa is called Hair Identity and it’s on Sackville Drive in Sackville Nova Scotia. The staff is very friendly and professional.

My daughter found another esthetician  on Facebook through some of her connections in my area. I haven’t tried it yet but I’m booked in for May for a spa pedi that’s 90 minutes and all for the grand cost of $40.00. I’ll let you know how it is after that day.

Something important to check out before you go to any spa no matter what their décor looks like or their prices, is the way they sterilize their equipment.  Ask what they use and how the procedure is done. Not all spas have an autoclave but as long as they use hospital grade disinfectant and the equipment is in the solution for the appropriate time, then you’ve done your homework, mission accomplished! And book that appointment and go get yourself pretty-ed up!