New Favorite Sweet Treat

I went over to Nanna's this week. She presented me with a plate of... well, they were brown, and shiny, and odd looking kind of bars. They really leave something to be desired in the looks department.

I judged this book by it's cover and proclaimed "Eww those look nasty!"

Then I put one in my mouth.

Oh

My

God!

They were sweet, but not too sweet, chocolaty, crunchy, creamy, mouth full of goodness.

I'll admit, these probably aren't for everybody, but they're my new favorite leave them on the counter, they'll be gone by the end of day, snack as you walk by kind of treat. And with the Christmas season soon approaching, I will be adding these ugly little treats to my repertoire.

These things are so ugly, I'm not going to post a picture. You'll know they turned out right when you look at them and go Ewww. But I encourage you to close your eyes and open wide!!

No Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Mallow Bars

1 1/2c rolled oats
1c bran flakes (or special K, or Rice Crispies, or Corn Flakes, whatever you have will likely do)
1c peanuts
1c raisins (I only used a handful cause I'm not a fan of raisins.)
1c small marshmallows (no, the big ones will not work)
1/2c honey
1/2c brown sugar
1/4c butter
1/2c cocoa powder
1c peanut butter
2 tsp vanilla

In a large bowl combine oats, cereal, raisins and marshmallows. In a pot combine honey and sugar, cook over medium high heat until mixture comes to a boil. Add peanuts, butter and peanut butter. Stir until smooth. Remove from heat, add cocoa powder and vanilla. Mix well. Pour mixture over cereal and oats. Mix thoroughly until marshmallows are melted and everything is covered. Press into a 9" pan. Cool for an hour. Cut into squares.

Really me,
Yes, I eat ugly things (no jokes please!)
Nik

Comfort food

Since the weather has already been getting many of us down, myself included. I thought it would be nice to have one of those meals that makes your stomach feel happy. For me that's something creamy, and savory, a little heavy, and rich, with a little bit of a crunch.

I thought the perfect thing would be chicken pot pie. One problem. I suck at making pie dough. Any time that I have ever needed pie dough, I've had to ask one of my grandmothers to make me a batch. Pathetic, I know.

I decided to try the pie dough anyways. Got some tips from my aunt J. Kept everything cold, and chilled it for 4 hours (while I went to lunch at my aunts.) Came home rolled it out for a little cherry pie for K. It seemed to be ok. But with the way the week has been going so far, ok probably would end up sucking. So I started thinking what else I could do.

Stove Top to the rescue yet again! I made up a batch of my chicken pot pie filling, and a batch of Stove Top. Placed the mix into ramekins and topped with the stuffing. Haven't had it yet, but I know it will be good!

Chicken Pot & Stuffin
1 chicken breast (large)
2 c water
1 cube of chicken stock
2 Tbsp butter
2 Tbsp flour
1 c milk
cornstarch (as needed)
Veggies of choice
Box of Stove Top

Boil chicken in 2 cups of water in a medium size pot until chicken is cooked through. Remove chicken and flake using 2 forks pulling in opposite directions. Add chicken stock cube or powder to the boiling water. When stock is dissolved place chicken and veggies into the stock. In another small pot melt butter add flour and cook for 45 seconds. While stirring constantly add milk slowly. Add milk and flour mixture to stock and bring to a boil. Add salt, pepper, rosemary and thyme to taste. If the sauce is not thick enough, mix a Tbsp of cornstarch with some water and add to mixture until desired thickness. Spray ramekins with cooking spray. Make Stove Top as per box directions. Place stuffing on top of chicken. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 30 mins before serving.

Enjoy!
















Really me,
Chef extraordinaire
Nik,

Walking Mustache

I made meatballs today. I reminded me that I wanted to tell you about the greatness of Stove Top.You want to know what the best thing since slice bread is? It's Stove Top.

I don't like eating anything that is cooked up a turkey's butt. So Stove Top it is! I never used to like stuffing... now I do!

Not only is it good as stuffing... it has many other uses.

Meatballs for example. You can use Stove Top instead of bread crumbs in meatballs... or burgers... or anything else you usually put bread crumbs in.

Topping. Yup it works great for topping on home made mac & cheese or tuna casserole.

Finally, cesar salad. Yup, I ran out of croutons the other day and used Stove Top.

Anyways, back to meatballs. I'm making meatballs, rolling them and putting the on the cookie sheet with Demi helping me. When a mustache comes out of the vent.

I watched it. My hands were all ground beef, pork, stove top goodness. I couldn't do anything. It found a hole and hid.

I watched the hole.

I told Demi to watch the hole.

Then it came out of the hole and headed for one of Jordyn's toys on the floor. I made a dash and kicked the toy out of the way. The mustache started high tailing it back to the hole.

I ran and put on some shoes so I could step on it. I missed it by thismuch.

As far as I know it's still in the hole in the quarter round. Who knows what kind of network of bugs is in there... it could be a virtual bug highway!

Now I'm all like this





Only replace spider with mustache bug.

Really me,
Mustache Hater
Nik

EI and Maternity Leave Calculator

I created this calculator years ago when I was pregnant with Demi. I posted it to a forum , it was well received, and I don't believe there is another calculator out there. So why not publish my own work!

Please keep in mind that there are many variables that go into the calculation, which means the calculator might not be exact. My calculations this time around were $40 off.

Enjoy.

>DOWNLOAD SPREADSHEET


Really me,
The excelaholic
Nik

Confessions

Here are my confessions.

I am not a perfect mom. I am FAR from it.

Sometimes I freak out.

Sometimes I raise my voice.

Sometimes I sound like *gasp* my father!

Sometimes I use the television as a babysitter so I can use the bathroom or grab something to eat.

Sometimes I have to leave the baby in her crib while she's crying so I can throw on a clean pair of pants and a dry shirt.

Sometimes I use bad words within ear shot of the kids.

Sometimes I get mad and yell at Demi

Sometimes I feed us 'crap' like kraft dinner or McDonalds.

Sometimes I find myself judging other mothers for their parenting choices.

Sometimes I don't make time to play.

Sometimes I think I'll really mess the kids up beyond fixing.

Sometimes I think I'm bi-polar due to the crazy mood swings that happen due to stress, breast feeding, lack of sleep, lack of food etc.

Sometimes I think that my kids will hate me when they get older.

Sometimes I tune out when Demi is screaming... I mean singing one of her songs.

Sometimes I'm not the best mother.

I hope that most of the time will make up for some of the time and my faults will be forgiven.

Really me,
Sometimes
Nik

FML... Really?

I think this is going to be a pet peeve week for me.

I scroll through my facebook statuses. The usual proud moms bragging about their kids, social commentaries from others, zen moments from some... and then I see FML. Oh how I hate you FML. For those of you who do not know what FML stands for... don't laugh, I had to ask! It's an acronym for F*ck My Life. As Daniel Powter would say, 'You had a bad day'.

I can't even think of a situation where FML is appropriate. Maybe...

My identity was stolen and the person racked up millions in debt in my name...FML

I was wrongly convicted and I'm in jail for life... FML

Cause you know, those situations really suck. But that's not what I see. I see...

Got a paper cut on my finger and I have to type an essay. FML

Broke my cell phone. FML

Dog peed on the floor. FML

Ummm really? You had to clean up some pee, so your whole life is ruined? Sure the phrase may have been genius at one point, but the novelty has worn off, and clearly so has the meaning.

I don't want to get in to the whole "life is a gift" shpeal but it is, and for one little disappointment, or inconvenience to have somebody saying f*ck my life! is ridiculous! Forget about the fact that you're fortunate enough to even own a computer, and in some cases a fancy phone. I'm sure there are a lot worse things that could happen.

Think about it next time you're about to type FML. Is it really THAT bad?

Really me,
Loving Life
Nik

"Camping"

Last weekend we did the closest thing we will ever come to camping. K won't stay anywhere where there isn't running water... so that makes real camping difficult. Our version of camping is setting up a tent in the backyard. And let me say we got an awesome deal on our tent!

We bought the Broadstone Makobe Lighted 6 person tent from Canadian Tire. Regular price $129.99 on sale 45% off $69.99. We also bought 2 air mattresses 1 queen and one twin.



I'm lucky to have an aunt who's inlaws have a cottage... actually I'm lucky said aunt likes me. lol So off we went to Round lake to set up our tent in the backyard of the cottage property.

The tent went up really easily even for novices. It only took us about 15 minutes, which isn't too bad for the first time. I'm sure next time it will take 5 mins. After we got everything set up and we lied back on the air mattress K exclaimed "This is roughing it" ha ha, he's funny.

The weekend was fantastic, as always we were fed well by my aunt and uncle, the water was beautiful, my cousins were great with Demi. And now K can say that he went camping like every man should. Now if only we could get rid of all the bugs, I would be a happy camper!



Really me,
the camper
Nik