Oct 21/18 – celebrating my birthday

I had such a great evening yesterday with my family celebrating my birthday.

My parents took us to a virtual reality game, we played all sorts of things as a family. My dad hilariously chose the nature walk program, while the rest of us skied and shot enemies and tried to golf. It was a treat!

My mum made a delish dinner followed by our traditional birthday cake. Two layer chocolate cake with 7 minute icing and rainbow ball sprinkles. It was just perfect.

I was spoiled rotten with gifts too. My brother and his girlfriend gave me a French press, some fancy coffee, and some fancy honey, yum! My parents spoilled me with more honey, and ski tickets, a dominion expansion, and a new skiing under layer. Dang.

My little Reg hog somehow got to Ikea and bought candles, that little sneak.

I’m super pumped about all the different honey I got. Wild flower, alfalfa, cinnamon, and huckleberry. It’s going to go so well with my home made bread and my French press coffee!

Speaking of bread, the grainy bread was really dense (according to my hunny, could sink a ship dense). It was a good contrast to the usual too crumbly and light bread. Somewhere in the middle would be good.

I did more research and because of the altitude in the city I live in, I should be using 1/3 less yeast than the recipes call for.

Bread just finished. I used this recipe – https://www.google.ca/amp/s/www.thriftyfun.com/tf/249/46767-amp.html – the long bake version with a light crust setting. Hoping this less yeast recipe will be better!

Oct 19/18 – seed bread

I’ve been experimenting with the bread machine my in-laws handed down to us. It’s been a fun adventure, and certainly some bread has come out better than other bread.

Discoveries thus far:

The salt matters. I tried to do less salt but it messes up the yeast and the bread doesn’t turn out.

The flour quality matters. So far I’ve used Wal-Mart all propose flour and then upgraded to Rogers all propose flour, and the bread got much better. I’ve asked for fancy bread flour for my birthday which I think will be another good upgrade.

Adding an egg doesn’t make a better loaf. I suspected it might add something because with cake if you add more eggs you get denser cake. I also accidentally added an egg to a batch of buns and they turned out great (the recipes list ingredients in order of addition to the bread maker, but the butter told for some reason have an egg for an egg wash right in the middle of the recipe, so, in it went!). It did not work this way for bread.

I find the loaves are dry and crumbly, especially in the middle of the bread, so sandwiches can be tricky to eat. I’m going to keep experimenting to see how I might address this. Perhaps adding oil, or maybe less yeast? Only the next loaves will tell!

**Update** – do not make the below recipe – it was terrible! Much too dense, needed more water, less flour, less oats

I am trying a seed loaf right now. Recipe a bit made up as follows:

1 cup water

3 2/3 cup all propose flour

2/3 cup rolled oats

3 tbsp oil

1 tsp salt

1 1/2 tsp yeast

1/4 cup chia and sesame seeds mixed together

1/3 cup sun flower seeds

I do not have a prediction as to hope it will turn out. I realized I missed putting in a sugar. I’m going to do that right now!

Oct 14/18 – cinnamon buns part 2

So the cinnamon buns turned out awesome!

Things I learned – you cannot rush the defrost in the microwave. Cream cheese icing is more than just confectioners sugar and cream cheese. If you bake them for too long they get really tough.

Baking notes from frozen – take out of freezer and put into buttered pan, leave overnight in the fridge. Turn on oven to 350, set timer for 20 mins, and put buns in while preheating.

Icing notes – 1 part cream cheese, 1 part butter, a bit of salt, a bit of vanilla, blend with confectioners sugar until desired sweetness achieved, add milk to desired consistency.

Sep 24/18 – courses

I posted a couple months back about going back to school. This was before I knew about my job change and started that adventure.

I am still registered for a course though and I have to finish it. Investment Management Techniques. I picked it do I could better manage my own investments, and my job paid for it to boot. I’ve decided to write the exams on Oct 22 and Oct 29. What the heck, time to get it done. I’ve only been registered since Feb 2017.

I need to study an average of 4 hours a day, I probably won’t be able to do that for a month, so plan is to concentrate on the most important parts.

Today is my first day studying. I’m going to get through section 1 and 2.

I am also doing some errands and things today – making another batch of spaghetti sauce from garden tomatoes and carrots, picking up winter tires for my new car, picking up a rain barrel for one of our rentals, and hanging out with my friends tonight.

One of our tenants also had run into some difficult times and has to move out, so I also need to find new tenants for November 1.

I found a distressed property as well that would be an interesting project, and am hoping to go look at it this week. It would be a property flip – a top to bottom renovation and then sell for hopefully profit. We have never sold a property before, so it would be an education on hope that works.

Sep 21/18 – vacation with mum

Today is the last day of my lovely vacation with my mother. We went on a 6 day road trip of sorts, driving to Fernie and then down to Whitefish Montana.

(Beaver lakes trail map)

We have enjoyed 3 hikes and are doing one more today, went to the spa (I get massages through my work benefits), and kayaking on Lake Whitefish. It has been so relaxing, a much needed break from work.

We hit the road Sunday afternoon, took a leisurely and uneventful drive to Fernie. We had considered golfing that evening but it was raining, so we made dinner (chicken and broccoli) and played board games. Monday morning we had a lovely omelette breakfast with avocados and big bang bagels, tried to find the Fernie amonite (no luck), and went to the spa – lovely.

(Sperry chalet trail)

The trip itself hasn’t been too expensive either – so far $44 on tip and tax for the massage, $124 on gas, and a couple dinners for two.

(Going to the sun road, just opened after forest fires)

We snagged lunches from the breakfast bar at the hotel – bagel sandwiches (cream cheese, ham or bacon if desired), hard boiled eggs, oranges, and cups of froot loops for an afternoon snack. Coincidently good (not perfect) hiking food for us. Our dinners out have been shared salad and shared entrees, which keeps the serving size reasonable – not wasting any food and also keeps the cost low.

Everyone here has been so helpful and welcoming. It really is a lovely place.

Sep 2 / 18 – spaghetti sauce

I’m making home made spaghetti sauce today, from the garden as much as I can. It’s something my dad does each year, and it’s so good, so I decided to try myself this year.

I picked all our ripe garden tomatoes, washed them, and of course took the stems off. Yummy garden tomatoes!

My dad adds garden carrots to his sauce to sweeten it instead of sugar. I had gotten carrots from last year still frozen, so I warmed them up in the microwave and blended them up to mush

I then added all my tomatoes and blended that together. It was very pink, not very red like regular tomato sauce.

I cooked my ground beef (from Safeway 😂) while I was blending. To my ground beef I added chives from the garden and garlic (I would like to learn how to grow garlic next year).

I then added my pink tomato blend to the beef and it is simmering away on the stove right now, thickening to delicious spaghetti sauce.

My sweetheart like a bit of spice so I added 2 tbsp of chili flakes and 2 tbsp of cayenne pepper powder. We can always make it spicier later.

My next step is to pop it into the slow cooker for 6-8 hours to really get the flavours mixed.

I will freeze the sauce in yogurt containers and we’ll use it through the winter for quick easy dinners.

Aug 11/18 – sweet potato chips

August long weekend was a blast as usual. We go out to a lake with some friends each year. While it’s not the least expensive weekend, definitely cost to experience it has great value.

Our friends have a boat and beautiful house and invite about 15 people to enjoy it together. We have communal dinners, celebrate a couple birthdays, and spend quality days playing games and having fun.

We also eat a ton of junk food. Doritos, candy, cookies, strudels, pop, if it comes in a bright package we eat it.

This year it opened up a conversation about our eating habits, and how easy it is to eat things when they are around the house. If I have Doritos in the house I eat them, if not I don’t.

It also generated discussion about what type of things we could make ourselves to replace junk food. Stuff we could make ahead and freeze for lunches etc. Healthier convenience food.

So today in the spirit of making things, reducing waste, and being frugal, I have some sweet potato chips in the oven.

I followed this recipe – https://minimalistbaker.com/baked-sweet-potato-chips/ – and they smell fantastic. I did not put salt on them before baking but may next time.

Findings so far – cutting the potatoes consistently thin is important, and also difficult. I’ll have to practice (our use my food processor next time). The potatoes also shrink a lot in the oven as they loose moisture and become crispy. The single layering of potatoes is important for the crispness.

We’ll see how they turn out!

June 26/18

So busy with this new job and wrapping my life around different habits (biking to work), different timing (I get up two hours later than I used to), and a different location (new job is in a community I’m not familiar with).

Biking to work is awesome, most of the time. I do not love biking in the wind. Or uphill. It rained on a couple days and my amazing husband picked me up so I didn’t have to bike in the rain. Also, we have off-site meetings sometimes, and those are difficult on a bike (I ended up taking my first uber ride). The ride itself is through fish creek park, which is lovely in the morning with birds and fresh grass smell. The ride home doesn’t have a grocery store so my shopping habits will need to be adjusted (when I took transit there was a grocery store on the way home).

I also am spending way less time on social media. You can’t bike and read at the same time! I am enjoying being more involved in my life and less on Facebook and Reddit.

I am feeling healthier and have lost 3 lbs since my new bike to work adventure started. I feel like I’m living my values by using my own power to get around. We have allay thrown out way more food which is a total bummer. Without a grocery store on the way home I decided to buy a bunch of produce on the weekend. Fail. I talked to my dad and he suggested a minor route adjustment which I think will work nicely and has a grocery store on it.

I made muffins for breakfast two weeks in a row from items we had already on hand. I like to sub half the flour measurement for oats, I think it’s healthier (may be wrong, I have done no research). This week it’s banana oat. Last week it was cranberry orange.

Jun 18/18 – biking to work and the weekend

Had a great weekend of family again this weekend.

Friday night we celebrated father’s day with my in-laws, playing dominion and eating Chinese food (leftovers for days!).

Saturday bought my hunny and I are out – Surahi, the place we go to celebrate good news. I started my new job today, closer to home, more responsibility, a good change.

Sunday we spent with my family, out for brunch at the lake house, frisbee at the lake, and an afternoon lemonade on the patio. Perfection.

Also noted, we ate out a lot. Oops.

Today as mentioned was my first day at a new job. A job I can ride my bike to. It was amazing to cruise through fish creek and listen to the birds and see nature just living all the way in to work. It didn’t even feel like I was going to work I enjoyed it so much. Note is my foray day committing via bike so my opinion may change, but it’s fantastic!

Tonight we ate leftover Indian, I tried to make naan to go with the leftovers, it didn’t turn out. It was too heavy, I didn’t get the elasticity of the dough correct. I’m not sure if it was too wet or too dry but it definitely wasn’t right. Next time hopefully it turns out better!

I also whipped up some muffins for breakfasts this week. I’m not sure how overnight oats will fare in a backpack. Muffins made – http://www.geniuskitchen.com/recipe/cranberry-orange-muffins-139499?ref=amp and I subbed 3/4 cup oats for 3/4 cup flour (healthier) and added 1/4 cup of chia seeds. I picked this recipe because my in-laws gave us a jug of orange juice and eggs that are close to the best before date, and because we had cranberries in the freezer from ages ago. No shopping required (and good thing, it would have meant hoping in my bike again). Hope they are yummy!

Jun 9/18 – our boozy weekend and my first pizza

It’s Saturday night, and already it’s been such a great weekend.

My hunny scored some free tickets to a local beer festival on Friday night where breweries from around the city were showcasing their craft beers. It was such a fun evening, we tried sips of this and that, and on top of the beer there was a bunch of yummy food included. My favorite was the fried perogies, but they also had mini grilled cheese, ribs and wings, chili, veggies, and chips. It was so good! We bought some MeadJitos which are this amazing lime honey concoction, and some Eau Claire Mules (bottled Moscow mules). They are going to be so delish with some bbq on the deck.

Today we joined my brother, his girlfriend, and my parents for a hike in West Bragg Creek called Strange Brew (fitting!), which I thoroughly enjoyed. My hunny is not a hiker so he was not as thrilled with it. The path was well marked but was also shared with mountain bikes, so you had to keep your head up and get out of the way often. Because of this I’m not sure I would do this hike again. We went from the hike to a honey winery, Spirit Hills, and had a lovely tour (thanks to my brother) and sampled some really neat tasting honey wine. I’m not a wine drinker but these were really lovely. Beginner wine perhaps. I found I could actually taste the subtle flavors unlike regular wine. It was really neat learning about the bees (they have 185 hives) and the process of extracting the honey from the wax. I learned that the wax takes 7 times as much energy for bees to make compared to honey, and that right now wax is more expensive per pound than honey is. The whole process from hive to bottle is incredibly labour intensive. The tour guide also spoke a bit about how she got there. She was a volunteer worker with World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms group, where you can work for different farms around the world and get paid in lodging, food, and knowledge. How cool!

We came home and relaxed for an hour, and I started thinking about dinner and the upcoming week. I was feeling tired from the day’s adventures and considered ordering pizza. Then I thought about what I was going to do while waiting for said pizza to arrive (nothing) and decided I would try to make my own with what we had around. It turned out great!

I used this recipe for the crust – https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/244638/no-yeast-pizza-crust/ and used salsa for the pizza sauce (it’s what we had available). We had some pepperoni lunch meat around and some frozen bell peppers and mushrooms. It took 25 minutes to prepare and bake which is how long we usually wait for delivery anyways. It also cost next to nothing, compared to our usual $40 + spend on delivery (extra cheese, cheesy garlic bread, pop, delivery charges, tip the driver…). I’m very proud of myself for leaning something new, and we will definitely make it again!

I also put some bread on for the week. Trying a new strategy using oil instead of butter and light crust setting instead of medium. I’m hoping these adjustments will keep the bread softer for longer. We’ll see.