Fill in the blanks: "Coffee makes me feel _______, _______, and _______". 

For me it's happy, extremely relaxed, and warm all over.

I read in a teen magazine many moons ago, that your description of the way coffee makes you feel is reflective of the way love makes you feel. Do you see a correlation there? Not sure if I do, but that was from one of the fun quizzes in teen magazines that I used to love when I was a tween/teen.

Who doesn't love a hot cup of make-me-feel-good-all-over coffee in the morning?

Keurig Brewer ~ Top 5 Things I Love About Our Keurig

Being married to a beef farmer, it comes to  no surprise that his favourite food is none other than...You guessed it. Beef.

Even our four year old daughter loves beef.

For Valentine's Day, I thought I was going to be whisked away to the Royal Michael's Bay Restaurant for a romantic dinner. Instead, we had an appointment with our accountant for tax season.  Granted, first thing in the morning, Hubby presented me with a beautiful bouquet of flowers and some red velvet cupcakes with pink icing and candy hearts sprinkled all over them. I'm not a big fan of overly sweet things, so Hubby and Little One thoroughly enjoyed them.

Since I had to make dinner, I decided to make something I don't often make. Of course, to please the troops, it had to have beef as an ingredient. This is a recipe I saw when Hubs and I were watching The Phantom Gourmet a few years ago. You will soon see why I don't make this recipe often!

MAC & CHEESE STUFFED MEATLOAF WRAPPED IN BACON

See? I know it's comfort food on a cold Winter's day. Hubs says bacon-wrapped anything is a good thing. Not for your arteries and cholesterol level though. Anyway, this is always a crowd pleaser and the recipe resurfaces maybe once a year or so.

Ingredients:

Meatloaf:
2 lbs ground beef
1 c Italian breadcrumbs
1 to 2 eggs, beaten
black pepper (no salt, because the bacon has salt)

Mac & Cheese:
2 c macaroni noodles/elbow noodles (you can use whole wheat or rice pasta if you want)
butter, a couple of pats
2 c cheese (I used 2 kinds: grated marble cheese and goat cheese)
1-2 tbsp flour
milk

Bacon

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. In a large bowl, mix ground beef, bread crumbs, eggs, black pepper. Make sure to mix thoroughly. Set aside.
3. Boil macaroni/elbow noodles until al dente.
4. In a pan, melt butter and gradually add milk and flour to make your roux. Add shredded cheese and goat cheese and cook until you have a lovely thick and cheesy sauce.
5. Drain noodles and add to cheese mixture. Coat noodles in cheese mixture, making sure to coat everything evenly. 
6. Add some black pepper to taste. Little One loves this homemade mac and cheese.
7. Line a loaf pan with strips of bacon side by side (not lengthwise). Make sure to leave a bit of an overhang on each end. 
8. Add a layer of meatloaf mixture to cover the bottom of the pan (over the bacon) and the sides.
9. Add a good layer of mac and cheese over the layer of meatloaf mixture.
10. Cover mac and cheese layer with remaining meatloaf mixture.
11. Pull bacon overhang over (it won't completely cover the meatloaf. It'll cover maybe an inch or 2 on each side. Add a few strips of bacon lengthwise to cover the top of the meatloaf. If the bacon is too long, just tuck it into the sides.
12. Bake in oven for 60 minutes.

Serve with salad and lots and lots of veggies! You don't need a side of mashed potato, pasta salad or rice, since there's already pasta in the meatloaf.

I couldn't find the recipe from the episode of The Phantom Gourmet, so I used the idea of the stuffed mac and cheese meatloaf wrapped in bacon and used my own recipe.
 Little One requested leftovers for her school lunch the next day. I have her 1/2 a piece of meatloaf, cucumber salad, carrot & celery sticks, an apple, grapes, a yogurt, and her Thermos with water. My kid is not a sandwich eater. I often wonder what her classmates think of her unconventional school lunches.

•  making me chicken noodle soup when I'm sick
• taking our four year old to her first ballet lesson tonight because Mommy's too sick to take her
• being such a GOOD person

Feel free to link up your Wordless Wednesday posts here!

One of the great things about being a P&Gmom is that we get to learn more about the company and the products we've been using for years. Sure, I knew about most of the products in the P&G family, but there were a few new ones to me.

My husband wants me to tell you that the best present ever is the Duracell Instant Charger!  I know, right? So easy to please.  What man doesn't love gadgets, batteries, and toys?!

The Instant Charger was such a hit with Hubby, that he said his brother-in-law and my brothers and father  would probably love this as stocking stuffers for Christmas this year.

I  have to agree that this is one of my favourites too. I've actually had to use it several times already. Perfect when you're out and about and your cell phone or iPod battery are dead! Just charge 'em up with the Duracell Instant Charger! It fits nicely in my purse too! Love, love, love!!!
I may have to get one for every family member this year!

Amongst all the items P&G sent us (which just so happen to be items I buy regularly!), were the UNSTOPABLES! The Downy UNSTOPABLES were introduced to me at the #PGmom event in Toronto last month.

In our little focus group, we were chatting about laundry and related products. Two of the ones I hadn't used were the Tide pods and the UNSTOPABLES. To be honest, I was in awe as Sassy Modern Mom raved about this amazing product that she could not get enough of.

After having had the opportunity to try them out, I can see what all the fuss was about! They really do keep your clothes smelling good for days upon days! I live in an old farm house with a farmer and a four year old. Enough said. These UNSTOPABLES are heaven sent.

Just shake the tiny fragrance beads into the cup, toss into washing machine before you start your load, add your fabric softener, drop in your laundry, and wash! Presto!
I have to say that usually, my husband, daughter and I react to fragrances because of our sensitive skin. I'm happy (and relieved) to report that we did not react adversely at all. Another thing is that you don't need to use a lot of the UNSTOPABLES in your load. I used less than a cap-full and the clothes were still fragrant!

I'm extremely sensitive to fragrances. I'm not kidding. I can't even go into the fragrance/perfume department at large department stores. One whiff of the perfumes and the gag reflexes kick in instantly.  Usually if something is overpowering, I get really ill (and it happens really quickly too!). So odd, because at the same time I really appreciate my clothing, blankets, towels, and pillows smelling fresh all the time.  Like I said, I married a farmer who spends most of his time in the barn. Fresh smelling clothes are something I really, really value and appreciate!

The UNSTOPABLES are great! I have to thank Sassy Modern Mom for highly recommending praising   them and P&G for sending us some to try!

I'll be posting more about all the great items we were sent by P&G. Stay tuned!

Disclosure- I am a #PGmom. Although I am affiliated with P&G, all the thoughts and opinions expressed on this blog are honest and my own.

Fall is my favourite time of the year.  With the crisp, fresh air and the beautiful Fall colours, how can you not love Fall? It's not too hot and not too cold, but just the right temperature for hot soups and comfort foods.  Yes, comfort foods.

In the Fall, with the cooler weather, I find myself making lots of soups, stews, Shepherd's Pie, Eggplant Parmesan, Ratatouille, Chicken Pot Pie, Touritiere, and other dishes that make you feel oh-so-warm-and-fuzzy-inside!  It's like being wrapped in a great, big, warm hug!

Speaking of comfort foods, isn't chocolate the ultimate comfort food?

My husband has a weakness for sweets.  He loves pies.  All pies.  Apple, cherry, blueberry...you name it, he loves it.  He loves cheesecake too.  One of the treats he absolutely loves is my friend's Ultimately Decadent Brownies.  Hubby's favourite combo is peanut butter and chocolate.  Give him a peanut butter-chocolate birthday cake, and he's happy.  Though 99% of the food I cook for my family is super healthy, I will on the odd occasion treat them to something sweet.  Once in a blue moon isn't too bad.

Since yesterday was his birthday, and I didn't plan anything for him because I was swamped with work (and Little One was keeping me extra busy), I decided today would be a great day to surprise him with his favourite treat.

Once you see this, you'll know why this is to be a once a year treat only! The fact that it's decadent and ridiculously rich is one reason I can't eat them. Another thing is that we never had peanut butter or nuts in our house when our nieces were little (nut allergies). Now that they're teenagers and are not over as often as they used to be, Hubby can now have peanut butter in the house again.

Ultimately Decadent Brownies
Ingredients

• 1 batch homemade chocolate chip cookie dough (OR you can also use either already made chewy chocolate chip cookies or Pillsbury Ready to Bake Chocolate Chip Cookies)
• 12 regular-sized Reese's Peanut Butter Cups
• 1 batch homemade brownie mix (I have my brownie recipe posted in my recipe archive) OR brownie mix from a box if you need some help or are short on time. If using brownie mix from a box, prepare as per instructions on box.

I am a multitasking Mama.  I can talk on the phone, tweet on my BlackBerry, close a deal with a client, cook supper, and tend to my almost 4 year old...all at the same time.  Multitasking is my middle name.

...Except when it comes to operating farm equipment.

The sad truth of the matter is that I cannot drive stick shift.  I have a mental block when it comes to driving standard.  My best friend tried to teach me when we were in high school and I stalled in the middle of a bridge and was stuck in traffic.  My anxiety over inconveniencing others has ultimately led to me not being able to drive standard. I know. Pretty crazy.

I just cannot get my brain wrapped around when to shift gears. What the heck is the difference between 1st, 2nd, and 3rd?  Clutch? What is that?  Why do we have to do all of those things simultaneously anyway?  Why can't farm equipment companies just make all tractors automatic? Seriously!

My husband, the beef farmer, seems to forget that I was born and raised in the city and that I wasn't born knowing how to operate a tractor.  Though I do help him out on the farm, I suffer from terrible anxiety.  Those HUGE machines are expensive.  I'm worried I may wreck something.  That's my biggest worry.

Imagine this, if you will.  The transmission on our combine harvester died and Hubby got stuck in a field over the hill and in one of our far fields.  He BBM'd me (because modern day farmers have BlackBerries, you know!) and asked me to please pick him up...with the tractor.

What?! I'm supposed to pull that GIANT combine with a little tractor?! I'm supposed to go on the HIGHWAY and pull it over the hill? Oh, my goodness. What have I gotten myself into? I'm not so sure I'm meant to be a farmer's wife!

Me: Can I write cheat sheets on Post It notes and plaster them all over the tractor?
Hubs: Ummm...That's what those symbols are for.
Me: No. I need actual notes. Like "press this at this moment" or "pull this to shift at this time".
Hubs: (rubbing his head) You'll be okay.

I almost cried all the way back to the farm with this monstrous combine being lugged behind me. I was so scared I'd break something!

When we finally arrived back at the farm, Hubs said, "Honey. You did great! Umm...but, you didn't shift gears at all the entire way. You remember you were supposed to shift gears, right?"

Now, how I got the combine into the driving shed is an entirely different blog post. *sigh*

**WARNING** Not my usual happy, light, fun post :)


It's been just a few months since my grandmother passed away and so far I've been holding things together just fine. Things are busy, life must go on, and there's a little person who needs me to function like a normal human being.  It just hits me sometimes though. It comes in waves. The overwhelming sense of loss and the sadness just take me by surprise.
My cousin found one of my grandmother's pieces of writing. It reminded me of just how much I miss her. I thought of the last time I held her hand and how much my heart hurt.

Hubby, Little One and I have been absent from our church for a good part of the Summer. Summer is really busy on the farm and Hubby rarely gets a chance to leave the farm. He needs to maximize daylight hours and get the most out of his days. There's always so much that needs to get done.

In church on Sunday, our minister's words just hit me. I know I don't talk about religion much on my blog, but every time we attend church service, the words just make so much sense and totally apply to what I'm going through at the time.

I've had a lot of things going on in my life lately. Worries. Stress. Anxiety. People see me in public and think I  "have it together". I really don't. I've also been creating more worries, stress and anxiety for myself and my husband. The basement hasn't been finished yet and it's been in the works for the past four years. I can't keep up with the weeds in our vegetable and fruit gardens. My flower gardens are a mess. I can't keep up with my house work. It's insane. I want things done and I want it done now.

Then I heard the words come out of our minister's mouth. He reminded us of the Fruit of the Holy Spirit.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.” (Galatians 5:22)

I was reminded that we need to have patience. Patience is not a virtue I possess and have been struggling hard with. I know I need to work harder at it and this has been so apparent lately in so many facets of my life. My mother-in-law always tells me to "Let go and let God".

After the church service, we had lunch with Grandma (aka: my mother-in-law).


My Dad had spent the morning landscaping my front yard. I almost cried. I'd been trying to get to it for a while now, but was too busy. He just came over and did it. I am so thankful for my Dad.

Hubby took some of the afternoon off work and put farm chores aside to spend some time just lounging around with his family. Little One, Chance, Spike, Hubby and I played in the sprinkler and relaxed on the porch drinking iced tea. Well, Spike and Chance didn't drink iced tea. They had water.



Our little girl loves her Daddy so much. She cries every time Daddy or Mommy have to work. She just wants us to be together and hang out. She was SO  happy today. We just sat on the deck, but she loved it. She kept putting Hubby's hand on top of my hand and kept saying, "Daddy, hold Mommy's hand. Kiss Mommy. Group hug!!!" and she gave us both a big hug. She's so sweet. I love my little girl.

I have to remember that I really do have a lot to be thankful for. Taking time out, having Hubby spend time with Little One and me, and me going unplugged for much of the weekend certainly helped.

I leave you with this video. Totally brings me back to my high school days. I loved Warrant and was in love with Jani Lane! RIP Jani! For some reason, whenever I'm feeling my not so peppy self, this song always comes to mind.

Today marks the day Hubby and I were wed.  Six years ago!

We had our dream wedding on our favourite beach on Manitoulin Island.  Carter Bay has been a very important place for us.  The location was perfect and the day was sunny (and HOT)!

It sometimes seems hard to believe Hubs and I have been married for six years. Sometimes I cannot believe we've been together for so long. Other days, it seems like only yesterday that we exchanged our vows.

Six years and a three and a half year old daughter later, here we are :)


to my husband, my father, my brother, my friends, and all the other fabulous dads out there!

 We're planning a "Not So Surprise" 60th Birthday Bash for my Mom this Summer.  It was intended to be a surprise, but Mom was going to throw herself a party and I had to fess up! She'll be turning the big 6-0.  To commemorate this milestone event, we're throwing her a 60s themed party!  Guests are asked to break out their platform shoes, bell bottoms, and flower-printed shirts.

Thank goodness for Wholesale Costume Club and their huge selection of 60's Halloween costumes!




Hubby was able to get his costume for the party from them and was very impressed!

Hubby selected the Hippie Man Adult costume.  Oh! Okay! I selected it for Hubby!

The costume fit nicely and allows for lots of movement. Hubby won't be afraid to show off his dance moves or have to worry about splitting the seam on anything!

Being the picky person that I am, I carefully inspected the garments before and after Hubby tried them on. Sure enough, the quality was very good.

Little One was so thrilled to see her Daddy's costume and wants him to wear it all the time! Ha!

For any of our guests attending Mom's 60th Birthday Bash, check out Wholesale Costume Club for your 60's costume!  They've got platform shoes, wigs, accessories, and everything you need to complete your 60's "look"!

Blog readers, Wholesale Costume Club has all the costumes and accessories for your dress-up needs! Costumes aren't just for Halloween!

Disclosure - We received the Hippie Man Adult Costume from Wholesale Costume Club to facilitate this review.  This is a personal blog.  All opinions expressed on this blog are honest and my own.

Our three year old has got the craziest hair I have ever seen.  Do you remember reading Mr. Mugs  when you were in elementary school?  Well, her hairdo reminds me of Mr. Mugs. No matter what we do, her hair is always in her face.
The resemblance is uncanny! Don't you think? She looks like that adorable sheepdog I used to read about when I was a kid. 

Pretty little clips or decorative ponytail elastics simply do not last long in her hair.  She'll leave them in for a while to entertain me, but within no time, they're gone.  Sometimes they're gone forever!  She conveniently misplaces them or hides them.

I gave her a haircut before Christmas, and it actually turned out okay. What was supposed to be a straight trim turned out to be a rather stylish layered bob! A complete fluke!

Still, the hair in her face persisted and it really bothered us.  "Please push the hair away from your eyes, Honey" and "Please don't suck on your hair!" were common phrases up until a few days ago.  Yes, Little One had developed the rather gross habit of sucking on her hair because it was always in her face.

I was shocked when Hubby went to the bathroom, returned with scissors, and chopped off the hair that was always falling and covering Little One's face! 

"Oh! No! You gave her bangs! I never wanted her to have bangs!"
I was cursed with the "little Asian girl bangs" when I was a kid.  It seemed pretty standard for my generation.  Every kid had those straight bangs.  I wanted to avoid that with Little One.

"There! Now she can see!", said Hubby.

I have to admit, she looks kinda cute.

The end of NaBloPoMo, that is!
Yes, another November has flown by. Another NaBloPoMo accomplished.

Though writing a post a day for an entire month has been a good way for me to come to certain realizations about myself and has awakened thoughts inside of me, I have to say that I think I will return to my regular one post every few days. Thank you very much.

What I've learned:

I need to vent more. I've always reserved my venting, ranting, and expressing gripes and grievances. Why? Well, I've always felt that no one wants to listen to a complainer. I don't like listening to negative people all the time. This said, I've learned that it's okay to sometimes express yourself even if your opinion is not always positive. Let's face it. We can't always be positive and happy all the time. Sometimes we need to let things out. Otherwise we'd explode.

I need to chill out. I have to reassess my priorities. Do I want to obsess about a clean  house all the time? This is something that I've been trying to work on for years. I'm constantly cleaning, disinfecting, tidying, rearranging...and if something isn't the way I expect it to be, I get stressed out. My daughter needs and wants me to spend more time with her and less time cleaning. It struck me the other day when she started crying, "Mama! Don't wash dishes! Don't wash dishes! You're always washing dishes!"
I keep saying that time spent with my Little One is so very important and that I don't want to miss out on her formative years, yet I sometimes tell her to play with her toys or look at her books so I can clean up after everyone. That really hit me. It made me sad. This has got to change.
I also learned that though things may not always be perfect and I may sometimes get frustrated with the difficulties of rural living, I have got it pretty good. I have so much to be thankful for.

Sure, we live in an old farm house and it isn't as modern or doesn't really measure up to my family's expectations, standards, or what we are accustomed to, our home is where we love to be. It's "home". Hubby and I work very hard, and though renovations may take years to complete, we are doing things little by little. People have said, "Why don't you just tear down your house and start anew? You can get those pre-fab houses and move in as is."

The thing is, though I sometimes complain...express my displeasure...say my house drives me crazy because it always needs some kind of work done, it needs another bathroom, or maybe even finish up the basement completely, I really, truly, honestly love it. It's got character. It's warm and inviting. It's a place where family and friends gather.





Hopefully the end of this year's NaBloPoMo also brings the end of me living in the dark with regard to some of the things I've neglected to realize.