Friday, May 28, 2010

How Cute is THIS!?!

Alright... I was not an immediate sushi lover but over the past 4 years I have seen the light!!! There is nothing better than sushi to make you feel happy, healthy and satisfied.

In my younger days I would have avoided sushi (or anything from the sea for that matter) like the plague. I still know plenty o people who are not yet on board the sushi train - but they don't have to miss out!!! Check out the extra cute idea below that a super mom came up with.
Way to go lady!

candy sushi

candy sushi by mommyknows

Here’s how it’s done:

candy sushi

rice krispie treats

I used this recipe to make up a batch of Rice Krispie squares. I added 8 extra marshmallows to the recipe to make sure they wouldn’t be too crispy. I used the microwave instructions, they worked perfectly.

candy sushi

trimmed

Once they had cooled, I trimmed up the slabs of Rice Krispie treats into nice neat rectangles and stacked them on wax paper for the party. I wanted to make it as easy as possible for the kids.

candy sushi

ready for the party

In the end, I made 3 full batches of Rice Krispie Squares one after the other, to get 8 thin slabs for the party and a couple of practice slabs. It took about 20 minutes total.

I’ve never made candy sushi before, so I thought I’d better practice before I tried it out on the kids.

candy sushi

twizzlers and gummy worms work well

Add candy. I bought colored twizzlers, gummi worms, jujube fish and fruit roll-ups.

candy sushi

roll tightly

Roll the Rice Krispie treats around the candy.

candy sushi

looking good

Don’t roll it more than one full roll. You don’t want it to be too thick.

candy sushi

trim excess

Trim the excess with a sharp knife.

candy sushi

sticky sweet

Once you’ve trimmed the roll, wrap the fruit roll up around it (squeeze). Green fruit roll-ups would be best, but I couldn’t find them. I left the plastic wrap on my roll-up while I applied it to the candy, none of the kids bothered to do this. It works well both ways, just make sure to remove it before cutting.

candy sushi

adult supervision required

Now it’s time to cut your candy roll into to cute California roll style sushi. You’ll need a sharp knife to get through the gummy worms and twizzlers in the center.

candy sushi

all 10 fingers intact

For all the worry-warts out there, the cutting was accompanied by repeated safety warnings. She survived the cutting with all of her fingers in tact.

candy sushi

pretty candy sushi

The nice thing about not finding green fruit roll-ups is the pretty product. I’m loving the colors.

candy sushi

candy nigiri roll

I made the slabs long enough for each child to make two rolls of candy sushi. They then used any leftovers to make a Nigiri style sushi. I also gave each of them a ‘bento box’ to take home their creations. It curbed the urge to eat it all.

candy sushi

candy sushi by mommyknows


Fighting the Effects of Ice Cream in a Bag

I've started doing a little jogging recently and am in need of a mix tape. Everyone has their own groove, but here's what I'm bobbing my head to right now. The two compilations below are about 20 - 30 minutes each.

LWB Mix Tape #1
Bust a Move - Young MC*
True Skool - Roots Manuva
Bonafide Lover - Chromeo
Breathe Another Day - Mickey Facts
That Tree - Snoop Dog feat. Kid Cudi
100 Yard Dash - Raphael Saadiq
Sabali - Amadou & Mariam feat. Theophilus
W.A.L.E.D.A.N.C.E - Wale
Night by Night - Chromeo

*I am hoping to improve my kareoke rendition of Bust a Move by listening to it as often as possible. I'm not sure if I will ever be able to keep up with Young MC.

LWB Mix Tape #2
Sleepyhead (The Knocks Remix) - Passion Pit
Lotsa lala la la - DJ BC
California Soul (Diplo Remix) - Marlena Shaw
Up From the South - The Budos Band
Paris is Burning - Ladyhawke
Baby I'm Yours (Siriusmo Remix) - BreakBot
Slick - Chew Lips
Home - Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros

I don't usually arrange my mix tapes in any particular order because I am a big user of the shuffle option on my ipod... if I don't shuffle, then I know what to expect next from the playlist and that can be deadly for my motivation to keep going (i.e. I don't want to know I have 6 more songs to go before my run is over!).

Ice Cream in a Bag... for real!?!?!?!?

I'm going to try this tonight after I have been enjoying beverages on a patio for a few hours.

If this works, my life may have just gotten a whole lot better.

How to Make Ice Cream in a Bag in 5 Minutes | eHow.com

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

The Hills by Kids

This is incredible! Acting is pretty much on par with the real cast. Love when Heidi is played by the barbie!

I'm a little Lost...

I liked the end of Lost. I thought it was warm and fuzzy and it made me sad that such a good show was coming to an end.
But my suspicion that the writers were just sometimes making up story lines that had no explanation and would never quite make sense is still there (I guess this is partially the sci-fi aspect... gew).
This guy sums it up pretty well. WTF is with all the unanswered questions. Reminds me of a Choose your own Adventure book with no ending. I guess it leaves the door open for endless theorizing by the hard core Losties.


Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Love Love Pillows

To quote one of my favourite people..."I love love" and I am really loving these lovely pillows! What a great gift idea for a wedding, shower or maybe even an anniversary! So if you are having a wedding or a wedding shower or an anniversary shut your eyes because you might be getting these pillows as a gift ;)



You can purchase these pillows here :
http://www.etsy.com/shop/cozyblue

Friday, May 21, 2010

Cheers to the Long Weekend!

I don't know about you but Gus is SUPER PUMPED to go to the cottage this weekend to kick off the summer!!
Enjoy the "Gus @ the lake" collection ;)







Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Single Baby

Isn't it better that he finds out now? Or child abuse??

Do you remember this movie?


I must have watched this movie a million times when I was young and I am pretty sure I was on the edge of my seat each time! Such a classic 90's Disney family movie.

I totally forgot about it until they mentioned it on the Edge this morning. Apparently you lose your "man card" if you cry while watching Homeward Bound.

Just reminds me of being little :)

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

I'm dreaming of a white kitchen...

Just because I hate to cook doesn't mean I don't love beautiful kitchens!! Just like Carrie from Sex and the City, I believe kitchen cupboards equal more space for clothes and shoes (and wine glasses of course!). Although my current kitchen is recently renovated and quite nice for a rental it's not white. I love bright white clean kitchens! I found a couple that aren't too shabby:)
Cheers to my future white kitchen!











Sunday, May 16, 2010

Furbaby Photography

It's hard to take a bad picture when the subject matter is just so cute! Click to see larger images.

Gus the model.




Friday, May 14, 2010

Play Safe on Facebook


Lately I have been reading a lot about Facebook privacy (or lack there of). I came across this article that touches on a few quick things we can do to help protect ourselves and our information. This obviously becomes increasingly important if you throw children into the mix. The one thing I have done from day one is keep my birthday off Facebook. I wasn't sure if this made a big difference or not but when I set up my account it just seemed like a little too much information to share. You just never know whose hands your information could fall into ;)

http://finance.yahoo.com/family-home/article/109538/7-things-to-stop-doing-now-on-facebook

Another interesting article considering how many of us use Facebook daily. It is a little scary, but I'm not sure that it is time to panic yet...

http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2010/05/facebook-rogue/

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Very Clever.


It is not too often that I see a Business Card and say "I wish I had thought of that!". Business cards are often pretty boring and companies rarely look at their business cards as a huge opportunity to WOW clients or potential clients with clever marketing. However, this card rocks. 100% reinforces the brand and just makes me want to call this dude.



















Cool Poochie

This is adorable. Almost too cute! I know...2 cute dogs in 2 days but this just put a smile on my face. Happy Wednesday!

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

I love you too.


Any thoughts on how I can teach Gus this trick? I only tell him about a million times a day that I love him I am surprised that he hasn't picked this up already!! Apparently dogs are about as smart as two year old flesh babies....can a two year old say this?



Monday, May 10, 2010

Most Ridiculous Man in the World.

If you haven't already heard, Steve Nash is THE MAN.

Not only is he a Canadian with amazing style, but last night he proved his prowess by leading the Phoenix Suns to win their series against the Spurs... with only 1 eye!!!

In the third quarter Nash was elbowed in the eye and received 6 stitches. His eye slowly began swelling shut and he ended up scoring 10 of his 20 game points during the last quarter with only half his normal vision.



Photo courtesy of Eric Gay/AP
www.thestar.com
http://www.thestar.com/sports/basketball/nba/article/807105--suns-sweep-past-spurs#photo













By no means did my MAJOR like for Mr. Nash begin last night. I have been digging him for a while, especially after watching his video with Baron Davis and his hilarious ads for Vitamin Water (see below). His manliness last night just added to his ridiculousness.

Baron Davis and Steve Nash are Step Brothers:



One of many Steve Nash ads for Vitamin Water:


I heart Steve Nash.

Thursday, May 6, 2010

Read this book.




If I had to recommend a book The Pillars of the Earth is one of the first books that comes to mind.

It's not a book that I ever thought I would be interested in reading but shortly after starting this book I WAS HOOKED! It is such an interesting story with so many awesome characters.

You should read this book ;)

It's just the beginning

A couple reasons why social media is SO important for your business ;) Crazy how fast this has changed everything! What's next?

Friday, April 30, 2010

Fun Site. Bitch.

This just might be my favourite site (for now). There is always someone in your life who could use a Bluntcard! Below you will find a few of my person favourites! Oh, and they sell mugs, magnets and t-shirts ;)

www.bluntcard.com/



Pants on the ground...

A New York senator has used $2000 of his campaign funds to throw these billboards up around Brooklyn. Senator Eric Adams is urging young men to put a stop to this fashion trend which he believes sends the wrong message.

I personally never gave much thought to this before learning where the saggy pant trend originated...PRISON! Prison uniforms are often too large for inmates and since belts are prohibited (because of the suicide risk) pants naturally sag a little low. Apparently this is not the only reason for the sagging pants in prison. If an inmate wears their pants below their butt it sends the signal to other prisoners that they are homosexual and open to the idea of a little "action".


I wonder how many men would pull up their pants if they knew this was how the trend started ;)


This all just makes me want to sing "Pants on the ground"

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

The Curious Quiche

Tonight after dinner I had an epiphany.

It was my first time making quiche and, I have to admit, I was a wee bit nervous. I looked at a bunch of different recipes and combined some ideas into "the curious quiche".

I sometimes panic right before we eat when I think about the actual randomness of the ingredients I have just mixed together. I seemingly manage to butcher perfectly good recipes by adding or subtracting a few items here and there.

...time passing... consumption of the nutritional powerhouse...

After I fed my manly roommates and was day dreaming about how relieved I was that the meal wasn't a total disaster, I experienced the inspirational moment: I will blog about my randomness in the kitchen and have the manmates rate each suspicious meal!

*Side note (also coincidental): last night I was thinking about making a quiche to get rid of some eggs before they went bad... I proceeded to recipe research. TODAY I received an email from my gym about the goodness of eggs (they referred to them as a nutritional powerhouse)!

... reminder to myself to blog about the new by-law proposed for Ottawa to allow residents to have a chicken coop in their back yard.
..

Let's get to business...

The Curious Quiche

Serves 4-6 (depends on the mans you're serving)

Ingredients:
Butter
Bread crumbs
Pepper
1 cup skim milk
1 cup light cream
4 eggs
2 cups shredded swiss cheese
1 cup chopped ham
1/2 chopped zucchini
1 cup chopped onion
2 grape tomatoes
1 chopped jalapeno peppers

Step By Step:
Preheat oven to 425F.

Butter bottom of a 9" glass pie dish.
Sprinkle bread crumbs over the bottom of the dish until covered.

Sautee veggies and ham.
Spread over the bread crumbs.
Spread cheese on top.

Whisk together eggs, milk, cream and pepper.
Pour over cheese.

Bake for 25 minutes.
Cool and serve.

*I tried to take a picture of my crustless quiche with my iphone but it did not do it justice. Next time I will try and work on presentation.

Rating from the Males:
The Grizzle Factor - 7.8

Nature Boy - 9 out of 12 eggsceptional

Clever advertising...

I highly enjoy this billboard...kudos to this creative team!