School closing.

there is a lot of interesting issue in town this past few weeks over school closures that needed to happen. As much as I thought I would like to stay out of such issues on this blog, *sigh* I just can't do it.. LOL However finding the words to properly express what is going on is sometimes hard. I know those on all sides of it and  think that the hateful things being said is ungraceful, irresponsible, and immature. Not the type of legacy you really want to leave for any school that you "Love". But ultimately this is what is going to happen. People are going to reflect back and say, "do you remember when the students from the school were (add in inappropriate action here)" instead of "Wow what a show a grace and respect that PCVS had when they closed. those are people we want running our community." This decision I'm sure was hard for the board to make and we need to respect that we do not have al the information they have as a board to make the decision. If you want to be apart of the decission. run for office. Or I am by no means against everyone putting their wallets where their mouths are and turn it into a private school. I think this following Copy/paste from a friend on Facebook is a great way of expressing what needs to be said much better then I can. And yes! I have her full permission and consent to post this. I didn't post her last name, cause I don't even post mine. If she wants to identify herself fully in the comments she is invited to do so..

Jennifer 

This is not the popular opinion but its my page so I am entitled to post what I want here... you too are entitled to your opinion on YOUR page.. this is not meant to incite a heated debate ... i am just sick of the whole thing and want to vent...
Peterborough does NOT "NEED" PCVS. Peterborough NEEDS good quality education for its children. It needs good facilities that are well temperature controlled, clean, spacious and safe. It needs wonderful teachers, who love their jobs and work hard each day (our schools are already full of these people)...
It needs schools where children will learn the arts, history, cooking, tech, horticulture, responsibility, integrity, independence and many many other things...

There are going to be arguments for EVERY school. When it was TAS, the TAS people were in an uproar, now that it's PCVS their people are in an uproar.....
I could come up with a huge list FOR and AGAINST every school on the list ...

It comes down to a few things:
~this decision is not about sentiment - it is about what is best for our students and their future. The board is not responsible for enrollment being down, but they do have to make a tough choice...
~ there are going to be arguments made and people unhappy no matter what school is closed. It is shameful that people are pitting schools against each other or deleting friends who are not in agreement... come on people we are all adults here... we all know life is not fair... this is inevitable...

I am not a writer nor am I nearly as eloquent as some of my friends on here.. but I am so tired of listening to people bash each other and the board...We need some POSITIVE ideas and solutions - not arguments that you don't want your child on a bus or you went there so it is the best...
If you want to fix issues with the school system I can give you millions of other areas to look at... this one is wasting valuable time and resources....

Thanks Jennifer. 

Creativity theft. the bitter truth.

As many know, although I've been much too obsessed with food lately, I am also a seamstress. I sew and make for sale Diapers, Mainly Fattycakes, From the Fatty cake pattern, and crochet Diaper soakers from the patterns by Crazy Hat Lady, Momma cloth from La Fluer Rouge, and I am also a  Platinum Diddo Daddy seamstress. I have gained permission from and in two of the cases paid for rights to sew from and sell items from these wonderful ladies creations, and to use their pattern names in my sales.
I also belong to a wonderful group of talented ladies call the Diaper Sewing Diva's. We are a group 2,000+ strong who gather online to support each other in our sewing, and homelife endeavours.

If you have ever bothered to read the policies page off my personal website, which deals with all three of my business endeavours. (Hairstyling, amway IBO and Sewing with Crazy At Home) I have a small blurb on there about ethics in the WAHM world. There is a very fine line in this issue, as some of the goings on are not illegal. Just not right. Unethical and immoral by mosts standards. And also not going to gain you any respect in the WAHM world. Truthfully, several of these practices (sewing and selling from a pattern you don't have permission to whether you use the trademark name or not, trying to trademark something that  everyone does anyways ETC.) will  get you a big black mark in WAHM circles and will stop everyone from selling to you.

Another issue that creeps up time and time again is theft and reselling of an actually pattern as your very own. This act is completely illegal. It has unfortunately as recently as this past week happened yet again.

A bit of background first.
The woman who created the fabulous diapering board where we all gather is also the creator of the Fattycakes pattern and several other patterns for home sewing use. She spends hours of her time creating these patterns and then sells them to help support her family. Like all of us in the WAH world this takes time away from our families and home just like any other job. We all do it to help bring in an income to give towards our monthly family budgets, however big or small that amount. This was made all that more important for the family when her husband a Military man was diagnosed with cancer and when an auction was began to raise money to help them with medical bills, they in turn donated a portion of the money back to help other families facing unseen and unimaginable circumstances. This just goes to show you how stand up of a family this is.

Recently a sewing blogger (etsy store is MomOfAMarine) purchased the passport wallet pattern From Birdiful Stitches. The next day this very same blogger, started blogging about the beginnings of a passport wallet pattern that she was creating. and then shortly after released a pattern for sale, that is by most regards the exact same as the pattern that was purchased from Birdiful Stitches. To help prove or disprove her concerns, the woman who owns Birdiful Stitches in turn, purchased the pattern that this other blogger released. It is, right from the dimensions of pattern pieces, all the way down to the strikingly similar "Thank You for your purchase" E-Mail, the same pattern. when confronted with this evidence, the woman denied the copy cat, then turned around and wrote on her blog how she was the one being victimized. Really Lady? give your head a shake.

This woman not only stole hours of someone else's work, But is also stealing from her every time someone purchases this pattern, those hours all over again. she is also proving how unethical she is and acting in an illegal manner. It makes you wonder how many of the rest of her patterns and items have been acquired in such a way. I have yet to visit this blog and Etsy site. And refuse to do so to not encourage the behavior. I will admit that I have taken my opinion of this from several people that I see as stand up, honest, and full of integrity and that is good enough for me. I certainly do not want to increase her hits by any means. I do realize that by posting the store name I may be encouraging visits to her site, but I am also hoping, by doing so I will help to out this activity and make you think twice before visiting this site and making a purchase, should you happen to come across it in your online shopping travels.

Midnight cravings!

Ok, so I know I'm really just talking about food right now. I'm pregnant, so that's my excuse. But I promise I will talk about something after I get this recipe out!!

I have been having a crazy craving for a crisp of any kind. Last night I had had enough and just made one. I found this recipe and since it had the fewest ingredients of the ones I looked at real quick I went from there. I like a lot more fruit and oats in mine. and I came up with this version.

FRUIT CRISP

5 1/2 to 6  C fruit.
1/2 C Brown sugar
3/4 of a 1/2C measure of Honey. (just eye it up.)
2 1/4 C steel cut oats
1 C whole Wheat flour
1t Vanilla
1t Cinnamon
3/4 cup butter, Melted

Place fruit (I used 3C Peaches and about 3 C Frozen Field berry mix.) In the bottom of a 9x 13 ish dish
Combine all the rest of the ingredients together in a bowl and then spread on top of the fruit. (it is wet, so spread gently)

Bake at 375 for 35ish mins.

And oh my yum. This was done ay 11:30 last night and was worth the wait for just one piece!!

Yesterday, and Yes I'm totally using this as my reasoning why crisp was needed at 11: 30 at night, We walked my oldest over to sign him up for Scouts. I'm so excited for him!! I was in Brownies, girl Guides and Pathfinders and loved it. I hope he gets the same joy and experience out of it that I did. I am a little peeved that there are girls allowed in Scouts. I am a firm believer that Guiding is for girls and Scouting is for boys. I think the equality thing has gotten a little out of hand. You can't join a boy up for guiding. and Boys need an outlet that is just for them. it has become such a double standard. I do consider myself a liberal and fair minded person. but this is a bit much. If I wanted to sign a girl up for something and wasn't allowed I can sue. But since I have boys and want him in an all boy group I have no rights or say.    
I was told that only one or two girls ever join, So I'm wondering why if the point is to be on equal footing that the parents would want them to be in a group that wouldn't segregate them for camping trips where they can't really be in tents with their group members... any ways I'm not sure how the over night outing thing works. The group leader is a woman and I'm great with that. I think kids need woman in the group. Maybe my opinion will change as we go.

Guess it's been a while... and cookie update!

Well I keep meaning to do this, but time is getting away from me. I just realized I am closing in on 5 months to go in this pregnancy. Wow. Every time I think of it I think of the million things that I need to get done. LOL. House work catch up is a killer. 2 1/2 months of being too ill to move really did a number on the house!!
Anyways. I figured out the cookie recipe. It's pretty good. (in fact the kids are sitting on the couch with the bucket downing them now.. so I"m pretty sure that means they are a winner.)

CJ's real food cookies.

1C Butter Melted
3/4 C honey
3/4 C Unsweetened applesauce
2 Lg eggs
1 1/2t Vanilla
2 3/4 C Whole wheat Flour
1/2 t salt
3 C Steel cut/rough cut oats
2 cups Bitter sweet chocolate chips.

Pre-Heat oven to 350 F

Combine butter, Honey, Apple sauce and Vanilla. In a small bowl. (In all honestly, I just put it all together in the pan I melted the butter in, After I take it off the heat) Beat eggs well and mix with the butter mixture.
In a Med size bowl combine Flour, salt and oats.  All butter and eggs mixture to flour mixture. Mix well. Add chocochips and mix well again.


Put on baking sheet in tablespoon sized portions. these are not going to get bigger. So keep that in mind. You are going to want to kind of flatten them a bit so then cook even. So no big balls of dough on your tray. Bake for approx. 12 mins. (remember this depends on your oven so watch them the first few times) they should go a light to med golden brown. (again, this depends on your preference)

These would also be great with a hand full or so of dried Cranberries added, a Teaspoon of cinnamon. Or really anything else your heart desires. it is a wet enough dough that adding stuff isn't an issue. If you are thinking of adding a lot of something that will dry it up a bit omit 1/4 cup of the flour and just add it in as you think necessary after the extra ingredient. You may want to wait and add the chocochips after you add the extras and make a decision on the flour though.

So this is mine and Cj's second try through this. The first one we had 1t of Baking soda in them. and they rose quite a bit. So If you like a softer more cake-ish cookie, I would add the baking soda in to the flour mix.
Ok well thanks for joining us on our baking experiment! Glad we didn't have any huge disasters.. this time!! LOL

ahh. well..

We are one week in on our Real food challenge. It hasn't been that hard, But let me tell you! Today I'm craving Brusetta like a crazy person! So I'm having it. From a box, totally Not real food, but, I figure it's that or eat randomly all day. The lesser of two evils is giving in when you need to. Other then that we are doing great! I am noticing a difference in energy and the amount I want to eat. It is awesome seeing CJ make responsible food choices all on his own. He is not being forced in any way and when he asks if he can have something that doesn't qualify, I tell him it is not what he is supposed to be eating but it's his choice. 9 times out of 10, he is making a different choice. He is only 8, so I think it's huge that he is doing that. Now to work on his attitude! LOL. Todd is, Of course, being a doll And reading labels for me and being careful what he buys. We are are very aware of the fact that living on a budget means we also have to eat what we have in the house weather it follows the guidelines or not, but we are trying to do it so there is very little that doesn't work in any given meal and Bringing into the house only what applies. This is definitely going to be an easy to keep up lifestyle to keep up past the 30 day mark. So far we have only had 2 meals that had anything in it that wasn't within the guildlines. (that's including my Brussetta today.) We know that this isn't a huge stretch for us. It is definitely helping us to be much more aware of what exactly is in EVERYTHING we buy. Which is a great thing.
I have some recipes that I have been using to make our snack food that I will put up. we did the crackers right off of the 100 day real food website, but I wan't pleased with how they baked. They tasted great. and it was probably operators error. We decided next time to roll them out thin and cut them with a play-doh cutter. Sounds weird I know, but I'll take photos and show you. It was Todd's Idea and actually makes perfect sense. (Not that you don't always babe!!)
Yesterday Cj and I did some experimental baking. We Have come up with a "Real Food" cookie recipe. The only questionable item in there is Semi-Sweet Cocochips. It's not quite perfected yet. It came out really good, but more Cake-ish in a way. I like a good chewy, cookie. so I think tomorrow we may head to the bulk food store to re-load on some missing ingredients and give it another go. I'm pretty sure I know what changes need to be made to adjust it. When I get it right I will post it.

Our new Food experience

Well, let me be honest. It's not entirely new. We have been working sloowwllyy towards a more healthy eating lifestyle for a while now. But now I'm doing a Thirty day "real food" Challenge with a group of ladies I met online. (and a few I know IRL). We are all doing our best to follow the rules found HERE On this great website full of amazing information. (Really, go check it out... I'll wait...) My oldest, who is 8,  has volunteered to do it with me. Todd says he is glad he works at Starbucks and can get his fix at work. LOL. I'm sure not going to force him to stick to the rules around all that yummy temptation! So the trick is to find things to satisfy my pregnancy sweet tooth and still stay within the basic guidelines.. Toast with honey did it today, but I'm not holding my breathe on that one! Thankfully we have an awesome chocolate vendor at our local farmers market who sells fair trade chocolate made ethically right from the cocoa pods. There is no added sugar so that will take care of my chocolate cravings!! So anyways, I have looking for a great snack to have on hand so I didn't switch to auto-pilot and grab and handful of pre-packaged crackers for a quick snack fix and I think, after looking at a zillion Granola recipes I made one that I really like. I just sort of took the things I liked the most out of a bunch of recipes I liked (and I can't remember them all.. sorry) and mashed them together. So here is my version.

Granola

3 1/2 C rough cut oats

Enough water to cover oats in a bowl

2 T vinegar (I used cider 'cause that's what was easiest to grab)

appx. 1 cup each of

Almond slivers

Dried cranberries

Peanuts

unsweetened coconut shreds

sunflower seeds

(I think if I could have found pumpkin seeds I would have thrown those in too. But they weren't at the bulk store I went to this last trip.)

2T flax seed. (next time I would soak these first, but they were a last min addition)

2 t Cinnamon (plus the bit that "spilled" while I was scooping)

1 1/2 t ground Ginger

1/2 t nutmeg

1/2 cup honey

6T butter

2 1/2 t Vanilla Extract

OK so first on the soaking.

I have been informed, and it makes good sense, that because Seeds are meant to reproduce the plant they are not really all that meant to be eaten. and if you do eat them, They are build to be passed through your system. They have a layer built on the outside that stops them from being broken down by the human system. So, all thought we know that there are oodles of awesomeness inside seeds (and nuts) for our bodies, Lets be honest, If you can't absorb them, it's kind of a waste (Ahem). So In order to break down this barrier we need to soak the seeds and nuts to kind of confuse the seeds into saying "Hey! Lets grow a plant!"And that they signals the seed to begin to germinate. At that point our bodies can break down all that great stuff that makes your body strong.

Ok enough yapping.. On with the granola.

First the night before I put the Oats in a bowl and filled it to cover with room temp water. I then added 2 T of vinegar. I Think the exact instructions for soaking I read said 1T to 2C water.. I'm a winging it kinda girl though so I didn't remember exactly. This really only have to soak for 6 hours. I'm lazy, so overnight it is.

the next day I drained the oats, I just left them in a strainer lined in coffee filter for a while while I made breakfast and cleaned up... and I'm pretty sure half way through breakfast to.

Mix in with the oats all your dried ingredients. So al the way down to the nutmeg on that list up there.

Take a smal pan and melt together the butter and honey. then add the vanilla extract.

Dump the honey/butter mix into the oat mix. Mix well.

in a Lightly Greased baking sheet spread a layer of the granola mixture approx. 1.5cm thick. Pop into a pre-heated 250 degree oven. Now heres where is gets tricky..

If you want it kind of a chew granola bar texture. you only need it win there until the top is really firm but you can still push into it if you really try. This is how my kids seem to like it the best. this will take about 30-40 mins. If you want it crunchy granola you will need to keep it in the oven for about 60 mins. These times are not exact. (in case you haven't noticed, cooking for me never is!) And I strongly suggest you don't stray to far. They will burn fast once they start to go. (Ask me how I know....) if they hit a med brown colour pull them out otherwise you will end up throwing them all out too.. Keep in mind that it will cook for a few mins after you take it out of the oven.

I hope you like them. Really you can add anything you want to them. I'm sure mine will vary a lot to keep us from getting to bored. If I come up with any spectacular one's I'll update here!!

Swimming today!!

My poor JT. My middle guy does not like Swimming lessons. The worst part about it is he does a super job, once he gets in the pool and stops crying. So, I have been telling him.. (Ok so bribing him. but lets not split hairs) That if he gets in the pool like a "big boy" with his instructor, and doesn't cry for the first 10 mins like he normally does I will make him, or buy him, what ever he wants for supper. You know what he picks. Kraft dinner. Plain old comes in a box Kraft dinner. Needless to say I'm not a huge fan. I didn't mind it before, but right now being pregnant the idea of Kraft dinner is ICK. Sounds like it will be a two supper night in out house tonight!

This morning we received in the mail JT's Primer math book. they are his first ones so he was super pumped and this afternoon finished all 14 pages of lesson one. We use the Math-U-See program for our homeschooling. It is an awesome program that we just love. I am actually for the first time learning and getting math along with CJ. So it's a huge bonus. Math has never been my thing. and I have on several occasions heard a few of my mom's friends say something along the lines of "Should she be homeschooling? Weren't her math grades terrible in school." sigh.. what they don't understand.

Tomorrow I have some major baking planned. Today I made some Cherry Pie filling (As per the recipe at "The cup cake project" Yes I'm addicted to that site right now!!) and the Home made Maraschino Cherries off of her blog too. they are both sitting on my counter right now cooling. Man to theMaraschino cherries ever smell boozy right now, and if I wasn't pregnant I would totally take a shot of the liquid they are soaking in!! I'll post some photos later (or more probably tomorrow at this point) Once I get started on the Cupcakes that will go with them. I'm making her Black forest cupcakes. I originally bumped into her blog trying to find some cute cupcakes for AJ's 2nd Birthday party and have been stuck to it ever since. But I promise that not all the recipes that I use will be from her site. and they won't all be sweets either!!

Home made Oreo Cookies.

Ok, Today I was supposed to be making cupcakes for AJ's birthday party. But the thought was just much to daunting for a night of no sleep, a pounding pressure headache and too much heat outside. So, these seemed like the way to go. Although I'm not sure they were to much less work they were a lot less ingredients. To me, the means less finding and putting away.
The original recipe I used was from "The Cupcake Project" It is an awesome blog that I've been loving and is really what kicked me in the butt to start a new Blog. I've been thinking about it, but it's time for doing.
Anyhow...
I should now mention that I did not do it as the recipe is written there. I'm sure had I, these would have tasted way more like regular Oreos'. However, I don't like sweet. so I cut the sugar in half. So here is the original recipe from the cupcake Project . and here is the version I made today. For the butter in the recipe,  I cheated and set mine in a glass bowl outside in the 35 degree Celsius heat for 5 mins, so the butter was plenty warm and the bowl was to. so it softened up really nice with a fork.


The Cookie

• 1 1/4 cup flour
• 1/2 cup unsweetened Cocoa
• 1t Baking soda
• 1t Baking powder
•  1/4 t salt
• 1C sugar ( I used Raw sugar)
• 1/2C + 2T butter (room temp or softer)
• 1 lg egg

Mix flour, Cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, salt and sugar in a bowl. 

soften the butter in bowl with the back of a fork and add egg. mix and then add to flour mixture.

combine the two together until you get a mass of dough. 

Roll 1teaspoon pieces of the dough into balls then squish them onto a lined baking sheet (you want them fairly flat.)  And really one teaspoon is enough trust me. lol

Bake these off for 9 mins in a pre-heated 375 degree oven theses will burn fast. pay attention!! Cool on a rack. I strongly suggest letting them either sit on the sheet until they start to cool or just lift the whole sheet (I used Wax paper) and set that on top. Trying to move them before they are ready will result in lots of broken cookies!!

The filling... MMMM

• 1/2 cup  minus 2 T of butter (room temp or softer)
• 2T of coconut oil
• 1C confectioners sugar
• 2t of vanilla extract

Put Butter coconut oil and Vanilla extract in a bowl. Using a mixer blend together adding the sugar a little at a time until you get a nice fluffy icing. If you want it stiffer add more sugar. (Original recipe calls for 1 more cup). Now.. try to keep your fingers out or you will run out before you fill your cookies!!

Grab 2 cookies halves of completely cooled cookie that are close to the same size and put a spoonful (teaspoon or so) amount on the bottom side of the cookie. get your other half and put it on. Give the top a little 1/4 turn to help cover the whole cookie in filling and voila! enjoy.

review

CJ loved the cookie part but the filling, not so much. I think he would have liked it better with all the sugar in it. JT and AJ loved them and asked for more. I'm a big fan. But think that they would stay together better with more sugar. But that's not important enough for me to put it all in. I may try some though with it all just to see the difference. Maybe do a batch half and half.  I took some over to my trusty taste testing neighbours so I'll see what they think when they get home. Todd I'm sure will be into them right when he gets home from golfing this afternoon. I'm pretty sure they will be a hit with him. He, like me, isn't to into the sweet and is a fan of Vanilla which you can definitely taste in the filling. I was a little concerned the coconut oil taste would show up too much, but you don't really notice it. The vanilla definitely over powers it. Maybe swap out more butter for it next time.
Update;
Todd thought they were really good, and the neighbours (Angela and Erin) told me I was awesome. (that could partly be because they came home to treats already sitting on their counter.)  I told them I only used half the sugar and they replied that they were sweet enough for their tastes to. Angela's 6 year old apparently loved them to.