tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20351472128096656252024-03-14T01:31:30.899-07:00GingerBabyMamaGingerBabyMamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01223391967494216113noreply@blogger.comBlogger273125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2035147212809665625.post-78936756525771974352017-01-29T22:07:00.004-08:002017-01-29T22:07:48.925-08:00Menu Plan Monday - January 30, 2017<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Well that was a bust!! I did a fantastic job of writing out my menu plan for last week... and only managed four of the planned meals - and two of those were dinners out!! Oh well, they can't all be winning weeks! </span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Chicken burrito bowls - and lunch for days!</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This week promises to be another busy week, but we are having some special guests for dinner on Thursday (my cousin and her new baby!!) and we'll hopefully stay organized for the rest of the time!! The other night a friend came by when I was unpacking groceries and saw how crazy full my deep freeze was... and of course that led to a challenge - she said I'm not allowed to buy anything at the grocery store except fruit, veggies, milk and bread for the next month - or until the freezer is nearly empty!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Challenge accepted - this week's menu has all seven meals that originate from my freezer!!
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On the menu this week:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong> Monday: </strong> Shepherd's Pie </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong> Tuesday: </strong> Perogies and farmer sausage </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong> Wednesday: </strong> Chicken burrito bowls (and lunch for days after!) </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong> Thursday: </strong> Pf Chang's Lettuce Wraps, spring rolls and rice </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong> Friday: </strong> Pizza and salad </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong> Saturday: </strong> Ham, scalloped potatoes and beans </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong> Sunday: </strong> Superbowl - all appies, all day & chili for dinner! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I'll be linking up to <a href="http://www.orgjunkie.com/" target="_blank">OrgJunkie's Menu Plan Monday</a> - Swing by and find some great menu ideas for your family!</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAyyg3IbsTfPhx3wWaoIDTYcxvtLSAu5ONZQnU1LkU33tR6SE6dHcHisDgJ9S3PIfvtq1Z49vliaE0WFxjRLdDZmAUsiLErOdpYr6E8kY20pmkkqFUDylLFOtDj6qNMgpXxsKnty_AnmI/s1600/signature.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="142" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAyyg3IbsTfPhx3wWaoIDTYcxvtLSAu5ONZQnU1LkU33tR6SE6dHcHisDgJ9S3PIfvtq1Z49vliaE0WFxjRLdDZmAUsiLErOdpYr6E8kY20pmkkqFUDylLFOtDj6qNMgpXxsKnty_AnmI/s200/signature.png" width="200" /></a></div>
GingerBabyMamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01223391967494216113noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2035147212809665625.post-74433439891975522472017-01-22T22:48:00.002-08:002017-01-22T22:48:59.243-08:00Menu Plan Monday - January 23, 2017<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://gingerbabymama.blogspot.ca/2015/01/just-like-pf-changs-lettuce-wraps.html" target="_blank">Yummy!!!!</a></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Four weeks!! Can you believe I have managed to plan out four weeks of menus?? Even more impressive? My lovely friend Alana of Alana Joy Photography and I have brought lunch to work for our #teamlunch for three straight weeks! Let's hope we can keep up the same for the next week and weeks to come! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This weekend was supposed to be Miss A's weekend away at camp, but she was sick and this mama had to pick her up at 1am on her first night away. She was definitely disappointed, but what she really needed was a weekend at home, with mama taking care of her and lots of sleep. Thankfully she is on the mend and we were able to go out and have a little fun today! A sweet friend of mine opened her own storefront business this weekend. She and her partners have been baking amazing cakes for a few years now, but this weekend <a href="http://www.enchantedcakestudio.com/">Enchanted Cake Studio and Tea Salon</a> opened it's doors and my mom, the girls and I stopped by to check it out! It was amazing! The food was delicious, the tea was delightful, the decor was gorgeous and we had the best time!</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtwwE7IwAFrxWaZIR7fX1FsV6gidZhhFe6n1l-vvQuVYtFbhPRelyrTByRBKZsvRCSu3YUyW2YaWH4gTa5nEUnLFwSzRZpoZ4eV66MKNBJ8OMjsiDtvyCosWCQ0YmrZMgy9zPGW28Jx5U/s1600/cordon+bleu+casserole.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="230" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtwwE7IwAFrxWaZIR7fX1FsV6gidZhhFe6n1l-vvQuVYtFbhPRelyrTByRBKZsvRCSu3YUyW2YaWH4gTa5nEUnLFwSzRZpoZ4eV66MKNBJ8OMjsiDtvyCosWCQ0YmrZMgy9zPGW28Jx5U/s400/cordon+bleu+casserole.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://gingerbabymama.blogspot.ca/2015/01/chicken-cordon-bleu-casserole.html" target="_blank">Yummy#2!!</a></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Coming up this week we have a few parties, so a few days free of menu planning! For this week's menu, I looked back through my menu plans of years past, here on the blog, and found a few treasures that I hadn't made in a while. Funny enough when I found the recipes on the blog, they were all made two years ago exactly - the last week of Jan! Although there is no guarantee that my kids will eat the planned dinners, I can always throw in some chicken strips to appease the tiny people so the hubs and I can eat the yummy recipes I have planned!
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKjkOzGwFvdTwa9ER_4l_XNwfZHqOWwfWwopUPVtSVtB9xN9Z_l-OEYHWyHH9KWzm0Tjn4bU2Kpo_Ycy5n5kIhEq8w5VF1IETF9SlEWj0ZNDPowymolICYV0TwIe-N6N_oB0asbPNQ2TM/s1600/mealplanmonday_v2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKjkOzGwFvdTwa9ER_4l_XNwfZHqOWwfWwopUPVtSVtB9xN9Z_l-OEYHWyHH9KWzm0Tjn4bU2Kpo_Ycy5n5kIhEq8w5VF1IETF9SlEWj0ZNDPowymolICYV0TwIe-N6N_oB0asbPNQ2TM/s400/mealplanmonday_v2.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong> Monday: </strong>Turkey Pot Pie </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong> Tuesday: </strong> Chicken fajitas and cheese quesadillas </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong> Wednesday: </strong> <a href="http://gingerbabymama.blogspot.ca/2015/01/just-like-pf-changs-lettuce-wraps.html">PF Chang's Lettuce Wraps</a> (my fave!!)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong> Thursday: </strong> Dinner out</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong> Friday: </strong><a href="http://gingerbabymama.blogspot.ca/2015/01/chicken-cordon-bleu-casserole.html">Chicken Cordon Bleu Casserole</a> (another one of my faves!!) </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong> Saturday: </strong> Dinner out for my bro's birthday!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong> Sunday: </strong> <a href="http://gingerbabymama.blogspot.ca/2015/02/have-you-ever-seen-recipe-on-pinterest.html">Cajun Shrimp Alfredo</a> (Miss E's Fave!)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I'll be linking up to <a href="http://www.orgjunkie.com/" target="_blank">OrgJunkie's Menu Plan Monday</a> - Swing by and find some great menu ideas for your family!</span><br />
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GingerBabyMamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01223391967494216113noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2035147212809665625.post-17522112432852715832017-01-15T22:58:00.000-08:002017-01-15T22:58:16.039-08:00Menu Plan Monday - January 16, 2017<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEAKF9Dkd4DtTaokeiEIU3-DJpfJEYaHXMogr7XOLrKuG6We1lBAs2a_DKqjTaJq8cnPsnKImtjSUDf7EwyJGvv4FEUXzK9azLU3JMMoLcsmSCVlrcMsKbWL7UhvfPSG6ctEPFJgJbYc0/s1600/header.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="268" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEAKF9Dkd4DtTaokeiEIU3-DJpfJEYaHXMogr7XOLrKuG6We1lBAs2a_DKqjTaJq8cnPsnKImtjSUDf7EwyJGvv4FEUXzK9azLU3JMMoLcsmSCVlrcMsKbWL7UhvfPSG6ctEPFJgJbYc0/s400/header.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hello my friends! Hope this week has treated you well! This was our first full week back to full time everything - school, all the after school activities and of course, work. I'm extremely proud of myself (and my friend Alana) for going two straight weeks bringing lunch to work and not going out! It's like a miracle! We used to go out for lunch (and spend money) every single day pretty much. If we had brought lunch, we would still go out and shop in the mall beside work. Now we hang out in one of the lunchrooms at work and make plans, get organized and figure out what's next up! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Our family managed to mostly stay on the menu plan this week too! There were a couple of days where I need to swap one days' planned dinner for another, but we stuck pretty close! I'm also trying to get back on the organizing train. For those of you who have read along with me since the beginning will remember, a lot of my past posts were about<a href="http://gingerbabymama.blogspot.ca/2012/10/simple-living-challenge.html"> simple living</a>, <a href="http://gingerbabymama.blogspot.ca/2012/07/minimal-ish-rules.html">following a minimal-ish lifestyle</a> and <a href="http://gingerbabymama.blogspot.ca/2013/03/kitchen-chaos-week-2-progress.html">household organizing</a>. Since the first of January I have been following along with Peter Walsh's #31Days2GetOrganized and trying to complete the mini-challenges each day. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here's a photo from the challenge this week to get your kitchen utensils under control - it was an easy task, I didn't spend more than ten minutes working on it, but gave me a little sense of accomplishment and incentive to keep going on my journey!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On the menu this week - a few family favorites, and one of my faves too!!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong> Monday: </strong> <a href="http://allrecipes.com/recipe/left-over-turkey-pot-pie/detail.aspx">Turkey Pot Pie </a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong> Tuesday: </strong> <a href="http://gingerbabymama.blogspot.ca/2013/05/ravioli-lasagne-recipe.html">Ravioli Lasagne (my favorite!)</a> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong> Wednesday: </strong> <a href="http://damndelicious.net/2014/05/03/asian-honey-chicken/">Crockpot Honey Chicken </a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong> Thursday: </strong> Salmon, rice and veggies </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong> Friday: </strong> Miss A's heading to camp for the weekend! Out for dinner! </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong> Saturday: </strong> Baked ham, mashed potatoes and veggies </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong> Sunday: </strong>Teriyaki chicken rice and veggies </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Thanks so much for stopping by today! I really appreciate it!! Here's hoping this is the first of many posts this year!! I'll be linking up to <a href="https://www.blogger.com/www.orgjunkie.com">OrgJunkie's Menu Plan Monday</a>, stop over and check it out!!
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GingerBabyMamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01223391967494216113noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2035147212809665625.post-52410921169688965892017-01-08T21:59:00.000-08:002017-01-08T21:59:12.899-08:00Menu Plan Monday - January 9, 2017<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Good morning my friends!! I hope you all had a great first week back to work and school! We were back for four days of work, school, dance, brownies, girl guides, catechism and play dates and bottle drives and madness... but thankfully I had my very first menu plan of the year all queued up and ready. Guess what?? We followed along most of the week! </span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I made<a href="https://www.google.ca/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=3&cad=rja&uact=8&sqi=2&ved=0ahUKEwjilriusLTRAhXCzVQKHQ1vAM4QFggqMAI&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DIehX_6FHTNw&usg=AFQjCNFu8KuZm0-NPRUs49MRD4U5AXeg4Q&sig2=gx1oK4DC43Z7_42Vh1HRXg&bvm=bv.142059868,d.cGw" target="_blank"> these lovelies </a>for dinner last Sunday and kept the rest for lunches this week!</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Now that I'm back on the menu planning train, I have to share with you all my latest and greatest find - online grocery shopping!! Our local grocery store, <a href="https://www.saveonfoods.com/shop-online-how-it-works/">Save On Foods offers two different kinds of service</a> - online shopping where they pick your order and they deliver for a nominal fee (between $5-8) OR (and even more amazing) you can order online, they pick the order for you and you can pick it up in a time slot you pick! I usually plan my orders so they are ready for pickup while my girls are dancing and my hubby picks them up while they are at the studio. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This week, when it came time to use the store's app, I checked in with my menu plan and placed my order for whichever ingredients I knew I would need for the week's recipes. I also love that if we run out of something during the week, I can open the app and add it to my cart right away so I don't forget. Easy peasy, lemon squeezy!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On this week's menu, we are having one pick from each of the kiddos! They love having input into what we are having for dinner, and I love that I'm making something that won't cause an argument at the dinner table. Win/Win!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong> Monday: </strong> Spaghetti and meat sauce</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong> Tuesday: </strong> Fish burgers and fries</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong> Wednesday: </strong> <a href="http://gingerbabymama.blogspot.ca/2012/05/pasta-with-prawns-in-boursin-cream.html">Tortellini with Prawns</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong> Thursday: </strong> Tacos and cheese quesadillas</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong> Friday: </strong> Baked ham, mashed potatoes and beans</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong> Saturday: </strong> <a href="http://gingerbabymama.blogspot.ca/2014/01/homemade-shake-and-bake-mix.html">Home made shake and bake chicken</a>, roasted potatoes and salad</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong> Sunday: </strong> Beef and broccoli </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Thanks so much for stopping by today! I really appreciate it!! Here's hoping this is the first of many posts this year!! I'll be linking up to <a href="https://www.blogger.com/www.orgjunkie.com">OrgJunkie's Menu Plan Monday</a>, stop over and check it out!!
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GingerBabyMamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01223391967494216113noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2035147212809665625.post-84713892926529852132017-01-01T22:24:00.000-08:002017-01-01T22:24:10.915-08:00Menu Plan Monday - January 2, 2017
Hello old friends!! I know it's been a L-O-N-G time since I made an appearance here, but it's a new year, and I'm going to try to use this little corner of the internet to help me get back to being organized, even in chaos. Life has changed a lot over the past year, my kiddos are now 10 and almost 8, I got a new job, and I have two new nephews and another niece or nephew on the way! <br><br>
My new job has meant less down time for me, and it also means I'm working more and after work I perform my usual chauffeur services to ferry the girls between the dance studio, brownies, girl guides, and their other activities. In fact, I spent today filling in the activities on our new 2017 family calendar that we keep on the fridge so everyone knows who has to be where, when! <br><br>
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We tried to keep our holiday season really chill this year. When in years past we did an <a href="http://gingerbabymama.blogspot.ca/2012/11/a-countdown-to-christmas-part-2-advent.html">Advent Activity Calendar</a>, <a href="http://gingerbabymama.blogspot.ca/2012/11/a-countdown-to-christmas-part-one.html"> and wrapped and read a Christmas book each night</a> this year we didn't plan out our activities for every single day. Instead, we made plans with friends and family as they came up and tried to slow down and enjoy our time with our loved ones. <br><br>
We did plan one new event this year that we hope to make into a family tradition for years to come - a cousins Christmas party. This year my adult cousins and I planned a night where we all got together, kid free (except the newborns) and just enjoyed each other, had some yummy appies and drinks and chilled out! It was so much fun, and we managed to get almost all of the cousins together! At this party, my cousin, who is going back to work next week after her year's maternity leave reminded me that the menu plans I used to be so good about making were some of her dinner inspirations in her own home! She has two very busy little boys, and having a dinner plan helps her to keep her sanity in check, feed her family healthy meals and help avoid having cereal for dinner 3 times a week! <br><br>
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So, to help her (and me!!) out, I spent today filling out my calendar, and planning our menu for the next month - yes, you heard that correctly, MONTH! I like to plan out the whole month so I don't end up repeating recipes over the month long span. Also, planning for the whole month allows all members of the family to request a favorite meal! I let the girls pick two or three favorites, the hubs gets a couple of picks and mama gets to choose the rest! So, without further adieu, here is the first week of menus for 2017!! <br><br>
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Monday: <a href="http://bzfd.it/2bZGLBm">Chicken Burrito Bowls</a> (with lots of leftovers for lunch at work!)<br>
Tuesday: Cheeseburgers and roasted potato wedges<br>
Wednesday: Perogies and sausage <br>
Thursday: Teriyaki Chicken Stir Fry <br>
Friday: Rotisserie chicken, salad and hot dinner rolls <br>
Saturday: Spaghetti and meatballs <br>
Sunday: <a href="http://gingerbabymama.blogspot.ca/2012/05/turkey-meatloaf-freezer-meal.html">Turkey meatloaf</a>, mashed potatoes and veggies (freezer meal, makes dinner for today plus a bunch more for the freezer for future dinners!) <br><br>
Thanks so much for stopping by today! I really appreciate it!! Here's hoping this is the first of many posts this year!! I'll be linking up to <a href="http://orgjunkie.com/">OrgJunkie's Menu Plan Monday</a>, stop over and check it out!!
<a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img src="https://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54490/84/D5D050CAFCE61665F29DB3D1C9B33AC7.png" style="background: transparent; border: 0;"></a>GingerBabyMamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01223391967494216113noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2035147212809665625.post-43367803783267796612016-03-23T12:49:00.003-07:002016-03-23T12:49:51.733-07:00Easter Egg Scavenger Hunt<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hello my friends!! Hope you are all enjoying the first week of spring!! With Easter coming up this weekend I’m trying to get all ready for the all-important Easter egg hunt! Our kids are totally spoiled – they do an Easter egg hunt at home, one outside with all the neighbours on the stoop, another one with each set of grandparents and yet another one at church! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This year for a something a little different I thought I’d get my kids to work a little harder to find their Easter rewards – a scavenger hunt! After a quick look around the idea galleries on Pinterest, I managed to find a bunch of clues that will work for our house. Basically, when the girls get up in the morning, where normally there is a couch full of chocolate and treats from the Easter bunny, this year there will be a clue… leading to another clue… and another! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I found many of the clues for the scavenger hunt on these two sites (<a href="http://www.storypiece.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Easter-Egg-Scavenger-Hunt.pdf" target="_blank">Storypiece.net</a> and <a href="http://blog.melissaanddoug.com/2013/02/01/puzzleplaypuzzlehunt/" target="_blank">Melissa and Doug</a>) and then just changed some around to fit with our home. It would be easy to do the same for your house!! Once I made my list of clues, and the corresponding order of answers, I printed them off, cut into strips and placed inside the eggs. Then I numbered the eggs 1-10 so I’d be able to have them ready in advance. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">At each clue spot, the girls will find a little pile of chocolate eggs and a plastic egg that will contain the next clue. The final clue will have the destination of their Easter treats!! At our house the Easter bunny tries not to leave too much chocolate because all of the grandparents and aunts and uncles always buy chocolate – our bunny this year will be leaving each of the girls a big box of sidewalk chalk, a new skipping rope, a new book and a chocolate treat. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I am going to try to attach the clues that we used for our hunt at the bottom of this post, so you can print them off for your own Easter Egg Scavenger Hunt! In the meantime, I've taken a screen shot of the clues below! Enjoy, and happy Easter everyone!! </span><br />
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<a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54490/84/D5D050CAFCE61665F29DB3D1C9B33AC7.png" style="background: transparent; border: 0;" /></a><br />
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<br />GingerBabyMamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01223391967494216113noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2035147212809665625.post-35842115571898141922016-03-22T15:29:00.001-07:002016-03-22T15:29:06.225-07:00Keeping up with the Gingers, 2016 edition!!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hello my friends!! I hope you all have been keeping well!! Over in our house we have been busy busy busy, so I haven’t been able to check in for a while. I have so many things to post about that I hardly know where to start!! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Over the Christmas break, my husband sat down with the girls and I and brought us up to speed on Star Wars. Although he was an expert on the whole series, the girls and I had never seen any of the movies. Over the week of Christmas holidays we watched all six of the old Star Wars movies and then got all dressed up in Star Wars tshirts (yes, even me!) and went to see the latest release: Star Wars: The Force Awakens. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Last month we traveled to Disneyland with another family (my lovely friend Alana from <a href="http://www.alanajoyphotography.com/" target="_blank">Alana Joy Photography</a>) and had an absolute blast!! This is the second time we have made this trip and the combination of the littles being big enough to ride all the rides and the plethora of Star Wars paraphernalia in the park made this an awesome trip! </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEho6G5ml-0pfeLz9bo8gbpfKw0S18i9TvqyrMzXdhF5DWvu314_mXxgvF9wBikfbcrk3zHkmzmj80t0whrmH9hqoxTEGUOhiLEkIc3X5ReravuiUHEzvt1Sw0cSZlHZ-6lShJWP_3BD8Bc/s1600/St+pats.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEho6G5ml-0pfeLz9bo8gbpfKw0S18i9TvqyrMzXdhF5DWvu314_mXxgvF9wBikfbcrk3zHkmzmj80t0whrmH9hqoxTEGUOhiLEkIc3X5ReravuiUHEzvt1Sw0cSZlHZ-6lShJWP_3BD8Bc/s400/St+pats.jpg" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Last week my lovely Irish lasses danced their hearts out for St Patrick’s Day! They danced nine shows over two days and delighted everyone in the senior’s communities where they danced! They had a great time, and although totally exhausted at the end of it, happily came to the pub for dinner to celebrate St Patrick’s Day. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This week coming up we are celebrating Easter with our families. I’m working on a fun scavenger hunt for the girls this year! Usually we just “hide” eggs around the house and the girls run madly to find them… but this year I’m feeling ambitious! With help from my trusty friend Pinterest I have found some fun clues for the girls to follow to find all of their Easter treats!! I’ll hopefully be back later this week with a post on the clue ideas!! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hope you all have been keeping well! Thanks for stopping by today, you guys are the best!! </span><br />
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<a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54490/84/D5D050CAFCE61665F29DB3D1C9B33AC7.png" style="background: transparent; border: 0;" /></span></a>GingerBabyMamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01223391967494216113noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2035147212809665625.post-75527755068209342442015-11-25T12:10:00.000-08:002015-11-25T12:10:42.568-08:00How to Host a Successful Christmas Cookie Exchange<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtQQ0NoBJ-cPlapUINBGvnKv5qVmDR4x0BZotPNnggxN1u9F2_O5rji8-car1veGYzYYXwFoo78TLi7gX6XcLt68WO22lPQLwfy8PHVRN9V2mas4-Fvejv1Woh8fhi7Uz5oWZOOGWtMx8/s1600/Cookie+party+header.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="438" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtQQ0NoBJ-cPlapUINBGvnKv5qVmDR4x0BZotPNnggxN1u9F2_O5rji8-car1veGYzYYXwFoo78TLi7gX6XcLt68WO22lPQLwfy8PHVRN9V2mas4-Fvejv1Woh8fhi7Uz5oWZOOGWtMx8/s640/Cookie+party+header.JPG" width="640" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One of my favorite Christmas traditions is coming up next week! This year will mark the 10th Annual Christmas Cookie Exchange that I will be hosting at my house! It’s a day for us ladies to get together over tea or wine and have appies and catch up, all while trading our new or favorite holiday cookie recipes!! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If you have never been a part of a Christmas Cookie Exchange, let me tell you how it works!! It’s surprisingly easy and a LOT of fun!! Basically, each person who attends the party brings six dozen of their favorite type of cookie, then we make the exchange and everyone brings six dozen different cookies home!! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Ten years ago when I hosted my first cookie exchange, I wasn’t really sure how it worked, so I googled, and <a href="http://www.robinsweb.com/cookies/">found this page</a> . This site gave me a very specific set of rules that, for the first couple of years I was very specific about following… and honestly some of the rules were a little too much for me, so I have relaxed them into the rules below and things have gone much more smoothly ever since! </span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://gingerbabymama.blogspot.ca/2015/03/twix-shortbread-cookies.html" target="_blank">Recipe for these beauties</a></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Before the rules, a few tips to make your life easier as the hostess of the cookie party!! First of all, give LOTS of notice! I usually send out my invitations (usually as a facebook event) about a month or so before the party. People have very busy social calendars, and if they know about this event well enough ahead, they can also plan to make time for the baking part of the party!! Although some people get stressed about having to bake 6 dozen cookies, remember: that usually just means two batches of a single recipe, since most cookie recipes make 3 dozen cookies!!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Second: Don’t stress!! This is supposed to be a fun event!! I usually have my Christmas tree up mid-November, so my Christmas décor is the only decorating I do for the party, well aside from the beautiful cookies all my friends bring along!! I buy or make a few easy appetizers, open a few bottles of wine and make a pot of tea and we just sit and chat and catch up with each other! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If you have the time, ask your friends to provide you their recipes ahead of time and put together a Cookie Book. It sounds like a lot of work, but it’s super easy and your friends will thank you! When I hosted my first cookie exchange, I asked people to bring copies of their recipes, so if someone LOVED a cookie, they’d be able to bake it! Inevitably, people would forget, so I try to collect everyone’s recipe the week before and print them all off into a little booklet for my guests to bring home! Voila, ten minutes of copying and pasting into a Word document and all of our new favorite recipes in one place to share!! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Finally, I know that people are busy, but busy people still want cookies!! I allow people to bake their cookies and drop them off to me before the party and I will do the exchanging part for them. Last year I had one participant in labour, and another working and one more that had a different party to attend… but they all wanted to bake and exchange cookies, so they brought them over before the party, prepackaged and ready to go and I exchanged their yummies for them!
One last thing that may make your life as Cookie Party hostess a little better… and by no means is this necessary, it’s just my OCD coming out to play… if you have an odd number of participants, and you won’t be able to evenly divide cookies (for example 11 people x 6 dozen (72) cookies = 6.54 of each recipe per participant) whip up an extra batch of cookies. </span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">See how amazing having twelve different types of cookies can be????</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As the hostess, you are likely already a baker and have a ton of recipes in your arsenal. In addition to making it easier to divide and package cookies (especially when many of the guests pre-package their cookies), if you bring two entries to the party, you LEAVE with double the cookies!! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So, without further ado, and using guidance from <a href="http://www.cookie-exchange.com/rules_of_the_cookie_exchange.html" target="_blank">Robin’s Rules</a> to Hosting a Cookie Exchange, here are my…</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaOXjIPkA5soCzr2D0ZqxNYlzzv57vFbSDBMiP1M_rhcVYvEdfv9bd8bGAkaoEEn9tHJMstQqpdxjPxEDjMkK5ieVRz9N1mLhO6WhEHwYEF916HYNshnidGWPcry_m377wd3yjGaPl-u4/s1600/Rules+header.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="270" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaOXjIPkA5soCzr2D0ZqxNYlzzv57vFbSDBMiP1M_rhcVYvEdfv9bd8bGAkaoEEn9tHJMstQqpdxjPxEDjMkK5ieVRz9N1mLhO6WhEHwYEF916HYNshnidGWPcry_m377wd3yjGaPl-u4/s400/Rules+header.JPG" width="400" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>1.</b> <b>All cookies should be homemade, baked and main ingredient must be a type of flour</b>. This means your guests will bring COOKIES. Not Rice Krispie treats, not meringues, COOKIES. After all, this is a Cookie Exchange!! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>2. No plain chocolate chip cookies, cookie mixes, no-bakes, meringues or bars</b>. Anyone can open a package and add an egg, this party is for cookies made with love. We allowed bars one year, and they didn’t cut well, they weren’t evenly sized, and they didn’t package and stack like cookies. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>3. Please bring 6 dozen total cookies</b>… well maybe a couple extra to share… but really, six dozen cookies. One recipe baked twice, 72 cookies. It makes it easier for sorting and separating when the actual exchange part of the party, and means that no one is shorted cookies because someone only managed to bake 60 cookies. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>4. Email a copy of your recipe before the party</b> (or bring recipe to the party). In addition to putting together a Cookie Book like I do, having everyone provide their planned recipes in advance means that you won’t get duplicates. Not that having four kinds of shortbread is the worst problem to have, but variety is the spice of life!! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>5. If you don't have time to bake, or have burnt your cookies, but still want to attend, you must go to a real bakery and buy 6 dozen yummy cookies.</b> This one is pretty self-explanatory! In all of my years, it’s only happened on time that someone had to bring bakery cookies!! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I am so so so looking forward to this year’s festivities!! This year’s Cookie Book already has recipes for Oreo Peppermint Crunch Cookies and Salted Caramel Stuffed Snickerdoodles. I. Can’t. Wait!!!!!! Thanks for stopping by today! I really appreciate it!! </span><br />
<a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54490/84/D5D050CAFCE61665F29DB3D1C9B33AC7.png" style="background: transparent; border: 0 !important;" /></span></a>GingerBabyMamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01223391967494216113noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2035147212809665625.post-73495962418477160592015-11-16T09:21:00.001-08:002015-11-16T09:21:33.859-08:00Menu Plan Monday - Nov 16, 2015<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Happy Monday my friends!!! Does anyone else feel like time is just flying by?? Can you believe it’s already the middle of November?? I feel like as organized as I try to be, I am super behind schedule!! Normally I would have all of my shopping done, most of the gifts wrapped, the tree ready to put up, and all my Christmas cards written and ready to mail – this year… Notsomuch :(.
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">2014 Cookie Exchange Goodies!!!</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I guess I had better get cracking on my to-do lists!! This week I am really excited to share with you one of my family traditions, ten years in the making!! This December, a group of ladies and I will celebrate my 10th Annual Christmas Cookie Exchange!! It’s a great way for us to get together, have some wine and appies and share our favorite cookie recipes! The event is a lot of fun, but follows some pretty strict rules – check back in later this week to find out how to host an amazing cookie exchange!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One thing I have been able to stick to (list wise anyway) is menu planning! I have found myself looking back over my old recipes here on the blog to find some old favorites that I forgot about!!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><strong>On the menu this week: </strong></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Monday: </strong>Homemade pizzas </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Tuesday: </strong> Fish burgers and French Fries </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Wednesday: </strong> Pasta with veggies and prawns</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Thursday: </strong> New Recipe – <a href="http://damndelicious.net/2014/08/13/easy-beef-broccoli/" target="_blank">Beef and Broccoli </a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Friday: </strong>Chicken strips and potato wedges</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Saturday: </strong>Everyone is out tonight – hockey game, Girl Guide camp, sleepover… Mama’s going Christmas Shopping! Dinner will be Starbucks fueling me on!! </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Sunday: </strong>Chicken Fajitas and Cheese Quesadillas</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I’ll be linking my menu plan up to <a href="http://orgjunkie.com/">OrgJunkie’s Menu Plan Monday</a> – check it out!! </span><br />
<a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54490/84/D5D050CAFCE61665F29DB3D1C9B33AC7.png" style="background: transparent; border: 0 !important;" /></a>GingerBabyMamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01223391967494216113noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2035147212809665625.post-71341502622862068702015-11-12T15:08:00.000-08:002015-11-12T15:22:44.786-08:00Staying Organized through the Chaos of Christmas<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hello my lovely friends! I hope you all have had a wonderful week so far! Our family went to honour our veterans at a beautiful Remembrance Day ceremony yesterday. The weather was gorgeous, the kids were on their best behaviour, and we got to spend the day together after the ceremony. All in all, a fantastic day! It’s always been a tradition in our house to hold off on decorating for Christmas until after Remembrance Day. So I can’t say that I was shocked when the girls asked if we were putting up our Christmas tree on the drive home from the Cenotaph! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I don’t think we will actually have time to start our Christmas decorating until at least this weekend, but I thought I would bring together some of my favorite tips and tricks to make the Christmas season more organized and less stressful! Since, as of today there are only 42 days until Christmas, I’m sure that many of us are getting ready to panic!! Crazy parking lots at the mall, a bazillion people fighting to find the perfect gift, Black Friday sales.... The chaos of Christmas is enough to make us all crazy!!! I thought it would be fun to share with you all how I (try to) stay organized through the chaos!!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Make a list, and check it twice! </b> Christmas is expensive! I keep a spreadsheet each Christmas that lists everyone I have to buy for, how much I plan to spend, and a column to note whether or not I have actually purchased the gift. I keep pretty much the same list, from year to year, (adding on new nieces and nephews as needed!) just needing to change up the number of neighbours and teachers to buy for, as well as any gift exchange names as needed.
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://gingerbabymama.blogspot.ca/2012/11/gift-wrap-storage-and-organization.html" target="_blank">Link</a></td></tr>
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<b style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://gingerbabymama.blogspot.ca/2012/11/gift-wrap-storage-and-organization.html" target="_blank">Organize your wrapping supplies!</a></b><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Since our tree will be going up pretty soon, I’ll need to get started on wrapping all of the Christmas presents I have already bought and have hidden away! Taking 15 minutes to gather all of my gift wrapping necessities and organizing them will keep me sane when I feel like I’m drowning in gift boxes and glitter!!</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://gingerbabymama.blogspot.ca/2015/01/dollar-store-art-hack.html" target="_blank">Link</a></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Think of a theme!</b> Every year I try to pick a theme when planning the gifts for my husband and kids. Last year, since the girls were getting into horseback riding and taking lessons, we did a Cowboy Christmas – everyone got Taylor Swift tickets, cowboy boots and riding helmets for Christmas! I even made <a href="http://gingerbabymama.blogspot.ca/2015/01/dollar-store-art-hack.html" target="_blank">inexpensive horse-themed artwork</a> for the girls’ rooms! This year, since we are heading to Disney at the end of February, we are working on a travel theme!</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://gingerbabymama.blogspot.ca/2012/11/a-countdown-to-christmas-part-2-advent.html" target="_blank">Link</a></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Keep the traditions strong!</b> Life is crazy, but I feel like it’s my job as a wife and mother to make my family’s Christmas experience amazing every year. A few years ago, we created this<a href="http://gingerbabymama.blogspot.ca/2012/11/a-countdown-to-christmas-part-2-advent.html" target="_blank"> Advent Activity Calendar</a> to give us a fun, inexpensive holiday activity each day in the month of December. Being totally honest, this year I have had to really plan out our activities, so they work in line with the girls’ dance and Sparks/Girl Guides schedules, but knowing that each day we get do so something fun is amazing… I just need to plan a “Fancy Hot Chocolate with Sprinkles” date on days were we double up on dance!</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://gingerbabymama.blogspot.ca/2012/11/a-countdown-to-christmas-part-one.html" target="_blank">Link</a></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><a href="http://gingerbabymama.blogspot.ca/2012/11/a-countdown-to-christmas-part-one.html" target="_blank">Don’t forget to read!!</a></b> Another fun, easy thing we do at this time of year is create a basket of books gift wrapped under the tree! <a href="http://gingerbabymama.blogspot.ca/2012/11/a-countdown-to-christmas-part-one.html" target="_blank">Each book is numbered (1-24, obviously!) </a>and each night at bedtime, we get a fun little Christmas/winter themed story. I love that these used to be books that I would read to the girls, and now they are reading to me! </span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://gingerbabymama.blogspot.ca/2014/12/christmas-eve-gift-box.html" target="_blank">Link</a></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://gingerbabymama.blogspot.ca/2014/12/christmas-eve-gift-box.html" target="_blank"><b> Make a Christmas Eve Box!!</b> </a> Since I was a child, I can always remember my mom giving us new jammies on Christmas Eve. I’ve always done the same with my girls, but last year I made Christmas Eve a little extra special by wrapping up a box with the new jammies, some candy canes, hot cocoa and marshmallows and some Christmas crafts! </span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://gingerbabymama.blogspot.ca/2014/12/christmas-morning-sanity-saver.html" target="_blank">Link</a></td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlteTNOSrkP6VeLGNft4JlKM1xsLJGA6dWzWcTF9IEZO2WfN-D-1wdT6J4qfKMQ8siE-GdlYsciz5PWcG_0L69oYO8bh5s_yulgY1M3rLmvwSvF7OgK_q2n0xEmWhJoYXSpX7V75HrxVw/s1600/Christmas+morning+sanity+saver.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><a href="http://gingerbabymama.blogspot.ca/2014/12/christmas-morning-sanity-saver.html" target="_blank">Save your sanity on Christmas morning!</a> </b> After spending the month of December getting organized, shopping til you drop and wrapping presents until the wee hours of the morning, there is nothing worse than having one of your gifts require a special tool, or batteries that aren’t included, and don’t even get me started on the wrapping paper!! Save yourself on Christmas morning by preparing a bin to recycle your gift wrap and a kit with tools to open gifts, batteries to get things started and extra batteries for your camera! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Well there you have it my friends, a super long version of how I keep myself from going crazy in the 42 days between now and Christmas morning! Thanks so much for stopping by today, and Merry Christmas!!</span><br />
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<a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54490/84/D5D050CAFCE61665F29DB3D1C9B33AC7.png" style="background: transparent; border: 0 !important;" /></span></a>GingerBabyMamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01223391967494216113noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2035147212809665625.post-14793005856079397422015-11-09T08:50:00.000-08:002015-11-09T08:50:00.299-08:00Menu Plan Monday - November 9, 2015<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Happy Monday my friends!!! I’m not sure what the weather was like where you are, but in our neck of the woods, this past weekend was soaking wet and completely miserable – a perfect weekend to stay indoors, watch movies and sports and drink hot cocoa.
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://gingerbabymama.blogspot.ca/2015/02/chicken-florentine-lasagne.html" target="_blank">Link to this amazing recipe!!</a></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When I saw an entire weekend without a single commitment on it (after recovering from my shock!!), I figured that I would have a ton of time to finish organizing the girls clothes in their newly shared room, and get to work on my crafting space in Miss E’s old room. Instead, we were Lazy Bones Joneses all day Saturday! Sunday after church, the girls and I went Christmas shopping for a couple of hours and then there was a great afternoon of Lego building, so alas, the organizing plan fell to the wayside… oh well, there’s always next time!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This week, after Remembrance Day, of course, I am putting together a post about all of my favorite Christmas organizing and planning ideas. Christmas is a BIG DEAL in our house, and in order to make sure we don’t miss a single tradition, I need to plan things out early!! Come back over here for a read later this week!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><strong>On the menu this week: </strong></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Monday: </strong>Spaghetti and meat sauce with garlic breadsticks </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Tuesday: </strong> Dinner at my moms! </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Wednesday: </strong> Salmon, rice and veggies</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Thursday: </strong> Perogies and farmer sausage </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Friday: </strong>Brinner! Breakfast for dinner!!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Saturday: </strong>Homemade burgers and fries </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Sunday: </strong><a href="http://gingerbabymama.blogspot.ca/2015/02/chicken-florentine-lasagne.html" target="_blank">Chicken Florentine Lasagne</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I’ll be linking my menu plan up to <a href="http://orgjunkie.com/">OrgJunkie’s Menu Plan Monday</a> – check it out!! </span><br />
<a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54490/84/D5D050CAFCE61665F29DB3D1C9B33AC7.png" style="background: transparent; border: 0 !important;" /></span></a>GingerBabyMamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01223391967494216113noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2035147212809665625.post-42121185557963124452015-11-04T16:08:00.002-08:002015-11-04T16:19:28.136-08:00Master Closet Overhaul<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-HugS79H4AKg/VjhXZ12hiYI/AAAAAAAAvp4/5WFroyD00iI/s1600/header1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-HugS79H4AKg/VjhXZ12hiYI/AAAAAAAAvp4/5WFroyD00iI/s640/header1.jpg" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Hello my friends! I’m back today to share something with you that has literally changed my life; like actually changed my life. I have been reading a lot about capsule wardrobes, and while I doubted I could ever pull it off, with my continued reading and research I came across a book that so many minimalists and organizers were raving about – <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1607747308/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1607747308&linkCode=as2&tag=gingerbabym08-20&linkId=PLEAN6YBVIPDTQ4O" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo</a> (affiliate link).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">After reading a bunch of Pinterest’d articles about this amazing book and seeing some pretty incredible closet transformations I purchased the book on Amazon and sat with my Kindle to learn the tips and tricks. The most important thing I learned early on in my reading was the need for this project to be all encompassing. While often times I tackle the closet (or any other project) a bit at a time (today the shirts, tomorrow the pants, etc) this time around I took a different approach altogether. By the way, you'll have to excuse the photos in this post. It was nearly impossible to get any well-lit photos in the space! </span><br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-S3h_zPHp6Uk/VjhXOgIXADI/AAAAAAAAvpQ/UE0AqLoe3Tg/s1600/clear%2Bout%2Beverything.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-S3h_zPHp6Uk/VjhXOgIXADI/AAAAAAAAvpQ/UE0AqLoe3Tg/s400/clear%2Bout%2Beverything.jpg" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Although my husband was not impressed with my plan, I started early on a Saturday morning by pulling E-V-E-R-Y-T-H-I-N-G out of the closet in our master bedroom. We made a plan to specifically touch every single item in the closet to see if it met the magic criteria – Does it spark joy? If the item wasn’t something that we had worn recently, or could see wearing again, it had to go. In the same vein, if it was something that we had worn recently, but we didn’t love it, it too had to go. </span><br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/--4hv8UqdD6w/VjhXUFG8OLI/AAAAAAAAvpg/CgYzJD0Ikbg/s1600/so%2Bmany%2Bwhite%2Bshirts.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/--4hv8UqdD6w/VjhXUFG8OLI/AAAAAAAAvpg/CgYzJD0Ikbg/s400/so%2Bmany%2Bwhite%2Bshirts.jpg" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I swear, the things you learn about your husband when you work on a project of this size together? I swear, this man had over 40 plain white undershirts!! I understand, you need to have one for every day, maybe for two weeks worth if you are worried we won't get to the laundry one weekend.... but he had over a MONTH's worth of white shirts!! I convinced him to reduce this stack...a lot.... He still has a lot of plain white t's though!</span><br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Rq5_n38HKhk/VjhXfNWD7iI/AAAAAAAAvqI/wJ1ZE-vIfJ8/s1600/b%2527s%2Bside%2Bafter.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Rq5_n38HKhk/VjhXfNWD7iI/AAAAAAAAvqI/wJ1ZE-vIfJ8/s400/b%2527s%2Bside%2Bafter.jpg" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I’m going to be honest, it was tough. I thought that I had already done a good job paring down my wardrobe. I also knew that it was would be painful for my husband to actually get rid of things. His theory was that if someone bought it for him, he couldn’t let it go. Together we made this criteria for his clothing choices: would he wear it to take me out to dinner tomorrow night? If not, it had to go. This, of course, did not apply to jerseys…. Most of those “made the cut” and had to be kept. </span><br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-bu7KvZeUAv4/VjhXm4gRouI/AAAAAAAAvqg/KsBp9ZMc2H0/s1600/dresses.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-bu7KvZeUAv4/VjhXm4gRouI/AAAAAAAAvqg/KsBp9ZMc2H0/s400/dresses.jpg" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Now, we’ve all done big closet purges, so what, you ask changed my life? The KonMari clothes folding technique!! I used my collection of tank tops (which previously numbered in the 40-50 top range, and was pared down to about 20, which still seems like a lot, but I layer them with everything!!) and used this folding method to lineup and organize my tank tops. It was so amazing that I decided to go through both of the girls’ drawers of tops and used the same technique. You want to talk about sparking joy? That two hour process sparked some serious joy for this mama!! I realize now that I didn't take photos of this step... thankfully I had two little girls' dressers full of clothes to practice on, so there will be a post on that later! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">At the end of a very long day of sorting and organizing, I managed a three laundry basket high pile of clothing donations. I added five purses to the pile and was pleased as punch with my progress! My husband managed to purge his side of the closet of two huge garbage bags of clothes for donation! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Another important trick when completing a big overhaul like this? Purge the hangers!! OMG we had a TON of hangers!! I had purchased some of the lovely velvety hangers a couple of years ago, and used only those on my side of the closet. My husband used a few of the old ones, but mostly the new type. We had so many hangers that needed to find their way out of our house! If we didn't have any extra (well we had a few extra velvet ones left over) we wouldn't be tempted to fill them up with more stuff. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I can’t wait to finish reading this book!! I want to see if I can finally move our household into our ultimate goal – becoming minimalish. Thanks for stopping by today! I really appreciate it!!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">This post contains affiliate links, which means I may receive compensation if you make a purchase using this link.</span>GingerBabyMamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01223391967494216113noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2035147212809665625.post-73535708658369907062015-11-02T11:11:00.001-08:002015-11-02T11:12:54.092-08:00Menu Plan Monday - Nov 2, 2015Good morning!! I hope you all had a safe and exciting Hallowe’en! We had a split household this year – one 6 year old trick or treating witch and one stay-home-and-hand-out-candy nine year old. Miss E brought in a great haul of candy, and Miss A went on a trip to Purdy’s for her favorite candy (hedgehogs). A fair trade off, I think!
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Can you believe it’s November already? It’s definitely time to get my organization hat on and get ready for Christmas! We don’t start decorating until after Remembrance Day (obviously) but the shopping I need to get done quickly! I get majorly stressed out fighting with people at the mall in December.
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This week, once I finish planning out our November menu plan, I hope to put together a post on my favorite ways to organize Christmas – how to budget, how to make sure you don’t miss a gift, and how to keep your family Christmas traditions alive and strong. New to our family traditions this year is our Elf on the Shelf, Scarlett. The girls can’t wait until she arrives back this December 1!! <BR>
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<font size=5><strong>On the menu this week: </strong></font><BR>
<strong>Monday: </strong> Fettucine with homemade alfredo and prawns<BR>
<strong>Tuesday: </strong> Fish and chips <BR>
<strong>Wednesday: </strong> Pork tenderloin, potatoes and veg (my sister is cooking!!)<BR>
<strong>Thursday: </strong> Turkey tacos and cheese quesadillas <BR>
<strong>Friday: </strong>Spaghetti with meat sauce and garlic breadsticks<BR>
<strong>Saturday: </strong>Teriyaki chicken, rice and stir fried veggies <BR>
<strong>Sunday: </strong>Roasted chicken, potato wedges and veggies<BR>
I’ll be linking my menu plan up to <a href="http://orgjunkie.com/">OrgJunkie’s Menu Plan Monday</a> – check it out!! <br />
<a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54490/84/D5D050CAFCE61665F29DB3D1C9B33AC7.png" style="background: transparent; border: 0 !important;" /></a>GingerBabyMamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01223391967494216113noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2035147212809665625.post-89377237937183557122015-10-26T09:31:00.005-07:002015-10-26T09:31:49.814-07:00Menu Plan Monday - Oct 26, 2015<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Good morning!! After a weekend of gorgeous weather it looks like fall is finally upon us… pouring rain and not very warm… makes me want to curl up with a good book and a blanket in front of the fireplace. We had a fantastic weekend though! Travelled an hour away to get my littles to an Irish Dancing Feis (competition) and they did fantastic! Yesterday we spent the day cleaning the house and preparing for the week.
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I’m so pleased with my fam for how we managed to get through yesterday! We made a GIANT to-do/clean list and managed to get through the whole thing. Everyone pitched in and we not only got all of the chores done, but the girls and I packed and prepped for the week’s activities, baked for a party tonight, AND my husband went grocery shopping!! I know, crazy, right??
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This week we’re hoping to try out a new recipe that I can share with you on the weekend! Also in the works (since I missed it last week) is my post about my master bedroom closet. Two weeks later and it still looks fantastic and is completely functional! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><strong>On the menu this week: </strong></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZMYZgnF2f2EmU9bD8M0j9XTcg5BL2BiJSSJCveD-RBCdAtll3x9PA3ABynyehJG6UZ5a-2TqQkBfFsZJudNWyWHSVAlLOGavYPlpVscdXDCBPVu18lSc-5WmVkIBtBoFog5rMEkViMls/s1600/cajun+shrimp.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZMYZgnF2f2EmU9bD8M0j9XTcg5BL2BiJSSJCveD-RBCdAtll3x9PA3ABynyehJG6UZ5a-2TqQkBfFsZJudNWyWHSVAlLOGavYPlpVscdXDCBPVu18lSc-5WmVkIBtBoFog5rMEkViMls/s400/cajun+shrimp.jpg" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Monday: </strong><a href="http://gingerbabymama.blogspot.ca/2015/02/have-you-ever-seen-recipe-on-pinterest.html">Cajun Shrimp Fettucine Alfredo</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Tuesday: </strong> Fish tacos with a zesty lime slaw, homemade guacamole </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Wednesday: </strong> <a href="http://gingerbabymama.blogspot.ca/2012/10/breakfast-for-dinner-easy-quiche-recipe.html">Cheese and bacon quiche</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Friday: </strong><a href="http://damndelicious.net/2014/08/13/easy-beef-broccoli/">New recipe – Beef and Broccoli</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Saturday: </strong>Hallowe’en – Pizza and candy for dinner!! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Sunday: </strong><a href="http://gingerbabymama.blogspot.ca/2012/11/tex-mex-lasagna-and-seasoned-taco-meat.html">Tex Mex Lasagne</a></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I’ll be linking my menu plan up to <a href="http://orgjunkie.com/">OrgJunkie’s Menu Plan Monday</a> – check it out!! </span><br />
<a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54490/84/D5D050CAFCE61665F29DB3D1C9B33AC7.png" style="background: transparent; border: 0 !important;" /></span></a>GingerBabyMamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01223391967494216113noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2035147212809665625.post-10591922568601227902015-10-19T09:51:00.003-07:002015-10-19T09:51:59.244-07:00Menu Plan Monday - Oct 19, 2015<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I made this!! Can you believe it??? </span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Good morning!! I hope you all had a great weekend – mine was completely chaotic, filled family photos with our fave photographer, birthday parties, Operation Shoreline Cleanup and a fun filled Paint Nite out with some of my fave ladies!</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My minions and a friend cleaning up a local park as a community service #GirlGuidesinAction</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I am so so so thankful that I was pushed by my friend Alana to get back to blogging. Without the push of making this schedule for myself, I pretty much didn’t plan a meal all summer and we just ate whatever was quick and easy, which was not necessarily wholesome and nutritious. This week we are fully booked once again, and the girls have a dance competition an hour away, so part of my menu “plan” will be planning to eat dinner on the road a few times!
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I hope you will have time to check back in on the blog later this week! I’ll be posting about our master bedroom closet overhaul – it’s a big big big change!! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><strong>On the menu this week: </strong></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Monday: </strong>Spaghetti and meatballs</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Tuesday: </strong> <a href="http://gingerbabymama.blogspot.ca/2015/01/just-like-pf-changs-lettuce-wraps.html">Lettuce wraps</a>, gyoza and rice </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Wednesday: </strong> Chicken fajitas and cheese quesadillas</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Thursday: </strong> Homemade pizzas!! </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Friday: </strong>Kids are at a birthday party – Date night dinner out for mama!!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Saturday: </strong> Kids dance competition! Dinner out! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Sunday: </strong><a href="http://gingerbabymama.blogspot.ca/2012/11/tex-mex-lasagna-and-seasoned-taco-meat.html">Tex Mex Lasagne</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I’ll be linking my menu plan up to <a href="http://orgjunkie.com/">OrgJunkie’s Menu Plan Monday</a> – check it out!! </span><br />
<a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54490/84/D5D050CAFCE61665F29DB3D1C9B33AC7.png" style="background: transparent; border: 0 !important;" /></span></a>GingerBabyMamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01223391967494216113noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2035147212809665625.post-35177704576630181282015-10-15T21:18:00.000-07:002015-10-15T21:20:27.981-07:00Breakfast Sandwiches - Freezer Meal<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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If you are like me, one of your favorite meals of the day is breakfast. It’s so much my favorite that I can eat breakfast foods for lunch and dinner too! Like most other moms I know, I barely have time to run a brush through my hair and find clothes that match before dashing out the door to work each day. Most days I don’t have breakfast before I leave for work, so if I don’t remember to pack and apple and some yogurt, I’ve got a long wait until lunchtime. <br />
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In the past I’ve made a few different freezer breakfast meals that I can bring along to work and keep in the freezer to microwave on crazy days. I’ve done <a href="http://gingerbabymama.blogspot.ca/2012/07/breakfast-muffins.html">Bacon and Egg Breakfast Muffins</a> , <a href="http://gingerbabymama.blogspot.ca/2012/09/tex-mex-breakfast-burritos-freezer-meal.html">Breakfast Burritos</a>, plus the usual type of baked breakfast (banana bread muffins, etc). This time I wanted to pull together a quick and easy (to prep) breakfast sandwich that’s easy and healthy at the same time. <br />
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I picked up the essential ingredients (all four of them!) and got to work yesterday. All in, this task took me about 20 minutes, including cooking and packaging time! <br />
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<strong> <b> Breakfast Sandwiches – Freezer meal </b> </strong><br />
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<b>Ingredients</b> <br />
1 package of a dozen English muffins<br />
1 dozen eggs <br />
1 package of deli ham<br />
12 slices of cheese<br />
Salt and pepper<br />
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<b>Instructions</b><br />
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Preheat oven to 375F. Spray a muffin tin with cooking spray. Crack an egg into each muffin cup, use a fork to slightly beat the egg. Season with salt and pepper and bake in the oven for approximately 15 minutes, until the egg whites are cooked through. <br />
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While the eggs are baking away, slice the English muffins in half and put a slice of cheese and some ham on one half of the muffin. When the eggs are finished baking, put one egg on each of the muffin halves. Top with the English muffin top. <br />
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Wrap each breakfast sandwich in Saran wrap and store them in a Ziploc bag. When you are ready to eat them, unwrap from the Saran wrap and microwave for approximately 1:45-2 minutes. <br />
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Easy peasy, lemon squeezy! Hope you enjoyed this recipe! I had my first breakfast sandwich at work today and it was fantastic!! <br />
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Thanks for stopping by today, I really appreciate it! <br />
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<a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54490/84/D5D050CAFCE61665F29DB3D1C9B33AC7.png" style="background: transparent; border: 0 !important;" /></a>GingerBabyMamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01223391967494216113noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2035147212809665625.post-4080827520446979152015-10-10T23:08:00.000-07:002015-10-10T23:55:28.775-07:00Happy Thanksgiving!!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Happy Thanksgiving friends!! This weekend we have so much to be thankful for - a healthy family, beautiful children, turkey dinner with my parents, siblings and beautiful niece and nephews!! I managed to put together a Chocolate Eclair Cake for our Thanksgiving dessert, and it was delish!! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I am thankful for my husband - also known as the Laundry Fairy. He works hard for our family and will always make sure we have everything we need (before he turns on the football game). </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I am thankful for my children - these two gorgeous girls who test and challenge me every day to be a better mother, teacher and friend. Every day I learn something from them, and I hope they know that I love them to the moon and back.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Seriously?? I took 14 photos and this is the best one!!</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align: left;">I am thankful for our family - parents, siblings, nieces and nephews. I know that they are always there when we need them and can be counted on for everything - fixing a leak, emergency babysitting, sharing a cuppa and some chocolate digestives. Our moms pick up the girls from school and are always around to spend time with the girls for which I am eternally grateful.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I am thankful for turkey dinner. This is the first year my side of the family didn't have our traditional dinner for 50 (yes, 50!!). Although I miss seeing my aunts, uncles and cousins, my dad cooked us an amazing turkey and ham dinner this year. And I got the leftovers for Turkey Pot Pie. Life is good.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I am thankful for my friends. We are so lucky to be surrounded by amazing people. Friends who live next door and pop in for a cup of tea and a design consultation, friends at work who can tell when I need a hug or a cup of tea (I'm sensing a common theme here... happiness is a cuppa tea...and sometimes a glass of wine). </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As the sun sets tonight on my 36th year, and I celebrate Thanksgiving and my birthday with my favorite faces, I am thankful for all of the gifts in my life. I hope that this coming year is as amazing as all those before. Cheers!!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Thanks for stopping by for a read today, I really appreciate it!</span><br />
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GingerBabyMamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01223391967494216113noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2035147212809665625.post-60998967308309052522015-10-05T12:42:00.002-07:002015-10-05T12:42:15.399-07:00Menu Plan Monday - Oct 5, 2015<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hello everyone! I hope you are all keeping well!! I know it’s been ages since I checked in her – I missed a whole summer – but I’m hoping to be able to get back to blogging a little bit at a time. As I am sure all the mama’s out there know, back to school is a crazy time, and my girls are scheduled to the max! Between their activities and me working full time, this place seems to get forgotten. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After taking the summer off from planning and organizing and trying to enjoy the many adventures with my husband and girls, I finally managed to pull together a menu plan for the month of September. Even more exciting than a whole month of dinners all planned out?? We managed to stick to it most days!! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Today I wrote out our menu plan for the rest of October. When I printed out the blank calendar, I had a complete brain freeze. I couldn’t think of a single recipe that I wanted to make… I went through my archives on the blog and found some recipes that I can’t wait to make again! First on the list - <a href="http://gingerbabymama.blogspot.ca/2013/02/quick-and-easy-baked-salmon-parmesan.html">Baked SalmonParmesan</a> and <a href="http://gingerbabymama.blogspot.ca/2012/05/turkey-meatloaf-freezer-meal.html">Turkey Meatloaf</a>!! </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6e6pZzyxgT0mpCQzmXEEMtcPC2GKAfASz6DDgmqKU4jpjEyaeCD1j1mpO_SfyMluiXw_L9Ozq1wIn8IxXv114i9Jo_Cu6hHxD7-OX5gFF95nAjCE2vDEb-jVXOpRpr-tnO41kXYgvXLA/s1600/lasagne.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6e6pZzyxgT0mpCQzmXEEMtcPC2GKAfASz6DDgmqKU4jpjEyaeCD1j1mpO_SfyMluiXw_L9Ozq1wIn8IxXv114i9Jo_Cu6hHxD7-OX5gFF95nAjCE2vDEb-jVXOpRpr-tnO41kXYgvXLA/s400/lasagne.jpg" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It’s Thanksgiving here in Canada this weekend, so with the extra day off from work I’m going to hopefully manage to get a couple of freezer meals (<a href="http://gingerbabymama.blogspot.ca/2012/11/tex-mex-lasagna-and-seasoned-taco-meat.html">Tex Mex Lasagne</a> and<a href="http://gingerbabymama.blogspot.ca/2012/04/baked-ziti-freezer-recipe.html"> Baked Ziti</a>) prepped and put together to make the rest of the month even easier! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><strong>On the menu this week: </strong></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Monday: </strong>Pizza and Salad </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Tuesday: </strong> Scalloped potatoes, BBQ chicken breasts and beans </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Wednesday: </strong> Chicken enchiladas, cheese quesadillas</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Thursday: </strong> <a href="http://gingerbabymama.blogspot.ca/2013/02/quick-and-easy-baked-salmon-parmesan.html">Baked salmon parmesan</a>, rice and veggies </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEituuctmlhKnENsxLcQztzRE1_ANd66CyIxx0xH4l62IEnurnHUVkPxm3cJo5YTpW5JaJfFAwBol-6GlVdyD__64Sa1ZoLXF6vPPb4NIvwqr85oXe0Uv7sBFfT7YnnwVKPXax35wG_nuRA/s1600/header.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEituuctmlhKnENsxLcQztzRE1_ANd66CyIxx0xH4l62IEnurnHUVkPxm3cJo5YTpW5JaJfFAwBol-6GlVdyD__64Sa1ZoLXF6vPPb4NIvwqr85oXe0Uv7sBFfT7YnnwVKPXax35wG_nuRA/s400/header.jpg" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Friday: </strong>Thanksgiving dinner at my mom’s – I’m bringing <a href="http://gingerbabymama.blogspot.ca/2013/07/chocolate-eclair-cake.html">Chocolate Éclair Cake</a> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Saturday: </strong> <a href="http://gingerbabymama.blogspot.ca/2012/11/leftover-chicken-pot-pie-recipe-and.html">Turkey pot pie </a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Sunday: </strong>My birthday! Maybe we’ll go out for dinner?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here’s hoping I can manage to a) follow the menu plan; and b) continue on the planned blogging schedule I’m trying to keep! Wish me luck! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I’ll be linking my menu plan up to <a href="http://orgjunkie.com/">OrgJunkie’s Menu Plan Monday</a> – check it out!! </span><br />
<a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54490/84/D5D050CAFCE61665F29DB3D1C9B33AC7.png" style="background: transparent; border: 0 !important;" /></span></a>GingerBabyMamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01223391967494216113noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2035147212809665625.post-75129441673356133122015-06-02T22:43:00.000-07:002015-06-02T22:43:18.607-07:00End of the Year Teacher Presents - S'mores Gifts!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_s_8KGykSNA1t298LZzdT58nrwOJUW9wSpG-IDtm7WLDfi0F4vv0DCEUHc5_3v7ZZleyupO5iebpPPOk6MEbKJtpcuqoH-6lseJCagPQNx3m4UX3jVNkeUA_HmUssH2GsNcbEr7-TOQc/s1600/header2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="476" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_s_8KGykSNA1t298LZzdT58nrwOJUW9wSpG-IDtm7WLDfi0F4vv0DCEUHc5_3v7ZZleyupO5iebpPPOk6MEbKJtpcuqoH-6lseJCagPQNx3m4UX3jVNkeUA_HmUssH2GsNcbEr7-TOQc/s640/header2.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hello friends!! I hope you all are having a fantastic day! It’s been a while since I checked in, but as we get closer to the end of the school year, it was time to put together some awesome gifties for some pretty amazing people.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My girls are blessed to have some pretty amazing teachers and leaders. This year the girls came so far in school and in dance and that can be attributed to their awesome teachers. The girls also both started in girl guiding (Miss E in Sparks and Miss A in Brownies) and had an absolute blast. I wanted say thanks to their school and dance teachers and their guiding leaders in a special way. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaw0wgbFGJyreFWaaVNqaZpq9FH9-xjAl2hsIPO8uFn-JX0rIcTGL99IZCISvK3OFraOWwYnLOPvb8sUUrXijYyzelSDCM9z_ROkgxFYNY4Wbzhrc7XTiAdJY8_rvvYLliW8mJ97-TCRA/s1600/supplies.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="416" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaw0wgbFGJyreFWaaVNqaZpq9FH9-xjAl2hsIPO8uFn-JX0rIcTGL99IZCISvK3OFraOWwYnLOPvb8sUUrXijYyzelSDCM9z_ROkgxFYNY4Wbzhrc7XTiAdJY8_rvvYLliW8mJ97-TCRA/s640/supplies.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One of our favorite treats in the summertime are s’mores. We camp a lot, and we often make s’more-gasboards with fun ingredients to up our s’mores game! So we decided to make s’mores gift baskets for our special teachers. I hit up my local dollar store and found small cooler bags to use as my “baskets” and got to work filling them up. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We picked up marshmallow roasting sticks, marshmallows, graham crackers (the necessities), and then got a couple of types of chocolate (one with caramel, of course!!). I just printed a cute little tag for the front of the gift and tied it up with the cooler bag straps! Easy peasy! </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6JYfhAqCX2-q6iq_gzAL-dtDQctLPlxDYACw3OLclT5wsMwZQCY-5cLPhD9_JaeqfUHYQvnMjZffDPAqscY5nPYx0bpSYZhXJLvTfSFJzCBelMeIenY_bKKZfoy6e6Fs_u95hcHhKXWE/s1600/tags.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6JYfhAqCX2-q6iq_gzAL-dtDQctLPlxDYACw3OLclT5wsMwZQCY-5cLPhD9_JaeqfUHYQvnMjZffDPAqscY5nPYx0bpSYZhXJLvTfSFJzCBelMeIenY_bKKZfoy6e6Fs_u95hcHhKXWE/s640/tags.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For the tags, I made a few different types: </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">• School was s’more fun because you were my teacher! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">• Dance was s’more fun because you were my teacher! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">• Brownies was s’more fun because you were my leader! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Even though my sister says all teachers actually want is a gift certificate to Starbucks or some wine, I’d like to think that our teachers will like these gifties! </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXzdzV1i9r82tJ-exB0w2VcTXwye5y0lzYrUZVkdb7h196m1xtGHSt5lp90qXmxYC7fX6WJf0j02kQfGgbJ-slmQK6fGB-NgM6jbcPTmWhfplaISKLpFpvvrSCusDaSvdR5zcYCr1ztBs/s1600/all+done.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="556" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXzdzV1i9r82tJ-exB0w2VcTXwye5y0lzYrUZVkdb7h196m1xtGHSt5lp90qXmxYC7fX6WJf0j02kQfGgbJ-slmQK6fGB-NgM6jbcPTmWhfplaISKLpFpvvrSCusDaSvdR5zcYCr1ztBs/s640/all+done.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Thanks so much for stopping by, I hope I’ve inspired you today!! </span><br />
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<a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54490/84/D5D050CAFCE61665F29DB3D1C9B33AC7.png" style="background: transparent; border: 0 !important;" /></a>GingerBabyMamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01223391967494216113noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2035147212809665625.post-4899846240200729032015-03-30T05:00:00.000-07:002015-03-30T05:00:02.906-07:00Menu Plan Monday - March 30, 2015<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Happy Monday my friends! I hope you all had a fantastic weekend! If you live out here on the Wet (I mean West) Coast, I hope you managed to stay dry! We had a pretty low-key weekend, which almost never happens, but it gave us the opportunity to re-try a cookie recipe that failed for us a few weeks ago. Did you see it? We made <a href="http://gingerbabymama.blogspot.ca/2015/03/super-amazing-giant-oatmeal-chocolate.html" target="_blank">Super Amazing Giant Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies</a>!! </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguvpPU9i1_gm5kcZttBVB_wso7cbF-rGNYFqPzFlKNxxr2QmTGjUuuSQfV1ULE6FKOcMcFoteYE9y0JlNJz2uRqCIWb0Jd_BB9YIE3bNOn4Rr3pN7GJQ6cJXbKFmzhZA4uecOomHr6GTU/s400/Belle+at+worlds+edot.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Belle at the World Irish Dance Championships!!</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Our schedule is a little all over the map this week. We have a week off from dance, as our teachers at the Steel School of Irish Dance are accompanying some of our dancers to the World Irish Dancing Championships in Montreal!! Here is a photo of the dancer who inspires my girls to dance - her name is Belle and she is amazing!! 11 years old and dancing on a World Stage!!! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Since we'll be home Monday and Tuesday, we expand our dinner options! Normally we only have an hour between activities to prep/cook/eat dinner, so this week we'll be able to have a proper dinner. Also this week, my lovely husband and I are heading out to a fancy award dinner. My husband is up for an award at work, and I can't be more proud. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b><u>On the menu this week:</u></b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Monday</b>: New recipe! <a href="http://www.letsdishrecipes.com/2014/10/spicy-smoked-sausage-alfredo-bake.html">Spicy smoked sausage alfredo bake </a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Tuesday</b>: Smashed potatoes, turkey meatballs and veggies </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Wednesday</b>: Mom and Dad having dinner out! </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Thursday</b>: Mac n cheese </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Friday</b>: Salmon, rice and steamed asparagus </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Saturday</b>: Cheeseburgers and fries </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Sunday</b>: Easter Dinner with family </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I'll be linking up with <a href="http://orgjunkie.com/" target="_blank">OrgJunkie's Menu Plan Monday</a> - you should check it out!!</span><br />
<a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54490/84/D5D050CAFCE61665F29DB3D1C9B33AC7.png" style="background: transparent; border: 0 !important;" /></a>GingerBabyMamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01223391967494216113noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2035147212809665625.post-52310441338246317622015-03-29T21:48:00.001-07:002015-03-29T21:48:30.246-07:00Super Amazing Giant Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhadG7tR6TNi8Clk6xFWnGlBHfmcaVGSHOKM1dDNdWj7RL3OaOG1Ipu79E-_GF2EuzMJd92LJx16pypNly99yF3uKxdPBsQ2L6XrETiB3gLLmGWLo8MnPmY-2PnMDZYqQ5OiMM4npoaLr8/s1600/header.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhadG7tR6TNi8Clk6xFWnGlBHfmcaVGSHOKM1dDNdWj7RL3OaOG1Ipu79E-_GF2EuzMJd92LJx16pypNly99yF3uKxdPBsQ2L6XrETiB3gLLmGWLo8MnPmY-2PnMDZYqQ5OiMM4npoaLr8/s400/header.jpg" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Rainy Sundays in our house mean one thing - time to bake!! After another busy week, and some sleepless nights with a certain 8 year old, it was nice to come home from church today and have absolutely nothing to do. The hubs headed off to work and the girls and I decided to retry a recipe that completely failed a few weeks ago! </span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHC9qI8K2Fs4BC6svMJ1BCO9GQrxO6rKVsAC8wfw56oMQi87cEjzn4eNd7wOaxB7rqreY97twH2vxbwe7_5d_DwWzzcrUCvjUrHIrA30D1DlBk2mnUbyi6gObKVLGOjtOvmpwwiEPx6iI/s400/fail.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My first attempt at these cookies - FAIL!!</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHC9qI8K2Fs4BC6svMJ1BCO9GQrxO6rKVsAC8wfw56oMQi87cEjzn4eNd7wOaxB7rqreY97twH2vxbwe7_5d_DwWzzcrUCvjUrHIrA30D1DlBk2mnUbyi6gObKVLGOjtOvmpwwiEPx6iI/s1600/fail.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I found this recipe in HGTV Magazine and made a few tweaks to accommodate a few ingredients I didn't have on hand. After following the actual baking directions this time, these cookies turned out soft, chewy and gigantic!! The first time I made these cookies, I just used my regular cookie scoop and placed them "normally" on the cookie sheet for baking. Had I read the full baking instructions, I would have noticed that this recipe makes "big, bakery-size, gooey cookies." </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_h5E8baubdHLY5-OmmFjjXTYNmeKVVfbMyH6QQRHmgNKzcQp_oDlvcP-q015SlHWu5Ef8OxYPVEK3lQNuy7hTsz1DmeJOUwYRFcrDQ-6JRS_UkVonhxrvANcf6TVe4wdVl8pQcLrlN3M/s1600/baked2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_h5E8baubdHLY5-OmmFjjXTYNmeKVVfbMyH6QQRHmgNKzcQp_oDlvcP-q015SlHWu5Ef8OxYPVEK3lQNuy7hTsz1DmeJOUwYRFcrDQ-6JRS_UkVonhxrvANcf6TVe4wdVl8pQcLrlN3M/s400/baked2.jpg" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: large;"><u>Super Amazing Giant Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies</u></span><br /></b>
Recipe <a href="http://www.hgtv.com/design/make-and-celebrate/entertaining/david-bromstads-chocolate-chip-sea-salt-cookies">adapted from HGTV Magazine</a>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPzt27PFsPgTVFTPq5EBv7ZosoibHqgy1Qbt4MmMla1R_rRg56KEV0cdyaC10Zber9-SYuzjnOh9TlHSii77hyyVTFAKZqyTb0EQGC1iiYIHqtZFU9-xIm_6er44akugDOZbvp3dippo0/s1600/Ingredients.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPzt27PFsPgTVFTPq5EBv7ZosoibHqgy1Qbt4MmMla1R_rRg56KEV0cdyaC10Zber9-SYuzjnOh9TlHSii77hyyVTFAKZqyTb0EQGC1iiYIHqtZFU9-xIm_6er44akugDOZbvp3dippo0/s400/Ingredients.jpg" /></span></a></div>
<b><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Ingredients</span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1 3/4 cup flour</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1 tsp baking soda</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1/2 tsp salt</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2 sticks butter, softened</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1 cup brown sugar</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">3/4 cup white sugar</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2 eggs</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2 tsp vanilla extract</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1 1/4 cups chocolate chips</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1 1/4 cups rolled oats</span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Instructions</span></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Preheat oven to 375F and line two large baking sheets with parchment paper. Beat the butter and sugar together for two minutes, until light and fluffy. Add the eggs and vanilla and beat until just incorporated. Scrape the edge of the bowl and mix again to make sure it all comes together.
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5ukE5bXTSRx3tuJQCcN83jXOyh73t4XZQG5_6DLzZnhJ4axHWcV7GyAi30oS3IlVL4GsMiKGL-iz3-XKxuqtoH4RPGryq99X7eq1zBBzk1bC-PejYHFQ8gOoagkvYzeKA2WMWprtiA38/s1600/all+mixed+up.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5ukE5bXTSRx3tuJQCcN83jXOyh73t4XZQG5_6DLzZnhJ4axHWcV7GyAi30oS3IlVL4GsMiKGL-iz3-XKxuqtoH4RPGryq99X7eq1zBBzk1bC-PejYHFQ8gOoagkvYzeKA2WMWprtiA38/s400/all+mixed+up.jpg" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Add the flour, baking soda and salt and mix until combined. Next, stir in the chocolate chips and rolled oats.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5AEAJyd0duH3RS71ePCz5Tnu2qy2N1lBYlssHgvYrhn0zkTtfd9YBYyNXdV_mW_JGij_0GbOpMkYcBa004XaTOBI1egDzw5L9TcfmiLOazt2EldaUxHQozc4B33z8Ideal404yB_YTds/s1600/spaced+out.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5AEAJyd0duH3RS71ePCz5Tnu2qy2N1lBYlssHgvYrhn0zkTtfd9YBYyNXdV_mW_JGij_0GbOpMkYcBa004XaTOBI1egDzw5L9TcfmiLOazt2EldaUxHQozc4B33z8Ideal404yB_YTds/s400/spaced+out.jpg" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Form the dough into balls of about 4 tbsp each (for me, this meant a heaping scoop of my large cookie scoop). Arrange the dough onto the parchment lined baking sheets approximately 2 inches apart. *** This is the most important step!! These cookies spread out a LOT, so make sure to space them well. I used a large cookie sheet and only had 14 cookies on each sheet. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3UH_CCQKXDyocv_rIa9yLmuuRur8NA09dUgryIah2_X_DVoUtuLMkQ-auJRFDkKb6iJJ_oci5RSzg24ObEC2-ej0ZFUb30gRqGJvdjeDc6D8Q7HZ_AJGVqel1f79ZSXZTpZ7elw_xzFs/s1600/baked.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3UH_CCQKXDyocv_rIa9yLmuuRur8NA09dUgryIah2_X_DVoUtuLMkQ-auJRFDkKb6iJJ_oci5RSzg24ObEC2-ej0ZFUb30gRqGJvdjeDc6D8Q7HZ_AJGVqel1f79ZSXZTpZ7elw_xzFs/s400/baked.jpg" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Bake until the cookies are lightly browned on the edges, approximately 15 minutes. Let cool for for two minutes then remove to baking rack to cool completely. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh69OKmt5gVUTcHb_YzK9LfZz33swcJI7P9mgID_mdHGgwSeD4Kjgvmwkp0J27IVWoleiSS4V0_WoxZWsDCyMxoBy9mng002mieEIyn5tEieXMxxXGPNFuA5lYm_6TVecjYAQHK1YkA-5k/s1600/baked2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh69OKmt5gVUTcHb_YzK9LfZz33swcJI7P9mgID_mdHGgwSeD4Kjgvmwkp0J27IVWoleiSS4V0_WoxZWsDCyMxoBy9mng002mieEIyn5tEieXMxxXGPNFuA5lYm_6TVecjYAQHK1YkA-5k/s400/baked2.jpg" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I hope you all love these cookies as much as the girls and I do!! Thanks for stopping by, I hope I have inspired you today!</span><br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54490/84/D5D050CAFCE61665F29DB3D1C9B33AC7.png" style="background: transparent; border: 0 !important;" /></a>GingerBabyMamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01223391967494216113noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2035147212809665625.post-30224631275319850792015-03-23T09:46:00.004-07:002015-03-23T09:46:55.108-07:00Menu Plan Monday - March 23, 2015Happy Monday! Well it looks like we are back to real life today. I’m back to work, the kids are back to school, all of our activities are back on the calendar. Although I’m happy that we are back to a semblance of normalcy, it was nice to have a little bit of downtime last week in the evenings. <BR> <BR>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM-Q-TMlJ9xEit2N2KCD6guO8Zy0PFLF8b2eV8LoLxI_b64Xplkb0yG7SmM-7aCgg0ZE_jNYkZQcoN_6YWKgOyByjizgpogmxB_FI3aeQPO29EyQC6sDwWQIHqNdXi2OH03xDfBqCbcA8/s1600/IMG_8986.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM-Q-TMlJ9xEit2N2KCD6guO8Zy0PFLF8b2eV8LoLxI_b64Xplkb0yG7SmM-7aCgg0ZE_jNYkZQcoN_6YWKgOyByjizgpogmxB_FI3aeQPO29EyQC6sDwWQIHqNdXi2OH03xDfBqCbcA8/s400/IMG_8986.JPG" /></a></div>
Our spring break was filled with accordion music, wigs, buns and dance shoes. The girls danced in twelve shows over the span of three days and had an absolute blast. Although it was a lot of work for the girls, they had a great time, and their dancing was an amazing treat for the seniors for whom they danced. <BR> <BR>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKcsEbBW_KaSLOqM9r4EIDRb-sPUs4YdzQ2h0Ne9XeqXG2RPMniAz_DCx-wc6ABQ8UDG1cHe__zqePdK3z7ToMVniZUsky5mI2HPCWVddt5MkIUo-2jHbVv2c65pND6HpOxufevaZQsH8/s1600/chocolate.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKcsEbBW_KaSLOqM9r4EIDRb-sPUs4YdzQ2h0Ne9XeqXG2RPMniAz_DCx-wc6ABQ8UDG1cHe__zqePdK3z7ToMVniZUsky5mI2HPCWVddt5MkIUo-2jHbVv2c65pND6HpOxufevaZQsH8/s400/chocolate.jpg" /></a></div>
Last week I made <a href="http://gingerbabymama.blogspot.ca/2015/03/twix-shortbread-cookies.html">Twix Shortbread Cookies</a>! They were super delicious and I think you should definitely make a batch!!<br><br>
<font size=5><strong>On the menu this week: </strong></font><BR>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuSzYGw1YHt_chr2NCo3j4OQ3w4qLPbB2Ui79ptnlA50IlyWjSKfPb467_2ETLvbBPbIc6O2HkA3GX6Ss7k8U5vFk20TESB46tOrbt8WUMI3ZwdIIyUP4smMIJ_afRMGdL1lNyvcybUA4/s1600/seasoned+shrimp.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuSzYGw1YHt_chr2NCo3j4OQ3w4qLPbB2Ui79ptnlA50IlyWjSKfPb467_2ETLvbBPbIc6O2HkA3GX6Ss7k8U5vFk20TESB46tOrbt8WUMI3ZwdIIyUP4smMIJ_afRMGdL1lNyvcybUA4/s400/seasoned+shrimp.jpg" /></a></div>
<strong>Monday: </strong><a href="http://gingerbabymama.blogspot.ca/2015/02/have-you-ever-seen-recipe-on-pinterest.html">Tortellini alfredo with prawns</a> <BR>
<strong>Tuesday: </strong> Chicken fajitas <BR>
<strong>Wednesday: </strong> Kid’s cooking night! Fish and chips & salad <BR>
<strong>Thursday: </strong> Perogies, <a href="http://gingerbabymama.blogspot.ca/2012/05/turkey-meatloaf-freezer-meal.html">turkey meatloaf </a>and balsamic glazed carrots <BR>
<strong>Friday: </strong> Date night! The kids are sleeping over with their Auntie! <BR>
<strong>Saturday: </strong> Miss A & Mommy night out, Miss E is going to the Whitecaps game with Daddy <BR>
<strong>Sunday: </strong> Kung pao chicken and rice <BR>
I’ll be linking my menu plan up to <a href="http://orgjunkie.com/">OrgJunkie’s Menu Plan Monday</a> – check it out!! <BR> <br>
<a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54490/84/D5D050CAFCE61665F29DB3D1C9B33AC7.png" style="background: transparent; border: 0 !important;" /></a>GingerBabyMamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01223391967494216113noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2035147212809665625.post-89031869554045723052015-03-22T21:24:00.000-07:002015-03-22T21:24:21.095-07:00Twix Shortbread Cookies<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What an amazing week!! Our littles were on spring break for the past two weeks, and while I would like to say that we had a
restful relaxing couple of weeks, the total chaos that we did have was a ton of fun! </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The girls Irish danced in twelve shows over the course of last week and although we had a wig catasrophe, both girls had a ball
dancing their Irish hearts out for people. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTlgsu5v7DqoL9sc7WIxYiAOTVK1clQgdrBcu_70BlsYwkfGs_T7d-cu223SpyTu9L0pTufIqfJe3RuOmCI2NrnJfihvexXb5cX_V0EOP5NbmfiuyXZJ2skpzcqQ70LNZ3dn_GMtNHd0I/s1600/header.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTlgsu5v7DqoL9sc7WIxYiAOTVK1clQgdrBcu_70BlsYwkfGs_T7d-cu223SpyTu9L0pTufIqfJe3RuOmCI2NrnJfihvexXb5cX_V0EOP5NbmfiuyXZJ2skpzcqQ70LNZ3dn_GMtNHd0I/s400/header.jpg" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This week at work we had our annual Bake Off. Each of the participating bakers had to bring in their favorite recipe, with servings
for 100 people, plus 3 judges. I decided to make <a href="http://therecipecritic.com/2014/12/twix-thumbprint-cookies/" target="_blank">these yummy cookies</a> I found on Pinterest. I cut them in half so that the
public would each get a serving, and then brought full sized cookies for the judges. I ended up making the recipe 3 times to have
enough for all the servings I needed, plus a tray for our house!! </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Although I didn't win (that honour went to a ridiculously amazing cheesecake) I got a ton of positive feedback on the cookies I brought!</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiAotIp_qBMdBNlQSfNB45Auop4VdEu5cl2lt65AkRFcYqmCGIAYC9wEvD8D93H9GLuSCz9NxamjmFGCaK3bQcNAIOjjusL9bBc2i0GAnt_b4IHa10sfztCx5Y3l0RiBqOoZl18F1qVqk/s1600/all+done.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiAotIp_qBMdBNlQSfNB45Auop4VdEu5cl2lt65AkRFcYqmCGIAYC9wEvD8D93H9GLuSCz9NxamjmFGCaK3bQcNAIOjjusL9bBc2i0GAnt_b4IHa10sfztCx5Y3l0RiBqOoZl18F1qVqk/s400/all+done.jpg" /></span></a></div>
<b><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Twix Shortbread Cookies</span></b><br />
<a href="http://therecipecritic.com/2014/12/twix-thumbprint-cookies/"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Recipe adapted from here </span></a><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjA1Ot3u-Z8qJk-peeufvDCUBolkBgOHiENWKT2prI8xLr1Z-ubVBC0ApmiR06J9muCgiNUD4bJOkE_9U-JhkCiAlWaWt412_nkJQWtDmhTltqKm_LkKH67sLOFIvN0z-PUb7T6leuM7lE/s1600/Ingredients.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjA1Ot3u-Z8qJk-peeufvDCUBolkBgOHiENWKT2prI8xLr1Z-ubVBC0ApmiR06J9muCgiNUD4bJOkE_9U-JhkCiAlWaWt412_nkJQWtDmhTltqKm_LkKH67sLOFIvN0z-PUb7T6leuM7lE/s400/Ingredients.jpg" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Ingredients<br />
</b>
2/3 cup butter, softened</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1/2 cup sugar</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2 egg yolks</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1 tsp vanilla extract</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1 1/2 cups flour</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Toppings:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">3/4 cup caramel sauce</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">6 ounces chocolate wafers, melted</span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Instructions</span></b><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiT6WJyNIz8AcQaOx1npejY0XSt8q8ZTR8XfOFuWM7FOEGlDCVDPGyWBjjy02FRZFVda3K_5pxUzUj-M_rPNs1p1hsY-Wl2eeMzLwr9yEVEcnN9oCSzUSLU_i9MI2JeDUjZGHJSwX5ZGu8/s1600/chill+the+dough.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiT6WJyNIz8AcQaOx1npejY0XSt8q8ZTR8XfOFuWM7FOEGlDCVDPGyWBjjy02FRZFVda3K_5pxUzUj-M_rPNs1p1hsY-Wl2eeMzLwr9yEVEcnN9oCSzUSLU_i9MI2JeDUjZGHJSwX5ZGu8/s400/chill+the+dough.jpg" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">To make the cookie layer, preheat the oven to 375F. In the bowl of your mixer, combine 2/3 cup butter, sugar, egg yolks and vanilla.
Combine ingredients until the butter is creamy, scraping the edges of the bowl. Add the flour and mix at low speed until well combined.
Cover and refrigerate dough for an hour, until firm.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnnTfg0jKLAL4RxlXU8jbjXP0LrzqWWFyRsfiiqL2t1xcagVHzKvGadsFYssGGlRQ5Zy-EQYFLZxf_exMi6nkL_x3GptiEN11xaN1lEPy16Io9Id3WtuBDaswRqOsNMQ4EFa459PEXg_Q/s1600/special+helper.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnnTfg0jKLAL4RxlXU8jbjXP0LrzqWWFyRsfiiqL2t1xcagVHzKvGadsFYssGGlRQ5Zy-EQYFLZxf_exMi6nkL_x3GptiEN11xaN1lEPy16Io9Id3WtuBDaswRqOsNMQ4EFa459PEXg_Q/s400/special+helper.jpg" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Shape the dough into 1" balls. Place dough 2" apart on cookie sheets. Make an indentation in the cookie balls with the back of a wooden
spoon. Bake 8-10 minutes until the edges are start to golden.
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Remove from the oven and place cookie sheets on a wire rack to cool completely.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWmhyphenhyphenJvn1lVtklN0ov3F2WymIsurC2WZ6vnRgATUKv6EvbNs3lJWehiSinn0MhLXBNeOvinRe4OBtc_bQ6jN_I19G22wx1feikxQ8zmBKMrMpp5g4yBluN8bjWIzXNx6CtZpDENJ6MIOc/s1600/caramel.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWmhyphenhyphenJvn1lVtklN0ov3F2WymIsurC2WZ6vnRgATUKv6EvbNs3lJWehiSinn0MhLXBNeOvinRe4OBtc_bQ6jN_I19G22wx1feikxQ8zmBKMrMpp5g4yBluN8bjWIzXNx6CtZpDENJ6MIOc/s400/caramel.jpg" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After the cookies have had a chance to cool completely. Put the caramel sauce into a piping bag and lightly pipe caramel into
the indentations. While the caramel is settling into the indentations, melt the chocolate wafers using a double boiler. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkdvYhcyJwv3PTsGOLCReFVIOFsjG1T5n6VqzXXh5WlfJtzZ4n0prtivllrWtw08BKzE8zrypcZDuRrVO7cZv9rmYNIte3f4LlSJI_HzcFUKiK1LDdQ7q1Mqxv4kQ_ABjONJz4EB_Re4w/s1600/chocolate.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkdvYhcyJwv3PTsGOLCReFVIOFsjG1T5n6VqzXXh5WlfJtzZ4n0prtivllrWtw08BKzE8zrypcZDuRrVO7cZv9rmYNIte3f4LlSJI_HzcFUKiK1LDdQ7q1Mqxv4kQ_ABjONJz4EB_Re4w/s400/chocolate.jpg" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Using a fork, drizzle the melted chocolate over the cookies. Refrigerate for ten minutes, to allow the chocolate to harden over the cookies.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkN_Ufb4yvc_EXC1aH3NP8vFInpnwKI9nU_P9B-JLy6ZSxOWPpbUwv60bQxA_LT_NBLNfckix22Q2tcwUVwfN3-wzdb__gYmM5v_2vHXfnlzrsmCV7RX3L3WhqVs1vhFjZmSeZYx2L9zA/s1600/footers.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkN_Ufb4yvc_EXC1aH3NP8vFInpnwKI9nU_P9B-JLy6ZSxOWPpbUwv60bQxA_LT_NBLNfckix22Q2tcwUVwfN3-wzdb__gYmM5v_2vHXfnlzrsmCV7RX3L3WhqVs1vhFjZmSeZYx2L9zA/s400/footers.jpg" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I hope you enjoy this recipe! I know that the cookies I tried to keep at our house were gone in about ten minutes!! </span><br />
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<a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54490/84/D5D050CAFCE61665F29DB3D1C9B33AC7.png" style="background: transparent; border: 0 !important;" /></a>GingerBabyMamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01223391967494216113noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2035147212809665625.post-62471651461868566582015-03-11T14:57:00.004-07:002015-03-11T14:57:40.150-07:00400 Item Purge Complete!!<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Well, we did it!! Our family set out to<a href="http://gingerbabymama.blogspot.ca/2015/03/spring-cleaning-challenge-400-item-purge.html" target="_blank"> purge 400 items from our home </a>last weekend and we accomplished that feat!!
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvUrVSB2GaNh6tDKanTMzYFwzzcQOOr5eIBU9k83gtLxvBEHX33zOs7qcstfKqJVLdLo46suJ7g2b7aK65Z-9rulX0608tA-ypxqlUmkbFCsXAMNzWZchaej-VjoudFWOLIS_y7hD4CA0/s1600/header.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvUrVSB2GaNh6tDKanTMzYFwzzcQOOr5eIBU9k83gtLxvBEHX33zOs7qcstfKqJVLdLo46suJ7g2b7aK65Z-9rulX0608tA-ypxqlUmkbFCsXAMNzWZchaej-VjoudFWOLIS_y7hD4CA0/s400/header.jpg" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">First, we made a plan! In order to make this an easy job for my kids (and husband, who is really like a third kid) we planned to purge areas where we could get the most bang for our buck. In our house, that meant clothes and books!
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I knew that both girls had an overabundance of shirts and sweaters in their drawers, to the point where Miss A could barely close her drawer! My mom is a serial shopper and if she gets a great deal, my lucky girls get new outfits… sometimes three or four at a time!
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Miss A got right into the project – we emptied her three (yes, three!) drawers containing shirts and sweaters and let her pick choose which to keep and which to purge. I can proudly say that she managed to let go of 45 tops!! And she still has a ton of clothes left!
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9uhOtyi7tFICGjtkRNQy07XMBLOLqUDc5lOdQ_EVBLYCBPEct2XCAhwYg2lfgnP7mqHuRkU3b56euemrMDKi8a7tNwi9yPAM_OtXHjuqLTBGbknaAfUkqy05snd0cEMrwsyglyRt__hQ/s1600/Eila's%2Bshirts.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9uhOtyi7tFICGjtkRNQy07XMBLOLqUDc5lOdQ_EVBLYCBPEct2XCAhwYg2lfgnP7mqHuRkU3b56euemrMDKi8a7tNwi9yPAM_OtXHjuqLTBGbknaAfUkqy05snd0cEMrwsyglyRt__hQ/s400/Eila's%2Bshirts.jpg" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Miss E was too busy playing outside with her little friends to help out at the beginning, so I meandered through her tops and found about 25 that she could let go.
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjV6FWjXf-8SvEWJcJLkqjlcXJlGrmgkWJ2BW69e4zKXESPwCzQY_Xfx7HsmRjte12JuMTlT-Oe2oAPrqraYxqITLHo_7aFknLlyJbtxEDZmKnvc3xdrxPf3d5nNj6LExiKwnHyziufqjE/s1600/Aidyn+stuffies.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjV6FWjXf-8SvEWJcJLkqjlcXJlGrmgkWJ2BW69e4zKXESPwCzQY_Xfx7HsmRjte12JuMTlT-Oe2oAPrqraYxqITLHo_7aFknLlyJbtxEDZmKnvc3xdrxPf3d5nNj6LExiKwnHyziufqjE/s400/Aidyn+stuffies.jpg" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Since Miss A was on such a tear, she went next to her (massive) stuffy collection that was living in the corner of her closet. After sorting through her beloved Beanie Boo’s and Webkinz and other items she couldn’t bear to part with, she managed to find over 30 stuffies to send on to loving homes. Miss E also pulled out 20 stuffies to add to the pile! Unfortunately for the neighbors she brought the pile downstairs and let the kids next door have first dibs!!
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZVj6XF_DdnWp6iuanN5etz77whjHd8D1V00m4sIP1zuhlNkMX6YZyS_bzce5ggO7wBl4-9eDyEekcJtaKZTi9jaS0URGHKEu7DZExUZ6mLSi6ODoBHxVQ04lR0ntsWv6kuKSHGrFgzSE/s1600/coloring+books.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZVj6XF_DdnWp6iuanN5etz77whjHd8D1V00m4sIP1zuhlNkMX6YZyS_bzce5ggO7wBl4-9eDyEekcJtaKZTi9jaS0URGHKEu7DZExUZ6mLSi6ODoBHxVQ04lR0ntsWv6kuKSHGrFgzSE/s400/coloring+books.jpg" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The girls also agreed to part with over 30 coloring books, and 60 books! We passed our favorite books down to my niece and nephews and donated the rest of the books.
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Not to be outdone, the hubs finally managed to part with about 15 shirts (hardly 100 items from him, but it’s better than nothing!!). He also promised to filter through the kids dvd collection and pull out anything that they have grown out of… maybe… next weekend…
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">At this point, even though we had made great progress, our purge total was only at 225 items! My turn!! A quick purge of my drawers and closet found 74 items that found their way to better homes, 12 holiday themed towels that I didn’t even bring out this past Christmas, a box of wine glasses, almost all of my cookie cutters, some pillows, six coats and some more toys – 402!!
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWi-aEb6ieDe6PeJBANJGQaBvQ-3g-yk86FjiuuByADtdpWenfgxxPC3gT1d7sEz-O-2fF6G1PLhmta2ezy1mfBLiXmMQXXz5Dv-bj1XhyJu2CAF74DyAbdCf3V3HtANsUsTy6q8xre_Y/s1600/Bags+and+bags-001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWi-aEb6ieDe6PeJBANJGQaBvQ-3g-yk86FjiuuByADtdpWenfgxxPC3gT1d7sEz-O-2fF6G1PLhmta2ezy1mfBLiXmMQXXz5Dv-bj1XhyJu2CAF74DyAbdCf3V3HtANsUsTy6q8xre_Y/s400/Bags+and+bags-001.JPG" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">You would think after a purge this size I’d be super excited with our progress and have a ton of new space? Nope. Now I have stacks and bags of stuff to be donated, I have a pile of empty containers from clearing out closets and bins and I have a million ideas of ways to<a href="http://gingerbabymama.blogspot.ca/2012/07/becoming-minimal-ish.html" target="_blank"> get back to my minimalish path</a>!
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We are off for a few days next week. Hopefully I’ll be able to put the plan into action!! Thanks for stopping by; I hope I have managed to inspire you today!
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<a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54490/84/D5D050CAFCE61665F29DB3D1C9B33AC7.png" style="background: transparent; border: 0 !important;" /></a>GingerBabyMamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01223391967494216113noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2035147212809665625.post-20862761700569934032015-03-09T08:04:00.001-07:002015-03-09T08:04:28.946-07:00Menu Plan Monday - March 9, 2015<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWlk7JUDKtBhDLzTlOLSTX8c9Eq1BFpj3SiV7PWdC_mKGhjGqsVy5i9Ku6IM3K5DQ8e5JALreyqoDlAEmw-VFJhnk90vU8u43OB4z0wcK4ElreZBhEvG-oH7aKqSWtHPqNT3bCUJcxYkk/s1600/Springtime1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWlk7JUDKtBhDLzTlOLSTX8c9Eq1BFpj3SiV7PWdC_mKGhjGqsVy5i9Ku6IM3K5DQ8e5JALreyqoDlAEmw-VFJhnk90vU8u43OB4z0wcK4ElreZBhEvG-oH7aKqSWtHPqNT3bCUJcxYkk/s400/Springtime1.JPG" /></a></div>
Hello all! I hope you had a fantastic week! We had the most beautiful weather this weekend. The kids played outside from morning until night all weekend long. It was so lovely to be unscheduled and unrushed and just chilled out.<BR> <BR>
Our weekend purge project went really well! Miss A got right into it, Miss E and the hubs took a little more convincing, but we were successful! More on this project, and how we made it happen later on this week. <BR> <BR>
The girls are on spring break from school this week, so we have fewer activities on the calendar for the next two weeks (yay!!). I’m hoping that the girls will be able to help with dinner since they will be home. They love helping out, and I love it too – when they help out with a recipe, they are much more likely to actually eat the meal! <br><br>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgA15aCTeGdVDNQjJaew0gsxTB3qzW90krL_rjq264pUADG6N72pIwUQTbL6WyGGzjwTnsUIIdM6qEg0eGGhle3wKEff8R28MsOOb_jDQWs9trfUYvrlDeDLMc61PGKfvoSiQkTbQMze0s/s1600/menu-plan-monday.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgA15aCTeGdVDNQjJaew0gsxTB3qzW90krL_rjq264pUADG6N72pIwUQTbL6WyGGzjwTnsUIIdM6qEg0eGGhle3wKEff8R28MsOOb_jDQWs9trfUYvrlDeDLMc61PGKfvoSiQkTbQMze0s/s400/menu-plan-monday.png" /></a></div>
<font size=5><strong>On the menu this week: </strong></font><BR>
<strong>Monday: </strong>Spaghetti with turkey meatballs <BR>
<strong>Tuesday: </strong> Chicken fajitas <BR>
<strong>Wednesday: </strong> Pizza and salad <BR>
<strong>Thursday: </strong> Perogies, fish and steamed veggies <BR>
<strong>Friday: </strong> Brinner! Breakfast for dinner – eggs, bacon, hashbrowns and pancakes <BR>
<strong>Saturday: </strong> Birthday party! Dinner out <BR>
<strong>Sunday: </strong> Kung pao chicken and rice <BR>
I’ll be linking my menu plan up to <a href="http://orgjunkie.com/">OrgJunkie’s Menu Plan Monday</a> – check it out!! <BR> <br>
<a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54490/84/D5D050CAFCE61665F29DB3D1C9B33AC7.png" style="border: 0 !important; background: transparent;"/></a>GingerBabyMamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01223391967494216113noreply@blogger.com1