This annual spring event in a downtown Toronto park is open to everyone. Learn to make matzo bread and bake it in an outdoor oven….12 Zoom(s)

New post. Mommy Moment is owned by Jody Arsenault, from Manitoba, Canada.

We love making sandwiches to use up the left over roasted chicken from Sunday dinner. Sandwiches do not have to be boring, in fact, they can be fun to make, delicious, and even healthy! This week we made a new sandwich using Dempsters 100% Whole Wheat Bread. It is super easy to make, and the [...]

The post Creamy Avocado & Roasted Chicken Sandwich Recipe ~ @Dempsters #Giveaway appeared first on Mommy Moment.

I blame Laurie for this.

A week ago, she wrote about incorporating more fruits and vegetables in her diet by making smoothies. Kale smoothies, in particular. My naturopath has been trying to get me into smoothies for while (a long while), but no luck so far. Then I read Laurie’s post and got all excited about her mentioning the NutriBullet. Because the Bullet has intrigued me for some time (and I know some of you out there are now snickering for reasons completely unrelated to the topic of this post). I’m talking about the MagicBullet. The smoothie making blender thing. Anyway! I’ve been tempted to buy it for a while, but wasn’t sure how well it would work and never quite got around to it.

That happens a lot around here.

Enter the NutriBullet. It looked sturdier than the MagicBullet and is specifically designed to have a stronger motor that can get at the fibers in things like kale. Which is good for you. It has calcium, something that I’m more conscious of needing as I grow older. So I decided that I would get one. Eventually. Which, as I may have mentioned, can take a while in my world. 

Normally, I don’t get flyers — I put a sticker in my mailbox saying no thanks because they drive me crazy. Apparently my usual postal carrier is on vacation and his replacement unfamiliar with words, because I’ve been getting flyers for the past week or so. One of which was for Bed, Bath and Beyond, which listed the NutriBullet for $99. $20 less than buying it off the website and no shipping and handling if I got The Boy to pick it up. It moved higher up on the “likely to happen soon-ish” list.

And then The Boy’s sister called me Friday evening, saying she was going to Canadian Tire and did I want anything? I looked up the NutriBullet on their website and lo and behold, it was on sale for $79.99.

Clearly, it was fate.

 

This weekend, we played with my new toy. Sure, some people might think it’s a small appliance, but it’s so much fun to use that I qualify it as a toy. The manufacturer has had enough of a sense of humor to write this on the side of the box, so I think they’re probably in on the joke.

 

We made a couple of different smoothies, both starting with baby kale

We added half an apple to the first one, but that made me sneeze (I’m somewhat allergic to apples and haven’t eaten one for a long time, so it was too much of a shock to my system). Smoothie #2′s replacement was half an orange

 

I found some Ontario strawberries in the freezer

 

added some blackberries (Lucy was very intrigued at the production)

 

Then we added water to the MAX line and screwed on the appropriate blade

 

Popped it on the base, twisted, and off it went

After a total of three minutes to get the ingredients ready to go into the cup, less than 30 seconds of doing terrible things to fruits and vegetables, we had a smoothie

  

It looks awful, but tastes really good! Sort of like sushi. Well, it doesn’t taste like sushi, but feels like it. really clean and like you’re doing something good for your body. 

Definitely a good buy that’s going to help me get healthier. And it’s fun, too.

  

New post. Mommy Moment is owned by Jody Arsenault, from Manitoba, Canada.You may call it wishful thinking but I am really looking forward to spring and then summer and cottage and camping season. For almost all of my life, we have holidayed on Lake Win…

New post. Mommy Moment is owned by Jody Arsenault, from Manitoba, Canada.

Spring Flower Cupcakes Today is the first day of spring, and though it does not look like it here in Manitoba, it is only a matter of time before it does.  These cupcakes were made to welcome spring and for warmer (hopefully) days ahead. Baking & Paper Crafting I have a lot of fun decorating [...]

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Last week, the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA) released its annual Alternative Federal Budget (AFB), which contains a number of recommendations around food and nutrition programs. The government’s federal budget will be released late this week, and we’ll have full coverage including reaction from the CCPA and other civil society organizations. 

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Confession time: it’s been three months since I made a commitment to serving whole foods to my family; however making everything from scratch is hugely time consuming and sometimes I just don’t have the energy for it. When the lazy bones strike, I try my best to choose the healthiest food I can. Thankfully, President’s [...]

The post Top Healthier Picks from President’s Choice appeared first on A Lot of Loves.

Spinach is very high in iron and B vitamins. It is a great source of fiber and can be prepared in various ways, such as raw in salads…9 Zoom(s)

This year is all about health for me. In fact, ‘health’ is my word of the year which means that my focus is on eating better, exercising more, and eliminating chemicals and processed food from our diet. Even if it’s not your main focus, living a healthy life is always a worthwhile goal and Healthy Families [...]

The post Healthy Families BC: Online Shopping Sense Tool {Giveaway} appeared first on A Lot of Loves.

The owners of a Kensington Market storefront are keeping the old tenant, sort of.

Until recently, 225 Augusta Avenue, in Kensington Market, had a banner outside its storefront that said, simply: “What Would You Like to See in This Space?” Also on the sign was an email address where passers-by could send their responses. The banner was an unconventional attempt by landlords Dwayne Evens and James Moyer to decide [...]

If it’s possible to be in love with a soup, then this Pumpkin Coconut Soup is the soup that I choose to be with. I made this pumpkin soup last week after cleaning out my pantry last week and finding a can of pumpkin puree that I thought should be used at some point. My husband is [...]

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New post. Mommy Moment is owned by Jody Arsenault, from Manitoba, Canada.

When my husband and I first moved to Texas (many moons ago), we were lucky to find a small Mexican restaurant that served the most amazing food.  Anytime we would go, I would order the chicken tostada and my husband would have carne asada, and we would eat until we were stuffed to the gills. [...]

The post Crock Pot Chicken and Bean Tostadas ~ A Mexican #Recipe appeared first on Mommy Moment.

By Michael J.W. Stickings

(It’s our second entry in this new series. For the first — Nelson, Georgia — see here.)

I’m no great fan of Mayor Bloomberg’s “abritrary and capricious” ban (or, rather, attempted ban, now that a judge has blocked it) on large sugary beverages, but from a public health perspective, and pretty much from any civilized perspective, this is worse: 

Fattest State in the Country Passes ‘Anti-Bloomberg Law’

Mississippi’s governor is poised to sign legislation — referred to (at least by NPR) as the “Anti-Bloomberg Bill” — that would ban local governments from regulating menu calorie counts, portion sizes, or “consumer incentive items” (e.g., Happy Meal toys) at restaurants and in vending machines. Mississippi has a solid winning streak going and it doesn’t need anyone mucking it up.

There’s something to be said for, you know, consumer choice, and for freedom generally, but this willful, and indeed gleeful, embrace of obesity and general unhealthiness is just obscene.

New post. Mommy Moment is owned by Jody Arsenault, from Manitoba, Canada.

Spring break and Easter are just around the corner. This is the first year that I have a child in school, so the break is something I get to look forward to. A week of no schedules sounds too good to be true! I made these flower cookies with some spring colors to remind me of [...]

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As an alternative to mashed potatoes, you can add this cauliflower mash as a replacement topping to Shepherd’s Pie.9 Zoom(s)

I set out to put together a short study of the various sources of protein readily available and their cost, to find out how I can get …9 Zoom(s)

By Michael J.W. StickingsFrom the Times:A judge struck down New York’s limits on large sugary drinks on Monday, one day before they were to take effect, in a significant blow to one of the most ambitious and divisive initiatives of Mayor Michael R. B…