A Walk One Winter Night

This year we are looking at winter differently.

We've decided to not complain about the snow, the cold, and how long winter lasts. We are embracing every moment of it! Bundling up and braving the cold. 

And so far we have no regrets. 

Mom's Homemade Chicken Soup

I don't know what I'd do without my husband and my mom. They're truly amazing. I've been sick in bed for the past 3 days with a wicked cold and they both completely took over and had everything under control. The combination of a sore throat + sinus pain, along with morning sickness hasn't been the most pleasant - so I've been so thankful to have this extra help the past few days. 

One thing I thought about instantly when I heard Mom was coming to stay with us was her Homemade Chicken Soup. It's just one of those comfort foods for me that has the smells and flavors of my childhood. Mom made this soup often in the winter months and anytime one of her kiddos had the sniffles. 

Of course the last thing any of us ever want to think about is this part of the future - but I know there will come a time when my parents will no longer be around. This is a sad and scary thought - but there are certain comforts, habits, and traditions that my parents (and their parents) seemed to have started for our family that I will always want to carry on afterwards. I told my mom awhile back that one of the things I wanted her to teach me the most was how to make this soup. So while she was staying here I made sure to watch closely and study her every move so I can be able to make it just like her. And I thought snapping some pictures might help me out for when I try to make it myself...I get so excited when I can smell it cooking away on the stove! 

It was so nice to enjoy this hot bowl of soup on such a blustery day and to spend some time with my mom. I'm already looking forward to tomorrow's lunch. 

But this gal needs some beauty sleep. Oh boy, do I need it. Goodnight all!

Mom's Homemade Chicken Soup

Ingredients:

1 Whole Chicken (we used the cooked BBQ chicken from the grocery store but you can always use a whole uncooked chicken as well)

4 Carrots, diced

1 Onion, diced

1/2 Broccoli head (and also part of the stem) diced

2 Cups of Tomato Juice

1/2 cup of Rice (or pasta if you prefer)

1. Put whole chicken in a soup pot and fill the pot half way full with water. 

2. Chop up one onion. 

3. Add onion to the soup pot. 

4. Cut the chicken into pieces with chicken shears and boil on medium heat for 1 1/2 hours.

5. Once boiled - remove the chicken from the pot

6. Add tomato juice to the stock.

7. Add chopped veggies and rice to the stock and boil for 20-30 minutes. 

8. Pull the chicken off of the bones, dice, and add half of it to soup. (My least favorite part!.)

**Mom usually adds most of the brown meat and would save the breast for chicken sandwiches. YUM!)

And it's ready to serve!

White Chocolate Cranberry Cookies

I love it when family and friends associate me with food. It’s nice because it makes you feel good knowing how much people enjoy what you make and to have them admire your passion. These White Chocolate Cranberry cookies were a huge hit with family and friends and hearing that from them all is always so heartwarming. So I thought I'd post the recipe for those that might be interested.

 I think since Christmas is fast approaching I was in the mood to bake something that reminded me of the holidays - and these are perfect for this time of year! The sweetness of the white chocolate balances the tartness of the cranberries so the combination of the 2 is just divine. I knew I had to give most of these away and just save a few for us, otherwise the whole jar would of been gone in just a few short days! So for those of you that took some off our hands - THANK YOU! :) I hope you enjoy them as much as we did! Man...I guess I should of kept a few more. I could really go for one right now with a big glass of milk!

If you'd like to try this recipe out here is everything you'll need:

Ingredients:

2 ¼ cups All Purpose Flour

1 tsp Salt

1 tsp Baking Soda

2 Eggs

1 tsp Vanilla Extract

1 Cup unsalted butter at room temperature

¾ Cup of Granulated Sugar

¾ of a Cup of Brown Sugar

1 Cup of white chocolate chips

1 Cup of dried cranberries

1. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Combine together the first 3 ingredients and set aside.

2. In a mixer bowl fitted with a paddle attachment, cream together the butter and both sugars. Mix together. 

3. Add the eggs and vanilla and mix together until all creamy and combined. Scrape down the sides of the bowl to make sure everything is mixed well.

4. Add the dry ingredients and mix just to combine. Add the white chocolate chips and dried cranberries. Mix just to distribute them through the batter.

5. Using a small ice cream scoop, drop the cookie dough 2 inches apart onto a baking sheet and bake for 10 to 12 minutes, until lightly golden brown around the edges.

6. Cool for 5 minutes on the baking sheet then remove onto wire rack and cool completely.

And Enjoy!

Why not try out this festive cookie recipe so you can snack on them while wrapping presents this year? I think I might have to make a new batch next week...

My little picky eater sure enjoyed them! 

Have a great night everyone!

Changes

We wanted to fill you all in on some changes that have been happening in our life recently.

We are...planning to move.

This has been something that we've been talking about on and off for awhile now. Our ultimate dream was to some day move closer to Beamsville where I grew up and where my family is rooted. We've always lived a bit over an hour away (which I completely acknowledge is a dream for some people) and each time we've shifted around Ben and I would always talk about how nice it would be to live closer. Over the years it seemed that our hope and dream just wasn't meant to be. Ben was constantly on the look out and applying for jobs in the Oakville/Burlington/Stoney Creek area because we wanted to get out of Toronto and away from the busy city life to try to settle into a more calm and quiet area. After months of silence he spotted a job in Kitchener that looked right for him. We talked about whether or not if he should apply there and after many long conversations and prayer he decided to apply to this job. Days later he heard a response and was asked to come in for an interview. We were both so amazed at how quickly this all happened and felt like we were being lead in this direction for a purpose.

Fall Family Photos

Megan and I go way back - Oh yes, we battled the crazy shifts at Tim Hortons together. For anyone that doesn't know Megan Preece...well she's one of the funniest people I know. She has such an incredible sense of humor and most shifts we worked together, I usually ended up in tears from laughter at some point. 

I've always admired her photography talent. You should all check out her Website and her Facebook Page. She does amazing work! When we were talking about wanting fall family pictures done she was the first person I thought of. She is a wonderful photographer and a great friend! Thank you so much Megan for capturing these special moments for us. Even though Landon didn't nap well that day and he was SUPER CRANKY pretty much most of the time - you were so patient with him and did what you could to try to make him smile. (Can't wait to book another session with you next year! :) )

Potato & Bacon Soup

It's officially winter here in Kitchener. Looks like the cold weather is here to stay. I actually missed the first snowfall here on the weekend but I'm sure there's more where that came from. It's time for our winter coats, hats, and mittens to come out of hiding from the basement bins and into our hallway closet. A small part of me was sad about this...because no longer can I plop Landon into his stroller in some comfy pants and a light sweater. Nope, it's bundle up season now - which my son is definitely not a fan of! He's constantly trying to pull off his hat, and freaking out about having mittens on his hands. So we'll have to see how the rest of this winter goes - I'm hoping he will eventually adjust. Of course the bulky winter coats and itchy wool hats aren't always the best perks to the winter months...but you know what I love when the cold weather comes around? By the title of this post I'm sure you've guessed it. Homemade soup! I figured it was about time to post a new recipe on here so why not start off the week with one! And that's right my friends soup season is upon us. The king of comfort foods. And nothing screams "I feel comforted!" quite like a big bowl of creamy Potato Bacon Soup.

Our top 15 favourite Baby/Toddler Products {Part 3}

Sifting through these old pictures of our little boy modeling some of our (and his) favourite products brought back so many memories today. It reminded me of when Ben and I first became parents - how our role's in life had changed. It was a learning process for both of us, filled with challenges that only made us stronger and brought us closer as a family. Just looking back at pictures brings back floods of emotions. Landon is no longer that tiny baby anymore - but a spunky hilarious toddler! It's been such a joy to watch him grow up and to be there for each stage of life. Here are the next 5 of our favourite products that we enjoyed using during his first year...

Nursing Pillow

I don't know if Ben would be able to confirm this but I'm sure most mom's would agree with me that the Boppy Pillow is a definite must have! Of course I used it mostly for nursing (which was great and super comfy) but Landon really enjoyed using it as a lounging chair as well:)

Our top 15 favourite baby/toddler products {Part 2}

Stroller - StrollAir Zoom

B: When looking for a stroller I quickly realized that in Canada it seems to be quite popular to have your baby in the car seat on the stroller and not in a bassinet. Growing up in Germany where a bassinet is the standard and hearing lots of good things about it for the baby's development I wanted to make sure we get a stroller that has a bassinet. We first looked at the Hauck Malibu stroller since it is very affordable but after trying it at Baby World in Stoney Creek (one of the best places to look for baby stuff) we had to realize you get what you pay for. The Hauck stroller was flimsy and didn't look durable. The sales person showed us the StrollAir Zoom stroller and it didn't take us long to fall in love with it (as much as you can fall in love with a stroller ;-) )

The stroller has a bassinet and can turn into a regular stroller, front and rear facing. It also comes with a warm winter bag, rain cover, diaper bag, tire pump, etc. The only part we bought separately was a car seat adapter. It has big rubber wheels which help that the baby doesn't feel bumps too much. The bassinet comes off easily which was great because we could use it a few times as a bed for Landon when we were staying overnight with family.

We have had this stroller for over 1 1/2 years and only had an issue once. We brought the stroller to the store and within a few days we got repaired, no questions asked. It was helpful that the company has their headquarters in Kitchener and could the deliver the spare parts quickly.

S. One of the features I really love about this stroller is the adjustable handle. It's nice to have 2 different height settings since Ben and I are clearly not the same height! I love how light and smooth it feels on walks and how the tires hold up in the snow in winter. The rain cover has come in handy for us many times and the winter bag is so cozy and warm for baby! Another thing I am SO thankful for is how big the basket is underneath. When we were stroller shopping I noticed there were quite a few strollers that had a really small storage basket - so we made sure to remember that a bigger basket would be something important in a stroller. I have quite a big diaper bag and it fits underneath perfectly without squishing and sqeezing it in - as well as several other shopping bags and a purse.

Another thing I absolutely love about this stroller is that it can lay down completely straight so it makes it easier for naps or even if I have to change his diaper right in it. It's super easy to just push the gray buttons on each side of the stroller and tilt back to recline.

Like this! :)

If you're on the hunt for a stroller - We give the Stroll-Air Zoom a thumbs up! :)

Table Toppers

We all know that kids can be pretty messy! So when we go out to eat in public with our little guy, we always take one of these Table Toppers along with us. We love that he's not eating off of unsanitary and germy restaurant tables - and it definitely makes clean-up in the end much easier! The cool thing about them is they are now biodegradable and recyclable, right down to the product packaging.

We ordered these packages off of Ebay because it turned out to be much cheaper then just getting them from Babies R Us. We always toss a few into the diaper bag and when we're out and about so we always have some if we happen to need them. I'm really happy we discovered these and we knew right away that they'd end up on our favorite's list!

Kushies Full Sleeve Bib

B: When we first saw these bibs we thought it's the coolest thing ever and they are pretty neat. They are machine washable and easy to get on and off. It saved us from quite some spills and dirty shirts. They are also made in Canada which is a plus. 

S: We got this bib as a gift from a really good friend of ours and we could not be more thrilled with it!!! We saw her use them for her twins and we thought this idea was beyond brilliant. I can still remember our mouths dropping in amazement as our first reaction to these Kushies full sleeve bibs. Landon's been using it since he first started eating and it's always worked perfectly with no stained sleeves! They're great for messy eaters or even art projects. We've used ours for a few painting crafts and afterwards they were really easy to clean - just some hot soapy water and it all came off no problem. They're made of a sturdy waterproof material and ours has been thrown into the wash time and time again and still looks like new! This will for sure be a product that we'll be purchasing ourselves when we have more kiddos. They are amazing! 

You can easily find these bibs on Amazon or at Babies R Us. 

Ergo Baby Carrier

B: The baby carrier was a gift from my brother and sister-in-law and it has been very useful. It took Landon (and us) a few tries till we got used to it and comfortable with it (Don't try baby carriers for the first time when your baby is already tired). After that Landon loved it and it was a great way to go out with him. Even if he wanted just to be held we could put him in the carrier, it was soothing for him. We didn't try too many different carriers to say why exactly this one is our favourite but it has done a great job!

S: I loved "baby wearing" and I really enjoyed this carrier! Like Ben said we've only tried this brand out so we're no experts on baby carriers over here - but we'd recommend this one for sure. It's very durable and incredibly comfortable! I really like that you can carry the baby different ways in it as well. You can side carry or switch it around and carry your baby on your back instead - which is awesome for long walks and hikes! 

If you'd like to check out more info on the Ergo Baby Carrier just click Here.

Boogie Wipes

We pulled these out of the gift bag from a friend of ours from our baby shower and I was very curious to try them out. I've seen the packages of Boogie Wipes in the stores but these were an entirely new product to me/us! When Landon was battling a wicked cold I took these out, used one for the first time, and I was hooked. Our son HATES getting his nose wiped with a passion and it's always a struggle to get him to hold still while I attempt to grab his nose with the tissues. I'm not exactly sure if it's the grape scent that we used, or just that he's getting older...but he doesn't give us much of a fuss anymore. The wipes just swipe the snotty mucus right off and I love that they easily wipe off the little crusty bits that he gets around his nose after it dries. C'mon, this is a post about baby products! You knew there were gonna be some comments about poop, puke, or snot in here somewhere! Haha. 

One of the things I'm really happy about is that Boogie Wipes contain absolutely no alcohol so they will not sting or irritate his little nose in any way. The natural saline, chamomile, vitamin E, and aloe really help to soothe and moisturize. We were reminded again how much we love them since Landon has had a runny nose for the past week now. We actually started buying these larger canister packs so we don't run out as quickly. 

If anyone would like us to answer questions you may have about any of the products we've mentioned so far just drop a comment in the box below and we'll do our best to answer it for you! :)

Part 3 coming soon!