Between stress management and diet, my colitis has been fairly under control, but I sometimes find it difficult to eat properly. A lot of really healthy things actually make my stomache hurt. Like raw broccoli or red onions. I've only just discovered this, and knowing this now, it would have saved me a world of hurt! 

This new "raw" food fad diet sounds great and everything, but please don't push it on me! It would probably kill me. Not literally at this point for myself, but for others, it could be a serious health setback if they were to try that diet. Don't get me wrong, I am not saying there is anything wrong with certain diets, 
but it is very important to know and to do what is best for your body.

After some serious tears over the onions, I started off cooking the garlic, shallots and onions 
over medium heat in the olive oil. 

One they were browned, I threw in the red pepper with the balsamic vinegar to sweeten the peppers. 
Then I threw in the carrots to get a little extra cooking time. 

There you have it- my favourite soup recipe. 

What's your favourite soup recipe? Which of the variations would you try or what are some other ideas? Feel free to add ideas in the comments. I always love hearing from you. 

Here's to a healthy soup! 

xo Jena 

In between re-doing the kitchen and building a deck, we gotta eat! 

Just to clear something up from a previous post. I love pickles. I really do. I just don't want my house smelling like them. That is all. So, to prove my love for pickles, I decided to make a post dedicated to pickles and such.

And who doesn't love cheese and pickle sandwiches?? 

Hope you enjoy these! The pickled delicacies are quite tasty, not gonna lie, and they do add to a killer sandwich. You might have people wondering if you are pregnant, though. Men included. 

Happy Pickling! 

xo Jena 

No matter what you do, or how much time you give yourself in a day, it always seems to rush by. I needed something quick to eat, on the go. I basically just took everything in my cupboards that seemed like they would go good in a granola bar. 

Mix it up to desired taste and consistency. I put it in a dish and threw it in the fridge, so it could firm up. I left out the exact amounts because, well, I pretty much don't measure out amounts. A handful of this, a scoop of that... You might know how that goes. 

And there we have it! A granola bar fresh out of the dish. 
With stuff in it that you can pronounce. I like that. 
Anything else you would put in a granola bar? 

Happy Eating on the Run! 

xo Jena 

We found these lions costumes at Target, and we couldn't not get them.
What a team these two are!

Next up, was doing something with the pumpkin seeds. I really like pumpkin seeds, so what better way to use the whole pumpkin? Waste not, want not.

I soaked them in salt water for a few hours, and then drained it for about an hour. Looking back, I suppose I could have dried them with a towel, but hindsight is what they say it is. 20-20.

Then I burnt them. Oops. Next year.

Happy Halloweeeeeen!

Jena xo

Fall is upon us. With that comes the harvest of our crops and the crops of others. We got given a 10 pound box of apples, and what better thing to make than apple sauce. I could have made some apple pies, but I decided to go with a liquid version of the dessert.

Adam and I pealed until our hands hurt. It's a different generation we are in now. I know old ladies who peeled potatoes, carrots, apples, etc. until their hands bled, and it wasn't from cutting themselves! At least that's what their stories claimed.

I'm thinking that I need to toughen up and suck it up...

Then, we threw the apples into a big pot and boiled them down. I added 1/4 cup of water just to cover the bottom of the pot at the beginning. The juices from the apples are more than enough to keep them from burning.

Then came the good stuff. Cinnamon and nutmeg permeated the house. The thought crossed my mind to start decorating the house for Christmas at that point. 
Maybe, just maybe, that's a little premature to get started on that task...

To top it all off, I added some good old Canadian maple syrup. I don't think you could have a better combination of flavours, as that.

Just as I thought it would be, I had liquid apple pie. I don't think those jars of apple sauce are going to be around for long. Next year, we will have to go for 50 pounds of apples. As long as we have an electric apple peeler. It is the 10's after all. That just doesn't have the same ring as the 1900's, where they had to peel everything by hand. 

On the note of apple pie flavour, Canadian Thanksgiving is this weekend. I love Thanksgiving. I am a very thankful person, and I have A LOT to be thankful for. 

Maybe it's cliche to say family and friends, but seriously. I have an amazing family, and some wonderful friends. I moved around a lot in my younger years, so to have a solid set of friends is really special to me. My family is the best family one could have. 

I also am thankful for food. We are so lucky to have a plethora of it, and I am really excited to share a weekend of feasting with both friends and family. Wine, pie and turkey. Can't ask for much more! 

Items above can be found at 

I'm not sure why it is, but the harder you work at making a delicious meal, the less likely you are to get to enjoy it together. As is the most likely the case with busy families anyways.

Now that I am back to work, I've realized that I have to actually start planning meals. I guess you could say, working is making me more efficient at time management. For instance, instead of having all day to do the never ending chores, I only have half the time to get it all done. And amazingly, it gets done.

But back to the meal! I had this wonderful meal planned out, and of course, it took me a bit of time. Adam had to leave to a meeting the second it was ready. So much for me becoming more efficient at time management! It's only the first of many meals, though, so hopefully I get better at planning. 

Then I started with the potatoes. I had bought a mixture of baby potatoes, just to add a little more colour to the meal. I boiled them until they were sort of soft, and then threw them into a mixture of rosemary and those fresh green onions. I smashed them, not mashed, smashed, and then fried them in olive oil with some garlic until they were crispy. Of course, I added sea salt and pepper. I don't usually use salt on my food, except potatoes and corn on the cob. How can you not? It's like peanut butter without jam. Or whatever you think goes best.

Lately, I feel like we have been on a Mexican kick. One of my favorite things is fajitas; I don't think I could get enough of them! I love how fresh they are, with avocado, cilantro, peppers, cucumbers, you name it! The beauty of it, is they can taste so different depending on what you feel like adding to your wrap. Adam and I found this awesome bowl down in Mexico, which is perfect for our favorite meal (or one of them, at least)

I had never really thought about what was actually in the packaged seasoning until recently, now that I have a baby. He loves any and all food, so I try to make sure whatever I do feed him is at least as healthy as possible. No need for extra sodium or MSG or who knows what!

I found this recipe for homemade fajita seasoning from Annie's Eats ,and I will never go back to buying packaged seasoning. So yummy and much better on my conscience.

There we have our Mexican themed post, and to finish it off, here's a picture of me snorkeling right there in Mexico from our vacation a few years ago. 

Happy Mexican Eating!

Jena xo

I love zucchini. It is one of my favorite vegetables, by far. I was pretty excited when I harvested my first zucchini out of the garden this summer, as you can see! I can't say I've had the same luck in my harvest with all the vegetables I've grown, but I'll consider it a success that I got anything, especially that I did get one of my favorites out of the deal. 

This recipe is my favorite way to eat zucchini. It's so simple, and so tasty.

Coffee. Oh, coffee. How I love thee! I know I'm not the only one in the world who has a slight addiction to the stuff, but I just can't get enough of it!

I enjoy it so much, I even have integrated it into my coffee table decor! We love it, but it seems like we drink a lot more coffee because of it. Just the smell makes you want it!

Yesterday, I didn't have any coffee. It was so hot out, so I figured if I am doing everything in my ability to stay cool, drinking coffee isn't going to help me out. But two o'clock rolled around, and I remembered why I love coffee so much. No migraines! Maybe it was more of a coffee withdrawal headache than a migraine but still... At about 2:10 in the afternoon, I was sipping on my morning coffee.

So, correction. Yesterday, I didn't have any coffee until 2:10. And at 2:40, another cup of coffee.

Happy summer coffee drinking!!

Jena xo

Our boy is growing up fast! It was his first birthday already, and of course, we wanted to do something special for him, but honestly, it was a bit more for us. As much as I had been thinking about the plans for his very first birthday, I really let it get away on me, and I just sent out e-mail/ Facebook invites about a week before. Oops. Bad mommy move. Had I been more prepared, Smilebox or My Own Labels is an excellent source for party 
goodies like these below. And for the all out moms, after the party, 
how fun would it be to make a canvas print of the party by Easy Canvas Prints? 

As unprepared as I was, we still wanted to do something cool for our son's birthday. So we decided on a pirate themed camping party. The pirate theme was decided months before the birthday, so I did have stuff together for it. Yeah, me! 

Adam's family has a tradition of cake smashing on the first birthday. This is something I don't remember doing on my first birthday, but I went with it. So I planned out am extravagant treasure chest cake, and it progressed into a much simpler Map cake. I'm still working on this whole cake decorating thing. I don't particularly like them, so previously, I didn't bother often with them. Now, apparently, kids are big into cake, so I caved. 

Since the cake was going to be smashed (see above), and I didn't plan on decorating two cakes, I went with the mini version and did cupcakes. They were actually awesome. Can't go wrong with cake mix. I used an excellent recipe for the butter cream frosting that I got off of Savory Sweet Life. I tried this frosting recipe, and I am never going back from whatever I used to use. So perfect. 

As much as I said I wasn't prepared, I was somewhat on track. I even had decorations. The only thing I was really lacking was the invites. Who needs invitations to a party? Oh ya... Everyone? At least we have great friends who showed up on late notice! I'll get on it next time. 

Needless to say, it has been an amazing year having the little man around. We have so much fun together, and I couldn't ask for a better life! I'm the luckiest woman, I really am. 

I don't mind the pirate's life. It totally works for me! 

Hope you are having a great day.

Jena xo