When Do You Feel Beautiful?

Empowering Women At #BeautyIsMe

Last month we had the opportunity to attend the first #BeautyIsMe event hosted by She Speaks Hair. We were not sure what to expect. All we knew was that is was a charitable event for The Heart And Stroke Foundation with Beauty as it's theme.

If you have read my post Find The Inner And Outer Beauty you know that I feel strongly about this subject and that we like to be involved in anything that Empowers Women to be their very best.

When we arrived we were told we learn tips for hair, skin, nutrition, exercise and relaxation all in one afternoon. As you can see in the video below we did accomplish that

Takeaweays From The Event

• Beginner yoga is truly for everyone

While we all lied there learning how to properly breath everyone was able to do it at their own pace and if you had yoga experience before you learned how to increase your yoga workout.  It was great lesson in relaxation and being present. 

• How NOT to damage your hair

We spend so much time doing our hair, a lot of the time we are shooting ourselves in the foot.  Instead of using a gazillion products, choose just a few that don't have fillers.  They are more concentrated so you will use less and get the full benefit from the product. Also something I need to stop doing is going to bed with wet hair.  In may be convenient but it increases the chance of split ends and hair breakage.

• Put your best face forward

We learned a lot of time savers when it came to skin care and makeup application.  Natural glow comes for healthy skin, but for extra oomph use a highlighter makeup to contour your face.

• Healthy eating can be a skin care regime

Eating foods high in antioxidants and healthly fats are not only good for your body, they can be used on your body. Being the Food Revolution KW Ambassadors we were pleased to learn you can create facial treatements and skin care masks using berries, avocados and more nutrient rich foods.

• Cheer Up

Choosing a Cheer Body workout gives you a great cardio workout but also increases self esteem.  Taught by a former cheerlearder from the Toronto Argonauts, the workout improves the way you move and the way you feel about yourself!

oh and there was healty nibbles and swag to be had...

Post by SHE SPEAKS HAIR.

We really enjoyed ourselves at this first #BeautyIsMeEvent and look forward to the one next season.  If you want to be in the loop about their seasonal events be sure to join the She Speaks Hair Mailing List (the link can be found in the right sidebar of the page).

Best Salad Dressing - Just Five Ingredients

With summer in full swing salads are on the menu!

There are so many salad dressing recipes out there but I find they have so many ingredients! This means you are constantly balancing flavours.  If you put too much lemon then you need more sugar.  If you have to much garlic then add some lime.  For me simple is the way to go.

I made this salad dressing in 5 mins with 5 ingredients.  No zesting, chopping or juicing required.

Now remember I'm not great at measuring so you may need to do a bit of adjusting to your own taste.

The 5 Ingredient Salad Dressing

You will need

• 1 cup of Olive Oil
• 2 to 2.5 cups of Rice Wine Vinegar
• Half a cup (or less depending on how sweet you need it) of Liquid Honey
• A few of twists of the grinder of ground pepper
• A couple of twists of the grinder of salt.

** Note because I am a Jamie Oliver Food Revolution Ambassador I recommend his pink himalyan salt but any coarse salt should do.

What's next? Add it all to a mason jar. Secure the lid and give it a good shake! That's it!

I poured it over a spinach salad that had strawberries and walnuts. Again another easy to make healthy recipe!

Let's Hear It

Give it a try and leave a comment on how you liked it, or let me know about your easy salad dressing recipe! Then be sure to check out the other Healthy Recipes From Canadian Bloggers

Healthy Recipes For Food Revolution KW From Bloggers Across Canada

As posted in our MEDIA RELEASE were introduced to Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution Day by being asked by the previous Kitchener Food Revolution Ambassador to help create a community event for the 2013 Food Revolution Day. Food Revolution Day is a world-wide movement that brings healthy lifestyle awareness to all. With co-operation from The Kitchener Market, Foodlink and several other community involved organizations the 2013 Kitchener Food Revolution Day was a success. In the planning of our second event for Food Revolution we were made aware that the Kitchener Ambassador would not be carrying on in that position for 2014. Being such an important awareness campaign for the area, we chose to take on the roles of Kitchener-Waterloo Food Revolution Ambassadors to continue Jamie Oliver's important messages of healthy food and lifestyle choices.  You can read the full Media Release to learn more about Food Revolution KW.





If you are in the Kitchener Waterloo area we would love to see you at our #FoodRevKW event at the Kitchener Market.  We are thrilled to have special guests Top Chef Canada Finalist Terry Salmond and World Boxing Champion Fitzroy Vanderpool take part in our event along with several other healthy living partners!

 

With our Food Revolution KW 2014 happening we wanted to know what healthy recipes YOU like to make! Below are list of recipes bloggers from across Canada submitted and feel free to add your own to the list! If you try any of the recipes be sure to come back and comment on how they turned out!

 

 

 

International Women's Day 2014 Blogs

Today March 8 2014 Is International Women's Day

Last year I wrote a post about International Women's Day, but this year I decided to see what other bloggers have to say about the subject. I have set up a a blog link up with some great posts that have to do with the topic. If you have written a post that fits with the topic of International Women's Day be sure to link it up at the bottom of this post. I have also added some content that may strike a chord with you.

An InLinkz Link-up

Facebook Turns 10 - What That Means To Me

Happy 10th Birthday Facebook

Last week TIME magazine launched a tool to let you know How Much Time You've Wasted On Facebook.  Although I have not analyzed the time I have spent on Facebook, I would never refer to it as wasted time.

Here's just a short list of things Facebook has done for me

• Met tons of new people!
• Launched MeFest
• Turned my part-time job into a full-time position
• Became even more involved in my community
• Raised awareness for several events
• Learned to adapt to an ever-changing platform

Really I could go on about all the wonderful things facebook has done, but that's just me. I asked on facebook about how what you LIKE most about facebook.  Staying connected to those far away and re-connecting with people was the stand out answer. 

To celebrate 10 years of Facebook, all the users received a highlight reel of their time on the social network as well as a message from Mark Zuckerburg and a short 10 Year Celebration video that you can see below.

Post by Lisa McDonald.

Post by Mark Zuckerberg.

Post by Facebook.

Are You Ready For An Emergency? How I Prepared For Another Winter Storm

Are You Afraid Of The Dark?

When it comes to losing power I am.  As many of you know I'm a worrier, and I've always had the supplies handy in the event of a power failure, but I learned over the Christmas season, it may not cut it.

Where I live if the power goes out it's only for a few hours (with the exception of the blackout of 2003), so I always knew I have enough to get me through a day or two.  I received quite a wake up call this year as many spent the Christmas holidays in the dark.  You can hear more about that on my Everik Battery Backup post.

Once again my area of Ontario is preparing for Old Man Winter to rear his ugly head.  Overnight we are supposed to get hit with another snowstorm, so today I did a few things to put together an emergency kit.

I went out bought new flashlights (including a headlamp that is supposed to work for 5 hours), lots of batteries, extra food a few things to make things a bit easier if the power went out. When I came home I saw that I received a lot of suggestions on my facebook feed.

Although I already have a lot of the items listed I really went through the Waterloo Region Emergency Management site that was suggested. If you follow this Personal Preparedness link and scroll down to Tips on Preparing a Family Emergency Survival Kit you can see a bunch of bullet points of what you need, scroll down a bit more and see a much more detailed list.

In addition Diane told me about some lights that you can purchase from the Red Cross. This year I plan on purchasing those along with that 2 of those 72 hour emergency kits. One for home and one for my vehicle.

There were a few extra things that I did to prepare.

1. Prepare A Source Of Heat

I have a fireplace insert, but I haven't had a fire yet this year and was worried about starting it up without it being properly prepared for long burning fires, so I went a bought the Chimney Sweep Log that's advertised.  I followed the directions on this youtube video and it burned for about 3 hours without any issues. I also bought a package of six long burning fireplace logs (each one is to last about 3 hours).  I have wood for the fireplace, but again I don't use my fireplace as a heat source, so I don't have a huge wood pile that's easy to get to (I'll fix that next thaw), so between the wood I do have close by and the fireplace logs I would be able to stay warm while I come up with a plan.

2. Prepare Your Wallet And Your Car

Back in 2003 during the blackout I had a full tank of gas and had just taken money out of the bank.  This proved to be helpful as we were able to drive to my parent's cottage, since it occurred in the middle of the summer. I figured we could cook food in the BBQ (or fire pit if it got to that) and if it was too warm we could hang out in the lake.  It was a wonderful surprise to find out that they had not lost power there so we stayed for a couple of days. Even though there was hydro in the area, many of the stores could only do cash transactions because their POS system home base was located in a place where the power was out.

If a storm was to hit and I found out it would be out for days, and I could drive to another area where there is power, that would be my plan. In addition to fuel, also make sure you have windshield washer fluid and lots of supplies in the car.  If you are not planning on leaving (you've heard the power will be out for hours, not days) below are some more things to do to prepare.

3. Prepare For Your Pets

Make sure you are stocked up with lots of pet food. Also fill lots of water pitchers and water jugs with water so you can ensure your pets have lots to drink.

4. Charge Your Devices

During last month's storm, I did not lose heat or hydro, but I did lose my internet, tv and land line.  I did not lose my data on my smartphone. I was still able to text and access the web in order to hear about updates from the news and weather stations and was able to share info with those who had lost power but still had internet access and keep them updated on their hydro situations.

5. Do Your Laundry And Find Your Luggage

If you had to leave at a moments notice would you have enough clean clothes ready to go? Do you how you would carry everything? Do you really want to go up in the attic or down in the crawlspace in the dark hunting for suitcases?

6. Take A Shower And Fill The Tub

Take a shower because you don't know when your next one will be during an emergency situation (see the no makeup/towel dried hair pic below).  In addition this will refill your hot water tank afterwards which I think (which means in my head and not a scientific fact) will help your pipes to keep from freezing up if they have been used recently. Next fill your tub with water.  You can use it to flush your toilet.  I was surprised to learn that many don't know that pouring a bucket of water into your toilet bowl will cause it to flush.  I also fill my sinks and pots with water just so I have it if needed

7. Cook A Big Meal

I've cooked a big roast with lots of potatoes, parsnips and carrots. If the power doesn't go out I have leftovers for work lunch and stews, stirfrys etc.

8. Set Up Your Supplies... Sort Of

I bought new flashlights and batteries, so I set them all up to make sure they are working.  Then I took out the batteries, as I don't want the lights to drain the batteries.  I do have the batteries near the lights that they are for.

9. Have A Landline Phone And Write Down The Phone Numbers Of Your Local Utility Providers

In the past when the hydro has gone out, all of my cordless phones stopped working too, but my kitchen wall phone (land line) has worked.  Because I keep emergency numbers close by I was able to call the local hydro company to let them know it has gone out.  I know a few times I was the first person to call in as they were not aware.  Back then I worked afternoons so I told them most of my neighbours were still at work and wouldn't know until they got home.

10. Be Happy That You Have Taken Precautions

I'm always thrilled when a big storm that was supposed to happen, passes by without any horrible consequences.  Remember all the items you have bought will keep! Better safe than sorry.

What Do You Do To Prepare?

Share your knowledge and we'll all benefit.  Leave a comment about what you do to prepare for an emergency. Perhaps you experienced the Ice Storm Power Failure first hand and can offer some insight and advice. I want to hear from you too!

How To Cook Golden Beets

 

When I visit the grocery store I always do my best to buy locally grown produce.  Being that I live in Ontario Canada, finding a vegetables from this area in December doesn't come easy.
I was very surprised on my last shopping trip to find Golden Beets that were grown in Ontario.

Cue the jingle....



So I decided to give them a whirl
As you can see the golden beets came with their own recipe (photo of the recipe close up is near the bottom of this post), but as always, I improvised.

The recipe called for 2lbs of Golden Beets and that was the size of bag that I bought.  It said for them to be washed and quartered.

My first question was should I peel them as well? The skin looked rough and not like something I wanted to eat, so I headed over to "Chef Google" to find out. According to Tiny Urban Kitchen yes I could peel the beets.

My next question was about quartering them, as you can see in the image below, some were the size of a baseball, where others were the size of a squash ball.  So instead of quartering them I decided to dice them into chuncks relatively the same size.



I chose to use the olive oil option that was on the recipie and instead of all the spices I tossed them with Himalayan Sea Salt.
That could have went a bit better, the grinder part of the salt container came off and well it became quite a mess. Thankfully the most of the salt spill was centralized in one corner of the pan so I was able to scoop out the majority of salt.

The next step said roast for 40 mins at 400 degrees.  I never know if that means I should cover it or not, but to me roasting is covered so I covered the pan in tin foil and popped it in the oven.

I already had some chicken thighs baking in apple cider vinegar in the oven so the timing should be about the same.  I also put some mini potatoes in my steamer to go along with it. I am sure I could have put the potatoes in with the beets, but I wanted to see how the beets turned out on their own.  Plus steamer mini potatoes don't need much fuss. No peeling, just a good scrub and they are good to go.