MamaEatsClean

Wednesday, April 27, 2016

A Honey Oak Kitchen with White Appliances - A 4 Day $1,000 Transformation

Hey Folks,
I have been doing a Facebook/Blogging fast for lent. It ended up getting extended since I was enjoying it so much. I had so much time on my hands I was actually bored at times..........my goal in life;) Boredom, sweet boredom.

The boredom was short lived. After burning through about 15 - 20 library books in the first month, I turned my attention to watching/scouring/obsessing over the MLS listings. I have a huge fascination with real estate and have watched way too many episodes of "Income Property". So naturally, thank you Scott McGillivray, I was overwhelmed with the urge to fulfill one of my bucket list items and buy a rental property. Having time on your hands can be dangerous.

So without a real estate agent and after looking at a total of two properties we put an offer in on a condo (we got an amazing deal) and got it!!! Yippee. So freaking stressful but so exciting.

Our 4 day kitchen transformation. These pictures were taken with different camera's -
but the cabinets really do look like a completely different colour now. Its pretty amazing!

They had done a lot of upgrades to get the unit ready to sell. Fortunately for us, they misfired on the kitchen with the avocado green paint and sticking with the original pulls, hood fan and counter top (circa 1983). Yuck. And they kindly replaced the fridge and stove...........with white! Ugh. Even with all my design training (i.e. HGTV marathons), even I was having trouble figuring out how to deal with this kitchen.

But I never back down from a challenge so with just over 2 weeks between the offer going in and getting possession I frantically studied "how to downplay Honey Oak cabinets", "best upgrades for a rental property", "best paint colours with honey oak", "honey oak cabinets + white appliances". My google search and Pinterest were on fire.

Almost everyone seems to decide to paint their honey oak cabinets so I didn't have a lot to go on. Given this is going to be a rental and the cabinets are in really good shape, I felt it was better to leave them as is. So we decided to work with what we had in terms of cabinets and do what we could to minimize their brassiness with the counter-top, back-splash and paint. Plus - I do really like wood.

A few things I did learn through my google research in regards to making the most of honey oak cabinets were:

Make sure none of your finishes - especially paint - have any pink undertones;
Oil Rubbed Bronze works well with oak compared to most other finishes - I have to say that I agree - not something I would pick for my own home as I'm more of a mid-century modern girl but they really do work (plus the hinges were dark so that was a perfect choice for us);
If you've got white appliances you need to make them blend in. That's why we chose light colors for all the other finishes.

We were also dealing with a space that has NO EXTERIOR WINDOWS. Yikes. So again, we were trying to do what ever we could to keep the space light and airy.

I can't tell you how excited I am about how this turned out. We were able to turn this project around in 4 days and just over $1,000 (see breakdown of costs below after the pictures). Which includes the purchase of a dishwasher. We did everything ourselves and we have some bumps and bruises to prove it but it was worth it and so rewarding! My hubby is amazing at DIY and I'm quite proud that I was able to keep my "investor" hat on most of the time. Its tempting to want to decorate the space for yourself rather than for a tenant but I stuck to my guns. I almost got sidetracked and ended up with quartz counters that were 4 x the price - but common sense persevered.

Okay - gotta run - now I've actually got to find someone to live in this unit. If you know someone they can email kitsonrental@shaw.ca. Available immediately!!!

Luckily there was wiring/plumbing roughed in for the dishwasher - it had just never been used??? I'm pretty sure our renters will appreciate this new feature.

Oh those old pulls.........they left behind some damage but I cleaned them up as best I could.

Typhoon Bordeaux Laminate - I had 16 colours to chose from since we needed it cut in one business day. There are two places in town that do this and they each have 8 in-stock colours. Its actually quite lovely.

How much did we spend (in Canadian dollars, excluding taxes):

Dishwasher - $349 - awesome sale at Sears - Kenmore
Counter-top - $459 - Winnipeg Custom Counter-tops - Typhoon Bordeaux Laminate
Pulls - $59.98 - Home Depot - Oil Rubbed Bronze - 2 x 10 packs
Back splash - $108.19 - Home Depot - Special Buy Event
Paint & Primer- $60 - Premier Brand - Canadian Tire - Benjamin Moore Buckwheat color match
Hood Fan - $59 - Rona

So for a total of $1,095.17 (plus some incidentals like grout and other supplies) I think we did a pretty great transformation.

Wednesday, January 27, 2016

Friday, January 15, 2016

Mama's Buckwheat Pancakes.......Yes Please!

Hey Folks,

Its a new year and I'm actually feeling pretty good. Not going to lie........health-wise 2015 kinda sucked. But I worked my arse off for the second half of the year and my efforts have been worth it. I almost hate to put it in writing as it's a constant roller coaster and I never know if it's going to stick...........but I'm feeling pretty darn good this week. Not perfect. But good. Yay!

And I'm pretty determined to keep it that way. So I have been doing a fair amount of cooking, baking and creating to try and keep my belly satisfied with clean foods so I don't start eating things I know that make me sick. I know that sounds simple for the average person but the list of foods I don't tolerate is very long so time constraints, availability and frankly hunger can make it hard to do.

I'm not going to lie, I have been eating a lot of sweets. I find it very hard to stay away from them (mainly chocolate and home-made Nanaimo bars) during the holidays and once I fire up that sweet tooth it takes a lot of work to get back on track. Instead of going cold turkey I'm trying to wean myself off............its really difficult. But I'm working on it. And by Lent I will be really to go cold turkey.

I have also been working on incorporating some buckwheat into my diet. Its actually not a grain and not related to wheat. They call it a pseudo-grain. And so far I seem to be tolerating it. Quinoa is also a pseudo-grain but I DO NOT tolerate it. No sir. Its all a matter of experimenting and paying attention.

I need some variety in my breakfasts. I love eggs..............but you can only eat so many. And I drink a ton of smoothies.........but they don't keep me full like "real food" does.

So I played with making some buckwheat pancakes and I was pretty happy with the result. Something to throw in the rotation to keep things interesting. I've been topping them with fruit and a tiny, tiny bit of maple syrup. Yum.

Here's to a very healthy and happy 2016! Happy New Year (I'm not that late - Ukrainian New Year was just yesterday).......................

Buckwheat Pancakes

by MamaChanty

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Keywords: fry breakfast dairy free grain free almond flour buckwheat flour coconut flour egg

Ingredients (16 pancakes)

Dry Ingredients

1/2 cup buckwheat flour
1/4 cup coconut flour
1/4 cup almond flour
1 Tbsp arrowroot starch
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda

Wet Ingredients

2 eggs, beaten
1 cup unsweetened almond milk with 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
2 Tbsp grape seed oil or melted coconut oil
1 Tbsp sweetener of choice
1 tsp vanilla

Instructions

Combine dry ingredients and wet ingredients separately and then mix together. I fry them over medium heat in grape seed oil. Ensure they are bubbling through before turning over.

I cool and then freeze my extra's. I reheat them in the toaster and they taste almost as good as fresh.

Wednesday, November 18, 2015

My Go To Snack - Paleo Chocolate Zucchini Loaf - No grains!

My go-to snack. I literally eat this everyday. I freeze it in individual servings (two slices wrapped in piece of parchment and tied with twine) and take one out for my lunch kit each day. Sometimes I eat it straight up. Sometimes with a little bit of almond or peanut butter with jam. When I was being bad I used to top it with cool whip and strawberries (but my tummy didn't like that very much so I gave it up).

I've swapped out the zucchini for pumpkin puree and it works just as well. Since I've made this recipe at least 100 times I would say its pretty fail-proof.

Warning - its not overly sweet. Feel free to increase the sweetener factor or switch it up with another sweetener if Truvia is not your thing. I seem to tolerate it better than almost any other sweetener so that's also my go-to. If you can handle some extra sugar I'm pretty sure adding in a few chocolate chips couldn't hurt the taste factor either.

Make sure you let it cool completely before you slice it (using a serated knife).

Hope you ~~enjoy it~~ rely on it as much as I do. You've got to make this clean eating/allergy avoidance thing as easy as you can. This is my secret weapon for keeping my hands off of the sweets/grains...................

Paleo Zucchini Bread - Grain & Dairy free

by MamaChanty

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 50 minutes

Keywords: bake bread snack dessert candida-diet friendly dairy free paleo almond flour arrowroot powder chocolate zucchini

Ingredients (1 loaf ( but I usually do a do)

Dry Ingredients
1/3 cup blanched almond flour
1/3 cup organic coconut flour
2 Tbsp ground golden flax (I grind whole flax in my coffee grinder)
2 Tbsp arrowroot starch flour
1 tsp baking soda
3 Tbsp cocoa powder - 100%
1/4 tsp fine sea salt
Wet Ingredients
3 free run eggs, beaten
1/2 cup pure pumpkin puree or 1/2 cup shredded zucchini
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
2 Tbsp coconut oil, melted or grape seed oil
2 Tbsp applesauce
1/4 cup unsweetened almond milk
2 Tbsp Truvia (Stevia/Erythritol blend or sweetener of choice)

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. I usually grease a glass loaf pan with grape seed oil and then put a strip of parchment paper on the bottom and it never sticks.

Fully combine wet ingredients and dry ingredients in separate bowls.

Mix wet and dry ingredients until fully combined.

Bake in oven for 50 minutes.

Remove from heat and let cool fully before slicing.

I always make this as a double batch. I slice the loaf and freeze in individual servings.

Saturday, October 10, 2015

Happy Thanksgiving - An Exercise in Gratitude!

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

As you may know I recently went through a rough patch. I wasn't feeling great physically or mentally.

Over the past two and a half months I have done a ton of self-care and self-reflection. And I realized that I was completely focusing on the "body" part of the mind-body-spirit connection. The body part is important but I learned the hard way that it doesn't operate (not successfully for me anyway) in isolation if you aren't taking care of the whole package.

On the "mind" front I realized that I needed to work on changing my attitude and shifting my perceptions. Thought patterns become habits and I had gotten into some pretty bad ones.

So one of the things I have been doing for the past month has been writing a GRATITUDE JOURNAL. Each night before I drift off I write down three things that happened that day that I'm grateful for. Some people may just do this instinctively, out of habit or are just naturally optimistic, but I think its been really helpful, for where I'm at in my journey, to put it in writing. I actually look forward to it. And it is starting to "retrain my brain" to look for the positives.

Some of my gratefulness entries were pretty funny in hindsight. You can tell what days were great and what days were so-so. Some days I'm just happy I kept us all alive. But looking back over my entries it makes me realize how blessed my life is........

One of my Gratefullness journal entries for last week...........
probably not the most fabulous day but we survived it!

Because I love lists............and its Thanksgiving, I'm also going to do a quick top ten things I'm grateful for - the first 10 things that pop in my head. I don't need to overthink it or make it perfect, I just need to do it...................be careful, its habit forming!!!!

1) My hubby - we will be married for 10 years next month and he has supported me and adored me no matter what we (I) have been going through. Many highs and many lows but I always feel loved and don't feel like I have to be perfect. Good thing. And even though house renovations give him so much stress his kidneys start shutting down, he has remodeled most of our house and is currently building me a beautiful bathroom. Because I'm so cheap that I would never pay someone to do it..........but I still love beautiful things;
2) My 1st born - this kids SKIPS around all the time. She doesn't walk, doesn't run, she skips. She's happy. This was the kid that barely smiled until she was four - my fussy little baby and grumpy toddler. She has a joyful spirit;
3) My 2nd born - She reminds me everyday to stop focusing on the destination and just enjoy the journey. Her lack of concern with time and end goals can be a challenge for a type A mother but a great lesson in being in the moment;
4) My baby - He is so playful. He's ready to goof around from the moment he wakes up. It takes nothing to make this kid giggle. And who doesn't like (need) to play;
5) Canada - We are going to be OKAY Canada. We will wake up the day after the election and it will be OK. People are really getting themselves into a state of fear and dread over this election. We are still going to be some of the luckiest people in the world no matter what happens;
6) I get to work part time. One of the biggest blessing in my life - like winning the lottery. I've sacrificed things in order to do it but they have all been worth it;
7) I have the resources to try all sorts of crazy, out-side-the-box treatments to try and cure my mysterious issues. I have access to the internet and library so I can educate myself and keep looking for solutions. And they are WORKING. As my energy healer said yesterday...."I can't believe you are the same sad little person I met a week ago". Things are happening:)
8) Food. I love food. I can't eat a gazillion things that normal people eat but I still have unlimited options and never go hungry. My newest palate adventure: KOMBUCHA - almost unpleasant but at the same time addicting;
9) My girlfriends and my family. There are so many people I learn from and lean on all the time. Even if I am a little weird, they still put up with me;
10) My body. Sometimes I feel like its betraying me when I treat it so well and it still doesn't want to work properly but it can do a headstand on a paddle board, it can dead lift my body weight and its learned all sorts of new and crazy yoga, dance and balance exercises this year. It works hard for me.

That was really easy. So I just have to remember those when I'm having an off-day!

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Wednesday, October 7, 2015

Energy Healing - My experience

Or the beginning of my experience anyway.

Last Friday I went to see any energy healer. Not somewhere I would have ever envisioned myself ending up.

But when you have constantly evolving physical and mental ailments, and you refuse to take pharmaceuticals, sometimes you end up on the path less traveled.

Plus I kind of gave up about a month and a half a ago. I was being such a good girl (no stress, eating like a champ, taking my supplements, sleeping, meditating, practicing daily yoga, dry brushing, steaming, ya-da, ya-da, ya-da - a ridiculous amount of self-care) and nothing was working. I was steadily feeling worse and worse. Even my 4-year old shoulder injury decided to flare up for no apparent reason (like, really flare up).

I felt very broken and defeated. I had felt low before. But this was almost harder because I have no reason to be low. I really don't have any stress. My life is really amazing. I want to enjoy it.

But there is clearly some major imbalance in my body and my old bag of tricks was not helping.

So I begged God to take over. For probably the first time in my life I said "That's it, I'm done. You take over". Might not seem like a big deal to you but it was a big deal to me. I'm a control freak and I really surrendered.

And of course things started to happen. Within a couple weeks I had a business card in my hand and someone strongly urging me to book an appointment with an energy healer. A nice Christian gal she said. She'll fix you she said.

So off I went. Tramping down any skepticism I had as best I could. I showed up with an open mind, just dying to know which one of my Chakra's was blocked. I go on Pinterest regularly and study the Chakra charts. I can never figure out which one it is? Well, there's a reason for that - you'll find out if you can bear with me.

Here is what happened...................................

We go into a room set up for massage therapy and, of course, I immediately blurt out "I'm nervous". I always think clairvoyant people are going to see nasty things inside me that I don't want to know about. She assured me I wouldn't levitate or anything (I was relieved and mildly disappointed).

She gave me her "story" and why she believes in energy medicine. Turns out she is much more scientific about the whole thing than spiritual. Or at least that's how she came across. If you are curious she follows the Eden Energy methodology.

I told her my story which included many tears. It makes a person feel so vulnerable to admit all your weaknesses out loud to a complete stranger. I actually felt like crying as soon as I walked in the room. Not sure what that was all about.

Anyway, she started out by "testing" my energies/meridians and gave me exercises for each one. Don't ask me what exactly she did but it involved me trying to counterbalance as she pushed my extended right arm downwards. If the corresponding meridian was strong, I could easily counterbalance her light pressure. If I was not strong, my arm would basically give out. That happened A LOT. I'm not talking physical strength (I do work out almost every day - toot toot), its energetic strength. Which apparently I don't have.

Interestingly, I was "stronger" when moving backwards instead of forwards. Then she asked me to read a sentence left to right. I read normally. Then right to left (backwards). Its just spewed out of my mouth. I was actually pretty shocked I could read backwards like I was on speed. But, you guessed it, that is not good.

She gets me to do some of her energy exercises and she tries it again. This time I read backwards like a normal person. And she continues to retest each meridian after I have done the corresponding exercise. I pass. Yeah.

She then got me to look at a picture with an X on it. She did her arm test - I failed. Then she showed a picture of two parallel lines. It so appealed to me, I love order. I passed. Happy dance. Nope. That means my energy is just flowing in parallel lines which is not good. It's supposed to cross back and forth through the body. Shucks.

I left with a list of these exercises that I do three times a day. Takes about 8 minutes each time. I've had to do them in somewhat public places and I know I look like some new-age hippy but you gotta do what you gotta do. There are all sorts of videos on YouTube - look up Donna Eden Energy Routines if you want to try and DIY it.

Next I got to lay on the table. She did some work with magnets, which she said worked really well on me? Okay. Sure. Then she did a whole bunch of, I guess, Reiki-type stuff. I kept my eyes closed almost the whole time and tried to focus on my breathing so I don't know exactly what was going on. I think lots of waving her arms over my body (not touching) in swirly patterns. She also used a cold laser over certain organs, shone a light on my shoulder and physically laid her hands on me a few times.

I didn't feel any pain or unusual sensations (I was secretly hoping for something dramatic to happen so I would be miraculously CURED). But I did notice that my FEET were freezing even with a heater on in the room, a blanket and the massage table heater cranked. And I could feel awareness/ vibrations/life/energy in the left side of my body but not the right. I tried really hard to focus my mental energy on my problem shoulder but it was like a dead zone. Which is likely the problem.

This whole process took two and a half hours. I was supposed to be there for a maximum hour and a half. But I'm special. I require special attention.

So what was my prognosis??????

Which Chakra was blocked?

The Doctor of Natural Medicine that referred me said I had a blocked heart Chakra. Yep. For sure that's blocked. But DRUMROLL....................

They are all blocked. I am a big blocked mess.

Apparently my energies are completely scrambled. Not flowing. All my Chakra's blocked. I'm not ROOTED at all. I have polarity.

At one point she was testing my Chakra's, don't ask me how, and she just said "Yep, blocked. Yep, blocked. Yep, Yep, Yep, Yep, Yep...........how are you even walking around?

This seems to be a theme. In the past two months, every health professional that has "laid hands on me" has basically told me the same thing.

Like I said, she was more scientific about things than spiritual. She didn't tell me what possible physical or mental trauma in my life may have caused the energy state I'm in. I have some ideas that I'm trying to explore on my own - I don't believe its one thing but a combination of a lifetime of digestive ailments, prolonged periods of stress during my childhood and again later in adulthood, some poor lifestyle choices and my personality.

But she says she can fix me. Actually, that she can teach me how to fix myself. She's really into the teaching thing so you can become self-sufficient. I like that.

She also said my aura is yellow but very tight to my body. This supposedly stems from fear (hmmmm, its not like I have anxiety - lol) and explains why I'm always so cold. And it had a Hole in it. Which apparently she also fixed, but she's not sure if it will hold.

No worries, I'll be going back for round two this Friday so we'll see.

As soon as I left I felt SO TIRED. Like I could barely hold up my head. I actually had to go lay down for a nap which I never do. To be honest I felt like I could just sleep for the rest of the day but I forced myself to get up and moving (after an hour). I was also uncharacteristically thirsty for the rest of the day.

So that's my experience. My grand adventure into energy healing.

Now its still early days so I don't want to make any conclusions. I'm just trying to trust in the process and go with the flow. But speaking of flow, I have sailed through what is usually a week from hell with barely a twinge of moodiness or insomnia. And when I meditated this morning I could actually feel some sparks of life on my right side - not much but a bit. My shoulder feels better this week than it has for the past six. Something is shifting.

I am feeling SO MUCH BETTER. Life is starting to look pretty rosy again. Can't say if its the energy work, all the herbs I'm taking, the Candida diet or all the mental and spiritual self-work I have been doing but things are moving in the right direction. And it feels good. Thank-you God!

Wednesday, September 30, 2015

My Winter Bucket List

I LOVE LOVE LOVE lists. Love.

Always have.

The thing is that I'm supposed to be focusing on "being" not "doing" all the time. Being in the present.

I tend to live in the future. Which results in me being a total worry wart. Because the future is unknown. And the unknown is scary for a control freak like me. And fear leads to anxiety. But lists about the future make me feel like I'm taking back some control. Hence, I've always loved lists.

Unfortunately, the lists don't really help with anxiety in the long run. They just keep me focused on the future. So I'm trying to tone it down on the lists.

That being said, I'm also working hard on using mindfullness to shift my perception of my situation. And one of my "situations" is that winter is brewing. And winter in Winnipeg, when you are cold all the time to begin with (see my blood analysis post that confirmed my blood is "sticky" and not circulating properly so I REALLY AM ALWAYS COLD), is pretty tough. As soon as the first frost hit this week I could feel my brain going to that negative place of dread. So I need to work on shifting my perception of my situation.

I do a summer bucket list each year. Which I really enjoy. Of course I do.....its a list. But really, who needs a bucket list for summer. Everyday is easy to look forward to. Summer is full of sunshine and adventure by nature.

Winter. That's another story.

So I decided that it's okay if I make a Winter Bucket List. Its a list. Its kinda making me focus on the future. But in a good way. Its also helping me shift my perception of winter. Because there are really a lot of great things about winter too! I actually had to stop myself from going too crazy - as to not set up unrealistic expectations and find myself trying to check off the boxes rather than enjoying the journey.

So here is my list. A list of things I'm going to look forward to doing. And be fully present when I'm doing them. And I'm actually not going to care if I don't get through it. For the record I didn't quite finish my summer bucket list - and I was okay with it - mostly. I'm making progress!

And if this doesn't work, I'm scraping my list and were heading down south for a couple of weeks in February.

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