To bee or not to bee

It has taken us a few years of chatting about it to decide if we were going to become Backyard Beekeepers or not. We (aka Hubby) have spent countless hours researching beekeeping, watching you tube videos and pricing out equipment. Last year he tried to take a course and the instructor never got back to him. This year the thing feels right. I followed up some of his earlier research, and found somewhere somewhat local that sells equipment and runs a workshop.
Yesterday I had a rather light work day, so I checked on line, and low and behold, the store was open Wednesday's from December till April! Perfect! I called a girlfriend, and off we went.
I had a vague idea of what I wanted to buy, but thankfully the guy at Dancing Bee Honey was patient enough to go over everything with us. We spent an hour talking about hives, and the different parts, (a Queen what? A Queen Excluder! Why? So the Queen doesn't lay eggs in ALL the honey)
I left with the very minimum we need to start, 2 Supers or Brood Chambers, some Frames, a bottom board and a top cap, the web site to register for the workshop and a phone number to order bees from!
We still have a few items to purchase, but they are items that I would like Hubby there to give his input.
The items I purchased today came unassembled, so hubby will have some work to do assembling them. I spent the evening reading some of the material that the guy at Dancing Bee Honey have me, and watching you tube videos about bee keeping. Did you know the Queen will lay about 3000 eggs per day, or 1 egg every 10 seconds?
 The kids and I are so excited to learn how to care for our hive. Hubby has done this before, way back in high school, our school had an apiary. Welcome to our latest adventure!

Hello again!

It's been awhile, and we have had so many things happen in this Krazelife!
I'm back because we are about to embark on a new adventure. Most of you know our lives have been full of new adventures these last few years. I studied my ass off and got my real estate license, then the biggest monkey started Rep hockey, and I quit my full time job to pursue real estate full time, (which has been amazing!) I also became an aunt to not one, but two amazing baby girls! Both my sissr and Hubby's brother had baby girls. I have been in absolute heaven with all things pink!

Hubby and I are country folks living in the burbs lol Thankfully I have awesome in laws who have a soe country property.

Last year Hubby tapped some trees at his parents and we made our own maple syrup. We got a few more spigots and buckets this year and tapped trees again this year. We have made 2.5 litres so far this year. The monkey kids love going to check the buckets every day.

Given how much our family has enjoyed maple syrup making, I can't wait to start out newest adventure - backyard bee keeping! No, not in our yard, once again, my amazing in-laws will be lending us their property. Hubby has been talking about getting hives for a few years now, and it's finally time. There will be much, much more info on this newest adventure!

It's been awhile

Today I joined in the celebration of a life that, in my opinion ended too soon, but I am not God, and we must trust his plan. She was a very young 72 years old, with one sister, one brother in law, 3 daughters, 3 son in laws, 7 grandchildren (plus two of their husbands), and 3 great grandchildren. What a wonderful full family. 

Although she was of no blood relation to me, she occupies a great many of my childhood memories because  I have been  lucky enough to have know this wonderful family almost all my life. 

The oldest of the granddaughters and I have been friends since we were 1. We were neighbours and friends, our mothers were neighbours and friends. As were our sisters and fathers. Growing up I didn't know how lucky we were, but looking back I can't believe how  unbelievably blessed we were.  . We lived across the street from each other, and our days were spent together, usually trying to avoid our little sisters, who were the same age as well. At one point I think we had spent so much time having sleep overs we stopped asking and just decided what house we would sleep at. We were different as night and day, but that never seemed to matter.  We walked to and from school together, went to brownies together, and played on the same baseball team. Until my family moved away and I went to a different high school. We drifted apart through high school and each moved on with our lives, not forgetting, but not as close. I will never forget the wonderful email I received when she found out I was getting married. touching and thoughtful as always, she offered to help in anyway she could. Having her there through the planning and reception meant the world to me. One of my favorite memories from my reception was catching a glimpse of the tears in her eyes as my husband and I danced our first dance. She was one of the few people in the room who knew how much the song meant to me, and it stills astonishes me that she remembered that many years later. We now get to watch our own children play together, and grow together. 

Over the years we have shared secrets, friends, toys and clothes, but most of all we have shared our families.

My grandparents often ask me how she is doing, and if I mention her name, my aunts all know her. Her aunts and uncles were like second aunts and uncles to me, their houses were houses I visited when I was young, her  parents were like a second set of parents to me, and of course her Nana was like a Nana to me. 

Thank you for the memories, and thank you for the wonderful family you raised, with out you my life would have been less full, and I wouldn't be lucky enough to know that. 

A, thank you for sharing your family with me, both then and now. Love you always and forever xoxox

Rest in Peace Nana S 

Recipes, some kid friendly stuff

My monkeys eat what we so, but sometimes it's nice for the adults to have a kid's meal too. My monkeys are often included in the planning of our meals, and they come up with some interesting food combo's when they choose the menu (salmon and pizza anyone?) Here are a few kid friendly menu items. :)




Sweet Potato wedges & dip

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika
• 8 sweet potatoes, sliced lengthwise into quarters
• 
  

• 5 tablespoons fat-free sour cream
• 1 teaspoon mayonnaise
• 1/2 teaspoon taco seasoning
• 1/8 teaspoon paprika

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Lightly grease a baking sheet.
2. In a large bowl, mix olive oil and paprika. Add potato sticks, and stir by hand to coat. Place on the prepared baking sheet.
3. Bake 40 minutes in the preheated oven

While the wedges bake, stir the sour cream, mayonnaise, taco seasoning, and paprika together in a small bowl. Serve as a dip for the wedges

I haven't tried this one, but it looks interesting:

Octopus soup

Ingredients

• 1 (16 ounce) package hot dogs
• 2 (48 ounce) containers chicken broth
• 1 1/2 cups chopped fresh chives

Directions

1. With a sharp knife, cut the hot dogs in half the short way. Slice each piece in half vertically, cutting about 3/4 of the way up towards the rounded end. Leave about 1 inch of the rounded end as the head of the octopus. Rotate the dog 90 degrees, and make another vertical cut. Cut the 4 legs in half again, to make 8 legs and a head. The hot dogs should look like tassels with rounded heads.
2. Bring the chicken broth and chives to a boil in a soup pot. Place the octopus hot dogs into the boiling soup, and simmer for about 5 minutes. The legs will curl to make the octopus shape. Serve in bowls with an octopus or 2 in each bowl.

Yummy no-bake kids cinnamon rolls

Ingredients

• 2 slices white bread, crusts removed
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons cinnamon sugar
• 2 tablespoons confectioners' sugar
• 1/8 teaspoon water, or as needed

Directions

1. Roll the bread slices until very flat. Butter the bread, and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar. Starting on one side, roll up the bread slice until tight. Repeat with the second bread slice. Cut the bread rolls into 1 inch slices.
2. Mix the confectioners' sugar with the water in a small bowl to make a thin frosting. Drizzle frosting over the bread slices, and serve.

Peanut Butter Fudge

Ingredients

• 2 cups packed brown sugar
• 2 cups white sugar
• 4 tablespoons butter
• 1 cup milk
• 1 1/2 cups peanut butter
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 cups miniature marshmallows

Directions

1. Butter one 9x9 inch pan and set aside.
2. In a 3 quart saucepan, combine white sugar, brown sugar, milk, and butter. Cook to soft ball stage, 234 degrees F (112 degrees C). Remove from heat.
3. Stir in peanut butter, vanilla and marshmallows; continue stirring until marshmallows are melted. Pour into prepared pan and cool. Cut into squares and serve.

Smoothies are always a big hit in our house:

Frozen berries

Yogurt (usually vanilla here)

half a banana 

some OJ if we have it

blend and serve :)

I love Kraftrecipes.com for inspiration

Chicken pot pie

Taco Bowls

Stuffed Frenchtoast

and I think we might try this for tomorrows dinner :)

Pizza fondue

Spring forward!

These past two weeks have been a blur, we have had lots of things happening at the school, and in our homes lives. I was so happy for the weekend to arrive, and for it to bring March Break. Call me Kraze, but I am happy to have my monkeys away from their school for a little bit. It'll be a busy week with a few different things planned, but it should be fun. My sister is off, and my mom has a few days off. 

My oldest monkey got the March Break off to an awesome start with a sweet break away goal in TimBits hockey, lol. :) I wish I had been recording it!

After Hockey, the monkeys, my mom and I went to visit with a new addition to the world, a sweet little baby girl <3 She had quite a few other baby's visiting her, so I managed to get quite a bit of snuggle time between all the baby's there. The monkey's got a bunch of puppy time, with one of their favorite puppies, Gizmo. I can't wait till we can get them a puppy! 

Today has been all about our little family. The oldest Monkey is doing so much better in his reading and writing, and wrote out our grocery list for us. Thankfully it was a short list, and a quick trip to the grocery store. My plan was to come home and plant a few early seeds for fun, the monkeys love to watch things sprout and grow in the little mini green house things. When we got home, they had other plans, and wanted to watch "Monsters VS Aliens". Again. It turned out to be a good thing, as I can't find my seeds. I found the plastic container thing, and the soil, but we need the seeds were not where I thought I put them. I'm going to have to search the basement. 

The monkeys decided to play in their play area, hubby is sleeping, so I figured if I couldn't plant seeds I could at least  plan out my gardens.  My awesome hubby built me a raised garden when we moved in here, and we expected it to only be up for a year, two at the most, and then we would do some more permanent landscaping. That was 4 years ago.  I don't mind, it's a beautiful raised bed, but it is a little too small. We built a deck last year so I'll be able to put some gardens in around the edge of the deck, and I bought a few big planters, but after making my lists I'm still missing room for 4-5 veggies that I would like to grow. Looks like I'm going to have to adjust a few things :S This year we will have Tomatoes, Peppers (red, green, orange AND yellow!), lettuce, spinach, beans, peas, cucumbers, zucchini, carrots, and garlic thanks to my fall planning! :)  It's going to be a yummy summer! 

We are currently celebrating the start of daylight savings time by watching a movie and staying up "late". Hey, it only happens once a year ;) Happy Spring Forward day! 

Random Recipies

Two in one night! Yup, I've been slacking...
I love cooking, and baking.
Here are a few of the recipes I either love, or want to try:
Reese Peanut Butter Nanaimo Bars
My Fave Chocochip recipe

Cilantro Salsa

tomatoes
onions
jalapeño peppers
cilantro
lime juice

Directions:
Start with the amount of tomatoes you think will be appropriate for the number of servings you desire. I usually use six or eight, depending on their size. Chop the tomatoes into small, small pieces. Add onion and jalapeno peppers to taste (also chopped very small). Add chopped cilantro and lime juice (fresh is much better than reconstituted). Mix everything together and let sit for a couple of hours so the flavor can blend. This is really good with refried beans. It's also good with tortilla chips. Enjoy!




Perogies!!!

Rocky Road Fudge

2 Cups Chocolate Chips
1 Can Sweetened Condensed Milk
2tbsp Butter
2tsp vanilla
2 cups peanuts
1.5 cups mini marshmallows

Melt together chips, butter & milk (microwave is good because it doesn't burn and it's faster)
Stir in vanilla & nuts
Cool to lukewarm and fold in marshmallows
Pour into 9 X 13 pan lined with saran wrap 
Cool & store in fridge


Skor Cheesecake
2 tubs of cream cheese
2 eggs
1 lg tub of caramel apple dip
3-4 Skor Bars

Beat till smooth
crush 3-4 Skor bars and mix in
poor into a premade graham cracker pie crust 
Bake in preheated oven at 350 for 25 mins. 

Crock Pot Roast

Can of cream of mushroom

Can of water

Generous sprinkle of Epicure 3 Onion

few splashes of Worcestershire sauce

put everything in the crock pot with the beef, when done boil sauce down if necessary.

Tortilla Roll-Ups
These quick-to-assemble tortilla roll-ups have zing!


Servings: 15
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 0 minutes
Total Time: 10 minutes
Ingredients:


1 pkg. tortillas 
1 pkg. cream cheese
1/2 cup sour cream (I have used mayo (Hellman's) in a pinch and it was fine)
1 pkg. dry ranch dressing mix
6 green onions, chopped very fine
Salsa

Directions:
Mix cream cheese, sour cream, ranch mix, and green onion. Spread on tortillas. Roll the tortillas and wrap them in foil or plastic. Refrigerate overnight. Before serving, slice them into 1/2-inch pieces and serve with salsa. 




Sweet Potato Casserole

I have plenty more to come... And my MIL just gave me an amazing present, a cookbook from England with recipes dating back into the 1700 & 1800's and the early part of the 1900's. I had a brief look at it, but I'm really excited to read it this week and test out a few of the concoctions :)

Cell Phones & Parents

Those nearest and dearest to me know I'm an iPhone junkie. Hubby and I both have one, but I am lost without mine. I take it EVERYWHERE with me. I'm not just an iPhone junkie though, I'm a text-a-holic. I'm willing to admit it, but NOT willing to change, lol. My bff's BB is broken and I'm feeling the void :S
Anyways, this is about parents and cells... My dad got a cell phone last summer. I have no idea who helped him pick it out, or if he just got the cheapest one at the store, (a strong possibility) but he has an old school phone, without a keyboard. I'm sure, in his mind, he didn't think he would ever text. I don't even know if he knew what the word text meant. needless to say the first few messages he sent me were interesting, often half a message and followed up with a phone call. He's gone to Florida for the winter, and has graduated to e-mail, but is still clueless. His message is about 5 words that probably took him half an hour to type out :S This techish daughter tends to sigh and shake her head A LOT when it comes to her dad.

Thank goodness for my mom. Although she's not a computer person, she has worked with them forever, and has emailed us since I was in high school. My sister spent a year down under, and my mom would chat with her via skype or msn, ect. However, she's never been a cell phone person. She's had On-Star in two of her cars, and would use that, but she never felt the need for a cell phone. Before Christmas she bought one, then returned it. So after the kobo I bought her arrived broken, and not replaceable, I decided to get her a cell phone. I wasn't interested in locking her into a plan, and TBH she doesn't need a fancy smart phone or anything yet. I looked at a ton of prepaid plans for her and found an unlimited text, unlimited calling during a time block and unlimited web browsing for $20/month from Bell and decided on the LG Rumour 2 which has a slide out QWERTY keyboard. I set the phone up and added in a few contacts for her, then showed her how to add people in ect. So far it's been awesome! She's been texting me daily (we talk almost everyday anyways) and thus far we have avoided any http://parentsshouldnttext.com/ kuffles. She's learned to use the camera on her phone, and was taking pictures of the monkeys playing tim bits hockey :) She makes a techish daughter happy! <3 <3 <3