Pizza Cupcakes

Did somebody say pizza cupcakes?? 

Yea I did! 

I’m into my third and final week of this practicum. My placement was actually switched during the first week, so I ended up being in a grade 5 class instead of a grade 2 class. Everything is lovely, and I am truly enjoying this placement! 

While on practicum, I don’t have a lot of time for… umm… anything. So I spent a few days prior to the start of this practicum filling my freezer with pre-made meals that I just need to pop in the toaster oven. I can handle that much meal prep… most days. 

These pizza cupcakes were one of the meals I made during that cooking marathon. I like them for lunches while I’m at the school. This recipe was modified from the recipe I found here. 

DIY Dresser Re-Do Part 2: Drawers

Last week I posted about my shiny new dresser! It ended up being a beautiful reno, and well worth the amount of time I put into it. 

A large portion of this work revolved around the drawers. This was more than simply removing the hardware, slapping some paint on there, and affixing new hardware. It was a process indeed. 

DIY Dresser Re-Do

Today I start my second practicum!! It's at the same school as my first practicum, but with a grade 2 class instead of a grade 6 class. I'm really excited! I love the primary grades!

So, this is what I did over my exam week: 

I had an exam on Monday and Tuesday, so that left Wednesday to Sunday open for Crafting Extravaganza! It was a great five days. The dresser was my big, ongoing project, but I had a lot of other mini-projects and cooking projects on the go throughout the five days as well. Check it out: 

I made a small ceramic chalk board, 

I made some stained glass snowflakes, 

I made a clock out of a pot lid, 

And I stenciled an area rug for my bedroom (not pictured above). 

And in the kitchen: 

I cooked up some chicken parmesan meatloaf, 

I cooked up some pizza cupcakes, 

And I baked some BBQ sauce meatloaf. 

I’ll be blogging about those things soon, and linking as I do. 

Glass Dyeing and Etching

This is a crafty post, detailing how I snazzied up my memories jar. If you’re not sure what a memories jar is, check out this post where I talked about why it might be a good thing to have. 

So, memories jar=good. In theory. My problem was that my memories jar was just a recycled spaghetti sauce jar with the label peeled off, and a sad looking label from my digital label maker affixed to it, proclaiming to all who bothered to read “MEMORY JAR”. 

Functional, but not very pretty. Until I had a particularly quiet weekend, giving me the opportunity to make a new, pretty jar: 

Braided Spaghetti Bread

The school year is flying by! This week and next week I’m writing midterms, and that means that half of my coursework is done! It also means that I’m going out on another practicum in two weeks! The practicums are, by far, the best part of this university experience. The coursework is kind of a joke, and mostly tedious. 

I’ve also realized recently that Christmas is coming! I’m one of those annoying people who start Christmas shopping in January, and have it finished by August. But that means that I have all sorts of time for Christmas crafting!! I’ll be starting on that next week (after the midterms). 

Anyways, today I have a spaghetti recipe that looks pretty darned spiffy because it includes the garlic bread right in the dish. It’s braided spaghetti bread! 

DIY tiny frames for tiny labels

Let's take a moment on Remembrance Day to honour soldiers, past and present. 

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I am very excited about today’s post! 

Excited indeed! 

This weekend, instead of doing my schoolwork, I decided to do some crafting. I’m responsible like that, you see. But this craft marks the beginning of my biggest project to date! So I am excited! The rest of the project will happen after midterms.  Actually, my biggest project to date is my DIY upholstered headboard. I'm not sure if this one is bigger or not. We'll see.

This weekend I used silicone moulds and moulding sticks to create tiny little frames for tiny little labels! 

Ok, so I just gave away the rest of the project. If you read my blog regularly, you may remember when I mentioned my big project in my post about bedroom updates. The plan is to revamp my dresser, giving it a healthy coat of black, along with some other much needed updates. 

Mind-Blowing Banana Cream Cake

I found something so delicious, it will knock your socks off! 

Banana Cream CAKE! 

So much goodness…. You can’t understand the goodness! 

First Practicum Review

Welcome back! 

(I’m talking to myself here) 

Ok, so I took a bit of a blog hiatus while I was on my first practicum. There are three major reasons for this: 

1) Practicum was intense guys. I worked my tush off for the past 3 weeks and was exhausted all the time. 

2) Contrary to the implication made by this post’s time stamp, I like to blog in the morning. I’m far more productive in pretty much every aspect of life in the morning. During practicum I arrived at my school at 8:30 each morning, so there was no blogging to be done in the AM. 

3) My number one blog supporter (my brother) was without internet until last week, so I felt that my awesome posts could wait until my promoter was back behind his desk. 

Hi Mat

Mat, say hello to everyone. 

I was assigned my first practicum this week. I got a grade 6 class in a small suburban town about 10km outside of The City. Very upper-middle class, very Anglo. I think it’s going to be a nice place to learn the basics of how to teach, before being introduced to all the different aspects of super diverse classrooms (I’m sure that will come with my future practicums. At least I hope so; I do want to experience teaching in a culturally and socioeconomically diverse classroom.). 

My associate teacher seems like a very nice woman, though very precise with high expectations, which is perfect. Though my practicum doesn’t start until Monday, I went in for a half-day today to check out the classroom and meet the kids and teacher. The kids were pretty underwhelmed about my presence, but they’re in grade 6, how excited are they going to get. 

I don’t know how I’m going to like grade 6. It definitely is not my first choice of grades; those kids are way too old for my liking. But when I was doing my placements for ECE I said the same thing going in to my school-age placement (I thought for sure I was meant to be a toddler teacher), and I ended up loving school-age. We’ll see. 

Anyways, about my mat. Mat, where are you? 

There he is. 

Baked Potato and Bacon Soup

The weather is just barely beginning to get crispy, and already I’m breaking out my hearty soups. I love soup at any time of the year, but there’s nothing quite like getting cozy on the couch with a warm bowl of soup on a crisp fall day. 

That’s why this week I made baked potato and bacon soup 

I know, I know, that looks gross. Hey, my job is not to make food pretty, it’s to make food yummy. And that food you see up there… well it was YUMMY!! 

Upcycling Tin Cups to Office Supply Holders

I have a confession. Sometimes I buy certain brands of food because I like the packaging they come in. This is the case with these peach slices:

There’s something nostalgic about those little metal tins that just cannot be matched by plastic cups. But then, after throwing who knows how many in the recycling bin, I had a small epiphany: I can do something crafty-like with those. 

After some debate amongst the different ideas that came into my head, I landed on making a handful of them into office supply holders. 

Easy DIY Jewellery Organizer

Well, it took a couple weeks, but my apartment is 100% unpacked. *YAY* 

The very last thing I had to set up was my jewellery organizer.  

I made this organizer pre-blog, and therefore don’t have pictures of the construction process, but it was very easy, and only about $3 to make. 

Group Painting: An Exercise in Social Skills

It’s the beginning of a new week. The first week of real classes for me, seeing as last week was mostly introductions and icebreaker games. It’s is impossible for me to believe that in three short weeks I will be in an elementary school for my first practicum, teaching children in a real classroom.

Speaking of children in a classroom, today I would like to share an art project I did with my daycare kids over the summer. This group project was very easy, but reinforced lessons taught about cooperation, compromise, and respect for other peoples’ space. 

Student Life: Time Management

Over the past week I have truly begun to embrace the idiom “there are not enough hours in the day”.

Getting a Bachelor of Education is hard work guys! No… that’s not right… it’s time consuming. The work itself is not all that hard, but there’s just so much of it! Rather than the conventional course load of 5 full-time classes, I have 12 full-time classes, and 4 3-week practicums, all squished tightly into an 8 month period. It’s madness. The workload was not nearly this overwhelming during my undergrad or my college diploma program. 

That being said, I know that the key to success is organization. And I’m pretty stellar at that. I went out and bought myself a shiny new agenda, and that made me feel better. It’s (pleather) bound, and has refillable pages for upcoming years, and a little pen loop. It looks very spiffy and professional. 

BBQ Beef Tarts

I haven’t started cooking yet here in The City, because unpacking, job seeking, and school orientation has been taking up all of my time. I have been living off of pizza pockets, frozen lasagna, and microwave popcorn for the most part. What a healthy diet for the week! No wonder I’ve been feeling a bit sick. I have plans to start cooking again soon, but who knows, really. 

Anyways, this is a quick and easy dish I made while I was still in Small-Town. The original recipe can be found here. Paired with mashed potatoes would be great, but if you’re too lazy to make mashed potatoes, like me, you can pair these tarts with mini carrots and apple slices. 

I'm Back

Well, that was a long, and very busy 2 weeks. But I am happy to say that I have moved to The City, finished orientation at university, and start classes on Monday! Everything looks to be lining up perfectly… except for employment… which is probably because I haven’t had time to pass out resumes yet. That’s happening tomorrow. 

I had a pretty small moving team: For the in-town move of half of my possessions to storage, I had my dad and two of my brothers, and for the long-haul move, I was accompanied by my dad and one brother. It all worked out though. My new apartment is on the ground floor, so that makes it much easier to move things in. 

When we left Small-Town, this is what came with us: 

The truck was way too big for what I had, but on the most popular moving weekend of the entire year, it was all that was available. 

Quick update for my loyal readers

Today I needed to go to the grocery store for some milk. I put on my shoes, grabbed my purse, and went out the back door of my building. Instantly, I was met by a huge, dense plume of smoke, and the smell of burning timber. A historical building was fully engulfed in flames a mere block away from my home! I dropped all plans of grocery shopping, and joined the gawking townspeople on the sidewalk. 

At that time, the building had been burning steady for a few hours. Fire crews had come from all the neighbouring towns. They were pumping water from the river, because they had already used up too much water from the town towers. 

It made for an interesting afternoon. The building has been extinguished now, but it is beyond salvaging. It will be demolished. 

Memories Jar - for positive mental health

There’s a jar that I keep on my desk. In it are little slips of paper that have written on them happy moments that happen to me. I call it my memories jar. Each year on New Year’s Day (or thereabouts) I dump out my jar, read these happy notes, and start all over. 

I like the practice of having a memories jar for three reasons: 

1) Every January I get to read all of my little notes from the previous year, and that makes me happy. 

2) Seeing my memories jar on my desk every day makes me think of the things I have written down and stuffed in there, giving me a daily reminder that life is alright. 

3) Sometimes I look at my memories jar and realize I haven’t added any notes to it in a couple weeks. This causes me to reflect on recent weeks gone by, and assess what has gone well, rather than dwell on negative things. I then get my little slips of paper and play a little catch up. 

Shrinky Dinks with the Kiddos

Do you remember my post a few weeks ago about DIY ShrinkyDinks using any #6 plastic? Well, I brought this craft into my class at the daycare, and it was a huge hit! 

I was able to get a large take-out container from my local grocery store. It was meant for one of those huge rectangular pizzas, and the lid was made of #6 plastic! *yay* 

I cut the lid up into 24 rectangles, about 2”x3” each. I rounded the corners of each rectangle, and hole punched them each near the top. 

DIY Couch Deep-Clean

This is the story of how I saved my couch from more than a year’s worth of old, dried, stained, super smelly cat urine. Sit back, this is a long post.

If you’re a cat owner, then no doubt you know how hard it is to get rid of the smell of cat urine. A couch as bad as mine, many people would just throw out. It was B-A-D! Smell-up-my-whole-living-room-bad. The girl responsible for the smell had to find a new home because after months of vet visits and in-depth home observations, the cause of her peeing could not be identified. It was a tough decision, but she’s in a nurturing rehab environment now.

I’m going back to university in a month and can’t afford a new couch, so I found a way to clean and deodorize mine. It’s been a month of hot, humid weather (the weather in which cat stench thrives), and so far no odour!

Shepherd's Pie

If you follow my blog, you may have figured out by now that I’m a meat-and-potatoes gal. I don’t throw many spices, flavours, or wild vegetables into the mix very often. And what is one of my favourite meat-and-potatoes dishes to make? Why, shepherd’s pie, of course! 

This recipe is loosely based on a recipe that I found online years ago... Hold on to your hats people, this one is quick! 

Sharpie on Ceramic Dish: Trinket Dish

We’ve been talking about woman’s health a lot lately, with my 3 part series on bra fitting. Let’s do something artsy, mkay? 

I present to you my version of Sharpie on ceramic dish: 

 Ain’t she purdy? 

I’ve seen a lot of hype on Pinterest about this craft project. I’ve also read a lot of bloggers claim that this particular craft is a bust/hoax/fail. Well, with a little bit of research, common sense, and careful handling, I can proudly confirm that this craft can be very successful. 

Bra Fitting 101, Part 3

I’ve recently educated myself about bras – their sizing, fit, cut, etc. The most shocking thing I learned was that 80% of women are wearing the wrong sized bra!! Guess what... I was one of those 80%, but not any more! 

This is the final part of a 3-part series in which I have tried to be as informative as possible about bra fitting, without being too overwhelming (I hope). Part 1 was a nice intro on some bra basics. In part 2, I talked all about my old bras that were all the wrong size, and compared some signs of an ill-fitted bra to a well fitted bra with pictures. Today I will be sharing how to measure yourself to find your real bra size (you’ll be shocked at the size you come up with... I was). 

Bra Fitting 101, Part 2

I’ve recently educated myself about bras – their sizing, fit, cut, etc. The most shocking thing I learned was that 80% of women are wearing the wrong sized bra!! Guess what... I was one of those 80%, but not any more! 

This is part 2 of a 3-part series talking about bra fitting. Part 1 touched on how a bra works, and common problems women face when fitting bras. Today I will be showing you one of my bras that I thought fit perfectly, until I learned the truth *duh duh duuuuuh* 

These are the bras I’m going to use for my demonstrations! The ill-fitted bra, to the left, is a 34C, which is the size I have been wearing for the past decade. The well-fitted bra, to the right, is a 30E. It sounds like a ridiculous size, but stay tuned for part 3 and it will all make sense. (they look better worn under the tank, I promise) 

They look pretty similar, right? WRONG! 

Of the common fitting problems I mentioned in part 1, this old bra has almost all of them, and the new bra has none! Check it out: 

Bra Fitting 101, Part 1

Ok ladies, today we get up close and personal with our breasts. This is a topic that caught my attention a few months ago, and now I have made it my mission to spread the word.

I’ve recently educated myself about bras – their sizing, fit, cut, etc. The most shocking thing I learned was that 80% of women are wearing the wrong sized bra!! That statistic, as far as I can tell, is unverified. But based on the bras sizes stocked by most stores, and the average size of ladies, I’d say it’s an accurate stat. And guess what... I was one of those 80%, but not any more! 

It all started with this video by Caty135, and became a multiple hour research project of mine (because I don’t trust anything unless I’ve heard it from multiple unrelated sources... it’s the academic in me). What I learned made a lot of sense, and I want to share it with as many people as possible! 

I will share this information in 3 parts. Guess what?? This is part 1! YAY!! Part 1 is about the bra, how it works, how it doesn’t work, and common problems. Part 2 will show pictures of an ill-fitted vs a proper fitting bra, and describe the difference. Part 3 will show how to measure yourself, so you can get your own shiny new bras that fit! 

Chicken Pot Pie

Ugh, today my computer is being buggy, so I have to write this post on my tablet. Not the most fun use of my tablet, for sure. Anyways...

One of my favourite go-to dinners is chicken pot pie. It’s is quick and easy, it’s a one-dish meal, it’s delicious, it’s freezable, and it’s in single serving portions. 

The recipe I used is an adaptation of Kraft Canada’s recipe. I like this recipe because the crust is crispy on top and gooey inside, and it’s super easy to put together. The crust is absolutely my favourite part of the dish... It’s good stuff... I would eat it all by itself if I could. 

Bedroom Updates

I’ve slowly been trying to make my bedroom look a little more put together; giving it a unifying style as an attempt to class up the joint. I wish I had a before picture. It looked a little granny, and a little 80’s. But that is slowly changing! I’ve decided to go with black and white furniture and accents, because that way I can paint my walls with an assortment of bright colours, and everything will still go. 

The process started with getting rid of my bed frame, then I made my headboard, and then I made my toilet paper roll wall art with an awesome salvaged frame. You can see those projects here, here, and here, respectively. 

Rather than taking on the big project next, I decided to start accessorizing.

Make Your Own Shrinky Dinks!

Have you guys tried out shrink dinks?

I’ve wanted to try this fun, cute, and easy craft with the kids at daycare, but haven’t because the kits are pretty expensive. Especially when you consider what they actually are... pieces of plastic that you colour and heat to shrink. 

Then I read on this blog that you can make your own shrink dinks out of any #6 plastic! That’s the type of plastic most take-out containers are made out of. I picked up a few containers for free from the Meals-to-Go section at my local grocery store. Just ask the person behind the counter, they should be ok with giving you a couple containers... unless they’re a jerk... then I suggest you find a new grocery store. 

Spaghettizza

I tried out a new recipe this week that I found on Money Saving Mom I’m calling it spaghettiza, but it is essentially a spaghetti based lasagne with pizza on top. Which is awesome.

 Looks yummy! 

DIY Four Square Scribble Art

Hey look! I received some advice from my social-media-savvy cousin this weekend, so you can now subscribe to my blog via RSS or email. Still available are the previous options of following my blog on Pinterest or Liking it on Facebook. So many ways to find out about new posts! They're all right over there → 

So today we're going to do some artwork. Here’s an easy art project that doesn’t take a lot of time or skill, but makes a big impact on a bare wall. I call it my Four Square Scribble Art.

Get Those Good Habits Rolling!

Let’s get in to some healthy habits. I don’t know about you, but I find starting up a new good habit to be really, really hard. I feel motivated and accomplished for about four days, but then I get lazy and revert back to my old ways. A month later I look back at my failed attempt to better myself and feel like an undisciplined underachiever. 

I think this is something everyone goes through sometimes. 

While studying in psychology, I took a class entitled Motivation and Emotion. It was one of my favourite classes, actually. One of the things covered in this class is the difference between instant and delayed gratification. It occurred to me that I was having so much trouble forming new good habits because there was no immediate reward, only hopes of a better future life. 

Beef and Broccoli over Rice

Life is back into full summer swing. Working full-days with my kindergartens, helping out in the toddler room, melting for hours on end when I get home. 

Oh ya, my apartment is regularly hotter than the outdoor temperature. I can’t open my windows because I have them sealed off to keep the mud wasps out. I have an air conditioner, but I don’t run it all day so that I can cut back on hydro consumption. So, it’s hot. I pity the pig, who has no escape from my sweltering living room. 

 That’s Molly. She’s a hedgehog, but I call her piggy. You know, hog... pig... Anyways. 

When it’s so hot, turning on the oven is simply not an option, so this week’s cooking was done in the slow cooker. I love my slow cooker! This week’s recipe is based off the one found on Key Ingredient: Beef and Broccoli over Rice 

Ingredients: 

•  1 lb stewing beef 

• 1 375mL can beef broth 
• 1/2 cup Worcestershire sauce 
• 1/3 cup brown sugar 
• 1 Tbs olive oil 
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder 
• 2 Tbs corn starch 
• Fresh broccoli florets – as much as you like, I used one stock 

Directions: 

I used my 3qt slow cooker, and it is the perfect size. Put the beef in the crock. In a bowl, mix beef broth, Worcestershire sauce, brown sugar, olive oil, and garlic powder. Poor that liquid over the beef in the crock. 

 

Cook on low for 6 hours. 

After 6 hours, carefully remove about 3 Tbs of the liquid from the crock and put it in a bowl. Thoroughly mix the corn starch with the liquid in the bowl, then poor the liquid back into the crock. 

Add your broccoli florets to the crock, mix everything, and cook on high for 30 minutes to one hour (depending on how smooshy you like your broccoli). The liquid needs to boil in order for the corn starch to make it thicken, so remember to switch the heat to high! 

Pair this deliciousness with a rice of your choice. 

I’ve made this dish about four times, and it has tasted different every time. I’m not sure why. I must be changing ingredients depending on what I have in my kitchen. Or the fact that I don’t measure any of my ingredients. Hmm. Ok, I guess I know why it's different every time. 

The original recipe called for soy sauce rather than Worcestershire sauce, but I use the latter simply because my soy sauce bottle is fused closed with dried sauce, and I’m too lazy/cheap to get a new bottle. Worcestershire sauce is essentially just soy sauce with a few extra ingredients anyways, right??