Printable: Easter Gift Tags

Me with an Easter basket
many years ago

Easter is one of my favourite holidays. I have many fond memories of waking up to find a big, beautiful Easter baskets that the 'Easter bunny' had left my sister and I. Opening it up to find a stuffed bunny, candies and chocolates in little plastic eggs! And with Easter there's spring and also my birthday is usually just a couple weeks away! 

Here are some printable tags for your Easter treats and give aways! You can print them on a good quality card stock and use them as gift tags or print them on sticker paper for stickers.

Happy Easter!

Click to download the PDF

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From Leftovers to Newovers: Creamy Curried Cauliflower & Sweet Potato Soup

Now that's a mouthful! Let's hear you say that 3 time fast! Haha

Today I'm introducing a theme for my blog: 'From Leftovers to Newovers.' When I was as kid, I didn't really like eating any leftovers from the fridge. Now, I've grown to like leftovers and I enjoy finding leftovers to create 'newovers' (does that work?? It's going to be a thing I tell ya haha!). I like to try to use up all the odds and ends I find in the fridge to come up with an new dish. Whether it be a bowl of rice, half a jar of sauce, veggies that are just about to go bad, or a bowl of butter chicken, it's fun to try and figure out what you can make with it all - kind of like my very own little Master Chef challenge. Once it's cooked up, it will last a couple more days in the fridge. Unless of course it's been eaten up, which is even better!

So instead of letting stuff in the fridge go to waste, try to find ways to use it up and you might end up with something delicious and maybe even a new recipe. Trying to find ways to combine ingredients that you wouldn't normally combine, is the challenging part but also fun part because you get to be creative and experiment! It's so rewarding when you've successfully made a nice meal and knowing that you got the most out of your money and groceries.

Here's my version of a curried cauliflower soup with my leftovers, but feel free to improvise your version!

Oods and ends findings: cauliflower and half a jar of butter chicken sauce.
What I turned it into: creamy curried cauliflower and sweet potato soup!

Tip: Having a well stocked pantry (as Jamie Oliver likes to say), helps for turning odds and ends into something yummy.

Serves: 4 to 6

You'll need: 

• 1 small head of cauliflower, chopped
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 2-3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 medium sweet potato, chopped 1 inch cubes
• 1 tbsp of vegetable oil
• 500ml chicken/vegetable stock
• 1 tbsp curry powder, 
• butter chicken sauce (if you have it kicking around like I did, if not you can substitute with 1 tbsp of curry powder / curry paste)
• 1/2 tsp chili powder (1 tsp if you like some more heat)
• 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
• 1 can coconut cream (optional, but recommended)
• salt & pepper to taste

How to:

1. In a large sauce pan, heat the vegetable oil on medium heat and sauté the onions until softened, about 5 minutes. If it starts to burn, add a tbsp of water.
2. Add cauliflower, sweet potato, chicken stock, spices, butter chicken sauce and if needed, add just enough water so the vegetables are just submerged. Bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat and cook for about 20 to 30 minutes or until veggies are tender.
3. Once the vegetables are soft, remove from heat. Using a stick blender, purée until creamy and smooth. 
4. Return to heat and if it's too thick, thin with more stock if desired, add coconut cream (optional). Salt and pepper to taste. Heat for a few minutes until hot.
5. Ladle into bowls and garnish with parsley or cilantro. 

Tip: Alternatively you can use a light cream instead of coconut cream. The soup is pretty good with out the cream but the coconut cream and curry go so well together and gives it that extra creaminess. 

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Printable: St. Patty's Keep Calm and Pinch on

St. Patrick's Day is only a few days away! I saw this saying browsing around the other day and it made me smile and I thought I might get into the green spirit this year. So I made this quick, fun printable for the the special day and I hope it makes you smile too!  Here's another one to add to the multitude of 'Keep Calm's out there.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

I've made this a 5" x 7" print out but you can easily resize the JPG in Word or Powerpoint.
Few ideas: frame it, stickers, cards, share it, phone wallpaper, tags, magnets, etc.

PDF or JPG

PDF or JPG

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DIY: Jewellery Stand / Cart

I did a simple add-on to this IKEA GRUNDTAL Cart/Trolley a few years ago and it is still one of my favourite things in my room back at my parents' house. It's meant to be for bathroom storage but I use it for my accessories, hair stuff, lotions, makeup, etc. and it sits right beside my mirror so everything is at a hands reach.

How it came to be... So one day, I came across this wire hanger set from IKEA, which hasn't been used and was just sitting in my basement. I was looking at the clips that come with it and a light bulb went off! Why not use these clips on my little cart to hang my necklaces? I thought I was really clever at the time ha ha! Anyway, I thought I should share this quick and easy DIY with you all.

I wish I could have this here with me in Oz, but maybe I'll just have to make another one for while I'm here?

(Thanks to my sister, Tiff, for helping me take these photos the other day since I couldn't, because I'm half way around the world. Someone invent a teleporter already!)

You'll Need

• A GRUNDTAL Cart/Trolley, from IKEA
• RIKTIG Curtain Hooks, from IKEA
• Pliers

How To

1. Hold on to one side of the loop, using pliers to hold the other side and bend/twist to open gap large enough to fit it over the bar. If you have 2 sets of pliers, it might be easier to use one on each side and it's not as hard on your fingers. 
2. Hook it on to the bar.
3. Bend the loop back to its original state with the pliers to close it around the bar.. Repeat steps 1 to 3 until you have desired amount of clips hanging from the bars.
4. Hang / clip your jewellery.
5. Voila! Your very own Jewellery / Accessories Cart.

These are the hooks that came with the DEKA Curtain Wire but you can get similar ones such as the RIKTIG clips.

Tiff, demonstrating hooking it on to the bar for us.

Using pliers bend the hooks back to original position.

Like my old school, boxed TV in the background? 

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DIY: Paint Chip Wall Art

Inspiration

Here's a super easy, and cheap way to fill up a big, empty wall space... lots of paint chips on a large piece of hardboard! I know it's not an original idea but I just really like the way they it looks. When I was re-decorating the basement (the theme was geek chic), back home in Calgary, I was looking for ideas to decorate the walls and came across this DIY wall art for my inspiration. There are countless ways to use / lay out the paint chips but I just kept it simple because I like that pixelated, water colour look. And since both my sister and I are in the graphics/new media industry, I thought it was a suitable piece for the space.

My first paint chip art for
the basement of my parents'
house back home in Calgary

I had made a poster size one for our basement, but for our place in Newcastle, Australia, I wanted something on a bigger scale. Living in a rental, on a 6 month lease, and not wanting to spend a lot of money on decorating, but still wanting to make the place feel more 'homey', it forces you to think of or find other, more affordable, ways of decorating! The colour of the walls in this rental is like an old, creamy-yellowy colour which I'm not very fond of so I wanted something big and affordable to fill the big wall space up.

So, I went to the local hardware store for the paint chips. Collected a whole bunch in blue, green, pale yellow hues as I wanted an ocean/beach feel because our place is a few kilometres from the beach. I loved how big these paint chips were too and conveniently already squared = no trimming necessary.

What You'll need:

• a large piece of hardboard, from your local hardware store
  (the one I found is about 48" x 36")
• a bunch of paint chips, free from your local hardware store
• double-sided tape
• paper cutter or x-acto knife to square the paint chips if needed

How to:

1. Once you've picked up your paint chips and hardboard, arrange the paint chips on the floor to your liking.

Note: You might have to do some measurements and calculations as to what size you want your final piece to be for the hardboard and how many chips you'll need because paint chips come in different sizes and shapes. Lucky for me I found squared chips and the perfect sized hardboard.

After laying out and arranging the paint chips to my liking, a bit of a diagonal gradient, I had to figure out what to use to stick the paint chips on. I didn't want to stick it straight on the wall and worry about taking it off when we move, so I went back to the hardware store and found a large piece of white hardboard (48" x 36") for $15 that was just the size I was looking for. It wasn't too heavy but firm enough to stay standing against a wall. A canvas that size would have been much more expensive so I opted out of that option. The size of the chips and the board were meant for each other because I was able to get an even boarder all the way around.

2. Use double-sided tape on each corner of the chips and stick them down onto the board. You can either over lap the chips so you cover the shade names or leave them showing.  I left them showing so align the chips as straight and as close to each other as you can.

I used double-sided tape on the corners of the back of the chip to make sure that it would stick and stay down on the board but you could use a good glue or a spray glue but I find double-sided tape is less messy. If you have a look at the first one I made, you can kind of see the edges of the chips are a bit lifted, that's because I used a glue stick. I think double-sided tape is your best bet. It might take a bit longer but the end result is cleaner looking so it's worth the extra time.

I asked my handy boyfriend if we should frame it (and if would want to make one heh heh) and hang it or just leave it leaning against the wall and we decided on the latter, the easier route. 

3. Time to show it off!

I placed mine on top of our console table so that it was eye level and it worked perfectly in that spot. There you have it, a simple, easy, $15 piece of 'art' to fill up some wall space and add some colour!

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Blueberry and Cream Cheese Wrap

A quick way to satisfy that sweet tooth! I've seen this done as a grilled sandwich but I wanted something on the lighter side. I usually get Mountain Bread for my lunch wraps but I found these new Sorj wholemeal wraps and decided to give them a try. They are quite similar to Mountain Bread wraps and are pretty tasty. I love how there are so many different options for wraps here in Australian grocery stores! Now, you could use fresh blueberries but I chose to use frozen blueberries because I would be grilling the wrap and wanted the blueberries to stay nice and cold.

You'll Need:

• frozen blueberries 
• light cream cheese (or regular)
• light wrap
• sandwich grill
• dust of icing sugar (optional)

How To:

1. Just simply spread as little or as much cream cheese to your liking
2. Add a few blueberries 
3. Dust a bit of icing sugar for an extra touch of sweetness
4. Wrap it up and grill, on medium heat, it for about 30 seconds to a minute 
5. Enjoy!

PS. This filling would totally be yum in a crepe too, might try that next time!

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Quinoa Sweet Potato Burger

I absolutely love this recipe for quinoa sweet potato cakes that I found by GenY Foodie. I was looking for ideas to make something with quinoa and sweet potatoes and Google search led me to this!

I am currently obsessed with quinoa and its versatility and I have also been having sweet potato cravings lately. So, I am thrilled to have found something that combines the two and, let me tell you, this quinoa sweet potato cake is very delicious, full flavoured and juicy. Even the boyfriend gave his 2 thumbs up knowing that it doesn't have any meat in it!

It is very filling and you can eat on its own, burger style, as a sandwich or break it up into a salad. Each cake is ONLY 164 calories (if you're counting that is)!

I chose to have it burger style:

• sandwich thins
• a dark green leafy lettuce
• sliced cucumbers
• avocado slices
• havarti cheese
• a touch of ranch dressing

And it kept me full and feeling satisfied. 

Here's the quinoa sweet potato cake recipe! Yum!!

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