New Recipe Alert!!

Ohhhh yessss! 

This recipe is now a favorite and will be added to my weekly dinners! 

Crispy cabbage! This will make it easy to up my veggies at lunch and dinner! 

Sooo easy! 

set oven to  425˚F 

1 package of coleslaw mix or shredded cabbage 

Cookie sheet lined with parchment paper 

Nonstick cooking spray

1tsp of olive oil 

2 tbsp Of Everything but the bagel seasoning 

(I got mine here) 

Sea salt / pepper 

Lightly coat parchment with cooking spray 

Toss ingredients together and lay a thin layer of cabbage on cookie sheet

Cook for 15 min turning once and until cabbage is dry and edges look brown and crispy 

And there you go! A yummy veggie addition to your meal! 

Enjoy! 

Summer smoothies!

I have soo many great smoothie recipes! But for today I’ll share a few of my summer faves!!!!

Any protein shakes work for the recipes, I use my favorite shakeology. Vanilla, chocolate or cafe latte! 

What you need-

Blender or mini blender 

Frozen fruits/ veggies 

Protein shake 

Almond milk or any milk or water

Today’s fruity smoothie recipe! I enjoyed this one outside while the kids were playing! 

1 scoop of vanilla protein

 (I used vegan vanilla shakeology) 

Handful of frozen strawberries and banana 

10oz almond milk

Blend! So soo good and soo easy! 

Here are a few others I love! 

Boosted iced coffee (ok not a smoothie but cold and fresh) 

10oz coffee with almond milk 

with half a pack of cafe latte shakeology. 

Shake it up, add lots of ice! And enjoy!!

If you are looking for a balanced chocolatey smoothie, and sneaking some veggies in there haha. I have a good one for you! 

1 scoop of chocolate vegan protein powder 

1/2 cup of frozen cauliflower 

1/2 a banana 

Handful of ice 

A drop or 2 of vanilla extract

Sprinkle of Cinnamon

Blend up and enjoy this balanced cinnamon roll smoothie treat! 

Ahh there are soo many combos you can do! You get loads of protein and nutrients without all that sugar. Just look at this example I found on Pinterest. 

Ummmm 28g of sugar in a Starbucks! No thanks! 

So who’s with me! Make your own smoothies for the win!!  

Follow me on IG too so you don’t miss any new blends  I try this summer! 

Have a great day friends! 

Easy meals!

Let’s talk easy healthy meals!

We all know the deal! Veggies, fruit, protein, healthy carbs! 

So how do we put it all together the best way to get the most nutrients from our meals!? I’ll show you some examples! 

Take a look at these combos. Nothing special, no crazy recipes with tons of ingredients you need up rush out to buy. Just every day foods! 

Let’s plate it! 

Here’s breakfast. Whole wheat English muffin topped with an egg, I think I might have a slice of cheddar cheese under there too. Some bacon and heck I threw in a broccoli from dinner left overs 😛. This! This is a balanced breakfast! Even better with Stonemill bread which is my favorite whole grain bread. 

Lunch! 

Another easy meal! I split the whole wheat tortilla in half because it was a big one. Stuffed it with deli turkey, cheddar cheese, mustard and lettuce. With a side of more veggies! So easy and balanced! 

Dinner! 

Protein and lots of veggies!!! Salad, cauliflower bites mm mm and grilled chicken. Soo good. And soo easy.

Eating healthy doesn’t need to be hard! Use what you have, keep it balanced and there you go! You’re eating healthy!

Now go try it! Plate those healthy meals and tag me on insta!! @aka_mama_t 

What Do You Miss

Who else is missing some of their favorite shops? I’m totally missing Marshall’s Canada, winners and homesense! I was at one of these stores weekly! Some weeks daily 🤭

Ha! 

This workout outfit was one of the last outfits I bought at Marshall’s Canada. 😎Ahhh if they were open right now they would be filled with spring and summer clothing and household decor. It’s always my go to place to shop, for one it’s a 2min drive from me and it’s a place that has things for mama and for the kids. Because who has time to shop all over the place! 

Some of this decor was purchased just the week before March break! Ha! So I had a spring change up early this year.

I haven’t been really shopping online much for spring clothing. I’m hoping the stores open up soon for that! But I have been tempted with all the instagram outfit posts ha! 

Have you been shopping online and preparing for spring/ summer? What’s the first place you’ll shop at when we are all allowed back out! 

Ohhh and I can’t forget about a nice haircut and mani pedi! Those are high on my list of to-dos when this is all over 😃 

Grocery Shopping Reality

We are close to 60 days in quarantining or self isolation or social distancing- however you wanna call it! Many shops and restaurants have been closed for months. This weekend some are easing up and finally opening their doors to the public with many health measures. I'm watching the news and people are in line ups with masks and gloves and waiting to enter and quickly grab what they need. It's stressful and can take hours as they allow only a certain amount of people in at a time. 

When the shutdowns first began, grocery pickup/delivery from walmart or grocery gateway or instacarts were bombarded with orders. Getting a slot was like a miracle! So the early weeks of the shut down, before the lineups I had to go in and get our groceries, I did larger orders at a time so I didn't need to go in as often. Thankfully our local walmart opened up more spaces and for over  a month now I have my weekly grocery pickup, just as I use to have before this whole thing began. Remember! Those calm mornings with my Tim's coffee, driving up and getting out of my car to greet the employee, make some small talk... Not now. Now it's driving around back, opening the trunk as they quickly place the bags in keeping to a maximum time they are told to get it done which I think is 5 minutes.

We live North of the city, and yesterday we picked up our produce from a local farm. No line ups, tap to pay, in and out quickly.

Grocery bills have also increased these past 2 months. I would say they have doubled, maybe even tripled in what we use to do.  We are also trying to shop local as much as we can. Starting with this local farm for produce. Getting takeout from family owned restaurants in the area.  Being so grateful that we can help these struggling businesses. 

It's a year that will go down in history in so many ways.

 Stay safe out there friends. This too shall pass. 

Home School fun or not so fun

It’s been a month of homeschooling our kids and I can’t complain THAT much. Our school has provided us with the online tools based on their grade and their teachers have been soo supportive. 

Of course some days are harder than others. I mean, homework with mom and dad! Plus the distraction of TV and toys all around! Plus tired Monday’s! 

They rather play with their toys! Thankfully we have found a good balance that works well for us. 

1-2 hours in the morning after breakfast Monday to Friday has become our routine. After that it's lunch time and Mommy gets time for herself! ha! but do we really!

I have found that since everything is mostly computer based for the kids, especially for my 8yo. I wanted some extra tools for writing skills. So amazon to the rescue ha! I got some tracing books for my JK and flash cards, a Grade 3 Math book and an Affirmation book for journal writing. Just a little bit a day to keep up writing skills.

How are you all holding up? Do you homeschool longer than 1-2 hours? For my kids age/grades I find that’s plenty of work for the day. The rest of the day is “creative” play as we call it. Playing with each other and their toys, inside and outside in the backyard. 

As I’m writing this, I realize that we have a pretty good routine going on! Adapting to back to school will be a whole other ball game! 

Yummy Easy Banana Bread

No fail banana bread recipe! Moist and yummy! (updated post here)

2 cups flour 

2-3 bananas 

1 cup sugar

1tsp baking powder 

1tsp baking soda 

3/4 cup veg oil ( I use avocado oil)

2 eggs 

1/3 milk 

1tsp vanilla 

My no mess steps below! 

1. In a bowl to blend with blender add ripe bananas, 2 eggs, and oil. Blend 
2. Measure 1 cup sugar and add to the bowl of wet mixture and blend 
3. Measure 2 cups of flour and add 1tsp of baking powder and 1tsp baking soda.
4. Slowly blend in flour to the wet mixture and blend. 
5. Add 1/3 of milk and 1tsp of vanilla to bowl

Optional - Add other ingredients like crushed nuts or chocolate chips!

Sometimes I scoop out into muffins, the kids love that. 

I use a 9x13 pan. It’s more of a banana cake! 

Bake 350 for 30 min. Check with toothpick. My oven is usually exact with 30min with a 9x13. 

Enjoy!! 

Health and Wellness INSIDE OUT

When it comes to our overall health, we can't forget about our Mental Health!



Health and Wellness 100% starts from the inside. The foods we feed our bodies, the daily choices we make, the way we speak to ourselves, how we treat ourselves, how we treat others.



I've been reading Personal Development books ever since I was a teenager! I've been working on ME, ever since I can remember. I have been to therapy to help me grow from my trauma. It’s set me free from my limiting beliefs and has helped me learn how to grow and understand that learning and growing never stops! I'm always picking up a new book, or audio book. I want to hear other peoples stories. I love being reminded that we are STRONG, and WE CAN DO ANYTHING we put our MIND to! No one is perfect, we are all just trying to live our best life. We make mistakes, then grow from those mistakes. Life will throw us a curve ball now and again. How will we react to them? Some harder than others too.



Now more than ever, I have my book selection at my fingertips! As soon as I finish one, I'm on to the next. Our minds need the training, just as much as our bodies do!

Every book I read, teaches me something new. My latest book was Mastering Your Mean Girl. And boy does my mean girl like to take a hold over me sometimes. This book reminded me to lead with love. It can get confusing at times, so I've been repeating to myself "lead with love""respond in love" . Do I always? Nope, I'm still learning haha. This is life though. Learning, growing and evolving.



Are you reading any books right now? Drop me a comment below. I'll add what you recommend to my list!

Here's my list of my current Personal Development Books!
https://www.amazon.ca/shop/aka_mama_t

Stay at home/school

Hey Mama’s how are y’all  hold’n up! 

I really wish I blogged everyday since the beginning of this pandemic because the waves of emotions and adjusting has been, ummmm sorta like a rollercoaster. 

We are on DAY 40!!! So let me recap for my blog records :)

This all started on the first day of the kids March break! I won’t lie, it was all pretty exciting in a weird way. Being lucky enough to work from home and keep our family inside and staying home.  The kids were up late, lots of movies and screen time and junk food as mommy and daddy were glued to the news with anxiety but smiling faces to keep everyone in as normal and fun state as possible. 

The news talked about the rise in cases and the extra precautions we all have to take. Articles and news stories about washing produce and wiping groceries, wearing masks and gloves when you are out. It got very overwhelming at times. I panicked about food in our fridge and if we had enough of there was a total lockdown.  I made list after list of things we needed. Thankfully we haven’t had a strict lockdown here in our province. 

Whatsapp chats with alll our groups of friends and families kept us super busy exchanging thoughts and support.

And now here we are day 40. 

I think we are on week 3 of the official roll out from our schools for homeschooling.  Something that is new for all of us.  Teachers working extra hard to provide their students with as much support as possible. Parents trying to juggle homeschooling, work, multiple kids and a household. The busiest kind of busy! 

All while keeping it together.  Every family dynamic is different and every family does things differently. What works for me, might not for you. These are not normal times and we all have to make the best of it. 

These are the things that work for us during this crazy time.  

We have a light schedule. It’s not a strict one either. If the kids need extra sleep then they get it. They are usually up for 9am anyway. 

We enjoy breakfast together, no rushing. Plus mama needs a full cup of coffee before we fully start our day ha! 

After breakfast we head over to our workspace. Getting the boys to pay attention when they want to play instead and giggle and distract each other is no easy task haha! Some days are easier than others. We just roll with it! 

While I try and help my grade 3 with math and English, I get my 4yo to practice tracing and coloring. Then I switch over to help my 4yo with reading and site words. 

We work on school stuff for about 2 hours in the morning. The amount of work the school sends is about 1 hour a day, but we usually take 2 hours.  They complete their lessons that their teachers send by 12pm each day. 

Then it’s a free for all! Haha. They get to play in the backyard, have lunch and snacks, figure out fun games to play, relax and watch movies. I also have my time to work on my project and do house work while they have fun playing. 

This is what is working for us. This is what keeps my kids happy and having fun at home and not feeling the stress of the outside world. 

We have open communication with them, and help them understand what the whole world is going through and the changes to society right now. We have donated to food banks and those in need and pray everyday for the world and those who lost their lives to this virus. 🙏🏻

I want them to remember this time as calming as possible. I want them to remember how we were all lucky to be home together for months with love. Staying home to keep us and others safe. FaceTiming and phone calls to stay connected to those we love.

We are making history right now and we all need to be as gentle with each other as possible. 

Here’s to another day at home :) flattening that curve! 

Super Easy Lasagna Recipe

Easiest and most delicious Lasagna recipe using a pressure cooker for the meatballs and sauce! 

Ingredients

2 bottle of tomato purée 

2 mozzarella packages

Parmesan cheese

2 lean ground veal packages (if you buy the veal at the butcher, tell them to double grind it) 

1 package of lasagna noodle

Italian style bread crumbs 

1 egg (I don’t use eggs because of allergies)

Onion/garlic 

Olive oil 

Turn the sauté setting on the pressure cooker, add olive oil, (I don’t have specific measurements, but coat the whole bottom of the pot with oil!) Slice some onion very thin and 1 garlic very thin. Let these cook in oil then add the bottles of tomato purée you can add some water to jars to get all the sauce out and pour in the pot. Season with oregano/basil/ Italian blend. I also sprinkle Parmesan in the sauce mm mmm. 

Add veal to a bowl, season with with garlic powder, salt. (Any seasonings you like) Add breadcrumbs, little at a time and some olive oil. Mix with hands and form the meatballs.

Place the meatballs in sauce.

Set the pressure cooker to Soup/stew 30min!! 

(follow your pressure cooker/instapot directions) 

When sauce and meatballs are done... release the steam and open your pressure cooker. 

spoon out meatballs with some sauce in a bowl. 

Mash up the meat balls set aside. Make as saucy as you like. 

Cook lasagna noodles.

Drain. 

Get out your baking dishes to prepare the lasagna! 

Add sauce on the bottom of each dish, place lasagna noodles, meat sauce, mozzarella, lasagna, repeat. I think I did 3 layers. 

Once you get to the top, the last layer. Add the noodles and add sauce only, top with mozzarella and parmesan cheese 

Wrap with foil. Cook 30 min at 400F. 

Then remove the foil, cook another 15 mins

And done! A yummy Sunday dinner! Or Christmas lunch like we just had! Enjoy! This is the exact recipe my mother used for our Sunday lunches, minus the pressure cooker, ha! But the sauce and lasagna is sooo yummy! You’ll never know the difference!  

P.S save the extra sauce in jars for other dishes you can make during the week.