Test your resolve

Definition of a resolution: “A firm decision to do or not to do something”.

I love the time between Christmas and New Year’s Eve as the race towards Christmas is over and we now have a new year to look forward to. What do we want to accomplish in the new year? What do we want to do more of and what did not work in the year gone by?

I will be reading 52 books in the next 52 weeks and here are some that are based on a one year challenge.

Remember the book “Julie and Julia” by Julie Powell. Julie decided to cook every one of the 524 recipes in Julia Childs’ cook book “Mastering the Art of French Cooking” and that she wanted to do it in one year. It became a bestselling book and also a major motion movie starring Meryl Streep as Julia Childs. Documenting the journey became Julie Powell’s way of doing something that she was in control of.

The following are all ideas that eventually became bestselling books:

“The 100-mile Diet, a year of local eating” by Alisa Smith and J.B. Mackinnon is a book about a couple who decided to only eat food that was grown within 100 miles of where they lived. They documented the successes and the challenges that resulted from this and wrote a book about the experiment.

“Not Buying It” by Judith Levine is a book about not spending anything for a year except necessities. The rules were to only spend money on things like food, utilities and toiletries. They renewed their library card before starting and borrowing books and movies became a much loved activity. Gifts were home made, they cancelled the cable and were grateful when company brought wine for dinner. They lost weight, saved money and really got a renewed appreciation of the thrill of buying new socks and a new book once the year has passed.

“So we sold our house and ran away to the South Pacific” by Gordon Cope – also a one year dream/challenge. Mr. Cope and his wife quit their jobs in Calgary and sold their house in order to live in the South Pacific for a year. This was followed up by spending a year in France and England which also turned into books.

“365 Nights: A Memoir Of Intimacy” by Charla Muller. On the eve of her husband’s birthday, Charla told him that his present was going to be sex with her every day for a year. “I never wanted him to look back and ask himself: "Now, what was it Charla bought me for my 40th?" she says. When I came up with the idea of daily sex for a year, I thought I'd hit the jackpot. What man wouldn't think that was the best present ever?

So maybe I will combine all of the above, cook more, continue to support the local economy, travel and have more sex! Sounds like a great beginning to 2012 to me! Happy New Year!

Sometimes it’s hard to be Merry!

When I look at the calendar I know it is Christmas soon but this year I am
having a hard time getting in the mood. I love the idea of Christmas but I feel that every year we get further and further away from the true meaning of Christmas. I only feel annoyance when I try to negotiate the jam packed aisles in the stores and if I hear 'Jingle Bells" one more time I might cry.

How much can we possibly cram into December? In addition to going to work and taking kids to regularly scheduled activities there are now also Christmas concerts in every child's grade, baking, gift shopping and wrapping, company parties for you and your spouse and tree decorating. Some people even manage to write Christmas cards to everyone they know and to mail parcels to faraway lands.

All I want for Christmas is for my family to be together, to have turkey and to get the almond hidden in the Danish rice pudding that we have for dessert. That’s it, that’s all I want…. and world peace of course!

I will put up a tree today that my friend guilted me into buying last night and I will decorate it today with my daughter’s help. I will buy gifts for everyone but really on the inside I feel for and pray for all the people I know who are just trying to get through this time of year.

Several people with financial problems, a former tenant who broke her back when she slipped in the bath tub, a neighbor battling cancer and a friend trying to decide if she should leave her husband or stay for the sake of the kids.

This year I will make an effort to get to Church for a Christmas service (I am also very annoyed that it is not called Christmas anymore, don’t wish me a happy holiday o.k. - its CHRISTMAS) and maybe I will find what I am looking for there.

I will count my blessings on Christmas Eve and be grateful for all the things that are not for sale like LOVE, FRIENDS, HEALTH and FAMILY.

Keeping my money in Canada - update

Yesterday I went shopping at “Roots” with a friend who shops there every Christmas as she has started a tradition of sending clothing from this Canadian brand store to her family in the States. I was impressed by her commitment to promoting Canadian products which is something I really believe in.

While my friend shopped I looked around and tried to find an item actually made in Canada but eventually I had to give up. I was approached by a very friendly clerk and I asked her questions about the products in the store. She told me that nothing is the store was actually made in Canada any longer which I found to be such an irony. Here is a store that only sells Canadian brand items and nothing is actually made here!

I now always ask the question “where is this made?” and have found a lot of surprises along the way. I have found tooth paste, deodorant and shampoo which is made in Canada and I have now switch to these brands.

I bought a coat for my son which proudly displayed the Canadian flag but upon closer inspection I found that the coat was designed in Canada but not made here. He also needed a couple of undershirts and they were made in Canada by Stanfield's in Nova Scotia.

I found carpet at Home Depot which was made in Canada and it was on sale at a really great price.

I spent a lot of time at Fruits & Passion which is a fragrance and body care company with stores in most malls throughout Canada.

So this year everyone on my list will be getting Stanfield's underwear and Fruits & Passion body care items for Christmas and my money will stay in Canada!

Teach your kids to cook

Fake Lasagne

This recipe only requires 10 minutes of preparation and then into the oven it goes for 50 minutes. This gives you lots of time to get settled at home after work, help the kids with homework or just put your feet up and wait for the timer to announce that dinner is ready. I usually serve this with a salad or bread.

This is also one of the first recipes my teen-agers learned to cook as it is easy and the results are very impressive. Don’t forget to teach your kids to cook and get comfortable in the kitchen. Turning groceries into a meal is a very important life lesson.

Cost of this meal is about $12 and there is plenty for 5 people (cost of fast food for a family of 5 - $38)

675g lean ground beef
1 small onion
1 can chopped green chilies
1 can cheddar cheese soup
1 cup salsa
½ cup each of grated cheddar cheese and grated mozzarella cheese
12 pieces of oven ready lasagne noodles
2/3 cup of water
More cheese as topping

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees

Brown meat in a tablespoon of Canola oil at medium heat and add the chopped onion. Brown for a few minutes until meat is no longer pink. Add the can of chilies, the soup, salsa and cheeses and stir until well blended.

Layer in a rectangular lasagne pan in this order, 1/3 lasagne noodles and 1/3 sauce. Do this 2 more times. Drizzle water all over and top with more grated cheese if you wish.

Cover tightly with foil and bake in hot oven. Set timer for 50 minutes. When done, take it out of the oven and let stand for 5 minutes before serving.

You can contact me at ullameredith@gmail.com if you have any comments or questions.

Buying Canadian made when possible

It takes awhile to get used to asking the question “is this made in Canada”? and I forgot several times and only thought of it after I had left the store.

I was sitting at the Quick Lube in Okotoks when I remembered my Canada First commitment and asked the guy if this was a Canadian or an American franchise. To my surprise it was not only a Canadian owned business but not a franchise. The oil filter was made in Mexico and the attendant didn’t know where the oil came from but I certainly hope that it is local! How much of the oil from the Fort McMurray area stays in Canada and how much is exported? I don’t know anything about engine oil but considering how many vehicles are on the roads there must be a lot of oil changes happening every day. Is there an engine oil on the market with local oil and how would I know? Maybe we should develop a brand of engine oil called “Canada First Lube” so there will be no guessing where it is from.

A lot of my groceries are already fairly local but wanted to check out some of the other items we use on a regular basis. I found we have two kinds of tooth paste in the house, one made in Canada and one made in the US. The same goes for deodorant and shampoo, Canadian made products are easy to find you just have to get used to pick up an item and look at the label to see where it is made. I didn’t experience any problems with quality so I will continue to choose Canadian made when I can.

Would it hurt our economy if we all started to buy Canadian when possible? Do we sell a lot more to the United States than we import? Considering the difference in the size of our countries I guess it would be logical to assume that we sell more than we import but is that true?

I also purchased four new tires last week but I don’t think they are made in Canada but I bought them at Canadian Tire – does that count?

If you have answers to my questions, please e-mail me at ullameredith@gmail.com

Canada First!

I have been trying to be a locavore for awhile now and I guess the desire to eat and shop locally is now expanding into trying to support our economy. Maybe it is just a natural progression to expand the local from my community to my country.

Definition of a locavore: “Someone who exclusively (or at least primarily) eats foods from their local or regional foodshed or a determined radius from their home (commonly either 100 or 250 miles, depending on location). By eating locally, most locavores hope to create a greater connection between themselves and their food sources, resist industrialized and processed foods, and support their local economy. The majority of locavores do not give themselves a strict radius from which to eat, but instead buy as much of their food as they can from farmers, growers, and sellers with whom they have a relationship or whose growing or producing practices appeal they want to support.
Many locavores give themselves several exceptions to their local diet. Commonly excluded items include coffee, chocolate, salt, and/or spices - although locavores tend to try and find local coffee roasters, chocolate producers, and spice importers when they can”.

That is the starting point of thoughtful consumption – to buy local when I can.

I chose local food for freshness reasons but I also shop locally because it sustains the town I live in. I have been reading about Darren Barefoot who is spending a year living Canadian – he buys, eats and consume only Canadian products and services which I think is fascinating as I can see the potential for developing more Canadian products. Thoughtful Consumption means thinking of the origin of the product before buying it and trying to source a local item instead.

What if we had a pool of one million people who were committed to buying Canadian products first? Maybe more companies would be interested in trying to develop and launch products if there was a ready and willing pool of customers and an easy way to contact them. Imagine a registry of Canada First consumers, how about it? Every grocery store would have a local section with all the products kept together to make it easier for the consumer to find the products. If the demand is there the retailer will participate.

So while I wait for one million “Canada First” consumers to sign up on my blog I will try to live as Canadian as I can for the next month.

I will only listen to Canadian music which shouldn’t be difficult as I have all of Leonard Cohen’s music on my i-pod. I also love Jann Arden and Paul Brandt and there is a long list of Canadian artists like Celine Dion, Shania Twain and Sarah McLachlan.

Canadian Television is harder to find but I love HGTV and there are several Canadian hosts like Mike Holmes and Debbie Travis. I can watch Canadian news, cooking shows with Michael Smith and Linda Olson, Rick Mercer Report and of course there is my beloved CBC Radio.

Canadian authors are plentiful and maybe I will discover new authors just because they are local.

I have already sourced lots of local food and I can get red and white wine from Creston, BC. There is lots of local beer in Calgary and I especially love Wild Rose Brewery and they have great food too.

First challenge will be tires for my car – are there any still made in Canada?

The Wealthy Barber Returns

I read David Chilton’s first book “The Wealthy Barber” several years ago and I loved his story with the simple message that you must pay yourself first. YOU ABSOLUTELY MUST SAVE 10% OF WHAT YOU EARN - it must be a priority and be the first thing you do when you get paid.

Mr. Chilton’s second book “The Wealthy Barber Returns” is now out and I just finished reading it and it is very good. I found it very informative and I love the humor he injects into this serious financial subject. He starts out by saying that the reason it is so difficult to save is because no one really wants you to which is very true. Almost everyone wants you to spend as much as possible. Your kids, your friends who have weddings in Mexico (remember when everyone’s reception was in a community hall?)” and even real estate agents and mortgage brokers will always ask you how much you qualify for, as if that should determine how much house you buy.

One of the biggest threats to our financial well being is the easy access to lines of credit which are secured by our homes. It undermines our finances as we continue to spend and will never get our home paid off. This becomes an issue later when we start to contemplate working less which we won’t be able to afford, as we now have to pay off the line of credit when we sell the house.

He continues to say that “we want what we already have” but now newer, bigger and fancier which means we will never be satisfied – think houses, cars, appliances, televisions.

Keeping up with the Joneses used to mean that everyone in the same neighborhood wanted the same things. Nowadays friendships are less likely to be anchored in neighborhoods as your friends come from a larger circle like the gym, work, kids school etc. We’re now exposed to the spending habits of people across a much wider income range. We hitch rides in their fancy cars, we marvel at their exotic vacations and are in awe of their son's new $500 hockey stick. It’s hard to overstate the impact that our ‘reference group’ have on our spending decisions. Their lifestyles intoxicate us and with easy credit available it leads us to act richer than we are.

Mr. Chilton suggests that “it’s cheaper to drag your friends down to your level than for you to raise to theirs”. Try saying “I can’t afford it” more often and you might find your friends quickly agreeing that they can’t either!

The Humble Apple

There’s apples everywhere right now and since my freezer is full of apple sauce I have to use them in other ways. I spent a few minutes on the internet researching the health benefits of apples and there is lots of information available.

Apples are the cheapest among fruits and the healthiest too and are available all year long. Eating apples helps prevent several kinds of cancer, lowers cholesterol, aids in weight loss and is packed full of vitamins. A Danish article states the apple is a vitamin bomb and suggests that “eating three apples a day will keep the weight away”.

I bought a large bag of beautiful Gala apples from BC and since I am not a big fan of apple pie I found many other great ways of using apples. The Apple & cinnamon upside-down pancake is a mouth watering dish to make on a week-end morning. The smell of baked apples and cinnamon will have everyone sitting at your table waiting for the cake to come out of the oven.

Apple & cinnamon upside-down pancake

I made this for breakfast on Sunday morning and served it with crisp bacon.

Preparation time: 30 minutes
Baking time: 30 minutes

2/3 cup flour
1 tbsp. sugar
1 tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. baking soda
Pinch of salt
½ cup buttermilk
2 large eggs
1 tbsp. melted butter
1 tsp. vanilla extract
3 large apples – I used Gala
1 tbsp. lemon juice
1 tsp. cinnamon
¼ cup sugar
3 tbsp. butter

Pre-heat the oven to 375 degrees and butter a 9 inch non stick cake pan.

Place the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a medium sized bowl, stirring well. Set aside.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, eggs, melted butter and vanilla. Mix into the dry ingredients until just combined. Refrigerate for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, peel and core the apples and cut into wedges. Sprinkle the lemon juice over the apples.

Add the cinnamon to the sugar and mix well. Sprinkle the mixture over the apples, stirring to coat them well.

Over medium heat, melt the butter in a medium sized non-stick frying pan. Arrange the apples over the bottom of the skillet. Sprinkle any leftover sugar mixture over the apples. Cook the apples until the sugar has melted and the liquid becomes a little syrupy, about 3 minutes.

Arrange the apple wedges decoratively around the bottom of the buttered cake pan. Pour any remaining syrup in the frying pan over the apples. Spoon the batter over the apples and bake for 20 - 25 minutes or until the top is just beginning to turn golden and the centre is firm to the touch.

Immediately run a knife around the edge of the pan and invert the cake onto a plate . Carefully remove the cake pan from the plate using a knife to replace any fruit that is stuck to the bottom.

Serve with maple syrup or vanilla ice cream.

‘Thrift’ is not a dirty word

While wrapping a birthday present in the colored comics I save from the Sunday newspaper, a friend called me thrifty and I said “thank you”. It really didn’t sound like a compliment but I took it as one as I take pride in spending less, saving more and wasting less.

The definition of thrift is “the careful management of money” and it does not mean that I am cheap, it just means that I think carefully about what I buy and I make sure I get value for my money. It also means that if I save more I can decide where to spend more and for me being able to take a trip every year is worth being thrifty the rest of the time.

The reason I wrap presents in comics is not that I don’t have money for proper gift wrap or that I am cheap (or stingy or miserly) I just dislike buying something that is immediately thrown out once the gift if unwrapped. Sometimes I attach a $5 bill to a gift instead of a Hallmark card. When the kids were younger we had them make cards which worked well but since I have no talents in that regard I stick with cash.

When it comes to food, there is often a relationship between value and healthier choices – buying raw materials are cheaper than pre-packaged food and are usually lower in calories, fat and salt. GST is also an indication of how you spend your money in the grocery store as tax only applies to processed foods. There is no tax on vegetables, fruit, milk, bread and meat.

“Thrift is the proper stewardship of all resources. Time, money, goods and the earth’s finite bounty” as per Jane MacDougall

Fallen Fruit Rescue Society

I read with great interest in the Calgary Herald about Adrian Buckley who started the Fallen Fruit Rescue Society after he noticed all the fallen fruit left unused in yards this time of year. He came up with a great idea of contacting the homeowners who obviously didn’t want the fruit and asked permission to come harvest the fruit. The Calgary Urban Harvest Project now has 700 homes registered in Calgary and volunteers go and harvest the fruit. One third goes to the home owner (if they want it), one third to the Food Bank and one third to the volunteers. What a great idea and this can be done anywhere.

Mr. Buckley says “I am dedicating my life to a society where things don’t get wasted” and I certainly recognize this desire as I have been trying very hard to cut down on our waste. Reading the book “American Wasteland” by Jonathan Bloom pointed out how terribly wasteful our society is and how we need to think about what we throw out.

So if you don’t have a garden find someone who does and offer to help in exchange for fresh produce. I found several apples trees and I have been making apple sauce every day last week and is now definitely going to have to buy a small freezer to store all the fresh fruit I now have.

I have perfected apple sauce during the last two weeks. I quickly rinse and de-stem the fruit and throw about 8 pounds in a large pot with 3 cups of water and 2 cinnamon sticks. Let it simmer for an hour, stirring frequently and enjoy the wonderful smell of apples and cinnamon which will fill your house. Add 5 table spoons of sugar and mash it through a sieve, pack 3 cups in a freezer bag and store flattened in your freezer.

I use apple sauce in porridge, warmed up on pancakes and serve it with pork dishes. Apple sauce is also a great snack with a couple of table spoons of vanilla yogurt.

If you have any comments or questions, contact me at ullameredith@gmail.com

Happy New (school) Year!

September means back to school and back to a routine again which I look forward to and I think the kids do too. It was a great summer for the kids with two weeks of camp, sleeping in, watching movies all day, attending family BBQ’s and eating supper outside almost every evening.

Now is the perfect time to do another 30-60-90 day plan as that means that if I stick to the plan I will have several projects finished before Christmas.

Depending on how much sleep you need, there is about 7 hours a day that is not taken up by work or commuting which means the time must be used carefully. In our house a homemade meal has high priority so extracurricular activities for kids must be planned carefully. Activities often happen around supper time but that is where the slow cooker comes in handy. Knowing what is important and always keeping that at the top of the list means everything else must fit in around it and usually it works out. Grandparents or car pooling with other parents also helps, it is often just a matter of asking for help.

My neighbor gave her two sons (aged 7 and 10) each an alarm clock and last week they practiced having the kids get up, get dressed and how to make toast. Suzie would then join the boys after a quick shower and she made the smoothies for them and they sat down for 10 minutes before everyone went to brush teeth etc. Suzie loves the new routine but she said the secret was to get the kids to bed early the night before. The kids shower at night instead of in the morning which also helps.

Fall is also the start of many new classes and courses and a perfect time to renew resolutions of exercising more, learning something new or just getting out to meet new people. How about taking a cooking class or learn about investing?

I signed up for yoga twice a week at 7 p.m. and am contemplating a photography course on Saturday mornings.

You can contact me at ullameredith@gmail.com if you have any questions or comments.

I love Creston!

This week-end I was busy Making Memories with a friend as we drove to Creston, BC. We both needed to get away and since it is blueberry season it made sense to go to Creston. I have loved Creston since the first time I went there to visit. Fresh fruit and vegetables are for sale everywhere in this small town and with its wonderful climate anything will grow here.

We left early on Saturday and drove to Cranbrook where we stopped for our picnic lunch and for dessert we had ice cream at "Two Scoop Steve’s". We had no idea of where we were going to stay that evening - the only plans we had were for lunch on Sunday at the Skimmerhorn Winery. We drove ‘up the lake’ to Crawford Bay and found a great place to stay, had dinner and toasted each other with lemoncello after a walk on the beach.

Sunday morning it was off to the Farm to pick blueberries which was not as much fun as I though it was going to be. We picked a few and then decided to buy the rest. At the Blueberry Patch all berries are hand picked which is something I will appreciate every time I use them. I bought 25 pounds of blueberries, completely ignoring the fact that I don’t have a deep freezer.

Then off to Skimmerhorn Winery for lunch and wine tasting which was an amazing experience. The weather was perfect, our table was shaded by a huge maple tree overlooking the vineyard and the service by Rachel was delightful. The food was equally amazing, I had the bistro strip-loin with potato cakes and vegetables with a glass of the Marechal Foch which I like so much. For dessert we had the Black Forest Pot de Crème which was also perfect.

We purchased wine to take home and I am thrilled to be able to get wine that is made this close to home.

One last stop at a local farm to buy huge Lapin cherries – I am not really a cherry person but the Lapins should have their own category of fruit – big, juicy and sweet. I didn’t have to worry about freezer space for these burgundy rounds of perfection as I ate most of them on the way home and I had just enough berries left to fill two Mason jars. I tucked a vanilla bean in each jar and then poured brandy over them. Now I get to wait 4 weeks to see if these drunken cherries are as awesome as I expect.

Just heard that the peaches are ready in two weeks – who wants to go?

Road Trip

“Not every day is good, but there is something good in every day”.

My ‘work’ has been challenging lately and after prolonged periods of problems it can be difficult to see the good stuff in life but it is there, it always is!

How you bounce back from what life throws you is what is important. A positive attitude is a good start but a good support network is essential too.

This is what I have to remind myself of every day:

DON’T COMPLAIN! Complaining can become a habit and once you start to focus on the negative, suddenly that is all you see.

None of my loved ones are sick, I am surrounded by people who love me, I have good friends, it is summer, it is blueberry season!

I am going on a road trip with a friend to Creston, BC to bring home a couple of cases of blueberries to freeze which is now a tradition. Frozen food is often as good or better than fresh as the product is usually processed immediately after being harvested. 'Fresh' fruit and produce often have a long journey to get to us which can deplete the nutrients in the food.

I am preparing a picnic lunch consisting of homemade bread with egg salad, a bottle of red wine, a big bag of ginger cookies and a bottle of Lemoncello packed on ice.

We are having dinner at the winery which is located right in Creston and we will sample some of their wines and hopefully bring some home. Red wine from Creston is probably the closest I can get to local.

A perfect dinner

Yesterday I spent most of the day in the kitchen which might seem strange as it was 28 degrees outside but it’s what I felt like doing and I had several recipes I wanted to try.

I started out by baking 4 loaves of rye bread which I do twice a month now, so healthy and delicious and the kids don’t complain about it being too ‘grainy’. Bread does not take a long time to make but it does require you be home for a period of time which makes it perfect for a Saturday when you can do other things in between. By reading through the recipe, I know that from start to eat is 6 hours which includes time for the bread to cool.

At noon I found out that all the kids would be home for dinner so I decided to try the recipe for bacon jam that I had seen on Dinner with Julie awhile ago. Bacon jam is maybe not the best word for it but the ‘jam’ refers to the consistency and it was delicious and a perfect topping for hamburgers.

While reading Julie’s blog I came across a beautiful movie made by Todd and Diane of www.whiteonricecouple.com which is a tribute to Jennifer Perillo who lost her husband last week and reading the story reminded me again of how it really is later than we think – Monday Jennifer was canning peaches and that same afternoon she was widowed at age 40. She later wrote on her blog that it was her wish that her readers would make her husband’s favorite pie and share it with their loved ones. When I told my daughter we were having a peanut butter pie for dessert she asked “is it the one for Mikey?”, I then realized how far reaching the food blogging community is.

So for dinner we had hamburgers topped with avocado slices and bacon jam together with a tomato basil quinoa salad and for dessert a peanut butter pie – all super easy to make which makes it perfect for company.

Quick dinner

It has been a crazy couple of weeks in the real estate business and except for a wonderful family party this week-end I haven’t cooked much. Last night was another example of how expensive convenience is as we ended up ordering pizza. $42 later we had dinner and I was very disappointed in myself because I could have make an awesome dinner had I thought of this family favorite.

Dinner will be ready in half an hour – cost $12

Chicken enchiladas and Spanish rice

1 chicken breast
1 cup of salsa
1 cup sour cream
1 cup monteray jack cheese (or mozzarella)
Large flour tortillas

Package of Spanish rice which cooks in 10 minutes

Cook the chicken and chop and mix with salsa, sour cream and shredded cheese. Place on tortilla and roll carefully and place seam side down in dish. Microwave for two minutes and then spread more salsa and cheese on top and cook for another 2 minutes.

If you use medium salsa it will be spicier and you can use mozzarella cheese instead of Monterey Jack.

Why I love real estate

I have been a real estate investor for 8 years now and have been through the good times and the bad times and I have learned a lot.

Being a landlord is hard work, it is a job and if you already have a job it’s even more complicated because issues usually come up at the most inconvenient time. I have had my share of problems lately but I must say that with the financial meltdown occurring throughout the world, I am falling in love with real estate all over again. A house is something tangible, if you can’t sell it, you can rent it.

Many of us have watched our investments and retirement savings almost being cut in half over the last few years and as soon as things looked like they might improve we are hit with another world wide crisis that we have no control over.

During the good times, buying real estate was very easy as the value often kept going up and you could then re-finance the property, take the equity out and use that as the down payment on the next house and so on. That is not as easy now as banks are now more careful and have tightened their lending rules but if you have good credit it is still possible.

The single most important thing is to recognize when opportunity knocks, there are lots of houses being sold below value for various reasons (divorce, job transfer or estate sale) and it is often said in real estate that you make your money the day you buy.

The second thing to keep in mind that it is a business and must be treated as one. Document everything, keep track of expenses which are tax deductable and respond to tenant’s issues immediately. If you are flipping a house, have a budget from the start and stick to it.

You can still keep building your real estate empire once you have reached your credit limit by getting a partner or by getting a private mortgage from the seller. This is a business with endless possibilities and a business that anyone can enter if the desire and commitment is there.

Our goal was to buy a house every year for 10 years and then upon retirement, selling one every year for ten years but that didn’t quite work out unless we count one 8-plex as eight purchases, then we are ahead of our own schedule.

I could write a book about what to do and what not to do but as there are many on the subject already, I may yet do this myself. One of the best in my opinion is “The Guide to Real Estate in Canada” by Don R. Campbell.

If you want to talk about real estate, please contact me at ullameredith@gmail.com

Alberta Health Services

The Alberta health care system has been in turmoil for a long time and is often criticized but I just want to point out that some things do work very well.

I really appreciate the Alberta Breast Cancer Screening Program which provides annual checkups in rural areas like Claresholm. A mobile mammography site has been set up in a bus which arrives every year for a few days and a notification arrives in the mail. How great is that? There is no excuse for not having this life saving check up done when you can do it right here without leaving town.

I am very surprised that a year has already gone by and I am grateful that someone keeps track of this as I certainly don’t. I promptly called to make an appointment as this is just something that has to be done.

At the bottom of my reminder it suggests that I ask my friends to do this also, so if you are of the screening age consider yourself reminded.

Check it out at screeningforlife.ca

Summer Food

It has been perfect patio weather lately, these warm summer days with a light breeze and no mosquitoes are the kind of days we wish for during the long winter days. I called everyone in the family today and invited them for a BBQ, golfing and a sleepover in the back yard. We had our vacation in May so the remaining vacation time will be spent right here in Claresholm. While the grownups go golfing, I will take the little kids to the spray park so everyone will be happy.

This week-end we had Greek-style grilled steak and couscous which only requires a few minutes to put together in addition to barbequing the meat.

Please note the meat is marinated for one day prior to cooking!

2 lemons
1/3 cup olive oil
1 tsp. oregano
1 ½ lb sirloin tip steak
1 cup couscous
1 cup Feta cheese
1 tomato, chopped
1 cup cucumber, diced
½ cup sliced pitted black olives
1/3 cup chopped red onion
Salt and pepper

Finely grate lemon peel and squeeze lemon juice. Set half the peel and 3 tbsp. of the juice aside. In a glass dish, combine remaining lemon peel and juice, 3 tbsp. of the olive oil and oregano. Pierce steak numerous times on both sides with a fork. Add steak to dish, and cover with plastic and refrigerate for 12 to 24 hour. Turning occasionally.

In medium saucepan, bring 1 cup water to boil. Remove from heat and stir in couscous. Cover and let stand 5 minutes. Fluff with wooden spoon and stir in remaining olive oil, reserved lemon peel and juice. Let cool slightly.

Meanwhile, pre-heat BBQ and discard marinade. BBQ steak for 5 to 6 minutes per side until it reaches desired doneness. Let the meat rest under foil for 5 minutes before slicing thinly.

Gently stir Feta, tomato, cucumber and olives into couscous and season with salt and pepper. Mix in sliced beef and serve with bread if you wish.

Enjoy!

Waste Not

I have just started reading “American Wasteland” by Jonathan Bloom and it is certainly thought provoking, he states that roughly half of the food in North America is wasted.

Throwing away food is just wrong. I used to think of it only in terms of money wasted, but now I realize that there is so much more involved. Early on in our marriage, while cleaning up the kitchen and putting the leftovers away, my husband would ask me “honey, should I just throw the leftovers out now or do you want to wait a week?”. I used to be offended as I always had the best intentions of taking the leftovers to work or eating them the following day, but it often didn’t happen. It always bothered me, but eventually I learned to do a quick fridge clean out on the morning of garbage day so the guilt didn’t last too long.

A lot of food is wasted in the grocery store – only perfect, unblemished food is being displayed and sold and if it is getting close to expiring it will be thrown out. While shopping the other day, my daughter and I decided to buy a fruit platter to take to the park as a snack. I quickly checked the label and found that the fresh fruit platter was packaged in the USA – this grocery store has a deli with everything needed to cut up and package food for retail sale, why would they not cut up fruit already in the store? How old was the cut up fruit in the fridge display? How do they preserve cut up fruit for two weeks? I don’t think I want to know.

Sometimes it takes someone to spell it out for us, to connect the dots I guess, because it is not just about throwing away food, it is also about how much energy was used to grow the food that is destined to be thrown out anyway. Fuel was used to seed the field, fertilizer was applied to the field, fuel was used to harvest the field, fuel was used to transport the fruits or vegetables to the warehouse in a refrigerated truck before finally arrived in our store. Here is sits until I buy it and drive it home where it sits in my refrigerator until it is thrown out! Now fuel is needed to truck it to the landfill where it will rot and create greenhouse gas.

Today food waste stops in our house, I am placing a large piece of cardboard covering the kitchen garbage can and I will record any food waste that happens so I can be more aware and accountable.

There is a fine line between planning for several meals at the time and buying too much food that does not get used and then thrown out. I am not sure what will work best but for me but for now I am going to buy less so I can make sure it gets used.

Eating food that is grown closer to home is healthier and cheaper and also benefits the environment – how many more reasons do we need?

Focaccia Bread

I am a bit obsessed with local and homemade food and yesterday I accomplished both.

You too can be a hero in your own house with this easy focaccia bread – the secret is the olive oil and parmesan cheese which is mixed into the dough in addition to being a topping with the rosemary. Using quick raise yeast means that you can enjoy this warm bread with dinner even if you don’t start until 4:30 tonight.

The smell of bread baking in the house seems to draw everyone to the kitchen and bread goes with any meal in my opinion. In our house focaccia bread is served with a mixture of olive oil and balsamic vinegar for dipping but its good without it too.

Last night we had sausages from the Farm and I made mashed potatoes which were also done in record time. I chopped the peeled potatoes and boil them for 20 minutes together with a chopped leek and two cloves of garlic. Drain the water and mash together with butter, milk and cheese. My mashed potatoes are different every time depending on what I have in my fridge. The liquid can be milk or cream, any kind of cheese and also a couple of tablespoons of Ranch or Caesar dressing goes well in the potatoes. Salt and pepper and it’s done.

Now that I have teen-agers it is important to me that they see that most nights something is prepared in our kitchen. Even if it is only macaroni salad to go with the grilled cheese sandwiches, dinner is made at home.

Focaccia Bread

1 pkg. rapid-rise yeast
1 cup warm water
3 cups flour
¼ cup parmesan cheese (plus topping)
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil (plus topping)
1 tsp. salt
¼ tsp. pepper
2 tbsp. rosemary chopped

Combine yeast with warm water and let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes. Meanwhile, in bowl combine 2 cups flour, parmesan cheese, olive oil, salt and pepper, stir in yeast mixture and carefully add more flour until dough forms into a ball. On lightly floured surface knead dough until smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes. Don’t add too much flour, it has to be slightly sticky. Cover and let rest for 5 minutes.

Spray a 9 x 13 baking pan with pam and evenly press dough into pan. Cover and let rise in warm place until doubled in size, about 1 hour. (I put the pan in the microwave as it tends to be warm and draft free).

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees and using two fingers make indents in the bread about 2 inches apart; do not press through to the bottom. Drizzle with 2 tbsp. of olive oil and bake for 15 minutes. Sprinkle with rosemary and additional parmesan cheese and bake for an additional 5 minutes. Cool on rack for 5 minutes and then remove from pan and let cool on rack.

Serve with olive oil and balsamic vinegar if you wish.

Without Papers Pizza

I just had an amazing two hour lunch at Without Papers Pizza with two of the favorite guys in my life and for a small town girl like me, Inglewood in Calgary is the place to go for great pizza.

Without Papers has just been voted the best pizza place in Calgary and we tried The Hutch, The Shroom and The Pollo Pesto planning on sharing and taking home the leftovers. There were no leftover, none, we ate it all, and then our fabulous waitress Karly came and convinced us that we should have dessert.

We ordered The Julie named after Julie Van Rosendaal and the person behind the wonderful blog Dinner with Julie. It was amazing and definitely the best dessert pizza we have ever had. The combination of ricotta, wine poached pears and nutella was perfect.

The fact that this restaurant carry McManus wine by the glass just made it even more special to me as that is one of my favorite wines.

I love restaurants that focus on what they are good at and keep it simple. It is a one page menu, it’s all pizza; no cheese burger on this menu, if you don’t like pizza, don’t go here. Simplicity extends to the kitchen too, imagine trying to have everything on hand, at any time when you have a five page menu, looking at this menu, not much kitchen/storage space is required.

Treating each child to some undivided attention is probably one the best things you can do for kids. This is not the kind of place to take small children but perfect for teen-agers and it is good to show them something other than fast food. We spent lots of time discussing the ingredients and combinations and we got our son to try something new. Despite the descriptive words like cacciatore, calabrese and bocconcini, his pizza was basically meat and cheese, but spicy.

I can’t wait to go back and try another 3 pizzas – who wants to go?

Graduation Day

Yesterday we celebrated our son’s graduation from high school and I am almost as excited as he is. I have worried a lot about him and his future but I realize now that he will be fine, he just needs some time to figure what it is that he wants to do with his life.

As we sat in the audience my husband and I again congratulated each other on our decision to move to a small town as we were surrounded by familiar faces. Graduation Day is a very special day in a small town as almost everyone is part of it. You probably either have a family member or friend who has a Graduate today, or you taught one, you employed one or you live next door to one. The kids may not realize how lucky they are to part of a community where everyone knows them and their families but this is uniquely small town. The dinner was prepared and served by the Lion’s Club which is another group of Town familiar faces that these kids have grown up with and who eagerly helped make this day special for the kids and their families.

Soon most of these kids will pack up their stuff and move on – either to University or college, to travel the world or to start work and then the new reality will be before them. They are now Grown Ups - money or the lack thereof, will now become a constant reminder of the ‘real world’ and they will have to quickly learn to manage their funds.

If I could give the kids only one piece of advice it would be this, ALWAYS SAVE 10% OF WHATEVER YOU EARN! If you can get used to live on 90% of your income for the rest of our life, it will never matter how much you earn, only what you spend.

David Chilton, who wrote the book "The Wealthy Barber" has been promoting this simple concept of saving 10% of whatever you make for a long time and he has a new book coming out soon which I look forward to reading. I will tuck a copy of “The Wealthy Barber” into my son’s suitcase and hope he will take the time to read it.

Congratulations Alexander and Good Luck!

Are you busy?

“It is not enough to be busy; so are the ants.
The question is: what are we busy doing?”
Henry David Thoreau


I just came across an article by Elizabeth Withey that I saved in 2006 because it really made an impression on me. I did make several changes in my life at that time but it is so easy to become too busy again. I will now always choose to spend time with family and friends instead of doing chores or other mundane tasks. The house cleaning can wait and so can the laundry. Grocery shopping – there is always tomorrow.

Ms. Withey points out that it seems that the word ‘busy’ has replaced the word 'stressed' as busy suggests something more positive. “Busy – with its suggestion of ambition, production and energy – sounds much better. You’re busy? Wow. You must be going places.” But what are we so busy doing?

It is o.k. to work less, earn less, achieve less, want less and own less – Prioritize. Choose carefully how to spend your time.

I can also confirm Ms. Withey's statement that when you are sitting in the nursing home, sipping warm prune juice, you will ask yourself "what was I so busy doing?" - this is most seniors biggest regret.

Next time I say that I am too busy to do something fun or spend time with a friend, stop me and say “so are the ants” and I will try to snap out of it.

The Big Picture

Your life is like a canvas, in the centre is you and from there you fill in the rest of the canvas with what you want from life, you decide how big it will be. How big can you think?

We really need to ask ourselves a lot of questions about what we want out of life and how to get it. Where do we come from? What kind of baggage do we carry with us? What is it that will make us happy? If we made a mistake, how do we fix it?

The nice thing about a canvas is that you can start over at any time. When you are younger the canvas has not been filled in yet but 20 years later it gets pretty full of events that has happened, both good and bad.

If you are even a little bit artistic this could be a very interesting picture and for the rest of us it is just for our own use. Get out a piece of paper and start filling it in, with you in the center and then all the past and future events surrounding you. A diploma, a horse, first car, house, dog, husband, kids, trips (mine has an elephant representing my dream of a safari), owning your own business, a train and an airplane. You can sprinkle the picture with hearts, rainbows, flowers, mountains and sunrays - all the things that make you happy. It is your picture/life - you decide what its going to look like!

Homemade treats

Yesterday when my son and a group of friends came home, John charged ahead of the group and went straight for the glass domed cake stand on the counter and yelled “I get the last one!”. These kids who love anything artificial also love homemade stuff which I find very promising. They love slurpees, skittles and twizzlers which horrifies me, but they also love homemade stuff so there is still hope I guess.

I will continue my fight against crap in food, especially in this house with three teen-agers and their friends.

Preparation time - 10 minutes

Chocolate Banana Cupcakes:

1 cup mashed ripe bananas
1 cup milk
¾ cup packed brown sugar
¼ cup corn syrup
3 tbsp. canola oil
2 tsp. vanilla
2 tsp. lemon juice or white vinegar
1 ¾ cup flour
¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. salt
½ cup chocolate chips

Makes exactly 12 cupcakes

Preheat oven to 400 degrees and lightly spray muffin pan with cooking spray. In bowl, mix together bananas, milk, brown sugar, corn syrup, oil, vanilla and vinegar. In another bowl, mix together flour, cocoa, baking soda, salt and chocolate chips. Mix with wet ingredients until just blended. Spoon into prepared muffin pan. Bake for 20 minutes until cupcakes feel firm. Let cool in pan on rack for 5 minutes before removing from pan.

S-L-O-W down and smell the lilacs

Spring/Summer is finally here so make sure you don’t miss it!

June has been a blur of activities and I fear that if we don’t consciously slow down we might miss Summer. Remember snow, cold and darkness? Well now is the time to sit on the deck with your feet up reading a book or just closing your eyes and thinking about nothing. Ignore everything inside and enjoy being able to be outside as much as possible. We eat outside every night unless it is raining, no exceptions.

Go for a walk every night after dinner, even if it rains, get a bike and use it and encourage the kids to play outside as much as possible. Invite family and friends over for a BBQ this week-end and ask them to bring a dish and don’t worry about everything being perfect.

Pick lilacs and place them throughout the house, their sweet fragrance is a nice reminder of summer.

Go for a drive this week-end and bring a picnic, Sheep River Falls is a perfect place to spend a day or head to Cochrane and treat the family to icecream after lunch. Take lots of photos as you are creating wonderful memories that will help you get through the next long, cold winter.

5 Compliments every day

Kids need 5 compliments every day!

I am not sure where I read this but I thought about it after writing about "You can't cram on the farm" yesterday because it also pertains to building self esteem in kids.

In raising kids you need to be consistant and that also goes for building self esteem, kids need to know that they are doing well in addition to being loved.

I often find myself telling/reminding my kids about what to do every day and not as much praising them. "Do this" and "don't do that" is part of many interactions with the kids, especially teen-agers and I don't think I praise them enough.

Today my kids will get at least 5 compliments each, I promise!

If you have any comments, you can contact me at ullameredith@gmail.com

You can't cram on the farm

I am reading “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People” by Stephen R. Covey and I really like this quote “You can’t cram on the farm”. He goes on to explain how ridiculous the concept of cramming on a farm is. “To forget to plant in the spring, play all summer and then cram in the fall to bring in the harvest. The farm is a natural system, the price must be paid and the process followed. You always reap what you sow; there is no shortcut”.

This is the point of planning – In trying to follow my 30-60-90 day plan I can be reasonably assured that my chosen priorities and tasks will be done by a certain time. If I give the task priority, it will get done. The only obstacle to this plan is me, I decide if I really want to do something or not.

Change takes time and the bigger changes often takes more time but that is o.k. – the point is to start and to decide to follow through then whatever it is you want to accomplish will happen.

You can contact me at ullameredith@gmail.com if you have any comments.

Message in a Movie

I watched a delightful movie yesterday called “She’s having a baby” starring Kevin Bacon and was not sure what to expect with a title like that. The movie is about a young couple living in the suburbs and the main character starts to feel that there is something missing in his life. His friend tries to tell him that his life is dull and boring and slowly he starts to believe it.

He is unhappy at work and feels that he had to settle into an unfulfilling job in order to buy a house. He is unsure about his relationship and even starts to toy with the idea of having an affair after his wife starts to talk about having a baby. Struggling with fertility problems they do eventually become pregnant and when something goes terribly wrong during the delivery he finally gets the message – he has been selfish and has not been contributing to the relationship. He says: “I took more than I gave, I was loved more than I loved, I was trusted more that I trusted and what I was looking for was not the be found but to be made”.

Why is it so hard to be content with what we already have? Do we only value something if it is about to be taken away?

Try counting your blessings every day for a week (write it down) and then after 7 days look at the list of all the good stuff in your life. You are probably pretty blessed!

You can contact me at ullameredith@gmail.com if you have any comments.

Is your life good enough?

If you have a family, a home and money in the bank, experts say you have the most important things in life but it seems that a lot of us strive for more. When will we be happy? It is important to slow down and ask yourself that question and listen to the answer. Is it “when I get that promotion”, or ”when I lose weight”, “when I get a new house” or “when the kids leave home” that life will be better?

Are you happy right now? I think it is a simple question, either “yes” or “no”. If it is “yes” – good, but if it is “no” you have to figure out why.

Happiness will never be attained if we keep raising the bar every time we accomplish a goal. Celebrate your accomplishments now and do not constantly replace them with new ones.

It is o.k. to live a ‘good enough’ life - being healthy, solvent and connected to good friends is what it’s all about.

Let me know what you think at www.ullameredith@gmail.com

Protect your biggest investment

According to financial experts you should plan on spending 3% of your home’s value on repair and maintenance annually. We have never allowed for this and now I can see how nice it would be if we had an account with 4 years of accumulated savings for this specific purpose. We live in a 20+ old house and will soon have to deal with big ticket items like a new roof, siding and replacing carpets.

Since we are working hard on simplifying our life we have decided to sell our house next year. The plan is to spend a year getting it ready and then to list it in May as that is the beginning of the busiest time for real estate.

In trying to assess how much it would cost and how long it would take to get our house ready to sell, I did a critical walk through and made note of everything that should be done. The first walk through was more of a de-cluttering process in which I took ‘stuff’ to the garage and got an area ready for the Salvation Army. I dislike garage sales so instead I take everything to the SA and I consider it a charitable donation. There was lots of old clothes, books, toys, dishes rarely used and all of the misc. stuff that had accumulated in the basement.

I then had a look at the house from the street, does it have curb appeal? Does it look inviting and does it appear well kept? We need to repaint the garage door and power wash the siding and install a new mail box. Once I opened the front door, I stopped and had a good look around – you don’t get a second chance to make a first impression – it is so true. What do you see from the front door? Is the room tidy and inviting? We need new light fixtures throughout the house as everything is brass and very dated. Now walk slowly from room to room and make note of what needs to be done in order to sell. From watching real estate shows you quickly get an idea of what people are looking for when purchasing a home. New colorful pillows for the couches and a large buque of fresh flowers for the coffee table always helps.

Watching home improvement shows and real estate shows like House Hunters will quickly give you an idea of what should be done to appeal to as many people as possible. The home should be free of clutter and very clean, hardwood floors are very popular and is something we are considering.

Our main floor washroom – we need a new toilet and sink, paint and a new mirror and accessories - $500. Plan on doing one room at the time so it is not so overwhelming.

Master bedroom – the bed is the focal point – does it look luxurious? I need new matching side tables and lamps and I am going to buy a new duvet and pillows.

Landscaping - make sure the grass is cut and everything looks tidy.

Make a list of repairs and upgrades needed and decide on when to do it. I came up with a two page list and and I then put dollar amounts after each one to see what it would cost to get ready to list the house - total $5,000.00 plus hardwood if we decide to do that. I will now take the list and start to schedule all of these improvements into our One Year Plan starting with the more time consuming ones in the Fall. September - painting the spare bedroom, October - replace light fixtures throughout the house etc. Whether you are going to sell your home or not, a critical look once a year is not a bad idea.

If you have any comments you can contact me at ullameredith@gmail.com


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Less house - more fun!

A friend pointed out that realtors and mortgage brokers always ask you how much house you can afford and then go on to show you houses at the top end of that budget.  Often we end up being house poor as there is no money left for travel or for maybe working less for awhile.  Being over extended right from the beginning starts to build stress that often accumulates especially if something unexpected happens. 

I think a serious talk about lifestyle and quality of life is how the house purchasing venture should start.  Buy less house than you can afford and look at how you can improve it with a little work.  Be prepared to paint, change light fixtures and other smaller items to update an older home.  Replacing worn carpets with hardwood makes a huge difference and new appliances go a long way in updating a kitchen.

Anyone can become a real estate investor – the biggest difference is that you have to learn how to buy below market value and thereby instantly gaining equity.  Since the money made on real estate is tax free (if it is your primary residence) this can be a significant investment for the future.

I would rather live in a cheaper house and be able to travel so this is my new goal – the best of both worlds.

You can contact me at ullameredith@gmail.com if you have any comments.

A Drive in the Country

Halfway between Claresholm and Granum is the turnoff to Meadow Creek Road which leads you West towards the Porcupine Hills.  It was pouring rain when I went there yesterday and after turning South and West several times I arrived at Meadow Creek Meats which is in a stunningly beautiful place.  Everything is green after all the rain we have been getting and you can just imagine how happy a cow would be, munching away in the endless fields of grass with pools of water conveniently located nearby.   I could swear that a cow smiled when I glanced at her while driving slowly by.

Any meat that Meadow Creek Meat processes does indeed come from just across the road, nothing further away than a few miles and it is all hormone free.  There was a large selection of sausages in the display case which is located in the sparkling clean kitchen run by the Blokpoel family which consist of mom, dad and daughter Chantal.

You can chose from an extensive list of sausages like: whiskey and garlic, British bangers, German bratwurst, chorizo, sun dried tomato, traditional Dutch and many more.  I bought three different kinds which I promptly cooked when I got home and served with mashed potatoes.  Dinner was on the table in half an hour. 

I also bought a rouladen roast which I will try next week and 5 kg of ground beef at $2.50 per pound which is a great deal and I know where the meat came from. 

Their slogan is Simply Meat which is a good way to describe your meat purchase, no fillers or nitrates, just meat and spices.

Meadow Creek Meat is open Monday to Saturday from 9-5 but call first at 403-625-1063 to make sure they have product available as they often sell out.­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­

I am very excited about having found this meat supplier as I am trying to select products grown closer to home.  I get tomatoes delivered from Nanton and the Egg Lady comes very early Wednesday morning and leaves two dozen farm fresh, free range eggs on my front door step.  I also feel good about supporting these three family businesses who work hard supplying food free of chemicals. 

If you have any comments you can contact me at ullameredith@gmail.com

I'm back!

Just got back from our two week European vacation with my parents and what an amazing trip that was.  We spent time together and separately and I am now convinced that my husband is a saint!  He patiently hung out with family and friends who did not speak English and he was subjected to multiple visits to churches and castles.  He was a wonderful bartender and assured us that he had a great time.

I spent lots of time with my mother as we started each day with a walk on the beach before breakfast and we drove around looking at both my parents’ home towns and listened to stories from their childhood.  The more time you spend together the more tolerance and patience you get for other people, especially someone older and a bit slower.

I did feel a bit guilty about leaving the kids behind but they survived and it is now a major goal to be able to take another trip next year together with them. 

It was also nice to get back to and see family and friends again and I am so happy that we spent the time and money doing this – lots of great memories were made during these two weeks.

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Time is short and so is patience!

How to raise a happy and healthy teen-ager?  I have been reading the book “Hear Me, Hug Me, Trust Me” by Scott Wooding and I think it should be required reading for all parents of teen-agers.  I recognized myself in many of the statements kids made about parents and also realized that we are doing lots of things right.

The stress of everyday living adds to the reaction or over-reaction of teens and parents.  The kids are involved in so many activities outside of school, often every night of the week and so are the parents.  Since we often live farther away from the schools it means that the kids now also commute which results in longer days.  Add to the fact the emotional state of the parents who themselves are often physically and mentally exhausted and often arguments can become far worse than they should be.  The stress of modern living is the major difference between the modern teen and those of previous generations.

Spend more time together – parents have become scarce at home.  Dr. Wooding thinks the phrase “quality time” was invented by a guilty parent.  There is no such time as quality time, there is only time with your kids.

Not only is time short, but so is patience.  Minor mistakes by children become major issues to tired parents.

Teens think that parents work too much!  So do I.

The Church Fundraiser

Last night we were invited to a church fundraiser at the Danish Canadian Club for the Danish Lutheran Church and it was great fun. My brother-in-law had purchased a table for 10 and we happily drove the 2 hours there for dinner.

During dinner we got to bid on several items in the silent auction and I was the winning bidder of a tour at Viking Air Ltd. for 10 people to which Kevin can now invite interested people from our family.

Today we are spending the day at a basketball tournament in Taber and I get the whole day to decide what to cook for our Sunday Dinner. It looks like oven roasted chickens, stuffed with lemons and garlic and sweet potato Mac and Cheese made with ricotta cheese as per Julie.  For dessert I am making another carrot cake as it disappeared quickly last time I made it.

Sunday is Family Night and Lindsey is coming home so we are going to celebrate having the family together again for a day. Tonight I will start no knead bread so it will be ready to bake tomorrow afternoon and be ready for Sunday dinner.

I also get to check off an item on my bucket list in two weeks – I am finally becoming a Canadian Citizen on April 21st and I am so excited and so grateful for this. With everything going on in the world I am so lucky to be living in this amazing country, safe from war, earth quakes, tsunamis and political unrest. Being able to go to bed at night and be reasonably assured that no bombs will fall while we sleep is something that we have always taken for granted.

This week I am reading “Nice Girls Don’t get Rich” by Lois Frankel which is a book about one of my favorite topics: MONEY. I agree with her that we must take the time to understand money and she suggest that we set aside time to learn about money and investments in order to make better decisions.  She has lots of ideas of how to get a better understanding of investments which is something women must do even if they don't have any interest in the subject.  I just love this quote by Sofie Tucker:

“From birth to eighteen a girl needs good parents. From eighteen to thirty-five she needs good looks. From thirty-five to fifty-five she needs a good personality. From fifty-five on she needs cash”.

Let me know what you are planning for dinner tomorrow.

How much is enough?

“Financial freedom is the ability to maintain your lifestyle without going to work”.

My poor husband knows this quote by heart as it is posted in our bathroom and he sees it every day. This concept was first brought to our attention at a financial seminar where the speaker outlined how important it was to have low monthly expenses. If you can have your basic needs covered you are on your way to Freedom. The speaker said “don’t you think you would be able to come up with something that could generate some income when you don’t have to go to work anymore”. This is exactly what early retirement or 'working less' is all about for us.

Scare tactics are usually being used by financial institutions that insist we will need millions saved up before we can retire or we will be eating cat food and I am starting to disagree. I can also see the benefits of a company pension right about now as that is what some people can collect after 25 years of work. Except for old age and CPP, my husband and I are on our own for saving for retirement and that is something to keep in mind.

Everybody’s situation is different but I am getting to the point that I will rather live a simpler life and start it earlier as there is too many reminders that not everyone gets to retire. We have lost several friends and family members over the years at a young age and we know not everyone will get to live to experience a glorious retirement.

7 years ago we started investing in real estate and it has been a very good investment for the most part. The foundation here is to buy real estate at bargain prices and then to hopefully have the investment appreciate by 5% annually, the same return as a conservative investment. The additional benefit is that while you own the property someone else is making the mortgage payments and when you sell you cash in on the gain in real estate (5% annually) AND the balance owing after years of paying down the mortgage. There are obviously several issues to consider, you must buy the real estate at bargain prices and you must treat it as a business as being a landlord is not always easy.

Depending on your age there are several ways of looking at saving for retirement but if you want to start living more and working less earlier you need to start thinking about these things. Start working with a number like $500,000.00 in savings and consider your primary residence being paid for, how would your situation look?

The $500,000.00 cash would generate 5% in interest, hopefully, which is $25,000.00 annually. What would you need to earn additionally to live off this investment?

I figure our basic living expenses will be $5,000.00 per month for a total of $60,000.00 annually – we would then have a short fall of $35,000.00 which we would have to make up in order to stop working early. If we split the $35,000.00 we each will have to earn $17,500.00 annually by doing ‘something’. Kevin would be happy working on a golf course cutting grass for the summer if that meant the freedom to take the winter off.

Now we are looking at a life style decision – we would have to be content with not globetrotting all over the world which we probably wouldn’t do anyway. By working seasonally, we could comfortably leave Alberta for a month in November and again in January and February and live in Arizona.

This is how I think early retirement could be for us or we can choose to work longer and save more. I think I like the budget plan more and more. This is the plan and it can change any time, the point is we have at least started talking about it.

We can also hope and pray that interest rate go up and thereby give us a raise in our living allowance.

How soon working less can start depends on decisions made today. You can contact me at GreaterLivingInstitute@gmail.com anytime.

Bucket List

I have been working diligently on my 30-60-90 day plan and it is now completed. It is a day-by-day plan of things that I would like to have completed by July 1st. Anything from a garage sale in May, replacing light fixtures throughout the house to painting the spare bedroom. I have even planned the books that I want to have read by then and I have a pile of recipes to try also. I will then plan on taking a well deserved break in July.

My focus of the blog so far has been on this year – what would the biggest regret be if this year was my last? Now I have started a list of things that I would like to do before I croak and it is now in my Book of Possibilities. I am up to number 72 so I am still working on it. Here are some of my bucket items:


Buy a second home in Arizona
Write and publish a book
Become a Canadian Citizen
Become a grand parent
Go to Italy
Live in another country for a year
Stay married to Kevin
Develop a business from recycled materials
Open a café/bistro/restaurant
Go to Greece
Eat at The Laundry restaurant in Napa
Learn to drive a standard
Learn to golf
Go to Charleston, SC
Receive the Order of Canada

Some of the items on my husband’s list are a bit more interesting:

Drive the Alaska highway
Learn to blow glass
Learn to tile
Take singing lessons
Watch a space shuttle launch in-person

This is a work-in-progress and it is interesting to see how the project evolves with the more time I spend on it.

30 - 60 - 90 day plan

There is something about writing it down that acts like accountability. Spend a little time thinking about what you want and what you have to get done and then plan for it. July 1st will arrive and you can either have all the items on your list completed or not – you decide.

April 1 – 30 take a piece of paper and write down every day of the month and enter the projects that you want to complete. There are 5 week-ends in April which will account for most of the time available for larger projects but if you take a couple of hours each night it will add up to a whole day.

Don’t forget about family and friends – look at the month ahead and pick a date and then start calling. Have the family over for Sunday dinner if they live close by, if not, pick a Saturday. Commit to seeing friends more often. If cooking is stressing you out, make it potluck or order pizza, your friends won’t mind.

Start new traditions, make Friday movie night for the family, have snacks and rent movies that the whole family can watch together. Plan a date night every week – if you can’t go out, plan something at home, once you commit to a date you will think of something.

Every Sunday, plan three meals for the upcoming week and go shopping. If you have everything ready it is much easier to get dinner on the table in a hour or less.

If you decide on reading a book every week your will have read 12 books by July 1st – if you pick a certain topic, you will be very knowledable about the subject by then.

This will also work for personal finance, by looking at a calendar you will know what is coming up that can topple your budget before it happens. If you want to save money, pick a number and write it down and by July 1st you will either have it done or not.

If you are really committed, review your list every Sunday and if items have not been done, make sure you re-schedule them for the following week.

If you have a comment or suggestion, please contact me at GreaterLivingInstitute@gmail.com

Roz's Story

There are so many people who are desperate for a 'new' life or a different life - here is one way of doing something completely different. Roz was featured on CBC radio last week, and this is her story as posted on You Tube.

"It was the year 2000, I was 33 years old, and I seemed to have the perfect life. I had a job, a husband, a home, a little red sports car. In theory, I should have been happy. Fast forward to March 2006. I am 38, divorced, homeless, and alone in a tiny rowing boat in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. My last hot meal was two months ago, before my camping stove broke. My stereo is bust. I’ve had no human contact since my satellite phone stopped working several weeks ago. All four of my oars are broken and I’ve had to patch them up with duct tape and makeshift splints. I have tendonitis in my shoulders and saltwater sores on my backside. I have battled twenty-foot waves, sleep deprivation, self-doubt and depression. But I have never been happier. They said I was crazy. They said I wasn’t big enough, not tall enough, not strong enough.
But at last, after three thousand miles and 103 days at sea, I am about to accomplish my goal. I am proving that anybody can achieve the extraordinary, if only they have enough guts and determination and sheer bloody-mindedness to see it through. I am realizing my dream, one stroke at a time.

Obviously I’d made a few changes in my life. You may be wondering why somebody who seemed to have it all would choose to throw it all away. But did I really have it all? I would sit on the commuter train on my way to the office, wondering if this was what life was all about. I wasn’t happy. I wasn’t fulfilled. I wasn’t being true to my values. One day I sat down and wrote two versions of my obituary. The first was the one that I wanted to have. I thought of the obituaries that I enjoyed reading, the people that I admired. They were the adventurers and risk-takers, the people who seemed to have lived many lifetimes in one, the people who had tried lots of things, some of them successes, some of them spectacular failures, but at least they’d had the guts to try. They didn’t give a damn what anybody thought of them; their own opinion of themselves was all that mattered. They lived life with a greediness for new experiences, and gumption, and a gung-ho attitude that defied the attempts of naysayers and nigglers to pigeonhole them or put them down. These people really knew how to live. The second version was the obituary that I was heading for – a conventional, ordinary life – pleasant and with its moments of excitement, but always within the safe confines of normality. The difference between the two was startling. Clearly something was going to have to change. But even then it was an evolution, not a revolution. One by one, I shed the trappings of my old life – the job, the husband, the home, the little red sports car. I moved house with increasing regularity, wherever I could find cheap or preferably free accommodation. I lived in a tiny cabin on a barge on the Thames, then a Dickensian garret in Richmond, then an office in Battersea. Every time I moved house I got rid of more stuff, the stuff that had been weighing me down, the stuff that I had allowed to own me rather than me owing it. I pared life down to the basics to find out what really mattered to me, to find out what was left when I was defined by what I was, not what I owned. Little by little I began to realign my life, to put myself on track for the obituary I really wanted. I learned that living life according to my values made me happier than a big income and lots of possessions. I stopped being a compulsive planner and started taking a more flexible approach to life.
I stopped caring so much about what other people thought of me, and started caring more about what I thought of myself. I accepted that mistakes are a fact of life, an inevitable consequence of being adventurous and trying new things. I realized that it matters less whether something is a success or a failure, and matters more what I learn from the experience. It became clear to me, intellectually and emotionally and intuitively, that we have to look after our planet if we want it to look after us. I felt I was getting a few things figured out. But I was like a carpenter with a brand new set of tools, and no wood to work on. I needed a project. And so I decided to row the Atlantic.

Rowing the Atlantic was, without a doubt, the hardest thing I had ever done. I’d wanted to get out of my comfort zone, and that, by definition, is an uncomfortable place to be. Physically, it was tough, but psychologically it was even tougher. The ocean is scary and it’s daunting and most of the time I wanted to give up. But no matter how hard it got, I always believed that the only thing worse than carrying on would be to quit. I believe that if you don’t keep pushing the boundaries, keep expanding your comfort zone, your comfort zone actually gets smaller and smaller, until you’re shrink-wrapped in such a tiny comfort zone that you can’t move, you can’t achieve anything, you can’t grow. And so I keep pushing, keep developing, keep evolving. I keep showing what an ordinary person can do when they put their hearts and minds and souls into it. That is why, having rowed the Atlantic, I’m taking on the Pacific.

Financial Health

How is your financial health? Is your income adequate to support your existing lifestyle? Your desired lifestyle?

It is fairly easy to establish in a hurry – have a look at your bank balance, do you use overdraft and do you have a balance on your credit card? If you do, ask yourself “why?” The answer is probably that you spend more than you make every month and you have to borrow money from YOUR future to live right now.

Getting spending under control and to decide what you should spend money on is often a struggle for many people. Most of us have everything we need but the problem is that we constantly want more instead of being content with what we have. Why is that?

Alexander Green, author of argueably one of the best books I have ever read, The Secret of Shelter Island says that “reasonable, affordable consumption means less struggle, less debt, less hassles and less stress. It grants us more time – and with it the opportunity for new experiences, better relationships, and greater personal freedom”.

It is easier to spend less than to earn more so as of now I will question every expense carefully. Will the decision to spend add to the quality of my life or will it create more stress?

Plan today to spend NOTHING except for groceries and fuel for your vehicle for the next 7 days and keep track of how you manage. Did it work? Could you delay the spending or did you avoid places that would require money?

Try it for a week and then another, delay spending at all cost for awhile until you get an idea of where the money is going.

Comments?  Contact me at GreaterLivingInstitute@gmail.com

Food Rules

“If it came from a plant, eat it; if it was made in a plant, don’t.”

This week I am reading “Food Rules” by Michael Pollan and I try to keep his simple food rules in mind when I plan the meals for the upcoming week.

Yesterday was one of those text book examples of the perfect dinner at the end of the day. Dinner and dessert was ready in an hour (except for the icing which I will make this morning). Being it was Friday I even picked up a bottle of wine. The family arrived in the kitchen one by one as they started to smell dinner being prepared and sat at the table chatting while I got dinner started. Last night we had Jamie Oliver's chili which is full of vegetables and makes it a very healthy meal. It is not your usual chili recipe due to the amount of vegetables, the combination of spices like cumin, chili and cinnamon and the chick peas which I have tried to hide by calling them pasta. That didn't really work but if your kids are younger you might try to sell them this way. I also made a carrot cake as carrots are cheap and plentiful this time of year.

After having chopped the vegetables and browned the meat, I quickly shredded the carrots for the cake and was ready to place it in the oven in 5 minutes. It is a very fast cake to make and it bakes for 50 minutes, exactly as long as the chili has to cook.

This was done in a hour and was much cheaper than take out/fast food. Cost of the chili is less than $10 and we even have leftovers.

If you would like these and other recipes just e-mail me at greaterlivinginstitute@gmail.com

Today I am making my favorite bread because it seems to be the perfect thing to do on a frosty winter day. This bread does not require a lot of effort, just that you are around for the 4 hours that it takes from beginning until you can eat it. This bread has a secret ingredient and is considered a treat in our house as white bread is usually banished. These golden loaves are beautiful when done and the kids are lined up to have a couple of slices with butter while still warm.

It all starts with a potato which you peel, chop and cook until tender. Save ¾ cup of the cooking water which you will need for the bread. I have never kneaded this by hand and don’t know if you will get the super light and fluffy dough if you don’t use a mixer of some kind.

1 large potato, peeled and chopped
2 tbsp. butter
2 tbsp. sugar
1 tsp. salt
1 cup milk at room temperature
1 package yeast (2 1/4 tsp.)
5 to 5 ½ cup flour

Place the chopped potato in a medium sized pot an cover with water. Bring to a boil and cook until the potatoes are very tender when pierced with a knife. Drain, reserving ¾ cup of the cooking water.

Place the cooked potato in the bowl of a stand mixer and beat until smooth. Stir in the butter, sugar, salt and 2 tbsp. of the milk. Continue to blend until the mixture is completely pureed. Blend in the remaining milk.

Cool the measured cooking water until just warm (105 to 115 degrees F) sprinkle with the yeast and let sit 5 minutes to soften the yeast.

Stir the softened yeast mixture into the potato mixture. Using low speed at first, add 3 cups of the flour until well combined. Increase speed to medium and continue to beat the dough until it is smooth and elastic, approximately 5 minutes. Stir in 1 ½ cup more of the flour to make a soft dough. Continue to blend until the dough is well combined and coming away from the sides of the bowl. Turn the dough onto the counter.

Knead the bread lightly until it is smooth and elastic and not sticking to the surface – the dough should still be a little sticky – don’t use too much flour!

Turn the dough into a large, well greased bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and a dampened cloth on top. Place in a warm and draft-free place until doubled in size (approximately 1 ½ hours). My choice is to turn the oven light on and leave the bread there to rise.

Punch down the dough and divide into two equal portions. For each loaf, gently fold the dough a couple of times and place in well-greased pans. Sprinkle a little of the flour over the loaves.

Return the dough-filled pans to a draft-free place and let rise until almost double in size (about 45 minutes). If you use the oven for this, don't forget to remove the bread before pre-heating the oven!

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and bake the loaves for 35 minutes until well-browned. They will sound hollow when tapped. Remove loaves from pans and let cool on a wire rack.

Since all of the above items are homemade they do not contain any preservatives or additives and you get to control the amount of salt added.

Good bye Cam

Today Claresholm will say good bye to a young man who grew up here and died recently in New Zealand. The grief felt by all of his young friends has been quite an eye opener as a lot of these boys have never really dealt with anything like this before. I have watched my son trying to deal with Cam’s death this past week and can already see a difference in him and his attitude to life.

Yesterday we went out to buy him a suit and a tie for the funeral today and as I watch my son all somber and serious, I am again overwhelmed with sadness for Cam’s family. As a parent I am struggling with the urge to protect and discourage my son from doing anything that could cause him harm but also wanting him to experience life in his own way. Bad things happen every day I know, but it sure is different when it happens to someone close to you.

How to keep our loved one’s safe and happy? Do we pray or hope for the best? I think I will do both, just in case.

Cam was 19 years old!

Just for Today

Just for today I will be happy.  “Most people are about as happy as they make up their minds to be”.  Happiness is from within; it is not a matter of externals.

Just for today I will try to adjust myself to what is, and not try to adjust everything to my own desires.  I will take my family, my business, and my luck as them come and fit myself to them.  

               

Just for today I will take care of my body.  I will exercise it, care for it, nourish it, not abuse it nor neglect it, so that it will be a perfect machine for my bidding.

Just for today I will try to strengthen my mind.  I will learn something useful.  I will not be a mental loafer.  I will read something that requires effort, thought and concentration.

Just for today I will exercise my soul in three ways:  I will do somebody a good dead and expect nothing in return.  I will do at least two things I don’t want to do, just to get used to it.

Just for today I will be agreeable, I will look as well as I can, dress as nicely as I can, speak calmly and act courteously, be liberal with praise, not be critical and ignoring faults with anything and not try to regulate no improve anyone.

Just for today I will try to live through this day only, not to tackle my whole life problems at once.

Just for today I will have an outline for how the day should unfold.  I will write down what I expect to do.  I will review it by noon to see if I am on track.

Just for today I will have a quiet half hour all by myself and relax.  In this half hour I will praise myself and appreciate what I have.

Just for today I will be unafraid, especially I will not be afraid to be happy, to enjoy what is beautiful, to love, and to believe that those I love, love me.

From the book "How to Stop Worrying and Start Living"" by Dale Carnegie - written in 1944 but still true today.

Any comments?  Contact me at GreaterLivingInstitute@gmail.com