Author: aurorahlina

Lifestyle · Motherhood

Babywise Contributor

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Today I’m sharing something a little different, that I’m very excited about with you all… I am now a guest blogger for Babywise! It’s an amazing company with books talking about sleep schedules and many other topics, that we’ve found very helpful. They have sold over 3 million books worldwide and are the #1 bestselling baby book on sleep. Check out the article I wrote for them here! Giving tips on getting your to-do list done with a baby at home.

Home/Daily Life · Lifestyle

How to Declutter Your Home

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Is your house full of clutter? Do you have things scattered around that’s stressing you out? You need to purge! In my recent post ’15 Tips to Keep your Day and Home Organized ‘, I mentioned the below point…

Purge often! This will help keep the home tidy and clutter free. I often go through clothing and other household items and donate anything we do not need anymore.

Clutter in the home causes most people to feel overwhelmed, by simply purging unnecessary items to make the home more organized and clean, you’ll feel more at peace. Think back to a time when your home was organized, or when you went into someone else’s home that was, remember how calm, comforting, and beautiful it felt? Let’s make your home feel that way by these simple purging tips.

  1. Source Out the Clutter
    • Find the areas in your home that need the most help, however, start somewhere simple like the bathroom to ease into donating/throwing things out.
  2. Get Rid of Unused Items
    • As simple as this may seem, it is often the hardest…thinking “what if I need it one day?!”, rule of thumb if it hasn’t been used in the last 6 months to a year, it’s gone.
  3. Let Go of Guilt
    • Just because an item was given to you does not mean you need to keep it. Let yourself be okay with removing these unused gifts from the home.
  4. Tackle Emotional Items Last
    •  This way you have experience already removing the easy things first and are ready for this area. It is OKAY to keep things that are special to you but consider carefully if you need it all.
  5. Remove Duplicates
    • Get rid of any duplicated items you don’t need. Do you really need to have 6 spatulas or 2 copies of the same book?
  6. Try it on. To small? It’s gone.
    • I know you love your jeans from high school, but do they still fit? Clothing is often a very hard area for people, as you think you may wear it again (what if it comes back into style?!), or it is meaningful to you. Try and sort your clothing out – any favourites in one pile, everything else in another. Go through items trying them on (too small it’s gone), and removing any you haven’t worn in ages, or simply no longer like.
  7. Get Outside Help
    • Big areas can be hard to tackle (garage), or you may just simply struggle with the idea of letting something go. Ask a friend or family member to help you, by encouraging you to say good-bye, and helping you pick through items that may be overwhelming.
  8. Have a Donation Box on the Go
    • Have a box going to donate for any time you come across something in your home that you do not need.
  9. Don’t Let it in the House
    • Another simple way to reduce clutter is to exam items that come into the home. Do you need it? Throw out or donate it if you don’t, or remove another item from the home to allow space for the new one to come in.
  10. Give Yourself Time
    • This process can take a long time, depending on how hard it is for you. The more often you do this, the easier it is.

I hope you found these tips helpful, and feel ready and motivated to tackle your home. By the end, you will feel so much better, and I guarantee you will enjoy your home much more now that it is clutter free. Now, what are you waiting for? Get started!

Meals · Recipes

Shepherd’s Pie

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When I think of comfort food, Shepherds Pie is for sure one of my favourites. It is such a comforting hearty meal, and it is very easy to make – but you don’t have to tell your company that, let them ooh and awe over it. This can be served on its own, or with a nice green salad. Great for an easy weekday dinner, or to serve a large crowd. This also freezes very well, I prepared a couple before our baby was born to make dinner time easier.

Shepherds Pie

Servings: about 6

  • 4 large potatoes – peeled and diced
  • 1 ½ lbs ground beef
  • 2 teaspoons minced garlic
  • 1 small white onion – chopped (about 1 cup)
  • 2 cups fresh or frozen vegetables (such as diced carrots, peas, corn, and beans)
  • 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
  • ¾ cups beef (or vegetable) broth
  • ¼ cup butter
  • ½ cup milk
  • Salt, pepper, garlic, and onion powder to taste
  • 1 cup grated cheese (optional)

How to:

  1. Heat oven to 400 F.
  2. Place potatoes in a large pot and fill with water, add a dash of salt, and bring to a boil. Cook until potatoes are soft, about 6 minutes, drain water and set aside.
  3. In a large pan add hamburger, onion, and minced garlic. Cook until meat is browned and onion clear.
  4. Add in the vegetables, according to their cooking times (carrots first).
  5. Slowly add the Worcestershire sauce and beef broth.
  6. Add salt and pepper to taste, let simmer for about 10 minutes.
  7. Meanwhile, prepare the mashed potatoes. Add in the butter and milk then mash together. You can add salt, pepper, onion, and garlic powder to taste if you would like more flavour.
  8. In a 9 x 18 casserole dish, layer first the meat and vegetable layer, then the potato layer on top. Leave potatoes spiked, rather than flattening them down, so they brown.
  9. Cook in preheated oven for 30 minutes until lightly browned. At this time, you can sprinkle cheese on top and broil for 1 minute.
  10. Let slightly cool down, and enjoy.

Note: If you would like to freeze this meal, stop at step 8.  Let it fully cool down, cover, and freeze. When it comes time to cook it, let it thaw then proceed with step 9.

Lifestyle · Motherhood

My Current Favourite Baby Items

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I love being a mom, I did not realize how much I could love such a tiny little human. I know I am still very new to motherhood; Asher is now 4 months old, but I have discovered some of our favourite baby items that we currently love. Some we bought and others were gifts – I will try and link what we have (or something similar) at each point. I also would like to say, even though I have linked these to their websites new, we did not buy everything new. Many things we bought used for a good deal, such as my diaper bag and diaper genie, from our local buy and sell online, I highly suggest you check out used as a money saving option. But here are my favourite items at this time, I hope you find this helpful well preparing for your baby or searching for something new for your current little one.

10 Current Favourite Baby Items

  1. Baby Play Mat – This was great when Asher was first born just to lay on, he then slowly started hitting the toys that hang down, now he plays with other toys on it as well. We also use it for tummy time. I lay a receiving blanket down and change it often, to help keep it clean from spit ups.
  2. Change Pad – This makes diaper changes much easier, it’s cute, has rolled edges and a strap (to prevent rolling off) and the material can also easily be cleaned – because let’s face it, babies are messy.
  3. Diaper Genie – I heard so many mixed reviews on if this was worth it or not…my vote is yes 100% worth it! It is so convenient having this beside the changing table, it hides the diaper smell, and it’s so easy to refill and pull out the bag of dirty diapers AMAZING.
  4. Receiving Blankets – I have many of these on hand for spit ups, to cover anything baby needs to lay on, a light blanket, cover while nursing etc. Asher had some reflux so we went through many of them every day in the beginning.
  5. Laundry Bin – We have a separate laundry bin for baby items, you do not want to mix dirty baby clothing with your own. I also wash his stuff on a more gentle wash cycle and use less detergent then we do with our own clothing, so always having it separated saves time as well.
  6. Soother – We really did not want to use one at first but now I am glad we did, sometimes baby just needs it to help him calm down.
  7. On Becoming Babywise – The Infant Sleep Book – We read this book before he was born, and refer to it often. It taught us all about sleep schedules, the basic routine is sleep-eat-wake. It also has schedule outlines week by week as they grow to give you an idea of where they should be at that stage, and when/how to drop feedings. We recently bought the second book in the series to learn how to introduce solids and how it will affect his schedule.
  8. Diaper Bag – We opted for a diaper bag that has lots of pockets, a travel change pad, and a simple black colour so hubby doesn’t feel like he is carrying a purse around (in fact I don’t even use a purse anymore!). This is handy to always have with you for any baby need.
  9. Baby Wraps – I love babywearing! It’s so nice not having to bring a stroller for every walk, or being hands-free somewhere but still being able to cuddle the baby. We’ve also used it when we take public transit to make things smoother. Asher actually loves being in this, he just looks all around and when he gets tired just snuggles in for a snooze. I love the ones by Human + Mother but she recently closed her business, but I also like this one here, I just find it needs to be tied much tighter.
  10. Medela Breast Pump – Even if you are not planning on pumping to bottle feed, the breast pump was nice to have in the crazy beginning stage when your supply is trying to figure out where to be. Pump out any extra to relieve pain well they are adjusting.

 

I hope you found this helpful and enjoy every step of motherhood! Let me know your must-have items in the comments below.

 

Meals · Recipes

Turkey Lettuce Wraps with Peanut Sauce

aurorahlina1 Comment

Looking for a quick, healthy, filling and unique meal? These turkey lettuce wraps are for you! They make a good appetizer for a crowd or can be a full dinner as well. We really enjoy tacos, so I find this is a good spin on the classic to mix things up. It has lots of flavour and you really can’t have too much of the addicting peanut sauce. Go ahead and try it with any other meat you like as well.

Turkey Lettuce Wraps

 Servings: about 2-4
  • ½ lb ground turkey
  • 1 tablespoon sesame oil
  • 1 small onion – chopped (about ¾ cup)
  • 2 teaspoons minced garlic
  • 2 large carrots – chopped – (about 1 cup)
  • ½ cup red pepper
  • ¼ teaspoon ground ginger
  • 1 tablespoon soy sauce
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • Green onion – chopped
  • Half head of iceberg lettuce

Sauce

  • 2 tablespoons crunchy peanut butter
  • ½ tablespoons soy sauce
  • ½ teaspoon concentrated lime juice
  • 2 teaspoons brown sugar
  • 2 tablespoons water

How to

  1. Prepare peanut sauce in a bowl by mixing the peanut butter, soy sauce, lime juice, brown sugar, and water together. Depending on how thick/runny you like your sauce, add more or less water. Set aside.
  2. Heat a large skillet on medium-high and add sesame oil, ground turkey, onion, and minced garlic – cook until meat is browned and onions are clear.
  3. In the meantime wash the lettuce, keep the pieces large so it’s easier to hold all the fixings in.
  4. Add carrots and red peppers to skillet, cook until tender. You can add a little water to the skillet if you want to steam them faster.
  5. Mix in the ginger, soy sauce, salt and pepper to taste.
  6. Spoon mixture onto the lettuce, and pour the desired amount of sauce on top, sprinkle with green onion.