Shift Mama

Friday Food Fun: Grandin Bakery

After a brief hiatus Friday Food Fun is back. This week is just about desert though. This week my husband is home for the week so we opted to do dinner at home this Friday - BBQ chicken, potatoes, and steamed broccoli. It was fantastic (as always) The Kid was quick to point out that her dad's chicken cooking skills are far superior to mine but that is ok, because I have to agree, he is better at cooking chicken. I, however, rock at buying desert. So I drove down to Grandin Bakery and picked up a little something for... Read more →

Greening of the Shift Mama house

It's April and although it barely looks like spring I figured it would be a good time to do a really good spring clean of the house. I'm working my way through a room a day and trying to be as green as possible in doing it. I would say as a green family would be a pretty pale green (I'm going to say mint green). We do what we can, our city has a really great recycling and compost pick up program and that really cuts down on our waste. Anything organic goes in our green bin - from... Read more →

Laid Off: One Week In

It has been a week since I was laid off, and I want to thank all my friends and family for checking in on me. I'm doing just fine. I did find my parents, and The Kid is still thrilled to have me at home. Things I have Learned in the First Week: 1. The Library (and the parking lot for it) is NOT less busy during the week. One of my favourite places in all of St. Albert is the St. Albert Public Library. It was one of the first places we went when we moved here and is... Read more →

Just updated my domain name from heathergardiner to ShiftMama. Most of my posts will be without pictures for a while, I need to go back and reload all the pics. Fun times! But welcome to ShiftMama.typepad.com :) Read more →

From The Birks Box - Bank Note Bars

Last weekend I had a look through Grandma's Birk Box and pulled out a few recipes I want to try over the next few weeks. I was drawn to this particular recipe because of the slip of paper that it was hand written on the back of. The front side is a Mortgage payment receipt from 1948. I love the small bits of history that the Birk's Box is sharing with me. The note is signed by my Great Grandfather, so I'm not sure if this recipe was written down by my Grandmother or maybe my Great Grandmother? In either... Read more →

Homemade Dryer Sheets

It's April, and as most of us know, April is home to Earth Day. April 22nd is Earth Day, and this year Earth Day Canada put out a great 30 Day Action Challenge. I will admit I haven't been checking every day, and some of challenges I probably just won't do - like using coconut oil as a conditioner - others I already do (having short showers, having a non fertilized lawn, and turning down the thermostat), some I decided I will try out - ditching the commercial dryer sheets, meatless Mondays, and committing to a green commute (jokes, I... Read more →

Shift Mama: Laid Off

Another first in the Shift Mama world. I got laid off today. I can't remember what the other firsts have been this year but I know there have been several (no doubt mostly around The Kid actually eating real foods). So here is what I learned: 1. On the rumoured day of lay offs, when your supervisor asks if you "have 5 minutes" you should say no, and then run in the other direction. As FAST AS YOU CAN. It's not going to end well. 2. No matter how prepared you think you are, you are still going to cry.... Read more →

Friday Food Fun! The Pita Pit

A little late on this one, but since The Kid has requested this place for dinner tonight before Brownies I figure it's a better late than never situation, right? Last Friday was the first Friday back after vacation. I was beat, and honestly we ate out so much over the vacation I just really wanted to eat at my own table, put my yoga pants on, and relax. In order to meet those really lofty goals I realized we needed to hit a fast food joint. I did want to stay away from the big chains (keeping with my personal... Read more →