Tag Archives: hack

Nut Free, Egg free weekly dinners for the whole family! Keto, Paleo & Gluten friendly

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I’ve decided that sharing one recipe at a time can make it difficult to plan for a whole week. So this week, I made 4 different meals, and it is now Saturday and I still have leftovers! Some tweeks can be made to make these follow the Keto or paleo or gluten free diets 

The meals were as follows: 

White fish cooked in lemon butter with couscous and mixed veggies.


This one I pan fried the fish in the juice of one lemon and half a stick of butter, I just dipped them in breadcrumbs (since I don’t use eggs) and made the couscous and veggies in another pot at the same time. I used one package of frozen veggies the carrots and peas mix. Couscous is super easy to make, if you have some tomato sauce laying around it would taste really nice on top of the couscous and veg mix. That’s it, super simple. Follow the directions  on the box for couscous and throw the veggies in at the same time bring to a boil, cover and let sit. 
Chicken thighs with quinoa in a red pepper sauce (one-pot meal).


This I sautéed the chicken thighs in my new non stick pan with butter, turmeric and garlic and minced half a red onion. I puréed three peppers and once the chicken was browned I threw in the puréed peppers and 1 and half cups of quinoa, covered it and simmered it for approximately 15 mins. If the quinoa isn’t soft and fluffy at the end of the 15 then add a cup more water, stir it and cover again for 7 mins. Repeat that as necessary until the quinoa is fluffy! Serve it with cheese for the kiddos and hot sauce or cayenne pepper for the adults!
Vegetarian black bean chilly in lettuce wraps for the adults, and cheddar tortilla wraps for the kids.



There are 4 wraps on this plate and two people ate them lol in case anyone thinks I’m a pig, I am usually but I controlled myself lol

I mean was my masterpiece for the week, made in the instant pot! I soaked a whole bag of black beans or approx 3 and 1/2 cups in a bowl for 30 mins. I sautéed minced garlic, red onion, and mushroom and garlic salt, onion powder, turmeric, and cayenne. Once sautéed I added puréed Roma tomatoes (I’ve also made this with a jar of tomato sauce) and then added frozen organic corn. Covered the instant pot and set to chilli. While that was happening I made two cups of quinoa with vegetable stock! For the adults I served this on top of lettuce sprinkled with pepper, avocado slices then quinoa and the chilli on top sprinkled with cheese and a small bit of Greek yogurt. The kids I did in a cheddar wrap, they ate it and asked for more. We also ate this on leftover day, and today for dinner! Winner, winner, vegetarian dinner!!!

Tex mex style casserole over rice for the kids and without carbs for the adults


This was easy since I had my seasoning made, which consists of garlic powder, onion powder, garlic salt, sea salt, turmeric,  and cayenne pepper. I browned the ground beef in butter and red onions garlic and seasoning. Then threw it in a casserole dish,  threw in chopped Roma tomatoes, package of shredded cheese, and chives I grew and baked it for 30 mins at 350degrees. You could serve it over rice, or even leftover quinoa! 
This really helped me in the week not to be stressed and well fed. In case you didn’t already pick up on this, I use whole fat ingredients for myself and the family. It’s very close to the Keto or Paleo Diet, and I do personally take from them for myself alone, but I don’t make my kids eat super clean. Unfortunately tree nuts and eggs are basically in everything so I am forced to make almost everything from scratch. 

School lunches, both Nut Free & Egg Free!

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So I’ve now completed making lunches for the first two weeks of school. I must say it has been a successful week, because NOTHING, I REPEAT NOTHING HAS COME HOME!!


What I did was on Sunday while I was making dinner, I refused to sit down, and make my kids two varieties of wraps. 


For the wraps I used spinach wraps and regular wraps or tortillas. They both had no added sugar, and not as much salt as regular or even most whole wheat bread. We always accompany with two fruits and one veggie in the small planet box compartments. 

WRAP 1:

I had was slow roasted beef from natural selections, with old cheddar cheese and sliced dill pickles! This was a big hit with my kids, like Huge! Either on spinach or plain tortilla. 

WRAP 2:

Natural selections turkey with sliced Havarti and green apple slices! Again Boom! Huge hit!

Then I placed all ten wraps into a large bag and kept it in the fridge pulled a new one out every day and sliced on the diagonal, or you can slice it in pinwheels if your kids like that fancy schmancy stuff!

This weeks wraps were amazing! I know because we all taste tested

WRAP 3:

Apple butter, turkey, shredded mozzarella, cucumbers in an ancient grain wrap!

WRAP 4:

Apple butter, Black Forest ham, cucumbers and feta!

I forgot to take pictures of all the wraps but here is one lunch


My kids LOVE cucumbers! I gave them Ontario peaches and strawberries and a cup of yogurt (Liberte strawberry 2%)mixed with half a cup of Motts fruit and veggie sauce (mostly because my little one loves the combo and there is quite a bit of fibre in it) 

I write this for people who get mad that they have to deal with kids allergies at school, or parents who don’t know what to pack, or parents who want to get out of the norm of package foods, or even want to have their kids eat healthier. I really hope it helps!

Happy Back to school!!

Stay tuned for more homemade snacks without packaging!

7 Online Shopping Hacks

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I shop for EVERYTHING online. 

Take that in…

Here are my steps:

1. Get a PayPal Account and add your credit card that gets you the most points for shopping. 

2. Get an EBates account. It’s a referral website that pays you quarterly for your online shopping. This month my cheque coming May 1st is 200+ CAD! That is more than I get paid (after taxes for one day of work) 

3. Have an Amazon, Walmart, and Well.ca account (if in Canada) and set up subscriptions (amazon and well) or Autosave (Walmart) for basics like toilet paper, paper towel, garbage bags, diapers wipes (thank God I don’t need the latter for the kids any more). Every month These sites send you a reminder that you have An order coming up to review. 

So go into your accounts on the site and confirm by comparing them to each other that you have the lowest price and order from the site that is lower, also check for online coupons (usually more on Amazon)

4. Before putting through any purchase online check to see if the retailer is affiliated with ebates. If you find the retailer there, click on their link from ebates to put your order through. 

5. One more step before you put through that purchase google ” (retailer name) promo or coupon code” and try every single code you can find before putting through an order. 

6. This one is more of an individual choice but I LOVE ebay for unique pieces or even etsy. I bought my kids identical light up sneakers for 20 bucks for 2 pair on ebay that their friends at school got from a kiosk in the mall for 40+ IDENTICAL! Because the ones at the kiosk aren’t name brand either just some gimmicky shoe trend that the kiddos are crazy about. I’m supporting an individual in China that isn’t trying to rip me off!

7. If you Live in Canada the best credit cards for points that is free is the PC Elite MasterCard. Hands down. Last year alone on my groceries (which i do in store) made me almost 2000 that I put towards my groceries, you can also save up and buy gift cards at Christmas for people, or even one couple made a mortgage payment with it! 

If you travel the SPG Amex gets the most value for your dollars spent towards hotel stays, but there is a fee. 
I’m not affiliated with any of these companies. I do love shopping with them, and I literally cannot go back to shopping in store anymore, lugging around those giantic boxes and bags from Costco or just parking there any day of the week! I hate it!  

Also if you are worried about fraud online, make sure you always use paypal. I can’t tell you how great they are with disput resolution. So many times I’ve had to deal with shitty sellers that didn’t send me anything at all or even say their tracking says I got it when I clearly didn’t (I have full HD cameras at my home and know all of my couriers). Also during the holiday season tip your couriers, this isn’t necessary but you know they save me from those in store shopping messes, making them some baked goods and a card with cash is my way of saying thank you (also my Nana was a Mailman for years here so I feel obligated to him)
If you like this post please share it, because I really want people to stop looking at me like I’m crazy! I’m literally making thousands of dollars per year on stuff I Have to buy!

IKEA hack sandbox

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My older son loves sand, but when he plays with it it drives me crazy so I looked for a sandbox, but they were expensive and ugly, seriously who wants that? This sandbox is cheap and pretty!

So I found an ikea hack for it online and I couldn’t be happier with the results. 1 Komplement drawer, 1 Lack table, some hard as nails glue and spray paint to match the drawer.

The drawer took forever to put together, mostly because of the basically cardboard backing, so I put the adhesive in every nook and cranny to seal the sandbox. You just assemble the table and drawer and put a whole whack load of glue on the bottom of the drawer and position it over top. Also I purposefully chose a drawer that was smaller than the table so that if he was finger painting or doing another activity he would have a ledge to rest stuff on.

Side note I didn’t spray paint the glue over yet because I haven’t had the chance, it is like -15c here most days.

The first picture is the front of the box, the other is from the side that will face a wall!

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The key to keeping things clean and interesting I’m noticing is having multiple containers to have different sand and sensory toys. I have coloured rice in one box, kinetic sand, and sandsalive!