It’s no secret that we are living in unprecedented times and so many small businesses are struggling to stay afloat as they are forced to close their doors to normal business.
The food industry has been hit hard, with seating areas in restaurants off limits and restaurants open only for curbside pickup, takeout, or delivery, they’ve had to regroup and come up with a new type of normal.
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Absolutely nothing beats the taste of fresh healthy food grown close to home, except buying food grown close to home and knowing you’re supporting a local farmer and business.
Other than for great tasting food, there are a number of reasons to shop local and support your local farmers.
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It’s never too early to start eating Easter chocolate, is it?
This is day three here of distance learning for our kids, and they have been trying hard to find a new sense of ‘normal’. What with everything going on, and being confined to the house, it’s easy for kids to forget that spring has sprung and this is Easter weekend.
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Finally, spring is upon us and Easter is just two weeks away! It’s time to celebrate the end of a long Canadian winter and welcome the colours and warmth of spring.
This has always been, without a doubt, our favourite time of year to visit Walt Disney World Resort, and I feel very fortunate to say that we have a history of having been able to fly Home in April every year or two.
Spring at Walt Disney World typically means the opening of the Epcot International Flower & Garden Festival when beautiful outdoor topiary and floral displays bring a special magical touch to Epcot, and outdoor kitchens cook up incredible international delights around World Showcase.
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In our house, we’re trying to keep our routine as ‘normal’ as we can for our kids during this pandemic, and while so much seems out of our control right now, we can at least control what happens in our home.
In the early days of social isolation, and when it was technically their March Break week, we let the kids have fun and let the rules and routine slide: meals happened whenever everyone was hungry, and we didn’t necessarily focus on healthy meals, but rather fun meals.
Now though, with no end to all of this in sight and our girls obviously becoming stressed, we’ve tried to put small parts of their routine back in order. Sure, we’ve extended their bedtime at night and allowed them to sleep in every morning, and for the most part they have the day to relax and do whatever, but now we expect them to check in with their school lessons online every weekday, they are responsible for a few extra chores above and beyond their usual ones, and they are expected to help out at meal time. In fact, dinner has become something of a family affair now: the tv goes off and music goes on. At the sound of the music, the kids know it’s time to head to the kitchen to help. So far it’s working and it’s even fun (so far at least).
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What better time than now to get out and explore the beauty of nature? In these uncertain times, I think it’s time we all focused on where we CAN go, and what we CAN do. We all need to focus on our mental health in the days ahead, and research shows that getting outside in nature has many health benefits, including reduced stress and anxiety.
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Happy St. Patrick’s Day! Yes, I said happy. This new reality we’re all living in can be overwhelming, what with constant news updates and press conferences happening, so it’s important now, more than ever, to focus on the positive.
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“Registration Coming Soon.” It feels like I’ve been reading those words for a very long time.
Well ‘soon’ has finally come, and for me (along with no doubt thousands of others), it’s tomorrow: registration for Disney’s Wine & Dine Half Marathon Weekend opens at 10 am ET.
My calendar is clear for the entire morning and I’ve got an alarm set on my phone for an hour before the actual registration time (just in case I should forget).
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This slow cooked chicken is on our weekly rotation for food prep just about every single week. With minimal effort, I can put it on to cook early in the day and have an incredible juicy chicken packed full of flavour by dinner time. We love it during the week to cut up for use in wraps, on salads, in pasta, or just for picking at after school.
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If you’re a fan of the spicy flavour of a Hermit cookie, you’ll love these gluten-free mincemeat cookies! Even if you’re not a fan of this traditional Christmas pie or tart filling, you’ll like these…I promise.
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