Shift Mama

Hiking Okanagan: Bear Creek Canyon Trail

This year The Husband and I set some  adventure/lifestyle/get healthy goals, and what's the best way to be accountable and (hopefully) follow through on them???  Post them for the world to see! 

These outdoor adventure goals technically are The Husband's,  but since we are a team I'm just going to go ahead and report on them through the year and share what we learn with you!  

The Goals: 

1. 10 hikes
2. 10 bike rides (not commute to work rides)
3. 10 paddles 

I'm pretty sure we can get these done, even with the usual July-August extreme heat and forest fire smoke in the air breaks that we traditionally need to take. 

Today we kicked it all off with a local, easy (?), winter hike. 

Bear Creek Canyon Trail

According the brochure available on the Provincial Park website, The Canyon Trail is a "Popular, but slightly demanding, hike offering spectacular views of the creek and surrounding areas".  It also mentions that the trail takes about an hour, signage at the trail head indicates that it takes about 2.5 hours.  We did it in less than two.  We also missed the "slightly demanding" part when reading the information. 

Location: Bear Creek Provincial Park is located about 7km from West Kelowna on Westside Road.  It's an easy drive from Kelowna and West Kelowna and a popular hike - even in the winter.  

Parking:  There is parking at the trail head - in the winter parking is across the road but it looks like in the summer there would also be limited parking on both sides of the road as well as in the Provincial Park as well.  This is a well travelled highway so watch for vehicles if you need to cross the road. 

Good Trail Map from the trail head - lots of options for different lengths of hiking.

The Trail:  I think in the spring, summer, and fall the trail would be rated low to moderate difficulty.  There is quite a bit of elevation gain and loss as you walk so average fitness level, good footwear, and proper hydration is required.  In the winter proper footwear is crucial.  We discovered pretty early on (within minutes) of walking that my old boots had close to zero tread left on them so there was a lot slipping and sliding! Portions of the trail obviously see heavy water flow through the year and sections of the trail had layers of ice covered by snow.   I've seen a few Kelowna based sites (including the Tourism Kelowna one) mentioning hiking along/on  the creek to the waterfall - I'd caution against this.  The weekend we did this hike was immediately following some of the coldest weather we've seen in a long time (we're talking -23 with windchill) and we could see areas of the creek where the ice had not fully formed and when our 70lb dog ventured onto the ice when the trail passed close to creek we could see cracks under her.   Stay off the ice and just admire the frozen falls from above. 

We stopped for a snack and tea break, and a nice view of the lake!

There are a lot of stairs.  A lot. And many sections of the trail are quite close to the edge with a steep drop off, so if you go and are taking small children keep a close eye on them, especially during the winter.  

One of the many sets of stairs along this trail.

We saw one outhouse just under 1km from the trail head.  There were no other facilities and we didn't see any garbage bins along the trail.  If you go please be prepared to pack out all of your garbage (including dog poop if you take your dog).  There are garbage and recycling bins at the trail head. 

 

Review: Sweet Reads Subscription Box

Two things I love in the world come together in this great monthly subscription box. 

I can't remember exactly when I first heard about Sweet Reads Box, but it took me a while to finally decide to place an order and now I can't figure out why I waited so long!

Sweet Reads Box gets delivered once a month, usually pretty early in the month, and always includes a new novel, something to drink, a sweet treat and two or three other items that go along with the theme of the book.  You can buy a single box, three months, or six months, and periodically they have a special box as well.  In the time that I have been subscribing there has been a Young Adult (YA) and Christmas themed box.  I've just been sticking to the basic box for now though and here are my thoughts on the experience. 

• Novel (usually paperback) are recently published titles and for the most part are general fiction.  I haven't seen any science fiction, thrillers, horror or non fiction.  There has been a pretty good mix of easy to read mystery, some historical fiction, and a couple of titles that border on romance/chick lit.  Nothing too heavy, just good light entertaining reads. 
• Mix of Canadian and non-Canadian authors.  It's nice to see the box, which is Canadian,  also support Canadian authors every couple of months.  December's box featured, Starlight by Richard Wagamese.  Wagamese was an Indigenous Author from Kamloops (just North of where I live) and the book featured many locations that I am familiar with.  I really loved the book (although it was unfinished due to his death) and how everything was carefully curated to reflect the book.
• Drinks:  The beverage choices alternate (more of less) between coffee and tea.  I love that the coffees that have come so far have been from small Canadian companies, mostly Ontario based, but since the box is shipped from Ontario I'm ok with that.
• Sweet Treats - is it wrong to say that this is probably my favourite part of the box?  I love seeing what treats get included every month and then seeing how they match the theme of the box.  Chocolate gets featured heavily in the box and I think that is just fine! 
• Everything else - the additional small gifts that get included are super fun as well.  I love it when the box has socks included (I'm wearing a pair right now) but my all time favourite is the turtle tea steeper that came with the February box.  I took it to work and everyone always comments on how cool it is - the tea gets placed in the egg part and the top is a baby turtle body, the turtle flippers hold the tea steeper on the side of the cup and the tea steeps trough the egg.   It's adorable! 
• Facebook Group  - there is a private FB group for subscribers and it is slowly picking up in activity, I think the idea is to have it as kind of an online book club, which is a great idea for all of us who just can't get it together to organize or make it to a real life book club.  I'm a bit behind right now in my to-read list so haven't been able to participate fully in the discussions yet, but the most recent book, The Gown, is one that I am really excited to read so I might put down my current book (The Music Shop - might have been the November book?) to start that one. 
• Canadian Pricing - this is terrific, so many times I have found a box (even Canadian) that uses US dollars as their pricing.  Although this is a bit pricy (see below) at least there is no extra surprise when the currency conversion happens! 
• Downside....it is expensive.  Boxes are between $52 and $59 plus shipping (ouch) so it's definitely a luxury, but if you like books and getting things in the mail, like I do, it's worth it.   If you subscribe to their email list or follow on social media they sometimes run a discount code which helps reduce the price, occasionally as well they engage bloggers to write about the box and they will have a discount code as well, so do some research before your subscribe the first time.  Subscription rates are found here.

I just resubscribed which will take me through the summer  - if you subscribe,  let me know, we could start up our own book club! 

Happy Reading! 

Each Box Comes Beautifully Packaged - Tissue paper hides all everything - building the suspense!

 

October (I think?) Box. I loved all the woodsy accessories to go along with this box.

 

February Sweet Reads Box. Love the luxury and how each item was curated to match the book.

 

Every box also comes with an artwork/info card. The back of card outlines each item and helps tie them into the theme. This month the card was outside of the tissue, which I loved. 

2018 Year In Review

Happy 2019 Everyone! 

2018 was a great year for the ShiftMama family.  We had lots of changes and adventures this year year and we're looking forward to what the next 12 months bring! 

As usual I'll start the year off with setting a new blog intention, and then like all other years probably switch that up (several times) through the year.  I think this is the year that I get back to food blogging with a touch of working mom wisdom (and failure) thrown in for good measure.   Not sure if I can get back to the one new recipe a week plan that this blog started as but I'll give it a shot!

We've been living the shift life (with my husband working fly in fly out shift rotations) for so long that it's all just normal now but I'll try to post tips and tricks about being shift mom when I come up with any new ones. 

But now for the main purpose of this post:  12 pictures to try and capture what happened for us in 2018!

January 

Family ski days are a big part of why we moved to the Okanagan.

Well of course it starts out with a skiing picture.  We skied last season at Big White. This was a rare weekend of sun, The Husband was home and we skied Saturday and Sunday so we could complete as many blue runs for Cruz the Blues as we could.  It was a great weekend and reminded us how much fun skiing as a family is.  January was mostly full of ski weekends, synchronized swimming practices, and a shift change for me to start working from 5am to 1:30pm so I could be home for The Kid after school.  

January was also when I posted this awesome slice and bake cookie recipe - mix it up and freeze it for emergencies! Slice and Bake Cookies.

February

Even though we didn't see a lot of sun we still had some epic ski days.

More skiing, a little less sun and the start of our plan to switch ski hills for 2019.  No blog posts in February though.  

March 

Winter is short in the Okanagan, sunny hiking afternoons in Mid-March.

The really cool thing about getting off work at 1:30 every day is that I can get home and get out to walk the dog.  We started taking longer walks and then those switched into hikes in the hills behind the house.  This old car keeps getting smaller and smaller each year and I wonder how much of it will be there when we start hiking up there again this Spring. 

In March I also tried to revive Friday Food Fun by posting about places to grab lunch around where I work.  This is a challenge though because my lunch is a 9am.  I did find this really great spot of quick breakfast sandwiches that was worthy of a share.  Sandwich Co. 

 April 

More sunny afternoon spring hiking, taking the trail to look over the neighbourhood.

More hikes in April.  We hit high teens and low 20s (celsius) in April so it is perfect for hiking.  This trail leads out to a rocky point that overlooks the whole Glenmore area of Kelowna.  The dog of course loves our adventures!  

In April I started to make my own breakfast burritos.  They freeze so well and take about a minute and a half in the microwave at work to heat up.  I highly recommend these! Make and Freeze Breakfast Burritos. 

May

Teammates make the best friends.

The regular Synchronized Swimming season wrapped up for The Kid.  She had a great individual year but her team routine fell apart and we learned all about competitive parents and how that type of parenting style can really (negatively) impact the entire team.  The Kid still loves the sport and went to on to compete at the BC Summer Games.   

May was also Bike To Work week and a great kick off for me to get on my bike and ride.  I got asked to write about it as well ! Bike to Work Week.  

June

Is there anything better than napping in a hammock?

Summer Games practice started for the kid in June.  We spent a lot of weekends in Kamloops but still managed to get a little camping in.  I'll have to get The Kid her own hammock this year though - she discovered the magic of hammock napping on this trip.  We also got soaked (and I mean SOAKED) on this trip!

My garden also started to take off in June and I realized I had way more sunflowers than anticipated so I posted this roasted sunflower seed recipe in advance of the fall harvest. 

July

This Kid loves Archery (and her new bow).

July was more synchro practices as well as the actual games, but the memory that stands out most is seeing The Kid really loving her new sport of archery. 

No posts in July - there was just not a lot of free time in the lead up to BC Summer Games. 

August 

Hanging out at the beach on Slocan Lake.

We escaped the smoke cover in the Okanagan for a bit less smoke in the Kootenays for a weekend in August. It was nice to get away and relax with family  over the August long weekend.  

Last summer we also got out to a few wineries, without the kid though, so that makes my Is Your Kid Wineing posts a bit different...basically all the ones we visited are best visited without kids, as I maintain in every post about wineries, the Okanagan is welcoming of families and we've never been to any wineries where kids were unwelcome but honestly, wineries are not somewhere that kids really love. 

September

An afternoon of flights at some of the local Craft Breweries in Kelowna.

The smoke lingered into September this year, but The Husband and I ventured out to visit the local craft breweries in Kelowna.  It was really weird that we had only been to one of them so we had to fix that.  It was a great afternoon and definitely something that should be on anyones Kelowna Must Do list, unless you don't like beer. Kelowna Brewery Tour. 

October

Fintry Falls: Did I mention there were stairs?

I realized that even though we've lived her for five years, The Husband had never been out to Fintry Falls.  This is a standard easy hike that "everyone" does.  October is still really nice in the Okanagan so we made the drive and walked up alllllllllll the steps to the top of the falls and then followed the easy hiking path back down.  More of these adventures to come in 2019!

Not a lot of blog posts through the fall though, too busy walking up stairs I guess. 

November

Hawaii Vacation 2018.

Hawaii.  We took our biannual tropical family vacation.  Lots of sun, beaches, and family time. 

December

So much snow....reminding me that my ski pants aren't really waterproof anymore.

And we finish the year with Skiing.  We switched hills and look forward to skiing, cross country skiing, snowshoeing and tubing at Silverstar Mountain Resort this year.  So far we haven't seen any sun filled days, but for the most part (unlike our time at Big White) we have had decent visibility.  We also found an amazing bakery at the hill for mid morning snack, so what more could we ask for!? 

Oh and I bought an Instant Pot so get ready for those food posts in 2019!  Instant Pot Mac and Cheese. 

How to have a low key (but still memorable) New Year's Eve

New Year's Eve - the last big party of the year, saying good bye to the previous year and hello to a brand new one! 

We're not huge New Year's Eve partiers and more often than not my husband has to fly back to work on New Year's Day so our celebrations usually wrap up around 10pm (I know, we're super exciting). But not to worry, even though our celebrations wrap up around 10 we still cram a lot of great food and Okanagan living into New Year's! 

Food: 

Racelette - this is one of the many amazing traditions and ideas that I continue to love from my time in Switzerland.  Racelette is a special type of cheese and method of melting that cheese.  Like the other famous Swiss dish - fondue - Raclette is all about taking your time and enjoying the company thatuou are with, as well as the food.   Other great ideas would be to make your own pizza (buy a pre-made crust), set up a taco bar and let everyone create there own, or even keep it simple with a home made charcuterie platter to let everyone just leisurely snack and catch up.  

Raclette!

Drink

The Okanagan Valley has a lot of great Bubbly (Sparkling Wine) to choose from.  Check out Summerhill for their Cipes Brut or for a fun (less expensive) Bubbly Social from Intrigue, or just get what you like - sometimes we even venture away from local wine (gasp - I know but it's true!)  And don't forget about the kids, we've found some great sparkling fruit juices at the BC Tree Fruits market (and Save On as well). 

Celebrate: 

If we're lucky and News Years Eve doesn't fall on a work day we kick off the day with a family ski.  New Years Eve is typically when winter holidays start to wrapping up at the hill, everyone is still in a festive mood but lines can be shorter than other days over the holiday. 

Downtown Kelowna for the party and fireworks.  Kelowna has a "New York New Years Eve" party.  It took three years for someone to explain to me that the New York refers to the fact that the fireworks go off at 9pm here, which is midnight in New York. That is really the only New York thing about the party!  The fireworks cap off the event at 9pm, leaving everyone with plenty of time to head off to other New Year's celebrations, or just to head home to warm up. 

The After Party

After the fireworks we head home and try and stay awake - this I think is every working parent's New Years Eve challenge!   We've discovered that setting up our favourite games, Seven Wonders, Ticket to Ride or Settlers of Catan helps us stay awake and enjoy the last few hours of the year.  

In Kelowna you'll also notice that your neighbourhood might have some extra fire works.  Over the year the additional fireworks have increased from a short three or four bursts of fire works to several minutes of pyrotechnics. The only issue is - we never know which direction they are coming from and it takes a bit of running from room to room to get a good view! 

How ever you spend New Years I hope it is filled with Family, Food, and Fun! 

Cheers!

 

 

Instant Pot Mac and Cheese (for two)

Yes, you read that title correctly.  Instant Pot, I have joined the thousands of people with blogs that have an Instant Pot and instantly have become an expert in all things cooking in a pressure cooker.....just kidding definitely not an expert! BUT I will share recipes as we adapt and create them. 

We bought an Instant Pot Lux Mini, it's one of the smallest sizes of Instant Pots (3 quarts) and is the perfect size for our family.  80% of the time there are just two of us and we have fairly limited space in our kitchen to store things.  Our hopes are that this will replace the slow cooker AND the rice cooker.  Both of which are just way too big for two or three people. 

The challenge now though is finding recipes for the 3 quart Instant Pot.  There are so many sites and resources out there for recipes but most are for the 6 or 8 quart pots, so we've been experimenting with quantities and so far have been fairly successful. 

Best recipe so far (aside from boiled eggs) has been Mac and Cheese.  It's so simple and fast and makes incredible cheesy Mac and Cheese. 

Here's what you need: 

• 2 cups of chicken broth (we're not fancy - Knorr Instant Chicken Broth has been perfect for this)
• 2 cups of elbow macaroni
• 1/4 teaspoon dry mustand
• 2 tbsp of butter 
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1/2 cup 2% Milk
• 1 cup of cheese - we've been doing a blend of mozzarella and cheddar with a dash of parmesan if we have it. 

Here's what you do: 

• Combine the broth, mustard and salt and pepper in the pot. 
• Add macaroni
• Add butter.  Give it a quick store and then put the lid on.
• Set the pot to manual pressure for 5 minutes
• When the time is up, manually release the pressure by turning the steam release valve to vent.  CAREFUL - this will release the steam!  Use a towel or oven mitt to turn the valve if you are accident prone! 
• Once the pressure is released, open the pot and add the cheese and milk. 
• Stir to melt the cheese and serve! 

It's so simple, and The Kid has requested this three times (we've had the pot for two weeks). 

 

Quick and Easy and Super Cheesy, Mac and Cheese

This recipe makes enough for three good sized portions - so for us, two easy dinners and a left over lunch. 

 

Now...earlier I mentioned hard boiled eggs.  If you have a pot and haven't made eggs you are missing out.  It's fast (of course) but the amazing part is how easily the eggs peel.  This is going to be a game changer for this holiday season when The Kid makes Devilled Eggs - no more loosing precious egg because it is sticking to the shell.  Eggs are easy: put about 1 cup of water in the pot, put the trivet in and place eggs on the trivet.  Press the egg button and set the time to 5 minutes.  When the time is up, manually release the pressure and then put the eggs in ice water to stop the cooking process.  Simple! 

2018 Working Moms Countdown to Christmas

Working Moms...are you ready?  It's almost December, so we are about to be bombarded with dozens of different countdown calendars to help make this "the best holiday season EVER" (or some other tag line) to ensure that we are all maximizing every possible second of holiday madness.   Of course as working moms there is almost no chance of being able to get to work, get the kids to school, activities, and all the work, school, sport extra activities that get scheduled through December AND do 24 fun and exciting extra things.  

So instead, lets just take a step back and focus on making sure that we are able to balance holiday mayhem with holiday fun.  To assist here is my annual Working Mom Countdown to the Christmas.  The intent this year is to yes, do some cool holiday memory making things with the family, but also make sure that we are taking the time to slow down, relax, recharge and take care of ourselves so we can truly enjoy the holidays (and those few precious days away from work!). 

 Like last year, this countdown doesn't have 24 things on it, just 12.  Do what you want, when you want to.   

 

Take Part in a Community Light-Up:  I don't know about your area but my little part of British Columbia has dozens to choose from!  Our annual favourite is the Kelowna Downtown Light Up but we might venture out to one of the surrounding towns as well this year. 

Head out on a Christmas Light Walk:  Life getting crazy?  Got 20 minutes?  Bundle up and walk around your neighbourhood to check out the light show your neighbours have prepared for you.  The fresh air and family time will help shake out the crazy!

Go on an outdoor adventure:  I'm not talking a major excursion here, just grab some skates and head to local outdoor rink, or put on your hiking boots and take a hike.  Got a ski hill near by - go skiing, or challenge yourself to something new: snowshoeing or cross country skiing! 

Book a holiday manicure:  I know, this one is surprising from me. But The Kid and I got back to school manicures this year and it was a) fun and b)pretty relaxing.  

Me Time: Seriously, find two hours and a babysitter (if you need one) and just  take the time to yourself.  Get a massage, or attend a yoga class, or just grab a book and a comfy chair at your local coffee shop and don't do anything for anyone else.  Just take the time for you. 

Attend a Christmas Concert or Show:  This is a no brainer - you're already going to be doing this anyway.  Its a quick win to cross off the to-do list.  But hey, if you want to be an overachiever, check out your local community theatre for an event (that your kid isn't in already). 

Mail a card or letter:  Spread a bit of joy - I personally love getting mail so lets start a trend back up (even though we have that postal strike happening) grab a stamp or two and send some holiday cheer through the mail this year. 

Order Take Out (and repeat as needed): No explanation needed.  

Watch a Holiday Movie with the Family.   You choose what Holiday Movie means to you.  For me it might mean watching Avenger Infinity War on Netflix (starting December 25th). If Avengers isn't holiday movie material for you, no worries, there are a million holiday shows to choose from.  Pop some popcorn, pour a glass of wine, shut off your phone and settle down for some mindless holiday entertainment. 

Bake some treats!  I love baking and this year I think I'll spread bit holiday joy (and possibly help me eat less cookies) by taking some baking to work to share with my lunch time crew.   Don't like the people you work with, don't share the cookies.  Its simple.  Again - just do what makes you happy! 

Donate to your local food bank or toy drive.  If you can donate to both, and more than once.  Get the family involved and maybe even keep it going through the year.  It's easy to buy an extra box of cereal or jar of peanut butter to drop off in the food bank bin as you walk by - and you know what>  It feels great! 

Finally: Got vacation days or paid time off you haven't used yet?  USE IT.  Send your kids to school and take a mental health day.  Many employers don't roll over the vacation days to the following year.  Make sure you use your time!  

 

 

 

Review: Miss Fresh Meal Delivery

Miss Fresh was a total miss for us. 

To be honest I was less than impressed with this service even before it started, but we went ahead with an order anyway.  I'll go through the usual review template and then get into why this was such a total miss.

Registration and Order

• This website was so slow.  Slowness made the sign up and order process so much longer than it really needed to be.
• Menu selection was ok, I wasn't really enthusiastic about any of the selections but did find three that I felt both The Kid and I would enjoy.   I wasn't really impressed that even though I was signed in, I wasn't able to view details about the recipes ahead of time.  After my payment was entered I could go back and look at the ingredients and recipe, but with slow internet speed this was just extra annoying. 
• Payment Type: Credit Card only, no PayPal option. 

After the Order

 

So this is where things get really interesting.  I did receive an email letting me know my box was on the way.  However the box didn't arrive and tracking just showed that the box was in Calgary.  Now, I will mention that the box arrived in Calgary the day of the first snow storm of the season.  Flights were delayed and roads temporarily closed.  However.....this is CANADA.  And it snows here.  There should be a process in place to allow the company to be aware of delays and update customers.  

 

Day two - still no box and no update.  I emailed and posted on their facebook page. 

 

Day three - a reminder email to order my next box arrived.  No update on delivery.  I responded to the email and asked where my box was. No response. 

 

Day four (Friday when the delivery of food was expected on Tuesday) - I did finally receive a response letting me know that the box had been delivered but was advised not to eat the perishables.  I was refunded the amount I spent on the box and issued a credit for my next order.  

 

When I got home from work The Kid had already taken the food out and put in the fridge.  She left the box in the kitchen and I noticed that ice packs were still partial frozen but that one of them had been damaged inside the box (maybe placed in the box with a cut in it when it was frozen?) so the inside of the box was damp and covered with the substance used in the ice packs.  

 

This whole process was also a bit of an eye opener for me was that this box, and possibly the other two I had already tried, was shipped from Quebec.  Even without the snow delay, the box I ordered for delivery on a Tuesday was shipped on Friday....so that's three days of travel before it even arrives in my neighbourhood.  I'm definitely going to do a bit more research about where the boxes are packed and shipped from in the future.  Closer to home would be best I think. 

 

 

Meals: Week One

Well, obviously I cancelled this service so really can only partially evaluate.  I did salvage some of the ingredients and made two of the recipes: 

 

Chicken Pot Pie - I followed the directions and used some of the food from the box - potato, carrot, some of the seasons. But mostly used ingredients I had in the fridge to make this.  Instructions were easy to follow which was great.  I kept the recipe as it was a great way to use up leftover rotisserie chicken. No pictures though. 

 

Ramen Noodle Buddha Bowl:

I found some of the ingredients were ok to use (ramen noodles, seasoning, lemon, cucumber) but subbed in roasted cauliflower for the tofu.  It was quick and easy to make and the flavours were good. I was a bit excited to try roasting tofu so might give this a go another time. 

 

Ingredients for the Ramen Buddah Bowl

Lots of substitutions were required to make this due to the delivery disaster but it was still tasty.

 

 

Review: Hello Fresh Meal Delivery

Meal Delivery Kit number two...and already I'm deviating from my review criteria.  In my original post I stated that I would try each service for two weeks, however....As soon as I ordered from Hello Fresh I was disappointed.  Here's why: 

Ordering: 

Hello Fresh has three meal plans: Family - which is for four people (two many for us), pronto - which does have two people plans but is more expensive because all prep is done for you, and veggie which also has two people plans and doesn't come fully chopped and prepped and ready to go.  I decided to go with the vegetarian option.  I entered all my information and noted on the site it let me know I could change meal options after check out (which is how Good Food worked).  BUT the vegetarian box only has three options.  So there is nothing to switch to. 

I tried to change the plan (minutes after ordering) but was only give then option to change the plan for the following week.  

I immediately canceled my account and when asked to provide additional information about why I was cancelling I let them know why and have still not heard anything, at all, from them.  (Note:  I've received two extremely pleasant emails from Good Food after I cancelled their service).  Customer Service goes a long way in my world.   I did see on Hello Fresh's facebook that people had asked why Veggie only has three options and have learned that it is a new box so they are still building other options.  Seems like a good piece of info to put front and centre on their site instead of leaving customers frustrated and digging for answers to their questions. 

A positive to the ordering/website - they do have PayPal which I appreciated. 

Delivery and Presentation

Hello Fresh does give an option of several days for delivery which was great - I received my order early in the week which was great. 

Initially I liked that the meals were in a paper bag folded over and sealed, like a take out order. It looked great in the box and the over all appearance made me smile.  Then I realized that because it is in a paper bag you can't see what is in the bag. I didn't open each bag (because who has time for that) and late in the week realized I had refrigerated tomatoes (which was not great for them) and stored some leafy greens in the regular part of the fridge instead of the crisper which is also not ideal. 

I have to say I did like that Hello Fresh provided clear instructions on recycling a lot of their packaging, including the ice packs - and offer a service where they will pick them up.  What was in direct contrast to all of this though is that several items came in individual, not recyclable packages (like 6 individual packets of mayo) or things came packaged that could have easily not been - like pre-chopped and peeled sweet potato  in a plastic bag(why not just send a whole potato?)

A cool thing that Hello Fresh does though is listed out all the ingredients and indicate what type of allergen they are (ie wheat, egg, dairy) right on the recipe card. We don't have any allergies but would find that useful if we did. 

 MEALS

Grilled Halloumi Burger

Quick and Simple, this is something we would likely make again, although my daughter did sum up the burger pretty well...she called it empty.   Fried (not grilled) Halloumi with tomatoes and greens on a bun with a side of home made baked potato wedges was quick and easy to make so we'll figure out one more component for the burger and make it again. 

This took slightly longer than the 30 minutes that it said it would - mainly because of the wait for the oven to come up to temperature.  Actually cooking & prep was pretty close to 30 minutes. 

Halloumi Burger and baked potato wedges.

Roasted Root Veggie Medley 

This was the meal that I was planning on swapping for something else because I know it would be a hard sell to get my daughter to eat it (and I was right).  It did make terrific work lunches though, and I enjoyed learning how to make candied pecans (so simple!) and didn't even mind the chèvre (goat cheese) that was included as an extra topping.  This dish did seem a little low on protein, but maybe farro (the grain) has a lot of protein? 

This recipe took just over 30 minutes to prepare which is pretty close to what the recipe card said it would. 

Roast Root Veggies

Fragrant Aloo Gobi 

An easy to prepare vegetable curry.  I didn't follow this recipe exactly because we have a rice cooker and I just make a big pot of rice to go with this, instead of the 3/4 cup of rice cooked in a pot on the stove that the recipe card instructed.  I also let the pot simmer for a bit after adding the coconut milk, instructions said to add the milk (after everything else has simmers and built flavour), heat until it comes up to temperature (about 2 minutes) and then serve 0 but this just made it taste like coconut milk.  I let it simmer for an additional 5 or 10 minutes to allow the rest of the flavours to blend.  

I might make this one again, it was a good Saturday evening, not in a rush dish and left enough for leftovers.  

Hello Fresh: Aloo Gobi

 

Friday Food Fun: Sunny's - A Modern Diner

We are long time fans of RauDZ  in Kelowna (and the other restaurants that they operate: Micro and Terrafina at Hester Creek Winery) so were super excited to hear that they were expanding to open another restaurant in Kelowna.  Sunny's - A Modern Diner opened in late spring and is aimed at the breakfast and lunch crowd and is way more family friendly than their other locations: The Kid has eaten with us at Terrafina during an adventure down to Osoyoos, and although minors are welcome at RauDZ it is really best enjoyed in the company of adults.  Micro is 19+ so she'll have to wait a few more years.  

Sunny's is one of the few locations on Bernard that really feels family friendly to me.  That's not to say that many other restaurants in the downtown area don't welcome families, it's just that it seems most establishments are focused on drawing tourists down for drinks after a day boating or wine touring.  Great for the summer economy but doesn't do a lot to continue to draw locals down when the tourists head out in September. 

Anyway - we made our way down to Sunny's bright and early in mid-June to check it out.  Although it was before 8am we weren't alone at Sunny's there were several other groups already there enjoying the relative quiet of downtown Kelowna before the weekend really takes off.  

We are early risers, so definitely count ourselves as breakfast people.  The menu had a lot to chose from and I personally loved that coffee came in large cups - no tiny 1/2 cup size vessels here!   We did appreciate the assistance of our server translating some of the diner lingo for us - we ordered Chicks on a Raft, Cluck and Grunt, and BBBenny & the Jets  (check the menu link for translation!) 

We also decided that  we had to order the breakfast poutine to share (you only live once, right??).  It was too much food but it's was a fun time trying four different dishes. 

Cluck and Grunt and Breakfast Poutine at Sunny's

Everyone enjoyed what they ordered, the breakfast poutine turned out to be the least favourite of all the dishes, but we still enjoyed it but it just didn't have enough heat melt the curds, loved the fried egg on top though!   We also really enjoyed seeing that a few of the dishes on the menu are also found in The Okanagan Table cookbook, which we already own and have since tried replicating a few of the breakfast/lunch dishes - the favourite there being what Sunny's calls Chicks on a Raft, but the cookbook has listed as Sharp Cheddar Scramble on PB Toast (Chicks on a Raft has a better ring to it), we have some how taken to calling it Chicks on a Stick at our house, likely a throw back to our days at Panorama Ski Resort where there was a ladies day ski group called Chicks on Sticks. 

Sunny's is a fun, relatively quick service, restaurant with cheery atmosphere and just steps from the lake front.  It's a great addition to Bernard and hopefully a step in the right direction towards bringing families back to Bernard. 

Sunn'y Decor is light and welcoming

 

 

Type:  Breakfast/Lunch, Family 

Kid Friendly: Yes, we had out daughter with us and several other tables had kids with them as well.  Breakfast is one of the most kid friendly meals I find! 

Wifi: Uncertain, however I am pretty sure that the wifi from the Tim Hortons two stores down would reach. 

Budget Friendly:  Moderate 

Special Diet Options:  Unknown

Reservations Required:  Nope

Would Visit Again: Yes, we'll head down again in the offseason for lunch or maybe just to sample a milkshake

 

Roasted Sunflower Seeds

The garden is growing like crazy again this year, and already I can see we'll have a lot of sunflowers....a lot! 

Last year I planted a row of Russian Giant Sunflowers along one of our fences and when the label says GIANT - they aren't kidding!  The flower heads were enormous and produced a lot of seeds.  

I did manage to harvest quite a few seeds in the fall before the birds got to all of them, I think I harvested about four heads of seeds and left the rest to dry and them moved them from the wide open garden to a more sheltered space for the birds to feed on uninterrupted by the neighbours cats through the fall and early winter.  Of course as a result of moving the flower heads around, and the birds, we seem to have scattered seeds throughout the garden and now have more sunflowers growing than expected! 

Birds got to these sunflowers before I could. Is it just me though or does it look like this sunflower is wearing googles?

So, although were a few months from harvest time I wanted to share the process I used last year for roasting the seeds.   I did a fair bit of research last fall into the different ways people roast their seeds and decided that brining the seeds ahead of roasted sounded like the best idea, and I was not disappointed! 

Smaller type of Sunflower from the garden last year.

 

Set up the brine:  I kept mine simple last year just using a salt brine,  but this fall I think I might get more creative!  

4 cups water

½ cup sea salt 

Boil until salt is dissolved, add 4 cups of seeds, simmer for 30 minutes.  

 

After the seeds have simmered for 30 minutes (it's ok to simmer a bit longer),   drain,  and let them dry on paper towel to absorb all the excess moisture.  I think this year I'll probably also be sure to do this on a hot sunny day and let the sun help with the drying process as it does take a long time! 

Once dry:  Roast on sheet pan, 325 degrees for  at least 25 to 30 minutes.  Shake pan/flip seeds regularily to get even roast.  Depending on your oven and how spread apart the seeds are they might roast at different times, I found the seeds on the outer edge roasted faster, so I would remove those and then spread out the seeds again before putting the rest back in. 

 Let them cool and then enjoy!   

In a few months this will be the back garden view - harvest season!