Blogs on Canadian Living

Green Living Blog: Repurposed shoe storage

Kat — Sun, 11 May 2008 04:01:59 +0000

After reading this post, don’t forget to enter our contest – you could win a new dishwasher. Plus, do you have your own story to tell? Send it to greenchallenge@canadianliving.com (no more than 300 words, please), and you could win one of 30 daily prizes.

Today’s winner is Myrna Sandle of Komoka, Ont.

After enjoying those tasty greens, there is still more “green” in that box. Re-purpose it as an ideal shoebox and enjoy a more organized closet with your shoe collection easily visible. An added bonus is that you will probably gain extra space in which to store more shoes and have to eat more lettuce to get those boxes…it’s a great cycle!

Thanks to Myrna (more…)

Green Living Blog: Make green your favourite colour

Kat — Sat, 10 May 2008 04:35:24 +0000

Today’s winner is Lianne Jones of Calgary.

I’ve always loved pink, as evidenced by all the pink at my wedding almost 20 years ago. I still like pink A LOT, but I’ve made a dramatic shift: I’m learning to love green. Not just as a colour, but as a way of life. Now I get excited when I see things like (more…)

The Foodie-file: Tiger Blue cheese

Christine Picheca — Fri, 09 May 2008 20:31:48 +0000

My food find for the week is Poplar Grove’s Tiger Blue cheese. Gitta Sutherland is making this creamy blue at Poplar Grove Cheese in Penticton, BC. I visited her while in the Okanagan Valley last week and have posted pictures of her operation. I saw Tiger Blue all through the area as well as in Vancouver’s delis and restaurants. A distributor has picked up this artisan cheese so look for it in Ontario as well. Better yet, have it at Poplar Grove when you are there and you can pair it with a glass of yummy Monster Merlot from their vineyard!

Here are pictures of Gitta and her cheese.

Tiger Blue is the wedge

(more…)

Green Living Blog: Eco-friendly greeting cards

Kat — Fri, 09 May 2008 17:11:55 +0000

Today’s winner is Tiina Rebane.

With our constant focus on being green, I find that some things are going to the extreme – for example, greeting cards. There’s something so special about receiving an envelope that isn’t a bill. With virtually everyone using emails these days, I really look forward to the old-fashioned birthday card. That said, there is a way around the dilemma of sending proper cards without promoting the ever-wasteful greeting card industry – (more…)

Mom blog: Because I Said So! Children’s Mental Health Week—my favourite kids books

Jacquelyn — Thu, 08 May 2008 17:12:15 +0000

This is NOT one of those bloggy things where I take a photo of my bedside table and then dissect the books piled there (you lucky people!) (the list includes more Grade 2 books than mine, and more magazines than books). In keeping with Children’s Mental Health Week, I’m going to share a few of the books that have helped my kids in their development and offered them some neat insights and ways of looking at mental health.

Edward the “Crazy Man” by Marie Day. This is the story of 12-year-old Charlie, his friends and Edward, a man in the neighbourhood who makes fabulous costumes out of discarded things and lives in an alleyway. The illustrations are wonderful, and the story shows how mental illness can enter a person’s life, affect the lives of friends and family, and the person ends up not sick, but different. (Major bonus to anyone in (more…)

Green Living Blog: Using the clothesline

Kat — Thu, 08 May 2008 04:28:27 +0000

Today’s winner is Kathy Stevenson.

I live in a fairly new subdivision that has a no-clothesline restriction. With the laundry of three children, and us, I asked my husband to install a clothesline. I could not imagine (more…)

Green Living Blog: Building with reclaimed materials

Kat — Wed, 07 May 2008 19:49:22 +0000

Today’s winner is Michelle D’Ercole.

I wanted to share a green challenge that my husband and I faced when we purchased our home. The home has a walk-out basement but the builder only included a tiny deck that was 10 feet above the ground plus a set of stairs down. Needless to say it was much too cramped for our family of four to enjoy and we needed to build something that would be safer and would accommodate our family. The big dilemma was (more…)

The Foodie-file: Bocuse D’or

Christine Picheca — Tue, 06 May 2008 21:04:49 +0000

Bocuse D’or is the original iron chef competition. Started in 1987, every two years international chefs from around the 24 countries are chosen to compete in Lyon for the coveted title. The chefs are chosen three years before the competition, have mentor chef to work with and an apprentice that trains with and assist the chef. The current team is gearing up for competition in January 2009 in Lyon France. Our homegrown contender is David Wong of Vancouver. (more…)

Mom blog: Because I Said So! Children’s Mental Health Week—art as therapy

Jacquelyn — Tue, 06 May 2008 17:03:39 +0000

Who decrees what week it is in Canada?
I’m guessing there are too many cooks in the kitchen on this one. Yesterday I said this week was Children’s Mental Health Week, May 3 to 10. So I’ll point this out to you before anyone points it out to me: it is Children’s Mental Health Week 2008 in Ontario, according to CMHO (Children’s Mental Health Ontario). Over at the cross-country Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA), it’s CMHA Mental Health Week 2008 from May 5 to 11. Our friends to the south at the National Federation of Families For Children’s Mental Health (FFCMH) are celebrating Children’s Mental Health Awareness Week from May 4 to 10. What does this mean? That I can only point out specific events geared to kids’ mental health in Ontario, but that information and links have significance to all caregivers of kids.

Art and kids’ mental health
Why am I starting here? Because when we were at our family therapy session yesterday (yes, my kidlets and I walk the talk), we had a sneak peek at the kids’ art exhibition that opens today. (more…)

Green Living Blog: Small-space gardening and composting

Kat — Tue, 06 May 2008 14:39:51 +0000

Today’s winner is Jennifer Wilson.

Although I live in an apartment, I compost my kitchen scraps and put them in my small outdoor composter. Come springtime, I have enough good new earth to do all of my patio container plantings. I water my pesticide-free containers with “grey” water left over from my dishwashing water, coffee, tea, and liquid left from cooking vegetables. I do not consider myself someone with a green thumb, but the results have been amazing! I have provided (more…)