DIY Spice Rack 2.0

Spice jars have been my enemy for a while... but I think I have it under control! At long last!

I enjoy organization. A great deal. I love the satisfaction it gives me. Messy spice bottles and little plastic bags in the back of a cupboard does not give me satisfaction. So when I saw this photo on Pinterest months ago, I got a little excited. Mainly because it incorporated my love for mason jars in a very cool way.

Source: thekitchn.com via Raeanne on Pinterest

So I went to the hardware store and the craft store and got my supplies. And well that attempt turned into this...

So going on a tip from a reader, I headed over to Lee Valley and got some super duper magnets. They held the jars, but unless you were very gentle at pulling them off and putting them back on the wall, you'd end up with a minimum of six jars crashing onto the counter top. Not fun. Insert a few curse words here.

I decided to abandon this great Pinterest idea. Let's face it, DIY projects don't always work out as planned.

And yes, yes, I know those little spice jars with the magnets on the back exist already. But they are expensive. And not as original and pretty as my little mason jars.

Insert this. My handy-dandy drawing of what will become the new spice holding device -- thanks to some input from my handyman-dad and a coworker.

Off to the hardware store once again (thank goodness neither project was that expensive!) to get a pine board, some 'L' hooks and some drywall wall anchors. Roughly fifteen bucks later, I'm ready to get to work!

I started with a 1 x 6 piece of pine, when milled is actually 11/16" x 5 1/2". I needed about 10ft for my project, so I got one piece 6 ft long and had it cut down the length of the board at the store (for free, I might add), so I ended up with two 6 ft boards roughly 3/4" x 2 3/4". Perfect width for my little project.

I measured out all the lengths required (two 13 3/4" sides and four 20" shelves and got to work cutting them using my mitre box saw. Handy little thing to have around (thanks Dad!). And yes, I just got to work in the middle of my dining room! Hardwood floor + deluxe vacuum = easy saw dust clean up!

Once that was done, a good sanding was in order. I like to do this with a sponge sander. I find it easier to get a smooth finish.

I marked where all the shelves would go as well as where the screws would go. I then pre-drilled all the holes and followed that with screws to secure the structure. Forgot to take a photo at this stage, but this photo shows how I attached the screws via the sides.

Once it was all together, I applied a bit of wood filler where some of the boards met. In a few cases there was just a little tiny space where the boards didn't come completely together. This was easily fixed with a putty knife and wood filler.

Then one last sanding to smooth out where I applied the wood filler and all over for good measure. A quick cleaning and then I was off to paint! Using some left over paint from my kitchen walls (read: leftover paint costs $0). I applied 2 light coats with a sponge brush. I got great coverage after only one coat, seen here:

After the second coat of paint has dried for a day or so, it's ready to be mounted to the wall! Simply attached four of the "L" brackets to the rack.

Mark the wall where all the screws will go and insert wall anchors into the wall. Then attach the the spice rack! Ta Daaaa!

When I made my first spice rack with the magnets (version 1.0 and 1.1), I had made little labels for the jars. But I took this to the next level as well... I recently came across Martha Stewart's Avery line of products available at Staples and well fell in love... Here's how I re-labeled my spices. So pretty... You won't be able to see the labels when the jars are on the shelves, but in my organizing ways, I arranged them all alphabetically, so I have a idea based on that plus their colour/texture from the clear jar of what each jar contains. The label just confirms!

Hopefully (fingers and toes crossed), there won't be a Spice Rack 3.0 in my future.

Love!

(Apologies for blurry/grainy photos, been meaning to take new ones for a month now... but haven't done so, and now it's dark again and well if I take some now they'll turn out the same. This blog is finally going to see the light of day, blurry or not!)

A plastic-free kitchen

I'm a bit of a plastic hater. And becoming more so more recently. We have become used to storing a lot of our food in plastic over the years, because it's convenient. But perhaps not so convenient to our health. Plastics are made of petrochemicals, which can leach into our food over time. Let's not touch the issue of putting plastic dishes in the microwave – that's a whole other story.

So I thought today I'd share with you some of my favourite reusables that take the place of plastic in the kitchen.

• Anchor Hocking Kitchen Storage – Last year some time, maybe before school started in September, these babies went on a big time sale at Loblaws in all different sizes. I think I went three times to stalk up. Always realizing that I needed more in various sizes! They are made of glass and the lids are BPA-free plastic. Fantastic for lunches and leftovers.

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• Klean Kanteen – beautiful stainless-steel canisters. Good for water, juice, smoothies. And they have insulated containers as well for hot food. No more line ups at the microwave at lunch – even better!

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• Stawesome glass straws – for Christmas, I asked for some glass straws and received a set of four! There's nothing like it. And no waste! Just wash or even throw them in the dishwasher. Smoothies and juice taste better with a glass straw.

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• Reusable produce bags – these babies can be found at Farm Boy in Ottawa as well as other retailers. I just love them so much. 

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• RuMe bags – These are by far the most beautiful reusable shopping bags around. I have one and I love it. Holds up to 50lbs, with nice wide straps that you can sling over your shoulder. Great to not only go to the grocery store with, but why not the mall! RuMe also carries all kinds of bags (small baggies to large totes)

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• Mason jars – These are my number one kitchen storage solution. I have so many of them, because they are so cheap. They work out to anywhere from 50 cents to a dollar each. Head over to Canadian Tire and stock up!

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Now if all that didn't inspire you, take two minutes and thirty seconds and watch this:



And if you want more tips on eliminating plastic from your kitchen and life in general, I recently came across a blog called My Plastic-free Life about a woman who is living plastic-free, or at least not introducing any new plastic into her life! Her story is incredibly inspiring and she has some great tips in the Plastic-free Guide.

Hope you found some inspiration to purge some of your plastic, or reuse it for corralling things other than food. Please share with me some of your great reusables.

Another wee milestone

Last we talked I was in the midst of the Fab Uplift Detox. What a game changer! The Detox started March 26, today is April 23... I've eaten so abundantly over the last month – following both the detox guide and eliminating my other food allergies – without gluten-grains, without any sort of dairy, without eggs and without animal protein (other than a bit of fish outside of the detox)! I haven't craved any of those food and I've thrived on what I have been eating, which includes lots of nuts and seeds, legumes, some fruit and lots and lots of vegetables and superfoods!

Life has been ridiculously busy these last few weeks too, but I've still managed to find some lunch to take with me every single day. And sometimes dinner, too, on school nights! It's a lifestyle. Some may cringe and turn their heads at my lovely green/brown smoothies, but I thrive as I know all this goodness is doing so much for me and tastes amazing too, I might add.

About a year ago I guess, I hit a big milestone of losing 20 lbs since slowing getting on this bandwagon back in the summer of 2010, when I saw a number on the scale I never want to see again. Now I can say that I've lost 31 lbs! I think the Fab Detox pushed me over as I had been hovering at 28 lbs for months. Anyway, this is just another little checkmark in my mind. Even though it took a year to lose another 10 lbs, I know I've gained lean muscle mass in the process as my body has continued to change (in a good way!). All this meaning that the total fat loss is likely more than this 11 lbs I see on the scale.

Yay for being healthy the real way – by eating REAL food.

Detoxing, fabulously

I've been absent... Life took over. If I wasn't at work, I was at school, studying for school or sleeping. That's been my life for the last few weeks. Things are on the up and up now though. Some big assignments for school are behind me, so a bit more free time. Hurray!

As I mentioned in my last post (that seems oh so long ago), I made some major changes to my diet over the last few weeks. But the best news is, that I'm having great success! My allergies have piped down a lot and my digestion has never been better! I still have room for improvement, but things are heading in the right direction – so that makes me smile (a lot).

I've been getting some interesting reactions when people find out what I've eliminated from my diet: "so where do you get your protein? your calcium?" My response... uh... plants, some grains and some meat. There is still SO MUCH I can eat that I'm not finding it overly cumbersome. Eating out, on the other hand can be a bit of an issue sometimes... ah well, I'm likely saving way more money by eating mostly at home anyway.

Last weekend, amidst the craziness, I was in Toronto for the weekend visiting friends and relatives. But the real reason for going this particular weekend was to attend a couple of workshops with the lovely Meghan Telpner! One of the workshops I attended was based on her successful Fab Uplift Detox program. Included in the price was also registration into her coached Fab Uplift Detox program that started this past Monday.

This detox is so timely to what I'm going through right now with food allergies/sensitivities and I thought it would be a great "reboot" button for my body. And so far so good! The first four days weren't a big change from the way I currently eat -- just cutting out the meat (which there wasn't tonnes of to begin with), so I didn't see big changes, but Friday marked the start of the real deal leading up to a juice and smoothie fasting for a day, which from my calendar looks like it will fall on Tuesday. I'm looking forward to it and feeling great thus far.

I hope to post a few more times about some of the things I'm eating and how I'm feeling so you can follow along and maybe join in next time, but also for myself, so I can look back and see how far I've come.

Enjoy the ride. I know I will.

A lengthy list

Remember a few weeks ago when I wrote about how I conquered my allergies? Well I should have knocked on a lot of wood after I wrote that, because a couple days later the uncontrollable sneezing came back and never left. After one particular bad night where I couldn't sleep and then woke up in the middle of the night all congested and sneezing up a storm, I thought it best to seek some more help.

So once again, not wanting to just deal with suppressing symptoms, I made another appointment with my Naturopathic Doctor to see if she had any wise wisdom to share. To be honest, we thought we were dealing with a dust and mold allergy -- but I was doing everything possible to address that issue. So next on the list was food. She suggested I take a food intolerance test. It was a bit of a financial commitment, as it cost over $300, but we were both pretty sure it would reveal something that would be very hard to pinpoint on my own through elimination diets.

On Friday, I had an appointment to go over the results. And it was a doozy. I'm pretty much intolerant to most of the common food allergens. This doesn't mean anaphylactic shock, it just means by body is attacking itself in a way in response to these foods that it sees as foreign, because my digestive tract isn't processing them properly. Which all means that my digestive tract is somehow compromised and needs some healing time.

So the main culprits I am to avoid (in no particular order) are:

• gluten grains (I was already aware of this one)
• eggs
• dairy (cow, goat, sheep)
• potatoes
• yeasts
• almonds
• peanuts
• corn
• peas
• leeks
• mussels

Yikes, right! Actually, it's ok. I can deal. Believe it or not, my issue isn't so much the eggs and dairy, it's the almonds! No almonds, almond milk, almond butter or almond flour/meal. The flour/meal part is especially sad because it can be a key ingredient in gluten-free baking. Oh well, I'll be experimenting with some other nut flours such as hazelnut, walnut and pecan, in addition to all the other gluten-free flours.

I'm trying to stay really positive about it all. I mean there's no point getting angry or pitying myself. I already eat along these lines, so just a few adjustments to make and hopefully in a few weeks I'll start noticing changes in my body.

My dinner tonight: Thai Green Curry with Sprouted Tofu, totally made from scratch! A good weekend meal as it requires lots and lots of prep. But totally worth it, so yummy and so good for me (and you too!)

A new go-to smoothie

Last summer I wrote a post about my "go-to" smoothie at the time. Well things have changed and I've mixed things up a bit and I have a new "go-to" smoothie that packs an even BIGGER superfoods punch. Try it and let me know how it goes. I made this a few times and the colour changed from purple to brown... don't worry about the colour – it depends on the quantities of the food you put in. I never measure, which drives my scientist-brained bf a little mad. It should taste chocolate-y with a hint of sweetness no matter the colour.

"Check me out, I'm a lovely shade of poo.
But I taste A-maz-ing!"

Raeanne's go-to smoothie (2nd edition)

• 1 cup almond milk (or 1/2 almond milk, 1/2 water)
• 1 heaping tbsp of my seed mix
• 1 scoop of protein powder, I use Genuine Health Vegan Protein+ Vanilla
• 1 tsp maca powder (a superfood, great for stamina, fatigue and helps you adapt to different environmental factors)
• 1 tbsp raw cacao powder (the best antioxidant there is)
• 1 heaping tbsp of goji berries (another superfood/amazing antioxidant)
• 1 tbsp raw honey (full of good for you enzymes)
• 1 tbsp coconut oil (some good fat!)
• 1 tbsp of prepared Irish moss (information on how to prepare Irish moss)
• 1-2 handfuls of greens (usually spinach, but whatever you've got)
• 1/4 cup of frozen berries
• 1/2 or whole banana (frozen is good, but not necessary)

Put everything into a blender and let it go! If you'd like it nice and cold, pulse in some ice cubes after the initial blend. This recipe can result in a pretty thick smoothie, so get out a glass straw or spoon and slurp it up. 

Note: all the superfoods are optional as you may not have them all lurking in your cupboard as some of them can be expensive. Try to buy a new one every month to add to your pantry. That's what I'm doing as I know I still have a few more to add. Spirulina, you're next on my list! 

"I've overdosed on berries. Help!
Thank goodness I have a matching straw!"

Review: Café My House

On Friday night, in the middle of a snowstorm (or the aftermath of one), the boy and I ventured out to Café My House for dinner. I had "won" a free meal via a little facebook/twitter contest so I was anxious to get there and get my free meal!

I've been to Café My House for brunch twice before this trip and had a wonderful experience both times. Their menu is the same whether you are out to dinner or out to brunch, which may seem a little odd, but not so, many of their brunch dishes are lovely dinner mains.

Take for example my dinner on this visit, Herbivore’s Tempeh Burrito with Edamame Guacamole (organic tempeh/brown rice/cilantro/kale/black bean/vegan cheese/house edamame guacamole/organic multigrain tortilla wrap), is actually on the brunch menu but I had it for dinner and it was perfect and delicious! I asked for it to be made with a gluten-free tortilla, rather than the whole wheat one. I was warned that the burrito may fall apart, as I well know... brown rice tortillas just don't have the flexibility that wheat ones do – but I was lucky and mine held up fine. The flavours melded beautifully and the guacamole had just that little kick I wanted.

The BF had the Spicy Smoked Salmon Roll (capers/dill/cucumber/lemon zest/spicy mayo/avocado/green onion/smoked salmon/brown rice). It came out wrapped in nori, like large 7-8 large sushi roll pieces and just beautifully plated and equally delicious.

Both dishes were spectacular.

We finished off the night with one of their ever changing raw, gluten-free, vegan desserts. If you follow them on twitter, you'll be salivating as they are always posting their most recent dessert concoctions! There were three to choose from and we chose the strawberry and cream cake and were not disappointed. It was very similar to this dessert, which I've made twice. I spoke to our waitress about it and she confirmed it is a very similar recipe.

In my very humble opinion, Café My House is top notch and their food can be considered high end. The service has always been very friendly and the atmosphere is cozy and unpretentious – just my style! But if you make the trek out to Bank and Alta Vista you'll see and taste for yourself the deliciousness that is there!

P.S., Sorry for the lack of photos... I know, how could I post this without photos! But to be honest, nothing I would have taken with my iPhone would have turned out anyway, as the lighting was much too dim (lovely for dining, bad for photos). You'll just have to take my word for how good it was; and my word is good, promise!

Café My House
1729 Bank Street (Bank Street/Alta Vista Drive)
Ottawa, Ontario
(613)733-0707
info@veganlifeatmyhouse.com