Breakfast for dinner

I have always loved pancakes for dinner! Now with the Velata Raclette, it's super easy!! Then at Safeway this week, I saw the latest Rachael Ray magazine...it's the BREAKFAST ISSUE!! You can be sure that I'll be checking out all the cool recipes and trying some of them out on my raclette!#ichoosevelata #breakfastfordinner #raclettewars

I love to cook

I think I've always known this, but it's been suppressed since we moved to Taber. In our Picture Butte house we had a HUGE kitchen!!! We even did reno's and put in all new cupboards, it was beautiful! It was one of the few things that I was sad to leave (second to some really great friends!). In Taber, we have a teeny tiny kitchen! (seriously) So I find I don't look forward to trying new things that are going to require a lot of room (aka lots of bowls, pans, space for spreading out). But since getting my Velata Raclette and trying new things with it and new recipes with my other Velata products (you know, that awesome Belgian Chocolate, or the fabulous Wisconsin Cheese, and don't forget the amazing Artisan Rubs), that desire to try new recipes and create amazing things (and sometimes not so amazing things) is coming back! I am really bad at inviting people over to try them (mostly because I think my house is too small), so invite yourself over if you want to come try something fun!

now I'm going to go wash the dishes and clean off my counters so I can create something amazing tomorrow!

#raclettewars

This was dinner tonight (and dessert) :) LOVE IT!!

Bedtime

Some of you may know this already, but my kids go to bed at 6:30pm. YES, 6:30!! There is a reason for this...my kids are up EARLY! so what, you may say, 7:30 isn't so bad, yes, 8am would be nice, but 7:30 is doable. NO, that's a miracle if they sleep in until 7:30. When I say early, I mean EARLY...5:30am!! 6am if we're lucky!! This may be our own fault, Chris leaves for work at 6:30am, when I work (2 days/week) I'm up at 5:30 to leave by 6:30 as well. It doesn't matter what time we send them to bed (Kayla has been known to stay up will past 10pm), they are up early! So, to make sure they're happy and rested, bedtime is 6:30pm.
It actually works out pretty good for us, I'm done work at 3pm when I work, Chris is done at 3:30. Once everyone is home we can eat dinner 4:30/5pm, enjoy some time together, then send the kids to bed. It's actually kinda nice to have some quiet evening time to get stuff done.

Olympics

I love watching the Olympics! I remember as a child watching them and cheering on Canada, it doesn't matter the sport, or if I even know who the athletes are, they are from Canada and that is enough! I even get emotional as they win gold, silver or bronze, or even when they fall. They represent all of us and do the very best they can. I am proud to be Canadian and cheer for them.

If you want to know how awesome Canada is, read this article it sums it all up!
Now go watch some olympic coverage and cheer really loud for Canada!!

New Year's Eve celebration

As the mother of 3 young children, New Year's Eve is a little different than when I was young...I was in bed by 10pm (though I was woken just after midnight by Kayla having growing pains!). But it was a great night with my family and a fabulous way to end the year.

Velata chocolate fondue, cheese and crackers

a very cheesy husband :)

sausage and potatoes on the raclette

then we did cold slab ice cream...

I chilled the granite top from the raclette in the freezer for several hours, then add ice cream (we did vanilla, but you can get creative and do different flavours)

add in some treats, I had a mini cupcake, smarties and velata milk chocolate. the kids liked crushed oreos, kitkats and smarties.

mix it all together 

Enjoy! It was AWESOME!

here's the stuff we had to add in, mini cupcakes, apple pie filling, chopped kitkats, smarties, and oreos, caramel sauce and velata milk chocolate.

I think next time it would be fun to do a banana split theme, bananas, strawberries, Velata chocolate, caramel sauce, cherries, marshmallow cream, anything you want on a banana split!

New Year!

As I sit here and do a little organizing and planning for the new year, I am taking time to set some goals for the next year. I've posted my goals on my whiteboard. some of them include, run a 1/2 marathon, pay off credit card debt, go to Cancun (Scentsy leadership retreat) in 2015, run 1,000km this year and complete an olympic length triathlon! Not only did I set the goals, but I am also in the process of making a plan on how to achieve these goals, like my goal of running 1,000km this year requires that I run 3 times/week. I'm looking now for a 1/2 marathon to book so that I have a deadline. I'm excited about what 2014 has in store for me and my family!
Do you make goals? write them down, show someone, it makes you accountable and helps you achieve them! Set BHAG's (Big Hairy Audacious Goals), even if you don't achieve them, you'll be further ahead at the end of the year than you are today! I'm going to make it a double yay year!
Here's to 2014!!

Christmas 2013

I love Christmas! I have my nativities up on November 1st, I start listening to Christmas music as soon as Chris will let me! I love the smell of a real Christmas tree, I love giving to others. This year, as I sit here at the end of Christmas day 2013, I'm happy!

I wasn't really feeling the Christmas feeling this year until about a week ago. I was driving into Lethbridge listening to some of my favourite Christmas carols. My favourite carols are the Forgotten Carols. I love the message each song has and they remind me of those people we often don't think about, like the inn keeper, Joseph, and those that weren't there, but heard about His birth and still believed. As I listened to the songs I was struck by gratitude for my Saviour and His sacrifice for me. I love that we can celebrate His birth and His life, not just in December, but all year long!

We've started a tradition in our family of having Santa Claus come a few days early. That way the kids can open their presents and enjoy the gifts they receive. That leaves Christmas day a day we can focus on the birth of our Saviour, Jesus Christ.

This morning we started with stockings and had a great Christmas morning breakfast:

Christmas Morning Breakfast Casserole

4 cups of shredded hash brown potatoes, thawed
10 eggs
8 pieces of cooked bacon,chopped
1 1/2 cups cheddar cheese, shredded
1/2 cup cottage cheese
1/3 milk
4or 5 green onions, chopped
Hot sauce to taste
Salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup of additional shredded cheese for top of casserole

Mix all the ingredients together except the 1/2 cup of cheese. Pour into a greased 9×13″ pan. Top with the shredded cheese. Cover and put into refrigerator overnight. Let sit on counter for 5 to 10 minutes and then bake uncovered at 325* for about 45 minutes or until the eggs are cooked.

(I actually cooked it for about 1hour and 15 min), It was great, even Ryker, who "doesn't like eggs" ate it!
Then we acted out the nativity. We don't have enough in our little family to fill all the parts, so we enlisted the help of some "buddies"

This Christmas has been a little different than most, we started renovations on our bathroom last week Friday and we've been slowing working on it since then! so today we kept working on that, I'll post pictures of the final project when it's done (soon I hope!)

We had the missionaries come over this evening. I remember being a missionary at Christmas time, and I appreciated the members that allowed us to be a part of their Christmas and I wanted to return the favour. It was the beginning of a new tradition, Velata for Christmas dinner. Everyone loved it! Raclette to grill up the meats, Cheese fondue, and Chocolate fondue! One Elder was very adventurous and dipped everything in the chocolate! I mean EVERYTHING, including pickles, cheese, carrots and shrimp!

After dinner we tried a new program from the Friend magazine...

Elder Jones played piano for us and Kayla and Blakelee held up all the letters for us! It was a great way to end the day and remember again the true reason for the season!

It's been a fabulous day! It is my hope and prayer that all of my friends and family had as good a day as I did! MERRY CHRISTMAS to you and yours!!

(I'll admit I love my Scentsy buddies and I did my own nativity when the kids were done)

Raclette. Serving up Memories

(check out even more great raclette ideas at www.createthosememories.ca)

I love traditions. I love doing things that bring my family together. As Christmas comes I start to think about traditions that I have...
I loved fondue. I don't really remember when we would do it as a family, but I remember my mom pulling out the fondue set and we'd sit around and enjoy the food and fun and family. It could have been just once or twice that we did it, but I remember it and remember loving it. As a young adult my favourite group date was fondue! When we got married I loved it so much that we made it a yearly tradition for new year's eve. Some of the best times were when we shared the tradition with friends! The prep was fun, the clean up wasn't, but it was all worth it!
I do remember New Year's Eve as a kid, it would be one of the few occasions when the fine china came out and we got to have a "fancy" meal. The one thing I do remember eating was cream corn. I always thought it was such a special food that we only got it once a year. I later learned that my mom hates cream corn and my dad loves it, so she would let him have it once a year! :)
I remember visiting my Grossmutti and Grossvati (Grandma and Grandpa, Dad's parents). They came from Switzerland and my favourite meal was when the raclette came out (I didn't know that's what it was called at the time). We'd start with a vinegar/lettuce salad (I don't know the exact recipe, but I found something close below) then fry our potatoes on top and melt swiss cheese underneath. I loved being able to melt my own cheese and fry my own potatoes! As I started my own family, I searched for something that would recreate this experience. A few years ago I finally found one, it was cheap and didn't work perfectly. Then, Velata introduced their own Raclette this past October. I am in love!! I love being able to cook at the table and share this tradition with my children. As well as introduce many more traditions (we made french toast, turkey bacon and fried eggs last night for dinner on the Raclette)
This is why I am in love with VELATA! I love that it brings family together (even when I don't really want to share, as soon as my Velata warmer is going (with either cheese or chocolate) I am guaranteed to have someone wanting to share :)

www.nataliezuidhof.velata.ca

Lettuce Salad

1 head iceberg lettuce (I like it shredded)

1 cup vinegar

sugar (enough to make a thick syrup consistency)

wash and cut lettuce, set aside.

put the vinegar in a bowl, add sugar to desired consistency and mix well so sugar is dissolved.

spoon the syrup onto the lettuce and mix lightly.

I might be a little crazy

At least that's what people might think as I run past talking to myself with my earphones in, or singing, or dancing...Ya, I'm a little crazy! I do talk to myself and sing along with the music, I have even been known to dance a little if the music is right :) I guess it's a good thing that it's getting cold and most people are inside, so they can't see how crazy I am!

Going for a run tomorrow! Watch out for crazy lady :)

Christmas is coming

How do I know?? Because everyday I have someone message me about ordering Scentsy, Grace Adele or Velata! They make great gifts and I love that this time of year I am so busy "working", more like partying, for a living! I really do love my job, I love making people happy when I drop off orders, I love making Christmas shopping so easy for people! I love seeing my team do well and reap the harvest!

That being said, it's going to be a crazy month, but I promise to get a few more blog posts in this month!

Do things that SCARE you!

So, my last post was about doing things that are HARD. Today, my post is about doing things that SCARE you. There is a difference...my last triathlon (in Fort Macleod) was hard. I wasn't scared or really concerned, I knew it would be hard, but it didn't really scare me. My next triathlon, Banff, scares me!!!! It's an open water swim, in Banff, the mountains, in September, it's going to be COLD!! The bike course will not be closed to traffic (crazy, unpredictable tourists!) and we are to beware of wildlife on the road (specifically big horn sheep!) that could be interesting. The run is the only thing that doesn't scare me! But it's a HUGE event, there will be olympic athletes, it's a qualifying race for other big time races. There's going to be tons of people. I'm not going to let me fear take over, I will succeed and I will be so happy when I cross the finish line!

What are YOU going to do that scares you?

Once you do that thing, you'll realize that it didn't kill you and that you can do AMAZING things!

Hard things

Two years ago I was in charge of our family reunion (my dad's family). It was a very hard thing to do, with 10 siblings, the Michel Family has grown to be a very large family! We do the reunion every three years. I made the theme of the reunion We Can Do Hard Things. Planning the reunion and trying to make it a great experience for so many people was a hard thing for me, but when everyone had a great time, it was worth the stress and hard work I had to do.

This summer I have been training for a triathlon. My first triathlon was 4 years ago and I loved it. I've wanted to do it again and this year was a great time. I signed up for the Fort Macleod triathlon, sprint distance. (This was my first full triathlon ever, supersprint distance). I've since added a Stirling triathlon (completed 2 weeks ago), and Banff (Sept 7)! But Fort Macleod was still that one I wanted to do! Then I got sick!!! I was home in bed with strep throat for 3 days! I was finally feeling better on Friday, but still not 100%. Saturday I felt good, but I knew I had no reserves (no food for a week will drain any stores you have)!

Through the entire event I struggled with myself. In the pool I stuggled to breathe and had to go slow. On the bike the wind was blowing against me and I had to go up the worst hill I've ever seen!, on the run I felt like puking on the side of the road. But then, in the pool I felt smooth with my stroke, after the turnaround the hill wasn't so bad and the wind was at my back, on the run...I knew I was almost done (I did walk most of the 5 k, but it was all I could do)!

I've never cried when I finished a race, but I did that day. It was HARD, but I DID it! I could have not done it, or I could have quit, but I pushed through and I did it! Banff is going to be a cakewalk now! (not really, but I'm excited for it).

I really think that doing hard things is something we should always be striving for. To try hard things and then accomplish them brings a feeling better than trying something you know you'll be good at. So go and do something HARD!

please note, my hard things aren't nearly as hard as others, but we all need to dig deep to get through the hard things in our lives!

Bucket list

I have decided i need a bucket list...here goes

1. complete an Ironman triathlon
2. complete Escape from Alcatraz triathlon
3. become a Scentsy Family SuperStar Director
4. go to Jerusalem
5. go to Switzerland
6. go to Australia and New Zealand
7. Run a Marathon
8. go up in a hot air balloon
9. go to Mt. Everest base camp
10. return to the Philippines

Is that a good enough start? I can always add to it, can't I.

Scentsy Family Reunion 2013 part 2

The thing that I love about the Scentsy Family, they love to have consultants share what they know, and all those consultants are willing to share what they know to help everyone grow and improve. This year at reunion we had several consultants speak to us. Here are a few of the points I enjoyed the most...

Sarah Matanane: she talked about booking blitzes (calling/texting/messaging as many people as  you can in a short period of time with the sole purpose of booking parties). one quote she used was by Mark Victor Hansen  “Don't wait until everything is just right. It will never be perfect. There will always be challenges, obstacles and less than perfect conditions. So what. Get started now. With each step you take, you will grow stronger and stronger, more and more skilled, more and more self-confident and more and more successful.”

Danette Kroll said "it's not the gift that matters, it's the value YOU leave"

Teri Newman said "if you have the will to achieve your goals, you will WIN"

Jenae Sexton quoted Hank Aaron  “The pitcher has got only a ball. I've got a bat. So the percentage in weapons is in my favour and I let the fellow with the ball do the fretting."  I've got the bat, the weapon is in my favour! I will not fret. It's about loving what you do and sharing it with the world, build those relationships so that they know why you want to share it with them.

Maurita Tollestrup was my favourite consultant speaker of the week, not only because I know her, but I really did love the message she had to share. She talked about beginning with an end in mind, then map it out. If you plot where you are going, you are more likely to make it there as our actions will lead to the results we want! 

Here's part of my map, though not the end, just some steps along the way, these goals will guide me to the end I'm aiming for!