Chocolate? Yes I give it to my kids

I think every mom wonders, are their kids eating enough, are they getting enough nutrition in their diet, what can I give them that they'll actually want to eat.

A month ago, I got introduced to Xocai chocolate. It is a brand of healthy chocolate that does not contain any refined sugars, waxes and fillers. When I heard about it, I thought to myself, oh I bet it is going to taste horrible especially if it is good for you.

I was surprised that it tasted so good. I gave it to my kids and they love it too. I was able to leave it in plain view because I knew they weren't getting sugar highs. What I didn't expect was this

• They did not want regular chocolate bars after eating the Healthy chocolate. Easter treats are still in the pantry.
• THEY were asking for healthy food like fruit salad for a snack
• They were sleeping better

Not to mention how much energy I have to chase after two very active boys. I am able to resist the cravings for chips, popcorn, nachos, soda pop, french fries, cookies, you get the point. I can't say enough good things about this chocolate. 

Now if my kids ask me, can I have a snack, I can offer them a piece of healthy chocolate and we are BOTH happy.  

Here are some helpful links if you want to find out more about Xocai

Dr Steven Warren's take on Healthy Chocolate
Dr Gordon Pedersen
Cocoa "Vitamin" Benefits

10 Things to Look for in Healthy Chocolate

1. Choose dried, not roasted, cacao beans that have been washed and thoroughly cleaned.

2. Avoid chocolates that have undergone any alkalization or “dutching” processes, which can neutralize the effects of nutrients in the beans, as well as interfere with its antioxidant potential.

3. The chocolate should be tested for bacteria and other infectious agents, as well as for lead.

4. Processing temperature for cacao beans should not exceed 110°F.

5. Look at the ingredients—a healthful chocolate product should have cocoa butter and cocoa solids as primary ingredients, not milk fats or hydrogenated oils. Avoid chocolate products high in refined sugar, corn syrup and/ or preservatives.

6. Bitter is best. Although milk chocolate isn’t “bad,” studies have confirmed that chocolate products with the highest antioxidant activity contain at least 70 percent pure cocoa powder.

7. How chocolate is sweetened is another important point. Obviously, avoid products high in refined sugars. Instead, good sweetening agents include low-glycemic sugars such as unprocessed crystallized cane sugar, fructose, and agave syrup. Also, sugar alcohols such as erythritol are a good alternative. Low-glycemic sugars and sugar alcohols do not increase blood sugar levels because they are released more slowly into the blood. Though there may be contradictory information on the Internet regarding some of these sweetening agents, academic research shows they are effective and healthier than traditional refined sugars.

8. Avoid products that use waxes and preservatives.

9. Consider a healthful chocolate beverage, as they are an effective supplement delivery option designed for maximum nutritional effect. Not only are such products more easily absorbed and utilized by the body; they are also easier for the elderly and children to incorporate into a balanced, nutritionally sound diet plan.

10. Consider cocoa products combined with other nutrients and/or antioxidant compounds. Good options include those with berry ingredients like blueberry or acai berry

Things that make my day brighter

Today I opened up my email and saw that GAP had a casting call for the next face of Gap. I decided to enter my older son as he is a pretty photogenic child and I would love to win $1000 dollars to spend on clothes for my kids. Right now they grow like weeds so every dollar helps.

When I started entering the contest the question they asked was what does your child do to brighten your day. That got me thinking; there are so many things that my kids do to make me smile. Now if you are thinking about having kids and reading this post, I just want to let you know that they do some rotten things too. However these are the things that make me so proud to call them MY kids.

This will be dedicated to my kids who are turning 2 and 4 in a couple of weeks.

You brighten my day:-

When you laugh, squeal and giggle.

When you jump and spin around at the same time.

When you use words that I didn't know you knew.

When you build forts and pretend to be monsters.

When you run like you're in a race.

When you say please and thank you to strangers.

When you make stories to go with your shadows puppets.

When you give me hugs and kisses without being asked.

When you smile while you are sleeping.

When you eat all your dinner.

When you think I'm funny doing "mom" things.

When you play with each other.

When you get excited about anything new.

When you mispronounce something.

When you count your fingers and toes to see if they are all there.

When you wake up and you still have a warm baby smell on your neck.

This list will keep growing day by day because you are the reason my life is content.

What are some of the things that your kids do to brighten your day? Also these pictures were taken by Amanda Diaz Photography from Edmonton. She is amazing!

I don't know how I'm going to top this

My kids will forever share their birthday parties. We didn't plan it that way but their age gap is 2 years and 3 days. Last year was my younger son's first birthday so I wanted to do some thing special as well as appeal to both kids. I decided on a theme. Thomas the Train goes to a carnival. It was decided by the cake we got.

I was pretty proud of myself because I worked on a shoestring budget. I made train tracks and stuck them on the wall for decorations. The hubs helped make the actual trains which were way better than I could ever come up with. I hung up colored streamers and matching balloons and that completed the "I'm having a party at my house" look. For the actually party I invited guests to show up after lunch and reminded parents that it was a birthday party so to expect treats. I planned an ice cream bar with lots of toppings to add, a few snacks for the adults and of course cake.

Keeping kids entertained for an hour was a task in itself. I did a classic "Pin the tail" with a Thomas theme game that I picked up from the dollar store. The kids thought it was hilarious being blind-folded and spun around. In fact my kids still like to close their eyes and spin around a year later. I also had a tin pan alley with Solo cups and soft balls. Note kids don't have the best aim so keep an eye out for a stray ball or six. This was also a favorite because kids love having things fall down. The highlight of the afternoon was a bit of a surprise for the kids as well as the adults. I put on a magic show. I practiced for at least a week and was a nervous wreck at the start of the show. I don't know what I was thinking, hosting a birthday party and being the entertainment. But the kids enjoyed every minute. One kid even said "You're amazing!" You know coming from a 4 year old, I was floored with pride.

I had some help though form this amazing website I found. The tricks I performed were from ActivityTV

The Appearing Wand
A Card Trick
I can read your mind
Ghostly Straw

I really like this website for magic tricks. It was easy to learn each trick and the kids had such a fun time thinking I was a real magician. It probably had a bit to do with my expressions. Like this one ----------->

<-------- Or this. Since the kids had a ball, I don't know what I'm going to do for an encore. I have 1 month and I have no clue. I might continue to look like this. Help!

Yummy Enchiladas

I'm going to start off saying that I'm not Mexican so this is not authentic but it is delicious so I thought I would share. This merely a guideline so feel free to use what you have in the pantry. Here are the ingredients:

2 pkgs Uncle Ben's Bistro Express (Long Grain & Wild - Roasted Chicken Flavour)
1 pkg  Old El Paso Taco Mix
1 cup Water
1 can  Catelli Thick & Chunky (Tomato Basil Blast)
1 lb     Ground Beef
1 can   Corn
1 can   Black Beans
10" Flour Tortillas
Salsa, Sour cream, Shredded Cheese, Shredded lettuce


Brown beef in a skillet.
Add taco mix to 1 cup water. Pour over beef and let simmer for 5 minutes. remove from heat.
Heat packages of Rice in microwave.
In a bowl, add a cup of Tomato Marinara and Rice. Stir to coat rice.
Preheat oven to 400 deg.
Arrange an assembly line of beef, rice, beans, corn, cheese.
Add a spoonful each of the above ingredients to 1 tortilla shell.
Wrap each tortilla like a burrito (see note at the end) and lay seam down on a foil lined pan.
When the pan is full of wrapped tortillas, pour a little sauce from the taco/beef mixture on top of the wraps.
Add shredded cheese
Bake for 10 mins or until the cheese is melted.

Serve 1 or 2 tortillas on a bed of shredded lettuce with a dollop of salsa and sour cream. Enjoy
Note: if you like things a little spicy, add jalapenos to the assembly line or hot sauce to the taco/beef mix. Also make lots because this tastes just as good for lunch the next day.

*How to roll a burrito*
Take one tortilla slightly warmed. Lay flat and place filling in the middle forming a line.
Tuck the ends of the tortilla that are closest to the filling.
Gather up the one of the remaining ends and fold over to the middle covering the filling.
Hold the fold with your index and middle finger of both hands.
Using your thumbs, push wrap up and over your other fingers.
Roll wrap until the remaining edge is now lying seam down.
That's a wrap. This takes practice so don't give up.

There is no easy way to like it

My 1 year old has a new fascination with taking off all his clothes. I don't know if he is too warm or it is just to gain attention. I'm thinking it is a bit of the later because it is February in Canada. He started off by pulling one arm from the sleeve of his shirt. My hubby and I thought this was hilarious and even referred to this anecdote to friends and family as "Julius" did this. Get it, Julius Caesar? Maybe he is a little fashionista and trying to start a new toddler trend.

Anyway "Julius" progressed to removing his pants and now his diaper. If he is too quiet, I know he is taking off his clothes. When he pees, the diaper comes off and so does the rest of his clothes. But the last few times, the clothes came off when he pooped. Can you tell where I'm going with this. It is probably the moment in a parent's life where their sanity is truly tested.


I have picked up poop from the carpet, couch, coloring pages and the television. Who knew that brown was a great color to use when you finger paint? Now that you are totally disgusted, my house is now super sanitized. I also am thinking that I want to revert to plastic on the furniture. Now if he poops one of us is changing him right away before he gets to it first. I can't wait to start on the potty training with this one.

As I was talking to my girlfriend, who is a mother of 3, about said incident. She said "I know it is your kid, but there is no easy way to like it!" I couldn't have said it better. Poop, you suck!

Best friends make the worst enemies

 Two years and three days. That is the age difference of my two boys. My older one is three and my younger one thinks he is three as well. They ask for each other as soon as they wake up, eat meals together, bath and usually spend a lot of time giggling their heads off.

I could not have asked for a better set of kids except when they want the same thing. Then the waterworks start. The screaming and the whining are enough to make anyone’s blood boil. I am usually acting as a referee deciding who gets what, who had what first, whose toy does it belong too and the list goes on.

In my younger days, my sister and I played together but I mostly remember the vicious fights we had. We fought over everything and I think it is because my parents always picked one kid over the other and didn’t provide a distraction. I’ve learned from this and now I feel like the cruise ship director doling out random activities.

 I know that I am a little harder on the older one as he should know better. Then I think he is only three. But when they fight, I feel the gray hair popping out my head like daisies. My blood pressure goes through the roof, and I don’t know how many times I’ve counted to 10. The kicker is that when the boys fight, they still want to be within an arm’s reach of each other. Should I leave things be and say let boys be boys? What do you do when your kids fight? 

Eggnog with an*ahem* alcoholic twist

If you are new to my blog, I am from a tiny Caribbean island called Trinidad. In Trinidad we do not need a reason to party but since it is Christmas time in Canada, I thought I should share one of my favorite drinks.

In North America, eggnog is popular around this time of the year but in Trinidad we do it island style with rum of course. We call it Ponche a Creme. I did some research for a few recipes and every single one is different. I decided to go with one that calls for a lot of rum. With me so far? I thought so.

My first batch was okay but after a bit of tweaking, the second batch is a keeper. Maybe it was the alcohol talking since I was doing a lot of quality control. *Wink Wink* 

Ingredients

1 carton (250g) of pasteurized eggs

1 1/2 tins of condensed milk (each tin was 300g)

2 cans of Evaporated Milk (each can was 370 ml)

1/2 Bottle of Rum (about 1 1/2 cup) 

2 Tbsp Angostura Bitters

1/2 tsp Nutmeg

1 lime rind

I used dark rum but you can use what ever brand you like. 

In a large bowl, whisk eggs and lime rind together. Add all the other ingredients and continue whisking. Remove the lime rind. Pour in a clean empty bottle. This will fill 2 rum bottles. Chill and serve on ice. Note this drink tastes better the colder it is. Always keep in mind when you are serving products with milk or eggs the expiry dates. I use the date of the eggs as a guidelines as to when to finish drinking it.  

By the way, did you know that Angostura bitters is from Trinidad? I hope you enjoy this drink as much as I do. Merry Christmas and please enjoy responsibly.