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Donate to help those in Fort McMurray #YYMFire #FortMacFire @redcrosscanada

May 4, 2016 by Wendy S

Aberta Fires Appeal

Please help those affected by the evacuation of Fort McMurray due to the out of control fire.

Follow @redcrosscanada on twitter
and Facebook – Canadian Red Cross

Thousands forced from their homes. Help communities impacted by #ABfire #YMMfire: https://t.co/xa0TIyfAy8 pic.twitter.com/MsVWGkU8wD

— Canadian Red Cross (@redcrosscanada) May 4, 2016

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Aberta, Canadian Red Cross, Fire, Fort McMurray, Wild Fire, YYMFire

New on DVD: Shaun the Sheep – Review and Giveaway

November 24, 2015 by Wendy S

seal-blogShaun The Sheep Movie DVD CoverSHAUN THE SHEEP: THE MOVIE is based on the well-known TV series, had fantastic reviews, is currently rated 99% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes and is loved by both parents and kids alike.  Common Sense Media rates it “Great for Families“!
 
When Shaun decides to take the day off and have some fun, he gets a little more action than he bargained for. A mix up with the Farmer, a caravan and a very steep hill lead them all to the Big City and it’s up to Shaun and the flock to return everyone safely to the green grass of home.
 

It’s amazing how much fun this is to watch…even with no human dialog! And to imagine all the time it took to create this stop-motion movie is mind blowing!  We had so many laughs.  

 

Follow Shaun the Sheep on twitter – https://twitter.com/shaunthesheep

Like Shaun the Sheep on Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/shaunthesheep

And you can enjoy the fun too!

Shaun the Sheep Movie is available on DVD as of today, November 24th!  And you can win a copy!

Entry-Form

Filed Under: giveaway, Products & Reviews

The Importance of Reading to Kids with Mabel’s Labels! @mabelhood #holidays

November 13, 2015 by Wendy S

**This post contains affiliate links and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on my links.

There is more treasure in books than in all the pirate’s loot on Treasure Island. — Walt Disney

Mabel’s Labels knows that reading to kids is important for their growth and development, and also one of the most rewarding and heartwarming activities we can do with our little ones. That’s why they created this adorable video of Mabel’s Labels staff reading with their kids. After you watch it, be sure to check out the great personalized books for kids they have available to make reading with your kids even more special this holiday season.

Star Wars Personalized Book

Discover all the great new products Mabel’s Labels has for the holidays. There are all sorts of ways to be merry with Mabel’s this year!

The Stocking Stuffer Combo  Holiday Return Address Labels

Filed Under: Products & Reviews Tagged With: Christmas, mabel's labels, shopping

Please vote for @bigdaddykreativ to be the next @CanadianBeef Blogger Ambassador! #experienceCDNbeef

October 20, 2015 by Wendy S

There’s a lot of excitement in our house!  Craig has entered to be the next Canadian Beef Blogger Ambassador!

Canadian Beef Blogger Ambassador

Here is his submission:

 

He needs your votes!!

And you can vote every 24 hours!

imgres

Click the button above, sign up and submit your vote!

And be sure to follow his adventures on twitter — @bigdaddykreativ

Thanks!!

Filed Under: Ambassador Tagged With: Ambassador, bigdaddykreativ, Canadian Beef

[not so] Wordless Wednesday: TaeKwonDo

September 15, 2015 by Wendy S

Yesterday I got to watch something pretty spectacular. The girls went to a trial TaeKwonDo class. And Craig couldn’t have been more proud!

Up until now, most of the activities that the girls have done were influenced by me… Guides, swimming, choir.  All activities that I had done as a kid and enjoyed doing so wanted the girls to do.  

Yesterday, they tried something that Craig enjoyed doing as a kid…and they loved it too!

TKW1

Wordless Wednesday @ mapsgirl.ca


Share your Wordless Wednesday post!

Filed Under: wordless wednesday Tagged With: taekwondo, wordless wednesday

The CMR Car Seat Safety Twitter Party – September 16 @ 9pm #CMRCarSeatSafety

September 15, 2015 by Wendy S

It’s Child Passenger Safety Week!!

As a certified Child Restraint System Technician (CRST), I love to talk about car seat safety every week of the year!  But it’s so great that we have one week where everyone talks about car seat safety and how to keep our most precious cargo safe.

The Canadian Mother Resource knows the value of getting proper car seat safety knowledge to everyone and is having a twitter party to help get the info out!

NEW 2015 #CMRCarSeatSafety-horizontal

There will be prizes!

RSVP below to be eligible to win 1 of 2 convertible car seats (valued at approx. $300 each) as well as 1 of 2 $100 Visa gift cards.

For more info, click here.
 
RSVP below (Canadians only, please!) and follow:
Your host: @the_cmr
CMR Car Seat Expert: @mapsgirl
 
Co-hosts:
@fabrugalmama 
@listen2lena
@MultitestingMom
 
Sponsors:
@the_cmr
@HeritageFunds

While everyone is encouraged to participate, only Canadian residents (excluding Quebec and Nunavut) are eligible to win prizes.

Please be sure to enter your Twitter Handle “@yourTwitterhandle” in the Link/Blog Title field, and your Twitter URL “www.twitter.com/yourtwitterhandle” in the Link Field.

Filed Under: Car Seat Safety Tagged With: car seat, car seat safety, The CMR

Eat More Stars and Earn more PC Points! #EatMoreStars #GuildingStarsCA

September 10, 2015 by Wendy S

Over the last few months, I’ve shared with you some great information about the Guiding Star program.  

First we learned about what Guiding Stars are and what criteria Loblaws uses to rate different food and products.

Then I showed you how you can make great food choices to making amazing, healthy meals!

 

Now that you’re buying foods with Guiding Stars, Loblaws is congratulating you by giving you more PC Points!

eatmorestars

The more stars and item has, the more points you get!

For every 1 star item, you will get 10pts

For every 2 star item, you will get 30pts

For every 3 star item, you will get 30pts

Bonus items!

When you log into your PC Plus account and load your offers, you can see the bonus offer for the week.

This week’s offer (ending September 17th) is 3000 PC Points when your purchase $10 on Canned or Frozen Fruits and Vegetables!

eatmorestars_week3

What are you going to buy with all of your PC Points??

Filed Under: Products & Reviews Tagged With: Guiding Stars, PC Points, PC Stars

Healthy recipes + PC Guiding Stars = Success! #GuidingStarsCA #PCStars

August 31, 2015 by Wendy S

Lots of healthy ideas

I’m not very creative in the kitchen, so I was very happy to see that Fortino’s (and the other Loblaw’s properties) have an amazing recipe section.  I found the chili recipe in the “Heathier Choices” section. And you can narrow you search even further to suit your needs.

 healthy_recipes

Putting the healthy recipes together with the PC Guiding Stars program is a recipe for success!

The Hearty Vegetarian Quinoa Chili is a one-pot meal that was easy to prepare and full of stars!!

 11 Stars!!

onions IMG_1623 IMG_1624  IMG_1625

It could have been a 12-star meal, but they were out of Quinoa, so I went with the Bulgar & Quinoa which was 1 star less.

IMG_1626

And so easy to make!

IMG_1627 IMG_1628 IMG_1629 IMG_1631 IMG_1632 IMG_1633

So yummy! So filling!

When they say “hearty,” they weren’t kidding!  

I had left out the jalapenos that the recipe called for because I was worried it would be too hot.  But I think a little would have given it a bit of added flavour.

 

Here is my adaptation of the PC recipe!

Hearty Vegetarian Quinoa Chili
2015-08-28 13:23:31
Serves 8
Write a review
Save Recipe
Print
Prep Time
10 min
Cook Time
45 min
Total Time
55 min
Prep Time
10 min
Cook Time
45 min
Total Time
55 min
Ingredients
  1. 4 tsp (20 mL) olive oil
  2. 2 onions, diced
  3. 2 tbsp (25 mL) chili powder
  4. 1 can (796 mL) PC Blue Menu Diced Tomatoes
  5. 1 can (540 mL) PC Blue Menu 6 Bean Medley , drained and rinsed
  6. ½ cup (125 mL) PC Organics Quinoa
Instructions
  1. In large saucepan, heat oil over medium heat. Cook onions for 12 to 14 minutes, stirring often, or until golden.
  2. Stir in chili powder; cook 1 minute longer, stirring frequently.
  3. Stir in diced tomatoes and juices, beans, quinoa and 1 cup (250 mL) water. Bring to a boil.
  4. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover and cook for 20 minutes or until quinoa is tender.
  5. Serve garnished with PC Blue Menu Yogurt Spread and chopped fresh coriander, if desired.
Notes
  1. Original recipe called for mushrooms and jalapeno.
By President's Choice
mapsgirl.ca https://www.mapsgirl.ca/

Disclosure – I am participating in the Guiding Stars Blogger Outreach program by ShesConnected. I have been compensated in exchange for my participation in the campaign. The opinions on this blog are my own.

Filed Under: food, Life, Recipes Tagged With: Guiding Stars, PC Stars, ShesConnected

Schedule your free appointment with Loblaws’ Dietitians today! #GuidingStarsCA #PCStars

July 17, 2015 by Wendy S

Since start this campaign with Loblaws, I have learned so much already!  The Guiding Stars program makes choosing better products easier and when you meet with the Loblaws Dietitian, you will learn so much more!

Free Services available from your local Loblaw’s Dietitian

Each store with a Dietitian will have Free services available.  Appointments or registration may be required, so check your store!

Here are some of the services available at my local store:

  • Complimentary Nutritional Services (Available by Appointment Only)
  • Healthy Eating for the Everyday Athlete and Athletic Recovery
  • Healthy Hydration
  • Zucchini, You Can Never Have Enough
  • Effortless Overnight Oats

Who are the Dietitians?

I called my local RCSS and made an appointment to meet with the Dietitian.  If you are in the Oakville or Milton area, I highly recommend that you meet with Karolina!  She is very knowledgeable and personable and we had a great time!  

Dietitian

About Karolina Otto

Karolina Otto serves as your In Store Dietitian and supports all health and nutrition initiatives. Karolina brings 20 years of experience with an extensive background in foodservice management, nutraceuticall sales and marketing, child health and senior nutrition education. Karolina is a culinary enthusiast with a passion for making healthy eating fun and delicious. Her mission is to provide customers and associates with inspiring health as well as value-oriented solutions they can incorporate into their shopping experience and everyday lives. Karolina is a graduate of McGill University holding a B.S. degree in Nutrition and Dietetics and is a member of Dietitians of Canada. She is recognized for her passion for nutrition, health and wellness.

What happens at your appointment?

It all depends on you! Each appointment with the dietitian is customized to you and your health needs. You will learn how to shop and eat based on any diet needs that you have — diabetes, food sensitivities or allergies or sport training requirements, just to name a few.

She will give you all the information you need to make good food choices to keep you healthy.

Shopping with the Guiding Stars

After Karolina told me all of the great services she and Loblaws provide to Loblaws shoppers, took me for a tour of the store. 

After she understands what her clients’ nutritional needs are, she shows them around the store, teaching them about food choices, how to read labels and how Guiding Stars helps them make better choices.

Produce

Since most produce doesn’t have a nutritional label on them, the Guiding Stars book lists everything you need to know.  She explained that this is particularily important to diabetics who are concerned about their caloric intake.  She also explained that since stars are give based on higher levels of fiber and lower levels of sugar, some fruits won’t get many stars, if any at all.

BlueberriesUnderstanding the Guiding Stars

As I mentioned above, those food that have a higher level of fiber and lower levels of sugar, will get a higher number of stars.  

Reading Labels

This was an eye opener for me.  I thought that I knew a lot about reading labels, but there were some key factors Karolina taught me.

The number of the nutritional label isn’t one serving. It is the weight of the food that is around 100 calories.  So even tho the label says that 8 crackers are 100 calories if it is over 35 grams, that is more than one serving of that food group. 

On my mark, get set, shop!

Armed with my new knowledge about serving sizes, Guiding Stars and labels, I am ready to make better nutritional choices for my family!  I really recommed meeting with a Loblaw’s Dietitian!

(And if your’e lucky enought to be in the Milton or Oakville area, you’ll meet with Karolina who is fantastic!)

Click here to find a dietitian near you!

 

Filed Under: body mind spirit, Life, Products & Reviews Tagged With: #NewMapsgirl, Guiding Stars, PC Stars

Wordless Wednesday: A front flip!

June 23, 2015 by Wendy S

Wordless Wednesday - Front Flip @ mapsgirl.ca
 

Wordless Wednesday @ mapsgirl.ca


Share your Wordless Wednesday post!

Filed Under: wordless wednesday Tagged With: summer, swimming

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Follow MapsGirl On…

mapsgirl@gmail.com

Why “mapsgirl” ?

Wendy is a cartographer! She draws maps!

When not mapping, Wendy is also a mom to two daughters. They are the inspiration of this blog. Passionate about child passenger safety, Wendy was a certified Car Seat Technician in Ontario, Canada from 2008 to 2020. [Read More …]

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