Delicious Wines Under $15

My step-mom introduced me to red wine a couple years ago, and I still enjoy finding new hidden gems in my local LCBO. If a label caught my eye I've probably tried the wine at some point. A couple of my staples are usually ones that she had suggested and I've fallen in love with.

Below is a list of some pretty good wines for under $15 to keep your bar nice and stocked.

Red Wines Under $15

• Charlie's Blend, Shiraz, Australian $14.25
  
  
  
  
  
• Naked Grape, Shiraz, Ontarian $9.95
                                        
• Casa Planeta, Syrah, Italian $11.95
  
• French Cross, Pinot Grigio, Canadian $10.95
  
• Wonambi, Shiraz, Australian $13.25
  
• The Little Penguin, Shiraz, Australian $10.95
  

Tips:

• If you're not familiar with a type of wine, but would like to try it, ask an employee at your local liquor store or wine store. The staff is very knowledgeable. 
• If you're feeling adventurous, choose a cheap bottle and give it a shot!

Any suggestions?

No, I'm not dead or in witness protection! (Not that anyone reads this anyways...)

Good Morning Internet,

I haven't written on this blog since just before I Graduated from Sheridan College (I accept your congratulations).

I'm just writing again because I feel inspiration...Know where it stemmed from?

Pinterest.

If you haven't discovered the glorious world that is Pinterest, I highly suggest that you do.

For your information, my Pinterest can be found here.

I'm going to be redecorating my apartment in the coming months and where better to document my trials and tribulations than here?

Chat soon internet/nobody!

<3 Meg

Chicken with peppers, white wine in pasta

Do you ever look in your fridge for dinner and have a mix of things that don't seem to go together? That was me Tuesday night. I knew I wanted to use chicken, so before class I took one chicken breast out of the freezer to defrost. I also felt like being fancy that night and use some wine in my cooking. Here's what I came up with, and it was delicious!
Chicken with Peppers over Pasta
What you'll need:

• Chicken breast

• Red, Orange peppers

• Onion

• Fresh Lime

• Salt & Pepper

• Olive Oil

• White wine

• Veggie cream cheese

• Pasta (I used spaghetti) 

Steps:

• Turn the burner on to medium, get nice and hot, add some olive oil

• Cover and rub the chicken with salt and pepper and place in the pan once the pan is hot

• While the chicken is cooking, chop up the onion and peppers

• Stir around the peppers and onion to ensure evenly cooking.

• flip the chicken to the uncooked side after about 6 minutes

• Begin to boil the water for your pasta

• after the 6 minutes, add your pasta to the water and remove the chicken from the pan to a cutting board, and reduce heat to just below medium.

• Cut the chicken into chunks or strips and add back to pan.

• Toss in about a spoonful of cream cheese and 1/2 cup of white  wine and the cooked (strained) pasta

• Continue cooking until chicken is cooked, the wine has reduced a bit

 I finished mine off with some freshly squeezed lime. The sauce was very light and you could taste every flavour in the dish. So good!
Tips:Look at what you have in your fridge. Use creativity to use up leftovers before grocery day! Send me your photos or post your comments!

Bored of the same old sandwich?

Peanut butter & Jelly. Tuna fish. Chicken salad. We've all been there. The "sandwich rut". The same ol' same ol'. These sandwiches are incredibly easy and the ingredients are simple, delicious and healthy. I'll be working my way through the entire list.

Healthy and Delicious Sandwiches

More than enough for every day of the week!

What you'll need: (to make every sandwich)

• Vegetable Cream Cheese
• Strawberry or Blueberry Cream Cheese
• Almond or Peanut Butter
• Laughing Cow Spreadable Cheese
• Hummus
• Jam
• Cucumber
• Yellow, red and orange sweet peppers
• Dried Cranberries, slivered Almonds
• Sliced Apples
• Blueberries
• Sliced Strawberries
• Sliced Tomato
• graded carrots
• sliced Ham or turkey
• BREAD!

Steps:

• These sandwiches are so easy, instructions aren't really needed. The picture tells you which combos work best, but you can be creative.

Tuna & Tomato (I added peppers)

I also add about 1 tablespoon of light mayo

After following the picture, I found out that SLICING the tomato might be a better idea

Cucumber & Veggie Cream Cheese - so fresh and yummy

These are fresh, wholesome and tasty lunches that fill you up. 

Tips:

try them on bagels, turn the ham sandwich into a panini or create your own!

Send me your photos or post your comments!

Frozen Peach Bellini - Cosmopolitan Magazine

Planning a girls' night for our break week, and instead of trying to create another masterpiece of my own, I  checked out Cosomo to see what they had to offer. This is a simple drink to make at home as long as you have a blender. Find the original posting here

Frozen Peach Bellini 

I want you in my mouth

What you'll need:

• 2 ½ oz. sparkling wine
• 1 oz. triple sec
• 1 oz. peace puree (blend a ripe peach)
• 1 oz. simple syrup (dissolve one part sugar in one part boiling water; let cool) plus a squeeze of lemon
• Garnish: peach wedge

Steps:

Blend all ingredients in a blender for a minute or so with a cup of ice. This makes one drink!

These drinks are sweet and delicious. Go to Super Store to pick up inexpensive acrylic drinking glasses to really serve in style.

Easy to wash, cost $1-2, and not breakable!

Italian inspired BLT

I'm going to be outlining how to make a delicious Italian inspired BLT, given by my Marketing professor Anne-Liisa Longmore.

Italian BLT
What you'll need:

• A fresh baguette
• Half a package of goat cheese
• 1/4 cup milk
• A clove of garlic
• 12 slices of spicy pancetta thinly sliced
• Two or three ripe tomatoes
• A couple of thin slices of red onion
• Olive oil
• Balsamic vinegar
• fresh basil

Steps:

• Slice baguette in half. Drizzle lightly with olive oil. Cut clove of garlic length-wise and then rub onto the baguette, ensuring that you cover both halves. Place baguettes into a 300 - 350 degree heated oven on a cookie sheet for about 10 minutes.
• While baguette is in the oven, take the goat cheese, put in a bowl and add the milk slowly while mixing. Continue adding milk and stirring until the consistency is like very soft cream cheese. Put aside.
• In a heated pan, sear the slices of pancetta and cook to preferred consistency - lightly crispy is best. Remove pancetta from pan and place flatly on paper towel to absorb oil.
• Slice onion and tomatoes (can either slice or dice whichever is preferred). Tear basil leaves.
• Remove baguette from oven. Liberally spread goat cheese onto each half. Add slices of pancetta to each half. Top with tomato slices. Drizzle lightly with olive oil and balsamic vinegar.
• Using a heavy duty butcher's knife, cut baguette into smaller serving sizes. Once cut, top with onion and basil

This can be an appetizer, or a tasty way to share a bottle of wine with a friend or special someone. Let me know how it works out, and send in your pictures!

Tips:

If you think you need more time to prepare the ingredients, turn the oven down to 200 degrees while you work.

Send me your photos or post your comments =)

Sweet & Sour Meatballs

Want something easy to make that you can eat as soon as you get in the door? Try my MacPherson family recipe for Sweet & Sour Meatballs.

Sweet & Sour Meatballs (a la Erin MacPherson aka Step-Mum)

What you'll need:

• Slow-cooker or large pot with lid (like, really large)
• 1-2 lbs Ground beef (I use Extra Lean)
• 1 jar Heinz Chili Sauce (I assume that store brand chili sauce will work just as well)
• 1 jar Grape jelly
• 1 tablespoon mustard
• 1 table spoon  BBQ sauce
• 1/4 cup finely chopped onion 

Steps:

• In a large bowl mix together beef, mustard, BBQ sauce and onion.
• Get in there! Use your freshly washed hands to mix everything together until blended.
• Wash hands again, and grab a tray or cutting board. Begin to shape mixture into meatballs (I got about 35 out of my most recent batch)
• In your slow-cooker (or large pot) add the Heinz chili sauce and grape jelly. I usually grab a whisk and break up the jelly a bit, but it will eventually melt down.
• Turn your slow-cooker on LOW and begin to carefully add your meatballs. Don't worry too much if the sauce doesn't cover everyone. As they cook, the meatballs shrink in size and everything will get covered in sauce.
• I cook mine for about 7-9 hours.
• Serve with rice and a dinner roll. You're done! Enjoy =)

So delicious. Mmmmm...

Meatballs are something super easy to prepare and you can leave it while you go to school or work. My dinner guests could smell them from down the hall in my apartment.

Tips:

• Like spice? Use 1 tablespoon of paprika in the mixture to add some kick.
• Use a tablespoon measuring spoon to roughly measure your meatballs. Form a ball, and if it fits nicely in the measuring spoon, then it's a good size.
• Basmati rice is my favourite with this recipe. 

Send me your photos or post your comments

Simple Candle Centrepieces - Stones

Here's another idea of a simple idea for candle accents you can use in home.. This will take only a couple minutes to put together. Here's the second one.

Small Stones Candle Votive 
What you'll need:

• glass votives (as many as you need/want)
• These are basically little candle holders. Clear glass will work best. Size will depend on the size of the candles you choose
• Glass stones, imitation stones or real stones
• Keep the size relative to your candle holder
• Tea-lights or small-medium sized candles (as many as you need to match the number of votives)

Steps:

• Place the candle in the centre of the votive.
• Divide the stones among all your votives, filling them about half way.

You're done! It's a very simple DIY to do and you can play around with many different colours that can compliment the room. For a more natural look, stick to neutral or earth coloured candles (beige, cream, moss green, brown, etc) and use real or realistic imitation stones.

Want drama? Pair white or black candles with bright fuchsia or turquoise glass stones. The combinations are endless, just look around your craft stores (Michael's) or dollar stores and see what you can find.

Tips:

• Keep candles in odd numbers
• try 3 different sizes of candles
• use complimentary colours for great contrast (opposite on the colour wheel like yellow and purple or orange and blue)

Comment below with your creations and photos.

Spicy Chicken Wraps

I think it's about time for a recipe. 

This meal was inspired by a President's Choice flyer. After looking online, trying to find out what the recipe entailed, I came up empty. I just studied the picture and created my own interpretation. 

This makes about 4 large wraps.

Ingredients:

• 2 chicken breasts
• Large wraps
• Canned corn
• Red pepper
• Onion
• Brown Rice
• Cayenne pepper, chipotle pepper, Chili Powder
• Guacamole
• Salsa

Steps:

• Cut the chicken into strips and season with cayenne, chipotle and chili peppers (about 1 teaspoon/5 mls each).
• slice the red pepper into strips, dice the onion. I used about 1/2 the pepper and 1/2 the onion.
• drain the canned corn, and put about 1/2 into a bowl and spice this up a bit too with 1 teaspoon/5 mls of cayenne pepper.
• add chicken, pepper, corn and onion to a pan on medium heat. Stir and mix every minute or so.
• following the directions on the rice, prepare about 1 cup. Once done, season the rice with the same spices are before.
• as your spicy chicken & veggie is cooking, and your rice is seasoned, start laying out the wraps.
• On each, put a spoonful of guacamole and salsa.
• Add about 2 spoonfuls of spicy rice, and the chicken veggie mix.
• Wrap up and enjoy!

I am terrible at wrapping these things up, but I manage. I want to suggest a pitcher of margaritas with your wraps, too.

Painting Your Apartment

Renting your home instead of owning has its ups and downs. Until you're able to purchase a home, make your apartment more "you". Paint is a really easy way to add character to your space, and reasonably inexpensive. That being said, don't get the cheapest paint the store has. Do some research and ask questions.  Where do you plan to paint? Does the room have windows? Is is a smaller sized room? perhaps a bathroom or kitchen? These will all influence the colour, type and price of your paint.

I am not an expert, by no means, but I found painting pretty easy and relaxing. Here are the steps I took to personalize my bathroom. I was inspired by the hit TV show Friends. Keep in mind: You'll need to ask permission from your landlord, and you may need to paint over it when you want to move out.

What you'll need:

• Paint - get the right colour for the size of the room, and the right type
• For a bathroom or kitchen you'll need special paint
• Does your paint have built in primer? You may need to get that if your original wall is a dark colour.
• Brushes - one small, one large
• Roller and tray
• Painters tape
• Rag 
• Hammer & something to pop off the lid of the paint

Steps:

• First, with a rag or sponge, use some hot soapy water to clean any splashes, dust or smudges. You probably don't ave to do this, but I like to start with a clean surface.
• Tape everything! Tape around all the edges of your doors, trim, outlets etc. If you don't want something covered in paint, cover it up with paper or plastic and tape it up. 
• Pry open your paint can using a butter knife or pliers and give it a good stir. The oils may be sitting at the top.
• Start painting! I suggest starting at the top left (or right) and working your way down and over.
• For smaller rooms or tight corners use the brushes.
• You might need to do 2 or 3 coats of paint depending on your situation.
• Allow for 6-8 hours in between each layer.

Tips:

• Keep a rag handy for drips
• wash your brushes IMMEDIATELY after use!
• Choose colours that open up a room, or maybe paint one accent wall.
• Decorate with colours and accessories that make the room exciting!
• example: I'm painting the bathroom mirror frame gold to play off the purple colour I chose

My first section to try out

Make sure to tape/cover the outlet, mirror and towel rack.

Tropical Violet. Dries a bit darker,

Good luck!

Coat #1. Not too bad!

Coat #2. Aside from touch-ups, we're done!

Graceful Findings

It can be expensive to furnish your apartment or room while a student. Even working a minimum wage job doesn't allow for much when it comes to decorating.
Usually, I check out places like Wal-mart or Ikea for items that have some style or personality. But, you're going to find that money doesn't get you a lot at those places some times. The quality of some furniture is less than stellar.

Graceful Findings is a little company created by Sarah Carrothers (Graceful Findings on Facebook). You can visit her Facebook page here. She repurposes furniture in a beautiful antique, modern style. I initally found her on Kijiji.ca, and now I peruse her Facebook page constantly waiting to purchase  my next piece. He colour pallette is wonderful, and every piece is unique. Her prices are incredibly reasonable for the quality of furniture. Like I've mentioned before, working at a HomeSense I see lots of beautiful pieces come in. They're usually banged up a bit and over-priced at times. Graceful Findings offers beautiful, one of a kind pieces that can fit anyone's budget.

This little guy is in my living room

Check it out, and maybe you'll give a cute piece of furniture a new home!

DIY Calkboard

Chalkboards can be bought at many places, like HomeSense, Wal-mart or Staples. Why not make your own to add some personality to it?

What you'll need:

• Picture frame (glass and all)
• or a mirror
• Chalkboard paint
• small or medium sized brushes (or a roller)
• tole paint

Steps:

• First, you want to choose a size that will fit your space. Decide where you want to keep your chalkboard and figure out what size is best.
• take the glass out of the frame, lay it on a covered surface, and give it about 2-3 coats of chalkboard paint, letting it dry in between.
• wipe your picture frame down with water, removing any dust.
• Paint your frame with about 2-3 coats, letting it dry in between.
• Wait about 3 hours from your last coat to ensure that everything is dry! You don't want to smudge your new paint.
• Last step is easy... Pop the glass carefully into the frame, and you're done!

We used Martha Stewart chalkboard paint in black, but it's also available in other pastel colours. Choose a blue chalkboard paint and paint the frame purple or yellow. Glue lace, trinkets, small photos or gems to the frame to further personalize it.

Tips:

• Use different coloured chalk to write your messages
• Use the chalk board to announce what's for dinner
• Write funny of inspirational quotes
• let your family or room-mates know where you're going for the day

 

Comment below with your creations and photos.

Simple Candle Centrepieces - Coffee

I'll be sharing a couple really easy ideas for cute candle accents either on your dining table, living room table or on your balcony. These take only a couple minutes to put together. Here's the first one.

Coffee Candle Votive 
What you'll need:

• glass votives (as many as you need/want)
• These are basically little candle holders. Clear glass will work best. Size will depend on the size of the candles you choose
• Coffee beans
• Tea-lights (as many as you need to match the number of votives)

Steps:

• Divide the coffee beans among all your votives, filling them about half way.
• Place the tea-light on top of the beans, make sure to nestle the tea-lights into the beans to hide the sides.

You're done! It's a very simple DIY to do, and if you decide to use flavoured coffee beans, or scented candles (or coloured) it could really be personalized and set the ambiance. 

Play around with the size of the candle holders and the scents used. I tried hazelnut coffee and vanilla scented tea-lights and they smell and look great.

Tips:

• Keep candles in odd numbers
• try 3 different sizes of candles

Comment below with your creations and photos.