My very first job out of University involved me traveling from one coast of this country to the next on a regular basis. I spent at least two weeks of the month on the road and because of that I was able to see the majority of Canada before I was 25 years old. It was a great pre-kid job and I look back on those traveling days fondly.

I know that vanilla is easy and fairly inexpensive to buy, but when paired with a cute gift tag and a family heirloom recipe for muffins or cookies, homemade vanilla makes a super cute DIY food gift for friends, neighbours, and colleagues.

My grandfather made the best pot of coffee in the world. He could rival any barista with a few scoops of ground coffee available at every grocery store around the country. I have no idea what he did to his coffee but I remember loving every single sip (or gulp after I became a sleep-deprived mother). During the holidays my grandfather believed that Christmas Cheer should extend to his morning coffee and we would free-hand pour Baileys Irish Cream into his perfectly brewed coffee.

There are a few very key things that hold parents back from jumping onto the camping bandwagon and one of them is definitely figuring out what to feed a family three meals a day, plus snacks with limited supplies and equipment. Because no matter what they say, the kids will get tired of hot dogs on a stick and s'mores (well, maybe not the s'mores). Campfire nachos have become one of my family's top requested camping meals and the recipe is so easy!

Fall is on its way and that means it's apple-picking season!

So grab your family and your camera then read these helpful top ten tips for apple picking with kids to guarantee the makings of a fun family tradition!

Making a ham in the slow cooker is the epitome of “set it and forget it” but most people still assume you spent all day slaving over a hot stove whenever you put any kind of roast on the dinner table. But as with all of my company-worthy Canned Soup Mom Recipes the simplicity of this Slow Cooker Balsamic Maple Glazed Ham Recipe will be our little secret!

Simply toss your ham into the slow cooker.

Mix up the balsamic vingear, maple syrup, and Dijon mustard.

When you think of taking a winter vacation do you think of sun, sand, and ocean waves? If you said yes, you’re not alone because most of us do. But have you thought of staying closer to home? Maybe it’s time to try something different for your Family Day or March Break getaway, it is Canada’s 150^th birthday after all!

My son was resuscitated at birth. When I was finally able to hold him, his whole body was black and blue from bruising that happened during a very traumatic birth — for both him and for me. They told me he was fine, but I knew they were wrong. For his first two years of life, he had weekly physical therapy sessions to help strengthen damaged nerves and muscles. We were told he may never crawl, may have trouble walking, and would likely never throw a ball.

Some people dream of their kids playing in the NHL, I just dreamed my son could play.

On our family vacation this summer to Blue Mountain Resort, among the hiking, the roller-coastering, the gondola riding, the rope climbing and the beach days (yes Blue Mountain has a private beach – who knew?), my kids came across a brochure for the Apple Pie Trail and immediately started to ask questions.

Starting with, when can we go?

Fifteen minutes to make dinner is about all I have most week days after the kids get home from school, work finally calms down and we still need to get out the door all over again for after school activities. I'm always on the lookout for fast, kid friendly and delicious meals with a good amount of veggies thrown in and these 15-Minute Spring Roll Bowls check all those boxes.

Think taco night where everyone gets to choose their own toppings except this is the deconstructed spring roll version.

My family and I have a goal to visit every province and territory in Canada and so far, we've road tripped over 100,000 kms together. This summer alone, we’ve already spent more than 7,500 kms on the road and almost 1,000 nautical kms travelling to the most easterly parts of our country.

Looking for a camping recipe that gives you an excuse to open a bottle of wine? You've come to the right place! This Easiest Camping Vegetable Foil Pack recipe couldn't be easier to make and tastes the best when you splash a little white wine over the vegetables before cooking.

I'm going to be 100% honest with you and admit that by day four or five of camping, I may just let my kids have these Campfire Banana Boats for breakfast.

Banana = fruit and fruit totally = breakfast food.

Right???

So now that we've established Campfire Banana Boats can be served for breakfast, a snack or dessert after dinner when you get tired of s'mores (if that's even possible!), let me share with you how easy they are to make...

Simply slice banana.

It all started with a simple little request from my son to have Clone trooper and Stormtrooper cupcakes at his birthday party. Honestly, I didn’t even know there was a difference between Storm and Clone troopers, and pretty much assumed all the white-uniformed-robot-looking-guys were the “bad guys,” but boy was I wrong and my almost 6-year old was more than happy to give me a Star Wars 101.

Here’s something we all know but rarely say: Being a mom isn’t easy. With that out in the open, tell me if this sounds familiar:

This recipe was a hit, and by a “hit” I mean 4.5 out of 5 people in my house loved this for dinner. My husband, who doesn’t even like traditional Alfredo sauce, even asked for seconds! So why the “.5”? Well, my 8-year old son is touch and go on pasta in general and the thick and flat fettuccine noodles were not his favourite. For him, I picked out chunks of chicken and broccoli and he happily ate his pasta-free bowl.

I’ll never forget that competition—the competition where I made one of the biggest dance mom mistakes that can be made. It was our first away competition in a city I thought I knew fairly well. I had the costumes packed, the emergency tights prepped, and had perfected my fake eyelash technique. The only thing I was missing were snacks. And this is where I made the rookie dance mom mistake: I assumed I could buy the snacks we needed when we got there.

Wrong.

It happens every single year, someone, somewhere invites us to a holiday event and when you ask “what can I bring?” you hope they’ll say “nothing” so when you show up with a bottle of wine and some homemade treats they think you’re a superstar. Instead, they casually say, “just bring an appetizer.”

This summer the kids and I went on a road trip to Sudbury, Ontario to follow in the footsteps of the 2015 Amazing Race contestants by going underground in a former working mine that has been converted into an amazing experiential learning exhibit called Dynamic Earth.