My Life as a Mom

It's Fruit Season! One of the things I love most about summer is that fresh fruit is blooming and ready to harvest, whether you grow it yourself or pick it up at the local farmer's market, there is something fantastic about fresh fruit that has ripened on the vine and has that sweet and delicious taste! I don't have space in my current house to grow a garden and I only have a few tomato plants in pots, but I'm not letting that stop me from eating and canning some beautiful food this summer! Moving to Calgary has it's pros and cons, but one thing I've been really enjoying are the farmer's markets here in the city. Last week, I went on my own, but this week I took my boy with me and he LOVED it! He had so much fun looking at all the fruits and vegetables as well the amazing work from local artisans. It was a great day. In the end, we came home with blackberries and blueberries to can. Add that to the strawberries, raspberries, blueberries and cherries I bou

It's about time I finally got you another meal-in-a-jar. This is a recipe I got from my cousin while we were visiting her for a family reunion. Between the two of us, we have six kids and all six of them ate this and asked for more! That's a huge hit in my book, so I definitely needed the recipe. I made 6 jars so that I have lots for my pantry because I know my kids are going to want to eat this over and over. The one adjustment I made was not adding green chilies, and that's only because I didn't have any, not because I don't want them. Once I have some in stock, I will definitely add them to the jars.  As always, this recipe uses ingredients that are on sale from Thrive Life Foods this month. The instant rice is one of the items on sale, but I didn't have any on hand, so I just grabbed some from my local grocery store, use whichever is convenient for you.  I also don't have packages of taco seasoning, which is what the recipe calls for, I use it oft