What's my favourite word to describe preparing dinner?
Drag! My favourite phrases before I start preparing dinner? Holy Crap, it's the time of day again- need to prepare dinner! What shall I cook today? Oh no, the pantry/fridge/freezer is empty! Normal mood I'm usually in before preparing dinner?
Stressed! Biggest wish once I started the dinner process?
Hope it cooks fast! Biggest extravagance when I'm mega rich?
To hire a full time cook for the remaining days of my life! Favourite meal to cook?
Anything that's fast! Will I let me family eat packaged food?
Only if I'm really desperate or very, very sick (which, Thank God, I'm hardly ever). I may not like cooking, but these packages are scary. Especially Kraft Dinners. Have you ever read the ingredient labels?
I rather 'suffer' through peeling, scraping, cutting or snipping fresh veggies than letting my kids and The Best Man of All (aka husband) eat that crap.
Apart from the occasional can of soup, or can of ravioli that is...
I'm always on the lookout for easy peasy recipes. No surprise here! I'm a sucker for ready made sauces in a jar. These sauces are a life saver for me!
My family's favourite jars contain the flavours of India! The Best Man of All and our oldest boy love a spicy vindaloo, our youngest son prefers it mild and our middle boy travels in the middle of the road. For him and I medium is hot enough!
Sometimes we order in, most of the time I bring home the treasures from the supermarket!
The right curry sauce is this desperate's mother answer to "What shall we eat tonight?"
As long as I have meats, fish or vegetables in the fridge and a pack of basmati rice in the pantry, dinner is off to a good start!
Any new curry sauce on the market is mine. And we have tried them all, the good, bad and ugly.
Here is the newest brand I discovered: Mum's Masala.
Straight from England!
And how did I find these gems?
By accident! I found them in one of our small neighbourhood markets, MK Farm Market in Maple Ridge. A lovely place btw!
Owner Sukhi promised and guaranteed me taste and quality! How could I not believe him? He is from India himself. Even his wife (conveniently named Sukhi too) vouched for the sauces!
So, I took home these time savers and put them to the test:
+
+
=
=
+
= Happy faces all around!
An empty plate is always a good sign...
Of course you all know how to open a jar, bring it to a simmer and add pieces of cut chicken, fish or veggies!
However, you may not know about Mum's Masala though! But now you do!
And no, I'm not getting paid by the good folks of Mum's Masal or by MK Farm Market for this matter!
I strongly believe keeping these good news hidden from you would do you and me a dis-service. Sharing is caring!
There may be more mothers like me around- and isn't it nice to know about the new flavour in town?
Bon appetit!
In my previous life I was an independent coffee shop owner (Strawberry Lounge)! When it comes to business I know everything about having guts and taking risks, investing my own money and loving my guests!
Therefore, whenever I can, I choose independent over franchise, box store or huge corporation!
We here in beautiful Maple Ridge have a variety of independently owned shops, restaurants and coffee bars. But nothing and nobody has conquered my heart as much as the guys from Mango Moka (MM) have!
The guys I'm talking about are Sukhi and Sukhi, husband and wife team from Punjab.
(To keep it easy for the rest of us, they both use an abbreviation of their first names-which happens to be Sukhi!)
They created this very interesting mixture of traditional coffee shop with smoothie bar.
MM is not a restaurant nor is it a bar. But you can eat here for sure!
It's a little bit of sandwich bar and a little bit of coffee shop!
It's a little bit of India (samosas, butter chicken)
and a little bit of Canada (modern coffees, teas, banana bread, cakes).
It's a little bit of this and a little bit of that. And all little bits are freshly prepared in front of your eyes.
MM is bright and cheerful when you walk in.
The music is playing (very good to set the mood and to create an atmosphere), the service is always impeccable. Sometimes it's a bit slow- but then, good things come to those who wait.
(However, if you are in a rush you can always call in advance and order your goodies (1-604-380- 4848)! They even deliver to our door step, certain conditions do apply!
Their espresso machine is a killer!
The paninin and bagels are phenomenal.
This comment comes from one of the biggest critiques I know, my children! If they don't like something they aren't touching it! At Mango Moka they are leaving nothing on their plates!
I don't come for the coffee necessarily, I love their smoothies!
I love to hang for a chat! With whomever I can chat with!
Oh, and the samosas ($1.00 a piece!) They are such a delight! Homemade! Vegetarian! Crispy on the outside, nicely spiced on the inside! They are 1000 x better than the ones you get at our local supermarkets!
Running a coffee shop is not for everybody! First and foremost, you must love what you do! And you must love your guests- customers! If you're working behind the counter you have to have the ability to chat! To listen to people!
Sukhi is a fantastic conversationalist! He goes out of his way to explain stuff and let's you sample if he has something new in store!
MM is located in one of these peculiar little strip malls: a five- shops in a row- kinda mall on the beginning, or far end of town (depending from which direction you are coming from)!
The location is a pain in the butt to get to- especially when you are day dreaming and find yourself in the wrong car lane - or when you are travelling the opposite direction!
But once you made the right turn and have parked, the culinary delight begins!
Only a few short months ago Sukhi has opened his MK Farm Market right next door!
For us die-hard homemakers (yep, that's me) this is a dream come true! Never ever in a million years have I thought I would do my grocery shopping at a corner store!
Live and learn Christina!
I don't know how Sukhi does it, but he offers the best Basmati rice ever at a price I can't find anywhere else!
His prices are compatible to every supermarket in our area- if not cheaper!
Note to myself, I need to have a chat with the man, need to know how he does it!
Maple Ridge can call itself lucky to host such a bright, happy, cheerful, affordable, healthy, delicious
fusion coffee-smoothie bar!
If you are on a mission to support independently owned shops, Mango Moka is the place to go!
You don't need to be rich, beautiful or famous to live the exciting, charged life! To prove this theory to myself I am conducting yearly experiments called 52 New Experiences!
For the third year running I made the conscious decision to say YES to anything I've never done before in my life! Even if it gave me shivers, cost more than I would normally spend or it drove me bananas (like finding a free parking spot in downtown Vancouver)!
After I started it was so easy to keep on going, seeking out small challenges on a -nearly- daily basis! Believe it or not, I ended up with over 100 new memories in my life!
Allow me to inspire you with these everyday adventures for bright, shiny, exciting, everyday living!
I loved my vibrant life full of new adventure in 2014 because
It tasted good:
During visits to
- Joey's Restaurant East is East during my first ever YVR Foodie event
- 5-Guys
- I ate Snap pea Crisps
- Maple flavoured salmon
- Clams
- Drank rice milk
- Almond milk
- Ate a dragon fruit
- Baked blueberry muffins
- Ventured into a Gluten-free bakery and sampled gluten- and dairy free apple cake.
- Strawberry Cheesecake ice cream at La Casa Gelato, - the place with over 200 flavours!
Proved to myself it is a mind over matter affair during my
- 3- day cleanse in January and
- 21 day cleanse in July
I became more tech-savvy:
Finally figured out
- How to tag individuals on Facebook.
- How to use Canva.com
- How to use Paint
- How to create a banner for You Tube
- How to create a video in only two takes
- How to become a You Tube partner
- How to use Airb'nB.
It took me places:
- Art gallery cafe in Vancouver
- Fan Expo at Exhibition center
- Waikiki, Honolulu, Oahu
- Business Excellence Seminar
- Vogue Theatre to listen to Oliver Stone.
- Startled by the view of the Wishpond offices in downtown Vancity.
- Explored downtown Chilliwack
- Contributed a chapter to my girl friends e-book!
- Presented Kiss your Excuses Goodbye twice at the YWCA in Vancouver.
- Spoke at the YWCA gala.
- Met my first real TV stars, the crew of " Republic of Doyl'' and had the honour to interview them!!!
- Dazzled during a live radio interview for radio North Carolina.
- Appeared on my 1. google hang-out.
- Got interviewed by Michael Clogs for his Business Expert Show!
- Wrote my first articles for Hello Vancity.
- Started my monthly column Kiss &Tell for Entrepreneurial Mind World (scroll down, you will see me)!
- Presented at the October YVR blogger event.
- Added some sparkle during the Video Mastery course (twice that is).
- Created a video for an audience of 5000 Brazilian parents.
- Shared life tid bits during three presentations at my former high school.
- Made my parents and guests laugh during their 50 wedding anniversary party!
- Got interviewed by PR lady extraordinaire Alice Zhou.
It added adventure during
- a snowmobile ride at Mt. Baker.
- a Meditation
- a Tide Rope walk at Loon Lake
- a visit to the Aviation museum in Langley
- Started the journey of becoming a kick-ass interviewer for Motherpreneur TV.
- filming for our son's high school production of Spamalot.
- We skied at Big White and
- autsch, I face planted!
- Cleaned and gutted fish.
- Sat through a whole evening of School of Rock performers (Loud!!!).
- Interviewed my first World Champion record holder, Croix Sather for MP TV
- Visited Tuscan Island Horse Farm in Abbotsford (and went horse back riding for course)
- Explored the PNE in Vancouver!
- Filmed during Elaine Tan Comeau's (Mompreneur of the year 2014) calender launch
- Strolled alone along E-Hastings at night!
- Paid taxes for the sale of my coffee shop, Strawberry Lounge (Hurrah, finally free!)
- Cut my hair short!
- Got a new, high tech phone
- Added a different hair colour
- Met two of my virtual connections from LinkedIn in real life, Angie and Sim of the WIISE woman network:
- Swam in a different part of Alouette lake
- Kayaked along Belcarra's shoreline
- Went monkeys at Wild Play
- Walked along a Dirt Bike Rd into the big unknown along 256 Street in Maple Ridge
Learnt during:
- "Change your Habit, change your life"- event.
- Hosted and survived three teenage parties.
- Discovered Dynamic Women in Action - meet-up.
- Went to Valley Women Lunch network.
- Visited the Canadian Marketing Summit.
- Filmed during "Illuminate your Life Retreat".
- Visited the "Sizzling Sales show".
- Visited a Private Art show
- Created an abstract painting.
- Visited a Conscious Divas - event.
- Sorted bottles during a Bottle drive for our soccer team.
- Listened to the presenters at Public Salon
Yes, here is the proof: One doesn't need to be rich, famous or beautiful to live the exciting, vibrant, fully charged life! My new experiences have started for 2015. Will you join me for this fantastic, fun-filled ride? All you need to do and say is YES whenever something new comes along! Did I hear you say YES? Welcome to the family! I look forward to hearing your stories...don't be shy!
.jpg)
.JPG)
