a peek inside the fishbowl

This post has been written with the support of Fishbowl patron, Swiss Natural.

Are you getting enough calcium? I’m not always so sure but I think my kids are. They drink milk with every meal and almost always have cereal and yogurt in the morning. My youngest daughter often makes herself a big cup of cocoa on cool afternoons and it’s all milk (and very little sugar because we don’t make it from a mix). I think they are doing ok.

As for myself, well, that’s a different story. The only milk I drink regularly is the 1/2 cup or so I use to make my latte every morning. Some days I have yogurt for breakfast, sometimes cheese will sometimes make an appearance somewhere along the line (ok, more often than sometimes), but when I think about it I am not certain I’m getting enough calcium in my diet. Apparently I’m not alone. Most adult women aren’t getting enough. I regularly tell my kids that calcium creates strong bones and teeth and is insurance against osteoporosis but I don’t think of it being very important to me too. As an extension of that I don’t do a lot of menu planning around this particular mineral. It just kind of happens that we aim for the four food groups, and it works out… more or less. I think.

Swiss Natural sent me some Chocolate Fudge Brownie calcium supplements to try awhile back. Although I prefer to get my calcium naturally (even though I’m not convinced I’m doing that very well) I think to could be a good solution for people who aren’t getting enough calcium in their daily diet. The supplements are chocolate-flavoured soft chews (I am hiding them from the kids because they’re like candy) and each one contains 600 mg Calcium and 400 IU Vitamin D. I’m also told that the chews are good for women in combating pre-menstrual syndrome those who are suffering from irritability, forgetfulness or depressed mood before periods. (CHECK. CHECK. Er, CHECK.) And that’s mostly when I’ve been taking them. :)

Note the presence of Vitamin D in those chews. At first I didn’t think much of it beyond “Oh cool, there’s Vitamin D in there!” but as it turns out Vitamin D actually plays an important role in calcium absorption and bone health. Food-wise, this means that when you’re serving calcium-rich foods such as milk, yogurt, cheese, dark green leafy vegetables (e.g. broccoli, collard greens, bok choy and spinach), fish (sardines, salmon), tofu and nuts… it’s good to get in some egg yolks, saltwater fish and liver too.

I think I’ll put grilled ginger salmon on baby spinach back into menu rotation again, and ease up on the salt shaker and processed meats. (Did you know that salt in our diets causes loss of bone minerals? There’s a good article about it at WebMD if you’re interested.)

There is so much to think about, isn’t there? It’s easy to get overwhelmed.

How do you ensure that you’re getting enough calcium? Is this something you worry about? Do you plan meals around the food groups? And do you have a calcium-rich recipe to share? If so I’d love to hear it!

There’ll be a lot of reno-related posts here for the next while, but as far as I can tell most of you don’t seem to mind. There seem to be an awful lot of curious cats who are following along. I’ve had people stop me in the street to talk to me about what’s going on with the reno! Hilarious.

As some of you know, some of the freelance writing I do is home-related. Just this past year I’ve written home profiles for Our Homes Ottawa, Ottawa Magazine, and Ottawa Citizen’s Style Magazine. These features are more or less the same kind of idea across the board. I am assigned a home to profile and am given the homeowner’s contact info. Arrangements are made for me to meet them at their home for a tour and a chat, and then I write the article. It is one of the highlights of my writing work. It’s fascinating, really, to get to know people in this way. Home design is so utterly personal. Each person is different, each home is unique, everyone has their priorities and wants and needs and dreams and no two are ever the same. I love it.

I’ve written enough of these pieces to be able to spot some trends (I’ll be writing about a few of those later) and to be able to make some general observations. For example: for many women, the kitchen comes at the very top of their priority list.

Why is that? Why do we love kitchens so much? Is it because we spend so much time in our kitchens? Is it because we grew up watching and learning from our own mothers?

The last piece I wrote (I don’t want to scoop myself so I won’t get into detail here) was about a fabulous renovated bungalow. The mom and I joked as she stood tall behind her glorious sparkling quartz countertop. She was standing exactly as if she was the captain at the prow of her ship; ramrod straight, hands on the counter, ready to lead the troops into action.

Every time I interview someone for one of those home profiles they tell me that the kitchen is the heart of their home. Every time. And every time I try to find another way around that cliche while I’m writing the article. It’s cliche because it’s true.

So yes, the kitchen is important. Perhaps it’s because, as moms, providing for our families in this way is deeply ingrained. I know it is for me. To cook means to love. To cook is to give freely of yourself (even though it sure feels like a geeDEE chore sometimes). When you think about it, this way of life goes back to hunter-gatherer times. Who divided up the berries and the freshly-killed meat and made sure the offspring was taken care of? Geez. We are STILL doing that, aren’t we… albeit with better appliances. ;)

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Tuesday night is always meeting night, and it will be for the next 6-8 months.

That’s when Darryl, our construction manager, comes over and we talk about what’s been done that week, and what needs to get done in the upcoming week. I really like this system, because it ensures that we’re all on the same page and that we’re in regular communications.

Last week Darryl brought a custom kitchen builder guy for us to meet. We know very little about him, other than the fact that he came recommended to us. David our architect was there too, so there were five of us at the table. The knowledge bank at the table was awesome (I am not including Mark and I in the knowledge part of course because we are embarrassingly naive about everything) but it felt good knowing these people were on our team and working hard to create good solutions for us. We extended the kitchen a tiny bit to make space for cabinetry. And we talked about the pantry ALONE for 20 minutes; discussing shelving and options and height and door style and spacing between shelves. Oy.

I was asked to show a photo of a kitchen I liked. And so we got out the laptop, fired up my Pinterest boards, and loaded up this kitchen on the screen because it’s one I return to again and again.

I am pretty sure there was an umm and an uh huh heard somewhere around the table, and it quickly became apparent that this particular style of kitchen was over our budget. Why? Because the cabinetry is framed. Look at the photo again, and notice the detail around the bottom cabinetry: the space between the drawers, the exposed hinges. Framed cabinets are study, old skool things. Frameless cabinets (also called European style) have shelves that slide straight in, allow for more storage space, and have a contemporary appearance as a result of the doors meeting each other right at the ends. And they are cheaper. SO, we are going with frameless cabinets that have a classic door style. Make sense?

Really, what I was trying to show the kitchen guy was the cabinet door style, a simple white shaker-style cabinet door and a totally plain drawer door. So this is now closer to the cabinets we’re looking at, although with more traditional drawer and cabinet pulls.

The lesson here is bring your pictures to the table, because it might save you a whole bunch of time and money.

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ETA: Want to follow the reno as it unfolds? You can get updates in a few different ways:

• Follow the home and reno category here on the blog. All the blog posts will end up in that category and I’m trying to number them all as I go.
• Search and follow the #FishbowlReno hashtag on Twitter
• Peek at my growing set of photos on Flickr
• Follow my reno board on Pinterest

Please note that some of the content won’t be in all of these areas. For example, I like to take photos of the products we like while we’re combing Ottawa for the best deals on fixtures/tiles/furnishings. I might tweet out a few but they might not make it to the blog. So if you’re on Twitter and you’re a design nerd/renoholic who’s always looking for inspiration this might be a good option for you. :)

I’m not sure how many readers out there follow my writing over on the UsedEverywhere blog but my latest post is another Fantastic Find that was sent by an Ottawa reader, and it’s a pretty good one too. I’m looking for MORE finds to write about! If you have a Fantastic Find you want to share (it has to have been acquired via one of the Used sites) please drop me a line via this form.

In other news, it’s Emma’s birthday today! She’s 13! She’s requested beef stew and homemade pretzels for dinner.

In other news, there’s a giant pit in our backyard. GIANT. PIT. Ack.

In other news, we’ve booked our move! It’s all going down two weeks from yesterday. Ack.

In other other news, I’ve been busy beavering away at Recipes.ca. We’re very close to launching. Yay! I am officially issuing a last call for beta testers! Interested in getting a sneak peek? I need dedicated people to:

• Fill out a membership form and join the site (it’s free).
• Poke around the different sections and give some freeform feedback about your initial thoughts.
• Upload a few favourite recipes, and accompanying photos if you have them. There is a giveaway component here too. I have a copy of the latest LooneySpoons cookbook to give away to one randomly-chosen member who uploads a minimum of five recipes. (And it is AWESOME. I think it’s the best LooneySpoons yet.)

If you’re keen just let me know in the comments below and I’ll put you on the list. Thank youuuuu!