Kally's Cauldron

Well, the Harvest Moon brought me a special little something. I won the giveaway over at Mother Moon's blog and I just wanted to say a big THANK YOU to her! She writes an incredible blog and I encourage everyone to pop over for a visit! She's definitely doing something right with over 300 followers!! Thank you again Mother Moon!




Well, I wasn't able to do my rit last night but I was able to do the children's one with Munchkin. He really enjoyed participating...almost too much as he was really upset with me once we blew out the candle because I wouldn't re-light it!
We have a pretty busy weekend with having people over tomorrow in celebration of Munchkin's second birthday and then our Mabon celebration on Sunday. I have so much to do today, I barely know where to start!! Most of it's laundry unfortunately. Both boys are being particularly bratty challenging today so it's gonna be a long one.
With that, I'll leave you with today's fare.

This is another family favourite, and is practically the only way I can get my Munchkin to eat fish.

Ranch Breaded Fish Fillets

¾ cup Italian seasoned bread crumbs
1 pkg dry ranch-style dressing mix
2 ½ tbsp vegetable oil
4 small tilapia fillets

Preheat the oven to 350F.

Place the bread crumbs in a bowl. In a shallow dish, mix the dressing mix and oil to form a paste. Coat the tilapia fillets with the paste, then dredge in the bread crumbs to lightly coat.

Place the fillets on a baking sheet and bake in the oven for about 15 minutes or until golden brown.

Enjoy your Friday!

I hope everyone enjoyed Mabon yesterday. We didn't really observe it (I was busy making cupcake toppers) but we're looking forward to our Mabon feast on Sunday evening. Today marks the Harvest Moon. I'm hoping to do my full moon ritual tonight at some point. I'm also hoping to go through Pooka's Bedtime Full Moon Ritual from the Mabon magazine with Munchkin. He's still learning how to talk but I think getting him accustomed to something like this would be great for beginning to teach him Mommy's beliefs. I'm sure everyone's heard about the Pooka Pages but in case you haven't, definitely check them out here. They have incredible ideas for little witches!


On a completely un-related note, here's today's random posting:

Today, I wanted to recommend the book Itsy Bitsy Yoga by Helen Garabedian.
This book was recommended to me by my yoga instructor just after I had Munchkin. I didn’t buy it right away so I didn’t start doing yoga with him until he was about 6-7 months old but I’ve been able to start from the newborn stage with Bean.
If you check out the Itsy Bitsy Yoga website, there are classes offered throughout North America. Unfortunately, for me, we have no qualified instructors where I live so this book has been great for us!
This book gives detailed instructions for different poses and then presents a few series of poses that you can do with baby (Good Morning Series, Developmental Play Series, Happy Baby Series, Daddy Series and Sleep Well Series). Each chapter (stage of development) builds on the next. Unfortunately, I’ve rarely been able to go through a full series with my boys, although often when we’re just sitting around, I’ll do a pose with them. Munchkin is almost 2 and I can now say to him “Down dog” or “Tree pose” and he’ll go into the pose. It’s very sweet! There’s also a second book Itsy Bitsy Yoga for Toddlers and Preschoolers but I haven’t picked it up yet. Hopefully this one is as great as the original.

Merry Mabon to one and all! Today we celebrate the autumn equinox, a time of balance and gratitude. We're going to have our celebration on Sunday because with Bean and I both sick, plus all of the things I need to do to get ready for Munchkin's birthday party on Saturday, a feast just wasn't happening tonight. I will try to put together an appropriate meal though. Wishing you the merriest of Mabon's, whenever and however you choose to celebrate!

Now for today's website!
Organized Home is a site I came across looking for freezer recipes (sometimes known as once a month cooking – OAMC). It has tons of other useful articles and loads of free, printable sheets that range in use from every day phone numbers to shopping comparison charts. I use their charts for my freezer inventory and Christmas card checklist mainly but there are a few recipe ones I’d like to start using.
It’s this website that also gave me the incredible idea of a household notebook. I keep all of our important information (bill payments with account numbers, passwords for Internet sites etc) in it. I used to keep a lot of my recipe information in it as well (family favourites etc) but I’ve moved that to its own section in my Book of Shadows.
In looking at the site recently, they’ve actually made their Christmas/Holiday stuff into its own section on the website. I’ll have a lookie around and get back closer to Yule.
If you’re looking to get yourself a little more organized, definitely check out this website. Lots of great ideas and instructions to execute them!

Here comes another week. My apologies for not posting Saturday (or Sunday). We had a great weekend but it was just so busy and I was so exhausted, I went to bed early! I'll post a double Sabbat on Saturday (although I guess they'll be a little late for Mabon this year unless you've decided to celebrate on the weekend instead!)

So Bean and I both have colds. Munchkin had his first (and so far, only) cold around the same age (3 months) and let me tell you, no fun! It would be great if babies were born knowing how to blow their noses, but they don't so I have to rely on saline solution and those useless aspirators (if anyone knows of a brand that actually works well, let me know!) About 90% of the time, Boo or I end up aspirating them ourselves (gross I know but it gets the job done).

This week commences "season premiere" week! I don't watch a lot of TV but I'm eagerly anticipating How I Met Your Mother and The Big Bang Theory. We're recording HIMYM because we're still a few seasons behind, so once we catch up, we'll watch this season. I'm in love with Neil Patrick Harris!

Well, I'm going to keep it short today because with a sick baby, hyper toddler and sick mommy, I'm pooped! Enjoy your Tuesday!

Well we've made it to Friday! We're off to my aunt's wedding reception out of town this weekend so I'll be posting next on Sunday rather than Saturday.
Today is produce delivery day! Every other Friday we receive a bin full of (mostly) local, organic produce. There's nothing more wonderful than having a fridge full of fresh, organic fruits and veggies!! Now if I could just find somewhere to buy organic meat that doesn't cost a small fortune, we'd be set

Speaking of fresh produce, I have 2 recipes today although I usually serve them both as an entree with some mashed potatoes or rice.
I got these recipes from Kraft. It’s become something of a family favourite. Super easy and super yummy!

Crispy Salsa Chicken

4 small boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 pouch chicken coating mix (sometimes known as Shake’n Bake)
½ cup salsa
½ cup shredded cheese

Preheat oven to 400F. Coat chicken with coating mix as directed on package. Place on ungreased baking sheet.

Bake 20 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.

Top each chicken breast with 2 tbsp salsa. Sprinkle evenly with cheese. Bake an additional 5 minutes or until cheese is melted.
Yields: 4 servings

Fresh Peppers and Green Beans

2 onions, cut in thin slices
½ cup dressing, divided (anything oil-based will do)
1 lb green beans, trimmed
¼ cup water
1 red pepper, cut in thin slices

Cook onions in ¼ cup dressing in large skillet on medium heat for about 5 minutes or until crisp-tender, stirring occasionally.

Add beans and water, stir. Cover and cook for 5 minutes.

Stir in peppers; cook covered for 5-8 minutes or until beans are crisp-tender. Remove from heat and stir in remaining dressing.

TGIF everyone!

Coffee's on this morning. Both boys were awake before 6am so Boo brought Munchkin downstairs to play and I nursed Bean in bed in the hopes he'd go back to sleep. He did for a little while, though not nearly as long as I would have liked. Keeping my fingers crossed for naps all around although I'm not holding much to it...in the past three months, I've only managed to nap for half an hour while both boys were down at the same time!!
I'm also super excited because the city finally delivered our green bin which means all of my organic waste can now go in there and be made into compost (and I don't have to do any of the work!) I was actually really impressed at all of the things that can go in there...my garbage pile is going to be practically non-existent now! Next step, getting Munchkin into cloth diapers (we've always had him in disposables but since he'll be potty-training soon we held off...but it looks like he's not ready yet and Bean will be able to wear whatever we buy Munchkin so it's a definite investment anyway!) Now, onto today's blog:

In keeping with last week’s theme of using natural products, today’s posting is a book recommendation for Pure Baking Soda For Baking, Cleaning & Deodorizing by Christine Halvorson.
I know there’s quite a few of these types of books around (I think there’s a salt one amongst others), however the only one I currently own is this one so that’s all I feel qualified to talk about.
I LOVE this book. It has so many great ideas. There were a few that I already knew but for the most part they were all new. It’s broken down into 10 sections with my favourites being ‘Dogs, Cats, and Other Critters’,’ Baby Care’ and ‘Baking Soda Throughout the House’.
I use baking soda mostly to clean and deodorize my carpets. With two little boys, two cats and a dog, my carpets taking a real beating but I don’t want to use commercially-made products in case one of my little charges ends up ingesting it. It’s also fantastic for keeping down odours which is great since both of my boys are still in diapers and my dog probably should be!

Happy Thursday everyone!

Well, I've made it to mid-week. I've gotten no housework done although I did get a few other things done that I've been putting off (namely sending out invites for Munchkin's birthday and FINALLY ordering birth announcements for Bean!) Both boys have been really needy this week which has been challenging but I'm a mommy over a housekeeper so the chores will wait.
On that note, today's website is more on the domestic side than witchy. Happy hump day!

I came across Motivated Moms a couple of years ago when I first became a homemaker. Essentially, it’s a yearly chore list broken down into manageable daily chunks. I really love the set-up and it covers almost every household chore you can think of (and some that you may not!) It costs $8 to download the PDF but to me, it’s well worth the investment.
I use the “two weeks per page” version which includes a section for the regular daily chores (making beds, loading the dishwasher etc) and then a checklist for each day of that week with the cleaning/organizing to do that specific day (ie cleaning toilet, changing towels etc). You can also order it with daily Bible reading if you're into that kind of thing (hey, even now I enjoy reading it from time to time).
So if you’re looking for a way to get just a little more organized and don’t mind investing $8 a year, (I always like supporting mompreneurs!) definitely check out this website!