Nothing Truer Than Truth

I must have 2 dozen black overripe bananas in my freezer.  

I am a fruit snob.  It cannot bare bruises or discoloration.  I’m unlikely to eat it.  Some fruit must be absolutely crunchy before I eat it.  I don’t even really like banana’s unless they are perfectly ripe.  Hence why I have a zillion of them frozen.  I can’t bare to throw away food either!

So while cleaning out the old freezer I went online in search of the perfect banana cake recipe.  A lot of the cakes I had called for coconut or caramel.  I had neither in my pantry.  But on a quick shopping trip to Safeway, I bought a package of shredded coconut.

I then found the recipe which called for all the ingredients I had at home. 

I almost put off making this cake until the weekend and it was getting late…but I have had a rough day and a piece of yummy banana coconut cake might just make me feel better.

So here it is!

Banana Coconut Cake

• cup butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1 cup mashed ripe banana (I used two very ripe banana’s – thawed)
• ½ cup buttermilk (I used Coconut milk)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 ¼ cups flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ cup grated coconut
• ½ cup brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon ginger (I omitted – didn’t have)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350

1.       In a small bowl mix the coconut, brown sugar, cinnamon, and ginger. Set aside.

2.       Grease and flour a 9" tube pan.

3.       Cream butter and sugar. Beat in eggs, 1 at a time.

4.       Add bananas, buttermilk and vanilla.

5.       Sift flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together. Beat into banana mixture to blend.

6.       Pour half of the batter into the tube pan (I used a round spring form).

Sprinkle with half of the coconut mixture. Add remaining batter and sprinkle with remaining topping.

Bake for 50 minutes.

The verdict:

OMG this should have been called "I actually baked this delicious cake' cake.  Baking success! (for once). Not only was the timing perfect but the cake looked great too.  It wasn't too dry however for added measure I did pour some cold milk over top to give it some ooomph.  The topping was crunchy coconuty and the taste was not overpowering of banana.  Almost resembled a 'better' banana bread.

During her last visit My Mom brought me a can of crab.  What am I going to make with *that*.  So off to the internets I went and decided to a make another crab cake.  All the recipes called for mayo (Paleo style) which I didn’t have.  I considered buying it yesterday when grocery shopping but it’s quite expensive and I don’t eat sandwiches to warrant having mayo in the house.  When I saw that I had all the ingredients to make it, there was my solution.

I made the mayo first, in case it was a flop.  I researched a few recipes and watched a YouTube video from the one and only Gordon Ramsey on how to make it with a food processor (something that I now own thanks to Cindy!).

Pretty simple…

• 3 eggs
• 2 cups of oil (I used canola)
• 2 tsp of lemon juice (I used Realemon)
• 1 teaspoon dry mustard (didn’t have, didn’t use)

Some recipes also called for vinegar which I didn’t use.
I started to blend following Gordon’s very explicit instructions to pour the oil slowly.  I poured so slow that it started to drip onto the table.  I figured I was doing it right.  I added the lemon juice and salt at the end and looked at my finished product.  Which resembled liquefied egg yolks.  I HAD blended slowly. 

I then questioned the use of eggs.  I had separated the yolks as it looked like that’s all he used and when I viewed different recipes, it was either yolks or a whole egg.  Luckily I found a website that said you could still fix the flop by reversing the process.  I took the egg mixture out of the blender and put it in a measuring cup.  I took a WHOLE egg and the whites that I was going to use for breakfast tomorrow and blended them.  THEN I added my ‘oil’ mixture.  Soon enough, my mayo resembled REAL mayo.  Woohoo!  With the mustard being absent, it was pretty boring tasting (not like my zesty Miracle Whip).  I read that it is only good for 4-5 days so I’m going to have to make some wraps for lunch all week!.  It yielded about a cup and a half.

So now that I had my mayo done, it was time to make my crabby cakes.(Yields 6)

• 1 egg (whole!)
• 1 can of crab meat.  (I used Clover Leaf Chunk Crabmeat.  120g)
• 1 cup of finely chopped celery, orange & yellow pepper
• 2 tbsp of roasted veggies and chopped onions (veggies = a few pieces of yam and a potato – I think)
• 2 tbsp of homemade mayo
• Pinch of sea salt + pepper

Beat your egg and then add the ingredients.  As the crabmeat was of the ‘chunk’ variety, I chopped it a bit more fine.   By the time I added the mayo, the mixture was quite wet and sloppy.  I could have done without it and added it to the final meal (crab meat burgers?).  I arranged the mixture into little patties the size of my palm and arranged them on a baking sheet (I didn’t have parchment paper). 

After baking these for approx. 12 minutes, my plan was to flip them so they could get crispy on the other side.  Well baking was a FAIL.  My patties weren't flippable and resembled little piles of scrambled eggs.  Clearly something didn't stick. (haha).  So I heated up a saute pan and am going to fry these suckers. 

The verdict?

The frying helped keep their shape and ensure they were cooked thoroughly. I added a dollop of my mayo which to make tasted like a runny hollandaise sauce.  Not quite what I wanted.  So I did what any sane person would do - I added ketchup to it.  (which now eradicates the Paleo stamp) and that gave the sauce a nice tomato-ey sauce.

Was this an amazing meal? Not really but it was good.  I would try making it again in the future but using someone else's recipe!  I also noticed my onion sitting on the counter after I ate my meal.  Whoops, that was supposed to be added.  Oh well, next time!

I have debated on buying a new car for a while now.  I put a picture of a SUV a few years ago on my ‘vision board’.  Something I would ‘save up for’ and have a plan to buy.

Mechanically there was nothing wrong with my current car, well recently anyways.  In 2009 my 6 year old transmission died and I was forced to replace it while being on mat leave.  To say it hurt me financially was an understatement.  But being someone who is so money conscious it didn’t take me long to pay it off once I returned to work.  Toyota's have pretty good resale value and for a while the car always looked new as the model stayed the same for at least 7 years.

But then my brother bought a new truck and my parents a new Kia Sorento and I got the itch. The itch to have something new and shiny…with that new car smell.  My first car was a 2 door 1993 Toyota Tercel.  It was a good car to me and lasted 10 years before it started to blow blue smoke and I upgraded it for its cousin, Corolla.  The Corolla was a ‘sport’ version and a four door.  4 doors! Perfect for a family.  This is what I thought (of course then, being single and 4 years away from becoming a Mommy.)

So then we had a family.  The Dad, the Mom, the baby and even a full sized dog.  Suddenly, my ‘family perfect’ four door reliable car was a cramped vehicle.  The timing was never right to buy a car so I put it off.  Until earlier this month.  When I started thinking about it more.  My car was coming up to 10 years old (my deadline to buy a new car).  The resale value would decrease and if I was unlucky, it would have started to have engine issues.  I was smart to be proactive.

Over the past two years I have lived beyond frugally to pay the last $10k of the debt I’ve carried for the past 4 years.  It’s been tough, going to a double income to a maternity income back to a single income and more expenses…daycare + higher rent costs.  It all adds up and it’s not going to a fabulous shoe collection or trips around the world. 

My parents came to visit and to retrieve their vehicle they so lovingly let me borrow for the past month (my second experience with sharing the car).  I was reluctant to give it back! There are so many things I love about their car (It’s a 2011 Kia Sorento EX V6).  The power of the engine, heated seats, Sirius Radio, back up mirror, sun & moon roof, the cargo space.  It’s a great car to drive.

On Saturday, just after breakfast we decided to make a stop at the KIA West dealership in Coquitlam on the way home to take a ‘peek’ at a demo model my Mom had seen in the paper.

There were tons of Sorento’s, all parked in neat little rows, covered in wet snow (from a few hours before).  They were parked so close together that I couldn’t really peak inside.  But I felt I didn’t really need to, I had been driving one for the past month (and for a month last year).  Like a ninja, Nick the sales guy came out to greet us and told him that I was looking at the Sorento.  He asked the usual questions, “What color? What model” “what are your must haves?”

“I like dark colors…green…blue…dark silver….”  BUT it’s really based on price (after all, I am on a budget”.

So in we go and I wish I could say it was the same as the experience I had buying the Corolla 9 years ago.  Picked the car, signed the papers and out we went.

Nope, not this time.  This year was different.  I was sick with a head cold, Mason was tired, cranky and bored and I had two parents that had to catch a ferry in an hour and a half.  Not exactly the best scenario for car ‘shopping’.  And my expectations were just that, shopping.  See what they had.  But because the price on the demo was so fabulous, the situation was quickly focused on buying.  I wanted a price for my trade-in.  They offered me $3k.  I wanted $8500 private based on the fact that it has relatively low mileage (147k), no mechanical issues, no body damage, had 2 new snow tires and a new transmission.  No, I didn’t expect to get $8500 privately but there was no way in hell I was accepting $3k.  I knew they’d have a quick turnaround on the Corolla and yes, they need to make a profit too but not at my expense.

I’d consider myself good with numbers…especially budgeting but financing.  Nope.  I sit there with a blank stare on my face.  Enter Mom (my Mom) who was there 9 years ago to help me negotiate a price on the last car.  So here she is again (and Dad too to check over the new ride). 

I’m not going to go into the little details of the rest of the 3 hours but it consisted of a lot of waiting, a lot of frustration, rushed documentation, dizzying number negotiation, a quick test drive and a concern to get Mason out of there and back home.  In the last 24 hours I learned a lot about buying a car and so I’d like to share the do’s and don’t’s of buying a car off the lot.

Buying a new car

Take a note pad and paper to jot down notes and verbal offers or deals so you can recall who said what.

 The research stage:

 Do your research online and on lots.  Don’t go in to discuss #’s until you’ve determined the make, model and year you want to buy.

1. Make a budget for your high and low price point; don’t guess what you can afford.
2. Determine must haves and nice to haves.  I went in with the attitude of ‘I’m not picky as long as I got a good price’.  Something I regret now as the car does not have features I did in fact want (such as a sunroof and automatic push start)

Choosing a Make/Dealership:

If you decide on a brand of car (I had two Toyota’s previously)

1. Ask about a referral program if you are being referred and how the sign up process works.  (No one actually set this up for us and we have to do it after the fact.  It’s worth $200).
2. KIA has a membership card to which my parents are members, they qualified for a 20k bonus (which no one mentioned, I found out on my own…online).

Trading in? Cash incentives?

1. I was told that I qualified for a special rebate because I was going to trade in a Toyota.  I never did get it because of other factors. 
2. Try to sell your car privately because the amount of money a dealership will offer will be way below what you’ll actually accept.  You need to know what your bottom line is because they’ll try to get it lower than that.  Stick to your guns if you think you can sell it privately.  You can still apply the proceeds of the private sale to your financing (if applicable/subject to Dealerships regulations)

Once these topics were covered, I was escorted over to the finance department to talk numbers.  But even then I still wasn’t given a final price on my trade in but wanted an estimate of what my car payments would be each month.  I had a limit of what I’d be willing to accept and what I’d walk out on.  Be prepared to waiver back and forth.

Financing

1. Take advantage of low interest rates but be aware of what terms they are offering (Is it 60 months? 84? Can you make larger payments at any time?)
2. Be prepared to provide your D/L + SIN # for credit checks.  Your credit score (not rating) will determine what kind of deal you get.
3. Pay attention and ASK questions.  Don’t sit like a lump on a log, understand what the numbers mean and how they can be adjusted to make your monthly payment go down. 
4. Down payment? Do you have extra cash to throw on the balance to help drop #’s?  Bring a credit card or cheque book for payment.  They actually wanted me to put a $200 deposit to ‘hold the car’ while we were negotiating.  I said no.  I wasn’t that hung up on that particular car.
5. Extras – do you want an extended warranty? Are there tiers? What do they include?  I did opt for a 7 year bumper to bumper package which didn’t increase my monthly payments much but totaled $2161+tax.  I declined the diamond coating on the car which is a nice to have but not a necessity. 
6. Go for a test drive!  Drive the car, even if you have driven similar models before.  Turn off the radio and listen to the engine, play with buttons, ask questions.
7. Be prepared to sit for at least another hour (after the hour for the first stage) to go through this process. 
8. Ask about maintenance packages, if anything is complimentary in the first 6 months or 1 year.  I was told that I’d get up to a year free maintenance but it wasn’t until we were walking out the door that he said I’d get a ‘survey’ and that’s how I’d receive the promotion.
9. The final deal.  Remember, the sticker price is not the price + tax.  Oh nooooo.  It couldn’t be that easy.  There are additional dealer fees you are required to pay that will bump up your ‘deal of a price’.  Including the documentation fee (which is mentioned in the ad but not stated – which is bizarre since it’s a set fee of $549).  A ridiculous finance fee of $995, a lien Registration fee $55.00, Tire Levy $25.00.  It all adds up.

10.  Once a deal is set, there are about 10,000 pages of paper that are printed for you to initial and sign.  To sit through them and read every word would probably take a week.  I’m not proud to say this but I trusted what was being explained to me and skimmed over the pages. 

11.  A void cheque is required at signing, some dealerships will let you take the car off the lot on promise to return the next day to sign but we agreed that I’d just scan a void cheque and send via email so I could leave with car.

12.  The final step is insurance.  Some Dealerships have a dedicated Insurance person to take care of the transfer of the insurance over for you.  I was asked if I wanted new plates (the last time I said yes) but they wanted to charge me $18.00 so I declined.  Again, ask questions.  I wasn’t explained what the adjuster was doing and now I have a new payment plan that is $200 more than what I was paying and I was under the impression I was doing a transfer.  People working in car dealerships will say ‘oh it’s just routine’ but you honestly don’t have a clue to what they are referring to and assuming it’s fine, is the wrong attitude to have.  This is extra money that is coming out of your pocket.  If you are buying a new car, it is a good idea to ask about the current coverage you have and ensure it’s adequate for the vehicle you just purchased.

13.  Once the insurance is taken care of, you should be good to go.  You thank everyone, shake hands and can say a last goodbye to your old car (if of course you did a trade in).  Ensure the car is completely empty of all your belongings and that they are transferred into your new vehicle.  Hand over your keys, documents anything that you had for the old car and get the new keys (two sets with fobs), manual and PAPERWORK! 

I didn’t get a copy of anything aside from insurance and it wasn’t explained to me until the day after that they ‘mail’ it to you.  I asked for a copy via email and they did not send it.  You can expect once you hand over your money, they aren’t going to be receptive to your requests so ensure you take care of all of this before driving off the lot.

Buyer’s Remorse???  There are a lot of questions about this and what is law and what isn’t.  Some people assume there is a cooling off period or a 10 day, 30 day return policy.   If your contract does not state one, there is no law stating you can return the car once you’ve left the lot.  (The exception to this I’ve read is a 72 hour period for a lease only – but this may vary from province to province). 

I honestly had buyer’s remorse at 3am.  I made a lot of errors in buying this car, too many to point out.  I was so focused on the ‘great deal’ that I really neglected to check out every aspect of this car I was to spend a lot of money on and ensure I loved it.  It didn’t come with the ‘nice to have’ features that I didn’t think I ‘needed’ but turned out I really wanted.  I didn’t even notice it didn’t have push button start until I was handed the keys (and too late by that time).  Was this a huge deal?  No but it’s something that I overlooked and it bugged me once I got home. 

Through this experience I did end up with a really good deal and a brand new car and a much safer car and I did get a decent price for my trade in even though I’ve got the guilts for giving away my ‘baby’.  Since I buy a car every 10 years or so I had convinced myself I was stuck with a car I didn’t absolutely love but once I thought about it, I did realize that if I want to upgrade to something better when my financial situation is better (like a big fat raise or when Mason is in Kindergarten next year and no more daycare payments of $400+ /mo.)  Nothing is forever.

A huge lesson that I hope none of you have to go through and hopefully this advice will be taken by someone and save them from the hassle I went through.  Just remember, it's not a deal unless you LOVE it and you can AFFORD it.  Don't feel guilty if it's not the car for you.  Walk out if you feel pressured or uneasy about what is being explained to you.

I am grateful that I could afford a new car and have already sat down and worked out a new budget to have the car and all previous debt paid off by Dec 2014 which is way in advance of the ridiculous 84 month term I selected.   I sincerely thank my parents for enduring this mess with me and will eventually fall in love with my new ride….or do this allll over again…but more smarter next time :0)

This is a weekend I don’t have Mason, he’s with his Dad until Monday.  I slept in today because we were at Children’s hospital until almost 11pm (3 hour wait).  Mason has the flu and was vomiting non stop throughout the day so his Dad wanted to get him checked out.  He seems much better today!

As I woke up at 10:30am (finally a decent sleep in!) I heard the rain pouring outside and thought it was best to stay in bed, read the 7 books I got from the library and just have a jammy day.  My house is in immaculate condition as I’ve spent the first week of January really tidying and organizing.  I am normally a very tidy and organized person but there were a few items on my to do list that I was avoiding so I finally tackled them.

When Mason and I moved into our new home together, I opted to his crib in my room as it was a huge master.  The came the toddler bed and I never moved him into the second bedroom which was created as a great playroom.  I had my reasons; it was a cold room (if you shut the door there is no heat), it was his playroom and of course the biggest reason, I didn’t want him to sleep in another room on the other side of the suite (which is a bit of a distance as the suite is 1000+sq ft. 

At Mason’s other house, the home he was born into, he’s always had his room and his Dad was not a fan of co-sleeping.  We used a baby monitor to be able to listen to Mason when he needed something. 

This isn’t the case here and while I always put him into his own bed for bedtime, more often than not he wakes in the middle of the night and wants to sleep with me.  Personally, I have no objections with Mommy/Son snuggles in the night.  Mainly because I only get him 50% of the time and I cherish every moment I can get with him.  There are times where I just need a better sleep (and his little body is squished up against me pushing me off the edge) where I’ll scoop him up and he’ll sleep the remainder of the night/morning in his bed. 

Today I woke up and while I wanted to spend the day in bed, my mind doesn’t quite agree with my body’s desire to relax.  So within 15 mins of said decision, I had made a new one.  I wanted to move my bedroom furniture around, this was actually a thought I had last year but never got the motivation to do it.

I love change,  I love making things look new and I like new environments and by moving furniture around, you get a whole new look to a room.  And what better time to do it than the start of a new year!  My other reasoning behind moving the furniture was doing some research on Feng shui. 

Wikipedia says:

Feng shui (/ˌfʌŋ ˈʃweɪ/ ( listen) fung-shway,^[1] formerly /ˈfʌŋ ˌʃuːi/ fung-shoo-ee;^[2] Chinese: 風水, pronounced [fɤ́ŋ ʂwèi]) (or Fung shui) is a Chinese system of geomancy believed to use the laws of both Heaven (Chinese astronomy) and Earth to help one improve life by receiving positive qi.^[3] The original designation for the discipline is Kan Yu (simplified Chinese: 堪舆; traditional Chinese: 堪輿; pinyin: kānyú; literally: Tao of heaven and earth).^[4]

In the past year I have become a lot more spiritual due to experiences in my life that I am not yet ready to share with you.  As a whole, I wanted to rid my life of any negative energy and even went to a therapist that studied a specialized therapy (sorta like Reiki) to rid my body of negativity (not sure if it worked…) so next was the home.

I had read two things that stuck in my mind:

1. Your bed should never be up against a wall with a window unless the window is completely covered.
2. Your foot board or bottom of the bed should never lead to a door.

My room used to look like this:

*Door behind me when this picture was taken.

And funny enough, I love this layout and if it wasn’t for Feng shui, I’d keep it like that.  But due to these beliefs and my desire for change, I am moving stuff around!

With a closet and entry door being on the same wall and a windowed wall, leaves two walls.  The old way and now the new way, so ultimately I only have one way I can move the bed.

So I proceed.  I vacuum the dust bunnies who mated under the bed and find random hair ties on the floor.  I’m starting to like this idea.  I move my art on the walls and place Mason’s ‘space’ at the foot of my bed.  Before, his little toddler bed was up against a wall, however now, that isn’t possible and his bed looks funny in the space.

I survey the room.  By shifting everything over, I’ve created a huge space.  It’s not really what I wanted.  Mason’s area looks out of place.

So I get thinking, maybe it’s time to move him out and give him a real room here.  So I drag his bed out, bedding and stuffies and survey the room once again.  It’s clean and feels a lot bigger.  We’ll see how I feel tomorrow.

Here it is..the new ‘no child’ bedroom:

* Door to the Left

* Door is behind me on my right

What you don't see is a giant area of space at the foot of my bed.

My bedroom makeover is complete!

Can't say the same for Mason's room.

His playroom used to look like this:

Behind me is a wall (with door) and another door (leading into the Landlord's house) behind the door to my suite so it creates this little nook that isn't accessible unless Mason's door is shut.

I drag the toddler bed into Mason’s [former] playroom which at first glance, is quite full with toys.  I never wanted him to have this much and am a bit disappointed that he was so much.  But I remind myself that he still has a lot of baby toys that he still plays with.  It may be time to downgrade the playthings.

Again, only 3 walls in this room to move things around.  One wall has a recess in it which is perfect for his drawers.  He has a giant playhouse that sits in the corner and then a little table set (from my childhood) and toy storage.  Hmmm there isn’t much room to move anything.  I need the drawers and not sure I’m ready to give up the playhouse.  I guess I could put it outside but I’m not sure he’d play with it then.

What it looks like now: (clockwise from the my suite entry door)

So this will be a second project…creating a beautiful room for Mason (with less toys). 

Mason will be back here on Monday night and I will show him my room (devoid of his stuff) and his new room with his bed.  And from there we will see if he’s excited to have a big boy room with his bed or if he’ll be back in with me on a permanent basis lol.

I’m fine with it either way.

For now.