It’s that time of year!

This year I’m doing something a little different. As some of you know, one of my very dear friends was diagnosed with ovarian cancer just under two weeks ago. I took a trip to Portland this past week to be with her during surgery and I plan to go back several times to help her through chemo.
Jen is a fellow photographer, and as you can imagine, this will put her out of work for several months. I would like to donate the session fees from both days of mini sessions to her and her two boys to help ease the financial burden just a bit.

Her blog is http://www.amistillagirl.com/ and it’s been a very real and emotional journey.

If you are interested in booking a mini session, please just email me at info@freshsugar.ca and let me know your preferred date and time and we’ll set you up. Because newsletter subscribers and previous clients get first crack at things like this, I’m very pleased to say that we only have 2 spots left this Saturday and 5 left in October, so please email me right away if you’d like a session!

Mini sessions are $250 and include a 20 minute session and 10-15 images in your gallery. You will also receive one digital image to use as you choose! The sessions are on Saturday, September 17th and October 1st. 10am-4pm.
Thanks so much and I can’t wait to see you all again this year!

-Brandy

Sorry about the large post, there were a LOT of kids this year!

I get to spend the day meeting real kids who have spent a lot of time within the walls of the hospital. As a parent, the thought frightens me to death, but to see these children have such sunny personalities and a resilience that is truly amazing, it makes me realize just how important this hospital is to Calgary.

Last month I spent another full day meeting these incredible children, but before I blog those images, I wanted to show you a few of last year’s photos.

I have introduced quite a few people to Pinterest since joining at the beginning of this year. Most people love me for it, but some are decidedly not happy because it’s a PROVEN FACT that Pinterest is addictive. I grab a cup of coffee (or three, lol) in the morning and browse all the pins that come up in my feed.

Pinterest is a virtual pinboard.

Pinterest lets you organize and share all the beautiful things you find on the web. People use pinboards to plan their weddings, decorate their homes, and organize their favorite recipes. Best of all, you can browse pinboards created by other people. Browsing pinboards is a fun way to discover new things and get inspiration from people who share your interests.

I have 44 boards and 2471 pins in my Pinterest account. I look at my boards daily, and am adding to them constantly.
I have home decorating ideas, craft projects, a bazillion things to do with my kids, my photography inspirations, clothing, hair & makeup, recipes, quotes and tons more. You can view all of my boards here: http://pinterest.com/freshsugar/

I love Pinterest because of the people there. It’s amazing bunch of really tasteful people who like cool/beautiful/awesome things.
If you are already on, make sure you add me so I can follow you too. If you aren’t, send me an email or leave a comment here and I’ll hook you up. You won’t be sorry. Unless of course you have things to do. In that case, don’t say I didn’t warn you!

PS – There’s an iPhone app too!

Not only did the magazine feature my maternity work, but I was also interviewed for their business article Profit Center – it seems a little surreal that people are actually interested to hear what I think, haha!

When I started Fresh Sugar six years ago I can absolutely tell you that I never in a million years expected to be in not only one magazine but TWO! 2011 has been an absolutely incredible year for me and I really need to thank all my wonderful clients because without them I would never have the gorgeous subjects for my images! It means the world that you have all trusted me to capture all the joys of pregnancy and having a new baby.

I used all the cabbage! I used all the cabbage!

It was a happy day this morning when I chopped up the last of the cabbage and added it to the hash browns for breakfast. My kids are sick of cabbage now, but I will admit – fried in butter it tastes pretty good. Although what *doesn’t* taste pretty good fried in butter? Which leads me to the fact that I GAINED TWO POUNDS THIS WEEK!!!!
I’m not sure if it’s actual weight (although it probably is because I’ve been eating more calorie-rich food than I normally do) or water weight by the added sodium in my diet. It was absolutely not an expected outcome of eating off an emergency food hamper for the week.

This weekend was tough. WAY tougher than the weekdays. So many social events have food or drink associated with them. We went golfing today and it was kind of sad to smile and shake my head no to the lovely drink cart lady. And by not eating and drinking at our various activities made me realize that if we had financial troubles – we wouldn’t even be participating in some of those activities! No poker night, no fundraisers at pubs and no golf. Not having adequate food is only one part of a very large picture.

I was surprised to learn when I went to the food bank that the largest number of clients are what is considered the “working poor”. People with one or two or even three jobs just trying to make ends meet. People who work HARD and yet still need help. I know a lot of times we feel like we work hard and deserve the things we have. But there are a LOT of people that work hard in this city and it doesn’t mean that they don’t deserve nice or fun things. It means that WE are incredibly fortunate to be in the situation we are in. It doesn’t mean that we need to feel guilty about it either, but empathy and compassion are definitely things that should be a part of who we are. Not to mention a realization that EVERYONE needs help at some point, whether it be financial, emotional, etc.

This morning was interesting for me, as I made breakfast AND dinner at the same time. I made hashbrowns and cabbage (of course!) and then scrambled eggs and cheese. Dinner was crockpot chili – I threw some beans, canned tomatoes and added chili powder (the only extra spice we used this whole week), and macaroni noodles, set the crockpot to low and let it simmer all day.

I’ll be honest. No one liked it. LOL. I made it too spicy, it was too dry and the macaroni was too mushy. To quote Dave:

“I like it. I just don’t want to eat very much of it.”

This month’s theme is Framed. I found this one kind of difficult this week, and honestly was thinking about skipping this round. We just got a new trampoline yesterday though so I thought I would try something with that. I decided to “frame” Charlotte in between the zipper opening.

Don’t forget to visit Kitchener & Waterloo children, family and high school senior photographer Julie Tauro for her take on the theme!

For some reason, we just don’t have the energy to plan a big meal tonight. What I’d really love to do is order a pizza, have a beer and watch the hockey game, but of course that’s not possible. So we’re having Kraft Dinner because it was the easiest thing in the hamper to make. That’s another thing I’ve noticed – there are no easy shortcuts when preparing meals from an emergency food hamper. Thought and preparation needs to happen to create balanced meals for your family. When you add the stress of having financial problems, it seems like it would be extremely hard to be able to do it all. What amazing strength and tenacity those using the Food Bank must have.

I have a fundraiser and silent auction that I’m attending tonight. My ticket included a free drink, which I’m giving to my friend that’s going with me. The pub it’s being held at is within walking distance from our houses, and when I bought the tickets I was thinking it would be great – we could have a few cocktails and then walk home! I’ve been shocked this week at how many of my social interactions revolve around food or beverages.

Another thing I’ve noticed is how much my emotions are tied to food. I’m a happy eater. When something good happens or when I am feeling good, I like to increase my happiness quotient with my happy food and drink. If I was experiencing financial hardships, I wouldn’t even have delicious food and drink to help with my mood. I’d have to find other ways to feel happy. Maybe even exercise. Yikes!!!!

I think my kids are starting to hope that we always live like this. Emma told me this morning she loved how nice I’ve been this week and how awesome it is to have so many home-cooked meals. Wow.
I made some scrambled eggs and peanut butter toast for breakfast this morning, and was shocked at how well that held me over until lunch. Yay protein!

Emma had a half day at school so this afternoon we went over to Cochrane to the Spray Lakes complex where they have some bounce houses set up on one of the hockey rinks. The girls had a great time bouncing around and I have to admit, I LOVED that they didn’t complain about only having water to drink. My kids are notorious water-avoiders, I think they will drink almost anything over water. We ate at home before we left, and ate again at home when we got back. It was a very different outing that we would usually have, because the complex has all sorts of vending machines that I know I would have succumbed to. It’s unfortunate to think how many families have to live this way, while mine takes casual spending of money on food so for granted.

Dave had a half day at work today so he graciously made dinner tonight. Cabbage and hash browns, grilled cheese and tomato soup. The girl who hated cabbage is now making it her goal to finish all the cabbage we received by the end of the week.
Only one head left!

The girls and I are having a girl’s night tonight while Dave is out at his monthly poker game. Normally we would have popcorn and candy while we watched our movie – but tonight we’re making smoothies with yogurt, milk and ice!
Dave was a bit subdued when he left for his game. Usually it’s beer, pizza and various boy-friendly snacks, but all he took with him was a water bottle. He’s an awesome guy for taking this so seriously.

I think everyone is getting a little tired of me taking photos of them eating, but I keep telling them that it’s compelling journalism.

Charlotte wanted McDonald’s after gymnastics. I told her we would have sandwiches at home. The buns we got have gotten hard and stale tasting. I really, really miss my Coke Zero. Emma wanted to swap food with her friends today and couldn’t.

When I agreed to this project the one thing I was worried about the most was being sensitive to the users of the Food Bank. I didn’t want to appear to be taking this lightly, or say something that proved that I just wasn’t getting the spirit of doing this. I was thinking of all of this today and how I was missing something as trivial as Coke. But if our family really did have an emergency that caused us to use the Food Bank, even though we would be grateful for the help it provided our family – it would still be a shock to the system to have to rely so heavily on foods chosen for us. I’ve been an adult for quite some time now, used to making my own decisions. And if I used the Food Bank, I would feel the same way. I would wish to make my own choices. So the best we can do this week is stick with it and try to make the choices within the confines of the hamper. I’ve been giving the girls a choice of two things for each meal so they feel like they are making the decision. Dave and I are talking together about dinners. Little things to make us feel like people in control of their own lives.

Not many photos today, we ate many of the same things as the other days. I discovered I love Cinnamon Toast Crunch. Emma had oatmeal for breakfast. They had cinnamon buns for a snack after school. I had craisins for a snack and we had blueberry pastries for dessert.

Our biggest success was dinner. Once again, I managed to make a meal that everyone liked. Emma said and I quote:

“You should make this on a Friday night so we can stay up late and eat it all night long!”

I found a recipe on the internet and modified it a bit. It turned out really good and the kids loved it.

Tuna Casserole

Ingredients
2 cans of tuna
3/4 cup milk
1 can cream of celery soup
3 cups of macaroni
1 whole cabbage
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup shredded cheese

Preheat oven to 350F

I diced the cabbage and fried it with some butter, then set it aside.
I cooked the macaroni noodles in boiling water, about 8 minutes, then set aside.
In a bowl I combined the tuna, milk and soup. I added some salt and pepper.
I put the noodles, cabbage and tuna mixture in a greased casserole dish and topped with the shredded cheese.
Baked in the oven for 40 minutes.

YUM!

Don’t forget to visit the official A Week In Their Kitchen blog to read everyone else’s experiences! You can also donate to the Calgary Inter-Faith Food Bank online here.