2021 Intentions PLUS Chateaubriand with Béarnaise Sauce & Champagne Risotto

Early in life I learned, just through observation, that right always wins out over wrong. If a person has good intentions in his heart and wants to do the right thing, then there are certain ways that any obstacle can be overcome.

Monte Irvin

This year brought tears, anger, a lot of swearing, too many conversations I never thought I would have to have with my children and maybe some that I took for granted and though forced, needed to be discussed. It brought an inner reflection that I couldn’t have imagined. It brought fear and doubt and yet it also brought peace and confidence. This year I saw people without the innocent glow of pre-2020. This year we were basically on the Titanic. We were going down and we saw our places in the lineup to the lifeboats. We saw people without the ability to critically think, rise up in a loud angry mob of opinions. We saw what we used to call rumours and once debunked, we used to call them lies but in 2020 they were turned into “fact” and popular thought. Theories no longer needed to be proven and belief in a matter outweighed fact of the matter.

So far 2021 is looking like 2020 with bangs. Everybody wants bangs at some point and it is so exciting to first get them. 2 weeks in though… the disappointment sets in. That’s how I have felt.

I actually didn’t have high hopes for 2021. I am a realist and I know that the virus is still out there. Not even just out there but infecting people at higher rates than we have seen in the past year, unbelievable as that may seem. I assumed that people would get more selfish as time went on especially going into a new year where people think that magically restrictions will be lifted and things would be back to normal. I predicted that those people would use excuses like, “if everyone else is breaking the rules then why should I continue following them?” Especially when I saw a TON of conservative leaders across Canada skirt the rules and travel internationally while telling their constituents to stay home and refrain from seeing anyone outside their immediate household over the holidays. Sadly it is the people that vote for those exact politicians that are LOOKING for an easy way to let themselves off the hook. People that will use this as an excuse to end the uncomfortable life that they are leading and stop doing the hard things that need to be done so that we can all move forward in health and happiness.

What is happening in the USA is even worse. It is where we will be in the next few years if people don’t start caring for each other. Putting aside their comforts for the greater good and taking care of their neighbours. I have never been overly religious but I was always religion curious. I took Mennonite Bible Study on Wednesday nights, I helped out at our local Baptist church on Sunday mornings in the childminding room, I practiced Wicca for a while, visited Buddist Temples in S. Korea, I read the Jehovah children’s bible until it was well worn and I ended up minoring in Catholicism in University. Religion intrigued me. The history of the Church felt like something I needed to learn. What I ultimately took away from all my studies is this… Jesus of Nazareth was a great man. He believed in treating everyone as an equal and loving thy neighbour. He knew that the ONLY rule is the golden rule,

DO UNTO OTHERS AS YOU WOULD HAVE DONE TO YOU.

This is what we all need to get back to. Wear a mask, not for yourself but for others. Don’t travel, I know it’s hard not to see your family in other provinces (BELIEVE ME, I KNOW) but buckle down and don’t travel… it could literally save lives. If you have ever thought about how you can be a hero, now is your time to do it!

I am not making resolutions this year. I have no idea what this year has in store for us. I cannot say I will travel. I may not be able to. I cannot say I will have consistent date nights with my gorgeous husband now that HBear is finally old enough to babysit her little sister. I have realized that I can’t control what the world throws at me and I can’t make goals with variables that I can’t control. I am setting my intentions instead. These are personal intentions that I can reach because they are ALL within my control. They are intentions that are achievable no matter what the world throws at me.

I run a fitness challenge group on Facebook and this month we are doing Yoga with Adriene. I’m not going to lie, the first 9 days of January I wasn’t ready to do it. Even though I post the challenges, I knew in my heart I wasn’t ready to commit. On the 10th I set my intention. I began the 2021 30 day yoga challenge: Breathe. It was amazing. It was exactly what I needed. After a week of watching the news 24/7 to breathe, connect and lower my shoulders felt AMAZING. It was the right time. This year, I will take time for myself, to breathe. To do what my body needs; to work out, drink more water, up my step goal or to do yoga on a regular basis.

Last year during the Black Lives Matter Movement I set my intentions to be a better friend and ally to all people of colour. To do this I have been watching movies to not only educate myself but to support directors, actors and screenwriters of colour. I began reading books. Books written by POC and books that tell stories of people that have an uphill battle in life just because of the colour of their skin. It has been heartbreaking and fascinating and enlightening and enraging. We, as a family have REALLY talked. We talk about systemic racism and how the deck has been stacked against people based on the colour of their skin. We have discussed what WE can do to make a difference going forward. I intend to not only continue reading, learning and discussing but I also want to learn more about racism right here in my own country. I want to understand the Canadian Indian Act. This year, I will continue on my path of learning and take it a step further. I will be an educated friend of Indigenous peoples and all people of colour right here in my own backyard. Not just by reading but by doing.

Back in 2007 I began making beautiful photobooks. Every year I took my most favourite pictures and made a hardcover photobook to create a gorgeous book of memories. I stopped when my Mom died. I have a hard time looking at pictures from 2013. I feel like I have done a disservice to so many people by my actions. Since my last book we have welcomed SweetPea, JQ, CabbagePatch and PrettyP to our family. SydneyBean’s entire life hasn’t been captured in these beautiful books. She always asks where she is in our family albums and it hurts my heart. It hurts to know I am too big of a coward to face 2013 even though it makes my daughter feel terrible to be left out of this tradition. No more. This year I will face my sadness and I will continue to make these books of memories. We have SO many incredible things to be grateful for and I want to celebrate each and everyone of them in these books made from my heart. I also want to honour my Mom by making a book that captures all the LOVE that surrounded her in her last days.

This year I had so much to be thankful for. Before the pandemic hit us Ninja and I were fortunate enough to get a visit from my Sis and her family! They drove here during the icy conditions in February to help us with finishing the last touches of our new home. The next week we met up with my WREBesty, our eldest niece and my BIL in Edmonton where we enjoyed our FIRST Oilers game at Rogers Place! It was awesome! As we left Edmonton we saw people wearing masks in the airport. We wondered what was to come but had NO IDEA what we were in for. We were so innocent back then. When we returned home we did just that! We moved into our NEW HOME!!!!! In those early days of the pandemic when so much was unknown our days were filled with anger, fear, the feeling of a loss of power, and sadness. BUT, I was surrounded by my beautiful family in our beautiful new home. I have been unable to see my family and friends for almost a year BUT, nobody I know personally has been affected by COVID-19. My family and friends have stayed healthy during that year. My kids missed school for 3 months BUT, we were lucky enough to have a government that helped families out by offering payments for all those affected by the pandemic and were unable to work. This allowed me to stay safe and shut down my cleaning business while my children were home and continue their studies by doing at home learning. This gave me the firsthand knowledge of where they are in their studies, how they learn and what subjects they like… and don’t like 😂. We have had to spend a lot of time in our home over the past year. We have missed birthdays, special days, and visits from our families that live in far way provinces BUT, we have done puzzles, had morning snuggles, watched movies, been inventive in celebrating our special days, baked, listened to 2 NEW Taylor Swift albums, took time to do daily workouts, reconnected with old friends through phone calls, spent lots of time outside exploring our area, went on many bike rides, remained involved via Zoom, had online date nights with my Sis/BIL and our RASBesty and LadyFriend, we have supported local restaurants and shopped local. We have taken this pause and made the most of it. I will be forever grateful for this time. This year I will find a positive for every negative that comes my way. I know there will be hard days to come. There might even be harder days than we have faced over the past year but after 2020 I can see things from a different perspective. Now I see that out of every challenge comes a growing experience. I am grateful for this perspective and will continue to live through it and by it.

Every day from Thanksgiving to Christmas we took turns writing on our Thankful Pumpkin. We wrote what we were thankful for. We realized by doing this, we had a lot to be grateful for 💛. Happy New Year to all of my friends, family and readers! May you all find the positives in this new year and may you all stay happy, healthy and safe.

This week on How Was Your Week, Honey episode #206: And Everything In It’s Place, we organize the house! Topics: bathroom musings, drawers, Tupperware, bedrooms, becoming your parents, the Capitol, social media, hockey on Hallmark, Spotify, & Bombshell. Check it out HERE

For my birthday a few years ago Ninja made me one of my favourite dinners. Chateaubriand with Béarnaise Sauce. YUMMMMMM. As a young adult I used to make this dinner for special occasions, 1 time in particular was my Sister’s going away party before she picked up and moved to South Korea to see where her future would lead her. However, I made chateaubriand from M&M Meat Store. I didn’t sear it, I didn’t baste it in butter and garlic and I didn’t lovingly smother it in Béarnaise Sauce. I was young and thought that was a pretty darn fancy dinner. Ninja changed everything for me in that one meal. Apparently he changed everything for my daughters too because they both beg for it at every birthday dinner now 😂. Beef Tenderloin for 8 people is a little bit expensive though 😬. Not having Christmas and New Year’s with our loved ones was a blow to our entire family. One that we softened by splurging and making our favourite dinner on January 1. Starting the year off right with a mouthwatering dinner of steamed asparagus, chateaubriand and champagne risotto. I love creamy, cheesy and delicious risotto. Most often I use white wine but we had champagne leftover from the night before so we went all out and BOY was it good!!!! Like So good, I don’t even have words to describe how creamy and delicious it was. I’d say this is going on our monthly rotation but it is a very rich dinner, lol but it is definitely worthy of ANY special dinner that we might have to celebrate inside rather than going out, in the future. ENJOY!

Chateaubriand with Béarnaise Sauce

2 lbs beef tenderloin

2 shallots
1/4 cup olive oil, divided
3 tablespoons butter
1 cup white wine

A handful of sprigs of thyme and rosemary

6 mushrooms, peeled and cut in half

4 garlic cloves (whole)

salt and pepper
1 package Béarnaise Sauce

Pre heat oven to 400 degrees.

Bring beef to room temperature.

Coat beef with olive oil (approx 2 tablespoons) and season liberally with salt and pepper.

In a cast iron skillet, heat remaining olive oil and butter at med-high heat, add garlic.

Add shallots, mushrooms, thyme, and rosemary.

Sear each side of the beef, approx 3 minutes per side.

Add wine, legalize pan and then place in the oven and cook to preferred doneness. 140F for medium rare, 150F for medium.

Once beef is cooked, remove from oven, tent with foil and allow to rest for 10 minutes.

While beef is resting, prepare Béarnaise Sauce.

Slice beef (approx half inch slices), top with Béarnaise Sauce and serve.

Champagne Risotto
Adapted from This Celebrated Life

1/2 white onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
3 tablespoons butter
1 1/2 cups arborio rice
1 cup champagne
4 cups chicken broth
1 cup parmesan cheese, shredded
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon paprika (I added 1 teaspoon because we love paprika)

Bring the 4 cups of chicken broth to a boil, then reduce heat and let simmer. Heat butter in a large saucepan over medium heat, then add onion and garlic and let cook until translucent.

Add the rice to the onion mixture, tossing to coat. Toast the rice for about 3-5 minutes, then add wine. Simmer over medium-low heat until the wine is almost evaporated.

Add the broth one cup at a time, continuing to stir until all the liquid is almost absorbed before adding more.

Once all the broth has been added and cooked into the rice, remove pan from heat and stir in parmesan, salt, pepper and paprika.

Back to school! SBean aced her math test on the first week back! Great start! This week Ninja and I had the house to ourselves so we… organized! Between watching the Georgia Senator elections, watching in horror as The President of the United States incited a riot at the Capitol for his own personal gain, and bemoaning the loss of our Canadian junior Hockey team to the USA Jrs, we organized the office area, the kitchen drawers and our utility room. We cleaned the entire upstairs of our house to start this year off on a fresh foot. I coloured to destress 😆, and we ate super easy dinners to use up things in the freezer, fridge and leftover food items from our holiday dinners. We did LEGO, enjoyed good wine and Caesars, watched movies and funny TV shows. We cuddled, added pictures to our family gallery, we cheered when social media took a stand against Donald Trump and his misinformation campaign, and I lost at crib to Ninja.

We ended our week with a party and a much needed bubble bath! CabbagePatch turned 4 this week! I can’t believe it! It seems like just yesterday she came into our lives. Being there for her and her family during that time is one of my most favourite memories of my lifetime. Spending quality time with SPea, helping my Sis and BIL out so they only had to concentrate on their little family bubble and rocking that little newborn to sleep so that her parents could take naps. It was so special 💕. It was just as special to be able to celebrate with her this weekend at her online Zoom Red Carpet Music Party! The Girls had a blast hanging out with their cousins from Winnipeg and Cochrane as well as all the other family and friends we haven’t seen in so long. Another silver lining to 2020 has been thinking outside the box. Finding new ways to be together, apart 💛.