Mental Health & Wellness. Poetry. Cooking Adventures.
How to not break the bank on self-care. I discussed in my recent wellness series that I have a conflicted relationship with self-care (What Self-Care Reveals About Our Wellness). While I do enjoy spending time caring for myself and think it is important to do so for our mental health and wellness in our burn-out … Continue reading Self-Care Without Spending Money
I am awake. It is dark outside my window. The hats hang on my wall empty,waiting to be worn,waiting to see the daylight,waiting for an adventure. We are all waiting. Waiting to step outside. Ready to free our mouths and spirits. Ready to let go of our worries. Ready to walk hand in hand with … Continue reading Waiting
A rich and creamy hearty soup for those chillier days. Quick enough to make after a busy work day, but tastes like you worked on it all day. A nice twist on a classic chicken soup, and nutritious too! Serves 4-6 people. What you'll need:1/2 Cup of Long Grain and Wild Rice (mixed together, or … Continue reading Creamy Mushroom Wild Rice Chicken Soup
I say this all the time in my cooking adventures, but this really is one of my favorite recipes! This is one of those easy slow cooker recipes that still feels fancy. Super flavorful with lots of nutrition it is an excellent one for a weeknight dinner but still fun enough to serve to guests … Continue reading Slow-Cooker Chicken Cacciatore
This is a journal of my thoughts and feelings during the pandemic of COVID-19. Written in the first two weeks of March 2021. I thought it would be fitting to write another Covid Chronicle as we hit the one year anniversary of the Covid-19 pandemic. For where I live, we began our lockdown on March 15th, … Continue reading Covid Chronicles – Part 12
Just breathe.Plant your feet.Turn to face it. Know that you are strong. A wave of change is coming.Another one will come after that. It will feel endless,relentless. It's the ebb and flowand rhythm of the world,of life. Never starting,never ending. Some days it feels too fast.Some days it feels too slow. Some waves will be … Continue reading Waves
The long awaited creative project is finally revealed! I have been waiting for months to share this! This is the creative writing project that I have been working on and alluded to back in January (check-out my January updates here). I have been experimenting with writing poetry throughout the last year and I am so … Continue reading Introducing Poems by H.B.L
Part 7 of the What Does This Have To Do With Wellness? series. I have always been a creative person. For as long as I can remember I have been engaged in creating, although it has taken different forms throughout my life. Some of my earliest memories from childhood are of painting with my mother … Continue reading Caring Through Creating: Creativity and Wellness
Part 6 of the What Does This Have To Do With Wellness? series. Religion, spirituality and philosophy, have kind of gotten a bad reputation, and don't get me wrong that is for a lot of important reasons. All of these have been used in harmful and negative ways by powerful people and institutions to manipulate … Continue reading Searching: Spirituality and Wellness
Part 5 of the What Does This Have To Do With Wellness? series. Trigger Warning: this post contains discussion of slightly disordered eating as well as struggles with body image. You might have noticed that I haven't yet talked about fitness. And that's because I think fitness is a very difficult and often triggering subject … Continue reading Does Being In-Shape Make You Well?
Part 4 of the What Does This Have To Do With Wellness? series. Some might think it's strange that I have a food blog as a part of my mental health and wellness blog. Especially because what I eat and the recipes I share might not fit what people typically think of as "health-food". But, … Continue reading Wellness and What We Eat
Part 3 of the What Does This Have To Do With Wellness? series. You might have noticed that my last two posts had a bit of what some might call a political twist. And you might be wondering, why would I talk about politics & social justice as a mental health and wellness writer? It … Continue reading Social Justice and Politics for Our Wellness
Part 2 of the What Does This Have To Do With Wellness? series Self-care is the buzzword of the wellness world, and lately it has become the hot-topic that everyone is talking about. I have both positive and negative opinions about self-care and want to share with you what I think self-care reveals to us … Continue reading What Self-Care Reveals About Our Wellness
Part 1 of the What Does This Have To Do With Wellness? series. Some of you might be wondering, why do I write so much about negative emotions? What do unhappy feelings have to do with wellness? I have received some criticism as well as some honest questioning as to why I often write about … Continue reading Why Negative Emotions are Important for Wellness
How to help refill your creative well and come back from burn-out. If you follow my Covid Chronicles series you know that I hit a really low point before the holidays. A big part of that was feeling very stressed, overwhelmed, and creatively burnt out, and in general just burnt-out. I was feeling directionless, uninspired, … Continue reading Refilling Your Creative Well: Recovering from Burn-Out
Where I'm at and what's coming up for HBLogs! I hope that all of you had a wonderful holiday. I hope that it was restful and that you are as happy as I am to be letting go of 2020 - 2021 here we come! I enjoyed some time away from work, the opportunity to … Continue reading January Updates and Announcements
Part 2 of reflecting on the year that has passed, and my hopes and wishes for what is to come in 2021. Here's part 1 if you haven't read it yet! Moving into the New Year always gives us an opportunity to reflect on where we are and the topic of resolutions and what we … Continue reading Part 2: Looking Ahead to 2021
Part 1 of 2 reflecting on the year that has passed, and my hopes and wishes for what is to come in 2021. We have reached the final days of 2020. It is honestly hard to believe because this year as I've said before, at times has passed so incredibly slowly and seems to have … Continue reading Part 1: Looking Back on 2020
The house is decorated, the groceries are bought, it is the week leading up to Christmas. Today, we are 3 days (and a few hours) and 4 sleeps until Christmas. Most years these days feel long with anticipation and excitement for me. They are filled with the preparations to travel to various cities to visit … Continue reading A Christmas Letter
Written on December 6th & 13th, 2020. This is a journal of my thoughts and feelings during the pandemic of COVID-19. I thought I would do one more check-in before Christmas and the New Year begins. I want to start this COVID Chronicle by saying I am feeling better. If you follow my chronicles regularly, you know … Continue reading Covid Chronicles – Part 11
What is the Holidays without lots of eating!? One of my absolute favourite parts of the Christmas and Holiday season is the food. I love everything about it - cooking it together, tasting it, and the memories and nostalgia that come with it too! I thought it would be fun to share some of the … Continue reading What I’m Eating This Christmas
How we can still find Christmas magic even during a global pandemic. Forward: In this post I will talk a lot about Christmas, as this is how I celebrate at this time of year. However, much of what I am saying could also be applied to non-religious celebrations or celebrations of other religious holidays during … Continue reading Celebrating A Covid Christmas
Hello HBLogs community! It is almost December, can you believe it? While time in some ways is moving quite slowly, it still always comes as a shock when one season ends and another begins. And with December around the corner that means that HBLogs is 7 months old! It's been a labor of love creating … Continue reading December Announcement
This recipe is a wonderful one. Simple, easy and quick to make, and completely delectable. My husband and I have always enjoyed ordering Greek for take-out nights. It's one of the healthier options out there so it's great if you are looking for a more guilt-free choice, but let's face it take-out is expensive. For … Continue reading Easy Greek Marinade
It's officially the beginning of the cold weather season. And to me, cold weather means warm bowls of soup! I'll admit I'm not the best at making soups. I'm not the most patient when it comes to cooking, especially on busy weeknights, and I think a lot of soups benefit from patience and bubbling away … Continue reading Spinach Tomato Ravioli Soup
There has been a lot of talk over the years about social media. Is it good? Is it bad? Are we all addicted to life online? Is social media making us all unhappy with ourselves and our lives? So, I wanted to take some time to share my thoughts, feelings, and experiences on social media. … Continue reading Sharing My Life on the Internet
This is one of the first things that I learned to cook from my mom. I've said before the very first thing I ever learned to cook was scrambled eggs. But, early into my cooking adventures, somewhere around the age of 12, I wanted to learn how to make spaghetti sauce. Spaghetti has always been … Continue reading Classic Slow Cooker Spaghetti Sauce
Our world is steeped in fear right now. And frankly, rightly so. There are a lot of scary and difficult things that are happening right now. But I had an experience recently that really pushed me to change how I feel about this whole COVID situation, and more importantly, what I am focusing on, and … Continue reading Acting Out of Kindness, Not Fear
This is such a great recipe. I know it's my own recipe and I should refrain from self flattery but, it really is that good. I put together this recipe a few years ago after seeing a few different variations on stuffed peppers and wanting to try it out for myself. So, I threw it … Continue reading Vegetarian Tex-Mex Stuffed Bell Peppers
It is a difficult time for so many. The world is hurting. Everywhere I look there seem to be people struggling, huge systemic problems, and injustices. Today it is Thanksgiving in Canada, even if it doesn't feel or look like it. And I'm not going to lie this year it is much harder and more … Continue reading Thanksgiving in Times of Adversity
It's a cold day here today so, I thought I would share a simple, easy, cold weather recipe that I made for the first time a couple of weeks ago. I've typically always roasted my chickens in the oven. It was how I learned to do it growing up and so I'd never really thought … Continue reading Slow Cooker Roast Chicken
I have another cozy recipe for you! This is a great recipe when you are looking to change things up a little from traditional "brown" beef stew. The paprika and caraway offer a rich flavour with a different kick, while not being spicy. This recipe can be made in the slow cooker if you don't … Continue reading Hungarian Goulash
I told you hearty meals were coming! To me Chili is one of the most fall recipes I can think of. Growing up, my mom would often make Chili on Halloween. It was easy and she could let it cook all afternoon while she got our costumes ready, the candy bags for the neighborhood kids … Continue reading Vegetarian Slow Cooker Chili
It has been so chilly and dark here the last few days. I've found myself missing the sun, but I'm also excited to see the leaves begin to change. The change of the seasons is also a great time to change up my menu a bit. I'm definitely a supporter of seasonal menus as I … Continue reading Mushroom Pea Lemon Parsley Risotto
And just like that we are stepping into fall! I feel like July went by really slowly, but August just basically disappeared. While I have enjoyed the summer and summer cooking with lighter fresher tastes, I am excited for fall and holiday cooking. Warmer, cozier, heavier meals that nourish the soul. With fall beginning many … Continue reading 3 Easy and Affordable Weeknight Dinners from Frozen
I love pasta, it's probably obvious to those of you who follow me on here or over on Instagram. Does anyone not like pasta?Lately, I've been wanting to branch out my pasta recipes a little. I tend to make the same sauces often, and so I decided to try to experiment with a new sauce … Continue reading Easy Red Pepper Rosé Sauce
Juniper is almost 5 months old! Wow, the time sure goes by really quick when they are so little. It is hard to believe we brought home our little orange kitty 3 months ago, we are just so in love with her. But bringing her home did come with some struggles. It wasn't exactly perfect … Continue reading 10 Tips to Socialize a Feral Kitten: An Update on Juniper
When I started my blog back in April of this year it was very much on a whim. I'd been thinking about starting a blog for years but had never really had the courage to do so. While I felt this drive to share my experiences and thoughts with the world I had a lot … Continue reading A Dream Coming True
As summer draws to a close, I thought I would share with you one last summer salad recipe that I love. I think many of us, myself included, are trying to enjoy just a few more barbecues before the colder season comes. This was another summer salad recipe that I came up with to try … Continue reading Couscous Chickpea Feta Summer Salad
I just finished reading this beautiful memoir, From the Ashes by Jesse Thistle. I was so excited when I ordered it back at the beginning of the pandemic, I knew it would be my summer reading pick. Just from reading the synopsis on the back, I knew it was going to be a book that … Continue reading Book Review of From the Ashes by Jesse Thistle
When I sat down to plan out my posts for this coming week I was trying to figure out what cooking adventure I should share. But, I'll be honest I just haven't been cooking lately. My husband and I have been on vacation for the last 2 weeks and have been really trying to relax, … Continue reading 5 Favourite Take-out Restaurants in Ottawa
The other day, I took it upon myself to sort through ALL of my old photos. I have accumulated so many in this social media age, thousands to be precise, but on my newest computer I hadn't bothered to sort them yet. It's a daunting task I've been putting off for months. But, I finally … Continue reading Embracing Change: A Shift in Mindset
I tried making Red Lentil Dal for the first time at the end of May. I posted about it on my Instagram (linked in the sidebar). I've always really enjoyed dal. There is this small local business close to the university campus that I used to love to go to with my Mom that made … Continue reading Red Lentil Dal
This is probably my favourite camping recipe. We make it every summer when we go camping and never get tired of it! I learned how to make this recipe from my step-dad while camping with my family as a kid. I remember him always making it on the camp-stove and it was always one of … Continue reading Camp-Stove Favourite: Lentils and Sausage
This past weekend we celebrated my husband's birthday. It was a different kind of birthday this year, as different as anything else it seems right now. We aren't able to celebrate in the ways we usually do or with all of the people we normally would. It can be hard to imagine how to celebrate … Continue reading 10 Ways to Celebrate When You Can’t Leave the House
I've been getting kind of tired of what I've been typically cooking. I think I've gotten stuck in one of those cooking ruts where I'm leaning on the same recipes over and over again. Don't get me wrong, if it's a good recipe that you enjoy, repetition is not necessarily bad but I'm just tired … Continue reading Easy Summer Flatbread Recipe
At any moment there are so many opinions and controversies around healthy eating. There are the fad diets, the new research finds, the advice you get from people on social media, your friend, or mother. There's just so much out there. It seems no matter what we eat we're doing it wrong in someone's book. … Continue reading Rethinking Healthy Eating
Like most people I have some recipes that are special and close to my heart because they come from my childhood. Often simple comforting recipes, or traditional family recipes that just give us a hug and make us feel all warm and fuzzy. Cheesy, I know (although in this one there isn't much cheese). Today, … Continue reading Tomato-Onion-Butter Sauce: Making a Childhood Favourite
Today is Canada Day. I'll start by wishing you, “Happy Canada Day!”. Or should I? For most of my life I've had a complicated relationship with Canada Day. I've not known exactly how I felt about it, and most of the time I was at least uncomfortable with it. Growing up, Canada Day was a … Continue reading Canada Day: My Complicated Relationship with My Native Land
