Category: Tips and Guides

Pantry Staples

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Hey there guys:)) I’ve been posting a lot of recipes lately, but I thought that I’d post about some of the pantry ingredients that I always like to have on hand in order to make them. Having a few things that are always in your pantry is handy for meal prep and just cooking in general. Here are the pantry ingredients that I use most often;))

Oils

I usually like to have 3 kinds of oil on hand; olive, coconut and sesame. Olive is really great for sauteing things and starting curries and stews, whereas coconut oil is usually used to replace butter in baking. I mainly use sesame oil for flavouring Asian dishes, and unless I am making a stir fry I don’t really cook in it. Having oils in your pantry is essential to making pretty much every dish. If I would pick one to have on hand, it would be olive.

Vinegar

Vinegar is also something that is important to have. I love balsamic because you can use it in dressings and sauces, and I even cook veggies in it. Red wine vinegar is also great for salads, but I personally like the flavour of balsamic better.

Oats

I pretty much eat either yogurt or oats for breakfast everyday. Other than being a delicious start to your morning, oats are used a ton in baking and can be ground into a flour and used in a variety of different recipes. They’re super versatile and that makes them something that is awesome to have at all times in your pantry.

Whole Wheat Pasta

I like having whole wheat pasta because it cooks quickly and you can just throw a quick sauce on top for a delicious meal. Choosing whole wheat over regular gives you more whole grains, but still actually tastes really good. There are also chickpea and lentil pastas out there, which have lots of protein and are great as well.

Canned Goods

There are lots of canned goods that I like to have on hand at all times. Mainly legumes, like chickpeas, lentils, black beans, and red kidney beans, but having canned diced tomatoes and canned organic soup is awesome. Tomatoes allow you to make a whole range of curries, stews and sauces, while canned soup is great for quick lunches. Just make sure you buy a kind with no preservatives; organic is the way to go.

Quinoa

I’m actually out of quinoa right now, which makes it more evident how much I depend on it. Quinoa is amazing in bowls, underneath stews or in soup. It’s so versatile, good for you and easy to cook.

Those are all of my pantry staples! If you have any questions about these or any other feel free to ask me either here or on my Instagram account. Have a great weekend and I’ll see you Monday

Yours Truly,

MyDayIsBooked;)))

Bullet Journaling Supplies

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Hi guys! Today I wanted to share the supplies I use for bullet journaling. I’ve mentioned in all of my bullet journaling posts that you don’t need any special equipment to start bullet journaling; just a journal and a pen. But these are all of the supplies I use to journal, as I feel that they are some of the basics and have served me well so far!


Let’s start with my journal;) I’m currently using the Leuchttrum 1917, which I used last year as well. It’s a great size, and has a back pocket. I also love the number of pages it has- 251- which means I get a lot of pages to use per month! This is a great journal for when you’re first starting out as well, as it’s only around $25.

Next up are the fine liners that I use. These are great for outlining things, lettering and drawing borders for calendars and other spreads. I got mine in a three pack; one has a 0.1 mm tip, one has a 0.3 mm tip, and one has a 0.5 mm tip. I get about a year of use out of each set, so they’re great quality;)

Here are the brush pens that I use- I’d say that these are my most important pens. They’re the perfect size for a bullet journal, and can be used for so many different kinds of lettering! One is hard tipped and one is soft tipped, so you can choose the one that you prefer while doing calligraphy.

I got this white gel pen over Christmas! It’s not necessary, but I really love it because it’s great for drop shadows and looks amazing over a black background. I used it in my 2020 set up a lot.

These Crayola Super Tips are some other markers that I use quite a bit. They’re cheap and are so versatile; they can be used for calligraphy, colouring and outlining.

These Zebra Mildliners are useful, but I don’t use them as often as some of my other supplies. They work well for highlighting and sometimes lettering.

I have lots of gel pens that I use also! Mostly for colour coding my tasks, but this month I’m using this gold gel pen a lot.

I recently started using this glue-tape and I love it- it’s super convenient for gluing things down in your journal. I also love washi tapes. This black and white one is my favourite!

That’s all of my favourite supplies! Most of it can be found on Amazon, and isn’t too expensive. See you on Wednesday!

Yours Truly,

MyDayIsBooked;)

8 Gifts For Book Lovers (that aren’t books)

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Hi guys! I’m so excited for Christmas! Only 10 days left! This post is for all of the last-minutes shoppers out there who don’t know what to by for their book-loving friends, and it’s also to give those book loving friends ideas on what to buy themselves. Sometimes you just need to give gifts to yourself, you know? You deserve it. None of the gifts on this list are books, because it’s hard to pick out books for people, plus books are something that are enjoyed every day of the year. For chritsmas its fun to receive a cool, unique and thoughtful gift. So lets get into this list of awesome gifts for the book lover in your life.

Book Embosser

I have one of these and love it! It basically imprints a customizable design into your books and lets everyone know who it belongs to;)) It’s a really nice touch, especially if you have some favourite books that you know you’ll keep forever and want to personalize them. The ones that I saw online range from $25 to $75, but I’m sure that you could find cheaper ones on Etsy or Amazon.

Transparent Book Weight

I think that this is super cool and really useful. It holds the pages of your book down for a hands free reading experience! This would also be great for cookbooks. I could do so much more reading if I had one of these… I could read while cooking, getting ready in the morning….. I think I need one. The one I looked at was $15.

Reading Light

My eyes have adapted to reading in almost all conditions, because I refuse to stop reading even in the darkness (long car rides in the night are the worst!). I could definitely use another reading light; actually I need more than one beacuase it would be good if I could keep one in my school bag, one in my room and one in the car. This one is a great stocking stuffer and also, your friend’s eyeballs will thank you. I’m pretty sure that you can find these at the dollar store for, like, a dollar.

Clip On Bookmark

Yet another contraption that would make my life a heck of a lot easier. Bookmarks are really handy but when I take them out to continue reading, I forget to put them back in again. This bookmark clips on to your book so that you don’t forget to mark your page. Although I have gotten pretty good at memorizing numbers. See, this is why people need to read; it gives you night vision and a super awesome memory. The bookmark above is $30, but I bet if you dug a bit deeper you could find one for cheaper (hey that rhymed), or you could make your own.

Owl Crate Subscrption

I found out about Owl Crate a few months ago and I LOVE LOVE LOVE the concept; each month, they’ll send you a box that includes a book and a bunch of book-related goodies that are created by small businesses. It’s a great idea and I would personally love one of these boxes! You can purchase a 1 month, 3 month or 6 month subscrption.

Cute Mug

Mugs are the perfect gift for the person who loves to curl up with a good book and a cup of coffee, cocoa or tea. There are tons of cute and funny bookish mugs out there- the one in the picture above was given to me by a friend and it’s so awesome!

“1000 Books To Read Before You Die” Page-a-Day Calendar

This calendar looks friggin’ amazing! Everyday you rip out a page and get a new book reccomendation! This is a gift that book lovers can cherish for the whole year and guess what? It’s only $17 on Amazon!

Reading Journal

These look really interesting and I might incorporate something like this into my bullet journal next year. It’s a book that includes reading suggestions, pages to write reviews, and to keep track of what you’ve read. This is is great gift for the organized reader. It’s $8 on Amazon.

That should keep your voracious reader friends happy! I would love if I got any of these gifts so if my family is reading this HINT HINT WINK WINK NUDGE NUDGE. Hope the rest of your weekend is great and I’ll see you next week!

Yours Truly,

MyDayIsBooked;))

My Favourite Healthy Snacks

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Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I love Thanksgiving because I get to spend time with my family and eat a bunch of good food:) Who knows, I might even whip up a Chocolate Saskatoon Berry Pie with Cinnamon Apples inside! For today’s post, I’m going to share my favourite healthy snacks. Some of them are homemade, and others you can pick up at the store. The reason that I’m writing this post is because I love to snack on the weekends, but I want to make sure that I’m eating good stuff and not filling up on junk food. All of these snacks taste really good and are sure to satisfy, whether you’re craving something sweet or salty. It’s good to have a bunch of them on hand, so that on lazy days you don’t have to get up from reading your book and actually make something to snack on. Here’s my list!

Dried Apples I legit think that I’m obsessed with these things. They’re appley and crunchy and just YUM! I have a recipe for them on the blog, but I’ll admit that it takes a lot of work to make a good amount since they shrink in the oven, so I like to buy them. Just make sure that they’re natural and preservative-free;))

Granola Granola makes a great snack because it’s crunchy while being sweet, plus you can toatlly customize it by adding in whatever you like. I prefer to make my own granola, because store-bought ones often contain a lot of refined sugar, but their are some varieties that are healthier. There are currently two granola recipes on the blog.

Popcorn I love love love popcorn! It’s my salty snack of choice and is actually quite healthy. You just have to buy the right kind- avoid flavoured popcorns becasue they usually contain a lot of soduim or even MSG. I like the regular BOOM CHICKA POP popcorn because it pretty much only contains popcorn, oil and a bit of salt.

Crackers and Hummus Crackers and hummus is one of those things that I could eat all day! I love a good brown rice cracker and roasted garlic hummus. You could eat veggies and hummus too but crackers are way more carby and delicious;)

Fruit Dried fruit, fresh fruit, frozen fruit, all fruit is awesome and makes a great snack! I particularly enjoy eating frozen blueberries in the summer. Once I spilled them on the carpet and made a big stain though, that wasn’t fun;)🤣🤣

Muffins I have two healthy muffin recipes in the blog, and I like to make big batches and freeze them so that I can defrost one whenever I’m craving a soft, warm muffin.

Nice Cream Lately, I’ve been blending up some frozen mango or banana to make a delicious treat with a sorbet like texture. It’s soooo good!

Apples and Peanut Butter This may be my favourite snack of all time. It’s so simple yet so delicious! I use natural peanut butter to avoid the preservatives in the processed kind.

Those are some of my favourite snacks! I hope you enjoy your Thanksgiving;)

Yours Truly,

MyDayIsBooked;))

My Back-to-School Shopping List

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Hi! School is finally upon us, which means that it’s time to start making lunches again. Today I’ve comprised a list of food items that I like to have on hand during the school year to make feeding myself a little easier. I use most of the things on this list on a weekly basis, if not every day, and lots of them are in the recipes on my blog. If you want to start eating a little healthier, it really helps to have some healthy ingredients in your house so that you can actually make healthy food. Here’s my list!

  • A LOT of fruit and veggies
  • Avocados
  • Greek yogurt
  • Natural Peanut Butter
  • Hummus
  • Whole grain pitas or tortillas
  • Chickpeas
  • Black Beans
  • Quinoa
  • Oatmeal
  • Lentils
  • Chickpea Pasta
  • Whole grain crackers
  • Sprouted Grain Bread
  • Organic Canned Soup (this comes in handy on days when I sleep in!)
  • Oil and vinegar (for salad dressings)
  • Healthy muffins

I know that that might sound like a lot of stuff, but you don’t need all of it to make a healthy lunch. The most important thing to me on that list is fruit and vegetables, because they’re a super quick snack and are healthy and delicious. If you don’t like the taste of veggies on their own, try dipping them in hummus or another dip. Starting tomorrow I’ll be posting my lunches on my Instagram story every day, so be sure to check that out! Have a great first week back to school, see you Wednesday;)

Yours Truly,

MyDayIsBooked;))