Best Place for A Unique Dinner Experience in Oakville - Bartolini's Bistro!

When's the last time that you and your partner or friends had a unique night out or memorable dining experience?  This past weekend, my husband and I had the pleasure of doing a cooking lesson at Bartolini's Bistro in Oakville.  We had a really great time, learned new recipes and enjoyed a delicious dinner that we will absolutely be replicating at home.  Bartolini's Bistro offers private, Italian-inspired cooking lessons in a fun and relaxed environment.  The food you learn to make is customized to what you and your family love and I love the mantra they have which is ""simplicity in meal creation is the key to our complicated lives."

Chef DJ

The items we made in Bartolini's kitchen were:

• Stuffed Chicken With Cheese & Asparagus
• Shanghai Baby Bok Choy
• Yukon Gold Roasted Potatoes
• Butterflied Shrimp

Left:  Chef DJ showing us how to stuff the chicken  Right:  My husband learning to butterfly cut shrimp

They have so many options to choose from such as rigatoni in meat sauce drizzled with a gorgonzola cream, homemade cannelloni, seafood risotto, lamb shanks - check out their website for all the options!

Both my husband and I enjoy cooking but with two little ones at home, spending a lot time in the kitchen is not always feasible. It was really nice to learn some new tricks and take time to slow down and enjoy some good food and to try new things. We were both surprised at how elegant the meal turned out even though it was not complicated to make once we got into it. And can I tell you about the potatoes we made??

My new favourite way to cook potatoes!  Simple but so good!

Hands down the best potato I have ever eaten. I am not a huge potato fan (we actually rarely make potatoes at home), but we've already replicated Chef DJ's potatoes at home and it hasn't even been a week! Chef DJ was also really great at letting us taste the food at different stages to see the difference - for example, a perfectly cooked shrimp versus one that has cooked too long. Huge difference in flavour. 

A night out at Bartolini's Bistro would really make a perfect gift for a birthday, Mother's Day or Father's Day, a wedding anniversary or any other reason to give someone a unique experience. I love that its not a typical gift and would be something that the recipient will always remember. And actually, when my kids get a bit older, I think it would be a very special gift to give to them as well - a fun afternoon as a family or some one on one time with a parent (and hey...if they replicate the meal at home for you, even better!)

Be sure to visit their website for pricing and other information. I'm thrilled to have found Bartolini's Bistro, what a great new addition to the Oakville culinary scene.  Right now they've got a great promotion running for Mother's Day - 25% off (savings of $50) if you book or buy a gift certificate before May 5th.  All the details can be found here.

Looking forward to going back again soon!

Oakville Toddlers and Preschoolers Enjoy Being Junior Chefs with momstown Oakville

momstown Oakville moms and kids had a great time being little explorers this morning at our monthly Junior Chef program.  Each child created a little piece of  edible backyard, right in their own plastic cups, and could explore all the different layers, just like the layers we might find if we dug down deep in the ground outside.  The best part was once we were finished building our layers, we got to take a spoon and go exploring and looking for treasure in our cups!

First we put chocolate covered graham cookies in a bag, got a hard plastic cup that we used as our "smashing cups" and we smashed the cookies until they were all in little crumbs.  We poured these into our cups and they became our first layer of "dirt".  Next we put in a few scoops of vanilla pudding, followed by a few spoonfuls of cinnamon pops cereal, which were round and looked like rocks.  Then we put a sugar ice cream cone into our baggies and smashed those into crumbs with our smashing cups, and poured them into our cups.  They became a layer of jagged sand.  As an added surprise each child got a "treasure" added to their cup, which we then covered up with 'mud' (chocolate pudding).

Finally, we put some green food colouring into shredded coconut and then sprinkled that on top of our cups to look like grass.  We got our spoons and started tasting our yummy creations, and as we ate through the layers, we discovered our treasure - a round, shiny bouncy ball that we got to play with outside once we had enjoyed eating our cups full of yumminess! After being creative in the kitchen, our group spent some time exploring the outside as well - sliding, digging, raking, bouncing and jumping!

Would your junior chef love getting messy in the kitchen?  Register with momstown Oakville today and join us next month!

Barbara Coloroso Visits And Educates Oakville Parents

Last week I went to hear parenting expert Barbara Coloroso speak.  This is the second time I have been to hear one of her lectures and I was equally impressed this time as I was the last.  Speaking specifically to her book 'The Bully, The Bullied and The Bystander', she spent two hours addressing the current state of society our kids are growing up in, the impact of social media on bullying and providing concrete and helpful examples on how to raise strong, respectful and independent children.

I took many notes during the lecture, but some of the key tips I walked away with were:

• Teach your kids to do good because doing good is good to do, not because they will get a reward
• If your kids have mobile devices, they should only be able to charge them in your room overnight.  A high percentage of sexting and cyber bullying occurs in the late hours of the evening.  Kids are also loosing sleep by staying up on social media sites or playing online video games.
• Conflict is inevitable, violence is not.  Teach your kids how to deal with conflict so it does not escalate to violence.
• Teach your kids that their words have to pass through three gates.  Are the words true?  Are they necessary?  Are they kind?
• If your child is being bullied online, here is what they should do - stop the interaction, copy the comments, block the bully from their account, tell a person they trust
• Websites that can help parents navigate the internet and social media world are Wiredsafety.org, commonsense.org and netlingo.com

A final message she left us with was to try and get kids to care deeply, share generously and help willingly. These practices would decrease the society of mean our kids are currently growing up with and would hopefully help reduce the number of awful bullying stories we seem to hear on a weekly basis.

Oakville seems to get a fair number of really great parenting workshops and I look forward to attending more in the future.  Being a parent leaves you with so much to think about.  Even if you don't agree with everything said by a parenting expert, I find it helpful to hear other points of view and to take the time to focus on what your parenting values and beliefs are so you can reflect on how things are going and what things you may like to change.

Do you have a favourite parenting expert you use as your 'go to'?

momstown Oakville's April Tales for Tots Program with Scholastic Canada

April brought a new location and new theme for momstown Oakville's monthly Tales for Tots program! The Little Gym in Oakville has moved (now located at 2172 Wyecroft Rd., Unit 23) but it's new spot was equally welcoming and Oakville moms and kids had a great time.

The theme for April is Little Explorers, which was very fitting given that we were exploring a new location. What better way to explore with than making your very own compass! We used paper plates, pipe cleaners, markers and sparkle glue to make the most creative compasses possible. Kids even learned how to remember directions - North, South, East and West - by learning a catchy saying that goes "Never Eat Shredded Wheat.  They are ready to go exploring outside!

We followed our compass making with plenty of play and ended our fun with a wonderful story provided by Scholastic Canada called "Lucky Ducklings".  The story is a tale of little ducklings exploring new habitats and getting into trouble, however with help were all saved and ready for the next adventure.

As always, one lucky mama went home with a copy of our book of the month.  Interested in joining us for Tales for Tots or one of our other great programs?  Your $45 a year membership includes all of our monthly programs and a 12 month subscription to Today's Parent Magazine!  Join us today!

Tips for Saving Money on Groceries

The momstown Oakville message board is a resourceful tool for Oakville moms.  Not only do we share and support one another but there is constant chatter about things that all moms think about.  Recently, there was lots of conversation about saving money on groceries, finding the best deals in Oakville, etc so we set up a Moms Night Out event to share ideas and tips and hopefully get everyone's grocery bill down a little bit! The group was a mix between people who are regular price matchers, those who are great sale shoppers and those who were complete newbies to the world of coupons and flyers.  We've now got a permanent message board thread that is updated with the most recent deals and steals in Oakville!

Here is some of the information shared:

Where To Find The Best Deals & Coupons
-websaver.ca
-mrsjanuary.com
-Checkout51 app (for Iphone or Ipad users)
-Coupon boards at grocery stores
-Local flyers that come in Thursday's Oakville Beaver

Tips for Price Matching 
-Stores that price match in Oakville are No Frills, Superstore, Walmart and FreshCo
-Each store may have slightly different rules for price matching.  momstown Oakville moms prefer price matching at Walmart or Superstore.
-Sort through all the flyers and find items that you use or would buy anyway and stock up if it’s a non-perishable item.  Try to plan your meals around sale items.
-Let the cashier know you have items to price match.  Keep all the price match items together with the corresponding flyer and check out those items last.
-You must have the flyers with you to show the cashier.
-If you have multiple items in one flyer, write each of the items on the front page of the flyer with the corresponding page number.
-Best time to do price matching is early mornings or in the evenings, less busy times

Another great tip that was shared was about the Scanning Code of Practice.  If the scanned price of an item is higher than the shelf price or any other displayed price, the customer is entitled to receive the first item free, up to a $10 maximum.  Not all, but Nnearly every major retailer in Canada participates in supporting the Scanning Code of Practice.

And the final tip that I think is worth sharing is about food waste.  Before you toss perishable food into your grocery cart, think about exactly how you’ll use it. The Environmental Protection Agency estimates that Americans generate roughly 30 million tons of food waste each year. Using leftover vegetables, poultry, or meat in soups, stews, salads, and casseroles minimizes cost and demonstrates your creativity in the kitchen.

Do you have any other great tips to share?  Leave us a comment about what saves your family money at the grocery store.

momstown Oakville Mom Wins A Copy Of - 'Alligator Baby' at Sing, Rattle & Read Baby Program!

momstown Oakville mom and baby program, Sing Rattle and Read held at Little Sprouts Cuts for Kids always draws a big group and April was no exception.  This month Oakville babies got a chance to play with scarves, shakers and bells before being read a classic book, 'Alligator Baby' by Robert Munsch.

Babies love making music!

We always give away our Books for Babies book of the month provided by Scholastic Canada and this month Trudy and her son were the lucky winners!

While the babies explored making music, there was lots of time for moms to chat and connect - always a great part of any momstown Oakville event!  Would you like to join us for this and other mom and baby programs?  Join for just $45 a year which gets you access to ALL of our events and so much more (including a 12 month subscription to Today's Parent Magazine!)

Why Being An Entrepreneur Can Help You 'Lean In'

I think by now most people have heard of Sheryl Sandberg's new book called 'Lean In'.  In a recent interview with the author, the book was hailed as the new manifesto for all women and the new voice of feminism.  The overall ideas expressed in the book are that woman can and should do more to advance their careers but in order to achieve this ideal, society also has to change to create more equality.  And not just in the workplace but everywhere.

While I don't intend for this post to be a book review or a debate about the principles expressed, I can speak to the fact that I believe that entrepreneurship can be a key factor to having more women 'lean in' to the workforce.

For me one of the biggest barriers to sticking with a corporate career environment is the lack of flexibility.  I actually had an employer that offered me tons of flexibility, they were great about it, but it still wasn't enough. A company can only bend so much before it effects the company culture, the way the entire company does business and the inefficiencies of trying to use a 'one size, fits all' model.  I think that that is the hardest part. How can corporate companies accommodate hundreds of people so that they can try and be effective in their home life and their work life?  They can't.  And woman want that ability.  Enter the option to be an entrepreneur.

In a recent Globe and Mail article, this quote really struck a chord with me: "In fact, companies owned by women are the fastest-growing segment of the Canadian business sector, according to Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada. The number of female entrepreneurs in Canada increased 208 per cent between 1981 and 2001, compared with an increase of 38 per cent for men."

I think woman are using entrepreneurship to redefine how we are leaning into our careers.  Sheryl Sandberg is right, society is not ready for woman to be more equal at every level and so  in the mean time we've come up with another way to continue to advance our career, but on our own terms.  I realize that being an entrepreneur is not for everyone, but for me it has enabled greater career and personal successes and at the same time provide the higher level of flexibility.  I don't think I could ever get such pliability from a traditional corporate role.

Have you ever though of being an entrepreneur?  Joining the momstown team has been a positive career move for me.  Interested in learning more?  Click here.