Nut Free Candy at Cineplex Theatres

Families with nut (peanut and tree nut) allergies will be happy to hear that since February 12, 2015, Cineplex Movie Theatres in Canada are offering Dare candies at its concession stands. When I saw Cineplex's press release, I rejoiced as I had suggested this to Cineplex last year. 

Dare + Cineplex = Happy Allergy Mom

 
At the end of February, my husband and I went to watch American Sniper at Cineplex theatres as part of our "date night". I was curious to see if I could find these Dare "nut-free" candies and sure enough, they were prominently displayed on the candy stand.

Up until my little man was diagnosed with peanut and almond allergies, I purchased Dare candies purely for taste. Now, as an allergy mom, I try my best to support companies who offer nut free snacks and get excited when I see the phrase "made in a nut-free facility". And Dare makes my heart go pitter-patter with their nut free candies, cookies and crackers*.

I am very excited to see Cineplex getting on board to be more allergy aware and look forward to more nut-free snack options!

*Disclaimer: Ingredients can change at any time. please always read the ingredients label and contact the manufacturer for allergen information.

Note: Though Cineplex offers Dare's nut-free candies, families with nut allergies should be aware that Cineplex also sells M&M candies and have other vendors on site who may sell products that can pose a risk to those who are highly allergic. Please always check the ingredients list and ask the manager on duty at Cineplex for an up to date ingredients list.

5 Minute Cast Iron Grilled Steak

I love my cast iron skillet. It is the best investment I have spent on a pan. Unlike my nonstick, which I have to replace every year, my cast iron skillet will be with me for a long time. The versatility of cast iron is amazing, as it can go easily from stovetop to oven. If you have a cast iron skillet or are curious what type of recipes cast iron skillets can make, check out my cast iron recipes here.

For Valentine's Day, I purchased a jumbo pack of strip loin steaks which was on sale. Each steak weighs about a pound. I looked for a recipe online that allowed me to use my favorite skillet to cook my steaks and came across this Alton Brown recipe. The beauty of this recipe is that the steak takes only 5 minutes to cook; great for any night really. Cast iron for the win again!

Ingredients
Steak (1 inch thick)
Oil
Salt and pepper, to taste

Directions
1. Take the steaks out of the refrigerator 20 minutes before cooking to allow the meat come to room temperature. This allows the steak to cook evenly.

2. Place the cast iron skillet in the oven and preheat to 500 degrees F.

3. Lightly oil the steaks and season with salt and pepper on both sides.

4. Once the oven temperature reaches 500 degrees, take the cast iron skillet out of the oven.

5. Turn the stove to high and heat the cast iron skillet for 3 minutes or until it just starts smoking. Do not add any oil to the skillet.

6. Place steaks on the cast iron skillet and sear for 30 seconds.

7. Flip and sear the other side for another 30 seconds.

8. Once both sides have been seared, place the steak in the oven and cook for 2 minutes.

9. Take the steak out of the oven, flip and cook for another 2 minutes in the oven.

10. Remove steak from the cast iron skillet and allow it to rest on a plate loosely covered with tinfoil for 5 minutes before serving. Are you hungry yet?

Source: Food Network

Date Night Sticks (in a Jar) and 50 Date Night Ideas at Home

Parenting is hard work. Someone once told me that in order to raise happy kids, you need a happy marriage and your spouse/partner should be your first priority (your kids are second). They also mentioned how hard it is to make time for each other when everything else is competing for your attention: work, kids, chores and other commitments.

Reflecting on my own marriage, our date nights are not quite the same now as it was before having our little man. Weekly date nights previously would include heading out to a restaurant for dinner, followed by either dessert, movies at a theatre, random drive to a beach or exploring a new neighbourhood. Nowadays, our date nights are once every three months when we go to the movies while my wonderful sister-in-law babysits the little man.

Those who have kids can attest how expensive and hard to come by good babysitters are. If you are lucky enough to live close to family who offer to babysit, count your blessings!

Last year, I saw this idea for Date Night Sticks in a jar. I thought it was a great way for couples to spend some quality time together at home and reconnect with each other after the child(ren) go to bed.

Materials
Blank craft sticks (you can buy them from the dollar store)
Jar (I reused my Better Than Bouillon glass jar)
Pens/sharpies

Directions
1. Write down each date night idea you have on the craft sticks.

2. Set a date each week/month for a date night. For those date nights you do not have any plans, draw a stick from the date night jar. Since some of these ideas require a little planning, you can draw a date night stick a few nights beforehand so you have time to purchase the materials/ingredients.

TIP

• We used the other side of the date night sticks to write Play Date ideas for our little man. Here are a few select ideas we had:
• Find a new playground
• Build a fort
• Make a craft

Here are 50 Date Night Ideas at home

1. Dance to your favorite songs
2. Order in take-out from your favorite restaurant and have a picnic in your living room
3. Give each other a massage
4. Take a bubble bath
5. Camp out in your living room
6. Watch home videos
7. Plan a trip
8. Work on a jigsaw puzzle
9. Play a two-person board game (Blokus, Pandemic, Carcassonne, Dutch Blitz)
10. Play a card game (Rummy)
11. Play a children's board game (Connect 4, Guess Who, Twister)
12. Play chess or Chinese checkers
13. Learn a new language
14. Create a scrapbook/photo book of special moments
15. Share a late night snack and chat about the week that ended/coming up
16. Watch a movie (Library, Netflix, or Redbox) and eat popcorn

View image | gettyimages.com

17. Record a video of how you met (similar to When Harry Met Sally type interview)
18. Make a fort in your living room and chat
19. Find a plant/vegetable to grow in your garden
20. Read a book aloud to one another
21. YouTube Karoke (I'm currently obsessed with "Do You Want to Build a Snowman?")
22. Build a snowman (bring a baby monitor if you have really young kids) and bring a thermos filled with yummy hot chocolate

View image | gettyimages.com

23. Collect ideas on home renovations/dream home
24. Bake a dessert
25. Try a new recipe and dine by candlelight

View image | gettyimages.com

26. Make smoothies or milkshakes
27. Sit in the backyard and gaze at the stars on a clear day
28. Have a cheese and wine pairing
29. Plan a picnic
30. Watch a sunset (great in the summer when the sun sets later)

View image | gettyimages.com

31. Binge watch a new show (I'm personally looking forward to Downton Abbey Season 5!)
32. Create new Date Night idea sticks
33. Paint (on canvas, paper) + wine
34. Invite another couple over for games night (if they have kids, have the all the kids over for a sleepover while the adults have some fun)
35. Create a scavenger hunt for each other
36. Plan and play a prank on someone (keep it safe folks!)
37. Write a story of a memorable moment you shared
38. Cuddle
39. Play a video game (Tetris, Wii games, etc)
40. Set up a String Laser Maze
41. Make a felt story

42. Listen to an E-book together
43. Watch a sports game on TV
44. Blindfold your spouse/partner, feed them various foods and have them guess what it is
45. Watch funny YouTube videos
46. Dress up and take silly pictures of each other
47. Have a theme night (Italian - antipasto, pasta and gelato. Add in a movie like The Italian Job or Roman Holiday)
48. Chocolate/cheese fondue - need I say more?
49. Make a homemade pizza (try my 35 minute pizza recipe from scratch)
50. Learn to make cocktails/mocktails

Source: (Date night sticks) Celebrate Every Day With Me

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links 

Baked Blue Cheese Dip

There are some things people either love or love to hate. Blue cheese seems to be one of those things that you either love or hate. There really is no middle ground.

Years back, I wanted to try a recipe for a pan seared pork chop with blue cheese sauce, my husband whined lobbied me to not make it with blue cheese. This was because my husband used to hate blue cheese. So instead, I substituted in goat cheese. It was delicious but I thought it would have been even better with blue cheese.

Then, two years ago, while we were in Paris (on our honeymoon 4 years after we got married; this is a story for another time), we ordered a cheese platter as part of dessert. The platter of cheese included blue cheese, which I was fully prepared to eat all on my own. To my surprise, my husband asked if he could try some of the blue cheese out of the blue. I was so happy he wanted to try it, that was until he proceeded to gobble most of the blue cheese!

Since then, my husband has been a blue cheese fanatic. He can eat chunks of blue cheese on its own, smothers his steaks with blue cheese just to name a couple things.

After putting the little man to bed one night, we rushed to the kitchen to make a snack. My husband whipped up a baked blue cheese dip. Folks, this dip is amazing!! Oh my goodness. I think this dip could easily convert any blue cheese hater to a blue cheese lover. For those of you who are apprehensive about making this blue cheese dip, it has a mild hint of blue cheese thanks to the cream cheese and mayonnaise. This dip is genuinely delicious, a little too good that we wound up making it two nights in a row!

This dip will be a great addition to your holiday gatherings!

Ingredients
1/3 cup blue cheese
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup cream cheese (about 1/2 block of 226 g)
1 sprig of green onion, finely chopped
1 clove of garlic, finely minced

Directions
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

2. Mix all the ingredients in an oven proof bowl.

3. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes until the dip is bubbly. Serve warm with crudites or with sturdy crackers.

Help, I've fallen and I can't get out. Eat me!

Source: Frugal Allergy Mom

How to Revive Stale Popcorn Kernels in 10 Minutes

My husband and I are popcorn junkies. At the movie theatre, we generally buy the large popcorn, especially when I am on a Cineplex mystery shopping assignment.

At home, we own a Stir-Crazy popcorn maker and always have a Costco sized container of popcorn kernels ready to satiate those cravings. Popcorn night was frequent as we were (and still are) certified couch potatoes with lots of recorded TV shows on our PVR. ("Our" new favorite show is Madam Secretary.)

Sometime after our little man was born, our popcorn nights dropped off altogether. Popping popcorn is loud and in our cozy little place, the last thing we wanted to do is wake up the little man. Now that he is a toddler and a deep sleeper, I am relieved that our popcorn nights are back.

Earlier this year, we had purchased a 3.6 kg (8 lb) tub of popcorn. Sadly, we only managed to eat 1/4 of it when this past week, my husband discovered that the popcorn kernels had expired 7 months ago and refused to pop. At $9 for a tub, this seemed like a huge waste of money!

It was 10pm at night, Costco was closed and we craved popcorn. My husband took it upon himself to find a way to salvage the stale popcorn kernels. After searching the Internet for tips, he came across a tip to soak the popcorn kernels for a few hours.

That method would work for most people but we had Madam Secretary queued up on the PVR and we REALLY needed our popcorn fix. To placate me, my husband discovered an ingenious way to revive stale popcorn kernels in 10 minutes!

We have tried this method three times now and it revived stale popcorn from as far as a year and half ago! Yes, you read that correctly. If you have stale popcorn kernels in your cupboards destined for arts and crafts, you can likely salvage them with the method below.

In our three batches, we only had about 10 kernels in each batch that did not pop (out of 1/2 cup of kernels). Isn't this a-maze-ing?

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The kernels that refused to pop.

Ingredients
1/2 cup stale popcorn kernels
Water

Directions
1. Fill a small pot with an 1-1/2 inch of water and bring it to a boil.

2. Pour 1/2 cup of stale popcorn kernels into a small bowl at least 2-1/2 inches high.

3. Cover and steam on high for 10 minutes. Make sure to monitor the water level so that it does not boil dry (my husband asked me to tell you this to prevent a potential fire hazard).

4. Take the bowl out of the pot and pop the popcorn in your popcorn machine or on the stove. In our stir-crazy machine, we noticed that the popcorn stops popping and restarts again in 30 seconds.

5. Season popcorn, eat and repeat.

Source: Frugal Allergy Mom

NOTE: The contents and pictures in this post are property of Frugal Allergy Mom. If you would like to repost this recipe, please link back to this post. Thanks!

35 Minute BBQ Chicken Pizza on Whole Wheat Crust

Yesterday I posted a recipe for roast chicken. Since I had some leftover roast chicken, I decided to make the 35 minute pizza again. Except this time with a whole wheat pizza crust.

My husband proclaimed this the best pizza that I have ever made! It was so good that we  could not stop eating it.

Makes: 2 - 10 inch pizza (TIP: Make extras to freeze for homemade frozen pizza)

Ingredients
2-1/4 tsp active dry yeast (1 package)
1 tsp white sugar
1 cup warm water (110 degrees F)
2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp salt

2 tbsp olive oil (to grease the cast iron skillet)

Toppings
1 cup shredded chicken
1 cup mozzarella cheese
1 cup spinach
250 ml Bold and Tasty BBQ sauce (or bottled BBQ sauce)

Directions
1. Place a cast iron skillet in the oven and preheat to 450 degrees F. If using a pizza pan, see details below.

2. In a stand mixer, dissolve yeast and sugar in water. Allow yeast to proof for 10 minutes until creamy.

3. Using a paddle attachment, whisk in oil and salt.

4. Switch to a dough hook and stir in the flour until smooth. Allow dough to rest for about 5 minutes.

5. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Pat into a round disk. Using your rolling pin, roll the dough out into a round or stretch the dough out by hand.

6. Using an oven mitt, take the cast iron skillet out of the oven. Add two tablespoons of oil to coat the bottom of the cast iron skillet.

7. Transfer the pizza crust to the cast iron skillet. Spread BBQ sauce evenly across the pizza crust. Top with spinach, shredded chicken and mozzarella cheese and bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until the cheese is bubbling.

8. Allow pizza to cool for a few minutes before eating.

Pizza Pan Method

• Grease pizza pan with oil or dust with cornmeal. Do not put the pizza pan into the oven. Transfer the pizza crust to the pizza pan, add desired toppings and bake as per directions (step 7) above.

Make Ahead and Freeze

• Check out my post here on how to freeze pizzas to eat later.

Source: Dough: Slightly adapted from Allrecipes; Toppings: Frugal Allergy Mom

Cineplex Mystery Shopping and VIP Cinemas

As former DINKs (Double Income No Kids), we went to the movies at least once a month. Now that we are SIOK (Single Income One Kid), we have been to the movies precisely four times, which is a far cry from the monthly visits as DINKs. Thank goodness for DVDs and Netflix so we could get our movie fix!

One of the few traditions we have kept since having the little man was my participation in the Cineplex Mystery Shopping program. I have been a mystery shopper for Cineplex since 2006. For an annual fee of $50 (plus taxes), I receive 8 general admission movie tickets and $40 in Cineplex gift cards. This is mailed to me over the course of the year, in 4 instalments (2 tickets and $10 gift card each time).

The total value of the Mystery Shopping package far exceeds the $50 I paid. General admission for adults, if purchased without any discounts is $12.25. Multiply that by 8 general admission tickets plus the $40 you receive in gift cards (good towards food or admission), this equals to a $138 value.

In return for this great deal, you need to purchase food from the concession (mmm...popcorn) and complete a short 5 minute online survey to provide feedback. Easy stuff!

Over the course of my involvement with the mystery shopping program, they have implemented many of the recommendations provided by mystery shoppers, such as myself. They have renovated the seats in the auditoriums, added new food items and implemented a new movie experience through their Cineplex VIP Cinema, to name a few. It's nice to see a company actually implement the changes you suggest.

My sister-in-law is also a Cineplex mystery shopper. She recently visited the Cineplex VIP Cinemas and raved about her phenomenal experience. On my date with my husband, we decided to check out the VIP Cinemas to see what the fuss is all about.

Yes, it even has a separate entry to the VIP Cinemas.

The Cineplex VIP Cinemas is a luxurious experience targeted at the 19 year old and older crowd who want a more enjoyable movie experience. The perks include a separate line for ticket purchase, reserved seating and an amazing lounge to hangout in prior to the show (you can order food and alcoholic drinks here).

First class movie experience: wider seats, table service, and more leg room.

The theatre itself features extra-wide seats, each with trays that pivot and a deep drink holder. The seats are paired (think love seat) with an adjustable arm rest that you can raise so you can snuggle next to your companion. The space between each row is wider, giving you more room to stretch your legs. To top this off, you can order food and drinks from the wait staff without having the leave the comfort of your seat. This is truly a first-class movie experience. Are you drooling yet?

We went to see the 10:30pm showing of the "Guardians of the Galaxy" on a Friday night and the theatre was at capacity. Clearly, there is a demand for this type of movie experience and I can see why! Pure luxury, free of rowdy teenagers and seats so comfortable that my husband fell asleep for part of the movie. Honestly, I don't think I could ever go back.

If you would like more information on how to become a Cineplex mystery shopper, please leave me a comment and I would be happy to send you more details.

NOTE:

• The VIP Cinemas is only available at select theatres. In BC, there are two VIP Cinemas: SilverCity Coquitlam and Cineplex Cinema Abbotsford.
• The mystery shopping requires you to visit the same Cineplex theatre for the one year term. 
• To earn the most points, buy each of your tickets separately (both online and in person) as Cineplex only rewards you Scene points per transaction. For example, if you bought 2 VIP tickets on ONE transaction, you would only receive 200 scene points. However, if you bought the 2 VIP tickets separately on TWO transactions, you would earn 400 scene points. There is a limit of two transactions per Scene card per day. The number of points you receive can make a big difference especially given how expensive Cineplex movie tickets have become over the years.

Disclosure: As part of my participation in the Cineplex Mystery Shopping program, I receive two tickets for my referrals.