L'Oven Life

23/11/2021

Heads up to my food, nature & sustainability L'Overs!

I'm going to be deleting my Facebook account within the week ... in favour of slowing down, spending less time online & focusing on more time for myself and my family 💙
(... Also, many of my Instagram posts aren't showing up here 🤷🏼‍♀️)

If you want to keep following me for eco ideas, recipes & thrifty inspiration, please do so on Instagram 🙏🏼🌎🌱

✌&💛
Jackie

3,218 Followers, 2,126 Following, 681 Posts - See Instagram photos and videos from Jackie Lane 🍃🇨🇦 ()

23/11/2021

Join for a FREE virtual session with Root in Nature to talk earth-friendly ideas for a green holiday season -- sharing tips for nature-inspired, repurposed & DIY decorations, sustainable gift ideas & plant-based local menu inspiration 🌎❤🎄

November 25th 12:30-1:30pm EST
Register www.rootinnature.ca

07/11/2021

Leftover pumpkins everywhere 🎃

Don't let them go to waste!

🎃 Chop them up and roast them for use in soups, curries, pies or other baking
🎃 Scoop out the seeds and roast them for protein-packed snacks
🎃 Feed them to animals (our chickens looooove pumpkin!) - If you don't have pumpkin-loving pets, donate them to a local farm or animal rescue like
🎃 Add them to your compost or simply bury them in the ground - they add important nutrients to the earth & worms love them too

Big thanks to all my neighbours who donated their pumpkins to our chickens & compost heap 😍🎃🙏🏻🐔🐛🌱

We've squashed a few of the moldy ones into our compost pile for the worms to enjoy, placed a few around the chicken run for healthy hen snacks & (bonus!!) we collected SO many neighbourhood pumpkins, we still have plenty to chop up and freeze for nutritious winter-time chicken treats!

Plus some of the rescued pumpkins are in such good shape, I'll be making pumpkin soup, muffins and seeds this week 😋😋😋

02/11/2021

《What would our lives be like if our days and nights were as immersed in nature as they are in technology?》
~ author , The Nature Principle: Human Restoration and the End of Nature-Deficit Disorder

🌲
🐾
🍁

I've been making an extra effort to do just that: Disconnect from screens and devices & re-connect with nature 🐾🐌🌲🍁🐍

Today we took a glorious hike in the Gatineau hills 💞

We did a steep 4.5 km loop with 300-metre elevaltion up the Luskville Falls, taking a few stops along the way to forest bathe in the sunshine, enjoy a zero-waste picnic & take a little reading break 🤓

I usually like to leave my phone behind but I'm glad I brought it today since I didn't know the trail (.. my .in.the.wild know I have a history of getting lost in the woods..😬🙄😜), which also allowed for a few pics of the stunning Gatineau hills views 😍

If you've been feeling nature-deficient lately, try ditching your phone, take a social media break, just log off and get outside 😎☀️

15/10/2021

Looking for the eeeeeeasiest way to preserve your abundance of garden tomatoes?!? 🍅🍅🍅
I'm talking SO easy that my kids have been doing it on their own since they were kindergartners?!

DEHYDRATED TOMATOES!!!
Here's the "Un-Recipe" =
1 - 🔪 chop in any size/shape
2 - 🌿 season with salt, pepper, herbs of choice & toss together in a bowl
3 - 🍅 lay out flat to dry in a dehydrator or oven at lowest setting

That's it.

Store 'em in a jar in your fridge and they're ready to be tossed into salads, pastas, or eaten straight up like a tomato chip -- another great idea too 😍😍😍
{if you want more instruction and visuals of each step, search "tomato" on my blog 😘}

Don't get me wrong I love making fresh tomato soup, sauce & salsa .. but by far, hands down, dehydrating is THE easiest! 👍🏻🍅🤓

What's your fav thing to do with tomatoes?

05/10/2021

Our DIY chicken coop!!

Featuring many free, salvaged & repurposed items:

✔ Repurposed deck boards turned into great rustic-looking siding
✔ Windows salvaged from my sister's cottage demolition
✔ Random scraps of salvaged wood were used to make laying boxes
✔ Branches found in the forest turned into fun chicken perches
✔ Repurposed deck spindles were used to build a chicken ramp
✔ Chicken picnic table & scratching rocks donated by a previous chicken-mama neighbour
✔ Reclaimed PVC pipe was used to make an indoor chicken feeder
✔ Shredded paper from our home business used as bedding material
✔ Chicken fencing off-cuts (various lengths & types) salvaged from friends and family

Happy happy chickens 💜🐔
.. Now all we need is a proper gate to enter the chicken run/compost area 🤔 For now, we are scaling the fence using a ladder or step stools 😂
.. Also, you'll notice the giant cut-out in the roof line ... so we could save a beautiful oak tree 😍 ... because 🌳

30/09/2021

Sign of a great day?
Muddy feet 💛👣

Today was our first official homeschool "field trip" and... IT. WAS. AWESOME!!

From muddy forest obstacles in Bourget to feeding animals & a zerowaste picnic at Bearbrook Farm, our day was FULL of fresh air, physical activity & LOTS of practical, real life learning 🙌🏽🤓

Some of today's lessons included

🌲Botany (identifying trees, plants & fungi)

🇫🇷 French (reading obstacle challenges/signage & naming forest items)

🤸🏼‍♀️ Phys Ed & Physics (functional fitness, how to scale a steep hill with slippery feet, balancing over logs & completing challenges)

🌱 Local agriculture (discussing local farms, crops & food sources, while enjoying delicious nachos from & spicy salsa from ) 😋

📉...and Math (For example, if Jackie is 21.5km from home and her car only has enough gas to drive 17km, how far will Jackie need to walk to get home? 🙄...) 😂

Hearts & minds are full 🧡 What a fab day 🧡

28/09/2021

Ten reasons I love my safety razor 💞

✔ Better / closer shave

✔ Completely plastic-free, even the packaging

✔ Saves money in the long term

✔ No irritation or ingrown hairs

✔ No toxic / hormone-disrupting strips

✔ 100% recyclable

✔ Supports a small business

✔ Company is female-founded and Canadian owned

✔ A portion of sales goes to Femme International charity

✔ It matches my retro pink shower 😂 ... ok, ok that's not a real reason, but it sure is pretty 😍

Have you made the switch yet? What are you waiting for?

25/09/2021

One of this week's after "school" activities... walking to the pumpkin patch in the rain ☔

Such a simple activity, yet filled with education & purpose ....

✔ Walked & used our refurbished '70s wagon in honour of 🙌🏽
✔ Spent time together, outdoors & moving our bodies despite grey & soggy conditions
✔ Rescued a few worms along the way (I swear-to-god Mr.B will be 40 years old and still stopping to rescue roadside worms 💛)
✔ Incorporated math & budgeting lessons (i.e. how to maximize our pumpkin options on a $15 budget)
✔ Supported a small, local farm 👩🏼‍🌾
✔ On the walk home, discussed our pumpkin plans... confirming that my kids are indeed with no more interest in jack-o-lanterns 🎃
... best of all, within just a few hours of getting home, miss K had chopped up a pumpkin, roasted it, prepared a homemade crust entirelyon her own & we enjoyed the MOST delicious pumpkin pie for dessert 😋🥧

Happy weekend!!! 💛🥧🎃💛☔🍁💛

21/09/2021

Another end of summer summer mini-harvest 💛

Tomatoes, herbs & rhubarb still going strong but the peppers, cucamelons and beans seem to be winding down...

Grateful for all this year's garden abundance 😋🌶🥒🍎🍒🍅

Happy first day of fall 💛🍂🍁🍊

20/09/2021

Sunflowers are seen as a sign of happiness and optimism 🌻

And while it's not how I'm feeling personally right now, I'm sending these vibes out into the universe in hopes of brighter days ahead 💜

This is the first year I've had success with my sunflowers and WOW are they ever tall! Looking up at the blossoms, it seems like they're reaching up to challenge our pine trees 😳 The magic of Mother Nature 🌱

Sending happy, positive vibes out to all those needing a bit of extra love and kindness these days 🌻💜🌻💜🌻

Don't forget to Canadian friends 😘

🌻