Oh the gas prices!!...find the cheapest place

Did you know that there is a website called Edmonton Gas Prices and an app called Gas Buddy? Both created so that people in and around Edmonton can enter and find the best gas prices!
Anything helps right??
Hopefully this helps you save a dollar or two!

Maternity leave in Alberta

The nursery has been decorated, you are nesting, done work and it's time to figure out your Maternity EI benefits. However, the process of applying for Maternity EI benefits in Alberta may be overwhelming. Hopefully after reading this post you will have a pretty good idea of how and where to go - and will have successfully applied for your EI benefits. 

In Alberta you are entitled to 52 weeks off of work for Maternity leave from your place of employment.  **Some situations are different and could depend on if a position is a contract or if there are different agreements made.**

If you are not sure what your rights are- or if you feel that your rights are being infringed upon you can always call labor standards (anonymously if need be) @ 1.877.427.3731

Do you Qualify:

In order to qualify for Maternity benefits you must have worked at least 600 hours of employment and have paid into EI benefits. You are eligible to apply and take your Maternity leave starting on your 8^th week before your due date.   

Maternity benefits are the first 15 weeks of your year off, the following weeks are technically refereed to as Parental leave and you or your partner is eligible to take the Parental leave.

Putting in an Application:

On your last day of work is technically when you should apply for Maternity benefits. Applying too early could effect your weeks that you are entitled to.

• If you are receiving the full Maternity and Parental benefits you will only need to apply once which is at the beginning.
• If your partner is applying for parental leave they will have to apply for it
• Parental leave can be the entire 35 weeks or it can be taken for less time, to a minimum of 2 weeks.

You can apply for your Maternity benefits here

Your work will either give you a Record of Employment (ROE) or if you are lucky they will submit your ROE on your behalf. This will be on your last day before going on leave (ideally)  

If you have to submit the ROE yourself you will need to go to a Service Canada Branch to drop it off or send it via mail.

You can find the location closest to you here

Maternity benefits payments:

Your benefits are only paid out for 50 of your 52 weeks that you have off. That means you will not receive your benefits right away, as there is a 2-week waiting period. You however should have received your login information to log onto the Service Canada website to check and see how the processing of your Maternity benefits are proceeding. 

**If it has been over 2 weeks, call and inquire. With my second child it took a month for my benefits to be deposited into my account, and it was due to some miniscule piece of information that was quickly entered within seconds. **

(The great thing is that my money was deposited into my account within 24hours)

If you have questions you can call this number - 1.800.206.7218

**HINT** Try calling first thing in the morning when they open. So many people call this number that they generally don’t even have enough room for people to wait on hold.

You will receive 55% of your of insurable earnings up to a maximum of $514 per week.

MAKE SURE THEY ARE TAKING TAXES OFF OF YOUR EI BENEFITS!!!

I unfortunately didn’t catch this during my first Maternity leave and I ended up owing in taxes, which is a big deal when you are only receiving 55% of your regular wage.

Hopefully this post has been informative and has helped you along the process of applying for your benefits.  If this post was helpful to you, please leave a comment. Thanks for reading and congrats to you :)

Until next time
~Christine~

*The information that is included in this post has been taken from the Service Canada webite and also  taken from my personal experiences. If there is anything that I have missed please let me know and it will be added* 

Win a blanket from Baby Jack Blankets!

The Pregnancy & Newborn Facebook page is offering Facebook fans 4 chances to win a cute blanket from Baby Jack Blankets!

How do you enter? A few simple steps!

1. Like the Pregnancy & Newborn Magazine Facebook Page
https://www.facebook.com/pnmag

2. Like the Baby Jack Blankets Facebook Page
https://www.facebook.com/babyJackblankets

3. Go back to the Pregnancy & Newborn Magazine Facebook page and leave a comment on their post about why YOU feel that you should win a Baby Jack Blanket!

Looking for a good magazine to subscribe to? You can subscribe to Pregnancy & Newborn here
Want to order a Baby Jack Blanket you can shop their website

Kids eat free @ Ikea on Thursdays

Along with some of the great deals going on at Ikea this month, on Thursdays this month when you purchase an adult meal kids eat free!

You can download the Edmonton Ikea event calendar for February here.

The Rock Wood Fired Pizza & Spirits Groupon deal *UPDATED*

If you are looking for a place to have a family meal, check out The Rock Wood Fire Pizza deal through Groupon!

Earlier this week I received an email from Groupon advertising this deal and quickly purchased one (there are four to choose from)

The cost - $33.

I have been to The Rock several times before so I know that they have great service and tasty wood fired pizza, but we have never been there with the kids.

This deal included:

• One large pizza ($27.99 value)
• One large caesar salad ($11.99 value)
• One cookie skillet ($6.99 value)
• Two beer samplers ($15.98 value)

Our server (who was awesome) brought us our drinks and both of my kids were excited to have juice boxes. My hubby and I were also able to enjoy some of the tasty selection of beer that they have there.

Juice boxes instead of cups that can spill 

Beer samplers 

The server quickly brought us out the family size caesar salad and our pizza soon followed.
(The pizza is cooked in a wood fire oven which is approximately 600 degrees)
There was plenty of food, and we even came home with some leftovers.

Family size caesar salad

Large pizza

 Lastly we enjoyed a cookie skillet which is cooked in their wood fire stove as well, and it was so yummy!

Cookie skillet

Groupon has this deal on for 2 more days and it is definitely worth the money!
Click here to purchase this or the other awesome options.
If you happen to miss this deal, still go and check them out, especially the pizza buffet lunch during the week.

**As always remember to tip for good service and to the price before the discount**

Until next time! Thanks for reading. 

~Christine~ 

Family fun on Friday night!

What are you doing tomorrow night?
If you are in West Edmonton (or want to travel) come for the family viewing of Planes at Inglewood hall.
Its free to attend the event. Bring money if you want to buy some snacks!
Want to attend in your pjs? No problem!
Hope to see you there!!!!!

Pampers on sale @ Safeway

Looking for a good deal on Pampers?
P&G has their Buy 2 of Pampers Super Packs or 2 of Pampers Mega Packs and save on until February 20th, 2014. 

Come on Christine just try the soup....

I need to start this post off with first saying that I am not a usually a huge fan of dishes with curry. 

I don't own curry.  It scares me. The taste..not for me. And all I can think of is that one scene in Along Came Polly where Ben Stiller and Jennifer Aniston were out for Indian Food and Ben Stiller was sweating and inevitably in the bathroom.... 

So last week when my office mate offered me soup at lunch I declined because of that one scary ingredient.
After some coaxing I agreed to try a spoon full. And then I fell in love with this soup!

And now I want to share this recipe with you, because I really loved the soup- and no- no reactions like the clip above (Phew) 

So here it is:

Lynn’s Triple C Soup

In a pot add:

4 cups of Chicken Stock

2 cups of water

3 large carrots (chopped)

6 cups of roasted zucchini (You will need to do this before hand)

1 head of ginger- minced into pieces

1/3 of REAL coconut

Directions:

Cook until it can easily be blended and pureed in the pot.

Take off heat and cover pot with lid

Prepare your chicken

In a pan add:

2 chicken breasts cubed into pieces (whatever size you prefer for your soup)

1 whole onion chopped

A little oil 

5 minced garlic cloves

Directions:

Brown the chicken

Sprinkle on 4 table spoons of curry powder (more or less depending on what you want)

Add 1 can of coconut milk in with the chicken.

Simmer until the chicken has taken on all the spices.

Pour chicken mix into the blended soup.

Add half a tub of Greek yogurt (or cream)

2 table spoon of Garam Masala

       

(You can garnish the soup with some of the Greek Yogurt for a more presentable look)

Do you have any recipes you want to share? 

Maybe something mild like this, that has Curry in it? I am feeling a little brave now.. 

Until next time, have a great day!!  

~Christine~