Frugal Friday: getting organized

One of the most important ways that I save money for my family is by getting myself organized.  By planning ahead and using good time management, I am able to do a lot of seemingly small things that add up to saving a lot of money.  

My most complicated organizational task is always making my meal plan and planning my groceries.  In order to make the most of coupons, sales and my well stocked pantry I follow a 3 step process.

Step One: Saving Inspiration

• I clip coupons and save them in a small wallet that I keep in my purse.  In that same wallet I keep a recipe card that lists what coupons are there and when they expire.  I only keep coupons that I know will be useful to me, on products that I use often in my house.  It is important to pay attention because sometimes I find a coupon for a new cleaning product or food product and set is aside, only to find that the product I already use is cheaper, even without a coupon.  
• I make note of recipes that inspire me by putting sticky tabs in cookbooks and magazines, saving websites on my IPad, and bookmarking magazines in my Zinio app.  I also keep a kitchen journal where I record recipes that my family really enjoys along with any changes I have made to the recipe to suit my tastes and needs.  This provides me with another source of inspiration for tested recipes that are all in one place.  

Step 2: Taking Stock and Making a Plan

• First I check my fridge, pantry and freezer to see what I have and what I think should be used up.  I keep quite a large variety of food in my pantry so there are many things that I know I always have (because if I use it up I add it immediately to my grocery list).  In addition, if any item that I usually keep stocked in my pantry goes on sale, I will stock up on it and store it until I can use it.  There are always items in my pantry that are not my usual items, but that I have bought on sale knowing that I can work them into my meal plans.   I also buy meat in bulk and then package it in portions for my family and freeze it.  In spring and summer when produce is in season and I can buy it cheap, I will often freeze some for future use as well.  I usually use plastic zip-top freezer bags and label them with the date as well as what the item is and how much is in the bag.  Also in my freezer will always be heat-and-eat meals that I have frozen for a day when I don't have time to cook.   However, none of this stocking up does me any good if I don't keep it organized and make sure I use it up before it goes bad, so I have to check it regularly and keep it very organized so that I can always see what I have.  

My upright deep freeze, organized according to food type
with each item clearly visible.

My pantry organized so each item is visible

• Next I will go back through my recipe inspirations and choose according to what I have and want to use up.  My weekly meal plans follow a regular pattern: One vegetarian meal, one egg based meal, One meal of fish or seafood, 2 meals of chicken or pork, and 2 meals of beef or lamb.  So for a two week period I know exactly what kind of meals I am looking for.  I also take leftovers into consideration.  If I am making a beef pot roast or a whole roast chicken, I know these will feed my family for at least 2 meals so I plan accordingly, using recipes for leftover beef or chicken.  I also check my calendar for dates when we will have house guests to feed or special occasions to consider. There are also nights when we will be extra busy or when we will not be home.  These things all get taken into consideration.
• I use an app called Corkulous on my IPad to organize all of my daily, weekly and monthly tasks, as well as my meal plans.  I slot my meals into my plan boards so that  we have a well rounded plan for the week, and all special considerations are accounted for.  

Here is my board for next week. Each item can be moved around, so tasks can be moved from day to day and meals can be slotted into place as needed.  On the bottom I keep tasks that I do weekly or biweekly so that I can just move them into the area for the day when I will complete them.  I also note P and D's play groups here, as well as any appointments or personal activities for the day or week.  As I complete tasks I either delete them or move them to the bottom.  At the end of the week I have an empty template that can be filled up again for a future week.

Step 3: Making the Grocery List

• When I make my grocery list, I list all of the ingredients that I will need for the two week period I am planning.  I check all of the recipes that I will be using and note all of the ingredients that I don't already have.  If I know I will use up all of something in my pantry, I add that to the list too.  I consider any kitchen projects that I want to complete like baking or making yogurt and make sure all the things I need are on my list. Then I add the basics like milk, yogurt, butter and snacks as well as items for breakfasts and lunches (which I don't plan out) like cereal, fruit, cheese sticks etc.  Lastly, I sort them out in a number of different ways (I use an IPhone app called Anylist).  I usually sort them into two lists. 
•  The first list is of things I can do on a major grocery haul to one of the big stores, like Costco or Superstore.  On this list I put all of the items for the first week of groceries, plus all of the ingredients that I know will keep for the full two weeks.  I also place on this list all of the items that I know I need to get at the shopping location (at Costco that means things that I buy in bulk and get the best price available, and at Superstore its the things I know I won't find at the smaller grocery stores, like specialty international items or store brand favourites).  This will be my grocery stop for week one and it is usually where I spend the bulk of my budget.
• The second list includes items that I need to buy fresh for week two of my meal plan, as well as things that are on special at the store I am going to (usually one of the smaller stores, like Sobey's or Safeway). This list is usually quite short so it means just a quick trip to the store for myself or Suneil.  
• If there are any items that I want to pick up from a specialty store I will put them into lists accordingly and also make a note in my weekly plan to make that stop.  For example, I will often by Italian sausage or deli items from the specialty Italian shop, or Indian spices and ingredients from the Indian grocery store. 
• Lastly, when the grocery fliers come out, I check them all to see if there are any deals that I can't pass up, and if there are I will add those items to the relevant list.  I also go through my coupons and decide if I will use any of them.  Then I make a note on the item in my grocery list so that I will not forget to pull out the coupon at the store.  

Because I have a system for noting recipes I want to try and meals I want to make, and because I keep my pantry and freezer well organized, I am usually able to complete Steps one and two in a few hours while watching TV in the background.  I always leave myself a free afternoon to get this done.  

Best Easter Ever!

What a fun and wonderful day it has been for my family.  The Easter Bunny visited our home this year for the first time, and P and D were thrilled.  He had made a path of chocolate eggs from their rooms all the way down the stairs toward their Easter baskets and hidden eggs.  P kept exclaiming "What a mess! Me and Darshy clean it up." and then piling eggs into her basket happily.  They both had a blast searching for eggs and squealed in delight each time they found a new hiding spot.  Easter took on a whole new fun meaning for Suneil and I this year.
Even better was the fact that we had so much family spend the day with us.  With my parents away we thought it would be just us four this year, but at the last minute my two brothers and my sister-in-law managed to get the day off/travel here and spend the whole day with us.  We had an amazing family time eating great food, playing board games (a family tradition for us) and enjoying the great weather.

Here were a few of the highlights:

Natural Egg Dyes

I wasn't going to dye eggs this year as I thought P and D were a little young to really enjoy it, but when I saw the video about natural dyes on HGTV handmade youtube channel (natural egg dyes), I was inspired to try it myself.  Since I had all of the things I needed in my home already, I decided to give it a try.  To my surprise, P was very interested and the whole process turned out to be a great teachable moment (as we refer to them in my profession, haha) on colours.  Since the eggs need to sit in the dye for several hours, I spent a lot of time for the rest of the day lifting her up to check on them every fifteen minutes and nodding yes as she repeatedly exclaimed "we make the eggs colours so they be pretty!".  I made 4 dyes.  I followed the video instructions for the yellow dye (carrots and turneric), blue dye (red cabbage) and purple dye (blueberries).  Then I found some (embarrassingly quite nasty and inedible) radishes in my fridge and thought "Hey, I wonder if I could make a pink colour with these".  So I followed the basic recipe and process using the radishes and was delighted with the result.  You can't have Easter Eggs without pink!! The whole process of boiling the eggs and making the dyes took me about an hour, and then the eggs sat in the dyes for the rest of the day.  The following day we decorated very simply with stickers and bands from a decorating kit, and here is the end result.

   

Egg Salad Sandwiches

Since I had no intention of wasting 8 perfectly good Omega-3 eggs, we had egg salad sandwiches for lunch.
Suneil called them the most homemade Egg Salad sandwiches ever because I had to make homemade mayonnaise (I discovered I was all out when I went to the fridge) and I made homemade baguette bread to serve it on.
Check out the recipe for  No Knead Bread

Easter Dinner

We had a delicious meal of stuffed pork loin roast, lemon roast potatoes, and roast carrots and parsnips.  Dessert was abundant chocolate eggs and bunnies.  Check out the recipes!
Happy Easter!!!

Frugal Friday: Planting my Garden

Another fun way that I love to save money during the summer is by growing vegetables in my garden.  This is totally new to me this year so I am sure I will have many failures and hopefully some successes too.  Last year I saw Michael Symon make a pallet garden on The Chew and  I managed to get my hands on two pallets so I started small with those.  It worked out really well and it inspired me to take it further and find more space in my yard!  We removed a few unattractive trees in our back yard and it left us a great sunny spot to try out this year. I am so looking forward to it.  Having fresh lettuce, greens and other veggies right in our back yard encouraged us to eat so healthy last summer, and it is also a wonderful learning experience for P and D to see where food comes from (other than the supermarket!).

My sister has a HUGE garden (literally the size of my entire back yard) and she plants enough of some basics like carrots, potatoes, onions and zucchini for the whole family.  That means I don't need to plant any of those things in my small plot, and I can experiment with some different things

I will plant my pallets again with things that were successful last year, like lettuce, spinach, swiss chard, lots of fresh herbs and probably some radishes.  In my bigger backyard space I will plant some tomatoes, cucumber, green onions and beans.  Just out of curiosity, I am also going to try some of my favourite veggies: eggplant, okra, kale, and leeks.  I also found seeds for ground cherries.  I love these things so I'm going to test them out too.  I have no idea if these things are going to grow in our Saskatchewan climate but I bought them at a local greenhouse so I'm gonna follow the directions on the packages and see what happens.

In addition to those few spaces, I am going to do some planting in containers.  I will do a few hanging baskets with red and yellow cherry tomatoes.  I am also going to try planting beans and snow peas in containers and let them grow and vine up my fence.  I am not sure how this will work, but I'm gonna find out!

Last year I started my seeds in a starter tray with peat pellets.  It worked perfectly and made it so easy to transplant when the time came.  This year I bought two more of them and last weekend I planted all of the seeds that need to be started 6-8 weeks before the last frost.  Wish me luck with this project and stay posted for updates on how all of my experiments are going.

On Saturday I got everything organized and started planting

I use masking tape to label what I planted in each row

On Tuesday, some of the seeds were sprouting already, yay!

Easy Easter Craft for Toddlers: Egg Collage

This is a super fun and cute craft, we had a blast making it as a family this weekend!

What you'll need:
scissors
glue sticks
8 x 8 inch square of card stock in any colour
scraps of patterned paper in coordinating colours
ribbons, stickers, glitter glue, and other decorations of your choice (basically, whatever you have lying around the house)

Steps:
1. Prepare all of your materials.  First draw an egg shape on a sheet of card stock. Make it as large as you can fit on the card stock.  Then cut your scraps of paper into small pieces, about 1.5 square inches (but they don't need to be exact, uniform, or even square!). Cut enough to cover the entire square of card stock.  We each made one egg (four in total) so I made piles of coordinating paper - so that we would have one egg that was covered in different shades of pink paper, one in yellow/orange, one in blue and one in green.

2.  Place the side of the card stock with the egg drawn on it down against the table.  Help your child to apply glue to the back of the pieces of patterned paper and apply it to the card stock, covering the entire sheet and overlapping the paper when necessary.

3. Once the square is covered entirely, flip it over and cut out the egg shape so that you are left with an egg that is covered in a paper collage.

4.  Apply any decorations you like, but try to use strongly contrasting colours to the patterned paper.  For example, if your egg is covered in pink papers, use blue and green decorations.  Or if your egg is covered in pastel paper, use decorations in saturated colours.

And that's it, you have a beautiful homemade Easter decoration that you and your child can be proud to display in your home.  We always hang our seasonal crafting decorations in the window of our dining area.

March Favourites!!

Here are my favourite things from the month of March!

Beauty:

Lips: NYX butter gloss
These glosses are so creamy and comfortable and not at all sticky. They have just enough pigmentation to be worn on their own, and they look casual and easy with just enough colour.  Here are the colours I have:
Peach cobbler: a very wearable peachy orange, perfect for the springy orange lip trend
Vanilla Cream Pie: a rosy pink shade that is super feminine and perfect for a "no makeup" makeup day
Tiramisu: The perfect nude.  I love to wear this when I'm wearing a colourful eye look and want to keep the rest of my face neutral.
I get these from London Drugs because they so often have great sales on their NYX products.  Target also has some NYX products.

Nails: Essie nail lacquer  in chinchilly
I have been wearing this a ton on my fingernails.  It is the perfect grey shade, goes with everything.

Skincare:  Tarte's marajuca C-brightener eye cream
This is a total splurge for me, but so worth it.  I got a sample in a gift set I received for Christmas and it just ran out.  I could not help ordering a full sized one from the Tarte website.  Since I started using this stuff about 2 months ago, I have noticed a huge difference in my undereye area.  My fine lines have been noticeably reduced and I use far less concealer because this stuff has actually helped fade away my dark circles.  It is pricey but you barely have to use any (my 0.08 ounce sample lasted two months, even using it daily) This stuff is literally so amazing.  If you sign up on their website for their email notifications, you will get a coupon code for 20% off.  Free shipping in Canada after $75 and watch for deals too, cuz I got a free lipstick as a promotion with my order.  

Parenting:

Stickers :  P and D are really into stickers right now, and I have been using them a ton this month to keep them entertained with a quick and creative activity.  My smartest moment was when I threw a few sheets of stickers into my bag on our way out for a restaurant dinner one evening.  While just plain crayons would have kept them busy for a mere ten minutes before they started trying to eat them, the stickers added that extra interest! They stuck them all over their paper place mats, then moved them around and stuck them on themselves and on me and Suneil.  This entertained them the entire time we were waiting for our food (25 minutes or so).
Tip: To ensure this play activity is 100% independent, remove the part of the sheet that frames all of the actual stickers. This makes it much easier for toddlers to get at the stickers on their own without help.

Summer Infant video baby monitor:  We have had this monitor since the twins were born and have always found it had great value to us.  We could check on the kids at any time of night through the camera, and sooth an upset child from the comfort of our own bed simply by speaking to them through the monitor and watching to make sure they were soothed and falling back asleep.  Never has it given us more peace of mind though, as it has this month when we changed P and D's cribs into toddler beds.  We went into D's room one afternoon to find that during his "nap" he had made a pile on his new bed of all of the items from his entire closet and everything out of all of the drawers of his dresser (including the top ones ... how did he get up that high?? ... moment of panic!!).  We immediately moved the camera from P's room into D's room so that we could watch him and be sure he was safe and not performing impossible feats of baby climbing. We were also able to intervene a few times with what Suneil refers to as "the voice of God" (really just one of us, lol) saying "No Darshan, get back in bed".  He stopped with his reorganizing antics after a few days.  What a relief! 

Tresemme Split Remedy leave-in conditioning spray:  This stuff has transformed stresssful evening battles into relaxed evening routine.  P's hair is getting so long and it is so difficult to comb through after her bath.  She also wakes up every morning with a tangled rat's nest on the back of her head from moving around on her pillow.  I use a few sprays of this stuff on her wet hair after her bath and the comb just runs through her hair without problem.  I also use it on her dry hair in the mornings.  I spray a few sprays directly onto the problem (rat's nest!) area, and it makes brushing it our much less painful for both of us.  
I use this stuff in my own hair too and it really helps with frizz without making my hair greasy.  LOVE!

Cooking:

I have been loving my new cookbook, Jamie Oliver's Save with Jamie.  It is packed with recipes that use super cheap ingredients, but they are so delicious, and still simple enough to make quickly on a weeknight.  My favourite thing about this book is that it has a ton of vegetarian recipes, and so far my family has loved everything we've tried.  I love Jamie Oliver and this cookbook is another hit for me.

I have also been trying quite a few recipes from some of my favourite foodie youtubers, the guys at Sorted Food.  All four of them are so cute and their videos are hilarious!! I also love their recipes because they are adventurous and interesting, but still use simple ingredients and techniques that I can do at home.  Check them out on their youtube channel or on their website, sortedfood.com

Random Stuff:

Television: I am so sad that the season is over, but my absolute favourite TV show in March was AMC's The Walking Dead.  Zombies are not usually my style, but I am so addicted to all of the characters in this show.  I cant get enough.  I even found all of the comics and read them all!  I am also really loving ABC's Modern Family.  When Suneil and I watch this, we literally end up laughing the entire time!  All of the characters are so funny and endearing and I find the hilarious situations they end up in extremely relate-able.  

People:   I cant seem to stop watching the adorable family vlogs on youtube from Its Judy's life (youtube channel).  They just had twin girls and watching them just reminds me of super happy times when P and D were newborns.  They have another adorable daughter too.  Benji is so funny and Judy is just a real everyday mom.  I enjoy them all so much.

Books: A few weeks ago when I was teaching a grade 8 class I discovered the book Life as We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer.  I began reading it aloud to the students and I got so into it that when I got home I just had to download it for my Kobo.  It is a four book series.  I am on the second book. Each book follows a different character but they all take place at the same time, during a world crisis ... Great page turners, check them out!

Frugal Friday: bread making

Who can save you $40 a month? Saskatchemom can!

Before I had my children, making bread was something that I had tried a few times before and failed at miserably.  I would get a craving for my grandmother's homemade buns and try to make them.  The result, however, was always a disappointment.  They would be too yeasty, too dry, or come out of the oven hard as rocks.  While I loved cooking and could whip up just about anything without a recipe, baking was not my strong suit, most likely because I had to follow a recipe and measure stuff (Boring!).  
After P and D started eating solid food, and I started trying to save money wherever I could, I decided to try it again.  At the grocery store, I was getting more and more frustrated because I was determined to feed my children natural foods with as few preservatives and artificial ingredients as possible.  If you've ever read the ingredients on a loaf of grocery store bread, you know that there are way too many ingredients that are unidentifiable as food products. I also knew I could make it myself for a fraction of the cost.  I was determined to learn the skill of breading making.  

I dug out an old cook book about baking and began reading up on how to make good bread.  This was helpful because I learned what temperature my liquid should be to bloom my yeast and how to know when my dough has been kneaded enough.  I found a recipe for whole wheat bread.  I had to make it many times before I perfected my technique and tweaked the recipe to suit me.  I also got my moms recipe and I use that often as well, although it uses only 50% whole wheat flour so it is more of a treat.  I will include that recipe today, since its the one I used this week.  Stay posted for other bread recipes in the future!

Moms buns 

(Her signature baked good, not the body part!)

Step 1:

2 tbsp active dry yeast 
1 tsp sugar
1 cup warm water

I heat my water in the microwave for 1 minute, but it depends on your microwave.  To be sure, use a thermometer to test the water temperature.  It should be between 105-115 degrees Fahrenheit.  Once the water is warm, stir in the sugar and yeast and set aside to allow the yeast to bloom.  It will start to bubble up and smell yeasty.  This will take about 5 minutes.  Make sure your yeast is fresh!

Step 2:

2 eggs
3/4 cup oil
2 tsp salt 
2 cups boiling water
2 cups cold milk
1 cup sugar 
6 cups all purpose unbleached flour
5.5 cups whole wheat flour

I use my stand mixer for this dough, but if you're strong enough to do it by hand, go for it (I just don't have the muscles!).  In a stand mixer with a paddle attachment, beat together the eggs, oil, salt, boiling water, cold milk and sugar until the sugar is dissolved and the ingredients are all well combined: . Add 2 cups of all purpose flour and beat again until well blended. Add the yeast mixture and beat again. Then add 2 cups whole wheat flour and beat again. Next add 2 cups all purpose flour and beat again until combined.  Switch your paddle attachment to your dough hook, and continue adding flour, first 2 cups whole wheat, then 2 cups all purpose, and lastly 1.5 cups whole wheat to add up the total 11.5 cups.  This recipe makes a  very large batch, and it is almost too much for my mixer.  It gets a little messy at the end (as you can see in the picture), but it is worth it for me to not have to do all the work of kneading.  If you have a bigger mixer, it will work great.  You do need a pretty strong, heavy duty mixer, mine is a Kitchen-aid.  The dough is quite sticky and soft. Remove it from the mixer and knead it for just a few minutes on the counter, just until it all comes together into a smooth ball.  Use a bit of flour on your hands and the counter top if necessary, but use as little as possible.  This dough needs only a little kneading if it's been beaten well at each stage in the mixer. You'll know it's ready because if you poke it with your finger, it will bounce back and not show a dimple.

Step 3:

Place the dough in a large oiled bowl. I divide mine in half and place it into 2 large bowls because I don't have a bowl large enough for this recipe. Cover with plastic wrap and then a kitchen towel.  Set aside in a warm spot and let it rise to double, about 1.5 hours.  Punch the dough down and let it rise again for 1.5 hours, or until doubled.  I place my dough below my under cabinet lights and leave them on for 15 minutes or so to get the spot nice and warm and get the dough rising.  Then I shut them off so that the dough doesn't rise too quickly.  If the dough rises to quickly it wont have time to develop the flavour that is so good in fresh bread.  

Step 4:

Using a little softened  butter on your hands, as well as a little bit of flour (no more than 1 cup)  on the counter to prevent too much sticking, form the dough into buns, loaves or rolls.  Place them on pans, cover with a kitchen towel and let rise again to double.  Meanwhile, preheat your oven to 350 Fahrenheit.

I used this batch of dough to make 3 loaves of bread, 12 dinner rolls, and 16 orange sweet rolls.  Since I let my dough rise in two bowls, it was already divided in half.  I used one bowl for the 3 loaves of bread.  To form the loaves, I use my bench scraper to divide the dough in 3.  Then I use my hands to flatten each peice into a rectangle.  Next, I roll up the rectangle and pinch the edge into the roll, then tuck in the ends and pinch them together.  I place the loaf into the loaf pan and push it down to fill the corners.

The other bowl was for the buns.  I formed the dinner rolls first and then rolled out the rest of the dough for the sweet rolls.  To make the dinner rolls I cut small pieces of dough from the bowl using a sharp knife.  I pinch and roll into into a ball, and then I like to push it through the space between my pointer finger and thumb to get a really smooth, round bun.  This also helps me to make the buns all a uniform size.  When I push the dough through my fingers, I can see if it is too small or big.  If it is too big, I can pinch off a little of the dough from the bottom of the bun.  If the bun is too small I can push a tiny piece of dough up into the middle of the bun to make it the right size.  My buns were small enough that I fit 12 into a 9 inch cake pan (see picture below).

Next, I took the rest of the dough and rolled it into a large rectangle about the same size as my small cookie sheet (you could also use a 9 x 11 baking dish for this.  
I used a knife to spread 1/2 cup of softened butter evenly over the dough.  Next, in a small bowl I combined 1 cup brown sugar, 1 tsp vanilla, and the zest of 2 oranges.  You could also add 1 tsp of cinnamon here, though I did not.  I used my hands to sprinkle and spread this over the sheet of dough, then I rolled it up as tightly as possible and pinched the edge together in much the same way I had finished the other loaves.  I sliced it into 16 pieces and placed it into a greased pan that was also lined with parchment paper.  Then I covered all of the formed dough with kitchen towels and set it aside to rise again for about 45 minutes, or until doubled in size. The loaves will rise up above the side of the pans, and the buns will begin to grow into each other and form one mass of dough.   Preheat the oven to 350 Fahrenheit.

Formed dough before it has risen

The risen dough in the oven

Bake at 350 15-20 min.  Then remove the buns from the oven and allow the loaves to bake for another 10 minutes.  Once the baked goods are removed from the oven, take them out of the pans and set them on cooking racks to come to room temperature.  

One roll is missing, we ate it straight from the oven

P and D enjoyed the beaters from the frosting

I topped my orange sweet rolls with a cream cheese glaze I made by beating together 1/2 cup softened cream cheese, 1 tsp vanilla, the juice of one orange, and 1/2 cup icing sugar.

Waterproof Makeup: the swimming lesson test

A few weeks ago, P and D began their yearly spring swimming lessons.  Normally, I would not make a point of wearing makeup to a toddler swimming lesson, but on this particular Wednesday afternoon I did want to wear makeup, and I didn't want to have to take it off before the lesson.  To avoid ending up looking like I was in a horror movie, I took that into consideration when I put my makeup on, thinking it would be a great test of some makeup that claims to be waterproof and/or long wearing. Since the twins are just two, we still actually have to get into the pool with them.  I do try to keep my head out of the water because I don't like to get my hair wet, but I do participate in some very spirited games of Chop, Chop, Timber which result in quite a lot of splashing on my face. I retested a few items the following week, and here's what I found...

What I wore and what I thought:

Covergirl Outlast Stay Fabulous 3 in 1 Foundation: thumbs up
This foundation claims "lasting power of primer, coverage of a concealer, and blendability of a foundation in one. Shine free" (that is straight off the bottle).  I used this all over my face to even out my skin tone and I also used it as a concealer by building it up on spots where I need a little more coverage, like under my eyes and on blemishes.
I like this foundation a lot, but I do have to use it sparingly or it will get pretty cakey.  I love that it works (for me) as a concealer as well, and it does last a long time.  After I got out of the pool, my skin tone still looked evened out, but the foundation had definitely worn down on the spots I had build up as concealer.  It did still have a matte finish once I patted my face dry.  Pretty amazing.  I highly recommend it, especially since it also has SPF 20 so its great for being by the outdoor pool or on the beach. 

NYX Eyebrow Cake Powder: thumbs up 

This product's catch phrase is: "for those movie star brows" (again, straight from the package).  This is my go-to eyebrow product.  I wear it literally every day and I love it.  I am brunette, but I use the colour 06 Blonde.  I had put it on as I always do, not really expecting anything to remain after getting out of the pool, as it doesn't even advertise being waterproof.  However, my brows looked exactly as they had before the lesson.  What a fantastic product!

The Balm Instain Blush: thumbs up

This blush claims to be "long wearing staining powder blush". This is another product that I use often, and already really liked.  I have the colour Lace.  It is extremely pigmented so I use it sparingly.  When I got out of the pool, it was still firmly in place on my cheeks. Score!

Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Lip Stain: thumbs up

I wear this stuff all the time and love it because I can just apply it in the morning and then add clear lip balm as the day goes on and the colour remains on my lips. I usually only have to reapply after 4-5 hours, even if I eat (unless it's something super messy).  No surprise, this stuff didn't budge in the pool.  I wore the colour Honey, but I also have Smitten and Adore.  All gorgeous girls!

Maybelline Colour Tatoo by Eyestudio Eyeshadows: thumbs up

This cream eyeshadow claims to last 24 hours.  Another of my favourite products, this stuff lasts all day and NEVER creases.  I used Bad to the Bronze on my lid, and blended a little into my crease, then I used Barely Branded (from the Metal collection) on my brow bone and inner corner of my eye.  These are quite a bit too shimmery for me on their own, but I applied some ivory matte eyeshadow into my crease and up to my brow bone, and that worked for me.  My eyeshadow looked exactly the same when I got out of the pool, it even held onto the powder shadow I applied as liner.  I don't know about 24 hours, but this stuff survived swimming lessons for sure!

Maybelline The Rocket Volume Express Mascara, Waterproof formula: thumbs up
This is a really great mascara.  It gives me volume and length and it doesn't clump, even if I apply numerous coats.  It didn't budge at swimming lessons, and when I wore it on vacation in January it did really well both in the ocean and in the pool with the kids.  My only complaint is that it is very difficult to remove, but I use coconut oil and it comes off with a little gentle rubbing.  

Rimmel Scandaleyes Waterproof Kohl Kajal Eyeliner: Mixed Review

I use this eyeliner on my waterline or when I want a smudged look. I don't love it because if I'm wearing it on my upper lash line, it transfers a little to my lower lash line.  If I apply it to my waterline, it is gone in a few hours.  It is fairly long wearing, but after a long day it doesn't look that great.  For swimming lessons, I wore 001 Black on my upper lash line, smudged out.  The results were no different than any other day.  I could see it on my lower lash line when I got out of the pool.  Not a terrible result, but not a great one either.

Before swimming lesson

Before swimming lesson

After swimming lesson

Lots of this makeup would be great for a vacation if you plan on spending a lot of time on the beach or in the pool.  It think it would also be perfect for working out (not that I EVER do that, lol).  Hope this was helpful! Let me know if there's anything else Saskatchemom can review for you!