Tuesday, March 8, 2011

To all the ladies plus weekend eats

Happy International Women's Day and Mardi Gras!!

         2011 marks the 100th anniversary of International Women's Day!! This years theme is :

Equal access to education, training and science and technology: Pathway to decent work for women

I am so fortunate to live in a country that respects women and provides us with equal rights. Some would argue that statement but I feel compared to many other countries, women have it pretty good in Canada (for the most part).

I am not afraid to express my religious beliefs
I'm not afraid to disagree with my husband
I can apply for any job that I want to
I can go to school to become anything I want to be
I can express my views publicly as I do on this blog

You forget sometimes how different things could be for you as a women in another country that does not have equal rights. Yet, I'm not naive enough to think that abuses against women don't exist where I live, because they do and it's absolutely terrible.

So, to all my ladies out there I love you all!! You bring such light to the world. You bring strength, beauty, and wisdom. You have so much to give...and you deserve to live a life full of love and respect!

And pass that respect on to other women. Women can be cruel to each other!! We compare ourselves to others, hate others who have more ____ (insert: money, success, sexy body, happiness etc). Then we commit something terrible..we abuse ourselves! We hate on our bodies, we tell ourselves terrible things, we instill fear. I know because I do this myself!

I have no problem respecting and loving all the women in my life yet, I have a hard time building myself up. Ironic wouldn't you say?  I think it's time I buy myself some post-its and start operation beautiful in my house!

Anyone celebrating Mardi Gras? Oh how I would love to be partying it up in New Orleans. One year I will have to make my way down there. I think it would be a blast!

Okay so now onto the weekend! It was pretty good. Hung out with friends Friday night and Sunday. Saturday ran errands and watched a movie. Sunday we also went to the BC Home and Garden Show which was a lot of fun. Lots of dreamy ideas for renovating and styling your home and garden. One of the coolest ideas was a pond pool. It's a pool that looks like a pond but has no added chemicals. Their booth had some pretty impressive designs.

Now looking back at the treats I've indulged over the past couple weeks..eek!




This cake was made by my aunt and it's called blata kuchen or layer cake!

 
Oh my this was so good!!! In between layers of dough is a pudding. Mmm mmm!

 


These were Meghan's crispy brown rice treats. Although basically it is a mix of rice cereal, pumpkin seeds, shredded coconut, chia seeds, almond butter, and honey. I didn't have any chocolate..boo! Still some great crunch. This would have been awesome on banana softserve:)

I served it with some turmeric tea, another Meghan Telpner creation.


I added coconut milk to my tea but any nut milk would be great!
Sprinkled with some cinnamon and you are good to go!
Turmeric is an amazing spice! Check out my post on it here.
 
Then came the homemade apple sauce. That I made in...ooh..a minute! Just take a couple apples, place them in your food processor, blend away adding water as necessary, sprinkle with some lemon juice (prevents browning) and cinnamon, and that my friends is apple sauce! I'm not a huge fan of eating apple sauce on it's own but I love using it in baking as it helps reduce/replace fat in a recipe.



Then I used the apple sauce in Nelly's banana bread recipe! Yum!!! I added chocolate chunks and then had a warm piece with coconut butter. Divine!!

Just to be clear I didn't eat all that this weekend. The goodies have been spread out over a few weeks:)

Shopping! Saturday I ran around to 4 different stores to gather some staples.

The goodies in the green box was from Costco. We recently signed up for a Costco card and are going to try it for a year to see if it's worth it.
This week I picked up Bob's Mill spelt flour, frozen blueberries, and a tub of dates (Thanks Kris)
Some other items I sometimes pick up are packs of sprouted bread, quinoa, organic greens and spinach, organic tofu, frozen veggies, and movie passes)

Do you have a Costco card? Do you think it helps with your food budget?
It's too early to tell for me.

Second stop! Local health food store where I get the best deal on Vega Whole Foods Optimizer.
 I also splurged on some Daiya cheese, miso, and coconut milk:)

Third stop! My favorite grocer, 2 EE's Farm Market. This week it was 4 bags of veggies and fruits!!
 I don't shy away from buying reduced veggies and fruits. I got a full bag of apples for $1.60 that I used for apple sauce and juicing. I make a judgement call if it's worth it or not. Bananas are always a great deal when they are over-ripe. I bought a bag, took the peel off, and placed them in the freezer for softserve. It probably costs me $ 0.50 to make softserve. I don't think Ben and Jerry's can compete with that:)

The fourth stop was to pick up kitty litter and food so nothing exciting to show you there.

Speaking of kitties, the boys wanted to say hi!



Oddie's getting big, big, big

Oddie is going to approach at lightening speeds..soon. Hence the yoda ears!


Such a little monkey!!

I also wanted to share a little about what my better half does for work. He works with a lot of wood and metal creating beautiful staircases like the one below. This was his first spiral work and I think it's so stunning I just needed to share|







This has taken weeks as he had to measure every angle in order to make it fit perfectly. No pressure, hey?
I'm so proud of him for conquering his fears and taking on such a tricky project!

Have a wonderful Tuesday everyone!! I'm off for a train run then it's study time for me.

PS My girl Nelly is having a CSN stores giveaway so be sure to check it out!

8 comments:

kelli said...

great post! everything looks so yummy. beautiful staircase, and i'm beyond happy that oddie is home safe.=)

(what runs) Lori said...

EASIEST applesauce recipe ever?! I think so. And I have totally been craving applesauce lately... I'm in need of making this tonight.

Aside from that, sounds like you are having a wonderful time with eats! Yum! And I love that info about Women's Day! It should be a daily day.. but whatever. ;)

Nelly said...

it is so sad to think about what other women go through in other countries...the abuse and disrespect they face daily...that some die because of things we get to do everyday...

and i too love my ladies...i love and respect all of them...and would never ever hurt anyone intentionally...as for myself...it's a life long battle...it is so hard to accept myself...so very hard....ugh!!!

love all of your treats and that layer cake looks amaaaaazing...so glad you made the banana bread...looks amazing too.

love your little boys, they're so beautiful...

and good luck with the contest...my fingers are crossed!!!

love ya babe. have a beautiful evening.

bitt said...

that staircase is gorgeous! your husband is so talented!

oddie is adorable. he brightens my day each time you post a pic.

my costco doesn't seem to have a lot of the stuff I need, compared to what other people have said about theirs mine must not be that great. Bob's in a big bag--good find!

HiHoRosie said...

he did that staircase? It's stunning! Wow.

And hey I love the idea of doing your own operation beautiful. I should invest in some post its too. :)

Look at the yumminess and awesome buys! It all looks great.

Love the cute kitties, esp when they're a little naughty. :)

Happy Women's Day!

Angela (the diet book junkie) said...

i totally didn't know it was international women's day!

i really do miss Costco, but at the same time, we probably didn't shop there enough to take full advantage. p.s. that is a stunning staircase, good for him!

Melissa said...

Hey Kelli- Yes Oddie returned after 5 days in the wilderness..aka the neighborhood somewhere:)

Hey Lori - I always thought applesauce was an all day affair so this was a nice suprise:) I agree on the Women's Day ..we don't get enough credit:)

Hey Nelly - It is terrible to think what goes on everyday that we don't hear about because those women don't have a voice:( Yes, everyday is a struggle to accept myself and believe in myself!! Thanks doll for the kitty love:) I hope to continue some of my german traditions and maybe even try to veganize them. The cake was too good to not have again!

Hey Bitt - Thank you for commenting on the staircase, I agree:) Oddie is such a ball of love! As for Costco, I'm still on the fence. I wish they had more bulk items like dried beans, chia seeds, bags of oats etc.

Hey Heidi - Yay..hope you get some post-its:)I'm going to start today as I need some confident boosters for my exam this weekend!

Hey Angela - I love buying in bulk. Even though you pay more initially, you do save in the end and you don't have to go to the store twice a week for stuff. Thanks for the staircase love..I drool everytime I see the pictures:)

Nikki said...

Wow, that staircase! It's a dream! Hi Melissa, I'm catching up on my blog-reading after a super busy winter. Looks like you're doing well and keeping busy with school :)