For just a little while

Happy Tuesday folks!


             Hope everything is going well in your neck of the woods! Today I've come to share with you the reason I'm going on a little vacation from my blog.


Lately I've had this overwhelming pull to unplug. I spend a lot of time online and it's becoming too much. I find that I'm forcing myself to pump out posts and I feel like it's showing in my writing. I would cruise around the blogosphere for hours but I just don't have that urge anymore. So, I want to step back and take some time away to regroup and to come up with some fresh ideas.

This is not one of those I'm-going-to-take-a-week-off-and-then-you-never-see-me-again posts. No way! I just need to re-charge my creative juices and start taking some risks!

I want to thank everyone who reads my little blog. You are all so inspirational and I can't wait to come back and hand back some of that inspiration!

I also am frustrated with my camera. It's not my camera...it's me! I haven't taken the time to learn the basics and because I usually take my pictures at night that ads to my frustration with lighting etc. I am going to take some time and learn some basics and set up something like a light box or maybe light bouncing props like Averie so geniously made! I want the process to be enjoyable and the only way that is going to happen is if I invest some time into learning a few things.

So, I'm off for just a little while but don't fret I'll be back before you know it! Thank you for your understanding and hope to see you when I return:) XOXOXO

Yep, I'm alive

Holy! It's been awhile, hasn't it? I had good intentions then life started ramping up the speed a little bit:)

Things I've had to deal with been up to lately:

Fllings at the dentist - I was there for 3 hours on Tuesday. Ya, great fun!

I injured my back - Third round of What's My Name Workout and bam a shooting pain ran from my lower back down my whole leg. And being the stubborn person that I am, I stretched out the muscles a little bit until I could move with greater ease..and then I did two tabatha rounds of high knees with the jump rope. Ya, very smart I know! Let's just say this week has been a painful one!

Oddie needed care - I noticed he was acting quite odd on Saturday and was having a hard time going pee and so I looked up his symptoms and immediately thought he may have crystals in his urinary tract. So, off to the vet we went where they decided to get a urinalysis done. One of the vet techs said orange cats are more susceptible to urinary tract infections then other breeds. We got the results yesterday and nothing very serious was discovered from the testing. The vet said that some cats will have infections every so often through the year and they don't know why. So, we are putting him on antibiotics and we hopefully don't have a chronic case.

Homework - Boo!

Spring Cleaning - So, I do most of the cleaning in our house because Ry works long hours and well..I don't so I try to get most things done myself. I don't mind for the most part but sometimes doing dishes, upon dishes gets me down. Yes I have a dishwasher and it sucks!! So, to prevent myself from scrubbing endlessly, I just do them by hand.  But, sometimes Ry get's in the "mood" to organize and I don't stop him for one minute:) Usually this get's me motivated and so last week I started cleaning areas of the kitchen that I knew needed some serious TLC - My pantry and cutlery drawer! See below for some picts.

Anywho, here's a little re-cap of some eats!!

Mmmm

The lovely Katie sure does know her dips!! This Indian-Spiced Cauliflower dip was awesome!

Then I had a sudden craving for everything and anything pumpkin! I especially was craving a pumpkin pudding!

I found a basic recipe on Care 2. Then I just adjusted from there!

Perfect Pumpkin Pudding

1/2 cup cashews, soaked for a couple hours
1/4 cup maple syrup (or other sweetener of choice)
1/4 cup coconut oil ( I used coconut butter instead)
3/4 cup Carrot juice
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
pinch of salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
1-2 tablespoons pumpkin pie spice
1+ cup canned pumpkin

Start blending the cashews first (especially if you don't have a high powered blender like me) then add in the remaining ingredients until smooth. Add more pumpkin to get desired consistency.
A little maple, a little coconut, a little spice, and a little pumpkin = BLISS!
Very delicious!!

Then it was spring cleaning time! 
My poor pantry needed some structure so I organized everything into groups. Hopefully I'll be able to keep it more clean this way!

It feels good to walk in her knowing where I can find the quinoa and the garbanzo flour without searching and dropping jars everywhere!

On Sunday I picked up some of these crazy things? Any guesses?

They are milk kefir grains! I'm planning on making my own dairy and non-dairy kefir! I don't have enough grains to make just non-dairy kefir at the moment (they produce more grains after each batch, kind of like the scoby with kombucha. Once you make a batch in non-mammalian milk, they stop growing.So, I've got goat's milk kefir brewing away..in my pantry. See it on the top shelf in my pantry? I tasted the first batch and it tastes like tangy yogurt!! I can't wait to try the grains with almond milk and coconut milk!

Anyone have an experience with kefir, good or bad?

I better run! I'm about to top up my garden with a fresh batch of organic soil goodness! Some greens are already alive and cookin. More garden and kefir to come! Have a great day everyone.

what has me smiling today:)

howdy folks! You ready to turn that frown upside down? Ya, you are!!!

Here are a few things that have me smiling today....

1. Amazing voices that cause full on chills. I am going to buy their album on itunes because I love them that much..already:) Thank you Gina for sharing these wonderful guys with us!




2.  Leftovers!! We had a great throw-together-and-bake dinner last night and it tastes even better today:)

Mmm!!

3. My sis-in-law's kitty that she took in from the street had her kittens last night:) All survived and are doing well. I can't wait to see them and hopefully convince Ry to keep one...te he that's going to take some work:)

4. Sunshine!! Seriously it has been raining here everyday for I don't know how long. I was so excited to see the bright light in my office instead of grey:) I think my back is holding up well so I'm going to try biking in to work tomorrow.

5. Finding the ability to love who I am. This is a day to day task but I'm seeing the value and in giving myself credit and letting go of the perfection thing.


6. Adventures in the kitchen. I'm trying to just play around and combine different flavors to see what happens. This was from one of those adventures:)

This was a bar I worked on. It contained oats, chia, cashews, maple syrup, cranberries, orange zest, grated sweet potato, coconut butter, ginger, and nutmeg. It was good but needs some tweaking! See if you can spot the red onion that someone got mixed in HAHA!

What's got you smiling today?
Have a happy afternoon!!!

Weekend happenings

Howdy folks!!

             How are we all doing this April 5th? Relaxed after the weekend? I am in desperate need of a long weekend as Saturday and Sunday just seem to vanish into thin air! January to April we don't have any stat holidays in BC and so Easter can't come fast enough:)

This weekend I hung out with my mom and did a bit of shopping. Got some new sunglasses and tank tops. I don't know what happened by my tank top stash has dwindled to a few stragglers:( We watched some Intervention which is such an incredible series. Terribly hard to watch sometimes but I'm always hopeful for a positive outcome!! Went for a bike ride to one of our favorite coffee shops, and had a little family time!

When my mom came over for dinner I made roasted veggie sandwiches and "blizzards" for dessert.

Yes, those veggies look mighty roasted..because they are! I left the mushrooms, beets, peppers, and leeks in the oven a tad bit too long but they were still put to good use!

Starting from the top we have an almond, sun-dried tomato spread, roasted veggies, lettuce, and goat cheese. Delicious!! I got the recipe out of a Vegetarian Times magazine. I see myself making this sandwich a lot in the summer with all the garden fresh veggies. I just made some rejuvelec so cashew cheese is in my future and would be a great alternative to the goat cheese!

Now for dessert.... Every once and awhile Ry gets a Skor blizzard. I'm always jealous of his dessert and wonder why Dairy Queen doesn't have a dairy-free option? Now I don't need to wait for the DQ to make a dairy free blizzard because Angela beat them to it!! And I copied Angela:)

I used Averie's chocolate chip cookie dough ball recipe for the cookie dough part and ended up with this..

Frosty!!

So, so good!! The layers go dark chocolate, softserve, crumbled cookie dough ball, softserve, melted chocolate. Take that DQ!! I see this and the endless flavor combinations as a big hit for summer treats:)

We also sipped on this wine. It was okay but not my favorite Pinot Noir to date. PS on our trip we are planning to hit up the Napa valley and do some major wine tasting. Anyone have any suggestions?

On Sunday we had a friend over for din din and we decided to make nachos. I love my nachos LOADED. Of course nachos aren't the healthiest food out there so I tried to healthify them as much as I can which loads of veggies.

jalapenos, red onion, leek, and mushrooms

I put whole beans instead of refried! Don't mind my French:)

Silly me! I forgot to take a picture of my nacho masterpiece. But trust me they were perfecto with homemade salsa and guacamole. Mmmm!!

Yesterday I had an appointment with my ND. I love my ND. He keeps me in the loop with the happenings of naturopathic medicine and all the advancements in the field. I gain so much more than simply treatment for my ailments!! Him and his wife were one of the first graduates of the school I'm going to be attending in the fall so he gave me lots of advice regarding studying and the intensity. He's a no-bullshit kind of guy so I listen when he gives advice! 

 I felt my body alignment was off and I thought it was my right side but it was actually my left side AFFECTING my right side!! This trend is quite common with me. There was a lot of muscle manipulation and because I was "out" for awhile he had to work the muscles all the way up to my neck. My neck is quite sore today but hopefully it will hold. I also had to get a prolo shot in my back as I have an old tear that I have avoiding getting treatment for. He hit the money spot and I felt the nerves firing all the way down my back and leg! Yes, my pain tolerance is high! This is one procedure that I cannot wait to learn. My doctor even told me that I don't have to be an ND graduate to take the course so maybe I'll attempt it after my second year.

I haven't biked to work this week due to the endless rain and today because of my treatment. I'll see how I feel on Thursday and maybe I'll bike the last two days. Yesterday before my treatment I did a ladder workout at home using three exercises: squat press, pushups, and rows. I used 2-10lb dumbbells for the squat and the rows. I could have used a tad bit heavier weights but I still got a great workout in. Basically the circuit looks like this

Round 1 - 1 rep squat and press, 1 rep pushups, 1 rep rows

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Round 10 - 10 reps squat and press, 10 reps pushups, 10 reps rows

Then you go back down the ladder doing 9,8, 7....etc reps of each exercise. This is a great circuit if you are crunched for time but still want a full body workout. You can use different exercises of course to make it easier or more difficult depending on your fitness level! This is a great way to switch up your routine and try something different. I'm also planning on dominating Gina's Monday BANG workout sometime this week. This looks killer! Burpees for 1 minute? Help me now!!

Have a great rest of your day!! I'm planning on cooking tonight since I'm supposed to rest and all.

Maybe I'll cook and watch Oprah!! Oh and I need to catch up on Glee, I'm going through some serious withdrawals!

Chow XOXOXO