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.

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!

7 lives

Happy Valentine's Day Everyone!!!

            I know its a commercial holiday, but it doesn't hurt to have more love in the world right? I think Valentines should be more than giving your sweetheart a chocolate heart, it should be about loving ourselves and all the special people in our lives. That includes you my lovely readers♥

Ry and I don't go all out on V-day. We might go and workout together which NEVER happens so that should be fun:) I will most likely make him a meal that he loves and some kind of chocolate dessert for us to share. Time together is very precious and because it's been pretty limited lately, I'm happy with staying home and getting in some quality snuggle time:)

Anyone going big today?

I'm rather giddy today for another reason. Guess who came home yesterday?

Mr.Oddie!!!

Ryan was up at 6:30 getting ready to go to work and he opened the door to let Nemo outside and I heard this high pitched meow right after. Then heavy footsteps up the stairs. Ry came around the corner and said "look who's home" and put Oddie on the bed. It was surreal. Okay, maybe it was because I was still asleep. But you look and you look for the little guy EVERYWHERE and you almost give up hope and then BAM he's at the front door. I'm so happy!!! I did a lot of crying on the weekend which left me feeling pretty drained so I'm elated that he's home!! Oddie is fine, no injuries. He did have some black soot or oil on his neck so he most likely was hiding under a car for awhile. He ate and he ate and then had a long nap with Nemo:) I guess 5 days in the "wild" will do that to you. I tried to get in some studying last night but he just couldn't stop snuggling and giving me kisses:)

And this morning Oddie is at the vet to get snipped and to get a tattoo. I'm not messing around now that I've been given a second chance to make it right! He is now down 2 lives!! I'm coming to think that the saying, cats have 9 lives, is true.

This pict was taken in my office as he had to come with me to work before going to see the doc!

 On Sunday morning I went for a run and took down all the posters I had put up in the hood. One guy I talked to said that he was looking out for him but he was concerned because there have been quite a few coyotes in the neighborhood recently. Eeeek!

Question for all you pet owners out there. Do you vaccinate according to what the vet suggests or do you have your own schedule? The vet is requesting Nemo and Oddie get over $100 worth of shots each and I'm a little skeptical if they need that much. Also, I'm getting Oddie tattooed but Nemo has a chip. My logic tells me that people are more apt to bring an animal to a shelter if they see a tattoo. Since they cannot see the chip, they might just think it's a stray and keep them:( What are your thoughts.

Also Nemo and Oddie LOVE to be outside and so I don't think I could ever deny them that. Some people said to keep them indoors from now on but I just don't think it's fair to them especially since they are used to being indoors AND outdoors. They are inside when we are at work or on big outings but in the morning and afternoon when I get home they make their rounds. Oddie usually following Nemo which is good because Nemo stays close by.

Moving onto blog related stuff, I just wanted to thank you for reading and commenting as I know my posts have been pretty erratic and the content not too exciting. Love you all!! Lately tons of ideas for posts have been popping up in my mind so I'm going to pumping out some good reads soon. These will include, but are not limited to, new fitness ideas, gardening, crafts, juicing, running, travel, races etc etc! Of course food is going to be a topic I'll never stop talking about:)  I'm very excited!

Have a great rest of your V-day and don't forget to do something for yourself today! You deserve it:)

Coming up tomorrow: Hawaiian treats and V-day re-cap:)

Happy Monday all!!

       How was your weekend? Anyone do some Black Friday shopping? As you know I'm in Canada, so we don't get the crazy deals like my American friends. Yet, every store here on the weekend was having some sort of Black Friday rivalry sale. I did take part but only for some winter boots, nothing too picture worthy there.

Besides shopping, I got so much stuff done this weekend and it felt good to be so efficient.

Application in -check

Laundry-check

Homework- a half a check

Clean bachelor suite- check

Garden clean-up - check

Drop off clothes/housewares to charity - check

Hubby fix oil leak in my car- big check:)

Spend some quality time laughing with friends because of this - check

Make two soups - check

Phew!! Lots going on and some big things checked off my to-do list. I like getting things done now so that I can move on and have fun later. Don't you agree? 

Moving on from my brag fest, what do you think about the new look? I think it looks a lot "cleaner" and brighter! I didn't change it sooner because I thought it was going to be a lot of work but it actually wasn't too bad. I had to google for a tutorial but all went smoothly so I'm happy:) Let me know what you think!

The other day at the grocery store I sort of went a little crazy in the tea aisle. I was set on trying

some new flavors as my tea stash was getting really low.

First up, Candy Cane Lane tea. I saw this crazy tea flavor featured on Katie's blog and thought I would give it a shot. Even though I was quite skeptical. Verdict? It's AWESOME!

 If you aren't in the Christmas spirit yet, one sip of this tea will transform you!

Mmm..ginger peach, chocolaty chai, and jasmine green tea!

 I like them all but the ginger peach has to be my fave.

    Good timing too as Thursday I woke up to this.....

A winter wonderland in my backyard!

Oddie's first experience with snow. It was pretty hilarious watching him play around and even roll in the snow

As I ended up working from home for half the day, it was the perfect time to make spaghetti sauce! I roughly based my sauce on Kathy's recipe and adjusted the spices to taste.

Why on earth is there romaine in my pasta bowl? Well I had a salad before I got to the pasta, and I had a few pieces of lettuce left in my bowl and decided to try it with the pasta and sauce on top. It actually was pretty good. Lots of different textures. You can say weird here if you like:) That slim piece of bread WAS a piece of garlic toast. Yum!! Just take a piece of friend bread, slather on some vegan spread, sprinkle on some garlic powder, and your favorite cheese. Broil for a couple minutes. Delish!

I like to always have some sort of salad with a meal. Here it is romaine, mushrooms, and collards in a balsamic dressing.

The hubby's version with goat cheese feta and sunflower seeds

That's all for today folks!!! Have a great rest of your Monday.I'll be back soon to share with you some great soups and whatever else I concoct in the Kitchie. Until then, Oddie says hi.....