New kitchen appliance plus veggie wraps!

Happy Tuesday everyone!

Hope you all had a fabulous weekend! Happy belated 4th of July to my American friends:) I know there are lots of gatherings, dinners, and fireworks taking place in honor of Independence Day. Maybe you set off your own fireworks?? My weekend was lovely and included shopping with my mom, some yard work, a wonderful dinner out, and some more Grouse Grind action.

After my workout on Friday I quickly made a juice. This one was a little hard to drink as I made it with mostly beet greens and not enough cucumber or something sweet to balance it out. But I chugged it anyways and said "cells, you better enjoy"..haha!

Almost there! Had to take a breather..powerful stuff!


Green goodness all the way!

Later on that night we went out to the Vault for dinner with my MIL and her hubby. It was a lovely dinner which featured a Flamenco guitar player. Loved his music! I had a beet salad with spring rolls as I wasn't feeling the pasta. They all went for DQ after dinner but I sat patiently knowing I would get my dessert on the way home:) I picked up a Cocoa Camino dark chocolate with coconut bar. It was pretty good but I prefer their mint chocolate or just plain chocolate bars better. I had this stage where I ate everything sweet with mint..then it got to much and I left the mint alone...but now I'm back on the wagon. Maybe its because my mint plant is just growing like crazy and the smell is sucking me in!! Mmmm.

On Saturday I did some grocery shopping at my fave grocery market . I LOVE going here because each week there is a new veggie that is ready in the garden. I get so excited to wander around and see what goodies I can try this week. It's like a farmers market really because they grow a ton of the food themselves and most if not all is grown organically. Here are a couple of my finds :

Peas, glorious peas! Have I told you that I have a slight obsession when it comes to eating shelling peas? Yep, it's true! As a kid my aunt wouldn't let me out in here garden if the peas were ready because she knew she would never get any for herself..lol! I love them so much and the season is just too short so I eat as many as I can get my hands on. That bag above was gone in about an hour..seriously, I have a problem:)

All those greens are for which veggie? Do you know? Take a guess!

While you ponder over those greens, here's a broad bean. MASSIVE, hey? I have never had them before so I thought I would try them out. Will keep you posted.

Ta da!!! It's daikon! Were you right? Look at all those greens. I kept some and so I'm going to see if I can use them in a salad or smoothie. They look too amazing to throw out:)

My Mom came over later on (she left on Monday:( and we went for lunch where I got the salad sans the chicken. It actually was pretty good and they gave me lots of veggies...no skimping..which I liked! Then we went shopping for a new house plant. Mom wanted to get me a snake plant for our house warming gift because I love the one that she has.

Mine is a bit smaller than this but with some TLC she should grow big! These are very good for cleaning the air in your home..so big bonus. I found mine for $5 so they are very reasonable too!

Plus she bought me a new aloe plant! Mine just wasn't doing too well so hopefully this beauty will thrive. I feel a deep connection to aloe. I think its an amazing plant and am constantly in awe as to what it can be used for. Check out my post on aloe for a more in depth discussion.

Then we headed out to check out food processors because mine officially died the other day. I mean I liked beating those chickpeas..but I don't have that much frustration to be beating food with a pan everyday..ha! We did a little compare shopping but then we found this....

A 14 cupper wahoo!! Seriously, I was using a 3 cup processor for nearly two years. This is heaven:) Plus it was very reasonable.


Plus its got a timer on it which I think is pretty cool! I like the stainless steel design too. It's got this sweet chopping blade and immediately when I saw it I thought...KRAUT!!! Soon people, soon!

Thank mom for the amazing house warming gifts!!! You know they will be put to good use! Even if the plants only job is to not die lol!

Saturday night I was alone for dinner (boo!!) as the hubs was out watching modern day gladiator fights, also known as the UFC. I actually don't mind the fights if there is a guy in there who I value. Some people may think that it's just a macho man kind of sport but its highly disciplined with tons of training, goal setting, healthy competition (for the most part), and mindset work. There are a few who are a walking ego but then there are the guys who came from nothing and literally fought their way to the spotlight. My favorite guy is George St. Pierre. He is from Montreal and I believe he is the champion right now in his weight class. He supported himself through his job as a garbage man. I mean talk about humble beginnings. He works so hard and the ego doesn't show itself which I really like.

Not bad, hey? Ya, he's quite the looker..especially when he wears his tighty fight shorts:)

Don't worry Ry already knows about my crush LOL!!

Moving on...or should I give you a few minutes to stare?? Te he! Anywho, I made a lovely solo dinner that I ate outside in the cold..haha! It was sunny but the wind but chilly. Raw veggie wraps are quickly becoming a top favorite of mine. They are quick, healthy, easy, and you can make whatever dipping sauce you desire.

Love all the color!! I had yellow bell peppers, carrots, cucumber, avocado, daikon which were wrapped in collard greens and kale. I dipped the wraps in honey-dijon sauce (simply some dijon with whatever amount of sweetener you like added in) and salsa. The salsa was a trial to see how it would go but I didn't really like it that much. Next time I'm going to make a spicy doritos cheesy dip or remake this dip from another veggie wrap day. How do you like your veggie wraps?

I also had some fennel that was part of my work open house stash. I remember Averie cooking some up in one of her posts so I decided to follow here recommendations. I couldn't find my ginger anywhere so I left that out and I ran out of black pepper so I used a small amount of cayenne for bite! Then I added some cumin, nutmeg, and garlic.

Mmmm! I've never cooked fennel before and I'm not sure why...it's so delish! Soft and caramelized..you have to try it.

I devoured these..oh so good!

And this handsome fella decided to join me after patrolling the yard. He loves it back there even though he thinks the neighbor's yard is a much hipper place to be:)

On Sunday we hit up the Grouse Grind with some friends and my SIL. It was a lot tougher this time around because there was a low lying cloud and so it was quite humid in there. Still not bad 1 hour 1 minute, 4 minutes slower than last time. Still I loved it, its such a mental push for me! We then hit up The Naam for lunch except they were only serving brunch so I opted for a breakfast bowl with potatoes, tofu, some other veggies, and miso gravy. Definite must try..oh so yummy!

Once we got home I was feeling pretty mellow so I decided to just do some laundry and blog..but then a friend came over so the blogging was put to the wayside..but that's okay because that's life and I want to enjoy whatever comes my way:)

Tomorrow I'm going to share with you what came in the mail!!! It's awesome:)

The addiction begins....

Happy Monday ladies and gents!

I had a wonderful weekend full of friends,lawn mowing, food,and fresh air! Hope you had a wonderful time doing what you love. I think that's key in life to enjoy your passions and soak them up because they make life so FULL and they help you leave behind (even if just for an hour) the stresses that you may be faced with.
For me being outside and in the mountains or on a trail is like being in a different world. It a simpler world where you only find ferns, moss covered trees,babbling brooks, and quiet! I feel so recharged and motivated after being in the forest, like I could accomplish anything. Where is that place for you?

I started out on Thursday after work with a run on my favorite trail that is only 5 minutes from my work..YAY! I was running alone and I get a bit nervous just because there are crazy people out there. I pulled into the parking lot and there was this guy just sitting in his pick-up truck smoking a cigarette...uggh. What a great way to kick-start my fears into high gear. I did some stretching and waited to see any joggers come along the path and there were enough to make me feel safe so I decided I would stay. I ran with my phone and my car key which I had strategically placed in between two fingers just in case. Okay, call me paranoid but seriously you need to think about the possibility of a creeper (even though it aches me to say that) especially because this trail is in a wooded area.

Once I actually got on the trail..heaven!


It's so picturesque in there my picture doesn't even come close. And because of all the rain we have been having, it's so green in there I had to squint when the brief periods of sun shined down, very brief!

I could stay in there forever! Such beautiful scenery really keeps me motivated while running.

I love this section as the trees are leaning into the trail and you feel like you are running under the protection of the trees. You know in medieval time how the royal men would walk under the swords..that kind of thing..hahaha. Yes, I did just say I feel like royalty! I had a little prance in my step at this point in the run:)

You can't really tell from the photo but this is a hill..a MONSTER of a hill that continues on around that corner. I love to conquer this on my runs..feels darn good and the heart likes it too:)

I had such an awesome time on the trail that I've decided to visit here 2-3 times per week.
After my run on Thursday I boogied on over to my grandma's house where my mom was because I ordered a flat (15lbs) of strawberries. My mom sells the berries that she gets directly from the farmer so they are fresh and oh man they are fabulous!

These are not organic and I'm okay with that because I have a direct source to the farm. I've looked around and there doesn't seem to be an organic strawberry farmer in my area which is too bad.

Oh yum! I seriously ate 5lbs to myself on Thursday night..yep I'm addicted!

On Friday night we just hung out at home and watched a movie. I find its hard to plan things on Fridays because everyone is just so beat and needs some down time. Anyone else feel this way or are you pumped for a night out on the town? I'm starting to feel my party stage die off...lol! I still love to party..just on Saturday night instead and maybe at a friend's house instead of a club. Oh how your preferences change!

When I was making some eats for dinner on Friday I had the weirdest thing happen. I was taking my yam fries out of the oven and I put the glass pan they were in on a wooden cutting board when BAM.....


The pan just shattered!! I stood there in shock for 30 seconds as my brain tried to get caught up as to what just happened. Thankfully, I didn't get any in my eyes or anywhere else! I still don't know how it could have happened, maybe the pan had a crack in it that I didn't see?? Whatever it was, it freaked me out and it took forever to get all the glass pieces picked up off the floor and the cutting board as I was shaking for a couple minutes! And all those yam fries...boo!

To make the night all better I made a little dessert! I bought an Endangered Species chocolate bar and decided to make some banana chocolate chunk mint softserve! I think I have officially beat down my tiny food processor to the point where she doesn't want to destroy frozen bananas anymore. Instead I had to use the blender which was definitely not as fun but still did the job!

This delicious dessert was 1.5 bananas, 5 squares of chocolate, and 3-4 mint leaves. Food process or blend until creamy. Yum!! I love mint and chocolate together. The perfect combo in my opinion!

On Saturday I cut the lawn as the hubby was working and then did some grocery shopping. Check out the produce that I found...

Look at that dinosaur kale..it was massive and 99 cents a bunch! They grow it themselves and do not use any sprays..score!

Ever tried a kohlrabi? They are a funny German Turnips are oh so crisp and delicious! The taste and texture are similar to the broccoli stem or cabbage heart but a little more juicy I find. I really love them and can't stop eating them lately!

Greens, greens, and more greens. I bought the kale, huge bunch of parsley, cilantro, radishes, kohlrabi, collard greens ( among other non-green veggies). I love when my fridge is stocked! I've also noticed that this past month I wasn't really eating enough greens so now I have no excuse to get smoothied up!

On Saturday night we went over to a friends and had an amazing dinner! We had a wild rice, BBQ'd beet salad and there was a fennel salad (can't remember what else was in it), and a chickpea, cucumber,and mint salad. Oh I was in heaven! Sorry no pictures:( But here's something you don't see every day...Ry with a baby AND a beer! I just had to snap this picture of our friend's newest addition. It was probably Ry's first time holding a baby with one hand..lol!

Don't worry there was parental supervision and only 2 beer sips had been taken!!
Don't mind his expression!

On Sunday we headed out to another little (healthy!) addiction of ours. For the first time this year we climbed the Grouse Grind. We love this trail because you basically are climbing the side of a mountain. It's only 2.9km long but the elevation gain is 853 meters or 2800 feet. It's called "Mother Nature's StairMaster" and it lives up to that name. For us it's all about the competition and beating your last time! Last year I think my best time was an hour. Yesterday I beat it by 3 minutes! Wahoo I'm pretty excited that I started off so strong on the first trek up to the top. I completed it in 57 minutes, Ry completed in 45 minutes!

Gorgeous!! See that little speck on the electrical line..that's the gondola and that's probably 1/4 up the mountain so you can tell you are pretty much in the clouds!

The beginning couple of minutes is nice and its fun to look at the forest but this is the only easy part of the whole hike. I followed that guy in the picture all the way to the top. He kept a good pace and so I tried to match him:)

And up we go! Some areas there are wooden stairs but other times you are walking on big rocks etc! Very good hike for the mind as you have to pick your next step wisely!

And into the clouds!! It was pretty cool yesterday when we hiked up but I was glad for those temperatures because you get so hot stair climbing a mountain for an hour..lol! As it was Father's day there were lots of dads with their young kids and (most) kids love going up there! We past one little guy who didn't seem to be too impressed and Ry passed one little girl who said "I knew there wasn't ice cream at the top and now the bears are going to eat me." They have two grizzly bears that were orphaned as babies in a large sanctuary of sorts at the top of the mountain. So cute:) We will be trekking up the mountain a lot this summer and probably trekking back down too. There is the option of taking the gondola down but apparently they are going to be doubling the price soon which makes the trip out there not very economical for us. So, we decided to try hiking down the mountain on a different trail to see what it was like. It wasn't bad at all because we took our time and made sure we landed softly for the knees.

It was a little sketchy here because all the roots were wet and slippery. I was nervous that it was going to be like this the whole way down but it got better and I actually enjoyed it. I could feel the knees a little bit nothing crazy. We had one downer hiker who should have really minded his own business but he decided that we were really stupid to go down the mountain because it is horrible on the knees. I made a comment that basically said we wanted to try it out and it was our first time out this year. He pretty much snapped back and said well see how your knees feel Monday and went on to bitch and complain to his hiking buddy about "first time" hikers blah blah blah. Gosh, what does it matter to you? I'll wreck my knees if I want to (even though I was being super cautious). Oh well, there's always one isn't there? On a happier note, Ry bumped into an old high school class mate of his on the trail. Seriously Ry bumps into random people he knows from high school or elementary school ALL the time..it's bizarre! I don't even see anyone I know when I'm IN my home town..lol!

Roots, roots everywhere! Yes, I climbed down this but it wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. I held onto the trees for support and zig-zagged down!

All in all, it was an awesome hike up and down! My dirty running shoe tells it all..lol! I really need to get me a good pair of hiking boots because these trails rapidly destroy running shoes!

We are anxiously waiting to eat because we were going to our favorite post-Grouse Grind restaurant, The Naam! This is a 24 hour vegetarian eatery that is a Vancouver fave! We were almost there when ker-plunk Ry's muffler decided to come off. We are in the middle of kits and thank goodness there was this couple that had a screw driver for us to use to keep it secure until we got to a store. Well an hour later and many trips into Canadian Tire, the hubby fixed the muffler (out in the parking lot with the car raised onto the curb ha!)..wahoo! I love that he can fix car problems because it sure saves us a pretty penny!

By this time we were starving and so we quickly ordered. Ry got his favorite..the Reuben platter (made with sietan) and got the Naam salad with romaine, beets, alfalfa sprouts, sunflower seeds, tomatoes, carrots, and more but I just can't remember. The dressing was miso ginger...duh! Sorry no pictures as we were too busy scarfing..I mean slowly eating our eats! Oh so good.

After our late lunch we went to check out a store that was highly recommended for organic and healthy bulk items. The store is called Famous Foods.

I read that they really don't like people taking pictures inside so I don't have any insider picts but I didn't see too many workers around so I totally could have snapped a few..next time! Anyways, the store isn't huge but its awesome! It has everything seperated into bags already so you don't have to worry about bulk bins. They have every kind of bean, grain, spice, baking item. There are lots of organic options and the prices are really good! I think when we are down in Vancouver we will stop in on the way back to the valley. I won't be making an extra trip out as it wouldn't make sense with all the driving and all!

Well that's my weekend in a nutshell or a novel:) Hope you have a wonderful week this week. I have a couple of exciting things happening: Tomorrow is the hubby's birthday so we are going out for din din, later on in the week I'm going to be going to my first ever raw foods class and I'm going to help the teacher with a little bit of prep and some clean up. I'm excited to meet her and I'll update you as the date gets closer:) Plus more berries..ohh I'm SO excited!

PS Meghan is having a glassdharma giveaway. Wahoo!!

PPS Aimee is having an amazing vegan vitamin D giveaway! This contest ends June 25th at noon Pacific