cheesy chili nachos with homemade gaucamole (and salsa!!!)

Happy Tuesday,

               Sorry I haven't been around too much in the sphere as I'm busy training a new girl at work, my boss is away, and homework has been creeping up on me!!

Good news is I'm halfway through the course as so that's keeping me motivated! I'm doing much better than I did in university too so that has me feeling pretty good. I really just needed to believe in myself and not let fear get the best of me.

You really CAN do anything you put your mind to!!

So, now that we can do anything, why not a home workout with a broomstick and some 2x4's?

Yep, I really wanted to do Zuzana's Sexy Beast workout but I didn't have a dip station so a broomstick, a table, and a couple of 2x4's did the trick.

How can you tell my hubby works with wood? Ha!

It's a little scary pulling yourself up on that thin, plastic rod as all you can think about is it breaking and you crashing to the ground! But it held up and I was able to do the workout! It felt good to do some "pulling" exercises as lately I've been doing a lot of "pushing" exercises (push ups, dive bombers etc)

After that good sweat session, I made a delicious juice with fresh cranberries

 Mmm local cranberries!! Love that deep red!

add in some celery, cucumber, carrot, beet tops, beets, and you've got yourself some amazing plant blood!!!

This juice packs a punch, both flavor and nutrient wise!! 
The cranberries alone have some amazing benefits, according to WHFoods:

Good source of Vitamin C

antioxidant

anti-inflammatory

anti-cancer

protection against urinary tract infections

optimizes the balance of bacteria in digestive tract

Yesterday I was at Silver Hills picking up some sprouted bread and since I haven't been in there for a while I cruised the other food stuffs they were selling. It was then that the corner of my eye caught this....

YES!!! I found it. I couldn't believe it! I thought I was going to have to go to Vancouver to pick some up but now I only have a 10 minute drive. I'm excited to have this option available as the soy cheese is pretty gross ( in my opinion). I won't be stocking my fridge every week with it but I'll definitely be picking some up as a treat.

Mmmm!! I actually really like it. It's a little greasy but the flavor is the best of the fake cheeses I've tried so far!

Have you tried Daiya? What's your favorite?

Since I already have some amazing homemade salsa, it wasn't too hard to put together some tasty nachos!
I love LOADED nachos so I decided to make some chili spiced beans to layer in!

Spicy chili beans
I can kidney beans
1 cup pureed tomatoes
2 tbs chili powder
pinch cayenne
salt as desired

Add all ingredients in a pot and cook until the pureed tomatoes reduces down a bit. Adjust spice as desired!

In my opinion, nachos just aren't complete without some delicious guacamole!

Spice it up guacamole

3 very ripe avocados
2 tomatoes
1 small onion
Juice from 2 limes
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon cumin
Pinch cayenne pepper
Salt and Pepper to taste


But before we get to the main attraction, you have to make sure you get in a good serving of veggies!

Kale, tomato, yellow bell pepper, cabbage, green onion, and cucumber salad with figgy balsamic dressing

Alright it's layering time!

 

Start with a good base of chips. Then add some of the spiced chili beans and top that with some Daiya!

 

Then add some jalapeno peppers (take the seeds out!!), tomatoes, and green onions. 

Then add another layer of chips and repeat the toppings

 

Stick the plate in the oven at 350 degrees on broil. 

When all the cheese looks melted take the plate out as the cheese will burn pretty quickly after this point

Then start dipping! The cheese actually melted pretty well and it maintained it's flavor too. 

Next time I would add more veggies and probably more beans too as they added great flavor!

What a great way to end a Monday!! Then to top it off we caught up on the latest Dexter. 

Oh they are so good at keeping the suspense..love it! 

PS did you know that the guy who plays Dexter is married to the girl who plays his sister (Deb) on the show? Just found that out at the latest family dinner. Crazy!

Speaking of crazy! Check out the harvest we collected today at my work garden...

There is rosemary, a couple varieties of lettuce, beets, turnips, kale, parsley, chard, celery, and beans (drying them out to save the seeds). Amazing for the middle of November!!

Have yourself a great night!!

A little okra, quinoa roasted beet salad, and a workout

I'm back! I felt like I needed to give Remembrance Day it's own post. I'm sure you would agree:)

The other day I was wandering through the aisles of my favorite produce place and I saw these.....

Immediately I heard Katie's voice screaming at me to pick some up. I listened.

Katie said to try roasting these suckers and eat them with with some classic condiments or even ginger mustard will do. I followed orders! 

 

How did I do?

Then it was the battle of the condiments.Will it be the saucy MR.K or the sophisticated MR.DM?

After Multiple taste tests I think Mr.Dijon had me swooning more! Yum!

Do you like okra? What's your favorite way to eat it?

I'm thinking okra would be amazing deep fried and of course Paula Deen can show you how!

On Saturday night when I was making dinner for some friends I WAS going to bring another salad but my energy levels were just too low. Since I bought all the ingredients for the salad, I made it for myself instead later in the week:)

I was searching for a quinoa salad (love me some quinoa!!) and I came across Ricki's blog Diet, Desserts and Dogs. What a great site! I had seen the site before but had totally forgotten about it. So glad I found it again as it's a great for foodie inspiration.

While I was cruising around Ricki's recipe index I found a great quinoa, roasted beet, and walnut salad.

 

I used pecans because I didn't want to shell walnuts that night! Mmm really good. Just one note, make sure you don't burn the lemon rinds and the dressing can get a bit bitter! I also suggest doubling the dressing recipe as I would have preferred a little bit more. As a result I added a bit of a new dressing I tried.

 Involving some very expensive figs:)

Add in some olive oil and balsamic vinegar (along with some other goodies) and you've got a

figgy balsamic dressing.

This is really delicious! I made the dressing from a recipe off of The Whole Life Nutrition Kitchen's site. Another great site to check out some foodie inspiration..and it's gluten free!

Now for workout time!!! i had another treatment for one of my knees the other day and so I need to keep the exercising of the lower body to a minimum. This is hard for me to do because I love to feel the burn in the legs, thighs, and but!! But I need to honor my body and let it heal so that I can squat and lunge into my 90's:)

So, I decided to invent a little workout that was geared towards my abs!

Kick my but abs Circuit

Please note: I'm not a trainer, just an exercise lover who put some exercises together. 

Rebounder - 60 seconds (Jump with two feet or jump single leg bringing your knees as high as you can)

Side plank lift - 25/side

Rebounder - 60 seconds

Stability ball plank- 60 seconds

Rebounder - 60 seconds

Leg lift,star crunch - 20 reps

Rebounder - 60 seconds

Elbow plank side hops - 20 reps

Repeat the circuit three times. Resting where needed.

I feel it in the abs today..wahoo!Have a great rest of your day!!

Remembrance

Happy Thursday!!


             How are you all doing? I'm still not feeling my best but I'm almost there! I am on the last hour of an intermittent fast and could not sleep past 5:30 so here I am writing to you fine folks:) Why does this always happen on my days off? I better plan more strategically next time.

Today is a very special day in our country...it's Remembrance Day!  

Past and present many men and women have dedicated their lives to creating peace for our world and I wish I could thank every one of them. I'm not just talking Canadian soldiers either! Just because it's remembrance day here doesn't mean we don't honor all soldiers around the world!



To those loved ones who have lost, I pray for peace in your heart

To children who have lost a mother or a farther, they really were true superheros!

To wives/husbands who have spouses out in battle, I pray for a safe homecoming!

To veterans thank you for your sacrifice and for facing so many atrocities so that we may live in peace . I never will forget you!

To those soldiers facing the battles of the world today, I pray for your safety! You make my world a better place and I am forever grateful!

Do you have a relative who is currently in battle or one who battled a past war?

The dinner I couldn't taste

Happy Monday all!

              Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend.  I know a few lucky people ate their way through Foodbuzz weekend!! Looked like a lot of fun:) I, on the other hand, was trying to remedy a cold I caught. Boo!! It started on Thursday as I was totally lethargic and could barely function. Then on Friday I felt a lot better and even made it to the gym for a great upper body workout sesh from Jessica's site.

I had my sis-in-law over that night and we had a glass of wine together which I think is what kicked my cold into high gear as the next morning I was down for the count. I had made plans already to cook our good friends some dinner on Saturday night and I kept my word, even though it took a lot of rest stops and a nap to get me through! The worst of it was I couldn't taste a darn thing. Cooking without my taste buds? Yes, sadly I was cooking blind!!

Anywho, here was the menu!


 Soba noodle salad with ginger peanut dressing from Vegetarian Times. For some reason I didn't take a picture of this beautiful salad but it looked something like I've made before...

Yum!!!

I had this big ambition to make three salads and a soup plus dessert but due to me feeling like my head was going to explode, I toned it down to one salad, a soup, and cupcakes:)

As for the soup, I made a roasted butternut squash soup by Michael Chiarello on the Food Network. It was a lot of effort but the soup turned out pretty amazing. I added in too much squash so my soup turned out a bit thick but the taste was all there...apparently!

Now for dessert!! I saw Angela post an amazing recipe for.....

Mini Cinnamon Chocolate Cupcakes with Spiced Buttercream and Candied Maple Walnuts and I knew they were going to be my little treat for the dinner guests!!

 I started by shelling some walnuts! Mmmm local walnuts that I picked myself:)

Then I candied them up!

Then I frosted them up!!! I went with the full size cupcakes:)

Yum!! These turned out perfect!! Just moist enough! And with that icing...divine!

What's your favorite cupcake recipe?

I made it through the dinner with the help of some herbal tea. Then I gave our friends a scoby to make their own kombucha!! Wahoo!! So excited to share my knowledge and help someone make this amazing drink!

Sunday came along and I was feeling a bit better so I helped the hubby who had this sudden urge to have an organization bonanza of the house! I didn't fuss one bit:) I'm happy to say my kitchen is spotless and with some better organization, I have more counter space..wahoo! The rest of the house is looking awesome too.

Oh how I love progress!!!

All while we the hubby worked around the house the kittens had a grand ole time playing!

 I see you Oddie!!

I got you, big bro!!

 Time for a nap!

:)

Night Night!!

Halloween and a cassarole

Sounds like a familiar combination from a Disney classic?

I'll let you decide which is which after reading the rest of the post:)
Let's start off with the weekend shall we. Yes, I know it's almost hump day but that's how I roll!

Friday night was good fun where we celebrated a very close friend of ours 60th birthday. They rented a hall and had a southern-style BBQ dinner and they even hired a square dancing caller! Now I've never square danced in my life but it was great fun learning how to "spin your partner" and "circle to the left."

Then on Saturday my SIL's had a Halloween party which was a total blast. I brought the Nikon along and caught some pretty hilarious moments! My drink(s) for the night were a combo of OJ, kombucha, and rum. It was pretty delish! Okay so who attended this Halloween bash?....There were...

  plumbers, princesses, and male nuns! Oh my!

There were creepy men from the boonies!

This is my SIL's boyfriend and he absolutely played the part! I laughed so hard throughout the night!

 Pirates galore!!

Witches and zombies!!!

That's my SIL in the green!! She got that paint sprayed on my a make-up artist! It looked awesome!

and doctors and nurses!!!

It was so much fun!! Everyone dressed up and we all had some good laughs! We had some great party tunes going and so I did a lot of dancing to this song. LOVE it!

I haven't drank at a party in a long time (BC has very strict driving policies when any amount of liquor is involved) so I knew I had to pace myself . Thankfully I did that and I felt a lot better than some people the next day lol! One reason I don't like to drink a lot is because the next day I feel lazy and want to eat bad things and it feels like a whole day is wasted. So I pick and choose wisely..hopefully!

After a big breakfast with the family, we headed home and began carving our pumpkins!

Yes, the first house guest was on the chopping block!!

Look at all those guts I need to scrape out!! But that means lots of seeds so it's worth it!

Here's one of mine! Stellar work, hey? HAHA!!

Then the hubby got involved and look at how he scared this poor guy!

 Mine are the first two, the hubby's devil pumpkin is on the end.

So, who has more skill? Wait!!!...don't answer that. This is my blog, remember? Te he

After googling and playing around with the buttons and functions on the Nikon, we were able to take a picture of the pumpkin in the dark..yay! Although it's not exactly the glowing pumpkin we were hoping to capture. But hey, read and learn, right?

Thinking we were on a pretty popular road for kidlets, I bought the big box of candy. Bad idea. We had about 8 ghosts and goblins come to the door. 8!!!  So, guess who got to eat the rest of the chocolate and did I tell you I have a sweet tooth. Not good!! Now that I'm chocolated (it's not a word but just roll with me here )out for about a week (maybe) I thought I would share a yummy casserole I made the other night when we had a friend over for a spontaneous dinner.

I was in the mood for a casserole. Since pasta is a pretty good dish to serve meat-less, I did a google search and decided to base my dinner on the Italian Veggie Casserole on Vegweb.

Spontaneous Veggie Casserole

1 onion, chopped

1/2 large zucchini, cut the way you like

1 head of broccoli, cut into small florets

1 package mini cremini mushrooms

1/2 bunch of kale

2-3 garlic cloves, minced

1 teaspoon basil, dried (can use fresh too, use 1 tablespoon)

1 teaspoon parsley, dried (can use fresh too, use 1 tablespoon)

1 package of swirly, macaroni, or any small shaped pasta

1 28oz can of tomatoes or use approximately 3 1/2 cups fresh

2-3 cups bread crumbs - I took a loaf of french bread, chopped a couple slices into cubes and baked it on 250 degrees until crispy

Vegan/non-vegan cheese or your choice.

1 jar of your favorite pasta sauce

salt and pepper

Heat up some oil in a pan (coconut is my fave!) and add the onions. Cook until they become soft. Add the minced garlic and cook for 2 minutes. Add in your veggies and herbs. Cook until soft.

In the meantime, cook your pasta

Once everything is cooked the way you like it, start layering!

Put a layer of veggies on the bottom of your pan. Then add some veggies. I only made one layer of each but you could do multiple layers if you wished! I found that it needed some additional sauce and so I added some pasta sauce over the veggies. Top the sauce with bread crumbs and then grate your cheese on top.

Stick the dish in the oven on broil for about 10 minutes or until the cheese is melted and you are ready to chow down.

I used goat cheese in this dish and there were not complaints from the guys!!

 I tried a bit of the cheese and it had a pretty good flavor to it!

PS aren't I good blogger taking photos over my stove element..geesh!

Have a great rest of your week!! I'll be back soon as I need to get my Vegan Mofo on!! I totally missed the sign up date but I'm going to contribute on my little blog none-the-less!

XOXO