Iron Man

This morning started off great. I've recently developed an obsession with Peanut Butter Puffins, so I think Tina must've been reading my mind when she posted about her PBP Smoothie! ;)

I downsized the calories a bit, and made mine with:

• 1/3 cup soy milk
• 2/3 scoop vanilla protein
• 1 tbsp peanut butter
• 1/2 serving Peanut Butter Puffins
• 1/2 frozen banana
• lots of ice

It was AMAZING! And it actually kept me full until lunch, which I was a little surprised about because smoothies usually don't hold me over for long.

My lunch photo was a little ugly today, but the food itself was delicious. I dug a bag of shirataki noodles out of my fridge, and cooked it up with some onion, spinach and sesame sauce, and threw a fried egg on top. The usual snacks tagged along.

I also snuck a diet coke from work, oops! I was never big on pop, but lately I've been drinking a lot of diet coke. I've been trying to cut back as part of my effort to eat more natural foods, but it's hard to resist the zero-cal sweet treat when you're bored in the office.

I prepared a special dinner for the boyfriend today: Japanese curry slow-cooked all day in the crock pot. It was my first time making curry in a crock pot, but it turned out absolutely awesome and I can't wait to have the leftovers for dinner tomorrow!

All I did was chop up the following and combine them in the crock pot:

• 1 large carrot
• 1/2 onion
• 1 large potato
• 2 chicken breasts
• 4 cubes of curry roux (can be found at most asian grocery stores)

And I left it on low for about 8 hours, and gave it a quick stir on high once I got home. I had preset the rice maker too, and it was nice to have it all ready when I got home from errands and the gym :) To make the evening even more relaxing, we shared a bottle of St. Ambroise Apricot Wheat Ale, which wasn't as light and sweet as I expected, but still very good.

Eating my dinner.

We decided to go see Iron Man 2 tonight, and got to the theatre really early because Nathan insisted it would be packed. It was actually almost completely empty when we got there, but it filled up closer to show time, so I guess it was a good thing we went a bit sooner.

I did have time to grab a frozen yogurt though, with blackberries and pineapple mixed in. Yum!

The movie was good, but the frozen yogurt stole the show for me ;) By the time we got home I was hungry again, so I ate 3 dried dates (not pictured) and one of the homemade rolls Nathan's mom made for me.

I think those were caraway seeds, and they were delicious!

We have a fun and busy day planned out for tomorrow, so I want to get my butt into bed asap. Goodnight bloggers, see you all tomorrow!

Trip Recap

I'm back! I spent the last 2 days shopping, moving, and enjoying all kinds of food - definitely a successful trip.

Wednesday

I was really impressed by Whole Foods, although I can definitely see why some people would call it "Whole Paycheck". I almost had a heart attack when I saw some of the prices lol. I was very selective with the groceries I bought, but I still managed to get some nice things - Peanut Butter Puffins, unsweetened soymilk, Maranatha Almond Butter, blueberry spread, agave nectar, unsweetened shredded coconut, bulk pecans and walnuts, and a loaf of oat bran bread. Can't wait to try everything :)

After my shopping, I got the most delicious lunch EVER. I wish I lived close to a Whole Foods just so I could come for the lunch!

I got Asian Pear & Ginger Kombucha tea thinking it would be really good, but it was just okay -nothing spectacular. :\

Here's a closer view of all the food I got - I basically tried a little bit of everything, and it was all fantastic! My favourites were the hummus (bottom right corner), the chickpea and date couscous (top left corner), and the cauliflower bistro dish (right below the couscous). Hands down the cauliflower was my favourite of the three, but at the bistro bar it was missing the tag that lists the name and ingredients, so I guess I'm destined to not know what was in it. I'll have to keep an eye out for it next time!

Last piece of cauliflower :'(

For dessert, I enjoyed a sample of some endangered species chocolate.

Yum!

(You can also see my favourite painting in the back of the car where I ended up eating the chocolate - I love the deer!)

After my amazing trip to Whole Foods, I met up with my mom for dinner at Canyon Creek. I was in the mood for a glass of wine, and my mom recommended the Peller Estates 'Heritage' Chardonnay, which was excellent and was exactly what I wanted. Thanks mom! ;) She ordered the Peller Estates Cabernet-Merlot, which she said was also good.

I helped myself to the multigrain bread and honey butter before the meal. The bread basket is definitely my weakness!

I had been all set to order the Seared Tuna Salad that I wasn't able to try the last time I was at Canyon Creek, but I just wasn't in the mood for it, so I changed my mind last minute, and instead ordered the Pan-Seared Halibut:

"Thick cornflake and Parmesan-crusted fillet on a bed of sautéed baby spinach and peppers with tomato-caper hollandaise. Served with sour cream ‘n’ chives mashed potatoes"

I decided to substitute seasonal veggies for mashed potatoes. My mom ordered the Simply Fish:

"Fresh grilled fillet marinated in extra virgin olive oil, citrus and white wine, seasoned with smoked Alderwood sea salt and lemon pepper. Served over sautéed spinach with cipollini onions, peppers and a mixture of seasonal vegetables"

My meal arrived looking delicious.

The meals were both excellent, but my mom was disappointed that "seasonal veggies" meant "one giant piece of broccoli", because she hates broccoli so she ended up just eating her fish, while I got double broccoli.

We passed on dessert because my mom had a Terry's Dark Chocolate Orange waiting for us at home, most of which disappeared without getting photographed :( Oops.

Thursday

Today was just a random shopping day spent bouncing around random locations in the GTA. This morning when I woke up I had some of the bread I bought from Whole Foods with my new Maranatha Almond Butter, and it was AMAZING. I'm now converted! I wish I had the jar with me right now so I could have some more!

After lazing around all morning, I made my way over to J-Town in Markham for some grocery shopping and lunch.

The bento I got was very simple, but it was actually really good. I must've really been craving some old-school Japanese food pretty badly, because I've never really been a Japanese pickle-person, but I was really enjoying the flavours of everything, even the umeboshi (pickled plum). I also had some Milk Coffee Pocky and oolong tea with my meal.

I spent the rest of the day driving around and shopping a bit - mostly just looking, because nothing really caught my attention. While at Vaughan Mills I ran into my favourite smoothie place ever, Jugo Juice. There used to be one right where I live, but it was bought out by one of the employees and turned into an independent smoothie store I didn't like as much, and now the closest one is an hour drive away :( Now whenever I see one, I always feel like I have to get a smoothie, just because I can!

I usually get their Green Tea Buzz smoothie, but their current featured smoothie (Blind Date - bananas, dates, non-fat milk and low-fat frozen yogurt) sounded so good I decided to try it instead of my regular.

It was amazing! I really liked how the chunks of date were chewy, so the smoothie felt more like a real meal because there was actually something to chew on. It was very sweet, probably because the fruits in it are naturally very sweet, and it just tasted great! I would definitely get it again.

After the drive back home, I met up with Nathan and a friend of ours for beers at Morty's to celebrate being done with exams. I got a glass of Rickard's Red, and we enjoyed a couple plates of wings and fries, mmm :)

Nathan enjoyed the wings ;)

You'd think after all the food I'd be absolutely stuffed, but I'm actually still hungry! Weird, huh? I'm also exhausted, so I think after a few snacks it's bedtime for me. Tomorrow I have to be up nice and early, because Nathan and I are going on a romantic overnight trip to Buffalo before we both begin work for the next few months. We're going to visit my favourite restaurant while we're there, so I'm really excited!

Wonder what it is? ;) Guess you'll just have to wait and find out!

Goodnight, and I'll see you all after my trip! ♥

Busy Un-Busy Day

Now that school is over, I feel like I don't know what to do with myself. When I had to study all the time I just wanted to be able to sit and do nothing, and now that I have nothing to do I want to be busy! I guess the grass is just always greener on the other side, eh?

For breakfast I cut up the strawberries I had that were getting a little old, and topped them with some nonfat yogurt and that amazing granola I bought yesterday! I also used up the last of my iced coffee and milk.

Doesn't that look delicious!? I basically spent the rest of the morning packing boxes and doing laundry and showering and making myself presentable enough to venture into public, with breaks about every 5 minutes. I'm surprised I had enough focus to whip up some chicken salad for lunch! I added some carrots and scallion for a little extra veggie power, and put it on a bed of spinach with some honey-multigrain pretzels on the side.

After lunch I was still hungry, so I had a banana.

And then after some more housework (and breaks), I was still hungry so I had a smoothie with milk, frozen mango and vanilla protein powder.

And then while I was driving around doing some errands, I munched on some of the green beans from the market, but didn't take a picture :( I was craving some fries around dinnertime, so I cut up my last sweet potato and baked it in the oven with some canola oil, with some pesto mayo to dip the fries in.

Usually this is one of my favourites, but today the fries turned out just okay. I think it's because I normally peel sweet potatoes, but today I was feeling lazy and left the skin on, which made them a little tough. Oh well, lesson learned!

I don't know what's up with me today, but I'm feeling so hungry. I just want to eat the world! I had some chocolate peanut butter ice cream for dessert:

And then a second dessert of a banana with peanut butter, and the rest of the mini Lindt eggs. Aaaand my spoon might've found it's way back into the peanut butter jar...

Today's just a peanut buttery day ;) I'm going to make myself a cup of tea or chew some cinnamon gum before the whole jar disappears, and hopefully have a relaxing end to the evening. Good night everyone ♥

Napping the Day Away

Today seemed to just disappear, mostly because I spent the afternoon napping, and only woke up as the sun was setting. I was planning on having a nice big salad for dinner, but I was craving something sweet after my nap, so I completely changed directions and ended up having a chocolate banana smoothie instead.

It was supposed to be more of an ice cream consistency, but my blender isn't very powerful and needs a lot of liquid to blend properly, so I just ate it like soup from the new mug I purchased at Home Sense, paired with some grapes :)

My boyfriend wanted to take a picture, so he snapped one while I ate in bed.

All day I was planning to eat a frozen crumble that needs to be used up, but after all the sweet things I had before I opted for some cheese and crackers with a mug of tea as my night snack. I really shouldn't plan my food so far in advance!

I was feeling creative, so I added some sliced fresh ginger to my regular green tea leaves. It was AMAZING! I love the burning sensation ginger has, and it was just as delicious in tea. I think I'm going to start incorporating ginger into more of my food! This tea will definitely be a repeat for me ;)