Lazy Morning

Today was supposed to be productive, but it just didn't end up happening. I enjoyed a nice morning of doing absolutely nothing useful, which is necessary sometimes. For breakfast I had a bowl of oatmeal:

• 1/3 cup old fashioned oats
• 1/3 cup soy milk
• 1/3 cup water
• 1/2 banana
• 1 tbsp chia seeds
• 2 spoonfuls non-fat yogurt
• 1 1/3 tbsp macadamia nut butter
• squirt of agave nectar

I really liked the chia seeds in the mix - it made the oats nice and fluffy. I also had a side of grapefruit, which was so juicy I needed to eat it over the sink.

Yesterday I picked up a new kind of tea from Whole Foods - Four O' Clock Chocolate Spice. I love chocolate, so I figured it was worth a try. I brewed the tea last night, and made a latte with it this morning. I really liked the chocolate spice taste, but it was very week, even after brewing all night. I think two teabags are necessary, but because they were so expensive I'm not sure this would be a regular product for me.

Last night I also made some Coconut Curry Hummus, modified a little from Kath's recipe. It was amazing! I'm not really a fan of store-bought hummus, which I find kind of strange because I love chickpeas, so I think it's the flavouring manufacturers use. I'll definitely be making my own hummus from now on. The recipe for the way I made it can be found here.

I enjoyed some for lunch today with multigrain pretzel twists and some veggies. Yum!

The boyfriend came over in the afternoon, and we went out to do some shopping. While we were checking out furniture at Ikea, I got one of their frozen yogurts (which are delicious!).

Nathan got a little more than me.

I was craving frozen yogurt all day, so it really hit the spot.

Right now we're just waiting for some shrimp to defrost so we can cook a nice dinner together. See you all after some good food and wine ;)

Double Class

Whew, today was a long day! I was up bright and early for work, and I threw together a nice mug of oats before I had to go.

In the mix:

• 1/2 cup old fashioned oats
• 1/2 cup soy milk
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 small banana
• 2/3 tbsp peanut butter
• 4 pecans
• agave nectar
• cinnamon

I've made a bunch of changes to my morning oats lately - some that I think I'll keep, and others that I don't think I will.

Quick oats -> Old fashioned oats: The texture is really different and I'm not sure how I like the extra chewiness, but I have a jumbo bag so I'm sure I'll like it eventually ;)

Almond milk -> Soy milk: I'm not sure I like this change. Soy milk has far more protein, but almond milk adds a nice nutty flavour for only half the calories, so I think I'll be switching back as soon as my carton of soy milk is gone.

Sweetener -> Agave nectar: I read a lot of research about the negative effects of agave nectar and it's high fructose content, but in the end I decided that it had to be better than chemical sweeteners, so I decided to give it a go. I really like it - it kind of tastes like a less intense honey.

I wasn't very diligent today, because I forgot to take pictures of both my lunch and afternoon snack :( Neither were overly exciting - we had lunch ordered in from a nearby chinese place and my meal ended up being Bombay Chicken, which was so spicy that I barely ate any of it. I felt bad for wasting so much food, but my mouth was on FIRE! I did eat the apple I brought (as well as my entire water bottle lol), and for my afternoon snack I had some baby carrots and snap peas.

After work I had planned on going to my first BodyFlow class. I joined Goodlife Fitness this week, but I ended up hurting my shoulder/neck/back while I was moving, so I've been unable to do anything active with it for the past few days :( Today I felt well enough today to try something low impact, so I was really excited to finally get out to the gym!

BodyFlow was nice, although I think I want to check out the just-yoga class another night. I felt so good afterwards that I decided to just stay for the following Zumba class, which I had also never tried! The time did seem to fly by, although I'm not sure it lived up to the sky-high expectations I've developed after hearing everyone rave about it. If I'm not too sore tomorrow I might check out another Zumba class at a different location, and see what it's like with a different instructor :)

Dinner was a big, protein-filled salad with spinach, salmon, egg whites, asparagus, roasted broccoli and mayo+dijon dressing. Yum!

You can also see the new placemat I bought from Loblaws for only $1.97!

Pretty nice for such a low price, eh? :) I might go back tomorrow and trade my second green one for a yellow, so I have one of each colour because I'm so indecisive, and matching is overrated.

Dessert was a random mix that I threw together in my mug:

• 1/2 cup vanilla frozen yogurt
• 6 vanilla meringues
• 1 tsp chocolate chips
• 3 Lotte chocolate pie treats

It was so good! Definitely an interesting mix of textures and flavours that I would eat again. Well I'm absolutely exhausted, and I can hear bed calling me. Have a good Friday everyone!

What's your favourite way to exercise?

Long Time No Write

Sorry I've been missing for a while folks, I've been really busy with life, and haven't managed to find the time to blog my food :( Today will be different though! Before work I threw together a quick bowl of oats topped with some crunchy peanut butter and peanut butter puffins:

Then for lunch I ate the lunch I actually made myself for the day before, but didn't get to eat because I ended up going out for lunch. It was an apple, granola and spinach salad with balsamic+honey dressing, banana with nonfat yogurt, a mini Luna bar and some baby carrots and grapes for a snack.

The salad was a little wilty after sitting in the fridge for two days, but it looks really nice in the picture because it was taken yesterday when it was still fresh ;)

Dinner today was special! Nate and I were supposed to be going out to a nice sushi place before a concert, but because of time constraints we ended up grabbing some takeout sushi from Sushi Marche, because I've read great things about it and wanted to try it anyway, so it seemed like perfect timing. I ordered the Maki Moriawase Dinner with salad, and some fresh fruit.

First off, the salad was very nice, and came with sesame dressing, which is my absolute favourite!

The sushi was gorgeous and really fresh! The kamikaze roll (salmon, tempura flakes, fish roe and spicy sauce) was definitely my favourite, even though it was a little difficult to eat because it was so large. I loved the lemon that was in the roll too - it was a really pleasant surprise and made it taste really different! Kind of like really fancy "fish and chips" ;)

The fresh fruit was also great, and was pretty good value for $3 (the amount pictured was after Nathan had already eaten a fair bit of it). I was also excited because it had a piece of dragon fruit, which I'd never tried before. It turns out it doesn't really taste like anything, but I'm still glad I got to try it!

I would definitely order from here again! Next time I think I would try the Sushi Dinner, which comes with 5 pcs sushi and a kamikaze or california roll :)

After dinner we went to the Angels and Airwaves concert at The Sound Academy in Toronto! It was my first time seeing them live, so I was pretty excited! We parked by a T&T so I ended up buying an almond cookie on the way, but I only got to eat half of it before it got confiscated by security on the way in :( Boo.

The concert was great! I was disappointed that they didn't play my favourite song (Start the Machine), but they did play a lot of my others and I was happy I finally got to see them, especially because it was with Nathan ♥

I'm exhausted now, hopefully I'll have more time to get caught up tomorrow. Goodnight!

Boxes Everywhere!

Whew, I'm exhausted! I meant to blog earlier today, but I was just so busy that it didn't end up happening. I started my morning with half a banana + pb and a run:

I think I might've hurt my leg on my run :( It felt a little tight when I started, and by the end it was pretty sore and I was walking a little funny. Now my leg feels really tight and sore everywhere, so I think I might skip my runs for the next couple of days until I feel better.

By the time I got home I was staaarrrrving, so I hopped in the shower and made a quick bowl of pumpkin oats.

Today's mix was:

• 1/3 cup quick oats
• 1/3 cup vanilla almond milk
• 1/3 cup water
• 1/3 cup canned pumpkin
• 1/2 banana
• 1 tbsp yogurt + 1 tbsp cream cheese
• 1 tbsp granola
• cinnamon
• last of the maple syrup jar

Mmm, I'm loving the yogurt and cream cheese mixture on top! :) The rest of my day consisted of packing and moving boxes home. I'm going to be staying at home for this "transitionary" week off school, until I move to Toronto on Sunday to begin my new job.

It's a little draining thinking that the move is only half over, but at least I'm done for now and can relax and enjoy my week off :)

I took a break around lunchtime to have a Chocolate Chip Clif Bar and apple slices:

And then once I was done unloading the car late in the evening, I grilled up a burger on the barbecue (which I've missed!) and made a nice salad.

Wilted Hamburger Salad

• 2 cups baby spinach
• 3/4 cup sliced onions
• 1 hamburger patty
• 1 hamburger bun
• 1 tbsp mayo

I caramelized the onions as the burger was cooking, and then threw in the spinach for the last few seconds so it wilted a little bit. Served the burger on top and the bun on the side :) So delicious!

After my hard day, I decided I needed a treat. Dairy Queen has a promotion this week where you can buy one blizzard and get a second for only 25 cents, which seemed like perfect timing! I dragged the boyfriend away from his studies for some much-needed ice cream ;) I got the Ooey Gooey Caramel Brownie Blizzard:

Yum!

We definitely enjoyed them :) I was a little disappointed at first because I thought they didn't put very many brownie pieces in, but it turns out they all sank to the bottom, so the end was amazing!

Now I'm ready for a loooong sleep. Zzz...

Chocolatey Oatmeal Goodness

This morning I was still craving chocolate, so I made some chocolate oats.

In the bowl:

• 1/2 cup quick oats
• 1/2 cup chocolate almond milk
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 small banana
• 1 tbsp Dark Chocolate Dreams peanut butter
• cocoa-dusted almonds

I'm getting ready now to go out for a Farmer's Market date with Nate ;) I need to hurry because he should be here any minute!

Pumpkin Oats

This morning I woke up and went for a run, which felt great. I woke up a little earlier than usual, and by the time I was ready to head outside my stomach was growling, so I had a few almonds to tide me over.

When I got back I was ravenous, so I hopped in the shower quickly and then made a big bowl of pumpkin oats with a cup of green tea.

In the oats:

• 1/3 cup quick oats
• 1/3 cup vanilla almond milk
• 1/3 cup water
• 1/3 cup canned pumpkin
• 1/2 small banana
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tbsp roasted pumpkin seeds
• scoop of nonfat yogurt
• 2/3 tbsp peanut butter
• handful Kashi GoLean Crunch

I have a lot of studying to do today! I see an iced coffee in my future ...

Busy Days

Yesterday I tried a new recipe, because I have some cabbage and ricotta cheese in my fridge that I want to get rid of before I move away from school in the next few weeks. It ended up very light and airy, and was a great lunch for when you don't want anything too heavy.

Creamy Cabbage Soup

• 1 cup shredded cabbage
• 100g ricotta cheese
• 1/2 cup vanilla almond milk
• handful fresh spinach
• dollop of plain yogurt (sour cream would also work)

Just mix the first 3 ingredients in a pot and simmer until the cabbage softens, then puree in a blender with the fresh spinach, and garnish with the yogurt.

For dinner I made salmon onigiri ♥ My favourite, other than tuna :)

And lots of snacks! I love snacking, and I'm not sure I could ever skip my snacks for the day.

This morning before my exam I had a delicious bowl of oatmeal:

PB&J Oats

• 1/2 cup quick oats
• 1/2 cup vanilla almond milk
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 small banana
• handful raspberries
• 1/2 tbsp raspberry jam
• 1 tbsp peanut butter
• chopped peanuts

They went fast, and I got to enjoy the new Peter Rabbit bowl I bought yesterday from Home Sense :)

Carrot Cake Oats

What's up, doc?

These oats were DELICIOUS! Almost tasted more like the actual dessert than breakfast! In the mix:

• 1/2 cup quick oats
• 1/2 cup vanilla almond milk
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 banana
• 5 large baby carrots, shredded
• 1 1/3 tbsp light cream cheese
• 1 1/3 tbsp nonfat yogurt
• 1/2 tsp sweetener
• 1/2 tsp shredded coconut
• 2/3 tbsp peanut butter
• handful of raisins

I have a busy day ahead, but now I'm fuelled and ready to go!

Exam Day

Busy times for me right now! I just finished writing 3 exams in 4 days, and I still have 2 more to go before I'm free for the term. Even though I'm busy with studying, I've still been making time to enjoy my food.

I started off my day with a great oat concoction ... I'm seriously loving these different kinds of oatmeal so much that I can't wait to go to sleep and wake up so I can have another bowl!

This one contained:

• 1/2 cup oats
• 1/2 cup vanilla almond milk
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 banana
• large handful crushed blueberries
• 1/2 tbsp raspberry jam
• crushed graham cracker
• 1 tsp shredded coconut
• 2/3 tbsp peanut butter

SO delicious! I tried out Kath's style of stovetop oats with whipped banana, and it's probably going to be a staple for me from now on. I'm excited to try the combo I have in mind for tomorrow ;)

Lunch and dinner were kind of rushed for me. I had an on-campus help session so I downed a green smoothie before leaving:

And brought along a quick meal of egg salad, apple slices, baby carrots and a Ritz Crackerful's snack that I saved for late in the afternoon when I was hungry again. It was supposed to be an egg salad sandwich, but my bread was all moldy when I went to get some! I was so disappointed :(

Egg salad before:

Egg salad after:

All packed up :)

I had a few bites of my boyfriend's dinner at his house, and snacked on some Lindt Dark Chocolate Truffle eggs when I got home.

Tomorrow might or might not include camera shopping ;)

First Entry~

This is my first attempt at keeping a food blog. I'm not sure how consistently I'll be updating this - I may blog my daily food, or I might just post interesting recipe attempts or general food-related themes, but I'll do my best to share the ups and downs of my kitchen with you! :)

I'm a little intimidated by the blogging world, because all of the amazing blogs I've read so far (like Carrots N Cake and Kath Eats). They have such amazing pictures and unique recipes that I feel like I can't compare! I don't even have a real camera at the moment (my digital camera broke a few months ago), so right now all I have is my iPhone. Hopefully it will do for now, and I'll be able to get a new camera sometime soon in the future :)

Right now I'm in the middle of an exam period for school, so my days are spent cooking and studying.

For breakfast today, I was inspired by the previously-mentioned blogs to get creative with my oats! I haven't really been much of an oatmeal person lately because I've been trying to get more protein, but now I'm really excited to start making new combinations in the morning.

This bowl contains:

• 1/2 cup quick oats
• 1/4 cup nonfat yogurt
• large handful blueberries
• 1 tbsp peanut butter
• sprinkling of sweetener

Lunch was kind of rushed because I lost track of time, so I had a cherry Larabar with peanut butter on top, and a small salad with avocado.

Dinner ended up being late as well, but it was definitely delicious! I had a fillet of mahi-mahi with a pesto cheese sauce, baked sweet potato fries and asparagus.

I made the sauce by mixing together:

• 1/3 oz part skim mozzarella cheese
• 1/5 cup nonfat yogurt
• 1/2 tsp basil pesto

The sauce was delicious, but next time I think I'd wait a little longer before putting it on the fish, because it really reduced a lot on the oven and it would've been nicer if it was a bit creamer.

Now I'm off to study, but not before I enjoy a bowl of vanilla frozen yogurt with green tea egg roll cookies! :) I love egg roll cookies because they're so crumbly that they practically melt in your mouth. Mmm~