Back From the Dead

Wow, it's been a while since I last blogged! My internet unexpectedly died, and it took me all week to get it sorted out. I'm still not sure that everything is fully resolved, but at least it works for now.

I started off my morning with a complimentary yoga class at Lululemon (which I hope will become a routine that I can speak more about), and when I got home I refuelled with a chocolate banana protein shake that had one frozen banana, one scoop of chocolate protein powder and one cup of almond milk in it. Yum!

After I got ready for the day, I had a real breakfast of eggs and toast with some peanut butter, which really hit the spot. I'd been craving eggs for a while so it was nice to finally have some!

My day was spent out and about, and I stopped at Starbucks in the afternoon for an iced coffee and some free wifi ;) I also had my apple with vanilla yogurt + cinnamon to snack on.

I've been wanting to make a recipe I saw on television a while ago, Squash Gratin from Ricardo and Friends, so I finally decided that today was the day. I went to the grocery store to pick up the ingredients, and it must've been meant to be:

I got the very last butternut squash! What are the odds? By the time I got home from shopping I was already starving but I knew the recipe would take at least an hour and a half to make, so I snacked on some crackers (that I ate before I could get anywhere near a camera), and some strawberries in a cute fish bowl I got from Target on my trip to Buffalo.

The strawberries were amazingly sweet and juicy! This made me excited for all the wonderful summer fruits to come in season again :) My snack held me over well until dinner, which I also enjoyed in my fish bowl.

After two hours of waiting and cooking, the end result was just okay. I think that roasting the squash with some butter and brown sugar would be a lot easier (and possibly tastier), but I'm still glad I got to try the recipe out.

Because I haven't baked anything in a while, I also decided to go for another recipe that I saw: Brown Butter Blondies. I knew this one would be delicious, because Michael Smith is my kitchen hero and has never steered me wrong before ;) I don't think anything that went into the batter was very healthy - brown butter, brown sugar, butterscotch chips ... definitely a delicious combination, though! Ready to go in the oven:

And ready to go into my stomach:

It was sooo delicious and sweet and buttery, oh my gosh! Even just thinking about it now makes me want one. I ended up eating two squares, plus a bunch of crumbs from the pan while I was cutting up the remainder, and a few butterscotch chips might've found their way out of the bag as well. Oops! :$

The rest is packed up to take into work tomorrow or in the freezer to eat some other time, so I should be safe for now. Anyway, it's getting late and I have a date with a book. Good night! ♥

Trip Recap (Take 2)

This was a very busy weekend for me! I went on the trip to Buffalo with Nate, and then packed up all my things and moved to Toronto the day after we got back. Needless to say, I haven't really had the time to blog, or do anything else!

Buffalo

The trip was very nice - I started off the day with a bowl of oatmeal, and the weather was beautiful and sunny, which is my favourite weather to drive in. The ride didn't seem to take that long, and we enjoyed a healthy packed lunch in the car.

We spent the day shopping at the Walden Galleria, and I went a little overboard at Urban Outfitters (my favourite store!). I got a few nice pieces of clothing there, and I can't wait to wear all of them :) After the shopping, we went for dinner at my favourite restaurant:

The Cheesecake Factory! They don't have these in Canada, and I love the extensive entree and dessert selections - especially for such a reasonable price. I also love their tropical iced tea, and the brown oat bread they serve! I definitely ate our entire serving ;)

I usually get the Sweet Corn Tamales as my meal because it's my absolute favourite, but this time I decided to try something new. I got the Chicken Bellagio special, which was basil pasta in a cream sauce with breaded chicken, topped with prosciutto and arugula salad. I was a little disappointed because there was almost no cream sauce. Everything else was very good, though, especially my White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Caramel Cheesecake ;) Yum!

Niagara Falls

We spent the night in a cheap but relatively nice hotel and headed back home the next day, but not before stopping to walk the main strip in Niagara Falls. I love going to the Hershey's store, and looking at all of the attractions. It seems like it's always busy there! We stopped at a Starbucks along the way for some passion tea.

Dinner at EJ's

When I got home that night I planned on spending a relaxing night in, but ended up going out for dinner with some family friends at a pub in a nearby town. The food wasn't very good (we ordered the crab dip and I got a Southwestern Chicken Salad, as well as had a few bites of the M&M Mud Pie that was ordered for dessert), but I did enjoy a few beers.

Moving Day

Today I spent the whole day packing up all my belongings and driving them out to Toronto, where I'll be working for the next few months. I'm really excited to be back, but I'll be even more excited when I'm done with the hassle of living out of boxes. I celebrated with a fancy dinner for one, complete with wine:

I'm so exhausted! I'm ready for a good night's sleep~

To get ready for my last day of studying, I fuelled up with an iced coffee!

I love Starbucks, but my budget is a little too tight to afford $5 iced lattes everyday. Instead, I wash out the cups after I'm done with them, and reuse them when I make iced drinks at home. That way I can save some money, and still feel fancy ;)

Lunch today was an omuraisu, or Japanese "rice omelet", which is ketchup-flavoured rice wrapped in a thin layer of egg. Very quick and easy, and a great way to use up leftover rice!

Omuraisu

• 1 egg
• 1/2-1 cup leftover Japanese rice
• 2 tbsp ketchup
• 1/2 tsp soy sauce
• 1/2 tsp mirin
• Extras (ham, bacon, peas, spinach, etc.)

Beat the egg and pan fry in a thin layer, like a crepe. Remove from pan and set aside. Mix rice, soy sauce, mirin, half of ketchup and any extras in the pan, and cook just until heated through. Pour into egg wrapping, and fold so that fillings are covered. Decorate the top with remaining ketchup (I like the classic squiggle :) ). I chose to add some grilled chicken and peas to my omuraisu today.

For my afternoon snack, I had some homemade Vanilla Nut & Cranberry Mix, as well as some grapes (that I didn't photograph because I ate them too fast!).

I wasn't feeling very well all afternoon, possibly because my body didn't like all the caffeine in my iced coffee earlier. I ended up having the salad I had planned for dinner anyway, because I knew I would likely want it once it was made and sitting in front of me.

Easy Southwestern Salad

• 1 cup mixed greens
• 1/2 cup grilled chicken strips (coated in taco seasoning)
• 6 sweet potato tortilla chips
• 1/2 oz grated cheddar cheese
• 1/2 cubed avocado
• 2 tbsp "chipotle sour cream" aka. sour cream + taco seasoning [Note: I never buy sour cream because I don't use enough, so I always sub in plain yogurt. Tastes just as good!]
• 2 tbsp salsa

A little low on veggies because I haven't wanted to keep a large variety as I'm going to be moving soon, but normally I would add some tomatoes and scallions as well. It was good, but my stomach still felt a little uneasy after :(

For dessert I mixed some Cointreau liqueur chocolates and chopped ginger into 1/2 cup of vanilla frozen yogurt. Yum! :)

You can see the liqueur inside oozing out into the frozen yogurt. Very decadent! I ate dessert out of my new polka dot mug that I'm completely obsessed with now. Home Sense has the best stuff! ;)