Confessions

January 4, 2013 by

Happy Friday all! The weekend is finally here.

Actually, the week went by pretty fast, so I kind of can’t believe it’s already Friday.

This week has left me filled inspired and full of some new ideas.

It’s been rainy here and it has allowed me to reflect first thing in the morning. Let’s start this weeks confessions.

 1. One of my new favorite snacks is cauliflower bites and kale chips.

cauliflower + kale

Oh gosh, I’m officially obsessed with these little nuggets.

They are a perfect little crunch in the afternoon.

2. I think I’ve officially had my last holiday cup of the year.

coffee

 Sad face.

They just look so sad without their red hue.

3.

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This happens to me 98% of the time.

I always just hope people aren’t listening and I can awkwardly stop halfway through my story.

4. I’ve seen this floating around the past week or so (forget from where, sorry) and wanted to share it, simply because it’s awesome.

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How true are all those?

I’m definitely putting these into practice.

5. One more reason to celebrate the New Year with a drink or two….this really awesome noise maker that only works after you’ve been drinking.

Buzzed Buzzer

That’s just weird.

I don’t understand some inventions now-a-days.

6. Oh wait, another reason….apparently partying on New Year’s can make you live longer.

I swear everything can either claim to kill you or make you live longer.

It’s like they decide to switch things up every week., just to keep us on our toes and fear another thing.

7. I’m still candle obsessed.

grateful mornings

It kind of makes me think of the holidays, I can’t help but miss them now.

What’s one of your confessions this week?

Happy Friday, have an awesome day!

{22 Comments }

Things I Know

November 13, 2012 by

Morning everyone!

I hope everyone is having a great day and is thankful that another week is upon us.

As much as I love how fast these months have gone by, I’ve had little time to actually appreciate the fact that I’m so lucky in my life everyday. For those simple things I take for granted.

Especially when a lot of the world is going through pain and suffering. We all have so much to be grateful for.

All those simple things add up.

Today, I’m honoring those facts.

* brown rice tortilla, tomato paste, oregano, nutritional yeast, sauteed spinach in coconut oil, plain spinach, goat cheese *

I know that my tortilla pizza I made for dinner last night was delicious.

Even if it wasn’t all that gourmet.

Lazy wins, sometimes.

* view from my room when I lived in Calgary for school *

I know that I’m super jealous of everyone who is getting snow right now.

As much as I hate being cold, I dislike rain way more than snow. Yep, I love snow!

Too bad Victoria is lame and we never get any.

* a trial run of gingerbread with cashew butter *

I know that in despite of the snowless weather, I’m getting prepared for lots of holiday baking.

Bring on the gingerbread and peppermint flavored goodies!

I know that I’m blessed to have my health and will never take that for granted again.

* isn’t this just the most fun (giant) wine glass? It’s my friends not mine, but I heart it *

I know that as much as eating healthy is important to me, enjoying a glass (or two) of wine every now and again is perfectly healthy.

Obsession isn’t healthy, balance is.


I know that coconut butter is the greatest roasted squash topping ever. Or any topping in general.

No other nut butter can beat its delightful flavour.

I know that Zuzana’s newest workout kicked my booty.

All her workouts are seriously amazing, and all can be completed with minimal equipment and time.

There’s no excuses to not get a good workout in.

I know that David’s Tea cocomint tea is oh, so scrumptious.

A lot of people asked me about this flavour, and I definitely recommend it!

I haven’t tried the other 2 flavours I bought yet, but I’m assuming their equally as good!

The perfect Winter tea for a chilly night.

I know that kale chips make a perfect side dish.

Especially, when they are cooked with nutritional yeast, coconut oil and dill.

I know that today is going to be a good day, and I hope yours is too!

What is something you know? 

How do you make your kale chips?

What’s your favorite at home pizza toppings?

{38 Comments }

A New Toy

October 2, 2012 by

Time for another addition of What I Ate Wednesday, thanks to the lovely Jenn.

Today started with SPIN. We had a sub today, which was a great change. More my style of music, so I got to jam out to my favourite tunes. I also got to test out my new heart monitor ,which I got for my birthday! I was a little too pumped about using this for class this morning.

I love playing around with new toys like this, and getting everything set up. I’m like a 6 year old. It kind of reminded me of playing with those tamagotchi things. Did anyone else love those? I had about 6 of them.

Just a random tangent for you all…

(I blurred out the calories, because I don’t want any comparisons or anything happening.)

Last week I also had my heart rate zone tested last week, to make sure I know when I’m in my strength or endurance zone. Which I highly recommend doing by the way.

I came home and all of a sudden felt the urge to clean out my closet. Does that ever happen to anyone else? I ended up spending about 30 minutes cleaning out some things before I thought I should probably get some breakfast in.

Breakfast – 8:

I made a batch of granola pancakes for breakfast, that I topped with sun butter. Winner, even though they were slightly burnt.

I probably should have made 2 smaller ones, instead of a giant one.

Later, I got ready and got my coffee on. Awesome, as always.

I had a serious hankering for some socca when I returned home. I decided to roll with it and made a simple socca for lunch.

Lunch – 12:

Socca cooked in coconut oil with a side of kale chips and cauliflower that was roasted in coconut oil, nutritional yeast and a little almond flour. Side of mashed avocado.

One of my favourite simple lunches to have.

Today was the first real day that its felt like Fall with the cooler weather and a slight breeze in the air, so my sister and I decided to go on a little Halloween spree.

We went to Michael’s and picked out a few fun things to decorate the house with.

Including some scented candles. I had a hard time choosing which ones I wanted, but decided with “pumpkin pie” and “fall foliage”.

Snack – 3:

Once home, I snacked on an apple with a few cookie dough balls.

To be honest, these past few days have been really hard for me emotionally, and I really didn’t feel like eating at this time. However, I sucked it up and prepared something anyways. I didn’t picture Dinner, since I wasn’t really in the photographing mood.

Right now I just want to curl up with a good book and a cup of tea, and of course will have a little something more substantial before bed tonight.

What’s the best thing you ate today?

Do you prefer savoury or sweet style snacks?

Happy Wednesday!

{52 Comments }

Mental Margarita

September 27, 2012 by

Hope you are all having a lovely day today!

I’m going to make more of an effort to simplify my days. I should actually be in bed right now, but instead I’m writing this post…lucky for you;)

Most days, I try and fill every minute of my day with something. Keep myself occupied, say yes to helping others, putting my happiness on the back burner to make others happy. Often times, this leaves me feeling stressed out, burnt out, and out of control. This next week I’m going to make it a goal to take it easy, and be a little selfish.

Here are some random glimpses into my simplified eats lately.

* I’ve been relying on snacks to get my veggies in lately. Most often in the form of “popcorn” cauliflower and kale chips. *

Life sneaks up on us and its okay if I take a break to fulfill my happiness. I need to spend more time with myself and do things that I enjoy. The first task on the agenda was taking a walk.

I got a beautiful view of Summer turning to Autumn. The leaves have begin to turn and I can now feel the cool breeze of Fall in the morning.

This also means its time to break our the heated blanket. Yep, I totally have one of these. No shame.

Just taking in the beauty of nature left me feeling less stressed. Taking myself away from technology (including my cell phone), even if just for 20 minutes is freeing in a way.

Technology keeps us in a busy state of mind, we use technology to keep ourselves busy and it can distract us from our passions, goals, and motivations in life.

* I also consumed another frosty, but this one was made with a banana instead of the pumpkin. Shocking. *

Earlier when I went to a spin class, I went in with the intention that I’d enjoy the ride, but not push my body too hard. I focused on the enjoyment of the class and the energy that everyone was giving off.

Yes, you can go into a spin class and come out with a peaceful mind. It was like a mental margarita.

I’ve talked about meditation before and I believe its something everyone can benefit from. I’m not religious, so meditation is not just for religious purposes. I thought this was true beforehand.

Practicing meditation has allowed me invest more time into my inner self and find that confidence and positive energy I have within me, and incorporate that energy into each day.

Allowing myself to be content in this moment.

* And I’ve been experimenting with different microwaved muffin recipes as well…this one to come at you soon. *

Having compassion and gratitude for people and ourselves is very important. It allows us to realize that we are good enough, with who we are as a person, and its important for our mental health too.

We can appreciate the present without reflecting on our past selves. Like I said, it feels a bit like a margarita for the mind;)

I went out and enjoyed a cup of coffee after, which made me smile. J’adore la vie moment of the day.

I added in my own pumpkin pie spice and cinnamon, since I don’t have my own pumpkin spice coffee to make at home. I love how coffee comes in basically every flavour nowadays. I’m not usually a flavoured coffee lover, but pumpkin spice makes me swoon.

What’s your favourite flavoured coffee?

Have you tried meditation before?

Wishing you a fantastic day!

Some Link Love today:

 

{35 Comments }

Granola Pancakes

September 5, 2012 by

Wow, Wednesday already? This week is flying by. Must be that holiday Monday that happened. This week is already full of changes and hopefully future rewards, and I’m ready to get this September starting off on the right foot.

Another Wednesday, another new month, which means another day of eats.

Again, I’ve been failing miserably on my more sleep goal. Oops.

I did manage to still get up and go to spin class. I made sure to purchase a heart rate monitor, so I can be aware of my heart rate during class and make sure I don’t push it too much.

Breakfast – 7:30:

Breakfast was a granola pancake.

  • 2 tablespoons coconut flour
  • 2 tablespoons brown rice flour
  • 1/4 cup egg whites
  • 1/4 cup banana (melted, and mashed)
  • ~1/4 cup almond milk
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
  • stevia
  • 1/4 cup granola
  • handful of frozen blueberries.

Mixed it all together, minus the granola, then folded the granola in. Cooked in a big pan with about a teaspoon of coconut oil.

You can also add a little almond milk to the batter, if it’s needed to thin out.

Topped this off with some creamy almond butter. Yummy.

Anyone else find it super weird to wake up early and instead of being light it’s super dark out? Looks like fall is coming soon!

Lunch – 12:

Lunch include socca with a side of roasted zucchini and aspragus.

The socca was simply made with 1/2 cup garbanzo bean flour, 1/2 cup water, and cooked in a teaspoon of coconut oil.

After, I added a little extra coconut oil and nutritional yeast, so it made a “cheesy” like sauce.

Also a side of avocado in a shot glass.

Snack – 3:30:

For a snack I decided to try out a new recipe, it wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t as good as I hoped…it also crumbled a little too much and is clearly not blog worthy yet.

I’ll have to work on this one!

And yah, I happen to think the green colour is cool;)

I had this alongside leftover greek yogurt and a few strawberries and blueberries.

Oh goodness, I just realized how excited I am for Starbucks’ red holiday cups to return!! I wonder when they get those in?

I’m pretty sure last year they started giving them out early, so hopefully the same goes for this year.

I think I’m getting a little too ahead of myself over here.

Dinner – 6:

After I did all my “housekeeping” chores for the day, I whipped up something fast…

Just a simple slice of toasted ezekiel bread with avocado an egg, and a side of kale “chips”.

Easy, but tasty.

Now I’m drinking a cup of chocolate coconut butter milk.

This was fantastic.

I simply heated up a cup of almond milk and 1 tablespoon of raw cacao bliss, for about 1 minute and 40 seconds in the microwave.

It created a warm coconut-ty, yet chocolatey beverage. One of the best combinations out there.

Off to catch up on Grimm. Enjoy your Wednesday, make it a good one!

Anyone else excited for the holiday cups at Starbucks?

What is your favourite easy dinner?

*Remember there are only a few days left to enter my coconut oil giveaway!

{75 Comments }

Smile with Intention

July 10, 2012 by

Good morning babes, how is your day going so far?

Last night, I got a glorious 10 hours of sleep last night and it was so needed! Ah, feeling refreshed today.

I awoke with a large craving for coconut, so luckily I had some added into my morning breakfast bowl.

I changed up the usual egg whites oats this morning by using 1/4 cup buckwheat hot cereal, 3 tablespoons coconut flour, chia seeds, egg whites, cinnamon, and peanut flour paste. The coconut flour made it taste cakey. So delicious!!

When I add toppings to oats I always savour those for the last bite.

Next up, my sister and I headed to Starbucks for a little sister chat. It was nice to be able to catch up a bit.

Okay, I really need to buy a coffee maker. I think with all the money I spend on my love I could have bought 17 coffee makers buy now, but I always say I can’t afford one. It just seems like it would be an expensive purchase at one time, even though I spend tons of mula on starbucks. What to do, what to do?

I kind of wish it was okay to have my place smell like coffee, I just love that smell. That would be rad. But then no one would probably come over.

Later on, after the day so quickly passed me by! I made myself a quick and delicious dinner.

Kale chips, roasted cauliflower, chickpeas, served with a side of the best and ripest avocado (I can’t stop eating avocados lately!), also had a small microwaved sweet potato on the side.

These were cooked to my perfection. Love when it turns out that way.

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Have you noticed that such a simple statement of the face can make such an impact on the day? You know how some think you “fake it until you make it”, well sometimes that really works. As soon as I put a happy face on my mentality changes for the better. How I present myself on the outside reflects how I am feeling on the inside.

(Source)

Smiling can be contagious, it can improve your day and maybe even make someone else’s day more bright. Not saying that just by smiling it will be a life changing experience, but you do have the ability to make your day better.

When you are a positive person and send out positive statements you will receive positive feedback in your life.

(Source)

If I wake up in a grumpy mood, something that fills my love tank is to just put on a smile and even go out and buy the persons coffee behind me in the line. You’d be surprised how good it feels to do a good deed, such as this little one.

Some people wake up in the morning and instantly want the day to come to an end, why not celebrate life with such a simple thing. Just a smile from a person can instantly improve my day.

(Source)

Smile everyday, smile as often as you can. It makes everyday more beautiful to look at.

What’s one thing that made you smile today?

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