Dairy Free in Victoria, BC

Hello!  I’m alive!

We snuck away for a few days in Victoria and it was LOVELY!

We spent the first night at the Chateau Victoria – and checked out Vista 18.  Beautiful view – and the bar tender made some pretty incredible drinks! It was late – so I didn’t take any pictures!

I used my Urban Spoon app to find yummy restaurants while we were there.  I highly recommend this app for making sure you are eating at the best of the best!

First off we went to Sura Korean – it was awesome and from what I understood from the waitress – it’s all dairy free!

We ordered the BBQ for 2 which was $40, and this is all the food we got.

Left to right.  Sesame bean sprouts, deep friend gyozas, lettuce (for wraps), garlic, jalepeno, awesome sauce,  spinach, kimichi, potatoes, rice x2, salad and 2 bowls of broth with a wonton in it.

Continued – veggies (on the grill), 2 kinds of beef, 1 pork and 1 chicken (I ate the chicken!).  We also got tea!  The meal was so great!  Loved it – it was my first time going for Korean and I would do it again in a heart beat!

______________________________________________

Now to be fair to the hubby, I can’t eat ethnic food all the time, so we also went to Red Robin, they make awesome burgers.

I got the grilled teriyaki burger with no cheese or sauce on a whole wheat bun. 

It was tasty!  I wasn’t impressed with their fries though – they used to be my favorite and I think I only ate a few.

___________________________________________________

I remembered that the Vegan Backpacker did an awesome post on eating Vegan in Victoria.  I checked it out and went on a mission to find BLISS  - just my luck, it’s just a few seconds from Lululemon (my kinda street).

Bliss – was – bliss

I got a bunch of treats for the weekend (they are just mini)  left to right – a heart truffle (which was my favorite),  macaroon, peanut butter cup, Nanaimo bar and fudge.   All dairy free, and raw!! 

I got all that plus a kombucha (in a mason jar to go cup) for $15… not too bad!  (Mason Jar to go cup = so awesome).

I like bliss – their menu looked great too – but I was just in the market for sweets!

_______________________________________

We also went to another restaurant on the water – wish I could remember it’s name.

I ordered fish tacos – yum.  They were great about my allergy and double checked everything for me! 

They had salmon, grapefruit, veggies and a spicy mayo – so good and that coleslaw was the best I’ve ever had. So awesome.

D – had fish and chips!

It was a little pricy, but was well worth it! 

If I can remember the name I will let you know for sure!

_______________________________________________

We also stopped at Quizno’s for a quick lunch.

Did you know their chocolate chunk cookies are dairy free?  Yup, true and delicious!

I will do more of a recap of our trip in the next few days!  We stayed at a gorgeous cabin right on the ocean!

Hope you all had a great weekend!

Curry Hummus with Raisins

I hope you are all out enjoying the last moments of summer!  It feels like summer just started in our neck of the woods – the weather has been beautiful for the last couple of weeks, so I know I’ll be sad to see summer go.

So you know my love for all things hummus.

Artichoke hummus was definitely a fan favourite!  It’s my 2nd most viewed post with over 2600 views!

Then there was dessert hummus – which was oh so tasty!  I wish that I could say the recipe was mine, but it’s not… there is a link to the recipe though!

And the reason I love hummus?  I use hummus as the base to my pizzas (rather than using fake cheese!)

This recipe was given to me by a friend – after I ate about 1/2 of what she brought and most of her carrots too! (Carrots work perfectly as the vessel to get the hummus from plate to mouth!)

Curry Hummus with Raisins

2 cups cooked chickpeas (1 can)
3 tbsp lemon juice (I used a mixture of lemon juice and apple cider vinegar)

2 tbsp cashew butter  ( I used 3 TBSP cashews)
1 med clove garlic (I used more)
2 tbsp evoo
2 tsp curry
1/2 tsp sea salt
1 tsp ground tumeric
1 TBSP agave nectar
Ground black pepper to taste
4-5tbsp water
2-3 tbsp raisins

Puree everything except currants. Use spatula to clean down the sides. Check flavour and adjust then add raisins and puree briefly to incorporate.

Season with salt and additional pepper and lemon juice if desired.

It is paired perfect with carrots!  I love the flavours together.  It also really reminds me of a curried mayo, so it would be great with sweet potatoes, or as a salad spread.

Thanks Yvonne for this awesome recipe!  It is my new favourite hummus recipe!  (by a landslide) I love the sweetness of the agave, with the spice of the curry and then the texture of the raisins –total winner in my books!

“Pause”

Hello!!

So remember when I talked about “Stepping out of my Comfort Zone”?

Here are the fruits of our labour!

I would REALLY REALLY appreciate your votes – every vote counts and you can vote from any device you have that connects to the internet!! (Computers, phones, iPads etc…)

Watch OUR PAUSE VIDEO here! 

Here are a few photos from our shoot!

Please cast your vote for us!!  

We just need to get into the top 10 to be viewed by Beto and Pitbull!

You can vote HERE!!

Feel free to share with everyone you know!!

Dairy Free Survival Guide

So I apologize for my lack of posting lately.  As mentioned before – life get’s SO busy sometimes!

I did think it would be a great idea to make up a Dairy Free Survival Guide of sorts. 

These are all my suggestions – with the help of some of my facebook crew.  I didn’t get anything for these suggestions – it’s just what I have enjoyed over the past few years of being dairy free.

(I apologize if I missed your name the the suggestions, there were an overwhelming amount of them – please see facebook for the feed back!)

 

Milk Substitute

<source>

Almond Milk (Almond Breeze, unsweetened vanilla is my favourite)  or homemade (super easy)!

 

Butter/Margarine

<source>

 Earth Balance (Michelle and Brooke are with me on this one!)  I’ve used this in baking, mashed potatoes, on corn etc. and it’s awesome! There is a soy free version too!

 

Caramel (one of the things I miss the most) The closes to caramel I can do?   tahini and maple syrup

Sour Cream – cashew cream (was never a huge fan before) Sheena suggests Tofutti Better than Sour Cream

Cream Cheese

<source> Tofutti Better than Cream Cheese is awesome – dare I say better than real cream cheese?  (Sheena agrees) Sonia also suggested a tofu ricotta – here’s how she makes it. “Just crush up firm tofu with my hands (after draining it), and add some lemon juice, nooch, and italian spices + salt!”

 

Meltable “cheese”

I don’t enjoy any of the cheeses I have found so far, but  Brooke, Michelle, Char, Jesse and Sheena vote Daiya

 

Creamy Alfredo like pasta sauce

Donna and I both agree Raw Rose’s is awesome.

 

Cheesey product – Nooch also known as Nutritional Yeast – I use the Red Star Brand.

 

Yougert – homemade or soyourgut  - Michelle suggests So Delicious Coconut Milk Yogurt – which I have yet to see!! (I hope it comes this way soon!)

 

Ice Cream

So Good Butter Scotch Ripple 

AND

So Delicious Coconut Milk Cookie Dough-both are to DIE for… Steph totally agrees with this one!

 

Mac and Cheese Recipe – There are a few versions out there – I’ve personally tried this one and this one…

 

Buttermilk – dairy free milk of choice – 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar or lemon juice per 1 cup mik.

 

Creamer – coconut milk (I don’t really drink coffee, so I’m not sure on this one) and Emma suggests SOY NICE she said it’s the closest to half and half.

 

Chocolate Bar – Jokerz, Endangered Species  72% (I know Kris is with me),  Char also suggested the rice milk chocolate bars – which I loved until I found Endangered species!

Brooke and Michelle also voted for the Enjoy Life brand chocolate chips! I’ve never tried them!!

Pizza

Since I haven’t found a cheese that I enjoy – I find the best way to make a satisfying pizza is to use HUMMUS as the base!! – then no cheese is needed!! My favourite hummus is Sabre!

Something I didn’t realize was dairy free but am happy it is – for a random treat (really good crumbled in so good vanilla ice cream)

 

Oreo Cookies – they are not only dairy free – but VEGAN! (Yay Alyssa think they are great too!)

 

Now of course this list isn’t exhaustive and I may have missed a few things – if so please leave a comment here or on facebook! 

I know being dairy free can be a real challenge – so if you ever need any suggestions or tips, feel free to post on my facebook wall or leave a message with your email!  

I have also done a list of dairy free bloggers that I know of – you can find that here!

 

Good luck – and I’d love to hear if I have missed anything, or if you have favourites that I missed!!

Stepping Out of my Comfort Zone

Wow… blog land is QUIET!!   Is there anyone out there?

*Edit* I am having a hard time posting, I keep getting error messages…  This is my 12th time trying to post this – I hope it works!

So as you know I am working at a fitness studio!! I snapped a few photos of it the other day!

On this picture there is our fitness studio name across the back wall – but I like to keep things a LITTLE bit anonymous!

It’s just small right now – but there are over 15 classes per week, and we have over 250 members!   Once September hits, we will have 20-25 classes per week, this place will be rocking!

Anyways, if you follow the Zumba page – you’ll know that they have a competition going on right now for the best “Pause” video!

Here’s the song if you don’t know it!

So the group of ladies that work at the studio are going to be doing this video tonight!

I will be sure to share it with you because I’ll need your votes!  It’s going to be a bit cheesy, but I think it will be lots of fun and hopefully we will WIN!!!!!!!  

That’s all I have for today!! I haven’t been cooking much – a lot of hummus eating has been going down in this house!!  But I will soon – I’ve got some good things in mind!

Love love love you all!

Ps.  I saw this the other day here and thought it was sooo cute and funny!!

Tis true!!

What I love about summer!

Depending on where you live, you know what I’m talking about when I say It’s SO nice to finally have summer!  Our July felt like Fall – but since August hit, it’s been gorgeous!

I thought it would be fun to do a post about the things I love about summer!

Of course the BEACH – specifically white sandy ones!!

IT’s still too cold to swim here though!

Up next ICE CREAM!

(made with coconut milk sooooooooooooooooo good!)

 

Garden goodies of course!

SALAD!! Lots of salads!

This one has a lettuce mix, cucumbers, peas, cherry tomatoes, strawberries, blue berries and pumpkin seeds.

Sushi salad that I got from a little cafe – it wasn’t tasty at all though – but it was pretty!

Lemonade!!: ) 

Cute outfits!

 

Of course if you have been around my blog summer for me = kebabs!!  Brownie/Fruit ones and Red Thai Curry.

Starbucks on the patio!

Of course there is much more – but these are a few of my favorites!!

How about you – what do you love about summer??

Perfect Garlic

Hopefully all the foodies reading this will understand my craziness! 

                                    I     FOUND   THE   MOST  PERFECT  GARLIC!  haha

Seriously, look at it?

It is perfection.

And I did a whole photo shoot with it!

I don’t even care if people think I’m crazy – it’s perfect and I find that beautiful!!

What do you think?  Am I crazy – or do you get it?!  haha

 

Garlic is a tasty addition to most recipes!  Here are a few that have caught my eye lately!

Here are a few that I have that I really want to try asap!!

Roasted Red Pepper and Garlic Falafel from Manifest Vegan

Coconut Crusted Fish with Garlic Lime Dressing

Baked Garlic Potato Wedges

Chilli and Prawn Linguini

What is your favourite garlic recipe!

Have a great day guys!  It’s ALMOST Friday!!