A blogger survey

Apparently this is floating around blog world.  I got it from my single most committed commenter!! Jolene @ Every Day Foodie

Favorite food to crunch - Tortilla chips in some yummy guacamole! ( I agree Jolene!!)
Favorite comfort food - Really anything home cooked!! Dave's Nan's pea soup?!
Favorite picnic lunch - Mmmm.. I haven't had a picnic in forever, these would be the things though - Different meats, breads, spreads, veggies, olives, chocolate dipped stuff, guacomole......  Yum
Best summer snack -Fresh salad rolls full of veggies, mangos and fresh herbs, dipped in peanut sauce
Favorite winter snack - Chai Latte, fresh baking

Food that reminds me of the ocean - Anything from the ocean?  haha weird question!
Most likely to eat for lunch - What i would most likely WANT to eat - sushi.. handsdown.
Least likely to eat for lunch - heavy meat stuff
Food that makes me gag - cooked carrots (ewh) I can't think of anything else right now
Food tradition I love - Newfie food!!!  I could eat it forever.. so warming and delicious! 
We used to always have eggs benny around Christmas, but not anymore...
Soup or salad - Soup for sure.
Favorite breakfast food - 2 eggs, toast and ketchup... haha..  or toasted everything bagel, egg and ketchup..  yum!!
Favorite ethnic cuisine - Sushi of course...  and I love curry.

Favorite vegan ice cream flavor -No sure if it's vegan, but I just have plain vanilla so good ice cream with peanut butter, chocolate sauce and dried cranberries -  don't knock it til you try it *drools*
Favorite type of chocolate - I love any chocolate that I can eat!! :)   
Favorite beverage - Cold water and good green tea
Smooth or crunchy peanut butter - crunchy all the way baby!

Blowing away .............

I got a fantastic gift from Dave today.  

It's to add to my Christmas collection for our mantle!  A "Hope" candle holder!!

 

~HOPE~the feeling that what is wanted can be had or that events will turn out for the best!

I love it!!

For the first time in a long time, I am really excited about decorating for Christmas, and having Christmas at our place this year!  I am not decorating yet, (besides the candle holder) I want to wait until December!  But I'm excited! 

 

What is your favorite Christmas tradition/Christmas goodness?

Mine is some decorations that I have.  They are ornaments made with cloves from when my grandma grew up in Austria!  I love them!!  I bought some when I went to visit Austria a few years ago!  

I will take pictures when we take town our Christmas decorations!

I'm also excited to start my Christmas baking since I found 

                                        "President's Choice THE Decadent semi sweet chocolate chips"

They are delicious little goodness that have no dairy in them!   It's amazing, I have been paying $9+ for about 1/2 a cup of chocolate chips at the health food store, and then I find these which are super cheap!  Yay..

Homemade peanut butter cups here I come!  

Sorry for no picture, I took one, but it refuses to load and I can't find one online!! SOOO happy!!  

 

I was also happy to see these little friends at the grocery store again!!   

Mini, baby, super sweet, little oranges. 

I brought them to a class I taught today and the kids were all "awwhing" at them!  They are delicious!

I hope you can tell how little they are!!

We haven't been eating many exciting things lately, just whatever we can find. 

Nothing really picture worthy though!!  So I thought I would just update you with these fun little things!

I've been really busy this week, I started teaching some classes at our schools and finally had my meeting to apply for my schooling to get paid for-I will know tomorrow what the verdict is!! :)

Anywhoo... work got canceled tonight because the weather here is INSANE. 

The town next to us has flooded and was in a local state of emergency the other day, so I'm quite happy to curl up and watch the finale of America's Next Top Model, hopefully with Dave and some popcorn....

  As for ANTM... I really love both of the girls, so I will be happy either way, although I might be voting a little bit more for Nicole, she's so the "quirky girl: and I like that!!

                 Lauren                                                                             Nicole 

Anyways have a fantastic night, hopefully we won't blow away!!! 

Keep posted for some great reviews-Cliff bar and Luna are sending me some samples over the next few week!! YUM, looking forward to it!!

Good night,

Jessica

Dairy Free Treats and a weekend review!!!

Hope you guys had a great weekend!!    I layed pretty low all weekend,  we tried to go out shopping but my energy lasted about an hour... just long enough to get some treats -  YUM...

I had NO idea that Junior Mints had no dairy!!  YAHOO - that being said, if your allergy is super bad, they may have come in contact with some dairy, so beware.

Candy Canes of course  and one of my favorite treats.   German Gingerbread cookies!! I love them!! I held my breath when I was reading the ingredients! 

Even though I was super tired, I still made some delicious food this weekend!!   

Minestrone  Soup and Cornbread!

 

It was sooo good!!  So soul filling!!  The cornbread was sweet and cornbready!! :)

Then I took most of Sunday off,  we laid on the couch the whole day watching stupid tv shows...

We decided to order pizza for dinner!!  (Yes I can still have pizza)

I ordered a small Classic Italian - ham, pepperoni, green peppers, onions, mushrooms and green olives.

HOLD THE CHEESE... here is what is left over... It was great!

The pizza shop told me one day that they actually use a separate tray for the cheese free pizza's. 

That made me happy!!

 

Anyways, I am finally feeling better, which is good because all 3 of my work contracts start this week and I have my meeting tomorrow about getting my school paid for!   Keep your fingers crossed for me!!

Rule breaker that's me!!

If you really know me, you know this isn't true.  But when it comes to following recipes, I'm a total rule breaker.   I don't know that I have EVER followed a recipe perfectly,  I use recipes as "inspiration".  
This morning was no different!!    Here is the recipe I tried to follow!

Banana Waffles (My version, Chocolate Banana Power Waffles) - Sounds so much better hey?
1.5 cups ground oatmeal   I used whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda - didn't use
1 1/4 almond breeeeeeeeze
2 TBSP melted virgin coconut oil
1 TBSP maple syrup
1 small banana lightly mashed - used frozen banana - thawed - think banana bread

My additions;

1 HUGE scoop chocolate amazing food powder

a splash of vanilla. 

Mix it all together.. and toss into a waffle iron.  Made about 6 waffles...  And they were good... funny colored but good!!       I ate mine with peanut butter and maple syrup-  Protein, nurtient packed breakfast YUM!! 

I am feeling much better today and am ready to go do some Christmas shopping!! YAY...  I am also planning on making some minnestrone soup for dinner tonight!!  YUM!!!  

Now I see my web visitor counter rising super fast, (Almost 500 visitors in under 3 weeks)  So comment and let me know who you are and thank you for reading!!

Another great giveaway!!

Go to Greens for Good for yet another great giveaway.   Check out my comment on the post for what I think about this AMAZING product!!  

Homemade Soy Yogurt

You can tell how out of it i've been the last few days,  I was just re-reading my posts and realized I never posted the Soy Yougert recipe..  here it is!! haha (forgive me!!)  Again it's from Ohsheglows. 
Click HERE for the original post

PS. Stay tuned.. The lovely lady from CLEAN CRAVINGS  is sending me some samples of her gluten free/dairy free goodness!! :)

Homemade Soy Yogurt

Ingredients:

    * 1 cup soymilk (I’m sure you could use any type of milk?)
    * 1 T fresh lemon juice
    * 1-2 T agave (or any other sweetener- I used 1 T agave)                   

    * 1 T cornstarch
    * 1/2 t pure vanilla extract
    * fresh strawberries, chopped small (optional)
  

Directions:

1. Mix soymilk + lemon juice together and allow to curdle. The milk bubbles a bit when you add the lemon juice.  Embrace your inner mad scientist and cackle ever so evily!

2. After 30 seconds or so, add in the agave and cornstarch. Blend with a hand blender until smooth.

3. Pop into microwave for 60 seconds on high.

4. Stir, stir, stir.

5. Microwave for another 60 seconds. Stir, stir, stir.

6. Add any mix-ins you want (she suggests vanilla extract, lemon zest, fruit, etc). I added fresh chopped strawberries (about 3) and 1/2 t vanilla extract.

7. Microwave for 60 seconds. Stir and then pop into the fridge to chill. Stir before eating.

Update...

Hey guys,
So i'm feeling a wee bit better, the flu part is gone, now I just have a really bad cold.   I haven't been eating too much... so not too much to report.  The weirdest thing though.  Any bread products I've had (which is really the only think I 've been eating)  has smelt and tasted like rubbing alcohol...  so strange... and I've tried a few different things.  Must just be my stuffed up nose!!

I felt so lucky last night when I walked past Dave's office and saw this sweetness.  I snuck back into the kitchen to grab my camera and snap this picture.

How sweet are they??   I'm a lucky girl.

Anyways, I promise to write more soon, once I start eating more than toast!!  I started craving sushi today, so that's a good sign!!    I'll also have to post some of the yummy food that my work mama is bringing me!!   I heard it was chicken soup and berry crumble...  Thanks Karen (even though I'm not working there anymore, she still takes care of me!!)

PS.  I found out why my green monster went jellyish.  BLUEBERRIES!!  After reading a few other people's blogs, I found out that for some reason when blueberries are blended, they turn into a sort of jelly!!  Who knew??

Big hugs!

Jess

Free Giveaway!!

If you love free give away Eat Clean Live Green has a great one on her blog right now.   Eco friendly water bottles.   Check it out!   Water bottle giveaway

I won't be posting for a wee bit, I am definetly sick, I have H1N1 symptoms, but am not stressing about it, just focusing on getting better.   I'm a pretty healthy person, so it should just pass like any other flu.  

Also, remember to take a moment today to remember!

Send me healthy vibes too!!

Jessica

Happy Birthday Mom!!!

 Yay, it's my mom's birthday today!!   

Happy Birthday Mom!!!!!! 

She's away at the spa right now with my aunt.  I treated her to a chocolate decedant body scrub today, hopefully she enjoys it!!  Hopefully they had lots of laughs and good times... She deserves it!! :)   Love you Mom!!!

I had a great yoga workout last night.  My body is really sore today, but that could be something to do with the nasty chest cold that seems to have caught me.     I'm going to keep this short today because I just want to lie on the couch and zone out and watch Julie and Julia, and hopefully kick this cold's butt...  Boo for colds.

Have a great day!!   Happy Birthday Mom!!!!!!!!!!

Thank you to Megan Brown Photography for the picture!

OMG.. my day just turned around... awesome recipe

Ohsheglows came through again!!

I just made her homemade soy yougert and it was "out of this world" amazing...
I made it just as it said, but added honey instead of agave.  And added blueberries.   It was sooooooooooo good.  I ate some warm and it was delicious so I can imagine that the cold version will be just as fabulous!   This is by far one of my favorite recipes I have tried that is DAIRY FREE!!!

Hope you try it.. let me know what you think -  PS.  It took about 5 minutes tops!!

Ciao for now...
(PS) this is my second post of the day, so make sure to check out the other one too!!

Mondays...

Boo for Mondays.... I have to be honest, my morning has been full of road blocks so I am writing this blog with a bit of a grumpy attitude.. Don't worry, I'll get over it... ASAP!  (probably by then end of this blog post)

The good news...  Turkey turned out fantastic.  I didn't take any actual pics of the meal (oops) but here is the set up-  Isn't it pretty!!

Dinner consisted of;

Turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, mashed turnips, delicious gravy, homemade orange cranberry sauce, and I'm thinking I missed something (other than the brussel sprouts, which I forgot to cook)

I have to be honest, it was pretty good.  Even Dave approved (of everything but the turnips)

For lunch while making dinner, I had a green monster which turned jellyish?   Any ideas what I did wrong, it was nasty? (and gone down the sink)

I also had a Thai Kitchen Lemongrass and chilli rice noodles packs. It was pretty good.  I tossed out the oil pack in it though, and just added a wee bit of olive oil.     I also added edemame (shelled),  corn,  broccoli, (what a weird word to spell) and a piece of chicken.  Stired it all and it was pretty good, and super filling.

The next few days are going to be turkey turkey turkey.   Does anyone have any good turkey recipes for me?   We cooked a 16lb turkey... and have all the left overs now! hehe..

This morning for breaky I had a whole wheat bagel, mayo, turkey and avacado with salt and pepper.  It was great!!

Have a fantastic day and thanks for all the messages!!

I will cheer up I promise!!

Happy Turkey Day

Nope, it's not Thanksgiving, it's just happy turkey day! 

I'm cooking, a happy turkey today and am excited about it!!   Somebody asked me what makes a happy turkey and I said.... "he came from a happy farm, was treated like gold,  fed healthy grains, lived as he pleased... drank red wine and ate chocolate bon bons!!"  I think that makes for a happy turkey don't you!!?

He looks happy, don't you think?
Thanks to Sandra for such a yummy bird!!

So Dave and I went to a pottery sale yesterday.

I found a whole bunch of lovely stuff.  I'm only allowed to have one of the bowls today because the rest are away for Christmas.   I love pottery!!  Here is one of my very beautiful pieces.

 

Side View...

 

I am so in love with it.

I didn't eat anything overly interesting yesterday.  I am getting more used to the Amazing Grass stuff.  I can't use a whole scoop.   BUT that being said, I have noticed a HUGE boost in my energy and my cold that I was getting seems to be gone!!   So even if I don't love the taste, the benefits seem to be fantastic. 

I am waiting to make my smoothie this morning, but Dave is still in dream land.   Lance loves Dave, and this is what happens every morning...

 

He waits outside the door all morning, listening to every single sound...

waiting for that blissful moment that Dave opens the door.

Anyways, my morning started off with some shredded wheat, crasins and soy milk.

And now I'm sipping on my lemon/honey drink.  Yum...

On the dinner plate tonight will be turkey, homemade cranberry sauce, yummy mashed potatoes (with soy milk and earth balance) and stuffing... and we'll toss some veggies in there too.. 

Pictures to come!!

Here is a hello from Lance this morning,  he came to say hello as I was writing this...

Have a fantastic day!!!  

Eggs are not dairy!!!!!

I apologize again for being gone again!!  Thursday I was feeling pretty icky, and my day ended up flying by (thank goodness)  and yesterday Dave and I spent the day Christmas shopping, the WHOLE day.  

Our Christmas shopping went pretty well, we got a few things for family... and Dave bought a new wardrobe for himself (almost)  and I didnt' find a single thing!!!!!!!!!   It was quite sad...    But I did have a fantastic lunch (well for a food court lunch)  I went to "Terryaki Experience"  It was great.  I had the pineapple shrimp with extra veggies.  I found out that they cook with water, not oil and they let you add your own sauces, very good!!    I find it hard to eat the no dairy way in a food court (especially when I see "OPA" my old favorite)

Then we went to Costco...  they have such fantastic deals.  Unfortunetly we were trying to cut back and not spend a wack of cash.   But they had 2 litres of POM juice for $7 something,  silk soy milk 2x pack for super cheap.   Frozen strawberries (for green monsters) were $7 for a large bag.  I also got two amazing lululemon like hoodies for $20 each!!  

Then I had a HUGE craving for a club sandwhich.  So we went to this fun restaraunt that you could draw on the tables (oh how I wish I had a camera for the finished artwork)  I had my beloved club sandwhich, but after I asked for no dairy, they took every condiement in site off my sandwhich so I got a sandwhich with 1 peice of turkey, 2 peices of bacon, a piece of tomatoe and rotten lettuce (that I took off, ick)  It wasn't very good, so I brought it home and added some goodness, and it was mucho better!  Funny how most people think mayo has dairy... boo to them!!!   Mayo is EGG folks... eggs are not dairy!!!!!!!!!!! 

Ok.. for the review.... So Good Omega Original. 

Full of Omega goodness...  aka flax seeds... I should have read the label because flax seeds bug my stomach.  

It tastes a wee bit fishy, 

creamy and it's pretty sweet.  

Not sure I would buy it again, but it's not terrible.   So Good make

pretty delicious stuff usually.   I love their ice cream, it makes me feel normal,

because the taste is so close to regular ice cream.   The butterscotch swirl is amazing, I would eat it over regular ice cream any day!

Check out their link here.... SO GOOD

Ok... time for me to start my day!!   We're heading to a pottery show ( I love pottery) and I'm hoping to buy myself some Christmas gifts.. haha..

Have a lovely day!

yum!!

A few reviews... and a recipe! 

How's your day going?   Mine is good... I've gotten quite a bit accomplished... and I made a yummy lunch...
I created olive tapenade/hummus.  I was going to make tapenade, and hummus, but realized I could just do them together!!  It was good... 

Olive Tapenade Hummus

1 can Olives, rinsed in warm water to take away the saltiness
1 cloves of Garlic
1/2 cup of walnuts
lemon juice to taste
1/4 cup of grapeseed oil
1 can rinsed chickpeas
 Using a food processor, whiz everything to desired consitancy

Serve with pita bread and veggies.




                                                                     


I also tried my Amazing Grass _ I have to be honest.  I didn't love it.   After all the hype I feel a bit let down...   That being said I will try it again and see what I think.  Maybe a different green monster flavor.  (I just did it with frozen banana, 1 scoop amazing grass, spinach and soya milk)   I didn't even finish it... boo..
But I feel like maybe I am missing something!!


As for where I was this weekend,  Dave took me up to his worksite for 2 nights.  We drove for 3 hours and then took a 45 min boat ride to the middle of nowhere!     Here was our boat... 

The amazing scenery...

Not sure if you can see, but there are a whole bunch of seals on those rocks!!

Lance loved the boat ride...   He couldn't get enough of it.  

Then once we were there, he freaked out and jumped (or fell) into the water.

If Dave hadn't have gone out at that exact moment, he probably would have become a merdog.. ;)

There was a sneaky little otter that was teasing him the whole time.

 

  When we got there we got some scallops, unfortunately I wasn't feeling well and didn't eat any....

 

Then I caught a fish-black cod.. which we also didn't eat.  But we did bring it home for dinner soon!!

Then our days on the ocean were over... and we headed home earlish... it was a beautiful ride...

All and all we had a good trip, it was very beautiful out there, but made me appreciate home,  I love our little house and our life here on solid ground!!

Hope you enjoyed the pictures.  Gota go find something to make for dinner...and finish off a few things.

Would love to hear from you guys, even if you don't have a google account, you can just click "comment" and then put your comment and select the Name/Url selection and you won't be asked for anything else!!

Take care!

Jessica

Back to the land of blog!!

Hello!
I'm bacckkkk... Hope you guys didn't miss me too much.   *smiles*

I'm not yet telling you where my adventures this weekend were, but I will let you know soon!!

I haven't been feeling too well the last few days, and I totally think it's because I've been eating crappy food all

weekend... So back on it... I went shopping today for stuff to keep me on track.... 
-Kettle Chips Jalepeno (NO DAIRY!!  the only Jalepeno flavor I can find with no dairy.. and they are good)
-So Good soy milk-I really love Almond Breeze, but it's expensive.
- 3 cans coconut milk, Tofu, my favorite one... Eggs, 2x lemons, pomegranate, organic cherry tomatoes, carrots, walnuts, avocado, oats, chilli sauce, spinach, zucchini, organic apples (cheaper than regular today)
- New ginger & peppermint tea.
- 3x beets
ALSO guess what just arrived!!!!!  My AMAZING GRASS - it ended up being so expensive, I had to pay an extra $8.91 for customs, but I had a wee little taste and it's good!! 

For breaky I had roasted sweet potatoes with mango chutney, and  a lemon drink - my dad's specialty - 1 lemon squeezed into hot water with honey to taste.  Hopefully it makes me feel a bit better.  I have slept over 12 hours the last 2 nights, and feel like I could sleep all day today...  Ugg..

Anyways will write later - I am going to make roasted beet salad, and olive tapenade... and of course a green monster to test out my amazing grass!!  

I promise my next few posts will have some more life too them!! :)    Also, here is a picture of the homemade wraps I made the other night.

Have a great day!!