Friday Recipe!

Happy Friday!!!  Is everyone looking forward to the weekend?  I feel like the weeks are just rolling right along at a steady pace these days.  As Goldie Locks would say “not too fast, not too slow, juuuuuuust right”.  I have a day in the life post ready in the works but since my day (Thursday) isn’t over yet it will have to wait until next week.  In the mean time I wanted to share my granola recipe that I have been meaning to share for a long time.  And I figure if I post it today you will have all weekend to whip up a batch and let me know what you thought of it 😀

Home Made Granola (adapted from Whitewater Cooks at home)

Preheat oven to 325oF

In a large bowl combine the following:

• 2.5 Cups large flake oats
• 1/2 Cups chopped almonds
• (any other nuts that you would like to add for a total of 1 Cup)
• 1/2 Tbs cinnamon
• 1/2 Tbs ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp salt

Once the above ingredients are well combined add the following to the dry ingredients above:

• 1/2 Cup apple sauce
• 1/8 Cup honey
• 1/8 Cup maple syrup
• optional 1/4 Cup of brown sugar if you prefer a sweeter taste
• 1 Tbs olive oil

Combine everything well and place on a baking sheet (no Parchment or grease needed).  Place in the oven and bake for about an hour stirring a few times.  Keep an eye on it because baking times really very.  It will be done when it turns a golden brown.  This recipe is great to double as well.

Take out and cool before adding 1Cup of dried fruit of your choosing.

Store in an air tight container for a week or in the fridge for a month.

Thinking Out Loud 27/02/2014

Wow, two posts in a row!  That’s pretty good for me these days :S  I have kind of been pushing my life to get a little busier these days, busy with friends and getting out more.  And I have to be honest that I am quite enjoying it.  So how are you doing?  How has your week been?  I am so happy that it’s Thursday because that means the last business casual day until casual Friday 😀  Well I feel like today is a good day to link up with Amanda and all the other bloggers and participate in…

1) I have really been enjoying getting out more on weeknights.  I have finally gotten over my “it’s too cold to go out” mentality.  I was starting to feel house bound and needed to DO SOMETHING!  So on Saturday we met up with some friends for a couple of beers and then headed over to the Loose Moose Theatre for a night of improve.  We really had a blast and I think another comedy night should be in our future.  On Monday John and I went out with friends to (FINALLY) see the lone soldier.  Oh my goodness, what an emotional movie.  If you haven’t seen it you really should.  I have to admit that the book, in my opinion, was better but that is usually how it goes.

2) I am currently writing at 8:15 on Wednesday night after doing a quick grocery shop.  I really needed to pick up some snack foods that didn’t include wheat.  I found some things but I am already REALLY missing my nightly bowl of cereal.  I am going to have to make some granola this weekend to satisfy my cereal and milk tooth.

3) I don’t know if I can make a whole month without wheat… these past two days have actually been really tough.  I hope it get’s better however with that being said my parents want to go out for an Italian dinner next weekend.  I am thinking I might have to give in for one night as I can’t pass up fresh pasta.  That is basically a sin.

4) I have finished the only two seasons of Downton Abby on Netflix.  Season 3 isn’t out until June… cruel cruel fait.  This is really sad and means I have to find another show to get into.  My lovely friend tells me Suits is a great show so that may be on the list.  Life is so tough!

5) It got up to 3oC today 🙂  it’s supposed to be a high of -22oC on the weekend 😦  WHY OH WHY IS THE GOOD WEATHER DURING THE WEEK!?

6) I am going for another massage today and this time they are going to try a hip release.  I felt so much better after getting my muscles worked on last week so I hope this fixes the last little niggles.

7) I had my first, albiet short, run on Tuesday and I felt on top of the world!  I felt a little pain on Wednesday morning so I am going to lay off running anymore until the weekend.  If all goes well I am hoping to sign up for the Calgary Half Marathon again in May.  Keep your fingers and toes crossed for me!

8) I can’t stop on odd numbers…. now I have writers block… well this counts as 8!

Have a great Thursday!

Photo of the morning…

Questions

1) What are some social activities you like to do during the week?

2) Are you hooked on any shows at the moment?

WIAW 26/02/2014 going Wheat Free

I am back! Sorry about disappearing again, life just got so busy and busy in a good way. What could be better than jumping back in for another WIAW eats from Tuesday 🙂 thanks to Jenn as always for hosting.

Well the day stared off frrrrreeeeeezzzzzing once again but john and I decided to brave the cold and peddle ourselves down to work. My tose nearly fell off… This meant that when I got to work a hot beverage was needed STAT! Enter coffee number one that was quickly followed by my hot oatmeal I prepared before work.
breakfast…

I have been craving cooked oats much more than overnight oats these last few days.  I am putting it down to the cold weather.

Oh and before I get too far into this post I should mention that I am trying to go wheat free (not gluten free) for one month starting yesterday. Why? Because I read Wheat Belly and wanted to see if I am addicted to wheat. If I don’t notice any AMAZING benefits you can bet my first breakfast will be a bagel!  Please note that I have a good relationship with food.  If you are battling with food issues, please do not start to cut things out of your diet unless instructed to do so by a doctor.

Okay, onto snacks…
There was a banana, an apple, and an un pictured rice cake or 2 with peanut butter and coffee number 2.

I worked hard through the morning and did a quick lunch gym session and had my first run in a month! It only lasted 20min and felt great but I won’t be pushing it anytime soon.

Needless to say I was really hangry hungry after and was ready for lunch…

Left over Kung pow chicken with quinoa and broccoli. I was still hungry so I had a granola bar as well (wheat free :D).

The afternoon had me munching on everything from chocolate to oranges to veggies with a sampling of dips including humus and artichoke dip !  I remembered in the nick of time to grab one picture of my last nibble of chocolate.

By the time we rode home we were both more than ready for dinner of bass, barley, and roasted veggies!  I was snacking the hole time I was making this on almonds and some rice crackers.

You can bet your bottom dollar there will be some snacking going on this evening too 😉 (turned out to be frozen blueberries)

Take care everyone!

questions
1) have you ever tried to give up a food or addiction?
2) do you have any near freezing experiences?

HAPPY FRIDAY!!!!

John got a present from over the pond!  What a great sister 🙂

Everyone looking forward to the weekend?  I know I am.  Although it was a short week for us Albertans, having Monday off, I am still looking forward to a couple days of relaxation.  On the books for the next couple of days is skiing(?) on Saturday as long as the old leg hangs in there, some comedy as I mentioned yesterday, and wine :D.  Speaking of my leg, I think the massage really helped out.  I don’t have the nagging dull pain in my knee and all down my thigh.  I could really tell that she worked on the muscles as I had the bruised butt to testify haha.

Highlight of Thursday was watching Canada win gold in women’s curling AND hockey!  So proud to be Canadian.  Tomorrow is the men’s semi final with Canada facing off against the US which should promise to be a really good game.  Needless to say, with how close they came to losing to Latvia on Wednesday everyone is a little on edge.  Which leads me to a couple of funnies for Friday

And because I love food, here is my dinner from Thursday night

A pumpernickel bagel (yes a whole bagel, none of these bagel thin crap things) with PB and Apricot Jam, scrambled eggs with veggies and trout (random leftover), left over squash, and zucchini on the side.

Now if you excuse me I have a date with some cereal and the TV 😀

Take care everyone and have a great weekend!

Questions:

1) What are you weekend plans?

2) if you could meet one celebrity (actor/actress/inventor/athlete etc) who would it be?

THINKING OUT LOUD 20/02/214

Hello blog readers!  How is life treating you today?  I have a bunch of things I want to put into writing today so I feel this is a great way to incorporate Amanda’s

Thank you so much for hosting Amanda!

1) I am starting to feel a lot of blogging pressure lately.  What is this blogging pressure I can hear you ask.  Well, it’s the pressure to post every day, take some photos of your activities, make every entry entertaining.  And this pressure, I think, is completely self induced.  I started out doing this blog for myself (yes I was being selfish with it) but I think I have become sucked into feeling like I need to cater it to readers.  This needs to STOP.  Don’t get me wrong, I love when people read my blog and comment!  That really makes my day.  I think I am just starting to feel like I’m conforming and struggling to keep up.

2) I am also feeling too scheduled.  Moving forward you might see me participating in link ups 5 days a week or maybe none.  I love linking up but need a little more freedom if ya know what I mean.

3) I went for a massage (finally) to help my leg/glute.  It hurt so good!  Evidently I have messed up my posterior 😦 hopefully we are on the mend now.  I have to go back next week again to get my hip flexor released.  I have a feeling it’s going to be another round of good pain.

4) I am an eating machine and I am okay with it.  John has started to pick up his exercise routines again after mostly just doing the daily biking into work.  He now understands how I can’t stop eating.  I am so happy to have someone that understands 😀

5) My parents went skiing today… there was over 50cm of snow over the last day… I was jealous…. one of the main chair lifts was closed due to snow/wind…. I was still jealous.

6) We are going to see some improve comedy this weekend with friends.  I am really looking forward to it!  If you are in Calgary and want some comedy I suggest the Loose Moose Theatre!

7) Everyone was watching the hockey game at the gym yesterday during lunch hour.  It was a pretty memorable experience.  Cheers went up when Canada scored and won the game.

8) John is making pizza for dinner tonight… I am excited!

9) I love my friends and family.  I just wanted to put that out there 🙂

10) I can’t wait to see what the day has in store.  I am waking up every morning and telling myself to do what makes me happy.  It has helped to banish the bad moods.

Have a great day!

P.S. to everyone who has commented in the last couple of days, I am playing catchup but will reply back to you!  I haven’t given anyone the cold shoulder!

Questions

1) Do you set goals for your day or have encouraging words to tell yourself when you wake up?

2) Do you ever find yourself conforming to what you think people are wanting/looking for?

A Little Catch Up Is In Order

I woke up thinking it was Monday, feeling like it was Wednesday, and figured out it was Tuesday :S hahaha gotta love long weekends!

I hope everyone had a great weekend and did a whole bunch of fantastic things!  My weekend started out with a lovely bottle of red wine, pasta, and my love on Friday night (Valentine’s day).

Saturday was not too eventful.  Had a great breakfast of an egg white oatmeal pancake with PB and berries.  Not unlike the others I have had in the past.  After breakfast we headed out to do some grocery/clothes shopping.  About $450 later we arrived back home for lunch and headed back out for a lovely walk.  Fast forward to a bbq’d trout dinner that was on the table and all of a sudden I had a melt down.  I honestly don’t know what happened but I headed upstairs at 7pm fell fast asleep until 7 am the next morning.  I hope I don’t come across as a whiney child 😦 It was just one of those time.

Sunday was much better and we celebrated our 6mo wedding anniversary.  To kick it off we headed to a SUPER hot yoga class.  It was along the lines of Bikrahm but not the same sequence of poses.  I think I like regular yoga better.  I am not convinced that yoga that hot is healthy.  After some coffee and breakfast John and I too a drive out to the scene of the crime (AKA our wedding venue) in Banff.  We basically just bummed around the town for lunch and did some shopping.  They had some of the greatest sales on their winter items and I came away with a new pair of winter boots and a puffy vest!  For lunch we went to Coyotes for some hot soup and sandwiches.  That place is the bomb and you must go if you are in Banff.  They have the best stuffed french toast for breakfast!

Our day didn’t end then however!  We had dinner reservations in Calgary at a new favourite of ours, Cassis.  Oh you guys, this is such a great little find and is like stepping into a bistro in France.  Their menu is small but everything sounded so tasty and fresh.  In the end we decided to start with lamb sausage and beef tartar.  Has anyone ever had beef tartar before?  This was my fist time and boy was I impressed.  At first the raw egg yoke sitting on top turned me off a bit but one bite converted me.  It was delicious and their wasn’t a scrapping left at the end.  For our mains we both went with the market fish special which was three massive scallops with truffle butter.  I LOVE scallops and these were so perfectly cooked and even tasted sweet.  To end we had to go for the creme brule.  Again, it was a great choice.  It was the best day and I can’t wait until our actual anniversary 😉

Monday was a gym day and it felt great to get the heart rate up.  John and I both got some cleaning done and had a great slow cooker super thanks to Two Peas In Their Pod .  John made their recipe for slow cooker lentil chilli.  I highly suggest this if you are looking for a different take on chilli.

And since I wanted to post this yesterday but never got around to it, John and I managed to spend some more dough on getting our guest book framed.  For our guest book we decided to have all of our guests sign a map with pens that we provided.  It turned out really well and I can’t wait to have it up on the wall 😀

Well that’s it for me.  Hopefully I am back tomorrow with a WIAW 🙂

Until then, take care!

Questions

1) Are you a traditional food kind of person or will you try different takes on a food?

2) Do you ever get randomly grumpy?

HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY!

Happy Valentine’s Day!  To me Valentine’s day is a bit of a Hallmark/I just want to eat as much chocolate as possible schmoze but I do like the premise of spending that little extra time with the ones you love and enjoying a good meal 😉  But I usually refrain from buying cards but for some reason I have an urge to make a macaroni card.  Do you have any Valentine’s traditions?  I think John and I are going to have to start some.  I hadn’t really thought about it but John and I celebrate 6 months of marriage on Sunday, so close to Valentine’s day!  We are going to combine our celebrations and head out for a nice dinner on Sunday night.  Other than that I would really love to get out cross country or downhill skiing.

I honestly don’t have too much more to mention today….

I hope everyone has an awesome Friday!

Questions:

1) Have any weekend plans?

2) Do you have a favourite Valentine’s day treat? 

WIAW and Thinking Out Loud Combo 13/02/2014

Well hello there!  And hello Thursday 😀  I have had a pretty busy work day on Wednesday i.e. it is currently 7:45 pm and I am still working (at home).  Le sigh…..  So how is your week going?  I personally am shocked that we are one day from Friday WHOOP!  Does anyone have any plans for Valentines Day?  I will address our plans in todays combo of…

AND

Thank you to both Jenn and Amanda for hosting these fantastic link ups!  I am going to try and combine these two fantastic days into one post!Okay well here is my first random thought… 1) Why is wordpress centring all my text?  Frustrating…..2) I am so proud of how Canada is doing in the Olympics!  We are putting up a really good showing for these games 😀  I can’t wait to watch some more events!Now how about some eats from Tuesday!Breakfast!  Overnight oats with PB, black berries, and strawberries.  All topped off with some milk and a hot coffee on the side.  Perfect start to the day!SnackA really good apple!  I also had another cup of coffee.  And then the saddest part of the day happened…the last sip of coffee 😦Thinking out loud 3) I really like milk in my coffee but not cream because I don’t like the taste.  People always look at me funny if I say they offer a coffee and if they only have cream and no milk that I will take it black.  And then I always feel judged….Thought 4) I am pretty sure I also ate a banana in there as well.  Until a couple of years ago I used to HATE bananas, as in they made me gag.  Now I eat at least one a day, but only if they are ripe and getting little brown spots on the peelLunchNot very exciting, but in the wrap was tuna, cheese, some veggies, and mustard.  I always heat them up so that the cheese gets melty.  On the side were some veggies, Food Should Taste Good chips, and hummus.  Thought 5) I love salads but I can’t even try to think about having one for lunch these days.  It’s just too cold for me to crave cold food.  I even have to warm up sandwiches for the to seem appealing.Thought 6) Even thought it’s been -26oC every morning this week John and I have biked in.  I can’t even describe how much better it is than paying $12 each per day and cramming onto the train.  Plus it gets the blood pumping in the morning.Afternoon SnackA triple chocolate chunks ahoy cookie (or two ;)) and a cold glass of grapefruit juice mixed with soda water.  Perfect for an afternoon pick me up!  I am pretty sure I snacked on a few more chips as well.Thought 7) How do early birds catch the worms in the morning on freezing winter mornings when the ground is frozen?  It is this thought that makes me think we should all get up as late as possible in the winter.  Because the early bird starves to death in the cold.Thought 8) My blog celebrated it’s first birthday last weekend.  I am so happy that I have been consistent with it.  It’s been so much fun and I have met so many neat people 😀  It really is a bright spot of my day to sit down and blog.

Dinner

Dinner was an awesome chicken burger on a whole wheat bun.  On the side was a sweet potato with salsa and greek yogurt. I also had a big side salad for some greens.

Thought 9) I love ending my nights with tea.  I think I have tried all of Davids Tea desert teas!

Thought 10) John is now showing off his karate skills… makes me laugh.  Love him!

Bedtime snackA home made granola bar!

Well that 10 thoughts and my eats!  I hope you have a great week day 😀

Questions:

1) Tell me one random fact about yourself.

2) Do you have a favourite olympic event?

 

 

Liebster Blog Award Nomination

I had originally planned to do my usual WIAW post but…… Miranda over at Lovely Wife Lovely Life has nominated me for Liebster Award!  Thank you so much lovely lady!  And since this is my first blogging award I am just over the moon 😀

Like I said, this is my first time being nominated so I am following the rules that Miranda posted which are as follows:

Rules:
1. Answer the 10 questions the person who nominated you wrote.
2. Create 10 new questions for next set of bloggers to answer
3. Nominate 10 bloggers to answer your questions and pass on the award to

Well here we go!

1. If you were an animal, what would you be? hmmm you know what ever since I was really little I always thought that if I were an animal I would want to be a dolphin.  Who wouldn’t love to just goof off all day and star in movies 😉
2. What was your favorite movie as a kid? Please don’t make me pick just one!  I have to go with three: The Last Unicorn, Unico, and Rainbow Bright.  I had have a thing for horses!

3. Pancakes or waffles? Oooo another tough one.  I am going with pancakes!  I like the equal distribution of syrup you can get rather than little waffle pools.  Plus you can stack ’em!
4. Would you rather: never have to do your makeup again or never have to do your nails again? I know this one!  I would never do my makeup again.  I never seem to find time for my nails so I would be able to designate my old makeup time to my neglected nails!
5. What’s your favorite month of the year? October!  I love fall 😀
6. Would you rather: workout at 5 am or workout at 11 pm? 5 am because I am a grandma at heart that needs an early bed time.
7. What is your dream career? Dolphin trainer!
8. If you had a million dollars, what would you do with it? Well…. I guess I would make a donation to charity and then go on an awesome trip!  I would invest the rest because I am a saver at heart.
9. What is your favorite comfort food? Sheppard’s Pie!  But only the one my parents make.
10. What is your guilty pleasure? Train wreck TV haha

Thanks again Miranda!

Well those were my questions to answer and here are mine to ask!

1. What is your favourite meal of the day?
2. If you could only have a sweet or savoury breakfast for the rest of your life what would you choose?
3. What is your favourite book?
4. milk, dark, or white chocolate?  Or none of the above?
5. What is your favourite movie genera?
6. If you could be any age for a day, how old would you be?
7. Do you have a favourite TV series?  If so which one.
8. If you could have any super power which would you choose?
9. What is your favourite band/song at this moment?
10. If you could live forever would you want to?

And now my nominees are

*Drum roll……*

Laura@fit fresh and funny

Jan@sprouts n squats

Liz@carpe diem run

Brittany@Dulce Vie

Madison@Eating for Balance

Jess@PugRunAholic 

Christine@apple of my eye

Rola@the talking pencil

Leigha@minougirl

Kendra@veggie dancer

I can’t wait to hear the answers 😀

Question:

I am totally copying Miranda on this one!  Pick two of the questions I asked to answer.  I can’t wait to hear your answers 🙂

I’m scared to go to the bathroom

So I feel all sorts of thrown off blogging today since I wrote my post yesterday at the end of the day.  I feel like I talked about most of the fun things that happened over the weekend and Monday and now I am all out of ideas haha.  Oh and I realized I completely forgot my questions in my MIMM post, oopsies.

So how are ya?  How did the week start for you?  Mine started off with a great bike ride into work in -26oC.  Call us crazy, but we were both so done with taking the train.  I swear that’s how I am getting all my illnesses.  It really wasn’t all that bad if you dressed for it.  I think the only part exposed on me was my nose.  I could’t believe how hot I was by the time we got to work.  My coworker sent me a link to an interview that a bike company is doing about winter bike riders, on my way to work…. there maybe free breakfast involved SCORE.

Work went pretty smoothly, and I think I have finished a lot of my bigger projects (for now) which is nice.  Our bathrooms at the office are in such bad need of maintenance.  The toilets are starting to sound like they are about to attack you when they flush.  There must be some problems with the pipes because the sound the make is just awful.  I can actually hear them flush in my office.  The sad part is that the bathrooms were just re-done and the toilets are brand new!

Well after a chilly bike ride home we scarfed down an omelette dinner (there sure are a lot of e’s in omelette) and headed back out the door to do some damage grocery shopping.  $260 later and we should be good to go for the week 😀  After spending that kind of money we consoled ourselves with a little walking dead before calling it a night.

Have a great Tuesday!

Questions:

1) Do you like to do grocery shopping on the weekend or during the week?

2) How much do you spend on groceries?

3) Do you watch the walking dead?

Just because I thought this photo is too funny

John discovers reclining chair