Gushin’!

Hi!

I just wanted to fit in a quick post and get you all caught up on the last couple of days!  I’m working today from 1:30 to close and again tomorrow but I’m not complaining because I actually love going to work and making a little money isn’t so bad either!  In case I haven’t mentioned it already, I’m a server at a golf course but I don’t get to drive out in the little carts/work in the huts outside like our girl Jenny, I serve at the restaurant and do banquets and weddings and stuff!

Anyway, onto the amazing day I had yesterday!  

Breakfast was 2 Kashi Go Lean waffles with maple syrup, peanut butter and banana and a glass of milk. 

Putting it all together:  A smear of pb and syrup on a piece of waffle and topped with a banana slice. YUM!

So, my friend from high school and I had been talking about going to the spa for some pampering and relaxation for the entire school year but since we were both away for school, we never found time to go.  Sooo, we decided  just to call and see if they had any times available and they did!  I’m so glad we went because boy, did they know how to pamper a girl =)

We wore huge fluffy robes and slippers while we waited for our massages and snacked on cookies and tea!  I had an unpictured oatmeal raisin cookie and an apple which was even better than the cookie (only you guys would understand!)

And after our massages, we just lounged around in our robes for awhile, all moisturized, relaxed and smelling pretty!  Then, we drove around for awhile, stopping at the mall, a friend’s house, and a grocery store where I picked up spinach and this-

GUSHERS!! Do you remember these from when you were a kid?  This was my favourite recess snack and I haven’t had it in seriously, like 10 years!  We shared a pack ( or 2! ) and while we were both grinning like idiots when we squeezed the juice out and ate ‘em, we both decided by the end of the second pack (hah), that they were too sweet and having them get stuck in our teeth was no fun.  I just realized how grandma-esque that sounded but hey, its true!

But still, eating intuitively and having treats like that once in awhile is so worth it in my books anyway!

Later on, I had some lunch.  This was a turkey and tomato sandwich that totally hit the spot after that very sweet dessert, which I think should always come before the meal!  I also had a side of perfectly pink watermelon.

I decided the whole day should be dedicated towards relaxing so I read a little, caught up on some blogs, had dinner with the fam and took a nice walk with my dad and Buddy.  Perfect! 

I really have to go get ready for work now (15 mins yikes!) but just wanted to give you a heads up about plans for tomorrow!  I am going to the farmer’s market to go strawberry picking before work!

8 comments June 19, 2009 hummusamongus

Yesterday was spent at the BEACH! Even though it was nice and sunny, it was just not warm enough to swim and I even had to put a sweater on!  Where are you summer??  But it was a relaxing day and Buddy got to have his first swim of the season!  Here is my day in pictures:

Breakfast: Toasted almond butter and honey on wheat with a glass of milk and a naner

Lunch on the dock: Peanut butter and jelly, unpictured apple and carrot sticks

A very wet puppy! And you can bet he shook off all the water right after this was taken!

Fetching!

Snack:  organic raspberries covered with yogurt and topped with more raspberries! 

This is Astro Fat Free Zero yogurt – I’m really having a hard time deciding what type of yogurt to buy because the full fat, regular kinds are just filled with sugar and sat. fat but I know I don’t need to be having fat free yogurt either, especially when it is sweetened with splenda! But, I can’t bring myself to enjoy plain yogurt yet -

What kind of yogurt do you eat? and if you have plain yogurt, how did you wean yourself off of the artifically sweetened ones?

Dinner: Vegetable lasagna (my own recipe!), cherry tomatoes, baked tofu, vegetable soup and lots of steamed broc on the side. 

Now, a closer look at the goods =)

This could have rounded out a fabulous day but of course I had to have some dessert =)

I had been wanting to bake for awhile and after talking to Veggiegirl, decided to go with her suggestion to make banana bread! 

Banana bread is my absolute favourite and I had a bunch of really brown bananas (ew) so, I used Jenna‘s recipe and it turned out great.   I added walnuts too so I got in some yummy, healthy fats!  Now you know what I’m going to be having for breakfast tomorrow! 

I know this post has been superlong, but I just had to say THANKS for the lovely warm welcome I’ve gotten here in the blogworld.  (especially you Meg! for including it on your post!) I can really see why you guys love it so much and I’m so glad I’m a part of it all now!  Have a great day everyone!

11 comments June 17, 2009 hummusamongus

Puffins Please!

Hello friends!

It’s been another superbusy couple of days but I have lots of exciting pictures to share with you! And I did another huge grocery haul at Wegmans and I’m proud to say I’m no longer a PB Puffin/Greek yogurt virgin!! (more on that later though)

So, on Friday it was my sister’s convocation so we had to wake up at 5:30 AM (believe me, I was not a happy camper especially having worked til like 11 the night before!).  But my breakfast made up for it- 2 waffles smeared with pb (no pic sorry!) and a banana with more pb!  I use a spoon and keep adding pb as I peel and eat. I know most of you bloggies make a sammie out of the banana but this is how I’ve always done it! Weird?

And the day just kept getting better and better.  The ceremony was short, sweet and motivating (I love the inspirational speeches they give at graduations!) and the food that came after was perfect and summery! 

There were tons of fresh fruit and veggies and the mandatory finger desserts which I sampled of course!

Here’s my plate aka. mountain of fruit topped with a piece of…banana bread! and brownie that got all ooey gooey from the sun. MHMMM so good.

And obviously I went back for seconds and thirds of the fruit – I just couldn’t resist and needed my fix!

The gorgeous weather we had all day just topped it all off. 

Here I am with the new grad! and that’s my grandma in the back-isn’t she the cutest??

After about a million more pictures, we hit the road and headed for the Buffalo!  We grabbed some food for the drive over because taking pictures makes you hungry??

Anyway, we stopped at Made in Japan Teriyaki Experience where I got a Tofu Teriyaki Rice Meal with brown rice and extra veggies!  This place was great.  They just steamed the tofu and vegetables and put only as much sauce as you want.  I was really happy to get brown rice with my meal because I always either forget to ask or think they don’t have it. 

I always feel bad asking to change this and that but feel so much better with the changes. Do you ever make changes/alterations to your meals when you eat out??

This was the best takeout meal I’ve had - healthy and delicious to boot!  There were so many vegetables and the brown rice and tofu kept me nice and full throughout my 2 hour grocery shop/wandering at Wegmans!

Here’s what I finally decided on after a LOT of thought and consideration about your suggestions, reviews and comments (thanks to everyone that emailed/commented!)

Pretty sweet haul eh?  I stocked up on:

BARS (chocolate chip z bars!!! (I am beyond excited to try these after seeing them on everyone’s blogs!), Kashi caramel peanut ROLL, Peanut Butter Pretzel Mojo, S’mores Luna, Crunchy Peanut Butter Clif.  There were SOO many flavours I wanted to try but I narrowed it down to these ( good choices??)

CEREAL (Kashi Honey Sunshine, Kashi Probiotic, PB PUFFINS!, and Barbara’s Vanilla Almond Shredded Oats)

SNACKS (Kashi Chewy TLC Oatmeal Raisin Flax, Late July Mini Cheddar Cheese, Newman’s Own Original Newman-O’s, Food Should Taste Good Sweet Potato chips and Tribe Original Hummus)

and…

on the drive home, I had my first (and second! haha can you tell I’m addicted??)  greek yogurt and boy was it good!  First, I had a Blueberry Oikos which I didn’t get a pic of-too excited, sorry! and then (I know, can you say protein overload?) a Fage 2% with the love of my life, PB PUFFINS!! I also had handfuls ( X 8335204079) of Puffins straight from the box!

The Puffins were every bit as good as you bloggies made them out to be! They were like Corn Pops but a million times better because they are all natural, peanut butter flavoured AND they dont hurt the roof of your mouth after eating a lot (I would know, the box is pretty much gone-yikes!)

Although they were both good, I liked the Fage better because it was so much creamier and thicker and unlike my normal yogurt.  Oikos tasted pretty much like regular milk yogurt to me.  Anyone else with me on that?

Anyway, I am so upset that they don’t sell either of them here and I think we’re going to have to change that. 

Do any of you know who I could contact to get them to distribute to a particular store??

I’m going to try to post more regularly and really get into the habit of taking pictures and posting so my posts won’t be this long and drawn out all the time.  See you soon!

8 comments June 15, 2009 hummusamongus

Back from bummin’!

So I know its been a couple of days since I last posted but bear with me, I will get better at this!  Life just feels crazy busy even though its summertime and most of my days are spent bummin’ around! 

But of course, I managed to fit in some gooood eats so lets take a look:

This was a new dish that I had been dying to make all year but as you can imagine, being away at school and living in residence made that pretty much impossible.  So you know I’ve been putting my oven and stove to good use now that I’m home!  I also totally need to practice for next year when I need to cook instead of just heading downstairs to the caf for food (if you can even call it that-ugh!). 

Anyway, this was a Morrocan chickpea, almond and vegetable curry over couscous.  Even though it tasted pretty darn amazing, being chock full of vegetables – mushrooms, carrots, broccoli, green pepper, onion and sweet potatoes – it was quite a workout cutting them all up.  But, it was definitely worth it because I finished that whole bowl and had plenty of yummy leftovers!

Here’s a closeup for ya because I think it deserves another look!

And just because it’s summer, I whipped these babies up!

First up, a strawberry, banana, blueberry and orange smoothie! with a side of…my cat Emmalee (she’s creeping in the back haha)

And then, a vanilla soymilk and banana smoothie AND I finally took the plunge and tried a GREEN MONSTER!  I had been seeing them everywhere, and just happened to have all the ingredients so I did it =)

And it was really really good!  I used the usual mix of spinach, soymilk, a frozen banana, almond butter, soy protein powder and ice.  If you’ve been thinking about whipping one up and have all the stuff (and I’m thinkin’ most of you do because these are all staples for us foodies hah!), definitely try it out and tell me what you think!

I’ve also had some good eats out too!

A tortilla filled with lots of crab, halibut and shrimp pieces, lettuce and melty goat cheese. 

I also had some amazing thai salad rolls.  These were tofu and vegetable rolls and shrimp and vegetable rolls.  Is anyone else absolutely obsessed with thai food??

So in other news, I am SOOO excited because I am going shopping in Buffalo this Friday!  Normally, when we go across to the States to shop, its for clothes but this time, its all about the food!  Last time we went, I begged my dad to take me to a grocery store we drove past, Wegmans, and honestly guys, I was in HEAVEN for that hour and a half. 

I walked around and literally squealed everytime I saw blogworld foods like Oikos, Fage, Barney Butter, Peanut Butter and Co. peanut butters and Thomas English muffins and everything else I’ve been trying to find for months here in Canada.  And when I finally checked out at the cash register, I had a truckload of goods and the biggest smile on my face!  But now I’m all out and so ready to shop again! 

Do any of you guys shop at Wegmans?? What are some things that I just have to get while I’m there? I really need to limit myself though and just get the good things that I can’t find here.  Has anyone tried Kashi Go Lean Crunchy Bars?? I’ve been wanting to try them and I saw a big box of them last time so should I stock up?? I’d love some suggestions because I know once I get in there, I’m going to want everything!  Have a good night!

8 comments June 10, 2009 hummusamongus

Let there be…hummus among us!

Hello out there!

I’m Danica, a Canadian girl living and loving her way through life as a university student.    I have been perusin’ through some amazing blogs (and eats!) and am so excited to start my own!  

So, being the foodie I am, I can’t wait any longer to show you my eats for the yesterday!  If you want to find out some more about me, visit the “About Me” section and/or leave me a comment/e-mail because I’d love to hear from you!

Starting with my favourite cereal combo on the porch!

In the blue bowl, vanilla silk soymilk and in the Paris mug, all bran flakes and cinnamon streusel frosted miniwheats. 

Mid eat: 

The cereal was added in a bit at a time because who likes soggy cereal?? And a banana to finish.

After some reading (Jodi Picoult’s (fav!) Change of Heart) and a walk with my pup, I had the best sandwich for lunch.  I toasted a big hunk of organic french baguette and added the following:  Sabra red pepper hummus, havarti cheese, peppercorn turkey and spinach! 

Ready to build:

Ready to eat!

With strawberries and almond butter for dippin’

The lovely spread altogether now:

After lunch, I headed out with my mom for some shopping where  I found an adorable pair of flats for 10 dollars!

After dinner, I baked up some biscotti and had a couple pieces warm from the oven! 

I love the colour and flavour combination of pistachios, walnuts, cranberries and white chocolate chips!

Just as a side note, I won’t be posting my dinners just because it’s usually eaten with my family.  And this is definitely not everything that I ate today; taking pictures of my food before eating it is way harder than I thought it would be!  Plus my camera ran out of batteries…but I’ll get better at this food blogging, I promise!

13 comments June 4, 2009 hummusamongus

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Add comment June 3, 2009 hummusamongus