weekends are so much fun...things i am grateful for...

this weekend was amazing, (one of my best girls hung out with me...john went on a fishing trip with the boys, so i had a girls' weekend)...other than a few little hiccups...

what kind of hiccups you ask?

well.........after a beautiful and lovely dinner of grilled pizzas (vegan and non vegan)...we decided to go for a walk, to rent movies...(john's brother stayed behind and hung out with us as well...THANKFULLY!) as we were about to leave, he mentioned grabbing the keys, and i reassured him that they were in my purse...well, they weren't...so he shut the door and as he was shutting the door, i realized my mistake and tried to stop him...didn't work...we were locked out...we (john's brother) ended up having to kick in the inside garage door, needless to say the door is busted and glass shattered everywhere...fun times...i felt like POO!

once the mess was all cleaned up...and the door was secure, we finally went on our walk...and a few funny things happened...i got hit on by this random dude asking for change...ha! on our way to blockbuster, we passed a strip joint (joys of living in the city, ha!) my girl and i were invited in...and we were like, "umm thanks but noooo"...and ran away giggling like 3 year olds...i also got carded THREE times during the weekend(which is amazing because i am 34)...we were able to rent five movies, but, sadly we didn't get a chance to watch them friday night, my dvd player broke down...bought a new one saturday, brought it home, and discovered that it was a lemon...AND i lost the receipt! thankfully it all ends well, and i was able to get a new one because technology today is just so wonderful...they were able to find my receipt on the computer and i was able to bring home a working dvd player...we managed to watch one movie yesterday afternoon (leap year, really cute, and i love irish men, don't tell john)...and yesterday evening i watched another movie (valentine's day, super cute movie)...

we made an amazing sangria...so beautiful and fresh...it tasted like summer...

summery sangria





(i didn't have a pitcher on hand, so we used a glass bowl)

1 bottle vegan organic white wine
1 organic mango juice box
1 cup mineral water (carbonated)
1 bag of organic frozen berries (black raspberries, blackberries and blueberries)
1 1/2 cups of sliced strawberries
ice (optional)

mix all ingredients together and enjoy...

vegan grilled pizza



i didn't have time to make my own dough, so i bought it already made...i made two pizzas, one with basil spinach pesto (basil, spinach, olive oil, walnuts, garlic and salt), topped with mushrooms, artichoke hearts, green olives and spinach...and a second pizza with the same toppings and my very own homemade sauce with plenty of basil and garlic...yum!

and of course jackson had a beautiful weekend as well...i don't even think he noticed that his papa was missing...we went to visit the vet, and jackson is down another two pounds...so he has four more to go...



i thought i would devote a short little section of each blog post to things i am grateful for...it's so easy to focus on every little negative thing that happens in ones' life...but it's so much better for the soul to focus on all the good...

my very best friend...



my little goofball...





my girls...



sweet raw vegan treats...



vegan and raw vegan foods...(so bright and colourful)...



summer days at the cottage...





hope you all have a beautiful monday...and for all my american bloggies...hope you are enjoying your three day weekend, totally envious of you!!!

my man is home...i missed him SO much...have a great night my ladies...i'm off to watch dear john...

<3

sometimes you gotta have some wine...right?

on my way home from work i stopped at the lcbo and grabbed myself two bottles of organic white wine (it was that kinda day)...and noooooooooo i will not drink them both tonight, maybe one? haha...not! i have a friend spending the weekend with me...so i thought i'd treat her to some yumminess...



we have many fun things planned...and i am totally looking forward to the girls'/dogs' weekend...tomorrow night i promised another lady i'd take her out for her birthday, we're going to do indian...hopefully they have a vegan dish for little old me...i love indian...LOVE LOVE LOVE it...saturday i'm gonna take her to good ol' port credit and perhaps we'll pop into raw aura...and sunday she's gonna leave me, but i have plans with john's mama and her hubby...

john's gone for the weekend...he left this morning with my almost father in law...and his baby brother...they went on a fishing trip...i already feel so lonely...so weird...i don't think i have been apart from him for the last three years...i ain't kidding peeps...i miss him terribly...shhh...don't tell him i told you...

i don't know what's up with me lately, i am just so exhausted. i can barely wake up in the morning...but i have to...i feel like a zombie...and i am having issues with my eyes...i'm finally getting glasses on monday...so it'll be easier on my eyesight, and i will finally be able to actually read more than one blog an hour...haha, it's pretty bad.

ok. food. i made some pretty yummy salads this week...i added some hummus (chickpeas, parsley, raw tahini, dash of cayenne, salt, garlic, lemon juice, water) and a fuji apple to my normal, kraut, avo and greens...



and...i also managed to finally make one of my favourite meals in the entire world...high raw vegan nori rolls...(raw nori sheets, fuji apple, cucumber, avo, and sprouted brown rice)...yum...





i also made a VERY yummy and crunchy cracker, it's raw, it's vegan and it's gluten free...

spinach buckwheat crunchies



1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 cup sun dried tomatoes, loosely packed
3 cups buckwheat flour*
5 cups organic baby spinach
1 apple, cored and roughly chopped
3 tbsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp herbs de provence or herbs of your choice

*you can make buckwheat flour by soaking buckwheat, sprouting it, and degydrating it overnight at 104 degrees, running it through the food processor until it turns into flour.

process the olive oil, sun dried tomatoes, spinach, apple, lemon
juice, salt and herbs de provence until thoroughly mixed.

add the buckwheat flour and process again until a batter is formed.

divide the mixture in 2 and place on paraflexx sheets, on dehydrator trays.

spread the mixture evenly on paraflexx sheet. if mixture is too sticky you can wet the spatula to make things easier. you can either score the whole thing into 9
squares with a knife, or leave it as is and break it into pieces once it's ready, for a more rustic look.

dehydrate at 104 degrees for 4 hours and then remove the paraflexx sheets by
placing another dehydrator tray and mesh on top and invert so that
your original sheet of bread is upside down. that will allow you to
peel the paraflexx sheet off and continue to dehydrate the underside of
the bread.

dehydrate for approx 18 hours more or until crackers feel crispy.

i had some for lunch today with hummus and some of ani phyo's baja cheeze...these cracks are so crispy and herby...i love them...can't believe i pulled them off...and without FLAX (my enemy)!!!!!

hope you are all having a lovely week. and i wish you all a fabulous weekend. hope the sun comes out to play...

sweet dreams my friends...have a beautiful night...

crazy crazy crazy kinda weekend...

my weekend started at 1:30 p.m. friday, and i have pretty much not had one minute of peace since...and that's a great thing...i've had such a beautiful time...and! the sun has pretty much been a constant this weekend!

this weekend has been filled with lots of kisses from my fur baby and sweetheart, family, friends, unbaking, yummy raw aura eats and fireworks...

here are a few pics of my unbaking adventures:

cuppie cakes



choccie almond butter cups





caramelo moon pie







banana toffee fudge ice cream cake





i had a few get togethers to attend this weekend, so i picked up some yummy eats from raw aura...

casear salad (romaine lettuce tossed in a creamy sunflower seed caesar dressing, eggplant bacon, alomnd butter parmesan and tomatoes)...it was delicious...i had a tofurky beer sausage to accompany it with some horseradish mustard...but the salad was filling...and i wasn't able to finish anything that was on my plate...haha!



i also ordered the big salad (a mix of romaine and kale are tossed with your choice of dressing and topped with tomato, carrot, sprouts, avo, apple, pumpkin seeds, red pepper, red onions, and sprouted chickpea hummus)...it was AMAZING...i love the sprouted chickpea hummus, hands down the best i have ever eaten...i wonder if i can order a tub a week? i'd swim in it, that's how good it is!



i also ordered the pasta bolognese (angel hair zucchini pasta tossed in a roasted red pepper basil tomato sauce, spicy sunflower sausage, sprouted lentils and kale, topped with pine nut parmesan)...ok, this was the first time i have ever tried zucchini with pasta sauce (i'm italian, i don't say marinara)...AND! it was AMAZING...i will definitely be ordering this dish, again and again and again! and i need to get a spiralizer...because i can see this being a staple in my diet...yum!



no long weekend is complete without fireworks...(i took these photos with my iphone, and i have to say they turned out pretty amazing)...







now i am off to spend the rest of my monday with jackson and john...john wants to go fishing...we're off to a park and jackson and i will just walk and meet other dogs while john fishes...totally looking forward to basking in this warm beautiful day...

i have a lot of catching up to do, and i will later this evening...hope you are all having a beautiful monday...and that your weekend was filled with lots of love and awesomeness...

<3

clearing skies...and drying eyes...

that's a line from one of my fave beach boys' songs...disney girls...

so i wanted to clear something up...because i think a lot of people misunderstood something i quoted john saying to me in my last post..."you didn't win the battle, but you're about to win the war"...did not in any way, shape or form mean anything bad at all...what john meant is..."you didn't win the contest, but think of all the other good things that have come from the whole experience"...that's all folks...there was no ill will intended...and like i mentioned, he is really into this new show "the pacific"...and likes to use war lingo...haha! that's all i got...

a few interesting things happened to me this week...i was at panacea on wednesday, and i bumped into this lovely lady...not that i know her or anything...but i know of her...she's a pretty sweet gal...it was absolutely cool to bump into someone famous...and i told her..."hey, i follow your blog"...haha...and she was actually quite gracious...and even said bye to me as she left the store...

i bought a few things on wednesday, to help me along with my raw vegan dessert creations...



shannon marie, do you see anything interesting in my little pile of goodies? i can't believe that this store sells those cute little silicone cupcake liners for $40...and i managed to find them for $13...at this lovely store...this is where i go to get all my unbaking needs!!!

wednesday night, my almost father-in-law was cooking a frozen pizza in the oven...and, the oven really needed a good cleaning...it had been sending smoke signals out for the last week and a half!!! the alarm went off 4 times...poor jackson was freaking out...there was an incident before christmas, we left the house because john's grandmother was very ill, and we were told she was going to pass away...and there was something cooking on the stove, well suffice it to say, the house was empty, with hummer and jackson, and a pot of cooking food...well, the fire alarm sounded, firetrucks were dispatched to the house...and the firemen broke down the door...and came to the rescue! thank goodness! could have been such a tragedy, but it all worked out! anyway, since that day jackson is afraid of smoke...and alarms, and the oven fan...he becomes so agitated and has so much anxiety...two firetrucks were dispatched to the house on wednesday evening...and i feel horrible saying that i was sort of excited! but i also felt quite badly for the firemen!!! they were very kind and gracious though...so i totally appreciated that! and, HUBBA HUBBA...i think they're so dreamy!

yesterday i was lucky enough to go to cruda cafe, hands down, some of the best raw food i have ever tasted...i ordered lunch and dinner...

enchilada (flourless organic corn wraps, guac, spinach and house salsa with raw vegan chili and marinated organic mushrooms)...to die for...





and...



and for dinner...wild mushroom nut burger (rests on a bed of boston lettuce, tomato, cilantro, guac, micro greens, beets and carrots)...YUMMY! best dinner i've had in a long time...





so that's all folks...hope you all have a very lovely weekend, it's suppose to be a little rainy, but mostly sunny here in Tdot...i'm pretty excited about playing with the sun this weekend...we have a few things going on...what do you all have planned? this is also a long weekend for us...monday off babies!!!

have a beautiful day!

<3

you didn't win the battle...but you're about to win the war...

congrats to my fellow canadian camille, my girl kelli crawker, and my bitty boo for winning the ultimate ice cream cake challenge...camille's cake is fantastically beautiful, as is kelli's and bitty boo's!!!!! i'm thrilled they won and I was cheering for my girls!...congrats congrats congrats my ladies...*high fives all around*...

so if you're all wondering what the title of my post means, i'm about to tell y'all...when i told john i didn't win the competition he said "it's ok baby, you didn't win the battle, but you're about to win the war!"...i was kinda like "huh?"...all i can say is the boy loves anything war related, documentaries, movies, novels, you name it, so it's pretty normal that he speaks in war...and i guess he felt bad for me, he loves me, and most likely thought i was sad, which is a response i'm getting from tons of people...and i just want to say, it's ok! my girls won!!! and i am really really happy...i mean it y'all...

many good things have come out of the experience and I had fun...here are a couple:

i got a beautiful compliment from a raw vegan chef from right here in the GTA...and the compliment came at just the right moment...i was having the worst day possible...i thought i had made the biggest mistake of my life...and i was in hysterics...we're talking huge panic attack and just feeling like the world was crumbling down on me...i hate making mistakes...especially at work...little mistakes are ok...you know, typos, spelling mistakes...not transferring a call properly and hanging up the phone on someone accidentally...because you can fix those mistakes easily...this mistake though would have taken a lot longer to fix...and it would have just been really really irresponsible on my part...in the midst of my little meltdown i decided i needed some fresh air and so i grabbed my trusty little phone and went outside...checked my personal email...and this is what was waiting for me:

hey

its **** from *** ****.

beautiful deserts. you have a great talent. keep doing them and I would love to try them someday

best

**** :)

i don't want to publish this person's name because i didn't ask permission to do so...just in case you're wondering what the asterisks are all about...

that email made my day...it really really made my day...so thank you **** for taking the time out of your busy schedule to send me such a beautiful message. it was such a nice gesture...

and my brother's girlfriend asked me to make her birthday cake...she requested my banana chocolate fudge toffee ice cream cake...she even offered to pay for it...whatta sweetie pie...and i told her "yes to the cake part"...silly girl!!! she also made my day...someone actually enjoyed my cake THAT much...score!

so...i'm happy.

and if you're all wondering what ended up happening with my big mistake, things ended up working out and i didn't really make a mistake after all...i was just so frazzled i didn't realize that i blew up for no reason...it happens to the best of us...and i will definitely be more careful next time...

did someone say food? i haven't made any desserts so far this week...although i have come up with an amazing recipe which i will try to put together this week...and i am so excited about it...i actually have a few ideas...and i hope to start playing in my kitchen soon...love experimenting and creating lovely things, but y'all knew that right?! i was also thinking of getting myself a little journal to jot down my ideas so that i don't forget...

but i did make a batch of sauerkraut...this time i put a few of my fave things in the mixture...dill and garlic...and i used both green and red cabbage and himalayan crystal salt...all organic.





i also made a beautiful quinoa curry last night,

1 cup 365 organic light coconut milk
1/2 cup of organic quinoa
8 quartered heirloom variety mini tomatoes
1 package of wildwoods organic sprouted baked tofu
1 cup of organic frozen peas
1 tablespoon curry spice

mix all ingredients in casserole dish and bake in a preheated 400 degree oven for 30 minutes.



pictured above is curry quinoa and baked tofu with homemade coleslaw and asparagus salad...

i also made coleslaw (shredded red and green cabbage and carrots) with my favourite vegan slaw dressing...amazing!



i've also made some pretty awesome salads with my classic combo, can you guess? greens, sauerkraut, avo and hemp seeds...i also added some asparagus and shredded carrots...and a very simple dressing of olive oil, apple cider vinegar, lemon juice and salt...and crushed garlic...(i love garlic)...





sweet dreams my loves, i leave you with some pics of jackson sleeping in the most awkward funny position...





who sleeps like that? he's such a quirky funny little creature, and i am so truly blessed he picked me to be his mama...he really did pick me...

saving graces...

i have a few...

my very best friend and sweetheart...



my fur baby...



my friends...



and then there is my time in the kitchen...i look forward to it...it's kind of like an addiction for me...it's one of my favourite places in the entire world...i find it exilerating and ridiculously fun...

so when people wonder where i find the time...it's something that i need to do, it keeps me sane...especially after a stressful day...

when i can do things like this...







and turn it into berry mango love ice cream cake...(blackberry, raspberry, strawberry and mango sorbets)...









or when i can take a very SAD dessert...like banoffee pie...



and turn it into a very happy banana toffee ice cream cake...(graham cracker crust and crackers (pecans, coconut flakes, mesquite, agave and a pinch of salt), heathy's vanilla ice cream and caramel recipe except i omitted the dates and added mesquite and almond butter, i spread two tablespoonsfuls of the caramel/toffee mixture on top of the graham cracker crust and the rest into the vanilla ice cream, heathy's banana ice cream...heathy's chocolate buckwheat crispies, heathy's fudge sauce, and chocolate covered bananas)...

























so yes...my time in the kitchen helps keep me sane...

when i feel like this...



i just play a little in my kitchen...and i feel shiny and new once again...