lentils...a girl's bestie...

i. am. exhausted. i feel like i ran a marathon...but i don't remember it...ha!

i spent saturday morning and afternoon shopping with my mother...and the rest of the day with my love and our baby jackson...we watched the two coreys for a bit and i felt so heartbroken afterwards...some of the episodes totally foreshadowed corey haim's death...i felt so sorry for him...i just don't understand how people can get so deep into that lifestyle...i can't understand how drugs can be the centre of anyone's life...i just don't get it...i never will.

this morning i felt robbed. i felt robbed of my hour. weird. i've never really cared about daylight savings...but today. i. cared. it truly got under my skin. i slept in. i really have nothing to complain about...i can't explain it.

today we spent the day with my family, cooking, laughing, teasing one another...just having a good time. it was really nice. i really didn't want the day to end. but sadly, it did.

i made a lovely dish today. lentil and quinoa stuffed bell peppers...if anyone cares for the recipe let me know, it was pretty simple, and so tasty!







cute little story...i made myself kristen's high raw vegan tostadas last night for dinner...i made a few extra...my boyfriend had one and he absolutely loved it...which gave me the warm fuzzies...i don't want to change him in any way (well i kind of do)...i want him to eat what he loves, but i also want him to be a little more healthy. he eats so much crap (sorry for the choice of words, but there is no other way to describe it)...i've asked him to eat more veggies and he has, which is great...now if i could only get him to eat fruit...

i have to add that he expressed some interest in blogging...i was reading lovely averie's post and he was really interested in her raw chocolate treats...he wanted to check out my blog, but i was not at all confident in showing it to him...haha...i'm still pretty new to this. i'll definitely show him one day when i am better at it! also, my girl averie is having an awesome giveway...y'all should check it out...

here's a question? would you try to change the eating habits of someone you love and care for, especially if you know that what they eat is so extremely bad for them? how would you approach the subject? how would you go about changing their diet?

well good night my lovelies, hope you all have sweet dreams...

some of my favourite things...

nostalgia...i've been thinking about my childhood...and how carefree and beautiful my days were...i use to travel to italy during my summer vacations and i spent about 4 months in italy every year until i was about 16...and at 16 i decided i was too afraid to fly home so i lived there for 2 years, went to school, and had quite possibly the most amazing time of my life...

i was very fortunate to have such amazing grandparents...who taught me so much and showed me the very wonders of this beautiful world...they had the most beautiful farm, with the most beautiful animals...and they treated them with such compassion and love...and they had the most beautiful trees and gardens filled with fruits and vegetables...it was here that i learned and developed my everlasting bond with mother nature and all of her amazing creations...i use to sit in the barn with the cows and their babies, and i'd give these cute little babies my hand to use as a soother...i'd watch all of the mama hens strut proudly about with their beautiful little baby chicks...and i'd play with the piggies and look for all of the stray kitties and try to entice them with cheese i had pretended to eat earlier in the day...i would literally sit for hours and wait patiently just to try and pet one...i remember riding in the tractor with my grandfather on our way to pick up hay from one his fields and i wouldn't even flinch when mr. spider decided to use my legs as a crosswalk...

i remember being told about a few little baby chicks that had died and were placed by the side of the road...i was told that if fed them milk they would come back to life...and so i ran over to the baby chicks with milk in hand, ready to save their lives...bees buzzing around them...and i without a care in the world except to save these babies reached in to scoop them up...i remember getting stung 10 times...and all i could think about is how i had blown my chances to help these little creatures...and one more funny memory of sitting underneath one of the bulls in the barn and trying to milk him...my grandmother flipped her lid...i had no idea what the big deal was...i was only 5...anyway...that bull and i were such good friends...he would let me climb on his back and he'd be ok with me sitting on him for hours...or until i heard my grandmother on her way down to the barn...

such amazing times...such amazing memories...

moving a long to today's eats...i had one of the no bake protein bars i made last week...i had the red lentil dal with quinoa and avocado for lunch...



i snacked on some raisins and apricots...and for dinner i had a piece of toasted organic spelt bread with some heathy's caesar dressing...



which i made this evening...guess what i'm having for lunch tomorrow...can't wait...and this dressing is AMAZING...oh. my. goodness. it's such a treat!

and...i had a piece of the averie's lovely raw vegan cheesecake with a chocolate fudge crust for dessert...man, it was out of this world...it reminded me of ice cream...it. was. so. good.



things that make me smile...sunshine, fluffy duvets, my love, jackson, avocados, chocolate, cooking or uncooking...hanging out with a good friend and driving all around toronto...grocery shopping...reading blogs...sweet potatoes...frank's hot sauce...watching a movie in bed under three or four fluffy duvets...

what are some of your favourite things? and what are some of your favourite childhood memories?

have a beautiful night...sweet dreams...

just my opinion...

i've been following the blogosphere for a little over a year now...and i believe that every blog i read is amazing...everyone has their own style of writing...sharing their recipes, their lifestyle and their life...i've noticed something however, that has sort of made me a little upset...judgment...i read something today (and it's not the first time either), something about how food journals should only consist of mind blowing recipes and great pictures...and blogs that consist of people's daily eats and life stories aren't as important...and i actually disagree and think that anyone that thinks this way is seriously out to lunch...

a blog is whatever someone makes it...and no one has the right to judge someone's hard work...i am more than baffled...anyway...i needed to get that off my chest...

for breakfast i had one of the no bake protein bars i made a few days ago...i had ginormous salad (lettuce, avo, chickpeas, cucumbers, carrots and goddess dressing)



and i snacked on some apricots and raisins...dinner didn't happen, i was not hungry at all...

today i made averie's raw vegan cheesecake with a chocolate crust...and i didn't JUST use any lemons...i used meyer lemons...my filling didn't come out as creamy as averie's...but i don't have the vitamiracle, i went from food processor to magic bullet, but still no dice...and i used vanilla bean powder instead of pure extract...

for the crust i used raw cacao powder, raw carob powder, dates, agave, pecans, vanilla powder, himalayan crystal sea salt and a little bit of water...

i ended up with the same amount of crust and filling...but whatevs, it works for me...







i also made an amazing red lentil dal with some quinoa to take with me for lunch tomorrow, i can't wait to dig in...it smells and looks out of this world...yummmmo...i pretty much followed the recipe, except i used fresh ginger and turmeric...and i didn't have paprika...



i am hoping for a better night's sleep...sunday night and monday night didn't cut...sweet dreams everyone...

confessions...

this weekend was such an emotional roller coaster...we went to a wake friday night and a funeral/burial/reception all of saturday...what a sad sad sad day...it was so emotional...it's really hard to sit around and watch people you care about suffer the loss of a loved one...sometimes i wish i could put everyone i love into a box and save them from the hardships of this life...it is so hard to lose people...the funeral also brought back some sad memories of all of the people that i have lost...my heart is sore...when we got home saturday night, i needed a bit of smile so i dressed my little jackson up in a cardigan, wrapped around his little neck...i have to say that my little man is so gracious and such a great sport...



so, my confession is that...this weekend i broke...i totally bended and i didn't care about what it was that i ate...i ate SUGAR...i drank wine and sparkling wine...and so i am sad to say that my sugar cleanse has come to an end...i feel very guilty, but it was a good almost two weeks...i will start all over again, perhaps next week...but for now, i'm packing it in...and tomorrow i am making averie's raw vegan cheesecake...i'm thinking of changing up the crust a little...but...i guess you're gonna have to stay tuned and see what happens tomorrow...

this weekend wasn't all sadness and tears...my man's family is amazing...they are super fun and there is always some sort of party going on...his mom and her husband hosted an oscar party yesterday evening...there was a pool, which i lost...but it was so much fun hanging out with everyone...i was a little upset that meryl streep didn't win the oscar...i love sandra bullock, i think she's fabulous, BUT, meryl is even more fabulous...

here are some iphone photos of some my eats today...

amy's indian vegetable korma, i love indian food...and this was actually not bad...you should definitely try it...i love lentils and the dal was amazing!



roasted sweet potato mashed, topped with some homemade hot peppers and green onions...and some himalayan crystal sea salt...



i'm off to finish watching gossip girl...and then i am off to bed...i barely slept 3 hours last night...and i plan on making up for lost time tonight...hope you all have sweet dreams...

day 11 - sugar cleanse...

i went grocery shopping today on my break...i went to one of my fave spots, the big carrot...very excited with some of my finds...i bought southwest sunshine burgers, and added one to my salad for lunch...wow! it was amazing...i am definitely in love and will never ever buy another veggie burger...my search for the perfect burger is over! they have other flavours to chose from. you will not be disappointed. trust. me.

i also bought some organic turkish apricots...organic brussel sprouts...organic meyer lemons (i have never ever seen these little guys in any other store, and i have always wanted to try them out)...and i also bought my regular items, raisins...sweet potatoes...coconut oil...some fruits and veggies...cashews, medjools...and a mixture of sprouts...

today's eats and beverages consisted of:

refresh tea
lemon water
coconut water
4 dried turkish apricots
salad with sprouts, chickpeas and sunshine burger (so yum)



juice (i juiced 3 celery stalks, 4 small carrots, one meyer lemon, one apple, one pear and one beet)



1/4 piece of averie's vegan peanut butter chocolate protein bars (i subbed date syrup for the maple syrup,





and raw cacao powder for the chocolate chips, and shopped dates and apricots for raisins, i also used ruth's hemp protein powder with maca and E3Live, oh and i also used 4 tablespoons of chia and no flax)...MAKE THESE!!! they are incredible...so creamy...so filling...such a treat!





i'm pretty tired...this week has been too long...can't wait for tomorrow...

good night...

day 9 and 10 - sugar cleanse...

the cleanse is going great...i haven't had any cravings for the regular sugary treats, although i did want my favourite drink, santa cruz organic raspberry lemonade sparkling beverage...but i didn't cave...

for breakfast i had my fave cherry chocolate bomb smoothie and for lunch i went to this cute little place down the street from my office, commensal, i had a few little things, carrot salad, chickpea salad, lentil salad, roasted sweet potatoes and some avocado...i forgot to snap a photo...sorry!!

i have two wakes to go to this week, one tonight, and one tomorrow...so sad...i was thinking about how i've been to 3 wakes and a funeral in the last 3 months...i started thinking that perhaps this is the way life is going to...once you get older, your start losing people...such a morbid thought...but it's life...

so tonight, after work, i have to rush home, take my little jackson out for a walk, feed him...and rush over to the funeral home...not fun!

i was also thinking that today i would love to move to california...yup! it's pretty amazing, it's warm and lovely...and the sun comes out to play more than it does here in toronto. although, i do have to add that this past week has been amazing...it's been +3 out and the sun is shining...so glorious! anyway, back to my california rant...i would also love to live in california because the organic fruits and veggies are abundant, more than here for sure...it's depressing to shop for produce, as their isn't much to chose from...i've been trying to find organic frozen cherries, but i haven't had any luck...all i have been able to find are sour cherries...and although they do the trick, they are not organic...i would love to live in california...where the produce is most definitely abundant and organic!

have a wonderful day!

day 8 - sugar cleanse

today...not a good day...so so tired...

today i ate major carbs...MAJOR...i had salad with avo, refried beans, nacho hemp cheeze, lettuce and sprouted corn tortilla...i had a slice and half of some garlic organic rye bread, (olive oil and garlic)...and then i had 2 very small slices of my mother's homemade spelt bread with some earth balance...

i also had a very very yummy cherry chocolate bomb shake...created by the lovely kristen suzanne...



good night...can't wait to do this: