Cooking Fail of the Day

I am a horrible cook.
I just don't cook. and I really shouldn't cook.
I usually stick to veggies, fruit, popcorn or anything super simple, for this very reason.

and then sometimes I like to "try" and be cooking savvy. and that's usually when this happens...
I burn things. Everything. So much, that I have gotten used to eating my burnt food because I hate to waste whatever it is I was trying to cook.

Here's today's cooking fail:

This is my lovely Apple Crisp. A friends recipe which usually doesn't turn out to bad.
but today I forgot to add flour. and may have put in too much brown sugar.  And saw on another recipe to add a bit of water to keep it juicy.
I opened the oven, to find out why it was smoking... and there it was, bubbling and boiling over.
It's pretty much a pan of caramelized brown sugar.

I'm going to make the Hubby try some anyway. I love how he humors my cooking attempts. This one should be good when he realizes its 80% sugar. lol.

Stay tuned for more Cooking Fails.
I'm going to start posting them as often as they occur. Which lately is often, since SpitFire and my mother want me to try harder. Joke is on them...

Vegan Wedding Cupcakes

I have many friends who are Vegitarian and Vegan.
I myself am a "sometimes-vegitarian".
I am no activist, but I prefer vegitarian options if given them. I just don't like the taste of meat.
Weird, I know, but it works for me.

and so for my wedding, I am going to have as many tastful veggie options as possible.

Vegan is the more challenging plate to fill.

I have compiled a list of some great Vegan Appetisers; and here's a recepe I am going to try this week: Vegan Mini Cheese 'n Chive Muffins

and then stumbled upon this wonderful site with many cupcake ideas for any occasion:
Vegan CupCake Recipes

 

Wish me luck on Trying Something New!

Diet & Cravings

I hate Dieting!
Who doesnt.
But with a Wedding in just 5 Months, I need to tone up! This means less bad snacks, less wine, less cupcakes, less of everything I love to eat. and most of all, less sugar! Sugar is my nemisis.

One of my main rules is - if it tastes bad, im not eating it! This limits a lot of what I will eat...
I'm also bad for - "If I'm craving it, I'm going to eat it! no matter what".

Here's some healthy substitutions for crazy cravings:

Crunchy salty snacks - a coworkder was eating salty nachoes and dip.and then She offered me one. *all I could think was, I hate You right now!*
Fix - I took one, because I would not get that craving to go away otherwise. but I stopped there. and finished it off with this, 10 Almonds. The Almonds give you the crunchy chewy satisfaction without all the salt and bad carbs.

Sweet Treats - Cupcakes and donuts
Fix - try and curb this with a banana or cup of fruit. It's the healthy surgars your body need with the sweet taste. I also like to mix fruit and yogurt together. This is my go to for treat cravings.

Also, Peanut Banana Protien shakes! This is just like cake in a cup, but super healthy for you.

Bored Snacking - When I am bored I like to eat.... this is so bad and so hard to curb.
Fix - I've cut out the crackers and nachoes and moved to grapes. I always have grapes at my work desk and in the fridge at home.

Eating Out -
Fix - Don't Do It! lol - as if. right? I love my social time, and eating out is the main way humans socialize together. So, I've taken to trying to choose healthier options.
But lets be serious, that never actually works. The BBQ Nachoes always call my name!
So I mentally cut my plate in half, and either take half home, or share with someone. It's all about portion control. You can eat whatever you want, as long as you moderate the really bad foods.

Follow up with Water. Lots of it! Flush those bad carbs out by drinking a big glass of water after every bad meal you eat. Order a glass with every dish and make sure you drink it! 
Even more important, go one for one with alcohol. 1 glass of wine, then 1 glass of water. Repeat.

If you have tips or tricks to help me curb my cravings, I'd love to hear them!

This, my dear friends, is heaven.
An Oreo Cookie wrapped and then baked in a Chocolate Chip Cookie.

My new Beau, Mr. SpitFire, and I made these this past weekend. We are becoming quite the domestic couple together.  <3

a Beer for Chicks

sexist or sassy?
either way, I like it.
This beer was created by a woman who wanted something more than the regular mans beer on the shelf.

check out the background story at:
Chick Beer

Girlfriends Guide: Holiday Recipe Fun

Picture from http://www.spillsonsricepudding.com/Recipes.html

A friend asked me to join a holiday fun recipe exchange. Here's what I contributed:

Recipe : Angel Pudding
Type: Desert

take 1 angel food cake
cut into small bite size pieces
separate into 2 or 3 bowls (2 or 3 layers as per your preference)

take 1 box of your favorite fruit jell-o and mix it up as per box directions.
you do not need to let this set. it will soak into the angel food cake in step 2.
2 cans mixed fruit
1 container of cool whip

1. layer 1 bowl of angel cake on bottom of serving bowl (clear or crystal bowls show a nice effect at the end)
2. pour jello over the food cake
3. layer fruit on top of food cake and jello
4. layer cool-whip on top of fruit

Repeat layering steps until you have your 2 or 3 layers.

*I like to sprinkle coconut on top for extra dazzle. or add rainbow marshmallows inside the layers.

*I also like to turn this into "Devils Pudding" and make it with chocolate pudding, and chocolate and toffee chips instead of fruit. :)

Polish Dinner, Victoria. BC

For supper the Bro, his fiance and I ventured out to a new polish restaurant - Skinny Tato

We previewed the Skinny Tato via the UrbanSpoon beforehand which gave it 5 stars.

They were definitely right! The small restaurant was adorable, and the waitress/owner was an amazing little lady who made most of the menu herself. We tasted the polish beer recommended by our waitress, and I had an amazing potato pancake filled with spinach and feta.

For desert we split a coconut pancake. It had whip creme, coconut shavings, and a plum sauce drizzle. So Yummy!

This restaurant featured many Vegetarian and Gluten free meal options. I definitely recommend it to my veggi friends out there!

As my sister-to-be says "It was so Der-ish-ious!"

New Friends and BBQ

(piture by www.rioc.com/bbq.htm)

Tuesday Night Big D. and I went to a BBQ with our new "baby-family" friends. We've never had close friends with kids before, so this is a new adventure for us. Like looking into our near future.
It was a wonderful night! we had 4 families get together, and everyone brought a side, with their own "meat/veggies" for grilling. We could have fed a small army with all of the food we had! Some of my favorites were:

• homemade potato salad *with a special ingredient* by lady J.
• Spinach and cheese dip from M&M meat shop - sooo yummy! by Big D and I.
• Ultimate Ceasar Salad by Lady J.'s friend

And then the parents had fun trying to scar Big D. and I out of having kids. They told us stories of their kids not eating for days in rebellion; poop flying toddler frenzies; endless crying; and grandparents spoiling their kids. I just laughed. Seeing these parents playing with their kids in the yard was too adorable to let the stinky stuff ruin it.

My friend Lady J.'s husband reminds me of my friend Dus. At first I wasn't sure about him, but then I realised who he reminded me of; now I'm more than excited to spend more time with him and Lady J. as I know exactly how to handle the situation. He has this funny mean humour about him. always testing you and poking at your buttons. I find it very entertaining.

and then Sadly, Big D. and I had to leave as it got dark and cold, and we had come on the motorbike.

I can't wait until the next one!

Fab Drinks

So, I Tried Something NEW. but not that new... it's wine. and we all know I'm wine savy. hehe.

My friend and I saw this cute bottle of red wine called "Little Black Dress" and we simply had to grab a bottle! It's such a cute look, with a hanger, little dress, and red heals on the bottle. very classy for the classy ladies out there! The sweetness is a "0" and it's a bit dry. I definitely smell a woody-something in it. It reminds me of a fancy perfume you save and spritz on for fancy nights out with the beau. It was only $15, so it tastes good and doesn't break the bank either. A definite plus in my books, and I will be keeping a bottle around for those fancy ladies nights. *See my little cork stopper friend the penguin; isn't he just so cute! He gaurds my wine*

NEXT

My 25th birthday drinking' buddy! Malibu Rum, the celebration edition "Malibu By U". It came with 4 Malibu theme color markers and we could draw on the bottle. So Fun! A great spin on the already well selling liquor. But I'm not a huge fan of coconut rum... so, I mostly bought it for the bottle and the markers, haha.

Over all, my birthday was pretty low key. Not too shabby. I went out to a fancy dinner with my good friend m. and Big D. at the "Blue Door". It was . . . almost ordinary.

Try Something New - Vegetarian Lasagna

I'm so proud of myself right now!



I've had these lasagna noodle flats in my cupboard for a while now. I've always been to afraid to cook with them. But today I did it! And without any recipe!

I call it my

"Lentil Surprise"

3 layers of lasagna flat noodles

pasta sauce

1/2 a can of lentils

1/2 a package of Yves Mexican Veggie Ground Round

1/2 can diced tomatoes

some cayenne pepper

regular pepper from the shaker

Baked for 40 mins.
Served with some feta cheese on top.



It's Spicy, Beware. I LOVE Spicy Food! YUMMMmmm!

Blueberry Bushed from "My Magic Garden"

The Hubby and I ordered some of those super-duper growing blueberry bushed from the ad ton TV. You know the too-good-to-be-true ad with the super full bushy plants with buckets of blueberries on them.

Well, they came today. 3 little sticks with a leaf or two, in little baby peat pods.

Geez. I could have done this myself! The blueberry bushes you by at the garden center look better and more full than these things...

But I've planted them, and for now we will love them and call them my "special needs" babies. Who knows; perhaps they WILL grow into super bushes... I wonder what kind of miracle-grow they used on these things...?

(http://www.my-review-reports.com/articles/little-giant-blueberry-bushes/)

Imagination

My Mummy sent me a funny today. She is notorious for Junk Mail! And if she wasn't my mother, I would have banished her to Spam a long time ago. But today I had a much needed laugh at one of her forwarded emails; and thought you all might need a laugh too!

I enjoyed the picture of the fridge so much, that I decided to go into my own fridge and put happy faces on anything I could grab. Just think about it; if you walk into a room full of smiling people, you're bound to feel good and smile back!

So I took off with my sharpie black marker and went to work. I got about half way and my interest wained. Then I realised I was Discriminating! If HR has taught me ANYTHING, it's not to discriminate! So..........

I Pulled out my Brown Sharpie! And continued on!

He he, it's like a perfect peaceful Utopia in my fridge! I can't wait to see what Big D says when he realises whats happened to our food!

Coffee

today I had the most amazing chocolate chocolate chip muffin! it was so amazing I just had to blog about it!

My ultimate guilty please is my large coffee from McD's every morning. it's less than a Tooney and right on my crivingroute to class in the morning. today when I ordered my regular, the window girl offered me a muffin for only 20 cents more! I thought, What a Deal! and said sure. I ended up with this amazing chocolatey delight. I'd never had their muffins before, and I feel like this has started something very bad. As if the coffee wasn't horrible enough.

I definately recommend everyone try the chocolate chocolate chip muffin!

Must Read Book

I picked up the book, Skinny Bitch, when I saw a tabloid clip of Posh Spice carrying it around. It was a great read, and really full of valuable lessons. It felt a bit like propaganda for the vegan culture, but the over all message of the book is to think about what you are eating before you eat it.

After I read this book, I transferred from a vegetarian to a full fledged vegan. that lasted about 6 months. The city in which I live, and the flow of cash in my bank account were both factors that contributed to my failure as a vegan. It takes time and money to eat on such a strict regime; both of which I had little of at the time. And the city in which I live has only a few small stores that supply enough nutritious options for vegans.

I'm now back to a happy healthier me, and stick mainly to veggies and fruits. And I often refer back to the book, or just use it as a refresher, to remind myself "you are what you eat"

Ever been in a cookie-coma? A few of my select lucky friends have had the pleasure of this feeling. When the Beau goes on his cooking frenzy, everyone around is sure to die a sweet, sweet death. its an event with everything from Chocolate chip cookie dough cheese cake to 30 pound turkey. He knows now limit; the bigger the better.

So tonight I've done nothing but binge eat on cookies and raw cookie dough. We are preparing for our engagement party, happening tomorrow night. I will be happy when it is over, because i feel like an elephant! but a very happy one none the less!

The Rice Diaries: Heat-&-Serve

Tonight for supper; I had the privilege of cooking for my Beau. Naturally I took the safe route and picked out all things fast and pre-made some where else. haha, can you guess how good it was???

First, I had a "heat-&-serve" garlic loaf. bake 10 min. open; then broil 10 min or less until crispy. ...











YUP; I burned it.

Then we had a (looked good on the bag - not on the plate) pasta salad, in which all I had to do was cook half the bag with 1/4 cup of water to a boil in a saucepan. I naturally ignored the instructions, when it said boil, i went to her with half a pot of water. then dumped out the extra water in a frenzy b/c it was too much. Dave mentioned all the seasoning went down the drain with the water i just poured out... So I improvised! a little oregano, a little summer savory, a little Italian salad dressing, a little Parisian cheese....



Yup; Soggy Surprise Salad and Super Crispy Bread! YUM!

And my Poor Beau only had this to say: Hunny; you are trying very hard, and I love you for it.

Rice Diaries: Cookies

So I have issues. that's nothing new. I'm short. and cant reach things up high. I also have weight issues. i yell at my beau when he eats junk food because i shouldn't have any but then i want what he is eating. So the beau went grocery shopping without me; and what does he bring home???? COOKIES!!! well, he did me one favor today. That was hiding them so i couldn't find them, and i needed his help and 'permission' to have a cookie if i wanted one.

in my naturally sneaky way of binge eating, i skulked around the kitchen for a few minutes while he was watching T.V. But I could not find those damn cookies!!! Then he realized what I was looking for and turned it into a fun game for himself. he let me rummage through and check every cupboard; twice. He then made fun of me for being sooo short. (that was supposed to be a "clue")

Finlay He gave in, after first sighting I'd probably worked off enough calories looking for the cookies, i should be rewarded.

In the end, I got my cookies Bitch!!

Rice Diaries Con't

Tonight; The Beau and I Made Pizza! Glorious Glorious Cream Cheese in the Crust Pizza! it definitely broke every rule of my diet plan... but it was HIS idea! So I dont feel bad. and if he calls me fat again, i'll remind him who's fault it is.

AND I believe we've mastered Rice once again! last night, I made the rice all by myself! yaay! and it was goooooooood. i put spicy sauce and hot spices with it. sooooo gooooood! i love spicy food!

Tonight we are hitting up the 24hr grocery; as our fridge is in need of much food love... if anyone has seen it lately, you'd understand exactly how unfortunate we look.... It was trick or eat Saturday night. We have no food; but i did manage to scrounge up 2 cans for the trick-or-eat kids. it seems rather ridiculous; since we are the one's who need to use such a food source. oh well.

Today I Hate Myself...

This morning, the Beau asked me if i was gaining weight... it was horrible... I hate myself today because of this stupid little comment. mostly because I've been going to the gym, and trying to get back on track with my life; but it seems futile...I'm an "Emotional Eater" according to this new test I took....So I'm am posting a BEFORE picture here to remind me of what I hate and why I have to keep going. Hopefully at the end of it all, i will be able to post a fabulous AFTER Picture...here's hoping.

for those of you who need some extra help; i found this awesome website this morning to help me. maybe it can help you too; so far I really like it!

Rice Diaries Continued

have you ever been in the grocery store and had to contemplate; beer or food? This is what We've all come to know as the college years... tonight this is what the beau and i faced...

tonight we scraped together enough money to attempt another cooking session of rice and wings. I was in charge of the wings. naturally, in my fab style, i bought pre-cooked. haha. And the Beau attempted, once again, the rice. the happy ending of this story is that it all was amazing! well, i thought it was; he didnt like my wings, but that just ment more for me! yes!

So we've mastered the rice; finally. now it's on to veggie burgers and pizza made from scratch!