Organic Islands Festival…And More!

This past Sunday, I headed out to the Organic Islands Festival here in Victoria.

The festival was held in the beautiful Glendale Gardens & Woodland. I never even knew this place existed!

As you can see, there were some booths up at the top of the gardens, but as you headed down the hill, the majority of the exhibitors were in a large open field area. There was also a cooking demonstration stage, and presentation stage in that area. In an adjacent field area, they had an entertainment stage and things “for the kids”.

The gardens themselves had a small vegetable garden, as well as a fruit “orchard”.

There were also many flowers in bloom, just asking to be photographed.

There were a multitude of exhibitors, from the local health food/organic food stores, many organic/natural food companies, farms, alternative energy sources, clothing, personal care products, etc. Too many to list, that’s for sure! I made my way around all the booths, tried lots of samples, then decided it was time to find some lunch. I passed on the organic beer/wine garden and found some real food. First I snacked on some raw goodies from hOMe Grown Living Foods – a MACAroonie and Cacao Livies, both with a little raspberry cashew cream. Yum!

I was a bigger fan of the coconut one. I found the cacao one to be more date flavoured than cacao, which isn’t a bad thing, but not what I was looking for. But the raspberry cashew cream on each was pretty amazing

Then I went in the absolute opposite direction, and had a grilled turkey smokie on a whole wheat bun with caramelized onions, ketchup, and mustard (all organic/free range, of course).

Oh, apparently I had a little cookie sample along side it. I forgot about that

I then had to go find some shade to hide in. I forgot to put on sunscreen before I left. It my defence, it was cloudy when I left my house – then the sun came out full force and it was HOT. I am looking a little pink today, that’s for sure.

I then made my way over to Beaver Lake where the Strawberry Festival was being held.

I met up with my friend, and got my strawberries & vanilla ice cream – for 50 cents!

The line up for ice cream was insane! But they kept the customer moving through there. I lucked out, as my friends had lined up before I got there, and were just approaching the front of the line when I arrived Perfect timing!

It was one food-filled, sunny Sunday!

Birthdays, Father’s Day, Whole Foods…And More!

Well, I’m back from another whirlwind trip over to the Mainland to visit my family. And it looks like it will be the LAST visit over there until I move back in August. But don’t worry, I’ll see their lovely faces before then – there are plans for a couple of visits to the Island in July and August.

So, shall we get caught up?

Friday

I made the drive out to the ferry terminal to get the 7 pm ferry. In the waiting area before getting on the ferry, I noticed there was one large group of school kids – probably in the 11 – 13 year old range. I was not in the mood to deal with that noisy crowd, so when I got on the ferry, I made the quick decision to hit up the Pacific Buffet instead of the usual cafeteria fare for dinner. I don’t normally go to the buffet, because it’s pricey ($23 for dinner!), but sometimes, the peace & quiet of sitting at a table, leisurely eating dinner and reading for the hour and half ferry ride is totally worth it!

I started out at the salad bar – mixed green, baby spinach, cucumber, carrot, pickles, baby shrimp, feta, balsamic, olive oil. I also had a small cup of some of the best Manhattan clam chowder!

Then it was time to hit up the hot foods. They always have a great spread of dishes, lots of seafood, and a carving station. They were serving turkey with all the trimmings this time. Here’s my plate.

Roasted turkey, green beans, garlic mashed potatoes, stuffing, and Thai curry prawns. OMG – the prawns were amazing. I probably could have just filled my plate with those and the green beans and been happy. I actually didn’t eat most of the stuffing (mom’s is better), and left some potatoes and turkey behind. Gotta save room for the desserts

Speaking of desserts…

A wee slice of New York cheesecake with strawberry sauce, and two mini tarts – lemon and butter. This photo is seriously deceiving. It is actually just a little size plate, and those tarts are maybe a little bigger than a two dollar coin? The cheesecake & lemon tart was good, but the butter tart tasted like the filling was burnt, so I only had a nibble.

Eventually I ended up at home, chit chatted with the family, gave my sister her present, then hit up the hot tub. Oh, how I will enjoy having a hot tub back in my life when I move back!

Saturday

Per usual, I didn’t sleep in. I can’t sleep late at my parents’ house, regardless of how late I stay up. I think I was up around 8:30? That’s crazy for a Saturday morning. Mom made breakfast – there was some bacon, and I had a toasted English muffin with peanut butter & jam. Then we were off to the grocery store so I could get the necessities for baking cupcakes!

My sister requested that I make the cake for her BBQ party, and we decided to do cupcakes.

We went with a chocolate cupcake with white chocolate cream cheese frosting and strawberries. My sister loves strawberries.

I couldn’t decide between the red sugar or chocolate sprinkles, so I did half and half.

They turned out pretty good, don’t you think?

My sister and her boyfriend spent the afternoon cooking & prepping up a storm in the kitchen to get the rest of the food ready for the party. Well, okay, I may have helped a little, as did my mom. The kitchen was a flurry of activity!

To start, we had tortilla chips and homemade salsa.

And pita chips with an artichoke-parmesan dip. That stuff is like crack!

Then for the main meal, there was chicken satay with peanut sauce, shrimp boiled in a beer & herb broth, mom’s potato salad, and balsamic vegetables on the grill. My dinner plate – a little bit of everything.

Close up on those grilled veggies – peppers, zucchini, red onion, mushrooms, asparagus, and cherry tomatoes.

Then it was cupcake time. You better believe I enjoyed one of my creations! They appeared to be a big hit with my sister’s friends and the birthday girl. Success!

We spent the rest of the evening inside, looking through old photo albums that my mom had pulled out for some reason, listening to music, until the guests went home. We never got around to the usual bocce match though – it was cloudy and chilly out there!

Sunday

After being rudely awoken at 6 am with a horrible calf cramp (could there be anything more painful?), I made breakfast for my mom and myself, because dad didn’t want oatmeal. I did up some banana oats like I would make at home. Mom topped hers with raisins & brown sugar, I had peanut butter, chocolate chips, and coconut. Turns out mom isn’t a fan of the creamy oat texture, and likes old school oats. Oh well, I tried. At least it means I won’t have to cook breakfast for anyone when I’m home

Don’t worry, I didn’t forget about dad on Father’s Day! I gave him his card, black licorice jellybeans (his fave – no one else in the family will eat them, so I know he’ll enjoy them), and some scratch & win lottery tickets – the usual dad gift. Then I asked to borrow his car so I could drive into Vancouver to hit up the big new Whole Foods. HA! He even gave me cash to put gas in it. Gotta love dad!

I made my way into town to check out this fancy new Whole Foods, and it is a pretty impressive store. I will say though, their produce is EXPENSIVE! I only had about an hour to spend there, as I had to get back so we could head out to the ferry, so I made quick tour around the place, picked up a couple things that would be easy to take back with me, then checked out the deli area. They had a nice looking hot foods bar, and it was tempting, but then I saw fresh sushi and knew I had to get that for lunch. I made a quick phone call home to see if mom wanted some as well, made my purchases, and head back to the ‘burbs.

I picked up a yam asparagus shiitake roll and a lobster prawn roll with lemon mayo to share.

Sushi is so pretty.

Do you think I’ve eaten enough prawns this weekend?!

I finished lunch off with a leftover cupcake and extra strawberries on the side, but they were camera shy

Then it was time to head back to the Island. I napped/listened to the iPod on the ferry ride home, and was greeted happily by Sienna upon my arrival. I realized I had nothing ready to cook, and had little desire to cook, so I picked up some take out from White Spot that also wasn’t playing nice for the camera. Don’t worry, you aren’t missing much – burger, fries, coleslaw. It was good, but I could have done better myself. Oh well.

Now my weekend is almost over, and I have a busy work week coming up as one of my people is on holidays all week. Guess that means I should get into bed to get a good night’s sleep. Hope you all had a great weekend in your respective places

Not Quite As Planned

So, I know I said I was off to the gym, but I decided against it. I was just too pooped to even think about changing into my gym clothes. I ended up on the phone with my mom for awhile, then realized, hey, the mall is open late tonight. I should run the errands I was planning to do after work tomorrow now! Genius! So I took a little wander down the mall, hit up the places I needed to, got cash for the weekend, then wandered over to Future Shop to do a little laptop browsing. By the time I walked myself home, I was feeling a little snacky.

I decided to eat up the yogurt/coconut/lemon curd from my lunch, and jazzed it up with some strawberry slices and Nature’s Path Sunflower Agave granola.

It totally hit the spot.

And you lucked out – that’s not all I have to post! When I left my house to go to the mall, there was a package on my doorstep. I guess the people upstairs had received it, and brought down after I was already home. Check it out.

Kelly from Sequel Naturals sent me some samples of Vega Smoothie Infusion, as well as a recipe booklet, some product info, and this awesome reusable shopping bag. I think I’m almost more excited about the bag – green and brown are my favourite colours!

Check out the back – I think it’s super cute.

I spent the rest of the evening getting things done around here. I did dishes, cleaned off my kitchen table (I can see it again!), did a load of laundry, organized some cupboards, etc. I also wrapped up my sister’s birthday present all purdy like.

I hope she likes her gift. If not, I’ll gladly keep it!

And now I’m relaxing with some Stash Coconut Mango Tea with a splash of milk and agave. I think it’s becoming my new evening thing. Gotta get to bed on time, because I need to get to work early so I can leave a little early to catch the ferry. I shall leave you with these links to some pretty awesome contests going on.

• Mara at What’s For Dinner is giving away a jar of virgin coconut oil. I know it’s on my list of things I must try! Coconut, hello!
• Katie at Chocolate Covered Katie is giving away one gigantic Jay Robb gift package. I don’t think you should enter though – we can’t get that stuff up here in the Great White North, and this girl wants some Jay Robb lovin’

Rude Awakening

I’m a wee bit sleepy today. My silly cat woke me up at 5 am this morning. I don’t actually know what she was doing, but it seemed like she was chasing her tail all over my bed while I was trying to sleep in it. It was pretty funny, but I did not want to be getting up that early, that’s for sure!

I did make a pretty stellar breakfast this morning though.

• 1/2 cup oats, chocolate hemp milk, water
• 1 thinly sliced banana
• 1 tbsp flax seed
• 1 tbsp (or so) peanut butter
• pumpkin butter
• carob chips

To accompany this gorgeous bowl of oats, I had a glass of Happy Planet Mango Peach Party.

Yeah, it was a good as it looks

I was totally going to bike to work today, but when I got up, it was cloudy and looked like it was about to rain at any minute. Well, by the time I left work, it was sunny and 25 C out! I hate that! At least it means we’ll have decent weather for Skating Boot Camp tonight

Lunch was almost identical to yesterday, starting with chicken & smoked oyster gumbo. This time I took the picture from the side, to prove there is brown basmati rice in there!

Fruit? Also the same – honeydew melon and strawberries.

But to keep it from totally being a repeat, I grabbed the last few nuts out of two packages of Sahale Snacks. Still working on cleaning out the cupboards!

It is a pretty colourful lunch though, eh?

Now I’m just wasting time, watching the news, until it’s time to head out to boot camp. I think we’re running again today. Not my fave, but I’ll still go. I like the social aspect of it, and in only a couple short months, I’ll be moving, so I won’t get to see all my skating peeps here anymore. Time to go sit on the couch!

Eye Of The Tiger

There’s really nothing to do with tigers in this post, sorry. But there’s stuff about eyes! So it’s not a total lie.

I massively slept in this morning, which I blame on the change of weather (hello, where did the sun go?) My bowl of oats had to be put on hold, for the quicker option – toasted whole wheat English muffin with peanut butter and raspberry jam.

To counteract the lack of sun, I went with a glass of Happy Planet Mango Peach Party.

Then I put together a quick lunch. It started with leftover chicken & smoked oyster gumbo with hidden brown basmati rice.

Some honeydew melon and strawberries – best summer fruit combo!

With some multigrain corn thins on the side…

…to be spread with some Laughing Cow/avocado smash

I had to leave work a little early today to go to the eye doctor. Well, turns out my left eye has actually gotten ever so slightly worse! Boo-runs I never really noticed, but when they made me read the chart with my hand covering my right eye, I was like, whoa, where did this blur come from?! Le sigh. I guess it’s just another sign that I’m getting old…or older anyways. It’s not a big enough difference that I will get new glasses any time soon, but I will be getting new contacts.

So even though that part of the day kinda sucked, this part didn’t!

Well hello package from Amazon! I was expecting you

Most of the contents aren’t actually for me – it contains most of my sister’s birthday present. So I can’t show you that just yet But I did order myself a little something-something, since I was already getting free shipping anyways

I know, I need another cookbook like a need a hole in my head. But after seeing some fabulous ED&BV creations here and here, I had to break down and order. Plus, the author is from BC, so I gotta support the home team. I’m definitely looking forward to some cookbook reading in my near future

Now I’m going to go make dinner. And ensure that I put the freakin’ memory card back in my camera!

Did I Eat Dinner?

Oh, lovely readers. I had a total brain fart moment this evening. I cooked up a wonderful veggie filled dinner this evening – green beans, acorn squash, and a Dr Praeger’s California Burger that I turned into a wrap with roasted red pepper hummus, dill pickles, avocado, cheddar, and mustard. It was so pretty. I had it set up outside, in the perfect sun beam, and took the best pictures!

Or so I thought.

Apparently my camera won’t save pictures without the media card in it.

It’s true, I missed the big message on the display screen that said “No CF Card” on it, and shot away, because the whole set up was just so perfect. I have no pictures of dinner. And I feel like a complete idiot. Seriously, who misses the fact that there is a message on the display screen on their camera?! I blame old age. Yup, that’s my story, and I’m sticking to it.

So…how about we just pretend I had ice cream for dinner? Sounds good to me!

After hitting up the gym – that’s right, I kicked it on the stair climber even after riding my bike all over town today – I came home to have dessert dinner. I had ice cream on the brain.

I sliced up some fresh strawberries, then topped them with the end of the So Delicious Chocolate Coconut Milk Ice Cream. And then, just to go completely over the top, added a little creamy coconut spread, and a drizzle of caramel sauce. Oh yeah. Food porn at its best.

Who wouldn’t want that for dessert dinner? It was pretty heavenly.

I also spent some time with my good friend Dr Mario, but I was so flustered by discovering I had no dinner pictures, I was sucking big time. I gave up once the news was on.

Now I’m going to take my senile sorry self to bed, because apparently, I need it. Night!

What Happened To Yesterday?

Wow, I apparently got alot busier than I thought yesterday, and didn’t have a chance to stop in after my breakfast post! No worries, we’ll get caught up now

I did get in all my errands to Costco, the produce market, and the grocery store, and actually managed to spend slightly less $$ than I thought I would. Go me! Then I got myself absorbed in chores – laundry, sweeping, cleaning, vacuuming, etc. I would love to say my house is spic & span, but it still needs to some work – I need to clean out and organize the fridge/freezer today!

I managed to take a time out for a nice lunch outside with Sienna. It started with a tuna & dill pickle sandwich on some new (to me) bread that I picked up a Costco – Silver Hills “The Big 16” Sprouted Grain Bread.

Some very ripe strawberries that needed to be eaten ASAP.

 

And some of my favourite melon – honeydew!

Eventually I had to give up on cleaning and get myself into the shower, dressed, hair did, make up on, so I could get out the door to my usual Saturday night BBQ/Rockband festivities. I’m so predictable, I know. I brought along a beautiful piece of fresh spring salmon to throw on the grill, and I ate it with some leftover peanuty noodle slaw from Friday night. You know how it’s goes, no pictures. There was some Chardonnay consumed as well, and a few blue corn tortilla chips throughout the night.

I had a great sleep in this morning, after the usually Saturday night party upstairs ended around 2 am, and needed some fuel to get my Sunday started!

I picked up some of my favourite cereals at Costco since my cupboard was seriously barren. This morning I went with a bowl of Nature’s Path Pumpkin Raisin Crunch. It’s been far too long.

And I broke out the new bread again, and made toast with crunchy peanut butter and my aunt’s homemade grape jelly.

With a glass of cranberry juice.

You know, I’ve never actually had grape jelly before? I’ve always been an adamant raspberry jam girl, but this was really good. Probably because it’s homemade as well

So let’s talk about this new bread.

Silver Hills “The Big 16” Sprouted Grain Bread.

I’ve had other Silver Hills products in the past, specifically their Squirrelly Bread. I found that one had too many seeds on it for my liking, and it seemed that their other breads were hard to come by. I can’t exactly say what made me pick up this bread this time around, perhaps it’s their new packaging? Or I was just looking for a change. Either way, there are some good things about this bread. One, it’s baked locally, in Abbotsford, BC. It is made with 96% organic ingredients – all of the grains in the bread are organic. Speaking of grains, what all is in here? Sprouted whole wheat, oats, flax seeds, sunflower seeds, millet, sprouted triticale, sprouted rye, sprouted barley, buckwheat, corn, brown rice, sprouted spelt, sprouted kamut, sesame seeds, amaranth, quinoa. That’s alot of good stuff! Each slice has 5 g of fibre, which ain’t too shabby! And it tastes really good, which really, is the most important thing. I always like finding good BC companies that I can get behind.

Well, It’s time for me to jet – more errands to get done today, more cleaning, some gym time, and I have a great dinner in the works See you later!

Trucks, Screwdrivers, And Falafel

Oh My!

Seriously though, that pretty much sums up my day. Which started with sleeping in. ARGH! I don’t even remember my alarm going off at all, but it must have, and I must have turned it off and rolled over, because next thing I know, it’s 7:50 am. BAH! The oats I had planned for breakfast just weren’t going to happen.

Next best thing? Cereal of course!

My cereal supply is seriously dwindling, so I only had these choices – Honey Nut Cheerios, Original Puffins, and Nature’s Path Sunflower Agave Granola. I mixed up all three, and added some chocolate hemp milk. It was served with a refreshing glass of cranberry juice.

I apologize now for my repeat lunch – it’s almost identical to yesterday!

Exact same falafel salad ingredients – red leaf lettuce, carrots, cucumber, avocado, falafel, tzatziki, whole wheat pita.

Strawberries for some fruit.

But instead of a muffin, I went with a couple of chocolate chip cookies today.

There was an office lunch today as a “meet & greet” for our new staff, but I think my falafel salad trumped their pizza. Plus I wasn’t in the mood for pizza anyways, so it all worked out!

Lunch also proved good fuel for building things – like this:

Fancy, no? My new desk has no drawers, so I had no where to put my files. We ordered this piece, which matches my desk, and it arrived today. I spent 2 hours putting the 8 million screws into particle board. You can bet there were some F-bombs going as I was assembling, but it all worked out the end.

I also booked my moving truck for August. Ack! I wanted to make sure I had no issues getting a truck for the day I wanted, so I figured it was best to book now. I’m slowly getting all the moving things done.

Well, time to find a snack – Skating Boot Camp tonight!

Checking Out This Chia Thing

You’ve seen them on tv, growing out of cereamic characters’ heads and backs. You’ve seen the around the blog world in people’s bowls & smoothies. Well, now the Chia has landed at french fries to flax seeds!

This morning I decided to give my new breakfast cereal, Ruth’s Chia Goodness, a try. I figured I’d go balls to wall and just eat it as the main portion of my breakfast. I scooped 4 tbsp (2 servings according to the package) of the chia, hemp seed, buckwheat mix into my bowl.

Then I added 2/3 cup water, stirred it up, and let it sit while I put together my lunch. I had a little taste, and decided it was too plain to not add anything else. So I dressed it up like a bowl of oats!

I added raisins, craisins, golden berries, slivered almonds, and a scoop of Peanut Butter & Co. Cinnamon Raisin Swirl. Obviously, there was a glass of cranberry juice to go with it.

Check out that gelatinous breakfast! Mmmmm, gooey.

Thoughts: Ultimately, the mixture of seeds/grains doesn’t have a heck of alot of flavour on its own. I think it’s more about the texture, which is very much like the centre of a passionfruit. I don’t think I could eat it without some add ins to give me texture/flavour variety. The dried fruit, nuts, and nut butter went really well in there. I would like to try it warm, and as an addition to oats I think. But what a great way to add nutrients and variety to your diet Plus it’s kinda fun!

Lunch featured the return of the falafel salad. It was basically the same as last time – start with a base of red leaf lettuce and shredded carrot.

Choose your toppings – falafel, cucumber, avocado.

Be sure to have some whole wheat pita to go alongside.

Grab some fruit for a little colour and variety (but not necessarily for the salad). I went with strawberries

Don’t forget your favourite tzatziki sauce as dressing. And throw in a little treat – say a banana rhubarb muffin?

I think leaving out the raw onions this time was a good call, especially when taking it to work. I’m sure my coworkers appreciated it!

Beside mowing through my most excellent salad, I was productive at work – I got in a little online shopping. I decided on a gift for my sister’s birthday, and may have ordered myself a little something-something as well. What? I think it’s only fair that if she gets gifts, I get them too!

I think I’m going to head out for a bike ride this evening! I had considered biking to work today, but was too tired when I got up. But it’s the perfect evening to hop on two wheels and get some fresh air. And if I’ve planned it right, I’ll be back just in time to watch Canada’s Next Top Model! See ya later!

Moving Day

No, I haven’t got a new home. I spent most of my work day moving from one office to another. It did give me a chance to go through alot of the crap in my desk – I had files from 2006 that really, I didn’t need to be holding on to anymore. I think I was at the shredder for 45 min getting rid of stuff! I haven’t fully got my office set up yet, as I just didn’t have time at the end of the day, nor did I have the motivation. At least my computer is set up so I can get work done Monday morning.

Breakfast this morning was pretty simple, because I need to do some grocery shopping. I’m out of milk, and now juice! BAH! I toasted up a whole wheat English muffin, and topped it with peanut butter and raspberry jam. I enjoyed it with the last few drops of Happy Planet Mango Peach Party.

Lunch was again something suitable for the roasty toasty weather out there – salad. I threw together a Mexi-inspired salad with red leaf lettuce, corn, cucumber, carrot, and black beans.

I brought along salsa & sour cream as dressing, and a little cheddar for the top

Then there was my favourite summer fruit combo – honeydew melon and strawberries.

A Cashew Cookie Larabar.

And some plain cottage cheese to round out my work time eats.

When lunch time rolled around, I was totally not feeling the salad. I just kept thinking, ugh, I don’t want salad, it’s not going to taste good – I should go get some take out instead. But I didn’t really want to spend the money on take out, so I dressed up the salad and ate it anyways. And you know, it tasted great. I don’t know why my brain was trying to tell me it wouldn’t taste good or be satisfying. I was into it this morning when I made it, and once I started eating it, all was good.

I passed on staying at work late to have drinks out on our top deck – my stomach is STILL not good, and figured that wouldn’t help anything for sure. Before you lecture me on not getting it checked out – I called my doctor’s office this morning to make an appointment. Unfortunately, I can’t get in to see him until June 15th. ARGH. They did tell me he is working the walk in clinic on Thursday next week, so if I really want to come in sooner, I can see him then. We’ll see how it’s going, and then I’ll decide.

I also talked to my landlords when I got home to give them the heads up that I’ll be moving mid August, and they are cool with me only paying for the half of the month that I will be here, which is great. Probably helps that I’ve never been late on my rent, bounced a cheque, and been here for over 4 years.

There was even a surprise waiting for me on my doorstep when I got home I love surprises!

Krista was going to hook me up with the Stash Coconut Mango tea you see there on the right, but when I saw the size of the box she sent, I knew there had to be more in there. She surprised me with some maple coated pecans, and homemade Banana Rhubarb Muffins! Check them out.

I put those babies in the fridge right away, because I don’t want any muffin mold like K had on her muffins I bet you can guess what my evening snack might consist of! Thanks for the surprises Krista

I think I’m going to head to the gym early, and have dinner when I get home so I can just chill for the rest of the evening. I have to get up early tomorrow, as I’m going to renew my First Aid training in the morning. See you later!