100th Post

Hooray! Its my 100th post! For my post today I have a yummy recipe to show you.

I made seafood spinach curry last night! I played with things and created this one without an actual recipe!

I had halibut, spinach and some curry paste so I got creative. Here's what I did:

Seafood and Spinach Curry

1. In a sauce pan I heated up olive oil and added garlic powder, onion powder and fresh garlic.

2. Meanwhile I bbq'd some halibut up and made some brown rice

3. Once the pan was good and warm I added some curry paste. I stirred it around in the pan, then added some milk. I whisked them all together. I added the  milk till I got the consistency I wanted.

4. After the sauce had come to a good simmer I added prawns, and added the bbq'd halibut. I let this simmer till the prawns were cooked through then I wilted some spinach into the pan. (I let the spinach wilt for a couple minutes)

5. Remove from heat and serve with some rice! :)

It was pretty good. I did add some cornstarch to the mix to try and thicken the sauce. I would try cream or even half and half rather than skim milk next time as the sauce was a little thin for my liking. I would also add more spinach. Overall this was a pretty tasty dish!



So since this is my 100th post, I thought I would take this time to set some goals for this blog. I have some things that I would like to try for my next 100 posts.

• I want to learn more about photoshop. I want to explore photo editing and all that jazz.
• I would like to figure out how to have photos situated right next to each other. Right now I can only do one photo per "line" (if that makes sense). I want to be able to have multiples of photos all together (collage-like). 
• I would like to try and start posting more clothing posts.. "what I am wearing" as well as more photos with my family and friends! I want to personalize this blog a bit more.
• More recipes...
• More fitness (attempts)

Those are my goals for now...

Happy Thursday!

B

Green monster...sort of?

After seeing so many amazing bloggers talking about Green Monsters, I thought I would give one a try. I don't have kale, but I had spinach so I don't know if this smoothie was a "real" green monster.

Here is what I added in my "Green Monster":

• handful of spinach
• 4 strawberries
• 1/2 cup frozen blueberries
• 1/2 cup yogurt
• banana
• splash of water

Once I blended it up... I drank up! This recipe (sans spinach) is my usual mix, but I gotta say that I really enjoyed it with spinach. I want to start adding flax seed or some bran to beef it up some more.

Now that I have breakfast done...my day is shaping up to look like this:

• Taking Emma to a nearby trail for a walk/jog
• Catch up on my reading of "The Help"
• Put oil in my car
• Organize my teaching stuff and office
• Go to tutoring..last session of the school year!
• Head over to the library

What else happens...we will see!?!? My next post will be my 100th post! I'm thinking I will chat about some goals...blog related...life related...
B

Flowers and salmon!

Before I go off about what I ate for dinner...check out my flowers...these are blooming in my backyard right now. Heavenly!

Anyways, back to food. I went grocery shopping today. I have been on the hunt for salmon burgers. I would love to do fresh salmon burgers, but I don't always have fresh salmon...and I hate buying fresh salmon ($$$$), so I found some great ones from Costco. I bbq'd one up for dinner tonight... it was delicious!

They work for quick and easy dinners, especially when I am cooking for one! :)

Some other things to update you on... I discovered this group yesterday and I'm kinda loving their sound. I downloaded their whole album yesterday.



Upcoming posts:

• Lemon Poppy Seed Oatmeal Cookies
• TV shows I'm loving
• A healthy night of eating
• Rio the movie in an open air theatre

Have a good evening! I am off to go watch some tv, relax and have some tea! (I don't know what I would do without tea!)
B

Strolling along the beach..

Took the poochie for a stroll today... my posted photo isn't from today... today was overcast. I didn't have my camera...but I was at the beach. Emma ran in the water..and listened really well. She was a good dog today...phew!

Thats all I have for a post for now... hopefully I will be back with dinner...ipod updates and tv updates!

B

 

Experimenting

Check out my flowers! :)

Today was a pretty productive day. My amazing parents came and saved me from major stresses. My parents helped me build a fence around my garden!

Along with my new garden fence, I cut the lawns. The front and back lawns are nicely cut now! Allen's lawn mower scares me so I was lucky to use my dads. My dad also managed to give Allen's lawn mower some TLC so now I can start it no problem!

I gotta brag for a second now. I made some delicious chicken today. I had some leftover spinach and some chicken. I ended up making a yummy spinach chicken roll up. I researched different ideas online, then looked at what ingredients I had in my kitchen and voila!

Ingredients:

Chicken
Spinach
1/8 or 1/4 cup of Herb and Garlic cream cheese
Spices of your choice

Firstly, beat the snot out of your chicken. Just kidding! Hit it a bit with a meat tenderizer so that the pieces are thinner. I microwaved the spinach. I then mixed the warm spinach with the cream cheese so that it melted. I rubbed the chicken with spices. Then I spooned the cream cheese mixture onto the chicken, then I rolled the chicken up. I secured them with toothpicks then popped 'em on the bbq till they were all done.

Easy as pie and super delicious!

I feel pretty good about my chicken masterpiece. I made rice and carrots to go along with it, but they were overshadowed by the delicious chicken! I kind of love myself for this creation.

Now I am going to relax. Might go for a stroll as I havent done that; however I should add cutting the front and back yard was a good bit of exericse!!
B

Turkey lurkey...

I have been busy baking, cooking and painting! :) Friday night after TOCing and taking the pooch to the dog park, I came home to make my version of turkey spinach burgers.

For my turkey burgers I threw some spinach, spices, and bread crumbs together. Then added some bbq sauce and an egg. I bbq'd them and them enjoyed!

After work on Saturday, I decided to paint the master bath in our house. I used leftover paint from our living room and changed up my shower curtain. The verdict? I love my bathroom! A change in color was exactly what the room needed. Now I want to continue with the rest of the house.

I have been busy baking already this morning. My parents are coming up this afternoon to help me with some yard work...so I am going to bribe...or I mean repay them with cookies! I made these cookie bars from Two Peas & Their Pod.

All I gotta say is "YUM". So delicious and really easy to make. My only comment would be that I wouldn't add the sea salt. They give the option of putting sea salt on top of the cookie bar. Too much salt. I was hoping it would add a bit of crunch...not so. Rookie mistake. Too much salt, but still good. Anyways I would definately give the recipe a try if you are looking for something sweet!

My plan for the day:

• Yard work with the parental units. This consists of putting chicken wire up around my garden. I am hoping this is only temporary to teach Emma to stay out of the garden. She likes to do her high speed laps around the backyard through my garden, crushing them. Not impressed. Oh the other reason...so she stops digging in my garden! ;) Oh how I love dogs! We are also going to cut the lawn. I am nervous to cut the front lawn after all our hydroseeding...I don't want to be the one to wreck the yard!
• Meet with a co-worker for some Booster Juice. We have some epicure and summer work stuff to discuss.
• Walk, walk, walk! (Or a jog if I can get my butt moving)
• Making chicken with stuffed spinach for dinner. I have some leftover spinach so I thought I'd use it up with chicken. I am going to fly by the seat of my pants to figure this one out!

What are your Sunday plans?
B

Cooking List

Source: Eat, Live, Run

I have been trying really hard to find really healthy and nutritious recipes to try out. For lunch today I am having a smoothie and I am going to try something my friend C saw on a blog. I am taking a frozen banana and blending it in. Something simple but thought I'd give it a try.

Here are some other recipes I am dying to try:

Spinach Feta Turkey Burgers 

Rutabaga Fries (I didn't even know these exsisted till Morgan over at scarves and socks told me about them. 

Homemade pizza

Easy Cinnamon Roll Muffins 

Shoofly Pie

Rhubard Applesauce

I could go on and on...  I think I am going to try the turkey burgers tomorrow sans feta cheese. I just went grocery shopping and forgot about feta so I will have to skip the feta cheese.

Any other recipes you recommend?

B

PB and Bananas

For breakfast this morning I decided to try something I have seen many bloggers doing for breakfast..peanut butter and bananas.

I toasted up some GoodHaven bread then topped it with peanut butter and bananas. So delicious.

Its not the greatest photo...a little shakey! Sorry! :(

After I ate my breakfast I went outside to check on the pooch only to discover she had taken to ripping apart the filter cloth that Allen and I had stapled along the bottom on the fence near our flower beds. NOT IMPRESSED. Right now she is in her kennel "thinking" about her actions. But while I was outside I got to see this pretty sight.

My pretty roses are blooming. I have this pink plant and I have a light yellow plant. The yellow rose is a little behind but I am loving all these blooms! :)

My plan for today consists of taking resumes out and getting some exercise before I go to work. :)

Have a good day!

B

Things I'm loving (or wanting)

A friend introduced me to the iphone app MyFitnessPal. Its a great tool for keeping track of what you eat during the day and how much exercise you have gotten. It has a great database for food...I went to Taco Del Mar and had a mondito burrito...MyFitnessPal told me how many calories it was! Its even eye opening to see how yo-yo I am with my eating. Saturday I ate over 1000 too many calories...where as yesterday I consumed 400 less than I shoul have. So yo-yo. Anyways so far I love this app..and the best part..its online too! You can even invite your friends to log on an become your friend just like facebook. I have 3 friends already. You can check to see how much exercise they have gotten and if they need some encouragement! Love it!

One other thing..that I want is the Carrots 'n' Cake book by Tina Haupert. I have seen alot of bloggers going off about how great her book is. I have added this to my book list. Too bad I can't get it from the library!

So those are a couple of things I'm interested in right now.

Here is what my afternoon looks like:

• Shower
• Lunch
• Errands
• Meet A for a visit and to give her her birthday present
• Print off some resumes (to take out tomorrow morning)

Once I get this all done..its off to work I go. What are your plans for the afternoon?

B

In the Kitchen

I have spent a good chunk of time in the kitchen today. I had a big bag of carrots to try and work through so I opted to make some carrot raisin muffins. I found this recipe for Carrot Oatmeal Muffins on the Canadian Living website.

They turned out okay... I added raisins as I didn't have any walnuts. Honestly they weren't sweet enough for my liking. I might have one for breakfast tomorrow with some jam on it. :)

For dinner I tried a meatless recipe for Easy Balsamic Chickpea, Brown Rice and Brocoli Salad. It was sponsored by Newman's Own Dressing. I had never tried grilling peppers before so I was kind of excited to try it for this recipe.

Here is the recipe:

Ingredients:

1 red pepper

2 cups cooked rice

2 cups blanched small broccoli florets

1 can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed

2/3 cup Newman's Own Balsamic Vinaigrette Dressing

1/2 tsp salt and pepper (or to taste)

1/4 cup toasted silvered almonds or sunflower seeds (I used crushed peanuts)

Preheat the grill to medium high heat. Place the pepper directly on the grill. Cook turning as needed for 15 minutes or until charred. Transfer to a bowl; cover. Remove and discard skin and seeds. Chop pepper into bite-size pieces.

Toss the rice with the broccoli, chickpeas, chopped pepper and dressing. Season with salt and pepper. Spoon into serving bowl and top with almonds. Serve warm or cold.

The verdict on this new recipe... it was okay. I think the 2/3 cup dressing was too much. I ended up cooking more rice to absorb some of the dressing. I ate it warm so tomorrow will be cold leftovers. I will keep you posted on if its better cold. I would definately give this a try if you are looking for meatless meals!

I'm off to go have a cup of tea and watch the news!

B

Some shopping...

Happy Father's Day!!

My dad is out of town, so we celebrated last weekend..so its just Emma and I today. I just got home from tutoring and grocery shopping. Now I am going to do some cleaning. But first...here is a recap of my shopping weekend.

Friday night was shopping with my mom. We didn't buy too much. She bought a nice sweater from Jacob. She treated me to a pair of shoes for work. A while back she said she would buy me new shoes to replace my stinky shoes...well I found some and she reminded me...I had forgotten :) . I purchased a lacy tank for teaching as well as a pair of shoes. After shopping till we dropped...I bought us heavenly creamsicles. So delicious!

Saturday C and I hit up Superstore. I ended up buying a sweater and a shirt. C bought 3 really nice shirts and a sweater. Her shirts are navy blue...such a good color for her!

I bought the runners recently at Costco! :)

After shopping C and I headed back to her place for a lovely bbq. I got to see her Bali photos too. Soo nice! :) It was a great even visiting with friends that I just don't see enough!

I am trying a new recipe tonight that I will post later. Its a rice, pepper dish... looks yummy. It even involves me grilling a red pepper :). I think I am going to make some carrot bran muffins too.

Here is a snap shot of my lunch break...

Well I should get back to my cleaning. Laundry and dishes call my name...
B

Pooped

Happy Thursday everyone!

Well I am pooped! I have TOC'd 3 days this week which is pretty good. As my fellow blogger A mentioned, the troops are restless. They are antsy. They are loud. They are ready for summer vacation. Today was especially busy... but its Thursday, almost the weekend. The best part...both of my tutoring clients cancelled. WAHOOOO! Another night off.

Anyways last night was spent watching and fretting over the Canucks game. My buddie C and her new husband came up with a number of friends. Good food...good friends... The Canucks unfortunately lost; however it was overshadowed by pathetic rioters and looters. I am ashamed of what some people did in the streets of downtown Vancouver. I am also proud to acknowledge the people that tried to stop the rioters, and those that participated in the clean-up.

Allen has gone back to camp again. We were lucky to have him home for as long as we did, but a mans gotta work! :) We aren't sure when he will be home again..2 or 3 weeks. I hope it flies by!!!

One last thing...it was Emma's birthday the other day. I made her a peanut butter and carrot cookie with doggy treats sprinkled on top. Check it out :)

She is one huge dog now! I just can't wait for her to become a "normal" dog...meaning..more calm and maybe a little less stubborn.

I will try and post some new photos soon. I will either post some baking...or our new tv......or maybe some of the clothing finds I get tomorrow. I think I am going shopping with my mom tomorrow afternoon!

B

Sheeee's backkkkk

My long lost friend Court and her new hubby are back from their Bali Honeymoon. I have been going through Court withdrawls. I talked to her and saw her so much before the wedding and then it was like a shock to my system..boom not talking to her. Anyways I spoke with her yesterday through text messages. Soooo excited to see her and all her photos!

Other news...Canucks tonight! Game 7! Lets cross our fingers for a win!!
B

On the Fence

I tried overnight oats this morning... last night I combined 1/3 cup oats, 1/3 cup water, 1/2 cup yogurt, 1 tbsp raisins, and a dash of cinnamon. I mixed them then popped the combo into the fridge till this morning. I topped it with half a banana and some kashi cereal.

The verdict: I'm not sure. The taste was good, but the texture threw me off. I am not sure I loved the texture. I will possibilty try them again another time, but I think I will stick to yogurt for now.

Last night Allen and I watched How Do You Know with Reese Witherspoon and Owen Wilson...one word...lame. It was a weird movie. Kinda odd...hard to follow what was there of a plot line. I wouldn't recommend it. Do you share my opinion?

B

One last thing...

So You Think You Can Dance is back on...best performance..*correction this is the best performance:

So awesome!

B

9 holes

So I am not the greatest golfer. I really enjoy hitting the ball long distances, but putting is not my thing. I also lost interest halfway through the game...of 9 holes! I didn't do terrible, but didn't do great.

After golfing Allen and I went grocery shopping and came home to do some yard work and chores around the house. I decided to make us fish tacos for dinner. I used halibut that Allen caught last weekend. I bbq'd it up with a bit of tex mex seasoning, then laid it on a bed of goodness. Avocado mixed with a bit of sour cream and tomatoes, lettuce and cheese. It was delicious!

Allen's taco looked a little different as he doesn't like avocado much.

Finally my exciting news... I am attempting to grow an avocado tree! I found some info online... check it out ;)

I'm hoping it works and I end up with an avocado tree! Wouldn't that be great! :)
Anyways Im off to watch some Whale Wars then a movie! I love lazy Saturday nights!
B

Weekend lineup

How has your week been? Mine has been pretty busy. I TOC'd the last 3 days. It was pretty good, especially yesterday as I got to watch a school talent show. CUTEST thing ever! Little Kindergardens got up and sang twinkle twinkle little star. One little girl sang a song and I think halfway through it she got nervous and twitched to Insy Bitsy Spider. :)

After watching the game last night, (yahoo canucks won) Allen and I came home and pretty much went to bed. He was pooped and I knew I could go to bed then too.

Here is my weekend lineup:

1. Coombs or 9 hole golf/ driving range
2. Cleaning (laundry, dishes)
3. Make lemon drop cookies
4. Find a recipe for overnight oats
5. Early Fathers Day lupper tomorrow. My parents, brother and grandparents are coming up tomorrow to celebrate my dad and grandpa...

I am so glad its the weekend. I am really happy because I have the whole weekend off! Yahho! I get paid for 3 hours, but don't have to come in! Pretty sweet I know!

Here are some new songs that I am enjoying:

1. Sultan and Ned Shepherd- Call My Name

2. Mary J Blige- Someone to Love Me (feat. Diddy and Lil Wayne)

3. Lupe Fiasco and Trey Songz- Out of My Head

Enjoy your weekend!

B

Bucket List

I thought I would follow Morgan and other bloggers and post my bucket list. I started my bucket list 3 or 4 years ago and I have managed to cross some things off it. Buying a house, getting a puppy and getting a Nikon camera. I have had a pretty productive year! :)

My baby girl is a year old next week!



So here is a sneak peek at my bucket list!

~Travel, travel, travel! Here are some of the places I am dying to go: Greece, Italy, Portugal, revisit Australia, Hawaii

~Get my own classroom...one day I will be able to set up a classroom of my very own

~Pay off student loans

~Ride a camel

~Learn to speak Spanish

~Take up yoga

~Visit the Christ Redeemer in Brazil

~Go on an african safari

~Attend a music festival outside (like The Gorge)

~Take a hot air balloon ride

~ Read Oprahs Book List

~Donate blood

~Get married and have some kidlets

~Help build a school in an underdeveloped country

There is a few for now :)

B

Weekend recap

I am a bit behind on my posts..my apologies. I have been busy enjoying the nice weather! This weekend was jam packed with bbqs at our different neighbors, camping, working and yard work. Allen and I went to a bbq at our neighbors on Friday. It turned out to be dinner, then a bit of a get together as a bunch of people from the firehall showed up. For dinner we had fish tacos (heavenly)....played cornhall. It was great. Then Saturday we watched the game at a local golf course with some new friends, hit some balls at the driving range, then randomly decided to head to the west coast. So at 9:00 we all loaded up and convoyed up there. We got to the property at 12 and sat around the fire till 3 in the morning. We woke up to beautiful sunny skies.



When we got home from our impromptu camping trip, we went to our other neighbors for a bbq to celebrate their one year olds birthday. Their son was so cute as he ate his birthday cake!

Overall it was a great weekend. Very go..go go..but good!

Last night after the sad canucks game, Allen and I joined some folks from the fire hall to play a game of beach volleyball. We ended up playing for 2 hours! It was a blast..but I am a little stiff this morning. Definately something I could get into! So much fun!



For my next post, I am going to follow Morgan's recent blog post about bucket lists. Stay tuned for my bucket list.

B

Spa day at the Dentist?

My flowers are starting to come out! Yahoo!

Yesterday I went to Costco. It wasn't too bad. The parking lot was a zoo, but inside was pretty good. I didn't buy tons..just a few necessary items: dog food, chicken, chicken wings, bananas, pineapple, Kashi cereal and a new book :)

Today I went to the dreaded dentist...arg. I went to a new office today and it was fantastic. My hygienst was a male...dressed in a dress shirt and dress pants. It threw me off. I was expecting scrubs. Anyways, he did some xrays then gave me a paraffin wax treatment for my hand. My little hands went to the spa, while I got my teeth cleaned. Anyways it was a more enjoyable trip to the dentist.

On my way home, I stopped off at one of the local thrift stores. I go there frequently as they have the best used book selection. I picked up a few more books. Some good finds....oh and I forgot to mention..I found Booky Wooky by Russell Brand at Walmart for pretty cheap. I have been wanting this book real bad!

Check out SOME of my summer reads:

Some good reads..some "we will see" reads! I can't wait! I am reading Girl in Translation right now, then it will be Booky Wooky!

Now on to the weekend. This is how my weekends shaping up:

Tonight is dinner at our neighbours. We gave them some Halibut so they are cooking us some hali tacos!

Tomorrow I work and have a staff meeting..at a pub! Yahoo!

And Sunday, I think Allen and I are going fishing. Should be fun to get out on a boat for a little while. Its supposed to be nice this weekend so its going to be the perfect time to be on a boat. I just have to make sure I bring a hat and some sunscreen. Don't want to sizzle on a boat.

Hope you have a good weekend. Enjoy the sun!
B

Costco Costco!

Good morning!!

Ready for the exciting news? Costco opens today! Yahhoo! I am so flipping excited. I am probably..scratch that..I am going to brave Costco today on its opening day. I know.. I am nuts right?!?! We really need dog food, and chicken and I really don't want to go anywhere else to buy these items. Oh my I cannot wait. I am going to scope out all the good books. Cannot wait! I am secretly hoping that its not insanely busy, but I think I am in denial.

In other news, yesterday I TOC'd again. It was  busy busy busy! I was in a K class. They were very active and kept me thinking. The highlight of the day was putting on 2 songs from Charlotte Diamond and having a little girl ask if they could dance. I said yes, allowing them to dance in their squares on the carpet (keeping them from being too silly or bumping into each other).  Well this little girl was the cutest thing I have ever seen. She had moves I tell you! Very cute! Needless to say... I slept hard last night! I was pooped from the K critters!

On Monday we got our grass hydroseeded! We have grass coming! Now that we have weird sprayed sea foam looking stuff all over our yard... I can really see how large our front yard is. We are going to have lots of grass to cut. Now we just have to make sure we don't let our front lawn get as long as we let our backyard get.

Please ignore our make shift gate. Its been replaced with a proper gate now!

What a stud! Don't you love our vintage lawn mower??

Sunday night Allen and I went to The Hangover II. I hate to say it, but I was a little disappointed. Firstly, Bridesmaids was better. Better comedy. Second, The Hangover II was kind of dull and dragged on. I could have rented it. Oh well!

Here is my list for the day:

1. Costco Costco Costco (when I say this I think of that song Shots!Shots!Shots!)

2. Take dear Emma for a walk

3. Find a book to read. I tried to start Pride and Prejudice last night. Not so into it. I am following my friend A's idea of reading a classic novel then whatever and so on.. So far not doing very good.

4. Figure out what to make for dinner

5. Write a progress report for one of my students

6. Maybe do some weeding (not very likely)

7. Following my friend Morgan's recent post, I am going to look for a Zumba course here in town. I've been wanting to try Zumba, but haven't actually looked for one. Now I need to look for one for real this time!

Hope you all have a good rainy day.. I am so done with this rain. It is supposed to be really nice this weekend! Yahoo!

B