Brrrr…

Wow… it really feels like fall today!  12 degrees and GREY… boo.

I love where I live, but I dislike the grey weather…

But it’s a perfect opportunity to have warm drinks.

Almond Milk with Chai….  So tasty!  I bought D a cappuccino maker for his birthday, so I am enjoying frothing my almond milk!!

It’s also a perfect time to curl up with these…

I’m not giving up on my flip flops yet though, I will embrace wet feet! 

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I also made a decision last night, I am going to join Weight Watchers for the next few months before the wedding.  I think I need to get on track with portion sizes and slim down a little bit before I expose my body in a bathing suit!! haha

Are any of you weight watchers people?  Any tips for me?  I joined before, but I was doing the CORE program.

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Anyways, a few other eats from the last few days…

This is one of my favorites from our favorite Vietnamese place!

Rice vermicelli with veggies, pork and egg rolls… mmmm

 

Probably won’t be eating much of this on WW, but we’ll see how it fits!!

On the warmer days I had some banana/strawberry soft serve with chocolate sauce..

Oh and of course there was avocado pudding… mmmm

This stuff is amazing!!

Anywhoo… have a great day!!  I got stuff to do and people to see!! haha

Jess

An Interesting Concoction

Happy Monday!!

Today marks the 1 week until school mark! EEK!!  I “think” I’m ready… maybe!!

So, as always another inspired creation today.

You know OhSheGlows overnight oats?

Well I made my own interesting concoction…

Chia Seed + Banana Soft Serve + Chocolate Avocado Pudding…

To make the avocado pudding...

1 ripe avocado + 1 TBSP Cocao powder + Agave to taste.

For the Chia, I used a package of ….. chia/chocolate mixture ( I can’t remember the name, and don’t have the bag anymore)

Banana Soft Serve – 1 frozen banana + splash of almond milk in food processor !! Then layer, and you get a VERY decedent yummy breaky!  Unfortunately it didn’t keep me full very long, but it was amazing!!

Served along with a RAW magazine I won on Girl On Raw’s blog awhile ago!!  Mmmmmm

So good!!

Have you tried the Overnight Oats or any version yet?? I’d love to hear what you came up with!!

Also, have you tried avocado pudding?  It’s amazing!!!

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Hope you had a fab weekend!!    It was one of my BFF’s wedding shower, and we had a blast..  Here is a sneak peak of a few pics.

We set up during the day.  So pretty! 

and a picture of the bride & I…

So fun!!

Enjoy your Monday!!

xo

Jess

Garden Goodness

Happy Friday!!!    It’s amazing to me that I am going back to school in just over a week!  Truth be told, I am FREAKING out…

I was never the smartest cookie in school and always had to work super hard to get good marks, so this I assume will be the same. 

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So glad you guys enjoyed yesterday’s post so much.  Thank you for all the RT on twitter

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Anywhoo… on to fun summer stuff…   My garden is insane… I can’t even keep up with everything coming out… I totally missed all the beans, and have enough kale to make at least 1 huge batch of kale chips every few days!!

And check out that ZUCCINI!!  It’s a monster… but it is so good, so sweet!

I think my favorite though is easily fresh tomatoes!  I love everything about them.  They are hands down WAY better than anything you can get store bought.    When you pick them off the stem, you can smell that amazing tomatoe flavor…

I just love tomatoes on toast.  Along with a side of one of my favorite things…  Oh yes, it’s true!!  Brussel Sprouts with vinegar and pepper = LOVE

I also made this awesome dish from the Raw Rose cookbook I got.

So amazing!!  It was a perfect lunch!

What’s your favorite thing to do with tomatoes and zucchini? 

I am needing some recipes, as I have SO much stuff coming out of my garden!!

Well I’m off to spend my Friday with these…

Yay!!!  I am LOVING the operation beautiful book – the Ani Phyo to be honest, is just ok… 

Most of the stuff is full of flax, and flax and I aren’t friends!!   But I’ll try a few recipes, maybe sub Chia seeds…

Questions of the day… (feel free to answer on facebook or twitter too)

• What are your favorite things to do with zucchini and/or tomatoes?
• Have you made anything out of the Ani Phyo book? 
• Thoughts on Operation Beautiful?

Have an awesome weekend!!

J

A VERY interesting email…

A while ago a friend sent me this email, and I found it SO interesting!!!   Hope you enjoy… Read away…

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It's been said that God first separated the salt water from the fresh, made dry land, planted a garden, made animals and  fish... All before making a human. He made and  provided what we'd need before we were born. These  are best & more powerful when eaten raw.  

We're such slow  learners... God left us a great clue as to what foods  help what part of our  body!

 
God's Pharmacy!  Amazing!

<Source> A  sliced Carrot looks like the human eye. The  pupil, iris and radiating lines look just like the human eye... And YES, science now shows carrots  greatly enhance blood flow to and function of the  eyes.
 <source>            A  Tomato has four chambers and is red. The  heart has four chambers and is red. All of the research shows tomatoes  are loaded with lycopine and are indeed pure heart  and blood food.

<source>     Grapes hang in a cluster that has the shape of the heart. Each grape looks like a blood cell and all of the research today shows grapes are also profound  heart and blood vitalizing food.

<source>   A  Walnut looks like a little brain, a left and right hemisphere, upper cerebrums and lower cerebellums.  Even the wrinkles or folds on  the nut are just like the neo-cortex. We now know walnuts help develop more than three (3) dozen  neuron-transmitters for brain function.
<source>   Kidney Beans actually heal and help maintain kidney function and yes, they look exactly like the human kidneys. 
<source>   Celery, Bok Choy, Rhubarb and many more look just like bones. These foods specifically target bone strength. Bones are 23% sodium and these foods are 23% sodium. If you don't have enough sodium in your diet, the body pulls it from the bones, thus making them weak.  These foods replenish the skeletal needs of the body.

<source>   Avocadoes,  Eggplant and Pears target the health and function of the womb and cervix of the female - they look just like these organs. Today's research shows that when a woman eats one avocado a week, it balances hormones, sheds unwanted birth weight, and prevents cervical cancers. And how profound is this?  It takes exactly nine (9) months to grow an avocado from blossom to ripened fruit. There are over 14,000 photolytic chemical constituents of nutrition in each one of these foods (modern science has only studied and named about 141 of them).

<source>  Figs are full of seeds and hang in twos when they grow.  Figs increase the mobility of male sperm and increase the numbers of Sperm as well to overcome male sterility.

<source> Sweet Potatoes look like the pancreas and actually balance the glycemic index of diabetics. 

<source>  Olives assist the health and function of the ovaries   <source>  Oranges, Grapefruits, and other Citrus fruits look just like the mammary glands of the female and actually assist the health of the breasts and the movement of lymph in and out of the breasts. 

<source>  Onions look like the body's cells. Today's research shows onions help clear waste materials from all of the body cells. They even produce tears which wash the epithelial layers of the eyes. A working companion, Garlic, also helps eliminate waste materials and dangerous free radicals from the body.
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Interesting stuff huh?

Thoughts?

Question of the day?

This morning when I opened up facebook… there was an interesting article written regarding what to let your kids eat.

Check it out here…

So here is my question of the day.  

Are there any foods you don’t (or won’t) let your kids eat?

Feel free to answer even if you are not a parent yet. 

I’m curious to know your answers, feel free to leave them on a comment on on facebook!

READY. SET.  DEBATE!

A Wedding day!!

This post is dedicated to my beautiful friend Jess!!   It’s her wedding day today!!  She’s having a family wedding ceremony at a beautiful ocean front resort.  They will be tying the knot at 4pm today – so send her well wishes!! 

I cannot wait until Saturday, there is a huge party going on to celebrate!!    So fun!!

Love you Jess and I am SO happy for you!! 

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Ok, enough smush fest!!

Onto yummy eats!!  

This salad was SO GOOD!!  Peppers, cucumbers, tomatoes, purple cabbage, sunflower seeds and TONS of parsley.

Dressing – Apple Cider Vinegar, agave, salt and pepper!!

MMMMmmm  so good!!

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There was also some fajitas made!!

 

Onions, peppers, zucchini.

All cooked up with some spices, tossed into wraps!!!   So good and colorful!!!

Do you ever make fajitas??  It’s one of our favourites and on top of it, we have a great pepper farm nice and close, so most of the peppers we buy are local!!

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WEDDING UPDATE!! 

I haven’t updated you guys on wedding stuff forever!

So far we have about 29 guest coming, and our RSVP date is coming up quickly!!   I think that’s a perfect number!! 

I keep getting really excited about spending a whole week in Mexico with a bunch of my very favourite people!!

I’ve also found a few cute things for the decor!

Here are some of my inspirations…

 

Now some of the stuff I have decided on…

For the ceremony/reception – for on the tables etc. http://www.etsy.com/listing/53739114/36-x-special-scarlett-3d-butterflies

For all the ladies…  (but in pink)http://www.weddingfavours.ca/p/4057/Asian+Silk+Fan.html

As you can tell… our colors are pink and black – with a little bit of green for fun details.

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Hope you enjoyed my again, random post!!

Make sure to join my FACEBOOK group and share your blog address!!

I am really interested to know who is out there reading (Yes that’s you to my lovely lurkers)… so even if you don’t have a blog, tell me something about you!!

Ciao for now,

Jess

A Yoga Video for you!

Happy Saturday guys!!
So for the past week, I have been doing yoga every day!! Just 30 mins, but am really really enjoying it. 
I close the blinds, put the dog outside and roll out my yoga mat!!
And then it begins…   I am so in love with it right now.   This has been my favorite video lately.  
Yoga for Digestion…

http://www.graspr.com/videos/Episode-100-Yoga-for-Digestion-1


I LOVE how he says that every day your yoga journey is different, every day you are in a different place than the one before. 

My favorite pose from this is easily the shoulder stand (Savangasana)!!   I love love love it, and in 4 days I have seen a huge improvement in this pose already!!

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Do you do yoga?   What’s your favorite pose?  Also, do you have a favorite yoga video you care to share??

Have a beautiful weekend!

Jessica

Ultimate Peanut Butter Cup Cake…

Awhile ago Rick from Book Publishing Company (www.bookpubco.com) sent me some cookbooks!!   I have been so busy that I quickly looked through them, and then put them away.   The last few days I decided I should finally make a recipe out of them, to test them out.

After flipping through both, I decided on making one out of Sweet Utopia – with is full of vegan deserts!!

The options were mouth watering…

• Zucchini Loaf Cake with a tangerine twist
• Sticky Toffee Pudding
• Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins
• Chocolate Glazed Almond Cookies…

But the one that caught my attention…

Yes please…  We are chocolate/peanut butter lovers around this house!!

So I whipped up the cake – and created my own icing… and this delicious cake was born…  (ps, those beautiful flowers were a surprise from D the other day!!)    The cake was dense and moist, with a little crunch around the top.  The icing was rich and peanut buttery!!  It was a beautiful mixture. 

I was surprised at how good this was, especially since baking is NOT my specialty! 

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I give Sweet Utopia, a 9/10.  

The beginning is filled with tips/ideas of how to turn regular recipes into vegan ones, which is very helpful.   The pictures are gorgeous, and the recipes are fairly simple and include ingredients you most likely have on hand!!

The only downfall I see is the cheesecake section.  Every one of the recipes includes using tofu, which I know many people are  not huge fans of. 

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Thanks to Rick from www.bookpubco.com for sending me these books to review!!

I will be back with a recipe from Raw for Desert shortly!!

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Do you enjoy reading cookbook reviews??

I personally get excited about reading cookbook reviews, as there is nothing worse than getting a cookbook that sucks. 

I have a dairy free cookbook that still uses cheese and yogurt?  Can you explain to me? 

Anywhoo…  have an amazing weekend!! 

What are you up to?!?!?

More Kale Chips…

I’m so excited you guys are so excited about this kale recipe.  This recipe is a mix of two friends recipes!   Averie at Loves Veggies and Yoga and my beautiful friend Donna from my raw foods course.    Since this is just a mixture of two recipes – I won’t claim it as my own…  it’s just another option!!

First off… I am happy as my garden is FULL of kale…  massive kale… a mixture of red kale and black kale was used for this recipe! the garden is also full of pea, zucchini and GREEN tomatoes!  Ok… onto the kale recipe…   (please see Averie’s original recipe here) and I’d share Donna’s but I’m not sure if it’s top secret or not!

Kale Chips                                                                               1/2 cup almonds soaked (1 hour +)
Toss into a blender                                                                                           Add 1/2 a pepper (I used orange)
2 Tbsp (approx.) Braggs Liquid Aminos
1/4 cup nutritional yeast                                                                                   a few shakes of cajun powder 
1-2 tsp garlic powder                                                                                            2 green onions

Blend together until smooth... then massage into kale for about 2 mins. 

  If you have a dehydrator - put onto sheets and dehydrate until crispy  (just over an hour) this is the best way.

Or use the oven. I don't know the exacts for the oven, as I use my dehydrator... Google it, I'm sure you can find it!!

They are so good and taste super cheesy!   Try them out, they were the best kale chips I’ve had – and JAM packed full of vitamins and minerals…. so good!!

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Have a great Thursday!!

Jess