Good *Monday* morning!! :)

Awwh…  only 11 days until we leave!!  So excited/nervous!! 

I won’t be putting out many posts in the next 2 weeks, as I am crazy busy!   But stick around because once I get back, there will be a bunch of awesome recaps of our trip!!     And wedding details that I know a few of you are excited to hear!!  

Thanks to the ladies at school (who are amazing) for an awesome stagette! 

(little did I know, this wasn’t all I was getting dressed up in!)  

You all know I’d post pictures but many of them are highly incriminating haha…  we had a fantastic time though and I even got to go out dancing, which I haven’t done in forever!    And the food……  was so good!  Everyone made a dairy free dish for me (awwh)  There were salads, and salsas, and amazing noodles, fresh baked buns, dairy free deserts,  it was fantastic!

They also did (which is an amazing idea)  a money/wedding advice tree!

This was an amazing gift idea!!  I want to pass it onto anyone planning a baby or wedding shower.

Everyone submitted some wedding advice and anonymously gave some cash!   I love the anonymous part, because some people don’t like giving cash because they can only give a little, and my theory on this is no one should have to feel bad, so being able to do it anonymously is fantastic!!

I am for sure doing this for any stagettes/showers I do!!  Who doesn’t appreciate cash?    And the wedding advice was beautiful!   Plus we have a tree to plant to symbolize our wedding!

Anyways, that’s all the stagette pictures you get!!  You guys know my thing about not posting friend pictures without permission, so I don’t want to do that!!

Anywhoo have a great Monday!!!

Grainy Tabbouleh

Ready for a super easy recipe!? 

READY… Set… Go……………

Grainy Tabbouleh

Cook up your favorite grain (I’ve used bulgar, millet, quinoa and even rice)

Chop up a bunch of parsley

A few tomatoes

Some garlic if you like?

Mint if you have any…

Toss it with some salt and pepper

Add in “sour”  - such as lemon juice or balsamic vinegar (my fav)

A little bit of sugar

And for a crunch a few sunflower seeds!

 

Volia!

Easy peasy – and if you can have dairy – you can add some feta which is SO GOOD!  *sniffle*

I ate it in a bowl and also on my hummus pizza!!!!!!!!!!!!

YAY for it being Wednesday – the week is 1/2 over!!!!!!!!!!!!  

 

Enjoy!

Mushroom & Kale Quinoa Risotto

Ok ok,

I’ve been promising this recipe for awhile!!  It’s SO tasty!! Enjoy

Ingredients  *everything is approximate I just threw everything together.

3/4 cup dry quinoa (rinsed)

1 – 2 cups sliced mushrooms (I just used white ones)

as much kale as you like

1/4 cup walnuts – chopped

1/4 white onion chopped

1 tsp dried savoury or herb of choice

2+ cups broth (I used chicken)

 

Sauté onions and mushrooms until onions are translucent.

Add in quinoa and 1/2 cup broth

Simmer on medium until all broth is sucked up (yes that’s a technical term)

Add another 1/2 cup of broth stirring until broth is gone again… continue in 1/2 cup

Add in kale, walnuts and savoury  - stir until combined and kale is slightly steamed

Add in salt and pepper to taste!

Serve warm or also is great as a cold left over!

So creamy and delicious!!

This was such a fantastic meal!!! Hearty and filling!!

 

I think next time I might use these…

And use the water from soaking them as the broth!! (YUM! and so nutritious!)

 

As I have mentioned a few times, this recipe came as an inspiration from someone elses blog, so if this was yours, please let me know, so I can give you kudos!!

 

Have a great day today – are you up to anything fun??

I’m doing homework, a few wedding things and then hopefully ZUMBA!

On my plate…

I’m so glad you guys enjoyed our engagement story!!  It was a good day!!

Yesterday on my facebook page – I let everyone know that we were making perogies for dinner!! I got a bunch of inquiring messages regarding these delicious doughy goodness!!

Warning, the pictures ARE NOT pretty – because it was so dark, I had to use what light I could find.

I followed Meg’s recipe that she tweeted to me!   But for the filling I did potatoes with roasted garlic, pepper and nooch!  And Dave did potatoes with cheese and bacon.

I made BIG MASSIVE ones and tiny little  wee ones

I fried them up and ate them as is… nothing fancy, nothing exciting but they were AMAZING!!

Totally worth the effort,  although I’m glad we made 2 batches, so I have a ton of left overs!

_________________________________________

Up next,  I’ve had a MAJOR craving for Caesar salad.

Funny, because I never liked it before going dairy free – but now I crave it!!

CAESAR SALAD Dressing (Raw?/Vegan)

makes 2 servings

For the dressing – I tossed all this into the Vitamix;

3 Tbsp cashews

1 tbsp Nooch (nutritional yeast)

1 clove garlic

1/2 tbsp dijon mustard

1 tbsp braggs

1tbsp evoo

2 tbsp water

salt to taste.

Blend up and toss with salad…

I added some extra nooch on top, and some homemade croutons

It was VERY garlicly and VERY good!!  I will be making it again for sure.

________________________________________________

Ok… what’s next?   Oooh I still haven’t given you my mushroom risotto  - I guess you’ll have to wait again!

I also made some of “Almost as good as Nan’s” Pea Soup! 

topped with some of my new favorite snack

So good!  SO addicting!

Ok your turn… what did you eat that was good this weekend?

How do you cook your perogies? 

Have you tried a raw/vegan salad dressing before?

Hope your week is fantabulous! (funny that didn’t come up in spell check)!

 

 

Oh and PS…  my new favorite thought…

He asked a question and I said “YES!”

Today is a smushy day for me!

It’s been a year ago today that Dave and I got engaged!!

And since we are about 3 weeks away from our wedding I thought any of you who haven’t heard the story, might like to hear it!

The Story

---

Awwh the lovely engagement story!!

I wrote about it the day after still floating on cloud nine..

I honestly wasn’t expecting it AT ALL (which is weird because I’m not an easy person to keep secrets from – he he )

So Dave came home from work, and wanted to go for a walk… I had already gone during the day and was a little “whatever?” about it.    He suggested we just go by ourselves and to not take the dog, I thought that was weird, as why would we go for a walk and not take our 95 pound, full of energy dog, Lance?  So we ended up taking him with us.

When I look back, there were a lot of funny little things about the whole day, but  I didn’t think anything of them.  Dave wanted to take a little side trail… no dog… he seemed a little extra happy that day… super gitty when he got home.

Anyways, back to the details – So we walked to this cute little bridge, in the middle of a bunch of beautiful trees, and we let the dog go in the water and I started walking away, and he said to me “come back here” and in my head I was thinking – that’s weird … but still no idea. 

Then he looked at me and got down on his knee (and it still didn’t click) The he said whatever he said – which I’m assuming said something along the lines of “Will you marry me” but I honestly don’t remember!! 

I screamed, of course said YES and then we hugged for a lonnnnng time! 

It was really sweet and perfect, I love that it was just our moment (and well and Lance! haha) and now we have a beautiful little bridge behind our house that is our engagement bridge! (note to all of you that haven't gotten to meet me yet, yes I am a total cheeseball!)

About 5 minutes after it happened, we ran into some people in the trail and I HAD to tell them… and then I walked, looking at my beautiful ring the rest of the way home!

When we got home we phoned everyone and got some awesome reactions!!   Everyone was really really excited and happy for us!  There were horns honking,  tears flowing… well you get the picture!

Then we came home, got ready and went out for dinner.  I wanted to tell every single person we met what had just  happened!!!  It took everything in me to keep it to myself,  I think I told our waitress and then kept it to myself for the rest of it, didn’t want people to think I was crazy!!

It was a very special day, one I’ll  never forget…  and now a year later, most of the wedding planning is done and we’re jumping on an airplane in a little under 3 weeks to spend a week with (most of ) our favourite people,  and for a big celebration to make it official!!

 

Hope you have a great Saturday,

A post from the past!

Hey guys!

Since I have so many new fabulous readers, I thought I would pull up some of my favorite posts from the past!!   (Our engagement story is coming up on the 22nd!!)

Here is one that won a spot in the top 9 on foodbuzz!! (EXCITING!)

Step to Step Energy Balls…

http://www.dairyfreebetty.com/2010/01/step-by-step-raw-energy-balls.html

You can play with this recipe as much as you want,  using different dried fruits and nuts.

Also if you are feeling inspired, add in some spices  etc…   One of my favourite alternatives is adding in maple syrup, oats  and chocolate chips!! 

 

For all the people in my class that have just started reading (HI GUYS!)  These are an AWESOME school snack, and super  easy to make.

 

Have a great Thursday…

I unfortunately (accidently) ate some dairy last night and am not feeling so good today   thankfully I have an awesome practicum placement, who gave me some “work from home” tasks for this morning, and I am heading to my practicum for the afternoon!!

 

Have you made any energy balls before?  What ingredients are your favorite?

I really like apricots w/almonds and orange and lemon rind.   SO good, so fresh!

Yum in my Tum…

 

Just for the record.  I LOVE you guys! I got some of the best/sweetest emails yesterday, while you guys were sending me your addresses for the giveaway!! I appreciate them so much!!  I love blogging, so I love it when you guys love what I’m writing!!  

As for the sample giveaway HOLY WOW – I went to an hour of Zumba and I came back to over 25 emails!  Even some my lovely US readers send me an email just to say hi!!  Seriously, I felt the LOVE

Just a quick post from me today,  it’s my 9 ugly hours of classes today – but the good news is – When I get home DAVE WILL BE HOME!!  I haven’t mentioned it on my blog (hello creepers) but Dave has been gone for 9 days!! I missed him SO SO SO MUCH!!!

I love him… he’s my lobster! xo

Anyways, enough smush (better get used to it with all the wedding pictures coming, just sayin) a few “what I’ve been eating, when the meat eater has been gone…” FOOD

 

Pear with Granola and Soy Yogurt.

Every once in awhile, I CRAVE PEARS – this was one of those weeks.  For this dish, I sliced it up and sautéed it, so it was creamy and warm.  Then topped it off with some vanilla soy yogurt and some dairy free granola from the farmers market this summer.   It was awesome and kept me full for a long time!

It was perfect because it was a warm breakfast – perfect for this weather…

Seriously yuck… so glad it’s gone!!    The  dog loves it though…

Hi Lance!! 

Mmmm… and I also made some chow mein.

I cooked up some onions, shredded carrots, zucchini, bean sprouts and kale and then tossed it with steam fried chow mein noodles!   This has become one of my favorite QUICK dinners – it takes under 10 mins!

Note to self… add WAY more kale next time.   I need a bumper sticker I <3 Kale!

And lastly…  There was an AMAZING new recipe!   As I said yesterday, I saw a recipe similar to this on someone’s blog – so if it was you, let me know so I can give you kudos!!

Mushroom and Kale Quinoa Risotto

OMG – this was heaven in a bowl…

                                             … you’ll have to stay tuned for the recipe though…

                                                                                                         …muah ha ha……………

I know you wont’ be mad, becausebI know you guys all love me, cuz you told me!! hehe

 

A Berry Good Smoothie (GIVEAWAY!)

Glad you guys enjoyed Bea’s guest post – there should be another one coming up when we are away for our wedding!!
I have a GIVEAWAY FOR YOU!!! And let’s just say, there will be 10-15 winners    ALL THE ENTRIES ARE FILLED!!

Do you love smoothies?

I do… although it’s a little chilly to drink them right now, they are PERFECT after a workout!


A BERRY GOOD SMOOTHIE
This one includes
1/2 frozen banana
4 frozen strawberries
1 tsp Macca Powder
1 TBSP BERRY FORCE from  Prairie Naturals
1 pitted date
1 cup  almond milk
1 tsp cinnamon! (SO GOOD IN SMOOTHIES!)
Oh, and a swack of spinach

All into the Vitamix……….. and blend……………

it was a tart, berry smoothie – tasted just like one from Booster Juice!! SO GOOD!!


Now… this berry force goodness – what’s it all about?

▪ Berry-Force contains 82% organic ingredients
▪ Berry-Force is a delicious organic superfood
▪ Berry-Force provides 3000 ORAC units per serving
▪ Berry-Force provides 2 grams of fibre in every serving
▪ Berry-Force contains no artificial flavours, colours or preservatives
▪ Berry-Force contains no artificial sweeteners or hidden sugars
▪ Berry-Force tastes amazing and offers convenience for active lifestyles



If you guys have been reading for awhile,  I’m not a huge fan (and neither is my stomach) of powders added to smoothies…  I tried a few different amazing grass products, and while it tasted good, it upset my stomach,  but I am loving this stuff!  It’s TART (no sugar added) and jam packed full of goodness! And it adds a smoothie bar type taste to your smoothie! (mmmmmm)
Now there is a suggestion to stir this into water – I haven’t had much luck with that, as it gets clumpy, but when I asked Kamelia at Prairie Naturals here is what she suggested…

“I usually add Berry Force to my cup with a 1/4 of bowling water, I give it a good stir and than add cold water.” 

Want to give it a try??? SORRY GUYS, all the entries are filled!!! :)

  Here is the deal!    The first 15 CANADIAN ONLY (finally a Canadian Only Giveaway!!) people to send me their address will be provided with a sample pack of this Berry Goodness, straight from the folks at Prairie Naturals!!   Send me an email at  blogname at hotmail dot com with your address and I will forward your info on to the BERRY good people at Prairie Naturals!

*Note – I did receive this product for free – but my review is 100% honest and always will be!  I even let the company know this before I accept to sample their products.