Random Friday Round Up

Hey guys,

I keep running into interesting things that I want to share with you. So rather than inundating you on facebook – I thought I would just do a post about everything.

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First off – not sure if I mentioned it or not, but next week I start a volunteer position as the head coach for Special Olympics Rhythmic Gymnastics.  (crazy).  I’ve had my coaching certificate for years, and this fell into my lap. Crazy?  I have 8 athletes, 3 assistant coaches and it’s a qualifying year.  ANYWAYS – I’ve been searching the web for warm up/cool down and stretching routines and found some good ones -

Lululemon – free online yoga classes

Also the Fitnessista just did a great stretching video too!

Then of course there is Chaz at Yogamazing.  Love his (free) podcasts!

I’ll probably end up filming the one that I do too – once I have it down pat!  And if it’s alright, maybe I’ll share it with you!

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As I mentioned awhile ago, I’m taking a photography course right now – I was somewhat expecting it to be about my camera functions, but it’s more about composition – which is ok too.

After doing google searches I found this amazing website all about my camera the Nikon D3000.  It was amazing tips and tricks.  I think it also has tips about other cameras too!

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Karen at Toronto Girl out West Posted this awesome video about Ways to tie a Scarf – awesome for Fall.

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Tiny Buddha one of my favorite websites had an awesome post the other day.

Love is a choice - 30 ways to love in action – read it – it will make you think.

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And because posting photos is fun too here are some recent dog photos I’ve shot!

He’s super camera shy, but I caught him in a weak moment!

Seafood Feast

Glad you guys enjoyed the Calm before the Storm post!  I’m really enjoying playing with my new camera!

So life on the West Coast wouldn’t be complete without a seafood feast!  D was lucky enough to get some free scallops and a friend gave us a fresh caught Salmon.  During the summer, we talked with some friends about having a seafood night!  And we finally got together and made it happen.

Appetizers- Smoked Artic Char (un-pictured) from the Inuit Village that D’s parents work at up North and sweet potatoes chips from Costco.  ( I love these things! – mmm)

There was some beer drank.

Doesn’t it have a fun label?   I didn’t like it at all (but I don’t really like beer)!

There were some dog snuggles along the way. 

Seriously, how could you not love this dog?  (Besides the fact he’s camera shy and all the pics of him came out fuzzy!)

D was in charge of scallops.  I think it’s on his bucket list to cook a perfect scallop and serve it to Gordon Ramsay and for him to proclaim it’s not “raw.”  (If you watch Hell’s Kitchen, I’m sure you get it!!)

He’s also decided to make funny faces every time I take pictures of him.

See?

The scallops were cooked in Earth Balance and garlic!  And just for the record, he cooked them perfectly!

I had the salmon marinating all day.  Super easy marinade that produces easy, delicious results every time!

1 part oil to 2 parts soy sauce and LOADS of fresh ground pepper.  That’s all – perfect salmon every time (especially if you BBQ)

The spread.

Salmon, scallops, mini potatoes (with garden chives and crumbly prosciutto)

Salad with amazing dairy free Caesar type dressing. (I will get you the recipe asap) but for now I know she put in mayo, Dijon mustard, Worcestershire and garlic.

Garlic stuff bread (soooooo good)

Here was my delicious plate.

I had more salad too because it was delicious!

Awesome meal with great friends!

Now dessert – let’s take a moment of silence for this dessert.  It’s HEAVENLY and dairy free. 

I have to make a side note – that the husband of the couple that we went for dinner with is also dairy free – so it’s always so fun to make food for him because he’s always so grateful!!  And since I wasn’t responsible for much in this meal (besides marinating the salmon) dessert was my baby, and it was my 2nd time making this dessert in a week! 

I didn’t take any pictures of it though… but I promise you, it’s the best dairy free treat I’ve had!

Check out the link for the recipe.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough and marshmallow stuffed rice crispy treats with chocolate ganache... (swoon)… 

I promise it will be true love.  It is what dreams are made of! (seriously!)

Hope you enjoyed all these treats!  I will get you the Caesar Salad dressing recipe asap!

Calm before the storm.

Hello!!  

So I have been shopping for a new camera lens for awhile now, and I was lucky enough to find out that my friend was selling the same one that I wanted!!   She’s letting me borrow it for a bit to make sure that I want to keep it!  It’s a lot different than the one that I was using, but I’ve had fun playing with it!!

Rice noodles used to make baked veggie Spring rolls!

They were (while not photogenic at all) delicious!

I also took some pictures of the looming storm…

We had a CRAZY wind storm – it broke off two huge branches off our tree.

But there is always that awesome calm after a storm

I love that these sunflowers peek over our neighbours fence!

Before the storm came I went for a walk with a friend down by the water…

The beautiful  is always so beautiful right before a storm.

I love where I live!

Up tomorrow – Seafood Feast with friends!  (with recipes!!)

Savoury Vegan Waffles

Well hello!

So since I burst your bubble about Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Lattes (even soy) containing dairy (sorry again, it’s in the syrup) – I decided I needed to make it up to you with a recipe!

I am a fan of savoury breakfasts – most mornings I have eggs and toast – mainly because I cannot think of anything else to eat that is savoury.  Until the other day.

I was laying in bed on Sunday thinking what I could make that was eggless for breakfast.  I had a craving for waffles, but wasn’t digging the whole “maple syrup” thing.

Then it came to me – savoury breakfast waffles – oh yes. 

I searched the internet, and apparently I’m not the only person that has thought this up.  BUT from what I could see – most contain CHEESE!   Being dairy free and not particularly enjoying dairy free cheese I had to come up with a plan…

Savoury Vegan Waffles

makes 5-6 waffles

1 3/4 cup all purpose flour

2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

2 tbsp. chia in 4 tbsp. water (or 2 eggs)

1 1/2 cup almond milk (or milk of choice)

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1/8 cup nutritional yeast

1/2 tsp. garlic powder

1 pinch savoury (or spice of choice)

Pre-heat waffle maker.

Mix together dry ingredients

Add in wet ingredients and mix together until just combined.

Add 1/2 cup mixture to waffle maker per waffle..

Let waffles cook until desired texture – I prefer mine crunchy, so I cook them and then pop them in the toaster!

Toppings

I just did what I knew would work – for me savoury and mushrooms are a perfect marriage – so I sautéed up some mushrooms and kale in water with a pinch of salt.

Other options could include;

avocado

eggs

earth balance butter

grilled onions/veggies

Or you could even make it into a sandwich – with whatever fillings you want?  veggies and hummus?

 

My bottom line – I LOVED them – like really really loved them.  I am going to try to supplement something for the oil, as it’s a lot for a recipe.

My plans for the extras are to freeze them individually so I can pop them into the toaster for a quick snack!

Hope you enjoy this recipe! 

I start a photography course tomorrow – so expect to see my blog full of photos soon!!

Girlnola

Hello!! 

A big huge welcome to all my new followers – I’m so excited the Dairy Free Facebook page has over 680 likes!  Awesome!!  

As most of you know I am Canadian (wooo!!) and I love me some good Canadian products (eh!).   I got really excited when I saw GIRLNOLA which is Canadian!

“Girlnola gourmet products are a good source of fat, high fibre and protein. Naturally sweetened and low in sodium, they provide just the right amount of carbohydrates to fuel me for any challenging day.” from the Girlnola website!

I was lucky enough to be on the receiving end of package full of goodies from the director and creator of Girlnola!  (Thank you!)  I got 1 of each of her best sellers!

First I was SUPER impressed with their packaging.  Totally eye catchy and knowing me, you know I love pink!

Then gave each thing a try.

Goginana Girlnola was awesome!

Everything was SUPER fresh tasting – and all the flavors mixed awesome!   I loved it.  I actually was sad when it was gone, as I haven’t been able to find such good granola anywhere.  (did I mention it’s dairy and gluten free!!)

You can also buy it in bulk! *swoon

Up next the almondkisstruffle

Each of these were individually wrapped treats and so tasty!  They were sweet, spicy with a great sesame crunch!   I ate all 3 on the run – so sorry for no pictures! 

The ingredients are all top notch!

Lastly (and my favorite…)

Wildbunch trail mix

While you might think – awwh it’s just another trail mix (I may have been thinking this too!) it was the freshest one I have ever tasted – The cashews were INCREDIBLE – I’m almost happy I can’t find cashews that taste that good, or I would have a problem.   The mix of cashews, cranberries, blueberry and gogiberrys made for an antioxidant punch as well as a great snack!

Also included in my package were some awesome recipes cards!

PROS – Awesome FRESH taste to everything,  awesome ingredient lists,  bright fun packaging, Canadian.  Also gluten free and dairy free (yay!)

CONS -  None that I can think of – I was incredibly impressed with this product!  

Make sure to check out her website and facebook Thanks for reading!

Have you every tried any Girlonla??  What is your favorite granola ingredients?

 

*I was given the free product you see above.  This did not change my opinion on the product – I will always give you honest feedback!

 

PS.  How are you???  I’d love to hear what’s up in your world!!

Get a Tissue

September 11th is a hard day for many and today marking the 10 year anniversary of the Terrorist Attack on the World Trade Centre buildings brings up a lot of emotions.

Most people you talk to will be able to tell you exactly what they were doing at the moment they found out.

I was sleeping and I got a phone call from my friend, and when I answered she said “The World is going to End”… of course I assumed she was joking and she told me to turn on the tv.

Words could never express how I felt that day.  I wasn’t able to take my eyes of the TV, and I don’t think I stopped crying the entire day.   I wavered back and fourth through anger, sadness, desperation, fear and just plain raw. 

10 years later and those feelings are come up again.  A friend posted this on facebook and I appreciated the stories and the emotions that they portrayed.  Grab a tissue and watch.  You can go to the website here, or watch below.  (there are more videos on the website)…

And as if that wasn’t enough of a tear jerker  - here is a video of the most beautiful love story (from the same website)… don’t say I didn’t warn you – it’s a serious “hand full of tissues” cry.

Some good news today – recently there was a kidnapping in British Columbia – last night the kidnapper returned the child home.   He still has not been found, but what a huge blessing it is that the sweet boy was returned home.

Hug everyone you can today.

End of Summer Get-Away

So glad you guys enjoyed the Dairy Free in Victoria BC.   There were MANY different places I wanted to visit, but we were only there for a few meals.  Another awesome website while traveling is HAPPY COW.  It gives you all the vegetarian/vegan restaurants in which ever town you are in!    For example – check out all the options that were in Victoria!

Anyways, I wanted to share with you the rest of the pictures from our trip! Some friends rented a cabin right on the beach and they invited us to join them!   Enjoy!

When I woke up the first morning I headed down to the beach and came upon a bunch of girls galloping their horses down the beach!  It was so beautiful!

Sangria in the sun, over looking a white sandy beach – ok… if I have too!

The secret door into the cabin!!

View of our cabin from the beach.

Photo bomb…

Dogs digging to China!

We ended the weekend with a beach fire on the beach, it was perfect!!

Hope you enjoyed these photos!   I’ve been really enjoying photography lately, and am thinking of taking some photography courses… 

I’ve been a bad food blogger lately,  I have been working evenings and haven’t been cooking at all… but as soon as I do start cooking these are the first recipes I am going to make!

Summer “Coffee” from Kris Car

PB and J Blondie's from Char

Chocolate Chunk Toffee Bars – Oh She Glows

Restaurant Style Salsa from Pioneer Women

Vegan Tortilla Soup – Oh She Glows

And lastly – Black Bean Burgers!

 

Which recipes are on your list these days?    Do you enjoy photography?