Tag Archives: chocolate

I am not going to talk about the Royal Wedding. I’m sure there’s plenty too much talk about it already.

And I only watched a few snippets of it.

And I only did that because for some complete unknown reason I happened to wake up at 6:20 am and couldn’t for the life of me fall back to sleep. I had absolutely no need to be awake that early. Apparently that darn Royal family has so much power that they’re able to drag me out of bed even when I am virtually indifferent to the kerfuffle in the first place.

(weheartit)

So despite my intentions, I sort of took interest in this morning’s “historical moment”. It was…formal. But cute. And her dress WAS pretty lovely.

Oops. I started talking about it after all. CUT.

To other lovely things this week:

Like fresh flowers with breakfast.

And grand amounts of chocolate bunny spawn…

Aka Cream Eggs.

Best consumed with coffee.

Seriously. BEST with coffee. Chocolate + Coffee = perfect love match.

I also successfully made it through a week of drinking green sludge every single morning for breakfast.

Okay fine, it was actually only four days since I started on Tuesday. Monday was still Easter time. And I wanted bread with leftover Easter chicken and cheddar. Rolled with it.

But by Tuesday I was right into the green sludge. And by green sludge I mean delicious smoothies with spinach. It was hardly suffering. Except visually. These aren’t that pretty.

The first two were mocha-style. Cocoa powder and instant coffee do not one vibrant smoothie make.

We eventually got prettier when mango and strawberry protein powder were used.

Then we got uglier again when cocoa powder and chocolate instead of strawberry protein powder got added back into the mix. If you think you like banana in your smoothies though, try frozen mango.
Best one of the week: 1/2 cup water, 1/2 cup almond milk, cocoa powder, chocolate protein powder, frozen mango, ice, spinach, dash of cinnamon, dash of barley grass powder, and the gums.

I know, four mornings of smoothies in a row, I’m so hardcore right?

I was really just aiming to set out some structure to my breakfasts since they’ve been pretty all over the place lately. I wanted to see if I could follow through with the same(ish) breakfast every day. It kind of worked. I’m looking forward to some chew again tomorrow though. Hellooooo oatmeal.

Aside from smoothies there was plenty more chocolate.

A lot of studying…and study snacking.

Pumpkin, yogurt, frozen berries, random cereal, random crumbles of whatever else is dug out of the depths of the fridge & freezer…solid snack I’d say.

There were some veg somewhere in there too.

Sometimes with falafel balls added in.

And sometimes dipped in delicious mixes of barbecue sauce and mustard. Don’t knock it ‘til you’ve tried it.

How about some microwaved sweet tater with sour cream, salsa and feta?

Or a giant bottle of liquid chemicals?

Not gonna lie, I used to drink these a lot. And not really care. I don’t very often anymore but I bought one today out of thirst and…they’re cheap. Like a whole litre of fizzy sweet sparkling beverage for half the price of half the amount of a normal diet pop. And I needed a big bottle for big water refills later. So I bought this. And downed it all in not much more than an hour.

1 hour, 1L of pure chemicals. This time I felt a little guilty about it. I’m no food saint and I have nothing against the occasional diet pop. But I feel like this is a diet pop on crack.

That was hours ago though. I’m still alive. I think we’re good to go. But next time maybe I’ll just buy plain water. Or just not chug a whole litre of this stuff in one sitting? Hmph.

And on the topic of finishing things… I also finished that whole university thing. I had my last two exams ever of undergrad this week. Yikes? Where to go from here? Perhaps more on that one a bit later.

But for now… a granny-esque Friday night bed time pour moi. I lost all semblance of a social life this past month…heck this past TERM. So I’m banished to nothing more than blogging and sleeping tonight. Anybody out there? Life? Come back?

Back briefly to the topic of the ~~day week~~ month… were YOU all up on the Royal Wedding hype? What did you think?

Food: A Poem

January 12, 2011

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25 Comments

Well, well, well, what do we have here?
A mishmash of foods to bring good health and cheer!

A rainbow of veggies arranged in a bunch,
All dressed up and ready to be eaten for lunch!

Drizzled with dressings* or topped with goat cheese,
You may not like veggies but these go down with ease!

Sometimes, however, you may just want sweets.
Don’t forget about all of those healthified treats!

Bittersweet chocolate cake or a peanut butter cup*,
They’re decadent enough to fill you right up!

Chopped up fresh fruits are also quite nice,
In one single day, eat them at least thrice.

Grapefruits may not be the sweetest of fruit,
But they sure do taste good in a green flannel…suit? (or rockin’ set of pjs)

Green smoothie bowls* are also quite tasty,
But if you don’t want brain freeze, you must not be hasty!

In these cold winter months while you may feel crummy,
Eat egg whites and chili to warm up your tummy.

I know my poetry skills just cannot be beat,
And I hope this poem inspires what you might eat!

But if nothing else, I hope all of this food
Helps to put you in a most happy mood :)

Writing slightly ridiculous and often nonsensical rhyming poems is one of my prime skills. I hope reading it was at least a smidgen as awesome as writing it was. I know I had a good time.

Happy Days!

These starred notes pertain, in order, to the starred parts in the poem.

*Featured dressing = Choosing Raw Zucchini Dressing

*Peanut Butter Cup ingredients = Creamed coconut mixed with cocoa powder, agave and water for the chocolate, Maranatha Peanut Butter for the center.

*Featured Green Smoothie Bowl made simply with light coconut milk, frozen avocado and frozen banana, the leftovers from my series of Angela’s Creamsicle smoothies made here. It was incredible. Who needs ice cream?

Sad Sweet Taters, Soccer Snazz and Some Swag and Swagger

June 14, 2010

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17 Comments

Do you see how super this looks? Sweet potato always gets “super” status.

Especially when paired alongside gallons of Chinese takeout. The gallons were eaten straight from the container. The plating was just for show. And it had been so long since I’d had a sweet potato. So long. So it should have been extra super.

But no. Oh no. Looks can be deceiving. Staring with anticipation at my long awaited discs of sweet dinner beauty, I finally picked one up and bit down only to be greeted by the smoky flavours of… mold. That’s right. I promptly spit that super sweet potato out and dumped the rest in the trash. My tastebuds were scarred. Not quite enough to end my Chinese feast but I may have sighed loudly with disappointment throughout my rice chow down.

But my moldy potato incident is nearly as old as the potato itself so lets move on to more current affairs, such as:

How I became an honorary temporary England fan and designated face painter for Saturday’s England vs. US World Cup game.

I don’t think I had ever watched a full soccer (ehem…football?) game in my life before Saturday. But I just followed along with the pub crowd, cheering when the majority cheered and fist pounding the table while yelling obscenities when goalies failed at life and goal keeping. Or it went something like that anyway.

And I got to kiss someone’s knockoff cup… thrice. I think it’s fair to say I’m totally a dedicated and true fan now.

Source

Or we could talk about my recently expanding waistline.

(I shouldn’t be allowed within 10 feet of chocolate right now. For a variety of reasons…)

(Don’t ask what it is. I couldn’t tell you. It’s soft, sickeningly sweet, and I can feel my teeth rotting as soon as I bite into it)

(Already demolished these completely. My hide-em-in-the-depths-of-the-freezer trick didn’t work this time around)

(Yeah, you think that giant bag of Yogi Crisps is a smart snacking choice, with its “whole grains, heart-healthy flax and a touch of huckleberry for a crunch”. But when you eat practically the entire 10,000 serving bag (thanks Costco) in like one or two (okay so maybe like ten) sittings (or cupboard standings by the handful. Wimper.), it just becomes evil. Go home you darn crisps, go home.)

(Um yeah.) Source

On second thought, maybe let’s not talk about that anymore.

I’d much rather talk about how much I love fresh mango (albeit a little destroyed) in the morning, especially alongside glass-mugged coffee and overnight kamut flakes sogged up in yogurt and blueberry syrup.

Or how much I love iced coffee smoothies made with almond milk, chocolate protein powder, cocoa powder, stevia, a splash of blueberry POM, the gums, and plenty of ice.

That and clothes drying racks. Dry your clothes on racks, kids. It’s summer! Dryers are for noobs (or under special circumstances only, those people in a rush and in desperate need of dry clothing asap).

Or I could go on about how I used up the last itty bits of my oat bran this morning to make an oat bran/wheat bran breakfast worthy of my not-so-refined taste buds.
Oat bran, wheat bran, flax, water, almond milk, cinnamon, blueberry syrup, egg white splash. Cooked. Chilled briefly. Topped with plain yogurt and jam. Mixed into a mess of yogurty goop not two seconds post photo.

Or I could tell you how I ate a whole lotta salad today.

I may have came upon a giant bag of BBQ Popchips at Costco today. May have polished off half of the 10,000 servings in that bag today alone too. Costco for the lose win again. I love you Costco. They were eaten alongside greens and tomatoes so it’s totally legit. This salad needed more crunch anyway.

Salad feast #2 was a homemade Greek salad with chicken strips and feta. Not an olive in side. Perfection. Greek salad is by far one of my favourite salad variations.

Just as Costco helped me contribute to my waistline and my salads, it also helped me contribute to my wardrobe (It did not contribute to my greasy face or haggard swagger, those were all my own doing).
Cheap white sweatshirt + even cheaper tight exercise pants = happy wardrobe (and happy wallet)

But the happiest camper of all was my mailbox.

Don’t check the mail for several days and you just might end up with a stash that includes:

- An HST rebate CHEQUE. Aka free money for moi. Thanks Gov.
- An envelope full of Websaver coupons. Does anyone else order coupons online to be sent to their mailbox? Anyone else love coupons? I sure do. And I order them online all the time. Actually using them is a different story… I do my best though!
- Free All-Bran Bar sample. Ordered that one online too.
- A special package from Clare: A whole sampling of Kay’s Naturals products from her recent giveaway! I have never seen these around here and am so excited to try them. Thank you thank you Clare!

Since I currently feel like a puffball, I’m thinking a detox and deflate is in order. Maple syrup anyone?
You’ve got to be kidding. Though I might try to lay off the chocolate and BLTs. At least for tomorrow :) Monday Monday Monday

I Wear My Shutter Shades At Night

April 6, 2010

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15 Comments

Since winter has finally peaced out and I no longer feeling like I’m stepping out into the Arctic every morning after leaving the comfort of my toasty bed, I had my first Morning Smoothie in ages. Since I’m not creative nor original, I stole the smoothie-in-a-bowl-topped-with-granola idea from every other person who’s ever tried it and made it look so darn appealing.

I made it green with the biggest mound of spinach possible, much needed to counteract the sugar high that was my weekend. Spinach totally cancels out the effects of chocolate overdose right?

In the bowl:

- 1/2 cup Almond Breeze Original
- Lots of spinach. Maybe 2 cups?
- 1/2 large frozen banana
- 2 large strawberries
- 2-3 large ice cubes
- sprinkle of xanthan + guar
- Strawberry Yogi Granola Crisps on top

This smoothie was paired with unseen bites of cottage cheese (cough andcoldleftoverstuffing cough) and coffee (duh). Because it may no longer be freezing in the morning but it’s not yet tropical either and smoothies are still a little bone chilling, especially on a grey Tuesday morning such as this one.

The weekend here was a little busy so we had our Easter dinner at home last night (Monday night). The typical fare included turkey, stuffing (!!!), mashed potatoes, gravy and salad.

My turkey platter. Oh please, this is such false advertising. That wee stuffing mound in the upper left hand corner? Increase its size about 5x. Same with all of the above. I’m no stranger to seconds, thirds, and bites during prep and cleanup. Especially when stuffing is involved. Take it away!

You wanna talk false advertising though, here’s the REAL deal.

HA. Hahahaha. Yeah RIGHT. Times this one by about 50 and that about sums up my weekend. Chocolate Overload. But that’s what Easter is great for, an excuse to eat as many chocolate eggs as you can stomach. And stomach them I did. The last (pathetic few bits) of my stash have been freezered. But yes, I did keep out a few chocolate eggies to satisfy me for the next ~~few~~ days.

No worries though, because I danced it all off during my Sunday Retro Night excursion.

The dancing all took place after the photoshoot with the shutter shades.

(I actually rocked them the best but that photographic evidence is on my friend’s camera)

We rocked them harder than Kanye.

And this guy:

But this guy rocked hardest of all.

By the time the dance floor (and the shades) was finished with, I balanced out my overworked dancing legs with some parking lot push ups for a real full body workout (Yes I did do that. Cracked out a nice teaser of 5 whole big ones for my audience). And since it’s now finally warm enough outside to handle for more than 10 seconds at the end of the night, we all paraded down to 711 for a night cap of snacks.

I didn’t even have to walk the 1.5 minutes down the road to get there. Though it did take two of them switching off to finish the journey. Those boys like to think they’re strong. And I like to think I’m not demanding.

Only purely sweet.

It’s all love.

Love and Crispers. Aka best end of the night convenience store snack ever.

"They’re not chips, they’re not crackers, they’re Crispers".

What was your favourite eat of the Easter weekend? I think it’s pretty obvious I’m a fan of the stuffing… and maybe the chocolate…just a little.

Do you prefer your smoothies in a bowl or a cup? I’ve always been a cup smoothie drinker but the bowl method is actually a clever idea! Since I eat my smoothies with a spoon no matter what, this way was a bit cleaner and easier to get every last drop. If you haven’t yet, totally worth a try.

Now I’m about due for a study session since exams begin this week. Ack. First one Thursday. Crack down time!

And don’t forget to check out Katie’s Raw Chocolate Giveaway! Because even after all of those foil eggs, you just can never have too much chocolate.