Tuesday, May 31, 2011

new adventures.

what a busy week this has been so far.  I enjoyed my time on the couch yesterday watching the bachelorette (don't judge)

derek and I participated in a thai cooking class on monday night and had such a good time! derek was a bit apprehensive as the class was sort of my idea and he wasn't sure what he had gotten himself into but in the end I think he was glad he went! the food was delicious and the lady that taught it was just the cutest! the recipes were actually really simple but tasted so so perfect.  she used a lot of ingredients that I normally wouldn't cook with but I think that is the best part! I love learning how to incorporate new and exciting things into my cooking and I came away with some great tips.  can't wait for next week! (sorry I didn't get any pictures- next week for sure!)

next new adventure of the week- zumba!!! a fun latin dance type of exercise class that I am dying to try! I have a hard time getting motivated to do cardio because I just find it SO boring.  I used to do jazzercise which was perfect but they hiked up the prices and the schedule doesn't work very well for me so I thought I would give zumba a try! I have heard so many good things about it and can't wait to sweat it out when I try it this week.  yay for fun cardio!

after a long day at work, yoga, dinner and dishes I decided to indulge a little..

strawberry shortcake!

derek has been begging me to have this dessert for a few months now and we finally got around to it! I used my fabulous kitchen aid mixer to whip up the whipping cream, a pinch of vanilla and sugar into a delicious whip cream! we bought little sponge cake cups at the grocery store and then topped them with the whip cream and strawberries. yum yum yum.

see you all soon!
--m

Monday, May 30, 2011

weekend.

it was a great one- after an awesome saturday the fun continued.  starting with a gorgeous sunday sleep in and awaking to the beautiful sunshine I had a busy but fantastic day.  had a father daughter date at neck point and then D and I had a date with our books and the beach.  it was perfect!

then I got busy in the kitchen..

first a recap from saturday nights dinner.  pasta with slow roasted vodka sauce



this meal actually turned out quite well considering I didn't follow the recipe exactly.  it took forever to make because the sauce roasts in the oven for an hour and a half.  but overall definitely worth the time! I have never attempted to make pasta sauce from scratch before so I was quite impressed with the result :)

last night, I decided I wanted to make a simple and easy apple crisp because we had some old apples hanging out that were perfect for baking.  so I hunted down a simple recipe and went to work in the kitchen.  and the result...

sunday night dessert!

mmm it was yummy. hit the spot.  while it was baking I whipped up a homemade pizza crust, decorated it with veggies, threw it in the oven and dinner was served.

also, picked up these today..

gotta love farm fresh eggs :)

off to work!!
--m

Saturday, May 28, 2011

my happy place..

pennys palapa.  the best outdoor restaurant in all the land.  mexican goodness (and margarita goodness of course) with this guy..

can it get any better?

right on the water.


happy camper

what a lovely day it was.. and also extremely productive! this was our mid afternoon pit stop that we just had to make.  we adore this restaurant and as soon as the sun made an appearance we made our way down to the waterfront.  the food never disappoints- derek said his meal was the best meal at a restaurant he has had in a long time! and he can be a harsh critic! my meal was amazing as always.. chipotle shrimp burrito with the palapa salad. I was so content sitting in the sunshine with my margarita and my fabulous company.  we caught some more rays after lunch while we walked around downtown and then continued with our day.  needless to say, this was a great saturday date with my darlin'

in other news- it was also very productive as I mentioned.  I have crossed several things off my to-do list for the weekend.  most importantly, the dresser is built! thank goodness and it wasn't TOO much of a pain.  I enjoyed an awesome yoga class this morning, followed by several errands and a nice visit with the beaus after lunch! also had a visit with my parents and saw ange and abby getting ready for abby's kids yoga class.  she LOVES yoga.  and I love that she loves yoga :) 


finally, here are a couple photos from one of D and I's many walks.. this is one of our new favourite routes.  




wishing everyone a lovely weekend!
--m

Friday, May 27, 2011

tgif.

happy friday! what a busy week it has been.  one of the things I missed the most while being away was yoga- I got back to it this week! monday I went to a yoga for athletes class(I am by no means an athlete but I find this class a nice challenge) and then did a vinyasa flow yesterday.  it feels so good to be back at it! I am either going to do a yoga class tomorrow morning or a jazzercise class!

I am looking forward to having some time off this weekend.  some of my plans for saturday and sunday include:
*yoga/jazzercise
*farmers market
*a couple nice long walks(hopefully in the sunshine)
*catching up on my book- I'm just finishing up "the book of negroes" and I can't wait to start "left neglected" which I bought on monday
*put together a dresser from ikea.. so SO not looking forward to this task.  but it needs to be done. seriously.  
*baking up some sweet treats! 

I made some guacamole yesterday.. mmm it hit the spot.  I used a recipe from eat, live, run.

I used my trusty avocado peeler which I absolutely LOVE! what a handy tool.

this avocado peeler is the jam!

guac for one!

I leave you with a weekend thought.  I feel so strongly about little motto.  

"the cure for anything is salt water- sweat, tears, or the sea" --isak dinesen
tofino 2011.

Thursday, May 26, 2011

workin' girl.

so as most of you know I landed myself quite a fabulous job for the summer.  in previous posts I discussed the field work I have been doing but I thought I would give you an update as to what I have been working on while I'm in the office.

currently I am doing some lab work on scallops.  scallop surveys were completed earlier this year and the samples have just been kept in the freezer because nobody has had a chance to take all the biological measurements. (insert-ME!) I am actually really enjoying this work- to most it would probably seem really tedious and repetitive.  a couple other biologists that were in and out of the lab today looked like they were doing some interesting work so I asked them what they were working on.  one of them was working with six gill shark pups and the other is doing her masters which is focused on reducing the pollution and emissions generated from aquaculture.  so cool! I loved being surrounded by lots of science nerds! I find it really beneficial to learn about all the projects going on because it exposes me to many other departments and opportunities that I otherwise would have no idea even existed.  the work being done is so diverse and I look forward to hopefully being fortunate enough to work in one of these departments when I graduate. fingers crossed!

so I have been struggling to come up with creative lunch ideas.  any suggestions? while I was in the field all of my meals were prepared for me :) but now I have to get back to prepping lunches to take to work each day.  yesterday I used some leftover pasta and cut up lots of veggies and topped it with balsamic vinaigrette.  this was actually really tasty and filling! I packed in some extra nutrition with an orange and strawberries.



today I made a taco salad(minus the meat) as well as a fruit salad and a muffin! hope that keeps me going until 4.  wishing everyone a great day!
--m

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

overnight oats.

so with my work schedule now being 8-4, my mornings are quite early.  my usual breakfast is oatmeal but now that I am a bit more crunched for time I wanted something quick.. overnight oats save the day!
I have seen several fellow bloggers brag about overnight oats so I thought I would give it a try!

last night I combined:
*1/2 cup rolled oats
*1/2 cup vanilla soy milk
*1/2 cup vanilla yogurt

after leaving it sit all night, in the morning it looked like this..



this morning I added a banana, a tsp of peanut butter and some flax seed.


and shortly after, my bowl was empty! these were a hit and exceptionally quick! exactly what I was looking for.  it took a few bites to get used to cold oats.  these are definitely going to be a weekday breakfast staple in my house.  I am going to try some different variations including nuts, berries and cocoa! delicious!

off to work!
--m

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

decisions, decisions.

so recently I have been exploring vegetarianism and have excluded meat from my diet for almost a couple months now.  I took the time to educate myself on animal agriculture as well as fisheries and aquaculture.  after doing my research, I think I have made my decision(at least for now).  my main concerns with farmed animal products are of course, the way the animals are handled but also the hormones and antibiotics that the animals are treated with.  while reading eating animals I learned SO much. I have decided to still eat chicken(but less frequently) and only non medicated chicken that I get locally.  these chickens are fed a plant based diet and obviously are not medicated.

being that I am such a "foodie" I feel this is the right choice for me, at least temporarily.  I definitely imagine that I will cut chicken out completely when I am ready.  for now, I feel content with my decision :)  I will continue to not eat red meat, which I excluded from my diet almost 2 years ago.  I feel this is a good balance for now!

that being said! I was dying to try out this new recipe, so here it is.  I got the idea from julie at peanut butter fingers

bbq pulled chicken sandwiches:


this was incredibly simple! I put two chicken breasts (local organic- yay me!) into a crock pot with veggie broth.  I let them cook for 6 hours and then pulled the chicken apart with two forks.  we tossed the chicken with bbq sauce and toasted a couple buns and there yah have it! simple and delicious! the crock pot is my new best friend! and my first corn on the cob of the season was fantastic! 

also, I made some delicious muffins yesterday. check out the recipe- the strawberries kept them so moist and the combination of strawberry, banana and chocolate hit the spot! I love making muffins- so easy and a nice snack to have around the house.



in other news, forks over knives is a documentary I have been meaning to see.  it emphasizes the importance of a plant based diet and looks incredibly interesting.  can't wait to watch it :)

off to work!
--m

Monday, May 23, 2011

cash wedding.

court and ash(cash) tied the knot yesterday and we had such an amazing time celebrating with them! I couldn't help but cry(numerous times) during the ceremony and reception. the wedding was exactly how I would have imagined it. simple but elegant. you could totally tell they were so ready to make the commitment of a lifetime of happiness together and their vows were so genuine. I love these two.

here are a few photos..




what an amazing day! now they are off to bali for 3 weeks! I'm slightly jealous..  can't wait to hear about all the adventures they have on their honeymoon.
--m

Sunday, May 22, 2011

new design!

hope everyone likes the new design! I'm still doing some editing so be patient with me!
--m

Friday, May 20, 2011

sunshine.

friday was my first day off in two weeks- and I spent it exactly how I imagined. wandering around downtown while the cruise ship was in, visited the farmers market, relaxed on the grass in the sunshine while catching up with some family.
derek and I scored an amazing jalapeno and cheddar sourdough loaf from the farmers market and couldn't wait to dig in when we got home. it was DELICIOUS! didn't last long around here..
the rest of the day was spent doing a few errands, picking up some groceries and going to investigate about local non medicated chicken we can get in our area. we were successful- and it wasn't even that expensive!! we also found a great take out place and devoured one of their peanut butter bars.

here are a few shots from the day...






hope everyone is having a great weekend! wedding photos to come!
--m

queen charlotte sound.

more photos from my latest work adventure..







we were fishing in some pretty amazing areas and it was awesome to see parts of our province that I would never get the chance to see otherwise. I LOVE B.C.

--m

I'm back!!

had a fantastic time in queen charlotte sound on the ricker, a fisheries research vessel. just arrived home yesterday afternoon and it is SO nice to be on land again. although, I have to say I did have a pretty good time. the people were amazing, the hands on work was great and it was a totally different experience from the one I had a few weeks back. this boat is huge- there was 7 science staff and almost 20 crew.

I managed to not get sick once, which was totally a bonus! some of the major highlights included the most amazing beach I have ever set foot on in my life(seriously, it rallies mexico, nice and tofino), cruising down the beautiful straight yesterday afternoon while sitting on the bow soaking up the sunshine with some awesome people I met on the boat, and of course all the critters I got to see along the way!! we even managed to spot some killer whales on the cruise home yesterday. some of the highlights in terms of marine life were a giant pacific octopus, HUGE sea star(I have a thing for sea stars), huge squid, and a ton of different fish. I learned SO much. I feel now as though I am a wealth of information! what a great time.

not to mention the FOOD. oh my goodness- the kitchen staff were so amazing. they were so accommodating in terms of my non- meat eating, considering the majority of the people on that boat are your typical meat and potato kind of guys. they never made me feel like a hassle and always managed to come up with something for me. and the desserts and baked goods- wow I felt so spoiled. looking forward to being back in my own kitchen though :)

so here it is...





pictures don't even begin to do justice. this was one of the most amazing places I have ever set foot on! we were in the middle of nowhere, completely immersed in nature and there is absolutely no way to access this area unless you have a boat. there were huge paw prints(either wolf or cougar) on the beach. it was an amazing place. you can see the ricker faintly in the background of the second picture. click on the picture to view the photos a little bit larger.

I will be back soon- I missed the blogging world SO much!
--m

Sunday, May 8, 2011

over and out.

hi all-

I will be out in the field for the next 2 weeks so I will be absent from the blog world. :( I will miss you all dearly.

see you soon!

--m

mothers day.

what a busy week and weekend!! after I got home from sea last monday I feel like all I have done is socialize! which I absolutely LOVE! I have had the chance to visit with all my family and friends and it has been amazing. I will miss them all over the next couple weeks.

so mothers day- I love celebrating mothers and fathers day! I really enjoy getting the chance to show my beautiful parents how much I appreciate them. and today was no exception!
mom and I spent the day in cedar. we started at the barton and leier gallery and gardens which was awesome! we picked up a couple good finds after strolling through the funky gardens. I bought a necklace and bought mom 2 really cute bowls! and mom got a beautiful painting! their work is so amazing.








from there we went to the cedar farmers market which I haven't been to before. it was amazing- lots of vendors that I have never seen before. so much delicious stuff there! we sampled some fresh sweet waffles, shortbread and veggie antipasto. what a treat! after going through all the different booths we went back to make our purchases. we each got a coconut bar of soap which I can't wait to use. mom got a loaf of jalapeno and cheddar sourdough bread and we picked up a couple sweet treats to share with dad and derek. mmmmm!

we ended the day with lunch at one of moms favourite spots, the crow and gate. we shared some wine and crab cakes. we made sure to visit the black swans in the pond just outside the pub. such a gorgeous spot.





a fabulous day!! had a short visit with dad after I dropped mom off and then headed to nanoose with derek, meg, tye and rhys to celebrate mothers day with derek's mom. when derek and I got home we organized a quick dinner of burgers(veggie in my case) and sweet potato fries. quick and easy!

what a great weekend! now I'm off for coffee with steff. can't wait to hear about her mexican adventures.

--m

Friday, May 6, 2011

birthday celebrations.

unfortunately I didn't get around to taking any pictures at the first round of birthday celebrations on thursday with derek's family but we had a wonderful time. pizza party with chocolate cake and great company! it was so nice to catch up with everyone- all in all a fantastic time! love sharing birthday celebrations with tye and gramma!

friday, with my family, we started the afternoon off with a nice walk through linley valley which the majority of us had never been to before. it was a wonderful park and when I have more energy I can't wait to explore it again. we were basically the only ones around and enjoyed walking around the park for about an hour. we went to darc and ange's for a bbq dinner afterwards which was delicious!! I made a quinoa salad to bring which turned out quite well considering I kind of amalgamated several recipes into one that I thought would suit everyone best. I really enjoyed it and will be having leftovers for lunch! we had quite the spread for food and I stuffed myself to the brim. had to leave room for chocolate cake though! mmm yum. following that we exchanged gifts and then abby provided us with some entertainment in the form of dancing. abby starts kids yoga tomorrow! how awesome




ange and abby's matching aprons.. cookin' up a storm!

happy weekend.
--m