thursday thought(s) + more.

a few thoughts this week from yogi tea bags..

*grace brings contentment*all knowledge is within you*you can run after satisfaction, but satisfaction must come from within*

here are some fish tacos I whipped up for dinner this week... so simple.  I made some guacamole on the side by combining an organic avocado, 1/4 diced red onion, juice of half a lime, one small chopped jalapeno and a pinch of salt.  oh my deliciousness.  I heart mexican food.  now only if I could learn to cook thai food... then I would be set!

and cupcakes!!! for moms birthday.. I used a simple chocolate cupcake recipe from annie's eats and then made a cream cheese icing by combining 1/4 cup each butter and cream cheese, 1 tsp vanilla and 1.5 cups icing sugar.  blend together butter and cream cheese, then blend in vanilla, then add icing sugar in two additions and blend until smooth.  perfection!

I love celebrating birthdays.  happy birthday mom! (yesterday) :)

recent eats.

double banana chocolate chip breakfast bars, which abby and I whipped up together.  

apple pie oatmeal

the best thai coconut soup of all time. DELICIOUS.

the best chocolate chip cookies EVER. found the recipe here.  taking them to school to share tomorrow because they can't hang around my kitchen, they are WAY too good.

what have you been cooking lately?

random saturday inspiration.

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warning: these are addictive.

make them.eat them.share them.

mmm chocolate deliciousness.

get the recipe at smitten kitchen.  I think this was one of the first recipes I ever bookmarked and now a year later I finally made them.  well, they were worth the wait.  they were really easy to make, using simple ingredients and I really liked the aspect of refrigerating/freezing the dough so you can just make as many as you want to.  I baked half the dough the same day and then the next half a couple days later.  perfect cookies for sharing! after making these cookies once, I think I could make them again just by memory and that makes things so much easier- rather than looking at my laptop every 30 seconds to read the ingredients or what to do next.  I love baking without a recipe! these cookies might be delicious with a little peanut butter added into the mix :)  I'm a major sucker for peanut butter/chocolate combo.


other happenings in the kitchen this week:

buttermilk biscuits from and now for something completely delicious...

biscuit for you!

well these were simple and they turned out great! all flaky just like a biscuit should be.  

happy baking my friends.

it is just crazy what a little baking can do for my mood.  I will have a stressful/crappy/frustrating day and come home feeling a little down.  as soon as I put on some good tunes, get my baking supplies out and start prepping, I am one happy girl.  what would I ever do without baking and yoga.  I went to such a rockin' vinyasa flow class on tuesday night so after that and my morning run my legs were pooched.  tonight zumba and bookclub on the agenda!

baking success.

carmel and chocolate macchiato cupcakes!!

yesterday was wonderful- a nice balance between getting a lot of work done for my research project and spending some time in the kitchen baking these wonderful cupcakes.  we also went to the pottery sale where I picked up a nice bowl and ordered a custom mug! I had the chance to squeeze in some yoga at the end of the night as well!

4 sleeps till home time!
--m

get your bake on. (because I can't)

I miss baking SO much.  can't wait to get creative in the kitchen when I get home in september.  I also desperately miss eating my baking.  SO currently, I am accepting care packages- anybody interested in sending me one?  you could include some of these delicious things...

strawberry cheesecake truffles by annie's eats

chocolate chunk peanut butter swirl fudgy cookies by picky palate

banana pudding by a cozy kitchen

chocolate caramel slice by m loves m

strawberry sour cream ice cream by my life as a mrs.

frozen reese's peanut butter pie by bakers royale

cake batter rice crispy treats by gimmie some oven

Okay, you don't actually have to send baking.  I don't think those treats package up and travel very well.  but a letter would be awesome! I love receiving mail and the address is on the bamfield marine sciences centre website if anyone is interested! it is nice to have something to look forward to :)

since I am not baking, in my very minimal free time I have been...

*catching up my blog reading

*yoga goodness

*learning the shuffle with my classmates. yes, yes I am serious.

*putting our mattresses on the floor of our dorm and watching the movie up while snacking on treats.  treats that we had to row across to the other side of the inlet to get. a row boat is now my most common mode of transportation. it is refreshing to go without driving for so long!
*lying in the grass under the beautiful sunshine and reading my book

*nature walks-

enjoying the view.

forest lovin'

our little adventure walk

massive tree trunk!

I am so happy to call this island home.  can't imagine living anywhere else.

--m

i heart sundays.

this sunday started just splendid.  we had D's fam over for morning coffee and muffins- I am scrambling to see everyone before I leave for 6 weeks.  we enjoyed a really nice visit with G & B, meg, tye and rhys. gotta love these cuties.. 

I baked dark chocolate blueberry muffins which turned out okay.. I think I over mixed the batter so they weren't as light and fluffy as they usually are.  still a highly recommended recipe- I snagged it from how sweet it is.  whenever I make muffins including some sort of fruit, I always add a little extra to the top of each muffin before baking.  gives it a nice touch! in this case, I placed an extra few blueberries on top of each muffin before I popped them in the oven(and maybe a little extra chocolate too..)

following our coffee company and a few sunday errands I headed downtown to hang out with ange, darc and abby.  the dragonboat festivities were going on and it was seriously hoppin' down at the waterfront.  I think I would love to join a dragonboat team some day.. it looks like fun!

after such a nice afternoon I was starting to stress about my crazy long to-do list I have to complete before I leave.. I really just want to spend my time with my friends and family before I go but there is so much to do! I am overwhelmed with everything I have to get done- between getting organized for my course in bamfield, getting organized for my fall semester at school and trying to find a job for the fall when I'm in school.  needless to say, I was a bit of a basket case(temporarily).  I was trying to be productive by filling out my passport forms(another thing on my list) which turned into more work because I filled something out wrong and had to print out another copy and start all over! sigh..
D knew I was stressing out so he brought home a delicious chocolate treat.. YUM!

yes.. that is chocolate cake, chocolate pudding and whip cream in layers with cream puffs and chocolate drizzle on top.  OH MY! this was delicious.. and thank goodness he was prepared with chocolate because my evening was a frustrating one!
I tried to let my worries go in regards to my long to do list and just enjoy my evening with D.  BUT we were sitting down to our sunday night dinner and I knocked over my glass which spilt over the entire table, on my laptop and my iPod that I was updating.  I almost lost it.  and then, oh it gets better, I leave my warm dinner to clean up the sticky mess and just as I finish cleaning table, chair and floor I put the cloth down.. and knock it over AGAIN! wow.. I guess I need to work on my motor skills or something. I cried a little.. obviously.  then got it together and ate my dinner only because I wanted some chocolate.  D offered to duck tape my hand to my glass after that second spill.  oh well, such is life!

all in all, a wonderful weekend and another busy week ahead!
--m

peanut butter lovin'

a few weeks back, I picked up a 2 kg container of peanut butter on sale for extremely cheap.  I knew exactly what I wanted it for- baking!! I absolutely love baking with peanut butter- no matter what you do with a recipe, if it has peanut butter, it will always taste delicious :)

first peanut butter snack was a version of homemade reese's easter eggs.. they aren't overly pretty but they were delicious.  I adapted a recipe from picky palate and it was totally simple. just icing sugar, peanut butter and melted chocolate! I only made a few of these because they have a few too many cal's to have a whole heap hanging around the house.

next, an old stand-by.. no-bake chocolate peanut butter oatmeal goodness.  I got this recipe from brown eyed baker.  I wanted to whip something up to share with co-workers tomorrow so this was quick and I had all the ingredients at home.  and bonus! didn't have to turn on the oven on this gorgeously warm day.

overall- a successful couple evenings of baking! along with baking, other highlights of the week have included fabulously awesome yoga classes on monday, tuesday and this evening.  I even had a special guest with me tonight for "buddy week".. D attended his first class!!!! super props to him.  he did awesome, just as I expected and he really enjoyed it.  yoga.rocks. YOU should try it :)

its almost friday! I'm looking forward to a relaxing weekend with D at the beach.
sweet dreams
--m

sunday baking.

my monday posts comes to you early today.  I have a busy evening after work so I wanted to get this post in early.

first things first. sunday baking- peanut butter and jelly swirl blondies.  I have made several variations of blondies before but discovered this recipe the other day and thought I would give it a go.

blondies are so so simple and come together so quickly.

pre-baking.

straight from the oven.

D and I dug in immediately.  these won't last long in our house :)

while the blondies were baking, I prepped my fruits and veggies for my lunches for the week.  this makes packing my lunch a breeze each evening.   

having my lunch made the night before makes my morning routine that much quicker.  here are a couple other tips for streamlining your morning routine.  I have to be at work shortly before 8 am if not earlier and I like my sleep so anything to get a few extra zzz's is a blessing.

*packing lunch night before and also prepping my breakfast.  most often- overnight oats.  I make them in a tupperware container and eat them when I start my day at the office.  I have been discussing some lunch ideas here and here.

*picking out my outfit the day before- even if I don't lay out the clothes I always have an idea in mind so I don't waste time deciding.

*packing my bag for yoga or zumba with a pre-workout snack the day before.  have everything ready to go at the door in order to not forget it in the morning!

well that's that! off to work I go.
happy monday!
--m

baking up a storm.

by 1.30 today I had done dishes 3 times- 3!! thats gotta be some sorta record. I think I deserve a prize. thankfully I have prizes in the form of blueberry muffins and peanut butter oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. my taste buds are satisfied :)

I started with the blueberry muffins which I made with a recipe from brown eyed baker.. they turned out just perfect!  I owe tye some muffins so he will be receiving half the batch of these bad boys. hope he enjoys them!

*I apologize for the not so nice quality of the photos- my camera battery had died and I have yet to replace it! these ones were taken with my phone.

since I was in the baking mood, I also quickly whipped up some cookies.  using this recipe.  anything with peanut butter is a winner in my books.  I think D will love them too.  And I can sort of pretend they are healthy since they have some oats in them :) score! I meant to make these much earlier in the week but never got around to it.  so now we will have some sweet treats for the weekend!

my baking soundtrack for the day was homes by jon and roy- I am seriously addicted to these guys.  love love love them. thanks to tye for introducing me to them!

happy saturday!! hope everyone has a great fathers day tomorrow- I can't wait! 

--m

eats.

since my first ever bowl of overnight oats I have been hooked! they are the perfect meal for an early morning and have been my go-to breakfast for weekdays.  featured here is my favourite combination from this week...

delicious!!

in the bowl went:

*1/2 cup rolled oats

*1/2 cup vanilla soy milk

*1/2 vanilla fat free yogurt

*1/3 cup frozen raspberries

*2 pinches cinnamon

after leaving this overnight, I topped it with a banana and cranberry almond granola in the morning! perfection.. and if I'm really running behind then I can just take it with me and eat it at work! best.breakfast.ever. (and healthy) :)

I'm looking forward to baking this weekend.. my bookmarked recipes just keep growing and growing and I haven't had a chance to try any recently because I have been so busy.

here are some recipes that I can't wait to try:

*strawberry rhubarb shortcake

*whole wheat chocolate chip cookies

*chocolate chip peanut butter swirl blondies

*banana bread with cinnamon crumble topping

*raspberry jam brownies

well... that should do it! (in reality, my list goes on.. and on... and on.. ) my bookmarks tab is getting out of control!

got a little preview at my yoga class tonight of some of the skills we will be stuntin' on saturday at the acro yoga workshop.  I seriously can't wait.  and best of all- I finally got my shirt from the studio that says "get bent"  yah, its pretty much awesome.  pictures of that to come.  I swear my love for yoga gets greater and greater with every class I do.  I have definitely found a passion that is for sure.

here is an example of acro yoga.. we may not be going this far :)

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eek! it's like christmas! I'm SO excited! 

--m

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

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

easter fun.

[yes we are sitting on the kitchen floor- we used the timer. abby quite enjoyed this]

[more camera fun]

[the darling abby]

[abby's totally cute hair: a big braid with a cute little side bun! so adorable.

I think ange will be a hairdresser in her next life :)]

[moms beautiful easter set up]

[the easter tulips I gave to my parents: the lady wrapped them so nicely while

we had a conversation about the canucks]

speaking of the canucks.. seriously!? I'm so sad for them. hope they can pull through in game 7. hope everyone had a great easter! we had a beautiful spread of food including croissant baked french toast, fresh fruit, homemade dessert tarts and easter treats! a great morning. I also loved hunting for my little goodies that my mom hid(I'm a child at heart)

--m