Coconut Everything

Whoa!  Time flies when you are sitting at your computer going cross-eyed trying to make a list of condos to view!  I’m not sure if I’m excited or overwhelmed.  Both I think.  :)  I just sent my list off to my real estate agent so he can set up viewing for Monday.  Yes, MONDAY.  This is really happening!!  I have 12 “favourites” and 13 “possibilities”.  Somewhere in there is my future home!!!

<<rewind>>

Mid-afternoon I started to get munchies so I grabbed a big handful of grapes so I wouldn’t head for the candy cupboard. 

I did polish off the last handful of sesame sticks, but it was literally only a handful so it’s fine.

For dinner I made something I’ve never made before! Eggplant!!

I actually bought this little fella like two weeks ago, but things were so hectic with Arron ending up at home for that extra week that I just never had the opportunity to cook it up. 

I have had both good and bad experiences with eggplant.  It’s definitely one of those veggies that is all about texture and complimentary flavours.  The best I’ve ever had it was actually in a Thai red curry (but that was a Japanese eggplant which is a bit different in texture, etc).  Anyway, I decided to stick with a recipe I’m familiar with and made it into Coconut Crusted Eggplant!

I just used my Coconut Shrimp recipe, but subbed in breadcrumbs for 1/2 of the flour (and actually used whole wheat flour). 

A trick I learned about eggplant (from Take Home Hottie Chef) is to sprinkle the sliced eggplant with salt and let it rest for a bit…it brings out the moisture and helps cut the bitterness.

Then just cooked them up in the yummy, yummy Tropical Traditions coconut oil until golden and crisp.

Served with steamed buttery spinach (the only veggie in the house!!) and baked sweet potato chips.

I’m still not the biggest eggplant fan, but this worked out quite well.  I found it a tiny bit bitter still, but a quick drizzle of honey solved that problem easily.  :)  If you are an eggplant fan, give this a go.  Apparently cooking with coconut really makes most anything tasty.  haha.

After dinner I did get into some chocolate treats that escaped the camera…but I shut that down by heading upstairs for a long hot steamy shower and brushing my teeth.  I am pretty much in love with super hot showers right now.  *bliss*

OK, must run.  Tomorrow is going to be a busy day!!

Return

I actually received this card from Ali but the photo seems perfectly fitting for thanking all of you lovely people for your supportive comments, emails and Tweets.  I have been overwhelmed by the number of you that reached out with virtual love and hugs…for both me and Arron.  We both truly appreciate it. 

THANK YOU!!

He has arrived safely in Khartoum.  “it’s surreal…and hot”. 

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I took yesterday off from blogging, and kind of from life in general.  Work was hectic so that kept me busy.  I wisely planned a massage appointment, so that was a hour of me-time during which I managed to turn my brain off for a little bit (of course, I also managed to get tears in my eyes a few times too!).  I drank a lot of Starbucks, ate a lot of junk, and really didn’t take much care of myself…and honestly enjoyed every minute of it.

Sometimes candy treats do make everything better! 

(10 x a bazillion)

Around midnight I decided enough was enough and tidied the kitchen, cleaned out the fridge, made a bigass Greek salad and filled all of my water bottles for today.  I went to sleep feeling prepared for a brand new day.  :)

And woke up still feeling prepared and ready to tackle life.

Breakfast was tough…my poor tummy just wasn’t interested in food but I knew I needed to get that healthy stuff into my body.  Liberte vanilla Greek yogurt with thawed raspberries, 1/2 banana, and 1/4 cup granola…

 

Coffee to go…as I ran off to the chiropractor…and to sign off on my taxes…

Man, paying someone else to do my taxes this year was one of the best decisions I’ve made.  I cannot imagine having to do them myself while going through all of this personal shiz!

When lunchtime rolled around I was soooo happy that I had prepped that salad last night.  Not only did I save a bunch of time, but the tomatoes were all marinated in the dressing…yum!

In the big silver bowl: baby cucumbers, tomato, orange peppers, red onions, light Feta, Greek seasoning, EVOO, lemon juice.

To serve I spooned a big serving of the mixed salad goodies over some fresh spinach…

And added a big scoop of navy beans and fresh ground pepper…

Served with a side of In Snax pita crisps and the last tiny dollop of hummus…

 

I can feel my insides cheering and thanking me for the veggie overload.  :)  That spinach is already perking me up!

Oh…and what did cheer me up yesterday?  The arrival of my cute new t-shirt from fANNEtastic Anne!!  When I saw her put these up for sale I just had to have one. 

Now maybe people won’t look at me quite as funny when I pull my camera out at lunch?  :)

PeaceKeeping

And just like that…a door closes. 

Holy Hectic

This morning I woke up the realization that we had run out of coffee yesterday.  nooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!

Oh darn, I had to go to Starbucks!  :)

Double tall non-fat vanilla latte.  I also brought home a grande Bold which I enjoyed about an hour later.  :)

Breaky had to be quick and easy because I’ve got a lot on the go today.  Since I already had a few extra calories and protein from the milk in my latte I settled on Steady Eddie toast with pb & supercrack…

…and half of a banana…um, that I just realized I didn’t eat.

Oh well, there’s banana in my lunchtime smoothie!

This is a crazy concoction of a bunch of yummy stuff I kept pulling from the pantry.

In the KA today:  ice, 1/2 frozen banana, 3/4 scoop chocolate whey protein powder, 1/4 scoop Amazing Meal, 1 tsp coconut oil, 1 tbsp coconut, 2 tsp flax meal, 1 large handful organic baby spinach, about 2/3 cup UCAB.

Notice all photos taken at my desk today.  So far I’ve talked to my bookkeeper three times (I think my taxes will be done today.  Yay!) and have been sorting papers and trying to get work done.  I also have a call with my new mortgage people today since I’m leaving THIS WEEKEND to head to Victoria to condo shop.  Crazy.

I see some hummus, pita chips and pepper strips in my future too.  Dinner is going to be bon voyage pizza before taking Arron to the airport.  Tonight is THE night.  The flight is on.

Good Day

A good Monday?  Yes indeed.  :)

Started off right with a few pokes of the snooze button and a bit of sunlight streaming across the bed.  (I’ll leave out the part about the incessantly meowing cat that actually woke me up…dirty bugger.) 

side note:  I love how every time I type “cat” Windows Live Writer links it to the beautiful Cat.  :)

Anywho…there was coffeeeee…

And a light breakfast of protein packed Liberte vanilla Greek yogurt with 1/2 sliced banana and some hulled hemp seeds for fun…

I didn’t need anything big because I’m pretty sure I was still digesting last night’s fabulous meal.  Nom!!

For lunch I ran out and met Scott for a Subway date.

[too lazy to get photos off point & shoot…stay tuned…LOL]

6” turkey on whole wheat…with lettuce, tomatoes, pickles, double cucumber, squirt of Southwest Sauce and s&p.

I combo’d it up with a Diet Coke (weird I know!) and BBQ Baked Lays, which I brought home for a snack later.

 

Note to self: Baked Lays taste like eating an envelope.  I want those 140 calories back. 

Spent most of the afternoon catching up on weekend work and then chatting with my Mom about my pending mortgage, condo, move, etc.

While we chatted I snacked on a golden delicious apple with light cheddar cheese…

Goldens were my fave as a kid.  Somewhere along the way they were forsaken for Galas, but this was one tasty apple!

For dinner I needed me some greens.  There has been a slight drop in the veggie consumption around here!

Bigass salad!! 

In the big silver bowl:  baby spinach, tomatoes, baby cucumbers, matchstick carrots, orange pepper, red onion, light feta, EVOO, balsamic and Greek seasoning.

Topped with the extra chicken breast I cooked up when making the enchiladas last week.  Just like Amy said in her blog tonight…there’s something about a warm topping on a salad…makes everything all melty and deeeeelish!

Tonight I headed off to my gym for FitFlow yoga.  Arrived a bit early and did a 20 minute interval session on the elliptical to burn off a couple hundred calories, then headed upstairs for the class.

It was a good stretch, but there was no flow in that FitFlow class.  All stretching and held poses.  Not exactly what we usually do in the Monday night class.  I’m not entirely sure how I feel about it.

Back at home I’m enjoying a hot cup of tea and the individual banana bread we brought home from Cut last night.  I get to eat it because Arron doesn’t like the walnuts they put in it…lucky me, because it’s one of the best banana breads evah!  *giggles*

 

Well that was long winded.  Goodnight y’all.  zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

здравствуйте

After a day of fresh air and a sweaty gym workout, Saturday night was spent curled up on the sofa clearing off the DVR and eating a few treaties from Bulk Barn.  :)

On my way home I stopped to check our mail and found what might just be the coolest blog giftie I’ve ever received!

Ex Yo-Yo Dieter Debbie lives in Russia and offered to bring me a Moscow Starbucks Collectors Mug when she ventured over to the US for a family visit recently…

 

How effing cool is that?!  Me lurves it!!  haha, I know it looks just like any other Starbies collector mug, but people…it’s from freaking Russia!  :)

She also threw in some Russian chocolate (from the “Red October” store) and a packet of S’mints, which she says are all the rage in Europe.

Unfortunately Halifax doesn’t rate large enough to have it’s own city mugs so I’m going to have a look around the West Coast for a city mug to send to Debbie in exchange.  That girl gets around, so I can actually send it to her in Newfoundland and she’ll get it the next time she visits.

Thanks Debbie!!

Yesterday morning was spent enjoying a coffee and croissant date with my girlies Angie and Lynn at Two if By Sea. 

Cafe au Lait…

 

See the bear?

And a chocolate croissant the size of my head…

These croissants will be dearly missed when I return to Victoria. :(

We sat there so long I ordered a regular coffee.  We girls sure can chat!  (and by we, I mean me…haha)

Afterwards I hit up the mall to pick out a few Summer basics.  I’m not entirely sure what happened to last year’s Summer wardrobe but I seem to only have one pair of presentable shorts and NO capri pants.  Weird.  I spent over an hour trying on about 16 items at H&M, and while a lot of it fit I just didn’t love any of it and walked out empty handed.  I hate trying to figure out what “my style” is at the beginning of new seasons.  Gah.  Oh well, try and try again right?

Now here is another picture of a lovely flower for you.  :)  This is the one blooming tulip in our front garden…

You get that in lieu of any photos of the FAN-FREAKING-TASTIC dinner Arron treated me to last night.  He suggested we should have a “last supper” and who am I to turn down a lovely meal? :)

He chose CUT Steakhouse…I’ve written about it before…a la carte steaks and sides.  Yummmmm!  The service was a little off last night but the meal was one of the best we’ve had there. 

I enjoyed one glass of an Australian Cab Arron picked out…can’t have a fabulous steak without a glass of red, but I was driving so no overindulging for me. 

As always, my steak of choice was the 6oz local petite filet…medium-rare.  It’s the only cut on their menu that is just my size!  We shared side dishes of their Caesar Salad (the big chunks of pork belly and parmesan are deeeeelish), Pomme de Terre (who doesn’t love potatoes wrapped in potatoes?), and their newest side dish…Mac & Cheeeeese! 

In an odd turn of events, Arron actually suggested we order dessert!  People, this rarely happens.  And he didn’t want to share his freakishly fudgey chocolate tort so I got to have my own dessert.  hehe.  Creme Brulee all the way!  Not sure how I fit that in, but it was sooooo worth it. 

Once home, we commented that this may have been our best date ever…even though it wasn’t technically a date.  :)

I will however be making a date with some cardio today to burn of 1/100th of that decadent meal.

Garden Therapy

Yesterday afternoon went south. Bad. Fast. There were tears.

I did have a lovely dinner date with my friend Sarah over some mediocre sushi…but the photos are on my Blackberry and I’m sure you all know what a spicy tuna roll looks like.  :)

After a good night’s sleep and a couple of heated chats with my Mom, I woke up in a much better mood.  So I wrangled Arron to go have a nice greasy brunch (where I had bacon, scrambled eggs, pan fries and two pancakes I stole from him) and then took myself off to the Halifax Public Gardens to spend an hour in the sun with James Dean. (That’s my camera for those of you too lazy to click the link).

     

Trust me these are much better than recounting my cup of coffee, dinner of leftovers, or boring (but sweaty!) workout.  Really.  You should thank me!