Cupcakes!

Honestly, I’m so glad I’ve been showing you my yummy HEALTHY meals since I returned from BC because here is another recap from my trip that doesn’t fit the healthy balance concept of my blog!

But seriously.  Who among us can happen upon their first ever dedicated cupcake shop and not go in?  I love, love, love cupcakes and there was no stopping us!

Tiffaney and I happened upon this little shop while we were walking up Robson Street in Vancouver.  We had just spent 30 minutes on a Greyhound bus, 90 minutes on a ferry, and over an hour on two different Vancouver city buses…leaving us just one hour to shop/walk/eat before getting ready for the concert we were in the city for.

And then right there in front of us was Cupcakes!!

 

Tiffaney chose:

Sweet 16 – vanilla cupcake with pink vanilla butter cream frosting and pastel sprinkles

and

Red Velvet – red cocoa cake topped with cream cheese frosting and powdered sugar

So based on her choices I opted for:

Lemon Drop – lemon cupcake with lemon butter cream frosting and a lemon wedge candy

and

Donutella – not on the website – chocolate & vanilla marble cupcake with hazelnut butter cream frosting

We covered the bases on cupcakes flavors!

    

On the way back to the hotel we picked up a bottle of champagne to enjoy while getting ready.  What’s better for a girl’s night than champagne and cupcakes?!

We shared two before the show…deeeeeelish.  One after the show.  And yes, one for breakfast before we left the hotel.  :)

I am a vanilla girl all the way, so the Sweet 16 should have been my choice but that Lemon Drop was soooo fantastic that it may have squeaked out the winning spot for me.  Tiff was sold on the Red Velvet due to it’s thick and rich cream cheese icing.

Now if you are going to jump off the healthy wagon once in a while, THIS is the way to do it!

Choo-Choo-Chew

So I was trying to think back on my eats and happenings since my last post during my trip, and wound up back on Thursday.  The day after the big Keg feast for Mom’s birthday.

I didn’t take a breakfast photo so it must not have been anything exciting or worth mentioning.  I’m going to guess it was either a bowl of cereal or a Larabar or something.  Oh!  That reminds me…look what I found while shopping at Mom’s local grocery store!!

Coconut Creme Pie!!

(friggin expensive though so I only got four)

In the afternoon I hopped the train for a ride back to Victoria.  On the way there I got Mom to stop at my absolute favorite little restaurant in Nanaimo…Delicado’s.  I’ve mentioned the Victoria location in previous posts, but Nanaimo was the original and is still the best by far.  Southwestern yumminess!!  They have a zillion other things on their menu, but I’ve been ordering the chicken rollup since about 1993 so I’m not about to change now!

It comes in a range of heat but I always go for medium-minus.  A little tastier than mild, but not as much chipolte as medium.  I asked for extra sunflower sprouts because I think they are the best part!  It’s also filled with cheese and their own pico mix…which has black beans, corn, carrots, rice, seasonings, etc.  Deeeee-freaking-lish!

The lady next to me on the train was probably hating me with my fabulous smelling lunch!

I also got a yummy “deli-bar” for old times sake.  It’s peanuts in a soft caramelly type stuff, topped with chocolate.  Drool.

It was a beautiful day for a train ride.  The sun was out and everything was soooo green.  A great way to travel if you have the time.

Home-Sweet-Home

OMG! What a whirlwind of activity I wound up on since my last post! So sorry for just disappearing without warning, but some unexpected fun came up and there just wasn't any time for the computer. Then I had my flight home with no layover time and spent yesterday and this morning catching up on sleep (my internal clock is totally buggered up now!).

I am now home and trying to get back to my regular schedule...although thankfully it is actually a Canadian statutory holiday (Victoria Day) so work isn't exceptionally busy...which is great because I have a lot of time to make up from last week.

I can tell you though, that although I had a fantastic time, I ate like a pig and am soooooo excited to be home with my freshly stocked fridge and my own kitchen. My wallet and my body are thanking me already. The scale was actually pretty nice to me this morning, showing only a 2 pound gain...but the lack of running and working out has left me with a sore back and pudgy feeling all over. Tomorrow, the treadmill and I will be reunited and I can't wait!! (Angie....warm yoga?)

Stay tuned. I have many trip highlights to share with you all. Teasers include:

• a train ride
• a ferry ride
• cupcakes!
• Fleetwood Mac!!!!!

What I learned: I need to work on my traveling habits. More and more of my family and friends know about my blog and my desire for a balanced and healthy lifestyle...yet while traveling I totally let my situations throw me of course. Through no one else's fault either...it was all me. When given the opportunity for healthy choices, I almost never took them. All caution to the wind! Definitely a lesson to be learned here.

Mom’s Birthday Dinner

Those of you that visit my blog to see my healthy ideas and meals, LOOK AWAY NOW! Lordy, lordy…I sure know how to jump off the wagon HARDCORE! :)

But seriously…I can’t go to The Keg and order “healthy”. It’s just not right.

Mom and I really are traditionalists (also known as creatures of habit) for her birthday. It’s always The Keg or another local restaurant The Bold Knight (which is also steaks and seafood). This year could be no exception!

Don’t mind if we do!!

Started with Keg-size Bloody Caesars…

Appies of Jumbo Tiger Shrimp Cocktail, Mushrooms Neptune, and of course the famous Keg sourdough bread with butter.

Main courses: Mom had steak and lobster, I had the Crab/Cheddar Sirloin…both with loaded baked potatoes.

We shared a side of button mushrooms and a side of fresh asparagus.

Had I known the amount of cheese sauce on my steak I may have asked them to scale back (not that it stopped me from eating it since it was there!). Holy cheese-fest Batman. And too bad that they felt it necessary to drench our asparagus in butter too….but really at this point, oh well!!

(I should note that I only ate half the potato and brought home about a third of my steak….although I still ate way too much!)

Even though both of us were filled to button-popping proportions, we still had to have a dessert since this was a birthday after all!! Mom choose the creme brulee which is my all time favorite dessert so I stole a few (OK, like half) spoonfuls from her to enjoy with my fancy after-dinner coffee.

Mandatory Coffee (decaf): Bailey’s and Peppermint Schnapps. drool.

I felt pretty yucky for the rest of the evening and this morning I was absolutely starving due to the mass consumption of food last night, but it also strengthened my resolve to try to take it a little easier for the rest of my vacation.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!

Amazing Thai – Nanaimo, BC

It’s not often I get to go for Thai food. FH isn’t a fan (although I’m not sure he’s ever actually had Thai food) so I have to rely on friends for a fun ethnic dinner night. When I am home here on Vancouver Island I tend to eat out a lot, so use these times to get in my Thai, sushi, seafood, etc.

I took Mom to Amazing Thai here in Nanaimo a couple of years ago, and because I’m not home too often it has taken us this long to get back there. Tiny little place with a kitschy decor, but as the name suggests “amazing Thai” food. In business now for 8 years, this owner-run restaurant is truly a Nanaimo treasure…often winning the local newspaper’s “Best of…” contests.

We took the go big or go home approach. Far too much food, but all totally necessary! To start we opted to share a large bottle of Singha, Thai beer.

And no Thai meal is complete without an appetizer of Spring Rolls. Crispy, tasty, and veggie filled. The sweet chili dipping sauce is my favorite part!

For our main meal, we ordered a variety of items. For me, Pad Thai is a must. Amazing Thai offers theirs with prawns, and their peanut sauce is very light. The addition of fresh bean sprouts truly makes this dish for me.

Another common option is the Red Thai Curry. Labelled as an 8 out of 10 on the spicy scale we were a little leery, but paired with the steamed Jasmine rice and our other dishes it was the perfect amount of heat. They had two red curry options…we chose the one that included chicken, potatoes, and Thai basil. Deeeeeelish.

To round out the meal we ordered a simple veggie stirfry with oyster sauce (minus the green peppers). I mixed mine alongside my curry and rice for a complete dish.

(Note: my serving above is on a side plate)

Come dessert time I was about ready to pop a button, but when our server (owner) mentioned the homemade coconut ice cream there was no turning it down. Mom and I shared two scoops, and as promised it was the perfect end to our spicy meal.

Two thumbs up! Fun, tasty, cute, AMAZING THAI!

A Little More on Track

Not quite as good as my last few weeks at home...but my meals were certainly more organized today. 

Mom made sure to have some cereal in the cupboard for me... Special K Vanilla Almond... so I had a serving of that with some skim milk for breakfast.  It's fun eating in a different kitchen with different dishes.  Like my mooooooooooo cow bowl?

 

Like daughter, like mother...see how she has fun Starbucks mugs too!

For lunch I dug around in her fridge and made myself a grilled sammich with Smart bread, deli turkey, cheddar, and fresh spinach.  Seasoned with some yellow mustard and s&p.  Served with some baby carrots and fresh snap peas we picked up at the grocery store yesterday.  The carrots were perfect!!

As a lunchtime fruity dessert I pulled out one of Mom's little Del Monte pink grapefruit cups.  Not the way I would normally buy fruit, but it's quick and easy and although it does have a little added sugar it's still only 100 calories and really tasty.

Mid-afternoon I introduced Mom to the infamous Liberte yogurt.  While at her local grocery store last night I found an entire section of the yogurt department dedicated to Liberte.  We picked up the Dulce de Leche...deeeeeeelish.  Served it up with a serving of Baked Cinnamon Riceworks....which I haven't had since I came on here and raved about them ages ago.  Yum.

Thanks to my simple and healthy little meals and snacks I decided to indulge for dinner (haha, dinners are all indulgences this week!).  We went to White Spot..a local tradition...I have to go there each time I'm home and I can't order anything other than the BC Burger!  (bacon, cheddar, triple-o sauce, tomatoes and lettuce)  Obviously with fries and their great creamy coleslaw. 

After dinner I met with my girl Christy for some girl talk and Starbucks.  She bought me a decaf tall non-fat vanilla latte and I enjoyed that with a sample wedge of chocolate chunk cookie.  :)

(and somehow we visited for like 3 hours and never took any damn pictures!!)

A Walk in the Park

Geeze, it's been hard to find time for blogging! I'm going to try to catch up today so I'm not constantly posting a day or two behind. Today is a quieter day...I'm at Mom's where nothing exciting it expected of me and I'm working today anyway.

Yesterday morning, my friend Mikey called up me and Tiff and asked us if we were interested in a walk at Beacon Hill Park before he and I headed up island to see our Moms. She and I were both still sort of sleeping waiting to see if our bounty of Strongbows were going to cause us any hangover grief. We agreed to the walk (with the pre-requisite of a Starbucks run first) because the park is soooo beautiful this time of year.

We wandered for about an hour looking at flowers, ducks, geese and squirrels. The park is just the best for finding friendly little squirrels! Mikey comes prepared with a jug of birdseed and a bag of peanuts he keeps in his car. He's an animal lover for sure!

At S'bux I picked up a late breaky and an extra snack for the car ride a little later. And opted for a TRIPLE grande non-fat vanilla latte.

I needed the extra caffeine for sure and didn't want to be going back for another coffee that would probably make me have to pee on the car ride. haha.

(Stooooopid Blogger just did something weird and lost half of my post!!)

After tons of fun with the squirrels, Mikey and I said goodbye to Tiffaney and set out for our drive to Nanaimo to see our Moms. It’s about an hour and a half drive so I was glad for my yogurt parfait and lemon cranberry scone (sorry no scone photo…too busy chatting with Mikey and totally forgot). Overpriced but good food for my “day after drinking” eats.

Once I got to Mom’s we headed out to the garden center to pick up her annual Mother’s Day gift…a hanging basket for her front porch. They were fairly picked over because it was so late in the day, but we found a pretty one we think will be beautiful as it grows in. Here’s my cute Mommy!

For dinner we ordered in our traditional Chinese take-out. Anyone of you that has followed my blogging over the last few years know that we always order Chinese the first night I’m in town. So yummy!

Crunchy battered almond chicken, s&s boneless pork, almond gai ding, beef & broc, rice, and chow mein. I usually go for two plates, but I was stuffed and dehydrated. I followed up with two huge glasses of water, then put on my jammies and promptly fell asleep while trying to watch a movie.

I guess my sleep deprived busy couple of days caught up with me!