Good evening!
I’m not sure about you, but today has flown by for me. My in laws were here today and Eric was also working from home, so we had a full house! I still have a lot of work to get caught up on tonight. My MIL was off to Ireland this afternoon to meet her brothers for an Ireland-Spain road trip. I attempted to hide in her suitcase, but unfortunately she is an over-packer much like her daughter-in-law…
She was SO proud to show me one of her purchases for her trip from a store called Ricki’s…
She knows how much I love lace and detailed-backs on tops. We actually have a very similar style…we are always complimenting each other on each other’s clothing! One thing she got me hooked on are brightly coloured scarves…I never used to wear them and now I always do. They are a great way to accent clothing or spruce up an outfit.
For dinner, Eric and I threw together a huge salad. We realized that it is our CSA pick-up tonight (Week 2!) and we still have a lot of veggies to plough through! We managed to demolish about 75% of our produce in these salads. Not bad!
This was one of the best salads…wait, I said that last time. :lol: They are ALL amazing, I will just leave it at that!
In this huuuuge salad contained: 1.5 organic romaine hearts, 1 small avocado, 1 tomato, 1/2 cup leftover stir-fry veggies, 3/4 cup lentils mixed in pasta sauce (on bottom), 3-4 tbsp of my better than bottled balsamic vinaigrette (obsessed!!), sea salt, and freshly ground black pepper.
A little tidbit about Eric- he used to only eat Caesar salad when I first met him 10 years ago, but he has developed a love for all kinds of salads now. Sometimes we have to fight over the last of the lettuce!
For dessert, some dark chocolate…
I LOVE this chocolate!!! I may have snuck another square when I was putting it away… :whistle: Cannot stop eating it.
Some backyard photography ensued..
Nature makes my heart go a flutter.
Don’t these pictures just make you want to go camping??
Swoon.
Health News Round Up
- 10 reasons you hate to cook and what to do about it – Huffington Post
- How to maximize the life in your produce – Fitsugar
- 10 Delicious and mouth-watering meat-free meals – Yum Sugar
- 7 Tips for a less toxic world – Huffington Post
- A lovely write up on Green Monsters – My Adventures In Veg
- Workout clothes for hot weather- what is best polyester or cotton? – Thatsfit.ca
- Are there really benefits from being a grump!? – BBC
- When a Crazy Produce Sticker Lady and Crazy Produce Sticker man collide… – Florida Food Snob
- Bethany’s Light Gazpacho recipe – Health
- Follow a personal trainer as she completes the Insanity DVD workout challenge – Physique Speak
- Should fast food restaurants post personalized calorie counts on the receipt? – That’sFit.com
- Pricey grocery stores attract the skinniest shoppers – MSNBC
- Trying to kick the pop habit? here are some fun tricks to spruce up plain water – Globe and Mail
- Too old to start yoga? This 90-year old grandma will prove you wrong – Huffington Post
- Try these simple tricks to slash your laundry bill by 90% – Casa Sugar
Spotted:
- 60 second black bean dip
- Vegan Overnight Oats
- Spelt pancakes for 2
- Banana soft serve vegan overnight oats and again here
Tonight’s question- Are you a nature girl? Do you like to go camping? Any camping stories/tips to share?
I am a huge nature girl! I feel like I am in my element when I am in nature. That is why living in the big city for 2 years didn’t really mesh with my personality. Eric is the same way. I’m on the fence with camping…I have only been a couple times (we don’t own tents) so I don’t really know HOW to camp. I feel like I need a tutorial…I wouldn’t know what to bring or what food to pack. Might make for an interesting blog post though! :biggrin:
When my best friend and I were young (grades 7-9 mostly), we used to camp in my backyard. We would pack all kinds of food (enough for a week!), grab our flashlights, and then put a super-powerful trinket lock on the tent. One time we woke up to a crazy pheasant trying to get into our tent! That was the end of that!
We are off to pick up our CSA box!
it’s weird, i would describe myself as a city person for sure, but i adore the nature… overnight hiking trips (9-10 hours of mountain hiking in the westcoast rain with a hikers’ pack and a tent on my back) are my dream vacations. looove the mountains. the waters are okay, the ski slopes are meh, but i love mountains and trees and earth…
missing my hometown – vancouver – now!
Eric and I want to go to BC soon for a vacation…never been!
you should go :) it’s beautiful and laid back. in fact when i was living in vancouver (and had never been outside of bc except the rocky mountain bits of alberta) i thought all of canada looked like that. giant surprise when i landed in toronto three years ago. there were no trees!!
Great photos, Angela. I’m most definitely a nature girl. Of course I love being all high maintenance sometimes . . . but I’d much rather go camping/hiking than anything else. I just enjoy being outdoors . . . <3
I LOVE camping and nature! We have lots of great spots in BC :) We go very often in the summer time! My healthy eating tip for camping is to prepare as much as possible before you go! I chop and dice all my veggies and fruit so they are easy to eat/cook with later on.
I’m not a huge nature girl. I love being outside and in nature and surrounded by nature, but I can’t do the whole camping thing. I need my comforts–namely, a bed.
I am absolutely not a nature girl. I like to stay in nice air-conditioned indoors where I can see my black stilettos.
haha that cracked me up! I too hate parting with the stilettos.
I’m not such a nature girl, actually… Bugs and plants and bad experiences with them have scared me a little. But I do like the occasional nature walk :P
Wei-Wei
I’m definitely a city girl through and through. I adore the beach, and I enjoy a day or two in the snowy mountains in the winter, but beyond that, I’m not that big into nature! Is that horrible?
I know many people who wouldn’t enjoy the snowy mountains and who hate the beach, so you are one up on them, lol.
Yum, that salad looks delicious!! And are those quick fire hydrangeas?? Just wondering, because we just planted two of them.. but they are just babies, so no flowers yet :)
That salad looks AMAZING and it totally making me crave a big bowl of greens and veggies (lunch tomorrow… :D )
I am DEFINITELY a nature girl. It serves such a huge purpose in my life. Mostly its the best way to heal and releive stress; getting outdoors and active is my own form of therapy. It is also a major source of inspiration for my photography. My boyfriend and I use his digital SLR camera as our excuse to get out and hike new trails and explore :)
I have gone on lots of day hikes and things and I love being out in the wilderness fending for myself even if its only for a couple of hours. My boyfriend and I though had our first date as a camping trip with his friend and his friend’s girlfriend. I rucked my things on my back for 3 nights. and hiked about 30 miles. What a start to an amazing relationship :)
you must have wowed him!
I am truly a nature girl… my husband and I did a week-long camping/road trip for our honeymoon. Our wedding present from my parents was a handmade cedarstrip canoe from my dad!
We are supposed to go camping this weekend, but the weather forecast looks like rain and thunderstorms… so we may not :(
There’s nothing like waking up with the sun and birds at dawn, making french-press coffee over a fire, photographing the sunrise and taking a bath in the lake…. ok now I am REALLY hoping the weather improves this weekend. I even booked monday off in anticipation of a weekend in the woods!
That sounds amazing. Do you guys usually go with others or on your own?
We usually go on our own… but every once in a while we can convince friends to come. Most of them prefer camping in electrical campsites in the parks, with showers and facilities nearby :) Thats fun sometimes too though!
I also heard about the T-storms which dont bode well for our planned open water swim and vball on sat and sun :(
I’m a total nature girl too! haha, and I haven’t been camping since I was a kid – I used to go with my Brownie troup and the Girl Guides, and LOVED camping in my friends’ backyard. :) And yet, when I’m in the city, I’m a total city girl – it’s weird. LOL But one day, I hope to own a little house all my own, with a little garden, and either close to the woods, like a cottage, or in the country. Although I think winters would still be easier in the City (I live in Ottawa and/or Toronto for school)
I’m definitely an outdoorsy, camping kind of gal, although you wouldn’t know it by my normal routine! We live in the city (San Diego) but we’re really close to the mountains which I love. We went camping in Yosemite every year growing up, and now even though my dad won’t camp, my boyfriend will, so we still do it at least twice a year. I have a whole excel spreadsheet that I keep which has lists of what to bring, etc. I made it just by googling “camping list” or something similar but most of the lists that come up are longer than mine; I don’t find it necessary to bring so much stuff, and it’s really hard to manage that much with only 2 people!
Ive heard that is part of the beauty of california…being so close to the mountains. Would you mind sending me your list if you still have it? I would love to put something together and that might help [email protected] If not, no worries at all though!
All these camping stories make me want to go so badly now!
I don’t think I could spend an ENTIRE night outside. I would just pretend to sleep for a few mins and then book it to the nearest hotel.
I am a nature girl as long as “nature” provides me with heat and indoor plumbing! :)
I’m definitely a nature girl and while I think living in the city would be fun for a little while, I know I would get tired of all the concrete and crowds. As for camping.. the last time I went was probably around 10 years ago! I definitely need to get my butt out there because it would be a blast and so relaxing.
Thanks for the health roundups! I have lots of reading to keep me occupied free of boredom while at work. :D
Since I’ve started dating my boyfriend I have become such a nature girl! I always thought I was the girly girl who wouldn’t be able to handle the bugs and dirt but it’s really not bad at all! In fact I look forward to sitting by the fire and eating his camp specialty- the “hobo dinner”. It’s seriously my fav! When I used to eat meat he would wrap ground turkey and vegetables topped with everglades seasoning in aluminum foil, put it over the fire for a couple minutes, unwrap and voila dinner! dip the goodness in cattleman’s bbq sauce and it was sooo delicious…. now I’ll just stick to the veggies though :)
Thanks for linking back to the pancakes! :-)
I adore camping. I could live in a tent, sleep in a sleeping bag, wear mosquito repellent for the whole summer if necessary. (I’ve done it before!)
Cedar trees are beautiful – great photos! The salad and chocolate look great, too.
I’m SOOOO a nature girl!!
And I LOVE your flowers- so beautiful!!