My birthday started off in the best way possible…with a bouquet of my favourite flowers. I almost never buy flowers, so when we have them in the house it’s such a treat. My favourite flower is the peony and I also love chrysanthemums, so Eric put both of those into the bouquet. A girl could get used to this.

Next up, Eric made me a “surprise Green Monster” for my birthday breakfast. I was instantly transported back to that time when he put an entire banana – including the peel – into my smoothie, not knowing that the peel wasn’t a normal part of a smoothie. Do you guys remember that? My stomach still flops over the thought of drinking an entire banana peel. I won’t ever let him live that one down.

Thankfully, no “surprise” banana peel this time! Just one delicious GM made up of mixed frozen greens, almond milk, a frozen banana, blueberries, chia seeds, and wheatgrass powder. The surprise? He threw in a few chunks of dark chocolate! I’ve always wondered why his smoothies always taste so good…now I know.

Despite the windy, rainy, and cool weather, we had a great 5k run complete with lots of walking breaks. I’m still taking it easy on my knee and so far it’s doing well.

We both worked for the morning and then headed to Toronto for lunch at Fresh on Crawford. No matter what we order we always know we will get a good meal at Fresh. We’ve been going for almost 3 years now and it’s become a tradition on my birthday. Here is a post from 2009, the very first time we went to Fresh.

We started with our go-to drinks: the All Green juice (cucumber, celery, parsley, kale, ginger, lemon) and the Lucky Charm smoothie (raspberry, strawberry, blueberry, mango).

For an appetizer, we devoured the Soho Falafel, made up of herbed falafel balls, quinoa & adzuki bean tabouleh, flax hummus (incredible!), and fluffy pita wedges.

It’s definitely my fav appetizer at Fresh, next to the quinoa-battered onion rings of course.

Eric ordered the insanely good BBQ Burger with tangy BBQ sauce, quinoa onion rings, garlic mayo, napa cabbage, hot banana chilies, tomato, lettuce, served with Fresh’s house-made vegan burger patty.

Eric said this is one of his fav burgers of all time! I snuck a couple bites and it was incredible.

I ordered the Tangled Thai salad made up of spiraled carrots and yellow beets, jicama, napa cabbage, chopped peanuts, cilantro, cucumber, Fresh salad topper, and creamy peanut lime dressing. This salad was a first for me, but it certainly won’t be the last!

On the side, my fav quinoa-battered onion rings.

A peppermint tea was the only thing that could fit in my belly for dessert. I was saving myself for cupcakes!

After lunch, we popped into Juicers 4 Life on Bloor and I bought some Paraflexx sheets for my dehydrator, something I have been meaning to do for 2 years now. They are non-stick reusable liners for the dehydrator trays.

When Eric asked me what I wanted for my birthday I said a homecooked dinner and night off from the kitchen would be amazing. He claims he is not a cook and tends to get overwhelmed when making recipes, but I tell you they always seem to turn out amazing. I think this is going to have to become a weekly occurrence!

On the menu? Dragon Bowls for two. It features vegetables such as sun-dried tomatoes, broccoli, golden raisins, and carrots, mixed up with cooked brown rice and a lovely maple-tamari-olive oil sauce. It’s served over a bed of lettuce. I absolutely love serving hot meals on top of lettuce and this was no exception. Oh and did I mention that I ate leftovers for breakfast this morning?

Eric adapted Nikki’s recipe which was originally inspired by a dish from 14 Carrots in NYC. For the dressing, Eric played around with this “Dragon Sauce” recipe found on Chowhound. I was so impressed that he pulled it off, not that I had any doubts. The look of pride on his face when I told him I loved it was just priceless. As he was finishing up the dishes he said, “I don’t know how you cook and bake all day long….I’m exhausted!” 

For dessert, we enjoyed my favourite chocolate cupcakes with strawberry jam coconut frosting. I successfully subbed half of the all-purpose flour for whole wheat pastry flour and all the olive oil for melted coconut oil. The cupcakes rose incredibly high like they always do.  One of my big complaints with some vegan cupcakes is that they can turn out gummy, but these are light and fluffy as you’d hope they would be.

I wanted a naturally coloured pink frosting and strawberry jam worked perfectly. I also subbed out the Earth Balance for coconut oil and it turned out quite nice. The consistency is a bit different (a bit more “slippery” than when using Earth Balance), but I managed ok when piping it. I might have to play around with this recipe a bit more, but here it is in case you want to as well.

Strawberry Coconut Frosting

This frosting needs to firm up in the fridge after piping, so keep that in mind. Also, I don’t suggest keeping the cupcakes out on the counter too long either. Store them in the fridge until ready to use.

Print, email, or text this recipe

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup coconut oil (you want it buttery in texture- not melted or super firm)
• 1/4 cup strawberry jam (stir before using)
• 1.5 cups sifted icing (confectioner’s) sugar, or a bit more if needed
• 1/4 tsp almond extract
• pinch of fine grain sea salt

1. Chill a bowl in the freezer for at least 15 minutes. This will help keep the frosting a bit more firm.

2. With an electric mixer, beat together the coconut oil, extract, and jam.

3. Gradually, add in the sifted icing sugar and beat until smooth. Add more icing sugar if needed and adjust everything to taste. Add a pinch of salt.

4. Pipe onto cupcakes and immediately place in the fridge to set. The frosting will become firm, but will soften at room temperature.

After dinner, we headed out for a walk along the lake and then cozied up for the night with a movie. A lovely birthday indeed…I’m liking 29 already.

Thank you for your birthday wishes in my last post! You really know how to make a girl feel loved.

I’ve grown to love the month of May. Weather wise, we just don’t know what we’re going to get. Some days it’s warm and sunny and other days it’s rainy and cool. Evening walks usually require a light jacket…or sometimes a heavier one when it’s raining and chilly…

Watching the days get longer and longer is also fun to do. I was previously never a big fan of the spring months because I only focused on the crummy weather, but I’m learning to enjoy the ups and downs that spring often brings.  Plus, it’s my birthday month so I have to like it!

With warmer temperatures in mind, I have not one, not two, but three snack recipes for you today!

It’s almost the weekend and I think you should celebrate all your hard work. Or maybe whip up a couple treats for your mom on Sunday and share the love.

First things first.

I’m on a popsicle making kick.

After a trip to Costco earlier this week, I was reunited with one of my favourite purchases- a huge bag of frozen mango chunks! It appeals to my lazy, don’t-like-to-peel-mangoes side and it lasts forever.

I think you know what happened next.

I ripped open the bag of sweet potato chips as soon as we got in the door.

Oh, right, we’re talking about popsicles here. I think you know what I did after ripping open the bag of chips that Eric said we should save for my party.

Oops.

I blended up mango, banana, almond milk, and a touch of coconut extract. Check out that action shot!

I proceeded to make a huge mess while pouring and snapping pictures simultaneously.

Then, I waited. Very impatiently. That’s the worst part about making popsicles! Maybe next time I will make them overnight so I don’t keep checking them every half hour.

Well, they were worth the wait and then some. Creamy, sweet, tropical…and best of all, just 3 ingredients. Don’t have a popsicle mold? Just use ice cube trays or drink it as a smoothie. It’s a reeeeally good smoothie.

I’m thinking I have to make margarita popsicles too?

(note: recipes will be at end of this post)

Up next, berry parfaits made with banana soft serve. It’s one of our go-to healthy desserts during the warmer months. Granted, I will happily consume this even when it’s chilly outside, but it’s even more fun to cool down with after a warm evening stroll.

It’s made with processed frozen bananas, my fav Lightened Up Summer Granola, coconut, instant chocolate sauce, and fresh berries.

Finally, a chocolate raspberry smoothie, also for two! This just might be my favourite out of all of them. Super creamy with a lovely chocolate raspberry flavour.

If my mom lived nearby I would be making her this smoothie on Mother’s Day. John, I’m leaving this as your special assignment!

As I mentioned, I’ve been loving raw cacao powder lately. It has a really intense chocolate flavour and so many health benefits. Feel free to use cocoa powder if preferred. Both will work!

Looking for more easy snack recipes? Check out my 22 Ways To Get Your Vegan Snack Attack On Post.

3 Ready-in-a-Jiffy Warm Weather Snack Recipes

Print, email, or text these recipes

Tropical Mango Banana Popsicles

Ingredients:

• 2 ripe bananas
• 2 cups frozen mango chunks
• 1/2 cup almond milk (or coconut milk)
• splash of coconut extract (optional)

1. In a blender, add all ingredients and blend until smooth. Pour into popsicle molds (or ice cube trays) and freeze until set.

Easy Berry Parfaits

Ingredients:

• 2 large frozen, ripe bananas
• 1-1.5 cups fresh mixed berries
• 1/2 cup Lightened Up Summer Granola, or other granola
• Shredded coconut, to garnish
• Easy Chocolate sauce: Heat & whisk together: 1 tsp coconut oil, 1 tsp pure maple syrup, 1 tsp cocoa powder

1. Peel and freeze your bananas until solid, preferably overnight. In a food processor, drop in the frozen banana chunks and process until creamy and smooth. Stop and scrape down the sides of the bowl as necessary. You can also give it a splash of almond milk to help it along. Nut butter is also a nice add in too.

2. Add the banana soft serve, granola, and fresh fruit in layers in a couple glasses or parfait dishes. Pour the chocolate sauce on top and serve immediately.

Chocolate Raspberry Smoothie for Two

Ingredients:

• 2 cups almond milk
• 3/4 cup frozen (or fresh raspberries)
• 2 large ripe frozen bananas
• 2 tbsp cacao powder (or cocoa powder)
• 1 tbsp chocolate + more for shaving on top
• 1-2 tbsp liquid sweetener (to taste)
• Shredded coconut, for garnish

1. Add ingredients to blender (except sweetener and coconut). Add sweetener to taste, pour into glasses, and then sprinkle coconut and shaved chocolate on top.

I’ve been suffering from major recipe block. Or is it recipe flop?

Is that even a thing? I guess it is. I didn’t know it was a thing until I started making so many darn recipes. After last week’s so-so recipe creations, I spilled an entire can of coconut milk all over the inside of my fridge on Friday afternoon. Checkmate. That’s when I knew it was time to step away from the kitchen for a bit.

As it turns out, I like to eat a lot so my kitchen boycott didn’t last very long!

Then there is writer’s block. I can totally understand how writers lose their marbles and go completely bonkers. The more you think about writer’s block, the more blocked up you get. The blanker and more annoying the screen gets. And then you just end up writing something random like this post. I’ve also had speaker’s block since 1985. It can be cured with a couple glasses of wine though, so it’s not too serious. You should’ve seen me on Saturday night! I could’ve hosted my own talk show.

Despite feeling a bit apathetic to recipes as of late, food and I are still on very good terms. Shocker, I know! Grudges are not something I’m into. Just because my homemade chocolate recipe didn’t turn out the other day doesn’t mean I don’t happily take handfuls of chocolate chips from the jar when I walk by. I’m a firm believer in second chances. Plus, this recipe from 2009 wasn’t so bad to begin with.

To celebrate my love for food and streak of recipe flops, this is my next installment of Foods I’m Loving Lately. If you are looking for a recipe, there are a few below, including a fun strawberry lemonade that I can’t get enough of lately.

1. Avocados

For some reason I fell off the avocado train for a couple months, but I’m back like I was never gone. Do you ever forget about foods you love? I do it all the time. Then, BAM, one day I spot it in the store and it’s love at first sight all over again. Eat them in a wrap, on toast, in a salad, or in 15 Minute Creamy Avocado Pasta. I’ve also been known to just slice one open and spoon it straight into my mouth.

2. The Ultimate Organic Raw Wrap by Natural Living

When I think of all the wheat or rice based wraps I’ve enjoyed in my life…these flax wraps trump them ALL! They are bursting with good-for-you ingredients like ground flax, veggies, herbs, lemon, and spices. Wait! How can ground flax taste this good? I really don’t get it either. I bought these at Organic Garage in Oakville (in the freezer section)..but promise not to take my stash from me…

Dressed up with avocado, veggies, and hummus…incredibly good and healthy.

I was actually inspired to dig out my dehydrator (which has been collecting dust!) and try to make my own! I’m going to take my first shot at it today…wish me luck. Sour cream and onion kale chips and banana flax wraps are also on the menu. But first, I should wipe the 5 inches of dust off it.

3. Frozen Mixed Greens

Are you stuck in a spinach rut with your Green Monsters? It’s an easy thing to do. Buying frozen mixed greens is an easy way to get a nice variety of nutrients in your smoothies. This blend in particular has a mix of collard, kale, and mustard greens. I’m not usually a fan of collard and mustard greens (ok…never), but I don’t even notice them once blended into a smoothie.

4. Banana Soft Serve 

Spring is in full force and so is Banana Soft Serve! I have bags of frozen bananas in my freezer to prove it. One thing is for sure, you never want to be caught with a banana soft serve craving and find yourself without any frozen bananas. It’s soul crushing. If you haven’t tried it yet, now is the time. To make it simply process frozen bananas in your food processor until creamy like ice cream. You can add a splash of almond milk or other mix-ins as desired. I will forever be grateful to Gena for bringing this into my life.

5. President’s Choice Organic Almond Milk

President’s Choice just made me love them a bit more. They just came out with an organic version of their almond milk. This could be all in my head, but I SWEAR it tastes better (I did a side by side taste test). It’s also the same price as the non-organic Almond Breeze in one of the stores I spotted it.

6. Sasha Co. Spelt Bread Crumbs

Like Panko, only whole grain and very flavourful. I love mixing these into stir fry’s to add a little somethin’ somethin’ & crunchy crunch.

7. Omega Carrot Cake Breakfast Cookies

Eric always says that I never make good recipes more than once, so once in a blue moon I prove him wrong. These cookies lasted 2 days.

8. Crofter’s Raspberry Spread

What do you get when you spread Crofter’s raspberry jam, Sunbutter, and a mashed banana onto a piece of toast? Heaven, that’s what.

9. Lemon or lime water

I’ve been trying to get more water into my diet and this is a good start to the day.

10. Asparagus

Ok, I’m finally getting a bit tired of asparagus (I’ve made a couple cookbook recipes you didn’t see!), but prepared this way is just irresistible.

11. Kettle Brand Krinkle Chips

We don’t buy chips very often, but when we do it’s a real treat. I love the short ingredient list of Kettle chips: organic potatoes, safflower/sunflower oil, and sea salt. The jalapeno and salt & vinegar are next on my list.

Might I also add, they are the perfect food to cure a hangover on a Sunday morning!

12. Endurance Crackers 

The easiest cracker to whip up and the perfect vehicle for hummus.

13. Medjool Dates

Nature’s candy! I’ve been trying out homemade date syrup too.

14. 60 Second Strawberry Lemonade

Delightful on a hot day. For the recipe, click here. Update: I hear this link isn’t working for some of you. You can also view the recipe on Chatelaine’s website.

What foods are you loving lately?

For part 1, see 7 Foods I’m Loving Lately.

Wishing you a weekend filled with loved ones (and Skyping with those who cannot be near!), yummy food, furry animals, and plenty of sunshine.

According to a test by Cook’s Illustrated in 2011, different ovens set to the same temperature can vary by as much as 90 degrees.

Yes….90 degrees.

If you are an avid baker or cook (or even just an occasional one), this news should be a bit concerning. Or maybe this news is relief; you now have a valid excuse for why your sweet potato fries always burn! Or at least I do…

When we moved in, one of the first things I did was check the oven’s true temperature. It’s an older oven (edited to add: I don’t mean super old by the way. The oven in our last house was 30 yrs old and I doubt this one is more than 10 yrs, so technically, it’s newer to me) and I was concerned about switching to a new-to-me oven without checking things out first. It’s especially important to me because I post my recipes for all of you and I have to be as accurate as possible.

For some reason, I had a bad feeling about this oven, even though it’s quite nice on the eyes.

I set my oven to 350F and placed my oven thermometer (from Kitchen Stuff Plus) in the center of the oven on the middle rack. This would be the first of several tests I would end up doing.

[But it’s called a “TRUE TEMP”…what could possibly go wrong???]

The oven beeps when it has supposedly finished preheating, so I eagerly walked over to the oven when it alerted me. I didn’t want to impact the temperature by opening the door, so I quickly turned on the oven light and bent down to look at the temperature.

The oven temperature read about 290F or so. I can’t quite remember it exactly, but it wasn’t even close! I gave the oven the benefit of the doubt, assuming that it just took longer to preheat.

And I waited some more. The temperature climbed slowly and after a good 15 minutes, I decided it wasn’t moving anymore. I waited an extra 30 minutes just to be sure.

I squinted my eyes really hard (am I getting old or are those things just really tiny?)

To me, it looks about 315-320F:

This is about a 30-35 degree difference. I also tested various places in the oven (on the side and in the back), but they were all around that temperature give or take 5 degrees. I even left it in for a full hour just to be sure. Nada.

Every good researcher knows that it’s to never advisable to rely on a single study, right? So, I headed out and bought another brand of oven thermometer (this time from Canadian Tire) and tested it once again.

Replicate.

Wouldn’t you know it, the temperature was the exact same. Approximately 320 degrees Fahrenheit when it should have been 350. At least the thermometers are accurate.

I Googled if there was any way to fix my wonky oven temperature and it turns out that it’s fairly easy to calibrate many kinds of ovens, depending on the severity.

Always start with the manual first. I looked for the owner’s manual, but wasn’t able to locate one (not surprising being in a rental and all). Eric suggested that we find the model number of our oven and see if we could find instructions online. He wasn’t able to find the manual online for this oven.

Eric finally ended up finding directions on Appliance 411- "How do I adjust the oven temperature on my range?".

Following these directions, he was able to set the oven temperature higher (35F was as high as he could go), however it’s still not a perfect calibration. Now, when I set the oven to 350F, it heats to about 340F, so it’s still about 10 degrees too low. To attain 350F, I have to set the oven to 360F and also wait about 5-10 minutes after the oven tells me it’s preheated. This isn’t a huge deal, as long as I’m careful and I keep my oven thermometer in the oven when using.

The oven thermometer is probably the best solution we have right now, aside from actually paying someone to repair it (or asking the landlord), which I probably wouldn’t bother with unless it got worse.

Our first adventure in oven calibration is now complete.

One thing I love about this oven? The stove top heats up much faster than our old oven back at home. You win some, you lose some! I’ve burned a few veggie burgers so far, but I’ll get used to it eventually.

Have you ever measured your oven’s true temperature or calibrated your oven? I bet you sure are curious now…

As promised our furniture arrived on Friday…it was quite the exciting day.

This is the first living/dining furniture that Eric and I have purchased new in the 12 years that we’ve been together; everything else we had was a hand me down from family or bought on Craigslist. Exciting indeed. Oddly enough, all the furniture we got rid of in this last move went back to our family, friends, and neighbours (and friend’s neighbours).

Dave and Ewa gave us a bunch of their furniture when we moved into our old house, including a couch. Now it looks like we’re going to give them our current brown sectional couch since it’s too big for our current living area.

It’s the furniture that keeps on giving.

As I mentioned, we ordered from Heritage Furniture in Burlington – a local family owned and operated business. I believe Dave and Ewa were the ones who told us about this place after we drooled over their new furniture a few years ago. One of the sons of Heritage, Shawn (not sure on spelling), told us that he started working there when he was just 8 years old and he’s now in his forties! The service is friendly (not pushy, which is something that puts us off in some furniture stores) and down to earth. Shawn also offered to help Eric and I with antiquing our wood photography boards…you know, in his “down time”. How’s that for nice?

By the way, I don’t get any sort of discount for saying that (nor on any reviews, unless otherwise stated). I just truly love this place.

The furniture is also excellent quality – Canadian made from recycled and reclaimed wood. No particle board is used.

And my oh my, does it ever smell good.

The furniture’s arrival also meant that we could finally unpack the rest of the boxes on the main level and hang artwork & mirrors.

Sketchie was clearly overjoyed that we were disturbing his space yet again.

We bought the smallest table they had in this collection (I think it’s the “Irish Collection”) and it expands if necessary. I actually think it’s the perfect size and not small by any means.

We picked the “Jamaican Sunset” stain, which has a warm antique and rustic look to it.

Instead of getting matching chairs, we opted for antiqued black chairs for contrast and to pull from the black in the table.

I love to watch home shows on TV and one thing the experts say over and over is that you can create “mini rooms” or “areas” even if it’s one open room. We decided to put the “dining area” on the far side of the room, since I would be using the table for photography and there is a ton of natural, glorious light on both sides.

This is the wine cabinet, located right across from the dining table. I’ve never owned a cabinet and I have to say it’s one of the best things to happen to my life since Green Monsters.

The wine boxes are removable, so we moved them on top to free up some cabinet space.

The bottom cabinet holds my photography dishes:

and on the top shelves, other dishes I wanted to display as well as my cookbook collection.

Unfortunately I packed my cookbook box way too heavy because I hurt my knee trying to lift it. You know the saying, lift with your knees (or is it lift with your legs?) Yea, I think I took that too literally. I’m not sure what I did, but I felt a sharp pain on the inner right knee.

I’m currently resting and icing it, hoping that it will get better before my races start up again in a couple weeks. I don’t think I tore anything, but it’s a dull ache that goes on and off throughout the day. I hope with rest it heals up or I may have to pay a visit to my sports doctor. As for me, no running until the knee feels back to normal. Not the best news, but there is no sense worrying about something out of my control.

Anyways, I absolutely adore my cookbooks, even if they do hurt me! Just seeing them on the shelf makes me so happy.

Eric also hung the dish display next to the cabinet (from Pier 1 last year). I might finish off the area with a small circular rug in between the cabinet and table, but I’ll have to see.

Now onto the living area!

One tip I picked up is to create spaces by using area rugs to define the boundaries of the room. It works quite nicely as a “frame” for the space.

The coffee table has a lot of storage with two long drawers and space underneath. It’s all about the extra storage with furniture.

Eric is storing all kinds of manly things in the TV cabinet. I think I saw shot glasses and a bottle of tequila in there already…no joke. We still have to set up our old family room TV. This one here will be going upstairs probably.

All together:

I’m still rocking green for the accent colour!

More artwork to fill up the plain walls.

Our Ikea Hemnes Sofa Table is now in the office, where we will use it for storage.

Before:

After:

Instead of feeling like a rental, it now feels like our home. While it’s different in many ways from our old house, change can be a good thing sometimes.

Someone else has also settled right in over the past few days. He now walks around like he owns the place!

Well, I think my server may die if I post one more picture today, so the laundry, hallways, bedroom, and bathroom will have to wait. They will be coming up!

Oh, and recipes too..don’t you worry…

This weekend, we had just one goal:

Set up the new place. 

…with the aid of a couple beverages. =)

First up, in today’s post: the kitchen pictures. If you recall, it looked like this last week:

Saturday morning, I got my organization on after a trip to Solutions – a huge home organization store similar to The Container Store in the US.

Eric took one look at my loot and laughed.

“Since when did you turn into an organizer?”

I tried to tell him with a straight face that I’ve always been organized, but I just couldn’t.

People can change!

I also couldn’t bring myself to take our old, gross plastic cutlery tray with us, so I took this opportunity to start fresh with a bamboo cutlery tray.

So easy…so rewarding…

Ugly, bagged spices now hide on the side of the fridge to free up a drawer:

What do we have here? St Patrick’s Day stickers, Valentine’s Day cupcake liners, candy molds, and onion goggles.

Sounds about right.

After:

Ok, I could probably do better than that…but I won’t.

Spice cabinet before:

and After…with mini turn tables for easier locating spices:

Thanks for the ideas on the turntables, by the way. Love them!

I put a shelf extender in the dish cabinet to fit an extra row of dishes. Now there is just enough space.

I also picked up this container to store my measuring cups and small kitchen things.

Yes, that’s a lot of measuring cups! You’d be surprised though…some days I easily dirty all of them.

Eric also had this great idea to store my “rarely used” dishes on top of the cabinets, saving me a ton of cabinet space. In addition to my casserole dishes, I put a wok, huge salad bowl, and empty mason jars on top.

You can see the storage in this photo below:

We also set up Grundtal Ikea shelves for my mason jar storage, so they didn’t have to be crammed in the cupboard anymore (thanks to Emily for the idea!!).

They come in 120 cm and 80 cm lengths and we opted for the 80cm. I grabbed matching hooks for the bottom so I could hang my apron and other things. Apparently, Eric is using it for his sunglasses and keys too….you’re on my turf, Liddon.

I was so nervous that the shelves were going to break, but they are very sturdy. I just hope Sketchie doesn’t try to jump up…

Top shelf (left to right): Rolled oats, millet, walnuts, pecans, raw buckwheat groats, speltberries

Bottom shelf: Pearled barley, dried chickpeas, raw almonds, short grain brown rice, red lentils, raw cashews, and hemp seed.

I have a few more jars stored in the cupboard, but it has opened up a lot of cupboard space. Two thumbs up!

You know, initially I was worried about transitioning into a smaller kitchen (I was spoiled with the size and storage space in our old house), but with a few adjustments I’ve cozied right into this space and love it more each day.

I ended Day #1 with Sketchie cuddles on his favourite “blankie” (Eric’s sweater), and he was a happy cat once again.

Coming up: Living/dining area, laundry, and hallways.

After Eric and I returned the moving truck on Sunday afternoon, we came back to the new place and I started unpacking while he set up the office.

Suddenly, Eric came into the room looking panicked.

“Ange, I think I forgot something at the old house.”

“Really…what?”

“…I forgot your COMPUTER on the driveway!!!!”

You know, I always thought we’d forget a few things when moving…maybe a tarnished earring in the bathroom drawer, a dusty sock under the dryer, or a garden tool in the garage. Somehow, we managed to forget one of the most valuable things in the house- the machine that holds my cookbook recipes and photography. Go figure. And on the driveway of all places…lol.

It had now been about 4 hours since we left the house…and the computer sitting on the driveway. We called our friend Mary who lives nearby and she checked to see if the computer was still there. Thank goodness it was! Two hours later, we returned with my computer in hand and I figured this was a good time to back my computer up which is something I hadn’t done for a couple months. You can never be too sure with computers, especially during a move when things can get banged up…or forgotten on driveways.

Life motto: ALWAYS CHECK THE DRIVEWAY FOR THE COMPUTER.

Aside from that excitement, things have been going smoothly!

I managed to unpack our clothing:

We have a small walk through closet adjoining our bedroom and bathroom.

Eric’s side:

And my bigger side:

I’m like a human colour wheel or something.

We’re storing our underwear, socks, PJ’s, etc in the tall dresser in the bedroom. I’m also hoping to get some kind of shelf unit for the bottom of the closet for a bit more storage for odds and ends.

As for my eats, we’ll they’ve been all over the place since we started moving! Here are a few things I managed to snap a picture of…

Costco crackers and sunflower seed butter:

Not the healthiest choice, but handfuls of chocolate chips are a great blood sugar boost when moving boxes all day long. and Eric wondered where my super human strength came from…

dried cherries:

Chocolate and cherries…it’s practically trail mix, right?

lots of beer. Not good for staying hydrated…

Random bowls of banana, almond milk, sunflower seed butter, and hemp seeds also do the trick:

As do boxes from Whole Foods salad bar (probably the only veggies I ate for a few days):

I’ve been rocking the Vegan Overnight Oats like nobody’s business! Easiest breakfast/snack food ever.

Amy’s veggie burgers:

and this delicious creation I came up with the other night! I added about 1/2 cup of almond milk, 3/4 cup frozen mixed berries, and 1/3 scoop Vega Chocolate protein powder into the blender. The result was almost like a berry sorbet…and made the perfect dessert!

I adore this President’s Choice Power Fruit Blend in smoothies. There are so many sweet cherries in it!

As for Sketchie, he’s not sure what to think of all of this!! He was on edge all day Sunday as he checked out every inch of the place.

Leave it to Sketchie to find this random hole in the kitchen cabinet…

I was in the kitchen and noticed him at my feet with HALF his body in the hole! I grabbed him out just in time! Gave me a real scare. I moved a big block to cover the hole so he can’t climb in…so hopefully that works. I can only imagine having to call the fire department for that one…umm my cat is stuck under my kitchen cabinet…haaaalp.

Yesterday, he did much better and got caught up on some major shut eye while I worked. I’m just trying to give him extra attention and affection while he makes this new transition. Moves are hard on people, but they may be even harder on the fur balls!

This is the 18th time I’ve moved in 28 years.

[Thanks to my mom and Kristi for counting our moves last night!]

Among those 18 moves, I lived New Brunswick, Florida, North Carolina, Georgia, and Ontario. We moved a lot when I was growing up because of my dad’s various sales jobs, so moving really isn’t that big of a deal to me. Don’t get me wrong, the actual moving part is super stressful (especially when staging and selling a house for 6 months), but once I’m finally unpacking in the new place, it’s a big sigh of relief. I love a fresh start and a new city to explore. It also helps that we moved less than an hour away because we still have friends and family nearby (and most are closer now which is nice). Moving across country is a whole other ball game, so I won’t even pretend that this is comparable.

Before Eric and I met, he moved just 1 time! He was born in Calgary, Alberta and he moved into our old house shortly after birth. When we first met, I couldn’t believe that he lived in the same house for 18 years. It’s a foreign concept for me to be in a place for that long. Since we met, he’s moved 5 times, however, 3 out of 5 moves were university related so surely I can’t be the one to blame.

I thought this move was going to be tough on him, but it hasn’t seemed to phase him in the least. Instead it was me getting teary-eyed yesterday (especially when I said goodbye to my two garden beds with tiny sprouts coming up), but Eric quickly reminded me this wasn’t the final goodbye…

“You know we’re coming back Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday night to clean and move things for donation, right?”

I guess I will have another chance for my goodbyes a few more times!

In the meantime, here are more pictures from the weekend. Remember when I said that things were moving along quickly and going faster than I expected? Well, scratch that. Moving day, quickly turned into moving day #1 and #2 and I don’t think the boxes will be unpacked for at least a week or two. All in due time, though.

On Thursday and Friday, I went to the new place to clean and move boxes in. The cable/internet guy also came and hooked us up. Our internet is about 10 times faster in the new place…a nice bonus of living in a city.

I had a cleaning + TLC wedding marathon until about 11pm Friday night. Good times!

This kitchen is where most of my cookbook will be created! It’s a tight space for cupboard storage (I’m going to need your help with storage ideas at some point!), but so far I like the work space. There is a lot less walking back and forth compared to my old kitchen. I also enjoy the floors. We had slate floors in the old place and they gave me a ton of heel pain standing on them for hours a day, not to mention they were horrible to keep clean.

I packed up the old fridge and unloaded it into the new one.

and cleaned all the baseboards, bathrooms, and floors.

This is what it looked like on Saturday:

and this is what it looked like over 24 hours later:

I surely hope you weren’t expecting it to be organized and set up! We’re waiting on a few pieces of furniture to arrive on Friday, so it’s a bit hard to unpack until those are set up.

We’re turning the second bedroom into a shared office. I’m using this fold up table for a desk until we purchase new ones.

Our bed got assembled…

and we all resisted the urge to face plant into the bed and sleep for the next 543 hours.

After a second day of moving, Eric, Sketchie, and I cuddled up with a cereal and some Frozen Planet on Discovery Channel last night.

Anyone catch Frozen Planet last night? Incredible! We love the Planet Earth series and this one is great too. We couldn’t keep our eyes open past 10pm, so I recorded it for later.

By the way, many of you asked about all the DELL boxes! Both Eric and my brother-in-law Dave work in the IT field, so they have access to computer boxes that would’ve otherwise been recycled. They make pretty sweet moving boxes, I must say!

I must also say that this reader email gave me a bit of a chuckle last night…

C wrote, “Thanks for sharing, I love all the Dell boxes…after all the Apple hype…I had a good laugh.”

heheh…

Today is a bittersweet day…we’re moving into a new home!

Just over a year ago, Eric and I decided that we wanted to move because his commute just got to be too much for him. He spent 3.5 hours every day commuting to and from Toronto and it was making him miserable. He looked for other jobs nearby, but wasn’t able to find anything close. As much as we loved that house, a house isn’t a home if you are never home to enjoy it. We leave this house with so many amazing memories and a bit of sadness, but I know that this change will make a positive difference for us both. You know what they say, life’s a daring adventure or nothing! Bring it on!

Our house was on the market since last fall and it was a long, loooong wait to sell. I won’t even get into how many times I had to drop everything in the kitchen and leave with 15 minutes notice for a house showing. It was a tough 6 months and it was even more difficult not talking about it on the blog! When we finally sold, it was one of the happiest days because it meant that we could finally proceed with our life. 

We decided to rent for a while until we decide where we want to eventually settle down..it’s still very much up in the air. We looked at rentals in Toronto and Oakville and eventually found a place that is perfect for us in Oakville. Remember when we worked the Oakville Organic Farmer’s Market a couple summers ago? We always said we’d love to live here someday, we just didn’t know how soon that would turn out to be. Life works in mysterious ways!

I have lots of unpacking and cleaning to do, but not a crazy amount because we donated more than half of our possessions to fit in the new place. Don’t be fooled by the huge moving truck; we’ve been storing about half a truck’s worth of Steve and Joanne’s furniture in our basement for the past couple years. Guess where that is going? To brother Dave’s! haha. It’s the circle of life. Thankfully, we’ve had about 10 friends/family helping us move…so it’s going super fast!! What would we do without our family and friends?

Much more to come about all of this, but I better get back to work! Thanks for putting up with my rather sporadic blogging schedule for the past while.

Sketchie is either super excited or super ticked off…the jury is still out…

Yes, he loves his front claws.

However you are spending your St Patrick’s Day, have a great one! We hope to end our day at the pub with a different kind of jig…although the beer is calling my name from the fridge already. Lots to celebrate!