Last Victoria Day long weekend, Eric and I were busy working on our house. He was trying to figure out how the heck to build his first deck and I was trying to figure out how the heck to plant my first vegetable garden and weed an acre of land.
One year later, we are at a completely different place in our lives, living in a new city that we adore. We have a fraction of the space, no yard for a garden, and are unable to renovate because it’s a rental. While this life change has taken time to get used to, we couldn’t be happier with our decision to move. Instead of spending all of our weekends (and money) on the house, we are now able to relax a bit more without feeling guilty for spending a couple days away on the weekend. We will buy another house at some point in the near future, but for now, we are content to be carefree renters for a little while. Eric wants to buy a fixer upper, so I might be in for it!
After a 3.5 hour drive in stop-and-go traffic on Friday, we finally arrived at my in laws eager to enjoy this beautiful weather. The forecast was calling for picture perfect long weekend weather, which I mentioned, is quite rare for Ontario in May!
Lake Ontario:
As always, I came with food in tote.
I made a spin-off of my Lightened Up Protein Power Goddess bowl. This has to be one of my all-time favourite recipes on the blog and I don’t think I’m alone – it’s one of the most popular salad recipes of 2011. I always forget how much I love it. Ok, not really, but I don’t make it enough!
Note: All this salad talk lately is foreshadowing a challenge coming up!
Here it is before the tahini lemon dressing is mixed in:
This time I subbed the green lentils for black beluga lentils and added sundried tomatoes and kale into the mix. I also omitted the tomato and cut the garlic in half. All finished off with a sprinkle of Herbamare and lots of pepper. The olive oil was reduced from 2 tbsp to 1.5 tbsp because I deemed it perfect as it was. The salad turned out incredible. You can eat it on its own, as a high-protein side, served over a bed of lettuce, or stuffed into a pita or wrap for lunch. It’s really versatile and makes perfect leftovers!
Let’s see, what else did I bring?
I had bananas to use up before we left on Friday so I decided to make mini banana blueberry muffins. I just winged this recipe and it turned out pretty good, but I still want to make a couple tweaks on the recipe before sharing.
Other foods I packed:
Lunch foods:
- Raw flax wraps
- hummus (do I even need to tell you this?)
- 1 large avocado
- Crackers
Breakfast:
- Vegan overnight oats: Before leaving, I added two servings of vegan overnight oats into a large mason jar. Then I shook it all up and threw it into the cooler. It’s a super easy “travel” breakfast that you can pump up with fruit, granola, crumbled muffins, etc.
- Mini muffins (above)
- Berries and apples
Ok, so these technically weren’t vegan overnight “oats” as we know it. For a change, I used quinoa flakes instead of rolled oats, and I must say, I really, really didn’t like it. The quinoa flakes virtually disappeared in the mixture, save for the tiny quinoa “tails” giving a gritty texture on the tongue. Next time, I will certainly stick to rolled oats! How should I use up my quinoa flakes? Cookies? Granola bars?
Other highlights of the weekend included lots of red wine, dairy-free strawberry basil gelato, walks and lounging instead of “workouts”, catching up with family, three cats brawling on our bed at 3am, and my skin feeling sun for the first time in months. And there is still a day to go. What more could a girl ask for?
For the rest of the pictures, see the photo gallery below.
Wow! The Sketchie picture is really awesome!
Thanks Vicki!
Discovered your blog a few months ago and totally enjoy your creative ways with food….you are a wonderfully talented woman! I am definitely going to make your spinoff on the
Lightened Up Protein Power Goddess bowl….who says healthy can’t look and taste utterly yummy!! In case you do want to have some fun planting on your roof top deck….I enjoy this website with lots of ideas for container gardening, etc………lifeonthebalcony.com.
Enjoy the sunshine!
Thank you Renee! I will certainly check out that website.
I like to use quinoa flakes when I make granola as an addition to rolled oats and buckwheat groats. I bet they’d be good in bean burgers, too, although I haven’t tried that yet. Use them anywhere you’d use oats – except for the overnight oats!!!
I have to agree that Quinoa flakes as overnight ‘oats’ definitely lack texture and taste … but I LOVE having Quinoa flakes cooked as a porridge. I use 1 Cup almond milk, gently boil it with a pinch of sea salt, add 1/3 Cup Quinoa Flakes & 1 tsp vanilla extract … stir over med-low heat until it thickens nicely (usually less than 5 minutes). I then pour that into a bowl, sprinkle with some stevia and top with a tablespoon of peanut butter, YUMMM!!! Another version is to add 1 tablespoon of raw cacao powder to the bowl, stir the cooked quinoa flakes into the cacao until it’s well mixed and then sweeten with maple syrup…when I do the chocolate version I like to add cold almond milk on top (love the hot/cold contrast). Hope you like the cooked versions better than raw!!
The photos are beautiful – sounds like a wonderful weekend! And what great travel-food choices… overnight oats are so perfect on the go! :)
A word about buying a ‘fixer upper’. That’s all good, but take your time until you find your ‘forever home’. We bought a dunger, thinking we’d fix it up then move to a bigger place in a few years. Uh uh. TOOOO much sweat and tears went into making it awesome and, even though we are busting at the seams, and had to build my office into the back of the garage, we can’t leave! As for selling it? Not even an option once five years of effort have been invested. We will probably keep it forever and rent it out once we move on. So.. it’s a great idea, but you really only want to do it once. When we do leave, we won’t be doing another fixer upper job. It was fun, erm.. no. Never again.
Sounds like you packed a lot of deliciousness!!!
I just made your power protein goddess bowls recipe! Yummy yummy thankyou!
I have always wanted to make your Lightened Up Protein Power Goddess bowl and I finally did last night and it was so delicious! I used buckwheat and added fresh basil at the end and it was so good! I love how versatile the recipe can be based on what you have on hand. I have extra for lunch today so I am pretty psyched. The recipe is definitely going to become a regular at my house. :)
I look at this salad so often but haven’t tried it yet, gonna make it tonight to go with your veggie burgers :)
If you want a small garden but don’t have much space check out pallet gardens, they are quite pretty I am trying it out this year for the first time.
I love the bee photos too!
Cheers!
I just bought quinoa flakes and I’m also not sure what to do with them… let me know what you come up with.
beautiful photos. I spent the holiday weekend in Montreal and the weather was fabulous there as well. by the way, the birthday dragon bowls look terrific. Who makes the dishes that your meal was served in??
I’m not a huge fan of quinoa flakes either…but they are ok as a substitute for breadcrumbs. I used them as on outer coating on veggie burger before baking which turned out really well!
You could start a container garden… ;) I live in an apartment (out on the east coast) and I’m currently growing kale, bell peppers, a few different herbs (mint, cilantro, basil, dill), and 2 kinds of lettuce on my balcony… and hot peppers, mini bells, and catnip in my office at work ;) I might pick up more of the lettuces, so that I have a constant supply, but so far everything’s doing well (and I can clip enough lettuce for a salad in my lunch every day :) )