Ginger

We are still fighting colds at our house.  Mine has settled into a highly annoying sinus headache and a bit of fatigue.  Husband is unfortunately at the stuffed up, sore throat stage. This weekend husband offered to make up so cold-kicking ginger tea which I'd completely forgotten about since my head cold experience over the holidays.

While we were in Montreal between Christmas and New Year I had a lousy head cold (pretty much exactly like this one... sigh).  On our last day we were meeting up with friends for brunch but had some time to kill and went in search of somewhere to have tea.  It was insanely cold so Husband steered me into the first open place we found.  I was iffy on it from the outside and so sulked at him slightly since I was looking for a chain where I knew exactly what to order in case there were language issues.  Turns out Husband had chosen a fabulous local vegan spot and it's just unfortunate we didn't have time to eat there as well... next trip.  They had a wonderful, extensive (and English) tea selection.  I had yerba mate for the first time in years and Husband ordered their ginger tea.

Husband has since made ginger tea which was grated fresh ginger root steeped in hot water at our house.  This time he upgraded the healthy cold-kicking properties by adding lemon and honey.  It's a warming, soothing, sinus clearing cup of happiness. 

Now if only we could make it in gorgeous iron kettles like they had.  Husband looked at some lovely ones at a local tea store and I know he'd love to have gotten me one but I told him they were too expensive.  Maybe some day.  For now I have ginger tea and head ache medication.

Snow Stroll

Taking a bit of time to enjoy one of the days where we had nice, fluffy, snow and relatively warm temperatures (this time of year sitting right around freezing is delightful considering what it can be like).

One of Sadie's favourite things to do is to shove her head as far into the snow as possible. When she comes up she usually has a little pile of snow sitting on her nose for several minutes.

Five

So I'm linking up with Lauren at From My Grey Desk for High Five for Friday since I've been terrible at pre-writing blogs this week and this gives me some sort of focus! So five things about my week.

1. While we haven't been perfect, our household has been much better about eating healthily this week. Lots of vegetables, fewer carbs, much less salt, planning ahead.  We spent a lot of the weekend either cooking or using the slow cooker.  Today Husband has a list of things to pick up at the Saint John City Market since he works across the street so that we can get started cooking again this weekend for next week.

Mother in Law at the Market during her visit this Fall

2. I didn't mention it on the blog but I went to the doctor this Autumn and he had some concerns about my blood pressure.  So I had to go back a month later and he was still concerned about my blood pressure.  He said that a lot of people actually have heightened blood pressure in the doctor's office for various reasons so sent me off to take my blood pressure at home for a couple of weeks.  I'm pleased to report that (after some slightly high blood pressure with all the salt over the holidays) when I take my blood pressure at home and am distracted by a kitty on my lap it's fine and it's getting better as we're eating healthier and exercising more.

3. I've got my butt back to step class.  I work at a university and we have the option of taking free fitness classes that are offered around lunch time.  This Fall I was so slammed that I never got there but I'm heading back (there will never be a picture of this!).

4. I am loving the new canvas art Husband got me for Christmas. Super excited that we've decided on seating to go under it. Now to order that seating!

5. I'm currently carrying this beautiful thing. I haven't had a chance to take an outfit photo with it yet but it's certainly brightened up my week. Mum returned from a recent trip with this Christopher Kon bag and I borrowed it for awhile.  I think it may be borrowed occasionally in the future... once I return it to her.

Happy Friday everyone! Super glad it's here this week.  I actually enjoy my job a lot but I seriously need the weekend to recover from the early mornings.

Labour Day Limping

If I'm having a little trouble making my legs function today it's because we spent the day at Fundy National Park yesterday.  It was a gorgeous day for hiking and exploring with sun, a bit of a breeze and comfortable temperatures (except for maybe on that uphill climb right near the end when I was sweating buckets... no glow for this girl).  We did about 10 km of trails yesterday and checked out spots we hadn't been before which was great fun.  Sadie is a tired pup today too.

I'll try not to overdo it with photos today! I took a few.  I'm concerned our camera really isn't focusing well or handling things the way it used to.  Camera getting old I'm afraid.

Wolfe Lake

Bennett Lake

Bennett Lake

Bennett Lake

Bennett Lake Selfcam

Everyone in for the selfcam

Caribou Plain

Sometimes I just put my sunnies over my glasses

Caribou Plain

The Lookout

Doesn't she look so proud of herself?

Alma

Herring Cove

Herring Cove

Herring Cove

Matthew's Head Trail

Linking up today with Naptime Review.  Fur Mom's count!

Long Weekends

Our household has a lousy track record with long weekend in 2012.  Somehow someone is always sick.  I was pretty excited going into the Canada Day weekend (last weekend) because we were both healthy... if a little tired.  Then Husband wound up spending the Monday running a fever and throwing up.  Lovely. We seemed to be back on track until I woke up at 3am Friday unable to swallow without feeling like I was being stabbed by razor blades.  I'd had a bit of a sore throat the evening before but hadn't though much of it.  I wound up taking Friday off and getting to the medical clinic who gave me antibiotics.  I spent the weekend taking advil to allow myself the luxury of yawning, swallowing and sneezing without immense pain.

The first week of July was a little rough on us.  I'm a little concerned about this continued long weekend trend.  It would be nice if the next one (first weekend in August) went smoothly!

Sometimes the best thing in life is a cat in a box

He really loves that box

Sun Spray

I don't tan.  When the sun comes out I wear hats and shades and lotion and everything imaginable because I don't tan... I burn. My brothers and Husband (lovely things that they are) have said I'm able to burn in a rain storm. I visited them on March Break (they live in the Cayman islands of all things) and we took the photo below.

My brothers and I could be different ethnicities

I decided it would be fun to visit a local business who offer spray tans prior to my trip.  I didn't want to blind the people of Ontario with my pasty whiteness. Merle Norman in Rothesay, who share a beautiful space with Boutique Zekara and Shoe Fanaddict, came to my rescue and they've offered to come to your as well. If you're from the area you really need to stop by the fabulous spot in Rothesay.  Clothes, bags, jewellery, shoes, make up... so much pretty in one place!

The helpful ladies sent me the following instructions for prior to my visit and were keen that I follow them to ensure the best effect possible:

• Exfoliate the day of or the day before the tan
• Moisturize in the winter time not in the summer
• Wax or shave prior to the session
• Do not wear deodorant or perfume on the day of spray tan
• Wear loose dark clothing (I realised husband's basketball shorts were actually ideal)
• Do not wear silk or satin undergarments- bathing suits are fine if you prefer
• Wear flip flops if possible

I arrived and was taken down stairs where it turns out there are HUGE sales from Shoe Fanaddict and Boutique Zekara (FYI) as well as a treatment room. You definitely want to check out downstairs!

Part of the downstairs treatment area.

In order to protect the room from the spray, you're given your new glow in a tent.  Think of it as taking a slightly choreographed, cool, misting shower. Just try not to touch the sides of the tent or the resulting smudges will need some buffing out. Don't worry, you'll get instructions and before long it'll all seem normal!

After my spray I was given another set of instructions:

• Do not exercise, use steam rooms or saunas for the first 24hours
• Avoid sun exposure for 8-10 hours after tan, as it will cause sweating and cause blotching
• Wait 8-12 hours to shower
• Do not use soap after first shower, rinse until water runs clear
• The longer you wait to exfoliate the longer the tan will last
• Use sulfate free products (a couple of recommended products shown below)
• Moisturize

Anytime I'm told it's in my best interest to delay exercising it's ok with me. Sorry, can't break a sweat! One of you lucky folks is going to have the same excuse to sit back and relax because Merle Norman in Rothesay is giving away a free spray tan (takes about 30 minutes... plus the time you spend browsing the pretty stuff).

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Meal Prep Monday

Over the holidays we did some indulging, much like everyone else.  The only problem is that before that I did a fair amount of indulging because my grandmother died and I figured I deserved a cookie.  So, Husband and I have committed to getting our (slightly more padded) butts back on track food-wise.  One of the major factors in my success when it comes to eating healthily is food prep on weekends.  If I get things organized and do quite a bit of cooking on the weekend then my week will go well.  If I don't... oh dear.

One thing I've decided I will do every weekend when I get home from doing groceries is to make sure I get fruit and vegetables to a convenient form for use.  I'm more likely to eat the peppers if they're cut up into strips easy to stirfry or just chop a little for omlette.  I'm more likely to eat carrots if I've already turned them into carrot sticks.  Broccoli is more likely to be cooked up if I take it off of the stalk.

A Simply for Life breakfast favourite of mine is "Berry Cup" though any fruit works.  This week it's going to be strawberries.

and Kiwi

"Berry Cup" involves taking low fat cottage cheese and yogurt and blending them together.  Then you layer the berries or fruit with the mix and fibre one cereal. It is very yummy.  Seriously, it's way better than just yogurt. When Husband makes it for us he even puts it in a fancy glass bowl for me. It feels a little more special.

When I wake up in the morning I'm a bit of a zombie.  If it's at all difficult I won't do it.  This has led to too much purchasing of bagels at Tim Hortons which we have at work.  So This weekend I de-stalked and cut up the strawberries.  I removed the fuzzy stuff from the kiwi and cut it into bite sized bits.  This makes them easier to use for breakfast and also to take in a container as a snack.  I had Husband blend the cottage cheese and yogurt together so it's ready to just scoop out (I kind of have issues with the texture, appearance, pretty much everything to do with cottage cheese so i don't handle it myself).  All I have to do in the morning is layer.

Bet you think you're going to see a photo of the finished product? At some point along the way Trilly clued into "Berry Cup" and the fact that she LOVES cottage cheese/yogurt mixture.  So moving away from it long enough to photograph is just too risky.  She's like a furry little ninja.

Produce Pack #4

The produce packs from Farmers Bundle are getting more exciting every week. Is it sad to get excited about vegetables? I don't think so.  Anything that gets you eating more vegetables has to be a good thing.  As opposed to going through everything in the box this week I thought I'd change things up.  Previously I mentioned that every week we get an email update regarding the state of things at the garden. It's fun to be kept up to date on things and I'm very excited about upcoming carrots!

There were a couple of new things in the box this week, namely cauliflower and cabbage. I have to admit that I'm saddened by the lack of lettuce, mesculin (that was soooo yummy) or spinach.  I kind of count on those salad staples!


Now last week we had some peas which was a nice surprise.  This week we didn't just have peas.  We had enough peas to feed the whole neighbourhood!!  Craziness.  They're going to be very nice to sit and eat raw when the weather is warm though!  Good snack food.

Last year I quite honestly took all cabbages I received my Dave's Produce Pack and gave them to my mother.  My mum would then turn into into an insane amount of coleslaw and split that between our households.  I admited this to my Simply For Life consultant who has promised to help me with cabbage ideas this year.  I have to admit the idea of battered, fried cabbage sounds awesome but not so sure that's what Keith has in mind.

I might not be frying battered cabbage this weekend but I do think that this SFL recipe provided by the lovely Nela is likely to be tried this evening!

Cabbage and sausage casserole

1 tsp olive oil

1 small onion, chopped

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 green or red cabbage, sliced about ¼” thick

1pkg Simply for Life sausages, thawed and casing removed

 (or ½ lb extra lean ground pork)

4 ripe tomatoes, chopped coarsely

2 Tbsp in total of your favorite spices (for example: garlic powder, cayenne pepper, cumin, paprika, oregano)

Pinch of salt and black pepper

Heat oil in a large skillet or pot. Add sausage meat and cook, breaking it up a bit until cooked through. Add onion and garlic and cook for another minute. Add cabbage, stir, and cook 2 to 3 minutes to wilt it down a bit. Add tomatoes and spices, stir and cover for about 10 minutes. Correct seasoning and serve.



Produce Pack #3

So we're at week three of our Farmer's Bundles from Jolly Farmer and summer has finally properly arrived in New Brunswick.  Thank goodness the vegetables can all get on with growing at a proper rate.  It means that the box wasn't nearly as "leafy" this week.  In fact I'm kind of wondering what I'm going to do without my spinach.  Time to have broccoli omlettes I guess. 

Oh, and where was my bug this week? Now I'm a little worried I may have missed it and put it in my fridge!

Longest list so far!

Hakurei Turnips, Garlic Scapes, Cherry Tomatoes, Pac Choi

Peas, Broccoli

Mesclun Salad, Swiss Chard along with everything else

Adding some colour to the green!!

My husband and I have used Pac Choi in stirfries before so I was happy to see it.  I've also been enjoying throwing radishes into stirfry the last couple of weeks so I'm wondering how those little turnips will work.  I will have to see! So excited to see what's to come now that things are properly getting growing. 

Really have to find out if Farmer's Bundle want some of the boxes back to reuse.  Otherwise anyone moving and need some nice boxes?  The cat really doesn't need that many! Guess I can build her a kitty condo though.