Moving Update!

Sorry for the incommunicadoitis. My life has become absorbed by moving!

Not only am I moving us, the woman I babysit for hired me to help her move to, so it's been a whirlwind of moving!

Our official date of exodus is on thursday, so if you're in the montreal area and want to help a sista move, let me know!

Our mover cancelled on us, so we had to scramble and found a new mover just now (a whole day and a half in advance!) for twice what we were paying otherwise, but it's going to get done, so what can you do, really?

I'm taking my mother's advice to never let things get you angry, because really, what can you do? Better to stay calm and carry on (as the tshirts say!)

As an aside, check out our diagram of what is packed! Can you tell we're a family of literate cooks? lol!

Mooooving

No Food today. Too tired to cook.

In fact I had a few handful of plain chips and a root beer for dinner, that's how bone tired I am.

Why? One might be curious enough to ask.

Candid Shot in  packing mountain!

This disaster you see is our soon to be ex livingroom. About 2/3 of everything we own is there. Tomorrow we pack up the remainder of our stuff, and collect it into this area,  for next week -WE MOVE!!!!!

Matthew is much more versed in moving than I am, for he moved quite a bit as a child. In fact, his facebook status update today was this:

"Coming up next: Matthew's 25th move! Not quite at the one per year mark just yet...I wonder if it would be appropriate to throw a Silver Moving Anniversary Party for myself, in addition to a new apartment warming party?"

I don't know if I'll be energized enough to hold an apartment warming party anytime soon, I haven't moved as much as he has, that's for sure! (This will be my fourth ever official "move" As a child, we lived in the States and Canada, dependent on Season, but we only ever brought clothing and a few toys with us, so it wasn't really moving) This one is the most stressful for me asofar! I have to get rid of a lot of stuff (our new place is half the size of our current one) so I'm pretty anxious about that.

However, our new kitchen is going to be super nice! (Room for an eat in table!) and I'm super excited to show you all pictures of the new place come July (Once I'm settled!)

Who knows, maybe a housewarming party is in the works?

Happy Fete Nationale- Simple Curry Noodles

Hi Everyone! And if you happen to be in the Province of Quebec, Happy Fete Nationale!

When I awoke this morning, I forgot it was a holiday in Quebec, and had gone downtown to pick up some things at the Canadian Tire, and was irked to find it closed.

Luckily, the asian Market downtown was open (The one on Saint Catherine near St. Marc) and I was able to pick up some shiritaki noodles and mushrooms for this yummy curry noodled dish!

It's very simple and easy, so prepare yourself for the yummies.

I may not have gotten the moving supplies I needed, but my break from packing is full of deliciousness. Recipe after the jump!

Decadent Afternoon Lunch

I was in a bit of a bakey mood today.

I've been packing like a madwoman (since we move next weekend! Eek!) but not feeling particularly hungry, so the first thing I ate today was this snack, a brownie drizzled in chocolate peanut butter, with a nice cup of dolce and banana tea, from David's Tea. That tea is AMAZINGLY good. I totally recommend it!

I have a bit of a tough relationship with brownies, i can't seem to get the fudgy fluffy texture of normal brownies... when I do, I'll let you know!

Strange Bedfellows- AND Unscrewuppable Stirfry Sauce

So I awoke this morning to this face staring at me. The little curly tail twitching head cocked wanting attention... My roommates Dog had nuzzled her way into my bed, and curled down next to me, wanting snuggles.

Meanwhile, down the bed, another family friend was doing her best to take up as much room as humanly possible, trying to retain the heat left by Matthew as he got up to go to work.

Why am I not working, you may very well ask.

Well, I brought back from vacation a quite nasty cold/flu thing, as well as a broken toe (Ouchies!) so I'm stuck in the house for the week, but it's not so bad, as We're moving to a new place next week and I'm supposed to be packing for that. (How much is actually getting done is besides the point!

I also decided that I needed to make my ultimate comfort food, a stirfry.

Now, I make stirfries so often, I tend to forget that some people may be unfamiliar with the basic anatomy of a stirfy, ie what should be put in it, what ingredients to use, what sauce to use, etc.

It's super simple.

Basically, you can put anything you want in a stirfry (except mashed things, obviously, but I'm going to assume we're all reasonable intelligent people!) This includes whatever sauce you want. But if you're unsure of what sort of sauce you want to chuck in there, I've got a sure-fire delicious stirfry sauce that I've never once heard a complaint about!

Yummy Snack Idea

Looking for a quick snack but feeling lazy?

Want something filling, yet sweet?

Want something healthy yet decadent?

Then make some yummy Granny Smith Apple slices drizzled in melted dark chocolate!

Nom Nom Nom!

A Quick Shoutout

To preface this, I am not being paid to tout this product.

However, Yesterday while shopping for some veggies, I came across this store brand Sparkling Juice that is AMAZING. So if you're in Canada, near a store that sells PC brand food (Provigo in QC) Try out the Sparkling Fruit Juice. (I got Pomegranite Cranberry- It's amazingly good!)

They're sold in little boxes of four cans!

(If you're near the Provigo on Monkland Street in Montreal, They're near the beer!)

If you get the Blue Menu ones, they're also only 60 Calories, so diet friendly! :)

A delightful salad for a delightful day

I have a confession to make.

I'm a vegan who's not big on Salads.

I think this spawned from my adolescence, when I was quite horribly overweight, and my mother (pitying me in my obese and awkward state) would try to encourage me to eat healthier by making me salads. Thus a bitterness stemmed from my salad eating, a snarky feeling in which Salads represented everything that was wrong with my body.

I now know this is ridiculous, and now I eat much healthier, am not obese, and think to myself "I should give salads another try, after all, they aren't the devil." But still cannot force myself to actually get down to it and make a salad.

This ends today, for today I have made a beautiful salad, and it all has to do with this bottle of white balsamic vinegar I picked up at the store today. I was wandering around looking for some lunch inspiration, and there it was, sitting there. An Errant thought popped into my head: "That would make a nice vinaigrette!"

Beach Food.... mmmm Guac!

While I am not a huge beachy person- I don't like sand all that much, I'm not big on the ocean, and I get overheated quickly- Beach food is something altogether dear to my heart. Specifically guacamole.

Guacamole is great, because you can whip it up in under 5 minutes, it's easy to make, and pretty near everyone likes eating it, so dealing with leftovers is practically a non-issue. It's also super healthy for you, with lots of vitamins, healthy fats, nutrients, etc.

In addition, eating guacamole counts as a serving of vegetables, and kids tend to like it (doesn't seem like healthy food!) so you can con fussy kids into eating vegetables while they think they're only eating junk. Genius!

Evening Delight- Zucchini Pizza

When I'm on vacation, while everyone else eats communally, I tend to branch out and do my own thing, making a special meal for myself.

To give my family credit, they often do try to make something for me special, however often this turns out poorly, due to a lack of understanding about my dietary needs.

Veggie soup is great, but with barley in it I'm out of luck. Onions sauteed in butter? Sadly no. Rice cooked with a splash of chicken stock? Le sigh.

So it's easier in the long run to create my own stuff. However, I get the opportunity to make my own stuff like this personal pizza!

On Vacation with some Pancakes

It's rather nice being on vacation, and as I write my very first post for this new blog I'm starting, all of my family is down at the beach enjoying themselves.

Well, to be accurate, not all of my family, as I'm vacationing with my mother, the sister closest to my age (Krista), her fiance (Corey), and my fella. You can see Corey and Matthew chatting while soaking up some rays. (See above!)

Being on vacation, especially with a group of non-GFVs can present a bit of a problem.

However, with a big of pre-planning, and the grit to say "Sorry, I'm going to cook for myself!", you can enjoy some delicious foodstuffs, for me today namely GFV pancakes drizzled with melted chocolate and peanut butter.