Buying Local...During Winter!

Good Morning!

Okay, it's 7am here and I am anticipating that Noah will be up any second so I decided to just write a quick blog, but something that means a lot to me and I am very passionate about: buying local - food grown in our immediate community! I admit that in the climate we live in, there is a MUCH larger variety of local produce available during the Spring/Summer months, but buying in the Winter, depending on where you live, CAN be done! If I can't buy local, it's very important to our family that we look for the 'next best thing'! To us that includes buying organic, and looking at WHERE our food comes from. We try to stay as close to home as possible! We definitely don't always succeed (our edamame beans have come frozen from China), but we are making a conscious effort to keep the food we eat, close to our home.
Take a look at the amazing produce I was able to buy from Dan's Farm in Victoria B.C. this week: leeks, kombucha or 'sweet mama' squash, apples and parsnips! The apples are seriously the most delicious apples I've ever had! I ate two right away!!! I love the taste (and name) that the kombucha squash provides! I use the squash when roasting veggies, and making soups (Alicia Silverstone has a simple and beautiful recipe for kombucha squash soup in The Kind Diet). I love adding leek to soups and parsnips taste really great when boiled with carrots and sweet potatoes and then mashed!!! MMM!

Local produce not only tastes significantly better, but it's cheaper if you go directly to the farm itself (all the produce shown, was under $10 - apples were less than $1/pound)!

An interesting fact that I learned recently was that there is actually a term for individuals who eat local (try to maintain that 100-mile radius), that was donned by Jessica Prentice for the World Environment Day in 2005. She referred to individuals who eat local as locavores! The term caught on so much that in 2007, the New Oxford American Dictionary chose locavore as its word of the year in 2007!!! Isn't that sweet?! It gives me hope when our society is becoming more aware and accepting new ways that aren't necessarily mainstream or taught in our school system! Do you ever wonder why you walk into a generic huge superstore-grocery store and it's next to impossible to find organic OR local produce? Someone once said something brilliant to me. He said that we create the demand for the products we see in these billion-dollar grocery stores. So yes, it takes a little more time to initially educate and become aware of which stores carry the products that I want to put into my own and my family's bodies, but for me, that is precious time that I am willing to spend in order to insure that my family is being supplied and nourished in the most promising way possible! There are no 'guarantees' in life. Eat that and you will live longer! There are a lot of HUGE unknowns out there and life isn't predictable. What we do know however is that if we fuel our bodies in the best way possible and treat ourselves, and others (to me this includes animals), with the utmost love and respect, we will live the days we have ahead of us to the fullest. We will feel happier and healthier. We will look better. We will be able to think clearer. To me, eating a kind and healthy life while still ENJOYING everything that I put into my body immensely and exercising is a gift that I give myself and my future here :)
Here is an interesting and fun website that is geared for kids but aren't we all kids at heart?!!! http://calc.zerofootprint.net/youth/ is a fun way for children to calculate their ecological footprints! It also has a number of tips and ways that you can be kinder to the environment! I know that children are our future so what's a better way to educate them then to first educate ourselves about how we can be kinder to the environment?!

Ecology Fund also has a great site where you can calculate your ecological footprint by answering some quick questions and at the end it really opens your eyes by telling you how many Earths would be needed to support your current lifestyle if everyone lived that way - scary!
http://www.ecologyfund.com/ecology/res_bestfoot.html

Dan and I recently watched a really sweet documentary called No Impact Man. It's about an author who embarks on a year-long journey with his wife and young daughter to live their life (they live in Manhattan), while making no net environmental impact! It's hilarious, insane and depicts the challenges (the wife has to give up her coffee-shop addictions, shopping pleasures, make-up and live with worms - used for composting in their apartment), and simple pleasures that come from living a life this way. It's totally worth watching. After Dan and I watched it, we were left with the realization that we could never do that but what could we do. We made a pact that we would ONLY get tea/coffee out for 2011 if we bring our own mugs. Dan was given a traveling coffee mug for Christmas and I bought a water bottle and traveling tea mug for myself. So far we have stuck to our promise! Dan is great at forgetting his but amazing at saying 'well I don't really need one then anyways'! We are also composting a lot more and have Noah involved! Noah and I made 'recycling box' out of a recycled cardboard box and labeled it We are Extremely Very Good Recyclers after the book by Lauren Child about Charlie and Lola who learn about how to recycle and earn their very own real tree to plant in their school after recycling and filling their 'tree counter'! Noah loves this book and he loves helping Dan and I carry out our recycling and compost! We don't use a lot of bottles that need to go to the bottle depot but we save whatever bottles we do have and Noah gets to take them to the bottle depot once a month, and the money he receives gets put into his 'spending' piggy bank for him to put towards something he really wants (right now it's a color-changer Doc Hudson from the Pixar Cars movie)!!! Noah was given for Christmas 4 piggy banks that are labeled sharing, spending, saving, and schooling respectively. Each week we give him his allowance ($2 because he is two) and he puts $.75 into his savings piggy, $.75 into his schooling piggy, $.25 into his sharing piggy and $.25 into his spending piggy! It's a great way for Dan and I to start teaching him the importance of money and how to divide your earnings!

Anyways, I am going to finish off my random-filled blog entry by saying that one more thing that Dan and I are really working at doing in our household, is not wasting as much! We are really making the most use out of the groceries we have in our house. For example, if I make too much oatmeal, we save the rest in the fridge and eat it later. I was really sick a few weeks back and ironically it was the day after I had bought a beautiful array of produce that was just waiting to be used. Well, I was so sick (Norovirus), for 4 days that by the time I had re-gained my energy and zest for life, the produce that had been looking crisp and ready-to-use was now flacid and rather sad-looking. I felt terrible having to compost some of it but realized that there are times in life when random, unplanned things change your original plans! I ended up salvaging some of the produce however and made this stir-fry! When it was finished cooking, it looked and tasted amazing! SO YAY! I may have just not used these items before because they didn't look good but now our family is trying to use everything that we buy and only buy what we really will use/need!!!

I am proud to say that we have been walking more and leaving our van at home! We have saved a lot of money on gas and had an amazing time walking around, breathing in the sweet, fresh air and Noah loves taking turns in the stroller and then we find random soccer fields or parks along the way for him to get out and run in! Even though the weather has been dreary and grey, we still have made a point to get outside more and use our legs opposed to driving! Not always realistic, but a lot more fun when you can make the time to do so!

That's all for now! Have a very happy day :)

The Cleanest Toilet Ever! Au-Natural!!!

Happy New Year! A new year is here and it is sure to bring us all some ups and downs and all-arounds! I am optimistic that our year will be bright and we recently found out that baby #2 will be a girl! My due-date is May 12th so there is a lot for my family to look forward too!

As Ally mentioned, I was recently very sick with a Norwalk-type virus...it hit me hard and I don't know about you but when I get sick and then recover, I have this urgency to clean and cleanse the house from top to bottom! We just moved into a new house before Christmas and then spent the holidays in Winnipeg, so we still had lots of organizing to do when we got home. Being sick, only prolonged the inevitable task. I figured since I was the one who had been so ill, I should probably take it upon myself once better to give our new bathroom, a head-to-toe clean!


I didn't want to use harsh chemicals and have tried in the past just using baking soda when cleaning our toilet bowl, but haven't found the results, anything to brag about. So before I cleaned, I did some further research before cleaning and stumbled upon this cool site: http://verdavivo.wordpress.com/2009/04/07/5-ways-to-clean-your-toilet-naturally/
This lady Daryl is passionate about the environment, and leading a 'greener' life. She wrote a fabulous article that you can read by clicking on the above link and it's called '5 Ways To Clean Your Toilet Naturally'. After reading her article and realizing that I only had 2 of the ingredients in my house that she recommended, I decided to clean my toilet bowl with vinegar and water! Daryl recommended that you pour 1 cup of white vinegar into the toilet bowl and let it sit for 30 minutes. I did this and let the vinegar sit for about 45 minutes. After that, you simply add to the toilet bowl 1/2 cup of baking soda and the fun begins! When I added the baking soda, my toilet bowl entered a happy state of chemical-reactions and started making a fizzing/bubbling sound. I then took my toilet-cleaning brush and scrubbed away...did I say scrub? It really wasn't a tedious task at all. I barely had to touch the sides of the toilet because the two products really did everything themselves! I swear, my toilet bowl has never looked cleaner! Once I flushed the toilet that is! Seriously it took no time at all and I had no lingering, chemical smells and I knew that what I was flushing down the toilet wasn't going to harm the environment in a hugely detrimental way, compared with the ingredients you would find in most cleaners.

Thought that I would share my story with you as it was so simple, requires only 2 common household products (white vinegar and baking soda), is environmentally friendly and good for your health and household too! The added bonus is that by using baking soda and vinegar instead of conventional and hazardous cleaning products, you are not only being so much kinder to your health and the environment, but you are saving a bundle too! YAY! Dan and I made a new budget with the amazing help of Dan's parents over the holidays and are really trying to work on making smarter financial decisions and stick to a more concrete budget (this does not come naturally to neither Dan nor I). We are both feeling confident that this new year will bring us new wisdom to make the best choices for our family and our future!

If you are interested, I found another interesting article that simply lays out other ideas in which baking soda and vinegar can clean your house!

http://factoidz.com/what-i-have-learned-about-going-green-and-going-natural/

7 Ingredients to Ban From Your Bathroom

There are a lot of horrible chemicals out there, in anything from plastic containers, to toothpaste and shampoo. Sometime there's too much information out there. There's almost always a 'bad' ingredient in everything we own, and I often just brush off a lot of the information out there. That's why I love articles like this one...

The 7 Ingredients to Ban From Your Bathroom

Even if you don't eliminate all the products that you use that have these ingredients, a list of 7 is much easier to remember when buying new products than a list of 500.

Read the article, but to sum up... eliminate:

-Parabens

-Phthalates

-Nanoparticles (microfine particles)

-Sodium Lauryl/Laureth Sulfate (SLS)

-Synthetic fragrances

-Diethanolamine (DEA) and Triethanolamine (TEA)

-Diazolidinyl and Imidazolidinyl Urea

Read up!

Six Months in Sudan

Well life has been pretty crazy over the past year, but I have been trying to get back into reading more (I LOVE to read). This was one book I've been working on and finished a few weeks ago.

It is called Six Months in Sudan. by James Maskalyk. This is a non-fiction account of a fairly new doctor's (from Toronto! Yeah Canada!) journey to a village called Abyei in Sudan and his time working in the hospital there. While he was there he wrote a blog about his experiences. That's a pretty far-reaching statement as this 'blog' is probably not what we might consider to be a blog. He didn't have a lot of resources or time, so the posts that he was able to put up are short and contain the most blunt window into human emotions, suffering and so many things. He then took his posts and expanded them into a fully written novel. For anyone, anyone looking to get into the medical field, anyone interested in third world settings or anyone interested is anything besides themselves, will LOVE this book. Some of the stories are heartbreaking, but often it is also told in an emotionally cut-off way (as is needed by any doctor, but especially by this doctor that has 20x a manageable workload with barely any resources) and sometimes a too-emotional way (not seen by physicians in first world countries, but somehow appropriate in this setting). I'm sure you now have no idea what I am talking about, ha ha, as those sentences made NO sense.

Nevertheless, please read this, it is fantastic.

:)

Thanks Alicia!!

Alicia Silverstone has this amazing blog called The Kind Life (based a lot on the reaction and follow-up to her cookbook/book The Kind Diet on being a vegan... the inspiration for this blogs name!) that both Jay and I follow.

She had this great giveaway paired with EcoTools a while ago... and I won! Isn't winning something just a wonderful thing? It doesn't really matter if it's something large or small, or something you'll use or won't use, winning feels great! Well this... this is something I will definitely use. It was a great makeup bag (or toiletry bag) with a set of eco-friendly "green" makeup brushes. There's a foundation brush, blush brush, angled eyeshadow brush and a lash/brow groomer! I didn't expect eco brushes to feel so luxurious and soft, but these brushes are much better than the brushes I currently have!

Thanks EcoTools and thanks Alicia Silverstone!!

Vegan Christmas Shopping!

So... yes... I know what you're thinking... isn't it too early to be thinking about Christmas? Well, kind of. I've been SO busy lately and SO sad that I haven't been able to get to Vancouver to see Dan and Jay (and Noah!) that I might as well start planning for Christmas (when I get to see them!). So I started thinking about some great vegan-friendly gifts. I thought I would make a long, long list for those of you out there who are stumped at what to buy. I think these are great gift ideas for people who are vegans, vegetarians, green-conscious, or just anyone! Even if people haven't made it a priority in their life to make these choices, I'm sure they wouldn't mind (and they might even appreciate) gifts like these!

So here you go!

Vegan Christmas Gift and Present Ideas:

Online Shopping and Great Websites:

http://www.etsy.com/

Lots of homemade things to shop for (vegan and non, so make sure to search for vegan!)

http://www.vautecouture.com/index.htm

Quality winter/fall vegan coats and some really cute t's and necklaces!

http://www.hurrawbalm.com/hurraw/

The cutest vegan lip balms with creative 'flavours'! Chai Spice, Green Tea, Vanilla Bean... oh my!

http://www.veganstore.com/

http://www.cherrycrush.ca/

http://www.karmavore.ca/index.php

Lots of things here. A few things I thought were cute: Tofu Never Screams tote and Cow Hugger tote. A very cute diaper bag and really fun necklaces!

http://www.vegbelts.com/

If you're looking for great faux leather (really looks like leather!) belts or fabric belts then this is your store!

http://vivagranolaveganstore.com/catalog/index.php?language-en

http://www.vegangiftshop.com/

http://www.alternativeoutfitters.com/index.aspx

Books:

I'm sure vegans would appreciate all kinds of books!

Vegan-Related Subjects:

Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer

Becoming Vegan: The complete Guide To Adopting a Healthy Plant-Based Diet by Brenda Davis

Vegan Freak: Being Vegan in a Non-Vegan World by Bob Torres

Vegan Cookbooks and Bakebooks:

The Veganomicon: The Ultimate Vegan Cookbook by Isa Chandra Moskowitz

Vegan Planet: 400 Irresistable Recipes with Fantastic Flavors from Home and Around the World by Robin Robertson

The Kind Diet by Alicia Silverstone

The Vegan Table by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau

The Thrive Diet by Brendan Brazier

Easy Vegan by Ryland Peters & Small

Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar by Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero

Vegan, Vegetarian, Athletic, Health or Style Magazine Subscriptions!

Vegan Baking and/or Cooking:

For those friends and families who would don't have the time, creativity, or who just love food!

Batch of vegan cookies, breads, muffins or candy

Vegan food dishes (casseroles, salad dressings...)

Jars full of beans, specialty flours, grains or homemade dough/batter mixes

Fruit basket full of organic fruits (maybe throw in a few different or rare fruits)

Gift basket full of organic or fair trade teas, coffees and vegan chocolate (add in a few fun things like an eco-friendly water bottle, travel mug, mug or devices to brew loose tea)

Gift basket of organic olive oil, organic vinegar, organic pastas (I love soba noodles!), and cans of organic tomato sauces and spaghetti sauces

Gift baket of organic, vegan wine and vegan cheese

Grow your own sprouts kit, seeds and/or potted herbs

Vegan or vegan-friendly restaurant gift certificates

Cooking and Baking Supplies:

A few things for anyone tackling healthy, vegan (or non) dishes in the kitchen would love!

Slow Cooker

Food Processor

Mixers (stand, hand...)

Bread Maker

Food Dehydrator

Blender

Juicer

Spice rack (something fun and creative!) and Spice Containers

Soymilk maker (yes, they have these!)

Popcorn popper (include some organic popping corn!)

Pay for a weekly or monthly organic produce basket delivery (often available from local organic grocery stores... make sure they're local!)

Whole Foods, Organza or Planet Organic (or any local organic grocery store) gift certificate (I'm sure any younger families or students would appreciate this)

Other Ideas:

Reusable shopping bags (there are so many cute options these days!)

Vegan beauty products (any girl will love them!)

Donations to causes (any person should appreciate this. Make it fun... find out what cause would really mean something to them... make it personal!)

Hope you enjoyed all these ideas and let me know if you have any great ones!

The Grouse Grind! Do it for the kids!

Hello! I know it's been way too long but I have been taking some time off to explore Vancouver and enjoy some quality time with my beautiful family before Dan's first year of med-school starts! EEK! We have been blessed to have been given the opportunity to spend this summer not working and have had an amazing time! I am sure that the summers to follow will be filled with reality (working), so we have really just cherished every moment spent together as a family!

Now that we are all settled into our Vancouver life, I have been running lots (a great way to explore a new city), and have even ventured into hiking! I haven't just done a leisure hike either! I had heard about Grouse Mountain (located in North Vancouver), from friends before and I had heard a lot of hype about the Grouse Grind which is a trail that takes you through a steep terrain up to the Grouse Mountain peak! I am used to running longer distances so when I read that the trail was only 2.9km long I thought "Piece of cake"...just to let you know: it's NOT! In fact, hiking the Grouse Grind is the opposite of a walk in the park! I loved every sweaty minute of it of course! There are 2,830 stairs along the way and an elevation gain of 2,800 ft!!!! I was told that the hike takes on average an hour and a half to complete but of course the crazy competitive nature in me kicked in and I was determined to hike at a continual, brisk pace.

While Noah was napping one afternoon, I drove to the base and began my hike! I started faster thinking that it was only 2.9km and I think that the runner in me was thinking that I should sprint!!! HahaHA! I quickly realized that I was no pro-hiker (I run and walk a lot carrying a 32lb toddler but I don't hike), so I slowed to a power-hike! I passed this older man who was in wicked shape and learned at the end that he is an avid hiker from Seattle who comes here every year just to hike the Grouse Grind! With the crazy terrain, I spent the entire hike looking down to make sure that I didn't fall (especially after seeing paramedics and firefighters, carrying down a woman who had injured herself, and then I saw a memorial set-up)...this was serious! I didn't stop once, although there were many people (much saner than I clearly am), who were enjoying their hike much more and basking in the mountains' beauty). My reasoning for not stopping was more fear that if I did, I might not start again!

I finished the hike in 48 minutes and instantly felt this feeling of pure happiness and fulfillment! I had wanted to hike the Grouse Grind since I learned about it and felt really proud of the time that I did it in! Of course there were expert hiker/runners who completed it in 28 minutes (male best time for that day), and 33 minutes (female best time for that day), but I was so proud of myself for my time and don't think that I could have possibly gone any faster!!!

It was recommended that you take the SkyRide back down the mountain which is their gondola ride (for a cost of $10 down), because during the summer, the Grind is so busy with hikers and it's so steep that it would wreck havoc on your knees! I was so happy to just relax and take the SkyRide down! The view from the top of the mountain is truly breathtaking and I just felt so thankful to have had that opportunity! I instantly fell in love with Grouse Mountain and the Grouse Grind so I chose to pay for an annual pass which allows me to ride the SkyRide and take Noah to see the two orphaned Grizzly Bears and wolves in the Nature Sanctuaries they have! There are also shows that you can watch (such as a sweet Lumberjack show and Birds of Prey show), and in the winter they have reindeer sleigh rides (Noah will LOVE that)!!!! So I bought my annual pass and now have fallen in love with a new sport that challenges me physically and mentally: hiking!

A few days ago, Dan and I took Noah up to Grouse Mountain so that Dan and I could take turns hiking the Grouse Grind! We could have put up road-blocks and said that it was too hard and complicated for us both to take turns hiking but instead we looked at the day as an adventure! Sure Noah missed his afternoon nap, and Dan and I didn't get to hike the Grind together which would have been amazing, but we both hiked it and completed it and we both felt that endorphin rush that you get upon completing something so crazy-cool! The feeling was exemplified for me the second time around because I knew that my husband was sharing the same experience that I had too! Since I am the annual pass-holder, I took Noah up to the top of the mountain in the SkyRide while Dan hiked first (that way we only had to pay $10 for Dan to ride down the mountain compared to $20)...so while Dan hiked, Noah and I rode the gondola (which he LOVED), and then walked over to see the Grizzly Bear sanctuary. It was the most incredible experience to see these amazing animals (although I wish so much that these two males were free to roam), especially because Noah's nickname is 'bear' and I have so much respect for these creatures! I wrote a previous blog about the Grizzly Bear trophy hunt that happens ironically in the Great Bear Rainforest in British Columbia, and I just hope that by seeing these magnificent animals up close (these two bears were orphaned and deemed unable to live in the wild), people will become more involved with their well-being and be their voice in protecting these animals from inhumane treatment!
While we were there, Noah and I watched as one of the grizzly bears came to the river and submerged himself in the water to cool his 900lb-self from the 30 degree day! He was completely underwater with the exception of his head and one front paw which he often rested his head upon! His nose twitched as an annoying fly pestered him. Finally, he opened his massive mouth and tried to bite at the fly! It was incredible!

Dan and I forgot our camera charger in Victoria so our camera is currently dead and unable to take glorious pictures for posting!!! That being said, I captured a few pictures of the bear and Noah of course (our 'bear'), with my new phone! keep in mind, I don't think that I have 'zoom' and so you might have to play 'where's bear' (like Where's Waldo)!!!! We were really close and obviously these following pictures do no justice to the real thing!


By the time Noah and I finished admiring the Grizzly and walked through a few sprinklers, Dan was finished the Grind (he completed it in 55 minutes), and it was my turn! Dan and Noah settled at the top for some lunch while I rode the SkyRide back to the base to start my hike. It was too hot for a vigorous hike and I was feeling dehydrated from carrying Noah in the heat. I should have consumed more water before starting my hike and hiked at a more leisure pace (preferably later when the temperatures cooled), but it was a now-or-never decision, as Noah wouldn't have lasted too much longer. So I hiked (in 48 minutes again), and was EXHAUSTED and HOTTT by the time I finished!!! Luckily they have a cool mist-tent at the top so I hung out in there and quickly cooled off! My energy soon returned ten-fold and I was so happy for Dan and my accomplishments!

We all rode the gondola to the base and Noah did a mini-hike up this hill to the wolf sanctuary where we all saw our first glimpses of wolves! They were beautiful and it was a neat experience!

My goal is to continue to hike the Grouse Grind at least once/week while the weather is dry (once the rain starts it will become too slippery).

One thing that is really great if you're a local and wanting to hike the Grind a few times, is to consider signing up for the Grind for Kids. You can check-out their website at http://grindforkids.com/
Basically what you can do is get everyone you know to pledge $1 or more for every time you hike the Grouse Grind between June and October and the money raised goes to B.C.'s Children's Hospital! I think this is such a fabulous idea and I only wish that we lived here sooner so that I could have taken part in hiking the Grouse from the beginning of June!

But I am inspired and have decided that it's better late than never so I have signed up for the Grind for Kids!

My goal is to raise $250 for the B.C. Children's Hospital and I am making it my personal goal to hike the Grouse Grind a minimum of 10 times before October! I have hiked it twice so far! If you are interested in pledging $1 or more for each time that I hike the grind, then you can contact me or go to my grouse for kids web-page where you can make a donation and it will show my progress! The website is here: https://secure.bcchf.ca/GrindForKids/main.cfm?GrindForKids=4543

Happy Hiking!

A day in the life...

Amidst the chaos that is unfolding here today (my mother is moving INTO our house while we're in Vancouver and we are moving OUT of our place tomorrow), I needed some serenity so I have turned to my blog! I would be out running but Noah is napping and Dan is helping my mom move so this is my at-home-therapy (my workout dvds are all packed away too)!

Summer has always been a season where my body has craved lighter fare and I have eaten amazing local produce! This year is no exception but with a little exception! I have been eating divine local and organic produce, picking fresh berries and vegetables with Noah and having so much fun in the sun with my family. But we have also spent a month traveling and visiting family in Winnipeg, gone to Tofino and Vancouver and are planning a big move! So there has been lots of change and unusual stresses.

Two weeks ago I began to feel extremely overwhelmed and stressed and it was an awful feeling. I couldn't pin-point it exactly but I was definitely not feeling my usual, perky, positive, outgoing self! It's the worst feeling really when you live and breathe a healthy way of life and then still have downs that can be quite draining! I have a tendency to get overwhelmed because I am full of big ambitions and big dreams and I am HUMAN! What can I say?!! When I stress a little, I end up stressing a lot! My poor husband! While running, I realized that even though I was eating a vegan lifestyle and exercising regularly, my body was missing something that it needed. I eat pretty clean but I had not been eating as clean as usual and I was visiting Starbucks way too much! I had a great talk with my hubby and then we both just took a step back and started from scratch!!! Sometimes that's what you need to do!

I started steaming greens for breakfast (I had been in the habit of eating fresh berries with granola), and just eating more homemade and 'convenient'...just because you are vegan doesn't mean you always make the healthiest and best food choices!!!

Within just one day of tightening up my diet, I immediately felt like ME again! I suddenly had more energy and felt much more positive and happy :)

I just thought that I would share with you the power breakfast that made me feel on top of the world and one that I have turned too numerous times! I always cook a big batch of quinoa since everyone in my family loves eating it! So I already had some in the fridge which I re-heated. I then took some local zucchini, broccoli, green beans and kale and steamed it all up! While those were steaming, I dry-toasted some sunflower seeds with a couple of drops of shoyu sauce. I sprinkled the toasted sunflower seeds over my greens and quinoa and voila! Sunflower seeds can be stored in the fridge for up to 1 week once toasted!!!



For lunch I used my food processor to shred some carrots, beets and zucchini and then I put a wrap together with the above ingredients, quinoa, lentil hummus, toasted sunflower seeds, cucumber and tofu! It was amazing! Even if you take a few steps away from your clean-eating, all it takes is one step back and you fall in love again and realize that it's just the best way to live!!!




I still have been enjoying fresh picked berries but just realized that I don't need to add granola all the time! When something comes from a box, it has been processed and isn't necessarily the healthiest form for your body! I LOVE granola so much (specifically Nature's Path - Hemp Plus Granola), but I am excited to try and make my own and also to step back and not have it ALL the time!!!

I recently had my blood taken and found that my iron levels are low once again so I have decided that once we are settled into Vancouver tomorrow, I am going to eat strictly as a 'superhero' (as Alicia Silverstone describes this particular lifestyle), for one month and I will blog about any changes that I've noticed and also see how my iron levels are at the end of that month!!! I eat very clean but I also treat myself with maple sugar (in cookies for example), granola, and Starbucks but I am going to eliminate all processed goods and sugar just to see how affected my body was by this 'drug' aka sugar!!!

U.S.E.D Bags!

Hello, buenos dias, and bonjour!!!

So Dan, Noah, Maggie and I are back in Victoria after being in Winnipeg for almost one entire month!!!! It's really nice to be settled back into our own home although of course we miss having so much family around!!! Noah has had a difficult time adjusting to the change and asking to go back to Winnipeg!!! As a parent, you always feel torn because you want to do the very best...to be the very best for your child and it breaks your heart when they are sad! That being said, we are feeling so blessed that we had the opportunity to visit with our Winnipeg fam for so long and we know that there will be many more visits in store!!!
Today has been a much brighter day for Noah so that makes mama and papa smile!!! We went to Elk Lake for some playtime and then Dan and I ran around Elk and Beaver Lake (Maggie ran beside us and I pushed Noah in the BOB stroller)...it was Dan's first time running around Elk/Beaver non-stop!!!! WHOOHOO! I was so proud and we ran it in a great time! Noah was like our cheerleader!!! Afterwards, we went to Dan's Farm where Noah got to feed the goats, chickens, ducks and rabbits! I bought a HUGE flat of raspberries and a ton of amazing, local, organic produce!!!! YAY! We then went home and I made these delicious wraps along with steamed kale and peas!!!

I wanted to share with you this AMAZING company where I bought a new purse/bag when I was at the Winnipeg Folk Festival. I came across this sign which read U.S.E.D and found these incredible bags made out of recycled seatbelts!!!! What's amazing about this family owned and operated Canadian company is that ALL of the seatbelts they use to make their products, come from vehicles that are headed to the landfill. They make all of their own bags and it's just incredible! You can check out their website to see more of their bag designs at: http://www.recycledseatbelts.ca/

I had been looking for a purse/bag that differed from Noah's diaper bag for nearly two years! I wanted to buy a bag that supported my lifestyle, would inevitably become a conversation-piece, and be something that I absolutely LOVED! If I am going to spend a little extra on something...it had better be LOVELY!!!
It makes me so happy when I can find local businesses that support our environment and are advocates for a better tomorrow! I feel really proud that I took the time to find a bag that I truly love and that is made of recyclable material too!!!! BONUS: It's so HUGE that I can store all of Noah's things too!!!!

Crampton's Market in Winnipeg! Plus a delicious salad with a creamy avocado dressing!

So I have visited Crampton's Market several times since being here in Winnipeg. Crampton's Market is located on Waverley and is a great place to snag local, organic produce as well as a variety of freshly baked vegan bread and buns! What I love so much other than the produce of course, is that Crampton's has a great reward incentive. Every time you buy $30 worth of groceries you get a stamp and after you have received 5 stamps, you get $10 off your grocery bill! That's great!

Since I have shopped at Crampton's I have found local strawberries, raspberries, garlic, spinach, a variety of lettuces, asparagus, peas, beets, carrots, cucumbers, tomatoes and so much more! I also treated myself to some vegan coconut-lime cupcakes which were HEAVENLY!!! I also really enjoy their vegan hamburger buns and flax bread which is made their and tastes so fresh and delicious!

It's so great to find and support local businesses! You feel so great buying from the local farmers and the food tastes so much better!

This morning I made this DELICIOUS salad that just gave me an abundance of energy that lasted for HOURS! I woke up feeling like I really wanted to fuel my body with a power-breakfast so I steamed some flowering kale and asparagus. While that was steaming I cooked some quinoa and grated a beet and carrot. I sliced some cucumber and then threw everything on a plate and sprinkled some pumpkin seeds and sesame seeds over top! The dressing I made was inspired by Dan's cousin Beth whom we had lunch with the other day. She is an amazingly healthy individual and Ally, Dan, Noah and I went over to her place for lunch! We made a delicious salad and Beth drizzled this creamy avocado (plus an abundance of other tasty ingredients as well), dressing over top. Anyways, I wanted to re-create this dressing but didn't really know everything that was involved. So I started by mashing 1/3 of an avocado in a bowl. I added 1/2 a spoonful of whole grain mustard, a few drops of maple syrup and 2 tsp. of apple cider vinegar. I mixed everything together and drizzled it over my salad! VOILA! It wasn't the same taste (I forgot to add garlic), but it was incredible!!! I had so much energy afterwards that I took full advantage of the beautiful sunshine!

I walked Maggie and Alfie for 1/2 an hour and then Dan and I went for over an hour bike ride through the neighbourhood and around Fort Whyte which is a local nature sanctuary here in Winnipeg. There were so many ponds and lakes to cycle around and a spot that looks over bison at the reserve. It was so beautiful. I love nature sanctuary's so much! They fill me happiness but I have to say that I can't help but feel disappointed that Fort Whyte also has a cafe called the Bison Cafe which serves and sells bison burgers/meat. I asked a really nice lady who works there and she assured me that the bison were from a DIFFERENT farm and that the bison here are "for the most part" able to live a cruelty-free life...I wasn't sure what 'for the most-part' meant and I wasn't sure why they needed to sell meat at all! I mean, couldn't they just serve light refreshments that don't include selling any bison or other animals?!

Boon Burger!

Wow,

I don't know what to say, but I'm pretty glad I don't live close to Wolseley otherwise I'm sure a Boon Burger addiction would ensue. Jay and I knew we needed to check out this new Winnipeg joint soon (thanks for the tip Alex!) and today was the day!

This place is a super cute little veggie burger joint (pretty small inside with two large picnic tables... we happened to come at a pretty odd hour of 3 pm and had lots of room, but I wouldn't bank on having a place to sit down during meal hours) that just opened. I'm 'following' them on Facebook and have got a lot of information from there. It's just recently opened and had much more business than they expected, so due to that they have shut down every once in a while to up the staff and figure out how much they need to prep, but I'm sure that will just be during this beginning time. On their FB page they said they want to be open from 11 am- 9 pm every day of the week, but again, during this start-up time that is all dependent on how much business they have.

Their food is amazing. They have 9 burgers to choose from (even a Phish burger and a Thanksgiving burger!) and everything on their menu can be 'veganized'.

Here's the menu!

Dan (my brother) and I had the Boon Burger (mine was 'veganized'), Jay had the veganized Salsa Burger and my mom had the Buddha Burger. Most of us got the sesame fries on the side and a home-brewed iced tea! The burgers were fantastic (and quite large, so be prepared!) and the fries were delicious. Each burger had a side of pickle as well. They do take out and on their website it even says they have a 'bike-through'! They are the only entirely vegetarian burger joint in Canada!

The veganized Boon Burger (mine)!

Our home-brewed iced tea!

Their prices are very reasonable (~$6-8) and a few extra bucks for add-ons (fries, salad, vegan gravy, vegan poutine). These prices, especially for healthy, often organic, all-vegan home made huge burgers are amazing! They are also making more efforts to be environmentally friendly... straws made from corn!

They also give each order an animal (we were the T-Rex... others were lions, tigers...) and that is like your bills 'number'... so cute!

So... we think you should head on down and pick up a burger... right now! Mmm :)