Randomness: Snacks and Smoothies

I have backlogged a random assortment of things I wanted to share with you, but they haven't seemed to fit into any of my recent posts. So here it is, a whole post dedicated to randomness. Or, it could just be typical "me" organization. Yeah, that's probably more likely. So lets get on with it!

This smoothie was the BEST smoothie I have ever made. I really mean it. SO good! Did you hear me? You need to make this. And no whining about it being fattening! I drank it, I loved it, it was worth the calories!!! Raspberry mango coconut smoothie. Let the salivating begin!

Start with 1/2 can light coconut milk, then add fruit from a whole mango, a big handful of raspberries and 1 Tbsp chia seeds. The chia seeds give it such a nice thick texture! Blend and enjoy!

It's so pretty!

Here is a bar that I thought I'd try out. Usually I am not a fan of the uber healthy bars because they taste like someone mixed in chalk and some funk scraped from the bottom of their shoe. Then you're expected to pay $5 for the privilege of choking it down.

Not so with this baby! Yum Yum!!!

Pretty darn healthy too! Always a plus. I will SO be buying this brand again. Definitely a winner!

Here is another bar I tried recently.

Yeah. Not so much. Not the wost I have tried, I did eat the whole thing. But probably not worth my money. I am all for healthy snacks, and getting the most possible out of my food. But I do draw the line when I find myself trying not to taste the sticky mass before I swallow, or when I have to convince myself to finish it because I don't want to waste it. I probably won't be buying this one again.

Ready for another smoothie? I thought so! Toss into your blender a frozen banana, 3 heaping Tbsp almond butter, and blend with almond milk until you have a creamy smooth texture. Slurp it down! This is a good one, and I am currently enjoying it as I type!

If I'm speaking of snacks I have to include my all time favorite. Ice cream. After our long Friday night bake Ben and I grabbed a cone to take with us to Medicine beach. 5:30 am, a calm ocean, a brightening sky, my wonderful husband next to me, and an ice cream cone filled with vanilla and maple walnut ice cream sitting in the cup holder. My life is complete!

Now that's a pretty nice way to start the weekend!

Oh, and one more bit of randomness for you, having nothing to do with food that I ate. It does have to do with food to some degree, however. Just ask our zebra finches! They are in a cage in the corner of the living room surrounded by windows. They were making tons of noise suddenly the other evening, and when we went to check it out we discovered a huge owl sitting on the rail of our deck, eying our little birds through the window for his dinner!

What a beautiful bird! Well, the finches probably didn't think so, but we certainly did!

Ok, enough randomness for now. I think I'll go play in the garden, and maybe make some kale chips. After I finish my smoothie, that is. Sluuuuuurp!

Exercise and More Blueberries

Hello, all! Hope it's as beautiful a day where you are as it is here! Gorgeous!

Last nights dinner was pretty darn tasty! My MIL made a roasted chicken and baked sweet potatoes, and Ben sauteed up some tiny green beans. I put some peanut sauce on my chicken, it was such a comforting meal on a rainy evening.

We watched 3 movies last night, none of which were that spectacular. Operation End Game was a funny-ish actiony movie, but utterly forgettable. Literally. I just had to ask Ben what movie we watched! Second was The Cove, an informative movie about the sickening slaughter of dolphins in Japan. Not a pretty sight. Very disturbing. But very accessible to the public, fact based, and well made. We had t take a break after that one! Finally, we watched Young Sherlock Holmes, which was a pretty funny one, but plenty entertaining in a goofy kinda way.

Dessert accompanied the movies. We had fresh blueberries with a light sprinkling of sugar, and waaay too much heavy cream. This was originally supposed to be served on top of the tapioca pudding Ben's mom made, but we had too many blueberries in our bowls, so the pudding was a side dish. Wow, dessert with a side dish. Could be a hint that there was too much there...naw, just kidding!

Yeah, I ate all of that! Nom nom nom! We pretended to work some of it off by taking a movie break and strolling through the mist, but come on, we would have had to run 10 miles to work off that much cream!

This mornings breakfast centered around blueberries again (what a surprise). I had hemp seed and flax oatmeal with chia seeds and cocoa nibs, blueberries and a big dollop of Nutella. This was SO filling, and beyond delicious! Breakfast is turning into my favorite meal of the day, besides dessert that is.

Once I was able to move after eating all that goodness I decided to go on a short bike ride to the ocean, as the morning was just beautiful.

I rode out to Peter Cove, then around to Starvation Bay. The tide was pretty far out, and the water was looking a bit scummy. Not the best smell, either. But, in general, it was an enjoyable little jaunt on the beach.

The way there is all downhill, so of course the way home is tons of work. We live on top of a hill, so it's always uphill to home, no matter where you're coming from. I do think I'm getting a little better with the bike riding. I made it up all the hills without gasping for breath too much. Not bad!

When I got home my dog Izzie let me know how mean it was of me to go for a ride without her, so I decided to take her on a walk to see if there was anything good at any of the produce stands on our road.

We stopped for a photo shoot of Izzie, because she's SO cute! No other reason needed.

I rest my case!

None of the stands had anything, but we admired the pretty garden.

It was warmer than I thought it'd be, so by the time we got home I was sticky, and Izzie was panting. I made a smoothie to cool me down. It had plain yogurt, almond milk, frozen blueberries and raspberries,and a packet of omega oils.

All was going fine, until I took the lid off the blender just that little bit too soon. Um, yeah. The smoothie attacked me, and won. Not a pretty sight.

After cleaning up the projectile smoothie I poured two large glasses of berry goodness and plopped in my new stainless steal straws! I've been dying to try them! They work so well, and I like the way they feel. Plus, I can just stick them in the dishwasher! Score!

Izzie hung out with me while I made messes in the kitchen. I think she was pretty worn out!

I took the smoothies out to Ben where he was working in the yard. We sat around sipping for a while, then I helped him do some digging for our pond. That made me hungry, of course, so back to the kitchen I went. I mashed a whole avocado, then put about 1/2 cup of my roasted red pepper hummus in and mushed it all together. I have to say, this made a pretty satisfying snack schmeared all over some cracker! Too bad Ben raided my plate, getting away with 2 of my crackers!

At this point in the day we're thinking of dinner ideas. Maybe some big salads with leftover chicken, and some corn on the cob. Yup, sounds like a plan!

Have a good evening, everyone!

Just a Quickie!

Well, it's Monday, and my weekend is over. Hope everyone out there had a good one! Our company is still here, but will be leaving tomorrow morning, pretty early. This means that we'll have to say goodbye to them tonight before leaving for work, as we'll be asleep when they leave. Sad, but it was nice to see B's grandparents, and to have some visiting time.

Last night for dinner I made fruit salad. I know, I know, yes another fruit salad! It's just so refreshing and flavorful! I love summer! This version had watermelon, cantaloupe, oranges, bananas, pineapple, white and yellow peach, strawberries and some lemon balm. I ended up sprinkling my serving with lime juice too. I particularly loved the last version with coconut and lime juice, but it was voted down this time.

After dinner B and I watched Greenberg, the new Ben Stiller movie. Odd, a bit slow, but different enough to be entertaining. Then we watched the original version of the Karate Kid. Ummm, yeah. Hilariously bad! I think I remember some of those clothing styles though...head bands were hot! But really, that kid looked like he was about 10, and when he started kissing that chick it was like, eeew! Child pornography! OK, not quite, but it sorta grossed me out! Other than that is was a fun one. Wax on, wax off! Well, fine you got me, I actually liked it!

After the movies we took a short night walk. The stars have been so brilliant lately!

Breakfast today was so filling, I had oatmeal made with vanilla rice milk, and then stirred a spoonful of almond butter into it. So good, but it made me SO full! Because of this I ended up with a smoothie for lunch again. I used up some of last nights fruit salad, some vanilla rice milk, a handful of frozen blueberries and raspberries, and about half a cup of spinach, plus a bit of hemp protein powder. Very yummy!

Dinner tonight is BBQ turkey, scalloped potatoes, and veggie saute. The veggies were my assignment, so I cut up broccoli, eggplant, zucchini, and scapes. I added olive oil, garlic powder, lemon pepper and a splash of balsamic vinagrette. I also added some of that sesame/salt/sea vegetable sprinkle stuff I got at the market last week. Hope it's good!

Well, it's time to eat! Hopefully I'll get a couple of shots of dinner, but the camera isn't always welcome. I'll do what I can. After food it's work time, not sure what i'm baking tonight. Guess I'll find out!

Brunch and Jellies

Last night's sleep totaled at 6 hours. I'm a 8-10 hour kinda girl. This makes for a sleepy Rowie! But getting up was worth it today because all six of us went out to brunch at Poet's Cove, Pender Island's fanciest restaurant/resort.
We all chose the breakfast buffet, which was a good thing! I know that choosing the buffet at restaurants is bad as far as the amount of food typically consumed, and this time was no different, but it was all so fun to browse through! I started out with a small piece of fresh bread with smoked salmon, an apricot, and pancakes with fresh berries and a little syrup! And that was only my first trip through the line! Obviously this is a splurge kinda weekend.

Here's my plate of goodness.

We had a pretty nice view of the marina too. Not bad!

After two more trips through the buffet line, and a few bites of chocolate mousse cake later(that's right, I ate cake for breakfast! Don't judge me!), we all decided to take a stroll down by the boats. The day was so sunny and pleasant!

The waterfall on the left is part of the spa, there's a steam cave underneath it, and a hot tub just below it. Such a nice place to relax!

Just across the water, behind that big boat, is our property and home. We can see Poet's Cove when we walk down to the water(and unfortunately hear it too)!

There were all sorts of things swimming around in the water today...

like little fish...

and jelly fish!

Hello jellies!

Poet's Cove is quite the resort. Float planes come in all the time, which is unfortunate because they are obnoxiously loud. The marina was going crazy today, as it was a weekend and so nice out. We saw so many boats going by!

There was a nice pic of me and B, but he has requested to not be pictured (which is unfortunate because he's so darn cute!), so I respected that wish. Now you have to see a picture of just me!

Uh oh. I think I see last nights pie and ice cream sticking out a bit there. Sigh.

After Poet's Cove we all went out to Gowlland Point beach to catch a glimpse of Mt. Baker. We didn't have much luck on that one, it was getting a bit foggy so we couldn't see very far. It was pretty anyway!

Now B and I are back home, while the in-laws and the grandparents are still out and about. It's quiet time here for me, and tractor time for B (he just got a john deer a couple months ago and is like a little boy playing with his Tonka toys.). I have my feet up, my dog napping next to me, and a healthy smoothie for lunch. I was so full that's all I wanted to eat.

I put in frozen raspberries, a white peach,vanilla rice milk, a scoop of hemp protein powder, and about 1/2 cup of spinach. Add a straw and a berry to munch and I'm set! I think these flowers wanted some too!

Now I can't decide...nap or exercise? I should probably get off my bum and sweat a little. That dessert is still haunting me!

Salad weather and strawberries

So i actually managed to give Izzie that long-needed bath and trim. She's pretty good about baths, and surprisingly patient with the trimming. It was worth it! She's a bit fuzzy now, but so much cleaner and more comfortable. Isn't she cute?!

Before and after


After being sprayed with water by my little dog i decided i needed a snack. I cut up some of the bread B had made the night before, a nice multi grain loaf, and toasted a slice. Topped with peanut butter and a little nutella, it was yummy! I also had a smoothie with fresh strawberries. I love strawberry season!

Dinner was made by my MIL, and was so good! She made us big salads with lettuce, grated carrot and zuccini, red onion, tuna, hard boiled eggs, white beans, and a dill yogurt dressing. We had some fresh kalamata olive sourdough made the night before. Just right for a hot evening.


While B and I ate our cool tuna salads we watched the last episode of the made for TV series of the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. It was made in '81, and looks it! What a hilarious show! I recently read the book, and am looking forward to reading the rest of the series. Smart, funny and decidedly odd. Good stuff!

So 9:30pm sees me at work, baking away, rocking out to System of a Down and Third World (the benefits of working during the night...music as loud as you can blast it!). My boss had bought some local strawberries from a little market for me to use, and they were the BEST i have ever eaten!




So, other than smoothies and fruit salad, what to do with all those amazing fresh berries? I decided to make classic tarts to sell. You bake off the tart shells, fill them with pastry cream, arrange sliced strawberries on top, and glaze (hopefully i'll remember to post those recipes soonish). They looked amazing, and unfortunately tasted great!I didn't promise that all my recipes would be healthy, did I?



This morning I had one of my usual breakfast choices, 1% plain yogurt with Nature's Path hemp plus granola and sliced strawberries, chased with a mug of jasmine green tea. Very yummy, and it really lasts me for hours. A good breakfast choice.



B and I had a lazy morning to kick off the weekend, then got ready to go. We hopped onto his BMW motorcycle and rode off to the Show and Shine car show, a Pender classic! Once home we went on a hike around the property with all the dogs (my exercise for the day!). We took a tour of our garden while coming up with dinner plans, enjoying the perfect temperature, and all our flowering plants.

Now, off to the kitchen again!