Love, Run & Travel: The Dangers of Blogging

This was NOT our weather this weekend, we had
snow in Ontario!

Happy monday FRIENDS

*She says in a super perky voice*

Obviously i have the day off today otherwise i would be using my Monday doom and gloom voice, its pretty obvious via blog, no?

So its Monday Recap! I tried to have a little fun and of course got up to some mischeif and blonde like antics!

Friday: I went to bootcamp first thing in the morning with a work friend and totally got my butt handed to me by a crazy fit romanian lady who i can't wait to pay a lot of money to do it 3 times a week when the next session starts! I also managed to leave the lights on my car draining the battery (bad blonde move on my part) and had to call BF to boost me at work, he wanted to know if any of my coworkers had booster cables and i laughed at him and said, we are a bunch of female bankers, the dirtiest our hands get is replacing the toner cartridge in our printers and i don't even like doing that - he would have better luck searching the depths of the garage looking for our cables, lol!

Saturday: Got to work with my friend Nic for his last shift at the bank EVER, he is an awesome teacher and he is going to change students lives with his awesomeness! A few of us had a goodbye photoshoot - it was kind of a slow day

I also made KILLER baked beans from scratch, i mean they were legendary, i didn't properly photograph them for the blog since i like to try a recipe before i blog about it but oh my gosh, i couldn't stop myself from sneaking spoonfuls from the pot, BF and I are leaking some lethal fumes today, teeheheeee

Sunday: Was crazy, not sure what got into me but i woke up, went for a run, came home, went to Physique 57 and then yoga, i'm now answering only to donna the-exercise-machine-please-bow-before-me :o) Then it was off to work for 4 hours and finally, I came home to a big arse glass of wine! Too bad it really aggravated my headache but i forced myself to drink some coconut water and it really helped! I'm starting to be a coconut water fan, this stuff works miracles

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So lets talk about the hazards of blogging because its not all sunshine, rainbows and high stats you know, its pretty harrowing stuff

First there are the injuries - Graters don't just grate your cheese and lemon rind, they also take pretty huge chunks out of your hand as well, makes it pretty damn painful to squeeze a lemon i tell you!

My booboo

Then there is the chocolate addiction, did you know there is a website called Chocomize where you can pick your favourite chocolate favourite and choose from a ridiculous amount of fillings like bacon, potato chips and 24 karat gold flakes? No wonder some of us are obsessed!

As a blogger you also have the urge to share ridiculous photos of yourself that really shouldn't be publicly aired - in the picture below i'm stretching out my toosmallforme flats with my fluffiest of winter socks, yeah, i'm totally rocking the look too

Sexy Bitch

One major concern for food bloggers is our bank accounts, i mean do you know how expensive basil and vanilla beans are? I'm one Whole Foods and Crate & Barrel trip away from ending up in the poor house

Now this is serious danger, let me start off by saying: I am now a kale lover, oh its bad, me and kale are likethis, so Sunday at work one of my clients (i work in a bank) actually asked me if I had weed in a baggie on my desk, yeah, ummm no! Its Kale Chips, i started to explain the health benefits and they just laughed and looked a little dissapointed it wasn't pot and it wasn't going to be shared, Lets hope no one official comes across my snack, I think until Kale becomes a world wide phenomenon i might just refrain from taking it on public transportation

These are just a few of the dangers, bloggers really should receive hazard pay!

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Vegan Week Recap

So i did it, no animal crackers were harmed during vegan week!
I really feel like the key to eating vegan was planning ahead, i was never left with that oh god there is nothing to eat, lets just grab anything feeling
We only drank water for the whole week and even though it was a bit boring, we both found we were craving water by the end of the week, YAY for increased water consumption
Now while BF did cheat a bit, he was really good and is totally on board for more vegan meals in the future - this is huge!
BF's official vegan week review: Good, i enjoyed how i felt eating so clean, look at my abs babe....
... Okay, i'm back, got a little distracted there ;o)
Most of my recipes for the week have been or will be seen on the blog but my 2 biggest inspiration for vegan eating are Mama Pea & Oh She Glows, they make it look SO easy!
The one thing i really missed wasn't cheese like i thought it would be, but milk in my tea in the mornings, i subbed it with almond milk and have grown to enjoy it!
In summary I have to say that eating vegan is like going through a cleanse, it made my body feel empty and clean inside, that probably doesn't make sense but its the best description i can come up with right now!
BF and I are not going 100% vegan at this time but there will be a lot more vegan weeks in our future - next week is vegetarian, we are introducing dairy and eggs back into our diets, wish us luck!

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Talking about yummy Vegan recipes, this one was one of our favourites!

Easy Creamy Tomato Barley Risotto

adapted from: Oh She Glows

Ingredients

1 cup of pot barley
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp dried basil
1 Tbsp of minced garlic
1 large can of diced tomatoes
1 cup almond milk
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup nutritional yeast (I buy mine at Bulk Barn)
1/2 tbsp miso mixed with 1/2 Tbsp water (I bought my Miso at Bulk Barn as well)
1/2 tsp sea salt

Directions

1. Rinse pot barley in a strainer and place into medium sized pot that has a lid

2. Add olive oil, basil, and oregano and stir well until barley is coated with oil

3. Turn heat to medium until barley begins to sizzle, then add in the minced garlic and reduce heat to low-medium

4. Cook for 1 minute and then add in the tomatoes, milk, water, nutritional yeast, miso, and salt and stir well till it comes to a gentle boil and then cover and reduce heat to low

5. Let a little air escape from the lid and cook for 30 minutes stirring frequently

6. When ready the mixture should be creamy not runny and the barley will be chewy

7. ENJOY!