Snippety Snap

Today was a great day because the sun was shining when I woke up this morning.  It’s about time that we see nice warm Spring weather. The nice weather also meant that I can start riding my bike to work. 

I took my bike to the shop Tuesday afternoon and picked it up again Wednesday.  The mystery of my rear tire was solved…. a staple.  I must have picked that one up when I rode last.  At least everything is functional again and I rode to work this morning.  It was nice breathing in the crisp ocean air on my morning commute. 

For dinner was some yummy seafood tonight.  I picked up some Red Snapper fillets on my Costco trip last weekend and decided to cook up a couple and freeze the rest. 

Pesto crusted Red Snapper

This Red Snapper was so tasty and juicy.  I decided to dip each fillet in some egg mixed with pesto and then rolled it in some Gluten-Free crumbs and pan fried it in a little bit of olive oil. 

I served it with some pesto pasta as well.  I finally got down to trying these new pasta spirals.  I really enjoyed them..they were actually nice and soft. 

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This weekend is going to be crazy busy.  My hockey league is hosting our annual hockey tournament.  Everyone plays 3 games and if we make it to the finals, we’ll have one more game to play Sunday afternoon. I’ll be heading straight to the rink after work Friday afternoon and I will definitely not have the time to blog this weekend as I’ll be spending my weekend at the rink, playing and working at the tournament. 

Wish us luck…I’m going to miss the hockey season when it’s done.  But I have new adventures coming up over the next couple of months, so all is good. 

Hope everyone has a great Friday and weekend.  Take advantage of the sunshine if it makes an appearance where you live. 

Cheers,

Bea

xoxo

Wii Zumba and more

I did it!  I finally got my hands on it……..

I’ve taken a few classes and absolutely love it.  Who wouldn’t want to dance and exercise at the same time.  When I was in twenties and still living at home (this was while I was still going to University) my favourite night club was a Latin club called “Mesa Luna”.  They’ve shut down in the meantime, but nevertheless, I will always love all Latin dancing. I even joined UBC’s Latin Dance club…fun times. 

I tried it out as soon as I got home and I think I’m going to be sore in the morning.  I shook my bootie Latin-style.

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On to other things….

It was back to work today after a week-long break from my class of 20 rug rats.  But I was happy to be back to my classroom and see the kids and listen to all of their spring break stories.  Some went to Florida, Arizona, Disneyland…others just stayed local.  It was an exciting day at school, but definitely tough to get up at 6:30am after a week of sleeping in. 

I also took my mountain bike in to the local shop this afternoon to have it tuned up and to see if they can figure out why my rear tire keeps going flat on me.  Will pick it up tomorrow afternoon and then looking forward to riding my bike to work again.  After all, it’s only a 10 minute ride, so I have no complaints.  And now that I have a great new backpack with a laptop compartment, I really don’t have any more excuses.   

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Hope everyone had a great day.  Will be back tomorrow with something new (and exciting, I hope). 

Bea

xoxo

Spring Break Part 3

After all of the fun and games I’ve had this week, it’s time to pack up and go home again.  Tomorrow morning I will pack up the car, grab the dog and cat, and drive back to the island.  After all, it’s back to work Tuesday morning.  I had a great time visiting with family and friends this week and it’s also been an exhausting few days at the pool recertifying for my various courses.  I had my last course this afternoon and am very happy to report that I passed them all and am once again a certified Lifeguard and Lifesaving Instructor.  Now I just need to get hired on at our local outdoor pool for the summer and/or in the Fall for the Indoor Pool.  I am scheduled to take my last course back home mid-April, which will then recertify me to instruct the Red Cross Aquatics program.

Other than spending many hours at the pool over the last few days, I also went out for dinner a couple of times.

Wednesday evening, my friend Rebecca and I got together and went out for Indian food.  There is an awesome restaurant on the beach… a little mom and pop restaurant with maybe 8 tables, but the food is all homemade and oh so good.  We order a couple of dishes and shared it between the two of us…Butter Chicken and Paneer Goa.  The butter chicken was mild and the paneer we ordered with a little bit of heat.  Or course some Garlic Naan to go with it all.

Friday night, my grandparents took me out for an early birthday dinner.  My birthday is in May, but I won’t make it home to visit before at least July, so they wanted to take me out while I was still in town.  We went to an amazing restaurant called “Seahorse Grill” in a small community close-by called Crescent Beach.  The food is always spectacular here…perfect portion sizes, all made from scratch, a lot of variety, and fancy but simple.  This is on their website:

Seahorse Grill is not concept dining and it's not a concept menu. It's a blend of international flavours, 23 years experience and enthusiasm, prepared and served in a casual "feels like home" atmosphere.

Scrumptious pate .. Crispy, house-made taro chips .. Garlic pesto goat cheese crostini's drizzled with infused oils. Sunday night prime rib is a standout event, with seafood, salads, pasta and pizzas rounding out this eclectic menu. Near the beach, this bistro style restaurant offers intimate, outdoor dining during the warmer months and a fireplace indoors when the temperatures outside are cooler.

The appetizer I chose Friday night was of course the Garlic Pesto Goat Cheese crostini’s …. ( I took a bite until I realised I hadn’t taken a picture yet)and for dinner I selected the evening special….. a pan-seared Duck Breast with a Lentil Ragout.  To finish off my meal, I chose a Profiterole and a coffee with a splash of Kahluah. 

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That’s about it for tonight.  Going to pack up in the morning, head to the ferry and begin my travels back home.  Also planning on stopping off at Costco on the way home…what should I buy?  The possibilities are endless…..what are your favourites at Costco?  Would love some ideas or recommendations….

Have a great night y’all and a great start to your week. 

Bea

xoxo

What I bought Wednesday

In my last post I showed you a picture of what I bought while on my food adventures in Vancouver…so here is more of that…..

This cocoa powder is DA BOMB…it’s something I grew up on… has a perfect sweetness and dissolves amazingly well in cold milk…not like that Nesquick cocoa powder stuff that is all grainy in cold milk. 

I decided to try out a couple of new Truffle infused olive oils… one with Black Truffles and one with White Truffles…so excited to start using them.

These goat cheeses come from a beautiful island here on the West Coast called Salt Spring Island.  I can get these cheeses back home too, but they are quite a bit cheeper over here.  Can you notice a common theme of mine today?  More truffle infused foods..but how could I resist?  The one with the purple flower is just a regular goat’s cheese.

Some fresh mozzarella…hmm.

Vega Chocolate Smoothie mix..can’t wait to try it.  Anybody else enjoy Brendan Brazier’s products?  I love that they are plant based and focus on whole foods.

I thought this product was Gluten-Free, but when I got home I noticed it wasn’t. Oh well… still looks interesting and can’t wait to try this too.

Another truffle product…I bought a couple of these last year when I was visiting and it was AMAZING.

Pecorino and Truffle Sauce….more droooollllssss

Bosa Foods carries a wonderful selection of fresh pastas… I usually buy a couple of flavours when I go there and then freeze them in ziplock bags for when I go home. 

These cute orange Sacchetti’s are filled with a Smoked Gouda…one of my all-time favorites… I love how they look like little bags of money.

Don’t these remind you of pillows?  Striped Porcini Ravioli.

I only ever usually buy sausages when I visit Bosa… these are fresh Honey Garlic Sausages… my mom vacuum sealed them for me when we got home in bags of 2. 

I was so stoked to find this at Whole Foods…. I can’t find it anywhere else.  Any Canadian bloggers know of where we can get this north of the border? 

And Bosa also sells really cool plates and bowls and mugs… I really liked these bowls, so I bought two It’s been a really long time since I’ve bought any thing to do with dishes for the house.

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What do you look forward to buying when you go to Whole Foods Market? 

Anybody know where to buy So Delicious Milk in Canada? 

With Love

Bea

xoxo

Spring Break Part 2

What do you get when you combine some sunshine, blue skies, an adorable puppy, family and time?  A great day in Vancouver to shop at my favourite stores…and any foodie blogger’s dream destinations. 

So for this post, I’ll let the pictures do the talking.  Enjoy

Bonnie excited to go on a trip.

Golden Ear’s Bridge – the newest bridge in Vancouver.

The beautiful north shore mountains.

The sails at Canada Place….Vancouver’s Cruise ship terminal.

2010 Olympic Games Cauldron….I never did see it all lit up, but still pretty sweet to see.

Food Stop #1 – North Vancouver location… droooooollllllll

BOSA FOODS – for any Italian food lover…more drooooolllll

One tired puppy on the ride home.

My food buys… see next post for more details.

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Hope you enjoyed my adventures…it was a little tough taking pictures from the backseat of the car, but I did what I could.

With love,

Bea

xoxo

Spring Break Part 1

Happy Hump Day everyone.  I can’t believe that it’s already Wednesday late afternoon.  Boy does time fly when you’re having fun.  I just got in a little while ago from spending my day in the Big City… Vancouver, that is.  And it was a pretty good day.  I was looking forward to going since I got to my parent’s house….more on that shortly

So here is a nice recap of my last couple of days……

Monday

I decided to go for a run today.  My grandparents live about 4.5km from my parents, so it’s the perfect distance for a nice jog.  Plus it gave Buster a chance to get in a run too..unfortunately it was raining when I woke up, but a little bit of rain did not deter me from getting out.  It took me about 40 minutes to jog the distance..way slower than I wanted as I have a race to attend in May.  But I also realised that I should probably take it easy since I need my legs and muscles to be in excellent form for my NLS (Lifeguarding) exam Thursday and Sunday. 

By the time I got back home after visiting with my grandparents and helping them with some stuff around their house, it was time to prepare for dinner.  My dad grilled up some salmon and I made a batch of my Spinach and Cheese Stuffed Rice Balls.  The last time I made these, they split in the oven and all the cheese started oozing out.  So this time I pan fried them first and then finished them in the oven.  I also didn’t stuff them quite as much.  And this did the trick…they were perfect.  I also added Saffron to the rice this time. 

Tuesday

This morning my mom and I had to take the puppy to the vet for her next set of shots.  She did really well and was not scared to go.  After we dropped her off at home again, we went out to run some errands and pick up a few things at the stores. I bought these items:

And I helped my mom pick out a brand new Food Processor.  I really like mine, so she got the same one. We convinced the sales clerk to price match since this exact same model was $60 cheaper at Wal-Mart.  But we left the store happy, so all was good. 

I always get excited and cannot wait to try out new appliances when they come home, so can you guess the first thing I made with it?  I’ll give you a hint…they are small, round, raw, yummy..and contain chocolate  

I also came up with a new recipe…. Hot Smoked Salmon and Artichoke Dip.  I remember eating this type of dish at a restaurant in the summertime and it was super delicious.  My parents are going to have company over Saturday night for dinner and were looking for an appetizer to serve, so this is why I thought this dip may be a good idea….and we had to try it out before serving it…hehee…another reason to pull out the new KitchenAid machine   Recipe to follow….

Hope everyone is having a great day.  Gotta run to write another post…next up my Vancouver adventures.

With love,

Bea

xoxo