WIAW: Crazy for Sangria…and Cute Babies.

Good morning and happy Wednesday!

Which, of course, translates to happy WIAW

So I already covered Saturday and Sunday of my long weekend, but I held onto Friday just for WIAW purposes. Friday was family Easter at my parents. Basically, it was a typical family holiday for me: lots of food and lots of people (I think we ended up with 21 in total…yup, it’s getting to be a pretty big family).

Pre Workout

Because we were going to head to London around noon, I headed to the gym first thing. I wasn’t too hungry when I woke up, so I just had my watermelon BCAA’s and a handful of grapes before a back workout followed by 20 minutes of easy elliptical.

And of course, wanted breakfast as soon as I got home.

Eggy oats with jam. Shock surprise, right?

In the early afternoon, Eric and I headed to my parents with my Easter contribution in tow. The contributions for the main meal are split up depending on whose hosting (the host family makes the turkey/main dish, my other aunts bring the sides), but my uncle, my cousin and myself are always in charge of dessert. Yes – there’s three of them.

What I decided to make this year:

Easter cupcakes!

I used my go-to chocolate cake recipe (Betty Crocker recipe…it’s delicious) and made a peppermint buttercream icing. I added green food colouring and used a star tip to make ‘grass’, which I then topped with toasted coconut ‘nests’ and mini eggs. I do not consider myself much a decorator AT ALL, but I’m definitely learning!

I was pretty hungry again by the time we got to my parents, so I attacked the appetizer table:

The cheese and crackers tray. My great uncle brings this to every get together, right down to the brand of crackers (Wheat Thins and Vegetable Thins) and the black tray. I helped myself to a few crackers and pieces of cheese.

I have absolutely no idea what this is, but it was some sort of phyllo pastry stuffed with spinach and feta. Whatever it is, it was good! And is making me think that I need some more feta in my life…

There was also a shrimp ring that I went to town on. Unfortunately, so did everyone else so it escaped pictures.

Then, my mom pointed me in the direction of her homemade sangria.

I’m not a huge red wine fan, but I will make a definite exception for sangria. Especially my mom’s – hers is fantastic. I love the addition of fruit too – oranges, strawberries, and peaches. This glass times maybe…4 or 5 spread throughout the afternoon? Yup, I’m a fan.

Family time!

And then my cousin arrived with her seven-week-old baby.

It can be said that I am baby-crazy. Although I’m nowhere near the point in my life where I would be ready to have one myself (I’m 23 and still in school. No thanks) I absolutely melt whenever one is brought in my vicinity. And baby Liam just happens to be an absolute cutie:

Oh god. I die. Those little overalls. And baby socks – I swear, baby socks are the cutest thing ever. And just to add to the heart-meltingness of the situation:

Eric looks pretty cute holding a baby!

Side note: I was actually tempted to text my dad a picture of a positive pregnancy test for April Fools. But considering how I act around babies, he would probably believe it. And then he might have a heart attack.

Or maybe not.

Ok, I’m done with baby pictures now.

Dinner:

The peeps that come out at every Easter family gathering:

Nobody actually eats the peeps, so most of them actually end up being thrown out. But my grandmother (who passed away when I was 10) used to bring them every year. So my aunt continues that tradition – it’s a nice touch! I kind of wish I had rescued a couple to bring home so I could make Peeps s’mores. That would have been pretty awesome.

Pinot Grigio to start:

And a deviled egg.

These things are like currency at my family dinners. Everyone adores them, and they’re the first thing to go. So when you sit down, you grab one ASAP. And that’s a pickle in the bottom corner there.

My dinner: stuffing, mashed potatoes and turkey with gravy, ham with applesauce, steamed baby carrots and garlic green beans. Plate cleared.

And then dessert:

Yup…my family does dessert well. This plate was split between Eric and myself, which meant that he ate a few bites of everything and I ate the rest

We’ve got my cupcake, a chocolate lava cake, and Oreo cheesecake. It was all fabulous, but obviously, mine won out.

The rest of the night was spent digesting, playing card games, and more playing with the baby. And a Game of Thrones rerun we randomly found on TV – good way to end a holiday, methinks.

Today I’m back at class – I got an impromptu cancellation yesterday, so I ended up with a five day weekend. Definitely not complaining about that one.

Have a good day!

<— For family holidays, is there a certain course/dish you’re responsible for?

<— What are some of your family’s Easter traditions? The Peeps is my favourite.

WIAW: Money Rules.

Hello there!

Yup…it’s (What I Ate) Wednesday! Thanks as always, goes to Jenn for hosting. Today’s post is from yesterday – I was on-the-go pretty much all day, so there were some quick-but-fabulous  meals and snacks. And a lot of greens stuffed in a lunch – so yay following the theme!

Because I had so much going on yesterday, I had to hit the gym when it opened right at 8 am (yes, student gym means it opens at 8 on weekdays. Noon on weekends. lame). My ACV mix (ACV, lemon juice, water, stevia) when I woke up and a quick snack before I left:

I had a few of the pumpkin protein bars I made a while back stashed in the freezer, so I heated up two of those and added some coconut Oikos on top. I stand by what I said when I made the bars – they’re tasty, but not sweet enough.

After the gym was unpictured watermelon BCAAs, followed by an “Oh-crap-I-have-to-leave-in-10-minutes” breakfast.

Oatmeal, egg + egg whites and blueberry jam. Definitely nothing new there. A word to the wise – in a desperate bid to make your eggs cook faster, don’t crank up the heat. Half of those whites did not make it out of the pan. Yup…I’m impatient.

Lunch

I had a long but successful meeting with my Thesis supervisor, followed by a lunch meeting at The Piston Broke. It’s a gastropub close to the school that I’ve been multiple times – it’s good!

I was feeling something leafy, so I went with the chevre salad with chicken.

Spinach, arugula, mandarin orange segments, dried cranberries, sunflower seeds tossed in a maple vinaigrette and topped with chicken and goat cheese. The chicken was on the dry side, but everything else was delicious. And it reminded me that I need more goat cheese in my life – chevre is amazing.

Followed by two of little mints that come with the cheque – I love those.

Snack

I had a 6 pm presentation last night, so I had a quick snack around 5:30 to tide me over.

Baby carrots and hummus. It’s a classic.

So that presentation?

Gail is a Canadian financial writer and TV personality who helps people manage their money. She has a show called “Till Debt Do Us Part”, which I’ve seen a handful of times. So when Laurier was hosting her for a free presentation, I decided to go – you can never learn too much about money, right?

I don’t think I’m bad with it – I usually do ok with savings. But I know I could probably stand to improve a little bit. The main takeaways I got from her presentation:

• people tend to be irresponsible with credit cards. Do not put more on credit than you can afford to pay off at the end of the month.
• Pay off your mortgage, your car, your debt, and put away money for retirement. Then you can start buying all the status symbol-y things, if that’s how you want to spend your money. (fancy cars, designer clothes, etc.)
• start saving for retirement. Like ASAP. If you start in your 20’s, you only have to put away 6% of your earnings, versus 3 times that if you start in your 40’s.
• Have an emergency fund – about 6 months worth of rent and groceries.
• Don’t expect to have everything at once – buy a house, have a wedding, and have a baby. You’re going to live a long time; it’s ok to space it out a bit.
• Keep track of your spending. Keep a notebook and keep track of everything penny you spend, and every penny you earn.

A lot of what she said was common sense, but I did learn some things. And as a presenter – she is hilarious. I have this thing where I absolutely love hearing people swear unexpectedly…whether it’s an older person, a super-polite friend, or my Russian professor. It just cracks me up so much. And she had quite the mouth on her, which kept me giggling the whole presentation.

Her presentation made me realize that I need to focus a little bit more on my ‘emergency fund’ a little bit more, and that I need to keep better track of my finances. Might have to start an Excel spreadsheet or something!

Dinner

I channeled Amanda for my late dinner:

Yogurt bowl! Coconut Oikos, a sliced banana, sliced fig, Fibre 1, the last of my Dark Chocolate and Red Berries Granola, and almond butter. So good.

And of course, even brinner needs dessert.

A graham cracker with Bee’s Knees peanut butter and dark chocolate. And that may have been followed by another spoonful of peanut butter out of the jar I like the Bee’s Knee’s flavour, but I have to say – Cinnamon Raisin is still the best!

Have a lovely Wednesday!

<— Do you think you’re good with money?

<— What’s the tastiest thing you’ve eaten lately?

WIAW: Brunch and Linner.

Hi there!

Yup, it’s Wednesday already.

(Thanks for hosting, Jenn!) Anyone else kind of surprised by that? This week is definitely flying by.

So I’m going to be showcasing my eats from Monday. It was Family Day around these parts, so Eric had the day off as well. And because I’m not going home at for my reading week, my parents came up to visit and treat us for dinner. Always happy to see them!

Pre-Workout

Because my parents were going to be coming by in the early afternoon, I decided to head to the gym first thing, rather than waiting until late morning like I usually do. I downed some BCAA’s and a SimplyWhey Apple Cinnamon Bar (look for my review tomorrow!) about 45 minutes after I woke up, and headed off.

My usual gym (at the university) was closed on Family Day, but I had heard that the YMCA a few blocks away offers two free guest passes per person, so people get a chance to check it out before committing. So, the Y it was.

Monday was an upper body day, followed by 15 minutes of intervals on the treadmill. Overall, it was a decent gym – the locker rooms were nice and the equipment was in good shape. It was a little crowded, but I think that had more to do with the fact that it was a holiday than anything else. I liked it, but I don’t think I liked it enough that I would switch from my current (free) gym. I was glad I got the opportunity to go though, and I’m sure I’ll use up the other free pass in the near future.

Brunch

By the time I got home and put breakfast together, it was almost 11:00. So…brunch?

I mixed about 1/2 scoop vanilla protein powder with about 1/2 cup 2% Oikos Greek yogurt in vanilla, then plopped it on two toasted Nature’s Path Apple Cinnamon waffles. Made me happy.

I’m So Disorganized.

I always go back and forth on what to do on holidays (especially a random one, like Family Day). Take the time to relax, or take the time to get shit done? I went with the latter, and tackled something I have been putting off for a LONG time.

I’m pretty sure I can hear the collective shudders.

In my apartment, the couch is pushed up against the stairs, making under the stairs the perfect spot for storage. When we moved here, we would toss random stuff back there in an attempt to get it out of the way (notice empty wine bottles, boxes, dumbbells, my yoga mat…) and we have just kept it up for the last 6 months. So Monday I finally got it done:

Still not beautiful, but a vast improvement. (And Eric decided to bottle wine for the first time. Hence, the massive amounts of wine bottles).

I needed something to munch on after that:

Bigger than a snack, not quite a meal. A piece of slow cooker banana bread with almond butter, baby carrots, grapes, and shaved ham. I went back for more carrots and another piece of banana bread.

My parents showed up around 3, so we hung around and chatted for a bit. We also watched the first episode of Downton Abbey so my mom could see it – she loves anything to do with historical fiction and Coronation Street (anyone/anyone’s parents watch that show? My mom’s been watching it for decades) so I knew she would love it. Of course, now she’s asking for the rest of the season!

 

PSA

I need to mention something here – while we were watching Downton, we suddenly heard a loud bang, and the screeching sound of metal on metal. Of course, we rushed outside and saw that there was a bad accident at the end of my street. The scariest part was that a child in the back (looked like about 12-13, a passerby who walked by us later told us) had not been wearing a seatbelt. When the car was t-boned, he spilled out the side door onto the street. He was conscious, but he couldn’t stand up. I haven’t heard any updates on the story since, but I sincerely hope he’s doing ok.

I felt the need to add this in here as a plea to PLEASE wear your seatbelt! When I was 16, we lost a family friend in an accident (she was 17 at the time) because she hadn’t been wearing one. Just do it – there is absolutely no excuse not to.

Linner

So, back to the food.

My mom has been wanting to try the Moose Winooski’s in Brantford, so we headed there for an early dinner. Moose Winooski’s is a strictly Canadian, but nonetheless typical chain restaurant.

Spinach and artichoke dip with chips and baked pita triangles to share – it’s kinda green, so that means there’s more than 2% spinach in there, right?

I decided to order the chicken fajitas for dinner. You know how when you’re trying to decide between two options on a menu, you pick one, and then as soon as the waitress walks away, you regret it? Yup…that was me. I was looking at the Thai lettuce wraps, I should have gone with those.

Sizzling plate of onion, pepper strips and chicken.

The tortillas and the fixings (lettuce, tomato, sour cream, salsa, cheese). I also had guacamole in there (although the waitress did not inform me that the guac was an extra charge…grr).

I made myself two fajitas with everything, and then proceeded to throw some toppings on the sizzling plate and eat the rest of the chicken, peppers and some of the onions with a fork.

Overall…meh. It was a typical chain restaurant experience – the hot stuff for the fajitas were oily and greasy as all hell, and the dip (and my dad’s potato soup) were lukewarm. Serves as a reminder as to why I prefer locally owned, at least! Not my worst dining experience, but still pretty subpar. The company was good, so that’s the important part.

Snack

The before bed snack:

Cottage cheese, almond butter, strawberry jam. I wasn’t really starving before bed, but if I didn’t eat I knew I’d wake up about 4 hours later feeling pretty ravenous. Before bed snack = necessity.

Today is more thesis reading (I’m almost through my pile of books though!) and heading over to the gym for a bit. Hope you have a great day!

<— Ever do the ‘immediate regret’ thing right after ordering at a restaurant? I blame my indecisiveness.

<— Had a less-than-ideal dining experience lately?