Blue Cheese, Walnut & Endive Salad

Hello Loves,

A couple of weeks ago I went to a friends house for dinner and she put on quite a spread! Everything was FAB.  Even though I have taken up a more Vegan lifestyle, this Blue Cheese, Walnut and Endive Salad has since become one of my favorite things to eat. It's quick, easy and super tasty. Even the Hubs loves it and he HATES Blue Cheese!

Now my amiga made this a bit different, but I worked with what I had in the fridge and pantry.

You will need:

Blue Cheese
Walnuts (chopped)
Red Wine Vinegar
Olive Oil
Endive (washed, ends cut off and leaves pulled apart)

No measurements folks! I start with the walnuts. Chop them up and throw them in a bowl with whatever amount of blue cheese you want. Then add a dash or olive oil and a some red wine vinegar. Then mix it all up until the cheese has mixed with the oil and vinegar.

Lay the endive leaves on a plate in a sun pattern, then spoon the cheese mixture into the middle.

Enjoy!

Avocado Pasta

Hello lovelies!

Merry Christmas Eve Eve! Quick recipe post today. This is as far off from a "Christmas" meal as you can get. But it's tasty and oh so good for you. The Hubs actually hates avocado (crazy I know) so I had to make the sauce without him seeing the ingredient. I knew that if he saw the avocados, he wouldn't want to eat it. Tricky lady. Best part about it... It's VEGAN!!! The original recipe can be foudn here.

Here is what you will need:

3 smaller ripe avocados
4 garlic cloves
Tablespoon of chilli paste
2 Tablespoons of basil paste
Sea Salt
Fresh ground black pepper
1-2 Tablespoons lemon juice
Handful of spinach
1/2 Tablespoon Italian seasoning
Olive oil
Water
Noodles - I used brown rice and spinach noodles





Throw all the ingredients in a food processor or blender. Mix until smooth.



Cook your noodles and drain. Once you drain the noodles, put them back in the pot and add the sauce. I added a bit more of the seasonings to taste. Voila!

Have a great holiday everyone!

Black Magic

I hope everyone had a great weekend! I know I sure did.

Friday night I went to the Fergus Theatre to see their production of Miracle on 34th St with some wonderful coworkers. We had some dinner, then on to the show. It finally put me in the Christmas mood.  It was a really great night full of laughs.

Saturday was sooo busy. I started off with a massage ( a pretty good way to start a weekend). Then we were off to a first birthday party for one of my fave little girlies. After that we had Terrill's work Christmas party.

I really love my outfit. I actually didn't know what I was going to wear until about 45 mins before we had to be there! Luckily it turned out. I got a lot of compliments on the clothes, shoes and hair. I bought the tulle skirt on EBay in September for $11.00. I bought it in 3 colours because they were so cheap. The bow tie was a last minute addition, but I'm glad I did! It added a little something-something I think.

Happy Sunday!


Skirt - EBay Here
Jacket - Target Old
Tshirt - Old Navy Here
Bow tie - Khols Here
Shoes - Zara Old

Broccoli Salad (vegan and regular)

Hi Dolls!!

I made this broccoli salad for dinner yesterday. It was so good. I made two versions, vegan and non vegan. I think this will become a regular for us. Broccoli is a power food by the way. So eat it! Lot's of it :P

You will need for the regular version:

1 large bunch broccoli chopped into bite size pieces.
1 small red onion or 1/4 cup chopped
8 bacon strips cooked and crumbled. 6 if you are using turkey bacon.
1 cup of shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 cup sunflower seeds
1/2 cup raisins - you can use dried cranberries as well
1/2 cup of mayo
2 tbps of sugar or sugar substitute
1 tbps apple cider vinegar

Mix the mayo, vinegar and sugar together until smooth. Throw all the other ingredients in a bowl and toss. Add the dressing and stir until everything is coated.

Vegan version you omit the bacon and cheese. I used my home made veganaise instead of mayo. When I made the dressing, I used Agave syrup instead of sugar. I only used a little bit because its really sweet.

Enjoy!

Home Made Veganaise

Hello My Lovelies!

Quick post on how to make your own Vegan Mayo. I went to the grocery store today to actually buy some Veganaise, but it was $6.00 for a small jar! No way was I going to spend that when I can make my own (Mum, are you seeing this?!)

I found a recipe here, and it looked easy enough. I also had all the ingredients. It turned out really good! I'm pretty impressed, I was concerned that I wouldn't like it. You can use this in place of mayo in wherever you would like. I'll be making this often for sure.

What you will need:

Ingredients:
½ cup of soy milk, plain and preferably unsweetened
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons of canola oil
¼ teaspoon of apple cider vinegar
¼ teaspoon of agave syrup
¾ teaspoon of kosher salt
½ tablespoon of fresh lemon juice
zest from 1/8 of an organic lemon
1/8 teaspoon of dry mustard

Place all ingredients in the blender for about 30 seconds or until you have a mayo-like consistency. This recipe makes about 1.5 cups.

 I used most of it in broccoli salad that I will share tomorrow. The rest I put in a container for later. According to the recipe creator, it should last in the fridge for a couple of weeks.  I did have some of it on a sandwich. I used flax and quinoa bread, tomato, parsley and tempeh bacon.

Happy Sunday!

Black and White Wiener Dogs

I really loved my outfit today. Actually my girl Lauren at work came up to me and said "you have to blog about his outfit!" She read my mind!

The button up is super cute eh?! The print is Wiener Dogs, you can't not like it! I picked this up in the US the other weekend. It's from Kmart of all places. I also loved the gold buttons. It's all in the details!

My hair was still looking pretty good after the curls were slept on so I just went with it. A little French braid across my bangs changed it up just enough I think. Plus it kept it out of my face.

I threw in the picture of the omelet because its what I had for dinner. It was really good! I sautéed some mushrooms, red onion, garlic, tomato and a ton of spinach then threw it in the omelet with some dill cream cheese. Soooo good!

I'm off to walk my girls now, then I think I'll do some yoga.

Happy Tuesday!


Shirt - Kmart -  Here
Dress - Le Chateau - old
Boots Aldo - Similar Here
Bracelets - Thrisfted and Aldo - Old
Necklace - Joe Fresh - Old

Monday, Monday

Wow today flew by! Kind of a good thing, since nobody wants Monday to drag. This is probably the most basic of outfits but I really love it!

I did a little thrifting on Saturday at the Good Will. I picked up these wide leg dress pants for $7! They were brand new tags on. Price tag said $50 from Reitmans. My shoes are a "get well soon" present I bought my self. I've wanted them for ages. Aren't the the most!! To say the least;) The necklace was given to me by my mums bestie. They are always thifting and she came across this little gem. She said it was chunky and weird so I would love it! Haha I can't argue with that!

My hair is curled with a curling iron. I might do a tutorial soon since I get asked all the time how I do it. I just have to figure out how to do a video hehe.


Top - Kmart Here
Necklace -Thrifted
Pants - Thrifted but they came from Reitmans. Similar Here
Shoes - Jeffrey Campbell Here

Week 2 Results!!

Hello My Lovelies!

Official weigh in results for week 2 - down 11.4 lbs! Woohoo!

I'm feeling pretty good, my skin is getting clearer and clearer by the day. I seem to have a lot of energy during the day. I've been getting up early and taking my baby girls for walks, then again at night.

I had some more blood work done yesterday and I have to go back again on Friday next week. Hopefully this will be the last for a while. At least until February when I have to have a series of other tests done.

I'm heading out for lunch with my hubs, the mother in law and the grandma inlaw.
Tonight I'm out for a girls night. Some many beautiful ladies all in one place. It's going to be wonderful.

Everyone have a great weekend!!

Xoxoxoxo