Saturday Studying
Hello blog friends!
I hope you’re all having a wonderful weekend so far 
I had to be up somewhat early for a meeting on campus this morning, but I managed to make it out for a quick run beforehand. I was lying in bed playing mind games with myself, but convinced myself to at least run for a little bit, because something is better than nothing. I covered 1.42mi in 14:25, and felt like I could’ve kept going but had to get back to get ready.
After I was all prettied up, I ate some chocolate chip banana muffins and headed to campus for my meeting. After a really productive morning, I wanted to keep the streak going.
I recently found out that thanks to my registered Starbucks card, I can get free refills on hot and iced coffee and tea drinks at Starbucks.
Today I headed to Starbucks for a few hours of intense studying, and got an unsweetened passion iced tea for while I was there (with one free refill!). It worked out great because I was really productive, and got a bunch of studying and part of my lab report done.
I also had my millionth chocolate chip banana muffin while I was working. Between eating them myself and giving them away, there’s only one left from the batch I made yesterday!
After eating I made sure to apply some of the new lip colour I picked up from The Bay a few days ago.
My roommate’s had a Clinique Chubby Stick for a while, and she told me about it when I asked her why her lips always look so good. I knew I had to have one, and I went out and got the same colour as her (mega melon) as our colouring is very similar.
I’ve been wearing it for a few days now and absolutely love it!
By the time I got home from studying I was starving, so I threw together a quick dinner of smiles fries with organic ketchup + mayo and steamed kale.
With a side of tofu + soy sauce. The tofu’s been chilling in my fridge for a while now, so it’s about time I got around to eating it.
Smile
After dinner I had a bowl of chocolate almond bark ice cream. These PC ice cream flavours are all awesome – they’re chock full of goodies.
Right now a beer and a bowl of cereal is fuelling my studying + blogging, but I think I might hit the hay soon. I know I’m having a pretty wild night for a Saturday 
See ya in the new week!
Read MoreBonspiel Champions
Hello!
I hope everyone had a chance to enjoy their Sundays Mine was fun, but not very relaxing.
Today was the final weekend of the curling league that I participate in every year with my dad. We end our season with a bonspiel, which is a curling tournament, for those who don’t know We usually play an 8-end game, but for this bonspiel we played three 4-end games against different teams. I had to do a lot of sweeping today, so I’m exhausted now!
Thanks to a great team effort, we ended up walking away with the trophy! We also placed first for the season games. My dad (on the far left) is a great skip
Between our second and third game we had a great potluck lunch that everyone helped out with. It was very chili-centric, but there was a ton of other stuff as well.
Veggies, cheese trays, chips, buns… I was in charge of making a nacho dip, which you can see on the left side. It went quickly!
I had a little bit of everything, including a chili that I chose randomly from the 3 that were there. It wasn’t too spicy, and afterwards the lady who made it said that it was made with venison. I really liked it!
There was also beer consumed, of course
And desserts!
I had pretty much one of everything because it all looked so good, and nothing disappointed.
My teammate turned my plate around so I could take a picture of everything on the other side too, lol.
Because we placed first in the bonspiel, we got first pick of the prizes from the prize table. I had my eye on a sweet package that had a hockey t-shirt (perfect for pyjamas!) and a baseball hat (perfect for running!) and a case of beer (perfect for drinking!). I didn’t even really look at the other prizes because I already knew what I wanted
The beer was all donated by the Wellington Brewery, which I have to say I’ve never had even though it’s local. I’m excited to try the case of dark ale I got!
I’m sad that curling season is over, but I’m hoping that I’ll be able to get out even more next year. I’m not sad that winter is going to be over soon, though. I can’t wait for spring!
Read MoreTropical Chickpea Curry
I had a perfect trifecta of ingredients that came together to create one of the best dinners I’ve had in a while. I had the last little bit of chickpeas to use up from the huge batch I cooked up last week, a huge bag of reduced price organic bananas I found at the grocery story this morning, and a special kind of curry that I’ve been dying to try out for a while now.
A few weeks ago I had the oppurtunity to meet Preena at a blogger brunch.
When I found out that she was one of the owner of Arvinda’s Indian spices, I had a million questions for her! I had seen their products at a few stores before and always meant to buy some, but I wasn’t sure which blend would be best because I haven’t really delved into Indian cooking too much.
Preena told me that the curry masala was really versatile and worked well with vegetables, so I took her advice and picked up a tin the next time I was at the store. Thanks to her and the lovely Nienke, I managed to put together an absolutely amazing dinner.
Tropical Chickpea Curry
adapted from Revel Blog
makes 3 servings
Ingredients
- 1 cup cooked chickpeas
- 1/2 yellow onion, chopped
- 3 medium carrots, chopped
- 3/4 cup coconut milk
- 2 tbsp flour
- 1 tbsp EVOO
- 1 tbsp butter (or butter substitute)
- 1 tbsp curry powder
- salt + pepper, to taste
- sliced banana and shredded coconut, to garnish
Directions
- Cook onions and carrots in tbsp of EVOO, and remove from pot when onions become translucent.
- Add butter, flour, curry powder and 1/2 cup of coconut milk into pot, and whisk until smooth roux forms.
- Add in chickpeas, cooked veggies and remaining coconut milk.
- Let simmer for a few, watering down to desired consistency if sauce becomes too thick.
- Garnish with banana and coconut, and serve with rice of choice.
Chop yo’ veggies.
And add them to a pot with 1 tbsp of EVOO,
Cook them until the onions become translucent, and set aside.
Combine the butter, flour, curry powder and coconut milk to make a roux.
And then add everything into the pot for mixage.
When it’s done it will be thick, creamy and smell delicious. Arvinda’s definitely knows their spices
Once cooked, serve with rice and top with sliced banana and shredded coconut.
I used Japanese rice, just because it’s my favourite
I thought that the curry + banana combo sounded good, but you honestly have to try it to really understand how well the flavours go together. The banana was so sweet compared to the spiciness of the curry, and it brought everything to a whole new level. The curry was almost too spicy for me, but I’m generally a wimp when it comes to this kind of thing, and it tasted so good that even spiciness couldn’t stop me. Lovelovelove.
I enjoyed my dinner on the couch, where 100% of my meals are eaten. I can’t even remember the last time I ate on a table. Is that bad?
And a Goose Island Mild Winter beer from my fancy US stash. Loved it – a nice and toasty taste but still refreshing
Now I’m off to eat ice cream and enjoy the rest of my time before Monday rolls around. Have a great night!
Read MoreUS = Unlimited Shopping
Hello
After all the excitement I had on Saturday, Sunday was pretty eventful as well. I managed to wake up early enough to head to my first Lululemon yoga class in months (!!), which was awesome. I forgot how much I love yoga Then my mom and I headed down to Buffalo for a day of shopping. I wasn’t really looking for many specific things, I ended up walking away with a ton of stuff, and blew my budget away! Everything in Urban Outfitters seemed like it was made just for me! Oops…
After all that shopping we were pretty hungry, and it’s not a trip to Buffalo without a visit to The Cheesecake Factory.
I started with the usual iced tea,
And chowed down on CCF bread.
Best bread ever <3
While my mom perused the menu…
I already knew exactly what I wanted
I can never go wrong with Sweet Corn Tamale Cakes <3 One of my favourite meals ever!
And red velvet cheesecake for dessert. So good <3
Luckily not all of the delicious food was eaten before we headed back home.
I picked up a few old favourite and a few new finds…
As well as several beverages. Cranberry and lime La Croix (tried the lime today and loved it!), Blue Moon beer, and 6 assorted beers I hand-picked at Wegmans. Excited to try them all!
And then this happened. Just in case you can’t tell, that’s only the first layer of yogurt. There are two more underneath. Yes, I bought twenty-eight containers of Chobani yogurt. I don’t even know how to explain myself. I have almost an entire shelf dedicated to yogurt in my fridge now, and I’m not even ashamed.
This seal-shaped bottle opener with a heart tail also found it’s way into my purchases. I mean, how else am I going to open all that beer?
And a big ol’ bag of clothes. But cute clothes! Necessary clothes. Mostly from the sale section.
And these slippers were definitely necessary too…
I think I’m going to quit while I’m ahead. So the next time I can go shopping again is… never? 
Beer and Yoga
Good evening! How have you all been doing?
Last night I went to an engineering event our school has called TalEng, which is basically like a talent show held in a bar. A group from our class got together to sing The History of Everything by the Barenaked Ladies, and it was a lot of fun to just go out and have a good time with friends.
The night involved some silliness:
Good cheer between friends:
And a lot of this:
When my alarm went off at 6:00 AM this morning, it was really hard to drag myself out of bed, but I’m glad that I did. My roommate and I decided to check out a community class at Moksha Yoga studio. They have a few classes like this per week, where you can just drop in and pay $5 for a 75 minute hot yoga class, which is much easier on a student budget than a full-time pass. Even though vinyasa power flow is my favourite style, this class was really good and it felt amazing to just sweat and stretch my body out. I’ve missed yoga so much!
Even though the class was awesome, by the time I got home and showered, I felt a little bit like I’d been hit by a truck. I laid down and fell asleep almost right away, and woke up a few hours later still feeling a little groggy. Next time I want to go to an early AM hot yoga class, I think I’ll pass on the beer the night before
Breakfast was a nice, cool SIAB. I blended together 3/4 cup almond milk, 1 banana, 1 scoop vanilla protein, 2 large handfuls spinach, 4 ice cubes and a big spoonful of White Chocolate Wonderful PB, and topped it with some granola. The smoothie was the perfect consistency and really sweet from the PB, which was exactly what I wanted.
I enjoyed it quickly before heading off to class for the afternoon.
I brought some baby carrots to munch on (as well as lots of water!).
When I got home I was pretty hungry, so I made a snack of a wheat thin with White Chocolate Wonderful PB, and then headed out to do some errands and finally take care of the laundry that’s been piling up for weeks. It feels so good to have clean clothes again!
It was a little late by the time I got home, so I just reheated the other half of my Annie’s cheese shells and mixed them up with steamed broccoli. It was the same thing I had yesterday, but just as good.
I had a La Croix soda with my meal, because I finally remembered to put some in the fridge to get cold.
I’m not sure if anyone liked seeing my weekly grocery purchases last time I posted them, but I thought I would share again anyway
I didn’t need too many things this week, so my purchases were a little smaller than usual. I only picked up one thing that wasn’t on my list (my impulse purchase for the week) – can you guess which item it was? Yup, the baby dill pickles!
Because my list was smaller this week, I shopped on Tuesday (10% off for students!) and I had some coupons left over from work, my bill only came to about $12! I ended up having to run out and get almond milk today which brought the total up to $16, but that’s still really cheap for a whole week (for me, at least).
Anyway, this girl still has homework to do. Have a good night!
Do you like seeing my weekly grocery purchases? Should I make it a weekly post?
Read More
