Salsa!

Mmm, Salsa! My Big Man wanted Chicken Fajitas for dinner today. This of course means homemade Salsa must be made.

Ingredients

All Lined Up for Imminent Death

The recipe comes from my Oster Fusion Blender that I told you about before:

1 large garlic clove

1 can (15 oz.) whole tomatoes, drained

1 medium onion, roughly chopped (I only use a 1/4 onion, one onion is way too much)

1/2 cup cilantro leaves (Use more or less depending how you like cilantro)

1 to 4 jalapeno peppers, quartered (I generally only use 1 large jalapeno)

1/2 to 1 tsp. sugar

Salt to taste

1 Tbsp. lime juice

Bzzzz.......

I squish the garlic through a press into the bottom of the blender. Add the salt and sugar, top that with half the can of tomatoes. In the middle layer; add the onion, jalapeno, cilantro and lime juice then top with the other half of the drained tomatoes.

The blender has a food-chop option. You just press this button once and that's it. The food chop option very slowly mixes all the ingredients in a side-to-side action at a slow speed for about 45 seconds. Much different than a "regular blender". Every time the salsa tastes just a little bit different. Sometimes more limey, oniony, salty or spicier. Just depends on the proportions.

Yummy!

So below is a sneak peak from what I was doing tonight after work.

Ruby Red Raspberries

Other than that, not to much happened today just the general blah, blah, blah. My only question that I just don't understand.... how I can hardly eat anything yesterday but some how can magically gain 4 pounds overnight? WTF!

HTML

Ahhh...I am a freaking genius!!!

Today's post was going to be a beg and plead out to anyone who understands HTML coding and the uploading of photo's from Flickr to Blogger.

But hey, I figured it out on my own. It was driving me absolutely nuts that I was able to upload JPG's from my computer with no problem. However, the photo's linked from Flickr were too big and were always being cut off on the right hand side and not showing the red border all around.

Above is a JPG link from computer

Above is a link from Flickr

I updated the html coding in the layout to the following:

Header -- Header wrapper width to 700px

Outerwraper -- Outer wrapper width to 700px, Main wrapper 510px, Sidebar wrapper 180px

This new html coding in the layout page seems to have corrected everything. I am so proud of myself. I don't really know anything about computers, but I want my blog to look nice. Hope you can notice the changes and think they look great. (Hope this might help others struggling with this issue as well.)

Enough of the geeky-stuff for today. Other than the above which took about 4 hours of my day; it was a same-old-same-old day. Right now I am watching "Deadliest Catch" on The Discovery Network. It is narrated by Mike Rowe from "Dirty Jobs".

Mmmm, Mike Rowe, you dirty, dirty boy!! Ah, bed time!

Poppy

Absolutely nothing exciting happened today.

Started out with the 32point5 weekly numbers. Sadly, I have no good news to tell. I am neither up nor down but exactly the same as last week. I knew this was going to happen since I overdid it with the food and drinks on the weekend (no regrets though!).

Did another 5 KM with the Big Man and the dog this morning, went to work then came home.

POPPY FROM MY BACK GARDEN

I can't wait for this weekend, especially since it's a long weekend. I have so much work to do in my yard. So far, this is my favorite picture from my garden this year. I love the top of the picture, it's like the petal edges are on fire! Click on the picture to see what I mean.

Sorry for the dull post today, I promise something exciting will happen some day soon.

Harbour Day

Our friends Mr. and Mister invited us over to their house this past Saturday to enjoy "Harbour Days". Their home is absolutely beautiful. I'm posting pictures of the outside of their house. If you think this is beautiful, just imagine the inside 100 x's better.

Mr. Misters house

They have plans all drawn up to expand the side, back, and top of their house beginning next summer. Final dream is to have their portion of the house, a rental unit and a B + B suite. Trust me, this would be the ultimate in luxury. Going to Mr. Misters house is like a 10 star resort if this is at all possible.

Their garden has won a "5 Bloom" award as part of the "Communities in Bloom" project. I thought I did OK with gardening. Ha, not.



Saturday was horrible again with rain. As soon as we arrived at their house, the rain stopped and sun started to shine. We sat out on the front porch, had a few drinks, and some yummy appetisers while wandering the gardens.

So pretty! The fantastic thing about having friends with tons of perennials is that they are always trying to thin out their plants and end up giving them away for free....Free!! Yes, I said free. I sense my yard will be all the much prettier next year thanks to them.

OK today? Better than the last time!

After our light refreshments, it was just a short walk over to the Marina where we enjoyed the lovely day and Harbour Day festivities.

Harbour Day!

MMM, breezy!

T and M checking things out

You would almost think that T was sailing the boat. She used to have her own sailboat up to a few years ago. I am sure this was bringing back nothing but sweet memories.

T and R....feeling good!

We all came back to the house where Mr. and Mister made us the best dinner of Greek Kabob's, spinach and bean sprout salad and a rice dish. R was nice enough to share his secret recipe with me. Don't you worry, this dish will be sure to be showcased on 32point5 in the near future. So simple, so easy, but the taste was amazing.

R and J. J is T's husband

Many drinks later, the finale was on it's way. Fireworks viewed from the porch! I know, how much better could this day have been.

I Love this one!

CRISS-CROSS COASTERS

As a hostess gift I made this set of Criss-Cross Coasters. The tutorial is over at "Allsorts" blog. I love her blog. She is a children's book illustrator and artist. Her home is just beyond belief. I hope that you click over and pay her a visit, fabulous all around.

I want to thank M + R for such a fantastic day! The Big Man is super jealous that he missed all the fun. Ha, Ha Sucker!

Quick little 32point5 update; other than blowing the booze consumption yesterday, I have been eating well and on Saturday I did 5 KM in 44:30 and today 5 KM in 43:10. Tomorrow is weight and measurement day. I feel confident that there should be shrinkage all around, just not as much as last week. Hope you are doing great, check back soon.

That's it Paper Boy!!

Ok, let's check the calendar here....FRIDAY, July 25, 2008, 10:47 pm. I am well into the wine part of what my friend KB has nick-named 'Friday Flyer and Fine Wine Night' but there are no flyer's OR paper to be found. Seriously, paper-boy, you better stay clear from me come collection time. Luckily, the Thursday paper had my grocery flyers, but with no Friday paper, how am I supposed to know who died this week? (Yes, sadly, I have a sick addiction to reading obituaries. I figure if I don't see my own name, all's good).

Ha, Ha I'm watching some show on TV called "Living on the Edge" playing on MTV Canada coming over from MTV UK......it has closed captioning. Come on people, when did speaking the English language come to the point of needing closed captioning in "English".....God, I hope they don't start CC'ing Coronation Street!!! Hmm, just finished watching, it's no "Hills" if you ask me. LC, Audrina and Brody (pant, pant) where are you?

I am slightly obsessed with MTV, Food Network and the News. Basically, this is all I watch. Oh and Martha too, I freakin' love it when she calls her staff out for not giving her exactly what she is "looking" for.

On to tonight's Friday night wine selection. Since my husband is off camping I choose a "Rose". Because the last wine I had from Kim Crawford was sooo good; I picked a 2007 Pansy! Rose. I googled the wine and read that "Kim" is actually a guy and get this, this is the "worlds first gay wine". This wine is rated only an 85 and has a price point of $17.00 from the Vintages section at the LCBO. I've never had a rose before, it's ok I guess. Nothing really sticking out, other than the fact that a third of the way into the bottle and I'm pretty much hammed. If that is what sells a wine for you, go for it!


Tomorrow I actually might have something exciting happening, I can almost guarantee it! Come back to check it out. 11:34 pm, still no paper.....GRRRRRR.

S'more Granola Bars

Hey there once again. As promised, here is the treat I made yesterday. The recipe is called
S'More Granola Bars from JoyofBaking.com.

S'MORE GRANOLA BARS

Tasting notes according to the husband: These bars are like a dense granola with speckles of chocolate and marshmallow. Not too sweet and awesome with a cup of tea. (I prefer them nice and cold out of the fridge, sigh however not part of the 32point5 plan at this time). To my friend SD, please DO NOT eat these, I'm sure they'd kill you! Instantly!

MMM, YUM!

Once again a nice 5 KM walk/jog with my dog today. Each day I am trying to jog just a little bit further than the last day. I ate very well today until I got home from work. There might have been some chili and tortilla chips waiting there for me calling my name. How could I resist, it will be the last time I have dinner with my husband again until Sunday; plus he made it! (and thankfully I didn't eat too much during the day).

See, this is one of those boring days where nothing exciting happened. You'll just have to check back cause tomorrow might be different! Maybe?

Beets!

I cooked some beets today for my dinner at work. I love beets! The only way I can describe their taste is they remind me of dirt; a really earthy garden taste.

This leads me to a funny story, my parents were over a few weeks back. I was having BBQ and decided to roast some baby beets on the top grill wrapped in tin foil as a side dish. The next morning my mother comes to me looking very worried. She says, "your father has a kidney stone; I think it's starting to move, there was blood in the bowl"..(sorry)..I look at her and say "Mum, Daddy had beets last night". With a quick little gasp and look of relief, "oh, that's right I forgot". Ha, Ha...I just look at eating beets as a way to ensure that my bodily functions are working well and quick. Their like a little self check up.

MY WALKING BUDDY

Today has just been the usual wake up, another 5 KM walk with the Big Man and Dog. I love my dog. We got her from a rescue society. She is a lab/pit mix. We got her before the ban on pit-bulls in Ontario. Oh yeah, I did have a lovely lunch today of fresh homemade pesto on egg noodles with a Schnitzel (frozen from fresh) that we had bought at the St. Jacobs Farmers Market a few Thursdays ago.

My husband has a camping trip with work mates this weekend so I just baked a treat for him to take....but that's for tomorrow. There, now you have a reason to come back and check it out. See ya then.

Rain, Rain Go Away!

First up, this picture was from this morning’s rain storm. Ugh, will the rain ever end? OK, I do appreciate that my lawn and gardens have never looked this lush; however overnight EVERYTHING doubles in size. I just had it all perfect, now it is overgrown and drooping from the heavy rains. I need the rain to stop in order to chop everything back to normal.

The storm was so bad this afternoon that the blinds were swaying in the windows at work. Keep in mind that I am on the 22nd floor of a 23 high office building. I always work afternoons, in the winter when it's dark out, you can see the reflection from the ceiling lights swaying because the window’s flex so much in the wind. Don’t even get me started on the death trap, never opening, bouncing elevators.

On to a fun crafty project. I have two Senior Managers that are expecting babies in August. Over the last few days I made the following “Diaper Burp Cloths” as gifts for them. I based them loosely on the tutorial provided by Chickpea Sewing Studio.

DIAPER BURP CLOTHS

Let me tell you something my friends, if you choose to use cloth diapers for whatever purpose, do yourself a favor and just purchase flannel from the fabric store. For the amount of money I paid for two packages of cloth diapers, I could have bought a ton of flannel, cut it into squares and serged the edges. I’m not saying that these did not turn out beautiful, but I just think the price of the cloth diapers is a rip-off. Mind you if you have to buy a sewing machine and a serger, it might not be so economical after all. What-ev, you decide, I just happen to have those handy.

BABY SHOWER GIFTS

That’s about it for today, walked (jogged, *snort* if you can call it that) 5 km (3.1 miles) in 47 minutes on the treadmill, some stretches, push ups and squats. Made lunch and went to work. If you’re reading, I hope you had a good day too!

Blog Bliss

I have to start today with expressing how thankful I am for one of the comments I received today on an entry. There are three blogs that I read EVERY DAY.

One of course is Deb at "Smitten Kitchen", you can expect to see me make reference to her often as she is such an inspiration with food and photography. The other is "Blonde Excuse" which belongs to a girl named Lauren. I like reading her entries because it brings back those great memories of carefree youth and young love.

Finally there is Jocelyn at "Rock Star Diary". I can not express how much I enjoy Jocelyn's blog. She truly does have the "Rock Star" life. She lives in an amazing loft in New York City where she has a fantastic group of loyal, professional, and fun friends. You can always expect something exciting from Jocelyn. It might be it a concert review, exciting trips, great photography and really nice family adventures. Jocelyn took the time to leave a comment today. THANK YOU.

Hmm, let's see, 9 days into 32point5 and I am already overjoyed. Thanks to everyone that has dropped by so far, I hope you all drop by again. XOXO

Oh yeah, since it is Monday, there is the weekly 32point5 update. It was a good week, down in inches and pounds. Yeah for me. My only question, when will my armpits actually stop hurting when I try to brush my hair? See you tomorrow!

Laundry Day

Hey there once again, how's things today, great I hope.

Well today was very rainy outside so no fun stuff like gardening today. Today I did yoga, a bit of grocery shopping, some sewing and a mountain of laundry. I also had a friend drop by, it was a nice unexpected surprise. It was really great to have a chat about things that are going on in our lives.

I was lucky girl today, my husband made us our main meal. Just like yesterday, it is from the "Great Food Fast" cookbook by Martha Stewart. The dish was called "Pasta with Lentils and Arugula". It was very yummy and also helped me determine that the unknown green vegetable from the farmers market yesterday was indeed arugula.

PASTA WITH LENTILS AND ARUGULA

** Just as a side note to some of you who are new to reading blogs. When I mention certain things and highlight them in the red lettering, there is a web-link embedded to what I am talking about. For instance today, if you click on the recipe title in the paragraph above; you see that I have included the web page showing this recipe. Also you can click on any of my pictures and it will either show a bigger picture or directly link to my Flickr page. Hope this little tid-bit of information helps you enjoy my blog even more **

Tomorrow morning is the first big recording of all the scary 32point5 statistics. So, unless all hell breaks loose tonight, I am confident that there will be a decline in those numbers. See you tomorrow.

Brooklin Farmer's Market

Hey there, how's today going?

Has been a very active day for me today. I started the day by reading the paper and walking down to the Brooklin Farmer's Market. Below you will see that I bought mini yellow and green zucchini's, tomatoes, baby potatoes, a red onion, some unknown green vegetable that I already forgot the name of, 1/2 loaf of Sunflower Rye bread, a French Stick, and finally an apple strudel. Ignore the latter, because I am sure it does not fit into the 32point5 plan. I swear the husband is the only one who is going to eat it, cough, cough.

BROOKLIN FARMER'S MARKET

Anyways, I had a girlfriend over today to watch her Ricky Tims quilting DVD. Some of you may know that I really enjoy quilting (I know, geek-o-rama), let's just say this guy is amazing!

So while my friend was visiting; we had a light lunch today of Bruschetta that I made from the tomatoes and french stick purchased at the farmer's market, along with fresh basil from my herb garden. I also made "Cantaloupe with Honey and Lime" from the "Great Food Fast" cookbook from Martha Stewart. This book is fantastic, really simple meals that turn out fantastic every time. The first time I read it I had borrowed it from the Library, we thought is was so good that we went and bought the book to always have it around for dinner inspiration.


Well that's about it for today. Hope you are enjoying your weekend. If you're around here, remember to drink plenty of fluids....it's hot out there! See you tomorrow.

Yeah, it's Friday

Ahh, Friday! I love Friday's, want to know why? Because the "Whitby this Week" comes on Friday filled with all my lovely grocery flyers. My weekly ritual is to come home from work and have a nice refreshing alcoholic beverage and enjoy my flyers. But wait, something is a miss this week.....NO GROCERY FLYERS. WTF!!! Grr, now I am forced to look at all my favorites on line at "Flyer Mall". Listen up paper boy, no $6.00 for you this collection period! I mean it!!

On to better things. We tend to be a red wine family here. Since it has been such a lovely summer, I have slowly been trying to convince the husband to try some nice chilled white wines.

Quick little review of last weeks and this weeks choices:

1) Kim Crawford 2006 MARLBOROUGH SAUVIGNON BLANC, New Zealand

Rated a 94. Beautiful, Beautiful wine. Tasted so good! Light, crisp and really grapey. If you see this wine, buy it. Price point was around $22.oo from the vintages section. Nice treat for sure.

2) KWV CATHEDRAL CELLAR CHARDONNAY 2005, South Africa

Rated a 92. Price point was about $15.00 from Vintages. Hmm, I think I would have to argue the 92 rating considering how fantabulous the Kim Crawford was. This is an oaked Chardonnay, making it a bit heavier (I guess....I am no expert in having a palate in whites). It is definitely not horrible, but just a little bit sweet for me, more fruity than grapey. Not so bad that I won't be rejecting a second glass tonight.

Well, that's it for today. Hope you had a great day, I did. 5 KM walk with Husband and Dog. Again, remember to come back and visit soon cause I'm sure something exciting will happen sooner or later.

PS....huge shout out to my BIL in New Zealand! Thanks for looking and give big hugs and kisses to the family. I miss you all very much!

Cauliflower Soup

Hey, how's your day going? Great I hope. Mine day was fine, the 32point5 plan is rolling along. Today was another 5km walk with my partners in crime; AKA husband and dog. I ate very well again today, but was really hungry when I got home. To divert from eating something tragic I decided to raid the fridge and make my "Cauliflower Soup".

I have no recipe for this (or pictures of the ingredients today cause hey, I forgot to take them). I used the following:

Full head of cauliflower, separated into florets and then sliced into chunks
1 Vidalia onion chopped
1 cup of sliced celery
1 fennel bulb, diced and sliced
1 TBS of fresh thyme picked from their stems
1 TBS of fresh curly parsley chopped fine
1 cube of vegetable broth
handful of plain oatmeal flakes

I started by softening the onion, celery and fennel in a smidgen of olive oil. Then I added the raw cauliflower the vegetable stock cube and enough hot water from the kettle to cover. Sounds gross, but throw in a handful of plain oatmeal flakes. This somehow adds creaminess but way lower calories than cream. When the vegetables are becoming soft, around 6-8 mins, toss in the herbs for then cook for another 2 minutes. This keeps their flavour fresh.

BUBBLE-BUBBLE

Now the fun part, pull out your blender and blend in SMALL batches till nice smooth consistency. Have a large mixing bowl handy to store the soup while you blend the rest from the pot. Then return all blended soup back to the cooking pot. Grind in a little pepper, you should not need any salt, stir and bring to nice warm soup temperature.

OSTER FUSION BLENDER

I have to tell you about my blender. It is an Oster Fusion. I freakin love this thing. It makes the best smoothies, soups and SALSA. If your blender is crap, I would recommend this blender for sure. A little pricey but very solid unit with a beautiful glass container. Sorry about the picture quality. I am sure with practice the photo's will get better.

Anyhoo, back to the cauliflower soup. From beginning to end it took about an hour, kept me busy, filled my grumbly tummy, and is super low calorie. Guesstimating that the WHOLE BATCH is around 450 calories. I love it, the husband however wouldn't try it if I paid him to. But, if you enjoy a nice bowl of soup, this is it.

CAULIFLOWER SOUP

Once again, hope you had a great day, check back soon, I am sure something exciting will happen sooner or later!

Weee...people found my blog!!

Well my day had been super boring until I checked by Site Meter location stats. Shout out to the people in Nova Scotia, New Zealand, Australia and Northern Ontario who checked out my blog today.

Wow, 5 days in and I have already passed my expectations of anyone seeing my blog. THANKS!

So I ate very well today but no physical activity. I had unexpected visitors this morning (my parents) so that jammed my schedule this morning.

If you’re reading this, hope you had a great day! Stay tuned; I’m sure something interesting should happen sooner or later.

Thanks Mr. Truck Driver

Yesterday I finally received my prize for winning the April 2008 “Excel Award” at work. To win the award you have to be nominated by a peer for displaying skills like teamwork, leadership, productivity, etc. I won a Black and Decker Quick n Easy Food Processor.

I thought I would share my recipe for Hummus. I think I originally found it on All Recipes.

INGREDIENTS

1 can 540 ml, drained and rinsed chickpeas
1 large OR 2 small cloves of garlic
Juice of one lemon
½ tsp. sea salt
2 TBS tahini
2 TBS Olive Oil
Smidge of water to blend

I dumped the rinsed chickpeas in the processor, crushed in a big clove of garlic, added 3 Tbs. of lemon juice, olive oil and the sea salt. I used 1 tsp. of sesame oil as a replacement for the tahini. When you turn on the processor just pour a little bit of water down the feed chute until you get that nice smooth Hummus texture. A note about the salt, if you do not have sea salt and use just regular table salt, but I would only start with a ¼ tsp. and then adjust the salt level to taste.

NEW KITCHEN TOY

I have this recipe written on a little scrap of blue paper that I lost behind the microwave for a few years (guess I should clean a little bit better eh?). Truly this is the BEST hummus recipe. I tried many other recipes as a replacement after I thought I had lost this one; all the others SUCKED! Sometimes we use the hummus as a replacement for tomato sauce on a pizza. Sounds disgusting, but trust me it is fantastic.

Other than that just another 5 km walk with the husband and dog. Work, then home to update the blog.

If you’re reading this, hope you had a great day! Stay tuned; I’m sure something interesting should happen sooner or later.

PS, to the Big Rig Truck Driver going East on Hwy #7 and Lakeridge Rd. THANK YOU FOR CHECKING ME OUT HARD-CORE, you made my day!

Official start date

So, today is the official start of the “32point5” plan.

I don’t intend to dwell daily on the boring stuff like what I ate, if I exercised and how much I measure and weigh (ugh).

For background information, the following picture was taken of me on Saturday, July 12/2008. Not my prettiest for sure, but hey, we went to an amazing house party the night before; the haggard look is well deserved. I don’t think that I am GINORMOUS, but I need to lose about 25-35 pounds to reach a healthy frame and weight. I recorded all the awful numbers this morning and once the goal has been met, I will most certainly post the stats.

ME

Not much happened today, went for a big walk (5 km) with my husband. Work, then home to update the “motivation” blog.

If you’re reading this, hope you had a great day! Stay tuned; I’m sure something interesting should happen sooner or later.

Sweet Cherry Pie

The first blog that I ever "found" was Smitten Kitchen. This was about a year ago and I have been a faithful follower of hers ever since.

MY CHERRY TREE

BOWL OF CHERRIES

I have a beautiful cherry tree in my yard that gave an over-abundance of fruit this year. There were so many cherries that I was giving them away by the bagful to my friends, neighbours and co-workers. I love to cook and bake (hence the need for 32point5). I have never, ever made a pie so I decided to try Deb's recipe for "Sweet Cherry Pie".

ALMOST THERE

The recipe calls for adding almond extract, at this point the scent was fantastic. I was so surprised that everything was going along so smoothly for my first ever pie attempt. I love that green-flowered pyrex bowl. I found it about a month ago at Value Village for like $4.00.

OVEN TIME

I popped it in the oven and hoped for the best. The pie starts at 400 degrees, the shortening and butter within the crust started to spill over and smoke. My fire alarm kept going off. I eventually had to put a fan under the alarm to stop it, there is only so much frantic tea-towel waiving I could stand. Oh well, at least my oven got a really good clean!

"SWEET CHERRY PIE"

Alas, in the end it was beautiful, tasty and so worth the effort. Yeah to my first pie ever.

And so it begins

Well here I go.

Basically my hope for this blog is to have a daily account of what I actually do in a day. I love looking at other people's blogs and spend a good hour (or two) a day reading entries and looking at pictures on Flickr.

My husband suggested I start my own blog. Whining, I replied: "but my life is so boring". His response: "but you do all of the same stuff (crap) you read each day". I have pondered this thought for a few days and think that he may be right. Along the way I hope at least one other person will read my thoughts and provide some feedback.

Oh yeah, my biggest goal for this year which supports the name of my blog is to reach a waist-size of 32point5.