Finally an Update! And Grouse Mountain

Hey guys, it has been FOREVER I know. I'm sorry. I put off all my school work because I am a piece of shit, and got swamped at the end of the semester. And for finals. And then I had work. Ugh.
But, that's all over now, so we can go back to updates!

During March, one of my friends from Korea, who is currently on exchange in Texas, came to visit. She had never been to Canada before, so we decided to give her the BIG Canadian experience, starting with a trip to Grouse Mountain.
I know, I've been here a few times now, but this was the first time that I went while there was snow and skiing (I did not go skiing)

It was SUPER cold up on the mountain, which was to be expected. The day was nice in the city though, which always makes it hard to dress accordingly.

For my first time ever, I actually got some food from the mountains chalet. It was surprisingly good, and decently priced. I got a fake chicken cutlet, with fries and BBQ sauce, and my friend got pizza and fries. Mine was delicious, and hers looked pretty good too. The coffee, however, was pretty average. Drinkable, but not refill worthy.

It was an enjoyable day, despite not being able to get to the bear area (only accessible for people with skies, or snow shoes) or beaver tails (same reason).  I think it was pretty Canadian, and she had a lovely time as well, so that's a win in my books.

Recipe of the Month-Vegetarian mini lasagnas

This is going to be a new feature of the blog-a fun, healthy*, vegetarian recipe, complete with pictures, how to, and all that. I enjoy cooking, and sometimes I make some really awesome stuff. So, if you aren't into food, just skip this section. Otherwise, sit down, make a grocery list, and join in!

So, for this first edition of my recipe of the month, I made vegetarian mini lasagnas. This is where the * comes in, in terms of healthy. There is very little in the way of carbs, but the cheese is quite fattening. But, provided you shop accordingly (light options are good) and don't eat too many (like, I ate 5, they were so good!) then there should be no problems. I was a little concerned about how these would turn out, but I have to say that they were insanely delicious. Like, lets serve these at a wedding party delicious. And, it may seem like a lot of work, it wasn't that bad. I think the biggest problem was how fast they went!

Ingredients. 
1 1lb package veggie ground (I used Yves, but Tofurkey has a nice option as well)
1/2 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
salt pepper to taste
2-4 leaves fresh basil, chopped (or dried, whatever)
1 1/2 cups tomato sauce (whatever flavour floats your boat for lasagna)
1 1/2 cup light ricotta
1 tsp oregano
1 package spring roll wrappers
1 1/2 cups shredded cheese ( I used marble, because I like marble. Use whatever you like/have)

Preparation
Preheat oven to 375F. Grease a muffin tin, and tuck the wrappers in, taking care to get all the sides/edges. Bake for 3-5 minutes, and take out, and put aside.

While that's doing its thing, cook the onions in a skillet, and, as they start to brown, add the veggie ground, and the garlic. Cook for about 5 minutes. Add the tomato sauce and the spices, and let simmer 5 minutes.

While it's simmering, mix the ricotta and the oregano together.

To assemble
Layer a small amount of the ricotta mix in the muffin tin, on top of the wrappers. Add a small layer of the veggie meat mixture on top of the ricotta. Cut one of the spring roll wrappers into 4's, and use of one of the smaller squares to create a boundary layer on top of the veggie meat layer. And repeat however many times necessary (I got 2 layers, and ran out of vertical space). Once you get close to the top of the tin, be sure to END with a meat mix. Sprinkle the shredded cheese on top of that layer.

Cooking
Cook for 10-15 minutes, until the edges of the wrappers are golden brown, and the cheese is nice and melted. Serve immediately. They can be tricky to get out of their metal containers, but I found using a spoon helped a lot.

Serve with salad, or, whatever. Enjoy!

San Francisco yummy desserts!

Seriously, you guys. I ate like a sugar coated queen while I was in San Francisco. If there was lots of sugar, icing, pretty colours, or fondant, you better believe i was all over that. I totally gave the fat kid in me the delicious treats it desperately wanted.

First up, at the Pier 39, there was this ADORABLE little cupcake place, that had cronuts. This was my first time hearing about a cronut (croissant/donut) and I admit, I was a little wary. I stuck with a normal ol' cupcake, that was to die for. I did, however, get to try to cronut, as my friend was willing to let me try a piece of hers. I must say, it was quite delightful!

There was also this little macaroon/cupcake place that was near our friends hotel (Hotel Nikko), and, every time I walked by the shop, I had to stop myself from running in and buying everything. It all looked so yummy! I really wanted to get a macaroon AND a cupcake, but, when I finally did give into temptation, they were all out of macaroons. I settled for the tiramisu cupcake, which I highly recommend.

Finally, while we were at the California Academy of Science, we stopped at the very legit cafe that was in the building, and, while getting our dinner, I snuck a little cupcake on my tray. It was a chocolate caramel cupcake, and, wow, super tasty!
As I'm sure you're starting to notice, I LOVE cupcakes. Frankly, I've never met a cupcake I haven't liked. <3

I should mention that I did not get pictures of all the other sweets I ate, such as the mounds of chocolate from my chocolate tours, mini donuts, a chocolate brownie ice cream monstrosity from Rainforest Cafe, chips and frozen yogurt with piles of chocolate caramels and chocolate chips on top.
Oh, wait, I did get a picture of the brownie ice cream thing!

The take away? I love sweets!

Africa project-updates!

So, remember back quite a while ago, I mentioned something about fundraising for a volunteer thing to Africa? (You can see the original post here) Well, I have an update on that!

We will be leaving at the end of December, just before Christmas, and heading out to 3 different countries in Africa to do a number of different volunteer programs.

Firstly, the most important things!

Where and what, exactly, you may ask?
First, we will start out in Kenya, where we will teach rural children English, Math and Geography, as well as computer and practical business skills, so they are able to develop a tourism/commercial sector. In addition to teaching, we will also help with building wells, and building for medical and educational purposes. We will be here for about 3 weeks, getting to know the children and other villagers who desperately need our help.From Kenya, we will be heading to South Africa, where we will be working on a eco-tourism farm, which works to run local community projects, such as teaching and wildlife conservation, and bring in foreign money in the form of tourism. We will be doing small construction projects, as well as assisting with hiking trail development, plant and tree identification and control, as well as education involving local communities. We will be here for about 2 months.

Finally, we will be heading to Namibia, where we will be spending our time on a safari guest farm. Here, we will be spending our time on the farm helping to run the kindergarten, as well as teaching the locals English for their business. We will also be doing research in regards to local animals and plant life, as well as ways of doing eco friendly waste and water management. We will be here for 6 weeks.As you can see, we will be quite busy working with locals in rural communities; locals with small businesses; as well as a lot of education. We desperately need extra funds to be able to pay the overhead and donation fees that come along with these projects, as well as to be able to purchase small gifts and toys for the children in the villages.

So, please, please, help in whatever way you can-every little bit helps, as I think our efforts in helping those in need will hopefully show!

Peace and love.xox

Click here to Donate! 

Or, if you can, spread the word, or get involved yourself! Every little thing helps!

The Wallflower

While my friend from the previous post was visiting, we found this AMAZING restaurant, with some of the best gluten free and vegetarian/vegan options around.
Let me state that I am not gluten free, I will never be gluten free (unless I develop an allergy) and don't really condone voluntary gluten freeness.
I am, however, vegetarian with lots of other food allergies, and generally prefer vegan, when given the option.

Anyways, we found this place called The Wallflower, at Main and 8th.

When first walking in, it feels like an art deco kind of place, but, once you look around more, that feeling is gone. Instead, there is a table set up from a Mrs Pacman game (100% useable) and creepy faces in the flowers on the walls (get it, wall flower?)

The staff were a little offputting, but, friendly enough. It is full of tattooed, pierced folks, all there to get some good food, and not have to worry about allergies and food preferences. I fit right in.
The menu is really the best part of the restaurant. I mean, the decor is great too, but, really, the menu is fabulous. SO many gluten free options, ranging from fried chicken, to mac and cheese, and poutine. The vegan options also included mac and cheese, poutine, sheppards pie, and burgers. There were a bunch of other options too, but those were the most tempting to me.

I ended up getting a hummus and veggie melt, with a side of poutine. The hubs got a burger and poutine, and our gluten free friends got the friend chicken and a burger.
The food was amazing. Seriously, I have not been that satisfied with an entree meal in a LONG time. I didn't have to settle for something I didn't want, but was the only option, and they really made an effort to have as many options available as possible.

 It was decently priced, and fast with service. I will totally go back, again and again, for the privilege of being able to actually have a full menu to chose from.

Granville Island and the Waffle bar

I don't normally make it to Granville Island, but, as I had some friends (from the previous post) were visiting, and its a pretty cool place to go.

But, before we went to the island (that's not actually an island) we went for breakfast. I know, I know, why eat before going to the island of food? Well, simple. We wanted waffles.
Sweet glorious waffles, stuffed with goodies.
Seriously though, Miura waffle and milk bar is amazing. The prices are legit, the serving sizes are damn near perfect, and the variety is amazing-considering everything comes on fresh made waffles.

The husband and I split ours-he gets a egg and cheese, and I get a fruit and cream, and we split halfsies. I find it the best way to not over do one particular variety, and it sorta feel like I get a meal, followed by dessert. Seriously, a great place to get some quick, and delicious food.

The food was enough to get us through our walk on Granville, without weighing us down with heavy eats. Seriously, good choice for us.
It's really nice to walk around Granvills Island, take in a show or two-of which there are many to choose from-and just enjoy the sunshine. I can't imagine it being very nice in the rainy weather, but, when its nice, its so beautiful.

Also, pro tip-if you want to get ice cream, totally go in to the shop, rather than the line outside. It is MUCH faster service, and then you can actually see the ice cream varieties that are available.

Visiting Friends

Wow, has it been a busy month! And it is just going to get busier, before it gets better. But, that's cool. I'll do a point form thing of what I've been up to in the next post, but, this time, I had some friends come and visit!

They have visited before, but this time, they stayed longer (a bit) and we were not just at the Comic Con.

We tried to go and do the Grouse Grind, but the damn thing wasn't open for the season yet. For serious, I felt so stupid bringing them up there, and then failing in our mission.
Oh well, the views and walk that we did do was great.

After that failed event, we went for a walk around Stanley Park, and specifically the Beaver Dam. It was weird, there were no chickadees out for feeding, which is one of the main reasons we went out there. There were some cranes and wood ducks about though, and that was pretty cool. Not into being fed, mind you, but cool.

We also did some walking around the beach, and got to see some baby geese, and other awesome Vancouver type shit. We also walked around the Rose gardens, which had many flowers already in bloom-mostly tulips. There was also a really cool bee hive, set up an an initiative for supporting the bee populations to ensure the pollination of the flowers in the gardens. It was pretty science-y.

We finished the evening with a pretty solid dinner at Capstone, which you may remember from my previous post about fondue. It was the same place, but they changed the fruits and veggies that came with the cheese and chocolate a little, and added some extra other things-like ice cream! Seriously, this place is amazing. So tasty, and surprisingly filling. This filled 4 of us, after a long day of walking.

Fondue time

Did I ever mention that I have some amazing friends? I admit that I don't have that many, but what I lack in quantity, I surely make up for in quality. I am truly grateful to have met some of the most awesome people in the world, and be able to call them friends.

Now, a little background on this particular friend-we (he and I) met on a cross-country bus trip, from Toronto to Vancouver. We both smoked, had a thing for Kate Beckinsdale, and bemoaned the entire trip. Over the few days on the bus, we became friends. Once we arrived in Vancouver, we exchanged contact info, and, to be honest, I thought that was it.
But, of course, it wasn't. We kept in contact, and it has been 7 years of awesome friendship, spanning breakups, weddings, WoW addictions, multiple moving trips (ours), babies (his, not mine) and more coffee than should legally be allowed.

Anyways, thanks to his awesomeness, Kristan and I got to go out for Fondue for a belated Valentines day date! It was belated A. because we couldn't get a reservation in time and B. because the hubs was sick on Valentines, and I stayed in reading manga (not complaining!)

The place is called Capstone tea and fondue, and is located downtown Vancouver, on Robson St. It's all white and pale green and surprisingly relaxing, given that it is almost always entirely booked.

Now, Vancouver is all about Asian fusion in almost everything it does. It comes with the territory of being the most Asian city in Canada, and having caucasian be a minority in this city. For those who don't know, fondue is a Swiss dish, which consists of melted cheese and chocolate, served with fresh fruits, vegetables and bread for dipping. Being in an Asian fusion city, all the tea options were typically Asian-matcha, green, green matcha, oolong, and so forth, as opposed to European-orange peako, English breakfast, or Earl Gray. I had an ooling tea, and the hubs had a London Fog (early gray with steamed milk foam)

We sat with our drinks for a little while, before we got the set menu of fresh fruits and veggies, bread and-of course-the warm cheese and chocolate. Now, originally, it didn't look like a lot, but, wow, was it ever filling! It totally took the place of dinner, and what  a wonderful dinner it was!

It was a lovely experience, and one I would love to have again. It was healthy, delicious, filling and a lot of fun to do with people that you love. I'm hoping that I get to do this as a double date sometime soon! Maybe in Switzerland, which would be amazing. I wonder how different it is there, in its home country. Although, the man who opened the restaurant is Swiss, i wonder if he changed the original recipes, and, if so, by how much.
xo