red onion – Cookies & Chemistry

10 Ways Food Blogging Ruined My Life

Welcome to my first post of 2016…

Becoming a foodie abolished my inability to realize that I will never be a perfect eater, exerciser, or writer. I’m never going to throw my hair into a perfect messy bun and complete a 5-mile run before dawn, then come home for an organic kale-goji-maca-spirulina (what even IS spirulina?) smoothie. I will never master the art of photography or write flawless blog posts. And that’s okay. It’s fine if I feel sore one day and skip a workout. It’s not a problem if I “accidentally” have two extra scoops of nut butter after my morning oatmeal (this happens regularly!). Food-blogging has helped me understand that the most I can do is my best, and that I should always shoot for the moon knowing that I will land among the stars if I miss.

Quinoa tossed with roasted zucchini, cauliflower, broccoli, and white cheddar

It took away all of my laziness and lack of creativity – because I love playing with food. Honestly, oatmeal artwork seems like a pretty trivial and ridiculous hobby, but it’s so therapeutic. There’s nothing quite like the satisfaction of devouring a big bowl that’s been decorated in a way that makes you happy. I’ve mentioned this before, but a bowl of cooked rolled oats is essentially a blank canvas for any ingredient you wish: you can let your imagination run wild with oatmeal and do some very, very innovative designs on those oats.

Green smoothie bowl made with one frozen banana, 2 tbsp peanut butter, almond milk, 2 tbsp cocoa powder, pinch of salt, some cinnamon, and lots of spinach – topped with berries and crushed coconut cashews

It smashed my fear of travelling alone, or doing things by myself. Because food is the motivation for 99% of my adventures (no kidding here, I went to Paris solely for the croissants), I know that I will never get tired, afraid, or worried along the way. Food is always on my mind and inspires me to be brave and walk just a little further. The craziest thing I’ve ever done for food was probably ride the Metro for two hours in Quebec last summer, then walk for a good half hour just for the shredded duck and fig jam sandwich in Montreal. Totally worth it.

Whole Foods hot bar buffet lunch: favourites included the chicken tomato stew, smoked mozzarella pasta salad, and mashed yams

Becoming a foodie took away any shyness and anxiety I had previously, towards interacting with people my age. Knowing about food and being able to talk about it made me a much more outgoing person. Now, when I meet new people, it’s so easy to strike up a conversation and keep it going, especially if one of us has food involved. I just have so, so much to say about food!

Chocolate-banana oatmeal with crumbled hazelnut chocolate muffin, blackberries, and sunflower butter with crushed coconut cashews

It vanquished my ability to criticize other people or judge them without knowing them. How can I point out other people’s weaknesses without first analyzing my own? Reading about the lives of other food bloggers has really opened my eyes about countless other factors in their lives: most of the time, it’s not all about food. I’ve learned so much about their underlying fears and problems, and I can relate to so many of them. Now, it’s hard for me to make a negative pre-assessment of someone without understanding their past or celebrating their strengths at the same time.

Tea time at Aunt Mimi’s: Whole Foods cheesecake, Whole Foods apricot and blueberry coffee cake, with some dark roast coffee with brown sugar and whole milk

It completely destroyed any desire I had to be average, “okay”, or normal. Why should you be mediocre when you can be innovative? Inspiring? Encouraging? Original? Food blogging, cooking and baking, and even talking about food have helped me discover my “voice” and passion for health.

Get-together at family friend’s house: stir-fried vegetables with shrimp, eggs with radish, tofu, pan-fried fish

It shut down all my frustration and inability to cope with “uh-oh” situations. There isn’t much you can do when the beautifully-ripened avocado turns out to have mushy brown flesh, when you find bugs in your spinach, or when your sister accidentally gobbles up the famous Parisian macaron you were planning to enjoy. Now, I’m realizing these little things are really not the big deal I hyped them up to be at the time. These little things just aren’t worth stressing over.

Get-together with Dad’s coworkers and their families: fruit, asparagus + scallops, eggs + leeks, stir-fried udon and vegetables, cantaloupe, and purple yam + taro tapioca soup with coconut milk for dessert

It screwed up any dread or anxiety I felt before addressing adults. Speaking to my elders has always been a forte, but I’ve refined this skill so much that I actually look forward to interviews and answering tricky questions. When I used to volunteer at the Eagle Ridge Hospital in Port Coquitlam, it was terrifying to think that I had to spend several hours a week engaging in conversation with sick and injured people aged 70 and above, many with physical and cognitive disabilities. The challenging thing was knowing that I shouldn’t talk to them about clothing (they have to wear hospital gowns), their significant others (may or may not still be with them), their illness or injury (no one wants to talk about this!), or their hospital room (many of them were bitter about their rooms and roommates). Initially, I felt like there was absolutely nothing to chat about with these elderly patients – until I realized that most of them loved sharing stories about their hometowns and the food they enjoyed there. Sometimes, patients told me about their beloved recipes, childhood meals – which, gosh, are SO different from today’s salmon-and-quinoa dinner – cooking hacks, and more. One time, a lady called Maria from Greece described how she made tzatziki based on her grandmother’s recipe. The secrets include a pinch of white pepper and salting and wringing out the grated cucumber to prevent it from diluting the yogurt.

Curry-yogurt chicken drumstick, quinoa with roasted sweet potato, roasted broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, and zucchini // vegan pumpkin spice latte chocolate pudding cake with maple yogurt and crushed coconut cashews

It drained any chances I had of missing out on getting to know countless supportive and inspirational people, many of whom are dietitians-to-be or share my passion for food. The network of foodies, online and offline, is truly amazing. I wasn’t intending on naming some of them, but now I feel like sharing their wonderful blogs with you guys – please do check out some of my absolute favourite people on the Internet: the supportive and hilarious Stephanie from Mindful Eats and Treats, the sweet, down-to-earth domestic goddess Kate of The Domestikated Life, the sophisticated and talented photographer Jack of Jack’s Balancing Act, the crazy-creative and thoughtful Cassie at SuperFitBabe, and Cora of My Little Tablespoon, who is not only a brilliant writer, but also a recipe queen. You guys inspire me with each and every blog post, and I know that I will always be in store for a treat whenever you publish something new. Thank you for that.

Carrot cake oatmeal with mashed banana, chia and flax, topped with crumbled banana almond muffin and sunflower butter

It destroyed my fear of food. Not much else needs to be said here.

Tofu fried rice with vegetables // spinach and ricotta ravioli with roasted red pepper and parmesan

I know that there might be some negative habits and behaviours involved with being a healthy food blogger, but for the most part, they certainly don’t. In fact, the compassionate comments and words of encouragement far outweigh the dark side of being a foodie! Blogging about food and life has encouraged me to gradually mature into the well-rounded and accomplished adult I hope to become, armed with all the skills and assets I need to tackle personal and professional situations in the future.

Whole wheat pita topped with sweet potato slices, spinach scrambled eggs, goat cheese, and sweet potato aioli // quinoa with butternut squash and tomato sauce, pine nuts, veggies

Cheers to the delicious life: a life filled with friendship, laughter, cake, cheese and chocolate.

Classic Mom dinner: lotus root patties, taro and chicken stew, stir-fried vegetables with sesame

January 3, 2016January 3, 2016

cookiesnchem10 Comments

50 Things I Learned from my Roommate

What comes with a full heart and a full stomach?

An empty wallet.

Haha. That’s my idea of a joke – and yes, my jokes are always lame and fail to make any sense. But in my defense, it’s partially true! The first week of my winter break, back home in BC, has been nothing less than indulgent, relaxing, and full of laughter and fun moments with family and friends. But a constantly-exploding belly and lots of extra sleep are making me into one happy girl! I’ve done quite a few things on my winter to-do list already, which is satisfying. Well, I’ve done the exciting things. Not the boring ones.

How is your winter holiday so far? Have you done anything memorable with friends and family?

Before I move on to the epic compilation of things my roommate and her boyfriend taught me in the past four months, I wanted to tell you a teeny, kind-of-pointless story about what I did today.

My morning started with a spinach-banana-peanut butter-cocoa-date smoothie, a chickpea blondie, and a relaxing hot yoga class. Then, I met up with my good friends Jia (who my mom calls “Chia”) and Hollie. We’ve known each other for years and were thrilled to reunite and spend the afternoon together. Jia studies English in UBC’s arts program, and Hollie is in Science with a scholarship to SFU. We met up before noon and zipped downtown for some lunch, after a 15-minute walk down Vancouver’s sketchiest street.

The menu at Railtown Café is quite elaborate, at least in my opinion. 🙂 I had a massive internal debate about whether I should order the sandwich or the salad, but ended up with a build-your-own salad which you’ll see in a couple scrolls. Check out their menu and all those delectable salad combinations and sandwich ideas!

By the way, I took photos on my normal camera but was too lazy to upload them for the post, hence the not-so-nice photos below. I snapped these with my phone in a rush to dig in, but anyways, behold the iPhone photos.

Lesson of the day: it’s a bad idea to order a big drink, a squash-based soup, and a salad topped with about 79 different things.

I had the roasted winter vegetable soup with pumpkin seeds on top, as well as a dark hot chocolate that tasted just like regular hot chocolate. It was a little powdery and grainy in the end, so I wouldn’t recommend the drink. My salad was so deluxe and I’ll write down some of the toppings below:

Arugula base
Sliced grilled chicken breast – was debating about getting the poached salmon, but their chicken looked really juicy and yummy 🙂
Sliced avocado
Beets
Roasted yams
Pesto chickpeas
Pesto mozzarella slices
Feta cheese
Squash chips (the BEST part!)
Toasted pumpkin seed vinaigrette

Check out their menu for a ton of salad topping ideas: http://railtowncafe.ca/see-our-menu/

YUM. A lovely combination of freshness, saltiness, texture, acidity, richness, sweetness, and bitterness. I told my friends that I wanted to eat this salad every day for the rest of my life.

For dessert, I ordered a peanut butter crunch bar and a chocolate-hazelnut muffin. Both were fantastic and we split them mostly 3 ways.

The muffin was soft, very cinnamon-y, and had great flavor from the hazelnuts. The exterior was perfectly crisp and I would definitely order this tender, delicious muffin again. The peanut butter crunch bar had four distinct layers and was a truly amazing dessert. This peanut butter masterpiece was composed of:

Chewy peanut butter cookie with real peanut chunks embedded throughout (bottom)
Crispy chocolate layer, like a thinner, crispier Rice Crispy with no rice flavor
Peanut butter custard that was not too sweet nor salty
Chocolate ganache, most likely milk chocolate (top)

Peanut butter haters, this thing will convert you.

We talked lots about our “new” lives in university, and Jia’s busy second year. I was also so happy to hear that my friends are secret readers of the blog 😉 We had some fun and memorable conversations, including this one:

Me: So I have a house-mate. We share a bathroom and kitchen but have our own rooms. She graduated and is now working in the area, so she’s a little older, a LOT more mature, and super nice.

Hollie: Oh yeah! I saw that on your blog.

Jia: She made a pumpkin pie! (she was referring to THIS pumpkin pie, that they made from scratch around Thanksgiving).

Hollie: You’re so lucky. That’s awesome.

And she is absolutely right. 🙂 Madhulika and her boyfriend Arsalan are wonderful and wise people with lots of tricks and tips and life hacks. Here we go!

One more thing before the ultimate list – check this out. My friend shared it on Facebook and I have to agree with quite a few of these points. What do you think?

Anyways, here is the list:

Drink water slowly. Take little sips as you work to increase absorption.
Make a Linkedin account to network with people as soon as possible.
Broil open-faced sandwiches for melty, bubbly cheese
Spread peanut butter with a spoon and eat it on a napkin to save dishes.
Eat baked salmon with a little pad of butter on top
Paprika and cajun spices work with anything!
Make a big lasagna and freeze individual-sized portions to reheat whenever you need a quick meal
While you’re at it, don’t add too much tomato sauce, or it might overpower the pasta, cheese, and vegetables
Adding some chicken broth to ground chicken makes it nice and saucy
Ground chicken works as a perfect sub for ground beef, for a fraction of the fat and just as much flavour
Goat cheese works with anything. Sandwiches, salads, lasagna – whatever it is, goat cheese can be crumbled on top for maximum deliciousness.
Speaking of goat cheese, you can never have enough. Ever.
Always check the weather before you go out – it can be a beautiful sunny day that’s freezing cold!
Princess Cafe can, and absolutely should, be a weekly thing. Get the curried tuna. And the soup. And the bean salad.
Turn off the lights to conserve energy if you aren’t using them
If you realize you’re full in the middle of your meal, stop, wrap up the leftover food, and save it for another meal rather than stuffing yourself and feeling uncomfortable afterwards
Don’t leave things lying around – watches, cameras, pencil boxes – keep them safe in your room: I’m SO bad with this and always leave little things on the counter
Cutting and chopping veggies ahead of time will save time on busy weekdays
Butternut squash soup is the most filling thing ever
A pinch of cayenne adds zest to anything
The bigger and sharper your knife, the more you’ll enjoy chopping veggies
Marinate and bake chicken breast chunks in rose pasta sauce as a low-sugar substitute for barbecue sauce
Morning showers are really refreshing!
The vegetable water left over from cooking vegetables is actually delicious: carrots make it a little sweet!
Potatoes take freaking forever. Plan ahead!
Washing fluffy towels with your best pants is a bad idea. Lint overload!
When adding spices to food, ALWAYS pour a little palmful of the spice into one palm and use fingers from the other hand to pinch and sprinkle. Then taste as you go!
Check your freezer to make sure you aren’t forgetting about any food you stored in there previously 🙂
Boil sweet potatoes before roasting them. You can check to see when they are ready by sticking a fork inside – if the potato chunk slides down by gravity, you’re ready to bake!
Make a big batch of veggies, chicken, and rice for lots of meals. You’ll be thankful on busy afternoons!
Roast all kinds of squash with the cut side down. That way, the flesh is enclosed and it will steam itself and cook faster
Buy good-quality rainboots and use them for five years rather than picking up a cheaper but non-waterproof pair.
Splurge on a good, high-quality blender.
Don’t try to balance a mixing board on a cutting board – if it falls and knocks over a glass (not your own!) that’s gonna shatter on the ground… that’s bad. Trust me, I know this one from experience.
Add something spicy to mac and cheese! Cayenne or jalapeños are cool… well, never mind, they’re actually hot. Put breadcrumbs on top and bake it.
Speaking of mac and cheese, you don’t even need butter to make a roux. Just cook a mixture of flour and milk before adding cheddar!
There are two types of pumpkins: carving pumpkins and pie pumpkins. The two types of pumpkins can both be used for pie. If you have a carving pumpkin, remember that it is more watery and will require extra cooking time (also, they’re massive).
It’s so much more fun to work out with EARPHONES and music!
If you deal with raw meat or fish, spray down the counter surface afterwards just to be safe.
Make sandwiches on a paper towel so you don’t have to wash another plate
Add coconut milk at the very end of cooking something because coconut flavour will disappear with too much heat. Basically, add some coconut milk when making curries, then add the majority of it at the very end.
Cook spices with a little oil for more flavour
Everything is good with butter, pecans, butternut, and garlic
Wash your dishes while cooking, waiting for things to boil, etc. It makes time go by faster and saves dishwashing time and space afterwards!
Winter boots are so important. Buy ones with good traction!
Do not dump a bunch of pepper on your food.
Wear oven mitts all the time. And don’t touch boiling hot casserole dishes that just emerged from the oven… ouch.
Chicken Cordon Bleu can be made easy with a butter and flour roux mixed with ham, with cooked chicken, chopped pickles and Dijon mustard stirred in. With gruyere or harvarti cheese grated in, top this mixture on sliced baguette and sprinkle with more cheese before broiling. Voila – easy, mess-free, no-roll, easy to cook and eat cordon bleu. Fancy but simple!
Dice your own tomatoes for pasta sauce, and mix them with garlic and caramelized onions, plus spices like thyme and oregano. You can also stir in some ricotta. This pasta sauce is so much better than canned.
If you laugh while drinking tea, you’ll probably spill it on your lap and bedsheets, and make it look like you peed your pants!

Love these!

I love cheesy things. Literal and figurative cheesy things.

One more thing – I want to make this Asian noodle bowl and some vegan parmesan cheese. I know how random this is, but I stumbled upon them online and really want to give ’em both a try soon 🙂

That is it for today – I have an EARLY 6:00 AM hot yoga session tomorrow morning as well as a fun spin class, so I’m off to bed. Have a great evening!

December 29, 2015December 29, 2015

cookiesnchem9 Comments

Aroma Cafe: A Cozy Corner

Good morning beautiful people!

I have some quotes to share with you today. These ones really spoke to me and I hope they will inspire you, or at the very least, make you think a little bit. 🙂

You can’t start the next chapter if you keep re-reading the last one
When nothing goes right, turn left
Time heals everything. Give the time some time.
If Plan A fails, there are 25 letters left.
If an egg is broken by an outside force, life ends. If the egg is broken by an inside force, then life begins. Great things happen from the inside.
Make peace with your past so it won’t spoil your present.

Last week, I had a relaxing lunch for one at Aroma Cafe, which is located on Erb Street in Uptown Waterloo. It’s located in the middle of a beautiful atrium surrounded by other shops.

Their menu is quite elaborate and features things like smoked salmon croissants (made in-house), sweet potato sandwiches, and hormone-free meats in their paninis. They make a fresh soup every morning and serve homemade baked goods. There’s a new salad every day, and the desserts are deluxe and switch regularly. The best part? All their breads are made from scratch in-house!

I settled down in one corner after ordering the “half” turkey panini with harvarti cheese, tomato, avocado (substituted for bacon), and garlic aioli. Can you believe this is the half-portion? It was ridiculously filling and made with lots of love and care. The soup of the day was zucchini-butternut with herbs.

My sandwich was warm and toasty. The bread was my favourite part: chewy, warm, and tasted so fresh and homemade.

Dessert was a gluten-free hazelnut mocha torte. This was fantastic as well. I asked for it to be cut in half so I could save some for later. It was really yummy, and quite rich and dense being gluten-free. The coconut on top added great texture and the chocolate ganache layer was my favourite.

Time to do some research (on cafes to visit during my 2 weeks in BC!) before helping Mom with dinner and maybe baking some dessert. Hope your Christmas was the merriest and I will update you a couple more times before 2016. 🙂

December 26, 2015

cookiesnchem14 Comments

So Much To Do – So Little Time

Hey everyone!

How are you? I am in the greatest mood ever right now (some chocolate would put me in a better mood, though…), because:

a) I finished my last of six exams two hours ago. What a relief! I am so grateful that all the finals are done. I feel like such a big weight is finally lifted off my shoulders, and hopefully the subconscious-stress pimples that popped up over the last two weeks are going to disappear soon.

b) I will see my family in 15 hours! Okay, 20 hours for me because of the 5-hour flight. But still! It’s been four months and way too long.

c) Christmas is in just four days. WHAT!? Plus, Vancouver might have a white Christmas this year.

My list of things to do this winter holiday is basically a mile long, and I have only 2 short weeks to complete them all! Or, at least, I’ll try Thankfully, most of the things on the list are fun things that I am truly looking forward to. I put this list together in October (thanks to Mom for the idea). Back then, there were only a couple things on it, but as the weeks went on, I started adding more and more things to it, and before I knew it, I had to split it up into multiple sections. Take a look!

Delicious frittata made with four eggs, asparagus, sweet potato slices, mushrooms, roasted red pepper, spinach, and honey goat cheese

Life-Related Goals

Go to Daiso in Aberdeen Centre with family
Go to Trader Joe’s with family
Watch TV and movies with Seline: NATIONAL TREASURE!
Play with my polymer clay
Decorate some things with Sharpie henna
Practice bookbinding
Make gifts for family and friends
Cook and bake all of the things on this list
Some new things have been added to the list just now: vegan dark chocolate macarons, chocolate peppermint cupcakes, healthy airplane snacks for the ride back to Waterloo, butter-free banana shortbread cookies with pecans, raw almond butter cups, coconut chocolate fudge frosting, carrot cake, and chocolate chip pumpkin bars

Quinoa mixed with asparagus, peas, roasted cauliflower, coconut curried tofu, and topped with crushed cashews

Health-Related Goals

Get a better sleep schedule: bed before 11:00 and wake up at 7:00
Do 10 classes of hot yoga over the two weeks
Exercise in the morning
Practice cirque yoga moves on the new ball
Walk Arnie twice a day with Mom

Quinoa mixed with butternut tomato sauce, spinach, zucchini, red peppers, squash chunks, mushrooms, and baked with cheddar and goat cheese, topped with pine nuts – served with study notes all about the FITT Principle, which was on my Kin 104 exam!

Things to Eat and People to Meet

Whole Foods hot bar with Mom
Wendell’s with Mimi and family
Something with Rachel
Kishimoto sushi again! Or maybe minami or mike
Beaucoup Bakery with Seline
Dinner with Eagle Ridge Hospital friends at Cactus Club
Dinner with Jessica, Medha, Yuki, and Sally
Dinner with Sally, Medha, and Natasha
Meet up with Annie and family
Lunch and skating with Jia and Hollie
Visit Zdenek, my skating coach!

Apple oatmeal (grated in and chunks on top) with pumpkin muffin and hemp hearts

Blog-Related Things

Finish publishing all old WordPress drafts, so I can start clean in 2016
Manage all WordPress subscriptions so I don’t receive spam from random bloggers, but rather from the ones I know (virtually) and love
Write blog FAQs page
Add to blog ‘About Me’ page
Update oatmeal page
Email K.C. about guest posting on her lovely blog
Contact K.Y. about a guest post?
Contact B.D. about blog and Youtube channel: possible collaboration?

More yummy quinoa mixed with asparagus, peas, roasted cauliflower, coconut curried tofu, and topped with crushed cashews

Real, Important Things that I Need to Get Done

Figure out my fitness schedule for the new semester, and register for the classes I want to participate in: yoga or ballet?
Update resume
Make a Linkedin account
Email E.O. about Mission Nutrition peer education team to find out about the schedule
Email H.K. about doing research with her in the lab
Finish presentation about Mediterranean Diet and send it to H.K. and T.N.
Take a look at medical school requirements and make a list
Write a list of reasons why I want to be a doctor
Write new article for Young Scholar
Email Susan about hospital volunteer hours and switching to another shift after April
Email A.N. about blogging about yoga
Contact Clair Hills Retirement Home about volunteering there in 2016
Fill out Global Experience Certification submission form and submit
Make a scrapbook for my summer in Paris with Seline using Mixtape or Artcow
Make plans for the summer: volunteer trip with Projects Abroad?
Apply for a yoga certification scholarship
Make some artwork (drawings or things to sell) for Balding for Cancer, for C.M.

Lunch at Princess Cafe: curried cauliflower soup with a turkey and goat cheese sandwich with sundried tomato pesto, spinach, garlic aioli

BC Shopping List

Unsweetened shredded coconut
4x dark chocolate bar (need for 4 recipes)
Coconut sugar
Applesauce
Peppermint extract
Almond meal
Coconut milk in a can
Raw almonds
Raw cashews
Raw walnuts
Chickpeas
Healthy graham crackers
2x firm silken tofu (12 oz)
Tomato paste
Fresh basil
Dry brown (green) lentils
Celery
Nutritional yeast
Apple cider vinegar
Thyme, oregano, basil, cayenne
Butternut squash (large, about 1.5 pounds)
Breadcrumbs (need for two recipes)
Fresh dill
Cavatappi pasta
3/4 cup asiago cheese
1.5 tbsp fresh rosemary
3 cups half and half
2 cups Italian blend cheese: mozzarella, parmesan, smoked provolone
Goat cheese
Cauliflower

Chocolate-banana oatmeal with peanut butter, chocolate chips, cashews, hemp hearts // whipped banana oatmeal with banana slices, yogurt, cashews, blackberries, hemp hearts

Back in BC, Mom made a big hot pot one night. Have you tried hotpot before? Do you like it?

My doggie is always sleepy. I can’t wait to walk Arnie again!

Seline and the homestay students played monopoly one evening, enjoyed a big roast beef with broccoli, and Mom baked brownies from a mix.

Seline got her wisdom teeth out a couple days ago and is recovering beautifully. 🙂 That makes me happy as a clam!

Speaking of brownies, I made these babies AGAIN! Honestly, my roomie and I just cannot get enough.

I cut one square into 9 pieces and the other into 16.

I enjoyed two fresh out of the oven (second one unpictured) with peanut butter and Greek yogurt. And as I type this right now, I’m eating another one. I think I’ve been having two of these per day since I discovered the recipe on one of my favourite blogs!

Another morning I made Steph’s white chocolate blueberry pancakes, minus the white chocolate and topped with kiwi and chopped cashews. This was quite delish drizzled with maple syrup!

One night I cooked up some fried rice with crispy tofu, plus some roasted sweet potato with aioli drizzle. It was such a dark day!

See the tray of sweet potato? I ate the entire tray in this one meal, along with all that fried rice. Whoa. I guess I needed all that to power my brain through a long study session? 😛 I know, I’m totally justifying…

Butternut squash soup and pita with apple, cheddar, goat cheese, and a drizzle of honey. I was so pleased with how this totally-random lunch turned out!

Quinoa mixed with butternut squash tomato sauce and vegetables, topped with cheese and baked until delicious. This was so, so good and I will be repeating! My broccoli here was quite strange – it was spongy! The flavour was top-notch with garlic, pine nuts, and parmesan, but the stalks had the weirdest texture, like there were air bubbles inside. Didn’t taste like broccoli at all – more like a funny eggplant. Has this ever happened to you?

On Saturday afternoon, I met up with my Altitude mentor. We enjoyed lunch at the Yeti Cafe in downtown Kitchener.

They sell all different kinds of bread and bagels. The circular wall decorations are actually slices of a log that have been painted and glitter-fied. The man and woman in line in front of me actually bought a couple of these colourful log slices! I wonder how much they cost.

I started with something hot because it was snowing outside and -7 degrees. After I noted that I wasn’t a coffee drinker, my mentor Rezi recommended the London Fog latte, which I ordered because I love Earl Grey tea. Rezi used to be a barista and told me that she enjoys suggesting drinks to people based on their preferences. What an awesome recommendation – this was made with real vanilla beans and was served steaming hot, with just the right balance between tea and milk. I loved it and will definitely try making a London Fog at home: all you need is an Earl Grey tea bag, some almond or coconut milk, some sugar (maybe honey would work?) and vanilla extract. Mmmm, perfect for warming up on a cold winter day. Do you drink tea? What is your favourite kind of tea? Have you ever tried a tea latte?

My sandwich was the Smokie: grilled halloumi with homemade smoked applesauce, caramelized onions, and greens in a big, fluffy, Portuguese-style bun! This sandwich was so filling. I gave up on the top bun halfway through but finished the rest – the halloumi was salty, smoky, and so delicious. The last time (also the first time) I had halloumi was at Nuba restaurant in Vancouver, when I had dinner with Rachel. One day, I’m going to buy some halloumi and make it into a quinoa salad topper or the star of a homemade grilled sandwich. Have you tried halloumi before?

Meanwhile, we discussed everything from the MCATs to her experience working and travelling around the world, her odd hospital shifts, and possible careers in medicine that don’t require 10+ years of school. It was a fantastic conversation and I can’t wait to meet with Rezi again in February.

The Yeti also makes a whole bunch of desserts, and it sure took a lot of will power not to order one of each. The butter tarts actually look identical to the ones at Princess Cafe and I’m sure they get them in bulk from the same provider. These cinnamon croissant cake sticky bun swirly things with cream cheese glaze were calling my name, but I managed to ignore them. Until next time, cinnamon rolls!

Here is their menu, if you are curious! Next time, I want to try their collard wrap. I was initially debating between the collard wrap (sweet potato, scrambled egg, turkey, kale slaw, greens, aioli) and the Smokie, but both guys at the counter declared that the Smokie was their recommendation, and I’m glad I ordered it. Someone in a table across from us decided on the collard wrap, and it was a monster the size of my head! I have no idea where they got leaves that big and how much they managed to jam in there.

Cool! And that is it for today. I’m off to wash some dishes, Swiffer my floor (why sweep when you can Swiffer, right? Wise words from the Queen of Laziness AKA me), and then whip up some overnight oatmeal. My flight is at 9:00 AM tomorrow, so my ride is coming at 5:55 AM to pick me up. I’m sure the overnight oats will fill me up, but if no, I’ve also got a pumpkin muffin defrosting. 🙂 So excited to scrape all the little bits of PB out of the jar… on the plane. I wonder how many strange looks I’ll get! Have you ever had strange, or different, food in the public?

Since I’ve been out of yogurt since Tuesday – whoa, how did I manage a week without yogurt? – I’m going to make Oh She Glows’s vegan overnight oatmeal recipe. I made some adjustments based on the ingredients that I have and decreased the amount of oatmeal because I only have 1/3 cup left. 😦

Overnight Oatmeal

1/3 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup almond milk
1 scant tbsp chia seeds
1 scant tbsp maple syrup or coconut sugar
1/4 tsp cinnamon
pinch of salt
1/4 scant tsp pure vanilla extract, optional
peanut butter jar that is almost empty

In a small bowl, mash the banana until almost smooth. Now stir in the chia seeds and cinnamon until combined.
Stir in the oats, almond milk, and vanilla (if using). Cover and refrigerate overnight, or a minimum of 2 hours.
In the morning, stir the oat mixture to combine. If your Vegan Overnight Oats have a runny consistency even after they soak, simply stir in an additional 1 tablespoon chia seeds and place the mixture back in the fridge until it has thickened up. If the oat mixture is too thick, simply add a splash of milk and stir to combine.

And will let you know how it tastes soon! Have a beautiful, lovely Tuesday and I can’t wait to update you all with my exciting two weeks in BC. 🙂

December 22, 2015

cookiesnchem24 Comments

This and That ☃ – with My New Journey

Hi everyone! How are you guys? I can’t believe it’s Friday already. Every day this week seemed endless, but now that I’m looking back on it – the week just flew! What do you think?

I am in a pretty good mood right now, after doing a de-stress yoga class last night and writing my second-last exam this morning. The exam was for my Kin 155 class: Introduction to Neuroscience. It was a difficult course, but the exam wasn’t too bad – I think it went well! That’s always worthy of being in a good mood 🙂

My exam started at 9:00 and ended at noon, so I just got home and devoured a fantastic lunch: butternut squash soup and a pita with cheddar, sliced apple, goat cheese, and honey. An amazing combination, by the way! Also had some leftover chocolate banana cake squares, microwaved and topped with melty peanut butter. Yes, I made them AGAIN. The fourth time in less than a month – these babies are addictive! Madhulika and I just can’t get enough… stealthy healthy for the win. Still, I need an intervention.

Later, I’ll be doing a little more studying for my last exam on Monday evening, before heading off to a Zumba class and then a cirque yoga class. Oh! And I’m going to make tofu with peanut sauce tonight. 🙂

By the way, this post is going to be RANDOM. So maybe click away if you don’t like totally random things. I just wanted to share some awesome moments and finds with you guys today!

I received some lovely comments and birthday wishes that made me smile on one of my recent posts, and they made me so happy. THANK you everyone, who sent me good-luck wishes for finals, virtual hugs, and birthday wishes. This message was one of the most special ones to me – it came from a new friend, Mary, who is in all my Kinesiology courses this semester. She sent this to me on Messenger and absolutely made my day! Honestly, this girl is one of the friendliest, most thoughtful people I know and always goes out of her way to help others.

Another wonderful message – this was from my Grandpa. He started learning English when he was about 70 years old and is currently in his mid-80s. To him, you can never stop learning for as long as you live. He is such an inspiration to me.

I volunteer every Sunday morning at the Grand River Hospital in Kitchener. I usually leave the house at 8:30 (unless I miss my bus, which hopefully doesn’t happen again!) and arrive at 8:50. My shift starts at 9:00 and ends at 12:00, and I spend all three hours in the Children’s Inpatient Clinic. This is where kids go if they are preparing for surgery or recovering from another medical procedure. Sometimes, there are as many as 20 kids on the unit, but other times there are just two. I love volunteering at the hospital but really miss the Eagle Ridge Hospital in Port Coquitlam, BC, where I used to volunteer. What I liked about the ERH was that there were lots of teens on each unit, and we got to talk with each other while doing paperwork and interact with the seniors.

On the children’s department, it’s a little different – the parents are REQUIRED to be there with their children (under 17), so there isn’t much patient interaction. But I have done some awesome things like pick up a 3-day old baby, play with a 4-year old leukaemia patient, and do crafts with the sibling of a sick newborn. Most of the time, however, I’m doing paperwork, getting photocopies from the mail room, and decorating the unit. Last Sunday, I plastered 121 red socks and green trees all over the walls to bring some Christmas cheer into the children’s department!

Sunny, but windy as usual.

Totally random: funny things I found on a Facebook page dedicated to hilarious (and occasionally wise!) things that UWaterloo professors say in lectures!

And my favourite statement – this was from my Biology professor:

How true is this?! It takes me a good 15 minutes to craft a well-written email to a professor, and the responses are typically “yes” or “sounds good”… sent from an iPhone. Does that happen to anyone else?

ZUMBAAAA! Guys, I am in LOVE with Zumba now. I suck at it. I’m one of the worst dancers you will ever meet. You’ll probably throw up if you see me try to “shake it”, and if you watch me copy the instructor, you’ll wonder why I’m always 3 beats behind and so uncoordinated!

But Zumba is a ton of fun. It’s 50 minutes of full-out cardio but feels like 15 minutes of fun dancing (well, it kind of is). It’s incredible and I love sweating the stress away. Know what I mean?

Hey students, does school stress you out? For me personally, I really enjoy school and don’t get stressed out by deadlines or exams or a busy schedule. However, when people around me start panicking, I feel anxious too. How about you?

Wise and thought-provoking tidbits from around the ‘net:

Both of these made me think…

Does anyone follow Humans of New York on Facebook? Something huge happened recently as Brandon Stanton interviewed some refugees – President Obama commented in support of this refugee scientist. Amazing!

Mom bought a fitness ball (what do you even call these things?) from Value Village last week and Seline has been having fun experimenting with it! I can’t wait to play on it when I get back in… OMG… 4 days!

This is going to be me as soon as I land in the airport. I miss you guys so much – okay, I’m over it, where’s the sushi?

I’ve been messaging Mom a lot recently. Most messages are photos of my daily oatmeal or her funny little comments.

It’s funny because half the time, I have no idea what she’s trying to say. Do you get this woman? 😉

Either way, things have been going very well back in BC.

Mom’s meals are typically a mix of Chinese and Western food.

Her breakfasts and lunches for our five homestay students are simple: bread with meat, PB, jam, egg, cheese, etc., and dinners are more elaborate.

Arnie, my doggie who is now six and a half, is still as dopey as ever! Seline had fried chicken last night because she is getting her wisdom teeth out soon. Uh oh! I got lucky in that I didn’t need to get my wisdoms out – I had four teeth pulled out for braces.

I always find it crazy how mature Seline looks – she’s always so put-together while I’m just going crazy. School comes so easily to Seline and she makes friends like a rabbit makes babies. Whoa, I am the WORST at analogies. Anyways, dressing up and looking nice at school is a breeze for her, but I just don’t put in that effort! Actually, I have a theory that the uglier I dress for an exam, the better I’ll do. No evidence here, just justifying the whole sweatpants and sweater mentality. I wish I had Seline’s patience and dedication to wearing makeup – the last time I touched makeup (okay, I didn’t even touch it) was for prom eight months ago! Oh man, prom was eight months ago?!

These have absolutely nothing to do with anything but I just think they’re awesome and want them in my room. Now. Aren’t they CUTE? I am in love with ocean-y things and found these on Buzzfeed.

Sometimes we all need a little reminder:

My roommate’s boyfriend, yup – same guy who made the amazing pumpkin pie from scratch, is also the King of Meal Planning. He cooks lots of wild rice in a big rice cooker, makes a whole pot of mixed vegetables, and bakes up some lean chicken breast. He has lots of containers that he fills with these goodies, and his meals are always balanced and super-healthy. Don’t these look tasty? He usually cooks every Monday.

Now Madhulika and Arsalan have lots of eggs and toast for breakfast. Sometimes, they spread avocado on it to make yummy avocado toast!

The exciting news?! In April, I will start a 200-hour yoga teacher training program with Pranalife Yoga!

I’ve been thinking about becoming a yoga teacher for a long time. I taught figure skating for 3-4 years before moving to Ontario for university, and ever since I quit skating I felt like something was missing from my life. I’m going to do a longer post about this (hopefully before 2016), because I really want to share my skating story with you. 🙂 Anyways, I’ve been doing yoga regularly for over a year and really discovered a love for the practice of yoga. When I found out about this program, I was super interested and got in contact with the lovely Asia Nelson right away. Before I knew it, I was handing her the money order and receiving my confirmation! This means that next December, I will be a certified yoga teacher. I can’t wait and will definitely make a post on this as well.

I am so thrilled to embark on this new journey in 2016.

In other news, my dad might be coming mid-winter to visit me in Waterloo! He’s essentially self-employed with a group of other renovators, and since the workload is much lighter in the winter, he’ll have some spare time to travel to Ontario. The best part? He’ll be studying with me.

Nah, what a joke… “you read, he watches movies”. LOL!

Yup, that’s it for today. I’m off to do a little studying and cleaning around the house now. I hope you all have a delicious weekend and I can’t wait to see what you’ve all been up to recently 🙂

December 18, 2015December 18, 2015

cookiesnchem15 Comments

Apple Almond Pancakes {Grain-Free}

Mmmm, pancakes.

Let’s count the reasons why pancakes are one of the number one breakfasts in the world:

They are melt-in-your mouth tender and have a great texture that I can’t get enough of
You can top them with as many different kinds of nut butter as you want
Cinnamon and vanilla give these pancakes MASSIVE flavour. As soon as the batter started sizzling on the pan, my roomie’s boyfriend commented that these smelled amazing 🙂
They are loaded with protein from almond meal, or ground almonds
Even more protein from the egg – this recipe has TWO eggs to serve one: tripling up on the protein here!
They can be topped with berries and other sliced fruit
Chocolate chips melt on top of these hot cakes and become gooey 🙂
Yogurt blobs add creaminess and a little tanginess
A drizzle of maple syrup would be perfection here, but I didn’t feel like that was necessary

Even better, these p-cakes are grain-free and made with simple ingredients – you’ll need vanilla, cinnamon, baking powder (optional), two eggs, applesauce, almond meal, coconut oil for frying them, and little salt. The almond milk is optional too, depending on the thickness of your batter.

The first time I tried making these, I thought I’d replace one egg with a flax egg, hence the lonely egg in the photo above. Bad idea! This recipe is already very “wet” with applesauce, so you need both eggs to help them bind together. If you look at the blackberry-yogurt pancake photos above, you’ll see that they ripped a little as I tried to flip them. The batter just wasn’t sticky enough.

Anyways, two eggs, some applesauce and almond meal make up your base, and the rest is up to you! I recommend cinnamon and vanilla, plus as many toppings as you like 🙂 I made this post last year with a big list of pancake toppings that you can try to give these even more flavour and nutrition. Perfect!

Apple Almond Pancakes {grain-free}

INGREDIENTS

Makes 5-6 medium pancakes, serves one person

2 eggs
1/3 cup applesauce (I used one packaged applesauce cup)
¼ cup almond meal
Pinch of salt
¼ tsp baking powder, OPTIONAL (I made this twice, one time without the baking powder and the results were identical)
¼ tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp vanilla extract
½ tbsp. maple syrup or honey, OPTIONAL
Coconut oil to cook
Fruit, chocolate chips, or other pancake toppings

INSTRUCTIONS

Whisk eggs in a bowl. Add applesauce, maple/honey, and vanilla. Whisk well.
Add baking powder, salt, and cinnamon, and mix well.
Add almond meal and mix gently until combined.
Heat skillet to medium-low and cook pancakes in coconut oil when fully heated.
Cook for 4-6 minutes per side, or until firm enough to flip. Be careful – these pancakes bubble, but are still so tender and difficult to flip! Cook the second side for 4 minutes, or until golden brown.
Serve with toasted nuts, nut butter, yogurt, jam, fresh fruits, chocolate chips, and a drizzle of maple syrup.

The plain pancakes, without toppings, are just under 300 calories for the entire batch that serves one. You’ll be getting a whopping 4 grams of fiber (that’s 16% of your daily value!), as well as 16.2 grams of protein. This recipe is also high in Vitamin A, C, calcium and has 14% of the iron you need in a day. Even better, these pancakes are very low in sodium, high in a variety of minerals, including riboflavin and selenium, and are made with all real foods. Amazing.

My favourite toppings are sliced fruit, nut butter, yogurt, berries, and sometimes, more maple syrup. Next time, I’m going to make a double-chocolate version and enjoy that with coconut and peanut butter. Mmmmm. I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I do!

If you’re looking for some other pancake recipes, you can check out my recipe page or take a look at some similar-but-different recipes below:

My favourite customizable pancakes
Awesome pumpkin pancakes (with vegan option)
Healthy red velvet beet pancakes
Fluffy “cheesecake” pancakes made with quark

Have a beautiful day everyone 🙂

Tell me:

How often do you make pancakes for breakfast? Are they a weekend thing or an everyday thing?
Anything exciting coming up for the weekend? We’re only two days away!
How do you feel about Christmas being just eight days away?

December 17, 2015December 17, 2015

cookiesnchem29 Comments

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