December 31, 2011

This will be a half entry, as we haven't really finished the day, and plus I would rather make my last entry a bit more meaningful. So this is me to this point:

Breakfast - slice of toast with vegemite. Mmmmm.

Lunch - chicken pita. It was huge, couldn't finish it. Might be regretting that later, as we are about to leave for Mike & Heathers for NYE shenanigans . Check it out though, way too big!

Right, gotta run, will update tomorrow, for the last time...

December 30, 2011

After our midnight subway, we woke up and didn't feel like eating at all. So once we got back to Kitchener, we had lunch plans at 2pm, so wanted a snack. What did we snack on you ask? Well, we snacked on some chicken nuggets with mustard sauce around midday. Shame on us again!

We met Mike and Heather for lunch at Ethels (back in the country for less than 14 hours and we are back at Ethels), and had a buffalo chicken wrap, and a side caesar salad.

We did some grocery shopping afterwards, and picked up some soup for dinner, which we didn't eat when we got home as we were not hungry. Well, we did eat some left over ice cream, with the reasoning that as of January 1, I cant have it, so I guess you *could* say that we had ice cream for dinner.

And that was it! Nice to be back :)

December 29, 2011

Departure day, and a very very long one, as on the way over we missed a Wednesday, today we got it back, so had a very long 29th.

Breakfast was a small bowl of muesli. Once we hit the airport, we had maccas (options were slim pickins). Had a spicy chicken burger & chips. It was pretty average.

On the plane I had vegetarian tortellini, which was actually ok. Came with some fruit, a bread roll, a rocket & parmesan salad, and a tiramisu. Oh and a mini toblerone. Shame on me, I ate it all, and then felt really, really ill.
Later on we also ate some mini cookies and pretzels (Qantas 'snacks'), and for breakfast I had a poached egg with a hashbrown and baked beans. Not very nice at all...

In LA we shared a sandwich at starbucks when we arrived, which was chicken & cheese with salad. Not bad, but not great either. We later shared a pizza at Wolfgang Pucks, it was ok really, plain margarita, thats all we needed. Naturally Air Canada didn't feed us, so by the time we arrived back in Canada at midnight we were starving. We picked up some Subway (open 24 hours thankfully), I had a club on honey oat with lettuce, tomato, onion & pickles. It wasn't bad actually, although we did inhale them!

And that was the longest 29th of December we have ever had.

December 28, 2011

Another picture-less day, sorry guys.

For breakfast I had a small bowl of muesli, followed soon after with a small chicken roll. Head out with mum, Lee & Christopher (my nephew) for lunch, but the place we had in mind had sold out of sandwiches. Instead we roamed around Clifton Gardens and came home for lunch. I had two small wraps, one with beef, tartar, tomato and spinach, one with chicken, salami and red pepper dip. Also had a small scoop of potato salad.
Shortly after I crashed, I felt really rank, so had a lie down. For two hours. When I got up, not only did I realise I ruined everyone's afternoon (we were meant to go down to Balmoral, make the most of a beautiful sunny day), but I also realised I got a small dose of sunburn at the first beach. Argh! Thats going to make the flights back to Canada a real pain in the ass! Never mind. Once I woke up completely we snacked on some CC's and salsa.

For dinner mum put on a lamb roast and it was delicious. Roasted pumpkin & parsnips, some salad, and a few beers. Delicious.

December 27, 2011

Started the day with some muesli. Big bowl, too big actually, but tasty stuff.

Head out to see Alli & Gerard, which was awesome. G cooked up a lovely bbq lunch, where naturally I over ate - had a sausage in a roll with coleslaw, followed by a steak sandwich with onion, and coleslaw, followed by a sausage in another roll, with yep, onion and coleslaw. I managed a small amount of salad, but for me it was all about the meat. Thanks guys!

Lee and I thought we had missed a ferry when getting back to Circular Quay, so we went for a quick pizza and when heading back to the wharf, realised there were no ferries. Never mind, taxi back to mum & dads and we were sorted.

December 26, 2011

Boxing Day...

So it was an early start after a pretty average sleep, for breakfast I had a gingerbread man (well, it is Christmas...) and a couple of left over asparagus.

We hit the road at about midday, heading for Holbrook where the plan was to get a pie from the local bakery. WELL, that was closed, so we continued to Gundagai, where the cafes were also closed. What?! So we kept going, snacked on some pizza shapes, and hoped we would cross some form of food shortly. We ended up at Barney's of Bookham, and Lee somehow managed not to wet himself when he read 'Fresh homemade pies' on the OPEN sign. Pie disappointment averted! I had a steak and gravy pie, with sauce, and it was bloody delicious. I miss savory pies when in Canada. Thankfully mum gave me pie tins for Christmas, a pie-makin' we will go.

When we got to Sydney, I snacked on some crackers with pesto dip (god its good), and mum made some tortellini & salad for dinner. It was an early night for all.

As this Aus trip comes to an end, so looms the end of this blog. I am not sure what I am going to do once my 365 days are up....

December 25, 2011

Christmas day...

So ok, I woke up pretty stuffed from the feeding frenzy the night before. I had a banana for breakfast and tried to convince myself thats all I needed... until I saw mum having a left over beef sandwich and I had to get on board with that immediately! Smothered in spicy bbq caramelized onion, it was divine.

Lee and I head over to Nic and Mel's early to 'help' put together the lunch. Mel had everything under control though so our help was minimal. Was nice to be back in the kitchen though, and hang out with Nic, Mel, Nina & Muz.

Lunch started with appetizers - stuffed bell peppers, olives, mushrooms and a massive cheese platter. Also some little pastry cases - some with ricotta, chive & gruyere, some with pumpkin pesto & garlic mozzarella, some with red pepper pesto & mozzarella, and some with ricotta, olives & sundried tomatoes with fresh basil.
Then came lunch! Beef, ham & lamb, more condiments, a bean & asparagus salad with poppy seed dressing & crispy prosciutto which was TO DIE FOR, a rocket & almond salad, roasted pumpkin in sesame seeds, roasted potatoes, roasted tomatoes...and... forgive me Mel, I forget! It was absolutely lovely, thank you Mel.

Then followed dessert! Mel made baked cheesecakes and served them with fresh berries, cream and icecream. We also had fresh coffees made for us from Nic's coffee machine. Bloody delightful way to finish off another amazing meal.

We were all too full to think about food for a while, so after we left Nic &Mel's place, we vegged on the couch for a bit before heading to Marshall & Amanda's. Hung out with them for a bit, didn't say no to a couple of beers, and we found ourselves feeling sleepy & relaxed. Amanda had some left over chocolate tart that she makes every year for Christmas so she let me try it before releasing the recipe to me. Looking forward to making that, I think I will make it for NYE, as sober detox January looms closer. Which I think we will definitely welcome with open arms.

When we got back home, it was about 8pm, so I wouldnt say the hunger was up, but we definitely had our snack on. I had a beef roll & a mound of left over cous cous salad, and some potato salad. Another beer, and I called it a night.

Special thanks to Mel, Amanda, Heidi and Joan for putting together some truly fantastic meals. Merry Christmas guys! xx

December 24, 2011

Christmas Eve!  You have to forgive me, some of this is a little bit of a blur, there was so much delicious food that I definitely cannot recall everything, I am sure you know how it is....

Will start with breakfast. Started the day with skipping it entirely, I think I over did it on the sausages. Joan bought a massive 7.5kg ham for Christmas dinner, so we had ham for lunch. I had mine on its own with some tomatoes, I have definitely been a bread-oholic while in Aus!

The family Christmas eve festivities kicked off around 6pm, Amanda made the starters which were absolutely delicious - little pastry cases with beef & pesto, or prawn & mango. Had a couple of each, couldn't help it, too yummy! Dinner was a fabulous affair, there was ham, turkey, beef, salads, & veg. This was my plate:

I have to say the asparagus & cous cous salad with nectarine were my personal fav. And the condiments, we had just about every condiment you could imagine, including three types of mustard. I love my condiments!

For dessert Joan had bought mounds of fresh berries and was served with vanilla bean ice cream. Oh my god, lush! Then naturally when we were all too stuffed to think about it, we went ahead with some GBM's.

Merry Christmas everyone!

December 23, 2011

Logged in to work early from mums place, had a massive bowl of muesli with yogurt for breakfast.

Hit the road to Albury before lunch, stopped on the way and had maccas. Haven't had maccas in ages, went the quarter pounder meal. Demolished the quarter pounder, didn't quite finish the fries. I have to say, we all rather enjoyed it.

Had a sausage sizzle when we got to Albury, sausages in bread with mustard and ketchup. Nice, simple, and yummy. Everyone was pretty tired so it was an early night. Sorry, no pictures....

December 22, 2011

Had half a grapefruit for breakfast, and a handful of nut & seed mix. That stuff is awesome.

Head in to the office for the last time, unfortunately for no reason, my meetings were cancelled! Never mind. Got to leave early and meet mum for lunch. Finished off the tortillas with salami & cheese & veg to make more mini pizzas, which of course were delish.

Snacked on some beef & sao crackers in the afternoon, then when dad got home we had some crumbed chicken  for dinner with salad & potatoes. Sorry, no photos!

After dinner we had some lindt dark mint chocolate. Mmmm, that stuff is the shizzle! And that wraps up the day nicely.

December 21, 2011

Another head start with half a grapefruit & a banana a few hours later.

There was pizza in the office for lunch, but I opted for this instead. How funny that the coke says 'mate' on it, Aussie much?!

My salad was pumpkin, sweet potato, rocket, roast capsicum, and feta. They asked what dressing I wanted, I opted for none... look at it! Does it look like I needed dressing? It was pretty yummy as is, and while I probably shouldn't have gone the coke (my calorie intake at the moment is on the increase) I felt like a perk up before heading out to Chatswood to do some training. Everything went well, by the time I was on the bus and heading back to mums I was starving. I still had a few hours of work to do, so worked an hour, then made some more easy tortilla pizzas, which were lush. One again with pear, prosciutto & blue cheese, the other with salami, sun dried tomatoes, olives, & goats cheese. After dinner mum and I snacked on a cheeky violet crumble we stole from Lee's and my stash to take back to Canada. Note to self - replace the violet crumble!

And that was it for Wednesday.

December 20, 2011

Half a grapefruit for breakfast this morning, then ate a banana when I got into the office. Turned out to be a bit of a piggy day...

Took Wendy out for lunch, Wendy is the HR Manager here and my director told me I must take her out. So I did, and we both had huge delicious steak sangas which came with a ridiculous amount of chips. Wendy got through half of hers, I got through most of it, but not even half of my chips. HUGE amount of food, but tres delicious!

Snacked when I got home, dad was working late so mum and I had tortilla pizzas. We shared one salami and one pear, blue cheese and proscuitto half half. Delicious!
Then when dad came home we couldn't help ourselves and had a small portion of his spaghetti dinner. Niiiice.

It may have been a piggy day, but damn, it was tasty.

December 19, 2011

Had half a grapefruit for breakfast, followed promptly by a banana, before heading off to 80 Pacific Hwy for my first day of Sydney office work.  I was lucky enough to be treated lunch, I ordered a pear & prosciutto salad:

Was pretty good actually, included avocado, walnuts and some parmesan. Needed some oompf, but still quite enjoyable.

Got home, devoured three crackers with pesto dip before dinner, then dinner which was boerwurst sausage with onion & salad. Lovely!
Followed up by a gingerbread man and three cookies, I think I am well and truly over for the day. Ready for bed :)

December 18, 2011

Breakfast was a gingerbread man (of course) and a vegemite roll. It's good to be back!

For lunch we had beef & salami on a crusty baguette with mustard & brie, and some olives & sundried tomatoes. Talk about a lush lunch.

For dinner I made some goats cheese stuffed chicken breasts wrapped in prosciutto, and was served with tomatoes & a lettuce salad. I believe it went down a treat, glad I could make my ma & pa happy with a de Souza regular! Had a piece of lindt dark peppermint chocolate after dinner, and voila, day done.

December 17, 2011

Breakfast was two small rolls, one with vegemite and one with jam. Nice to have some vegemite again, will have to take some back to Canada.

For lunch I made pizza for mum, Lee and myself, including the base. And I have to say, it turned out a treat! Super thin crust, tomato base, fresh tomato, basil, bocconcini, parma ham and some ground chilli. Mmmmm!

In the afternoon I made some GBM's, mum had some writing icing thingies, so I painted stupid faces on them, kept me well entertained! It's actually harder to eat them when they have their own personalities, even though they are just cookies. Also snacked on a... hrm... not sure what to call it, its crossed between a salada and a water cracker... anyone? Anyway, one of those with some pesto on it, god I love pesto. Cheers mum.

For dinner, mum made rissoles & we had them with tomato, beetroot, salad and roasted potato wedges. Lovely. And that ties up Saturday!

December 12 to December 16, 2011

And what a big week its been....

Monday morning I had berries for breakfast with pecans and a dash of maple syrup. Ingrid bought in some Lindt chocolates, so I had three before lunch, whoops!
Lunch was delicious, went to Sakura Island for sushi, I branched out and had the Alaska roll, which was prawn, salmon, avocado and cucumber. Naturally it came with the miso soup, the 'sparkly' noodles, and a small salad.

Managed another Lindt ball in the afternoon, then hit the road to Toronto after work. Lee took me to Milestones for dinner, where we shared some risotto goats cheese balls to start, and I had a chicken Californian salad. Risotto balls were amazing, chicken salad a a bit too loaded with dressing but was still good.

Tuesday morning we had hotel breakfast, which consisted of a bagel with cream cheese, an 'instant' croissant with jam, and a whole lotta free juice.

My stomach was a little upset (always happens before flying) so I ate at the airport too about four hours later, I had a roast beef roll thing, which was plain, ordinary, and exactly what I needed. We bought some sushi to eat on the plane which was actually pretty good, and I ate a packet of mesquite BBQ flavoured chips, which I really liked, but you can tell I started my holiday, already eating differently.

Landed in LA five hours later, it was a toasty 14 degrees which was screaming a beer, so we head to a bar and had a couple and a cheeseburger. The burgers came with parmesan garlic fries. Oh... my... god... brilliant! Except it made the next flight a bit disgusting, stinking of garlic cheese. 15 hours of garlic bliss, haha.

I skipped my meal on the plane, but ate Lee's edamame salad (basically edamame beans & tinned corn) and then got a ridiculous amount of sleep, which is so unlike me. It pays not to drink on long hauls eh.
They served us breakfast 11 hours later, which was Thursday (we totally missed out on Wednesday), I had the 'hot' version, which was asparagus omelet with mushrooms and fatty bacon. I looked pretty stupid picking the fat off my bacon, but overall it wasn't a bad breakfast. I also ate some pineapple, and forfeited my yogurt. In case anyone was wondering.

Reunited with mum & dad, and for lunch we had cold meats & fresh small rolls. I had two, both loaded with beef, ham, pickles and cheese, and of course... mustard. It's just not a Wilke reunion without mustard! In the afternoon I snacked on some seed & nut mix, which mum picked up for me. (See? She is looking after me already!) The mix was loaded with cashews, and made a very welcomed snack.

For dinner we had kranskies, rock on! Its been too long, mum got them because I told her Lee missed them. Also had some of mums famous potato salad, and a spinach salad with almonds & bacon. Deeeeelish.

Friday for breakfast I had half a grapefruit and snacked more on the seed & nut mix. We were all hungry by 11am so I made Lee and I sandwiches with ham, cheese, mustard & pickles. But of course!

For lunch we met with Joan and her friend Sam, and went down to the beach for a wrap. Lee, mum & I all had a beetroot & falafel wrap, which had pumpkin & rocket in it. We had them toasted, which turned out to be a mistake, as the rocket went really bitter. Still, not a bad lunch and the view was stunning.

Cant complain with that eh?

For dinner, mum whipped up something amazing - lamb cutlets, steamed beans, mash and a bocconcini, tomato & basil salad. Oh, can you say spoiled much?!

And that brings us up to date. Here we are in Australia again, lapping up the views, the birds chirping and the little bit of sunshine we have, and taking some time to relax. Jet lag hasn't been bad, we are feeling pretty good considering. Will try to post when I can, 15 days left until I am done. Wow, where does the time go?

December 11, 2011

Busy day today. Didn't help that I woke up at 1:30am and couldn't get back to sleep. Maybe I am already preparing for the long flight? Anyway....

Breakfast was a bit makeshift, we didn't have any bread so I had poached eggs on tomatoes, with some spring onion, salt, pepper, and some shaved parmigiano reggiano:

It turned out pretty good, albeit a bit soggy & messy on my plate.

Lee was able to drop off some lunch, which was good, saved me having to goout in the cold and I had shitloads of housework to do! We had steak pitas, which were pretty good, but I dunno, feeling a bit over it I think. Although I say that all the time...

Dinner was a bit of a mishmash of leftovers. Roasted chicken breast with some capsicum, and a chopped  salad:

And I am not going to lie to you, blog. I also had some ridiculously good icecream afterwards! I love Coldstones!

December 10, 2011

I cheated and had a muesli bar for breakfast before my haircut. It was a bloody cold day yesterday, was -9C, and the wind was fierce. I don't really put photos of myself here, but I figured its time. I took this as Lee wanted to see my hair as soon as I stepped out the salon, so I sent him this:

I walked up to Ethels and met my friend Carly, who I worked with at Sun Life. Another friend met us there (Mike the pilot) and well, the beer drinking was on... I had a chicken enchilada for lunch, which was pretty good but not the best thing on Ethel's menu. At least I branched out from my usual porkadilla eh?! The lady at the bar even came to congratulate me on trying something new. Shame! Anyway, many pitchers of beer later, it was suddenly 5pm which is when Wing Fest started, so Mike and I shared some hot wings. Uh oh.
Lee picked me up around 7pm, I was rolling.... he was starving so we picked up some Harveys on the way home, we both went with chicken fillet burgers. They are meant to have less than 10g of fat, but when you add in the fries & condiments, it boosts it up considerably. Oh well, it was delicious, and I was pretty trollied!

I have to say it was a good day. I got new hair, I also bought new boots (finally!), it snowed, I watched people ice skating at the town square, and got to catch up with some friends and have a good belly laugh which was definitely needed!

December 9, 2011

Early start to the day, was at work at 6:50am and had this for breakfast:

It was the final day of our course, so Ingrid and I went out to lunch to celebrate. Had a small caesar salad to start, then had a mexican wrap for mains, which was... average. It sounded good but it was really very average.

Lee was home by 7:30pm, so he picked me up and took me out for dinner. Nice! We went to Turtle Jacks, which was actually pretty good (have heard a few people say it was average, but we liked it!), I had a steak with prawns & scallops, a baked potato (I asked for it plain, didn't want it 'loaded') & some veggies:

And that was it. I was stuffed after that! Was a really good meal, especially after a pretty tough week. So much for cooking every day though eh?!

December 8, 2011

Pretty good day today. Half a grapefruit for breakfast, a muesli bar in the morning for a snack, and Lee dropped off some lunch for me, a Vincenzo's rare roast beef sandwich! Check it out!

Dinner was also fabulous, Lee made burgers. And they were awesome:

Albeit a bit messy. Too big for the bread. We used scando bread, and just chopped the pieces in half. And those are small plates by the way, we aren't monsters!

One day left of training and then the weekend. Woot!

December 7, 2011

Pretty boring day actually. Half a grapefruit for breakfast, asparagus soup for lunch. It got a bit more exciting in the afternoon, Ingrid and I were in training and snacked on corn chips, salsa, and I had a couple of cookies. Mmmm.

The day was long, so by the time Lee picked me up I was starving and thirsty. We went for a knock off and ended up with a porkadilla. And that was it for Wednesday!

December 6, 2011

Half a grapefruit again, then off to work, again. Another muesli bar for a mid morning snack, and by the time lunch was approaching I was thinking of my asparagus soup in the fridge and was totally uninspired by it. I think I am coming close to being all souped out! Luckily Lee came to the rescue and suggested a pita (nearly all pita'd out also, come to think of it... they are just so cheap and easy, and I dunno, yummy?!), and dropped one off to me at work. Yay!

By the time dinner came around I think we were both pretty hungry, so I made the chicken I was meant to make the night before, but it was with pecans instead (seems to be a walnut shortage, is this a Christmas thing?). And bloody 'eck, it was good!

Was just oven roasted, it still crisped up a bit so my thoughts where it didn't need frying. The side salad was lovely also, I have my radish on these days it seems. Mmmm. Radish.

I hate to admit to it but I did snack later on, I got peckish and was craving something sweet. So jam on bread it was for me. Better than a baggie of maltesers I guess.... still, shouldn't be snacking before bed.

December 5, 2011

Half a grapefruit for breakfast then off to work. I am in all day all week training this week, so I needed a snack in the morning, so packed a muesli bar. 

Lunch was... yep, soup. Asparagus & leek soup. And as good as it was, it wasn't really doing it for me. Had some berries & nuts in the afternoon, and was done for the day.

Dinner was meant to be walnut chicken, but the chicken didn't defrost in time, argh, I hate that! So we ordered in (shame on us) and I had pad thai noodles, which were pretty good but nothing to rave about. So much for kicking off a more interesting week eh?

December 3 & 4, 2011 - The Weekend

So when Lee is on night shift over the weekend, its pretty lazy days for me. I try to tiptoe around the house and end up making way more noise than I should.

Saturday - I slept in, which was nice, so ended up having berries & nuts around... gosh, I think 1pm? So when Lee was ready for his lunch, I was pretty hungry. I cooked up some chicken and make some wraps in spinach tortillas. They were actually pretty good! We also snacked on some pita crisps with some eggplant dip. Mmmm.

Again, later on, I got snacky, so I had some bread with jam.

Sunday - Didn't sleep in that much, had some breakfast (berries/nuts, you know the drill) and had left over chicken in a wrap for lunch. I ended up finishing the pita crisps in the afternoon before Lee even woke up. For dinner, I had some amazing green soup (asparagus & leek). Check it out!!!

I am loving my soup creations!
And thats me up to date. Lee is on his last night shift tonight until January, so I have some kitchen plans this week. Might even stick him back in the kitchen! Originally I was planning this big December Send Off, being my last month of blogging everything I eat for a whole year. Well, I have been lazy. Tired. A bit sick. A bit sick of blogging. And I have had other things on my mind. Plus with going to Australia for just over two weeks, not sure how much cooking I will be doing, but hopefully some! And I know that even if I don't cook much, I will be eating some delicious home goodies. Looking forward to seeing yall!

So 11 months down, one to go.... lets make the most of it, eh?!

December 2, 2011

SHAME ON ME! Today was out the window! It started well, with half a grapefruit at work. Then, my boss bought in some TimBits (kinda like donut holes), and I started off by sniffing them, and then ended up eating 5 of them. I shamefully believed her when she told me (as a joke) that they were only 10 calories each. I am such a muppet! I guess we believe what we want when we are high on the smell of sugar, eh?!

I popped out at lunch with Ingrid, we hit up Burrito Boyz, of which we had high expectations. I had a small steak burrito, and dribbled it down my front, all over my scarf and my pants. Shame! I wouldn't have been that upset about it if it were a great burrito, but honestly, it was totally average.

The day was pretty long, and we ran out of time between Lee getting me from work and him leaving for work, so he picked up some supermarket sushi, I ended up grabbing these spicy prawn ricepaper rolls. They were not bad, although chock full of carrot. Safe to say though I didn't get the carrot rage, look how far I have come...

December 1, 2011

Wow, can you believe its my last 31 days of blogging? I have been in a bit of a rut so planning on kicking it up a notch in the kitchen. Next week...!

Breakfast was half a grapefruit, lunch was leek & bacon soup, and yes, I had a berry & pecan chaser! I have to say, its less boring to eat than writing about it, I cant seem to make it sound glamorous at all....

Had an early dinner before Lee went to work, a pita. Shame on me, one month left and I am making stuff all in the kitchen. We have both been really tired, and our eating patterns are out of whack, still, doesn't justify my utter laziness!

I got peckish around 8 (that's what happens when you at at 5pm I guess) so I snacked on some toast.

Happy December everyone!

November 30, 2011

Last day of November! Breakfast was half a grapefruit, again. Lunch was soup, again, followed by berries, again. Feeling in a bit of a rut, this pattern repeating itself, but we are making the most of what we have in the fridge, and we always find when Lee is on nights (or even preparing for nights) our food pattern is a bit out of whack.

For dinner I had a turkey flatbread, which was delicious. No pic unfortunately, you are going to have to take my word for it, haha :P

Bit of an uneventful day really...

November 29, 2011

Argh! Again, running behind, excuse me while I catch up, the info is all here, but just putting it together....

Breakfast was half a grapefruit before work, and a cup of coffee.

Lunch was left over salad & veg, following by berries & pecans with flaxseed & dash o' maple syrup. Mmmm.

Lee and I shared some dip for dinner, and had a bowl of leek & bacon soup afterwards. Pretty lazy days these days, finding it hard to tap into any kind of mojo.

November 28, 2011

Morning started with half a grapefruit. I seem to have done something to my leg, my right calf is dead sore, kind of like I had a cramp, but didn't. Odd. Had fun hobbling around all day... not! And missed gym, again.

Lunch was soup, and I have to say for healthy soup, this soup kicks butt.

I followed it with some raspberries, blackberries, pecans & flaxseed with a dash of maple syrup. Gotta keep those minerals up eh?

Dinner was chicken breast, I stuffed it with goats cheese and wrapped it in bacon. I have to say, I know I talk about bacon all the time but really don't eat it very often. It was pretty good, but... it was no prosciutto. I heart prosciutto! I roasted up some asparagus and zucchini in balsamic, and made a tomato and radish salad with spring onion. Deeeeelish, except we both agreed prosciutto is better!

A little while after dinner we demolished a small bag of peanut m&m's.

November 26 & 27 - The Weekend

Saturday started off with a slice of lemon poppyseed loaf before heading off to the craft show in Toronto with Krista. For lunch we shared some 'spicy' salmon & tuna rolls. I say 'spicy' as there wasn't any spice, not sure what happened there. I even checked and said 'these are spicy, right?' and they insisted it was. It wasn't. Still, not too bad for market food court sushi.
For dinner we were back at the McGregor's, we had hamburgers, potato salad and lettuce & goats cheese salad. Delicious meal, and left me sleepy. I even fell asleep on the couch watching a movie later on! Was a pretty tiring day, but the show was awesome.

Sunday we did something different, we went to Williams Cafe for breakfast, neither of us had been there before and both had a hankering for poached eggs and hollandaise. Don't pretend this doesn't happen to you!
It came out and they were actually fried eggs, I was a bit disappointed, but it wasn't too bad actually, and pretty cheap.

For lunch we had late afternoon pitas, we were both vegging on the couch and couldn't be motivated for much more. For dinner we had soup. And that concludes the weekend.

November 25, 2011

Half a grapefruit for breakfast then off to work. Cabbage rolls again, this time I accidentally grabbed Lee's, and they were huge. So filling!

Lee and I went for a quick pint after work, I had to do some work from home later on, so I scoffed a porkadilla, and it was gooood. Work was easy and over and done with within half an hour, we had a visitor so had a few beers and then ate some goats brie on rosemary crackers. Lush!

November 24, 2011

Half a grapefruit for breakfast, then cabbage rolls for lunch.

And that was it. Dull eh? Until dinner time. Well, before dinner I ate two chocolate covered brownie batter balls (insane) that I bought for my boss when I was in NYC. She adopted me for a few hours while Lee was playing soccer. When we got home, neither of us felt like the healthy soup I made the night before, so naturally we got pizza from our favourite pizza place. Whoops. Still, bloody delicious, just not allowed pizza for a while now, twice in one week, are we living on the edge or what?!

November 23, 2011

Half a grapefruit for lunch, which was welcomed.

Had left over pumpkin soup for lunch, lush! Even without any garlic in it, its still a winner soup:

To be honest the day sucked. A lot. And we were running out of time before Lee had to go to work, which cut into my cooking time. We stopped at Vincenzo's on the way home and picked up some smoked salmon sushi to share and an orzo salad. Both of which were pretty good.

I got back into the kitchen and made some soup and cabbage rolls, so they will serve their purpose over the next few days, and get me off the hook for not cooking much this week. I want my kitchen mojo back!

I also ate three TimTams. That is all.

November 22, 2011

Breakfast was half a grapefruit. I was meant to have some berries & nuts for a snack, and soup for lunch, but was locked in a room with IT and lunch was bought, so instead I had Cantonese style pork with rice and broccoli, and it was ok. Actually I felt a bit rank after it, but feeling off colour anyway so not sure I am allowed to blame it on lunch.

The afternoon was a long, long stretch, and I was exhausted. I had zero energy to cook, so Lee grabbed us a pita and we scoffed that before he had to go to work for the night shift. I moped on the couch for about an hour then had an early night and went to bed.

November 21, 2011

Raspberries, blackberries & pecans with some flaxseed and maple syrup for breakfast. Loving the splash of maple syrup, its rich in minerals and adds a little sweetness, but I don't over do it.

Lunch was pumpkin soup. Then I snacked on a candy in the afternoon because I was crashing. Hardly worth mentioning really.

Dinner was early - 5:30pm - poached eggs & steamed asparagus on a toasted roll, with a smidge of grated parmesan. Delicious!

I was pretty hungry two hours later, so I ate a few spoons of baked beans. As you do.

November 20, 2011

So after the Christmas party we had a sleep in, skipped breakfast, then head out to Boston Pizza for breakfast pizza and a pint, and also some sneaky cactus cut chips. Mmmm.

For dinner I made pumpkin soup, which was thick and delicious. Mmmm.

And that was it for Sunday. A little uneventful, and half way between unhealthy and healthy. Happy medium eh? At least I have pumpkin soup for lunches this week!

November 19, 2011

Had half a grapefruit for breakfast again, which was good, as I think I was still full from the steak the night before.

For lunch Lee and I went to Sakura Island for some sushi action. I had something different this time, the Golden Dragon, which was basically spicy salmon, avocado, prawn & crab. We did end up sharing though, Lee got the Red Bull (the beef one). Both of which were really good.

It was the work 'holiday' party, they had buffet. I am not a fan of buffet but I guess it was ok. Salads and roast beef, and a bread roll. Nothing really to write home about, and I forgot to take a picture. I decided to bypass the dessert table, but Lee braved it. And that wraps up our Saturday!

November 18, 2011

Breakfast was half a grapefruit, and then that was it until lunch. Whoops.

Lunch was at the mall food court, as I had some last minute shopping things for the work 'holiday' party. Still gotta get used to that, people get offended with religious holidays here. Didn't stop them from playing Christmas music with religious references at the party though... moving on....

Lee and I went out for steak for dinner, and it was bloody sensational. I had beef tartar with a raw quail egg for starters, and it was beautiful. My steak was a tenderloin cooked to utter perfection, with horseradish and red wine jus. Had a baked potato on the side, and we shared some creamed spinach (which I gracefully stuffed into my potato....). Delicious!

November 17, 2011

Shivers, another game of catch up, I blinked and all of a sudden its four days later.

So, breakfast was from Starbucks, as we didn't get to the supermarket. Had a yogurt with granola & honey, and a black coffee.

Lunch was out with the team, I had a steak salad with goats cheese. It was pretty good actually, but the cherry tomatoes were a bit rank. Tried too, decided to leave the rest...

Dinner was meant to be home cooked but Lee finished shift at 7:30pm and I was at a foodbank meeting, so we ate out. I had a wild mushroom quesadilla. And it was good.

Finished off the evening with half a piece of maple fudge (Lee ate the other half). And that was Thursday done.

November 12 - 16, 2011

And what a big few days it was in New York City.

Lets see, where to start.... Ok, Saturday November 12, 2011.

We bought a box of muesli bars from Walmart in Buffalo the night before, so I had one for breakfast. They offered us a snack on the plane, which I declined (way too early for sea salt chips), and landed safely at JFK at 9:30am (ish).

We waited for our mates to arrive from London, we head out to Buba Gumps for some shrimp action as a late lunch, where I had the coconut shimp (called Dumb Luck).

For dinner we had.....nothing, and then quite a few (too many) beers. Ouch.

Sunday November 13, 2011

We went for the hotel breakfast, which was pretty ridiculous really, not a whole lot on offer and a bit on the pricey side. I had a bagel with cream cheese. Yep. Cliche eh? We then had a hotdog around 11am. They were pretty small so I am not too fussed about that.

Lunch was pizza, and it was huge. The table next to us had to big blokes so I thought 'that pizza they are sharing must be a large', so we ordered two large between us. Then the waitress came along and served another table... with a bigger pizza. Uh oh.... So this is what we ended up with:

Safe to say we didn't finish it, and we could have had one to share...

We went to Applebees for a knock of drink and stayed for dinner, I had a steak salad, and it was pretty good, didn't finish it though.

Monday November 14, 2011

Skipped the breakfast at the hotel, ended up going out for lunch at a really cool local. We started with some oysters, I managed two but called it a day. I then had a burger that would knock your socks off, definitely what Lee and I call a Marshall Burger (he had one too), and we shared a side of sweet potato fries. Had a few beers, listened to some local conversations and then head out again.

Dinner was Chinese in China Town. Seemed pretty dead but I guess it was a Monday night. Too much food on the table, I went the Ma Po Tofu, which I adored, Lee got some sesame beef which rocked, and we shared some dumplings and some of the other dishes on the table. Naturally we over ordered, and left a lot behind.

Tuesday November 15, 2011

Skipped breakfast again, went to Bloomingdales with Helyn and had a bite of her blueberry muffin which was kinda rank. Met the guys for lunch, I had a beef & avocado wrap, and only ate half of it, and about three chips. I guess we were all still full of Chinese food?

Dinner was at Quality Meats, it was Helyn's birthday so we celebrated in style and had some steaks. Some mighty fine steaks, I gotta say! I went a filet on the bone, which came with bone marrow. Had some potatoes, asparagus, mushroom & creamed spinach as sides, which all were delicious. Oh, and we also had some baked oysters, which were better than the raw ones, but I am still new at this game so don't quote me on that. I would love to go back to this place, it was lovely.

Wednesday November 16, 2011

Skipped breakfast again, went back to Buba Gumps for an early lunch. I had a caesar salad, which was pretty good. We then had to haul ass back to the hotel then off to JFK for our return to Buffalo. At the airport we got snacky so we shared this amazing pastrami sandwich on rye, was good that it was an amazing sanga as the muppet that made it was a complete bitch! She was rude, she threw my sandwich at me, and basically hissed when I said 'is that mine?!'. Some people are not meant to be in hospitality....

Anyway, I ate a small cookie on the plane, then Lee and I hauled ass back over the boarder and were home by 8:30pm. We had no food in the house, so it was pita time, again. Time for a trip to the supermarket me thinks, though its a big weekend of being out of the house. Will update again later.... xx

November 11, 2012

A quick post - had berries and mango for breakfast, had quinoa salad with chicken and tomatoes for lunch, then left early to hit the road and drive to Buffalo. Dinner was calorific, a buffalo beef roll with buffalo wings. Didn't finish it though.
Currently in New York having a blast, will update again soon!

November 10, 2011

Ok, so last night husbandman cooked me up some dinner - steak, steamed asparagus & 4 bean salad. Ok, to be fair, I did the asparagus, and he bought the salad, but he still did the steak and my input was minimal :)
Was great. Horseradish mustard is the shizzle, as is husbandman.

Breakfast was blueberries & raspberries with pecans, flax seed & a drizzle of my good friend maple syrup. Maple syrup is actually quite healthy, full of minerals. Which apparently I need more of, says my naturopath. More on that later...

Lunch was a pita, we had some lastminute.com things to acheive before our trip to NYC, so chicken pitas were easy, cheap, and the closest thing to healthy we could get on the go. I guess. Maybe we are just lazy too...

Dinner was 'meant' to be chicken, but after I got my haircut, Lee picked me up which was after his soccer match and he wanted a pint, so we went to Ethel's. A porkadilla and two pints later, we were back home, packing and getting ourselves ready for our mini holiday.

As for the naturopath, well, it was interesting. My biggest dairy allergy is whey. My first reaction was 'what the hell... what is that even in?!'. As it turns out, just about everything. From breads to store bought pastries, crackers to condiments, even Hershey's chocolate. While my exposure to most of the above is limited, it got me thinking... shit, I am going to have to follow this closely, eh? More label reading for me. Joy. My other two big players in my dairy allergy are cottage cheese and yogurt. *sigh* try to go the healthier option, and bam, that's what you get. Good news is Swiss cheese is right down. Yeah baby!The garlic allergy is something that I am still bothered by but its actually not too bad, so I don't have to cut it out completely. Thankfully, as garlic is also in everything. *coughs* everything good *coughs*.

Will update hopefully from NYC. Catch yall later! xx

November 9, 2011

Happy Birthday Joan!

Breakfast was the same as yesterday - blueberries, raspberries, ground flax seed, and some almonds, this time with a drizzle of maple syrup.

Lunch was soup, again. It's the gift that just keeps giving. I also had some dried fruit with some pecans:

Lee came to get me, I need to go to the chemist, both of us were snacky and uninspired. Shame on us, we got some chicken nuggets to share, and they were actually pretty good.

Appointment with the naturopath tonight, then I think its steak for dinner. The same steak we were meant to have last night, but didn't. No idea what we will have it with just yet, will work that out before my appointment. Looking forward to finding out more about this garlic allergy. I need to know how severe it is, and what impact it has before making any rash cuttings from my diet. I mean, cmon, garlic! I am having a hard time coming to terms with this one, obviously. Will update later on....

November 8, 2011

So I found out something interesting, have my food test results back. The dairy piece is confirmed, definitely an allergy, the good news is I don't seem to have a problem with wheat (hoorah!), but there is a huge downside. And by huge, I mean massive. Turns out I am allergic to... GARLIC. What the...? I find out more about it on tomorrow.

So for breakfast I had just the berries with the flax seed, and some almonds. No more greek yogurt. *cries*

Lunch was healthy soup, again, and it was delicious, again.

I made some additional foods as I really do get hungry during the day. I made a tomato and olive salad:

When I made it I reached for the pickles but realised, they are garlic pickles. What?! *cries*. Do you know how many things have garlic in it? Like... just about everything.

Also had some more berries with some pecans in the afternoon. Kinda ate them more for the sake of eating them than hungry. Never mind.

Dinner was meant to be steak but turned out to be a chicken quesadilla. Cos that's how we roll in the de Souza household, always keeping it real. Anyway...

November 7, 2011

Again with the catch up, I seem to have little mojo for anything lately, including (or even, especially) blogging.

Breakfast was yogurt & berries. With a spoon of ground flaxseed. And a coffee.

Lunch was soup - so good, I cant believe its only 77 calories a serve. Deeeelicious, and healthy! Win win.

For we had left over turkey burgers. And they were good, but not really filling. I ended up having some chicken later on, with some bbq sauce, and there *may* have been a thin bun involved....

Still feeling rank after the weekend, something wiped me out, and the time change hasn't helped either. Hope to be back on track soon....

November 6, 2011

Slept in and missed double spin, I am still feeling on the rank side. I still made the pre gym breakfast though, poached eggs on toast with goats cheese and sliced tomato, and cracked pepper.

Kind of an eggy weekend really, totally goes against my two eggs per week rule. Still, I love a poached egg, still not very good at them but they taste like poached eggs so who cares right?

Made soup for lunch, and for lunches this week. Leek & ginger, with a few other veggies from the fridge thrown in there for good measure.

I know I said I would try to cook something interesting this week but its been a bit of a nightmare. Energies low, a feeling of 'meh' in the air, and Lee and I have been feeling a bit lazy and overwhelmed so it didn't really happen.  This week will be a bit boring too I think, freezer food & left overs, then its off to New York for four days of big apple shenanigans. No doubt a detox when we get back, and then I think I will kick the cooking up a notch before heading to Australia in December.

We had a snack (or as we call it, a sneck) in the afternoon whilst oot and aboot, chipotle dip with pita bread. It was cheesy, but it was actually pretty good. I love it when Lee says things like 'yeah, I like it, but you could make better'. Best husbandman ever.

Roast beef for dinner, I had a sirloin tip in the freezer so why not eh? Its Sunday after all. Managed to create some magical yorkies too, it was my first shot at them and they were sensational! Will add photos later...

November 5, 2011

Woke up earlier than I wanted to, hugely annoying on a Saturday morning really. Had half a grapefruit for breakfast before my 2 hour driving lesson.

After my lesson Lee and I had eggs for lunch, mine in the form of a greek omelette with some potatoes. Bit random really.

We snacked on some tzatziki and pita bread in the arvo, and when I announced that I had the biggest hankering for chocolate, my awesome husband bought out the 'secret stash' from the fridge. Kinder Buenos. Geez. That's the shit!

For dinner my awesome husband made turkey burgers. We had them on a thin bun each, with tomato & lettuce. I was knackered and feeling rather rank, so I went to bed and read. What a Saturday night eh? Party on!

Nov 4 cont...

So we got drawn into something called Sausage Fest at our fav. bar, Ethels. Well, what would you do?! We both had a polish sausage in a bun, I had sauerkraut on mine (happy camper!) with swiss cheese. It came with potato salad & coleslaw, didn't get through it all but that wasn't from a lack of trying.

There was a sausage on the menu called The Angry German. It was nearly worth ordering that purely because of the name! It was chock full of bacon and fried onions etc, so I gave it a miss. Plus I dunno, how many people like an Angry German?!