Fresh is Best

Is everyone else in Victoria absolutely dying over this amazing weather we've been having? It's absolutely phenomenal!  We are supposed to break some records today and hopefully it keeps up! So far so good :) 

So, after Francis and I finished lazing around yesterday afternoon we had some lunch.  He had the locally made, FRESH herb pasta we bought yesterday with a rose sauce (to die for) and I whipped up a  nice big salad.  

Same as yesterday but with grated beets and parsnip, basil infused olive oil and a poached egg on top.  I wasn't patient enough to cook it over the stove so I microwaved it? Has anyone done that before? It was a scary experience...a few explosions were involved.

We spent the rest of the afternoon driving around West Saanich, stopping at a few farms/markets along the way...just to see what they had to offer this time of year.  Nothing exciting as of yet but strawberry picking season is next month (TRYING TO CONTROL MY EXCITEMENT).  We also drove into Oak Bay to get a new house plant...I killed our love fern...yet again...

When we got home, Francis watched the hockey game and I got my bikini on and laid out in the sun to soak in some rays.  It felt amazing!  I didn't have sunscreen on so I didn't stay out very long...but I am going to be buying some this week so that I can stay out longer next time!  My pasty legs need some vitamin D.

At about 5 pm I whipped up some dins.  Toasted Sesame Ginger Salmon, brown rice and a HUGE green salad for me.

His - Sans the salad.

Hers.  His just looked much prettier than mine...  The salmon was pretty tasty, but I have to admit I am a HUGE seafood snob.  I grew up in the salmon capital of the world and we ate fresh salmon all the time.  We would go out on our family boat, put down the prawn and crab traps and then go salmon fishing, sometimes stopping at our favourite islands for a swim along the way (in the summer of course).

We would bring our catch of the day (Summer Spring's are my favourite salmon) home and cook it that night.  Talk about fresh, right?  The toppings were always simple. Salt, pepper and dill or fresh garlic and lemon or sun dried tomatoes.  We always used very fresh ingredients to compliment the fish not mask it like this recipe did.  This salmon also tasted quite fishy, which SUPER fresh fish does not...BUT...it was pretty good but I don't think I will make it again.

Dessert was, as you know, Rhubarb Crisp.  Topped with vanilla ice cream!  One word: Incredible.

Today, Britta and I went to Elk Lake at 6:30 am for a 12 km run.  The birds were chirping, the sun was shining, it was quiet and the air smelled fresh and sweet.  It was a great way to start the day!  Breakfast was a simple bowl of flax flakes cereal topped with some strawberries and banana! Mmmm mmmm good.  I really wanted a nice, cold smoothie but forgot to freeze a banana last night (fail), so I guess I'll have to wait until tomorrow!

Now get out there and enjoy the sunshine!

xo

Update and a VERY Special Birthday Wish

I know, I know...I have been MIA for over a month! Isn't that crazy?  I definitely missed my time away from you all and am super happy to be back in action!  Not a lot has been going on with me lately...just enjoying life as much as I possibly can! Going to fitness classes I've never been to before (bodybump, step and sculpt and ZUMBA), running, working and hanging out with some of my fav. peeps.  So pretty much the same as always... before I get into the goods, I'd like to wish a very special person a Happy Birthday.

Happy Birthday to the most beautiful, inspirational and just plain wonderful woman I know.  I love you more than words can say, mom and if I can be half the woman you are I will be one lucky lady.

Now onto yesterday.  It was a great day! Actually...I think it's safe to say that it was one of the best days I've had in awhile.  I didn't do anything that most people would find exciting but for those of you who know me know that I live for the simple things!

I started off my day nice and early at about 6:30 am.  I got up, enjoyed some breakfast and headed out the door bright and early grocery shopping!  I stopped by the Rootcellar first, which has recently been renovated and expanded and is absolutely AMAZING!  I was actually happy that I was shopping by myself because I could take my sweet time looking at each and every product that they had to offer, and I did.  TONS of local meat, bread, produce and dairy products!

After about an hour of looking around the market, I grabbed an americano from the bakery next door and headed over to Thrifties to get a few things.  Let me tell ya...Thrifties looked terrible compared to the Rootcellar so I spent about 10 minutes in there and was out as quick as possible.  Next on my list (yes, I made a list of the order of where to go...let me explain...you see...all of the places I wanted to go opened at different times so I started with the places that opened first and that would have the best selection/deals before I head to the other stores)

My last THREE stops were Lifestyles (always a favourite), Costco (mostly for the gum) and Fairway for the few things left on my grocery list (still wasn't able to get everything - who would have thought that raw, frozen prawns would be so hard to come by).

When I got home I immediately cleaned out and restocked the fridge.  Boston was also super excited by all of the fresh goods!

I think I might have got a TAD over excited by all of the deals and great produce that I found...but it will definitely get eaten.  Francis and I love us some fully loaded salads, especially this time of year!

While I was putting the groceries away I sipped on this Hint Fizz.  I hadn't tried one before but I'll surely be getting one again!  Zero cal, zero sugar, all natural! I'll take it ;)

After all of the groceries were put away I made some stewed rhubarb sweetened with agave.  $12  worth of rhubarb = a crap load of rhubarb.  I froze a few containers, have one in the fridge to mix in with my greek yogurt AND a huge container of raw stuff left, which I will use up tonight in a crisp!

In the afternoon, Francis and I went for a walk around Thetis Lake and then made a pit stop at Young Young's Tea House for a "Bubble Tea" aka fruit slushie with little jelly goobers in the bottom.  We both used to get these about twice a month when we lived in that area but hadn't had one in years.  They totally hit the spot.  They were even better than I remember.  I had a mango with coconut jelly and Francis had peach with passion fruit poppers.

Read the fine print.  "Warning: Please be careful not to choke while sucking on the pearls or jellies." How hilarious is that?  I guess you can never be TOO safe...

When we got home we relaxed, watched some hockey (I watched Full House ;) and made up some yummy salads for dins.

Pre washed romaine hearts (best invention EVER), strawberries, cucumber, grape tomatoes, avocado, natural chicken deli meat, fig goat cheese, strawberry balsamic reduction and pepper.  WOW! That's a mouthful.  It was so flippin' fresh and delicious. Mmmm...K, I'm hungry now!

This morning I was woken up early with a nice fury butt all up in my grill (classy, Boston, real classy) so I got up...which I was planning on doing whether Boston stuck his tush in my face or not.  I thought about going for a run at the lake again..but I really wasn't feeling up to it.  Because I pushed myself so many mornings during half marathon training I am really enjoying listening to my body and doing something active when I feel like it, which, luckily for me, is most days!  

Instead of a run...I made myself a really yummy breaky: greek yogurt, banana, strawbs, stewed rhubarb and a local granola I found in the bulk section at Lifestyles.  I'm happy I only got about 1/2 cup because I'm not lovin' it.  Nothing beats homemade granola, am I right?

After breakfast Francis and I headed out to the Rootcellar again to get a few more things...okay okay...I just wanted to look around at everything again!  We came home with some local chipotle turkey sausages, local fresh pasta, local root beer (for Franny Bear), and a beet and parsnip for salads.

I also wanted to grab a coffee at the bakery next door...and Francis saw a HUGE cupcake that he just had to have for his breakfast! "It's Saturday" he said.  I like the way you think!

This afternoon we are going to do some research on biking trails around here so we can go on a bike ride.  The weather is amazing and we both have the day off together.  We've gotta take advantage of it!  Hoping to do something fun tonight as well but only time will tell what our crazy selves will be up to...stay tuned!