Red and White Cupcakes

In preparation of Canada Day, me and the kids at school did tons of Canada Day activities. We made Canada wind stocks, went on a Canada Day walk around the community and had a Canada Day scavenger hunt that ended in Red and White Cupcakes! 

I started with a white cake mix and followed the instructions on the package.

I added red food colouring and then scooped the batter into Canada Day muffin cups.

 After they finished baking, I let them cool and then filled the cupcakes with white icing inside.

Then, my favourite part, topped them with icing and Canada flags!

These red and white cupcakes add a little extra Canada Day spirit to any Canada Day celebration!

Happy Canada Day everyone!

Hello Summer!

Hello Summer,

I am so happy to see you! I am excited to bathe in your yellow rays and feel your encompassing warmth. Your crisp green grass is calling me to spread out a blanket and lounge around. Your light winds have started whistling through the trees and they graze my skin to give me a brief relief from the warmth.

Summer, I hope you are able to stay for a while so that we can spend some quality time together!

Love Your Friend,

Elise

My Monday Nights

I had a lovely night with my Mom and Step-dad last night. It is one of the best ways to start the week. We ate dinner on the deck looking on to my Mom's beautiful garden. Baked Black Bean Brownies after feeling a need for something sweet. Then completed the evening by watching a dramatically scrumptious episode of the Bachelorette!

Here are the gorgeous flowers from my Mom's garden!

We were needing something sweet after dinner so we wiped up some Black Bean Brownies.

Relaxing watching the Bachelorette - my guilty pleasure.

A perfect way to start the week!

Choco-holic

I am a self-admitting choco-holic! So with my recent dietary changes, I have had to find different ways to get my chocolate fix. To my surprise there are lots of fabulous chocolate recipes out there to quench my cravings. Here are a couple of the recipes I have collected:

Dairy-free, Guilt-free Soft Chocolate Ice Cream

1 banana blended

1 tbsp cocoa powder

1/2 tbsp almond butter

First blend the banana. Then add the cocoa and almond butter and blend again.

Top with fruit to add a little extra sweetness. I added raspberries which were delicious!

Chocolate Zucchini Cake

 

1 1/2 cup grated zucchini

1 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 cup cocoa

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp allspice

1 banana

1/2 cup organic sugar

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 tsp vanilla

Combine ingredients in order. Grease bread pan and bake at 350 for 45 minutes.

Black Bean Brownies

1 flax egg (1 tbsp flax & 2.5 tbsp water)

1/2 cup black beans

1 tbsp vegetable oil

1/4 cup cocoa powder

1/2 tsp vanilla

1/4 cup organic sugar

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

First make the flax egg and let it sit. Blend black beans in a food processor. Then combine ingredients. Scoop batter into greased muffin pan. Bake at 350 for 17 minutes. 

This recipe makes 6 servings and they are about 100 calories each.

These are melt in your mouth delicious!

All of these are healthy recipes that are still capable of satisfying chocolate cravings!! Enjoy!

Bachelorette Bash

Sorry for the long hiatus, it has been a busy week with report cards due and school starting to wrap up! But with all this business I was able to enjoy a girl's night out to celebrate a friend's upcoming nuptials!

We started out at Cheer on Osborne with some apps and drinks. I had my two favourite things, a lychee martini and sweet potato fries!

Then we moved our party to Greenroom, just up the street.

It was my first time at Greenroom and I will definitely be returning! The modern decor and lively atmosphere along with the comfy seating - when you need to rest throbbing feet - all work together to make this bar fabulous! Not to mention, the music gave me flashbacks to high school thanks to DJ Nick Bike. Our party couldn't help but dance on the stage to our old favourite songs.

What a fabulous night for the beautiful bride to be!

Broccoli Pancakes!

In my attempt to eat a lot of vegetables, I made broccoli pancakes for dinner! This is a great way to add extra veggies into your carbs for breakfast, lunch or dinner! (These are very similar to potato pancakes.)

1 head broccoli

1 cup flour

2 eggs

salt & pepper to taste

First boil a head of broccoli. Then mix with flour.

Add the eggs and mix together. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Cook the batter like pancakes in a greased pan until brown.

Viola! 

These pancakes would be good served with a yogurt based dipping sauce! But, seeing that I declared myself dairy-free, I just had my broccoli pancakes plain. This was also very tasty!

Jazz Fest

Last night me and my man headed down to Old Market Square to enjoy some local music and some street vendor food for the Winnipeg Jazz Festival! By the time we got there the Beer Gardens were jammed and long lines emerging. There was a sea of hands bobbing to the music in front of the stage. But our first mission was to get my man some food! And how could we resist the street vendors with all of their greasy goodness?

A juicy burger and the sugary mini donuts were the food of choice.

(But you have to give me a pat on the back because I resisted this nearly irresistible food!)

With food in hand we found an elevated spot to watch the bands play and of course people watch, too.

When we settled into our spot, Alfa was pumping up the crowd with his soulful rap meets Afrobeat music. He was just one of those performers that grabs everyone's attention.

 After Alfa, was another local band The Lytics. They did a few of their own rap songs - including my fave Big City Sound Girl - intertwined with a Motown cover. 

 A fab Saturday night!

Redeemed

I told you a little bit about my consignment shopping addiction starting with The Ruby Slipper. But I have another cute store to tell you about! Redeemed is a trendy consignment store on Academy Road. They carry high brand name, fashionable clothing and accessories. Click here to go to their website.

By the time I got to the fitting room, it was hard to hold up the mound of clothes on my arm. Here are a few of the pieces I tried on!

 This was a slinky light pink camisole with a silver sequins and a zipper.

This top was brown with gold studs on the straps by Nygard.

This is what I ended up leaving with - a gorgeous pair of Yves Saint Laurent sunglasses! 

(ONLY $29)

Another shot...just can't get enough!

A Doggy's Dream

I spent a lovely evening with my Dad and his adorable dog, Molly. She is one active dog! So when we hopped into the car and started driving to her doggy heaven, she grunted with excitement. We arrived at Maple Grove Dog Park and Molly took one leap and she was lost in the long grass. But we got her to sit long enough to snap quick photo without any blurry fur balls!

 The posing didn't last long with all of the smells in the air.

The paths in and out of the trees seem endless.

We were caught in a brief sun shower. Didn't phase Molly in the least.

If you are looking for a doggy's dream - with long grass, endless paths and plenty of doggie bums to sniff - head to Maple Grove Dog Park (off of St. Mary's and the Perimeter).

Anti-Dairy Smoothie

With my hand across my heart, I am declaring that I am Anti-Dairy. (My body seems to hate it!)

So I have surcome to my body's wishes and have gone sans dairy, which is harder than it sounds. I am noticing how much I use milk, yogurt and cheese in my daily life. 

Last night, I went on a shopping spree to stalk up on soy yogurt, almond milk and any other dairy-free products I could.

Today I made my first Anti-Dairy Smoothie:

1/2 cup Mango Soy Yogurt

1/2 cup Vanilla Almond Milk

3/4 cup of frozen mixed berries

Not bad, not bad...

Healthy but Deadly Gluten-free Brownies

Recently, I have been experimenting with organic foods, dairy-free and vegan recipes. And I can't forget ALL of the veggies! On my new venture, I have been searching for healthy dessert recipes to quench my sweet tooth. My Mom introduced me to this scrumptious recipe: Gluten-free Brownies!

 Mix together ingredients.

1/2 cup flour blend*

1/3 cup cocoa

1/4 tsp. baking powder

3/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup pure canned pumpkin

1/4 cup butter

1 egg

1 tsp. vanilla

1/3 cup chopped walnuts

1/3 cup chocolate chips

*2 cups sorghum flour

 2 cups potato starch

1/2 cup coconut flour

1/2 cup brown rice flour

1 tbsp. xanthan gum

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and spray an 8x8 inch pan. Bake for 25 minutes.
For all of those calorie counters out there, this makes 16 servings and 110 calories per serving.
(Not bad if you need something sweet after dinner!)

There will be more experiments and recipes coming as I embark on this organic, dairy-free adventure!

Jumbo Taco Salad

I have never been a fan of perfectly calculating every bite of a taco especially when it always seems to spill all over! My solution...a Jumbo Taco Salad.

I start out with romaine lettuce, tortilla chips along with my special ingredients - avocado and corn. 

 Of course you add the taco beef  and cheese.

Don't forget the salsa and sour cream!

Duct Tape Flower Pens

It may be known that real men use duct tape. Well...so do real women! 

I needed to get a gift for someone and thought that I would save a few dollars by making the gift myself. I have seen some great homemade gifts made out of duct tape! (My cousin is quite the expert.) 

I saw this great idea of a bouquet of duct tape flower pens and thought this would be perfect.

All you need is colourful duct tape and some pens.

You cut a small rectangular piece of duct tape to start. Then fold one edge in.

And fold the other side in.

Wrap it around the end of the pen and keep going!

TA-DA! You have your duct tape flower pen bouquet! 

I put my bouquet in a glass vase with crystal vase filler and tied a ribbon around.

A great homemade gift!