And it feels like...

Friiiiday, Friiiiday, the day I look most forward to!

Hope everyone's week has been treating them well.  This week surely went by quick, the Monday of the long week definitely aided in that, but I just feel like this week came and went like that.  I'm not complaining though.  Tonight will be my first night going out since I've gotten to Montreal.  One of the actor's/writer's is throwing a party at his place and well, it shall be fun.  I'm not sure what the rest of the weekend holds for me since the weather has just been hideous as of late, and is supposed to continue on this trend for a while, oh well it's good for the grass, the trees, gardens, etc... so we'll take it I suppose.

One week until the 50 km bike ride that I'm supposed to be doing.  Unfortunately I've been procrastinating signing up because my mom isn't sure whether or not her body will be able to handle it.  Regardless I will be going because the other accountant is going so I'll be able to bike beside her, I just think it would be a really fun thing for my mom and I to do together.  I'm going to try and do both the Friday and the Sunday, it would be a good 80km or so in one weekend.  I've been biking everyday between 40-50 minutes.  I do 15-20 minutes in the morning (waking my mom up to the sound of the horrible stationery set), then I get home and do 20-30 minutes, depending on how much I did in the morning, how well my body can handle it.  It's been good so far, and I feel such an improvement.  I noticed it a lot while I was running and how long I could go for before I needed to stop, (it was about 4.3km before I needed to break and it'd been over two months since I'd run, so I have to thank the biking for sure).  I just hope the weather isn't as predicted and we actually get sun so I could finally take my bike out of the house and bike around Old Montreal and it's beautiful parks, but we shall see.

This morning I decided to spend a few more minutes on my breakfast than I've been spending the past couple of days.  A little while ago I had made a peanut butter and jam overnight oats with banana soft serve, and I decided I would try it a different way this morning.  It was a little chilly in the house, even after sweating like a beast I was still cold, so I thought I would twist up the pb and jam oat breakfast.  I decided to make the banana soft serve as normal, then the oats, because I didn't think of it last night, I actually ended up cooking them on the stove.  The combination between the hot and the cold was utterly delightful.  Surprisingly the banana soft serve didn't "melt" and it stayed in tact with just a hint of heat.  It was super delicious.  I let the oats cook to how I like them (still a little bit hard) so it added some crunch, and it was just divine.  I really liked this breakfast, and will surely be making it again with different fruit's, spices and what not, yum.

Peanut Butter and Jam Soft Serve Parfait

Ingredients:

For the oats:

• 1/3 cup oats
• 1/2 cup chocolate soy milk
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 tbsp peanut butter
• 1/2 tbsp chia seeds
• 1 tsp vanilla

For the raspberry banana soft serve:

• 1 1/4 frozen banana
• 1 tbsp chocolate soy milk
• 3/4 cup frozen raspberries

Directions:

In a small pot, over medium heat, add oatmeal, milk/water, chia seeds, vanilla, and peanut butter.  I let mine sit for approximately 4 minutes, that's the consistency that I like.


In the bowl of your food processor, blend your bananas and soy milk until your ice cream consistency is reached.  Then add your raspberries and blend until combined.

In desired glass, layer your oat mixture, berries, oat mixture then berries again, top with extra berries if you desire.

Dig in and enjoy :)

Open Faced Tomato Sandwich with "Cream Cheese" Spread

 

Before I continue with what I had for lunch I want to share a sandwich that I had last week that I just didn't get around to posting so I thought I would do so.  When I went to my aunts I came across this recipe book she had called Power Foods and the cover itself was so captivating I knew I had to make the recipe.  When I looked through the book and found the recipe what I loved was that the spread was made from tofu it wasn't even real cream cheese so I was rather impressed.  A lot of the recipes have meat in them, but if you sub it with tofu I'm sure the recipes would be good, but a vast majority of the recipes are vegan which is awesome.  The book is so colourful and the pictures are wonderful, the recipes are incredibly easy to follow again.

This open-faced sandwich was absolutely delightful.  I was so glad I tried it because it just, mmmm perfect.  It was so simple to make, every single bite was oh so delicious and I will definitely make this again.

Peanut Butter and Chickpea's Sandwich

 Now for what I had for lunch, if you can think back to a couple of months ago I had experimented with Dessert Hummus, and absolutely loved it.  Well the past two days I've been eating chickpeas like a mad man and I intentionally left some aside because I was planning on making some of that dessert hummus again.  However, last night I was too lazy after spending much of the night on my bike so I decided to simply add the ingredients to whole chickpeas.  Well, it might not of been smooth like regular hummus, but the taste was definitely there with some added crunch from the chickpeas.  I absolutely loved this "sandwich".  It was quick to prepare, and it was incredibly filling.

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup chickpeas
• 2 tbsp peanut butter
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 tsp maple syrup
• 1 slice of ciabatta bread cut in half

Directions:

Mix all of your ingredients and spread onto your bread.  You can even add a layer or peanut butter onto the bread if you're feel really sassy.

Enjoy :)