Mondays, how I love you.

Hello and happy Monday!

Yes, I am actually one of those people that enjoys Mondays.  As much as I enjoy the weekends, I really do look forward to Monday's, why?  On the weekends, I tend to become very... unscheduled.  I am a creature of habit, (over the years I have become better and breaking certain habits... but to a degree), on the weekends however, oi.

This weekend for instance, I saw Harry Potter Friday night (oh my goodness, if you haven't seen it yet, go, go, go!), when I got home at about ten o'clock pm I pretty much went to sleep.  During the night I woke up quite a bit, but I had one of the best sleeps in a looong time, so good in fact that I didn't wake up until one in the afternoon!  I cannot tell you the last time I have slept in that late, even as a teenager I never slept like that, that is, unless Jordan and I pulled all-nighters playing World of Warcraft... but that's another story, and then we'd be going to bed at about five in the morning, so waking up at one seemed logical.  This weekend however, just wasn't like me. 

On Saturday I was not motivated at all to do my regular one hour of biking, instead I decided I want to incorporate strength and abs back into my routine since truthfully I've been neglecting that for the past, errr two months?  Sad I know.  Yeah well, it's Monday, and I'm still feeling Saturday's work out, plus it doesn't help that I did one hour of biking yesterday, and then more strength and abs this morning, eek.  It felt great to use my weights again, do my crunches, and the other little exercises I did.  With that I decided I'm going to start switching my routine up so that I don't get bored and so I'm still motivated :)

The rest of the weekend was okay.  Saturday I did a lot of walking/shopping on one of the main streets in Montreal for shopping.  I went to a vegan restaurant with my mom, had "fish" (which was absolutely fantastic, definitely plan on going back) then came home, and looked at ideas for some tattoos.  I plan on going very soon to get my second tattoo (if we turned back time to six months ago when I got my first tattoo and swore on my life that I'd never ever get another tattoo, and tell past Sam that future Sam wants another tattoo I think I'd die of laughter!  Seriously!)

Sunday I woke up at seven, woohoo, went to Jean-Talon Market, got our fruits and vegetables for the week.  We came home, I made a delicious lunch, then I did an hour of biking, and pretty much spent the rest of the day lounging.  Yes, exciting weekend I know, but I truthfully really enjoyed it.

So again, why do I like Mondays?  I like routine.  I like knowing that I wake up at 4:45 am, hit the alarm for five more minutes, put my work out clothes on, go to the washroom, brush my teeth, get on my bike at 5:00 am and finish at 6:00 am.  Get in the shower, dry off, do my hair, then my make up, and get dressed.  Get my work stuff together, make my breakfast, eat, then leave for work, etc... I like routine.  I like that I start the day off the same way and know what will happen until about 8:00 am, but I know that my day starts off early on the weekdays.  The weekends I sort of become a sloth... which isn't always the case but I've felt so burnt out from work the past few weeks that lounging has unfortunately become habitual.

This weekend + this morning however, I made some really delicious meals.  I'm going to keep it simple and just post what I did instead of going oooohhh, you NEED to make this.  If I'm posting recipes, it's because I loved the outcome and think you should make it, if I didn't like it, I wouldn't post (unless I'm stating this is a failed recipe).

Tropical Fruit Bowl with Lime

*Note: Adding lime to any sort of fruit mixture has become my summer addiction.  It seriously heightens the flavour combination and just creates an utterly perfect breakfast, snack or dessert.

1 peach, cubed
1 kiwi, sliced
1 banana, sliced
1 mango, cubed
1 orange, cubed
Juice from 1/2 of a lime

 

Toss together and voila

Baked Sweet Potato with Broccoli and Cheddar

Now I know why people make broccoli and cheddar soup (I'd never tried this food combination before) and with the added sweetness from the baked sweet potato, hallelujah my friends, hallelujah.

1 sweet potato, cleaned, pierced with fork holes (you can rub it with EVOO + salt if you want, but I didn't) - baked in oven at 425 degrees F for 55 minutes

1/4 broccoli floret (steamed for 2 minutes) and sprinkled with sea salt and pepper

Shredded vegan cheddar + 2 green onion stalks to top it all off

Sprinkled with more freshly ground black pepper

Magical Yoghurt Parfait

Vunderbar is all I have to say.

Handful of PB Puffin's cereal (to die for right?)

Layer of plain yoghurt + 1 tsp cinnamon (I love me some cinnamon)

1 banana, sliced

3-4 dates, sliced

Avocado and Salsa Mash on a Cheddar and Salsa Bagel

When I made my White Chocolate Raspberry Bagels I also made a batch of Cheddar and Salsa bagels.  These bagels are like no other bagels I've had before, hm, maybe other than my Crystallized Ginger and Cinnamon Apple Cider Bagels, oh boyyyyyyyyyy!  I took the same recipe as the White Chocolate Raspberry Bagels, and instead of adding raspberries and white chocolate I of course added salsa and vegan cheddar to my taste.  These bagels oh man, I've been eating them left and right, and unfortunately only have one left.  Since I only have one left I figured my second last bagel needs to be amazing so I did just that.  I've been on a sort of Mexican inspired food thing lately, and so here is where my head was at this morning, which, holy moly it was in the right spot, if you know what I mean ;)

1 avocado mashed with 2 tbsp of salsa + sea salt + pepper

Juice from 1/4 of a lime squeezed on top

Simple and refreshing.

Broccoli, Shiitake Mushroom and Tofu Peanut Butter Bake

I've never had peanut butter with broccoli before but I have had peanut butter with mushrooms and it was amazing, and have also had peanut butter with baked tofu before which was one of the best tofu dishes I've had to this day.  I was craving broccoli and I was craving peanut butter so I figured why not have bake my broccoli, tofu and Shiitake mushrooms and feed all my cravings.  Well I did just that and my tastebuds were definitely dancing and thanking me.  This was so simple to make and the result was fantabulous!

Ingredients for the -

Sauce:

2 tbsp peanut butter
1 tbsp sesame oil
1/2 tbsp soy sauce
1/2 tbsp maple syrup
2 tbsp soy milk
1/4 tsp cayenne

Freshly grated ginger (I love ginger so I tend to put a lot... I probably had about 1/2 tbsp)

+ remaining ingredients for the recipe:

1 floret of broccoli, chopped

6 medium Shiitake mushrooms

3 green onion stalks

Sesame seeds

Directions:

First I heated my stove to 400 degrees F.

I then tossed my TOFU only (which was 1/2 a block of extra-firm tofu in the sauce and let it marinate for 10-15 minutes)

Put the tofu onto a pan and put it in the oven for 20 minutes leaving the remaining sauce in my mixing bowl

I then chopped six medium sized Shiitake mushrooms + 3 green onion stalks and mixed them with the remaining sauce and a generous squeeze of lime juice

Once the tofu was done cooking (the 20 minutes), I tossed the tofu, and added the remaining vegetables.  

I lowered the heat to 380 degrees and baked for 15 minutes.

I then sprinkled the dish with sesame seeds and dug in.

Easy and tasty!

Blueberry Raspberry Nectarine Dream Bars

Here, all I did was made a basis of "Larabar truffles" and flattened the mix, added blueberry jam and spread some raspberries and nectarine slices on top.  If you like Larabars, or the healthy truffles that have been going around the blogosphere for the past few months you simply devour this.  It reminded me of my Peanut Butter and Jam Truffles so it's no wonder I thought this was absolutely dfjasd;lfkjsdlkfj nom-a-licious!

In the bowl of your food processor, mix the following ingredients until a ball forms:

1 1/2 cup pitted, chopped dates

1/4 cup raw cashews

3 tablespoons rolled oats

pinch sea salt

 

Once a ball has form, line a loaf pan with parchment and firmly press your date mixture to the bottom, making an even layer.

Spread an even layer of blueberry jam (or your favourite jam) on top.

Top with raspberries and 1 nectarine sliced with about 1/4 cup of oats.

Devour.

What food flavours have you 

found yourself craving this summer?