The Granola Goddess

Hello Sweets,

I guess all the productiveness from yesterday made for a sore body today :(  Not to mention the migraine I had was a little ridiculous, lol my poor landlord had to stop by and felt horrible.  I told her it was okay that she stopped by as I knew it was going to be quick, and that I was also going back to bed :p  Thankfully I had leftovers from yesterday, so at least I didn't have to strain to make sure I ate.  Although I haven't eaten any of it yet, but I managed to get a banana and some crackers down so far...yayyy!  I'm going to try eating some soup here soon, so let's think positively lol.

Thankfully I did make something last night after I finished my post :D  Unfortunately I forget that I didn't pick up any eggs yet, so I couldn't make any muffins.  So obviously that made figuring out another recipe a bit of a challenge, until I made a snack that is.  Probably one of my favorite snacks right now is yogurt and granola, it makes me happy lol.  So that got me thinking, why haven't I made my own granola yet?  Clearly I had no good reason, so that made my decision to make some that much easier.  I looked at some recipes to determine whether or not I had everything I needed, and although I didn't have some things I had some other interesting substitutions :)

Canuckette's Granola

Ingredients

6C rolled oats

1/4C dark brown sugar

1/2C olive oil

1/3C honey

2tsp vanilla

1/4C coconut flakes

1/2C raisins

1/2C dried cherries

1C pecans, chopped

 

Directions:

1)  Preheat oven to 350F.  Mix rolled oats and brown sugar together. 

                          

2)  In a separate bowl; whisk together the oil, honey, and vanilla. 

3)  Pour over dry mixture, stirring well to coat thoroughly.

 

4)  Add in chopped nuts (and seeds if you want) at this point.

 

5)  Spread on a sprayed baking sheet and bake for 30 minutes.  Stir frequently (every 5 mins) to ensure even baking.  It should be golden brown when done.

 

6)  Add dried fruit and coconut once it's done cooking.

7)  Let cool on baking sheet, then break up any large pieces.  Store in an airtight container.  Stores for 3 weeks.

Not only did my house smell amazing, but it tastes great too!

Not only do you know exactly what goes into it, but it tastes a million times better because it's fresh.  You can also personalize it for everyone in your family :)  Don't like coconut, leave it out!  Big fan of flax seed, add it in!  You could even add in chocolate chips to it if you're a chocoholic.  What ever you do make it your own, that way you'll enjoy eating it.

First thing I'm doing tomorrow is getting some eggs, lol let's face it I'm going to need them.  As long as I do that the sky's the limit tomorrow!  Now to make that limitless list, a little shorter ;)  For the rest of tonight I'll be relaxing and talking to the love of my life, and if my migraine will permit it maybe a little painting too!  Until next time....

Stay sweet,

Jennifer xoxoxo

MIA: My Imminent Apology

Hello Sweets,

It's been almost three weeks since my last post :( and I'm sure most of you understand that my health can be somewhat of a blockade for my writing. Something I haven't told you guys is that writing is an indispensable outlet for me, and the longer I go without writing the more my mood drops. I do have some recipes that I haven't posted yet, and I will be posting them soon. But for the time being I am trying to get my health back to a manageable level, and I promise that I will have a new post for you in hopefully a few days.

Until next time........

Stay sweet,


Jennifer xoxoxo

My Trip to Toronto

Hello Sweets,

It's Wednesday :) and that means the work week is almost over!  For me it means neurologist appointment and navigating my way through the crazy streets of Toronto, and it only being half way through my day, I'm already exhausted lol.

My day didn't start off to well, I slept through my alarm this morning (ugh) which means I had to rush like crazy, which always gets me frazzled when I do.  Rushing means I had to take all my medications on an empty stomach :( not good.  Lucky for me my grandfather is a peach and stopped at Tim Hortons so I could grab a coffee and a bagel.  After that, I had just enough time to run across the street to the bus station and climb on to the already packed bus.  As soon as I saw that, I knew it was going to be a long ride to Toronto.  I couldn't have been more right, the young man I had the pleasure to sit with couldn't stay in his seat, so I might as well of been sitting in the aisle.  The good thing about the bus now, is they're caught up in the technology world, so I got to watch one of my favorite shows; Law & Order SVU all the way there :)

Nathan could tell you that last night I was so worried about getting lost before my appointment, having to navigating from the bus station to the hospital, but he'll be happy to know I made it in one piece and only got a little freaked out once :) yay me!  Since I have some time to kill before my appointment, I thought I would start my little post, and grab a bite to eat (I just love you guys!).  For lunch I went to "Soup it up", which is obviously a soup shop, and got a bowl of cream of mushroom soup (haven't had it in forever), a chocolate milk, and a small multi-grain roll.  It was so so, more soupy than creamy, so needless to say I wasn't very impressed.

My sad little soup, on the plus side my chocolate milk was delish!

Oh well.  There is a Booster Juice, so I'll just grab a shake on my way out.  Live and learn right?  Next I will get to go into the "cattle area" otherwise known as the inpatient check in, and then I'll be shuffled upstairs to see the doctor.  It's weird because I'm slightly nervous and I don't know why (weird huh?).  Well I'm going to venture into Shoppers Drugmart to kill some time, then I will complete my post on the way home.  Blog to you soon ;)

Good news sweets, my brain is giant but other than that, I'm a okay on the brain front.  I sort of figured this already, but better safe than sorry right?  The doctor prescribed me some migraine medication so hopefully that will help (keep your fingers crossed for me).  So I didn't end up stopping at Booster Juice because I was feeling kind of sick, but instead grabbed a nice hot chai tea to keep me warm on my way back to the bus station, and boy was it yummy!

Me and my tea on the go!

Now I am just waiting for my bus to be called and trying not to get dragged into any of the drama that keeps popping up in here (one lady in particular is yelling at random people).  Don't get me wrong, there is nothing funny about mental health, but I don't think I have the patience to deflect right now.  I also don't want to continue rambling either and scare you all off lol.  Until next time........


Stay sweet,



Jennifer xoxoxo

Blackberry Goodness

Hello Sweets,

Are you having a terrific Tuesday?  I slept horribly last night (not unusual), and then had to be up early to run some paperwork to my lawyer, and then my grandfather took me to the grocery store for some bananas and more blackberries :) I was going to have a nap but ended up getting a second wind, so I decided to bake instead.  Last night after making the coconut macaroons, I started thinking about what I wanted today's post to be about, then a light went off in my head, and I remembered that I had bought blackberries last Friday, which meant they needed to be used sooner rather than later.

When I first got my iPhone I did what everyone does, downloaded lots of apps lol.  I was looking for apps that I would use somewhat regularly, and one little gem that I found is called "recipe grazer", it has TONS of recipe ideas, perfect for this canuckette.  It also has this really cool feature that allows you to input one key ingredient, then it spits out all sorts of different recipes, so obviously I used that app to find a new recipe for today's post, and I even found a paleo recipe for tomorrow (I'm on a roll)!  So the recipe I chose to do today, I chose for a couple of reasons; 1)  They sounded too good to pass up and 2)  I know these will freeze well, and that's a good thing because my roommate, her son, and I can't keep up with the eating that would be required for all these goodies :)  So are you dying to know what today's recipe is??  I have created  blackberry crumb bars, and let me tell you my house smells amazing.  No I have not tried them yet and that is only because they need to completely cool before cutting.  But you can bet that by the end of this post they will be cooled, cut, and tried by yours truly.  On to the recipe!

Blackberry Crumb Bars (via the recipe grazer app for the iPhone)

Ingredients

6Tbs unsalted butter, melted

1/2C unsalted butter, room temp

plus extra butter for the pan

1 3/4C all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled)

plus extra flour for the pan

1/2C packed light brown sugar

1/2Tsp salt

1/2Tsp baking powder

1C confectioner's sugar (powdered)

1/2Tsp pure vanilla extract

2 large eggs

2-5 ounce containers of blackberries

Directions:

1)  Preheat oven to 350F.  Butter an 8" square baking pan.  Line the bottom with parchment paper (I didn't have any so I opted this part out), leaving an overhang on two sides; butter and flour paper, tapping out any excess.

2)  Make topping:  In a medium bowl, whisk together melted butter, brown sugar, and 1/4 salt.

3)  Add 1 cup of the flour, and mix with a fork until large moist crumbs form.  Refrigerate topping until ready to use.

smells yummy :)

4)  Make base:  In a medium bowl, whisk together remaining 3/4 cup of flour, baking powder, and remaining 1/4Tsp of salt; set aside.

5)  In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat room temperature butter, confectioner's sugar, and vanilla until light and fluffy.

6)  Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.

7)  Reduce speed to low; mix in flour mixture.

8)  Spread batter evenly in pan; sprinkle with blackberries, then chilled topping.

waiting is the hardest part!

9)  Bake until golden, and a toothpick inserted in center comes out with moist crumbs attached (40-45 minutes).  Cool completely in pan.  Using paper overhang, lift cake onto a work surface; cut into 16 squares and enjoy!

They are soooo good, definitely try these!!!

I know what you're thinking; that I bake in an abundance, but it's something that picks up my mood when I'm feeling down.  Another way it is therapeutic for me, is that I feel the same way about my blogging too :)  Baking and blogging help me exercise my brain, and I feel like a productive member of society again, something that I took for granted before I got sick and had to go off of work.  Although I hate how my diagnoses have affected my life, I am grateful for a few lessons it has taught me; never take the people you care about for granted, to be thankful that I am only affected for now not forever, and most importantly that I have a wonderful life to wake up to each day.  I couldn't have done it without my amazing boyfriend Nathan, the loving family that has stood by me during this whole ordeal, and some amazing friends that really stuck by me when I needed it the most (y'all know who you are).  I am forever grateful and indebted to them for everything they have done and everything they will do in the coming months during my surgery and recovery.

If you take one thing away from my blog today, let it be that you know there is good in your life, no matter how small it may seem, if it makes you happy let it shine through :)

Oh and if you haven't joined in on the Frosty Fitness Challenge, what are you waiting for?  I am going to give this weeks challenge my best to try and hit the 20 km, and to help you guys with motivation, I am going to continue to share with you my daily achievements.

1.01 mile today, 3.64 miles so far = 5.85 km

I know it has been a hard road for me, going from personal training and prepping, to apply as an instructor, to being able to only do ROM (range of motion) and cardio training, and that's only if my body will allow it.  But I am determine to try and help my own situation by staying as active as possible, while listening to my body so I don't end up hurting myself for days (my knee protested today, which is why I only did 1.01 miles today), plus it will help with a quicker recovery after my surgery :)  Until next time............

Stay sweet,

Jennifer xoxoxo