Posts

Showing posts from 2016

Day 6 Jamaica Trip April 2024

Image
We went for breakfast at 7:30 as we had booked a driver that was to pick us up at 8:00 am. There were plantains on the buffet this morning and they were good. We were going to Nine Mile which is Bob Marley’s house and some other sightseeing. We couldn’t arrange for the driver to pick up my friends aunt as she lives too far away. We will try and have her come to the resort tomorrow. It’s our last day and I really want to spend one day relaxing at the resort before we leave. Tomorrow is also 4/20 and all over Ocho Rios were signs for parties and discounts. I don’t want to get stuck on the traffic.  The road to Nine mile was so narrow and bumpy. I spent most of the time holding on while listening to my friend and the driver banter and flirt. It is pretty rare that someone can keep up with my friends feistiness so it was entertaining. There were some great views from the window but I couldn’t get any pictures the ride was too bumpy. The roads in Jamaica are very narrow so there is always h

December 25 2016 Christmas Day Adventures

Image
Growing up my family never celebrated Christmas but as an adult I will celebrate any holiday that has anything to do with chocolate. The last several years my aunt has hosted an extended family get together at her house and enjoyed seeing my younger cousins celebrate. This year the get together was cancelled due to snow and ice still being everywhere. My mom was working so I had the day to myself. I made myself a Christmas dinner unfortunately everything started with a package so no recipes; however I did get homemade rum cake for dessert courtesy of my best friend's step mom. veggie wings, mashed potatoes, gravy, cranberry sauce, greek salad Jamaican rum cake made with lots of love and lots of rum  I remember many years ago I can't remember exactly probably about 10 it had snowed on christmas day and this was before home coffee machines I was at my parents house and neither of them drank coffee. I had a coffee addiction at the time I only drank one cup a day but

Tasty Easy no flour pancakes and snow days - December 18, 2016

Image
We have had many snow days in Coquitlam in the last few weeks. This is not normal usually it snows once a year and its gone the next day. The temperatures are remaining low this year and although pretty it makes commuting difficult. I have cancelled attending a few things as it is too difficult to commute we get wet snow here so there is a lot of ice everywhere.  Downtown Vancouver was a little different you can't even tell there was any snow there some days were even nice and sunny with temperatures of -1 or -2 compared to -7 or less in other areas. I am grateful that we now have a skytrain close by as the path to get to the skytrain is cleared so I am able to commute much easier than before. lights and snow at Lafarge lake Coquitlam lights and snow at Lafarge Lake Coquitlam As it is holiday season with lots of eating and treats here is something that feels luxurious but is actually easy and healthy. I saw the recipe in a magazine and I went fr

New skytrain, Soup, and Shaun T live workouts

Image
The new evergreen or millenium skytrain extension which connects coquitlam to other skytrain lines in Vancouver is finally open. This has been in the works for around 30 years. I live in coquitlam for me the new line is great. The trains are only two cars compared to much longer ones on the other trains so they run more frequently. The ride to the connecting skytrain is only 15 minutes and this used to take over half an hour by expres bus. I am going to save at least half an hour each way on my commute and no more worries of not making connecting buses or missing the commuter train. It is also going to be a lot easier to get around coquitlam some areas that required long walks from bus stops before now have central skytrain stations. The new stations are very nice they have electronic boards telling you how long until the next train today on a saturday I got off at a few differnt stations and my wait was never longer than 2 minutes. I always worry that something is going to go wrong w

Gilmore Girls binge watching, Fairmont Vancouver Waterfront stay, week of November 27 2016

Image
I had saved this weekend to binge watch Gilmore girls on netflix just like every other fan of the show.   I do not usually binge watch anything and I try to stay away from shows that may be addictive enough for me to have to spend a whole weekend watching this. How could I not watch Gilmore Girls with all the effort they went through to get a real ending. It was 4 episodes that were 1.5 hours each so a lot to get in during one weekend. I finished today and wish I had someone to discuss my thoughts with. I liked episode 1 and 2 episode 3 I fast forwarded through a portion of it. Episode 4 was the ending and it was good but it wasn't like the original. The acting and writing for the most part was as good as it always but some pieces didn't feel right. I enjoyed watching it but I didn't like the ending I know this was always going to be the last few words but it left so many questions. Maybe there will be a second season or a sequel to find out what really happened. On Mond

Week of November 20 -steamer, lunch at Pasta Polo, and Moview at VIP theater

Image
My steamer arrived from amazon. The tip had broken of my old one a long time ago so I had been using it without the attachments for so long. I forgot how much better being able to attach a brush or a cloth to the steamer is. I didn't know they were so cheap or I would have bought a new one a long time ago. This steamer is a little bit smaller than my old one which means I have to refill it more often but that is okay just do sections at a time. I hate cleaning but I love steaming its so easy and fun to spray the steam and wipe it after the steam is so hot it disinfects. The brush attachment is great for giving thing a little srcub. I also love how shiny things are after they are sprayed with steam. before after one spray of steam and one wipe brush attachment added left side has been steamed right side was just wiped even works great on glass ceramic stoves   Sunday fun day after going for the blood test I arranged weeks ago I went to l

Manicure and clean soup maker Week of November 13, 2016

Image
An update on my previous post of getting the burned part of the pan. I tried a number of edible items after my google searches. Coke worked really well but I would have needed to use three or four bottles for it to come out clean. The best was pouring baking soda in and just letting it sit overnight then using a dish scrubber after that running hot water through the soup cycle. I am so happy that I can still use the soup maker it is one of the best tools ever. My hand steamer stopped working this week and I use it for lots of things it is so much fun to just spray steam at things to clean and sanitize them. I ordered a replacement from amazon yesterday this is a little steamer so it was only $40 including shipping but I am lost without my gadgets. This has been a lay back weekend. Although I am Canadian the event of the week was the US election and now everyone is tired. It is also the week to adjust to time change and the darkness at 4pm plus the winter weather is starting. In

November 6, 2016 Health Show, Homesmade Ceasar Salad with Garlic Croutons

Image
Ceasar salad recipe below Yesterday I went to the Vancouver Health Show. It is an exhibition of health related programs. I listened to a couple of speakers one on hormones and another on minerals and the effect on the body. I had a few samples, liquid iron, juice, granola bars, spaghetti made from kojnac, and for me the highlight was sitting in chair that had a massager on it for about 10 minutes. It was relatively easy to obtain a 2 for 1 coupon for the event so the admission was $6 each for my friend and I did get a bag that had some hemp protein shake samples, a polysporin blister bandaid, and a magnet. I also entered some contests at the event received some free cloth bags, a pill container, and a frisbee. I don't know if I am a prize winner yet. It was worth the price of admission. This is the week of being tired with a lack of energy I am pretty sure my thyroid medication needs to be adjusted again. I did miss a couple days of 3 week yoga retreat but I will be back on

October 30 - chickpea flour pizza, shopping and workout incentive

Image
Happy Halloween I saw an article that avocado was the new pumpkin so I had to try On friday evening I wanted a pizza. I never order delivery and it was to late for me to go out. I also don't keep regular flour in my house. I knew I had sauce and cheese and chickpea flour. I usually make chickpea flour pancakes but I wondered if I could make a pizza crust out of it. It actually worked pretty well I cook pizza in a frying pan as I don't use my oven and I find that the pan makes it easy to cook the crust and melt the cheese.  chickpea flour I poured the flour in the bowl I added olive oil, salt, pepper, water wishing i had dried herbs I would have let the dough sit but it was after work on and i was hungry so I only let it sit while the pan was getting hot. I put some ghee in the pan and then tried to spread the dough out in the pan it was hot so I couldn't take a picture. It would have been bette if i had rolled the dough out before putting it in the