Woman in Real Life

The weather is warming up significantly around here. We were promised some sort of record-breaking warm day today. I'm not sure we're quite going to make it, but the temperature is expected to go up to 13 degrees Celsius this afternoon. It's warm for February, but today it's also accompanied by dense fog. With most of the snow melted, the yard is just plain ugly. But I'm not complaining (okay, I'm complaining a bit) because spring is surely on the way!

This What I Ate Wednesday, I'm looking at highlights from the last couple of weeks. I don't seem able to post as regularly as I used to, but I hope spring takes care of that too. More energy, more ambition, all that good stuff. As I said on Instagram, between sick days, PA Days, exam days and snow days, I had one or both of the kids with me quite often over the past month or so. That has limited my creative time and also my time spent experimenting in the kitchen. Once the kids were finally back at school for a stretch, I decided to make a special breakfast just for me. The kids aren't hot on the idea of coating French toast with coconut, so I made one of my favourite quick, easy and delicious breakfasts - the coconut French toast from the incredible Isa Does It: Amazingly Easy, Wildly Delicious Vegan Recipes for Every Day of the Week.

Today's What I Ate Wednesday is full up with plump, juicy berries! I love late spring, when berries are abundant and less costly. This week I put berries on everything I could think of - like the Qi'a hot cereal, above. I topped my cereal with blueberries, strawberries, raspberries and walnuts.

It's Remembrance Day in Canada and together we will share in an 11:00 a.m. moment of silence to honour our military, past and present. Here are some interesting points to note on this solemn day. With Canada's newest Defence Minister, Harjit Sajjan, being a Sikh and a former soldier, this exhibition that highlights the contributions of Sikh soldiers over the years is timely. And I love this sweet, multi-flag tribute to Canadian veterans. It's difficult to comprehend how many people have lost their lives to war, but this video honours a few loved ones who paid the ultimate price. Peace to you, my friends.

On to What I Ate Wednesday. Today I'm looking at my food consumption from yesterday, beginning with my breakfast, above. I started my day with banana, raspberry, cherry "nice cream," with a few chocolate chips on top. (Because why not?) It's pure fruit, so you need a bit of fat on top. That's my thinking anyway.

This What I Ate Wednesday, be prepared to see a lot of restaurant food. I like it, but my waistline doesn't. These photos were all taken on my cellphone, because it has been an eventful week and I didn't tote my DSLR along. To start, here is a pic of my family eating vegan donuts in Toronto's Christie Pits Park last week. But let's back up a bit.

We had so much fun hanging out with friends at our cottage rental all last week. And we ate lots. And drank a bit too. Sometimes I get bored of cooking, but it was so nice to get together with others in the kitchen and each make different parts that came together beautifully as a whole meal.

One day we were out and about exploring and somebody suggested we stop for pizzas on the way home. I wasn't going to have any, seeing as I don't eat cheese and vegan pizza is not often available in small towns. But I decided, what the heck, I might as well ask what they could do. And they made me a lovely small pesto pizza topped with spinach, black olives and sundried tomatoes. Others actually ended up jealous of my pizza. I washed it down with a Long Island iced tea. Life was good.

I love to eat out at restaurants, so when we're road-tripping I always find out what restaurants are on our route - bonus points if they are vegetarian/vegan! On the way to visit my parents this past weekend, we stopped in my hometown of Hamilton to munch on vegan goodies from Democracy on Locke. (That's my girl waiting for our food, above.)

We were out of town all weekend for a basketball tournament slash visit with my sister. So, Monday arrived without a fresh infusion of groceries or any plan for what we could eat. On this particular What I Ate Wednesday, my food choices will tend to show that there was little in the fridge.

But first, before we left for the weekend I made this red lentil, potato and tofu curry. It was the first time I attempted this recipe and I really enjoyed it. I will make it again for sure.

Happy Wednesday! Food, lovely food! Why do we think about it so much? Sometimes it's with excitement - like when we're checking out a new restaurant. Sometimes it's with dread - what am I going to make for dinner? We could all eat food just to survive but instead we've made something wonderful and seductive about it.

My What I Ate Wednesday food highlights from the week begin with this falafel sandwich that my husband made on Sunday (in between my son's basketball games). He used Casbah falafel mix to make the falafels themselves. (You rehydrate the mix with water, form balls and then fry them in oil.) It has pretty good ingredients and the end result is tasty. We also put on canned beet slices, lettuce, pickles (a necessity!), hummus and a tahini sauce. It make a quick, filling and fairly healthy lunch (except for the fried in oil part maybe).

Happy What I Ate Wednesday! This past week has been a good one in terms of meals in this house. (Unfortunately that's not always the case.) One highlight was this long-weekend breakfast that I made on Sunday. It consisted of a tofu omelette filled with sautéed baby bella mushrooms, roasted asparagus and Daiya vegan mozzarella shreds. We also had vegan sausage and hash brown potatoes (from a bag - that tofu omelette took long enough to make!).

Wednesday rolls around pretty quick, don't ya think? Time once again to share a look at food highlights from the week. This week I've been really craving fruit a lot. It goes along with my desire for all things spring (most of those things will clearly have to wait). Quite frequently I've been running fruit through my Yonanas machine to turn it into tasty "desserts." But I have also been making fruit salads and fruit platters for the whole family - like this after-school fruit plate, above.

The weekend was so busy I barely had a moment to rest. We went to bed at 3:00 a.m. on Saturday and had to be up at 8:00 a.m. to get ready for my mom's birthday party on Sunday. The point being, I am still feeling a bit sluggish a couple of days later. So, as I share a look at my Tuesday eats, you'll see that I kept it pretty simple. In the morning I nibbled on a fruit and nut trail mix.

I intended to do a What I Ate Wednesday post from New York City last week, but we were so busy during the days (and tired at night!) that I opted not to do it in the end. So, this What I Ate Wednesday, I have highlights from about a week and a half of eating. Eating healthy on a road trip can be a bit challenging, but I did okay for the most part.

The past week has been all about balancing writing deadlines with kids' activities. Although my husband is home for the summer, I try to make it out to swimming lessons and soccer games whenever possible.

The combination of work to be done and a family home for the summer has resulted in simple, quick meals. Something's gotta give, I always say. We had potato gnocchi with homemade tomato sauce one night. Probably a green salad that I forgot to photograph too. We've been having lots of quick green salads.

Happy What I Ate Wednesday! Yep, that's a picture of me in one of my happiest moments - they generally occur when I'm eating at a restaurant. Especially if it specializes in vegan food. It's nice not to have to skip most of the menu!

While I spent a few weeks cooking all sorts of recipes from various vegan cookbooks, this past week was all about casual, impromptu meals. Lots of wraps, quesadillas, quick noodles and that sort of thing. Like this bean burrito with stir-fried veggies and guacamole, above. We had mashed sweet potatoes on the side.

On the last What I Ate Wednesday, I forgot to share a picture of the vegan tofu lasagna I made using a recipe from Chloe's Kitchen. Since I complained about the lengthy lasagna-making process on Instagram, I thought I'd share some photos this week.

I was off watching my son's school basketball tournament today, so I'm late with my What I Ate Wednesday post. Here's a quick look at some of the meals I enjoyed this week, starting with a tofu and veggie stir-fry on top of Chinese noodles.

Happy Wednesday! Today's edition of WIAW is all about what I ate on Tuesday. I have no additional food photos this week because we were travelling on the weekend for my son's basketball tournament in Niagara Falls.

There was some fast food involved in our travels (hello Harvey's veggie burgers!), as well as a stop at the grocery store for prepared salads, sushi and cut up cantaloupe. There may have been an evening of rum, cola and chips with the other basketball parents too. There has to be a bit of fun for us parents too, right?

Anyway, I started off my Tuesday by making pancakes from a mix. I topped them with Earth Balance margarine and maple syrup and served Yves veggie sausage and orange slices on the side.