Woman in Real Life

The last couple of weeks have been very busy and eating on the run isn't always the healthiest kind of eating. Add to that a few rum and cokes and my irritable bowel is...well, irritated. So I've been trying to eat well this week - less sugars, less breads and more veggies. My overall plan is to ensure that everything I eat has nutritional value.

Prior to our trip to Niagara Falls this weekend, though, there wasn't much food in the house. As I complained this past Friday on Instagram, I had some trouble putting together breakfast and lunch. Come Friday, there's often no fresh fruit in the house and very few groceries in general. But breakfast was pretty good anyway. I topped some Nature's Path instant flax oatmeal with ground flaxseed, pecans, dried cranberries and almond milk.

Can you believe it's almost June? How does that happen? Winter drags and drags and then suddenly it's summer. We have lost any sort of spring weather around here. This year, we went from snow to heat and humidity within a couple of weeks.

Enough complaining. I'm once again sharing a look at the pictures I took this week on my cell phone. First up, this pic I took of my daughter last weekend on dance photo day. I just love this costume she got for tap class. The hat is too cute. The makeup was a little more than I intended, but she WILL NOT keep still, so it's very difficult to do.

Happy Friday! I am sharing a look at our week using Instagram photos. Well, it's not really our week, it's more like last weekend. Once the work week hits, there isn't much to photograph around here, except me at the computer and Jolene lying on her dog bed.

So, last Friday I told you how the family and I went on a little cleaning spree around the house. I rewarded them (and let's face it, me) with a sushi party. Above, the house is (mostly) clean, the table is set and I am waiting impatiently for sushi. Hence the Instagram photos to kill the time.

I'm not sure what the weather's doing at the moment. One day warm sun, the next cold rain. That's September around here, I guess.

Anyway, for today's What I Ate Wednesday, I am looking back at a week of eating that included a lovely end-of-summer barbecue. Maybe we will get a few more barbecues in (with my husband wearing a coat out on the deck and me watching from inside).

I actually have my own cell phone. With a real plan!

I have had cell phones before, but they were pay-as-you-go and I used them basically for emergencies.

No data plan yet, though. Don't get crazy now.

A new cell phone means more photos for Insta-Friday...which is all about capturing simple moments from your week via your cell phone cam.

I am once again linking up with Jenn at Peas & Crayons for What I Ate Wednesday. Jenn's theme for August (yes, it's already August!) is Summer Staples.

A staple for this vegetarian family in summer is barbecued veggie burgers. We had such a dinner this week, along with potatoes, portobello mushrooms and salad.


A staple for us all year round is tacos. This week, I put refried beans, salsa, guacamole and diced sautéed portobello mushrooms in mine. I had broccoli and rapini on the side.


We took the kids to the Art Gallery of Ontario one day. To save money, we brought our own peanut butter sandwiches, fruit and popcorn for lunch.


And now for the sushi making fun. My husband and I have been talking about making our own sushi for years now. I even bought him a sushi book one time...hint, hint. But, we didn't try it until yesterday. We bought the supplies (sushi mat, soy sauce, rice vinegar, sticky rice, Nori) and watched a couple of YouTube videos about rolling maki sushi. They make it look so easy!


For toppings, we went with carrots, cucumber, orange pepper slices and avocado.



Here is my first set of maki sushi. Okay, this is my second. The first roll didn't stick together and I ate it like a hand roll while standing at the counter. The book said to cut the sheet of Nori in half, but we found that size sheet difficult to work with. So, we went with a full sheet after that.


After my husband and I "perfected" (ha) the art, we invited the kids to help.


They LOVED it. They kept saying how much fun it was.



Here is our finished platter of (slightly imperfect) maki sushi. Quite fresh and tasty. And more inexpensive than a sushi restaurant.

Do you make your own sushi?

I am excited to report that I have 99 GFC followers. Will you be my 100th...please? (Thanks Carolyn for being my 100th...yay!)

Not to be too pushy, but would you consider following my blog with Bloglovin' too? It's my favourite way to follow blogs, because you get a daily email summary of new posts and you can pick and choose what you want to read.

Hello and welcome to another edition of What I Ate Wednesday.

Happy Good Friday everybody!

I hope you have plans to enjoy a long weekend of family, food, fun and friendship.

Here’s a look back at the simple, sweet moments of the week, using only cell phone photos.

My son helped my husband set up our new barbecue. We had the old one for about four or five years, and even when we got it, it was thrown away at the curb by our neighbour. As vegetarians, we don’t prioritize the barbecue much, but we do like veggies and tofu on the barbie, so it was definitely time for a new one.





I took a quick trip out to snap a photo of our veggies and tofu. More about those here.

Linking up to: The Hollie Rogue and:

Oddly enough, you can be a vegetarian and eat no vegetables at all. While that isn’t the case for me, I sometimes get lazy (especially at lunch) and don’t eat as many fruits and veggies as I should.

So, today I am participating in the Peas & Crayons What I Ate Wednesday party. This month, Jenn is focusing on serving an extra cup of vegetables every day. That’s a plan I can get behind.

Today, I am sharing a look at just a few of the foods I ate this past weekend. It’s not all veggies. You know I like a sweet treat!

On Saturday, I decided to use up the red chard we got in one of our organic produce deliveries. I often let leafy greens rot without using them, just because I don’t feel like washing them. I was glad I made the effort, because they were actually quite tasty, cooked with a little bit of minced garlic and olive oil.

I also made a veggie chili, from a recipe in How it All Vegan, one of my favourite cookbooks. We served it on some basmati rice.


On Sunday, I finally made some cookies that I had wanted to make for a long time. They are chef Michael Smith’s peanut butter and jelly cookies.

I am glad I got around to making them, because they are quite delicious. I love jam in a cookie or muffin.


My son prefers chocolate over jam, so I put some Nutella in a few for him. I still think jam is a better option, though.


My husband bought a new barbecue on the weekend, and we were anxious to try it out. So, on Sunday, he braved the cold weather to produce a nice, barbecued meal of sweet potatoes, asparagus, potatoes, peppers, mushrooms, zucchini and tofu. I’m glad I didn’t have to stand on the deck in the cold! I sure enjoyed the end result though.

What are you eating this week? Could your diet use an infusion of veggies?