Fun Times on a Friday Night

First off, Booty Camp starts at 6:00pm on Tuesday evening for all those asking! Clayton Park Mainland North Common. See map here.

Don’t ya just adore beautiful summer evenings?! Yesterday was our second day of SUN here in Halifax (haha, seriously though!) and it was the perfect night for a casual dinner downtown! Parking was a bit tough to find because it’s a busy weekend with the Paul McCartney show and the Atlantic Jazz Festival, but I managed and met up with J and another couple for dinner at The Fireside.

This was my first time eating there and I was pretty impressed with the atmosphere, kind of a mix between laidback and contemporary. The menu was awesome, tons of variety and for a downtown location, the food was dirt cheap.

Spending an hour at the Registry of Motor Vehicles after work on Friday definitely deserves a glass of wine, don’t you think? ;) Of course I chose a local Foch!

Mmm, went perfectly with my dinner, which was the Portabello sandwich. “Marinated in red wine, olive oil and herb, grilled and topped with goal cheese, euro mix, alfalfa sprouts and pesto mayo. Served with sweet potato and beet chips.”

After dinner we had a nice stroll with the sun setting and made our way over to The Westin (where we got married!) for a HILARIOUS night of comedy at YukYuks. I’d never been to a live comedy show and had a BLAST! Think I laughed nonstop for 2.5 hours straight. I had no idea what I was missing. We will be going again soon. This was one of the best nights out I’ve had in a long time!

We didn’t get home until almost mid-night and now here I am up at 5am getting ready to go berry picking with Farm Girl & Angie. (Have a feeling it’s going to be any early night.) We’re heading down to the beautiful Annapolis Valley where Farm Girl is from, and I actually spent the first 8.5 years of my life. I just LOVE it down there, one of my fav places in the entire world.

Anyways, food. Yes, the rest of my Friday was wonderful! I started off the morning with a fresh whole grain roll spread with yucky green top peanut butter. I’m all out of my PB so I had to settle for Kraft. I can’t believe the difference in taste between organic and the stuff with fillers. Crazy.

Trying to finish off the carton off organic OJ before it expires. Sorry for the crappy pic.


Had the last organic nectarine for my morning snack. It was so juicy and tasty.


For lunch I had my fav Amy’s Cheddar Burrito and a side salad.


The salad was a mix of organic greens, yellow peppers, mushrooms & cucumbers. Drizzled with french dressing.



Fresh blueberries for dessert……I just love Summer for all it’s fresh produce!


And that was my day. Think I managed well and made decent, healthy choices. Off to have some Breaky and get ready for our fun day

Food Health - Natal Day Happenings

Evening everyone, hope you’ve all enjoyed this wonderful holiday weekend! What a great day I had with the fam celebrating my Dad’s B-day. We made some travel plans for next Summer that are going to be a blast, more on that later. ;)

Started out the day with a pot of yummy oats. Organic oats made with almond breeze, sliced banana and flax seed. Topped with more sliced nanner, hulled hemp seeds, shredded unsweetened coconut, mini chocolate chips, a few goji berries, a spoonful of peanut butter & a drizzle of maple syrup.

We spent the morning in cleaning mode – kitchen was sparkling, all floors done, bathroom tidied and laundry done. Plus prepped the veggies and set out the table.

It was quite humid here, so I opted to wear a skirt and flowly top. Was nice to dress up a bit, even if we were just staying home.

A Yummy Success!

The Eat Atlantic Challenge that is. I managed to eat only Atlantic Foods yesterday, I did have to scrounge a bit throughout the day (IE: eating Scotsburn ice cream at 10am for a snack. hehe) but am proud to say that I stuck with it.

As planned last night Jaime, Ang & I got together for a yummy local dinner. We had a good time chatting while we prepped all the eats. I’m going on record to say that no points were counted and that I’m positive if they were, I’d be over. No sweat though because I couldn’t have asked for a better evening with great friends & great food! No regrets here. :)

Our main course was a local Eden Valley Farms chicken, that Jaime butterflied and cooked on the grill. She seasoned it with Mallett’s Maple Pepper Chipolte blend. As you will see further down, it turned out fantastic!

Along with the chicken we had some roasted taters that I prepped. These were local Scotian Gold potatos. Seasoned with olive oil, fresh ground pepper, sea salt & fresh local garlic.

Ang had my least favourite chore, shucking the corn on the cob. I picked this corn up from Superstore, it was advertised as “Atlantic Grown” but the produce manager couldn’t tell me what province it actually came from.

While the food cooked we cracked open of bottle of Blomidon Estates L’Acadie Blanc and munched an appy platter that Jaime whipped up for us!

Night Off From The Kitchen

Not only was it a wonderful to have a night off from cooking but as a bonus, I still managed to enjoy fantastic, quality food too! Our friends Holly & Dean came over for the evening and Dean, who is in Culinary school, surprised us by offering to cook dinner. Not like I was going to turn that offer down! :)

Oh, and please excuse my ugly blue corelle plates, all my pretty white ones were in the dishwasher.

On the menu ce soir: Sticky Lemon Chicken w/ Garlicy Mashed Taters.

The recipe for the chicken is from Gordon Ramsay’s book Fast Food but is available online from Rachel Ray’s site.

With a glass of White Zinfandel.

Part Deux – The Dinner

Hubby’s B-day dinner turned out fantastic! He had been trying to figure out what he wanted me to cook for the past few days and I couldn’t have been more happy when he suggested Indian food.

Eat, Shrink & Be Merry has a delicious Butter Chicken recipe that is always a hit - “The Better Butter Chicken.” Pg 82.

This dish is tasty and fairly simple to prepare, mainly because you use a pre-cooked rotisserie chicken.

Dean had been down to tour Domaine de Grand Pré Winery recently and kindly brought over a bottle of ‘08 L’Acadie Blanc for dinner.



I served the butter chicken with basmati rice and warm naan drizzled with a bit of olive oil.

And of course, the most important part – the double layer, double chocolate fudge cake with peanut butter cream frosting topped with mini Reese’s. ;)

Dinner and a Movie

Anyways, regardless of my silly throat, Mom and I had a great time on our date last night. I met her after work and we headed over to the Ramada for dinner at the Peppermill. The lighting in the restaurant was horrible and my pictures reflect that.

We got there before they officially started serving dinner so we had to sit in the bar. No prob, I did find it chilly though. Turns out they were having issues with their water systems and didn’t have any coffee. Won’t lie, I was disappointed, had been looking forward to an afternoon pick-me up.

We ended up splitting a glass of wine, a local white - Grand Pre L’Acadie Blanc. Although I wasted it by only having a sip or two.



They brought us over a small loaf of seedy bread and garlic butter to munch on while we browsed the menu. I had 2.5 little slices with a bit of the fantastic garlicky butter. Counted as 3 Points.


I stuck to my original plan and ordered the entrée-sized Spinach Salad w/ a Grilled Chicken Breast.


In true WW-style I immediately got rid of one of the cups of dressing. The menu indicated that there was supposed to be apple and almonds in the dish but I didn’t see/taste any. The Jarlsburg cheese did give it a nice flavour though.



I counted this salad as 10 Points - spinach, tomato & mushrooms 0, egg 2, cheese 3, dressing 2 and chicken breast 3. Over all it was good, give it a 6/7 out of 10. Honestly though, nothing spectacular. I think I could’ve found a better way to spend 13 points (half of my daily points) at home. I am proud of my healthy choices though, lots of veggies, protein and dairy! That is how you stay OP at a restaurant. Really simple if you’re focused.

Going to point out the obvious here too, and admit that I’ve become quite the food snob, especially when dining out. If I’m going to pay a decent amount of money for something then I expect it to taste exceptional. :)

My body was craving caffeine so we made a quick detour to the Starbucks drive-thru. My Mom nearly died from laughter when she heard me order a “tall, non-fat pumpkin spice latte, no whip.” Yup, turns outs I’m finally down with some of the ‘bucks lingo that all the cool kids use. ;) Totally hit the spot AND it’s my first red cup of the season!


We made it to the movie with plenty of time to settle in. Does anyone else find all the advertising annoying? I know it’s the same thing as commercials on TV, but I really disagree since you’re paying money to see the film. Ok, well tonight I wasn’t paying, I scored some tickets to see Coco Avant Chanel from the wonderful folks at The Coast but still. Thanks again by the way!

Here’s a summary of the film from IMDB:
Several years after leaving the orphanage to which her father never returned for her, Gabrielle Chanel finds herself working in a provincial bar both. She's both a seamstress for the performers and a singer, earning the nickname Coco from the song she sings nightly with her sister. A liaison with Baron Balsan gives her an entree into French society and a chance to develop her gift for designing increasingly popular hats. When she falls in love with English businessman Arthur Capel further opportunities open up, though life becomes ever more complicated.

I really enjoyed the movie. It was my first time experiencing a film with sub-titles. So neat, I do a have a bit of a background in the French language so it was quite interesting to see what I could understand. The sub-titles were great too, by the end of the movie you didn’t even realize that you were reading them and watching at the same time. What a life Coco had before becoming a famous designer! I knew she was the genius behind the LBD and woman’s suits but I had no idea that she originally started out making hats. Did you guys?

Yup, was a great Mother/Daughter night for sure!

So plans for my day off include trying out my new French press compliments of Things To Do For Two, with a full review to come. Getting in 2 cardio sessions, checking out my newly dug-up yard (septic issues) and cooking.

I kind of thought I might head up to the cenotaph too, I always went to Remembrance Day services when I was younger, it was a nice tradition and a great way to remember all those who fought for our country/freedom. This will depend on how I feel though.

Alright, off to check up on all my lovely bloggies now!

Out With The Old….

New Years Eve was just the way I like it – at home with a couple good friends, good wine and good cheese. I’m not much of a partier, in fact, I was in my jammies by 7pm. Yup, that’s the good thing about staying in, you can be comfortable! ;)

Rewinding back a bit….. In anticipation of all the food/drinks of the evening, I hit up the gymbo first thing in the morning and got in an hour of HIIT cardio – 20 mins crosstrainer, 20 mins incline training on the treadmill and 20 mins on the elliptical. The place was fairly empty so I had lots of choice. After the gym, I went to the grocery store, which was also surprisingly empty! SCORE!!! I hate crowds of people. Loaded up on a few more things for the evening and then went home to clean.

I spent a bit of time getting ready and then went to pick up Dean. I have to admit that between the new hair do, make-up and the flat iron, I’m starting to feeling more girly!

Since Dean and I are the only ones that really like red, we cracked open a bottle before Holly & J got home from work. This was a yummy Blomidon Estate 2008 Baco Noir.



We, okay Dean prepped the cheese platters for the evening. There was a pretty big selection – smoked gouda, applewood smoked cheddar, peppered brie, Guinness cheddar, swiss, jalapeno havarti, old cheddar, mozzarella and a spicy cheese ball.




He brought over a piece of chocolate cheese just for fun. I had a small nibble and it was like cheesecake. Have any of you ever had this kind of cheese before? It was good in a weird way. LOL


We had the cheese along with one of my favourite appetizers ever - a salsa & cream cheese layer dip. Mmm mmm!




I got into the Sangria…..


We played an extended round of rock band. I left the band after an hour and just watched. :-P



Back for more vino, this time my favourite Jost 2007 Avondale Riesling Gold.

Around 10pm I had a little rest (I was up at 4am okay?!) and then got up at 11am to join back in the fun. It’s tradition in this household to watch the BT NYE celebration that our local tv station hosts at Grand Parade Square every year.

More Festive Fun

And last but not least, we went out to celebrate Holly’s birthday on Saturday night. We got all dolled up (although I was lazy and didn’t curl my hair like planned). And, I finally got a chance to wear the most fabulous pair of shoes that I own!!! I bought these BCBGirls last Boxing Day and had been waiting for the perfect occasion. This was it. I was pretty excited and admired them all night. LOL



Then a cup of Spicy Asian soup. YUM!


My main stir fry was HUGE. I love taking home a doggy bag, this place has the best leftovers.


On my plate was a delicious mix of scallops, shrimp, snow peas, water chestnuts, carrots, green peppers, onions, broccoli, purple cabbage, bean sprouts, cauliflower, sundried tomatoes, a few shanghai noodles and rice noodles. Mixtures of sauces included mongolie house, curry and schezwan.



After dinner we ATTEMPTED to have a few drinks and dessert at The Fireside. I had such a great experience there before so I was quick to suggest it. Unfortunately, big fat FAIL. As the sign said, we seated ourselves, checked out the martini menu and waited, and waited and waited. For 20 minutes. I made eye contact with 2 different servers several times and no one bothered to come take our order. We walked out. I will never go back. Hubby did go up to the bartender as we were leaving to say that we weren’t impressed. No real response.