Sleep?

Hello lovelies!

I know it's been awhile since you've seen me around, but things have been crazy-busy (ergo, this blog and its title). I'm at the point now where I keep hearing about this thing called "sleep", but I'm not quite sure if I even know what that is anymore... I'm back for a quick post today though! I only had class for three hours this morning and I don't have to work tonight (GASP) so I have plenty of time for doing homework posting on my blog.

Speaking of class this morning, it was AWESOME! Friday's I have my 'Applied Veterinary Procedures' class. Great teacher and fun class, what more could you ask for?! Every single time we get to do hands-on activities with animals, it just cements even more the fact that this is what I feel I am meant to be doing, and I love it. This morning was no exception. We're currently learning animal restraint (for when animals need blood drawn, procedures done, etc), and we got to practice on a few dogs and cats. Some of it was quite a challenge, but I enjoyed every minute of it.

On the food front, I'll be perfectly honest with you when I say that my creativity has been a bit lacking. I've been trying to keep things interesting and new with my meals so that I don't get bored, but when you're so busy all of the time that can be difficult. This week has consisted of a lot of salads (me and salad are best friends though, so I don't mind too much) and a LOT of leftover stoup.  There is one veggie that I wanted to talk about though, that I have sort of rediscovered this week.

The avocado. 

I went through a pretty big avocado phase a few months back (I swear, I think I was making a batch of guacamole just about every weekend. And you'd better believe that I was NOT sharing). They seemed to be getting more expensive at that point though, so I sort of stopped buying avocados regularly. They're back with a vengeance though, and I think I forgot how delicious they can be! I've just been adding them into my salads at dinner (I probably should have just used 1/2 per day, but they were too delicious! BAD ME).They make what could potentially be a somewhat boring meal that much more exciting!

Many people (especially those people that are trying to diet) shy away from avocados because of their high fat content. Avocados DO have a high fat content, but they contain healthy fat that our bodies require to function, and these fats are also shown to have tons of health benefits. As long as you're not sitting down to a bowl full of avocado in front of the television every night (shhhh....), these guys have been shown to be great for the following reasons:


- they increase the bodies absorption of key antioxidants/ antioxidants help rid our body of toxins and waste that can be detrimental to our health. Why wouldn't you want to eat a vegetable that can increase the absorption of these antioxidants to between 200 and 400%?!

- a major portion of the fat found in avocados has been proven to have anti-inflammatory benefits/ avocados have actually been documented to help improve the mobility in patients with arthritis.

- fat found in avocados also contains Oleic acid/ Oleic acid helps our digestive tracts better absorb fat cells and break it down, instead of letting it hang out and make us, well... overweight. It has also been shown to help lower our risk of heart disease.

- avocados are a great choice if you're diabetic/ avocados are quite low in carbohydrates (carbohydrates are transformed into sugar via the bloodstream, so carbs are what a diabetic has to keep their eye on) but high in fiber, unlike many other vegetables which don't contain very much. They have also been proven to help naturally stabilize blood sugar levels.

If you haven't had an avocado in awhile... GO EAT ONE. Or a half of one, as the case should probably be.  I happen to find them delicious even just with a little salt and pepper over top, but they can also be used in salads, or sandwiches, or as a killer guacamole. Perhaps I'll make up a batch this weekend and share...

Until then, have a great Friday. :)

Steaming bowl of deliciousness

That is exactly what I have for you today, a steaming bowl of deliciousness. This recipe actually should have been posted on Sunday (you know, when I did the actual cooking) but I've been crazy-busy since then and haven't had a chance! Don't hate me.

Anyway, the recipe that I have for you today is for Sweet Potato Stoup. A stoup is a word (that may or may not actually exist) for a pot of food that is neither soup nor stew, but somewhere in between. And this is a delicious example of just that.

Ingredients

- 1 white onion (medium), diced
- 2 to 3 stalks of celery (depending on your preference)
- 1 to 2 carrots, peeled and thinly sliced
- 3 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and cut up into bite-sized pieces
- 1 tsp garlic powder (or 2 cloves minced garlic)
- 3 tsp chili powder
- 1 1/2 tsp cumin
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp nutmeg
- 1 1/2 can (28 oz) of diced or chopped tomatoes
- 2 cans (14 oz) of any kind of bean (kidney, pinto, chickpeas even... I used kidney this time)
- 2 cups vegetable broth
- salt/pepper to taste

Directions
Melt a small amount of butter in the bottom of a large stove top pot. Add onions, celery, carrots, sweet potato, garlic, chili powder, cumin, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Cook on medium for 7 to 10 minutes, stirring often. Add in your tomatoes, beans, and vegetable stock. Bring that mixture just to a boil, then cover, and simmer on lower heat for about 25 minutes (or until sweet potato and carrots are soft). Season, add any toppings that you prefer (cilantro or other herbs, a dollop of sour cream, etc) and enjoy!

 

(I am well aware that I have no idea how to properly photograph food. I'm still learning! In the meantime, please bear with me, and keep in mind that the food really IS delicious. )

This recipe will make a HUGE pot of this awesome stoup (which is conducive to my being a student and not having a ton of time to cook, this will probably provide me with 4 or 5 dinners and lunches). I've made this a couple of times now, and I really cannot get enough of it. It's one of those meals that just warms your insides, and all the spices used will fill your house with the most comforting of aromas.

I hope you all have a wonderful week, I should be back later (when I have a minute or two to breathe) with more posts. Until then, happy eating! :)

Saturday is here!

Aaaand I shouldn't be so excited. NOTE TO SELF: Saturday's are no longer a day off for me. It has been a little difficult adjusting myself to being in school. When I was working at my job full-time, my schedule was Monday to Friday, 7-3:30 only. Unless I wanted to earn some overtime I didn't have to work weekends, so now that I'm back to working closing and weekend shifts, it's been an adjustment! Now my weekends consist of working on Saturday and running around like a chicken with my head cut off (poor chickens!) on Sunday.

Being that I work the late shift today, I thought I'd cure a little bit of my morning boredom with another blog post.
First things first...

Doesn't she look so impressed with me? I am an evil, evil dog owner. I don't generally believe in putting clothing on dogs, but I was in the midst of doing a big wardrobe project for one of my classes, and I wanted to add a picture of Harley into the powerpoint presentation that I was doing, so I had to stick her in her little pink sweater. You have to admit that it's DAMN cute. :)

Okay, I'm getting back on track now, I swear.
Breakfast this morning was pretty straightforward. I have to admit, I'm at the point just before my next grocery shopping trip (that'll be a tomorrow errand) where my fridge and cupboards are just about empty from the last trip, so I've had to get a little creative with my meals the past couple of days. I had some oatmeal this morning, and I didn't even have any fruit to add to it! SOB. To spruce up my little bowl of plain oatmeal, I just added a drizzle of honey and a small scoop of almond butter. Not the most exciting of breakfasts, but still tasty.

Lunch is going to have to be a bit interesting as well. I think I may just make a simple veggie wrap, with hummus. There's nothing that I like better than a good wrap, and I have been OBSESSED with hummus lately. I have actually been meaning to try my hand at making some homemade hummus (I keep hearing how simple it is), so I may try that this weekend. In the meantime, however, I've been buying Sabra Mediterranean Hummus. It is made with quality ingredients, comes in so many different flavours, and it's absolutely delicious. My favourite flavours (that I've tried so far) are the Roasted Red Pepper, the Roasted Pine Nut, and the Chipotle. If you don't have time to make your own hummus, try this brand! I would definitely recommend it.

I'm going to check back in tomorrow with a recipe for you guys! I have plans to make Sweet Potato Stew! I've made it before and it went over really well with both myself and the boyfriend, so I'm going to make extra tomorrow and freeze some for lunches and stuff. So I hope to see you here tomorrow for that!

Have a good weekend everyone!

Sick as a dog

Hello all! Me again (because you were expecting somebody else??). I am not actually sick at the moment, as the title of this post would suggest, but I WAS feeling a bit paranoid at the beginning of the week that I was coming down with something, so I thought I'd write a post on it. Doesn't sound all that exciting, I know, but generally when I feel like I'm coming down with a cold there are a few things that I like to do in order to try to avoid becoming sick. I thought I should share those things with you.

(Where did the saying "sick as a dog" come from, anyway? My dog has never been sick. And generally when I do come down with a cold, she's sitting as far from me on the couch as possible, staring at me as if to say "do not let that snot come any closer to me". Hmm.)

Vitamins, vitamins, and more vitamins - If your household was anything like mine was growing up, you might have learned to hate vitamins with a fiery, burning passion. That probably sounds a little bit overdramatic, but honestly. The second my brother or I even BEGAN to sneeze (whether it was due to getting a cold or not), my mom would drag us into the kitchen and start to practically shove vitamins down our throats. It became one of those things that we would avoid doing at all costs, simply because we would be forced to take them every time. Then, around the age of 16 or so, I came to realize something. VITAMINS ACTUALLY WORK. There's nothing worse than having one of those colds that make it difficult to breathe, where you're snotting on anything and everything and you can't even find the motivation to get up out of bed, let alone actually make it to school or work. So when I finally figured out that vitamins actually did a lot to help me avoid becoming sick like that, it was a pretty big revelation. Now, anytime I even have a tickle in my throat, I go straight for my two default vitamins.
1) Vitamin C - Not only does Vitamin C help to boost our immune systems and protect against the common cold, but studies have also shown that it may actually help to protect against cardiovascular disease, prenatal health problems, eye disease, and even skin wrinkling! Find some here.
2) Echinacea - Echinacea is a pretty amazing little herb. Again, my mom would force this stuff on my brother and I. She generally bought it in liquid form and would add it to juice, and it tasted DISGUSTING. Now I buy it in capsule form and pop one once or twice a day when I think I might be getting sick, and I either don't get sick at all or it's much less severe. According to research done, people who take echinacea on a semi-regular or regular basis have heightened immune systems (they fall ill much less frequently, experience milder symptoms, and recover more quickly). I just buy mine from my local grocery store (Safeway).

Drink plenty of fluids - Most people do this when they're sick, but I want to mention it anyway. Whether you're drinking orange juice (this will give you added vitamin C as well), tea (I recommend green tea, especially when sick), or water, the more fluids you can get into your body, the better.

Get lots of rest - The less sleep you get, the more likely you are going to get sick to begin with. So especially when you're worried that you are coming down with something, get as much rest as possible.

Those are the basic things that I try to do when I feel like I'm coming down with something. Most people are aware of the theory behind these things, but few people actually put them into practice. I promise you, they do work, and they've helped me avoid becoming quite ill many times.

I'll be back soon for another post, but in the meantime... stay healthy. :)

You call that research?

Hello friends!

I just got home from school, and this is what half of my day consisted of:

 

How can you say anything bad about a college program that sends you out to an Equine Center to play with horses, and calls it "research"? Best afternoon ever.

Now that I'm home though, I have another book review for you guys. This one is pretty important to me, so even though this blog isn't really meant for doing book reviews, I hope you'll bear with me. 

The book is called Operation Beautiful. It is written by Caitlin Boyle (her blog is where Operation Beautiful originally started, you can find it here). Caitlin founded Operation Beautiful after years of putting herself down, calling herself fat (what she refers to as "fat talk"), and just not being very nice to herself overall. Looking in the mirror one day, she mentally scolded herself for behaving this way and, as a visual reminder, she wrote a few words about how beautiful a person she was on a post-it, and stuck that post-it to her mirror. The idea ballooned out from there, and now thousands and thousands of people around the world have taken up writing little notes on post-its and leaving them in public places, in books, or around their own homes to help remind them and everyone else that we are all beautiful, and that "fat talk" is only poisoning us and keeping us from our full potential.

Her book is full of pictures, anecdotes, and stories on some of the post-it notes that have been left by people or found by others around the world, and it is so heartfelt and genuine. We ARE all beautiful in our own ways, and this book serves as a wonderful reminder of that.

This is a topic that hits close to home for me, as well. I have struggled with self-doubt and "fat talk" my whole life. I will be honest with you, there are days even now where I don't want to get out of bed because I feel like I'm not good enough. Thinking logically, however, I know this is crazy thinking. I know how frustrated I feel when any one of my amazing friends puts themselves down or calls themselves fat or belittles themselves, so why is it okay for me to do so? It absolutely is not okay, and reading a few pages of Operation Beautiful each day have been helping me to keep that in mind.

This book would make a great gift to a mother or a sister or a friend. Or better yet, buy it as a gift to yourself. Because you are beautiful, each and every one of you. Because you are you. :)

Happy reading!

Gorgeously Green

Two posts in one day?! How did that happen? I had no intentions of posting twice today, but I decided that while I was out running errands today, I needed to make a stop at the closest Chapters. I had a gift card burning a hole in my pocket, can you blame me?! And I found a great book that I needed to share with you.

I've been having such a hard time lately making up my mind on what books I want to buy when I go in there. It seems like I hum and haw over about 15 different books each time, and then I end up leaving with nothing! Which I realize is much better for my wallet, but it's still frustrating.
So anyway, I went in there today and actually ended up finding a great book that was ON SALE! Go me. I've been on a quest recently to learn as much as I can on eating "green" and organic foods (part of what motivated me to start this blog), so a book called "The Gorgeously Green Diet" caught my eye. It's written by Sophie Uliano, and it's filled with so many facts and so much great advice about changing your eating habits to not only create a more "gorgeously green" you, but also about how those changes can affect the world around you for the better! It shows you how shopping intuitively can lessen your ecological "footprint", and that by buying organic where you can and cutting certain meats (or all meats, if you choose) out of your diet, you will not only become much healthier and more fit yourself, but you'll be bettering the lives of so many animals stuck in horrible factory farms out there.
She doesn't once come across as 'preachy' with any of these things (at least not that I've read so far). She talks about how everyone will have their own comfort zone and her book is geared toward those people that may want to go vegetarian immediately, but also towards those who might just want to try out a few meatless meals, or try to be a little more environmentally friendly every now and again.

I would 100% recommend this book to anyone. Even if you just buy it for the great/healthy recipes in the second half, it would be completely worth it! I'm planning on trying out a bunch of them myself.



Happy reading!

(Also, just as a side note... I'm almost at 100 views! Don't laugh, this is a big deal for me. I wish you guys would start to comment though! Even just to say hello. Don't be shy!)

How awesome am I?

I decided that this morning would be perfect for pancakes! As a kid, my mom really only made pancakes for "special occasions" (Easter, birthday sleepovers, etc) but I like to make them for the boyfriend out of nowhere sometimes. He always appreciates having something a bit different for breakfast and being that I have a lot of errands to run and homework to finish today, I wanted something that would keep me nice and full for awhile.

Whole Wheat Blueberry Pancakes

- 1 1/3 cup whole wheat flour
- 1 1/2 tbsp sugar
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 cup milk (I used half cup of skim milk and half cup of almond milk, which gives the pancakes a bit more substance and a very subtle almost nutty flavour)
- 3 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 egg, beaten
- 1 small banana, mashed (the banana makes the pancakes that much more delicious, and adds even more of a healthy aspect to them)
- 2/3 cup of blueberries


















Heat large skillet to medium heat and spray with non-stick cooking spray. In a medium sized bowl, combine dry ingredients (flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt). Add in all wet ingredients and stir just until combined (you don't want to over mix pancake batter). Fold in blueberries last, and be gentle so that they won't burst. Dole out generous scoops of batter into the skillet, cook until golden brown on bottom (or until bubbles start to appear in the surface of the batter), then flip.



















I served my two up with a drizzle of almond butter on one + half of a banana sliced, and almond butter and a bit of jam on the other.


















They may not be the prettiest, but they were delicious! Somehow these pancakes managed to be dense yet fluffy, and left me just full enough after breakfast that I know I won't have to worry about having much for lunch. The boyfriend loved them too! Even Harley was waiting attentively to grab any crumbs that we could potentially have dropped... I guess they were a hit! Try them, they're awesome.

I'm off to run errands, see you guys later!

What could be cuter?

Look at that face!

This is what greets me every day when I get home from school or work. Little Miss. Harley. Aka - the love of my life. She seemed particularly excited to see me today when I got home from work at 3:30, which instantly put me in a good mood. To make me even happier, the boyfriend worked the same shift at his store, so we got dinner together! Trust me, this is a big deal for us, as it doesn't happen often. I decided to make something "special" for the two of us (I use quotation marks because what classifies as a fancy dinner for us is probably your last minute, thrown together sort of dinner).
Cue: stir fry!

I freaking LOVE stir fry. Always have. I'd probably eat it just about every night if I could. I made a quick stop at Safeway on my way home today and grabbed a few ingredients that I had run out of, and got right to cooking!
I didn't take any pictures of tonight's dinner, but it consisted of:

- Whole wheat spaghetti (they say that whole wheat pasta has up to two to three TIMES the amount of fiber as regular old white pasta, and is packed with vitamins and minerals. I don't eat a lot of pasta to begin with, but when I do I try to make sure it's of the whole wheat variety).
- Broccoli
- Carrot slices
- Pea pods
- Teriyaki sauce
- Spicy peanut sauce

I would have ideally made some sort of homemade stir fry sauce (there's actually a recipe in Mama Pea's (yes, her again) cookbook (Peas and Thank You: Simple Meatless Meals the Whole Family Will Love) that I've been dying to try), but I wasn't quite feeling THAT ambitious. Again, I'm not perfect and I most definitely don't make everything from scratch (although I aspire to!) but I still do my best to keep things as healthy and natural as possible.
On the topic of not being perfect (and I realize this may completely go against what I just said about trying to keep things healthy, but don't judge me...), I also caved and bought a pack of mini cheesecakes from Safeway. MAN were they ever good. Do not even think about asking for the nutritional information or lecturing on how bad they probably were for me because believe me, I was too scared to even look at what was in those things. Wasn't the best choice I've ever made, but I've also learned over the years that if you don't allow yourself a cheat or a splurge every now and again, you'll end up much worse off.

When I was a kid my mom was huge on eating healthy food and appropriate portions. This sounds like great parenting and it really was, but what wasn't so great was that my brother and I were almost never allowed treats, or splurges. This cultivated in me becoming an overweight teenager with a portion control problem (I'm still not at my ideal weight, but I'm working my way through those issues), who hoarded those "treat" foods because I was never allowed them when I was younger. Don't get me wrong, my mom taught me so many great things about cooking homemade food whenever possible, about eating right and taking care of yourself, but the way she went about it DID affect me negatively as well. This is why I allow myself those moments of weakness (yes, cheesecake IS my weakness), to hopefully allow myself to eat properly the other 98% of the time.

Go have yourself a slice of cheesecake. Or whatever your own personal weakness may be. Do it because I told you to, and because you're allowed to once in awhile. Savor it, and then get right back on track. It's okay to indulge and enjoy. And enjoy I do. :)

What do I want to be when I grow up?

As you probably guessed from the title of this post, I wanted to talk a little bit today about how I ended up making the decision to go back to school, and what I use to make the process a little easier when I'm there every day. (This is one of those posts that I've been procrastinating, so I'm amazed that I'm actually going to start it tonight. Look at me go!)

As a child, I used to tell anyone that would listen that I wanted to be a veterinarian when I grew up. I have loved animals from a very young age, so this was not a difficult choice for me to make. As I got a little bit older, however, I started to realize how difficult becoming a veterinarian would actually be. Years upon years of school, thousands upon thousands upon thousands of dollars... needless to say, I put the thought of becoming a vet out of my head once I realized this.
When I graduated in 2008 I hummed and hawed over what I wanted to do with my life. Did I want to go straight into post secondary education, or did I want to work for awhile to make some money? Being that I had no idea what I'd want to go to school to take at that point, working was the logical choice. I was already working at my present-day job at that point, so I decided to accept a full-time position there. I moved up the ladder at the store and was soon promoted to department manager. Cue to about 2 and a half years later... and I was bored. I knew how to do my job (and everything that that entailed) so thoroughly that I could probably do it in my sleep, and I was no longer challenged by it. I was tired of the drama, tired of the customers, just plain tired of working retail in general.
I halfheartedly searched for other jobs that I thought might be a better fit for me, but school was always sort of in the back of my mind. My problem was that I still had no idea what I wanted to do. Did I want to be a sonogram technician? That might be kind of fun... but nah. Did I want to go to culinary school? I do love to cook and bake, but... I think that's more of a hobby for me than a career.

The next logical step was to browse online. There are a couple of main post secondary institutions here in Edmonton. The first being the University of Alberta. The University seemed a little... I don't know, too "big time" for me. I wasn't interested in being a lawyer, or a doctor, or anything like that. I just wanted to go back for a year or two, become more educated, and find myself a career. So I passed over that school pretty quickly.
The second school that came to mind was the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology. I knew that NAIT focused a lot on the trades (carpentry, plumbing, automotives, etc), and that they offered some great culinary programs, but beyond that I didn't have much knowledge on what else they had to offer. Not really knowing where to start on their website, I typed into the search bar the first thing that popped into my head: veterinary.
That's when fate came down and hit me on the head. (No? Too cheesy? Shucks.)

The first program to pop up was the Veterinary Medical Assistant program. It immediately caught my eye and, clicking on the link, I was presented with two key pieces of information: this program was only one year in length, and it would provide me with the necessary skills to run the front desk in a veterinary clinic, as well as perform many basic and hands-on veterinary skills.
I read through as much information as I could on the program. Then I sat back, and I thought about where my life was going to take me if I just closed the internet window and went on with my job. The answer? Nowhere. I was going to remain just as unhappy and unfulfilled as I was at that moment. Sure, nothing scary or intimidating would come along. I wouldn't have to take any chances. But was that really what I wanted?
Before I could think about it for even another second, I had already clicked on the 'apply for program' link. Half an hour later my application was filled out and submitted. The application process was not an easy one (nor was it cheap... I shudder every time I think about it), but I've been accepted into the program since January.

I won't lie to you and tell you that I haven't had my doubts along the way. Through the last nine months of trying to find the money to pay for my tuition, my parking pass, my books, my school supplies, my clinic clothing, and everything else, I HAVE thought about backing out. But now that I have started the program, I am so glad that I didn't. I am so glad that I am taking a chance, being brave, and becoming the person that I have known for so long I wanted to become. I may be taken out of my comfort zone a lot this year and in the years to follow, but I wouldn't have it any other way. Because I know I can handle all of that, and so much more.
I love animals, and I cannot wait to see where this takes me. And to take you all on this journey with me. :)

Now to show you all of the things that have helped me navigate student life:

My laptop

This thing has honestly been a lifesaver, I swear. Perfect for taking along to school and connecting wirelessly for study purposes, or you can set up a study base on the couch with this bad boy like I do, and have a place to complete assignments quickly and easily (wishful thinking?)

USB stick

Look how cute that is! USB sticks come in handy for such a wide variety of uses. Obviously they're great to save assignments that you might be working on at school (that way you can bring the USB home and have assignments readily available to you there as well), or you can even use them to save hundreds of pictures and videos! Plus who wouldn't want something that comes in so many fun shapes and designs?!

Veterinary Terminology

For those people who might be interested in veterinary medicine (or know someone who is), this is a great beginners guide to anatomy and terminology.

Lunch Kit

Can you believe that this in a lunch kit?! I know, neither could I when I first saw them! I don't have this exact one, but seriously. Coolest invention ever. These things are thermo-insulated on the inside, so they will keep your food cold and/or hot, plus they're cuter than a lot of purses that I see out there! Buy one of these. Now.

Day Planner

My day planner has been a GODSEND in the mere week since my classes have started. It gives me the pretense that my insane life is organized, even when it is so far from that. Keep yours on you at all times (trust me).

COFFEE! (Err, I mean... coffee mug)

I love these cups. They give you the feeling that you got your typical to-go coffee in the morning, when they're actually completely reusable and, thus... environmentally friendly!


I know I haven't even BEGUN to cover everything that a person needs to survive in school, or how I even got into school in the first place, for that matter. But I hope it's at least a start, so that I can help make all of YOUR lives a little easier. And I will be back with more detail on this in the not-so-far future. Promise.

Now I encourage you all to figure out what you want to be when YOU grow up. :)

Is it nap time yet?

I'm finally back with another blog post for you guys. Granted, I am typing this up on my iPhone while sitting on the floor down a hallway at school (does that defeat the purpose of blogging?), but a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do.

Does anyone else feel like they are so sleep-deprived that they could fall asleep standing up today? I sure do. I was tempted to turn my limit of 1 cup of coffee per day into about 17, but I resisted the urge. I amaze myself sometimes.

I don't know if it was due to being so tired or if classes were particularly tough this morning, but one of my favorite breakfasts totally failed me today. By about 10am, I was starving! I had a yogurt bowl when I got up which, when I was just working during the day, was normally enough for me. I guess I have a lot to learn now that I'm back in school as far as what my body requires for the day.
Anyway, here's breakfast.



















This includes: a few scoops of organic vanilla yogurt (I would normally use organic PLAIN yogurt, but I accidentally bought the wrong tub last grocery trip. Oops! Plain yogurt contains so much less sugar, and you're free to spruce it up with whatever you have on hand.), a small handful of blueberries, half of a banana (sliced) and a couple of tablespoons or so of granola.
I'm such a fan of these yogurt bowls for breakfast because they're so versatile and they're easy to make the night before, throw some plastic wrap over, and store in the fridge for the next morning. I'm bound to love anything that makes an early morning just a little bit easier!

I did have a mid-morning snack just before classes started as well (did you hear that, stomach? I fed you twice this morning, so please quit with the attitude. Much appreciated). I snacked on this little gem:



















(I'm really hoping nobody in the parking lot saw me take this picture. Let me reiterate: I AM COOL).

Allow me to introduce you to 'Whole Wheat Blueberry Cheesecake Muffins'. These were adapted from a recipe of Mama Pea's (Peas and Thank You: Simple Meatless Meals the Whole Family Will Love), but I'll talk about her and these amazingly delicious muffins in a future post.

I do have an actual recipe to share with you now, though! Woohoo. These are easy, quick, and delicious. The recipe is for Carrot Fries, my friends.
I am one of those crazy people who has pretty much always loved most veggies, and I am a firm believer that they can be SUPER tasty if they're treated with a little love. These "fries" are the perfect example of that.

You will need:

- Large carrots (adjust depending on the number of people you're feeding. If I'm cooking only for myself I use 4 to 6)
- Extra virgin olive oil
- Salt (to taste)
- Freshly ground pepper (to taste)
- Dried or fresh dill
(Notice there aren't really any specific measurements for this recipe? That's because it basically just comes down to personal preference on the amount of each ingredient that you add.


















1) Preheat oven to 415 degrees (celsius)
2) Slice carrots into "fry" shapes, making sure they are fairly consistently sized (you can peel them before doing so if you prefer, but I don't bother)
3) Place carrot slices in a bowl and sprinkle lightly with olive oil
4) Add salt, pepper, and dill (as much or as little as you want. I don't add much of each ingredient because I prefer to let the natural sweetness and carmelization of the carrots shine through)
5) Spread carrot pieces in a single layer on a sheet pan, and bake in the oven for 25 to 35 minutes, checking occasionally.


















Once the carrots have softened and started to turn golden, they're ready to come out.

These make the perfect side to, well... just about anything, in my opinion. Think of a main that you'd normally pair with fries, and sub in this much healthier version. I think they're delicious, and hopefully you will too.

Aaand as much as I'd love to stay and chat, I'm being dragged off my lunch break and back to class. Off to Animal Breeds and Behavior I go!

Isn't Sunday supposed to be a day of rest?

Ah, Sunday. A day of rest and relaxation. The final day of the weekend. Chores and errands over and done with on Saturday, leaving you a whole, glorious day to...

Yeah right. Who are we kidding here? For the next 8 months, Sunday will be my one and only day off during the week. IF I'M LUCKY.
Don't get me wrong, I'm excited about college and really, it's only 1 year out of my life. But I've been sitting here all week with the mantra of 'hurry up and be Sunday!' running through my head, only for Sunday to get here and realize that I have about 987345365625 errands to run. Not cool Sunday, not cool.

I dragged my butt out of bed this morning at around 9am (the boyfriend got up with the dog at 7:30, she's like a small child... ) and made myself some breakfast that I was hoping would keep me feeling relatively satisfied for the first part of the day. Normally I eat quite a light breakfast, but I had lots to do and didn't want a growling stomach to interfere with any of it.
The perfect way to avoid hunger pangs? Oatmeal! (Plus it's a gloomy, rainy day here in Edmonton and there's nothing better on a day like today than warm oats).



















I made these guys using about 2/3 of a cup of water (brought to a boil with a pinch of salt), a 1/3 of a cup of quick-cook oats, a generous amount of cinnamon, a handful of blueberries (had to use them up somehow), and a bit of honey (sweeten to taste). Drizzled on top is a bit of almond butter. I am ADDICTED to almond butter right now, but you can actually use any kind of nut butter, or whatever else tickles your fancy as a garnish.

After breakfast I proceeded to study. It was exciting. But not really.

Once that bit of fun was over it was about time for lunch. Being that I had eaten a bigger breakfast, I didn't want to eat much before heading out to run my errands, so I just had some salad that consisted of broccoli, carrot slices, and pea pods with a bit of ranch drizzled over (not the smartest choice of dressings, but it was all I had at the time. Normally I'd use a balsamic or light Italian dressing). Alongside that I had some whole wheat, olive oil/herb crackers with a smear of herb +garlic light cream cheese and some salsa. Honestly, I could probably eat salsa on anything. I have a problem.















(You'll notice from the pictures above that I am really not a photographer. I can't even fake it very well. Plus these pictures were taken on my iPhone, but they will at least give you a visual idea of what I eat in a day).

I'll hopefully be back later tonight with a dinner post, but if not I'll talk to y'all in the next couple of days.

Back so soon?

(Just so you know, I wrote that first post about a week ago and saved it as a note on my iPhone, for when I actually got around to creating a blog. I'm so cool.)
(So... yeah. This post is actually supposed to be from Saturday. Ahem. Now back to your regularly scheduled programming.)

Hello strangers!

Oih, this past week has been a whirlwind of activity and change and excitement and nervousness for me. My first day as a bona fide college student was on Tuesday, and even though my brain already feels like it's melting... I'm loving every second of it!

More on that later, though. (Wow, am I coming off as scatter-brained as I feel like I am? Dear god, I hope not). Important news of the day: I think I've actually pinpointed what this blog is going to mainly be about! Hallelujah. For those of you who were looking forward to listening to me aimlessly ramble every day (don't lie, I know you're out there!), don't worry, there won't be any shortage of that. Trust me. I would just like to have some general direction to go in when planning my posts.

That being said, let me formally welcome you to Day-to-Day Crazy: A College Students Attempt At A Healthier Lifestyle! What do you think of the name? Input would be great, but for now that's what I'm going with.
In this blog I will talk about my experiences as a new college student (with a 20+ hours/week job) and my attempts at avoiding over-processed cafeteria food and becoming a much healthier person along the way.

I am by NO means an expert (even having the word 'expert' in this blog at all is laughable), nor am I perfect. I've struggled with my weight and unhealthy eating for awhile now, but in making changes to my diet and my life in general I am learning so much along the way. I'd love to share some of those things with you guys, and have you teach me even more in return. I'll be sharing tips and tricks on packing healthy lunches and dinners for school and work, how to make healthy and homemade snacks that are easy to take with you wherever you go, and the benefits of eating a largely "green food-based" (fruits and veggies) diet. On top of that I will try to talk as much as possible about being diabetic, for those of you who are either diabetic as well or who would just like to be slightly more educated on the subject.

I'll be back soon with lots of great information, pictures, and stories for you guys. Until then... try not to miss me too much. ;)

Where am I?

I have no idea why I've started a blog.

I know, I know. An opening line is supposed to grab the reader, make them want to stick around. Mine probably has you scrambling for the red 'x' in the corner of your screen. I really do have a way with words.

So let me clarify. I think that I have a lot to say. Most blogs focus on one general theme, whereas my life is all over the place right now. I have no idea if anyone will find anything that I have to say interesting, but I'm just going to start writing and see where this takes me.
Let me start from the beginning.

My name is Meghan.

(Hey, it's me! ^^^ )

I am 20 years old, and I live in Canada (please, no igloo jokes. I don't think I can take anymore). I was diagnosed with Type One Diabetes at 13. I have spent the last four years (or close to that) working as a supervisor at a retail job that I've never really enjoyed, trying to figure out what to do with my life, and waiting for happiness and a good career to hit me over the head. Just under a year ago, I finally realized that those things were not going to just fall into my lap. I had to go out and find those things for myself, and MAKE them happen. At that point I began by drastically changing my eating habits in a way that made me feel better about myself, gave me more energy, helped me to slowly begin to lose some weight, and overall lessen the impact that diabetes was going to have on my life and body. I also applied to the college of my choice on a whim one night back in January, and I got accepted.

From that point on, my life was full of changes. I don't know where they're going to take me, or even quite what this blog is going to be about yet. Maybe I'll talk about being a student; or about my love of healthy food/cooking; or about my experiences with diabetes; or... maybe I'll talk about how I have been trying every single day to find beauty in every thing and every person around me. How I try to let the little things (like kisses from my puppy each morning, or seeing a huge rainbow on my way to work, or having someone hold open a door for me) make my day. Because those things are so very beautiful. And even though I haven't always believed it to be true, so am I.

Try not to be too confused just yet. I may not know where this blog is going, but stick with me and maybe we can figure it out together.
Here's to hoping.