RMS Beauty

I am in love with my RMS Beauty products!  Love, love, love!

It all started back in the fall of 2014 when I finally got around to purchasing their “un” cover-up.   Seriously amazing stuff without all the yucky additives found in other brands.  You can see my initial rave about the “un” cover-up here.   Suffice it to say, I love it so much I added several additional RMS Beauty products to my Christmas wish list.  Well I am one lucky girl as I got all my requested items, including their:

Ella’s Botanicals Gift Basket

I’m so excited to receive my Ella’s Botanicals gift basket that I won on Instagram!  I seldom win, so I was completely surprised when I got the notice I had won!

If you don’t know Ella’s Botanicals you are missing out on some really great skincare products that are amazing for the entire family’s use.  Created and headed up by Ella, all of her products are made in small batches in Toronto, Canada focusing on natural, locally sourced ingredients where possible and are biodegradable.  Good for you and not harmful to our lovely planet.  Love that!

Broccoli & Pine Nut Soup

I had some broccoli left in the fridge that was on its last legs and it was lunch time.  I was hungry and I was craving something healthy and delish, but not a salad – for once.  

Daily Afternoon Snack

I must be a creature of habit.  Every day around 3 pm, I get really hungry.  Starved, in fact.  And I typically reach for my trusty apple and cheese combo.  

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thank you garden for the lovely bounty of produce you have provided throughout the summer!!

Ella’s Botanicals

Ok.  I'm sorry.  I can’t believe it’s already Wednesday Thursday and I haven’t written anything about the arrival of my first Ella’s Botanicals parcel on Monday.  MONDAY.  Can you believe it?! 

Fresh Mint Tea

Fall is my favourite season.  But this year, I welcome it with a bit of sadness – sadness knowing my garden season is coming to an end. 

Surprise – Hello Kitty Edible Arrangement!

What a surprise to answer the door and find a super cute Hello Kitty edible arrangement!!

Italian Walnut-Raisin Whole-Wheat Bread

I'm a toast eater.  Raisin toast with peanut butter eater to be precise.  The bread itself has changed throughout the years, but it has been my go to breakfast for 15+ years.  I literally look forward to it every morning.  How crazy is that?!

I found THE best raisin walnut bread at a small bakery while living in Japan.  I used to toast it up in my toaster oven and either eat it with butter or peanut butter if I was lucky (meaning I had some left over from one of the batches my mum shipped out to me!).  I've been searching for something that comes somewhat close, without any lucky.  Until possibly now.

Floral Friday – Mint Flower

This is the first year that I've ever grown mint – spearmint to be exact.  I remember my mum growing it when I was a kid and loving grabbing a few leaves to munch on while passing by.  

English Cucumbers Update & Pickle Salad with a Kick

My English cucumber plants are in total production mode!  My earlier wishes for them to catch up to my basil have come to fruition J

Floral Friday – Nature Walk

I love walking.  I love being outdoors and hearing the birds chirp.  I love seeing the change in scenery from season to season, even in the bitter cold of winter.  It’s an opportunity to reflect, work through issues and achieve total serenity.  

First Garden Salad of the Season

This is why I love having a garden – I can simply head outside and pick whatever is ripe and create a lovely salad.  Such a great accompaniment to meals in the summer. 

Carrot Ginger Soup

OMG – this soup is ridiculously good.  So good, I kept grabbing spoonfuls every time I passed the pot while it was cooling down.  Hot or cold, it was scrumptious!

Roasted Beet & Garlic Salad with Fresh Herbs

Beets are one of those vegetables that I can’t seem to get enough of.  The method I use for preparing beets is typically to roast them with some garlic and decide from there how I want to finish them off – soup, salad, side dish, etc.  Today I am sharing one of the many salad variations in my repertoire (mostly based on what I have readily available in the fridge J). 

DIY: Almond Meal

Turns out almond meal is pretty straight forward as a DIY.  Having twice made almond milk in the last couple of weeks (which you can check out here), I had the chance to test out making almond meal with the remnants from that DIY.

DIY: Almond Milk

My blender recently bit the dust, which gave me a valid reason to finally upgrade to the Blendtec Total Blender.  I’ve been eyeing the more powerful blenders for some time now, but was quite hesitant to shell out so much for a blender.  My dilly dallying paid off as (1) I got full use out of my first blender until it finally broke and (2) the cost of the Blendtec blenders has significantly reduced since they first hit the market!

Bran Muffins

I get the sense you either love them or hate them!  

With the exception of when I was a kid, I’ve always had an affinity for bran muffins.  To the point where I am constantly trying new recipes; on the hunt for the best ones.  This latest variation is my current fave.  It incorporates unsweetened apple sauce to reduce the amount of oil needed and also replaces half of the regular bran with spelt bran, which I hadn’t used before.  The apple-sauce made these muffins even moister and the spelt bran added a little more texture to the final product.