Aritzia!

I finally have a coat from Aritzia! Yay! I've always wanted one cos I heard they're such good quality, and they really keep you warm especially in Canadian winters.  Now, this is the only reason I'm looking forward to the winter haha!

I also bought a scarf from H&M... I wanted one with a design since all my other scarfs are really plain.

Fresh Ginger Cookies

I wasn't too sure this recipe would work out, but Oh My Glozell,  they were so yummy!!  I'll definitely be making them again... they turned out to be just the right texture - soft and chewy.  Here's the recipe (from allrecipes.com):

Ingredients:
2 1/4 cups of all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda (or 2-3 teaspoons baking powder)
1/2 teaspoon salt
(My addition: 2 teaspoons cinnamon)
2 tablespoons grated fresh ginger
3/4 cup butter, softened
1 cup white sugar (I substitute brown sugar here)
1/4 cup molasses
1 egg
1 cup white sugar (for coating)





1. In a medium sized bowl, combine flour, baking soda, cinammon, and salt.
2. In a larger bowl, beat together butter, ginger and white sugar (or brown sugar substituted) until it's light and fluffy.
3. Add egg and molasses and beat.
4. Gently fold in flour mixture until it has just combined
5. Chill for 1 hour

6. Preheat oven to 350F (175C)
7. Roll dough into 1.5 inch balls and roll them in white sugar.
8.  Place on ungreased baking sheets (parchment paper), 2 inches apart
9. Bake until edges start to brown (takes between 15-18 minutes depending on your oven). Centres should be soft
10.  Let stand on cookie sheets for 1 minute, then you can transfer to a cooling rack to completely cool ( I prefer to eat them warm, myself! :)).

(I made my dough balls bigger so I got around 16 cookies out of the mixture, otherwise the serving size is 30).


Aaand, a little treat for anyone who used to watch sesame street... I love the Cookie Monster! Haha!

Per i miei amici italiani

Voglio scrivere in italiano oggi perche devo praticare! Ho la mia lezione di italiano il lunedi dalle sei alle otto e trenta! Dunque, sono un po stanca quando ritorno a mia casa e devo preparare la cena.  Comunque, sta sera ho cucinato pollo con la salsa di pomodoro, il formaggio e una insalata mista... era molto delizioso! Forse posso fare un foto e darti la ricetta, la prossima volta.
È l'una e venti del mattino, dunque vado a  dormire ora.  Buonanotte!

from bugbog.com

P.S. Per favore, mi dica se ho fatto degli errori perche ho bisogno di migliorare! Grazie :)

Carrot & Halloumi Salad + Easy Hash Browns

This is a really quick dinner I made, with the very few ingredients I had left in the fridge!  The only time consuming part was the grating of the carrots and potatoes, but if you have a machine to do that then you're good to go!

Ingredients (serves 2):
- Carrots (3-5 depending on size)
- Packet of Halloumi cheese
- Fresh Mint
- Paprika
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil
-Salt/Pepper

1.  Peel and grate the carrots into a bowl

2. Open half pack of Halloumi cheese and grate into same bowl

3. Take fresh mint and roll into a cigar shape... chop finely and add to bowl

4. Add paprika, salt, pepper, spray with olive oil and mix!

For the potatoes:
- 2 medium sized yukon gold potatoes
- Salt/Pepper
-Extra Virgin Olive Oil spray

1. Preheat large pan
2. Peel and grate the potatoes
3. Once pan is hot, spray with olive oil
4. Place grated potatoes in pan and use a spatula to spread out evenly
5. Season with salt & pepper and spray with more olive oil
6.  Once one side has browned, flip entire hash brown over to brown the other side.
7. Season with salt, pepper and olive oil again.

Enjoy!

The Body Shop Greatest Makeup Event

Yesterday, my sister and I went to a Body Shop & Virgin Mobile event at the Yonge-Dundas square... and of course, it was raining!! But it wasn't just a light drizzle - it was like a torrential downpour! Obviously that didn't stop us from going... we were getting those free makeovers no matter what! lol

Anyhoozles, when we arrived the Black eyed Peas were blaring from the DJ's stand and we lined up in the VIP que (since we had the body shop membership card).  They were handing out samples from their new arrivals, so we each got a packet of their Vitamin E moisturizer, a Shea Butter & Sesame Oil Body Balm, and their new fragrance 'Dreams Unlimited'.   Once we signed in, we were shown to a makeup artist who sat us down and did our makeup for us.  My sister's makeup looked amahzing... mine one the other hand, was not that great.  The makeup artist who did mine was really nice and friendly, but she did my eye make up waay to dark (which didn't suit me at all), she didn't blend my foundation properly, and she didn't even put mascara which completely ruined the look!  And to top it all off, my sister got a $10 dollars off coupon and a drink and I left empty handed- hmph!

I'm still glad we went though, because after the event we went straight to the Body Shop in Eaton Centre and used the coupon to buy the Extra Virgin Minerals foundation which is brilliant (made from olive oil from Italy!), and a few other products like blush, highlighter and lipgloss.  We had a good time, so thank you to the Body Shop!

Products I bought at the Body Shop store

Extra Virgin Minerals Creme Compact Foundation (I'm #102 Natural Ivory) 

Baked Blush: 02 Coral

Brush on Radiance

Spa Wisdom Africa: Shea Butter & Sesame Oil Body Balm
Vitamin E moisture cream
The Body Shop New Fragrance: Dreams Unlimited

Our makeup consultation book where she wrote  all the products that were used: Compact 102, Shimmer Cubes Eyeshadow #23, Brush on Radiance, Hi-shine lipgloss #4

Later on that evening, we went to see "Crazy Stupid Love" at the AMC.  While I love Steve Carell and all his movies and shows, I wasn't that impressed with the movie... it was a regular 'feel good' film, with a few laughs here and there - so it was pleasant but not that funny. (6.8/10)

From movie review site

Happiness is a Choice

Do you agree?

From http://www.raeart.ca
"Happiness is a choice" print- made for the Shaytards

Btw:  I've decided to put up new blog posts AT LEAST twice a week or every weekend (Sat/Sun)... I think this will be much easier for me, and it will create a structure so you'll know how often a new post is on the site (rather than blogging every day, then being absent for weeks at a time :) )

Taste of Nature - Brazilian Nut Fiesta Organic Food Bar

I'm not usually a fan of cereal bars but when my sister came across this brand, I really liked it! It's made of all natural and organic ingredients and really keeps you full for a while.   Their description: "A Brazil-inspired, festive blend of certified organic nuts, seeds, fruit and crispy brown rice. Taste of Nature's 100% certified organic bars are vegan, Kosher, non-GMO and are made with the very best ingredients the world has to offer. And yes, they taste as good as they look!" 

The ingredients are:
Raisins, peanuts, agave nectar, sunflower seeds, almonds, brazilian nuts, brown rice syrup, walnuts, whole grain brown rice crisps, pumpkins seeds.

Although they have 200 Calories per serving, it is a great snack and not as sugary as other cereal bars I've tried.  They are an excellent source of fibre, have low sodium, gluten free, and a good source of energy to keep you going during the day!

Taste of Nature also has other kinds of bars (although the Brazilian is my favourite), including: Argentina Peanut Plains, California Almond Valley, Niagara Apple Country, Nova Scotia Blueberry Fields, and Québec Cranberry Carnival , as well as other 'organic exotics' products.  I'll definitely be trying those to see if I can find a new favourite!

http://www.tasteofnature.ca/

Arrivederci l'estate

I'm back, after a fun and very long summer holiday!  I have been much busier recently and so unfortunately there hasn't been much time for me to update this blog as often as I would have liked.  I am also taking an Italian course at the university this year, which is very exciting, and maybe I'll get to visit Italy in the near future (which has been my dream for a long time!)... forse una giornata...

In the meantime, I do have some pictures from our last visit to Fujeirah, U.A.E. at the end of August... it was soo relaxing and the perfect way to end the summer! 

 P.S. A couple of books I read over the summer were: A Reliable Wife by Robert Goolrick, and Agatha Christie's short stories about Hercule Poirot.   Another fun book; great for some light reading, and which I'm sure everyone can relate to, is 'The Book of Awesome' by Neil Pasricha :

Ciao!