Thursday, March 10, 2011

"Stressville," Donuts and Cookies..Oh My!

My thoughts and condolences are with all those affected by the earthquakes and tsunamis in Japan and the ripples felt throughout the world.


This is my brain...

I took this video from Sam, who took it from John's youtube vlog. Obviously all the credit goes to John, but it perfectly exemplifies how I feel. Check out John Henselmeier 's blogs here, they are incredible!! I watched them before and during my whole first contract - a.ma.zing!

This isn't what I was going to blog about today though, yesterday I had such a fun day out and about in Toronto and was going to share that with you! To be fair I also have to disclose that I cheated on Lent - on the first day! I know, I know, I'm awful. But here is the thing, I gave up alcohol, dairy and refined sugar. I haven't been drinking since the beginning of February because I wanted to elongate that one, and I started dairy and refined sugar March 1st. The dairy part was hard in Vancouver but here in Toronto it's totally great! The sugar though? I made cookies with Carrie last night...and I have to admit, there was sugar. In 3 different forms! After today though, I'm back on track, and will extend Lent an extra 2 days to make up for my mistakes. Yup, no dessert at Easter :( Ohh the things we do.

Alright, so I started this post a few days ago and much as happened since then (NO I STILL HAVEN'T HEARD FROM DISNEY) and therefore I am going to try and recount everything...

Wednesday with Carebear!

So said goodbye to the ladies of the house who were off to school and work and then adventured down College Street on our way to Kensington Market! It was really really chilly out. Like super chilly. I'm not use to this Ontario winter thing anymore! Kensington Market is a mish-mash of all different types of stores where you could buy pretty much anything. We "accidentally" stumbled upon The Market Bakery:

Piles of fresh breads...not expensive but sooo tasty!

and look at these little guys:
All their cookies, cakes and desserts looked sooo delicious! They even had cookies with big Barney heads! There's a flash back to my childhood! If you actually clicked on that link, I only ever watched that while sick...on repeat. Yes, I admit I loved this on VHS. From the Market Bakery we went looking for ingredients for dinner for the next day (mmmm vegan healthy enchiladas). As well as vetured over to a coffee shop that had this in the building:
A living wall!!

Carebear got some coffee for Mum (she's a good daughter). I don't know if his is actually readable, but if it is it's pretty funny! It was in "Good Egg" in KM, and is for becoming a Canadian!


We bought some groceries, and Carrie got a few gifts and such that she needed and then we went for lunch!!
We went to Hot Beans!
It's a new restaurant in Kensington that, are you ready for this, sells burritos and doughnuts!
Carrie and I both got the "Chorizo" burrito with a peanut miso!
...because who wouldn't want to see how big my bites are?

It was SO BIG and sooo yummy!! We both saved some for afternoon snacks... I ate mine on the subway later on and felt somewhat super dirty for eating something on the subway. I know I was clear, but it still felt weird...But back to Hot Beans! Whether you're vegan, vegetarian, omnivores or whatever, you'll love this place! The owners are super friendly, the food is yummy and service is quick! The best part however, was the doughnut.
Tell me your mouth isn't watering...
First of all I wouldn't have believed you could have a vegan doughnut. Second of all this totally dispelled my belief that vegan food was all healthy. They were making these beauties upon our arrival and obviously we had to try one! It was lime icing with toasted coconut on a fresh warm doughnut? Yes please!!! I actually had to put it down and take it all in after my first bite. I don't eat sugar very often, and this was so so worth it! I don't even feel the ridiculousness I should over boasting about a doughnut...I honestly will never eat another doughnut because nothing will compare.
After our experience at Hot Beans Carrie had to go to work, so we parted ways as it started to BLIZZARD out and I headed to Whole Foods (my Fav!!) to pick up the rest of our vegan cookies/enchiladas cooking supplies! After battling the blizzard and returning back to Dovercourt, I got ready for dinner with my dear friend Stephie!! I haven't seen Steph in such a long time even though we talk/message constantly, so it meant a lot that she was willing to drive for hours (literally) just to have dinner with little ol' me. We got a bit lost on our way to finding our original restaurant choice and ended up at Lick's in the Greek part (i'm pretty sure) of Toronto! Random! haha. It was good though and we had some good laughs. Steph's fiance Brian was there as well and even though he's a die-hard leafs fan they seem pretty fantastic for each other :) I'm super excited about their upcoming weddding!!!
I returned to my Toronto home and Carebear and I made 2 types of cookies!! We made Peanut Butter Chocolate Pillows and Sweet Potato Oatmeal Raisin Cookies that due to my shopping prowlness turned into Sweet Potato Oatmeal Craisin-Toasted-Coconut-Sunflower Seed Cookies!

This is where I would usually put a picture of the cookies. However they were tooooo delicious and those not packaged up to send home to Kim/Gareth and Mum/Dad were quickly consumed. Sorry!

The next morning I bid farewell to Savita and Auntie Mary as they headed to Vancouver Island to visit with the Grandparents/my M&D and went for lunch with my dear friend Alison C.J. Lee! Ali arrived in Disney World a few weeks before me two years ago and we were friends throughout our programs. We didn't always hang out, but I was always a fan of this big ol' ray of sunshine!!!

We went to Live: A Raw and Vegan restaurant on Dupont Rd in TO! Ali is dating a rather lovely vegan named Dan who has a whole family of raw to omnivore eaters and so they frequent this place - and I definitely saw why! It's sooooo tasty! This is another time where I got too excited about my meal and took no photos!
This is what I had..we shared the Appie:
Bruschetta (raw)
Almond baguettes, balsamic marinated tomatoes, spinach, basil pesto, cashew dill medallions
Black Bean Burrito
Black bean hummus, guacamole, tomato salsa, red onion , brown rice, spinach, chipotle aioli on a gluten free brown rice wrap
Smore!
I don't know what it was made of but it was delicious!

I haven't had a three course meal in as long as I can remember - sometime in my Disney days, so it was a lot of food, but soooo good! I'd definitely recommend hitting this place up! Especially if you're lucky enough to have as great company as I did. On a side note: Ali and I were talking so much I didn't get the chance to read the whole menu and got the burrito because I saw it first. It was yummy but there are soo many other things I'd like to try next time!

I made enchiladas for dinner that night for Carrie Auntie Deena and I (Kira had her own burrito/taco thing) and then Carrie and I went to The Adjustment Bureau! After a wee mix up on my part we ended up at the Varsity in Yorkville (read: fancy part of town) and had to see the movie in the VIP viewing theatre...aka they had maybe 20 seats, super comfy, with a smaller screen and a server who would fetch your popcorn and liqour for you. I really liked the movie but others did not. Nothing really bad happens in it and apparently that makes it a bad movie...I on the other hand am all for PG ratings! hehehe.

We saw this on the way in and out of the theatre, in Toronto, and it made me happy:
Beauty!!!!!

For now that is all...I have to drive Amy to her exam at school! I will tell you all the tale of the blizzardy Winnipeg return home later :)

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