Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Andie's Awesome Salad

I am one of those lucky people who are fortunate to go to work with a friend everyday! It makes working less like work and more like collaborating or partnership. I am very lucky indeed to work with a most talented, caring, nurturing, truly genuine and humble person, Andie! She is truly amazing and loves food and cooking as much as I do! So I thought I would share with you Andie's Awesome Salad!



What You'll Need
Quinoa
Fresh mixed greens
Quartered tomatoes
Sliced cucumbers
Green onion
Roasted almonds
Olive oil
Balsamic vinegar










Cook the quinoa in beef broth to add extra flavor (I do this with rice and vegetable broth often). Once the quinoa is is cooled mix together with greens and other veggies. Toast almonds in a fry pan with some oil or butter, until browned. Add to salad. Toss with oil and vinegar in a ratio that is pleasing to you! Enjoy!

Andie brought this salad to work the other day, and I was jealous-as usual, she always brings great lunches. 
It looked so yummy and fresh-perfect for summer!


Monday, June 27, 2011

This is a blog-jacking!!

Hello all you Try to Keep Uppers!  This is Jill here (from Envirocraftiness!)  I'm Leslie's little sister and I'm joining in on her 30 Days of Salad! 



Today I want to share my Impromptu Taco Salad with you... aka Things I had in my house salad!

Photobucket

Start with a bed of lettuce - I used the organic romaine that you get from Costco in a tub. There really is a lot of lettuce under there - I promise!!

Add cut up chicken breast cooked with taco seasoning (for a veggie option, try black beans -  well rinsed of course)

Sprinkle on shredded cheddar, diced tomatoes, and olives.

Crush some tortilla chips and toss on top.

For dressing I just mixed some taco seasoning mix in low fat sour cream.  I love this combination - sometimes for more zip I throw in some Miracle Whip!

Enjoy!

Sunday, June 26, 2011

Salad Sunday #1

Welcome to the first installment of my
30 Days of Salad Series!


Here's my version of Rachael Ray's Creamy Lemony Pepper-Parmesan Dressing on Romaine Lettuce

What You'll Need
3 heaping tablespoons mayonnaise (or Miracle Whip)
1 lemon, zested and juiced
1 teaspoon coarse pepper
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 cup grated Parmigiana cheese
Pinch salt
2 hearts romaine lettuce, chopped
Sliced mushrooms (Leslie addition)
Sliced cucumber (Leslie addition)
Grated carrot (Leslie addition)

Combine Miracle Whip, lemon zest and lemon juice.  I added a bit extra lemon juice from the bottle because I didn't think it was lemony enough!  Whisk in ground pepper. Pour in the extra-virgin olive oil while you whisk to combine.  Once the oil is combined with the acid (the lemon juice) and the Miracle Whip, stir in the cheese and a pinch of salt and blend together.  Pour over salad just before serving and enjoy!


This is a fresh twist on a classic Caesar dressing.  I added more lemon than was listed in the recipe because I didn't feel like there was enough zip.  The lemon gives a fresh almost earthy flavour to the dressing.  This is definitely a lighter alternative to Caesar dressing and is a great summer salad!  I served this with Grilled Salmon Fillet.



Saturday, June 25, 2011

30 Days of Salad

OK that might be a bit of stretch, but I'm gonna give it a try....
maybe not 30 consecutive days!


I was talking to Ty the other night while we were enjoying our first summer meal outside on our deck, and I mentioned how I never really crave salads (the way I crave creamy pasta *drool*), but in the summer sometimes I really do want to eat salad.  I will mention at that time I was chowing down on a VERY delicious grilled chicken Caesar salad.  So as a joke I said "I should blog about salads-try to make 30 salads in 30 days".  This came out of me wanting to            1). loose weight for my upcoming wedding and....well that's mainly the reason.  But I also wanted to get out my rut, really try new things, especially new salads.  It's so easy to fall back on what you know, and then you get REAL tired with those recipes and never want to see them again. 

So here we are-30 Days of Salad.  Welcome to the party- and I promise it is gonna be a party.  I am gonna turn the world of salad upside down looking for delicious but easy to make salads that you will ACTUALLY want to eat!

So Sundays will be sanctioned as Salad Sunday's here at Try To Keep Up!   I will be looking to feature other great salads-so if  you want to jump on the salad train let me know.  I'll be looking for guest posts, features and great photos of sensational salads.  If you're interested in being a part of this celebration of salads, email me at westcoastleslie@gmail.com I'd love to include you!

Check back Sunday for my Creamy Lemon Romaine Salad with Grilled Salmon recipe!  And feel free to grab my button and share the salad love (I will get the code for it soon-for now just copy and paste if you don't mind!)

Friday, June 24, 2011

Black Bean Burgers

Sounds like a carnivore's nightmare. And I love meat, love me a real burger, but a couple of weeks ago Ty and I had burgers and the next day I had the worst stomach pains ever! Needless to say my red meat consumption has dropped. So I tried this recipe for black bean burgers. They are delicious, packed with protein and easy to make-really!

What You'll Need
1 can of black beans
1/2 onion, finely minced
1/2 green pepper, finely minced
2 cloves of garlic, finely minced
1 egg, beaten
1 Tbls cumin powder
1 Tbls paprika
1 tsp hot sauce
1/2 cup bread crumbs (I used not quite a whole package of Shake & Bake.  White trash alert!!!)

Preheat your oven to 375 F. Rinse your beans and mash them in a medium sized bowl (or get your man to do this for you like I did).  Add the minced garlic, onion and green pepper. Mix well. Add spices, hot sauce and egg. Combine until well mixed and moist. Slowly add in the breadcrumbs until the mixture sticks together.

Roll into balls-I made 6 good size balls. Gently press and flatten. Bake at 375 for 10 minutes. Flip the patties and bake for another 5 minutes. Remove burgers from oven and put cheese slices on top (I used Monterey Jack). Return burgers to the oven for a last five minutes. Serve on fresh buns with Miracle Whip, salsa and/or guacamole.

Food Porn Time!



This yummy recipe was already posted by Jill@Envirocraftiness and click here for the original post!

LINKY LINKY

It's a Keeper



Monday, June 20, 2011

I've Been Featured!

MyMeatlessMondaysI get so excited when I'm featured! It make me feel so special. So I'm sending a super big thank you shout out to Chaya @ My Sweet and Savory.
She is featuring my crepes on her Meatless Mondays!




So many people are incorporating meatless meals into their week-which is so easy to do!  I will continue to link up on Meatless Mondays since I make sooooooo much pasta. And I recently bought some falafel (yum!) and will have a super delicious new falafel curry recipe for you soon!

Thanks again to Chaya for featuring my crepes (they really were delicious).  Head over to Meatless Monday and find a new recipe!

Sunday, June 19, 2011

Scavenger Hunt Sunday

Seems like forever since I did one of these.  For the past few months I've been so wrapped up in dance that I needed Sunday to breathe.  But now I have a little too much some time on my hands, so I wanted to get back into Scavenger Hunt Sunday.


Thank you to the lurvely Ashley Sisk for hosting this party!  She is one talented chick-go check out her equally lovely blog.

This weeks scavenger hunt items are: Emotion, From a Flower's Point of View, Natural Frame, Letters & Bliss.

1). Emotion
I cheated, because this is an old photo.  BUT I really like it (not to mention the subject is pretty cute too!)  I think this is what makes Jack Johnson such a wonderful singer/songwriter-he really believes/feels in what he's doing. 
It inspires me to be that happy in what I choose to do.

2). From a Flower's Point of View


3). Natural Frame

4). Letters

5). Bliss
Again, an older shot (not as old as the Jack Johnson one)

And last but not least, Happy Father's Day to my Dad!  He and I are a little too much alike-which makes our bond incredibly strong but also makes the tension and anger as equally strong.  He has always been my cheerleader, believing in me (and telling me so) when many others didn't.  I am my father's "son", even though this 'son' dances, scrapbooks and cries.  We share a love of hockey (Go Flames Go), reading (everything and anything) and cooking. 



This is the most recent picture I have with him-it's clearly from my University Convocation (which was in 2007 eek!)  Oh well-it's a lovely photo and I wanted to share it with you. 
Make sure to call your Dad today!

Friday, June 17, 2011

Vancouver Riots

I would be remiss if I didn't post about what has been going on in Vancouver over the past 48 hours.  Wow, it feels like more than that, but here it is Friday morning and it's really only been a day and a bit.  Allow me to explain.....

In case you are not living in Canada, or you don't follow hockey the deciding Game 7 for the Stanley Cup took place in Vancouver BC (Canada) on Wednesday June 15th.  The Vancouver Canucks had been in this situation before-playing for the Stanley Cup against the New York Rangers in 1994.  The Canucks lost that year, and the city of Vancouver found itself in a riot.  Everyone was talking about the potential for a riot this year if the Canucks lost.  Ty (my fiance) stayed downtown and went to a bar in the early afternoon to take part in the festivities.  The entire city was electric.  The Canucks were the 1st place team in the NHL, they won their division title, they had beaten (sometimes barely) every team they faced and they had made it to Game 7 of the Final Series.  I believe a lot of people really felt the Canucks were going to win.  They didn't.  The Boston Bruins opened the scoring in the 1st period and won the game 4-0 and are the Stanley Cup Champions.  Within minutes of the loss the 100,000 people who had come into the downtown core found themselves amidst a riot.  Hockey fans were flipping cars, burning cars, smashing retail store windows, looting said stores (including the Hudson's Bay Department store, London Drugs, Future Shop, Sears, the Bank of Montreal), lighting bus shelters and garbage cans on fire.... I'll let the photos do the talking...
LOOK at how MANY people were downtown-packed like sardines. This is just one of the many "fanzones".  If you hadn't left the downtown core before the rioting started, it was very difficult to get out.  Streets were blocked, buses weren't operating because of the danger, and 2 of the bridges were closed to traffic.  PS this is barely 4 blocks from my office!
This is in front of the Hudson's Bay Co. Department store on Granville Street.
This photo looks like it's a still from an apocalyptic movie to me-so surreal. 
I have walked down this street to get to work almost daily for the past several years!
Yes, those are police vehicles on fire....
Vancouver riot 2011
This is SO NOT ok. 
As a Canadian (more so than a Vancouverite) I am deeply offended by this.

I'm sorry, but I have to question why the police are just standing there? 
While they are clearly not in riot gear or necessarily prepared to deal with the situation I'm frustrated that this scene exists.  The law could not bring law and order?
  
There are more incredible photos of the riot here and here

In no way do I condone what happened.  Respectful hockey fans, and fans of professional sport should not act like this.  Many people who were interviewed, including the Mayor of Vancouver Gregor Robertson and BC Premier (like a US Governor) Christy Clark said that the destruction and violence was caused by a "handful of hooligans" and that "99.99% of people in Vancouver don't act like this" blah blah blah.  I'm sorry to disagree with these elected officials, but an event like this truly shows that this is a city of people who behave this way.  This is a City that allows these things to happen-and we have to own up to that.  The other big quote of the night was" the people who took part in the riot weren't Canucks fans".....and that's simply not true.  Sure, it's possible that the people who instigated the riot, the people who came downtown with Molotov cocktails and jerry cans of gasoline and an intention to riot weren't Canucks fans.....but to the rest of the world, it was clear that Canucks fans were a big part of it-and by lying and saying that fans weren't involved is simply an attempt to shield Vancouver's  (and the Canucks hockey organization's)  reputation.  I've done A LOT of reading about who, what where, when, why, but one of my favourite articles about the riot is from the Globe & Mail.  It is a very well written piece and I agree with the majority of it.  I did feel that the police maybe didn't do as much as they could have, but they truly were out numbered and probably felt a little bit hopeless.  I am disappointed that there wasn't a stronger police presence (not necessarily action) that could have curbed this behaviour. Proactive vs reactive.

That being said, I think it's very naive of this City (Greater Vancouver including all suburbs) to think that this WASN'T going to happen.  I've lived here for only 6 years and I knew it was going to happen.  Knew it in my heart of hearts.  I'm actually quite insulted and skeptical that residents were so surprised, hurt and shocked that something like this happened here.  People keep asking "why did it happen?  This sort of thing didn't happen during the Olympics".  WELL DUH!  The Olympics, the pinnacle of professional sport and competition, is about coming together as a world, as a nation to celebrate sport. (Not to mention the millions of dollars the country spent on security including airport style security x-rays/metal detectors at each and every event).  Olympic athletes take a pledgeCanuck has a broken back, and countless other injuries less critical and unreported).  The very mentality and intensity of the Stanley Cup Finals fueled this riot-it may not have started it, but it definitely fueled it.

Are you wondering about Ty?  He was at a bar on Robson & Granville with co-workers (red dot on map).  The bar he was at is about 4 blocks away from where the rioting stared in front of the flagship Canada Post on Georgia Street (yellow dot). 



Luckily Ty got out of downtown safely.  He was not involved in any rioting; steered clear of it completely.  I picked him up from the Skytrain shortly after 9pm and we watched the news for the rest of the night.

Post Riot Clean-up - Let's help VancouverQuickly a movement started on Facebook "Post Riot Clean Up-Let's Help Vancouver". (Canuck sweeping logo created by Nick Zarzycki).  On Thursday June 16th, hundreds of Vancouverites (and people from Burnaby, Surrey, Richmond, Mission etc etc) came to downtown Vancouver ready to help, ready to clean, ready to restore order.  I applaud those people-it was a truly kind and Canadian gesture.  It was their attempt to show the world that this is not Vancouver, that the riots are not a reflection of our City.

Check out this Flickr account for Clean Up Pics.  Or Search for "post Riot Clean Up-Let's Help Vancouver" on Facebook.


 This is really inspiring and should prove that sportsmanship always prevails. 
 I'm so proud of this Boston fan! 

To read more about the clean up efforts click here

There is campaign on Facebook to post pictures of the riot and looting and identify the participants in those photos-which many people have already done and continue to do.  Citizens are also encouraged to upload their videos to YouTube and email the link to the Vancouver Police Department.  All evidence should go straight to the police.  Period.  I feel that we would be better served by not posting these people's faces anywhere online-they are looking for glory. 
 I have read their obnoxious status updates of the pride they take in their participation in the riot. 
WHY ARE WE GIVING THEM MORE ATTENTION!?!??!
Because they deserve to be shamed?  Because they deserve to be publicly humiliated? Many people feel this way. But to me they deserve to be prosecuted. 
They deserve to be held accountable to the laws of our country. These are clearly people who have no respect for civil society, morals, ethics, or social decency.  They will not feel shamed, they will not be embarrassed by law-abiding citizens who point the finger at them and call them out as the 'bad guys'.  They're happy for the attention.  They think they will get away with it (I'm afraid that unfortunately many will get away with their actions.  It will be SO difficult to prove actual involvement except with video of people participating in the riot, which does exist and will help if brought to the police).  But these people have grown up without consequences and in my very humble opinion, should be victim to consequences.  By trying to shame the people involved and calling them outcasts or hooligans makes us just as bad.  We are continuing to glorify their actions-we are partaking in mob mentality just as the rioters did.  People who are trying to shame the rioters are essentially a lynch mob and are no better than those who started this mess.  It is our job as citizens to live a law-abiding life.  To lead by example. It is the laws and the courts of this country that will serve these rioters with justice.  And that is truly the best victory of all.



 
This is graffiti-so while it's a nice gesture, it's still kinda wrong :)
 
All in all it has been a very surreal couple of days.  I literally can't believe that this happened. Ty & I both went to work downtown on Thursday, business as usual.  It smelled a little like charred metal, and except for the plywood windows, you really wouldn't have known what had gone on just 10 hours ago.  To look at the pictures is very weird; I can't describe it.  Not to mention, I lost my job on Wednesday (prior to the start of the game) so the wind was knocked out of my sails twice in a 10 hour period.  I feel like I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop; y'know bad things always happen in threes. But I am resilient and faithful.  I know that when God closes a door, it's really because He wants you to go through the window instead!  So I will trust in His plan and re-evaluate my life and my path. 

Monday, June 13, 2011

Crepes

I had never made crepes before.  They seem so intimidating.  Plus my Dad used to make crepes (he's French Canadian-well so am I for that matter) but my Dad had a specific crepe pan.  I decided to try making them in a normal ole frying pan and they turned out pretty good.  Plus Ty is always bugging me to make pancakes (whichI don't like) so this was a great compromise. 
He just loves sweet breakfasts (and I don't).
Here's the recipe I used, along with some tips and tricks!

What You'll Need
1 Cup all purpose flour
2 Eggs
1/2 Cup milk
1/2 Cup water
1/4 tsp salt
2 Tbls melted butter/margarine
Dash of vanilla

After reading some of the reviews of the recipe, I decided not to follow the recipe directions (mix dry and then add the wet).  I mixed all the 'wet' ingredients together first. 
Just about to add in the flour
Then I added the salt.  SLOWLY mix in the flour and whisk until there are no lumps!  This is a bit of a hassle, but you do not want lumpy crepes.  The consitancy is a bit thick...I ended up adding a 1/4 cup of water half way through cooking because the batter wouldn't spread out in the pan.
Sorry this is a bit blurry-iPhone pics don't work so hot with only one hand!
Then heat your pan on medium high heat.  If you're not using a non stick, make sure to grease the pan or else you'll have one hell of a time flippin those crepes.  I used a large pan (12"?) so I needed to use 1/2 cup of batter per crepe.  Move fast. Once you've poured the batter into the pan swirl in a circular motion to coat the bottom of the pan.  This is why it's important to have somewhat runny batter.  My first attempt is pretty sad-see below :(
Sad sad crepe.  It tasted fine....a bit undercooked....
Luckily, I did get the hang of it.  (Thin and runny batter is best.  And don't add a lot of batter to the pan-just spread it out.)  And my crepes finally started to look like crepes.  I used a big ass flipper to flip the crepes.  I HIGHLY recommend it.  It's about the size of my hand splayed out.

The best part though?  Eating them.  The were super tasty!  We filled them with sliced strawberries and whipped cream. 
My (holey) crepe

Ty's crepe
Ty is so happy I made a sweet breakfast.  I am a sausage, eggs & hashbrowns kinda breakfast girl, but this was pretty yummy.  It would make a great fathers day brunch!

PARTY PARTY