Refreshing Salad with Feta and Parsley

Hello there,

Hope everything is well with you.

October just have started and I can not get enough the beauty of this Fall. Especially in my new neighborhood I don’t have to go far to see all the colorful leaves, acorns and chestnuts falling from the trees. Perfect weather to stay outside:

Either it’s a fun activity or house work…like sanding the old dining table;)

 

Yes, we are still continuing our home improvements. Although the kitchen is done (and it’s my dream kitchen-Thank you TOM!!!) there is lots of other things to do here. Slowly we are moving on with work, I am not even rushing anymore, I am trying to enjoy being here. Eventually I will gather all the pictures and give you a tour;)

In regards to my work now,  many changes,,,. And that as well is another story. I am doing lots of Personal Training now, got hired in a fitness studio very close to my house. I am also doing some administrative work for them too so it’s a process and it’s evolving, who knows where that will lead me. For now I am pretty happy. I was really exhausted with only teaching yoga and I needed more variety and balance. Both personal training, teaching yoga or even teaching boot camps (which I do as well) are mentally and physically draining. We give so much of our personal energy that’s very hard to have anything left for yourself. So my hope is that maybe now, when I am mostly in one place (I still have a few classes in my old studios), not driving that much it will be a little bit easier for me. Maybe;)))

But this post it’s supposed to be about something completely different;). Its been forever but here you go something refreshing, before summer is gone.

Refreshing Salad with Feta and Parsley

(gluten free, nut free)

time:10min

1 pkg cherry tomatoes

2 small onions

100 g feta cheese

2 Tbs Olive oil+1 Tbsp lemon juice, salt/pepper

1/3 c chopped parsley

1/4 c roasted sunflower seeds

Wash, peel and chop tomatoes, onions and parsley add feta, pour olive oil and spices, sprinkle with roasted sunflower seeds. Refrigerate for at least 15 min before serving. Enjoy

So now you turn, how are you doing this Fall? Any quick recipes that you would like to share?

Take care, chat soon.

Izabela

 

 

 

 

Poland vacation 2014

Hello Friends,

I really meant to blog on a regular basis but I didn’t. I won’t lie that I was too busy nevertheless I needed to step back for a while. Too many things in my mind and I didn’t want to force myself to write.

We just came back from vacation this week. We had a great time there although the weather sucks really. But I did gain some peace of mind and that what matters the most.

We spent almost 3 weeks visiting my family & friends. We had to travel a little bit around the country. We went for another wedding. My beautiful cousin was getting married and of course we had a blast. I am saying “of course” since Polish weddings are the best in the world!!!! and you will only understand why if you ever go to one of them. I think we went to our room around 4.30am slept till 11am and the next day party began at 12pm.Unfortunately I didn’t take any pictures so now I am waiting for the official pics. From there we came to my parents house, my hometown, and we stayed there for 2 weeks. Yeah, sometimes it’s hard to be with each other all the time;) but when you visit once a year we tried to embrace every day we have with each other.

My best friend there, I am missing her like crazy….

With the food. ..I gained some weight (blah)I tried my best to stay gluten free but when you visit and sit at the table so many times per week it’s hard to keep portion control but whatever I am looking forward to get back to my routine. Again, no pictures taken But it was so so nice when my mom and my grandmother finally cooked for me!!!!

We took some trip here and there. We went to a gold mine with my dad. We hoped to go for a hike but as I said the weather was not too great. We also went to Dresden (Germany) with Tom. It was a great idea. Beautiful city, very European like with just gorgeous old city.

lol, I am usually catching myself when I behave like my mom or even say things the way she would say it but this time I noticed so many similarities to my dad-wow- now I get everything;)))

Do you feel the same way?Are you like your parents?

The sunset in Dresden…

And now we are back, I need to admit I am a bit happy to be in our new house but also sad that time is flying so fast especially on vacation.

I think I am getting old, I used to have no problems with switching the time zones, now I struggle during the flight and then my first week is so hard. I am not mentioning even our 15 h “nap” after we came home -hahahaha

Anyway, now it’s time to find the routine again. I have my kitchen almost set so hopefully some recipes are on your way.

How was your summer???

Take care guys

Love

Izabela

 

The big move and lots of changes

Hello Friends,

I feel almost ashamed that I left you for so long but believe me I have a lot of great excuses.

My life changed in a past few months. First we were both really busy with packing our house and getting ready to move out. In the same time I had my final exams for personal training certification (which I passed yupi!) I need to say that it was a really emotional time for me, so many memories were in this house . Even thou I was super excited and I was really looking forward to the  change, you know sometimes too many changes at the same time can be very overwhelming.

That what happen to me. On our moving day we had some issues with taking over the property and I don’t even want to go into the details but this was not what we expected/ Basically for a day we were homeless with the truck full of furniture…After 24h of “not knowing” what will happen we got the keys and the whole move began. Then we were trying to settle, get used to the new space and create some kind of the new routines. Even our dog was confused for a first few days. I had to organize my work again. Places were I am working are really far right now and driving so long for a single class just doesn’t make any sense.I had to let go some of them already ;(At the same time I got a new job as a personal trainer in a fitness studio. And I am very excited to be there. It looks like it’s a great place with lots of opportunities in the future but we will see. For now I am doing my best to get as many clients as I can so I can switch from other studios and be close to home.

You know already that I have to have routines to feel safe for now I am out of any ;)I am trying not to freak out about it.I love our new place. Yes, there is so much work… and we are under the construction since we moved in but still the neighborhood and this view on my backyard every morning make it worth it.

The first week, maybe two felt a little bit weird. I couldn’t find place for myself but one morning I went for a run and I saw this:

 

I always wanted to be close to the lake and now we are, it’s so beautiful and fresh. Finally I felt happy about this change.

About the construction: we wanted to change the kitchen cabinets, paint and open up 2 walls since it was pretty small. From this project it move into taking out the ceiling, changing the dry walls, floor tiles and who knows what else. Sometimes you can’t plan everything…

We don’t have the kitchen for last 3 weeks and I am not sure when it’s gonna end so we are on the BBQ and take out diet which (after a few days) sucks. When Tom is working hard on our dream kitchen I am trying to do other stuff around the house, painting the rooms etc but for now nothing has it’s own place yet…It’s hard to think about decoration when there is dust, dirt and shavings everywhere. But we will get there eventually.

Thank God for my patience, now I am even more convinced that my Hubby needs to do Yoga to handle all this stress ( I think he slowly starts seeing it too).

If we ever get to the point that this place resembles our home I will share more pics with you.

So please forgive me for not being regular here but it’s just crazy. I will try my best to keep you posted what’s happening with my job, the kitchen project so cross your fingers.

Hope you are enjoying the Summer- that’s finally here. I just love it. I was so tired of Canadian winter this year.

I am constantly looking for new ideas, inspiration and projects how to decor the house so if you have anything interesting please share.

For now take care guys and Thank you for your patience;)

xoxo

Izabela

 

 

 

Food Diary

Hello Friends,

We had a few unexpected events happening here in addition to our packing and a big move. But for now I only got pictures for you. Since I still have my kitchen appliances available to use I photographed some of my recent meals (all gluten free, nut free and Paleo friendly).

Green smoothie and Tulips from my Hubby;)

I have been on eggs kick so omelettes and quiche are a must during a week

Love love love this one: Sweet potato & green pepper quiche

Rich in protein Tempeh stir fry with hemp seeds

Tofu scramble + tempeh bacon on a Portobello bun

Lentil chilli with kale

And of course desserts…

I seriously need to re-think my sugar consumption,,,I think it’s a little bit beyond my control- any advice how to survive a day without something sweet???

Hope you have a great weekend ahead. Take lots of rest and have fun. I am happy it finally stopped to snow here so that’s a big + already;)))

Take care guys,

xoxo

 

Izabela

 

Recent eats and big news

Hi Friends,

Hope you have a wonderful weekend. I am just relaxing on my couch right now after consuming a huge pizza this afternoon. We have been insanely busy lately and I didn’t do much cooking. Our dinners were quick and on the go pretty much. The news is: finally we bought The House!!!

That’s a big deal for us, as you may know we were looking for a house since December. It is a nerve wracking experience. It’s nice to checking out any new houses on the market etc. but when you actually decide to put the offer on the house – this is “where the party starts”. After few weeks of  negotiations we finally got it. This week we put our house on the market. Obliviously the whole situation it’s stressful- we were worrying  if we can actually sell in on time. The deal it’s not done but we are almost there. It requires some extra paper work. Hopefully I can finally start to live my life. This week we had lots of viewing and everything was focusing on keeping the house clean and making sure we take off with the dog when people are coming over. So now I think we will slowly move onto the “packing up” stage. I can not even imagine that but it’s good. I will miss my house terribly but I believe it is a good moment for this change to happen and both Tom and I need it.

I will keep you posted. I am pretty sure I will get into a decorating mode soon;)))

And here are some recent eats.

It doesn’t look like it but it’s a tempeh quiche & broccoli detox salad. Oh man, what can I say. If you ever are coming over to my house-request this quiche. I am confident I found finally a right proportions. It’s gluten free and Paleo friendly as usually.

I was craving a burger for a while, So here it: plantain bread, organic store bought mushroom burger with a spicy red pepper & basil sauce (inspired by purelytwins). Great combo – easy and no mess after ;))

I made my own chocolate bar sprinkled with almonds and hemp seed a few days ago.

That’s all I’ve got for you today. If you have any tips how to survive the move and packing please let me know. I need to prepared for it…

Take care for now and have an awesome week.

Btw we still have winter here:

Izabela

 

One-skillet meals in less than 20 min

Hi Friends,

So how was your week???

As promised I am back and I wanted to share with you my newest cooking secret( lol not really a secret).

You have so many options with the food you can combine that I will leave it up to you and your taste. Here are some of my recent choices:

(Paleo Friendly, gluten free, grain free)

BBQ chicken with veggies in tomato sauce and crackers

Lemon chicken, veggies, poached eggs

Spaghetti squash “pizza”

I know it may all look the same to you but it’s not, just the method is the same. So let’s just get straight to business.

Less than 20 min method;)))

Decide what do you wanna eat:you know which veggies you like, do you want to add some grains or starches and what kind of protein you would like to have with it.

I like my veggies soft so most likely I will steam them first for a few minutes but you can go ahead and saute them on the pan right away  for a few minutes, then add you protein and the last part: insert into the oven then BROIL for 7-10 min.

That’s the whole secret. Everything is coming out crispy and tasty. So I use this style of cooking pretty often nowadays. I am having lots of craving for poached eggs, veggies and warm food and it’s so simple this way.

Of course you see my spaghetti squash dish was also done 20 min but I made it ready on Sunday night to eat it during the week-please  keep this is mind that you need to be sometimes prepared especially on the busy day.

So try it and let me know if you have any questions,

Love

Izabela

Btw, what are you up to this weekend? Anything exciting???

Happy Valentine’s Day

Hello Everybody,

It’s been ages….I know;( but since it’s Valentine’s Day I hope you forgive me.

After all I was just lying to myself that If I won’t get distracted with blogging I get more stuff done….well it didn’t really happen so I am back to blogging. My apology.

Month of January was pretty eventful for us and probably for the next few posts I will be catching up with that. Just to give you a quick overview:

I went for a very entertaining girls get away for my friend’s Bachelorette Party. We had so much fun during this weekend It was a celebration for me too since It was my Bday weekend. I treated myself with some extra stuff;)))

Then there was my friend’s wedding….It was the most beautiful weeding that I have even been too. I just simple loved it. Magda is a great organizer and she planned to the last detail. Besides they are our very close friends and I was touched by their happiness and that it finally happened. We all were waiting for this weeding for 1,5 years ( since they got engaged).

Her dream was to have a real Winter Wonderland Wedding and indeed her dream came true.

Other than that

Delicious Food, hot yoga, busy life, looking for a house, and winter winter winter, a real Winter here….

I have never experienced such a harsh Winter time, It’s really annoying and It’s easy to get moody, loose motivation, get depressed And I am not stop cold-literally.

That squash soup was fantastic

Thank God for warm comfort food. (I have an extra posts for u ready about recent meals).

In short that will be January. I promise to be back and be more regular now.

For now, enjoy your Valentine’s Weekend -any plans????Do tell

Love

 

Izabela

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And so this began

Happy New Year one more time my friends,

I hope you had a fantastic start of the new 2014; it will be a short and sweet version how was MY NEW Year’s Eve ( in pictures)

Happy Hubby-love this smile

starting with an almost clean diet too;) desserts are not included here

New spiralizer in action..

Lime chicken soup for very cold winter days here,

Hope you have a great week so far,

till next time,

Izabela

 

Happy New Year 2014!!!

 

 

Just wanted to check in with you guys before the party will start;

I wish you All the best in the New Year 2014; I hope all your wishes will become true and it will be a healthy,full of love and kindness time  for you,

Love

Izabela

 

see you next year and have fun tonight!!!

Merry Christmas

My warmest thoughts and best wishes for a wonderful Christmas time and a Happy Healthy New Year 2014!!!!

Love

Izabela & Tom and Sofi;:)