Making pudding with chia seeds

Lately, I have been doing recipe development with chia seeds. I bought a bag of chia seeds, thinking that I'd put them in my protein shake. I then had a parfait in the Twin Cities that had a layer of chia seeds in a pudding form. I got inspired to try and make my own pudding.

It has been fun testing out recipes. Chia seeds are interesting. They absorb so much liquid. I've been having chia seeds in pudding form for the last few days. I like them.

Here's my attempt at a layer of dark chocolate coconut chia seed with a top layer of orange cream oat beverage yogurt. The bottom has mashed berries. I added protein powder to both layers.

 

I'm still working out my recipes as I go. It has been enjoyable so far.

Warmer weather and salads

I must admit that with the warmer weather that I haven't been writing as much as I'd like.

I have noticed that when the weather is warmer that I don't feel like eating hot bowls of ramen or stews. I am back to craving salads. I had on last night for dinner and it hit the spot.

Yep, I'm also trying to eat a bit better. As much as I love noodles and pasta, it's also nice to not get into a carb coma and nap after a huge bowl.

I made a one-skillet chicken dish with green beans and mushrooms. It turned out nicely. It was my first time following this recipe.

Hope you're having a great weekend!

Happy belated Easter!

Happy belated Easter! I spent a good part of my morning making Easter lunch for my parents and me. It turned out well.

I woke up at 8 am, which is my usual wakeup time during the weekday. I felt that it would be best to serve lunch at 12:30 am, as opposed to 2 pm if I got up at my usual weekend time of 9:30 am.

 

Here are some food pics. I'm starting with a plate of stuffing, mashed potatoes, and roasted veggies and turkey.

 

 I love stuffing. I tend to put onions, mushrooms, and celery in it.

I love how crispy the skin ended up on the turkey. Delicious!

If you do observe Easter, I hope that it was peaceful, and that you were able to spend it with folks that you care about and love.

Shakshouka

Today, I made Shakshouka for the first time. It worked out well. It's essentially sauteed onions, red bell peppers, garlic, and spices, with tomatoes added in and simmered. You then add eggs and have them steamed with a lid on.

Here's my plated result:

I am thrilled that it turned out well. It's so easy to make. I'd make it again.

Weekend cooking and trip planing

The weekend is here. Yay!

I'm thinking of making shakshouka this weekend. I have never made it before, but the combination of eggs with tomatoes, onions, garlic, and spices makes me want to give it a try.

I booked my plane ticket to return to the Twin Cities. I'm taking in a couple of hockey games. It'll be a combination of work and time off.

Have a great weekend!

Errands, including package pickups and Whole Foods

On Saturday, I ran a number of errands. I had a few packages to pick up at the post office. I also had an Amazon package to pick up at Whole Foods.

I like Amazon hub lockers. You simply scan your barcode that you get in an e-mail and the locker magically opens up. You take out your package and leave. It's great.

I haven't had a locker door open up and hit my face. That's my worst nightmare.

I then got groceries at Whole Foods. Hey, I'm here anyway. I might as well. I bought four items and they came up to $36.

I always find that I'm broke when I shop here. At least I like how unique the items that I get are.

Fitness reward, incompetence at work, and sushi

I am a part of a corporate fitness program. There is a fitness challenge every quarter. I achieved my challenge for this quarter, which consists of getting $75 towards anything at the online store.

I typically get an electronic gift card. It gets sent to my work e-mail. I had to log in to my work account to fetch the code and use my gift card.

The problem is that I ended up glancing at e-mails from work and I didn't want to. I noticed that one developer decided that since I was away for two days, he had to forward the work to my colleague.

First, his update isn't urgent. It was already assigned to me and I needed more details from him. Second, he sent the update to the wrong person who isn't my backup. She's the incompetent one that decided to forward a question to this developer's boss and take on this task. She didn't tell him that she isn't my backup.

I'll need to sort these issues out when I return. I have already told this developer in the past that this incompetent person isn't my backup. Some folks don't know better.

Anyway, today is Family Day. I hope to go out and pick up some sushi. I just looked at some photos and everything looks good. I shouldn't look at food before I go to bed. I need a snack now!

Long weekend, with a stiff neck and truck protests

It is a long weekend here, with Family Day on Monday. Due to putting in a ridiculous number of extra hours recently, I decided to take this past Thursday and Friday off from work.

I have enjoyed this extended long weekend, except that I tweaked my neck, so it feels stiff and also affects my left shoulder. All this weirdness happened on Friday. The stiffness and pain has subsided a bit, so things are mending

On Saturday, I was supposed to pick up an order of food downtown. The problem was that the police decided to put blockades up to limit the truck protests. Due to these blockades, I couldn't get to this eatery to pick up my food. I spent a good 1.5 hours in traffic and decided to give up. I let the eatery know and the woman was nice to credit my account for a future food purchase. How nice!

I had bought crispy pork belly and vegan coconut jelly desserts. I am a bit bummed about not having them, but I hope to order them again when they are back on the menu.

Driving during rush hour and eating patties

Last night after work, I drove across the city to pick up an order. The drive during rush hour going westbound was a bit crazy. It's never fun having the sun in your face!

Driving back home was far more enjoyable in the dark. It was my usual drive home early two years ago, before this pandemic. It wasn't busy, which was nice.

I bought a dozen beef patties after I had picked up my order. They were so good. They were hot. I ate two of them in my car before heading home.

Thank goodness I bought a dozen. At the rate that Imm consuming them, they won't last long!

Weekend thoughts about cooking

Just like that, the weekend is over.

On Sunday, I made beef burger soup and meatballs with sauce. They both turned out well. I'm happy that I have leftovers that should last for most of this week.

I find cooking enjoyable on Sundays. It's simply sad that weekends tend to be shorter than we'd all like!

Lunar new year is next week. I placed an order for some snacks. I get to pick them up this Friday. Yay!

Weekend and a new cafe

Happy weekend!

My ophthalmologist appointment went well. Instead of going in for a follow-up appointment every six months, it's now every eight months. Yay!

There is a new cafe that has replaced my favourite one next door to my ophthalmologist. It has Japanese-style sodas. I got an orange mango soda and it was so good. I will return.

I also got a chocolate croissant. This place is extremely generous with the chocolate filling. Yum!

Weekend and food

It's the weekend. Finally!

Last night, I pre-ordered some chicken pot pie samosas. They sound as yummy as I'm sure they taste. I also pre-ordered some lunch at the same store.

Here's hoping that my turkey-stuffing shopping goes well later on today.

Thanksgiving weekend

It's Thanksgiving weekend coming up. I got the vegetable part of my shopping list done on Wednesday. I have the turkey and stuffing to get on the weekend, and I'm all set to go.

I am looking forward to the longer weekend. I like making Thanksgiving dinner. I also love leftovers.

Happy Friday! I'm so glad that there's one more workday to go.

Rummy bears

The other night, I made rummy bears. Yep, they are gummy bears soaked in rum.

 

My friend noticed my gummy bears loaded tea. It had a few gummies in it. She gave me her recipe to make rummy bears:

1. Place gummy bears in an air-tight container.
2. Fill the container with your favourite rum (I used Cruzan coconut rum) such that it barely covers the gummies and stir.
3. Let them soak overnight.
4. Take them out of the boozy solution to dry and bounce back to gummy form.
5. Eat!

They had full coconut rum and fruit flavours. So good! I'm sure that they'd taste good with vodka, too.

My gummies were lower in sugar. They worked out nicely!

Keep out of reach of children, if they last that long... haha!

Crepes and an iced latte

After work today, I went to get some crepes for dinner.

I had the crepe monsieur with ham for my main course:

For dessert, I got a Nutella crepe with sliced strawberries and bananas:

Both crepes were yummy. I also got an iced salted caramel caffe latte. I'm not a regular coffee drinker, but this espresso drink was fantastic!

Mondays should always be crepe days.

Wine, Pusheen, and joy

Last night, I went out to pick up a couple of bottles of wine that were a perk. I had the nicest chat with the woman who owns the store.

I then went to a mall close by and spent more time that I had anticipated looking at Pusheen and other plushies. I was in heaven. There was so much joy!

I am looking forward to drinking the wine. I was told that the white can be consumed immediately. The red wine will be even better in a couple of months.

Sushi win

On Tuesday, I received a pleasant surprise. I had entered my name into a draw for a chance to win one of ten sushi trays. I won a medium tray of sushi, which consists of sixty pieces of yumminess. Woo hoo!

I am thrilled and am looking forward to trying this eatery's sushi. I have never been to this place. It's a lot of sushi!

Errands and a street market full of food trucks

Yesterday, I ran my usual Wednesday errands much earlier in the day. I started just before noon and ended up staying out later, returning home at around 4:30 pm. It's one of the perks of being on vacation.

We have a couple of street markets in the greater Toronto area where you can order takeout from various food trucks. One is next door to me in Richmond Hill. They were set up during the pandemic in mall parking lots because you couldn't go into a food court or hall.

It has taken me over a year to drop by. I loved it. I ended up getting a mac and cheese steak on a potato bun. It was so decadent and delicious. 

I should visit this place more often.

Dinner at a patio

I hit a patio for dinner with my friend last night. It was safe and the experience was great.

My friend got a messy fish sammie with fries. I got a roasted mushroom sirloin with veggies and a garden salad. Delicious!

It's nice that businesses are slowly reopening again and that folks are supporting them. 

Meeting up with my colleague for cheese tarts and bubble tea

I had a food perk to pick up on Saturday afternoon. I then met up with my former intern who is now my colleague.

We have been trying to get an application to work on his laptop. Our IT group sucks. We told them right off the bat that it was a profile issue. Well, they finally got around to resetting his profile. Everything works. Finally! We were both elated on Friday, but also annoyed at how incompetent this IT group is.

Anyway, he treated me to bubble tea. It was so thoughtful of him. He placed the order and I went to fetch it, as it was on my way from the food perk place and I didn't mind fetching the order. I wanted to split my food perk with him (I got four Japanese cheese tarts) because they are so good.

He loved the two tarts that I had given him. He loved them so much that he devoured them without taking a photo. Luckily, he saw me take a photo of all four before I handed two to him that I simply texted him my photo.

The bubble tea was amazing. I'm so glad that he recommended this place. I got this blue Curacao soda with small bits of pineapple. It was so refreshing and delicious.

We hadn't seen each other since last August. We see each other on a weekly meeting through video, but it's really not the same. It was great seeing and talking to him briefly yesterday afternoon.