Challenges of Summer Eating

So far this summer finding something delicious to eat has been a challenge. I am not sure if this a common things but all those main yummy heart dishes seem too winter like. In summer I like to eat lots of fresh cold meals with lots of colour and flavour. So I took to one of my favourite recipes site for some inspiration, www.yummly.com, and sought out the help of my cooking savvy sister.

Minus the grilled chicken...

My sister and I share a favourite healthy restaurant, Chopped Leaf. My sister found a recipe for Black Bean and Corn Salsa, which is the main ingredient in the Chopped Leaf Southwest Salad (my personal favourite), having this recipe pretty much makes my summer! Just add lettuce (or spinach) and grilled chicken and tada a Southwest copy cat salad! 

Delicious Salsa

Black Bean and Corn Salsa

1 cup corn

1 cup black beans

1 cup red bell pepper

Purple onion to taste

1 cup ranch dressing

2 tbsp taco seasoning (I added more seasoning to my desired taste)

The second recipe I found on yummly.com...its a combination of a cucumber tomato salad and a greek salad. I have always loved feta cheese which brought me to greek salads, but it turns out I will never be able to wrap my head around why people like olives and for the longest time tomatoes were on my don't like list too. Thankfully tomatoes started to taste good and cucumbers have always been a favourite...so this salad is just perfect for my summer! Like, filling and feta filled lol

Cucumber Tomato Salad

2 diced tomatoes

2 cucumbers (diced)

1 cup green peppers  (diced, any colour of pepper works)

1 cup onion (diced)

2 tbsp sugar substitute (I used agave nectar)

Make it Greek....

Just add Feta Cheese and Krafts Greek salad dressing! 

FETA FETA FETA!!!

 

Challenges of Getting an Education

Dear Life, 

You are the thorn in my side, the ache in my neck, the pain in my @$$! Somedays I loathe you. 

When you get out of high school the first question people ask is what you plan on going to school for...what do you plan on doing for the rest of your life. A daunting question, to be honest, no one can truly answer. Life throws you curve balls and tests your determination and dashes your hopes at every corner. But those who continue to preserve and push through for the dream they clung to in the dark days of final exams come out stronger and more rounded individuals whether it be in their "dream" career or their actual passion. 

Since I graduated from high school 3 years ago I have been struggling to come up with an answer to that question myself. My post secondary journey started with a stint in Engineering, I prided myself on being a math and physics nerd in high school (two of my favourite subjects, possibly because they were taught by my two favourite teachers!) so this career path seemed like the perfect direction to head in. However, after a year of struggling to keep up after the easy no study necessary time in high school I felt defeated. I realized I did not want to continue on this depressing University career any longer, gave up and failed out. The one thing that first year taught me was your mental health is much more important than any education you'll ever receive. You have to remember to take time to be with family and friends and focus on the things that make you happy, because a life focused all on education is not healthy at all. Another thing that year taught me was the importance of time management. TV, Facebook, Pinterest and other sites are not your friends, self control is the only way to avoid those....unless you have a MAC then you can download and app that locks you out of those site for a designated time period that can't be altered once set! 

Resilience....After failing out of Engineering I took my mandatory year off before being able to apply back for school, which I had to take a year of general arts to bump up my Grade Point Average (GPA) and be able to get into a degree program. I felt like maybe I would enjoy nursing...so off I went taking nursing courses and a few electives to get a feel for my future career path. Microbiology proved to be the right kind of challenging and interesting I was looking for, as gross as it sounds, disease are very neat to study! After an amazing year of self discovery (as lame as that sounds) and hard work to boost my GPA over double I applied for nursing. 

Four Months Later....I still haven't received word about my application status besides being considered so I decide to take action and call the admissions office and inquire about it. The worst idea ever, a part of me was relieved to finally know and be able to assess and plan the next step in my life but the other part of my was crushed. Once again I had been rejected from something, a feeling so foreign I had no idea how to process. I am sure this is a common feeling people have of wanting to be accepted and given choices, but it truly crushed a part of me to find out "I wasn't good enough", "I wasn't smart enough" or all those other degrading thoughts that run through your head. Truth be told I was above the entrance average but with the mass volume of applications I wasn't competitive enough. 

ACTION...I had my moment of sadness and completed melted down. But there is a time for feeling sorry for yourself and a time to take action. I choose to get up from my ice cream coma and start planning the next step in my life. Just working and moving out with my perfect little pup C was a very tempting option, but call me stubborn, not getting the option to take nursing was like a thorn in my side. A constant reminder of something I couldn't do (I hate being told what I can't do), so I reapplied for a different University for the following semester and am waiting to hear the news. Fingers crossed I get to make my own decisions in life. The goal till I find out...soul searching. Trying to figure out if this career is one I am meant to pursue or if these road blocks are a "gentle" push not to.

-S<3

Bathing Suit Challenge

The Challenge started out as not being able to find enough bathing suits I liked to take with me for my week in Mexico with my Bestie (A). But in the end of my shopping excursion I realized for 7 days in Mexico I have 10+ bathing suits. Of course I'll find time to wear them all but I thought that would be the hard part and picking out a few summer dresses to round out my wardrobe would be easy..pfft! I haven't found a single one yet! :( Shorts, tank tops and lots of time in a bikini it is!

A sparkly bathing suit...a mandatory purchase to wear on my birthday! I'll be turning 21 in Mexico, swimming with the dolphins and getting a very nice lobster tan lol Still on the agenda before the week is up a fun and attention grabbing birthday dress! Gotta look great while ringing in my 21st!!

Italian Date Night

I have always wanted to take a cooking class with my boyfriend (C). With Fettucini Alfredo being the key to my heart an Italian themed class sounded ideal, but when I went looking for a decent cooking class to take I realized it wasn't a spur of the moment date idea, apparently these things are booked up months in advance and not the cheapest idea around! Since I am a University student and supposed to be saving during my summer off from school it seems frivolous to spend excessive amounts of money on that so we had our own little cooking class date night at home :) The menu consisted of Gnocchi with pesto, Grilled Caesar salad and Italian soda's (Recipe or San Pelligrino), a meal that was meant to resemble my favourite meal from one of my favourite Italian restaurants in town, Vivo.

So Many Little Pieces!

The night started off fantastic with easily finding a good recipe...special thanks to 101 cookbooks, their recipes are practically foolproof...making a grocery list and setting out to the grocery store. I don't know about anyone else but I love grocery shopping with my man, we often end up racing grocery carts, riding on them like little kids, or accidentally running over his toes a few times (Sorry C!). Then home it was to start preparing our delicious supper. Things got a little hairy in the kitchen...Gnocchi is a challenge to learn from a recipe and a youtube video or two and it is very time consuming...making all the little individual pieces! But we persevered and things turned out not too bad. (TIP: go easy on the flour)

The grilled caesar salad was delicious to me but a little bit disappointing, since it was raining we tried it on the George Foreman grill. It may have worked but it just wasn't the same :( It got wilted way faster than it got grill marks. Nothing a little parmesan and caesar dressing can't disguise or cure though, so I can't complain...too much anyways. But a night spend with C is a night well spent to me :) Can't wait to try another night of cooking with him, I seemed to have agreed to try a seafood night though *bleh. Seafood and I are not friends, its just so...yucky smelling :( But it wouldn't being living if I didn't try everything at least once! Fingers crossed that one goes well!!!! 

Finished products...Mmmm

May's Lessons

If there is one thing the month of May taught me it was that doing some daily for 30 days is hard and with life its almost impossible. Especially when it isn't simply posting your thoughts of random facts on a blog but actually completing a task. The goal of this month was to get out of my rut and try something new and stick to a goal, but in the process of doing that I did some self discovery of another type. I don't like having to do something every day! I don't like feeling pressured into completing a task and when overwhelmed with life and work I simply start to shut down. So in the middle of May I chose to end my challenge (my stomach has thanked me) and take some much needed R&R instead. I became addicted to the Vampire Diaries...any fans can understand that allure...I mean Damon, how can you not fall for his bad guy act! I drank an excessive amount of tea (David's tea is my addiction of choice) and truly did nothing.

So for the month of June I have decided not to force a daily post or weekly blog update but an unplanned posting of whatever life throws my way...no point in boring you with daily drama for no reason :) But expect frequent updates of the fun adventures I am sure to take with my amazing boyfriend, ridiculous dog (she's a cute 'little' 3yr old black lab border collie), my best friend and family! the most memorable for the month being my birthday!!! Stay tuned for my trip to Mexico with my best friend at the end of the month for my 21st birthday! Getting in shape for that bikini clad trip is definitely a priority this month...but my brother did just pick up kettle bells for me so we shall see how that plays out. I have heard it is quite intense, any avid kettle bells enthusiasts wanting to share some tips on proper technique?

Everyday is a new day and everyday I plan on living to the fullest, so back to my Daydreamer tea and Vampire Diaries for a perfect end to a very busy month! :)