Trying to experiment with the Vine App

Hi,

Just wanted to post a review of Online Labels. I've tried various sizes of their labels and they are wonderful. I'd highly recommend them to anyone.

Michelle

A Shout Out to Bernard Callebaut Chocolates

Just recently got a lovely selection of chocolates at Chocolaterie Bernard Callebaut.  Their customer service is fantastic and I highly recommend them if you haven't tried them yet. My favourite is dark chocolate and I especially like their plain dark chocolate bars and flower disks.

L to R: Dark Chocolate Floral Shapes, Dark Chocolate Plain Chocolate Bar and Dark Chocolate with Almonds

You can also stay up to date on their new goodies via their Facebook page.

Michelle

I love Matcha Tea

I can't remember when I started liking Matcha Tea but lately I can't get enough of it. I like my sweetened with honey or agave and I use almond or rice milk.

Trying to whip up some bubbles but you need fat in your milk to get bubbles. I find a certain brand of soy milk works well. You don't anything with rice milk and get a few bubbles with almond milk.

A lovely cup of Match Tea ready to drink

The same cup of Matcha Tea but edited on a white background.

Off to enjoy my Matcha.

Michelle

Amathia Soaps is having a Giveaway

Hi,

Amathia Soaps is having a giveaway on her facebook page. Enter here:

https://www.facebook.com/amathiasoapworks

Michelle

Vedge Candle Giveaway

Vedge Candle is having a giveaway on her Facebook page. Check it out and enter.

Our holidays in Portland, Oregon

We came back from holidays a week and a half ago then hit the ground running taking 2 days to prepare for our Saturday and Sunday market. For the Saturday market we make delicious gluten free treats along with our bath and body products and also donated 150 gluten free cupcakes for the 25th year of Saturday's Moss Street Market.  On Monday we crashed and Tuesday worked at our part time job. Today we are celebrating my mom's birthday.


We went to Portland, Oregon for a week and attended a 2 day conference at Storyline with Donald Miller (all about changing the story of your life). Since we were there we decided to add on a bit of holiday and went with a friend from church.


It was a wonderful time to get away and do something completely different. My sister and I had been to Astoria, Cannon Beach, Seaside a few years earlier and had only spent 2 hours in Portland so it was fun to actually explore Portland this time.

Our hotel (Mark Spencer) and the lobby of the famous Ace Hotel 

Our hotel was right in the heart of the city and we faced the main street street. They lobby was so lovely and we loved the 24 hour cappuchino/latte and steamed milk machine, they also offer wine at 5pm every day and tea with cookies at 3pm.

The beautiful Nob Hill District (we all loved it)

We all loved this area and the shops were wonderful. This is a must see area of town.

Portland Saturday/Sunday Market (we couldn't believe how big this market was and it seemed endless)
This was a huge market and it runs Saturday and Sunday. We've never been to a market this large before. Prices were not cheap though even though there is no sales tax.

Pearl District, Voodoo Doughnuts and Salt and Straw ice cream (our favourite)

The Pearl District is where our hotel was located and also where the conference was held.  Voodoo Doughnuts had a massive line up and it's always like that. We waited 30 minutes and I didn't have one as they don't have a gluten free option. My friend and sister tried them and weren't that impressed, apparently we have better doughnuts in Victoria. Salt and Straw was just amazing and we visited both locations (once in the Nob Hill District and also the Alberta District). They have the most amazing flavours. The Sea Salt with Caramel Ribbons was mine and my sister's favourite.

Cannon Beach

What a gorgeous location and it was our second time visiting. It's just beautiful and the shops are wonderful. We got some treats at Bruce's Candy Kitchen and I was so happy they had gluten free treats.  For those who are local Cannon Beach is similar to Long Beach

Tula's Bakery (Albert District), Stumptown Coffee, Powell's Books, Storyline 2012 PDX with Donald Miller

We never made it to Tula's Bakery but saw it on the way back from our stop at Salt and Straw's Alberta district location (it's all gluten free though), Stumptown Coffee was good but not the best I've had (I ordered a half caf latte with soy milk and Vanilla flavouring).  Discovery Coffee here in Victoria is better in my opinion. Powell's Books was right near our hotel and we loved it. They had books on every subject. I took a photo of E.E. Cummings poetry next to Emily Dickinson's poems.  The Storyline Conference in Portland was great but I'm still trying to absorb it all. There was a lot of information crammed into a 2 day period.

Pizzicato was another great place as they had a gluten free crust option. It was amazing pizza. Portland was a very friendly city and we all enjoyed our time there.

Michelle

He has Risen, Happy Easter

Good Morning, Had a wonderful time at the sunrise service at 6am and partook of the coffee. Then had a lovely walk along the ocean.

Front of handout

Back

The view from where we stood.

Hope you are all having a wonderful blessed Easter.

:) M.

Gluten Free Goodies

Well you know how much I love gluten free goodies. We sell our Gluten free baking at our Saturday market and our once a month Wednesday market.  It's been awhile since I posted so to make it up to you I've included lots of photos.

Here are some fun gluten free things I've made lately:

Gluten Free Sponge cake I made for my mom

My sister surprised me with a gluten free breakfast one morning

Gluten & Dairy Free Brownies

Gluten Free Brioche

Roasted red peppers

Gluten Free Queen Elizabeth Cake my mom made (the top has a coconut glaze that is amazing)

Gluten and Dairy Free Chocolate Chip Cookies

A sampling of our gluten free market offerings (it changes all the time) from left to right:  Gluten Dairy and nut free chocolate chip cookies, Gluten, Dairy and Nut free Victoria Tea Cake with jam in the middle, Gluten free & Vegan (no dairy, soy, eggs or nuts) Apple Cinnamon muffins

Another market baking shot (from left to right:  Gluten, Dairy, Egg, Soy & Nut free homemade marshmellows (Skor, plain, chocolate or coconut), Gluten, Dairy & Nut free Chocolate Chip Cookies

Gluten Free Cinnamon/Sugar Baked Donuts (these contain on dairy, soy, nuts or eggs)

Gluten Free Chocolate Baked Donuts (no dairy, soy, nuts or eggs)

That's all for now but I'm sure I'll have more exciting tidbits to share with you.

Michelle

Orange Festival in France

A friend sent this to me and  thought it was pretty neat.

It's called the Festival Citrusov, located in the South of France.

I wonder how many hours it takes to do one of these.  I'd love to see it in person some day.

Michelle

This is a great video

This is a great video showing a teenage girl doing the right thing.

I can't for the life of me get it to embed even though I've done this before.

Click HERE.

Yummy Food Inspirations

Hello,

Thought I'd post some of my latest food creations. This is a lovely lunch my sister made for me the other day (vegetable soup, with hummus and crackers):

My delicious lunch

Next up is my mom's divine gluten free marshmellows (I'll be making the next batch very soon). These did not last very long:

Gluten Free Marshmellow

The outside is dipped in Callebaut cocoa and the flavour is coffee/maple. These were so divine tasting.

Last up is a gluten free fruit tart. We are selling our gluten free baking at Market Square in a few weeks and are experimenting to find the perfect crust. Of course they have to be eaten afterwards so I was happy to oblige.

Gluten Free & Vegan Fruit Tart

This was delicious and I can't wait for round two.

Next up will be marshmellows, gluten free bread and whatever else stirs my fancy.

Michelle

My latest food creations

Well I'm continuing with my healthy eating and this is the start of month four for me. I've come up with so many tips to stay healthy but I do have days when it is so difficult and I'm so tempted to go back to old unhealthy patterns but I usually have a few tricks up my sleeve to overcome temptation. I either
a) get busy and do something to take my mind of the temptation b) look at my food journal and see how far I've come and how long I've been eating well c) let the unhealthy temptation linger for a bit and whine to myself that I can't give in which is futile and happens less rarely these days d) whine to my sister to motivate me and e) eat something healthy if I'm really hungry and it's not just a craving.

My sister and I are always experimenting with gluten free as we sell gluten free baking at our local market along with bath and beauty products. We are always trying to come up with ideas for lower calorie gluten free food.

Here is a pizza we had a few weeks ago:

Gluten Free Pizza with mushrooms, broccoli and peppers

The cheese we used is dairy and soy free as well and one of our secret ingredients. If memory serves correct this one is about 224 calories per slice.

Here is the newest pizza we had this past week-end:

Gluten Free Pizza with broccoli, onions, peppers and cheese

This one has even fewer calories and comes in at around 137.5 calories per slice and it was so divine and light. I didn't feel sick afterwards like I do with traditional pizza.

Here is one of my favourite breakfasts (it's egg white with soy and dairy free cheese along with cafe lib (caffine alternative) or sometimes a hot cocoa which is my weakness.

Egg white with cheese and Cafe Lib

I find this breakfast filling due to the protein in the egg whites. It's hard for me not to have a hot drink in the morning and I love Caf Lib (it's my favourite out of all the caffine alternatives I've tried) and use my milk frother to whip up my soy milk and then add flavouring. The hot drink varies as I sometimes have hot cocoa (my favourite but I'm allergic to it so I have it in moderation) and on rare occasions coffee.

My sister and I decided to surprise my mom with a lovely custom blend of flowers we chose.

Beautiful Flowers

We had fun choosing the colours and and greenery. My mom loved them.

I'm sure I'll have more creations to show you as I can't get enough of experimenting.

Michelle