Baking Edition: Double Chocolate Chip Cookies

Last week's baking edition was Double Chocolate Chip Cookies, inspired by Beantown Baker. I often use her recipes as they feel very "home-y" and quite simple. I pretty much used her recipe, found here, with just minor changes based on my personal liking.

 Yummy...

This recipe is supposed to make big cookies but I personally like smaller cookies. You don't feel as guilty eating them lol. Also, they're good for portion control, and just light snacking when you're between meals.

What treats do you like eating?

♥B

May the Fourth be with you...

Happy Friday everyone! This has been yet another busy week, swamped with work, family stuff and just the "little things" like errands and chores. It's unbelievable how much time doing dishes, laundry and just general cleaning actually takes! Among the haste, Hubs always manages to make food that looks like it belongs in a food magazine. I'll talk between the pictures ;)

Lamb in a red wine reduction sauce

Roasted garlic and herb potatoes

Sauteed vegetables on the side

Over here in my part of the world, the weather has increasingly become warmer and nothing gets me more excited than summer. Why? Because that means it's camping season! Hubs and I loooove going camping and barbecuing when it's warm. We find excitement in preparing all the food and bringing our trust portable grill out with our daughter to enjoy the weather. I predict this summer will be no different!!

I think it's amazing that Hubs has the skills to make food of such variety, both in textures and tastes. I'm totally opposite when it comes to cooking since I feel like such a novice in the kitchen/cooking department. BAKING HOWEVER... That's more my neck of the woods. We sure can make a great feast pairing our cooking and baking skills together :)

Chicken Hash Open Face Sandwich

This open face sandwich is something I totally love for brunch (and of course Hubs knows that hehee). It's sauteed chicken, potato, onion and carrot dredged in this delicious mushroom gravy over a crispy piece of toast. Doesn't that sound delicious? Well, it tastes better than it looks!

If you would like recipes for any of these, please feel free to email me at belleplusmel@gmail.com. I tend not to write out the recipes as often anymore on the blog post because it comes out very long. If you have questions about substituting any ingredients, feel free to ask as well! I often find that when you're recipe researching, you are almost always guaranteed to be missing one or two ingredients... At least I do. I like to look for recipes based on what I've already bought on my weekly grocery trip so I do end up substituting ingredients in most recipes.

Anyway, I hope within your busy schedules, you're able to find some time to cook yourself a good and hearty meal at least once a week (or have someone do it!).

 

♥B

Four Hundred and Twenty

I'm a week late in posting this but happy 420 (for those who celebrate it!). The joke of this post title came from when we heard someone ask what "four hundred and twenty" was haha! For those who aren't sure what 420 is, it's basically a day where stoners get together and smoke marijuana in public. This year was no different, and yes, law enforcement is always there. However, they respect everyone's rights to enjoy the day and instead, they direct traffic and make sure everyone is safe. We happen to live in a very pot-friendly city so the crowd was much larger than usual. Anyway, not much to say but tons of pictures to post haha. Enjoy!

 People... EVERYWHERE.

 No, seriously. There were people everywhere.

 What I find interesting is the variety of people that attend this "festival".

The asian guy right in front doesn't quite look like he belongs here, but he sure was having a blast.

 Some custom-made glass pieces (bongs and pipes)

More glass pieces (bongs and pipes)

 And even more glass pieces...

There were over 20+ booths selling paraphernalia, weed edibles and just weed in general.

Actually, random people were selling their own stash of stuff too.

 LOL, this made me laugh.

This is a booth set up by the Liberal government (one of the political parties in Canada).

Their sign says:

"Legalize Pot and Grow The Economy:

Legalizing marijuana means destroying gangs and saving billions of dollars.

Prohibition fails. Let's create a smarter way."

 As with all festivities, comes music and entertainment.

And.... the crazies......

This 60 year-old man painted in white literally jumped up and down for the whole song.

Not sure what his purpose was either.

 Finally, this was a few seconds right after 4:20PM.

EVERYONE was smoking so there was a visible layer of smoke just hanging above and around us.

Overall, it was an amazing day!

♥B

In the Mail

Just a warning that this post has a lot of words and pictures!! Okay okay, so last month I put an order in online at e.l.f. because they had free shipping and I finally received my package this week! For those who are unaware, e.l.f. (Eyes Lips Face) is a cosmetics and beauty company that sells most of their products online for a ridiculously cheap price. They say they have the ability to charge so low because they don't spend money on advertising. Instead, they use word of mouth. I thought, "their quality must be so cheap and crappy" but I read so many reviews I just had to order.

Contratry to my belief, their products turned out quite well! I ordered this on March 17 and I received it April 17 so I'd say their 2-4 week timeframe listed on their website (for Canada) is quite accurate. The only thing was that shipping wasn't actually free. I still had to pay $8 because I'm in Canada.. They only gave me $6.95 off otherwise shipping would've totalled nearly $15. Additionally, they said that if I spent more than $20, I would be charged some amount because of duties and our taxes. Those also didn't happen. Instead, this was stuffed in my mailbox and I gladly accepted my duty-free package.

I don't intend to do a review in this post because you'd be here reading all week so I'll just talk about them as I use them. Here's what I got and the prices:

Essential Eyelid Primer in Sheer

$1

Essential Brightening Eye Colour Quads in Drama and Butternut

$1 each

Studio Powder Brush

$3

Studio High Definition Powder

$6

Studio Eyebrown Lifter & Filter in Ash/Ivory

Studio Kohl Black Eyeliner

Studio Concealer Pencil & Brush in Light

$3 each

Matte Finisher Clear Polish

Nail Polishes in Coral Dream, Mint Cream and Metal Madness

$2 each

That was my little haul :) I spent a total of $29 which I thought was amazing (and so did Hubs!)
Mel also put in an order around the same time so I can't wait for her to show what she got because she hasn't told me yet - she wanted to leave me in suspense :P

Hope you guys enjoy your weekend and happy 4/20 to those who celebrate it, haha.

♥B

Food!!

Hubs had an extra day off this week so he decided to spoil me with a nice dinner. I only take credit for slicing the potatoes though. He literally made everything else. So what was for dinner, you ask? Here it comes... *drum rolls*

Bacon Wrapped Stuffed Chicken with Scalloped Potatoes!  

The Preparation

diced veggies, scalloped potatoes, stuffing, and bacon wrapping

The Finished Product

And of course, a peek inside :)

 

♥B

Waking Up in Heaven

Happy Friday the 13th!

This is the crazy view I woke up to this morning:

View from the front of my balcony

View from the side of my balcony

I woke up thinking, "Omg, did I die and go to heaven?" Clearly not but great scenery nonetheless!

And I know, I've been gone for over a week hehe. Just a little update though. Hubs and I spent all Easter/Good Friday long weekend buying home-related stuff. We finally got our couches on Sunday and boy were they worth it. We also fixed up our daughter's room and the kitchen (with an added pantry)! Home decorating is AWESOME. I will do another post on that soon once we're done decorating! Thanks to the recent postings of Elle&Ish, Hubs and I are looking forward to lots of DIY ideas and thrift shopping for the rest of our home decor stuff. Check out her blog for ideas and tips on saving money yet making your space look stylish :)

Included in our upcoming projects: staining our kitchen table to a darker espresso wood colour, DIY picture frames, kitchen pots/pans hanger, DIY dry-erase glass board, and staining our daughter's crib. I have so much more ideas cranking in my head but those are the top priorities for now!

Work has been ever so busy. It's one of the busiest time of the year. Well, the whole year is actually quite full but I'd say spring is just insane for us. I had the opportunity to attend a very inspirational event on Tuesday: an awards ceremony for women of distinction. I listened to their struggles and successes and it just really inspired me to work hard. It reminded me not to take things for granted and to truly appreciate the simple things in life.

So after coming home from a long day of work , I opened the fridge and was surprised with this:

I already had a feeling what was inside heheheh

*DRUM ROLLLLL*

CALIFORNIA ROLLS!!!

Hubs knows me so well :)

I inhaled this in seconds.

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

♥B

Pre/Post Workout

PRE

POST

(PRE) My staple sandwich & glass of OJ - deconstructed as follows: oat and honey bread, spicy hummus, honey mustard, spring mix greens, ham, smoked turkey, avocado, oat and honey bread.  

(POST) My play on Belle's mushroom sage gravy grilled chicken - Garlic, mushroom & onion gravy SMOTHERED chicken with watercress and wild rice

I love my protein and I love it even more after a great workout. This meal definitely hit the spot and has earned a spot in my book of recipes! Maybe Belle or I will post a recipe as soon as we aren't lazy and enjoying our food too much. :)

♥M

Chill Day

Let's try less words, more pictures!

Omlette that hubs made with red pepper, mushroms, asparagus and parsley

Our sushi lunch when we got lazy hehe

Chicken Teriyaki

Shrimp and Yam Tempura Roll 

California Roll

Red Dragon Roll

Hope everyone's having a good weekend!

♥B

Baking Edition: Lemon Poppy Seed Loaf

I've been having quite a rough time recently, and have pushed my weekly baking aside. Today sort of pushed me over the edge so I just set time aside for myself for some baking therapy hehe. I won't go into detail or even a smidgen of what's been happening because then I feel like I'd just be spreading the negativity. Instead... why don't I just show you my baked goods? =D

Today, I delved into a classic...

Lemon Poppy Seed Loaf!

Hubs loves this bread and he bought the necessary ingredients for me on our last grocery trip. How sweet! This turned out soooooo good. The loaf itself is buttery, but with the glaze on top, it just made it sweeter and even more lemony lol. I figured I wouldn't post the recipe in this post since I got it directly here off of JoyofBaking. I seriously love this woman for trying baked goods. She has a bible of recipes on her website showcasing over 100 different things that you can try. I tend to modify recipes to my liking but this Lemon Poppy Seed Loaf did not need any modification.

 Top of the loaf, with lemon sugar glaze :)

Look at the beautiful flecks of black and yellow from the poppy seed and lemon zest

YUMMMM.

As always, I hope you guys will try this recipe one day. The baking process may not cheer you up a much as it did for me, but eating it sure will. Have a great weekend!

Just one more picture... hehe.

♥B

Outs and Abouts

HELLO! I've neglected this blog for way too long due to a sudden busybusybusy schedule. I've still been adjusting to life having recently graduated and it isn't easy..  Nonetheless, here's a sneak peak at what I've been up to.

A simple salad for a busy week, playing with my food, & my favourite spider roll

Fishtail braid, H&M rings, & fooling around with the cam

My animal friends ♥ & an adorable note

A trip to the park on a sunny day! What's better than being a child again?

Thank God it's the weekend. Have a great one!

♥M

Spring-ing

Wow it's been a while since we both updated! As you can imagine, we're busy enjoying the spring weather outdoors. I went out with the family today and it seriously felt like summer already. Anyway, Saturdays mean prepping food for the week - things like baking, or pre-cooking and freezing food. Today it means CHICKEN STOCK/BROTH! If I'm lazy, I tend to resort to chicken cubes which are in fact high in sodium and probably a bunch of other things that aren't necessary to one's body. Instead, I make my own! It's a nutritious alternative to store-bought stock or broth because you control what goes into the stock.

Ingredients: fresh parsley, celery, carrots, onion, tomato, garlic and raw (bone-in) chicken

That's all. You literally put all that in one pot and cover it with cold water. Let it boil and simmer for at least 4 hours so that all the ingredients can really flavour the water.

No, seriously... Just throw it all in one pot. It's so easy you could probably do this blindfolded.

So hopefully, it'll inspire you guys to make your own chicken stock as it really is healthier. If you're a vegetarian, you can just omit the chicken and you get vegetable stock!

* * *

What else to do while you wait for chicken stock to boil for a few hours?

Finger paint!

 Essie - Chinchilly (3 coats)

Happy Saturday everyone!

♥B