Lemon-Blueberry Streusel Muffins

I had a bit of time to myself tonight and decided I wanted to get cooking/baking again! It's been WAY too long since I've created something with my 2 little hands!
I was looking through my Pinterest Sweet Treats board, and found a recipe where I had basically everything on hand.
So without further ado, Lemon-Blueberry Streusel Muffins from the Joy of Baking!

And I may or may not have already had 2 of these tonight! They're REALLY good.

Make sure you go to the original source to check out the recipe!

When I was a teenager and even approaching my early 20's (who am I kidding, I'm still in my early 20's!) I thought there was nothing better than a good old fashioned McDonald's Cheeseburger with a side of fries! I ate junk food often and enjoyed every bit of it! However my heart and my waistline probably didn't like that much.
Ever since I found a good group of blogs in the blogging community, I started to look at food a hell of a lot differently. I started discovering that cooking food with unique ingredients was a lot better than buying it from a fast food joint. I think I got tempted from all the beautiful food photography I'm constantly exposed to.
Anyway, from pesto to fresh parmesan to sun dried tomatoes... there are so many different ingredients you can use to spice up a simple dish and the finished product is always much more satisfying than a cheeseburger from McDonald's! And I think my health likes that much better too.
Don't get me wrong, I still love ordering a pizza on a Friday night or picking up a cheeseburger as a treat once in a very blue moon, but 90% of the time, I'd prefer to go to the grocery store and cook up a storm in my own kitchen!
It tastes better and it feels better afterwards to not be collapsing on the couch from carb-overload!
And that's how I feel about that!

Salmon

I'm sort of new to the whole seafood thing but over the past couple months, I've started to really enjoy lobster and even crab!
I've tried Salmon in the past but I always found it very fishy tasting so I turned up my nose to any offerings.
But on Sunday, I ate dinner at John's house and his parents barbecued a herb and wine Salmon and I tried a bit... and holy man was it ever delicious! I didn't taste any fishyness at all!
So last night, I decided that after yoga (and a really bad back strain.. ugh) I was going to bake salmon! And I did.. with dill and lemon.. and I think it turned out pretty good!
I had to mix it in with brown rice though because on it's own, I sort of felt like I was drinking "fish water". That's just how it seemed, okay?! haha.
I'm going to try one more method maybe next week and that's to put maple syrup on it. It might mask the fishy flavour.. but if not.. I'm going to stick to keepin' it on the Barbie! :)
And I forgot to take any pictures because I was too hungry.. but you would've liked the look of it, I promise!

Florida

Long time, no talk!
*crickets*
haha.
I went to Florida with my family for 10 days and I've never seen a more beautiful state. We stayed in Kissimmee, spent a LOT of time in Orlando, drove through Tampa and went to Clearwater Beach!
It really was perfect and I can't wait to go back but next time, with my hunny!
Here's a few of my favorite photos from the trip!

I'm getting really nostalgic while looking at these! Especially the Hogwarts pictures. Man, these parks really are the definition of magic.

Sunny Florida

I don't think I'll be posting any recipes anytime soon (not that I really was anyway. Life is BUSY over here), but that's because Saturday morning at 5 AM I'll be heading off to the Sunshine State, Florida!!
Hopefully when I come back I'll have lots of fun drink recipes and restaurant reviews to share!
I'm so excited and am already in full blown vacation mood that I can't seem to focus on anything else!
At least tomorrow is a holiday!

 Disney World!

Clearwater Beach!!!

Quiet Days

On February 5th, my Grandma died. We were extremely close but her health had been declining for years, so it wasn't too surprising, but still hard none the less.
Anyway, we didn't have a funeral for her... but Saturday morning we had a "Celebration of Life" for her which was nice.
There were so many people who gathered together in honour of her and it was actually quite emotional.
What mattered though to me, was that my Grandpa started out really nervous because he's not one for planning big gatherings, but in the end he was super touched that so many people came.

I was supposed to make John's big birthday dinner on Saturday night but after the Celebration, I was feeling worn out and emotional so I opted to make it Sunday instead.

So on Saturday night, this is what my evening looked like:

And the following morning was quiet with coffee, bacon and eggs:



Sometimes after an emotional event, those quiet moments are just what the doctor ordered!

Celebration Dinner: Instagrams

Me and John both found out some great news last Monday about getting new jobs!
He's been looking for a while and finally received a new Marketing job furthering himself in his field which is amazing and I received a position as a part time Weather Anchor... so naturally over the weekend we had to celebrate!

So on Friday night, we went out to the Keg, enjoyed a few glasses of Vino and I had my new (obsession), Lobster Tail! So so good! I always snubbed lobster before because it was sea food and I didn't think I was a fan, but holy moly is it ever good. It sort reminds me of buttered popcorn because when you take a piece of the lobster and dip it in butter, it really just tastes like butter. Haha but it's amazing.

Overall, great date night!

Chicken Dinner

 Raw Potatoes... I liked the way it looked with the olive oil and spices.

This was the dinner I made for John's Birthday. Overall it was a complete success
Buuutt, kind of a funny story with this one...
First of all, there was no "bag" of organs inside the chicken (gross) but I saw a few different "blood clots" ...I'm not sure if it was a liver or what, but I got paranoid and decided to scrape out the junk on the inside. Let's just say my stomach was turning the whole time. I'm not sure how I managed to eat this baby after but I did and it was really good!

Also, when it was in the roasting pan, grease started spitting ever and the oven started smoking!!! I was so scared, I thought I was going to burn the house down! So I called my Step Mom panicking at a loss of what to do and she told me to pour a cup of water in the pan and turn down the heat. So I basically had it cooking for an hour and a half at 375 degrees. And doesn't it look good? It was tender, juicy and FULL of flavour.

Here's what I used:

A whole chicken
Poultry Blend (Basil, Rosemary and Thyme)
2 Garlic Cloves (peeled)
a TON of salt.

I rubbed salt all over the chicken (especially in the breast) as per Camilla's instructions. Then I cut slits in the breast and stuffed in a garlic clove each, a stem of thyme, rosemary and basil.
Pour a cup of water in the roasting pan and then put in your chicken. Cook for around an hour and a half and maybe rotate the pan halfway through if you wish.

For the veggies/potatoes:

Turnips
Parsnips
Carrots
5-10 garlic cloves (preference)
Potatoes
Rosemary
Thyme
Salt
Pepper

Cut up all your veggies to around the same size so they cook evenly.
Peel your garlic cloves and set aside.
Pour your veggies (EXCEPT for the garlic) into a bowl. Drizzle olive oil over the veggies and add salt, pepper, rosemary and thyme.
Mix EVENLY.
When you have about 30 minutes left for the chicken to cook, put the veggies in on a pan in the oven mixing occasionally.
The chicken might be done before the veggies, which in my opinion was a good thing because it allowed time for the chicken to sit on the counter in TINFOIL and cool and soak in all the yummy juices.
Let chicken sit for 10-20 minutes.

When you have about 10-15 minutes left for the veggies, add the garlic cloves in with the veggies.
(the veggies and potatoes will probably take about 45 minutes to make)

This turned out really well for me, hope it works for you!