A cake for the BF

The BF turned 26 yesterday! When I asked him what kind of cake he wanted he said a mirror cake. Unfortunetly it is mid January and fruits just aren't the best in January. So instead I made a tuxedo cake! 

Tuxedo cake is a layered cake with white and dark chocolate mouse in between the layers. You can see a traditional tuxedo cake and find the recipe Click HERE
  
I followede the recipe indicated above with a few modifications...

1. I used a devils cake box mix because I was lazy.
2. I also baked the cake in a 6" pan and that made the assembly part a bit different...

I finished the cale by covering the sides with chocolate bark! And i used a non edible ribbon to keep the chocolate from falling off while sitting in the fridge waiting to get eaten.

I know this doesn't really go with my resolution of eating healthier but the cake was delicious and worth the hours of work!

And now I'll go back to eating healthier...

Till next time,
Netlycka 

Healthy Every Week Challenge: eat breakfast every day

I'm participating in an other challenge hosted by Food Network Healthy Eats. See details here: http://www.foodnetwork.com/healthy-every-week/package/index.html


This week the challenge was to eat breakfast everyday.


My usual breakfast is a cup of coffee a few hours after I'm awake or some fast food egg sandwich cause coworkers are taking a break and going to timhortons for a mid morning break...

This week I had cereals on most days and an apple on the days where I didn't have time for cereals.

Today, I'm currently enjoying a nice bowl of oat meal while I try to think of ways to eat more whole grains (next week's challenge)... The BF does not eat whole grains at all, so this will be hard! He even refuses to eat the amazing whole wheat waffles my mom makes! Even if he said they where really good before I told him they where made with whole wheat flour.

If you have any hints on how to get someone who refuses to even give whole grains a chance let me know!

Have a great day!
Netlycka 


******** update *******


Check out other blogers who are participating in this challenge:


Picky Eater Blog: Chocolate Brownie Oatmeal
 Family Fresh Cooking: Apple Cinnamon Baked Oatmeal
 Healthy Eating Starts at Home: Eating Breakfast Daily
 Carlene's Figments: Bits of Nutrition: Eat Breakfast Daily and Avoid Common Excuses
 Simple Food, Healthy Life: Week 1 Comes to a Close + Healthy Breakfast Recipes
 JBR Nutrition: Be a Breakfast Eater
 Ramblings of a Pittsburgh Dad: Healthy Every Week Challenge, Week 1
 Meghan's Kitchen: Ham and Cheddar Hash-brown Bake
 Don't Be (Too) Timid and Squeamish: Maple Macadamia Nut Butter and Back to School Oatmeal
 Eat. Enjoy. Live: Healthy Every Week Challenge Week 1 + a Recipe for Oat-y Pancakes
 City Life Eats: Breakfast Bias
 Boys 'n' Berry: Week 1: Oatmeal
 You Don't Look Sick: Living With Rheumatoid Arthritis: First Week of Healthy Breakfasts
 Deep Thoughts and Amusing Musings: Food Network's January Challenge
 Healthy Kitschy Vegan: Guess What I Ate Last Night? Peanut Butter and Banana Oat Bran Mess
 An Uneducated Palate: Creamy Chevre, Pistachio and Fig Breakfast Sandwich
 Healthy Plates: Avocado Egg Sandwich
 Essentials of Nutrition: The Most Important Meal of the Day
 Pursuit of Healthiness: Healthy Every Week Challenge, Breakfast Edition
 Chick Bike: January Challenge, Week 1
 Nutritious Daily: Breakfast Every Day
 Cookin' in my Kitchen: No-Butter Baked Apples
 Hungry Jenny: Breakfast All the Way + an Easy Granola Recipe

Snacks for lunch

This week I fell into an old habit... Instead of eating 3 large meals per day I ate many snacks or smaller meals. While I love eating smaller meals it's really not practical to bring all those containers to work... It also makes me very grateful to have a dishwasher.


In my lunch box there was:

- Thin wheat crackers.
- White grape jelly
- Chive and herb flavored cheese
- Frosted flakes
- Tortilla chips
- Homemade salsa
- Marbled cheddar
- Grape tomatoes
- Carrots
- Small container(s) of left overs (a little bit of chicken, stew, and lasagna)
- Pudding
- Lemon squares
- Apple
- Pear

I'm glad I had a 1L of milk in the fridge at work it made one less thing to bring. Maybe I should also keep a box of cereal at my desk and crackers... it would make a few less things to bring to work.

I have to admit that I cheated on Thursday, I went out for lunch because someone I work with was leaving for another opportunity. I am sad that she is leaving but glad that she is getting a promotion. She was an amazing boss and I will miss her. I ate some of the snacks during the day and ate the rest of the lunch for dinner.

Good luck for next week,
Netlycka

We’re teaming up with fellow food bloggers to host a Brown-Bag Challenge, a month-long initiative to eat consciously and save money by packing a lunch each weekday instead of eating out. Join us here and share what you're eating on Facebook and Twitter with the hashtag #brownbag.

Short Busy Week

It was a short week with only 3 working days and I'm glad it it was short!

There was so many things happening that I haven't had the chance to relax yet. there was cleaning, cooking food for my lunches, playing with Sunburst, the cat, who was being very demanding because she was left alone for a long weekend. I think she was trying to get revenge for being left alone by trying to kill me by walking in between my feet. she almost succeded a few times ;P. I also had to prepare for my cousin's wedding that is happening today, Saturday.

I made a big batch of vegetable cream soup and cooked some chicken legs. Ate the soup with chicken and cheese on top for lunches every day... with the exception of Friday. Desert was brownies that I made from a box. Snacks included peaches, pears and apples. Friday I had packed the same thing for lunch but the container I used for the soup isn't a container i'll use again... when I opened my lunch box to put the soup in the fridge there was barely any soup left in the container. The brownie was saved by the Ziploc bag and the peach by the plastic container I had put it in so it wouldn't get bruised or crushed. I spent some time cleaning my lunch bag and at lunch I bought a sandwich to replace the soup. I felt so disappointed!

Lesson #1 of the week: Take your time to choose your lunch containers and test them first! Especially if your are going to put liquid in it

I also made some salsa but it was a way too spicy for me so I had to mix in more tomatoes. I visited my mother last night because she had lots of tomatoes in her garden. And the salsa is now extremely delicious now that it's not as spicy! I had a full container 7" X 7" by 2" completely full before I got to my mom's. We added lots of extra tomatoes to make it milder and the container is now half full... probably wouldn't be any thing left if we would not have run out of tortilla chips.

Lesson #2 of the week: Taste food before adding more spicy peppers!

The wedding I'm going to later this evening is one of those fancy types of weddings... Luckily I own a few really nice and pretty dresses that can pass as evening dresses so I didn't have to spend much. I even had a nice evening purse that went well with the dress I choose.

On Thursday I went to the gym at 7:30PM because I have been lazy and not going for a while so I though that trying a yoga class would be good encouragement. I found the class very hard and my abs are still hurting. I don't know if I'll go back to that class. I think I would prefer one of the cardio classes... I just hope I'm not to uncoordinated to participate lol. I'll find out Tomorrow when I try the Zumba class.

Talk to you next time,
Netlycka

We’re teaming up with fellow food bloggers to host a Brown-Bag Challenge, a month-long initiative to eat consciously and save money by packing a lunch each weekday instead of eating out. Join us here and share what you're eating on Facebook and Twitter with the hashtag #brownbag.

The Lazy Dietician: Bringing Your Lunch Could Make You Healthier

The Food Network Dish: Gaby from What's Gaby Cooking's Cowboy Quinoa Salad

Simple, Healthy Life: Zesty Lime Black Bean Soup

Nutritionella: Beating Sandwich Burnout

The Undercover Cook: Southwestern Black Bean Dip

Adventures in My Kitchen: Brown-Bag Challenge vs School Lunches

My Wallet is Fat, Not Me: Split White Lentil Stew (Urad Dal)

Chick Bike: Brown-Bag Challenge, Days 6 and 7

The Garden Ephemerist: The Reluctant Cook

The Undercover Cook: Grilled Shrimp Tacos With Chipotle Cream

The Adirondack Chick: Week 2, Eggplant Rollatini and Unintended Ratatouille

This Imperfect Plot: Brown-Bag Challenge, Day 5

Feeding Philosophers: Brown Baggin' It, Week 2, White Bean and Rosemary Soup

City, Life, Eats: Day 6, Curried Mango Salad and Shabby Sheik Hummus

Brown Girl, Brown Bag: Shelf Life (and a recipe for pantry chickpea salad)

Netlycka's Distracting Confusion: A Short, Busy Week

Healthy Plates: Roasted Tomato and Goat Cheese Spread

Between City Limits: In the Bag

Coupon Chef: Day 5, Ham and Cheese Breakfast Muffin Recipe

Carmen Fitness: Brown-Bag Challenge Day 12

All Girl Cooks: Healthy Eats Brown-Bag Update

Essentials of Nutrition: A Teacher's Lunch

Healthy, Kitschy Vegan: I Swear, I'm Still Alive

I Brown Bag: Healthy Eating Starts at Home

Reve Noir: Brown-Bag Challenge Days 5 and 6

Not Your Church Cookbook: The 10 Commandments of Leftovers

Diary of a Fat Kid: Week 3, Day 1

Coach's Oats: Beneficial Brown-Bag Challenge

Adventures in Everyday: Brown-Bag Challenge

Challenge day 1 & Vacation in Niagara Falls Ontario

The first day of the challenge went pretty well... I had salami, salad and cheese with grapes for desert. I need to bring some snacks or food that is more filling cause I got hungry that day.

Friday I was on my way to Niagara Falls for the weekend. We packed stuff that was left in the fridge so there was a few slices of salami, cheese strings, some veggies, chips, coleslaw with sesame sauce (* Note for next time: This doesn't go very well with the salami *). It defiantly wasn't the most organized lunch but at least the food didn't end up in the compost bin.

I didn't get back home until late evening yesterday. I'm very glad that I wasn't working today because the groceries stores where closed last night and the only thing left in the fridge this morning was one cheese string, enough milk for one bowl of cereal and a moldy pepper...

It's now 4 pm and I'm done with the groceries, cleaning the house and unpacking. I got all kinds of yummy food when I went grocery shopping so hopefully lunches will be great this week.

Take care,
Netlycka

We’re teaming up with fellow food bloggers to host a Brown-Bag Challenge, a month-long initiative to eat consciously and save money by packing a lunch each weekday instead of eating out. Join us here and share what you're eating on Facebook and Twitter with the hashtag #brownbag.

It's been a while & Brow-bag challenge

I spend a lot of time working on the house and I'm still slowly working on the house. Eventually I'll have it done to how I imagine it to become...

On a different note I joined a gym recently. As a result I have also been trying to eat healthier. I feel like Food Network Healthy Eats was reading my mind... They have issue a Brown-Bag Challenge. The challenge is to bring a lunch to work everyday in September. For me this is going to be very challenging since I normally don't bring a lunch to work. Hopefully I'll be able to last through the month :)

It's already been 2 weeks

Moving went well and then i spent the past two weeks unpacking and making Sunburst comfortable...

The first night I was at the house she started exploring everywhere! but a few days after she stopped wanting to get out from under the bed... I had to bribe her out with food and a few days after her being scrared of leaving the bedroom she's sunddenly exploring every where... I really don't know why she decided to hide after being here for a few days.

I currently don't have a space for all my craft stuff... my computer desk is in the basement and the craft room is on the 2nd floor. there is no table near the craft room. I am starting to plan out what is going to go in that room though but I'll paint the room before I fill it up with things :) I'm thinking of getting the supplies i need to paint the room this weekend and next weekend I'll be doing some painting. I'm thinking of a purple-ish gray for the walls.

Anyways I need to go shopping for stuff,
I'll be back later,
Kitty

I hate boxes

I haven't had time to post much in the past little while... I had planed to finish a bunch of projects while waitting to move but then the guirls' craft weekend at the cottage happened and I was volentold to bring a project so i had to go shopping for materials and wright instructions and next thing i know the weekend is over and I have to start packing and storing stuff in boxes...

When everything is unpacked maybe i can post some pictures of the crafts i did during the craft weekend...

Tomorrow I'll be in my new house. I hope Sunburst will like it and that she won't miss the giant castle of boxes that invaded my living room.

talk to you guys soon,

Printer table update #3 or 4?

It's been a while since I last seen my parents and I believe it's been even longer since I last worked on the printer table I've mentioned a few times before.

After a few months of this being set aside for various reasons I finally had the chance to work on it! About two weeks ago I put all the peaces together (top included) and I sanded the rough areas.

Personally I think that it turned out looking awesome! Especially since this is the first wood project I do :D

If I where to take it and compare it to what my little brother has been working on... well...

Yeah... It defiantly isn't as pretty lol I also got a lot of help from my dad and well he didn't need help...  My brother is really talented!

I got more time to work on the table last week. I did more sanding and stained it and i had a little extra time left to put on a first coat of varnish.

My dad had fun taking pictures and my brother helped out with the staining so that it would go a little faster.

Hopefully I'll get some time this week to give it another coat of varnish.

I'm back on track... untill november...

It looks like this blog is yet another project i had put on the side to participate in other activities...
Even if I have been quiet on this blog I have been very busy with other things... I had a few camping trips planned and so did my dad. I also had to take time away from creating things because I started looking for a house. Between visiting mortgage ppl, financial advisors, visiting houses and the usual summer fun, All the projects I had one the go where put on hold. But the search is over :) finaly.

I found the house I wanted and I have a supper good interest rate for the mortgage... now I just have to wait until November 30th to move in...

I already have some plans for the place and projects in mind. Most ideas are about making the place look like the unreal rooms in my head (I've already started making a list of all the things I want to do and it's already extremely long :S ). Anyways I might have to stop posting for a little while in November and December since i'll have to pack up everything I've got in the appartment and then unpack everything but I shoudl have many projects on the go after I'm settled in to the new place ;)

Until then I'll keep working on the printer table and I have a few sewing projects that where also put on hold that I'll be getting back to. After these are done I might start thinking of things that would revolve a little more around things I'll need at the new house... like pillows and paintings and I'm not sure what else... I would like to do another project with my dad once I'm done the table but I don't have the exact sizes of the rooms.

Anyways I'll be back soon with updates.