Monthly Archives: November 2014

Saturday morning and it’s a winter wonderland

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I love Saturday morning workouts, there’s no rush, the day seems endless ahead.  15 minutes bike ride with 2 – 2 minute sprints.  Lots of physical work ahead around the house and I love it after a week of sitting at my desk.  I counted my workouts this year and I’m up to 134.

Friday is always an eating and drinking day with lunch and dinner often a challenge. Yesterday I made grilled cheese on Pure Breads Old Stumpie Rye with grated 2 year old PEI cheddar and Maasdam.  The George Foreman grill at work is one of our most useful appliances.

Winedown at The Travel Group can be quite an affair this time of year and this week I had some leftover Hinterland Rose and wanted to see how it had held up for 5 days.  That lead to picking up some Oyama Truffled Duck Breast Salami. Available for a limited time each year, it’s perfect for starting a party with sparkling wine.

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A match made in heaven and the wine held up well with a proper stopper and refrigeration.

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We’re also helping Les Amis du Fromage finish a wheel of Pepper D’Affinois so opened a bottle of Syrah from Vanessa Vineyards by Sandhill.  That was a pretty fine match up too.

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Dinner was curry from Desi Turka so I went hunting for a riesling and found this Orofino 2013 Old Fines . Pale gold colour, heady aroma, mouth watering and enough acid to cut through the curries.  Saved some for a repeat performance.

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I ate about 2,800 calories yesterday.

Friday and I’ve had a great workout week

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Biked for 15 minutes this morning, only 2 sprints but 1 was 2 minutes and the other 1.5 minutes.  Also did some core work and yoga stretches.

Dinner at home was left over ravioli and salad.

We opened a bottle of Sandhill Vanessa Vineyards Merlot.  Nice colour and aroma and lots of fruit.  There’s a half left for tonight and I’m interested to see how it holds up.

I ate 2,100 calories yesterday.

Feeling strong this morning

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15 minute bike this morning with a full body workout.   I can feel my core strengthen.

Dinner last night was at home, leftover winter vegetable pie, possibly even better the second time around.  It was a rainy sad day yesterday.

The Pentage Invictus didn’t suffer from the overnight.

I ate 2,200 calories yesterday.

Wednesday morning rainy day blues

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Light 10 minutes on the bike with some core work and yoga stretches.

Dinner at home last night was one of David’s ravioli casseroles from the freezer and a 1st of the year avocado and pomegranate salad.  One of my favourites David messed with it and added tomatoes and apple.  All wrong.  Grrrrr!  I’ll have to make one for lunch today.

 

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I opened a bottle of Perseus 2008 Invictus for dinner.  A bordeaux blend that we really liked in the tasting room.  The cork was a little bit suspect but the wine was perfect.  We managed to save half for tonight.  Amazing restraint.

Ate 2,200 calories.

Winter Vegetable pie at home for dinner

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Super excellent workout this morning.  15 minute bike with 4, maybe 5 sprints.

Dinner at home, David made an incredible winter vegetable pie with fennel, celeriac it was deeply satisfying and easy to eat, not to make though.  A one dish meal was perfect after the multi dishes of the night before.  We didn’t even suggest a wine.

I ate 2,200 calories.

Millie Moore’s birthday RIP Mom.

Black Hills, Nota Bene 4 year vertical makes for a fun evening

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We started a fun evening with friends with Hinterland Whitecap and chips and since we were all keen to get to the Black Hills Nota Bene 4 year vertical tasting we were at the table pretty quickly.

Through complete mindfullness I managed to eat only 2,700 calories.

15 minutes bike with 4 sprints and a full upper and lower workout.  Nice way to start the day.

The Mexican On Granville is my kind of joint

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No workout this morning but I made up for it with gardening yesterday and getting ready for company tonight.

We went to one of our favourite events last night, Barney Bentall’s Grand Cariboo Opry fundraiser in support of the Potluck Cafe. Held at The Voque, which automatically means eat at The Mexican.  The food is great, the people are great, the margarita’s too.  Nachos are a must and the crispy cheese on the top can be ordered as a stand alone dish cause there’s never enough.  David always has the chili rejjeno and I can convince him to share with a Taco camaron.  I love The Mexican, it’s what I’d call a joint;  clean linoleum floors with chrome chairs, good food fast and a good bar. No one ever rushes you even though there is a queue out the door.  Good manners make you move along at a proper pace.

I was trying all day ato save my calories for last night when David opened a bottle of Le Vieux Pin Equinox Syrah and it was beautiful AND we had a designated driver.  Hallelujah!

I figured I ate about 3,000 calories.

Halloumi at Acorn is a like veggie Fish and Chips and I’m a believer

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Chevre Chaude Factor 5 Yums Up

IMG_4751.JPGDinner at Acorn last night and my new favourite dish in the city is the Halloumi.  3 pieces of deep fried halloumi cheese sit on a potato cake on top of smashed peas with a big smear of minted yogurt.  Magnificent and enough like a chevre chaud to excite me. Fish and chips and chevre chaud salad are among my favourite dishes of all time and this one nods to both.

Friday winedown at The Travel Group featured Pepper Dauphinois from Les Amis du Fromage and Dessert Hills Gamay.

I drank Blue Mountain Brut, a suggestion from our server that I fully appreciated.  (like fish and chips with champagne, a meal I long for) David took his suggestion for a Spanish tempranillo with the mushroom pappardelli which proved to be an excellent combo.

Good workout this morning, 15 minute bike with 4 sprints, light upper and lower.

Ate 2,300 calories yesterday.

The Stable House Bistro is great for pre-theatre and Fairmont Pac Rim serves the best veggie meal

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No workout this morning.  I didn’t get to bed until midnight and don’t have the fortitude to get going with only 5 hours sleep.

We had lunch at a Board of Trade luncheon at the Fairmont Pacific Rim.  Banquet food is usually pretty bad and I always request a vegetarian meal.  The appearance of that “odd” meal is always a little embarrassing and the food ranges from truly ugly to barely edible but yesterday I had the best vegetarian banquet meal ever; rice with bok choy, crisp tofu and an amazing Asian sauce.  Kudos to the Fairmont Pacific Rim.

We were seeing Saint Joan at The Stanley theatre The Stable House Bistro on South Granville was my pick for a new restaurant to try.  A glass of Blue Mountain Brut, some warm olives and nuts arrived quickly and the busy day slipped away by the time the rest of the food arrived.  Mushrooms and Gruyere with onion puree on a tart was perfect.  A very nice piece of salmon on celeriac noodles and puree was topped with crispy barley adding a nice crunch and gremolata vinaigrette gave some zing. Gnocchi with cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, pickled anchovies and Parmesan foam was very good though I don’t think I’d want to eat the whole dish myself.  Nice list of wines by the glass on a chalk board.  I had a Montepulciano,  a lovely red that I probably ordered cause I like saying it.  Happy Friday!

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Calories were also a problem yesterday since we ate out for both lunch and dinner.  I try to keep it to a max of 2,500 but I think I may have gone over a bit yesterday.  It’s so hard to count when you don’t prepare the meals yourself.