Dinner Tonight

Here is a pic of my tasty dinner I made tonight. I made vegetarian "chicken" parmesan with a Veggie Patch Chick'n Cutlet, homemade tomato basil sauce, and mozza with szechuan green beans and potato chips I baked in the oven.

Gah these last few weeks have been so stressful at work. It is so nice to come home after a long day at work and make a tasty dinner and have a glass of wine. Tonight I'm having a healthy glass of New Harbour Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand. I have been obsessed with Kiwie wines lately and this one is great!

Bon appetite!

My Fave Soundtracks

I'm bored, so I'm going to share some of my favorite movie soundtracks:

*Go Motion Picture Soundtrack - Esthero, Natalie Imbruglia, Len (hehe), Leftfield, Massive Attack - it's just goooood!

*Can't Hardly Wait - such a good, funny movie! Run D.M.C., The Replacements, Blink 182...just fun!

*New Moon - tons of indie goodies on there! Eskimo Joe, The Editors, Anya Marina, Ok Go, Bon Iver... it's all good!

*Empire Records - cult favorite! It was the soundtrack to my youth lol!

Definitely teen movie related (lol), but I love fun, exciting, happy movies!

For Giggles...

More of my favorite music:

*Hearing Damage - Thom Yorke (yes from the Twilight soundtrack. He is wicked, I decided)

*Anything by Nine Inch Nails (Trent Reznor is a god lol! Hurt = best song ever!)

*Anything by Matt Good (yet another god! Seriously one of the most amazing (and Canadian) artists in the biz who does not get enough cred in the States - listen to him)

*54:40 - Crossing A Canyon (Brings me back to the good ole days of partying in Cael's garage when we were in high school, awesome!)

*Third Eye Blind - I Want You (straight up good song)

*Chris Cornell - Climbing Up the Walls (good song again lol)

*Dolly Parton - Jolene (just because it is awesome! Love me some Dolly!)

*The Pixies - Where is My Mind? (such a classic)

*Anything by Placebo (another amazing underrated band)

*Lykke Li - Possibility (hauntingly good)

*Temple of the Dog - Hunger Strike (Eddie Vedder + Chris Cornell back in the day = good!)

*Eskimo Joe - Thunderclap (gah I like the New Moon soundtrack...nerd much?)

*Anything by Esthero (she's an amazing Canadian artist who has partnered with everyone from Timbaland to The Black Eyed Peas to her song "Song for Holly" on the Go motion picture soundtrack she is amaaaazing!)

Cure-All

Nothing too exciting but my week (ok whole month) has been hellishly busy at work. Between school wide awards, class re-registration, data entry, and managing my attendance duties, I am totally, utterly spent by the end of my day. I've never been this stressed work-wise in my life. Living alone, it isn't so easy to vent to Cael when I get home, so I've had to come up with my own methods. Lately I've found that a little bit of yoga with my Namaste DVD's fixes it all. Just one half-hour episode with the amazing savasana at the end stretches, breathes and flexes my stress away. Namaste I love you!

Random Loves:

Kind of a slow start to the week, so here are a few of my favorite things:

Eminence Organic Skincare. Eminence is a Hungarian beauty/skincare line that focuses on all natural, organic, fruit and veggie-based products. When I worked at the Rockwater Resort last year, our spa used Eminence Organics exclusively. I was lucky enough to receive a free facial while I worked there (oh how I miss that perk!). It was 60 min of pure bliss! The tech used masques, moisturizers, tonics, serums, exfoliators, chemical peels etc...I've never had anything like it! I absolutely love Eminence! I bought myself a delicious body moisturizer made from champagne and orange! Heaven! Here are a few examples of their exotic treats: Stimulating Lime Masque, Sour Cherry Whip Moisturizer, Tomato Summer Cream...I could go on! To see the entire Eminence Organic line, take a look at their webpage here:

http://www.eminenceorganics.com/products_creams.html

(image from www.eminenceorganics.com)
I recently discovered Michelle Phan, an amazingly creative makeup artist/blogger/Youtube goddess/entrepreneur. Michelle is a wonderfully talented makeup artist with a flare for colour and theatrics! She has done excellent beauty/makeup breakdowns for such characters as Sailor Moon, Lady Gaga, and the Na'vi of Avatar. She also creates stunning, ready to wear looks that are just as inspiring as her movie characters! I highly recommend taking a look at Michelle's Youtube channel to check out her dozens of really inspiring videos:

http://www.youtube.com/user/michellephan?blend=1&ob=4 Not only is Michelle a wonderful makeup artist, she is now the co-owner of an up-and-coming skincare line called IQQU! What can't she do? Wow, this girl is so young and so inspiring! Check out IQQU's webpage here to take a look at some of their products:

http://iqqubeauty.com/int/index.php/

(image from http://ricebunny.xanga.com/)

Finally, my favorite new boots! I splurged (for me) and bought myself some comfy Ugg Cardigan boots a few weeks ago and I'm in LOVE! They are so cute and comfy! I wish this monsoon would stop outside so I can wear them, but alas the rain is supposed to last all week. Oh well, I guess I'll stick to my Hunter Wellies in the meantime.

(image from www.softmoc.com)

Avatar = Amazing Movie!

Before we went to Mexico, we went to see James Cameron's Avatar in 3D...What can I say? It was absolutely the most amazingly visually gorgeous movie I have ever seen. I am a huge fan of epic, action-packed, (and somewhat nerdy - think Lord of the Rings/Trandsformers) movies. From the first scene, the fluorescent images of the Pandoran jungles, the beautifully alien Navi, and the amazing special effects blew me away. I even loved the special 3D glasses we got! We even went back for a second time because I just had to make sure my sister saw Avatar in theaters! It was just as stunning the second time around. If you haven't had a chance to see this movie yet, I fully recommend seeing it! Just make sure you see it in 3D! Here is a link to the offical Avatar page where you can see an extended trailer and get a feel for the movie:

http://www.avatarmovie.com/index.html

And for some fun, here is a link to an Avatar-inspired makeup look by Michelle Phan. Michelle is a wonderfully talented and creative makeup goddess. She is just too cute with her excellent video tutorials! http://www.youtube.com/user/MichellePhan

(image from collider.com)

Delicious Lemon Rotini

Tonight Cael and I are having dinner with his family. Since I'm the only vegetarian, I am in charge of making myself something tasty. I decided to try out a new recipe that I found on a forum (thanks Ashley!). This recipe originally called for spaghetti, but I had a half-finished box of veggie rotini on hand, so I cooked it up instead. It calls for lots of fresh parmesano reggiano, lemon, black pepper, and loads of garlic. I tweaked it a bit to my tastes, and voila, a quick, super yummy dinner!

Here is the original recipe in case you're interested:

Lemon Spaghetti - this is one of my all-time favorite dishes

Salt
Pound of spaghetti
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Garlic cloves - chopped (I use 4, but you can adjust)
1 teasp. red pepper flakes (you can use a little less)
2 large lemons, zested and juiced
1 cup (or so) heavy cream
1 cup of parmigiano reggiano (domestic parm works here too)
Italian parsley

Boil water. Salt. Add spaghetti.

Heat a large skillet over low heat. Add oil, garlic and red pepper flakes. Be careful not to burn the garlic.

After a few minutes add the lemon juice, a ladle of the pasta cooking water and the heavy cream to the pan. Bring to a bubble.

Drain pasta when al dente.

Add lemon zest and half the cheese to the cream sauce. Season with salt and pepper. Add pasta to the pan and toss. Transfer to a platter and top with more cheese, parsley and even basil if you desire.

Yummy Dinner

I'm not really one for New Year's resolutions, (I never stick with them obviously!), but this year, I'm really going to work on being a better vegetarian. I've been a veggie for over 15 years (I think, I can never remember exactly when I stopped eating meat), but over the years, I have slipped into the bad habit of being a lazy vegetarian. Working 9-10 hours a day, the last thing I want to do when I get home is whip up a healthy dinner. I have become entirely too dependent on easy fixes like frozen pizza or pasta. I am going to really make an effort to prepare myself healthy, fresh meals. I started tonight with this concoction:

(Excuse the lame pic, my camera requires 2 really expensive batteries for the flash, and I haven't gotten around to replacing them!)

Avocado, cucumber, pineapple, and red onion salad with a soy/honey/sesame dressing and a few pieces of tofu. Yum! Let's hope I keep it up!