The big american latte and other stuff

Last Friday was a really fun day. I started off meeting a friend for coffee and breakfast:

We met at Starbucks because we were both craving a big American Latte,...and the barista was just learning latte art so we got hearts with wings. So cute! The sandwich was actually pretty good it was egg with a spinach ricotta... YUM!

After this we went to the Purse and Handbag museum and then went our separate ways as we each had stuff going on that evening. Once I got home about 2 I was starving so I fixed up some red potatoes with onions and garlic and an egg and two egg whites with a little cheese. I am egg obsessed these days.

Then, it was off to hubby's work to meet him for the New Year's party they were hosting. We went to a place called the Nacht Wacht, it is a steakhouse that always has yummy food and good service (which, as I have mentioned before is really tough to come by here in Holland).

In true Kate fashion and my not a fan of red meat ways I went for the salmon. The crust on the outside was quite delicious. The salad was amazing as usual. I had water and white wine with dinner, of course!

At the party because it was quite chilly I stuck with red wine

This was actually a photo from the night before, but I didn't take any photos of my drink at the party so this one offered to stand in ;) hehe It was a tasty red though.

After the party we headed home, it was so windy and miserably cold that we had hot cocoa

Really helped us settle in for the night.

This weekend was a lot of fun, that salmon, seriously, really good! First one I have had cooked to my linking in years, usually they are underdone for my taste. I will say cuddling up on the couch with the hubby and hot cocoa after a long night out was the best part of the day. ;)

How do you like to wind down after a fun day?

Join the rest of the party over at Peas and Crayons!

What I Ate Wednesday: Treat Edition

Hey, hey, hey!



Who remembers that?! Fat Albert was my favorite as a kid! I also thought it quite appropriate since he eats a lollipop during that song and I am basically bringing you a treat edition of 

This past week was not a great week for me nutrition wise, but I am still posting because guess what...I am human and those weeks happen. I don't punish myself for it because that is counterproductive. I won't be gaining anything from it and I can't change it. Instead, I shall embrace it!

Mmmmm...Calzone....

Nutella pizza...this was amazing. To read more about this dish click here. 

Great end of dinner treat...Americano!

Hot cocoa with lots of marshmallows on a snowy winter's day...we barely moved from the bed that day.

This is an award winning Kiwi Martini. Made with a delicious kiwi puree...Had a be careful though because it was just so good!

I suppose it wasn't all bad...these were our breakfast on Tuesday. Fruit parfaits (& a little X3).

As you can see I am still on track with X3. I just entered the second transition week. I love this week because it is all total body work. Nothing super high cardio, just deep down muscle work, then lots of stretching. I think these weeks are where I see the most improvement in my body.

So, here's what I've looked like this last week:

Wednesday: X3 Yoga (my fave!)

Thursday: MMX

Friday: CVX

Saturday: Incinerator

Post workout Saturday. This was an accomplishment because it was the workout I almost didn't do. I was so busy Saturday morning I didn't workout first thing. Usually if it doesn't get done early, I don't do it. But, it was snowing and there was nothing to distract me so I focused and pressed play!

Sunday: Rest day...and rest we did! It was snowing all day, the teenagers cheer was cancelled so we literally laid in bed, watched TV (Guy's grocery games is my new favorite show), and napped.

Monday: Isometrix

Held crow for 10 seconds, but was able to hold
the position almost the whole time!

Some sort of dancer something. This stretches the hips
nicely!

Tuesday: Dynamix

Breathing hard through left banana. My core is
becoming so strong!

Me pre-workout, I was doing a bit of photography,
so decided to snap a pic of myself...don't let that smile
fool you, my feet were really numb!!! Our balcony
was super icy.

Tell me, what did you do for yourself this week?

New Restaurant Friday: Pizzaria Ludica

Hello! This weekend we did our regularly scheduled New Restaurant Friday. We tried a restaurant I had found thanks to a FB "suggested pages" ad! Normally I ignore those things but it was marketed as a "board game restaurant". There is nothing more the teenager & I love more than board games...the husband, well, he's in games for a living so he's always up for a fun new experience that involves games.

We ate at Pizzeria Ludica. I'm a terrible blogger & didn't take a picture of a logo, or the outside because. well, I'm terrible.

I made a reservation on their website. Super easy and fast, and we were guaranteed a table this way.

This place was very welcoming when we walked in. Lots of long tables, great for groups. The entire back wall was games.

Teenager selecting a game. They had everything there from super easy family games like mousetrap & yahtzee to more complicated, intricate games like Settlers of Catan.

She chose Munchkin. It was one she had been wanting to try so it was the perfect time!

Hubby had to actually look something up as the game in the restaurant had no tokens so we wanted to make sure we could play without the tokens! We could, it was no problem.

At one point I was a half-breed halfling elf! There are treasure cards & battle cards. You never know what you will get and if it will be a blessing or a curse-quite literally!

So this picture looks super sweet right?! He's "helping" her through a battle, great father/daughter time...right after this he got to choose two cards from her & won the whole game! We have to get more savvy when playing games with this guy...you would think after 15 years I would have figured it out...

So, the game was super fun but the food was amazing as well. My expectations were pretty low because many times at restaurants like this you go for the atmosphere, not the food. Here though, you can rest assured you will go for atmosphere & food!

Four cheese calzone! For a dollar you can turn any of their pizza's into a calzone...my fave!

This was the meat pizza. The crust was delicious, very fresh. The meat on it was ham, pepperoni, and bacon. A perfect combo for my meat lover husband! He is still talking about it two days later.

Since it was New Restaurant Friday we could not pass up dessert. This is a nutella pizza. It had nutella, walnuts, and a caramel drizzle, and was sprinkled with cocoa powder. It was amazing. 

Then we each got an Americano. Very good espresso and they served with fresh cream.

This was a fantastic experience and I cannot rave about them enough! Great place for groups, families, or just to shake up the regular ole date night. They are just steps off the Chinatown Skytrain station in Vancouver, BC. Very convenient location for any one using transit!

Family Favorites Friday #3

This is another classic. My mom made it since I was a kid, but many people don't know what I am talking about when I say what it is: Magic Cookie Bars.

Many people call them 7 layers bars, but not sure why because the recipe I use only has 5 ingredients, or layers, plus they are practically gone the instant they are cool enough to cut, so we will stick with "magic".

This particular recipe my mom always used was found on the inside label of Eagle Brand Sweet and Condensed Milk. I tweak it because, well, my family is picky. So...here is the recipe:

Magic Cookie Bars

-1.5 cups graham cracker crumbs

-1/2 cup of butter, melted

-10-14 oz (about 300ml) can of sweet & condensed milk

-package of semi-sweet chocolate chips

-a little shredded coconut

1. Preheat oven to 350F. In a 9X13 pan measure out the graham cracker crumbs.

2. Melt the butter. Pour over crumbs and mix together. Once combined use your hands to press the crust into the bottom of the pan.

3. Open the sweet and condensed milk and pour evenly over the crust. Try and get it as even as possible because once it is on there you can not really move it, but it does sort of naturally spread and settle so however you pour it so long as you cover most of the crust it will be fine.

4. Evenly sprinkle the chocolate chips over the top.

5. Evenly sprinkle some shredded coconut over the top. We have someone in our house who isn't a coconut fan so I just sprinkle it over half.

See half with coconut, half without! Pretty darn simple!

Here they are baked! Not the best picture in the world, but they sure are heavenly!

What is a favorite recipe you and your family love?

S'mores pops! Anybody want a s'mores pop???

This past weekend , since we didn't do a whole lot outside of the house I made myself super busy inside the house! Last year I was more of a store bought cookie kind of gal because it was super difficult for me to get used to the dark dreary days of living in the PACNW. This year however I was determined to make things different and decided to cook up some treats!

Here is the first of the treats I made. It is super simple and requires very little actual cooking.

S'mores Treat Pops
-Candy lollipop sticks
-Large Marshmallows
-Semi-sweet chocolate chips
-Graham Cracker Crumbs
-Milk
-Large, parchment covered plate
Optional: Washi tape

1. The first thing I did was decide how many pops I actually wanted to make. My bag of pop sticks came with 50 so I decided 25 would be enough so I had 25 sticks for a later project. I picked out my 25 & covered them in various colours and patterns of washi.

2. Take a pop stick and stick it into a marshmallow, repeat this for however many marshmallows you choose to make.

3. Measure out half a cup (1 cup) of chocolate chips, add a dash of milk (1/2  tablespoon or so, add slowly because you can always add more, but can't take it away). Melt in microwave in 10-15 second increments and stir until smooth. (Be very careful not to overheat as then you will have something that resembles burnt fudge and that is no bueno.)

4. Pour a bit of graham cracker crumbs into a dish. Make sure they cover the bottom of the dish you are using. I would say you'll need at least a half cup of crumbs. Also, get out a large size plate and cover it with parchment paper or wax paper.

5. Take one marshmallow and dip it into the melted chocolate, then dip it into the graham cracker crumbs. Place it on the parchment covered plate to harden. Repeat this until you have covered as many marshmallows as you want! If it is fairly warm in your home (we keep ours set at Caribbean) you may want to place your plate in the fridge for a bit so the chocolate can harden.

6. For storage I have mine on the kitchen counter in plastic bags and they are doing great! If you wanted to give these as a gift you could easily cover them with some saran and a piece of ribbon, especially if you coordinated it all to your washi!

What is your favourite no-bake holiday treat????

Family Favorite's Friday!

So, I am starting a new series each Friday during the winter showcasing some of my family's favourite meals. These won't necessarily be healthy, but they are favorites that I try to make every now and again. The first is...

Hubby's Favourite Chicken Alfredo

I titled this “favourite” because it is one of my husband’s favourite meals I make. I don’t make it often because, well, it quite frankly is a heart attack on a plate lol But, if you are serving it I suggest to do it right. Use real fettuccine, real cheese, all that good stuff. Here’s the recipe:

Serves 4 (generously)

1 jar of Classico Alfredo sauce or Ragu Alfredo sauce

2-3 chicken breasts

½ a box of fettuccini

Various spices (I use nature’s seasons)

1T olive oil

Mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses (to taste)

Cube the chicken breasts. In a pan heat the oil over med-med hi heat and throw in the chicken breasts season all over with the nature’s or all-purpose seasoning of your choice. This is best when you let the chicken fry up so it’s kind of brown on one side. Flip it and let it cook until done. Turn the heat down to low and pour in the Alfredo sauce let it warm while the pasta finishes cooking.

While that is cooking bring a pot of water to a boil and cook the pasta according to package directions.

Then, add the pasta to the pot with chicken and sauce. Let simmer together. If it seems a little thick add a dash or two of milk to thin it out a bit. Add some seasoning and let simmer for 5 minutes or so.

Dish out and top with mozzarella and parmesan cheeses.

Yum!

Best served with a nice salad and some garlic cheese bread.

Like I said this is a real treat, not something you have every day but makes a nice Sunday dinner or birthday dinner in this case!

Come on over and join me on Facebook and tell me about some of your family’s favourite “treat” meals.