87. Go swimming - in the lake, in the sea, in a pool (1/3)

Me, Sis and Littlest Nephew went swimming in the swimming pool in their apartment complex. He sat in an inflateable chair, he jumped (from sitting) into the pool (in his mum's arms) while sining Humpty Dumpty, and he swooshed around in mum's arms while singing "(Daddy)'s coming round the corner".

Much, much fun!

Makes it into my BEST category, for sure. Photos to follow eventually....!

78. Go to the movies once a month for a year, alone if I have to! (1/12)

December 12th, 2009
Me, Doug and his mum,

2012



Who does't love an end-of-the-world movie? The special effects were very, very special. The movie itself was a little long.... But we're already waiting for it to come out on dvd so we can watch it on our big TV with surround sound. (We watched it in a very old, small cinema!!)

51. 6 fiction books written by women, (1/6)

The Reinvention of Ivy Brown - Roberta Taylor



My sister read this book for a book club, but didn't end up going to the book club. On my visit home (UK), she lent it to me for the journey home (Canada).
It was OK. Only OK. Some parts, I just loved, but overall - OK.

I loved the poor 1960's London, I loved the crazy cold, the Babycham, hot water tanks for the baths, the clothing. I loved the descriptions and really believed I was there, too.

But the "amazing" twists and turns, and jumping from 1960's to 1980's, they were uncalled for. There was enough in the novel without having to turn to far fetched coincidences to give it meat.

45. Knit a gift

I knit my mum a version of Mustard Scarf in black Patons Silk Bamboo.
Slinky, soft, drapey, lovely.
I left my camera in England, so don't have any photos of it right now, but they will follow eventually....!

61. Visit home

I have just got back from a 10 day, last minute, pre-Christmas trip home!

Highlights include:
lunch at Selfridges, drinks in Trafalgar Square and Canary Warf, dinner at the Gaylord, customary trip to Asda, Sunday dinner with Dad, loads of time with Sis and The Kids, Karaoke, Fake Christmas Chinese Takeaway, swimming with nephew, meeting friend's new baby, catching up with friends not seen for YEARS.

Lowlights include:
Mum in hospital, Step-Mum sick, nasty immigration on way back home.
Also, camera left at mum's house, so photos will follow eventually....!!

By FAR my best 101 thing yet!

31. Healthy food, week 2

There has been A LOT of cooking going on in this house over the past week. Not so many pictures taken, but a lot of cooking! Healthy, homemade goodness - yumm!!

1. Mini Quiches

I made 9 phyllo mini quiches, based mostly on wererabbits' recipe.



For filling I used what I had on hand - onion, ham, spinach. If I'd have had mushrooms too, it would have made a GREAT addition, but these were lovely as is.
I had to persuade myself to step away from the mini quiches, because other wise I'd have eaten them all! I managed to freeze a bunch, some which were defrosted and heated up for brunch this weekend.
Yum!

2. Chickpea and Spinach Curry Based on a recipe from Cooking Light's Superfast Weeknight Dinners.
This "curry" was more of a delicately spiced dish rather than the robust flavours of what I think of as a curry. If I had have served it with rice, the flavours would have been lost. It made a delicious and light dinner. I loved it!
There were leftovers, too.



1/2 a red onion, mini chopped to a mush
1-2 tbsp mini chopped ginger root
1 1/2 tsp sugar
1 1/2 tsp Thai red curry paste
1 can chickpeas
1/2 can chopped tomatoes
most of an 8oz/225g bag of baby spinach
1/2 cup of water.

Saute onion and ginger mush.
Add sugar until caramelised.
Add curry paste until fragrant.
Add chickpeas and tomatoes. Cook for a while until flavours meld.
Add spinach and water, cook until wilted.

3. Chicken Satay Wraps Based on a recipe from Cooking Light's Superfast Weeknight Dinners.

When I tasted the satay chicken in the cooking pot, it seemed a little too rich, and I wished that I hadn't have added so much peanut butter, and the 2 tortillas didn't look like they'd fill me.
But after eating it, I found I was very wrong! It's richness carried the raw veg, it was very satisfying, and very delicious!!
It's a keeper!



About 4 cups broccoli-slaw veg, divided
2/3 cup light coconut milk
1 tbsp soy
1 tbsp white vinegar
3 tbsp peanut butter
1 1/2 tsp curry powder
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
1 huge chicken breast, cooked and shredded
6 mini wholegrain tortillas

Saute 2 cups of broccoli slaw veg until beginning to soften.
In a bowl, combine coconut milk, soy, vinegar, curry powder, cayenne and peanut butter. Pour over veg until warmed through (not boiling).
Add chicken, cook until hot (not boiling).
Put a handful of raw broccoli-slaw veg in tortilla, top with 1/2 cup chicken, roll, repeat with 2nd tortilla, enjoy.

4. Balsamic Sesame Chicken with brown rice and yummy veg. Using justbento's RECIPE

Unfortunately we wolfed down this delicious dinner before I got a chance to take any pictures, so here's a picture of my leftovers plate!



Plus brown rice,
plus broccoli slaw + diced yellow and green bell peppers + edememe + sweetcorn + drizzle of teriyaki sauce.


Other cooking done this week:
5. Chunky Vegetarian Chilli, again adapted from Cooking Light's Superfast Weeknight Dinners. Which was a little on the HOT side. I didn't have any sour cream, so I ended up taming the heat with a splash of milk and LOTS of shredded cheese.... It was also a little on the ugly side, too. Won't be making it again. What a disaster.....
6. Mini Burgers and Mini Meatballs, based on just bento's recipe. Went straight to freezer.
7. Repeat of last week's Pork with Curried Mango Sauce, plus potatoes, plus green beans.

31. Cook healthy dinners everyday

My first week of healthy dinners have been really tasty! No kitchen disasters, just lovely, healthy, homecooked-with-love dinners. Because I'm worth it! Just because I'm cooking for one through the week, doesn't mean I shouldn't look after myself! I know the veg is a little repetitive, but I really needed to go grocery shopping, and had to make do with what I had on hand!!
This week's highlights have included:
1. East Asian Pork Strips, noodles and veg (Red pepper, sweetcorn and edememe.)

This was totally yummy, 7.2 grams of fat per serving, (but I had more than one serving!!) Chopped onion, rye whiskey, pepper, pork loin, vinegar, soy, sugar, lots of fresh grated ginger, cornstarch, honey. Mmmmm!
Next time I'd change the cellophane noodles for more substantial noodles. (These noodles should stick to being in soup or spring rolls!!)

2. Favourite Omlette

2/3 cup frozen hash browns, 1 egg, 2 egg whites, GENEROUS handful of sweetcorn, GENEROUS handful of edememe, finished off under the grill with a sprinkling of grated cheese.
What can I say, my new fave veg combination is sweetcorn and edememe!

3. Quinoa scramble

Thanks for the recipe, NotExactlyBento.com! Made with the ingredients I had on hand:
1 cup mini-chopped Trinity Veg (onion, carrots, celery,), generous handful sweetcorn, generous handful edememe, chopped garlic, 1 egg, 2 egg whites, 1 cup quinoa. (Because I didn't have any stock on hand, I gave the quinoa flavour with a sauce made from sake, soy, ginger, brown sugar.)
So, very, good!

4. Roast Pork with Curried Mango Sauce and Potato and Carrot Mash

This was a big cheat of a meal - I used a bottled sauce!
Roasted a centre cut pork loin roast in the oven with salt, pepper and a spritz of Light Olive Oil.
Meanwhile, boiled equal parts potatoes and carrots. Mashed them together with a little skim milk and a Laughing Cow Light cheese triangle.
Meanwhile, warm up Memories of Bengal Curried Mango Sauce, spoon over slices of pork.
Drool, drool!

Also eaten this week:
Mother In Law's Turkey Noodle Soup
Coconut chicken curry with rice made from Spicy Sweet Potato Soup / Curry Sauce
Steak-for-the-first-time-in-months and green beans

Try again with Yoga 30 day challenge

Hmmmmmm. Yoga 30 day challenge turned into yoga 4 day challenge.
I had an unscheduled mini food poisoning with a not-quite-cooked-enough chicken....
Then I had (sorry if TMI) the period from hell, stuck on the sofa with hot water bottles.....

Oh excuses, excuses. I know......
Will try again at a later date when I'm feeling a little more motivated.....

New Routines

So, I'm attempting to to incorporate healthy habits in to my daily routine. It looks like I'm trying to fit in a lot of different things at the same time, but really, each new habit is something that I already do, sometimes, but want to do more of.

So today I've started four new habits. In three weeks, they should stick and become second nature:

26. Dog walk every day for a month

I used to do this twice a day, morning and evening. Then it became once a day, morning. Then it became "Let the dog entertain herself now we have a back yard." I'm going to bump it back up to a good amount of exercise every morning.
We walk to the park, play fetch, walk home again.

31. Cook healthy dinners everyday.

I used to cook healthy dinners practically everyday. But then when the bf got transferred to a different city through the week and I started cooking only for myself, I stopped the menu planning, the grocery list making, and stopped cooking.
Now I've included "menu planning" on my weekly schedule, and have gone through my recipe books and magazines and made a list of healthy, low fat (less than 15g fat per serving) recipes to choose from.
I'll keep you updated with the recipes I make.

32. Drink 2 glasses of water a day

I know that you're supposed to drink 8 cups a day, or something like that, but I don't drink a single glass of water, ever, because I don't really like water. (Think morning sickness, with nothing in your stomach except a glass of water, sloshing around, making noises, and making you feel even more sick...) I survived for years on coffee and beer being the only 2 beverages that I drank. I never drink water. So two glasses is a good way to start.
I've scheduled one glass when I wake up in the morning, and one glass with my evening meal. I feel I have to schedule, or I'll be downing water just before going to bed, and then getting up through the night needing to pee...

33. Drink green tea every day for a month.

Another way to get me to drink more. Also, green tea has lots of antioxidants and other goodies. My quest for daily green tea has come a long way already. I used to drink it pretty often when I lived in Taiwan (usually iced). When I moved to Canada, I found it wasn't the same as green tea in Taiwan.
Then I smelled Jasmine green tea in a tea shop, and realised that that was what I'd been drinking in Taiwan.
Then I had to get used to drinking it hot, because it's too much hassle to have a pitcher of iced tea on hand.
Then I had to get used to drinking it without sugar, for the sake of my teeth, because it was standard in Taiwan to serve it pre-sweetened.
Now I plan on drinking a mug of this everyday with my lunch.

See you next week to let you know how it's going!

29. yoga 30 day challenge,

The 30 day yoga challenge is where I will do a complete yoga class / DVD everyday for 30 days
* to kick start my yoga and fitness,
* see show me good it makes me feel,
* and make it a habit so I continue to do yoga regularly again.

The yoga DVD I'm doing is one I've had kicking around since I first moved to Canada in 2005. Despite its title, it's one of my favourites, especially when I'm getting back into yoga after some time away.



The instructor is very thorough in her explanation of the postures the first time around - correct alignment, energy direction, correcting common mistakes - holding each posture for a number of breaths. After this first round, the sequence is repeated several times, one breath in each pose.

A kind feature of this DVD is that each pose is shown in the beginner's version. The details are given in the beginners version. This makes it clear what I'm doing NOW, and also where I'm going. Often DVDs cater to the intermediate poses, with a side note to "rest in downward dog if it's too much". Not very useful!
Harder versions are also shown, from beginner, to intermediate, to advanced.
There is also a detailed breakdown of the poses at the end of the DVD.


Day 1 was great.
Day 2 I ached so much I put off doing it again until the evening. My hamstrings felt a little looser, my arms/chest a little more tired!
Day 3 I ache even more, but will be doing it again tonight.

45. knit a gift,

I knit Doug a pair of fingerless mitts to wear under his big winter gloves. That way when he takes his big gloves off to fiddle with his equipment in the field, his hands won't completely freeze instantly.
We'll see if he ever uses them.....



(Modelled by me...)

11. banoffee pie (Thanksgiving),

This year, thanksgiving was sent at the cottage. Me, Doug, Doug's mum, Auntie Marie and Uncle Dave, Aunt Kathy and Uncle Kevin. We had visits from Cousin Terry and John, but they didn't stay for dinner.

There was A LOT of food, and one of the deserts was Banoffee Pie, made by me!! I used a store bought pie case, I didn't make my own!! Cathy gave me a few pointers for next year. Warm the dulche de leche up to make it easier to pour, and make nutty fudge out of the leftovers!

This is the second time I've made this kind of English desert for Thanksgiving - a new Family Tradition is Born!!

8. call dad once a month for a year, (1/12)

I called my dad last week, but he wasn't in. This is pretty usual - it's hard to get in touch with my dad most times. I call and he's sleeping, or working, or on holiday, or about to go out... Whenever I call I ask When is the best time of day to call you? and get the sweet, but not so useful answer of "Whenever you call, it's a good time!"

Anyways, this time he was on holiday. He called when he got back and got my message. It was so early when he called that it was still dark out!! I guess he got his own back and called me when I was sleeping, instead of the other way around. It was a quickie 30 min conversation, bacause he was on his way out. October call is done!!

My List 101 in 1001

Career & Work
1. Get job, - Done
2. explore alternate / supplemental income -
spa treatments, - N/A
pottery - N/A
3. Explore craft fair
knit slippers, - N/A
fridge magnets, - N/A
transfer candle glasses, - N/A

Financial
4. Pay off Canada debt with Doug, - Done
5. pay off UK debt, Done
6. open Savings account, put 10% of paycheck in, (0/70)
(second source of income see 2,3)

Social & Relationships
7. Make new friends, Dog friend, knit friend, yoga friend, .....(0/5)
8. call dad once a month for a year, (0/12)
Make some new Family Traditions -
9. fish friday, (0/10)- Done and N/A
10. sunday dinner, (0/10) - Done
11. banoffee pie (Thanksgiving), - Done
12. chocolate cherries, craisins (Christmas) - Done
13. cheese pies (Christmas) - Done

Home & Family
14. another dog,
15. another baby,
16. Date Night once a month for a year, (0/12)
cottage plans,
17. Make sun room cushion, - N/A
18. Pictures on wall (blown up photos of cottage moments), - N/A
home plans
19. get containers (non plastic) for kitchen rice, beans etc.,
20. proper storage boxes for DVDs, CDs and computer games,
21. cushions for sofa, - Done
22. bedside tables, (0/2) - Done
23. dressing table,
24. photo albums filled, Taiwan, Canada, Vacations (0/3)
25. sonic / electric toothbrush - Done

Health & Fitness

26. walk dog every weekday for a month, (0/21) - Done
27. yoga class once a week, (0/10)
28. weights class once a week, (0/10)
29. yoga 30 day challenge,
30. cook healthy (Bento) lunches at least twice a week for 6 months, (0/48)
31. cook healthy dinners every day, (0/21) - Done
32. drink 2 glasses of water a day, (0/21) - Done
33. drink green tea every day for a month, (0/28) - Done
34. dentist, - Done
35. pap - Done
36. do a breast exam once a month for a year (0/12)
37 take a multi vitamin every day for a month (0/28) - Done

Mental & Learning

38, 39. Study 2 of the following (0/2)
Indian Head Massage,
Thai Yoga Massage,
Yoga teacher,
NLP-ish linguitics, phychology, mentoring,
pottery,
cake decorating,
sewing
........

Emotional

Journaling
40. emotional, dreams and
41. "while I was present I noticed... for writing book,
art
42. pottery - make and glaze a kitchen recepticle,

43. sewing (machine), make one house thing, - Done
44. sewing (machine), one me thing - Done

45. knit a sweater/vest/cardie,
45. knit a blanket
45. knit a gift, - Done

45. embroider a hankie,
46. embroider a tea towel,
47. embroider a thing

48. photography - portrate of me,
49. photography - portrate of Doug,
50. photography - portrate of Dog,

read
51. 6 fiction books written by women, (1/6) - Done
52. 3 non fiction books on different subjects (1/3)
53. 3 motivational books (0/3)

54. Aquire 10 cd's of NEW music (1/10)

Spiritual

55. Meditation every day, (0/50)
56. Buddhism? - read 3 books (0/3)
57. essential oils, aromatherapy - read about it, buy some, use some (0/3)
58. Reiki - read about it, do it (0/2)

Self confidence

59. nice hair - cut every 2 months for a year (0/6), style it when I wash it (0/21)
60. nice makeup, (0/21) - Done
76. nice clothes. Check weather and put clothes out the night before(0/50) - Done
61. Visit home - Done
62. Learn to drive (study written test, take written test, take driving lessons, take driving test) (0/4)


Purpose & Contribution

63. Big brother, big sister / girl guides, Volunteer for 12 months (0/12)
64. premie knits / angel knits for local maternity ward (0/5)
65. Donate some blood

Fun & Adventure

do something fun once a month (ideas.....
66. snow shoeing,
67. hiking, - Done
68. flying?
69. camping,
70. kayak trip,
71. canoe trip,
72. 4 wheeling,
73. US camping trip, (mini triangle tent trailer?),
74. comunity-based activity (conservation? Fundraiser?)
75. go to a concert
76. Have a party - Done
77. Go on a group picnic
78. Go to the movies once a month for a year, alone if I have to! (1/12)
79. Go swimming in the lake - Done
80. Have a sauna, then roll in the snow
81. Go to a spa
82. Go on a road trip
83. Go white water rafting
84. Go skydiving
85. Take a photo a day for a month (0/28)
86. Watch a play at a theatre (!) - Done
87. Go swimming - in the lake, in the sea, in a pool (1/3)
88. Ride a horse
89. Go to 10 different restaurants (No fast food! No sports bars!) (0/10)
90. Go to 10 different bars.clubs (0/10)

91 - 101 Reserved for 2010, 2011

91 - New Family Tradition - New Years Day Walk - Done
92 - Go see the owls at Owl Island - - Done
93 - Go to yarn show - Done
94 - Buy a house - Done
95 - See Niaga Falls - Done
96 - Snowy Hummer Trip - Done
97 - Snow tubing - Done
98 - Become Vegetarian - Done