Tag Archive | at work

One Year….

It’s been exactly one year since I walked away from my job with an employer who didn’t value me as a employee but worse he didn’t value you me as a human being. Finding the courage to walk away from a well paying job when I was the sole provider for my little family was one of the hardest and most terrifying things I had ever done!!! But you know what? It was the best decisions I ever made. My well-being and my mental health, my actual health, my sanity all proved more important than a paycheque. Finding my self worth and myself again has been a journey. But as I sit here in this little cabin, looking at the moon reflecting on the lake I’ve never been more sure of something in my life!!

Take care of yourself! Your whole self! Don’t put up with people who treat you like you’re worth less than they are! Don’t put up with people who think they own you because they sign your paycheque. Treat others with respect and don’t tolerate those who don’t treat you the same. Love the ones who love you. Find your people and hold on!

Everything will work out even if the first step terrifies you!

Hello Blog!

Apr9

Never fear I still love you! I just had a busy weekend that sort of got away from me time wise! I will post very soon I promise! Until then I will leave you with a Muffin and random food fix 😉

Spinach Salad With Warm Bacon Dressing!

Mar25

So I survived my first shift back at work. I feel mostly better but still have a bit of a cough. I am however extremely cranky! Never a good thing!

Anyways tonight I made spinach salads for dinner at work, complete with homemade warm bacon rosemary dressing. I am not going to lie to any of you and say this salad is healthy! It isn’t! The main ingredient is bacon (fat)! Proceed with cation! While it may be high on the fat scale it is even higher on the delicious scale! It is a super quick meal to throw together and yet impressive enough to serve at a dinner party. It can be served with chicken breast as a meal or as a simple side salad.

Ingredients
-For two good size dinner salads-
4 to 6 cups baby spinach
2 hard boiled eggs (cooled)
4 strips of bacon (reserve grease)
4-6 mushrooms sliced
1/4 cup finely chopped red onion
1/4 cup vinegar
1/4 cup brown sugar
Sprig of thyme
Sprig of rosemary

Method
Pan fry bacon to desired crispness. Meanwhile assemble spinach, dliced mushrooms, onion on plate or bowl. Remove bacon from pan and chop, add half to each salad. Add one sliced egg to each salad.

To make dressing leave about 1/8 of a cup of the bacon grease in the frying pan and add in chopped rosemary, thyme, brown sugar and vinegar. Whisk all ingredients together over medium heat. Cook long enough to allow mixture to come together and heat through.

That’s it! It’s as simple as that! Drizzle warm dressing over salad and serve.

Sometimes if I’m feeing adventurous i’ll add some smoked Gouda or mozzarella cheese into the mix. If I’m feeling especially ambitious I will lightly sauté the mushrooms and onions before adding them to the salad.

Waiting!

Mar6

I guess an update about my weekend was overlooked because of my extra day off! Oh well better late then never right?!?? So I have a few more hours at work and I’m done for the week. I have a few things on the Ol’ To do list, most importantly coffee with Patricia and Sandra’s Birthday party! I still haven’t decided what kind of cupcakes I’m going to make for the party but I guess I should figure it out soon!

I have a feeling this weekend will be much busier then last! Last weekend was pretty low key but relaxing. We got a few things done, had a lunch date and enjoyed a long walk and some time at the dog park with Muffin!

The dog park and pup friendly beach area/trails at Crescent beach are great! Muffin was definitely happy for some park time! Pretty sure she enjoyed it more then her trip to the groomer! but seriously look how cute she is!

The only down side to the weekend was my lingering headache and some hip pain. It took a lot for me to take a day off work but I know it was the right choice. I suppose I should make another doctors appointment soon but I don’t really have any interest. I see my Lupus specialist in the Spring and have an MRI coming up.

The upside of my weekend other then the previously mentioned was Emma’s 8th birthday! Time flies!

We had a great lunch at the Townhall pub thanks to a Gift Card they gave me! I had the grilled chicken pesto quesadilla and side salad. It was perfection. Granted I’ve never had bad food at the Townhall! Being free was also a nice touch!

After lunch we ventured to the mall so I could get my new phone. I had my heart set on a new white iPhone and Telus provided! I am very impressed with the level of customer service I was provided.

They say a photo is worth a thousand words so here are a few from my weekend!

I hope everyone has enjoyed my recent recipe posts! There will for sure be many more to come! As for me I think Muff and I are going to go for a walk to Starbucks to pass some time and get some fresh air!!

Does anyone have any recipe idea or requests?!?!

Luscious Lasagna

Mar5

When I think of home cooked hearty, comfort food meals lasagna always makes the list! Yes it is a fairly labour intensive meal but I find I can have the veggies chopped, sauce made, assembled and in the oven in about 45 minutes. Not an every night type of meal but delicious and healthy! Plus the added bonus of leftovers for tomorrow’s lunch or dinner!

I use ground turkey to make my lasagna but I’ve used ground beef, veggie ground round, as well as a beef Italian sausage mix in the past. All turn out wonderful but ground turkey is the leanest and healthiest choice. I mean other then the veggie option of course!

I also like to use the no boil noodles but again in the past have used the traditional type. I just find it adds to the prep time and I’m not a fan of burning my fingers on slippery hot noodles! Quit snickering ladies 😉 I am a big fan of the Trader joes no boil noodles because they have a nice texture once cooked. I am also a jan of the Trader Joes basil marinara sauce. Ummm yum! However if you’re anything like me you will use whatever you have on hand!

So here we go!
Ingredients

1 pound ground turkey (or beef/meat of your choice)
2 cups cottage cheese or ricotta
2 cups mozzarella (I use low fat)
1 bunch of basil (1/2 cup chopped)
1 bunch cilantro (1/4 cup chopped)
4 cloves fresh garlic
1 jar marinara sauce or pasta sauce of choice
1 box of lasagna noodles
1 onion
1 pepper
2 tablespoons finely chopped. jalapeño (optional)
1 can mushrooms (optional)
2 cups baby spinach
1 egg
Olive oil for sautéing
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
Seasoning salt & pepper to taste
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon (optional but delightful)

Sauce prep
Chop onion, pepper, chopped jalapeño, 2 garlic cloves and sauté with a tiny but of olive oil for about three minutes. Add in meat, garlic, seasonings of choice and sauté
until cooked. Once the meat is cooked to a safe temperature add in the marinara sauce and 1.5 cups of water. At this point if you are using the cinnamon add it now! Trust me it makes the flavours really pop. Turn heat down to lowest setting and allow to simmer for a few minutes.

While the meat sauce mix is cooking prep the cottage or ricotta cheese by simply adding the egg, chopped basil, cilantro, garlic seasonings if choice and mixing well!

Assembly
At this point you are ready to assemble start by placing 1/3 of the sauce mix in the bottom of a large casserole pan and topping with a layer of noodles and another 1/3 of sauce. Add another layer of noodles and top them with the cottage cheese mixture. Spread mixture out evenly and top with baby spinach and another layer of noodle! Top those noodles with the remainder of the sauce spread mozzarella cheese on top! Cover with foil and bake at 375 degrees for 55 minutes! I like to spray my foil with Pam to keep the cheese from sticking. I also like to broil the lasagna uncovered for a couple of minutes before removing from the oven.

I bake my lasagna on a cookie sheet because if you ever have to clean bubbled over lasagna out of your oven you will quickly decide you never wish to do it again!!!

Be sure to let your lasagna sit for 10 – 15 minutes before cutting. Enjoy!

Lunch And Puppy Cuddles

Feb12

So I’m halfway through my three day work week. Muffin is cuddled up under a blanket with me, I think she is having a sympathy headache! Or she’s just a fluffy little lazy beast! Either way I love the cuddles!

Kisses anyone?!?!?

So my goal for the week is simple in theory, get my portions back on track. For the most part I eat very healthy with a treat in moderation. I don’t deny myself the things I want or live but I do try to stick to the 80/20 rule. The last few months have been tough though. I find when I’m not feeling well my portion control suffers and I’m much more likely to give into extra treats. When my body is in so much pain it is like my brain says forget this lets eat another cookie. The lupus stuff has been a lot to take and now I’m slowly coming to terms with everything it’s time to get life back on track a little.

Yesterday I started out my day with a bowl of ancient grains oatmeal with a tablespoon of peanut butter and a tablespoon of hemp hearts. It was delicious and kept me full right through my mid morning workout. At the gym I did 30 minutes if cardio, 20 minutes of legs and 10 of abs, plus some stretching! It was packed yesterday at the gym, which my work mom and I figured was because it was a stat holiday here in BC yesterday for family day!

After the gym I snacked on two hard boiled eggs mixed with some fresh full and a tablespoon of light olive oil mayo.

While it may not look all that appealing I can assure you it was yummy! In fact this is becoming one of my favorite snacks.

A while later I made myself some homemade bruschetta and served it on green olive bread. Very filling and tasty.
For dinner the boss and I each had the three bean veggie burgers I made on Sunday afternoon alone with a spring mix salad and some olive oil pan fried potatoes with homemade guacamole and tzatziki. It was an excellent meal. I really like the three bean burgers better then the ones I made last time with just black beans. Better texture and more flavour! I will take photos next time I make them.

Later in the evening I had a small serving of pistachios. I love nuts but pistachios might be my favourite!! My treat yesterday was a cookie Kevin brought me when he came to visit. All in all I was content with my food choices and workout for the day.

I started out today with the same breakfast as yesterday. I’m really finding the hemp hearts bulk up the oats and give the breakfast a little more staying power. For lunch I had spring mix toped with left over BBQ garlic chicken and fajita peppers and onions with trader joes cilantro dressing. I also toasted an English muffin and spread liver sausage on it… I know I know! Don’t judge me I have gross cravings 😉 I only crave liver sausage when my iron is low so I always listen to that craving.

Kevin is on his way to visit Miss Muff and I here at work. We are going to take her for a nice long hilly walk! It won’t be nearly as nice as our sunny Sunday forest 4 km walk but it will have to do.

It was so beautiful on Sunday we couldn’t resist a trip to the park after Kevin made BBQ chicken fajitas for lunch and we walked to the local Sunday market for some fresh flowers and browsing!! It defiantly felt like spring on Sunday!! Today the drizzle is back! Welcome to BC folks!!

I hope everyone is having a good day!

I See You There

Jan2

This is what i contend with at every meal.

This adorable face who has made it her life’s work to be sure that I remember sharing is in fact caring. How do you say no to that face? No really please teach me as I cannot seem to do it.

Anyways, I don’t know if you know this or not but walking down a hill covered in black ice is a treacherous adventure! Walking back up the hill is never a picnic, but you know what they say…whatever doesn’t kill you!!!!! I have to admit it was a beautiful day here, considerably nicer then the foggy afternoon yesterday.

Yesterday’s foggy walk compared to today’s clear skies.

The area I work is great for midday walks. Lots of flat areas and hilly areas depending on how I’m feeling. I actually felt decent today. Which is a change from the last little while, so we did a quick mile walk mostly hills. I like this area because it is very much city life but still close to nature and the country.

I’ve been in a cooking mood lately and this morning was no different. For breakfast I chopped up an apple added some water,sugar, and cinnamon to a pot and cooked it just long enough for the apple to soften. I drained the water mixture and was left with amazingly flavourful, sweet cinnamon infused goodness. I added half my creation to a bowl of oats and peanut butter, perfect for a cold morning. The other half found itself mixed with a few little cheddar cheese squares ad my afternoon snack. I’ve been reading that cinnamon has some serious health benefits, so I sneak it in where I can.

I was lucky enough to have Kevin bring me lunch today. He stopped on the way here and grabbed us both Quiznos. I can’t even remember the last time I had a sandwich from there, but it was very good. Mine was some turkey, guacamole, veggie concoction, and while it was far from pretty it was satisfying. I looked up the nutritional value on their website and it wasn’t half bad other then the sodium content.

Kevin hasn’t been feeling great either so it was nice we got to hang out over lunch while I’m at work. I know a lot of our friends are sick right now and I really don’t want to catch it!

My need to be in the kitchen proved successful at dinner time as I made a quinoa salad for my boss and I. I love quinoa, such a great source of protein and so versatile. I don’t make it at home often unless its for my sister in law or dad and I as it is on Kevin’s will not eat list. Actually a good portion of the salads ingredients are on his will not eat list!!!! Though he will straight face tell you he isn’t fussy! I guess I still love him. Anyways the salad consists of quinoa and a mix of chopped onion, peppers, cucumber, tomato, feta cheese, avocado, and beans of choice. I used chick peas because I love them and that is what was in the pantry here! I used fig balsamic vinegar as dressing but Greek dressing is also good on it. My boss and I had the salad with some lemon garlic chicken breast pieces, so good.

I guess I should get back to work, I have another hour before my weekend officially starts. Hope everyone is enjoying this wintery Wednesday.

Life With The McGavins

100% Not Sugar Coated