Yummy Mummy Lunch & Learn With Wee Wiggles

On Tuesday, Arabella and I ventured into Montreal to meet up with other Wee Wiggles and attend the Yummy Mummy Lunch & Learn. We learned how to "cook", but that term is used loosely as there was no really cooking involved, a raw vegan meal. This Lunch & Learn could not have come at a better time, since I watched Food, Inc. over the weekend and I have no desire to eat any type of meat...but that will be for another post.

Veganism is a type of vegetarian diet that excludes meat, eggs, dairy products and all other animal-derived ingredients. Many vegans also do not eat foods that are processed using animal products, such as refined white sugar and some wines. Most vegans also avoid the use of all products tested on animals, as well as animal-derived non-food products, such as leather, fur and wool. Vegan refers to either a person who follows this way of eating, or to the diet itself. Benefits of a Vegan or Raw Food Diet include: increased energy, improved skin appearance, better digestion, weight loss and reduced risk of heart disease. The Raw Food Diet contains fewer trans fats and saturated fat than the typical Western diet. It is also low in sodium and high in potassium, magnesium, folate, fiber and health-promoting plant chemicals called phytochemicals. These properties are associated with a reduced risk of diseases such as heart disease, diabetes, and cancer.

Tera Werner and Karine Ionesco hosted and prepared the lunch and learn. They are amazing women. I left feeling inspired and ready to try and tackle the world of raw cooking.

Tera is the creator of The Raw Divas (http://www.therawdivas.com/index.php). She has currently been living the raw food lifestyle for 8 years. In addition to creating The Raw Divas, she is a passionate online entrepreneur and she has created an online network as a means of building an international community to support women seeking health through nutrition and working to achieve a natural, sustainable lifestyle. For more information on Tera's projects please go to: http://www.greensmoothiequeen.com/ or http://www.therawdivas.com/index.php or http://www.rawinmontreal.com/

Karine is currently in the process of becoming a certified health counselor and she teaches private/group raw vegan culinary classes. For more information on Karine please go to www.karineionesco.com (please note that she is in the process of revamping her website, so you may have to check back to see if it is up and running).

The meal did not contain any refined sugars, gluten, dairy or animal products. We started the meal with fresh green juice and a banana, hemp seed & kale smoothie. They were both delicious. Arabella liked the banana smoothie the best.



Arabella and Tera enjoying the banana smoothie!

We then had veggies with a Sunflower Paté. It was similar to hummus only thicker. And it was sooooo good on sliced cucumbers. This is going to become one of my new favorite veggie dips!



We also enjoyed a Pizza with tomato and basil, Zucchini Pasta with Sun-dried Tomato Marinara Sauce and a Baby Greens Salad. Everything was very good, filling and so easy to make. I can't wait to make the Pasta but I just need to get a Spiralizer to do so.


Baby Greens Salad


Zucchini Pasta


Pizza

We were also treated to desserts. They were to die for - Raw Cacao-Coconut Truffles and Raspberry Ganache Fudge Cake. I was amazed to learn that the cake's frosting was made out of avocado. Who knew you could frost a cake with avocado??? I would have never guessed that it had avocado in it since you couldn't even taste it.



The following is a link to the youtube video to see step-by-step how to make the cake:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KVe0vz5tBtw

Arabella enjoyed the food. And I am looking forward to trying out the recipes on Jay. I am not sure how much he will like eating just veggies, but at least he will try anything once. And even if her doesn't like it, I will still be making Raw/Vegan meals for myself and Arabella. I will post Karine's recipes in a separate post in case any followers would like to try them out.

Thanks again to Tera and Karine for this informative and delicious afternoon. I look forward to particpating in other events with you both!

Perfect Day For The Park

This morning, Arabella and I walked to the park in our neighborhood. It was the perfect day! It was sunny, warm enough for lighter jackets and no hats and gloves were needed. She was so excited to swing and run around. We had fun exploring all of the play structures since all the snow on the playground has melted. We are very happy that we have been having such great weather - it is wonderful to be able to get outside and enjoy the fresh Spring air!

Fun at Fundomundo

On Sunday we took Arabella to Fundomundo. It was the perfect activity to do on a rainy Sunday. Lori, Jay and I took turns climbing all over with Arabella. She had fun and it wore us all out!















Afterwards, we took Jay to Le Glacier Bilboquet! He enjoyed it and Arabella got to have a macaroon. This time she picked out a pistachio one - she ate the whole thing and loved every bite.

Afternoon in Pointe Claire

Last week, Arabella, Lori and I went to Pointe Claire to do some exploring. The weather was perfect and we had so much fun walking around and checking out the great boutiques.

Our first stop was Le Panier (http://www.thepanier.com/index.php) - this shop has great gifts, food items, jewelery, and seasonal decor. We spent a good while just poking around and looking at all the cute things. Arabella wanted to take home the life size wooden dogs that they have around the store.

I fell in love with a home decor store called Lois Butler (http://www.loisbutler.com/). They have the most amazing gifts and home decor that I have seen in a long time. I will definitely be going back to this store.

There is also a store that only carries "natural body essentials" - Izzi (http://www.izzi.ca/). Their hand-crafted products are made in small batches; they cleanse, nourish and soothe the skin, using ingredients that are simple and good for us and for our environment. The products are made entirely without animal fats, harmful preservatives, and petrochemicals. Always paraben and sulfate free, they hand selected every ingredient, only using plant-based oils, vitamins, nutrients, minerals, and herbal extracts in our products for their virtuous properties and benefits for the skin. I purchased two bars of soap, detox spa (sea salt & shea butter) and Toning Citrus Paradisi (grapefruit & ground loofah) - both smell wonderful and they work great.



Our last stop before heading to the Lakeshore was Le Glacier Bilboquet, a Cremerie Cafe (http://www.bilboquetwestisland.com/). This is a cute little ice cream/cafe/bakery. They have amazing ice cream and macaroons. Arabella loved the macaroons!! Lori enjoyed a mini cupcake and huge chocolate chip cookie. I had part of Arabella's chocolate orange macaroon and some raspberry vanilla ice cream. It was the perfect afternoon pick me up! This is going to become one of our favorite places to go for a treat! We liked it so much we took Jay on Sunday for lunch and treats after Fundomundo!







Before heading home for the day, we walked to the Lakeshore. It was beautiful. There was still a lot of ice near the shore, but you could tell that the sun is starting to work it's magic and melt the ice.

She Did It

I hope this post doesn't contain too much TMI (too much information), but I have to blog about this. Continue reading at your own risk.

This afternoon Arabella and I went to the park since it was such a beautiful afternoon. When we got home, we did the usual routine of removing our coats and shoes in the mud room. While I was cleaning things up, she started to pull at her diaper and say "poop, poop". I thought she was just telling me that she had gone poop, but what she really was saying was that she had to go poop. She took my by the hand and led me to the bathroom where we have her new pink potty that she picked out. And she pointed to it and said "poop" again. I finally got it so we removed her diaper and she sat down, just like an old pro. I was surprised that after a few short moments, she got up, looked down, pointed and said "poop" one more time. Sure enough, she had gone in her potty! We had a little celebration and she she gave me a high five. This is such a milestone for her as we have not done any sort of potty training at all.

I am so proud of her, but know that there will be bumps in the road. But she was so happy and did such a great job with no pushing or prodding at all. Maybe this will be easy for us...I am keeping my fingers crossed!

You Are My Sunshine

Arabella lights up our lives just like the warm sunshine of Spring! I can't believe how much she has grown recently and how much fun we have together. Your smile makes my heart sing. I love you so much Little Bean!

Gym Time

Last Thursday, Auntie Lori attended Le Petite Gym with Arabella and I. We all had a lot of fun. This week, they worked on balance bean skills. Arabella did a great job and like usual was wiped out from all the activity. I can't believe how much progress she has made is just a few short weeks. She is like a little sponge - she soaks everything up. You are amazing Arabella!