Travels...

So, I know it's been a few weeks since my last post and I can honestly say that the main reason why, is laziness... It's easier for me to go to bed and watch TV then to sit down and write, but here I am, again at 11:00p.m. giving this my best shot.

Although I haven't been writing, I haven't exactly done nothing these past few weeks. I spent a week with my dad and the fam at our cottage near Calabogie, a family tradition. It was great to see my aunts and uncles, cousins, my grandparents, my brother and my dad, whom I don't get to see very often. We went swimming every day, even though it rained quite a bit, we went for runs walks in the rain, we went canoeing, played games (like monopoly!), watched movies... We had an amazing time!

Also, on the list of things I did this month... Spending a week in P.E.I.! My first trip to the east coast! My mom, Andy, Jess and I drove down and stayed in a cute little cottage right on the ocean (less than a minute walk to the beach!). Though Mom got sick :( we still had a great time! We ate ice cream almost every day, visited 2 lighthouses, went to Anne of Green Gables...!

Ice cream at Anne of Green Gables. 

Reading on the beach! 

I have now been to England and 4 of the provinces in Canada! Okay, so I still have a ways to go, it's a start right!?

Pudding

The other night around 10:30p.m, after watching Big Brother, I was hungry and really wanted pudding! So down to the kitchen I went and less than 30 minutes later, mom and I were eating homemade coconut almond pudding! Yes, I randomly decided to make pudding at 10 o'clock at night, and without using a recipe, we made some pretty kick-ass pudding! Here's what we did (in case you were wondering)...


Coconut Almond Pudding (vegan and gluten-free!!!)

1 can coconut milk
1 cup almond milk
A pinch of salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tbsp maple syrup
Agave syrup
2-4 tbsp corn starch (can also use potato or tapioca, if so 1-2 tbsp should be sufficient)

1. In medium sized pot, whisk together coconut milk, almond milk, salt, vanilla and maple syrup.
2. Heat on high until it's almost boiling. 
3. Add agave syrup until desired sweetness. 
4. In small jar, mix together starch (starting with 2 tbsp, if using corn starch, if using potato or tapioca starch, you will probably need less so start with 1 tbsp) and small amount of almond milk (no more than 1/4 cup).
5. Slowly pour contents of jar into the pot while mixing. (If after 2-3 minutes, it has not thickened enough, repeat steps 4 and 5). 
6. Pour into bowls (approximately 3-4 servings) and chill if desired.

Bon appétit!

Mother Daughter Camping Trip

Almost every year since I was a kid, mom and I have been camping. Whether with NVM and Sarah B-Dot (NVM's daughter and my bestest friend) or with my aunt and cousin Jess. Going on at least one camping trip  a year has been a sort of tradition, up until a couple of years ago. We’ve been to a few cottages in the years since, but it’s not the same…

So this year I told mom that we absolutely had to go camping. We had planned to go at the end of July with NVM and the B-Dot but they weren’t able to make it… Knowing how much I had been looking forward to it, on Sunday morning, mom decided we were going to go to Voyageur Provincial Park (camp site about 40 minutes from home). Impromptu mother daughter camping trip? Sounds good to me. So out we went to the shed to get our camping stuff (or at least what was left of it), only to find that our tent had huge holes from the mice chewing it.... little buggers! But that didn't stop us. A few hours and a borrowed tent later, we were off.

It ended up being a great trip! We had yummy veggie food, read lots and spent a few hours at the beach cuz life's a beach so I could get my fix of playing in the sand (for some reason I have this obsession with sand...?). NVM came to visit and went swimming with me (because my mom hates swimming, for some strange reason...).

So there we have it. I got my camping trip I've been wanting so badly, and got to spend some quality time with mom (managed to go over 24 hours without Internet, though I can't say the same for mom, online shopping while camping! Honestly?!...)