July 21, 2011

The heat, my birthday, the hottest day in Toronto....ever!

Not gunna lie, I've been indoors most of today! Now I'm getting ready to go out to dinner aka. melt in the heat :)
I thought this picture that I found seemed appropriate!
I'm 24 today :D

Making fresh pesto

What better way to use up an abundance of basil than to make a batch of pesto!? This stuff is delicious on anything and everything- even if it's vegan and parmesan free. (DID I JUST SAY THAT?! Yeah..I did...all so I can share this goodness with Richard. I love cheese, I really do!) Anyways, making pesto is easy and versatile.All you need is... basil, cloves of garlic, nuts (I used almonds), nutritional yeast (or cheese), olive oil, salt, pepper and a bit of lemon juice. Measurements? What measurements? Add everything to taste.


About 3 cups of freshly picked sweet basil from my indoor garden

 
I pre-ground my almonds since they're harder than the traditional pine nuts. It helps everything blend smoother!


After 1 minute in the Magic Bullet, taste test, adjust salt & pepper - done.

This batch was approved by Tank, and because I made this in advance, I divided the pesto into two small containers then popped them in the freezer to preserve their freshness. Simple yet so good. :)

July 14, 2011

Safe


It took me a while to find him, but I did thanks to his loud chirps! I wanted to check up on the little buy to see if he was okay. Momma Cardinal was in the tree as well, keeping a close eye on us. I was relieved, took this snap shot and went about my business. :)

A ball of feathers, chrip, chirp, chirp!

For the last couple of weeks I've been working on the house; painting mainly. A couple days ago, after painting all the kitchen cabinet doors I decided to take a stroll around the front yard to stretch out a bit. Out of the corner of my eye, I spot something moving in the grass. I was curious, so I walked in a little closer to find this little gem in the grass below my maple tree! He must have fallen out of the tree, learning to fly!

He was a loud fellow, the size of a ping-pong ball and covered in fresh feathers. It was sunny out, so he was keeping warm but it was also really windy. We have out door cats in the neighborhood, so it was decided that it would probably be best to give him a lift back into the tree.


We (my brother and I) put on some gloves and got a box. Cute, yes? I must say, I really do make a fine bird's nest!


Perched!


Literally light as a feather.
Right after this was taken, he pooped in my hand. Good luck or just scared shitless?

He seemed like a happy little thing. The gloves were for both the bird's protection and myself. I didn't want to touch it with my bare hands...who knows what kind of things are on it! lol I also didn't want to contaminate the bird with the scent of a human for fear that it's parents may reject it. So we secure the homemade nest into the tree securely with duct tape, I climbed up on a latter (in flip flops, safety, what?) and placed the birdie inside of it. The end!

July 13, 2011

A very green garden


Cherry tomato, in the process of flowering.


Cherry tomatoes, waiting to ripen up. (Hurry up!)


Roma tomato cluster. I can't wait to make some yummy bruschetta!


Marglobe tomatoes, the first to fruit.


Look how many! Looks like I'll be handing tomatoes out to...everybody.


Little Marvel peas, look at them grow!


Ja[a[emp peppers, photos are of the same pepper, just a week apart.


An abundance of Swiss Chard! 4 for $1 at Canadian tire, they sure do grow fast!

Edited to add....

Photos from this day forward will be taken with my Nikon P5100, my point & shoot until I get my Canon T1i repaired.
:(

Hot weather grilling

My dinner- jumbo all beef (left) and spicy Italian sausage (right) topped with creamy Dijon, vegan mayo, ketchup/smokey bbq sauce and raw onions. Love.Too bad we didn't have pickles or hot peppers, because I like those.

Rich's meal. He couldn't wait and inhaled the first of this two hot dogs before I could take a photo. In the back, there are a couple slices of pizza that we made the weekend before. We like to make huge pizzas and freeze the left overs. They reheat fabulously, even on the BBQ!


Sexy swimming face


My eyeballs! (Yep- I'm sitting on two floaty noodles. I'm way too lazy to actually..swim..haha)


Hi! Excuse my frazzled, swimming hair.

Smart Shopping








Walmart
01 x Vector @ $4.98ea - FPC = FREE
01 x Chocolate Cheerios @ $4.67ea - FPC = FREE
01 x Fibre 1 @ $4.97ea - FPC = FREE
03 x Triscuits @ $1.88ea - FPC = FREE
02 x Pure Protein bars @ $1.67ea - FPC = FREE
06 x Resolve stain remover @ $1.00ea = $6.00 - $6 in coupons = FREE
04 x Dippity Do Sport gel @ $1.99ea = $7,96 - $8 in coupons = FREE
12 x Gillette travel shave foam @ $1.27ea = $15.24 - $20 in coupons = up $4.76
16 x Crest toothpaste @ 88¢ea = $14.08 - $12 in coupons = $2.08
Total out of pocket: $2.91





Jumbo vegan "ball park" hot dogs! Richard and I got these last summer, fell in love with them and could find them again until this past weekend! They were on sale, so we stocked up after having to learn our lesson the hard way the first time. lol He is in love with these things and they taste amazing on the grill.They're vendor style dogs and are packed with 18 grams of protein. 60 hot dogs! Awesome!

July 04, 2011

Cross your fingers for me

I am ashamed to say that my Canon T1i took a dunk in the pool this weekend. DEVASTATED!! :( Thank goodness it wasn't in salt water or sandy water or I would have written it off automatically. I'm going to stick it in a bucket of raw rice. Apparently this method works wonders...

Page Views

About

Hi, I'm Janetta from Toronto. I cook, bake and often veganize recipes. I photograph nearly everything and those photos will most likely end up being posted here. I've got a little black cat named Tank, who's really cute and a little bit nosy. You'll see a lot of photos of her too!

Contact me at: jubesandtank@gmail.com

Follow Me

Archives

Tags

home cooking Tank vegan meat vegetarian nature baking Toronto smart shopping flowers garden ravine Richard dessert food pork beef chocolate chicken noodles cake eating out review fruit Animals Birthday sick girl cosmetics dining out cookies BBQ Chinese Halloween plants Christmas bugs cupcakes roasted potatoes sandwich afternoon tea cat nailpolish pasta seafood steak dog drinks family fish raspberries snack turkey vegetarian food festival Spring ice cream recipe strawberries Park buffet burger make up pizza rice Indian Thanksgiving birds bread free peanut butter pumpkin tomatoes CNE Kids Korean Tulips movies online shopping soup vanilla video Valentine's Day coffee kale lemon pancakes ribs scones sprinkles sushi winter Autumn Barca Mother's Day Rich Star Wars Summer Vietnamese breakfast death gardening sale trees Japanese Lola Passover boots brunch burgers hot and spicy macro nuts seedlings sweet potatoes toys wraps Brick Works Chanukah DIY Easter Instagram Katie Niagara Falls art bee bunny caramel cranberries curry donuts downtown duck herbs knitting lamb lobster pool raccoon red velvet skin care spiders tacos Caribbean Chinese New Year Dragon Pearl Edwards Gardens Father's Day Gardien George Foreman Grill Greek Lens Baby St. Jacobs Thai all you can eat beaches books candy cheese clothing coconut crafting dragon fly dumplings eggs infinity scarf mashed potatoes muffins oatmeal peking duck pesto pie portrait salmon samosas smoothie spectacles tofu tree vet America Canada Day Canon 50mm Canon T2i Comic Con Cuisinart Italian Keurig Markham Montreal Music Ohio T1i ants apples bagels baking with beauty box bruschetta camera lens cereal cheese cake cinnamon cream cheese custom deciem ducks eye farm fireworks french toast fries frozen garage sale green tea hair care honey horses hot dogs hotel king crab laundry limes moon picnic popcorn rain rapini road trip salsa samples sauce scary shopping steam buns vega vegan. vegetarian waffles weekend zoo 35mm Airbnb Amaris Atticus Canon 55-250mm CoverGirl Disney Earth Day Five Guys Greenies Ikea L'oreal Matt and Nat Melitta Mum Nikon P5100 Purex Rammstein Revlon Richard. vegan Rosh Hashanah Salad King Sci-Fi Shanghai Singapre Skinny Cow Spirng Starbucks Tank Girl Whittamore's farm Winston bag basil bees boats brownies brushes bubble tea bubbles butter tart butterscotch cake mix cookies camping candied carob cars cashew cheese casserole celebrity chicken. meat chili chipmunk cicada circus clown compost contest cookie couscous crochet deep fried deer dehydrator doves dreams eating out. duck elephants face mask fail fairy shrimp fassbender fly gadget granola green beans ground cherries gum hair dye hockey home cooking. chili home cooking. meat juicing kettle corn lawyer left overs mango marshmallow matzo meringue middle eastern nature. bugs. animals olive ornaments parfait peppers piano play time polenta pomegranate prints pumpkins racoon regrowing snacks snail snowflakes soy squares steak. beef stew succulents surprise travel upick veal venison wallpaper wasp wedding worm yogurt yorkshire pudding youtube